Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #22 January 2016 | Page 6

I noticed that the conveyor belts were running
much too fast. “Who sped up the line?” I bellowed
out. “This is much too dangerous!”

The kid snorted. “Neural stimulation,” he said
with a leer. “These have probes that will penetrate the
brains of the workers, allowing them to triple their
speed. Plus make them compliant.”

Slowly, a few of the elves lifted their hands
and pointed. Moments later more joined in. Soon, all
the fingers pointed shakily at the elf standing next to
me.

In shock I stuttered, “You’ll kill them! No elf
would last under those conditions!”
“Hah, they don’t have to. They
only have to work for a few days.
There are plenty of new recruits
clamoring for a job in Santa’s
Workshop. We’ll finally have
enough positions for all of
them.”

The kid snapped his fingers.
“Take him!” he commanded.
Four elves jumped
forward and grabbed me by
my wrists and upper arms.
“What’s this?” I hollered.
“Let me go; get back to
work!”

“I’ll stop you,” I
gasped as I got to my feet.
“I’ll tell others! You’ll
never get away with it!”

The kid sucker
punched me in the gut.
“Your reign’s up, old
man,” he growled as I
doubled over. He turned
to the elves now holding
me up. “Bring him.”

“Yeah, right,
we’ll see about that,”
the kid said. He waved
his arm and a few elve