V: The Florida Project

by Tim Sullivan

  "Well, we don't have any more time now. You'll have to finish working on the skyfighter engine when we come back from Florida."

  "We must go, then?"

  "All the armaments have been loaded into one of the other skyfighters. Ham needs us now, but we still have to cross a continent."

  "I wanted to accompany Ham and Chris when they left."

  "I know, Willie," Mike said, patting him on the shoulder as Willie climbed out of the core, "but he thought this mission would work out best if he and Chris went alone, it looks as if he was right—up to a point."

  "And we have reached that point now?"

  "Something like that."

  They crossed the immense docking bay and entered a sky-fighter around which dozens of people, both human and Visitor, milled. The last few crates were being transferred from the ailing skyfighter at that very moment.

  As they boarded, they were greeted by Julie and Elias, who were supervising the loading. Willie checked the command console while the last crates were put in place. There was barely enough room for the four comrades-in-arms to move, the skyfighter was so full.

  "It's a good thing we have antigravity engines," Julie joked. "A conventional aircraft would never get off the ground with such a heavy cargo."

  "We did bring a few extras," Elias said, "just to add a little spice."

  "Let's hope we get there in time to use those extras," Mike said.

  Willie flipped a toggle and the engines whined. A moment later they were drifting out of the shuttle bay into the clear California night, the stars twinkling around them.

  As soon as they were clear of the Mother Ship, they shot out of sight in an instant.

  The faster-than-light transmission ended. The Leader had not only approved of the plan to attack the swamp-dwelling rabble before they became an organized resistance force, he wondered why it had not already been done.

  This would not go well on Medea's record. Her only chance for recouping what she had lost through hesitation lay in utterly wiping out every human being who could conceivably be aware of the Visitors' presence in the swamp.

  This might not be as difficult as it seemed, she mused. The one authority figure who had stumbled onto the compound was a minor law official who had been liquidated. His companion was in captivity, as was the woman he loved. Sooner or later someone would discover that the village—reservation, they called it—had been destroyed, but by then it would be too late. Anyone else in the vicinity would have little effectiveness against the Visitors, since the reservation, the locus of any organized resistance, would have been destroyed.

  Then Dr. Morrow could bring his precious Dr. Sabrina Fontaine aboard a Mother Ship. Medea felt a certain curiosity about her herself. She was a woman who could exercise significant power over an analytical mind like Dr. Morrow's. She must be an interesting woman.

  But there was no time for such conjectures now. Word was undoubtedly spreading among the swamp dwellers. Their little revolution had to be nipped in the bud.

  Her hand played across the communication console. A moment later, Dr. Morrow's face—wearing his bearded human disguise, as always—hung suspended in front of her.

  "The Leader agrees with me that you should attack the swamp dwellers. Make preparations to do so at once," Medea said.

  "Excellent, Commander," Dr. Morrow replied.

  "You will bring the prototype with you to see how it behaves in actual field conditions."

  "Yes."

  "And if it proves as efficient in the field as it has in controlled testing, you will immediately begin development of an army of such hybrid fighting creatures."

  Dr. Morrow was so pleased he could hardly speak, and he nodded his head vigorously in approval.

  "At the same time, you will begin your attempt to impregnate Dr. Sabrina Fontaine. We can fight the puny inventions the humans use to repulse us—it is only a matter of time until we develop an antitoxin with permanent effects, thanks largely to your superb work, Doctor—but we can do nothing if they harness the potential power of the star child, Elizabeth."

  "I am eager to begin, Commander," Dr. Morrow said, trembling with joyous anticipation.

  "I'm sure you are," Medea replied, ending the transmission as curtly as the Leader had ended their conversation a few minutes earlier. "Begin at once."

  Chapter 32

  "We've got to start without the weapons I promised you," Ham told the Indians and swamp rats as they stood in the saw grass at dawn. "They'll be here soon, but we just can't wait any longer."

  "You said we couldn't fight 'em without those lasers," a guzzled, gray-bearded swamp rat said. "How come you changed your mind?"

  "I haven't," Ham admitted. "But we can surprise them. I've given Mike Donovan a pretty good idea of where we'll be, and there are sensors aboard the skyfighter that will lead them to the death camp once they're in close proximity."

  "What good's that gonna do us if we're all killed?"

  "The infantry in World War Two used to say, 'They can kill you but they can't eat you.' In this case, they'll do both. So if that scares you so much you can't fight, we don't want you with us."

  The bearded man hung his head in shame as Ham went on: "All we can do is hold our own until reinforcements arrive with the weapons. I know Mike Donovan, and I'm certain he'll he there. There's nothing more I can say to convince you. If you don't think we've got a chance, you can stay behind. But once we've started, I'll personally shoot anyone, man or woman, who tries to turn back. This is no game."

  There followed some murmuring, a few angry glances at Graybeard, and shouts of "We're with you!"

  "Let's go," Ham said.

  Hundreds of people dissipated like swamp fog, slipping between the trees and cycads as elusively as tendrils of early morning mist.

  "He's getting impatient, Sabrina," Dr. Thorkel whispered as he picked up a drinking tube from the plastic table.

  Then, in a booming voice, he said, "Dr. Morrow wanted me to tell you how well our work is going and to ask you to meet with him today."

  "Meet with him? Where?"

  Dr. Throkel frowned. "In his quarters or yours, as you prefer."

  Sabrina said nothing.

  "He showed me something that frightened me," Dr. Thorkel whispered. He had intended to keep it to himself, but he couldn't. It was too horrible. Besides, it was a further incentive for Sabrina to string Dr. Morrow along. He saw the revulsion and fear in her eyes, but only for a moment.

  "About Dr. Morrow's suggestion ..." he began.

  Sabrina tried not to look rueful. She had to think fast, or they would be back to zero. "But, uh, the proxy phase of courtship isn't over yet," she said. "In fact, it's hardly begun."

  "Yes, I know. I'll explain that to him, but I don't know if he'll ... understand the depth of your commitment to ... traditional mating rituals."

  Sabrina nodded. They had to put off Dr. Morrow just a little longer, until the three of them had a chance at freedom. Maybe her best bet was to see Dr. Morrow herself, to make some excuse that would keep him at arm's length a little longer. The proxy bit didn't seem to be working very well anymore, so she had to come up with something completely different.

  "Very well, I'll see him later today," she said, "if he isn't too busy."

  "I'm sure he'll find time," Dr. Thorkel said, rising to kiss her on the cheek and whispering, "unfortunately."

  He set down his drink and left Sabrina, gazing sadly back at her as the door closed. He had done his best, but it apparently wasn't good enough; it seemed that his efforts had come too late to be of much use. Disheartened, he returned to his rooms.

  Sabrina was racking her brain for something to stall Dr. Morrow with a little longer. Good God, she couldn't let him touch her, even to save her own skin. But it wasn't her skin she was trying to save, she reminded herself. It was Jack's.

  Jack.... As far as Morrow knew, Jack was the only man she'd ever known intimately. Maybe she could play on that—and Morrow's ignorance of hum
an customs—to not only put the alien off but to get Jack out of his cell too.

  "Necessity is the mother of invention," she muttered, "and what a mother this invention promises to be."

  The two sentries, nameless like all Sirians bred for military service, didn't want to die. They had been assigned no duty since their fateful meeting with Dr. Morrow and now awaited the final dispatch which would inform them of the method of their deaths. Their quarters had become a prison cell.

  "Do you think they'll feed us to that creature," one of them said, "the way they disposed of the human?"

  "I don't know," the other replied. "Does it matter?"

  "No, I suppose not." His companion did little but brood over their situation while the first condemned sentry desired a little conversation to enliven his last hours.

  "I suppose they'll be better off when we're gone," the second sentry said. "And they'll destroy any genes that might produce others like us, to weed out undesirable elements from the military."

  A mosquito buzzed in the tiny room. The first sentry's longue lashed out and snapped it out of the air. He swallowed the tidbit before speaking again. "It doesn't seem right."

  "Right? What does right have to do with it? We've committed an unpardonable crime, and we're being condemned to death. That's all there—"

  The door slid open, and Dr. Morrow himself entered.

  The two sentries fell silent, their argument forgotten.

  "I have arrived at the method of your execution," he said.

  They waited.

  "You will die in the experimental combat area," Dr. Morrow informed them coolly.

  "No," sentry number one said. "You're not going to make us face that terrible beast."

  "Quite the contrary." His human mask was inscrutable. "What I have in mind should be even more amusing."

  "What, then?" the second sentry asked wearily.

  "You will face one another in the arena."

  The two sentries looked at each other as Dr. Morrow emitted a sound unnervingly like human laughter and made his exit.

  Chapter 33

  Dr. Morrow had enjoyed telling the two sentries the absurd nature of their demise before seeing Sabrina. The day was going very well, indeed. Her decision to at last receive him had been inspirational. Those two cowering salamanders would provide the entertainment at the celebration before he inseminated her.

  He walked purposefully toward her apartment. This was to be a great moment in the history of science—not to mention the history of his people.

  For a while he had been afraid he would have to use force, but the presence of the human, Jack Stern, in the compound had convinced her to be accommodating. And now, through the intervention of Dr. Thorkel, she was warming to him as though he were a member of her own race.

  He was at her door now. Inserting his key, he waited for it to open and entered.

  "Dr. Morrow," Sabrina said, smiling at him. "Won't you please come in?"

  "Yes." The door closed behind him. "Thank you."

  She smiled again. Strange how these creatures showed their fangs, even beneath their human-disguised teeth, when they were happy.

  "Can I offer you something?"

  "Just ... water," he said. It wouldn't do to eat a rodent in front of her. Of course she didn't have any rodents anyway.

  She poured ice water into a drinking tube and set it on the table. "Won't you sit down?" she asked.

  He sat down.

  "I think I'll have a little wine," she said. "I hope you don't mind."

  "No, of course I don't," he stammered. "Please help yourself."

  As she filled her wineglass, Dr. Morrow thought how much this was like something on television. He had witnessed such scenes many times in his training, but experiencing it was quite something else again. Though his heart was fibrillating, he was enjoying it enormously.

  "You know," Sabrina said, "you're a very attractive man."

  Dr. Morrow swelled with the compliment, but her words confused him as much as they pleased him. She had called him a man, but surely she knew what his physical appearance really was. She had seen many Sirians in the compound; she was doubtless aware of his makeup, perfect as it was. Perhaps she had seen him as he really was beneath the cosmetic veneer.

  "Dr. Thorkel has spoken to you about"—Morrow found it such an embarrassing, awkward word—"the lovemaking?"

  "Yes, he has." She leaned forward, exposing her cleavage. For the first time, Dr. Morrow noticed how formfitting and elegant her free-flowing garment was. It seemed to add to her allure.

  "There is a myth among my people," Sabrina said, "about a beautiful garden and the first two people in the world. They are innocent until a snake visits them and introduces them to sin. I find that idea very erotic."

  "Ah—fascinating." This explained much. Dr. Morrow warmed to the subject of mythology. "We have a myth too."

  "Oh?"

  "Yes. It concerns my people at the beginning of time. A race of apelike creatures ruled our world then, subjugating our ancestors and stirring resentment and a desire for vengeance in their hearts."

  Sabrina stared at him strangely. Was that understanding in her eyes, or was it a sudden contempt brought upon her by his description of the myth? They were so complex, these mammalian creatures, so driven by primitive desires and superstition. If only she would say something so he would know how she felt.

  "That's a wonderful story," she said, "but let's talk about us."

  "About—courtship, you mean?"

  "Uh-hunh, and about more than that."

  Dr. Morrow was so excited he could hardly contain himself.

  "We've come to the end of the proxy stage now," she said. "About to enter the crucial phase."

  "Crucial phase?" Dr. Morrow asked. This was indeed intricate. "Please explain."

  "You must introduce the physical proxy next," Sabrina whispered seductively, leaning closer to him.

  "The ... physical proxy?" What was she talking about?

  "You don't know about that? Oh, Dr. Morrow, you're so negligent in your study of human folkways."

  "I have been preoccupied with other things, I admit."

  "Didn't they tell you in your training that a woman can only be introduced to a new partner through her former lover?"

  "What? I mean, no, they never told me."

  "It will be a beautful experience for the three of us," Sabrina sighed.

  "The ... three of us?"

  "Of course." She smiled charmingly "You, me—and Jack."

  For a moment Dr. Morrow couldn't believe his earholes. At length he spoke: "Jack...."

  "Of course." She nodded. "You don't think I can just go from one man to the next without the intermediate stage, do you?"

  "I suppose not." Anything to complete the experiment successfully.

  "Wonderful!" Sabrina said rapturously, clinking her wineglass against Dr. Morrow's drinking tube. "Here's to us!"

  Chapter 34

  "There it is," Ham said.

  "Yes, sir." Chris softly spread two fems to get a better look. "Look at those holograms. No wonder nobody ever spotted it from the air."

  They retreated, walking back to join the others. As they talked, Ham attempted to shape a strategy.

  "I think it's a good idea to wait until dark," he said, "even though the lizards see better at night."

  "Well, we've got flares. They'll be blinded when we start setting those babies off."

  "They'll never expect it tonight, but they know the word is out on them. I wouldn't be surprised if they were planning an attack on their own."

  "Makes sense," Chris agreed.

  "Let's just hope they don't know you and I are in the neighborhood, partner."

  "I don't see how they could, unless they've got a spy on the reservation."

  "None of the missing persons have showed up using their left hands, so it looks like we're safe on that count," Ham said.

  Chris chuckled as they started around the perimeter. Shielded by t
hick growth so that little sound escaped, their people had set up camp a mile from the alien compound. There they were cutting down trees, stripping them, and nailing branches across them for handholds and footholds. With these, they would storm the walls, hoping to get enough manpower on the other side to open the gates.

  "Gonna be a real old-fashioned siege," Ham said. "Let's just hope the cavalry gets here on time."

  Chris and Ham patrolled the perimeter themselves for three reasons: they were both crack shots, they were the only ones who had laser pistols, and they had fought the Visitors before.

  So far they hadn't seen any Visitors, or any sign that they'd been seen themselves, but there were still several hours until nightfall.

  "Come on, Donovan," Ham said, looking up at the bright sky. "Come on."

  They were somewhere over Texas when Mike Donovan said, "Willie, can't you push this thing any faster?"

  "No," Willie said. "If you want to travel at high speed, you must use the Mother Ship itself. Skyfighters are addended for intraplanetary travel only, and are limited."

  "Intended," Mike said, punching a crate.

  "Sorry?"

  "Intended. You said 'addended,' and I think you meant 'intended.'"

  "Thank you, Mike."

  "Why didn't we take the Mother Ship?" Elias asked. "We'd be in Florida by now."

  "Couldn't risk it," Julie explained. "Something as large as the Mother Ship would be tracked by the Visitors. When they saw the speed it was traveling, they'd know exactly what it was and what it was there for. This way, we can sneak up on 'em."

  "If we can find them," Mike added, "and if we get there on time."

  He gazed at the viewscreen and saw the Texas plains rushing by. At any other time, he would have thought they were traveling at an exhilarating speed. Today, it seemed as if they were moving as slowly as death itself.

  "You will come with us," the sentry's hissing voice commanded.

  Jack thought about jumping him, but the laser pistol was trained right at his chest. He wouldn't have a chance. This was it, then. He had no choice but to do as he was told.