by David Kernot
"About another half mile." Cobb's voice was flat, monotone.
Emerson took a deep breath and nodded. He hated caves, caverns, and being so deep under the ground wasn't right. But then, he was the same way about flying. It both cases, it was too far to fall.
Emerson counted to twelve, again and again, and again. And then the elevator floor below him changed. Something shifted. Slowed. Denna pushed against him harder and then stepped away from him. He glanced her way, and she grinned.
The elevator stopped, and the doors burst open. General Cobb stepped out. "Welcome to the most secret place on earth. We are one mile below the Pine Gap facility in a hardened bunker with light-speed connectivity to our other special-access sites.
"Special access sites?" asked Colonel Andrew Stone, stepping out of the elevator.
"Think of your recent experiences in Ottawa, Colonel," said the General.
Andrew Stone nodded, but Emerson did not understand what they were talking about.
The general looked over at Denna. "Did he bring the DU weapon?"
She nodded, and again Emerson had no reference to understand any of the contexts of their communications. But then he was a mere Sergeant, with an alien device implanted into his prosthetic forearm.
◆◆◆
Andrew Stone followed Emerson and Denna out of the elevator and stood around a door where they all wrote their names and noted the time and signed their names. Andrew wondered who would have been able to get here without being authorised, but he smiled and signed his name. The US was no less fickle than the bureaucrats in Canada, probably the world over.
Once the door opened, they travelled along a maze of corridors until they entered a conference room.
A man in the full regalia of the Templar Knights stood at the front, pacing. Emerson recognised him because he walked over with his hand out. "Knight Commander of the Templar Knights, an honour to see you again, sir."
The man tilted his head and stared at Emerson, then he smiled. "I see that you have been researching, Emerson. How is the arm?"
"No change since the incident in Kandahar," he said.
"Give it time. It will happen before you know. You must prepare yourself, is all I can advise."
"Thank you, sir," said Emerson.
The man stepped closer and frowned. "I might add. Give it time. With, or without an arm, or with a fully functioning high-tech one, it won't make you any more or less complete. There are people with all their limbs who don't function well. Sorry to dwell on the point, but you're more than a limb, you're a critical part of this team even if we have relied little on you until now."
Emerson nodded.
The Knight Commander glanced around the room, and his gaze focused on Andrew. He stood straight and reached for a short sword. The Commander pulled it from its scabbard and laid it across his arms. He stepped forward, so he stood in front of Andrew. The Commander kneeled in front of Andrew and bowed his head. "Lord, I am yours to command. Please advise me of your wishes."
Andrew Stone stood silent for a moment. What did this man know? A templar knight with a history running back to the crusades. Perhaps he knew more about him than Andrew knew about himself? He touched the man on his shoulder. "Knight Commander, you honour me greatly. Please rise and let it known that your actions are in accordance with the king." The words came without thought from an ancient memory. "But here, in this world, I must ask that we focus on the current threat."
The Knight Commander bowed his head again. "As you will, my Lord King and ruler. I fear that you may have to accept your past if you are to get any respite and succeed in this world."
◆◆◆
Emerson frowned when Andrew Stone was called king. Why would the Knight Commander treat him that way?
Denna must have read his mind because she stepped over and said, "The answers are in a computer in your arm. I thought you would have accessed that data by now."
He faced her. "I'm not sure it works the way you'd like it to."
"Everything you need is right here," she said.
Was that some hidden meaning? He nodded.
"After seeing that creature, I think I can guess why we are here, but what can you tell us of the mission," said Andrew Stone. He strode over to a conference table, sat down, thrust his feet out, and leaned back in the chair.
"Yes," said General Cobb. He joined Andrew at the table. "Emerson, come and sit." He patted a chair next to him. "Let's get a briefing from the Knight Commander about how this is the beginning of the end of human life on earth."
Emerson strode over and sat down beside the General. Was there a tone of sarcasm in the General's voice? He couldn't be sure. He wasn't good at reading people.
The Knight Commander walked across the room and entered a series of codes into a computer. A projector screen behind him lit up. Denna sat down next to Emerson and shuffled her chair closer. He wanted to tell her to give him some space, but down here, a mile underground, she could be the last person he remembered if these caverns collapsed. Emerson closed his eyes briefly. He recalled Amye's beautiful face just before he fell off the tractor, before they rushed him to hospital missing a limb. Amye had been there for him even then before he pushed her away.
The General cleared his throat. "The Knight Commander has an interesting story about cracks forming around the earth and creatures escaping from some other dimension below ground, Cthulhu monsters, the Old Ones' minions. I have to say that I didn't believe it until Avebury and Colonel Stone, and again in Ottawa with it happening again. Now. It's started here with some flying serpent killing campers and unleashing itself on Alice Springs. If I understand the Knight Commander, this is only the beginning, so he will brief us."
Emerson listened to the Knight Commander's story about monsters, a multiverse, and the end of the world. None of it made much sense to him. In his opinion, it would have been that the man was a raving lunatic. And he needed to be put into a facility, a mental facility, not one like this one. But then, Emerson had seen a snake-like serpent flying and spew fire from its fanged mouth. Who was he to judge a mile below the surface of the earth?
Emerson shook his head and tried to refocus on what the Knight Commander was saying, but an alarm shrieked above him. Emerson tensed. A mile below the surface and a warning bell wasn't ideal.
There was a loud knocking on the conference room door, General Cobb marched over and pulled the door open. "What is it, man?"
"General, the advice is that we are to sit and wait. Reporting from the surface suggests that the Serpent has destroyed the domes on the surface."
"All of them?"
"Yes, General. The best thing you can do is to stay below the surface. The creature cannot reach us here."
"Soldier. This creature, it rose from the surface of the earth and began destroying the landscape. What makes you think it doesn't have a way to access the labyrinth of tunnels and make its way here?"
The soldier paused. "Well… General…" he took a moment, and his expression changed as he realised the implications of the General's words. "Sir, I think we should stay here, but prepare to leave at a moment's notice."
"You bet your ass. That's right, soldier. My team plans on moving out to Woomera and take a fresh perspective."
The man stood to attention. "As the General requests. I shall see if there is an available helicopter to get you there, sir."
"Thank you."
"Now breathe, relax, this thing isn't getting down here in any hurray."
"Yes, sir," said the corporal, and he left the room.
Emerson's left hand twitched, and he looked down at his prosthetic arm. The embedded screen had lit up, and in the glow of green light, hieroglyphic symbols danced across it.
#
Andrew Stone sat on the bed in his tiny room and dialled home. It would be late, but he hoped he'd get a response. "Hello?" the voice was faint, but he recognised the voice. "Giselle, it's Andrew, how are you, my love? I thought I should call and check on you."
"All is well here, my Lord. I just miss you. I'm struggling a bit with all these things. I'd be happier to live in a hut by a river and grow crops and food and live like a servant outside the castle, but here I don't understand any of it. I need you home, my Lord. You should be at my side."
Andrew closed his eyes and cringed. The love of his life was not coping, and here he was on the other side of the earth, worrying about another country's problem. Perhaps he should approach the General and suggest that there is nothing that he could do. He thought about it, and there wasn't really anything that he could do to make it right. Yes, he'd delivered a Depleted Uranium weapon, but how was this going to help against the Serpent threat? He'd done his job in Mesopotamia and in the Kingdom of Wessex. He corrected himself. In Iraq and England, and he'd killed that monster, Philby. There was nothing he could do here. The General should never have asked him. He sighed, smiled, and focused on what Giselle was saying.
◆◆◆
Emerson picked up the phone and dialled Grams' number.
"Hi, it's Emerson, somehow I've made it back close to home. I'm at Woomera, only two hours drive away. I wanted to see how you were."
"Me? Emerson, I'm fine. How are you, lad?"
"Same as always, Grams."
"You could have called me from anywhere in the world, lad, what's on your mind?"
He didn't know how to respond, and he clenched his jaw.
"Anything else you want to ask?"
He did.
"Have you phoned her?"
"Who," he said without waiting for a reply. "No… I'm still not sure what to say."
"Come home, Emerson. The army might appreciate what you do, but here we have crops that need sowing, they need tending, and harvesting. There is a lifetime of memories waiting for you here, with or without a functioning arm."
His voice caught in his throat. "I'll call her," he said. "I miss you. I might get there yet."
He ended the call and entered another number. Amye's.
"Hello?" she said.
He could hear her breathing down the telephone line while he stayed silent. He gripped the handset hard until his hand turned white. He could imagine the scent of her perfume, the soft curve of her beautiful face. Her sun-bleached hair blowing in the autumn wind, and the smile of her face as she leaned over him and blocked the sun. She was beautiful, and she deserved better.
He put the phone down on the cradle.
◆◆◆
Andrew Stone had never been in an Australian military Helicopter before. Still, the MRH-90 Taipan Tactical Transport helicopter was a pleasant ride. Sort of. The only issue was that it was a thousand kilometres from Woomera Alice Springs, and there was nothing between it except for a 9,500-kilometer salt lake, Lake Eyre. The range of the helicopter was just over 800 kilometres, and they would fly over the 1.5-meter deep salt lake until they ran out of fuel. Then they would wait for a resupply team to find them in the middle of the Simpson desert. What could go wrong? At least the hardened and stealthy helicopter with its laser guidance air-to-surface missile system was better than scooting around in an unarmoured vehicle. He glanced forward to where Denna and Emerson sat side by side. They seemed without fear, almost inseparable.
Some connection. A Gen X and a Millennial with enough differences and life experiences to keep it interesting. Good for them. General Stone leaned against the hardened glass window and slept. Why was it that Andrew was worried about fighting one of the Ancient's creatures with conventional weapons? He gripped the DU weapon strapped in next to him. Andrew worried too much. He knew that, but life was precious, and he'd had two goes at it. This would be his last.
He'd have to wait to get this done, then he could return to Canada. He'd apply for some leave and decide what to do about retiring. For now, he had two lifetimes of memories to remember her.
He sat and stared out the endless flat and sparse landscape, tried to sleep, and keep half an ear out for the twin engines to splutter one after another and feel the rotors stop and fall from the sky.
He sighed. Yes, he worried too much. But someone had to.
◆◆◆
Emerson sat close to Denna, and he took comfort in her company.
She leafed through a paper booklet. "Press your hand over the area where the screen is," she said.
He did it again, and the area glowed a deep green. "Now what?" he said as the hieroglyphs marched across the screen.
"I'm not sure. It's not in the basic instructions, but I'm sure you already know that."
He got the impression that agreeing with her wouldn't be a healthy decision. So he shrugged. "Maybe it's like an Apple iPhone, and I can pinch it with two fingers?"
"No." She shook her head. "Something is happening. It's like it's uploading information."
"Uploading? Where from?" The alien device!
"You know where from," she said.
He nodded.
"Just give it some time," said the general from behind them. "It can't be an awful thing. Can you move your fingers still?"
Emerson looked at the human-like prosthetic and clenched his fist. He opened his fingers wide, twisted his wrist from side to side, and lifted his forearm up and down. Apart from the glowing screen in the middle, the forearm looked normal.
"Just give it time," said the General again, and he closed his eyes, folded his arms and leaned closer to the hardened glass windows.
Emerson placed his palm over the illuminated display and waited. Surely it would turn off. It didn't. His forearm vibrated, and it rattled his hand away. He glanced down at the image that had formed. A serious of green dots against a black background.
Denna leaned in close. She said, "See if you can expand it. iPhone style."
He brought two fingers down on top of the screen and widened them. The image grew more significant, and he smiled.
"What is it?" she asked.
He grinned, "It's the Pleiades. The Seven Sisters."
"What?" Denna frowned.
"It's a constellation out in the constellation of Taurus. It's just ahead of the teapot."
Her frown deepened, and he paused. "I thought you said you lived in Australia. In Queensland."
"There were lots of clouds."
"Well, not in the mid-north. We had black skies all the time. The teapot is the inverted northern hemisphere Orion constellation."
"Ok, smart guy. But what does it mean? Why are they pulsing?"
He shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I know that—"
Alarms peeled around them. "Brace yourself, everyone," said the pilot's voice in the nearest loudspeaker. "We're going down. Fuel at zero."
Denna grabbed his arm tight and squeezed closer to him.
He put his alien arm around her, pulled her close, and closed his eyes. He hated flying.
◆◆◆
The helicopter landed hard in the harsh Australian sand, and Andrew Stone unclipped his harness. He forced the helicopter door open and fell onto the ground and vomited. He was too old for this lifestyle.
He stood and turned to face the helicopter and strode back inside. He put his hand on the General's shoulder. "Are you all right?"
The General nodded.
"Here, let me help." He unclipped the harness from the general and pulled him upright Images of an IED attack burst in his prefrontal cortex. The smell of exploded RDX, the bloodied military uniforms, death everywhere. He pushed the images aside.
He helped the general; out and gave a thumb-up as Emerson helped Denna out of her harness, unclipped his restraints, and they stepped outside. The pilot and his co-pilot were next.
Andrew ran around to the front and noticed the crushed undercarriage and pulled open the door. "Are you ok?"
The man stared at him, his eyes full of disappointment. He nodded.
"You did well, Captain. Fuel can only last so long. We're all ok in the back. How's the co-pilot?" The man seemed to be inert. Lifeless. The pilot leaned over and checked the man's pulse and shook his head
. "Heart attack."
Andrew stood tall and blew air from his cheeks. "Really?" Why should life be so fragile? But then he hadn't noticed the tilt of the aircraft and its crushed undercarriage. The co-pilot had taken the full brunt of the impact and paid the price.
Andrew looked at the pilot. "What should we do?"
"I'll radio in our coordinates. We can only wait for the resupply crew. By my calculations, we are about 20 kilometres out from where we should have landed. I only hope that this was all worth it."
Andrew shrugged. He'd travelled thousands of kilometres to be here. He couldn't comment. It wouldn't help any of them in this ridiculously hot and arid place in the world.
◆◆◆
Emerson pondered what the pilot had told him as he sat in the co-pilot’s seat. The co-pilot’s name was Marty, and he had a wife and a girlfriend waiting for him to decide what he would do with his life, but now, that decision had been made for him. Apparently, he loved the smell of avgas, and this was why the helicopter had called to him. Andrew didn't think that would help him now.
Two army land rovers had turned up with some jerries of avgas for the helicopter. Enough to get them to Alice Springs. A crushed undercarriage or not, they deemed the aircraft airworthy-enough to fly. But not for a US General to be Pax. The General and Denna were to head out to Alice Springs in one of the land rovers with the deceased co-pilot and Andrew Stone in the other. Emerson had drawn the short straw. He was the lightest of the three men. He was the only Australian, and importantly, Emerson had laser guidance experience from a posting to the armoured corps once where he'd fired 120mm rounds at a laser-sighted target. It was something the helicopter's missile system relied on if it would take down a giant flying serpent.