The Last Ferry (Part II)
(Serial Flash Sci-fi) “They stepped aside and revealed a section of the transparent floor, a view of the earth below."
Episodes
The Last Ferry (Part II)
by Annie Hendrix
Marcus stared at the empty ferry terminal as he touched his shirt pocket. His ticket was still there, a thin sheet of smudged thermal paper. Across the plaza, the door to the Earth-bound elevator opened, revealing the circular chamber of empty harnesses. There were clean feeding tubes draped against the headrests. The taste of the nutritional slurry he’d consumed for two-and-a-half days wasn’t as bad as what it did to his stomach, but he was hungry. He would have taken it.
“The Earth-bound elevator is now boarding,” said a voice over the loudspeaker, and it was then that Marcus noticed the marquee.
The Mars Destiny: Two weeks, 4 days, 23 hours…
Earth: BOARDING
Marcus took his elevator ticket out of his pocket and read the small text on the front.
No Refunds, No Returns, No Exchanges.
He looked around for an employee, a vendor, for anyone. He banged on the metal gates of Lava Pretzel, Pizza Mini, and Bean Dream, but no one answered. Only he and the Snoop remained in the empty plaza, its carbon fiber legs bent, head lowered to the vinyl.
“The doors are now closing. Please step away from the doors,” said the voice over the intercom.
Marcus walked past the elevator door to the token machine, scanned his bracelet, and as the elevator departed, he watched the tokens clatter in the catch.
***
There was only one vending machine at the end of the corridor when Marcus arrived. The one that read “out of order” had been removed, revealing a large metal grate in the floor. Marcus attempted to purchase a package of Block Cheese from the operable machine but dropped his token onto the floor and it rolled away from him and through the bars of the metal grate. When he bent down to see if he could retrieve it, he heard music coming from the opening.
“Hello!” he called into the darkness.
Marcus pressed his face to the bars. The faint smell of pipe tobacco drifted into his nostrils and the music—classical. Violins. As his eyes adjusted, he could just barely make out a small figure through the corner of a square ceiling vent some distance below. It was a man in a dark suit. A woman in a midnight blue evening gown joined him, then they stepped aside and revealed a section of the transparent floor, a view of the earth below. He stared, mesmerized, until another woman walked into the small frame and blocked his view. She was holding a lava pretzel.
Marcus pulled a token out of his pocket and dropped it into the opening. It didn’t take long for it to make a sound. Then he tried to lift the grate and it came free. He pulled it all the way off the opening, then looked around. The Snoop was there, watching.
“Please return to the lobby,” commanded the Snoop.
But Marcus didn’t listen, and as he clambered down into the terminal’s ventilation system, the Snoop fired a tranquilizer into his exposed arm, and he fell limp and unconscious into the dark.
More Short Sci-Fi by Annie Hendrix:
The Last Ferry (Part I)
When the elevator arrived at the dock, the people inside pushed up against the door of the humid metal box. The doors opened and the body of passengers, squished together by the finite opening, moved as one mass through the elevator door and into the plaza. Marcus was among them, wedged between a woman dragging a tired-drunk child by the arm and the elderly man Marcus had befriended on the multi-day journey from Earth’s surface to the ferry terminal.
Hector
The Twilight Zone redefined storytelling, drawing audiences into the unimaginable. Now, 66 years later, top writers, artists, and musicians are stepping into its eerie glow with a fresh twist. Ready to see where they’ll take you?
Elevator Music
First came the elevator, then The Comb. Jean scoffed when she heard it on the radio. I was too busy listening to Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage to care. Jean increased the volume on her internal speaker by tapping her temple as Sylv!a delivered the broadcast.
I have no idea what's going on— but I liked it. Reminds me of something.