One Minute to Midnight

By Steve Lang

26 more short stories that will amaze you.

In Stranger in a Strange Land, Jared Talbert, the Marine commander of a deep space mission, is searching for Celestine, a cargo ship loaded with precious metals that never returned to earth. When he and his crew find the cargo vessel it is derelict and orbiting an uncharted planet, with evidence that it had been attacked before losing communication with home.

Jared and his crew are soon attacked by weaponized satellites as their ship the USS Rapier is destroyed and his crew killed. Jared becomes stranded on the planet when his escape craft crash lands, but will he escape certain doom and return home?

In Let's Do The Time Warp! A young computer hacker steals a time travel device from a secret underground government facility and uses it to open a bubble in time. He is transported to a planet of undead, where he meets Shannon Dolby—a stranded pilot—and discovers that her sister Lyric has been captured by the undead and he must decide whether to use his time travel device to save Shannon's sister, or leave them there and save himself?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Lang
• Release date: Sep 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781530077601

Steve Lang

Steve Lang's third poetry book, Tales of Telemachus has just been published by Resource Publications. It follows Cuarentena (2021) and Heavenly Hurt (2016). Steve's poetry has been published in a wide range of literary journals including: The Galway Review, California Quarterly, Allegro and Chiron Review. Though from Scotland originally, Steve has traveled widely, especially in Africa, and currently lives in El Salvador with his family, where he works as Director of a well-known international school.

Book preview

One Minute to Midnight

More Strange Tales of the Unusual

STEVE LANG

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Please find this and other work by Steve Lang at:

http://SteveDLang.com

Copyright © 2016 Steve Lang

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1530077605

ISBN-13: 978-1530077601

For Brandy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to my wife Brandy and son Nicholas for their endless patience as I sat behind my computer day after day, night after night, to create the world of short stories you are about to read. I love you both very much. Thank you Charlie Michener for your editing expertise. Our work is not yet complete and there are many more novels yet to write.

DEAR READER

2 Minutes to Midnight and the follow up, One Minute to Midnight were inspired by my love of history, science, and science fiction. In November, 2014 I decided to write a story a week for a year to hone my craft as a writer. This proved to be a challenging adventure, and one I am glad I dug into, because I was afforded the ability to walk many unexpected paths.

When I was sixteen stories into my personal challenge I watched an interview with Ray Bradbury and in that interview he said: If you want to be a writer, write a story a week for a year, and then you'll be a writer, and write what you like to write about, so I did. I began to write two stories a week, sometimes three at one time.

I am delighted to present my second anthology in the hope that you take something away from the words, emotions, and crazy situations my characters get themselves into. Thank you for reading,

STEVE LANG

Contents

THE EYE

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GAMER

THE CRYSTAL BALL

IN LIGHT AND DARKNESS

MOONLIGHT SERENADE

SHARP TOOTH

THE GREAT GRAVE CAPER

SOMEWHERE IN TIME

HELL HATH NO FURY

REBORN

THE CYCLOPS AND ADRIEL

THE HELL RAZORS

GANUNG PADUNG

THE LAST IN LINE

SUN KING

THE ISLAND

ROBOTS AWAKEN

THE GIANTS OF NEBULON

LET'S DO THE TIME WARP!

WATERTOWN VORTEX

STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND

CALL WORKSHOP

DANGER IN THE SWAMP

ATLANTIS RETURNS

GRETEL

A NEW DAY DAWNS

THE EYE

The following transcript was discovered in a secret storage compartment under the floor of Nathan Choudry's home in northwestern Pennsylvania by private investigators. After his disappearance, his mother had hired a local agency to find her son, and they recovered the document that you are about to read. This is his final testimony.

Interviewer: Can you please tell us your name, former rank, and occupation in the United States Air Force?

Nathan: Nathan Choudry, Technical Sergeant, turboprop mechanic, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Interviewer: Nathan, can you relay the events of October fifth, 1997 at South Fork Air Base in Utah?

Nathan: Well, I was there because I had just been granted top secret clearance, and they were retrofitting a chinook helicopter with some new stealth technology.

Interviewer: Why were you selected for clearance?

Nathan: It had to do with the rotor assembly and a whisper quiet drive system, and they were also attaching a reverse engineered laser weapon onto the helicopter. I had several years of experience working on those engines and I guess I was just lucky, or unlucky.

Interviewer: What do you mean reverse engineered? Reverse engineered from what? Or is that information classified? What was the laser weapon?

Nathan: I was never told that this was classified information, not officially anyway. I want to make that clear for the record before I discuss this further. They, the military, had recovered part of an alien craft the army had shot down, and had sent it off to a defense contractor to have it patented and produced for military application. The laser was something straight out of Star Wars. Essentially, it was a controlled pulse that could be rapid fired in short bursts, and could hit a target on the moon if given enough juice. The problem was that in order to utilize long-range targeting like that required huge amounts of power. That’s what the new drive system was for.

Interviewer: Can you tell us what you experienced on the night in question?

Nathan: What we saw that night was something I'll never forget, and I feel lucky to be alive.

Interviewer: Without any more interruptions from me, would you care to tell your story? I think listeners of Paranormal AM would like to hear what you saw, and the details of that night. The diehard fans already suspect that information is being kept from us by a shadow government, but you've got some information that will remove all doubt. Go ahead when you're ready.

Nathan: Sure, I'd be glad to.

A crate arrived at the underground base known as The Cave sometime around 1600 hours, coming in on an unmarked white van. I thought it was a part for the helicopter, but a team of guys in white lab coats came out and put the crate on a crash cart. One of them had a rifle slung over his shoulder, and at first I thought it was in case any of us tried to touch the crate, but later I knew it had nothing to do with me or the other people in the underground hangar. I was standing with another one of the maintenance guys, Stan Peterson, and we were both curious about the contents of that crate. Don't ask me why that crate and not the million other odd things that would show up there every day.

What do you think's in there? Stan asked me as we stood watching.

I don't know and they don't pay me to care. I lied.

The parts we needed for the helicopter arrived and we began putting them on. While we did, I became curious about the mechanics of the devices we were installing. The laser was mounted on the nose of the helicopter, and the other round device with a splined gear hole in the center was mounted between the compressor and fan blades inside the engine. This was a bizarre little device, and it connected via one fiber optic cable directly to the electrical system of the laser. Our shop chief Senior Master Sergeant Will Garcia was walking by and I asked him about it.

Hey Sergeant Garcia, do you know what this thing is we're installing? I asked him. He looked sideways at us for a moment and I could tell he was debating on whether to spill information.

It’s a quantum energy generator. He said.

Ha ha! Good one, sir. What is it, really?

That device has the capability of generating more energy than a nuclear power plant. It makes the laser on the front of this helicopter a weapon of precision killing power from any distance. All you need to do is acquire a target via GPS and once the laser guidance system locks on you have a crater where a bad guy once stood.

That's amazing! Will we get to see it work?

Get that helicopter back together and we can all take a ride. The pilot's been sitting around drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes since you guys dismantled his engine, wasting government dollars. He's a contractor out of Raytheon, so there's not much I can do about it since he doesn't report to me. Just hurry it up and we’ll see what we can do.

We worked quickly to get the engine reassembled and ran a few initial engine checks just to ensure the rotor wouldn't fly off and kill us all when we tried to lift off the ground. After it was all back together, Sergeant Garcia and the pilot came out to see our work. A full bird colonel by the name of Smythe was present with them. He had a constipated look on his face as he followed behind the pilot and Garcia. The helicopter rested on an elevator that would lift it through two blast proof doors at the top of the cave. So, with the press of a button, we were suddenly rising through the cavern and watching as the ceiling opened up to an amazing night sky, filled with stars. They looked like tiny flashlights in the sky, and I couldn't wait to get closer to them.

Our pilot turned the engine on and the first thing I noticed was the silence. The engine made no sound and the rotor blades were whisper-like, as advertised. The environment was such that we could still carry on a conversation in a normal tone of voice while the engine was working at full power. We lifted off and began to climb high above a canyon and then our pilot pushed the stick forward and then we were off, soaring over the desert. He picked a rock outcropping to test the laser on and fired a short beam. The rocks exploded as if a bomb had gone off, sending rock fragments in every direction and proving the success of the device. That's when it got weird. I suddenly noticed a saucer-shaped craft hovering in the sky, flashing green lights in a geometrical pattern.

Hey, you guys see that? I asked them.

See what? Sergeant Garcia asked.

I'd been in the military long enough to know that when a superior asks you a question like that, your answer can go one of two ways. The safe route, the one that keeps you out of trouble or the not so safe career-limiting answer that ruins an otherwise OK day. Garcia had to have seen it, but acknowledgement of a UFO is strictly verboten and can get you stuck in rank for the rest of your days, and can even get you demoted in some cases. I'd heard of it happening before. I guess it was nothing, sir. I said. Garcia nodded and turned back around in his seat.

The object was still out there, hovering, watching. We flew west and the disk followed. The pilot shot a few more times into the dark desert landscape below, and from the daylight simulated monitor we watched a cactus explode.

Damn! This is a whole lotta' fun! The pilot yelled.

Meanwhile, back at the cave, the four scientists who had carted the crate back to their lab were opening the box, but they had no idea what was waiting for them inside. It was an orb about the size of one of those desktop globes, but it looked like a bloodshot eye. It sat there staring at the scientists like a demented bowling ball. Later on, one of the survivors told me about it. It was extracted from one of the crashed spacecraft and had been an enigma to the army investigators when they examined it. None of them could figure out exactly what it was, so it was sent to the cave for further investigation. I personally suspect they just wanted to get rid of the object.

We flew around for a while longer while I tried to ignore the flashing lights off to the west, and the other two did the same. Just before we were about to head back to the cave, I got the shock of my life. Beside me, on one of the jump seats, was a tall gray man, who, aside from the color of his skin, looked just like a human, but he was dressed in a silver space suit and was looking at me. I was scared beyond the capacity to move and stared back at him hoping that Sergeant Garcia and our pilot—whose name I still didn't know—would see this encounter as well. The space man looked over at them and back at me.

Guys, we have company. I blurted out. It was all I could think to say.

Sergeant Garcia turned around and his mouth dropped open. Our pilot couldn't see a thing from his vantage point, but he lost his train of thought and the helicopter began to dip.

Please, don't be alarmed. I'm here to talk, nothing more, and I need your help. He said to me. Except when he talked, he never opened his mouth.

What can we do for you? I asked in a weak voice.

You have a prisoner of mine in your underground base. His name is Void the Omniscient and I need him back before he becomes unstable again. The man said.

Who are you? Sergeant Garcia asked.

My name is Klactu, and I'm from a planet known as Green, in your neighboring galaxy. A craft transporting Void the Omniscient to the prison cube Rylon 5 was knocked off course by Void when he broke free of his electrogrid containment unit and killed my partner before crash landing on your planet.

What do you mean? We don't have any alien life forms down there. A crate with some parts came in earlier today, but that was it and we only have military personnel and scientists in the cave. Sergeant Garcia said.

What was in the crate? Klactu asked.

It was a secret. None of us know. Sergeant Garcia said.

The answer to that question may save every human on this planet. Void may have been in there and if he was, then I know he's dormant. Klactu said.

How do you know he's dormant? I asked.

Because you are all alive. I have to stay close until he makes a move, but once I know for sure where he is, you have to give him to me. The last time he woke up, he destroyed an entire planet. Klactu said grimly. The pilot turned our chinook back toward the base. Klactu began to shimmer and fade, and his presence on the helicopter appeared digital like a holographic image.

In the underground lab, one of the scientists, named Lyle Petrie, was holding the orb and staring into the pupil with curiosity. The bloodshot eye stared back at him with the indifference of the dead, but as Lyle held it closer he began to hear a high pitched whine that was slowly growing to the velocity of an ear piercing shriek. The pupil grew wider, drawing him into its darkness until there was nothing but the black inside his mind. The other three had been taking care of other varied tasks in the laboratory when their colleague suddenly dropped the orb onto the lab table and began holding his head, shrieking in pain. He smashed one end of a test tube and jammed it in his temple until the end was flush with his skull and then he dropped over onto the floor, twitching as death slowly took him. This was what one of the survivors recounted to me when we got back to the cave, and I couldn't help but wonder if our new friend Klactu was aware that his prisoner waking up.

We arrived shortly after the incident and the entire base was under high alert, although at the time I had no idea the extent of the hell that was about to break loose. The chinook landed on the elevator pad and we were lowered down into the hangar area. I could hear a high pitched squeal, and people were bending over with their hands over their ears as I watched a white and red orb that looked like a human eyeball float through the air. Some had fallen over dead, while others gouged out their ear drums with pencils, and screwdrivers to stop the pain.

We're getting the hell out of here, before that damned thing gets us, too! Our chinook pilot, being an experienced combat veteran, flipped on the ignition and we quickly rose whisper-quiet through the cavern as insanity ensued below. People were shooting at each other, taking their own lives, blowing up vehicles, and all the while the orb drifted through, that eye that was looking in every direction.

I think we found Void the Omniscient. I said.

Fires raged and screams filled the cavern. Void began to drift upward to the opening we were rising through.

When we reached the outside again, the flying disk was hovering and as I watched it Klactu was next to me again.

I must take Void into custody, and since my partner is dead I cannot do this alone. Had he not awakened, this would be much easier. Will you help me?

I wanted to answer, but suddenly my mind became filled with visions of battles and death. I watched entire towns become engulfed in the fires of war as the eye grew larger than the moon, and I know he had willed it to happen. Void the Omniscient glided through my visions like a great nightmare and I could see the remnants of planets he had laid to waste. Endless oceans of bodies piled like mountains to the sky and Void watched like a battlefield general as people ripped each other apart. The horror of these images made me nauseous and I could feel the fabric of my sanity stretch, and I also knew that Void was coming for me.

Are you here this time, or is this a holographic projection? I asked. Klactu put hand on my temple and the noise quieted, the visions faded and I could concentrate once more.

I'm right here, but you must be strong of mind to survive the confrontation with Void. Put this on now. Klactu placed an amulet around my neck. It had a crooked pole and a dragon winding from bottom to top and in the dragon’s eyes were two red jewels. He will use your worst fears against you, but with this amulet, you can fight through the illusions and concentrate. Klactu finished.

This is where the story goes off the tracks and way into the weeds. If your listeners have trouble believing this, then I don't blame them, but it did happen this way and I'd testify in court to it. That amulet began to glimmer and glow. The helicopter vanished and I was standing on the doorstep of my childhood home, but it was placed in some far off land. Two moons hung above me, their gleam like midnight suns in a sea of sparkling stars. I was ten years old again and I knew my mom was at work and my father no longer lived with us. The old house loomed like a specter and it seemed that the bedroom windows upstairs were like the eyes of a monster movie boogey man watching me, the front porch a grimace of disdain.

It was very dark, but I knew there were things with huge claws and teeth hiding in the woods behind me watching, waiting, and hungry for flesh. I'd have to go inside the house. I was scared to go in, and in the shadows abided an unnamable horror. I took a step toward the front door and the wind picked up, blowing around me with icy fingers. The first step groaned as my foot pressed upon it. My heart beat fast as I considered running away. The doorknob gave a loud squeak as I turned it slowly with my trembling hand.

The door, as if suddenly caught in a vacuum, was sucked back from my hand and crashed against the inside wall with a bang. I was small, only a child now, and had forgotten my teddy bear Ralph who was in the bedroom upstairs. As I moved forward something coughed in the kitchen, which was straight ahead through two rooms. The darkness seemed to swirl in that room and I could tell that any number of seething terrors was gathering to attack just beyond the space where light and dark met. Hideous abominations lurked as I stood frozen with fear in this old house reeking of sour milk and cat urine. In my mind's eye I could see the gnashing teeth, scales, and black wings of legions of dragons and hellhounds. I could feel their cold stare as sure as I'm standing here today. A black tentacle slithered out from the kitchen reaching for me as it became longer.

Grandma? I called. There was no reply. The bear. I had to get the bear.

I ignored the warning of grandma's kitchen and ran for the stairs leading up. That's when I saw the old man. He was an ancient and terrible being from a far off world, standing between my bear and me.

This is where you die. The man said.

He shape-shifted into a wooden totem resembling human form, like a carving from one thick tree. His fingers grew long, like vines, and then his feet became rooted into the floorboards as the tendrils crept down the stairs toward me. The man's head, like the top of a tree, grew many branches oustretching until the stairwell was full and impassable. Behind me were the snarling, insatiable growls of unseen demons, but I dared not look back because I knew if I did, they would attack me. I felt despair as the old man laughed in my head and for a moment I thought I'd never leave that house, but then my amulet began to glow and a voice told me to ignore the illusion and keep moving. I remembered that Klactu had placed the talisman around my neck and I charged the tree punching it with my fists. It absorbed my hand pulling me in and I could hear the click, click of claws from some ancient and terrifying cat monster ascending toward me from below. I looked back just as the tree pulled me in and saw only Void the Omniscient and his cold, dead eye, staring at me. I went into the tree head first, but as my amulet touched the bark it exploded in a torrent of sawdust, freeing me. Void screamed inside my head. I smiled and ran for the bedroom as he followed.

I rounded the corner and my bear was lying in the bed. Void followed and I could hear the sharp din of him in my head, like the whine of a broken compressor. I ran to my bear and grabbed him as Klactu stepped through the bedroom wall to face Void. Klactu held out a device resembling a garage door opener and pressed a small black button. It emitted a solid green beam which caught Void in the air. When it did, I could feel the whine inside my head decrease to a whisper and then fade away. Void was trapped and I was back inside the helicopter once more as Klactu held the evil orb in his beam.

Klactu must have had an elemental link with his ship, because it hovered beside our helicopter and a panel opened in the side exposing a padded hole. Klactu used the device in his hand to guide Void over to the compartment in his ship and then, once the enemy was deposited, the panel slid shut.

There. He’s dormant once more. Thank you for your help, Nathan. Klactu said. He turned to me with a tight, awkward smile, and then vanished without another word. His entrance and exit from my life had been the most bizarre experiences I've had. The only evidence I have from that encounter is the talisman around my neck. Klactu allowed me to keep the charm and I think it may be a communication device of some type, because at times, when I'm wearing the amulet, I can hear him speak to me like a whisper.

We went back to the base and aided in cleaning up the mess, but most of the people affected by Void the Omniscient had begun to stumble around in confusion, having forgotten what had happened. After about ten minutes, all of them, including Sergeant Garcia, believed that we had suffered a terror attack and in their memory the armed forces underground deflected an attack by militant islamists. I was the only one who remembered the truth, and maybe it’s because of the amulet that Klactu gave me, but I never forgot the horror of Void or my encounter. I can only imagine that there was some influence by Klactu on the minds of my compatriots that made them forget what they had just experienced.

Interviewer: Thank you Nathan.

Nathan: No problem, I’m happy to tell my story.

Three months later…

Nathan was exiting his car after the interview with a documentary crew for YouTube, when he began to hear a whisper of a dialog in his head. It seemed to be coming from light years away, and the voice was muffled.

Nathan, its Klactu. It’s time for you to go. They're coming for you. Klactu said.

He stopped and looked around for the owner of the voice but there was nobody there. Suddenly a black car pulled up beside his house with darkly tinted windows.

Go through your house and into the back yard. Go now if you want me to help you. Klactu instructed. Nathan did as instructed, but as he entered the living room, he looked out the window and two men with black sunglasses got out of their car, followed by another very tall man with almond shaped eyes and a more bulbous head than his cohorts. Nathan knew that he was not human.

Nathan saw the tall man look his way, and fear shot through him like a bolt of lightning. Whoever these guys were, they were not the welcome wagon. He turned and ran through the house, kicking open the back door. Twenty feet in front of him rested the hull of Klactu's craft.

Your choice. Stay here and get captured for opening your mouth about your little experience with Void, or go with me.

Who are these guys?

The boogey man and his minions, if you don't come with me. You have to consent to board, that’s one of my rules. Klactu said.

I consent! Nathan said. The amulet around his neck began to glow, the eyes two brilliant rubies smoldering with fire. Nathan felt himself pulled along as he vanished from the back yard and appeared in the passenger seat of Klactu's ship. The alien looked over, smiled, and nodded a warm greeting.

Time to go. Klactu said, just as all three men exited the back door of his house. Klactu pressed a button on his panel and a bolt of blue light shot out, vaporizing all three of them and destroying half of Nathan's house. The entire structure went up in flames as Klactu aimed for the sky and in an instant they were space-bound.

Why'd you save me? Nathan asked

You helped me put Void away for the rest of eternity and for that I'm grateful. I knew the gorgons would come for you if you ever talked about that day, so I left the Amulet of Fgiris around your neck to keep track of you.

Thank you for saving me. Nathan said.

Just don't make me regret it. So, where should we go first? The sun is rising on Mars in a few hours, and we could just catch it. Interested? Klactu asked.

Let's do it!

Nathan sat back and watched the stars fly by as he and Klactu cruised the cosmos on an intergalactic joyride.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GAMER

Three friends who play an online game, centered in middle earth, realize the game is coming to life. Will they survive the fight?

I need heals man! Tony, where you at dude!? Willy yelled through his computer microphone.

Right here, bro. Sorry! Had to go let the dog out. She was scratching at the door, and pissing me off. Tony replied. The two gamers lived three blocks from each other and rarely left the house, except to go to school.

Where's Scott? We need him to tank this next dungeon. He's so geared he could run this thing himself, without our help. Only three more levels and I’ll hit seventy. His dwarf paladin is geared to the teeth and can take some serious hits! We either need to get him or we have to look for a random tank. Willy said.

Yeah man, plus he's got herbalism and can create some mad potions for us to heal up, and get some mana! Tony replied. I'll call him.

I'm gonna' go craft some leather gear for my night elf rogue while we wait. Tony said.

Scott lived two blocks from Willy, in the opposite direction of Tony, and although the three of them knew exactly what they were talking about, every time they opened their mouths about Planet Orc War, what they were doing in it, and the specifics of any of their characters leveling, around anyone not in the know, such as their parents, or any other friends at school, they received puzzled looks, like they had sprouted second heads. Minutes later, Scott turned on his gaming mic, and joined in on the fun.

Alright, losers. What's on the agenda? Scott asked.

We're heading to the Dakda dungeon, in Miralase, and we need you to tank it. Tony said.

OK, let me go get some hot pockets before this begins. That dungeon takes two hours minimum, especially if you only have three players. Scott said.

You're geared to the teeth bro; you should be able to run through it! I got you on heals. Tony said. Tony would typically heal each player as they ran through the dungeon, and Scott's character would absorb the most amount of damage, while holding the attention of the end level bosses as Willy and Tony would hit them with their weapons and magic.

You should really have five players for this dungeon guys. Let's throw a shout out in trade chat to see if anyone wants to join our party for damage dealing. Scott said.

Where are you guys? Willy asked.

I'm flying out to Miralase on my bat. Hey, there must be some kind of a glitch in the game though. I was just flying over a graveyard full of zombies and they vanished. Tony said.

The evening news was playing on a television behind Willy, and although he was concentrating on the digital world in front of him, he heard some of what they were saying.

This just in. It has just been brought to our attention that the dead have risen from the grave in at least one graveyard on the south side of town. If you can believe this, the walking dead are wearing chain mail armor, and appear to be medieval warriors. A male newscaster said.

It must be a Halloween prank or something. Kids will do anything for attention. A female newscaster commented.

"It is October first, so you may be right, Sheila. It sounds like we're off to a spooktacular start." The male anchor said. They both laughed in that fake, tin can way, that news anchors sometimes do when they think they’re being clever.

Hey Tony, I think your zombies ended up in the south side graveyard. Ha ha ha! Willy joked. The other two dismissed him.

OK, it looks like we're on our own. You guys ready to hit this dungeon? Tony said.

Let's do it. I got nothin' better to do anyway. Scott replied.

Almost there, give me a minute. Said Willy.

In about five minutes, the three electronic avatars were standing before the large black gates of a massive castle. Dragons soared and swooped far above as black clouds swirled in a purple sky. The dead lay strewn all around, piles of forever rotting and forgotten non-player characters that had met their match at the gates of Sworn Castle. Before they went in, a player from an opposing faction called The Swarm landed next to them and emoted a friendly gesture.

Should we gank this guy? Tony asked. He wanted to know whether they should kill the opposing faction character simply for being in their space.