CHAPTER 8

LOG ENTRY 934

Despite the severity of my wounds, I've healed nicely in such a short amount of time.

We've been camped outside of the cave for two nights. The openings for the cave have slowly opened and are almost large enough to enter again.

From what I can gather, the cave itself is an organism, and the creature inside must be the guardian of the power cell for the ship.

The question is…where is the power cell?

Lita out…

"Can you take us to that ship?" Lita asked.

"Yeah, I suppose I can, why?" Cade responded.

"There might be something in there we can use. I'd rather not go back into that cave unprepared," Lita said.

"I agree. If we're going back in, we'll need some better weapons. That thing moves fast in the dark," Samus concurred.

"I haven't figured out how to get into the…"

"Just take us to the freakin' ship," Lita interrupted.

"Rahr!" Cade responded with a claw-like gesture as he picked up his pack and started walking.

Samus and Lita rolled their eyes and followed him.

The three made their way into a dense overgrowth. After several minutes of dodging thorns and ducking under vines, they made their way to a shiny yellow vessel.

"Not bad at all, considering the kudzu all wrapped around it," Samus remarked.

"It's just like…the…ship," Lita trailed off as she ran her hand along the shimmering hull.

"Just like what ship?" Cade asked.

"Samus's ship…" Lita returned.

"MY ship? Can't say I have my own, although that wouldn't be such a bad idea, and if I had to choose one, this free one wouldn't be all that bad," Samus commented.

"So why did you want me to bring you here?" Cade inquired.

Lita walked over and reached for something under the edge of the ship.

After a moment, a leak of gas escaped from a compartment as a cover lifted with a hiss.

"This…" Lita said as she stepped back revealing a cylindrical device.

"And that would be…?" Samus probed.

"Well, Samus, I think you should be the one to take it. It's meant for you, afterall," Lita commented.

"Meant for me? What do you mean?" Samus asked, puzzled.

"First, you have the best military training possible, plus with your…special genetics…you would be able to operate it better," Lita explained.

"What is it?" Cade inquired as he reached for the item.

"It's a weapon…an arm cannon," Lita said.

Cade's arm halted as Samus quickly snatched up the device.

"So I stick my hand in here?" Samus asked, holding up the blaster.

As Samus took hold inside the cylinder, it hummed quietly.

"I feel…static, or something," Samus said.

"Don't worry, that just means that it's activated," Lita explained.

"How do you work it?" Samus asked.

"I'm not really sure. I never used one. I idid/i always want a power suit with one, though. Just experiment a little bit, but don't aim at us," Lita replied.

Samus aimed upward for several seconds, but nothing happened. She tried pointing around and even yelling "Shoot!" at the cannon, but still came up empty.

"This is POINTLESS! If this thing won't work, I might as well just get rid of it!" Samus yelled as she reached over and tried to remove the device.

She placed her hand on the top and tensed her arm.

A black burnt spot sizzled on the ground between Cade's legs. Cade looked up with astonishment. He was beyond words.

"I don't think it's broken…" Lita commented.

"I think I know how it works…" Samus added.

"YA THINK!" Cade exploded as he stomped off into the overgrowth.

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After about an hour of "target practice", Samus had effectively cleared the area of kudzu and vines.

"Is this all we needed?" Samus asked.

"Should be, especially now that you've got the hang of it," Lita said, "now let's get back to the cave."

"Why exactly are we going back into the cave? I…" Samus started.

A yell attracted Samus and Lita's attention. They immediately took off toward the scream. Eventually they came back to the front of the brush to see Cade convulsing on the ground.

His eyes had rolled back into his head and his skin was changing color. Spiky protrusions extended from his forearms and shoulders as claws grew from his fingertips. He let forth painful grunts that had a distorted sound.

All of the sudden, he sat up and his eyes rolled back forward. He erupted into a primeval howl as the protrusions sucked back into his body and the claws retracted as his skin returned to a normal flesh color.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Cade rolled over and vomited onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" Lita asked as she ran over to his aid.

"Oh…my…God…what…was that?" Cade stammered.

"What did you do before that happened?" Lita interrogated.

"Some…nasty yellowish stuff…fell off of that tree over there…and onto my…shoulder," Cade explained.

"X…but how? Do you feel okay now?" Lita inquired.

"Yeah, now that I got THAT out of me," Cade gestured toward his puddle of regurgitation.

"His body rejected it," Samus inserted.

"I see, but why? He IS human, right?" Lita shot back.

"As long as I've known him, but then again, I've only had him in my unit for a few months," Samus shrugged.

"Come on, let's get back in that cave and get what we need out of it," Lita said as she helped Cade to his feet.

Samus, Cade, and Lita all walked into the entrance to the cave. The floor was more rigid than before, but just as slimy.

Before long, they made it to the dark center chamber.

"iaaaaah…it isss the three…the renegade…the defect…and could thisss be? The One? Curiousss…. Thisss we mussst dissscover…/i"