We first heard about "The Yard" from my good friend Waldo who picked up the story from some old warrior last year when we docked for fuel at some godforsaken depot. We discussed it a few times, never really took it seriously until last month when Andy, another pal, told us that a group of Greys, he used a vulgar term, (he's half grey and hates them) was offering a fortune that included a brand new starship, for anyone who was brave/skilled enough or perhaps stupid enough to enter "The Yard" and retrieve a certain item.

We are Children of Galaexy, lords of the system, it's a damn good life. But none of us owned a starship and there are many in my squad, myself included who would kill their mother for the chance to own one. The Greys are despicable little bastards, but they have no equals when it comes to building things, starships included. So I formulated a plan and after a few meetings an agreement was reached and we (Waldo, Andy,Nick and I) were ready.

I was the brain. It was a risky operation, supposedly the yard was guarded by a magic force and in three hundred years nobody has ever come out after they got in or so the story goes. That doesn't scare us, we are fighters, practical men, all that magical bullshit only works on fools.The biggest problem we had was to find a way to get off our ship while we were on duty without Ayndria finding out. Nobody in their right mind crosses that bitch. We had a compelling reason.

Two nights ago we slipped out with one of the work crews, picked up our transport and headed north. None of us had ever been out this far, but the instructions were clear and Andy can find his way across the galaxy blindfolded with minimum instructions. So here we are, waiting for the sun to go down so we could enter. The Yard as it's called in simply a large, incredibly old structure, located in one of those abandoned towns that dot the northern landscape. Why it's called "The yard" is beyond me. Since the last great war, very few people, if any, actually get out here anymore. Blame that on superstition and a law that gets you executed or a lengthy prison term if you are caught. Nobody wants to do hard time around here.

I have no idea what the inside looks like, there is something that looks like a door of sorts directly in front of us, but it seems to be a part of the wall so its hard to tell. The Greys were specific, simply locate an entrance and enter. The object we wanted is supposed to be sitting on a small table in the middle of the room, all we had to do was get it and exit the way we entered. Nothing else was to be touched or taken. Andy was curious about the item, but the little guys weren't stupid enough to say what it was, or what they wanted it for. Four highly skilled warriors, on an assignment that on paper is about as difficult as my afternoon power nap. I am already on the deck of my ship.

Darkness as it usually does around here, fell quickly. Weapons drawn we converged on the building. I was correct, the entrance was right there, thing is we didn't have a key. Andy decided to shoot it out, nobody had a better idea and we we were on a schedule. We entered cautiously, ready for combat. The inside was huge and bare, the entire place was illuminated by a soft hazy blueish light. The first thing you noticed was the silence, it was so quiet you could almost hear it. The table wasn't hard to find, it was the only thing in the room. We approached it cautiously, the target was in the middle of the table, Nick saw it first, a small diamond shaped object. It seemed to be glowing softly, or maybe it was the light.

Andy reached out and got it, tucked it into his pack and we slowly backed up towards the entrance. Ten minutes later we were still in the middle of the room or so it seems, we could see the hole in the building, but the closer we got the farther away it seems to be. We stopped moving for a minute, more puzzled than scared, Waldo thought that because we were so pumped up on the way in, we just didn't realize that we had walked so far inside. Everyone agreed and we started moving again. That's when IT struck.

Have absolutely no idea what "IT" is, a white mist just picked Nick up like he was a toy, suspending him some distance off the floor. He seemed to be in pain, looked like he was screaming, writhing, mouth wide open, but we didn't hear a thing. Before any of us could react his eyes exploded from his head, one of them, just narrowly missed hitting Waldo. Nick fell to the floor, blood pouring out his empty eye sockets.

Silence.
We turned and sprinted for the exit, one, two, three steps and fell on our asses. The wall was directly in front of us and the hole was gone. "IT" picked up Waldo next and ripped his right arm clean off his body. You could see his mouth open as he screamed in terror, but not for long. "IT" began to methodically shove Waldo's arm down his throat. We were mesmerized. Waldo was fighting like a mad man, his remaining arm and legs flailing wildly as his right arm slowly inched its way into his stomach.

Andy had seen enough, he opened fire and as he did the thing released Waldo and disappeared, seconds later it reappeared behind Andy. Surprisingly he didn't resist, the place is quiet again, everything is calm, dead calm, seems like Andy caught a break. He hasn't moved since he was picked up, seemed to smiling a little. Funny, something seems to be falling off him. Then all of a sudden it hit me. Everything was melting off Andy, his clothes, his flesh, everything. The soft, comforting kiss, of totall blackness.

No idea how long I was unconcious. Made a quick check of my extremities, everything is still intact and the mist and the others are gone. You are one lucky S O B, I muttered to myself. Now just find or create an exit and get the hell out while the going is still good. My head is throbbing like crazy, feels like someone or something is trying to compress my brain. Must be stress, or the freaky lighting. What the...? Something's dripping from my nose onto my uniform, it's soft and kinda mushy but it's not blood, fortunately.
God my head hurts...

The Yard - copyright © 2000 Ahkenaton All rights reserved