By: Pat Vergis
The
heat was oppressive throughout the verdant jungle. Tiani pushed back her long
black hair and adjusted the huge basket on her hip. She was late in completing her chores. Her sister Adra had decided to give birth
early and she, as the tribal midwife, had a double responsibility. Now that the beautiful baby was born she was
playing catch up. She now had only to
collect certain plants for her medicines and she'd finally be through for the
day. She would have to hurry now, the sun
was quickly setting. With the nightfall
came the attacks. When the first three
victims disappeared they thought at first it was the work of a tiger. Days later they had found the bodies at the
base of a cliff. No tiger had done
this! Whatever had taken their lives
was more vicious than any jungle cat ever could be. The bodies were horribly mutilated. Two had been chewed and mangled right down to the bone. The third was found relatively intact but
for the belly which looked at though it had exploded from the inside. Terror now gripped their villiage.
As
she hurredly gathered the much needed fauna Tiani thought she heard movement
behind her. Her back stiffened and she
dropped the basket. Green medicinal
leaves blended with the mossy growth around the tree she knelt by. She felt hot breath at the nape of her neck
and heard a sibilant hiss. Suddenly
powerful hands scooped her up! She
looked at what had her in its firm grasp and her horrified screams mingled with
that of the raucous cries of the parrots.
Dr.
Ito Sasumi shook his head sadly three days later when poor Tiani's body was
found. Her belly had been torn from the
inside out. Her face had been forever
frozen in rigor mortis with a look of pure terror and obvious anguish. Her mouth was open with screams that would
never be heard again. Behind him he
could hear the wailing of her sister and the women of the tribe. They all mourned the loss of their
midwife. Because he was a foriegner and
a great doctor they all looked to him for help. Whatever had done this he knew for certain could not possibly be
human. This was way out of his
league! But he did have a childhood
friend who dealth with this sort of thing.
He was a very prominent scientist and a Nobel Prize winner by the name
of DR. Kozoburo Nambu. Ito would give
him a call, because outside of his position in the ISO Nambu was also the founder and leader of the
Science Ninja Team: Gatchaman. They
were what was needed for who else could be behind this but Galactor?
Nambu
was impressed with their response time.
Every call thay managed to nick seconds off of their prior speed. They stood before him in an array of
postures that pretty much reflected their personalities. Ken Washio, Owashi no Ken the Eagle was the
commander of the team and the one who Galactor referred to as Gatchaman, even
though the name referred to the team as a whole. He stood practically at attention, focussed and confident. Joe Asakura, Konduro no Joe, the Condor and
the teams second in command and gunner as usual held himself a distance from
the others. His arms were folded and he
leaned against the wall defiant. Jun
the swan was graceful and
attentive. Swallow Jinpei fidgeted
beside her. Lastly Ryu their navigator
stood relaxed and down to earth as ever.
But whatever their postures now they were all devoted to duty and ready for
action. He was proud of them all.
"Hakase,
is it Galactor again?" Ken asked in
regards to the prior briefing he gave them.
"Honestly I don't know. This
doesn't fit their ususal M.O. There is
absolutely nothing of value for them in that sector of jungle. And I seriously doubt that they have a base
there. Most of their latest activities
pinpoints that to be somewhere in the Himalayas. Besides while some of their handiwork has been known to be
gruesome, I have yet to see them resort
to cannibilism." "Cannibilism?" "Yes Ken.
Dr. Sasumi found traces of saliva on the majority of the bodies
found. Indications are that the bodies
were eaten into." Several audible gulps
were heard in the wake of that. "I'm
afraid this time we're dealing with something inhuman. For once I don't think Galactors
envolved."
"The
Creature from the Black Lagoon?" Jinpei
asked with huge eyes. At Nambus
confused look Joe laughed. "Humanoids
From The Deep!" All eyes rolled at the
memory. Ken explained further. "A B movie we watched recently" More groans followed as they all recalled
the late night stay over at Snack J.
The movie had atrocious acting.
Jinpei blushed. It had been his
first exposure to nudity in a film. Jun
had been very careful to screen his programs.
When Ryu had brought the tape over no one suspected that a Sci-Fi flick
would have shown very suggestive sex scenes between fish-people and human
women. Jun rolled her eyes the hardest
of them all. "Oh please! Lets not even discuss that film! I'm still mad at you boys!" Nambu cleared his throat for attention. "All joking about movie monsters aside what
we are dealing with is humanoid in nature and very real."
Ken
nodded in acknowledgement of the seriousness of the current situation. "We're on it. Let's go!" Again Nambu
cleared his voice stopping them mid run with his next statement. "I'm going with you this time." "Nani??"
"This is going to require my expertise.
The God Phoenix will need to be loaded with some special equipment first
and some badly needed medical supplies that Dr. Sasumi requested. My staff has already began loading her up as
we speak. We leave in approximately
thirty minutes." "Roger!"
They
took their time then heading to the Phoenix.
Ryu elbowed Jinpei in the ribs.
"Maybe this time you'll get a front row seat to a live rendition of
Debbie does Fish!" Jinpei blushed and
Joe snickered until Jun flashed them all a killer look. She had not been a happy camper that
night. Particularly after the guys flat
out refused to remove the tape after the first scene. Ken laughed. "Ease off
Jun. He's got to grow up sometime! Besides that movie was too silly to get so
serious about it." "Those ladies had
some nice bounce though." "Joe!" It was Jun's turn to blush. Joe gave her a wicked grin. He really had fun teasing both her and
Jinpei that night, although he had been largely bored with the film. Had her reactions that night not been so
classic he'd have been the first to remove it.
It had been Ryu's pick and both he and Ken had a time of it rooting for
the Humanoids. Jinpei had pretended
interest to save face but they all knew how trully embarrased he'd been. Jun gave him an exaggerated click of her
tongue and sped up ahead of him. As
Joes low laugh followed her she promised herself that she'd be backhanding him
in the near future.
Nambu's
mouth dropped open when exactly thirtyone minutes after the Phoenix took off
Jun did exactly that! She had gotten up
from her seat quietly and quite nonchalantly and positioned herself behind Joe
to whack him hard on the back of his neck.
Then she returned just as matter of factly to her seat. Joe glowered at first then broke into a slow
grin. Nambu looked inquisitively at Ken
who steadily ignored them both.
Shrugging he closed his mouth and turned his attention to rummaging
through his briefcase for Ito's reports.
As he read he listened to the light banter around him.
"Aniki,
what if it is something like the Humanoid From the Deep?" Ryu laughed at that. "Don't worry your not a girl." Ken choked back his own laughter because he
didn't want Jun getting too riled.
"That's just a movie Jinpei. If
it is some alien or a new life form I doubt its amphibian. These killings are taking place in a deep
part of the jungle well away from any main masses of water. Personally I think someone is going to an
awful lot of trouble to make it look like some flesh eating creature is
resposible." "Then you think Galactors
behind it too huh?" Jun shot Joe an
annoyed look. "Everythings always
Galactor with you. There's more evil in
this world than just them you know."
Joe ingnored her barb and continued to address Ken. "They did use those Jigoplants and they were
flesh eaters." Ryu oblivious to the
fact that they had all reached Jun's threshhold point on the subject couldn't
resist. "And they liked women too! Hey Jun maybe we can use you as bait. Just don't do no nudie scenes, OK?" That went too far for even Joes mischievous
tastes, he stared hard at the navigator but Ken went one better. His hand struck out like lightening
connecting with Ryu's face. After
everything both Jun and he had gone through when she was in that plant the last
thing either needed was jokes done in poor taste. One look at the Eagles eyes and Ryu was instantly contrite. "I'm sorry that was out of line."
Nambu
was glad Ken stepped in on that one. He
was about to correct Ryu if he
hadn't. But it was interesting what he
did let slip. He had totally ignored
Jun's slapping Joe. And he also noted that
Ken wasted no words when he did correct but rather favored physical
reprimands. Hanging around them was
going to prove quite educational. Using
this moment to cut into the conversation he reminded them politely of the one
detail they had forgotten. "The saliva
found was not human." "I thought you
said it was human?" "Humanoid
Jinpei. They have similar but different
properties." "It could be faked." "I don't think so Ken. I would have discovered it." "Sounds more and more like the Humanoids From
the Deep to me!" "Alright Ryu, lets
leave that subject matter alone!" Ken
gave him another sharp look that had him cringing in his seat before
continuing. "So if its not a hoax or
any thing connected to Galactor that we know of anyway and you've ruled out
cannibilism because of the saliva, what do you think it is Hakase?" "It's too early to speculate on Ken. I need more data. But since it has targeted both male and female victims I think we
can both drop that whole Humanoid conversation." "As far as I'm concerned that had better include all Humanoid
jokes or else!" Jun crossed her arms
over her chest and looked meaningfully at Joe.
"I didn't pick that movie out Ryu did!"
"But you can stop your teasing about it!" "Jinpei is big enough to stand a little ribbing." "That movie should have been shut off the
moment you all saw what it contained!"
"Jun your blowing it all out of proportion!" She glared at Kens interruption.
"I am not! You and Joe are both
old enough to know better than to put that kind of R rated movie on in front of
a child!" "It was funny!" "It was embarrassing Ken." "You didn't have to watch it." "Yeah" Joe piped in. "Nobody tied you and
Jinpei to the set you know. He was free
to go to bed like you said." "Well if
you weren't all egging him on and if he weren't so conscious of acting grown up
in front of all of you he just might have!"
"Ahem!" They all turned toward Nambu. "Am I missing something here?" Sighing Ken explained. "Hakase I'm sorry. We were watching a Sci-Fi movie that just happened to have a lot
of nudity in it and Jinpei was in the room.
Mother Jun had a fit about it and Joe is being a jerk and continues to
tease them both over it." "Oh please
Mr. Innocent! Like you didn't do your
own fair share of that that night?"
"But I know when to drop it Joe."
"Excuse me!" Joe folded his arms
grumpily and focussed his attention on the radar screen in front of him. Already tired of this conversation Ken
continued. "Anyway..." Jun interrupted. "Hakase it wasn't just nudity it also contained graphic rape
scenes with those fish creatures and women!"
Joe spun in his seat amused at her version of graphic and was suddenly
reinterested in the conversation. "It
only showed them waist up. At least
mostly. The only indication it gave was
the cameras focus on their breasts bouncing.
Believe me I've seen graphic and that wasn't even close!"
Nambu
suddenly exploded. "I've heard
enough! All of you are too young in my
opinion to be viewing those types of movies let alone the irresponsibility of
letting Jinpei see them! And to waste
your mind on inferior quality movies when there are much more educational
outlets is disappointing. I want this
matter closed!" That ended the
conversation for the time being as the Phoenix raced through the dazzling blue
sky toward her destination.
Minutes
later Ryu announced. "We're here!" Below them they could see the vast areas of
dense green foliage and the haze of humidity that hung over it. "Aw man it's going to be a scorcher down
there!" Nambu was unfazed by Ryu's
complaint. "The birdstyle is
insulated." "Suppose to be you mean. Try wearing it!" Joes sarcasm was duly noted as Ken added his own understanding
nod at Nambu. "Until we actually run in
to whatever's down there do we necessarily have to be transformed?" "Not really. In fact the natives might be
more relaxed around you if you weren't."
"Well then Ryu land well away from the villiage and we'll do this in
civies as Nambu's aides." Joe looked at
the approaching floor of the forest with enthusiasm. "At least this will be a change of pace from the usual. Fighting Galactor tends to be so routine any
more."
Ryu
landed the plane a good mile outside of the villiage in a small clearing which made
for a long hot hike through the
jungle. "K'so!" "Joe watch your tongue!" "Sorry Hakase but those damn mosquitos are
biting the shit out me!" "Well if you
kept the damn birdstyle on they wouldn't be able to." Jun stared in shock at Jinpei.
"Do you see what your influence has done Joe? Now you have him swearing!"
"Oh Jun. I promise not to let
him drink booze or smoke with me ne?"
"And you wouldn't be doing any of that yourself now would you?" "No Hakase!" Joe bit his lips and refrained from saying whoops. Actually he figured one out of two wasn't
bad. While he personally deplored
smoking he wasn't opposed to sneaking a beer or two. Behind him he could hear Ken snort in amusement. The boyscout better not give him away! Fortunately Nambu trudged on ahead but Jun
was giving him the evil eye again. He
smirked over at her secretly amused at just how well he was getting her goat
today. He had a major crush on her and
naturally could not avoid teasing her.
She was so pretty when she blushed and he loved the way her green eyes
flashed when she was mad. But teasing
was as far as he'd go. She was in love
with Ken and though their leader gave no outward indication of it Joe knew that
he felt the same way about her.
Although they fought like cats and dogs Ken was his brother and he'd
never step between him and his hearts desire.
Besides with his track record with women? He had a knack for falling in love with either Galactor agents or
cyborgs who all ended up dead. Why jinx
Jun? She was too good for him anyway.
Finally
they reached the village. Ito Sasumi
waited outside his office for them having seen the Phoenix in the sky. He was an elderly man, but strong. His face remained cheerful even under the
circumstances. He bowed deeply and respectfully
to his old friend. "Konichi wa, Nambu
Hakase. Dachi!" Nambu smiled fondly returning his bow. "And a good evening to you to my
friend." Ito glanced at the five
youths. He knew them well for in the
past he had served as their physician while they were growing up. "Ken! Joe!
Jun! Konichi wa! Jinpei you've grown some! Ryu!"
They smiled back at him. They
had always liked Sasumi. Jinpei gave
him a hug and the older man ruffled his hair in reponse. Then his expression grew grim. "We have found another body and yet another
has turned up missing! Come with
me." He led the way back through the
jungle. "Not more walking! I'm hungry!" "Ryu you're always hungry!"
"That's not true Jun. I'm not
when I'm sleeping." She gave him a
lopsided grin. "You're right. It's half
and half, half sleepy half hungry!" "Aw
Junie give a guy a break!"
Every
few feet or so the slapping of arms and mosquitos continued along with the
occassional "K'so" offered by an irate Joe.
Ito smiled at the sound of Ryu's stomach growling or Jinpeis complaints
of sore feet. He loved these kids. He'd taken care of them for so long,
especially Ken and Joe. Ken had been
his favorite. Not because he was
destined to be their leader or that he was the son of his and Nambus mutual
friend Kentaro, but because he was so sweet.
He'd always been the polite one.
Physically speaking he'd also
been his most frequent patient. For
starters he had been premature and from the word get go had been frail. Not until he had reached puberty did his
health problems disappear. Now he was
robust with never even a cold.
He
also found himself partial to Joe. He
was the complete opposite of Ken. A
refreshing healthy brat. Once he
recovered from the massive injuries he received after having a bomb thrown
point blank at him as a child that is.
Most of this boys problems were all psychological. The same Galactor agent that had thrown the
bomb had just prior to that gunned his parents down before his eyes. Since then he'd been angry and consumed with
vengeance. Almost to the point where he
could be diagnosed as borderline psychotic.
The
rest of the team he loved on an equal basis.
They kept him busy whenever he graced Crescent City with his
presence. That being when he wasn't
doing mission work in the field. Jun's
problems were that of any normal female and Jinpei usually just the run of the
mill childhood ailments. Now Ryu
worried him with his weight. Granted
being a sumo he needed to maintain a certain body mass but Ito worried nonetheless
over future problems and councilled him on a routine basis. All in all these young ninjas were an
extended family of sorts.
When
they reached the opining of the jungle at a foot of a large cliff no one could
help gagging. There in a pile lay
scattered bones and the remnants of cloth soaked in blood with the tattered
remains of flesh. Flies swarmed around
the putrid matter. Immune to such
things Nambu knelt and immediately began his investigation. At least three of his team turned a shade of
green and began emptying stomach contents.
Though keeping his nausea under control
Ken held back while Joe crouched beside Nambu unfazed. He was hardened to it, being the member of
their team who usually did the reconnaisance and usually upturned the dead
bodies first. Their war with Galactor
invariably produced quite a bit of dead bodies.
"Wow. Maybe we are dealing with monsters
afterall." "Not monsters Joe. Different life forms to be sure, but not
your classic fairy tale monsters."
"They do something like this Hakase and you don't think the terms
qualified?" "Have you ever seen a
hungry man devour a steak? Or the
appearance of a chicken after its been plucked hacked and chopped? Like cows and chickens are to us so
appearantly we are to them. They're
only doing what comes naturally to them.
We happen to be their food source.
Now if I am wrong and Galactors behind this then I would use the term
monster." Ken forced the bile from his
throat then and joined them. He looked
at Nambu. "But you don't think your
wrong do you?" "No Ken I don't." "Where do we start loooking?"
Nambu got up wiping his hands on his pants
and looked around. "Keep this place
under surveillance. We can try catching
the creature in the act." Joe also
stood and cocked an eyebrow at him.
"You said the bodies usually turn up three days later." "So?"
"This isn't where they kill them."
"Oh? And what brings you to this conclusion?" "Hunch. This is some kind
of garbage dump. They nab them in the
jungle, kill them elsewhere and end up tossing them down here." "Possibly.
Either way something has to
bring them here so here is where we wait for them." "For three days? Hakase
why not catch them in the act and concentrate our search in the jungle?" Ken gave him a look of exasperation. "It's a huge jungle Joe!" "There's go to be a common path that the
villiagers all took. Why wait for three
days?" "It may not even take three
days, and this is the one place that we know for a fact that they will show up
at. The other is an iffy location at
best and risky too." "And while we're
waiting the latest disappearance could be somethings homecooked meal!" "We wait here as Nambu Hakase ordered!" Ken then noticed the stubborn set to Joes
eyes. He was getting tired of this, Joe
was infamous for not following directives.
It didn't help when Nambu asked curiously. "Do you always tolerate such debate with your orders?" Ken gave Joe a warning growl before
answereing. "From time to time." Joe did his best to worsten the situation. "As often as I can!" Ken was livid and promised that he'd get
payback when he least expected it. The
others giggled, surprisingly even Nambu who grudgingly had to admire him. The boy had balls! However taking a glimpse at Kens expression he concluded that he
also had no sense. He intervened with
authority in his voice. "Howsoever
Joe you will do as your commander ordered and I personally guarantee to correct
your little disciplinary problem if you do not. Capische?" Joe knew
better than to say one more thing, but his mind was already made up as to his
course of action.
Once
again making the mistake of assuming a matter dropped Nambu bent back again to
his task. "I think I'll take some
samples back with me. We can set up a
lab back at the villiage. Ito did you
save any of the other bodies?
Particularly the ones with the torn abdomens?" "Of course I did." "Phew!
Bet you those are ripe then." Ito
rubbed his knuckles on the top of Jinpeis head amused. "They're on ice!" "Oh. Well yuck
anyway!" Nambu nodded in
agreement. "Let's head back them I'm
eager to get to the bottom of this."
Ken nodded . "Ryu and Joe have first watch. Jun and Jinpei will relieve you this evening. I'm going to go talk to some of the
villiagers."
As
they left Joe couldn't help but break out into a slow grin. He would have liked to needle Ken about his
cush job but held his peace in front of Nambu.
He had a feeling Hakase had enough of their interpersonal relationships
on the way out here to tolerate much more.
He was happy to have the first watch.
It would work out better for what he had planned. As soon as it was nightfall and he was
relieved he intended to take a little walk in the jungle to flush whatever it
was out. Since night was when the attacks
took place his chances of being attacked were good. He moved to sit on a rock chewing on his feather shuriken deep in
thought. Ryu settled beside him and
together they did their best to not look at the corpses.
Later
that evening while Ryu snored loudly in his tent and both Nambu and Ken were
talking with Ito in the hut that served as part clinic and now part morgue, Joe
snuck out by himself into the jungle.
He took the path that Tiani's sister said she had taken. He knew that he was right and they'd come
for him. Both Jun and Jinpei had a
boring night ahead of them. If his
theory was indeed correct that outcropping would not see any action for another
three days. Generally his hunches were
good and when he showed up in the
morining with the culprit Nambu would be glad for once that someone had
the good sense to disobey orders on occassion.
And he still had his own suspicions that Galactor was behind it anyway.
The
walk was a long one. It wound its way
relentlessly upward until it suddenly sloped down. It made for quite a work out.
In the distance he could hear the calls and chitters of the jungles
nocturnal life. The only thing he
really dreaded running into was snakes.
He hated them! They had a
tendency to strike very quickly. they'd
make excellent ninjas he thought. Joes
night vision was good and he kept a careful watch on the jungle floor for both
the dreaded snakes and anything else that might prove hazardous to his
progress. The only dangerous thing he'd
run into so far were those infernal mosquitos!
Irritated he swatted at yet another bloodsucker. Don't these things ever sleep? It was both hot and humid. A bad combo. There wasn't even a breeze circulating either. He wished the things would show up already
so he could get back to civilization!
One
should be careful what one wished for.
He didn't hear them at first. Suddenly they were just there! Two of them blocked his path. They looked like a cross between ape and
lizard. Fur covered what looked like
scales while yellow snake like eyes glittered coldly at him. Stunned by their sudden appearance Joe stood
immobile until behind him a powerful clawed hand clamped roughly over his mouth
stifling any shouts of warning he may have voiced. Okay, so this wasn't such a hot idea after all! Joe aimed a kick at the two before him but
it was like kicking a solid wall. The
larger of the pair grabbed his ankle.
Joe pulled his leg back, his shoe coming off in the struggle. He then brought his left hand up to force
the creatures hand from him mouth.
Sharp claws raked against his bare flesh as it grabbed his wrist. In the struggle he felt his transpower band
come loose. Aw hell! The nightmarish ogres then picked him
up. Vainly he struggled to no avail in
their inhumanly strong arms. They
communicated to each other in a series of grunts. So, Joe thought, they have intelligence. They took him deeper into the jungle the
night swallowing him.
The
sun came up the next morning promising an even hotter day in its wake. Drenched in sweat and miserable Ken crawled
from his cot and stretched his aching limbs.
The cot wasn't the most comfortable beds he'd ever been in. The ground probably would have afforded more
comfort. He roused Ryu who'd overslept
and ordered him to fetch Joe who atypically must have overslept as well. It was past time they relieved their
teammates. He started across the
clearing to the clinic and didn't get far when Ryu shouted after him. "I can't find Joe!" "Nani?"
"He's no where in sight and his cot hasn't been slept in either." Already knowing where he possibly went he
tried Jun hopefully in any case. He
wasn't surprised when she reported that no Joe hadn't relieved them and no she
didn't know where he was. "Baka! I should have known he'd try this! He's gone off on his own to investigate his
theory. Go tell Nambu and then relieve
the others!" Ryu stared at Ken unsure
of whether to be worried or angry. Joe
was always doing this to them! "What
are you going to do?" "First I'm going
to find him and then I'm going to kill him!"
Huffing
and puffing more from anger than exertion Ken headed off in the general
direction that he assumed Joe would take.
He went a distance of a few miles finding nothing. Every so often he'd call out Joes name. The only response he received was the noisy
squaks and yells of the birds and monkeys.
A flash of silver caught his eyes and he looked down. It was Joe's transpower band. It was covered in blood! As he knelt to retrieve it he also found the
discarded shoe. Now he knew for certain
that Joe was in trouble. Anger faded
quickly into worry as he frantically called out his brothers name. He scanned the ground before him and saw
where Joes footprints ended in a scuffle.
Where they ended strange prints picked up. they were three toed up front and heavily indented. The back of them fanned outward like
fins. Up ahead he heard the soft
whispery sounds of vegetation being disturbed and went to investigate.
Nambu
waited at the edge of the jungle with Ito.
Every so often he cursed or prayed.
He was simultaneoulsy angry and concerned. With his past experiences with Joe he should have saw this coming
a mile away. Ito watched him well aware
of how much he loved his children.
Though he seldom showed it, being instead the gruff and stern leader
instead, Ito knew his friends heart.
These were his children. Two of
them, Ken and Joe were actually his legallly through adoption, and the rest
fostered. Often his cold demeanor with
them was as much an occupational habit being ever the scientist. But today he didn't even bother with masking
his feelings. The fear for his son was
evident to any casual observer. Ito
said his own private prayers that the only danger the boy be in was from
Nambu's wrath when he got a hold of him.
"Hakase!" They heard Ken yelling from a distance. By the sounds of it he was approaching them
fast. There was something in the tone
of his voice that stopped their hearts.
At the sound of it Jun and Jinpei ran breathless to the edge of the path
that led into the jungle and the sound of Ken's voice. Ken came into sight just then holding Joes
limp body. For a moment they stood
paralyzed. Nambu was the first to
react. Eyes bright with anxiety he
asked hesitantly. "Ken?" Between gulps
for air Ken quickly updated them.
"He's.....alive. Found
him....wondering in the jungle. He
passed......out from shock." Nambu
looked down then doing a quick assessment.
Joes face was white as a sheet.
The clothes were torn and beyond the torn skin there were strange burn
marks over various areas of his flesh.
Deep slashes covered his arms and were raked across his chest. "Baka!"
He
took Joe from an exhausted Ken and hurried off toward the clinic. Inspite of being a scientist he was very
much in shape and stronger than he looked.
Ito followed behind him having done his own inventory of the
injuries. He rapidly overtook Nambu and
darted in his clinic to prepare a bed and the various emergency supplies they'd
need.
Jun
turned anxiously to Ken. She was never
very good at hiding her feelings and her tears cascaded down her cheeks
unchecked. "Did he say anything?" "No.
And I don't think he'll be in any condition to for a while. He had a blank look on his face but his eyes
were frozen in terror. He didn't look
like he knew me either." "Aniki Joe
don't scare easy. It must be a
monster! And where were his shoes? His feet were all bloody like he'd been
walking a good while without them." Ken
held up the one shoe he did find. "I
have no idea where the other one went.
I also found his transpower band."
He held that up as well. None of
them missed the dried blood on it. Jun
gasped and Jinpei fairly yelled out, "It is too Humanoids From The Deep! No way
can Galactor beat Joe up like that! And
they wouldn't have him scared so bad he went into shock either!" Jun shook him. "Calm down! There's no
such thing. It was only a movie and
trauma can cause shock. Remember your
training?" Jinpei couldn't be convinced
though. He pointed in the direction
that Nambu took Joe. "A movie didn't do
that! Aniki lets go! I'm scared!
We can let marines nuke this place like they wanted to in the movie
Aliens!" "Jinpei thats enough of that! We're going to do our job like we were trained. Think about what you just said! We can't nuke this place, there are hundreds
of villiages like this scattered throughout the jungle, let alone the animal
life. I am really sorry now I didn't
take that stupid movie off the way Jun suggested. If sci-fi movies are going to start having this effect on you
then I forbid you to watch any more.
Are you Kagaku Ninja Tai?"
Sobbing Jinpei through his arms around
Ken. "I am. And I'll do my job, but I'm also scared too, ok?" Ken held him back. As brave as the kid usually was sometimes he forgot that this
ninja was also a child. "Come on
now. It'll be fine. So long as we stick together, remember our
training and not panic we'll get throught this. Joe was an idiot running off like that with no backup!" "They tried to eat him Aniki." "Well they didn't. The jerk probably left such a sour taste on their mouths they
couldn't stomach him!" Jinpei hit him
then. "He isn't a jerk!" Ken laughed. "Right. You say that now,
but next week when he recovers you'll be calling him that and worse." "Thats next week. Right now he's hurt so don't call him that!" Ken picked him up then and let him be the
little boy for a bit then set him back down.
"Are you ok now? Because I'll
have no further outbursts and I won't have you panicking and thats an
order!" Jinpei gave him his best cocky grin. "Who me?
The great swallow isn't afraid of nothing!" Ken swatted his behind firmly then. "Thats better."
Jun
watched them quietly. Jinpei had been
more than just a little brother to her. Since finding him at the orphanage where she grew up she took on
the role of a mother to him. It touched
her how well Ken handled him. He'd make
a good father one day. For a few
minutes their troubles faded in her mind as she fantasized the possibilities. Only for a few minutes then she
remembered. "I better tell Ryu that we
found him. As irritated as he gets with
Joe he really does care about him you know."
"I'll go tell him!" "Jinpei
wait! Not alone you don't." Ken stopped her. "Jun. Bring Ryu back with you. I don't want any of us separated from here
out." She looked at the worry in his
eyes. "Ok." She ran off to catch up to Jinpei who already vanished out of
sight. Ken watched them go. Fighting Galactor was one thing. They knew that enemy well enough, but
this? He wondered if they'd be up to
the task. Maybe it would be the best
thing to evacuate the villiages and do as Jinpei suggested. He refused to give in to his fears
though. Monster or not everything had a
weakness and they'd find it and put an end to these peoples nightmare.
Ito
cleansed the wounds carefully. Other
than the superficial cuts and burns there was no other signs of trauma. Shock seemed to be the worst that they had
to deal with. He already had an IV
going to keep him hydrated. Without
deeper trauma he wondered at the boys shock.
His eyes were open now and staring at nothing in particular. The pupils remained dilated and he had yet
to respond to any verbal stimulous.
This was clearly a case of psychological shock as opposed to
physiological. He must have seen
something truly awful then to have induced this.
Nearby
Nambu checked various blood samples under a powerful microscope. His own particular coping mechanism in any
crisis was to literally throw himself into his work. Every so often he'd glance in Joes direction, watching as Ito
piled more blankets on him, though in this heat he thought it a bit
redundant. He noted that Ito
administered a sedative and nodded approval.
His son was in good hands.
A
shadow blocked the sunlit entrance and they both looked up to see Ken
enter. Ito smiled reassuringly and he
visibly relaxed. "How is he?" "Stable.
But he's in a severe state of shock.
I don't see any major physiological reason for it. It's psychological. This can either be a good thing or bad. If it was simply merely a bad scare I'm
hoping for him to come around in a day or so.
I'll keep him under some deep sedation until morning and then we'll
see." "Nothing ever scares him. It makes me wonder just what the hell is out
there anyway!" "Whatever it is its
picked the bones of some of its victims as cleanly as a soldier ant would. I know this much, the villiagers are scared
to death! We must find answers before
anyone else is harmed or worse!"
Orders
had gone throughout the villiage the next day that absolutely no one was to
venture out at night or alone. Kara
knew this and while she was normally an obedient child it was her fathers
birthday. She wanted to make him a
special cake made of fruits and nuts.
Many of the ingredients she needed grew along the path that led into the
jungle. Too many people were busy to
ask to go with her. The outsiders had
them building a tall fence around the villiage to set up something that they
called a defense perimeter. She had no
idea what that could be or why it needed built. All she knew was that she had to make her father that cake. It really wasn't all that dark yet, there
was enough light left. Unnoticed in the
busy commotion the thirteen year old slipped into the jungle.
Later
that night her father, Watambi searched for her frantically. Panicked when not finding her he turned to
the outsiders for help. Within seconds
Ken had his team searching the jungle accompanied by the villiagers. They found nothing and what vague tracks
there were was made difficult to read
due to the dark. The jungle
allowed very little of the moonlight to filter in. They had no choice but to give up. Watambis head was lowered in mourning. As is the habit of men he kept his tears inside.
From
the cover of the leafy plants the creatures watched them depart. They had held their collective breaths
patiently and now let it out in one long
hiss that made the leaves in front of them quiver. Eyelids parted revealing the glow of their
yellow eyes. Saliva dripped to ground
in front of them smoking and sizzling on the foliage, the grass a charred
remains. Noses wrinkled in excitement as they caught wind of their
prey. He was close. Pink tongues licked the blood of the little
girl from their claws. She had made a
tasty moresel.
A
low moan brought Ito quickly to his patients side. His eyes were closed yet in sleep, but Joe tossed restlessly
about. There were beads of perspiration
on his forehead. He also looked flushed. Ito felt him, he was hot. That wasn't too
out of place with this blasted heat.
He'd long ago removed most of the blankets. Still Ito checked his temperature and vital signs again. 104!
He's burning up! Carefully Ito
rechecked the wounds and his burns.
Neither looked infected. Most of
the burns were no worst than he'd get from too much exposure to the sun. The only blistered one was the burns on his
abdomen. While checking that out he did
notice that the abdomen was slightly distended. Stomach flu? In this
jungle that was a common enough ailment for foriegners. Earlier he'd been more alert though
uncommunicative as yet. He'd at least
seemed aware of who they were and took in his surroundings. but there had also been a tenseness to him
and he tended to jump at the slightest noise.
Ito
roused him and managed to get him to swallow some Tyelnol elixer. He then
debated waking up Nambu. No,
best to let his tired old friend sleep.
If it was an intestinal flu it would pass within 24 hours. Just to be on the safe side he rummaged for
a small IV bottle that contained Penicillin and hung it. If it was an infection starting he'd have a head start on it. So
intent was he on his work he didn't hear the rustling sounds outside of
the hut.
Beneath
the open window they crouched low.
Their breaths made a muted whispery sound as they waited. The prey was inside. It had escaped them shortly after they drug
it to their lair. The human had wounded
several of their best warriors. They
had indeed picked a healthy strong one that time. Thier prey was clever. It
had tried to set some of the other captives free. But they had outnumbered him.
Their venom had done its work.
Still the human managed to eventually flee them. They pursued knowing he'd be slowed down by
the toxin and would have caught him again but for the appearance of the
sun. They had no choice then but to
break off the chase until night again returned. They had him now.
Ito
left Joes side briefly to get some air.
As he leaned out the window he sensed rather than saw some thing. He recoiled back just in time as a clawed
hand struck from no where. He leaped
away from the window as another furred arm burst through the wood of the
hut. More razor sharp claws grasped for
him. Ito screamed for all he was worth!
Deep
in slumber and plagued with nightmarish images Joe was restless. From a distance he heard the scream and it
rekindled memories. Slowly awareness
penetrated through the thick layer of shock that had enshrouded him. Joe struggled against the lethargy to come
more fully awake. Ito was
screaming. There had been another old
man screaming as well. He remembered. Deep in the caverns Joe fought his
captors. Breaking from their hold he
let his shuriken fly. Then one of their
recoiled tails had suddenly shot outwards.
At the end of it a sharp sickle like a raptors claw that dripped a
bubbling liquid that smoked and sizzled when it hit the cavern floor. It reminded Joe of a scorpion. It lashed at him and he dodged it effortlessly. In the process of doing that he had backed
into yet another of them. They were
crawling out of the woodworks at him!
One of the tails caught him in the abdomen. It burned and hurt like
hell. The acids cauterized the wound
and it closed instantly. His limbs had
felt like putty then and he knew he'd been poisoned. Over the years Joe had exposed himself to the minute amounts of
the poison his shuriken were liberally dipped in and had a certain tolerance
level against the effects. He guessed a
normal victim would have gone down instantly.
He fought on. It got harder
though. As the sheer numbers
overwhelmed him and he dropped to one knee he watched horrified as an old man
was dragged from a makeshift bamboo cage and place in the center.
Their offspring too numerous to count devoured him alive! He could do nothing for the old man. His
screams of anguish had cut through him like a knife. He tried to set the others free but there were too many of the
creatures. Joe ran than. He heard the screams again!
Ito
had been backed into a corner. The
creatures stalked him. Its eyes
glittered malevolently. He was unable
to control his screams as gaping jaws and the sight of jagged teeth froze him
in his place. Joe saw his plight. He sympethized with Ito. He had momentarily frozen in that cavern
too. The vivid evisceration of the old
man haunted him even now. And the other
screaming villiagers. In one cage old
people and small children huddled, while in another teens and young adults
futiley shook the bars of their prison.
The entire cave had been littered with bones and the decay of rotting
meat. It smelled every bit like a
charnel house.
Another
terrified shout galvanized him into action.
Instinctively his finger sought for feather shuriken but came up
empty. Where's my damn clothes? Dizzily Joe got to his feet and desperately
searched for any weapon. There on the
table was a hypodermic syring. It would
do in a pinch. With his trademark ain
Joe flung it just at the creature spun on him.
The needle caught the monster in the eye burying itself deep into its
brain. The room spun about as the sound
of approaching feet filled his ears.
Ito caught him just as he nearly passed out. The fever took its toll then and he lay limp and shivering in the
doctors arms.
Ken
ran in in full birdstyle having heard Ito's screams. The tableau stopped him cold.
Ito was fine and Joe was at least awake if not looking very much like
death warmed over. On the floor his
eyes were riveted to the freakish sight of the creature. It was like nothing he'd ever seen
before. He almost jumped at the sound
of Nambus voice behind him. "Amazing." Ken looked at him weirdly before stepping
cautiously over it and knelt by Ito and Joe.
"Are you two alright?" "Soon as
somebody stops this room I'll be just fine!"
Ken suddenly slapped him hard.
"What was that for?" Ito's mouth
dropped open and Ken ignored both his and Nambus incredulous faces. "If you ever pull a stunt like that again
and go off against orders by yourself you had better make sure Galactor kills
you because if they don't, I will!" "I
was right. Admit it." "You gave them the upper hand. If we waited like I said....." "But Ken, I know where their lair is
now." "What?" "They took me there. And
Ken, they have captives from other villiages.
Their using them for food." "How
many are we up against?" "I didn't
exactly have time to do a census, I was in the process of survival at the
time. Lots. And they have little baby monsters too." "How many of the villiagers are there?" "Once again an estimate. Only a handful in each cage." Hakase looked up from where he curiously
eyeballed the creature. "Cages?"
"Yeah. These things have
intelligence. They actually had
fashioned wooden cages. There were
handfuls of people in either one. And
what was interesting was how they were separated. The old and very young in one and the teens and young adults in
another." "By sexes?" "No Hakase, just age." "hmph"
Nambu
looked at the life form before him in deep thought. "Let's take a look at what we got here. Ken give me a hand." Ken nodded than looked over at Joe who now
stood with Ito's help. "Hey, get some clothes on already huh? It's a good thing Jun didn't come in
here." "Ha! Ha!" Ito helped him back to his bed while Ken and
Nambu got the thing on a guerny.
Donning rubber gloves Nambu got busy.
Though the creature looked dead enough Ken kept a protective stance over
Nambu.
Ito
reconnected the IV while Joe pulled up blankets around him. Just in case Jun did walk in. "I owe you my life Joe." "All in a days work. How long have I been here?" "Almost a full day. You were found in a state of shock." "I don't remember getting here. They hit me with some kind of poison and I
escaped and that's all I remember."
"Poison??" All thoughts of a
stomach flu vanished. "Yeah, they had tails like scorpions. One of them gouged my belly. It burnt the skin and closed the wound. Like a mild acid." Joe looked under his covers at the blister. "Still I thought it would have looked worse
than that." Ito looked at the wound
again. Initial bloodwork turned up
nothing but maybe they had better run it through once more. "With the fever you're running Joe it may
just be the poison. How do you
feel?" "Belly is sore. constipated
like." "Could be you are but could be
infection or the poison. We'll draw
some more blood and see. You are distended." "Feel like crap too!" "Just rest for now. By morning we'll have some answers."
For
the next two days Joe grew steadily worse.
Nambu had theories, but kept them to himself, though he did cast fearful
looks toward Joe from time to time. The
blood revealed that the properties of the toxin produced temporary inertia but
nothing life threatening and the white blood cells were elevated but the
cultures turned up negative. There were
no more disappearances from the villiage they were in and no further attacks
from any creatures. But the drums from
neighboring villiages spoke a different story.
Ken had hoped Joe would recover enough to lead them to the lair but it
seemed that wasn't about to happen. So they took what directions they could
from him and prepared to set out.
Before doing so they paid their invalid a visit.
Jun
sat quietly at his side, a comforting presence. Joe did his best to cover for how he was really feeling. Beyond the dizziness and nausea he was in a
tremendous amount of pain. His stomach
hurt so bad! It was badly distended
now. They had ruled out constipation or
a blockage through an embarrassing rectal exam that he hoped he'd never have to
endure again. Jinpei was as usual his
tactful self. "Aniki you look
pregnant!" "Thanks for the bedside
manner doc." "Well you do." No one noticed the expression on Nambus face
but Ito. He too was beginning to have
his suspicions and his friend's face just confirmed it. "You guys be careful out there okay?" "Guys?"
"Sorry Jun." "You better be, its
bad enough Ken doesn't notice I'm a woman."
"I notice!" Both Joe and Jun
gave him a dubious look while Ryu and Jinpei laughed. Maybe he noticed from a biologic point of view but their
commander was dense in his reactions to it.
He may be interested but he has no concept of how to show it. "Anyway, you all take care. These things don't go down as easy as
Galactors do." Ken nodded. He was more worried about his friend than he
was the mission. "You take care to. And don't be a difficult patient for Ito or
I may have to kick your ass." "The way
I feel its probably the only time you can!"
Joe
watched them go wishing he could to. He
hated sitting missions out. He needed
to be active. The only activity he was
getting was abdominal cramps. "Now that
they're gone why don't you two tell me what it wrong with me?" Ito looked to Nambu. He wanted a private moment to voice his
thoughts but the boy had a right to know.
Would he tell him? Nambu nodded at Joe. He never found it necessary to sugar coat anything with his
kids. They lived their lives on the
edge ever since accepting their training.
He sat by Joes side and in his typical fashion was blunt.
"It
would seem these creatures reproduce by laying eggs. The evidence I have from the bodies whose abdomens have been
ripped open from the inside is that they used them as living hosts for their
eggs. Since it took three days for the
bodies to be discovered I'm guessing that that was the gestation period. The eggs were deposited in some way. I'm assuming since the tails cauterized your
wounds so nicely and the toxin was meant to immobilize and not kill, and since
the same burns were discovered on the other corpses that the tail is how the
eggs were lain. I could be wrong, and I
pray to God I am, but you have one of those creatures young inside of you
Joe." "It's been two and a half days already!" "I know.
Times running out." "You're
going to take it out aren't you?" "Yes,
but not here. It's not a sterile enough
environment to risk surgery. When the
others return from destroying them and its safe to venture out of our little
fort we can evac you out with the Phoenix to a real hospital. We have some time
yet." Joe absorbed the information
quietly. He wasn't afraid of death, but
he had hoped to die fighting Galactor, and only when he finished getting his
vengeance.
They
trudged through the jungle talking quietly among themselves. As usual that meant a lot of teasing. That was fine with Ken if it made them feel
any better. Admittedly he himself was
scared. Currently Ryu was teasing
Jinpei over what else? Round whatever
of the Humanoids debate. "Baka I was not embarrassed! You're confusing me with Jun."
"She said you were." "Well I
wasn't." "All I'm saying is that I'm
sorry for embarrassing you." "But I wasn't!"
"It was a dumb movie anyway."
"But now it's real." "Is not" "So!" "Not!" Ken turned around in the path way too hot for this. Some banter was good but this was annoying.
"Will you two shut up?" "But aniki I
saw what was in that hut and it looked like what was in that movie." "Only some of it. I got a better look and believe me no movie maker comes close to
capturing its looks!" "Scary thing
anyway" "Well now thats something I
will agree with you on Jinpei."
They
walked another hot six miles before Ken wondered if he might have overshot it
or got turned around. If they didn't
hurry up and find that cave soon it would be evening before they got back.
"K'so!" Jun looked at him. "Lost?" "What was your first clue?" "Joes directions were clear." "But we've already covered six miles!" "He was in shock. His sense of distance might have been off." "We'll do one more mile before doubling
back." Ryu sighed. "Another mile. I've already sweated 10 pounds off as it is!" "You needed to anyway so quit griping!" "Heat really makes you grumpy Ken." "So don't add to it." "Touchy!"
"One more word Ryu!"
Joe
woke up panting heavily. Ito was beside
him in seconds. "Joe?" "It's ok, just one helluva nightmare. "Is that all?" "Is that all??" "I
thought the pains were getting worse."
"I don't see how they can. Don't
worry, we're not having a baby yet."
"Good!" "Worried its going to
eat you?" "I'm worried about you you
rascal." "Seriously Ito. If this thing does burst out like Aliens you
better distance yourself for me. Those
babies of their were more viscous than the adults if you ask me." "We'll get it out before it comes to
that." "Have you ever even seen
Aliens? They never wanted parted from
their hosts until they were ready."
Nambu spoke up from his usual position, over a microscope. "You kids
watch entirely too many sci-fi flicks."
"At least this one didn't have any nudity in it, well, sort of. There was that shot of Sigourney Weaver in
the first one. Do you know she's got to
be at least a hundred now?" "Joe I'm
beginning to think I need to censer the lot of you more!" "Don't worry Hakase, Galactor keeps up way
too busy to get in to too much trouble."
" They do have their uses don't they?"
"Depending on your point of view.
From our overly protective guardian...." "Or my hormone challenged team."
Joe chuckled. Who said their
boss didn't have an occasional sense of humor.
Evening
approached as they finally found the hidden cave. "This would have been easier if Joe led us here." Jun
agreed. "He's way too ill for that, I
wish they'd find out whats wrong with him."
"Hakase knows." "Oh?" "I can always tell when he's keeping things
from us. I think he's known for
sometime now whats wrong with Joe. I'm
afraid I do too." "And?" "Not now Jun, we have a mission to focus on
and I'd just rather we get done and back before nightfall."
Back
at the hut Joe began to thrash about.
His fever shot up again and Joe was wrong, the pain could get worse and
did. He could almost feel it wriggling
inside. Nambu sat at his side his worry
increasing by minutes. Joe
clutched at his hand. Though he hid it well he could tell that his
son was afraid. In spite of all the wry
jokes he heard over the last hour about Aliens, Humanoids and other equally
outlandish films, Nambu could detect the faint tremble in his voice. Gently he squeezed Joes hand in return. "Hold on
a little longer Joe. They'll be
back soon and then we can leave."
Shadows
moved against the wall as four ninjas flew by in a blur. Only a slight stirring of wind marked their
passage. That and their warm meaty
smell that tickled the nostrils of a
sentry. He arose with drool dripping
from its mouth in excitement. The lair
was roused, and as one they advanced on the ninjas their sharp incisors glowing
whitely in the dark. Their yellow eyes
shown like fog lights. Ken saw their
predicament at once and pulled his team into a tight circle so that they could
better cover each others back.
One
of them slipped out of the cave unseen.
He had his orders. He was to
retrieve the prey that escaped them and who now carried one of their own inside
him. It ran through the jungle. Not even a cheetah could match its
speed! Other animals could sense the
hunger inside it and kept a careful distance from the superior predator. All sounds, from the crickets to the birds,
stopped in its wake. It had the scent
now. It would not take long.
Joe
let out an agonized scream. Sweat
drenched his body. His abdomen was now
twice its original size. Every fifteen
minutes they could see beneath the stretched skin the rippling movements of
muscles as the infant creature stirred
inside. They had some time yet,
but not much. Nambu bit his lip in
consternation. "Ito, we're running out
of time. I'm afraid we're going to have
to remove the creature ourselves. The
others aren't back yet and our options
are running out." "I don't know if
we're equipped enough for this. I have
very few instruments and the autoclave is antiquated. I'm not sure of how much anasthesia I have on hand and I don't
even know if I'm qualified enough..."
"There's no choice Ito. You'll
do fine. I've always said that your
skill was the envy of the biggest hospitals in the world!" "But..."
"I trust you with the life of my son."
Ito looked down at Joe. That was
no small thing for Nambu to say. "Of
course I will have to. This hut is
small and too close. With this humidity
it's the perfect medium for bacteria."
"We can take him to the Phoenix.
The medical bay on board is well equipped and bacteriostatic. It's our safest bet." "What about those creatures?" "I'm thinking that they'll all be occupied
by my ninja team. We should be safe
enough." Nambu scooped Joe up in his
arms. Ito followed behind with whatever equipment he had that he could carry
and possible be of use to them. They
set a fast pase outside the barricade around the villiage. Neither noticed the shadow that followed
them.
For
all the good his boomerang did, or the
effectiveness of Jinpeis bolo or Juns yo-yo, and even for all Ryu's tremendous
strength they still kept coming. Ken
was fast running out of ideas and energy.
"Ken, I'm getting awfully winded.
If we don't take them down fast they're going to overwhelm us
soon!" "I know Jun. There's only one option left." Ken looked at the others and they nodded in
reluctant agreement. There really was
no choice now. "Whirlwind Fighter
now!" Normally Joe would have formed
the base with Ryu but with only four of them Ken assumed his place linking arms
with his navigator while Jun and Jinpei leaped to their shoulders. They moved like a tornado, powerful winds
eminated from them dashing the creatures into the walls like so many broken
toys.
When
they finished they surveyed the damage and struggled for breath. Ken shook his head. "That was too easy." "Too easy aniki?" "We've been fighting for over an hour Ken how..." "I feel as though we're missing something
Jun." "Ouch!" Ken looked to Ryu. "What is it?"
"It's biting my butt!" He turned
around showing them the hideous sight of a baby creature with its teeth firmly
embedded in his rather large posterior.
"That's what I was missing."
"Quit gaping at it already for crying out loud and get the damn thing
off of my ass!" Ken gave it a powerful
yank and it came loose with a hunk of meat in its mouth. "Ow!"
Jun grabbed her medi-kit. "Hold
still while I find something to staunch the blood." Ryu did a sort of funny dance.
"You try holding still with half of your keister gone!" "Ryu stop!
What that thing ate didn't even constitute a tenth of your butt!" "You tell him onechan!" Ryu swatted Jinpei then initiating some
horseplay that had Ken barking irritatedly at them. "We don't have time for this.
Look!" They did. Lots of the humanoid rugrats were closing
in. "K'so!" Ken stared at her for once speechless. She looked back at him with a grin. "Who says just because I'm a woman that I can't swear too." Ryu grinned at her. "Now who's Joe having the bad influence
on?" "Oh shut up Ryu and hold your own
ass!"
It
attacked suddenly! With one mighty
swing Ito was knocked to one side. The
medical equipment went flying in all directions. Nambu inched away from it.
Joe squirmed in his arms. In
spite of the pain he struggled to get loose to fight. The creature hesitated then.
It was still a little too early.
If it wasn't careful it risked damaging the vessel before the baby could
safely hatch. It circled Nambu
warily. Nambu saw its careful movements
and correctly deduced that it would not endanger Joe so long as he carried its
offspring. Joe continued to fight his
hold. He commanded in what he hoped was
a voice even Joe wouldn't disobey to be still.
Joe was wracked now with the pains and in his mind decided that if he
was going to die it would be by taking that creature with him. The sweat from the jungles heat and his own
fever finally aided him in his efforts to get loose from his mentors arms. No sooner than he did, the creature sprung!
It
was worse than any horror flick that they had ever seen. These newborn nightmares were biting and
gnawing at them. They were proving more
dangerous than the adults! It was an
effort just to stay alive, let alone defeating them. They were wiped out with only their wits left, and that too was
at an end. Ken thought fast. Thay attacked at night only and the cave was
dark. There was a good chance that they
were sensitive to light. In order to
use the only weapon that would be of use here, their bombs, they needed room that
these things were not giving them. We
need to blind them to get far enough away from them. But what could they use for light? Then he had it. Their
transformations into birdstyle and back were always accompanied by a flash of
blinding light. "Detransform!" "What??"
All four of his team gazed at him as though he had just totally lost
it. "The birdstyle is the only thing
protecting us from their teeth, are you nuts?"
"Jun, we don't have time for debate.
Do it!" They all confirmed with
various inflections of roger. A
brilliant flash illuminated the cave and as Ken predicted the creatures
withdrew in pain. "Transform!" They looked at him then the creatures
reactions and caught on. Again and
again they complied. Eventually they
managed enough room between them and the things. Ken edged them back toward the mouth of the cave. He could see that no survivors were left in
the cage so their options were clear.
"Everyone hit them with your bombs now!" The explosion was satifying.
As they ran out of the cave into the clearing it crumbled behind
them. Still holding the wadded cloth to
his behind and limping Ryu sighed. "Now
that's a wrap!"
Joe's
efforts at fighting it were in vain.
The pain and fever overtook him and he passed out quickly. The creature swatted at Nambu like he was a
fly. It could easily have killed him,
and it certainly was hungry enough to, but the removal of the host to the
safety of the cave came first. He
carried off Joe while Nambu in helpless rage slammmed his fist hard into the
ground.
Half
way through the worn path they felt like collapsing. There was no teasing or even serious conversation as they were
too tired to even move their jaws. Even
Ryu's predicament lost its humor when they noticed how much blood he was
losing. His limp was obvious as was his
pain. Maybe in a week they'd resume the
jokes but for now it was all they could do to put one foot in front of the
other.
A
sharp stab in his abdomen had Joe jolted back to conciousness. Instantly he was aware of the fact that the
creature was carrying him. He tried
extricating himself but the excrutiating pain stymied any further efforts. Inside it felt like he was being ripped
apart. The creature sensed the time was
soon. It also smelled more humans just
ahead. Its prey let out a raw and
agonized scream which it quickly tried to muffle with its hand. Very soon now.
Ken
heard the scream and stopped dead in his tracks. That sounded like Joe.
The others heard it too. "If
that fool followed us I'm going to thrash him worst than whatever is right
now!" Jun frowned. "He was in no shape
to Ken. Something must have took from
camp!" With renewed energy sparked by
fear for their brother they darted toward the sound, even Ryu's pace quickened
in spite of his own pain.
It
heard them coming and debated running.
But it had no idea when the offspring would hatch. It dropped Joe and assumed a protective
stance over him. On the ground Joe
curled into a ball trying to relieve his discomfort. He shivered in spite of the hot air from growing shock. He could hear the sound of approaching feet
and thought he could hear Kens voice.
But his attention was focused on two heartbeats. His own frightened one and that of the thing
inside him.
Ken
charged into the creature ahead of him.
Seeing Joe in such obvious torment he flew at the creature in rage. He was pissed! That was two of his teammates dead now and many slain innocents. Not to mention that for three days he'd been
roasted by the heat, stung relentlessly by mosquitos and chewed on by pint
sized apparitions! He was out for blood
now as his rare but deadly burst of temper had him hacking at the thing with
the sharpened edges of his boomerang.
When the red haze of anger that blurred his vision cleared it lay dead
at his feet. He knelt by Joe and stared
at his rippling stomach and knew he was right!
The others were right behind him now and they too stared knowingly at
Joe. It took no rocket scientist now to
put one and one together!
Wasting
no more time with words and unconcerned with wether or not the rest kept up,
Ken sprinted down the path with Joe in arms.
In a rush of adrenaline he found inhuman strength and endurance. He held his transpower band to his mouth as
close as he could with Joes torso weighing his arm down and spoke into it
between gulps for air.
"Ha...kase?" "Ken?" "I.... have Joe....On my.......way back!" "Get him to the Phoenix now!" It hurt to breathe. He didn't bother with roger just simply ran,
pushing himself harder than he ever had in training. His brothers life depended on it!
The
last of his energy fled after making an incredible leap onto the Phoenix. Inside he shakily lay Joe on the guerney
before Nambu and collapsed to the floor.
Nambu gave him a quick look of approval and gratitude as he hurredly
began to prep his son. There was no
time for anesthesia now and sterility took a back seat to immediacy. He held Joe down murmering encouragement
while Ito took a scalpal and opened him up.
Joes screams pierced through the night as Ito reached in and extracted
the creature. With the same scalpal he
distustedly slit the vulnerable soft throat and tossed it to the side. Quickly changing to a new pair of sterile
gloves he began the work of suturing his patient together after repairing damaged
intestines. When they got him to a
hospital he could be reopened to be sure
that nothing was missed. For now
he did what he could with what he had for emergency purposes. Nambu started an IV and administered pain
medicing and sedation, and set up a unit of plasma that was kept on hand in the
ship refrigerator for just such emergencies.
The
others staggered on the ship falling to their knees in exhaustion. Ryu's posterior was mended by Ito after Joe
was stabilized and he set about doing whatever field first he could for the
rest of the teams numerous injuries.
Jinpei tried making light of Ryu's bared butt to lighten the mood but a
quick glance at Nambu hushed him up. Now
was not the time! Jun put her arms
around Ken who lay wiped out against the wall of the ship on the floor. "You poor baby. You certainly did your fair share of playing the heroe
today!" He gave her a thumbs up too
tired for anything else. Nambu looked
to Jun. "Looks like you'll have to fly
us home. Can you do it?" "It's been a while Hakase but yes."
Weeks
later in the hopital the great debate took place once again. Unfortunately roomed with Ryu Joe was
trapped. "Well it wasn't humanoids from
the deep but at least we got through it."
Jun looked at Jinpei. "Your
dissappointed? Actually, so am I. If Joe was going to reenact a scene from the
movie he could have at least did a nude scene!" Joe looked at her unsure whether to blush from shock or
laugh. He opted for laughter, afterall
they said that was the best medicine!
The End.
