They Will Find You

Johnson slipped off his coat and prepared for bed; he’d just finished his rounds aboard Satellite 4Z23. “We now return to Octvacian Slaughterfest 215!!”, Johnson propped up in bed after turning on the television to his favorite wrestling show. Half an hour later, he had fallen asleep; when suddenly there was a buzz on the intercom. Startled he turned to look at the identification number. Dread filled his heart; without even grabbing his coat Johnson ran to the main terminal. Eyes darted from screen to screen, “They” would be here within moments. He flipped the engine kill switch, and turned off all unnecessary power. He was the only person on board, a simple maintenance man after all. He had taken the job for financial reasons and allowed himself to be blasted into orbit around Mercury. But after all that “They” had still found him. He ran quickly to the Automated Med-bay, jumping into a cryo-tube. He set the timer to fifteen years, and laid there in terror. As the ship docked, two guards walked out and scanned the ship; “One life sign sir, in the Med-bay.”. Johnson watched the counter ticking down, “Faster!!” he growled. Little did he realize he was too late; “They” knew he was here. The counter ticked down, “10, 9, 8..”, the men quickly walked to Med-bay. “7, 6, 5, 4...”, walking into the room where Johnson lay. “3, 2, 1...Cryogenic Stasis Aborted.”. Johnson felt a lump in his throat and nearly choked on it. As the tube opened, he stared at the two guards and the little man dressed in a black suit. “Mr. Tyler Johnson, I believe it’s time we talked about your Form-1 Taxation.” Johnson whimpered sadly, knowing of the slow death that now awaited him.