by Paul Dayton
“About half way down the chamber flanking either side of the ship is a set of doors that I think lead to two opposite corridors. If I have my directions down right, if we go to the doors on the left we should pass the human living quarters, showers, mess hall and generator room. If the corridor continues…”
“We could get back to where we came from, or at least access the ventilation tunnel further up the obstruction,” Jack finished. “We have to get back to where I met those crabs in the beginning. I’m not sure I know how to get there, but we’ll have only an hour to do so. I don’t want to stretch it any longer so that I don’t give these humans a chance of finding the grenades.”
“Do you think we can make it?” Scratch asked.
“I hope so!” and she looked with longing into Scratch’s eyes.
“Just one question. Why go back to the crabs?” Scratch asked.
“They hold the key to this, and they showed me the rebuilt ship. I know it’s a long shot, but maybe it’s the way out. Now let’s go. Think we can put two humans out of their misery and steal their dust coveralls?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. There are two near us close to this vent, and we can stuff them both in here. I just hope they have no backup power source, or none they can turn on very quickly.”
“We’ll have to move fast just in case they do,” Jack said.
“Less than one minute left.”
Within a few moments, the lights suddenly increased in intensity and all the bulbs burst. A large explosion was heard and Jack and Scratch felt a strong puff of air go through the vent tunnel as the generator blew up.
“WHAT did you do?”
Scratch just laughed. “I think it will take them a while to fix it.”
As they adjusted their night vision, they looked into a scene of total chaos on the floor. They could clearly see the heat signatures of the humans as they walked about bumping into one thing after another in the almost complete darkness. The only thing that had lights on was the power generator unit keeping the magnetic bottle for the antimatter cylinder powered and chilled, and the emergency lighting spilling out of the open hatch of the ship. Other than that, every lighting diode in the complex that was powered by that power generator had been shorted and blown.
“Scratch,” Jack said, “before you go out, remember to clear your mind. Listen to your breathing and absolutely do not think of the grenades.”
“Oh yeah. Right. Clear my mind. Ok.” Jack could see him concentrate and calm himself, and he opened his eyes with a blank expression on his face.
She jumped through the vent with Scratch close behind. The two humans near them heard the noise and turned, but couldn’t see enough to locate them. Jack walked up and behind the one, pulled his dust hood off and calmly fired the laser into the back of his head. The second person reacted to the sound of a body slumping to the floor near her, but she couldn’t see anything. Jack calmly walked up behind her and repeated the motion.
They quickly unzipped both dust suits off the now dead bodies and Scratch picked up and stuffed them into the vent shaft. They put on the dust suits and calmly walked up to the side of the ship. Locating one of the maneuvering jets near the main thrusters, Scratch triggered and dropped one of the grenades down the exhaust port. He tried being as quiet as possible but the grenade made a rolling sound and thumped as it stopped at the jet nozzle at the bottom of the cavity. He tried fitting his hand in and was happy to see that the cavity was too small. A couple of humans further off queried at the strange noises, but Jack continued to emit an ‘I’m busy, concentrate on your work’ signal that she hoped they would accept.
Next they walked over to the antimatter cylinder. Scratch removed the cover over the fuel dumping port, triggered the grenade and hid it under one of the fuel containers. He quickly replaced the cover and they started walking to the set of doors on the left, passing a number of aliens and humans still milling about in confusion in the near dark.
A bright light lit up near one end of the chamber, followed by a second and then a third. They were caught by surprise and temporarily blinded, but they quickly changed their sight to the regular wavelength. Humans were turning in their direction, and Jack realized too late that their surprise at the lights coming on had been mentally picked up.
The aliens milling about had stopped, and Jack could clearly make out a mental alert call.
“Scratch, come on!” she yelled as she palmed her laser. They ran through the exit as the humans and aliens hesitated, trying to make sense of what had happened. It took them only a few moments to confer and come to a decision. Jack had picked up the mental alert, and was dismayed at seeing the airtight doors forty meters ahead.
Fortunately, the corridor was only wide enough for three people walking side by side. This branch of the hive had been completely built by humans, with floors that at one time were smooth and polished, but now scratched and pitted from the alien claws running over it. However, the alien ants had trouble finding traction, and they ended up bumping into each other and those humans chasing them. Scratch had just a few seconds to take some shots with his own laser, and he watched satisfied as some of the humans tripped over the dead ants, creating a minor roadblock.
He bumped into Jack, who was now stopped and furiously working the controls to the airtight door.
“Why the hell did they put an airtight door here?” Jack yelled.
“Don’t know, but now’s a good time to open them!” Scratch answered as he continued firing on the approaching hoard.
“How about now?!” he yelled again. “My laser’s overheating!” Scratch well knew that small handheld lasers weren’t meant for this sort of duty cycle, and this laser was older than any he’d ever seen.
“LOOK JACK! It’s now or never! One of those monsters from the chamber is coming!” Jack stole a glance to see one of the earlier aliens they had seen before, a warrior ant that was tossing aliens and humans aside as it came directly at them. She gave Scratch her laser and he used both, maniacally firing at all targets. The first one got so hot it started burning his hand, but Scratch kept firing. He could barely hold the laser and saw smoke coming from his hand, but the aliens and humans kept inexorably approaching. Even those injured would crawl towards them, dragging themselves along the floor.
“JACK!” Scratch yelled, and she looked over to see his hand start shriveling as smoke rose from the now superheated weapon.
“It’s not like I stopped to knit a damn sweater, Scratch! Hold them off!” Jack yelled, but Scratch was in too much pain to reply. He stood staring at his burning hand in shock. She looked one more time, shocked at the damage.
“Jason, I’m trying,” she yelled as tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks. The warrior ant had taken blow after blow from the laser and shrugged it off as if it were nothing. The only thing slowing it down was the other bodies in front of it, but Scratch could see that their end was near.
His fingers had become blackened dried out twigs curled around the laser, still firing but glowing a dull red. Scratch tried uncurling his fingers, but they were seized in place. He looked with dazed eyes at the swarm now very near. The hot laser had lost coherence in its beam and the beam was now fluctuating wildly and uncontrollably. Scratch could see that it, although weaker, was having more of an effect then it did when it was tight, and he watched as the warrior ant slowed in its approach, became confused, and started to glow. Still, it approached Scratch inexorably, until it finally wrapped its primary pincers around his arm. The pincers were now so hot from the laser that they burned his flesh as they severed his arm off.
Jack yelled and pulled him through as the warrior ant’s carapace burst from the intense heat. The laser in Scratch’s now severed arm continued firing, and the two fell to the ground as Jack yanked Scratch through the doorway. Jack fumbled to get the good laser from Scratch’s other hand. He had lost consciousness and his eyes had rolled to the back of his head. Just as she yanked it off a human worked his way through a
nd grabbed at her hair. She yelled but shot him in the groin. The human howled in pain as he slumped to the floor, the lower end of his spine neatly severed by the laser.
She jumped up and reached for the antiquated door palm switch, all the while firing the small laser at those trying to come through the doorway. She could feel this laser heating up and knew that she wouldn’t be able to use it much longer.
Jack continued to hit the buttons in the same sequence she had done to open the door, but nothing happened. She tried the opposite combination, and the doors suddenly closed, cleanly slicing in half an ant that was trying to squeeze through. She shot out the controls hoping to delay them, but she knew that it wouldn’t take them long to circumvent this.
Scratch was on the floor, semi-conscious and groaning. She looked at the stump of what was left of his arm, and finished cauterizing the end of it with the laser. The smell of burning flesh made her sick and she looked worriedly at Scratch, but all he did was groan louder.
“Wake up Scratch! We got to get out of here!” She would never make it out carrying him, but he wasn’t responding.
She slapped him hard, but his only reply was “Did you finish your sweater?” and his eyes lost focus again. Hearing the rasping of alien claws against the door behind her reminded her they had to go now.
“Guess I’ll have to carry you,” she murmured under her breath, and grabbing his only arm, pulled him up into a fireman’s carry. She held onto the laser but dropped the now empty knapsack, and started running as fast as she could.
Sweat poured down her forehead blurring her vision, but she dare not stop, and she tried hard to clear her mind as she ran. The noise of the pounding receded, but she knew this was only temporary. Further down, she could see some ants milling about confused, but as she passed them she carefully kept her mind clear so as to not arouse suspicion. Once or twice she ran by a human that tried querying her, but she ignored them, kept her mind clear and kept running. Suddenly, a large explosion was heard from the direction of the airtight doors, and she was sure that the aliens or humans had brought in some heavy firepower to get that door open. It would now only be a few minutes before they reached her, probably getting information from any humans she had passed. She had to find a place where she could hide. She needed Scratch awake or they would never make it.
She ran past the Power Generation/Cafeteria area, blackened by the explosion and recent fire, but kept running. Jack knew she was at the limit of her strength. She was surprised to have made it this far, especially with Scratch on her shoulders. She felt him move and cough, so she cut into a small utility room just off the side of the corridor. This room still had a door on it from the time the base had been occupied only with humans. She carefully went inside, shut and locked the door, and then dropped Scratch down as gently as she could. Scratch grunted, looked around confused, and then asked, “What the hell just happened?”
“Scratch, listen to me carefully.” Jack could see that he was very confused, but they had no time left. “If you want to live, do exactly as I say.” He was about to protest, but she kissed him on the lips, which seemed to rouse him up completely.
“If you want to propose to me properly, we have to hurry!”
“What do you want me to do?” Scratch asked as he stared confused at his missing arm.
“Follow me as close and as fast as possible!” Jack said. It was obvious that he was in shock.
“Did I ever tell you that I faint at the sight of blood?” he said, showing signs of confusion again.
“Great. Now you tell me. Leave the fainting till later!”
“Ok. Just one question. What did you do with my arm?”
Jack looked at Scratch and could see his eyes slip out of focus as he slipped into and out of reality.
“My hand hurts,” he said as he went to rub his missing limb. He looked down again in confusion, then up at Jack for clarification.
“Scratch, we’re going to go get your arm. Then we’re getting married,” she said.
“Ok. Sounds good to me, but if not, make sure the sweater you’re knitting only has one arm,” Scratch replied, his face pale and his brow knitted in pain.
Jack went to the door and was about to open it when she heard the clicking of claws against a hard floor. “Damn, the ants,” she whispered to Scratch. She looked around to see the usual vent on the wall, their lifesaving backup, and then for something to prop up against the door. Along the walls were electrician tools hanging from a rack, some cabinets, and over to the side was a rack with tubing of different lengths. They all appeared to be very old and hardly used. Jack found some large diameter tubing that fit snugly in between the door and the back wall and laid it there as quietly as she could.
Jack looked at Scratch again and said, “We have to climb in there again Scratch.” She could see sweat beading up on his forehead and running down, wetting his chest. His eyes were unfocused and he appeared about to faint again.
“Scratch!” She whispered, giving him a hard mental jar too. Scratch’s eyelids popped open and he looked up and said, “I’m tired of vents! My knees are raw. Can’t we walk…”
Jack heard the doorknob turn, and went as quiet as she could, both mentally and physically, and she signaled Scratch to do the same. Scratch heard the doorknob and nodded.
After a few moments of the doorknob turning, Jack could feel a query being sent out mentally, but she didn’t respond and tried to keep her thoughts hidden. She could see Scratch concentrating too, and she hoped he was being successful. After a few seconds, the doorknob stopped turning, and Jack could hear the patter of feet and claws leave the area.
She breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, “We can’t walk, we have to crawl in the vent. Now get going!” She pulled the grill off and laid it inside the vent shaft.
“Ladies first,” Scratch said.
“Scratch, I don’t have time for this!” Jack could see that Scratch was in a lot of pain and that he still wasn’t there mentally, but she was terrified that the humans walking past the door would again sense their thoughts and attempt to come into the room. She crouched on one knee to help Scratch up, seeing as he had only one arm now and the vent was high.
Scratch climbed up, followed by Jack, and Jack had just finished putting the vent grill back when a loud bang against the door startled her. She hadn’t expected the noise, and she could see through the grill that the door had shattered and would only take a few more hits before it would crumble under the onslaught. Jack was curious to see what could do that damage but didn’t want to hang around to find out, so she nudged Scratch to crawl as fast as he could.
“Can’t keep your hands off of me can you?” he said as he crawled, but Jack didn’t reply, concentrating on moving as fast as possible. She could hear the door fly apart and people and ants rushing into the room they had just been in, now about fifteen meters back. She just hoped that they wouldn’t think of going through the vent after them.
Soon they came to the original fork in the tunnel that she recognized would lead her back to the chamber her suit was destroyed in, and eventually to the main tunnel where they could walk and find those crabs she had met with at first. They rushed through as fast as they could, no longer trying to keep quiet except where vent openings led directly to chambers. Scratch was complaining again, but he now seemed more lucid. Jack let him complain, quietly nudging him now and again to move as fast as he could. His missing arm was slowing him down tremendously, and Jack passed by him and told him to hug her behind with his good arm so they could crawl together. They crawled much faster, and they quickly passed another vent and eventually worked their way into the area where the crabs were being farmed by the harvester ants. The pain started throbbing in her head again, but they moved so fast that it soon receded.
Scratch stopped for a second and said lucidly, “Twenty-two minutes.”
“We have to move faster.”
They pushed hard, working their way into the tunnel that led to the mai
n chamber where her drop suit was destroyed. After a few moments they reached it, and it was now empty except for the drones milling about the eggs and the eggs themselves. The explosions had obviously drawn the humans and ants away and Jack was grateful they could now walk.
Scratch looked around and said, “I thought the aliens were supposed to be idiots without a queen. We killed her didn’t we?”
“I’m pretty sure we did too. I think the humans must have something to do with their activity somehow!”
They continued, carefully walking toward the opening that her suit had created earlier. On the way, Jack noticed some pieces left behind, including the part of the suit comp that held the events log. She picked it up and carried it with her.
“How do you know that?” Scratch asked quietly.
“Because the ants were milling about confused until one human got wind of us, and then all of a sudden all hell broke loose. If that’s the case, do you understand what this means?”
Scratch thought a bit, and then said, “That we can control the thoughts of ants?”
“Exactly. Now I understand why it’s so important that we escape and that this planet be destroyed, just as the crabs showed me. If any of these humans here got loose, we could have a new enemy. They could form their own warped army, or then somehow force this arrangement on others, or even have the leaderless ants rally around them! It’s all starting to make sense!”
“Well, we have the first part covered, but escaping will be more difficult. And so far, you’re the only one that can communicate mentally, so I’m not sure how those crabs are going to pull off what they showed you.”
“Scratch, trust me. I’m sure that if we can get there in time, we’ll get out with all we need.”
“Ok. Get where?”
Jack smiled and in a reversal of tables said, “You’ll see. How’s your arm? Sorry, I meant, how are you feeling?”
“I’ll live. All I know is you better say yes when we get out of here or there’s trouble.”
Jack held her laugh in, and Scratch seemed to come out of his state of shock but she was worried. His adrenaline was keeping him going but it was only a matter of time. Still, within a few minutes matters would be settled one way or another.