between noon to one pm today. You may pilot your crafts to find or visit
your loved ones. If, during that time, you’re loaded or picking up cargo, we
ask that you finish your load and then take your hour afterward.”
Fena looked around at the smiling faces of those around her, barely
containing her own relieved grin.
“The drones are attracted to sound, and they come in packs. Be mind-
ful when you have to land in unsecured areas. Last night, we received con-
tact from some military command structures still in operation. They have
offered an exchange of support. If your name is on one of these envelopes,
you’ve been tasked to one of these support exchanges.” He handed a small
pack of manila envelopes to an aide, who tacked them on a corkboard just
a tad too far out of sight from the folding chairs to see whose names were
on them.
“Timmy remains missing. If anyone sees Timmy, they are to report
it immediately.”
A few people made hushed comments.
“We still do not have projections or numbers on Zorn populations. We
are expecting the power in the north-east to go out sometime in the next
couple of days and are seeking people with power plant experience as an
additional priority skill set.” He shuffled papers in his hands.
“Sir, if we find our family or friends, can we bring them back here
with us?”
“Direct family, yes.”
Everyone mumbled and whispered questions to each other.
“So direct, like my grandmother? My nephew?” one person asked.
The major looked at his papers. “Are you really going to leave them
there if I say no?” he asked in a subdued voice.
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Chapter 16
Mother Goose
TIME TICKED BY, not sure how long they were in the dark. Their phone
batteries died long ago, and they got used to living by touch and sound.
Timmy was busy high on the pile of rubble, clearing a path along the hull
of the pod to the other side of the tunnel near the ceiling. Several times,
several feet of dirt caved in, and he would have to start all over; once, it
nearly killed him.
He reached out in front of him as he had done a thousand times, in
total darkness, lying on his belly. His body was no longer able to produce
sweat, and he was nursing a throbbing headache. His right hand felt along
the hull of the pod until he reached a bit of dirt or rock. Then he pulled,
scratched and pried it away until the rock moved. When he tried to reach
around a rock the size of a small melon, it fell away from him, towards the
other side of the tunnel.
Blinding light from the tunnel on the other side flooded his small
space, making him cry out and shield his eyes. Timmy lay there for several
minutes, trying to force his eyes to adjust to the light. He could hear the
excitement of the two scientists behind him.
From his current position, Timmy couldn’t see anything other than the
rock ceiling in front of the opening. Ignoring his concerns, he pulled away
at the sides of the opening to make it large enough for them to squeeze through. Then he scooted towards the edge and looked down. He couldn’t
see directly below but noticed the way-too-large Zorn drone lying on the
ground, a large rock and debris on its body.
Its lower half was round, like the point of an egg. A large white tear-
drop sat just off to the side, still and silent. The tunnel had collapsed about fifty yards ahead, trapping them. He lay there and waited, not sure how
long he remained motionless.
He started when one of the scientists grabbed his ankle.
“Hey,” he whispered. “What’s over there?”
“Zorn.” Timmy let the comment sink in for a moment. “I think they’re
dead, though.”
“You think?” the scientist replied sarcastically.
“There’s a huge boulder crushing it. I don’t think it can move.”
“What about the others?”
“I don’t see anything else.”
Silence filled the tunnel, and Timmy imagined scenarios where the
Zorn would easily lift the boulder and crush him with it, or pretend to be
dead only for him to get stabbed by one of its legs when he got too close.
He wouldn’t have admitted it but he was in misery, his tongue was like
sandpaper. His body was sore, his head throbbed. Part of him wished that
the Zorn would just end it all for him.
“Well, we can’t stay here forever,” Timmy said and began to shuffle
along on his belly to the other side. He moved slowly, sliding on his stom-
ach at first and then when he could crouch, he took small steps, checking
his footing at every opportunity. The dirt and rock slid down towards the
bottom several times, making far more noise then he liked.
When a swarm of Zorn failed to appear out of the tunnel to stab him,
Timmy grew more confident that everything was fine, and he started step-
ping faster until he reached the bottom. Once he did, he turned back to see
how far he came down the rubble. Up above, one of the scientists stuck his
head out of the small opening Timmy created in the rubble.
The Zorn pod was much more visible on this side of the tunnel, and
fear shot through Timmy when he realized it was open. The pod was also
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larger than he expected, but he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t fear and adrenaline that just made it seem bigger.
The opening to the pod was black, as though the inside was just a dark
hole to nothingness. Something behind him made a noise, and he turned
around quickly.
The Z orn w as s till u nmoving, s tuck u nder t he b oulder. H e l ooked
around, searching out the source of the noise. Zorn drone were notorious
for climbing.
Terror froze him to the spot. Timmy slowly looked up, fearing the
appearance of a large drone, but found nothing on the walls or the ceiling
of the tunnel. Finally, his eyes lay upon the white teardrop again, afraid
that it might be some kind of bomb about to go off.
It was the complete opposite of everything that screamed ‘Zorn’. It was
white, not black, and the surface was smooth, not needlessly rough like
their exoskeletons and ships.
Timmy reached over and touched it, softly at first. Keeping an eye on
the dead Zorn, too close for comfort, then attempted to pick it up. It was
too heavy and awkward in shape, so he let it rest unsteadily on his leg as he
examined it.
He hadn’t noticed at first, but the teardrop was cool to the touch, and
wet with a thin cream or soft mucus. Like soft candle wax, he thought to himself. Its smell was faint, like unused oil. He rubbed his hands on his
clothes to clear them of dirt and cream, managing only to smear it more
thoroughly on himself.
His left leg suddenly felt very damp, and he looked down. It was cov-
ered with a black tar-like substance, similar to that of Zorn blood. Some-
thing caught his eye; a leg, nearly the size of the teardrop, had punctured
the shell and was hanging loosely off to the side.
Timmy panicked, shoving the egg off him, and the shell shattered. The
drone inside extended its legs and stood steady, about half the size of a<
br />
normal drone. Tar oozed from a bone protruding from one of the many
small holes along the top of its exoskeleton.
Timmy slowly stepped back towards the opening high up the mound
of rubble, stumbling over a rock as he did so. The small drone only stood
there with alarming stillness.
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“Stop!” Parker, one of the scientists, called out.
Timmy looked up towards the opening, fearing how far above it now
seemed. The scientist pointed to his left, and he looked at the pod, freezing
in place.
Another large drone stood there, only feet from him, emitting a faint
whistling sound. His heart pounded frantically, and everything moved in
slow motion as he waited for death to strike him down where he stood. He
found himself noticing little things, like the way the light reflected off the rounded parts of the drone, or the dust as it slowly drifted in the air. He
watched as a few particles disappeared into one of the small holes in the
Zorn’s bone.
Timmy looked down at the two deadly legs resting firmly in front of
him, uncomfortably close. Timmy made the subtlest movements he could,
trying not to startle the Zorn as he moved slowly towards the pile of rubble,
hoping to make a mad dash to the hole and to safety, if he got the opportu-
nity before the Zorn’s spikes came down on top of him.
One of the drone’s large legs slowly rose and extended to block his way,
resting at an awkward angle away from the drone. It didn’t seem to be a
threatening gesture, but it was definitely a gesture of ‘stop’.
Timmy suddenly noticed how dry his mouth felt and wished desper-
ately for water. He didn’t want to die with a mouth full of sand and dirt if
the Zorn suddenly changed its mind and struck.
The leg of a drone gently touched his torso and Timmy froze, feeling
the need to wet himself.
It took a couple of seconds before Timmy realized that there was no pain.
He looked up at the Zorn to see what was happening as he quivered in place.
The smaller drone stood on its two rear legs, while the front two rested
over his shoulders. Timmy looked to the larger drone, eyes as big as saucers,
fear making him tremble. The large drone moved away, towards one of the
walls, and followed its perimeter around the blocked pocket of tunneling.
Once it completed an entire loop around the perimeter twice, it went back
into the pod, disappearing in the blackness. The smaller drone moved away
from Timmy.
Timmy slowly turned, stunned, as the smaller drone, glistening with
thick globs of tar, lay on the ground nearby, extending all four legs out in
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every direction. It seemed to be ignoring Timmy, but the human wasn’t too willing to move, just in case it was faking.
A small noise from the scientists in the opening caught Timmy’s atten-
tion. He was motioning Timmy to come to him.
Timmy looked at the mountain of rubble to get to the small opening
and calculated how long it would take him to get there, but he decided
not to attempt it. Even if he made it back there, they would die waiting on
the other side of the rubble in the dark. He closed his eyes and focused on
calming himself, not wanting to scare the Zorn with a sudden movement
before he had to. Opening one eye to peek at the smaller drone lying near
his feet, he gently took a step, watching the Zorn. It didn’t move, so he took a step. Again, the Zorn didn’t react. It wasn’t that he thought it was a good
idea to push his luck. It was just a lack of options.
He took another step, and another, until he made it to the opposite
side of the blocked tunnel, where he climbed towards the ceiling again.
Once he reached where the rubble met the ceiling, he looked back.
The small drone stood in the middle of the room, not exactly facing his
direction. He could have sworn he hadn’t heard it move; a testament to its
species’ stealth, even at such a young age.
He slowly dug away at the dirt and chunks of cement. When nothing hap-
pened in the cavern below him, he sped up, less concerned with making noise.
An odd sound reverberated in the enclosed tunnel, and he looked back.
The ground had given way, and one of the scientists slid down from the
other tunnel, attempting to stop the whole time, scrambling to get back up.
He halted at the bottom of the pod.
The response from the drones was swift. The small one scratched its legs
across the ground as it fought for leverage to move more quickly, while the
large one exited the pod with swift practice and located the scientist with ease.
Stabbing the scientist in the leg, the drone tossed him into the center
of the room, where he lay, screaming. Tears ran down Timmy’s face, and he
feared he would be next. He dug faster.
The chamber grew quiet again, and Timmy stopped digging, slowly
looking back. Parker was maimed, unrecognizable, lying in the middle of
the chamber. Both drones stood silently at the bottom of the rock pile
below Timmy. He whimpered as he continued to pull rocks and dirt away
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from the mound, and finally made a path to the other side. Pushing his hand through to the open tunnel entrance, he heaved away rocks and dirt
as he frantically made the tiny hole large enough to fit through. He looked
back across the room to the other small opening near the ceiling; he could
see the other scientist in the opening, silent and unmoving. Timmy made a
thumbs-up gesture and crawled through the tight opening.
No sooner did he reach the bottom of the rubble and walk out towards
the intersection than he could hear something behind him. He looked back
to see the smaller drone scraping away dirt and rock to enlarge the opening.
In mere moments, the drone would get through. It worked quickly, like a
dog digging for a bone.
Seconds later, it descended the pile of rubble and slowly approached
Timmy, waiting silently beside him, while the larger drone completed the
same process. Afraid running might trigger a predatory response, Timmy
picked a tunnel that led deeper into the cavernous system and walked, feel-
ing like he imagined a prisoner would feel.
The drones followed him, but not at a constant speed or distance. They
would often stop, face various directions and continue following at vari-
ous speeds, not always maintaining a distance; more than once, one of the
drones bumped into Timmy with their iron-like legs.
He walked for nearly a half hour and crossed a few intersections before
he spotted a vehicle approaching directly in front of him. He stopped and
eyed his Zorn companions, as they froze in place at the approaching vehicle.
The vehicle came to a stop about eighty yards away, a van of some type.
No one moved for several minutes, and then several more vehicles joined the
first, soldiers pouring out of them and forming up in a tight line abreast.
“Timmy, is that you?” Major Grissom asked. His voice strong as it
bounced off the confined walls of the tunnel.
“Yes,” Timmy weakly replied, watching the drones from the corner of
his eye.
“Can you walk this way?”
Timmy quietly t
ook a step towards the vehicles. His once nearly-calm
heart now beat strongly again. The drones didn’t move. He took another
step and another. Once he got about five yards away from the drones, they
181
took a couple of steps forward, the larger one bumping into him, and he stopped walking again.
“Why do they follow you?” the major asked, sounding confused.
“I don’t know. I touched their egg, maybe that has something to do
with it. The small drone hatched practically in my arms.”
“Are these ones a threat?”
“They killed Parker, I wouldn’t get too close.” He struggled against his
dry mouth, his voice raspy from thirst.
The Major looked at the soldiers as they aimed their pulse rifle towards
the group. “You’re kind of in the way, son, you know what I mean?”
Timmy nodded, making sure it was clear he understood, but didn’t
move. Timmy noticed the slight breeze in the tunnel only once it changed
direction. It was going deeper into the tunnel complex, but its sudden shift
meant it now blowing strongly on his face. He heard a soft whistle from the
larger drone, barely audible. It bounded forward with snake-like swiftness,
the smaller one following close behind.
Timmy hit the floor and rolled into the corner while small, fast-mov-
ing stars shot over his head and around his body with alarming frequency.
He curled up in a fetal position and shut his eyes tight, imagining being hit
by one of those small stars and melting into the pavement.
Moments later, Major Grissom touched his shoulder. Timmy relaxed
and looked up.
“I asked, are you okay?”
Timmy nodded his head, words unable to escape his throat, dry and
parched as it was. The major handed him his water bottle, which Timmy grate-
fully took. He swished the water in his mouth, gathering all the sand and dirt clinging to the back of his throat, before spitting out the mud and repeating the process. Mouth clean, Timmy took long gulps of water, feeling the crisp, cool
feeling coating his stomach and chill his body. Looking over his shoulder, two barely-identifiable piles of goo and exoskeleton continued to sizzle.
“Pete is still trapped behind the rubble, behind the crashed pod,”
Timmy explained between mouthfuls of water.
“What crashed pod?”
Timmy looked back the way he had come and pointed down the brightly-
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