Warblegrub and the Forbidden Planet Read Online Free PDF Page B

monstrous spider with an elongated neck, clearing boulders and bushes with easy bounds. As soon as they opened fire, he leapt out of range and vanished into the darkness.
    Hidden among the rocks, 395 readied his weapon, a high-powered marksman’s rifle, deadly over more than a kilometre. He exchanged a nod with Private 585, who was nearby with one of the Redeemers, but Fardelbear returned from a completely unexpected direction. Before they could react, he bounded onto the rock tower, tore the guards apart like rag dolls and flung the pieces away. Crouched there on his haunches, he swayed from side to side as he searched for prey. Not only did he appear unharmed by the gunfire, he actually seemed to be basking in it.

    Private 207 fired a rocket that streaked past its target, dwindled into the distance and exploded on the opposite ridge, but when 585 fired another, Fardelbear made no attempt to avoid it; instead, he opened his mouth wide and swallowed it.
    The soldiers flinched but there was only a dull, muffled explosion deep inside the monster. Then his eyes opened wide and blazed with a brilliant white light. Inhaling a great draught of air, he began to swell. Those who guessed what this portended dived for cover but the jet of white fire that spewed from his mouth caught many more where they stood, struck dumb with amazement. There was no time to scream; a second later the victims were little piles of ash.
    *
    As he watched the soldiers follow the ridgeline south, Warblegrub massaged his chest where the Colonel had shot him. They made camp at the rock tower and when all was still and silent, Warblegrub wandered back towards the mountain.
    “Fardelbear can have them!” he growled.
    A pair of owls were calling softly to each other in the valley below and he stopped to watch the ghostly white birds hunting for prey. When he glanced back along the ridge, he was feeling more sympathetic towards the humans.
    “After all,” he reminded himself, “if I’d given up on them every time they killed me, they wouldn’t have survived a single millen….”
    At the sound of the explosion, Warblegrub turned and started back towards the camp. As more explosions followed and gunfire rang out, he began to run. Having had no need to hurry for a very long time, he was out of practice but each step grew larger and more confident, and soon he was clearing rocks and bushes in easy bounds. As he drew near the rock tower there was sustained gunfire and he hopped on top of a boulder, but before he could make out what was happening, a missile came streaking towards him and he threw himself flat on the surface of the rock. The missile passed overhead and Warblegrub looked up in time to see Fardelbear swallowing the second one, and the jet of white fire spewing from his mouth.
    Warblegrub’s heart was racked with pain as many of the humans died but when the pain eased he leapt to his feet. He found the survivors scattering in all directions like a nest of mice disturbed by a cat. Scrub grass and bushes were burning all around the rock tower but there was no sign of Fardelbear. The Colonel was nearby, cursing horribly, and as Warblegrub looked desperately for other survivors, Fardelbear returned.
    Charging straight at the Colonel, he failed to notice Warblegrub, who sprang from the boulder and landed on his back. Fardelbear leapt and bucked like a bull as he tried to shake off his unexpected passenger, and carried Warblegrub far along the ridge before he stumbled under the weight. They rolled together down the hillside and came to rest in a dry gully, with Fardelbear pinned to the ground. When their eyes met, both pairs blazed red but Fardelbear’s faded first, and when Warblegrub released his hold, the creature scuttled away into the darkness, snarling with rage and frustration.
    Warblegrub caught up with him among the clouds, sitting on a rock shelf near the summit of the mountain. He was hunched over a pile of bones, polishing a gleaming