Gateways. Part 50

Couldn't stop the winged things...but maybe he could stop the one controlling them.

With the things trailing him, Jack ran back to where his father was still firing at the boats. He heard cheering from the decks as the clan spotted the winged things on Jack's tail. They didn't shoot. Probably thought it would be more fun to watch him get gobbled up like Anya.

"Behind me, Dad! Incoming!"

Dad was crouched behind a tree, with the trunk between him and the boats. Jack dove for the ground, sliding through the mud on his belly as his father looked around.

"Where?"

"Right behind me!"

Lightning flashed and he saw his father's jaw drop.

"Dear G.o.d! What are-?"

"Don't talk, shoot!"

And shoot he did, pumping round after round out of the Mossberg into the air behind Jack. Jack didn't look around to see what effect he was having. He a.s.sumed it was about as good as it got. He laid the Benelli across Dad's knees for when the Mossberg ran dry, then seated himself back to back with his father and turned to the Bull-ship Bull-ship. If Semelee was anywhere, that would be the place.

He wiped the rain from his eyes and took aim at the superstructure. The big Casulls would rip through it, in one plywood side wall and out the other. He couldn't be sure he'd hit Semelee, but at least he could distract her...

9.

This was so hard...

Semelee crouched in the dark of the cabin and pressed the sh.e.l.ls tighter against her eyes. The chew wasps hadn't wanted to leave the sinkhole until the sun was down, but she'd forced them. She'd tried that yesterday and it hadn't worked, but this time she was able to coax them up. Maybe it was the storm or the night like darkness up here. Whatever the reason, they came. But so slowly...like only one or two at a time.

Then, once she got them outta the hole, she could barely see. Had to be because of the sun. Even though it was hidden behind mountains of storm clouds, it was still above the horizon; she guessed that whatever was filterin' through was enough to affect the eyes of the chew wasps.

But she'd been able to see Carl who was right close to the hole and shootin' at the boats. Traitor to his kin! She set a couple of the wasps on him, then went back to draggin' others up.

Suddenly one of the ones on Carl got blowed up. And then the other. She seen it was Jack doin' the shootin', and though she didn't hate him like before, she couldn't let this stand. She had to end it between them. One of them had to go. Semelee preferred Jack.

She had a whole bunch of the chew wasps up by then but couldn't get them organized. They wanted to go here and there and it was just about all she could do to keep them together. Jack blasted a couple of them out of the air and then got four more with a grenade in the hole as she was pushin' them up.

She had to attack with what she had, but couldn't get the swarm to move. She could control one of them, though, so she sent it after Jack. Somehow it wound up on Carl instead. The wasps seemed attracted to sound and movement, and Carl had been makin' plenty of both.

But she didn't have to send Dora after Carl when he went in the water-Dora did that on her own.

Goodbye, Carl.

Finally she'd got the swarm to move. She didn't know why she suddenly had more control. Maybe cause the sun got closer to settin' while she was chasin' Jack. Didn't know, didn't care, all she knew now was she was on the hunt. And though her stomach turned at the thought of havin' to go through another chew-up with these things, it had to be done. The survival of the whole clan depended on her stoppin' Jack and whoever was with him-probably his daddy.

As she guided the wasps after the runnin' Jack, she heard the guys on the deck start to yellin'. She wished they'd shut up. The chew wasps kept wantin' to turn toward the noise. The voices pulled at them. She had to keep forcin' them to stay on Jack's trail.

Suddenly a piece of the wall exploded and showered her with splinters as something whizzed by her head. She was already crouched on the floor in a corner. Now she dropped flat, and just in time too. Another big bullet smashed through the cabin, low this time, just about singeing her b.u.t.t.

He's tryin' to kill me!

She had to move those chew wasps in on Jack and his daddy. Now!

The old man was shotgunnin' them, so Semelee split the swarm into two groups. She veered one left over the water, and the other around back. She'd catch 'em in the middle and- A third big slug blasted into the cabin then, but this one didn't go all the way through. It plowed into one of the benches of the picnic table and sent it flyin' against her. She cried out as it conked her on the head. She didn't think-she put her hands up to protect herself and dropped the eye-sh.e.l.ls.

"Oh no!" She started feelin' around on the floorboards, real frantic like. But it was so dark in here. "Where'd they go?"

She couldn't control the chew wasps without 'em. They'd all go flyin' back to the sinkhole if she wasn't there to hold them.

Or maybe they wouldn't.

Semelee wasn't sure which would be worse.

10.

"Jack!" Dad shouted. "Look!"

Jack was reloading the Ruger, readying to riddle the Bull-ship Bull-ship 's superstructure with a few more Casulls. He'd been leaning against his father's back, getting rocked forward whenever Dad's shotgun went off, rocking back with the recoil from the Ruger. 's superstructure with a few more Casulls. He'd been leaning against his father's back, getting rocked forward whenever Dad's shotgun went off, rocking back with the recoil from the Ruger.

He half turned, not sure of what he'd heard. His ears were ringing from the thunder and the booms of the weapons.

"What?"

"Those things. They were all cl.u.s.tered together at first, then they started dividing into two groups, and now..."

Jack turned further and squinted through the rain. He watched for a moment as the cenote things buzzed around in disarray, practically b.u.mping into one another in midair. It looked like they didn't know where they were, but the men from the boats were still cheering them on.

One of the things veered out over the water; two more followed it; then the whole swarm was making a beeline for the boats. Suddenly the cheering stopped, replaced a couple of heartbeats later by the reports of rifles and shotguns. Jack saw the clan knock a few down, but then the swarm was upon them. The shooting stopped, replaced by screams of pain and panic.

11.

Semelee waited for the lightnin' to flash again. That was the only time she could see what she was doin'. Here! A new flash, coming through the broke windows-where was they? She crouched on her hands and knees, search in the floor. Where was those d.a.m.n eye-sh.e.l.ls?

At least the big bullets had stopped poundin' through the walls. Not for long she bet. Probably just reloadin'. In another minute- Somebody started screamin' outside. Then another. She recognized Luke's voice among the h.e.l.lish choir. He sounded like he was bein' tortured. She jumped to the door and peeked out.

The chew wasps! They was attackin' the clan. Oh s.h.i.t oh s.h.i.t oh s.h.i.t! What was she gonna do?

Another lightnin' flash, this time through the doorway. She looked around just in time to see the sh.e.l.ls, lyin' on the floor right up against the wall to her right. She jumped on them and clutched them tight in her fists.

Thank G.o.d! She had them. Now she could turn the chew wasps away and get them headed back to where they should be-on Jack and his daddy. But as she raised them to her eyes the door burst open and somethin' came staggerin' into the cabin.

Semelee screamed as it lurched to the left, then the right, then stumbled toward her. Whatever it was, it didn't look human. It let out a m.u.f.fled screech and then the lightnin' flashed and Semelee screamed again. It was a man with three of the chew wasps hangin' on him. One on his leg, the other with its head buried in his flank, and the third with its teeth worryin' his face. He screeched again, then spun and collapsed onto his belly. He twitched a few times, then lay still.

Another flash of lightnin' gave her another look at him. Through the rips in his shirt Semelee saw scales and finny spines on his back and knew who it was.

"Luke!"

Her eye-sh.e.l.ls. She could use them to get Luke free of the wasps. But before she could get them up, the one on Luke's leg let go and buzzed straight at Semelee's face. She stumbled back and fell out the door onto the deck and into a h.e.l.l on earth. Chew wasps and blood-soaked men everywhere-and the men who wasn't screamin' wasn't movin'.

Semelee's arrival got their instant attention. The chew wasp that chased her out of the cabin was still comin', but so were others from the deck. The only place to go was the water.

She slipped in blood and banged her knee as she tried to get up, then broke into a low run and dove into the water. As she kicked toward sh.o.r.e she knew it would take her right into the sights of Jack and his daddy. She pressed the sh.e.l.ls over her eyes. She had to get back control of the chew wasps and give those two somethin' else to worry about before she came up for air.

12.

During a lightning flash Jack caught a glimpse of someone-someone small and slim with dead white hair-leaping off the Bull-ship Bull-ship and diving head-first into the water. He watched a couple of cenote things chase after her and hover a couple of feet over the water, waiting for her to surface. and diving head-first into the water. He watched a couple of cenote things chase after her and hover a couple of feet over the water, waiting for her to surface.

He tapped Dad on the arm. His father was watching the strobe-lit carnage on the boat decks in horrid fascination. Jack had to tap him again.

"Hey, Dad. Which one of those is loaded?"

Dad shook himself free of the spectacle. "Both now."

"Give me one, will you?"

Dad handed him the Benelli. Jack took aim at the nearest winged thing, not so much from a desire to protect Semelee-she deserved just about anything that happened to her-but because he wasn't up for watching someone being eaten alive.

The shotgun boomed, rocking his shoulder, and the nearest thing blew apart. But its companion, instead of retreating or continuing to hover, darted straight for Jack.

He fell back, raising the Benelli. Good thing it was semiautomatic-those things could move move. His shot went a little high, missing the body but dissolving the right pair of wings. It went into a spin and landed on the edge of the bank, vibrating its remaining wings and gnashing its teeth in fury as it made circles in the mud.

Movement on the surface of the lagoon caught Jack's eye. He saw a white head begin to emerge from the water. He took aim with the Benelli but hesitated. He wasn't sure why. Maybe because he felt responsible. Maybe if he'd let her down a little more easily she wouldn't have attacked him, then Anya. Maybe something about her pathetic desire to fit in touched him. Or maybe he couldn't bring himself to blow holes in a young woman, no matter how sick and twisted she was.

Whatever the reason, he dropped the shotgun, grabbed the cenote thing by the roots of its remaining wings, and lifted it. It looked heavy but he found it surprisingly light. It writhed in his grasp, trying to twist around and gouge him with those diamond teeth, but its carapace limited its agility.

Jack leaped off the bank and into the water.

"Jack!" he heard his father cry. "What in G.o.d's name are you doing?"

Jack didn't answer. Holding the cenote thing high, he splashed toward where Semelee was emerging from the water. He noticed she was holding two sh.e.l.ls over her eyes.

The sh.e.l.ls-that was what she'd wanted them for. Somehow they let her control these things.

And I helped complete her set.

He also noticed the other winged things rising from their feasts on the decks of the two boats and heading his way. He put everything he had into forcing himself through the water.

When he reached her he grabbed the back of her hair. He yanked downward, hard, stretching her throat, and held the crystalline teeth of the cenote thing inches from her skin. The twisting, gnashing jaws reminded him of a wood router.

"Drop the sh.e.l.ls! Drop them now, Semelee, or this thing gets a free lunch! Don't think I'm bluffing! You may have been right about me not shooting Luke the other day, but this is different. After what you've pulled in the last twenty-four hours, I'm more than ready for payback."

"Okay, okay," she said, but kept the sh.e.l.ls over her eyes. "Just let me send the chew wasps back to the sinkhole."

Chew wasps...a perfect name.

"You do that."

The approaching chew wasps veered away and headed for the cenote, its lights faintly visible through the rain. Jack watched them fade into the mist, then, with his free hand, pulled Semelee's hands away from her face. He hadn't forgotten about Dora. He took her by the upper arm and guided her toward the bank.

As Jack pulled her up on land, he heard Dad call his name. He glanced over and saw him pointing toward the lagoon.

"Who or what is that that?"

Jack turned and stared. He saw nothing at first, then the lightning flashed and he spotted a man in a suit standing at the center of the lagoon. Not in in the lagoon- the lagoon-on it. No, not just standing on the water, walking on it. His stride was long and purposeful, moving him along at a good pace, yet without the slightest hint of hurry. it. No, not just standing on the water, walking on it. His stride was long and purposeful, moving him along at a good pace, yet without the slightest hint of hurry.

Jack tossed the partially dewinged chew wasp into the lagoon where it sank like a mob hit. He squinted through the storm. Couldn't make out the man's features, but as he neared, Jack noticed that he seemed to be moving in a bubble-not something with a membrane, simply an area around him, a dry area. The rain driving at him from all directions didn't touch him. And it didn't sluice away, it simply...went away.

"Oh, G.o.d!" Semelee cried, cringing against Jack. "It's Jesus come to get me for my sins!"

"You've got a lot of things to answer for, but I don't think that's Jesus."

Not unless he's taken to wearing Armani, Jack thought.

Of course he hadn't a clue as to the designer-if an Armani suit introduced itself, he'd have to ask it for ID-but it looked expensive, maybe silk, charcoal gray, perfectly tailored, worn over a black shirt b.u.t.toned to the collar. Very Euro, this water strider.

When the man moved close enough for Jack to make out his face, he felt his blood congeal. He knew that face, that supercilious expression. He raised the Benelli and roared.

"Roma!"