Crissy stood on deck, looking up at the stars. In the distance, just over the horizon, could be seen flashes of light from the electrical storm. The sight drew Crissy's attention with it's active flickering, almost looking like the light coming off a welder's bench. She hoped that her friends weren't stuck in the middle of that in their little lifeboat. Roger stepped up behind Crissy and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. Crissy almost jumped, being a very timid girl prone to letting her mind wander, along with Roger's natural if unintended stealth, but it hadn't taken her long to become accustomed to Roger's presence in the short time they'd been married. His strong hands were quite familiar by now, and Crissy reached up to place her hands across his. He felt her initial quiver from the unexpected contact, but he was also starting to notice how she was becoming more comfortable with his unannounced appearances. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before fixing his attention on the flashing lights in the distance.
"You don't think they're stuck in that," Crissy asked, "do you?"
"I hope not. We don't know where that current took them, not for sure. They were just in the right place to catch it. The Conqueror just missed being trapped in it too."
"Hand of God? They would have been crushed if the Conqueror had slid into the same current."
"I'm sure it was." Roger wrapped his arms fully around Crissy to hug her, so joyed that she was safe and well. Crissy turned to face her husband.
"How's the Boss doing? Those are his friends out there, too."
"Oh, he's holding up. He's sure they're alright, he just wants to get back to them as quickly as he can. His wife has been a great comfort to him during this."
"It takes a lot of courage for a man in his position to stand by doing nothing, he's so used to taking command and protecting those around him."
"I wouldn't worry about him. The first thing a man like that learns is when to trust in a power higher than himself."
"He's a good man." Crissy nestled into Roger's embrace. "Steve's a good man, too. It's good that he's with the others."
"Patty would sure like to have him back, but she's been telling herself the same thing, I'm sure."
On the island, the intensity of the storm seemed to grow. Lightning and thunder remained a constant, lacking any sort of lull so as to sound more like an earthquake than a storm. Inside the house of Dr. Noyman, the girls took comfort in a roaring fire built in the gigantic fireplace which commanded the north wall of the main hall. Daisy rubbed her arms as she stood closest to the blaze.
"It helps," Daisy announced, "but it can't take my mind off that storm completely."
"They're practically routine around here," Noyman said as he carried into the room a tray of glasses and a wine bottle, "and even I must admit to growing tired of the dampness. I thought maybe this would help drive the chill out of our bones."
"Just why are electrical storms so frequent here?" Daisy asked.
"The island is situated directly between two opposing air currents," Noyman explained as he sat down the tray, "that and the mineral content of the island make conditions perfect for generating electrical disturbances as the evening air starts cooling down."
"You told us you were using electricity to make vegetation more hearty," Jeannie mulled over what had been told her, "how exactly does that work?"
"Vegetation is living tissue," Noyman inspected a glass of wine, "thus subject to certain natural phenomenon. As you know, muscle tissue is developed by first wearing it down. My first experiments applied a similar idea to plant life. By subjecting developing plants to mild electrical shock, I can make the plants able to survive increased electrical energies as they grow. A fully-developed plant can withstand several thousand volts which would normally bake it to a crisp. Of course, this was only a first step, but it proved that these plants can be conditioned to survive in environments which would normally destroy them."
"I see," Jeannie stroked her chin as she thought, "but how do you make the plants replace nutrients they would be unable to obtain in a desert?"
"That has proven more challenging, but cross-breeding combined with electrical stimulation has produced some promising developments. Obviously, the plants used for such dry conditions must be able to retain nourishment normally unavailable. One experiment gave certain plants mobility to seek out nutrient-rich soil. But obviously it defeats the purpose of the experiment if the plants simply move away from the areas being used to grow them. Other experiments focused on making them carnivorous so as to feed on the small animals any desert houses. Spiders, lizards, all insects and even some small mammals."
"There it is," Beverly whispered to Steve, "there's the red flag!"
"The carnivorous plants have certainly been a help around here," Julie chimed in, "have you noticed we aren't plagued by the usual pests one finds in the tropics?" Steve looked at Beverly and smiled. Bev shrugged and settled back into her chair.
"Okay, I guess you've got me on that one."
"It's incredible," Minerva said, "you've used electricity and cross-breeding to turn fruit-bearing plants into mobile carnivores?"
"There are also nutrient experiments. I believe I'm close to a breakthrough with the use of electrically-energized nutrients. Plants grown on electric conditioning favor energized nourishment. I haven't made them totally immune to desert heat yet, but their size has been dynamically increased. And with it, their potential to produce greater fruit!"
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Doc?" Beverly spoke up. "Giant, carnivorous, mobile plant life sounds like something the Marines should be called in to fight off."
"Watch a lot of monster movies?" Clete smiled.
"My uncle Simon produces a lot of them."
"These are harmless experiments," Noyman smiled, "perfectly safe and confined to this island. Would you like to see them?"
"Your super-plants?" Beverly rubbed her neck as she considered it. Jeannie jumped right up out of her chair.
"I'd certainly like to see your work, Doctor!"
The lab was well-lit and sizeable, if rather gothic in appearance due to the old stone walls. Long tables housed rows of plant life which thrived under electronic devices suspended from the ceiling. These hummed as they fed voltage into the soil and some of the plants themselves. It was all very impressive, situated at the bottom of a spiraling stone staircase. Bev didn't think her uncle could possibly do better in setting a sinister mood, but at least it wouldn't be real if it were his doing.
Prominent in the middle of the room was a huge plant which looked like a leafy octopus. Thick tentacles spread out and draped over the edge of the table. In the center was a huge gourd-like structure roughly the shape of a giant pumpkin, but pale green in color. Evidently, the sight of this was as unexpected to Dr. Noyman as it was to everyone else gathered at the base of the stairs. Clete checked a row of control wheels and their dials as Noyman grabbed a stethoscope.
"This gauge reads twice the output it should," Clete reported, "there's enough voltage going into that plant to bake it to a crisp under normal circumstances."
"I must have opened the current and nutrient flow beyond my intentions," Noyman approached the body of the plant, "I meant to saturate the other end of the table, making ready a dry bed." Noyman listened to the body of the plant, hearing activity he didn't expect. Beverly looked down to the end of the tentacles near Noyman's feet. Metal-like claws were present at their tips. Moreover, they were beginning to move.
"I wouldn't get that close, Doc." Beverly warned as she pointed his attention to the claws. Noyman cautiously stepped back.
"Incredible!" Noyman gasped. "It's become completely predatory!" Clete began to turn one of the control wheels.
"I'll cut the juice!" As the current was reduced, the plant began to shudder. Julie motioned with her arm for everyone to keep back. Noyman was equally fascinated and horrified.
"It's gotten used to the flow of current. Cutting it's food source may make it mobile. Clete, try increasing the voltage. Maybe we can feed it so much current that it dies from over-exposure." Clete nodded and turned the wheel back the other way. The electrical device above the plant hummed louder. The plant's tendrils reached up and grabbed the feeding unit.
"Bad idea, Doc," Clete was growing uneasy, "it loves it."
"Open it all the way. It's acting like a morphine addict. Maybe we can give it an overdose."
"Do you have a flame-thrower handy?" Steve asked.
To everyone's amazement, the plant's body split open like a clam, now displaying a row of needle-like teeth in the same manner as a Venus flytrap. Jeannie knew now the boost in energy was a mistake. A tendril reached out and pulled the leg from another table, causing it to collapse. Clete continued to turn up the power.
"This can't be," Yvette was aghast, "plants don't have muscle tissue!"
"You're only making it stronger." Jeannie reported. "You said you cross-bred in properties from carnivorous plants. Yvette is right, plants don't have muscles for such movement, but a Venus flytrap uses electrical impulses to move in a muscular manner. Feeding it more current is only making it more powerful!"
Noyman and Clete exchanged a look of fear. Jeannie was right and they knew it.
"If we cut the power completely," Clete wondered, "will it die before it destroys the laboratory?"
"If it's food supply is cut off," Noyman warned, "it'll seek a different source of nourishment. It's carnivorous now." The weight of what Noyman was saying hit Clete like a tidal wave.
"If we take it's bottle away, it'll come after us. That's what you're saying, isn't it?" Noyman, seeing the folly of his work, nodded.
"This just can't happen," Minerva insisted, "we've got to be dreaming!"
"I wish we were, Minnie," Steve grabbed up a handy rake, "but this is happening. Everyone back up the stairs. Clete, turn up the juice and keep that thing occupied."
"What are we going to do?" Daisy asked.
"I means destroying Doc's work," Steve stood at the ready to protect the girls as they would file out, "but we can't let that thing get loose. This lab is underground. I say we get everybody out and then toss molotov cocktails down here. That thing may be immune to electric shock, but it should be vulnerable to fire."
"I'm not sure how effective that would be, Steve," Clete eyed the monster, "there's a lot of moisture down here. The fire may not burn hot enough to do any good. Not if it starts at the door."
"What about poison?" Minerva asked. "You must have a way of destroying your mistakes."
"Our failures are used as mulch for the next generation of tests," Noyman noted, "those we've always destroyed by applying more electricity." Clete took a step back and looked over the control banks.
"One thing we can try," he told the others, "open all the controls full blast until they overload. That'll start an electrical fire that should destroy everything in this room without the fire spreading beyond. It'll give us more time to escape, but we'll blow out the generators."
"I don't see what choice we have," Noyman admitted, "but we have to stop this here before it gets out of hand." As he spoke, bursts of electricity began to spark from the tips of the plant's tendrils.
"It's already out of hand," Clete began to throw all the controls wide open, "get upstairs!"
"Hurry!" Julie prompted. The girls began to march up the stairs, but the plant was beginning to get more active and whip it's tentacles about the room. Steve swung with his rake, holding the monster back as Noyman pushed Julie toward the stairs. Clete worked quickly to open the current as high as he could before the equipment began to spark. Steve held back the plant as Clete pulled him toward the door.
"You feel it?" Clete asked. "It's already drying out in here. When those banks blow, they'll ignite the chemicals we use to treat the soil samples. In a few minutes, all the air in this room will be ablaze!"
"Sounds good to me!" Steve threw the rake toward the plant and dashed out as Clete slammed the door and braced it.
"That's a wooden door," Steve noticed, "will the fire spread into the house?"
"There's a metal door at the top of the stairs, just in case of fire. Come on!" The men raced to the top of the stairs and slammed shut the other door which closed down over the floor. Clete toppled a potted fern and began to spread the sand around the edges of the door to add extra fire retardant. A few seconds later, the building was rocked by an explosion. The plant monster could be heard issuing a shriek down in the lab, where the fire was raging. Noyman stood over the door, defeated.
"We tried to do a good thing." Noyman mourned. Jeannie stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Your heart was in the right place, Doc. But maybe better plants aren't the answer. Maybe instead those deserts should be made more fertile by chemical means. Give regular crops something they can feed on when water isn't available."
"It'll mean starting over from scratch," Noyman smiled, "but such is the march of science. By God's grace, we've been spared a horrible mistake here today." As the generators finally blew out, the lights flickered and died. Only the fireplace in the main hall offered illumination.
"The planet was just saved," Minerva said, "but now we have no way of contacting the Conqueror. We've just been lost at sea..."
TO BE CONTINUED....
This is a really Great story
ReplyDeleteIt would make an excellent movie