by Knyte,Peter
By early afternoon we’d also received the green light from the meeting with the city officials, and Platt as efficient as always arranged to have all the radio cars ready for our use by eight o’clock in the evening. This meant we’d be laying our trap at nightfall, but it would also mean most areas of the city should be comparatively quiet and free of people.
We even had a couple army trucks turn up later in the afternoon with some heavier conventional armaments for the search teams to use, along with some very military looking instructors in plain clothes who’d been sent along to demonstrate their use should we require it.
Finally, we were ready with a couple of hours to spare, and after my early morning start I briefly considered popping back to my cabin to try and get some rest, just in case this thing ran on into the small hours, but there was too much of a buzz in the air for me to stand any real chance of getting any sleep. I decided instead to kill some time by going and checking on my marine suit and Esquire, but everything was working perfectly, and even after stepping into the Esquire to get the suit on, and then take it off again I still had well over an hour and half to kill, with no idea how I’d fill the time.
CHAPTER 42 – EYES OF THE BEHOLDER
For an hour the time seemed to drag by at a snail’s pace. But as all the city officials came aboard to take their place in the glass floored viewing room which we’d selected to use as our map room, the ship finally took to the air, and it seemed as though time started to at its normal pace again.
Hughes and Zimmerman had come aboard to assist with the flying of the ship, and Jenkins, though still frail was brought aboard in his wheelchair to advise the city officials. Platt and Wright were also in attendance, along with the more senior of the two generals, and specialists from the city’s underground rail network and the sanitation department arrived. Even somebody form the city’s planning department was there to offer insight into the buildings and other structures that we might need advice on.
A couple of Bradbury’s men under guidance from the Captain had been drafted in to help out in engineering, as flying up to high altitude safely would require some oversight of the Aetheric power generators and might involve more work to manage the gas cells.
With no way of knowing where the creature was, we ascended steadily through the cloudless evening sky to fifteen thousand feet before Ariel made her first attempt at sensing the creature, which she managed straight away.
‘I’ve got it,’ she said, almost surprised. ‘It’s . . . it’s feeding at the moment, it looks like another homeless person, but its indoors somewhere. I don’t think it’s sensed me yet.
‘It’s back in Brooklyn I think, yes . . . somewhere in that greener area over there.’
‘That’s Green-Wood Cemetery,’ Platt informed us. ‘It’s a perfect hiding place for this thing, lots of old mausoleums and other quiet, often unused structures. Some of them are practically house sized.’
‘There are a couple of big grates that provide air down into the sewers within the attached parkland as well,’ the Sanitation department official added. ‘You might even be able to get into the tube tunnels nearby, isn’t there a stockyard on the southern side?’
‘Oh, yes of course,’ chipped in the railway man, looking slightly uncomfortably at the large glass floor that we were all stood upon. ‘The 37th Street stockyard and rail terminus is located all along the southern end of the park, and of course you’ve got the 9th Avenue tube station along there as well, but please don’t encourage this creature in that direction, that’s where we’ve had to move all our repair crews after the Brownsville depot was so badly damaged.’
‘We’ll do our best Mr Simpkins,’ Platt replied.
‘Can you stop sensing the thing without attracting its attention?’ the Captain asked Ariel. ‘Yes, I think so she commented, but there’s something odd about what I’m seeing, its limbs seem to be longer and . . .’
‘We’ll come back to it shortly,’ the Captain pressed, just disconnect for now if you can.
‘Sorry, yes I’m not connected any more, and I don’t think it sensed me.’
‘Alright then,’ the Captain began. ‘We know roughly where it is now, so may I suggest we instruct the search teams to head over in that direction, while we discuss our plan of action.’
There was broad agreement at this, and Platt gave the nod to one of his colleagues who was stood by the impromptu radio relay we’d set up in the corner of the observation lounge where we were meeting.
‘Now, is the cemetery a good place to engage this creature, or do we need to try and drive it somewhere else?’
‘The cemetery has a lot of open ground,’ Platt replied. ‘But it’s also got areas with a lot of stone mausoleums, mature trees and other solid cover, so it could go either way.’
‘And we know the thing is fast,’ chipped in Agent Fraser. ‘So we need to get it into the open if we’re going to be sure of bringing it down.’
‘I don’t think we can rely on it being the same,’ Ariel added. ‘I’m sure its limbs and body had changed again in some way, they seemed longer in proportion, in fact its entire body seemed bigger.’
‘Well the main entrance to the cemetery is toward the north-west corner, and that area is definitely more open,’ commented Platt. ‘Especially around the two pools, but the other side of the wall is solid residential housing.’
‘That area doesn’t contain any of the sewer access points,’ the sanitation department man added.
‘Are we agreed then?’ The Captain asked. ‘We’ll send the teams over to the main entrance to lay their trap, but we’ll give the creature the impression that they’re closing in from the south and east?’
There was a moment’s hesitation as the Captain looked around the room, but then everyone nodded their agreement.
‘Good, we’ll move the ship over the cemetery and then slowly bring her down to about three hundred feet. Will the creature be able to sense how close you are Ariel?’
‘Yes Captain, at that distance it will know I’m close, and therefore that the ship is directly over its head.’
‘Excellent, the presence of the ship will hopefully worry it, and also mean several of our weapon systems would be within effective firing range, so we should be able to support the teams on the ground if need be.
‘I’ll need to be on the bridge from this point onward, and will need the help of both Dr Zimmerman and Mr Hughes, but we’ll open the intercom to this room so we can still speak to one another.
‘Agent Fraser I’d like you to man the Arc cannon again if you’re willing, and Ariel if its needed I’ll ask you to man one of the ventral heavy machine gun emplacements beneath the ship. Mr Hall, I haven’t forgotten you. If you could don your suit again and then join us on the bridge, we’ll hold you in reserve and then deploy you as needed.’
I was glad to have something to do while the ship flew over the city to take up position above the cemetery, just sitting around and waiting for things to begin was always the time I liked the least.
Even as I stepped into the Esquire I knew our engines were moving us south and east toward the near side of Long Island, and that in tandem a small fleet of police radio vehicles was simultaneously whisking its way through the early evening streets to take up position in front of where we were hoping to drive the creature.
The Esquire worked perfectly, fitting first the skeleton, then the armour and finally the same range of armaments which I’d chosen for the demonstration. I was still a little nervous using the suit for the first few minutes so I again practiced the basic movements in the privacy and relative safety of the marine locker area, but once I felt comfortable with it again I moved back out into the ship, calling in first at the observation lounge to check up on everyone, and then as we arrived over our destination moving to the bridge to join the Captain, Hughes and Zimmerman.
Through the windows of the bridge I watched as we gradually dropped down through several thousand feet to our target height of
just a few hundred feet. At the same time we heard over the radio that the fifteen search teams, made up of over seventy people had arrived at the entrance to the cemetery and were taking up their positions ready to ambush the creature.
And then everyone was suddenly in their places and it was time.
‘Ariel, everyone is in position, when you’re ready please re-establish your connection with the creature,’ the Captain instructed. ‘Once you can sense it again please update us on its precise location, so we can ensure the ship helps to drive it toward our ambush, and then as soon as it starts to sense you please use the map as we’ve planned to give it the impression its being flanked to the south and east.’
‘Yes Captain, I understand,’ was Ariel’s simple reply. ‘Trying to sense the creature now. . . It still seems to be feeding but. . . Oh no, it’s got another person.’
‘Its location please Ariel,’ the Captain reiterated.
‘Yes, it’s below us and slightly to the south, perhaps a hundred feet.’
‘Understood, reversing manoeuvring engines, please let me know when the creature is just ahead of us.’
‘It senses my presence, and has stopped feeding. It knows I’m above it and is moving slowly toward a big doorway. There’s something odd about its movement.
‘Is it ahead of us yet?’ the Captain asked.
‘Almost, almost, yes it’s just ahead of us now. It’s looking up through the doorway and has seen the ship. Ok I’m attempting to use the map now . . . its seems to have understood, yes it’s coming further out of the crypt it was in and is looking for the search teams that its seen on the map.’
‘Very good,’ replied the Captain. ‘But we don’t want it to discover our bluff. Mr Hall would you mind firing a few shots across the doorway to that crypt to see if we can stir the thing into movement.’
‘With pleasure Captain,’ I replied activating my visor before opening the emergency exit again and leaning out to aim one of my light machine guns.
At three hundred feet it was an easy shot with the suit mounted Bren gun, the visor giving me the full lensing options as well as automatic range finder, a built in set of targeting cross-hairs and a telescopic sight integrated with the weapon systems on each arm.
I could just about see the thing lurking inside the crypt doorway, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a bit of pot shot at it while I was spraying the entrance, making a special point of laying down the heaviest fire toward the south and east, and a significantly smaller amount to the west where we wanted it to go.
I’d fired a good half dozen sub-second bursts, and was just about to fire another couple when the creature bolted from its hole and off in the direction we’d wanted it to go in.
But no sooner had it come into view than I knew we’d made a mistake.
The thing had completely transformed and by the look of it had grown to about three times its former size, but more importantly it appeared that in the process two of its former appendages had now also developed into a set of large and powerful wings.
It was no longer a Lamphrey, it had somehow transformed itself into a different type of miasmic creature that we’d named a Wyvern because of its similarity to the winged serpents of folklore.
I continued to take shots at the thing whenever I could in the hope that I’d damage its wings as much as anything else. If we could keep the thing on the ground we might still stand a chance of bringing it down, but the reason we were trying to drive it into the open was because this area provided far too much cover for it.
Over my suits intercom I heard the Captain relaying orders to the ground team, telling them to expect the thing to try and take off as soon as it got into the open, and if so that they should try to keep it grounded if at all possible.
At the same time he put the ship hard to port by putting the engines on one side in full reverse while those on the starboard side were full ahead. There was no creaking and straining from the ship this time, like there had been over 7th Avenue, and that was with all the engines working flat out in order to turn her quickly in the direction that the creature had moved. More importantly it also moved us away from a potential crossfire situation with the forces on the ground. The Goose was slow in comparison to the creature though, and even with the hard turn I was having to lean further and further out in order to maintain my line of fire.
Fraser was in one of the gunnery arms on the same side of the ship that I was firing from, so we needed to turn quite a bit in order to give him any kind of shot. The Captain knew exactly what his ship was capable of and once it had gained enough momentum in the turn he moved all engines into full ahead, in order to send us after the creature. He also began increasing our altitude in anticipation of the thing taking to the air.
I’d lost sight of it completely now, so moved back inside the bridge and closed the emergency door. As I did so, the Captain addressed me directly rather than over the intercom, though never taking his eyes off the route the creature was taking.
‘Ashton, I don’t need to tell you that if that thing gets into the air it will be a lot faster and more manoeuvrable than this ship, so as a precaution I’m going to ask for all vital areas of the ship to be sealed and locked until further notice, and then for all hands to seal themselves off in their current sections or compartments. Before that. I would however like you to take up position on the bowsprit, so that we have some way of repelling this creature should it attempt to board us again.’
I knew the Captain would have accepted it if I’d pointed out that I would be unsupported if I were to go topside alone, that nobody would be able to help me should I need it, and that while the marine suit was a powerful weapon, I was not a marine, and nor was I even close to being expert in its usage. But while I thought these things, I said none of them. Instead I simply responded as my training had taught me.
‘Yes Captain, I understand. As soon as the bridge is secured I’ll check the observation lounge has been locked down and then head topside.’
He then issued the order over the ships intercom, and as each section reported back that they were secure, I prepared to leave the bridge and head up to the top of the ship.
The Goose was moving forward at a good pace now, but as I watched the Captain himself seal and lock the port side door to the bridge we both heard the rapid fire gunshots from the ground forces as they sprang the trap. With luck they’d get the thing, but even as the gunfire continued to sound the Captain walked with me over to the starboard side door, which I also watched him seal and lock from the outside.
‘Good luck Lieutenant Commander.’ He said over the intercom as I turned to make my way topside via the observation lounge.
The gunfire continued for another minute or two, and the Police Sergeant in charge could be heard over the radio link.
‘Search team to Command, the creature is airborne and heading west, attempting to pursue.’
I was passing one of the exits out onto a starboard gunnery arm as the report came in, so quickly diverted from my course to see if I could spot the creature, but the porthole wasn’t quite pointing in the right direction and I didn’t want to delay any longer in getting to the bowsprit, so headed back to the ladders.
A moment later and I was on the roof and sealing the access hatch behind me. I scanned the horizon to the west as I made my way to the bowsprit, and saw what could only be the creature circling above the top of the Empire State building as though contemplating a landing, before gliding to a perch on the spire of the slightly lower Chrysler building.
I found my way onto the bowsprit spike at the front of the ship, and simultaneously engaged the telescopic sight on my visor and opened a channel to the bridge to let them know what was going on.
As the image of the creature was enlarged with pin sharp clarity through the visors telescopic lenses, I saw it now, with its huge clawed feet grasping the spire of the building about a quarter of the way up, while its long neck and a distinctly reptilian head circled this w
ay and that, no doubt inspecting the streets swarming with the evenings partygoers below. The thing was practically the size of a bus, armed with viscous claws and teeth, and armoured with numerous layers of that incredibly resilient chitinous shell.
The rangefinder in my visor told me that the creature was still nearly five kilometres distant and therefore well beyond the range of our weapons, leaving us powerless spectators for at least a couple of minutes until the ship could close the distance.
‘Captain Hughes,’ I heard the Police Captain call over the intercom. ‘Is there nothing else you can do to close the distance with that creature. If it drops down onto those defenceless people below, it will be carnage!’
‘Regrettably, the only weapons we have with that kind of range are still not operational,’ the Captain replied solemnly. ‘And even if we could use them, they’d be little more use than distractions at this distance unless. . .’
He’d clearly thought of something, but before anyone could answer, his voice came over the intercom again.
‘Engineering. Mr Bradbury, I’m going to need to take the ship up high, very high, can you increase our lift as quickly as you’re able please.
‘Mr Hall, I hope your suit configuration includes high altitude breathing and pressurisation?’ He asked slightly to my surprise.
‘Yes Captain, I believe it does.’ I replied slightly taken aback. ‘How high are you thinking of taking us?’
‘To meet the stars Mr Hall, so I suggest you either double check your suits configuration or get yourself back inside the ship on the double.’
I heard the sound of the generators ramping up again as he said this, but couldn’t imagine why he might be doing it. Whatever the reason, after confirming that I not only had the breather kit built into the suit, which was standard for most of them anyway, and that it was fully charged, I activated the pressure seals on my suit and was just figuring out how to frame my next question for the Captain when the anonymous military man voiced the same question for everyone.