by Greig Beck
Anne shook her head. “I can’t really tell whether it starts as particles that eventually sink to clump into the slime. Or it starts as the slime, and then separates to become the free-floating particles. What state comes first?”
Russell crouched beside her and squinted. “Is that stuff moving?”
Anne jiggled it. “Doubt it.”
“Gross.” Casey Franks bent to stare into the glass jar. “Looks like snot.”
“Thank you, Professor Franks.” Alex stared at the greenish gloop. “So this mold or fungus might be responsible for giving off the gas?”
Anne shrugged. “Sure, why not? Plants and fungi can give off everything from methane and oxygen to microscopic spores. We won’t know for sure until we get it back to the lab.” She held up the container and jiggled it again. “And even if it isn’t off-gassing, it will be saturated with it.”
Alex looked up at the cliff face. “Seems to like warmth. As soon as it gets closer to where the atmosphere bubble ends, it stops growing.”
“Most life on Earth prefers warmth and moisture.” Anne looked around. “This is a perfect bio-environment for life. I should probably try and collect more samples.” She held out the small specimen jar.
Alex reached toward it, but then paused – he was sure the small whine had become louder.
“What is it?” Anne asked.
Alex moved his hand away, and then back toward the jar. The whine increased and decreased as if the substance inside was reacting to his hand.
Anne scoffed. “Don’t be scared.”
He lowered his hand. “I don’t think I’m the one who’s scared.” He knew only he could hear or sense the reaction. But he also knew that it knew he was here. He turned slowly; it probably accounted for the feeling he had that they were being watched – maybe by a billion eyes, for all he knew.
No. He straightened; there was something else out there. Something bigger.
Anne stared in at the glob, turning it slowly in her gloved hand. There was a small smile on her lips.
“Let’s hurry this up.” Alex turned to stare out into the curtains of biological brume. He caught Sam’s eye, who nodded and also began to scan the near-impenetrable living fog.
“Hey, Dundee.” Casey was grinning at Dunsen. “There’s something on your boot.”
Dunsen curled a lip. “Yeah, right; I’m not falling for that one, Franks.”
“Okay, sure.” She nodded toward his boot. “But maybe you should toss it on the barbie.”
Monroe chuckled. “She’s right. You got a passenger there, buddy.”
Dunsen cursed under his breath and was about to turn away, when he must have felt something. He looked down.
He started to kick his leg. “What the fuck is that?”
There was something making its way up his leg. It looked like some sort of glossy-green, muscled crustacean, with long spindly legs.
Dunsen drew a long, outback hunting knife, and in a single swift motion sliced the thing free. He growled, closing in on it.
“Don’t.” Anne held up a hand.
Dunsen’s huge boot came down on the critter with a satisfying crunch. “Fuck you, prawn,” he said, and ground his boot for a second. When he lifted it, only shell and goo remained.
Anne scowled. “I could have collected that.”
“You still can. I caught it for you.” He grinned. “And now it won’t bite.”
Monroe smirked. “Dundee making friends with the locals.”
Dunsen resheathed his huge knife. “Yeah, and I don’t come in peace.”
“Idiots; we need more samples.” Anne placed hands on her hips.
“Sorry, no time for more,” Alex said. “Your existing sample has some of the particle gas as well as the biological material. Everything else you need should be locked in its cells. Send the package up, doctor, and let’s get your labs looking at it.”
Anne looked about to protest but Alex held firm. “If you don’t do it now, the chopper is likely to leave and then we’ll get nothing back.” He waited.
Anne sighed. “Damn it. So, it’s this or nothing, huh?”
Alex just held out a hand.
She tsked, and then handed the canister to him. Alex looked in at the sludge for a few seconds before tossing it to Sam. The HAWC opened his pack and took out a squat gun, which he telescoped open. He then put the small vial in a large bullet-shaped plug, snapped the barrel closed and pointed it skyward.
“Fire in the hole.” Sam pulled the trigger.
Alex watched as the small projectile sped away. He tracked it for only a short while before it vanished in the cloud.
“That’s it?” Anne asked.
“Yep. The rest is up to Vincenzo and his butterfly net.” He faced her.
“How do we even know if he got it?” She tilted her head, her brow furrowed.
“We don’t.” Alex looked back to the sky. “We trust him to do his job.”
* * *
The small canister burst from the cloud cover, heading straight up. As soon as it passed out of the interference zone the chopper’s instruments were alerted and Vincenzo swung back hard and accelerated.
The pilot knew he had less than half a minute to grab the speeding capsule while it was on its upward velocity. At its zenith, it would deploy a small aluminum balloon, but given the wind speed, this would act more like a sail than a parachute. Instead of the sample capsule hanging in the air before floating slowly back to the ground, and giving him many more minutes to line up his snatch, the wind would grab it and blow it all the way to the damn Arctic.
Vincenzo leaned forward, pushing the big helo to its limits. From the front of the chopper the twenty-foot pole extended with a v-shaped clasp, ready. The small canister reached about 500 feet in the air at the peak of its arc, hung there for a second or two, and then as programmed, a silver balloon burst open.
Several things happened: the canister didn’t drop but now floated, and then as expected, the wind caught it and it accelerated away, with Vincenzo in determined pursuit.
He leaned forward in his seat, his lips pulled back and teeth bared as he bore down on the speeding dot in front of him.
“Don’t you try and side-step me now, baby.”
Yards, feet, inches, and then he caught the small rope between the balloon and the canister, and the clasp locked down on it.
“Got ya!”
He sat back and exhaled. “Walk in the park.” Vincenzo grinned, and then spoke into his mic.
“Sample package recovered; coming home.” He banked hard and looked down into the weird boiling fog that filled the crater basin.
“See you on the flip side, Hunter. Good luck.”
In another minute, he was gone.
* * *
Alex quickly entered a message into his forearm screen. Arrived, no casualties, no sign of hostiles, search commencing. He added information about the environment, the weird slime that seemed to move, and the mist. He then sent it to a numbered communication bullet, and pointed his arm upward. A small tube appeared on the back of his wrist unit – he flexed, and the bullet was fired.
The communication gun was a similar design to Sam’s, but it was miniaturized and used only for compacted data squirts. Alex stared upward, but already the projectile would have risen approximately 4,000 feet, and in a microsecond, sent an encrypted packet of information that would be bounced off secure satellites all the way back to his boss, Colonel Jack Hammerson.
The small projectile would have one more task – as it came to the end of its upward velocity, and its compressed data was well away, the explosives would be triggered, obliterating it. Nothing above dust-sized fragments would fall back to earth.
Alex lowered his arm, and the small tube retracted back into the forearm unit. He continued to watch for a moment more before sighing and beginning to pivot back to his team. He suddenly spun to the wall of mist.
He could sense something big. Close by, but just out of sight. And there was somet
hing else. Beneath his feet, he felt a slight tremor or vibration. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate to get an image of what it might be, but whatever it was, it had either stopped or moved away.
It was too big; had to be some sort of tremor. Alex opened his eyes and turned slowly. Around him the haze was swirling slightly. The back of his neck tingled and every fiber of his being told him there was danger ahead. At this point they couldn’t see anything, and nothing showed on their instruments – if they could even still be trusted. He then saw Calvin Renner trying to film, but cursing at the lack of clear vision.
He knew his HAWCs were watching him. They could sense his unease and were on edge. The group was exposed and vulnerable. “Armor up, DVP – Franks at point.”
“Yo!” Casey fist pumped.
The HAWCs responded by pulling their RG3s and spreading into formation. DVP stood for Defensive ‘V’ Pattern – like an arrowhead, and Casey Franks would be its tip.
Sam Reid organized them, his huge body pushing, glaring, and overseeing Alex’s orders. He pointed to the NASA crew. “Civilians to the center of the group, now. We expect hostiles, people, so stay alert.” He walked around them, and once satisfied turned to Alex. “On your orders, boss.”
Alex grunted. “Knight, find me that shuttle.”
“Boss.” Knight fell in at Casey’s shoulder. The stocky female HAWC would cover him, as he would be partially distracted by the tracker.
Knight looked up momentarily and then pointed with a flat hand. “This way, 448 feet.”
“And counting down,” Casey said, and led them in.
CHAPTER 17
Alex checked his watch. They’d already been on the basin floor for an hour – they were burning time … and precious oxygen.
Their original plan was to find the shuttle, retrieve the image disc, and then be on their way out within ten hours. If things proved more complicated, then they were prepared to hunker down overnight. But that was worst case.
He turned to the civilians. “Let’s move it up, people.”
They headed into the gloom, trying to remain silent, but failing as the slime squelched beneath their boots.
“Captain?” Russell Burrows waved to him. “A word?”
Alex turned to nod at Sam, who let him fall out from the center of the group to catch up to Alex.
“This is weird,” the NASA scientist whispered.
“No shit.” Alex continued to watch the mist.
Burrows cleared his throat. “You, ah, guys been in this type of thing before?”
“No,” Alex said. “Not exactly like this.”
“So, we’re flying blind then?” Burrows asked.
“We adapt, we do our jobs, and then hopefully, we all go home in one piece.” Alex glanced at the man, seeing the hint of fear in his eyes. “You’ll be fine, as long as you and your group follow instructions.”
Casey Franks raised her hand, and the HAWCs froze. Alex threw an arm out in front of the NASA engineer. “Stop. Quiet.”
Scott McIntyre and Anne Peterson crowded in close to each other, and Morag O’Sullivan and Calvin Renner also froze, eyes wide, but listening intently.
After a moment, Morag whispered to Alex. “What are we listening for?”
“My nerves to snap.” Renner said back under his breath.
Alex ignored them, concentrating as he tried to locate the sound, but it seemed to be everywhere.
“I hear it,” Anne said softly. “It’s like … insects buzzing.”
Alex rotated slowly – it did sound like insects. There was a soft hum coming from all around them that definitely wasn’t artificial, and reminded him of a parkland on a summer afternoon – a low background zumm, not unpleasant, but steady.
“Like some sort of locust or cicada, but … not quite the same,” he said.
“There’s nothing indigenous like that up here,” said Anne.
“Motion sensors say nothing is out there,” Sam said.
“What if it doesn’t show up on the sensors?” Calvin Renner said. “What if it’s like some sort of … entity? All around us.”
“Like a ghost?” Garcia grinned. “Boo.”
Renner’s face twisted. “No, smartass, I meant—”
“Quiet.” Alex glared, closing them down. “Something’s there.”
Renner raised his head. “What is it? There’s nothing—”
“Shut it,” Casey snarled. “Boss senses something; means there’s something out there. Now shut the fuck up and stay alive.”
“Stay alive?” Morag stiffened.
“Jesus, lighten up, will you?” Renner snorted and turned to sneer at Morag.
Max Dunsen eased up next to the cameraman. “Hey, asshole.”
Renner turned to look up at him.
Dunsen grinned like a death’s head. “Listen, mate, take a look around – does this place look like Bondi Beach to you?”
Renner stared for a moment. “Uh, where?”
Casey Franks scoffed. “Jesus, Dundee, like who the fuck knows where that is?”
Dunsen spun to her. “Shut up, Franks.” He turned back to Renner, edging even closer. “Fucking Waikiki, then. Well, does it?”
“No, sir, it doesn’t.” Renner held up his hands and backed a few paces away from the towering HAWC. “Look, I’m just the pictures guy.” He turned away to Morag and rolled his eyes. “Fucking GI Joes,” he whispered.
Alex blocked them out and tried to open his senses and push out into the mist. Just when an image started to form in his mind, the buzzing stopped.
The sound wasn’t right. In fact, now he wasn’t sure the buzzing was occurring externally at all. It felt like it was everywhere but nowhere, like the tiny whine still singing around them, but the more he concentrated, the more he thought the sound had been inside their heads. And he sensed a constant presence, everywhere.
He continued to search. His neck still prickled and a gentle pain began behind his eyes, adding to his frustration. It was like the feeling you had in a pitch-dark room, when you held out a hand, seeing nothing, but knowing that something was probably there in the dark, seeing you without you seeing it.
The pressure in his head increased slightly as if something was reaching back at him. He sealed it off. What the hell is in here with us? He exhaled. We’ll find out soon enough. He turned to his team. “Garcia, double-point with Franks.”
The swarthy HAWC nodded and joined Casey Franks, who bumped fists with the man, their knuckles making a clacking sound from the armor-plating cover.
“Stay alert, people.” Alex turned, as Sam joined him.
“What is it?” Sam kept staring directly ahead.
“I don’t know; it’s weird. I get the feeling we’re being watched. And it’s pissing me off that I can’t tell from where or by what.”
“The bug sounds?” Sam asked.
“If they were bugs,” Alex said. “We need to stay sharp. This is not our turf anymore, and I get the feeling that who or whatever it is can see us a lot better than we can see them.”
“Why am I hoping it is just a bunch of Russian torpedoes?” Sam snorted.
Alex just let his eyes move over the haze. Around the group it swirled and billowed. The civilians began to bunch up in the center like a herd of animals sensing circling predators.
There were some rock extrusions like islands in the muck, but also waist high mounds that could have been nothing more than great lumps of the slime. He had an urge to fire a few rounds into one.
The HAWCs, perhaps picking up on Alex’s unease, tightened their grips on their guns. Already, the heavy, opaque atmosphere made it a ghostly twilight. But Alex knew once the sun went down, there’d be no moon, no stars, and the darkness would be absolute. The HAWC visors had quad vision equipped with thermal and night vision, but the fog would probably even reduce those applications’ usefulness.
Alex suddenly felt the buzz again in his head, but this time ramped up, accelerating; he whipped his gun up.
&nb
sp; “HAWCs!”
The first attack came fast.
* * *
Something came out of the gloom in a blur, larger than a man, and so damn fast it was impossible to make out. Several guns made sputtering sounds as projectiles flew toward it, but even though the HAWCs had reaction times much faster than normal people, they were still too slow and the thing had already sped past where they had put their darts.
Max Dunsen took the hit and grunted with pain as he went down hard. Casey Franks leaped to stand in front of him to give him cover.
“I got ya, big guy.”
Dunsen rolled and came back to his feet. “Owe you, mate.” He immediately pulled his RG3 rifle from over his shoulder.
“Form up!” Alex yelled the words as he saw that amazingly, Dunsen’s tough armor-plated suit was slashed across the forearm and thick, red blood was running down his sleeve. “Halo ring.”
The HAWCs drew into a tight circle, facing outwards and pushing the civilians in behind them.
“What did you see?” Sam Reid asked the injured Dunsen.
Dunsen shook his head. “Was too bloody fast, but I damn well felt it – hit me like a fucking train.” He looked down at his bleeding arm. “Shit. A train with teeth.”
The heavy mist swirled, agitated, as something moved around them. Alex could hear heavy breathing like that of a large animal.
“We’re being circled,” Alex said. “On my ready …”
The thing had vanished, but then it, or another one like it, came at them from their other side. Only Alex was fast enough to react and fire. The resulting unearthly squeal made Morag shrink down and cover her head.
The creature darted across their field of vision before vanishing again into the haze.
“It’s testing our defenses,” Sam said.
Morag grabbed Sam’s back, as if trying to keep him close. “It’s testing us? It knows to do that?”
“There’s more than one.” Alex’s head turned as he sensed something invisible to everyone else circle around them.
Morag turned to her cameraman. “Renner, hope you’re getting this.”