ATTACK

The genetics laboratory at the PHI on Planet Authair is being attacked. IZ~ unwittingly saves his buddies.

E Two Two! E Two Two! E Two Two!

Chico Quwattle dashed out of the conference room, leaving Izzy to scramble onto Dorf s back while trailing crumbs from his quickly abandoned congratulatory treat.

The emergency code created another path of glial cells around newly forming neurons in Izzy's brain. He climbed onto Dorf s shoulder, twisted his neck to make eye-to-eye contact, and glialpathed, Izzy can help. What can he do? What can Izzy do?

Dorf Tzeus jerked his head around and saw Izzy's pleading gaze. The geneticist had been sending lock-down signals to his files through his organic wrist Dyzzleberry Communicator, commonly referred to as a DB.

"Extreme urgency, Iz." Dorf lowered his voice. "They're breaking in. Here, get inside my shirt." Dr. Tzeus pulled back the neck of his shirt. "Flatten out against my back and keep that tail of yours hidden. We've got trouble. Don't let them see your face."

Izzy was happy to hide, or make an attempt at it. The banana-sized feline/iguana scuttled backward inside the shirt's stretchy fabric, his long fur-ridged-tail nesting at Dorf s waist.

The tall, soft-spoken geneticist ignored Izzy's little padded feet as the creature repositioned himself. Dorf tightened his shoulder muscles in an effort to disregard the tickle of whiskers on his back as he reported to his boss. "I've secured the records for ABMR-Virus Cure and deleted them from all work centers."

Ponce Heidon, who'd been tracking the invaders' movements from the security wall monitors, turned and nodded his approval. Beads of perspiration ringed his smooth, hairless head. "They've destroyed the labs in Building 2 and are headed this way," he told the others in the room. "Robar and Phed, block the entrance. Cimi, make..."

Pop!

Cimi Nuja had anticipated Dr. Heidon's request and prefaced her response by cracking a bubble with the wad of gum in her mouth. "All technology locked, Director.." Ponce Heidon knew Cimi was on top of things when he saw that the tuft of hair at the top of her otherwise bald head had remained blue as she continued concentrating on her security-breach problem.

Cimi tapped out PHI104 on her DB. No response. She pressed it again. "Where's Chico? Did anyone see where she went? She's not responding to my path!" Her tuft of hair faded to pale yellow.

No one answered Cimi's emotional appeal.

An explosion blasted the vaulted entrance that separated the conference center from the laboratory. Robar and Phed were thrown across the room. Phed's light body slid down the silicon-surfaced table, and Robar landed with a thud on the marble floor at Ponce's feet.

Cimi dashed under the table. Sensitive to loud noises, she instinctively tore off two hunks of gum and plugged her ears. She saw Phed's foot hanging over the table's edge and pulled it so hard that the bewildered PhD candidate had no choice but to join her.

Ponce and Dorf, engulfed in a piercing hail of shards, didn't see the intruders enter. Five uniformed shapes appeared before the stunned scientists. Behind them, a throng of ordinary- looking protesters barricaded the cavernous entrance. They pointed small weapons at Ponce,

Dorf, and Robar�"that appeared to be light-emission guns, weapons designed to vaporize organic material with one well-placed shot. Robar quickly righted himself.

A broad-shouldered female addressed the PHI director, "Ponce Heidon, that is 'The Great Dr. Ponce Heidon.' " Her military jacket sparkled with medals and announced her undisputed superiority over the others flanking her.

She singled out Ponce. Two soldiers yanked his arms behind him then forced him to the floor. As they dragged Ponce across the rubble, he screamed in pain.

Dorf rushed to Ponce's aid and flashed one riveting burst of his Stunfire before a blow to his head sent him toppling to the floor.

Izzy streaked out from under Dorf s shirt onto his master's fallen body. Displaying a fearsome posture, he felt a primordial tingle envelope his body. His leathery skin puffed up and unfolded a newly found dewlap. Power pumped through every cell. He humped his back and raised the ridge of black shiny fur so that it stood erect from his head to the tip of his tail. No longer soft and silky, each strand of fur had become as rigid as steel, the tips needle-sharp points. Izzy's fur was peppered with brilliant green spear-shaped filaments that stood straight among the stiff black hairs like iridescent emerald daggers, his dewlap a fiery flashing sail.

He tilted his head up, opened his jaws, and bared his teeth. A web of scaly skin fanned out on both sides of his mouth creating a chasm that intensified a sound from deep within. It began as a low gurgle, then raced to a hissing roar, finally elevating to a siren of torturous pain. The sound shocked every nerve fiber and every muscle of both the good and the bad. Those who were standing fell to the ground.

There was no crying out as icy shards of life seeped through the ravaged victims' veins. They lay frozen struggling to breathe. Their bodies shivered uncontrollably while their minds

conjured up visions of their own violent deaths; each death was more horrifying than the next, cycling without end.

Throat muscles paralyzed. No terror could be manifest in screams of agony, only that of agonizing silence.

Izzy closed his mouth. Then he shut his eyes and collapsed.

For the longest of moments, not a sound could be heard in the ruins of the hallowed scholarly space. Then slowly, the ridged forms of the once-angry protesters began to relax.

Blood sluggishly pumped back into withered veins and throat muscles began to flex. Nerve fibers calmed.

"It's a monster!" the once emboldened attackers screamed in fear. "They've created a monster!"

They stumbled and fell, crunching through the broken plexi, rock, and metal. Some were still blinded, and they desperately clawed over each other to escape.

Cimi eased herself out from under the table and unplugged her ears. Pulling out the sticky mass, she had to be careful not to entangle the gum in her huge hoop earrings. She felt fine, totally unaffected by the horrendous noise. Glancing around, she noticed her friends were still unconscious. They were the closest to Izzy, especially Dorf.

Looking down at the wads of moist blackness in her hand, Cimi murmured, "It must be the gum." Maybe my saliva chemically altered the effect of Izzy 's attack, she thought. I'll have to test this later. She pocketed it for safekeeping, then popped a fresh cube into her mouth.

Kneeling by Dorf, Cimi was relieved to find he was still breathing, but there was a nasty lump on the back of his head. She pathed for help. CRTA1-15 Triage, repeatedly tapping the emergency icon on her DB. Frustrated, she yelled, "Don't tell me they've killed the signal!"

Author's Note

This is the beginning of Chapter 1. Are you interested enough to want to read more?