Venomous
Chapter Seven
Kaveman, CG and Connor stopped by the Commander's office before heading to the Mess hall. The captured enemy pilot and his shuttle were a valuable asset to their side, the Commander informed them, gratefully. After what Kaveman had told him about the possiblility of hidden jump points, something they had already suspected, they were sure that the enemy would be able to gain them a strategic advantage, provided he complied with their interrogation...
He congratulated Kaveman warmly, insisting that if he or his team needed anything, just to be sure and ask.
General Pepper had left coordinates, objectives and additional base locations for them to peruse. Their next mission time frame wasn't for three days, so they had been requested to maintain their position at present until then.
"I've assigned quarters for the four of you in the pilot's wing." the Commander said to Kaveman and Connor.
CG nodded.
"Yeah," he said to them, "I know where they are, I'll show you after you guys eat..." Connor and Kaveman shook the Commander's furry paw, grateful for all he'd done for them, then followed CG to the Mess.
Cole was waiting for them, sitting at the same table he and CG had earlier occupied. He waved them over.
Connor looked at him warily as they approached, but Cole gave no indication of being upset about what had transpired earlier.
Still... Connor thought, ...I don't trust him. He's gotta be pissed, he just ain't showing it... She sat down, still eyeing Cole, but eager to hear what had happened to Kaveman, allowing herself to concentrate on the meal and conversation instead of analyzing Cole's strange behavior.
After their meal, CG and Cole led Kaveman and Connor to their quarters. They'd been assigned to four adjoining private cabins, each with it's own washroom facilities, and although each was furnished in standard military spec, it was still quite a step up from the barracks they'd first shared.
CG had taken the end cabin and Cole, the next one adjoining. Kaveman insisted on the quarters next to Cole's, while Connor happily took the other end cabin.
Kaveman had also been curious about Cole's lack of animosity in the Mess hall, although he hadn't mentioned it.
At least, Kaveman thought, if I'm between them, hopefully, they won't be at each other's throats all the time...
They all adjourned into their cabins. Connor was anxious to hit the shower and relax. Kaveman was thinking along the same lines, but he was curious about the rest of the base, nevertheless.
CG wanted to spruce up a bit and head out to the rec. room, hopefully to find some alien females in need of a little companionship.
Cole entered his quarters and closed his cabin door behind him, locking it. He crossed over to his bed and stretched out on it, staring at the ceiling as he started thinking of a way to pay them all back...
After a long shower, Connor stepped out of the steam filled bathroom, feeling wonderfully better. She grabbed a robe out of the small closet, throwing it on, and proceeded to vigorously towel dry her hair, heading back into the bathroom to hang her towel up.
She heard a knock at the door connecting her cabin to Kaveman's. Hurridly hanging the towel, and shaking her head, flinging drops all around her, she ran her fingers through her wet hair so she could see and walked over, opening the door.
Kaveman, somewhat surprised to see her disheveled appearance, apologized and started to close the door.
"Wait..." Connor said, cracking up, and motioning him to come in, "it's ok..."
Kaveman, wearing a pair of khaki pants and a white tee, his own hair still damp, closed the door behind him as her walked over to the bed and sat down. His was wearing socks, but no boots. Connor was looking through the closet, searching for something to wear.
"Do you have any shoes in there?" Kaveman asked her.
She glanced at him, puzzled, then looked down at the bottom of the closet. She reached down and picked up a pair of combat boots, standard issue. She held them up for him to see. "Don't you have any?" she asked, slightly amused.
Kaveman growled, then got up and went over to the in-base comm panel unit next to the main door of Connor's cabin. As he called in a request for some footgear, Connor selected a comfortable looking dark green jumpsuit and headed into the washroom to change. When she emerged, Kaveman was at the door, accepting a pair of boots from one of the housing staff. He sat down heavily on the end of the bed and disgruntedly pulled them on.
Laughing, Connor came over and flopped down on the bed, stretching out on her back, yawning. Kaveman glanced at her as he continued lacing up his shoes.
"You gonna stay here?" he asked.
She looked at him lazily. "Oh, I don't know..." she said, "You going down to the rec. room?"
Kaveman nodded, finishing with his boots and sitting up, turning to face her.
"CG headed down. I thought I might either see what he's up to, or just walk around the compound, see if there's anything interesting..."
Connor thought for a moment, turning on her side and propping herself up with an elbow. She looked at him seriously.
"What's up with Cole?" she asked, suspiciously.
Kaveman breathed in deeply, pondering for a moment. He motioned her to move over, which she did, and Kaveman stretched out beside her on the bed, lying on his stomach, resting on his forearms.
"He's still in his quarters, I think."
Connor looked at him. "You know he's gotta be mad at me... so what was that act in the Mess hall?? I mean, he acted like nothing happened..."
Kaveman shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno, but you can bet he hasn't forgotten... I don't trust him... I bet he's sitting in his cabin right now, thinking off some hair-brained way to get even with us." Connor solemnly nodded in agreement, looking somewhat apprehensive. Kaveman got up and, stepping over to the closet, pulled out a pair of socks and Connor's boots, handing them to her as she sat up and took them from him, questioningly.
"Come on," he said, "let's check this place out..."
Peering into the rec. room, Connor and Kaveman saw CG sitting at a table over by the bar, talking to a couple of obviously female humanoids. One looked like a cat, and the other was...
"She's a Mink!" Connor exclaimed, as Kaveman raised his eyebrows in surprise, having been wondering the same thing as Connor, apparently...
CG was nursing a pint of what looked like brown ale, and the two gals, such as they were, laughed merrily as he was recounting some sort of amusing tale to them. Kaveman and Connor, looking at each other and cracking up, left to see what else was going on around the base.
They found their way outside and looking around them in the darkness, Kaveman spotted what looked like a shooting range.
"Hey!" he said, "Wanna check it out?" Connor nodded enthusiastically, so they walked over.
As they approached, they noticed that there seemed to be no one in attendance, although the weapons room was lighted and the outside targets were lit up.
They tried the door to the weapons room, and finding it unlocked, ventured inside.
"Anyone here?" Kaveman called, experimentally.
There was no answer, so Connor and Kaveman decided to have a go on the indoor range. Walking over to the weapons locker and choosing a pistol, Connor couldn't help feeling that this was a little strange...
"Shouldn't there be someone here?" she said, looking at Kaveman, uncertainly. He picked up a pistol too, checking around for ammo.
"Well..." he replied, finding a drawerful and handing some to Connor, who proceeded to load her weapon. "I'd think so... but if there's anything funny going on..." he said, loaded his own weapon, "at least we're armed..."
He snapped the chamber shut and tossed a box of ammo to Connor, which she caught, taking another one for himself. Connor nodded, although she couldn't help feeling like they shouldn't be there.
Kaveman walked up to one of the windows, and, pulling on the goggles and ear protectors, he hit a button, activating an automatic target on the other side of the room in front of his lane.
Connor, two windows down, did the same, pulling on her protective gear and setting her own target. The gunshots reverbated off the walls as Connor and Kaveman practiced their marksmanship, unaware that someone had silently come into the room while they concentrated.
Cole, standing in the shadows behind Connor and Kaveman, watching them, knew it would be risky to try anything as long as they were both armed. He had snuck up and taken a pistol off the wall, grabbing a handful of ammo and loading it.
Now, with the pistol tucked behind him in the waistband of his pants, he watched them from the back of the room for a few more minutes, wondering exactly how he should proceed.
...Do I want to kill them?...he thought.
He shook his head. ...No. I just want them to know that they can't keep pushing me around, making me the butt of their jokes... He frowned, starting to feel anger rising up inside him.
...But, then again... He narrowed his eyes, watching Kaveman and Connor.
...Those two make me sick... always defending each other and ganging up on me...
He shook his head, filled with disgust at the thought.
...And CG, he just follows them around like their little lap dog... Maybe they DO deserve to die... Connor thinks I'm nothing but a little kid... Well, we'll see if she feels differently when it's just her and me...
He became so infuriated, before he even knew what he was doing, Cole reached behind him, pulling out the gun. Stepping out of the shadows toward Kaveman and Connor, he stopped, feeling his heart pounding inside his chest.
He drew his weapon up and aimed it at Kaveman's back, dead center, as his finger, almost of it's own accord, slowly squeezed the trigger...
Connor, out of the corner of her eye, thought she saw something move behind Kaveman. Whipping around, her mind registered, in absolute horror, the sight of Cole aiming a gun at Kaveman!
Cole, just as he squeezed the trigger, jerked as he saw Connor wheel around, spotting him, and the shot went wide, missing Kaveman completely as Kaveman spun around, instinctively ducking, wondering what the hell was going on.
Connor didn't hesitate to level her gun and fire, emptying the last four chambers directly into Cole's chest, seeing, as if in slow motion, four holes suddenly seem to blow outward from inside him, flinging bits of his flightsuit and blood in a generous spray.
Cole flew backwards as if forcefully shoved, hitting a wall behind him and dropping like a stone, face down on the ground, not moving. The wall where he'd hit looked like someone had suddenly let loose on it with a can of crimson spray paint. It was starting to run... Cole's back had a mirror image of the holes on his chest, but these were bigger, the red of his blood so vivid, it almost looked fake.
A pool of (...tomato juice???, Connor almost laughed in spite of herself...It almost looks like tomato juice!!...) blood was starting to pool out from beneath the still form. Kaveman let out a yell, realizing what had just happened, and he rushed over to Cole, kneeling down quickly and grabbing the gun out of his hand, tossing it behind him.
Connor, frozen to the spot, started to shake, the bizarre scene starting to sink in, as Kaveman, checking for a pulse and realizing that Cole was already dead, turned to look at her, shocked.
Oh my god, oh my god… What the fuck did I just do?????
Connor felt her knees start to buckle, and she sank to the ground, stunned. Glancing in disgust at the weapon still clutched in her hands, she gasped, quickly throwing it off to the side as if it had burned her. The room suddenly started to feel like it was closing in on her, the walls and ceiling starting to weave in her sight, and she staggered to her feet, needing to get out of there, FAST! …This isn't happening, this CAN'T be REAL…
She took off out the door, stumbling, nearly going down, trying to put as much distance between herself and the nightmare she'd just experienced.
Kaveman jumped to his feet, taking off after Connor, just being able to make her out in the blue moonlight, heading off away from the compound and out to the grasslands beyond. He ran as fast as he could, trying to catch up with her, but she was drawing away from him.
"CONNOR!!!" he yelled, hoping she'd stop.
Remarkably, she did!
Skidding to a stop, she wheeled around, breathing hard, spotting Kaveman. She sat down hard on the grass, covering her face with her hands with a groan, as if to blot out the memory of what she'd done... Kaveman caught up with her and dropped down beside her, panting. She looked at him, horrified.
"Is he?... is he?..." she couldn't even say it.
Kaveman, knowing how tortured she had to be feeling, could only nod.
Connor let out another groan and let herself collapse fully, rolling over onto her back in the grass, totally drained. Kaveman, still sitting, pulled himself up beside her, leaning over her.
He looked at her, concerned. She covered her eyes with her forearm, unable to meet his gaze, but he brushed her arm aside.
"Oh God, Kaveman..." Connor said, feeling like she wanted to scream... "You were always right! I'm way too trigger happy, I didn't even stop to think! I just saw him aiming at you, and I dunno... I was just so...so...I just LOST it!!!"
Kaveman shook his head slightly, "You had to do it, Connor." he said, gently, not wanting to further provoke her, "He would've killed me..."
She closed her eyes.
"I had no idea he was there..." Kaveman continued, "If you hadn't done it, I'd probably be dead!"
They both realized at the same time that a flurry of activity was starting to arise outside the main compound. Base security, having seen what had happened on their surveillance screens, started heading in droves to the indoor target range. Kaveman helped Connor get to her feet, putting his arm around her supportively, as they slowly headed back.
The base MP's, seeing Kaveman and Connor approach, came out to meet them, quickly assuring them that no charges would be brought against Connor. The tape clearly showed that Cole had provoked the attack.
Connor saw Cole's covered body being rolled out of the weapons room on a stretcher, attended by two of the emergency medical crew. Kaveman saw what she was looking at, and as she turned away, horrified, he reached out and pulled her to him, hugging her. She didn't resist, burying her face in his shoulder to blot out the terrible sight.
"Geez, I don't believe I just killed him..." she muttered. Kaveman continued to hold onto her, answering more of the MP's questions as CG came running out of the compound toward them, having just been informed as to what had happened. Together, CG and Kaveman led Connor back to the compound, heading up to their quarters.
Later, CG and Kaveman quietly discussed what all had happened, CG was sitting in a chair, pulled close to Connor's bed. Kaveman sat on the edge of the bed, next to her, concerned. She was turned away from them, facing the wall, on her side, curled up tightly under a mountain of blankets.
Finally asleep now, she had earlier kept insisting that she was freezing, even though CG and Kaveman were fine in their t-shirts. Kaveman could hear her teeth still chattering. The medic who had been in, earlier, had informed them that it was shock, and just to try and keep Connor warm, and if she woke up, try to get her to drink something, if they could.
"Is she going to be alright?" Kaveman had asked.
"I think so." the medic had informed him. "Just try to be supportive, I gave her a sedative, but she still might not sleep very well."
So, all that night, Kaveman and CG kept an eye on Connor. They calmed her each time she jerked awake, heart beating in her throat, plagued by a recurring nightmare in which Cole, standing in front of her and obscured in a strange mist, strode toward her.
Wanting to run, but unable to move, she would watch, horrified as Cole slowly approached, gradually transforming himself into a Cacodemon with a mouthful of sharp looking teeth....
on to Chapter 8