by Ben Hammott
Having failed to eradicate every human from the aircraft, the only ones who knew of their presence and thus a threat to their existence, it needed to gather information and find out what the humans were up to and what further danger they posed. Nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of the great spawning that would be enacted shortly. Soon after, the humans would be inconsequential. Most would die to avoid the depletion of the planet’s resources. Others would become their slaves to do their building and terraform this planet the humans called Earth, into one more suitable for their existence.
After signaling to the nourishment tendrils to awake the host, the Alpha prompted its temporary surrogate into movement.
The glazed look faded from Lansdale’s eyes. Baffled by the strangeness that gripped him and the indifference he felt for the people he recognized around him who seemed drugged and obviously in some sort of distress, he stepped away from the wall. Wondering what he was doing in a cave and where he was going, he walked along the tunnel.
*
Within the alien nest, the creatures gathered around the inner walls of the cocoon, their hairs, and tentacles entwining. As the chemical process began, their bodies softened and melded together to form a single mass.
From the corpses of the infected laid out around the cave floor, stalks twisted together like a mother platting her daughter's hair, and then merged into single longer and thicker strands. They grew and stretched for the nest hanging from the ceiling. Their tips probed the shell and slipped through the small gaps distributed over its surface. As each joined with the black mass within, they began to pulsate, drawing up the nourishment from their hosts.
The internal black mass throbbed as the nourishment it required flowed through it. Over its form, nubs began to grow and slowly lengthened. Constricted by the cocoon’s capacity, the slowly forming tentacles were forced to follow the interior curvature of the shell. The metamorphosis had begun.
CHAPTER 33
Airshaft 1
“It’s over here,” called out Digger Dave, pushing through a line of bushes.
Rick, one of the three soldiers following, breathless from the long strenuous walk up the steep incline, glared at the old man who was twice his age, yet he had the nimbleness of a mountain goat and the stamina of an ox.
Scrambling through a thick clump of bushes, they arrived in a small rocky clearing. Scarcely having the energy to draw breath, the soldiers collapsed to the ground.
Rick looked at Digger incredulously, sitting on a rock puffing away on his pipe. “Hey, old man, how come you aren’t panting your ancient heart out after a climb like that?”
Digger shrugged. “Good honest living and clean country air, I guess. The trouble with you city folk is that you’re drawing toxins into your lungs with every breath. And those phones you’ve always got with you pumping radiation into your bodies must also have an adverse effect. Way out here,” he swept the smoldering pipe around the landscape, “the air has only been touched by nature.”
“I hope the next hole’s easier to get to,” muttered Toby.
Digger nodded his head westward. “Couple hundred yards that way.”
Wesley climbed to his feet and slipped off his backpack. “Let’s get this done. We are already behind schedule.”
Toby kicked at the rusty padlock locking the metal grill in place over the top of the airshaft and glanced at Digger. “You got the key to this?”
He shook his head. “Like I told that woman in charge of you lot, they are lost.”
Rick pulled a bolt cutter from his pack. “This is our key.” He crossed to the grill and chopped through the padlock.
Toby knelt and, with a single snip, freed the padlock from the hasp. The grill opened with a shrieking of rusty hinges. He peered down the shaft a little narrower than his shoulders. “How deep is it?”
Digger expelled a cloud of smoke from his lungs. “About forty feet. Shaft 2 is a bit deeper at fifty.”
Wesley pulled a block of C4 explosive attached to a radio detonator from his pack and handed it to Toby. “How many do you need?”
“One would probably do, but just to be certain, I’ll use two.” Toby peeled the backing off the strip of industrial-grade pressure-sensitive adhesive attached to the C4 and leaned into the hole. Stretching out his arm as far as it would go, he slapped the explosive against the side and pushed hard. It remained stuck in place when he removed his hand. He squirmed to the side, took the second block that Toby held out and repeated the process. After switching them live, he dragged his torso out.
Rick peered in at the two small green lights blinking and shoved the grill closed. It clanged loudly against its frame.
Toby glared at Rick. “That’s it, let the aliens know we’re here.”
Rick snorted. “Aliens my ass. This is the government covering something up, again. Something’s hidden in that mine they don’t want anyone knowing about and was most likely brought here on that plane that crashed.”
Toby shook his head. “Whatever, man. But you make a noise like that again, and I’ll shove you headfirst down one of these holes.”
Rick scowled at Toby. “You can try.”
“Calm down, you two. The sooner we get done here, the sooner we can return to base where you two can avoid each other like the plague for all I care, but here and now we have a job to do.” He turned to Digger. “Lead us to the next one?”
Digger tapped the ash from his pipe on a rock and slipped it into his pocket. His old joints creaked when he stood. “This way.”
The three soldiers followed him along the ridge.
CHAPTER 34
A Possible Cure
Wendel finished his examination and turned to Penfield, who was assisting him. “Although it might be drawing nourishment from the body’s glucose reserves, the parasitic hybrid hasn’t yet started feeding in a manner that would have any detrimental effect on the health of its host. I have also discovered that its tendril filaments are so fully interwoven into the host’s organs, it would be impossible to physically detach them without killing the infected subject.”
“Which means, if we don’t come up with a viable cure, anyone who becomes infected will eventually die,” said Penfield.
Hilleman crossed to them. “We know they are affected by the gas we administered, it sent them to sleep almost immediately, so I am thinking, if we inject something into a live infected host, it should be absorbed through the filaments into the hybrid. We just need to come up with something that will either kill the organism or make its host inhospitable enough to force it to leave on its own accord, and yet causes minimal detriment to the person infected.”
Wendel liked her train of thought. “The trouble with killing it would leave the filaments inside the host. Yes, no longer active, but what happens to them then? Will they enter the bloodstream or clog vital organs as they decay? They might even produce a harmful toxin as they break down. In this respect, I favor your second proposal; encourage it to vacate the host on its own accord, and then we can destroy it.”
“What do you propose we inject?” asked Penfield.
“Although we are dealing with a plant-based hybrid organism, it is still a parasite. So, let’s keep it simple. We administer a concoction of antibiotics to make it uncomfortable, and also an anthelmintic which will hopefully expel them. As it is the strongest we have available, I recommend we use Tiabendazole. It’s normally administered to prevent parasitic worms in humans from absorbing the food they need for survival, usually glucose. As we believe this is what these organisms might be feeding on, it stands a good chance of success.” She looked at the pilot’s open chest. “If we can cut off its food source, it will have to look elsewhere or presumably starve and die.”
“I’m in agreement. Let’s give it a try,” said Wendel. “I’ll contact Control to arrange for a live infected person brought here. You two start developing the serum.” He moved to the radio phone attached to the wall.”
CHAPTER 35
; Mine Explosives
Keeping the revs low, the quads drove slowly past the deserted rusty mine workings. When they arrived at the mine, they turned their bikes for a quick getaway and killed the engines. The silence interspersed with the creaking mine constructions created an ominous atmosphere.
Sullivan dismounted, opened one of the two caskets on the trailer attached to Colbert’s quad, grabbed the radio relay booster, and headed for the mine entrance. A distant clang of metal directed his cautious gaze into the gloomy interior. Hearing nothing further to cause him concern, he placed the booster on a section of the remaining barrier. Stepping away, he glanced up at the drone and gave a thumbs-up sign.
*
In the communication trailer, Yuri, Colonel Jennet, Kirkman, Bennett, Blightburn, and Kathryn, who had argued her experience with the aliens might come in handy, was allowed to stay, stared at the screen showing the view from the drone’s camera. When Mason gave the signal, Yuri lowered the drone and expertly maneuvered it through the mine entrance. Unaware of the capability of the Xtros senses, whether they could smell, see or hear, and worried a bright light might disturb them, Yuri switched to night vision mode.
The tunnel was spookily depicted in ghostly greens as the drone traveled its length and slowed when the first cavern came into view. Hovering stationary at the end, Yuri panned the camera around. Spying nothing of interest, he piloted into the far tunnel.
After traveling two hundred yards, Yuri hovered the drone in the entrance of the second cavern. He zoomed in on the roughly shaped oval construction formed of glossy black strands hanging from the ceiling. It looked brittle, like hard tar.
“What the hell is that!” exclaimed Colonel Jennet.
“It’s what those Xtros were building,” answered Kathryn.
“Could be their nest,” offered Bennett
Blightburn frowned.
“Could be they are setting up home in the mine,” suggested the colonel. “It might be a hive of some sort.”
Blightburn tapped the plant tendrils depicted on the screen. “They seem to have joined together. I wonder what their purpose is?”
Yuri panned the camera down the entwined tendrils and halted when the animal corpses came into view, the most prominent being the bear beside the four wolf carcasses. From each body, a thick tendril stretched up to the black object.
“Now we know where the missing bear and wolf carcasses ended up,” said Blightburn; the team sent to incinerate them with flamethrowers, reported that when they arrived at the coordinates provided by Colbert, they were gone. She scanned a few of the other carcasses that included a group of badgers, foxes, a mountain lion, and surprisingly, some chickens.
“If I had to guess,” surmised Kathryn, “They seem to be drawing nourishment from the corpses and feeding it to the nest, or whatever is inside.”
Yuri moved the drone around and focused on the two human corpses at the edge of the macabre group. It was the C-130 pilot and Kelly; the root tendrils had dragged them here all the way from the crashed aircraft. Like the animal corpses, both bodies had a thick tendril stretching from them to the nest.
“Are you watching this, Colbert?” checked Blightburn.
“I am.”
“It seems we’ve discovered another of the hybrids purposes, other than dragging the corpses back here, they seem to be providing nourishment for whatever’s in that nest.”
“As ghastly as this fortuitous discovery is, it could prove beneficial to our mission to eliminate them,” said Blightburn. “If every human or animal they have infected has been brought here, then the threat should be containable. We blow all the mine exits and, even if the explosions or the resulting cave-ins don’t kill them, they’ll be trapped.”
“We can’t know for certain that all the Xtros are in there,” argued Kathryn. “Where are those little black aliens that built it?”
“If it is their nest, hive, or whatever, they are probably inside,” said Bennett.
“I also can’t see my friends,” said Kathryn. “They were standing in the corner by the tunnel entrance before.”
“I’ll do a sweep of the cavern.” Yuri zoomed out and swiveled the camera fixed beneath the drone.
A blurred shape filled the screen, and the drone was sent crashing into the wall. Two rotor arms snapped, dropping it to the ground. Detecting the collision, the drone sensors shut down the rotors to prevent further damage. Someone walked over and stopped in front of the drone. The camera’s low angle showed only the feet and ankles; brown boots with odd laces—one a darker brown than the other—and tan trousers.
Blightburn glanced at Kathryn. “Is that one of your friends?”
“I don’t think so. I’m certain we were all wearing jeans.”
“Then another person has been infected,” stated Colonel Jennet. “And who knows how many more?”
“Did you catch that, Colbert? Someone or something took out the drone.”
*
Colbert glanced at the mine entrance as he handed Richard the tablet they had both been viewing. “I did. It seems someone is on the prowl, and they didn’t want to be on camera. We’ll finish planting the explosives and then head in. Any update on the shaft team as we might need to blow the mine sooner than expected?”
“They have finished rigging shaft one and are currently heading for shaft two. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
“Roger that.” Colbert crossed to the mine and stepped inside. Sullivan was sticking C4 devices to the walls while Mason armed with a flamethrower kept watch along the tunnel. “Someone or something just knocked out the drone.”
“An Xtro?” asked Sullivan, taking another explosive device from the bag.
“Bit of both, I assume. An Xtro-controlled Human.” Colbert glanced at the small green lights on each detonator around the entrance. “You nearly done?”
“One more here, but I’ll plant some more at intervals farther along the tunnel to hopefully set off a chain reaction that will completely collapse this section of the mine.”
Footsteps turned their eyes along the tunnel.
Colbert moved beside Mason and peered into the gloom. The footsteps stopped.
“They sounded human,” commented Mason.
“I’m certain they were, and equally certain they were not a voluntary action by the person who made them.”
“Must be the same person who took out the drone.”
“What do we do if he, it, attacks? Under the control of an alien, it’s not exactly fair on its host if we kill them.”
To hopefully clarify things, Colbert contacted Control. “What’s the SP on an infected human? Can they be cured?”
“Hold on, Colbert, I’m checking,” replied Blightburn. “If someone infected attacks in the meantime, aim for the legs to incapacitate them.”
Mason patted his flamethrower. “This thing isn’t exactly built for precision.”
“Swap it out for your rifle until we know what’s what.” Colbert turned to Sullivan. “You finished?”
Sullivan checked the final explosive device he had just placed on the wall and nodded. “What’s the plan now?”
“We wait for Control to get back to us. Whatever the outcome, we’re still going in to retrieve Kelly’s body. Even if it means burning that alien plant out of him, he’s coming back with us.”
“Amen to that,” agreed Sullivan.
“In the meantime, let’s wait outside and set up a defense around the entrance.”
Feeling eyes upon him, Colbert glanced into the darkness before heading outside.
*
Judging them a threat, the Alpha watched the humans it recognized from the airplane as they left. They would have to be eliminated or distracted before it could make its own exit. It headed back to the nest cavern.
CHAPTER 36
A New Host
Penfield headed for the airlock. “I’m nipping out for a coffee if anyone wants something brought back.”
Hilleman glanced up from
her work. “Coffee. Strong and black with two sweeteners for me, please.”
Penfield glanced at Wendel. “You want anything, Charles?”
Wendel looked up from writing his notes. “I suppose I had better have a kick of caffeine to keep me alert. “I’ll have a latte, thanks, no sugar.”
Penfield detached the oxygen tube and passed through the airlock into the changing room. He slipped out of the protective suit, glad to feel the air on his skin again, and hung it up before exiting the lab.
As he headed for the canteen trailer, he observed the many pockets of activity going on around the airbase. The canteen was located just inside the entrance of one of the large hangers where cots had been set out ready to receive the evacuated townsfolk if it was deemed necessary. On entering, he registered surprise at seeing a chimpanzee sat at one of the tables. It pulled a banana from a bunch, peeled off the skin, and dipped it into what seemed to be a large cup of hot chocolate before taking a bite. The soldier sat beside him, smiled, and seemed to be conversing with the chimp.
Deep in thought, Penfield stepped up to the serving hatch and breathed in the delicious aroma of cinnamon wafting from within. He ran his eyes over the food items displayed in a glass-fronted cabinet below the serving hatch and homed in on the plate of cinnamon buns the man placed inside.