Genetic Drift

by Martin Schulte

  “Thanks… for… not shooting,” Kenny said. He didn’t bother to find a place to sit or rest. He fell down to the ground and lay there. “I just need some time to catch my breath,” Kenny said in between deep breaths.

  “Don’t worry about it,” said the man, “we’re all waiting for the others to come back.” Kenny was relieved that they were going to wait.

  “That’s a great plan,” Kenny said, and his arms fell down to his side as the rising and falling of his chest continued.

  One of the blue animals approached the group. It looked like a household cat with huge ears that folded forward. Another man in the group saw it and walked up to it. He wanted to see what exactly it was. The blue kitty didn’t run away. It didn’t make a sound. It seemed like an innocent little kitten. The man wanted to see if it was friendly so he bent over and extended his hand to pet it. The blue kitty began to back away and the man brought his hand back to his body. The blue kitty stopped backing away when he withdrew. He took that as an invitation for another petting attempt. He leaned over and reached his hand out again.

  There was silence as the man stuck out his hand. Out of the woods, the knife-footed animal ran at him and sunk its foot into his head. His body slumped immediately. The animal flicked its foot to the side and the man slid from the blade, landing on the ground. The blue kitty placed itself behind one of the animal’s knives. The commotion caught the attention of the others waiting on the hill. They went for their guns to defend themselves but the knife-footed animal was quick. It ran toward the mass of people and began to slash and slice. Arms and legs and heads were severed from their bodies.

  The blue kitty attacked as well. It jumped on one person’s leg and distracted him long enough for the knife-footed animal to plunge its foot into his chest. Kenny lay in silence as he watched the carnage. He was so tired that he couldn’t have moved if he tried. The last person standing aimed his gun and started to shoot the behemoth. A bullet hit the animal in its long neck. The quills took the shape of a cross as it immediately covered its neck and head. The man continued to shoot as the blue beast walked towards him. A click sounded from his gun as he tried to fire an empty magazine. Click, click, click.

  The quills went back to their normal position and the behemoth lunged at the man sticking two of its knives into his chest. The blue kitty ran away and the behemoth stood with its knives stuck in the man. It sniffed the air again and jumped off of the man. Just as quickly as it had struck, it ran down the hill toward Camp Phoenix. Kenny watched it as it ran out of view. When he couldn’t see it anymore he was filled with enough adrenaline to jump to his feet. He ran straight to the fortress in hopes of finding the other group.

  DAY 284

  FORTRESS

  THE FORTRESS GROUNDS

  “Rho, how did you fix my eye and my hand? Everyone else has normal healing except me,” Maddie thought to Rho.

  “Maddie, I healed you with what I was given. There were only red amino acids available when your eye was injured. We could only use them as a source to fix your body. As for your hand, I thought we could use a hand that was infused with the metal scraps. It was a source to make us a stronger body. Your hand should be able to absorb fire from orbitizers now, or at least most of it,” Rho answered.

  Maddie hadn’t given it much thought until now. Her metal hand was now made from the same material that the orbitizers couldn’t penetrate. She liked Rho’s genius with what it did for her. She picked up her hand and started to look at it. As she looked at her hand, she noticed Hope and Jay walking in front of her. “What is happening inside of Hope?” she asked.

  “The vessel you call Hope and her other being are learning to integrate. The other being will find where it needs to integrate and will work in harmony with the vessel,” Rho explained.

  Maddie watched silently as Hope and Jay talked. Rho continued, “The other being has accepted us as its queen mother and will follow us. It is not as integrated as we, so I cannot tell you what will happen if the vessel attempts to reject the other being’s desire to follow us as the queen mother.”

  Hope turned back and approached Maddie. Maddie quickly dropped her hand and greeted Hope, “How’s everything going? Are you feeling okay?” Hope smiled.

  “Thank you so much. This is so much cooler than not knowing what is inside of me,” Hope said.

  “Do you have conversations with each other?” Maddie asked. Hope dropped her smile.

  “You can talk to each other?” Hope asked. Maddie felt bad that she had asked.

  “I didn’t mean to ask you—” she said. Hope’s smile returned.

  “I’m just kidding with you. Yes, we talk all of the time. Her name is Kappa and she totally understands me,” Hope said.

  Quill approached from behind, “Are you two plotting somethin’?” Maddie stopped and turned around.

  “Why are you so worried? Do you really think we want to be like this?” Maddie asked.

  “Yeah, we are the way we are and you’ll have to accept that,” Hope said, and she took a couple steps and turned to follow Maddie.

  Quill pointed at Maddie, “You,” and then pointed at Hope, “and you, it’s not you I don’t trust, it’s what is inside of you.” Quill dropped his hand and ushered Maddie and Hope in front of him. “You two walk in front of me.” Maddie started to walk and Hope ran to Jay.

  Jay stopped in his tracks and stared at the path in front of them. Hope caught up to him, “What is that?” She stood beside him and looked at the purple moss on the forest floor. Maddie reached the stopping point.

  “Rho, what is this stuff?” she asked.

  “It has to be from the old planet. This is one of the reasons that we have to get to the interface. I can’t identify the substance,” Rho responded. Maddie put her hands on her hips and her lips shifted to the side.

  “What do you mean that you can’t identify the stuff?” she asked.

  “There is a massive database of the organisms from the other hosts’ planet. I can gather that information if we get to the interface,” Rho explained.

  “More alien crap,” Quill said as he saw the lines of purple in front of them. He continued to walk past the three and straight to the moss. As he walked, he removed his blade from his makeshift scabbard and starting whipping the blade to stir the moss. The back and forth motion of his blade quickened, “Alien crap, alien crap, it’s all alien crap.” Maddie, Hope, and Jay walked to Quill. The whipped moss was flying to Quill’s left and right as he continued to create a path. One of the purple remnants landed on Maddie and she picked it off of her arm.

  “Rho, do you know what this is now? I’m holding it.”

  “No Maddie, I cannot communicate with everything from the other hosts. It does seem benign,” Rho answered. Maddie took Rho’s word as a cue to not walk behind Quill. She overtook him and started walking on the moss.

  “It’s harmless Quill, stop slicing that stuff,” she said. Quill looked at her and stopped.

  “You’ve got that alien stuff in you,” he said, and he turned to Jay, “If you trust it, you go first.” Hope had already started walking to Maddie and Jay followed. Jay walked onto the moss with no problem. Quill watched as Jay continued to walk toward Maddie. Jay was safely traveling and Quill gave a grunt. “Guess it’s okay,” he muttered.

  They recommenced their walk to the alien ship. Quill stayed behind everyone as the patches of purple turned into a sea of purple. A rustle in a tree caught Quill’s attention. A little sparrow fluttered its wings as it sat perched on the moss laden branch. Quill watched as it readied itself to fly. The sparrow jumped and a sudden swoop came down on it. The sparrow was in the claws of a blue monster. Its wings flapped slowly as it landed on the same branch with the sparrow in its clutches. Its small but pointed beak reached down to the sparrow and with one snip, the sparrow’s head fell to ground in front of Quill.

  Quill did not flinch as he held his blade up to defend himself. The monster dropped the body of the sparrow and extended
its wings. Its wingspan was wider than Quill was tall. Its chest was speckled with dark blue spots. Its beak was crossbilled. Its eyes were also dark blue and fixed on Quill as it looked down.

  The monster leapt from the branch and streamed toward Quill. It approached and opened its beak. As it closed the distance between them, Quill’s hand tensed on his blade and in one fluid stroke he sliced at the bird. A large thud came from the monster’s collision with the earth. Quill stared at it breathing slowly but deeply. Maddie turned around and saw the monster’s head separated from its shaking body. Quill walked up to the headless body, “Another alien.” He took his blade and sliced the regenerating neck. He watched to see if it would try to reform again. The neck started to reform but then it suddenly stopped. Blue blood oozed from the opening and the body stopped moving. Quill backed away from the monster as Hope ran up to it. She reached for the blue monster but Jay stopped her as her hand nearly touched it.

  “What are you doing Jay? I want to touch it,” she implored him. Jay maintained his hold on her.

  “Don’t touch that thing, you don’t know what it is,” he said as Hope wriggled in his grasp,

  “Kappa wants me to touch it, it’s an alien,” she said, and tried to move her hand. “Please, please,” she continued to beg.

  Jay kept his hold and told her, “No.”

  “Fine,” Hope capitulated. Her body loosened as she gave up her fight. Jay picked up Hope and turned so his body was between Hope and the monster. He released his grip.

  “Don’t touch it,” he told her.

  “Hope, if it’s dead, you won’t hear it,” Maddie said. Hope frowned at Maddie.

  “I could have found that out myself,” she said. Jay stood unfazed by Hope’s disappointed voice. He started walking toward the alien ship again and Hope saw her opening. She quickly moved toward the monster and placed her hand on its wing. She knelt over it waiting for a response but could not hear anything. Too late to react, Jay let Hope finish her investigation. Hope released her hand from the monster in disappointment.

  “There wasn’t anything, was there?” Maddie asked. Hope’s head dropped.

  “You were right. I just wanted to see for myself,” Hope said.

  Hope and Kappa were beginning to build a strong bond. Hope’s willingness to interact with Kappa allowed her to act on Kappa’s desires. Kappa’s willingness to convert any being to Rho’s side was openly apparent. Maddie saw that Hope and Kappa’s relationship showed the importance of having the aliens on their side and knew that Rho’s plan to eliminate the queen mother was a worthy endeavor.

  Maddie looked around, “Where’s Quill?” She scanned through the trees but could not see him anywhere.

  “We’re close,” Quill yelled from a tree branch.

  “What are you doing up there?” asked Maddie.

  “I am looking for more of those flying things. Those aliens aren’t going to sneak up on me. Your alien base is right over there,” Quill said and pointed them in the direction of their destination. Maddie looked through the trees. It was difficult to see through all of the purple hues. She could not see the base or bunker or fortress or whatever it was. She just started to walk in the direction that Quill was pointing.

  “Are you going to come down?” Maddie called up to Quill.

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be behind you,” he shouted back.

  The path disappeared and Maddie was traversing left and right through the trees. Hope and Jay were immediately behind her. Quill was nowhere to be seen. As the number of trees began to thin, they could see the alien fortress in the distance. They stopped before entering the clearing that housed the fortress.

  They watched a Troll lead the blue Crossbearer out of the fortress. “Whenever that door closes, we need to enter,” Rho told Maddie.

  “How are we going to get in there if the door is closed?” Maddie asked, confused.

  “If you do your part and get us to the door then I will do my part and open it. Remember that there are things with us that only I can do,” Rho answered. Maddie did not inquire anymore about Rho’s plan. She would do her part and get them to the door.

  The Crossbearer sprinted toward another part of the woods. The Troll that released it stood at the door and watched as it ran away. Once the beast crossed the timberline, the Troll turned to the fortress and looked into the door. Maddie was at a bad angle and could not see what the Troll was looking at.

  The Troll walked up a small ramp and turned around. It looked around the surrounding area and took a step back. The door quickly closed and there was no movement in front of it. “You need to go,” Rho told Maddie. She started to move into the clearing.

  “What are you doing?” Jay asked her.

  “I’m going to the door and getting into that fortress,” Maddie snapped back. Hope and Jay left their trees and followed Maddie. Nervousness took over Maddie as her slow entry into the clearing became a sprint. Hope and Jay started to run to keep up the pace. Quill exited the woods and started his sprint as well. The four were running straight for the door.

  Maddie reached the ramp and looked up at the door. “Place your hand on the pad to your left,” Rho told her. Maddie walked up the ramp and saw the pad Rho mentioned. Quill had passed Hope and Jay and was on the ramp. Maddie’s hand connected with the pad and the door quickly opened. Hope and Jay made it to the ramp and started to run up it. Maddie walked through the door into a dimly lit hall. Quill tightened the grip on his blade and took a step into the hall. Hope and Jay had to slow down to avoid running into him. They entered the door and Jay gasped for air after their sprint.

  “Alright Rho, where do we go now?” Maddie asked in her mind.

  “We must find the computer interface. I don’t know where it is but I will know when we see it,” Rho told her.

  Maddie sighed and said, “Nothing can be easy with you.” Maddie started to walk down the hall. Quill stood there with Hope and Jay behind him. Maddie noticed there were no other footsteps behind her and turned around.

  “I don’t know where we are going but staying here isn’t going to beat the Trolls,” Maddie said. Quill started walking toward her. Hope and Jay soon followed him toward Maddie.

  “We need to find the computer interface, and before you ask, I don’t know where it is,” Maddie said and started to walk further down the hall.

  DAY 285

  TIDES TURN

  FORTRESS ENTRANCE

  Ethen jumped out of the tree line and led the charge toward the door. “What the hell is he doing?” Marcus asked as he ran out of the tree line. The rest followed him and they ran to the fortress in a straight line. Their course was unobstructed as Ethen approached the ramp. His left foot landed on the ramp followed by his right continuing his stride. The door to the fortress had been left open by Maddie and the others. Ethen broke the threshold and stopped 20 feet into the hall. He raised his gun and checked for Trolls in his sight. Marcus soon followed and then the other soldiers. Ben was the last one through the threshold and squeezed into the hall.

  A blue glow formed in front of Ethen and he readied himself. Marcus saw the glow as well and raised his gun. A humming sound approached them as a blue orb hurtled through the air. Ethen jumped to the right and Marcus to the left. The soldier behind them did not react fast enough and as with most people without names in stories, he was hit by the blue orb and collapsed to the floor. “Aim for the head,” Marcus hollered to the others. Bullets started to fly toward the Troll and the glow disappeared. Charles and another soldier ran up to the Troll and saw its head healing.

  Charles aimed his gun at the Troll’s head and fired. The head chipped away with every bullet. Once blue blood began to pour out onto the floor, Charles released his finger from the trigger. “Piece of crap,” he said as he spat on the Troll.

  A clicking sound on the metal floor was coming down the hall. The other soldier had his back turned to the sound because he had positioned himself on the other side of the Troll. The clicking stopped
and a whistling sound was heard. The soldier turned and a spike flung through his chest. The spike opened and the line attached to it retracted. The soldier was lifted from his feet and flew down the hall. Charles could not see because of the dim lighting. He did not know where to shoot and retreated back to Ethen and Marcus. The clicking sound started again.

  “I don’t know what it is,” Charles told Ethen and Marcus. They looked down the hall and could not see into the darkness. The clicking sound stopped again. The whistle was flying again and the spike followed right through Charles’ chest. Ethen and Marcus watched as Charles’ arms flung to the side of his body. The spike opened. They grabbed Charles to prevent him from being pulled by the line attached to the spike. The line began to retract and Ben and the other soldier grabbed Charles as well. The line went taut and they held Charles in place. The clicking sound started again and Ethen saw the figure appear from the darkness. A faint outline began to form as it approached the light.

  “Is that a scorpion?” The soldier saw the outline as he struggled to maintain his hold on Charles.

  The figure came into the light and its blue hue was the same as the Trolls. It stood on four legs with one nail protruding from each of its feet. It did not have a head but dark blue eyes were positioned on its body. It had a tail just like a scorpion and the line attached to the spike originated from its tip. The scorpion was pulling on the line but each pull dragged it closer to its spike and Charles.

  “Shoot it!” Marcus yelled to Ethen. Ethen grabbed his gun and pointed it at the blue scorpion. Shots rang out as the scorpion was hit. It tried to turn and run away but its tail prevented it from fleeing. Each shot hit the scorpion until Ethen had expended all of his bullets.

  “I’m out, you shoot!” Ethen shouted to Marcus. Ethen grabbed Charles with both hands and Marcus reached for his gun. As he aimed his gun, the scorpion jumped toward them. Marcus pulled the trigger as the scorpion flew through the air. The line from its tail was still taut. Its mouth opened showing rows of sharp teeth.