The Particle Beast

by Ian C Douglas

  A light burned in Enki’s eyes. “I need to get across the citadel. To the other side.”

  Zeke’s throat ran dry.

  “There’s a place there. You might know it?” Enki said.

  “The pool? Why on Mars do you want to go there?” Zeke asked.

  Enki puffed out his chest. “I discovered it deep in the Hesperian runes. A place lost for two billion years. And I found it.”

  “Technically,” Scuff butted in.

  Enki threw him a dirty stare. “I found it in words. That’s what translators do.”

  Zeke rubbed his chin. “What’s so special about this pool?”

  Enki cocked his head like a crow. “I might as well tell you.” He paused for a moment, his eyes glistening in the half light. “It grants immortality!”

  Scuff erupted with laughter.

  Enki stamped his foot. “Don’t mock me, young man.”

  “You uncovered something, in the runes?” Zeke asked.

  Enki clapped his hands together. “I did! I did! Life everlasting!”

  “How can that be possible?” Pin-mei piped up.

  Enki scanned the disbelieving faces and cleared his throat. “Oh where to begin, the story is too exquisite for words.”

  “The beginning is usually best,” Scuff said, with a sarcastic leer.

  Enki sniffed at Scuff, drew a breath and began. “Young Mars. Warm, oxygen-rich and splashing with water. Oceans of the stuff. And thriving with life. Beings whose evolution was oh so different to ours. Genes that worked by other methods. Life cycles more like crustaceans than mammals.

  “And then, as they were poised to conquer the Solar System, cataclysm struck. A civilisation vanished overnight. Was it an asteroid impact? Or a volcanic upheaval? Maybe they did it to themselves? A world war, or simply some error?

  “Their culture was progressing in leaps and bounds. A society led by scientists. And these scientists were led by a genius. Mchx-dthfkii, perhaps the greatest mind this solar system has ever seen.

  “He was working on a way of prolonging life. A quite miraculous medicine. I call it Quantum Therapy. Living tissue that could endlessly repair itself on a molecular level. Yes, your very molecules would renew their patterns indefinitely. The pool was the machine that converted your atoms. An immersion tank.

  “It was up and running when the Hesperians were destroyed. How terrifying was their end. An apocalypse so powerful it split the universe apart. This citadel was sucked into a rip in the space-time continuum, like Atlantis sinking into the waves. Preserved forever, an architectural fly in amber. Mchx-dthfkii saw it go and recorded it’s location as he died.”

  Enki beamed at his audience. “It’s quite a story, no? Pieced together by my formidable talent.”

  “From where?” Zeke asked. “Where did you get all this information?”

  Enki pouted. “Earth’s government has more than the public knows. The odd sphere, a couple of cones and a cuboid. Alien Rosetta stones. And with the right psychic mind to power them, and my genius for translation, word by word their secrets were revealed.”

  Zeke clenched his fists. “How many Mariners died helping you?”

  “Tish,” Enki replied with a wave of his hand. “Once Magma left us, we got better at the process. Hardly anyone died after that.”

  “And you’re the only one who wants to be immortal?” Scuff butted in.

  Enki gave his falsetto laugh. “I never shared my findings! I gave our leaders as much as they needed to know.”

  “How does that beast out there fit into the picture?” Pin-mei asked. “Yes, it’s the guard. But why so, so—”

  “Monstrous?” Enki prompted her. “The reason for that is lost in the dust of the millennia. I could only find a description of its powers. What about you, Mr Hailey? You’ve had the best access of anyone to the writings. You lived them!”

  Zeke shrugged. “No more than you.”

  “Well, then we’ll never know,” Enki said.

  “Maybe,” Pin-mei muttered to herself. “Maybe not.”

  The ground rumbled. Walls bent like rubber. Fragments rained down from the roof. Thankfully, the rumbling quickly died.

  “An earthquake,” Bartie cried.

  “A dimension quake,” Enki said, his eyes wide with fear. “The scientists warned me on Earth. The citadel and Melas Chasma share the same atomic foundations. The vibrations caused by the mining work, they’re destroying it. Hailey, we go now!”

  Zeke squared up to his captor. “Let’s go, alright. Straight back to Mars.”

  “And lose immortality? I’d rather die today, than give up and die in a few years.”

  “I’m not helping,” Zeke said, and folded his arms. But he knew his words were hollow.

  Enki bared his teeth, cocked the trigger of his iPistol and aimed it at Pin-mei.

  “You will accompany me. Any sign of the Beast and you’ll translocate us a safe distance. At the pool you’ll help with any instructions in Hesperian. And use your psychic skills as needed. Then you can translocate us all back to the other side.”

  “Translocation isn’t as easy as that,” Zeke said.

  “I know there are limits, but what was it that Cutter girl said? You’re the best translocation student the school’s ever had?”

  Zeke’s mouth dropped. “Trixie said that about me?” He flushed.

  Enki fished a headset from a backpack. “So we’re clear, I will be in contact with Ricasso the entire trip. Every time you disobey me, a hostage will die.”

  Bartie started sobbing.

  “Ricasso, start with that one, he’s the most annoying.”

  Bartie’s sobs turned into wails. Pin-mei cradled him in her arms.

  “And put a magnetic anklet on the fat one.”

  “No,” Zeke protested.

  “It’s okay, Zeke. Just give him what he wants,” Scuff said, offering his leg to the henchman.

  “I can’t.” Zeke said. “The pool will let in the Spiral.”

  “Nonsense,” Enki snarled. “I may not have your visions, but I can read Hesperian. There was no mention of this demon you keep going on about.”

  Zeke’s mind raced. So far his plan had completely backfired. And was he now about to open the door to the Spiral? Was this Lutz’s prophecy?

  Enki gave a little cough. This time he aimed his weapon to Scuff’s head. The barrel beeped and blinked as it locked on target.

  “Would it help if I counted down? On zero I fire.”

  Zeke stared at Enki’s bloated face. The man meant it. All Zeke could do was play along and pray some random chance for escape would crop up later.

  “Alright! I’ll help.”

  Enki lowered the iPistol. “Good boy.” He nodded toward the cave’s mouth. “You first.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  On the Crater’s Slope

  Zeke and Enki coasted the last few yards on a wave of shingle. The wave petered out on the harder ground of the Citadel. Zeke’s heart pumped faster as he gazed at the shell-like buildings. He was one of the first ever humans to see an alien world.

  The Citadel shuddered, as though the universe stirred in its sleep.

  “No time to lose, come on,” Enki snapped, pale-faced. He rushed forwards with Zeke jogging alongside.

  “Why is it so important?”

  “What?”

  “To be immortal?”

  Enki rolled his beady little eyes. “For one of the most gifted boys alive, you talk like an imbecile.”

  They walked on in silence. Then Enki turned and said, “Don’t you fear dying?”

  Zeke contemplated these words for a few seconds. “Of course. But I don’t get why you’d risk so much.”

  Enki pursed his lips. “Easy for you to say, child. You have an entire lifetime ahead of you. Wait till t
he Grim Reaper’s breathing down your neck. You won’t be so stoical then.”

  Zeke wasn’t sure what stoical meant, but he caught the drift. “I’ll never be the same as you.”

  Enki tittered. “I’m a pussycat. Now shut up.”

  “But Mister Enki, Sir. How do you know the pool will work after all these eons?”

  “Immortality is worth the chance,” Enki said with a leer. “Anyway, Mchx-dthfkii knew what he was doing. Did the Infinity Trap run out of batteries? No, he made things to last.”

  They took a left onto a main thoroughfare.

  “You actually read his logs?” As much as Zeke hated to admit it, he envied Enki a little.

  Enki stopped in his tracks. “So fascinating! Words written before life evolved on Earth.”

  “And didn’t he say anything about the Spiral?”

  “Tish,” Enki said emphatically. “What nonsense. No, the great scientist was involved in some monumental struggle with his own people. And looking after some special visitor.”

  “Special visitor?” Zeke’s curiosity was hooked.

  “His logs mention an unexpected arrival. A skthmon.”

  “Skthmon?” Zeke pronounced the two syllables slowly. “That word isn’t in my head. It has no translation.”

  “Maybe it’s a name, then.”

  At that moment they turned onto a new road. The Particle Beast stood glowing ahead of them. A gigantic, radioactive dog-crab.

  Enki shrieked a banshee wail and bolted across the road. For a split-second, Zeke stared after him. Have you forgotten why you brought me along?

  The Particle Beast’s roar brought Zeke to his senses. The creature was galloping towards him. A blob of energy formed in its jaws.

  Zeke broke into a sprint. The plasma ball whizzed past his head. A near miss! He kept going, not daring to glance back. An ominous sizzling filled the air.

  Zeke ran deeper. The pink and yellow shell-houses crowded around him like a coral forest. Where was Enki? He stopped. Somewhere, someone was whimpering. He followed the sound. Enki was crouching between two conch-like buildings.

  “Please, don’t let it hurt me,” the man wailed, tears streaming down chubby cheeks.

  Zeke bent down, intending to comfort him. Before he could speak, he heard that horrible sizzling again. Sparks swarmed across a nearby shell-house. In an instant, the house was smothered. The sparks swam in circles, like tiny fiery fish.

  The house became transparent. Zeke’s mouth dropped. The Particle Beast was visible on the other side. And then the house and the sparks faded. Gone.

  The Beast reared up on its hind legs, snarling. Enki screamed. Zeke grabbed him in his arms.

  They were spinning, weightlessly, through that place beyond matter. The song of atoms rang in their ears, high and crystalline. Rock formed beneath them. They landed with a bump, rolling to a standstill.

  Zeke pushed Enki away, repulsed by the man’s sickly sweet breath.

  “Excellent, dear boy!” Enki cried, clapping like a circus seal.

  Zeke’s heart sank. They were halfway down a great flight of steps, hewn from the basalt. The steps dropped from the Citadel spires and vanished into a hole at the foot of a cliff. The cave!

  Enki took Zeke’s hand. “We’re the first to tread these flagstones in two billion years.” He scanned the landscape, drinking in the details. The citadel, the jagged peaks, the endless night. A hush draped the scene. The hush that comes from countless centuries of nothing.

  Zeke pulled his hand free. “Look, I can get us back to the others. Before that thing destroys us.”

  Enki glared at him. “Ricasso, are you receiving me?” he said into his microphone. “Are the little ones behaving themselves?” His eyes flamed with malice. “Good, but we’d better remind them who’s in charge. Smack one with your rifle.”

  He turned to Zeke and purred, “You choose—who shall we punish?”

  Zeke gritted his teeth.

  “Cat got your tongue? Then it shall be the Chinese brat.”

  “Leave her alone. Leave them all alone.”

  Enki gave a sadistic grin. “Ricasso, hit the girl. Wait, what? Oh, very well.”

  Zeke’s stomach churned. What was happening?

  “The fat one volunteered, how commendable,” Enki said. “Lying on the floor groaning, now. Every time you annoy me, Zeke Hailey, another penalty will be dished out. Do we understand?”

  Zeke nodded, lowering his gaze.

  “You make one valid point,” Enki said. “The Particle Beast could be here at any moment. Quick, en avant!”

  Enki hurried down the steps.

  Should I run away? Zeke asked himself. Before we release the Spiral?

  But then Enki would have the others killed. Zeke had no choice. He followed, his feet as heavy as lead. At the threshold he hesitated. The mouth of the cave. Was it his imagination, or did it resemble the Particle Beast, jaws open, roaring? So what if it did? He shrugged and slipped into its clammy void.

  Chapter Thirty

  The Cave of Immortality

  The steps led down into a nest of rocks. Zeke shivered. It was cold and damp. A feeble glow was coming from somewhere.

  “Hurry up, boy!” Enki’s voice echoed off the cold stone.

  Zeke turned the corner, perfectly aware of what he would see. After all, so far everything corresponded to his vision.

  The alien pool lay embedded in the ground, a rough oval framed with flat stones. Its colour was unearthly. Black, but not the shiny black of oil. This black was dull and lifeless, as if it was sucking the light from the air. There was something disgusting about it.

  Enki stood on its brink, palms pressed together, as if in prayer. “I thought there’d be, well, inscriptions, instructions, devices even.” He sounded disappointed.

  Zeke glanced around. “Here’s something,” he said, pointing to a solitary symbol, scratched onto the side of a small boulder.

  Enki inspected it. He sniffed. “A meaningless scrap of graffiti.”

  Zeke traced the figure with his forefinger. The hairs on his neck stood up. Someone carved this symbol when the Earth was just a lump of rock. Someone, or something. And here he was, two billion years later, touching it. An abyss of time separated him from that long ago moment. An abyss so vast he could barely imagine it. He tried to picture the creature that once stood there. But all he could see was poor Scuff, writhing in agony back at the other cave.

  “Ahem.” Enki’s reedy voice disturbed Zeke’s thoughts.

  “What’s your opinion?” Enki gave a nervous titter. “How does the pool work?”

  Like I’m going to help you.

  “I don’t have to be a mind reader to know what you’re thinking,” Enki sneered. He tapped the microphone with his iPistol.

  “Okay!” Zeke cried. “There’s only one way. Dive in!”

  Enki looked at the placid surface. “The water’s so dirty.”

  “It’s not water,” Zeke said.

  “I knew that,” Enki snapped, and then, “what do you think it is?”

  Zeke shrugged. “Dunno, some kind of liquid. A serum.”

  Enki took a deep breath. “Needs must when the devil drives.” He pulled off his jacket.

  “Stop!” Zeke cried. “It could be dangerous.”

  “Tish!” Enki replied.

  “Really! It’s been festering here forever. It might have turned acidic.”

  “Acid?” Enki’s mouth dropped.

  “Or anything. All those chemicals stagnating like a toxic dump.”

  Enki gave him a sceptical look, and said, “This whole world is a sealed environment. No bacteria. No erosion. Look at the way the buildings are holding up.”

  “Is it worth the risk? Better a short life than none at all.”

  Enki stroked his chin. “M
aybe we do need a test run.” His eyes gleamed.

  By pushing you in, you little rat!

  Zeke wasn’t sure whether he heard the words with his ears or his brain. But they were unmistakable. Enki seized him by the shoulders. But Zeke was forewarned and locked his knees. He grasped the man’s upper arms. Enki shoved harder. For a few seconds they grappled. Although not a muscular man, Enki was fat and threw his weight into the struggle.

  Zeke felt himself totter on the edge. He glanced over his shoulder at the stagnant mess. The pool rippled! As though it was waiting for him. A sense of revulsion fuelled Zeke’s muscles and he pushed back with renewed energy. Enki’s feet slipped an inch or two.

  “Don’t…fight…me,” Enki snarled.

  His eyes were bulging. Zeke could see droplets of sweat on the man’s face.

  Whack! A fist punched into Zeke’s chest. He toppled backwards, but at the last moment flung his arms around Enki and hung on with every fibre of strength.

  “Let go!” Enki shrieked, attempting to prize Zeke off. They shuffled forward, they shuffled back, in a frenzied dance.

  The bedrock beneath them heaved. Another tremor! The walls moaned like a tortured beast. A shock wave hurled Zeke and Enki, arm in arm, into the pool. An icy splash enveloped them and everything was lost.

  Blackness swallowed them. Zeke thrashed wildly against the sticky, suffocating mess. It felt like drowning in a tar pit.

  I’m going to die.

  His legs kicked and his arms flailed. Bells rang in his ears. His lungs screamed as trapped air clawed against his ribs. The pain was unbearable.

  Let go.

  It was the voice in his head. He never knew if it were instinct or something more. Something left behind by the orb. Did he trust it? Did he have a choice?

  Zeke’s lips opened. A bubble of carbon dioxide escaped from his throat. His limbs slowed. Consciousness faded.

  Breath! Breath, cried his body. Zeke gulped in a mouthful of the black ooze. Oxygen flowed. Arteries pulsed. He was alive.

  The tar thinned. It wasn’t sticky at all. It was air. He was floating in midair. It reminded him of translocating, and the void between atoms, but with one big difference. That place was a vacuum. This was different. Here he could breath.