Last week I ran into Grim at G-LOC to catch up on our latest adventures, after my wild scare in the asteroid field. A couple of beers later, there was no way to avoid the subject any longer, so I had to tell him the full story. Knowing me and how I loathed superstition, he was expecting to die laughing.
“So there I was, middle of nowhere in my Starrunner, when I found a signal worth looking into. A bunch of pirate miners had blown each other up and I figured there was a quick scrapping opportunity to take advantage of before a proper salvage crew came in, just grab a few small items and data disks.”
“It was a poor haul by any account, mostly junk really, but I was over the moon to find a teddy floating around the debris. Hey, don’t give me that look! I can be girly sometimes, no?” Grim laughed heartily at the thought. She was anything but girly, but he wanted to keep his teeth so he kept quiet.
Drios continued, “A little while later, mostly spent hacking and decrypting – wild, I know – I noticed the teddy showing up in different places around the ship, but didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. I always get myself in a superstitious mood and have nightmares around the Day of the Vara, y’know?”
“So, anyway, one night I woke up hearing a repetitive creaky noise I had heard in my nightmares before. This time, I wanted to get my head straight. The noise disappeared once I was awake but something was definitely off. My room was freezing cold, I could see my breath making steam, so I went down to check the life support systems. Luckily I picked up my gun and undersuit along the way, had a bad feeling about the whole thing…”
Grim downed his beer and listened intently.
“Ship’s status report came back clean, so I sent some hand drones to inspect outside for leaks and I checked the ship components meanwhile. All freakin’ clear! A bit uneasy, I decided to go back to my room and see what the deal was over there.”
“It was piercing cold inside, I even exhaled steam inside my helmet and couldn’t see a bloody thing out. Oxygen levels were normal, but temps were below -10 C and dropping. My undersuit had to withstand much worse than that normally, you know. There was no time to waffle around though, I had to see what was going on so I released another pocket drone to check for leaks, which all of a sudden dropped dead around the bed! In an adrenaline-fuelled rage, I removed my helmet to be able to see.”
“My head and eyelids froze white, as I got closer and closer to the bed… and then I saw the teddy bear looking eerily at me. I could barely think by that time, let alone move my limbs properly, but somehow managed to get the gun out and aim at it, shivering badly. I could feel it in my head, whispering… then… I blanked.”
Grim gasped, another beer in his hand, hanging in the air for a few minutes.
“Fortunately, I woke up in one piece, though sprawled on the floor, with sore limbs and a massive headache that only strong liquor would cure. The temperature came back to normal, but my bed was heavily charred from the laser burst, along with that creepy teddy. Tossed it out of the airlock as fast as I could, still filled with a sense of dread and headed back to Area 18 to take a long break for scavenging. So here I am, a bit shaken, but with a thirst for beer you’ve never seen.”
The two friends laughed heartily and told each other scary stories as the night went on. Heading back to Adira Falls, Drios passed by a thrift shop with a bunch of teddy bears on display. As she moved up the stairs, one of them turned its little head towards her and cracked a smile.