Ren had his hands on the dashboard. He said things under his breath. Sweat dropped
from his forehead as he talked to the van.
The rockets slid through the van. Smoke filled the cabin as they passed. Then they
blew up the trees behind the fugitives.
“You hypnotized the van again?,” asked Marty. He returned to the wheel and yanked
it the other way to straighten up the van so they could get back on the road.
“It seemed like the thing to do at the time,” said Ren. He leaned back in his chair,
trying to calm his breathing.
“What just happened?,” asked Cog. He had pressed into the side wall of the van. His
headlights looked at the intact rear wall of the vehicle.
“I hypnotized the van into letting the rockets pass,” said Ren.
“You know that sounds impossible,” said Cog. “I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see
it.”
“I don’t believe it now,” said Marty. “We need to get rid of that monkey.”
“How?,” said Ren. “He can multiply faster than we can deal with him.”
“If there was some way to keep him from doing that, he would be easy pickings,” said
Marty. “Too bad we don’t have a nullifier.”
“I have an idea,” said Cog. “It might get us out of this.”
“Do it,” said Marty. “We don’t have anything to lose at this point.”
Cog drifted out of the side door. He fell behind the van as it tried to elude the
multiplying monkeys. More weapons were being passed out as Troop tried to think
of something that would slow the machine down for his human allies to catch up and
finish the job.
“I hope he doesn’t run away,” said Marty. “That seems to be his preferred way of
dealing with things.”
“We can’t worry about that,” said Ren. “We are about to hit a bunch of apes who
want us to stop. I’m not sure the van will overcome his grasp on reality.”
“Do what you can,” said Marty. “If one of them gets inside, we’re done. One is as
much as a hundred in this case.”
“The problem is we’re dealing with a hive,” said Ren. “We can excise individuals but
the brain will keep spawning new individuals. We need to figure out the central core
if we want to stop this thing.”
“Except we don’t know which one that is,” said Marty. He hit a clump of monkeys.
They clung to the front of his van as he tried to shake them off. “This is trouble.”
“They’re going for the doors,” said Ren. He ducked away from a fist slamming
against his window.
Marty pressed a switch on his door panel. Locks clicked in place. He tried to peer
around the shapes blocking his view as he drove. If he hit a tree, that was the end of
the chase.
“I am out of ideas,” said Marty. “As soon as I roll down my window to use my
powers, they’ll be able to get inside with us.”
“Same with any weapons I have,” said Ren. “Punching a hole through the windshield
will allow him to put a duplicate inside. Then we have a population explosion.”
“There has to be something we can use to get out of this.” Marty ducked as the
monkey shot at the front windshield with a rifle. The plastic protection scarred from
the impacts.
“If he keeps that up, we don’t have long.” Marty stood in his seat. “I think we have
to think about abandoning ship.”
“What about Watson and Cortez?” Ren stood also.
“They’re on their own until we can come back for them,” said Marty. “When the van
wrecks, we’re going to have to move out and move fast.”
More rifles appeared in the many Troop’s hands. Bullets worked on the windshield.
Cracks appeared in the plastic.
“We need to buy some time for the others,” said Marty. He moved away from his seat.
The van drove itself as he went to the side door.
Ren joined him at the door. He glanced at the monkeys trying to get in. The
windshield looked like it might collapse at any moment.
“Get ready to jump,” said Marty. “Once we’re clear, we’ll have to think of some way
to take the monkey brain down and get away from whatever guards remain after all
the damage we have done.”
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” said Ren. He took a breath. “We better hurry before it’s
too late.”
Marty pushed the side door open. The step ladder almost touched the ground. One of
the Troops swung inside to confront the two humans. The Scout let a bull knock his
enemy back through the door.
“Let’s go,” said Marty. He dispersed the bull as he jumped from the van.
He rolled along the road as the vehicle kept going. He watched as the horde of Troop
registered that he was not within reach any more. They dropped one piece off and
then combined into that core persona.
Ren stood on the side of the road close to where Marty had stopped rolling. He
watched the approaching horde dividing to conquer them. There had to be something
they could do to stop them.
At least the others were getting away and had a chance to defend themselves from
more enemy actions.
“Too bad Finch isn’t here,” said Marty. He climbed to his feet to deal with the
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.problem surging toward them like a wave.
“I know,” said Ren. “She is an excellent fighter, better than both of us combined.”
“Tell me about it,” said Marty.
The van went off the road and crashed against a tree. It remained in place with the
engine running. The tanks holding Cortez and Watson rolled around inside before
coming to a stop beside the crew table.
A purple beam blasted out of the sky as Troop reached Marty and Ren. All of his
bodies combined back into one body. He looked down at his hands. He tried to split
apart again.
He made a noise when nothing happened.
“I think you have lost your powers for the moment,” said Ren. “I think you should
run.”
Troop went for his throat instead. He could break two normal men. He could rip their
arms off with little effort.
Ren stepped back. He pulled a piece of paper from his bag. He waited like a
bullfighter waiting for the bull.
“Are you sure you want to take him on?,” said Marty. He flipped through the
catalogue of animals he had stored in his brain. Some of them could take on the
enemy without breaking a sweat.
“I think I have everything in hand,” said Ren. He walked away from Marty so the
villain had to concentrate on just one of them at a time.
Troop roared and charged the detective. Once he was done with this one, he could
turn on his hands and feet and run the other one down. He reached out with his hands
to grab his quarry.
Ren dodged the attack. He jumped forward. He slapped the piece of paper against
Troop’s head as he passed. The paper burned away. The monkey fell over, arms still
outstretched.
“More hypnotism?,” asked Marty.
“Yes,” said Ren. “We should try to get the van on the road again. There’s no telling
when more of the soldiers will show up.”
“Let’s see if we can get it rolling,” said Marty. “That was really helpful, Cog.
Nullifying his power helped us out of the woods.”
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Cog. “Whatever they are. I took the beam from
a group of soldiers coming this way. They may want to keep up from getting back on
the road.”
“That’s not good,” said Marty. “Let’s look at the van and see if we have a way to get
it moving again.”
The group jogged over to where the van rested. The engine still hummed as it pushed
against the tree. The window was a giant spider web of lines sliced into the plastic.
The front of the van bent inward from the impact.
“Let me back it up,” said Marty. He climbed into the side door. He worked his way
to the front of the vehicle. He slid the seat back so he could sit down around the
wheel that had been shoved forward from the hit. They weren’t driving this thing out
of the park. He cut the ignition.
He climbed out of the seat and headed back to the door. He shook his heads at his
companions.
“Nonoperational?,” said Cog. He could work on it, but it would take time they didn’t
have to fix everything wrong with the van.
“Yeah,” said Marty. “We’re on foot, guys.”
“Let me store the van,” said Ren. “We can try to repair the damage when we are away
from here.”
He pulled out the bottle he had used earlier. He pointed it at the wrecked transport.
It fell inside the mouth of the bottle without a sound.
“What happens to Watson and Cortez while they are in the bottle?,” asked Marty.
“They’ll experience some lost time,” said Ren as he put the bottle away in his bag. “It
will be like they are frozen. When I take the van out of the bottle, they’ll thaw out.”
“Let’s get out of here before we run into any more trouble.” Marty summoned his
dragon. “We talk to the rangers and get a government response to this. Maybe we can
get things going before the rest of the security force run away.”
“If they retreat to their base, it will take months for the government to do anything to
get inside without powered help,” said Cog.
“I will be glad to help them out,” said Marty. He climbed on the back of his living
gunship. “It will tougher to break in, but I can do it now that I have seen the place.”
The dragon started to lift off in a cloud of leaves and dust. It grabbed Ren in one paw
to carry him away. It grabbed Cog in the other. It flapped its tiny wings and swam
into the air.
Men ran out of the forest. They leveled weapons and shot at the beast as it climbed
out of range. Finally someone called for a ceasefire. They had to make plans to get
away from the scene before anything else happened. They had hours to get things
done if they wanted to retain their individual freedom.
“There’s the Ranger office,” said Marty. He pointed at a cabin in the distance. “We’ll
set down there and see if we can get some help.”
“It will take hours for any response,” said Ren. “The staff will be able to evacuate.”
“If we don’t tell someone, we won’t be able to get the law involved,” said Marty.
“You’ll have to keep Watson in your bag without due process for years while we keep
everything to ourselves.”
“I have no problem with that,” said Cog.
“That’s because you’re hiding in some underground labyrinth where villains have to
be powered to come after you,” said Marty.
“I have no problem with that,” said Cog.
Marty shrugged. He had spent the last ten years running. Who was he to tell someone
not to hide their strangeness from others? The difference was in the details as far as
he could see.
“You can work for me when this is settled,” said Ren. “I will be able to graduate, and
set up an agency. I’ll need support staff.”
“I don’t see where I would be good for that,” said Cog. “I am not one for chasing
down clues.”
“You can be my secretary and technology specialist,” said Ren. “Every detective
needs a scientist to figure out clues outside his knowledge.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” said Cog. “That requires constant visitation to my home.
I don’t think you would do that.”
“That’s why phones are useful,” said Ren.
Cog didn’t see how that would change things in the long run, but fell silent.
The dragon landed with a huff of wings and an explosion of gravel from the lot in
front of the Ranger office. It had been done up like a log cabin with the sign and
symbol of the park service on the wall next to the glass front door. People stood at the
window to watch the beast curl up to let its passengers off.
“Let’s see what we can get done,” said Marty. “If we can’t get any help, we’ll have
to try somewhere else.”
“I doubt things will go like we want them,” said Cog.
“We have to do what we can,” said Marty.
“Even if it’s not productive?,” said Cog.
“Especially when it’s not productive,” said Marty.
“I don’t like that at all,” said Cog.
A couple of park rangers walked out of the station. They were built to a type, lean
cowboys in green uniforms, tan hats. One was a bit more beaten by the weather with
sad dark eyes in his craggy face. The younger one looked like he had been given his
badge the day before.
“How’s it going, guys?,” asked Marty. “I need some help.”
“What kind of help?,” asked the senior member. His hand was close to the pistol on
his belt.
“We’ve been kidnaped and escaped our captors,” said Marty. “Their camp was here
in the park. There’s a mess of them so I think you guys might want to call for some
kind of backup before you try to arrest them.”
“That sounds like a load of bull,” said the ranger. “Got any kind of proof?”
“I can show you where we escaped from if that’s what you want,” said Marty. “They
might be destroying the evidence while we’re talking.”
“I can ride up there and take a look see,” said the ranger. “How many guys are we
talking about here?”
“A few dozen,” said Marty. “We didn’t get a complete count of how many were in the
building when we broke out. They’ve got injured to think about unless they left them
behind.”
“Let me get the truck,” said the ranger. “Call this in, MacBride. If it’s real, we’ll need
support from the other districts, the Indian Police, the local sheriffs, and maybe the
FBI.”
“We’re going to believe this loon?,” said MacBride. He gestured at Marty.
“It’s been a long time, but I still owe the Hazard Scouts,” said the older ranger. “Call
it in, starting with our stations. We don’t want our guys involved in a shooting war
if these bad guys are breaking out.”
“Got it,” said MacBride. He walked into the station to start his phone calls.