Ashlyn Chronicles 1: 2287 A.D. (33 page)

Their armor is crazy hard.

A shudder ran up Steven’s spine as he realized that in the world of the Uttu, he was the invader. He felt a twinge of sadness over the irony.

Steven, the glow from the moss illuminating him, raised his weapon into the air, holding it at arm’s length before him. A gesture of surrender.

The Uttu slowed to a stop and looked at him. What the Uttu thought of him, no one would ever know, but Steven understood that the Uttu was merely protecting his home. The two of them seemed to share a small moment.

The Uttu then gave a huff and a bellowing roar.

Steven, what’s happening?
Ash called out as she felt the emotional rush of his sadness surging within him.

He was so caught up in the moment that he didn’t hear her. Slowly lowering the weapon, he placed it on the ground, letting go of it.

Steven, what’s wrong?—Talk to me!

Hold on a sec.
Steven wasn’t sure if the Uttu was capable of understanding his actions—but he was listening to his heart.

The Uttu bellowed an acknowledgment of Steven’s submission.

Then, slowly, the Uttu moved forward, coming to a stop in front of him. The Uttu extended a single, slimy leg toward him. It hovered a moment, then touched Steven on the top of his head. After a long moment, in a quick motion that startled Steven, the Uttu retracted its leg, and rolling over upon itself, headed back in the direction from which it had come.

The Uttu’s quick movement, however, was the final straw needed to bring the tunnel down. Steven turned quickly, trying to scramble away, but it was too late. He had only taken a single stride before the ceiling completely gave way, entrapping him. With his last free movement, Steven fought to form a small air pocket around his head.

Ash! The ceiling collapsed on top of me!

Ok, I’m coming down!
Slipping the luminescent necklace around her neck, she peered over the edge of the hole.

Not four meters away, racing out of the hole, were the large, red, glowing eyes of the Uttu Steven had seen. Ashlyn dove aside just in time.
That was close.
Jumping in, she took a long, controlled slide to the bottom.
Hold on—I’m on my way!
Her voice was assuring, confident.
Keep talking to me!

The weight is crushing me. I can’t expand my lungs.

Don’t stop talking to me, don’t stop!
said Ashlyn anxiously.

Can’t breathe!

***

“Sir?” said Martin.

Novacek’s thumb eased off the last button.

“The crew needs you. Yours was the only voice of reason against that monster. I can do this! You go with the others!”

Novacek searched for the words that would keep him from abandoning his friend.

Martin saw Novacek’s inner struggle. “It’s all right, sir. I don’t feel the pain. I’ll give you to the count of 10!” He put his hand out, his trembling fingers asking Novacek to place his finger atop the last button.

“You’ve got the courage of a lion, Martin. You’ll run again. You’ll run at your ancestor’s side as they honor you for your bravery.”

“Thank you, sir—but, I’m not a brave man. I am just a man with no other choice. The others need you.” Martin’s free hand slowly pulled the blaster from his holster. “Go, 10—9—please, sir. Go.”

Novacek turned and hobbled away as fast as his broken body would allow. From inside, Novacek heard Martin’s fading voice. “I damn all of you monsters to Hell!”

Novacek then heard Martin’s blaster sealing off his tunnel. The ear-shattering roar of the collapsing tunnel behind him was only a second ahead of the billowing dust and dirt that came shooting down the tunnel, engulfing him. With a single breath of clean air in his lungs, he struggled to make his way back inside the cavern.

A moment later, the energy
cores
’ concussion tore the world apart.

It threw him to the ground. The slipknot around Novacek’s wrist to the flashlight broke, sending the flashlight skittering away. He scrambled to retrieve it. Stumbling on, unsure of where he was, he kept moving forward until he fell face first into the river. All around him he could hear splashes in the water as the cavern itself began to collapse.

Floating with the current, Novacek swam through the hole exiting the cavern, carried by the fast, moving water down the dark tunnel.

His clothes felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds, and he struggled to remove them, even as he was tossed against the walls. Somehow, he seemed to find each boulder that lay in his path.

Stripped down to his boxers, flashlight in hand, he swam.

***

I think I found you—the tunnel is collapsed here! Steven?—Steven, answer me!
Nothing. She could feel that he was alive, but unconscious.

Ash tore at the sand, frantically scooping it away. As she dug, tears fell from her chin. A moment later, she found his feet. Two minutes later, she pulled him out.

Verifying that his airway was clear, Ash started to give him mouth to mouth.

When he gasped and coughed—Ash scolded, “Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

Through continuing coughs, he replied, “You don’t want to have sex anymore?”

She punched his arm and then just as quickly gave him a gigantic hug.

With melded minds, they held one another, reveling in the single small victory.

Her lips carried a sweetness that, for a brief moment, Steven thought he would never taste again.

“Listen? Do you hear it?” Once again, they heard the thrumming vibration of the Grays’ sonic device. “They followed our trail to the hole!” said Steven.

“Maybe they’ll think we’re dead?” whispered Ashlyn.

Steven hoped she was right. They waited, not daring to make any movement. Even breathing felt like a salient signal that might give them away. It was near twenty minutes, silence filling the air, before they began digging their way through to the other side of the tunnel. They followed Steven’s plan, following the left cavern wall of the tunnel.

Half an hour later, they found the divergence they were looking for. The slime on the new tunnel was older and had hardened. It made for a much firmer and faster walk, though Steven still wished the tunnel were taller so that they could stand upright.

It wasn’t long before the tunnel soon started to gently slope upwards. They were soon scrambling, their clawing fingers fighting for every inch of ground up the ever-steepening surface. For every step forward, they lost a half step backward, and even a momentary stop meant losing several steps. It was a do or die fight.

Steven had let Ashlyn lead the way, her lighter weight creating less damage than did Steven’s muscular, heavier frame to the dried, crusty slime.

Ash, don’t stop, but if you look up, you can see stars ahead.

The twinkling rays of hope refreshed their efforts. Five minutes later as Ash neared the top, with one great shove from Steven, she hefted herself up and over the small ridge that encircled the hole.

In doing so, Steven had sacrificed several hard-earned steps. Physically exhausted, Steven reached deep inside himself, hoping to tap into the massive storage of adrenaline his mind was capable of releasing. Like a sprinter near the finish line who had saved his final kick, Steven surged ahead. Grabbing Ashlyn’s outstretched hand, she pulled with everything she had, and together they flopped onto their backs like landed fish.

Their energy expended, their lungs aching from their exertion, they lay side-by-side in silence.

“Stand hum’ns!” said a voice behind them. The Igigi patrol had found them. Slowly they turned around to face their captors.

Suddenly, all of them felt the familiar vibration of an Uttu moving beneath them. The three Grays looked down and found that the sand churned around their feet. Before they could think to move, they sank into the desert floor, swallowed alive. Steven and Ashlyn slowly lowered their hands. In astonishment, they stared at the spot where the patrol had been standing.

“I think you made a friend!” said Ashlyn.

Steven smiled. “Maybe. I think the Uttu may have a bit of telepathy. That would explain how they could find the hiding humans on Earth so easily.

“When I was in the tunnel, the Uttu touched my head. I think it learned that I didn’t want to hurt it.”

“Seems like they aren’t very fond of the Grays,” said Ashlyn, rising to her feet.

They had walked for no more than an hour, the sky just beginning to lighten, when they saw a small hill a kilometer ahead made entirely of jumbled boulders. It offered all the shade they could ask for. They spent the day conserving energy, sleeping, and talking in the meld.

Two more days passed. They walked at night and rested by day. On the second day as they came to a rise late at night, there was a beautiful oasis ahead of them.

Over what must have been tens of thousands of years, the river had carved out a large, inviting pool in the solid rock foundation, thirty meters across. Even in the waning silvery light of the three setting moons, the white spray from its waterfall, shining like a beacon, enhanced its great beauty. The few scattered palms and shrubs swayed gently in a light breeze.

Steven’s pace picked up.

“Careful, Steven. There’s probably Uttu here,” said Ash.

“I don’t think so. Look around, no holes. It has to be fresh water,” said Steven. “The Uttu don’t like it.” It’s probably a tributary from the river back at the mountain.”

“In that case, last one in is a dirty rotten Gray.” Ash darted ahead.

Unzipping their boots and dropping their pouched bandolier belts, they ran, making a mad dash for the inviting water. Dropping their guns at the water’s edge, they dove in headfirst.

They swam and drank until their bellies were full.

The sand that had clung to them for days fell away. Steven was helpless but to watch as Ashlyn splashed water on herself, wiping away stubborn remnants of sand from her body. He was mesmerized as he watched her dip herself, rinse her hair, and finally sweep it back behind her ears.

When she saw that he was watching her, Ashlyn splashed him and giggled like a teenage girl. She playfully backed away, taunting him to catch her.

Giving chase, he tackled her in the waist deep water. The smile on his face couldn’t have been wider as he picked her up and threw her kicking and screaming into the deeper middle. She rose from the water like a mermaid in a seaman’s fantasy. His eyes traced the trickling streams of water that ran down her shoulders, around her breasts, and back into the pond.

Ashlyn then swam away toward the waterfall, soon disappearing behind it. They were like kids with their own private swimming hole.

Through the sheet of water, her hand appeared, and with a single beckoning
middle
finger, she called him. No swimming hole had ever held such promise.

By the time he waded out to her, he was ready, desirous. As he passed through the smooth wall of water, he found Ashlyn on the other side, sitting on a rock with only her calves below the waterline.

As he fell into her warm arms and pressed himself against her, he marveled at the contrast of the cool water pounding against his back. It caused an exhilaration that was unequalled.

It was a wondrous moment, short lived—never to be forgotten—for suddenly Ashlyn’s body arched and stiffened. She let out a scream as though she were in mortal pain.

Every muscle ached, constricting painfully and urging him to give up. Novacek had to fight against the banshees that tormented his every thought. His legs were numb, his chest heavy with hypothermia. In the end, it was Martin’s sacrifice which gave him strength.

While clinging to a rock to rest, Novacek made the mistake of setting his flashlight down. He had no sooner let it go when it rolled off the rock to be lost somewhere in the dark depths.

He reprimanded himself for being so foolish. Calling out, he made a last desperate attempt to be heard. From somewhere ahead, he heard a faint reply. Unsure if it was his own echoing voice, he called out again, straining to listen. There was an echo, but from somewhere beyond it he heard a faint reply.

Letting go of the rock, he floated downstream.

***

“Extract the genetic materials and parts you need, then throw him into the bowl. Be sure he doesn’t die. They don’t taste good when they are dead.”

The guard to whom Enlil had spoken leaned over, getting very close. When he exhaled, Phillip gagged. The alien’s warm, moist breath stank like rotten seaweed.

That was the moment when Phillip’s eyes went wide with terror. In the Gray’s hand was a syringe with a long needle. Phillip tried to scream but couldn’t. “Dad! Please help me!”

Above him, a machine with a bright light moved closer.

“Noooo!” Phillip screamed. “Please, no!”

The machine settled, resting on his forehead and chin.
He heard a high-pitched hum. The machine opened, revealing a deadly looking three-pronged claw that slowly moved toward him.
He closed his eyes, not wanting to see or know what was going to happen.

He screamed in pain as the claw flared the nostrils of his nose and inserted something. The pain was intense. Tears dripped from the corners of his eyes. He could feel something moving inside him, burrowing into his brain.

“I want my dad!” Again, the stinging pain. He struggled to free his hands. His wrists hurt. Then he felt the sting of a needle as it went into his… “Stop, it hurts!”

He was afraid as never before and he wet his pants.

His wide, terror filled eyes caught a blur of movement to his right. He strained to look, but his head was locked in place. A Gray came to the side of the table, carrying a tray of surgical tools.

“Please, don’t hurt me!”

Then he heard the noise of a saw,
whirring
. He trembled, not knowing what was coming.

He screamed as the saw cut into him.