Chapter Thirty-Four - Rule

    Chapter Thirty-Four - Rule

    If you look at a birds eye view of the first forty-eight hours of an incursion, youll be surprised to see how they spread. We imagine the spread as a sort of flood stemming from the centre and going out, but in reality, just like the plants they almost are, the Antithesis move a little more organically.

    The initial incursion and spread is relatively contained, but concentrated in a few areas. Five, six square kilometers of highly concentrated hive mass for the first dozen hours. Then they push out in a ring, a huge burst of expansion starting, usually, a day after the initial landing.

    That circle of expansion stops, new ground is consolidated, then a third wave moves out.e people compare it to breathing, and they wouldnt be entirely wrong. The process ebbs and flows, but it isnt constant. The amount of resistance they meet will often dictate the speed of the spread.

    --Professor Heinlein, excerpt from a lecture on the knowledge gained from early Antithesis studies (thereafter called Alien Anthropology), 2028.

    ***

    I came down to find the dozen or so office drones, Elisa, and Storm all just waiting around. There was a listlessness to them, like how I imagined people that knew they were dead would see the world.

    They turned towards me when I pushed the door open with a shoulder.

    I got a lot of stares, which wasnt entirely new. I was a one-armed cyclops with a few strange scars and a tiny bit of an attitude problem. Getting stared at was pretty damned routine. Youre all still kicking? I asked.

    Storm pushed off the pillar he was leaning against. We are, he said. How did things go above?

    There were a whole fuckload of aliens. Were being the important bit there. If we hurry we should be able to make it up without any trouble. I pointed my thumb towards the ceiling. Are you guys up for a bit of a jog?

    I got that they werent into the whole physical exercise thing, and who could blame them, but they didnt need to look like Id just asked them to take part in a puppy kicking contest.

    Come on, you can either get moving, or stay here and turn to alien chow.

    That got them moving with a bit more alacrity. As one big group, we trudged up the stairs, then spilled out into the backroom for the next floor up.

    I had to admit, I enjoyed the wide-eyed looks they gave to the dozens of pulped, melted and torn up aliens dotting the cafeteria. What was less enjoyable was seeing knee-high birds pecking at some of the corpses and occasionally taking bites with razor-lined beaks.

    What are those? I muttered.

    The climb was... anti-climatic. Just a few stairs up to the landing at the top. No aliens, no bodies.

    Its clear! I called down before moving to the door into the next floor. There was a barricade just beyond it, boxes stacked atop each other, with chairs and desks behind that.

    I swung the door open then waited next to it, out of the line of fire. Whos there? someone called.

    I felt my shoulders slumping in relief. Im Cat, I said as I brought my hand around to wave. Cute, one-armed. Samurai. You should know me, I hope.

    I poked my head around and found a nervous twenty-something in the Mall Cop security uniform looking through a hole in the wall of junk. Oh, yeah, okay. Uh, we can move some things.

    Cool, I said. Weve got a dozen others here. And that Storm guy.

    Storm and Jeff made it? he asked. Yeah, great. Ill tell Simmons and get some help for this wall. Just give us a minute!

    I sighed. Really though, I couldnt complain too much. I was so close to seeing the Kittens, and Lucy, again. Then wed figure a way to get the hell out of the centre of the incursion.

    Simmons showed up on the other side of the barricade just as the others started to come up. Some of them had pulled some chairs out of the stack to sit on, others were quick to complain about not being able to get past.

    Captain, Simmons said. You got my men back.

    I winced a bit. I got one of them back, I said.

    Simmons met my eye. Better than none. Come on in, weve got a few things to discuss.

    Im sure Ill enjoy the conversation, I deadpanned.

    Humans saved: 11

    Points added

    New total: 226

    ***