New Home for A Stranger

[csyphrett]

1
Staff Sergeant Blue Baloo wished he had a bigger gun. He was armed with the standard sidearm issued to all Air Force personnel who might be flying into hazardous territory. If something happened, his popgun wouldn't do squat.

That was especially true if his cargo decided to get up and walk around while they were in transit.

He checked the load one more time. Every strap felt secure. The cargo didn't move in its cradle. The quick releases looked ready to go.

Baloo wondered how he had been stuck with this. He would rather be on the ground sucking up a beer.

He checked his watch. He still had a few hours of flight before they released their cargo. He knew fishermen in the area wouldn't be happy with the development.

Something like what he was dropping off could play hell with the local ecosystem. That wasn't his problem. He was just a messenger boy.

"It looks like we have some storm clouds ahead, Sarge." Captain Whaley's voice sounded tiny over the headphones Baloo wore. "You might want to make sure you're strapped in. How's the cargo?"

"Old Zornwill's sleeping like a baby." Baloo smiled. "It'll take a tank to wake him up after all the tranquilizer we pumped into him."

The turtle dragon burped slightly. One yellow eye squinted at the loadmaster. Then the lid closed again.

Zornwill had come out of a lake in Minnesota. It had been a giant with flaming breath. The nearby city of Marlowe had been in its path. Some mystery men had stopped it and shrank it down. The project had carted the monster away.

A few months later, one of the scientists noticed that Zornwill had grown a little. They ran tests to verify her suspicions. The shrinking chemical was wearing off. The monster was getting bigger.

The decision came down that the turtle dragon had to be moved from its enclosure to somewhere more suited for its needs. That left Baloo scratching his head as he tried to decide how to get a feisty thing with jaws of steel on a plane headed across the Pacific before something bad happened.

The trip so far had been uneventful. The only moment of tension had come when they had engaged in a midair refueling and it looked like the cargo had awakened. Baloo put the reptile back to sleep with more tranqs before it could start thrashing around.

That could have caused a disaster.

Baloo squinted under the overhead lights. He felt like the animal had grown some since they had taken to the air. It was hard to tell with the tail lashing around a little, but the monster did look bigger.

They needed to land as soon as possible. There was no telling when this thing would assume its full size again.

If it did that while they were in the air, the sergeant knew he wouldn't live long enough to feed the sharks.

"We might have a problem back here, Cap." Baloo walked around the cradle. "The package might be extra large at any time."

"We're still hours away from the drop zone." Whaley sounded panicked over the headset. "How long?"

"I don't know." The sergeant looked at the med kit. He shook his head at its emptiness. "We're out of tranquilizer so when it comes to, it'll be awake until we reach the zone."

"That is the last thing I want to hear." Whaley fell silent as he looked out the windscreen. "Get the cargo ready for an emergency release. If it grows to the limit of the cargo doors, I want you to drop it."

"Sir?" Baloo looked out the windows in the cargo area. All he saw were clouds. What was below that?

"That is a direct order." Whaley sounded calmer once decided on a course of action. "If that thing grows big enough to wreck the cradle, we will all die. Drop it as soon as it reaches the edge of the doors."

"I understand." Baloo circled the cradle. Lines were attached at the end facing the cargo door at the rear of the plane. All he had to do was open the door, and hit the switch. A parachute would drag the monster out into the sky.

He doubted that would do anything but annoy the monster as it fell. The thing had an armored carapace capable of stopping tank fire. A little drop into the Pacific would be nothing more than a little boo boo to it.

He hoped the bad breath would stay out until he dropped the thing. He could already imagine it setting fire to the inside of the plane before it departed.

Baloo made sure the mouth straps were in place at that thought. Those bands were the only things keeping Zornwill from biting, much less burning stuff up.

"We're almost there." Whaley sounded happy. "How's the cargo?"

"Still out of it." Baloo smiled. They might get out of this with their skins intact after all.

One of the engines coughed. The sergeant had been on enough planes to know when that happened. The noise level went down a notch.

"We lost our two port engines." Whaley broke into his thoughts with the bad news. "Look over and tell me what you see, Sarge."

"They are on fire." Baloo winced at the black smoke trying to blend in with the black clouds surrounding the plane. "I say again. The engines are on fire."

"Drop the cargo, Sarge." Whaley grunted with effort. "We can recover it after we get off this lame duck."

The loadmaster activated the cradle's GPS before duckwalking to the cargo door. He hit the switch. The door lowered to reveal the unfriendly sky whipping by the tail. He let the captain know to expect the lizard to leave at any second so he could try and climb to let it drop clear of the plane.

Baloo hit the release switch. The white parachute exploded from its pack. It dragged the cradle out the door with a squeal of metal on metal. Then the turtle lizard vanished into the night.

"The parachute has deployed." Baloo shook his head. Good luck, monster. "Cargo is gone."

"You're going to have to jump too." Whaley sounded matter of fact. "We'll set the autopilot and be right behind you. We're only a few miles from the zone. Someone will be out to look for us."

The sergeant checked his weapon, survival bag that he strapped to his leg, and hooked his line to the drop cord. He unstrapped his safety belt from the fuselage and jogged off the lowered cargo door. The chute popped open behind him as he headed for the ocean.

How did he get into these messes?

The clouds obscured Whaley and his copilot's chutes. Did they get out of the plane at all? What waited below?

Baloo headed for splashdown. He wondered which way was land.

[DusterBoy]

Oooh, in the same vicinity as a p'd off humungous turtle dragon is not where I'd want to be. I don't envy SSGT Baloo or Cpt Whaley one bit.

Good to see you started more of these stories, BTW

[csyphrett]

Thank you. I have been holding another Zornwill story for a while. Now that he has visited I felt like throwing it out there.
CES

[csyphrett]

2

Zornwill thrashed in his cradle. He tried to shrug. The restraints held him in. He shook his head. How could he get out of this?

The turtle dragon worked on his muzzle. He rubbed the strap against metal cradle. He worked at it and worked at it until the binding came loose. He looked around as he hit the bottom. He had to get out of the shipping cage. He could drown before he got free.

He pulled the muzzle against the cradle's edge one more time. His mouth came open in a burst of bubbles. He clamped down to conserve his air. He could stay down for a long time, but not if he ignored his instincts.

He extended his long neck to the strap around his right forearm. He bit down with his beak. Then he pulled. The metal separated in a clump.

Zornwill turned to the other strap. One bite pulled that one away too. Now all he had to do was free his backlegs.

He tried to push off against the sea floor. That didn't work out. He couldn't get leverage.

The turtle dragon twisted as much as he could. He opened his beak. A blast of fire boiled the water for a moment before shutting off. The cradle broke in half. The bottom half of the frame was still secured to his legs, but now he could push into a standing position. His tail lashed the sea bed.

He hunkered down until he could grab the straps around his ankles. He pulled one, then the other manacle. He kicked the destroyed cradle away from him. Now he could head for the surface and see where he was.

Fish scattered from Zornwill's path as he headed upwards. Some didn't move fast enough. He enjoyed his first real food in a long time. He broke the surface and floated under the dark sky.

This was the life. He had all the food he wanted now. And there were no useless humans around to bother him.

Zornwill headed for an island he could see against the dark sky. He scooped up more fish as he went. He felt itching along the edges of his shell. He wanted to scratch it but his arms wouldn't reach.

The reptile headed up the beach when he reached land. He spotted rocks among the trees growing at the edge of the sand. He rubbed the edges of his shell against the boulders until parts of the protective armor broke away.

Zornwill sniffed the fragments. He still itched. He went back to rubbing his scaly sides against the rock until he was satisfied. Then he went to a spot in the shallows and settled down to rest. He had already gone through a long trip. He wanted sleep before checking out his new domain.

A wide territory would suit him just fine. He could swim out and eat fish without regard. He could walk on land and eat anything there he might need. He could sun himself and keep warm on sunny days.

He snapped a shark in half that came too close. He sucked down the fragments as he sank beneath the water. The only irritation was the constant itching along his back.

Zornwill closed his eyes and shut everything down as he settled into the ocean bottom. He let the water gather over him as he rested. He didn't realize that he was growing as he slept. He hadn't realized that he had shrank in the first place.

Size meant nothing to his comparatively small brain.

The only thing that mattered was what things were compared to his own size. Bigger things could be fought, or escaped. Smaller things were meant to be eaten. That was all that mattered.

Zornwill dreamed of the man who shrank him with his round hat. One day he would go back and find that man. Then the human would burn. He wanted that.

Something grabbed the sleeping lizard out of the water. He snapped awake as the water ran from his scales. What was going on?

Zornwill roared his defiance. The other roared back. Its cry created a wind gust that swept over the turtle dragon like a heavy hand.

The reptile breathed out his flame in the hopes of cutting through the restraining paw around him his body. The long tentacle fingers opened reflexively. He fell toward the water.

Zornwill pulled his limbs into his regrown shell. It still felt soft. That didn't matter. It was some kind of protection from the belly flop he was doing. He hit the water and sank to the bottom.

He headed out to sea as giant limbs shook the water behind him. He rode the waves in the ocean for speed. He headed deeper with the hope of dodging those long fingers.

He paused when he saw a set of rods sticking out of the ocean bottom. He didn't know how far he had traveled from the island. He approached the rods. He sensed energy running between the poles. Little arcs traced through the water.

Zornwill breathed flame on one of the rods. They were pinning him in. He wanted out. Melting one of the posts seemed the thing to do. And he was angry.

He was used to chasing things. He didn't want to be the thing being chased. And a fence curtailing his freedom made him want to explode.

His flame refused to melt the barrier in front of him. He paused with a snap of his beak. The water boiled, but the posts merely gleamed back at him for his efforts.

Zornwill headed for the surface. He needed to take a look around. Maybe there was some way to get over the fence.

The turtle dragon cruised along the fence. Snapping urged him to back away. He wondered if he could crash through the barrier. He floated in thought.

At least the giant hadn't followed him with its clammy boneless hands.

Zornwill decided to head back for the island. He would pick a place to hunt in while keeping an eye out for bigger predators.

[DusterBoy]

Oooh - nice! I wonder who the "giant" is?

[csyphrett]

Something who likes turtle soup.
CES

[wick]

Release the Kraken!

I wonder how a fresh water turtle would fair in the salty Pacific.

[csyphrett]

3

Staff Sergeant Blue Baloo looked around for predators. He had heard things in the night. He was glad that he hadn't seen anything. The swim to shore had been frightening enough in his opinion.

At first, he hadn't known which way the island lay. He had only swam in the right direction because he had seen fires in the distance. He took that for a sign of civilization. He stood on the beach and admitted he had been wrong about that.

The place looked like an inhospitable jungle, with a mountain rising out of the middle of it. The stereotypical movie island was what he thought as he decided to head away from the open ground of the beach.

All he needed was an island girl in a sarong to make his trip complete.

He reached a tree and rested against the trunk. If Zornwill had resumed his normal height, it would last as long as a trailer in a tornado. On the other hand, it could still function as cover while he called for help.

Baloo pulled out his radio. Someone should be close enough to hear it. The base could send troops out to get him as soon as he gave them the call.

The front of the device had been smashed in by some impact. He didn't remember hitting anything on the way down from the plane. How could he have done that? He put the broken radio away.

Even he couldn't use it to call, he hoped the GPS in the radio would alert some rescuer where he was.

He hoped that despite the better chance that the locator chips were smashed inside the phone to go with the outside of the thing.

Baloo pulled out his compass. The arrow spun around. He put it away. Something was magnetic close by. He decided to head to the volcano to avoid trouble.

The sergeant made sure he had his rifle ready. The plane was supposed to transport Zornwill here for study. That meant a base was on site somewhere. Where were the search parties?

What was that sound?

Baloo paused to listen. It sounded like a colony of prairie dogs talking to each other. He frowned. What was a colony of prairie dogs doing on an island in the Pacific?

Baloo cautiously proceeded toward the noise. How dangerous could gophers be?

He paused behind a tree when he thought he was close. He spotted the first animal standing on its rear legs. It's sharp featured head checked the surroundings for predators. That left a question in his mind.

What was big enough to threaten a prairie dog the size of a grizzly bear?

Baloo decided he didn't want to know. Anything big enough to gulp one of those things down could bite him in half without trying.

Other behemoths arrived with the chittering talk among themselves. They looked around for any threat by standing on their rear legs. Noses wiggled to take in the island air.

They started barking. Baloo didn't like the sound of that. An alert was going up at something in the neighborhood.

He looked around. Something was crashing through the trees. The colony scattered from whatever it was. He decided to run to his right out of the path of the predator. Being eaten was not on his list of things to do.

Baloo looked around as he spotted a rock he could take cover behind. He winced at the fearsome menace. It was just a goat. The only thing remarkable about it was the horns that wrapped around in concentric circles on the side of its head.

How dangerous could it be? It didn't even look like a good specimen of the breed.

The goat charged a nearby tree. The tree cracked on impact. It fell over with a bang.

Baloo slowly backed up. No wonder the prairie dogs took off. He didn't want to deal with the small battering ram either. If he walked away, he wouldn't have to shoot. He felt a lot of noise would attract a lot of the wrong kind of attention.

What else was on this island?

He suddenly didn't want to know. It was bad enough they lost Zornwill on this mess. That was a creature he didn't want to meet without a bazooka.

A nuke would be more like it, he decided.

Baloo wondered where the base was from where he was. He needed to find the landing strip. That should tell him how close he was to the main location. Wandering around in the middle of the volcanic jungle wasn't exactly something he wanted to do.

He found a trail leading up the center of the volcanic rise. He jogged up, eyes on his surroundings. He didn't want to meet something out there on the bleak rock. He didn't have anything to use for a cover.

A shadow crossed overhead. He looked up. Something with wings was circling overhead. It was a big something from his point of view. This was exactly what he had been worried about.

He should have tried to go around.

Now he had to run for it from a winged monster. He was going to die.

Baloo saw a trail down on his left. It led into a narrow chasm. He decided to hide in there. That should prevent a giant thing from dropping down on him.

He leaned against the wall and kept an eye on the sky. Maybe he was overreacting. It could be something harmless. Something that big would want something like a dinosaur. An Air Force sergeant wouldn't qualify.

The thing dove down toward the chasm. It opened its beak. White sparkles surrounded its mouth.

Baloo ran. He had a bad feeling about that. And he was in a channel for it to come right down on him.

He saw a crack in the wall. He had to squeeze in if he wanted to avoid whatever it was. He scrambled out of his pack and ducked in. White heat passed by, searing part of his overall as it just missed his arm.

Stupid dragon.

The sergeant beat the flame out on his arm with his other hand. He tried not to think about the loss of survival gear and spare ammo in the pack. The flare cooked everything so fast the gunpowder blew in the midst of melted metal flowing away from him.

That had been a piece of luck for him.

Baloo checked the back of the crack that had protected him. It was solid. There was no getting through that. He would have to wait for the big bruiser to go hunting something else before he could move again.

He wondered how long that would take. He could starve while he waited.

He poked his head out. The winged fiend was circling around for another shot at him. He had to move if he wanted to get out of danger. He got out of the crack and started running down the chasm.

He needed to get to the other end before it could line up another shot.

Baloo reached the other end and jumped behind a shelf. He kept his eyes on the sky. He shook his head. The thing was still circling. At least there weren't two of them.

Then he saw another winged shape arriving.

Baloo hit his head with his palm. He should have known that would happen. All he needed was something bigger than them showing up.

He heard a loud blowing of air like a giant tea kettle. He hung his head.

[csyphrett]

4

Zornwill climbed on the beach. He looked around as he reared on his back legs. He was taller than before. He didn't know why. Soon he would ravage this island and head out to sea.

Nothing could challenge him.

A huge shadow appeared over the center of the island. He decided to look into it. It might be something edible. And he was incredibly hungry.

Zornwill crashed up through the trees. His long tail whipped back and forth with devastating results to the foliage. At least some of the animals that crossed his path ran from his tremendous size. The only thing that looked like it might want to fight was a goat with enormous curled horns. He ran by it without noticing how it set to charge.

The turtle dragon paused at the air whale that hovered over the rim of the mountain. There were two lesser creatures up there. All three glared at him with various reactions to his animal nature.

Zornwill issued his roar. That should cow them.

The other animals did the same thing. Apparently they all looked like the perfect food for the others. That had never happened to the turtle before.

On the other hand, if he could eat just one of his opponents, that might keep him fed for a while.

He wondered how air whale tasted.

Zornwill blasted at one of the lesser creatures as he charged forward. The flying lizard swerved as the beam of fire burned the air around it. The other rushed in, jaws open for a bite.

It probably wondered how dragon turtles tasted.

It got an open paw to the nose for its trouble. Hard nails cut flesh as it tried to pull away. Then something clamped on its tail.

Zornwill planted his feet as he tried to bite the tail off the second lizard. It tasted good to his way of thinking.

The other dragon rammed into him. He fell on his back and slid downhill on his shell. He bleated in alarm before he stopped sliding. He waved his limbs as he tried to turn over.

Something slammed into his side as he tried to roll over. The goat had slammed into his shell with tremendous force. Apparently it didn't like his proximity.

The turtle tried to grab the battering ram. He succeeded in rocking in place while the twin dragons descended like swooping falcons. He was going to fry. Then the goat added to his irritation by slamming into him again while he was still rocking in place.

He flipped over.

Zornwill roared as he jumped to his feet. Time to take another bite out of his enemies.

The wounded lizard roared back. Sparks became a lancing beam from its mouth as it tried to get revenge for the missing chunk of tail. The other dragon followed with its own beam of destruction.

Zornwill jumped out the way of the strafing. He answered with his own beam of fire that forced them to cut off the attacks.

The goat slammed into his leg. He stumbled and almost fell over. He looked down at it. It glared up at him. He brought his foot down and missed as the herbivore hopped out of the way.

One of the dragons slammed into him. He went down. The two of them struggled on the beach, as the lizard clawed at the turtle's neck, and tried to bite his stubby nose off.

Zorwill roared at it. Fire rushed into the dragon's mouth and out its nostrils. Smoke drifted from its eyes as it fell to the side. He brought an arm down in a flailing to get back on his feet. Crunching answered his effort.

The turtle braced against the still body and rolled away. He landed on his stomach. Pain shot through his back. He pushed off the ground. The other lizard had scored a hit with its own breath weapon while he had been partially immobilized.

Zornwill grabbed the beach that contained the goat before it could run. He didn't know what he had done. He just wanted something to throw. That section of real estate filled the air.

The flying lizard saw a cloud of dirt rushing at it. Then it saw a goat with its head down. Then it saw stars as the goat bounced off its head.

The goat landed lightly and walked with some stumbles into the trees. The dragon crashed to the beach.

Zornwill kicked the downed dragon. Now it was time to eat.

Where was the goat?

"You're a feisty one." A human stood on the beach. Water dripped from a wet suit as he shaded his eyes with a hand. "Dr. Greenwade isn't going to be too happy with what you did to his dragons."

Zornwill thought here is desert.

"I'm Steve." The human grew to dwarf Zornwill. The dragon turtle looked up at the impossible. "Steve Zilla, that is."

Giant hands scooped the creature up. One rubbed the turtle's head to his annoyance.

"Take it easy, mate." Steve bent down to check the fallen dragons. "We have the perfect place for you."

[DusterBoy]

Heh. Nice work, csyphrett. Very amusing.

[csyphrett]

Thanks. I should be wrapping this one up sooner or later
CES

[csyphrett]

5

Blue Baloo never thought he would be glad to see Zornwill. The big whatever it was had been a load of trouble. Luckily, it had drawn off the two flying grills. All that was left was the flying whale.

He wondered what a grenade would do the big monster. He decided that would be a bad idea.

The staff sergeant decided to shift to better cover. He didn't know if the thing could breathe lightning, or gas. It was better to get away from it as quietly as possible. Once he did that, he could try to find some way off Monster Island.

Why hadn't a search party shown up? He expected at least a helicopter out looking for the dropped Zornwill. He was a valuable test subject for the squints.

The base staff might think he hadn't survived the plane crash.

Baloo spotted a giant man in the distance. That was something. He wondered if it was a monster that looked like a man, or a man that looked like a monster. He could at least see if he could communicate with the giant and find out where the base was.

As big as it was, he doubted it would try to eat him if he did try to talk to it.

Baloo headed into the trees toward the giant. He thought that was the direction the dragons had chased Zornwill. He hoped the turtle was okay after saving his life.

He paused in his walk.

That was a thought he never thought he would have. The big galoot must be growing on him. He would have to make sure to dismiss those feelings.

Zornwill was a dangerous monster that would eat a man as look at him.

The giant walked to Baloo's right as he headed through devastated vegetation, hopping over trees and pushing bushes out of his way. The fight had come this way all right.

Baloo spotted a familiar looking goat. He gave it a wide berth. He didn't want to get entangled while he was chasing his only lead.

The creature stumbled away on shaky legs as the sergeant held his rifle ready to shoot. It sat down next to a fallen tree and hung its head. He moved into the undergrowth with an eye out for it charging him.

He didn't want to run into whatever it had either.

The soldier reached the beach. He whistled quietly. This was Ground Zero. He looked around. Giant tracks pointed the way. He started after the prints.

He couldn't see the giant anymore. He wondered where the giant creature had gone. Matter of fact, where were Zornwill and the two dragons?

Maybe the giant had eaten them. He seemed big enough for that.

That was a gruesome way to go unless you were big on Animal Planet.

Baloo paused at the last visible footprint. It was near the water. Maybe the giant had gone into the ocean. That would explain where he had vanished since the Pacific held some of the deepest areas on Earth.

That didn't leave the sergeant anything useful if he had gone into the water.

Maybe the wreckage of the plane crash would give him something to use while he tried to figure out what he could do to get off the island. He hoped it hadn't gone down in the water. He admitted that he hadn't seen any debris yet, but that didn't mean anything. He hadn't walked the whole island yet.

Maybe the plane had gone down on the part of the island he hadn't looked at in his walking. He didn't have anything to do but look around anyway. There might be something he could use for shelter for the night.

Maybe there was something to eat other than monsters.

He didn't want to use up valuable bullets trying to get dinner when he might need them to save his life down the road.

Baloo decided to stay on the beach, close to the trees. If something came out of the water, he could take cover. If something came out of the trees, he could get a clear line of fire. The only thing he really felt threatened by was death from the air.

Dragons were big on his list of things to avoid from that direction.

Baloo marked a tree with his knife as he passed. He doubted that he would miss the slice of destruction left by Zornwill's battle, but if he cut across the island, this would point him the direction he wanted to go along the beach.

He continued along the beach. He forced himself to remain alert. He found himself thinking about the scenery as a vacation spot. He had to push that away. He already had proof he was in a death trap of some kind.

He saw a glint ahead. He frowned. It appeared to be something metallic. He retreated into the tree line. That could be security, a monster, or some kind of rock formation. It was better to be careful until he knew for sure.

Baloo wished he had binoculars, or a scope for his rifle. He should have thought to grab one of the items before bailing out.

He crept closer, eyes open for movement. He had already decided to shoot anything that looked threatening.

He spotted a plane floating in the water. He paused. He checked the numbers on the tail. It was his plane resting on pontoons. He sidled closer. He scanned the surroundings.

How had his plane wound up there?

Where was Wiley?

Baloo decided he didn't like what he was seeing. His plane rested on the water underneath an overhang. Anchors had been dropped from the looks of things. It was buttoned up against the ocean.

He needed to get out there and look around. Wiley had said they were going in for a crash landing. Had he stayed aboard and saved the plane?

The sergeant wrapped his weapons, socks, and boots in his shirt and waded out into the surf. He didn't want to get them wet. He might need them. He started swimming for the plane when he was out far enough.

He didn't like this at all. Wiley should have searched for him and Zornwill as part of procedure.

Maybe he was searching the island and left the plane anchored so they could fly out when they were accounted for with the base.

[csyphrett]

Zornwill found he couldn't bite the fleshy cage around him. He couldn't get any purchase. He wanted to bite. His fiery breath barely let a mark. He roared his frustration.

"Settle down, mate." The man who wasn't a man carried him into an open space. "This will be your home for a while."

"Put him over there, Steve." One of the normal men pointed. "His tank is ready for him to go in."

"Right, Dr. Greenwade." The giant hand lowered the turtle dragon into a tank of fresh water. The monster swam into the depths.

"He's a feisty one." Steve shrank down to his normal height. "Wounded our two dragons in a donnybrook."

"That's to be expected." Dr. Greenwade rubbed his thinning gray hair. "He's another byproduct of Alchemo dumping I'm afraid."

"How long do you think he has?" Steve looked over the cells filling up the hangar space.

"We'll have to do a physical later." Greenwade shook his head. "That will give us a timeline. What about the transport crew?"

"I haven't seen a sign of them." Steve frowned. "That doesn't mean anything. They might have gone to ground to avoid the surface monsters."

"Do what you can, Steve." Dr. Greenwade turned to examine the latest prisoner. "Hopefully they know enough about the island to keep their heads down."

"I'll keep an eye out for them." Steve turned to head back to the hangar doors. He jumped into the water and swam out into the ocean the size of a whale.

"Dr. Greenwade?" A woman rushed up to talk to him. She clutched a readout in her hand.

"Yes, Cassandra?" The doctor paused, reflection on the tank behind him. It looked like a giant eye peering at the both of them before it closed.

"We're missing some of our embryos." The thin lady handed over the readout. "It looks like theft."

"Lock down the island." Greenwade frowned at the paper. "Alert Steve for any possible intruders. We'll have to vet our people to make sure it wasn't an inside job."

"I doubt one of our people had anything to do with this." Cassandra frowned at her colleague.

"Doesn't matter." Greenwade lumbered toward the operations control. "We have to make sure as part of procedure. These six embryos are from the worst of our catch. If someone were to release them on a populated area, it would be worse than any natural disaster."

"How did they get in to steal anything?" Cassandra followed with a natural grace of a born athlete. She rubbed her ring on her finger as she thought.

"I don't know." They got in the elevator to take them to the command deck. "We'll have to go over the passcodes used."

The elevator opened on the monitoring station. Technicians kept an eye on the varied monsters in their habitats. If a breakout happened, they were in charge of trying to keep the monsters in check.

"Listen up everyone." Greenwade stepped into the operations center. Everyone turned at his voice. "We have had a breach and lost some of our genetic materials. We need to lock down the island. Nothing leaves or enters until we find our eggs. Search teams are to be set to search the facility and the grounds. We have to get those things back. This is a code red."

One of the technicians pressed the alert button. The hangar doors locked down. The land vehicle entrances followed suit. Voices drifted over the communications system. Men and women began to armor and arm themselves for the search.

"Let's go over the surveillance and passcode records while the search is being started." Dr. Greenwade took a seat at an empty monitor. "Which lab?"

"Number Three." Cassandra looked at the readout. "The missing eggs were discovered twenty minutes ago at the routine inventory."

Greenwade typed in instructions with his blocky hands. The lab sprang into existence with the inventory team checking the vaults. He started playing the video backwards.

"There's our thief." He froze the frame on a man in a black uniform. "How did he get in? He's not one of our men."

"That's the jumpsuit the pilots wear for the delivery plane." Cassandra pointed to a patch barely visible on the shoulder. "Can you blow that up?"

Greenwade selected a different picture to get better view of the object in question. The stylized ‘Z' with wings was hard to miss.

"So our man is one of the delivery crew, or an impostor who came with the delivery crew." Greenwade sat back in the chair. "How would he get off the island?"

"Boat, or plane." Cassandra didn't have to think about that. "Either one would be shot down without the proper codes."

"So we're looking for a boat, or plane, with our codes." Greenwade rubbed his eyes. "Let's get Steve on this. He's our biggest asset outside."

"I'll get him on his radio." Cassandra went to another station. They had outfitted the giant with a radio ear wig that changed size with him. It had cost tons, but they needed it for emergencies like this.

"This is Cassandra, Steve." The doctor typed in a locator code for their monster wrangler. "Can you hear me?"

"I hear you fine, love." Steve's cheerful voice cut through the static.

"I need you to look for any unauthorized planes or boats." Cassandra nodded at the signal from the beacon. He was near the top of the volcano. It was the highest spot on the island. "Someone broke into one of our vaults."

"I heard the mobilization orders. I see our men coming out the sally ports now."

"Be careful, Steve." Cassandra shook her head. Steve was the biggest creature on the island. Of course he could take care of himself.

"Don't worry, love. I'll be fine." Steve cut the connection.

"When are you two going to tie the knot?" Greenwade chewed on his pipe. He wasn't allowed to smoke it to his mild irritation.

"You know the rules." Cassandra shook her head.

"I know lots of things." Greenwade walked toward the elevator, still chewing on his pipe. "Some things are more important than others."

[csyphrett]

Staff Sergeant Blue Baloo stood when he heard the plane door opening. He slid down the ladder from the cockpit to the cargo deck. He wanted to know why his captain hadn't looked for him like he was supposed to.

He hoped it was a good explanation.

Baloo waited where he could see anyone coming through the door while he had some cover. He didn't want to be caught flatfooted when so much had already gone wrong on the mission.

A canister thumped against the deck. Biohazard markings covered its gray surface. Where had that come from?

Captain Walter ‘Wiley' Whaley followed with water dripping from his flight suit. He brushed the water from his face with a hand as he smiled.

Things had gone exactly as planned. It didn't get better than that.

Too bad about Baloo. He would have to drink a margarita in the sarge's honor while he was on the beach in Brazil.

"What's in the bottle, Wiley?" Baloo's voice stopped the smile on the captain's face.

"I've been looking for you, Baloo." Whaley smiled again. "I'm glad you found the plane. Where's Zornwill?"

"I don't know." Baloo pointed at the metal can. "What's in the bottle, Wiley?"

"Just a little something I picked up on the island." Whaley reached for something near his belt.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Baloo held up a hand. "Something's not right here. I want some straight answers. What's in the can?"

"I don't think that's any of your business." Whaley quit smiling. "I think you need to stand down, sergeant."

"You're under arrest, Captain Whaley." Baloo still had his hand up to keep the other man from pushing pass him and getting in the pilot's chair. "I'll let the base command figure what this is all about."

"I'll tell you what it's about, Baloo." Whaley glared at the airman. "I have a chance to make millions. You're standing in my way. I'll give you a split if you move so I can take off."

"I don't think so." The sergeant shook his head. "I'm going to get on the radio, and turning you in. There's no way I'm letting you hand over classified material to some suit. Get your hands up and turn around."

"Are you going to throw away a fortune over this?" The captain raised his hands and turned around.

"It looks like." Baloo walked forward. He had restraints. He planned to cuff Wiley and send out a distress signal. Then he could file paperwork and head home.

He grabbed one of Whaley's wrist to put the restraint on, then he could secure the other hand in the loop before tightening it down. He should have expected the elbow to the head. He staggered back.

"I'm not letting you get in my way." The captain pulled a knife and went in for the stabbing.

Baloo jumped back from the point as it sliced at him. He should pull his pistol and shoot. He wasn't sure if he could shoot before he got stabbed.

Whaley feinted with one hand and kicked with a foot. The kick hit the sergeant in the shin. He staggered off-balance. The captain went in for a heart stab. Millions would be in his bank tomorrow.

Baloo caught the knife arm. He punched with the other hand. His bear-like paw crashed down. Wiley fell to the deck.

"Idjit." Baloo flipped him over and put the restraint on with no further trouble. He made sure to empty Wiley's pockets so he didn't have an easy time escaping.

"Ahoy the plane." The voice drifted through the open hatch. Who could that be?

"Go ahead." Baloo wondered if Whaley was supposed to meet someone for the canister.

"This is Dr. Robert Greenwade." The voice sounded cheerful. "I was wondering if I could come aboard."

"Come ahead." The name sounded familiar. "Keep your hands where I can see them if you don't mind."

The overweight man climbed through the hatch. He puffed on a pipe as he took in the scene. He examined the jar without touching it.

"Do you know what's in the thermos?" The doctor kept his hands away from his pockets.

"Nope." Baloo made sure to keep Whaley between him and the newcomer in case of trouble. "It doesn't matter since I am about to turn everything over to the base and let them sort things out."

"Go ahead and make the call." The doctor waved one hand. "My friend and I will wait on you."

The sergeant thought he was talking about Whaley but realized the doctor had someone waiting outside. Why keep that a secret?

"Stay where I can see you." He retreated to the cockpit. He wondered what Whaley had stolen. Why was it important?

He powered up the radio. He held the earpiece to his ear as he watched Greenwade. The doctor puffed on his pipe, but made no other move.

"This is air transport zebra x-ray whiskey one five nine." Baloo wondered if they thought the plane had crashed. He doubted it. "I am calling for zebra michael india control. Can you hear me?"

"This is zebra michael india. Go with traffic." The operator sounded excited to the sergeant. Maybe they did miss the plane.

"The plane is afloat at the north end of michael india. I need a pick up for the pilot, and bio-hazard material. Over." At least the doctor kept by the door. He was being way too cooperative.

"Is Dr. Greenwade there? Over." The question took Baloo by surprise.

"He's on the cargo deck." Baloo looked out the windows. He didn't see anybody on the ocean from his viewpoint. "I'll get him for you."

"Hey, Doc." Baloo waved at the man. "The tower wants to talk to you."

"They are probably worried." Greenwade picked up the canister and carried it into the cockpit. He handed it to Baloo who put it down behind the pilot's seat. "We had to lock down the island and all."

Baloo gave him the radio mike. Why were all the project scientists crazy? Was that some kind of qualification?

How do you lock down an island?

"Go ahead." Greenwade listened to the question. "No, no. Everything's fine. I was going to ask Steve to bring us in. Just open the hangar door for us."

"Is Steve your pilot?" Baloo wondered what was going on. "What's in the bottle?"

"Steve can't pilot a plane." Greenwade shook his head. "That's not how he's bringing us in."

The plane lifted into the air. Baloo thought he saw a monster face as he held on to his chair. He steadied Greenwade from falling to the floor.

"Wave." Greenwade strapped in. "Steve likes that."

Baloo strapped in himself. He didn't wave.

[csyphrett]

epilogue

Staff Sergeant Blue Baloo felt a hundred percent better after some food in his stomach and a nap. He had some new clothes while his jumpsuit was being cleaned by the base facilities.

Dr. Greenwade was the only one on base that was near his bearish size. He wound up with corduroys, shirt, and his jump boots. He turned down a sweater vest.

He stood in the middle of the holding pens and was amazed the Project had footed the bill for it.

Zornwill stood on the other side of a transparent wall on his right. He gave Baloo a look like he recognized the disguised sergeant. Maybe he did. He didn't attack the pen to get out. The airman couldn't ask for anything more than that he supposed.

The dragon turtle swam off without exhaling his trademark fire in the water.

"What do you think of our facility, sergeant?" Dr. Greenwade walked along the marked path, pipe in his mouth.

"You have a lot of monsters here." Baloo noted one of the cells had a dragon that looked like one of those that had tried to eat him. "What happens if they decide to break out?"

"They would probably start fighting and kill the rest of us by accident." Greenwade chewed on his pipe. "They have a strict pecking order. Anything smaller than they are fair game. Anything bigger is to be tested and either fair game, or something to run away from."

"What happens to Wiley?" Baloo already knew how explosive a monster battle could be. He had no desire to think about it any more than necessary.

And Wiley had been a friend before he had gone off the deep end. The promise of wealth had turned him into someone almost as much of a monster as the ones around the airman.

"Espionage and treason are hanging offenses." Greenwade started up toward the elevator to the command deck. "I assume that he will be court-martialed and imprisoned for the rest of his life."

"His family will be devastated." Baloo shook his head.

"There's nothing we can do about that." The doctor paused at the elevator. "The damage that could have been done if the eggs he stole had replicated the monsters that they belonged to would have devastated more than one family if they had gotten loose anywhere near a civilian population."

"That just leaves me stuck on this island until the next supply plane." Baloo got on the elevator.

"It's only another week." Greenwade smiled as he boarded the elevator and pushed the button to the command center. "I expect we can rush it if you want us to make a few calls."

"That's marvelous." Baloo could have used a vacation. He just didn't want to spend it in the middle of nowhere.

"Don't worry, sergeant." The big scientist smiled. "My assistant can find you plenty to do."

"That's marvelous." He could do without that too.

"Isn't it?" Greenwade stepped out on the command deck.

The sergeant followed. He had seen other command rooms like this. They weren't part of the ground and air operations he did. They were background support.

Some of the things he had done had been done without support. That was the way he liked it more often than not

"How are things going, Cassandra?" He smiled at his thin assistant. She checked her clipboard before handing it over. "That bad?"

"We have a shortage of food for Zornwill." The woman nodded at Baloo. "We don't know where we can get it."

"He'll eat anything made of meat, ma'am." Baloo didn't tell them about the BK. That would be too much information. "Just drop a cow in the tank, and he'll be happy."

"We didn't put any land in for that." Cassandra brushed stray hairs back with a hand. "We assumed he was strictly aquatic, so we only have fish."

"He'll eat anything that moves." The sergeant thought about transporting the vicious monster. "He'll eat anything."

"I think we should listen to Baloo." Greenwade smiled. "Call to one of the Air Force bases we have ship us our supplies, and arrange for cattle to be sent. I'll talk to Steve about adding some type of island in the enclosure for them."

"I wouldn't put it close to the walls." The airman could see what Zornwill would do to the place if he got free.

"Of course." The doctor nodded in agreement. "He is much too much of a maneater for that."

The doctor checked on the screens for his zoo as he listened to reports. Everything but Zornwill seemed to be in working order.

That would soon be fixed. Cassandra was a wizard at fixing the unfixable.

"This is a nice place, Doctor Greenwade." Baloo felt confined in the operations center. Of course that was probably because he was a big guy. "I was wondering when I could get a lift back to civilization."

"We were going to ask you to stay on." Greenwade and Cassandra shared a look. They had obviously talked about this while they were checking on the container, and locking up Whaley.

"I don't know anything about monsters." The sergeant didn't state the obvious. Who wanted to deal with things that could snap you up like a popcorn kernel.

"We don't need you for that." Greenwade chewed on his pipe. "We need someone on the ground to help us with transport. You see Alchemo's mix has been found everywhere in the world. The Project isn't the only facility trying to keep this problem contained."

"You want me to bring the monsters back here?" Baloo could already see problems with surviving that. "What about Steve?"

"Steve is our monster wrangler when they arrive." Cassandra broke in. "He's also our primary means of defense if something goes wrong with a cell."

"It is a small problem." Greenwade chewed on his pipe. "Sometimes they find a means to beat the security we put on their habitats."

"Can I have time to think about this?" The sergeant couldn't conceive of chasing monsters around the world for a living.

"Of course."

Baloo took the elevator downstairs and wondered the cells as he thought about the offer. Finally he stopped in front of a familiar face. The black eye regarded him as the shell sat at the bottom of the tank. A giant filter big enough to clean the refuse from a city's sewer system recycled the fresh water they had set up for him.

He knew what his answer would be as he swore to himself the turtle was smiling at him.
the end