Gregg Hurwitz - Minutes to Burn

"I hardly think this thing is capable of killing a human being," Derek said. "We don't even have evidence that anything's actually happened here. No proof. Only stories. Even that guy with the ax-"

"Ramon," Cameron said.

"Yeah, Ramon. Even he couldn't show us anything concrete."

"So it's just a coincidence that weird shit is going on here, people are disappearing, and we discover this Caterpillar-That-Ate-New-York-City motherfucker?" Szabla said.

Diego cleared his throat and started to speak. "I don't think-"

"Plus it'll metamorphose," Szabla continued. "Could hatch God-fuckin'-zilla all we know."

"And we have an obligation to see that it does metamorphose," Diego said.

"Maybe it's an alien," Tucker said. "Or from the inner earth or some-thing. Up through the earthquake cracks."

"Or maybe there was a radioactive spill somewhere," Szabla said, raising her hands and wiggling her fingers. She snorted. "This isn't Them."

Rex pressed his lips together, suppressing a smile. "I'd guess it's a mutation or an entirely new species."

"Big fuckin' mutation," Savage said.

Rex shrugged. "With the state of the ozone layer, who knows? Life on this planet has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to function successfully within specific parameters of solar radiation. When those parameters are drastically altered, it's a DNA free-for-all." He coughed once into a fist. "The larva's size indicates some kind of hydro-static skeleton. Without one, it would collapse into a formless puddle."

"How can that be?" Diego asked. "An internal skeleton?"

"Look at the size of it," Rex said. "How can it not be? It also must have an advanced respiratory system, some kind of mutated breathing apparatus. It could never have grown to this size relying entirely on tra-cheae to attain oxygen. Maybe primitive membranous lungs?" He glanced nervously at the three gills quivering behind the head of the larva.

"How do you know this shit?" Tucker asked. "All of a sudden, you're the Professor from Gilligan's Island."

"You forget, big boy, I'm an ecotectonicist. Though I happen to loathe the life sciences, I am extensively trained in them." Rex flashed a quick, insincere smile. "I know everything."

Savage rose, picking up a stick and stepping toward the larva. He leaned forward, jabbing at the larva's head. It backed away from him, shaking its head as if it had a bad taste in its mouth.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Diego said, yanking the stick away from Savage.

"Oh. Playing mommy, are you?"

Derek's face was flushed. "Cut the shit, Savage."

"What's with the Florence Nightingale routine? That thing could be dangerous."

"My point," Szabla said. "My point exactly."

Diego spoke to Szabla in an even, steady voice. "Larvae represent the feeding stage of an insect's development. The weight and size increase is usually confined to this part of the cycle. You know it can't hatch some-thing inordinately larger than itself. You know there are rules."

When Szabla looked up, the intensity in her eyes was startling. "That's a three-foot-long insect." She pointed at the larva, which had curled up in a ball, burying its small head beneath the coils of its body. "Don't talk to me about rules."

"Loathe as I am to admit it," Rex said. "She does have a point. This phenomenon, scientifically speaking, breaks all the rules. Insects don't grow to this size. All assumptions have to shift, including those about its harmlessness or menace." The brim of his Panama was low, almost hiding his eyes. "This must've been what Frank got himself into before he disappeared. But why a sketch of a mantid? Mantids are hemimetabolous."

"Translation?" Tank said.

"They don't undergo a complete metamorphosis. They don't have a stage of development that looks like this."

"What are we gonna do with it?" Szabla asked. "I don't want it sleeping near me."

Savage flipped his Death Wind around his hand and caught it by the handle. "That thing comes near me, I'm skinning it," he said. "Science be fucked."

"That's my call to make," Derek said. "And our orders are to assist Rex."

"So?" Szabla looked at Derek. "This isn't part of his survey."

"It is now," Rex said softly.

Diego shook his head with disgust, glaring at Szabla. "Could you really be so shortsighted as to-"

"Shortsighted?! I am a soldier first and foremost, and I'll be god-damned if I'm gonna sit by while you bring a potentially dangerous crea-ture into my base camp!"

"Your base camp?" Cameron asked. She glanced over at Derek, but his eyes were far away.

Tank stood up, spreading his arms wide to try to calm everyone.

"This is a wonder of nature," Diego said. He angrily readjusted the band that held his ponytail.

"Then don't mind me wondering," Szabla said. She charged forward, knocking Diego to the side. Placing her foot on the larva's back, she pinned it wriggling to the ground. It hissed as air leaked through its spir-acles.

Rex came up off the log. "Don't you dare handle it!"

"Sit down, Szabla," Derek mumbled.

Szabla palmed the top of the larva's head, yanking it back until its mouth spread. Tucker and Tank looked at each other uncomfortably as Szabla peered inside, checking out its mandibles.

Derek stepped forward, yelling. "I told you to sit the fuck down!"

Szabla started to say something and Derek shot out a hand, grabbing her around the throat and yanking her off the larva. She grabbed his wrist with both hands, choking. The other soldiers stood up, and Rex took a fearful step back.

"Jesus, LT," Tucker said.

Szabla gurgled against Derek's grip as he walked her back over to the log, his arm corded with muscle. The other soldiers froze, unsure how to react. Derek sat her down, his hand still tight around her neck.

Cameron rested a hand gently on Derek's shoulder. "Derek," she said softly. He relaxed his grip, and Szabla gasped for air. Cameron reached out and pulled his hand slowly away from Szabla. His face was drawn and gaunt, fatigue shot through his features. "I am in goddamn com-mand of this outfit, and no one here is to forget that," he growled. He walked a few paces off. The others watched him nervously as Szabla caught her breath. Diego reached to check her throat, but she slapped his hand away.

Derek crouched down and stroked the larva's cuticle. Its flesh was soft, cushioned with a thin scattering of pliant hairs.

"This animal has never before been seen," Rex said, breaking the silence. "We're not letting it go or killing it."

"And why do you make that call?" Szabla asked, her voice a rasp.

"Because it's my mission," Rex said. "You're just along to schlep my gear." Derek said nothing to disagree. Rex caught Diego's eye and Diego nodded at him reassuringly. "We'll keep it the next few days while we fin-ish setting the units," Rex continued. "Then take it back with us to study."

"If we decide to remove it from its habitat," Diego said softly.

Something large crashed through the trees lining the road behind them. Everyone whirled, Savage grabbing for his knife as he turned. He lowered it when he saw Justin high-stepping through the tall grass toward them. Cameron's arm was shaking, and she grabbed it so that no one would notice.

Justin pulled his diving mask off from around his neck and flung it to the ground. He approached with angry steps, his eyes lowered. "God-damnit. It's gone. The bow line must've frayed against the tuff cone in the earthquake. The boat swung into a shelf of submerged lava-the stern line sheered. " He sighed, resting his hands on his hips. His cheeks were flushed, red near-circles that made him look half his age. "The fucking thing floated away."

Cameron pressed the heels of her hands to her forehead. When she removed them, they left white imprints for a few seconds. Derek spoke into his transmitter, tilting his head to his shoulder. "That's the lay of the land," he concluded. "We have no way back to Baltra. We're gonna need an extraction."