Never Never Land
Chapter 40
XL
Max didn't want to, but he managed to force his eyes open through the sheer power of his will. What he wanted to do was just keep them closed and submit to the inevitable… peacefully. It would have been so much easier… so much less… painful.
Light! Bright light! It hurt… Excruciating! Max looked up from where he lay. He was surrounded by fog. Through the fog, everything was blurry… even the faces. Faces? Not faces. Something… but what?
Whatever it was leaned over him. Huge eyes. Nose, too! …huge, and bulbuous. Its mouth was flexible… it curled around and reached back… like… an insect's proboscis? A sort of sucker… like a butterfly's. Definitely no butterfly. Too big! Too… ugly! Go away! He couldn't speak. He moaned slightly. And the monster spoke. Or whatever it was. What was it saying? He couldn't understand. Maybe an alien language. Didn't sound familiar to him. Just noises. Unintelligible noises. Hisses and grunts.
Max tried to form words with his parched lips, "Let me up." The giant insect mumbled back with something unintelligible again. It could hear him. Did it understand him? He didn't know. What was it? There were others. More giant insects. Max noticed that they all had humps on their backs and that their hands were like giant claws. And they had wings… well, maybe not wings. Max couldn't be sure.
One of the giant "bugs" opened its wings and removed something from under them. Okay, they had wings. Big white wings. Their bodies were white, too. Their faces were mostly black. Max wanted to do something… anything. But he couldn't.
Max followed the insectoid aliens with his eyes. His eyes were about the only part of him that he could get to move. He felt like lead. Heavy. Nailed to the… what was it? A bed? A cot? Something. Whatever. He was nailed to it… or glued to it. He couldn't move a muscle. Why was he even trying? It just hurt. Too much pain. Max closed his eyes. Why can't I die?
~~~Liz~~~ The thought just popped into his head. Where did it come from? He didn't remember. Liz! He couldn't die. He mustn't die. Not yet. Not now. But the pain! Too much pain.
One of the giant bugs reached down and restrained Max's right arm with its claw. It wasn't necessary. Max couldn't move to do anything. The bug wrapped its claw around Max's arm… tight… tighter… still tighter… More pain! It's cutting off my arm with its pincer! The pain subsided then the pressure went away. Was the arm still there? Did they cut it off? The bug walked away. It wasn't carrying his arm. Maybe it didn't cut it off. Maybe he still had it. He couldn't feel it.
Another bug came over and rolled Max onto his side. What? No! Dear God! No! Not that! The bug removed something like a patch from Max's back then rolled him back onto his back again. Max almost felt relief, but his head was pounding too much. And something in the room was making a loud clanging sound. The clanging would drive him crazy if the bugs didn't kill him first.
Let me die! Just let me die! What are you doing to me? What are you? What do you want with me? Am I some kind of biology experiment for a bunch of giant 'bugs'? Let me die in peace.
~~~Liz~~~
Max moaned.
One of the bugs leaned over Max and put something into his nose. He felt a spray enter his sinuses and lungs. It choked him. He gagged and began to cough. What do you want? Who are you?
Max closed his eyes then opened them again after a moment. The fog was going away. It was still there but definitely diminishing. Will the bugs go away, too? Max actually felt hope. Then I can die in peace.
~~~Liz~~~
Max moaned slightly. Mustn't die.
Actually, the pain seemed to have subsided somewhat. It was merely comparable to a severe migraine now. Max had never had a migraine, so he had nothing to compare it to. Max had never even had a headache! Ever! Not even a mild one. Even after he got drunk from that single taste of alcohol that time on Earth, he hadn't had a headache afterwards… no hangover as would have been expected.
~~~Liz~~~
I must be strong! Can't die here! Must fight back!
Max opened his eyes. The fog was gone. One of the bugs turned to him and reached under its wing to take something out again… only it wasn't a wing, it was… a cloak… a white coat of some kind. The bug took a clasp from under its cloak and placed it around Max's arm again. Instantly, the pressure returned. Pain… but bearable. Maybe not pain… just… pressure.
"One-ten over sixty-two."
That was Antarian. Who said that?
The bug looked at Max. It wasn't a bug. But… Antarian? Not with that face! Max looked again. A mask… a breathing device with a large filter and a hose leading to a tank on the back. All of them had one on. And one of them had some kind of meter in its hand that made a soft, almost inaudible, rhythmic clicking sound like the tic tock of a watch. The clanging!
"Can you hear me," the alien asked.
Max was surprised that he was able to understand.
"Who are you," Max managed to ask feebly. "What do you want?"
"He's conscious," the alien said to the others. "He spoke."
The aliens all gathered around Max. Max could see their eyes through the masks. They were smiling. And one of them actually had tears in its eyes.
~~~Liz~~~
"Liz?" Max tried to speak. His mouth was still dry, and it was hard to move his tongue properly.
"I'm here, Max. Stay with us. Fight it! You can do it!"
Fight what? "Liz! Where am I? What happened?"
"Just rest, Max. There'll be time for that. Just rest. I love you, Max."
"I love you… too," Max whispered hoarsely through his parched lips. "You're the only reason I held on, Liz… the only reason… What happened?"
Liz knew that Max would not rest or stop asking what had happened until he knew. He could be stubborn. He had a whole planet to worry about. It was probably a necessary trait for one in his position.
"We're working on it, Max," Liz said. "It's an unusual virus hybrid. It produces a toxic reaction in the body that causes hallucinations, paralysis, illness… and death. No one has ever seen anything like it here."
"Where… where did I get it?"
"We're not sure, Max. We think Michael brought it back from Earth."
"Michael doesn't catch viruses."
"Not just any virus, Max… but this one was specifically engineered to affect Antarian physiology, we think."
"Where would Michael have picked up something like that? Did you ask him?"
Liz didn't answer.
"Is Michael…?"
"He's alive, Max. He's… in a coma. Maria's with him… and a team of health scientists."
"Why didn't you get sick, Liz?"
"I did, but in me it was mild… and brief. I had just enough Antarian DNA from my past to become infected. You and Michael have more. It affected you more severely."
"Then… what about… full-blooded…"
"It's been brutal, Max. We managed to contain it, we think, but…" Liz paused momentarily.
"I have to know, Liz."
"Several thousand have died. Many more are desperately ill."
Max buried his face in his hands, and tears rolled silently down his face.
"How did this happen, Liz? How? How long have I been… indisposed?"
Liz shook her head. "It's been three weeks since you and Michael lapsed into comas. Others all over Antar began to become ill almost immediately. Varec and the others are working on it. Three factories have gone into full time production making these contamination suits. We've got them to almost everyone now… everyone left… who's not already sick."
"Varec?"
"I'm here, Max," Varec said, stepping back beside Max. "Try not to worry. We're handling everything. I'm sorry that we can't take the masks off, Max. It could be deadly to any of us if we caught the virus."
Max tried to nod. "I understand."
"Liz?"
"Mine's a precaution, Max… both ways… so I don't give it to anyone else and so I don't get reinfected. We just don't know what this virus is capable of."
"I need to get out of here, Liz. I'm needed…"
"Whoa! Whoa!" Varec said, touching Max on the chest. It wasn't necessary to restrain him. The fact is, Max still could barely make a muscle move. And every attempted movement produced excruciating pain. "You aren't going anywhere till you're better, Max."
Max groaned. "I hate this! I want to say just watch me and walk out of here… but I can't do anything about it."
"Right," Varec said. "So relax and try to get well."
"I can't relax, Varec. You know that."
Varec smiled. "I know, but I have to say it. I think it's a law or something."
"I'll repeal it," Max moaned. But he knew Varec was right. Max wasn't going anywhere. At least not for now.
tbc