by Greig Beck
“Adapt or die—sounds like survival of the fittest.”
Alex nodded slowly, “That it is, Aimee, and speaking of adapting, you said that thing could regenerate in a few months—what about days? Do you remember in the upper caves we severed one of those long tentacles it’s using to try to lure us closer to it? This thing had two fully functioning clubs. I’ve got to assume it’s not the only one of its kind down here. One was a big enough problem; more than one and we might not be leaving.”
Alex also didn’t think that they had seen everything that made up the food chain, but kept that to himself as he needed everyone to stay positive about their chances of escape to the surface. Alex looked across at Tank and realised that the big soldier was still going strong with a 10,000-year-old knife sticking out of his neck.
“All right, big fella, time for some minor surgery on that neck. And no tears, OK?”
After Alex closed the last stitch in Tank’s neck, he called them all together to repack and continue on to their destination cave. No one believed that they had seen the last of the giant beast and they remembered what Aimee said about it learning from its mistakes—next time they might not be so lucky.
The rest of the trek across the wide dark beach was slow and made in either rapid sprints between potential defendable positions, hunkering down to check for sudden movement from any direction, before sprinting off once again. It took them well over an hour to reach the mouth of the large cave that was set back from the shore line in what looked to be the widest part of the beach. The mouth was paved with a floor of crushed debris, giving it the look of a gravel driveway with pieces of quartz reflecting the blue glow from the ceiling far above them. Even though the cave was dark and its size meant that they could be followed by any number of large creatures, the slight breeze rushing past their faces filled them with hope.
Monica stood in the huge opening and inhaled deeply. The cave was enormous and made the giant Deer Cave in Borneo look like a mousehole. Most importantly, it tilted upwards at a fifteen-degree angle—not much, but at least it was heading in the right direction. The faint breeze blowing past meant no smells could be detected and small sounds hidden in the darkness were muffled or disguised in the updraught—however, the very movement of air meant that the warmth was being dragged towards a cooler air pocket. It was as good as they hoped to find.
The final piece of comforting evidence to indicate they were heading in the right direction were more flaking glyphs carved into some broken stone at the edge of the cave. Thousands of years ago they had been carved into the wall, but had since crumbled to the cave floor. They paused for a break while Matt set to putting all the pieces together so they could hear the stone talk once again of the small warrior whose footsteps they were following.
“He’s still being chased. It says Qwotoan still taunts him by showing him the spirits of his lost kin. OK, this looks like . . . the moving, or could be . . . shaking ground has opened a door to the sun land, that could mean Aztlan or the surface, and now Qwotoan will find them and devour them all. There’s some more but I can’t make it out. This was meant to be a warning.” Matt sat back on his haunches and ran his hand over the ancient glyphs.
“Do you think he made it?” Monica had hunched down beside him and was looking at the broken stone as well.
“Not sure. Someone made it back to carve the story in the first cave. But it could have been anyone. We may never know whether he made it home or the creatures caught up with him; or even if they followed him all the way to the city. This area must’ve been undergoing shallow earth tremors around that time and one or more quakes opened the cave system that allowed the creatures to start to attack Aztlan and its people. Then, just as suddenly, another earth movement sealed them in or destroyed their city.” Matt rocked his head from side to side. “Of course, Aztlan could still be on the surface, but buried beneath a mile of ice. I still think the ‘sinking’ could be a reference to the ancient city disappearing below the ice as opposed to beneath the sea. At this point it doesn’t matter; at least we know we’re headed in the right direction.”
Aimee peeled back the dressing to check on Tank’s wound—though she could tell he was trying to mask the pain, he must have been in agony from the deep laceration. There was also an odd yellowish colour starting to spread around the gash that worried her. After replacing the dressing and dispensing some all-purpose antibiotics she walked over to Alex.
“I’ve been doing some thinking. Did you see the last lure the creature showed us in the cave—the girl with the baby? Her clothes were old-fashioned . . . I mean really old England or something.”
Alex looked at her, knitted his brows and hmmd at her to go on.
“These things copy what they’ve digested. Well, she obviously wasn’t one of the recent teams that came here. I think they have been able to get out in the past, and I think I know how.” Aimee looked over her shoulder at Matt and Monica and lowered her voice. “Those abyssal shrimp I found can only live in the deepest ocean areas in the world. The Antarctic Sandwich Trench is over 25 000 feet deep and is just off the coast. Remember you asked if they could have been washed in? I think you might be right. I think there is, or was, an open vent, a deep ocean well-spring that flushes water in from the trench.” Aimee folded her arms across her chest as though cold.
“You think there’s another way out, under the water?” Alex looked intently into her face.
“Maybe not anymore, maybe only sometimes, and not for us. These giant cephalopods can take crushing depths and freezing temperatures. Matt mentioned earth tremors. I think when the Antarctic plates shift, a vent may be opened allowing these things out, or back in. That girl was probably taken a long way away, and a long time ago.”
“Aimee, you said yourself they’re cave dwellers now. We’ve never encountered anything like these things.”
“I think they always return here, but we might never see them anyway if they stay in the deep sea trenches or seek out other underwater cave systems.” Aimee looked over her shoulder at Tank.
“Oh great. Well, let’s hope the vent is closed or only wide enough for shrimp now.” Alex wondered what the Hammer would make of all this.
“There’s something else that’s worrying me. That wound of Tank’s.”
“Deep?” asked Alex.
“Yes, but that’s not what worries me. I think it’s a type of infection, but nothing I’ve seen before. The chances are extremely high that there are microscopic life forms down here that we’ve never encountered. There’s also the chance that the knife had some sort of toxin on it. The poisons shouldn’t still be viable now, but whatever was on that knife stayed in there after we extracted the blade and it certainly isn’t getting any better with the antibiotics we’ve got. At the rapid rate the wound seems to be degrading, I think he’ll need professional medical care within twelve hours.”
“Great. Keep a look out for ladders or black cats, will you? I don’t think we need any more bad luck.”
Tank knew Aimee and the boss were talking about his wound. It took all his great strength and a warrior’s force of will to keep his focus away from the thumping ache that was spreading from his neck and down his side. It wouldn’t be long until his arm was useless and then he would be a liability to the group when they needed to be moving quickly. He would not let that happen.
Twenty-three
“Let’s keep moving, everyone.” Alex ordered.
No one needed to be told twice; everyone wanted to feel the sun on their face again and avoid becoming part of the local food chain. They shouldered backpacks and prepared to climb up into the large cave. Inside the cave the walls and floor seemed to have been ground smooth by something continually coming out or going in to this part of the cave system—not a good sign.
Aimee helped Tank get to his feet. His entire shoulder and arm were now numb and there were bluish, threadlike tendrils blooming up around his neck. Under his armoured cave suit his body was a mass of darkene
d lumps and veins as the ancient bacteria converted his body for its own use. Aimee had done all she could; she had loaded his giant frame with penicillin and changed the dressing on the wound. However, it was clear that whatever was invading his body was winning the battle.
Tank ground his teeth from the pain and cursed to himself. The hair from his head and eyebrow on the wound side was falling out. This was not the way a HAWC should meet his end, brought down by something too small to even be seen by the naked eye. He masked the excruciating pain from Alex—if the boss saw he was badly wounded, he would feel obligated to help at a time he needed all his energy focused on getting them out. He unwound Aimee’s arm, thanked her and when she wasn’t looking he brought his clenched fist down hard onto his thigh. The new pain brought a flood of adrenaline and some clarity. Just a little more time, just a little more.
Alex could smell it now; the creature had been in here. This cave was not going to be a sanctuary and he only hoped that the beast was behind them. He didn’t relish the idea of having a giant carnivorous creature between him and their potential escape route. He looked back towards Aimee and Tank.
Alex’s unique senses detected a pressure change. There was danger approaching in the near dark, and this was not the place to be caught out. He quickly scanned left and right. Out of the mouth of the cave in the distance he could make out an enormous V-shaped wave pointed directly at them and closing fast across the sea. Something very big was coming at them at about eight knots under the water.
“Time to move, people. Now!”
There was a booming crash as something hit the shallow water like an aircraft carrier running aground. Everyone jumped and, as if on cue, the lights went out again. This time the noise continued as something gigantic was heaving itself up and out of the water with a sound like a hundred waterfalls. There were no guesses as to what its goal was or who it was after, and the continuing noise meant the lights were not going to come on any time soon.
Alex no longer had his night vision scope equipment and he no longer needed it. He turned to the source of the noise as images started to appear. He remembered the discussions and endless reports from the medical teams when his eyesight started to change. He knew normal human beings had a poor ability for night vision in near total darkness. In some animals, like dogs and cats, biological night vision is ten times more sensitive than in humans, and other animals can perceive heat and cold changes in thermal density. They could build up an image that is not quite seeing at all. The scientists had called it “sensing.”
The changes to Alex’s brain were again delivering to the limit of human physical capacity for light and heat vision sensitivity, and the images that were displayed to his brain were alarming indeed. A cold mountain was heaving itself from the warmer water and dragging itself up the beach with a scrunching squeal of crushed sand. It had just under a mile of open ground to reach them, but it confirmed to Alex why there was little large debris around and inside the mouth of the cave—this creature had been up and in here before, and this time the cave was large enough for it to follow them.
Torches flicked on in the cave and though Alex would have preferred the darkness, the team needed the light for comfort. With Alex leading the way, they all moved quickly back and along the side of the cave—all except Tank.
Alex turned to Aimee and yelled over the crushing of stone, “Keep ’em going.”
He took a few steps down towards Tank. “Move it soldier.” When there was no reply, Alex started to bound across the rocks just as Tank pinged him on his mike.
“I’m staying, sir. I can’t keep up and I’m too big even for you to carry for long. I can at least give you some more lead time—but you’ve gotta go now. Please don’t make me disobey an order.” There was a pause as Alex thought about how to respond before Tank pinged him again. “It’s been an honour serving with you.” The comm unit pinged one last time signalling the conversation had been terminated. In the distance, Alex saw Tank pull the device off his head and fling it away into the dark.
Alex could see the creature drawing closer. Trying to drag the giant soldier out against his will would be difficult, especially when he knew that what Tank had chosen to do was exactly what he would have decided to do in his position. Alex gave a half smile and spoke softly to the HAWC’s back.
“Good luck, soldier. It’s been my honour to have a man like you on my team.” He drew in a deep breath and shouted with all his strength, “Go HAWC!” It was his unit’s battle cry; and with that Alex turned and sprinted to catch up with the remaining team members.
Tank didn’t feel fear; Alex’s shout still reverberated around the cave and once again he felt strong. He had injected several CCs of pure adrenaline into his leg from his backpack med-kit and his body was drawing on its final energy reserves in anticipation of the coming combat. He alone had a night vision scope and, like Alex, could see the approaching leviathan and knew what that meant to the group. His whole upper body under his suit was strangely lumpy and his skin crawled to the touch. The side of his face near the wound was slack as the muscles had atrophied under the foreign bacterial attack. His strength had been leaving him and he knew it was only a matter of time before he needed to either lie down or be carried—neither was an option as far as he was concerned. He didn’t have a chance of winning this fight, but if he could give Alex a few more minutes’ head start, then he would have done his job.
He took his position against the side of the cave and filled his rifle with some of the liquefied propane. In one hand he held his lighter close to the end of the barrel and the other rested lightly on the trigger. Without taking his eyes from the advancing creature he whispered to himself, “See you soon, little brother.” He took careful aim at the large sticky eye now filling the cave mouth and simultaneously lit his flame and pulled the trigger.
The small team had stopped and were waiting for both HAWCs when Alex appeared out of the dark. “Let’s go.”
“Where’s Tank?” Monica was looking over Alex’s shoulder as she asked the question.
“He’s giving us a chance, Ms. Jennings. Let’s make it worthwhile.” Alex went to turn away but she stopped him.
“Will he be able to catch up to us? He was hurt.”
Alex just stared at her. It was Matt who spoke first. “Ah, shit. Tank, too? Shit, shit, shit.” Matt rubbed the back of his neck and walked away into the darkness shaking his head.
Monica was about to speak again when Alex cut her off.
“He knows what he’s doing, he’s—”
There was an explosive whump that made Monica cringe, followed by darkness and silence. Aimee looked at Alex, then dropped her eyes.
Alex turned back down the cave, his face a mask of stone. He knew that the small war Tank had been waging had been decided; he could already sense the outcome. “Let’s go.”
Matt walked close to Monica, whispering to her continuously. After many minutes he was rewarded with a smile, then a small laugh. It was many more minutes before they noticed the difference in the cave. It was almost sterile compared to the scuttling and crawling abundance of life they had seen in the outer subterranean world. The dripping mosses and glistening lichen ferns had disappeared. Not only was the cave devoid of life but it was unexpectedly dry and smooth.
“No moisture; that could be a good sign—means we’re headed for a drier atmosphere and hopefully the surface.” Monica was determined to remain optimistic.
“Excellent, now if we can just keep up this sprint pace for the next eight hours or so, in the dark, and stay ahead of the monster chasing us, we’ll be just fine.” Matt kept a good-humoured lilt to his voice in between his ragged breaths. But he, like the others, knew that at any moment they could reach another choke or find that the end of the tunnel had long since been iced over.
Alex was also formulating alternatives in the event they got to an impassable blockage. His major concern at present was the lack of cover afforded by the worn, smooth cave. If they wer
e run down by the giant creature now, he didn’t like their chances of surviving in a stand-up fight when their only firepower was what he carried and a couple of grenades.
The grinding, pulverising noise was continuing from the way they had come, which meant they were still being pursued. Up ahead there was a slight narrowing of the cave and Aimee turned to Alex. “It’s bottlenecking, it can’t pursue us if the cave gets any narrower.”
Alex didn’t get it. How could the creature have first attacked them in much smaller caves, or for that matter, have made it all the way to the surface to attack Aztlan when it was of such an enormous size. There was no way it could get that hard shell into smaller caves. “Ms. Jennings, please scout ahead and everyone continue with the pace as is. I’m just going back to check on our friend and perhaps see if I can slow him down a bit.”
“I’ll come with you.” Alex could see a look of alarm on Aimee’s face.
“Not this time. I can move at twice the speed of all of you, and I can rejoin you very quickly, but only by myself.” He moved nearer to Aimee, removed his cracked and dented helmet and wiped sweat from his forehead before whispering to her, “I’ll be OK; they’ll need you to lead them.” Alex pulled his comm unit and headset from the helmet and stuffed it into a pocket. He dropped the helmet to the ground and disappeared into the dark like a wraith.
In the darkness Alex moved swiftly and lightly; he could hear and see almost everything around him, and what he couldn’t see, he could sense. The grinding was continuing and he needed to see how the creature was going to force its way through the first narrowing it was about to encounter. He also wanted to place one of his last grenades in its path and perhaps encourage it to change its mind and stop following them.
