"Later," I said. "First we need to make it out of here alive."
"The IV,” she said weakly. “The garbage they were pumping into me. They said it would make the baby grow faster. The girl, the one wearing the green and orange, she said my baby was going to be special. A gift of some sort."
I grabbed her hand. "Let's go."
Before we could move, Kerry screamed.
* * *
"Frank! Oh Jesus, what happened to you?"
Kerry backed away from her husband, her face bloodless. Next to her, Frank was hunched over, his arms wrapped around his gut. His lips had pulled back into a snarl, revealing teeth that were too long and too narrow and too many. The purpled, alien flesh now covered his entire face. His hair fell in sad tufts from a head that seemed to be elongating.
"Oh fuck, it hurts,” he said.
Toni released my hand. "What's happening to him?"
"He's changing," came a voice from the hallway. "I warned him, but he wouldn't listen."
We turned. Kent Couttis stood there, still looking boyish in his too large uniform, but the stranger behind his eyes revealed more: an ancient, alien intelligence—part empathetic, part furious. Beside him was the scientist Frank had knocked out, an angry red spot on her forehead. And in front of them, the little girl in the madly colored clothes.
The Green Queen.
The stun grenade had wounded her. Blisters marred the skin of her right hand and cheek, and part of her dress had been singed. But her gaze was clear, and it was terrible.
"Kill the men," she said in her eerie, kindergarten voice. "Leave the women alive." She smiled. "For now."
Couttis drew his gun. It was a revolver, and I could see new bullets in the chamber. "I'm sorry," he said. "I had hoped for a better ending.”
I stepped forward, hands raised. "You spoke of Pandora's Box. You said by coming down here, it would be like looking inside and witnessing the evils of the world." I nodded to the gun. "This is your Pandora moment. If you kill us, you'll not only have brought evil into this world, you'll have condoned it. You'll have fled one dying planet only to destroy another. It's not what you wanted, you told me as much."
I locked eyes with Couttis. "If you're an honorable man, if you're from an honorable race, you'll let us go. There's no need to do what this girl says. This is a different world, with a different future. Change the path of your life. Make it what you want, not what’s being forced on you."
I lowered my hands and stepped back.
Couttis didn't immediately respond. His eyes had lost their focus. He was looking at me, but I could tell he wasn't seeing me. His attention had turned elsewhere.
I imagined the dialogue going on in his head, the back-and-forth between alien and human: one pleading for mercy, the other struggling to understand its place on this small, strange, wonderful planet.
The seconds passed.
"I told you to kill them," the Queen said, sounding like an impertinent child.
Her words worked. Couttis's head snapped up. His eyes regained their focus. He was seeing me again.
I couldn't tell from his expression what decision he had made.
"The laws of nature are the same throughout the universe," Couttis said, and holstered his gun. "So are the laws of morality. We came here with one intent: to save our race, and not to exterminate another. I refuse to live like that. Better I die than become something evil."
I drew in a relieved breath. Maybe we would make it out of this alive.
But then a figure stepped up behind Couttis.
Conrad Hunter, his bloodied face warped into a look of pure malice. He snatched the policeman's revolver and jammed the barrel against Couttis's temple.
"May I?" he asked the Green Queen.
The little girl with the old, cold eyes looked up. She seemed to regard Couttis for a moment, then shifted her attention to Hunter. "He's become a disappointment, much like his father, and his father before him. Do as you wish. His status can no longer protect him."
Couttis paled. He didn't speak, didn't try to defend himself or his decision. He simply nodded in understanding.
Hunter licked his lips. "Now I will be Parthol," he said, and pulled the trigger.
With the barrel so close to Couttis's head, the round made a small hole going in, and only a slightly larger one coming out. But with it came brain matter and fragments of bone and pellets of blood. The gory mess splattered the wall, the ceiling, and the red-haired scientist. She gagged and turned away.
As Couttis's dead body buckled, I thought I saw a faint smile cross his face. Perhaps he was thinking, at last, I’ve become who I was meant to be.
Stepping over the man he had murdered, Conrad Hunter raised the gun. There was a rustle of movement as Toni came forward, interposing her body between me and Hunter.
"If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me first." Her hands went to her belly. "And the child I carry inside me."
Conrad Hunter shifted his aim. The gun now pointed at Toni's head. "Gladly, bitch."
"No!" The Green Queen stepped into the room, her clothes swirling like a tempest about her tiny body. "You will not harm her. What she carries is precious to me." At some unseen signal, five worker bees filed into the room. One was the man whose nose I had broken. "Take the women," she told them. Pointing to Toni, she added, "This one is to be restrained until I say otherwise. Kill the other two."
"No." Red-faced, Kerry advanced on the Queen. "You made promises. You promised to take care of my family, including my husband. You promised my daughter would do great things. You promised my boys would live a privileged life. You promised a better world." Her voice cracked. "I gave up everything for you, and you will hold to your word."
"You knew about this?" It was Frank. His transformation had accelerated. His body had thinned and elongated. The scales making up his skin seemed to have fused into some kind of insect-like armor. Instead of fingers, his hands ended in black-tipped claws. He had turned into a nightmare. "You knew what they were doing and you helped?" he said, his voice rasping like a saw drawn across a log. "How could you?"
Kerry rounded on her husband. Rage had contorted her features. Gone was the gentle soul who would fuss over everyone but herself, the mother who would lay down her life for a child, the friend I had known for so many years. In her place stood a fiend, someone I didn't recognize. In some ways, she had changed as much as Frank.
"I wanted another child, a little girl, but you said we couldn't afford one, like money was all that mattered.” She drew herself up straighter. “Then we came to Emersville, and I was offered a chance to have a daughter. She would be special, would change life on this god-forsaken planet for the better." She pointed to the Queen. "She promised to take care of us. We would have enough money for you to retire. Money to send the boys to college. Our lives would have been set.” She looked at Frank, at his transformation, and whispered, “What choice did I have?"
"That's why you were at the lake," I said. "You knew they lived under the water, but you didn’t know how to reach them. You dove in it trying to find them. You thought they had Frank, and you came to ask for his release."
"Of course," she said angrily. "He's my husband. I love him. I had to try."
"I can't believe it," Toni said. "You turned against your race for a baby?"
Kerry whirled to confront Toni. “You're no better than me,” she said. “You did the same.”
“Not knowingly,” Toni said. “Never knowingly.”
Conrad Hunter trained his gun on Frank. "Enough of this pathetic family drama,” he said, and pulled the trigger.
"NO!" Kerry jumped in front of Frank. The bullet punched a hole in her chest. Blood immediately soaked her shirt.
Frank grabbed his wife. "KERRY!"
Gasping for breath, Kerry touched the boney ridge that had formed on Frank's forehead. "I’m sorry," she said, then her eyes closed, and her head slumped back.
Kerry Swinicki, along with the unborn child in who
m she had placed so much hope, left this world for another, perhaps better, existence. I prayed the daughter she had never known would find her way to her mother's side. Love and madness were often intertwined, and I would not condemn my one-time friend to an eternity of the latter.
The gunshot's echo faded. Frank's eyes snapped to Hunter. A growl escaped from his throat. Dropping his wife, he launched himself at her killer.
Hunter fired, again and again. The rounds bounced harmlessly off Frank's newly armored hide.
Landing on Hunter like a fury released by the gods, Frank's claws sank into Hunter's chest, his teeth bit into the man's neck. Hunter let loose a gurgled cry and dropped the gun.
"She was my wife!" Frank roared, his voice barely recognizable. "She was my wife!"
Frank's alien muscles flexed, ripping Conrad Hunter's chest open until his still-beating heart could be seen. Frank tore at Hunter's flesh, his claws digging at the man, until Hunter's heart stuttered, then skipped and jerked, and finally fell still.
Frank dropped the corpse and turned to the Queen.
The little girl finally showed fear. She attempted to flee, to dart past the worker bees, but Frank snatched her by the hair. Shrieking, the Queen kicked and thrashed. Mouth parted in what might have been a smile if he’d still had lips, Frank calmly tore her head from her body. Gouts of blood flew from her exposed neck. He tossed the decapitated head across the room, turned to the red-haired scientist, and quickly disposed of her.
The worker bees fled in terror. He moved to follow.
"Frank," I said. "Stop."
He paused. Beneath his clothes I could see ridges, much like the one on his brow, rising up along his spine and the back edges of his elongated limbs. When his gaze fixed on me, I couldn't help but shudder.
"Leave," he said in his guttural voice. He reached down and casually ripped the hand from Hunter’s body and tossed it to me. "Go now. Use the hand. Take the elevator."
Holding the hand made my skin crawl. "What about you?"
His human eye blinked. "I will not leave this place."
"The virus?"
He nodded, and his alien smile seemed to widen. "Savior of the human race."
My heart sank. He was going to sacrifice himself. "How?"
"Proximity locks," he said, his voice little more than a rasp. He seemed to be having trouble breathing. "Destroy them. Release the energy. Maybe enough to destroy the lab."
I recalled my reluctance to have the egg's metal analyzed, fearing an energy release that would be disastrous. I thought back to all the machines I had seen down here.
My heart started to race.
* * *
Frank and I stood at the door to the Conveyance. We had gathered more than two dozen boxes of proximity locks, enough to hopefully implode the cavern, the lab, and everything else in here.
I traced the symbol Couttis had used on the door, understanding now why he had let me see it. The sky-blue material faded, exposing the wormhole machine.
Frank, his body hunched, his breathing labored, struggled forward. His transformation was almost complete. He was now more alien-reptile than man. I hoped he had enough human left to finish the job.
"Go," he said. "Toni. Escape."
I’d sent Toni back to the cavern with the hand. If I didn't return, she was to find the elevator and leave. She fought me on it, but in the end, I played the mother card. She had another life to consider.
"Come back," she'd said tearfully. "Don't make me do this alone."
Then she’d turned and left.
"Frank—" I said but stopped. The rest of my words remained stuck in my throat. He was my best friend, and I would never see him again.
Frank shook his head. "No. Save mankind." He made a hitching noise, as if he was choking on the air. "Hero." He tried to laugh. "Finally got my point!"
It took me a moment to remember the craps game from years ago, how we had gotten thrown out of the casino because an inebriated Frank had insisted on getting his fushin point.
"Yes," I said, my voice breaking. "You did."
Frank bumped the door with his head. With his body twisted, he had to stand on all fours. "Open."
"Are you sure—?"
"Open!"
"All right," I said, and traced the symbol again. The door's unearthly chill disappeared, only to be replaced by a searing heat. Energy from the wormhole, I assumed. "There you go." I put a hand on his shoulder. "We’re below the lake. Remember the methane? It should help finish the job."
Frank nodded, then turned his attention to the Conveyance—the wormhole machine. I thought I saw a hint of awe in his alien face. "Leave," he rasped. "Hurry." He cocked his head. "Take care of boys. Love them."
"Jesus, Frank," I whispered, tears filling my eyes "How am I supposed to do this? I can't leave you behind."
"Toni. Baby." He prodded me with his head. "Go."
"But—"
"Go," he said again, and a single tear rolled down from his still-human eye. "Go, please."
I saw what he had become, and what small part of him still remained, and my strength failed. He was right. I needed to look after my family, and his.
"Okay. I'll go, but know this: your boys will one day understand. I will tell them about you, and the sacrifice you made." I paused. "Try to give Toni and me enough time to get away from Emersville."
"Yes," he said. It was more a hiss than a word. "Go."
I wiped at my eyes. How did you say goodbye to a person who meant so much to you? I guess the easiest way was best. "Goodbye, my friend. I love you."
I quickly turned to go. I made it several steps before I heard his voice for the last time.
"Paco."
I turned.
He held the opened cigarette pack between two clawed fingers. He tossed it to me and gestured for me to go.
Good Christ. It was more than I could handle. Weeping for my friend, I ran.
Behind me came the scrape of boxes being dragged across a floor.
* * *
Toni and I raced out of Emersville.
There'd been no way to save the people in the cavern. Most were drugged and couldn't be woken. Besides, I suspected they had more than one scientist among them, someone who could recreate the virus. Harsh as it sounded, it was better to let them die.
"How far away do we need to be?" Toni asked, her hand absently rubbing her belly. Her mother's instincts had already taken over.
"No idea," I said. The speedometer slipped into triple digits. Thank god the road was straight. "We just keep going."
After a few moments of silence, Toni let out a sob. “I can’t believe this.”
“What?”
“I’m showing. I have a baby bump,” she said. “I can feel her. She’s moving.”
I did the math. “That’s not possible.”
“The IV. Whatever they were giving me was supposed to accelerate her growth.”
“How far along do you think you are?”
“I don't know, end of the first trimester?” She paused. “I'm scared. What if the drug did more than make her grow faster? Can they understand human physiology well enough to accomplish it without horrible side-effects?”
"Let’s hope not."
More silence, then Toni said, "There's bound to be aliens who survived. People out of town or something. They could start this all over again"
"Without their base, I don't know what more they could do."
"And the—"
There was a loud pop, and the car lurched toward the embankment. I jerked the wheel around, hoping to straighten it before it fell into the ditch. Another tire blew. I slammed on the brakes. The car skidded to a stop inches from a fall that would have caused it to roll. I killed the engine.
Toni was gripping the shoulder harness. “What the hell happened?”
“The tires blew. I didn't see anything on the road, nothing that would have cut them.”
A scraping sound came from underneath the car. It slowly travelled up t
he driver's side. More scraping came from the passenger side.
A doll climbed into view, grinning evilly from the other side of the window. A second doll emerged opposite Toni. Their metal claws were extended, scraps of rubber clinging to them.
More dolls converged on the car from every angle. Soon it was covered.
“What do we do?” Toni said, panic in her voice.
I locked the doors. “Stay inside. I don't think they can get—”
The dolls began clawing at the car, their weirdly elastic-yet-indestructible wire nails peeling away threads of metal and glass. If there had been two or three, I wouldn't have been too worried, but there were so many. Layers of the car came off like hard cheese in a grater. At this rate, it wouldn't take long for them to tear it apart.
“Drive away,” Toni urged. “Start the car and drive away.”
I cranked the engine but it wouldn't turn over. I kept twisting the key while I swore and cursed and kicked the floorboard. Nothing worked.
“They must have done something to the starter,” I said.
Toni put her hand protectively on her stomach. “I won't lose my baby. I'll tear each one apart before I let them hurt her.”
The car was slowly but methodically being torn apart. I searched the dash for a cigarette lighter. Maybe if I could burn something, make a fire large enough to catch the dolls on fire.
The rear window shattered. Dolls began pulling away chunks of glass. Two dropped into the back seat. More pushed their way into the car.
“Get out,” I told Toni as I prepared to fight, not that I had much of a chance against so many. “Run, find your way back to Rock Mills.”
Toni shook her head. “I won't—”
“Leave!” One of the dolls leaped at me, its claws digging into my face. I grabbed it and threw it at the others. “Save our daughter!”
“Brad—!”
“Go, goddammit!”
Crying, Toni nodded and reached for her door handle.
The ground suddenly rumbled. From the direction of Emersville, the sky lit up a bright, brilliant blue.
Seconds later, the car surged forward, pushed by some invisible force.
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