Little Island Tales - Part 7

    The children spent a good twenty minutes staring at the boot-print in the sand. While there had been some initial awe over the size of the clawmark from the aka-akua that the print rested within, they quickly abandoned it in favor of, what they considered, a greater myster. Trying to figure out who had made the boot-prints, where they were going, and where they had come from.
    Ka'lani had seen aka-akua tracks before and Diego and Tamah simply accepted their clawmarks as just being 'one of those things'. Monsters were real. They knew it and they knew they'd be back in a month anyway if they really wanted to examine the things.
    The oddity was in some unknown person being on their island.
    Initially, there was some fascination as to why this stranger was going to the mountains. After all, they knew it had to be a stranger. The tracks weren't coming from the village, they were coming from the beach front. And, while they had passed nearby the village...well...near the fireline anyway; there was no sign they'd ever entered it. Just passed on by, moving smoothly in and out the clawed out holes that the aka-akua had left from the night prior. However, they quickly abandoned that train of thought in favor of the more obvious.
    So the question began: how'd they come from the beach?
    While boats were uncommon they were hardly unheard of. The village fishermen had a 'fleet' of a half dozen little two man boats that they would paddle out in order to set traps or fish the reef. The only real rule was that they didn't go further than than the reef and they needed to get back before the sun set.
    Diego wasn't sure about that last rule, but felt it undoubtedly had to do with the aka-akua. He'd always thought that maybe they hid in the dark at the bottom of the sea when the moon was out. It's not like any of them truly knew where the shadow demons hid or even if they existed outside of the darkness of night.
    But there was no boat. There was no sign of how or where the booted person had come from. It was like they had simply walked out of the surf and onto dry land. Like the ocean had just spit them out.
    The trio had followed the prints as far as they could and, while most of the tracks had been washed out in the surf or blown away in the soft sand, they couldn't figure out where the tracks had led from. Everything pointed that they came from the ocean.
    "They'll figure it out." Tamah finally offered reassuringly.
    "I suppose." Diego said with a shrug.
    "No." she retorted, seemingly rejecting his insincerity. "They will. We'll get the trackers and find whoever it is out in the mountains."
    Diego gave a little nod.
    "Yea. And then we'll drag them back here and demand to know how they got on the island and..."
    TUNK
    Ka'lani gave him a sideways glance but Diego was too focused on rubbing the knot on his head from where she'd just hit him with her flute.
    "What was that for?!" he demanded.
    "No reason." she admitted. "Just felt you deserved it."
    Diego glowered at her, but she continued before he could get a word in.
    "Still, we can't just presume that anyone who's on the island needs to be dragged anywhere."
    "But who are they?"
    Ka'lani shrugged, but seemed distracted. Thoughtful.
    "We won't know until we find them. Just because we don't know who they are doesn't mean they deserve violence."
    Diego, a fire burning in his belly from getting smacked with a flute, turned on her.
    "Yea?! And what if they're here to do something bad? What if they want to hurt us? Or hurt you?! Huh?!"
    "Yea!" added Tamah, building on Diego's energy. "What if they're working with the aka-akua?"
    "The aka-akua don't work with humans, Tamah." Ka'lani said evenly, addressing her sister. "They're demons."
    "What if they aren't human?!" Tamah retorted.
    "Demons don't wear boots, Tamah." her sister replied again, poking Tamah in the head with her half finished flute. "Even weird ones."
    "Weird demons or weird boots?" Tamah asked.
    "Yes." Ka'lani said with a reassuring smile.
    "That doesn't stop them from being a threat." Diego said sternly as thoughts of evil men sneaking into huts at night peppered his thoughts. "I won't let them hurt you."
    Tunk
    "Ow! And what was THAT one for?"
    "For getting my little sister excited." Ka'lani responded coolly. " Now both of you. Enough. You're getting way too worked up over this."
    "How aren't you?" Diego demanded, rubbing the second, albeit smaller lump on his head.
    "Because I trust that we'll find them and figure out why they're here. It's not like we live on a big island. Not only that, they can only stay in hiding for a month at most."
    While Diego thought to respond to that, the rather disturbing point Ka'lani had made stuck the words in his throat like a glue. Depending on the state of the moon, there was always a chance their would be an aka-akua wandering about in the darkness. If their visitor lasted an entire month, there was zero chance they'd make it through a moonless night.
    The children exchanged a knowing, albeit sickened glance with each other but said nothing more on the subject.
    "I guess you're right." Diego admitted.
    Ka'lani smiled in agreement.
    "Either way, I need to go work on this." she said, waving the half-finished flute. "Wanna come?"
    "Oh!" Tamah said in surprise, as if only just noticing the flute despite having watching Diego get hit with it several times. "Is that the one you're making for-"
    Ka'lani cut her off sharply with a hard poke to her forehead and a threatening glare. Tamah knew better than to proceed.
    "Who's it for?" Diego asked again, continuing the same line of questioning he'd given up on a couple days prior.
    Ka'lani shrugged and started walking away.
    To Diego's surprise, he felt his guts twist into a knot. It must have been obvious on his face because Tamah glanced up at him.
    "Are you ok, Diego?"
    "Yea." he said with a little nod. "Just gonna go do some stuff."
    "Can I come with you?" she asked with a smile.
    "Not right now. Why don't you hang out with your sister?" he said and turned to walk back into the village.
    Diego left Tamah standing there. She watched as her sister walked away towards a small thicket of coconut trees and as Diego walked back past the fireline towards the village center. Beneath her feet, the remains of one of the tracks that had so thoroughly enraptured them a matter of moments earlier, began to fade away with the bubbling, incoming tide.

Birthday - Part 7

    The sea water that filled the cave entrance was warm. It seemed to soak into every inch and every crevice and gave Couglin the distinct feeling of wading through hot sludge.
    At its deepest, it came up to her waist.
    She was just about to call it off, to write the cave off as a misstep in judgement, when she heard it: the echoing 'poppop' of a service pistol.
    The sound rang through the cave and seemed to galvanize the remaining members of her squad.
    Bullock traded a quick glance with her and she nodded in silent agreement.
    Within a few minutes, they were through the thickest part of their watery trudge. And, while the tunnel was still unpleasantly humid and much of the rock was actively wet and slick, it was nice not to be wading through it.
    Even better, the cave was widening out, allowing for something more than single file.
    "Alright." Coughlin said in a hard whisper, surprised at how loud she had to speak to be heard over a constant trickle and splash of water. "Fire teams, form up. Alpha. You've got point."
    Automatically, the groups fell into a double-diamond shape that always reminded Coughlin of an hourglass. Bullock took the front with Brick and Mikhailov on either flank and Greer just about at Coughlin's side. Bravo team took up a similar stand behind her.
    "We get anything through this rock?" she shot back at Kuroba who was following tightly at her heel.
    "Negative. Any telemetry we might get isn't going through the rock. We're blind."
    "But not deaf." she said, reminding Bravo leader of the shots they'd just heard.
    "Not at all. At least we know there's something down here that wants us dead." Ludwig sarcastically complained.
    "Sounds fine to me." Dixon said in an oddly even tone."
    Coughlin glanced back at Ludwig in annoyance and was about to say something when the wall next to the Rifleman exploded.
    The man didn't even have time to react as the rocky wall gave way to a single, massive clawed hand that punched through his shoulder and side and tore the entire limb clean off. Simultaneously, the private let out a gut-wrenching scream and squeezed the trigger in shock, his pulse rifle firing directly into the mass of his fellow soldiers.
    Greer hadn't even turned around when the back of her helmet exploded.
    "6 O'Clock!" Coughlin bellowed only moments before fire from six other rifles joined her own and ripped the beast that was only now crawling from the wall into a fine mist.
    But it wasn't alone.
    Emerging from the waters they had just come through, from the opposing wall, and from below the path they had just walked, several others emerged.
    They were all the same in appearance. None of them were like the hulking centaur like they had seen before, but instead a vicious, humanoid creature with long claws, chitinous armor, mottled flesh, and occasionally slender lashing tentacles. Some seemed to wear shreds of cloth and others had hollow white eyes but all were intent to kill.
    And all met a firestorm of rifle rounds.
    Twice more a wall gave way but each time the now alert squad greeted the emerging monster with a roar of death that ripped it to bloody chunks. Pieces sprayed everywhere in the close quarters and the earlier warning of a "biological contagion" flashed through her mind as she saw Brick step forward with grenade launcher in hand.
    The man was painted red and brown with pieces of the beasts.
    "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" he bellowed and launched a grenade that would definitely be against several rules of close quarters combat.
    The resulting explosion nearly knocked them all on their asses as several of the recently created tunnels collapsed in on itself.
    The air swirling in the dark, smoky tunnel, the squad swiveled in every direction as they waited for the next attack.
    But none came.
    "Form back up and check your weapons, people." Coughlin said, grinding her teeth. "No more accidents."
    She felt sick to her stomach. She had just lost two of her own in a matter of seconds. Ludwig, one of the youngest and arguably one of the more annoying, had still served under her for a full year. Greer for three. She would have to contact both of their families now. To talk to Greer's husband...
    Coughlin shook her head, telling herself that this was something for another time.
    She caught sight of Dixon who hadn't moved yet.
    He was staring back down the tunnel.
    "Dixon."
    He didn't respond."
    "Soldier."
    Dixon glanced at her but said nothing. And then back. He simply stared back down the tunnel. Back towards Ludwig. His expression unreadable.
    "Yes, Sarge."
    And then he was back in formation.
    They moved unassaulted for another five minutes.
    During that time, Coughlin noted two minor injuries and three potentially noteworthy encounters. Brick, who was painted red, was not only covered in the creatures' blood but also had a nice slash cut out of his left arm; clean through the battle armor. Gorman was equally covered in gore. Quinn was bleeding from the forehead after having been bashed against the rockface. And Xi had was covered in SOMEONE'S blood but Coughlin wasn't sure if it was from the monsters or the quick patch job on Brick's arm.
    No matter what, she knew they'd all be in quarantine for weeks after this.
    She was just picturing the barren, empty cells and the doctors in white coats hiding behind glass when the tunnel opened up to a massive antechamber.
    And there, hanging on the wall, was Charlie team. Along with a hundred others.
    Cocooned.

Xenophobia - Chapter 7

    “Mars?” Darrian asked.

    “Right. We believe it was named after one of the fictional characters that the humans have killed each other over.” responded Cherryl.

    “So what’s its actual name, then?”  inquired Cagool, the Yool ambassador.

    There were a few sidelong glances and a look of distaste from some of the politicians. It was rarely considered acceptable to simply dismiss another race’s opinion during open discussion. Even something as simple as a name for a planet deserved respect. Unless there was a population on “Mars” currently, the human name should have sufficed for it. To simply dismiss it was to act as though the species wasn’t sentient and didn’t deserve consideration.

    Apparently, this convention was lost on Cagool. Whether he didn’t care or didn’t realize it, he seemed to ignore the uncomfortable silence.

    “Well. The planet’s p-previous name was Muspel II.” Stammered Cherryl, obviously nervous and trying to maintain respect towards the humans naming conventions. “It was one of two planets in the system that the Guillae had populated.”

    “Had?” emphasized Ferris.

    Cherryl nodded in response. “Correct. The Guillae used up the majority of the natural materials on the planet and vacated once the atmosphere began to dissolve.”

   “Back up.” said Darrian. “Who are these Guillae? I’ve never heard of them. For that matter, if AV32- sorry. Earth. If Earth is part of this Muspel system, then why didn’t we know about it previously?”

    “The Guillae are a species of floramorphic hybrids. They have a tendency of wandering galaxies and sending a large spore filled with their ‘colonists’ to any planet they deem useful.” The old judge rattled off.

    “Floramorphic?” asked Darrian.

    “Plant people.” whispered Ferris.

    “Once they land, the Guillae tend to be both a blessing and a curse. Their cities and technologies are all biologically based. No mechanics of any kind to speak of. Because of this, every part of their society tends to blend with the given planet and give birth to a host of new life. The planets tend to flourish for a few rotations, at which time the noxious gasses that the Guillae naturally give off have done their damage. The atmosphere tends to burn off and the Guillae take off for other planets elsewhere.”

    “That sounds horrible.” said Illiquina with a shudder.

    The old judge nodded his agreement.

    “Many people in the scientific community tend to have mixed emotions about the Guillae. On the one hand, their very presence on a planet can do fantastic things. They promote untold numbers of species to come to fruition during their time on a planet. However, because of their genetic makeup, the Guillae tend to do permanent damage to any world that hosts them. Mars is just such an example.”

    "A telltale sign that the Guillae have been there is the landscape tends to take on a reddish hue of rust. It has something to do with the gasses the put off."

    “So what was Mars like?” asked A’alan’t 32, the rather quiet Bivvie representative.

    Darrian couldn’t help but smile as he realized that both A’alan’t 32 and the old judge were outright ignoring Cagool’s rudeness earlier by using "Mars" as the planet's name. On top of that, the Yool definitely was taking notice as he was sitting there looking rather annoyed.

    “Actually, Earth and Mars weren’t unlike each other in overall design.” stated the old judge.

    The holographic imager in the middle of the table gave birth to a spherical planet that was indeed very similar to the planet the humans occupied. It was covered in giant splotches of greens and blue with speckled browns and reds here and there.

    “Is that water?” asked Darrian in surprise as he stared at the image.

    “Yes, it is.” responded the judge. “Much like many species in the galaxies, a plentiful water source is what drives the Guillae to populate new worlds.”

    “It’s quite pretty.” Observed Ugul.

    “I must agree.” said the old judge. “At least until the Guillae showed up.”

    To Darrian’s surprise, he watched the image before him morph and change. He watched as a sudden green spot appeared in one of the planet’s oceans. Perhaps the spore the judge spoke of? It began to boil and spread green through the waters until it reached land. There, rich emeralds seemed to entangle and overtake the verdant hues that had already been present.

    “As you can see, the introduction of a Guillae spore can have truly amazing effects…”

    As they continued to watch, the entire planet soon completely turned a rich emerald green. All of the browns, reds, and blues seemed to fade away. For a moment, the planet simply rotated there like a spherical green gem. Then, without warning, speckles of dusty red appeared and spread with frightening speed. Within seconds, the entire planet was the heavy red of rusted iron.

    “…as well as devastating.” finished the old judge.

    “These observations were taken over the course of seven rotations and occurred thirty two rotations ago.” added Cherryl.

    “That’s all well and good, but I have to agree with Darrian.” said Juag-e with obvious tension. “Why the hell haven’t I heard of this species before now?”

    “The Guillae are a nomadic race.” stated the old judge. “They come to a planet, use it up, and leave it a rotted, rusted husk of what it once was. While the species is sentient, they don’t seem to operate with the same drives or capacities of other civilizations.”

    “Frankly. They’re too alien.” he said with a hint of disgust.

    Darrian felt a tinge of surprise. It was rare to call any species alien. In a galaxy filled with so many different types of life, singling one out as an “other” was bizarre.

    “As such,” continued the old judge, “The Consortium made agreements with the Guillae some fifty rotations back that they would not bother each other. The Guillae can continue to wander out further and further away from us and none of our planets are at risk from their colonization. In exchange, the Guillae can do as they will without Consortium interference.”

   There was a long moment of eerie silence. Darrian couldn’t help but feel nervous thinking about these Guillae. While the humans were erratic and warlike, monsters by many descriptions, they were still frighteningly young with the potential for growth. They still had time to grow into something better. This other species,however, was so different and almost accidentally dangerous that the Consortium did not bring them into the fold but rather insisted they not even engage within their sphere of control.

    He couldn’t decide which was more unsettling.

   “While I'm sure we all appreciate the monster story,” said Ferris. “I think we have gotten a little off topic.”

    “R-right.” Cherryl said with another little nod.

    “What are we going to do about humans attempting to reach Mars?” asked the judge.

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