The Dark Giants by Cerberus Jones Page B

exactly what all my studies predicted!’
    Beard growled, ‘Then why didn’t you predict it for us?’
    Foxy waved away the comment. ‘I couldn’t foresee the specific results, but you take
a creature from its home planet, expose it to different gravity, let it breath a
different atmosphere, sit under a different sun, eat totally different food – well,
of course, ninety-five percent of creatures in that situation will simply die. But
that other five percent, oh my!’
    ‘Whoa,’ Charlie hissed to Amelia. ‘Grawk is Superman!’
    ‘This is great,’ said Spike. ‘Way beyond the buyer’s expectations. We’re going to
have to increase the price.’
    ‘If it’s that simple,’ said Foxy, backing away from Grawk.
    ‘Money is always that simple,’ Beard chuckled.
    ‘Yes, but biology isn’t. How much did you blast him with?’ Foxy’s eyes flickered
toward Grawk. Amelia followed his gaze, and her breath caught in her throat.
    ‘A single shot. Fifteen hundred centigrams,’ said Spike. ‘Why?’
    Foxy scrabbled backward, his eyes wide with shock. ‘Because he’s already coming out
of it. Watch out!’
    ‘Relax,’ said Beard – but he took a nervous step back all the same. ‘The netting
will –’
    He was silenced by an almighty shredding sound as Grawk heaved himself to his feet,
flexing his shoulders, tearing the netting to tatters. Amelia was close enough to
feel some of the fibres rain down on her head, but nobody else was taking any notice
of her. Not even Grawk – his attention was fixed on Beard, with one ear cocked toward
Spike.
    Amelia took the opportunity to scurry back to Charlie and Sophie T, who was sitting
up now and trembling all over – whether from fear alone, or the after-effects of
that petrifying shot, Amelia couldn’t tell. Either way, she didn’t look up to any
quick escapes through the bush just yet.
    ‘Not Superman,’ said Charlie. ‘Grawk is the Hulk! And they’ve just made him mad.’
    ‘What if you’re right?’ Amelia asked. ‘What if Grawk is like the Hulk, and he’s too
angry to remember who he is? Who we are?’
    ‘Well, he knows who the bad guys are, anyway,’ said Charlie as Grawk lashed his tail
and paced toward Beard.
    Beard didn’t move; he kept his eyes locked with Grawk’s, but he growled to Spike.
    Spike growled back, and dialled his plasma gun up until its tip glowed. He raised
it, sighted along the barrel and took aim.
    ‘Run, Grawk!’ Amelia screamed.
    Spike shot. This time the plasma was a burning streak through the darkness, but Grawk
was gone by the time it reached its mark.
    Beard roared in frustration, and Spike swung his gun toward the patch of bush Grawk
had leapt to, but he had utterly vanished.
    ‘You did it!’ Charlie cheered. ‘He listened to you – it’s still Grawk!’
    ‘You did it,’ snarled Beard, snatching Amelia up and holding her in the air by the
scruff of the neck like a puppy. ‘So now you can be the bait in our trap. The beast
obviously responds to you.’
    ‘He doesn’t,’ Amelia choked out, no idea if she was telling the truth or not. She
clawed at Beard’s hand, trying to wriggle out of his grip. ‘He’s forgotten me and
gone feral. He just got scared when I yelled.’
    ‘Scared?’ said Spike. ‘ That thing?’
    ‘Why don’t we do a little experiment and find out?’ Beard grinned. ‘Call him back
for us, there’s a good human.’
    Amelia’s faced turned purple as Beard squeezed her, but she wheezed, ‘No. I won’t
help you.’
    ‘Not even to save your own life?’ he asked, almost politely.
    That was a horrible thought, but Amelia knew he’d rather be able to sell her as a
slave if he couldn’t catch Grawk. That wasn’t exactly comforting, but it meant he
was bluffing about killing her.
    ‘I don’t betray my friends,’ she panted.
    ‘Right. Thanks for the tip.’
    Amelia gasped for breath as Beard’s grip on her shifted, and for a second the world
swam groggily around her. Just when she