Iversson looked up from the hard metal floor. Her hand rested beside something that looked like a coiling tree root. When she lifted it up, strands of translucent slime stretched out stickily, like webs of glue between her fingers. She tried top rise but nearly cried out at the sharp pain in her ankle "I must have twisted it in the fall!" She realised.
Suddenly someone grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her roughly upright.
"Get up!" Hissed the exotic behind her "Plenty of … time to rest when you are …dead."
She forced herself to stand and look around properly. They seemed to be in some kind of underground cavern, huge rib-like arches of rock were all around them. As she looked closely she realised that it couldn't be rock. It looked … biologicial, like some sort of natural formation "But that makes no sense," She thought "We only fell through the floor, we must be on the lower levels of Island North but… sweet Jesus!"
"It is a hard meat nest," Said the exotic next to her ear, almost as if he had read her mind "See… what your … human friends have been habouring behind… your back!"
"But why did the floor give way?"
"They laid a trap for us," He hissed "I told you they are not… stupid."
"Laid a trap?" She said.
"Acid blood used to… weaken the floor most likely."
She stared at him. If he was right then these creatures must be cunning as well as horribly aggressive. She didn't even notice the human shape jutting from the wall next to her until she nearly walked into it. As she reeled back in horror, choking down a scream that bubbled up in her throat like vomit, she caught the whiff of decay.
An emaciated corpse hung limply in a web of slimey strands. His grey skin and sandy blonde hair were coated in mucus, but more terrible than this was the huge, gaping hole that yawned in his chest. Broken struts of white ribcage were visible at the edge of the ragged crater of raw meat where they had been splintered and bent outwards, as if his heart had exploded in his chest.
"What in the name of all that's holy…" She turned to look questioningly at the exotic
"Lex's 'friend'," He said dispassionately "No doubt he wished I had… cut his throat! It would have been… quicker."
"No, I mean what happened to him?"
"Used as a host… for the hard meat larvae," He flicked a clawed finger at the cadaver's ruined torso "They grow inside you then … burst free." She noticed his other hand crept unconsciously to his own chest where she could see a large jagged scar.
"That's horrific!"
He made a shrugging motion and then stiffened. She followed his gaze to stealthy, black shapes crawling along the wall towards them. She would not have seen them, so well did they blend with the warped organic shapes of the resin structure.
He began to move backwards and she copied him, edging their way along the corridor without turning their backs on the threat. The passageway gave out into a large chamber and as they emerged into the open the exotic turned, putting his back to the wall and pulling her along with him. Iversson cursed as spears of pain shot through her injured ankle.
"Stand up straight!" Grated the exotic behind her "If they think you are… wounded they will attack."
Now that she was a little less disoriented she could see more clearly the chamber they had stumbled into. Iversson looked around and swallowed. This was a scene from a fever dream, sinuous shadows writhed and entwined in the half dark. Organic shapes fused and melded before her eyes; teeth and bones and slimy, pulsating membranes all twisted together.
On the margins of her vision dark, sleek shapes waited. All around them were objects, huge leathery pods; the sheath of filmy mucus at their apex twitched disgustingly, as if stimulated by their presence. But much worse than that; at the centre of it all like a nightmare spider, a vast creature sat suspended on giant spindley struts. A huge, bloated egg sac hung from her abdomen, pulsing and quivering as it squeezed out some vile excresence. Her long crested head lifted up to look at them without eyes. A mouthful of knives yawned wide to see trespassers in her domain.
The exotic growled "You are unarmed … female, get behind me. Now."
Iverssson was too aghast to move. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder dragging her backwards, somehow the horror of what she could see in front of her had wiped out her horror of his touch.
From behind his huge frame she heard the Queen breathing, the sound whistling and ragged between her teeth. Iversson thought that she had never seen or heard a creature that seemed so much the living embodiment of pure hatred. She had thought the exotic frightening with his yellow eyes and unstable temper but, compared to this thing dredged up from the depths of some Freudian oubliette, his species were virtually blood kin to humanity. They were surrounded, but for some reason the dark figures on all sides were hanging back
In the face of the madness the alien stood his ground, the blades at his wrists raised ready to fight. There was a strange mechanical whine then suddenly a burst of light and noise as his shoulder mounted gun fired into the ruined ceiling. Sparks rained down on them and the gun swivelled round to cover the rows and rows of eggs that lined the floor. Then she heard him speak again.
"You know what I am… Queen of Death," He said "My dispute is not with you… let me go to find my offspring and… I will spare yours!"
If the Queen didn't understand his words, she seemed to understand his meaning. She snaked her head to one side and then the other, as if considering, the crowd of chitinous bodies shifting uncertainly.
Taking advantage of her inaction, the exotic began to back away slowly, moving carefully across the large floorspace and pushing Iversson along too. Although the upper level was swiss-cheesed with corridors this floor was virtually all taken up with one chamber. Iversson shuddered, realising this must have been under her feet the whole time.
"Professor?" She was startled to hear a human voice.
She turned and saw a pale face hovering in the bloodred shadows, standing about ten feet away amongst the black, predatory shapes. He moved closer and then suddenly she recognized him...
"Danzig!" She breathed "What are you doing in here?! Get away from them, they'll tear you apart!"
"And why would they do that?" His voice had a strange edge to it, as if he wasn't quite in control of it "The Hive don't see me as prey. They won't hurt me."
"Don't be ridiculous!" She said "What are you trying to prove? We've got to get out of here! Come away from them!" She held out her hands to him desperately – he seemed deranged, not in his right mind "Come with us!" She tried again.
"I wasn't expecting the power to fail," The hysterical quaver rose and fall as he struggled to modulate his tone "I admit that! But anyone else would have been dead, but I have made myself impervious to them!"
"What are you talking about Danzig?" She asked, keeping her own voice level with difficulty "How are you stopping them from attacking you?"
"I told you, hormones!" He looked fevered, beads of sweat standind out on his brow despite the cold "My hormone tag makes them think I have already been impregnated so they leave me alone. It took me a few attempts to isolate the chemical their embryo produces within a human host. There were some… losses, but it was worth it, so worth it. I tried to tell you Professor, there's no limit to what I can do; the control I can have!"
Now she looked more closely at Danzig she could see it, a small glowing object pinned to the front of his overalls. What bothered her most though, were his eyes. She'd thought this dreadful place a glimpse of hell but it was a summer picnic compared to what she could see behind Danzig's eyes.
"Very clever." She murmured.
"You've still got to be dealt with Professor." He said, moving closer to her almost as if they were alone, he seemed to have forgotten about the exotic and the creatures "I need you silenced and the Hive needs hosts for its young; life to make life. It's in pursuit of a higher scientific goal, you understand?"
"There's nothing scientific about what you're doing!"
"You're so wrong Professor, this is purity itself. Scientific endeavour untrammelled by social mores. Nietzche said it best "Who can attain anything great if he does not have the will to inflict great pain?"
At that moment the exotic, who had been silently listening to their conversation, suddenly shot out one long arm and seized her former colleague by the lapels.
"How right you arrrre!" He growled, yanking the pin out of the man's jacket.
"No!" Danzig gasped "You big stupid brute! You don't understand what you're doing!"
Without taking his eyes off the Queen, the exotic shoved Danzig hard, sending him reeling backwards into the middle of a wide circle of hard meat.
The little man stared around him in terror as the ring of snarling mouths began to close. Several of the nearest ones hissed angrily, heads low to the ground as they advanced, their eyeless faces nevertheless seeming to see him for the first time. An insane thought struck her "They know he's the one who's been keeping them prisoner – they know he's been deceiving them all along!"
"Iversson!" Danzig whimpered. He looked like a scared little boy. Even from here Iversson could see him shaking, she had never seen anyone look so alone, so exposed.
"Stop! Stop!" He shrieked as cadaverous arms reached out, slavering jaws moved in for the kill.
As angry as she'd been with him her basic humanity wouldn't allow her to just stand by and watch him die.
"DANZIG!" She went to reach out to him but the exotic seized her wrist, holding her fast.
"My… clan has a saying much… like this." He purred "'All triumph is… fed with suffering'."
"What?!" She looked up at him, appalled and he shrugged.
"Just ensure the suffering is not… yours."
She stared at him as Danzig's screams echoed around the walls, suddenly rising up in pitch to an animalistic squeal as the horrible sound of tearing and rending got louder and then a desperate choking and gurgling. Iversson riveted her gaze on the smooth, metal of the alien's mask, not wanting to see. Just when she thought she couldn't stand it any longer, Danzig was silent.
The exotic didn't even look round. He seemed to be studying her face.
"It is only a… rough translation." He said dryly "Now we must go. I do not … think this little trinket will disguise… me!"
He began to inch backwards, pushing her along with him, the hard meat around them either occupied with her former colleague or hanging back. They edged towards the door to the stairwell; Iversson glancing nervously behind them.
As she moved through the massing blackness her foot brushed one of the thick veiny tendrils that covered the floor like a network.
There was a wet little sound to their left.
As one, she and the exotic turned to see one of the repulsive pods open. Long boney fingers appeared at the top, groping their way out of the slimey sheath. Almost immediately the gun on the exotic's shoulder swivelled and fired. There was a blinding flash and the smell of burning. Before the eye-searing flare had even died away he was running, dragging her fast along with him, the shoulder cannon firing in all directions – showers of matter glittering and combusting all around.
"What happened to your truce?"
"She broke it!" He snarled.
As he hauled her backwards he pulled a couple of small, silver spheres and flung them towards the shadows clustered around the Queen and she saw one of the creatures explode in a shower of glutinous shrapnel and bone shards, clouds of steam billowing up from the floor where its blood spatter fell. Piercing shrieks echoed in her ears.
He shouldered his way through the double doors that gave into a smaller room and then out again into the hallway. Whatever security measures might once have kept these doors secure having shut down along with the power.
He hauled her along the corridor until by sheer luck they found the door that gave access to the stairwell, crashing through it. Iversson looked up – it was like gazing into an abyss in reverse. There were so many flights of stairs stretching around and up into the blue tinged gloom you couldn't even see the top. She was still contemplating this in dismay when the exotic snatched her up and flung her over his shoulder. Without a word he began to leap up the stairs, taking them three or four at a time. Behind them Iverssson saw the doors burst open and glistening bodies at the bottom of the stairwell.
Then she heard it; a spine-tingling cry of terrible fury.
"There are guards with guns!" Selim hissed at Isaac "They're all standing around that door. I wonder where it goes."
Isaac peered around the corner cautiously "That's the door to North Terminus."
"What's North Terminus?"
"It's the way you get to the North Island," Isaac pointed through the huge pane of glass to where the walkway stretched twenty or thirty feet above the waves "Look, there's the bridge." The bright lights that usually showed the way across the water were flickering on and off.
"That is the way to the North Island?"
"Yes," Isaac shrank back "Where the monster lives."
"That must be why they are guarding it." Selim looked thoughtful "I wonder how we can get past them."
"Why?!"
Selim gave him an uncharacteristically mischievous grin "Because they don't want us to!"
"Can't we just go find your Mom?" Isaac pleaded "At least we know where she is!"
Seeing his friend turned fish-belly white at the very thought of going over the water, Selim relented. Despite anything his father could teach him, despite anything that might have happened; he was still a kind-hearted boy by nature.
"It is alright Isaac," He said generously "I want to get to my Mother first anyway. We have to tell her my Father is here, she'll be so happy!"
"She will? Why?"
"They hate being apart. Whenever one is away, the other is always in a terrible mood until they return." Selim said.
Isaac absorbed this, mystified "Why?" He asked.
"Well… because they miss each other." Selim looked at him strangely "Like I feel now, being away from them. They're my parents, I love them! Do you not miss Iversson?"
Now it was Isaac's turn to be amused, he didn't laugh aloud given the legion of armed guards stationed just around the corner but he shrugged and said off-handedly "Iversson never comes. Anyway she's probably dead… like Farrell said."
Selim frowned; he missed his mother and father terribly. To believe they were dead? No matter what Farrell had said, he refused to even contemplate it. That was tantamount to sacrilege by his reckoning. Something told him that his friend wasn't being entirely honest with him. He'd seen how distressed Isaac had been when the minder said those things. Selim sighed but decided to let it pass. He didn't want to have another fight.
"Well we still have to get past them." He whispered "Mom's room is down that hallway."
"We could climb through the vents again."
Selim looked up at the ventilator grille "It's quite high up."
"Stand on my shoulders and then you can pull me up."
"Alright."
He clambered onto his friend's shoulders, and was about to put his fingers into the holes to pull the cover loose when he noticed a movement in the darkness behind the grille.
"Isaac," He hissed urgently "There's something in there!"
Before he could think what to do next the vent cover was struck hard from the inside, knocking it to the floor with a clang. Selim threw himself backwards, leaping from Isaac's shoulders, stumbling and falling as he landed. He and Isaac scooted back as a black, boney snake uncurled out of the aperture. It was followed by a grinning pair of jaws, long streamers of drool spilled from snarling lips as the creature began to pull itself out into the hallway.
Both boys gaped, their feet squealing on the polished floor as they scrambled away. Without waiting to see anymore, they leapt to their feet and began to run.
As they barrelled around the corner, towards the five armed guards, five guns swung around towards them. Isaac heard a man shout "Don't shoot – it's the kids!"
The nearest man lunged towards them and the two boys split and dodged around him but the next man managed to grab Selim by the wrist and another laid hold of Isaac's shoulder.
"No! No! Let me go! It's coming!" Isaac screamed, lashing out wildly until a guard seized his other arm.
Selim fought like one demented, all the time trying to twist round to look back down the corridor. Four of the guards were now all focussed now on restraining him and Isaac. In the background he could hear the fifth man speaking into his radio "Yes Ma'am, we've got them – the two children… running around loose! No Ma'am, I don't know what happened to Farrell - "
The black shape came around the corner on all fours, its long tail poised scorpion-like above its head. Even the man with the radio had his back to it as he talked on oblivious.
"Look!" Selim gasped at the man holding him "Behind you! Look, there!"
They didn't listen, just kept trying to hold him down. He could do nothing but watch in terror as the thing crept closer and closer.
