Back to the Mountains 2
#2 of Back to the Mountains
BACK TO THE MOUNTAINS
Part II
Warning: Like in the first part, there isn't much in this one, but I promise the next one will be more interesting.
It's been hour since we left Hawaii, it has been a pleasant trip, most of the time, I talked to Steven, we both talked about our lives and stuff. Steve never mentioned my homosexuality, perhaps fearing that the others could hear. Probably they already knew anyway, we lycomorphs have good ear.
In the cockpit, Carlos and Peter were chatting too.
"How long have you known Nahualmorph?" asked Peter.
"More than a year, remember the experiment?"
"Of course."
"Well, after that, we worked in a couple of missions together and we became friends."
"Just friends?"
"I know where you're going, He is gay, and I'm bisexual, but we've never been more than good friends, anyway, I think it was a good idea to make him lead this."
"Don't get me wrong, but I don't see anything special about him,- said Peter- In fact, he seems a little insecure to me."
"Just wait until we found ourselves in a risky situation or to see him pissed off."
"Let us hope we don't have to."
"We'll fin out soon," said Carlos motioning to the front "this is it, that big peak over there is Mt. Erebus."
The big mountain could be seen amongst the thick clouds in the horizon.
Then, something happened, before their eyes, the clouds started to change, big columns and domes began to take form, huge towers with needle shape and connected by bridges appeared. Geometrical and irregular constructions, could be seen in the distance.
Carlos and peter watched from the cockpit in disbelief, while a city rose high in the sky.
They almost lost control of the plane.
"It's not real," said Carlos "It's just an illusion, Edgar told me about this."
"Who?
"Nahualmorph, he told me we could see something like this, he told me we shouldn't trust our eyes and to fly only with the instruments."
"If this is an illusion," said Peter "Why do I feel so bad? It's a beautiful illusion, but I can't avoid feeling fear, even repulsion towards it."
"I feel the same way," said Carlos "I don't know why, but it's causing me lots of fear."
In the back of the plane, we were not able to see the illusion, but we were all suffering the same effects, we were all restless, all lycomorphs were whining softly, the humans were just tight in their seats, but you could see the fear in their faces.
Only Sandra, Bill, Kim and I had read "At the mountains of madness" and only we knew why were feeling that way. I got up from my seat and tried to calm them.
"Everybody, calm down, this will be over soon, try to distract yourselves somehow."
Then I went to the cockpit, Carlos and Peter turned to see me, they were both shaking and had tears in their faces.
"Keep a hold of yourselves," I told them "be cool, focus on what you're doing."
They nodded and made an effort to contain themselves, after a few minutes, the illusion began to fade, and with it, that terrible feeling.
"Are you ok?"
"I think so," said Carlos.
"Can you continue?" I asked.
They both nodded again. I left the cockpit and returned with the rest.
"Aright, we're cool, is everybody ok?"
"What the fuck was that?" asked Max, still shaking.
"It was a small taste of what we're going to face,- I said- think of it as a welcome. Get ready, because we're almost there, and worse things may be expecting us."
I returned to my place, next to Steve.
"Are you ok?" I asked him.
"I think so, but why did it seemed to affect you guys more than us?"
"It's something our employers missed. In the story, the dogs that where on the team, couldn't stand the smell of this things, I think it's because our senses are more accurate than yours. "
We all kept silence for the rest of the journey, 20 minutes later we were finally at the Mc Murdo strait. The "Pleyades" could barely be seen anchoraged in the shore despite being a very big ship.
I entered the cockpit in the moment Peter was trying to communicate with the pleyades.
"Pleyades, this is USAFXF121, Do you read me?"
"Do we have anything?" I asked.
"Nothing," said Peter "It seem to be deserted."
"This plane can do more than just fly, right?" I asked, watching all the gizmos in the keyboard.
"Of course," answered Carlos "we're perfectly packed, we have 3 kinds of missiles, we have thermal sensors, motion and radioactivity detectors, and am/fm radio."
I sat next to the sensor board and activated them to start a heat search. Not a trace appeared.
"Looks like nobody is home," I said "Take us down as close as you can, then go to the cargo area."
The plane was able to lift and land vertically, so we didn't had much trouble landing in the frozen shore, next to the ship.
"Ok." I told agent Jonhson "it's time to see what your people had in store for us."
We all went to the cargo area, once there, agent Jonhson opened one of the boxes and pulled a huge assault rifle.
"This is CRG001, an assault rifle that shoots Teflon expansive bullets, the bullet is hollow, inside there is a small glass capsule with royal water, a mixture of the most powerful acids. We think this beings have a complex cellular structure, so this substance may be the only thing that could hurt them.. The bullet will explode when it touches anything thicker than air, the contents will be released and it will made a real mess. The rifles can hold up to 80 rounds, it can be set to fire individual rounds or a continuous burst. If you connect this small wire to the visor you're wearing you'll get automatic targeting guided by your retina movements. Everyone takes a rifle and 5 magazines, except you Sly."
The agent opened another box and took another rifle, like the ones we had, but much more bigger.
"This is the big brother CRG002, it's basically a rail gun that uses bigger bullets than your guns, customized like the other ones."
The agent gave the gun to Sly, who took it with a big grin on his face.
"Take good care of them, they're not supposed to exist."
Once we were all armed, the team lined up at the exit door.
"Your turn," I said to Sandra.
"Very well," said Sandra "Teams of four, we go into the ship, we split, search for any trace of whatever happened here, report when you found something. First team will be: Nahualmorph, Carlos, Steve and Lisa. Second team: Max, Ash, Kim and Peter. Third team: Sly, Howard, Donald and Bill. Last team: Alex, Daniel, Robin and myself. Let's go!"
We all got out of the plane and headed towards the ship. The pleyades was almost entirely covered by snow and the access ramp was covered with a thick layer of ice, once we were all in the main deck Carlos, Steve, Lisa and I went to the main bridge. On our way, we noticed the facilities have not been used in some time. All the door frames were frozen and in some cases we had to push hard to open a door.
Finally, we began to hear the other teams reports.
" Team three, machinery room, clear"
"Team two, cabins area, clear"
"Team one, storage area, clear, but there's an issue, the arsenal is empty"
"Team one, command bridge, clear, all teams reassemble here, time to plan a strategy"
A few minutes later, we were all at the bridge, Donald had turned all the systems on, so, we now had access to the security cameras. Peter was looking in the files, hoping to find something that could help us find what had happened here.
I sent Carlos and Sly to check the vehicles that were on the ship, and how many were still functional.
Sandra was trying to contact the ground base, but there was no answer.
"No answer," said Sandra "this is very strange."
In that moment Carlos and Sly returned.
"There are three snow cats and three airplanes, all with a full tank and working well."
"Ok, Transports are good," I said "the supplies in the storage are almost complete, all the weapons are missing, however, there are no signs of violence, Any ideas of what happened here?"
"I have no idea," said Alex.
"Looks like everybody leaved suddenly, but I don't know where to, or why." said Sandra.
"I found it!" exclaimed Peter "I found the file we need."
We all looked at the screen. It was the recording of the surveillance cameras located in the storage, hangar, mess hall and command bridge.
"Look," said Steven "there were five airplanes in the hangar."
It was true, in the tape you could see five airplanes in the hangar. There were people everywhere, doing different things. Suddenly, everybody began to race towards the command bridge, there, the captain told them something, we couldn't know what it was, because the recordings did not had any sound, after the captain spoke, everybody started moving, the radio operator took the radio and started talking again, but nobody seemed to answer, on the other cameras, several men where taking guns and heading to the hangar. Before the last man got into one of the airplanes, the captain stopped him and told him something, the man asked something and the captain denied with the head, the man got into the plane and both airplanes started moving towards the exit, then everybody returned to their normal routine.
"Keep looking," I told Peter "see if you can find something else. Howard and Daniel, prepare your reports."
Donald had also turned the artificial weather on and the ice formed inside the ship was beginning to melt, the cold water pooling on the floor, I leaned against the wall next to the door while the others looked at the images on the screen. In that moment,, I thought I sensed a smell, it was something unrecognizable, unpleasant, I could barely describe it but I was on my guard immediately. I went out of the room trying to figure out where did it came from but it was too faint and it wouldn't allow me to identify the source. I started moving towards my right. Several images crossed my mind while I was slowly moving trough the corridor. Suddenly, I heard a faint rumor behind me and I immediately turned aiming my gun... to a smiling Carlos.
"Afraid, are you?" he asked joking.
"Screw you." I answered, lowering my gun.
"You wish," he said, smiling "we found something, you may want to come and look."
I started following Carlos, turning to look behind from time to time. The smell had vanished.
I entered the room and my eyes fixated on the screen Peter was watching. There was a lot of activity again, people running all over the place. They took what was left of the guns, headed towards the hangar and got into a few vehicles, the ship was now totally empty, not a single person in sight. The cameras continued working.
Peter forwarded the tape, but nothing else happened.
"That's all," said Peter "tape's over."
"Any suggestion of what happened here?" I asked Sandra.
"Clueless, it's obvious they went out in response to a calling, probably from the ground team, but I don't know what the second call could have been, I can't believe that everyone left leaving the ship alone."
"What's the date in the tapes Pete?" I asked.
"There' isn't any label on the discs, and there is no date in the screen, I can't tell."
"Alright, Daniel, Howard, get your reports ready, we'll check everything one more time and we'll be out of here."
"Why do you want to check again?- asked Sandra- We know there's nothing here."
"I want to be sure," I said "I thought I caught a strange smell a while ago."
"I agree with Sandra," said Alex "I don't see why we should search again, we already know there's nothing here."
"I already told you I thought I smelled something, besides, If I say we have to check again, we do just that."
"Why? There's nothing."
"Well if you're afraid you can stay," I told Alex.
Alex looked at me with an enraged expression, he gave one step forward, and before he could do anything, I stood right in front of him, looking straight into his eyes.
"Are you challenging my authority?" I asked.
Alex didn't answered, but the rage in his eyes started to fade, slowly turning into fear (that's something I love about my eyes, I can drive anyone crazy just by looking them in the eye). Slowly, Alex lowered his gaze, the others were silent.
"Look at me" I said firmly, Alex looked at me again, he was in the brink of tears "I don't want this to ever happen again, I have a reason for every order, don't question me again."
"Nahualmorph" Daniel's voice brought me back to reality.
"What is it Daniel?"
"We can't contact the base in Hawaii"
Howard tried vainly to contact the base a couple more times
"Its useless" said Howard "We can't communicate, probably the same thing happened to the expedition guys"
"Ok, here's what we're going to do" I said "We'll make the same teams as before and we'll check everything again, Pete, your team will return to the plane, I want you to use the sensors and see if there is any kind of radioactivity or whatever that is interfering with the transmissions. The rest, let's check the ship again, Lycomorphs, be alert, use your nose."
We all split again.
"You're right" said Carlos as soon as we were on the hallway "There is a strange smell, but it's very faint, it's almost impossible to know where does it comes from"
"I can't smell anything" said Steve.
"thrust me" I said "it's there"
"Team three, machinery room, clear " said agent Jonhson "Sly reports a strange smell"
"Team four, same I the dormitories" said Sandra "Alex says he also smells something"
"Try to locate the source" I said "team two, report"
"There's a reading in the radiation detectors" said Peter "But I can't identify it, it doesn't seems to be dangerous though"
"Can you detect anything else?" I asked.
Before Peter could answer, I heard Alex's voice.
" we've located the source of the smell, it's coming from a door behind the warehouse"
"Don't touch anything until we're there" I said "Peter, you guys stay in the plane, team three, let's go to the warehouse"
When we reached the warehouse, team three was already there, o noticed the smell grew stronger as I approached the door.
"Peter, can you tell us what's behind that door?"
"Negative, the walls are made of plumb"
"Very well, Sly, open the door, the rest, be prepared"
Sly slowly took the door handle and pulled of it, but it didn't moved, it was frozen solid, Sly used both hands and pulled with all his strength until the door finally opened.
The smell was a little stronger now. The room's lights were on, there were several tables, some of them with big black bags on top.
"Now I can smell something too" said Steven.
"Me too" said Sandra.
"Well, we know what's next" I said heading towards the nearest table.
I careful opened the zipper and uncovered its contents.
"What the fuck is that?" asked Alex.
Everybody gave a step back.
There, on the table, was the thing that confirmed my fears, a creature with a barrel shaped body, several tentacles sprouted from it in the lower part, and two ramifications un the upper part, that parted as it extended, the head had the shape of a five pointed star, it had three big holes in the center of the body, and what seemed to be shredded membranous wings. A gooey greenish liquid was oozing from three of the five points in its head and from its open mouth.
I have seen lots of terrible things in my life, some ever worse than this, but none had caused me such feeling of fear and repulsion as this one, maybe it was not the creature itself, but what it represented.
"Team two, report here at once" "Steve, Lisa, what can you tell us about this organism?" I asked
"well," started Lisa It looks like an animal, but it has certain features that you usually see in plants, see this bulb here?" she pointed under the creature's belly, or what we assumed was it's belly "I'm sure they reproduce by spores, and if this green thing is their blood, it may contain chlorophyll, this being is totally unclassifiable, this things in its back could be wings, but it has fins and tentacles in the lower part of its body, I need to do some research so I can come up with a theory."
"Steve?"
"I can only confirm what Lisa just said, this being can't be classified, but whatever it is, it scared the hell out of the crew members, those holes are definitely bullet wounds, apparently it was hit several times, it has several contusions in its head, it must have had an eye in every point, that's five, it only had two, the wings were damaged too, structure seems broken in some places, just like in the arms."
"The smell is unbearable" said Alex "I don't think I can stand it much longer."
"Same here" said Carlos "It makes me feel weird"
"I know," I told them, "But we're lucky to be partially humans, otherwise we couldn't stand it at all"
Peter and the rest arrived the room.
"What is it?" asked Ash and immediately covered his nose "what's that smell?"
"It can't be" exclaimed Kim "They really exist"
"That's right Kim" I said "My worst fear has been confirmed" I turn to look at the rest of the team "Meet The Ancients", the first dwellers of this planet"
They all looked in awe at the creature on the table.
"They're horrible" said Robin.
"Maybe just unusual" said Lisa.
"If they can be killed I don't see a reason to be worried" said Daniel Those holes were apparently made by regular bullets."
"He's right" said Steve "I thought we were going to face something almost invincible"
"Maybe it's not them we should worry about" said Kim
"I know what you're thinking" I said "if the ancient are real, it means the soggoths exist too"
"That's right" Kim was slightly shuddering "The shapeless slaves of The Ancient, made of protoplasm, the ones that stood against them, the ones that now look for their own identity, and all they can do is imitate.
I approached to another bag and opened it, hoping to find another creature, and I did, but this time, I nearly screamed in fear.
"Sandra, Bill, Kim..." I spoke without looking away from the bag's content, but holding the edges, to prevent the rest from watching it "You have read At The Mountains Of Madness, right?"
"Yes" the three answered at the same time.
"Do you remember how the soggoths killed The Ancients during the great rebellion?"
"Yes" answered Bill "The soogoths decapitated them, the bodies were found covered in a gooey substance"
I lowered the edge on the bag, uncovering part of the body in it. This Ancient didn't had any kind of wound, its wings were in perfect shape, and the other appendages too, only the head was missing, it has not been cut clean, it looked as if it has been ripped, the upper part of the creature was covered in a strange clear liquid that was starting to pool in the bag.
"Ok" said Steve "I'm starting to frighten a little"
"You're not nearly frightened enough" Whispered Carlos at Steve's ear
"Well, alpha male..." said Max "what will be the course of action?"
"You'll find out soon" I said moving towards the last table "There's something I have to see first"
The bag in the last table seemed more empty than the rest, I slowly opened the zipper, I didn't even needed to look inside, the smell was enough to confirm my thoughts, but this has to be done, so I open the bag, revealing the human torso inside it, covered in the same substance.
Lisa cuddled against Alex and he wrapped an arm around her.
Everybody, except Howard and Daniel had expressions of fear and awe, I closed the bag and started barking orders.
"Carlos, start the plane, we're heading towards the base camp, the rest, shut everything down and go to the plane immediately, Max, A hostile situation may be imminent , s soon as we reach the base camp, I want a full report of structure entrances, exits, energy sources, the whole thing."
"I would have done it even if you hadn't told me, I'm not retarded or something you know?" Max said trying to hide her anger with sarcasm.
"That's what I thought " I said smiling "but I had to be sure"
I walked away heading towards the plane "And Carlos wonders why I don't like women"
By the time I entered the plane's cockpit, Carlos and peter had everything ready to go and were just waiting for my orders.
"Listen" I said "let me know when you make visual contact with the base, locate a good landing spot but don't land until I told you ok?"
"Roger, roger" said Carlos imitating certain droid from certain movie.
"Let's go then"
I went out of the cockpit and took my place next to Steven. I started rubbing my head with my thumb and index fingers.
"You ok?" asked me Steve.
"Yeah, just a little stress, this alpha male thing is harder than it looks
"Let me guess... Max" Said Steve smiling.
"Actually, yes amongst other things"
"Relax, take a deep breath, because this is just the beginning"
"You're right, it's too soon to freak out"
"Hey," Steve placed his left hand on my shoulder "You're doing it good, try to get some rest, this will take a while."
I got comfortable on my seat as we took off...
TO BE CONTINUED