*****
Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russian Gazette) – Breaking News: Tragedy in Armenia
Early this morning the Russian 102nd Military Base of the Group Russian Forces in Gyumri, Armenia, part of the Transcaucasian Group, and home to three thousand military personnel was destroyed in an earthquake.
A team of rescue and medical professionals have been dispatched but first reports indicate there were no survivors.
At this point in time all access is prohibited until investigations have been completed.
CHAPTER 24
“What are they?” Dmitry gripped his gun tighter.
On the hill above them was what looked like crosses planted sporadically on the slope. But there also seemed to be things stuck to them.
Chekov audibly swallowed. “I know what I think they look like.” He glanced at his leader. “My cousin uses them in his wheat fields.”
“Scarecrows.” Dmitry nodded. “We have no choice; there’s no other way around.” He drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then turned to his group. “In tight, and everyone stay alert.”
They closed in on the effigies, moving slowly. He and Chekov took the lead, with Sasha and Viktor at the rear, keeping the scientists and Katya in the middle.
Dmitry held up a hand and the group halted. He and Chekov then approached one of the closest cross structures.
“I think maybe you are right.” Dmitry stared up at the creature lashed to the x-shaped poles.
It was now like an empty suit of armor; the exoskeleton shell was hollowed out, and the plating was scorched and flaking from the continual bombardment of the red heat and radiation from above.
The creature seemed to be some sort of huge grasshopper thing standing seven feet tall with a bovine face, but on the end of each of its six limbs were grasping digits like fingers, but now more like empty armored gloves.
“They’re not all the same,” Chekov observed.
Sure enough, just fifty feet away at the next effigy, the lashed animal was a body: a human body. Chekov approached it and craned his neck to look up into its open mouth. He turned.
“It’s got fillings in its teeth.”
Dmitry approached and examined it. He turned. “Katya.”
The old woman hobbled closer. “Is this one of your team?”
She shook her head. “Those fillings are ceramic. In the seventies Russia only did metal fillings.” She turned to Dmitry. “And even accounting for the weathering and decay those remains are not fifty years old.”
“She’s right.” Chekov turned. “Not Russian… but definitely human.”
Nadia joined them. “Male, probably around mid-thirties, I think.” She squinted up at the lashed skeleton. “There’s something wrong with his skull.”
Sure enough they could see several holes in the bone, perfectly round as if drilled.
“Torture?” Dmitry asked.
“Or examination.” Nadia reached out and tugged some of the desiccated flesh from the arm. “This body hasn’t been here all that long; maybe only a year or two.”
“Who was he?” Chekov asked. “I assume he didn’t come down by himself, so where are his friends?”
They turned about, each looking for any sign of other people. Nadia turned around to scan the other bodies lashed down. From where they were at the near crest of the hill, they could see there were a long line of them, perhaps fifty or more, and many different species.
“Do you think he was kidnapped from the surface, and brought down here?” Oleg suggested.
“What a terrible thought,” Dmitry’s mouth turned down, “that people could be snatched from our world to end up like this.”
“Not snatched, I think more like he came down with others.” Katya nodded slowly. “Others came to see me a little more than a year ago. I know they were following Arkady Saknussov’s trail.” She stared again at the skeleton. “I warned them not to.”
“Well, we have never heard about it. So I think they all met their fate in this inner world.” Dmitry sighed. “I wish we could talk to him.”
“He ended up a scarecrow. So he is talking to us.” Chekov snorted. “What do you usually put a scarecrow up for?”
“To scare away the crows,” Dmitry replied.
“Not sure if we are the crows,” Chekov asked. “But it is certainly working on us chickens.”
“Well, at least we’re chickens with guns.” Dmitry chuckled. “Our GPS is telling us that we are not far from our destination, so why don’t we see what’s over this hill?”
They began to move off and only Katya remained staring up at the lashed skeleton. After another moment she shook her head and turned away.
The group came in tighter and moved cautiously up to the crest of the hill. Chekov and Dmitry still took the lead and in another few hundred yards reached the top. They gathered under the canopy of a medium-sized tree and stared out over the landscape far below.
“Amazing; it’s in the water. I wondered about this,” Doctor Oleg Krupin said softly. “What effect would that have on the gravity well? Will it still allow the transfer of matter?”
Dmitry stared into the distance. There was a band of jungle that ended at what could be an inlet that fed out into an ocean. But just a few miles off its shore there was another of the column mountains except this one went from the boiling red ceiling above, and then disappeared back down into deep water.
There was also a smooth island close to the column that was totally devoid of vegetation and more a greyish-looking lump. He looked back to the massive many-miles-wide column reaching the ceiling.
“Maybe that gravity well is full of water,” Dmitry replied. He turned to Sasha. “Take a position check.” When he turned back, the island was gone. “What the…?”
“What is it?” Chekov asked.
“I thought…” I must be getting tired, Dmitry thought. “Nothing.”
The soldier set to checking their coordinates, and in a few minutes looked up from the device. “We’re under the Mediterranean Sea. Close to Crete.”
“The Mediterranean. Deep water and…” Nadia turned to Oleg. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“The Calypso?” Oleg grinned. “Imagine if…”
“Would our scientists like to share their little observation please?” Dmitry raised an eyebrow.
Oleg grinned and formed his hands and fingers into a ball. “The Earth’s Crust is a skin like the skin covering an apple. It is thinner in some areas than others. Under the continents it can be up to twenty-five miles thick. And under the oceans it can be as little as only five miles thick. But if there were a deep trench…” He shrugged. “Then maybe it is only three miles.”
Nadia nodded. “And guess what is at the bottom of the Mediterranean, near Crete?”
“A trench… called the Calypso, maybe?” Chekov’s voice was deadpan.
“Yes.” She pointed at his chest. “The Calypso trench, located in the Matapan–Vavilov Deep, and it is over seventeen thousand feet deep.”
“Just over three miles,” Dmitry added. He turned back to the well. “So maybe we have a gravity well that feeds into the bottom of the ocean.” He turned back to the pair of scientists. “How does that help us?”
The pair looked at each other and then turned back. Oleg shrugged. “Maybe it doesn’t. But it is possible that as we terrestrial land-based creatures found our way down, then maybe some of the denizens of the ocean’s surface or the oceans at the center of the Earth, are able to find their way back and forth as well via a water highway.”
Oleg turned to Nadia. “What if creatures have been passing through these water wells for millions of years? There are dozens of super deep-sea trenches all around the globe.”
Nadia’s eyes glowed. “All the legends of inexplicable giant sea beasts that have been spotted over the centuries, they may all have come from down here. Just imagine if you had a deep-sea submersible and could locate the entrance and travel along it.”
“And what about a
ll the massive sea beasts of our prehistory that vanished, some for no reason?” Oleg clasped his hands together. “So many questions.”
“Are you two finished?” Dmitry’s patience had expired.
“For now.” Nadia grinned. She looked back at the huge column mountain just visible in the distance. “You could spend a lifetime researching down here.”
Chekov laughed. “I think then it would be a very short lifetime.”
Dmitry used the GPS points to plot his course. They still had many miles to go until they were underneath the Kosovo base, and the course they’d travel would take them away from the water. For some reason that made him feel better. That missing island still bothered him.
Chekov came and stood at his shoulder, and his friend lifted field glasses to scan their surroundings. At the base of the hill was a line of dense bushes that was so thick it seemed solid. But there seemed to be a path at its center.
After another moment he lowered the glasses. It was the only way through, but as a military man, he saw it as a perfect place for an ambush.
He spoke without turning. “Do you feel it?”
“Yes.” Dmitry looked up from his positioning plotter and folded it away. “Ever since we got to the top of the hill. We are being watched.”
“And I think not just by the scarecrows,” Chekov replied softly. “We should keep moving. But we must be onguard.”
“Agreed.” Dmitry turned to his group. “Okay, people, we’re going on. Everyone check their weapons and stay alert. Whoever made these scarecrows didn’t do it as an invitation.”
Dmitry took one last look back down the steep hill at the human skeleton. “So long comrade; may you rest in peace.” He waved them on. “Let’s go.”
He led them down and over the hill. The feeling of being watched only grew stronger.
*****
Within the line of bushes huge, hard-shelled bodies stayed motionless except for their eyestalks quivering with excitement as the small soft creatures headed to them.
Clawed hands slowly lifted nets, waiting.
CHAPTER 25
Senate Building, the Moscow Kremlin Complex, Russia
President Volkov’s pale and unblinking eyes were like chips of ice and seemed to see right into his soul.
General Voinovich swallowed. “There has been no response to our messages for twenty-four hours.” He felt the perspiration run down under his arms as he remained at attention. “There could simply be a technical malfunction, or they are passing through an area that will not allow transmission.”
“Or they could all be dead. Which might be a good thing.” Volkov leaned forward. “Or, they might have lost the transmitter or permanently damaged their equipment and are proceeding to their designated target.”
After a moment, Voinovich nodded slowly.
“And if they are successful, it would trigger an all-out American military response.” The president’s eyes narrowed. “General Voinovich, this was your project. And now your mess.” He rose to his feet. “Clean it up, or it is your head.”
Voinovich snapped to attention. “Yes, sir.”
“Get out,” Volkov said from between clenched teeth.
Voinovich turned on his heel and headed for the door.
“One more thing, General.”
Voinovich paused and turned. “Yes, sir.”
“Bring me the heads of our armed forces.” The president came around his desk. “We may have no choice but to strike before being struck.”
Voinovich exited and strode down the long, tiled corridor, his heels clicking ever faster on their polished surfaces. He knew without communication there was absolutely nothing he could do.
He suddenly wondered whether now was a good time to take that holiday he always dreamed of in Spain.
CHAPTER 26
The jungle began to change, moving from its usual cacophony of millions of living things to a growing pall of silence.
Ever since Harris had roused them from their rest break, he had pushed them hard trying to run down the Russian group. After several hours they had entered yet another jungle thicket, and this one nearly devoid of any creature over a foot tall. It was if they had all be pushed out, or maybe eaten.
The thought filled Jane with trepidation, but then again, everything about this place filled her with that dread sensation.
“Get down,” Harris hissed.
Mike and the rest of the group flattened themselves to the ground or took cover.
Up ahead, the man and woman broke from the jungle and sprinted hard along the track to the group’s places of concealment. They both wore a form of jungle fatigues that had glistening mud to the waist. The woman was in the lead and she was young, average height and looked terrified. The man was big, bristling with weapons, and looked formidable. They were going to pass right by them.
Harris made hand signals to Ally and she nodded in return. She pulled back into the foliage and vanished.
The woman went past first, and then when the man came close to them, Harris stood up, and used the butt of his gun against the side of the man’s head. The big guy went down with a grunt.
The woman in the lead half-turned and stopped to stare. From out of the foliage Ally appeared and silently put a knife to the woman’s throat. The woman said something in Russian and held up her hands. Ally then turned her around and shoved her back to the group.
“English?” Harris said to her, as the man was still on the ground, dazed and holding his head.
“Yes,” the woman said in a heavy accent. “Who are you?” she asked.
“We’ll get to that.” Harris smiled. “Your name and rank.”
She shook her head. “Nadia Zima. No rank, I am a scientist working for the Russian Institute of Science and Technology. I work in evolutionary biology.”
“So do I,” Alistair offered. “Specializing in entomology.”
“Shut up,” Harris barked at him, and then turned back to Nadia. “How many more of you are there?”
She seemed to think. “Seven, now, if all still alive. There were nine, then we lost…”
Harris cut across her. “Are they coming this way?”
She shook her head. “We got separated after we were attacked.”
“By who, what?” Harris asked.
“Things like people, but not people. After we passed through the scarecrows.”
“Scarecrows?” Jane asked.
“Yes, things erected to frighten us or warn us. We didn’t listen.” She snorted softly. “Creatures tied out on stakes. There was also a man, human, not dead more than a few years.” She looked up. “We think he was a westerner.”
Jane looked to Mike, who nodded.
“Ne govori im nichego,” the man said groggily from the ground.
Harris went to hit him again, but Nadia held out a hand to stop him.
“Mozhet byt’, oni mogut pomoch,” she said. “I tell Sasha, maybe you can help us.”
“Just tell us where your group is, and we’ll go see,” Harris said.
“Your turn. Who are you?” Nadia asked.
“Americans,” Jane offered. “On an exploratory expedition. We found your colleague, Mila. But she died, infected by something.” She glanced at Harris. “We decided to follow your trail to see who you were.” She tilted her head. “This man looks like Russian military. What are you doing here?”
“His name is Sasha, a good person.” Nadia glanced down at the man, who glared back up at her. He gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Harris saw it and cracked him again with the gun barrel, splitting his eyebrow.
“Stop.” Nadia held her hands out. “Please.”
“No secrets now, children,” Harris said with little sympathy.
“It’s a scientific mission…” she began.
Harris hit Sasha again, harder, making a crunching sound and this time making his ear bleed.
“Easy,” Mike said.
Harris looked up at Nadia and grinned. “My bullshit
detector just went off. Try harder.”
Her eyes went to Sasha again, and Jane could see the woman was clearly panicked about what to say. Sasha’s eyes darted for a moment, and then he went for Harris’ gun.
Harris was not just ready for him, but seemed to expect it. He took a step back allowing room for Sasha to leap at him. He then turned his gun sideways and shot the big Russian twice in the ribs. The soldier was blown back to lie on the ground gasping like a fish. Already bubbles of blood popped on his lips.
“You didn’t need to do that,” Mike yelled.
Nadia went to run, but Ally grabbed her by the scruff and kicked the legs out from under her, making her sprawl at their group’s center.
Harris crouched to grab Nadia’s hand and slowly stood bringing her with him. His face was grim. “Madam Nadia, believe me when I tell you this, we’re the good guys here. We have the angels on our side when we simply try and stop you from killing our people.” He stepped closer to her. “We know you destroyed our base in Estonia, killed over two hundred good men and women.”
Nadia’s mouth drew into a tight line for a moment. “I, I don’t know anything about that. I’m just…”
Harris turned and fired a third round into Sasha, this time into his head. The man bucked and lay still. Alistair shrieked, and Harris spun back to Nadia.
“Chasing you and your team has cost us some good people. And caused us no end of pain.” He indicated Penny who sat apart from them cradling her arm stump. “So if you think I now have any patience or mercy for Russian agents or their science team, then think again.” His expression was deadpan. “Start talking.”
Nadia brought her hands together. “I am a scientist, not a soldier or agent. There are three of us on the science team, and we had no idea what the soldiers were doing, until…”
“Until they goddamn destroyed our base.” Harris bared his teeth as he shouted the words into her face. “How? How did they do it?”
“I don’t…” She wilted under Harris’ glare. “I think, I think it was by using some sort of resonance pulser.”
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