Death Conquers

by J. C. Diem

  “Let’s find out,” Ishida said and fired a shot back down our path. The bullet lodged in the membrane wall and exploded three seconds later. “They appear to be fully functional.”

  “I thought our guns would have a better chance of working if I transported us here rather than dunking them in stomach juice,” I said to Gregor over my shoulder.

  “Forgive me if I seemed to be critical of your plan, Natalie,” he said. “You acted quickly and it was a remarkable feat to have rescued us all as you did.” I could see the wheels turning as he factored my new ability into his plans.

  Igor joined us next. Reaching past Gregor, he delivered a slap to Ishida that sent him stumbling into my back. “Told you he’d get you,” I told the teen over my shoulder as he rubbed his head ruefully. Igor contented himself with a warning glare at me rather than assaulting me for being childish.

  Now that we had more room to move in, I retrieved Geordie, Kokoro and Danton at the same time. “Finally!” Geordie complained. “I thought you were going to leave me in that purple slop forever!”

  “You’re welcome,” I said dryly. No matter what mysterious powers or abilities I developed, I could always count on my friends to bring me back to reality before my ego had a chance to become too large.

  “Why didn’t the aliens attack each other?” Danton asked from his position in the rear. The rest of my soldiers appeared behind him. Most were still shell shocked at their close escape with death.

  “I believe the octosquids set a trap for us,” Gregor replied. “They are aware of our tactics now and they’re intelligent enough to use them against us.”

  “What are they doing now?” Kokoro asked.

  “They’re trying to figure out where we went,” I replied. Being inside the brain of one of our enemies, it was almost impossible to ignore its thoughts. Confused, they searched the ocean for us while tromping down hard on their instincts to battle for their territory. “Once we start shooting, they’ll figure out where we are soon enough.”

  “I believe we should attack the cerebral cortex immediately in this instance,” Gregor said.

  “I like the way you think,” Igor complimented the strategist of our group.

  “Won’t that make the jellyfish go crazy?” Geordie asked. He was following right behind me, staying close enough to almost tread on my heels.

  “That is exactly what we want to happen,” Igor told his apprentice.

  Realization dawned and Geordie grinned. “Oh. I get it now.”

  Altering out path slightly, we headed for the darker purple tissue that ruled the thought process of the alien. Clearing the area around the cortex, we formed a half circle and fired a barrage of explosives at it.

  Roaring in alarm, the alien’s bellow changed to rage as we blasted the cortex apart and its ability to reason fled. It turned to attack its tentative ally and we were thrown off our feet as the two monsters clashed. I watched through the strange radar vision of the leviathan that we’d invaded as they landed blows on each other. Unable to think beyond the need to destroy, the interloper drilled deep inside its enemy’s hide in search of its only vulnerable area.

  Someone let out a shout as the tip of a tentacle swept through the already damaged tissue just above our heads. We all ducked reflexively and stayed down. Thrashing, writhing and clutching each other in a death grip, the monsters sank beneath the waves as they gored each other internally. The defending monster’s appendages stiffened then went lax as its own cortex was destroyed, along with most of its brain.

  Bellowing in triumph, the interloper surged back towards the surface, heading for land to feed on the unaware citizens of South America. Climbing to his feet, Igor fired a rocket into the ruined depths of the octosquid’s brain. We kept up a sustained barrage of fire until the creature first slowed then stopped. I was relieved to discover that it had come to a halt just short of land. It became yet another casualty in our war and floated listlessly on the currents.

  “Why are you smiling like that?” Higgins asked me suspiciously.

  “Because there are only three octosquids left now and they’re running scared.” I couldn’t see it, but I suspected that my smile was rather malicious.

  “They picked the wrong planet to try to eat,” Geordie stated as he rested his gun over his shoulder. “They should have known we wouldn’t just let them take over our world.”

  Kokoro tried to see it from our enemy’s point of view. “They are simply doing what we would have done if we were in their situation.”

  “What do you mean?” Ishida asked.

  “They are the last of their kind,” his maker told him gently. “They do not wish to die any more than we would.” My feeling of triumph dissipated and I wasn’t the only one who felt a tug of remorse for our plan to stamp the aliens out. “It is our duty to keep our planet safe but that does not mean that I will relish the task of eradicating an entire species,” Kokoro said. Gregor put his arm around his lady love’s shoulder and she leaned against him gratefully.

  “I don’t like it either,” Geordie agreed. “But it is our job and we have to finish them off.”

  I hadn’t been wrong when I’d named the teen my conscience. He’d just articulated exactly what I was feeling.

  “Can you sense what the three remaining aliens are thinking?” Gregor asked.

  Splitting my consciousness three ways, I found a trio of identical thoughts and the news wasn’t good. “They know that they’re doomed and they’re going to cause as much damage as they can before we kill them all off.” Just like us, it wasn’t in the aliens’ makeup to go down without a fight.

  “Then I suggest we find another boat, restock our ammunition and start hunting them down one by one,” Igor said.

  “I sincerely hope we can shower and change before we embark on our next hunt,” Gregor murmured.

  “Don’t worry, we all look like we’re covered in purple afterbirth,” Geordie told Gregor helpfully.

  “Thank you for that stunning visual picture, Geordie,” our master planner said dryly and cocked a goo caked eyebrow at Ishida when he made a sound of amusement.

  On the edge of breaking into hysterical laughter, I zapped us all out of the carcass of the monster and back to dry land.

  ·~·

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Once again, we returned to the catacombs to restock. Only Gregor bothered to change, since we were heading straight back out into another battle. I briefly wondered where I was going to house my soldiers once this was all over but quickly abandoned that line of thought. First, we had to survive our clashes against the three remaining aliens. Each one would be only too happy to rend my army to pieces.

  My troops scattered to the cells below to retrieve more ammo while the rest of us gathered in the living room and huddled around Gregor’s map. We were too filthy to sit so we stood around the coffee table. I leaned forward and removed all but three of the pins. These I shifted around to show the new locations of the behemoths.

  “They each appear to be heading towards small islands,” Gregor observed. “They will be able to wreak utter destruction in a short amount of time.”

  One octosquid was arrowing towards an island to the north of Norway, another was aiming for New Zealand and the third towards Japan. Since Japan was by far the most heavily populated area, it made sense to go to their aid first. “Does everyone agree that we should head to Japan first?” I might be the leader but I valued the opinions of my friends.

  Geordie raised worried eyes to mine. “Are we just going to abandon the other islands to their fate?”

  “I don’t like it either,” I admitted. “But we can’t be in three places at once.”

  “Perhaps we should advise the humans of the impending attacks,” Igor suggested. “They might be able to use their ships and jets to at least slow the aliens down.”

  Gregor nodded in instant agreement. “They will most likely prove to be ineffective, but we should at least give them the opportunity to try to h
old off the attacks.”

  “I’ll update Owens,” I said. “He can spread the word while we head for Japan.” No one objected so I linked my arm through Luc’s and transported us to the commander’s office.

  Owens was on the phone and trailed off in mid-sentence when he saw us appear. “Hang on for a moment,” he said then covered the mouthpiece. “What do you need?”

  “There are only three aliens left now, but all of them are heading for land with the intention of causing as much destruction as possible,” I told him bluntly.

  Already pale from fatigue and worry, his face went a shade whiter. “Can anything be done to stop them?”

  “That is up to you humans,” Luc said. “I would suggest you alert the authorities in Norway and New Zealand and tell them to do what they can to slow the attacks.”

  “What about the third alien? Where is it heading?”

  “Japan,” I replied. “We’re going to target that one first. Unfortunately, my men aren’t able to function during the day, so I highly doubt we’ll be able to save all three islands from destruction.”

  The commander nodded in understanding, silently thankful that he didn’t have to make the decision that would affect millions of human lives. “I’ll do what I can to alert the authorities,” he promised and hung up on whoever he’d been speaking to.

  “I’m afraid I have some more bad news,” I told him before he could spring into action.

  His shoulders tensed and he guessed what I was about to say. “Shadow?” At my nod, he sank back in his chair. “How bad is the damage?”

  “It was torn in half by a pair of octosquids,” I explained. “It isn’t salvageable.” We left him to grieve the loss of his prized boat. His job had been to look after the vessel and it was now gone. He couldn’t be held accountable, since he’d been under my hypnotism but he would probably be punished anyway. That was how the armed forces seemed to work. If they couldn’t castigate the guilty party, they’d discipline whoever was at the top of the chain of command instead.

  My men were ready when we returned to the catacombs. The night was waning and we’d have to move quickly if we wanted to intercept and destroy the octosquid that was heading towards Japan before daybreak came.

  No one wanted a repeat performance of being mired in brain jelly so I took the group to a dock in Japan and searched for a boat first. Igor led the search and shouted to alert us when he located a suitable vessel. Examining the tourist boat, it was a far cry from the sleek ride we were used to. There was enough room for everyone and no one had to cram down below, which was good because there was no below decks this time.

  Larger in size but lighter than Shadow, I zapped us all into the stomach of the rapidly approaching Goliath. Instead of landing in stomach juices, we thudded down on a large object and immediately began to slide backwards. I threw a frantic look out the window, spotted open water and teleported the boat to safety.

  Still clutching the railing, Geordie tilted his head back to examine what we’d accidentally landed on. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Peering out through the window, Ishida was the one to respond. “If you’re thinking it’s a whale, then yes, it is what you think it is.”

  Blubber oozed through tears in the dark hide that had been made by the alien’s several rows of sharp teeth as it had swallowed the whale. Still relatively fresh, its flesh was slowly being eaten away by the digestive juices.

  Something bumped against our hull and Higgins leaned out the window to investigate. “It’s another whale,” he reported. “A baby, I think.”

  Other whale carcasses were spotted and were pointed out by my men.

  “It must have eaten an entire pod,” Kokoro realized out loud.

  Whales were the largest living creatures on our entire planet and a single octosquid had chewed up a bunch of them and had swallowed them down like popcorn.

  Leaving the others behind, I transported Luc into the brain. None of the organs were exactly the same and we followed the natural tunnels where we could and continued to cut a path that would take us roughly towards the centre. Now that I didn’t have to physically touch someone to transport them, I reached out with my mind and began bringing my troops to us in small groups. It was an even quicker method than returning to pick them up in person.

  Startled to find himself suddenly standing beside me, Geordie grinned. “You have become very proficient at moving us around like chess pieces, chérie.”

  “It is a pretty handy skill,” I agreed then turned to help Luc chop through another barrier.

  Finally in the general centre of our target, we began firing into the soft tissue. Practiced at destroying the jelly-like substance by now, we reduced the brain to mush as quickly as we could without touching the cortex.

  Watching through the leviathan’s version of radar, I saw we were too late to save Japan completely. Reaching the coast, tentacles hauled the gigantic black alien onto land and it began stuffing terrified humans into its maw. Buildings were torn apart in its mission to eat and destroy and still we didn’t attack the dark purple casing that protected its motor functions. We had to wait until we’d wreaked as much damage to its brain as possible before targeting the cortex or we’d just make it worse for the civilians.

  Ishida worked in stolid silence, ignoring the sympathetic glances Kokoro sent him. Their small island had been destroyed over a decade ago and now Japan was under attack again. Proving that he was far more mature than his façade suggested, he remained calm and shot with precision rather than firing wildly in revenge.

  Only when the beast began to falter did I turn towards the protected cortex and fire the first shot. Igor’s rocket blasted it apart and the octosquid collapsed. Seeing through its eyes, I watched as it thrashed, destroying more buildings in its death throes. It finally went still but I felt little satisfaction as I drew my senses back in. Too many humans had died and many more were now homeless.

  There are still two more to take down, my inner voice reminded me. There’s no way you’ll be able to stop them before they attack. Dawn is almost here. So it was, in Japan anyway. The island to the north of Norway was at least several hours to the west and the sun wasn’t scheduled to rise there yet. It was already too late to attempt to save New Zealand and we would have to abandon them to their fate.

  Seemingly reading my mind, Gregor caught my eye. “If we remain here, your men will shortly fall asleep and will become useless to us.”

  Anguished that I couldn’t be everywhere at once, I hoped aid was being sent to the Kiwis. Australia would undoubtedly send help in the form of both ships and jets. It was small consolation, since they’d had very little effect against the invading aliens so far.

  Geordie put his arm around my waist in commiseration of the difficult choice I’d had to make. “You can’t save them all, Nat. You are only one person,” he reminded me.

  But I’m not a person, I wailed inside my head. I’m Mortis and I’m supposed to save the human race, not sit back and watch them being eaten by giant alien squids! “I know,” I said instead and shifted my army back to the tourist boat.

  I waited for everyone to reload from the containers of ammo that Igor had brought along. When everyone was ready, I shifted the boat westward. Sensing a group of humans, I stopped short of teleporting us directly into the stomach of the leviathan and deposited the boat into the ocean instead.

  Warships surrounded the alien, staying at what they believed was a safe distance from it as they fired their guns and missiles. The octosquid proved their estimations to be wrong by reaching out and snaring one of the vessels in two of its tentacles. With a rending crunch, the ship was torn in two. Bodies began to fall and I automatically went into action.

  Blinking out of the air, the humans reappeared on the decks of neighbouring ships. I missed a couple that fell into the secondary mouths on the tentacles, but the bulk of them survived. They wouldn’t survive for much longer and even now the monster reached towards another ship for s
ome tasty treats.

  “Wait here,” I told my army unnecessarily. “I’m going to try to evacuate them all to land.” Appearing on the boat that was about to be attacked, I sent out my senses and snared all of the humans in my mental net. Delving into the mind of the captain, I identified where their base was and transported them back to it.

  Several trips later, the sailors were back on land and the octosquid was smashing two of their ships together in a fit of pique that it had been denied a meal.

  I returned to the tourist boat just in time to see darkness enfold it as the mammoth swallowed it whole.

  ·~·

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Teleporting the boat before the approaching teeth could tear it apart, I relocated it and my army into the beast’s stomach.

  “That was a close one,” Ishida said with a small grin of relief.

  “Only two left to go now,” Geordie said with pretend brightness. We all knew we might be able to stop this alien from causing too much damage, but the final one was out of our hands. God only knew how many people would die when my army fell into a sun-induced coma. It didn’t seem right somehow, that Fate expected us to rescue everyone but it had prevented us from creating more soldiers. Then again, we’d done well so far and even if we’d had the extra soldiers, they wouldn’t have been able to save the Kiwis either.

  Following the same plan as last time, Luc and I cut our way through the octosquid’s brain as I brought the others up to join us in small groups. A nagging feeling of impending catastrophe wouldn’t leave me as my beloved took the lead and fired into the gooey walls of the organ to begin taking the creature down.

  With only half of my attention on what I was doing, the rest was watching through the other alien’s radar as it approached New Zealand. Several warships were on their way but they’d never make it in time to avert the coming disaster.