“Watch how you address me, human!” Artuke’s outburst caught everyone off guard.
“Eddy,” Marutas said. “I have given you the truth. We are using your race, we are corrupting you, but it is to strike back at our own oppressors! If we have taught you anything, it is that creatures like the Aeros are the most evil of all! My people have been chased throughout the universe for millennia and have suffered greatly in the wake of their genetic cleansing.”
“There must have been another way for you to fight back.” Eddy said angrily.
“Every emotion you have coursing through your veins comes from the Ferox. What they wish to cleanse from this planet is inside every one of you. The free will to choose freedom. To fight, no matter what the cost, against those that oppress you. We have molded this world to take offense at what the Aeros are doing.” Marutas stated, as though giving a rousing state of the union address, which Eddy was sure he had done in the past.
“But you’ve killed millions upon millions of human beings!” As Eddy spoke he felt the floor vibrate.
“A necessary evil…that is what my race has become, for without our influence, our absolute corruptive nature, your race and others like you would never learn to feel our plight—to understand.”
Eddy’s mind was a cauldron of chaos. He felt dirty as he began to understand what Marutas was saying. If it was all true—and he was beginning to believe it was, because Artuke was no longer arguing—then was Marutas in the right? If humanity was given the choice to be exterminated, or, through the corruption of others, survive and perhaps even win, would they choose to corrupt? Eddy believed they would…but that was only because humans were evolved to think so. What would the human race have been without Ferox intervention? Peace loving, simple-minded creatures that still lived off the land, or more like the Aeros? The possibilities were mind boggling, but Eddy’s loyalty was to the human race as it was, whether human evolution had been influenced or not.
The Ferox were using humanity and other races in an attempt to fight the Aeros, who were oppressing them, killing them, simply for thinking for themselves—free will. Throughout time, humanity had considered free will the ultimate gift. When God wanted to show Adam and Eve that he loved them, he granted them free will, the ultimate gift, because it gave those first humans the choice to love or not love God. Forced love was no love at all. Could the same be applied to the Ferox? Were the Ferox the creatures who gave mankind an understanding of the gift of free will? Did the Ferox love humanity?
Eddy was shaken from his thoughts as the floor shuddered beneath his feet. He was surprised by the silence that followed.
“Activate the transmitter, human.” Artuke stood in front of Eddy, glaring. “Activate it now.”
Eddy shook his head. “I choose not to.”
“You have made a foolish mistake to ally yourself with the Ferox threat. When the Aeros return it will not be to cleanse you but to destroy your species. You are corrupt beyond redemption.”
“I think that’s for us to decide,” Eddy said. “You’re not going to be our judge, jury and executioner.”
“On the contrary, human…I will be.” Artuke looked up toward the door and smiled. “It is time that we meet face to face.” Artuke raised his hand toward the door.
Eddy followed Artuke’s human hand toward the door and looked into the large black eyes of the hulking creature he had only glimpsed back in the hallway. Its shadow fell over the group like a black cloud. Eddy knew they were in real trouble. The Ferox were one thing; at least they could be fought in a conventional sense, but this thing was enormous. One step and the entire group could be rendered nothing more than a stain on the floor.
The hologram continued to speak. “I give you my true form, which has remained in stasis for thousands of years, chilled by the Artic waters, waiting to awaken to the day when I might aid humanity in the glorious duty of purging the Ferox. But I have discovered humanity to be a lost cause. I will begin the cleansing immediately. Starting with you.”
33
WAGING WAR
“Move!” Eddy’s voice cracked as he screamed the order.
The group scattered as Artuke’s gigantic, white, two-toed foot slammed down on the hard floor. Eddy toppled forward, knocked off his feet by the earthquake-like explosion of energy. His thoughts were not on his own mortality but on the lives of the others. He spun around and found Eve heading for the opposite wall. Kevin and Steve were hobbling away together toward the massive doors.
Norwood was missing. He was nowhere to be seen. Eddy’s eyes searched the massive room frantically but found nothing. A slurping sound struck Eddy’s ears as he looked back toward Artuke, lifted his foot, preparing for another attack. There on the floor was a limp and flattened body. Eddy saw what was left of Norwood’s crushed face and he felt a sour taste rise in his throat. The soft innards of Norwood’s pulverized body were a mass of twisted and crushed flesh, indiscernible as individual organs.
A shadow fell over Eddy and he looked up. A large white heel descended toward his head. Eddy closed his eyes and accepted his fate, which would be the same as Norwood’s. The power of the impact was immense, but far less than Eddy had imagined it would be. Then, as Eddy expected death would come, followed by some kind of afterlife experience, he felt the wind. He heard the whoosh of air past his ears. Heaven was a windy place. He opened his eyes for a better look and screamed with horror upon seeing three luminous red eyes glaring back at him. He was in hell!
Eddy felt foolish as he realized he was being carried by Marutas in his Ferox form. He’d fought this creature so fiercely only minutes ago and was now screaming like a frightened monkey staring down a tiger. But what was most amazing about this new development was that Marutas, who had been fiendishly and unrelentingly trying to kill Eddy, had saved his life!
Eddy felt the floor sink away as he was pulled up the wall. He turned and saw the three-fingered, squid-like hand of Artuke reaching out for them as they climbed higher on the wall. He was yanked up as Artuke’s tendrils pounded the wall just below his dangling feet.
Then he was hauled to the side and into darkness. He saw the light of the room fade away as he was dragged down a lightless tunnel. The dark eye of Artuke peered at him from the hole, but then moved away. The walls vibrated as his massive form pounded the floor, probably pursuing the others.
All motion stopped and Eddy was alone with the six red eyes. The eyes faded away and Eddy was greeted by a human voice. “Are you alive?”
“Yes,” Eddy said. “Thank you.” There was no reply as he sat up. “Why did you save me?”
“I saw in your eyes…understanding. The human race is nearing a time when the Ferox will reveal ourselves, our plight, and ask for the aid of the human race.”
“Conveniently leaving out the part about how you’ve evolved us into people sympathetic to the Ferox war.”
“You speak the truth, but I saw in your eyes that you understand. Your heart, at its core, beats to the Ferox drum.”
“You’re forgetting something,” Eddy said in the darkness. “Free will. What if the human race turns you down?”
“That…has never happened,” Marutas said.
“You’ve succeeded on so many levels. I do understand the horrors of genetic cleansing. What the Aeros have done and are doing enrages me, as it will most people on Earth. But, given the choice, given true free will, I would choose to take no part in your war. You have corrupted our race. You have committed unspeakable crimes against humanity. You are no better than the Aeros.”
Silence enveloped the dark tube. Eddy held his breath, expecting to see the red eyes reemerge before his head was bitten off. But nothing happened. Eddy listened; he couldn’t even hear Marutas’s breath. It was then that Eddy realized he was alone. Marutas was gone.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
It took Eddy five minutes to crawl back to the opening where he and Marutas had entered the tunnel. It was a circular hole five feet in diameter, most likely
for ventilation, Eddy thought. He looked down and saw that he was thirty feet above the floor. A pattern of wavy lines were carved into the wall as they were in most rooms and Eddy felt a wave of relief. He’d used these markings to scale a wall before, fleeing from Marutas in the ice cave. He knew he could get down if he had to, but he wasn’t so sure that was a good idea at the moment.
Standing tall on the other side of the room was Artuke, bending over what Eddy thought must be Norwood’s remains. But what was he doing? Eddy could see that Artuke was probing the area with his trunk-like fingers, but what could he be after? Eddy saw something that made him gasp. From such a distance it was hard to be sure, but he thought he saw Artuke’s gigantic fingers pick up a human hand. Norwood’s hand.
Artuke took two steps and was at the console where the imprint of a human hand still glowed yellow. The severed hand was placed on the imprint, and the room came to life. The roof clacked loudly as it split in the middle and began to peel away in either direction. The telescopic pole that held the massive dish began to slide up toward the ceiling. Eddy felt a lump solidify in his throat and he climbed down the wall, acting on pure instinct, knowing he had to stop a message from being sent but not sure how to do so.
As Eddy reached the bottom, the roof made a resounding clunk as it finished opening. The dish neared the opening as Eddy made a dash for the transmitter’s massive base. The giant Aeros, with his back turned to Eddy, stiffened as if sensing a presence. Eddy froze in his tracks.
With a speed impressive for such a grand creature, Artuke spun around and glared at Eddy. They were a hundred feet apart, but Eddy knew Artuke could cover the distance in just a few steps. His only chance was to find cover or outmaneuver the massive and hopefully clumsy behemoth. With all the speed Eddy could muster, he bolted around the outer circumference of the transmitter’s base. Artuke was close on his heels, but, as Eddy had hoped, the giant could not take the turn at high speed.
Rounding the base of the transmitter, Eddy took the chance to inspect its inner workings. He saw tubes and wires, the function of which he could only guess. He was sure the telescoping arm worked on a hydraulic system but he wasn’t sure how he could disrupt its rising. A sound above his head caused him to look up. He saw that the dish was now high above the roof and turning toward a point in the sky. Eddy knew the signal would be sent at any moment.
The floor beneath Eddy’s feet shook like an erupting volcano, tossing Eddy forward. He hit the floor hard on his elbows and grunted. He rolled over and saw Artuke lumbering his way, a look of pure hatred in his glossy black eyes. A noise like bursts of compressed air sounded in the distance, followed by a light grunt from the massive Artuke. The low sound vibrated through Eddy’s body and he was glad that the giant hadn’t screamed; it might have liquidated his body. Artuke reached for his shoulder and pulled out two small arrows; though Eddy knew they were only pin pricks to the beast, they had at least bought him some time.
“Eddy! Run!” The voice was far away, but he recognized it as Eve’s. He glanced toward the massive open doorway, and saw Eve, Kevin and Steve standing on the back side of the broken down alien vehicle. They’d been clever enough to right the thing, wheel it all the way into the room, and shoot Artuke in the shoulder just in time. Thank God for them, Eddy thought as he got to his feet.
But Eddy stopped short as Marutas landed in front of him in Ferox form then morphed into his Inuit self. He was wielding a sword and what Eddy recognized as one of the lightning guns. Marutas held the sword out to Eddy. “See what you can do about that,” Marutas said, as he glanced up at the large dish, which was still rotating.
Before Eddy could respond, Marutas changed back into his Ferox form, leapt over Eddy’s head, and charged toward Artuke. But the giant saw him coming and raised a fist to crush Marutas.
Paft!
A blur shot across the room and a booming wail reverberated through the room as Artuke shouted in pain. Eddy looked up as he covered his ears, which would be ringing for weeks, and saw Artuke clutching his left eye.
Good shot, guys!
Eddy climbed into the network of metal and wires of the transmitter and watched in amazement as Marutas lunged onto Artuke’s back, dug in his claws and scaled the giant’s spine. Artuke thrashed as he attempted to reach back and tear Marutas from his skin, but he couldn’t reach. It was the last thing Eddy saw as he entered the maze of pipes.
The network of wires and metal was confusing to Eddy. He’d never seen alien technology in action before! How was he supposed to disable it? Of course, he knew he had a better chance at this than he did with Artuke. Eddy decided that the best strategy was to just start hacking. He swung his sword in a rage, sometimes severing wires and sometimes clanging against solid metal.
Through a space in the network of piping, Eddy caught a glimpse of the action outside. Marutas was at the base of Artuke’s neck and almost in range of the giant’s massive hands, which he was sure could squeeze the life from Marutas with little effort. Marutas slashed at Artuke’s neck, causing him to shout in pain. Eddy covered his ears as he watched Marutas dig into the base of Artuke’s skull, take aim with the lightning gun, and pull the trigger.
Blue energy crackled through the air and jolted into Artuke’s skull. His humongous body shook as the energy tore through him. Muscles twitching from head to foot, Artuke looked done for. It was then that Eddy noticed Marutas was convulsing as well. He was shocking them both to death.
Remembering his own mission, Eddy continued hacking until one set of wires spewed sparks. Eddy looked up and saw that the dish was no longer moving. Did he stop it, or had it already stopped? Eddy wasn’t sure. He looked back at the wire he had just cut and saw that he was only half way through the bunch. He swung again and severed the cable clean through. The wires exploded with sparks and the entire base of the transmitter began to shake.
That did it, Eddy thought, as he worked his way out from the network of pipes and cables. Once free, he saw that the electricity had ceased and that Artuke was dumbly stumbling back and forth. Marutas still clung to Artuke’s neck, but he was hanging limp.
A shriek echoed through the colossal room and drew Eddy’s attention to the ceiling. He saw the dish fall back toward the room, the telescoping arm sucking in segment after segment of metal, but then it caught. With a wrenching groan, the huge pole, pulled by gravity, began to bend. It fell like a tree cut half way up and swung down in an arc.
The dish fell like a razor sharp sickle and connected with the side of Artuke’s skull, slicing the top of his cranium off like a ripe cantaloupe. His knees collapsed and his body lurched to the side and crashed to the floor.
Running as fast as he could, Eddy dove for cover behind the damaged vehicle, ducking with the others who had survived. A cacophony of twisting metal, falling flesh and sparking wires filled the air like some kind of evil orchestra warming up. Then it was over.
Silence.
Eddy was the first to stand and inspect the damage. The transmitter was destroyed—a pile of rubble. Artuke’s dead body lay still, his exposed brain, the size and shape of a Volkswagen Bug, was spilled out on the floor, slathered in the same purple blood that flowed through the Ferox. Next to the brain was a still, dark figure—Marutas.
His feet began moving even before Eddy knew what he was doing. He heard the others raise protest, but he ignored them. He broke out into a run and found himself kneeling down over Marutas’s still form. The beast began to change and the old Inuit they had met a few days ago stared back at Eddy.
Marutas smiled and gazed at Eddy through human eyes. “You have inspired me, Eddy Moore…revealing to me that I have become what I loathe…and in return I give you a gift…free will. The choice to join in our war or abstain from it is now yours to make. The human race is now on its own… I hope when the choice comes…that you will choose…wisely.”
Marutas’s eyes closed and his body fell limp.
Eddy stood and for some reason he couldn’t fathom, he began to
cry. It could have been the relief that their ordeal was almost over. It could have been that he now feared the future, what would become of the human race without its secret society of leaders. But what worried Eddy the most was that he was sad to see Marutas die. This beast had tried to kill him and his friends, but his ideas, his goals, were understandable. If the war that waged through the cosmos ever reached Earth, he was sure humanity would become involved; but which side they would choose…that, at least, would be their choice.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
After two hours of searching for an exit, the group found a ventilation shaft that ran to the outside. Stripped of their outer layers, the cold hit them like a spray of painful bullets, tearing at their skin. Steve shook. “This is stupid, guys. We sh-should go back inside. My nutage is shrinking back up inside my b-body!”
Eddy smiled. He was glad to see that Steve hadn’t lost his sense of humor.
“He’s right,” Kevin said. “We’re going to freeze to death out here. There might be food inside. We can try to find a way to contact the outside world.”
Eve crossed her arms, half in defiance, half in an attempt to warm herself against the biting air that grew colder as every minute passed and the sun descended toward the horizon. “I, for one, would prefer to never set foot in there again.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” Eddy said, as he looked into Eve’s eyes. “But we need to go back inside. We’re going to die of hypothermia if we stay out here for the night.”
Eddy took a deep breath and let it slide out between his lips. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll spend a few days here, maybe two, collecting supplies and transportation if we can find it. Then we’ll make a beeline south and see if we can hook up with civilization. Any problems with that?”
Eddy looked into everyone’s eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair.
Raising the Past Page 30