So It Begins (43 page)

  “So, I have pointy teeth. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “I’ve seen many soldiers but there have not been any with the pointed teeth like yours. You’re one of those . . .
those kind
from the ship.”

  “Not again,” he said, thinking that this was going pretty much like his last encounter did.

  “You leave here, we’re not into that kind of stuff,” she said.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” he said. “This has got to be the pickiest planet I have ever been to. What is it with—”

  The door slammed and he could hear the locks being engaged.

  “—you,” he said, finishing his sentence. He took a few steps back, still finding it hard to believe that these people in this profession could be so damn picky.

  “Fine, then,” he said. “I’ll find my own good time. Not everyone in this place can care if my skin is too pale, or if I have pointed teeth!”

  After Vanner had walked a while in the direction that the cab had come from, he removed the map and studied it for several minutes. He figured that if he did not run into any cabs, he would have to walk most of the way back to the green zone, and that looked like a few miles. He looked at his watch. He had a little less than five hours left. He wasn’t worried about having enough time to get back; he knew he could hike the miles quickly if he had to. He started to walk again and figured that maybe he would pass a bar where he could ask for yet another recommendation of where to go, although he was beginning to think that perhaps that was not possible on this planet.

  “Where are you going, soldier?” a female voice asked.

  Vanner stopped and turned in the direction of the voice. There was a woman standing on the edge of an alleyway that intersected with the street that he was currently on. He couldn’t make out much of her because she was encompassed by the dark alley, where the ambient street lighting could not reach.

  “I’m heading back to the spaceport,” he said.

  “That’s a long walk,” she said, and laughed lightly.

  “Yes it is,” he agreed, “but that’s okay because it’s been . . . well . . . one of those nights.”

   “You’re cute and have a good sense of humor,” she said, as she laughed and stepped out into the dimly lit street.

  “Ah—yeah,” he said. His voice left him as she came into his line of sight. On the whole she was pretty much human, and a nicely formed human at that. She looked to be about twenty or twenty-five years old with black hair that flowed half way down her back. Her skin had some color variations to it and some other subtle differences, but compared to the reptile lady—this woman was perfect. But that wasn’t what had caught him off guard. She was wearing the exact dress that he had seen in a vid magazine just last week, and had commented on how sexy it looked. In fact, as he had been walking, he had just been remembering that too and now here it was . . .
What an interesting coincidence,
he thought to himself.

  “You’re kind of quiet,” she said. “Don’t you have something you want to say to me?”

  “Yeah sure,” he stammered with the words. “Just promise me that you won’t say anything in regards to me being too pale, or that my teeth are too pointy,” he said, baring his teeth.

  “No,” she said, and giggled. “I really think you’re cute. How old are you?”

  “Wait a minute—before I answer that. Is there an age thing on this planet that I should know about? Like too old or too young—that kind of thing?”

  She giggled again. “No, I was just wondering because you look kind of young to be a soldier—that’s all.”

  “Good genes,” he said.

  She stepped closer to him and her fingers touched his uniform, dancing about as they played with the buttons. “How good are these genes we’re talking about?” she asked, in a voice so hot that it felt like it burned him.

  “Let’s just say that they go back—way back.”

  “Well then,” she cooed. “If you’re looking for a good time, my place is not far from here—would you like to come and . . . visit with me for a while?”

  “Honey,” he said, “I promise you that that is one question you will not have to ask twice. Lead on.”

  Just prior to sunrise, the shore patrol was driving around the fringes of the red zone, making their rounds before heading back to the fleet landing area. They called this kind of patrol the drunk collection with an occasional brawl break up. The three things soldiers loved to do was to have sex, drink, and fight, and not necessarily in that order.

  “Up there,” the sergeant said. He pointed to a soldier walking erratically. “Let’s check him out.”

  They pulled up alongside. “Hey fella, what’s your name.”

  “Vanner,” he said. “Corporal Vanner.”

  “Well, Corporal Vanner, looks like you could use a ride back with us.”

  “She was so nice . . .” Vanner said, dreamily.

  “I bet she was,” the sergeant said. He looked Vanner over.

  “What do you think, Sarge?”

  “Aside from looking kind of pale, he appears to be a little disoriented but nothing serious.”

  “Help me get him in.”

  They got Vanner into the vehicle and he sat quietly in the back, wondering what had happened to him and the woman after he walked her to her place. His long awaited and dreamed of good time was all one big blank.

  “After all that crap, I didn’t even get any,” Vanner said, the anguish evident in his voice, “or I don’t remember if I did.”

  “Well, it sounds to me,” Rufus said, “like you ended up with the wrong woman at the wrong place. She was obviously working on her own and basically she lured you up to her place and probably drugged and then robbed you. You know there actually is honor among the working-class ladies, but you have to stay at reputable places.”

  “Oh please—I tried,” exclaimed Vanner, “But like I told you, they had so many issues with my skin color, my teeth, and probably would have about my age as well I think.”

  “Okay, I’m talking to you like a friend here, Vanner,” Rufus said. “There are some things you need to work on.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, for starters you need to get some sun on you. You’re as pale as a ghost. Hit the sun lamps in the recreational center for a while, that will help. Next, you need to get to the dentist so that they fix those teeth of yours. They are kind of scary because when you smile, they do look like fangs. And lastly, grow a mustache or something, that way people won’t be questioning how young you are. Do you think you can do those things?”

  “Sure,” agreed Vanner.

  “This vampire look works great if we’re in battle—hell it scares the shit out of me—but when you are on liberty, man, you don’t want to
scare
the ladies you’re trying to romance. You understand me?” he said, in his best imitation of the chief.

  “Sure—thanks.”

  “Now go make an appointment to see the dentist or something—there’s no time like the present to get started,” Rufus said.

  Vanner left the compartment and headed toward the medical area of the ship. He went past the dentist’s office and kept going until he hit the sick call area. He signed in and took a seat. After a few minutes his name was called and he was ushered into the examination room.

  In a few moments, a doctor entered the room. “So what can we do for you, Corporal?” the doctor asked.

  “Well, sir, when I was on liberty . . . well, I kind of met this woman . . . at least, I thought she was a woman, but she really was something else . . .”

  “I see,” the doctor said. “A prostitute.”

  “Well, in a way she was, I guess,” agreed Vanner.

  “So did you and this woman have sex?”

  “Well . . . I think we did. I woke up all sore and tired, but she was gone.”

  “What else?”

  “I think she bit me too. Here on the neck,” he said, as he pulled his collar down and pointed to the area on his neck where it was red and irritated.

  “I see, got a little kinky did we?” the doctor said, not looking at Vanner, but continuing the conversation as if he had had it numerous times before.

  “It all gets kind of fuzzy then. I think I remember her sucking my blood and then . . . and then I did the same.”

  “Ah-huh,” the doctor said casually, not really paying any attention to the conversation.

  “It was horrible—no it was wonderful . . . I’m not sure. I just feel so different now.”

  “What kind of symptoms are you having?” he asked, as he went to the medicine cabinet and began to remove the antibiotics that he would probably have to administer.

  “Well, it’s very strange,” Vanner began, “I feel on the edge, ready to pounce, as if I am aching to get into a fight and attack something. And then I seem to have this craving for . . . blood.”

  “What?” the doctor said as he turned around to face Vanner. “Blood? Did you say blood?”

  As the doctor came face to face with Vanner, the sight of the man made him drop the bottle of antibiotic he had in his hand and it shattered on the floor. Vanner was not the same man that had entered the office. In fact, he did not look like a man at all anymore. His face was extremely pale; it looked as if the skin had been pulled so tight that his skull was ready to break through. His eyes had become orbs of red, but that wasn’t the worst. The worst part was the fangs that extended from his mouth. The sharp fangs that moved toward the doctor very quickly.

  “What the . . .” the doctor began, but he never got to finish the question as what used to be Corporal Patrick Vanner quickly ripped out his throat with his large pointed fangs and then began to suck the blood out of him.

  The doctor struggled and kicked out at the creature, but was only successful in knocking over some tables and making noise. In a matter of a minute, he became prone and the creature dropped him to the floor.

  The commotion in the office brought two other doctors to the room. One stayed to try and subdue the creature, while the other went for help. The doctor that stayed in the room with the creature looked at the body of his dead colleague on the floor when he should have been watching the creature. While he was distracted, the creature grabbed him and held him with his feet off the floor by several inches as it proceeded to carve his flesh with its long claws. By the time additional security arrived, the second doctor had been carved to the bone.

  Finally, a security team of six soldiers arrived. One look at the carnage that had occurred drove them to immediate action. Several of them opened fire on the creature. There was no effect. The creature grabbed the nearest soldier and dispatched him quickly by sending his body and head in two separate directions. One soldier called for reinforcements.

  Finally, after four more soldiers had been maimed or killed, eight soldiers were physically able to restrain the creature by chaining his wrists and legs together. When the area had been secured, a colonel stepped forward to examine him.

  “We should waste it, sir,” one of the junior soldiers said. “We’ve lost many good men.”

  “I would love to accommodate you in that request,” the colonel said as he looked around the room at the carnage. “But we have orders to keep it alive. Admiral Rector thinks that the abilities of Corporal Vanner, or what was once Corporal Vanner, might be useful if it can be modified.”

  Vanner’s name was removed from his unit roster. What exactly happened to him after that is not clear. There was no trial. There was no hearing. In fact, after a while, people were not sure what the real story was. As to Vanner, there was speculation, well not exactly speculation, more like a rumor, that whatever happened to him on that shore leave on Ziron, it was something that helped the Corps. Some said that he found something on the planet and had to keep it a secret from everyone. Some said that he changed so much from what he discovered, that he went insane. Regardless of what story you believed, from that point on, Unit 666, the Death Dealers were consigned to their own ships and no longer allowed to mix with any other units. The military brass gave several reasons: some say they disestablished the unit, others say that Vanner became the new model soldier that they wanted and used him as breeding stock to start a new era of soldiering. There were so many rumors about them that no one was really sure whether they existed or not anymore. The only issue that arose which raised speculation was that they changed the patch for their unit: they added the pointed teeth and the red glow from the sockets where the eyes used to be.