The man stood. He towered over Eddy by six inches, and Eddy was six-foot-one. Vayu turn to Eddy and looked down at him, his thick brown skin fully exposed to the thirty below air. The man rolled his neck in one direction, bones popping and cracking, then the other direction, which had a similar effect.
“Sorry to bother you this late at night,” Eddy said. “But we’ve talked it over and we’ve decided that your help, while generous of you to offer, is unneeded. We’ll be leaving now.”
The man stared down, expressionless.
“Okay,” Eddy said. “See you around.” Eddy turned to leave and walked a few steps toward the others. “See that wasn’t so hard—oof!”
Eddy was pulled back and flung through the air, landing on the ice ten feet away. Norwood, Steve and Paul watched as he slid to a stop.
“Holy crap!” Steve shouted.
“You are not leaving this place.” Vayu said in the deepest voice any of them had ever heard. “Not now…” He took a step forward. “Not ever.” He turned his back on them and went to sit back down.
Steve looked at Paul and in a moment of mind reading, they agreed that this was their chance. They charged forward, fists clenched and adrenaline pumping.
Vayu spun as Steve’s fist flew down at him. But the punch never made it. Vayu took Steve’s arm and used his momentum to fling him through the air. Steve landed next to Eddy, who was only now getting to his feet.
Paul had stopped when Steve was tossed. He watched in horror as Vayu picked his friend up and tossed him, as though his 180 pounds were no more than a down pillow. Paul reached down into his boot and pulled out a long metal wrench. “Time to show this jerk how we do things in the Big Apple.”
After rushing Vayu, carrying himself with an air of confidence that he learned during his schoolyard fighting days, Paul ducked away from Vayu’s first swing, which was less of a punch and more of an attempt to slash Paul’s throat with his fingernails, which Paul noticed were long and thick. Paul followed up with a swing that should have knocked the man unconscious, or outright killed him, connecting the thick end of the wrench with Vayu’s temple.
Shaking off the hit like it was a slap in the face from a three-year-old-girl, Vayu turned toward Paul, who was preparing to swing again, and roared. The sound was like a deep train whistle and it stung Paul’s ears. Paul continued with his swing even though his eyes were closed in pain from the shout, but the wrench was caught in Vayu’s thick, bare hands. Paul opened his eyes in time to see Vayu lurch forward, take a fist full of his jacket, and lift him into the air.
Paul hung in the air over Vayu’s head, sure he was about to be slammed into the frozen ice and turned into a bloody pulp. But the expected surge of pain never came; he fell straight down, landing on Vayu’s back. Eddy had tackled the man at the knees.
“Grab his arms!” Eddy shouted. “Pin him to the ground!”
Norwood, who had remained out of the fight, was propelled into action upon seeing victory was near. He jumped on Vayu’s left arm, while Paul took the right. Eddy was still wrapped around the man’s legs. Vayu began to struggle and it was evident that they could not hold him long.
“He’s going to get loose!” Norwood shouted.
“Hold on, guys, I’m coming!” Kevin shouted as he ran out of the darkness, wielding a metal pipe. Kevin dove on the man, digging his knee into the man’s back.
Vayu grunted with the impact. He looked up and saw Eve and Nicole running toward them with a loop of rope strung out between them. He grunted and pushed down on the ice with his arms, lifting himself and the other four men into the air. Norwood was sent sliding across the ice as Vayu tossed him off. Paul was next. Then Vayu reached back and grabbed hold of Kevin, who pounded his knee into Vayu’s side over and over, with no effect. Kevin rolled onto the ice, landing with his metal pipe still in hand.
Eddy let go of Vayu and moved away, but not quickly enough. Vayu kicked Eddy in the stomach like a professional soccer player. Eddy curled in pain, vomited and gasped for air. Vayu stood over him.
Clang!
Kevin smashed the back of Vayu’s head with the metal pipe, afraid he would kill the man, but he had no choice. It turned out that murder wasn’t something Kevin had to be concerned with. Vayu turned with the speed of a striking cobra, swung his hulking arm out and knocked the pipe from Kevin’s hand. Kevin stepped backward, away from the man. Vayu stepped forward, pulling an intricately-designed blade from inside his furry coat.
Vayu’s eyes widened and Kevin was sure he would feel his warm blood pour down his neck before he died, but a length of thick rope was flung over Vayu’s head from behind and wrapped around the man’s waist. Eve and Nicole tried to pull him back using the ropes, but he continued forward, toward Kevin, pulling them across the ice with him.
Kevin’s eyes darted back and forth. He’d seen the man’s speed and knew he couldn’t outrun him. Fighting would be useless. He’d be slashed to bits in seconds. He looked for help. Eddy was still on the ice, though beginning to move. Norwood and Paul were just getting to their feet. Eve and Nicole were powerless—they all were. Where was Steve?
The rumble of an engine answered Kevin. All eyes snapped in the direction of the noise. “Out of the way!” Steve shouted from the window of the Sno-Cat. Kevin dove to the side. Eve and Nicole dropped the rope and ran. Vayu had nowhere to go. The metal hull of the Sno-Cat hit him with immense force and pounded his body into the ice, crushing him under its tank treads.
The Sno-Cat continued forward a few feet until Vayu’s crushed body was revealed, like a human-sized roadkill. Steve stopped the Cat, opened the door, and looked back at his handiwork. “Everyone okay?”
But before anyone could answer, Steve saw something he never expected. Vayu’s hand reached up and gripped the snow, pulling his torso up.
“Oh, hell, no,” Steve said as he climbed back into the Cat, threw it into reverse and hit the gas. The heavy treads hit Vayu and rolled over his body, pressing him down. The loud crack was audible even to Steve, in the cockpit of the Sno-Cat. He pulled back a few feet, revealing Vayu’s snapped body, folded over like an omelet.
Steve climbed out of the Cat as the bruised group gathered around the dead man. Lit by the bright lights of the Sno-Cat, they could see that the man was twisted and broken—definitely dead. Blood soaked the white ice around his body. Purple blood. It oozed from his body, staining an ever increasing patch of snow like a giant grape slushie.
“Okay,” Eddy said, through labored breaths, as he held his stomach, “I admit it. They’re not Inuit.”
“I’m not even sure they’re human,” Kevin said.
Norwood leaned down to the purple snow. “I’d like to take a sample of this man’s blood.”
“His strength was amazing…super-human,” Eve said. “He must be on some kind of drug, a new type of muscle enhancer.”
“Maybe the military has a secret Black Op going on out here?” Steve said.
Paul rolled his eyes. “Military types don’t wear fur.”
“Well, I haven’t heard you come up with any good ideas since ‘They’re not Inuit.’”
“What about a new breed of human?” Eve said. “Some of the northern tribes are still secluded from modern man. They could have evolved along different paths in the past ten thousand years. Though I’m still more prone to the drug theory.”
“Have any of you ever heard of a drug that turns your blood purple? It’s not right. Really, even dogs bleed red,” Kevin said.
The response was blank stares. “I didn’t think so,” Kevin said. “You can write me off as being a sci-fi wacko if you want and you can call me Buck Rogers till the cows come home, but it won’t change the fact that this thing is bleeding purple. You might think he’s on drugs, or is genetically altered, or even a vampire if you want, but I’m telling you right now: It’s not human… They’re not human, and they know we raised something strange from the ice. If they go to the dig site and find what they’re looking for, that thing w
e left behind in the ice, they won’t need us. Human, undead, alien or otherwise, we need to get the hell out of here. I might enjoy a good run-for-your-life thriller, but I’m not eager to live one.”
Kevin had made his point. They raced back to the temporary campsite, tore apart their tents and packed everything into the Cat within ten minutes. They crammed into the Cat, mounted the snowmobiles, and were racing into the frozen dark before any of them had a chance to think about the man with mulberry blood.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
As the sun rose into the sky, Marutas knelt down next to the flattened body of Vayu. He scanned the area with his old eyes, taking in the footprints, Sno-Cat treads and other bodily depressions in the snow. “He fought well,” Marutas said. “But he underestimated their abilities.”
Marutas stood and looked at the remaining men: Andari, Hoder and Reginn.
“His life was not at its fullest,” Andari said.
“It was his to lose,” Reginn added.
Andari nodded. “How could he have been so foolish? After so many years…to be slain by whelps. They were unarmed!”
“I have noticed,” Marutas said, “that over the years, the resolve of some has faded. The willingness to inflict pain, to seize power and to influence the wills of others loses power as time passes. The weak have fallen over the years, just as they always do. It is the way of things.”
“But we are only four now,” Hoder said. “How can we possibly—”
“It is said that there are four corners of the globe and we will each rule a corner. But that is no concern of ours, not until the key is found. It was not with the remains of that contemptible woman from the past, so we must conclude that Dr. Moore did uncover the device.”
“Do you think they know its purpose?” Reginn asked with a nervous twitch.
“No. If they knew, we would have sensed their fear.”
Hoder looked down at Vayu’s frozen, blood-covered body. “Surely they suspect.”
“Agreed, but they will run for safety as all humans do. They will run home like frightened schoolchildren. And we…we will have the joy of the chase, the hunt! After so many years, my heart is pounding, my mind feels the quickening. Too long have we ruled in obscurity. The thrill of danger is ours again.”
“We all agree,” Andari said. “Killing these humans when they are so close to summoning the Aeros will be a great pleasure, a masterful game indeed. But this whelp… You have watched him over time. You know he is smart. You know he is cunning, a true warrior. What if he—”
“Hold your tongue, young Andari,” Marutas said with a snarl. “He is cunning for a human, but he will always be just that: human. We are superior in mind and in body. We are Ferox!”
The men cheered, roaring into the frozen air like beasts. After the voices faded, Marutas spoke. “The wisdom of my ages tells me there is some truth to your claim. We will pursue them. We will toy with them like cats with a crippled mouse. But should they discover the truth and seek out the Aeros, we will cut them off at the knees and watch them stain the white snow red with their blood.”
15
THE ARTIFACT
Three dark specks sped south across the blinding white planes, toward safety. They had traveled through the few remaining hours of darkness, fighting against the pitch black and the numbing cold. Those who were most exposed to the air riding the two snowmobiles—Steve, Nicole and Paul—wore extra layers. There wasn’t a single sliver of skin exposed to the elements. If there had been, it would have frozen solid.
Inside the elephantine Sno-Cat was Eddy behind the steering wheel and Kevin reading a Solar Atom comic book in the passenger’s side front seat. Eve and Norwood sat in the back, staring out the windows. The cabin shook and rumbled as the metal treads crunched over the ice. The inside of the Cat bounced up and crashed down with creaks from the strained metal. “Sorry about that,” Eddy said. “Looks like it gets pretty bumpy ahead. If I had time, I might be able to work around some of this, but as we are now, we have to take what we get.”
“No complaints over here,” Kevin said.
Eddy had watched Kevin over the past few hours. At first he was quiet, almost vacant. He was most likely replaying the events of the past few days through his mind: the storm, the Inuit, the purple blood. Over time, as the sun grew bright in the cloudless sky, Kevin grew more relaxed, reading a copy of Discover that he had left inside the Cat along with a few other magazines and comics. Since then, he had rocketed through a few issues of a science fiction magazine, engrossed with the story and images, a few of which Eddy could make out as savage aliens battling a man in red tights. Now Kevin was almost jovial, as though the events of the past twenty-four hours had never happened. Eddy was no psychologist, but he knew Kevin’s behavior wasn’t normal. Or was it? Maybe he was the only one handling the shock of so many deaths in a normal way. Maybe the rest of them were cold emotionally; they were all cold physically.
Kevin turned the comic like he was looking at a pinup girl in an issue of Playboy. Eddy leaned over and glanced at the page. It was a two-page spread of a sinister looking creature with large yellow eyes, sharp claws, and two tails. The man in red tights was beaten and bloody at the bottom of the page, secured under the paw of the alien beast. Kevin’s hands began to shake. He tossed the comic to the floor.
“Stupid,” Kevin said to himself.
No, Eddy thought, Kevin is not reacting in a healthy way to what we’ve lived through. Eddy was sure he was cracking up, maybe losing his mind. Kevin had a brilliant intellect and Eddy was certain he could make a comeback. He just needed some of mom’s good, old fashioned distraction.
“Anything interesting in that issue of Discover, Buck?” Eddy asked.
Kevin just stared out the window.
“Discover is just a flashy news magazine for the common man who wants to think he’s being smart,” Norwood commented form the back seat.
“Shut up, Brian,” Eve said when she saw Kevin’s shaking hands. She motioned toward Kevin with her eyes. Norwood was seated behind Kevin, so he leaned to the right and caught a glimpse of Kevin’s now wet face in the right side mirror.
“Don’t worry,” Norwood said. “I don’t think he can hear us anyway.”
Eddy shot Norwood an annoyed glance. “Kev, talk to me.”
Kevin moved his eyes from the page and up to Eddy’s eyes. “It’s just a stupid comic book. I’m being stupid.”
Eddy waited.
Kevin sighed. “They killed the hero. The hero’s not supposed to die.”
Aha, Eddy thought, now we’re getting down to it. “No one’s going to die, Kevin.”
Kevin sat still with a blank stare.
“Don’t be foolish,” Norwood said. “It’s a comic book. Not reality.”
“What do you know?” Kevin shouted as he turned in his seat, facing Norwood. “Comics are supposed to be better than life. Idealized people living precarious lives and surviving…happily! In real life, my life, all our lives, we’ve seen how many people die. I know it’s not intelligent…” Kevin wiped his nose. “I was just trying to escape.”
Kevin rolled down his window, letting a blast of frozen air surge into the cabin, and threw the comic out. He rolled up the window again. “I’m done with comics.”
Eddy saw that Kevin wasn’t cracking up, just making an effort to escape the pains of reality for a while through the adventures of Solar Atom. But the creators of Solar Atom had let him down, killing the hero and destroying Kevin’s escapism. “Didn’t they kill Superman a few years back?” Eddy asked.
Kevin looked at Eddy, surprised that he knew the comic trivia. “Yeah.”
“Well, is it just me, or are they still selling Superman comics?”
“Yeah. He came back to life.”
“Is that normal in comic books, for the hero to die and come back to life?”
“Sure,” Kevin said, relaxing. “It happens all the time.”
“Right… And how are Solar Atom’s sales doing?�
�
“Down some, but still one of the fan favorites.”
“Do you really think they’d kill a fan favorite super hero permanently? Don’t you think he’ll be back somehow? You, more than anyone, should know that Solar Atom will be back. Sure, his costume might be a little different, or he’ll have amnesia for a little while, but he’ll be back and that issue where he dies will probably become a collector’s item. I’m sure that’s why they killed him in the first place—probably some marketing guy’s bright idea. So you see? Solar Atom isn’t really dead, and we’re all going to be fine.”
“Oh God,” Kevin said with a look of dread on his face.
“What?” Eddy asked.
Kevin looked out the rear window. “I threw it out the window!” Eddy smiled and Kevin began laughing. “Thanks, Eddy.”
“At least I’m good for something,” Eddy said and yanked the wheel to the left. “Whoa!”
The Cat lurched up and pounded back down, careening over a chunk of ice. Norwood clung to his seat and knocked his backpack over. The top of the backpack flew open and a single object slid out, but only by a few inches.
“Sorry. Wasn’t watching the ice,” Eddy said.
Kevin laughed, more relaxed. “Good for pep talks. Not so good at driving. Eddy, you’re a—”
Eddy looked at Kevin, whose smile had vanished. He was looking at the back seat with wide eyes. Eddy followed Kevin’s eyes to Norwood’s open backpack and saw a metallic silver object poking out. Eddy recognized the object, the futuristic artifact they had raised from the ice, clung to by an ancient women, frozen in the belly of a mammoth.
“What?” Norwood asked unaware that the artifact was visible.
“Is that what I think it is?” Kevin asked with a shaky voice.
“Is that what you think what is?” Norwood was upset. He disliked not understanding a question.
Kevin thrust his finger out at the open backpack. Norwood looked at the pack and closed it. “That’s just a thermos.”
Raising the Past Page 14