by Gary Weston
'I thought I would have another go at calling Earth, Jay Jay. I really should get a life.'
'No success I presume?'
Clifton smiled and said, 'Not a thing. I was just passing time. For once I'll be glad to be in my pod for two weeks of not doing much.'
'One way to spend the time, I suppose. Right. I'm just doing my captain's rounds. Everything seems nice and quiet everywhere. Carry on, Sam.'
Chapter 58
'It's simple,' said Kane. 'Open the damn door in ten seconds or I'll blow it to pieces and I'll be really annoyed if I have to waste the missiles.'
Staples came running towards Gunther. 'Major. Willis has itchy fingers. Do we blast them?'
Gunther weighed it all up and recognised defeat when it hit him. 'That will just make it worse for you and Willis. All you two have ever been is hard working technicians and great soldiers.' He flicked a switch and said, 'General Kane. Hold your fire. We're coming out.'
'Sir,' said Staples. 'Is this the way to do this?'
Gunther grinned and said, 'Probably not. No need for you and Willis to suffer. I'll tell Kane I ordered you to stay. Open the door.'
'Yes, sir.' Staples yelled up to the laser cannon turret. 'Nathan. Leave the cannon and get down here. It's all over.'
Willis had a panoramic view of the scene before him. He figured five hundred troops, all fully armed and armoured, and at least sixty assorted military vehicles, most with missiles and lasers pointing his way.
'Aw, shucks, lieutenant. I was just itching for a good fight. Coming down.'
As the massive steel door slid noisily to one side, Staples and Willis looked out at the small army facing them. Flanked by a a dozen officers, Kane stood with her fists on her hips.
'Out. I'll talk to you two later. Where is Gunther?'
'I'm here.' Behind Gunther came Bridget and Salamandra who propped up Loretti. 'We'll come peacefully.'
Kane scoffed, 'Like I leave you a choice. Look at you. What a nasty little nest of vipers. I must admit I have no idea what sick plotting has been going on here. You are coming with us to headquarters. We'll get to the bottom of it there.' She said to soldiers either side of her, 'Get a medic and a stretcher for General Loretti. Keep an armed guard with her at all times. Right now I don't trust any of them. Go.'
Three minutes later, Loretti was in an army medical ambulance and Gunther, Bridget and Salamandra were handcuffed with ten armed guards willing them to resist so they could take credit for killing the three notorious traitors. Instead, the three despondent prisoner's just sat and stared back.
Five hours later, they were inside the forcefield and they were escorted to the top level in the headquarters building where President Sol Maxim waited for them.
'How disappointing. You three are still alive. So very tedious.'
'I could have them executed,' offered Kane.
Maxim said, 'Not only tempting, but expedient. But what would be the fun in that? General Kane. Aren't you curious as to the relationship between these three?'
Kane said, 'He's her father.'
'Oh, Kane. Not the biological relationship. The...political relationship. Gunther here ran the Base, in his ham-fisted way...'
'Hey. That place ran pretty smoothly, I'll have you know.'
Maxim said, 'Lahdeelahdeelah. Salamandra. I expect truculence from you. After all, you are the enemy. But you, Bridget. This intrigues me. What on Earth possessed you to let our enemy free?'
'Probably my devastating good looks,' said Salamandra.
'Silence! There must be something rather significant to betray your mother...How is General Loretti by the way?'
Kane said, 'In our medical facility being cared for, President Maxim. Prognosis is good.'
'Excellent news. Back to you, Bridget. I'm missing something here. Why did you free Salamandra?'
Bridget said, 'I didn't like the barbaric way he was being treated. That is not an army I want to be associated with.'
'Ah! Do you seriously expect me to accept you had a sudden rush of altruism? No. I don't think so. You could have just let Salamandra go off to his own people. Instead, you set off to the Base. Why? Of course. You needed information. Very specific, important information. Care to share?'
'The war is over,' said Bridget. 'I didn't see the point in torturing Salamandra for no good reason. I decided it was time to end such barbaric practices.'
Maxim shook his head. 'You are not fooling me. Kane. The cell is vacant at the moment?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Then make Bridget uncomfortable there. Bridget. You are far too pretty to make ugly. Twenty-four hours to decide to tell me before the over-eager Kane here gets an early birthday treat by me letting her loose on you. Take her away, Kane. Oh. No food or water tonight.'
'You bastard,' snapped Gunther. 'Leave my daughter alone.'
'Silence. Take her away, General Kane.'
'Yes, sir. And the other two?'
Maxim sighed and said, 'Do I really have to think of everything, Kane? Lock them away somewhere, suitably chained up with two guards outside. Go. This has become tiresome.'
'Yes, sir.'
'You would be wise to reconsider hurting any of us,' said Salamandra.
Maxim glowered at his prisoner. 'Rest assured. I'll make a particular example of you.'
'Move it,' growled Kane.
Like lambs to the slaughter, Kane had them escorted away.
Chapter 59
He lay on his bed considering the latest events and their possible significance. The one called Gunther back on Earth was aware of what was happening. Did that matter? They were after all, many millions of miles away. Nothing could interfere with the plans. Soon it would be time to impregnate the others. Conditions had to be right. There was no hurry, and he would know when the time would come. They always did.
He thought about this host, so different to any others. He was getting used to the body, feeding off it, the thousands he carried were growing, waiting eagerly for their time when they would have their own host. For now he would nurture them and keep them safe. He could feel them feeding off the body, taking from it without causing it harm. It was a sensation he had experienced before, nothing new.
He found the brain interesting. A little different to others he had encountered. What was it about these humans? Perhaps the human he had chosen was not like other humans, but he thought that unlikely. There was a uniqueness about him, true, his mental processes seemed healthy and were therefore typical of their species.
The mind was dormant and under his control, allowed enough freedom to appear normal to the other humans, functioning as it always did to them. But all the time, he was learning from it, the history of his life, the history of their species since they had recorded it.
Emotions! Yes. That was it. That was the difference. Of course other species they had taken over had emotions, but it seemed that in humans it was a more advanced part of what made them human. It seemed from this human's memories that he had experienced all of them in the last few years. Some of the emotions were new so understanding them was a challenge. He delved into individual memories, "seeing" and "feeling" them as his host had done at the time.
Sadness. Running so very deep. This was still strong and raw, from when the war had taken his blood relatives. A tear ran down his cheek as part of the brain still allowed to be human felt this sadness again. Using the human's fingertips he touched the face, felt the wet tears. He stared at his fingers at this physical expression of sadness then used the human tongue to taste them. Interesting. There was a saltiness to it.
The sadness was tiring, so he explored the mind randomly, seeing the different events which triggered various emotions. Anger. This seemed more familiar, somehow. The human was angry at those he considered responsibility for his loss, for his sadness. The anger raged through him, almost uncontrollably. It was so intense, it had to be let go to find another emotion.
Happiness. Laughter. How peculiar. Something had caused this physical
, spontaneous reaction and the laughter was the physical release of the emotion along with more tears, and although the tears were fewer, they were still as the salty tears had been released for the sadness.
It was almost addictive, exploring this mind, experiencing the emotions so real it was as if he was feeling them as his own. This one. How strange that it had produced the tears with the happy emotion, but felt so different to sadness. He was seeing what the human had seen at the time. He was also feeling what the human had felt, the new-born baby in his arms. The infant was truly ugly; all red and blotchy, its face all screwed up and making a most disturbing sound. And yet this human felt such joy at holding it in his arms that a solitary tear had run down his cheek.
But there was an emotion so confusing it was almost impossible to understand. Concentrate! There was so much love going on. But more than one kind of love. He let himself "see" what the human had seen. The baby in his arms. Yes. A flood of emotions for the infant, both Joy and love. On a bed looking up at him was a female. The mother of the infant. When the human looked at the female he felt so many emotions. Pride. That was one. But the strongest of all was love, almost the same love felt for the baby, but not quite.
He had to let the emotions and experiences go. He felt drained from them, and yet excited. He felt more alive than he had ever done in any other species. And it was all his, for the lifetime of this human. He got off the bed and stood before the mirror at the human face. Not totally human, though. The familiar light appeared in his eyes, the light unique to his own kind, for now hidden from the other humans. Only when all the humans were taken over could that light be in their eyes forever.
Inside he could feel his kind feeding, growing. Waiting.
'Soon,' he promised them.
Chapter 60
Gunther rattled his chains. 'Must be a way out of this. I have to help Bridget.'
Like Gunther, Salamandra had been shackled to a very solid high-backed dining chair in a small seldom used room and he had been pulling at his chains to try to break the thick wood. It proved to be a remarkable testament to craftsmen of a bygone age.
'I could do with a chainsaw. Do you have one in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?'
Gunther said, 'Hang onto that sense of humour. You're going to need it. No chance of a rescue from your people I suppose?'
Salamandra sighed and admitted, 'Licking their wounds, I suspect. That last onslaught from the Tricor scattered what was left standing into hiding. Not that it matters now, but after making a few holes in your army when we almost had you on the run, we were well and truly beaten. Perhaps small pockets of resistance will remain, but even if any came here to try to rescue us, they would never get through the forcefield. They'd be wiped out by the troops here. Face it. I expect we'll be little more than slaves.'
'Not all my people agree with doing that.'
'Perhaps if Loretti dies the cry to enslave us will be silenced. Oh. I'm sorry, Gunther. I forget she is your woman.'
Gunther laughed. 'Trish was never that. She thought I was her property to use as she pleased. I was besotted by her at the time, so I didn't object too much.'
'Bridget has her mother's toughness and your humanity.'
'That's one way of looking at it. Salamandra. You were the other one on that message I found. What do you know of those alien beings?'
Salamandra shrugged and said, 'Very little. Loretti called me from the Base when she was assessing the progress with the mission. The Goliath was only a couple of million miles from Spero with a few weeks to go. Loretti had discovered the random signals others had dismissed as being nothing of significance. Signals from Earth have been bouncing around space ever since we had ships out there and it was easy for them to assume that is what it was. Loretti realised they were not from humans but from deep space and the direction of Spero.'
'Something of a coincidence isn't it? We are sending a ship to Spero, considered to be a uninhabited planet suitable for terraforming, and hey presto, these aliens suddenly appear.'
Salamandra explained, 'Not so much of a coincidence. Radio signals have been going back and forth for ten years between the Goliath and Earth. Obviously, the aliens picked up those signals and realised the destination of the Goliath and the reason for the mission. The aliens saw an opportunity and decided to take it.'
'To do what? Destroy us? They would have wiped the Goliath out if that had been the intention. Our ship is pretty much unarmed. One thing we didn't think much about was to expect bumping into an alien race, so weapons were thought unnecessary. What else could be happening?'
Salamandra said, 'Loretti suggested what would happen, rather than specific details. But you know her as well as anyone. Ambitious. Devious. Ruthless.'
'And those are just her good qualities. Go on.'
'It seems they live through others. A symbiotic relationship with them feeding off us, but them dominating our minds. Rather like a parasite, but with overall control of our minds.'
Gunther frowned and said, 'And now it's our turn to be used. I assume this would happen when the Goliath lands on Spero?'
'I presume so.'
'Then not too late to warn them if we can get out of here. But that's those on the mission. What about Earth? How can Loretti benefit from a deal with the aliens all those millions of miles away? Think they could come here?'
Salamandra said, 'Eventually. If they take over the Goliath, they could come here that way. Take over the crew and come here in the ship. Or they could just use it to land on Spero.'
'Or both. There are still a few million of us here. If they did come here, Loretti and those on her side could help the aliens take over the humans here. She saw you as somebody to rule Earth with.'
Salamandra said, 'Yes, I know. She'd be thinking keep her friends close, her enemies closer. Especially me. But putting my lot in with Loretti would be like keeping a pet scorpion in my pocket. Never knowing when it would kill me.'
Gunther pulled on his chains and said, 'And there's not a damn thing we can do about it.'
Chapter 61
'Are you not hungry? That's not like you,' said Willis, mopping up his gravy with a chunk of bread.
Staples said, 'Hard to eat with a hundred pairs of eyes staring at me.'
'A bit of an exaggeration,' said Willis, looking around the huge dining hall. 'I count only ninety-nine pairs of eyes looking our way. Ignore them.'
Staples leaned forward and whispered, 'I am. But there's something else. I heard Corporal Smithy talking with Private Hawthorne. Bridget's in the cell and Kane's going to be interrogating her in the morning. Maxim thinks Bridget knows something and Kane loves hurting people.'
Willis pushed his plate away. 'I can hear your cogs turning. The answer is no.'
'Then I'll do it myself.'
'Ok.'
Staples stared at Willis in disbelief. 'I didn't hear you say that.'
'Then I'll repeat it. Ok. You want to end up very dead very soon trying to save Bridget, you knock yourself out. Oh. Don't bother. There'll be a very long queue eager to do that for you.'
'I'll take my chances.'
Willis said, 'You're a worry. Why the hell do you want to get involved? You hardly know the girl. Forget it and move on.'
'Hey. You've said your piece. You don't want to help me, that's just dandy. But don't you go telling me what I can and can't do.'
Willis grinned. 'I get it. Marcia Potts all over again.'
'What?'
'Marcia Potts.'
'Damn it, Nathan. We were seventeen.'
'Ah! Loves young dream. And look where that got you. She went off with Doug Merryweather.'
'Don Fairweather.'
'Yeah. That's what I said. He had a second-hand hover-cycle. You had...Not a lot as I remember. Hmm. No wonder she dumped you for him. But I've seen that look on your ugly face before.'
'What look?'
'The look of love, my friend.'
Staples said, 'Rubbish.'
&
nbsp; 'This changes everything. How can I possibly refuse to help rescue a lady in distress, especially when my best pal is in love with her.'
'You'll help me?'
'Against hundreds of troops trying to kill us and certain death for our efforts? Yeah. Why the hell not.'
* * *
Davis and Mills looked at each other then back at the lieutenant. 'Not that we're complaining, but we've another two hours to go,' said Private Mills.
'Sounds like complaining to me, private,' snapped Staples. 'Orders have changed. Live with it.'
Sergeant Willis glared at the privates and snarled, 'Why are you two still here? Three seconds, or my boot, your ass.'
Those magic words had the two privates running away down the corridor.
'That was easy,' said Staples. 'I wasn't expecting that.'
'Told you,' said Willis, turning the key. 'After you.'
Staples said, 'They look quite comfortable in here. Maybe we should just leave them.'
Gunther rattled his manacles and said, 'I don't suppose you have a key for these?'
'Ah, now,' said Staples. 'One thing you always drummed into us was always have a plan and always be prepared.'
'When did he say that?' said Willis unlocking Salamandra. 'I must have been off sick that day.'
Salamandra and Gunther rubbed their wrists and eased their joints.
'Bridget,' said Salamandra. 'We must save her.'
'Ok,' said Willis. 'If you insist. Now we did think this bit through. Sort of. Heck. it might even work.'
* * *
It was a matter of timing. The two guards outside the cell on floor H were up on their feet the second the elevator descended to their level and both had their lasers pointing at the door. Concentrating so hard on the elevator as they waited for the door to open, they didn't even see Staples and Willis appear at the foot of the concrete steps until a laser shot hit their legs; the shock and the pain making them drop their weapons and buckle-up to the floor in excruciating agony. They could do nothing about the strong hands pinning them down as other hands gagged and bound them.