Paphos, p.8
Paphos, page 8
“I need my arm back!” Orlean cried again.
Dublin went to work cutting the steel rod loose. Athen looked away as the sparks flew. “Alright, lass, the good doc says the rod is safer inside your leg right now. We can remove it at the huts.”
Dmitry gazed out at their surroundings and wiped a layer of sweat from his brow. It was even warmer down here. Where he was looked like the inside of a shoebox with stairs on the left leading down. The noise on this floor was ambient and silent, like a giant, empty warehouse.
“How are we going to get back up?” Orlean demanded.
“Somehow,” Dmitry said. “But it won’t be the elevator. Also, someone has to stay here with Athen,” he said. “Not you, Dublin, this place is falling apart, and I may need your tools. Austin, I’ll need you too. We don’t have a way to scan for traps. I’ll need a third pair of hands in case one of us gets hurt.”
“We just need my arm!” Orlean vexed, rubbing his stump.
“I’ll stay,” Helena volunteered.
Orlean kicked the wall. “I’ll stay too, with that thing running around; they may need my help.”
Austin swallowed. The worst thing to do in a bad situation was to panic, but what was the best thing to do? They couldn’t have fallen more than a couple of floors, but the commotion was so loud that anything with ears would have heard it.
“How are you doing, kiddo?” he asked his daughter.
“I’m okay. We should go down those stairs.”
“I’m sorry this happened. I’ll still get you out of here.”
“It’s okay. We should go down those stairs.”
Austin winced, though he didn’t mean to. Just now, she didn’t sound like herself. He’d best see down those stairs first. “Carolina, you’d better stay here, too,” he said.
CHAPTER 10
“I want to come with you,” she said, her voice monotone.
Austin winced again. This was eerily similar to the moment before she was vomiting a parasite out of her, and she’d been under constant watch since then. “We are just going to take a look. I’ll be right back.”
She would usually cross her arms when he put his foot down. Instead, she just nodded. No pouting, no pursing lips, no furrowing her brow; he wished she would do some of those things. Maybe she just wasn’t acting like herself because of the medicine she had earlier. He really, really needed that to be it.
“Come on,” Dmitry said. Dublin checked his tool belt and stood, waiting for him to join. He gazed down the long hallway, ribbed with piping, wondering why it seemed even less friendly than the last one. At the end, there were stairs.
“We’ll be right back. Just scouting it out first.”
They took a few steps ahead as he gave one more look at Carolina, who gazed through him. He would be right back, and then he’d make Dmitry take another look at her just to make sure there was nothing wrong.
They traveled a dozen meters, the sound of Orlean’s curses fading. The hallway opened to the left, revealing a narrow set of stairs leading down. They descended to discover an arena, some thirty meters beneath them. Dmitry continued as their walkway devolved from a stairway into floating, grated platforms suspended from the ceiling. Like walkways at a construction site, the arena rested under the umbrella of these temporary platforms. Austin did not like the way they swayed under his weight as he stepped onto one.
Beneath them, the walls had little rooms carved out, like open dorms.
“An’ what you suppose is down in there?” Dublin asked, pointing to the floor beneath them, right in the middle, where something like a shipping container waited. He noticed it had barred windows.
Austin really didn’t want to know. “Over there! Another elevator,” he pointed to a section on the other side. How they would get over there, or especially how they would get Athen there, was a riddle yet to be solved. These platforms didn’t go in a straight shot that he could see.
“What is the bloody purpose of this?” Dublin wondered, referring either to the suspended walkways or the arena below them. He walked carefully across the floating platforms as they began to sway more. To think, all of this had been hidden beneath them, under the planet’s surface, all this time.
Austin looked down and fought the dizzying sensation of the floor. Dmitry continued undeterred, albeit slowly. The platform swayed lazily. One didn’t need to fear heights to be uncomfortable up here, but Dmitry continued on, leading the way. After what felt like forever, he made it to the elevator across from them. The sooner Austin was on solid ground, the better.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Dmitry said, giving a smooth grin to Dublin as he arrived. A round-floor design waited in front of the new elevator, which they studied. They found another key panel recessing into the frame, with faint lights that flickered as Dublin pressed them. “Lookin’, I’ll need to wedge the door open; these damn buttons aren’t working,” he cursed, selecting a tool from his cargo pocket. He retrieved his cherished pneumatic wrench, about the length of his forearm. There was a story behind that particular wrench, though Austin never heard the complete version.
“Problems?”
Dublin kept searching but couldn’t find a gap to wedge into. This door was different. As he searched, they heard a faint motor behind the wall, stuttering as if wanting to work.
“Maybe it needs more power, notice how the lights dim each time that motor spurs,” Austin said. Dublin grimaced.
“Dublin, I want you to stay very still, and don’t move,” Dmitry ordered in a slow, deliberate way.
“What’s that?”
“Dublin…” Dmitry said again. The engineer stopped and gave an irritated ‘What now’ over his shoulder.
Dmitry motioned softly with his head, down and to the left. Austin looked as something zipped by. Dublin saw it too. Oh damn… It moved again, and he knew for certain it was the parasite, scaling underneath the rafters.
“Act natural,” Dmitry said with a soft voice. Austin kept his eyes forward, observing out of the corner of his eye. Thinking itself undetected, the parasite scrambled its way across the hanging platforms. “We need to follow it; this may be our only chance,” he added. Austin just held his tongue.
They followed carefully and quietly in slow pursuit, like hunters sneaking up on their prey. They crept towards the center and followed a descending ramp, all the while keeping a keen eye on the jellyfish parasite and trying not to rock the platforms. The creature scurried to the far end of the room and disappeared into one of the carved-out spots. Austin noticed its haphazard path was taking them closer to the container in the middle of the arena. As the heat continued to build, his chest soaked with sweat. He wiped his forehead as they crossed another lazily swaying platform. The parasite should be visible from this angle, but he couldn’t see it.
They were closer to the ground, and he was able to make out a dozen old scorches on the floor, like ricocheted bullets. He found another sizable hole in the wall, which wasn’t visible from their earlier positions. Dmitry and Dublin stared at it too, just as the parasite scurried up and over into the hole.
Dmitry smiled. “It cornered itself in there.”
“We told the others we’d be right back,” Austin argued. “Do you even know how you are going to catch it? Come on, guys, we can’t just tackle it.”
Dmitry removed something from his inner pocket, a folded-up durasack. It was a woven poly-fiber material that weighed nothing but was so durable you’d need a tool to cut it. “Satisfied?”
Dmitry went down the ramp, along a wall that stopped just above the floor of the arena, followed by his trusty engineer. Austin had no choice but to climb down with them, though he would make certain he could backtrack. He had sworn to Carolina he’d be right back, and this was threatening that promise. Although catching it might mean they could focus on getting out of here.
They lurked outside the gaping hole in the wall. Dmitry motioned for Austin to enter. Figures. He looked over the lip of the hole, reevaluating its size. The cavernous path began in the wall and then angled quickly downward. He flashed his light, praying not to see a jellyfish staring at him as the light swung to the side, uncovering rubble and dust. The hole was deep enough that it led to the floor beneath, like a hastily made shortcut. The parasite wasn’t as trapped as they’d hoped; there was an entire floor down there to hide in. And at this point, Austin figured it had to know they were stalking it.
“Something did this, and it goes down to the next floor. We’ll need rope if we’re climbing in there,” he said. He pushed aside thoughts of heading back to the others, where Carolina, Athen, and Orlean still waited at the broken elevator. They could manage another five minutes or so to get this over with. Dublin secured a rope to one of the thicker pipes and flung the spool down. So much for a clandestine approach. Austin gripped a piece of rubble and transferred his weight to the rope as he climbed in, slowly rappelling down. The rubble kicked up penetrating dust, and he found himself holding his breath. Towards the end, his feet dangled uncontrollably. Slowly twirling until touching down, he was grateful to get his feet on solid ground. It’d been reasonably stealthy, all things considered.
“I’m in,” he called up. He’d be in pitch black without his flashlight, which did a decent job in his immediate vicinity, but left gaping mysteries beyond that. He did not like being alone down here, with a careless rope as his only lifeline. He closed his eyes. I can only deal with one thing at a time…
The best he could tell was that the hallway went in both directions. Something either tore through the ceiling to make that hole or tore through the floor to get down here. Either looked impossible without machinery. When the others joined him, he felt a little relief, and they picked directions to get moving again. He looked at the rope to ensure he could reach it, because he damn sure wasn’t going to get stuck down here. He had a promise to keep.
The flooring and wall materials on this floor were identical to what he’d seen above. Too bad none of the lights had come on yet. Their flashlights led them to the first room, where a door was bent and lying on the ground. A thick, heavy door was casually ripped off the wall and left there. What could have done that? Inside the room, they found a long table covered with jars and liquids. Another lab? He wiped continuous sweat from his face; the heat just wouldn’t let up. This lab had one noticeable difference; instead of aquatic organisms floating in small vases, there was a table. On it were a series of restraints, thick but torn. Ripped in half, to be accurate.
“What do you make of this?” Dmitry asked.
“I think they were studying bigger specimens here. Straps that thick should be impossible to break,” Austin said.
“Should be…” Dublin said, holding up the frayed end of one. “Let’s hope we don’t run into this thing.”
Austin shone his light down to the far side of the wall. The parasite may as well have vanished at this point. They backtracked down the hallway and found four more rooms, all similar to the first one. The first was sealed shut, but they could see inside through the window.
Something moved as the flashlight came back to the hallway, so fast it may have been nothing more than a shadow playing tricks on him. He flashed his light again, but didn’t see anything.
“You okay?” Dmitry asked.
“I thought I saw it down there.”
“Are you sure?” Dmitry shone his light down the hallway.
“No, not really.”
“Where?”
Austin aimed his flashlight through the window of the next door.
“Austin, head in that direction, Dublin and I will make sure it can’t double back.”
“Great…” he replied. This must be a form of payback for trying to send that message. He crept forward, flashlight scanning slowly. He checked another exam room and gave an all clear to Dmitry, who waved him forward. Austin crept to the next sealed door. He flashed his light through the window and fell backwards in a panic, the light skittered across the floor.
“What? Is it in there?”
“No, it’s something else, I wasn’t expecting it,” Austin said stupidly. He gathered himself and retrieved his flashlight.
“The parasite?”
“Just take a look while I put my heart back in my chest.”
The door remained sealed, but through the window, they found something larger than either of them strapped to the exam room table, something that would need those thick straps to hold it down.
“Aye, very dead, a good thing too,” Dublin whispered.
The creature in the room was huge. It had a thick, squat head the size of Dublin’s chest. Its face was comprised of empty eye sockets and a mouth full of jagged teeth. The exam table was raised, making the beast seem upright, which was part of what gave Austin a heart attack moments ago. It also had six arms, thick as tree branches, each individually restrained. It didn’t have hands; instead, the arms ended like suction cups, folding off into lips of flesh. Its feet were trunks, attached to lanky and disjointed legs. It was about twice the size of a man, seemingly bipedal.
Dmitry began snapping pictures. “Well, I don’t have Orlean’s prosthetic to get a multi-layered shot, but these will do for now.”
Austin took a moment to gather himself and then looked inside the room again. “Why hasn’t it decomposed?”
“Bloody good question for later. Where’d he see the parasite?” Dublin asked, rubbing his chin.
“Austin wasn’t certain, but he thought he saw it over here.”
He craned his head down the hallway, wondering if the other rooms had similar specimens, wondering if the parasite was about to jump them, or if he’d actually really seen it a moment ago. It had to be down here, unless it somehow doubled back on them.
In the next room, there was a similar specimen, though smaller and at the early stages of shriveling. “I got another one in here,” Austin said. The muscles were more pronounced as the flesh had sunk in. “Geez.”
They approached the last room. The door was sealed shut like the others, but he detected the electrical hum. Through the window was another one of those sixarmed beasts, but this one was the biggest.
“Found the big-papa,” Austin said. Dublin and Dmitry appeared behind him.
“It hasn’t decayed one bit,” Dmitry remarked.
“Aye, he looks fresh. Maybe that’s what they studied here, cell aging and such,” Dublin proposed.
“Plausible, considering what we’ve seen so far.”
“Guys, look at its chest.”
They were collectively silent at noticing the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of its chest.
“It’s breathing.”
Dmitry moved closer to the window.
“We need a live sample of this,” Dmitry said. He grabbed the door handle and tugged, turning it until the locks fell into place. With a thud, the remaining locks clicked home, and the hum of energy stopped. The door whined and opened, all three of them frozen in the doorway.
“This is a bad idea. What if it wakes up?” Austin warned.
“If this thing could wake up, it would have years ago.”
Just as he started to argue, a hissing screech spun him. Austin covered his face when something sticky shot him in the eyes, blinding him. Dmitry cried out too.
“My eyes!”
“Shut the door!” Austin cried, fumbling for the control handle. He couldn’t see, but he felt something brush by him before he found the door.
“It waited for you to open it!”
“Curdled maggots!” Dublin cursed. “I’ve got it, hand me the sack!”
Dmitry blindly held the durasack up, and Dublin snatched it from him. They heard his movement as Dublin stalked into the room, whispering taunts, holding the durasack open in both hands. The thwop sound of its spider legs was frantic as Dublin bolted at it, though it avoided him easily. With agony and a lot of blurring, Austin was starting to see shapes again.
The jellyfish hid behind a chair. Dublin adjusted his grip, feeling the lightness of the durasack. He readied himself to pounce again when several glass beakers fell, smashing on the floor. The commotion distracted Dublin, just long enough for the parasite to take advantage and dart towards him. He lunged in an attempt to catch it. It jumped, its spidery legs grasping Dublin’s hands, keeping the length of the durasack. It wrestled onto his back. Dublin shrieked and spun, but the parasite hopped off of him just as quickly.
“Where did it go?” Dmitry cried, regaining his vision.
“Not good,” Dublin panted. The jellyfish stood on the monstrosity’s chest, glaring at them. It didn’t have a mouth, but Austin’s vision was somewhat restored, and he swore it was glaring. It stuck a spider leg in the beast’s mouth and disappeared into it with grotesque speed.
“Very not good,” Dublin said again.
“Dublin! Get out of there!” Austin begged.
The creature, still bound to the table, slowly began to move, starting with deeper breaths. Then it flexed each of its six arms.
“Dublin!”
“Change of plan,” Dmitry ordered, squinting through the pain in his eyes. He twisted the door lever and slammed it shut, trapping Dublin inside.
CHAPTER 11
“Austin!”
Dublin screamed and pounded on the door. Through the window, he saw Austin holding the doorknob, locking him in. That coward trapped him in as payback! That bloody worm would pay when he made it out of here! Dublin pounded again. “Damn you, Austin!”
He slammed against the door, cursing and ignoring the bruising on his fist. He heard a long, slow exhale behind him, which made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Dublin turned as the monstrosity on the table stirred, lifting its head. A dozen eyes blinked on its face.
One arm ripped free of its restraint, triggering an alarm. Red lights beamed from the ceiling, swirling bweep bweep bweep.
“Ya’ coward! You’ll pay for this!” Dublin swore. Looking through the window, he didn’t see Austin or Dmitry anymore. They’d left him. G’wan now, get it together, you lil’ orphan lamb, he focused. Dublin gathered a blast torch from the toolkit and gave it a slap. Ten thousand degrees of pure cutting ripped out of the torch. He shot it into the doorknob, hoping to cut himself free in time.
