"Caught in the Act" - December 12, 2024
A young woman is the subject of a disruptive inquest...
Every Thursday, Silver Gecko Publishing highlights one of my stories, either a work of short fiction, a novel, or an audiobook. This week’s selection is the short story “Caught in the Act,” from the anthology COSMIC TALES, available on Kindle and in paperback.
Unlike many of the stories I share in this edition of my Substack, the complete text is available. It’s less than 1000 words, and I wrote it at a time when I was experimenting with short-short fiction. So it does have a bit of a gotcha moment to it.
The story also has special significance considering what’s happening in popular culture right now. I don’t want to go into it too much, lest I give something away. Suffice it to say, when you reach the end of the story, you should know what I’m talking about.
Enjoy!
-Kevin Carr
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Illustration by Inspector_Clouseau (@inspector_clouseau-12216993) from Pixabay
Caught in the Act by Kevin Carr
“Seems like I’ve seen this all before,” Amzo said softly to herself as she entered the great chamber, which surrounded her in eerie darkness. “Only I was never in the situation. I always just watched.”
Although the room was not lit well, she saw a long metal table flow like a tongue out of a wall. At the head of the table, she saw a cloaked shadow – a council member.
“Amzo,” the councilman said. “Please have a seat. I have been assigned to you to review your situation. An electronic copy of this meeting is being prepared for your benefit as well as our own.”
Amzo slid softly into a chair and nodded.
The councilman pulled a folder from under the table top and quickly scanned it.
“You’ve been quite busy, it seems,” he said.
Amzo nodded.
“You know, we would not have found you so soon had it not been for that one little girl.”
“I know,” Amzo said. “I knew the end was coming when she arrived... and eventually left.”
The councilman drew a wide breath as if to say something, but instead let it out slowly as he once again perused the file.
“Just for your sake,” the councilman said, “I wanted to review the actual charges against you. On top of your original thievery crime, you are charged with the gross misuse of genetically altered creatures and high-level robotics. The degree of this offense is the maximum allowed. The authorities are still going over your landscape you created. We have technicians running diagnostic tests to see if we can seal the warp hole you made. You realize that the warp hole opens in the center of what the inhabitants call the North American continent.”
“Yes,” Amzo said.
“Lucky for you the warp is over a corn field in open farmland or the inhabitants may have flown into it more than just the few times it happened.”
Amzo sighed. She wanted to speak on her behalf, but her conscience told her not to. She had, indeed, been caught messing with the genetic and robotic technology. She had been caught transplanting hostile alien species into the world she created in the warp hole. She could deny none of it.
The councilman chuckled as he read the file. “Boy, you really did some work, Amzo. I’ll tell you, it was a pretty risky move to transplant four specimens of that psychokinetic species in to guard the four corners of the area. According to our reports, only two specimens survived. One had been pulverized, and another had been dissolved. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And I see that you populated the land with plenty of genetic mutants. The tiger/bear crossbreed is my favorite, but you have quite a lengthy list here: a species of animated, fruit-bearing plant life... abnormally small elfin replicas of the inhabitants... an altered specimen of the inhabitants’ Leo leo that had a massive cognizant brain and a mouth that could vocalize sound... Oh! And I cannot forget the simian/aves crossbreeds!”
The councilman suppressed a laugh before taking on a more serious tone again.
“Another charge you will be facing will be the endangering of all those species with the massive building you had constructed from radioactive polymers.”
Now Amzo did speak. She felt she had a defense for this charge.
“I protest, councilman,” she said. “I thoroughly tested that radium polymer, and the lattice structure of the material absorbs all dangerous levels of radiation. I specifically designed it to glow, but I made sure that it would not harm anyone.”
The councilman nodded. “I will make a note to test the levels of radiation again. But you will still have to answer for the opium-rich field encircling the structure. You used the polymer to build a great structure, and then you surrounded it with those plants with such high levels of depressants that it could kill almost any large animal.”
Amzo could not find the words to speak. She remained silent and calm.
“How exactly did you get caught?” the councilman asked suddenly in a sudden informal tone.
“You read the report,” Amzo said.
“I know,” the councilman said. “But I only know a little girl was the cause of it. What exactly did happen?”
Amzo sighed. “Two inhabitants crossed over,” she said. “One was an old man who worked in a circus. He was of no concern until the other came... the girl. She was able to convince one of the beasts and two of the robots to help her get out of the warp. With the aid of a few others, she was successful. But when she got out, she told her story to a friend – Lyman, I think, was his name. Apparently, he reported it in a book. He became quite famous among the inhabitants, I understand. That was how the news of my warp hole got out.”
The councilman nodded. Then, he went back to the folder.
“Of course,” he said, “we still have the original charge to deal with. All the gold that you stole before you disappeared still has to be accounted for.”
“Don’t worry,” Amzo said. “It’s all there.”
“Where?” asked the councilman.
“Well,” Amzo said. “I made use of it since it was worthless to the beings I transported through the warp.”
“So what did you do with it?”
Amzo leaned back in her chair, smiled, and said, “I melted it down into bricks and paved the road with it.”
THE END