by Raven Bond
“Perhaps to carry one of the cylinders,” Tesla said distractedly. “It may be heavier than it appears.” Will turned his gaze back to Lord Hadley.
“Of course, Captain,” Lord Hadley said finally to Will. “It might be best after all if we all went.” Hadley took Abigail's hand and began walking towards the doorway without waiting for them. Muttering a curse, Will sprang to catch up, Saira and Guang beside him.
“Tiku,” Will called out. The dark woman came running over to his side.
“Help out Tesla here,” Will ordered. “If we are not back by the time he is finished, do a leap frog with him back to the ship.” A leap frog was Dancer-code for a rear guard retreat from an enemy position.
“A leap-frog. Aye.” Tiku repeated the order back puzzled. “There is an enemy we have not seen?” She asked the Captain, looking about. “Who? What about you?”
“I'm not sure who the enemy is,” Will said in a soft voice. “But if you run across anyone else down here, do not trust them. Leave two people with the rope here and what you think best at the entrance outside,” Will ordered. “But getting Tesla and his gizmo back to the ship is your first priority. Clear? We will be along.”
Tiku nodded her understanding and hurried over to Tesla. Will then turned Saira.
“Let’s go sight-seeing shall we?” Will asked her with a grin.
“Why are we doing this foolishness?” Saira demanded.
“'Knowing all you may know about your enemy is half the battle already won,'“ Will said, paraphrasing one of the books on strategy that he had read as a child.
“We have similar sayings among the Naga,” Saira said with disgust. “I hate it when you quote tribal warrior wisdom; it always means there is trouble. I want to bring Sebastian along now as an extra gun.”
“Good choice.” Will didn't bother to correct her as to where the quote came from. Instead he merely nodded. “Let us hope there is nothing for him to do.”
The darkness seemed to press in on them stronger than before, as did the strange smell.
Their party had grown with the addition of Sebastian, who had tied their lifeline rope around his waist, linking back to the engine room. Chang had also invited herself along. Will agreed to her presence, figuring that he would rest easier if he could keep an eye on her. Also, she could carry another lantern.
Lord Hadley refused to carry a lantern. The strange darkness did not seem to affect him much. Will reflected that if he had spent weeks in here like Hadley, the strangeness of the place might not bother him much anymore either. But then, Will thought, he would be bothered that he was not bothered by it.
They had walked for some time when ahead of them appeared more of those glowing scratchings in the dark. As they got closer, the lanterns showed that they were facing another wall that blocked the way forward. Hadley began to press the scratchings with his hands. The wall parted before him, bathing them in the same, greenish illumination from inside. The stench coming from the chamber was magnified, but Hadley did not seem to notice. He turned to address them.
“Now I shall show you wonders,” Hadley said smiling. “Come in,” he beckoned to them with his hands as if coaxing a wild animal. “Come in,” He repeated. “It's all right.” Hadley took Abigail's hand and led the way inside, Will and the rest followed.
The room behind the wall was wide and deep. Will saw the odd scratchings moving down the walls of the room, eerily gleaming. In the center of the room was a tall pillar with complicated tubes and conduits connected to it. The pillar spanned the full height of the room from ceiling to floor. It appeared to be the source of the green light that filled the room.
“I am not sure I understand, father,” Abigail said, puzzled. She craned her neck, looking all around. “If this is the modulating control center for the engines, how does it function?”
“The control is in there, my dear,” Hadley indicated the cylinder. “Inside lies a massive intellect that not only created all that you see around you, but can control every function, even while it is in what we would call sleep.” Hadley had slowly raised his arms towards the pillar while he crooned the words he spoke in explanation. Almost as one would greet his God, Will thought uneasily.
“How can you know that father?” Abigail looked at Hadley startled, stepping hesitantly back from him. Her voice held a tremble to it Will had not heard before. Will signaled to Saira and the two of them moved towards Lord Hadley and Abigail.
“He came to me while I slept, Abigail.” Hadley explained, turning around to face his daughter. His arms were still stretched out. He continued speaking even as Abigail shrank back from his words.
“There is so much that we have never known.” Lord Hadley's face held the rapt look of a prophet or a madman, Will thought.
“He showed me wonders of science that we have never dreamed of.” Hadley exclaimed. “The answers to suffering, war, chaos, can all be found in their knowledge! This is the gift he has for us, if we will only listen!” Hadley moved to the left wall and began pressing the flowing markings. As if in answer, a low box, akin to an open coffin, jutted out from the wall.
“He led me to sleep here in His embrace, and transformed me,” Hadley babbled. He walked towards Abigail, his hands outstretched now like claws.
“You only have to lie down here for a little while, dear one, and you too can be transformed!” Hadley said in a voice that shook with emotion. “You will be able to hear him too! Think of what we will accomplish together!” Will stepped between them.
“Hadley!” Hunting Owl said sharply to the Lord. “She doesn't want to lay down! This is some sick thing of the Invaders. Come away man, we need to get you out of here!”
“’The Invaders'!” Hadley sneered at him. “You know nothing of them! I have seen the vast and wonderful place they come from. You are a cave-man Captain, cowering before the first fire. But no matter, soon enough you will understand. You will all understand.” Hadley closed his eyes as if concentrating. A loud rustling came from the far end of the room behind the pillar.
“What is that, Hadley?!” Will exclaimed. “What have you done?” Hunting Owl pulled his revolver from its holster.
“In my transformation, He has shown me how to command some of his lesser instruments,” Hadley explained. “Soon you will all understand,” Hadley smiled at them in rapture, “and you will bless me.”
From around the pillar stomped an obscenity. About three feet in height, it was a travesty of a man with two short legs and a torso from which writhed a trio of rope-like tentacles on each side. Where a head should be, was only a rounded stump, without eyes or mouth. The thing admitted a strange clicking sound as it advanced towards Will. He could see other of the strange creatures standing behind it. Will pointed his gun at the advancing thing.
“Hadley!” Will commanded. “Tell it to back off! I will shoot it!” Hadley merely continued smiling.
Will fired into the center of the thing. It flew over backwards, blocking its fellows. A loud, clicking sound arose from the swarm of things. At the same instant, Will doubled over, feeling as if an axe was cleaving his head in two. The green light flared brighter from the pillar, and the mental axe bit deeper. Will knew this was some kind of attack, but had no idea how to fight against it.
Suddenly, Chang was in front of the pillar her arms extended towards it, as if in denial. Will noticed that there was a glow around her that made her seem more real somehow. The axe inside his skull mercifully vanished and Will straightened up.
Abigail cried out, and Will looked over to see Hadley sprawled senseless on the floor, Abigail kneeling next to him.
“Take Lord Hadley away Captain,” Chang gasped out as if she was lifting a great weight. “I cannot hold it for long. It stirs in its sleep. If it wakes, we are all doomed!” Signaling to Sebastian, Will knelt to grab Abigail by the arm.
“We have to carry him!” Will shouted at her over the eerie chittering of the summoned things. The sound continued, unrelenting. “I need you to c
over us with your gun if those things come at us again. Can you do that?” Abigail's face changed from dismay to determination. She drew her pistol and nodded that she could.
Saira and Guang flanked Chang. Saira raised her electric rifle and fired at one of the advancing things. The bolt hit it square on, and it froze mid-step. The others behind it also stopped as the chittering cut off like a knife. The only sound in the chamber was the whine of Saira's rifle recharging. Guang stood with his sword drawn.
“They do not seem to like sparkies,” Saira announced. Her rifle battery finished recharging and she aimed it at the things again.
Will grabbed Hadley awkwardly under an arm, his gun hand still aimed at the unmoving things. Sebastian slung his automatic shotgun and together they dragged Lord Hadley back towards the door. Abigail followed along beside them, gun at the ready. She was looking around the room, and stopped.
“Will,” Abigail cried out, “shoot at the tubes to the pillar!” She followed up her own words by firing at one. The electric bolt splattered against one of the tubes where it met the pillar. It released a shower of sparks, causing the green light of the pillar to pulse faster.
Will took aim at another cable. He was rewarded by it falling away from the pillar in a shower of sparks. The boom of Sebastian's shotgun joined in, followed by the flat crack of Saira's rifle. More cables fell away. The pillar light flared up blindingly for a moment. Will threw an arm over his eyes to protect them. When the light dimmed, Will saw Chang had collapsed on the floor, the glow diminishing and then gone from around her still body. With a curse, Saira stepped forward. She slung her rifle and helped Guang hoist the crime boss over his shoulders. The clicking from the things started up again.
“They are moving!” Abigail screamed, shooting one of the things. The electric bolt shot true, and again the thing stopped mid-step. The clicking sound from the creatures stopped with it. After what seemed like only a breath, the thing began moving forward again.
The clicking seemed to grow even louder as the monstrosities began to stump forward, tentacles waving. Will shot one, only to have it pick itself up off the floor and continue towards Abigail and Saira. Cursing, he took aim again, and this time hit it in the stump where a head should be. The thing flipped over from the heavy caliber bullet. This time it stayed down.
“Aim for the stumps!” Will shouted. The others shifted their aim, and the things began falling over. The fallen blocked the way of the other things behind them, stopping their advance from around the pillar. Will knew it was only a matter of time before the creatures pushed through the barrier of their fallen comrades. There were too many of them.
“Sebastian,” Will yelled over the noise, “You will have to carry Hadley! Give me your shotgun.” Once they completed the transfer, Will checked that the shotgun was cocked. He fired it from his hip at the head of a thing. It fell over.
“Abigail!” Hunting Owl yelled. “Take the guide rope from Sebastian and a lantern! As soon as Guang gets to you with Chang, head back to the engine room! Saira and I will cover you!” Abigail began helping Sebastian get her father over his shoulders in a dead man carry.
Taking the shotgun, Will sprinted back to towards Guang and Saira. He passed Guang who indicated he could carry the unconscious woman. A thing had climbed clumsily over its dead, and came towards them tentacles waving obscenely. Saira took careful aim with her rifle and it tumbled over. Will fired with the shotgun, and had the satisfaction of seeing another stump explode in gelatinous gore, spraying its fellows. Saira's rifle cracked. Another one fell over on its side, limbs quivering. The Captain and the Arms master backed up together, firing as they went. The things relentlessly followed.
The fight down the passageway would give Will nightmares for the rest of his life. He let those carrying the wounded get almost to the limits of being able to see them before signaling to Saira to fall back. At first, it was easy to see the tentacle things as they were backlit against the green light of the room they had just left. The flat crack of Saira's rifle would be followed by the boom of Will's shotgun. He then pulled the charging lever down and the gun ejected the spent shell, pushing another from the magazine into the breach. Both of them fired as deliberately and accurately as a well-oiled machines.
They had managed to block the doorway of the room with a pile of dead corpses. Will had looked over his shoulder to see the shrinking dot of light that was Abigail almost at the limits of visibility. To tarry beyond that limit would leave Saira and him lost in the disorienting hallway with no ability to find their way back. Saira cursed and slung her now empty rifle. Reaching to the small of her back, she pulled out her electric pistol and calmly fired again.
“How will we aim when we cannot see the light of the room?” Saira asked Will as her pistol started the whine that indicated it was re-charging. Will pulled the trigger on the shotgun, and the hammer fell on an empty chamber. He shoved the shotgun into its holster over his shoulder, as he had no reloads for it.
“We will figure that out,” Will said, reaching again for his revolver. “Time to move back,” he ordered shooting another of the things.
As they backed up, Will reloaded his revolver by feel. Splitting his attention, he looked back over his shoulder to follow Abigail's light and the shrinking light of the doorway, Will saw the things clear the last of their dead just as he took a last step backwards. The light from the doorway winked out. They were far enough from the creatures that they could no longer hear the eerie chittering sound they made.
“I am not liking this,” Saira said, keeping her pistol aimed into the darkness. “We cannot see them, and we cannot hear them!”
“Keep walking backwards.” Will snapped shut the breach of his revolver, giving the barrels an easy spin. “We'll shorten the distance between Abigail and us.”
As they continued to walk backwards, Will touched his medicine bag and began to voice Owl’s Song. He Sang for his Totem to sharpen his eyes that he might see their prey. It was desperation on Will's part. Owl answered or not as it pleased Him. Will was amazed then when it seemed that he could discern misty squat shapes stumping towards them, four abreast.
Still singing, he took careful aim and perceived one of them fall down from his shot. The others however flowed around the dead lump and came forward relentlessly. In rapid order he shot the other three of the front line. The others behind that first line of fallen bunched up for a moment as they sought to move around the fallen obstacles.
“If you can see them,” Saira said, “Wait until they are close enough that your muzzle flash reflects off them.”
“I think that will be closer than we would be comfortable with,” Will said as he broke off his singing and watched the shapes start to fade into the blackness. “Fire now towards the center of things.”
He started singing again and the shapes came back into his perception just as one fell from Saira's blind shot. Fast as he could pull the trigger, he emptied his revolver downing two more. He broke open his gun and fed the barrels from his ammunition pouch.
“Keep walking,” Will ordered. “They're slowed down again for a minute. I will try to let them get closer the next time.” He began singing again, only this time all he could perceive was a dim mass moving towards them. Owl's gift was weakening. He kept walking backwards as the mass came closer. He could just hear the chittering noise the things made when he fired again. The muzzle flash reflected off the advancing horde and Will could see the line of obscenities, tentacles waving directly front of him. The crack of the sparkie in Saira's hand sounded dull in the hallway. Will stopped singing and fired again and again, the things falling silently before his aim. How much farther to the engine room? He didn't dare look around. He only hoped that Abigail and the wounded hadn't gotten too far ahead of them.
Suddenly there was the boom of another shotgun to his left and the crack of a sparkie rifle on his right. He saw that Tiku and another of Saira's Tigers was flanking them. A lantern showed the creatures clearly for th
e first time since they had entered the hallway.
“Pour it on!” Will shouted. The tigers fired until their weapons were empty. The advancing wall of writhing Things was stalled again by their dead piling up across the corridor. “Now back up and reload!” Will ordered. He found Abigail at his elbow, holding both lantern and sparkie in her hands.
“Thought I ordered you back to the ship,” Will said to her, thumbing his last reload into the revolver.
“No you didn't,” Abigail replied. Her gun signaled it was recharged and she fired again. The pistol whined briefly and then died. “Blast! I'm afraid that it has discharged.” She holstered it and shifted the lantern to her right hand. “You said that we were to return to the power room. You are about twelve feet from it. Tiku returned from the ship with reinforcements. We've sent Father and that Chang woman on ahead.”
“Alright,” Will said firing between his words. “So you know how to ignore the meaning of an order for the letter of it. Thank you. Just keep the light on them. Everyone, keep backing up! We are going for the entrance!”
They emerged into the honest sunlight to find that the guard Tiku had placed was waiting. Grabbing a flare from one of the guards, Will fired it. A red star climbed into the sky signaling to the ship that they were under ground attack.
“Alright everyone,” Will said. “No last stands! Everyone run like hell for the lift!”
Racing through the camp, they reached the cargo lift just as the first of the creatures emerged from the gorge in pursuit. Approaching the lift, Will saw that Abigail's father had been propped in a corner of the lift basket, swaddled in blankets. Chang knelt over him. The Hotchkiss guns thundered overhead, their rotating barrels whirling. The creatures, looking like grey slugs in the sunlight. They were stopped by the heavy caliber fire from overhead
As the lift rose, Will heard Abigail shriek beside him. He turned from the battle to see her kneeling beside her father, sobbing. A trickle of a thick pink jelly was slowly oozing from the corner of Hadley's mouth; his sightless eyes stared upwards.