Aquifer: A Novel

by Gary Barnes

  *

  At the Sheriff’s command center the video monitors suddenly went blank and the detonation control console went dead.

  “Sheriff!” shouted the operator. “We've got a problem!”

  *

  In the Blue Spring Nesting Chamber Tina and Larry retreated away from the riverbank as the aliens clumsily trampled the communications and detonation wiring. Luckily, the wiring that entangled their feet distracted the aliens momentarily. Two of the Search and Rescue deputies rushed forward with street sweeper shotguns.

  “Get back!” one of the deputies yelled to the group. The other deputy fired at the closest alien, hitting it broadside. The alien roared in pain but its thick hide absorbed the shock preventing any mortal injuries.

  Two of the other aliens hunkered down in an aggressive stalking stance and began flanking the two men while the fourth creature retreated into the recesses of the cave.

  The two deputies braced themselves back to back taking aim at the two advancing aliens. “Their hide is too tough!” yelled one of the men. “We’ve got to get a shot at their underbellies!.”

  At that moment the wounded creature rose on its hind legs and roared. Then, its eyes filled with rage, it rushed the two men. Quickly the men turned and fired at the charging alien but it was too close. It reached the men in less than a second.

  Immediately the wounded creature grabbed one of the men in its jaws while hitting the other man with its shoulder, sending him sprawling upon the ground where he was immediately pounced upon by one of the flanking aliens. The two men were gone before the other team members had a chance to react.

  “We don’t have a chance without those shotguns,” the Search and Rescue Team Captain yelled to Larry and Tina, motioning them toward the back wall. Then he gallantly charged the aliens, blasting with his shotgun, hoping to scatter the creatures long enough to retrieve the shotguns dropped by his two deputies. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in further wounding and enraging them. One of the aliens attacked him from his blind side, and devoured him.

  The three other aliens began to flank Larry and Tina, driving them back toward the cave wall as they maneuvered among the stalagmites. Cautiously they worked their way backwards. The three aliens warily stalked in pursuit. Suddenly, Tina’s back hit the wall of the cave. A half second later Larry did the same. It appeared that there was no escape as the aliens warily approached them.

  “What do we do now?” pleaded Tina.

  “Pray for a miracle,” Larry responded.

  Carefully they worked their way along the cave wall, feeling their way with their fingertips while keeping their eyes glued to the three creatures stalking them.

  Tina glanced to her side and noticed a dark shadow on the wall at floor level. The flickering light which came from the underwater spring opening made everything difficult to distinguish as shadows danced around the walls, ceiling and floor of the cave. The lights attached to the top of their helmets only helped when pointed in the direction of view.

  “Larry, I think there is a tunnel near the floor between us,” she said in hushed tones so as to not provoke the aliens.

  Carefully and slowly she extended her foot toward the dark shadow, expecting to hit the cave wall, but to her surprise and delight her foot caught nothing but air in the area of darkness.

  “Yes,” she whispered, “it is a tunnel”

  Slowly she turned to her right so that her back was facing Larry. “Open my back pack, I’ve got two jars in there,” she instructed Larry.

  The aliens were extremely wary, having just been fired upon and wounded by the shotguns, but they were not about to let their prey escape.

  Larry cautiously unzipped Tina’s waterproof backpack and extracted two quart-sized Mason jars that had been wrapped in towels to prevent them from jostling. They were filled with a clear, water-like fluid. The jars had been meticulously filled to the brim so that there was no air space. Suspended inside each jar was a corked test tube filled with a purple crystalline powder.

  “And what are these?” he asked, failing to see their importance in the urgency of their current predicament.

  “Its 100% strength hydrogen peroxide and a high molar concentration of potassium permanganate.”

  “A potent oxidizer and a . . .” The light suddenly went on in Larry’s head. “Of course! A chemist’s Molotov cocktail!”

  He immediately threw one of the jars at the closest creature. It struck the alien in the chest and bounced harmlessly to the clay floor. The intended target bent down and inspected the jar, sniffing it curiously.

  “Throw harder!” Tina implored. “It doesn’t work unless you break the glass.”

  Taking no chances this time, Larry wound up like he did pitching in his Little League days and hurled the last jar like a speeding fast ball.

  The reflexes of the nearest alien, however, were even faster. It caught the jar mid-air with its lightning-fast tongue and pulled it into its mouth. Then it chomped.

  Immediately the creature’s mouth was engulfed in flames while liquid fire flowed from its lips and down its chest. The creature roared in pain and staggered, taking a step to steady itself. Its foot came down on the first jar that had fallen harmlessly to the cave floor, crushing it. Immediately its foot erupted in flames which leaped upwards until they met the flames that flowed down from its mouth. Totally engulfed in liquid fire, the creature roared in agony then crumpled to the floor and died.

  The two remaining aliens momentarily retreated, instinctively sensing that they could share the same fate as their companion.

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tina quickly dropped to her hands and knees and crawled into the tunnel. Larry immediately began to follow, but the retreating aliens realized that their prey was escaping and quickly lunged for Larry.

  As both creatures leapt in pursuit of their prey they collided and set off a brief competitive, adolescent-like quarrel and began snapping at each other. Just as Larry was about to disappear into the tunnel, the closest alien lunged for him and grabbed his left foot. In spite of Larry’s kicks and struggles the alien violently shook Larry’s foot from side to side while pulling him backwards.

  Tina, who had just emerged from the short tunnel into a large room on the other side, turned around on her hands and knees and saw Larry’s predicament. “Larry!” She shrieked as he was pulled backwards through the tunnel by his captor.

  Quickly she sat down on the cave floor and braced her feet against the wall. Leaning forward she grasped Larry’s outstretched arms and tried to pull him toward her. Larry was caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between Tina and the alien. He kicked valiantly but in the end, Larry lost his shoe to the alien and lunged forward, landing on top of Tina.

  Both of them quickly scrambled to their hands and knees and peered back down the tunnel to make sure that they were safe.

  The infuriated aliens clawed relentlessly at the tunnel opening but they were too large to get through it.

  Slowly Tina and Larry got to their feet, then they collapsed into each other’s arms as their limbs went limp from the adrenaline rush that was beginning to leave their bodies. Tina closed her eyes tightly and sobbed uncontrollably on Larry’s shoulder. Her body trembled from their experience and at her relief that the danger had safely passed.

  Gradually Tina began to regain her composure. She released Larry from her embrace and took a step backwards. “I wish I had made more,” she said as she sniffled and wiped her eyes with her hands. “But it’s only a small-town high school chem lab. That’s all we had!”

  Then her eyes suddenly focused upon something behind Larry as the light of her headlamp revealed what she had least expected to see. She pushed away from Larry and stood transfixed at the sight before her.

  “Larry!” she exclaimed, barely above a whisper. “You were right about a larger nesting chamber.”

  Larry turned around to see what she was looking at and to his amazement discovered that they were standing in a large
room over 400 feet long, 120 feet wide and sixty feet high. Their headlamps revealed that the floor was completely littered with piles of dead fish, cattle and horses that were covered with eggs.

  Carefully they made their way among the egg piles, amazed at the vastness of the nesting room. The amount of eggs in the room were more than a hundred times the quantity that were in the room they just left.

  “This has got to be the main nesting chamber. We’ve got to get word to the others,” Larry announced.

  “But those creatures are blocking our way out.”

  “They’re too big to come in that way. There must be another exit,” Larry explained.

  After crossing a large portion of the room they came to a body of deep, still water. Larry bent down to inspect it and motioned for Tina to bend down too. Reaching into his pocket he extracted his pocket knife, opened the blade, gently grabbed a lock of hair from the back of Tina’s neck and cut it off.

  “Hey, this is no time to get sentimental,” she smilingly objected.

  “Eyes can play tricks in the dark,” he said as he lightly tossed the lock of hair onto the water.

  To Tina's surprise the hair immediately floated to their right.

  “The exit’s that way,” Larry said as he pointed in the direction they should go.

  They hugged the bank of the subterranean river as they followed along the edge of the seemingly still water. They had only traveled fifty feet when the beam of Tina’s headlamp suddenly shone upon the apparent lifeless body of a young girl wearing a swimming suit lying at the edge of the water.

  “It’s Susan, the girl missing from the Shut-In’s,” Tina gasped.

  Quickly she and Larry rushed to the girl and knelt beside her. Much of Susan’s body was covered with alien eggs in their early development stage.

  Tina grabbed Susan by the wrist and quickly felt for a pulse.

  “She’s alive but her pulse is very weak.”

  Tina removed her waterproof back pack and unzipped one of the side compartments. She fumbled through its contents until she found what she had been looking for.

  “I brought some anti-toxin serum with me, just in case we needed it.”

  She swabbed Susan’s left arm with an alcohol rub and then filled the syringe with the toxin. Larry lifted Susan into a sitting position and propped her against his knee. Tina tapped the needle with her index finger and gently squirted out the air bubbles. She then injected Susan with the toxin.

  “All we can do now is wait,” said Tina as she gazed into the face of the young girl.

  “Time is not a luxury we have,” Larry added. “We’ve got to get word of this room back to the others. Grab your backpack, we’ve got to go.”

  He cradled Susan in his arms, stood and continued to follow the calm river beside them. Within another one hundred feet the river exited the room through a tunnel in the wall of the cave that had two feet of overhead clearance.

  “It’s a gamble, but if we stay here we’re either eaten or get blown up. What’s your choice?” Larry asked.

  “I’ve always been a gambler,” she replied, nodding toward the river.

  Susan was beginning to show signs of revival, but was still unconscious. Larry placed her gently upon the floor of the cave. Then, with trepidation he and Tina donned their scuba masks and snorkels which had been clipped to their waist bands. He picked up Susan and waded into the water.

  Larry propped up Susan’s head as they swam down the middle of the channel. After a couple of hundred feet, they emerged into another, larger tunnel, with a fifteen-foot ceiling. At that point the river in which they had been swimming merged with another river. They scanned the area with their flashlights. Convinced that they were safe, they swam to the far bank of the deep adjoining river. The bank was steep, so Larry held onto it with one hand while holding Susan steady with the other. By now the young girl was groggily opening her eyes and slowly becoming aware of her surroundings.

  Tina climbed out onto the embankment then reached down to take Susan by the arms and lifted her up onto her feet. Larry then climbed out and joined them.

  Tina knelt down and hugged the girl. “Susan, we were so worried about you. Do you think you can walk?”

  Susan, still in a daze and on the verge of crying, merely nodded her head up and down. Tina stood and took Susan by the hand.

  Larry quickly flashed his flashlight about in order to get his bearings. To his amazement he found wires running along the floor of the new tunnel.

  “Explosives wiring! We’re back in the main tunnel.”

  They heard muted voices coming from farther down the tunnel.

  “The impact crater’s down there,” observed Tina.

  Larry glanced back over his shoulder at the tunnel through which they had just swum. “Look,” he said to Tina. “In the shadows of the darkness and with its low ceiling, unless you knew exactly where it was located, it would be easy to miss that tributary. No wonder none of the search crews found it before.”

  *

  At the command center the radio operator called Sheriff Akers.

  “Sir, we have a new development,” reported the radio operator.

  The Sheriff approached the radio and took the microphone. “This is Frogamander Nest Command.”

  The radio crackled with static as Bill’s voice came over the speaker, “This is Frogodile-3. Do not detonate. I say again, do not detonate. Tina and Larry found the main nesting chamber and we need time to wire it.”

  “Roger Frogodile-3. That’s good news. However, we can't detonate even if we wanted to. Something's happened to our connection and we've lost contact with Salamog-2. Can you send some men to check them out?” the Sheriff inquired.

  “Negative! Salamog-2 was attacked by a few rogue aliens. Only Larry and Tina survived. They said the equipment was trampled,” Bill reported.

  The Sheriff was horrified at the loss of so many men. He momentarily lowered his head and took a deep breath. Then he cleared his thoughts and forced himself to remain focused on the immediate mission at hand. “We can't detonate without that equipment. The success of the entire project depends upon re-establishing detonation control. Have someone see if they can re-establish connections.”

  “Yes sir,” Bill responded. “Oh, and Sheriff, call Mrs, Henderson. Tina found her daughter, Susan. She’s alive and well. Have an ambulance meet us at Owl’s Bend to transport her to the hospital.”

  *

  At the rim of the impact crater Bill handed the microphone to the radio operator.

  Susan had been wrapped in a blanket and was being led to an awaiting vehicle to drive her to the ambulance rendezvous point.

  Bill turned to Larry and gestured to an ATV parked beside the river beneath the impact crater’s opening. “Take that down the tunnel and get the scuba planes. We'll load up explosives and meet you at the tributary.”

  “Give us thirty minutes,” responded Larry, as he and Tina began descending the ladders leading down into the tunnel.

  *

  A half-hour later Tina and Larry piloted the two scuba planes to the rendevous point inside the cave as Bill and his Search and Rescue personnel arrived in six ATVs pulling utility trailers loaded with explosives. Immediately the Search and Rescue deputies began transferring the explosives onto the scuba planes.

  When emptied, the drivers of the ATVs returned to the impact crater’s entrance to reload their trailers with more explosives.

  *

  Completing the loading process, Tina and Larry steered the scuba planes along the tributary’s surface toward the main nesting chamber. One of the deputies payed out detonation wire as they went so that the explosives they were about to place could be connected to the main detonation series. Ropes dangled behind the scuba planes towing the teams of deputies.

  Entering the main nesting chamber they beached the scuba planes near where Larry had tossed the lock of Tina’s hair into the water. Immediately the deputies scrambled onto the dry bank and began unloading the
ir equipment for the task before them.

  Once the explosives and other equipment were unloaded, Tina and Larry left the team and returned with the scuba planes to reload with more explosives.

  =/=

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Conflagration

  Johnny, Austin and Frankie bicycled across the Current River Bridge at Owl’s Bend. They had completed their Styrofoam crumbling assignment and wanted to see how their napalm was going to be used.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Frankie.

  “Probably not, but we missed all the action yesterday. I don’t want to miss it again. Do you?” Johnny answered rhetorically.

  Frankie wasn’t convinced but he refused to speak up. Just once in his life he’d like to be taken seriously.

  After crossing the bridge the boys ditched their bicycles behind some bushes beside the road and hurriedly trekked through the forest toward the mouth of Fears Cave.

  Arriving at the grillwork entrance, Johnny quickly picked the lock and they entered.

  “What if those creatures are still in here?” asked Frankie as they closed the door behind them. He was more than just a little afraid but did not want to sound that way.

  “Don’t worry,” said Austin. “This time we came prepared.” He gently patted Johnny’s backpack with his right hand, then flipped up the main flap revealing several cans of bug spray and lighters. “But if you’re afraid you can stand guard here at the doorway.”

  *

  Larry and Tina made numerous trips with the scuba planes transporting explosives and napalm to the newly discovered main nesting chamber. As each load was delivered, the Search and Rescue team members distributed the drums of explosives throughout the cavern, positioning them to maximize their effectiveness and to ensure the destruction of all the adult aliens. Boxes of nails, bolts, nuts or washers were attached to the barrels. The lumberyard at Eminence did not carry a large inventory of any one item, so anything of metal that could be used as shrapnel had been appropriated.