Read the latest installment of Tag Team in Space the collaborative saga from J. Naomi Ay (The Two Moons of Rehnor) & Ahmad Taylor (Dark Side of the Moon)
Check out Episode 5 on J. Naomi's Blog here: Jerry (Episode 5)
Episode 6
Derrick:
“I can’t believe this shit is
happening on a day like today. Why am I always getting stuck in situations like
this?” I asked emptily. I should have known better than to mutter even a single
word out loud.
Doctor guy and smelly head couldn’t
resist chiming in; “This is a rough day for me too. I’m supposed to start my
new assignment today and I need to be there pretty soon. This is certainly not
how I expected my day to go either” Jerry added.
“Fogwat like Jerry. Fogwat like
Derrick. They like Fogwat?” the creature asked.
I had neither the energy nor the
inclination to make new friends, especially with these two, but it appeared
they were not going to play the quiet
game too well, so I reluctantly responded.
“Okay Fogwat, you got that glow
coming out of that big head of yours and you got the three eyes to see better,
so you lead the way for us, got it?”
“Fogwat see. Fogwat show the way”
the Martian said, walking up the tube ahead of us. Doctor guy looked over at me
as if he needed my approval to move forward so I turned and began to follow
Fogwat.
“So, Derrick… Tell me about
yourself. Who are you, where you from, what brings you to Mars?” doctor Jerry
asked me. It was very hot in the tube, my head was pounding and the stench from
the thing walking ahead of us was nauseating, I did my best to ignore Jerry’s
questions and forge on.
“You seem pretty wound up,
anything you wanna’ talk about buddy?” he continued, obviously not taking the
hint to shut the hell up.
I spun around and placed my hand
against his chest. His heart was beating pretty rapidly which meant he was
nervous, which let me know I was in control, which I liked; “Listen up Jerry. I
am not your buddy by any means. Not
your friend, not your pal and certainly not your buddy, so let’s be super clear on that point” I finished, trying to
look into his eyes through the darkness.
“Hey Derrick, take it easy man. I
know this is a stressful situation but you have to relax. We are going to get
out of here soon and make our way to our individual destinations shortly, I
promise. Now, if you need another pill or something for your anxiety, I’m a
doctor so I have…” I quickly cut him off; “A doctor, I know Jerry. You
mentioned that before. I don’t need any pills, or any new friends, or any of
this conversation. Quite frankly, what I need from you is some silence so that
I can think a bit and figure out how we are going to get out of this stupid
tube before I lose my breakfast all over the place. No you and what’s his face…” I turned to gesture
over to the Martian thing leading the way, but it was completely dark around
us. I turned toward the direction it walked in but saw nothing. I turned the
other way but again saw nothing. I could not see the dim glow of his huge head
anywhere.
“Argh! What the hell? Now we lost
the smelly thing, son of a bitch. You gotta’ stop nagging me Jerry, ‘cause I
need to get the hell out of here, and that thing is our only source of light,
so we gotta’ find it and use it to find our way, you understand me?” I yelled
at Jerry, keeping my hand on his chest just to know where he was.
