“My name is Mary Coville and we were trying to integrate cybernetics into them as a more of an effective control mechanism.”
“What is the progress on that?” Dark Serpent asked her.
“Iffy at best sir. There’s something within their DNA that don’t integrate well with any form of cybernetics. We tried everything.”
“What about giving them simple commands?”
“Sir?” Mary asked not certain where he was going with his question.
“If I wanted them to attack a base what would they do?” Dark Serpent asked.
“In all likelihood . . .” The scientist was saying.
“Name.” Dark Serpent, interrupted him, said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Jonathan M. Carlson. They probably would but we have no guarantees.” Carlson responded.
“Sir we do have three that shows the most promise but with two of them we seriously are thinking about discontinuing them.” Mrs. Coville mentioned.
“Why? And who’s the one who is showing promise?” Dark Serpent asked.
“Those two are frankly too docile. They’re too human sir. And the one who shows the most promise we call him Dos Double X.” Mrs. Coville responded.
“I’m going to have to talk to him later.” Dark Serpent stated.
“Do you think that’s wise? He won’t listen because he doesn’t care what we, or anyone else, have to say.” Carlson responded.
“I have experience in dealing with those like him. What about the military vehicles here? Are they ready to operate them?” Dark Serpent asked them.
“I’m Susan Vanasse. I’m the military vehicular specialist stationed here and they are ready, but we have to get them under control . . . first.” She responded.
“Can I use them now?”
“Sir that would be extremely unwise.” Susan responded.
“Just answer my fucking question?” Dark Serpent snapped back.
“Yes sir.” Susan nervously responded.
“Sir I strongly recommend that if you plan on using them then use them only once. For we were planning on discontinuing them.” Castillo mentioned.
“Good then that’s all that I wanted to know.” Dark Serpent responded. He then got up and left to talk to Dos Double X.
“So what do you guys think?” Castillo them after Dark Serpent left.
“It’s obvious that he is going to get all of us killed. And I for one say that we should just leave with, or without, his permission.” Coville responded.
“Agreed.” Vanasse responded.
“Now hold up! What you are suggesting is treason!” Castillo angrily retorted.
“What don’t we contact Fleet Captain Lenkov? Shouldn’t his ship arrive back by now?” 1st Lieutenant Preston asked.
“Who outranks whom!? Lenkov or Dark Serpent!?” Castillo angrily retorted.
“Sir it couldn’t hurt to ask.” Preston responded.
“You all wait here I’m going to see what Dark Serpent has to say.” Castillo ordered them. It was clear that he was in no mood to deal with such loyalty transgressions. It’s one reason why he took away their telecommunication devices.
“What do you think that we should do?” Preston asked.
“I say we get the hell out of here. You know as well as I know how extremely and unpredictably dangerous those damn beasts are.” Coville responded.
“Agreed. I for one did not signed up for this.” Vanasse mentioned.
“So what accuse should we give to Lenkov?” Spender asked.
“Fuck accuses I say get the hell out of here.” Corporal Halsey mentioned.
“Yeah. Are both of them fucking crazy or what? They want to let out those damn ugly things. Hell far sir, they still give me nightmares.” Corporal Cotswold added.
“What about Ghost Killer (male) and Night Stalker (female)?” Preston asked them about the two docile Efiáltis.’
“I say leave their ugly asses.” Vanasse mentioned.
“Yeah why not? What purpose do they serve?” Coville added.
“Let’s just asked them if they want to join us. You never know, we could use them to assist us.” Preston responded.
“Oh bullshit. I say leave them. For I for one don’t want them around me.” Vanasse said with a great deal of contempt for them.
“Well you people created them. So aren’t you in the slightest bit curious about how well they can fight?” Preston asked them.
“They’re cowards! Nevertheless if they are willing to fight than that would be a horse of a different color.” Coville mentioned.
And with that Preston got up and left to go and talk to both of the clones. Both agreed to do as he was asking. Leaving on two APCs they wanted to leave before it would be too late. Having no means of support and being too far away to contact anyone they knew that they had only place to go. And along the way there would be nothing other than the occasional small abandoned town. And as for weapons? God only knows if they find any that is still usable. Yes they have some weapons on them, but not enough for a firefight that they both feared and dread may come.
(2)
“Thank the gods that we are finished with these defensives. Let us pray that they should hold or at least give us the fighting chance to allow others to be victorious upon this cold, wet night.” Rymer stated out loud.
Rymer also knew of the route that Preston is taking, but he didn’t think about sending any drones to take a look since that route led no where other than an old communication facility. It didn’t seem likely to him that the Efiáltis’ would take that route since they wanted blood. Did the route lead, no matter how far away it is, to any city? No. It lead to a massive warehouse facility. Typically, especially in the early days of space colonization, massive warehouses were placed upon worlds because of the limits of space travel. As the colony becomes more self-sufficient those warehouses were either converted into a something else or abandoned (such as the case with Golden Hyperion). Rymer is right in assuming that the Efiáltis army will not go that route. What if he knew about Preston? It wouldn’t change a thing. Rymer could do nothing. The lives of thousands versus the lives of the few. What should he do?
(3)
“Alright listen up everyone . . .” Castillo was saying as he entered the conference room. He then turned to access a terminal for the duty roster and it told him that they left several minutes ago. “Goddamn it to all hell.” He yelled.
“What is it now?” Dark Serpent annoying asked.
“Sir everyone left and . . .”
“What do you mean ‘they left’?”
“They left the facility and . . .”
“Fine! Where are you?”
“I’m in the conference room sir.”
“Good. Stay there. I’ll be right there.” Dark Serpent replied. He then turn to Dos Double X and said, “Will your kind accept their program?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. I have only one mission for you.”
“Which is?”
“Hunt ‘em all down. Kill anyone who helps the traitor Preston. None can survive.” Dark Serpent said through his teeth.
“With pleasure.” Dos Double X said, smiling in a wicked manner.
It took eighty-eight minutes for Dos Double X to find Preston. Although it was clear to the military personnel that Dos Double X was an amateur pilot, he nevertheless crippled the two APCs and drove them into a ditch before he himself was shot down. Much to everyone’s dismay, while they were witnessing the attack helicopter crash, they saw the pilot eject. But luckily for them, no one in the APCs was killed and they were near a small abandoned farm town.
“Report!” Preston yelled out after they made it to a farm house. When the APC that he was in ran into the ditch, he dislocated his right shoulder and broke his right ankle.
“Everyone is present and account for, sir!” Corporal Halsey yelled back after he’d checked.
“Look for weapons and take up a defensive position.” Preston ordered him.
&
nbsp; Several minutes later Corporal Halsey came back and told Preston that there are no weapons anywhere in the small town. (Preston suspected it.) While Halsey was looking for weapons (or anything that could make a good enough weapon) anyone who could do it, made barricades and boarded up the windows with whatever they could find. When Halsey got back Preston ordered him to make weapons and find any flammable liquid. They then waited through the darkness for Dos Double X to make his first move. The wait made the night seemed too long to bear.
Shortly after one in the morning a fire broke out. The fire consumed two of the nearby unoccupied buildings and was burning one side of the outside part of the farm house that they were stationed in. Corporal Cotswold ran out with a bucket to a water pump to put out the fire that was consuming the farm house. While he was pumping the water Dos Double X attacked him. Cotswold yelled out and, out of fear, Carlson threw a homemade grenade. The grenade damaged the water pump and killed Cotswold. Dos Double X dove out of the way and landed in the fire that he started. He got up and cried out in pain because his right arm, right chest and the right side of his face was on fire. He then ran off. Nobody could pursue him (nor did anybody wanted to) because the fire blocked any pursuit. Once they realize that Dos Double X left they ran out to check on Cotswold. Yes they did realize how he was killed but nobody cared.
“Take his body and put it near the street. Find something to cover it up with. We have to leave now.” Preston disappointingly mentioned.
“We can’t leave it here.” Spender responded.
“We have no other choice! He’ll slow us down!” Preston responded.
After they covered up Cotswold’s body and started to leave, Coville asked if they should say a prayer. But nobody said anything, they all just left. Coville stood there for several moments, she wanted to say a prayer, but she was too afraid to stay behind. She ran to catch up with them when she heard a noise. It was too dark and they only had flashlights to guide them.
By three in the morning Cottrell started to complain that he was tired and wanted them to stop. When nobody would, he mention that he was not as young as he used to be, and still nobody would stop. He then yelled at them to stop. Ghost Killer then went back, picked him up, and placed him on his back. Forty-two minutes later, Cronin started to complain himself. Night Stalker turned around and went back to put him on her back and they continued on. Shortly after four in the morning Preston could no longer hide the pain. Ghost Killer caught up to him and told him to wait. He then took down Cottrell and picked up Preston to carry him. Eight minutes after five only Halsey, Private First Class Gwynn, Sergeant Merritt, Ghost Killer and Night Stalker could continue on.
“Alright! Let’s rest here.” Preston informed everyone.
Twenty-five minutes later everyone heard birds fly off in the distance and it told them that Dos Double X must be there. After everybody was well rested and after they left, it became apparent to them that Dos Double X wanted them to know that he was there. He would break a thick branch, scare off some birds, or make some other type of sound. Everyone, including Ghost Killer and Night Stalker was too scared to take him on. Both of them, was too human and, like them, was too scared themselves.
“We know you’re there! You fucking traitor!” Susan Vanasse yelled out to Dos Double X after he scared off some birds. She just stood there cursing him and fending off their attempts to make her continue on.
“Susan! Susan! Either you come with us . . . or we will be forced to leave you!” Preston yelled at her.
“You know that Skotadi will hunt you down and kill you if you kill us!” Vanasse yelled out again at Dos Double X. She neither heard nor cared (at that moment) that they left her behind. All she did was to stand there cursing at Dos Double X.
Dos Double X knew that she was weak minded and that sooner or later it would get to her if she knew that he was following them and making noise. It was her knowledge of Efiáltis’ that kept on heightening her fear. She knew that, either they had no fear of death, or they just didn’t show it. Either way she knew they were very efficient at killing. They gave her nightmares, including both Ghost Killer and Night Stalker. She hated all of them. Thought nothing less of them other than some type of a monster from hell. She was terrified of them. It’s no wonder that he got to her.
When Dos Double X realized that the others are too far away he stood up. Vanasse, realizing that she made a horrible mistake, stood in shock staring at him. Dos Double X reach down and picked up the corpse of Cotswold. He then threw it back down, pointed at Susan with his left hand and then pointed at the ground. Vanasse, trembling with fear, shook her head. Dos Double X then reach down and picked up a bucket filled with old dirty baseballs, he then started to walk towards her with a limp. Susan then turned to run for her dear life.
Vanasse didn’t get that far before the first of many baseballs came and hit her. The ball hit her on the upper right side of her back. The next one hit her in the lower back which caused her to stumble forward. The third ball hit her in the back of her head and caused her to fall. While she was on her hands and knees a forth ball struck her in her left buttocks. She then reached back and put her hand on her injured buttock and was struck at her left elbow. Each ball that struck her was traveling at 90 mph (145 kilometers). Everybody could hear her scream down the road and nobody wanted to go back to save her. It reminded them of who and what they are dealing with.
Nobody was surprised nor glad to see Susan come run up to them. They felt that way because she did something extremely stupid. As luck would have it, they only had five more miles (8 kilometers) to travel before they came to yet another abandoned small farm town. They also was luckily enough to find food, water and medicine. But no weapons could be found.
In the late evening Dos Double X had a farm truck (which was on fire) drive and crash into the front door. Both Merritt and Gwynn then rushed to put out the fire with Halsey providing cover fire.
“I’m going to kill each of you slowly! Just ask that bitch who loves baseball! As for those two cowards . . . I’m going to nail their ass to an upside down cross!” Dos Double X yelled out from the darkness.
“Man, he’s right. You two are fucking cowards!” Averillo yelled at both Ghost Killer and Night Stalker when she noticed that both are too scared to give chase.
“Come on, lay off of them they . . .” Preston was saying, trying to calm everyone down.
“No sir, she’s right. They are cowards and they are going to get all of us killed.” Gwynn interrupted him, responded.
“Now you look here . . .” Preston was saying.
“No! You look here, there are two of them and only one of him! So why don’t they go and . . .?” Spender interrupted Preston responded.
“Because they are . . .” Preston was saying. He stop when he realized what he was fixing to say and the reaction that it will get.
“What?! They’re cowards!” Cronin said in a rude angrily manner.
“That’s not what I was fixing to say!” Preston snapped back.
“Yeah, I know what you were fixing to say. You were about to call them human. But look at them. Do they look like us? Hmmm?” Coville mentioned. Preston didn’t respond because he knew that she was right. He was about to call them human.
“Face it, they’re monsters. Just like their kind. Always have been, always will be.” Vanasse said.
When Vanasse said what she did it caused Night Stalker to run out with hurt feelings. Ghost Killer then pursued her. He’d tried to calm her down but couldn’t since she was too hysterical. It really did hurt her feelings to be called that. She then broke down and cried and asked him what are they and he said nothing because he didn’t know.
Over the course time something was burning inside Night Stalker that she never felt before and it scared her. It was too powerful to be rage, but that’s what it was. It was too dark, too evil to be hate. And then she realized where it was coming from. It was coming from the part of her that was a Efiáltis. She then screamed ou
t in fury and it scared the shit out of everyone (including Ghost Killer) who heard it. She then ran after Dos Double X. Ghost Killer stood there not knowing what to do. He then ran after her when the fear of losing her kicked in.
“Congratulations you idiots. We now have either two or three of them coming after us.” Preston said when he heard Night Stalker scream in fury. Everyone ran out when they could hear both Dos Double X and Night Stalker fighting in the distance. They couldn’t see them, just hear them.
It didn’t take long for Ghost Killer to end up in the fight. The three of them were going at it in a church. The irony was not lost on Preston, but he was the only one who saw it. It was the madness of those to whom he was with that drove them, in the “name of science” and partly out of curiosity, to the church. They all went in video taping the action. Even Preston went in.
“As you can see. . .” Carlson was saying into his cellphone. “. . .the cybernetic implants makes a whole world of difference. Combined with an increase in height of 30%. . .” He was saying when Vanasse overheard him and corrected him. “I stand corrected it is 35% which means that. . .” He only stopped when Dos Double X was thrown off the balcony and landed in the pew near to where he was. Dos Double X then stood up with a piece of wood splitter through his right kidney, pulled it out and threw it and killed Spender. No one was fazed when they saw that. They just kept on recording. When Dos Double X was no longer standing near, Carlson ran, took the cellphone of Spender and downloaded all the videos on the fight.
Eventually the fight ended up in the forest and that’s when the real fun begin. These so-call scientists descended down into being nothing more than some type of a child who just woke up and discovered that it was Christmas and all of their wishes came true but at the same time Santa did not left them a lump of coal in their stockings but rather the deed to a coal mine. The fate of these idiots was obvious. And yet neither one cared, at least not until it happens to them.
2288: The Skotadian Experiment Page 32