Pacific Rim: Dark Horizons – Offspring
The Precursors have a new plan.
[Author's Note: This story takes place a few weeks after the story Dark Horizons: Congratulations.]
Newton, Hermann, Elle and Dee were at the facility now designated as Yosemite Base, clustered around the Breach. The stream had been dammed and the river bed had been exposed. But the Breach seemed completely inactive, and the array of instruments clustered around it picked up nothing at all. No radiation, no indication of activity, no movement, nothing.
"Hmm," said Newton, looking at the scanner, as the four of them stood at the edge of glassy patch. "If I didn't know we were in the right place, I'd say we were in the wrong place."
"At least Marshall Hansen isn't around," said Dee. "I think he still hasn't forgiven you guys for sending him and most of the army to the Philippines for what turned out to be a decoy. But speaking for myself, I'm pretty glad I haven't run across him for a couple of weeks."
She was wearing a bulky flight suit instead of her usual close-fitting Ranger uniform. It hid the six-week bump on her abdomen.
"Still getting the morning sickness?" said Newton to her.
"Less," she said, patting her tummy.
"Well, you look radiant, my dear," said Hermann.
"Yeah, you do," said Newton. "You really do. Which ... might be ... relevant."
"But there has been no word on the Kaijus that came through and then got away," said Elle. "Hansen has directed us to locate them. He has organised for a specialist to meet us here. I have no idea what that means."
They saw a man coming towards them, obviously not one of the Rangers or techs that worked on the base.
"Whoa," muttered Elle, as he came closer.
He was ... gorgeous. Tall, broad-shouldered, tanned, and with just the right amount of stubble. He carried an automatic rifle and had a backpack casually slung over his shoulder.
"I'm Will Strong," he said. "Park Ranger. Uh, that's the type of Ranger that looks after parks, not your type of Ranger."
Elle continued to stare at him, mouth open. Dee nudged her.
"What?" said Elle. "Oh, right, yes, Ranger, yes, different type." She giggled.
"Oh, brother," muttered Newton.
Dee introduced them. "Have you been fully briefed on the situation, Mister Strong?" she said.
"Yes, I have been, although I can't say that I ever expected to be caught up in a Kaiju thing," he said. "But this is my park, and I love it, and I know it pretty well, so if these creatures are here I'll do everything I can to help you find them and put them down. And please call me Will."
"Any idea where they might be hiding?" said Newton.
"Park Rangers have gone through much of the park and not seen anything, so that means the Kaijus are probably in one area," he said. "Although that area is pretty big. But if you can get me there I should be able to track them. When we find them, what do we do?"
Elle took a pistol from her holster. "This gun – and Dee has one too – fires tracking darts," she said. "If we can get a dart onto them we will be able to locate them and bring in the Mustangs or some other heavy-duty firepower. So far, there have been no reports of any attacks from them, and if the Breach is completely inactive they might just be wandering around, walking in circles and waiting for orders."
"Somehow, I feel that that is unlikely," said Hermann. "But let us hope so."
The five of them got into the UH110 jetcopter, Dee in the pilot's seat. They took off and headed for the eastern corner of the park, as Will indicated.
"What do Kaijus eat?" he said. "It might help me track them."
"To the best of our knowledge, they don't eat anything," said Newton. "With the big ones, there was never any sign of them consuming fish and plankton or anything else. They excrete a substance known as Kaiju Blue, but it's not excrement as we think of it. More like some sort of biological by-product. The bottom line is that there is a lot about their physiology that we just don't know."
Elle was checking the radar, keeping a lookout for Pteros. The jetcopter was also equipped with scanners that could pick up Canis and Ursus, but so far there was nothing.
The forest in this part of the park was dense, and the terrain was hilly, but Dee eventually found a place to land. The two women took backpacks of supplies from the chopper, and Hermann and Newton took the scanning equipment, and they set off, Will in the lead. They all had guns with AP bullets.
Eventually, Will stopped, studying the ground. "Something big passed this way," he said. "Bigger than anything that is supposed to live here. Tell me, do Kaijus fight other creatures?"
"There are no records of them killing anything but people, and destroying things made by people," said Newton. "The mega-Kaijus showed no interest in fish or whales, for example. There is a theory that they could not even see them, because they are genetically designed to fight humans. Of course, that might not be the case with these ones."
They were moving through the forest, following Will, who was following the trail. After a while, in a little clearing, they came to a large smear of Kaiju Blue on the ground. All the plants around it were dead.
"Hmm, that's funny," said Newton, looking at the scanner. "This is not the usual sort of Kaiju Blue. It's related, but not the same as what we've seen before." He put some of the fluid into a sample bottle.
The scanner that Hermann was holding began to beep. Dee looked at the screen. "Contact," she said. "Heading this way. Canis, I would say."
"Both of them?" said Elle, hefting her rifle and readying her dart pistol.
"Multiple signals, so I guess that means yes."
"Getting closer," said Hermann. He struggled to ready his rifle. Dee, with a gentle smile, released the safety catch.
"Remember, we don't need to kill them," said Elle. "Just tag them and scare them off. If we do that, they might even lead us to the Ursus and the Pteros."
"The Kaijus might not participate in that strategy," said Hermann. "Dee, perhaps you should ... er, stand behind me. Or something."
"Why would I do that?" said Dee.
"So I can ... protect ... you," said Hermann.
"Oh, that's very sweet," said Dee. "But, well, no." She hefted her gun.
A Cani came smashing into the clearing.
"Fire!" shouted Elle.
The five of them opened up, and bullets smashed into the creature's armour. It slowed, but it kept coming.
Elle ran to the side of the clearing, so she could fire at the Cani's relatively un-armoured flank. Her bullets tore into the Kaiju's flesh. Elle she a grenade, which exploded on the back of the Cani. It gave a howl of pain, staggered, and fell.
The scanner beeped again. "That way," said Hermann, pointing. The five of them reloaded.
"Big signal for one Cani," muttered Dee.
And the next moment, two Cani burst into view.
"Fuck!" said Elle.
They fired, a volley of bullets and a series of grenades. One of the Canis went down, and the other was wounded. It turned and began to run, but not before Elle hit it with a tracking dart. In a few moments, it was gone.
Newton checked the scanner. "Strong signal," he said. "We'll be able to locate it."
"I have several degrees in advanced maths," said Hermann, "and I can tell you that three is not the same number as two."
"But we killed all but two of them at the Breach," said Dee. "I'm sure of it."
"Me too," said Elle.
Newton was looking at the body of the second Cani they had killed.
"Is this one a bit smaller than the other ones?" he said.
Will began to examine the corpse. "I'm hardly a Kaiju expert," he said, "but if I was talking about Earth animals I would say that this is an adolescent."
They all looked at each other.
"Oh ... dear," said Hermann.
Newton looked at the smear of Kaiju Blue on the ground. "That's why this stuff is different," he said. "It's not excrement. It's ... some sort of birth fluid."
The scanner beeped again ... loudly.
"Is that one coming back?" said Elle.
"Uh, no, this is ... bigger," said Dee. "And ... more."
"Ursus," said Hermann. "Four."
"I think a tactical retreat might be called for," said Elle. "As in: run. Back to the chopper."
They began to run, back the way they had come.
"Closing," said Hermann, looking at the scanner as they ran. "They're splitting up. One of them is trying to get between us and the jetcopter."
"Can they do that?" said Will.
"Apparently, yes," said Hermann.
"Dee, how many grenades do you have left?" said Elle.
"Four," said Dee.
"And I've got three," said Elle. "So we give that one all of them."
The Ursu crashed onto the path in front of them. Together, Dee and Elle fired grenades. And then again. Hermann, Newton, and Will fired their AP bullets.
The Ursu staggered, tottered ... and then regained its balance. It charged.
But the five of them stood their ground, and fired, aiming for places where the armour had already been broken. There were spurts of blue blood, and the Ursu gave a howl.
"Keep firing!" said Elle.
The Ursu went down.
Hermann glanced at the scanner. "Three more coming up," he said.
"And we're running out of bullets," said Dee.
They could see the chopper now, and they ran for it. But the three Ursus were almost on them.
"We're not going to make it!" said Newton.
Dee stopped. She turned towards the Ursus. She held up her hands.
The Ursus stopped. They growled. They began to circle her.
Newton, Elle and Will reached the chopper. Hermann, realising what Dee was doing, ran back to her.
"Come on," he whispered to her. "Walk backwards. Slowly."
The two of them did, watching the three Kaiju.
Elle had started the chopper engines.
Dee and Hermann were almost at the chopper. But now the Kajius were so close they could feel their foul breath on their skin.
Newton, standing at the door of the chopper, hefted his own rifle, and Elle's rifle.
"Dee, Hermann," he said. "On three, run for it."
"I do not believe we have three," said Hermann.
"Then ... THREE!"
He fired, both guns. Hermann and Dee ran. The chopper began to lift off. Hermann pushed Dee in, and then began to clamber in himself. Will grasped his arm to pull him.
One of the Ursus leaped at the front of the chopper, thumping into it. The impact knocked Will through the door. As he tumbled out, and as the chopper gained height, he grabbed hold of a safety rail. Newton threw down the guns – empty now – and grasped Will's free hand.
"So now I guess I have to save you," said Newton.
"Well, I would appreciate it," said Will.
Newton sighed, and managed to haul Will aboard.
Dee drew her dart pistol and fired at one of the Ursu. The tracking dart struck.
Elle turned the jetcopter towards Yosemite Base.
Elle, Dee, Hermann and Newton were sitting in the briefing room, with Marshall Hercules Hansen and Dr Makoto Sekido.
Hansen finished reading Elle's report and placed it on the table, next to Dr Sekido's preliminary report on the Kaiju birth fluid sample that Newton had provided.
"So it appears that the Precursors have found a new strategy," he said. "Invasion through reproduction."
"From that sample, it appears that one of these things can produce another one in seventeen days, approximately," said Dr Sekido. "And then that one can produce another, and the first one can produce a second one, and so on. Not long before you're up to your elbows in the things."
"It is now twenty-six days since the Breach," said Hermann. "Which explains why one of the Cani was still an adolescent."
"And it means eight days until these things can reproduce again," said Elle. "And of course we don't even know where the Pteros are."
Hansen nodded. "Ranger Castro, take point on this, and draw any resources you need," he said. He looked at Dee, and said: "Ranger Delacroix, how long do you plan to stay on the job?"
Dee started. "Uh ... I, er ... as long as possible, I suppose," she said.
"You ... know?" said Newton.
Hansen gave a little laugh. "I've been a father twice, remember," he said. "And she looks, well, sort of glowing."
"Yes, I think so," said Hermann.
"Believe me, if I had my way you'd be flying a desk or be on administrative leave," said Hansen. "But I realise that the four of you are a package deal. And I can understand that. Former Jaeger driver, you know." He rose to leave. "And now I will have to write a report on this for the UN Committee," he said.
Hermann, Dee, Elle and Newton left the building. They were heading for the mess hall when they met Will.
"We will need your services again, I think," said Elle to him. "So consider yourself engaged as a consultant."
"Okay, I'll do whatever I can," said Will. "Er, Newton, could I speak to you for a moment?"
Newton and Will lagged behind as the others went on.
"Uh, if this is about what I said at the chopper – " Newton started.
"Oh no, that's got nothing to do with it, although I'm grateful," said Will. "What I wanted to ask is, well, are you, you know, seeing anyone?"
"Er, what?"
"Are you seeing anyone?"
"Well, my wife. Elle. And ... I'm not gay."
"Oh. My mistake. It's just that you ... hold it, did you say that Elle is your wife? You're married? Both of you? To each other?"
"Amazing, isn't it?"
"Uh, yes. Although I can't say I know a lot about women."
"No-one does."
Will laughed, and walked away. Newton joined the others at a table in the mess hall.
"You'll never guess what just happened," he said.
"Will hit on you," said Elle.
"Will ... er, yeah," said Newton. "What, you knew he was gay?"
"A man that good-looking, without a wedding ring? Of course."
"But ... when you first met him, your tongue was practically hanging out."
"Hey, just because I'm happily married, I can still appreciate a well-turned ankle," she said. She laughed. Then she kissed him.
Marshall Hansen finished the report and emailed it to the UN Committee. He sent it over the most secure channel and it was marked TOP SECRET.
An hour later, it was in the hands of Hyram Forsythe.
END