Floxham Island ~ Sinclair V-Log AZ267/M (16 page)

“You’ve found
your new vocation Sam,” Dex remarked.

“I don’t want
to be doing that again too soon,” I laughed.

“Hey is it a
boy or a girl?” Luggs asked.

“It’s a
girl.”

“Then,” Luggs
began as he raised his right hand dramatically and placed his left
on his chest, “by the power vested in me I hereby name this child
Floxy.” We all thought that was a great name so we drank a toast to
welcome Floxy to the family. Hearing my name called, I turned and
saw Baz sitting at a desk at the other end of the lab so I strolled
over and saw he was reading something on a digital console.

“Found
something interesting Baz?” I asked and he looked up at me and
nodded.

“Yes actually I
have. This is a journal kept by one of the scientists who worked
here. A Doctor Sulleman his name is, I mean was. He talks about the
hairy guys a lot.”

“He does?”

“Yeah. Here,
take a seat and listen to this.”

It seemed that
when Floxham Island prison was being built, they noticed the hairy
guys hanging around nearby. They didn’t seem scared by the
invaders, nor did they show aggression and in fact there was a
report of one of them saving the life of a workman who was attacked
by one of the hunchbacked creatures. After that incident, the
workmen started cultivating their friendship and pretty soon, they
were acting as bodyguards for the men who were building the island.
Once the building was finished and the workforce took up residence,
they were allowed the run of the island in return for doing some
basic manual labour from time to time.

After a couple
of years the hairy guys started to die off rapidly and the island’s
scientists were baffled as to why. Not until there was just a
handful left did they discover that the immigrant workforce had
passed on their own pathogens to them, against which they had no
immunity. The scientists immunised the remaining handful to save
them from extinction and encouraged them onto the island as much as
they could so they could be monitored more closely.

Over the years
it became apparent that the hairy guy’s gene pool was far too small
and the offspring that survived birth were often deformed and died
pretty soon after. Doctor Sulleman added fresh DNA to the hairy
guy’s gene pool by replacing some sections of their genetic code
with fresh humanoid DNA. It should’ve worked but with the hairy
guy’s numbers already being so low, there wasn’t enough time to
perfect the process and raise the numbers. The last entry Doctor
Sulleman made before the island crashed stated that in his opinion,
the ones he had named Adam and Eve were the last mated pair of
their kind along with another single male he had named Omega. The
doctor built up quite a close relationship with them and tried his
best to keep them healthy by administering to any of their medical
needs and they came to trust him by coming to him when they felt
they need his expertise. He delivered two offspring for Adam and
Eve which were both stillborn and he feared they were never to
become parents.

“Well Doc,” I
said aloud, “you have a new grand daughter now named Floxy and
she’s healthy and beautiful.” Suddenly our attention was drawn to a
noise in the far corner and we all turned and watched as the big
hairy guy who I now knew was named Adam, held his newborn in his
arms and crooned to her softly in eerily undulating tones that made
the hairs on my arms stand up. We were transfixed and watched and
listened in silence for many minutes, no one wishing to break the
spell.

After several
minutes I tiptoed back over to the guys and told them what Baz and
I read from Doctor Sulleman’s log entries. By the time I’d
finished, Luggs was in tears and Dex teased him mercilessly.

“You’re an old
woman Luggs, you know that buddy?”

“You unfeeling
bastard Dex,” he countered and we all laughed till our sides
ached.

It was morning
so we decided it wouldn’t hurt to go and see if it would be
possible to get the laser net up and running again. We got
ourselves ready and began shifting the barricade from the lab door.
As we were about to leave I heard a noise behind me and turned to
see the hairy guy Adam standing at the far corner with his newborn
in his arms. He grunted at me softly, before looking down at the
baby with what I can only describe as love. He then looked back up
at me and grunted softly again. I was moved and struggled to
contain my emotions.

“You’re welcome
big guy,” I smiled. “She’s beautiful. We’ll be back in a little
while okay? Just sit tight.” All was silent as I turned back to
find eleven faces staring at me with raised eyebrows and although I
tried hard not to, I blushed to the roots of my hair. “What?” I
demanded, trying to sound off hand but these guys weren’t fooled
and they all started to laugh.

We moved the
barricade just enough to allow us to slip out so that the hairy guy
could replace it if he needed to. We stole through to the reception
area and checked the offices but found nothing sinister. We readied
our laser rifles and I reached out and removed the brooms which
were still firmly wedged against the main entrance door. There was
no backing out now so I shot a look at Luggs and raised my eyebrows
as I made a dramatic show of showing him each of the brooms and he
was almost pissing his pants laughing.

“Everyone
ready? I asked. Grunts and nods replied immediately so I opened the
door a crack and peered outside into the bright sunlight. Two
hunchbacks were sitting down a hundred yards away and resembled two
elderly men passing the time of day.

“There are two
hunchbacks a hundred yards away at two o clock,” I said and Luggs,
Dex and Baz stepped forward and nodded. We readied our rifles and I
yanked open the door. The two hunchbacks were dead quickly and we
formed a tight bunch while we checked all around three hundred and
sixty degrees. All seemed quiet and I was just about to sigh with
relief when Grelly called from the back of our circle.

“Okay we got
company back here guys.” We all turned to see a group of four of
the bald bloated things eyeing us up and down. Just as one tensed
to leap, we opened fire and the first two died in mid flight. The
third’s head exploded where it stood and the fourth turned and
ran.

“Keep tight
guys,” Flark yelled and I felt bodies hunch up to my sides as we
reformed the circle. We remained there for a couple of minutes just
looking and listening for any sounds but none came.

“Okay, let’s
get going shall we?” I suggested. “Keep your eyes and ears open
though. Which way do we go? Anyone remember the way from the
map?”

“It’s a couple
of hundred yards that way,” Cap replied and pointed to my left. We
all looked across the open area of ground. The recreation centre
was to our right and the smell of rotting flesh was strong in the
rapidly increasing sun.

“Okay, no
problem at all,” I hissed as I took a deep breath and shouldered my
laser rifle. We all felt very vulnerable out here in the open and
we were all scared but I wasn’t about to admit it to the guys just
yet and would happily stay behind and carry on delivering babies to
the hairy guys any day, rather than face the creatures out there.
We set off briskly in the direction of the Antenna controls; the
occasional roars and howls chilling me to the marrow.

Half way there
Stitch called out. “Oh my god guys, look.” We stopped dead and
turned to look at him. He was looking to our left, towards the edge
of the area of ground upon which the Island is built. At first I
couldn’t see anything untoward but then I heard a couple of the
guys gasp and Luggs swore.

“What?” My
heartbeat quickened as the adrenaline coursed through my veins and
panic rose in my chest. “What the fuck is it?”

“Look Sam,”
Stitch said, his voice now an octave higher than it was a minute
ago. “Right down on the ground at the edge of the trench, over
there.” He pointed and I looked and at first saw nothing but
shadows. Then all at once I realised what those shadows were and I
almost lost control of my bowels.

“Holy shit on a
stick,” Luggs whispered and I realised that for the first time
since I met him, he was scared and couldn’t hide it.

“Oh my good
god,” Dex said as he wiped a hand across his face and hoisted the
Incendipulse gun he was carrying.

“What the fuck
is that?” Bud asked as he took a step forward to try to get a
better look. Cap pulled him back quickly and yelled for the other
two incendipulse guns. Grelly and Luggs hoisted the big flame guns
and stepped forward. The black roiling tide of insects poured over
the edge of the trench and flowed towards us like an oily river and
we stood there, rooted to the spot and unable to look away. This
was the stuff nightmares are made of and all those silly vidicoms
of folks being eaten alive by millions of insects came swarming
back into my mind uninvited.

“Now,” Dex
yelled and all three opened fire with the Incendipulse guns. A ball
of energy shot out of each one and hit the ground right in amongst
the black roiling tide. The smell of these weapons is very
distinctive and it filled our lungs and made us all gag and cough.
As the energy bolts hit, they exploded with the heat of a volcano
and everything for several metres around was instantly vapourised.
The black tide continued to pour over the edge towards us in a
seemingly unending tsunami and time and again the three guys opened
fire and incinerated them by the tens of millions. I was just
beginning to wonder if we would ever see the end of this tide of
insects when the flow pouring up over the edge of the trench
rapidly diminished and with two more shots from the Incendipulse
guns and it was all over.

We stood,
shaking with the adrenaline still coursing through our bodies.
After what seemed like several minutes but was probably just a few
seconds, I became aware of what sounded like a cough behind me and
I turned to see Boy, crying. His hands were grasping at his crotch
and I noticed the fresh wet stain down the front of his pants that
told us all he’d pissed himself in fright.

“Hey man it’s
okay now,” Baz said as he went to him and put a hand on his
shoulder, “they’re gone.”

“I’ve never
been so shit scared in all my life,” Dex admitted as much for Boy’s
benefit as anything else and we all made sure to heartily
agree.

“I’m sorry
guys,” Boy sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “I’ve always
been terrified of bugs since I found a huge Tagnoran Beetle in my
bed when I was a kid.”

“Hey don’t
apologise,” I said. “Back home on Sigma Prime we have this enormous
bug called a Catmalone Mantis. They’re about a foot long with long
pincers that can slice through to your bone without a care in the
world and they give me the heeby jeebies and I’m happy to admit it
to anyone.”

“I got bit by
one of those once,” Cap said with a grin. “I went to Sigma once for
a holiday and saw one crawling across the verandah to our house.
Bugs have never bothered me so I went to have a closer look and
picked it up.”

“What?” I
hissed with disbelief. “You picked the thing up? You’re an idiot,
man.”

“Well yeah I
know that now Sam,” he laughed. “Man did that hurt. It bit right
through the bone on my finger, look.” He grinned and held up his
finger to show us the inch long scar.

I went cold as
the image of what must’ve happened went through my mind. “Yikes,” I
said as I visibly shivered.

“Okay guys
let’s get on with it huh?” Flark suggested.

We raced the
last hundred yards or so and found the small hut that contained the
hatchway that led down to the antenna control box. The antenna
itself was intact but bent at an awkward angle. We all stood
looking up at it and I motioned for Hank to come and take a closer
look.

“Hank, look.
What do you think? Is it repairable?”

He gazed up and
scratched his head and then nodded. “Yeah, I would say so.”

“Okay buddy,
you’re in charge. Tell us what to do.”

“Right ahh,
well we ahh.”

“C’mon Hank,”
Dex hissed, “don’t flake on us now okay?” Silently I gestured to
Dex to calm down. The last thing we needed was to intimidate Hank
into forgetting what needed to be done.

“Take your time
Hank,” I soothed. “We’re all here for ya buddy. You tell us what
you need and we’ll do exactly as you say. This is what you do. It’s
your bag, you can do this.” He nodded and paced up and down
scratching his chin and muttering to himself. Finally he looked
back up at the antenna and then back at me.

“Okay. We need
something to brace the antenna with. It’s just like splinting a
broken leg in theory. Get it straight again and then I can get the
mag receiver and generator nipple realigned. Then it should
automatically begin working again.”

“Okay guys,” I
ordered, “we need something to splint the antenna with. Something
stiff and strong. Let’s take a look around and see what we can find
huh? Necessity is the mother of invention so use your initiative.
Oh, and three guys stay here with Hank and keep guard okay and yell
if anything comes this way.” We set off and scouted the area and
returned after twenty minutes or so empty handed. “It’s no use
Hank,” I said. “There’s nothing around that’s strong enough or
stiff enough to hold it so it won’t move. We need to move to plan
B.”

“Plan B?” he
exclaimed wide eyed.

“Yeah, plan B,”
I nodded.

“Okay ahh,” he
began pacing again. “Ahh right then. If we can’t fix the one we
have then we need a new one. Yeah that’s it, we need a new one. A
new antenna will do it.”

“Where the fuck
do we get one of those?” Flark shrugged.

“Anything will
do,” Hank replied. “So long as it’s fairly tall and straight.” This
wasn’t going as well as I hoped and I was beginning to despair when
I happened to glance to my right in the direction of the shuttle
landing pad. What I saw made me smile.