“I know, Phillip.” I put my gun down and tightened my ponytail. I always fidgeted with my hair when nervous or uncertain. Or just damn bored. I sat down and put my hand on her stomach. It was moving. I jumped back and raised my gun.
Blood and birthing liquid gushed out from between her legs. She screamed and a creature clawed its way out of her. I almost gagged. I had seen and even experienced some pretty disgusting things, but this beat it all. I fired until it was still. Well, that announced my presence before I wanted to but I wasn't leaving that thing to roam around.
“They raped her. She just gave birth to a creature. I think I know why they keep women alive and rape them. It’s how they breed.”
“Why not breed with their own women?”
“Maybe they don’t have any. Or maybe it’s something to do with the human environment. Remember the dead one they found on my planet? They don’t need exactly what a human needs. Maybe their home world is destroyed and the only way they can live in ours is with some of our DNA. Or maybe the half human babies are used for fodder. Who knows? I don’t think the why is exactly important right now. What's important is they are doing it.”
“Weren’t you raped by one?”
I was silent for a moment. Not a memory I liked to remember, but it could be important so I had to roll with it. “Yes.”
“How come you didn’t get pregnant?”
“I don’t know I was unconscious for days after Jane found me. Maybe I got treatment in time. Maybe they are allergic to something we use as medicine and it poisoned it. Or maybe Jane and the hospital made me miscarry. I could have been pregnant. I’d have never known if I miscarried. Like I said, I was unconscious.”
It was silent for a minute as Phillip thought about the possibilities.
“Maybe I was too close to death. This girl had some bruises and cuts but she could have been treated. She looked to be dehydrated a bit, but maybe the only reason she was breathing so shallow was because of the… baby, I guess you’d call it. It is a foreign thing inside you. Maybe it kills the body as the baby grows. It could be any number of things. It could be as simple as you don’t get pregnant every time you have sex. It’s true for us so maybe it’s true for them as well. We can't really speculate.”
“True. Grab a sample of her blood if you have any sample containers with you.”
I scooped some of her blood in one, labeled it pregnant human, and put some of the dead baby’s blood in another and labeled it half-breed. “Of course I have containers. God, you’d think this was my first mission.”
“Hey, I saw you packing bullets in that belt. I didn’t know if you thought to put anything else in there.”
“For your information, I have a first aid kit and sample containers.”
“Goody for you.”
Normally we weren’t very vocal on a mission but he was in fact transmitting information to our superiors as I gave it to him, so no silence this time.
“Phillip, do you think they would just leave pregnant women here and come back to get surviving babies later? I mean, why not bring the women with them? I wouldn’t chance the future of my race by leaving them here. Even if they are just fodder for the front lines when the war starts."
“The more they have the less of them have to fight. Good point. I’ll pack up my stuff and have a look around. Maybe I can find something. Keep checking in every few minutes, I’ll do the same.”
“Affirmative.”
With that, Phillip went off in search of a camp or some sort of alien village. How much of a village could they have set up after only ten hours? A camp, yes, but a permanent establishment in which to care for newborns? I just couldn’t see it.
I kept looking. “Phillip, did you memorize the map?”
“Of course.”
“Good, I’m in a lab. It was white by the looks of it. It has some equipment lying around broken.”
I set some more c-4 around the hallway before going in.
“Is it an actual doorway or a hole in a wall?”
I looked across the room and saw a doorway, and then looked around me. Nothing that looked like pieces of a frame. “Hole in a wall.”
“That’s it. Go in, retrieve what you must, then I’ll lead you to the computer lab.”
“Understood.”
I went in and looked for a fridge. The samples were originals and located in the fridge. The extras that hadn’t been tested on. I briefly wondered what the samples were of but then remembered the first rule. I didn’t ask, they didn’t tell. I was given the information that I needed and that was relevant. The only thing I needed to know about the samples were how to find them.
I found the fridge tipped over and under the remains of another wall; I moved the pieces as quickly and quietly as possible. I opened the door to find many things smashed. I wasn't taking anything broken, whether it was the sample they needed or not.
“What color were the samples I needed?”
“A green one, two blues and a reddish rust color.”
I found the green, and in one piece. I couldn't see any reddish colored one. Or anything that looked like a rust color. I found only one blue but decided that was better than nothing.
“I have one green, one blue and no reddish colors in this entire fridge.”
I heard him sigh on the other line.
“Only one blue?”
“The other is smashed and mixed with some other liquid.”
“All right. Head out the door, take a right and go straight until you see computers. That will be the room you need to hack the system.”
“Affirmative.”
I went out the door after putting some c-4 on the fridge. If this stuff was important we didn’t want the aliens to get their hands on it. I knew they could have already, but letting them get more would be irresponsible of me.
I followed Phillip’s directions and ended up walking half a mile before I even found the remains of computers. I managed to find a working one. I sat down in front of it and looked at the message on the screen. Looks like the message that we had got saying that the base had been overrun. I wondered what had happened to the soldier that had risked his life to send this message. I prayed he was in a better place, and started hacking.
I slipped a disk in and recorded the encrypted information that I had been told to retrieve. I didn’t have time to break the code but the people working on it would. I never understood why backups of everything weren’t kept at the other bases. Even if no one there is working on it, it doesn't hurt to have a backup in case this happens. Then no time is wasted.
“Helen, we have a problem.”
“Report.” I stopped staring at the computer and listened. Great, so much for this going smoothly.
“I hope you are done.”
“Why?” There was a pause.
“They are coming.”
“How many?” I looked to see how much more time the computer needed. About three minutes. Great.
“Well, it’s hard to say from here, but it looks like twenty or so.”
“Christ. I have three minutes before I can blow the lab and get out. Get back to the jet and start her up. Don’t fly unless you have to.”
“But it might draw them away.”
“No! I don’t want them to know we are here unless it’s while we escape. If you draw them away with the jet, they will know. We want the element of surprise. We both know it’s the only way we can outrun them. I’ll get the info and be out as soon as I can. I’ve planted c-4 along the way so I can use that to keep them busy. Just be ready to help me get out of here.”
“All right. I’m on my way back to the jet. Please hurry.”
“I’m going as fast as the computers will.”
I knew Phillip would be nodding and cursing technology in his head. He loved his computer; it was like his best friend. The computers at the base school, the one we were now at, were not up to his standards. He had put over three thousand dollars into a base model getting it just right for h
im. These were standard computers. Fast to the public, slow to us.
I left the computer lab, hoping no one would get there before I got back. I went back to the beginning where I had come in and saw soldiers. Aliens in dress-like things followed them. So, they did have women. Unless they were all Scottish men aliens wearing kilts, or Romans wearing toga dresses. I know a toga is not a dress but it sure looks like one to me. I waited until as many were in as I thought the c-4 could impact. I hit a button and set off the first set around the door. It blew and I heard what I believed to be alien cursing. It sounded pissed off.
“How is it going?”
“Charge one was a success. Crushed at least eight. Injured a few more. Phillip, I think they are coming in to collect the babies. Some were carrying blankets and wearing dresses. I think they are nurses or something. So, they must have a camp around here.”
“They are using the village outside the school as their home base.”
The rest of the aliens were already inside and trapped, unable to get out the door or what was left of it; they screamed and roared on ahead. I covered my ears for a split second then lifted my gun. I had to draw them to the lab, where I had c-4 set up in the hallway and by the fridge. I fired and hit one in a dress. It went down. Those weren’t wearing armor. They were civilians. There were only a few left. I counted twelve in all. Four civilians and eight soldiers. I’d had worse odds before.
The soldiers moved in front and pursued me. I didn’t expect them to be so fast and ended up shooting while running to keep them far enough away for me to escape. I blew the second charge, which caught the four nurses and one soldier.
“Shit!”
“What's going on there?”
“Can't talk now, just a bit busy.”
I kept shooting and running. I blew the fridge as soon as I had the door closed behind me. The blast must have been intensified by something in the fridge because I was blown down the hall. I got up and ran back. I had been blown past my turn. Unfortunately, a soldier picked that moment to come out of the rubble on this side and run at me.
“Shit!”
I threw my empty m-16 on the ground. I drew my sword in the time it takes to blink. It came at me and I fought it off as best I could. Unfortunately, it wasn't injured by the blast. Their armor was hell to get around. That’s why my sword often worked better. More control than a flying bullet.
I, however, was bleeding, which I discovered when blood flooded into one of my eyes. I was disarmed and I did the only thing I could. I dove to the floor and drew my knife. I ended up under him and stabbed up. It grunted as I drew the knife out and thrust again where one of our major arteries was located in the thigh.
It fell over with a thump and I sighed gratefully.
“So that knife in the penis thing works for you guys too. Good to know.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Helen?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
I put my sword back in its sheath and put my gun over my shoulder. I bent down and grabbed my knife. I pulled it out and wiped it off on his pants. I wasn't getting my clothes all covered in alien blood. Who knew what that would do to me? I grabbed a sample dish out of my belt, scooped a sample in, and labeled it dead alien. Made me proud.
I heard the others digging through the rubble. I ran into the lab and set some charges around. Damn, I should have brought more c-4. I reloaded my gun and took the disc out of the computer. I shoved it into my belt and grabbed a cloth out of my first aid kit. I wiped the blood out of my eye and off my face. Damn, my head hurt. I pressed it against the cut.
Scraping sounds told me it was time to go. I threw down the cloth and ran down the hall, putting c-4 throughout as I went.
“I’m in the hall outside the computer lab. How do I get out?”
“Keep going straight until you come to a window that overlooks a court. You can jump out there.”
“Window? Are you frickin’ serious? You think a window is still standing here? Try again. At the end of the hall is where a window used to be, but it is now rubble.”
“Go left.”
I did and ended up shooting as I went. I set off the charges I had set in the hallway. They went off but these guys were damned determined and hard to kill. I finally found a hole in the wall, leading to the outside. I dumped the rest of my c-4 inside and jumped out, pressing the detonator as I went. I landed in time to have a chunk of wall land where I had been standing and another go over my head.
“That could have hurt. Phillip, I’m in the courtyard. I made a damn big mess and lots of loud noise. I guarantee that reinforcements are on their way. Oh, and I have a gushing head wound. Please fly your ass in this direction.”
“Roger that.”
I started to run, and made it outside the compound as Phillip flew over. He landed and popped open the hood.
“Out. I’m flying.”
“You’re wounded.”
“I’m a better pilot.”
We stared for a few minutes until a bullet struck near us. We both ducked our heads and looked in the direction of the shot. Damn. The reinforcements, and not ours.
“Time to go.”
“Okay, you can drive.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
We jumped in and I set a missile flying in their direction. “Hold on.” I hit the speed of light button.
“Thanks for disabling the autodestruct.”
He nodded and I shot off all of the missiles that the jet was equipped with at the town they were camping at, and hit the accelerator.
“We are so out of here.” We flew out with no one following.
Chapter Ten (Helen)
I made sure to go off track a bit and backtrack a bit to make sure we weren’t followed. It sounded paranoid, but I didn’t want to lead them to another school of children. Even if these were more capable of defending themselves. We landed at the airport, where we dropped off the jet and jumped into a helicopter that was waiting for us.
“Helen, Phillip. I take it the mission was a success.”
I nodded. “As much as possible. One of the liquids was missing all together. The red one. And I couldn't get two of the other. Other than that, things went well.”
“So why are you bleeding?”
I had forgotten about that. I reached up to smooth my hair over the spot. Jane looked at me disapprovingly.
“Don’t do that. It needs to be looked at when you get back to Paris. So, how did this happen if everything went according to plan?”
“Well, we discovered that they are mating with humans. We have theories but nothing to prove any of them. Phillip typed them up, he can send them to you.” I didn’t need to ask, I already knew Phillip would have typed them up. As expected, he nodded affirmative when Jane looked to him and raised an eyebrow in question. When she turned back to me, I continued.
“They were coming to collect the babies - I guess you’d call them - and I was still inside downloading the information I was to retrieve. I killed them all, or buried them alive, and we got a few more that came after us once we had gotten back to the jet. Don’t worry, I made sure we weren’t followed.”
“Very well. I guess we will have to make do with what you got.”
I nodded. Ass. She was in her ‘you can't do anything right’ mode.
“Well, if you’re going to be like that, then I guess I won't give you the samples I got while in there.”
“Your job was to get the samples so you damn well better hand them over.”
I smiled and handed her the samples I took from the fridge. I then pulled out the samples I had gotten of the creatures and pregnant girl. I dangled them in front of her. “I meant these. Samples of the pregnant girl I found, the creature that came out of her, and one of the aliens. A soldier, I believe.”
Her frown instantly turned into a smile.
“Very good, Helen. All right, I concede. Well-done, Helen. You obviously know what you are doing.”
I handed them over and rubb
ed my head. It was starting to hurt now that the adrenaline had worn off. I had been too worried about being caught and killed earlier to worry about a little cut on the head. Now I wasn't in danger and it hurt like hell. Head cuts, no matter how shallow, always hurt. I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel where my first aid kit sat. My real one with more than a few band aids and what not like my travel one. You couldn’t carry much for first aid on a mission. A swipe of my miracle ointment and I’d be as good as new.
“We will have you taken to a hospital where you can be taken care of.”
“No thanks. I have a first aid kit at the hotel and if Phillip is willing to help I’m sure we can handle it. If I need stitches I’ll go to a hospital and call you. I think it looks worse than it is. It’s only bleeding so badly because it’s on the head.”
She nodded.
“All right. I’ll trust your judgment. You have doubtless had worse injuries before, and know better than anyone how badly you are injured.”
I nodded. It was true. I could tell I wasn't seriously injured. I’d been through worse and survived.
“Good. I really want to sleep tonight and hospital beds are not the most comfortable.”
Jane smiled and laughed.
“Very well, dear. We will drop you off at the hotel.”
She turned and gave the pilot directions. We weren’t that off course so it didn’t take long to reach the landing spot on the roof. This hotel catered to some very rich people and so it did have a landing spot on top. As well as a few other niceties which you wouldn’t find in other hotels. Phillip and I were glad to be back. We both sighed in relief over the job being done.
“Let’s go see the General and let him know we are back. Then it’s off to my room to get me cleaned up. Oh, and Phillip, let’s try to avoid people. I hate stopping and answering questions. It’s not like I can tell them anything. I mean, for Christ’s sake, if I could have told anyone I would have brought them along. You’d think they would know that. I mean, being in the military should imply that the word classified has meaning.”
Phillip laughed.
“You are starting to sound more like yourself. You’ve been off since joining this damn school. I guess you just needed a job.”
No Life, Only Death Page 18
