‘Monica’ let out her horrific laugh and the alien inhabited men laughed too.
“The only mine?” She shrieked. “It is one of thousands.”
Natalie held Wolfgang tighter to her chest. A picture began to form of her mind of what exactly the mind swappers were after.
The mine was a deep wound in the ground. Its edges were neatly compacted into huge steps. The exposed rock and dirt was grey and black. The equipment at the bottom of the mine looked like small toys. ‘Monica’ didn’t let Natalie use the well established roads into the mine. Instead she had to attempt to half walk, half slide down the steep sides. Doing this while carrying Wolfgang, required every ounce of strength that she had in her body. At one point, even ‘Monica’ slipped and fell backwards, sliding down past Natalie. But, before Natalie could act, the men were helping ‘Monica’ to her feet. Within seconds the rifle was pointed at Natalie once more.
When they finally reached the bottom of the mine, Natalie was so exhausted she was close to losing consciousness. There was a couple of inches of blackish water along the bottom that they trudged through. The smell was overwhelming. Natalie was finding it harder and harder to get enough oxygen into her lungs. But they weren’t stopping for a break. If Natalie slowed, she felt the end of ‘Monica’s’ gun in her back. They were heading towards and entrance of a underground tunnel.
They passed by the equipment, which looked like it was still functional, It could have been used only days before. As she passed, Natalie couldn’t help but stare at the alien technology. Which is when she noticed that it wasn’t quite as alien as she had thought.
On the side of one of the excavators, there was a logo, A logo that Natalie recognised. It wasn’t just a human corporation, it was Australian and it was her employer.
26
Will’s vision crept back, starting as whiteness in the centre and slowly spreading outwards. The Doc’s blurry face came into view and Will tried to get up, but his body wasn’t moving.
Goddamn slugs got me again. He thought groggily and tried to get up again.
Natalie was trying to communicate something to him. Something important. But he couldn’t concentrate long enough to hear her, or understand what she wanted. The venom hadn’t knocked him out last time. He must have hit his head. He tried harder to focus. Finally, he processed Natalie’s movements, she had pressed a finger to her lips. He had to stay quiet. He could do that. He couldn’t feel his mouth or remember how it worked. An urgent flashback penetrated his thoughts and he remembered ‘Monica’s’ sneer and the gun. The Doc wasn’t speaking because she couldn’t. They weren’t alone and that meant danger. Will blinked, trying to communicate that he understood what she wanted. Her face disappeared from view and Will could see blackness above him. It looked like rock. Where were they?
Will waited impatiently for his body to function. Slowly, his limbs returned to him. Natalie must have injected him with the serum.
When he could feel everything and his strength had also returned, he still did not move. He felt like a kid playing dead. He could smell damp rock and sulphur. The ground was wet and freezing beneath him. Will craned his eyes as far as they could go. He risked shifting his head so he could see what he was up against. He could see a round, dripping tunnel. The room was lit by white, electric light. Will listened hard, and then sat up and looked around. His hands were tied but they hadn’t left a guard. Will noticed Wolfgang lying next to him, motionless.
“Poor mutt,” Will murmured.
There was a squeak from behind. Will whipped his head towards the sound. What Will had thought was a dark corner of the room, was a dark, outcropping. As his senses returned to him fully. He saw them. Covered in green slime and pressed together, it was the slugs. Will recoiled and leapt to his feet in one fast motion. But then he paused. The slugs were cowering together.
It must be the people of Quuorn.
“Uh, are you lot alright?” Will asked.
He tried to break his restraints around his wrists but they didn’t budge. He bent down and manoeuvred his hands to his boot. With a grunt of effort, Will pulled out the knife he kept in his boot. He flipped it around and sliced through his restraints.
Will walked slowly over to the slugs, holding up both hands. He didn’t want one of them flinging out a reflexive stinger and paralysing him again. “I’m here to help.” He said.
The slugs still cowered, Will wondered if they could understand human speech. As he drew closer, he could see them clearly. They didn’t look well. It was hard to tell, because the slug aliens were already ugly, but even Will could see that something had changed. One of the slugs towards the front of the pack, had its eyes fixed on Will. There was a deep intelligence in those large eyes. Its forehead bulged, which Will had seen on the slugs earlier, but this was different. It was much larger, like something was straining to escape from the slugs head. It looked bloody painful, like a huge boil.
“Alright, we’re all in a bit of a pickle here. But it’s nothing I can’t handle,” Will said.
He eyed the slugs for a reaction. There was none. Will wondered if the people of Quuorn’s minds had been scrambled in the transfer process.
Will heard footsteps heading down the tunnel. He cursed and hurried back over to where he had been lying. He put his hands behind his back and lay down next to the dog, lying as still as he could.
“William Sanderson and the canine are still down.” Said a gruff voice.
The footsteps moved closer to Will, they stopped beside the dog. Will heard a boot kick the dog’s body. Rage flooded Will’s senses. Before he could think, he was on his feet. He grabbed the guy around the neck with his arm and squeezed. The guy tried to call out but Will tightened his grip and strangled the sound.
The guy flung a fist into Will’s head. Will stumbled backwards, releasing the man. But he righted himself and smirked. The guys face was white with shock. Will leapt towards him, delivered three definitive punches into the guys head then caught the guy on his way down. He slammed him up against the cave wall, his forearm pressed against his neck.
“Alright, shit for brains.”
The guy blinked rapidly, his eyes swivelled around in his head.
“What’s going on out there, huh? Where’s the Doc?”
A smile spread across the man’s face. “It’s too late, William Sanderson. She’s ours now.”
27
The two men escorting Natalie down a dark tunnel, wore blank expressions. She wondered at the human lives of the bodies of her escorts. Did they have wives or husbands or did they live alone? Where had they grown up? How had they reacted to Newton’s Gate? Had they seen their human bodies walking away from them? Natalie’s stomach twisted with dread.
Though she’d managed to inject Will with the serum with the pretence of checking his vitals. Poor Wolfgang was still paralysed and probably terrified. She’d hated leaving him behind.
The men stopped. Cut into the tunnel was a doorway. Natalie stepped inside. The room was lit with white light. She could see analytical equipment set up on makeshift tables along the back wall of the room. Natalie assumed the miners used these to confirm the compositions of the rocks.
The alien inside of Monica, used her lips to smirk, as Natalie entered the makeshift lab.
“You, Dr. Natalie Kyle, really are a unique specimen of human kind,” ‘Monica’ said.
‘Monica’ was standing in front of a stained steel table in the middle of the room. Clutched in her hands was DaVinci, the portal mapping device Natalie had built earlier that year.
Natalie swallowed. “Whatever it is you want with me. Let the people of Quuorn go.”
‘Monica’ shook DaVinci. “This is portal magic.”
“It’s not magic exactly, it’s science.”
“But you, Dr. Natalie Kyle, must have the gene.”
And then everything came crashing down inside of Natalie’s mind. She knew what ‘Monica’ wanted from her.
‘Monica’s’ smile
stretched into something manic. “Oh, how fascinating. To watch a human come to the realisation of their fate,” ‘Monica’ shook DaVinci violently. “So, perhaps, perhaps you feel some measure of what we feel about the annihilation of our planet.”
Natalie held up both hands and took a step back. “I can- I can help you. I could petition the government to intervene. The company, I know the company that is mining on your planet, we can fix this.”
“FIX THIS?” ‘Monica’ screamed. “The planet is destroyed. Hollowed out. Consumed. Everything is dead. By you, you and your human greed! All we wanted was one town. Just one town where we could be safe, and live together as we always have. But you couldn’t even let us have that! Selfish, disgusting creature!”
‘Monica’ leapt forward and struck Natalie hard across her face. Natalie held her cheek in shock. She wished Wolfgang was there, or Will. But they weren’t, she was alone, it was up to her. More of alien men had gathered in the doorway. There were four now, watching her, their arms crossed. ‘Monica’s’ gun was on a bench to Natalie’s left. If she could just get to it.
‘Monica’ laughed. “Oops, I’ll be feeling that slap soon.”
Natalie took a step backwards, but also towards the gun.
“I know what you want. But that device you’re holding, it won’t give it to you. My- my body, my brain, won’t give you want you want. This device is just a detector, it doesn’t create or destroy portals… That skill, that was lost during Newton’s Gate. Nobody can do that anymore.”
“Liar!”
“No, it’s true. Even the most practiced in portal magic have lost the ability and I’ve never tried.”
“There is one thing I know for sure about the human species. Just one thing. You lie.”
Natalie took another step. “We do what we have to to survive. Just like you.”
‘Monica’s’ face went from red to purple. A vein across her forehead bulged as did her eyes. She turned and kicked over a nearby chair which went clattering across the room.
“You take everything! And give nothing back!” ‘Monica’ yelled. “Hold her down.”
In sync, the four men walked over to Natalie. Natalie leapt towards the gun. But they already had their hands on her and were pulling her towards the table.
“Stop! You don’t have to do this! I can help you find somewhere to live!” Natalie yelled.
Panic blinded Natalie, she fought with all her strength. But the men were too strong. They lifted her onto the table and held her down. This was it. Natalie took some deep breaths.
“Let the people of Quuorn have their bodies. Put Tom and ‘Monica’ back in their bodies. Let them go. Please, let Will and my dog go.”
“But then where, pray tell, will we put you?”
“Just… let them go. Please let them go.”
‘Monica’ leant over Natalie. Her eyes searched Natalie’s face. “You could have this body and live. You would die instead?”
Natalie shook her head. “I will not take anyone’s body, or their life, from them.”
“Foolish,” ‘Monica’ said.
“Go and make sure William Sanderson is still out,” She snarled to one of the men.
‘Monica’ leant over Natalie’s face, so close Natalie could smell her sweat.
“This will hurt,” She said.
Natalie craned her neck away from ‘Monica’. “My mind will not be put in her body.”
“That’s up to you.”
‘Monica’ placed her hands on Natalie’s forehead and forced her head against the metal. A dreamy look swept across ‘Monica’s’ eyes. Natalie felt a fuzziness burn through her thoughts. It was like a fire had started in her head. She realised it was happening. Her mind was being taken from her body and being replaced by the an alien. The invasion had begun.
28
Blood trickled down chin of the man Will had just dropped. The alien slumped against the rock wall. Will stood over him, breathing heavily. He’d lost control and knocked the alien out before he’d gotten any real answers. Will ground his teeth together and turned to the minds of Quuorn.
“Oi, you lot need to get it together. We have a serious situation here and if you ever want to see your homes again, you’re going to need to get involved.”
The group of slugs, didn’t move, they sat and oozed green goo onto the black rock.
“You’ve been mind swapped by aliens. But you should be able to control your bodies.”
Still the slugs did not move. Will swore loudly and looked down at the dog. Its ear twitched. Will swore again, bent down and picked up Wolfgang. He was big and a dead weight, Will swore once more. He ran blindly out of the cavern and into the tunnel, barely keeping his footing on the turns. He ran into another open area, with more fresh air in it. There was a shout of surprise.
Will stopped short and put Wolfgang down. Three big guys were standing in front of him. Two of them held long, kitchen knives, the other, a frying pan.
Will raised his fists. “Well, come on,” He said.
The men exchanged looks, let out a strange noise and rushed at Will. He let the first guy fly past him and delivered a punch to the gut of the second. When he bent forward Will slammed both fists onto the guy’s back, sending him sprawling after the first. The third, with the frying pan, swung, Will ducked, grabbed the guys arms and sent a knee into his stomach. Then, all three of them stood up tall and rushed Will again. He disarmed them, one by one with a few powerful blows to their hands and wrists. With a grimace, Will threw the ‘weapons’ across the room, he couldn’t injure their bodies too badly.
Wolfgang growled and Will grinned. Back up.
The growl ignited something inside of the aliens. Will could see the transformation come across their faces. It was instinct. Will’s smile faded, he knew that look.
With renewed energy, the three guys came at him. Will dodged and blocked and delivered as many blows as he could. But when one guy went down, the other two were right there. There wasn’t a seconds break. Will got hit, hard, in the face and he went down. A kick quickly followed and when he tried to get up, another few kicks hammered into his ribs. Will yelled out.
A vicious growl bounced off the rock walls. Wolfgang bit into one of the legs kicking Will. The guy fell down with a yell. It was enough of a break that Will could get to his feet. Will took in some ragged breaths. This was the stage of the fight where it was do or die. Will felt his mind and body align. Time almost slowed as he continued to fight the three aliens. He delivered several controlled blows, designed to keep the guys down. But they wouldn’t stay down
Will began to realise that they wouldn’t stop. Not until either Will was dead, or they were dead. He was fighting animals inside of human bodies. Whatever reason they’d managed to steal from the human mind, was gone. They were slowly backing him against a wall. Will’s mind started to race. He could feel his muscles tiring, especially after being tranquillised not long ago. The fight was just about to take a turn against him, he could feel it and the aliens could feel it. Will could see it in their eyes. They’d fight until their muscles ripped from bones. They’d fight until Will killed them.
Will dug deep and kept his focus. He needed to knock the three of them out, fast. The dog kept leaping in and snapping at legs.
“Damn it dog, get back,” Will growled.
The dog didn’t listen. Will ducked a punch, got hit in the ribs instead by another fist. He heard a crack.
“Shit,” Will yelled.
Now he had lost the use of his right side. He held is arm firm to his side, absorbing the punches. One of the guys had gotten behind him and an arm went around his neck. Will used the guy to leap into the air and kick another in the head. That dropped him. But the alien who held him was tightening his grip around Will’s neck. The other still standing threw a punch into his stomach. Spots appeared in Will’s vision. He grit his teeth and delivered a punch into the head of the guy holding him, then another. His grip didn’t loosen. He didn’t care about t
he pain. Will couldn’t get a breath, the blood to his brain was being cut off. His vision was going. Will pushed backwards and ran the guy into a wall. The arm slackened and Will stepped away, gasping. He stumbled around, raising his fists, for the last alien. But he was on the ground too.
Will didn’t remember knocking him out and the dog sure as hell didn’t do it. Wolfgang was growling at something in the tunnel. Will squinted into the dark. He could see a bulbous head in the darkness, a slug. He looked down at the guy on the floor, the slug had paralysed him.
“Are you from Quuorn?” Will asked. The slug slid forward into the light. Will took that as a yes. “Well shit, come on then.”
Will ran into the adjoining tunnel. He could hear voices up ahead. There wasn’t time for stealth. Will ran, the dog at his heels, the slug squelching somewhere behind them. He burst through the tunnel into another cavern. There was three aliens on him immediately. He could see behind them, the Doc, lying limp on the table, ‘Monica’ stood over her. Why wasn’t the Doc moving? Will braced himself and took a few punches as he tried to see what was happening.
“Natalie?” He yelled.
29
Natalie no longer had control over her body. She felt locked into ‘Monica’s’ gaze. Natalie had never experienced anything like it, she felt drunk but completely within her faculties. Every few seconds an intense pulse would obliterate the thought she was having. But then she would return to herself and she’d feel a little further from her body. Like ‘Monica’ was using a crank to lift her mind out of her skull.
‘Monica’s’ eyes didn’t blink. The green of her irises were bright lights. Natalie could feel the alien. There was nothing human about what penetrated her mind. There was nothing earthly about it. Sounds echoed and colours shifted.
Somebody was yelling.
Natalie knew she had to fight. Somehow, she tried to hold onto herself. She wasn’t sure what was doing the holding or what exactly she was trying to hold. The pulses grew more intense. More violent. She could almost feel her body again.
The Missing Town Page 10