McCade's Bounty
Page 25
"Let her die!" the Melcetian screamed in Pong's mind. "You're throwing away everything I worked for, everything I wanted, all for a stupid child!"
The words echoed through Pong's brain as he willed himself forward. What was it the mind slug had said? "I?" As in "everything I worked for, everything I wanted."
And suddenly Pong knew something he should've known long before, that his "I" and the Melcetian's "I" were entirely different. This was no partnership, no sharing of similar ambitions, this was slavery. The alien was, and always had been, his master.
Reaching deep into some hidden reservoir of energy Pong found strength and used it to hurl himself forward. He felt his hands close around 47,721's neck, and saw Molly spin away as the alien turned its attention to him.
Pong felt something tear deep inside his body as the Melcetian pulled itself loose. The mind slug had waited until the last moment before separating itself, hoping that Pong would come to his senses, and now it was too late.
A terrible agony lanced through Pong's nervous system. He screamed, and as he did, the mind slug screamed too.
47,721 gloried in the feel of his razor-sharp hand claws slicing through alien flesh. His first few strokes cut the soft shiny thing to ribbons and the next cut deep four-inch channels through the human's upper torso. Then with a single darting motion of his oblong head, 47,721 administered the Natawkwa, or killing bite. A sticky red fluid sprayed across 47,721 's face and he gave thanks for the hunt. There would be much meat when this was over.
Then, as the killing rage began to fade, 47,721 saw that things had changed. The hairy thing, the one the humans called a variant, had broken loose. 47,721 dropped Pong's remains in order to watch. His venturing companions would make short work of the human.
Phil had waited, hoping to avoid going into full augmentation, knowing he'd be worthless for days afterward. But when the alien grabbed Molly, and Pong threw himself forward, Phil knew there was no choice.
The variant activated certain triggers planted deep within his subconscious, felt chemicals pour into his bloodstream, and saw the world around him slow. His reactions were speeded up, his muscles chemically augmented, his entire body a murderous machine.
Now a single jerk from Phil's arms was enough to free him from his alien guards. A spinning kick and one went down, its leg broken at the joint, screeching loudly. Another kick broke its neck.
The others rushed him, confident of their superior strength, eager to give the Natawkwa.
Phil roared his approval, rammed a fist through the first one's chest, and pulled something out.
A whitish fluid sprayed everywhere as Phil grabbed another alien by the skull and turned it around. The creature dropped like a rock.
The variant felt something slice through fur and flesh and turned to grab it. As he hugged the alien to his chest, Phil felt bones crunch and heard organs pop.
"You want a fight?" the variant roared. "You want combat? Well how's this!"
So saying Phil lifted the already dead alien up over his head and bounced it off a bulkhead.
In the meantime Molly had been sent tumbling head over heels. As she hit the cage it knocked the wind out of her. Molly struggled to breathe as the alien did something horrible to Pong. Blood spattered on her boots.
Then Molly saw Phil break loose from his guards and spin-kick one of them. Meanwhile Daddy was struggling to break free.
Molly saw a gun, one of Phil's knocked loose in the struggle, slide across the packed earth. She dived forward and felt it heavy in her hands.
Daddy shoved and kicked but to no avail. One of the 56,815 still had hold of his arm. Molly tried to aim but was afraid that she'd hit Daddy instead of the alien. She ran forward and pressed the muzzle against the alien's torso. The slug gun practically jumped out of her hand when she squeezed the trigger. It made a muffled bang.
Mortally wounded, the alien let go and McCade yelled, "Molly! Give me the gun!"
Molly tossed the gun to her father and backed away as the remaining alien moved toward her. It staggered as McCade pumped four slugs into its back, took two more steps, and toppled onto its face.
Both of them stared at it for a second until Molly saw something over her father's shoulder and pointed. "Daddy! Behind you!"
McCade whirled to find 47,721 coming straight at him, a horrible-looking sight with saliva dripping from its jaws, and Pong's blood smeared all over its torso.
The bounty hunter brought the gun up in a two-handed grip, fired shot after shot into the alien's chest, and kept on firing as it slumped to the deck. He stopped when the gun clicked empty.
There was silence for a moment as all of them looked around, surprised to be alive and extremely grateful.
Then McCade was on his knees, with Molly in his arms, both crying and trying to talk at the same time.
Molly heard herself talking, heard herself say, "Oh, Daddy, Mommy said you'd come, but it took so long! And I was scared, and every time I did something it went wrong, and everything was awful. Is Mommy okay?"
And she heard her father reply, saying, "You did a great job, honey, and I'm sorry it took so long to find you. Yes, Mommy's fine, and waiting for you to come home. I love you, Molly. Thank God you're safe."
But years later, long after Phil had recovered, the remaining alien had been hunted down, and the effort to find their homeworld had begun, Molly would remember other things.
She'd remember the strength of her father's arms, the familiar smell of his clothes, and the fact that he'd crossed a thousand stars to find her. Molly was home.
THE END
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McCade's Bounty
Table of Contents
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Four
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