Warblegrub and the Forbidden Planet Read Online Free PDF Page A

describe it!”
    “Told you so,” muttered Warblegrub.
    The Colonel shot him a glance. “Help’s on the way,” he promised. “Sit tight!”
    The whole company waited with bated breath but the minutes passed with no sign of danger.
    “I think we lost it,” said the Sergeant after what seemed like an age.
    “Perhaps you’ve left its territory,” suggested 395.
    Warblegrub resisted the urge to intervene. “They only learn the hard way!” he reminded himself and remained silent.
    “Take a look, 844,” the Sergeant ordered, “but don’t go out of sight!”
    Private 844 rose from cover. Keeping low, his gun at the ready, he stalked back uphill through the undergrowth until the trees began to thin out. Still nothing moved and he was called back before he disappeared from view.
    “Coast clear, Sir,” the Sergeant reported.
    “Wait for reinforcements then make a tactical….” The Colonel hesitated.
    As Private 844 was returning, wading through a bed of ferns, 3008 rose from behind a fallen tree to greet him but the banter died on her lips as a bizarre creature, terrifying to behold, came bounding down through the trees, leapt over 844 and launched itself at her.
    Some remembered its glistening hide that shone in the sunlight and seemed a very dark blue in the shadows. Some remembered the bulbous head that appeared to have no eyes and others the limbs that numbered six or eight, or even more – so swiftly did the creature move it was impossible to count. What they all remembered clearly was the mouth, the carnivorous, ravenous mouth that bit 3008 in half.
    844 was still standing amongst the ferns and it took his comrades a moment to realise his head was missing. Then, as if he had only just realised it himself, the legs buckled and the body collapsed. From his position on top of the outcrop Private 2479 fired a burst from his machine gun but he was shaking so much he succeeded only in felling a few small trees. Throwing aside what was left of 3008, the creature bounded towards the outcrop. There was something ape-like about its loping stride but it seemed more a computer-generated avatar than a physical being. The final burst of speed and the leap onto the rock tower were heart-stopping, and even Warblegrub held his breath.
    Its prey dispatched – the details mercifully hidden from the Sergeant’s camera by the leafy branches – the creature looked up from the kill and scanned the glade. There were red slits on either side of the bulbous head and the fiery eyes found the last two terrified soldiers with one sweeping pass. Private 3992 immediately began to run – and even those watching from a safe distance felt the compulsion to flee – but the Sergeant managed to fire a whole clip of ammunition before he was dispatched and the screen went blank. A few heartbeats later, 3992’s short scream rang out over the radio and when 395 checked the vital signs, he too had joined the flat lines.
    “Pure evil,” whispered Sarah, her voice hoarse and trembling, her eyes wide with terror.
    “He’s not ‘evil’,” Warblegrub corrected her. “Killing’s in his nature.”
    “And it’s in our nature too!” snarled the Colonel.
    The Colonel recalled the relief party and while they hurried back along the ridge, the Colonel and 395 considered their route to the city, concluding that the southernmost of the mountain’s five ridges would provide the easiest path for about half the distance, after which they would have to cut their way over the densely wooded ridges that lay between the highlands and the coast.
    The Colonel led the company across the valley, steering them away from the mountaintop and onto the south ridge, and only when the summit had disappeared from view did he call a halt. They all dropped their packs and slumped to the ground. The Colonel, however, drew a revolver and pointed it at Warblegrub.
    “What was that thing?”
    His eyes locked with the Colonel’s, Warblegrub pushed the gun aside. “For