Bigfoot Abomination

by Dane Hatchell

  Did Charlotte never have any intention of meeting him and this was her way to stick it to him? That wasn’t impossible, but that would have been out of character for her. Charlotte put up with a lot of his crap, but she never hesitated to speak her mind. Deceit wasn’t part of her character.

  It was possible that something came up and she wasn’t able to come or call. Maybe something with her mother, which had her tied up.

  Phone in hand, he found her on his contacts and pressed the call icon. The phone rang, but she didn’t answer. When prompted to leave a message, he said, “Hey, just calling to see what’s up. Call back as soon as you can.” He ended the call and then sent a text message that essentially said the same thing.

  *

  It was well after 7 p.m. now. He backed the Mustang out from the old entrance and onto the street. No Charlotte in sight. What to do now?

  Cole Rainwater!

  Maybe he and Charlotte really hit it off last night, and the two were together.

  Brennon had a sudden feeling like he was being watched. He turned his head in every direction, looking to see if Cole and Charlotte were hiding somewhere nearby having the laugh of their lives at his expense. Amy’s house was two streets away, so he knew they couldn’t see him from there.

  He never did like that Rainwater boy. That kid was weird with all his UFOs and bigfoot and stuff. What on Earth did Charlotte see in a loser like him?

  He did want her back like he had never thought he could imagine pining away for a girl. But there was no way he was going to be crapped on. He did have too much pride for that.

  I bet she’s over at his house and is getting her ‘revenge’ on me right now. As bitter as that thought was, he was prepared to accept it. But Brennon Davis wasn’t going to be made a fool of. He knew where Rainwater lived, and he had no problem driving over there right now and confronting both of them.

  The two are welcome to have each other but not until I set the record straight.

  Brennon reached in the back and flicked the lid off the cooler. He grabbed the icy bottle of Prosecco and brought it to his lap. The wrapper came off the top, he rolled down his window, and then untwisted the wire keeper from the neck. The cork shot out the window before he had the chance to yank on it. Some of the sparkling wine frothed out onto his left hand.

  He brought his fingers up and sucked them dry. Bringing the bottle to his lips, he drank deeply. The rush of carbonation brought fire to his nose and tears to his eyes. But the tears didn’t stop flowing, and it wasn’t because of the wine.

  Chapter 14

  The Future

  Breakfast ended with Tarik, Zax, and Lixa sharing company with their inner silence. Tarik’s mind raced with possible scenarios of today’s raid. He wanted to be prepared for any possible situation but knew there would always be an aspect of the unknown. Just like the Skink that came upon him and Zax in the city, right before they entered old-life. It was impossible to anticipate all the conceivable surprises. He was just going to have to stay focused and be one hundred percent on guard.

  Communications from the rebel team brought news, that after they had escaped the base in the two-people jumpships, efforts to create a false trail to lead the Skink security regiments had been successful. Grim reality set in when Tarik learned that a number of Nu-Man supporters had lost their lives in the process.

  This made him feel incredible guilt. Lives were sacrificed so that he might live. There was no reward for them other than the pride they felt in a last attempt to strike at the alien invaders.

  Tarik owed them a debt impossible to quantify. The only way he could repay was to make sure their blood hadn’t spilled in vain.

  “It’s almost time,” Zax said as Tarik exited the washroom. “How are you feeling?”

  Tarik’s stomach had been tied up in knots since breakfast. The emptying of his bowels did little to lighten the heavy burden he carried. “I feel like a lit fuse waiting to explode.”

  “I know I don’t have to tell you this, but it’s part of our training. Stay calm. You know the plan. Everyone else knows their part, too. We’ve proven we’re smart enough to stay one step ahead of the Skinks. We’ll hit fast and take them by surprise. You’ll be through the time window, and I’ll be out and back at another safe-house soon after.”

  Yes, that was the plan. Tarik would concentrate on executing the plan and not entertain any other distractions.

  After telling himself that, Lixa came away from the communications transmitter. “The scout ship will be here soon. You two need to get ready.”

  “I don’t know how they did it,” Tarik said. “Stealing a scout ship must have taken a lot of resources.” That was a kind way of saying lives were lost.

  Then Lixa’s words dawned on Tarik. “Uh, what about you? Your jumpship is coming to pick you up too, right?”

  “Mine will be here a little later,” Lixa said.

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Tarik said, he looked over at Zax to judge his reaction.

  “It can’t be helped. She can’t come with us. We’re leaving straight from here to the nuclear facility.”

  He turned his attention back to Lixa. This wasn’t good. No matter how well they had covered their tracks, the Skinks were sure to discover their ruse at some point. Tarik would have felt much better knowing Lixa was heading off to another safe-house at the same time.

  “I’ll be fine. My ship will be here in less than an hour,” Lixa said. If she were pretending to be brave, she was doing a good job of it.

  “You need to suit up,” Zax said. The Nu-Man had his body armor and backpack on, ready to roll.

  Tarik turned his gaze toward the mech-armor across the room and realized he might be looking at his coffin. The thought of dying didn’t make him feel sad. Dying alone inside an alien exoskeleton did. He would prefer to meet his demise while holding Lixa in a loving embrace. That thought seemed almost blissful.

  “You’re going to make it, Tarik,” Lixa said. “I can feel it in you. There’s an unstoppable power inside your soul.”

  The human stepped over and looked deep into her green eyes. He was going to make it. He was going to succeed not so much because of himself, but because of what others had invested in him. Tarik was the accumulation of hundreds of others’ hard work.

  Lixa’s soft smile and the memory of the shared night made him feel like he could take on the whole Skink invasion single-handedly, without his mech-armor. He reached up with both arms as she leaned forward, and the two hugged. “Thank you for everything. I can accomplish things today that I couldn’t have yesterday, because of you.”

  A tear from Lixa wet Tarik’s cheek.

  “Goodbye, Tarik.” The words she had spoken struggled to get out.

  They parted with an awareness that Zax was in the room with them. Lixa stiffened her back and straightened her shoulders. Tarik walked dutifully over to his mech-armor.

  The maroon transmetal armor opened at the head, arms, chest, and legs, welcoming Tarik in its cold embrace. He stepped up to it and turned around, reaching the hold with his right hand to pull himself up. The ritual continued with his right foot finding the foot frame until his heel secured in place. Nestling his back and arms in position, he brought his left leg in its spot until his body fit in snuggly. Secure, the armor snapped together, and man and transmetal were one with each other.

  The electronics came to life, and the HUD’s startup routine passed all of the system checks. Tarik was now isolated from the rest of the world. He had breathed unfiltered air from this Earth for the last time. Wearing the armor skewed his reality and strengthened his resolve. The suit made him feel invincible.

  *

  It wasn’t long before the communication came of the scout ship’s arrival. The three exited the safe-house and walked a short distance to an area suitable for the ship to land.

  Zax and Tarik waved farewell to Lixa, who stood tall and proud returning the wave and offering another toward the cockpit, where she knew he
r father, Bix, was most likely waving back.

  The Nu-Man was the first up the landing ramp. Tarik stopped before he stepped up and gave Lixa another wave. He turned and disappeared into the ship.

  Lixa watched as the alien craft rose from the overgrown area to a level above the trees. It quickly gained speed until it was no longer in sight.

  Loneliness set in immediately on the walk back to the safe-house. But the feeling was unlike any common emotion she’d had before. Part of her felt missing. The part of her heart that Tarik took with him. She’d chastised herself for being so silly, not knowing Tarik but for a couple of days. Then, there was that minor issue being intimate with a human. Interspecies relationships were unheard of. Skink and Nu-Man romances were non-existent. Of course, there were no humans other than Tarik on the planet for any relationship to develop. She wondered what Zax thought of her deviant behavior. It was hard for her to judge herself because of the mixed feelings.

  Even though the safe-house was empty of people, it somehow felt smaller. Zax and Tarik were only a memory, almost like they had never been there. And what of her future? What of the future? As each second ticked by, she was faced with the possibility of reality shredding into an unknown outcome. She would simply cease to exist. As scary as that thought was, she had to reason with herself that if that happened, she wouldn’t be aware of her loss. Almost like dying in her sleep; she wouldn’t be aware of the event.

  Lixa’s mind drifted off into a million different directions. She thought of the special times she’d shared with her parents. Simple things, like little games when she was a small child. Her dad, a big and brute Nu-Man with few peers worthy to challenge him, often came to impromptu tea parties in her room. Lixa had a child’s table set up with her dolls and stuffed animals sitting around waiting for an imaginary cup of tea. Bix would sit on the floor and share in conversation with the whole group. He would repeat questions he pretended Lolly Dolly would ask, or other toys, and give funny answers. Lixa used to laugh and laugh how silly her dad could be.

  The trip down memory lane ended when she noticed the time. The jumpship should have been there for her by now. In fact, the whole situation felt very wrong.

  Something bumped the house. It didn’t sound like the wind and trees outside.

  She listened intently. The silence seemed to grow louder.

  All she had was a blaster, as Tarik had taken the railgun. The blaster, even with the special ammo, would have little effect if Skink warriors showed up.

  There was another noise from outside.

  Lixa ran to the zero-energy battery used to recharge Tarik’s mech armor and pushed it over by the kitchen table, near the other zero-energy battery used to power the house. Frantically, she sifted through supplies and electric extras until she found a set of cables.

  A hard object pounded the front door, splintering wood, and slamming it against the wall.

  She connected the clamps on one end of the cable to the positive and negative poles of a battery, and just one clamp on the other battery.

  Two Skink warriors busted through the entrance and stopped when they entered the room. The two looked about, seemingly uninterested in the female in the kitchen.

  One of the warriors finally acknowledged her, and asked, “Where are they?”

  Life had abruptly come to this point. Her turmoils of the day had all been for naught. The future was clear. There was no longer any doubt.

  Zero-energy batteries contained vast amounts of potential power. Crossing the negative and positive poles on two ZE batteries would result in a massive explosion. Of course, safeguards had been built into the battery to prevent such a mistake from happening. But, if the circuitry safeguarding that event was disabled, well, nothing inside a half-mile radius would be left standing.

  “You will tell us where they are,” the other Skink warrior said.

  “This is not your world,” Lixa said. She brought the last clamp near the open pole. “You should have never come to Earth. We’re going to make you regret you ever did. I’m starting the war now.”

  For a brief moment, she thought of her soul and realized she had existed before. So had Tarik. The two had been together before, and one day they would be again.

  The clamp touched the pole.

  The world went bright, and then it went dark.

  The darkness was comforting. Lixa felt like a swaddled newborn.

  She knew, but she didn’t know.

  She was a seed waiting to be planted and grow.

  *

  Larex was in the cockpit piloting the scout ship. The seven other rebels greeted Zax and Tarik as they stepped aboard. Each Nu-Man wore their protective body armor and were ready for war. The team, minus the two lost in the earlier battle, was whole again.

  “You two good to go?” Bix asked. The somber look on his face masked any fear he might have felt.

  “As well as can be,” Zax said.

  “I’m loaded and fully functional,” Tarik said. “This is as good as it’s ever going to get.”

  “I hope you two had plenty enough to eat and are rested. Wouldn’t want you getting weak on us out there,” Garrad said, forever the doting mother figure.

  “We had our fill of food pouches,” Zax said. He turned to Bix, “Lixa sends her love. She said she’d meet you for tea tomorrow.”

  A memory must have softened Bix’s expression. His lips showed a slight smile at the corners. “Tea it is, then. I wouldn’t want to disappoint my daughter.”

  “Getting ready to lift off,” Larex said.

  “Take your seats and strap in,” Bix said, and maneuvered over to the co-pilot seat.

  The team members filled the bench seats opposite of each other to capacity. If Jem and Trant had survived, two would have had to take their chances on the floor.

  The ship slowly rose and then powered on to their final destination. Tarik wished he could have seen Lixa from the ship. He knew she was there watching from below. All alone, and thinking of her father and the impossible mission they were heading to, no doubt.

  “Our route is programmed into the Skink security computers. So, we can travel to the nuclear facility at a normal pace. When we hit them it will be a total surprise,” Bix said over the tel-com. “Reder and Bref, get those grav-chutes on Tarik and Zax.”

  The two Nu-Mans each produced a wide wristband, silver in color, and secured them around the wrists of the soon-to-be paratroopers. Tarik’s was almost too small to fit.

  Barely a quarter of an hour had passed before they neared their target.

  “Okay, it’s about to get real. We’re going to break from our route and drop off Zax and Tarik,” Bix said.

  Zax and Tarik pushed buttons, releasing the soft clamps that secured them to their seats.

  “This is it. This is the moment we’ve trained for,” Bix said.

  Tarik felt heat from underneath his neck. His mind had to be on full alert. Follow the plan. Don’t get distracted. Expect the unexpected. He had to reach his objective and complete his mission. Even if Zax got hurt along the way, he couldn’t let that slow him down.

  The ship veered sharply to the left and descended.

  Voices of encouragement came over the tel-com. Tarik looked around, alienated from his adopted brothers by the Skink armor. He wished he could have given them a final farewell hug goodbye.

  The ship slowed, and a hatch in the rear opened. It was time for them to leave.

  Zax was the first up. “We have the spirit of warriors! We will conquer the enemy invaders.”

  The others cheered, raising fists high into the air to the common battle cry.

  “I love and will miss you all,” Tarik rose and said. Strangely, he felt no remorse, only pride to have been privileged enough to serve with these great Nu-Mans.

  “Godspeed,” Bix said.

  Others repeated the sendoff.

  Tarik turned and stepped into the wide blue.

  Zax followed, and the two plunged toward the waiting Earth.<
br />
  The haze of treetops quickly sharpened into focus. Tarik saw Zax’s cheeks ripple in the air before the grav-chutes kicked in. He wondered what it felt like to experience a freefall such as this without the security of his armor. This was almost no different than plugging in a headset and running a virtual reality program.

  The grav-chutes countered the Earth’s gravity waves and slowed the rebels gradually to where, when their boots touched the ground, there was no more impact than taking a step. They had landed in a wooded area just outside of the facility, near large concrete canals that channeled water from heat exchanges during experiments.

  The canals were empty of water now. They would lead Zax and Tarik to their destination.

  *

  “Willet and Bref, you’re next,” Bix called out aboard the scout ship. He was getting his men in position. Right now, time was the greatest enemy. Zax and Tarik were on the south side of the facility. The scout ship would attack from the north, but he wanted to have another diversion from the east. The plan wasn’t for them to take on a Skink security force and fight until a victor was determined. He knew they would be outnumbered in the end. They were going to hit fast and hard, and then escape before losing their lives. The only reason those aboard the ship wore body armor was in case something went wrong and they crashed. Wearing armor wouldn’t prevent them from getting killed, but it did give them a chance to kill more of the enemy before they died.

  Willet, his blondish hair looking unusually golden today, stood ready with a grav-chute on his wrist and a shoulder ready railgun tightly in his grip. Going to battle seemed to agree with him. The eager smile on his face looked like a kid getting ready to ride a roller coaster. “We battle monsters.” His lips parted and showed teeth. “We must be greater monsters!”

  Bref was armed with a railgun too, the one Tarik had brought aboard. He stepped past Willet and got closer to the rear hatch. “We’ll follow the plan. No more than that. Stay in line, so both of us will live to see the next day. I’m in charge, don’t forget that.”