Artificial Heart

2

There was nothing she could do now.

It seemed to be flying on its own. Could it mean it was unmanned? Her eyes darted around the ship again. The ship seemed larger on the inside than it did on the outside. There were two closed doors. Leading onto what, she could only guess. Perhaps separate rooms or compartments or cupboards, or even perhaps to the outside of the ship. Out onto the night sky.

Her heart kept skipping beats.

Prisha turned to the window. She stepped back with a gasp. The night was black. Blacker than black. The stars were twinkling with a brightness that was uncanny. Outer space. Was she already in outer space? She couldn't be. What about gravity? Shouldn't she be floating?

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Something swelled inside her throat. A balloon of terror pressed up against the bottom of her diaphragm. She turned around at the sound of scuffing. It was behind the second door! She dashed around the room, searching, scrabbling at the walls, careful to avoid pressing any buttons. She found a handle low to the floor. It took her a few moments to work it out, twisting and pulling and shoving. The door opened, revealing a compartment. An empty crawlspace.

Somewhere to hide.

Crawling inside, she pulled the door to, careful not to pull it closed. God forbid she locked herself in! There, she braced her chin upon her knees, ears ringing in the terrifying quiet. There was that faint humming again. And something lower, deeper, vibrating, like an engine growling. She bit into her knee as she thought about Renee. About her friends and work and home.

Her life.

All the things she should have done.

She buried her face into her knees as several tears slipped out. Her heart felt like it was flopping in her chest. There came a bang! Prisha jerked her head up. A loud creak followed. She pulled the door in closer, gripping it so hard her arm was aching.

Footsteps. Actual footsteps! They thudded heavily against the floor. They seemed to circle the room. Prisha bit down hard into her knees as they passed right by her hiding space.

They stopped. Another creak. Then silence. Silence except for Prisha's panting breaths and the hum and vibration of the ship. For a long time she sat there, waiting, dreading, tense, arse aching against the hard floor. It was cold too. Goose bumps prickled her arms and she wouldn't stop trembling. Every now and then she heard a click and a creak but nothing more. He/she/it was quiet for an alien.

Alien.

It's an alien.

Fuck.

She couldn't just sit there forever; she had to do something. Her heart skipped several more beats. Her body trembled harder. Her hard grip on the handle was making her whole body ache. Prisha pushed the door open a little further. Just a smidgeon. It was noiseless—thank God. She could see nothing. She opened the door further still—and stopped.

A figure in the gloom. It was sitting in the chair in front of the "console". Hunched over. Very human-like. No tentacles or tail or slippery goop. It looked like a man. Rather large. Intimidating. A hand was gripping a lever. Prisha stared at it. Five fingers. Though it looked odd, the skin too shiny. A glove.

Prisha was so cold her breath was a mist and it was getting harder to control the trembling in her hands. She bit down on her lip so her teeth wouldn't chatter. Exhaling with a whoosh, Prisha pushed the door open wide.

Again, that dream-like surrealness turned everything foggy as she pulled out her stiff legs and dropped to her knees onto the floor. Out in the open. Behind him. This strange, mysterious, potentially deadly man. He didn't move. This wasn't real. She was dreaming.