by Jon F. Merz
"Pretty far-fetched," said Julia.
Wilkins almost laughed. "Boss, look around. We are living in far-fetched!"
Julia sighed. He was right. Things couldn't get much stranger. "You think these creatures are aliens?"
"I don't know."
Nung shook his head. "They look too human to be aliens."
Wilkins frowned. "Come on Nung, not all aliens look like blobs from outer space. It's been theorized for years they could look a lot like us."
"I don't have a tail," said Nung.
"Yeah, well, maybe they're cross-breeding species."
"This is getting way too weird for me," said Nung. "Dinosaurs and now aliens. Where's it end?"
Julia shook her head. "I wish I could say definitively what this was all about - what the hell is going on down here. But I can't. And so, with that said, I think we should try to keep an open mind. Any of this could be real. Any of it could be nothing but a bunch of lies."
"Man," said Nung, "I really miss my old job."
Wilkins punched him in the arm. "You millionaires are all alike."
Nung grinned. "That we are."
Julia jerked her head around.
She heard something.
Mick?
A low rustle sounded close by. She brought up her rifle and waited. It must have been Mick coming back from his reconnaissance. Good, maybe then he could answer a few questions.
Something grabbed her around the waist.
She tried to scream.
Another hand clamped over her mouth.
She heard grunts and struggles coming from where Wilkins and Nung were. What the hell was happening-?
Her mind started to go dark. She could feel herself losing consciousness.
And as she drifted toward the black swallowing her mind, she thought one last time about Mick.
She hoped he'd come back soon.
Chapter Twenty-One
"Boss!"
"Julia!"
She heard the voices dimly, on the fringes of the darkness where she floated without concern of time or place. But gradually, their insisting repetition poked and prodded her until at last her eyes fluttered once and then opened.
She shut them again.
"-bright..."
She heard Wilkins chuckle. "The lights are bright. Yeah. Now try it again, but slowly."
She did. Squinting at first but then at last able to open them all the way. She frowned. "You could have warned me about the lights."
"We were more concerned that you were dead," said Nung.
Julia looked around. "Where the hell are we?"
Wilkins shook his head. "Beats me. We only woke up a few minutes ago. There was no one around when we woke up."
Julia saw both Wilkins and Nung were strapped into some kind of cylindrical contraption. She looked down and she was pinioned in the same fashion.
"Should I even suggest that we try breaking through these straps?"
Wilkins shook his head. "We've already tried. Not sure what the material is, but it's plenty strong enough to resist brute strength. I can't even make out where the clasp is."
"No sign of Mick?"
"None." Nung gestured with his head. "You see the consoles over there? Pretty fricking high-tech. I've never seen anything like them before."
Julia looked. The interior of the room seemed to be made of sort of composite metal. Shiny surfaces beamed at them from every angle. She could make out large banks of computer equipment, but Nung was right - she'd never seen anything like it before.
"Are we still in the jungle?"
"Don't know," said Wilkins. "It's cool in here, but not uncomfortably so."
"And no sign of anyone else? No Darren? No Kendall?"
"No."
Julia let her head droop. She'd come down here with a team of eight. It'd be a miracle if she brought herself home alive at this point.
"This must be Monday."
Nung grinned. "At least it can't get any worse than it already is. I'd say we've pretty much hit the bottom here."
"Bullshit," said Wilkins. "I'd say there's plenty of room left for some more heinous shit to befall us."
"You guys are one helluva pep squad," said Julia. "Now shut up for a second and let me think."
She studied the room. Overhead the lights seemed to come from some unseen source. She couldn't detect anything that resembled a lightbulb or fluorescent tube. What she did see, however, reminded her of the small pinhole cameras she'd seen advertised in spy gimmick catalogs.
"You guys think whoever is holding us might possibly be watching us right now?"
Wilkins glanced up. "You think?"
"Possible," said Nung.
"Should we try to get their attention?"
"Something tells me they already know," said Wilkins. "They're probably just waiting to see what we do."
"What - like study us?" Nung sounded incredulous.
"Maybe," said Julia. "I'd find it really strange if the ones who captured us are the same ones as are now looking at us."
"What makes you say that?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Mick said the creatures were joined by another...race. This one didn't have tails. Maybe those are the ones in charge."
"Wasn't Mick supposed to be tracking that one down?"
"Yes."
"Uh...be nice if he showed up, right now," said Nung. "I think I can pretty confidently state that I'm done hanging around here."
"Man, what is this place?" Wilkins looked around the room and shook his head. "This place looks like something out of a bad sci-fi movie."
"Maybe it's a flying saucer," said Nung.
Julia looked at him.
Wilkins looked at him.
Wilkins looked at Julia. "You think?"
She shook her head. "Nah."
But the thought intrigued her. What if these were some type of bizarre alien species? What if they were responsible for kidnapping everyone?
But for what reason? Why take them? Why...abduct...
She turned to Wilkins. "You remember your dreams? The both of you?"
"You mean about coming here?"
Julia nodded. "Yes."
Wilkins nodded. "Sure."
"Yeah," said Nung.
Julia recalled her own dreams and tried hard to pull out more details. "I can't recall mine in any real detail except that I always see this mountain. The one we're in now."
"So?"
"Well, what if there's a reason we all had the same dream? What if we're all connected somehow?"
"Connected?" Nung shook his head. "I never knew you before this trip."
"Maybe we knew each other and didn't even realize it."
"You saying we connected in our dreams?"
"Maybe not even that," said Julia. "What if we connected somehow in real life? Down here."
"I've never been here before," said Wilkins.
"That you remember," said Julia. "But what if you have been here before? What if we all have?"
"You're really freaking me out," said Nung. "How the hell could something like that even happen?"
"I think you know," said Julia.
Wilkins sighed. "You're talking about alien abductions?"
Julia shrugged. "What if?"
"Sure the accounts of other abductees would confirm similar experiences. And some of them have said it felt like they were dreaming. But don't they also say something about incredibly bright lights? I don't remember there being any in my dreams."
"But you remember snow," said Julia.
"Yeah, well I was dreaming about this place."
"And snow when it is in the sunlight can be blindingly white, can't it?"
"Yeah."
"So it makes sense."
"Still seems a bit of a reach for my taste," said Wilkins.
Nung didn't say anything.
Julia took a breath. "Look, I'm just trying to make some sense of what's going on here. I mean, we're trapped in a mountain with a jungle inside it. We're in
some high-tech room no one can figure out. There appear to be a race of weird dinocreatures wandering around the jungle. And God knows what else. If you guys have any other explanations, I'd love to hear them."
"Maybe we're still dreaming," said Nung. "Maybe this is all part of one big hallucination. We'll wake up soon, each in our own warm beds and think about how strange it felt but then that will be it."
Wilkins smiled. "Nung, that's the biggest load of horse shit I've ever heard. If I thought I could wake up, I'd be screaming my ass off right now."
"Just a thought."
Julia looked at one wall in the room. A smooth gray metallic sheen covered the expanse but there was nothing else on the wall itself. Was that the door?
She heard a vague hissing sound.
"What was that?"
Wilkins turned. "What?"
"I hear something."
Nung turned. "I hear it, too."
"Wish I had my gun," said Wilkins.
Julia heard another hiss. Was it another door opening? Were they coming for them now? God, she wished Mick was here!
The wall slid up suddenly. For a moment she couldn't see anything beyond because the corridor outside was draped in darkness.
But then she saw the eyes.
The head.
The body.
Oh my God, she thought. He looks just like all the pictures she'd ever seen. Except for his head which was flattened and jutted out behind his back.
Was this what they'd stumbled on to?
Mick had been right. Two species. This one didn't resemble the dinocreature except a bit in the skull structure.
Nung whimpered slightly as the creature approached. He stood perhaps five feet tall in total. He walked past them without looking at any of them and went straight to one of the computer consoles and worked several knobs.
Julia watched him. Was he going to communicate with them? Was he going to talk? He had a very small mouth. Perhaps he couldn't.
Where was Mick?
The creature turned and stared at her. Julia's mind went blank and then a rush of images surged through her. She could see her dream now. She could see the bright lights outside her bedroom window. She could feel her body go weightless and drift through her window.
Outside.
Up.
Higher and higher.
She was surrounded by some yellow haze that acted like protection for her.
And then she was aboard the craft.
She felt the cold metal table press into her back. She was naked. Lying there exposed. She glanced around and saw other bodies laying nearby. All races. All creeds. All naked.
Then they came for her. More just like the creature standing in the room now. They approached the table and peered at her closely.
Then she saw the metal instruments.
And screamed.
Beside her, Wilkins and Nung screamed at the same time.
The images vanished.
Julia's head dropped to her chest. She tried to suck in as much oxygen as she could. She was sweating profusely.
The creature considered them for another moment and then walked out of the room.
Wilkins took a deep breath.
Nung shook his head. "My God."
"Abducted," said Wilkins. "Motherfuckers."
"So that's the connection then," said Julia. "We were all abductees. All taken together. I saw you guys on the ship with me."
"I saw you, too," said Nung. "Can this really be true?"
"I don't know how it couldn't," said Wilkins.
"So, what was that guy doing to us?"
Julia shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe giving us back our memories? So we could understand?"
"Yeah, but why? Why would they do that now? I'd think they'd want something like this to remain a secret for as long as possible."
"Unless..." Wilkins voice drifted off.
Julia looked at him. "What?"
"Nothing."
"Spit it out already!"
He took another breath. "What if there's no need for this to be a secret anymore?"
"You think they're going public?"
"Not exactly," said Wilkins. "Maybe there's just no need for us to be kept in the dark anymore."
"But - " Julia stopped. "Oh shit."
Wilkins nodded. "Guess we might find out what happened to Havel and Vikorsky sooner than we thought."
Nung chewed his lip. "You were right Wilkins."
"About what?"
"About things getting a whole lot worse."
Chapter Twenty-Two
The door to the chamber slid open five minutes later. Two of the creatures came into the room. They made no attempt to communicate and Julia found this intriguing. Were they communicating telepathically?
One of the creatures looked at her and a wave of pain swept through Julia's head. She screamed at the incredible agony.
Wilkins jerked his body. "Stop doing that you fucking bastards!"
Nung tried to get his hands free.
The creatures remained unmoved and seemed mildly amused by the efforts of Wilkins and Nung. The pain in Julia's head finally waned and she could see through the sweat pouring down her face.
"Oh my God."
She stared at the creatures. Their heads fanned back and out like their skulls had almost been flattened and spread out like a fan. Was this a sign that they were extremely intelligent? She supposed it was given that they didn't seem to use their miniscule mouths for anything.
But what did they want? And why had they kidnapped everyone?
Except Mick.
She shut the thought out of her head, scared that the creatures might be able to see him and then raise an alarm for the dinocreatures to go look for him. And right now, he was their only hope of ever getting out of this place alive.
The creatures surveyed each of them in turn. They started with Wilkins and then moved to Nung and then to Julia. When their eyes peered into hers, Julia felt herself go cold. There seemed to be no emotion coming from them. They were without any care. No mercy.
No compassion at all.
She marveled at their long arms and legs and short trunk. Their heads seemed almost too big for their bodies. How had they evolved to this point where they seemed frail and unable to do much of anything that required brute physical force?
Was that what they used the dinocreatures for?
They peered closer at her for longer than they had the others. Julia hoped that was a good sign. Maybe they'd release her.
She almost laughed.
Doubtful.
They moved back to Nung and seemed to confer with each other - again without making any sound whatsoever. One of them walked to the main console in the room and pushed several buttons.
A hiss sounded above their heads and Julia looked up. She could see a clear tube sliding down toward her cylinder.
They were sealing them in!
"Stop it! Don't hurt us!"
It seemed silly to shout at them. But she had to try. The tubes slid over and Julia felt a vacuum effect in her ears, as if all the sound was being shut out from her. She tried shouting but only heard her only voice.
Another hiss sounded in the tubes and she felt lightheaded.
Gas.
They were putting them out. But what for? Julia tried knocking her head against the tube but only succeeded in hurting herself. The gas enveloped her. It blurred the room they were in.
Julia saw the creatures watching them intently and then everything went black.
***
When she came to, they were in a different room. This one was gray and metallic like the others but there were several horizontal slabs scattered about the room. Huge machines with long appendages waited.
Julia looked to her right and saw only Wilkins.
His eyes were fixed ahead of him, his mouth drawn tight.
Where was Nung?
She turned and then saw him. On the table closest to them. He was naked and strapped down to the
slab. Next to him on another table the creatures had strapped down something that looked like a velociraptor dinosaur. Julia looked at the dinosaur and saw it's jaws snapping angrily. She could imagine it was screeching or chirping or whatever sound dinosaurs made.
The she saw Nung's eyes. They were wide open and the fear spilling out of them made Julia shudder. He kept looking at the dinosaur struggling just feet away from him. Sweat ran off his body and pooled beneath him. Or was that urine? Had Nung wet himself? Did he have some indication what the creatures were planning to do to him?
Julia thought about the dinocreatures. Something about them reminded her of the creatures here. Their heads were almost the same. They were...
...part dinosaur and part alien.
My God, she thought. They mean to crossbreed us with dinosaurs? Or with aliens? Or both?
One of the creatures pushed a button on the machine and it moved closer to the dinosaur. A long metal arm emerged from the machine and plunged into the chest of velociraptor. Blood spurted angrily from the hole and dripped off the machine.
Julia turned away for a moment but felt drawn back to the scene.
The metallic arm seemed to be removing the internal organs of the dinosaur and unceremoniously dumping them into a tray nearby. The creatures watched and stayed close to the controls, making minute adjustments.
Nung's eyes stayed glued to the dinosaur. It had long since stopped thrashing.
Dead.
Julia started crying. She had to do something. She had to get to Nung. She banged her head against the tube again but it just wouldn't nudge. She glanced at Wilkins and could see him trying his damnedest to break his restraints.
It was no good.
The creatures didn't even seem remotely concerned about them escaping.
The machine seemed finished with the velociraptor. It moved back and away, blood still trickling from the arm that had gutted the dinosaur.
Julia could see the bright red staining the floor. She spotted a small drain in the floor that was drawing the blood away from the operating table.
The creatures moved over to Nung. One of them prodded him in the chest and then looked at his comrade. Again, unspoken communication passed between them.
They moved to Nung's head. They put their hands on him. Nung jerked his head from side to side, desperate to get away from them, but he could do nothing. He looked at Julia. She could see his eyes begged and pleaded.
