Alien Mind Control From Planet P
Chapter 16
By Gary LM Martin
Elements of five resistance organizations gathered at the staging area, just outside the factory in Silver Spring. In addition to Richard Gonzales, there were eighteen operatives from four groups... and Captain Worth Rogers.
"Captain Rogers, where is the rest of your team?" Gonzales asked.
"They've been diverted. We had late notice of a target of opportunity, a convoy full of prisoners. I was all they could send," Worth said apologetically.
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Gonzales. "We're going to need every operative we can get on this one. Did you all bring the explosives?"
They had. They geared up and headed to the factory, posing as technicians. Gonzales had clearance that allowed them to enter.
When they got inside, they found themselves inside a giant hanger, with flesh on the floors and walls. Once again, everyone was nude. The resistance fighters shed their clothes, holding onto their bags of explosives.
As they entered the facility, they saw rows and rows of cocoons on the ground level, but above that, on a second level, they saw a giant beanbag shaped creature, its legs obscenely spread, a tube like a giant intestine stuffed into it. As they watched, every few seconds, something sped out of the creature, into the tube. On the other end, they saw cocoons being spat out of the other end of the tube, all wet and slimy.
Gonzales gave the signal, and the operatives all moved to the wall of cocoons below the creature, and started planting their explosives. All except Worth. He stood by the far wall, away from the cocoons, overseeing the operation.
None of the plant workers seemed to notice what they were doing. They were all wrapped up in their own assignments.
And then Worth heard a door behind him open, and a familiar voice said, "Hey buddy! You're looking well. "
Worth turned to see Tom Faraday, armed with a blaster, smiling at him.
"A little underdressed, maybe," said Tom. He looked over at Worth's sexual organ. "But at least now I finally know what Anna sees in you." His smile only grew broader.
Before Worth could shout a warning, tentacles shot out of the cocoons. They grabbed the other operatives, and kicking and screaming, dragged each of them inside one of the cocoons. Once inside, a smaller tentacle wrapped its arm around each of them, and a fleshy cap went down over their head. As the cocoons closed, their screams were all cut off as one.
Worth turned to Richard Gonzales, who was standing nearby, unmoving.
"Don't expect any help from him, buddy," said Tom. "You're not such a good judge of character anymore, are you? What's wrong, are those vaunted ESPer powers of yours getting a bit dull?"
Worth gave Tom a dirty look, but said nothing.
"No clever retort, Captain Rogers?" he asked.
Worth shook his head.
Suddenly, a young blonde woman, who looked like she couldn't be more than 17 years old, came up to Tom. Like everyone else, she was totally nude. She had small, perky breasts and a slender athletic build. Tom casually put an arm around her, still holding the blaster on Worth.
"Who is this?" Worth asked.
"Oh, you haven't met Kate, have you? Kate, this is the great Captain Worth Rogers!" He laughed and gave her a quick kiss, never taking his eye off of Worth.
"I've heard of him," said Kate. She looked down at Worth's groin in a very obvious way. "He doesn't look so great to me."
Tom laughed. "Ouch! Aren't I rubbing off on her? Worth, Kate's my protΓ©gΓ©."
"Your protΓ©gΓ©. A teenage girl?" Worth asked.
Tom gave a shit eating grin. "Yeah? Isn't it great, working for the bad guys? A lot of perks, Worth. You should try it!" he laughed, having the audacity to squeeze one of Kate's breasts, right in front of him, eliciting a moan which made Tom chuckle. "Actually, you
will
be trying it, and real soon!" Tom said.
"What does your wife of ten years have to say about your
protΓ©gΓ©
, Tom?" Worth asked.
Tom gave him an odd look. "Laura loves Kate, doesn't she, Kate?"
"Laura loves me," said Kate, in a monotone.
"Yeah, couldn't be happier," said Tom. "Sometimes we even let her watch." He laughed again. "All right, come on, you can stop delaying the inevitable now, let's go get your clothes and get you out of here."
"Where are we going?" said Worth cautiously.
"Your wife has a hot date planned for you. I don't think you can refuse this time," Faraday chuckled. His expression grew thoughtful. "On second thought, maybe you won't need your clothes after all."
"You sound so pleased with yourself," said Worth.
"You bet, buddy," said Tom. "Because, once again, you were just so completely and utterly fooled."
Worth looked at his former friend, and raised a chiding finger. "Not completely, and not as utterly as you may think."
Faraday's smile turned to puzzlement as he looked Worth in the eye, and then, as if sensing trouble, turned around-
Just as a blaster shot him. He fell wordlessly to the ground.
Saoirse McKenna, Nancy Kingsolver, and Mark Royce entered through the side door. Saoirse's blaster was smoking slightly.
"Worth," said Saoirse, her eyebrows raised, her face a barely suppressed mask of admiration as she looked him over. "I've never seen you looking better."
"There's no time for that," said Worth. "We've got to rescue-"
Suddenly, Kate gave an inhuman scream. Saoirse shot her, but then Kate's call was answered by another Infected, and then another, and another, and another, as the Infected pointed to them. The Infected started to rush them in large numbers.
They had no choice but to flee. They escaped to their air car, with a crowd of Infected at their heels.
********
"So it was a trap," said Colonel Anderson. "Eighteen men were lost."
"And we almost lost Worth," said Saoirse, her angry green eyes flaring. "If he hadn't insisted we remain behind as backup, he'd be gone too."
"This is a crippling blow," said Anderson. "Have you sent word to the other groups?"
"We have. They've evacuated. We must presume that everyone they sent is Infected by now," said Worth.
"We still don't know for sure that the Cocoons Infect people. We don't even really know what their purpose is," said Saoirse.
"We do know that if the people we sent in weren't Infected by the cocoons, then the Infected people at plant would take care of it," said Worth. "Either way, they're gone."
"What a masterstroke," Anderson marveled. "I wonder who planned this."
"It was Captain Tom Faraday, my old buddy," said Worth grimly.