CHAPTER 3: INVADERS.
Crested Butte. Gunnison County, Colorado. October 11th, 2004.
Harry climbed out of the County Sheriff's SUV and headed for the tunnel, followed by Butch the dog. He thanked Deputy Adams for the sandwich and waved goodbye.
-"Be careful Harry," the sheriff's deputy warned him.
-"Don't worry officer," Harry said, "I'll just get my stuff and we'll get out of here." The bum promised.
Ray shook his head. They highly doubted the man would take his advice, but there was nothing else he could do, except to give him a meal. He was supposed to go back to the community center, where Sheriff Morales was organizing a search party.
Harry continued through the forest until he reached the water collector's entrance and crawled inside. Butch hesitated, grunting plaintively. The tramp pulled on the rope, but the dog resisted with all four paws. "Come on, Butch." Harry asked, "What's up, boy?"
The dog growled. Harry reached over and released the rope around the dog's neck. "Oh right, if you don't want to come in, wait here for me," he said, "But ain't goin' to share this." He waved the ham sandwich at the dog. After a few seconds, Butch followed him hesitantly.
-"Hey Harry!" A man dressed in rags greeted him when he reached the 4th junction. The man got up from the filthy couch in the center of the joint, just below a steel grating through which light filtered. "Where were you? Did you bring something good?" He asked him, walking over and petting the dog. "Hi, Butch."
The dog ignored him, still glancing nervously down the tunnel ahead.
-"He's been acting weird," Harry said. "And I don't blame him, Bernie," he added, "he found a dead man's arm."
-"Darn!" Bernie exclaimed, almost dropping the bottle he'd been drinking. "Where have you two been?!"
-"Deputy Adams said we need to move," Harry informed.
-"Bah!" Bernie exclaimed, taking a big gulp from the bottle. At that moment, Butch ran towards the darkness-shrouded junction and barked insistently at the water. Harry walked over, "Butch?" He asked again. The dog fell silent and moved away from the edge, whimpering. Harry guessed there was something in there and squinted, trying to see in the dark.
-"What's wrong, Harry?" Bernie asked, behind him. A rippling on the murky surface reached the sidewalk where he was standing.
-"There's-" Harry had no time to react. Something jumped from the surface right into his face, making fell backwards. His cries were muffled by the leathery membrane that covered his face, and a long tail tightened around his neck like a noose.
-"But what the-!" Bernie exclaimed when he saw his friend struggling on the floor. The hiss like that of a huge snake reached his ears. The man looked around, trying to identify where the attack would come from. "Who's there?" He called, yelling. The dog howled in pain, followed by silence.
Bernie backed away from the water and retreated towards the exit, shivering. He found Butch lying on the ground, a victim of another of the spider-like things. "My God!" He exclaimed.
A long, segmented tail uncoiled from the pipes behind him, followed by a monstrous creature, hissing. "Holy Mother of God!" Bernie exclaimed, just before the tail whipped around and he lost consciousness.
-"Harry?" a woman's voice echoed from the tunnel beyond. "Bernie, are you in there?"
Doris entered the water collector's 4th junction. She had been begging near the community center, rummaging through restaurant trash cans. That day she had been lucky, she got the mostly intact remains of a fried chicken and a nice piece of cake. The only thing she needed to end her perfect day was a drink.
-"Harry, I hope you left me something." She issued a warning. But the place was silent, not even the rat's constant squealing was heard.
Her feet tripped on something and she stumbled, dropping the piece of cake. "Dammit!" she exclaimed and bent down to pick it up, hoping it hadn't messed up.
Doris screamed when she saw Bernie was there, lying on the ground. Something had coiled around his head. The thing had eight long bony fingers and two fleshy nubs that pulsed with a pair of globes. A long tail like a snake tightened around his neck. "Oh God!" the woman moaned. She turned to get out of there and discovered the dog, victim of another thing. "My God!" Shedropped her food and ran away.
She didn't get very far, at the tunnel's entrance, she found herself face to face with another horror. A creature bigger than a man was there, standing on two legs. The shiny banana-shaped head pointed at her and hissed with sharp, silvery teeth. "No, no, no," Doris pleaded as the monster pinned her against a wall.
-"No, Please!" the woman pleaded. The beast brought her eyeless face close to hers, opened its lipless mouth, and from within it sprouted a second set of jaws. Doris couldn't help herself, and warm liquid welled up between her legs.
An unearthly roar echoed through the dark chamber, and the monster backed away. A second ungodly creature entered the scene, much larger and more terrifying than the first. With four fangs encircling her jaws and strange tubular appendages dangling from the side of her head.
The monster growled again and took Doris's head in a hand with sharp, bony fingers. Doris screamed and then saw another of the scorpion-shaped things slither toward her. Doris was unable to escape as the monstrosity kept her immobile, until the bug covered her face.
- o -
-"Hurry up, we have to do it," Ricky hurried to his brother, who was struggling to lift the heavy steel grating of the sewer. "There isn't much time left."
-"You want to help me?" Dallas claimed.
Ricky held the flashlight between his teeth and slipped his fingers through the grate. As one, they pulled hard until the lid gave way.
-"Why don't we go down to the place where they threw the keys?" Dallas asked him.
-"So Jesse can see me walk out covered in shit?" Ricky replied, "no thanks."
-"You do know that this is a water collector, right?" Dallas reasoned. But his brother was already coming down the steps. Dallas snorted and followed him.
The rectangular tunnel was dark. So dark that he could only see the narrow arc of the flashlight beam. He now saw that going for the keys was a bad idea, they could have waited until sunrise.
-"What a nasty place," Ricky commented casually.
-"I can tell you of a couple of worse places," Dallas replied.
Ricky walked a few steps, shining the flashlight on the walls of the collector tunnel. "Is that a sofa?" He said, illuminating a piece of red tapestry covered in dirt.
-"Yeah," Dallas agreed, "and it's cleaner than ours. Are you sure this is the place?"
-"Yes," Ricky said. A plaque ahead read: Watercrest 1400-1500 Block. He walked in that direction, deducing that he would be a few meters ahead, almost at the intersection with Houston Street. "Over here."
-"Smells like someone died." Dallas mentioned, stepping carefully. A rat screeched past in the opposite direction, followed by more. "Damn!"
-"That's the drain," Ricky pointed to a grate on the ceiling, ignoring the rodents. The dim light of the lamps filtered into the interior. "Check there."
-"Oh no," Dallas replied, waving his arms and shaking his head, "it's your keys, you look for them."
Ricky muttered and reluctantly obeyed. He leaned over the edge of the murky canal, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and stuck his arm into the water, poking at the bottom.
-"Let's talk about the girl." Dallas commented.
-"What girl?" Ricky asked, feigning ignorance.
-"The one you got your ass kicked for." His brother replied.
Ricky looked at him trying to hide his embarrassment. He was going to explain that Dale had kicked his ass just because he'd taken him by surprise, when a deep hiss echoed through the tunnel. "What the hell was that?" Ricky exclaimed.
-"It was just a rat." Dallas said.
-"That didn't sound like a rat." he replied, in response came another hiss, this time from the opposite side.
-"Check there." his older brother ordered. Ricky leaned under the second grate and searched. Within seconds, he stood up holding the keys in his hand.
-"Got 'em." Ricky announced triumphantly.
-"Let's get out of there," Dallas urged him, pointing the flashlight into the darkness.
Ricky backed up and climbed the ladder, followed by Dallas. As he poked his head out, a six wheeled truck sped past, missing Ricky by inches as he ducked back into the culvert. The truck skidded to a stop meters ahead. From the cabin, a well built man descended.
-"Shit, man!" The driver exclaimed, "What the hell are you two doing in there?" He asked, seeing Ricky and Dallas climb out of the manhole.
-"My stupid brother's fault," Dallas responded, recognizing him. "What's up Terry? Why the rush?"
-"Buddy Benson and his boy are missing," Terry said, "Eddie called a meeting at the community center." Then he walked over and said almost quietly, covering his mouth with one hand. "They say someone found an arm. Come on." He invited them to get into his truck.
Dallas and Ricky climbed into the cabin, and Terry headed downtown.
The Crested Butte Community Center's gym was bustling with local residents. Dallas, covered in dirt, settled into a chair next to Ricky at the opposite end of the gym. A few residents turned to watch them. Eddie Morales was on the makeshift podium, along with the two deputies, Ray Adams and Joe Leonard. Eddie took the microphone.
-"Hmm, here's what we know." he began, clearing his throat. "Buddy Benson and his son Sam went hunting in the Grand Mesa National Forest. They should have been back this morning and no one has heard from them since."
-"Is it true that they found an arm?" A man from the second row asked. Darcy Benson closed her eyes and covered her face with both hands. The woman next to her put an arm around her back, comforting her.
-"I'm not going to argue about the investigation," The Sheriff said. "We are here to clarify..."
-"So you ain't telling us shit?" another man interrupted.
-"If there was a crime," a third man in electrician's overalls said, "Isn't odd it happens right after a convict is released?" The guy turned toward Dallas, prompting several residents to turn around as well. There were several murmurs of approval.
-"Hey," Morales calmed them down, "Listen, I personally drove him from the station to his house at the time we thought Bud and Sam disappeared."
-"But... he's your friend, right?" An older man intervened. several people nodded.
Dallas shook his head. It stood to reason that people would always target the ex-criminal, even when he had been just a thief and not a killer. He now understood when Eddie told him that the town doubted his abilities to run the Sheriff's office. Some people still resented his behavior when he was a teenager.
At that moment, Darcy Benson got up and stood at the front of the group.
-"Why aren't we looking right now?" She said accusingly to Eddie, "Let's grab a flashlight and go find them. Bud's hurt and maybe Sam is too."
-"Darcy," Eddie walked over to her. "My men have already done a preliminary search." He escorted her back to her chair. "It's a very large area and there are traps and animals," he continued, trying to be reasonable. "It's very dangerous, some people might get hurt or get lost as well."
Disgruntled murmurs echoed all over the place. Morales concluded.
-"I'll set a search party first thing in the morning," Morales shouted, "Now, go back to your homes." He approached Ray. "Ray, can you and Carrie take Darcy home?"
The officer nodded. Carrie and Darcy were coworkers and friends. Carrie even offered her stay in her house if she wanted.
- o -
Unknown planet around a twin star. Outer space.
The orange sky shone in the light of the two reddish stars. Soon, Su'rya's eyes - as the planet's inhabitants called their suns -would set and the night would be illuminated by the pale light of the planet's three moons, painted against the green background of a nebula.
Vrka'yu peeked out from the balcony to the jungle of yellowish leaves that stretched to the horizon. Occasionally, the stone mass of a pyramid protruded through the treetops. A roaring broke through the evening calm, causing the birds to take flight. Vrka'yu looked up and saw a jag'd'ja descending from the clouds, then settled on the flat top of the nearest pyramid.
His clan's Jag'd'ja has returned from the civ'kvva on the ghomon world. None of the younglings of his tribe had participated this time, but his own blood, Anu'ka Thwei, served on that ship.
Vrka'yu remembered his own ceremony, many cycles ago. He caressed the left side of his face and the stump where his jaw had been, which had been burned by a r'ksa's blood, blinding him in one eye in the process. The warrior had survived the civ'kvva to become a proud hunter. The zulka'lara in his chamber testified to the harsh battles that Vrka'yu had waged on countless worlds.
He dressed in a thick cloak and went to the platform with the intention of welcoming the Blooded. An alarm sounded behind him. The holographic panel filled with coordinate symbols, followed by a recording.
Vrka'yu watched carefully. It was a transmission from Anu'ka's mask. He pressed a triangular button and the hologram played the recording.
The footage, from the point of view of her mask, showed that Anu'ka had not been killed in the crash. She lay badly injured on the grated floor, impaled on a metal bar from the ship's hull. The Yaksi watched helplessly as the eggs inside the broken glass tubes cracked open and the r'ksa s crawled toward the jagged rip in the hull.
Anu'ka activated the device on her wrist, hoping to incinerate the beasts before they escaped. A clicking above her drew her attention and the last thing she saw was the abomination bowing before her. The jaws opened and a second set of teeth shot out. The transmission ended with a burst of static.
Vrka'yu roared furiously. Anu'ka was dead, and an abomination and his progeny were loose on the ghomon world. The welcoming ceremony could wait. If not contained, the foul beasts could wipe out the life of the planet in a few cycles.
In addition to being a seasoned warrior, Vrka'yu was an Ut'pu, a Cleaner. When the serpents got out of control, the Ut'pu took it upon themselves to wipe the infestation off the map. Hundreds of cycles had passed since the last time that had happened, and the Yaksa had had to move their civ'kvva to ever more remote locations.
Vrka'yu walked over to his weapons rack and selected his tools. A double-bladed ki-cti'pa, a pair of cha'kra's with extendable blades, and a whip similar in design to a r'ksa's tail, in addition to his plasma cannon and standard dah'kte. Lastly, he donned the ceremonial mask of the Ut'pu, simple with serrated edges and the stylized glyphs on the forehead.
Vrka'yu was ready. His ka'thorag, a lurker-class vessel, much smaller than a man'daca designed for infiltration, was docked on the platform next to his chambers. The warrior climbed in through the airlock and started the engines.
The locks keeping it in place were released and the ka'thorag hovered above the surface for a few seconds before shooting off into outer space.
- o -
A/N: Ok, this chapter covers a few different scenes in the movie. What I did here is put them together for a better narrative, because as seen in the film, it seems that the aliens begin to reproduce almost immediately and in a matter of minutes. Also, my intention is to avoid the question of the time between Wolf receiving the signal from the crashed ship and his arrival on Earth being less than a day. I know that his technology is much more advanced than ours, but instantaneous space travel is ridiculous. So, in this novelization, it will be a few days before the action begins, thus giving the predator time to arrive and the aliens to reproduce in numbers enough to take the town in just one night.