Stockholm From Home (short story)

Stockholm From Home, also spelt Stockholm from Home, was the fifth story in the anthology True Stories.

Plot
Having found that she had apparently booked herself into a health spa whilst drunk, Benny arrives on Belanine by shuttle and finds that the clientele are all of advanced age. When it comes to nap time, she suddenly feels tired and confused and pays little attention when Colin sends a message from the planet's orbit identifying the Caution as their overlords, forgetting about it by the morning.

Benny learns that nobody leaves the health spa and goes to confront the Warden and is told by the Matron that, as the spa is a retirement home, she will never leave. She is also told that she came because she was mesmerised by an advert in a mirror which targets those of retirement age and was triggered by her pulling funny faces. They are psychically attacked by Colin once more and told that the Quorsain will be invading on Wednesday, but he then informs them that the invasion will have to be postponed due to unpaid utility bills and asks for sundries to be sent to them.

The Warden and the Matron prepare to send the supplies to the Quorsain and Benny stows her way onto the space pod. During the journey, her flexible tablet picks up a message from a spaceship and she realises that it must be in the spa's tar pits, which have been closed because of contamination. She arrives on the Quorsain ship and meets Colin on the bridge, discovering that he made the Thub dependent on him and is manipulating them into wiping out the people of Belanine so that he can take it over without risk to himself or his assets.

Benny reveals that she has been transmitting the conversation into the heads of the Thubs and those on Belanine, leading the Thubs to target Colin's ship instead of the planet. She is teleported off of the ship and taken to safety. She spends a few days at the spa, but the Warden and the Matron decide to send her away due to her disruption.

Characters

 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Colin
 * Thub scout
 * Warden
 * Matron

Worldbuilding

 * The health spa staff use palm pads.
 * Madam Beryl's offers a complimentary shampoo and set.
 * Benny picked up a flexible tablet at a service station. It shows a water drop emoji when it gets wet.
 * Benny nibbles on complimentary biscotti.
 * Benny drinks espresso in a sippy cup.
 * Benny drinks an iced Horlicks.
 * Benny orders a Bell & Sebastopol.
 * The Warden wears tweed.
 * Colin asks for dried and tinned food, blankets, medicine, lavatory cleaner, mild porn, cigars, chocolates and loo roll.
 * Benny sees a copy of Nextdoor Uncle Biweekly.
 * Benny takes painkillers.
 * Colin has a dampening field.

Continuity
to be added