by Terry, Mark
“My children,” The Gunslinger said softly.
“Masterrrrrr,” came the sound from the crowd of vampires filling the tunnel. Young vampires—paperboys and pigtailed schoolgirls with blood on their faces and dead eyes. Old vampires—gray haired ladies with rolling pins and a naked man missing most of his stomach. They were joined by young mountain climbers, a farmer, a doctor with a scalpel sticking out of one eye, a teacher missing a cheek and an ear, a police officer missing a hand, and even a fully-dressed soldier holding his rifle in rest position.
“Children, the sun will be striking the valley soon. It isn’t safe. Go back down into the tunnel and wait for the night to come. We are going to embrace the night my children.” He spread his arms and lifted his face upward. “We are going to fly. We are going to spread far and wide. Soon, the night will last forever and nothing,” he turned to Ida, “nothing will ever threaten it again.”
Ida found she couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, as the vampire horde turned and shuffled back down the tunnel whispering, “Masterrrrr.”
The Gunslinger brought his face back to within inches of Ida’s. “They’re coming.” The vampire said softly chuckling, “and they’ll never leave. I’ve seen to it. Their light will kill them, your inventors. And no one will ever use it again.”
Ida sucked in a heaving breath, glancing back down the tunnel to the horrors proceeding away from her, before looking back at the face of Death.
Tesla, Edison, Randolph, and Simon stood in the bucket of the mechanized ore cart as it bulldozed its way back up the mountain, pushing the snows drifts aside. The machine packed down the dirt and snow as it grabbed onto the slick path and moved forward.
“What are we doing, Nikola? What’s the plan?” Edison asked, brushing the snow and ice from his face.
“Vampire has been leading us here to kill us. When we are dead and he is no longer afraid of electricity lighting up night, he’s going to finally reveal himself. He will loose his curse of vampires upon entire world.”
“Why now?” Edison asked.
“Threat of our electricity and technology posed to darkness have convinced him he needs to make night a domain no one will ever tamper with again.”
Edison looked out over the valley and the early morning sun.
“So we have the day.”
Tesla nodded. “We’ve got to rescue Ida. After today, she will not be of any use to him. She is there simply to draw us in. She means nothing.”
The tele-automaton ground to a halt near the mouth of the mine. Simon dropped the stairs and the four men stepped off the giant cart.
Tesla reached to the floor of the cart and pulled out two long tubes each wrapped in a blanket. Simon lifted a crate about the size of a hatbox and stepped back to open it. Both Tesla and Edison unwrapped the tubes and pulled out resonant transformer rifles. Simon pulled four, long tubes wired together from the box and held them at eye level.
“What is that?” Edison asked, looking at Simon.
Simon gave the device a small twist at the base and the translucent cap at one end glowed bright purple.
“Those are cathode ray bulbs wrapped in copper with only one end open,” Tesla said.
Simon shined the light around and then pointed it toward the opening of the mine.
“It makes excellent UV beam that will help keep vampires at bay,” Tesla noted.
The beam passed across the mouth of the mine and a shriek rose from inside as a young vampire in railroad engineer clothing became illuminated with UV light. The blood sucker burst into flames, and several other shapes could be seen moving away, deeper into the cavern. Simon kept the ultraviolet focused on the opening.
“We can’t stay in for very long.” Tesla tested the resonant rifle, putting pressure on the trigger. The coils on the barrel throbbed with blue static. “Oxygen levels are low further in we go. Slabbing is starting on some of older drifts where they stopped mining. We have to be very careful.” Slowly Tesla turned to Randolph. Edison briefly followed his gaze. Simon kept his focus on the mine opening.
Turning his light toward the mine, Edison’s illuminated a small box wired to the cave wall. “That looks like—”
“Yes,” Tesla said, glancing up. “It’s one-way telephone to main cave structure. In case of emergency.”
Ida held her breath as several monsters passed by her, going deeper into the mine. She shuddered. She heard footfalls towards the opening and turned her eyes towards the faint light. She heard Tesla call out, and then she heard the chuckle right next to her ear. Her heart covered in ice. Her eyes moved, but she could see nothing in the darkness.
“Yes, they are coming. The jilt beckons the dandy prats. We will herald in the ridotto of the coming night together.”
Ida felt movement in the pitch black, air pushing through the darkness, a brush of cloth across her shoulder. She heard the grating of metal through rock. As the vampire pulled the spike pinning her to the wall, Ida felt enough slack in the chains to lean forward. She heard the vampire’s steady breathing through the motion. The Gunslinger lifted her off her feet, and she felt light fall upon her.
Simon shined the light on the shape in the darkness. Ida briefly came into view, deep in the tunnel. Both resonant rifles hummed as fingers tightened on the triggers. The UV light fell upon the Gunslinger, too. Edison and Tesla saw the vampire wrap one arm around Ida and lift her off the ground. Then they vanished into the darkness.
Edison’s rifle erupted with a bolt of energy into the mine ceiling, blowing a timber out of the headframe. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Watch for snakes,” Tesla said, taking a deep breath and then stepping forward. Simon kept the light moving in the corners of the darkness and moved with him.
Edison pulled up short behind them. “Snakes?”
A pale face poked out of the darkness and hissed. Two blue bolts of energy struck nearby.
Interlude 75
Tuesday, March 21, 1893, 3:23 p.m.
Deep in the Gold King Mine
The three men huddled in the mine tunnel, shuffling in step. Edison had his resonant rifle pointed where they had come through, occasionally firing just to make sure the emptiness stayed empty. They came to a portal that led into a large chamber where several tunnels branched off every seventy to ninety degrees.
Simon shined the cathode rays into the tunnels one by one. First one empty tunnel, then another. Then the violet light shone in a tunnel and pale hungry faces squealed and shrank away.
A deep throaty cackle came from a shaft behind them, and the three intrepid explorers pivoted. The light from UV lamp landed on Wedderburn standing next to Ida with his arms crossed. The Gunslinger raised his chin slightly and the torches on the walls once again burst to life, filling the hall with light. Ida huddled on her knees in the muddy debris of the mine floor. Her eyes were wide and intense. She glanced quickly up at the Gunslinger and then back towards the men.
“Ida!” Tesla cried out and stepped forward.
The Gunslinger smiled, and one arm unfolded, revealing a gnarled claw. What appeared to be a bony index finger uncurled next to Ida’s cheek. A nail extended from the tip of the finger and came to rest on the carotid artery of Ida’s neck. The disgusting nail pushed against her pale skin.
A chaos of sounds emerged from several of the tunnels, and the UV light swung around. Tesla and Edison fired wildly into tunnels, driving the demons back.
Tesla turned and fired his resonance rifle at the Gunslinger who vanished in a wisp of smoke. Ida rolled over onto her side as rubble dropped about her from the blast. Then Tesla dropped to his knees beside her. “I should never have let you go. I won’t let you go. You’re my inspiration.”
Then, out of nothingness, Wedderburn was upon him, picking him up and throwing him across the cavern. Tesla struck the wall and the resonance rifle fell to the ground next to him. In the same action, a blur moved through the cavern wall towards Simon. Edis
on fired his resonance rifle, but it passed through empty space.
The Gunslinger picked Simon up, threw him against the ceiling, smashing the UV lamp, then tossed him into one of the side tunnels. The pale forms waiting there were upon him. Simon let out a blood-curdling scream as the nightmares dragged him, kicking and scrabbling, into the dark. Horrible gurgling, snapping chewing sounds went on for long moments. The others barely breathed until it ceased.
Wedderburn stood, exultant, in the center of the cavern. “Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!” the Gunslinger roared, throwing his arms out. Howls of hunger emanated from the tunnels. Gnashing of teeth, growling, fingers scraping the rock walls.
Tesla stood and waved the remote he had used to control the tele-automaton. “I can blow tunnel. We’ll all be sealed in.” He held out the remote. “You will gain nothing.”
One of the ghouls shuffled to stand next to the Gunslinger. “Master,” the young girl in pigtails rasped, her bloody eyes gazing on Tesla and Edison.
Wedderburn laid a hand on the vampire’s blonde, matted head. Stroking it lovingly, he laughed, “Gracious Creator of the day! To be buried alive!”
“Let us go.” Tesla helped Ida to her feet. Edison’s head wheeled from tunnel to tunnel, along with the barrel of the remaining resonance rifle.
“Let thieves and rubes abscond with the future? What do I get? Will you give me electricity?” the Gunslinger leered malevolently.
Tesla, Ida and Edison huddled together. Edison had the resonance rifle trained on Wedderburn. Then Ida turned away from Tesla and Edison and pointed to Randolph who emerged from the mouth of a smaller, thinner tunnel.
Edison swung the resonance rifle back and forth. “Randolph?”
A second ghoul waddled out from another tunnel, a fat little man in a bloody cook’s apron with a cleaver in his right shoulder and a rolling pin embedded in the left side of his head.
Wedderburn patted the vampire cook on the head as he asked Randolph, “What have you done?”
“I disconnected the explosives as you told me to, Master.”
“You did what I told you to do?”
“Yes, Master. I am always honest, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are Randolph. You’ve done well. Take my children out of the mine. We’re nearly ready.”
Randolph turned and faded back into the darkness from where he had come. The grayish ghouls parted and followed.
Wedderburn leered at the three cowering in the center of the cavern. “So now you have all come to your end. Miss Tarbell, you are unfortunate in this but necessary as it turned out. These two nyctophobiacs are going to die. Here.” The Gunslinger looked around the cavern. “In this tunnel.” He turned to Edison, “Tinkerer, your bookkeeper will tell the world that your electricity killed you. And Builder,” he added, pointing a bony finger at Tesla, “I am going to erase your memories. There will be no electricity to kill my night. The explosion from your AC motor which created all of this will be so great, it will take the top off this mountain. The absence of a trace of you will be your epitaph.”
The Gunslinger took a few steps, bent, and picked up his hat. He swiped a finger across the brim in a final nod and then vanished.
Interlude 76
Tuesday, March 21, 1893, 5:05 p.m.
Deep in the Gold King Mine
When the Gunslinger had gone, Tesla pulled Ida with him. “We have to go. Now!”
Edison fired the resonance rifle into the darkness, but seeing nothing, the trio moved forward.
“How do we get out?” Ida asked.
“There’s an air shaft just up this passage dug in case of cave-in. It’s steep climb. We can do it, but we have to hurry.” Tesla responded.
Edison fired the resonance rifle into the darkness again. There were no gray, bloody visages in the corners of the darkness ahead and the trio moved forward.
“Up!” Tesla urged as they climbed.
At the mouth of the mine, Randolph stood outside. The afternoon sun had begun to wane behind the San Juan Mountains. As the shadows fell across the valley, the ghouls within the cave trembled, howled and whined to be let loose.
Wedderburn stepped between them and walked over to the AC motor. He threw the main switch which turned on the motor. “A few minutes and the rotor magnets will heat up. The blasting caps we placed on the rotors will ignite, and then it will be night—forever.”
“Um, Master?”
“Yes?” The Gunslinger stared lovingly at his ghoulish children, breathing deeply, exhilarated.
“The builder….”
Wedderburn turned, irritated but alarmed. “What about him?”
“The builder found the blasting tape.”
The Gunslinger studied the motor, looking closely. “What!”
“I thought you knew.” Randolph shrank back.
The Gunslinger spun around, his mouth twisted into a gaping maw with rows of razor sharp fangs, and bellowed, “You moron!” Then he disappeared.
Randolph paused a moment, took a deep breath and pulled a strip of blasting tape out of his pocket. “He found it and gave it to me,” he said softly. He placed the blasting tape back on the inner rotor magnet. “I would have told you, if you had asked,” he whispered, switching the AC motor back to life. Sparks flew as the rotor magnet lit the blasting tape afire. The bookkeeper shuffled slowly away.
Ida emerged from the air shaft first, scrambling away from the hole on the loose mine rock. She turned to face the tunnel as Edison climbed out behind her, pulling himself on his stomach onto the edge of the nearly vertical climb and rolling over. Tesla came out behind him, nearly hopping out of the hole and running to Ida.
John Randolph ascended the hill, stumbling and wheezing.
“Randolph!” Edison exclaimed.
Randolph teetered up to the three of them, out of breath, mouth moving like a fish out of water. He glanced back down the mountain and pointed.
“Master did just like you said he would.” Heaving, he paused. “He knew I watched where the explosives were placed and told me I should disconnect your wiring.” Randolph smiled, panting. “I did. And he didn’t ask about anything else.”
Tesla nodded and pulled out his Sovereign Helmet and wired gloves. Then he patted Randolph on the shoulder. “And if he had asked, you would have told him.”
Randolph nodded. “I’ve always been honest.”
“That’s exactly what we were hoping.” Through his goggles, Tesla smiled and then waved his fingers in the air.
Wedderburn materialized from his vaporous profile into the ancient terrestrial flesh and whirled around in the cavern. He roared with fury as he realized the trio were gone. His beastly visage emerged across his face as he howled. And then he heard them. They were in the next shaft. Close. He growled.
Turning into the tunnel, he looked around, but they were gone. Then he heard their voices again. He looked at the ground and bent to pick up the portable phone amplifier.
Ida’s voice came from it, “Do you think he’s found us yet?”
“Probably,” the Gunslinger heard Tesla say.
In a flash, the vampire had moved from the side tunnel to the main floor. He looked up to see the one-way telephone receiver sitting off its cradle.
“Either way, we’ll know very shortly,” he heard Edison say.
Whines and squeals followed a tremendous clanking and rumbling from the darkness. Vampires gushed from the adjoining tunnel onto the pit floor, swarming the Gunslinger. They crawled over each other, clawing their way over each other’s backs, dislocating dead limbs to get past the first line. A Pinkerton vampire impaled his face on a railroad spike protruding through the belly of the engineer in front of him and kept right on pushing. A little boy vampire with a chunk missing from his shoulder, in nothing but long johns, pushed through the stomach of a grandmother stuck between the wall and five other ghouls with peeling ski
n and blazing red eyes.
The rumbling grew louder. Wedderburn could barely hear the whines and gasps of the children of the night any longer. The air rushed out of the passage and the ghoulish horde gave one last screaming push. The Gunslinger saw the giant ore cart as it made the final turn in the shaft and headed straight towards him at high speed, clattering and banging, its caterpillar treads grinding the shaft debris into dust.
Tesla, Edison, and Ida watched as down the hill came a tremendous explosion. The mountain shifted and trembled under their feet. All three swayed for several moments.
“Well, there goes my power plant,” Tesla said softly. A moment later, they heard another rumble, this one deep inside the mountain, “And I believe ore cart has arrived.” Nikola pulled a small oscillating device from his pocket. He produced a tuning fork, rapped it on the rocky surface around the air shaft, and then applied it to the device.
It hummed and vibrated. Tesla motioned to the others with an urgent gesture to start moving. He pointed emphatically. The thrum grew loud enough that Randolph covered his ears. Tesla waited another moment until the device trembled so he could hardly hold it, then released it. Tesla grabbed Ida’s hand as they ran. Edison ran ahead of them and Randolph tripped and stumbled trying to keep up. Nikola and Ida urged him on, yelling and waving.
A tremendous convulsion shook the mountain and knocked everyone to the ground. A colossal ripping roared through the valley, throwing a mountain of dust and debris into the air.
Interlude 77
Tuesday, March 21, 1893, 6:51 p.m.
To the End
Tesla and Ida lay on the ground, looking at one another.
“You rescued me,” Ida said matter-of-factly.
“I wouldn’t leave you. It’s our fault,” Tesla pointed to both himself and Edison.
“Not a very safe thing to do, Nikola,” Ida said.
“Safe? You were in danger.” Tesla cocked his head.