by Jon F. Merz
She couldn't do anything!
Was this what had happened to everyone else? Were Darren and Havel and Vikorksy already dead? Or worse? Were they some bizarre offshoot concoction developed by these aliens? Were they part human and part dinosaur? Or were they something much worse.
The creatures moved the machine closer to Nung. They didn't even seem concerned about the co-mingling of blood. They made no attempt to clean off the machine at all.
This time though, they operated the machine by hand. Julia could see now that the machine seemed to have some type of cutting device. It sprang to life.
She could imagine the sound it must have made. Something like the high-pitched whine of a dentist's drill.
Nung screamed. Or at least, it looked like he was. Julia couldn't hear a thing inside the tube.
The machine came closer.
The blade bit into Nung's skin by his clavicle. Blood spurted again. The blade moved further down.
Julia vomited in the tube.
Nung's eyes rolled back white. He'd passed out? Or was he dead already?
That didn't make sense.
Julia fought to catch her breath, wheezing and retching. No, they'd killed the dinosaur. But they'd keep Nung alive. Wouldn't they? If they were crossbreeding or otherwise doing something to co-mingle the two species, they'd need one of them alive.
Wouldn't they?
She prayed they would.
But would it be worse for Nung if he did live as some sort of bizarre half-and-half?
Would he be better off dead?
She shut her eyes again, unable to watch the scene unfolding in front of her any longer. In her mind, she could hear him screaming. She could feel the incredible fear. She could feel the bite of the blade as it cut into his flesh.
Was this how she would die? Was this how they would all die?
She kept her eyes closed and thought about the one chance they had left.
Mick!
He had to be somewhere.
What would he have done once he came back and found them all gone? He'd assume they'd been taken. So that would mean he'd come looking for them. Wouldn't it?
He would if he was truly on their side and not on someone else's agenda. Julia didn't know what to think anymore. All she wanted to do was go home.
Which was when the door to the chamber slid open.
And Kendall walked into it.
Smiling.
He waved at Julia and Wilkins.
Julia passed out again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
"You know, it's very hard for me to have any degree of confidence in someone as a leader when they continually lose consciousness at shocking moments."
The snide tone to his voice made Julia wince. She kept her eyes closed, praying that she could stay in the darkness. If she just blocked everything out she could almost convince herself that she was anywhere else.
Anywhere but where she really was.
"Open your eyes, Julia."
It was hard to resist the command. Something tugged at her mind. Forced her to respond.
She opened them.
She was strapped down to a gray metal slab.
Naked.
Nung's body was nowhere to be seen.
"What did you do with him?"
Kendall smiled. "Nung? Oh I think he's recovering nicely right now. He had himself quite an adventure here earlier. I think you saw some of it before you passed out. Pity you didn't have the stomach to see the entire operation."
"Is he...dead?"
Kendall leaned back. "Good heavens, no. He's far too important to kill off." He shrugged. "Now the staff of research station Frederick, the ones missing when we first arrived, well they weren't all that important. They were used for other experiments. Tragically, none of them seemed able to withstand the demands on their pathetic bodies."
"You killed them?"
"Not me. I had very little to do with their demise."
Julia frowned. "Who are you, Kendall?"
He smirked. "I must say you look simply ravishing without a stitch of clothing on. If you weren't required for so delicate an operation, I might ask our esteemed hosts to allow me a little time to indulge in the fruits of your luscious little body."
"I'd sooner die than let you touch me."
Kendall smirked. "As if you have any control over the situation. Trust me, I can do whatever I wish with you." He ran his hands over her body about two inches above the surface of her skin.
Julia felt like a live wire was being dragged across her. Her skin tingled. She struggled against it, but felt her nipples harden.
Her legs snapped open.
"No!"
Kendall leaned back. The tingling sensations died and Julia closed her legs.
"Pretty interesting stuff, huh?"
"How did you do that?"
"It was a gift of sorts from our hosts. Sort of a quid pro quo. I gave them something and they gave me something in return."
"Mental powers?"
"Seemed fitting since that's how they communicate with each other. If I was going to work with them, I had to be able to do the same things they could. Although I suspect they held a few skills back from me. I can't say as though I blame them. If it was me with all the power, I'd want to keep something in reserve. Just in case."
"Just in case of what?"
"That I had a change of heart and didn't feel like keeping up my end of the bargain."
"Any chance that you have?"
Kendall leaned close and licked one of her nipples. "Not in this lifetime. I like the power far too much to relinquish it." He licked his lips. "You taste delicious." He cast a glance down at her crotch. "I wonder..."
Julia tensed her legs. "I wouldn't Kendall. It's been a few days since I had a good shower. Things are liable to be a bit...ripe down there."
He nodded. "Fair point."
Relieved for the moment, Julia pressed him. "Seeing how I'm not exactly going anywhere anytime soon, would you mind filling me in on what exactly is going on here?"
"You haven't figured it out yet?"
"I have some ideas."
"They're probably wrong. You never struck me as someone who could reason their way out of a damp paper bag."
"Thanks."
"It started years ago. For all of us. Surely you've read accounts of abductions? Seen the specials on TV?"
"I suppose."
"Those dreams. The ones we all share. The common bond between us all. That was the indication that we'd been abducted as well. All of us. We've been taken by our hosts for many years. Me since I was about eight years old. I think we all started around then."
"Why?"
"Medical reasons. I'll get to them in a moment." He paused and looked at her body again.
Julia wanted to puke.
"When I was eighteen, I grew tired of waking up and finding myself suffering from missing time. You know about that? That's when people have whole blocks of their lives that they can't remember. Maybe they're driving down the road and then they wake up and they're fifty miles and two hours further along than they recall. Worse, they can't remember any aspect of getting from point A to point D. That's missing time."
"And you had it?"
"My dear, we've all had it. You just don't remember it because you haven't looked at your life with an open enough mind. You've seen your future only in the terms you set for yourself, not the reality of your situation. As such, your vision is rather hazy."
"And yours is crystal clear, is that it?"
"Actually, it wasn't. But like I said, I got tired of not being able to remember things. So I hypnotized myself."
"Self-hypnosis? Wasn't that risky?"
Kendall shrugged. "Perhaps. But I certainly wasn't going to go and see a certified hypnotist and risk ridicule over something so many people see as ludicrous."
"So you realized what had been happening to you?"
"Indeed. And once I did, I made preparations for their next visit."<
br />
"What sort of preparations?"
Kendall smiled. "There are things one can do that would enable them to, shall we say, level the playing field?"
"Trade secrets? I would have thought you'd enjoy gloating about your superior intellect."
"The fact that I am standing here, free to go and come as I please, while you are strapped down to that cold slab is proof enough of my ability."
"So these are aliens?"
"I prefer the term visitors. Aliens makes them sound like border jumpers stashed away in some beat-up truck."
"My mistake."
"They've been coming here for millions of years, did you know that?"
"No."
"It's true. Most people believe that it was the end of the second world war that piqued their curiosity with the advent of nuclear weapons. That somehow we'd proven ourselves smarter and that would have been the catalyst for the sudden surge of sightings." He frowned. "Nothing could be further from the truth. They've been here far longer than we ever knew about. Watching, charting, studying, and yes - experimenting."
"How long have they been here for?"
"You saw Nung's operation?"
"Part of it."
"And you saw the other party involved in that procedure? The velociraptor?"
"I saw it."
"Sixty-five million years, Julia. Since the time when the dinosaurs ruled this planet. They've been here that long."
"They must be incredibly bored."
Kendall shrugged. "The way I understand it, time means very little to them. Years pass in the blink of an eye. If anything, they might feel like they've been here for about a hundred years. Not a bad ratio when you think about it."
"Fascinating." Julia felt the cold of the slab seeping into her body. It played havoc with her bladder control.
"The visitors have been cataloging all the species on this planet as part of an experiment with galactic genesis."
"What the hell is that?"
"The creation of whole galaxies."
"They're playing God?"
Kendall laughed. "You still cling to the belief that there's truly some sort of divine creature who made all of this? You really ought to not be so juvenile in your beliefs. I would have expected more from a supposedly learned scientist as yourself."
"I'm not stupid enough to think that man could be the most powerful creature in the universe."
Kendall nodded. "That's good. Because he's not. Not by any stretch of the imagination."
"And your friends are?"
Kendall shrugged. "Nothing is omnipotent, no. But they come very close. You see, it's no longer about brute force as the means to conquering. Why should it be? Physicality is a self-limiting enterprise. The mind, however, that is where there are no frontiers. It's as limitless and infinite in growth and potential as the universe itself."
"I noticed they didn't talk."
"Their mouths are an unfortunate leftover from an earlier time in their own evolutionary path. They've been speechless for millions of years."
"What about food?"
"They don't require much. I've seen what they drink. It's some type of artificial concoction that keep their very basest corporeal attributes functioning normally. In fact, they've almost perfected it as a type of immortality serum. They live for so very long."
"What about those other things?"
"What other things?"
"The dino...the creatures with tails."
Kendall nodded. "Yes, those are dino-alien hybrids. Amazing aren't they? They crossbred several species of dinosaurs and then created a mix in a test tube millennia ago. The result was something of an oddity, but a necessary one. For while the mind is the ultimate weapon, the visitors also appreciated the fact that it was sometimes necessary to employ brute force, if only as a means of maintaining their own agenda and secrecy."
"So those things are their security force?"
"I guess you could call them that."
"Can they communicate telepathically?"
"Receive only. They aren't bred to transmit. The visitors can understand their rudimentary screeches and chirps as language."
"I don't suppose they eat through straws as well?"
Kendall smiled. "Tragically no. The hybrids require an enormous amount of food. A somewhat bothersome carryover from their reptilian ancestors."
"Antarctica never struck me as having much in the way of food supplies."
"No. It doesn't. That's why their food supply gets imported from other places."
"Other places?"
"Not all abductees return home with missing time. Some find their time gone on a more permanent basis."
"They're used as food?"
Kendall nodded. "Like I said, a necessary cost to maintain the security force."
Julia tried to bite back the rise of bile in her throat. It wasn't easy to do so. "Vikorsky?"
Kendall nodded. "I think he was yesterday's breakfast."
"Havel?"
"Served earlier today."
"Darren?"
Kendall looked at his watch. "I think they're just digging into him right now."
Julia retched and a dribble of vomit spilled out of her mouth. Kendall shook his head. "Get a grip on yourself. It's part of the price of conducting the exhaustive research going on here. You've really got to see the big picture and appreciate what they've worked so hard to create."
"What about Nung?"
Kendall shook his head. "I told you, Nung was recovering from his operation."
"What did they do to him?"
Kendall smiled. "Seems as though they've been getting a little impatient with the current generation of dino hybrids. Something about them being a bit bothersome to work with. Small brains and all."
"So Nung...?"
"A newer generation of hybrid. But this time, it's a tri-species version: visitor, dinosaur, human. They think it will make a marked improvement over the past generations."
Julia felt like crying but she wouldn't give Kendall the satisfaction. "And what about me?" she asked finally.
"You?" Kendall nodded. "I wondered if you'd be brave enough to ask. I'm impressed."
"Just answer the question."
"Well, Nung was the experiment as far as cutting and pasting limbs on and off. He was the patchwork experiment. But you, you're something else entirely."
Julia bit down on her lip. Blood flowed into her mouth as she heard Kendall speak again.
"You'll be fertilized. And the gestation period will be rapidly accelerated." He smiled. "Congratulations, boss. You'll be the first woman in history to give birth to an entirely new species."
Chapter Twenty-Four
It sounded too horrible to be true. But as she lay there looking up at the sickening expression on Kendall's face, Julia knew it had to be true. She hated Kendall at that moment more than she'd ever hated anyone else in her life. She never would have thought it possible to so utterly loathe someone. But Kendall fit the bill.
Perfectly.
"How...?" Her words trailed off. She wasn't really sure how to ask the question. There she was naked on the gurney. Completely vulnerable. The question seemed almost ridiculous.
Kendall was obviously enjoying himself. "Not the way I'd hoped. I volunteered to fuck you with their goop injected into my scrotum so when I came, it would impregnate you."
Julia fought back another wave of nausea. "How romantic of you."
"Isn't it?" He frowned. "They rejected my offer, though. Something about needing the conditions to be absolutely sterile for the injection to take properly. Apparently, their sperm frappe is extremely volatile. Any disturbance could very well kill off all those precious little swimmers."
Julia frowned. "I'm not ovulating."
Kendall sniffed. "Bullshit. You are well within your fertile window. Don't try to lie to these guys, Julia. They know everything about you. Why do you think we came down here at precisely this time? They've been charting your cycles for years."
&n
bsp; "And you were the one-"
"Who insisted on this schedule. Yes. You're absolutely correct. My little contribution to the program. It wouldn't have done much good to bring you down here during your period."
"This whole thing was designed to get me down here?"
"More or less. They've experimented on other women for some time now, but none of those operations took. The results were rather horrific. The visitors claimed it was because the mothers weren't stable enough. That's one of the bad side effects of abductions, you see. People start abusing substances to try and forget the pain of the experiences they've gone through."
"You turn them into junkies."
"Some. Most of the women the visitors took have become chain smokers. Some drink to try and quell the pain. Others get a bit more hardcore with narcotics." He smiled. "But every once in a while, they find a specimen that doesn't cave in. Someone made of a stiffer core than the others. Some type of inner strength, I'd guess." He pointed at Julia. "And that's you."
"Me?"
"Believe it or not, you've never dwelled in the depths of despair. And while you might not have been conscious of the fact that you were an abductee, you always had a hole in your life. But never once did you ever think about trying to hide from that hole through drugs or other substances. Not you. You rose above it. And you've got a supremely healthy body for all your hard work." Kendall licked his lips. "You make my mouth water just looking at you."
"The feeling's not mutual."
"No. I suppose not." Kendall smirked. "Holding out for your solder boy, aren't you?"
"Who?"
"Mick."
The tone of his voice made Julia scared. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Kendall shook his head. "Please spare me the theatrics. You two didn't exactly do much to conceal the fact that you had a thing for each other. I saw the way you looked at him. Naked lust so brazenly apparent on your face. You looked like you'd just crossed a desert of sexless years and Mick was the first oasis you'd come upon."
"Where is he?"
Kendall shrugged. "I honestly don't know. If he's smart, he went back to the base, called a plane to come down, hopped on it, and left you all far behind."
