Jam
Part 2
by Jill Weber (MFCarpet at aol.com)
8/24/01
BZZZ... rppt... BRAPT... zhing WAH WAH WAH!
Hunter jerked upright. "STOP! Enough! ‘m ‘wake already," he grumped
into the comm mike. He slumped back into his seat when memory kicked in. He
sighed and wished for a handful of aspirin and something to wash it down
with.
"Dwayne?" Jo’s voice was uncertain.
"If you dialed a wrong number, I will glory stomp you," grumbled
Hunter.
There was a long pause on the other side and Hunter could imagine
his crew exchanging worried looks.
"Dwayne, how’s the oxygen in there?"
"It’s a joke, okay?" he sighed.
"Since when did he have a sense of humor?" Mack grumbled.
"Maybe we do have a wrong number," Jo responded.
Hunter managed a faint smile. Not that his crew could see him. The
video pickups were still out. "I do too have a sense of humor, I put up
with you, don’t I?"
Big Guy gave a lurch, which set didn’t do Hunter’s head any good at
all. After a few moments to orient himself, he decided that Big Guy was
being dragged on his right side. "So, what’s my status?"
There was hemming and hawing on the other end of the mike, which
Hunter interpreted as being bad news. "I take it Slate and Garth’s
experiment didn’t pan out," he said. Then he added. "Duh."
"So far, Slate’s stumped," Jo confessed. "She and Garth and Thorton
have tried everything short of a nuclear missile."
"They’ve tried cold, heat, acid...." Mack recited.
"Every form of radiation on the spectrum," Jo said.
Hunter cleared his throat. "What about water?" he asked dryly. As he
spoke he methodically went through his reboot sequences to see if he could
power up any of his instruments. Something dripped onto his arm and he
scowled at it. Then he looked up at where Big Guy's right arm should have
been connected and scowled at the line of gunk that was creeping in through
the breach.
"They tried high pressure fire hoses," Mack said. "Not to mention
steam and ice... oh, that would come under heat and cold, wouldn’t it?"
"They also tried smothering it in C02," Jo said. "Apparently it
doesn’t need oxygen." She paused. "Speaking of C02, how are the levels in
your cockpit?"
Hunter tapped the gauges that measured this sort of thing and shook
his head. This, he decided, was a stupid reaction. The crew couldn’t see
his head gesture and it started his headache up again. "I can’t tell," he
said. "The gauges aren’t functioning." He took a tentative breath. "The
air’s pretty smoky, though," he added. "Smells like fried insulation."
"Wonderful. Any more happy news?" Mack inquired.
"The gunk is leaking in," Hunter said obligingly.
Mack’s reply was not printable.
"Have you tried sonics?" Hunter asked.
"Yep," Mack said: "Sonics, ultrasonics, subsonics..."
"Okaaaay, so what haven’t you tried?"
Jo sighed. "We’re out of ideas, Lieutenant," she said.
"That’s why we decided to disrupt your beauty sleep," Mack added.
"We were hoping that you’d have some really clever idea."
"I suppose asking nicely is out of the question," Hunter sighed.
"It doesn’t seem to have a central nervous system, Lieutenant,"
Slate’s calm voice broke in.
Hunter was surprised at how much better he felt just hearing her.
"So, no chance of opening up any meaningful dialogue?" Hunter remembered
the time when Slate actually had been able to talk the "monster" into
releasing him. Of course, the "monster" had actually been a bunch of
Slate’s creations, and they hadn’t really been bad. They’d just been...
jealous.
"I’m afraid not," Slate said regretfully. "How are you holding up?"
she added.
"Oh, I’ve been in worse jams," Hunter said mildly. He paused, then
added. "Can’t think of any offhand, but there must have been something."
There was a long pause.
"I have a strange sense of humor, Doc," Hunter added. "Get used to
it."
"I’ve noticed," Slate responded with a touch of irony. "It’s just
that you’ve given me an idea."
"Oh, good. What'd I say?"
"It’s this negotiation business," Slate said. "So far, all our
efforts have been directed at destroying the monster, or forcing it to
release Big Guy. Maybe we need to try a gentler approach."
"You just said it was too stupid to negotiate with," Mack said.
"That doesn’t mean it can’t be coaxed," Garth jumped into the
conversation here.
"How?" Jo asked.
"All living organisms have basic needs," Slate said. "And I’d be
willing to bet that this creature is looking for food."
"So, what do big blobs of jelly eat?" Hunter asked.
"Peanut butter?" Mack suggested.
Hunter could almost hear icy glares converging on Mack’s head. Or
maybe it was just some icy bits of blob dripping down his neck.
"Mack...." growled Jo.
"Hey, just trying to live down to the Lieutenant’s example," Mack
protested.
"It’s passed over quite a bit of plant life in its travels," Slate
said. "Including some vegetable gardens. Apparently, it hasn’t ingested
anything. This, combined with its attraction to movement, seems to suggest
that this thing is carnivorous."
Hunter felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Panic blossomed in
his chest and threatened to overwhelm him. He took a deep breath and yanked
his emotions back under control. After a minute or two to regain control of
his voice, he cleared his throat and said: "Oh, guys, did I mention that
Big Guy is leaking and this stuff is getting all over me?"
On to Part 3!
Back to part 1B
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