“I’ll do my best, Cap.”
“That’s all I can ask of you. Listen, we’re heading out within the hour. You may want to say your goodbyes to Billy …”
Orion held his stare for several long seconds. Jason had never suggested such a thing before, saying goodbye, anytime previously. Perhaps only then did she fully understand that he didn’t expect them to return. That this, most likely, would be a one-way trip—The Lilly’s last voyage.
Chapter 26
“Go around them,” Nan said.
“Just so you know, that will slow us down considerably. It’s not like they’ll feel it,” Gus replied.
Nan stared at the cocooned bodies lying on the road. “They’ve already endured a terrible fate. We’re not going to disrespect them in death as well.”
Gus disappeared back into the cab. The big truck accelerated forward several feet, turned off the pavement, and slowly continued onto the grassy field.
Reese made a sympathetic face. “You know … bodies aren’t only lying on the street. They’re all over the place, including this field.”
Mollie looked disgusted.
“I’m well aware of that,” said Nan. “But there’s a difference between consciously knowing you’re rolling over something and inadvertently rolling over something.”
“Or someone,” Mollie added.
Nan purposely averted her eyes from what the headlight beams might illuminate near the ground. The terrain was becoming more uneven and the slope of the field more precarious. Again, the truck came to a stop and Gus stuck his head out the door of the cab.
Nan looked over her shoulder at him, waiting for Gus to resume his prior argument. She raised her eyebrows. He pointed off to the right, near the side of the road.
“They’re here!” Mollie screamed.
Reese jumped to his feet and raised the shotgun.
Nan stood as well and tried to see what Gus and Mollie were talking about. She recognized their unique, hovering, teardrop silhouettes, and let out a breath. “I don’t understand how—”
“I NanoTexted them. Actually, I NanoTexted my own Teardrop … the one we left behind in D.C., and then I NanoTexted Boomer, up in space. She sent us her Teardrop.”
Mollie moved closer to the two drones, walking to the far right end of the metal deck. “Come closer, both of you.”
Nan watched as they silently approached. To most people they would look identical, but Nan and Mollie could see the subtle differences in the duo—the most significant being Boomer’s drone, although repaired, showed battle wear from fighting the pirate, Captain Stalls, when she was taken from the Cutlass.
Mollie stood with her hands on her hips. “We can’t call you both the same name. So, from now on, you, Boomer’s drone … we’re going to call you Dewdrop.” Mollie turned toward Nan: “What should I tell them to do?”
Gus’s voice boomed from the cab, “Tell them to protect us from the molt weevils, for God’s sake, little girl!”
“Protect us from those molt weevil creatures,” she instructed the drones.
“Why don’t we have them move the cocoons out of our way on the street?” Reese added.
Mollie turned back to the drones and told them, “Also, clear a path up on the street so we don’t run over the cocoon things.”
In the darkness, Nan noticed both drones had deployed their plasma cannons from the compartments at the center of their torsos. Without warning they each began spinning and firing at unseen molt weevil targets. Dewdrop moved to the back of the truck, while Teardrop moved to the paved street and started using its articulating arms to clear the cocooned bodies far enough off the roadway for the truck to pass through.
Gus powered the truck back onto the now-open road. Teardrop moved farther up the road to clear away more cocoons, while Dewdrop acted as sentry and shot at any approaching molt weevils. The engine noise grew louder as the truck picked up speed.
The Caterpillar dealership they’d left behind was in a relatively remote industrial section of town. Now, they were approaching an expansive neighborhood off to the right. Not only were there far more cocoons lying scattered on the streets, there were significantly more attacking molt weevils.
Nan watched as the two drones continued to spin and fire pretty much non-stop. She wondered how long they could continue—would they need to rest—to recharge?
Mollie cupped her two hands over her nose and mouth as the smell of burnt molt weevil flesh filled the air. Between the fumes and the growing number of dead carcasses, Nan was fighting back nausea.
As the streets narrowed, more and more cars parked by the curb, and Gus turned west on Lake Avenue, which was better—more of a thoroughfare. As their speed increased, Nan was sure they were pushing the upper range for the 797F. Now there were fewer attacks—giving the two drones a much-needed reprieve.
The truck started to slow down again. Nan, standing on her tiptoes, saw that the road ahead was split by a grass island divider. The track, the distance between wheels on the same axel, was clearly wide enough to span the divided roadway. “Gus, you do see those trees … don’t you?” Nan yelled.
He replied using the PA, “Of course I see the trees. I suggest everyone hold on to something.”
Nan pulled Mollie in tight and clenched her jaw just prior to the front end of the 797F careening into the first tree’s thick trunk. It toppled over as if it were made of rubber. Every three or four seconds, another tree went down. There were some instances when the wide tires rolled over a wrapped cocoon. At this point, Nan was rethinking her stance on avoiding them: Why bother?
Up ahead was the entrance to the Broadmoor Hotel. Dual rows of perfectly manicured pines lined the circular drive; a posh Mediterranean-style building standing several stories high sat perpendicular to Lake Avenue. The truck turned south, crossing over the island, and headed down a somewhat narrower street. Again, abandoned cars were parked ahead on the curbs.
Nan looked over to Reese. “What’s Gus doing? Doesn’t he see there’s no room for the truck to go in this direction?”
Before he could answer, Gus jerked the wheel toward the west again and drove across the hotel’s parking lot. They picked up speed and headed toward a row of bungalow-style buildings. Gus laid on the horn. It was now obvious to Nan what Gus intended to do, and she only hoped the bungalows weren’t currently occupied. But Gus surprised her by bringing the truck to a stop.
Back on the PA again, Gus’s voice echoed into the street: “Everyone climb up and get back into the bed. Get under cover.”
Mollie wasted no time climbing up the ten-foot-high rope ladder. Once she’d disappeared over the edge, Nan followed. She looked back and saw Reese had joined Gus in the cab. Crouching low, she traversed the long steel overhang and found another rope ladder leading into the bed. As she turned and started down the ladder, the truck lurched and Nan held tight on to the top edge of the truck bed. She looked up just in time to see the front end of the 797F plow into a two-story-high bungalow. The sound of timber, drywall, and concrete smashing beneath six twelve-foot-tall tires made her cringe. She figured Gus was keeping the accelerator down to the metal because the big dump truck’s progress didn’t slow. In less than five seconds they’d cleared the debris and were cruising along on the Broadmoor’s first-hole golf course fairway, heading southeast. Nan climbed down the rest of the way into the huge truck bed and saw all the stuff Gus and Reese had loaded in there. Mollie waved from the middle of the sectional couch.
Nan regretted not bringing her flashlight with her, but didn’t think she’d have been able to climb the ladder and hold on to it at the same time. She navigated around pallets of equipment and made it over to the couch, sitting down next to Mollie. The Broadmoor’s lush thick grass beneath the truck’s tires made for a comfortable ride. Nan scooted in close to Mollie and put her arm around her. For the first time in hours, perhaps days, Nan let herself relax. She kissed Mollie’s forehead and looked up to the nighttime sky.
“Look, Mom, the Milky Wa
y.”
Pitch-black against the star-filled heavens, silhouettes of tall oak trees paralleled both sides of the fairway. Nan remembered Gus saying the truck was three stories high … so how high were these trees? Four stories?
The truck moved closer to the right side of the fairway—next to the big oak trees. Suddenly paralyzed with fright, Nan couldn’t scream—she couldn’t move. She could only watch as the all- too-familiar shapes of three molt weevils leapt from outstretched tree branches into the truck bed.
Chapter 27
Mollie saw them too and, unlike her mother, she had no problem screaming. Unfortunately, Reese and Gus weren’t able to hear her within the truck’s highly insulated cab—a cab designed specifically to block out much of the thunderous engine noise.
The other problem was neither drone was close by. Teardrop was one hundred and five yards ahead of the truck, repositioning stray cocoons off the path of the oncoming vehicle. Dewdrop was seventy-five yards away, on the other side of the fairway. It had detected more of the molt weevils’ alien signature high up in the tree line, and had moved over there to eradicate five of them.
Nan had seen these things move and knew she and Mollie were in grave danger. Now, seeing one of the creatures approach them, her paralysis vanished. She and Mollie leapt over the back of the couch and slowly backed away. A noise behind them, and then another noise off to their right, let them know where the other two creatures were. They were surrounded. Mollie continued to scream and Nan wondered what was taking the two drones so long—
She didn’t have time to finish that last thought. Two of the molt weevils flew onto them with amazing speed. Nan felt Mollie yanked from her arms as she was lifted into the air by multiple powerful appendages. Something was sprayed into her face and now a different kind of paralysis held her rigid. She couldn’t yell out or even blink her eyes. She could only observe, as if she were a bystander viewing a horrific car accident, too removed to do anything to help. Nan felt her body begin to spin. Around and around, the world was a spinning blur around her. Had she just seen Mollie being cocooned too, mere feet away? Slimy mucous oozed from protrusions on the molt weevil’s neck, while its serpent-like arms spread the substance over her body. This is what Clark experienced … this is how Clark died. Nan could see enough of her own body to know that the process was near completion. Finally the top of her head and then her eyes were covered as well. Nan knew she appeared no different from the thousands of other mummies they’d seen lying everywhere. At least the spinning had stopped. This is when I die. She waited.
Nan heard muffled sounds nearby—as if she was underwater, several feet beneath the surface of a pool. Was that plasma fire she heard? Why am I hearing anything? I should be dead!
She felt movement. Her cocoon was being lifted. God, not again. She heard ripping, tearing sounds. Yelling. Someone was yelling for her to hold on. Hold on to what? Fingers frantically ripped and pried at the dried material on her face. First one eye was uncovered and then the other. Nan saw Reese above her, his face taut with fear. He pulled the cocoon away from her mouth.
“Nan! Wake up … Come on back to us, Nan!”
“I’m here. Just stop yelling,” she said, her speech still slurred from whatever it was the creature had sprayed into her face.
He peered down into her eyes, looking concerned. “You’re okay? Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know. You need to help Mollie. Get Mollie out of that thing.”
“She’s almost freed. Gus is helping her.”
“Is she … is she alive?” Nan asked, the words catching in her throat.
“Yeah, she seems to be fine. You both are.”
“Thank God. Now get me out of this thing.”
* * *
It took ten minutes for Reese to completely extricate her from the cocoon. Nan rubbed her face in her palms. It felt as if she’d lost more than a few layers of epidermis, but that was about the extent of her injuries. She and Mollie returned to the couch, sitting close, their arms around each other.
“I’ve never been so scared in my entire life, Mom.”
“Me neither, pumpkin. Me neither.”
“I thought for sure you two were goners,” said Gus. “If it wasn’t for us seeing the rapid return of the two robots—”
“Drones,” Mollie corrected.
“Drones, whatever, I wouldn’t have known there was a problem. Hell, who would have thought those things would be hiding in the trees?” Gus asked, looking guilty.
“It’s not your fault, Gus. We’re both fine now.” Nan turned to Teardrop and Dewdrop. “Thank you both. You saved our lives.”
Teardrop answered, “You’re welcome, Nan Reynolds.”
“What did I tell you about saying people’s last names? That sounds stupid,” Mollie reprimanded.
Teardrop didn’t reply.
Nan sat up and then stood. She hurried to the front of the bed and climbed halfway up the ladder. In the distance she saw several cocoons on a nearby putting green. “Teardrop. Can you go over to those cocoons … scan to see if someone’s still alive?”
“I do not need to go over there to provide that information.”
Exasperated, Gus looked at the two drones. “Well, are they f-ing alive or not?”
“Yes. Both humanoids are alive and healthy within their cocoons.”
“Go get them. Bring them back here. Hurry!” Nan urged.
Reese and Gus moved the couches out of the way to provide more room. The first of the two cocoons was dropped off and Reese quickly got started ripping at the cocoon material. Minutes later, Dewdrop carefully lowered the second body, which was half the size of the first. Gus and Nan went to work, ripping at the cocoon.
Nan had little doubt that the second cocoon was a child. She glanced over at Mollie and wondered if she should send her away. In all probability too much time had elapsed. It might be a gruesome sight. They removed much of the dried mucous from the small face and could see the eyes. They blinked.
“Oh my God, he’s alive. This little boy’s alive,” Nan said, wiping tears from her cheeks with the backs of her hands.
Mollie scooted in close and began to help. “Do you think all the cocooned people are alive, Mom?”
“I hope so, sweetie.”
“Good thing you didn’t let Gus run over them all.”
Gus and Nan exchanged glances. “Your mother’s a very smart woman, young lady.”
“I already knew that,” Mollie said, without looking up from her work.
“I need to find Clark,” Reese said. The woman he was extricating tried to sit up. Agitated, she asked, “Where’s my son? Where’s Calvin?”
“Mom?”
She crawled over to the half-extricated child and began to kiss his face. Excited, she screamed his name: “Calvin! Are you all right?”
“I think so. Can you just get me out of this stuff?”
Nan noted the boy was roughly Mollie’s age. She liked that he wasn’t a whiner. Cute kid. Mollie crouched down next to them. “My name’s Mollie. We rescued you. Probably saved your lives.”
The mother, blonde, late-twenties, was dressed in a maid’s uniform. She looked at Mollie and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, Mollie.” She looked at Nan and Reese and repeated the words, thanking them.
“I need to get back to Clark,” Reese said, looking east toward I-25.
“Reese, there are thousands of cocoons out there. How would you even find her? You really sure you want to backtrack through all those molt weevils again? Is this what she’d want, or would she want you to complete your mission?”
“She’d do it for me,” he said.
“You know her better than we do … But I doubt that. I need to think about my daughter, Reese. I almost lost her. If you’re sure about going back for Clark, I’m sorry, but you’ll be doing it on your own.”
Reese seemed to weigh that in his head. “No, you’re right. I have a job to do here.”
“Why do they do this to people
? Make them into cocoons?” Mollie asked no one in particular.
It was the young boy, Calvin, who answered. “You seriously haven’t figured that out?”
“Figured what out?” Mollie sneered back.
“Dinner, lunch, maybe a late night snack? It’s obvious, they’re wrapping everyone up for their food supplies.”
Mollie made a face. “That’s totally disgusting.”
Calvin seemed to take pleasure in her reaction. “A lot of insects do the same thing. I guess we now know what it feels like.”
Gus rooted around in one of the pallets of equipment and came up with several battery-powered lanterns. He had Reese help him jury rig several tarps over their heads, using tall aluminum poles and rope.
Out of breath, he stopped in front of Nan. “What next?”
“We keep going.”
“And the cocoons?”
Nan looked at the others. She bit her lower lip and took in a breath. “We keep going. Any cocoons directly in our path we bring up here and extricate the victims.”
Gus seemed to like that idea and headed toward the rope ladder.
“You two need to stay close. We don’t want a repeat of what just happened,” Nan told the two drones.
“Yeah, you’re an embarrassment,” Mollie added.
Calvin fully noticed Teardrop and Dewdrop for the first time. Mouth open, he looked at the two and then at Mollie. “Are those real? How do they hover like that?”
“Of course they’re real,” Mollie said. “They’re both in trouble right now or I’d introduce you to them.”
Chapter 28
Admiral Reynolds told everyone to take a seat and to settle down. “Listen up … thanks to Gaddy’s home planet connections, some of which were her fellow-student dissidents back on Halimar, we’ve received invaluable information.” The admiral gestured toward the display. “As you can see for yourselves, the Craing populace has taken to the streets … they can smell freedom in the wind and we’re guessing full out revolution is near at hand.”
The Great Space (Scrapyard Ship Book 6) Page 14