Six Scifi Stories Read Online Free Page A

reached for his cigarettes and fished one out. As he lit it, he listened to the chaos outside--the yips and whistles and squeals of 'Zoids in frenzy, the splashing of body fluids, the smacking of corpses on the street. It was a
round-the-clock madhouse out there, like a vision of Hell...and he had made it.
    He tried not to think about how many 'Zoids were dying out there as he smoked, how many had died since his arrival on Ectos. Instead, he reminded himself that the death was necessary for the survival of the 'Zoids, that in order to fend off the invasion, they had to take drastic measures to activate violent tendencies.
    Still, Luther worried that it might all fly out of control. Clearly, the 'Zoids were getting carried away with their newfound murderous impulses; Luther expected a worldwide escalation as the killing gift spread around the planet. He thought it was possible that the 'Zoids would get so caught up in their collective rampage that they would be too disorganized or depopulated to fight when the invaders arrived.
    Which would cancel out any balancing of the scales for Luther. If anything, it would dump him so far into the negative side that he would never even get a glimpse of the positive side again.
    He would be to blame. Conquered, the 'Zoids might have survived, might even have someday overthrown their conquerors. Thanks to Luther, however, the 'Zoids might kill themselves off on their own.
    It would have been the ultimate accomplishment for a death-hungry serial killer, a real work of art. Unfortunately, Luther wasn't a serial killer anymore. He wasn't sure what he was, but he knew he wasn't a serial killer.
    Â 
    *****
    The next morning, Boraf shuffled in excitedly, dripping with pink and yellow milk and inky fluid. Luther was still up, smoking, but he felt like crap; he was irritated that Boraf was still full of energy after being out murdering all night, and he was further peeved that the entire 'Zoid species never seemed to need sleep at all.
    "How was your night?" said Luther, blowing out smoke.
    Boraf sniffed loudly and backed away from the cloud that Luther had exhaled. "Night of history!" it said, voice shrill as a fire bell. "Boraf make many Ectozoid kill. Many Ectozoid make many more Ectozoid kill."
    "Looks like you did some killing yourself," said Luther.
    Boraf shook his tentacles, spraying fluid all over the walls and floor. "Want kill more," said the creature. A noise like a cross between a fart and fingernails scratching a chalkboard burst from its fluttering blowhole.
    "Yeah," said Luther, stubbing out his cigarette. "So anyway, that big invasion oughtta hit soon, right?"
    "Invasion two days," said Boraf, tentacles twisting and swaying.
    "And the Ectozoids are ready?" said Luther.
    "Ready two days," said Boraf. "Make many Ectozoid kill."
    Luther sighed. "It just seems like a lot of chaos right now. If there's an invasion coming in two days, shouldn't your people be getting prepared?"
    Boraf made a wheezing, oinking sound and bobbled his head. "Ectozoids prepare! Make ships ready kill now. Make troops ready fly ships."
    Luther felt relieved. It was the first reference he'd heard to any kind of defense preparations other than Ectozoids killing each other. "So you'll be ready in two days?"
    "Ready two days," said Boraf. "Ready save world."
    Luther nodded. "That's good. I was starting to think things were getting out of control with all the killing."
    Boraf had been fidgeting around, but it suddenly stopped. "Always control," it said. "Ectozoids good control."
    Luther smirked. "Except when you're all worked up about killing each other."
    "Control killing too," puffed Boraf. "Only kill weak. Only kill lazy."
    Luther had been reaching for another cigarette, and he stopped. "You're killing the weak?" he said, staring up at the jellyfish.
    "Need strong save world," said Boraf. "Need all strong no weak no lazy."
    Luther's stomach twisted. He had never considered that the apparent chaos masked a