by Elin Wyn
“I suppose,” I said slowly. “But I believe General Rouhr’s company has gone above and beyond in proving our trustworthy-ness. Or do you disagree?”
Alessa went quiet. I braced myself for a scathing comment about how she would never associate with aliens again after this.
“Yes,” she said. “I suppose you have.”
She looked at me from the corner of her eye and smile.
Surprised, I smiled back.
“Want to give the map another try?” I suggested after a beat of silence.
“Might as well. We’re going in circles as is.”
“We’re so lost we don’t even know if we’re going in circles or not,” Axtin muttered.
“Don’t say that too loudly,” Maki insisted. “The survivors are trusting us.”
“They deserve to be aware of the situation,” Axtin replied.
“Not when they’re teetering on the brink of shock,” Maki said. “Do you want to be responsible for carrying them out if they go catatonic?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” my favorite scientist grumbled. “We’re not deaf and we’re not invalids. Don’t treat us as such.”
“Just trying to minimize the trauma.” Make gave an apologetic wave.
“The only thing that will traumatize me is missing the deadline to submit my dissertation,” the scientist snapped.
None of us knew what to say.
“Damn,” Alessa nodded. “That’s dedication.”
“All the more reason to get him and the others out of here,” I said.
“Right.” Alessa pulled up her wrist unit and pulled up the map. For a moment, I saw a tangle of lines. Satellite scans of the corridors. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but it looked hopeless. Luck and educated guesses, indeed.
“Got a better idea of where to go?” Alessa asked.
“Not at all. You?”
“Negative.”
“It was worth a try.”
“If I had my tools with me, I could fix it,” Alessa muttered. “I didn’t bring them because I didn’t think I’d need them for an excavation assignment.”
“If this is an old hospital or asylum, maybe we can find replacements for your tools,” I suggested. “There was medical equipment here. There must’ve been a maintenance area.”
“With luck, we’ll pass something like a screwdriver as we wander aimlessly through the void.”
I started to laugh, but a noise cut me off. A deep growl, not a laugh, reverberated through the corridors.
“Was that the Gorgo?” Maki asked, her voice quivering just above a whisper.
“I don’t think so,” Tyehn said, stepping in front of her.
“That sounded like some kind of animal,” Axtin said.
“Perhaps we aren’t the first life forms to discover this place after all,” Alessa said.
“Funnily enough, that’s not a comforting thought,” Maki laughed dryly.
“Hush,” I whispered. “Something’s moving up ahead.”
I expected to see the form of the infested survivor. Instead, a hulking shape lumbered through the darkness. In addition to the growling, there was another sound. It sounded familiar. Almost like….
“Does that sound like a Xathi to you?” Axtin muttered.
A chittering sound snuck in beneath the perpetual growling. It sounded exactly like a Xathi to me.
“Impossible,” Maki gasped.
I turned on my flashlight and shone it into the darkness. What stood before me wasn’t a Xathi. Not exactly.
It had a crystalized chomping mandible and insect-like legs, but the rest of its body was covered in thick, dark fur.
“That looks like a mutated Bandiduke,” Alessa said under her breath.
“The Xathi might’ve experimented on other species when they spread their hybridism,” Tyehn said. “It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen something like this.”
“Tyehn, Maki, and Alessa,” I said. “Get the survivors out of here.”
“What are you going to do?” Alessa asked.
“Axtin and I are going to deal with this,” I said.
“Maybe it’s friendly,” Axtin joked.
I slowly reached for the weapon strapped to my side. The moment my fingertips grazed the hilt, the Xathi creature went ballistic. It was like it knew what I was doing.
“Get the survivors out,” I shouted.
The creature charged through the corridor. Axtin and I nodded to each other and charged.
Alessa
I was vaguely aware of movement happening around me. Maki and Tyehn ran past me in the direction of the survivors.
I should’ve helped them but I couldn’t make myself move. My feet turned to lead. I couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of my own heart.
A blur of movement caught my attention.
Navat charged the terrible creature, weapon brandished.
My first instinct was to cry out to him, to call him away from the danger. I couldn’t make my mouth work. It was like my tongue had twisted itself into knots and lodged itself within my throat. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t make even the tiniest nose.
My gaze zeroed in on the terrible creature at the end of the corridor. Its long snout overflowing with thick, jagged teeth snapped at Navat. Nausea rose in my throat as the sight of the beast threw me back to a terrible childhood memory.
I was a little girl, no more than six. I was walking in the jungle with my brothers and sisters. I was the youngest, so it was difficult for me to keep up.
I was running through the part of the jungle that crept up to the back of our house. We weren’t allowed to go in at all. One of the first lessons we learned as children was that the forest was unsafe.
My oldest brother, Garreth, was nearly fifteen at the time. He’d decided that the rules of our childhood no longer applied to him, being a grown man and all. He marched into the forest bravely, just to prove that he could. Naturally, the rest of us followed.
I didn’t realize everyone had gone into the jungle. If I hadn’t seen my older sister’s dark braid flick as she disappeared into the tree line, I never would’ve realized. Not wanting to be the only one left out, and subject myself to ridicule for not tagging alone, I chased after them.
I ran as fast as I could over the bumpy roots and slippery undergrowth. I was so out of breath that I couldn’t muster the strength to call out for my siblings. At the time, becoming hopelessly lost hadn’t occurred to me.
I still didn’t know which one of my siblings screamed first, but it was a sound I’d never forget.
I wasn’t sure if my siblings disturbed the Bandiduke or if it happened to stumble upon them. Either way, I found them right as the Bandiduke rose up on its hind legs to take a swipe at Garreth. Its claws nearly took his arm off.
I still remembered the way Garreth’s blood dripped onto the carpet of dead leaves. Some got on my shoes.
I don’t remember how we got Garreth out of the jungle. I was useless then. I was so terrified that I couldn’t move, just like I was now. Except this time, I didn’t have my siblings to snap me out of it. My older sister carried me out of the jungle that day. Anyone would think I was the one that nearly lost my arm from the way I screamed and cried.
Garreth survived. He recovered full use of his arm. He was traipsing around in the jungle again within a year. I never left my parents yard again, no matter how much they ridiculed me.
Every once in a while, I dreamt about that day in the jungle. I’d wake up in a cold sweat, shaking and on the verge of tears. No matter what I did, I couldn’t let it go. That day haunted me. It would do so for the rest of my life.
The Bandiduke-Xathi monstrosity looked at me. I felt it’s gaze, a hunter’s gaze, penetrate me down to the core. I trembled under the weight of its stare. I was easy prey.
“Alessa!” Navat’s voice drew my attention away from the monster. He stood in front of me, large hands gripped my shoulders. “You need to get to cover, right now!”
Somehow, the meaning of his words worked through my paralyzing fear and clicked into place.
“Be careful,” I blurted as I backed away from him. I turned at the last minute, hurtling down the path I believed Maki, Tyehn and the rest of the survivors to have taken.
My heart nearly exploded when something reached out for me in the darkness.
I swung blindly. My hand came into clumsy contact with something solid.
“Alessa.” It was Maki’s voice. “We’re right here.”
As my eyes adjusted to the low light, I saw that she’d found a small room. It might’ve been a closet when this place was functional.
“Sorry,” I rasped. “Did I strike you?”
“You grazed me,” she said dismissively.
She led me into the room just as Axtin and Navat darted by the opening. The twisted Bandiduke lumbered after them. I held my breath and gripped Maki’s hand with all of my might. She gripped me back. I felt her trembling beside me. It almost made me feel better to know I wasn’t the only one terrified out of my mind.
I clamped a hand over my mouth to contain the scream that threatened to spill out. The twisted Bandiduke stopped at the opening and sniffed. It smelled us, I was certain of that.
Possibly means of escape flew through my head, all of them ended in death between the jaws of that terrible beast.
Something came down on its head. It looked like the head of a large hammer. The Bandiduke tore its focus from the opening and lumbered after whatever struck it. I assumed it was Axtin.
“Let’s move farther back,” Tyehn whispered. “There’s another chamber.”
Slowly, taking great care to not make any noise, I got to my feet. Maki and I clung to each other as we ushered the survivors deeper into the darkness. Tyehn led the way, illuminating his headlamp every few feet to make sure we weren’t going to wall ourselves in by mistake.
We settled farther away from where the battle against the Bandiduke raged. Putting distance between myself and the creature should’ve made me feel better but it didn’t. Just knowing that thing was somewhere inside this structure with us was enough to keep me on a knives edge.
All I could see in my mind’s eye was the bloody, gushing wound on Garreth’s arm that fateful day. The thought of Navat bearing similar injuries made me feel sick to my stomach. I still heard the sounds of fighting. I figured that was a good sign. I’d worry when things went too quiet.
Another noise caught my attention. This wasn’t part of the fight. It sounded far closer than that. A low, keening sound came from within the chamber.
“Tyehn,” I whisper-shouted. “Turn on your light.”
He did as I asked.
“What’s that sound?” I asked.
“It’s him!” One of the survivors shouted.
Tyehn turned the beam of his light onto a man who’d pushed himself into the corner.
It was the scientist we’d worked with above.
The one who appeared to dislike Navat for no reason at all.
“Are you all right?” I called to him. I felt like an asshole for still not knowing his name.
I didn’t want him to know that, though.
Not right now. I’d ask him later, once we figured out what was wrong with him.
“He doesn’t look right,” Tyehn said.
“You don’t think it’s…” Maki trailed off. She didn’t need to finish her sentence. I knew what she was thinking.
Had the scientist fallen victim to a Gorgo?
The scientist craned his neck around at an unnatural angle. I swore I heard bones crack and pop. His eyes didn’t look right.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I don’t know why it occurred to me to say that. It’s not like he could understand me now.
“Everyone, get back,” Tyehn urged.
The survivors scrambled to get away from the scientist, who lashed out at them with frenzied sweeps.
“Got a stun gun?” I asked Maki.
“An empty one,” she replied.
“Shit.”
The scientist let out a harrowing screech and launched himself at us. Without thinking about it, I kicked out, the heel of my hiking boot slamming into his ribs.
He stumbled back. The Gorgo inside him genuinely didn’t expect me to fight back.
That Gorgo was in for a rude awakening.
My grip on my temper was fraying, and at the moment I was having a hard time coming up with reasons to stay calm.
“What do we have for weapons?” I demanded.
“We can’t risk using a gun or a blaster in here,” Tyehn replied as he yanked the Gorgo infested scientist away from Maki and me. “The chamber is too small. It could ricochet and hit one of the others.”
“What are our options?” I asked, wrenching my hand back in order to launch my fist into the scientist’s face. He screeched in pain.
I had to remember that it wasn’t him anymore. Annoying as he’d been, he was lost to the Gorgo.
“I have a knife,” Tyehn said.
“That’ll do. Hand it over,” I requested.
“What?”
“Hand. It. Over,” I said through gritted teeth as the infected scientist broke free and started rabidly clawing at Tyehn’s arm. “Think about it. The optics of you fighting a human are much worse than me doing it. Plus I have a score I want to settle after having gone through all this.”
“I have a better idea.” He shoved the scientist off of him and drew the knife from his belt. When he came at him again, he lifted the knife.
At the last second, he realigned himself and went right for the hand clutching the knife.
The shock caused Tyehn to drop it. It clattered to the floor. I darted in and scooped it up before the scientist could.
“Tyehn’s been bitten,” I said to Maki. “Does that mean he’s going to be infested by a Gorgo, too?”
“I don’t think so. They’re not werewolves.” Maki said. “But that doesn’t mean a bite is a good thing.”
Tyehn kicked the scientist in the stomach. Realizing he couldn’t out muscle the Valorni, the possessed turned to me.
“Bring it, bitch,” I hissed. He lunged at me as I sliced the knife through the air, taking a piece of him with me. He reeled back with a howl and thick, dark red blood oozed from the fresh wound.
He gaped at me and for a moment looked as if he was going to attempt another attack.
The rational part of the Gorgo inhabiting his body must’ve decided otherwise.
He took off running.
Navat and Axtin must’ve still been fighting the horrible Bandiduke. The last thing they should have to deal with is a rabid scientist causing a distraction.
I took a deep breath, clutched the hilt of Tyehn’s knife, and sprinted after him.
Tyehn needed to stay with the survivors and protect them.
Years of training, years of learning to work with my temper, were all for this.
I was best placed to do this.
And I would succeed.
Navat
I fired the last round of ammunition in my weapon. Just as it had the last fifty times I fired, the ammo bounced off the Xathi half breed monstrosity as if they were made of foam.
“What the hell is this thing?” Axtin grunted as dodged a sideswipe from its crystalized talons.
“How has it survived all this time?” I shot back. “We’ve been running planet-wide scans for Xathi every day since the invasion. How did we not know about this?”
“Let’s save the debrief for when this thing is actually dead, okay?” Axtin smashed his hammer into the creature's skull. I didn’t hear the crunch I expected to hear, but the blow dazed the animal.
“Looks like we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way, huh?” I sighed.
“I don’t do it any other way,” Axtin grinned before launching himself at the creature again.
I pulled a small staff from my belt. It was only a few inches in length until I pressed the little silver button on the side.<
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The staff extended into a two-foot pole with two large, spiked spheres on either end. I briefly wondered if it would be strong enough against the crystallized exoskeleton of the hybrid creature.
I had the mace made from a special Urai metal alloy but I’d yet to test it. I supposed now was as good a time as any.
I charged forward.
The creature was busy trying to dodge Axtin’s furious hammer swings. It didn’t see me come around it’s left flank.
I let the mace fly. I wasn’t sure who was more surprised, me or the creature. The spikes of the mace dug into it’s crystalized hide.
With a sharp yank, shards clattered to the ground. Beneath the crystal growths was a normal, fleshly body.
“Chip away at the growths,” I called to Axtin.
Axtin swung his hammer at a jagged growth on what I assumed was the creature’s shoulder. It took a few tries but it eventually crumbled away.
The creature realized what we were doing and doubled down on its aggressive attacks. It snarled and snapped. It swiped and clawed.
I moved a fraction of a second too late and took a talon to the arm. Warm, wet blood gushed down my bicep. I’d deal with that later.
I caught a glimpse of Axtin. He’d taken a few blows as well. The side of his face was caked with blood, though I couldn’t tell if it was his or the creature’s.
He let his hammer fly, striking the creature in the side of the face. This time, I heard the crunch I wanted to hear.
It fell over on its side, dazed and struggling.
“Go for the belly,” Axtin shouted.
The creatures soft underside was exposed. I swung my mace and kept swinging until its blood covered my arms and its howls fell silent.
“Is it dead?” I rasped.
“It’s pulp,” Axtin snorted.
I looked down at the creature’s body. Its entire midsection was completely unrecognizable. Chunks of flesh and intestines littered the floor.
“Think there’s any chance of reanimation?” I asked.
“That would require a nearby Xathi. I think we’re safe on that end.”
“If this creature managed to survive all these months, there are probably more roaming around just like it.”