Aquifer: A Novel

by Gary Barnes

  A large gift shop and restaurant straddled the cave’s entrance such that admittance into the cave could only be made by going through the gift shop. Several hundred tourists were either seated in the restaurant, purchasing trinkets in the gift shop, or buying tickets to tour the cave. The gift shop and restaurant extended over two hundred feet into the interior of the cave, making air-conditioning unnecessary, even on the hottest of summer days due to the cave’s constant, cool temperature.

  Beyond the gift shop the cave’s massive tunnel was over one hundred feet wide and twenty-five feet high. The tunnel was well lit by strategically placed electric lighting. The walls along the tunnel were lined with glass display cases depicting examples of various minerals, crystals, and interesting rock formations - all of which were for sale. Additionally, the walls were adorned with the photographs of numerous celebrities, including several presidents of the United States, who had toured the cave since it became commercialized.

  An army of Park Rangers ran the facility, though the title was really a misnomer inasmuch as the cave was neither a national nor a state park. It was privately owned, thus the Park Rangers were actually tour guides who conducted tours for groups of seventy-five people or more. A complete tour lasted about an hour-and-a-half, and a new tour began every thirty minutes.

  While waiting for their tour to begin, tourists congregated in the Grand Ballroom, located two hundred and twenty-five yards inside the cave’s entrance. It was a large room about two hundred feet in length, one hundred twenty feet wide, with a ceiling height of about forty feet, and a very flat, level, floor. It was well lit and filled with chairs.

  At the appointed time for a new tour to begin, a Park Ranger addressed the group of seventy-some-odd tourists, “In the late 1800s and early 1900s the local people held dances in here during the summer because of the cave’s natural air conditioning.”

  The room was enormous, able to seat over 1,500 guests for a lecture and it easily accommodated virtually any size of dance that organizers could put together. The floor had been tiled with waxed and highly buffed tan and black checkered floor tiles so that it was perfectly flat and smooth. A stage had been erected at the front of the room where the bands could perform.

  As the tour group exited the Grand Ballroom they passed through a long tunnel before coming to a large pool of water at a bend in the passageway. The pool filled an alcove where the ceiling curved down to meet the cave floor. Here the Park Ranger paused for the group to circle around her. She then continued the lecture.

  “Back in the 1870s the local sheriff was pursuing Jesse James and his gang and chased them here to the cave. The sheriff didn’t want to enter the cave for fear of being ambushed, so he set up watch outside and decided to wait for Jesse and his gang to give up from hunger. After several weeks of staking out the cave entrance, the sheriff learned that the James gang had just held up a train in the next county. Realizing that somehow they had been given the slip, the sheriff entered the cave by torchlight and found only the horses the James Gang had used. They had been corralled in a temporary rope corral with a large quantity of hay. However, the sheriff and his team could not find any other exit. It was a great mystery how the James gang had eluded the sheriff.”

  The Park Ranger pointed to the electrical lights that were hidden behind various stalagmites and stalactites as she continued her lecture. “In 1933 the cave was commercialized and electric lighting was installed. But, it was not until the dust bowl drought of the mid-1930s, sixty years after the sheriff had trapped the James Gang, that the mystery of Jesse’s escape was finally solved. During the drought the water levels in the cave dropped considerably. The water level of this pool before you receded by several feet and exposed a secret underwater passageway that led into another section of the cave.”

  The Ranger aimed the beam of her flashlight at a section of the cave wall several feet above the current water line. “The water used to be up to here,” she said. “But during the drought the pool’s level dropped to about where it is now. We pump the water out now to maintain this lower water level. When Park Rangers entered this previously unknown section of the cave they found firewood, cooking pots, and a number of strong boxes that the James gang had brought there.”

  At that point the Park Ranger doused the cave’s main lights and turned on lights in the exposed tunnel. The tourists could look down the dark side-tunnel which extended for only thirty or forty feet. From there it opened into a large, brightly lit room which was staged with figures representing Jesse and members of his gang making camp.

  The Park Ranger then continued her narrative. “By following the passageways and the underground river in this newly discovered section, the rangers found another exit about a mile from the main entrance. The James Gang had somehow discovered this passageway, swum underwater through it, and emerged on the other side. In this manner they could come and go as they pleased without fear of the sheriff catching them.”

  As the Park Ranger was giving this lecture a young boy, about ten years old, noticed what he thought was a large and very colorful Eastern Collared Lizard scurrying along the floor. He tried to chase it but his parents restrained him. The Ranger’s lecture was quite boring to the child. The boy’s mother had taken him by the hand and held him close by her side, but the child kept craning his neck to see where the lizard had gone.

  Completing this portion of the lecture, the Ranger then took the entire tour group into the natural theater, a large room in the cave that had been installed with theater seats and benches to accommodate up to one hundred tourists.

  The tour guide explained, “This room is divided into two sections by a natural stalactite and flow-stone curtain that gracefully drapes from ceiling to floor forming a natural translucent curtain about seventy feet in height.”

  The curtain almost cut the room into two sections, though an area on the left side was not entirely sealed off by the natural formation. Red, white and blue-colored lights were artfully trained on the curtain to accentuate the many nuances of the massive drip-water formations.

  “The Park Service has prepared a special motion picture that will be projected onto the natural stalactite screen,” announced the Park Ranger. These were the last words she uttered.

  The lights dimmed and the picture began. As the lights went down the young boy again noticed the colorful lizard scurrying along the floor next to the wall, only this time it was accompanied by several others, varying in length from about a foot to eighteen inches. In the semi-darkness, unbeknown to his parents, the boy slid from his aisle-side seat and began to pursue the tiny creatures. In his pursuit he wandered into a small side passageway.

  Projected onto the natural stalactite screen was a billowing American flag. In the background a recording of the renowned opera singer Kate Smith sang “God Bless America.” It was a very moving depiction, with the natural rippling of the stalactite screen enhancing the fluttering of the flag.

  At the height of the performance a tiny amphibious alien walked in front of the projector’s lens, partially blocking the image and casting a large shadow of an alien walking across the screen. At first the audience did not understand what was happening.

  Then Gimp Foot poked its head from behind the left corner of the screen. A lady on the front row screamed. The projector flickered and the house lights momentarily came on. Gimp Foot emerged from behind the screen, stood erect and issued a loud half-roar half-trumpet sound, calling others to join it.

  The Park Ranger leading the tour had never seen an animal like that before. Terrorized by the sight of the massive creature before her, yet concerned for the safety of the patrons, she bravely approached Gimp Foot in an effort to scare it off or bluff it into submission. That was a mistake she would never have time to regret. With lightning speed, Gimp Foot attacked and grabbed her in its mouth.

  Park Rangers were forbidden to carry weapons, so the best she could do was to scream and wack at the creature with her flashlight. She did so severa
l times but Gimp Foot hardly seemed to notice. Then, as easily and as quickly as a frog swallowing a moth, she was gone.

  Panic overtook the patrons. In mass hysteria they ran from their seats only to find all the exits blocked by other creatures which had come from side passageways of the cave. A feeding frenzy began as the creatures lunged at the group.

  The young boy who had pursued the harmless looking lizard into the side passageway watched in horror as the hungry aliens feasted upon the helpless tourists. Fearing for his life, he huddled as far back into the narrow passageway as he could, only to be quickly surrounded by a dozen of the smaller aliens. His eyes filled with terror as he discovered that the cute little creatures were not the harmless lizards he had originally thought them to be.

  Large shadows of people being eaten by the creatures appeared on the stalactite screen. The lights went out momentarily then came back on again. Some of the tourists flattened themselves on the floor, trying to get beneath the benches for protection and seclusion. Others crawled into some of the smaller side passageways of the cave in hopes that the large creatures would not be able to get them.

  Most of the tourists bolted from the theater, rushing past the aliens guarding the exits and spilling into the main tunnel, screaming hysterically. The alien creatures followed in quick pursuit.

  They ran past the pool where the James Gang had learned of the secret tunnel and through the Grand Ballroom where another tour was just beginning.

  The second group saw the remnants of the first group frantically running toward them, screaming hysterically, then saw the creatures pursuing them, and they too panicked and began to run.

  Reaching the restaurant and gift shop, the pressing throng of people knocked over display cases, tables and racks of trinkets in their maddened dash for the exit. The creatures pursuing them thrashed, trampled, and smashed what wasn’t destroyed by the tourists, leaving the gift shop and restaurant in ruins.

  The aliens pursued their prey into the parking lot, where most of the fleeing tourists found refuge in their cars. In their haste to evacuate, they turned the parking lot into a scene which resembled a demolition derby, as drivers smashed into each other in an effort to escape.

  The creatures watched as most of their intended prey fled. In frustration, the aliens retreated into the Meramec River, which flowed along the back edge of the parking lot, and began to swim away.

  At that moment, four fishermen in two canoes came around a bend in the river at the corner of the parking lot, lazily floating down the Meramec. The noisy commotion in the parking lot caught their attention. They uncomprehendingly watched the destruction and mayhem caused by the huge aliens as the river’s current drifted them downstream, dragging them ever closer to the brink of disaster. Then, when they saw the aliens entering the river somewhat downstream from them, the realization of their precarious situation finally sank in. They panicked and frantically began paddling for the far shore. But they had waited too long. They did not have a chance. Their canoes suddenly exploded with crushing force, slapped by the massive tails of the aliens and hurled out of the water into the air. The canoeists were immediately and mercilessly devoured.

  =/=

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Sheriff’s Office

  Sitting at his desk, Sheriff Akers hung up the phone from his call to Emergency Management. He paused for a moment, then turned to speak to his guests, his facial expression revealing that he was not at all pleased with what he had been told.

  “They say they’ll send out an investigator as soon as possible,” the Sheriff said.

  “That’s reassuring!” Larry stated sarcastically.

  Sheriff Akers rose from his rickety wooden swivel chair and picked up a plastic box of push pins. He turned to face the wall behind him and began to stare at a map pinned to a cork board centered on the wall. He began putting colored pins into the map showing the locations of all the attacks.

  “Let’s see, we’ve had attacks at Blue Spring on the Current River.” He put a pin in the map on the wall marking the location. “Here at the swimmin’ hole on the Jack’s Fork River at the Alley Spring Campground,” placing another pin in the map. “And here at Johnson Shut-Ins on the Black River. Though the Current and the Jack’s Fork merge, there’s no direct river way connection to the Black River, so my guess is that these creatures have gotten into the main aquifer.”

  “Just how extensive is this aquifer?” Clayton asked.

  “I don’t rightly know. We had some geologists from the State Water Department down here a few years back. They said that though they couldn’t prove it, there was some indication that at least some of the water in the aquifer comes from as far north as the Great Lakes and on into Canada.”

  “If that’s true, and if these creatures have in fact gotten into the aquifer, then they would be able to travel through it to virtually any water way . . . to any city in the country,” Clayton added.

  “I’m afraid you’re right,” the Sheriff somberly replied. “But that’s not the part that worries me the most. We’re not that far from the Mississippi River. If any of those creatures make it that far. . . . Well, everything that feeds into it will be easy traveling.”

  “And with their aggressive nature that can only spell disaster,” lamented Larry.

  At that moment the telephone rang. Sheriff Akers lifted the receiver from its cradle.

  “Sheriff Akers here . . . What! . . . What time this morning did that happen? . . . Uh huh . . . Uh huh . . . I see. How many casualties do we have? . . . Uh huh . . . Okay. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”

  The Sheriff hung up the phone. “It seems that our creatures have made it as far as Meramec Caverns. Twenty minutes ago they attacked a group of tourists. Sixteen are confirmed dead, another two dozen are badly injured, and several more are still unaccounted for.”

  He turned around and put another pin in the map marking the cave on the Meramec River. Then he picked up a marking pen and drew a circle around Eminence with a radius of about seventy-five miles, the distance to Meramec Caverns. He stood there momentarily studying the map as if trying to understand what he was seeing.

  “That means that these creatures could reach the state capital, here at Jefferson City, as well as Springfield, Branson, and soon even down here to Little Rock, Arkansas,” he tapped each city’s location on the map with his index finger. “And all the little towns in between. We’re talking about half a million people . . . all endangered.”

  “There seems to be no doubt now that the creatures have found entrance into the continental aquifer. The entire country is now at risk,” exclaimed Clayton.

  “Oh, great! The fate of the country's in our hands,” interjected Larry.

  “The State Office of Emergency Management said they were considering contacting the military over at Ft. Leonard Wood,” said Sheriff Akers.

  “Wonderful!” Clayton blurted out sarcastically. “That’s all we need. The only thing they know how to do is blow things up. Sheriff, I know that these creatures have created a lot of destruction, but we can’t just destroy them. We’re dealing with an alien life form. We have to protect and preserve them!”

  “Well, that decision isn’t mine to make, but till I get some answers I’m closing down the waterways. No swimming, canoeing, fishing. I’m not allowing anyone within 100 feet of the shoreline,” stated the Sheriff.

  “But if you tell them why, then mass panic will ensue and they’ll indiscriminately kill all the aliens. A whole species will become extinct. Do you understand the tremendous tragedy of that loss?” pled Clayton.

  “Do you understand the human tragedy if we don’t?” retorted the Sheriff.

  Squirming at the discomfort of the tension brewing between the two men, Larry glanced at his watch and then interrupted the conversation, “If you gentlemen will excuse me. Tina believes that she has been able to develop an antidote for the neurol-toxin. We’re going over to Blue Spring to try it out on some of the animals the c
reatures collected.”

  “Why don’t you try it out on the victims that were taken to the Mountain View hospital?” asked Clayton.

  “They could have if any of them had survived,” the Sheriff responded emphatically, driving home his point.

  =/=

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Nesting Chamber

  An hour-and-a-half later Larry and Tina surfaced inside the nesting chamber at Blue Spring. Cautiously they swam to the edge of the lagoon. Before exiting the water they searched the interior of the chamber with their flashlights. Assured that they were safe, they climbed out of the water onto the dry embankment and began removing their snorkels and scuba equipment. They were extremely alert because of their previous experience. Though it did not take long to remove their equipment they continually glanced about, keeping a sharp eye out for the presence of any adult aliens.

  Tina had given Larry her grandfather’s 1905 Colt .32 for protection. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had. As they stood on the bank of the subterranean lagoon he fumbled with the waterproof bag in which he had carried it. Opening the bag he extracted the semi-auto pistol and cradled it in his right hand. Slowly and cautiously they began their search of the vast cavern.

  “Look for a dog, cow, horse . . . anything that breathes,” instructed Tina in a subdued tone.

  “I think that there were several of them over there,” Larry stated, shining his flashlight in the general direction of where they had found Ellie Jo and Honace.

  They headed off in that direction, sticking close together. As they walked they continued scanning the interior of the nesting chamber with their flashlights, careful to be as quiet as possible.