Chapter Ten
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Earth Time: Unknown
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Charles felt their presence all around him, like an all encompassing blanket that surrounded him with nurturing warmth and protective shelter. He couldn't hear words, only whispers, thoughts, and emotions as he lay adrift in a black void. He couldn't see for his eye lids felt like lead weights, he couldn't move for his body felt like it were covered in iron, and he could barely breathe in each breath as if he were running a mile. The presence around him however supported him, gave him strength that made the existence far more pleasurable. They swarmed him with emotions, of joy at his arrival, curiosity as to where he was in comparison to them, and to how many progeny he possessed.
One presence, an unbearably strong one, zipped through his body, as welcoming as the others at first, but suddenly halted. It was alarmed, this new being was strange. It sifted through his thoughts, trying to find something familiar, though it felt distinctly alien at the same time. The tide of joy suddenly halted and turned to confusion, fear, and anger. Who was this foreign invader? How could he be connected to them? Was he dangerous?
Thousands of questions assaulted his mind, tearing at his fabric of being like a typhoon. He was dangerous to them, they would have him, they would devour him, and they would use his corpse to form more children, more progeny, and more guardians to protect them from the slayings.
Slayings? What slayings? What were they thinking about? No sooner did the thought enter his mind then he was suddenly assaulted by visions, sights and sounds. Creatures that could warp the light around them, fooling the most base creatures. They could sense them, taste their stench in the air, but they couldn't fight. They were strong, they were fast, and they hunted them for sport, taking away the fallen children to suffer horrible deaths.
As he further probed the images, he felt his body repelled. The powerful presence was enraged that this invader would steal their knowing, what they shared collectively. With a terrible rush, Charles felt himself thrown out of the dream, the horrible nightmare of a thousand voices echoing together into one word, one word that described how they felt about Charles.
That word was enemy.
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Earth Time: Day Ten, 1035
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With a sudden jolt awake, Charles focused his eyes on his immediate surroundings. He was in the ships makeshift quarters, dripping a cold sweat from his body. The whole room was dark with a soft glow emanating from the lights that were in standby mode, waiting to be brought to full glory. He was safe and sound and by no means in any harm.
"Well, rise and shine sleepy. Guess how long you were out?" came the familiar voice of Manuel from the vague outline of a chair with his body sitting comfortably in it. A quick survey of the area around it was littered with magazines, textbooks, any kind of reading material that could be found. It was obvious that he was sitting in that chair and reading, waiting patiently for Charles to awaken.
"I don't know, a couple of hours? Last thing I remember was passing out in-"he spoke when his eyes widened.
"Oh my god!!! Quick, put a tranquilizer in me!! I have one of those-"he tried to speak when Manuel pushed him back over to a lying down position.
"The correct answer is you been sleeping like a baby for five days, and don't worry about your little critter you think is inside you, Maya cut him out. He's a cute little fellow when he's not gnashing his teeth at his shielded cage. Guess Maya doesn't want you to have any kids but hers, huh?" he joked making a wide grin in his direction.
"Cut it out? Wait, do you mean…" he began to say when the realization struck him hard. Lifting his shirt up he saw the surgical scar right down his sternum, the only proof that he was even saved from the gruesome and terrible fate.
"It's out of me? And Maya did it? You mean she's actually a GOOD doctor?" he asked, surprised that the little psycho who wouldn't leave him alone actually cut him open and didn't fawn over him while doing it.
"Actually man, she's an awesome doctor. Saved the two other techs that were with you too. We got the three snakes locked in an energy barrier cage so they can't get out so we can study them" he spoke, patting Charles on the shoulder warmly.
What felt like a flash of white hot lighting surged through his brain, and for a moment he could only think about how hungry he was. It was understandable though, he hadn't eaten in five days, and he's bound to be a little famished.
"Anyways, let's get you up and moving. We were actually planning on throwing the little suckers into space soon, so I want you to get a good look at your baby" Manuel said, laughing to himself and helping to hoist Charles to his feet.
The same flash of pain raged through his head again. It was an intense urge to eat, almost like an inescapable craving that demanded he eat and eat now.
"Mind if we grab some food first? I need to eat something" he spoke as Manuel hoisted his backpack, opening the lid to show to him at least a dozen packs of rations.
"Got you covered, let's go" he said and continued to hoist him along and carry him like a rag doll. Charles didn't even wait to tear into the first ration he could, rending the dried meat and stale bread like it was the most delicious substance in the world. Nothing else seemed to matter at the point…
All that mattered was he was hungry no longer.
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Earth Time: Day Ten, 1100
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Raged filled its mind. Trapped within its prison with two of his comrades, he lashed at the cage with terrible ferocity. They laughed and jeered at it, throwing scraps of food at it which he gobbled up to grow stronger. The two others trapped inside the barrier as well listened to its words only because he was stronger, faster, and meaner than them. It was also smarter. It knew the queen would come to save them; it could feel their pain and needed them. It was strange they were the only progeny formed, but it was not its place to question, only to follow commands.
"So, what are we going to do with the serpents? Throw them out to space or just let them starve in their prisons?" one of the pinky fleshy beasts spoke to a large bald one, obviously a seasoned warrior amongst their society. It never understood how it alone could understand their language while its brethren couldn't, but it made no motions as to understanding, lest it give away its only advantage. It needed to be patient if it was to survive.
"They are a threat. Once we have gathered all the data we can from them, we shall jettison them into the vacuum of space, see if they can live without oxygen" he spoke. The words it instantly recognized as danger and knew very soon they would have to act if they were going to live through this ordeal. A door opened to the side, and in entered another set of the creatures that held them captive.
No…one wasn't one of them, it was something special. Its body was completely unremarkable, similar to the others, but it could definitely feel the mind, the consciousness that controlled them, that could direct them.
It was their queen.
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Earth Time: Day Ten, 1105
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Maya felt joy as she saw Charles walk into the room as she stood from the observation deck. She always felt sick looking at the serpents as they were screeching and bearing their teeth in sudden violence, the newly dubbed species they had captured, but she was required to examine them for purposes of medical research and she was also required to examine the bodies of the spiders, the species that seemed to carry the serpents to the host. She discovered that they were a xenomorphic creature that started its life cycle in what she could only assume was an egg, hatched into a spider which then sought out hosts to victimize, and then burst forth in a messy explosion of birth to form the serpents that at first looked like very long snakes, thus their namesake, and grew to form the adult versions that held such terror in their minds.
All that was lost to her now as she saw Charles walking again. She instantly felt the impulse to rush him and embrace him tightly, but she fought that urge, remembering Andrea's words of wisdom to give him his space. Catching and holding her breath, she took measured steps to walk up to him very casually and calmly and stopped just a few feet from him. She noticed almost instantly how he tensed seeing her, proving that he was indeed not happy to see her, a realization that upset her greatly. She needed to fix her image to him, so they would be happy together, she wouldn't screw up, and that she promised herself.
"I'm glad to see you're awake Char- I mean Lieutenant Trezice. I was worried you might have had some complications after the surgery since your parasite was a little different from the rest, but I see you're doing well" she spoke with a slight smile and a quivering voice. The look of astonishment in his eyes spoke volumes of how she had behaved before and of how he thought of her. It was an image she would need to correct.
"I…I wish to humbly apologize for my recent behavior. I was behaving like a scared little girl while you and you're team fought bravely and valiantly to protect us. If you can forgive my breach of etiquette, I would like to make a fresh start" she spoke, holding her breath till he spoke, praying he would respond favorably, not knowing what she would do if he refused her.
Scratching his head absently, he seemed at an equal loss for words before he finally spoke a minute later.
"Uh, yes, I accept Miss Kuro. I understand why you were acting like you were. I mean, we all get scared sometimes. Don't sweat it" he spoke. His words lifted her spirit and she felt revitalized, but there was still one thing left she had to do.
"Would…would it be ok if…if I could…hold your arm? If I become an annoyance or you need to take care of something, I understand, but I really am fond of you" she spoke shyly. With a half hearted shrug, he nodded and pushed out his arm for her to latch onto, which she wasted no time in taking, trying to be as gentle as she could but still coming off as digging her hands into his flesh. She would work on the details later, but for now, she could at least hold his arm again and that was all that mattered.
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Earth Time: Day Ten, 1110
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Adam watched his brother with Captain Kuro and Sergeant Sierra together at the entrance. It was fairly inspiring that she would make the effort to better herself to give an appropriate impression to him, though he could still see the undercurrents of her deep infatuation with him, but at least she was trying to earn his care instead of demanding it. He decided to remind her of no fraternization between officers later, but for now, there were more important things to be done.
"Ah, Lieutenant and Sergeant, glad you could join us. We were going to prepare the next meeting without you if you didn't wake up in the next three days, but now we can move the schedule up a bit. First though, I want you to take a look, a good look, at what were facing" he spoke before ushering them closer to the cages, parting the crowd of soldiers all gathering around to see the dreaded beast. Charles looked to be stricken with a wave of nausea upon looking, and though Adam was far used to looking at the beings they captured and grew up with the scraps of food they tossed in to witness its life cycle, it was understandable how Charles could be sickened to look at them. They were being unusually violent and vocal, assaulting the cage in mass as if to tear out and escape their imminent deaths.
"See the red one there? We call him Scarlet since he looks different from the other two in there. That's the one we pulled out of you. We think he's a special breed, but we aren't too sure" Manuel said. Somehow, the look in Charles eyes was strange. There was a certain glaze to it as he looked at the force cage, no larger than twenty by twenty feet. He seemed to look past it stare at the creatures inside, as if he were a frightened child looking into a real life nightmare. Maya was second to notice this as she tugged his arm, trying to coax him back to reality, only to have her voice fall upon deaf ears. Charles suddenly began clasping at his head with both his hands, as if trying to stop the wailing of the serpents from reaching his ears. Adam noticed that Scarlet wasn't screeching at random, it almost seemed like it was calling out to something, its howls precise.
"Shut up, shut up…" Charles began to whisper to himself like a mantra, trying to block out the sounds.
"Manuel, remove Lieutenant Trezice now, we are releasing the serpents out the airlock now" he spoke, making a signal to Captain Clayborne on the upper deck. As the screeching reached a deafening crescendo, Charles screamed at the top of his lungs.
"SHUT UP!!!" he bellowed. The serpents fell silent, all staring silently at him. Turning to look at Charles, Adam stared at him in almost disbelief, wondering if he had truly forced the monsters to listen to his commands.
"Brother…they are calling to me. They don't want to die" Charles spoke. Manuel looked at him in astonishment.
"Well tough shit for them, they don't get the choice. Major, blast those fuckers out of here" he spoke, but Charles resisted and broke free from both Maya and Manuel both to stand on his own feet without support.
"Wait, I know this is crazy, but listen to me. They are calling to me, they want to help me, and these ones aren't dangerous" he spoke again.
"They are completely dangerous; there isn't anything NOT dangerous about them! Look, you must be more tired than we thought, let's get you to sleep and-"Manuel spoke before Adam silenced him.
"Then we won't jettison them into space, but we won't release them. They will stay in those fields till we figure out a solution" Adam spoke, calmly and with a level head.
"Major, you can't be serious?!" Manuel objected, looking at him as if he had just said the sky was falling.
"If they really aren't dangerous, then they will be invaluable in reconnaissance and maybe covert missions into the rest of the colony for supplies. If we have some serpents on our side, then they will blend with the others, making our missions that much simpler" he spoke calmly. Looking back at the serpents, Scarlet specifically, he examined him and saw that it almost looked like it was smiling.
"I know you understand me you deranged little creature, first moment I think you might try anything, I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head" he hissed.
No one else seemed to notice the whispered threat, and it might have been his imagination, but Adam could swear he saw Scarlet's head nod.