Prey

by Jon F. Merz

  There's more, thought Julia. But how far could she push him?

  "I lost a lot of friends," said Mick. "It comes with the job. Specops is all-volunteer. No one gets drafted into the units. You want in, you know the cost might be your life. We all knew it. But we wanted in anyway."

  "Why?"

  Mick shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe some of us are simply programmed for it. Hard-wired for warfare. We know we can't fit in anywhere else in society so we find the one thing that makes us feel complete. The one thing that no one else can touch or take away from us." He sighed. "There's a moment, you know. In combat. When the bullets are flying and you look over at your teammate and you know he's right there feeling the fear and the anger and the rage and the desire to get it done and over with. You look and see that and you make a vow to never let your teammate down. You carry on for each other. The rest of the world can go fuck itself. You live and die for each other. It's the most pure form of loyalty there is."

  The air felt heavier. Julia could tell the words Mick spoke were true. He'd leveled with her after all.

  He shrugged. "A lot of us paid a heavy price for serving in the units. Doesn't matter what branch, we all know the same shit. We all know buddies who died defending what we all believed in."

  "How long were you in?"

  "Long enough."

  "That's not an answer."

  Mick smiled. "Julia, I've told you too much already. You keep pressing me for information you won't like the answers you get. Trust me."

  "I trust you."

  "Then let it go. There are some things I won't talk about. No matter how pretty you happen to be."

  Julia smiled now. "Flattery?"

  "Call it what you want." Mick shrugged again. "I call it like I see it."

  "Unless it's classified."

  He smiled. "Don't ruin the moment."

  "Are we having a moment?"

  He chuckled. "Why not? We're on some barren icescape. It's the middle of the freaking night. And we're waiting for some kind of creature to show up and carry off one of our teammates. Seems like the perfect time for a moment."

  "That's good enough for me." Julia smiled. Despite the pressure of the current situation, she felt even more at ease with Mick now that he'd shared something of himself with her. She felt even more attracted to him.

  She just hoped he felt the same way.

  She risked another look at him.

  But something had changed.

  His face wasn't soft and relaxed any more. The edge of his jaw seemed tight.

  Firm.

  "Mick-"

  He held up a hand to silence her.

  His eyes closed and she could tell he'd stopped breathing. What was he doing? Concentrating?

  Listening...

  He opened his eyes.

  And pointed.

  Then Julia heard it.

  A noise.

  From the greenhouse.

  Faint at first.

  It was growing louder.

  Chapter Eight

  Julia looked at Mick but his eyes had hardened.

  Quickly.

  In his right hand, he gripped the remote transmitter that would cue the spotlights. But would they be enough to stop whatever was trying to get back into the greenhouse?

  She hoped so.

  Mick brought his left hand up to his mouth, urging Julia to remain quiet. The sound grew louder now. It sounded like something scratching at the glass, a fingernail down the transparent pane perhaps.

  It sounded long.

  Drawn out.

  From their position in the hallway, neither Julia nor Mick could see into the greenhouse. Mick had positioned them out here deliberately. When they'd set up the watch position earlier, he'd told Julia it didn't make sense for them to actually be in the room itself.

  "We don't know what we're dealing with. I'd rather not have something drop down on me once it realizes it might be walking into a trap. We'll wait in the hallway and see what happens."

  The only place Julia wanted to be right then was back home in the United States. Safe under the flannel striped comforter that she'd had for five years, the kind where the stuffing had pooled to one edge, regardless of the waffle design. She didn't love the comforter any less for it; she loved it all the more. And curling up under it on winter days made everything in the world seem...safe.

  Instead, she thought, I'm thousands of miles from home. Down at the bottom of the world. All around me is ice. Snow. Cold.

  And to top it off, some kind of creature was trying to break into the only piece of sanctuary they had.

  There was an abrupt change in the sound from the greenhouse. The scratching stopped.

  And a trickle of cold air issued out of the greenhouse door, tickling Julia's hair, making shivers run up her spine.

  It was inside.

  She glanced again at Mick but he remained absolutely still.

  Listening.

  Why doesn't he flip the switch now? Do it!

  Another noise from beyond the door.

  A scrape?

  Another.

  And another.

  Julia remembered the scaffolding Mick had had to climb today to see the opening in the greenhouse roof. Was the creature climbing down it?

  She stared at Mick. Flip the lights on!

  Now!

  But Mick stayed still. She wondered if he was breathing.

  Julia tried to steady herself. Her heart sounded like thunder in her ears. The air in the hallway had grown colder now. Even with her jacket on, she still felt it.

  All that Mick had on was a heavy turtleneck. How could he stand the cold?

  There was a sudden thud in the greenhouse.

  Whatever was in there, it had found its way to the floor.

  Julia peered into the darkness of the greenhouse door. She wanted to cower in the recessed wall where she stood. She couldn't see anything.

  But she heard it now.

  Moving.

  Toward the door.

  Toward them.

  Mick never moved.

  Julia stared at the blackness beyond the opening of the door. Could it see her? Could it feel them outside? Did it know it was walking into a trap?

  When she finally saw the first glimpse of movement, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her because she'd been staring so hard.

  It was no trick.

  And gradually the head emerged from the gloom beyond the door.

  That was when Mick flipped the lights.

  The entire hallway and greenhouse lit up like an mushroom cloud had just detonated. The next sensation Julia had was one of abject terror as she winced at the sudden bright light and the simultaneous exposure to the creature.

  She saw it full on.

  Bathed in the intense light.

  It screeched.

  Wailed.

  The noise filled the hallway. The creature reeled back into the greenhouse, still screaming. One of its misshapen claws came up as if shielding it from the light.

  Mick grabbed her by the arm. "Come on!"

  Were they going back to the kitchen area?

  No.

  Mick was dragging them into the greenhouse.

  Chasing the creature?

  They ducked through the opening. Mick pointed. Thirty feet away, she could make out the creature scaling the scaffolding as easily as a spider. Its long limbs gripped exposed girders and moved its girth up toward the skylight.

  And still it screeched.

  At the top of the girders, it cast one final look back and wailed once more. Julia closed her eyes and saw a million flashes of memory cascade behind her eyes - she saw the dreams, the images of this continent. They flew across the screen of her mind's eyes faster than she thought possible.

  What was happening to her?

  Mick shook her.

  "Julia!"

  She opened her eyes. The creature was still staring at her, its deep bulbous orbs probing. Finally, it broke the stare and slipped ba
ck out of the opening.

  On to the roof.

  Then it was gone.

  The last of its screeches died as the cold Antarctic winds drowned out anything else.

  "Oh my God."

  She looked at Mick. His face still looked hard. Determined. She'd never seen him look like that before. Was this some type of warrior conditioning he'd learned in special operations?

  "You okay?"

  She shook her head. "What the hell was that?"

  "I don't know."

  "The lights - "

  "Yeah. They worked."

  "Lucky for us."

  "I don't know how lucky we'll be in the future."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  Mick shrugged. "Maybe it can adapt to whatever we throw at it. If it knows we know it's sensitive to light, maybe it has some method of protecting itself from it."

  "Great."

  "Did you see the way it paused at the top there? Maybe the lights only work within a set range. Once it's beyond that range, it can operate unaffected by it." He looked at her. "You okay?"

  "Yeah."

  "You looked like you tuned out there for a second."

  "It...looked at me."

  "Yeah, it did."

  "I saw things. Memories. Dreams. I don't know. I felt like it was...almost accessing my mind."

  "Maybe it can."

  She looked back up at the opening. "My God, what was it?"

  Mick shook his head. "I don't think we'll have any more visits tonight."

  The sound of running feet behind them made them turn around. Julia saw Wilkins duck through the door.

  "What the fuck?"

  "We saw it."

  "Saw what?" Kendall strolled through the door as if nothing had happened.

  "The creature," said Mick. "It was inside."

  Wilkins nodded at the lights. "They worked?"

  "Yeah. Fortunately."

  Kendall frowned. "Sure was a lucky thing that you thought of it, too, Mick. I'd sure love to know how you arrived at the idea they might be sensitive to light."

  "It seemed to make sense since it was coming at night." He frowned. "How about you tell us why you always speak in plurals when we talk about this thing?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "The rest of us say 'it'. You say 'they.' You know something about this thing that the rest of us don't?"

  "Of course not."

  Julia searched his eyes but found no sign that he was lying. A scumbag like Kendall, she reasoned, he could talk his way out of anything.

  Wilkins leaned against the wall. "Well, what happens now?"

  "I could use a break," said Julia. "I think waiting for that thing to come in sapped the rest of my energy."

  "It's adrenaline," said Mick. "Happens like that to everyone." He glanced at Wilkins. "You want to wake another team up and see if someone else will watch now. I don't think it'll be necessary. I doubt very much we'll see out visitor any more tonight."

  "You mean this morning." Nung poked his head through the entryway.

  Mick grinned. "Yeah."

  "Me and Darren will take another spell of it anyway. Just to be sure." He thumbed over his shoulder. "The remote work okay for you?"

  "Like a charm."

  Nung nodded. "Good. We'll need it if that thing comes back."

  Havel wandered in drinking coffee. "I made another pot. I thought perhaps people would want some."

  "I could use some sleep," said Mick.

  Julia looked at him. "I think that's the first time I've heard you admit you might be human like the rest of us."

  He smiled. "We'll need a lot more sleep to take care of what we'll have to do later today."

  "And what's that?"

  Mick looked back up at the roof. "Find out where that thing is coming from."

  Chapter Nine

  By noon, Mick had woken up and rejoined the rest of the team. Julia felt a measure of relief flood her when he walked into the galley area and asked for coffee. Nung handed him a cup and Mick drank it down straight, without even pausing to let it cool.

  "Good sleep?" Julia asked.

  He looked at her and grinned. "Are you serious?"

  "I was."

  "Nice of you to ask," said Mick. "But it was a pretty hard deep sleep without much in the way of good dreams." He turned to Wilkins. "Do we have an extensive map of the area we're in?"

  "Sure. I'll get it."

  Mick waited for him to return and then cleared a space on the main table and watched Wilkins spread the map out. He leaned in close and took his time examining the contour lines.

  Wilkins pointed. "We're here."

  Mick nodded. "The rest of this area seems pretty barren. Just level plain," his voice trailed off, "until we get to here." His jabbed at the spot with his thumb. "What's the deal with these?"

  "The mountains?" Julia shrugged. "Supposedly the team here before us was supposed to do some exploring in them. We don't know, of course, if they were successful or not."

  Mick frowned. "I wonder if..."

  "What?" Kendall appeared out of nowhere.

  Mick eyed him. "I wonder if the team that explored the mountains maybe woke something up."

  "Are you nuts?"

  "I'm open to other possibilities," said Mick.

  Kendall ducked back out of the room shaking his head. Julia watched him go and the turned back to the others. "I suppose we have to consider the possibility."

  "There's no other place this thing could be coming from," said Mick. "Unless it can burrow under fifty feet of snow and ice at will, the mountains are the only hope it has of good shelter."

  "Those mountains are fifty miles away, though," said Wilkins. "You think the creature can travel that distance easily enough to keep coming back here?"

  Mick sighed. "I don't know. It really depends on what the creature is doing with the people it has."

  "What do you mean?"

  Mick shrugged. "Well, at the risk of being blunt, how far would you travel to eat if the only restaurant in town was fifty miles away?"

  Julia swallowed. Her throat felt thick. "Fifty miles."

  Mick nodded. "Exactly."

  "So what now?"

  "We've got the two Snowcats still, right?"

  "Sure, all gassed up and ready to rock and roll." Wilkins turned to Nung. "You and Darren go and get them warmed up. We'll be taking off soon."

  "The weather's good for it," said Nung. He slipped out of the room.

  Julia squeezed Mick's arm. "Are you sure this is such a wise idea?"

  "Hell no." He laughed. "But I'm not the type of guy who likes to sit back and wait for the bad guys to come to me. There's a lot to be said for being proactive."

  "But we don't have any weapons."

  Another smile crept out along Mick's face. "I'm not too concerned about that."

  "You're not?"

  "It's easily fixed."

  Wilkins shook his head. "How so? You planning on doing a Macgyver or something?"

  Mick leaned back over the map. "If we leave the station and follow this line east, we should pass by this point here. Beyond that, it'll be another two hours to get to the mountains."

  "And what's at that point?" asked Julia.

  "Weapons," said Mick without looking up.

  ***

  She could feel the Snowcat grinding up the ice and snow with its caterpillar treads. The engine purred, while warm air poured out of the vents. She, Mick, and Havel rode while Darren drove. In the other cat, Nung drove with Wilkins and Kendall.

  "What's the story with these weapons?" Julia glanced at Mick who hadn't offered up much of an explanation since dropping the bombshell earlier.

  "Would you believe me if I told you it's classified?"

  "No. In fact, it would probably annoy the hell out of me."

  Mick smiled. "Can't have that." He glanced out of the window. "There were precautions taken that I knew about when I was back in the service."

  "What sort of precauti
ons?"

  "Antarctica is supposed to be a neutral zone, politically speaking. Any country is welcome to come down here and research meteorology, geology, that sort of thing. Military outposts were forbidden."

  "Exactly."

  "Back during the Cold War, however, some of the people in charge didn't see it that way. In fact, both sides did their part to militarize - albeit in a small way - the continent."

  Julia frowned. Hearing about guns and weapons down in the unspoiled beauty of this place shocked and disgusted her. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. "Wonderful."

  "Sure," said Mick. "We're guilty of it. But so were the Soviets. We had intel that they'd moved a large cache of weapons down here. Small arms, mostly. A few mortars, but not much more. I think the weapons were primarily intended for a garrison of troops to protect the Soviet science stations, nothing more."

  "And we responded."

  Mick nodded. "Yeah. But we only got as far as placing the cache down here. We never actually moved any troops in. Neither did the Soviets. But the weapons stayed."

  "Wouldn't the weather have affected them? Made 'em inoperable?" Darren looked at Mick.

  Mick shook his head. "The American cache has a solar-powered generator that keeps the interior of the storage trunk warm enough so the workings don't freeze. They've also been packed in grease, which would help cut down on corrosion and environmental bugaboos getting into the works and screwing things up."

  Julia sighed. "Sure is lucky you know about this thing, Mick."

  He looked at her. She turned away. "Just trying to help. And we'll need every ounce we can get if that thing comes back."

  Darren grinned. "If we've got the weapons, we ought to go and kill the sumbitch before it can come back to the station and finish us off."

  Mick nodded. "Agreed. Let's see what the weapons are like and then we'll go from there."

  Everyone stayed silent for a moment and then Havel spoke up. "How long are we going to be at the cache?"

  "Shouldn't take too long. No more than thirty minutes. We'll dig up the container and test fire a few of the guns. Then we're on our way."

  "What about at the mountains themselves?"

  "We could be there longer," said Julia. "What's on your mind?"