Reached the lab, they have a sad confirmation of their fears. The door is sealed, just like the others. The access system with badges is useless without electricity, and the backup system didn't fire up.
«What do we do now?», the woman asks. Her voice is barely a whisper cracked by fear.
«We must hide without making a sound, and think of how to find a way out of this base. Our senses are limited in the dark, but the creature may have ways of perception that we can't even imagine. I fear it won't be easy. I've already experienced a similar situation, trust me.»
Ivanov's voice is barely audible, then both stay silent, eavesdropping.
The assault rifles shots go on for a while, then they stop suddenly. The screaming of Vasquez takes on a hoarse shrill tone, like that of a dying animal. For a moment it's the only sound they hear, then it also dampens suddenly, making somehow the world darker.
The awareness of being in total obscurity, in an underground and isolated base, in which a deadly danger lurks is overwhelming. Every sound is magnified and appears to assume a menacing aura. Her heavy breathing, the rhythmic drumming of her heart, a faint gasp coming from her own stomach. Moore has the feeling that the air is lacking, almost suffocating her. The atmosphere of terror and imminent danger is palpable and pressing on her chest and temples, giving her the feeling that her own thoughts are caught up in something black, murky, poisonous and alien.
Sometimes the lights have a start, on for brief moments, shining a glimmer of hope in their hearts, then the darkness comes back to dominate the scene. In the play of light and shadows a foreign thought seems to come alive in the conscious mind of Moore: the arrhythmic duel between the fluorescent tubes and the total obscurity is a mirror of a clash of wills. There is someone, or rather something, behind the black-out of the base. A dark, chaotic and perverse mind that is playing with all of them. An intelligence that is able to scan the deepness of their hearts as a scientist analyzes a guinea pig wandering through a maze looking for an exit.
The thought about the laboratory mice leaves her dismayed, because she realizes that she has suddenly moved to the other side of the cage. The reaction is immediate and surprises even herself. It's something that goes beyond fear, beyond the instinct of individual preservation and beyond the unknown. Her existence, the years spent bent studying on books and microscopes, her parents, their sacrifices, the hopes for a better future, her world and life itself... They are strains that fuel a devastating fire, which glows red in the most remote areas of her soul. A sense of furious rage takes life in her, Emily Moore, while clenching her fists so strongly to injure herself with her own nails.
Anger and frustration turn into cold and calculated determination.
I won't surrender to fear...
I will make it through...
I will get out of here alive!
Almost echoing those thoughts, a vibration reaches the two scientists huddled at the foot of the laboratory door. An ultra-low frequency, an inaudible crude sound that the two perceive as vibrations in the walls and inside their own bodies. A series of waves that resonate in their cavities.
«That's not good», whispers Ivanov, while the two instinctively huddle tighter. «This is a kind of ELF sonar. It's scanning the entire base...»
As soon as Ivanov ends his sentence, the vibrations cease. Almost simultaneously, the fluorescent tubes come back to life, illuminating the world with an intermittent buzzing, like undecided whether to stay on or not. The woman murmurs a thank you to a vague God, with whom she has stopped talking since she was a child.
«Let's move», urges Ivanov, pulling her up to slide her badge in the optical reader on the side of the door. «Now it knows exactly where every one of us is. And it will come soon.»
The panel slides softly, as if the electric current that feeds it is too low, slowing its movement. Driven by the fear of what is happening after the curve in the corridor from which they have just come, the two don't wait for the door to open completely. They push aside the still sliding doors, finally managing to sneak inside the lab.
Algerian Desert - On the trail of the raiders
Seagull leads the team reaching the ruins. The soldiers walk lowered, holding their weapons, expecting an attack every step they take. A quick inspection confirms their first impressions: it's a small abandoned camp. They can see what is left of a ramshackle hut, and just a low wall of pressed earth and sand is still standing. What is left of the perimeter of other small buildings fades into the sand.
«This place was probably a kind of oasis a very long time ago», Jennings speaks low into the intercom. «That old well means water, and those ruins were probably raw huts...»
The five men team converges slowly to the small pile of stones. The tracks on the ground stop abruptly next to it. One of the rocks seems freshly rolled away, and it has dug a small trail in the sand.
From his post on top of the vehicle, Will Bailey watches the scene through the viewfinder of the sniper rifle. The marine sees Seagull slowly approaching the mouth of the well, aiming his assault rifle in front of him and looking inside.
The duct diameter is slightly less than a meter. Its walls are made with earth bricks for some meter down, then they fade into the solid rock. The bottom is clearly visible about twenty meters below.
There's no trace of water, nor any sign of the creature.
«This well has dried centuries ago...», says the leader. «But that beast might have sensed the presence of water somewhere down. I can't figure out any other reason for it to came straight here.»
«I don't like this shit... I don't like it at all», Ralph spits an almost dissolved tobacco down the well. The gush goes down, drawing a sort of brownish star on the ground.
«Roger, can you send a drone down?», Seagull to the expert in telecommunications and video surveillance.
The soldier hastes to the rear of their vehicle, without answering.
* * *
«What's going on out there?», Jeff asks to the sniper perched on top of the vehicle.
«It seems that Roger is pulling out one of his toys. Yes, it's a drone. All quiet for now. Even too quiet.»
«Don't be a jinx», is the other's reply. «There is something absurd in this. I have a feeling that everything does nothing but worsen.»
«Who's the jinx now?»
«Mmm... I confess I can't wait to get my ass at home and to leave all this shit behind. I want to forget this fucking sand that sticks everywhere, and sit for at least twenty-four hours in a row with my balls soaked in a pool. Just a few perfect days... and I mean beer... oh yeah bro... perfectly roasted bacon with the smoke of apple tree branches... the velvet legs of my Cindy... Jesus, I'd be a new man! That's right, that's what it takes! My God those things seems so far away...»
Will stay silent, as he watches the tiny drone rises to about two meters in height and heading towards the well.
«Tell me, Will, is there someone waiting for you?»
«Do you mean a woman?», Bailey lights up a crumpled cigarette. «Of course I do. Man, you should see her... She has two legs that when you caress them you feel like they'll go on forever, and two so big boobs that you can get lost in this fucking desert without suffering thirst.»
The other smiles. «Hmm... what a sentimentalist soul indeed! Come on, you serious?»
«Of course I am». Bailey takes a long puff, then he lets out the smoke in a theatrical fashion, as acting for an invisible audience. «Well... she's a girl with a very sad story. She opens up to me, you know. She always says that her husband has a very very very little bird. It's so tiny that it may be mistaken for a button. The poor girl can't wait for me to come back so she can have some serious gymnastics, as she should.»
«What strange stories around... A button...» Jeff laughs inside the vehicle. «Damn, poor guy...»
«Who knows, maybe you know her too. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, just like you.»
«That can't be...», says the other. «What's her name?
»
«Oh no, my friend, don't ask me that. If something were to escape your mouth all would be screwed up, you know how these stories go, don't you?»
«Come on, who should I say it to? It's just out of curiosity.»
The friend has taken the bait, and Bailey smiles sardonically, as he pulls on the fishing line.
«All right buddy, but keep it for yourself, especially with Stu, okay? Well... she lives in a lovely little house, at the corner between Ruxton Road and the 3th... Her name is Cindy... Cindy Braxton, or Cindy Michigan when she uses her husband's name.»
Will takes another puff on his cigarette, while mentally counting the time it takes for Jeff to realize he is talking exactly about his wife. Shortly before the fourth second, his answer reaches him from the inside of the vehicle.
«Screw you man, what a huge asshole!»
* * *
Roger Mason controls the flight of the tiny quad-copter, being careful not to hit the rock walls. The small drone makes a faint hum, slightly amplified by the tubular shape of the well.
Jennings rotates a small knob on another control console and, along with Seagull and Stu, has his eyes glued on a tiny screen, which shows the images taken by the miniature camera mounted on the bottom of the device.
Roger moves the drone with expert touch, controlling its vertical descent, until the walls of the well open in a cave.
Jennings presses a button, and a group of LEDs next to the drone's camera comes to life, emitting a light beam. A sharp cone of light moves, revealing a myriad of microscopic particles of dust stirring in the air due to the propellers of the device.
«There's a cave down there», Seagull speaks, while Jennings makes the camera turn around to get a panoramic view.
Something catches the leader's attention. «Wait, come back, that way... Roger, that way.»
The view of one of the rock walls at the bottom of the cave becomes sharper, slowly revealing a rift that seems to lead deeper.
The drone approaches further toward the small opening, illuminating the ground just beyond the rift.
«Maybe there's another cave beyond that fissure. Roger, try to lower it...»
The image on the screen disappears suddenly. It's replaced by a black screen with a no-signal message. Roger breaks into a low expletive.
«What happened?», asks Seagull.
«We lost the signal. The rock layer must have weakened or blocked the transmission. In this case the drone keeps standing-by a meter above the ground, as long as the battery lasts.»
The leader contracts his lips in disappointment, then he turns to the other. «We're going down.»
Ralph shakes his head. «I say to fill this hole with incendiary grenades and bring our ass far away from here. This well doesn't convince me at all, it's all too quiet, and that creature awaits us somewhere down there. Shit, it's a fucking trap, Kain!»
«We don't know what's down there. It seems a cavity, a sort of cave. There may be a system of underground caves, we can't risk that the creature gets out. We are marines, not chickenshit. Always remember that.» This said, he turns to one of the men: «Roger, put away the drone's stuff. Secure the ropes, we are going down.»
«Jesus Christ!», Ralph spits another gush of brown saliva, as dense as oil.
* * *
«Any news, playboy?», Michigan asks after a few minutes. Bailey, the sniper, sits hunched, on top of the vehicle. Monitoring the movements of the team.
«Waters' drone didn't work. It did not come back out of the well, and it seems they want to go down. Stu has fixed the ropes, I think Seagull is going down first. Ralph may enter the Guinness Book of Records for his pissed off face, he is looking straight here.»
«Jesus, getting down in that hole... I don't think that it's a good idea at all. Kain has guts to sell.»
Bailey doesn't answer, his eyes stick to the viewfinder of his rifle. He watches the leader climbing on the wall that delimits the well, and slowly disappearing inside.
* * *
Ralph and Roger arms are stretched in the effort. Their sweaty muscles stand out while they take Seagull down to the bottom of the well. The leader can't use his hands, busy in strongly keeping his assault rifle pointed down.
The passage is claustrophobic, the walls give him the feeling that they are coming closer and closer, as if they're going to crush him.
After an apparently endless time, the man's boots touch the sand at the bottom of the well.
The little light that filters from the opening above draws a golden circle on the ground, the rest is wrapped in gloom. Seagull kneels instinctively, and he announces that it has reached the bottom to the other team members. Then he inspects the cave around him, taking advantage of the weak cone of light projected by the torch of his assault rifle.
No sign of the creature's presence. The sand on the ground seems untouched.
He heads slowly in the direction where the drone had revealed the presence of a crack in the rock. The dusty ground produces low squeaks with every step.
Meanwhile Ralph sets the safety snap-hooks, preparing to go down. His massive, muscular body touches the walls at the mouth of the well. With every move comes along a mumbling.
Seagull comes close to the slit, his flashlight illuminates the drone. The marine stops, watching the device lying on ground. It's twisted and destroyed.
After a few long seconds, Ralph reaches the bottom too. His boots make a heavy thud as they touch the ground.
«You okay Kain?»
In the silence that follows, a shiver runs down the back of Ralph, a sort of sixth sense, developed over the years in high-risk missions.
The marine crouches, pointing the machine gun and looking around quickly.
There is no trace of Seagull.
Holding back the urge to call out loud, Ralph waits patiently with his senses on high alert, until Stu and then Jennings arrive. This is the last one to descend, having ordered Roger Mason to wait at the top of the well, to help them if an emergency ascent becomes necessary.
«Where the hell is Seagull?», Jennings asks speaking softly. Ralph hints a sign of silence with a wave of his hand, he shakes his head in a negative answer.
The bottom of the shaft opens into a small cave, barely over ten meters wide. Jennings moves forward, taking the lead and gesturing to the far wall. They clearly see a crack in the rock that reveals another cave, shrouded in darkness. Stu brings instinctively a hand to one of the incendiary grenades attached to a belt around his belly, while the trio moves towards the opening in the rock wall. The light beam of Jennings' rifle illuminates the remains of the drone. The three men exchange quick glances.
Jennings lights a flare and throws it with a quick movement through the darkness of the cave beyond the crack. The noise resonates over the top, in the deathly silence of the cave. The flare lands a few meters ahead, illuminating the environment around it with a red pulsating light.
Jennings goes on, shortly followed by the massive body of Ralph, who almost can't go through the narrow opening. Finally it's the turn of Stu, who, before entering into the rock, turns for a moment to look at the light coming from the opening of the well, on the other side of the cave.
The new space, barely lit by the flickering light of the flare, has roughly the shape of a large tunnel. A rocky trail winds in the darkness beyond the halo of red light projected by the flare, along a small depression full of turbid and yellowish muddy water. The air has a strong smell of rotten eggs.
«Urgh... someone just shit his soul down here», Ralph murmurs, disgusted by the nauseating stench which seems to become more intense as they go on.
«This is the typical smell of hydrogen sulfide», Stu responds. «There must be gas leaking from the underground.»
Ralph stops one meter from the edge. He moves the light beam of his rifle over the underground lake, illuminating the muddy surface. «Jennings, do you think that the beast may also breathe underwater?»
Stu steps back hearing those words
. He checks the water surface with his flashlight too.
No movement, not even the slightest ripple. The water is murky and it's impossible to see anything below the surface.
«I don't know, Ralph, I haven't the faintest idea about what that thing can do. I guess that if it was hidden in the water we should notice some movement. Let's go ahead and keep our eyes wide open.»
«I am more and more convinced that this place is a fucking trap», Ralph grumbles. His strained jaw emphasizes the muscles close to the temples. «There is no trace of Seagull. He can't be vanished in such a way...»
Jennings throws another flare on the path ahead of them, lighting up another stretch of the gallery. The three go ahead stacked, because the path is too narrow to allow passage of two persons side by side. Stu looks at the placid waters on one side of the passage, careful to note the slightest ripple.
Nothing at all, the group keeps walking.
Further away the path fades out into the darkness, splitting from the small pond underground and proceeding with a slight slope. The silence is total, just broken by the rustle of the uniforms and the sound of their footsteps muffled by the sand.
«Holy shit, where the hell has Seagull gone?», Stu asks in a whisper.
No one answers.
Jennings lights a third flare, and throws it forward.
The soldier freezes instantly, pointing his weapon and crouching forward.
The three men glimpse a silhouette, a barely visible ghost at the edge of the halo produced by the flickering light of the flare.
Jennings is quick to light another flare, tossing it with more strength. This time the burning tube lands far away, better illuminating the area.
A man is now clearly visible in the red flickering light.
Cellular Activity- The Djinn Page 17