by Tripp Ellis
“I got the shit kicked out of me there last time. And Nicky said he’d kill me if I ever showed my face there again.”
“What did you do?”
“Long story.”
Logan sighed. “Fine. 20,000 credits.”
“You couldn’t pay me enough to set foot in that place again.”
36
WALKER
It was the moment of truth. Sand dribbled from the exoskeletons of the creatures as they stood tall. Menacing pincer claws hung overhead.
Bailey barked and growled. He wasn’t about to back down from a fight. He squared off against one of the towering creatures.
“Easy, boy,” Walker said as he crept toward Bailey. He kept an eye on the creature as he inched closer. Walker’s heart was thumping in his chest. The arthropod looked ready to strike at any moment. Walker scooped up Bailey into his arms and slowly backed away from the creature.
At least six of the monsters had popped up out of the ground. They surrounded the team and took an aggressive posture. But they didn’t attack. After a few minutes of observation, they backed off and crawled into their burrows.
The entrails had disguised Walker and the others. Putting up with the smell had been worth it.
The sky was darkening on the horizon. A storm was rolling in.
“The rains are coming,” Gavin said.
“Let’s get moving,” Walker commanded.
They ran through the flatlands for another hour. It would have been time to take cover and get out of the heat. But the dark clouds had rolled in overhead, blocking the harsh sun.
“I say we keep pushing while we have the cloud cover,” Walker said.
Now Malik was the one who looked worn out. He was dripping sweat, huffing and puffing from carrying Gavin.
“Can you make it?” Walker asked.
Malik’s face tensed, offended at the question. “Yes, I can make it.”
Gavin climbed down from Malik’s back. “I’ll run on my own for a while.”
“I’m fine,” Malik insisted. The Saarkturians were stubborn and prideful. Walker could respect that. Reapers were much the same way.
“I’ll run just until I start to slow you down,” Gavin said.
“We’re wasting time,” Malik said. He took off running. But it wasn’t a long distance jog. He had broken out into a sprint.
Walker and Gavin followed. But they couldn’t keep up with Malik’s speed. Only Bailey could match him stride for stride. Walker figured Malik was running so fast to prove a point.
“Ease up so we don’t burn out,” Walker shouted ahead.
“I won’t burn out.”
Gavin was already lagging behind.
Walker turned on the speed, running full steam. He caught up to Malik.
“I should have gone on this quest alone,” Malik said. “I can cover twice the ground you can.” Malik ran even faster, pulling away from Walker like he was standing still.
“Okay, I get it,” Walker yelled. He slowed up. There was no sense in trying to keep up this pace.
Gavin caught up to Walker, and the two ran at a more leisurely pace.
“This is where it starts to get fun,” Gavin said. “This is where most of them live.”
Arthropods emerged from the sand in the wake of Malik’s blazing speed. A few became dozens. Dozens became hundreds. Hundreds became thousands.
Maybe it was the vibrations. Maybe it was the coming rain. But within minutes, the flats were crawling with these hideous creatures.
Walker and Gavin weaved their way through the menacing horde. It was a maze of claws and legs and exoskeletons. Clacking and clattering of pincer claws filled the air. The horrid screeches of the creatures was earsplitting. It was enough to make your spine tingle, and the hairs on the back of your neck stand tall. Especially if you had an aversion to bugs.
But they weren’t attacking. Not yet at least.
Malik finally slowed his pace and waited for the rest of the team to catch up.
“On second thought, I’d rather not be out here alone,” Malik said. “I think I’ve found something I hate more than humans.”
Walker almost laughed.
They snaked their way through the swarm. One wrong move and you’d find yourself trampled under the spiky legs of the creatures. It was unnerving, to say the least. But the creatures seemed to be more interested in the onset of mating season.
They kept splicing through the horde until Walker’s shuttle was in sight. Walker felt a weight lifted from his shoulders. He wasn’t entirely sure they would make it this far.
It was maybe three or four hundred yards away. The sky had grown dark and Walker could smell the moisture in the air. A wall of rain was fast approaching. Soon, it was pouring down on them.
The dry earth soaked up the water like a sponge. The once dry and cracked ground quickly became soft clay. The rain seemed to send the creatures into a frenzy. The clacking and chattering of exoskeletons and claws snapping were almost deafening.
The downpour was torrential. Walker and the team quickly found themselves trudging through a muddy slop. With each step their feet would stick in the sucking mud. It slowed their pace. But that wasn’t their only problem.
The rain had showered away their protective coating of bug blood. They were no longer invisible to the creatures olfactory glands. It wouldn’t be long before thousands of these monsters caught a whiff of their scent.
37
SLADE
This was never going to work, Silas thought.
He strolled toward the entrance to Teasers. The bouncer was eyeing him. His narrow eyes burned into Silas. It was like some type of X-ray vision. Silas was certain the bouncer was on to him—that he would see through his disguise.
His heart was thumping in his chest as he drew closer to the door. Silas was wearing a black hat, red shirt, and a black trench coat. The brim of his hat was pulled down low.
He looked like a gunslinger from an old western. It wasn’t his style at all. Silas had gotten the costume from Gina—a makeup artist and wardrobe person he knew. She worked in the adult film industry. Europa City was the porn capital of the galaxy. Gina was pretty good with special effects makeup too. She had worked on a lot of low budget horror films, but they didn’t pay nearly as well as the more illicit stuff. The gunslinger costume was from the last film she had done wardrobe for: Big Guns for Big Buns #2.
Silas was sure the bouncer was going to clothesline him as he passed, but the big oaf just stepped aside and let him enter. Silas paid the cover charge and strolled into the club.
The music thumped. Girls twirled around poles in the most acrobatic of ways. It was distracting, to say the least. But Silas kept the brim of his hat down to avoid the surveillance cameras mounted on the ceiling. He strolled to the bar and ordered a drink, trying to blend in. Teasers was known throughout the galaxy, and it drew a crowd of all sorts. An outlaw gunslinger wasn’t really an unusual sight.
“You looking for some company?” A busty red head pushed up against him.
Silas’s eyes bulged. She had all the right parts in all the right places. There was nothing synthetic about this girl.
“Turn around,” Silas said.
She grinned slightly and lifted a seductive eyebrow. Then she spun around, prominently displaying her assets. She had a nice portfolio. Highly diversified. But that’s not what Silas was looking for.
“Lift up your hair.”
She clasped her hands together, scooping her hair into a ponytail. She lifted it up, revealing her neck. She didn’t have an implant. She spun around and stared into his eyes. “I’m here because I want to be.”
Silas looked shocked.
“I can make more money here in a night than I can in a month waiting tables. It’s a no brainer for me.”
“You can’t really enjoy this kind of work?”
She sighed. “I’ve got a little mouth to feed. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure my little man has what he needs.” Her eye
s narrowed at him, quizzical. “Most guys just want to see me naked. What’s with all the questions?”
“I’m not most guys.”
She chuckled. “That’s what they all say.”
“What’s your name?”
“Jasmine,” she said seductively.
Silas smirked. “What’s your real name?”
She sighed. “Liana. I’m only telling you because you don’t look like a total creeper.”
Silas chuckled. “Okay, Liana. I’ll give you 100 credits to walk me up to the private rooms.”
“And then what?”
“That’s it.”
She squinted at him. “That’s it?”
“And you keep quiet about it.”
She pondered this for a moment. “300 credits and you’ve got a deal.
“Done.”
Liana grabbed his arm and pulled him across the club. She led him upstairs to the private rooms. Silas handed her 300 credits in cash.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything else for your money?” Her eyes smoldered at him.
“I don’t pay for sex,” Silas said.
“You paid for me to escort you up here. The sex is on me.” She smiled.
“How about you give me your number?”
“I’ll only give you my number if you’re actually going to use it. I’ve met a lot of jerks. You seem like a nice guy.”
“I don’t know how nice I am, but I’ll call.”
She took his mobile and programmed in her number. She handed it back to him and kissed him on the cheek. “It was nice to meet you…” She still didn’t know his name.
“Silas,” he said.
“It was nice to meet you, Silas. If that’s your real name.” She spun around and sauntered away.
Silas watched her go. She had a nice saunter.
He crept down the hall and found Slade’s room. Fifth on the left. He pushed through and greeted Logan.
“What took you so long?” Logan asked.
“I got here as fast as I could. Chill.”
“Nice outfit,” Logan quipped.
Silas flipped him off. “Let’s see what we’ve got to work with.”
Slade spun around and gathered her hair into a ponytail. She lifted it up, revealing her neck.
Silas looked over the implant. “Looks like a Genomedyne 233-A.”
“Can you get it off?” Logan asked.
“Sure,” Silas stammered.
Logan arched an eyebrow at him. “Have you removed one before?”
“Two. One worked out just fine.”
“And the other?” Slade asked.
“The other doesn’t walk so good anymore.”
Slade grimaced.
“On the matter of payment,” Silas said. “I need that upfront.”
“You’re not inspiring confidence,” Logan said.
“Take it or leave it.”
Logan scowled at him, pulled out his mobile, and transferred the credits into Silas’s account. “Are we good?”
Silas checked his account balance. “We’re good.”
He pulled out a device from his pocket that looked like a high-tech screwdriver. It had a digital display, and the octagonal stem connected perfectly to the implant’s docking port, located in the center of the disc.
“Yup, it’s a 233-A,” Silas said. He made a few adjustments on the device. “Hang on. This might cause some momentary discomfort.”
“How does that work?” Logan asked.
“This is a third party device. Like a master key. It analyzes the system and calculates the appropriate interface retractions. If all goes well, the nano-tentacles will withdraw, and she’ll have complete control of her neural function.”
Slade took a deep breath.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Silas activated the device.
Slade’s body seized up with pain. She clenched her jaw and her fists balled up. Her whole body convulsed. The spider-like arms that held the disc in place retracted. Silas pulled the disc from her neck. A moment later, Slade fell to the ground, motionless.
Logan dropped to his knees. A look of panic washed over his face. “Are you okay?”
“I can’t move.” Slade could barely slur the words out.
38
WALKER
Walker and the others sprinted through the mud. Within a matter of minutes, the rain had turned the desert into a boggy quagmire. Each step would put you ankle deep in mud. If you weren’t wearing boots, it would rip the shoe right off your foot.
The creatures had taken notice of them. It was pure chaos. Claws snapped at them from all angles. The team zigzagged through the deadly maze of arthropods.
Walker and Malik blasted at the monsters with their rifles. Bullets tore into pincers and shattered skulls. Green blood spattered, then mixed with the mud. But for every creature that fell, there were hundreds more to take its place.
Some of the creatures snapped at each other, fighting over the morsels of food running in their midst.
Walker and the others were almost to the shuttle. Gavin brought up the rear. It looked like they were going to make it, unscathed. But a creature attacked Gavin. A pincer snared him.
Then another beast snatched at him. The two creatures were having a tug-of-war with Gavin’s body. One of the beasts ripped his leg from its socket. Muscle and tendon snapped and tore. Bones crackled. Crimson blood sprayed out of Gavin’s leg like a fountain. He screamed in agony.
One of the beasts crawled off with his leg to feast on it.
Walker blasted at the other arthropod’s tail, severing it in two.
Gavin dropped to the ground, paralyzed.
The beast flailed about and screamed.
Another beast stepped in to claim the prize. Then another. The two new monsters fought each other. Swiping and grasping. They locked pincers, like deer lock horns. The beasts rammed each other.
Walker dashed to Gavin, stealing him away as the creatures scuffled. He heaved Gavin over his shoulder and ran for the shuttle. Malik blasted a wave of suppressing fire, covering Walker.
Each step in the sloppy mud was precarious. With the added weight on his shoulders, Walker’s feet slid as he ran. He almost lost his balance a few times. His quads were burning and his low back was aching. He secured Gavin with one hand, and continuously fired at the creatures with the other.
He finally reached the shuttle as the horde closed in on him. Malik kept the horde at bay, blasting away. Once Walker, Gavin, and Bailey were in the shuttle, Malik climbed in. As he swung the hatch shut, a claw stabbed at him, blocking the hatch.
Walker gripped his weapon and aimed at the claw. His finger squeezed the trigger, firing off a burst of rounds. The claw exploded. Green slop splattered everywhere. But Malik was able to seal the hatch.
Malik wiped the goo from his face and flung it onto the ground. His lip curled up, disgusted by the guts, and the stench.
Creatures continued to poke their grubby little claws in through the gashes in the hull. But their pincers were too large. The shuttle rocked and rattled as they tried. Malik shoved the barrel of his weapon through the opening and blasted away.
“Save your ammo,” Walker said. “We’re going to need it.” He was busy attending to Gavin. Blood was draining out of his stump. Walker drew his sword and cut a section of fabric from Gavin’s clothing to use as a tourniquet. He tied it as tight as he could. But Gavin had already lost too much blood. His face was pale. His skin was cold and clammy to the touch.
“I would have liked to have seen my son,” Gavin said. It was the last words he would ever utter. His breath stopped, and the color drained from his lips. His body lay perfectly still.
Walker clenched his jaw and hung his head.
Gavin’s eyes were fixed, staring at the ceiling. Walker gently shut his eyelids with his fingertips. After 25 years, Gavin had finally left the planet.
Bailey knelt beside the body and whimpered.
The cre
atures had given up attacking the ship. But the muffled clatter of their mating activity served as an unnerving reminder of their presence.
Thunder crackled, and rain continued to pour down. There was no telling how long the storm would last. Days? Weeks? Months?
They were stuck in the shuttle until the rain stopped. Then they’d have to kill an arthropod and re-camouflage themselves with its entrails—all while fighting off hordes of creatures.
Their odds of survival seemed dismal. They hadn’t taken more than a few days worth of food with them on the journey.
“I’m sorry for the loss of your comrade,” Malik said.
Walker nodded, grimly.
He peered out through the gashes in the hull. It was a sea of hideous monsters, sliding and crawling all over each other. Fighting and mating, and mating and fighting. It was an orgy of sex and anarchy. And soon, there would be thousands more of them crawling around. Walker had no idea what their babies would look like. Or how long they would take to hatch. But they would likely be able to fit through the gashes in the hull.
The thought of thousands of those little things swarming the inside of the shuttle was enough to make him shiver. After his mission on DC 6, he didn’t think his hatred for bugs could grow any deeper. But he was wrong. His capacity for hatred of creatures with more than two legs had grown. What he wouldn’t give for one nuke, just to take out this miserable horde.
Malik didn’t waste any time getting down to business. He dug into the electrical system and pulled the fuel-cell. He clenched his jaw and cursed in Saarktureese. “We’ve got a problem.”
39
SLADE
Slade was face down on the carpet. The foul smell of the dirty, stained carpet filled her nostrils. Her whole body was numb. She couldn’t feel a thing. Was this the way she was going to spend the rest of her life? The thought filled her with dread. Her heart raced with fear.
After a few minutes, sensation began to return to her fingertips and toes. She was able to wiggle her index finger. It was a far cry from being fully mobile, but it was something. Slowly, sensation returned to her hands, then her feet, then her forearms, then legs.