by SD Tanner
No one replied until Ark said, “Well, they’re not dead, but that’s a mighty unnatural formation.”
“It’s worse than that,” Amber replied steadily. “There’s gaps between the people on top of one another.”
“What does that mean?”
Again, there was no immediate answer until Ark replied, “It would mean they’re floating and that’s not possible. Set up a perimeter around the door and take two of you inside, but then get the hell out. I don’t think you’ll be taking any survivors with you today.”
“Why?”
“Because I think they’re doing something to them.”
The doors to the main school were made of glass, and not bothering to show any finesse, he walked through them leaving shattered particles in his wake. Stairs were on his left and he took them two at a time until he reached the landing. It opened to a corridor with windows on one side and a long row of closed doors on the other. The room they needed to get into was at the end of the corridor and he quickly trotted towards it. Other than the people inside of the room, the building was empty of life and critters. The remaining three Navigators stayed outside of the building, monitoring the area around them.
Reaching the door, he put his armored glove around the handle, suddenly reluctant to open it. When it came to the critters, the situation only ever got worse. Whatever was behind the door would be an escalation of the disaster and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be the one to discover it. Bella hadn’t been keen for him to become a Navigator, and being in his fifties he’d thought he might be too old, but he decided if the Knight could do it then so could he. With his hand still on the handle, this was the first time he’d wondered whether he was ready for what was coming, but being known for never standing down, he took a deep breath and decisively pushed the door open.
The desks and chairs that had once sat in rows across the room were now broken and had been pushed against the wide window, effectively blocking the light. Switching his visor to advanced viewing, the pink bodies appeared to be suspended in the air one on top of the other. Just as they’d estimated, there were about twenty people inside of the room. Stepping into the gloom, he moved closer to the bodies, quickly realizing that although they were encased in the goo that held them aloft, they didn’t look quite right.
“They look funny.”
Amber replied distractedly, “I agree. We’re running measurements now.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re…too long. I mean, either they’re the tallest people we’ve ever seen or…” Sounding confused, Amber’s voice drifted off, leaving her sentence unfinished.
Moving to the broken desks being used to cover the window, he ripped a segment of the temporary wall down, allowing sunlight to flood the room. Once he ordered his visor to give him reality viewing, he could see the sticky goo suspending the bodies. The goo couldn’t penetrate their Navigator suits and he reached out a gloved hand, allowing it to sink deeply into the opaque substance.
“Stax, what are you doing?” Amber asked uncertainly.
Sounding enthusiastic, Ark replied for him. “That’s a good idea, Stax. Pull one out.”
It hadn’t been his intention, but now Ark had voiced the idea, he decided he might as well. Moving his arm deeper into the goo, it was thick enough to offer resistance and also seemed to be oozing around him. Snaking its way along his bicep, it drifted across his shoulders. One way or another he was going to be encased in the stuff so he stepped forward, allowing himself to be fully enclosed. Once he was inside of the goo, the room became murky as if he was trying to see through a dirty window. The body was only a few feet in front of him, and pushing his arm further into the goo, he grabbed it under one shoulder. Pulling the body closer, it smoothly slid towards him. Once he could hold it by both of its arms, he stepped backwards until he was free of the goo again. The body slid out of the gelatinous mess like a baby sliding from its mother’s womb, only it remained immobilized and landed with a thud on the floor.
“What the fuck is that?” A voice asked through his headset.
He didn’t have an answer and continued to study the body. It was completely nude and hairless, with an even and smooth skin texture. The eyes were closed and there were no lashes to give them any definition. With no eyebrows and waxen white skin, the face resembled a lighter version of the critters, but it still had a mouth and ears, giving it a humanoid appearance. Dropping to his haunches, he lifted one of its hands, only to discover it no longer had fingernails and he couldn’t see any veins or lines.
Ark asked, “Do they all look the same?”
It was another question he couldn’t answer, and he looked up at the sticky goo, wondering whether he should retrieve another body for comparison. He could hardly call the figure in front of him human and yet it still retained some of their characteristics. With no sexual organs, this one could have started as a man or a woman, and its limbs were oddly long and elongated as was its torso.
“Bring it back,” a male voice said.
“Good idea, Dayton,” Ark replied. “Stax, bring it back. Bring two if you can for comparison.”
“What is it?” He finally asked.
Dayton replied, “I don’t know, but One-of-One has a theory. She thinks the person’s cells are being transformed in the same way that the critters were created.”
“But this doesn’t look like a critter.”
“We know they have the ability to transform cells, so maybe this is just another type.”
“I doubt it,” Ark replied. “This one doesn’t look toughened like they are.”
Ark’s observation made him run his gloved hand across the flat and pale torso. As if in response to the stimuli, the creature’s eyes sprang open, revealing pale white balls with no irises. Jumping back in alarm, he waited to see if it would speak, but its eyes snapped shut.
“Did ya see that?”
“Yeah,” Dayton replied. “It looks empty.”
CHAPTER FOUR: Dance party (Bill)
“So, what do you think they’ve done to them?”
“I dunno, Ark, but it’s not a good development,” he replied.
Sitting inside of the newly created shadow Navigator room, he was looking over Amber’s shoulder, watching her screens. Leon had parked their truck two miles from the pyramid at Pueblo Pintado, and Lexie and Tank were pulling on the suits made of critter parts. One of Jenkin’s lunatics had come up with the idea to use the critter corpses as camouflage, and they’d tested it on the ones they kept inside of the spider shed. Just as they hadn’t reacted to the baby bots, they’d ignored Lexie wearing the critter suit. The more they tested the critters the stupider they appeared to be, and it was hard to accept anything so dumb had destroyed their world. Dunk had once told him that in the game of survival of the fittest, smart trumped stupid, but now he wasn’t so sure.
“No, it’s not good at all,” Ark agreed.
When it came to the critters, Ark had shown exceptional insight. “So, what’s your best guess about this?”
“Hard to say until the medical team take it apart, but if it’s anything like the critters then it’s an empty shell.”
“What do you mean?”
“It didn’t look too alert and that makes me think it’s just another puppet, much like the critters are.”
“But it looked fragile, not at all like the critters.”
“I agree, which makes me wonder what they plan to use it for.”
They wouldn’t get any answers until Dayton and One-of-One analyzed the creatures. Stax was already on his way back with two of them and the medical team were preparing a secure area where they could take them apart.
Today they needed to retrieve the only baby bot that had survived the explosion. According to Ark, it had been forgotten when they were marching them into the nest and was close to surface, which was why it had survived the explosion that must have collapsed many of the tunnels and chambers. The engineers had downloaded new software and the
baby bot had set off on its mission, only to return and run out of power about half of a mile from the pyramid. Lexie and Tank were already heading across the desert towards its last known position. Viewing each of them through their visor cams, they were covered from head to toe in the camouflage made from critter parts, and neither of them looked like a typical Navigator.
With nothing much to see on the screens, he looked through the glass window at the Navigators training inside of the hangar. The new Navigator army had taken to customizing their gear and the original silver and black suits were now painted different colors. Demonstrating an artistry he wouldn’t have thought possible under the circumstances, some of the soldiers had painted their helmets with graphic skulls and weapons. Throughout history, men had aimed to intimidate their enemies by making themselves look more threatening, but he suspected their imagery would be lost on the critters. Even so, he was impressed by the aggressive stance their new army was taking towards their enemy.
Since Ark had now joined the Navigator squad in the field, he’d become more of the commander he was trained to be. He still conceded to Ark’s clear leadership, but he finally felt he was more than just a small cog in their war machine. Any concerns that he was being undermined were gone. It had only ever been a question of time before they needed him to take a command position. To be fair, Ark had never been disrespectful towards him and he couldn’t question the man’s commitment to the war. After saving CaliTech, Ark’s position as a hero was firmly entrenched and he felt it was well deserved.
Still watching the screens, Tank and Lexie were sprinting across the desert, and it didn’t take long for them to reach the edges of the critter city. Despite having been bombed, the pyramid surrounded by the cluster of mounds appeared against the background of the sandy desert looking as established as it always had. Hundreds of critters were moving around the mounds, busily diving in and out of them.
Ark’s voice came through Amber’s speaker. “Do you think there’s less critters out there?”
While he studied the screens closely, Amber switched them to a spectrum he didn’t understand. Critters were now white against a black background and a grid covered the entire screen. Computer analytics were running on another screen and Amber was scanning through the numbers.
“Yep,” she replied curtly. “Compared to the previous footage of the nest we estimate there’s a reduction of fifty percent.”
“So, there’s half of them,” he said dourly.
“That’s what I just said,” she replied slightly indignantly.
Clearly appreciating his point, Ark said, “It’s always better to use fewer words on the radio. You never know when you might lose the connection.”
“Where are they?” He asked.
“That’s a good question,” Ark replied. “This is getting weird. We’ve got people being transformed and the critters are disappearing.”
“Well, the critters won’t be dead,” Leon said bluntly.
“No, chance of that,” he agreed.
Lexie and Tank had slowed their pace and they were walking around the mounds. Critters were running between them, moving jerkily and occasionally crashing into their camouflage suits, but none appeared to notice them.
Ark said, “Lexie, don’t walk so steadily. Mimic their movements.”
“Easy for you to say, you’re not surrounded by them,” she replied sharply.
Walking through a thickening sea of critters of all types, he could understand why she was tense. If the critters realized what they were then they would never get out of the area alive. Tank had taken as much ammo as he could carry, plus his shoulder packs had a grenade launcher and a flamethrower, but for all of his weapons, they wouldn’t stand a chance against hundreds of critters.
“We tested this, hon, so you’ll be fine. Just hold it together,” Ark replied steadily.
Loyalty was an emotion that drove a man as strongly as love. Ark wouldn’t stand by and let Lexie die without a fight and Leon would back him up. He knew if Lexie and Tank were detected by the critters then he’d lose the entire squad. Ark would be prepared to die protecting Lexie and Leon would follow him.
Amber’s face was blank while she intently watched the screens, flicking from one to the next, clearly looking for any information that could help them. “There’s the bot.”
When he couldn’t see it on the spectrum she was using to analyze the area, she tapped the screen. The bot was showing as a purple smudge in a sea of grey and he wondered how she’d known what she was looking at.
The closer they got to the pyramid, the denser the mounds became and more critters were filling the screens. Unable to avoid so many densely packed critters, Lexie and Tank were plowing through them, changing their pace to emulate their movement. Every time they hit a critter, it skittered away as if there were road rules and they were breaking them. Although Tank’s heart rate was steady, Lexie’s was at one hundred and sixty beats per minute, making him worry she’d have a panic attack.
“Ark,” he said a low warning tone.
“She’s doing fine, Bill.”
Ark had managed Lexie in combat many times before, but he’d never watched her this closely. If she always panicked this badly under stress, he understood why Ark wouldn’t let her outside of the wire alone.
The baby bot was within reach and bending stiffly at the waist, Lexie picked it up. Powered down, it had collapsed onto its eight legs and looked like a football with “fuck you” scrawled in white across its black back. Its legs dangled uselessly beneath its now dead body, and seeing it in such a sad looking state made him feel as if he’d lost a soldier.
“Bring it home, guys,” Ark said.
Critters were swarming Tank and Lexie, but it was only due to the sheer number of mounds in the area. Lexie turned, her breath coming in gasps through the speakers, and she began the same jerky movement, shoving critters out of her path. Tank was ahead of her, using his substantial weight and size to push critters away, leaving a small opening for Lexie to follow behind him. Suddenly Lexie squealed as a critter ran over her body and its black faced loomed into one of her cameras. The critter didn’t hear her cry under her helmet and continued to move past her.
“Easy, hon, it doesn’t know what you are,” Ark said calmly.
He looked at the readings for Lexie and her heart rate had jumped to one hundred and seventy. If she didn’t calm down soon she was at risk of hyperventilating and now was not the time to stop moving. Now worried the mission could be lost at the last minute, he was surprised when Tank began to sing. He wasn’t known for his humor and his singing voice matched his look. With his flat voice and complete lack of rhythm, he couldn’t work out what Tank was singing, but Amber tapped on her screen and music filled the speakers. He still didn’t recognize the song, but everyone else did and a chorus of voices exploded through the speaker.
Confused, he wasn’t sure what they were doing until Amber turned to him and smiled. Pointing at the screen, he saw Lexie’s heart rate was dropping as she and Tank jerkily danced their way through the throng of critters.
It was only when they’d reached the edge of the critter city that he finally spoke again. “What the hell was that? You could have died.”
Amber had turned off the music and he heard Ark laugh. “You know what they say, Bill. Music soothes the angry beast.”
“Did you just call me a beast?” Lexie asked irritably.
“Nah, he was talking about me, Lex,” Tank replied.
“I can’t believe we got away with that,” Leon said in disbelief.
“We shouldn’t have,” he agreed. “Ark, just how stupid is our enemy?”
While Lexie and Tank picked up their pace and began to run towards the truck, Ark replied, “Looks like they’re better poker players than we are.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve been bluffed. They’re not that smart.”
“So?”
“We need to call their bluff.”
&n
bsp; “What’s the point of doing that if we don’t have the winning hand?”
“I dunno yet. Leave it with me.”
CHAPTER FIVE: Behind enemy lines (Boris)
Un-fucking-believable.
Spinning around his mind like an echo, it was the only word he could think of to explain his current predicament. He’d been well on his way to Fields Landing when a giant bug had snatched him from the ground and flown him half way across the country. With the wind and real bugs flying into his face, it hadn’t been a comfortable trip, and preferring death, he’d pulled out his KABAR trying to get the thing to let him go. Not paying the slightest bit of attention to his feeble attempts to annoy it, the critter had finally dropped him inside of a large pyramid in the desert. Although devoid of the usual luxuries that came with flying, his trip had been educational. Flying over towns and cities had given him a bird’s eye view of the situation on the ground. Any town or city with a large population had been ringed by a fence defended by the critters and their tunnels crisscrossed the entire country.
Once he’d landed inside of the chamber, the critters had driven him to the bottom of the nest where he’d met the thing that was controlling them. Their enemy was an enormous creature made of a similar material to the critters, but it wasn’t the same. With its many legs that didn’t seem able to support it, it sat in a hulking crouch at the bottom of what turned out to be a very deep nest. Ark had been right and there was no way their missiles could penetrate deeply enough to kill the creature skulking at the bottom. Now molded into its rubbery hide, he’d been captured and absorbed by their enemy. Their union hadn’t been an easy one and he didn’t care to revisit the memory, but he was relieved that Ark was leading their war. He’d finally realized that the man had insights into their enemy that they would need if they were going to defeat it.
Although his face was still exposed, he no longer had a body of his own. When the creature had merged them, worrying he’d suffocate, he’d instinctively fought to keep his face free of the bulbous rubbery surface. Now, his ears, eyes, nose and mouth were plastered on its side, but he didn’t need to breathe. The rest of his body didn’t seem to exist anymore and he was only a floating face on the side of a hunk of rubber.