Disclaimer: Paul Verhoeven and Richard Raynis own Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, the power suits, the marauders, the characters....everything. Not me. I'm just a lowly fan, so please don't sue.
Author's Note: #3 of the Between the Lines series. This one's a bit strange...but it's supposed to be. It's written from Zander's POV during "The Mission". Feedback's appreciated, and thank you for reading. =^-^=

Between the Lines #3


"Arachnid Insanity"
by Trelliah




My name is Zander Barcalow...and I am going insane.

Perhaps I'm already there. I can't tell. Not with the ever-demanding "voice" of the bug I've become rattling on and on and on.....Shut UP, already! Shut. Up. Let me think.

Not too long ago...or maybe longer than I'm sure of (I have no real sense of time), I was a pilot; a major in the SICON Fleet. I used to be. Best pilot in the Fleet.

Handsome. Had a girl on my arm when she wasn't on duty blasting the crap out of whatever type of arachnid stood before her. Arachnids. Bugs. The current threat to human life. Her name was...IS Isabelle Flores. Dizzy, as everyone else knew her.

Now, I am not exactly what you'd call human. Not a pilot.

I am arachnid!! No. No. No, no. Not arachnid. I am NOT arachnid.

But I am. But we are. We are--

SHUT UP!!

I am going insane. Half of the time....I think...Zander the Bug's mind controls me, and I am his slave. He, too, is a slave, to the royal pain in my ass; the Queen.

However, I -- Zander the human being -- still have some control. Some. Not a lot. Sometimes, if not most of the time, it's only a remote, vague awareness of what's going on.

I can't run. No where to run to, and why would I want to run? I am powerful, strong...and I have guests.

You see, ladies and gentlemen, the Zander-bug has had an occupation for awhile. Catch some poor sucker M.I. squads, have my minion spiders take their blood and use it as a mold for the larvae I've...ugh....laid.

It's disgusting, I know, but there's not a lot I, Zander the human, can do about it. Zanderbug's an automaton; if he doesn't do what the Queen tells him to, he goes mad. Fighting her orders only delays the inevitable -- the annoying loud thing that screams a lot -- Zander the Human as it calls itself -- can't hold off her control forever.

Oh...oh, look. It's Diz. And Rico, Gossard...they're all here. Except for Lt. Razak...but who cares? I give a friendly hello, but they all seem to be staring...now Gossard's deciding to try and shoot me. He decides not to when I have two of my creations bring forward the two sucker pilots from the downed ship where I got my unwilling donors.

Humanity's flaw -- they have a concience. An unwillingness to kill the weak and stupid. If there's one thing there that'll get them all eradicated, it's their "never leave a man behind" motto.

You humans -- SHUT UP! There's nothing wrong with humans...I-I....oh, nevermind. Bigger problems to deal with.

Damnit! There's Razak, and he's shooting at me! Bastard! I'll tear him in half!!

Arachnid or human, NO ONE likes getting shot. Especially not me.

Things are heating up...they're wiping out my hard work. Oh, no you don't!!

I slink through the murky water in my lair and come up behind one of the Trooper threats. It's Johnny Rico. Never liked him. I grab up Johnny Rico. Stunned, he drops his rifle. Now, all I have to do is tear him into a few pieces.

"NO! Zander, think about what you're doing!!

Whaaa....Dizzy?

Forget her!! Destroy the threat!! Tear him to pieces!

"Remember that time on Zegema Beach when we played volleyball? You said 'Remind me to play on your team."

It comes as if from far away.

Blue skies, sand...a girl with reddish brown hair and green eyes smacking a ball back and forth over a net with another human....this one has blonde hair...the ball goes back and forth over the net between the blonde, the girl, and two other humans.

Irrelevant. Kill the human! Kill the threat!!

Wait.

That human. Embracing the girl. Lucky dog, he gets to hold her in his....in my arms.

My?

I lunge forward towards Dizzy. Feel a sharp pain in my shoulder.

The arachnid that was preparing to take Dizzy's life...has struck me. Not Dizzy. Me.

Me...that's me. Me. Zander Barcalow.

I can remember who I am. More importantly, what I am. Maybe what I USED to be physically....but I know who I am just the same. I shut out Zanderbug's screams to kill Rico already and instead, drop him down with Dizzy.

"Are you okay?" she asks him.

"Ask me later." he answers, taking up his dropped rifle.

The eggsacks attached to the ceiling, where the Zanderbug thought they'd be safe, have come loose. The ceiling is caving in, and the other squads have already evacuated the premises. Just me and Rico left. Rico protests leaving me alone to deal with the humanoid nightmares I created, but I pick him up and throw him into one of the tunnels that haven't caved in yet.

The walls and ceiling come down. And even as I die, crushed beneath several thousand pounds of rock...I can still remember.

The girl. The guy. Dizzy and me, on Zegema Beach. Blue skies and plenty of sun.

Dizzy...she helped me to remember what the arachnid wanted me to forget.

My name is Zander Barcalow. I am a human being. And my insanity has come to an end.


The End...For Now