“Brit contingent,” The Bull said quickly.
“There is no Brit contingent. You’re spies!”
Oops. The minds of the other seven authentic animen were focusing. “Flee!” Lavender told The Bull.
But the enemys’ reactions were as fast as their own, and so was their strength. Four of them grabbed The Bull’s arms and legs. He gave them a good fight, but couldn’t get away. He was surprised, though he shouldn’t have been; he had met his physical match.
The other four grabbed Lavender. She struggled, but was also overpowered. “Talk, cow girl,” Rhino said. “Or we’ll punish you.”
“Punish her anyway,” the wolf man said eagerly.
“Last chance,” Rhino said. “Who sent you? What’s your mission?”
Lavender couldn’t break free of them. All she could do was turn lava and melt into hot glop. But that would take minutes. Her mother Lava could do it in seconds, but Lavender was only half volcanic. “No.”
“Do it,” Rhino told the wolf man. “Make her talk.”
The wolf man turned the arm he held over to the cat man, while the other two animen held her legs apart, pinning her to the floor sunny side up. The wolf man came down on her, knowing better than to try to kiss her. Her mouth was not his object anyway. He oriented on her nether section.
“Don’t!” she cried. Her change was way too slow.
He paused. “You ready to talk?”
“No!”
“Good.” He set himself and thrust.
Lavender couldn’t escape them, but she was already hot from her effort to melt. She heated her core further.
“Ooooo!” the wolf man howled as the smell of scorched flesh spread out. He scrambled back to his feet. The odor was coming from him as he danced about in agony.
The other animen stared. “Look at that!” the cat man said. “Roasted!”
“She’s no animan!” Rhino said.
“That’s right, I’m not,” Lavender agreed. “I tried to warn you off.”
“She’s even hotter inside than outside,” a gorilla man said, awed.
Rhino had had enough. “Kill her!”
But she was finally hot enough. The others let go of her arms and legs as their hands were burned.
She wasn’t through. She got to her melting feet and walked splashily to where the four were still holding The Bull. “Let him go,” she said.
They did not. So she put her melting hands on their arms, making their flesh sizzle. Now they let go.
But she could hardly walk, let alone run. “Pick me up,” she told The Bull. “Don’t touch my limbs.”
He obeyed, putting his arms under her torso. That was hot too, but not enough to burn him. Yet. He carried her away from the staring animen.
“Where to?” he asked.
“There are old lava tubes honeycombing this mountain. That’s what they adapted for the passages. We need to get into one the animen don’t know about.”
Behind them Rhino was organizing a posse. They would be in pursuit in moments.
“Where?”
She extended her mind, reading the mountain like the mind of a volcano, which it was. “There,” she said, pointing up. “Knock a hole, jump in, close it over.”
He set her down, reached up, and bashed the roof of the tube. A section broke off. “Toss me up,” she said.
He took hold of her by the neck and groin and heaved. That wasn’t the way a man should ordinarily handle a woman, but she wasn’t hurt and it did the job. She sailed into the hole and landed beside it. Then he jumped up after her. He slid the fragment back to mostly cover the hole, and Lavender used her burning hands to melt the edges so they sealed. It was haphazard, but with luck, the animen wouldn’t think to look up as they charged along the tube.
They didn’t. They ran right on past in hot pursuit of nothing. The Bull and Lavender were safe for the moment.
But the hue and cry was after them, and they still had their mission to complete. How were they going to reach the control panel and turn off the bomb?
Chapter 10: Lava Army
“How long until the bomb goes off?” I asked.
“Hang on,” said Lavender and closed her eyes. One neat trick I had was that I could mostly see in the dark. Not always perfectly. But often good enough. Who knew bulls had night vision?
We were still in the lava tube. Reverberating through the stone, I heard the occasional explosion and what I thought was gunfire. There were still soldiers out there fighting the animen. What side was winning, I didn’t know. That Villainous had been concocting this plan was obvious. One didn’t lightly go about planting a nuclear warhead deep within an active volcano. This needed time and manpower, let alone securing an actual warhead. Next, he, or someone close to him, clearly had something to do with the animen.
And with me, I thought grimly.
There was a grand plan here, something that had been hatched out for years, if not decades, and it was going down before our very eyes. Of course, Villainous and his crew hadn’t considered Lavender, our ace in the hole so to speak.
“Okay, I found one of the minds that knows... we have less than thirty minutes. The animen are in a desperate fight. They had not expected human soldiers to be here. They thought they only needed to guard the volcano from a safe distance. They are trying to flee before the bomb goes off and subsequent eruption.”
I knew, of course, that the soldiers were here as a direct result of Lavender’s gifts. “Can you reach out to him?” I asked. “Convince him to switch off the bomb?”
“Maybe,” she said and closed her eyes again. “Doubtful,” she reported. “He’s been trained to go down with the ship, so to speak. All the animen here are fully aware that this might be their last mission.”
“Is there perhaps another, weaker mind we can influence?”
“I’ve never tried to influence anyone—”
“Then we have less than a half of an hour alive together, Lavender. When the bomb blows, we will die as surely as they will. I’m just half bull, not built to survive explosions. And your half human side could not endure a thermonuclear explosion, let alone a volcano blast.”
She took my hand, and I yelped. She was still warm, but I powered through. If she wasn’t able to convince someone to stop the bomb, then this might very well be my last physical contact...
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” said Lavender, and gave me a shot with her sharp elbow.
“Oof,” I said, and grinned.
She had closed her eyes again, and was clearly stretching her telepathic skills to the maximum. Ten seconds later, she shook her head. “No one has second doubts about the mission. All are willing to die for Villainous.”
“How many of them are there?”
“Dozens. Maybe a few dozen. Enough to thwart the soldiers. And all the animen are heavily armed as well. This was a well thought out scheme. The fighting is ferocious, but the animen have dug in. No one is close to the warhead.”
My internal clock suggested we had inside twenty-five minutes, maybe less.
“Less,” said Lavender. “My current contact is synched with the bomb. Twenty-four minutes and counting.”
I paced the cramped lava tube. I was feeling a strong need to bust out and do some damage. I might get two or three of the animen, maybe more. As strong as I was, I suspected the rhino man was even stronger.
“Brute force isn’t going to stop the bomb,” said Lavender.
“You can communicate with the volcano,” I said, pausing in front of her. My great horns scraped across the rock wall, causing a small amount of obsidian to break free and cascade around her.
“Yes, and watch it, will you.”
“We’re going to have bigger problems than just a handful of falling rock,” I said. “Explain this: how was it possible that the volcano was amenable to this intrusion?”
“The planting of the bomb and army?”
“Right?”
“Unless the mountain is worshiped
and revered, they are generally not too concerned with the goings on with man.”
“You mean, it was probably unaware of what was happening.”
“Probably. These are old souls, ancient beyond comprehension. Even if he blows and man is wiped off the face of the earth, what is it to him?”
“But you are, in a sense, one of his kin. Would he be so amenable to seeing you die, too?”
She considered as I continued to pace. “No. You’re right.”
“Perhaps we can appeal to him.”
“And do what?” asked Lavender.
I continued pacing, and continued scraping free more rock. “Your mother was an extension of the volcano, was she not?”
“She was.”
“And the volcano could form any shape it wants?”
“It can. I can, too—but not as quickly—”
“No time for that,” I said. “What if the mountain formed not just one person, but an army of soldiers. Or whatever it thinks is fit to stop the animen?”
“Worth a try,” said Lavender, and she closed her eyes again. I watched as her bottom melted into the floor, becoming one with it, so to speak.
I continued to pace...
Lavender’s lips moved and I could see she was communing with the volcano. Perhaps it was a sort of uncle to her. I didn’t know.
I continued pacing...
“It is done, Bull,” said Lavender. “But the volcano requires a sacrifice.”
“Where are we going to find a virgin—”
“Volcanoes quit requiring virgins centuries ago. No, it wants a mate.”
“What kind of mate?”
“The way my father mated with my mother. It desires such companionship.”
“How will we find it a mate? There’s no time—”
“Not now, silly. When this is all over. I agreed to the deal.”
“Fine, so what do we do?”
“We don’t do anything. He’s forming the army as we speak.”
“Then we need to get to the bomb. Do you know where it is?”
She closed her eyes, then nodded. “I do.”
“Great,” I said, and used my indestructible horns to break through the sealed entrance into the tube, and we dropped down.
Lavender led the way.
Chapter 11: Aniwomen
They rounded a curve, going toward the control room where the bomb switch was. The route was not direct, because the lava tubes were not straight; they curved like spaghetti. Fortunately the fighting was no longer right here, and Lavender could sense the minds of any animen who happened to be in the vicinity. It should not be hard to avoid them by shifting to another tube.
“Not so fast, deary.”
Lavender and The Bull both slewed to a stop. The creature before them had horns and fur and a great barrel of a chest under a tight blouse. But it was not exactly an animan in a skirt. It was an aniwoman. Lavender had been tuning only into male minds, so had missed this. “Oh!” At the moment she could not think of a more appropriate comment.
“Yes, I’m a buffalo gal,” the woman said. “Rhino sent me. You won’t be burning off any of my appendages, lady lava.”
The Bull resumed motion. “Get out of the way, cow,” he snapped as he strode toward her.
“Or what, horn head?” Buffalo inquired, swerving to intercept him. She caught him in her embrace and drew him in close for a bosomy hug.
Lavender saw that he was at a loss, not designed by nature to fight a female, especially one as phenomenally endowed as this one was. He was not about to hit her or hurt her. That was one reason Lavender herself had been able to manage him. Buffalo knew his incapacity and was using it against him. In a moment she would have him seduced or unconscious. Or both; it was in her mind, and she was a lusty creature.
Fortunately Lavender was made of different stuff, literally. “Or I will deal with you,” she said. “I’ll burn your ponderous udder.”
“I think not, hot box,” Buffalo said as she tightened her grip on The Bull. “Look behind you.”
Lavender knew it before she looked. There were two more aniwomen: a tigress and a wolf bitch, both in roughly human form but with fur, tails, and catlike and wolflike faces. Both were quite well endowed in the human fashion, and wore almost translucent blouses and quite tight short skirts. She did not need to read their minds to tell their normal roles in the animan army.
Oh, damn! She might quickly handle one, but it would take time for two if she could do it at all. Worse, she saw that they were ready for her: they wore fireproof mitts. Rhino had learned well from his own encounter with her. She would not be able to come to The Bull’s aid; she had problems of her own.
They gave her no time to consider. They pounced on her, each grabbing an arm with their mitts. Meanwhile The Bull, having to deal with Buffalo Gal on his own, was not doing well. She was squeezing against him and kissing him. He had always been a sucker for a kiss, and she was close to his own species. That kiss was clouding his male bovine mind.
Lavender knew she needed help. Thera! she called to the volcano. Send a liquid lava rivulet here immediately!
She felt the volcano’s acquiescence. He was diverting an existing flow into this tube. It would arrive in minutes. Thera by himself was not smart in the human manner, but now he was attuned to her.
Meanwhile, Lavender had to prevent the two aniwomen from demolishing her, and the third from finishing The Bull one way or another. There was one advantage to being the center figure in a threesome: leverage. She was anchored in a manner they were not. She brought her arms forward, hauling the two along so that they collided with each other. They had the wit not to let go, so she hauled them back, and crashed them together again, harder. This time their heads banged, and they did let go, uttering feline and lupine curses.
Lavender jumped to tackle Buffalo Gal, clapping her hot hands to the aniwoman’s sensitive ears. Buffalo snorted and turned The Bull loose. But now the other two aniwomen caught up, and it was three against one. Two grabbed her arms again, and the third made ready to gore her in the torso. She could not really be hurt this way, but it was taking invaluable time.
But now the lava flow was arriving. It was as yet only a thin trickle, but it would do. Lavender used her arms against theirs to haul herself into the air, kicked out with her legs, and hooked their legs so that the four of them crashed to the floor in a clumsy tangle.
Right onto the lava flow. It didn’t hurt Lavender, of course, but it scorched the tails of the aniwomen. Maybe more than the tails. The stench of burning flesh puffed out. There was instant, fiery chaos.
Lavender drew herself free of the thrashing mass, snatched up a loose mitt, and used it to grab The Bull’s arm. “Run!” she cried.
They ran while the three beast women struggled to get out of the lava stream without burning themselves worse. It was thin, but now it covered much of the floor. They literally could not stand on it. Thanks, Thera! Lavender thought, grimly amused.
Just find me a female with a spirit like yours, lava lady, he replied.
She intended to, when the time came.
They reached the bomb enclosure. But it was sealed off by a solid metal door with a similarly solid internal lock. The Bull tried bashing at it, but it was proof against his strength.
“I will melt the lock,” Lavender said, discarding the mitt and heating her hands. Only five minutes remained.
Wait. The bomb had not been on a timer. It was set up to detonate when burning lava touched its mechanism. That lava was only five minutes distant. Yet it wasn’t quite the same thing.
Thera! she thought. Turn off the lava flow here!
Soon. That was not because he didn’t take her request seriously, but because liquid lava could not be cooled on a dime. It was going to be a close call. She’d better get in there and pull the switch, just to be sure.
“Well now, we meet again.” It was Rhino. “I suspected you’d be canny enough to deal with the ladies, so I lurked here. Just as well.
”
And Lavender, distracted by events, had forgotten to scan for minds here. Rhino had outsmarted her.
The Bull charged him. The two collided with a thud that shook the tube. Then they fought. Rhino had no fear of The Bull; he was just as massive and tough and ornery. He knew that he did not need to overcome The Bull, just delay their effort long enough for the bomb to detonate. Rhino was quite ready to sacrifice himself and any other animen in the vicinity for the cause. Lavender had to grudgingly admire the animan’s grit.
She did not go to The Bull’s aid, because that would delay her effort with the lock. She focused on the mechanism, making her fingers as hot as only lava could be. The metal began to melt. But there was a lot of it, deeply set; would she melt out the lock in time?
Then she remembered something else. Thera! Send some lava men here!
Soon.
The fight continued, as the two animen were evenly matched. Her melting effort continued. The minutes passed.
Three lava men burst into the chamber. They were only vaguely human, without proper faces or anatomical details; there had not been time to craft perfect ones. But they were animate and had arms and legs. They quickly carried Rhino away.
The three aniwomen arrived, having finally escaped the lava stream. Their bodies were badly burned in several places, but they were too tough to let that stop them. The lava men immediately took them on, and their female wiles were useless. So this battle had been won.
But the time was also up, and Lavender had not finished with the lock.
All of them froze, knowing that they might not exist seconds from now.
A minute passed. The bomb did not detonate. The key lava flow had been diverted or cooled enough. But the bomb was still armed, and could be set off at any time.
Lavender still needed to get in there and pull the switch to disarm it. But now there was a clamor of more animen charging toward the scene. This was bound to get complicated.
Chapter 12: Shaft
“Oh no,” said Lavender.
“What now?” I asked. I was facing the entrance into the chamber, an entrance from which I was expecting a small army of animen to appear at any minute.