Grendel Unit

by Bernard Schaffer

  He closed his eyes for a second, picturing the field littered with the shredded forms of dozens of lizard-soldiers. Hundreds of them. Thousands, all piled on top of one another. Vic opened his eyes and said, "You get all that? Now let me try and imagine what your mothers must look like."

  The Ischion screeched in outrage and inched across the ground toward him, legs jutting like birds as they closed the distance, desperate to get close enough to rend him open with their claws. Vic grabbed his weapon with both hands and leveled it at them, waiting for them to get just close enough so that every one of his shots counted. He heard Frank's voice in his earpiece, "Get me a gun and get out here! Move, move!"

  "I'm coming!" Buehl shouted.

  Vic kept his weapon trained on the lizards and said, "Negative, I repeat, negative. Frank, as soon as the shooting starts, get your ass on that ship and lock the doors. I don't want any of these things getting inside."

  "No way," Frank said.

  "That's what's called an order, Lieutenant. They're not debatable."

  "Do not listen to him, Bob!" Frank shouted. "I'm overriding his order and ordering you to get your asses out here and fight."

  "You can't override my order with another order."

  "Says who?"

  "Says the get your ass back on my ship and make sure it's safe order I just gave!"

  "Those things are almost on top of you. Stop talking and pay attention."

  "Don't tell me how to fight telepathic lizard people like I've never done it before, Frank," Vic said. "I've got this completely under control."

  The reptiles had fanned out, spreading across the field to come at him from either side. They were close enough for Vic to stare directly into the wide slits of their yellow eyes. Two of them took off running at him, sickeningly fast as they readied to jump, and Vic fired, dropping both with splattering impacts to their center mass. That was all it took. The entire horde started to run.

  Vic watched in horror as a dozen of them leapt into the air, claws slashing in an arc toward him, only to feel the ground tremble as the massive frame of a hulking mantipor landed at his side. Monster lifted his head and roared, showing the reptiles his own fangs and with one swipe of his furry arm, he batted them out of the sky and drove them down into the dirt on their backs. Vic rolled out of the way to get behind the behemoth and raised his gun, firing repeatedly into the horde. He fired until shattered lizard frames littered the ground and the rest were splattered with blue blood, but the things kept coming. They poured over the sides of the stage, coming up from the plains and down from the mountains, a great, vast sea of lizards, all intent on slitting him open from end to end.

  "Captain?" Monster said.

  "What?"

  "Hang on tight, and keep firing."

  Vic looked up at the beast and started to ask him what he meant, but Monster suddenly snatched him by the back of the shirt and flipped him over his shoulder as easily as if he were a sack of grain. Vic cried out as he landed on the mantipor's shoulder and Monster took off running, moving so fast the gun slipped from Vic's hands momentarily as he struggled to hold onto it. "Shoot them, captain!" Monster shouted. "Keep firing!"

  The Ischion were leaping and running and slashing at them from just inches away, scurrying to try and catch the shaggy freight train even as Vic could do little more than cling to Monster's chest for dear life. Gunshots rang out from the landing gear of the ship as both Frank and Sgt. Buehl dropped to the ground and fired their weapons on either side of Monster's legs.

  "Get on the ship!" Monster bellowed. "Get out of the way!"

  Frank cursed as he realized they were about to be trampled and he and Buehl fought to get back into the safety of the Samsara. Monster leapt again, landing with a crash where the two men had been just moments before and he swung around the platform's hydraulic arm like an orangutan as he hurled himself and Vic up into the cargo hold of the ship.

  Bob Buehl slammed the emergency take off button and the Samsara leapt twenty feet into the air, hovering over the roofs of the buildings overlooking the stage, looming over the horde of Ischion below. Vic gasped for air as he lay flat on his back, feeling sweat drip off of his face onto the cold floor of the ship's hold. "You people are nuts," he finally said.

  Frank stuck out his hand to help Vic up and said, "Typical. We're all fighting for our lives and all you do is lay around."

  Vic wiped himself off and clapped Monster on the side, "Nice job, big man. I owe you one."

  "You owe me five, last time I counted," the mantipor said.

  Vic walked to the observation window and looked down, seeing the Ischion climbing on top of one another to form living towers, trying to leap off of one another to get high enough to reach the ship. Buehl slid into the pilot's seat and wrapped his hand around the weapons controls. "Just give the word, captain," he said eagerly.

  "No," Vic said softly. He put his face against the window, pressing his forehead against the cool glass. "They want a closer look at this ship. Take us down a little."

  "Roger that," Buehl said with a light smirk. He maneuvered the ship down far enough that it was just a few feet over the Ichions heads. Several of them leapt up high enough to thump against the Samsara's hull, claws scraping uselessly against the ship's smooth metal undersides and round engine ports. Buehl flipped several switches on the controls and the engines hummed as the thrusters charged. The entire ship started to vibrate and the hum of the engine turned into a deafening roar. "Now, captain?"

  Vic opened his eyes and looked down at the horde, their maniacal desperation to kill so overpowering that they did not even realize the futility of attacking the ship. "Now," Vic nodded.

  Bob Buehl punched the engines and great jets of flame burst out of the Samsara's belly, instantly incinerating and charring the Ischion gathered beneath. Buehl kept the ship low, moving it forward to rain fire down on the remainder of the creatures, even as they broke ranks and attempted to scurry away. Buehl brought up a tactical view of several of the reptiles who'd fled and were scurrying back toward the hills. Three red targeting reticules appeared on each of their backs as the computer tagged them. Buehl pressed a button on the screen and the barrels of the mini-gun spun to life, spitting a barrage of laser fire through the fleeing creatures.

  "Tangos down," Buehl said. He checked the screen again and said, "I don't see any more of them, Captain. Do you want me to run a sensor sweep of the hills? There might be clusters of them hiding in pockets down there."

  Vic looked down at the blackened corpses of the reptiles. They were shriveled and small now, like frogs turned on a campfire spit. He felt slightly ill. "Just get us the hell out of here."

  The view screen turned to static as soon as the feed ended and then there was nothing but dark green glass. Victor Cojo sighed deeply before reaching forward to flip the switch and turn the unit off. "Oh, well," he groaned as he got up from his desk chair and stretched. "That didn't last long." The guys were not going to be happy, but they also wouldn't want to wait to find out. He pressed the button on his door to exit and saw the hallway was already crowded.

  "Well?" Monster growled. His lower fangs stuck up over his upper lips slightly, making the soft brown fur around his chin slightly wet with drool. "What did the General say?"

  "I got demoted," Vic said.

  "Again?" Frank said sourly. "What rank are they bucking you down to now?"

  "Commander," Vic said.

  Bob Buehl moved Monster's massive arm out of the way and said, "What about us? What are they doing to us?"

  "Two week's pay," Vic said sadly. "That was the best I could manage."

  "Damn them!" Bob shouted. He punched the hallway wall with his fist so hard the metal panel clanged and said, "This is ridiculous. We didn't even do anything wrong!"

  Vic held up his hands to calm the men down and said, "Listen, in the past we've been able to trade in vacation time in lieu of actual lost wages. Give it a few days for things to die down and I'll talk to the General. It
shouldn't be a big deal."

  "Except for the fact that we won't be able to go home and see our families when were promised," Monster snarled. "Both of my wives are expecting me for the next mating cycle." The creature's face lowered to Cojo's, "Have you ever seen what a mantipor female is capable of when she misses a mating cycle? It would make you run screaming back to your mother."

  "Personally, I think it sounds kind of sexy," Frank said.

  Vic chuckled, "It's no big deal, guys. Take an hour after your shift and turn a wrench or check the systems. I'll sign off on the compensatory time. In a couple days you'll make back whatever you lose. I promise."

  "My wife's relying on my paycheck, Vic," Bob said. "She's barely making ends meet as it is. You better do something."

  "Hey," Frank barked. "Did you hear what he just said? It's going to be okay."

  Bob put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath, "All right, all right. I'm sorry. I just didn't come to this unit to lose wages and get bucked out of rank. It seems like all we do is get in trouble."

  Vic clapped the pilot on the arm and said, "Don't worry. It won't be long until some maniac blows something up. That's how this job is. We do the wetwork, they pretend to be upset about it, and new orders always come in. We're no good bums until the General remembers why he needs us in the first place." He dismissed the men and went back into his quarters.

  The moment he collapsed on his cot and folded his hands behind his head, the door beeped and someone walked in. He didn't need to look to see who it was. "What a bunch of crybabies," Frank said. "I get so tired of hearing about it sometimes."

  "They've got families, Frank. Christ, Monster's got a dozen cubs or something like that. I can't even imagine."

  Frank slumped into the desk chair and kicked his feet up on one of the book shelves. "You all right?"

  "About what?"

  "About not being Captain anymore?"

  Vic shrugged, "I've been demoted before. I'll work my way back and probably be demoted again. It goes with the territory, I guess."

  "No it doesn't," Frank said. "It goes with working for a guy who expects you to kill as many people as they can green light but never get caught, never create a problem, and most importantly, never make them look bad."

  Vic sat up, "You know what the most-viewed video on the entire Unified Network was today? Not sports, not movies, not the naked singing Balthazed sisters from Pantheon. Me, walking up to the duly-elected mayor of a Unification city and executing him while he begged for his life."

  "I know," Frank said. "I saw the video. It was pretty badass. I think I want your autograph."

  Vic rolled his eyes and laid back down. "I got impatient. I should have found another way to take him out."

  "We both know there was no other way," Frank said. "That ops plan was a goddamn work of art. You deserve a medal. Not a demotion."

  "Tell that to General Milner."

  "I already did."

  "Oh yeah?" Vic said.

  "That's right. And then I told him he was a jackhole paper-pusher who wouldn't know a successful operation if it bit him."

  Vic leaned up on one elbow, "And the General was there when you said all this, right?"

  "Right," Frank nodded. "Well, kind of. His picture was there. Or maybe, it was just said while I had a very real clear image of him in my mind. I could tell he was upset when he heard all that, though, in fact, he was sorry for being mean to you."

  "In your mind," Vic said.

  "Exactly. Just like the lizard-people. And the mind, as we both know, is a powerful thing."

  Vic closed his eyes and touched his finger to the side of his temple, "Do you know what's in my mind right now, Frank?"

  "How lucky you are to have a First Officer of such exceptional caliber?"

  "Kind of. As long as that's the secret power I need to make your head explode."

  Frank's face twisted dramatically and he touched his chest, "I think I'm starting to see why you were demoted. You're a violent person, Captain Cojo."

  "Commander," Vic corrected him.

  "Whatever."

  16. The Green Hell

  "Behold, Sonjiin. Nyular."

  Sonjiin stood up from his chair, wide-eyed at the wonder of the planet below. Its surface a symphony of viridescent green and blue swirls under wisps of white cloud. "We are home, my brothers," Sonjiin said. "Is there any sign of the Draxx?"

  Belosh looked down at his console and said, "None."

  "By the gods!" Sonjiin shouted. He whipped around the captain's perch and pressed against Belosh's side, staring down at the screen. "Could it be that in this place, our people have defeated them?"

  "Or that they were not found," Belosh said. "Not yet, anyway. Or, perhaps that in this place, the Draxx do not even exist."

  Their eyes met for a long time, and Sonjiin finally said, "I must know. Land the ship."

  "Sonjiin," Belosh said quickly, grabbing him by the arm, "that is not wise. This is not our world."

  Sonjiin brushed his hand away and raised his hand high in the air and squeezed his fist. "Sons of Nyular! Remember this day, for it will be long sung of." His voice fell to a soft whisper as the ship began to descend through the atmosphere toward the lush jungle below, "Long sung of."

  Belosh frowned at his console, "I have not received a reply to any of our hails. There is nothing but static."

  "And why should they recognize our signal?" Sonjiin said. "Or even the frequency it is sent on? No, my brothers, this is something we must not rely on these systems and electronics to do. This is something we must do with our bodies and hearts. We must look upon them and they upon us and know that we are the same. There!" he shouted. "Take us down there on the Cliffs of Parnok where all can see."

  "Landing on the planet's surface in ten seconds," Vilik called out. He began to count off the numbers as they descended through the planet's atmosphere, "Ten, nine, eight−"

  "There are no signs of significant life forms in this area, Sonjiin," Belosh said.

  "Perhaps they have found a way to disguise themselves," Sonjiin said. He gripped the sides of his captain's chair so tightly the coverings tore as he watched the peaks of the tallest pyrn trees brush against the ship's belly. The landing thrusters activated and set the whole crew bouncing up and down as they lowered onto the enormous flat rocks of the cliffs. He leapt from his seat and raced for the lift, waiting anxiously for the platform to open and release him into the brilliant sunlight. Finally, the heavy door began to open and he stood directly behind it, shaking with anticipation. He wondered if it was possible to meet himself, and both dreaded and craved knowing the way his life would have turned out had it not been for the Draxx. Perhaps he was married and had children. Perhaps all of the people who had given their lives in the war were still alive. His parents, his loved ones. He had to grit his teeth to wait for the damned door to open, because as much as he wanted to simply duck down and crawl under hit, he did not want the first thing these people saw of him to be him on his knees.

  The door finally raised and Sonjiin's breath caught at the sweeping beauty before him. The unmolested forest, not scarred and razed by weapons and clear sky free of the Draxx's hunter drones. Hot tears spilled down his cheeks as he stepped out of the ship, raising his arms to inhale the familiar air. He looked back at the rest of his men and they were embracing one another, crying openly and unashamed. All except one.

  Belosh was staring into the sky and at the trees around them with clear distaste. He raised his left forearm and pulled back his sleeve to reveal the portable scanner fixed there and began to type in commands. He looked back up the sky and said, "Where are the birds? Even in the most heated battle, the cries of the harpy could be heard from not too far away. Why is it so damned silent?"

  "Perhaps the ship scared them off?" Sonjiin said. "Could it be that this Nyular has rejected modern contrivances?"

  Belosh raised his arm so that all of them could see the sensor sweep, circling around and around emptily.
"I've calibrated the settings to pick up anything larger than the size of a rodent. In this area, at least, there is nothing."

  The ten men headed down the cliff, following Belosh as he continued to search. They entered the forest's tree line and found it was thick and overgrown with brush and the stench of rotting fruit. "No cobwebs either," Belosh said. "No insects."

  "What I would not give to hear the growl of an emerald panther right now," Vilik said with a sly smile. "Anything."

  "Hello?" Sonjiin cried out. He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Can anyone hear me?"

  They all listened to his voice echo throughout the forest, and none of them moved.

  "Perhaps we should go back to the ship, Sonjiin," Vilik said.

  "Wait," Belosh said sharply. "I'm picking up something on the sensor. Two hundred meters south of here."

  "Inhabitants?" Sonjiin said.

  "No. It's not a life form. It's a mass of some sort. Very strange radiation signatures."

  Nothing further was said. The men formed a tight group behind Belosh and ventured deeper into the lush green.

  They pushed and chopped and shoved their way through the brush, moving through a never-ending expanse of thick vines. Nothing moved around them. Nothing sang or squawked or growled. Suddenly, Vilik raised his head and cried out, "Listen!"

  Sonjiin threw his head into the air, straining to stand as tall as he could, as if raising himself toward the sky would help him hear better. There was a soft whistle, like the call of a cloud chaser, and all of the men laughed and clapped one another on the shoulders in joy, but as they listened, their faces fell. It was nothing but the wind sweeping through the valley below them, a trick of the ear brought on by their eager anticipation.

  Belosh continued on, studying his computer. He muttered to himself as the grid showing their coordinates and the terrain around them showed a wide, circled area just beyond the ridge. Belosh threw up his hand and said, "Wait. It cannot be."