by Gregory Kay
Suddenly she realized Indrid was still waiting patiently for her to speak...well, to think, anyway.
“How long has this research been going on?”
“In the area you call the TNT or all together?”
“Both.”
“Governments have always worked on projects like this; your country has since before the Revolution, and your President Lincoln delved deeply into it during the American War, but it has only been in the 20th century that knowledge and technology came together enough to take it out of the realms of pure superstition and into that of actual science. The real work in that direction began at that time.”
“Around World War I?”
“Yes, although the Ra’aki did not become regularly involved until World War II, when they were supplying technology – what was primitive technology in their eyes – to both sides.”
Luke’s eyes widened.
“They were supporting both the Allies and the Axis? Why?”
His father shrugged.
“Who won was of no importance as far as they were concerned; once the Axis began losing, the Ra’aki withdrew their assistance to them and let...nature, if you will, take its course. All that mattered was the end result, that there would be two great powers left who would be enemies, and they got that in the form of the West and the Communist nations.”
“Because if there was no longer an enemy...”
“No one would need what the Ra’aki were offering; exactly.”
“So research in the TNT was going on even then?”
“Yes. That is why the explosives manufacturing facility was located there instead of somewhere else; the Ra’aki had told them what it was, and it made the perfect cover for their research.”
“But why did it stop?” Fiona asked.
“It did not stop; it continued, concealed in the underground bunkers, until December of 1967.”
“Mothman!” they both gasped aloud, forgetting to project.
“Yes. Garudas, the black cats, and certain other void creatures began filtering through the weaknesses in the walls created by their experimentation. Once the sightings began, and our ships and those of other alien races began arriving to investigate – every race hates and fears the Ra’aki, and for good reason – and it began to draw an unacceptable level of attention to the area, making it difficult for the work to continue. Once the bridge collapse occurred, the American Government temporarily abandoned the facility.”
Luke went ice cold, just as anyone from Point Pleasant would at the thought that forced its way into his mind like a knife.
“Are you telling me they intentionally brought down the Silver Bridge?”
“No,” Indrid projected, “not intentionally. You have heard the stories of people who claimed a garuda was flying over or perched on the bridge at the time of its collapse? That was true; it was there, near the peak on the Ohio side. The collapse occurred when a Ra’aki meat puppet, assigned to kill it, and concealed on that bank, fired a plasma rifle at it. The garuda moved unexpectedly, he missed, and struck one of the eye-bar links that held up the bridge instead; his firing was the ‘sonic boom’ many people in the area reported hearing. With the strain of the heavy traffic, the damaged metal could not retain its integrity.”
“Add forty-five to the four they just killed, then.”
Indrid shook his head.
“Add more than that; many people in several countries have been summarily disposed of for learning too much, countries such as Iraq, Panama, Grenada, Kosovo, Afghanistan...”
“Wow,” Fiona whispered aloud at the implications, “So all these US interventions...”
“Had nothing to do with the stated reasons for United States intervention and everything to do with weaknesses in the walls in specific locations in those places. Your government feared someone else would take advantage of them.”
“How did they even know they were there?”
“The Ra’aki told them.” Sensing their puzzlement, he continued, “By simply pointing out the existence of those places and inducing paranoia about them, the Ra’aki eventually manipulated your country into deciding to reopen their covert facilities in Mason County, because this is where the walls are at their very weakest.”
Luke suddenly grinned broadly, and his father matched it.
“Just like you manipulated them into destroying those facilities by introducing that monster into the mix.”
“Of course. Even though it was necessary to save Fiona and Alison, I would have eventually had to take a similar action soon. Otherwise, I would have had to destroy it by direct action, and that could have meant open war with the Ra’aki, instead of the cold war we have been fighting for centuries.”
There was a low warning tone from the control panel, and Indrid stood.
“It is time, Luke. Please be careful, the both of you. You are more important than you know.”
Before either of them realized it, the two men were embracing.
“Don’t be a stranger, Dad.”
“I will not. Not anymore. I need to go back to Lanulos now for...many things, but I plan to see you in a few weeks.”
“Please bring Jan with you when I come; I want to get to know my little brother.”
The corners of Indrid Cold’s eyes crinkled as he smiled.
“As if I could keep that stubborn boy away.”
“You be nice to him!” Fiona demanded, “He’s a man now, a damned brave one, and he’s good at what he does.”
“He certainly is, but I do not want him to know that just yet, or he will be impossible to do anything with.”
He hugged her then, and she projected for his thoughts only, “What am I going to do?”
“You already know what you are going to do, I believe.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know how I’m going to do it!”
Giving her a chaste kiss on the forehead, he assured her, “You will figure it out when the time comes.
“Now, step onto the marked spot on the deck, please.”
One of the metal deck plates had silently moved aside when Indrid activated the controls, sliding under its neighbor, to reveal a depression with strange, raised symbols formed by various metals. Holding hands, the pair stepped onto it; there was plenty of room for both of them.
“Under no circumstances allow any part of you to touch or extend past the outer borders.”
They instinctively moved closer to the center and Fiona asked, “Just out of curiosity, what would happen?” bringing a shrug from Indrid.
“I am not certain, as no one has ever made that particular mistake before, although we have experimented with the bodies of dead animals. Our best guess is that, by crossing the boundary, they cause a malfunction that sends them off randomly into locations unknown...except for the parts extending past, which inevitably remain behind for someone to clean up. I would really rather not do that, especially with you two.”
They quickly moved even closer to one another, and Fiona had to fight the urge to stand on Luke’s feet, just to make sure.
“Why couldn’t you have used this to bring us back to the ship and save all the hassle?” she asked him.
“Because it only works to travel from the void to the material realms, not the other way around and not within the void bubbles themselves. That’s something we are still working on.”
“Nice...You’re sure you can put us through there?”
“Of course; there is already a weakness in the area’s walls, and those foolish people who drew the symbols have weakened it yet further. There will be some vertigo and possibly nausea when passing through, but you should fully recover within a moment or two.
“Remember, you must head toward the river as soon as you get out, in order to reach your own local law enforcement authorities. Those of your central government cannot be trusted, and will almost certainly attempt to capture you or kill you.”
“Why?” Fiona asked, and Indrid told her, “Because you know too much. Are you ready?”
Luke hesitated.
“I’ll see you soon then.”
His father nodded
“Absolutely; in a few weeks or months at the outside, certainly well before my grandson is born.”
“I’ll hold you to that, then. Goodbye...Dad.”
“Goodbye, son.”
Indrid pressed a button and Luke and Fiona felt the disconcerting sensation of falling in all directions at once.
Both an instant and an eternity later, they were staggering across a hard cement floor before Luke caught himself against the inward-curving wall of the igloo with one hand, and promptly threw up all over a pentagram.
“Damn it!” he growled, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand while a woozy Fiona patted his shoulder.
“I’m sorry you got sick, but I’m just glad it’s someone else besides me this time.”
“I’m glad it’s not you too,” he projected unintentionally, “You’ve been through enough.”
“Hey!” she exclaimed, “I heard that!”
“So do it back.”
“Okay; can you hear me?”
He smiled broadly.
“Loud and clear. Did anyone ever tell you that you have beautiful thoughts?”
Fiona giggled like a schoolgirl, albeit it a dog-tired, somewhat battered, and very stressed-out schoolgirl, and told him, “We’ll talk about that later. Right now, let’s get out of here. This place still gives me the creeps.”
The glare of the flashing blue lights only made Harry’s face look more sickly than it already was, and Sheriff Pete Morris knew his own expression was a mirror of the state trooper’s. It wasn’t that the reporter who had come all the way down to Mason County to write an economically invaluable story had been kidnapped and apparently killed on his watch, although that was certainly bad enough. No, what was getting to them was the fact that a brother officer and friend had gotten killed with her. They were going through the pain of losing him twice in one day, but, after the explosion that had shaken this whole end of the county, they knew he wouldn’t be coming back.
Glancing over at the stone-faced pair of Feds in suits standing close by their roadblock where Potter’s Creek Road met 62, neither of them were able to keep their mouths from twisting in a snarl of rage. Both of them had exactly the same thought in mind.
And these bastards, or at least the people they work for, are responsible for it!
Although the other deputies and troopers standing there looking at the rising column of smoke pouring into the sky from the igloo area and smudging the full moon had no clue, Pete and Harry had no doubts; after all, they had the information, and had a pretty good idea of at least the basics of what was going on. And the worst part of it was that the ones who did it would walk, just because of who they worked for.
As if sensing his thoughts, Harry, his usual smile nowhere in sight, said quietly, “I don’t know what the hell happened, but at least it looks like he took a bunch of those pricks along with him.”
“God, I hope so!” Pete replied, coughing as an errant wind sent the stink of burning wood and earth, overlaid with the stench of spent explosives, momentarily in their direction. The hacking and eye stinging spread down the line for several minute, until the smoke finally cleared.
“Miss me?”
Both of them spun at the sound of Luke’s voice coming from right behind them, having missed seeing or hearing his approach due to the smoke and the commotion it had caused. There he stood, dirty, bruised and bloody, with his grin on his face, an M4 rifle in one hand, and Fiona beside him, clinging tightly to his other one.
In an instant they were swarmed by shouting, cheering cops, hugging and backslapping.
Harry was pounding him between the shoulder blades even while Pete was shaking him, demanding to know what the hell had happened.
“Thanks, Officers; we’ll take over from here.” The pair Federal Agents shouldered their way forward, reaching an hand for the deputy’s arm, and one of them said, “Luke Carter, Fiona Pelligatti, you’re both under – “
He grunted when Harry slapped his hand away before shoving him back hard.
“Like hell they are.”
The agent was startled into open-mouthed silence by the trooper’s defiance, but the second instinctively reached inside his jacket for his shoulder holster, only to freeze when he found himself looking down the barrel of the Sheriff’s Glock. Harry was not far behind, only he was aiming his pistol at the other agent. Rick and Fiona each had their own weapons pointed as well.
Pete’s voice was cold.
“Move that hand out of there, boy, nice and slow; if it brings anything out with it besides your fingers, I’ll blow your head right off your shoulders. Do it now!”
The agent very wisely obeyed and the other, equally wisely, made no move at all when he heard the sounds of weapons being drawn all around them, and somebody racking the slide of a riot gun. The deputies weren’t sure exactly what was going on, but that these strangers were trying to arrest one of their own and their sheriff took it seriously enough to point his auto at them was good enough.
“We’re FBI; Federal agents,” the first one said, slowly and deliberately, only to see Pete shaking his head.
“I don’t give a damn who you are; FBI, CIA, NSA or whatever alphabet soup piece of shit agency you belong to. I know what you are, and what you’re trying to do.”
“I don’t think you understand, Sheriff,” the agent declared coldly, “That means I outrank you, and I can and will put you under a Federal prison. Since this is a matter of national security, I can send your ass to Guantanamo Bay! No rights, no trial, no nothing!”
A couple of the deputies looked slightly uneasy, but Pete’s mustache merely twitched as one corner of his mouth cocked up.
“You and what army?”
“One call, and I can have – “
“What makes you think we’re going to let you make that call?” Harry asked, “Take a look around you; I don’t think it matters how many people you can get here eventually, because the way I see it, you’re pretty well outnumbered right now.”
“And,” the Sheriff added, “there’s nothing to stop me from arresting you right now, and your ass is mine for twenty-four hours before I have to let you make that call. I’ve got a cell block full of drunk rednecks, dopers, thieves and barroom brawlers; I’m sure you all will have lots to talk about during that time when I tell them what you are.”
The younger agent paled slightly and nervously licked his lips, involuntarily glancing at the weapons pointing at him, but the older one remained unruffled.
“It doesn’t matter; eventually we'll get out. You know you can’t win this one.”
“I’ve already won it.” Pete nodded toward the trooper. “You want to tell him?” and Harry nodded with satisfaction.
“Be glad to. You see there, Agent Murphy, before Luke here left to go rescue his lady friend, he contacted me and Pete. We not only know everything he knows, but we also took custody of both his and Fiona’s computers, so we have all their notes. Further, we have multiple images of your thugs captured not only on Luke’s dash cam and the hotel’s security cameras, but on several folks’ deer cams throughout the area. Oh, and speaking of the hotel, I also took custody of a National Security Letter someone carelessly left on a desk there, and then got another one from the State Crime Lab, where some of your images were caught, too.
“Maybe even better, I’ve talked to all those people you terrorized with your little letters and threats, and convinced each and every one of them that their safety lay in filing a statement with me as to just what went on.”
“I have copies of everything he has,” Pete took over, “and we’ve both made sure a few other trusted people have them too. So here’s the deal, and I suggest you take it, because it’s the only one you’re going to get.”
“I’m listening.”
“Good. Number one, leave us alone – all of us, including the witnesses and this little l
ady here. Anything even remotely suspicious happens to anyone involved, and everything we’ve got will be blasted all over the Internet immediately. We won’t wait for an explanation.
“Number two: this operation of yours is over – period. You all can go in and clean up your damned mess, but after that, you’re done in this county; no more. If any of your people ever come in here and try to reopen this, kiss them goodbye before they go, because they won’t be leaving this county alive, and then you’re going to be busy trying to explain when this stuff goes public.”
The agent twitched his head, gesturing toward Fiona.
“What about her? What’s to keep her from writing an expose?”
Pete grinned.
“Well, for starters, I have custody of all her notes and materials.”
“And secondly,” Fiona spoke up, “you’ve got my word.” The bitter taste of that agreement soured in her mouth and came out in her tone, but she knew she had no other choice now; Pete, Harry, all of them, were risking everything on her behalf. She didn’t like doing it, but it was the right thing, not to mention the only real choice. “The story will be straight-up Mothman paranormal sighting stuff, combined with general area information; all of your murders and kidnappings, along with your precious little star-gate project in the bottom of that bunker will not be mentioned.”
The agent locked eyes with her for a moment, then turned to Pete.
“It doesn’t look like we have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice; some are just a whole lot better than others.”
No more words were spoken. Both agents returned to their car, slammed the doors, and drove away into the night, and it sounded like a wind gust when everyone’s breath came out in an audible whoosh. Luke looked at his boss and his friend.
“Thanks, Pete, Harry; I owe you.”
“You’re damned right you do!” Harry declared.
Glaring at his deputy, Pete shook his head and said, “You get into more shit!”
“I know, and I hate to do this to you, but it’s a little more complicated than you think it is right now.”
“You mean the others...who all was with you, anyway?”