by Greig Beck
“Hmm.” Mikhail thought on it for a moment. “They might be very fragile. That’s why they need suits to travel in.” He kept hold of Carter’s arms. “Might I suggest you try and capture it before it has left its... suit?”
“Suit.” Carter snorted. “I’m starting to hate that expression, and I’m sorry I ever mentioned it. Yeah, we can try and capture it while it’s still driving around in its mobile corpse. But that thing looks at any one of us sideways and we send it straight back to hell.”
CHAPTER 37
The group stood around the large table, eyes downcast and minds drifting in a fog of despair.
“So, it was him,” Sara said softly. “I hoped that…” She never finished.
“Yeah, me too.” Carter nodded. “Somehow, someway, these things are co-opting animals…and people.
“As a biologist, I should be intrigued. But I’m not. I’m just sickened, and worried.” Sara’s jaw clenched momentarily. “So, the plan is we’re supposed to try and catch it, or one of them. Talk me through it then.”
“We will net it,” Yuri said. “We have several large nets we use to lift cargo from the holds of the supply ships in summer. We can join them together and rig a spring-trap to catch and hold it.”
“Catch the thing inside the compound?” Sara asked.
“All of the thing,” Carter added.
“What does that mean?” She turned to him.
“Usually, once it’s in the compound, it’s outside of its… skin suit,” Mikhail said softly. “We…”
Sara snorted. “Skin suit.”
“Yeah, it’s all screwed up, but we can’t agree on the right term. But the bottom line is if it’s outside of its skin, then it’s invisible. Mikhail also thinks it might be fragile,” Carter said. “We know they’ve been coming to the far tree line before entering the camp. We rig the trap up there. We want it inside the suit—we want all of it.”
Sara’s jaws worked as if she had a bad taste in her mouth as she tried to take in the revolting concept. “Then what?”
“We catch it.” Carter frowned.
She shook her head. “Yes, I know that. But after you’ve caught it, then what do you do with it? Are you going to keep it in the net?”
The group looked at each other, and Mikhail started to chuckle. “She’s right. We need to have something or somewhere we can corral it, when or if we catch it so we can study it properly.”
“Yuri?” Carter turned to the big Russian. “Can we rig something up?”
“Like a cage?” He shrugged. “Sure, what size?”
Mikhail rubbed his chin. “If we are planning on capturing the host animal, then it must be able to accommodate that as well. Maybe six foot square.”
“Iron or wood?” Yuri asked.
“Iron… in the event the host animal is a bear,” Anna added.
“If it is bear, need to be 10 feet square.” Yuri blew air through his lips. “And need to be very strong. We have some iron left over from the fish tank construction. I can weld something. Give me a few hours.”
Carter portioned out the tasks required, and then glanced at his watch. “We’ve got eight hours until sundown. The cameras have been triggered around 1 am, but in the event we’re being watched as soon as it’s dark, I want everything in place before then.” He clapped his hands. “Let’s do this.”
Carter oversaw the work going on and noticed Pavel move his bedding gear into his son’s cabin. He guessed that given what happened to Dmitry, the father and son wanted to be close to each other for security. And he couldn’t blame them.
Sara talked quietly to Mikhail and Anna, and he knew he wouldn’t let her out of his sight. He remembered from years ago that she could be a little stubborn, but if it came to bruised egos and a few choice swear words, he’d take it all on the chin rather than see her put at risk.
By mid-afternoon, up at the tree line, they’d rigged the netting in a shallow pit and covered it over with snow. It was at the end of a natural pathway through the forest. The tree corridor was what they believed the things had been using to get to their vantage point above the compound.
Though the ground had been hard to dig into, most of their work had been in preparing the net—there was now a set of pulleys and weights they’d use to spring the trap. The one other thing they’d need was some bait, and Carter had volunteered to be the dummy standing out in the cold with his back to the forest corridor.
Yuri continued with his welding of the cage, a massive cube of bars and mesh. At this point, they had no idea of the exact size and shape of the thing when it exited the host and so the mesh was kept to three inches squares—not ideal as it made reaching in a problem. But the upside was, it also stopped the thing reaching out.
“How we doing?” Sara asked, standing close in beside him.
“We’re on track. The blacklights have been installed in selected cameras and sensors, the trap is being laid now, and the cage is in its final stages of development,” he responded.
She shivered. “This is like being caught in a nightmare. We came to Siberia to open a fish farm. Marcus got killed by the local mafia, and now we’re getting ready to try and trap something that might not even be from our planet.”
“After this, nothing will ever seem hard again,” he said softly. “Don’t worry, we’ll win.”
“I guess they’ll sing songs about us one day.” She half-smiled up at him.
“Yeah, but they’ll all be in Russian,” he added and liked that she at least seemed still able to joke with him.
“I’ll just be happy if we’re around to sing about it,” she added.
“We’ll be fine. The real question is what do we do if we catch one and we can’t talk to it?”
She nodded. “If it’s intelligent, and there’s more than one, they might think we’re taking it hostage.”
“Or prisoner,” he agreed and then began to quickly think through the implications. He made a mental note to discuss the potential for retaliation with Red and Mitch.
“They might believe we’ve declared war on them,” she added. “I’m nervous about this whole thing.”
“Sara, considering what they’ve been doing to us, I doubt they even think we’re intelligent beings. They might view us as no more than we see chickens or cattle.”
“So they started it, huh?” Then she scoffed. “I guess they did.”
Mitch and Red joined them. “Where do you want us?”
“Down here,” Carter said. “I don’t want us all scattered all over the forest. And I want everyone equipped with blacklights just in case it gets past us.”
“Or there’s more than one,” Sara added.
“Seeing as you’re our stalking horse, we’ll need to be close enough to give you cover,” Mitch said. “If we’re too far away, you get in trouble and you’re toast.”
“Jesus, man.” Carter threw his head back.
“What?” Sara spun to him. “Where are you going to be?”
Carter sighed. “I’m just going to ensure we steer it into the trap is all.”
“You’re going to act as bait, aren’t you?” Sara shook her head. “This is why everything went to shit between us before. You were always too quick to stick your own neck out. There’s no risk too great for you.”
“Sara…” Carter went to place a hand on her arm, but she batted it away.
“Idiot.” She stormed off, but then half-turned. “You’re a fool, Carter Stenson. You keep trying to leave everything behind.”
Carter watched her go for a moment, knowing she was probably right.
“No you’re not, boss,” Red said. “Civs just don’t get what needs to be done sometimes.”
“The sheep rest easy, because the dogs of war are there to protect them from the wolves,” Carter muttered.
Red held out a gloved fist. “Here’s to all us dumb dogs of war.”
Mitch and Carter bumped knuckles, and Mitch grinned.
“And we’ll be out howling tonight.�
��
*****
The watery Siberian light was beginning to fade as Carter took one last look overhead. His mic crackled to life.
“Good luck. We got your back, big guy,” Mitch said from his place of concealment. “Just one thing….”
“What is it?” Carter asked.
“If you get skinned, do we still get paid?” Mitch sounded like he was talking through a wide grin.
Carter chuckled. “No, so you better damn keep me alive. Out.”
Carter shook his head. “Graveyard humor; gotta love it.” He began to trudge up the snowbound hill, feeling like he was walking to the gallows. As he passed by one of the sensor lights, it triggered, bathing him in the blacklight, his white camouflage uniform glowing purple until he had gone by.
After several minutes, he reached the top of the ridge and scanned the tree line. It was already dark now and near-impenetrable just a few feet in. A light snow had begun to fall. There was a natural track between the trees, possibly an old game trail, or maybe something that had been once carved out by the previous mill owners.
Right now, it looked like a black tunnel that was bored into a snow-covered green mountain. It was from within there that they expected their visitor to arrive.
Carter turned to look back down on the compound. Lights had come on and the roofs were coated in white. It was almost like a picture from a postcard or the cover of a fairytale book. Except it was a dark fairytale where something weird and deadly was stalking them, and as night took hold it was inflicting unspeakable brutality on them.
He ground his teeth. It was worse, as it killed them and then wore their bodies like some sort of foul suit of clothing or armor against the environment. So, no fairytale…more a nightmare straight from Hell itself.
Carter checked the gun at his hip and the knife on the other. He kept his hands free and open; he didn’t know if the beings could understand what a weapon was, but for now, he wanted to seem as unthreatening as he could manage.
Carter turned away from the warmth and light of the compound and looked along the shadowy tree line again. The snow was unbroken, and there were no strange tracks appearing.
It was rapidly darkening as full night took hold and in a few minutes, it would be a cold, bleak, and lonely night. Carter sucked in a deep breath and turned his back on the forest…and he immediately felt the sensation of eyes on him.
“Ready,” he said into his throat mic.
“All clear,” Mitch said in response.
Carter knew that Mitch, Mikhail, Anna, plus Yuri, Nikolay, and Stefan would be crowded around the camera monitors. There were now new cameras spaced around him—one on a pole, two at the tree that were focused on the dark forest, and another pointed at Carter. All were remotely controlled and could be swiveled if need be.
After several long and excruciating minutes, there was nothing, and Carter hiked his collar up a tad, exhaling and letting his breath escape as a long cloud of vapor that hung in the air for a moment. The temperature seemed to be dropping and he moved his feet, trying to keep the circulation going. The last thing he wanted was for his leg muscles to freeze up if, or when, he needed to move quickly.
“Come on,” he whispered and again fought the urge to continually look over his shoulder. Trust your ground team, he kept telling himself.
Bait. He chuckled softly. That’s what I’ve made of myself; no wonder Sara was pissed at him. They broke up before because he always took the hard missions in the most violent places on Earth and was always one of the guys that took too many risks on behalf of other people. She said that, and she was right.
“Boss.”
The word was soft in his ear, but it still startled him.
“Go,” he said.
“Movement,” Mitch said in the familiar emotionless speak that was adopted by both pilots and Special Forces soldiers when the hammer was about to come down.
“Keep talking to me, Mitch,” Carter said softly.
“Just in behind the first line of trees, something’s moving in there. Can’t make it out yet.” Mitch sounded like he shifted. “No need for UV lights as it’s got a physical presence right now. Must be still in its skin suit.”
“Good; that’s what we want,” Carter said, and his hand automatically went to the butt of his gun to feel its reassuring presence.
His neck prickled, and then so did his forehead, scalp, and even his ears. Every atom in his body was screaming at him to turn around, but he held it in check. They needed the thing to be drawn out from its hiding spot. They needed it right up behind him.
Carter bet that by now it had seen him and was taking a little look before deciding on whether to have a run at him.
But he also wondered why it would? If it was already in a skin suit, why would it attack him? He guessed that as they had found that the bear’s body was actually rotting, then even though they could animate the beast’s infrastructure, they couldn’t stop it from breaking down. Maybe they needed replacements from time to time. Or maybe they needed the fresh flesh for other things.
Carter let his eyes slide to the left and then the right without moving his head, just using his peripheral vision. But he saw nothing.
Come on, do it. Just come down the track and into the open. I’m nice and warm and you’ve got nothing to fear, he whispered.
More minutes ticked by.
“It’s still holding its position, boss,” Mitch said. “Just staying in behind the tree line.”
“Shit, this is killing me.” He grimaced. “Okay, going to try something.”
Carter started to walk a little toward the compound and away from the forest. The effect was immediate.
“Movement. It’s coming out,” Mitch advised.
“What is it? Can you see it?” Carter asked and slowed his pace to little more than a shuffle.
“Ho-le-y shit,” Mitch said. “It’s a fucking huge wolf. Gotta be 120 pounds.”
“Ah crap.” Carter pulled his gun and held it in front of himself. “But is it… is it a real wolf though?”
“Can’t tell.” Mikhail took over the microphone. “It’s holding its position just before the trap.”
“You think it knows?” Carter asked.
“Maybe. A real wolf might sense the trap. But if it’s one of the things, it might not and is just being cautious.” Mikhail hmmd. “Unless when it’s inhabiting a certain animal, it can adopt all the extra senses of that animal as well.”
“That doesn’t help.” Carter exhaled through pressed lips.
“And why we need to capture one… alive,” Mikhail said. “Carter, without turning, shuffle a dozen feet to the left. See if we can entice it to come forward.”
“Okay.” Carter eased to the left, keeping his eyes on the compound.
“Stop,” Mikhail said.
Carter did as asked and gripped his gun tighter.
“Hold,” Mikhail said suddenly.
“What’s happening?” Carter gripped his gun so hard now his knuckles ached.
“Ho-ooold it.” Mikhail’s voice was softer as if not wanting to be overheard.
Carter stared straight ahead, feeling the blood pound in his ears. He’d kick Mitch’s ass for letting Mikhail take over the comms now. A scientist didn’t appreciate the time it took for reactions or have the anticipatory skills that a soldier had when facing an adversary.
Mitch would have been able to instruct him on what he should be doing, not a damn desk jockey scientist. Carter let the air hiss from between his bared teeth.
“Fuck this,” he whispered.
“Now!” Mikhail yelled.
Carter spun and looked dead on at the biggest Russian grey wolf he had ever seen in his life. The thing started to run toward him, but it only took about three steps before the trap was triggered, and the sides of the net were flung up around it.
Carter dived out of the way as snow exploded in a huge cloud around him that obliterated anyone from seeing what was happening. But in another two secon
ds, it dropped to reveal the net bulging with its special cargo. It then began to whip and jerk, as the final snow was shaken free, leaving just the wolf inside.
CHAPTER 38
Carter slowly approached with his hand still on his gun. The weirdest thing was the wolf never made a sound—no growls, snarks, yips, or even rage or fear-filled breathing at being constrained. He’d seen snared wolves before, and the damn things were furred furies and fighters to the bitter end.
“We got it,” he said and went in even closer.
“On our way,” Mitch said.
“Carter, do not get too close,” Mikhail said. “We have no idea of what it’s capable of. You have your UV light?”
“Yep.” Carter felt for the blacklight wand in his pocket. If the thing exited the wolf, he wanted to be able to see it. He switched on the light, bathing the wolf in purple, but for now, it was just a wolf. A big one, but normal—normal-looking anyway.
No, almost normal, Carter thought, as he brought the blacklight closer to its face. The mouth hung open, showing the huge and strong teeth of a carnivore, but he also saw that the gums and tongue were blackened and dry, and there looked to be no moisture in the mouth at all. Also, the eyes were milky orbs, as though the thing was blind. However, as he moved around it, the head turned, so it seemed to still be watching him.
“So, maybe not blind after all, huh?” he said softly.
Carter crouched lower and tried to see underneath the animal, but the net webbing and how the beast was lying made it impossible. He stood and turned as Mitch came jogging up the snow-covered slope, followed by Yuri and then Mikhail, gasping and wheezing.
“Stay back,” the Russian scientist puffed.
Mitch and Yuri stopped 10 feet back, and Carter, already in close to the captured animal, turned to them.
“Somehow, it had the ability to eviscerate Dmitry, so we mustn’t underestimate its ability to inflict damage.” Mikhail turned one way then the other. “We need to get it back to the laboratory, urgently.”
“It’s not going anywhere,” Mitch said. “That net is strong enough to hold an elephant.”
“Yes, but we have no idea whether it came alone,” Mikhail replied.
