Infernal Sky by Dafydd Ab Hugh Page A

that.”
    â€œAfter what you’ve been through—” Arlene began, but he wouldn’t let her finish.
    â€œNo excuses,” he said. “I’ve been too ready to give up. But then I think about the terrible things these monsters have done to us, and it makes me angry. We will fight. So long as there are Jills, the human race has a chance.”
    I saw a tear in his eye. I was going to say something, but I suddenly couldn’t remember what. Instead I went over to Ken and hugged him. He held me and kissed me on the forehead.
    â€œYou know, as long as we’re all together again, there’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask,” Fly threw out.
    â€œShoot,” said Albert.
    â€œBad choice of words around marines,” said Ken.
    â€œCivilians,” said Arlene. She made it sound like a bad word.
    Fly asked his question: “I keep meaning to ask one of the old hands around here: why are the masterminds behind the monsters called Freds?”
    â€œI know, I know,” I piped up. “I heard that sergeant gun guy talking about it.”
    â€œMaster gun, hon,” Arlene corrected. When she didn’t sound like a mom she sure came off like a teacher.
    I finished up: “Anyway, that man said a marine named Armogida started calling them Freds after he took a date to a horror movie.”
    â€œI wonder what movie it was,” wondered Arlene.
    â€œWell, maybe we should start calling our heroic young people Jills,” Ken brought the subject back tome. “I can’t change anyone’s mind, so let me say I hope your mission goes well.”
    As I said, I appreciated Ken worrying about me. He just didn’t understand how important it was to me that I go along. Fly promised I’d get to ride a surfboard.

12
    T he last thing I needed was a brand-new monster, fresh off the assembly line. For this, Fly, Albert, Jill, Captain Hidalgo, and I had traveled all the way to the mainland? For this, we’d taken a voyage in a cramped submarine meant for half the number of personnel aboard? (Of course, the sub seemed like spacious accommodations after the shuttle we’d built on Deimos.) I mean, I was all set to encounter new cosmic horrors when we returned to the great black yonder. Arlene, astrogator and monster-slayer—I’m available for the job at reasonable rates! But none of us were prepared for what awaited us in the shallows off good old California.
    The military airfield at Point Mugu is about five miles south of Oxnard. When we passed the Channel Islands, Captain Ellison told us we’d be offshore—as close to land as the sub dared—in about thirtyminutes. Of course he used naval time. After spending years in uniform, I’m surprised I prefer thinking in civilian terms for time, distances, and holidays.
    The trip had been uneventful, except for Jill hassling me about what a great asset she would be to the mission if we took her to Phobos. I finally got tired of her and suggested she bug Captain Hidalgo. After all, he was in charge. Too much of Jill and I thought our marine officer might be willing to space himself.
    Hidalgo handled Jill very well. He simply told her that her part of the mission would be finished at the base. He also reminded her that Ken had gone to a lot of trouble to work out a plan for her return trip, and she didn’t want to let him down, did she? Then he wouldn’t listen to her anymore. In some respects Hidalgo was more qualified to be a father than Fly was. But that didn’t prove that he had what it took to save the universe from galactic meanies. That was sort of a specialized field.
    I’d never been aboard a submarine before. I disliked the odor. In working hard to eliminate the men’s-locker-room aroma, they had come up with something a lot worse, something indescribable—at least by me.
    The captain of the sub was a good officer. Ellison was plenty tough and well qualified for