Extraction Issues 10

Chapter 10

Restricted Maritime Zone BZE:4200.04

Cycle 6002.647.09.5W

Nyoma had slept for another three days. After having another big feed, she headed to the medical bay for a checkup. Gil was super impressed with how her genome had tidied up. She now talked through irregularities that had been detected during the third stage of the treatment.

The first was that she seemed to have developed genetic tags that didn’t seem to hold any function but were spaced precisely through her body. The other strange thing was that she seemed to have originally been mixed with something close to alligator DNA. But at one stage it seemed to mutate to shark DNA.

Now Nyoma looked at them like they were strange. She told them she wasn’t the shark, that was Mean. They grilled the computer several times and it replied that the translation was correct. It suggested that if they were having difficult processing this, then for now they could pretend she had said his warrior guide was a shark, but she had literally called him a shark.

Gil suddenly realised that she hadn’t got around to scanning Mean yet. Dueliet told her to do it now, he was heading out on recon into the mountain today. She wanted to know now if he had been affected by helping in the treatment.

Mean made it to the medical centre pretty quickly. He stopped being in a hurry when they said they wanted to scan him with the new tech. He changed the subject and asked Nyoma how she was getting on. She happily replied by giving a twirl. He nodded and checked that they were talking about a programme for retraining her.

Dueliet and Gil looked confused. He stated that he assumed that she was now softer than her peers, but on the plus side potentially faster. Had they talked her through how meeting her tribe might happen. Had they started finding how it could affect her tribe’s power in it’s fight against the islands other tribe.

If Nyoma hadn’t been impressed before, she was now. She cheerfully said that he had all the marking of a great mate. She wondered aloud if any of the crafts females had made moves to claim him. Everyone was stunned into silence before Dueliet eventually burst into laughter.

He said that he was more of a monster than they realised, so he kept his distance from others. To defuse the warning, he said if they were going to tease him, then having the scan was suddenly looking at least slightly more appealing.

He gave them a final warning that it might not be the best idea to look at what he was. Having even scanned him could add to the ships difficulties, if they hoped to come out of hiding.

Dueliet thought about this. She said to hold fire as she checked with the captain. She had briefed him well on the situation. On hearing this, the captain was surprised that they still hadn’t scanned him. He reminded her that he had set them on the track of finding out as much as possible and pushing ahead further was the only way that they would find their way out of the mess. Dueliet thanked him.

She smiled helplessly at them and told them the captain had confirmed that they were all go.

Mean spread his arms and shrugged. He thudded down into the chair and waited. The blue light began it’s pass and he sat nervously. Gil spat her coffee over the console. Then embarrassed, went and found a cloth to wipe it down.

Mean tried for humour, saying that he had warned them that he had that affect on geneticists.

She looked intently at the results but the updates only stabilised the unbelievable image. She summarised it was not just that he had shark DNA, it was that he appeared to be what enhancement programmes dreamed of creating. She ask if he had any ideas what the two main anomalies in his code were, questioning if one was an adatgen series rezip.

He sighed and said that was close to what had been theorised by the therapy team, theoretically if exposed to enough energy he could switch back to the refined monster and return when drained more easily. The other tags had been called aerials, for lack of a real explanation the only hint was that they appeared in those with stronger will power and it meant that treatments went more smoothly for them.

Gil pointed out that Nyoma seemed to have gotten simpler versions of these aerials because of his intervention. Her results were pretty spectacular.

At this point Nyoma butted in to ask if he could pass them on the rest of her tribe.

He had to admit he didn’t know. His visits to labs usually had him not touching anything. Usually he had been strapped to chairs that made this one look like it was made of paper.

Dueliet checked if there was any concerns for the mission.

Gil though for a bit and said the only concern that she could think of was that he would need more calories and water than the normal crew.

Dueliet checked the time, then told Mean to take Nyoma and get her suited up.

Gil looked panicked and asked if that was a good idea.

Dueliet smiled and said that Mean had made her feel bad for not thinking about helping Nyoma adapt well. So this was his punishment. Also she was finding him being uncomfortable with Nyoma’s interest in him, quite entertaining.

Gil and Mean looked at each other but found no other support. Then Mean gave up and showed the cheerful looking Nyoma to the armory. She cheerfully accepted the light armor vest. She only accepted the utility blaster, as she was much more interested in the combat staff that was power cell driven.

One of the ex soldiers gearing up there had a laugh. He had a heavy blaster and two utility blasters. He said that if the chickens out there were as dangerous as the computer said she would need more than a overcharged gardening tool.

Nyoma looked unfazed and said she also liked gardening.

Mean watched the exchange carefully. From what he had seen Nyoma’s instincts could be trusted. So he took the biggest energy blade he could find and a burst launcher. The soldier raised his eyebrows, asking what type of chickens Mean was expecting to fight.

He smiled and turned to Nyoma playing dumb. He stretched his hands as far as his reach would go and said it was the big chickens they were after. Bizarrely she replied affirmatively back with approval of his assessment and weapons choice. He really began to worry, hoping that it didn’t show.

There were two teams that emerged from the sub bay. Mean and Nyoma were lucky enough to be teamed up with Nyutri’s squad. Strangle they didn’t look out of place in this unit. This team didn’t look like muscled thugs compared to the other unit, but their attitude alone was terrifying. Mean definitely wouldn’t want them chasing him down.

The other team seemed to be made entirely made of ex-soldiers. They were probably a force to be reckoned with but nowhere near as terrifying as Nyutri’s crew. They were goofing around, trying to psyche themselves up, as so far their time on the island had been warfare free.

As far as he could tell they were hoping the chicken hunt might provide some good sport. Their only worry was that the natives might get in the way.

Mean asked Nyutri’s crew how things were looking. The consensus was that they had a bad feeling about this, hinting that some of them might have already done some initial scouting. He guessed that that explained why they unusually looked like they were on riot squad duty, rater than scouting duty.

In someways Mean felt better that this crew was already on alert. He checked with Nyoma on if they could expect to interact with her tribe during the scouting route.

She looked surprised and said that someone from her tribe was probably already watching them. If they survived and got close to her village then they would be challenged. The crew exchanged looks checking they were all taking in the next potential challenge that had been explained.

Ronnec’s cheerful voice came over their earpieces. He greeted the guys heading into the mountain, saying that scans hadn’t found anything unusual and that he wished them a fruitful journey. The soldiers bustled into the jungle like interior of the heart of the mountain.

If there hadn’t been a potentially serious threat, the place could easily have captured all their attention with it’s beauty alone. Entering the mountain, they were all surprised by how bright it was. The plants were an amazing. What could be identified in the landscape were plants like ancient lycopods, tree ferns and exotic shrubs that made a lot of museum collections look quite plain. If things hadn’t been so serious it would have been an amazing place to explore.

Nyutri’s unit followed more cautiously behind. They had gone in a click with no sign of trouble. So the soldier team said they would widen the search pattern and veer off to the left.

The moved onward, but Nyoma cautioned that things would start now that they had been lured in and separated. They stopped, again quietly checking over each other. Then one of the crew that Mean had only ever heard referred to as the punching bag, pointed to a high point that they had just passed.

Yells and monstrous shrieks filled their ear pieces. The gunfire that they heard only seemed to stop once entire clips had been emptied. Then with that, the other team could no longer be reached.

Punching bag mentioned that their trophy hunt didn’t sound to be going to well. They followed his lead up the small slope. They moved more cautiously and quietly. Nyoma found that the team would flick their gazes to her, checking for reactions to anything their training and instincts might miss.

They made it to the top of the slope, but there was no chance to set up a stable position. The monstrous shriek was blurted out from a blur of movement that had been trying to use the hill to flank them. It ran at them with legs propelling the creature so that it almost flew over the ground. Bringing to mind stories of the far-western dragons.

In some ways the description of big chicken worked. It had feathers, claws and a beak. But it also looked like it would quite easily hold it’s own if a dinosaur happened to showed up. When it was opened fire upon, it neatly sprung to the left. Flanking them almost before they had time to blink.

They were more surprise when Nyoma shot out from behind them and had a swing at slicing it’s ankle off with her new staff. With most other creatures she would have made contact. But the creature was no longer there.

Punching bag commented that this was a most promising start; they had never started on the offensive. He was interrupted from any further talk as Nyutri tugged urgently on his sleeve. He followed he gesture to see a second creature had exited the forest behind them. There was quiet for a bit, then the second creature shrieked, making sure it introduced itself properly.

Mean was the only one of the crew not to have met the creatures yet. He had faced some pretty monstrous creations in the arena in his past though. So after having come to grips with what was happening, he had a go at the second creature launching off to the side while just having the blade still able to reach the creature.

The creatures found him easier to dodge than Nyoma, but he too retreated back into the groups formation unscathed. Punching bag was again encouraged and more muttered that this wasn’t looking so bad any more.

One creature sprung straight into the formation after a subtle leap to clear initial gun fire. Nyutris crew did the best they could to react. Holding the riot shield like equipment to try and deflect the creatures claws.

One of the team jumped a little so as the creature crashed into them, they were pushed out of the way without being sliced clean in half. Then a loud blast sounded as the creature bounder away. Another of the team swore at Nyutri. Complaining that these creatures were tricky enough, she should watch where she was firing.

Nyoma spoke admiring Nyutris boom stick and said she would have to find out more about it. Mean was relieved that Nyoma seemed to be relaxed now. He hoped it meant that they would make it through the day.

This time both creatures launched into the formation. While most managed to leap or be bounced out of the way, Punching bag was not so lucky. He got caught between both. His shield blocked the front one, but even though the armor had boosted it’s power, claws sunk into the flesh of his back as if into butter.

With the next blink of an eye Nyoma had leapt and this time nicked the achilles of the rear creatures legs. Boom sticks caught the other creature. The next leaps of the creatures were now track-able. Though they threw the crew around a little, one was so unstable that it wasn’t going to land well at the completion of it’s jump. The first had landed, but then found Means energy sword in it’s side. Both of them were in a precarious situation.

But before that next blink had finished a boom stick from one of the team still on the ground toppled the creature and Mean jumped back without his sword. Before they could finish the one struggling to stand after it’s rough landing, Nyoma cried out in surprise as a figure leapt from the forrest. It was something small enough that Mean flattened it with a punch on mere instinct. Then the rest of the team ended the two large creatures.

Mean caught his breathe as things were still for the moment. In front of him on the ground, was a groggy looking lizard man. The computer translated it’s clicks as it recovered. It complimented their fight with the creatures. Then told them to head back to it’s village if they wanted to avoid being devoured. It would be a waste for such warriors to be lost, when they could help with the fight.

Mean asked Nyoma about the newly appeared lizard man.

The creature eyes morphed with it’s pupils almost becoming dark stars.

She identified him as Jondra and summed up that he was being a bit rude. They both left him and went to check on Punching bag. He claimed to have just been winded and seemed to be moving smoothly after Nyutri had finished patching him up. Another of the team muttered questioning if he was merely winded.

Nyutri seemed confident that he could keep up with them if they were only scouting for the day. The team all seem quite encouraged by this. It had clearly gone much better than their personal scouting attempts. They were now debating whether it was better to set up a defensive position here, to search for the other team, to head back or whether it was best to push on to the village.

The lizard man that Mean had flattened had recovered. It let them know it was unhappy being ignored. The translation gave them the idea that it wanted them to return to help it’s village. It also wanted to know how they had managed to change one of their tribe into such an amazing lizard girl.

When Nyoma heard this she laughed. Nyutri wandered over to sort the loud creature out. She pointed out that if he bothered to use his eyes, he would see that they had just healed Nyoma. Also they would decide on their next move when they were ready, not when some cranky lizard demanded it.

The lizards jaw dropped and he looked at Nyoma.

Nyutri asked Nyoma what she though heading to the village.

Nyoma got half way through saying it was pretty risky. She had mentioned that there were common ambush spots and that if they ran into bigger groups or other types of chicken then things might not go well.

That was as far as she got because the other lizard man had wandered over and poked Nyoma, almost to check as if she was real. Nyutri grabbed what looked similar enough to a finger and twisted it to get the same results that she expected from a human. Only slightly more force was needed to have the lizard spin around and drop to it’s knees, than for a human soldier.

From it’s new uncomfortable position it said that the lizard indeed talked like Nyoma, but was much more attractive than the Nyoma it knew.

It cried in pain as Nyutri twisted its finger a little harder. Eventually she let off the pressure and it caught it’s breath. Nyutri quickly explained that the crews giant crab had a temple in it. Mean had worked with the priestess and she was now healthy and in his care.

The lizard looked over at Mean. It said allowed that there was something odd about him. He could tell he was pretty much cold blooded unlike the other humans in his group. He asked the dangerous looking human if it was a shark. Mean took a deep breathe looking uncomfortable. The rest of the team were surprised by his reaction.

He simply explained that he was a human that had been forced to absorb shark energy. Again before they could get any further there was another interruption from the forest.

From the forest, an eerie voice declared how intriguing this all was. A human armored in what looked like wood, armor and something like leather wandered out of the forest. He was carrying two strange objects with him.

Punching bag groaned, exclaiming this really was a day for wierd things wandering out of the forest.

The strange human thought for a bit and said it could say the same thing about them. They were the most interesting bunch of creatures to wander into the jungle for a long time. It was just a shame that they had chosen to enter on the day in which the lizards would be purged. They would now share their fate.

If the speech hadn’t given it away; the crew had picked up from the lizard peoples behavior that he was one of their tribes enemies. They were looking very weary around the human.

The human seemed to enjoy putting on a show. He introduced himself as the high priest of the Tleit. He said that they should consider themselves very lucky. He had been saving special present for some time and they would be the honored recipients.

Nyutri took the lead in dealing with him. She introduced herself and asked why he had been kind enough to bring them a welcoming present.

The high priest smiled sadly and said that unfortunately being there meant it was the will of the Tleit spirits for them to disappear. It was really the best time for them to be obliterated before they could interfere with the island any more. He raised one of the objects with him and it began to glow.

There was swearing and then Mean jumped in from of the group slipping the large blaster off his shoulder.

Both fired and there was blinding light that pushed every shadow from the area.

The next moment there seemed to be a huge smokey crater, centred around where Mean had been standing. Everyone was stunned and trying to figure out what should be done. Eyes quickly flashing from the scene before them, to those they knew the best.

The human hoped that they had enjoyed his first present. Before he finished them off, it wished for the lizard people of the group to know the full terror of the day for their tribe. It told Jondra that if he had managed to convince the strangers to go back to the village and then told them about the tribes chicken hunt; their ends would have been just as quick.

They had set an ambush with huge amounts of the creatures frozen in stasis around the supposedly undefended king creature. Then his tribe would be ready to slaughter what ever survivor tried to retreat when their planned group attack failed. He laughed enjoying the shocked expressions on their faces.

The high priest raised his second object and the next moment two of the crew had steel rods through them. Nyoma was now pinned to the ground by her leg and on of the crew had been thrown back as the rod went through their chest.

Then with another flash from the forest a terrifying shadow flashed with claws slashing the priest in half. With that done it calmly munched on the priests head as it wandered over to Nyoma and pulled hard on the rod. She shrieked as she was thrown into the air as the rod was painfully removed.

Wehl 2024

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