Almost sensing the imminent danger, the tentacles lash the air and the ground trying to surround the object.
Ironside doesn't waste even a second. He arms a grenade and he waits a while mentally counting, then he throws it straight into the huge mouth bristling with fangs.
«Bishop, let's get out of here, take us to a safe distance.»
As the helicopter takes off, moving back, the bomb explodes in the air, about a couple of meters from the monstrous body, which is hit by a shower of fire.
The lament that follows, issued by the creature engulfed in flames, has something infernal.
The survivors hold their breath while in their souls echoes a silent exhortation, as if to incite the flames to reach the fuel barrel soon.
When this happens a thunderous roar echoes rumbling in the night. A huge fireball expands on the ground, quickly enveloping everything within more than twenty meters.
The helicopter has a jolt when it's reached by the shock wave, and then stabilizes. At an order of Ironside then it completes a quick lap around the scene.
What remains of the creature and vehicles is burning, and will continue to do so for much longer.
«Bishop, take us back to the base.»
Base CNT222
Outside
The three survivors catch their breath after the run to escape from the base. Emily Moore is crouching on the sand trying to collect her thoughts. Ivanov sits with his face turned to the starry sky.
Something is still not convincing her, she's still feeling the worrying sensation of having left out an important detail. A shiver runs down her spine and she brings instinctively her right hand to the side pocket of her lab coat, checking the remaining explosive vial. It seems intact to the touch, but she soon realizes that the cap is now smooth, whereas earlier the explosive formed a rough crust.
It must have crumbled without my noticing...
I'm lucky it didn't explode...
Ivanov is silent, looking up to heaven, where billions of indifferent stars look back at them, with their alien and distant light.
However, the man's attention isn't targeting the stars.
Macready also looks up, he can now distinctly hear a low hum, which slowly turns into the sound of an approaching helicopter.
All the while Moore keeps an eye on the Russian sitting on the ground with his knees to his chest.
An important detail...
The collar of the scientist's lab coat has slipped to the side, exposing his neck. The signs left by the creature when it had grabbed him are clearly visible. The throat is speckled with red bruising.
Red...
The details start to fall into place like the pieces of a mosaic, while the woman experiences rapid flashbacks, reliving of the past events.
The attack of the creature, the escape, the hand cut, the blood of Ivanov... a bluish color because of the poison.
Was that story true after all?
The man seemed sincere and had not attacked her, although they were alone and in the dark.
The scene with the two Ivanov begins to play before the eyes of her mind, and the voice of the Russian echoes in her ears.
The creature lies...
She, while crying in Macready's room... Ivanov – the one sitting on the sand ahead, and not its replication – kneeling with his hands raised.
To deceive is what it does, look at his hand...
His hand... His hand...
Of course! The cut was no longer purple, it had turned red, like the bruises on his neck!
The creatures communicate telepathically with each other, they can weave the stories they want, supporting each other in order to appear more convincing...
Both men staging that pantomime...
The creature evolves, it learned to sacrifice a part of itself, in order to ensure that the bulk of the body has a chance to survive...
At least one of the two survived...
I have a bio mechanical implants...
Ivanov had actually said that, but he had not had time to show it, because at that time his replication had come out in the open...
To save it and unlock the deadlock situation and suspicions!
Moore's gaze glides over the human figure sitting a few meters from her. Macready is standing, not far away, intent on looking at the sky toward the helicopter noise.
A tiny blinking dot in the dark sky.
The woman stands up, slowly. «It's over...», she murmurs, turning a tired smile to the Russian, and walking toward Macready.
Ivanov's gaze follows her. «I'm afraid that this will never end, Dr. Moore. Sooner or later someone will dig down there...», nodding toward the hangar, «...or in Antarctica as well. The creature can wait, it has all the time it needs. The control that it exerts on each individual cell allows it to slow down its metabolism almost to a stop, and this for an indefinite time. It's true, the base below us was destroyed, but it's sealed and there isn't enough oxygen to burn everything. If we consider that only a single cell... well, draw your own conclusions.»
Moore approaches Macready. Without thinking she takes down her glasses and moves a lock of unruly hair that falls on her face.
The soldier turns to look at her, reading the concern in her face. With a twinkle in her eyes, the woman nods to the Russian, showing the soldier the small explosive vial in her hand.
Macready gets it and turns to face Ivanov. The Major move the spotlight of his assault rifle on the Russian and takes a few steps toward him. Moore follows him, staying a step behind him.
The Russian raises one arm up to cover his face, bothered by the light.
It's Moore to speak: «Dr. Ivanov, when we were in the base you said to have a bio mechanical implant. Can you show it to us?»
The man doesn't answer, he raises slowly to his feet, watching her with a surprised look. «There isn't any prosthesis. It was a bluff to push the creature to come out into the open. I thought you understood that.»
A few tense moments follow the last words. The helicopter is approaching.
«I helped you to escape the creature when my clone attacked the soldiers, why would I have done that if I was one of those beings? Moreover... you have been alone for a long time in the base», the Russian keeps speaking. «And your hand isn't at all as it should be...»
Those last words rekindle doubts in the mind of Macready, who appears indecisive and distances himself from the woman too. His gaze alternates between the two scientists.
«The blood of the true Ivanov had a bluish tint, due to a poisonous chemical compound that he used to absorb regularly. Look at the bruising on his neck. It's red, as the cut on his hand. Nobody survives a direct contact with the creature.»
The Russian stay silent. His gaze is distant, as though he's watching the scene from a very remote place.
«Wait», says Macready. «What poison?»
«Lies, nothing but lies to confuse and trick you. Don't let yourself be deceived!», Ivanov's voice gets louder.
«How could it make a perfect copy of Ivanov if had not assimilated him first?», Moore insists. Those words seem to convince Macready, who turns to point the rifle at the man.
The Russian faces the Major. «It's true, it may have assimilated some of my cells when it grabbed me, or it may have taken them from the traces of blood when I had a cut on my hand, or from my toothbrush, and who knows how many other ways. Just one cell can give complete access to the DNA of a living being, and she knows these things well. This however doesn't mean that I am one of those creatures. Come on... Moreover, if I was one of those beings... Well, you know very well that your gun would be completely useless...»
«Kneel down, you jerk!», Macready's answer. The soldier raises his left arm as to hold Moore back. She is ready with the last firebomb.
The Russian doesn't bat an eyelid, he takes a step toward the two.
His face is shaken by facial tics.
«You don't understand what we're talking about, Major. Secretary Ironside hi
mself promised me guarantees. We have a deal.»
Before he finishes saying these last words, the pupils in the eyes of the Russian seem to enlarge.
Within a few moments his eyeballs turn into two black spheres crossed by a network of purple capillaries. His mouth opens wide, as if to scream, but no sound emerges from the darkness of his jaws. His chin keeps sliding down, beyond the extent possible for a normal human being. Ivanov's skull begins to lengthen, while an alien hissing comes to life, and it seems to come from the remote corners of the mutating creature.
Moore won't lose heart this time. She launches her last bomb. The vial hits the creature in the chest, but the impact isn't enough to detonate the tiny explosive left on its cap. It falls to the ground, untouched. With a ripping noise Ivanov's body separates longitudinally in half, as to divide into two separate beings.
Macready opens fire, while new offshoots emerge, sprawling limbs of uncertain shape from the two beings.
The first barrage of blows, exploded by the Major, misses the vial, raising puffs of sand.
«Damn, stand back!», he shouts at the woman next to him, who looks terrified by the extraordinary mutation that is starting to split the creature into two symmetrical parts.
The Major illuminates the dual creature with the spotlight of his rifle. The time seems to slow down, as he holds his breath while taking aim, trying not to look at the transforming monstrosity a few meters ahead of him.
«Shoot at that bomb, for God's sake!», Moore shouts.
A yellowish mucus regurgitation bursts from the creature, but Macready is quick to step aside and takes good aim on the incendiary vial.
«This is for my brother, asshole!»
The sound of the shot is lost in the desert, bouncing through the dunes. The vial gets shattered, and a blaze of fire envelops the creature, roasting it.
The monster squirms in flames, it shakes its many tentacles in the air, letting out screams and inhuman sounds. It quickly falls to the ground, writhing and keeping crawling towards Macready, who steps back a few meters. Slowly, however, the creature seems to lose vitality. Within seconds the being collapse to the ground, almost like a balloon deflating. The remains keep burning.
The helicopter noise is very strong now, and after a while the scene is lit by an oval of light.
* * *
Ironside has witnessed the evolution of the last events from the helicopter cockpit. Albert Macready and Emily Moore have just set fire to one of the creatures.
Why aren't they in the base?
The helicopter lands with some jerk. Bishop does his best, although the machine seems to want to rebel to commands.
Ironside is the first to jump out, quickly followed by the other survivors.
Bishop remains on board for a few moments, watching the other soldiers on their way towards Macready and Moore. The pilot seems undecided on what to do, when his eyes fall on the aircraft's control panel: the fuel is almost finished. With a grimace of disappointment he commutes a series of switches, slowly stopping the rotor.
Meanwhile Ironside, walking bowed to leave the area swept by the blades of the helicopter, walks briskly the thirty meters that separate him from Moore and Macready.
The man suddenly stops, as soon as he sees the woman's hand, deformed by swelling and the broken bones.
«She's okay», Macready exclaims, noticing the suspect in the eyes of Ironside. «If she had not thrown a bomb at that thing...», he nods at what remains of the creature that burns at about ten meters from them, «...we wouldn't be here talking now.»
«And the Major has shoot it to blow it up», the woman adds.
Meanwhile, the other surviving soldiers join them.
«Where's the rest of my men?», Macready asks, feeling that he won't like the answer to that question.
«Lieutenant Bishop is on the chopper, and the only truck left, carrying Brimley and McKinnock, is on the way», Ironside's answer. He and Macready update each other rapidly about the events of the last hours. Meanwhile Matt Serum takes care of the woman's hand.
The man hands her a rolled bandage. «You have several fractures, I have to arrange the bones before securing them to a stick and wrapping your fingers. I have a vial of morphine in the first aid kit, but it may not be enough. I suggest you bite this.»
The woman refuses resolutely both. She has no way to know if the doctor is human or not, and the idea that one is touching her uncovered skin puts her already in turmoil.
No injections, nothing in my mouth.
Let's do it as quickly as possible and in the meantime think about a reliable test that can be done with the available resources...
The doctor calls one of the surviving soldiers, a tall, muscular man. «Hawk, please keep her arm still.»
The woman, however, seems reluctant to cooperate, she retracts instinctively.
Meanwhile a bright spot appears on the dark horizon, it moves up for a while, then descends and disappears again.
«It must be Brimley», says Ironside. «But better to be ready. How many weapons do we have?»
«Three assault rifles, in the hangar there is an armored vehicle that mounts a turret with a heavy machine gun. Inside it there should be some explosive and ammunition. There's nothing else», Macready answers.
«The fuel, ouch!», says Moore. Her voice cracks with a stab of pain, as the doctor touches her hand trying to understand how to proceed to fix the fractures.
Macready approaches, crouching down next to the woman, Ironside is behind him.
«Fuel», she says in an exasperated tone. «Try to find some polystyrene and dissolve it in the fuel, you will get a kind of rough napalm.»
«Polystyrene...», says the Major. «I don't think there is any in the hangar, nor in the outside cabins.»
«Listen», Moore keeps saying. «Polystyrene or polyurethane foam panels are used as thermal and acoustic insulation in the walls of prefabricated buildings and in some cars. Check it, there should be some.»
«I'll handle this», replies Ironside. He calls a couple of soldiers to follow him.
Macready greets him with a nod, before consulting the doctor. «What's the situation here?»
«Not good, sir. It's not easy to set the bones in place without x-raying, especially a long time after the trauma. Now that the hand is swollen it becomes downright painful, even more so if you don't stay still. She refused morphine.»
«Winners don't use drugs», Macready echoes in a low voice, as he turns to Moore, watching her with his ice-colored eyes. «Do you trust me?», he asks.
She looks back at him, eyes bright with unshed tears. «I don't know who I can trust», her answer followed by a disheartened half-smile.
He smiles too. «How could I blame you... All right», continues the man, taking her wounded arm gently, and making sure to touch the fabric and not the skin. «Calm down, take a deep breath. You'll be fine soon.»
She stiffens at his touch, then she perceives the flush raising to her face. She nods.
Macready glances an eloquent look at the doctor.
«Bite the bullet, Dr. Moore. On three, OK? One...»
The sound of cracking bones arrives before the two, followed by a flash of unexpectedly sharp burning pain.
Moore lets out a strangled cry, trying instinctively to pull her arm away. But the hand of Macready is an iron grip and, in the following seconds, other twinges of pain follow the doctor's work.
Suddenly Macready feels the woman's arm relax. He looks on her face, alarmed.
«She fainted. Luckily», the doctor comments.
The Major gently encircles her back with one arm, drawing her to keep her steady.
«Matt, take advantage of it now, fix the bones of her hand and take a look at that nail before she wakes up. Hurry!»
The doctor works rapidly, finishing the series of traction and manipulations to align the bones and straighten her fingers. «I have no way to intervene as I should with this broken nail. It should be removed, but I don't have t
he proper surgical instruments.»
«Don't waste time Matt, pull it off, we have more urgent things to think about.»
The sergeant doctor operates in a hurry using a small knife to remove the nail from the underlying skin. Finally, using his teeth, he rips the nail from its root and then he spits it off. After he has cleaned and disinfected the zone, he splints and bandages the wounded limb.
«Well, I can't do any better for now. Not with a meager first-aid kit.»
«I'm afraid we'll have to make do with this, at least for now.»
That said, Macready raises the woman in his arms, carrying her toward the armored vehicle that one of the marines brought out of the hangar. The interior is air-conditioned. The Major gently rests the body of the scientist on one of the interior seats, putting her hands on her womb.
«That's it, this is the safest place right now.»
Macready's voice is barely a whisper.
«Thanks», she murmurs.
The man realizes only now that she is awaken and is watching him, and can't help but wonder if she was conscious earlier too.
«Just doing my duty», he lies, doing as to turn around and get out of the armored vehicle. She stops him, holding it with her other hand.
«Wait... Listen, we have to take a test. Now anyone could be one of those creatures, and we need to know who's who, before the rescue team gets here. The more time we waste, the more opportunities it will have to kill us one by one.»
* * *
Meanwhile Ironside and the small team of survivors has retrieved some explosives. The soldiers broke through a bulkhead in one of the outside cabins, finding the insulation panels, light yellow stuff four centimeters thick. Following the instructions of the scientist they have dissolved the material in the fuel taken from the cars, getting a thick and dense mixture, with which they have filled several one gallon tanks.
Ironside gives orders to the soldiers, who set the incendiary canisters on the ground at regular intervals to create a kind of barrier.
The truck driven by Brimley slowly approaches while the soldiers take place to keep aim at the explosives. Ironside's plan is simple. If anything goes wrong, the soldiers will shoot at the nearest canister to the threat, limiting the danger immediately.
Cellular Activity- The Djinn Page 24