For a few moments, he thought about Shad’s death and how the misfortune actually benefited him. Even though Shad had been one of those irritating people to work with or hang around, his untimely death meant that Clark was the sole discoverer of these Martian insects. Shad wasn’t able to claim the discovery for himself. Since the insects had killed Shad that made finding the deadly creatures a more intriguing tale to divulge during radio and television interviews. Clark silently berated himself for allowing such a thought to come to mind.
Sadly, though, another thought occurred to him. Since he was bound to remain on Mars, Grayson held every opportunity to reveal to the world the discovery of these insects. He didn’t believe Jonas would keep their discovery silent. People had died, and Jonas held an obligation to report the deaths to Grayson, which meant he’d also have to reveal the reasons behind their demise. Grayson couldn’t exactly claim that he was the one to find these creatures, but he could lessen Clark’s importance in receiving all the glory. By the time Clark finished his work contract and returned to Earth, the news would have settled into obscurity. Old news essentially was no news.
When Jonas and the guards stopped walking, Jonas checked the gauges on his fuel pack before they descended down the lightless sloped corridor where the insects were hidden in the darkness. Since the flamethrower had the ability to spew blistering waves of fire more than forty yards, Jonas decided it was safest for their party if only he carried one. This prevented accidentally engulfing one another with fire should someone panic and get trigger-happy. But it also meant they only had one chance should the insects attack and overpower Jonas. Since the other guards were equipped with extinguishers like Clark, they wouldn’t have enough time to unharness the flamethrower from Jonas in the event that he died.
Shad succumbed to whatever toxin the insects had injected into him in a matter of seconds. Clark found himself leery of advancing any farther into the dim corridor where the insects were.
Jonas and the guards flipped on their helmet lights to reveal what lay ahead of them. The benefit of using the tunnel drills to carve new corridors was that the sidewalls were arced, smooth, and polished. No jagged rocks protruded for the creatures to hide behind. However, the center of the corridors was where the miners had scooped the debris into piles that had spilled from the tunneling machines as the tunnelers ate through the rock.
The three guards kept their face shields up, and from what Clark estimated by the expressions on their faces, they appeared overconfident and egotistically macho. They lacked any real concern about the creatures they were hunting. Perhaps they didn’t believe there were any creatures at all. Their minds were changed the instant they came upon the first dead prisoner.
The miner lay facedown on a pile of loose dirt. His shovel lay about a foot away. Horror reflected in each guard’s eyes while Jonas winced slightly with disgust. Now they seemed more attentive to everything around them, but mainly toward the shadowed regions ahead of them.
The back of the prisoner’s orange shirt had dozens of little holes encircled with crimson where the insects had stabbed the man with their proboscises and sucked out his blood. Clark was certain the miner hadn’t felt anything. The Sleeper Chip had already made him oblivious of pain, and the poison used by the insects had sedated him as well. He wondered how long it had taken for the prisoner to collapse. Was it as quickly as Shad had fallen?
Fear gripped Clark. He had only seen three insect-like creatures escape through the hole, but it was possible for dozens more to have freed themselves during the short time that he was gone. As bad as it was to see the dead prisoner, he expected worse to occur should they continue moving deeper into the shaft.
“Check him, Gary,” Jonas said to the guard nearby.
Gary stiffened at the mention of his name. He swallowed hard and looked toward the other guards. They appeared apprehensive, too. Their tough machismo was gone. Carter knew there wasn’t any need to check the man’s vitality. The prisoner was dead. Gary probably thought the same thing, but he stooped to one knee anyway, felt for a pulse, and when he looked up at Jonas, he simply shook his head. “He’s dead.”
“Okay. Stay alert,” Jonas said, aiming the nozzle of the flamethrower ahead of them.
He and the guards walked past the dead man. Clark cautiously stepped around the corpse. This was the only time he actually considered someone who was controlled by a Sleeper Chip to be fortunate. At least the man had not suffered any pain. Considering their toxin had paralyzed Shad, pain might not have been the correct word. Fear. That was the last emotion Shad had shown before he dropped and the insects drained his blood. The control chip had spared the prisoner any fear or pain.
The drilling machine’s metal plates reflected in their lights.
Jonas raised his right hand and signaled for the men to stop. “Watch the center line of debris. Clark said that they can blend into their surroundings.”
“Yes,” Clark said. “They’re the same color as the rock and walls.”
“Hold your ground, men,” Jonas said. “Since I don’t see any other prisoners, I think I’d better scorch the line of debris, just in case.”
The guards nodded and took several steps backwards.
Jonas turned the lever and ignited the fuel as it rushed through the nozzle. He hit another switch and fire hissed into a long roaring streak of flames. The heat was instant. The wall of flame rushed across the rock and silt debris pile. The adhesive in the gaseous mixture made the fire cling to the rubble. It continued burning several minutes after he shut off the valve. The flickering flames danced.
At first his effort seemed more a waste of time than anything else, but then two insect creatures skittered across the tunnel floor. Engulfed in flames, they emitted high-pitched squeals. After running several yards, they stopped moving. Their bodies seemed to deflate and curled inward, their appendages shriveled.
Clark smiled with a bit of relief. So they could die.
Jonas walked over to the two smoldering insects. He tapped one with the toe of his boot. It didn’t move. Its legs drew inward. Kneeling, he took it by the leg and picked it up. The thing was at least twelve inches in length. The flames seemed to have dehydrated the creature. An awful smell permeated from its corpse.
“Jonas!” Gary shouted. “Behind you!”
Jonas dropped the insect, turned, and noticed two more swiftly approaching. Their legs made clicking noises as they skittered toward him. He clicked the ignition button on the flamethrower, but nothing happened. Fumbling around with the switches, he finally engaged the proper combination flow, hit the ignition button, and a stream of fire blazed forward. The two creatures dodged to escape the flame but weren’t successful. The flames struck their tiny bodies head on. The incinerating heat caused them to sizzle inside their metal-like exoskeletons.
While crushing them was almost impossible, the extreme heat boiled their insides like lobsters tossed into scalding water, essentially a self-evolved two-edged sword.
One creature approached Jonas from the side where no one had noticed it situated. A guard pulled his fire extinguisher pin and sprayed a frosty white mist over the creature. Instead of harming the insect, the cold retardant angered it. It reared back its forelegs and spat greenish goo. The liquid struck the guard’s cheek. He screamed and wiped away the acid along with a couple of layers of his skin. He growled, took the fire extinguisher, and tried to smash the insect into the hard floor.
“No!” Clark shouted, but not quickly enough.
The insect leapt backwards. The red metal extinguisher clanged against the floor, and the insect flung itself through the air, landing on the man’s leg. It bit him. The man gripped the insect in his hands and flung it down the corridor. Seconds later, he dropped and fell on his side, unable to move.
Jonas aimed the flamethrower and scorched the insect as it made its way back toward them once more.
“Okay,” Jonas said, “fire works but the cold doesn’t.”
“Perh
aps you should categorize that as extreme heat kills them, and the cold pisses them off,” Clark said.
Jonas nodded but didn’t hint a smile. “You’re right. That’s probably a better assessment. Is Roy still alive?”
Gary knelt beside the paralyzed guard. He placed two fingers against the man’s throat. “His heartbeat is steady, and he’s breathing. It really depends upon how he reacts to the poison.”
“Okay. Get some paramedics to haul Roy to the infirmary and tell our backup at the head of the corridor to come down here.”
“Roger,” Gary replied.
Jonas pointed at the other guard. “You stay with Roy until the paramedics arrive. Gary, you stick with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Clark, you’re a scientist, right?” Jonas asked.
“Yes, but a geophysicist, why?”
“I want these critter carcasses taken back to your lab for evaluation. You care to help with that?”
Clark shrugged. “Sure, not a problem.”
“I thought you had said that only three had gotten in here.”
“Yes, that was how many were down here when I ran for help.” He pointed. “But, like I told you, there were gaps where the giant drill bit didn’t match up with the wall anymore.”
Jonas stared at the hole. “We’ll have to find a way to seal that off.”
Gary stood to the left of Jonas while Clark followed on the right. About fifty feet before they reached the drilling machine, they found another dead prisoner. Jonas shook his head and kept moving.
Three more of the insects hid under the drilling machine and between the tracks. Jonas raised the flamethrower. Instead of the insects attacking, they rolled into tightened balls.
“What the—?” Jonas said, lowering the weapon.
“Not sure,” Clark said. “Looks like they’re trying to shield themselves from the flame.”
“I wouldn’t think they’d have that kind of intelligence.”
“Some insects and creatures have more sense than humans.”
Jonas grinned. “I can’t argue with that. But I don’t think balling up would help them any, do you?”
“Probably not. The flames increased their inner temperature causing their internal circulatory system and organs to boil.”
“In your opinion, what do you think we should do?” Jonas asked.
“Wait to see what they do. If they charge toward us, you can always torch them.”
After a minute, one of the insects slowly unrolled. It cautiously nudged its companions. A few seconds later the other two stretched out. Their large compound eyes studied Jonas, Clark, and Gary. They extended their forelegs and lowered their heads submissively.
“What do you make of that?” Jonas asked.
“Can’t be certain,” Gary said.
Clark whispered, “It looks like they’re surrendering or bowing.”
Gary frowned. “They’re bugs.”
“On a planet we know little about,” Clark said.
“This is true,” Jonas said.
“How do we know that we can trust their surrender?” Gary asked.
Jonas shook his head. “We can’t really. We have to proceed with caution. It would help if we had some safe way to transport them. Not only do they have a toxic bite, it seems they can spit acid quite accurately.”
Clark lowered his pack. “Wait. We can use this.”
He took a heavy plastic container that was filled with soil samples, dumped it, and handed it to Jonas.
“You expect me to try to get them inside of this?” Jonas asked.
Clark held the container. He looked from Jonas to the three creatures on the reddish floor. They remained relaxed and spread out. Clark’s best guess was that they were exposing their vulnerability. It seemed their only way to communicate that they had surrendered. He decided to gamble and stepped toward them.
When he was about a yard away from them, he hesitated and slowly removed the lid. They still had not moved, so he set the container on the floor in front of them and backed away.
The three men watched the Martian insects. After a minute, the insects marched to the container and crawled inside.
Jonas exchanged a surprised glance with Clark and Gary. “I didn’t expect that.”
Clark eased near the clear container and cautiously placed the lid back on the top and secured it. The creatures made no attempt to attack or fight to get out. They seemed rather docile. Knowing that thousands more of these creatures were beyond the hole in the wall, he remained skeptical. The prisoners near the drilling machine were dead. Were these insects baiting them into a trap?
“Do you feel comfortable carrying the container?” Jonas asked Clark.
In opposition to his nervous stomach, he replied, “I suppose.”
“Should they try to escape, throw the box as far as you can. I’ll torch them.”
Clark nodded, knelt down, and grabbed the box. He stared through the clear plastic side of the container. The insect-like creatures did look armored with a metal coating. In spite of their deadly poisons, he thought they were fascinating critters.
Jonas said, “Before we head back up the corridor, I’m going to check for more of them around the drill machine. Gary, get some tunnel-drivers down here to figure out how to seal off that opening. Make certain they bring the other two flamethrowers. We can’t allow more of them to slip down this side of the wall.”
“On it,” Gary said. He tapped his earpiece and stepped away to talk.
Jonas rounded the side of the drill machine, slowly, cautiously, with the flamethrower nozzle held waist high. His finger tightened on the trigger. He scanned the area near the machine’s tracks, the hole where the giant drill bit pressed flush against the wall, and he moved step by step until he was to the other side of the machine.
He shrugged. “Nothing.”
From the cab of the drill machine a high-pitched screech made Jonas turn quickly. One insect flung itself from the cab with its legs outstretched. The jagged ends of its legs were like little daggers. Jonas pulled the trigger. A wall of fire blasted but seconds too late. The creature struck the side of Jonas’ armored shoulder and bounced into the air.
“Dammit!” Jonas shouted.
Gary took his laser pistol and fired at the swift Martian insect. He missed. The laser flung bits of stone and pebbles into the air. The creature scurried into a darker recess of the tunnel, but Jonas turned and lit up the dead end corner with massive flames.
For some reason, after seeing the thousands on the other side of the wall, Clark expected more of the insects to skitter down the walls and surround Jonas, but this seemed to be the last one on this side of the opening, other than the three inside the container.
Jonas increased the gas pressure on the nozzle and the flames loomed farther out. He sprayed the fire from the left side of the corner and moved toward the right. The insect ran outside the fire’s range and tried to wedge itself between the rocks, but the wave of fire caught up, engulfing it. The little thing squealed in obvious pain, running about three yards before rolling onto its back and dying. Its legs curled tightly in death.
“I think that’s the last one in the tunnel,” Jonas said. “Let’s get these three back to the laboratory.”
On their way back up the corridor, Gary paused where the one guard knelt beside the paralyzed man. “How’s Roy’s condition?”
“He’s still alive. But he seems to be in a comatose state.”
Clark looked at the paralyzed man. His eyes were frozen. He couldn’t blink. Had it not been for his shallow breathing, Clark would have assumed him to be dead. He gently slid his hand over Roy’s eyes to close his eyelids.
“I will make certain that they get a gurney down here quickly so we can get Roy to the infirmary,” Jonas said. “We need to get an analysis of the toxin so we can start developing an anti-toxin. If there’s as many in the next room as you say, Clark, we’re doomed without some way to counteract the poison.”
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sp; “I know.”
“Hell, even these three are a great risk with us keeping them alive.”
Clark stared at the creatures. They reminded him of thorny stick insects he had seen in the zoo when he was a kid. None of the species on Earth were armed with such poison though. Their round eyes stared at him, but there wasn’t any true way to tell what intention they held, if any. While he thought it odd that these creatures might be capable of intentional malice, they had already displayed their understanding of surrendering in order to escape being fried to death. Were they capable of communicating?
Perhaps. But there was also the possibility that they were buying time and waiting for an opportunity to escape in the general population. Three were capable of killing or incapacitating dozens of people before Jonas could isolate them and use the flamethrower to eradicate them.
These three didn’t seem a threat though. Shad had attacked one of the creatures first. In doing so, he brought their wrath upon them. Released pheromones of hive insects often frenzied them into protecting the hive by killing their attacker.
The guard glanced nervously from Jonas toward the drill machine and then he looked back at Jonas again. “Please hurry.”
Jonas nodded. “Trust me. I don’t want you down here any longer than what is necessary, either. We have to find a way to seal that hole. Once we do, I’ll have another team block this tunnel farther up, just in case.”
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