by Ben Hammott
Jane and Jack walked to the edge of the Ice Rift Base Camp and glanced at the helicopters speeding out to sea, part of the Navy SEAL recognizance team Scott had persuaded NASA to send, and who would now try and board the ship through the tunnel Haax had used to escape from the ship.
“I don't envy them their task ahead. Setting foot aboard that spaceship again is something I never want to do,” said Jane.
Jack agreed. It was a nightmare he wanted to forget. “They've been warned about the monsters onboard and have no doubt ignored the Antarctic treaty concerning weapons and are equipped with the appropriate firepower to handle any they encounter, but like you, if I never set foot aboard an alien spaceship again, I'll be happy.”
The helicopter became a speck in the sky.
Jane pulled a piece of paper from her pocket.
Jack looked at her with concern. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Jane nodded. “It's time.” She unfolded the much read letter and scanned the words a final time.
Hello my darling,
That you are reading this means I'm no longer with you, something I can't even imagine as I write this letter. It is the most difficult thing I have ever written, because I keep crying, knowing that if you are reading this, I will not be there to comfort you. Sadness overwhelms me and tears are flowing down my face. It will also mean that I never had time to show you how much I really love you.
I want you to know our time together was the most wonderful and enjoyable time in my life and I thank you for showing me what true love is. Each time we kissed I could feel your love for m. It was a magical sensation, and I hope you felt my love also. You were the reasons for my smile and my happiness. You have shown me so much love and I want you to know how much you mean to me. You are my whole world and I love you with all my heart.
I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life, my darling, but it wasn’t to be. But until you find another to love― something I will be upset about if you don't― I shall always be with you, in your brightest day and your darkest night. When a soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath; when you smile for no reason, it shall be my spirit passing by. Please, Jane, do not mourn me for long. You have your whole life before you. Look to the future and all the joys a loving relationship can bring. You deserve to be loved and to love. So when you do find someone, don't let the thought of me hold you back. It is not a betrayal, but something I wish for you with all my heart. When you have found this wonderful person waiting for you to come into his life, then release me and I will gladly journey on knowing you have found the love and happiness we shared. Until that day I will always be looking over you to make sure you're safe.
Goodbye my love, I will never stop loving you,
Kyle
After wiping away her tears, she kissed the letter and held it up. The paper fluttered. Though she knew it was the wind that tried to pull it from her grasp, she imagined Kyle was responsible, happy she'd found another and his approval for her happiness. “Goodbye, Kyle.” She released the letter.
The wind bore it into the air and sped it away.
Jack placed a comforting arm around her.
She turned to him. “You can kiss me now.”
They kissed.
When their lips parted, Jack stared into her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I think I am.” She slipped a gloved hand into his and gazed around the base camp. “I've had enough of the cold and ice for a while.”
Jack sighed. “I know what you mean. Sun, sand and cocktails really sound inviting.”
“Now the expedition has been cut short and once we've been debriefed, we'll be heading for New Zealand, so how about we make a holiday of it. Find a nice beach and relax for a few days.”
Jack smiled at her. “That sounds perfect.”
Hand in hand they walked back to the hut.
*****
The spaceship computer detected the danger the ship and its cargo were in. Following its protocols, in a last desperate attempt to save the precious cargo, it awoke the creatures from their long hibernation and released them into the ship.
The End of Ice Rift
Extracts from
ICE RIFT - SALVAGE
The helicopter swooped down and hovered close to the ledge of ice at the end of the ice tunnel the scientists and Haax had used to escape from the ship. A seven-man SEAL team jumped onto the ice and aimed their weapons along the tunnel.
One man placed a rigid plastic case on the ice and opened it. He quickly assembled and powered up the drone. He took a step back and using the control pad he raised the drone into the air and spun it around. He stared at the image of his team caught in the drone's camera in the small screen attached to the remote control.
“You set, Fitch,” asked Hanson, the squadron's leader.
Fitch nodded.
Hanson spoke into his mike. “Are you receiving the feed, control?”
The men sitting around the screen in the control room aboard the ship stationed a short distance from the large berg, stared at the screens showing feeds from the team's helmet cams and the drone.
“All crisp and clear,” replied Casper. “Send it in.”
Every eye in the room followed the drone's progress through the tunnel. Its bright light reflected off the tube of ice as it sped along and then emerged into a large room, the hanger. The men gasped at the group of spacecraft caught in the drone's light.
“They must be the shuttlecraft the scientists mentioned,” said Cruikshank. “The technology aboard that craft will advance us hundreds of years. We have to get it.”
“I agree,” said Mason, peering at the craft the drone flew around. “If all we manage to salvage is one of them, the mission will be a success.”
They watched the drone move away from the craft and fly around one of the larger transport ships and then hover in front of a large door.
Casper raised an arm and pointed at the door. “If the power's still on and the door opens, we'll have access to the cargo bay and the hundreds of crates the scientists mentioned that are stored there.”
“Okay, obviously we want them all and as many of the shuttle craft we can salvage before the berg flips or releases its hold on the spaceship, so we'll make them our priority." said Cruikshank. “Send the team in to see if the door opens, if not we'll arrange the equipment needed to burn through it.”
“According to the scientists, if nothing's changed, the cargo bay will be free of monster,” said Mason. “But warn the team not to enter the next room until it's been gassed. That's the domain of those killer insects and however heavily armed they are they won't stand a chance against thousands of things so small and deadly.”
Casper relayed the instructions to the team.
The drone flew over to the ice tunnel and watched the six men approach. Fitch walked slower at the rear as he continued controlling the drone.
The drone spun when a shriek pierced the silence. It moved across the room and searched for the thing that had made the noise.
Hanson halted the team and stared at the hangar entrance a few yards away and the darkness within.
Ramirez glanced at his team mates. “What in hell's name was that?”
Sawyer smiled at his nervous companion and tapped his assault rifle. “Does it matter?”
Ramirez shrugged. “Suppose not.”
“It must be one of those alien monsters the scientist encountered,” said Hanson. “They survived with little more than their wits; with the firepower we're carrying the aliens don't stand a chance.” He directed his gaze ahead. “Keep together and your eyes peeled. Kill anything that moves that isn't us. It is technology we're after, not live alien specimens.” He led the men forward.
The men in the control stared at the drone's screen when the shriek rang out. They had also reached the same conclusion, that one of the alien monsters had been responsible.
“The scientists said the hanger was free of monsters,” stated Mason.
“Well it doesn't seem to be now,” said Cruikshank. “The stress put on the large vessel when the ice broke free might have damaged parts of the ship, allowing the things aboard access to parts of the ship they were unable to reach before.”
The men concentrated on the screens as Mason turned his head and looked at the drone operator.
“You see anything, Fitch?”
Fitch shook his head. “But that doesn't mean something's not in there waiting.”
“Stay here and keep searching. You see anything, you be sure to let us know,” Mason ordered.
Fitch nodded.
Mason led his team forward.
They entered the hangar and roamed their weapons around the large space as they crossed the room. The lights fixed to their weapons wandered over the shuttlecraft they moved between.
The men in the control room were glued to the screens.
Terrifying shrieks rang out.
A monstrous form filled the screen from Ramirez's camera feed. A glimpse of teeth and then the screen went black.
Gunfire echoed through the room.
Mason's feed showed a monster being riddled with bullets. It flopped to the floor. Mason spun as something shrieked close by. Claws ripped at his face. He fell to the ground firing. The weapon was knocked from his hand by the monster that straddled his chest. He died when the monster ripped out his throat.
The drone spun and rushed to the team.
One monster lay dead, but more attacked the men.
Sawyer shot one that leapt at him in the shoulder. The monster shrieked and knocked Sawyer to the ground. Its teeth ripped at the man's chest. Blood sprayed. Sawyer died.
The remaining men screamed when monsters leapt from the darkness and overpowered them. Blood pooled on the hangar floor.
Fitch ran back along the ice tunnel.
Silence.
The shocked men in the control room stared at the team's corpses being feasted upon by the Hunter monsters.
“Fuck!” cussed Cruikshank. “Prepare another team. Warn them about the monsters and send them in. I want that technology and by god I'm going to get it if I have to sacrifice every man aboard this ship.
One week after Richard had left Antarctica.
Richard studied the steadily increasing expressions of amazement that appeared on the publicity consultant's face as he flicked through the photographs of the alien spaceship and its ferocious inhabitants. Richard had done his homework. Clinton Henson was the best in the business and would ensure he received the rich rewards he wanted for his story.
Stunned by what he had just seen, Clinton placed the last photo on his expansive desk and looked at the man who had presented them. “This is incredible. I can hardly believe it's real.”
“It's real. I lived through the nightmare.”
Clinton glanced at the photographs spread out before him, calculating their worth and their validity. “But what happened to the spaceship?”
“It still stuck in the iceberg. As we speak NASA and the United States Army and Navy are attempting to salvage as much as its technology as they can before it slips beneath the sea.”
“As I said, Richard, it's an incredible story. Our problem is, even with these astounding photos, it's getting people to believe it. If you'd managed to get some physical evidence, there would've been no problem and no limit to the amount you could have made from this fantastical tale.”
Richard smiled, slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled something out. “Is this evidence enough?”
Clinton's eyebrows rose at the sight of the tiny creature covered in green velvet fur cupped in Richard's hand. He moved in closer for a better look. It had two small horns on its head, a black nose and large eyes that currently stared at him. He sorted through the photographs and selected the one of Haax holding Lucifer and compared the two. “Is this the same one, as it looks bigger in the photo?”
Richard shook his head. “Not exactly. The one in the photo is the creature I rescued from the spaceship. It saved my life, but this one is its offspring, which I've temporarily named Little Lucifer. When I handed its mother back, if indeed there is a male and female of this species, I later found this one in my pocket, much smaller then. I believe this species might be Asexual. I did some research and we have quite a few Earth life-forms with this ability, sometimes triggered during a decrease in its species resulting in a lack of males. But, of course, I could be totally wrong. What's important is that in my hand I have absolute evidence that alien life-forms exists and have visited earth. What I want you to do is market this alien, my photos and story, and me, in a way that will make me millions before the government and scientists take it from me, as they surely will when they learn of its existence. I want a book deal. I want to sell the movie rights and I want anything else you can think of to make money out of this. Can you do that, Clinton, or do I need to look elsewhere for someone who can?”
Clinton dragged his eyes away from the cute creature and looked at Richard. He smiled and held out his hand. “I assure you, Richard, I'll make you so much money you'll have trouble spending it.”
Richard shook the offered hand. “That's exactly what I wanted to hear.” He stroked Little Lucifer while Clinton pressed a button on the intercom to speak to his secretary.
“Kim, cancel all my appointments for the next month…yes, you heard correctly, the whole month…I don't care, tell her to find someone else, and send Matt in, I need a contract drawn up.” He released the button and smiled at Richard and the little alien. “You, Richard, have just become my most important client, and I believe, will soon prove to be my most profitable.”
Richard grinned. He tickled Little Lucifer under the chin. It purred in delight from the attention. “The kids are going to love you.”
Two days later, Richard's money-making machine was set in motion and the news of what had been discovered in Antarctica swept around the world.
Jane sat up in bed when Jack entered with a breakfast tray. He placed it on the side, picked up the newspaper and handed it to Jane. “You're not going to believe the headlines.”
Jane looked at the front page. In large bold letters the headline read:
ALIEN SPACESHIP DISCOVERED IN ANTARCTICA
READ RICHARD WHORLEY'S INCREDIBLE EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY ON HOW HE BATTLED WITH ALIENS TO SAVE HIS FRIENDS AND THE PLANET
Jane shook her head in dismay. “So much for keeping the story under wraps as NASA directed. That man would make money out of misery if he could. ‘Battled with aliens to save his friends and the planet,’ I've a good mind to tell my version of what really happened.”
“What's the point? Richard's not my favorite person, but we all played our part. Let him have his five minutes as, now the genie's been let out of the bottle, I'm sure your time will come. Also Theo, Scott and Pike will get to tell their story now.” Jack leaned forward and kissed her.
Jane placed the newspaper on the bedside table. “You're right. We have more important and pleasurable things to occupy our time.” She glanced at the tray. “How about you come to bed and help me work up an appetite for breakfast.”
“Your wish is my command.” Jack slipped into bed.
Coming soon - ICE RIFT - SALVAGE
Coming soon -THE 13TH TREASURE SHIP
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