Attacked Beneath Antarctica

by Dave Robinson

  “Looking for you.” Doc smiled grimly. “You've been standing here for at least fifteen minutes, mesmerized by the model on the table.” He gestured around the room. “Did you notice anything else in here?”

  “Not really, Doc.” Gilly shrugged sheepishly. “Something about that model caught my attention the moment I walked in.”

  Doc sighed. “Okay, you go wait outside and I'll check the rest of the hut.”

  Gilly nodded, and made his way out, shuffling his feet as he walked. Once alone in the hut, Doc walked around the table making sure to keep his flashlight aimed away from the model. This had been Hansen's hut, serving as both a work and living space for the expedition leader. There was only a single bunk in the corner, while a desk took up the opposite wall. As was the case with all the others, the stove at the end was cold; its last load of coal burned out.

  #

  Vic shivered as she stepped out of the airship, just a few feet ahead of Ming and the Ponchartrains. Even with her Russian heritage she had never been fond of the cold, and she could only imagine how much worse it was for the two gorillas. Seeing that Doc and Gilly were heading down toward the huts, she led the way around the airship and down to the beach.

  The further they got from the comforting bulk of the airship, the more the Antarctic cold felt like a weight pressing down on her. Not even the airship's lights were safe, as their beams were lost in the gloom, throwing faint spots on the rocky beach. One of the beams played on the ship rocking placidly in the bay, highlighting the missing topmast. It was a sign of just how calm the water was in this currently windless bay that it was still moving.

  Pulling out her flashlight, Vic aimed the beam downwards as she neared the shore. The rocks made for uneven footing, and the last thing she wanted was to turn an ankle. Glancing back, she saw the others had also slowed down: Ming was picking her way delicately between the rocks, while the two gorillas had dropped down and started knuckle-walking. Doc had planned for this eventuality, giving the two great apes gloves with thick leather backs. Gus met Vic's gaze, his face distorted behind heavy goggles and pointed towards the outskirts of camp. Vic nodded, and Gus turned toward the edge of camp. She watched the two gorillas move away, giving Ming time to catch up to her.

  “What's that?” Ming picked out a dark feature at the water's edge, about a hundred feet away.

  Vic turned towards the feature, adding her own light to Ming's. With the extra light, she could see that it looked like it might be a boat. “Let's take a closer look.”

  Once they got closer, it was a boat, pulled up about ten feet from the water. Vic thought it was above the tide line, but it was hard to tell in the near-perpetual dark. Surprisingly, the boat hadn't been flipped over for long term storage, just pulled up on the rocks. It was about twelve feet long, with a rime-crusted outboard motor flipped up over the transom. It didn't make sense unless they'd only intended to leave the boat ashore for a few hours at most, not however long it had been since the base was abandoned.

  Vic leaned over to get a better look inside the boat, flashing her light around the interior. An iced-over gas tank lay near the stern, connected to the motor with a mostly metal fuel line. A body in a diving suit lay near the bow, the helmet looking more like rubber than copper. Vic blinked, and then the head swiveled completely around, revealing bulging eyes and a forest of tentacles hiding the mouth.

  Ming screamed.

  Vic took a slow step back, keeping her light trained on the body of the creature. “Doc! You want to see this!”

  The creature unfolded, rising on two trunk-like legs as it turned towards Vic. Its tentacles flared out like flower petals, revealing a circular mouth with dozens of inward-pointing teeth. Moving surprisingly fast for something she would have sworn was frozen solid a moment ago, it lashed out with two tentacles growing from what would have been its right shoulder on a human.

  Vic dodged sideways, twisting her head clear of the upper tentacle but the lower one lashed across her arm, snapping around it like a whip. Suckers burned into her sleeve as she desperately swung her flashlight at its head, turning the intensity all the way up. Pulled off balance by the tentacle, she missed completely, but the beam caught it full in the eyes.

  Both pupils irised shut, and the thing screamed like a deflating tire. It let go of Vic's arm, pulling its tentacles back to wind around its face.

  “Get back,” Vic hissed, as she followed her own advice, keeping the light trained on its face. Her arm burned but she ignored the pain, backing up slowly across the rocky ground.

  “Doc!” Ming screamed from behind her. “Something's alive out here!”

  The creature kept closing, its face still hidden behind its arm tentacles as the smaller ones around its mouth whipped through the freezing air. Vic took another step backwards, rocks shifting under her feet as she moved. It hissed again, slashing its upper left arm tentacle towards her face.

  She moved to block it with her flashlight, and the moment the beam left its face it leaped towards her.

  Realizing her mistake, Vic threw herself backwards. As she fell, she tucked and rolled, absorbing the shock from hitting the icy ground. Somehow, she managed to escape its grasp by inches. Rolling sideways, she pushed herself to her feet to find the creature speared on the beam of Ming's flashlight. Ignoring the pain from her back, Vic added her own flashlight beam to Ming's, bathing the creature's face in light.

  Two lights seemed to be too much for it, and it stopped moving, covering its face and hissing.

  “Well, well, what do we have here?” Gus had knuckle-walked up to stand beside Vic, and added his flashlight beam to that of the others. “I don't believe I've ever seen anything quite like it before.”

  “And I've never felt anything like it, either.” Vic muttered.

  “As soon as we get back to the ship I'll look at your arm,” Ming said.

  “Thanks.”

  More footsteps signaled the arrival of Doc and Kehla, each one adding more light to the situation.

  Driven by the increasing brightness, the creature stumbled backwards. Now that she had a better look at the thing, Vic could finally see just how strange it was. Standing close to her own five-ten, it seemed almost boneless with two tentacular legs and the four she had already felt for arms. An iridescent shell covered the back of its head, supporting it above the roughly humanoid body. Gill slits rose and fell on the sides of its chest as the creature undulated backwards.

  It flailed its tentacles wildly, and then fell over, hitting the rocky ground with a thud.

  Gus was the first one to it. “Fascinating. It appears to be a very large specimen of the Mollusca, but I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it before.”

  He reached out and poked it with a finger. “Still firm, I'm surprised it's not frozen solid.” Gus picked it up and threw it over one shoulder. “Let's get it back to the ship. I'd love to see how this thing ticks. Pity we couldn't take it alive.”

  Vic winced. “Pity for you, but those suckers hurt.”

  “Well hold your arm still, and let me look at it.” Ming told her. “At the very least we need to cover it before it gets frostbite.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  Ming wrapped some cloth around Vic's arm. “Come on, I need to look at you properly.”

  They turned back towards the airship. Gus took the lead, moving as if the creature was weightless, while Vic hung back with Ming. Her arm was burning, whether from the cold or the wound she couldn't tell. The look on Ming's face told her that the sooner they got into the airship where she could could get out of her cold weather gear the better.

  Despite the pain, she noticed that Doc hadn't said a word since he'd joined them. He was often quiet, but this was unusual. “You okay, Doc?” she asked, wanting to take her mind off her arm.

  “Fine,” he muttered absently. “Just curious about something I saw in the huts.”

  Vic nodded.

  They were about a hundred feet from the airship, when the sea
rchlights went out. One moment, it was resting in front of them like a beacon, the next it was a handful of cabin lights slowly receding upwards. Vic squeezed Ming's hand reassuringly as their only source of shelter took flight.

  It was Kehla who broke the silence. “Where's Gilly?”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Abandoned in Antarctica

  With Kehla's words still echoing in his ears, Doc took another look at the airship. It was still close enough that he could make out Gilly from the instrument lights. He only got a glimpse before the airship carried him out of sight, but Doc could have sworn the man looked possessed.

  “I shouldn't have left him alone.” Doc muttered softly.

  “You should have named the ship,” Vic snapped, rubbing her wounded arm.

  “You can worry about that once I treat your arm,” Ming told her.

  As his airship disappeared into the night, Doc led the way back toward the huts left behind by the expedition. Inside he was beating himself up about leaving Gilly alone after the way he had reacted to the model, but there was no time to think about it now. What mattered now was getting out of the cold so they could treat Vic's wounds and take a better look at the creature she had found.

  Once in the nearest hut, Doc immediately headed for the stove, rubbing his hands together. Even without the wind, the interior of the hut was well below freezing. The first thing they needed was heat. Hopefully, Hansen's expedition had left behind enough supplies to give them time to figure out what to do next. The fire took a few tries, to catch, but luckily the former inhabitants had left enough coal and kindling to get it going.

  By the time the fire had caught well enough that Doc could close the oven door, Gus and Kehla had moved some supplies in from the storage hut and locked up the creature's body for future investigation. It took a couple of hours to get things figured out, but before too long everyone was gathered in the hut Doc had chosen. Ming had bandaged Vic's arm as well as possible given the conditions, while Gus had driven everyone away from the stove and was muttering something about the lack of proper seasonings.

  Unusually, it was Kehla who broke the silence. “Did anyone see which way the airship went?”

  “Somewhere inland,” Vic replied. “I didn't get a good look at it, but he was definitely heading away from the coast.”

  “So what do we do next.” Kehla swept her gaze across the room. “We can't stay in here forever.”

  “We can’t even stay here the rest of the winter,” Gus said. “I would suggest that we only have supplies for a month or less.”

  “The ship,” Doc said softly. “There’s a boat on the shoreline, and the supply hut is just too small to hold everything. Let's get some sleep and see what's there in the morning.” Hansen had brought more than enough supplies to last his crew through two winters. Once they had the supply question settled they could take the time to figure out their next move.

  Gus interrupted his musings by handing him a bowl of stew. “Keep your strength up.”

  The stew was hearty and filling, though what little taste it had was overwhelmed by salt. It was fuel more than food, but unfortunately it wasn't particularly good fuel. He glanced up to see Ming making a face with each spoonful. Vic ate clumsily but determinedly, her spoon held awkwardly in her right hand. The two gorillas were sitting together near the stove, talking quietly.

  Doc finished his bowl, and rose to put it away. He was ready to explore Hansen's barque immediately, but the others would be in better shape come the morning. Besides, lying down would give him time to think. It wasn't like Gilly to fly off like that, and where could he have gone? Antarctica was an ice desert, the driest and coldest place on the planet, especially in winter. More to the point, the entire continent was almost entirely empty. As he dozed off, the image from the table in the other hut slowly rose in his mind. Knife edged stone shapes filled the blackness of his mind.

  #

  “What do you mean, you're leaving me behind.” Vic's eyes flashed as she glared at Doc.

  “I mean you and Ming are staying behind in the hut while the rest of us go check out Hansen's ship,” Doc explained patiently. Vic was glaring, her eyes flashing beneath the red hair that he had learned betrayed a temper to match. “It's too cold out there, and your sleeve still needs mending.”

  “So, you're leaving the women behind to do the sewing?” Vic snapped.

  Doc hastily threw both hands up in front of him, palms outwards. “No, I'm not doing that at all. I just don't think we can afford to take the chance of your arm getting frostbite because nobody took the time to repair your sleeve.”

  Vic nodded slowly, ignoring Ming who was trying to pull her back. “Fine, now go play with your boats and don't you dare do anything dangerous without me.”

  “We'll try and save all the excitement for when you can join us,” Gus cut in.

  “You better.”

  Doc sighed. “Now that we have that settled, let's get started.”

  Vic gave him a look, and then stepped aside, letting Ming draw her back to a bunk. Meanwhile, Gus and Kehla had suited up and moved to the outer room. Taking one last look at Vic, Doc grabbed his face mask and followed the gorillas through the doorway. It only took a few moments to work their way out, leaving the inner door closed to keep the worst of the cold out of the main room.

  Snow crunched under his feet as led the way to the boat.

  It was just where they had left it, about five feet from the water. Doc gave the motor a quick look, but just as quickly decided against it after seeing the ice in the pull cord. One pull would be likely to either snap the cord or break something internally; it looked like the engine was frozen solid. At least the fuel tank sloshed when he picked it up. Seeing the condensation from his breath reminded him that this was actually a warm day for winter,

  Luckily, Gus had found a pair of oars across the thwarts, so they had a way out to the ship that didn't rely on the engine. The three of them made short work of carrying the boat to the edge of the water and slipping it in. Kehla was the first aboard and scampered to the rear. Doc and Gus shoved the boat a little further and then Gus joined his wife. With the two of them safely on board, Doc pushed off and jumped into the bow.

  The barque lay at anchor a few hundred feet offshore, and Gus rowed them under the stern where the name Jannik's Venture was picked out in gold leaf. A rope ladder hung from the port quarter, where the steel hull hid it from the beach. Doc tied off with a painter, and headed up the ladder first. Up close the hull plates were streaked with rust, especially around the rivets. He got one hand on the first rung and pulled.

  Ice met his gloved fingers and he had to lock his grip to keep from falling. Blood burst from his nose as he slammed face first into the hull. Blinking his eyes against the pain, Doc pulled himself up the side of the ship while the two gorillas bobbed in the boat below. Less than a minute later he was over the gunwales and onto the deck.

  The ship was deserted, near silent except for the breeze whistling through the rigging. Faint creaking drew his eyes upward to where the topmast dangled above him. More ice covered the deck, running down the rigging and around the hatch coamings. Everything glistened in the moonlight, but he had no time to waste.

  “Come on up,” he called, moving away from the ladder.

  Kehla was the first one up the ladder, almost scampering despite her weight. She looked around the deck as her husband made his more sedate way up, relying on his prodigious arm strength to pull his near quarter of a ton up the ladder. Once Gus had joined them, Doc gestured aft towards the hatch. They still had some power left in their flashlights, even if the ship had no power.

  Stepping through the hatch, the first thing Doc felt was the cold. The iron hull seemed to suck the very heat from the air, so even without wind it felt like an icebox. Ice streaked the bulkheads beside them, following tracks of rust down to the deck. The ship smelled faintly of metal and ice. As his light splashed off the bulkheads Doc took particular notice of the lighting. Ic
ed over bulbs hung from the ceiling in protective metal cages, with oil lamps fastened into recesses. It was as if the ship had been here for years, though Doc knew it had only been a few months since Hansen and his men had arrived in the Antarctic.

  Doc shook his head as he led the way deeper into the metal warren. The stern was the domain of Hansen and the ship's master and mate. There were half a dozen cabins, all empty of any sign of life. Sets of bedding lay neatly folded at the foot of the bunks, unlike the huts which had been stripped bare.

  Hansen's own cabin was right at the stern, taking up the starboard side. A dozen hardbound volumes filled a glass fronted case up against the bulkhead, sealed behind a thin layer of ice. Everything else had been racked and put away neatly.

  The door creaked open, pulling his attention away from the day cabin.

  “Kehla went forward to look for supplies, and I think I'll join her,” Gus said. “I don't see much point to the two of us poking around in one of these small cabins.” He shrugged. “It might be a little too tight for comfort.”

  “Alright, Gus,” Doc replied, still focused on the cabin. “I'll follow once I'm done here.”

  After a few moments more searching, he headed toward the night cabin. Clothes and bedding were everywhere, covering the deck and bunk. Doc's flashlight picked out a small trunk that lay open, its lid shattered against the porthole. Rows of toothed cuts, as if someone had grabbed it with a crosscut saw, covered the sides.

  Playing his beam across the room, he saw more destruction, including a twisted sextant. The only thing that seemed to have survived completely untouched was a bottle of brandy that rested incongruously in the middle of the mattress. Doc leaned over to pick it up, noticing in passing that despite the cold the alcohol had remained liquid.

  The mattress moved slightly as he grasped the bottle, revealing a flash of white. Stuffing the bottle in a pocket, he set his flashlight down and peeled back the mattress to reveal a large sheet of folded paper. Holding it in the light, he slowly unfolded it, taking care not to damage the paper. A moment later he was looking at a map the likes of which he had never seen on Earth before.