Floxham Island ~ Sinclair V-Log AZ267/M (17 page)

“How about one
of those?” I said. Everyone looked round.

“One of what?”
Luggs asked as he came up beside me. “What are you seeing Sam?”

“See where the
shuttle pad is?” I asked and he nodded. “Those lights around the
perimeter of the landing pad, see em?” I pointed to the dull yellow
lights atop twenty foot poles that encircled the landing pad and he
grinned.

“Hell yeah,
that would do nicely wouldn’t it Hank?”

“That would be
perfect,” he replied with a grin.

“Right, let’s
go,” I said and set off.

“How do we get
it out of the ground?” Grelly asked and a couple of the other guys
grunted and nodded.

“We shoot it
down.” I replied. “Everyone aim their rifle at the base of the pole
and fire on my mark. Okay guys take aim. And, fire.” The air
exploded painfully with the noise of nine laser rifles as the base
of the nearest pole was sliced clean through. Slowly it began to
cant over to one side and fell to the ground, the light at its top
smashing to pieces. “Okay, grab hold and let’s go,” I yelled and
made for the pole.

Despite being
just a few inches in diameter, the pole was extremely heavy and it
took all of us to lift it. We began the shuffle back to the antenna
hut, puffing with the weight of our burden. Halfway there a now
familiar sound stopped us dead in our tracks. That stomping and
grunting meant just one thing; a hunchback was coming to
investigate the noise.

“A hunchback is
coming,” I hissed. “Quick, put it down and stand still. Don’t move
a muscle.” The pole dropped to the ground and we made like statues
just as the beast appeared around from the rear of the lab
building. It was then that I remembered the guys back at the
antenna hut and was pleased to see them all rooted to the spot as
we were. The beast stomped towards them, head bobbing from side to
side listening for any sounds that might indicate a meal was
nearby. Several minutes went by as it circled the antenna hut and
at one point got to within a couple of feet of Hank who remained
steadfast and didn’t flinch. The guys told me later that every
single one of them was praying Hank would be safe and I was deeply
impressed with his courage and was reminding myself to make sure I
told him so, when the unthinkable happened. The beast had just
turned to leave the area when Stitch dropped his gun. It landed on
the ground with a quiet but audible clonk and the beast snapped its
head around in a flash and began stomping right towards him. He was
going to be toast in seconds unless we did something, so I
shouldered my gun and stepped forward. Before I could start yelling
and screaming to get the beast’s attention, a loud roar reached our
ears, and the beast’s too. The stomping stopped as it snapped its
head around again and opened it jaws wide, head bobbing frantically
as it aimed its lunge. Just then the huge hairy guy Adam stomped up
to it and grabbed it around the neck with his left arm, before
twisting it around and breaking its neck with his free hand. In
less than a minute it was all over and the beast fell to the floor
dead. The hairy guy looked at us and then sat down with a thud. We
were stunned.

“My god,” Cap
hissed, “it saved their lives. Did you see that?”

“Holy fuck,” I
sighed, unable to articulate what I was feeling in a more eloquent
way.

“I guess the
big guy just earned his place in the team huh?” Luggs said and we
all nodded in agreement.

“And he’s a he,
not an it, okay?” I smiled and the guys all nodded.

We picked up
the pole and carried it back and Hank took a look and smiled.

“That’ll do
nicely,” he said. “Now we need to get the other one down. We need
to unlock those docking clamps at the base there, then the whole
thing will lift out. Then it’s just a case of removing the ring
clamp that holds the laser generator nipple to the pole, putting it
on the new one and lifting the whole thing into the hole and re
locking the docking clamps.”

“Okay, let’s do
it,” I said as I walked up to take a look.

“The docking
clamps are not easy to undo I’m afraid,” Hank explained. “This type
of setup is usually done with a code locked clamping system to
avoid interference or sabotage. Basically what that means is that
they need to be unlocked in a certain order or they won’t unlock at
all.

“Oh shit,” Dex
exclaimed. “How many thousands of different permutations do we have
to go through to find the right one?

“Well only six
actually,” Hank replied. “Thankfully there are only three docking
clamps, which gives us just six possible permutations, so it
shouldn’t take us long. Okay, now three of you guys, each stand by
one of the clamps and when I call your name, you push the button
and we’ll work out the system that way.” Carl, Stitch and Boy
stepped up and placed themselves in front of a docking clamp. “Okay
ready guys?” All three nodded. “Carl, Stitch, Boy,” he ordered and
the guys pushed the clamps. Nothing happened. “Okay next try. Carl,
Boy, Stitch.” Again the three guys pressed their clamps and again
nothing happened. “Stitch, Boy, Carl,” Hank ordered and once again
the guys pressed their clamps. Nothing happened and I swore. “Don’t
worry,” Hank smiled. “Just three permutations to go and one of em
has to work. Okay now guys. Stitch, Carl, Boy.” The three guys
pressed their clamps and we were rewarded with an audible hiss as
the gas escaped and the clamps fell away. We cheered and clapped
Hank on the back.

“Fantastic job
Hank, I’m impressed, really.”

“Just basic
maths really,” he blushed. “Okay now we need to get the old antenna
down and remove the generator nipple. Then fix it onto the new pole
and lift it into the hole.” We approached the antenna and took
hold. With a heave we all strained but it didn’t move.

“Jeez this is
heavier than it looks,” Cap remarked. Once again we all strained
but nothing happened and we slumped away to catch our breath.

“Once more
guys, c’mon,” I encouraged and we all strained. Suddenly the pole
flew out of the hole and up into the air and we all leapt away in
shock. The guys yelled in surprise and I turned to see the hairy
guy, Adam holding the pole aloft and looking at me with what can
only be described as triumph. The guys all started to laugh and
applaud and Adam grunted with what I was sure was pleasure. He put
the antenna down and I approached him and looked up into his huge
hairy face and enormous grey eyes that shone down at me with
wisdom. “Thank you my friend,” I smiled and nodded at him. He
sighed and grunted at me. “Okay guys let’s get that laser off and
onto the new pole. “The ring clamp looks like a gas lock clamp.” It
was simple to remove and I pressed the button in the centre of the
clamp that held the generator around the antenna and heard the hiss
as the gas escaped and loosened its hold. It fell into my hands and
I gave it to Hank, who checked it over and smiled.

“Seems to be
fine,” he said and I sighed with relief and watched as he fitted it
to the top of the new pole.

“Now we need to
get this new pole up and into the hole,” I said, knowing it was
probably beyond our physical capabilities so I approached the hairy
guy Adam and smiled. “Can you help us put the new one in?” I asked
and indicated to the new pole. Using simple sign language to make
it clear what we wanted, I touched the pole and then pointed to the
hole and hoped he knew what I was driving at. He stepped over and
hoisted the new pole high into the air with one hand and slid it
effortlessly into the hole. We clamped the docking clamps in the
same permutation as we’d unlocked them and sighed with relief as we
clapped each other on the back. With a grin I looked at Adam.
“Awesome job, thanks buddy.”

“Okay, now we
just have to get the generator nipple lined up properly with the
mag receiver at the base,” Hank said. “I’ll get down the hatch and
switch the standby on so that when they’re lined up, the whole
system will automatically switch into operation mode.” He lifted
the hatch and after a quick check to make sure nothing with teeth
was sleeping down there, he descended the ladder and out of sight.
A few seconds later a red light appeared from the base of the
antenna pad.

“We got a red
light here Hank,” I called down into the hatch.

“Good,” he
yelled back. “That means the system recognises that they’re not
lined up properly. When they are, it’ll turn blue so keep a check
on that light okay? I’m gonna make tiny movements to the antenna
from here and you yell stop when the light turns blue.”

“Okay no
problem,” I yelled back. “Hey guys see that red light? Keep
watching it and yell when it turns blue okay?” The guys crowded
around the base of the antenna, faces all turned to the floor. “Hey
we need someone on lookout. Let’s not get sloppy huh.” Luggs and
Dex shouldered their rifles and kept watch. From down in the hatch,
Hank made tiny adjustments to the controls, which made tiny
movements to the antenna, back and forth, trying to match up the
generator nipple with the mag receiver in the ground so the power
could flow once more. Several minutes went by and I began to get
anxious. When the guys suddenly gave a yell of “blue, it’s blue,”
it startled me out of my wits. “Stop Hank, it’s blue,” I yelled
down the hatch and Hank grinned back up at me as a low hum could be
heard. The hum rose in pitch until it was above the range of our
ears and we all cheered and whooped. We were all grinning from ear
to ear as I helped Hank out of the hole and closed the hatch.
“Awesome job Hank, well done buddy.”

“Glad to help,”
he blushed.

“Well done
guys,” I smiled as the group gathered around and clapped Hank on
the back. “Now let’s get back to the lab and wait for my sample to
finish. While we’re doing that we can decide what we do next.”

We made our way
back to the lab without incident; the hairy guy Adam following
behind us. Once we’d remade the barricade, just in case, I checked
around and found a set of doctor’s overalls which I handed to
Boy.

“Here ya go
buddy,” I smiled. “You go freshen up huh?”

“Thanks,” he
blushed.

“It’s okay to
be scared,” I said. “We all get scared sometimes.” He smiled and
went to the bathroom.

Stitch, Grelly
and Cap were at the nutri vend making hot drinks and I went to join
Flark and the others at the bag of snacks. “C’mon guys let me in
huh. What ya got in there for a big guy like me? Hey what do you
reckon Adam and Eve eat?”

“Pretty much
the same as us I would assume,” Cap replied.

“You think
so?”

“Well think
about it Sam. They’re so much like us in every other way so it
stands to reason they’ll have a similar diet to us too. Doesn’t
it?”

“He has a
point,” Dex remarked and several of the guys nodded.

“Didn’t you
notice that they never seem to be interested in any of the rotting
bodies like the other creatures around here?” Bud remarked. “That
would seem to indicate that their diet is a little more
sophisticated don’t you think?”

“Yeah, good
point,” Baz nodded.

“Then maybe
when we’ve had a rest up and something to eat, we should go and
investigate the stores and see if we can rustle up some real food
that they can have too. They saved our lives back there so it’s the
least we can do huh?”

“Yeah,” Luggs
replied and several heads nodded in agreement.

Two hours later
we sat down in the lab and examined our haul. We’d made the trip to
the stores and back and only met one hunchback and three of the
fat, bald things, all of which we despatched without a problem.

“Okay what do
we have?” I asked as I opened my bag. “I have four large cans of
preserved fruit of some kind, 3 bags of dehydrated meat substitute
and four of these green things,” I said as I held up a green
spherical object about nine inches in diameter that looked like it
was made up of tightly packed leaves. “It looks like some sort of
vegetable don’t ya think?” Baz nodded and I heard a grunt behind me
and turned to see the hairy guy Adam looking at me and sniffing so
I held out the green thing and his eyes widened as he grunted
again. He got up and came over and took it from me and bit into it.
He seemed to enjoy it so I handed him the other three, which he
took and went back to join Eve and the newborn. “Well we have a
taker for the green things. What do the rest of you have?”

Between the
twelve of us we managed to bring back a decant haul, much of which
should be suitable for Adam and Eve. We opened a couple of the cans
of fruit and he seemed to enjoy them but he turned his nose up at
the small spherical white things about an inch in diameter that
Flark brought back. Grelly added some water to some of the
dehydrated meat substitute and with a quick zap in the En-Con unit
in the kitchen, we were soon enjoying a hot meal of sorts.

“Guys,” I said
after we finished eating. “We need to decide what we’re gonna be
doing next.”

“How do you
mean Sam?” Bud asked.

“Well now we’ve
got the antenna working, we know no more creatures can get onto the
island. There may very well still be some hanging around here
though. Those flying things for instance; there may be plenty more
of those hiding in the various buildings waiting for dark.”

“So what are
you saying?” Flark asked.

“Well,” I
replied, “do we have a clean up operation or leave things as they
are?”

“How much of
the island is there still to explore?” Bud asked.

“There’s the
hospital that backs onto this lab, the recreation centre, the
workshops near the antenna and the accommodation sector. Everything
else is clear.”

“I vote we
leave it as it is,” Bud said. “Unless we’re planning to use those
buildings, in which case we’d have to clear them but if we’re not,
then it’s a waste of energy.”