by Gregory Kay
Indrid instinctively threw up the rifle, trying to hold off his attacker with it, but the puppet’s hand seized the muzzle and tore the weapon from his grasp, heedless of its own flesh sizzling and smoking while it cooked on contact with the glowing barrel. Luke’s father jumped back, barely dodging a closed-fist blow that would have crushed his skull like an eggshell.
He knew, even though everything suddenly seemed to be in slow motion, he would never be able to avoid the second hand reaching for him with a grasp that would not only hold him in place for another blow, but would very likely rip his flesh from his bones.
In the next instant, Smith was flying to the side, still clamped in Luke’s powerful arms after the deputy hit him running all out.
They slammed to the ground together, but bounced apart, the meat puppet springing to his feet first. As for Luke, he didn’t bother trying; he stopped once he’d rolled to his knees, his Glock in his hand. At a distance of only four feet, he fired into the puppet’s right knee, then flung himself to one side to avoid the charge.
Thrown off-balance by the destruction of his leg joint, Smith failed to turn in time, and a second round slammed into his hip on the same side as his wounded leg, and it almost collapsed. Luke fired again, hitting within a finger’s breadth of the last one, and the puppet did fall, catching himself on the palms of his hands. He looked up, snarling, just in time to catch another round right between the eyes.
Luke jumped when he heard the clang of metal, and the bullet ricocheting off the inner alloy skull before screaming off into the darkness.
Oh shit!
Seeing what he had to do, the deputy promptly shot the puppet through the right wrist, knocking its arm from under it even as it tried to rise. The next shot missed its intended target, hammering into the Smith’s thorax, but the one that followed went where it was meant for, destroying the left elbow joint.
Before he could fire again, Indrid was there with Whitey’s rifle, and emptied the clip at full-auto right into the meat puppet’s ass at point-blank range, swinging the muzzle back and forth, raking the target to complete the destruction of the hip joints.
Meat puppets were not capable of fear, so all Smith could do was flail and writhe in helpless rage when Indrid drew the wand, extended it, and thrust it against him. There was a bright flash, and, although it made no outward mark, all that was left was dead circuitry and deader flesh in a tattered, smoking black suit.
Ignoring the defunct puppet, Luke went to Whitey.
The plasma bolt had hit his friend’s rifle near the right shoulder, he guessed, since that area was the most blackened, and the arm that belonged there was lying, still smoldering, six feet away. The clothes had burned away on that side of his chest, and the hair and beard were gone, along with his right eye, leaving only blacked, blistered skin behind.
Luke fell to his knees, the tears already coming, when Whitey’s remaining eye blinked, and he rasped, “Did we get the son of a bitch?”
“Yeah, buddy,” the deputy told him, looking for an uninjured place to lay a comforting hand and settling for his friend’s left arm, “We got him. He’s dead.”
“Good. I’m pretty messed up, ain’t I?”
Luke started to lie, then thought better of it.
“Yeah,” was all he could think of to say.
“Figured; I feel weird. The funny part is that it doesn’t hurt, you know? Nothing hurts, nothing at all. It’s not like when they shot me in Iraq; that hurt like a mother.”
His friend fought to bring a grin to his face, and managed a grimace.
“Be glad of that, at least.”
“Luke, I know I can’t move, and you’ve got to go. Just...do me one last favor, buddy; I don’t want to be alive when those things come, you know?”
Whitey said it apologetically, as if ashamed of his weakness, in a voice that was drifting in and out: weak, then weaker, weak, then weaker still, and Luke had to look away for a moment.
“I...I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.”
Whitey tried to nod, then smiled on the side of his face still capable of it.
“Good; I’m glad it won’t be...long. I’ve been looking forward...to this...for a long time...Just glad...to go...out...doing something...worth doing...”
Luke was crying unashamedly now, never releasing his grip on his best friend’s hand.
“I’ll stay with you.”
“I...know.”
Indrid knew too, and said nothing. He had checked his chronometer; by the time the second shot was fired, there had been no chance of making it to the ship.
With a sigh, he went to his son and knelt by his side, putting his arm around Luke’s waist.
“And I shall stay with you both. We will remain here together.”
Without looking at Luke, Indrid transmitted the details of their now-sealed fate to him alone, blocking the semi-conscious Whitey from the conversation.
“I thought you had the right to know. I hope you understand why I had to make this decision; I could not hope to stop the meat puppet alone.”
“No,” Luke agreed, “You couldn’t have; we barely managed it with all three of us. So Fiona is carrying my child? That’s alright then; I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have do it. I just wish I knew if it was a boy or a girl.”
“A boy; she carries your son, and my grandson.”
“Good; I always wanted a boy, even though I’ll never be able to take this one hunting like I wanted to. How long do we have?”
“Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds.”
“I was happy being raised by Granddaddy, but I really wish I’d known you better...Dad.”
“As do I, son, but your grandfather thought it was best this way; it was the only way to save your mother.”
“My mother? You mean...she’s alive?”
“Yes, she is alive and well on my world. She is my wife.”
“I’m not understanding this at all.”
“I am not surprised. I met your mother at a UFO convention.”
Despite the situation, Luke had to chuckle.
“Now this is just getting weird!”
“We always have people attending; most other...alien groups do as well. You would be surprised at how much intelligence can be collected in such places; there are many grains of reality to be found amongst the hysteria and foolishness. Earthlings do better spying for us than we ever could, and they do not even know it.
“At any rate, my wife had died in an accident four years before, and then I met your mother. She was what your people term a ‘free spirit,’ and I was lonely. You were the result of that meeting.”
“A one-night stand, huh?”
“Not something I normally do, I can assure you, but I needed the comfort of another and she was not ready for a commitment. We still arranged assignations from time to time, usually when she was on one of her ‘road trips’ with her friends, and, in the process, we formed a strong psychic bond, as well as an emotional and physical one. Then, approximately five years after I first met her, I sensed something was very wrong, and went looking for her. I found her in Chicago, dying from an overdose of the drug called ecstasy.”
“Dying? But you said – “
“Hush; we do not have much time. I brought her back to my ship and put her in the medical unit, which saved her life. However, there was a large amount of damage done to her brain, and it took almost a year of treatments to allow her to function normally again. She changed in the process; I like to think she became the woman she was meant to be rather than the one she was when we met. She is very responsible, almost pathologically so, now that she realizes what she lost during those wasted years. It was her, as much as your grandfather, who decided it would be best for you to remain on Earth, for both his sake and hers, as on Lanulos, you would be a constant reminder of the guilt she feels.”
“I’d still liked to have known her.”
“I know; I would have liked that too, but it was her decision, and I felt bound to resp
ect it. I hope you understand.”
“Yes, I do.”
“That does not mean I have failed to keep an eye on you whenever I could over the years, of course. I have smoothed the way for you on occasion, nudging the thoughts of some influential person or another in a direction beneficial to your best interests.”
“So it wasn’t just my charm and sparkling personality?”
“Actually, it was exactly that, for the most part; that, and your psychic abilities you inherited from me.”
“So I’m really slightly psychic then?”
“You are.”
“That explains a lot...is that roaring sound it, then?”
Indrid sprang to his feet, a look of anger and outrage on his face.
“No! That is your idiot brother!”
“What?”
The ship shot out of the darkness and hastily landed with a thump not twenty feet away.
Before it had even stopped rocking on its landing struts, the hatch opened and the ramp dropped, and Luke saw a younger version of himself appear in the doorway.
“Hurry! Get in!”
“Whitey!” the deputy was thinking, but Indrid was already assisting. Luke didn’t know if his friend was still alive or not, but either way, he’d be damned if he left him here.
“There is no time for care! Grab him and run!”
He obeyed his father’s command, and they ran to the ship, half-carrying, half-dragging their human burden. As soon as they reached the doorway, more hands were there, dragging them inside. Jan slammed the button beside the hatch and literally leaped for his seat at the control station. Even through the vessel’s metallic walls, they heard the distant thunder of the explosion and felt the vibrations rumbling beneath their feet.
“Transition! Transition!” Indrid was mentally screaming as he ran toward his younger son.
“Where? What course?”
“Surprise me!” Reaching past his offspring, his hand slammed down on the emergency override switch, just as the ship began rocking and twisting along with their part of the universe. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, things settled into a steady vibration.
“What a rush!” Sam declared before looking at the body of his friend lying on the deck. “Shit!”
“Move, Jan; I will take over here. You, Sam, Joe and Kathy take Whitey to medical now! I know Alison is still hooked up, but he is the one in immediate danger, so she will have to be moved. See if you can follow that order properly, at least!”
“Yes, Father.” He hesitated.”I had no choice; the one called Fiona held a gun to my head.”
“After you told her to do so, I am certain! I know you too well. We will speak of this later; have no doubt of that!”
“In my defense, it worked, and we are all still alive. Is that not what ultimately matters?”
“You are even more of a pain in the ass than your older brother!”
“You have been among Earthlings far more than I, Father; I still do not understand that reference.”
“If you were younger and smaller, I can assure you I would be happy to demonstrate it to you physically!”
Luke was not unconcerned about his friend, but there was no room for him in the press headed into the tiny infirmary and nothing he could do if there was. He knew he wasn’t needed...not there.
Looking at Fiona who was staring at him, wide-eyed and crying, he opened his arms and she came without hesitation.
In between kissing her repeatedly, he managed to say, “I thought I’d lost you!”
“I thought you had too, but...you came!” Smiling through her tears, she added, “You even brought the cavalry with you.”
“Are you alright?” they both said at once, then laughed.
“I’m a little bruised and scraped up and scared half to death,” she informed him, “but I’m okay now...now that you’re back. What about you?”
“Same here. I think I got more bunged up when we had our ‘tree incident.’”
Looking at the filth, bruises, and drying blood both red and black covering him, she shook her head.
“You’re not a very good liar.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. So I guess then you’ll believe me when I tell you I love you?”
“Yeah, I’ll believe that. I love you too.” She snuggled closer and whispered, “What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to make this work, whatever it takes.”
“We will...I just don’t know how.”
“It doesn’t matter how; I had every reason in the world to do it before,” he said, then meaningfully added, “and now it seems I have one more.”
“How did you...” Suddenly her eyes widened. “He told you!” Turning to Indrid, who was still facing away with his hands flying over the controls, she accused, “You told him!”
“Of course I told him. He is my son, and you carry my grandson within you. Besides, I thought it was for the best since I was certain we were going to die, and I wanted him to know that a part of him would live on.
“And, just so you know, I would have told him anyway, regardless.”
Raising a hand to halt her coming outburst, he interjected, “Come here, both of you. There is something I want you to see; it is the only way you will be able to understand what we just avoided.”
Luke obeyed, and Fiona did too, although she would have had no choice, as Luke refused to let go of her and would have dragged her along anyway. She couldn’t have brought herself to object even if she hadn’t been willing, because she knew it wasn’t a case of him being forceful, but simply being unwilling to lose physical contact with her yet. For that matter, as close as they had both come, she wasn’t ready to do that right now either.
A large three-dimensional view screen appeared on what had been a blank wall above Indrid’s console, showing them what was outside.
“Where are we?” she whispered, and Indrid shook his head.
“I do not know, not yet. There was no time for navigation, so I hit the emergency phase, meaning that the computer took us to a random spot. That was not a safe thing to do, but I had little choice.”
“Are you saying we’re lost?” Luke asked mentally, and noticed from her expression that Fiona had obviously heard the question as well as his father.
“Not in the sense you mean, although I do not know where we are, and I will probably have no time to find out before we phase once more. We have had the fortune to arrive in time to see something that most travelers never see; I am over two-hundred years old, and I’ve only seen it once.”
He didn’t consciously project, “I only hope we survive it,” but both of them picked the thought up from his mental tone, loud and clear.
It was obvious they were in the void...another void, they guessed, if Luke’s father had been right about what had happened to the previous one. Even if the gloomy twilight hadn’t been unmistakable, the same types of creatures they had seen before were swarming toward them, flying and running and crawling.
Fiona gasped, “My God! They’re coming right at us!”
“No,” Indrid told them grimly, “They are going past us. I am lifting now, as quickly as possible while the charge builds for another phase; look in the direction they are coming from.”
Luke looked, blinked and looked closer, and the color drained out of his face when he recognized it for what it was, from descriptions he had read in what he thought was fiction, many years ago.
“Is that...a hill, or a mountain or something?” Fiona asked, squinting, and Indrid shook his head just as she realized that the mountain was moving, and those things on top of it were not trees.
“No; that is one of the type of void-creatures...void-beings, actually, that your world’s author Howard Phillips Lovecraft referred to as the Old Ones. They are the dominant predator of the void, and of any world into which they manage to pass.”
It took them a moment to realize how far away the thing was from the ship; its size would have been measured i
n miles rather than feet. What they had thought were trees they could now see were tentacles, waving and writhing atop the pulsating bulk. Even at the distance, eyes visibly glittered here and there in the seething black mass that heaved itself across the bleak landscape.
“These are travelers as well, the walkers between the worlds. Their primary existence is in the voids, but their preferred place is outside of them, in the worlds, where the feeding is good. They are attracted to any weakness in the separating walls, and are constantly probing, seeking to break through.”
Watching the mass rushing closer and closer with alarming speed as their ship lifted, Fiona asked, “Has that ever happened?”
“Yes. It happened on the planet you call Mars. Once it teemed with life, and had a thriving civilization; what you see now is what this creature, or one like it, left behind.”
“Oh my God,” she breathed, and Luke felt sick to his stomach.
“No,” Indrid told them,“not our God. These are the gods of the Ra’aki.”
“They actually worship these monstrosities?”
“They do more than just worship them; their relationship is symbiotic, after a fashion. They serve them, seeking places where their deities can break through and feed.”
The thing was alarmingly close now, and Indrid was obviously more than a little concerned; his knuckles were white where he gripped the controls and beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead, but since he seemed to desire communication even now, Luke picked up on something.
“So what do the Ra’aki get out of the deal?”
“The same thing the Thug cult of your world's ancient India did: profit. They worshiped Kali, the goddess of destruction, and, after proving their piety by making human sacrifices to her, they were entitled to all the goods owned by those they killed. The Ra’aki are hyper-acquisitive, and have no conception of empathy, no sense of conscience for anything but themselves. They will take anything by any means.”
“But what do they want from Earth?” Fiona asked out loud, followed by a more than slightly nervous, “Uh, you might want to speed up a little,” as she looked at the impossibly large Old One that was close to filling the view screen.
“The ship is currently running at top speed while its systems recharge for another phase; all we can do is to pray it will be sufficient. As to the Ra’aki, they seek anything of value to them: metals, minerals, elements, food, genetic material, and especially intelligence. By the time an Old One found the gate and forced its way through, they would have greatly enriched themselves and moved on lest they be caught up in the subsequent destruction.” He showed his teeth in a grin that was anything but. “Their gods are capricious and ungrateful, not to mention always hungry; they would happily eat their worshipers along with their intended sacrifice, neither knowing nor caring.”