Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #14 May 2015 | Page 16

pearing?”
“The women just disappear. It started a couple of
months after I decided not to go back to Earth. So, for
a while, the others thought I was the one to blame,
but they couldn’t find anything incriminating me.
We searched, but found no bodies, not on the space
around the station or in the station itself. They evaporated.”
“And you have no idea about what happened?”

Bruno’s room. Soon I will start listening behind doors
like a gossipy old woman. But something strange was
happening in this place and he would find out what.
Mark remained outside his room for some minutes, a
strange instinct telling him that this day wasn’t over
yet. He decided to go to the kitchen and get something
to eat. He opened a tomato soup package and put it
to warm. He took the hot soup out of the microwave
oven and sat at the table. Then he heard Pearl shouting
upstairs.

“Nope.”
Mark thought for some moments. “Did you notice
something about the women who disappeared, a
change in their behaviour for example?”
“They seemed to be looking far away, sad, thoughtful,
distracted.” Pearl stopped to check the leaves of plant
with her eyebrows drawing together.
Mark nodded, concentrated. “Do you have a clue to
the reason you didn’t disappear until now?”

3) Liam
After visiting Bruno, Pearl left his room and silently
closed the door. She walked until the end of the corridor and took the main lift to the garden. When the
doors opened, she saw Liam. He was handsome as
usual, with his short red hair and day old red beard,
but even so she didn’t want to see him and quarrel
with him again. He had left her alone for almost one
year now. Probably he wants to say good-bye, since he
will soon be leaving, she thought.

She took a deep breath. “No. But let’s stop talking
about this now. All these questions... I already answered them many times before. If you want to know
more ask one of the guys.”

“Hello Liam.” She said wearily. “Why are you here?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Just one last question? Are
you scared?”

She took a step back. “No. That hell is over Liam. You
are going back to Earth soon, go in peace. Find someone that gives you what I never gave you. Leave me in
the past.”

Pearl’s nostrils flared. “I… Still have a lot to do Mark,
if you don’t mind.”
He left. The woman gave him a good-bye smile. A
second before entering the main lift Mark looked
again on Pearl’s direction and noticed that she stood
with a rigid posture looking around, as if expecting a
jaguar to jump out of the garden bushes.
Later that night Mark heard muffled voices in the
corridor. As he investigated, he noted that there was
a slight scent of orange and lemon there. It was the
same perfume that Pearl had been using that afternoon. In this corridor there has been just his and

“You are so beautiful.” He said coming closer. “You
and I have unfinished business.”

“Come with me to Earth.” Liam asked with a pained
stare.
“It isn’t possible.” She answered with a flat look.
He took a deep breath: “The ship can easily carry two
cocoons Pearl. There is a lot of them lying around
since none of the women came back. You are at risk
here. How can you ask me to leave you here when
you can disappear any moment? At least once hear
the voice of reason, woman.” He said with a strained
expression.

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