The Alien Artifact 9 (Novelette) (8 page)

The dead man had been viciously beaten to
death, and I stood wondering what the hell the killer was up to
anyway.

Could it have been caused by the war or it
indirectly?

What was the motive? Why had all the people
been killed?

There was no connection between them!

Police inspector looked annoyed at not
having the case solved, and by the fact they had virtually nothing
on the killer, and it looked as if they would never do it now.

Marple swiftly handed me a sheet of paper
with information about the death and deaths, and I started to read
it, and studied the crumpled body as someone lifted the body, and I
realized that it was a reporter from the sheet of paper, and I
wondered if I knew him, and I studied his face.

I examined the complexion of the frozen
body, drained of blood, and from the expressions of people behind
nearby windows I realized how dangerous it made the place.

I wondered if the reporter had discovered
something, and knew that Marple would be investigating him and
questioning people he knew trying to find what he had been doing
before his death.

I attempted to work out the exact time that
it could have occurred, and where I had been, and was sure it could
have occurred at night, and I wondered if I should take it as a
warning from what had been at the hospital. Yet I could not be
sure, as all the facts added up to it not being, and nothing
actually suggested it actually was.

Locals that passed in the distance could not
understand what was happening, and people nearby seemed slightly
shocked, and I spotted what looked like marks on the ground where
the reporter had tried to crawl away in his last seconds of
life.

“
Who would want to shoot
him?
”
I
asked the inspector, frustrated at not seeing anything suggesting
an answer, and not being able to stay silent any longer.

“
What worries me more than
anything,
”
the inspector muttered back to Marple, with confusion,
“
is that I
don
’t
have
a clue!
”

“
They’ll
find something!” Marple assured him, confidently, and I realized he
had to have something, and I was surprised the inspector reacted in
the same way.

Chapter 17

The Army

Everything
seemed to be edging into disaster, especially the war, and the
killer not found, and the disturbances at the hospital and house,
and what had happened in the shaft, and strange occurrences
emerged, and this time seemed to gain power!

At the Home Guard headquarters I was left
with the other recruits and my attempt to tell them what happened
failed, and most put my memory deficiency down to drink, as they
drank a lot themselves, and in the end I went along with it, and
Godfrey and Clooney thought it was.

While listening to the recruits having a
dispute over racing horses, on which would win, I decided to show I
was not drunk after all, and in the end only laughed out loud at
them, and one asked me what horse I thought was better, and I just
decided to try to persuade them a horse I had heard winning before
was better, which I later discovered was a different horse, with a
similar name, and argued that the horse was far better than the
others, and in the end most stopped listening to me.

Godfrey eventually bet me it would lose, and
all the other soldiers became interested in the bet, and betting
against the captain, and perhaps persuaded by my confidence in the
horse.

I realized all the soldiers now had a
dispute with the captain, and his methods, and rigorous training,
and eventually all of them bet their horse would beat his horse,
and made me the originator and head of the idea.

When the captain left they persuaded me to
do everything I could to get it win against the captain’s horse,
and I started to realize the situation I had just put myself in,
and that the horse had to win, and in the end I bet a large sum of
money, and far more than I had ever bet before.

Later that day one of the other
soldiers rushed over to me and went straight up to my face and
stared straight in my eyes, and moaned loudly,
“
Malone! The captain wants
you!
”

I marched after the soldier to the captain’s
office, where he sharply knocked on his door, and I marched in.

Again I wondered why the hell I joined the
army, and could now barely recall anything of why. It was crazy! I
should have remained out of it and left the job for a more
experienced recruit, and someone that did the things they wanted,
which were far different than I had expected.

As I stood in front of his desk I listened
to two soldiers in the distance having an argument over racing
horses, on which would win, and in the end I laughed at it, and
Godfrey looked up at me and stared at me.

“
What do you think
then?
” he
asked.

“
They
’
re alright!
” I replied

“
Sure! The horses!
” he continued.

“
What for?
”

“
To race! I could win on the horse I
bet on!
”

The soldier
that took me there rushed in carrying out another order, and him
handed him a document, and rushed out.

“
Look at
this one! What a beauty! What do think, Malone?”

Godfrey pushed
over a pile of photos of horses, and I examined them, and just
agreed.

“
Can you
make good money from a good horse?” I finally asked, considering if
it was an easy way to make a lot of cash, and he just nodded to
agree.

After
examining the horses in more detail, realizing that they were
basically still all the same, I wondered how they could tell a good
horse, and in the end chose what looked like the fittest horse.

He was
surprised and instantly agreed.

“
About
that horse you and all the soldiers bet on …” he finally said
silently, examining me closely, and I sensed he was going to come
out with something.

“
What
you want to change your bet to it?” I replied smiling.

“
No! I
want you to make the racing horse all of you are betting on lose or
not run!”

“
That’s ridiculous!” I replied, nearly
laughing.

“
No! I want you to do it! As you’re
the one who did it!”

“
Did what?”

“
Put me in it! You’ve put me in it
again, Malone! That horse better not run or it better not
win!”

“
How the hell can I stop a horse
running?” I moaned, thinking of a way to leave.

“
Shut up! Malone! You’ll find a
way!”

I could not believe it, and that I had made
such a mistake over with a meaningless action, and I was not even
going to bet on anything.

“
If my
horse wins I’d split all the money I bet on it with
you!”

He came to a
complete stop and started shifting over to me, around his desk, and
started telling me what the horse could do.

I could not
believe the amount he told me he had bet on his horse, and going by
some details he told me in the end I considered betting on it too!
But what I could not grasp was why he thought the other horse we
had chosen was going to win.

When I
was about to leave, he shouted, “
Sit
down!
”

He sat trying to contemplate something when
the phone rang and he instantly grabbed at it and listened without
hearing anything, and when someone spoke he launched into an
argument with the person and started thumping his desk with his
fist, and shouted and smashed the phone down.

He calmed and stared deep into my eyes,
trying to penetrate my mind, and when I stared back he looked away,
while trying to contemplate some thought.

“
There’s a list of complaints received
about you already!
”
he announced loudly, studying my face,
waiting for me to react.

“
About what?
”
I moaned, annoyed, wondering who
would complain, and wondered what the complaints would be
about.

“
They complain everywhere and people
like you keep ignoring it! Don
’
t you?
”

Yet I wondered what he was he talking of,
and if there were complaints, and why they never liked him. I
realized again it could be that he was still reacting to my
introduction, when I joined his army group!

“
The people of this country would do
better without you!
” he
shouted loudly.

“
Yeah!” I giggled, avoiding directly
looking at him. “So why do the men mostly argue with
you?
”

“
You
’
re not annoyed ...
”
he gasped, and examined
me.
“
Did
you go to the hospital?
”

“
What hospital?” I moaned, trying to
recall what I had been doing, as I had lost a lot of
memories.

“
The Victoria Infirmary!”

“
Yes!
”
I moaned, annoyed.
“Why?”

“
Why what?” he replied
firmly.

“
What do you think happened there?” I
replied, and realized that something could really have happened
there.

I gasped and silently waited for his
reply.

“
You tell me?”

I shouted,
“
There were hundreds of people drunk
all over the hospital wards, lying all over the floors, and
everywhere, vomiting, and throwing beer cans, and the nurses were
having a massive drink orgy! You should have seen the place! The
whole place was totally covered with people drinking and making
love with each other, and there were wild orgies everywhere
…
”

Godfrey bent
over, holding his head in his hands, and rested his head on the
table, while moaning, and finally straightened.

“
I was
also investigating a murder nearby!” I continued.

“
The
whole country seems to know of you ...” he groaned. “Well, this
time I have you! A complaint was made to the police about
you!”

Godfrey took
his official pose and sat upright studying my face, as though he
was a judge about to sentence me for a serious crime, which I would
regret, and I realized that I had to find a way out the blasted
army!

“
Malone! You must stop that horse
running no matter what … If you don’t I’ll kick you out the
army!”

Chapter 18

The Race

For some reason I sensed something was not
right and I kept going over everything trying to grasp what.

After I decided to stay in the army I had
paid the horse rider of my horse to lose, and we had made an
agreement, and if Godfrey’s horse lost he would be to blame, and
there would be nobody winning the bet.

Yet something was not right, and I sensed
it, and I knew I could not do anything about it!

When the starting gun blasted out I jumped
and was amazed at the speed and power of the horses as they raced
away and to my surprise my horse left the quickest, and I knew it
had not worked, especially when I saw the jockey smile over at
me.

I became positive it would win when
none of the other horses got anywhere near it, and I realized how
much I had lost, and I grew furious and watched Malone’s horse with
amazement, as it was at the back of the race, and I watched the
jockey going crazy trying to get it to move, and I spotted what
looked like a glint of satisfaction on the horse
’
s face, and realized it was
the first glint of happiness I had seen on it.

There were hundreds of people cheering my
horse, and I knew the horse I had chosen was a favorite, and the
other soldiers had known it, and that was why they had bet on it,
but I could not grasp why Godfrey had chosen his, against such
horses, and realized he was not what he made out.

The whole place exploded with celebrations
and people drinking and cheering and I thought of the mess I was
in, and I then thought of the incredible powers I had from the
encounter with the thing in the woman’s house, after the use of the
metal detector, and I tried using them to get Godfrey’s horse to
win, and pleaded for it.

When I stopped I looked up in surprise and
saw Godfrey’s horse speed up, and the sounds of the audience and
their cheers grew less, and I watched the other soldiers about me
see the horse and react to it, as a threat to their victory.

I examined Godfrey’s horse and saw its eyes
had changed and were bloodthirsty, and furious, and they were on
the front horse and it looked as if it was going to attack it, and
it accelerated faster than any animal I have ever seen, and I stood
amazed when it caught up with the horses and the front horse, and I
was sure it was going to attack them viciously.

The whole audience turned silent everywhere
as it raced passed the front horse and the finishing line faster
than any animal I had ever seen or heard of, and it won the
race!

Its colossal
inner strength and powers were tremendous, and I kept watching it
as it stopped, and it looked like some form of monster horse, and
it furiously ran after one of the other horses, and chased it away,
and it jumped up and down and managed to loosen its saddle and
throw it off and it leapt crazily at one of the jockeys and chased
him away!