‘Ah-hah! Sorry to cut in on you Shelbs, it looks like General Jez has woken up to Ellie’s game-plan. Here come the cavalry!’
Ellie turned to look over her shoulder. Jez was charging down the hill towards her, leading her pack of the smaller creatures. Closer now, she could see more clearly what they were; they looked like small shiny coal-black men, slender limbed, with thin torsos and serrated edged spear tips for hands. Their heads looked oddly triangular with horns at the top; like little imps.
‘Hoy there, Ellie!’ screamed Jez at the top of her voice as she closed the gap between them. ‘Your fuzzy bears are goin’ down, girl!’
‘Jez! No! Please! I don’t want to play this stupid game anymore!’
Too late. The spiny little men crashed into Jonny’s pack of straining bears and a moment later the ground around the peach was a squirming mass of blonde fur and shiny coal black limbs, thrashing and swiping. Although her peach-rollers out-numbered the spindly men and outsized them, their jagged hand-spears were slicing and stabbing and spilling gouts of blood onto the swaying, recoiling, amber grass. She watched Jonny, wrestling one of them to the ground, his tubby weight more than a match for the stick-thin creature, but without anything he could use as a weapon, all he could do was to hold it down while the vicious little thing flailed, squealed and drummed it’s arms and legs against the ground like a toddler throwing a fit in a mall.
Ellie stepped out of the chaos and made her way around the edge of the fray towards Jez.
‘JEZ!’
Jez looked at her, grinning manically. ‘Hey, chik! This is fun, fun, FUN!’
‘No it’s not! This is horrible!’
‘Huh?’ Jez was too busy watching the scrum. ‘Come on, my skinny boys!’
Ellie grabbed her arm. ‘Jez! This is totally…sick. This is…I really can’t do this!’
‘What?!’ Jez looked incredulous. ‘This is, like, awesome!’
‘It’s not a game, Jez. Can’t you hear them screaming?’
‘Mine aren’t!’
She looked at the nearest of them. ‘You didn’t give them mouths!’
‘Hey…they’re just toys, El’…they’re just-’
‘They’re not. They’ve got feelings. They can feel pain. They can scream-’
Jez laughed. ‘Oh, come on soppy-chik! Your problem is you went and made yours look too fregging cute!’
‘I want this to stop! Right now, Jez! Please!’
Jez turned from the battle to look at her. ‘OhMyGod. You crying, Ellie?’
Ellie touched her cheek and realised she was. ‘Please? Can we stop this?’
‘Shit…alright.' The manic grin dropped from her face. 'Okay, hun'.’ She cupped her hands around her mouth. ‘Hoy! Skinny Boys!! Stop!!’
‘Woah, woah! Here come the big guns!’ boomed Gray’s voice, drowning Jez’s out. ‘Looks like it’s going to get even bloodier!’
Ellie spun round and saw three of the giant scorpions scuttling towards the melee going on in the middle of the battlefield. The fight on the right flank had ended…it looked as though all of her soldier-bears over there had been eviscerated. And now Jonny and his un-clawed, un-toothed, comrades were about to face the same dreadful fate.
She let go of Jez’s arm and turned.
‘Ellie? Hey! Where you going?’
‘I’m going to stop them!’
‘Huh? But that’s not allowed…is it?’
Ellie was already running, hurrying around the squirming mass of bodies. She positioned herself between the struggling black and furry blonde bodies and the approaching scorpions and started waving her arms and screaming at them.
‘Hmm…technically, I’m afraid, that’s a breach of the game rules, Ellie!’ boomed Shelby. ‘Direct involvement in the battle is not permitted-’
‘Aww just let her be, man,’ replied Gray. ‘She’s not actually fighting them, dude.’
‘She’s obstructing them, Graham.’
He laughed. ‘Oh, you’re such a frikkin’ pedant. It’s just a game, man.’
Ellie squared up to the nearest of them. It’s hulking form was just a bit taller then her. She looked at the creature, all glistening jagged-edged plates of chitinous armour and dark leathery tendons and muscle. At its front, she could see two black orbits for eyes that glinted coldly, without any apparent thought or emotion. It’s two bulging arms flexed and waved giant scissor-like claws.
She stood her ground. It’s okay…it’s okay….it can’t hurt me. It won’t hurt me.
She presumed this thing was loaded-up with some sort of rudimentary language insert; an ability to understand and obey commands from a human.
‘Stop!’ she barked loudly. ‘I’m ordering you to STOP!!’
To her relief, the creature did as it was told. It came to a halt several feet short of her. The black eyes flickered as it looked her up and down, coolly evaluating her. Then, she saw something dart out beneath its eyes, like an antenna or a tongue, like some reptile tongue tasting the air for the scent of prey.
‘That’s right!’ barked Ellie. ‘You big ugly bug….I said stop!’
It’s protuberance flickered in and out several more times, tasting something in the air as if it was seeking verification of a chemical signal.
‘Yeah,’ said Ellie feeling just a little more confident. ‘That’s right, you ugly thing! That’s right, I’m a…a client! Which means you have to do exactly what I say!!’
It looked like its simple animal mind had finally figured out that she was not to be harmed in any way. But then, suddenly, one of it’s pincer-arms swept forward, the claws snapping open exposing a razor sharp row of jagged teeth, perfect for grinding and cutting through flesh, muscle and bone.
She ducked down as the claws snapped shut with a loud clack just above her head.
‘Hey!?’
The scorpion advanced on her and its other arm swung around towards her. She lurched backwards, as it snapped shut in the space where she’d been crouching.
‘Hey! You can’t do that!’ she screamed as she scrambled backwards on all fours.
It scuttled forwards again, this time a pair of those vast serrated pincers quickly closed around her waist.
‘Help! IT’S GOT ME!!!!’ she screamed.
She felt it’s grip tighten quickly like a vice. The razor sharp edges of its claw cutting through her clothes and breaking her skin.
‘HELP!!!!!’
She felt something snap inside her body. A bone, a rib, something.
‘Mother!’ Shelby’s shrill voice filled the biome. ‘Emergency over-ride! NOW!’
‘Confirmed, Shelby.’
An emergency klaxon sounded…and seconds later, the first of the creatures began to collapse to the ground where they stood. Meanwhile Ellie wedged her arms down into the space between the vice-like claws, trying to prise them apart. She felt another bone snap inside her.
It’s going to cut me in half!!!!
She screamed in agony as she felt the both sides of the claw flexing up and down, like some carnivorous animal working on a difficult to break bone, trying to splinter and fracture it. The agony was unbearable as the blades scissored deeper into her flesh.
She tried with all her might to push against the increasing pressure on her waist. Then…finally the creature’s grip seemed to loosen a little. It’s spindly legs staggered beneath it and eventually it collapsed to the ground, its heavy claw arm thudding against the grass and releasing her.
She pushed the claws open with her hands, the bloody tips of the serrated teeth emerging from the jagged tears in her skin. She half expected her innards to come spilling out, but it seemed the incisions had only been light. All the same, blood was trickling down from a dozen lacerations around her waist.
She cranked the jaws open wide enough and wriggled backwards out of its unconscious grasp, then…without warning, the claw snapped shut like a giant pair of gardening shears around her left wrist.
Ellie felt her bones snap under the gri
nding pressure. She screamed in agony as she fell backwards onto the grass, panting and sobbing as she looked up at the alarmed projected faces of Shelby and Gray far above. Both of them eyes wide and mouths open.
Jez loomed into view over the top of her. She dropped down and cradled Ellie in her arms. ‘OhMyGod! Fregging hell! Ellie…oh-my-god, I thought it was going to cut you in half!!’
Ellie sucked in some air, feeling queasy and dizzy from the shock. ‘It’s okay…it’s okay. It broke my wrist but…’
‘No it didn’t!’ cried Jez. ‘It took your fregging hand right off!’
‘Huh? She raised her right arm and found herself staring at a ragged stump of shredded skin and tendon. A few feet away on the ground, she could see her hand still flexing on the amber-coloured grass.
She vomited. And then she passed out.
CHAPTER 13
The hood came off. For a moment Tez Mahmoud was blinded by the intense brightness of a light directed onto his face. Instinctively - not because of the brightness but because he didn’t want to die - he snapped his eyes firmly shut.
‘Open your eyes.’
Tez shook his head.
If I see them, if I can identify their faces. They know. If one of those Administration boojam head-sniffers get’s in my head…?
‘No…I’m n-not going to. I haven't seen your face!! If I see you you’ll kill-’
‘Open your eyes!
‘No. Please….I don’t know who you people are. I can’t i-identify you. If you just let me g-go…please!’
‘You already know who we are.’
‘I don’t! I don’t…I promise! I-’
Tez felt something being placed on his lap. Something heavy that vibrated with subtle movement. He kept his eyes firmly shut.
‘You want to know what’s there, on your lap, don't you?’
He did. He very much did, but he shook his head vigorously. ‘No!’
‘Why don’t you just open your eyes and take a look?’
‘No! Look…please just let me-’
‘Shhhhh…you are not going anywhere.’
The thing that had been placed on his legs, it felt like some sort of box. It trembled slightly. More than anything else right now, he wanted to know what the fregg they’d placed there.
I open my eyes…and this has only one way it can go…
He kept them firmly clamped shut. ‘Is this…is this about the…the contraband w-we took on?’
'Contraband? Now there's an interesting choice of word.'
'The…guests….the stowaways, then.'
‘Yes.'
‘Two g-girls? Right?’
‘Yes. But only one of them is of interest to us.’
Something inside the box, bumped against the side nearest his groin. The box rocked slightly on his thighs. Tez couldn’t help himself. He cracked open his eyes and looked down and saw a small green container. The end nearest his groin was open and covered with a wire mesh.
‘Ahh…that’s better. Now we can talk properly.’
‘What’s…what's in th-there?!’
‘An incentive for you to be completely honest with us.’
‘I’ll be honest! Jesus-fregging-H…I’ll be honest!’
‘I know you will. Now…please look at me.’
‘If I…I l-look at you…you’ll kill me!’
‘Mr Mahmoud…let’s cut through all the bullshit and be honest with each other, shall we? You are going to die. But one way will be almost, pleasant, the other, particularly unpleasant. You can help me decide which by being cooperative.’
Tez shook his head and continued to stare resolutely down at the box. ‘I don’t want to die! I don’t-’
‘Shhhh…’ He felt a hand rest on his arm. He looked up at his interrogator and saw a long and lean face half hidden by a thick, dark, beard. Eyes almost completely hidden in shadow beneath thick wiry brows, a splayed fan of wrinkles beside each eye. It looked like a face very much used to smiling. A kind face. Perhaps even a merciful face.
‘We’re too far down a particular path for me to let you live. That is not going to happen, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh…God…please!’
‘God does not listen to non-believers.’
Tez felt his bladder loosen. It IS them…it IS the Awoken. He'd been holding onto a fading hope that he might have been snatched by a gang of common criminals.
‘I do believe! I’m a believer! The prophet is coming. The prophet is coming!’
‘Don’t do that!’ snapped the man. ‘Have some damned dignity.’
‘I’ll follow…I’ll convert!’
The man shook his head sadly. ‘This is not becoming. It offends me. I know you are without faith. That you are soulless. You are an empty vessel.’
They’d barged into the cube he'd been renting in Quad 3. Kicked down the thin plastex door and stormed in. They’d kicked his bottles of booze across the floor. Smashed up the cheap holotoob which had been playing one of the premium-price adult channels. He knew, to them, to these fanatics, he was less than human. He was scum.
‘We need to know where that girl is.’
There’d been two of them. Tez presumed the one they were after was the taller, prettier one; the one who’d been brought aboard with a serious injury.
‘She…she was hurt badly. I think the Administration sh-shot her!’
His interrogator leant forwards and grabbed the arms of the chair. ‘She was wounded?!’
‘She’s okay now! I promise…she was f-fixed up in our m-medi-pod. We made sure she was all right!’
The man closed his eyes and let out a long sigh of relief. He settled back on his stool, his clothes rustling, the stool creaking beneath him.
‘Please…please, don’t kill m-me. We s-saved her!’
‘I’m going to present you with a choice of death Captain Mahmoud. The pleasant way…an overdose of Kalma-calm, or…there’s what’s in that box on your lap.’
Kalma. DreamStuff. The good, really expensive stuff. There were far, far worse ways to go out. The chemical suicide of choice for the rich and famous.
‘W-what’s in-in…the box? Please! Tell me!’
‘They are not known in this system, I think. They come from the Segus System. The people who live there call them ‘fillimin’. They are used to recycle the dead. They eat flesh, bone, cartilage, hair, nails…everything. Their excreta I believe is used as a highly potent nitrate fertiliser.’ The mean reached across and tilted the mesh end of the box upwards so Tez could get a look inside.
He glimpsed a squirming mass of what appeared to be glistening wet, chubby caterpillars. The man ran the long nail of his index finger along the mesh, making it rattle and ring. The caterpillars reared up in unison and made a purring sound, the ‘head’ of each springing open revealing circles of small sharp teeth that rotated like drill heads.
Tez lurched back in the chair he was strapped to. The movement aggravated the creatures even more. They began to thrash hungrily behind the wire mesh.
‘Tell us where she is please.’
‘Shit! I’ll tell you…I’ll tell! We….we….’
‘If you tell me she is dead…then…mark my words, your death will be slow and beyond unbearable.’
‘No…she’s alive. She’s alive, I p-promise!!!’
‘Where is she?’
‘W-we…dropped both of the g-girls off on our w-way from Harpers Reach.’
‘You were paid to take them to GateWay. Why did you not do this?’
‘I got nervous. I p-panicked, okay? We…we heard the Administration were locking everything down. That they might be l-looking for someone!’
‘So where did you drop her?’
‘It was after Holstein. We stopped there, took on our load…then started heading for GateWay…’
‘And?’
‘That’s when we heard about the lockdown. I…I decided the girls m-might be too hot for us. T-trouble…so..’
‘So?’
The box si
tting in his lap lurched. The worms inside were getting increasingly agitated, squirming up against the mesh, pressing against it, eager to get to him and begin feasting.
‘I…I looked around for s-somewhere nearby, somewhere safe. You know…I…I…could just have thrown her out of an airlock…b-but…’
‘Perhaps you will soon be very grateful you made that decision, Captain. Now…where?’
‘A…an unregistered in-installation.’
‘Be more specific.’
‘I c-can’t! It…it showed up on our near-scan. It’s…it’s…I don’t know what it was…a m-mining station maybe.’
‘Did you not see it?’
Tez shook his head. ‘We sent one of our freight barges to-’
‘You didn’t even check if it was derelict? You did not check to see if it had life-support?!’
Mistake. A very big fucking one.
‘It…it…look…we were in h-hurry! This place was beaming an ident signal…it…so, we knew it w-wasn’t completely powered down!’
‘Yes, it might have power. But oxygen? Water? Food? You didn’t check for these things first?’
Tez clasped his eyes shut and shook his head. ‘I…I didn’t have time. I…was s-scared!’ He realised this conversation was beginning to head the wrong way. ‘They’re alive! I’m absolutely fucking sure! Please….not the worms! The Kalma! Please..!’
‘Give me the sys-nav coordinates.’
‘I…don’t h-have them. It was…it was near Celestion…half a day out.’
‘Your ship’s log will have the coordinates?’
‘No…n-no…I h-hacked the log. Deleted them, just in c-case….’
The man stood up and pushed back the stool he’d been sitting on. ‘You took a great deal of our money and our trust, to carry a very sacred cargo. And you jettisoned her just like human waste.’
‘No…no! Like I said…it was a powered installa-’
‘You have no idea who she is…do you?’
Tez shook his head. ‘No. N-no, but, I…I know, I get it…she’s i-important to y-you!’
‘Important?’ The man shook his head. ‘You really have no idea of how important this girl is to us. One day soon, something wonderful will happen. She will change all of Human Space.’
Tez nodded vigorously. ‘I…would…like to b-believe! I want to j-join you. I want-’