Katts and Dawgs

by Roberto Sanhueza

Table of Contents
Chapter 9, part 1 appears
in this issue.

Book II, chapter 9:
A Conspiracy and an Invasion

part 2 of 2

The fall is a short one, luckily, and they are soon on their feet and running away from whatever is after them. Some distance farther in the new tunnel they stop when they see nothing is pursuing. Trying to get their breath back they stand gasping and panting.

“Looks like the giant bug is not after us!”

“Yes brother Katt, it did not come into the new tunnel,” answers Phydo dropping heavily on the tiled floor.

“Maybe it doesn’t like light...” proposes Kitti.

“Yeah, and maybe it doesn’t eat Katt on Starday afternoon. I don’t know and really I don’t care. Man! That was close!”

While they get their breath back, all three of them look around.

They are in a wide and well-lighted tunnel. It looks nevertheless abandoned and seemingly for a long time. A single rail (although only Kitti would identify it as such) runs across the middle of its floor section.

“It looks like the underground compound at the Stairways to Heavens, only dirtier.”

“You’re right, Thomm” agrees Kitti. “This place is Man-made.”

“The tunnel stretches both ways. Which way will we take, do you think?”

Thomm does not doubt at all. “The opposite direction to that giant bug back there, yes sir!”

Phydo gives him a tired smile. “I think I have a better way to decide which way to go.” He gets up and sniffs in the stale air in the tunnel.

“You Katts see well in the dark but we Dawgs have a keen olfactory sense. I sense a trace of Adam that way.” He signals ahead.

Kitti shrugs and starts walking “That way it is, then, I’ll take your word for it.”

The three companions walk for about ten minutes through the tunnel, going by different entrances to other tunnels connecting with the one they are traveling. Phydo never falters in choosing the way in spite of Thomm’s doubtful stares.

“You sure about your nose, Dawggy? I can’t tell one tunnel from the other and they all look quite spooky to me.”

Phydo is about to answer when all three hear a rumble from behind. They turn, quite startled, fearing another of the monster bugs.

“A train, it’s a train!” Says Kitti seeing the carriages in line by the rail in the middle of the tunnel.

“And probably a driver too! And we’ve got nowhere to hide in this tunnel!”

“Hold it! Don’t panic! Far as I can see there’s nobody on that ‘train’ but some big crates.”

“You’re right, brother Katt. I can see a line of small, flat and low carriages riding over that metal line on the floor. I see no wheels, though, and I can see no driver either.”

“You’re both right, boys. It seems to be an automated vehicle.”

“And not too fast, either. What do you say we take a ride? Dawggy, Kitti? It’s going our way.”

“Good idea, Thomm. Come on guys! Up we go!”

Soon the three of them are up the slow train, sitting on the low riding platforms.

“Thomm, Kitti!” says a surprised Phydo. “These are eggs inside the crates!”

“Eggs! Three times the size of my head! And insect eggs by the look of them. What’s going on with bugs inside this confounded place?”

“There’s something else that worries me, guys. If this place has enough Man technology to have a little automated train running inside, it’s bound to have some surveillance system. Whoever is running this place is very likely aware of our presence here by now.”

They all cast nervous glances at the tunnel walls.

Meanwhile the little train has reached a bigger and wider section of the tunnel where it starts making a detour.

“Off we go, friends!” says Phydo. “ The scent I’m following comes from that other way!”

Kitti,Thomm and Phydo get off the train in what looks like a big underground plaza. But as soon as they cross the portal from the railway to the plaza they stop dead on their tracks.

An awesome scene is on display before them.

“It’s bugs! Giant bugs!”

Myriads of giant insects, seemingly termites, stand in row after row, utterly quiet and unmoving.

“Let’s go back to the train!”

“No, wait! They’re not moving, in fact, they’re not paying any attention to us.”

Right enough. The insects stand still and make no move to show they’ve sensed the three friends.

“Keep moving! Let’s go quietly past them and just follow the path Phydo is showing!”

The scene is eerily crazy. The three friends walk quietly among the giant bugs. These don’t flinch or make any move as they go.

The walk seems to last forever but it is eventually over and they find themselves at the other end of the plaza.

“Whew! I don’t like this. It’s not natural for those bugs to be so still!”

“Would you rather have them after you, Dawggy? Don’t complain and keep walking!”

“I see what Phydo means, Thomm. They seem to be waiting for some command to start moving. I fear to think what will happen when they do move.”

In the far side of the plaza they find a new tunnel, a row of doors on its wall.

“This is it!” says Phydo. “I can strongly smell Adam’s scent in this place. Over there! One of those doors is open!”

They hurry to the open door and there they see the body of the old Ape, lying on the floor of a small windowless room.

“Adam!” cries Kitti and rushes in.

“Hold it!” cry both Katt and Dawg, Thomm running after Kitti to keep her from entering the room.

Too late. As she goes inside and Tomm grabs her, the door slams close behind them leaving Tomm and Kitti inside and Phydo out.

“Man! What am I going to do? This is obviously a trap. I can’t stay here, nor can I abandon my friends.”

Desperate, Phydo clangs on the door as he yells to his friends, all caution aside. No sound comes from within. The door is soundproof.

Exhausted, Phydo sits by the door trying to decide on his next movements. The sound of many chitinous claws clattering from the other end makes Phydo’s mind up in a hurry. He starts running.

Inside the cell Thomm, quite angry, checks on the door but it is solidly locked. He also tries yelling to his friend outside without any result.

Kitti, meanwhile, checks on Adam who is lying limp on the floor.

“Adam, oh Adam! Did they hurt you?”

“He’s all right, Katt girl. Only a little shaken.”

The sound of the new voice coming from a point between Thomm at the door and Kitti with Adam rocks them out of their minds. The Katt turns around in a flash, retractile claws out, snarling dangerously. Kitti holds Adam’s head closer to her and goes for her weapon. They both see standing between them a tall figure, much like the Sentient People they’ve always known but at the same time subtly different.

Kitti lets her weapon fall from her inert hand and Thomm stands with his back against the door. “Man! Thou art Man!” they both cry, unconsciously falling into their deeply-rooted religious beliefs.

The stranger says nothing. He only smiles at them with ill-concealed contempt.

Thomm, the cynic, the unbeliever, feels his world shake to its foundations. He does, nevertheless, gather all his will power and steps forward. “I don’t care who or what you are! Let us out of here!”

“Or what, little furry abomination? Are you going to put a claw or a dagger on me?.”

“Fear him not, children. He is not really Man and he is not really here, either.”

“Adam!” It is indeed the old Ape coming to.

The old Ape sits up and smiles tiredly. “Friends, Meet Lucius. Or rather meet the appearance he wishes to hold. I don’t think his actual self looks anything like Man.”

“A projection! He is a VR projection!, that’s how he appeared here.”

“That’s right Kitti.” Turning to Thomm, Adam explains: “What you see in front of you is but an image. It’s not solid nor real.”

Lucius lets out a very real laughter. “I’m real enough to set this trap and capture your friends. I knew the Ape wouldn’t come alone, and I have known all along you were inside the complex. Now, don’t get your hopes too high on your runaway friend. It’s only a matter of time before he is caught.”

Thomm relaxes a bit, but not entirely. This stranger doesn’t know what kind of a resourceful rascal his friend is. He’s bound to find out, though.

Lucius turns to Kitti. “You seem somewhat more civilized than your aggressive friend here. You carry a power weapon and know about Virtual Reality. Not that your gun will be of much use in my premises.” He shrugs very convincingly. “Try it if you like. It won’t work.”

“So you have us,” Thomm cuts in. “What do you plan to do with us?”

“Nothing much, for the time being. I have much more important things to do. You’ll stay here until you have delivered any and all information you have. You’ll be fed, and there’s a commode in the little room behind that back door there. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an invasion to take care of. We’ll return to you in a moment, as they used to say in the good old days.” The Man figure vanishes from view, leaving only traces of his mocking laughter.

Kitti and Thomm gather around Adam, still looking frail and shaken.

“What do you think he means by invasion, Adam? I fear the worst.”

“And what kind of thing is he, exactly, if he’s not Man?” Adds Thomm.

“It is an Artificial Intelligence, Thomm, a Man-made sentient machine. It is neither male or female; the image you saw is but its choice of appearance. They were common in Man’s time, but I didn’t know one still existed. This particular one was built for warfare, and I guess after such a long time dormant it’s eager to do its trade.”

“Warfare... I didn’t know Man was also involved in war, as we the Sentient People are.”

Adam sighs, an old and tired sigh. “There’s so much more about Man that would startle you Thomm...”

But Thomm is not one to ponder on the deep matters of life for very long. “Whatever or whoever, we’ve got to worry about finding a way out of here, the sooner the better. I don’t like one bit that part about the invasion he mentioned.” Getting up, the young Katt starts searching about the cell.

Meanwhile, Phydo has run all the way from the cell escaping the ominous sound of claws coming from the other end of the tunnel.

He has backtracked to the Plaza where they got off the little train and the giant bugs are still there. Standing very still, row after row of them.

Phydo tries to stick to the darkest patches of the walls and very quietly goes around the bizarre army.

Suddenly, as if responding to a silent command, the insects begin to move. On cue, a section of the wall slides open revealing the valley outside.

It is a bedazzled Phydo who contemplates the beginning of what the Sentient People will later call “The Insect Wars.” Squad after squad of giant insects abandon the underground premises in perfect formation and they are moving in the direction of Kannis.

The war has begun.

Continuation pending.