by Paul Sims
Anoushka looked up at RD and gave him a wan smile. “Let’s discuss it over a candle-lit dinner, just the two of us – if we ever do get home.” At this point, Iain stirred, and they said no more, but from then on it was noticeable that they passed as much time as possible in each other’s company.
Once any traces outside were covered, the group spent the rest of the day resting up and recuperating. Tanya insisted that they all bathed and washed their clothes. Though one or another of them kept watch by the entrance throughout, nothing significant happened outside. The adult members of the resident rodent family went in and out, providing food for their young, but they seemed unworried by the intruders. If anyone was in their way, they simply scampered over them.
Later that afternoon, Bartes was stripping down and cleaning his laser carbine when Tanya hurried over. “Come with me,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Do you remember that panel of coloured crystals I told you about at the top of the stairs? Where the passageway stops?”
“Yes. I had a look at that earlier. It appears to be some sort of door release, but none of the crystals responded to my touch.”
“Well, I’ve got a reaction.”
“You’ve opened up the passageway?”
“Well... no...” she hesitated. “Oh, come and see.”
RD and Iain had overheard their conversation and followed them up the stairs. At the top, Tanya stood opposite the panels and concentrated. Almost instantly, one crystal then another started to glow more brightly. “It’s psionically activated,” she said. “It took a while, but in the end I hit on this combination. Brace yourselves.” Broad circular bands of brilliant red rippled out from the panel across the end of the passageway, accompanied by a strong psionic sense of danger. When it subsided, Tanya continued. “I think it means access is blocked. Given the damage we saw from the outside, the tower itself may have decided that to let us go any further is hazardous.”
“You could be right,” Bartes said. “You know, it’s amazing that this place still has power.”
Iain studied the glowing red panel. “My guess is that there are geothermal generators deep below us.”
“It’s a pity we can’t get down there,” RD said, turning back toward the stairs.
“Yeah,” Iain agreed. “I tried to swim as far as I could down the drowned corridor, but I couldn’t find any air pockets, and the few doors I could reach wouldn’t open. D’you think that passageway was always flooded?”
“No.” Bartes shook his head. “There’s a crack in the floor on one side of the pool. I think it must have been made during the battle that trashed the top of the tower. The fish in the pool show that it’s connected to the river, which must supply fresh water, and also cool the generators. If you think about it, the floor of the chamber is just above the level of the river outside. That crack probably means that everything below us is completely inundated.”
Later that evening, Tanya and Bartes were on guard duty together again, lying side-by-side under the collapsed entranceway. The moon was hidden by clouds, and darkness surrounded them.
“This isn’t exactly a watch,” grumbled Bartes. “I can’t see a bloody thing.”
“So listen,” whispered Tanya. “There’s something out there – did you hear that twig snap? Over to the left.”
There was a tense silence, broken by a voice about fifty metres away.
“Look, it’s pitch black now. We could walk within inches of them and not see them.”
“But the Sergeant said to check this mound,” responded another voice doggedly.
“I don't care what the Sergeant said! He just sits around on his fat behind and orders us about. Let’s just rest here for a few minutes, then go back and tell him we didn’t find anything.”
“Well…”
“I’ve got a bottle…”
“Okay...”
For several minutes there were sighs and the occasional gurgle. After some time, the first voice said, “Shh… Did you hear that…?”
“Yes – some sort of slithering noise…”
There was silence for a few seconds before twin screams of terrible agony rent the air. Tanya stopped her ears but couldn’t exclude the pain from her mind. There was something else, too: something repulsive and dirty that her brain flatly refused to contemplate. The life signs of the two soldiers faded, and shortly afterwards the sense of evil diminished.
Once he felt it was safe, Bartes lit his torch. Tanya was as white as a sheet, and there was a patch of vomit off to one side of her. “Go – go and see how the others are,” she told him, her breathing unsteady, “but leave me your torch.”
He made his way down to where the others lay asleep, but they seemed blissfully oblivious to the carnage above. Slimmest was the only one awake and alert. :Did you sense what happened out there?: he asked her.
:Yes,: she sent, :But it felt as if it was occurring a long way away – almost like it was a story I was being told. I think this place must have been a Forerunner stronghold. It protects those it judges to be its own – and not just physically.:
:Didn’t the others react at all?: he asked.
:RD stirred slightly, like he was having a bad dream, but no-one else even twitched.:
He returned to find Tanya peering through the entrance into the night, her body taut, as if every sense was straining to pick up any movement outside.
“What is it,” he asked putting his lips close to her ears.
“Whatever those things are, they’re still out there,” she replied, her voice pitched normally to avoid a whisper’s betraying sibilance, but a mere thread of sound. “They seem to be searching for us – it’s like they know we’re here somewhere, but can’t find us.”
Bartes reached out with his mind and sensed a wave of corruption that made him feel ill. Unthinkingly, he sent a lance of thought towards its source, trying to repel it. This proved to be a mistake: there was a malignant chuckling sound in his head, and after a few seconds they could hear a slithering coming nearer. Soon an indistinct dark shape overshadowed the entrance as it cut out the starlight beyond.
The fugitives seemed to be held paralysed in the grip of fear. A pallid tentacle reached out for Tanya, but, as it passed between the tower’s still-solid walls, there was a flash of indescribably bright sapphire fire. The creature reared up and backwards. It screamed in pain and frustration before fleeing, its appendage blackened and still burning, back into the night.
Bartes held out his hand to Tanya, who took it in her own and grasped it tightly. It was some time before she stopped trembling, and even longer before he felt he could break the silence. “Are you all right?” he asked at last.
“I will be,” she replied with a shudder, “but not just yet.”
“What was that thing?”
“I-I’ve no idea – a-and I’m not sure I want to know...” She shivered again.
They were still holding hands when RD turned up to relieve Tanya. “Oho,” he said, “is there something you want to tell me?”
“Yes,” Bartes said, “but not what you suspect. Tanya, you go and try to get some sleep.” She took a deep breath, nodded, and retreated quickly to the safe depths of the tower. Once she was out of earshot, he told RD about what they’d overheard and the subsequent attack.
“That’s odd,” he said when Bartes finished his tale. “I didn’t hear anything.” He paused, then shrugged. “Do you think they’re gone?”
“I can still feel them out there. The tower wouldn’t let them in, but they’ve been circling, looking for another entrance.”
When Iain arrived to take Bartes’ place, he was more than happy to go below. He soon settled down to rest, but despite the atmosphere of peace in the tower, it was some time before he could close his eyes. Tanya had banked up the fire so it gave extra warmth and light, but it did little to ease the cold in his soul. She, too, seemed restless, and they both slept only fitfully. He was actually gr
ateful when he was called to take over watch again just as dawn was breaking.
“Are they still out there?” he asked Tanya as he lay down beside her.
“No, thank God,” she replied, the relief in her voice almost palpable. “As soon as the sun came up, they left.”
It was only a few minutes later when they heard another voice outside: “Up here, Sarge, they’re here…” It trailed off. There was the sound of retching.
“What’s wrong, Private. What happened to them?”
“I don’t know, Sarge… and I don’t think I want to know…”
“Get back to the others, Private – and clean yourself up, for God’s sake. Corporal?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Get two of the squad with the strongest stomachs and put those corpses into body bags.”
“What the Hell happened to them? They look half burnt and half... eaten…”
“I don’t know. They’d be on a charge for drinking on duty – if they were still alive – but nobody deserves that…”
There was an interlude, presumably while the remains of the two soldiers were retrieved, and then the Sergeant said, “I can’t see any sign of our targets. There’s no way we’ll catch them now – they’ll be long gone. And I don’t want to stay round here, given what happened to those two slackers. Radio for extraction.”
Bartes and Tanya waited on tenterhooks until they heard a helicopter land some distance away and take off again soon afterwards. They remained where they were for some time. In the end, Tanya said, “D’you think we ought to have a look?”
“I guess so...” Bartes replied reluctantly. “I’ll check it’s safe.” He reached out with his mind. “There’s nothing dangerous out there now. Let’s go.”
The greenery was soaked with blood, with a few shreds of flesh and cloth hanging from the bushes – and superimposed over it all was a strange silvery deposit. This slime formed a couple of trails that came from the west and subsequently wandered about the area. One of them came up to the tower’s entrance, where there was a scorch mark, and both trails circled the tower a number of times before disappearing into the undergrowth.
They scrambled back into the tunnel, and while Tanya continued her vigil, Bartes went below and reported their findings to the others.
“Is the area clear now?” RD asked.
“Yes.”
“Then it’s time we moved on. This place has been a real haven, but we’ve got a job to do. Iain, pack your stuff, then go and relieve Dr Miller. The rest of us should be ready to move by the time she is.”
So it was less than half an hour later that they emerged from their sanctuary and set off towards Telphania. Rather than crossing the river, they followed its bank upstream. As expected, it soon turned in an easterly direction, towards the mountains, and they were able to climb gradually higher, heading (they hoped) for the border. Tanya and Bartes took it turns to check ahead for life-signs, but detected nothing significant.
Several times during the day they had to hide under the trees as aircraft flew over. Their pursuers seemed to know the direction they were heading – the wreck of the helicopter would have told them that – but not the precise route. Late afternoon found them on a high, grassy plateau, when Tanya noticed the approach of a jet from the north.
“Everybody lie down, as flat as you can. We might not be spotted.” She breathed a sigh of relief as the plane flew past their still, prone forms and headed south, but at the last minute it banked and came round for another pass. “Oh well,” she muttered. “Time for my party trick.”
Bartes glanced over at Tanya, who lay in the grass, nose to nose with Slimmest. Their eyes were closed, and they both seemed to be concentrating. The cat’s voice in his head asked, :May I borrow some of your psionic energy?:
:Whatever you need,: he replied, and a blue light flared under the cat’s chin as he felt his power draining away. The plane flew directly over them, banked again and continued south.
“Thank you, little sister,” Tanya said, breathing heavily, as it disappeared from sight, “and you too, Bartes. I thought we’d be seen for sure that time.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “I thought that we were.”
“Oh, Slimmest and I managed to persuade the crew that what they saw on their first pass was really just a small group of deer.”
They continued their weary trek through the foothills.
As the sun set behind them, RD pointed at a narrow valley just ahead of them. “That looks a good place to spend the night,” he said. “The bushes will shelter us, and the creek will provide water.”
“Do you think we can risk a fire?” Iain asked.
“I don’t think so – in case we’re spotted from the air.”
The water in the stream was straight off the mountains, cold and clear. They drank all they wanted, refilled their water bottles, and settled down in the thicket to rest.
“I think we ought to keep watch,” Bartes said.
“You’re right.” RD looked at the others. “Though I reckon it’s up to you, me, Iain and Doctor Miller.”
Indeed, Peter had already drifted into a doze, but Anoushka roused herself. “I can take my turn,” she said. “All this exercise is toughening me up.”
RD shook his head and smiled at her. “No, dear – you get some sleep. We’ll be moving quickly tomorrow and I’d rather you were fully rested. We’ll take single person two-hour watches so we can maximise our rest as well. I’ll go first, then Bartes, Iain and the Doctor”
RD’s watch passed without incident, but shortly after Bartes took over from him, he began to feel uneasy. There’s something out there, he thought. He reached out with his mind and immediately began to feel foolish. What an idiot! How could I have failed to recognise my own mother?
A voice in his head said, :Is that you, Bartes?:
“Mother?” he called out as he got to his feet and started walking out to meet her. “What are you doing here?”
:Yes, dear – it’s your Gran and me. Can you help us? We’re lost.:
“Of course.” He’d gone a few involuntary paces towards the two helpless old dears when a furry cannonball hit him between the shoulder-blades. He fell on his face just as twin streams of acid passed over him, through the space where his head had just been.
Chapter 29
:Run!: Slimmest’s thought was urgent. :Wake the others and run!:
The spell shattered. Looking up, Bartes saw the two old ladies as they really were: grey and cylindrical, about eight feet long and two feet across, with a large circular mouth lined with multiple rows of sharp, hooked teeth and surrounded by tentacles. Above each mouth was the travesty of a human face. “What are those things?” he asked, as he sprinted back to the others.
:Nightcrawlers. Mutated slugs that pretend to be harmless and in need of help. They can make you see them as your friends, or even your family.:
“How fast can they move?”
:Not very,: she replied, :but they’re implacable. Once they have your psionic scent, they’ll follow you all night, or until either you or they are dead.:
“I’ve never met anything like these things before. They’re not natural.”
:No – they were created by the Da’ark. Our enemy is getting desperate, and bringing in help from their home dimension.:
Bartes roused the others. “Those monsters Tanya and I encountered back at the tower – the ones that killed those soldiers – are coming after us. Don’t look at them or listen to them. They can bewitch you into thinking they’re people you know, or that they’re harmless and need help. Grab your stuff and get moving – they’ll be here soon.”
“But that’s my mother out there – with Karla!” Peter cried, and started running toward the creatures.
Tanya grabbed him by the arm as he sprinted past her, swung him round and slapped his face. “Pull yourself together,” she said harshly. “Your mother’s dead, and Karla’s still in the Blockhouse. Those things can make you see and h
ear what they want you to. Now come on.”
The boy shook himself, gave her a look of terrible loss, but nodded. “What’s Iain doing?” he said, looking over her shoulder.
Tanya glanced behind her. Iain was walking directly towards the oncoming beasts. She was filling her lungs to scream his name when, to her relief, he stopped, knelt, levelled his rifle and fired at the monstrosities.
The bullets hit one of the creatures dead centre, but seemed to have no discernible effect on it. In response, it spat back at him. He dodged the stream of acid, but a few drops splashed his hand. He cried in pain and retreated quickly.
“Don’t run,” Bartes called as they prepared to flee. “We can keep ahead of them, for now at least, but not if one of us breaks a leg, or twists an ankle. Watch where you’re going.”
They started moving as quickly as possible away from the oncoming horrors. Slimmest trotted ahead and acted as a scout, guiding them away from the worst terrain.
Tanya noticed that Iain was shaking his hand and wincing, so she drew over beside him. “How is it?” she asked.
“I cleaned it off but it still hurts,” he said.
“Show me.”
He held out his hand, striped with red weals.
“We can’t stop now, much as I’d like to.” She rummaged in her medkit and retrieved some salve. “Rub some of this on the wounds.”
They paused for a moment, and he extended his other hand so that she could squeeze some of the cream onto it. He gently applied it to the damaged skin and sighed in relief. “That’s better.”
“It’ll neutralise any remaining acid and ease the inflammation as well as the pain. I wish I had my Mercy kit, though – our salves actually coat the area with synthiskin as protection.”
“I’m just grateful for this. We ought to pick up the pace, though – the others are pulling ahead.”