The Martian Falcon (Lovecraft & Fort)

by Alan K Baker

  ‘The book describes an avatar of Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, the Messenger of the Great Old Ones… as a man who wears a crystal mask…’

  Fort blew a stream of cigarette smoke into the air. ‘Great. That’s just great.’

  ‘According to the book, the wearer of the crystal mask, Nyarlathotep, who is Azathoth’s son, will bring about the return of his father’s breath and gaze, and when that time comes, the Earth, the very Solar System, will be annihilated.’

  ‘I think I need some more coffee,’ said Lovecraft. He stood up and moved through to the kitchen.

  ‘I need a drink,’ said Fort, reaching for a quart of bourbon that was standing on the table beside the sofa.

  Both he and O’Malley shot glances towards the kitchen as Lovecraft gave a loud cry. ‘What is it, Howard?’ Fort called.

  Lovecraft came back into the sitting room, followed by the ghost of Johnny Sanguine.

  *

  ‘Now do you believe me, Father?’ asked Sanguine as he paced slowly up and down in front of them. ‘Now do you believe I’m telling the truth about the terrible danger the Martian Falcon poses to every living thing on the planet?’

  ‘I believe you,’ O’Malley rumbled. ‘I also think you’re lying when you say you want it returned to Mars to redeem your soul.’

  Sanguine assumed a pained expression. ‘That hurts, Father. If it weren’t for me, you’d know nothing about what the Falcon really is. You’d still be punching hoodlums into righteousness instead of working to save the world.’

  ‘All right, Sanguine,’ said Fort. ‘We know you’re on the level – at least about the Falcon being dangerous. Question is, how do we find it? If Crystalman has it, where is he, and how do we get to him?’

  ‘I know exactly where he is,’ Sanguine replied. ‘But getting to him is going to be tough, real tough. He lives in one of the big houses out on Long Island, but he spends most of his time under it…’

  ‘Under it?’ said Lovecraft.

  ‘Yeah. There are some Dero caverns under the house – that’s where his real hideout is. He’s not afraid of them; in fact, I think they’re afraid of him.’

  If he’s an avatar of Nyarlathotep, I’m not surprised, thought Fort.

  As if reading his mind, O’Malley said: ‘Do you know who Crystalman really is, Sanguine?’ When Sanguine hesitated, he added: ‘You know he’s Nyarlathotep, right? Or at least, an avatar of Nyarlathotep. The Crawling Chaos, the Messenger of the Great Old Ones, son of Azathoth…’

  ‘Of course I do,’ Sanguine replied, after recomposing himself – at least, that was how it appeared to O’Malley. ‘That’s why I contacted you, Father – because I know the danger we’re facing.’

  O’Malley looked at him long and hard, and then nodded. ‘Okay.’

  ‘So the Falcon is on Long Island, or rather, under Long Island,’ said Fort. ‘You’re right: getting to it is going to be tough… so how do we do it?’

  ‘We’re going to need help,’ Sanguine replied. ‘Serious muscle, the kind only one man can provide… if you can still call him a man.’

  Fort raised his eyebrows. ‘Capone? Are you seriously suggesting we ask him for help?’

  Sanguine smiled. ‘I hated him when I was alive, but I never underestimated him. He’s a hard bastard, and not just because he’s made of metal; he’s good in a fight, and he’s got some of the best muscle in the entire country: his zombies would walk into a live atomic reactor for him – mainly because they have no choice. His foot soldiers are second only to mine, and we’re going to need both.’

  ‘An army of vampires and zombies going up against the Crawling Chaos,’ said Lovecraft. ‘It’ll be a hell of a scrap, but it could be done.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Fort. ‘Maybe it could at that… but how are we going to convince Capone to join us? He hates you as much as you hate him, and he’s still smarting from the trick you pulled with the Falcon in the first place.’

  ‘That’s where you come in,’ said Sanguine.

  Fort frowned at him. ‘Me?’

  ‘You’re working for him. He trusts you as much as he trusts anyone outside his organisation…’

  ‘Which is to say not much,’ Fort said.

  ‘True, but it’s all we’ve got right now. I’ve already put word out on the street that you want to meet with him to discuss an important matter – something that’ll get him off the hook for my murder. He’s laying low; no one knows where he is, but word’ll get to him all right, and when it does, he won’t be able to resist.’

  ‘Where’s the meeting place?’ asked Fort.

  ‘The old Marsh warehouse on the Jersey shore.’

  ‘Neutral territory,’ said Fort.

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Excuse me,’ said Lovecraft. ‘Neutral territory?’

  ‘A place where the New York gangs can meet to discuss grievances, or the terms of a truce or temporary alliance,’ Fort explained. ‘It’s also the place where negotiations to avoid war are made.’ He turned to Sanguine. ‘When’s the meet planned for?’

  ‘Ten o’clock tonight.’

  ‘And if Capone doesn’t show?’

  ‘Then I guess we’ll have to go in without him,’ Sanguine replied. ‘You’ll be there, yes?’

  Fort sighed. ‘Yeah, I’ll be there. But I can’t help thinking this plan to go head to head with Crystalman is a stupid idea.’

  O’Malley looked at him askance. ‘What do you mean, Charlie? It’s our only option.’

  ‘Oh sure, I understand that,’ Fort said, ‘but attacking his place head on, even with an army of vampires and zombies… I can’t see that working.’

  ‘So what do you suggest?’ asked Sanguine.

  Fort was silent for several moments, thinking. Finally, he said: ‘Crystalman’s HQ is under his house on Long Island, in the caverns he took back from the Dero, right?’

  ‘Right,’ Sanguine nodded.

  ‘And to stand a chance against him, we need the element of surprise. And we’ll need to come from a direction he’s not expecting.’

  ‘That would be preferable,’ Sanguine said slowly. ‘What are you getting at?’

  ‘Just this: if we can find a way in that’s less obvious than forcing our way into the house, we’ll stand a much better chance of finding the Falcon.’

  O’Malley chuckled. ‘I know what you’re thinking, Charlie. The old IRT tunnels.’

  ‘Of course!’ said Lovecraft, clicking his fingers. ‘The Interborough Rapid Transit system. The entire project was abandoned in the 1890s when the excavations revealed some Dero caverns. They built the upway system instead. The surveyors concluded that the Dero hadn’t used the caverns for years, but the IRT Company’s planners decided it wasn’t worth the risk to continue.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Fort. ‘No one wants anything to do with those nasty little bastards. If anything had happened to anyone down there, the IRT would have been sued into oblivion. The tunnels were sealed off, but they’re still there. If we could get into them and then get into the Dero caverns…’

  ‘We could get to Crystalman’s hideout,’ O’Malley completed. ‘He wouldn’t be expecting that. If we played our cards right, we could get straight in and out without him even noticing!’

  ‘Well,’ Fort chuckled, ‘I wouldn’t go that far, Cormack. He’ll notice us, all right… but if we can maintain the element of surprise for long enough, it might increase our chances of getting out alive.’

  ‘Sounds like a plan,’ said Lovecraft, ‘of sorts.’

  ‘So you’re all in,’ said Sanguine.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Fort, ‘we’re in.’

  Sanguine smiled. ‘Then I’ll see you later.’

  And with that, he vanished from the room.

  CHAPTER 27

  A Dame in Trouble

  Fort, Lovecraft and O’M
alley spent the rest of that day at the Public Records Office going over the original plans of the abandoned subway system. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company had made a lot of headway before the first of the Dero caverns had been discovered, and additional tunnels had been excavated before the second, third and fourth caverns had been revealed by the boring machines – including one connecting Manhattan with Long Island beneath the East River.

  ‘The closest station is on Park Avenue and East 57th Street,’ said Fort, pointing out the location on a large surveyor’s drawing.

  ‘That’s no good,’ said O’Malley. ‘It’s a good hundred-mile-walk from there to where we need to be. It’ll take us days – if the Dero don’t make mincemeat of us first!’

  ‘You’re right,’ sighed Fort.

  ‘What about Manorville?’ said Lovecraft. ‘That’s where they broke into the Long Island caverns.’

  Fort examined the drawing. ‘You’re right, Howard. An exploratory shaft was sunk there; we could drive out to Long Island and get in that way.’

  ‘Yes,’ nodded O’Malley. ‘Good idea, Mr. Lovecraft!’

  ‘Shouldn’t we notify the police?’ said Lovecraft. ‘I’m sure that once we explain the problem to them, they’ll be more than happy to provide some backup.’

  ‘A nice idea, but a naive one, I’m afraid’ O’Malley replied. ‘For one thing, there’s no way that New York’s finest would consider joining forces with two mob gangs; even if they believed our story, they’d probably arrest the lot of us and go after Crystalman themselves… and I for one would rather that didn’t happen.’

  Lovecraft nodded. ‘I suppose you’re right, Father.’

  Fort checked his watch. It was a little after five p.m. ‘Well, boys, looks like we’ve got all we’re going to get here. What say we grab a bite and then head back to my place? Then we’ll head out to Jersey.’

  ‘Sounds good,’ said O’Malley.

  They took a cab from the Public Records Office to a small mom and pop restaurant a block from Fort’s apartment, where they ate dinner.

  They returned to the apartment to the sound of the telephone ringing. Fort picked up the receiver.

  ‘Charlie!’ cried the voice of Penny Malone. ‘Where in blazes have you been? I’ve been calling you for the last two hours!’

  Fort told her and then said: ‘What’s up, Penny? You sound flustered.’

  ‘Flustered isn’t the word for it, Charlie. I’ve got someone here who needs to speak to you right now, and I mean right now.’

  ‘Okay, okay, calm down. Are you at the office?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll be right there. Who is it who wants to see me?’

  ‘A lady by the name of Rusty Links.’

  ‘Rusty… Jesus Christ!’

  ‘What is it, Charles?’ asked Lovecraft.

  ‘Rusty Links is at my office with Penny right now.’

  ‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph,’ said O’Malley.

  Fort said into the phone: ‘All right, Penny, we’ll be there in ten minutes.’

  ‘Try and make it five, Charlie,’ said Penny. ‘She’s scared, really scared. She says Crystalman is after her.’

  ‘Five it is,’ said Fort, and slammed down the receiver without waiting for a reply. To Lovecraft and O’Malley, he said: ‘Let’s go, right now. Links says Crystalman’s after her, and if that’s true, I don’t want Penny anywhere near her. Come on!’ He grabbed the case containing the Teleforce Projector and the Anomalous Oscillation Detector.

  ‘You’re taking that?’ said O’Malley.

  ‘Damn straight,’ Fort replied. ‘If things turn nasty, this’ll be more use than a gun.’

  *

  Fort was true to his word. They hailed a cab outside his apartment building, gave the driver the address of his office, and Fort offered him twenty dollars if he’d get them there in five minutes.

  ‘Consider it done, boss,’ said the driver as he floored the gas pedal.

  When they got to his office, they found Penny sitting at her desk and Rusty Links in one of the visitors’ armchairs across the room.

  Jeez, what a fine-looking dame, thought Fort as Rusty stood up and ran to him.

  ‘Mr. Fort!’ she cried. ‘I need your help. I got your address from the phone book. You’re the only one I can turn to…’

  ‘All right, Miss Links,’ said Fort as he guided her back to the chair. ‘Have a seat.’ Over his shoulder, he said: ‘Cormack, take Penny home.’

  ‘What are you talking about, Charlie?’ Penny demanded. ‘I’m staying right here.’

  ‘No you’re not, hon. Howard and I need to discuss some things with Miss Links here.’ He glanced down at Rusty, who was sitting on the edge of the chair, wringing her hands and looking up at him with wide doe-eyes. ‘She’s involved with some very dangerous people, and I don’t want you anywhere near her.’

  ‘But Charlie!’

  ‘I’m serious, Penny!’ Fort said loudly. ‘Cormack…’

  ‘Charlie’s right, Miss Malone,’ said O’Malley, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.

  ‘Your parents live on Staten Island, don’t they,’ said Fort.

  ‘Uh huh.’

  ‘All right. Cormack, take her there, and then get back here quick as you can.’

  ‘Will do.’

  Penny gave Fort an accusing look as O’Malley led her out of the office.

  When the door had closed, Fort turned back to Rusty. ‘All right, Miss Links. Suppose you tell me what the hell’s going on and why you think I’m in any position to help you – assuming I want to, which in all honesty I don’t.’

  ‘Oh, you will, Mr. Fort,’ said Rusty breathlessly. ‘When you see what I’ve got and hear what I know, you’ll want to help me, all right!’

  ‘Were you the one who killed Johnny Sanguine?’

  Rusty dropped her gaze to the floor.

  Fort gave a brief, harsh laugh. ‘Well, I guess I’d be a fool to expect you to admit it, huh? Let’s try this: why did you come to me?’

  ‘Because you’re investigating the Falcon case,’ Rusty replied in a quiet voice.

  ‘And how do you know that? I haven’t been mentioned in the papers. No one knows, except the cops.’

  ‘Crystalman knows.’

  ‘And how does he know?’

  ‘I’m not sure. But you’re in danger from him, too.’

  ‘Oh, I’m well aware of that, Miss Links,’ Fort replied with a quick glance at Lovecraft. ‘Why is he after you? What did you do to get on his wrong side? You stole the Falcon for him, you turned it over to him – at least, I assume you did…?’

  A quick nod.

  ‘But now you’ve done something to rile him up, right? So, what is it?’

  Rusty hesitated, her anxious gaze flitting back and forth. Fort could practically hear the cogs turning in her head. He gave a loud sigh. ‘Do you want my help or not? If you do, you’re going to have to level with me and tell me everything. If not, you can leave right now.’

  Evidently, Rusty reached a decision. She reached down and pulled Aldous Bradlee’s briefcase from under the armchair, where she had placed it on her arrival. She handed it to Fort. ‘It’s all in there,’ she said. ‘The reason he’s after me…’

  Fort took the briefcase, put it on Penny’s desk and opened it. He looked at the contents, and then at Rusty. ‘Is this what I think it is?’ he asked.

  She nodded. ‘The ninth rock book. The key to unlocking the power of the Falcon.’

  Lovecraft gasped and hurried over to the desk.

  ‘There are also some notes in there,’ Rusty added, ‘written by the lead archivist of the X-M program. They’re worth reading.’

  ‘So you made a little trip down to Florida and stole these, right?’ said Fort. ‘Did you kill anyone to get them?’ Rusty didn’t
answer, and Fort gave her a long look. He shook his head in disgust. ‘I’d like to toss you out of here and leave you to Crystalman.’

  Rusty’s eyes flashed at him. ‘Maybe you would, but you’re not that stupid – at least, I hope you’re not. Read the notes.’

  Fort shook his head and turned back to the briefcase. Lovecraft had picked up the rock book and was carefully turning its stone pages, muttering to himself in wonderment. ‘What a piece of work!’ he said. ‘Such craftsmanship! Such finesse in the working of–’

  ‘Pipe down, Howard,’ said Fort as he picked up the sheaf of notes and began to read, his gaze flitting between paragraphs, grabbing the salient information before moving on. Rusty watched as his eyes flicked back and forth.

  When he had finished, he put the notes down and looked at Rusty. ‘Do you know what’s waiting at the centre of Mars?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ve a fair idea. A Great Old One, summoned from Outside by Haq ul’Suun five million years ago. That’s why I’m here, why Crystalman is after me. He gave me the job of getting the rock book for him, but when I figured out what its true purpose is, I decided that he can never be allowed to get his hands on it. I had the idea of skipping the country, taking it with me, but somehow he knew that. He sent some air elementals after me. He spoke to me through one of them, said I’d betrayed him and told me that if I didn’t bring the book to him, he’d use them to drive me insane.’

  ‘You’re right about Haq ul’Suun summoning a Great Old One,’ said Fort. ‘But it’s not just any Great Old One. It’s Azathoth.’

  Rusty leaped to her feet, her eyes wide. ‘That’s bullshit! If Azathoth were anywhere near Earth, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I dread to think what would be happening…’

  ‘Not Azathoth itself,’ said Fort. ‘Just a moment of its awareness, of its perception of the Earth, which entered our universe when Haq ul’Suun opened the way.’

  Rusty sat down again slowly. ‘Crystalman knows it,’ she said. ‘He knows that the rock book is the key to releasing the spirit of Haq ul’Suun from the Falcon. But that was never his real objective…’

  ‘No,’ said Fort. ‘His real objective is to release the awareness of Azathoth from its sympathetic confinement.’