Invisible Death

Storm Troopers

The VW bug stopped at the foot of the hill. It could go no further. From that point on, the occupants would have to proceed up on foot. The first one out was the tallest man, dressed in black from head to toe, in sturdy jeans, a black turtleneck shirt, hiking boots and a cap on his head. He extricated his long legs from the driver's seat.

Next, the shorter, older man, similarly dressed in black, climbed out of the small car's passenger's seat and pulled the back of the seat to the front, so the rider in the back could climb out. He offered a hand to help the young woman step out of the vehicle. After the girl was out, the older man carefully closed the bug's door and lightly brushed his hand over the top of the small car, a longing smile dancing on his lips. Of all cars he had purchased throughout his life, the Mustangs, the BMWs, one car held a special place in his heart, the first one he'd bought with his own money, and it had been a VW beetle, a convertible one! That wasn't a car; it was a friend, a most trustworthy friend.

The man looked up at the sky. It was a clear, starry night, but there was no moon. So much the better, it would be harder to spot them finding their way in the bushes, looking for a cave that would take them deep into the mountain itself. The man turned to the young woman standing next to him, took her hand in his and kissed the palm, looking into her eyes that shone in the dark. "Thank you, Emilia, for everything. I don't think we could have fulfilled this assignment without your help. You were a Godsend."

The young woman thanked her lucky star, now certainly shining up above her, together with her sisters of the Southern Cross, for this night was a moonless one, lest she would be seen blushing furiously. "Perhaps I should thank you, Dr. Kane, for showing me another reality, for confirming a few things I already suspected about new mutants."

"You knew them to be true in your heart, Emilia." Adam pointed the mountain to Brennan, signaling he should go on to the place where they would meet with Terra, the rat feral. "If I can impose on you a little longer, please, wait for Shalimar. She'll be down shortly. Take her back to the Vindicator."

"It's no imposition, Dr. Kane." Emilia Ramos, registered nurse who'd been taught from infancy that mutants were not human beings, but genetically engineered weapons created to dominate Humanity, held on to Adam's hand and gave the older man a peck on the cheek. "By the way," she joked, "I like you better this way."

"This way... how?"

"Clean shaven," she laughed softly and let go of his hand. "Good luck, and may you find the lady with the big, black eyes and the scar on her back alive and unharmed."

Adam nodded in the dark and left the woman to wait for Shalimar. He quickly found the trail leading up the hill. The light was very dim and he could barely see his way through the bush. He negotiated his way up more through touch than sight; whatever luminosity trickled down through the thick foliage was rapidly lost in the darkness under the trees.

Using branches and rocks to pull himself up, Adam found his way to the clearing where a very small campfire burned, now almost totally reduced to embers. Next to the fire, he could see the familiar silhouette of the slender and lithe Shalimar sketched against mountain wall. A few feet away, sitting on her haunches, Terra, the rat feral, chewed on something whitish and tossed remains over her shoulder. Brennan was standing behind Shalimar, his hands on his hips, as he looked around, amazed at the "sky on the ground", the myriad of blinking little red stars denouncing the presence of Terra's pack of rodents.

"Bienvenido, señor," greeted Terra, speaking with her mouth full. "Are you hungry? Do you want to share my meal?" The rat woman showed the gutted carcass of a small animal, possibly a goat. "Your cat has declined."