"What are they?"
"Aliens."
"Inspector."
"They're amphibious creatures that live off symbiotic relationships. They spend most of their time in water, but when they're on land they wrap around the head of a host and take control of the body."
Geneva paces back and forth, her own footsteps echoing around them as she glumly listens to the Inspector describe what might be the creepiest looking aliens she has ever encountered.
"They're the perfect parasites." The Inspector says almost reverently, peering over the railing to look at the slimy grey bodies swimming beneath him. "When they're in the water, they're fast and impossible to catch, though completely blind. And when they're attached to their host, it's hopeless to even try and get them off involuntarily, because then they embed themselves deeper into the skin and pull the layer separating it and the brain clean off, including all forms of bone. They-"
Feeling slightly squeamish, she stops him.
"What are we going to do?"
"Nothing." Thoraxis says finally, turning to face her. "You two leave, and let me take care of this scum."
Before she can voice her protest, the Inspector snaps out of his (inappropriate) awe and stares at his enemy. "You'll kill them."
"Yes."
"No."
"This isn't your fight, Inspector."
And suddenly, something clicks. This is why Thoraxis has come to London. It's no coincidence; he's been tracking the Keets too. And he believes it's his fight.
But why?
"What happens if a Keet invasion is successful?"
Thoraxis, his voice low, answers her. "Either all the beings on the planet go insane, or the water gets so polluted the planet becomes inhabitable. The Keets take in other gases like oxygen or hydrogen and covert them to a special kind of substance found in the water bodies of their planets. Unfortunately, it's found onlyin their planets, so the environment of the new planet is rendered hostile in a little over fifty
years." He pauses, then adds, as an afterthought: "Usually".
Swallowing hard, Geneva turns and bangs her fist against the wall next to her.
Predictably, it doesn't help at all and she slumps against the door, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Stress headache?" The Inspector asks from the shadows he's lurking in.
She nods and sighs, sliding down to the ground.
Then she frowns and looks up at her friend. Why is he creeping around the shadows like a shady merchant on the planet Deafen Fa Jinn (a tiny planet with notoriously seedy - and popular - markets).
"Inspector?"
He looks at her, then shoves something red and small into his pocket. Clearing his throat, he looks at Thoraxis and speaks. With a shiver, she hears the stern disapproval in his voice.
"You can't do this."
"And you're going to stop me, I take it?" Thoraxis sneers, stepping forward and crossing his arms.
"You can't murder-"
"There's no other way."
"There always is."
Frowning, Geneva watches as the two of them talk, the Inspector maintaining a level, almost robotic tone while Thoraxis struggled to keep his controlled.
Suddenly, she realizes something.
"It's not your place to do anything anyway." She snaps, standing up.
They look at her in surprise (oh god, did they actually forget she'd been sitting there?) for a moment, then Thoraxis opens his mouth, but she cuts him off.
"This is my planet. Neither of you are supposed to be doing anything."
The Inspector nods, then takes a step back from Thoraxis. "You're right. Y-"
"And how exactly do you think you're going to save your planet?" Thoraxis asks, adopting a cruel tone. His whole demeanor changes, and she gets the feeling that he's going to call her any number of variations of childish.
"Because I've been where you are, Geneva," he continues, "I know how you're feeling, and how you're going to be feeling. And there is nothing you can do, short of killing them. All."
She tamps down on her urge to punch him and tries to keep her voice civilized.
"You lost-"
"Yes, I lost my home. And I had been helpless then. So now that I know what to do, I want my revenge."
"How are you even planning on killing them?"
"They can't be killed in the water. So I'll wait until they take control of their new hosts. And by the looks of it, today seems like the day they take their hosts."
"You knew," she realizes. "You knew that today they would take control of new hosts." She frowns. "How?"
He shrugs easily. "Bar gossip."
A pause.
"So why did you help us at all, then?" She asks.
"Because he didn't know where to look." The Inspector finally pipes up from behind her, and the two of them turn to look at him scrutinizing a blinking red something in his hand.
"What is that?" She asks, hope flaring in her chest. He always thinks of something, and if she has no idea what the hell it is, then there's a bigger chance that it's helpful.
"It was made with two others of its kind. When one is close to the other, then they start to blink."
She looks down at the blinking red uncomprehendingly.
"Where's the other, then?"
"With Reggie."
Eyes widening, she gasps as more pieces fall into place. She walks forward swiftly to peer at the little bulb, keeping one eye on Thoraxis, whose antennae are waving around impatiently.
"You were the one who led us here. You knew he was in London, over here." She breathes out, picking up the little shining glass object.
She drops it back into his hand and smacks his shoulder. "Why on Earth didn't you tell me?!"
The Inspector scrutinizes his little bulb. "I wasn't sure. It could have been malfunctioning."
They stare at the bulb a little more.
She swivels and looks at the alien behind her. "You knew. About him being here. And he's in line to be a host, isn't he?"
"After so many years of fighting the nitwit and his boyfriend, you think I wouldn't notice a few things?" Thoraxis asks, bored. "I knew that the Constable was missing, and when I heard about the Keets on Earth, I just put two and two together." He smiles mockingly. "I didn't even roam around time and space to do it."
She glares at him. "Fine, Thoraxis. You're a genius. You used us. Yay."
He shoots her a dirty look, which morphs into curiosity. "Why are you so calm?"
Unsettled, she stares at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
He nods slowly, studying her. "You think I'm going to listen to because you put your foot down."
She takes a step away from him. "How did you even-"
"I told once before. You may look like me, but I have a few more skills than your whole race combined."
She narrows her eyes. "Except decency, apparently."
The magnitude of what Thoraxis is planning to do strikes her and, horrified, she sucks in her breath. "When you say they can only be killed when they're on their hosts, you mean they can be killed because their hosts can be killed."
"Good. You figured it out. Now why don't you let me..." He trails off, but starts walking slowly towards her. The tension in his muscles and subtle shifts of his posture tell her exactly what he'd planning on doing.
"Inspector..." She says quietly, keeping her eyes on Thoraxis.
She hears him move behind her and she relaxes for a few seconds, before adopting a fighting stance.
"I'm not letting you murder a bunch of human beings, Thoraxis. Especially not our friend."
"Why?" He asks, coming to a stop in front of her. "If the good Constable dies, won't you be getting a promotion?"
She lashes out, throwing a punch at him, but he moves far too quickly for it to land. "I am not going to ever give up a friend for something silly like that!"
He tilts his head to the right and smirks. "Really? Would you really be so selfless?"
Anger bubbles within her and she strikes again, barely grazing his stomach before he sidesteps her once more.
"Thoraxis. I get that you feel like you need revenge, but if you don't let me do things my own way, then I'll be just as tortured as you." She huffs out, ignoring his jibes.
He pretends to consider her words, then pulls out a tiny gun from his pocket and shoots both her and the Inspector.
Xxx
They wake up in a dirty cupboard.
She stands up and curses fluently in three different languages before turning on the Inspector. "Why didn't you do anything?!" She cries.
"Because he's found us." The Inspector says with satisfaction.
"Who did?" She asks wearily.
"Reggie. See?" He holds up the bulb, which has started to blink quickly. "The blinking shows that he's coming closer."
Frowning, she grabs the Inspector's arm, feeling hope rise up inside of her. "How can he be free to move towards us, Inspector?"
He looks her in the eye. "Today's loading day, Geneva. There will be chaos. The humans set to be hosts won't be controlled very rigidly. And if that's so, then Reggie could easily-"
There's a knock on the door, then a rattle.
"- escape."
They hear a deep thud from the door, before it suddenly falls inward. Geneva and the Inspector move away in time, then look up in unison.
A grinning face stares right back at them.
"Come on, then."
They walk out, and the moment the bluish light of their surroundings hits them, she sees the Inspector shaking hands with Constable Reggie.
