Read Online Infinity Squad by Shuvom Ghose - Free Book Online

bizarre." Then, to the spider, "How have I changed?"
    "You ARE different. You look... different to me."
    I shook my head again. Cleaner uniforms? This was the trouble dealing with alien species. Especially ones that walked around naked.
    "That's fine. But it is me again. We don't have much time before we are noticed. I wanted to tell you, you can talk to these two humans as you talk to me. I trust them."
    I pointed to my left. "This is Ann-Marie Butcher. That is her name. Do you understand?"
    The Hell-Spider considered my five-foot-three Intelligence Sergeant for a second, then said, "Yes. Butcher. One who slaughters animals with precision. Yes, I understand this name."
    I pointed to my left. "And this is Zazlu Mohammed. That is his name."
    The spider tilted its head strangely and said nothing.
    "Zazlu Mohammed ," I repeated. "My Second Lieutenant."
    "Your words are... muddy again."
    "Mohammed probably won't translate," Zazlu said, then stepped forward. He crossed his huge, muscular arms over his chest. "When I was a wrestler they called me-"
    "Wrestler," the spider interrupted. "To grapple. To pin to the ground and kill. Yes, this I understand." He nodded to Ann-Marie. "Butcher." He turned to Zaz, nodded again. "Wrestler."
    I looked at them. "Close enough. And so you can recognize me again, I am First Lieutenant Jonah Forrest."
    "Forrest. A... collection of trees?" The spider looked down at me. "A strange name for one who leads a Butcher and a Wrestler."
    "Oh yeah? And what's your great warrior name?"
    The spider drew one of his razor claws in a flash, causing Ann-Marie and Zaz to jump back. But he just tapped his head with the impossibly strong, needle-sharp tip. "We use the image of our mind to recognize each other. The complete image of who we are. It would be impossible for you to see. Or know."
    He scratched his head, then continued. "But when our hatchlings are young, before their minds can see well, we let them use markings to call us. These markings." On his spotted black skull, he tapped three yellow spots which stood out more than the rest, then put his claw away.
    "Three Spot? That's your warrior name?" I laughed.
    "He did call it a name for children," Zazlu whispered.
    "Fine, whatever," I said. "We don't have tons of time. First of all, Three-Spot, thank you for your advice before. We got on and off the Night Hunting Grounds without needing to kill any of your brothers. And we got most of what we needed." I started digging in the backpack I had brought. "And we would have gotten everything we needed, if you had bothered to tell us about these !"
    I slammed a dead, crispy snake up against the glass like a defense attorney. It didn't have the dramatic effect on Three-Spot that I had pictured. It also left a smear on the glass.
    "Yes, the lightning snakes appear when the mountain is warmed by the sun," the Hell Spider said, calmly looking at the sample Zazlu had snagged on the trip back. "That is why it is the Night Hunting Grounds."
    "You stupid EIGHT LEGGED-" I yelled, pounding the glass. "Do you have any idea how much their bites HURT?"
    Three-Spot took his razor claw and pointed at his foreleg, at the tough skin behind his armored shin and two small, long-healed, puncture marks there.
    "Yes. I do. At a certain age, the males of our species are disposed to ignore the warnings of their elders and go exploring." He rested back onto his legs. "Many new hunting grounds are found this way. But also many painful scars."
    The two fresh burn marks on my neck throbbed. Lesko had crossed me in the hall and I don't know why I had let him mark me again. To teach myself a lesson, I guess. I held my neck and dropped the snake on the table. Three-Spot looked at it with interest.
    "Would you mind if I... It has been a while since I have eaten," he said into our heads. I looked at Ann-Marie and Zaz.
    She shrugged. Zaz crossed his arms and said, "We can provide many lightning snakes. Many. But we need information first. On where