Grailem by Gary L Beer (best novels for teenagers txt) 📕

him for so long; did bring a certain amount of satisfaction.

The power of being in control of the life of anyone who crossed him went to Grailem's head. Drunk with power he decides to kill all those who had done him wrong; and any who got in his way.
Needing no weapons and it being nearly midnight, he visited the private quarters of his carers and scientists. Entering each room silently he killed the sleeping forms using fingers that are harder than high pressure cobalt; and arms that had a crushing force of thousands of kilogram‘s. Killing everyone in the huge laboratory complex Grailem found the biggest obstacles to him were the people with prosthetic limbs and organs; as they could almost match him for strength and agility.
Many of the modified humans were awake when he entered their rooms. The prosthetic limbs that were incorporated into their bodies were powered by their own atomic power supplies. With only the power of thought to operate them, physical demands on the body were slight.
Grailem's first encounter was with a young female, aged about thirty five years. When he opened the door to her room and stepped inside she looked up at him from her work desk in shock and fear. Seeming to know his intention she leapt towards him, fingers shaped into crooked talons. Swiping at Grailem's face with her sharpened nails they embed themselves into his cheek as she tries to pull downwards.
The tough carbon hybrid skin covering his body hold them fast and Grailem grabs hold of her wrist. Twisting it almost casually he snaps the wrist with a sharp cracking sound and the carer screams in pain. Grailem stiffens his fingers and pushes them into her chest, penetrating the heart and silencing her instantly.

Footsteps sound in the corridor outside as scientists and carers, alerted by the screams run towards her room. Stepping behind the doorway Grailem is not seen as four stockily built carers rush in. Seeing the dead woman laying on the floor makes them stand still in horror.
Recognising the four carers as ones who had abused him the worst Grailem shuts the door with a slam. Turning swiftly they face him white with fear.
Jobe, the biggest and cruellest is the first to recover and he rushes at Grailem with clenched fists swinging at Grailem with all his might. Grailem effortlessly catches the oncoming fist in his right hand. Squeezing Jobe's hand he increases the pressure until the bones shatter and break. Jobe lets out a terrifying scream as the other three carers rush at Grailem.
Surrounding him they start to punch and kick Grailem as hard as they can – intending to kill him.
Grailem feels no pain under the hail of kicks and punches, reaching out he grabs the neck of two of the carers in each hand. With an effortless twist of the wrist he snaps their necks and drops them to the floor.
The remaining carer, now white with fear tries to get out of the door, turning the handle he feels himself pulled backwards as Grailem grabs hold and throws him against the far wall. The carer hits the wall with a mighty thud and slides down onto the floor.
Grailem wants to hurt this man and make him suffer like he had suffered over the years. Leaning forward he rips the carers trousers off and getting hold of the man's small penis he uses his sharpened nails to slice right through it. Throwing the penis down onto the floor Grailem straighten his fingers, positioning them above the area of the bladder with the intention of removing this also and he forms a cold smile at the terrified carer.
Heavy booted footsteps sound in the hall coming in his direction and Grailem assumes it is the security force on the way – who are probably armed. Taking a final look at his terrified victim Grailem turns away and runs at the nearest window. Leaping up he crashes through the window and lands on the ground four stories below.
Scientists and carers run as soon as they see him and soon Grailem finds himself all alone. Turning back towards the laboratory he enters by a side door and searches for the scientists and carers who have hidden from him. Two hours later and after setting fire to the huge laboratory complex as he leaves, he manages to escape in the confusion. Heading for the nearby city he rents a room in a poor section using the money he had taken from his victims.


Chapter Three

His body was a perfect copy of a human's; apart from hair growth, and he found that he could move amongst the population anonymously. The eyes were the only thing that could tell him apart, unless a scanner was used on him. The eyes remained cold and staring, irrespective of whatever emotional state he was in. Grailem purchased a light shaded pair of sunglasses, enough to distort the image of his eyes but not dark enough to make him appear out of place.
Impressed with his strength and ability to easily kill those around him Grailem felt that his rightful position on this planet was to be President. Though he felt immortal and impervious to any form of attack he planned his future moves carefully. The main problem he had come across was those people that were fitted with artificial limbs and body parts. Using the vast computer network that covered the planet he found it easy to locate those who had fully replaced limbs and organs. Medical records on this planet were public knowledge, by accessing the hospital computer banks Grailem was supplied with the information on all operations over the past twenty years – complete with names, addresses, marital status and employment records.
Civilisation had evolved and matured with a heavy reliance on computer technology. Only military information was restricted; including the laboratory and location in the desert where the other human brain experiments were carried out.

Systematically Grailem started to kill those who had the technological and prosthetic advancements that were most likely to oppose him in the future. Most that he murdered, he created the situation where the death looked accidental or like suicide. Many fought to save their lives and caused extreme damage to their homes – dispelling the theory that it was a suicide.
Grailem knew that his time was running out, in his five day killing spree he had killed nearly ten thousand people making it obvious to the authorities there was a mass killer on the loose. Knowing it was Grailem with his superior abilities and who was able to hide and merge with the population, made catching him almost impossible.
For another three weeks Grailem continued his reign of terror, his confidence in himself and his powers made him feel indestructible. Killing became easy and he admitted, enjoyable. His twisted mind, coupled with the deep hatred he felt for his own species strengthened the genetic alteration with the alien species of wasp.
The mistake the geneticists had made when combining the wasp genes into Grailem's system was that they used the genes of the queen of the species. The queen's objective, being the dominant species on the alien planet, was not only to reproduce, but also to totally dominate the thousands of wasps that also lived in her colony and on the planet. The wasp colony, guided by the dominant queen, invaded nearby wasp and bee colonies. They attacked mercilessly, killing the queen of that colony and as many of the adult wasps and bees that opposed them.
Enslaving the survivors and the important eggs the dominant wasps created a slave culture. Showing almost human intelligence huge cities had built up which the inferior wasps maintained. Waiting on the dominant species life for the lower form of wasps was grim and allowed no freedom.
The genetic make-up of the queen wasp was very similar to humans; only a two percent difference, making it ideal for scientific research. The aggressive dominant nature of the wasp was ignored and considered of no importance.

With the genetics of the alien wasp dominating his thoughts Grailem continued his intended domination of the planet. Being on his own made him stronger, more independent and narrow minded. His one thought was domination of the planet – no other thought entered his head – other than how he was going to kill his next victim.
Killing became easier each time he murdered, this being a peaceful, placid world violence was rare and unexpected. Most of his victims froze with fear when he attacked and accepted his death blows as if they wanted to die. Grailem became complacent and approached the apartment of his final victim with a certain amount of sadness. He had enjoyed killing and hoped that in the future his slaves and servants would rebel against him; so that he could kill again.
Ringing the doorbell to his final victim Grailem waits patiently for the door to open. The door opens showing a small balding man, possibly eighty years of age. Being small, Grailem badly underestimated the man before him called Stoney Brooks. Clasping the man's neck he twists his hand sharply, expecting to break it in one easy snap. Medical records had shown that Stoney had prosthetic arms, legs and heart; but had not shown that his spine was made of a tough titanium alloy.
Stoney Brooks reacts instantly and throws Grailem over his shoulder onto the floor. Running over to the main door he triggers the intrusion alarm which is connected to the main security that covers the building. Stoney fights like a madman using his prosthetic arms and legs; such is the power in his arms he grasped Grailem in a bear hug so tight that it traps Grailem's arms to his side.
The elbows of Stoney Brookes are reinforced with a bulbous formation of titanium and these force themselves into Grailem's elbow joints. The elbow is one of Grailem's weak points and the bulbous titanium locks in causing serious damage to the two main servo-motors that power his arms. Grailem still manages to force his hardened fingers into Stoney's chest, stopping his heart as his servo-motors and safety system shuts down.
All of Grailem's parts are self- renewing but this takes time, the damage to his servo-motors in effect disabled him and his arms become immobile. He hears a hammering on Stoney Brooks' apartment door before it is kicked down a few seconds later. Armed security forces rush in and brutally force him onto the floor. Hand and ankle cuffing him they leave him lying on the floor as they call for back-up.

Aware of Grailem's capabilities and the thousands of people he had killed they tried many ways to kill him. His body, so well built, could withstand gunfire and even missiles. Connecting his body to the main electrical system and pumping five hundred thousand volts through him had no effect. Unable to destroy him, and aware that his self-repairing systems are working they encase him in hexi-plas, a combination of silica and carbon. Flying him to the spaceport the government and security officials remove the expensive satellite system payload that was due to take off and weld him inside the cargo hold. The government quickly blast him into outer space before his system manages