Floxham Island ~ Sinclair V-Log AZ267/M

by Merita King

  “Plan B?” he exclaimed wide eyed.

  “Yeah, plan B,” I nodded.

  “Okay ahh,” he began pacing again. “Ahh right then. If we can’t fix the one we have then we need a new one. Yeah that’s it, we need a new one. A new antenna will do it.”

  “Where the fuck do we get one of those?” Flark shrugged.

  “Anything will do,” Hank replied. “So long as it’s fairly tall and straight.” This wasn’t going as well as I hoped and I was beginning to despair when I happened to glance to my right in the direction of the shuttle landing pad. What I saw made me smile.

  “How about one of those?” I said. Everyone looked round.

  “One of what?” Luggs asked as he came up beside me. “What are you seeing Sam?”

  “See where the shuttle pad is?” I asked and he nodded. “Those lights around the perimeter of the landing pad, see em?” I pointed to the dull yellow lights atop twenty foot poles that encircled the landing pad and he grinned.

  “Hell yeah, that would do nicely wouldn’t it Hank?”

  “That would be perfect,” he replied with a grin.

  “Right, let’s go,” I said and set off.

  “How do we get it out of the ground?” Grelly asked and a couple of the other guys grunted and nodded.

  “We shoot it down.” I replied. “Everyone aim their rifle at the base of the pole and fire on my mark. Okay guys take aim. And, fire.” The air exploded painfully with the noise of nine laser rifles as the base of the nearest pole was sliced clean through. Slowly it began to cant over to one side and fell to the ground, the light at its top smashing to pieces. “Okay, grab hold and let’s go,” I yelled and made for the pole.

  Despite being just a few inches in diameter, the pole was extremely heavy and it took all of us to lift it. We began the shuffle back to the antenna hut, puffing with the weight of our burden. Halfway there a now familiar sound stopped us dead in our tracks. That stomping and grunting meant just one thing; a hunchback was coming to investigate the noise.

  “A hunchback is coming,” I hissed. “Quick, put it down and stand still. Don’t move a muscle.” The pole dropped to the ground and we made like statues just as the beast appeared around from the rear of the lab building. It was then that I remembered the guys back at the antenna hut and was pleased to see them all rooted to the spot as we were. The beast stomped towards them, head bobbing from side to side listening for any sounds that might indicate a meal was nearby. Several minutes went by as it circled the antenna hut and at one point got to within a couple of feet of Hank who remained steadfast and didn’t flinch. The guys told me later that every single one of them was praying Hank would be safe and I was deeply impressed with his courage and was reminding myself to make sure I told him so, when the unthinkable happened. The beast had just turned to leave the area when Stitch dropped his gun. It landed on the ground with a quiet but audible clonk and the beast snapped its head around in a flash and began stomping right towards him. He was going to be toast in seconds unless we did something, so I shouldered my gun and stepped forward. Before I could start yelling and screaming to get the beast’s attention, a loud roar reached our ears, and the beast’s too. The stomping stopped as it snapped its head around again and opened it jaws wide, head bobbing frantically as it aimed its lunge. Just then the huge hairy guy Adam stomped up to it and grabbed it around the neck with his left arm, before twisting it around and breaking its neck with his free hand. In less than a minute it was all over and the beast fell to the floor dead. The hairy guy looked at us and then sat down with a thud. We were stunned.

  “My god,” Cap hissed, “it saved their lives. Did you see that?”

  “Holy fuck,” I sighed, unable to articulate what I was feeling in a more eloquent way.

  “I guess the big guy just earned his place in the team huh?” Luggs said and we all nodded in agreement.

  “And he’s a he, not an it, okay?” I smiled and the guys all nodded.

  We picked up the pole and carried it back and Hank took a look and smiled.

  “That’ll do nicely,” he said. “Now we need to get the other one down. We need to unlock those docking clamps at the base there, then the whole thing will lift out. Then it’s just a case of removing the ring clamp that holds the laser generator nipple to the pole, putting it on the new one and lifting the whole thing into the hole and re locking the docking clamps.”

  “Okay, let’s do it,” I said as I walked up to take a look.

  “The docking clamps are not easy to undo I’m afraid,” Hank explained. “This type of setup is usually done with a code locked clamping system to avoid interference or sabotage. Basically what that means is that they need to be unlocked in a certain order or they won’t unlock at all.

  “Oh shit,” Dex exclaimed. “How many thousands of different permutations do we have to go through to find the right one?

  “Well only six actually,” Hank replied. “Thankfully there are only three docking clamps, which gives us just six possible permutations, so it shouldn’t take us long. Okay, now three of you guys, each stand by one of the clamps and when I call your name, you push the button and we’ll work out the system that way.” Carl, Stitch and Boy stepped up and placed themselves in front of a docking clamp. “Okay ready guys?” All three nodded. “Carl, Stitch, Boy,” he ordered and the guys pushed the clamps. Nothing happened. “Okay next try. Carl, Boy, Stitch.” Again the three guys pressed their clamps and again nothing happened. “Stitch, Boy, Carl,” Hank ordered and once again the guys pressed their clamps. Nothing happened and I swore. “Don’t worry,” Hank smiled. “Just three permutations to go and one of em has to work. Okay now guys. Stitch, Carl, Boy.” The three guys pressed their clamps and we were rewarded with an audible hiss as the gas escaped and the clamps fell away. We cheered and clapped Hank on the back.

  “Fantastic job Hank, I’m impressed, really.”

  “Just basic maths really,” he blushed. “Okay now we need to get the old antenna down and remove the generator nipple. Then fix it onto the new pole and lift it into the hole.” We approached the antenna and took hold. With a heave we all strained but it didn’t move.

  “Jeez this is heavier than it looks,” Cap remarked. Once again we all strained but nothing happened and we slumped away to catch our breath.

  “Once more guys, c’mon,” I encouraged and we all strained. Suddenly the pole flew out of the hole and up into the air and we all leapt away in shock. The guys yelled in surprise and I turned to see the hairy guy, Adam holding the pole aloft and looking at me with what can only be described as triumph. The guys all started to laugh and applaud and Adam grunted with what I was sure was pleasure. He put the antenna down and I approached him and looked up into his huge hairy face and enormous grey eyes that shone down at me with wisdom. “Thank you my friend,” I smiled and nodded at him. He sighed and grunted at me. “Okay guys let’s get that laser off and onto the new pole. “The ring clamp looks like a gas lock clamp.” It was simple to remove and I pressed the button in the centre of the clamp that held the generator around the antenna and heard the hiss as the gas escaped and loosened its hold. It fell into my hands and I gave it to Hank, who checked it over and smiled.

  “Seems to be fine,” he said and I sighed with relief and watched as he fitted it to the top of the new pole.

  “Now we need to get this new pole up and into the hole,” I said, knowing it was probably beyond our physical capabilities so I approached the hairy guy Adam and smiled. “Can you help us put the new one in?” I asked and indicated to the new pole. Using simple sign language to make it clear what we wanted, I touched the pole and then pointed to the hole and hoped he knew what I was driving at. He stepped over and hoisted the new pole high into the air with one hand and slid it effortlessly into the hole. We clamped the docking clamps in the same permutation as we’d unlocked them and sighed with relief as we clapped each other on the back. With a grin I looked at Adam. “Awesome job, thanks buddy.”


  “Okay, now we just have to get the generator nipple lined up properly with the mag receiver at the base,” Hank said. “I’ll get down the hatch and switch the standby on so that when they’re lined up, the whole system will automatically switch into operation mode.” He lifted the hatch and after a quick check to make sure nothing with teeth was sleeping down there, he descended the ladder and out of sight. A few seconds later a red light appeared from the base of the antenna pad.

  “We got a red light here Hank,” I called down into the hatch.

  “Good,” he yelled back. “That means the system recognises that they’re not lined up properly. When they are, it’ll turn blue so keep a check on that light okay? I’m gonna make tiny movements to the antenna from here and you yell stop when the light turns blue.”

  “Okay no problem,” I yelled back. “Hey guys see that red light? Keep watching it and yell when it turns blue okay?” The guys crowded around the base of the antenna, faces all turned to the floor. “Hey we need someone on lookout. Let’s not get sloppy huh.” Luggs and Dex shouldered their rifles and kept watch. From down in the hatch, Hank made tiny adjustments to the controls, which made tiny movements to the antenna, back and forth, trying to match up the generator nipple with the mag receiver in the ground so the power could flow once more. Several minutes went by and I began to get anxious. When the guys suddenly gave a yell of “blue, it’s blue,” it startled me out of my wits. “Stop Hank, it’s blue,” I yelled down the hatch and Hank grinned back up at me as a low hum could be heard. The hum rose in pitch until it was above the range of our ears and we all cheered and whooped. We were all grinning from ear to ear as I helped Hank out of the hole and closed the hatch. “Awesome job Hank, well done buddy.”

  “Glad to help,” he blushed.

  “Well done guys,” I smiled as the group gathered around and clapped Hank on the back. “Now let’s get back to the lab and wait for my sample to finish. While we’re doing that we can decide what we do next.”

  We made our way back to the lab without incident; the hairy guy Adam following behind us. Once we’d remade the barricade, just in case, I checked around and found a set of doctor’s overalls which I handed to Boy.

  “Here ya go buddy,” I smiled. “You go freshen up huh?”

  “Thanks,” he blushed.

  “It’s okay to be scared,” I said. “We all get scared sometimes.” He smiled and went to the bathroom.

  Stitch, Grelly and Cap were at the nutri vend making hot drinks and I went to join Flark and the others at the bag of snacks. “C’mon guys let me in huh. What ya got in there for a big guy like me? Hey what do you reckon Adam and Eve eat?”

  “Pretty much the same as us I would assume,” Cap replied.

  “You think so?”

  “Well think about it Sam. They’re so much like us in every other way so it stands to reason they’ll have a similar diet to us too. Doesn’t it?”

  “He has a point,” Dex remarked and several of the guys nodded.

  “Didn’t you notice that they never seem to be interested in any of the rotting bodies like the other creatures around here?” Bud remarked. “That would seem to indicate that their diet is a little more sophisticated don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, good point,” Baz nodded.

  “Then maybe when we’ve had a rest up and something to eat, we should go and investigate the stores and see if we can rustle up some real food that they can have too. They saved our lives back there so it’s the least we can do huh?”

  “Yeah,” Luggs replied and several heads nodded in agreement.

  Two hours later we sat down in the lab and examined our haul. We’d made the trip to the stores and back and only met one hunchback and three of the fat, bald things, all of which we despatched without a problem.

  “Okay what do we have?” I asked as I opened my bag. “I have four large cans of preserved fruit of some kind, 3 bags of dehydrated meat substitute and four of these green things,” I said as I held up a green spherical object about nine inches in diameter that looked like it was made up of tightly packed leaves. “It looks like some sort of vegetable don’t ya think?” Baz nodded and I heard a grunt behind me and turned to see the hairy guy Adam looking at me and sniffing so I held out the green thing and his eyes widened as he grunted again. He got up and came over and took it from me and bit into it. He seemed to enjoy it so I handed him the other three, which he took and went back to join Eve and the newborn. “Well we have a taker for the green things. What do the rest of you have?”

  Between the twelve of us we managed to bring back a decant haul, much of which should be suitable for Adam and Eve. We opened a couple of the cans of fruit and he seemed to enjoy them but he turned his nose up at the small spherical white things about an inch in diameter that Flark brought back. Grelly added some water to some of the dehydrated meat substitute and with a quick zap in the En-Con unit in the kitchen, we were soon enjoying a hot meal of sorts.

  “Guys,” I said after we finished eating. “We need to decide what we’re gonna be doing next.”

  “How do you mean Sam?” Bud asked.

  “Well now we’ve got the antenna working, we know no more creatures can get onto the island. There may very well still be some hanging around here though. Those flying things for instance; there may be plenty more of those hiding in the various buildings waiting for dark.”

  “So what are you saying?” Flark asked.

  “Well,” I replied, “do we have a clean up operation or leave things as they are?”

  “How much of the island is there still to explore?” Bud asked.

  “There’s the hospital that backs onto this lab, the recreation centre, the workshops near the antenna and the accommodation sector. Everything else is clear.”

  “I vote we leave it as it is,” Bud said. “Unless we’re planning to use those buildings, in which case we’d have to clear them but if we’re not, then it’s a waste of energy.”

  “Anyone disagree with that?” I asked. Nobody spoke as I looked around at the tired group and it was obvious that they were approaching the end of their endurance, at least for today so I was glad that no one disagreed. “Okay then let’s leave things as they are, at least for now and if anything changes or we find ourselves under siege, then we rethink okay?” Everyone nodded so we settled down to wait for my sample to finish processing. We chatted and got to know each other and by the time the buzzer let me know my sample was done, several of the guys had dozed off.

  The floor in the lab was hard and I rubbed my numb backside to get the blood flowing again as I sauntered over to the processor and pressed the screen for a digital readout. What greeted my eyes shocked me rigid. “Holy fuck,” I exclaimed and pressed the screen again to ensure the information was uploaded to my own mobile sampler.

  “What’s up?” Flark called from behind me.

  With wide eyes I turned and looked at the group, the astonishment still clear on my face. “I know who our mystery slasher is.”

  *****

  CHAPTER NINE

  The room went silent and eleven faces looked at me expectantly, eyes wide and mouths open. They stared at me and I stared back, the knowledge I’d just gained stunning me into silence for a moment. This was the last thing I’d expected.

  “Well?” Luggs said as he held out both hands and shrugged.

  “Sam, come on man, the suspense is killing me,” Dex encouraged.

  “It’s the kid,” I whispered, unable to believe it myself and not surprised when they didn’t either. “The kid did it.”

  “What?” Flark exclaimed as he looked around at the other guys. “The deaf and dumb kid? No, no I’m sorry Sam but that has to be a mistake.” The other guys all nodded at him.

  “The sample is confirmed as Agrillian blood type 5340QA with clone marker reference P84MJ756, belonging to Edward Kitt.” I showed them my sampler readout so they wouldn’t think I was making it up.

  “But I thought the old guy was Kitt,�
� Cap said. “Kitt Frail and his grandson Eddy Frail.”

  “Well it’s not such a departure is it?” I replied. “Kitt Frail, Eddy Frail, Edward Kitt; come on guys even I can work that out.”

  “But he’s just a kid,” Luggs said. “How old is he? Nine or ten maybe?”

  “Old enough for puberty to have hit,” Baz replied and I nodded.

  “Y’know it could be the old guy and not the kid,” Carl said. “We’re just assuming it’s the kid because we know him as Eddy but if they’ve changed their names around, the old guy could be the Edward.”

  “And they’ve probably taken names down through the family,” Baz said. “It’s Agrillian tradition that male names continue through the generations and they will most likely have done the same.”

  “So until we know for sure, we have to put them both into restraints until I can take a sample from each of them and see which matches this one. Baz, you said the clones had a mark branded on the backs of their necks?” He nodded in reply. “What sort of mark is it?”

  “The ones that were deemed healthy were given a brand yeah but the ones that were euthanased obviously didn’t have it. It’s a barcode with a unique number that identifies each one. If one of the crazies escaped the euthanasia they wouldn’t have the brand and as the kid was obviously born within the last ten or twelve years he won’t have it. Remember all this happened a couple of hundred years ago and all the clones should’ve died out long ago so these two are obviously descendents of ones that escaped somewhere. The only way the brand is gonna help you is if the killer is one of the safe ones who carries it, which is unlikely as he doesn’t look old enough to come from way back then. They have normal life spans like the rest of us so those original ones shouldn’t be alive now. He would have to be nearly two hundred years old.”

  “But they’re clones,” Boy remarked and we all looked round at him and frowned. “They’re identical to their parent and therefore their blood will be identical too won’t it? That record you have could very well be from a couple of clone generations ago but that doesn’t matter because our slasher will have identical blood to whoever he was cloned from. It won’t matter if he doesn’t have the brand.”