Starship Genesis

by Linda M. Miller

  “Did you hear that?” Peter asks.

  “I definitely heard something!” Darren replies.

  “I just saw something below in the ice” Peter counters. “Hey, ya’ll up ahead. I think we have company!” The next time the object swims past the middle of the group and makes the whistling-whooshing sound again.

  “What was that?” Leesa exclaims.

  This time I see it too. “Whatever it was, it swims through the ice like Moby Dick.”

  Mark exclaims, “First Bigfoots… now what? It’s not showing up on radar! All SOAR men go to high alert! Be prepared to fire!” The M468 assault rifles with 90 rounds each are the only defense the Soar men have.

  Ray and I also have been armed with the M468’s and .45’s, being former Army. I stare out over the glacier. At fifty yards away, the surface of the ice seems to bulge up. Then I realize it isn’t ice! Something alive is emerging from the surface. It seems to gather and solidify on the surface and blends in with ice and snow. It begins to crawl or flow over the ice as though it’s coming towards us.

  “What is that?” Ray exclaims. It flows like liquid, yet it’s solid, formidable. It turns towards me. It’s thick towards the center, and shaped like a deflated beach ball, approximately three and a-half feet wide. I blink my eyes, and rub them. Whatever it is; it’s getting closer.

  “Matt, fire on it. Don’t wait, man!” Ray yells. I feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck accompanied by a chill up my spine. Whatever it is, it’s thirty-five yards out and still coming. I draw my .45 and sight a bead on the thing’s center. The creature lurches back, jolted by the shot, then it seems to merge with the ice again. It never makes a sound.

  “Did you see that, Ray?”

  Mark comes back with one of the SOAR team. “I don’t know what that was, but I think you hit it.”

  “Whatever it was, it made this trail over the glacier!” I exclaim.

  Mark and a few SOAR men check the trail for holes in the ice. But it isn’t the kind of trail one would expect to see. The surface of the snow is covered with ripples as if it had been blown by the wind. The trail is approximately two yards wide and forty yards long.

  “Sir, I can’t see any evidence of an entry or exit into the ice at either end of the trail. No tunnels, no cracks...nothing! The trail just starts and ends.” The Soar man states.

  The other Soar man picks up some small debris and hands it to Mark.

  “Matt, over here.” Mark calls. “Your bullet! Now a fractured, mushroomed slug. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  “Sir, the fragments were just laying on top of the snow as if they had just been placed there.” The Soar man adds.

  “This bullet had to have hit something solid!” I add.

  “Whatever it was, it can appear anywhere and leave just as quickly.” Mark says.

  Peter nick-names the creatures “Ice Wraiths.”

  A few minutes later, we hear more noises from somewhere below in the ice. Then there is a shrilling scream...followed by quiet. It reminds me of how wild dogs and jackals behave when one of their own is injured or wounded. They turn on the victim and kill it, then feast on the corpse. I rationalize this was the most probable cause of the noises and final scream we just heard! Thinking more about it, I realize we are safe for a while now; they have just eaten.

  “Everyone head for that solid rock over there. It’s probably safer!”

  Hopefully, it’s impossible for the creatures to come across the rocky terrain without exposing themselves. I contemplate that the mountain side will be tough going compared to the glacier; but it should be a lot safer. It takes a solid hour to get to the rocky outcrop. Again, I feel watched. Hunted. As the last Soar man steps off the snow onto solid ground, a sudden large flap of snow, or what looks like snow, whips up and pulls him back onto the glacier surface.

  There is a muffled scream.

  “Lieutenant Ross!” Mark shouts. Mark starts to plunge toward him. But three shapes rise up out of the ice and cover Ross. In a moment, they are gone. Ross remains lifeless on the ice. Mark and I look over towards his body.

  “I can’t see any wounds or marks!” I answer. His face and hands are blue and he appears to be frozen solid. “It’s as though the heat of his body has been completely drained within seconds.”

  We look at the hapless body frozen to the surface of the ice. After that experience, it’s too risky to recover the body. It happened too fast.

  “It’s amazing that any of us have survived to reach the rocky area.” Dwayne comments.

  “This route is going to make the climb much longer. We’ll have to camp on the mountain here tonight.” Mark relays Command our location. A chopper makes a drop of tents, supplies, including plenty of hot beverages.

  One of the guards is posted closest to the glacier where we can look out over the ice. We are elevated above the glacier approximately fifty feet. The stars are brighter up here on the glacier then they were the night before.

  Later during the night, weird groaning noises are heard coming from the edge of the glacier. It seems the Wraiths are trying to attract the curious who might dare to venture again onto the glacier.

  The guard looks down towards the glacier. “It’s calling to us. Come here, you have to see this!”

  Being above the ice and snow of the glacier at night, we can see dim glowing shapes traveling through the ice just below its surface! It’s creepy; but interesting to watch.

  I count approximately fifteen of the creatures in this group, or pod. They look like Great Whites or Killer Whales looking for their next meal.

  “Look! They seem to break up into smaller groups and sweep the area just below the ice surface. It appears they are coordinating their sweeps!” The guard suggests.

  I sip hot coffee.

  “Time to turn in people.” Mark advises.

  “I’m not sure I can sleep.” Peter answers. “That was cutting it close.” This time I’m like Peter. Each time I close my eyes, a picture of the soldier fills my mind. His frozen outstretched hands grasping for empty air; his face continues to haunt me.

  “Matt, you okay, buddy?” Ray asks.

  “Yeah, Ray. However, at this point, I will make it my policy to avoid any large bodies of permanently standing ice.”

  “Another new life form, Matt.” He comments.

  “How many other new life forms are lurking out there, just waiting for us? And how deadly are they?” Peter murmurs.

  “Don’t go there, Peter.” Ray answers. “Get some sleep.”

  The night is dreadfully cold. My body, though tired, is alert to every wisp of breeze against the tent, and especially for any alert one of the sentries makes. Finally, fatigue claims me. Sleep is still a welcome friend.

  The morning is incredibly cold and the sky is a mist of light cloud cover. Ice crystals of cirrus clouds high overhead catch the morning light, and the wind softly blows sparkling silver across the sky.

  We all chug hot chocolate and coffee and prepare thermoses. Not surprising, the rough terrain of the mountain slows our progress towards the head of the glacier; but none of the team wants to tangle with the Wraiths again. There is still some snow and some ice, loose rock, and lichen: it is miserable. The lichen is slippery, so we have to be careful not to step on it. Everyone welcomes the sun as its warmth finally rises over the mountain peak. Thick cumulus clouds cover the valley floor below. Mark radios down to the base camp.

  “I just learned that it was raining buckets of water down below last night.” Suddenly, rain doesn’t seem so bad compared to the ice wraiths. At the glacier’s head near the top of the mountain saddle, snow and boulders are the only objects in sight. Due to the milder slope and boulders, there is no ice build-up here! That means there are no wraiths! Strange whistling and groaning noises continue to be heard coming from the glacier. It’s obvious; the wraiths are still there, calling out to us like the sirens I’ve read about in Greek mythology.

  “Hmmm.” Ray shrugs. “May
be fact really is stranger than fiction.” As we near the rock formation ahead, we hear a howling noise in the rocks above us. The team glances at each other and trade signals.

  “What do you think? Is it safe?” One of the SOAR man asks the other. The howling continues, but the noise does not move; it just stays in the same location. Ten nervous men approach the rock formation. Each man carries an M468, two grenades, and a pistol. Ray and I carry our M468’s. Each of us looks prepared for World War III.

  “It sounds like a dog.” Ray says.

  “Yeah, except the kinds of creatures up here seem to hurt you.” A SOAR man mentions. Paired in two man buddy teams, we approach the rocks from different angles. We all wait for something to swoop down on us?

  “The noise seems to be coming from behind that large boulder”. One SOAR man comments.

  It gets louder, the closer we get. Each man’s breath seems to freeze solid on exhalation, yet beads of perspiration are forming on each man’s brow.

  “My knees are shaking so badly I can hardly stand it.” Peter whispers. “They don’t offer courses on Monster Assault in military school, you know.”

  I laugh and imagine how nice it would be back at base camp slogging comfortably through the mud and swatting mosquitoes!

  Upon reaching the boulder, the noise is as loud as ever! Ten men congregate on one side of the boulder with whatever is on the other side. All ten act together.

  Mark holds up his fingers and mouths...”one, two, three...Now!” Then Mark yells, “What the hell?” He leaps out past the side of the boulder with his gun pointing towards the sound. “Nothing! I see nothing!” He says.

  “Don’t let your guard down, Sir!” A SOAR man counters.

  Then something creeps out slowly from the shadows towards him. Mark freezes! “It’s in that crevice over there.” He whispers. Mark then laughs so loud, he’s apt to be heard by the rest back at camp! “What do you know? Come here little feller!” The animal is freezing.

  “What?” One SOAR man asks.

  “Our dreadful sound is coming from a fur ball! A little four legged fur ball no bigger than a football with a wagging tail! It’s a Yorkie guys!”

  “Where did he come from?”

  “Never mind that. How has he survived up here?” Ray exclaims. We’re all relieved. Mark picks up the terrier.

  “Come here, little feller. You’re going to be alright, now. Mark says calmly.

  Back at camp, the ten of us laugh for the first time in four days. Mark swaps stories with the rest of the camp on how grim we all looked while going to fetch the “killer” Yorkie. Each member of the camp, including the four legged wonder, is given an ID Transponder, and the Doppler fence is reactivated. Further up, we discover the remains of a private aircraft. It’s a good sized business jet. No survivors, except for the dog.

  “The plane must have slid, and the front third of the aircraft, the cockpit, and cabin area, pancaked against the side of the boulder. The Yorkie’s travel container lay just outside the aircraft cargo area with its door sprung open.

  Mark radios the wreckage down to the command team. “Base, we have another crash site up here. Do we have any reports of a plane going down in this area?”

  The base radios back. “Affirmative. Base checked with local authorities and it appears a plane went missing during the night.”

  “Got that base. There’s only one survivor, and it’s a dog.”

  “Copy that.”

  “Unfortunate.” Mark adds. “This would be a dangerous investigation for regular crews. Tell the government we’ll cover it for them. But this one is going to have to wait until everything is cleared.”

  “Affirmative. Will advise the locals. Base out.”

  “At least we won’t have to worry about the “Yorkie” going weird and eating us for breakfast.” Ray gloats.

  The APPS system works well so far. It works in a travel mode, which allows everyone to continue on while searching for any other movement around us. The effective range of the APPS system is approximately 50 yards; however, it dwindles rapidly in rough terrain.

  “I can now see the top of the saddle area of the mountain. At the rate we are progressing, it appears we might get up to the saddle by late afternoon.”

  “How are we going to work on and around the glacier with the ice wraiths?” I ask Mark.

  Mark replies, “We’ll have that figured out by the time we get there. We have a special team recovering the ranger’s body at this moment. Their second assignment is to determine how to keep the wraiths away from us.”

  “Thanks,” I reply. “How soon before we start the site survey and search?”

  “After we get settled, “Mark advises. “Remember the GPS map referred to in our planning meeting? The survey has already been performed. It will take approximately two minutes for our team to coordinate site locations.”

  “This new satellite device was originally designed to track foreign submarines under ice packs. It’s already been used to track terrorists in the Middle East, and other people of interest on a regular basis.”

  Cliff calls over Mark’s radio. Mark responds, “What’s up, Cliff?”

  “Mark, with a little filtering of the SAR data we can now track the wraiths in the ice!! The ice appears to be denser whenever they are present; so we can now track them in real time.”

  Mark replied, “Roger that! Thanks!”

  True to my estimate we finally reach the saddle at 11:50. Ahead near the top of the saddle lies a very large broken hull. Before it, leading up to the top of the saddle, are sections that must have gotten torn off and lay half buried in the rocky soil.

  This area of the saddle is very wind swept and is largely clear of snow and ice build-up, due to the wind. What luck! I think to myself.

  Mark stares at the bulk. “The satellite had shown an impact site and vehicle trail in the saddle; but we thought the ship had exploded and that pieces would be spread everywhere. This is beautiful!”

  “So why didn’t the SAR unit pick it up?” I ask. I notice a look of realization as the answer occurs to him.

  “We should have anticipated this. The ship cannot be seen by the satellite because it’s invisible to electromagnetic sensing.

  “What kind of metal is this ship made of?” I ask.

  “That means the climb up the mountain was a waste of time. Not one piece of new hardware has been discovered, and one man has been lost.” Mark laments.

  A V-22 suddenly appears overhead with cargo strapped underneath. The cargo is released to the ground and the V-22 heads back to base. A quick look at the cargo reveals that it is a temporary barracks that needs to be set up; hopefully before dark.

  Using the available rock, the Soar men quickly lay a fairly level foundation and assemble the barracks on top of it with a heated barrier surrounding the entire work area.

  “Not bad!” I notice.

  While the barracks are being built, Mark, myself, and others approach the large bulk gleaming as the sun sets. All is quiet. The ship appears to be a translucent silver-grey in color, although it is not shiny. Its surface has a dull finish. It’s approximately 75 to 80 yards long. Width-wise it appears to be in the shape of a tear drop with the pointed nose forward buried in the gravel and earth. Mid-way abreast the ship, we find a large hole in the ship’s fuselage.

  Mark lights a flashlight and we enter the airframe. He flashes the light around inside. It appears to be a hall way. We enter and head to the end into what looks to be a control room of some sort. Then we stumble onto the remains of several occupants! “No survivors, obviously.” he remarks.

  Mark walks up to one for a closer inspection. “They’re human!” Then he sees spears and other artifacts with them.

  “These remains appear to be all early Inca!” I comment. “Judging by the articles they’re wearing, they are probably over 1,000 years old! Mark, it looks like we are not the first people to find this site.”

  Mark heads towards the rear of the craft. “I�
��m betting the engine is located towards the back.”

  I accompany him and notice the air shimmers in a very light blue color. The shimmering shape is oblong and rounded at the ends.

  “Interesting blue ray here. I wonder what it is.” Mark says. Then something huge comes through the shimmering light. “Oh, hell! Everybody run!” Mark cries. It roars…it’s tall, furry and blackish brown. That’s all we care to see as we race out of the ship! Behind us and largely on our heels is the largest bear I have ever seen. With no place to hide from this monster, the SOAR men who hear the roar, respond with guns up. The bear suddenly halts just outside the ship. The bear stands up on its rear legs, approximately twelve feet tall. Then it roars again.