Finally there was Vincent’s rear guard position. He had to lay down a barrage of fire to slow the advancing line of space squids long enough for him to close one hatch before he could move on. Each hatch that he could close would slow down the main force that much longer, however with the others coming in through the walls, ceilings and floors, he was constantly on the lookout for more of the aliens and constantly shooting at anything and everything that moved.
If memory served him right, then Eric was sure that their control room was just around the corner. All he needed to do now was to…
Eric stopped dead in his tracks. There, just a bit further down the hall from the door to their control room, was an oncoming advancement of the pseudo pods. Even if he ran, he wouldn’t be able to make it in time. They were now surrounded and out of options.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The scraping of metal against metal from the door leading to the cryo chamber room had momentarily caught everyone’s attention. At first Doctor Atkins thought that this would be another version of the intruding and attacking aliens, there were at least two versions and none of them looked like that they could pilot a ship let alone lead the whole army. It was disheartening to think that there might be something else, something bigger that might come their way.
Yet Richard was wrong. The alien squids were just as surprised by the sound as everyone else was. For one moment, they stopped as well and turned to the main door to see what had caused such a ruckus.
The door was suddenly yanked open by some large mechanical hand that had firmly grabbed it from the other side and pulled with incredible force. The hand was attached to a mechanical arm and from there a large metallic body. Doctor Atkins had considered this some kind of an android that had been part of the ship’s crew or perhaps it was working for the aliens. The shock had prevented his mind from registering what had actually appeared. However, once that heartbeat of awe had worn off, he was able to understand who and what had entered the room.
Bruce Shelton turned his mining mech toward the center of the room. It had been specifically designed to help miners dig with more efficiency, offer all of their tools to be at their immediate disposal, offer hydraulics for lifting and moving heavy objects and finally add a protective shell to the miner in case of a cave-in. They even had a mechanical drill, a low powered laser, sensors to read gas build ups, and an on board computer to analyze rock formations and content of any ore.
However, these large mechanical mech suits had their problems. These were big and bulky. They couldn’t fit into tight spots and couldn’t walk through rubble or debris. Many areas had to be cleared and leveled before these suites could be brought in. And while these suits offered protection from a cave-in, they were also a death trap. It was very difficult to get out of the suit and more so once it was tipped over or pinned with fallen rocks. Finally these suits were very expensive and only one or two could be found at any given dig site.
It was by Bruce’s request that one of these be brought along on the mission. At first the “powers that be”, that was, whoever was really in charge, whoever was really funding the project, had declined his request. However, once Bruce was able to point out the benefits of the suit, the amount of equipment that it could replace and thus making it cheaper, and the fact that he would back out of the program if one wasn’t brought along, the “higher up” relented and one was brought aboard. Bruce never did find out if the decision was made due to insights of having a cheaper cargo or it was just to placate him just to get him aboard. Either way, he guessed it really didn’t matter. He now had his drilling mech.
This was what Bruce had gone to go and get. He had hoped that the others would be able to hold off any invading force on their own with the weapons that he had left behind and had hoped to find them at their newly created control center. He had also hoped that he could suit up fast enough and get back to everyone in time to add what he could to the battle. He had been wrong on every count.
The suit was harder to get into without the aid of others then he had imagined. Whenever he had driven one of these things, he always had help getting into it. Now it had been nothing but a pain and it seemed to take forever. Once he had powered on the mech, he had problems getting it out of the rover. He was afraid that the cumbersome frame of the mech would crush the antique motorcycle that was loaded next to it, but since the bike was no longer there it didn’t matter. Still, it wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be getting the suit out of the rover.
Coming back had also proven to be problematic. All of the fallen debris and twisted bulkheads had made travel slow and he had to stop and clear out the rubble before he could continue. He even had to turn the mech sideways to fit through the portals. Once he even had to backtrack and find another route since there was too much damage to the ship for the mech to move forward.
Bruce knew that he had spent way too much time getting back to the others and was sure that he was going to be too late. However, his fears of the crew being dead and his fear of not being able to get to them was eradicated once he heard the scream and the sonic blasts from the cryo chamber room.
“Run! I’ve got these. I’ll give you cover. Now run!”
The others stood there in shock. The whole situation seemed like a nightmare come true and now it seemed that someone was going to risk his life to save them. It was all too much to process.
“Run!”
Chapter: 28
“Run!”
Bruce shouted again. His command echoed off of the walls of the room. His order was almost as much a plea as it was a direction to save their lives. To Richard, it sounded as if Bruce knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold the beasts off for long and the longer everyone stayed the more likely it was that none of them would make it out. If Bruce could give them enough time to put some distance between them and the squids, then Bruce might be able to make a retreat. But the effort and the gesture would be in vain if they stayed any longer.
Richard grabbed the two women by their arms and ran across the room. He hoped that neither one of them would be shell shocked or worse, that they would be willing to stay behind and fight alongside Bruce. Yet neither of the women resisted his direction and both ran with him.
As Richard ran while guiding the women forward, he found every Dagon that was in his way and gave each one a swift kick. Several went flying across the room only to ricochet off of the wall. He had realized that this tactic probably wouldn’t harm the alien squid creatures, but he was hoping that he could help clear a space for not only them but for Bruce as well. There was even one that he was able to completely step on.
This one didn’t have the opportunity to have its body fly through the air and have the impact reduced over time and distance. Instead the blow was directly upon it and the floor. The blow was too great for its form to sustain and the creature’s form splattered right on the spot. The alien’s ichor spread upon the floor and its odor of death permeated the room.
Cleo allowed the doctor to guide her by her left arm while she carried the sonic blaster with her right. She had stopped aiming and just let her arm sweep in front of her and to her side. She let off several shots as she followed Richard’s lead. Octopi and squids flew in all directions as she continued to blast her rifle. Most of the creatures were only clipped by the sound beams and were temporarily stunned while others went flying only to careen off of the walls like some racquetball being bounced around. She might have found this situation hilarious to watch, if the scene wasn’t so macabre and terrifying. Their lives were in peril and they needed to take everything that they did very seriously.
Tracy was still terrified of the situation at hand. Her sheltered life hadn’t prepared her for combat and she wasn’t ready to face death. She had no survival skills to offer. Guilt from feeling useless had set in. Fear was starting to grip her. All in all, she felt lost. Her only real acknowledgement of the need to run, the best
thing that she could do for everyone involved, was Richard’s pull leading her on. Despite the fact that her heart was beating through her chest and her knees felt as if they would buckle at any given moment, she did manage, if only half knowingly, to continue her flight with the other two.
Bruce brought up his right arm. The mechanical arm of the suit followed his lead. With a push of a button the sonic drilling blaster that was connected shot out its blast. A wave of concussion force blew to one side of the other scientists, knocking back a half dozen of squids from getting to them before the crew had a chance to escape.
As the shockwave reverberated through the air, Bruce was able to watch the other three run past him. Now they had a chance to survive. The only thing he had left to do was to buy them some time to get further away and then to come out of this alive.
The geologist wadded into the room and turned his attention on the aliens that had come to invade them, to attack them. The squids may have had the others running scared, but not him. He had never backed down from a fight before and he wasn’t going to do so now. These creatures had picked the wrong person to deal with.
The room was filled with the sound of the mech’s drill as Bruce gave a flick of a button from his left arm. The appendage whirled to life and spun in high frequency. It was diamond tipped and was able to drill through anything; it was designed to be a devastating force against rock. There would be no problems against flesh.
The first squid squealed in pain as Bruce brought his left arm down. The drill had followed and the bit tore into the alien’s body. However, the scream of agony only lasted for a short time as ichor spurted in all directions.
A quick backhand struck one of the aliens trying to drop upon him from the ceiling. Quickly Bruce reversed his attack and brought his right arm of the suit forward and down. The sudden blow, the incredible strength and the mass of the mech was more that what was needed to squash another crawling upon the floor toward him.
Bruce brought his mech back up to a standing position. With little movement, he was able to bring the right foot of the suit up. With a sudden downward motion, the mech followed his command. The mech’s foot squashed another, and then another, obliterating their forms into a pile of goo.
Ichor was starting to spill everywhere. The alien’s stench was starting to gag and choke Bruce with an odor that assaulted his senses. Even his eyes started to water. Body parts were tossed aside by another drill attack or sent flying with a devastating kick.
With a sudden movement of his eye, Bruce was able to engage the targeting system of the laser cutting tool. It was supposed to be a precision tool, to target smaller objects that the drill would obliterate. The geologist had a different purpose for it now.
Shot after shot came from the small laser. One red beam of light was followed by another, each striking their target with pinpoint accuracy. The superheated and condensed beam cut through one squid leaving only a pinprick of a hole that went right through it. Another shot cut off a few tentacles. Another cut one of the creatures in half as it moved while it was being targeted.
Bruce then reached out and grabbed one of the aliens with his right hand and caught one of the creatures. The thing attempted to wrap its tentacles around the mech’s metal grip but it was no use. The strength that was often used to crush rock was now applied to its body. The creature exploded into a shower, a mist, of goo.
However, this was as far as Bruce was able to get. As effective and devastating as he was, more and more of the space squids started to enter the room. For every one that he killed, it seemed that two more took its place. Nothing he did thinned down the hoard.
A sound caught Bruce’s attention. It sounded as if something had landed on top of the mech. Then it sounded again and again as he was sure that these creatures were dropping from the ceiling and landing on the top of the mech’s head and shoulders. Another sound from behind him told him that one had landed on the back of his leg and looking down only confirmed that another had landed on the front of his other leg.
Bruce went from calm and collective to panic mode. He went from being on the offense to being on the defense. His hands started to activate the arms of the suit to reach around in an attempt to pull off the attacking squids. He was able to pull of the one on the front of his leg and the one off of the back. As he did he gave each one a quick squeeze, popping them like a balloon. It wasn’t enough.
The hissing sound of acid eating through metal echoed throughout the suit. The temperature started to heat and Bruce could feel the heated metal start to drip on him.
Suddenly the acid was able to flow freely. It hit Bruce in the arms and legs and back. He screamed in pain and agony as the alien’s spittle ate through his flesh, muscle, and bone. His nerve endings exploded in anguish. He was trapped within the suit and it was going to be the death of him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard, Cleo and Tracy all stopped in the middle of the hallway. The scream of suffering, pain, and horror echoed off of the metal walls of the ship and reverberated through the air, giving an eerie effect that the cry had been all around them, as if the ship itself had cried out instead of a human being.
Tracy screamed in terror. Her panic had escalated into an uncontrollable hysteria. Her body shook in spasms and by the look on her face, she was hardly even aware of her surroundings.
“You take her to the control center,” Cleo stated as she pulled her arm from Richard. “I’ll see what I can do…”
“There’s nothing you can do for him. He’s already dead. His scream has finished. There’s nothing…”
“I’ve got to try. You go, see what you can do for her. I’ll join you when I can.”
Richard could only shake his head. He could only cope with one lunatic at a time, and although Tracy had stopped screaming once Bruce’s cry of agony had stopped, she was still in shock. Cleo had one thing right, he had to get her back to the control room in hopes that the others had returned. But if Cleo wanted to throw her life away on a worthless, fruitless, suicidal mission and she wasn’t willing to listen to his advice then there was nothing else that he could do for here. He could only hope that Cleo would come to her senses soon enough and join them back at their control room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cleo ran as quickly as she could with her sonic blaster in hand. When she had initially run past Bruce to get out of the room, she had hoped that he would only blast a few of the alien creatures away to give them some time before he made his own retreat. She didn’t think that he would stay and fight in a suicidal battle of overwhelming numbers and impossible odds.
It was then that she realized that she just might be doing the same. If Bruce had become overwhelmed by their numbers then she could easily be running into the same situation. Hopefully she would be able to outrun these things if it came down to it.
She had also hoped that Bruce might still be alive. That hope was quickly dashed aside once she turned into cryo room. The sight before her made her stop in complete horror.
The mining mech that Bruce was wearing was half eaten away. The acid attacks from the aliens had corroded through the metal leaving large pockets of the annihilated material. Beneath the melted metal was Bruce’s body, or at least what was left of it.
The geologist looked worse than his suit did, and it wasn’t just the fact that he was made out of flesh and bone instead of hardened metallic plates and gears. It looked as if once the creatures had made it inside the suit they went after Bruce with full vigor. His body was beyond recognition and it was difficult to believe that the mass that was left used to be human at one point. There seemed to only be a pool of melted muscles held together with a blob of flesh with a fragment of a bone or two sticking out of it. It was as if he had gone through a grinder and the remains had been poured back into the suit.
Cleo wanted to get phy
sically and violently sick, but her fear had put her into fight mode. Without even thinking, she brought up her sonic blaster and started to scan the room. She was going to blast the first thing that moved to ensure that it couldn’t follow her as she ran back to join the doc and any of the others.
Nothing. Nothing had moved. There wasn’t even a sound. All of the aliens that had been here only a few moments ago must have left the moment that they had killed Bruce and were probably making their way toward the…
Cleo spun to her left. Something had moved. Something had made a sound. Off in the shadows there was a motion, it was slight and almost unnoticed, but it was there. Then there was the sound, like a suction cup being pulled from a solid object, the same sound that the creatures made when they traveled. The only difference was, there was only one “pop” instead of several. Either this thing was attempting to move very slowly and attempting to sneak up on her or…
Harbinger Page 18
