“Thanks,” Tony said, as he climbed to his feet.
I nodded.
“I’m closing this,” Mouse said, meaning the main hatch. “I don’t want water sloshing in.”
No one disagreed. The hatch closed with a clang. It was the last time any of us saw Mouse.
-17-
The bathyscaphe drifted in the pool with Mouse holding down the fort. He left the searchlight on, aiming it up at the concave ceiling. That gave us diffuse illumination.
I switched on my klieg light, shining the beam around. The dock area was rather small, a little more than the area in a typical public swimming pool. I pointed my beam on an interior hatch.
The hatch looked smooth and lacked any visible handle.
The others had turned on their flashlights. They’d both zipped up their jackets, too.
I shivered. I was wearing biker boots, jeans and a tee shirt. It must have been above freezing, but not by much. I could see my breath mist every time I exhaled.
“He should have used Mouse’s jacket,” Tony said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jenna said. “We’re not going to be here long.”
I struggled to keep my teeth from chattering. Deciding moving was better than standing still, I headed for the smooth hatch.
“Be careful,” Jenna warned.
I ignored her. It was too damn cold in here.
“How’s he going to open it?” Tony asked Jenna.
I neared the hatch, still couldn’t see a way to open it, and reached out to feel what it was made from. The hatch slid up on its own. That seemed to indicate a proximity mechanism of some kind.
“How did you do that?” Jenna demanded.
“I got near it,” I said.
“Logan. This is serious. You can’t—”
“He’s telling you what he did,” Tony said.
She glanced from him to me and then at the open hatch. “Is that right?”
“Yup,” I said.
Jenna hesitated, drew her gun, gathered her resolve and kept coming.
I moved through the hatch first, shining my flashlight into new territory. This room was considerably bigger. It had waist-high stanchions dotted throughout the area.
“What are those?” Jenna asked me.
“No idea,” I said.
We studied them. They were smooth and cold, and useless as far as we could tell. We kept going.
The next few rooms contained the same.
The sixth room was considerably different. It had a wall of controls, screens and consoles. We flashed our beams all around, looking at the control room.
“This is amazing,” Jenna said. “Surely this is of alien construction.”
“I agree.”
“Do you recognize anything?”
I shook my head.
“Would you tell us if you did?”
“I would,” I said.
She seemed unconvinced.
“I believe him,” Tony said.
Jenna regarded him. She seemed to consider that. “You think—”
She stopped talking. Lights appeared above us, flickering, brightening, dimming and then shining steadily with what seemed like normal brightness. The room was larger than it had appeared at first.
“What caused that?” Jenna asked.
I clicked off my flashlight. I might as well save battery power. The others noticed and soon did likewise.
“Are there Polarions here?” Jenna asked.
I was tired of saying I didn’t know, so I didn’t bother answering. I was more interested in the controls.
I went to them and began pressing switches.
“Stop,” Jenna said. She rushed toward me. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Testing stuff,” I said.
“What if you throw a switch that drops the air pressure?”
“What if we stand around doing nothing and die of hunger?” I countered. “You said it before. We’re the underdog on our own planet. We have to start taking risks or we’re gonna keep being the underdog.”
Jenna stared at me for a time. Finally, she holstered her pistol. “Being here is much more frightening than thinking about possibilities from afar. This place…it terrifies me.”
“It’s crazy, I’ll agree to that.”
“You’re not frightened?”
“Not until I see something that can kill me.”
Jenna regarded me, as if to see if I was bragging or trying to act tough. “Okay. Keep testing. But if I tell you to stop, stop.”
“Sure,” I said.
Tony walked up. He didn’t holster his gun. He did hang it beside his right thigh, though. He made sure I saw him giving me the look. I knew what he was saying. I’d better listen to the field agent in charge or he’d make sure I’d wish I had.
“Ready?” I asked Jenna.
“Yeah,” she said breathlessly.
I kept pressing switches, turning dials and tapping panels. Nothing happened. After ten minutes of trying, I lost interest.
“Fascinating,” Jenna said. “The ceiling lights work. So, the base has power. The control panels don’t have power, though. I wonder why not.”
“Should we keep looking?” Tony asked.
She looked around. “We came in the far door. There are three more over there. Which one should we try?”
“The right-hand door every time,” I said.
“Why that one?” she asked.
“Why not?” I said.
“Go head,” she told me.
As I approached, the right-hand hatch rose like all the others so far. Stairs led up. I didn’t know if that was good, bad or indifferent. I took the stairs.
The steps curled around, seeming to go on forever. Finally, we entered another level. The hatch swished up, and we entered a vast area with lights.
This place was radically different. It was warm. I liked that immediately. A loud buzzing filled the giant chamber, and there were hundreds of upright, man-sized tubes.
“Oh boy,” I said, without a shred of humor.
Jenna looked at me and then back at Tony. “Logan recognizes some of this.”
I could sense Tony’s gun coming up. I was sure the guard had me covered.
“What are those?” Jenna asked.
I walked within. Those were stasis tubes. I said as much. I’d seen ones like these before in Greenland. But these were empty. Row after row.
I walked up to the nearest one. Jenna and Tony soon joined me.
“What’s that?” Tony asked, pointing with his gun. He aimed at a smudge of something black at the bottom of the stasis tube.
“It looks like a smear of used car oil,” I said.
We went to another stasis tube. It had the same oily substance on the bottom.
“Is that lubricant?” Tony asked.
“Look!” Jenna cried. “Do you see that?”
Her arm trembled as she pointed at something flickering in a back-row stasis tube.
“What is that?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“Let’s check it out,” I said, heading toward it.
-18-
My step slowed as I approached the rear row of stasis tubes. Every time I’d seen things in the stasis tubes, they’d been at rest or sleep. The thing in the rear tube was definitely not asleep. It flickered like an unfixed flame, moving in and out of…substance, I suppose. I could see through it in places and then those spots solidified and others thinned.
At that point, the flickering thing took on a man-shaped outline. Silvery eyes appeared in a flickering head. The thing stared at me. I did not like the sensation. I felt hunger, a vast and abiding desire to consume me. The sensation only lasted seconds before a new one took hold. It wanted to be friends. It liked me intensely.
“Right,” I said. “Like I’m going to believe you.”
Rage burned against my mind. I took a step back. The thing hated mockery. The abyss-like hunger resumed.
Jenna stepped up. “What is that?”
&nb
sp; “Whatever it is, it’s intelligent.”
“How do you know?”
“You’ll know if it looks at you.”
Jenna moved closer to the tube. The thing studied her. Then, it seemed to freeze as it regarded Jenna with intensity.
“Hey,” I said. I rushed toward her.
Jenna did not seem to hear me. She moved woodenly, as if she were no longer in control of her actions.
I grabbed her, holding her back.
“Let go,” Jenna screamed. She turned, slashing at me with her fingernails.
I picked her up in a bear hug and turned her away from the flickering creature. Several seconds later, Jenna went limp against me.
I laid her on the floor. In that moment, I considered the gun in her holster.
“Don’t even think about it,” Tony told me.
I glanced back at him. He aimed his gun at me.
“No harm, no foul,” I said, straightening, raising my hands in front of my torso.
Tony was calm-faced. He motioned with his head. “What is that thing?”
“We should leave the room,” I said.
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“I don’t want to answer in front of it.”
Tony squinted thoughtfully. “Why did Jenna go unconscious?”
I hesitated.
That hesitation must have stirred Tony’s curiosity. He stopped looking at me and regarded the flickering creature.
I studied it out of the corner of my eye. The thing had been flickering. Now, it was solid and unmoving. Its silvery eyes had fixed on Tony.
The guard started moving toward the stasis tube.
“Tony!” I shouted.
He didn’t seem to hear me.
I stepped toward him.
Tony’s gun came up, aimed at my chest. He tried to say something.
“Fight it,” I said, “resist.”
Tony nodded slowly, although he took another step toward the stasis tube. His neck muscles rose like cables. His steps slowed, but he still moved toward the tube. Maybe inspiration struck, or maybe it was the creature’s idea.
Tony aimed at the tube.
“No!” I said, divining his intentions.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The stasis glass resisted the first three shots. After three more, though, the tube starred in that location. Tony kept firing, the bullets hammering the same spot.
“Stop shooting!” I shouted. “That’s what it wants you to do.”
Tony ignored me, firing until his gun went CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
The starring was bad. It looked like glass chips might fall out.
The thing in the tube seemed to have become solid. It struck the starred area of the glass from the inside. I thought I saw quivering. It kept doing that, making the glass quiver each time. Finally, a piece of glass no bigger than my fingernail detached from the tube. The tinkling sound seemed loud in the silent chamber.
In horror, I watched as the thing oozed out of the tiny opening. It flickered into the chamber with us. I could hear it buzzing like a handful of bees in spring.
Tony dropped his gun and took a step away from the flickering thing in the air.
“Run Tony,” I said. “Get out of here.”
He looked at me. Fear contorted his strong features. “It’s…” he said.
The buzzing increased. The thing zoomed toward Tony. I don’t know what came over me. I liked Tony. I’d also been able to resist the thing. Maybe I really thought I was a super-dude. I stepped in front of Tony, trying to shield him.
The flickering thing hit me, and it seemed to go inside me.
I stood frozen as pain flowed through my body. I heard buzzing like a billion bees. It hammered my thoughts. It strove to control me. I could feel the alien thoughts as they coursed against me.
“Not me, pal,” I said between clenched teeth.
“I can give you power,” it whispered into my mind.
“Screw off, chief. I’m not buying your promises.”
“I will bring you unbridled and unlimited sex!”
“I get plenty of action. Women love me.”
“I can give you endless money.”
“You don’t even know what that means.”
“The Polarion! You know the Polarions! They have strengthened you.”
“You’ve got that right, pal. I’m the Earth’s defender. You’d better get back in your tube where you belong.”
It didn’t. The pain intensified, and I staggered backward.
The flickering entity flowed out of me. For an instant, the silvery eyes regarded me with hatred from inches away. I’d resisted it. I had the feeling that hadn’t happened too often in its existence.
“Go,” I said, pointing.
It flickered wildly, and then it zoomed around me to Tony, who had picked up his gun.
Helplessly, I watched as the entity entered Tony. The CAU operative stood still in horror. His eyes were wide and staring. His hair stood on end. Then he staggered, tripped, flopped around on the slick floor and began to foam at the mouth.
It was a disgusting sight, a terrifying sight.
Tony froze afterward. He mumbled strange words that made no sense. Then, a peacefulness settled over him. His hair no longer stood on end. He stopped foaming at the mouth. Finally, his eyes opened. They were a strange silver color.
Tony studied me for a time. “You are the altered one,” he said in a weird voice that didn’t sound anything like the Tony I knew.
“What are you?” I asked.
Tony tried to stand. He fell. He tried and failed once more.
“It has been a long time,” Tony said in his strange voice. He put both hands on the floor and pushed upward. He swayed upright, finally finding his balance.
“This is a strong body,” Tony said.
“It’s not yours.”
Tony—the thing controlling Tony—regarded me with its silvery eyes. He smiled. It gave me the chills. I’d never seen a more evil grin.
“Time…” he said. “I have endured a millennium of millennia.”
“What are you?”
“You are ignorant of me? That is nearly inconceivable. I am…” The evil smile returned. “Bask in your ignorance. I do not know how you resisted me, although I sense a Polarion’s tampering with your mind.”
“Listen,” I said. “I’m going to summon the Polarion unless you start giving me some answers.”
Tony studied me as the silver in his eyes seemed to turn molten. “No…” he said, softly. “You are attempting subterfuge against me. You are seemingly clever. This one lacks your knowledge, but you do not know the whereabouts of any Polarions. You merely suspect one might have lived through—”
Tony cocked his head. “The Starcore…” he whispered. “You have met the crystal entity. This one seems confused. The Starcore is no more. Is that correct?”
“I’ll make you a deal,” I said in inspiration. “You answer one of my questions, and I’ll answer one of yours.”
“Me deal with flesh and blood?”
“Why not?” I asked. “It will get you what you want.”
“This is amazing. There is actually wisdom in your words. Yes… You are cleverer than you appear. Answer me, and I shall answer you.”
“I’m the weaker party. I should ask first.”
“You are testing my patience,” the thing in Tony said. “Do you have any idea how long I have endured in the cell? The others tried to wait like me. They lacked my strength. They lacked my resolve. I was the greatest among them. I had begun to despair…”
“The smears of oil are all that remains of those that were like you?” I asked.
Tony stared into the distance.
At that point, Jenna began to moan. She raised a hand to her head, beginning to sit up.
“No,” I whispered. “Play dead.”
Jenna looked up at me in confusion. “What happened?” she asked.
“The woman!” the thing in Tony cried. �
�She is the lever. Answer my questions, blood-sack, or I will kill her.”
-19-
Tony drew his gun, aiming it at Jenna. I’d heard it click before, so I knew it was empty.
I smiled.
Tony cocked his head again. “Do you not believe me?”
I shrugged. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. Go ahead, shoot her if you must.”
Tony lowered his gun. I wondered why the thing hadn’t even tried to shoot. Maybe controlling a person used up the person. Maybe the thing didn’t want to destroy other hosts just yet.
“I will answer your question about the remains in the tubes,” Tony said.
“No!” I said. “That’s not my question.”
“What is your question?”
I wanted to ask what he was, but that seemed obvious. It was some kind of energy creature that could take over host bodies. He could tell me his origin point, but what did that really matter now?
“How did you get here?” I asked.
“That is a shrewd question,” the creature replied.
I glanced down at Jenna. She stared at Tony, glanced at the broken stasis tube and studied Tony once more. She seemed to understand what had happened.
“I arrived via spaceship,” Tony said.
“That’s self-evident. What I meant—”
“No,” Tony said. “It is not self-evident. You are a fool if you believe that.”
His reaction startled me. There were implications here, although I didn’t know what they were at the moment.
“I have answered your question as stated,” he said. “Whether that is the answer you wished to hear is immaterial. I have fulfilled my end of the bargain. You will now answer me.”
“Yeah…” I said.
“Does the Starcore exist in our or any other reality?”
I examined the question from several angles, looking for a way to give him an answer he didn’t really want or maybe already knew. If there was one, I couldn’t see it.
I said, “No.”
“Excellent,” Tony said. “The Starcore is destroyed. That is good news.” He looked around the chamber, studied Jenna, glanced at me and nodded.
“Ask another question,” he said.
“Did the Starcore cause you and the others in here to come to this planet in the distant past?”
“You have put two questions together, but no matter. Yes,” he said. “Now. Do you know the whereabouts on Earth of any living Polarions?”
Invaders: The Chronowarp Page 7
