Orphans Beloved: "Attack of the Fifty-foot Clones…"
Summary: Like my Immortal Beloved and Sheldon Swifties bits in my Buffyverse and Sheldonverse, these are fragments and short bits, some longer…Just to fiddle with ideas, possibly forming longer tales later.
Disclaimer: No copy write infringement intended…
Note-There are always these minor consequences to any great advances in Science.
Part XIV…
"So…You're the mate of an infertile one…" in the center of what appeared a rather simple but old-styled parlor, stuffed with dated furniture and various mementos, including a range of photographs across the years hanging on the walls, not a few featuring a young Hendrik Johannesen and his wife, the elderly, cataract-blinded Proleithian leader stood before Donnie, his hand reaching…Donnie attempting to back away but held in place by two of the men from the young woman's, Alexis, team.
"Rather like our chow, do we?" the old man guffawed, feeling the chubby face before him…
"Do you mind?" Donnie glared. "And I want my wife released at once…You're making a big mistake here…" grim tone.
"I don't think so, my friend…" the man smiled. "And if I were a younger man I'd probably be sayin'… 'Or else what?' but I can imagine. You're expectin' the others, even the Dyad people to come for you."
"Oh, they'll come…" Donnie, firmly. "And they might just bring Helena. And you know what happened last time she visited with you people."
"I do…" the man nodded. "And if she's gone and growed like your creature…"
"Hey?!" Donnie glared.
"Quiet!" one of the guards struck him on the side of the face.
"You go to Hell!" Donnie fumed, jerking away… "I'll have you people in prison or like I said, have my sister-in-law visit you, you bunch of crazy freaks…"
"Not an idle threat…" the old man nodded. "There's no need for violence, Fred." He told the man who'd struck Donnie. "I apologize, you're our guest and that was uncalled for…Though you might consider tempering your remarks."
"I'm the man your Krazy Khristian Klansmen forced into a truck at gunpoint, not your 'guest'. And my wife is not a 'creature' and she can do some pretty serious mayhem of her own, especially now." Donnie noted.
"I imagine so…But she's indisposed right now. Plus…We do have you as our insurance, Mr. Hendrix."
"Eh…" Donnie shrugged. "A girl like Ally can find someone better than me like that…" snap of finger. "She'll kill you all without worrying about me, I'm not important to her…I'm her monitor, or was, for cryin' out loud, till she caught on to me, she'd probably thank you for killin' me."
"That I can believe…" Alexis noted, slight sneer.
"Now, now…You're a brave man, young fellow." The old man nodded again. "But I'd say you're lyin' and I think Mrs. Hendrix would prefer you alive…And will cooperate to keep you so."
"Whatever…There is no way in Hell…Or whatever you people believe…That Sarah will trade herself or Helena for me and Ally. Not a chance."
Faint smile…
"Actually we don't really want either of them, though they'd be useful…And I believe you, sir. The mother has her child to think on, Helena, her children, and I understand she doesn't know you all that well…But what we really want is not that hard to give. So, we'll proceed." The man stepped back and called to Alexis. "Put him in the cellar, under guard, and keep a full guard running for the other."
"Yes, Mr. Appleyard. Lets go, Hendrix." Alexis told him, signaling to the guards who tugged at him.
"What is it you want then?" Donnie demanded, resisting the pull of the guards a moment.
"What your sister-in-law stole from us, Mr. Hendrix. What my nephew Hendrik died for." Appleyard noted quietly.
…..
"On the road again…Goin' places that I've never been…Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again."
"What the hell are you doin'?" Rudy stared at Seth as their tank rolled on through just enough forest north of Churchill to cover them from the air while not impeding them, Seth having adjusted the tank's radio to pick up a local station...
"Well…We're on the road…I like this one…" Seth noted, turning . "On the road agin…" he sang.
"Shut up…" Rudy frowned, moving to switch off.
"Hey! I'm drivin', I get to choose the music." Seth insisted. A sudden lurch causing them to eye each other, Seth peering hurriedly.
"What the fuck did you do?!" Rudy, furiously straining to peer. "Let me see!"
"Just use your TV, it's nothing." Seth insisted as Rudy turned to view his screen.
"Nothing?! You nearly drove us over a cliff, you moron!" he eyed the view showing a considerable drop to their right. "Get us back! Now!"
"Ok, ok. It wasn't a cliff, barely twenty feet." Seth rolled eyes, steering. "Anyway it was your fault for distractin' me. Lets pull up for a bit and see where we are. I'll bring up the map." He tapped the screen as the tank halted.
"Jesus Christ, will you get it in gear? We're not on a campin' trip, brother." Rudy glared. "We're tryin' to save ourselves and our brothers. And not just from our illness…"
"Yeah…" Seth sighed. Looking out a moment across the forest, rather pretty now in the moonlight, snow gently falling. "Rud? You really think Mother has betrayed us?"
"I know she's not all that interested in curing us. I've seen enough in her files when I broke in to convince me of that." Rudy grimly. "Brother, we're lab rats to Dr. Coady, not her children…She's no better than Dyad's Neolutionists. You've gotta break free of her. We're all we've got. All we can depend on."
"And our sisters…" Seth suggested. "I mean, we did save Helena, sorta…"
"So we could keep Coady and Colonel Paul from using her and keepin' the cure away from the brothers." Rudy firmly. "They may be like us in some ways, but they're not family."
"I dunno…" Seth sighed. "They got troubles like us…Even if a lot of them didn't know what they were and some still don't. Like Crystal…" eager look…
Rudy frowned.
"I tole you to forget about Crystal…"
"I liked her. She was nice."
"So now we do our 'sisters'?" leer…
"Hey!" Seth, annoyed. "Mind your tongue, Rudy. I didn't mean it that way and you know it. She's a nice girl. I'd like her to be my sis."
"Great…A whore sister. Dr. Coady Praetorius for a mother, Dr. Frankenstein Duncan for a father. And good ole big bro, Colonel Paul, who likes to sleep with our sisters. What a family…"
Seth frowned. "Only cause she had a hard life…Her parents were poor. She's a sweet kid. Sarah's had it rough, too. And poor Helena…"
"Who can kill better than we can…" grim smile.
"She was brainwashed…Look how she saved Sarah…"
"Yeah, well…Just don't go trying to join the family just yet, with her fifty feet tall…I don't think she'd be in the mood for a family get-together."
Shrug…Seth shaking head. "Well, I still say…I think we should speak to the girls. We gotta common goal. Especially with this new thing they've got." He glanced at Rudy. "Come on, they might listen…Sarah and Cosima, at least."
"More likely stomp us…"
"I'm worried about them…What if this is fatal or something?"
"I'm worried about that too. If it affects the brothers…"
"Rud…" Seth frowned. "The girls could be our family too. And they could help…Cosima…"
"They're already in league with Dyad…" Rudy glared. "They'd sell us out in a minute."
"You don't know that…Mot…Dr. Coady said that. If we can't trust her, why should we believe what she says about the girls."
"Fine. Go find Fifty Foot Blonde and tell her you're her brother. Remember what she did to her own mother?" hard stare.
"She didn't understand what Amelia did for her…I'd be angry too."
"You?" Rudy, cynical grin. "If Coady called you her little boy you'd be all cryin' and sobbin' for Mommie."
"Jesus, I would not!" Seth fumed. "You're a real asshole, sometimes, Rud…"
"Oooh…Mommie…Sethie is sorrie he was bad. Yes, sir, Colonel Paul, happy to shoot myself in the head for you, sir!" Rudy mocked.
"Quit it!" Seth slapped at him. Rudy slapping back…
"Tank A-5, do you copy, over…" the radio crackled…Both clones eyeing each other, freezing a moment.
"Don't answer it, for Christsake!" Rudy hissed. "I doubt they've found us, just trying to get a fix."
"Tank A-5, this is Colonel Dierden. Rudy, I'm ordering you to return to town immediately. If you surrender no charges will be pressed, over. Seth? If you're with Rudy, this is your last chance! Dierden, over."
"F-ing liar." Rudy fumed. "F-ing rat fink liar! Our great commander…" He switched the radio off.
"He was tryin' to help us…" Seth noted. "He was riskin' his own life on mission…"
"Sure he was…Jesus, you moron!" Rudy glared. "Don't you get it? We're disposable. Toy robot soldiers they can throw away. All they want is to better control when we die so they can finish us at just the right time. Before we get too old to be of any use as fighters. He doesn't care about us any more than Coady does. Son of a bitch…"
"He wasn't very nice to Sarah and Beth either…" Seth noted. "Though that was part of his intel mission…"
"Yeah, do-yer-duty-Dierden. Well, he got a nice fat promotion out of it and some nice sex." Rudy frowned. "Come on, lets pull out." He waved at the controls, Seth restarting the tank and starting to drive further into the woods. "Take us straight ahead, this forest extends right up to the end of the tree line, we can ditch the tank in twenty miles, head back to our camp, and pull out."
"Ok. Well…" Seth eyed Rudy. "That's one thing that might make Sarah listen…Colonel Paul's let us down too, if he has…"
"Wuss…" Rudy glared. "One 'good job, soldier' or 'we're all in this together, right?' and you'd let him put a bullet in your head. Just thank God you got me to shake some sense into you." Sigh.
"Asshole…You and what clone army?"
"Just keep your wuss eyes on the road and stay under the tree cover. And for God's sake, tell me if you feel a headache comin' on." Careful look, Seth returning…
"I'm ok."
"You weren't so hot last night…"
"That was last night…I'm ok now."
"Good…Cause you're bad enough a tank driver as you are…" Rudy noted. "I musta been crazy to say you could drive…"
Seth, grinning. "I had the keys…"
"I coulda taken them…" smug look.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah…And you know it." Rudy, nodded.
"Do I?" grin…
"You want I should take them, lil' brother?"
"God, no…You can't drive for shit. 'Fuck-up Rudy', the colonel called you."
"He's lucky I didn't drive over him…You think I flunked because I couldn't drive a tank?"
"I dunno…You looked pretty bad to me on the course."
"F-you…Dierden flunked me because I would let him push me around."
"Uh-huh…"
Rudy frowned. "Gimme the wheel. You and that moustache of yours'll drive us over the next cliff."
"Hell I will, I'm not ready to die just yet." Seth glared. "And lay off the tache, it'll my way of sayin' I'm unique, like your scar."
"Bullcrap, you think you're Charles Boyer in that thing ever since you saw him in that camp movie." Sneer.
"Crystal liked it…" smile.
"I'm sure any girl you played would say so…Now, move, soldier!"
"You're no longer my superior!"
"The hell I'm not!" Rudy fumed.
"You get your hands off that wheel, moron!" Seth slapped at the grabbing hands…
"Watch the damned road!"
"You just let me drive and keep your hands off!"
"I'll decide who's doin' the drivin'!" Rudy ordered but let go.
"Just so long as it's me…" Seth, a bit smugly.
"On the road again…" he resumed, turning radio back on…
Rudy glaring, but suddenly both startled by a sudden lurching halt…
Groan, ominous creak…
Uh-oh…The boys eyed each other…
Sudden rocking…Incline…As if someone were lifting the tank on end…
"Jesus…Are we..?"Seth began, peering out…"HOLY CHRIST!" he backed from the window, seeing a giant eye peering in as the tank, now uplifted at an angle in Helena's hands, tilted to a 45 degree angle, he and Rudy falling back in their seats, their seat belts barely holding them.
"Hello, Marks…" Helena, on knees in the snow in a small clearing she made, holding the tank upended in her hands. "So you are clones also? Nice to see which of you again. How is Grace? Are her babies ok?"