Prey

Kendall waved the pistol. "Nice try. But I won't fall for the usual bad-guy spouts off on an hour-long diatribe about what his plans happen to be and how he's going to rule the world. No, I'm afraid it's just going to be me killing the two if you."

Julia looked at Mick but he only shrugged. "I'm out of ideas. I don't know what else to do."

"There is nothing else to do," said Kendall. "Except die."

"You've really got us this time," said Mick quietly.

"Yes."

"We really underestimated you. How was I to know that you were as capable as this? I mean, I'd heard rumors of humans in cahoots with aliens but I never would have believed it possible for someone like you to care so little about his comrades that you'd sacrifice each and every one of them so you could achieve your goals."

"My comrades meant nothing to me."

"That's pretty obvious."

"You mean nothing to me," said Kendall. "As you're about to see."

"Pity you have to use that gun, though," said Mick.

Julia watched him. What was he up to? Why was he baiting Kendall like this? What did he know?

"Why shouldn't I use the gun?" said Kendall.

"Why don't you let your hair down, Kendall. I mean, really let it down. Show us both what we've been missing for this entire trip. Go ahead."

Kendall eyed Mick. "You know-?"

Mick shrugged. "Only now. Makes sense though doesn't it? Vikorsky slept in your room. And judging by the distance it took to get to the mountains, there was no way the dinocreature that came in through the roof that first night when Julia and I were on watch could have traversed the terrain back and forth without freezing to death. No, it had to be you, didn't it? Made it nice and easy for you to get us all riled up and exert enough influence on us to make the trip to the mountains even when you seemed the least bit excited by it."

Kendall said nothing.

"So, you outsmarted us all," said Mick. "I definitely should have suspected someone among the group was up to something, but I think the whole thing seemed so spectacular to me, I just couldn't see it."

"But you fought aliens before," said Julia.

Mick nodded. "Yeah, but not up close enough like what we've run into on this trip. The times I battled the suckers, we were decked out in full chemical and biohazard suits. We weren't up close where you could smell their breath and hear them screech. No, this is different. Much different."

Julia shook her head. "I don't know if I understand exactly what's going on."

Mick pointed at Kendall. "This is our inside man on the job. He's not a human anymore. I don't know if he ever was. Maybe he made some sort of sick deal with the aliens to transform him into one of them. Whatever the case, he's one of them. He can disguise himself, sure. But underneath it all, he's a gray-skinned freak."

"I am not a freak!" Kendall's words flew out covered with spittle. His face turned red and he shoved the gun at Mick. "I'll kill you right now you overgrown muscle-bound soldier boy. You watch me."

Mick's voice stayed low. Even. "Show us, Kendall. Show us what they did to you. Show us what you wanted them to do to you."

Kendall took a deep breath and began to change. Julia watched horrified as his face elongated, drawing out the frame of his jaw into an almost diamond shape. Then his skull began to grow like some bulbous entity on its own, stretching back and fanning out like half a sea shell.

She could tell the transformation hurt, too, because Kendall moaned long and low as if his very skeleton ached from its bones being twisted and turned in new directions. His clothes ripped and shredded themselves as his body began to grow and flesh out. At once, his back burst through his coat. And then Julia gasped when a large tail abruptly split his pants.

At the end of the long tail, were six long and seemingly deadly spikes.

But Mick didn't wait for Kendall to finish changing. As soon as Kendall's hands became unable to hold the pistol any longer, Mick charged him, knocking them both back and out of the communications room and onto the floor of the corridor outside.

Julia scrambled for the pistol, but it had clattered to the ground underneath the communications console.

She pawed on the floor for it, grasping at anything.

She heard Mick and Kendall grunting. Kendall's grunts soon resembled screeches and chirps rather than human language.

She turned her hand over and finally felt the pistol in her grip. She yanked it out, turned herself over and tried to aim through the doorway at the writhing mass of reptile and human.

But she couldn't get a bead on Kendall. And she wouldn't be able to shoot without fear of hitting Mick.

Kendall rolled off of Mick and was on his feet incredibly fast. His tail whipped around and Julia could see that despite the close confines of the corridor, Kendall might be able to bring it to bear on Mick if the timing and distancing was correct.

She squeezed off a shot over Mick's shoulder at Kendall.

Mick looked back at her. "Be careful with that thing!"