Chapter 11
The Wolff Pack and Jack's Troop walked briskly side by side, still strapping on their various weaponry and gear. They followed Wolff to the Starjumper, all of them ignoring the panicked bleating of Kiev.
" What do you think you are doing?!" he shouted, in a strident whine. " You can't ALL leave! Who will guard this facility?! What if those creatures come here?! Unngghhh!"
The little man fell to the ground as Wolff shoved him out of the way and entered the Jumper. His assistants hurried to help him up. He waved them off angrily and spun on Mara.
" Corporal Ramsey! I am Head Researcher here, and I command you and your Troop to remain here!"
" Get the fuck out of my way Kiev," she snarled. " you have no authority here. This is a military operation and I don't take my orders from you. Now move, unless you wanna end up on your ass again."
She shoved him out of the way and followed Wolff. Copper smirked at the fuming Kiev.
" Copper! Hurry the fuck up! We're leaving!" shouted Wolff from the door of the Jumper.
Copper scurried to comply. Gutierrez and Johns hurried up, also heavily armed and ready.
" Where do you think you're going?" asked Wolff, glowering.
" To help." Said Johns, firmly. " You're gonna need our help up there. So just quit with the fucking intimidation act, and let's go." He stared unflinchingly into Wolff's metallic glare.
~ Hmmm… if I didn't know he was related to a scum like William Johns, I could begin to like the little shit. ~ thought Wolff.
" Get in." he growled. " but don't even think of trying anything funny, boy."
" Is that a threat?" snarled Johns.
" What the fuck else did is sound like? I sure as shit wasn't asking you the time."
Gritting his teeth so hard that the muscles in his jaws worked noticeably, Johns wisely let Gutierrez pull him away."
Before boarding, Gutierrez and Johns instructed their corporals, Jon Leland and Vaughan Damper, to hold the fort. The Jumper then took off, as Kiev watched the ship disappear into the sunlit skies with a malevolent glare..
~ Steel eyed devil! That's what you are, you bastard! You'll get yours soon I promise you that. I know your secret, asshole… and you and that little bitch commander have a little surprise in store. Let's see you escape from this one… ~
Damper watched the dark emotions running over Kiev's face… ~ this
man wasn't as harmless as he portrayed himself to be. I'd better bring this
up to Johns when he gets back. ~
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# Thank god, oh thank you god! Commander? Doc? You still alive? #
" Yeah! What's up?" shouted Jack, as she turned from helping Karin to barricade the door with what few furniture the room held.
# They're here! Your Troop and the Wolff Pack are here! Even Gutierrez and Johns! They're now preparing to land at the emergency pad. No creatures in that vicinity yet, so I directed them there. #
" Good work." Said Jack as she flicked the safety of her pulse gauge and shot out the grill for the vent in the ceiling. " But we can't wait for them. Those scaly bastards will be through these doors in no time. I need your help with something."
# Anything. Just tell me. #
" Do you have maps of the air vents leading to that emergency pad?"
# Yah… why? #
" We are going to need them. I am going to link my wrist com with the vid console, download it. If our rescuers can't get to us in time, we'll go meet them."
# Good idea. Also, those things can't follow ya into the vents, being too big and all. #
" What are you talking about? Some of them are even smaller than Ellie, and if I can fit in these vents, so can they. Most of them should be able to follow us if they knew where we went. Which is why I need you to hurry up with that download."
# No, commander. I can see them clearly on my security cams, and not a one of them is under nine feet. They must weigh a good three hundred pounds each! #
" What?!"exclaimed Jack.
" H…how c..c…could that be?!" shouted Karin. " They are flying beasts, they shouldn't be that big!"
# Actually doc, none of them ARE flying. Their wings have diminished and they look to be vestigial at best…. Oh shit… #
" What?!" said Jack and Karin in unison.
# I just did a bioscan on one of them… and these are not the same baddies we had when we first landed here. These boys have lab engineering all over them. #
" Someone's been messing with gene splicing?" asked Jack.
" Worse," said Karin. " this sounds like complete recombinant DNA work of two different species to make a new one. We have no way of knowing how to handle them!"
# Oh shit. # repeated Flemings.
" Oh shit, is right." Muttered Jack.
# What do we do? #
After a pause to think, Jack hurried to lift Ellie into the vent and then helped Karin up as she gave instructions to Flemings.
" Find a way to warn Wolff about these new and improved aliens and let him know our situation. They're almost through the door here. We have to get going."
# Yes, ma'am. You three better move. I can handle it from here. #
Jack then leaped, caught the edge of the vent opening, and hauled herself easily up and into the vent. Before putting the secondary vent cover in place, she called down to the vidscreen that still showed it was on and waiting.
" Flemings! I want you to continue monitoring everything, but in case we have to abandon ship, I want you to hack the system and find out who has been doing these experiments. Back them up on hard copy and get out of there."
# You got it, ma'am! I'm right on it! #
" Smith, out."
Chapter 12
Wolff's eyes smarted from the red strobe of the emergency lights that ringed the platform he had landed the 'Jumper on. His face was grim at the bad news Flemings had imparted, and he found this cold curl of fear for Jack in his gut, and it disoriented him even more. He had never cared for anybody else as much as he did for her, and he didn't know quite how to deal with it.
" Wolff!" shouted Mara. " Let's go!"
They entered the ship proper in formation. Covering each other's backs. He wanted to rush in, kill everything in sight until he found Jack. He just knew everything would be fine as long as he could keep her in his sights. According to Flemings, it looked as if they would have to abandon the Stellaren… Wolff didn't like the idea of abandoning their only means of escape from the planet, but if Flemings' readings were accurate, then there were just too many to kill. He would abandon if he had to, but only if he absolutely had to.
" Fuller… Lacey…" Mara called out as they neared the first junction in the corridor. " You two take point."
" Got it."
" Yes, ma'am."
The two hurried to the front… half crouched, they approached the junction.
# Wolff? Ramsey? # called Flemings over their wristcoms.
" What is it?" growled Wolff, his eyes glowing in the gloom.
# Something weird. #
" What!?" shouted Wolff. " Is it Jack? Is she hurt?"
# No, not as far as I know. It's just… it's just that the creatures are suddenly leaving this sector. Even the ones that were at Doc Karin's quarters have suddenly stopped what they were doing and are now leaving. God, I hope they're not heading for the mess hall! The rest of the crew are holed up there and though they have the doors barricaded, I don't know if they can hold up under that many of the creatures. Where in the hell are they going? #
" Can you track them?" asked Johns.
# Yeah, no problem. I have them on the cameras, plus I can easily pick them up on the motion sens… ors… HOLY SHIIITTT!! Wolff! Get outta there! Ramsey… Johns! Get the fuck outta there now! #
" What is it?!" shouted Mara.
# They're heading your way! All the creatures in this sector are heading your way! But that's not the only thing! Something just moved very close to your position! Something big! I can't quite make it out, but it's completely blotting out the view of the cameras as it passes each one. Fucker's moving fast! It's headed straight for you guys! #
" Lock and load!" commanded Johns, his expression grim, but his eyes shone with the light of battle.
As his glance came to Wolff, he saw a fiercer glow in the dark Packleader's eyes, and it made Johns uneasy. Wolff stared unblinkingly back at Johns, as if sizing up an opponent… or his next kill.
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Jack paused at the next T-junction to get her bearings. She pulled up the map Flemings had downloaded, trying to make sense of the miniature copy on the screen of her wristcom. Finding the way, she took Ellie's other hand and headed right.
They came to a dead end.
" What the…" Jack muttered.
" Are we lost?" asked Karin.
" No. I followed the schematic to the letter, this should lead us straight to the landing pad!"
" Momma…"
" You must've missed a turn, we have to go back!" Karin said, her voice wavered as her fear escalated.
" I didn't miss a turn Karin, the map says this is the spot we should be!" Jack said, trying to sound comforting.
" Momma…"
" If you followed it exactly, then what the fuck are we doing here?!! We have to go back… we're just sitting ducks here! We have to go back!"
" No!" shouted Jack, as Karin turned to head back to the last T-junction. " I'm telling you, we are in the right place!"
" Fuck you, you got us lost! I'm going back, I'm not risking my daughter's life because of your ineptitude at reading a goddamned map, Smith!"
" Karin, I'm telling you, that's the wrong way!" Jack hurried after her, trying to make her see reason, while still trying to figure out why the map had led them astray.
" Momma!!" screamed Ellie as they neared the junction.
" What is it, Ellie?"
" I hear them."
Karin paused to listen for what her daughter could hear.
Jack stopped a couple of feet behind them, her face lit up with understanding as she finally deciphered the schematic.
" I found it, Karin! We have to go down. We were standing on a panel that leads into an underpassage that goes straight to the pad!"
" Shhhh…" warned Karin. " Ellie hears them."
Jack whipped out her gauge.
" Let's go. Back this way, hurry!"
As they turned, the vent at the junction exploded inward as a dark, scaley, clawed nightmare came through. The alien grabbed Karin by the shoulders, it's claws digging in and drawing blood. She screamed horribly, piercingly as the thing's serrated whiplike tail impaled her from behind. She shoved the screaming, hysterical Ellie at Jack as the creature began to drag her backwards.
Jack caught Ellie as she rushed up, shouting in frustration and woe, as she realized she couldn't get a clear shot with Karin blocking the creature.
" Do it!!!" Karin screamed, blood pouring out of her mouth.
Jack shook her head in negation.
" Do it!" she said again, weaker.
" Fuck!" cursed Jack… then she shot.
Killing Karin with one shot to the head, she unloaded the pistol into the creature, as she backpedaled furiously, dragging the resisting little girl with her.
As they reached the end of the passage, she finally saw the previously overlooked catch on the floor. Yanking it up, she dropped a thermal down and watched as nothing moved in the room below as it detonated.
She then lowered the suddenly eerily quiet little girl and pulled the panel with her as she dropped down after.
She saw that the room was actually the beginning of a dim, dank, passage. Glancing at Ellie, she frowned at the vacant stare in the little girls face.
" Ellie? Honey?" she said, as she knelt in front of her, gripping her frail shoulders.
She saw as Ellie's blank features slowly came to life, then flinched as the tot fixed her with a poisonous glare.
" Ellie? What's wrong?"
" You killed my momma!"
Chapter 13-14
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