“And you think there’s one of them right here on Verdia,” Petra said. “In that tower at the north pole?”
“The more I think about it the more certain I am.” Jan clenched his fists as fury boiled through his mind, driving out his former fatalistic acceptance of his brother’s death. “Bari and all the others were murdered by some kind of thing. It’s only a couple of kilometres away—skulking in that tower—and there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s too powerful. It can turn back an army attack. In fact, the better equipped any force which went against it, the more certain it would be of winning—because there would be more weapons to turn against the attackers.”
Listening to Jan’s words, Petra felt a cool tingling along her spine as a strange idea took shape in her mind. Could the alien’s strength also be its weakness? Could those very attributes which made it so all-powerful also contain the seeds of its defeat?
“What if somebody attacked the monster without any weapons?” she said thoughtfully, almost as if musing aloud.
Jan snorted. “I can think of much better ways to commit suicide.”
“I don’t mean with no weapons at all. I mean with weapons that the monster wouldn’t be aware of…wouldn’t be able to control…like our swords and bows. That’s why they were made of plastic in the first place, isn’t it?”
“My God!” Jan went rigid with excitement. “You’re absolutely right! Just think—if we could approach the tower undetected, and get inside it with our swords, we’d be a bigger threat to the monster than an entire army equipped with modern weapons!”
Jan fell silent for a moment as he explored the new idea and its implications. It was ironic to think of man’s simplest and most basic weapon, hardly changed since the days of the Roman empire, being more effective than a full squadron of battle tanks or warplanes. His heart began a steady and powerful pounding as he considered putting the plan into action. Everything seemed quiet on the plain surrounding their refuge on the rocky knoll. If the alien was making the mistake of presuming them dead, all they had to do was slip quietly away into the jungle and make their way to the tower.
“This changes everything, doesn’t it, Jan?” Petra’s voice was quiet but intense. “You know where your enemy is now—and you want to go after it.”
“Yes, but…”Jan hesitated.
“But what?”
“It’s going to be bloody dangerous going into that tower…there’s a very good chance of not coming out again…and it was my brother who was killed.”
Petra gave an impatient sigh. “Jan, are you trying to say that this is a personal thing? That I’m not really involved?”
“I…I suppose that’s about it.”
“Well, think again,” Petra said firmly. “How many innocent people has that beast killed? Hundreds of humans; perhaps millions of Verdians. No, Jan, this isn’t a personal matter—it’s an all-out war between that monster and the entire human race. Both of us happen to be in the front line, and both of us are taking the enemy on.”
Jan nodded gratefully. “Thanks, Petra. I guess I…” He broke off as—abruptly—the stillness outside the ruin was shattered by the clanking of armour and machinery.
The two friends crawled rapidly out of the makeshift hideout, half-rose to their feet and peered over the ruin’s perimeter wall. The scene which met their eyes caused them to step back from the wall, dry-mouthed with dread.
A military bridge-laying machine was in the process of spanning the moat with massive steel girders, and beyond it several tanks were already rolling forward, ready to surge on to the knoll as soon as the way had been prepared. The death hunt was on again!
Chapter Eight
Side by side, they climbed the low wall and dropped down to the path which ran around the perimeter of the ruined building. It may have been a trick of the imagination, but it seemed that the mechanical uproar from the war machines had increased as soon as they came into the open.
“Perhaps there’s another bridge at the opposite side of the hill.” Petra kept her voice firm, giving no indication of the fresh fears that had begun to seethe within her.
“Let’s see!”
As they sprinted to the other side of the knoll it became apparent that the noise from the lumbering machines actually was louder and more insistent. The implication was that the alien being, in spite of being two kilometres away, knew exactly where its human adversaries were at any given moment and was able to direct its mechanical slaves to them.
“The monster knows where we are,” Petra said. “I wonder how it does that.”
“All I can think of is that it must be some kind of electrical trick,” Jan breathed, struggling to keep pace with Petra on the narrow path. “The alien’s nervous system might act a bit like a radar set, spreading some kind of electrical field out for kilometres on all sides.”
“I see! Our brains work with electrical impulses, don’t they? That could cause a local disturbance in the alien’s own field, letting it pinpoint where we are at any…” Petra broke off as they stumbled to a halt at the rear of the knoll, their hopes of finding another bridge abruptly shattered. The moat’s implacable dark waters barred their way.
A thunderous booming vibration was suddenly added to the sounds coming from behind them, and they knew only too well what it meant. The military bridge had been completed and the tanks had already begun to cross it. “We’ll have to swim for it,” Jan said tersely.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Petra replied. “Are you ready?”
“Ready!”
Aware that they had only seconds in hand, they scrambled down the steep slope towards the moat. Jan was slightly in the lead as they reached the edge. He took a deep breath in preparation for the two-metre dive into the water, and had actually begun the forward plunge when he saw something which contorted his face with dread.
The water of the moat was alive with glistening black shapes which were cruising like sharks just below the surface.
“The fish!” Petra cried. “Watch out for the…”
Jan pulled back, fighting to retain his balance, but his feet slipped on the slimy rock. As he fell he twisted in the air and grabbed with both hands at the vines which seemed to grow everywhere on Verdia. His fingers clamped on the ropy foliage, which perversely tore away from the rock, but by then Petra had leaned down and gripped one of his wrists, checking his descent. He found a foothold and was able to work his way on to a ledge just above the water.
He signalled for Petra to join him and she immediately lowered herself over the stony edge. Bodies taut with urgency, they looked down and Petra got her first look at the hideous denizens of the moat. This close to the water they could see more detail of the creatures which swarmed just below the surface. They were black, several metres in length, and seemed to combine the attributes of shark and squid—torpedo-shaped forebodies terminating in clusters of tentacles. As Jan and Petra gazed down at the creatures with repugnance, one of them momentarily opened its mouth to reveal rows of jagged teeth. The sight left no doubt at all that a plunge into the murky waters of the moat would mean near-instantaneous death.
“Ugh!” Petra shuddered in revulsion. “We’ll have to forget about swimming.”
“I know,” Jan replied, trying not to show his despair. “But we have to do something—and soon!”