“That’s no trick,” Razak said, pulling free from Molotov. “That’s blood, can’t be a trick. What the hell’s happening?”
“Uh… uh, I dunno, whadda we do?”
“That’s blood, that’s real blood, man. He can’t fake that!”
Aleksi’s feet were shaking so violently they hammered the floor, rattling the metal. The man tipped further forwards, dry heaving and screaming, maggots pulsing beneath a gooey soup of steaming blood.
“Oh, god, jeezus!” Razak yelled, watching little fuzzy heads press through Aleksi’s bloodied scalp. “The maggots, they’re hatching, they’re fricking hatching! This can’t be happening, man!”
Razak found himself transfixed by the giant Jurassic flies squeezing through bloodied holes on Aleksi’s scalp. He watched tiny forelegs scrabbling to clean Aleksi’s blood from their bulging black eyes, licking them clean and scraping madly. Aleksi had fallen still now, slumped, and Razak realized the screams filling the hold were his own. A wriggling fly dropped from Aleksi’s scalp and splatted to the floor, quickly followed by two more. Heavy, wet thuds. There, the newly born insects writhed like eels in mud, attempting to unfold their wings, forelegs continuing to scrape red goo from their dark eyes, mandibles wetly licking.
Noticing two of the flies were struggling to break free, Razak found himself walking forwards, desperate to see the nightmare come to an end. He winced and tugged at the insects. There was a slight resistance. Little mounds rose up, little volcanoes of skin resisting the birth of the bloodied monstrosities. With an awful sucking pop, the flies came free. They squirmed in Razak’s hands. He shrieked and dropped the pulsing insects to the ground.
Fixated by the little nightmares wriggling on the floor, cleaning their bodies in puddles of red gloop, Razak barely noticed Molotov tearing at Aleksi’s restraints. The first flies to hatch were already slowing, the blood slathering them losing its lustrous shine. They were freezing in place, hellish sculptures of iced blood, bulging eyes and hairy insect limbs.
“Help me,” Molotov shouted, lying Aleksi on the floor and fishing around the man’s mouth for his tongue. He leaned forwards and began performing CPR, blowing breaths and compressing the man’s chest. “It’s not working. Razak, what are you doing, snap out of it, I need you.”
Razak looked at the blood on his fingers and screamed again. The bloodied ice sculptures were still forming. One of the flies was losing the fight to free a leg that had become frozen to its eye. The limb tore from the socket under the struggling effort, where it spasmed and then relaxed.
“Wake up!” Molotov shouted, pounding Aleksi’s chest. “Screw you, wake up, not today!”
Aleksi’s ribcage suddenly swelled as he took a whistling intake of breath. He opened his eye, panting furiously, his face caked in blood.
“Who are you?” Aleksi said, staring between Molotov and Razak. “What’s happening?” He sat up, blood trickling from the holes in his scalp and scrabbled backwards, holding his hands up protectively, terrified. He gazed out the jet, across the icefield, his face contorting with confusion. “Huh, I don’t understand. Where am I, what are you doing to me?”
Treasure Island
R eece pulled himself up and over the final step leading to the temple, chest swelling and falling. He gazed up at the enormous stone door. The group converged around him, breathing heavily, all except Nori, who moved to examine the golden electric arrow inlayed into the towering door. Its imposing size was considerably more threatening than it had been from the safety of the fuel tank. The strange symbol brought to mind Poseidon’s trident. Reece almost felt he was standing before the entrance to Atlantis, atop the fabled Mount Olympus, the home of the Gods.
As the group caught their breath, high on the temple steps, exposed to an unrelenting chill wind, Reece heard the faint, but unmistakeable hooting trills of dinosaurs. Schweighofer had obviously heard it too. She began searching for the source of the sound across the ice.
“You hear that?” She said, searching left and right.
“I see them,” Nori replied, pointing. “It’s the vipers. Four miles out at ten o’clock, by the trees on the mainland.”
“I know animals,” Hadley said. “That’s not a happy noise.”
“Awww, we chased them from their home,” Scarlet said, moving up beside Hadley. “What if they’re trying to get back to their little ones?”
“We might have actually done them a favor,” Nori said. “They were probably trapped here. It’s moving into winter. Food will soon become scarcer than it already is. They wouldn’t be tending hatchlings at this time of year. They’ll have a much better chance on the mainland than this island.”
“No wonder they’re scared,” Scarlet said, pointing to the shadowy manta monsters slinking under the ice, brushing against the frozen surface then rolling into the depths, tendrils flowing past their dorsal and pectoral fins. “They’re everywhere.”
“Shark infested waters,” Hadley uttered in a low voice. “Maybe that’s why they built the temple out here, so it’d be protected?”
“Pirate treasure!” Fang exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. “What if they’re guarding treasure, ancient treasure?”
“It’s very unlikely the beings that built this place had the foresight to know these creatures would make this cove their home,” Nori said. “They’re likely harboring for winter, where the waters are warmer and the food more abundant. Their presence is almost certainly pure coincidence. Treasure on the other hand, that’s a possibility.”
“So, you mean it could be a treasure island?” Fang said, her voice rising excitedly. “You think that’s actually possible?”
“Sure,” Nori said, turning to the temple door. “If this is a store of artefacts from a civilization that passed into extinction, it would contain relics from their Da Vinci’s, Mozart’s, Tutankhamun’s, Galileo’s, Ming Dynasties, Apollo programs, wonderful things.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Fang said. “Lemme call a warhorse up here and let’s blast our way in. Pachow… gangbusters…”
“The first discovery confirming intelligence other than humans on this planet, and you wanna blow it up?” Commander Blake said in a deadpan tone. “There’s about a billion tonnes of rock hanging over our heads and you wanna… and I quote, blast our way in… pachow… gangbusters…”
“Yeah, award winning idea, Fang,” Hadley said.
“Little tap, little love tap to persuade it open,” Fang appealed.
There was a sudden grating sound, accompanied by a slight rumble underfoot. Everyone whirled and stared at Schweighofer, who was backing away from four enormous golden cylinders in recesses to the right of the door. She’d obviously moved one of the cylinders as it was still rocking on its casters.
“In case anyone was curious, these things move,” she said sheepishly, drawing her hand to her chest. “They move like prayer wheels. I saw something like this in Tibet once.”
“Schweighofer, how about you wait until we have a little more information before playing with the shiny things on the terrifying ancient temple,” Commander Blake said dully. “Why do I always have to feel like daddy day care here? Why are you all so painful all the time?”
“That’s, uh… yup, let’s go with that,” Schweighofer replied.
“It looks like the wheels are divided into sections, with dots on each side,” Hadley said, walking over. “They’re ascending, like numbers. It looks like zero to nine. It’s a four pin combination, see. D’you know what this means?” He said, turning to the group, who were looking on expectantly, eyes alight. “We might have finally found the key to unlock the Commander’s heart. This is incredible.”
The group burst into hearty peals of laughter.
“Very good,” the Commander said, making a noise that almost sounded like amusement, “but I don’t have a heart, I run on vinegar and battery acid, you know that.”
Reece turned his attention to the golden inlays to the left of the door, where Nori was e
xamining two images, one above the other. They appeared to be images of solar systems. The top image showed a single ringed orbit around a golden sun. The bottom image displayed a similar configuration, just there were too many orbiting planets and rings to count.
“Are those star maps?” Reece asked. “Solar systems?”
“No,” Nori replied, removing his backpack, setting it down and moving to examine the diagrams. “They’re atoms. A nucleus at the center, ringed by orbiting electrons.”
“Huh, atoms, why atoms? What’s that got to do with anything.”
“On the Voyager One probe, the first manmade object to leave the solar system, we attached a golden disc to the spacecraft. It displayed an image of the hydrogen atom, the most abundant element in the universe. The reasoning was that any intelligent species with a basic grasp of physics would recognize it. It was a handshake, or mindshake across the cosmos. Physics is the language of the universe, the language of mathematical constants, unchanging truth, free from tribal influence or design. It was set in gold so it wouldn’t ever rust or tarnish. Gold will last forever. That disc might even outlast the age of starlight.”
“Outlast the age of starlight? Damn. Well there’s a fun thought. So, if the top one’s hydrogen, what’s the one underneath?”
“That one is slightly more alarming,” Nori said. “It’s plutonium, arguably the most dangerous naturally occurring element in the universe. The two together could be indicating a spectrum. If this is an ark, it would contain items ranging from the most innocuous to the most hazardous. What puzzles me is the image next to the plutonium atom, you see, that downward pointing arrow with barbs coming off the shaft, like a fish skeleton from an old cartoon? The strange thing is, the same image is mirrored on the temple door, except the barbs on the door are jagged, like electric discharge.”
“Couldn’t that mean whatever’s inside is more dangerous than plutonium?” Becca interjected from behind. “If the fish skeleton next to the plutonium diagram is their radiation symbol, the electric one on the door’s gotta signify something worse, right?”
“It could be a warning, yes,” Nori replied, “but judging by the state of the disrepair to the exterior of the temple, and its obvious age, anything radioactively hazardous would have decayed to normal background levels by now. If there was something inside emitting harmful radiation, or something like it, you would all be very sick already. You wouldn’t be standing or talking.”
“But it could still be a warning,” Reece said. “Whatever’s inside could be deadly, double deadly.”
“Possibly, yes. If we do decide to open the door, we’ll send in the drones ahead of us to take readings. We’re not risking anyone’s life. If we detect anything untoward, we’ll leave immediately. We can probably trade the information we’ve gathered so far for our freedom as it is. Earth’s governments can use the star portal to come back here and investigate for themselves, using robots and biohazard suits, whatever they choose.”
“But the treasure,” Fang said. “We can’t leave the treasure.”
“We gotta see what’s inside,” Hadley protested. “We’ve come all this way. If I have to wonder what’s in there for the rest of my life, I’m gonna go nuts.”
“If it’s too dangerous, you’ll just have to go nuts,” Commander Blake said.
“But the treasure,” Fang appealed again.
“Treasure’s not worth your life, Fang.”
“I know…” she said, looking dejected, “I just liked the idea. I never get to find treasure.”
“No one’s getting any treasure if we can’t open the door,” Scarlet said. “No sending in drones, no scanning. Blasting was a bad option before, but now there’s no way. That door could be ten feet thick.”
“I might have an idea about that,” Nori said, walking towards the golden wheels. “The signal we picked up repeats every fourteen minutes and twenty seconds. I’ve been pondering how strange that number is.” He span the first wheel to the number one position and the temple’s edifice rumbled. “It seemed to me a very deliberate number. Coupled with the diagram of the hydrogen atom over there, I’m positive it’s a coded message. The oscillating frequency of hydrogen is one, four,” he moved the second prayer wheel to the position displaying four dots. The ground trembled with greater intensity. Nori spoke more loudly as he went.
“Two,” he said, spinning the third wheel to the embossed image of two dots. Booming clicks emanated from deep inside the great door. Nori paused, holding a robotic hand over the fourth wheel. “The final number is zero, completing the sequence, the wavelength of hydrogen and the repeating frequency of the transmission, fourteen minutes and twenty seconds, or one-four-two-zero. Are you sure you want to continue? I can’t guarantee anyone’s safety beyond this point. We can leave right now and take our chances back on Earth, it’s up to you.”
The group fell into a zombified silence, gazing at one another, faces painted with ethereal light reflecting off the golden wheels. The wind quietened down, as though also waiting for an answer to be cast.
“Do it,” Fang said softly. “We don’t have to go in.”
“Yeah, let’s at least look see,” Scarlet seconded.
“She’s right, we gotta at least see,” Hadley agreed.
Commander Blake looked at Becca and Reece.
“We all need to agree,” he said. “This is too big a decision to be made by one person. I for one am in.”
“Me also,” Becca said. “Like Fang says, we don’t have to go inside.”
“We scan before we go in?” Reece asked Nori.
“Absolutely. The wasps will be able to detect any toxins or radiation.”
“Then we go home?”
“Then we go home,” Nori replied.
“Heck, why not,” Reece said, throwing up a hand. “We’ve come this far, right?”
“Yes!” Fang exclaimed, pumping the air. “Let’s get our treasure on. Pachow… gangbusters.”
Nori span the final wheel. He suddenly clamped his hand down, stopping the spinning kaleidoscope of shimmering gold so it displayed an empty pane. The number zero.
Thunderous chunking blasts rocked the temple. There was a series of explosive cracks, like giant latches disengaging in sequence. The door began to scrape aside. Wind blasted from the temple’s interior, birthing a cry that shrieked into the desolate world of ice and snow.
Emergency Room
T he haunting moan that echoed from the distant mountains turned Molotov’s blood to ice. It seemed to sweat from the world into his ears. The ground quaked, rattling the cargo netting, ropes and carabiners hanging from moorings across the starjet. Aleksi whined fearfully, drawing Molotov’s mystified gaze. Blood continued to ooze from wounds across the man’s scalp. Razak was charging towards the galley. He ripped open a storage locker and began rifling through, dragging the contents to the floor. Molotov turned back to the mountains. A misty ringlet was spreading from their base, unsettling flakes of snow and ice, which gathered and rolled with the engorging foggy wave.
“Wha… no…” he stammered, watching the bizarre phenomenon pass through ranks of phantom figures, forms without substance, outlines briefly revealed before becoming swallowed. “No, that’s not real, you’re just in shock. That can’t be real.”
He looked away and rubbed his eyes.
“Who are you?” Aleksi cried, his bloodied hands clasped and begging. “Please, why are you doing this to me? Why did you bring me here, please, why are you hurting me?”
Panic hitting an all-time-high, confused witless, Molotov jumped up and launched for the loading ramp control button. He punched the plunger, cracking the plastic housing. The ramp creaked and began to close.
“C’mon, c’mon…” Molotov pleaded, watching the foggy wave encroach.
Razak dashed back across the hold and slammed a medical kit on the floor beside Aleksi. He tore it open, ripped through a handful of sachets with his teeth, then set to swabbing Aleksi’s bloodied scalp.
“It’s okay, I got you, you’re fine. I’m just gonna seal your wounds. I’m gonna help, just relax.”
“Please stop hurting me,” Aleksi snivelled.
“What if it’s a trick?” Molotov said as the ramp eased shut and the harsh interior halogen lights blinked on.
“Some things you can’t fake, man,” Razak replied, breathing quickly as he worked. “Pass me the artificial skin spray, that can, yeah, the green one. Then get him a blanket. There are loads back there, get two, as many as you can. He’s in shock. It’s bad. We gotta get him warm.”
“Bad?” Aleksi whimpered.
“No, no, it’s okay, you’re just in shock. We just need to get you warm. You’re gonna be fine, trust me. Hey, let me work,” Razak said soothingly, pushing down Aleksi’s shielding hands. “I’m trying to help, promise.”
Aleksi continued to tremble and whimper beneath the blankets Molotov draped across him. Molotov looked on as Razak stemmed the blood welling from Aleksi’s scalp, liberally spraying a waxy coating of artificial skin. He worked carefully and caringly. By the time Razak had patched the man’s wounds, the cargo hold looked like a medical tent in a Civil War era warzone, where hundreds of terrible injuries had been treated as speedily as possible, leaving little if no time to clean away the mess of red rags and surgical waste. Aleksi’s eyes were closed and his shivering seemed to have stabilized. Molotov collected further pink woollen blankets, which he and Razak used to swaddle Aleksi.
Razak gazed towards the frozen flies on the floor by the port side seats. With the loading ramp closed and the interior rising in temperature, they were already beginning to thaw, becoming morbid piles of hairy wet slop. One of the insects wasn’t quite dead. A single wing fuzzed sporadically, spraying yet more red horror across the hold.
Jurassic Earth Trilogy Box Set Page 47
