“Well, it’s nice to know we have an environmentalist,” said Rustom.
“Quiet!” snapped Paula. “We’re supposed to be giving the squads above us good send offs, not sarcastic remarks.”
“Are you guys saying you’re the bottom squad?” Rustom asked.
“Aye,” replied Stu Pot. “And even with those squads gone like dodos, we will never advance to Squad I.”
“Because you’re immigrants in the UK?”
Squad J gave him a stern look.
“It was just a guess,” said Rustom.
“And you’re right,” sighed Larissa. “Even in G.C.A., immigrants are restricted in some areas like in the human world.”
“Even Stuart can’t advance?”
“Aye, but not because I’m Scottish,” replied the low-confident zebra.
After a total of fifty four caskets were dropped out to sea, the last one was loaded on. It had the flag of the United States of America on it.
“Private Rachael Rhodes,” said Skipton.
“Her loyalty and skills have helped G.C.A. in so many ways,” Lukeson said. “And she was one of the bravest soldiers I have had the privilege to meet, teach and fight side by side with. And I am also happy to say that I have learned so much from her in return.” He wiped a tear from his right eye. “I will miss her so much.” Then he ordered Squad J to come over to Rachael’s casket. “Before we set her free,” he went on, “Squad J, the last remaining squad from Blackpool, will each say a few words about our dear friend.”
Pedro started with how awesome Rachael and how she kicked arse before Paula quickly took over and said despite their differences both in size, species and talents, how Rachael was a good friend, how they understood each other and what a great volunteer she was for her experiments. Larissa said she was a very inspiring soldier and a great role model. Stu Pot said what a terrific lass she was and Mengy wiped the tears from her eyes with her trunk. Rustom, despite never knowing her very well, said from he had seen she was a great soldier who really knew her stuff. Kathy was the last one to say something but she was still so upset that all she could say was, “She was not just my very best friend; she was my sister. And I will miss her forever.” She started to cry again.
Wiping a tear from his left eye, Lukeson nodded to the badger and the frog. Rachael’s casket with the USA flag was shot out into the ocean. Squad J and Rustom kept their eyes on the casket until it sunk.
“All right,” said Skipton. “Sail off.” Then he turned to Lukeson and Squad J. “I want to know more about the rhino, Sergeant.”
“Yes, sir,” Lukeson said. Then he went to Squad J who stood to attention. “Get four hours sleep and then we shall find out more about our new friend. Dismissed.” He headed to his own cabin.
* * *
Lukeson entered the dark, cold, isolated wooden walled room interrogation room. It had nothing but two wooden chairs and a small wooden table. He sat down in the interrogator’s chair and saw Rustom appearing out of thin air and sat down in the suspect chair. Mengy appeared behind him.
“Right on time, Meng,” Lukeson said. “Has he slept at all?”
The elephant demon shook her head.
“All right, rejoin your squad.” After Mengy vanished back into thin air, the sergeant turned back to Rustom. “You haven’t slept at all?”
“Dydw i ddim yn angen unrhyw gwsg o gwbl,” the rhino replied.
Lukeson became more suspicious when Rustom spoke to him in his own language. “Pam ydych chi'n siarad Cymraeg?”
“Roeddwn i'n meddwl y byddech yn fwy hyderus yn eich iaith eich hun,” Rustom repiled.
“Well, let’s just stick to English.”
“Fine. Os nad ydych am i'r byd i feddwl eich bod yn Gymry ag y gallwch fod yn.”
Lukeson just frowned at him, then got his paper and pen ready. “Your full name.”
“Rafig Rustom,” the rhino answered.
“How are you indestructible?”
“You really don’t want to know.”
“I really do want to know,” snapped Lukeson. “Now, stop playing pathetic games with me and just tell me how you are indestructible!” He felt better for having more sleep but he was still not up for whimsy, especially after losing some many innocent animal lives.
Rustom just scoffed at him. “You can’t scare me, Sergeant. If getting struck by lightning or stabbed in the neck yesterday didn’t scare me let alone kill me, then neither your pissed off face, your yelling nor any of your weapons will.”
Lukeson had always been a believer in talking animals and monsters and had spent most of his life not only trying to prove to the human world they exist but they should also coexist with each other. He strongly believed it would make the world and life for everyone a better place. But in all of his thirty two years, he had never encountered a single creature that was immortal and indestructible. He thought this was out of line, even for his and G.C.A.’s standards.
“Are you a magical demon?” Lukeson asked.
“No, I promise you, despite my inability to die and my storage to carry weapons, I’m nothing like your elephant soldier and I haven’t seen or heard of anyone like her from China or anywhere my whole life.”
“Were you involved with the Great Mutation Storm?” Lukeson asked.
“I’ve heard of it,” said Rustom. “But I could walk and talk and fight before it happened. For centuries.”
“How old are you exactly?” asked Lukeson.
“I’m exactly two millenniums old. It was my birthday three days ago. Thanks for the birthday wishes.”
“When were you born?”
“I could tell you,” Rustom said, “but it would have to be on Earth’s old calendars. I know the whole world has been living on the Mutation Storm Calendar for the last two decades and there’s the before and after eras, but there are some creatures out there that still live on the Hebrew calendar. And I know, deep down to you, you live on the Hindu calendar.”
First he knows my language and now he knows I’m a Hindu. What’s next? All the fillings I have in my teeth? Then Lukeson remembered the rhino’s red eye and his ability to store and remember almost everything like the internet. “How far can your red eye scan into people’s bodies and minds, Rustom?”
“No limits, Sergeant,” said Rustom. “But unlike the internet, news and Guzman’s useless Spy Pad, I can find out the actual truth. I would make a great prosecutor in a court session. I would be very good at getting the truth out of the accused cunts.”
Lukeson sprang from his chair with a crowbar he fished out from under the table that had been hiding on one of the legs. He angrily hit the rhino’s left cheek with it. “That’s for unacceptable language!”
Rustom felt his cheek and only laughed. “To me, that’s like getting hit on the cheek by a baby’s stuffed fluffy bunny.”
A very frustrated Lukeson sighed. He had reached the end of his rope. “All right, Rustom, if you won’t tell us or let us help you, we will do it the hard way.” He sighed heavily as he slammed the door behind him.
“Do your worst!” Rustom laid further back in his chair.
* * *
Lukeson had ten minutes to calm himself down before he entered the interrogation control room. He had never questioned anyone like Rustom before. He had his share of animals refusing to join G.C.A. and he could understand reasons such as feeling trapped like those who lived on farms and zoos under human control before the Great Mutation Storm. But this difficult rhino was a different kettle of fish. Despite his easily persuasion skills, the rhino wouldn’t budge with him. That was only one thing left to do and it was something he never wanted to do in his life and never had done to anyone with the exception of Mengy after they discovered her and that nearly killed her. He tried to think of other ways, but Rustom’s lack of cooperation reminded him that he had no choice.
Lukeson enter the interrogation control room and joined Squad J by the wooden computers with their wooden keyboards. “Anything, Guzman?�
�
Paula reported that Rustom was not lying about his age. His years were lived by the Hebrew Calendar. She also found that he can carry a million of weapons in his seven foot body but not how. “One thing I found out that he was lying about was my Spy Pad is not useless.”
“True,” Lukeson said. The Spy Pad had its share of trouble-causing and wasn’t always been the most useful tool on every mission, but it did receive some knowledge to help them out sometimes. He rarely threw or locked any gadgets away or deemed them useless because he could usually find them a purpose in a very important yet tricky part on a mission. That was one thing neither Skipton nor Tugson could be asked to do and it was not because they were too busy to check.
“Did you say he had a million of weapons in his body, Paula?” cried Kathy.
The penguin turned back to the big computer screen. It showed an x-ray scan of Rustom’s body. It had almost all of the normal bones, organs and blood every rhino was born with. The exceptions were his right metal arm, red eye and his metal back. Paula zoomed into the rhino’s back and it showed no less than four hundred thousand guns, three hundred thousand swords and spears and about three hundred thousand grenades and bombs.
“So he’s like a seven foot rhino cyborg?” Pedro asked. He was given a confused look by everyone. “What? It’s the only way I can understand all this.”
Lukeson turned to a hippo wearing a lab coat over his black trousers, black shoes and green shirt. “Dr. Aarden, have you found anything else?”
“No, sir,” Dr. Aarden replied in his Dutch accent. He couldn’t find out if he was carrying any diseases or anything that could explain why he was indestructible or if he was magical. No one could. It was out of reach even for Mengy, the only one at G.C.A. who had magic powers.
“Do we know anything of his history?” asked Lukeson.
“No, sir,” said Aarden. “Private Meng’s been trying to see into his mind and put it onto the big screen, but we’re getting nothing.”
“Guzman, anything else?” asked Lukeson.
“Only that his full name is Rafig Rustom,” replied the gadget penguin.
Tell me something I don’t know. Lukeson sighed. “Okay. It’s time for the tests.” Ignoring protests about how dangerous they were and how they nearly killed Mengy and could kill Rustom, he nodded to Aarden to press the buttons. They needed to know what they were dealing with, even though they were risking a life.
He went to the two-way mirror. Rustom hadn’t moved from his chair since he left the interrogation room. Then he saw a hole below his right metal elbow opened. Out came a small yellow particle detector. It reached the top of the radiation level. Yet the rhino just yawned and laughed. “You got to do better than that, Sergeant. Radiation has no effect on me whatsoever.” Then he fell on the ground. He turned to see the interrogation table and chairs had vanished.
“Is that all you got, Mengy?” Rustom asked in Old Chinese. Then he saw the whole room taken over by bright giant orange flames.
Paula looked to the computer. She saw the rhino was staying still and letting the flames touch him. Even when the flames got higher, he was still not moving nor did the flames seem to affect him at all. “He’s not moving at all, Sergeant,” she reported.
“Aarden, stop the geo flame throwers,” Lukeson ordered.
The flamethrowers that were charged by geothermal energy moved out of sight. Everyone saw that Rustom’s clothes were gone, but his body was far from being burnt, scratched or wounded. He didn’t seem to care about that he was nude.
“What have you got next?” the rhino called from the glass. “A nuclear missile aimed for me?” Then he sniffed the air – the dark green air. “Ah, toxic air.”
Lukeson saw the rhino just laid back as the toxic fog took over him. “Anything at all, Guzman?”
Paula turned to the screen. It showed the inside of Rustom’s body. She saw the toxic air going into the lungs. Even at overload, nothing was affecting the other organs, bones or the blood and the rhino was still as strong as an ox. “Not bothering him at all, sir.”
“All right, vent the air,” Lukeson ordered.
Aarden pressed a button. As the smoke vented, everyone saw Rustom was still on his feet and doing nothing except stretch his arms and legs.
“Got any more?” the rhino called through the glass.
“What’s next, Sergeant?” Kathy asked.
“I do not know, Toronto,” Lukeson said. “He has passed every test by my standards.”
“And far better than Mengy’s standards,” Pedro said. Then he realised it wasn’t a competition between her and Rustom. “No hard feelings, Mengy?”
On the contrary, Mengy was relieved that she never had to do the tests again. When they tested her with the toxic air, she nearly passed out. The silver lining from that experience for both her and G.C.A. was that they together learned that not even magical demons were immune to toxic gas and never had to test her with it again.
“Attention,” Skipton’s voice called on the Public Address System. “E.T.A. to base, thirty minutes.”
“All right, ten-shun!” Lukeson addressed the soldiers. “As soon as we dock, we will report to Captain Tugson first thing. So look presentable. And, Meng, get a uniform for Rustom.”
Mengy rubbed her hands together and everyone hear moaning from the interrogation room. They all saw Rustom in a G.C.A. uniform. He was struggling to get it off and then he figured out why. So did Squad J.
Without needing to check, the impressed Lukeson just patted Mengy on the back as he stormed out of the room.
CHAPTER NINE
No one on the freighter’s deck could see where they were. Not even the paperwork volunteer giraffe could see anything through the fog. It was so thick that it could be cut with a stick and be served as candy floss or fog floss as Pedro once told as a joke.
“Can you see anything at all, Toronto?” Lukeson called.
Kathy was looking through a telescope on the starboard side. She could just see something. She didn’t know what it was or how big it was, but it was all she could make out through the difficult fog. “I think I see the pier, sir,” she reported.
“Can you see anyone on the pier, the promenade or on the sea, Guzman?” Lukeson asked.
Paula was looking through her pair of binoculars. She tried her best, but she couldn’t see very well. One thing she couldn’t create was something that could help her look through fog. “I can’t see anyone, sir. I’d say it’s safe for us to proceed now.” She hoped she was right. G.C.A.’s strict security couldn’t afford to be spotted by any human outside their company. If they were, they didn’t know whether they would have to kill them or have Mengy put them in a coma or put them under a delusional spell. Everyone hoped to avoid those choices whenever they could, which they have achieved so far.
Lukeson reported to Skipton to tell him the coast was cleared. The lieutenant ordered the helmsman, a walrus, to start docking.
“Well, we are definitely in Blackpool,” Rustom said, looking at an object on his arm.
“What’s that on your arm?” Larissa asked.
Rustom stretched his right arm and Larissa looked at a flat screen on a wooden strap on his muscular arm. The screen was like a G.S.P. screen. It showed the Irish Sea outside of Blackpool with a little red dot blinking on it.
“This is my Tracking Map Device or T.M.D. for short,” the rhino said. “It just shows you that you don’t have to depend on the short fat genius over here.”
“Well, my gadgets are more informative and safer to use than yours,” said Paula. “And I’m not fat as in obese.”
“Well, neither you, Pedro nor Larissa aren’t exactly skinny or anorexic.”
“No emperor penguin can be, genius. Anyway, we three are normal weight for an emperor penguin.”
“Are you sure, Aunt Paula?” Larissa asked.
Paula thought of showing her self-made BMI calculator for emperor penguins but then she reminded herself that Larissa was not very
easy to convince of anything, even when shown with accurate proof.
The freighter came to a complete halt.
“Set the ramp,” said Skipton.
An antelope and a panda went to aft side of the ship and set the wooden ramp.
“We’re still seven miles away from land,” said Rustom. “Are we playing pirates?”
“I’d look ahead if I were you, genius,” Paula said.
All the arrogant rhino could see was the ramp reaching out to a giant metal wind turbine. While wondering what was so special about it, he saw Lukeson walking on it.
After he reached the wind turbine platform, Lukeson pressed some numbers on the keypad. Then two doors flew opened and there was a doorway on the wind turbine.
Lukeson stepped aside and held his clipboard with his pen. He nodded to Skipton.
“Okay, everyone, state your name to Sergeant Lukeson as you pass him and head straight for the entrance,” Skipton ordered. “No stopping. Single file.”
Rustom wondered why Skipton and Lukeson were sending everyone into the wind turbine. Ten minutes later, he found himself with Skipton, Lukeson and Squad J the only ones left.
“Guzman, you got all the weapons?” asked Skipton.
“Check, sir,” Paula replied, holding a weapon suitcase in each wing. Pedro and Larissa held two smaller cases in each wing as well.
“Potter, you got the remaining milk fuel?” Lukeson called.
“Aye, sir,” Stu Pot replied, holding two giant metal milk churns.
“Toronto, you got the paperwork for Captain Tugson?” Skipton asked.
“Yes, sir,” Kathy replied, carrying two wooden laptop bags. That was where the paperwork was in.
“Meng, you got our new recruit?” Lukeson called.
Mengy nodded.
Lukeson ordered Squad J to come across and signed them off as they passed. Finally, Skipton joined him.
“Meng, the plank,” the lieutenant called, passing her.
After they went into the dark, Rustom saw Mengy pointing her trunk to the ramp. It was back on the freighter before he could blink. He said to her in Old Chinese, “You know, even though you’ve been with this company much longer than I have, I find it very mind-blogging that you’re showing off your magic powers and they find me more suspicious than you.”
The Cult of Kishpu Page 10