Bringing the native fruit closer to his mouth, he raised his weapon and peered through the branches. He could see Dwight Stephens being held hostage by Brigadier Kenneth Black. His eyes scoured the area and noticed another human in the party, one he hadn’t recognized before. He keenly spotted another pack of hostiles that were leading two more humans to the caves. If he were to save them, he would have to act fast, and efficiently.
Black walked over to Bud with a sly grin on his face. “Stephens, I have to be honest with you, it sucks to be old. I mean we are what sixty-two?, Or something like that? I lost track after our four-year frozen slumber. I definitely look good for my age, I mean I feel great inside. But, you on the other hand.” Black sized up Stephen’s condition. “The leathery skin, the sagging bags under the eyes, and oh, let us not forget your little heart problem.” Black placed his hand on Bud’s chest. “Did you also lose your manhood as well?”
“What are you driving at Black?” Bud demanded an answer. “Cause, I’m running of patience, and that doesn’t bode well for the enemy.”
“Can you feel your heart getting better?” Black asked, gently pushing on Bud’s ailing chest with his right hand. Black’s newfound abilities included rapid regeneration, even sharing this new power with those he deemed worthy of saving. [At least according to his plan for world domination].
Bud’s breathing slowly returned to normal, and his chest seemed to open up inside.
“I can give you eternal life,” Black said. “Join my army, and be at my side as we conquer the world. The two of us, just like the old days when we were serving in the Marines,” Black offered.
“I want my family,” Bud’s voice turned grizzly.
“Join my cause, and you can see your family.” Black withdrew his hand from Bud’s chest. “They did put a fight, I’ll give them that.”
“Stop talking,” Bud muttered clenching his fists.
“They were reluctant to turn, upset over you abandoning them, but I warmly welcomed them into my family.”
“They are not your family.” Bud’s emotions escalated, blurring his own moral line between right and wrong.
“I can sense your fear escalating,” Black shook his finger at Stephens. “I like that firestorm that’s brewing in your belly. I can certainly harness that drive and use it to demolish the human race.”
Ambush Part II
Commander Thaddeus Kaspar, a well-educated man of the Russian military knew that Sergeant Bud Stephens wouldn’t bring a knife to a gunfight. Bud had to have some sort of backup plan in place. Kaspar seamlessly retreated back to his old self, a thought-provoking Commander of the Russian Army. Kaspar would later earn his strips as a top-notch pilot for the Russians. His uncanny three-dimensional thought process would place the commander ahead of his peers in their military training. Kaspar usually kept to himself, never allowing his skill to emerge to the point of distraction. Kaspar kept scanning the surrounding area, trying to catch sight of anything that could help them in turning the tables on Black. Out of the corner of his right eye, Kaspar noticed the thinnest branch bristle. Using a casual bending of his aging knees, Kaspar knelt down next to the water and ran his scraped fingers along the rocks trying to find the perfect one.
“We have you surrounded Black,” the voice bellowed out from the jungle.
“Captain,” Black ordered while he twirled around attempting to find the captain’s location. “Stephens, you are a wily fox. You’ve brought reinforcements.”
“I never bring a knife to a gunfight,” Bud added with a wrinkled smirk, “you should know me better than that.”
“Captain, show your face!” Black whipped around his pistol ready to fire.
“Black.” The captain emerged from the southern end of the clearing. He brought the exotic fruit up to his mouth and took out a sizable chunk with his teeth. A steady stream of juice twirled down his chin.
“Captain James Marshal Page,” Black made the formal introduction. “I say you are a little bit too late to prevent me from leaving here with a few more pigs for my doctor to enjoy,” Black said with a dry tone. The aliens twisted and turned underneath his decaying skin, fueling his brain with another adrenaline rush.
“In the flesh,” Page summed it up with another vicious bite, severing the exotic fruit. “Now, let my men go.” He wiped away the sticky juice from his chin.
“Not without a fight,” Black hissed.
“We have you surrounded Black, I have two more groups swarming around the clearing. I have your gliders surrounded. There’s no escaping.”
Black licked his lips and sucked in his tongue. “You see, I beg to differ.” His fingers tightened around the pistol, while he continued to pace around in front of Bud, Kaspar, and Page’s own mini group. “You didn’t think I’d come to a picnic without bringing some fireworks.”
“What are you talking about?” Page flipped over the fruit in mid-air, catching it and taking another bite from the other side. His men stood a few feet away from the Captain, waiting for his order.
“I have these jungles rigged with all sorts of nice little surprises.” Black heightened the drama with a sneer. “Always the consummate professional, I’d like to introduce chaos into our little chess game.” He steadied the pistol, and fired off a shot in Page’s direction. “It adds some depth to our character. Don’t you think?” Black patiently waited for his trap to spring on the unsuspecting Captain.
“I’d say you’re a few millimeters short of a ruler,” Page insisted Black’s insanity had taken a dangerous turn. A sharp rustling sound caught Page by surprise. He scooted his cumbersome feet and tactfully moved forward, instinctively rotating his clockwise. “Son-of-a-bitch,” he muttered. “Trap! Trap!” Page shouted to his men, alerting the imminent danger.
Before they could react, two cumbersome branches fell from the treetops swinging low, catching the two men by surprise. On the end of the reformed logs were mile-long spikes equipped with small cylindrical bulbs that harnessed an explosive mixture. After impact, the trap was designed to explode shredding everything in its immediate perimeter.
Page’s balance throttled, sending him sprawling to the ground. His fruit rolled away from his hand, and entered the water, floating momentarily, before several odd looking fish devoured it.
“Now, that’s a show,” Black said taking in the black plume of smoke rising to the dusk skyline.
“I’m gonna shred your body, spilling your guts like a bag of skittles.” Page angrily rose from the ground and opened fire on Black. Bullet after bullet escaped from the Glock’s chamber, pummeling the area surrounding Black. A significant amount of green leaves, branches and dirt swirled in the air around Black.
Captain Page’s relentless force sent Bud diving for cover. Kaspar ingeniously pounced on the confusion, attacking the distracted solider, thrusting the jagged rock against the side of the bewildered soldier’s head. After several furious blows, the unlucky soldier spilled blue blood in the shallow water, his face pressed against the soft sandy material underneath. His legs finally stopped kicking about, ceasing to thrash the water with his assailing legs.
“You missed,” Black taunted the emotional Captain. “I’d like to stay and chat,” Black said, waving goodbye. “Stephens, we will meet again,” Black assured while he approached the cave’s entrance. “Page,” Black addressed the pilot. “Don’t try to follow me,” Black ordered, withdrawing a small orange and black detonator from his pocket. “Watch carefully. I’m only going to show this once,” he said, drawing everyone’s attention towards the idle gliders on the hilltop above the clearing. Black had stolen the gliders from the Apollo in the confusion stemming from the intense crash.
“What now?” Page huffed, rapidly brushing off the small stones that had collected to his clothes.
“I don’t know,” Bud said, “but, that can’t be good.”
“Can you see the gliders?” Black made sure Page had a clear visual of the glider.
“Yes.” Page became irr
itable at Black’s cat-and-mouse game. “What about it?”
“And your men?” Black insisted that Captain Page look directly at the gliders.
“What are you up to?” Page didn’t like where this was headed. Black’s mentality officially became murky, often swimming in the ocean of insanity.
Kenneth Black pressed the button igniting the gliders in a pair of fireballs, rocking the gliders side to side, sending them careening down the hilltop in a heated, screaming orange and red concoction. “Page, don’t try to follow me,” Black repeated, escaping into the caves.
“Cover! Bud, Kaspar! Duck for cover!” Page was inches away from Kaspar when he yanked the Commander by the neck and pulled him to safety. The first glider skidded off the hilltop and crashed several yards from Bud, leaving several treetops ablaze in an orange tinge. The severed cockpit had blocked Bud’s escape route to the jungle, forcing the Marine to alertly take refuge inside the dismantled cockpit. He watched as the second glider’s odd trajectory sent the mammoth piece of machinery slamming to the earth, kicking up a mixture of soil and rock, showering it down on the trapped threesome. The Captain’s vicinity to the cave’s entrance disabled him as well from escaping the glider as the fiery plane screamed down, entering the clearing, scattering thousands of debris filled fireballs, and blocking the cave’s only entrance.
Several pieces of fire soaked metal from the glider screamed towards the Captain.
Captain James Page raised his, covering his face from the impending swarm of hot metal. Somewhere deep inside his brain, he swore that he could hear Black’s voice inside the caves, mocking him, until Black’s final words had escaped with him into the depths of the cave.
Rubble rained down on the scattered survivors, discharging metal and fiery remnants across the clearing. Scuffling across the debris saturated ground, Commander Kaspar pulled his way through the treacherous clearing. His suit torn, skin peeled back, and black-cherry blood dripping from his fresh wounds, the Commander remained undeterred from investigating the rest of the group.
Stirring a few feet away from the disheveled Russian Commander, Captain James Page pried away from his scorched flesh, sheets of hot metal left behind from the glider’s intensified crash. Page’s eyes burned, yet he managed to gather himself and scour the area for his men. The thin blanket of smoke had choked the area, refusing to dissipate, leaving visibility at a debilitating disadvantage for Captain Page.
“Captain,” Kaspar’s words churned through the tough smoke cloud.
A short grumble alerted Kaspar to the Captain’s generalized location.
“Here, give me your hand.” Kaspar stretched out his battle-worn hand. His fingernails jarred loose from beating the solider to death with the rock, blood trickled from underneath the craggy surface.
“Do you see Stephens?” Page choked out the words, placing his burned hands on his knees.
“You need a doctor,” Kaspar surveyed the Captain’s dire condition, “your injuries look like first-degree burns.”
“Don’t concern yourself with me,” Page fiercely ordered the Commander to resume the search for Bud Stephens. “We don’t leave until we find Stephens,” Page declared.
“Dead or alive?” Kaspar squatted while looking underneath the belly of the dark cloud of smoke.
“Preferably alive,” Page countered. “Either way, we are not leaving here without him.”
“Get your hands off of me!” Gillian burst in hysterics.
Shaw, walking alongside Gillian added his two-cents, “I’d do as she suggests,” Shaw chimed in.
“Do you like your nuts where they are?” Gillian asked, squirming in Han’s grasp.
“He’ll get back his rifle,” Shaw said with a sly grin. “And when he does, he’s gonna shoot that fucking smirk right off that misshapen head of yours.”
Hans unloaded a harsh barrage to Shaw’s head with the butt of the rifle. “Do you really want to die in these caves?” The angry soldier snarled at Shaw.
“Isn’t that your plan anyway?” Gillian butted in.
“Let’s all calm down,” Black’s voice echoed through the cave.
“He’s riding my last nerve Sir,” Hans said. He then let off a hard kick, at Shaw’s rib cage, rolling the Lieutenant across the dirty floor.
“Shaw,” Black calmly addressed the Lieutenant, who by this time had enough beatings to break any man’s morale.
Shaw’s arrogant defiance to answer the evil Brigadier only spurned Black to raise his voice even more.
“Shaw!” Black angrily addressed him once more.
Shaw groggily stood up and pretended to take a short breather. Characteristic of the type of soldier and leader Shaw had achieved throughout his military career. The cave narrowed to a long, dark corridor, where alternating lamps were lit on each side of the rocky walls. The steel caged lamps held large vanilla colored candles, with extremely long wicks. The medium sized flames flickered about on introduction to a flight breeze pouring through the cave’s corridor. Shaw remembered the candles being part of the fleet’s inventory, to prepare for power failures and setting up camp on the intended destinations.
Shaw was surrounded by Black, Gillian and her captor, and another soldier standing guard behind Black. Hans, Shaw’s captor, stood directly diagonal to the Lieutenant, his back facing the wall and the lit lamps.
“I’m not going with you,” Shaw answered Black’s angry echoes.
“I didn’t know you did stand up comedy,” Black snorted. “You really don’t have a choice.” Black released his grip on the hungry Doberman’s.
“I beg to differ on that one.” Shaw eyeballed Hans and the dangling rifle. Hans was too busy listening to Black that he had loosened up his grip on the weapon.
“Even if you did manage to pull off a Houdini, you’ll never escape these caves. I know them inside and out, and my Doberman’s will hunt you down and feast on your miserable flesh.”
“A bit dramatic aren’t we?” Shaw said with his patented smirk. He turned his head to Gillian who had finally ceased her wriggling, and fiercely stood in place, her lips contorted in a pout displaying her combination of anger and disgust. Her face reminded Shaw of a small kid who didn’t get what they wanted at Christmas. “This second-rate dick-tator [Shaw had placed an extra emphasis on the dick part], can’t hold a flame to Adrian and his sardonic wit.”
“Oh, I agree,” Gillian responded, her voice slowly returned back to the sarcastic wit she frequently displayed for her peers. “This guy is definitely no Adrian, and we all know how I feel about that bum.”
“Yeah, Adrian has a better delivery,” Shaw rambled on , adjusting the situation to his benefit. Shaw had always the gift of conversation and this time Gillian certainly didn’t mind him chatting up a storm. “This guy needs some serious acting classes.”
“Yeah, and a better publicist. At least Adrian knew how to make an entrance.” Gillian dug her feet in the soil, shifting it about underneath her space boots.
“Okay, enough,” Black rumbled. “Are we ready to continue through the caves? I’m on a bit of a time schedule.”
“A time schedule?” Shaw asked. “Does the Missus have you pussy-whipped?”
“I warned you about your tongue.” Black shook his finger back and forth.
“I’ll give you an example of what I mean about Adrian,” Shaw said.
“I think I’ll pass,” Black urged Shaw to stop talking and start walking down the corridor.
“If you let me tell my story, then I will follow every one of your ridiculous orders. Deal?” Shaw offered the truce.
“Make it short,” Black growled. He disliked the comparisons to this Adrian character. What made him better than Black?
“So, Adrian made this last second entrance into the energy room aboard the Abagail,” Shaw began his story while he paced about buying time. “And, he was coming to kill me.”
“Let’s move this along,” Black urged Shaw to expedite his story.
“As I moved into
the generator room, I attached the C-4 to the main corners of the room in an attempt to blow the entire space station to bits, and taking these fucking critters with it.” Shaw could tell he had hit another soft spot with Black. “Oh, I see you have taken a liking for these little shits.”
“Hans, your right, he does wear thin on the patience.” Black gargled his words as the infant
Carnelian’s moved about underneath his skin, snaking their way up and down the side of his neck, slowly expanding Black’s grimy skin.
“I set off some charges and caught Adrian by surprise, after his dramatic entrance ,” Shaw slipped back to a self-induced flashback as the entire scene raced through his head, and he spat out verbatim as it happened:
“Now, that’s wasn’t wise.” Adrian used the generator’s railing to stand back up.
Shaw pulled out the detonator. “It looks like the Commander has successfully reached the ship and caused quite a stir out there.”
“What are you doing?” Adrian asked.
“I’m going to blow you right into the next dimension.” Shaw’s jaw line tightened. “Enjoy your trip Adrian.” Shaw flipped open the lid.
Adrian charged at Shaw colliding with the Lieutenant, sending the detonator sliding across the floor. The two men shuffled across the floor, locked in a tight embrace.
Shaw felt Adrian’s claws ripping through his suit.
“Man to man,” Adrian said with a smirk.
“Man to alien is more like it.” Shaw brought up his knee right into Adrian’s groin.
Shaw let off a series of wild shots to Adrian’s face. “Is that wound from the Commander?” Shaw noticed the freshly made slash across the left side of Adrian’s bloodied neck.
“A nice door prize from our dance earlier.” Adrian returned the favor and countered with a hard right hook into Shaw’s face.
“You are not getting on that ship,” Shaw threatened. He saw his chance and headed right for the idle detonator.
“I beg to differ.” Adrian raised his hand and sent another wave of energy into Shaw’s body. Shaw head-first careened into the railing. “I’d like to continue this little fight of ours, but I have a flight to catch.”
Wrath of the Carnelians (Europa) Page 18
