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46.03% Evolutionary Convict / Chapter 29: Chapter 29 Land Worms

Chapter 29: Chapter 29 Land Worms

"What do you mean, they're all clones?" asked Dustin confused.

Walter glanced up at him, after helping Trey sit up, and said, "We can't have kids normally anymore. Something about inbreeding. I don't remember it all at the moment, but everyone on our station is born using clone technology."

"These two are brothers, and she's their sister. I wonder if everyone on that station of theirs is related?" murmured Granny, checking out her claws and digging something out from under one.

"I think so," answered Walter, sitting down heavily.

Trey was still breathing heavily and staring around him wildly. It looked like he still wasn't with it. Dustin wondered if he had some kind of brain damage from being dead so long.

A crash in the distance had Dustin and Granny on their feet.

"Damn! I was hoping we would have a little bit longer for the poor humans to recover. Oh, well, better get them on their feet. Unless you want to deal with the locals?" Granny looked Dustin up and down, then raised an eyebrow.

"They might have a ship?" he suggested.

"Hardly likely. Planet like this, our best chance is getting to those mountains. That's where we're likely to find a base of any kind. The locals here, are rather dimwitted."

"Granny, what lives on this planet?" asked Walter, trying to get Trey to his feet. The noise seemed to have him panicking.

"My best guess would be giant land worms, and nomadic sand men. Though, I could be wrong."

A memory popped up in Dustin's head and he looked at her.

"Is this the planet where you brought us, looking for sandworm teeth for an idea I had once?"

"I believe so."

"Ah, crap. Those land worms can only be killed from the inside."

"Yep."

Dustin hung his head. Walter and Trey were in no position to walk any further. They needed rest, and Sherry still hadn't woken up. He was going to have to fight whatever was coming.

"Well, shit," he said, turning to head towards whatever had made the noise.

"Language!" shouted Granny.

He shook his head and chuckled. He had gotten his language skills from her.

'PED, will this form handle stomach acid?'

(PROBABLY NOT, WANT ME TO EVOLVE YOU?)

'Probably for the best. I'm about to see the stomach of a very nasty creature. Oh, and it has diamond-like teeth all the way down its throat, if you could help with that too, that would be great.'

(OF COURSE, DUSTIN. INITIATING EVOLUTION.)

His form shrunk only a tiny bit, and the crystal scales started covering his skin. He could feel his hair disappear, and scales covered his eyes.

(EVOLUTION COMPLETE, GOOD LUCK)

'Thanks.'

Breaking into a jog, to keep the worm from reaching the others, he soon saw the dust plume that gave away their location. There were three of them. Now that he thought about it, they never traveled alone, and often fought over their prey, tearing it into pieces. This would be interesting.

Just before he reached them, there was a whining noise behind him, and he ducked, sliding to a stop. A ship flew overhead, blasting bolts of energy at the three worms, and sending them fleeing back the way they had come. He looked up at the ship, as it turned around and flew back towards him.

As it landed, he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Uz'En! This way, hurry before they return!" cried a woman, standing at the open door.

"I have others with me," he called back, pointing back at the hut he had built.

"We'll grab them on the way!" she said, waving for him to hurry.

As Dustin went to jog towards the ship, he suddenly had a strange feeling, and stopped. "I'll meet you there!" he called at her, and started to run for all he was worth, away from the ship.

Behind him, he heard her cuss, and the door slammed shut. The engines revved up, as it prepared to jump back into the air.

'PED, I need to move faster!'

(EVOLUTION INITIATED)

His legs started to get longer, and he was suddenly flying across the ground, eating up the distance.

(EVOLUTION COMPLETE)

Granny saw him coming, and the ship right behind him, because she jumped up and dashed into the hut with the others. When he arrived, she waved for him to join her inside.

He just barely managed to squeeze in, with his super long legs. The ship screamed overhead, and then returned.

"You'll need to kill them quick. They've probably already told their base that they've found you, so reinforcements will be here soon." Granny's breath smelled awful in the enclosed space.

"Who are they?" gasped Dustin, trying to ignore the smell.

Walter was watching in silence, as Trey stared at each of them in terror. Dustin worried that he might not make it off this planet.

"They're human, but they're not our friends." Granny shifted her weight, glancing down at Sherry, who was still unconscious on the ground.

"How did they find us?" asked Walter.

"We just crash landed a ship in their neighborhood. It's kind of hard to miss that," said Dustin. The part that was bothering him, was the fact that they knew he was a Uz'En.

The hum of the ship suddenly stopped, and Dustin looked around in confusion. Walter and Trey were on the ground, holding their heads and spasming. Granny looked terrifying, as her eyes dilated and she started to snarl, her teeth bared in ferocious display. He tried to pull away from her, but she ignored him, darting out of the hut and out of sight.

His eyes went wide when he realized they had used the big gun on him. The Josagn had tried to use one on him once, during a bee swarm, but he had been protected by the shelter he had been in. Glancing back at Walter and Trey, it seemed they were especially susceptible to it.

Sound returned, and he could hear screaming. Poking his head out of the hut, he saw a gaping hole in the side of the ship, and blood was splattered on the inside of the windshield.

"What the hell?" gasped Walter, behind him.

"They tried to use a weapon on us, but it looks like Granny took care of it."

"Who's Granny?" asked Sherry, weakly.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Sdrawkcab Sdrawkcab

Well, I guess they don't have to worry about being too tired to walk...

Chapter 30: Chapter 30 Flight of the Broken Bee

Dustin had easily convinced Walter to get everyone into the ship. He used the nanobots to fix the gaping hole Granny had made in her rage. Then he turned into a slime long enough to eat all of the body remains, cleaning up the blood splatters too.

Granny was sitting in one of the chairs, typing commands in, and waiting for responses.

He left her there, to help Walter get the others into the back. This ship was barely more than a shuttle, so there was limited room for everyone. Trey and Sherry took up the only two beds. Walter gave Trey a tranquilizer so he would calm down and sleep, and Sherry was pretty sure she had some broken ribs that made it hard to breath. They left them in their suits, so if anything happened, they would be safe, then strapped them into the beds so they wouldn't fall out of them if the ride got bumpy.

"This ship isn't designed to warp jump," said Granny when he returned with Walter.

Walter sat heavily in his chair and rubbed his face. He had taken his helmet off while he was wrestling Trey into the ship.

"I don't think I'm capable of flying this ship," he said, glancing briefly at them.

Dustin moved up to the pilot's chair and sat down. It only took him a moment to figure out how to get it off the ground.

"We'll need a better ship then this if we're planning on jumping anywhere," said Granny.

"How long would it take us to just fly there?" asked Dustin.

"Hundred of years," said Walter, confused.

"Right. So, we need to get a better ship." Dustin turned it and started flying in the direction that Granny had said they might find a base of some kind.

"Didn't I just say that? I thought I just said that," complained Granny from her seat behind him.

"Hey, don't be a back-seat driver," Dustin said over his shoulder.

"If I was driving, we would be there by now," she responded.

"What is she, your mom?" asked Walter, confused.

"She's Granny," said Dustin.

"I'm Granny," she said.

They all paused and there was a moment of silence.

"So, Walter, how are you a clone?"

Walter sighed.

"What station do you call home?" asked Granny.

"Station Cessation."

"What?" shouted Dustin, and Granny at the same time.

"What?" asked Walter in confused panic at their reactions.

"How the hell do you call death station home?" demanded Dustin.

"Nice friends you've got here," muttered Granny.

"They're not my friends," said Dustin.

"Death station?" asked Walter, obviously not understanding what they were talking about.

"Fuck! Don't tell me you don't know!" Dustin shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm seriously going to have a panic attack if you don't tell me what you're talking about," said Walter annoyed.

"Station Cessation was formed in order to give old humans a place to peacefully end their lives, only the old weren't the only ones who were sent there. Families, orphans, whoever could be convinced, would be sent there, in order to allow them a peaceful end. Damn, why didn't I think to ask before." Dustin was furious with himself. These people were nothing more than death reapers. No wonder they were trying to go out and 'rescue' everyone.

"I…I think I know what you're talking about," stammered Walter. "But, I learned it a little differently. Whatever the station was designed to do in the beginning, it is only a home now. We try to give people a place to live that isn't harsh, like most of the planets they were sent to, are."

"But what freedom do those people have? Surely there's not enough jobs for them, so what do they do?" asked Granny.

"They get meals at their designated times. There are plenty of things for them to do. We have gardens for them to enjoy, physical activities to enjoy, studies and libraries for them to learn and read."

"But what is their goal? Do they get assigned jobs so they feel like they contribute to the society you have there?"

Walter was quiet. "No, there's not really enough jobs for everyone."

"So, what happens, is they get unhappy, even though there is plenty for them to do, and they end up killing themselves," said Dustin softly. He remembered hearing about it. The station was dubbed death station because it was a horrible place to live. Also, no one was ever allowed to leave.

"We do have a large problem with depression and death…" Walter's voice trailed off. He obviously had never thought about that.

"We're getting close to this base, care to respond to their summons?" asked Dustin.

"Oh! I will!" cackled Granny, picking up the headphones and typing a few keys.

"We're a damaged ship, requesting landing space and a new ship." She sounded very professional, and Dustin fought the urge to whip his head around to make sure she was still Granny.

"I'm sorry, I don't have access to that code, the captain is dead. That person is too. I could put you in touch with the person in charge, but he's currently flying this bird. Thank you."

Taking the headphones off, she typed a few things.

"You'll need to land next to hanger three. And judging from the sizes of those doors, I would say the ship we're looking for is inside hanger two."

Dustin wasn't sure how she had convinced them, but they had a team on the ground waving them over to an open spot on the tarmac. The base before them was huge, having been carved into the sides of the cliffs. The hangar doors were all different sizes, with hanger two being the largest. The question remained as to how they would get everyone moved from this ship, to the other one without getting any of their people killed.

"There's no way they will just let a Gooblen walk calmly over to one of their ships, without throwing a fit," said Walter.

"Don't ever underestimate Granny," said Dustin, standing up from his seat as the ship went through its cool down.

Granny grinned wide, baring all her sharp teeth at Walter. "I'll be just fine. Meet you there!"

Walter and Dustin watched her hop over the seat and scurry down the hall. Shortly after, there was a knock on the outside door.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Sdrawkcab Sdrawkcab

The question he ponders is a good one, but my question is how does Granny do that? Never would anyone just allow that flimsy excuse to fly...

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