THE HODMANDOD EFFECT

It took a week to transfer all useful materials and supplies from the Elpis to the League ship, The Hope of Johannesburg. Courtney was the last item on the list and she didn’t fare well on the trip. She was now only a shell of what she once was. Her mind was gone and she had lost a tremendous amount of weight.

Lt. Commander Fisk disappeared during one of the transport trips. He was assigned with Richardson and Davis in one of the rovers and they stopped for a break. According to the two men, Fisk informed Davis he had to defecate and went behind a clump of bushes. The two scientists reported they waited for several minutes and finally went looking for him. Fisk was nowhere to be found. They conducted a quick look around, but were scared off by a small herd of Hyacoms. When they reached the League ship, Rooney and Stone were advised of the emergency, but the soldiers were unable to find him. They even sent BOB-1 to locate him but the robot was unsuccessful. After a two day search, he was considered to be dead.

Rogers had a hard time leaving the captain behind on the Elpis. After speaking with him, he agreed with Rooney that it was the best thing to do. Once the transfer was complete, Rogers went about the task of trying to see what made the League ship work and if he could manage to fly it. He quickly discovered the ship’s engines were far more advanced than what they had on the Astraeus. Somehow, the Sub-Saharan League had come upon the ability to create anti-matter at an alarming rate. The ship possessed an engine based on the Alcubierre Warp Drive. It generated a positive gravity well in front of the vessel, and a negative (repulsive) well behind it. Similar to the Astraeus, this design was far ahead of the gravito-electromagnetic type the Federal States used. The vessel also contained one kilogram of anti-matter for all other power needs. It was believed by all manner of science that such a feat would take hundreds of years at an astronomical cost. Yet, they had somehow managed it. The power of the ship dwarfed what was capable on the Astraeus. In fact, Rogers told Rooney, it made the Astraeus look like an obsolete sailing ship of old. Luckily, the vessel came with a complete manual, along with engineering details, for him to study. He agreed with Rooney that his sole mission from that point forward was to figure it out. They had to get off the planet.

In the meantime, Trotter confirmed that everyone was infected except for her and the soldiers. It seemed to be working faster in the men. Why Courtney was the first to go down she didn’t know. Trotter was working furiously on the plant life and other samples the scientists were

bringing to her and Flores. They toiled tirelessly for hours on end trying to find something that would either neutralize the parasite or kill it outright.

Once everyone was in place on the League ship, only Rogers could grant access to the outside. The soldiers were free to come and go as they pleased so they could continue working as the security detail. No one knew when the other Sub-Saharan vessel would arrive, or if it had arrived already. That was the greatest worry.

Rooney and Stone took twelve hour shifts, with Stone working the graveyard. Rooney wanted to be awake when everyone else was, to watch and wait for their saboteur to strike again. Stone had little to worry about when everyone was locked inside, as an alarm would trigger if there were to be any unauthorized attempts to leave.

Ajax Strata Prime’s sun was going down behind the purple and blue hued mountains.

Even though the wind was only a fraction of what it had been, the dust was still in the air, creating a dull orange color across the darkening sky. There were no clouds as Rooney watched the sunset and listened to the low grunting of Hyacoms off in the distance. He heard a noise behind him and saw that it was Leslie. She motioned to one of the rovers and he knew what she meant. The two of them walked to the vehicle and stepped inside. Rooney removed the RFM once the cabin had been flushed out with compressed air.

“Hi,” Leslie said, now able to converse with him.

“Hi,” Rooney replied, seeing a slight grin come over her face as she looked to her lap. “We haven’t talked in a while,” Leslie said softly.

“I thought that was by design?”

“Not really…well…it was,” she said. “I miss you.”

Rooney turned to her with his mouth wide open. He gasped slightly and then looked out at the stars that were now appearing in the night sky. He knew that Stone would soon be coming to relieve him and wanted to quickly get some things off his chest.

“Were you missing me while you were sleeping with Davis?” He asked in a rude tone.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you,” Leslie replied. “I wanted to ask you a question.” “Okay,” Rooney said. “Ask away.”

“If we can’t get off this planet, and Trotter can’t find a cure for the parasites,” her voice trailed off as a tear ran down one cheek. “Would you make love to me one more time before I die?”

“Not sex?” Rooney asked. “Not fucking? Actually make love to you?”

Leslie squeezed her eyelids together, knowing that she had hurt him. In her mind she knew this kind of response was deserved.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Love. I want you to make love to me before I die.”

“And what about Davis?” Rooney had to know.

“I told him we wouldn’t be an item anymore…a few minutes before I came out here.” “How did he take it?”

Leslie shrugged.

“He acted like it didn’t bother him. He said it didn’t make any difference since we were all going to die anyway. It was kind of strange. He said it like he was going to survive.”

“What do you mean?” Rooney asked.

“It was just the way he said it. He didn’t include himself.”

Rooney took Leslie’s chin in a hand and turned her head to him.

“How did he say it? Tell me exactly.”

“Okay,” she said, looking confused. “He said, ‘It doesn’t make any difference since you all are going to die anyway.’”

Just then, a loud bang reverberated inside the vehicle’s compartment, causing both of them to jump. Rooney quickly looked to his left to see Stone standing outside. The big man had hit the glass with his fist to surprise them. The RFM kept him from laughing, but Rooney could still see a grin.

“You jerk!” He yelled, smiling. “Take your post before I have you court martialed.”

Stone saluted and walked into the darkness. Rooney turned his attention back to Leslie.

“It was probably just a slip of the tongue,” she guessed. “He’s well aware of his being infected like the rest of us. Why? Is it important?”

Rooney didn’t want to say any more about it. His suspicions about Davis and Richardson had been elevated ever since Fisk’s disappearance. He shook his head.

“No,” he replied. “It’s not important. I just wanted to know what he said. That’s the security training coming out. I’m suspicious about everything.”

“Will I see you tonight?” She asked.

“I don’t think so, Leslie,” he said. “Let me get my head around this, okay? I need some time to think.”

Leslie nodded, even though she didn’t understand.

“Don’t wait too long, lieutenant. Trotter said that when the infection hits, it hits fast and with no warning.”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” Rooney promised. “You can count on

that.”

Rooney put the RFM back on his face. The two exited the rover and walked back inside the ship. Once they were both decontaminated, Trotter was waiting for them on the other side. As usual, she had a half burnt cigarette hanging from her mouth.

“Lieutenant,” she said, the ashes falling off from the movement of her lips. “I have a job for you.”

“Name it,” he replied.

“So far, all these yahoos have brought me is plant and soil samples to study. There isn’t anything in these that help. I need an animal.”

“You want me to kill an animal?”

“That’s right,” Trotter confirmed. “But not just any animal. I need one that we’re pretty sure isn’t infected. I need one that’s not trying to get cozy with a Hyacom…if you know what I mean.”

“Okay.”

“How quickly can you get one for me?”

“First thing tomorrow morning,” Rooney said. Trotter didn’t take the bait.

“How about first thing now,” she ordered. “I’m trying to save people here. You can get some sleep later. And don’t shoot it in the head. I need an intact brain.”

Rooney took a deep breath and turned around, meekly waving goodbye to Leslie. He stepped into the decontamination area and shut the door. As he disappeared out the other side, Leslie looked at Trotter.

“Do you think that’s going to help?”

“I don’t know,” Trotter said. “But, anything’s worth a shot right now.”

The doctor turned around and left her standing there. Leslie didn’t want to say anything, but she was starting to experience severe headaches. The infection was taking hold, and she knew that soon her condition would be like Courtney’s. Leslie walked away and down the corridor that led to her quarters.

**********

Three hours later Rooney returned with one of the ‘deer’ like creatures. He was careful to use the antiquated .30 caliber so the bullet wouldn’t destroy too much of the carcass. Trotter received her present with not too much excitement, but it was obvious she was pleased to have something she could sink her teeth into. He could tell she was exhausted, but let the suggestion she get some rest remain silent.

Rooney, on the other hand, would be relieving Stone in a few hours and he did need some rest. When he entered his quarters, he was surprised to see Leslie asleep in his bunk. Quietly removing his clothes, Rooney slipped in beside her and was soon comfortably asleep next to her. He had forgotten how good it felt to be with her.

He couldn’t be sure, but it only seemed like a few minutes when his communication device came to life. Rooney rose up and sat on the edge of the bunk, rubbing his eyes and trying to focus. The device was making a clicking noise. Stone was pressing the transmit button and then releasing it. He did this several times until Rooney responded in like kind. Rooney looked at his watch and noticed it would be almost dawn.

The lieutenant quickly stood and put on his clothes. Reaching over to a small locker, he pulled out his battle gear and began to don it as well. The rustling awakened Leslie who turned over to watch the sudden burst of activity.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Maybe nothing,” he replied. “You get your rest. I’ll be back in a few.”

The last thing he put on was the battle helmet equipped with sensor goggles. Rooney picked up his Danko and left the room, striding with purpose down the corridor. He changed the channel on the communication device and put it to his mouth.

“Rogers,” he said. “Talk to me.”

“Go ahead,” Rogers replied after a few seconds.

“We got visitors,” Rooney told him. “Get to the bridge. I’ll be in touch.”

“What kind of visitors?”

“The human bad-ass kind,” Rooney said. “Get to the bridge.”

“On my way.”

Instead of going to the main hatch and exiting from the decontamination booth, Rooney went below decks to an emergency hatch located at the ship’s bottom. He and Stone had found this during one of their exploratory missions of the League vessel. They both agreed it would be the safest place to get out in case of any contingencies. It took him just under five minutes to reach it and get access to the outside. He crouched down and surveyed the area before talking to Stone. He consciously left the RFM behind, knowing he would need to speak with Stone.

Rooney figured if the rest died, there wouldn’t be any point to have security hanging around. “One click for north,” he whispered. “Two clicks for east. I doubt they would come over

the hills.”

He listened and heard two clicks.

“How many?”

Stone transmitted three clicks.

“Okay, sergeant,” he said. “They aren’t here to fight. Either they want to talk or they’re just as surprised to see us as we are to see them.”

“One’s got a white flag, lieutenant,” Stone whispered.

“Get your fucking RFM back on,” Rooney ordered, agitated.

“I have a rag over my mouth, lieutenant,” he said. “You needed to know they mean to talk to us.”

“Have they seen you?”

“Negative.”

“Stay put and keep me covered. You got a good angle on them?”

“Affirmative.”

“Okay, I’m coming out.”

Rooney crawled from under the ship and took a position behind the closest rover. A gray light was coming over the hills and he could see the three approaching from two hundred yards away. The one in the middle was holding a white flag. There was no mistake these were Sub- Saharan regulars by the way they were dressed. These were soldiers like Stone and Rooney. They were dedicated and fanatical. Rooney thought it strange they wanted to parlay. He exposed himself to them with his Danko at the ready and began to walk toward them. He noticed they were fully exposed to the atmosphere, breathing in the dust and the deadly parasites of Ajax Strata Prime. When they were twenty feet apart, Rooney stopped. The men in front of him took his lead. The man in the middle was a white South African. The other two were black.

“I am Major Markus Bergh, Sub-Saharan League Army.”

“Lieutenant Austin Rooney, Federal States Special Assault Forces. What can I do for you, major?”

“I would speak with your commanding officer,” Bergh said, somewhat insulted that a lieutenant had been sent to speak with him.

“I’m him,” Rooney retorted. “The other officers are dead.”

“I regret to hear that,” Bergh replied. It seemed he was sincere. “What you can do, lieutenant, is vacate your forces from League property and relinquish control of all League assets to me. And, of course, you will hand over all League prisoners that are in your care.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, major.”

“And why is that?”

“I have sick people on board your vessel,” Rooney explained. “Not only that, our orbiting support ship was destroyed by sabotage. The lander is crippled and almost out of power. Your vessel is the only thing that’s keeping us alive.”

“An unfortunate situation,” Bergh said, “but hardly my concern. By law, the vessel belongs to the League. I suggest you vacate it at once or suffer the consequences.”

“What law would that be, major?” Rooney asked. “Sub-Saharan law? International law? Earth Solar System law? I know for a fact there isn’t an interplanetary or intergalactic law. You see, out here…on this planet, I’m the law.”

The soldier to Bergh’s right raised his weapon, training it on Rooney.

“Let me kill this pig!” The man exclaimed.

Bergh held a hand over the muzzle and glanced around.

“Put down your weapon, Uwa,” he ordered. “I doubt the lieutenant came out here unprotected. I am certain we are all dead men if you fire.”

“You must be a veteran, major,” Rooney smiled. “What conflict?”

“Corsica and Ibiza,” Bergh replied.

“I was on Corsica,” Rooney said, proudly. “If I remember right, a Federal States flag still flies there…or…at least it did.”

Bergh sighed and shifted his stance, looking out across the terrain. Rooney knew he was hoping to get a glimpse of how much help he had, but Stone would never let him see him until it was too late.

“I would like to stand here and exchange pleasantries with you, lieutenant,” he finally said. “But I am expected to report in a short time.”

“Then I guess you need to turn around and march your ass on out of here.”

Bergh grimaced and frowned at the lieutenant.

“I suppose we should,” he said between gritted teeth. “What about the prisoners?”

“I think we’ll keep them under guard until we get all this straightened out,” Rooney lied, hoping they wouldn’t try anything if they thought he had hostages.

Bergh was suspicious, cocking his head to one side.

“Is Captain Okonjo in good health?” He asked.

Rooney almost laughed out loud at the pathetic attempt to set a trap for him.

“I don’t know any…Okonjo,” Rooney replied. “But, Captain Kanu is just fine.”

Bergh nodded and smiled.

“Please give the Captain my regards,” he said, and then started to turn around with his

men.

“Before you go, major,” Rooney said with menace, stopping Bergh in his tracks. “I expect you to salute me.”

Bergh glared at him. He took another look around, but saw no one. With all the strength he could muster, the major slowly brought a hand to his forehead and saluted Rooney. He snapped it downward and gave the bombastic lieutenant a wry grin.

“We shall meet again,” he said. “That I promise you. Perhaps, in the near future, you will be saluting me.”

“Don’t count on it,” Rooney said, spitting off to the side.

He watched the men walk away until he was fairly certain it was safe to go back to the ship. Rooney trotted to the rover where Stone met him.

“Did you hear it all?” Rooney asked.

“Yes, sir,” Stone said. “I can’t believe they don’t know this whole crew of theirs is dead.”

“Never assume, sergeant. They haven’t heard from them in a while now. It could be they think we have them, and that would be a good thing. It might make them hold off on a full scale attack. That could buy Trotter enough time to figure out how to cure everybody. If we cut and run, we’re all dead for sure.”

“What do we do now?” Stone asked.

“We stick with the plan, sergeant,” Rooney said, slapping him on the shoulder. “I better report to Rogers, now. He’ll want to know what happened.”

**********

The next day, Rooney was in the bridge, allowing Rogers to get some rest. He had a hot cup of coffee in his hand as he watched the monitors. Hearing a slight noise, Rooney turned around to see Trotter walking in. She took the navigator’s chair and sat down, lighting a cigarette.

“How many of those did you bring?” Rooney asked, grinning.

“Enough,” Trotter said, taking a deep drag.

“Where did you hide them?”

Trotter chuckled, flicking ashes on the floor.

“I smuggled a blueprint of the Astraeus from headquarters,” she explained. “I found a large area in the mess hall bulkhead that could hold two hundred cartons of cigarettes. One day I was able to bring my car inside the base. I bribed one of the guards to help me load them in one of the transport ships. The boxes they were in I had marked as medical supplies and that they were perishable, not to open unless I was there. Anyway, once we got on board, it was just a matter of stuffing them behind the bulkhead wall and sealing them in. While we were coming here, I would sneak in and pull a couple of cartons out when everyone was either asleep or in stasis.”

“You could be shot for all that,” Rooney joked.

“Beats not having cigarettes,” Trotter said, taking another deep drag.

“Well, I know you didn’t come up here for small talk,” Rooney poked. “What is it that you want?”

“I heard Rogers talking about a message left by the captain of this ship. Maybe there’s something he said that could help. Do you mind playing it back for me?”

“Not at all,” Rooney obliged, turning on the navigator’s monitor and feeding the message to her station.

In a few seconds, Kanu’s image appeared on the monitor and he began to speak.

“Captain Kanu of the starship Hope of Johannesburg. It is now our fourth month in this dreadful heat. The dust chokes us daily and makes it hard to breathe. Little rain has fallen and when it does, the wind and dryness licks it up in seconds. Another crewman has vanished, walked off into the night. As with the others, his clothes were left behind. The madness is affecting us all. It is now only I, my first mate, and Dr. Ekpikie. The others are gone. We no longer search for them. The hodmandods are gone, now. It is only by keeping the ship’s doors closed that we convinced them to leave. I pray when the Federal States’ devils arrive, their fate will be worse than ours. We were sent on a doomed mission. This is hell’s planet, and we are its children.

(mumbling followed by ten seconds of silence) The headaches are getting worse. Difficult to concentrate. I will leave this and erase the others. Do not want our findings to fall in the wrong hands. Captain Kanu…signing out.”

“I’ll be damned,” Trotter muttered. “Hodmandods.”

Rooney looked at her with surprise.

“You know what that means?”

“Yeah,” she said, taking another drag. “It’s an old word. We don’t use it anymore, but I guess those in Africa still do.”

“Well?”

“It’s a snail. A hodmandod is a snail. I guess they called them that because of the armor they have and that they move so slow.”

Both sat in silence for a few moments before Trotter spoke up again.

“Strange, though,” she said.

“What?”

“They had the weaponry to kill them off. Yet, they simply closed up the ship until they left. Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know,” Rooney said, having not thought about it. “How long have we been in the dry season?”

Trotter winced with thinking.

“Two months? Maybe three?” She answered, not really knowing. Trotter looked at Rooney. “What are you thinking?”

“Maybe there’s more to the Hyacoms than we know.”

“Seeing as how we know so little about them, that wouldn’t come as any surprise. Have you talked to Brubaker lately?”

“I talk to him every day,” Rooney said. “He’s hanging in there.”

“He’ll be dead in a month, if not sooner,” Trotter guessed.

“Yeah,” Rooney acknowledged. “I guess he will be…if not sooner.”

“Stone on guard duty?” Trotter asked, trying to keep some conversation going.

Rooney looked at her and smiled.

“Something like that.”

Trotter raised her hands in surrender.

“I’ll ask no more questions, lieutenant,” she said, rising from the chair. “Besides, I’ve got work to do.”

“Did Captain Kanu help any?”

“No,” she said. “But he sounded like a nice guy.”

“What about this…Doctor Ekpikie? Did he know what was going on?”

“I looked through his notes,” Trotter confessed. “What I could find of them. He hadn’t even figured out it was parasites. I can only assume he never had a chance to do an autopsy on any of his people. We got lucky.”

“Yeah,” Rooney said with an ironic grin. “I guess we did.” “When do you think our new arrivals will show up again?”

Rooney stared into the monitor.

“It won’t be long,” he said. “The bad news is they probably know what our real strength is. The good news is they also know we’ve had a lot of time to prepare for them. They have experience with Federal States soldiers and would never assume we wouldn’t have a defense network set up. I have a feeling they’ll try to whittle us down some, and then come in for the kill.”

Rooney looked up at Trotter and smiled.

“Don’t worry, doctor,” he said. “I’ll do my job. Everyone else needs you to be concentrating on yours.”

“Understood, lieutenant,” she replied. “Have a good night.”

Trotter left Rooney to monitor the sensors. He watched them with dogged determination, ready to move at the slightest hint of danger. The hours moved by slowly as he looked at his watch, waiting for Stone to return. His thoughts moved to Earth and the knowledge that they could never go back. A main hope of his was that Trotter could find a cure and save the others, especially Leslie. If there were to be another Adam and Eve, he wanted them to be part of it.

Rooney didn’t blame her for the original thoughts she had and for not wanting to be involved.

Exploring Ajax Strata Prime was to be the ultimate experience for her. There was too much to do for her to be burdened with a relationship. Now that things had turned badly, however, and this planet could not sustain them, the tables had turned on her thinking. It was almost imperative for her to think about allies, comradeship, and committed relations. He was glad she had come to him and mended fences. All that had to happen now was for her to be cured. The only thing he could do was hope.

It was near dawn when he saw a blip on the eastward monitor. It was their rover and Stone was finally returning. Rooney left the bridge and walked to the decontamination hatch, waiting for the sergeant to come inside. After greeting him, the two men walked to their hastily assembled security station so they could talk in private. Rooney sent BOB-1 to watch the monitors and told him to report if humans were detected. Stone sat down in a chair while Rooney made them both a cup of coffee. Once that was done, they got down to business.

“Where are they?” Rooney asked.

“Just over twenty clicks to the east,” Stone answered. “They got some firepower, lieutenant. I counted twenty-four regulars, but I think there’s more in the ship. It looks just like this one, but a little bigger. I think the size is due to the number of personnel and the amount of supplies they brought with them.”

“Any mechanized cavalry?”

“Only rovers, lieutenant,” Stone said, taking a drink of the coffee. “They have five. Plus, they’re equipped with dual Dankos. They have four plasma rifles set at each corner of the ship but there isn’t anyone manning them. I think they have them set up for remote operations. My guess is they have a tech inside…maybe two.”

The soldiers sat in silence for a few moments and enjoyed the coffee.

“I picked up the trail of the first three that came to see us,” Stone offered. “They came in on a rover and parked it about a mile away. I saw their tracks coming to us and leaving. The rover tracks backed up and returned to their ship.”

“Any chance you were seen?”

“Not while I was there,” Stone remarked. “Everything’s so damned dusty around here I couldn’t cover my tracks, so I’m sure they’ll notice they had a visitor before long. There isn’t much they can do about it now.”

“You put out the remote sensors like I asked you?”

“Yes, sir,” Stone said. “That’s why it took me so long to get back. They’re set for humans, only. If they get within a mile of us, we’ll know it.”

“Good man,” Rooney said, patting him on the back. “Get some rest. Keep the Danko close to you.”

“I will,” Stone replied, and left the room.

**********

Early the next morning Rooney, Flores and Richardson left the ship to gather more samples for Trotter. As the men departed, they noticed the Hyacoms were gathering in greater numbers. They were keeping their distance for the time being, but others could be seen moving in.

The wind had picked up again and the sand was swirling as it migrated through the valley. Dust devils were numerous, creating an almost hypnotic dance as they moved like silk across the ground.

Richardson acted like he didn’t want to go on this mission, but Rogers and Rooney insisted. The lieutenant had his suspicions about Delmar and wanted to keep him close. The scientist wanted to be issued a weapon, but Rooney just shook his head. He would be the only one armed.

The three men took off in a rover just after sunrise. Their destination was a section of forest that hadn’t been explored yet. About a mile from the ship they saw a herd of Hyacoms in a clearing, numbering about fifty. A flock of large birds landed among them and they began to feast on the hapless creatures. It reminded Rooney of watching people pull corn. The ears hung on the stalks for the picking, just like the birds stood stock still to be eaten.

It took over half an hour to reach the designated coordinates and the men dismounted the rover. The trees were well spaced and there was little ground coverage in the way of bushes and grass. It was hazy from the dust and a light fog settled waist high as Flores and Richardson chose what samples they needed. Rooney kept his eye out for Hyacoms or anything else that might pose a danger to the team. The Danko was at the ready and fully loaded.

The men walked over a slight rise and saw a beautiful lake spread out before them. Only the group of Hyacoms wading just off the bank spoiled the view. The creatures looked at them and quickly determined they weren’t ‘ready’ and went about their business. Rooney watched them closely while Flores and Richardson continued to gather samples.

The Hyacoms walked on down the edge of the bank, creating more distance between them and the men. When he figured they were far enough away not to pose an immediate threat, Rooney turned around and saw that Richardson and Flores had separated. They were more than a hundred yards apart and moving away.

Shit, Rooney thought, unable to actually say it due to the RFM.

The lieutenant trotted to where Flores was, caring more about him than Delmar. When he reached his position, he found Geraldo holding his head in one hand and leaning against a tree.

Rooney took Flores’ chin in a hand and lifted up his head. The man’s eyes were black and bloodshot and his forehead was dripping with sweat. Rooney pointed in the direction of the rover and pushed him, forcing him to walk ahead. He looked around and couldn’t see Richardson. As they walked along, Flores started an attempt at removing his clothing. Rooney tried to stop him, but the man struggled, speaking incoherently. He laid down the weapon and took Flores to the ground, rolling him over on his stomach. Rooney was prepared for such an occurrence, removing a pair of cuffs from his duty belt. He was about to secure Flores’ hands when he heard a noise behind him. He looked up and saw Richardson standing there.

“Time’s up,” he said, kicking out and striking Rooney on the side of his head.

The impact of Richardson’s boot propelled the lieutenant off of Flores, almost flipping him in a somersault. Instant cobwebs erupted in the soldier’s head, but he quickly came to one knee and shook it off. He glared at Richardson with surprise as the man rushed toward him.

Rooney rolled to one side and scrambled for the Danko, looking to make a quick end to the traitor among them. He managed to reach it just in time to bring it to bear on his attacker, but

Richardson grabbed the muzzle and yanked it from Rooney’s grip, throwing it several feet away.

“Oh, no,” Delmar said, smiling wickedly. “We’re going to do this my way.”

Rooney jumped to his feet, striking a martial arts pose. His confidence was high, even though Richardson had just shown remarkable strength at pulling the gun out of his hands. As far as Rooney was concerned, this was a spy and not a soldier. He was a common saboteur and not a fighting man. Even without his weapon, Rooney considered this to be a low-level training exercise.

The lieutenant struck out with a quick snap kick, followed by several punches as he advanced. To his amazement, Richardson countered each attempted blow with precision, giving ground as he allowed Rooney to attack. The soldier backed off a few feet, his eyes wide with wonder.

“What’s the matter, boy?” Richardson chided. “Did you think this was going to be

easy?”

The derogatory term infuriated Rooney and he lunged forward with another vicious barrage of kicks and fists. The flurry was masterfully met by Richardson, blocking each attempt that Rooney made to inflict harm on him. Suddenly, the scientist went to the offensive and landed a solid blow across Rooney’s jaw, sending the RFM flying from his face. Richardson’s knuckles felt like steel and the lieutenant flew backward, landing with a thud on the ground. A searing pain ran along his jawline as he saw that Richardson was coming in for more.

Rooney let him get close and then scissored his legs around Delmar’s ankles. With all the strength he could muster, Rooney twisted his hips to one side and brought the man crashing to the ground. He took the opportunity to crawl away as fast as he could to have the chance at regaining his footing. When he did, it was just in time to meet Richardson’s second attack.

This time, it was Rooney deflecting blows that were coming in at incredible speed. Even with his training and experience, he had never been challenged like this before. He was unable to keep up with the man’s attack and finally, another strike caught him on the right cheekbone that felled him to the ground once more. He was bleeding badly from a large gash where he had been hit.

Rooney was stunned and tried to crawl away again, but Richardson took him by an ankle and dragged him back. He looked upward as he was being dragged on his stomach to see Flores naked and walking to the Hyacoms at the lake below. The man was beyond thinking of anything else but to be near the creatures and certain death. Richardson let go of Rooney’s foot and stood over him.

“Get up,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this a long time.”

Rooney feigned an attempt to rise and swiftly kicked outward, the instep of his boot landing solidly to Richardson’s crotch. The scientist only stood there, grinning.

“Wrong again,” he hissed.

Richardson grabbed Rooney by his combat shirt and effortlessly lifted him up, administering a devastating head butt to the soldier’s nose and forehead. The lieutenant went limp in his hands and Delmar rudely threw him to the ground, unconscious. Rooney’s nose was pouring blood, causing him to choke as it not only flowed outward, but also down his throat.

Delmar took a few steps to watch Flores, smiling the whole time.

“That’s right, Geraldo!” He exclaimed. “Go to them! They want to meet you and be your friend!”

Richardson laughed out loud as Geraldo started to run toward them. The Hyacoms slowly came out of the water to meet him. The moment he got within striking distance, the beasts started to tear him to shreds. His cries lasted only seconds and then, he was dead. Delmar walked back to Rooney and squatted beside him. He lifted him on his side to stop the man from choking to death.

“No, no, no,” he whispered. “Not like that. You’re not going to die like that. I want you to see your death coming. Our friends over there will soon discover that you’re helpless. That’s when they will come for you, and not you to them. The difference will be that you won’t want it like the others. You’ll be screaming before their jaws clamp down on your flesh. Screaming for mercy, you will. Screaming for help…but none will come. Everyone will think you’re already dead.”

Richardson pulled him over to a tree and propped him against the trunk. He took the cuffs that Rooney was going to use on Flores and applied them to the lieutenant’s wrists. Richardson walked back to the rover and retrieved a length of rope. When he returned, he lifted Rooney to his feet and began to wrap him tightly to the tree, locking his knees and chest into place. He ran part of the rope through his arms and around the trunk, further fastening the man’s hands so he couldn’t possibly get free once Delmar left him there. He inspected his work and was satisfied that Rooney would be unable to escape. He took a canteen and splashed water in Rooney’s face, bringing him around.

“Well, lieutenant,” he said, looking at Rooney’s crossed eyes. “I guess this is goodbye. Your sergeant shouldn’t be much trouble. After I dispose of him, the rest will go rather quietly.”

Rooney got some of his vision and senses back. Richardson’s face was still blurry, but he was able to speak.

“That’s why they haven’t attacked,” he mumbled. “Waiting for you…to finish us.”

“Very astute, lieutenant,” Delmar mused. “You’re not just muscle after all. Why should

our soldiers walk in to a waiting trap when we had one of our own? Of course, we have more than enough for the two of you…but why give you the satisfaction?”

“What now?”

“What now?” Delmar chuckled. “Now you die, lieutenant.”

Richardson glanced over at the Hyacoms as they licked Flores’ remains from the bank of the lake.

“I’ve really gotten attached to our friends down there,” he said. “They’re like pets. It won’t be long until they realize that you’re completely helpless. They’ll wander up here and sniff around, then eventually eat you. Ah, how I wish I could stay and watch. But, I have to get back to the ship and tell the others what happened.”

“Stone’s going to kill you,” Rooney said.

“Is he now? I doubt that. It’s a terrible thing that happened. The Sub-Saharan soldiers ambushed us, killing you and Flores. I was the lucky one and escaped to tell the tale. Before they get over their grief, BOB-1 will destroy the ship and everyone on board.”

Rooney somehow managed a smile and shook his head.

“BOB-1 will deactivate before he does anything you tell him,” he said.

“Oh, I don’t think so. You see, I discovered your little trick after what happened with BOB-2. I’m an expert programmer and robotics man. You might say that I have an innate ability with those kinds of things.”

“You’re no scientist,” Rooney said, his full range of senses now returned. “You’re a soldier…aren’t you?”

“Oh my, no,” Delmar said, shaking his head. “I’m not a soldier. I’m better than a soldier. That’s why they left this final work up to me.”

Richardson patted Rooney on his bloody cheek, sending a sharp pain up into his eyes.

“Your pathetic Federal States,” he mused. “So sophisticated. So intelligent. So up-to-date. We were so far ahead of your technology you thought you were ahead. What a surprise to see the Hope of Johannesburg vessel. To discover her propulsion and other technologies. It was hard to fathom. Eh, boy? And, it didn’t end there. You should see the technology of your death, that’s staring you in the face. You think I’m Delmar Richardson?” He cocked his head to one side, waiting for an answer. Rooney just stared at him with hatred. “No, I don’t think you do. After what just happened to you. After what I just did to you.”

“How?” Rooney asked. “The stasis chamber. How?”

“How?” Richardson mocked. “If you remember, Davis was the stasis expert. He was in charge of that. He simply made sure the intravenous implants didn’t operate on me and interrupt my systems, or sound an alarm that something was wrong. We’ve been in your back pocket all along. What a failure you are. Security? You never had any.”

“Are you going to kill them all?”

“Well, my boy,” he said, cheerfully ignoring the question. “I must be off to report your untimely death. If I’m too late getting back, they’ll send out a search party. I wouldn’t want them to find you in the nick of time.”

“You aren’t going to win,” Rooney shot back.

Richardson turned around and smiled.

“I already have,” he replied. “You’re just too stupid to know it.”

“Who are you?” Rooney asked, wondering how such a person could best him in a fair

fight.

“Wrong question, son,” Delmar remarked, walking away. “It should be, What am I?”

Rooney winced at the remark, trying to understand what he meant.