Flashbacks and Memories (Part 11)
By Jenny Taylor
"So… what happened mom?" Alan asked, his voice is small, filled with fear and dread on what she'll say next. "What creature killed the kid?"
"Well…" She began slowly, "From what I was told by my mom… the box that was carrying the child fitted on top of the other box filled with soil… The glass top of the box of soil and the glass bottom of the box carrying the child were removable..."
"So…you're saying that the creature lives in the soil?" Gordon interrupted with concern and worry as he looked at the young doctor, ignoring the warning look from Scott. But the question he asked and from the description from what Jaycee had told them so far, has sent John into a fact finding mission as he fiddled with his wrist comm.
John's actions haven't gone unnoticed as the eldest asked him what he's doing. "I'm looking up on the net into finding what kind of creatures that would kill humans that lives underground."
"What makes you think that there's more than one John?" Scott asked in puzzlement as John continues with his self-elected mission, refusing to meet his brothers' gaze. "Jaycee hasn't told us yet."
"True, but from what Jaycee has described to us so far, it sounds like it could be an army of killer insects. And from what I've found so far, from the description, the only type of insects that would kill a human on-mass are ants."
"How can an army of ants kill a human?" Alan asked in confusion, "We're too big to be taken down, let alone be killed by them?" This made John look up at Alan as he gives them a lecture.
"Actually Alan, there's a list containing the world's top 10 deadliest ants, some which have a history in killing humans." He pauses to let that fact sink in to the others as Jaycee remains silent and her face began to go pale when John continues with his lecture.
"From bottom upwards: Number 10 are Pony ants, habitat: sub-tropical regions of Asia and Australia. Non-aggressive, but has a painful sting.
"Number 9 are Meat Eating ants, habitat: Australia. They are omnivorous and will eat dead animals and plant matter, they'll attack live animals who'll come across their nest and very territorial, they are scavengers and their stings is somewhere between a bee sting and a large mosquito sting.
"Number 8 are Green Tree ants, habitat: sub-tropical regions of Asia, Australia and Africa. They'll scour around the nest for small insects, they have no sting, but they can produce a painful bite, which is made worse when they spray formic acid straight into the bite.
"Number 7 are Argentine ant, habitat: Native to northern Argentina and southern Brazil, but are also introduced to temperate areas in other many countries around the globe. They are invasive, capable to wipe out other competing ant colonies and severely disrupt the eco-system in the area, they don't have a sting, but they will give you a sharp bite.
"Number 6 are Bullhorn Acacia ant, habitat: Most tropical area. They live in Acacia trees and if an animal disturbs the tree, the ants will attack aggressively in vast numbers by either running down the trunk for a ground attack or jump for an aerial assault, they do have a sting painful enough for you to move out of the area, but not painful enough to kill.
"Number 5 are Saifu ants, habitat: East and Central Africa. Also known as Army or Driver ants, they move in a swarm cutting and eating everything in their path, they have a sting but their bite is hurts more, they mainly eat other insects but they will attack larger creatures such as snakes and lizards.
"Number 4 are Fire ants, habitat: Africa. There are various species of this ant with the most aggressive type being the Red Fire ants, they don't look for trouble, but if you disturb them, they'll swarm and when they sting, they'll send a signal that'll make the others attack. The sting is like being burnt with a match head that has just been put out, but what's worse with these guys is that the sting site will become inflamed, swollen and develop into a pustule aka pus. The pustule will last for 3 or 4 days but the red spot can last for up to a month.
"Number 3 are Florida Harvester ants, habitat: Florida. These will only harvest seeds from plants and stores them underground for food, their sting however, is excruciatingly painful and the area around the sting site will become deep red in colour and immediately a watery, sticky secretion came out of the skin. People have died because of this ant."
His brothers looked at each other with worry until Gordon notices his cousin's pale face. "You okay mom?" His voice filled with worry and concern alerting the others about the doctor's quiet and pale frame, stopping John in mid-lecture.
Scott shuffles around and places his arm around her shoulders and his free hand on hers, giving it a gentle squeeze and lowers his head to level hers. "Jaycee?" He spoke with worry, "Was it ants that killed the child?" Jaycee nodded as tears starts to fall as she looks down at her feet.
The brothers were left aghast in shock. They couldn't believe that one of Mother Natures' tinniest creatures that killed the child, witnessed by their aunt. John quickly snaps back into reality as he's hoping that the info that he's just given them so far, would remind Jaycee what type of ant that had been used to kill people.
"Jaycee…" Jaycee looked up to face the one who called her. "Did any of the info that I had just read out, rang any bells into what type of ants that did this?" Jaycee shook her head.
"Sorry Ginger."
"Did your mom tell you what they are?" The red-head asked, trying to push Jaycee for more info.
"That's enough John!" Scott intervened with a stern look, his voice spoke with a hint of anger. "Aunt Trisha had had enough problems witnessing that horror and talking to Jaycee about it, let alone Jaycee remembering it what she said, plus we still haven't got to the part into how Aunt Trisha escaped from that hell-hole and personally…I don't want to know what type of ant that killed that child."
John was unfazed by the brunette's attitude and actions and he responded in his usual cool calm manner. "Like it or not Scott, we'll need this as evidence to put this guy away for good after what he did to Aunt Trisha…"
"And to our dads…" A small quiet voice interrupted John's argument with Scott which sent all eyes staring at her in shock and disbelief.
"What do you mean mom?" Alan asked unsure if he heard right. Jaycee puts her head into her hands, sobbing loudly, causing the brothers to look at each other, filled with worry.
"Jaycee…" Scott spoke with worry, trying to get Jaycee to open up more on what she had just said, as what felt like a lump of lead falling to pit of his stomach, hoping that what she's saying isn't true. "Are you trying to say that this… terrorist… had done something bad against yours and our dads?"
Jaycee sniffled and nodded in her hands. All the brothers looked at each other in shock followed by horror and then a mixture of worry and fear as they then slowly looked back at their long-lost family member.
"How?" Everyone apart from Jaycee looks up at the confused youngster. "I thought the Hood was…"
"No Alan!" Jaycee snapped at him with cold steel eyes and tears streaming from them. "The Hood had NOTHING to do with our dads' murder!"
"MURDER!?" All boys looked at her, wide-eyed and open-mouthed in shock, horror and disbelief as they nearly shouted in unison.
They couldn't believe from they had just heard as they look at each other in turn. They knew that Jaycee had some secrets that she wants to tell, but they didn't expect that one of those secrets involving their dad, and to make it worse was hearing the word 'murder' in the same sentence.
But this had led to more questions, what did she know about their dad's disappearance than everyone else? And murder? Their dad is dead as well as hers? Silence fell into the room as those 2 words sunk into the boys' hearts and the youngest pair were starting to cry in disbelief.
"NO! This cannot be true!" Scott broke the silence in anger and disbelief as he got off the couch and starting to pace the room, trying to control his emotions. "Dad is still alive! He's got to be…"
"Calm down Scott!" John stood up and using his calm, collected rescue voice to calm his distressed big brother down. "We still haven't had all the facts and we don't even know half of what Jaycee is trying to tell us, also…" He pauses as he looks directly into the brunette's eyes when the latter calmed down and stopped pacing and yelling allowing him to place his hands on the elder's shoulders, pinning him to the spot.
"We don't know if dad's dead, so calm down, sit next to Jaycee and listen to what she says, while I ask the questions, okay?" He spoke in a quieter tone allowing his words to sink into the aeronaut's heart. Scott nodded and took a deep breath to regain some of his composure and returned to his place on the couch and watched as John re-joins Gordon on the table.
John waited for a couple of moments for the air to settle before returning to question the female of the family, whose bleary eyes are now showing a bit of red from crying. "Jaycee… Do you have evidence to back what you said about our dads?"
Jaycee took a deep breath before looking up at the red-head. "Guys, I know that there's a lot of questions that you want to ask me, particularly about the fate of our dads, but…" She looks down towards her feet for a bit, taking another deep breath before looking up at her cousins. "It would be best…for all of us… that I should continue with my story, which…will lead to my (gulp) ordeal with that… retched GDF and then finally… (sniff) to… discovering… our… dads'… (sniff) murder." She bowed her head and her voice was barely a whisper and breaking when she said the last word as tears threaten to fall and starting to cry.
The boys again looked at each other. They didn't know what to make of this. They sat in silence as John comforts Gordon, while Alan wraps his arms around Jaycee, burying his face into her shoulder and Scott places his arm around her, all of them in tears as her words sinks into their hearts.
The brothers knew that they might never see their dad Jeff again, but they pushed it to the back of their minds, partly to continue with their dad's legacy of International Rescue and partly in hope, hope that their dad would return and the family reunited. But sadly, that hope has been crushed by the words of a trusted long-lost friend-cum-cousin, Doctor Jaycee Anderson.