This was my final round entry for the NYC Midnight Short Story Competition
This was for the final round:
Genre: Sci-Fi
Subject: Neighbors
My story is called ‘The Neighborhood Drink’.
It received an honorable mention. Thanks for reading!
Clues Tie Attack on HSS Pioneer to Alcohol
Special to the Galactic News Weekly!
Sycamore Galaxy, Planet Alpha Zayin
The most recent attack may have its roots in a prison at the edge of the universe
Details are now emerging on last week’s Erbium attack on the Human Space Ship (HSS) Pioneer that killed over 500 people. Unofficial reports are stating that the Erbium soldiers who attacked the ship were inebriated from a drink called the ‘Neighborhood Drink’. The Pioneer was carrying supplies to a human outpost in Sector 8 of the Columbus Galaxy when it was attacked and destroyed. Human and Erbium governments are refusing to comment on the claims that the soldiers were under the influence of any substance. However, this is not the first time that the Neighborhood Drink has been blamed for Erbium attacks. As the attacks grow more frequent and deadly, the spotlight is shining on a most unusual corner of the universe.
At first glance, the Weber Detention and Correctional Facility looks completely at home in the barren rocky landscape of planet Alpha Zayin. The large plastic bubble dome that houses Weber, or the ‘Web’ as it affectionately referred to by the inmates, hides the one of the most dangerous prisons in the universe. The facility is home to some of the most violent and notorious inmates from both the human and Erbium empires. Inside the dome are spa-like facilities: an Olympic size pool, a multilevel exercise room, and multiple decompression chambers, all intended to keep the inmates calm and happy. But the accommodations are not the reason for the recent spike in interest in the facility, a drink created by two unusual friends had seeped out into the public and its creation has intergalactic implications.
The planet Alpha Zayin is six light years away from any other form of life in the far reaches of the Sycamore Galaxy. Just to get to the prison takes over thirty six hours of travelling at light speed through various worm holes. Shipping the tons of supplies and the few visitors to the prison is an expensive and time consuming task. The sun that the tiny planet revolves around is twice as big as Earth’s sun, but since Alpha Zayin is one light year away from the star, the planet is cold and uninhabitable. Perfect for a prison.
Weber was created as an experiment between the human and Erbium governments at the end of the Four Year War fought between the two species. It was the first joint project undertaken in those first shaky years after the signing of the peace treaty.
The prison was designated as a maximum security facility and was placed at the edge of the galaxy to ensure that if an escape occurred, the inmates would have nowhere to go. In the first year after the prison was opened, the human and Erbium prisoners were segregated in different cell blocks and had minimal contact. This segregation caused many fights between the two populations, most notably in the cafeteria and recreation centers. The altercations usually ended with the Erbiums biting the hands off the humans, as they did during the war.
In a radical step, the joint wardens, human Abdul Sandsworth and Erbium Vzci the VIII, announced that in order to ease the tension and possibly become the first step in Human/Erbium reconciliation, the prison would be desegregated and the two species would be living in the same cell blocks. However, to ensure that things didn’t move too quickly, they gave each inmate his own cell.
In these early days of desegregation, life was not easy. Erbiums and humans still fought but gradually the guards noticed that these incidents were becoming less frequent. This was partially due to the fact that Web is the epitome of a high tech jail, incorporating the latest in prison security from around the universe. This included the latest tracking devices, body control suits, and of course weaponry. All this technology was put in place to keep absolute control of the entire prison population.
The extra facilities were added just one year ago after human prisoners began compare the Web to Alcatraz, stating that keeping prisoners isolated on a far flung planet away from all forms of life was cruel and unusual punishment. Fearing a public relations backlash against the first positive step since the war, both Erbium and human governments acquiesced to the inmates’ request. The prison now had a pool, palm trees, artificial sunlight and an multilevel exercise facility for the humans and multiple decompression chambers for the Erbiums.
Once the new facilities were installed under the giant bubble, the tensions between the two species melted away and friendships began to form.
It is here, amongst the palm trees and decompression chambers, that the Neighborhood Drink was created. It was created in cell block 1E, known by those in the prison as ‘The Neighborhood’.
“I called it the Neighborhood,” explains inmate Frank Tallisman, a small, muscular black man convicted of intergalactic murder and one of creators of the drink, “because we are all always together. We never leave each other’s sight. It reminded of growing up on Mars. We were just a little neighborhood up there and we’re just a little neighborhood out here. We’re not allowed to interact with the other cell blocks, so we’re all we got. People around the universe see the exercise rooms, the cable, the pool and they think this is a resort but it’s not, its still jail. Every moment of the day is still regimented, and trust me, it’s no picnic.
“In the beginning, my neighbor Xdiue and I hated each other. Two of my brothers were killed in the war and another one lost his hands because of the Erbiums. But one day, I was going into the shower as Xdiue was leaving and his towel fell off. I started laughing, I couldn’t help it. But then Xdiue swung at me with one of his right arms and I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go’. Instead he rips my towel off and starts laughing at me. After that we started talking and we became friends.”
For Xdiue, an unusually large blue Erbium with dark orange eyes and the traditional four arms, it was no easier. In jail for misuse of Royal Erbium property (a very serious offense in their species), he had been at Weber since the beginning. “Frank’s right, it was tough. And of course he told you the shower story. But even after that it took a long time. I lost friends and family in the war and it’s hard to let go of that. You humans say that time heals all wounds and it’s true. After a while I realized I shouldn’t hate him just because he is human. Did smash my cousin’s lower skeleton in with a hammer? No, so I can’t hate him. But I can tell you one thing; he sure does talk a lot!” Xdiue said with a laugh, which to your reporter’s human ears sounded like whooping cough, if the baby was coughing up crude oil. “But now we’re best friends. He’s a better friend to me than most of other Erbiums in here.”
To hear Tallisman explain it, the Neighborhood Drink came about because of boredom. “One day there were about six us neighbors sitting around during free time and we were bored out of our minds. There were three humans and three Erbiums and we had some rubbing alcohol, canned fruit, jet fuel, sugar and a few leaves of peppermint. So we threw it all together in a big pot, stirred it up and had a sip. The rest is history,” he said with a smile, the reflection of the pool water sparkled against his yellow teeth.
And for a while that was it. The prisoners getting drunk on some homemade booze like inmates have done for centuries. Tallisman laughs when thinking about the first days after the drink was created. “The Erbiums couldn’t handle it. But we taught those Erbiums how to drink, it was fun. Did we fight? Sometimes, but who doesn’t fight when they’re drunk? After they learned to control their liquor, we taught them some drinking games. And let me tell you, those (double expletive) Erbiums can drink!”
Xdiue is more than forthright when asked about the drink. “Did it make me what to kill humans and bite their hands off? Yes, at first. But you have to remember, we never had alcohol where I’m from, it’s a purely human creation. So the first time I drank it, I didn’t know how to act. The rest of the neighbors calmed me down and I was able to enjoy it.”
Unfortunately, the rest of the Erbium species does not have Tallisman and the rest of the ‘neighborhood’ to help them.
Six months after the drink was created, the recipe somehow leaked out and gradually began to spread through the Erbium planets. Not used to drinking alcohol, Erbiums reacted strongly to the drink. When Erbiums drank the alcohol they would experience extreme bouts of rage and would attack anything in sight. At first the Erbium authorities considered the violence as an expected response to the domestic economic crisis in that part of their empire. But Erbium authorities quickly abandoned this idea when a military unit on Citron 5 drank a large amount of the Neighborhood Drink and attacked a human cargo ship a half light year away. The attack killed 500 humans and was the first hostile act since the signing of the peace treaty.
Earth reacted hesitantly, forgoing force and opting for the diplomatic route. Earth officials decided to launch an official inquiry into the attack while also lodging a formal complaint with the Erbium government. Yet officials on Earth, who spoke anonymously since they did not have authorization to speak with the press, stated that Earth’s patience is running thin. There have been four more attacks on human targets throughout the universe and Earth is becoming angry. “Alcohol or not,” one official stated, “they are still attacking human targets and any government worth its salt will rise up and protect its citizens.”
Meanwhile, the Erbium government is pleading for time to control this epidemic amongst its people. “There is a great disease spreading through our people right now and we need time to counteract to it. We do not want another war,” an Erbium official stated, asking his name to be withheld, “But we will be prepared if the humans see fit to start one.”
Back at the Web, the two friends and neighbors are saddened by what their drink has caused. “All we wanted to do was get drunk and have a little fun. We never wanted this.”
When asked if another war would affect their friendship, Xdiue responded quickly, “Hell no! We’ve become too good of friends to let a war light years away to get between us.”
Asked if they had any other plans to create something else, Frank Tallisman answered with a smile, “I think we’ve done enough for awhile, but I might teach my friend here how to smoke.”
One can only imagine the chaos that would ensue.
Kilroy's Shadow by Joe Osgood 