Progenitor

by Antony J Woodward

  Aware that the Fours were otherwise preoccupied Liara sidestepped to the left.

  Stripes gun instantly turned on her and then he shook his head.

  She stopped still and complied.

  Whatever data Panda procured from the device was a major topic of conversation between the Fours. They clicked furiously to one another.

  After a heated argument, Crow nodded and the group shut up.

  He stepped forward.

  He gave the clone another full sweep of his attention.

  He suddenly put a bullet between the clone’s eyes. The sound of the gun made Liara jump. She’d not anticipated it, it happened so suddenly.

  She looked from Crow to the others, they were all silent and solemn.

  Panda nodded first, he pocketed the device and stepped back. He trudged towards the back of the nest. Obviously he approved.

  Now what were they going to do?

  Her eyes hovered over the dead clone. She wasn’t sure if that was to her fate too…? Would she be executed in the middle of a monster’s nest? It seemed like a shit way to bow out… but what was the other option? She was dying anyway. There was a giant invisible countdown over her head.

  If only she was still contagious… Spreading the blood-borne virus to the Fours would be an enjoyable departing gift.

  It suddenly occurred to her that she’d never even considered there were any Fours left. She’d assumed, wrongly, that they’d all been wiped out…

  Must be pockets of them left scattered about the universe…

  Was that why they had come? Revenge?

  She studied the Fours. Was that their motive? Had they come all this way just for revenge?

  Crow turned his attention to Waves. They began discussing something.

  Liara was even more uncertain what her fate was…

  Just why had they tracked her here? Had they followed her all the way to the Tethu’s home planet just to get even? Had they attacked the spire just to get to her? Or was this between the Tethu’s and them?

  How had they even managed to track her? Was there some sort of microchip in her body that they could trace her with? If that was true, then she suspected there would always be someone tracing her steps.

  Movement caught her eye but nobody else noticed. From the black nest in the middle of the web it slithered to the floor. It unfurled and landed quietly on its feet.

  She recognised it and instantly her heart sank.

  It had been here all this time…

  Why hadn’t it attacked?

  Why had it waited till now?

  It looked darker, its skin was much blacker. Was that the gloom of the nest or had its skin really darkened? It looked taller too, its limbs longer and sharper than before. The tentacles even seemed thinner and longer. Had it matured? Or mutated?

  She suddenly considered the possibility that she had forced it to mutate, when she set it alight perhaps it returned to the nest to heal? It had then mutated further…?

  Long strands of silk tugged at its skin from the walls. As it straightened out, a long glob of white ooze pumped out of a slit between its shoulder blades. Was the silk its method of rejuvenation as well as an external sensory network?

  Its shriek went straight through Liara and made the group of Fours jump out of their skin. Stripes dropped his gun in horror, Crow double took and Waves raised his gun in surprise.

  The sound of gunfire filled the nest.

  Liara ducked down and scrambled to the furthest corner, trying to get out of the crossfire.

  The Progenmorph flew forward, barrelling Crow to the floor and setting upon Waves.

  A second blast of gunfire tore through the Progenmorph’s shoulder but it didn’t falter. It sank its jaws around the alien’s neck. There was a wet rip and then an eruption of black blood into the air as the creature tore the flesh back with its teeth.

  Crow was stepping backwards while un-holstering all four of his pistols. Stripes was on his knees rooting around for his dropped gun.

  Liara scuttled through the chaos. She slipped between the two aliens and headed back up the incline. The Progenmorph screamed and threw itself at Crow. Crow was knocked to the floor once more and it set upon him. It tore off an arm and dug its spare hand into Crow’s chest cavity.

  Liara scrambled through the nest, colliding with Panda. They fell away from each other, the pair of them scrambling back onto their feet in perfect unison. Liara sprinted back to the opening and Panda hesitated. He looked from a fleeing Liara and then to the sound of his comrade being torn to pieces. He visibly faltered.

  Liara threw herself at the wall and used her feet to power herself up it. She scrambled and caught the lip.

  Block appeared over her. He had his gun levelled at her head. He had never stepped foot in the nest, he’d stayed behind to guard the rear.

  In a split second, she threw herself up and took hold of the muzzle of his gun. She used it to pull herself onto the ledge. Block recoiled by trying to tug the gun free from her grip but he only resulted in assisting her onto the lip. With her feet on the ground, she then summoned the strength necessary to yank the Four off his feet. She spun on the spot, trying to wrench him free. His grip slipped and he tumbled into the nest with a surprisingly girly shriek.

  It happened so fast that Liara stood blank for a second, stunned and staring into the darkened nest blankly.

  Snap. Her mind snapped back into focus and she turned. She was suddenly aware that she still had Block’s gun in her hands. With a quick cock of the gun she headed into the corridor.

  The sound of the fight continued to echo behind her. She caught the sound of falling water. She shot a quick glance backwards and gasped. Stripe’s blast of gunfire as the Progenmorph attacked him had perforated the shutters and punctured several holes in the glass window beyond. There was now three streams of water spraying into the room and judging by the extent the rate the water was increasing the holes were widening.

  A distinct groan prompted her to hurry out of the room. As she slipped through the dark corridor she could hear the sound of the shutters being bent away from the wall. Glass was cracking and water was pushing its way into the room.

  She reached the wall of web that prevented her from entering the stairwell.

  She opened fire on it. The gun erupted in a blast of flame coated bullets. She expected a wallop of recoil but the gun never moved in her hand. She continued to open fire with the alien assault rifle and blasted her way through the obstacle. After several bursts the wall fell to her feet.

  There was a shriek from somewhere in the pool.

  She charged into the stairwell. Only three floors up, that’s all she needed to manage.

  She took the first flight of steps and felt her chest suddenly burn.

  By the second, her chest was tight and she couldn’t breathe for shooting pains.

  Shit. This was not the time.

  She felt a cough come. She couldn’t slow down now, who knew when the Progenmorph would be upon her. She held her breath and forced the cough down. She ascended the third and final set of stairs at a slower pace. She was just at the top, just turning onto the third floor, when she couldn’t contain it any longer. The cough erupted from her like a bark. It was so violent she was knocked to her knees. Her entire chest heaved and spasmed as her body violently hacked.

  The gun fell out of her grip and clattered down the middle of the stairwell and was lost to her. She spluttered and coughed, she couldn’t stop it.

  A fresh blood clot lodged in her throat. She wretched and had to heave it free. The sight of a red slimy blood clot the size of a fifty pence told her that her body was beginning to fail rapidly. It wasn’t the first time in her life she had been sabotaged by her own body.

  She forced herself into the corridor. The coughing subsided but now she was wheezing like a navvy. She felt a little light headed again.

  “Shit…” she groaned realising that her body was swiftly unravelling on her and she needed to move. />
  As if the situation wasn’t dire enough, the floor crumpled and vibrated underneath her. There was a catastrophic groan as the pool-room was flooded with water.

  She hoisted herself onto her feet.

  She refused to die down here. Refused to die like this.

  This spire was not going to be her fucking tomb!

  She trudged on, using the wall for support. She headed straight, stepping carefully around the gaping hole in the floor. She made it to the lift.

  She would’ve been elated but it took all her effort to remain focused and cognisant.

  She carefully climbed inside, her body feeling uncooperative to her whims as she did so.

  She took a small moment, needing to close her eyes and draw some strength from deep inside. The sound of her congested chest was disturbing.

  She coughed suddenly, a single cough that misted the floor with a little spray of blood. Her blood disappeared into the old bloodstains and was gone immediately.

  Knowing time was of the essence she threw herself upwards. She caught the lip and dragged her heavy body up onto the roof of the lift.

  She was almost up and free when she felt something grab her ankle. A quick glance revealed Stripes pulling at her leg. He was trying to tug her back into the carriage.

  “Oh you can fuck off!” She roared defiantly. She kicked her foot and tried to shake him off but he held firm. As he pulled she wasn’t sure if he was actually pulling her down or using her to leverage himself up.

  She’d hit her limit with the Fours a long time ago. This particular Four received the brunt of her lost patience. She swung down with a fist as the Four clambered his top half through the opening onto the roof. She struck him between the eyes and hit with enough force to crack his skull. He yelped in surprise but didn’t let go.

  She swung down again. Her fist connected with his left eye and his head snapped backwards sharply. He still didn’t let go. One hand was wrapped around her ankle and the other three were holding firmly onto the elevator.

  “Let go motherfucker!” She screamed. She swung again. This time her fist connected with his top lip. It crumbled under the force and knocked several teeth out.

  In a split second he used a spare hand and grabbed her hair.

  He pulled and she had to take hold of his arm to try and wrench her free. She was resisting his pull and it smarted all the way across her scalp. The Four DNA in her blood afforded her incredible feats of strength yet she couldn’t manage to prise his fingers open.

  “Let me GO!” She roared. He was clambering up, using his two remaining arms to hoist himself.

  “NO!” She hissed. She pushed against him, trying to knock him back down with her bodyweight. It didn’t work.

  Enraged that a Four was bettering her, she thrashed out sharply. There was no way that she was going to die at the hands of a Four. Not after everything they had done to her!

  Her flails of limbs weren’t working, he was holding firm.

  The primal side of her emerged sharply, manifesting from the darkness of her deepest rage.

  She spat defiantly, spraying a cloud of blood and saliva in his face.

  The effect was instantaneous. He recoiled in disgust, his grip slipping on her hair for a second. She took advantage and tore it free, then swung and clubbed him at the side of the head.

  He dropped only a little, refusing to fall completely back into the lift.

  The blood was beginning to work on his skin; it was beginning to dissolve. His face melted into alarm as he realised his face was literally beginning to melt away. The hand he held her ankle with snapped to his face. It made him cry in pain as he pressed his palm to the dissolving skin. Both of them were disturbed that his wound was beginning to hiss. Her blood was working like a concentrated acid on his skin. He was now only suspended in the opening by two of his four arms.

  They had a private split-second moment between them. Time froze to a crawl as she slowly lifted her fist above her head. He suddenly understood how she had bested his Queen. She was more than capable of any human he’d ever encountered. The Four DNA in her genetic make-up was their biggest mistake. Had she simply been human he would’ve quickly overpowered her. She was now an equal, if not stronger, opponent.

  They had sealed their own fates the day they, as a race, crossed paths with her. With their strength and the Tethu’s weapon in her bloodstream she could single-handedly wipe out their entire race. As the fist came down upon him in slow motion he understood she was the Four’s Armageddon personified.

  He saw in her eyes the hatred that powered her. It glowed hotly in her eyes. The fist struck him between on the temple. He died instantly as her fist smashed through the dissolving bone and connected with his brain. He fell to the bottom of the lift. His face obliterated and still dissolving. Her fist came away with brain pulp and blood on the knuckles.

  The dead alien landed with a soft slam.

  CHAPTER TWELVE:

  She threw herself at the opening out onto the floor just as she heard the haunting shriek of the Progenmorph. She rolled through it and landed on the other side with a slam. She was struggling to draw breath so being winded slowed her down even further. She rolled and willed herself onto her feet.

  The sound of the Progenmorph’s hasty climb up the lift shaft echoed behind her.

  Just a little further she promised herself.

  She staggered forward. The corridor was shifting about her, she was struggling to keep balanced. A loud groan and boom threw her forwards. Water erupted from the floor and it encouraged her back onto her feet.

  She staggered on; splashing through the quickly flooding passage. She crossed under the bridges, clambered through the broken barrier, and rounded the corner.

  Fresh air hit her in the face.

  She hastily stepped through the crude opening the Fours had made in the door.

  She was greeted by a flight of stairs up onto the landing deck.

  “KRAHM!” She shouted. She tripped and stumbled up the stairs.

  Another burst of coughing painted the white metal with blood.

  “KRAHM?!” She cried loudly. Her voice sounded wet with liquid. She emerged on the top and gasped breathlessly. The sky was low and dark. Thick black clouds swirled overhead and lashed rain down hard on the platform. Straight lightning bolted down in the distance. A large waterspout drifted on the horizon. She glanced behind her, blinking as the freezing rain blinded her. There was nobody on this large octagonal landing pad. It splayed out far and wide but there was nothing on it. No ship, no boat. Nothing.

  Where was Krahm? Where was the Four’s ship even?

  Thunder boomed overhead and a bolt of lightning hit a few yards from the landing deck.

  “KRAHM??!” she roared. She plucked the radio from her suit.

  There was no light.

  She rolled the dial and still nothing. It was raining that furiously the radio was saturated within seconds. She shook it but it was futile.

  Was it dead?

  Panic slipped its way into her chest for the millionth time.

  No. Not now!

  She stumbled further into the centre of the landing pad. Where was he? He said he would be here!

  A shriek alerted Liara to her stalker. She spun, slipped on the wet floor and landed on her ass. The Progenmorph slowly stepped up off the final step and fixed its attention firmly on her. It winced slightly as it felt itself being pelted with rain for the first time. Hesitantly it proceeded through the rain. Another blast of lightning struck nearby. It jumped and recoiled, but its attention slowly returned to Liara.

  Every breath was laboured and wet as she clambered to her feet. She wanted to cough but she was afraid the coughing fit would be the end of her.

  Thunder rumbled overhead.

  Inch by inch it slowly drew closer and closer to her. She pivoted to face it.

  In the daylight it looked more horrific. Its smoky grey colouring had darkened to a near black. Its features had lengthened for sure,
it looked more sinister and wicked. She wouldn’t have thought it possible. Its hollow eye sockets held her gaze. It looked demonic.

  She wasn’t sure but it appeared it still harboured injuries, its wounds didn’t seem entirely healed. Purple blood was leaking out of a cut on its shoulder.

  If she was in better shape herself she might have felt encouraged by its weakening invincibility.

  It slowly closed in and Liara didn’t move. She wasn’t sure she could.

  Her body was beginning to numb on her. The grip on consciousness was beginning to weaken. This was it.

  “Come on then you ugly piece of shit…” She invited angrily.

  If she was going to be the latest victim to the Progenmorph she decided to just accept the death on her feet. Maybe with a bit of a luck the viral weapon in her bloodstream would do to it what it did to the Fours.

  It ignored her invitation, instead continuing to slowly approach. It let out a wary hiss.

  “Come on!” She roared stepping forward sharply. “Kill me! I’m already dead anyway!”

  The creature hopped backwards in surprise and hissed once more. Again it didn’t lunge. It began to drift towards her in a lazy circle.

  “LIARA! USE THIS!”

  Something metal landed at her feet. It took a split second to realise it was a gun. It was long and thin, like a tranquiliser rifle. She plucked it up; sharply dropping to her feet.

  It lunged. She brought it up.

  It landed upon her and knocked her down.

  She fired.

  Its teeth snapped shut millimetres from her neck.

  She fired again.

  She could feel its hot breath hit her in the face as it shrieked in pain.

  She fired again.

  It fell off her.

  She turned and kept pumping the trigger.

  Round after round impacted into its flesh. Her aim faltered and she fired the final round into its skull. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

  She kept hammering on the trigger.

  The hammer kept hitting on the empty chamber.

  It let out a small whimper and went still.