Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
I regained consciousness and kind of wished I hadn’t. For one, I remained in the hole where I’d fallen. Two, despite all my gear, I was cold. And three, forget sunny skies overhead. A miasma spread across the sky.
Erebus must have blown.
Which probably explained why Noah hadn’t rescued me. Likely he’d been called back to McMurdo station to help people evacuate.
But what about me? And yes, I said it in the whiniest inner voice imaginable.
I’d expected more from the man. Hell, I expected better from my friends.
How could they have abandoned me? I knew it was irrational to blame them, after all, look at the circumstances, not to mention, they had no kind of training.
Still, I allowed myself a brief pity party before taking a deep breath.
Stop being a pussy ass bitch and save yourself. A galvanizing admonishment that pushed me to my feet.
A glance at the walls showed them dimmer than in my dreams, probably due to a lack of sunshine.
Despite knowing the futility, I did try to climb.
My mittens couldn’t find any grip and slipped down the smooth ice.
No protrusions extended for me to grab. A pat of my body didn’t show anything I could use to chisel myself an advantage.
Where was a pickaxe when you needed one?
“Help!” I yelled, in case Noah wandered nearby. Could be the quake had opened many craters and he had to search them all. “I’m here. Hello?”
The reply that returned wasn’t the one I wanted.
There’s no one near enough to hear you, servant.
“Not you again,” I groaned.
Still impertinent, I see.
“More like not needing this kind of concussion fuckery right now. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m stuck in a hole, a volcano exploded, and my chances of making it out alive don’t look so good at the moment.”
I can keep thee from harm.
“And how are you going to do that? Aren’t you the one who’s been whining you need help getting free?”
That soon won’t be a problem. Already the warmth from the magma is thawing my cold prison.
“A prison of your own making. Weren’t you the one who fell asleep and ended up buried?”
Only because those who should have cared for me abandoned their task.
“If you’ve been sleeping as long as you claim, then your servants probably died.
” Yes, I knew having a conversation with a disembodied voice produced by my imagination wasn’t the sanest thing to be doing right now, but it beat screaming and pounding my fists on the ice.
It also seemed better than huddling in a ball and sobbing.
My kind don’t age like humans.
I frowned. “Wait, are you implying there were more of you?”
No one is like me. Only pale comparisons. An arrogant response.
“Still don’t know what you are,” I grumbled. Since staring aimlessly at the ash-riddled sky didn’t spark any joy—or hope—I turned, and yup. There it was. The dreaded tunnel from my dream.
I am your master.
I snorted. “Like fuck you are.”
Choosing you is a great honor. You should thank me.
“Never happening.”
Would you rather feed me? I could use a snack.
I’d only taken one step towards the ice tunnel, but the statement paused me. “You eat people?”
And animals. Anything of flesh, actually.
“Exactly how many pounds of meat are you planning to chow down once you’re free?”
I have a large appetite, and while humans aren’t sizeable, a few hundred should ease the gnawing ache.
“Hundreds?” Once more, my feet stopped moving.
It takes much to fuel my body.
“And how often do you eat?”
How often do you eat? it countered.
“If you eat hundreds of people daily, you’ll decimate the world population.”
Not entirely. If I wish the planet to replenish during my next nap, I’ll have to leave some fleshy beings to reproduce for my next waking.
“Back up a second. You’ve done this before? Eaten, napped, eaten again.”
Since my arrival on your planet, yes.
My mouth rounded. “You’re an alien?”
If you mean not of this world, then obviously. A matter-of-fact reply.
“When did you arrive?”
At a time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Now those were some tasty treats. I ate so many. It probably explains the shape I evolved into. Such a shame my arrival triggered an ice age that killed those I’d left to replenish.
I wavered on my feet and had to put a hand on the wall to keep my balance. While a part of me didn’t believe I had a conversation with an actual, whatever the fuck this was, I also knew I didn’t have the imagination for what it was saying. It also roused my curiosity.
“Wait, you’re saying the asteroid that hit the Yucatán Peninsula and ended up causing a climate catastrophe that froze the world and eradicated the dinosaurs was you arriving in your spaceship?”
Spaceship? It sounded amused. That asteroid is what you humans would call an ovum containing my as-yet-unevolved form. The shell of it cracked on impact, releasing me.
“You arrived as a baby?” Absolutely crazy.
As if I were ever so useless, the indignant reply. Even at my birth, I was superior to all other creatures on this planet.
“And how many of you were there? I assume you didn’t land here alone.”
Just me. The appetite of my kind is too great to share with anything other than drones.
“What are those?”
Another kind of servant, but unlike you, they carry some of my essence.
It took me a second to digest the statement before I blurted, “Are you talking about children?”
I suppose that would be the closest example you’d understand.
“But you just said you’re the only one of your kind here. So how can you make them?”
I simply need to fertilize eggs from a viable host.
Ever get a sudden chill that froze you with horror? It took a moment before my pasty tongue could form the words, “What kind of host?”
Don’t pretend to be stupid.
“Oh no. No. No. No.” I shook my head as I frantically glanced around as if the hole suddenly sprouted stairs for me to climb. “I am not going to be your monster baby mama.”
As if you have a choice.
“I don’t agree. No happening. No way. No how.” I huffed as I scrabbled at the walls.
Awake after thousands of years and despite having somewhat progressed on the evolutionary scale, humans still resort to hysteria.
“I’d say I have reasons since you want to use me as an incubator!”
Don’t be foolish. Your body is much too small for such a task. I simply require your eggs.
“Which are inside my body and staying there,” I spat.
You should be thanking me. Unlike other humans, some of your essence will live on when I rise to reign over the world.
“You’re assuming we won’t blow your ass to pieces. Humans have evolved from carrying spears and throwing rocks. We have jet planes with missiles and nukes.”
I’m aware of your advances. I might have been sleeping, but my mind was listening and learning. You won’t—
The voice abruptly ceased, and it took me a moment to realize why. A noisy hum had me staring upward.
A helicopter!
Come to me. The abrupt command.
“Like fuck. I’m being rescued, so too bad, so sad for your egg-stealing plan.
COME. TO. ME.
My muscles locked, and I went rigid before pivoting. As if controlled by strings, my left leg lifted and moved forward. Then my right. A jerky walk that I didn’t control, taking me in the direction of the tunnel.
“No.” I forced the word through stiff lips.
You will obey. The voice snarled, and, despite me gritting my teeth and trying to stop myself, I took another two steps.
“Velma!” Vernon shouted my name. “I’m coming.”
The distraction didn’t loosen the hold the voice had on me. I advanced in jolting paces even as Vernon kept yelling. “Almost there. I’m gonna clip you to the ladder so you don’t fall when the captain pulls us from the hole.”
I couldn’t turn to look only stare in consternation as I neared the tunnel mouth.
“Velma? You listening?” Vernon’s sounded close, and when he put his hand on my shoulder, I shuddered. My friend and coworker stepped in front of me with a frown. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Help.” The word whispered from my lips. “Help me, Vernon. Something. Controlling me.” I had to force the words out.
Bless Vernon for not asking for clarification. He dropped a sling over my body even as I tried to walk through him. I heard a click as he somehow secured me.
Then he must have signaled because we began to rise. My feet left the floor.
No. You will not leave.
And it was only in that moment I realized I wasn’t crazy because a wide-eyed Vernon asked a shaky, “Who the fuck said that?”