The Siberian Incident 2

by Andrew Gille

  “Like we’re their pets now, or our presence is the gift, and we can leave whenever we want?” Maddock asked.

  “I don’t know,” Scott said, “I don’t even know if that’s right, Aleksandra Volkov, the archeologist who studied these things said something like that in the notes I scrolled through.”

  “What? These are Volkov’s ideas? You don’t even know? Here I thought you were the yeti Rosetta Stone. Jesus, we need to get out of here, Scott,” Maddock whispered insistently.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Scott said, looking discreetly at his watch as if the creatures would understand his rudeness.

  The yeti who held the light up to the cave paintings put his torch back in the fire and went back into the shadows. The yeti Scott had identified as The Mother Goddess now stood again.

  “Do you think we just get up and leave?” Maddock asked.

  “I don’t know,” Scott replied as the yetis around the fire again began droning.

  They didn’t have to think much longer as screams echoed through the cave. A group of Magadans had appeared near the entrance and began fighting with Snow Yeti warriors. A Snow Yeti warrior already lay bleeding, his thick fur penetrated by the massive spears of the Magadans.

  Maddock raised the Savage 99, he watched the fighting between the two sides, then, frustrated, he lowered his rifle.

  “I can’t tell who is who,” he said.

  “I can’t either, let’s make a run for the mouth of the cave. Just fire at anything that attacks us,” Scott said.

  “Grab your skis, we’re never going to be able to put them on if those bad yetis give chase,” Maddock ordered.

  Scott and Maddock quickly grabbed their skis and poles and clipped their boots into the bindings, they began stepping through the dirt floor of the cave in the confusion of the battle. The mouth of the cave was a tangle of monstrous, fighting primates. Gray and white fur flew as the flagpole sized spears were thrust and parried by the opposing sides.

  As they approached the mouth of the cave, Scott awkwardly tripped on a slippery surface where smooth rock came up through the dirt floor. A smaller yeti broke off from the warring group as Maddock and Scott approached, it drew its spear back and let out a frightening battle cry. Scott cowered on the ground, attempting to keep his eye on the huge stone spearhead and preparing to dodge.

  Just then, the back of the beast’s head exploded, sending chunks of fur, flesh, and a spray of blood flickering in the torchlight. Maddock had sent a 300 Savage round through the mouth of the screaming beast.

  Scott was already up and had reached the snowy exterior surface, Maddock was close behind him.

  “That was a bad yeti, right?” Maddock said with uncertainty.

  “Pretty sure, yeah, let’s go!” Scott shouted.

  As they skied away from the cavern, a half dozen Magadan warriors broke off from the attack and began a pursuit. Maddock let his rifle drop to his side and hang on his tactical sling as he took up his poles and started skiing quickly, following Scott through the snow.

  “We need to get back to the facility. Just follow the tracks that lead there,” Scott shouted.

  “Back to the facility? Colin’s facility? Are you crazy?”

  “No, we’ll never make the extraction zone in time without those snowmobiles, we’re going to need to go back there and steal them!” Scott shouted as the howls of the Magadan echoed behind them.

  The cavern had a steep incline leading to its entrance, and this meant the trip was downhill for Maddock and Scott. They skied through the forest, making tricky turns on skis not meant for this type of terrain. Scott was impressed by Maddock’s quick turns. He looked to his right and saw a Magadan yeti plow face-first into a tree as Scott turned away from him. Behind him, the Magadans were tripping and falling as they attempted to keep up with Scott and Maddock on the icy downhill terrain.

  Scott felt himself jump off a ridge in the snow, and he saw Maddock skidding to the left ahead. Scott tucked in to increase his speed and then made the same turn. He noticed that he was beginning to feel a bit off-balance, and his head was becoming foggy. Whatever booze the yetis had given him was starting to take effect.

  He and Maddock had reached an access road. It had to lead to the facility, as that was the only thing out here. On this packed terrain, Maddock and Scott could gain speed and outrun the yetis.

  Maddock felt his heart pounding in his chest he dug his poles into the snow and pushed himself faster down the hill. He too was beginning to feel the effects of whatever it was that he’d drank from the wooden containers. The exertion was churning the meat in his stomach as well, and he felt both dizzy and sick. However, he saw that they were outpacing the beasts whose howls grew more distant. His lungs burned as he attempted to get every meter per second of speed out of his poles, he felt his skis leave the ground as he crested a bump. He nearly lost control because of his compromised balance. These were not alpine skis, it was lucky that he had been spending a lot of time in the winter on the Little Traverse Wheelway trail from Charlevoix to Harbor Springs. Since retirement, he’d actually become a more proficient skier, and it was now saving his life. He wasn’t sure what kind of training Scott had done, but he was keeping up, and that was all that mattered right now.

  Maddock saw lights ahead, as the incline began to flatten, he heard the howls of the Magadan yetis getting closer, he could hear their footsteps now. He could not push himself any harder, his stomach threatened to violently expel the food and drink he’d eaten, and he felt a sharp pain in his side. His legs ached, and his lungs would not take in enough oxygen to allow his body to do what he wished it to do. He was no longer the young man he once was. This was why he’d needed to retire, he’d have been a liability to any special forces team now.

  As he skied around a bend and the sodium halide lights illuminating the facility became visible, he became acutely aware that the facility was no longer empty. Colin’s soldiers were waiting for them. They had moved concrete barriers in front of the entrance to the garage. Now a half dozen armed men waited for them. They pointed their guns toward the road that Maddock came down with Scott close behind.

  Maddock knew he was beaten, he had neither the energy nor the will to fight back. He was ill, drunk, and he was in a compromised position. He hoped that his sister’s kid had some kind of mercy on him and Scott. Having known Colin from a young age, however, he knew that probably wouldn’t be the case.

  The soldiers said nothing as Maddock raised his hands and skied past their barriers, two of them grabbed him and pushed him down. Scott followed suit. He was afraid that Scott would raise his weapon and be slaughtered by Colin’s waiting henchmen. Seeing Maddock with his hands up and taken down, must have made him realize that this was the only option. He also raised his hands at the sight of the soldiers and was taken down by two more.

  Maddock lay in the snow, looking up the road as the soldiers stripped his guns off his body. Once again, the Savage 99 was taken from him. Torn off his shoulder as he heaved on the ground vomiting as he was kicked in the stomach by a soldier who wore the same winter camo pattern he did.

  He saw at least seven of the Magadan beasts come lumbering down the road. The soldiers did not fire at them as Maddock expected. Instead, he watched a dish mounted to the top of a nearby van turn. A strange hum occurred from within the van, and the approaching yetis began screaming. They dropped to their knees and then turned and ran. Maddock again vomited, this time as his hands were being zip-tied. Whatever had caused the yetis to stop had caused them intense pain. However, it had not seemed to cause any damage to them as they picked themselves up and ran in the opposite direction when the hum from within the van stopped.

  Maddock had barely caught his breath when he was dragged to his feet. A string of thick saliva connected from his bottom lip to his jacket. There was nothing he could do about it as the soldiers held his hands by the thick zip ties. As he stood, he looked into the eyes of a familiar face lit by the amber lights o
f the facility.

  “Maddock? Scott? What are you two fuckers doing here?” Colin Crossfield exclaimed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Captured by Colin Crossfield

  MADDOCK LOOKED UP at the soldier who stood over him. These guys were older, not in their prime anymore, but they were at least 20 years younger than Maddock. These weren't Russian military, they were mercenaries, just like him, only Colin hired them, not a government agency. They had no affiliations or ROE to follow, only the whims of his sister's sociopathic kid.

  Maddock recognized the Russian words that Colin spoke as "Pick him up!"

  The Russian picked him up off the ground by the back of his parka. Maddock stood wearily, his vision blurry and his head swimming. He wished he could think clearly right now, but whatever he'd drank was now thoroughly affecting his ability to focus. Colin looked him in the eyes.

  Scott was dragged by the hood of his parka with his hands zip-tied behind his back. He was stood up before Colin as well.

  "Uncle Maddock?" Colin asked with disbelief.

  "Yeah," Maddock said, defeated, a string of saliva hanging off his lower lip.

  "Scott Brubeck? What the fuck are you doing here? Wait. Have you guys been drinking?" Colin said, still not believing what he was seeing.

  "Maybe like one," Maddock said.

  "So what is going on here?" Colin demanded.

  "Just a ski trip," Maddock said, feeling like he was again going to puke.

  "A ski trip? You were always a dick, Maddock. Wait, so you were in the military, did the United States Government send you over here? That explains you, but what about Scotty there. Just bring him along as cover to hide what you're doing, Maddock?"

  "Just like you brought my grandpa here to hide what you were doing, Colin?" Scott shouted.

  "Hmm, so we have a motivation for your presence. You somehow get this approved with the higher-ups Maddock? I thought you were retired. What? Did you get one of those intelligence jobs, just couldn't stay away from the thrills? Then you drag an accountant with you? You guys have guns. Wow, you are gonna be in trouble with the authorities. You know what a gulag is? Hope you like Siberia. I think you'd better start talking if you want my help because you are in a very bad position right now, I can make this go away. I have friends who can help you here."

  "It's all me, Colin," Maddock said, spitting the string of thick saliva out of his mouth," I was pissed at how you treated Mason at the end of his life, and I wanted to come here and find you."

  "Well, you've found me, so what are you going to do?" Colin mocked, "No, that isn't it, you and Mason weren't close. He told me all about you. You know, Scott, your grandpa and me were closer than you think. Everyone forgets how we were before I brought him here, and we had the misunderstanding."

  "The misunderstanding where you got him falsely committed, and he died from his sorrow. Listening to lunatics rantings and screams all night while the only view he had of his beloved outdoors was from a window with bars that looked out onto a city street? He wanted to live the end of his life at his house in Galesburg, not in the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital," Scott shouted.

  "Scott, just…" Maddock just wanted Scott to shut up and allow him to handle this, the CIA had clearly not prepared him to be interrogated.

  "Scott, what is your problem, did you somehow arrange this? Look, your grandpa threatened me, while we were here hunting bears, he pointed a gun at me, and he assaulted me. He was a danger to me, himself, and everyone else. Do you know the things he was talking about?"

  "Like the yetis? Did you see what chased us in here, Colin? You know there are yetis here, and they are real," Scott growled.

  "Yeah Colin, we know about the yetis," Maddock said, "you know about them too, I know that was something you used to get Mason committed. I needed to come here and see if my brother was right. He was, you are a liar, and you got him put away under false pretenses," Maddock calmly explained.

  "There was a lot more than that, you don't know the things he said to me. He threatened to shoot me at my house in Minneapolis. He said, 'Get ready, I'm going to light up that place.' He had planned a trip there. I have a voice mail recording saying this and telling me he is going to do it," Colin said, now seeming angry.

  Maddock wondered if this was true. Colin may have been a liar, but his brother was a hot head and might have been capable, especially at the end of his life, of making threats like that. It kind of sounded like something Mason might have said.

  "It's a lie, Colin, just like the lies you told about what you're doing in Russia," Scott blurted out, Maddock really wished he would shut his mouth.

  "Yeah, not sure I believe you, Colin. Look at me," Maddock said, attempting to draw attention away from Scott.

  "You don't have to believe me, Maddock. Have you read the news? Does it say anything about me being a problem for him? You'd see that if I was ever slapped with a restraining order or made to stop talking to my uncle. You don't see that because it didn't happen. Mason was the violent one. Mason was the dangerous one," Colin related.

  Maddock again believed that there might be some truth to what Colin was saying. Mason had threatened him before. Mason was known to be a hothead. Maddock wasn't going to be particularly surprised if Colin validated his story 100%.

  "Let's go inside," Colin said as a cold wind began to whip snow into the air.

  He gave an order to his soldiers, and they led Scott and Maddock into the building. He briefly inspected the damage caused by the beasts that had gotten loose in the caged area and looked closely at a crack in the glass of the sabertoothed tiger's cage. The tiger raised its head from a nap. He briefly appeared interested in him before putting its head back down and closing its eyes again.

  Colin's men led them to the room where they had discovered and downloaded the information about Colin's operation. They were seated on metal chairs upholstered with stark looking green vinyl. The two soldiers who had pushed them into this room now stood at the door holding AK-74M rifles, they had thrown the M4s and the Savage 99 on a table in the room. Colin pulled up a chair and sat backwards with the back of the chair against his chest. He kept his green parka on.

  "Look, I'm sorry about this treatment guys, I just need to sort out what is going on here," Colin said with a genuine tone of empathy in his voice.

  Maddock's mind was considering dozens of options right now. The idiots had put their guns within reach if he could just get out of these zip ties without showing that he was struggling. Colin might be acting nice to them right now, but Maddock was fully aware of what he was capable of and knew that he and Scott were both in grave danger.

  A tall, thin, and serious looking Russian came into the room, he appeared to be a Captain in the Russian Army. He handed Colin a folder, for several long minutes, Colin paged through the contents.

  "Colin!" Maddock said, trying to start a dialogue and do something other than listen to the hum of the fans and Colin flipping pages.

  Colin held up one finger in Maddock's direction, never looking up he continued reading the papers. When he finished, he dropped the file on the floor.

  "So you are the only one with any kind of military record here, Maddock. A distinguished one too. I'm sure pasty palmed American citizens who wouldn't know the right side of a gun to look down, thank you for your service a lot. 10th Mountain Division, you moved on to Special Forces, we believe you were a member of Delta at one point. Impressive."

  "Who is we?" Maddock asked.

  "You," Colin said, pointing to Scott, "You're just some accountant from Columbus, Ohio. Your grades at WMU were good. You probably could do my taxes. As you can imagine they are a bit complex. Which brings me to a question I have. What are you doing here in the middle of tax season. Doesn't this…um," Colin picked up the file and looked in it, "Culbert & Swenson, have clients that need you right now? How did you get off to come over here with this guy?"

  "Look, Colin, it's all me, I was sent as a contractor here to spy on your operat
ion, to obtain information and find out what you were doing, that's all. He thought we were on a cross country ski trip until your Bigfoot monsters attacked us, and we wound up here."

  "Hmm, ok, well I learned once that you shouldn't bring people on trips like that," Colin crossed his arms behind the chair back and exhaled as he stared up at the ceiling lights, "Why did you tell him you needed M4s?"

  "Bears," Maddock said.

  "That Savage 99 looks like a better gun for that kind of hunting. That's the one I gave to Mason, isn't it?"

  "Yes," Maddock replied.

  "Well, I'll be taking that back. Should have never given it to him in the first place, he threatened to shoot me with it a few times."

  Maddock's heart sunk, he was going to lose the Savage 99 again. Somehow this was worse than the idea that Colin was going to murder them. His stomach was suddenly in knots while the definite prospect of Colin's goons killing him hadn't even raised his pulse.

  Colin stood with his hands on his hips and addressed the two Russian soldiers and the Russian lieutenant, "I need time with these men alone," he said in Russian. The three nodded, the lieutenant said something that seemed like a protest, but Colin said a few words, and he quickly decided to leave.

  "Ok, well, now they are gone, tell me what the fuck you guys are doing here. Be honest, really. I need you to tell me exactly what is happening here."

  "Well, I know I'm not exactly in a position of power here, Colin, but what are you doing here? I thought after the investigation in 2014 that you weren't supposed to come to Russia anymore. Here you are aiding the Russian military, giving them technology, all the stuff they cleared you of back then. You have always had a problem with following rules. You just can't behave yourself, can you?" Scott answered him.

  "I don't need a scolding from you, kid, just an explanation. What are you doing here?" Colin said. He was now beginning to seem agitated.