Quagmire's Gate

by Allan E Petersen

  She softly asked,

  “What about the one standing beside the alien, the one handcuffed at the back?”

  “No, I have no idea although it appears to be another sacrifice.”

  There was determination in what Lynda said.

  “I don’t know about you but I don’t give a wombat’s nuts for those men. There is no way they are going to push that innocent child into the hole.”

  What happened to the Congressman happened to the Governor. As soon as his hands extended over the hole, they started to drip away as if ice held over a flame. He turned back to Irsthill, smiled that politician’s smile and said,

  “There is no pain. But how could there be pain when one leaves for a - - -”

  He did not get a chance to finish talking. It took less than five seconds and he too joined the scattered atoms of the universe, or, as Lynda hoped, had fallen deep into hell.

  Irsthill immediately turned his attention to the book of the Under World and recited other phrases that they could not hear from their hiding place. Then in a very nonchalant move, he slowly closed the book and let it slip from his hands to plummet into the hole. A second was all it took for it to also join the world of oblivion. Keeping his head low, toward his Lord of the Underworld, he spoke louder and this time they heard his mutterings,

  “The Lord of the Under World orders me to bring forth his lost angel and the sacrifice of the Other of Man.”

  He turned to the other hooded man and pointed,

  “The Lord of the Under demands his sacrifice of the Other of Man first.”

  Senator Watson then removed his hood, turned and grabbed the hooded figure with hands cuffed at the back. Whelan was not surprised. He said to Lynda,

  “That is Senator Watson. He is in on it too. I just can’t figure out who the other captive might be though.”

  Lynda whispered,

  “We are about to find out.”

  She then poked him hard and demanded,

  “Do something.”

  Whoever was handcuffed clearly was not willing to be an easily sacrifice. In his effort to drag the sacrifice toward the hole, the Senator was kicked many times. Despite his age, he was stronger and managed to wrap his arms around the struggling figure in a great bear hug. They heard a female’s voice scream and yell abusive curse words from under the concealing hood. The more she struggled the more she swore and the more the Senator realized he had hold of a wild hellcat.

  Suddenly Lynda froze. It could not be. Yet the more she heard the screams and cursing the more she turned to stone. “No!” With legs flaying and body twisting in a mad effort to break free from the Senator the hood flew off. Instantly Lynda reached behind Whelan and before he could stop her, she had his revolver. A shot was fired into the ceiling that not only froze Whelan but the people at the sacrificial pit as well.

  With pointed gun, Lynda jumped from behind her cover and with determined step walked half the distance to the hole. Irsthill was baffled. He had gone to great lengths to perform this ritual flawlessly and now this. Whelan understood that it was no use staying where he was and so he too stepped out from behind the desk.

  The Professor was a man of academic achievement, not one of physical exploits. Regardless of the action springing to light all around, him he felt no compunction to participate. Not knowing what to do or having the courage to do it, it was more in him to remain hidden with hands over his face so that nobody could see him.

  With the revolver in both hands, arms straight out in front of her, Lynda aimed directly at Irsthill. She struggled to gather strength and sound forceful.

  “You tell that pig lackey of yours to let my daughter go and I mean right now buster.”

  Terri was too busy kicking and squirming to notice who was attempting to save her. She flicked her head sideways tossing the hood aside. She looked in the direction of her savior and blurted out, “Mom?”

  The Senator’s grip on Terri remained tight. Instead of complying with the demand to let Terri go, he looked toward Irsthill for instructions. When Whelan stepped up behind Lynda, he saw the noncompliance in Irsthill. Whelan knew there was no way he was going to order the Senator to release Terri. Instead, Irsthill produced a maniacal grin and with a patronizing tone usually heard only in churches he said,

  “Why Doctor Gray, how nice of you to join us in our little get-together. Did you come to join us in our transformation to the Underworld? Come then, I’m sure there’s enough room for all of us.”

  Terri continued to struggle with the Senator’s tight grip. While waiting for permission to throw the sacrifice of the Other of Man into the Underworld, he never took his eyes off Irsthill.

  Irsthill’s face seemed to take on the features of a patronizing priest, a slight grin and a tilting head projected a compassionate persona. Slowly he brought his hands forward and turned his palms upward indicating for her to come forward and hand over the gun. He said,

  “I am so pleased that I had the foresight to bring your daughter here. I thought you might be trouble and so needed insurance if you discovered the truth. You did not surprise me.”

  Lynda’s heart was pounding a mile a minute. Sheer willpower was losing the battle to keep the gun from shaking. Irsthill then did something that sent electricity zapping up her spine. He looked to the Senator and then slowly turned his head to look at the hole. She knew it was a signal to go ahead and make the sacrifice. Because there was no separation between the Senator and Terri, Lynda knew that it was going to be a risky shot.

  Whelan came to her side and slowly reached for the gun. Carefully and sympathetically, he said to her,

  “I’m a good shot. Let me have the gun.”

  Something was boiling inside Lynda that she had never felt before. She recognized it as the maternal instinct of all mothers to protect their children. She sneered,

  “Not a problem. I’ll be more than happy to put a bullet in his head.”

  Irsthill still retained his devil grin and a Sunday morning Priestly stance. With inviting arms stretched outward, he said,

  “You’d have to be an awfully good shot Doctor. There’s always a chance you’ll hit your daughter isn’t there?”

  Lynda’s courage was steadily steeling. She toyed with the thought of walking closer for a better shot but her feet must have thought that to be a bad idea for they remained frozen to the floor. Again, Whelan made an effort to take the gun from her. With eyes still glued to her daughter she snapped at Whelan,

  “Get away from me!”

  Recognizing her weakness, that she was starting to freeze, she made up her mind to do something, anything. She pulled the trigger. Nobody was more surprised than she was. Whelan was startled and quickly pulled his hands away from the gun. The bullet buzzed past Irsthill’s ear and fluttered the cowl. She found the nerve to snap,

  “You are right. I would not want to take that chance. You are a much bigger target. Tell him to let my daughter go or the next one will tear into that great gut of yours.”

  The Senator still had a vice grip on Terri and questioning eyes to his master. After a devastating calculation Irsthill sneered to the Senator,

  “Get a tight grip on her and run into the hole. It does not matter if you take a bullet in this world for it will mean nothing in the next. I’ll meet you there with the fallen angel later.”

  As the Senator struggled toward the abyss, Terri renewed her thrashing. Lynda took careful aim at the Senator. Whelan, with the intention of saving Terri, bolted forward. All Lynda saw of Whelan was a blur as he raced toward them. Quick to understand his intention, she lowered the gun and took careful aim. Hoping that it might slow him down, she shot the Senator in the leg.

  All three are struggling and teetering at the edge of the abyss. Before the Senator had a chance to fall into the hole with his sacrifice, Whelan grabbed the cowl and yanked back as hard as he could. Because the Senator was shot in the leg, his body lurched too far forward and Whelan did not have the strength to pull both him and
Terri back. Just inches from the invisible death beam, with his free hand, Whelan quickly let go of the Senator and grabbed Terri, pulling her aside. As the Senator fell into the stream of anti-matter, he screamed. Perhaps to some people the price of transferring to another dimension was painful after all. Or, it might have been because in his last second of life, he realized that the sacrifice to the Undermaster had escaped. For a brief second, all was quiet in the lab.

  Whelan stood hugging a much-relieved Terri but when Lynda started screaming, he looked to her in wonderment. Irsthill had not moved and the Senator was dead. Quizzically he asked,

  “What’s the matter?”

  She frantically pointed and yelled,

  “The robe!”

  Whelan looked down at Terri’s feet and saw that her loose robe had flowed over the hole and was infected with the anti-matter. It was slowly eating its way toward Terri’s feet. Knowing that if it touched her, she would join the others, Whelan snapped into action.

  With a burst of speed, he pulled the robe over her head and attempted to toss it into the hole. However, because Terri’s arms were handcuffed at the back, he could not pull it clear of her arms. Recognizing the situation, Lynda snapped into action and ran toward them with the revolver leading the way. As the Anti-matter made its way up the robe toward Terri’s bare arms, Lynda quickly pressed the barrel tight against the handcuff chain and pulled the trigger. Whelan did the rest. With most of the robe eaten away, he quickly tossed the rest into the hole. In shock, Terri watched as the robe disappeared in a flare of sparks.

  Terri immediately hugged her mother tight. Whelan was quick to notice both were lost to the moment. Being safe was currently more important than anything else right now. However, because there was still danger present, this was not the time for a happy reunion. He quickly grabbed both by their arms and with the strength of ten pulled them away from the hole.

  Irsthill’s malevolent voice bellowed forth and Lynda was reminded of the danger.

  “My, my, such a tender moment between mother and daughter. Now if you don’t mind there is still the task of my becoming the Master of the World.”

  The General was standing across the hole from Whelan looking through the anti-matter stream at him. The General pointed a gun at his head and prepared to pull the trigger. There was only ten feet between them and Whelan knew there was no way Irsthill was going to miss. The revenge in his voice was thick.

  “I should have done this when I had you tied up in my office. Maybe if I feel generous I might forgive you and push your dead body into the gate so that you too may have life everlasting. The downside of course, you will be spending an eternity under my command.”

  Just as Whelan closed his eyes, he heard the shot. A second later, he knew something was wrong. His life had not flashed before him. He did not see himself at his graduation dance standing there with the woman who eventually became his wife. He did not see his proud graduation day from the military academy. All his valor and earned medals in the Gulf War did not come forward to remind him that he was about to die a brave man. There was no returning memory of a wife he had spent twenty years trying to forget. He felt dejected. Here he was about to meet his maker, the real maker, and his mind was blank. Nothing happened.

  Confused, he opened his eyes and faced his executioner. It was clear that Irsthill too was confused. Another booming shot echoed off the lab walls and again Whelan saw the revolver jerk back in Irsthill’s hand. The bullet did not reach him. Because the General was firing across the hole, the anti-matter reduced the bullet to atoms before getting half way across the gap. In desperation, four more shots rang out in quick succession with the same result. With the gun emptied, frustrated, he hurled it across the breach at Whelan but it too disappeared before getting halfway across.

  Now unarmed and desperate, he quickly ran to where the alien girl was standing. Her eyes were still glued to the floor. In full flight, he grabbed and pulled her in front of him. She was a rag doll, feet dangling off the floor. As if drugged, she was oblivious to what was happening all around her. Irsthill realized that it did not matter what happened to the intruders any more. With a tight grip on the alien, he quickly turned his attention to the hole. With a maniacal laugh, he dragged her closer. Lynda immediately recognized Irsthill’s intention. With the goal of pulling the girl away from the General, she ran past Whelan and grabbed her arm. Terri screamed, “No mom!” and chased after her.

  However, Irsthill was faster. In a surprisingly agile move, he let go of the girl and latched tight onto Lynda’s arm. At the same time, he started falling backwards into the hole pulling Lynda with him. Because she was resisting with all her might and Terri was yanking hard on her other arm, the back of Irsthill’s robe touched the deadly anti-matter. The reaction was instant. The anti-matter raced up his robe assuring the same fate as the others. As he leaned back even more, devilish laughter roared from deep within his throat.

  Whelan quickly picked up the revolver Lynda had dropped and fired four bullets into the General’s chest. It only had half the desired effect. Irsthill was dead but the anti-matter was still chewing at his body and worse, the grip he had on Lynda’s arm was like a steel vice, not letting go. His legs were now gone and only his torso was left but the weight was still pulling a desperately resisting Lynda toward a horrible death.

  Because Whelan had emptied the revolver into Irsthill, all he could do now was grab it by the barrel. He ran over and used it like a club, pounding on the hand still holding Lynda tight. It was useless. The hand remained as tight as steel on her wrist. Although still not understanding why, Terri saw more of the General disappear. Whatever was causing it, it was steadily creeping toward her mother’s arm.

  The weight of Irsthill was now no longer a factor. All that remained of him was his arm. Lynda was able to pull away from the hole but not from the deadly ravenous anti-matter. His bodiless steel fingers were locked tight to her wrist and despite the efforts of Whelan pounding the disembodied arm with his revolver, the steel fingers did not let go. Lynda had entered the world of panic and screamed for Whelan to try harder.

  “Get it off! Get it off!”

  However, it was not getting off. The anti-matter sizzled along his arm ever closer to her wrist.

  Although not willing to give into death, she conceded that she probably only had a few seconds to live. Because Terri had refused to let go of her mom, Lynda understood what was going to happen to her unless something was done. With a mighty heave, she snapped Terri’s tight grip from her arm. Not wanting Terri to see her disappear in a stream of anti-matter and possibly screaming in pain, Lynda prepared to end her life quickly and jump into the hole. She closed her eyes and with a thought to her beloved husband, prepared for a quick and hopefully painless death. Her last thought was of what she had always hoped was true, that there really was a dimension called heaven.

  With tears somehow leaking from sealed eyes she braced for the jump. Suddenly there came to her somewhat of a puzzle. She heard the Professor fanatically yelling to get out of the way. She opened her eyes and saw that the anti-matter was now only inches from her arm. She looked up and saw the Professor running toward her with a fire axe menacingly drawn up over his head.

  As he raced closer and the axe somehow got bigger, he yelled again,

  “Hold your hand out, hold it out!”

  She immediately understood the Professor’s intention. There was no hesitation on her part. It was obviously far better to lose her arm than her life. With a cringe and eyes zeroed in on her wrist, she prepared to feel the sting of cold steel sever her warm wrist. She could already feel the pain shooting up her arm.

  She saw the Professor plunge the axe downward and closed her eyes. She heard the sickening sound of steel crunching through bone and she screamed. Yet, no pain came zapping up her arm. It did not feel like she thought it was going to. Realizing that she was showing weakness in front of her daughter she opened her eyes and looked in Terri’s direction expectin
g to see her wincing in the horror of seeing her mother’s arm viciously severed.

  Instead of a look of horror on Terri’s face, there was a look of approval. It greatly confused Lynda for it was not something she expected to see from her daughter. With great trepidation, for she really did not want to look at something no longer there, she turned back to her hand. It was then that unexpected laughter escaped her. The Professor had severed Irsthill’s arm at the wrist cutting it off before the anti-matter got there.