by Greig Beck
Jane turned about, really examining their room for the first time. It reminded her of one of the red people’s caverns in that there were alcoves and some stone furniture. But it looked to have remained unused for hundreds of years, or maybe more.
“Mike, Matt.” She waved them over. “Might be some clue to the origin of this humanoid species.”
Matt nodded. “I’m sure they communicate, but not in a way that allows our inclusion. I’m not confident it’s possible for me to understand them.”
“Could they be using a form of telepathy?” Jane asked.
Matt shrugged. “Anything is possible. But I can detect a faint whine passing between them, so I still think it’s an audible form of communication.” He looked about. “Unless we find some sort of Rosetta stone, I’m screwed.”
They walked around the perimeter of the large room. The crystals were only placed toward the front, perhaps for their benefit, which meant the rear of the room was left in darkness.
Jane held up her flashlight into an alcove. “Mike, look, just like the red people’s cavern.”
Mike joined her. “Looks the same.”
There was a mosaic of picture glyphs. Matt came forward and used his sleeve to wipe a heavy layer of dust from them.
“This is more like it.” He put a finger into a few of the grooves. “Timeworn stone. Maybe ten, twelve, even fifteen thousand years old.”
He stepped back. “Magnificent.” He retrieved his flashlight and held it up. “Look, it shows an army, humanoid, and not winged. All marching into the jungle.” He turned to Mike and Jane. “Maybe your red people?” Matt said softly.
“The time period is right,” Jane replied.
The next images showed the construction of things like pyramids, and also of the carved monolithic statues in the valley wall.
“Seems they built these statues.” His eyes narrowed. “But then they found trouble,” he whispered.
The next glyph showed the warriors being attacked by long insectoid-type creatures.
“Not our green people, by the look of them. But they certainly found the local creatures to be a problem. Just like we did,” he said.
“I just can’t see there being enough evolutionary time for the red people to evolve wings and fly, even if they’re constantly bombarded by radiation,” Jane said.
They moved along to the next alcove. This one showed the insect monstrosities capturing many of the small warriors and flying off with them.
“It seems the wingless people were being tormented by these giant insects,” Matt said and then pointed. “And this could have multiple meanings.” The next image showed a feminine face, surrounded by what could have been hieroglyphics and all manner of markings.
Matt took a picture. “That face could be that of their ruler, their queen, but the writing tells the story. If I can decipher, we might be able to understand what happened here.”
“We’ll need to,” Mike said. “Because from then, that’s when the censors moved in.”
“Damn,” Matt whispered.
The wall was scraped clean from then on. Mike wiped down the rock. “Either removed or perhaps this was a blank slate still waiting for the story to finish.”
“One thing is for sure.” Jane turned about. “These grand rooms certainly aren’t in use anymore. And haven’t been for millennia.”
“It’s like a fallen kingdom,” Matt observed. “Like a civilization that has declined back to its infancy.”
“It’s certainly got its secrets.” Jane tugged on Mike’s elbow. “Come on, we better get some rest while we can.” She waited. “Matt?”
“No, no, I need to work on this. You go.” Matt sat down on the cave floor, crossed his legs, and looked up at the writing. He never blinked.
CHAPTER 15
Matt Kearns’ chin dropped to his chest. Everyone slept. Except their lone sentry.
While soft snores filled the air, the pearl curtain parted and one of the green women peered into the room. Watts was taking his first stint on watch and smiled and waved at her.
She stared at him, and he crossed to her, careful to step lightly over his sleeping friends.
“Hi there, pretty woman.” He held out a hand.
She did the same and lifted her hand to let it trail over his face, pulling his lip down and looking inside his mouth. She then let her cool fingers run down his chest to his stomach all the while keeping her dark eyes on his.
“Yeah, I like that.” Watts grabbed her hand and pushed it lower.
Her hand went to his groin and gripped him, squeezing his hardness. “Ooh, your hands are a little cold, baby.” Watts grinned eagerly now. “Yeah, that’s it.” He briefly looked over his shoulder. “Just a quick one, okay? And we need to be quiet.”
She took his hand. Behind her, the pearl curtain automatically moved aside and she gently led the man from the room.
***
“What do you mean you can’t find him?” Rick Croft’s neck jutted as he faced Chris Angel.
Angel shrugged. “He never woke me, and when I went to take over the shift, he wasn’t here… or anywhere.” His brows lifted. “Hey, maybe he’s takin’ a piss.”
“For fifteen minutes?” Croft thumbed over his shoulder. “Fuck that, you tell the boss.”
“Tell him what?” Loche loomed up behind the men who both came to attention.
Croft was closest and Loche glared at the man. Croft’s lips pressed together for a moment until he gave up and spoke in a rush.
“Lieutenant Watts is missing, sir.”
“Then we better find him. And he better have a good reason for being AWOL.” Loche checked his watch. They’d rested for a good three hours, more than enough, so he clapped his hands together, making a sound like a gunshot.
“Okay, people, we need to be up and at ‘em.” He looked to Nina Masters and motioned her over.
“Sir?” she said.
“Watts has gone for a walk. He’s a numbskull, but I don’t know if he’s that much of a numbskull,” he said evenly.
She shrugged. “He’s always had an eye for the ladies. But I doubt he’d abandon his post and leave it open. We’ll find him.”
“Damn straight. We all will. It’s time we got on our way anyway.” Loche turned. “Okay, people, let’s go. We’re moving out.”
He waited while the team organized themselves a moment more for the civilians to fall into line. Loche then went to the door and peered through the pearlescent bead curtain to look along the corridor. On seeing nothing there, he put a flat hand through the curtain to move it aside, but then stopped. He frowned.
“What the hell is going on here?”
The pearls hanging down on their strings didn’t move aside easily, and in fact were as tight and tough as piano wire.
“Is it to keep something out, or us in?” Janus asked.
“Doesn’t matter. Somehow, Watts went through and so are we.” Loche clicked his fingers to Angel.
“Loche,” Matt called.
Loche turned. “What is it?”
“The stone writing.” Matt pointed back at the wall. “From what I could decipher, I think it’s a warning. From the original owners.”
“Original owners?” Loche lifted his chin. “Aren’t these people the owners?”
“No, I don’t think so. Well, they are now, but they came later. After the red people. I just need to finish the last few sections, to find…”
“Then you do that—from your notes—because we’re leaving.” Loche turned away. “ Angel, make me a hole.”
“Yes, sir.” Angel first pulled a long blade and tried severing the strands, but they refused to cut. Nina handed him some wire snips, and after grunting from the effort for several seconds, he managed to cut one of the strands that fell to the ground where it immediately melted.
“That shit is weird.” Angel looked at the snips, shrugged, and then went back to work on the next strand.
In a few minutes, he had cut enough for them to
all squeeze out into the corridor. Loche looked one way then the other—both were empty and looked largely disused, so no clues as to which direction Watts went. Time was against them, so he decided to split them and check both areas.
“Nina, you’re on the east tunnel. Take Croft, Angel, and you get Janus. I’ll take the civs. We meet back here in ten minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” She made some hand gestures in the air and headed out, with Janus staying right on her shoulder, followed by Angel and the large form of Rick Croft at the rear with his gun held tightly.
Loche turned back to the western tunnel. “And we get to go deeper. Everyone keep their eyes open.”
They headed in and Matt Kearns pushed to the front. “Captain Loche, please, their language. Or rather the language of the people who were here first.”
“You already said. So, these little green pixies are not the original owners? So what?” Loche asked.
“That’s right,” Matt replied. “The original owners were the ones that settled here thousands of years ago. After a while, they came under attack by swarms of these intelligent bugs. They suffered heavy losses, but soon worked out how to defend against them and began to push them back.”
“If they won, where are they now?” Mike asked.
Matt turned. “According to the writing, the bugs changed their tactics, found another way to—”
The scream made the group cringe and spread to flatten themselves to the walls of the tunnel.
“Was that Watts?” Jane asked.
“I damn well hope not,” Loche replied without turning. “Everyone be ready to move quick.”
Loche double-timed down the corridor with flashlight in one hand and gun in the other. The group followed right behind him.
***
Nina Masters suddenly held a hand up as they came to a corner, causing Janus to bump into her. She turned to glare for a moment while Angel and Croft waited with guns ready.
She peered around and seeing nothing but more labyrinthine depths of the disused ancient tunnel system, she waved them on.
Soon they came to more side corridors and one of them had another of the bead curtains hanging at its front. She tilted her head closer; sure enough, she could hear something like a soft mewling coming from inside.
“Might be Watts.” She stood back. “Croft, open it.”
The man stepped forward, pushed his gun over his shoulder, and immediately set to using his wire snips to cut through the hanging strands of pearls.
Once again, they dropped to the ground and lost their shape like they were made of some sort of wax that had been left out in the sun. Croft completed his task and then stood aside.
Nina held up three fingers and lowered them one after the other. She then lifted her light and handgun and went in, followed by Croft, Janus, and then Angel, who took one last look around outside and followed.
Nina’s eyes widened, and she put a forearm over her lower face from the stench.
There were what at first looked like a lot of pudgy children with a green tinge to them. But as she stared, she saw that they were older, stunted, or somehow deformed.
“I think they’re adults… male,” Nina breathed out.
“They’ve got cocks like men, anyway.” Croft made a disgusted sound in his throat.
When they could drag their eyes away from the dangling genitals, they saw that the green male’s eyes were compound eyes set in tiny gargoyle-like faces, and the wings on their backs were stunted.
“Ugly little bastards,” Croft spat. “What’s wrong with their eyes?”
The small creatures were all crowded in among each other and covered in some sort of greasy excretion. Running beside the group were troughs, empty now, but looked to have a dark brownish-red stain inside.
She also saw now that they were all silent and the noise she heard was actually their bodies rubbing up against each as they were so tightly packed in on one another.
Around the room were scattered bones and also mummified bodies—many of them insectoid-looking creatures, but there were also some small human-looking skulls.
Janus coughed and put a hand over his lower face. “So, now we know where all the men are,” he said between his fingers.
Croft peered into a side chamber. “Fuck me. Get a load of this.” He recoiled. “This is what they’re feeding the little monsters.”
Nina stuck her head in. There was another long trough and tied to the ceiling were three bodies, red, humanoid, and from their necks were pipes that allowed their blood to fill the trough.
Several of the stubby, green men had their faces buried in it.
“If they think they’re gonna do this to us, they’re in for a fucking shock,” Nina spat. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” She began to back out.
As she did, the group of humanoid males began to get agitated and reached out toward them, as if begging them not to leave. They seemed to remain silent except Nina was sure she could hear the familiar soft whine filling the air.
“Fucking horror show,” Croft said, his mouth turned down. “Say the word, and I’ll drop a grenade in their dinner bowl.”
“Stay cool, stay silent… for now.” Nina waved them out.
As they exited the cave, Angel snapped his gun up. “Contact.”
Nina and Croft spun while Janus scurried in behind them. The corridor was now filled with the green females.
The women were silent, with large unblinking, dark eyes, but this time they had their spears with them.
“Here we go,” Angel whispered. “Show time.”
The green women spread out. And horrifyingly, so did their bodies—from beside them, those strange bunches of muscles at their ribs unfolded into another set of arms, which reached forward to also grip the spears.
A high-pitched whine filled the air as the green women began to move forward.
***
Loche went along the stone corridor, fast. The moan was the first human sound they had heard, and he was sure it had come from his missing man. If Watts was alive, he was in trouble.
They came to a side cave once again with one of the strange bead curtains barring their way.
“Cover me,” Loche said and used the barrel of his gun and brute force to stretch the curtain strands aside. When nothing leaped out, he peered in for several seconds and then spoke over his shoulder. “Professor.” He stepped back.
Matt walked forward and looked inside the alcove. He began to smile. “Hello.”
Loche then used his knife to saw and slash the curtain out of the way, and he entered with Matt. Mike and Jane followed.
Inside were about two dozen red children of varying ages, clothed in little more than rags.
“The remnants of a defeated civilization,” Matt whispered.
He held up his hand. He used the word for greeting but had no idea if he was pronouncing it correctly as he had seen it written but never actually heard it spoken.
The children just stared, frightened to the point of immobility. Jane eased closer to the children, but her large size caused them to back up.
“We’re friends,” she said in a soft voice and crouched to their level.
She smiled and slowly reached out a hand. They stared for a moment more, and then one of the tallest children came forward. He touched her hand, and she felt the warmth and in feeling the heat from Jane’s hand, he seemed satisfied there was no threat. He turned, whispered, and nodded, and the others came forward to crowd around them.
The children surrounded each of them, touching their hands and clothing and looking up with grimy faces.
“Prisoners,” Matt said. “They decimated the race and then took the remnants hostage.”
“And for what purpose?” Mike asked. “Slaves?”
“Doesn’t matter now. Come on,” Loche said. “We’ll come back for them. We need to find Watts and then link up with our team.”
Jane looked about to protest but changed her mind and instead held a hand up. “You wait he
re, we’ll be back. Promise.” She backed out of the cave, with the moon-eyed children watching in silence.
The group continued on and at a junction of three intersecting tunnels, Loche slowed, not sure which way to go, wanting to move silently. But it was time to take a chance, he thought.
“Watts!” he yelled. “Lieutenant Chuck Watts.” He waited but there was no return sound. He shook his head. “Any ideas, people?”
“Got to check them all, I guess,” Mike replied.
Loche nodded. “Good a plan as any.”
He went to the first tunnel and headed in a few dozen feet. Behind him was Mike, then Jane and Matt. After a while, he stopped.
“Smell that?” he asked.
“Yes, fresh air,” Jane replied. “Might be a way out.”
From back the way they came, there was a low moan.
“That’s Watts,” Loche said. “Come on.” He headed back at a jog.
At the junction, he called again, and this time from the middle tunnel there was a weak call, definitely human.
“This way, fast.” Loche sprinted now and kept his gun ready.
Mike, Jane, and Matt also held their handguns when they came to a side cave and skidded to a stop.
Loche peered inside and his eyes widened. “Mother of God.”
It was Chuck Watts, spread-eagled on a table, and surrounded by a group of the green women.
Matt gasped. “Holy shit, that wasn’t decoration.”
The lines on the women’s faces opened up, and the group saw they weren’t decoration or scars and had instead been interlocking plates, creating a fake visage like a mask. Now there was exposed another face underneath—their true face.
One was bristling with insectoid hairs and quivering mouthparts. And from the now-open plates, a long proboscis elongated and pierced Watts’ torso.
Watts looked visibly drained and shrunken, and as they sucked his fluids, the women’s abdomens swelled red with his blood. If that ghastly image wasn’t enough, they saw that the women had extended smaller arms from their sides that gripped the man to hold him in place.
“Oh shit. That’s what the carved story meant—the insects that attacked the race here, the former race said their attackers adapted their attack… they adapted by mimicking the human beings.”
