tugging sensation in his abdomen. Before he could react, Victor was yanked clear of the fighter. "Oh shit!" He flailed, belatedly grasping for a handhold. All senses screamed free-fall, but there was no wind, and the desert still wasn't rushing up.
The tugging sensation increased, pulling him across the narrow gap. In an adrenaline-induced temporal disconnect, he perceived the half-second crossing in slow motion. Bridging the gap, he watched the ship's incredible pulsing, multicolored, ring of lights pass less than two feet overhead. Reaching out, Victor's hand grazed the ethereal beams. For a fraction of a second, it felt like the center of the ship contained the mass of a black hole. Caught in its tremendous gravitational field, his hand slammed down like a metal rod to a magnet, but the instant it passed out of the light, the force evaporated. However, the gentle tugging sensation in his gut persisted.
Passing beyond the ring of lights, Vic flew under the strange ship. Like a hole in the sky, it loomed over and ahead of him, obscuring half the world. Its barely perceptible black mirror skin appeared to absorb almost all light that fell on its surface. Heart racing, he threw his hands up to absorb the imminent impact.
Just as Victor was about to hit, he heard tearing paper, and the skin in his path vaporized. He floated into the ship, and the skin resealed, plunging his weightless body into a silent mind-swallowing void.
Hyperventilating, he floated in darkness. His panicked mind raced as he tried to comprehend what was happening. Wide-eyed, Vic snapped his head left and right in a desperate search for visual clues.
Nothing.
Something touched the sole of his boot. Victor screamed. After a moment of panicked flailing, he realized it was the floor. Gravity was returning. A few seconds later, he crouched on a textured metallic surface. Still in complete darkness, Vic reached overhead. Finding no obstructions, he slowly stood.
"What a panty-waste," his mother chided through a mirthless laugh.
"Not now, Mother," Victor whispered. Looking down, he shook his head. Now that her pestering persona had setup camp in his thoughts, she'd not soon stop. In the deafening silence, his heart pounded like an express locomotive. "Pull it together," he whispered. Closing his eyes, Victor held his breath in a desperate attempt to rein in his terror. After a few seconds and with no further comments from his overbearing maternal mental hitchhiker, he exhaled. Feeling calmer, he extended his arms sideways and ahead, probing for a wall. After a moment, he realized he could see his hands as dark silhouettes against a dimly glowing background.
Facing away from the wall he'd passed through, Victor edged forward until his hands brushed against a surface. As he swept them left and right, the ivory glow intensified, revealing he'd passed into a small oval-shaped room. A gray floor formed the only flat surface.
"What the hell is th—?" The wall vaporized under his fingertips as a tearing paper sound echoed through the small space. Victor jumped and stumbled backward, not stopping until slamming his back into the outer skin.
Blinking and panting, he stared at the new opening. A six-foot section of the wall had dematerialized, creating a doorway leading deeper into the ship's interior. Beyond, impenetrable darkness swallowed the light from Victor's small room.
Standing, he studied the door and dark void beyond. As his eyes adjusted, he began to perceive soft light in the next chamber. It was much larger than his small oval-shaped room.
Inching forward, sure any moment a fanged alien would pop out and snatch his life, Victor worked his way to the opening where he froze, unsure how to proceed.
The disembodied voice of his widowed mother chastised, "Come on, pussy, grow some balls!"
The woman's nagging and berating began in earnest during Victor's eleventh year, following his father's untimely death. Every time she found her only child unworthy
The tugging sensation increased, pulling him across the narrow gap. In an adrenaline-induced temporal disconnect, he perceived the half-second crossing in slow motion. Bridging the gap, he watched the ship's incredible pulsing, multicolored, ring of lights pass less than two feet overhead. Reaching out, Victor's hand grazed the ethereal beams. For a fraction of a second, it felt like the center of the ship contained the mass of a black hole. Caught in its tremendous gravitational field, his hand slammed down like a metal rod to a magnet, but the instant it passed out of the light, the force evaporated. However, the gentle tugging sensation in his gut persisted.
Passing beyond the ring of lights, Vic flew under the strange ship. Like a hole in the sky, it loomed over and ahead of him, obscuring half the world. Its barely perceptible black mirror skin appeared to absorb almost all light that fell on its surface. Heart racing, he threw his hands up to absorb the imminent impact.
Just as Victor was about to hit, he heard tearing paper, and the skin in his path vaporized. He floated into the ship, and the skin resealed, plunging his weightless body into a silent mind-swallowing void.
Hyperventilating, he floated in darkness. His panicked mind raced as he tried to comprehend what was happening. Wide-eyed, Vic snapped his head left and right in a desperate search for visual clues.
Nothing.
Something touched the sole of his boot. Victor screamed. After a moment of panicked flailing, he realized it was the floor. Gravity was returning. A few seconds later, he crouched on a textured metallic surface. Still in complete darkness, Vic reached overhead. Finding no obstructions, he slowly stood.
"What a panty-waste," his mother chided through a mirthless laugh.
"Not now, Mother," Victor whispered. Looking down, he shook his head. Now that her pestering persona had setup camp in his thoughts, she'd not soon stop. In the deafening silence, his heart pounded like an express locomotive. "Pull it together," he whispered. Closing his eyes, Victor held his breath in a desperate attempt to rein in his terror. After a few seconds and with no further comments from his overbearing maternal mental hitchhiker, he exhaled. Feeling calmer, he extended his arms sideways and ahead, probing for a wall. After a moment, he realized he could see his hands as dark silhouettes against a dimly glowing background.
Facing away from the wall he'd passed through, Victor edged forward until his hands brushed against a surface. As he swept them left and right, the ivory glow intensified, revealing he'd passed into a small oval-shaped room. A gray floor formed the only flat surface.
"What the hell is th—?" The wall vaporized under his fingertips as a tearing paper sound echoed through the small space. Victor jumped and stumbled backward, not stopping until slamming his back into the outer skin.
Blinking and panting, he stared at the new opening. A six-foot section of the wall had dematerialized, creating a doorway leading deeper into the ship's interior. Beyond, impenetrable darkness swallowed the light from Victor's small room.
Standing, he studied the door and dark void beyond. As his eyes adjusted, he began to perceive soft light in the next chamber. It was much larger than his small oval-shaped room.
Inching forward, sure any moment a fanged alien would pop out and snatch his life, Victor worked his way to the opening where he froze, unsure how to proceed.
The disembodied voice of his widowed mother chastised, "Come on, pussy, grow some balls!"
The woman's nagging and berating began in earnest during Victor's eleventh year, following his father's untimely death. Every time she found her only child unworthy
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