Casinos in Space, a full-length novel serialized for Casino Detroit Magazine
Copyright © 2000 - 2010 By Howard Berenbon
Chapter 11
Abuse
Paul woke up with a terrible headache and one new bump on his head, the second in the same number of days. Though he was groggy, his memory of the disturbing events returned. He opened his eyes to see the ceiling of the cave hundreds of feet above. It was populated by dozens of stalagmites pointing in his direction. When he tried to sit up, he couldn’t. His arms and legs were tied down, and that’s when he knew he was in deep trouble.
“Slim, where are you?” he called with panic in his voice. He regretted going with him in the first place. Then he heard a voice and moved his head to the right and could see sunlight shinning through the entrance to the cave, but nothing else. He moved his head to the left to see a cave wall in the distance. But, then he looked up and was startled to see a large green face with a huge grin staring down at him.
“Got you,” Morb said. “Where is your friend?”
Paul saw the green mouth moved, but couldn’t understand a word it said, and he said, “What?” He was definitely scared. And he new now that following Slim Brody was the biggest mistake of his life. He would have to be very lucky to get out of this predicament.
Morb repeated his question, but this time yelling, “ Where is your friend, man?”
Paul tried to protect his ears from the shouting, but his hands were tied down and couldn’t move them. Fearing that the creature would hit him again, he closed his eyes and braced for the worst. But after a few minutes without an incident, he opened his eyes and the green thing was gone. “Oh,” he sighed. He was safe for the moment at least.
Then Paul heard a familiar voice off in the distance saying, “Hey, Buddy Boy.” At first he wasn’t sure if he should feel relief or fear. If that was Slim, would he free him and help him escape, or possibly get him into more trouble? He turned his head toward the direction of the sound but didn’t see anyone.
“Over here, Buddy,” It said.
Paul located the sound directly to his left, but he still couldn’t see anyone.
“Lookie down here, Buddy,” It said.
Paul then looked down and was startled, and shocked, to see a huge ant on the ground, about a foot long, with the head of Slim attached, starring up with a big grin.
Just then, Morb returned with one of his men, and they pulled Paul off the ground and sat him upright. Morb then screamed, “Where is your friend?” Then, the Brinan, Dulk, slapped him across the face.
Paul yelped with pain, and fell back to the cave floor, now face to face with the Slim’s head, and red blood oozing from his nose.
“Pauli, boy,” Slim said. “Sorry you’re hurting. Tell him ‘you don’t know’ and they will understand.”
Paul immediately obeyed, yelling, “I don’t know. Please don’t hit me again. I don’t now where he is.“ He then started sobbing uncontrollably.
“Sit him up, Dulk,“ Morb said. “Not knowing, is no help, but it is responding.”
Paul was relieved for a moment because they understood him, and somehow, Slim made it happen. Though still helpless, he hoped the truth would save him. Then he looked directly at the green face and said, “He is not a real person. I thought he was just from my imagination, but apparently he was not because I know others have seen him. His name is Slim, and he stole a shuttlecraft from the spaceship Las Vegas we traveled on, and we got here somehow. And now I’m in big trouble and Jane will be upset with me. She must be worrying herself sick. Oh, no I don’t know what to do. Please don’t’ hit me again, please. I’ll do anything you ask.”
Dulk raised his hand, and Paul yelled, “Okay, okay. I know where he is. He’s on the ground, and is disguised as a giant ant.” It sounded ludicrous, but it was true.
They looked to the ground, but saw nothing. “No animal is on the ground.”
“He was there, I swear,” Paul said, and then braced to be hit again. He was hoping that Slim would somehow cut his bonds and wisp him away on the shuttle, back to the Las Vegas.
Durk, then raised his hand again, and hit Paul in the face, knocking him unconscious on the cave floor. “Leave him there,” Morb commanded. “We will interrogate him later.” Then they both left.
When Paul awoke, some time later, he heard a voice in the distance saying, “Paul, over here. Hey, over here, Pauli.”
It was that troublemaker, Slim, Paul thought and said, “Go home, Slim. Please leave me alone. You’ve caused me enough problems. Get out.”
“I’m here to bite your restraints, and free you forever, Paul,” Slim said. He was now right next to him, looking up into his face.
Paul then he heard a crunching sound and looked down to see Slim chewing on his restraints. And in just a few minutes, the rope dropped away from his wrists and he was free.
“Quick, follow me,” Slim said, and then the ant scurried off toward the back of the cave, the large human head bobbing sideways as the insect moved along the ground.
Paul hesitated for a second, and then said, “Okay, I’ll be right there. But, slow down, please. I won’t be able to find you.” He was reluctant to follow Slim again, but he had no other choice. And he felt ridiculous following a big ant with a human head on a planet where he was escaping from Brinans who wanted the person, or thing he was following. It was crazy and ridiculous. He hoped it was all just a dream and he’d wake up in his bed on Earth next to Jane, get up and make coffee and breakfast and begin the day. As he was daydreaming, he accidentally stubbed his toe on a rock, and it hurt like hell. He realized that he wasn’t home, and it wasn’t a dream. He was really on another world chasing a crazy insect through a dark cave, trying to escape for his life.
They walked for about ten minutes, up and then down paths, sometimes level, but often with a steep rise, then down again to a lower level. They climbed up one more time, and down for about a quarter mile when Paul saw a light in the distance. As they approached, they saw an entrance to a large cavern, lights shining through, illuminated the path like moonlight shimmering on clear dark waters.
Slim stopped abruptly and said, “Stop and hold still, Buddy Boy. Danger ahead.” They than heard a murmur in the direction of the light. Muffled voices leaked from within the illuminated cave, and the sounds echoed along the path.
When they reach the entrance, Paul peered through. He saw an ornately decorated room of red, blue and gold. A tall green statue of a Brinan with fist raised, stood in the center and encircled by fifty or more rows of red pew-like seats where hundreds of green humanoids were now seated. In front of the statue was a Brinan looking a lot like Morb speaking to the group. Golden body armor lined the back of cave, glinting in the flickering torchlight.
“Thank you for assembling,” the Brinan said to his audience. “We are here to prepare for war.”
“We must strike, soon,” shouted a humanoid from seats near the back. And the crowd roared.
“We will move on them soon enough,” said Morb. “We are still preparing. We do not want to strike in haste, but only when the time is right. For now, we must prepare.”
Paul and Slim watching as ten of Morbs’ best men dressed in full armor moved up beside him. The crowd cheered again.
“We can’t just walk right in and excuse ourselves, and then pass through to the other side, and escape,” Paul said. “They’ll tear us apart.”
“Okay, young man. Good point. Let’s back track and find another exit.”
They moved passed the entrance, searching for a way through, but found themselves back again, but on the opposite side, apparently walking in circles.
“It seems like this is the only way through. As I said before, now what Slim?”
“Then, we’ll have to make a real run for it, Pauli.” Slim moved his big head peered through the entrance and he decided they’d move around the back, and head toward the exit on the far side.
“They’ll see me, and catch me,” Paul protested. “And I’ll be dead and no one, not Jane or anyone else will ever see me again, and they’ll forget me very fast. “ He was trembling after he spoke.
“No they won’t,” Slim said. “I’ll distract them, and protect you.
“Do it now, Pauli,” He commanded.
“Now?” Paul yelled, but then he obeyed, running swiftly to the left, following the curve of the cave, and passing the gold armor stacked in the back. In just thirty seconds he was halfway to the exit when he heard the Brinans shouting, but he kept on going. In another few seconds, he successfully jumped through the side exit and landed on the dark path. Now panting, he rested to regain his strength. He took a quick look behind him, and to his surprise, no one had followed. But, he could see several hundred humanoids crowded around the center statue and the big head on an ant’s body floating above the green fist.
“Come and get me,” Slim yelled. “Catch me if you can, you green parrots.” He hovered for a moment as shots from weapons echoed in the cave. “Ha, ha, you missed, you green slime.” He hovered for a moment more, his head bobbing left and right, and then disappeared into thin air.
As the shots rang out, Paul got off the ground and started running, jogging, and then walking, up and down the path, until he was exhausted again and sat down to rest. When he looked to the ground he was startled to see Slim looking up at him.
“Well, it’s about time you made it, Buddy Boy. Now catch your breath again, and start running because we’ve got to move. They’re on our trail, and right behind us.”
Slim, scurrying on the ground on six legs, was leading Paul as fast as he could away the cavern, now about a ½ mile from the exit. Every several feet, Paul turn to see if they were being followed, but so far no one was approaching.
The path started downward at a steep angle, narrowed, then turned to the right for a few hundred feet, and turned back again, now level. They stopped running, but continued walking at a fast pace. After a few minutes of walking, Paul noticed a large archway in the distance. They slowed their pace and cautiously approached.
They archway stood tall at the end of the passageway with a large stone door below blocking their. Petroglyphs covered the stones with pictures of crawling insects, primitive looking weapons, animals being hunted and solders fighting.
“Okay, now what do we do,” Paul said nervously, looking back to see if anyone was after them.
“Don’t worry, Pauli. Just knock and say ‘trick or treat.”
“You must be kidding me,” Paul said. “Please stop that.” He then sat down on the ground under the archway and started concentrating on the picture and scenes. And after a few minutes, he began to calm down. That didn’t mean he wasn’t worried that they’d be followed, and he kept looking back to check, but he was less tense.
“Find any tricky doorknobs?” Slim asked.
“No, not yet. But I am now scanning every inch and looking for just that. Thanks for asking.” He was happy to sit and rest, even if they couldn’t find a way through. He needed to renew his energy. “Think,” he thought to himself. “What are you looking for? Some symbol or pictures that can help unlock the door?”
“Think!” he said out loud.
“Think about what, Pauli?” Slim asked.
“Sorry, I’m just talking to myself.”
He scanned the door methodically, staring at the top and working his eyes to the right and down. “Any mechanical engineer worth his salt can figure this out,” he thought. “It just might take some time. I hope we have the time.”
About half way down Paul spotted 3 rectangles. Two were vertical and one was on a diagonal between them. “That might be it,” Paul thought.
He moved his fingers over the rectangles and tried to push on them one at a time, but they didn’t move. Then he tried various combinations: like pushing two and then one, or all three at the same time. He kept trying different combinations.
“Hey, Bighead,” Paul said looking down at Slim. “Any suggestions?” He was much more relaxed now, he could even joke.
Slim climbed up on Paul’s knee and looked up at the pictures. “You’re the engineer. Keep pressing those buttons, and then kick the door in.
Nice to see you’ve got your sense of humor back. You take things much too seriously.”
“Can you blame me? Every time I’m with you I get into trouble. I disappeared from the Las Vegas and friends and my wife probably think I’m dead.” He then turned to the petroglyths and said, “I’m going to get this!”
“Then, go, bro, go,” Slim said.
Paul continued pressing the rectangles in various combinations. He’d thought the middle, diagonal rectangle had something to do with opening the door, so that may be a key symbol. But there was probably a combination that involved the vertical rectangles in some sequence. “I will find it,” he thought.
After about a ½ hour working with the symbols, Paul heard a click. “Did you hear that, Slim? Did you hear a click?”
Slim perked and said, “Yep, I did.”
Paul repeated the sequence using both hands, pressing the left and right rectangles twice and then tapping the center rectangle three times. There was a loud click and Paul heard Slim say, “Kick it, Pauli. Kick it.”
Paul followed the command and pushed the bottom of the door with his right foot. Suddenly they heard a creaking sound and the stone door swung inward, away from Paul and into the darkness. Their path was now clear to go.
Paul was excited, now facing an opening that could lead to his freedom. He moved his head into the opening, but it was too dark to see anything. ”It’s now or never, Slim. I’ve got to walk though.”
Then, let’s go Bro,”
He casually stepped from under the arch and into the blackness, right foot first. But, he knew he had a problem when his right foot couldn’t find solid ground. And in just a split second he fell head first on all fours through the door, and starting sliding downward at a steep angle. The pathway turned into a wet and muddy slide and he started accelerating downward. He tried to slow his decent using his hands, but it didn’t help, and he kept moving faster. “Help,” he yelled, but no one heard him.
If he weren’t so terrified, it would have been fun. It was like riding Disney’s, Pirates of the Caribbean without a boat. Except, at Disney World, you knew you were safe when you reached the bottom. Here, he was sliding down a tunnel to nowhere, and maybe to his death. So, he moved his hands around his head and braced for the end. And just a few seconds later, he reached the bottom flying at some 40 miles per hour into a pool of water. Remarkably, he was not hurt. He was just cold and wet, and by himself once again.
He stood up, now drenching wet, but happy that his arms and legs worked without pain. To his surprise he could see some details around him. He knew he was much deeper underground, maybe about 40 feet or so, yet there was light streaming in from high above. He was about 10 feet into a large cave, maybe 1000 feet across, with boulders scattered in every direction and a path that weaved through the center. From his perspective, he could see that the path moved up for a short distance and then down in elevation. Cold and starting to shiver, he cautiously moved toward the end of the pool, and climbed out onto dry ground. Then he sat on a nearby boulder to dry out. The cave was not at all inhabited, like the meeting hall he had escaped.
After the dripping stopped, he remembered Slim and called, “Where are you, Slim? Did you follow me?” There was no response, but he then felt something fall on his head, and wiped it off. It was a sticky white glob of that resembled a grape vine, which now stuck to his hand. So, he transferred it to the side of the boulder saying, “What is that?”
Then it got up and started moving up the path, and after about a minute it leveled and turned to the left leading between to large rock, then appeared to slope down again. Before he crossed, he looked back at the pool, which now appeared as just a puddle at the entrance and not the dangerous deep lake he thought he fell to.
He turned back and started to walk through when he noticed that a thin transparent curtain blocked it. He stopped to examine the obstruction, and it looked like the sticky vine that dropped on his head. Touching the surface confirmed its stickiness, and strength. He pushed hard, but the curtain wouldn’t move. So he walked back on the path to find a stick or rock he could use to break through. Obviously, he had to be cautious, because a large insect may have built it, now waiting on the other site to have him for dinner. Jane would not hear of such an act.
He picked up a rock the size of his fist just off the path, turned, and with a snap of his wrist the projectile headed towards the obstruction, only to bounce back like a tennis ball on a racket. He ducked just in time to miss being hit. He turned again away from the path looking for a bigger rock, but when he turned back, a large black spider, about the size of a German Shepard was crawling his way. He jumped off the path, and grabbed a rock and turned toward the approaching spider. When it neared, Paul snapped his weapon at its eyes, but missed, and glanced off its back. Although unhurt, the spider was knocked off balance for moment. That was enough distraction to allow Paul to dash through the insect’s web and burst out the other side, but the spider was following.
He followed the path down, then weaved to the right, and ran straight again, and was about halfway through the cave when he felt tired and out of breath, so he had to stop and rest. From where he stood, he could see the other side, and knew that just one more quick dash would get him through. After a few minutes, he was rested enough to run the rest of the way. But when he tired to walk forward, he couldn’t move his right leg. Looking down, he saw a rope tied to his ankle. He pulled with all his force and it moved, but it was attached to a huge black spider now starring up at him. Paul froze with fear, and then started franticly chanting,“ no, no, no, no, go, go, go, go, go.” He kept repeating the words, and as he did he griped a rock still in his fist and threw it as hard as he could between the thousand eyes of the beast. The rock immediately met its target and tore off one eye. Not appearing hurt, the insect leaped at Paul, but Paul twisted quickly out of its path, while swinging his right foot at his attacker. He made contact and ripped its second eye away. But it didn’t stop. So Paul kicked it hard, and it turned writhing in pain. He then ripped the web from his ankle and escape down the path. As he hurried away, he pulled the web from his face and threw it to the side.
He was only a few yards down the path when he stumbled and fell to the ground. “Had he lost his footing,” he thought? The he looked up and was startled to see another black spider over him. “Oh, no,” he yelled, and then blacked out.
When Paul awoke he was hanging upside down incased in the same soft web that was stuck to his hand. He had a headache, and was terrified, and upset that he could ever get into such a dilemma. He should never have gone with Slim, he thought. But, then what happened had happened so he can’t change it. But he was uncomfortable hanging upside down; and his head hurt and he was dizzy. He had to free himself and escape, and before the spider returned to have him for lunch.
He tried moving his limbs, but he couldn’t move a thing. Then he tried to rock inside the cocoon, and was able to move slightly. Next, he tried shifting his shoulders while twisting as hard as he could, and he moved a little more. He was making some progress, so he tried twisting again. And after ten minutes of trying, he miraculously managed to get one hand free. He rested for a minute, then grabbed and pulled at the sticky mess covering his chest and his other arm, and finally freed his other hand. With two hands he could work much faster, and he removed most of the web from his upper body. Now, with arms and upper body free of the web, he flailed forward and rocked, now hanging free like a bat without wings. He rocked again and was moving like a pendulum, his swings getting wider until he felt the web at his legs give way. He quickly moved his hands down to brace for the fall, but slipped slowing down to the ground. What a relief, he felt. He look up and saw two other victims hanging nearby. They were green and alien, and looked shriveled and quite dead.
But Paul was in for a surprise. All his flailing attracted his captor, and it was starring at him when he landed, fangs forward, and hairy legs readied to spring. And to make things worse, a second spider was approaching from above the web. He had to move fast, or he was sure he’d be dead this time. So, he grunted as loud as he could to try to scare the insects, and at the same time smashed his right foot into the spider’s eyes. It made a high-pitched squeak, and then he kicked it aside. But, he wasn’t safe yet, because the other spider jumped to the ground. He quickly rolled to the right to avoid its attack, and then kicked at it with his other foot. But he missed and it jumped away. Paul then screamed again as loud as he could and stood up to face the beast. He was sticky mess. He needed a bath and he was starved, but happy to be right side up on the ground.
The spider and Paul stood motionless, facing each other. But Paul had to make a move before it attacked. He screamed one more time at the top of his lungs and jumped up in the air and down with both feet, smashing it’s abdomen. Blood gushed in every direction as it writhed to its death. He was exhausted and dropped to the ground to rest. Then he heard a familiar voice saying, “Hey, buddy boy, how ya doing?”
Paul looked down and saw Slim’s big head still on the body of an ant, looking at him.
“Where were you when I needed help, Slim? I’ve been through a lot since you disappeared back there.”
“Sorry, Pauli. I got a little lost. But I’m happy to see you made it.”
“No help from you,” Paul replied. “I was almost that spider’s breakfast.” He pointed to the dead carcass on the ground.
“I am so sorry, Pauli. I can’t always be there to help you. But you survived on your own, Bro, and I’m proud.” And then he scurried ahead, turned, and said, “ This way, Paul. Follow your buddy.”
The path meandered down into a wet area with pools of dark water on each side. Then it moved up a steep embankment and over a narrow wooden bridge, with a fast moving underground river far below. He thought he heard splashing sound, and detected the smell of fish, but maybe it was his imagination because he was very hungry.
After fifteen minutes of walking level, the path narrowed, and spiraled upward. After a few minutes into their ascent, Paul began to breath harder and he had to rest. Now, shafts of light beaming from the top of the cave illuminated their path reflecting rainbow colors from small rocks on either side. Paul reached into a pile of stones and grabbed a handful of what looked liked a treasure of glittering jewels waiting for the lucky prospector to make the find.
“They’re beautiful, Pauli,” Slim said. “Your Jane will just love them.”
“Yes, I was thinking of her. Even if they’re just melted glass, she’ll appreciate what I found for her.” He slipped the find into his pants pocket. Then he looked around and found a second mound and reached for that. “It can’t hurt to have a few more,” he said. And stuffed the rest into his other pocket. “That should do it.”
“You should stake a claim to that treasure,” Pauli.
“Can I?” Paul asked.
“I’m not sure if they do that sort of thing around these parts,” Slim said. “Couldn’t hurt to ask, once we get back to the Boardwalk.”
Rising from the ground, Paul said, “I’m ready to get out of this cave. Let’s start moving. I’ll carry you, Slim, if you can’t keep up with me.”
“Well, thanks. That’s nice of you. Cause I’m a little slow in this condition.”
“I guess a turtle would be slower,” Paul said. “But, but, please don’t change into a turtle. I’m having trouble dealing with you as a big ant.”
Slim looked up at Paul with his big human head on a large ant’s body and said,” Well, why didn’t you say so before? I can work with you on that. Wait just one minute.” He crawled to a dark corner a few feet away, and in moments he was back standing next to Paul in full human form.
Paul was started, at first, and then hugged Slim. “It is so good to see you back to your normal self. Now, can you stay that way?”
“I will try, Pauli, I will try.”
Paul and Slim now walked side-by-side up the narrow spiral path until they finally reached the top close to the source of the light. From their location they could see most of the cave and part of the river below, and they were alone.
“Let’s get out of here, Buddy,” Slim said. “We need get back on track to the boardwalk and wins some. And don’t forget to stake claim to that little fortune you found down there.” Then Slim darted from Paul’s side, and exited the cave. Paul rushed behind him
They were now standing on the mountainside over looking a green valley below, and in the distance they could see the Salty Sea and the tiny Boardwalk. It was late afternoon and the blue sky was diminishing as the twin suns moved down casting their tall shadows over the cave entrance.
Paul peered over the brink and said, “We have to find a way down.”
“Yes, Pauli, and we’ll be going right to that Boardwalk.”
“Yes, oh, right. But what I mean to say is that now we have to get down again.”
But Slim was way ahead of him and said,” Over here, Pauli.” He was at an opening that leads downward.
They started down following a brick and stone path built into the mountainside. Some of the stones were loose, and Paul stumbled and almost fell. But it was the warning he needed, and then proceeded cautiously. It was easier then he thought, though they rested several times. About halfway down the mountain, the path turned sharply to the right and led them through a natural archway of red stone worn by years of winds and rain and into a plateau overlooking the sea. The twin suns were now a deep orange and just touching the Salty Sea, and they could see the Boardwalk clearer now, though it was still miles.
The pathway opened into a small clearing. As they walked into the middle of the clearing, three green Brinans jumped into their view and approached.
“Oh, no, not again, Buddy,” Slim said. “Better run for it.”
Paul started to jog, but was tackled by two green Brinans from behind. Two more Brinans charged at Slim, but he was too quick and dodged them only to crash into Paul and his new captors, knocking them to the ground. Slim continued to the steps on the other side of the clearing, and headed down.
Morb grabbed Paul by one arm and another Brinan held his shoulders. He couldn’t move if he wanted to. He was exhausted from the climb out of the cave and needed food. But he couldn’t and wouldn’t resist. “Where is your friend, man?”
Paul understood and said, “He’s right here.” And looked around but Slim was gone again.
“Leave me alone,” Paul yelled, startling the Brinans. “And why are you holding me? Let me go, please.”
“Where is your human friend?” Morb asked, ignoring Paul’s demands. “You will be released when it is time.”
“I don’t know where Slim is,” Paul said. “He’s not exactly a normal human being like myself. He just comes and goes, and I wish he would go away and stay out of my life! He’s ruining it!”
“Where does he go?” Morb said. Paul was too upset to respond when a second Brinan nervously directed Morb’s attention to the side of the mountain. They were all looking at a large mosquito with the head of Slim Brody staring down at them. It was the size of a small pickup truck an was clinging to the side of the hill, the huge head turned and stared in their direction.
Morb did not appear alarmed, but calmly said, “Shoot it!”
Slim looked down at the group surrounding Paul and said, “Howdy, green guys, howdy Pauli. Stay right there, and I’ll get right to you.”
As Slim turned, a pair of wings opened on his back and he started to lift up into the air, his big head bobbing up and down like dashboard ornament on a bumpy road. A loud buzzing sounded echoed from the mountainside forcing Paul to cover his ears. It did not appear to affect the Brinans.
The large insect now hovering, turned and quickly flew at the green group with its proboscis pointed like a black sword ready to strike. The Brinans darted away from Paul in every direction. But Slim swooped down fast, and stabbed two aliens closest to Paul through the neck. They fell where they stood bleeding green on the ground. Slim flew at two other Brinans running in the opposite direction, and skewed them from behind in one sweep. He carried them up into the air, and then dropped them down into the valley below. The rest of the group escaped up the path.
Paul stood frozen in place, stunned at the sight of Slim’s performance and then yelled, “Thank you, Slim Brody. Thank you. Thank you. Bravo, bravo.” But if Slim heard, he didn’t respond because he was flying towards the cave and the rest of the group, fleeing for their lives.
Paul was alone, and finally free. He could now follow the path down, and find his way to the Boardwalk to be with Jane and his friends. They must have arrived by now, and were wondering and worrying about him. He missed everyone and was tired of following Slim from trouble to more trouble. So, he started down the mountainside alone, walking toward the setting suns.
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To be continued .....
Chapter 2: You Can Count On Me
