The Black: Arrival

by Paul E. Cooley

  Chuckles gritted his teeth. “Fucking douche!” He took another step forward and immediately regretted it.

  The creature’s tentacles had been growing, but he’d been too distracted to realize it. One of them flung outwards and smashed the hand holding the flashlight. The snap of his broken wrist was punctuated by the light flying into the wall where it shattered. The halogen light went out.

  He screamed and held his ruined hand. The creature pulled back its tentacles. They thumped on the floor in an alien rhythm. Chuckles backed away.

  The thing walked forward on its legs, its talons clicking on the concrete as the sprinkler system continued its incessant shower.

  “You fucking douche!” Chuckles screamed at it.

  The thing pressed forward. Dozens of tentacles streamed out of its midsection. They lengthened and lengthened until they were behind him. Chuckles, still cradling his wrist, grinned at the thing through the pain.

  “You goddamned, douche,” he said. “I hope you get a fucking sunburn!”

  He barely felt the pain when the hooks smashed into his back, but he was conscious enough to scream as three of the mouths crunched down on his head and shoulders.

  Chapter 7

  The skybridge had been vacant. The thing obviously hadn’t visited much of the new building. The sheetrock and carpet was still intact. That much, at least, had gone according to plan.

  Mike had ushered Hoyt to the new NOC, his head constantly swiveling so he could look behind them. He hoped Chuckles was successful. Not to mention okay. He’d never forgive himself if he’d sent the man on a suicide mission.

  When they reached the NOC, a haggard looking Bill, Neil, Kate, Jay, and Maeve were waiting outside the door. They stood in a less than organized line looking down the hallway.

  Mike frowned as he approached them. “You tried the door?” he called out.

  “Yeah,” Neil said. “No dice. Our cards don’t work.”

  Mike walked to the door, produced his key card, and swiped it. The LED light turned green and the lock beeped. He winked at Neil. “Being the boss has privileges.”

  He swung the door open and noise immediately filled the hall. The environmental lights came on and showered them in brightness. Mike pointed to the NOC control room. “Get in there.”

  Kate and Maeve went first, followed by the rest. Mike closed the door behind them and then stopped. The control room was packed shoulder to shoulder. “Shit,” Mike said. “Well, guess I didn’t think about how many people we had.”

  “Room was built for three people,” Neil said. He was standing as far away from Kate and Maeve as he could to give them room. But mother and daughter still looked cramped.

  Mike grinned. “Well, I hate to say it, but the folks with the most clothes are you science types. Including Dr. Hoyt here. So maybe y’all could get your ass in the server room.”

  Mike walked to the inner door and swiped his key card. The lock beeped and he swung the door open. A tremendous wave of sound filled the small chamber. Fans, spinning drives, and the deafening A/C system were enough to make him wish he was at a Motorhead concert.

  He pulled the sets of hearing protection off the walls. They had three. Mike cursed. He could send Bill, Neil, and Jay in there, but no one else. At least not for too long.

  “Dr. Hoyt? Can you go in there without these?” he asked raising one of the sets of headphones.

  She nodded. “Have hearing protection in my helmet. Not a problem.”

  “Okay, good. The room isn’t all that loud for short stints, but I guarantee you’re going to want it if you’re in there a while.” Mike pointed inside the server room. Bill muttered something he couldn’t hear as he grabbed a pair of the heavy headphones and put them on. The older man walked into the room, immediately grabbing his arms to stay warm.

  Jay and Neil followed suit, as did Hoyt. When they were all in the room, Mike shut the inner door, walked into the control room, and shut its door. The sound of the server room immediately ceased.

  Mike sighed and then forced a smile. Kate and Maeve were looking at him. He slapped his hands together. “Well, folks, let’s settle down for a long wait.”

  Kate sat against the wall, Maeve practically in her lap. The girl wasn’t yet thirteen, but she was already taller than her mother. Her hurt shoulder slumped and the top looked swollen. Not good.

  Mike knelt and looked at the tool chests beneath the consoles. Tools, parts, cables. That was it. “Why the hell didn’t Chuckles requisition a goddamned fridge?”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “Probably because a little spill would fry your wonderful new computer system.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, okay. Fine. You’re right.” The goddamned NOC didn’t even have a first aid kit. If they got out of this, he’d make sure that was addressed.

  The heavy metal table creaked as he leaned against it. He swung his head toward Kate. “You want to tell me what the hell that thing is?”

  Maeve whimpered. Kate shushed her and stroked her hair. “I honestly don’t know. The M2 didn’t react to the scanning electron microscope. And we didn’t exactly have a chance to study the NMR.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Is that test still running?”

  She shrugged. “No clue. Unless Chuckles sent the data here. If he sent it to the old NOC…” She didn’t bother finishing the sentence.

  “Right.” Mike sighed. “Goddammit. If I see Simpson again, I’m kicking him in the balls for sending us this shit.”

  Kate shook her head. “Those people on the rig. I wonder how many of them are already dead.”

  “Probably a lot of them. Not exactly any place for them to go.” Mike looked through the glass window into the server room. The four scientists were huddled together on the hard tile floor, backs against the server racks. He could see their mouths moving, but the sound proofing in the control room made it impossible to have any idea what they were saying to one another.

  “It didn’t start out this big, did it?”

  Kate bit her lip. “No, Mike. It didn’t. It was a couple of liters. That’s it. And once it started consuming matter, it just kept getting larger.”

  “What the hell could do that?”

  “Monster from outer space,” Maeve said. Her eyes were scrunched in pain. “Something not from our world.”

  “Certainly not something our science can explain,” Kate said. “But you’re right, dear.” She kissed the back of her daughter’s head. “It’s not anything we’ve ever seen in nature.”

  Mike clucked his tongue. “You say Marie got infected from a dollop of this crap?”

  “Yup,” Kate said. She wiped a tear from her exhausted face. “Spread through her entire body in a matter of hours. Consumed her.”

  “I could be wrong,” Mike said, “but that sounds like a virus or bacteria, doesn’t it?”

  Kate nodded. “Yeah. But didn’t act like anything biological. Shit, its atomic structure didn’t even react to the SEM. It was like we were shooting energy at a black hole.”

  “Black hole,” Mike mused. He chuckled. “Sounds about right.”

  “That Hoyt woman said they were already talking to PPE and the rig.” Kate cleared her throat. “Wonder if they’re going to try and save anyone from there. Or if it’s already too late.”

  The lights went out in the server room. Mike’s jaw dropped open and then he closed it as the lights came back on. Jay was waving his hands at the motion sensors. “I forgot the damned lights go off when there’s no movement.”

  Kate sighed. “You heard from Chuckles?”

  Mike pulled out his phone and looked at it. He had an email. He narrowed his eyes and unlocked the phone. The security system had sent him a message telling him it was offline. “All right, Chuckles!” He grinned at Kate. “The security system is offline. He got it done.”

  She smiled. “Make sure that asshole is on his way over here.”

  Mike laughed and typed up a new text. “With any luck, he’ll be able to hear his phone in t
he old NOC. God that place is loud.” He clicked “send” and put the phone in his shirt pocket. “Going to be crowded in here.”

  Maeve hissed in pain. “Mom? Did I break my shoulder?”

  Kate sighed. “Maybe. Just try not to use it, baby.”

  “Don’t call me that,” Maeve said, but there was no angst in her voice. “I’m not a baby.”

  Kate kissed the back of her head again and then looked up at Mike. “How long are we going to stay in here? We can’t stay here forever.”

  Mike nodded. “I know.” He tapped his foot. “Maybe Hoyt will get an update from her people.”

  “We have landlines in here?” Kate asked.

  He glanced at the console, saw the cordless phone, and picked it up. He pushed the talk button and listened. “No. Nothing.” He slammed it down back on the console. “Cell phone only.”

  “Well, at least we have that,” she said. “So we don’t have a real plan.”

  Mike shook his head. “This was my plan. You come up with something better, you tell me.”

  She sighed. “There’s no place that’s safe. Not even in here.”

  “You said this thing can’t eat metal, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Well, this room is shielded. Sheet metal in the walls, a ton of sound-proofing.” A grin spread across his face. “If we could get downstairs into the lab area, we’d be behind metal walls.”

  “Mike, the new labs aren’t even ready yet. They don’t have the damned ceilings up. Too many exposed ducts. Too many ways for that thing to get in.” Kate sighed. “Besides, you think the cops or soldiers or whatever the hell is waiting outside hasn’t already got that covered?”

  “Good question. And a good point.” The light in the server room went out again. It flicked back on, catching Jay in the middle of an impressive impression of an airplane marshal. When he finally dropped his hands, Jay was still moving them around, but in excitement. Mike saw the looks on the other scientists’ faces. They all looked excited. Except for Hoyt. She just looked pale. “What the hell?”

  “What?” Kate asked.

  “Either Jay had an epiphany, or he’s about to stroke out.”

  *****

  Why in the hell did it have to be so damned cold? Jay understood that servers needed to be kept cool, but this was overkill. He didn’t know if it was because the building wasn’t finished and the temperature had dropped outside, or if it was because Chuckles had designed the room to double as a meat locker.

  Hoyt sat next to him, Bill and Neil across from them. Hoyt had her arms crossed and sat cross-legged. Bill stared at the ceiling, his legs spread out. Neil’s loafers were mere inches from Jay’s running shoes.

  “Might be time to get some new soles, Neil.”

  Neil chuckled. “Been hearing that for years,” he said. “Besides, Jay, when’s the last time you bought a new pair of shoes?”

  “Well,” Jay shrugged, “you have a point.”

  Bill sighed. His eyes drifted down to look at Hoyt. “How long are we stuck here?”

  Jay glanced at him and fought back his own sigh. Bill was too goddamned old to be playing the “are we there yet?” game. She’d already given that answer. Asking it again wasn’t going to be much help.

  “Until they tell us we can leave,” Hoyt said. Her voice was barely audible through the hearing protection.

  “You tried contacting them?” Bill yelled.

  Hoyt looked up at him. Her face was lined with exhaustion and she looked like she was in shock. She opened her mouth and then closed it. She reached down and clicked the radio on her belt. She swiveled a knob and the radio beeped loud enough for Jay to hear through his ear protection.

  “Control, this is Hoyt,” she said into her headset.

  Jay barely heard the response. He pulled off his headgear and the angry sound of fans and drives punished his ears. He leaned toward Hoyt so he could hear.

  “Hoyt. This is control.” A wave of static hit the channel. “What is your situation? Over.”

  She looked up and regarded the three men before clearing her throat. “We have a hostile organism, repeat, hostile organism in building 1. We have moved to the NOC in building 2. Second floor, far down the hall from the skybridge. Over.”

  There was a pause. “Acknowledged. We have received communications with PPE rig Leaguer, source of the infection. We have very few resources available to help you at this time. Ben Taub has been overrun. Repeat, Ben Taub has been overrun. Over.”

  Hoyt frowned. “Hostile organism at the hospital? Over.”

  “Affirmative, Hoyt. We have no way to extract you to a safe quarantine area at this time. Hole up and stay safe. Over.”

  She growled. “Control? What the hell are we supposed to do? Light a campfire, sing some songs?”

  Another pause. “We will update you as soon as we have more information. Over and out.”

  “Acknowledged.” Hoyt hit another button on the radio and the static died from the speakers. “Fucking acknowledged,” she said.

  “Great,” Bill said. “Just great. I have to piss, I’m hungry, and these assholes aren’t going to do a damned thing to help us.” He glared at Hoyt. “Our tax dollars at work.”

  She sighed and then her eyes bored into Bill’s. “Mr. Field? Did you hear what they said? Ben Taub has been overrun.”

  Bill rubbed his hands together. “So the hell what?”

  A sinking feeling hit Jay’s stomach. “Shit.”

  “What?” Bill asked.

  Jay turned to Hoyt. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

  She nodded. “Yup. It means that as far as they know, everyone in that hospital is dead.”

  Bill gulped. “That’s a huge hospital.”

  “No shit,” Neil said. “Like over 500 beds big. Not to mention the ER, the support staff, nurses, doctors, and visitors.” He shook his head. “Jesus, we are so screwed.”

  “Worse than that,” Jay said. “Think about how much that thing had to eat? We have the little one.”

  The color drained out of Bill’s face. “We have the little one?”

  Jay nodded. “If the progression of growth is consistent. I don’t know if it gets as much nourishment from inorganic versus organic material, but think about how much of both it has in a hospital. I can’t imagine how large it is.”

  Neil giggled. He sounded half-mad. “Always thought Houston would get eaten by a hurricane, not some goddamned blob.”

  “You’re oversimplifying it, Neil,” Jay said. “By a lot. It started it out as a bit of oil here. How long did it take it to start, well, behaving like an animal? It didn’t have to eat much to be able to grow limbs.”

  Neil frowned. “Yeah. You’re right.” He bit his lip. “Maybe the oil is actually some kind of larval stage for it.”

  “Larval?” Bill asked. “Fuck me. If that’s the larval stage, I don’t want to know what the final growth stage is.”

  Hoyt kicked her legs out. “If one drop of that shit was enough to not only kill Ms. Krieger—”

  “Her name was Marie,” Jay growled.

  “Sorry,” Hoyt said. “If one drop was enough to not only kill Marie, but use her body for exponential growth, there’s no telling how damned big that thing is. Or what it could be once it reaches critical mass.”

  Jay hissed through his teeth. “Critical mass. Maybe that’s the key.”

  “What?” Neil said. “What are you talking about?”

  The lights went off. Jay waved his hands and they came back on.

  “Just, well, listen. Leaguer drilled into M2. They obviously hit oil or something they thought was oil, right?”

  “Yeah, so?” Bill asked.

  Jay grinned. “What we’ve seen from the M2 substance is that once it reaches a certain size, or accumulates some level of mass, it’s able to transform itself. Produce limbs, for instance. But it can also reabsorb them, right? Those appendages, they weren’t as dark as the rest of its body. It was like—” He searched for
a word. “Whatever it transforms looks different. Not as rich. Reflects more light. Whatever.”

  Hoyt sighed. “I’m waiting for a point, Dr. Hollingsworth.”

  “The point, my dear Dr. Hoyt, is that maybe it’s actually transitioning to its final form. Perhaps its pseudo-limbs are some kind of, I don’t know, shell?”

  “Shell?” Bill chuckled. “I think you’ve been smoking weed again.”

  Jay shrugged. “I don’t know enough biology to say it right.”

  “Oh, shit,” Neil said. His eyes glowed with excitement. “You’re thinking of seashells.”

  Jay blinked. “I guess.”

  “If this, um, creature,” Neil said, “can synthesize proteins, then it could in theory produce solid layers of matter.”

  Bill laughed. “No animal on earth can produce protein structures and minerals that fast. Nothing like that exists in nature! You’re nuts!”

  “When science doesn’t make sense, we keep digging until it does,” Jay said. “But think about it. This, whatever it is, burrows beneath the ocean floor and sits there for, who knows how many millennia. It surrounds itself with hardened matter and more or less becomes one with the ocean floor.”

  “And then leaguer drilled through that layer?” Hoyt asked.

  Jay nodded.

  “I think you’re in shock, Dr. Hollingsworth,” she said. “That’s about as far-fetched an idea as I’ve ever heard.”

  “Of course it is,” Jay said. The buzz in his brain was nearly impossible to contain. He knew he was on to something. Just knew it. “If it could synthesize that fast, why couldn’t it reabsorb as well?”

  “To what end, though? That doesn’t make evolutionary sense,” Bill said.

  “Without knowing the lifecycle, it’s impossible to tell,” Neil said. “I mean, we’ve never seen anything like this in nature. It replicates like a virus, can consume an animal exponentially larger than itself, change its form at will, and consume anything that’s not metal, concrete, or glass.”

  “That we know of,” Jay said. “It might be able to chew on a lot more. Or,” he licked his lips, “there may be more things it can’t eat.” The lights went out again. Jay waved his hands and the lights returned. “If it can’t eat densely packed atomic structures, what else couldn’t it eat?”