“You stay hidden, I’ll shoot you. You come out and I don’t think you look like the Major, I’ll still shoot you.”
“What the hell kinda choice is that?”
“It’s the only one you get. You got ’til I count to ten. Better make up your mind quick, cuz I count fast.”
Stumpy looked at Karnage. “You trust her?”
“I trust her to shoot anything that moves,” Karnage said. “Still, we don’t have much choice. How do I look?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do I look like me?”
Stumpy shrugged. “I guess.”
Karnage nodded. “Good.” He called out to Velasquez. “All right, I’m coming out!”
Karnage stepped through the hatch. He was surprised and pleased that he wasn’t instantly hit with a hot spray of bullets. She must be mellowing in her old age.
Velasquez emerged from the darkness, holding a gun larger than she was. The muzzle was pointed directly at Karnage’s chest. She slowly lowered it as her jaw dropped.
“Well, suck my dick ’til my hips cave in,” she said.
“You don’t have a dick, Captain,” Karnage smiled.
“Neither do you.” Velasquez returned the grin. “But that hasn’t slowed you down none.”
Karnage closed the gap between them and they shook hands. “Major,” she said.
“Good to see you again, Captain.” Karnage turned back to the hatch. “Stumpy!”
Stumpy tentatively stuck his head out.
“Front and centre,” Karnage barked.
Stumpy climbed out of the hatch and joined the two of them in the middle of the hallway.
“Captain,” Karnage said, “this here is Corporal Stumpton, my latest conscript.”
Velasquez shook Stumpy’s hand. “Welcome aboard, Corporal.”
“Call me Stumpy.”
Velasquez nodded, and turned to Karnage. “We’re glad you were able to find us, Major.”
“Us?” Karnage’s eyes lit up. “You mean…” Two more figures emerged from the darkness. Karnage’s eyes sparkled.
“Heckler,” he said. “Koch.”
Koch was leading Heckler from the darkness, an arm propping him up. Heckler’s body tensed as he oppressed the occasional snigger.
“Heck,” Karnage said. “You’re not laughin’ no more.”
“He even talks some now,” Koch replied.
Karnage turned to Heckler. “Is that true?”
Heckler whispered in Koch’s ear. “He said he’s doing better, but he’s not one hundred per cent yet. And he’s sorry. For all the laughing. Says he couldn’t help it.”
“You got nothing to apologize for, Sergeant,” Karnage said, “with what you been through. I’m just glad to know you’re gettin’ better.”
“He says you should thank Cookie for that,” Koch stated after a moment’s whispering. “It’s all his doing.”
Karnage grew excited. “Cookie? He’s here?” He craned his neck, hoping to see the corporal emerge from the dark. “Where is he? Why isn’t he here?”
Koch and Vel shared an uncomfortable look.
“It’s… complicated,” Vel said.
“What do you mean it’s complicated?”
“He’s not the same,” Koch replied.
“Not the same how?” Karnage grew alarmed. “What the hell’s happened to him?”
Heckler leaned in and whispered in Koch’s ear. “He says we should just show him, Vel.”
“All right.” Velasquez leaned her gun against her shoulder.
“Follow me.”
CHAPTER THREE
Velasquez led Karnage and the others through the darkened corridor, the occasional white throb of light illuminating their way. The squiggly pipe on the wall grew wider the deeper they travelled down the corridor. Soon, the pulse of white squiggling down the tube was as thick around as a beach ball. They followed the tube into a round chamber where the tube coursed up into the middle of the ceiling and descended straight down, ending in an open sarcophagus held by three gnarled talons pouring up from the floor. Inside the sarcophagus, Karnage saw a familiar face.
“Cookie.” Karnage walked up beside the sarcophagus. The tube ran down into Cookie’s head, fading from translucence to the opaque flesh colour of Cookie’s skin. White light throbbed out of Cookie’s head like a heartbeat.
Karnage looked at Cookie in horror. “What the hell did they do to him?”
“They’ve made him part of the system,” Velasquez said. “Like a fucking computer chip. He’s supposed to be watching over some kind of subsystem. He told me what it was once. I can’t remember what. Probably stuck working the shitters. Poor bastard.”
Karnage could see inside Cookie’s skull through the tube. His head looked hollow. Karnage turned to Stumpy. “You ever seen anything like this before?”
Stumpy just shook his head, his eyes fixed on Cookie’s mangled body.
“They tried to destroy his mind,” Velasquez said, “but he’s still in there. He’s still Cookie. Go on, Major. Talk to him.”
Karnage stood over the sarcophagus. “Cookie?”
There was no reaction. Karnage tried again.
“Cookie? Are you awake?”
Cookie half-opened his eyes. His voice was barely a whisper. “Oh. Hey, Major. You made it. I wasn’t sure—”
A crackling oscillation of green energy tore down through the pipe, coursing into Cookie’s head. He convulsed in pain, his fists clenched.
“What’s happening?” Karnage barked. “What’s going on?”
Velasquez’s eyes were hard and cold—like she’d seen this too many times before. “They keep doing that to him,” she said. “That green light is fucking killing him.”
The green light dissipated, and Cookie relaxed. He lifted his wrist from his lap and slowly crooked a finger at Karnage. “Sit down next to me, so I don’t have to talk so loud.”
Karnage knelt beside the sarcophagus. Cookie motioned him closer. Karnage leaned in until his ear was almost pressed to Cookie’s lips.
Cookie let out a gentle sigh of relief. “That’s better.” His voice was nothing but breath. “What’s on your mind, Major?”
“I came back to stop the squidbugs,” Karnage said.
“That a fact?” Cookie whispered.
Karnage nodded. “It is.”
Cookie stayed quiet a long time. He took a deep breath. “Do you know how you’re going to do it yet?”
“I’ve got some ideas,” Karnage said, “but I was hoping you could help me work out the kinks.”
“Let’s hear what you’ve got.”
“I been told the squidbugs are like an insect colony. Or a hive,” Karnage said. “That they take their orders from a central queen. And that queen is runnin’ everything. How’s that sound so far, Cookie?”
“Not bad,” Cookie whispered. “Keep going.”
Karnage went on. “The way I figure it, the squidbugs are nothin’ without this queen. Just a buncha mindless squiggly beasts. We kill the queen, and their command structure goes down. The whole organization descends into chaos.
“The only problem is, I don’t know how to do it. Where’s the queen? What does she look like? How do I kill her? I’m hopin’ you can help me with that.”
“I’ll try, Major,” Cookie said. “I’ll try.”
He closed his eyes again. Karnage waited patiently, hoping Cookie was just mustering his strength.
“The queen,” Cookie said, “isn’t a queen. It’s…”
“What is it, Cookie? What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Nothing? What do you mean ‘nothing’? It’s gotta be somethin’, Cookie. Everything’s somethin’.”
“Not this thing. It has… no body. No shape… no physical form. It’s pure intelligence… nothin’ else. Just a collection of energy… holdin’ itself together through sheer… willpower… pure thought… pure energy…