Nemesis 1: Revenge Is Best Served Hot (8 page)

• • •

Cinny and Grant listened to Iggy and Slick argue about the plan they had developed to take them to the Raider planet. “I am not going to leave my children here to be devoured by the ants!”

Iggy snorted, “It’s not like you can’t have more on this planet we’re going to.”

“I don’t care, I won’t allow any of them to be placed in mortal danger.”

Cinny raised a hand and said, “Uhhh…excuse me.” Iggy and Slick looked at her and she said, “Are they not going to be in danger on the planet you’re going to attack?”

Slick stared at Cinny and could only raise his two front legs in disgust and turn his back on her. Grant said, “We’re going to place a force field around your offspring to keep the ants off them.”

“You don’t know those creatures. They’ll burrow under it and eat them. You can’t tell me the force field will extend far underground.” The Spider looked at Iggy, “The only reason you’re willing to do this is because the force field will protect your children.”

Grant stared at Slick and sighed, “I can’t risk sending the only one we have to use against the Raiders into an unknown situation. I need some insurance that if the worst happens, there will be one of your children to take your place.”

Iggy snorted, “Just take one of his children with you. The coward can stay here.”

Slick went up on his legs and turned bright blue. Cinny yelled, “Back off a minute. There has to be a way to make this work.”

Grant looked at the angry spider and rubbed his chin with his hand. After a moment he looked at Slick, “Why haven’t the ants attacked you here?”

Slick was shocked by the question and his color returned to silver. After a moment he went down on his legs and said, “I don’t really know. They have this area surrounded but they refuse to enter it.”

Iggy looked at Slick, “You know, I’ve wondered why they haven’t just walked up and made a meal out of you.”

Cinny said, “Don’t you think any offspring you leave here will be just as safe as you’ve been?”

“That’s something I have no way of knowing.”

Grant stared at the two giant creatures and said, “Well, let’s go see if we can find out.”

Iggy said, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take a look at them and see if I can understand the dynamics of what’s going on.”

Iggy shook his massive head, “I don’t know if I’d do that.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve seen those critters strip a huge animal bare in less time than you can imagine.”

“What was the creature doing at the time it happened?”

“It had wandered into this area.”

Grant stood up and looked at Slick, “Where are they?”

Cinny looked at Grant, “Perhaps you should listen to them.”

Grant looked at Cinny and repeated, “Where are they?”

Iggy snorted, “They have the area around this lagoon surrounded. Just start walking into the forest and you’ll find them.”

“Grant, don’t do this!”

“Cinny, relax. These creatures are not acting normal. We need to see what’s going on.” Grant stood up and turned toward the forest. A few moments later, Cinny jumped up and followed him.

Iggy watched them walk away and after a moment came out of the water and followed them. He looked at Slick, “Well, aren’t you coming?”

“Are you crazy?”

Iggy continued behind the two humans and Slick was left behind going up and down on his long legs. “This is asinine!” He scrambled after Iggy but stayed twenty yards behind him.

• • •

Grant walked three hundred yards into the forest and stepped through a row of trees and heard a loud rustling noise. He looked in front of him and saw them. The area in front of him was covered in ants that were over a foot long and there appeared to be millions of them. They extended to the left and right as far as he could see and they were moving over the ground and bunching up in front of him. The stack of ants grew to more than ten feet off the ground and appeared to be growing. The stack grew in both directions as millions of ants came rushing forward. Cinny arrived beside Grant and said, “Oh my God!”

Grant looked at the ants and said, “Does this mean I can go no further?”

Cinny looked at Grant, “What are you doing?”

Grant stared at the growing wall of ants and said, “These creatures also lived on Earth. How did they get here?” Suddenly, the wall collapsed and a corridor appeared through their ranks. Grant looked at Cinny, “I guess we’re going to find out.” The corridor cleared in front of them as the huge army scrambled out of their path. Suddenly, more than a thousand of them moved into the center of the cleared path and seemed to move into some kind of formation. Grant stared at it and in a moment it resolved into a giant arrow pointing into the forest ahead of them. Grant shook his head and yelled, “May I bring my two friends with me?”

Slick said to Iggy, “He’s crazy if he thinks I’m going out there.”

The ants began moving and the corridor widened more than thirty yards on each side. Grant looked at Iggy, “Come on. We can ride you where they want us to go.”

“This is crazy. They could close in on us and we’d be dead in less time than you can imagine.”

“Not really, Iggy. Your hide is too tough for them to bite through.” Grant pressed his left index finger under his right ear and said, “Ana, could you cover us in a force field if they move in on us?”

“Yes.”

“How long would it take for you to do it?”

“Less than a second.”

“Keep us on your scanners and cover us if they make an aggressive move.”

“Scanners are locked on you.”

Grant looked at Iggy, “Well?” Iggy walked forward and extended a leg lifting Grant and Cinny to his back. He looked over his shoulder at Slick and said, “Come on you big baby!”

Slick was going up and down on his legs so fast he appeared to be a blur. He turned two circles and then ran forward and leaped on the middle of Iggy’s broad back, “I know I’m going to regret this.”

Iggy said, “What now?”

Grant looked at the huge arrow in the center of the corridor and it began moving away from them. “Follow the arrow.” Iggy took a deep breath and moved forward.

• • •

Ants moved in on each side of the wide path but didn’t move closer. The arrow led them deeper into the forest and after two hours they saw the forest starting to thin out. Grant looked ahead and saw a huge mountain ahead of them that had been blocked from view by the tall trees. They exited the forest and moved directly at it. Iggy said, “That high hill appears to be alive.”

Grant and Cinny focused on it and saw it was covered with ants. Grant whistled, “This must be their nest.” Cinny could only nod. The size of it was incredible. The arrow finally arrived at the base of the hill and melted into the millions of ants covering it. The ants following them closed in behind them but came no closer than a hundred yards. Grant looked at the huge mound and yelled, “What now?”

The ants on the mound in front of them began clicking their mandibles. Initially it sounded like a loud mating call but after a moment it started changing tone. The clicking took on a multi-tone and words could be heard. “I’ve been wondering how long it was going to take you to get here.”

Grant stared at the mound and said, “Who are you?”

“I am the mother of all those you see around you.”

Grant looked around and looked back at the mound, “You were brought here from Earth.”

“I was.”

“Why?”

“There was no natural creature to control the birthrate of the eight legged creature with you. I was brought here to insure it did not overpopulate this planet. This place was given to me to be my home and if it was left uncontrolled, this planet would be barren very quickly.” Slick heard the voice and began turning blue. “Tell it to return to its silver color or I will have my children attack it.”

Grant looked at Slick, “Calm down!” Slick looked at the millions of ants around them and his color shifted back to silver. Grant turned back to the mound, “I am here to take them to attack the ones that killed our home world.”

“And you need to leave one behind to make sure you don’t lose them in the fight.”

Cinny shook her head, “How could you possibly know that?”

“I was also genetically changed by those that brought me here. I’ve been programmed to assist you in your plans but I will not put my home at risk to do it.”

“That’s why you haven’t attacked my friends.”

“It is. I was made to keep them in the area they’ve been living.”

“If I take them with me, will you allow them to continue to live there?”

“Yes, but they may not hatch numerous offspring.”

“How many will you allow them to hatch?”

“I can’t control what happens to the larger of the two but the eight legged being may hatch six and no more.”

Grant saw Slick’s fear and he said, “Will you allow them to move around the forest?”

“As long as there are no more than six, they will be given freedom inside my area of control. They will not be allowed to move outside that area. If more than six are hatched, we will enter the protected area and remove them.”

Grant nodded and said, “We will respect your rules and thank you for allowing us to use your home.”

“I expect you to make those that killed our species on our home world to pay for their atrocity.”

Grant heard Iggy snort, “That is our intention. With your permission, we will return to the place you’ve set aside for us.”

The ants surrounding them moved away and the giant arrow reappeared behind them. Iggy waited for enough room and then turned around and began following the arrow. Cinny looked at Grant, “How did you know?”

“I didn’t know for sure. I just know they were also a creation from Earth. There had to be a reason they were put here.”

Slick said, “They were put here to hurt me.”

Iggy snorted again, “You should feel good that the ones that created us thought it would take this many to control you.”

Slick was silent for a moment and then started glowing, “You’re right. I didn’t consider that. I guess I’m more dangerous than I thought.”

Iggy shook his head, “His body is going to swell three times its size.”

Grant and Cinny saw what a happy spider looked like and watched as Iggy carried them back into the forest. They didn’t see any ants on their trip back.

• • •

Grant climbed off Iggy and caught Cinny as she slid down his side. Slick jumped to the ground and Grant said, “Are you now satisfied that your offspring will be safe here?”

“How do I know I can trust them to keep their word?”

Iggy closed his eyes and opened them, “You idiot. If they wanted to they could have eaten you at that mound.” Iggy turned to Grant, “How do I protect my hatchling?”

“We can put a portable projector to place a force field in the lagoon that would keep out the fish that would prey on them. You would have to remove those that are inside it.”

Iggy actually smiled, “That would not be an issue. I’ll need the small fish to feed him.”

Slick looked at Iggy, “How do you know it will be a male?”

“Weren’t you listening? All of our offspring will be clones of us.”

“Oh yeah; I forgot that.”

Grant touched behind his ear, “Whippet, will you bring a portable force field projector down to us?”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Grant.”

Grant looked at Cinny and said, “Why is that?”

“Because I am not a creature that evolved on your planet.”

Grant looked at Iggy and Slick, “I have a member of my crew that isn’t human. You won’t attack him if he comes here would you?”

Iggy shook his head and Slick said, “No. Bring him down.”

“Bring it down, Whippet.”

• • •

Grant watched the sky and he saw the scooter moving toward them. He noticed it had the force field enabled and stayed above the trees when it arrived. Iggy and Slick saw the scooter above the trees and Iggy roared and went to his back legs and leaped at it. Slick turned blue and spit a fire ball at it. Grant yelled, “CALM DOWN!! HE’S ONE OF US!!”

Whippet’s scooter was pushed away from Iggy’s jaws and he kept it several hundred feet above the ground. Grant saw the two giants moving around under the scooter and knew they were lost to their anger. Grant yelled, “SHRINK YOURSELVES, NOW!!”

Iggy looked at Grant and suddenly shrunk to three feet. Slick was still blue but he shrunk to his smallest size. They immediately lost their aggression. They moved away from Whippet and hid behind a tree trunk.

Grant looked up at Whippet and said, “Come down here but be ready to hit your thrusters.”

Cinny grabbed Grant’s arm, “Why are you doing this?”

“How are we going to transport them if they attack Whippet on sight?” Cinny’s eyes went wide and she nodded. Whippet stayed high above. Grant said, “Get down here!” He walked over to where Iggy and Slick were hiding and said, “I need the two of you to stay your current size. Can you do that for me?”

Iggy said, “I want to kill that creature up there.”

“I know. You’ve been programmed to do it but he is one of our friends. The only way for us to work together is for the two of you to agree to remain small whenever you’re around him.”

Iggy was breathing hard but forced himself to calm down. After a moment, Slick calmed down as well. Whippet watched them closely and slowly lowered the scooter. He placed the force field projector on the ground and stayed on the scooter with his hand on the thruster control. Cinny looked at Iggy, “Come over here and do not change your size.” Iggy snorted but did as she asked. The small lizard moved up next to the scooter and Cinny said, “Whippet, be ready to hit the thrusters but I want you to reach down and touch Iggy’s head.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Do it!”

Grant put his hand on Iggy’s back as Whippet reached down and touched Iggy’s jaw. “Keep your hand there.” Whippet did as he was told and after several minutes Iggy said, “I’m alright now. He’s safe.”

“Get over here, Slick.” The Spider walked over and repeated the process. Iggy said, “What happened?”

“It appears the ones that created you put an aversion to all life that isn’t from Earth. You are going to have to learn to control your aggression or you will attack and not quit even when you should. You’re going to have to keep your rage under control or you’re going to put yourself in some dangerous situations. There are times when you’ll need to run.”