Inseminoid (15 page)

He dressed as quickly as he could and went to Karl’s cabin. He considered it so urgent that he couldn’t wait for morning to come.

“Karl, are you up?” Gary said through the door.

“Yeah,” came the reply. “Who is it?”

“Gary. Can I talk to you?”

“It’s late. Can’t it wait till tomorrow?”

“No!” It was almost a plea.

Karl got out of bed, threw on a robe and opened the door. Squinting his eyes into the brightness of the corridor he said, “Come in and tell me what’s so urgent.”

Gary entered the doctor’s cabin. Once the door was closed behind them and he was sure no one else could hear, he related the events of the night. He told Karl in detail about Sandy’s demands, her foul language during the sex act, and the changes he saw in her body.

Through it all, Karl sat hunched over the back of a chair. His cold expression never broke. Finally he asked Gary if that was all there was.

“No, there’s one last thing I think you should see.” With that, Gary took off his tee-shirt and displayed the bite marks.

Karl stood up from the chair and examined the wound. The bites weren’t made by human teeth, of that he was positive. They were inflicted by small, razor-sharp incisors, “Are you sure Sandy did this to you? It looks like an animal bite!”

“Seen any animals around here lately, Doc?”

When Gary had gone, Karl lay back on the bed, turned and stared through the darkness at the ceiling. He didn’t know what to think or what to believe any more. Was there no peace on this Planet of Hell? He recalled how enthusiastic the crew had been on the shuttle that brought them down from Nova. It was a new assignment—a change of scenery—a fresh challenge. But from practically the first day they were there, it had been nothing except trouble and death. All without rhyme or reason. As far as he could tell—and he was sure, lying there in his warm bed—there would be more horror yet to come.

“Why Sandy?” he asked himself. “A gentle woman.” A woman like her didn’t deserve to undergo such an experience. Was there no way he could help her? But what could he do? Nothing during his training or his practical experience came close to preparing him for this.

Karl lay awake for hours. He went over in his mind everything that had occurred; every bit of information Mitch had learned from the tablets. It was like a crossword puzzle in the newspaper. Only he feared he might not be around to get the answers in the next edition.

Karl had to let Holly in on what Gary told him. But it would wait till morning. He couldn’t face it right then—it was that simple. For sure, Holly would want to confront the situation head-on. She was that type of person. Maybe it was an essential quality for a leader, a commander, but Karl wasn’t ready for yet another thunderclap and lightning flash. He was so weary of it all. He’d also talk to Holly about returning to Nova. Even she could see it was time. No—past time. Mark had been right all along but no one listened to him. He’d been there before. He was experienced. Still, they were all so rapped up in their own little worlds they dismissed his calls of warning as the rantings of a fallen hero sucking at the bitter juice of sour grapes. But that was all history now, wasn’t it? What was important was to keep everything from getting further out of control—from falling apart at the seams.

There had to be an examination of Sandy early in the morning. If what Gary had said was accurate, and Karl had no reason to doubt it at this point, he’d lock Sandy up until they could get a shuttle to pick them up. The abortion would be done as soon as possible. It would be for her own good and the good of the crew.

Karl closed his eyes but he didn’t sleep.

Holly was preparing to head to the mess hall for a quick bite to eat. It had been an uneventful night-watch and she hoped the day would continue that way. But when she saw Karl’s drawn, worried face at the door to the control room, she realised she wasn’t going to get her wish.

Even before Karl could speak, she said, “Come on Doc, tell me about it on the way. I hate bad news on an empty stomach.”

Karl waited until they were in the mess hall and they’d both had a cup of strong coffee before ruining her morning.

“I was afraid it was about Sandy. What do you suggest?” she asked. Holly reached across the table for the marmalade and spread it on her toast.

“I want you there when I check her out.”

“Okay.”

“And I want to lock her in her cabin for the duration.”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“I’m afraid it is.” Karl found those words distasteful.

Holly nibbled at her toast and washed it down with the coffee. Karl had destroyed her appetite. “You know, she’ll figure something’s up if I’m there with you. She could get violent.”

“Then we’ll just have to tie her down,” Karl said.

Holly took a last sip from her cup and said, “Let’s get it out of the way.”

They left the mess hall together and walked slowly through the corridor. Neither of them were especially eager to arrive at the infirmary but when they reached it they didn’t linger. They went right in.

Sandy was sitting on the bed wide awake.

Karl forced a smile and tried to act as if nothing was wrong. “Hiya, kid. Sleep well?”

Sandy ignored his overture. She knew Gary had reported her.

“You could at least say good morning!” Karl’s patience was running out.

“Cut the crap! What do you want with me now? Hey, when can I leave this hell-hole anyway? I’m going crazy. It’s like a prison in here.”

Sandy looked terrible. Her blonde hair was oily and her skin had a yellowish hue to it.

“Soon, Sandy. Very soon. But first I need to examine you. And I think it’s time you had the abortion.”

“No,” she said, so softly he barely heard the word.

“No?”

“That’s right. I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to have the baby. And you can’t stop me.”

Karl didn’t like arguing with her but there was a job to be done, distasteful as it was. “Yes, Sandy, I can. I’m the doctor and the decision is all mine. If you want Holly to give the order because she’s the mission commander, I’m sure she’ll oblige.”

Sandy snapped, “I don’t want anything from that bitch! What’s she doing here anyway?”

Holly ignored the profanity. “Sandy, I’m here only to observe. It’s my right.”

Sandy jerked forward and glared. “You don’t have any rights! This is my body and no one is going to touch it. No one!”

“That’s enough!” Karl shouted. “Now, take your shirt off and get on the examining table.”

Sandy refused to move.

“Don’t make me use force,” Karl warned.

“Don’t come near me! You’ll be sorry if you do.”

Karl took a step and reached for Sandy. She withdrew but he kept coming. She was being cornered and like the animal she was becoming she attacked. She sprang on to Karl with cat-like reflexes. She went for his eyes but missed and left a deep gash on his neck.

The doctor counter-attacked, bringing the full force of his open palm hard across Sandy’s face. That sent her sprawling and immediately Karl and Holly were on top of her, pinning her to the bed.

Sandy fought the best she could but was outmanned and ultimately, overpowered. Holly pulled open the front of Sandy’s nightshirt and the buttons came popping off, one after the other.

For a split second all struggling ceased. Sandy’s secret was out in the open and Karl and Holly were mesmerised by it. Her body had undergone a grotesque change. Karl thought fleetingly of Sandy’s beautiful round young breasts. The very breasts he’d kissed and caressed. Not anything like the two grossly misshapen mammary glands that hung, large and bloated, down from her chest and across her stomach—a stomach giving warmth and protection to only God-knew-what!

Then Sandy spat at Karl. Her spittle brought him back to the present faster than a bucket of ice water in the face would have done.

“I’ll hold her down,” he said to Holly. “Get me the syringe from the cabinet. It’s primed and ready to go.”

Sandy knew what it meant. “No, you’ll take my baby while I’m out! I’ll kill you both if you do that. I’ll kill all of you!”

Holly located the hypodermic and returned to the bed.

“That’s it,” Karl said. “Try to keep her still and I’ll find a clean vein.”

With all her strength, Sandy tried to resist and break free. She squirmed so much Karl had difficulty shooting her up. A torrent of obscenities flowed from her mouth. Words Karl hadn’t heard for many years bombarded his senses.

At last he located a large enough vein. He inserted the long forbidding needle under Sandy’s scaley skin. Her flesh had become so tough Karl feared the needle might break in two. But it didn’t and he plunged the tranquilizing drug deep into her bloodstream. In less than a minute, she was under its influence.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

S
andy drifted through a hazy world of dreams. Voices she didn’t recognise were telling her things she didn’t understand. The once-pretty blonde scientist dreamed she was being buried alive, encased in a transparent glass coffin. Around the grave site were Karl, Holly and the rest of the crew. Her mother was there as was her father. Dancing atop the coffin were a dozen, maybe more, smiling laughing babies.

The faces were caricatures singing, “We spit on your grave. We spit on your grave.”

“But I’m alive,” she screamed. “Don’t bury me this way.” Tears ran down Sandy’s cheeks, but the mourners didn’t see them. Clumps of earth fell on to the top of the coffin and gradually it became darker.

Sandy tried to break the glass. She needed to tell them they were making a mistake, but her hands and feet were nailed to the coffin and she couldn’t move. The coffin was being lowered. “No, please no!” she screamed.

Suddenly Sandy opened her eyes. She was perspiring heavily. Then, glancing around the room she remembered where she was. It was the infirmary. It had been only a very bad dream.

“Karl,” she called out.

But Karl wasn’t there. He’d gone to the lab to get utensils he’d need for the abortion.

Sandy attempted to sit up but couldn’t because Karl had strapped her to the bed after she was knocked out by the drug.

Sandy remembered that terrible experience and barely stifled a scream. “Why?” she asked “Why are they doing this to me?”

Just then she felt a kick inside her womb and she knew. “They’re trying to take my baby.”

Sandy struggled, pulling and squirming beneath her bonds but it was a wasted effort. She wasn’t going anywhere. They had seen to that. She had to do something. She mustn’t allow them to perform the abortion. And seemingly to underscore her determination the life within her kicked again.

Sandy wailed. It was a pitiful sound. But Karl was returning. She could hear his footsteps coming towards her. Sandy closed her eyes and kept very still. She pretended to be asleep. She needed more time to think of a way to get herself free. For freedom was the primary objective at this point: that and to destroy all those who might stand in her way.

Karl entered the infirmary, giving Sandy a long hard look.

“Are you awake?”

She lay still.

Karl moved closer. He watched her but she still didn’t budge. The time wasn’t yet right. She knew that if she waited he’d get careless and the she’d make her break.

Satisfied that Sandy was still part of another world, Karl turned his back on her and prepared for the final series of tests that would ultimately lead to the abortion.

The woman’s stomach had grown even larger. Karl had to find out how far along the pregnancy was. It would make a difference in the way he’d approach the operation. Another pregnancy test, though, meant moving her to the scanner. As long as she was still in a drug-induced sleep he didn’t expect that would be a problem.

Karl went to the sink and scrubbed up. Then he returned to Sandy. “Can you hear me?” He spoke louder than he’d done before. He needed to make sure she was sound asleep. She didn’t move and he was satisfied. The time had come.

He loosened the leather strap around her chest. It had been so tight that it left deep red indentations on her breasts. Next, he reached for the strap binding her legs together and unfastened that as well.

It won’t be long now,
Sandy thought.

Karl slipped his arms under her naked body, lifting her off the bed. Cradling the young woman in his arms he felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. She deserved better. At that moment, he promised that he’d see to it she received the best medical treatment available when they returned to the space station. If she couldn’t be helped on Nova, well, then he’d take her personally to Earth. Karl would make sure Sandy’d be normal again.

He was lowering her on to the scanner when she made her move. Without a second’s warning, Sandy dug her sharp claw-like fingers into Karl’s face.

Karl was surprised and he cried out in extreme pain. Sandy struck again. He lost his balance and dropped her from his arms. She landed on the edge of the scanner but was quickly on top of Karl, pouncing hard with her newfound strength. In no time at all she had the better of him. There was no way he could match her. He was at her mercy.

Suddenly Sandy remembered the others—that they’d be returning—and she forgot Karl. She left him where he lay and bolted through the portal into the corridor.

The doctor struggled to his feet and reached Holly on the communicator. “She’s free,” he shouted in the small box on the wall. “She attacked me!”

“Are you hurt?” Holly called back to him.

Karl tried to catch his breath. “No. But she’s on the move. Sound the alarm!”

Holly hit the red emergency button and the siren rang out. The commander then brought up all the monitors and signalled for Mark and Gary on their personal communicators.

“What’s up?” Mark asked.

“Sandy’s loose. She must be recaptured.”

“That shouldn’t be too tough. Why the alarm?” Mark, wondered.

“She’s lost control. She’s become violent.”

“Violent? Sandy? Come on.” He couldn’t believe it.

Holly was insistent. “That’s an order! Approach Sandy with extreme care. Consider this a code-one emergency. Acknowledge.”