Claws

by Ricky Sides

  She warned that ant colonies lived below ground, and that to exterminate them they would have to terminate the queen, who would be closely attended by a major portion of the colony population, which could number in the millions. Therefore, ant cross contamination must be dealt with as a top priority.

  At first glance, the news on the avian front wasn’t as chilling, assuming that the contamination was limited to the pet food supply and not introduced directly into the environment. However, she did point out the fact that birds often frequent outdoor pet food bowls, therefore, cross contamination among bird species was likely. Such birds would be several times larger than normal. They would also be ravenous, and extremely aggressive.

  Patricia reminded the reader that the original test animals’ growth had been limited to twice their normal size, but there were good reasons for that limitation and the results in an uncontrolled environment would be considerably worse. The test animals had not been exposed to concentrated formula in mother’s milk during their early growth period, because they had been weaned at the time of their introduction to the program, and their diets had been strictly monitored. Given unlimited access to the food, she warned that the size increase would vary between species and various breeds of the same species.

  Patricia ended her report with a dire warning that if the formula were released into the environment globally, then the results could very well be a near extinction event for humanity. She stated that twenty years after the initial release of the formula into the environment, things would return to normal for most of the animals, but that by then humans could well be extinct. She further warned that with such widespread proliferation of the enhanced animals, mutations favoring the alterations were likely; therefore, it would lead to the evolution of new species that would bear the genetic blueprint to perpetuate the gigantism and hyper aggression. She asked that the people in charge assign a team to a verification process.

  Next, Patricia carefully considered what Jerry had told her. He had given her the email address to send the report to in the event that she viewed it too important to wait. Since it was so much worse than the scenarios they had discussed, she felt she should send it immediately. She hit send on the email, and then she telephoned Jerry to inform him of her findings.

  Chapter 18

  At a computer terminal inside the Pentagon, an intelligence analyst read the report with disbelief. He began to cross-reference the sources cited in the document. With growing alarm, the officer saw that the woman who had sent the report had professionally researched the matter, and that her conclusions were solid.

  Within an hour of the report being sent, the President of the United States met with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a top-secret meeting.

  “My God,” the president said after the briefing. “Weren’t nukes enough? You people just had to go and create something worse. Now we’re facing a menace that we can’t counter with a retaliatory strike, so I can’t even call up the heads of state to remind them of our mutually assured destruction, should they opt to deploy the formula.”

  “We can retaliate in kind, Mr. President,” the secretary of defense countered.

  “We can?” asked the president.

  “Yes, sir. We already have assets on the ground in each of the host countries. It’s just a matter of getting the formula compound to them,” responded the Secretary of Defense.

  “How long would that take?” the president asked.

  “Too long, Mr. President,” stated the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “It would take three weeks to smuggle in the compound to ground personnel, but there is a way to accomplish the objective in hours.”

  “Hours as opposed to what? I still don’t know the options,” responded the president.

  “Sorry, sir. As you know, Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordon, and Somalia have all purchased the formula from Talbot. It would take a minimum of three weeks to deliver the formula to ground assets in those nations. Possibly longer. However, our air assets can seed the clouds over the target nations in a matter of hours. When it rains, the formula will contaminate everything it touches. It could be in the food chain in a matter of hours.”

  “Three weeks? That’s too long. The other heads of state would think I was bluffing.”

  “I know, Mr. President. That’s why I worked up the cloud seeding method. Pilots in Stealth bombers can fly through the target areas and drop a spray of the powder into the clouds. The moisture would form around the particles and it would fall as rain,” the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff explained.

  “Mr. President, you should know that rain clouds don’t respect international boundaries,” the Secretary of Defense, who was opposed to that option, stated.

  “Neither does fallout, sir, but that didn’t stop us from using the threat of nuclear retaliation as a deterrent for generations,” declared the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  “Do we have a sufficient supply of the weaponized powder formula available to retaliate against the potential enemies who bought the stolen formula? And I’d like to know why the hell that formula was even sent to the Alcorn test site in the first place,” the president demanded.

  “Mr. President, we have enough of that formula in powder form to contaminate the world,” the Chairman answered.

  “As to why the formula was sent to Alcorn, it appears at this point that Talbot requested it, stating that his people were having difficulties getting it to bond with the food. The Alcorn data security system was deemed sufficiently secure to host the information. Talbot passed his security clearance with flying colors. There was no reason for anyone to suspect his treasonous behavior, and no one had a clue just how effective that formula would prove to be until we started getting the results in from the field. Frankly, sir, it exceeded our wildest expectations.”

  “Alright, gentlemen. This is what I want done. I want the bombers prepped with what they’ll need if I order them deployed. Meanwhile, get the materials moving to our ground assets. Naturally, I’d prefer the more accurate deployment by the ground team, but I want the more rapid response available in the event that the enemy moves before we can prepare that response. I want a measured response, but make no mistake about it. I will not hesitate to order a retaliatory strike against anyone and everyone who deploys it against us.”

  “Yes, Mr. President,” stated the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  “How long would it take Talbot’s customers to manufacture the compound?” the president asked.

  “My people tell me it could be done in two or three days, Mr. President. It’s expensive to manufacture, but not that complex. Getting it into the country would be another matter. That could be done in as little as twenty-four hours, if they opted for a high-risk entry. Relatively low-risk entry would take a lot longer. Anywhere from a week to a month,” responded the Secretary of Homeland Security.

  “You’re telling me we can’t stop them from bringing it into our country?” asked the president.

  “If they are patient and willing to take the time needed, they can smuggle it in by the boxcar load on cargo ships, Mr. President. From there, it would be a simple matter to move it to deployment areas. It’s the same with the drug trade, sir. You know we can’t stop it all. The best we can do is slow the influx. If someone is determined to smuggle something into this country, they’ll succeed eventually. You can’t even stop smuggling in a totalitarian nation, let alone a free one,” the secretary explained.

  “God help us then,” the president stated bitterly.

  ***

  Charlie stood near his small fire with one of the new wool blankets wrapped around him and covering the top of his head. Even with the smaller than normal fire, the old man was warmer than normal. He attributed that to the heavy meal, rich in fat that he had eaten and the nice warm blanket.

  It had been dark for over an hour and he had yet to see any sign of t
he cat, nor had he sensed being watched as he had upon the other occasions when he had encountered the animal. He did briefly wonder if it were possible that the cat sensed the other men nearby and had its attention focused on them to such an extent that it wasn’t a threat to him.

  On the grade above Charlie’s camp, the three special ops men stoically endured the cold as best they could and waited patiently, observing the most likely approaches to the camp with their night vision equipment.

  For three hours, they held their vigil, never seeing a sign of the cat. Then they heard a cry of alarm and spun to face the camp. They saw Charlie’s body crumpled on the ground with a white form on top of him slashing at him with its forepaws. “Hold your fire! You might hit him!” ordered Jerry, and then he was up on his feet charging down the grade with his men a step behind him.

  As he ran toward the old veteran, Jerry’s training caused him to seek out how the cat had approached unseen, but he saw nothing obvious. Then he remembered the small dried up streambed that ran north and south. It passed about twenty-five feet west of Charlie’s camp. The cat must have come up that streambed, exiting when it could close with the old man from its preferred angle in the space of heartbeats. In its own way, the feline had utilized a similar strategy to the one they had employed against the mass of cats they had fought the day before.

  When he was ten feet from the animal, Jerry shouted as loudly as he could to get its attention in the hopes that it would leap off the old man so he could get a clear shot at it, but the enraged animal ignored him. Rushing toward it, Jerry lashed out with his silenced pistol, striking the cat in the side of the head and knocking it off the old man.

  Sergeant Haskell darted around Charlie’s prone form and took a firing stance. He fired his silenced pistol twice, but the cat was already in motion as it charged back toward Charlie, and the Sergeant’s shots missed the animal by a fraction of an inch.

  Ignoring the sergeant, the cat leapt into the air, determined to get at the man it hated. At the apex of its jump, the corporal fired his silenced pistol two times. Both bullets struck the cat in the chest, but lacked the stopping power to prevent it from landing on the veteran. Once more, the cat’s forepaws savagely clawed at the downed man.

  Jerry drew his sheath knife and stabbed the creature in the side, causing the cat to turn its attention to the special ops leader. Launching its heavy body at Jerry with a leap that was so strong it knocked him off his feet, the cat proceeded to attack him.

  Jerry managed to twist his body violently, throwing the cat off balance and dislodging it from his chest. A portion of his mind registered the soft sound made by one of the silenced pistols and he saw the cat stagger under the impacts.

  Sergeant Haskell scrambled past Jerry. He placed the muzzle of his pistol near the cat’s head and squeezed the trigger twice. The cat collapsed in a heap at the sergeant’s feet.

  “Man, that was one tough cat,” the corporal stated to Jerry’s right.

  Jerry turned to check on the old man who was in the process of getting to his feet. “Are you alright, Charlie?” he asked in concern.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Glad you brought the blanket. Between it and my coat, I came through that attack with nothing but a few bruises,” the man responded.

  “I’m sorry. He must have come up the dried up creek,” Jerry explained.

  “Are you sure he’s dead?” Charlie asked.

  “I hope so, because if he gets up after all of that, I think I’ll shit my pants,” the corporal stated nervously. His eyes were glued to the animal.

  “He’s dead. The wounds aren’t bleeding,” the sergeant observed.

  “Yeah, well maybe he’s just too damned stubborn to bleed,” the corporal stated.

  ***

  Patricia greeted Jerry at the door and took his coat. “There’s hot chocolate and dinner waiting in the kitchen. You look like you could use a good meal,” she said.

  “Thank you, I am hungry. The cold just saps the energy out of me,” Jerry responded. He kissed her and smiled.

  “You’re in a good mood for someone who just spent hours waiting for a deranged animal to try to kill you,” Patricia observed.

  “That’s because we got him. He was a tough one too. It took all three of us to take him down, and he still managed to get me off my feet. I shudder to think what would have happened to Charlie if we hadn’t been there. But that’s not all. I just drove down Wilkinson Street before coming here. I wanted to see if I could spot any sign of one of the cats. I saw two feeding on a deer’s carcass and managed to get close enough to put them down.”

  “That is good news, and I have more. I had a call from Deputy Jones today. He wanted me to go down to the department and look at a cat’s body that had been found on Highway 251. A car had hit it and the driver had reported killing a mountain lion. It was a tom from the testing.”

  “That leaves just four unaccounted for by my count,” Jerry stated.

  “One, dear,” she responded with a mischievous grin.

  Jerry found her smile infectious and returned it with one of his own. “Alright, what else do you know?” he asked.

  “”I’ll tell you the good news, but your dinner’s getting cold. I’ll explain while you eat.”

  “Alright, you’ll get no argument from me on that score. I’m famished,” Jerry stated.

  They went into the kitchen and Jerry sat down to a dinner of meatloaf, boiled potatoes, macaroni in tomato sauce, and green beans. “You aren’t eating?” he asked.

  “I was hungry, so I ate two hours ago. I had no idea when you’d get home. Thanks for calling to let me know you were on the way,” she said.

  “You’re welcome. Thank you for the dinner,” Jerry responded as he dug into the good food. Between bites, he said, “You were going to explain how we got down to one cat.”

  “Yes I am. Do you remember the reports on the news about Tom Barksdale?”

  “Yes, he was a chicken farmer who’d been attacked by one of the cats. We’re planning to go to his farm tomorrow.”

  “That won’t be necessary. He killed the three cats today and incinerated their bodies. He won’t be reporting it to the police for fear of prosecution, but he got them.”

  “How did you find out about that?” asked Jerry curiously.

  “Remember, I told you that Jennifer’s cousin was dating Johnny Miller, and that they were engaged. Well, Tom Barksdale’s wife, Martha, is that young woman’s mother’s best friend, and she told her she thought Tom may have killed the cats that attacked Johnny.”

  “Huh?” Jerry asked, confused.

  Patricia laughed at the confused expression on his face, but then she said, “I called Jennifer today to see how she was doing. She told me that she felt better because her cousin Sheila was feeling better. Sheila is the cousin who was going to marry Johnny Miller. Her mother told her that Tom Barksdale used his dead chickens as bait to lure in the cats that attacked him, and then he shot them this morning. He incinerated the bodies.”

  “That’s great news. That means there’s only one cat left unaccounted for at the moment. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get it in another few days.”

  “I hope so, but I’ll miss you if the army denies your request for leave.”

  “If that happens, they won’t keep me away from you for long. My enlistment is up next month and then I’ll be back.”

  “You’d better come back, because I want this to be a long term relationship,” Patricia stated earnestly.

  “So do I, Baby. You’re one great cook.”

  “You just love me for my cooking?” Patricia teased.

  “The sex is also fantastic,” he added with a grin, but then he said, “I don’t know how to explain it to you. Just saying ‘I love you’ doesn’t seem adequate. I do love you, but it seems to me there’s something more. I love being with you. When I think of just holding you in my arms, I feel so content and happy. I love the way you smell. The way your eyes sparkle when you smile. And you’re so s
mart. You can analyze a problem and predict the outcome, just as you did with those worst-case scenario reports. You’re probably a hell of a lot smarter than me, yet you never make me feel inferior. There’s no one thing about you that I find so irresistible. It’s everything about you,” Jerry tried to explain.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not saying this very well.”

  “I think you said that quite well,” Patricia said, getting up and moving around the table. She sat in his lap and kissed him passionately. When she broke the embrace, she got to her feet and said, “When you’re finished eating just leave the dishes until tomorrow morning. I think I’ll go slip into something more comfortable.”

  Jerry watched her as she walked out of the room. She paused for a moment, glancing over her shoulder to see if he was watching her. With a parting coy smile, she walked out of the room. “Damn, she walks well and she knows it,” thought Jerry as he studied the sexy sway of her hips.

  ***

  Just as he did every workday, Ricky Sidel pulled into the parking lot at Tris USA at around 4:20 A.M. It was Monday morning, and he was eager to feed the grey cat, because he knew she would be low on food from her weekend alone. Ricky had brought a large pet food bowl for her. Normally, he kept that bowl about one third full, but on Thursday afternoons, he always filled it to overflowing to carry her over till the following Monday morning.

  This morning, the grey queen met him at her spot on the picnic table seat. She meowed loudly in greeting, and Ricky said, “Good morning, girl. Did you miss me over the weekend?” She butted his hand with her head and meowed again. “Are you hungry, girl? Surely, you didn’t eat all your food.”