Thanks for the heads up. I'm not sure how that got passed me and my proof reader but I know I didn't use that many when I typed it up orginally. I have a feeling my grammer check did that when it was acting up. I thought I had fixed most of the mistakes but obviously missed the punctuation. Hopefuly I've caught most of them now. Now on with the next chapter.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Black Paper’s rescue party appeared on a sand beach beside an extinct volcano. The entrance to the facility was on the other side. Dirge and Demoneye started into the jungle not waiting for the others. Two RAmars followed them in. One was tall and fat dressed in purple. His name was Devlin. Harris was short and extremely skinny dressed in orange. Striker brought up the rear with Tessa clinging to his arm. Tessa now wore a HUnewearl uniform that Striker had stolen from a purple haired Newman while she had been in the shower. It was black and a little tight but much better than the animal skins she had been wearing. The high heel boots were giving her a little trouble too. The terrain forced them to move away from the mountain before they could head back to the facility. They pushed through a thick patch and came upon a very strange looking space craft. It was huge, egg shaped, with an organic looking hull that provided excellent camouflage. Strange looking roots stretched from the ship and into the ground. The surrounding vegetation was twisted and mutated. Dirge and Demoneye slowly approached the craft. The strange vegetation crunched under their feet. The ship quivered. The androids froze.
“What do you think?” Demoneye asked quietly.
“Invaders!” Dirge growled, “This is our planet. We were here first. DIE!”
Dirge charged in swinging his sabre. The sabre sliced off some of the roots then cut into the hull. Orange liquid sprayed from the cuts. The ship began vibrating and emanating a high pitched squeal.
“This is a bad idea!” Striker yelled, “We should get out of here!”
“I agree.” Devlin nodded.
“Dirge, let’s go!” Demoneye called.
Dirge ignored them and continued slashing at the ship.
“Leave him!” Harris shouted.
Striker started backing up slowly. The two RAmars slowly followed. A blood chilling scream echoed from deep in the jungle. Everyone froze for a second.
“Times up.” Striker muttered, “Let’s go.”
He took off a full speed with Tessa right beside him. The two rangers followed close behind.
“Dirge come on!” Demoneye cried.
Dirge either didn’t hear him or didn’t want to hear him. He continued slashing at the ship. A strange looking insect like creature appeared on the top of the ship. It let out a terrible scream as it flexed its long talons. Demoneye slowly backed up and took aim with his rifle. Dirge stopped his attack and looked up.
“This is our planet!” He cried, “Leave now or face my wrath!”
“Don’t provoke it!” Demoneye yelled.
The creature looked at Demoneye then back at Dirge. It seemed to be studying them. It cocked its head as if it were listening for something then gave a sharp bark and dropped on Dirge. Demoneye fired but missed. The creature quickly tore Dirge to pieces. Demoneye fired again. The shot bounced off. The creature ignored the shot as it chewed on Dirges internal components. Demoneye slowly backed away and bolted in the direction the others had gone. An inhuman scream echoed through the jungle followed by another and then another. What ever these things were they were following him. He counted at least five different screams but that didn’t mean there weren’t more. He had to stop at the river bank. The others had just reached the other side.
“Demoneye, catch!” Striker called as he swung a vine at him.
Demoneye caught it and didn’t hesitate to swing across. No sooner had he left when three of the creatures ran out of the jungle. Demoneye landed on the bank with a thud. The creatures cried as their prey escaped into the jungle. They didn’t stop until they reached the front door of the facility.
“What are those things?” Tessa panted.
“Aliens.” Demoneye replied, “One of those things tore Dirge to pieces without even blinking.”
“That’s assuming they can blink.” Striker breathed heavily.
“They don’t have eyes.” Demoneye growled, “It was a figure of speech.”
“Sorry, I haven’t seen them yet!” Striker snapped.
A scream emanated from the jungle very close to them. Devlin pulled the door open and ducked inside. Harris slid through the door next.
“Sounds like they’re hunting us.” Striker muttered.
“We must secure this door.” Demoneye said as he closed it behind them.
“You’re the strongest.” Striker said, “You hold the door while Tessa and I look for a barricade.”
“Agreed.” Demoneye nodded, “But be swift.”
“This place is awfully quiet.” Tessa said, “Where are all the researchers?”
“Hey, where’d those rangers get too?” Striker frowned.
“Never mind!” Demoneye shot, “Find something for a barricade!”
“Right.” Striker nodded, “Come on Tessa.”
Striker headed left down the hallway. It was fairly sterile; finished in a light mat grey. The ceiling was arched with light fixtures hanging from it. Small rectangular windows at the top of the walls allowed some natural light to enter. A slight breeze from the ventilation system gave them some relief from the tropical heat. The hallway angled right and continued into the volcano interior. Directly in front of them was a set of large double doors. Striker pulled the door open and peered inside. Three jeep like vehicles were parked side by side. The bay was large and rectangular. Repair equipment and tools lined the walls. The lights were out. A little light came through the small windows giving everything a twilight feel. Tessa followed him over to the middle vehicle. She climbed into the passenger seat while Striker checked the vehicle over.
“This looks perfect.” He said climbing into the driver seat.
Something skittered across the ceiling. The human’s heads bolted up. The ceilings were dark and cluttered with pipes and support braces. They couldn’t see anything but they could hear it moving around. Tessa shook Strikers sleeve.
“Let’s go now.” She quivered.
“Good idea.” Striker nodded.
He hit the start button and the engine roared to life. The indicators all lit up green. Striker put the shifter into drive and pushed the pedal down. The vehicle lurched forward. He immediately took his foot off and it jerked to a stop. Tessa frowned at him. He blushed with a shrug. With a loud bang, the alien landed on the hood. Tessa let out a scream. Striker slammed the shifter into reverse and stomped the pedal to the floor. The vehicle jumped back. The alien slipped off. Striker put the gear in drive and launched the vehicle forward. The alien climbed to its feet just as the vehicle slammed into it. It sliced the alien apart between the two sets of legs. The vehicle slammed through the doors and headed down the hall. Using its forearms as legs the alien pursued them with incredible speed.
“Striker, it’s following us!” Tessa cried.
“So much for barricading the door.” Striker groaned, “We’ll pick up Demoneye and get out of here.”
“I thought you wanted him dead?” Tessa frowned.
“Yes, but I want him.” Striker growled, “He needs to know what he did. I want him to
look me in the eye and know exactly who it is that has brought him to justice. They got Dirge, Demoneye is mine!”
He squealed to a stop at the front door. It was wide open with no sign of Demoneye. Striker slammed his fist down.
“He was mine!” He yelled.
“Hey, there’s no remains.” Tessa said, “Maybe he got away?”
“Let’s hope so.” Striker muttered.
The alien screamed as it approached. Striker sped away with a squeal of the tires. The hallway ended at a transport tube that would take them to a higher level. Tessa was out first. She pounded the door button. Striker followed her in. The alien slammed into the closing door and rammed the door open. Striker and Tessa ran as fast as they could. The alien pursued them but was beginning to slow. Striker pulled Tessa through the door with such force that she fell flat on her face. Striker pounded the lock button. The alien stumbled for the door managing to get an arm through. The door crunched down on the arm snapping if off just below the elbow. The alien let out one last scream and collapsed. Striker peered through the small window in the door. The alien lay still. A trail of orange liquid ran all the way back to the garage. Striker turned and helped Tessa to her feet.
“Sorry.” He said, “I didn’t mean to throw you with such force.”
“You probably saved my life.” Tessa said rubbing her sore knees, “Don’t do it again.”
Striker smiled and turned to examine their surroundings. It was a small circular lab that looked very much like the lab in the artic. The beds were all empty but all the equipment was still running. Some of the needles and probes had fresh blood on them.
“Where are all the patients?” Tessa asked.
“Removed.” Striker said as he thumbed through the charts, “An unscheduled move at that. According to this I’d bet most if not all these patients were subjects from the artic research facility.”
“I don’t understand how all these places could have been built.” Tessa said shaking her head, “Pioneer One was only supposed to build the central dome. How could they have built so many and keep it a secret?”
“I’m beginning to think nearly every one on Pioneer One was involved.” Striker shrugged, “It would be easy to keep it from loyal people like you and Flowen.”
“And no one on Pioneer Two knew about this?” Tessa frowned.
“A small amount of People knew.” Striker shrugged, “Mostly WORKS I think. Lazarus didn’t find out until after Osto’s research was recovered. In fact everything seemed to take off after his research was recovered.”
“I still can’t believe this is all happening.” Tessa gasped.
“Neither can I and I’ve been in the middle of most of it.” Striker replied, “This looks like it might be a back up lab. Everything’s pretty basic.”
“Compared to the northern lab right.” Tessa asked.
“Right.” Striker replied, “Looks like they’ve been slowly upgrading things too.”
Another howl vibrated through the building. The humans froze listening for it again. Tessa squeezed Strikers arm.
“I want to go.” She shivered.
“I know but we need to find the others.” Striker replied.
“Please, I want to leave now.” Tessa said squeezing harder.
“As soon as we find the others.” Striker nodded.
“No now!” Tessa insisted.
“Those are hunters!” Striker started to yell, “I’m not leaving them!”
“You’ll risk your life for those low life strangers?” Tessa shot.
“I’m a hunter!” Striker yelled, “There’s a certain amount of honour that goes with this I.D. badge. I will not leave them to die without even trying to help them!”
“Is it really about them?” Tessa cried, “Or is it about Demoneye and your stupid revenge. What about me. Doesn’t your badge demand you protect me too?”
“Yes!” Striker barked, “And as long as you’re with me I can protect you. I’m going after those hunters so you have two choices, come with me for protection or try to find a way back to Pioneer Two by yourself!”
Striker stormed off to the next tube. Tessa glared at him with anger. An alien scream shot a shiver down her back. She ran up and grabbed Strikers arm. He didn’t look at her. He just continued on his way. The next building housed the stasis tubes. The half flesh, half machine subjects were still inside. Tessa gasped at the sight.
“What is this?” She asked softly.
“The product of a twisted mind.” Striker replied, “He’s dead now.”
He saw in Tessa’s eyes that she needed more from him. She needed to understand exactly what this all was. Striker let out a sigh and slowly walked from one tube to the next.
“Do you know Doctor Osto Hyde?”
Tessa nodded.
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