Ship Trap. Chapter 9: Drift

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. For David being in the rift was as natural for him as floating in a sensory deprivation tank was for others. Back in the chamber, there he experienced the sensation of vacuum on his skin, the sense of gravity pulling him down, the burning of his lungs and oncoming headache from the lack of air, and the temperature differences of the room around him.

Here, in the rift, David felt completely at peace. He could spin, twirl, and twist about as he pleased. Sure, the rift may not have been outer space, but it was the inner space between spaces. Being pulled through from one time period to the next always mesmerized him. For most people, they would just keep their eyes shut and sleep. Other agents that would get sent through would remain perfectly still as if they were frozen in suspended animation. David however, felt so at home in the rift that is was almost like he was meant to be there. Whenever he floated, he imagined it akin to being a babe in its mother's belly, suspended and sustained without a care in the world.

He remembered his first time going through. His heart was racing, he wanted to scream, and his skin was perspiring like crazy. When he encountered the other side of the rift, his destination he tried to land well prepared. He heard a few stories about how some people had hurt their tailbones when dropped into the past for their missions. After going through and back from his first mission, the other times following that he grew more confident. It didn't matter what he did in the rift, as the gradient that was set would always pull him through without error.

Floating through from one era to the next, he held out his arms, as the sands of time flowed over him like a wave composed of strings, they were all interconnected, while remaining separate at the same time. Here, he felt at peace with the universe, for he was reminded that he was but mere stardust. From spheres of fire we were made, as our elements were forged in blast furnaces so perfect that new forms of matter would be composed. To David, this reminded him about the concepts of infinity, and eternity. It was the one place, besides looking up in the sky at night, where he could sense an endlessness to the life that he was living, especially in that one moment in time. "Sure, memories and moments may be fleeting, but they're significance helped to solidify them in our minds."

Tumbling through time he thought to himself, "I may not be able to grasp the concept of infinity, but as long as we have eternity to look forward, that's all the infinity we need." As he was nearing his destination, he felt himself start to accelerate. The pull of gradient bringing him towards his destination. Even though he may be at peace now, he knew that there would be a small moment of shock to his senses once he re-entered the world.

As the rift was starting to crinkle in preparation of its opening, David heard something to the side of him. "Huh, what was that?" The only sounds he was accustomed to hearing in the rift were those of the openings and closings of time, the strings flowing over him, and the sound of his own heart beating. This sound, it sounded like, violin strings being stretched and pulled upon. Turning his head over towards the direction of the sound, his heart was struck with so much fear that he could barely hear it for a half-a-second.

A creature was seemingly kneeling, having the strings of time flow across its hands. Gowned in a a raggedy cloak as pale as its skin, its eye was focused on the strings of time that flowed over its two visible hands. From the sides of its gown, four other arms rose out from them. More deft than the most skilled seamstress and violinist combined, the time strings were folded, tied, cut, crossed, and re-stringed back to one another as deemed fit.

Looking at its constantly shifting crown of thorns that jutted out from the top of its head, David's only sense that he felt here besides his hearing and vision was a sense of fear. His heart beat started to slow down, the longer he stared. He didn't want to look, but the sight of it, the novelty of something this new, terrifying, while seemingly powerful at the same time absolutely kept his focus.

While folding and repurposing the strings, it shifted its head. When it tilted its head towards David's direction, his heart nearly leapt out of his chest, he felt sheer pain from fear for a brief moment. Its undivided attention remained focused on the strings though. David though he was lucky that it didn't look over at him. Sadly though, he was unlucky enough that it though to do a double take.

When its singular eye locked onto him, as his eyes locked onto it, a devious smile grew across its face. Looking at him with pupils blacker than death and eyes redder than bloodshed from war, it opened its mouth to let out a threatening roar. "Shit!" Dropping the strings from its hands, it stood up on a pair of legs that had hands in place of feet. Running over towards him by grasping of theoretical strings, David started to panic.

Turning to face the gradient, he started to try to swim in an attempt to escape faster. Paddling his hands through the air like a pilot aboard the international space station, David tried to move himself toward his exit as quickly as possible. "Come on! Come on! COME ON! OPEN UP!" Like a diver trying to evade a marine creature, David knew that he had to leave, as though he was normally comfortable in the rift he knew that it wasn't his element.

Just like in a track race, David knew not to turn around to look. He may not be doing anything to move faster, as he was entirely at the mercy of the gradient. He didn't want to do anything that could prevent him from slowing down at all. Though there wasn't a sun nor a main source of light, he felt its shadow, its presence just lurking right over him. The hairs on the back of his neck rising, he felt a small prick, like his own hair was pulled or an insect had bitten him.

Instinctively looking over his shoulder David saw its face as it looked down at him. Rolling its tongue out, in anticipation of playing with its new guest, one of its six fingered hands reached out for him. Looking upon its face with dread wrapping around his heart, more of its eyes started to open up all over its face surrounding the primary one.

Big hands to hold him with. More arms to reach for him with. More eyes to see him with. A crown of horns to poke him with. A long serrated tongue to taste his fear with. Closer, just closer, was it ever reaching forward. Its anticipation caused its mouth to start drooling uncontrollably that they fell onto the strings, plucking them, making resonating sounds purer than those of silver.

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. David opened his mouth in terror, yet no sound came out. As he had no air in his lungs to scream. How ironic, his fear was drowning out his senses in the only place where it was impossible to drown.

Suddenly, just before the creature's hand had grasped onto him, there was another sound that pierced the area of infinite eternity. The gate had opened up before them. With the sound of a tarp being dragged across the floor of an airplane hangar, the pressure gradient had ripped through, and yanked David from the clutches of the beast itself.

Rolling out onto the wooden floorboards of an abandoned factory, the rest of his senses struck him suddenly, overwhelming him entirely for the first few seconds. Hyperventilating after what had just happened, he rose to his knees before curling up and crouching again. Rolling over to his rear-end, he just sat there, dumbfounded about what to do. Sitting in front of his pile of clothes, David just sat there, staring at his watch.

"What was that?" His hand brushed over his stubble. "It was," he struggled with trying to make sense out of what he just witnessed, "it was messing with the strings. Was it weaving them? Was it changing time?" He didn't know what he just witnessed, but he knew this, "I just hope there's only one of those, and that we won't encounter it ever again." He shivered, "This sucks, I have to go back through the rift again. I just hope its not waiting on the other side for me."