Whatever Gods May Be

by George P. Saunders

  Getting her own bearings, Valry noted that she had been thrown quite a distance. She had landed at the base of the slope of the crater; a few hundred feet above her lay safety and refuge from the hellish conditions now prevailing below.

  But thoughts of escape eluded Valry. All she could see was her precious Stinger in mortal peril. Hysterically, she floundered in the mud pit, clawing and screaming at the same time.

  "Thalick!" she yelled into the deafening roar of the storm while waving her arms frantically to get the shocked Stinger's attention. "Over here!"

  The air was getting hotter, and Valry could feel her entire body start to tingle. In a few minutes, the temperatures would skyrocket several hundred degrees higher as the weird ionization surged to a fevered pitch; a few moments later and Valry knew she would roast slowly from electrocution.

  "Get away, Thalick:" she hollered desperately, extricating a leg from the thick muck that held her. Though five hundred yards away Valry could still feel the powerful suction of the twister fighting for her.

  The Stinger's extraordinary senses could perceive every thought and word Valry relayed to him, but his reaction and motor impulses had slowed down from the blast shock. With a kind of drunken fascination, he watched the twister's approach. The lightning that had earlier posed so much threat to himself and the girl was imprisoned within the unholy conflagration of wind and rock, sparkling and flashing periodically with trapped menace.

  Like some unearthly serpent, the twister lashed from side to side with a speed that was surprising for its enormous mass. Within seconds, it had covered a hundred yards of ground, moaning horribly all the way, as it plowed towards the dazed Thalick with eerie relentlessness.

  Because of the heat and gale force winds, Valry was forced to ascend the slope. Wisely, she crawled on all fours, keeping as much of her body as flat as possible so as to avoid being struck by racing debris. But even as she retreated, she continued yelling into the ferocious winds.

  "Your wings, Thalick. Use your wings." Thalick had reoriented himself sufficiently so as to push off towards the slopes ahead, but the speeding twister was gaining on him. He was losing too much fluid through his belly wound and was manifesting symptoms of the bends. The Stinger's system was bound and linked to enormous pressures maintained internally; any dramatic loss or alteration of such carefully balanced forces affected function to every cell in his body. Left untreated, Thalick would immediately go dormant to allow the intricate fail-safe systems within his body take over and heal the damaged tissue.

  Under less hectic conditions, hibernation would be the recommended therapy. An hour-long sleep would do the trick, and the Stinger would awaken as good as new. Thalick struggled against the euphoria enveloping him, realizing that to go dormant now would possibly lead to a much longer sleep than he desired.

  "Open your wings," Thalick heard again through the rumbling crescendoing around him.

  Wings, Thalick kept hearing through clouded thoughts. Someone wanted him to open his wings, but he wasn't completely sure who was calling to him.

  Then he remembered. Valry was out here someplace. His focus grew cloudier with each second, but he could still make out the slopes ahead of him. Stumbling and weaving, he struggled to keep his attention on the plateau wall in front of him.

  The tornado was almost on top of the Stinger, and from where Valry was positioned, the Stinger looked totally drawled by the frightening storm. Demonically, it weaved side to side appearing to almost study its helpless prey before striking. The split-second delay, gave Thalick the time he needed.

  The periphery of the twister struck Thalick just as he spread two veiny wings. Six tons of flying claw and tail soared over Valry's head and out of sight into the thick woods above. She did not even hear the Stinger crash gracelessly into the trees, because the tornado took a decidedly new approach to its attack; one that put the helpless girl directly in its path.

  Relief mingled with terror, as Valry stared at the oncoming twister. As if cheated from something hot and delicious, the storm hissed and spat with a vengeance. Valry grappled for footing as she climbed higher on the slope, but at her present pace, the twister would be upon her before she reached higher ground. Already, the tornado was breaking up, which attenuated to a certain degree the velocity of the winds circulating in the crater valley. She was no longer actually feeling the storm pull at her as it approached. But this was little comfort, since the generated electrical energy that the storm had produced would continue to soar until the twister died out completely.

  Dizzy and fighting off nausea, Valry looked around herself desperately. She was already absorbing a good dose of voltage, and the shock to her system was taking effect. If she did not find cover in the next few seconds, she would either be ripped to pieces by the twister as it slammed into the slope or cooked alive by the electric fallout.

  The twister was a hundred yards away when she caught sight of the small, foreboding hole a few feet above her. Under normal circumstances, caves were things to be avoided unquestioningly; the assortment of oozing obscenities that frequented such places had a penchant for human flesh and the chances for emerging again undigested were dismally slim.

  In this instant, however, Valry didn't hesitate for a second. Dragging herself on her belly, she entered the darkness head first, crawling as far as she could into it before running into rock wall.

  The twister slammed into the slope, pulverizing several tons of bedrock and mud. The cave shuddered and brought a rain of stones and debris hailing down on Valry, as well as outside junk being forced through the small aperture from the tornado's impact. The ground beneath her heaved and shook a moment longer, then quieted down completely.

  Valry turned on herself and glanced towards the cave's entrance. She had crawled for fifty yards after she had entered, yet the force of the twister had decimated so much of the mountain, that only a hundred feet separated herself from the newly formed cave mouth.

  Outside, wind and rock still prevailed; had she exited at this point, she would have been killed instantly. The twister had disappeared, but the hundred mile winds would continue bouncing off the walls of the crater valley for another hour, generating electrical currents well over several thousand megawatts in magnitude.

  Even with solid stone as insulation, Valry could still feel the penetrating electricity prickle her entire body. The sensation was irritating if no longer dangerous, and Valry decided to move yet deeper into the cave.

  It suddenly occurred to her that the tunnel she was so courageously advancing into may not be vacated. The thought brought her to a dead halt.

  The cave was black as pitch, and Valry couldn't even see her hand in front of her. She fought back the terror that threatened to rise within her. A few minutes earlier outside, she had not considered twice the possibility of something unpleasant residing in the cave waiting for a meal to come its way. Now, she felt the walls closing in around her, with every loose piece of dirt that crumbled nearby signaling the arrival of a famished predator that could see her but which was invisible to her own eyes.

  Something crawled over her hand, and she screamed. She tried to rise to her knees, but cracked her head on the cave ceiling. Panic welled up within her; it was all she could do not to throw herself backward and outside amidst the screaming maelstrom of wind and lightning. She began to cry softly to herself. She knew she had a fever and could feel chills running over her body, and she wondered if the radiation she had taken in already was killing her certainly and if to even continue to fight on was really important.

  The cave that had saved her life suddenly became clammy and hateful. Her eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light that flowed in from outside, as well as a few phosphorescent minerals irradiating weakly from the floors and walls. Somewhere further down the cave's endless maw, water dripped from above. There was something else too, a sound that made her teeth chatter loudly together.

  Almost inaudible, a rustling noise filled the cave. Valry hugged her
knees and backed up, her eyes fighting for focus as she retreated.

  The rustling sound grew louder and Valry knew that whatever was approaching her could be no more than a few feet from where she was hunched over on hands and knees.

  Something even blacker than the surrounding darkness loomed towards the back of the cave where she had moments ago been resting. Valry froze, not even breathing.

  For a moment the shadowy mass didn't move either. The rustle had ceased, and the only noise that hummed through the oppressive cave was the outside shriek of electrified wind, rain and stone battering against the slopes.

  Suddenly, a glow filled the blackness. It was not a natural light and it was not blinding. But it was the most terrifying light Valry had ever seen.

  She was trapped. The thing in front of her knew it. A moment later, and the darkness again grew brighter. For this time, the hellfire eyes were accompanied by a smiling set of fangs that glowed and smiled with victory.

  A low devilish growl joined the drooling grin. Valry darted to her side, praying that the cave was wider than it was deep. She did not look back.

  The growl snarled into a surprised shriek. Valry crawled on her elbows and knees until the ground disappeared beneath her.

  A moment later and all terror vanished completely in a much more peaceful blackness.

  * * *

  The vampire was starving.

  For an entire night, since its eviction from the nearby city, it had not fed. Quivering with weakness, the creature lapped at its wounds for nourishment, occasionally chewing on an already tattered limb when the hunger became too strong. It's body flamed with agony, but so exhausted was the vampire after barely escaping the funnel and the immolating daylight, that it could barely utter a whimper of discomfort. There was still one arm left, so it would not actually die of famishment, but the vampire sensed that it would shortly require a more substantial alternative.

  Injured accidentally by one of the trained Jumpers, the vampire had been forced to escape from the Redeye city. In the vampire community the hurt or dying were no longer considered viable participants, but instead, a new source of food. In this respect, the race always remained reverently economical; one who was about to die, was allowed the supreme satisfaction of witnessing its own funeral procession. This rare tribute, unfortunately, entailed being eaten alive. The vampire crouched at the back of the cave had decided against enjoying such high honors, and had made a hasty departure from the company of his salivating cohorts.

  It found the outside world even more gruesome to deal with. Racing aboveground, by morning the vampire had found itself in the crater valley, with no immediate shelter nearby to shield itself from the new day. Panicked, the vampire created its own tomb, by burrowing into the softest ground it could find until nightfall.

  The Light funnel had formed midday, and it proceeded to strip the valley floor of all topsoil. Painfully s'2rprised, the mangled vampire suddenly discovered itself to be exhumed, and quickly being melted by the dim light that peeked through from the black clouds above.

  Screaming in terror and agony, the vampire had stumbled blindly through the storm's beginning, searching for someplace to hide its burning flesh. It was only vaguely aware of the giant Stinger and the human girl also in the valley trying to escape the growing intensity of the storm, but even so, the vampire cared very little for what these two enemies were doing. Driven by pain, the vampire made for the crater slopes away from the funnel's oncoming ferocity, concerned only with preserving its evil existence for yet awhile longer.

  Miraculously, the vampire had found the cave. But, now, while the rock walls around it provided suitable comfort and safety from the still raging storm outside, the vampire became horribly aware of how starved it was. A basically, stupid creation, the vampire assuaged these initial pangs of hunger with self-devourment. It could never have hoped to understand that it's own flesh was worthless to perpetuating its existence, since the vampire's brain functioned only on a motor level.

  The creature would have consumed itself completely in time had it not seen the far more appetizing human morsel enter the cave entrance. Salivating uncontrollably, the vampire crouched in the damp corner of the cave, barely able to believe its stunning good luck. Though anxious to pounce, the vampire moved slowly toward the unsuspecting girl, deducing correctly that it possessed the advantage of surprise. It could have settled for a direct attack, but in the vampire's weakened condition, it would much prefer to have killed silently without a struggle.

  Unlike its legendary cousin of Earth eons before, the vampire was not a thing of elegant horror. It's preternatural instincts included none of the enviable abilities of its mythical predecessor, such as physical transformation or hypnotic powers used to render prey helpless and inactive. The Redeye vampire was instead a lifeless organism that resembled a small monkey, with a mouthful of yellow, decaying fangs and a diabolical stench that would have sent tuxedo-donning Transylvanian ancestors howling with disgust. A remarkably weak creature, the Redeye vampire nevertheless was one of the fastest things on the planet.

  It was this last, deadly asset that the stalking vampire in the cave wished to rely on fully in its preparation for the kill.

  Something crunched beneath its feet, though, and with a sudden, misercble realization, the vampire knew that it had attracted Valry's attention. Though incapable of linear logic, the creature somehow had the feeling that it shouldn't make much of a difference. There would be a struggle, it thought instinctively -- but the conclusion of the fray would not be surprising.

  Grinning, the vampire. watched the girl move away from it. Quickly, it's sickened and rotting limbs prepared for the death lunge.

  Suddenly, the food was gone. The vampire shrieked with frustration, as Valry seemed to be swallowed up by the cave floor. It crawled over to the pit in which Valry had fallen, and stared down into the darkness. Immediately, it spotted the unconscious figure of the food sprawled out below. The vampire, somewhat disappointedly, saw that the human had fallen into some kind of underwater grotto. Valry's body lay half submerged in water and . .

  Again, the vampire howled in astonishment.

  For now, it seemed, that it's dinner was being taken away by some mysterious ally. Furious, the vampire growled and snapped at its oozing body, while staring at the slug move out of the line of sight and taking the lifeless girl with it.

  The vampire engaged in a moment of apoplectic temper tantrums before deciding to descend into the grotto. Like most vampires, it did not like being near water, though ironically, most of the worldwide habitations of the Redeyes were close to large bodies of the wretched liquid. This demographic anomaly was mainly explained by the Jumpers' necessity for moisture, but it was still a medium that the vampires only barely tolerated.

  Slithering down the dank interior of the cave shaft leading to the river below, the vampire growled painfully to itself. Oblivious to everything, except the smell of fresh meat and blood, the Redeye abomination failed to detect another presence in the cave aside from the mindless slug and the girl ahead. It was an oversight that would prove most unpleasant for the crippled vampire in a very little while -- and unfortunately for Valry Phillips as well.

  * * *

  Zolan's attention was torn from the control console. He had heard a scream.

  "Who's there?"

  But there was no reply. Only the slight hum from the glossary console at his elbow broke the Rover's nonfunctioning silence.

  Zolan shook his head, feeling a little dizzy -- and perhaps just a little frightened.

  And then he remembered the dream.

  She had called out to him again. She had seemed so real. Panic welled up inside of him. Was he going mad? So soon?

  Suddenly, he heard it. Water. Zolan's reaction was instantaneous and confused. There was no water in the Hall.

  Zolan jumped from his seat, groaning as his head spun in a still-stunned frenzy from the crack to it earlier, as well as the scorching treatment to his
eyes. He staggered over to the nearest wall and listened.

  Nothing.

  Growling irritably, he moved over to another bulkhead and put his ear against it. This time, there was no mistake. Though Zolan had spent very little time near one in the past few centuries, either on Earth or any number of GCPP planets, there was no mistaking the universal sounds of a seashore.

  Zolan's heart beat excitedly. The Rover had done it again! The disconcerting dreams of only a few seconds ago were forgotten in the euphoric wake of his new discovery. For the next ten minutes, he simply hopped around from wall to wall, craning his ear to hear the precious noises of terra firma.

  Gradually, cold logic replaced his momentary surge of childlike excitement. Because the Rover had obviously set down on a world instead of remaining in the Hall, did not promise Zolan that his situation was vastly improved. The ship's brain core was still nonoperational, which meant he could neither identify the location of this planet, nor determine if it was one he could survive on for an indefinite period of time. Nor could he activate a rescue beacon to the deep space satellites speckled across GCPP territory. In the Hall or not, Zolan Rzzdik was still a very lonely and isolated man.

  Zolan suddenly grinned. Well, it doesn't matter. Even the sounds of an outside and alien world, were better than no sounds at all. Zolan gave the bulkhead a grateful pat.

  "Good boy, Rover," he said sincerely. Possibly he was being prematurely optimistic; the planet outside could be a poisonous hellhole, and the ocean he had listened to made up of liquid methane. Zolan felt this was unlikely, mainly because if the Rover had been able to bring itself to a safe landing, it would not have chosen an environment that was deadly for its sole occupant. Nevertheless, when Zolan descended to the lower levels of the Rover, he checked the consoles to the outside exit. All of the gauges were frozen to the last points before the Rover had pulled its own plug, and as he had suspected they all registered positively. Though there was considerable background radiation and an odd flux reading, the surface temperature and atmospheric count were all within the realms of livability. Possibly, the Rover had chosen a touchdown point near one of the planet's poles, which would readily explain the last set of figures Zolan was studying.