Parasite Paradise

Written by: Jake Temple

BOOKER   1

The humans call me Booker. My real name doesn’t have any equivalent in any human language so we will skip that. What’s important is Earth is in danger and no one will listen to me! How did this all start? Funny you should ask, I was just about to tell you.

It all started back on my home planet of Thrae. We were evacuating the planet due to an immense volcanic eruption on a scale earth has never seen in its history. Only fifty million of the twelve billion of us made it off the planet.  Who is us you ask? We are the last survivors of our species, our planet, and quite likely the last of our solar system. We are the Snamuh, biped humanoids like you….well, not completely like you.

We are completely purple, in various shades and designs of course, we tower over you standing at anywhere between twelve and sixteen feet tall. In addition we have shark teeth…yeah I know that sounds bad, but we’re really peaceful. We only eat fish, as it’s the only thing our body processes. That is until we get infected by the parasite. It is said that the parasite creates a hive mind amongst its victims and enhances each species in a different way. Although we will get to that later.

Anyway, we were all evacuating, our ships had just cleared Thrae’s upper atmospheres. We saw our four dwarf star suns, orbiting our massive planet, larger than one thousand earths. As we left orbit, space got darker, which was odd, considering our planet resides in a large stellar nursery. We looked back and saw it. It was a parasite so massive and so evolved that it could feed on the stars themselves. Within minutes the three closest suns had been drained of all their energy and matter. Thrae was being reduced to nothing. Parasites the size of your Earth were bringing back sustenance to the queen. We couldn’t use our hyper drive until we cleared our solar systems asteroid belt.

By the time we had crossed the field we lost another fifteen million. The parasite didn’t destroy those though. Down to thirty-five million, we activated our hyper drives and sped off into to the eternal night. No we’re not going light speed, that’s impossible. The hyper drive accelerates the total mass of the space craft, to as much as our bodies can withstand.

My family, along with millions more, were the last chance of our kind. My father, who was one of the scientists involved with building the space cruisers was inventive, but particular, and was middle aged, coming in at one hundred years old. He’s followed by my mother who helped finance the project, she was brilliant but strict. We weren’t allowed to talk about how old she is.

My older sister had just finished our schooling program. Consisting of twenty years of schooling starting at age five. She was due to be one of the best minds our species had ever produced. Lastly there was me. I, however, was known as the “accident”. While people didn’t have high hopes for me, I hoped to prove them wrong. I was a mere child back then, no older than eight. Little did we know that our trip would be cut short.

Halfway to our destination things started going wrong. Snamuh would start trying to eat each other, foaming at the mouth. In an attempt to save our species several ships self-destructed to stop the parasite from spreading. Over the span of eight years I watched as one by one the remaining cruisers detonated as the parasite overran them. All but two million of my people were lost.

Our last day on that cruiser is still burned into my mind. It started out like any other, our artificial radiation lights came on and we woke instantly. We were supposedly only a month or so away from our destination, but everyone was getting restless even as our long and perilous journey was almost at an end. There had been more fights than usual, but no one thought anything of it…until there were bites.

Every time there was a fight with a bite, everyone involved was sent to quarantine. That morning a fight was happening in the cafeteria, when my family got there we rushed in and rushed out, not wanting to be there when the correctional division arrived. We had just gotten back to our living quarters when the sirens blared. We were packed within minutes and heading to the escape pods when everything lurched forward.

They had decided to take us out of hyper speed! There could only be one reason for that; they found a viable planet to escape to. With newfound hope we sprinted down the corridor, towards the escape pod assigned to our quarters. We found it, and were in the process of boarding when a crazed Snamuh tackled my father and chewed his head off with vicious fever. Time seemed to stop. That was my first time seeing the effects of the parasite up close, but it changed me forever. As he fell to the ground blood erupting from his neck, draining his body, shock had set in and I couldn’t move. The infected Snamuh was about to enter our pod when my mother launched herself at him, knocking him out of the pod, “GO!” she ordered my sister and I.

 Just as I was pulling my mom back in my sister closed the pod and initiated takeoff. I was thrown back into my seat and forced to watch as I saw our cruiser getting smaller and smaller in the window. I didn’t know how many of us had made it off. I saw a few pods but not nearly as many as I thought I would. It seemed as though one thousand—maybe less—Snamuh had survived the event.

Nearly a minute after our escape from the cruiser it exploded, creating a shock wave that propelled us across space sending us towards a new planet. Its name? Earth. I was left with only one reminder of my parents. My mother’s left arm from her elbow down, I was still holding her by the wrist. My sister was speechless trying to comprehend what had just happened, tears were forming in her eyes. Her first word was “Sorry.”

I didn’t know how to react. I wanted to scream and yell but it wasn’t her fault. All I could do was cry as the only family I had ever known was now vaporized. I looked around for the blue and green planet the pod advertised but all I could see was a massive red planet with several moons orbiting it. “How long until we arrive?” I asked.

“Judging by our current velocity I would guess a couple of days.” My sister replied. I could see the wheels in her head turning, what was she thinking about? Was it, why it took so long for our cruiser to be infected? Was it, how to stop the parasite? “Stop staring at me you idiot.” She said glaring at me.

“Oh sorry.” I said, “I was just wondering what you’re thinking about, considering you’re supposed to be our brains and all.” I didn’t mean for it to be rude, but she took offense to it, turned around and laid down. Due to our trajectory we would be facing earth’s sun the entire way in which meant little to zero sleep.

Several hours had passed since our last fight and Veralyn was on a rant. “I’m actually thinking about what kind of life earth has. We can’t do anything about our current situation if we’re dead you know?” While she had a point, I had a hard time focusing on the next step instead of the larger picture. I hadn’t even thought about earth’s life, what if they were intelligent? What if they had language? How we’re we going to express ourselves, relay our message? Which brought me back to the larger picture. The fact that the galaxy was doomed. 

“I don’t know but I do know there is only one snamuh alive right now who can figure it out.” I sighed.

“It will have to wait until after we land but I’ll see what I can do Booker.”

“That’s the first time you’ve ever called me by my name Veralyn.”

“Just because mom and dad didn’t like you doesn’t mean I didn’t.” With the weight of our parents behind us it was time to see what the next generation of snamuh could do.

As Earth was becoming larger in our windows, we started to see just how far along you humans were. You had expanded beyond your own world, but not yet to the point of multi-world colonization. We were excited to be able to share our wisdom with you. Apparently you weren’t. Upon our arrival were shot out of the sky, our pod exploding just over southern North America. The last sensations I remember were free-falling and having my skin roasting, burning to my bones. I didn’t expect to wake up after that.

The parasite had other plans. I felt a burning in my chest, and suddenly I was alive again, laying down in a crater. Looking back into the sky I saw not darkness, but the unforgiving light of the sun. Almost blinded I turned away. It was at that point I remembered what happened before I died…Along with everything any organism the parasite infected had ever experienced. I was infected. How long did I have before I went berserk? Only time would tell.

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I went on a search for my sister, maybe we were both infected when the pod exploded. I found her bleeding next to a boulder, I hovered over her looking for her injury. There was a large gash on her forehead. As I leaned in to start treatment, I felt a sharp pain in my neck. I pulled out a dart of some kind, and then I went dark.

 I awoke in a bed chained by my hands and ankles, several of my teeth were missing and I was cut in multiple places. “Where is my sister?” I growled. I looked around there were only the two of them…and me of course. We occupied an examination room with a laboratory overlooking it. The two humans in the examination room with me were both wearing yellow hazmat suits.

“Careful Sir, its heart rate just spiked.” One of them said.

“Can you understand me purple people eater?” This one seemed to be in charge, and though I heard his voice, I couldn’t decipher what he was saying. After his remark I heard a chuckle. 

“Please unchain me and tell me where my sister is.” I said calmly. They both shook their heads, clearly our languages weren’t compatible through speech. Next they wrote down something on a pad and gave it to me. The lettering was small but precise, each symbol thrown together into packs. It read, “Where are you from?” “How did you get here?” I knew not what it meant but I attempted to scribble down, “Where is my sister?”

“Sir, It knows what a question mark is!” one of them yelled.

The one that seemed to be in charge turned around. “Yeah, and what proof of that do you have?” he said back.

“He used it!” The other one exclaimed. Why this human so excited about what I wrote I didn’t know. Was it possible they recognized one of our languages symbols? The next piece of paper I saw had just one line of symbols all in one pack. I guessed it was their alphabet so I wrote down ours.

This learning process continued for two years. It didn’t take long to find out that humans can’t speak snamuhian.

Within my first month I learned what was necessary for my survival on this new planet. They kept giving me this clear liquid and telling me to drink it. It didn’t have any taste but when I drank it I felt hydrated and refreshed. They called it “water.” They tried to feed me many things, all of which I couldn’t keep down.

Slowly I learned their alphabet, studying each character intensely. Then I learned their numbers, I would spend hours memorizing. Next came words, forming them, understanding them and writing them. Everything changed when I learned the word fish. I know you’re laughing, but that night I had fish. It looked like our food source back on Thrae, so I asked for it. It was the first time I didn’t throw up after meals since I came to this planet. From that day on all I got was fish and now I could truly focus. After all I still hadn’t seen my sister yet and it might be up to me to save the planet.

 Within three months I was having conversations with my captors. Sometimes I would ask a question they didn’t like and they would throw me in a cell for hours. They wanted to know where I came from and what I knew. I told them of my doomed planet and species. I told them of our near extinction, which they were very interested in how we got away. I did not yet want to share our technology with them and lied. I said I was too young to know how to build the ships. Meanwhile I could see each cruiser being rebuilt by the reborn parasitic survivors. I tried to tell them about the space parasite capable of eating suns…they didn’t buy that one.

After six months I finally got to see my sister. Speechless. I couldn’t utter a word as they let me into her room. I gasped as I saw her attached to life support, apparently in a coma. With her brilliance locked away the responsibility of saving the planet now fell to my shoulders.

 I walked up to the container she was being kept in and sat down. When they said it was time to go I refused. Even when they tried to move me I wouldn’t budge, I had some new found strength on this world. Odd but I assumed it was due to the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. They sent three armed men to retrieve me. They first shot a tranquilizer dart which missed. The second attempt was to electrocute me, only half of the charge hit and I leaped to the man who pulled the trigger. The security footage showed me what I didn’t remember. I swung one like a ragdoll knocking down the other two and follow it up by stuffing his arm down my throat and biting his arm and shoulder off.

After that they left me alone. I went into the corner and puked the soldiers arm up. I went back to my sister’s tank and put my hands on the glass and looked at her seemingly asleep in a container filled with some strange liquid. “Veralyn.” I said, “C’mon get up. I need you to get up. You would know what to do here.” I started pacing in front of her tank talking to her, telling her about what earth was like…well what this building on earth was like.

 Oh and the fish! How could I forget the fish? All of the ways you humans have learned to flavor it… I must say it is the highlight of your species. I’m getting carried away.

After venting to my unconscious sister I decided to get some sleep. I woke up sometime later with a rush of peppermint in my nostrils and an extremely large human in front of me.

“This is Agent Pikman. He will be your security for the remainder of your stay here.” Said the oldest man in the room. “He will also serve as correctional services for any bad behavior.” He continued. “You bite one of my soldiers again and he will hurt you.” They told me that the soldier I bit yesterday was still in the hospital. I nearly killed him, my teeth punctured his armor and I ripped his whole arm off. After the old guy left Agent Pikman acquainted himself with a punch to my stomach and a mean right hook.

Nine months in and my sister had still not woken. The humans were starting to lose hope in her. I was now teaching the humans our advances in technology. If I didn’t Agent Pikman was very specific about what he would do.

I met Earth’s greatest scientific minds. Before my arrival they were all forced to sign documents about keeping quiet about my existence for a little while longer. I entered the room and a few of them fainted on the spot. Most of them were speechless. There was only one who was brave enough to say anything, “Hi, I’m Neil DeGrasse Tyson.” He extended his hand and it puzzled me. Agent Pikman informed me it was a greeting sign for his people. I extended my hand the scientist grabbed it and shook it. “And you are?” he prompted.

“My name is Pbvsiubfeskhebhj.”…Yeah that’s about right, “But that’s a little hard to pronounce so I am called Booker.” This meet and greet continued for a few hours. They were astonished by my coloring and texture. It was odd being in the center of attention for once. Once we had covered my anatomy we moved on to how I came to their planet. I told them my tale.

Yet again they did not believe me, they did not believe what horrors would befall their planet. They wanted to know how to solve their problems on their planet. I did not have the answers they wanted. I knew nothing of this planet or its people. I barely had a handle on one of its languages. I did my best to show them how to use the hyper drive. They understood the math but building and testing will take time.

A full year had passed since our arrival on earth and still my sister showed no signs of waking up, overburdened with the cost of keeping her alive, as well as secretly building and testing intersystem travel. The humans decided to pull the plug on the project at the time named Purple Light. Her body was cremated and that’s when I saw the phoenix adaption for the first time.

As her body was finishing burning to a crisp time seemed to slow down. It all started with a spark in her chest. An ember the size of your fist erupted into flames in her chest. That ember then exploded, sending light into her veins and arteries. The resulting shockwave blew open the protective glass and the heat from the explosion vaporized the room and everything in it.

Entering the room where the incinerator was vaporized I looked down and saw my sister. I fell down to the body of my sister now with a burning ember at her core. I now knew how I came back to life as well as whether or not my sister was infected by the parasite. I jumped down and waited there until she woke up, knowing I would either end up killing her or hugging her. When she woke back up she jumped, startled by the new life about to begin.

“Booker?” she choked, confused by her surroundings.

 “Don’t worry,” I replied, “I’ve been learning their language for the last year, I can roughly translate.”  It was at that point that we both were knocked out, again by some sort of tranquilizer. When I awoke my sister and I were surrounded by armed guards as well as men in hazmat suits.

Their leader, a mysterious fellow wearing a long tan raincoat and a bowler hat came out of the shadows.

“What the hell was that?” He questioned. Everyone looked terrified. I calmly explained,

“The explosion earlier was created when the parasite I’ve been telling you about inhabited my sister’s body and triggered its phoenix adaptation, recreating her body after it burns.” I continued, “It will happen anytime you burn one of us. Including the other thirty five million of us who made it out, and don’t you dare say they aren’t coming. I can SEE them.” The bowler hat man was about to retort when my sister gasped into life. My sister awoke in terror. In our native tongue I said “Relax. Relax. They won’t hurt you if you let me translate.” She nodded. I continued, “What do you want to know?”

“Everything.” Veralyn said. She stared coldly at each of the men in the room. “I want to know why we are being treated like this, who these lifeforms are and why I feel so…different.” As she said the last bit she started to look herself over starting with her extremities and working her way to her core. “Where is the gash on my forehead? I remember getting it from our fall.”

“Veralyn, this is going to be difficult to hear.” I started, “But the parasite which decimated our species has now infected us.” Her head dropped. I could only imagine the questions going through her head. “You no longer have the gash on your forehead because you were reborn. It is also the reason why you feel so different. The parasite left some gifts…if you want to call them that.”

“Hey! What are you two talking about!?” This was a different man dressed in military camo holding a rifle of some sort. Switching back to English I answered back,

 “She’s just scared, and wants to know what’s going on.” My sister looked puzzled by this new tongue, but if anyone could learn it, Veralyn could. Switching back to my native tongue a continued talking to Veralyn. “We uh…well we have one mind. The parasite does anyway. It’s like being able to see into a billion eyes, a billion minds.”

“Doesn’t that mean they can see what you’re doing then?” She asked. I hadn’t thought about that. “Maybe that’s why everyone goes berserk at different times. The parasite activates us when we no longer serve a purpose?” She continued. I missed her. Over the last year Earth had become a very lonely place. I was just glad to have my sister back. Now we could focus on what was at stake. Life as we know it.