The bellowing cow, which was less impressed, raised its head feebly.
Stanislav retrieved the weapon from Waldemar. “Now we’ve seen it in action, we have work to do.” He turned to Krisztina. “Switch off the cameras, collect the memory cards and transfer the footage onto my computer so I can upload it to the Kremlin.”
“Yes, Director Stanislav,” replied Krisztina.
Talking excitedly, the others left the room.
Krisztina crossed the room and spoke into the intercom. “They’ve gone.”
Luka entered and moved to the wide-eyed cow struggling to its feet. He calmed it with soft words and stroked and patted its neck. Though a bit wobbly, it remained on its feet. He led it from the room, and returning a few moments later, he approached Krisztina.
“It’s a weapon that has got you lot excited?”
Krisztina ejected the memory card from one of the cameras and slipped it in a pocket. “You know I can’t talk about it.”
Luka grabbed her arm gently, spun her around and pulled her tight to him. “I’ve seen enough to know I’m right.”
“Then you’ve seen too much. You know how this works. Ignorance keeps you safe.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let on.”
They kissed.
“Will you be able to slip into my room again tonight?”
Krisztina unwound herself from his arms and crossed to the second camera. “I’ll see. It depends on my work. Everyone is eager to continue with the project, so I might have a few late nights ahead.”
“You will try though?” asked Luka, hopefully.
Krisztina smiled. “Of course.” She ejected the memory card from the second camera and after giving Luka a kiss, headed for the door and left.
Luka sighed again when he glanced around at the carnage he would have to clear up. He might also be working late. He headed for the pig’s carcass. His first job was to get it to the kitchen, so he could carve it up, freeze some and then start preparing dinner. He grabbed its hind legs and dragged it from the room.
CHAPTER 3
Growing Pains
EV1L paused at an intersection in the airduct and focused its senses along the four possible routes: left, right, ahead and down. Animal noises it failed to recognize drifted from below. It dropped into the chute and crawled along the vent towards the sounds. Pausing at the grille of horizontal slatted bars, EV1L observed the creatures trapped in cages that lined two sides of the room. It slithered between the slats and dropped onto the rack of cages.
Boris, sleeping off the food prepared by his human friend, opened an eye lazily and turned his head to the faint thud on the cage opposite. Sensing the menace emanating from the strange black blob, he remained still and observed what it would do. The spider monkeys in the adjoining cage screeched aggressively at the blob, setting the other animals into a frenzy; the three beagles barked, the rabbits trembled and cowered in a group and the mice twitched their noses and tried to clamber onto the wheel being frantically rotated by the first mouse to claim it.
EV1L ignored the animals’ fear and panic as it moved along the cages in hunt of a suitable victim. It halted at one of the cages and observed the small white creatures scurrying around their prison. It seeped through the wire mesh and hung from a glutinous thread until one of the long-tailed creatures passed below. It dropped onto its back and began its absorbing process. The mouse screeched and shook frantically for a few seconds before falling still. EV1L pulsed with delight as the creature’s flesh invigorated its form. The other mice in the cage fell to terrified silence as they witnessed the demise of one of their brethren. Fearing they would be next, they frantically started chewing on the wire mesh trapping them. Some were so desperate to escape they broke teeth trying to chew through the metal confining them.
After a few minutes nothing remained of the mouse EV1L had consumed. No bones, blood or organs, not even a whisker remained; it was as if it had never existed. Needing more sustenance to regain its full strength and size, much more, it focused on its victims at the end of the cage as it slithered towards them. The rodents’ terrified expressions and shaking bodies were reflected in EV1L’s shiny, tar-like mass.
Weary from his day’s toil, Luka slumped into the comfortable armchair facing the television. Both were some of the few luxuries he had managed to bring with him. He glanced at the wall clock and Stalin’s face behind the hands that stared at him, a clock that was once a reminder that the tyrant controlled every second of Russian life and was always watching you. It was almost time for his favorite TV program. Though the signal was lousy way out here, it was just about watchable. He aimed the clunky TV remote at the small screen and switched it on. As he reached for the bottle of vodka on the small table beside the chair, he cocked an ear at the door. Wondering what had riled up the animals, he climbed out of the chair and strode for the exit.
A few steps along the corridor, he peered through the window set into the door of the animal housing room and scanned the room lit by dim lighting. The agitated animals within his view seemed to be focused on a single cage. He opened the door and stepped inside.
“Zatknis (shut the hell up) the lot of you!”
The animals calmed on hearing Luka’s voice. Unlike most of the humans they had contact with, he had always treated them kindly and fed them.
Luka crossed to the cage the surrounding animals looked at and was surprised to see the mice that should have been inside weren’t there. With puzzlement creasing his brow, he checked the cage door was secure—it was—and then for any holes in the mesh—there weren’t any. His bafflement increased when he noticed a scattering of rodent teeth outside one end of the cage. He glanced around the room for the missing rodents that had somehow escaped.
After walking the length of the room checking every nook and cranny, he found no sign of the mice. As he pondered the dilemma, he concluded one of the scientists upstairs must have taken them while he had been clearing up their mess and preparing their dinner. It was the only logical explanation. He fumed that they would do such a thing. Protocol bade them to inform him of their animal requirements in advance. Except when it came to the animals under his care, he didn’t have any authority over the higher ranked scientists. That they dared to enter his domain and take them without his permission was breaking the rules and left his records in error. It was something that would not be looked kindly on when discovered by his superiors. Someone would pay for this affront, and he was determined it wouldn’t be him. He stormed from the room to find out who was responsible.
Oblivious to the problems it had caused Luka, EV1L draped its form, tripled in size from its rodent feast, around a warm pipe on the ceiling and settled down to let the nourishment it had absorbed rejuvenate its form. It wouldn’t take long, and then it would return to the captive animals and feast some more. It would take some time, but when it was large and powerful enough, it would visit the humans. Soon it would be able to breed, and as soon as they were strong enough, they would find a way out of this place to feed upon more humans and conquer their world.
Half an hour later, Luka returned with the first scientist he had confronted.
“I assure you, Comrade Luka, none of us have touched your precious rodents,” argued Waldemar for the third time since Luka had accosted him when he stepped from the restroom. Though he had adamantly denied any of them had touched his precious animals, Luka was just as adamant they had. To placate the man, he had agreed to go with Luka to find out what had happened to them.
Luka glanced at Boris shaking the door of his enclosure and pointing at one the cages opposite. He waved an arm at him to calm down before turning to the empty mouse cage. “Then how do you explain that!?”