The Tiny Terrors Part 4

Annie continued talking about her vision: "The ship moved swiftly away from your ship. Vast distances rushing past. Nothing but a tremenous void for a long time. Oh! Now a planet, it's taking shape in the distance. It's greenish and crossed by a long stream of light on one side. I can make out land and...and ...oceans?, maybe?"

"There's only one planet like that!," Biff exclaimed. "Earth!" And so much for my fifteen minutes, he thought, but what must be done...must be done!

Annie continued: "Their ship is out of control! It's plunging down towards a vast expanse of forest! A tropical forest, a rain forest. A mist is over the trees and the ship is burning up!"

Annie shuddered, almost as if she were experiencing the crash herself. "The ship is on an island in a forked river. There are three rivers and below the island the water is white with foam. There's a tremendous waterfall about three miles from the island. It's the largest one I've ever seen!"

Rippleton wanted to ask some questions, but he knew the information had to come naturally, from her clairvoyance.

"There's a girl swimming in the water near the waterfall. Maybe I can read her mind. Yes...I can. She's in Brazil! Close to the headwaters of the Amazon!"

2

Biff had never flown over the Amazon before, and was stunned by its incredible beauty. He finally found where Annie described and saw something glittering on the forest floor. Whether it was the alien ship or just the glint of sunlight off the river, Biff could not tell from his vantage point. He had to get closer to see what it was, but it would be dangerous. As if on cue, Annie, whom he had brought along with him from the hospital, said, "Go for it, darling!"

He bent grimly over the controls, in his mind a vision of a great host of alien creatures rushing toward him through the forest, swarming over the ship, refusing to let him emerge.

He feared their weapons, which he had never seen. He remembered the little statue with its suicidal impulses, and its ability to shed replicas of itself.

He needed somewhere to land. Finally he thought he saw somewhere he could safely park the space-jet. Sweeping down between fire blackened trees, the jet circled and came to rest on the damp forest floor.

When Biff and Annie emerged, a soft breeze full of jungle scents wafted towards them. They stood close to the airlock looking all around.

A few yards from where they were standing the ground sloped to the brown waters of a swift-running river, its surface flecked with white foam, and studded with little whirlpools that swirled with a darkly writhing turmoil as dry leaves fluttered down, twisting and turning in the breeze.

Twisting and turning above a limp form that lay sprawled on the riverbank, its bare shoulders horribly hunched, its head immersed in the muddy brown water.

Annie screamed when she saw it. She ran towards the grotesque scene but was soon overtaken by her husband, who ran into the water, and through tremendous effort, was able to extract the unconscious man out of the muck and onto his shoulders.

The major carried the man up the sloping bank, eased him onto the ground, and rolled him over. A stocky man with a thin mustache and a narrow face. Staring at the familiar face, Rippleton felt a sense of irony so overwhelming that he could hardly breathe.

Eventually, the man on the ground stirred, yawned, and opened his eyes. "Hey! What are you trying to do? Take my arms out of their sockets?"

"Good afternoon to you, commander!," Biff said, chuckling.

The commander shuffled around until he was sitting up straight. "Did you really think you could get away with it? Stealing my ship! Didn't you know I would follow you in one of our faster ships?!"

"Yes, sir, I did, but it was a chance I had to take! I trust you didn't come all the way out here all by your lonesome..."

"You better believe I didn't! Three patrol squads came with me. They were instructed to shoot your ship down on sight!"

Major Rippleton looked all around. "And...just where are your men now, Commander?"

"Those fiendish aliens attacked us! Jut like that little model did! There were thousands of them, about six inches tall, and they just kept coming! We blasted, but it had no effect on them, they swarmed and lifted up my men like so many toy soldiers and dumped them in the river! It was ghastly, Rippleton! I felt so helpless, I kept blasting, but I couldn't save them." The commander slumped down and almost--almost!--allowed himself to cry.

"How did you save yourself, then?," Biff asked.

"I really don't know. Everything went black, and the next thing I know I'm eating Amazon mud for lunch!"

"Where is their ship now?," Biff asked.

"It's in a clearing up there," the commander answered, pointing. "I don't think you can get to it unless you swim there."

"That's just what I intend to do!," proclaimed Biff.

Annie ran to Biff's side. "Biff! You're not going alone, are you?"

Well, I'm certainly not taking YOU, Biff thought. The major nodded. "I'm a good swimmer."

"Yes, you are. But WHY are you going there?"

"It's...it's kind of hard to explain. We've come so far and gotten so close. I think it would be a great failure if I don't find out who and what those things are. I know you think something horrible might happen, but I don't feel that way at all. I think those aliens only use violence as a last resort."

"You're a fool, Biff!," the commander shouted. "A fool!"