“What do you mean can't?”
“Because it is not possible to go through replication more than twice.”
“So, now I can’t coexist on this planet even if I could?”
“That’s correct, Bollar,” Genghis said. “So, you might as well tell us what you know.”
“Very well then agents,” Bollar said. “You can find Prodor right HERE!” Bollar swung a large tentacle at Jeff like a whip. It caught him in the mid-section and threw him five feet. Trent lost his grip on his PK30A and watched it sail through the air seemingly in slow motion.
Genghis instinctively lunged for Bollar with a snarl, but Bollar was already swinging the tentacle back toward Genghis. He lifted him off all fours and threw him hard against the sidewall. Genghis made a yelping noise and slid to the ground. Trent was reaching for his K8 handgun from his holster when the whip struck him again and wrapped around his neck. Two more tentacles grabbed each arm.
Bollar was now much stronger then his former self and lifted Trent off the ground and pinned him to the back wall. The fourth tentacle started to methodically remove the other weapons from Trent, tossing them to the ground.
“You're not much without your weapons and canine, are you, agent?” Bollar said, as spit hit Trent in the face. “I’ve killed several IPF agents on that transfer ship, two more won’t matter, will it?” Bollar looked over at Genghis, motionless on the ground. “Well, one more won’t matter. Then I’ll take your finger. And then I'll replicate myself back, because you lied to me about that, didn’t you, agent? Just to get me to talk.” Trent felt the tentacle tighten around his neck so that it was completely impossible to breathe. He started to get tunnel vision as the blood circulation cut off.
The gunshot came from behind Bollar. The round embedded itself in a thick fleshy part of his back. Bollar only felt annoyance. He loosened his grip on Trent, but kept him pinned to the wall as he slowly turned.
Jennifer was standing with Trent’s PK30A shaking badly in both hands. “You let him go, you big ugly fuck!” She said with tears filling her eyes.
“Little earth girl,” Bollar said, regarding her with minute interest. “I will take two of your fingers.” He then whipped a long tentacle toward her.
She saw it coming and screamed loudly and fired two shots back to back. One went high, but the second slammed into Bollar’s right eye, obliterating it and exiting out of the back of his head in a cloud of pink-green mist. The round continued and struck the back wall, not a foot from Trent’s head.
Jeff felt the tension of Bollar’s tentacle momentarily tighten, then slowly loosen. It slipped from around his neck and fell. Bollar stood dead for a second until gravity took hold of him and brought him to the ground in a cloud of dust.
Jennifer stood with the PK still violently shaking in her hands and still pointing at where Bollar once stood, the space now occupied by Jeff. Jennifer’s breathing was heavy, and she had a disconnected look in her wet eyes.
Jeff moved very slowly at first, extending his hand. “Jennifer?” he quietly said. “Jennifer, it’s alright. It’s over.” Jeff took a tentative step forward, not sure if Jennifer would just start arbitrarily shooting at other aliens, like himself. “Jennifer, it's me, Jeff. Hand me the gun. Twinkie? The gun?”
She just kept staring into space, PK trembling in her hands. Then her eyes refocused on Jeff. She was still breathing heavily and her voice broke when she said, “He killed Genghis.” Tears slid down her cheeks.
Jeff gently reached out and took the gun from her just as they both heard, “Twink!” Genghis was slowly getting up.
Jeff flipped the safety on and checked the weapon. It had a round chambered and was ready to fire.
“I’m fine, Twinkie. I’m sure as hell not dead!” He stood, but had trouble putting his right hind leg on the ground.
She ran over and knelt down by him. “Are you sure?” She saw a drop of blood drip from his nose. “No you're not!” She took the bottom of her shirt and wiped his nose. Genghis slowly pulled his head away and looked her in the eyes.
“Twinkie, really, I’m fine.”
Jeff looked at both of them and rubbed his neck while muttering, “I’m okay, too!”
Jennifer looked at him. “Oh, Jeff, I’m so sorry.” She held out her hand. “Come here, are you alright? Are you okay?” Jeff walked to her and took her hand.
“Yes, Twinkie. I’m fine. But don’t worry about us, this is nothing.”
“Nothing!”
“Yes, one time on Ashlar, Genghis and I were trying to make an arrest when suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by eight gunmen.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, my PK was empty and Genghis’s SK5 shotgun was jammed, but we got out of that without a scratch.” Jeff turned toward Bollar’s lifeless body, then back to Jennifer. “This kind of thing happens to us all the time.”
“I can’t imagine. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through,” Jennifer said with a cracking voice. “Look at me.” She held her hands out. “I can’t stop my hands from shaking.”
“That’s the adrenaline, Twinkie,” Genghis said. “Why don’t you go sit in the cruiser and relax. We have to clean up here.”
“No, I can help you guys.” She then looked at Bollar. A pinkish-green viscous liquid was oozing out of the back of his head. Jennifer felt queasy. “You know, now that you mention it, I think I will go sit in the Bird.” She turned for the entrance.
“Hey, Twink,” Genghis said. “Thank you for coming in when you did.”
“You're welcome.” She said weakly, and left the building.
Genghis lifted his right hind leg with a grimace, “Oh, crap!” He then looked up to Jeff. “Eight gunmen, huh?”
Jeff was rotating his head, trying to get the kink out of his neck. “Yeah.”
“And how exactly did we get out of that little scenario?”
“Nuclear weapons.”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
They both started slowly walking over to Bollar. “Well, I had to tell her something. I didn’t want her to worry about us.” Jeff looked down at Genghis, “You hurt?”
“I hurt like a son of a bitch! You?”
“Likewise.”
It didn’t take long to secure the scene. Bollar’s body was teleported to the morgue on the third deck of the cruise. The items Trent pulled from his pockets were sent to the evidence locker. They both made one more look around before they left the building. The bodily fluids were cleaned up, and the PK rounds were removed from the wall. The only thing they couldn’t fix was the broken front door that Trent kicked in.
They exited the building and could see flashing lights and heard the sirens of the police cars and other emergency vehicles as they responded to the chaos at the nightclub a few blocks away. Jeff and Genghis climbed into the Thunderbird just as a gentle snow started to fall.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Genghis was lying on his side on the silver examining table, with Jennifer and Jeff standing alongside. The Medical Diagnostic and Surgical Unit was activated and humming.
“Okay, now,” Jeff was telling Jennifer. “Just touch the prompt that says diagnose and be careful because the arm will start moving.” Jennifer did as she was instructed, and the articulated arm of the MDSU swung around and started to scan Genghis. Jennifer was amazed as she watched the computer display on the side of the device. It showed a clear and detailed 3D image of the inside of Genghis. She could see his heart beating, blood traversing through the veins, lungs inhaling and exhaling. Then, the text that was displayed on the screen started flashing red.
“Alright, what is the display telling you now?” Jeff asked.
“Well, let's see,” Jennifer studied the screen. “Oh, Genghis! You have two fractured ribs on your left side. And your right leg has a fracture in the carpal joint.”
“Yeah, sure feels like it,” Genghis said. “It smarts every time I take a deep breath. And my leg hurts like hell.”
“Aw
, poor puppy,” Jennifer said, rubbing his head, which Genghis didn’t mind a bit.
“Okay, Twinkie. The display is now giving you a couple of options,” Jeff pointed them out. “What we have are bone abnormalities that we want to set and mend. If we did nothing, in fifteen seconds the computer would perform the procedure on its own. It's designed to operate independently in the event that there's an injured agent all by himself. But, go ahead and touch the 'set' prompt.” She did and watched as a laser emitted from the bottom of the Medical Diagnostic and Surgical Unit. It started flashing on and off over Genghis’s side in a strobe-light fashion, working its way to his legs and clicking loudly each time the light came on. Jennifer watched the 3D image of Genghis’s ribs, as the fractures started to fuse together before her eyes. When the laser shut off, Jeff moved the articulated arm of the MDSU up so Genghis could get off the table.
“Oh, yes, that’s much better,” Genghis said as he stretched his back. “Still a little sore, but much better.”
It was Jeff’s turn next. Genghis let Jennifer do all the operating of the MDSU with very little instructions. Jeff’s back was bruised and his larynx was sore, but not damaged, both the results of the fight in the vacant building. He also had bruises and superficial lacerations from the fight in the club. Jennifer touched the appropriate prompts and Jeff's wounds were mended. He slid off the table thankful that he was in good shape. Jennifer shot her index finger in the air. “Hey! I have a splinter, can I give it a go?”
Jeff said, “Sure thing. Go right ahead.”
Jennifer placed her hand on the table and with the other brought the unit down and activated it. The MDSU scanned her hand as she read the display. “Well, will yah look at that. I have a foreign object in my finger.” The display informed her that the object was 0.15875 centimeters long and made of wood, species pine. She touched the extract prompt and a laser shot out of the bottom of the unit in a quick millisecond burst. The splinter fell from her finger.
Jennifer brought her finger up and flexed it up and down. “Cool!”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
The following morning Jennifer rolled out of bed very early. She made sure not to wake Genghis, who was curled up under the blankets of her bed. She quietly opened her closet door and took out a shopping bag. She walked into the living room and turned on the Christmas tree lights, knelt down, and opened the shopping bag. She took out two colorfully wrapped Christmas presents and put them under the tree, then went into the kitchen and put coffee on.
When the coffee was ready she trotted up the hall, swung open both bedroom doors, and shouted, “Get up! Get up! Get up! Merry Christmas, guys. Come on! Santa came last night.”
Jeff was neatly tucked under his covers and looked up from his pillow. “I thought he was made up.”
Genghis walked into the hall. “He was in the apartment? Isn’t that breaking and entering?”
Jeff stepped into the hall, pulling on his red plaid bathrobe. “I locked up last night! How is that possible?”
“No sillies, just get out here.” She grabbed the remote for the television and selected the Music Choice channel of holiday classics. Nat King Cole was crooning “O Come All Ye Faithful” as she pointed Jeff and Genghis to the gifts that were under the tree and said, “Merry Christmas guys.”
“Twinkie! Did you do this?” Jeff asked with a grin.
“Well, of course. Now, come on and sit on the floor. That’s how it’s done.” She then ran into the kitchen and grabbed their mugs and brought the coffee out to them and sat on the floor as well.
“Twinkie, we understand the tradition and the reason behind it,” Genghis said. “But we didn’t get anything for you. I didn’t even know it was today!”
“That’s not the point!” she said as she reached under the tree and handed Jeff his present. “Merry Christmas.” She then took Genghis’s and handed it to him. “And Merry Christmas to you.”
Jeff was smiling big as he opened his present. It was a book. “Thank you, Twinkie.” He read the cover of the thick paperback, The Complete Book of United States History by American Education Publishing.
“I remembered once you said that a good IPF agent always learns as much as he can about his present surroundings so he can perform at his optimal best.”
“That’s absolutely right, Twinkie,” Jeff said, as he leafed through the book of elaborately drawn maps and colorful artwork. “Thank you so much.”
“Genghis, go ahead,” Jennifer said. “Your turn.”
Genghis took a claw, and traced it under the fold of the taped wrapping paper, and tore it off. “Oh, Twink!” It was a set of DVD’s: The Three Stooges Collection Volume One, 1934 to 1936.
“Soy-tainly! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!” Genghis called out in a perfect imitation of Curly Howard that made Jennifer laugh hard. “Twinkie, this is great!” Genghis said as he got up and clasped onto her lap in the only way he knew how to hug her. She responded with a big bear hug of her own and rolled onto her back taking him with her.
“I was kind of nervous,” she said from the floor. “I was hoping you guys would like ‘em.”
Jeff was reading some of the book's chapters titles – “The First Americans” and “New Frontiers.” He looked at Jennifer. “This is wonderful, Twinkie. Thank you.”
“You're welcome!” Jennifer said, as she got up from rubbing Genghis’s belly, “I’m going to make us a big Christmas breakfast.” She disappeared into the kitchen.
Genghis sat on his haunches and asked Jeff, “How many times does this Christmas thing come around in a year?”
“I’m not sure, but the next time we’ll have to do something really special for Twinkie.”
“Yeah, Jeff, I agree,” Genghis said, as he looked out the living room window and saw something piled on top of the deck's railing. “Hey! What’s that?” He got up, and walked to the window, hopped up, an placed his front paws on the windowsill, Jeff joined him. The front yard was blanketed in white, with little flakes falling and riding the wind. “Is this what happens when those little flakes pile up on the ground?”
“That’s a whole lot of flakes!” Jeff said. “Do you think they're toxic?”
“Nah, can't be. I haven't read anything about high concentrations of ammonia or anything else like that in Earth's atmosphere.”
“Well, I guess if there was ammonia present, we'd know about it by now.”
“Yeah, with that whole burning of the respiratory tract thing.”
“And the sudden and instant death by asphyxiation.” Jeff said.
Jennifer came up behind them and got on her tippy toes to look over Jeff’s shoulder. “Oh, COOL!” They both jumped, not knowing she had come up behind them. “It snowed!” She ran up the hall. When she returned, she was carrying Jeff’s coat and putting on her own. She tossed it to Jeff. “Come on!” And as if by call in request, Bing Crosby started singing “White Christmas” on the Music Choice channel.
Jennifer opened the front door and the cold air rushed in with some flurries with it. “Let’s go!” She ran down the side stairs of the apartment.
“Oh! We gotta see this,” Genghis said, as he went for the door, with Jeff following.
The sky above was gray and the sun was not quite over the horizon yet, but it was showing its influences. The eastern sky was ablaze in orange and purple, with shafts of yellow shooting skyward. Jeff and Genghis walked down the stairs and stopped at the bottom landing. Jeff stuck his slippered foot out and started probing the snow on the ground. “Seems to be a strange consistency,” Jeff said, breath thick in the cold air. “Could be water-based. Certainly isn't ammonia-based.”
Genghis hopped up on his hind legs and placed his front paws in the middle of Jeff’s back. “One way to find out!”
And pushed.
Jeff went forward, lost his footing, and fell face first into a foot of snow. Genghis hopped over Jeff’s prone body as he heard Jennifer laughing. Genghis bounded up and down toward Jennifer in snow that was up to his knees. She
pelted the Doberman with a snowball.
“Oh, a wise guy ‘ay?” he said, as he started after her. She playfully screamed out and tried to run from him, but he caught up with her and knocked her to the snow.
Jeff was up and brushing snow off his coat. “This stuff is really cold,” He was saying, as he turned toward them and got a snowball square in the face.
“Oh! Nice shot, Twink,” Genghis said.
Jeff bent down and scooped up a pile of snow in his arms and ran for her as Jennifer hit him in the chest with another snowy projectile. Jeff heaved the arm full into the air which rained down on Jennifer, getting in her hair and down her back.
Genghis found it difficult to walk through the snow so he hopped around, then buried his head deep into the snow and started sniffing, the clean smell of snow filling his lungs. His rear was up in the air, tail wagging vigorously when Jennifer zeroed in on it with a cold snowball. His head shot up from the snow with the impact, white flakes sticking to his wet nose. He shook it off and went for Jennifer again. She turned to run and got hit with a poorly constructed snowball from Jeff. Genghis caught up with her and tackled her to the snow for a second time. She let out another playful scream.
Mrs. Remke parted the window curtains to see what the commotion was outside. She was just in time to see Jeff running across the yard with another arm full of snow and dumping it on top of his niece and dog as they lay on the ground on top of each other. “Hm! It’s like they’ve never seen snow before.” Jennifer reached up and pulled Jeff to the ground with them. “Those idiots deserve to get pneumonia.” She then machine gun fired, “If they're going to frolic in the snow, they might as well shovel my sidewalk.” She looked up into the morning sky. “Snow!” Then made an exasperated sound as she threw the curtains closed.
Jennifer, Jeff, and Genghis lay in the front yard of their apartment, breathing heavy as a gentle snow fell on them. Jennifer stretched out and started to make a snow angel, as Jeff followed suit. Genghis rolled onto his back, legs flaring in the air, and tried as well.
The Interstellar Police Force, Book One: The Historic Mission Page 31
