by Dan Oakley
But they weren’t moving.
Ensign Borrack took charge, walking slowly, keeping his ElectroLaser gun raised. He reached out and touched the shoulder of the figure, and as he did so, the chair turned, the person slumped back, and slid to the ground.
The body hit the floor with a thud. I looked down at the floor and through the visor saw a decaying human head.
“Flaming fire!” Bobby’s voice was hoarse.
People began to shuffle uneasily and curse loudly over the comms.
Ensign Borrack said, “All right. It’s not pleasant, but we were expecting this. I’m going to go through the uniform and see if I can find some ID. We’ll transport the bodies we find back to the Morellic and make sure they get a proper…”
Ensign Borrack looked up at me, and the rest of his sentence trailed away.
I waited for him to continue, but he just carried on staring. The tinted visor vaguely obscured his eyes, but even so, I could see they’d widened in shock.
“Ensign Borrack,” I said. “Is everything all right?”
He shook his head with the smallest movement and then whispered, “We’ve got company.”
Ensign Borrack hadn’t been looking at me… He’d been looking behind me.
I heard a low hiss, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
I turned slowly.
A bead of sweat trickled down my back. I’d almost turned a complete circle before I saw what Ensign Borrack had been gaping at.
In the doorway behind us, blocking our exit, was an eight-foot tall, scaly lizard with teeth the size of my fists.
Chapter 18
I tried to swallow, but my mouth was so dry my tongue got stuck on the roof of my mouth. I wanted to run, but I knew predators had an impulse to chase, and by running, I’d be drawing a target on my back.
I let out a string of curse words, safe in the knowledge the creature wouldn’t hear me through the head protection I wore.
The monstrous lizard remained still in the doorway. Its shorter forearms were raised, and its vicious, sharp claws were on full display. It cocked its head to one side, and its eyelids flickered.
My stomach flipped over and over. The virtual realism model had been terrifying enough, but this creature was even bigger.
Since they had virtual realism models on the spaceship, I hoped Trella knew how to defeat them. Surely she’d practiced.
Since I’d seen the lizard, I’d hardly dared to move, not wanting to set off an attack, but now I turned my head excruciatingly slowly to see if everyone else was aware of the creature watching us.
Like me, every member of the team stood motionless.
“Stay still,” Ensign Borrack croaked, finally finding his voice. “Their impulse is to give chase. So it’s safer not to move. I’m going to raise my shooter very slowly and then stun the animal so we can get out of here.”
That sounded like an excellent plan to me.
As Ensign Borrack slowly lifted his weapon, the Lizard’s colossal head swiveled around and its reptilian eyes locked onto the ensign’s arm.
Ensign Borrack stopped with the weapon half raised. From where I stood, I could see he was trembling.
I didn’t blame him. That thing looked like it could crunch a man in two with its powerful jaws.
“Keep it distracted, Ensign,” Trella’s voice came through the headset. “I’ll take it out with a stun energy bolt.”
“I… er…” Ensign Borrack’s sentence ended in a high-pitched moan as the lizard took a step towards him.
The lizard’s scaly feet spread out against the concrete floor, its nails scratching on the surface, sending a chill up my spine.
“Somebody shoot it otherwise I’m going to.” The outburst came from Zarak. Hardly surprising. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have shown so much courage if the lizard’s attention had been focused on him.
From the corner of my eye, I watched Trella. She barely moved, but I could see her thumb and forefinger pressed together. I guessed she must be casting a spell or weaving some magic.
Maybe I could help?
I tried to lock onto my magic, to feel the vibration and the energy, but failed. It seemed fear wasn’t as powerful a motivator as anger for me.
Luckily, I didn’t need it.
“Shield your eyes,” Trella commanded.
Reluctantly I closed my eyes, wishing I could see what was going on.
It went against every impulse to screw my eyes shut when there was a huge freaking lizard only a few feet away, but I trusted Trella and did as she asked.
Even though my eyes were shut, I still experienced the flash of light through the thin skin of my eyelids.
“Holy crap!”
That was Bobby’s voice.
I blinked as I opened my eyes and saw the lizard lying on the floor. It wasn’t dead. Its tail was still twitching.
Bayliss, one of the men from the defense squad, clapped a hand on Ensign Borrack’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Our team leader hesitated and then nodded. “Yeah. Let’s get a move on. Move from room to room and keep your eyes peeled for any more of those freaks of nature.”
He turned back to Trella and then nodded to me. “You two, go through the uniform of the scientist and find out who it was. We need ID.”
As Ensign Borrack and the rest of the team headed off, gingerly scooting past the lizard sprawled on the floor, I knelt beside the body of the deceased scientist.
At least she or he hadn’t been eaten. There were no puncture marks on the uniform. I supposed that was something to be thankful for.
I began to rifle through the pockets and asked Trella, “Why do you think this scientist died? I mean, it doesn’t look like any of the lizards attacked her.”
Trella pulled some papers from the computer console and tried to work the keyboard, but it was dead.
“Something has fried the system,” she commented almost to herself and then turned back to me. “I don’t know how she died. There are no obvious external injuries. From the state of the body, I’d guess she died pretty soon after they arrived on the planet.”
Gritting my teeth, I reached out and pulled up the uniform. The dead flesh was mottled and decaying, and I was really glad that the headset I wore had a purifier so I couldn’t smell the rotting flesh.
I released her wrist device and tapped it. The display lit up.
“This still works,” I said to Trella handing her the communication device.
She tapped it and scrolled through the contents. “Lieutenant Jane Davies,” Trella said. “Forty-nine years old, born on Vesurria. Her next of kin is her husband.”
Trella stored the comms device in her pocket and squared her shoulders. “One down, another nine still to find.”
She made to leave the room, and I called out after her. “What will we do with the bodies? Don’t they deserve a proper burial?”
Trella turned back and looked at me over her shoulder. “They do. But that’s not our priority at the moment. Come on, let’s catch up with the others.”
As we walked past the lizard, I noticed its tail was still twitching. “Er, just how long does this stun take the lizard out for? I mean, I don’t like killing defenseless animals, but this one is hardly defenseless. Shouldn’t we make sure it’s dead?”
Trella shook her head. “The stun I used was powerful. It should last at least an hour and even when it does come round it will have one hell of a headache. We can’t kill it though. The aim of the scientists, or at least one of them, was to use a special mutagen which should mutate the lizard’s DNA, making them produce sterile offspring. It means they can’t maintain their population. The idea is the mutation will spread through the population, and the lizards will die out.”
“So we need to leave the lizards alive for them to be wiped out? Is that what you’re saying?”
Trella nodded. “I know. It sounds crazy, but that’s science for you. For long-term eradication, it’s better to stun them rathe
r than kill.”
“But how do we know this lizard is one of the ones treated with the mutagen?”
Trella squatted down beside the lizard, and I fought against a wave of anxiety. There’s no way I wanted to get that up close and personal to the creature.
“Do you see that?” Trella pointed at a tiny red fragment of material on the back of the lizard’s neck.
“Oh, yeah, that tiny red thing. It looks like a miniature flag.”
“It’s a tag,” Trella explained. “The red marker is attached to the dart they used to deliver the mutagen.”
“So this is one of the ones they injected.” I straightened up and took a step back.
Trella nodded. “It looks that way.”
“I think I understand the theory behind it, but what if they missed a few lizards. The unmutated lizards could populate the island again eventually.”
“It’s a dominant gene, so eventually they will be wiped out,” Trella said. “But it will take a few years.”
I nodded and wished I’d spent more time in school learning science.
I followed her into another room, tiptoeing past the twitching lizard. The room was some sort of storage area. There was a ton of boxes, stacked in piles on the floor and every shelf was covered with white plastic crates. Amongst the boxes on the floor was another body.
The rest of the team had already gathered around the body. It was a pretty gruesome sight, and I was glad I was wearing my headgear. As before, this figure was dressed in a Seven Kingdoms uniform and wore a helmet and body armor.
The armor hadn’t protected them though. It was clear this person had fallen victim to a lizard. Or maybe some other kind of wild animal had attacked, but my money was on a lizard being responsible. The scientist’s midsection had been devoured, leaving a gaping hole between its ribs and its pelvis.
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Bobby said.
“Well, if you are, you’ll have to do it in here. Nobody separates from the group to go outside, is that understood?” Ensign Borrack said.
There were murmurs of agreement over the comms system.
“I think I recognize him. That was Leo Corran. He was a lieutenant in the defense squad.” Draylan’s voice cracked with emotion.
This time Ensign Borrack removed the wrist device. It wasn’t easy. The body was bloated, and the strap had dug into the blotchy skin of the victim.
After tapping the wrist device and scrolling through its contents, he gave a nod, confirming Draylan’s fears.
“It’s Leo,” he said simply, stood up then made the sign of the cross. “Rest in peace, buddy.”
The mood was subdued as we walked through the rest of the building. We found no more bodies, and thankfully, no more lizards, but I kept close to Trella at all times. She’d easily dispatched the lizard with a stun bolt, and I wish I’d at least learned that from her before coming on this mission.
When we left the squat building, the light outside made me blink. The heat felt even more oppressive, so I increased the level of my armor’s internal cooling system.
As I did so, I scanned the edges of the clearing, checking for lizards or other hostiles.
A brown beetle flew clumsily into my shoulder, and I brushed it off.
This wasn’t a planet I’d like to inhabit. Not only did it have killer lizards, but they also seemed to have a huge bug problem.
“What do we do now, boss?” Draylan of the defense squad asked, turning to Ensign Borrack.
“We complete our mission. Let’s check the perimeter.”
We trudged in single file around the back of the building, looking for more fallen Kingdoms’ staff. I adjusted the setting again to increase the cooler.
We’d been warned not to use the cooler too much as it took up a lot of energy, and we only had a limited amount in the fuel cells. It should last a couple of days of frugal use, but I hoped the mission wouldn’t take that long.
It was looking like the team of scientists, and their protectors had dispersed for some reason. Maybe they’d panicked and scattered after the lizard attacks.
As I was keeping my eyes fixed on the jungle perimeter, making sure we weren’t being stalked, I hadn’t paid much attention to who was in line behind me. Suddenly, I felt a vicious kick at my ankles and went sprawling to the ground.
“You really should be more careful, Tomas. You need to keep your wits about you on a mission.” Zarak stood over me. He put his hands on his hips as I scrambled to my feet.
It took all my willpower to resist throwing a punch. But I knew fighting would be stupid. For one thing, everyone would get pissed at me. For another, the altercation might attract some unwanted attention from creatures nearby, and thirdly, I didn’t want Trella to get mad at me. I needed her to teach me some of those impressive skills I’d seen her use so far.
“Watch it, rookie,” Ensign Marteen said, glaring at Zarak. “We have enough problems to deal with without you creating more.”
“Sorry,” Zarak said, smirking at me.
Instead of decking him, I pushed him away and fell back in line, making sure he walked in front of me this time.
We made a whole circuit of the building, and there was no sign of any other humans in the vicinity alive or dead.
“I hoped we would find the science team here, but it looks like they split up, so we are going to head to the original jump site,” Ensign Borrack said. “Let’s see if we can get some answers.”
“Where is the original jump site?” Bobby asked.
Ensign Borrack looked off into the distance, scanning the edge of the jungle.
“That way,” he said, pointing at the dark twisting vines and towering trees.
Great. So now we had to go into the jungle, which for all we knew was full of lizards, with limited visibility. That significantly increased the chances of a deadly, stealth attack.
“Isn’t there another way?” Bobby asked. “It seems like a dumb idea to go into the jungle with those mutant lizards around.”
“What did I say before we made the jump?” Ensign Borrack asked sharply.
“To follow your orders without question,” Bobby answered dully.
“Exactly,” Ensign Borrack said and then squared his shoulders and began to lead us into the thicket of trees.
Chapter 19
As soon as we entered the dark jungle, the atmosphere changed. This time, it wasn’t only Trella who was vigilant. Everyone was on their guard. The dark shadows between the trees set everyone on edge.
I expected to see a monstrous lizard lurking behind every tree we passed. The terrain was rough. Fallen tree branches and vines that wrapped around my legs made me stumble as I walked, and finding a path through the trees was difficult.
A greenish light filtered through the canopy. The bracken-covered floor gave way to dark green sludge. My boots squelched over the muck. I lowered the audio setting on my headset, wanting to tone down the chirping bugs. The chorus of insects was getting on my nerves making it hard to think.
There appeared to be no birds on this planet. I hadn’t seen any in flight or heard any bird song since we’d jumped. There were plenty of other flying things, namely gigantic bugs who flew lazily around us. No birds to eat the flying bugs must have caused an explosion in the insect population. Had birds once inhabited this planet? Perhaps they’d been wiped out by the nuclear accident. I wondered if there were areas of Tor that had escaped the nuclear fallout.
The tropical forest was nothing like the woods I was familiar with back on Terrano. There, the air was crisp, clean and cool, but here, it was steamy and oppressive, and I was glad to have the protection of my cooling system and helmet.
I stuck close to Trella. None of us wanted to get left behind, and it would be easy to get lost. I could see Trella and the defense squad guy, Draylan, in front of her, but I couldn’t see anyone further on. The jungle made visibility difficult. We trudged on, and I kept adjusting the setting of my suit to try and cool down.
We�
��d been told the atmosphere on Tor was suitable for human habitation. Maybe it was, but it certainly wasn’t comfortable. I longed for the cool breeze and the fresh atmosphere of home.
“Guys, I think I’ve got a problem.” Bobby’s voice came over the comm system.
I turned to look behind me. But couldn’t see Bobby.
“What is it?” Ensign Borrack asked.
“It’s my suit. It stopped cooling, and I’m seriously overheating.”
Trella jerked her chin at me. “Continue on, Tomas. I’m going to help Bobby.”
I scrambled to keep up with Draylan in front as Trella slipped behind, looking for Bobby. Perhaps she was going to try and help cool him with magic somehow.
I didn’t have time to ponder on what she might do. I was too busy focusing on not losing the guy in front of me. Unbelievably, the jungle seemed to get even denser.
“We don’t have far to go now,” Ensign Borrack said. I spotted him through the trees, checking the comms device on his wrist. “It’s only half a klick to the original jump site. The site was chosen because it’s closest to the most secure building on Tor. If life support is still working, the air should be cooled, and you’ll be able to recover there, Bobby.”
Bobby didn’t reply, and I hoped Trella was able to help him. I was struggling with the heat even with the cooling system working in my suit.
We trekked onwards, swatting bugs away as we pushed along the narrow path Ensign Borrack had cut through the vines.
After we’d been walking for about five minutes, there was a cry behind us, and everyone was on high alert. Instantly, weapons were raised as we scanned our surroundings.
“What was that? Report,” Ensign Borrack ordered.
“There’s no threat,” Trella replied. “Bobby fell. He is finding the journey tough.”
“Surely there is something you can do to help him,” Ensign Borrack snapped, sounding impatient.