Paphos, p.9
Paphos, page 9
“Cut real fast now, you son of a whore!” he shouted, willing the torch through materials unknown.
Sparks flew off the door, spraying in all directions, singeing hair on the back of his hands. Another snap came from behind him, so he stole a glance over his shoulder and saw it trying to sit up, still staring at him. Its dozen eyes blinked independently. He pulled the blast torch away to inspect his progress and cursed. It’d take about another hour to get through the door like this.
“Damn you, Austin!” It looked like Dmitry had tried to get the door back open. Austin must have found a way to lock it, and Dmitry was looking for a tool or something to help. But he didn’t have time to wait for that.
The monstrosity ripped apart the last restraints with ease. All sound in the room was deadened except the torch in Dublin’s hand. This was a bad thing. The behemoth exhaled a low, steady growl. It stood until its head pushed against the ceiling, being too tall for the room. Dublin circled, looking for an angle, searing torch in hand, realizing he had nowhere to run. A flittering thought of hiding under the table was dismissed. He considered his torch, wondering how much flesh he could ruin before dying. Or maybe he could just keep it at bay until Dmitry returned with help, which he also dismissed. He found a socket near him full of wires. Oh, what the hell. He sank his torch into it and embraced all the consequences.
An immediate surge of energy erupted, followed by a thick cloud of smoke. The torch shot out of his hand like a rocket, and the alarm howl slowed to a stop. The secured door across the room jolted with indecision, sputtering. He went to his hands and knees and crawled as the room filled with toxic fumes, already threatening to close his lungs. A smash above him rocked the walls. The creature had tried to crush him. Crawling in the smoke had saved his life.
The doors wouldn’t open more than an inch, though they jerked as if wanting to. Smoke blanketed and billowed. His vision was now blurred, and he couldn’t see the creature’s feet, barely his own hands. He crawled in a daze, wondering which way he was headed; it felt like the smoke was moving as he held his breath. He climbed to his feet and leaned against the wall, only for it to give way under him. A sobering piece of rubble pushed jagged edges into his side. He’d fallen through the wall, which was now connected to the adjoining exam room. The creature didn’t need doors; it made them.
Dublin could no longer hold his breath. His blood vibrated with the oxygen and the nano-inoculations, fighting to purify his red blood cells. He collapsed on the other side of the hole in the wall and crawled away from the smoke, which drained up into vents along the ceiling.
He couldn’t stop coughing long enough to stand, so he remained immobilized on the floor next to an exam table. Fans swirled. He ripped his jacket open to let his chest cool off, followed by fits of coughing and spitting. He didn’t see the creature, but he saw where it had decided to go, walls being nothing more than a suggestion to it.
An altogether different sound beamed through the hallways, a voice in a language unknown, monotone and penetrating, creating a kind of warped stereophonic echo. It sounded pre-recorded, like the kind his ship gave when there was a malfunction. He listened, but didn’t understand.
Standing wasn’t easy, but he could do it. He stepped out into the hallway feeling like a bee in a hive.
“Aye, Dublin, still alive. So what’cha think of this fine mess?” He didn’t usually talk to himself, but there wasn’t anyone around to punch.
Dublin rested his weight against a line of service pipes. The pipes were marked with faded, alien writings. Too bad he couldn’t just walk out of here.
“Jus’ make it easy for me to find you, Austin, you son of a whore.”
* * *
Dublin pounded on the door. Austin pushed Dmitry out of the way and tried to get the door back open, wrestling for the handle. He didn’t have any love for Dublin, but he sure as hell wouldn’t leave him trapped in there. How could Dmitry do that? The beast inside was moving, coming to life when a flood of alarms triggered. The door stayed sealed, possibly part of the security protocol, but he wouldn’t give up. He wouldn’t leave Dublin there. Still, no matter how he pulled, the door wouldn’t budge.
Dmitry slammed into him, tackling him from the door. “Leave him! Don’t let that thing out!” he yelled. “That’s an order!”
“Dublin is trapped in there!” Austin scrambled to his feet and reached again for the lever, pulling on it with all his might. This time, he felt it move an inch, but Dmitry’s arm wrapped tightly around his neck. He let go of the handle and clutched at the arm. Dmitry was stronger than he would have expected. With a twist, he flung Austin to the floor.
The alarm triggered activity down the halls. The hallway lights shone with stark illumination, as if a master control had been activated. A half-dozen ceiling panels shifted and inhaled as warning lights spun.
“We’re going back,” Dmitry ordered.
“Not without Dublin!”
“Look around—it’s too late for him!”
Austin tried to step beside him, but Dmitry blocked his path. “I said it’s too late!” he roared. Gone was his cool demeanor.
Austin shoved Dmitry into the wall. Their fists were clenched for only a moment when an electric field blazed to life down the corridor, and then another, and then another.
Dmitry saw it and fled in the opposite direction.
Austin saw the electric fields as well. He briefly pictured Carolina at the elevator, waiting for them to come back, oblivious to all this. His feet were light with adrenaline. Dmitry was faster, but survival rocketed them both. Reflections of electric death shone in the walls ahead, chasing them. He sent a fleeting prayer for Dublin as his own fate was about to be decided. Dmitry found an open room and they both dove into it.
The glowing energy zapped by as the two of them caught their breath. Austin sat on the ground where he’d landed. The imminent death was gone and this was just a room, one he shared with Dmitry. He let himself take a moment there, waiting to see what happened next.
“We should focus on getting out of here,” Dmitry proposed. He’d also waited to see if the building was going to throw something else at them.
Austin glared. His fearless leader was clearly the sort of person to leave any of them if it meant saving himself. Without answering, Austin drew his gaze over to the fractures in the wall. Ignoring Dmitry, he moved across from him and inspected it, placing his hands against the material. With a gentle push, he found it willing to budge. He’d deal with Dmitry’s survival flaws later.
“This might be a way out; the wall is falling apart,” Austin said.
“Well?”
The facility was alive with all kinds of sounds, too muffled to make out clearly. Whatever was happening to Dublin right now, he wished him the best and tried not to think of it. At this point, there was nothing he could do, and he had his own problems to deal with. He gave a decent shove, and the wall collapsed, spilling large chunks on either side.
“Perfect. We’re back near that arena,” he said, looking around. “I’ll go first,” Dmitry added, climbing through the hole in the wall.
The arena looked the same. It was Austin’s turn now. He managed to climb halfway through until his belt wouldn’t fit. His head and arms dangled, looking out from the ground floor.
“Dmitry, pull me through!”
A burst of smoke ruptured about fifty meters away, echoing across the arena. The monstrosity, the one the parasite had crawled into, the one they abandoned Dublin for, it was there.
Austin’s toolbelt was still wedged in the wall, with him fully stuck.
He didn’t see Dmitry anymore.
CHAPTER 12
Accompanied by the walls of their defunct elevator, Athen was able to stand with help. Keeping her leg straight was the plan, and her pain meds were helping. The narrow metal rod in her leg, which Dublin was kind enough to cut proportionately, was snugly in place. They couldn’t remove it until they returned to the quadrohuts, where Dmitry had access to proper equipment. At least he numbed the pain, well, most of it. Athen was quickly learning how to walk differently.
She wasn’t lonely; Orlean and Helena were her human crutches. She wanted to try to stand without them, but they insisted. Carolina, of course, had wandered to the end of the hallway, watching expectantly for her father to return. And to be truthful, those guys should have been back by now.
Then a shake in the walls, hollow and distant. Fans kicked on and the lights beamed. She was so accustomed to the dimness that she was forced to shield her eyes.
“Something just happened,” Helena jumped.
“Maybe the guys flipped a power switch. I’d know more if I had my arm.”
“He needs our help,” Carolina said. She peered down the stairs where her father and the others had disappeared. “Right now.”
“I’m sure everything is fine, sweetie,” Athen responded, just before something crashed. The inhuman moans of metal and debris flew up the hallway.
“What was that?”
“He needs us right now,” Carolina repeated.
This time, Athen didn’t argue. She slung an arm over Orlean and Helena as they dragged her down the hallway. Whirring motors and sensors buzzed around them.
The hallway descended downstairs, leading to a huge, open warehouse, or perhaps an arena, circular in shape and with spectator viewing areas. Carolina was fast, leaving the others no time to dwell. Their path ended directly into a web of suspended platforms. Athen’s stomach sank. She was unstable on stable ground, so this did not look promising.
“I’m not going across those!” Helena cried.
A pyre of flames shot from beneath them, followed by an explosion several floors beneath them.
“We need to stay together and find the others!” Orlean urged.
Carolina bounded across, sending the platforms swaying.
“Wait!” Athen struggled to follow, hobbling with Orlean for support. The chains shook, and she clutched Orlean for support. Helena was on her hands and knees, frozen, not able to follow.
Carolina was now ahead of them, bounding towards an elevator just on the other side of the platforms. A working elevator would be a blessing right now.
“Slow down!” Orlean shouted. He tried not to look down as the platform started to move.
“Carolina! Wait!” Athen ordered.
Helena was still on the first platform, immobile, stuck in a crawl. “I can’t do it,” she whispered. “I just can’t…” She turned around.
“Helena!” Orlean called. “Carolina! Damnit!” he groaned. He wouldn’t leave Helena, but Carolina wouldn’t wait for them. What the hell was that kid’s problem? More importantly, where the hell was Dmitry?
The platforms jumped all at once, like a ship tossed by a wave. Athen’s feet hovered in the air, and she watched the chain railing fly under her. Out of reflex, she grabbed onto anything she could.
Orlean’s good arm held her as Athen dangled over the side, her momentum almost taking him with her.
“Orlean!” she shrieked.
Orlean’s grip was slipping fast. He might not be able to hold on; the best he could hope for would be to drop her on a platform below, if it stayed still long enough.
Athen had another idea. “Stay still!” she ordered, her forearms bulging. As an engineer, she had stronger arms than most men. She climbed up Orlean’s limb, gripping his sleeve and the skin beneath it, making him wince. It was all grip strength as she ascended over Orlean’s shoulders, with one good leg to help her step. Then she dug into his back, and together they fell safely to the suspended platform.
“I’m so glad you work out,” Orlean panted.
“I’m glad I grabbed your good arm,” Athen exhaled.
“Oh, God,” he laughed. His gaze lowered to the ground. “What… what the hell is that?”
A creature taller than a man and with six arms went across the floor of the arena, an unusual-looking creature, like a monster he would have drawn as a kid. It looked up at them.
“Shit!”
It reached up and snagged the bottom platform dangling nearest the floor, sending a ripple up the chain system. It was far below them; it seemed impossible, but one of its arms just extended out to twice its length and grabbed. The creature climbed up towards them, causing the platforms to swing.
A chain snapped; the added weight was too much for this dilapidated system. A platform gave way and smashed to the floor, though the creature was able to swap with ease and continue climbing.
They rose to their feet, silent and in terror. She draped her arm around Orlean’s neck and gulped as they practically sprinted.
Pain ripped through her leg where the steel rod was embedded. “I… I can’t go this fast,” Athen cried, her leg unwilling to cooperate.
“Yes, you can.” Orlean flinched as another chain snapped from the weight, felt the lurch as the platforms tilted. They moved with all the speed she could muster.
“Over there!” he yelled, pointing to an opening in the wall. Again, the platform they were on shook, forcing Athen down to her good knee. Orlean grabbed her and stifled a gasp. Gripped underneath the platform just below Athen’s knee was one of the creature’s wet, cup-shaped hands. The chains moaned from their combined weight. It was at least another fifteen paces to get to safety. With Athen’s leg, it may as well be a mile.
“Orlean…” Athen whispered.
“I see it.”
“What do we do?”
A long, probing black worm extended from the cup-hand, wriggling through the grated platform, sensing the air.
Orlean tugged Athen to her feet, and they evaded the probing worm. A chain snapped, but they ran, each step a question mark as to whether they were about to fall or worse. They exited into a hallway not far from the elevator, and a door slammed behind them, sealing them in. The echoes of other doors slamming down rippled around them.
“The building is locking us down!” Orlean gasped.
Athen gazed at her surroundings. “What the hell was that?”
“I… I don’t know,” Orlean said between breaths.
“Now it’s just us?”
He shook his head.
“Carolina?”
“I don’t… I… I’m sure she’s okay. They’re all okay,” he said, leaning his one arm against the wall. “How’s the leg?”
“Hurts.” She watched him gather his calm.
Orlean walked over to the security door, his inner shirt freely soaked from the warmth and running. The door that had shut on them had no windows or door handles, just a slab. Another security wall had shut not twenty paces away, closing the hallway off in both directions. They were trapped inside the hallway and rooms.
“This isn’t good,” Orlean said, going to the other end of the hallway to check the other slab. Athen used the doorway of one room to slide down and sit, resting her leg as blood seeped through the liquid stitches. She looked out at the room, which could have been an office. There were shelves full of strange containers, closed cabinets, and dead screens on the wall. There were no chairs, so she sat on the floor with her leg out.
“Oh, dammit, this is just great,” Orlean cursed at the security wall.
“You left the keys in your other pants, didn’t you?”
“What?”
“Sorry… I joke when I’m trapped underground,” she said, wiping away her smile. With a cough, she adopted a straight face. “It’s the painkillers, sorry. Serious. I’m serious now. I’m Athen, but I’m serious too,” she covered her mouth to stop.
Orlean rolled his eyes. “What’s the maximum burning temp of a plasma torch?”
“One thousand, two hundred and seventy-three kelvins.”
“Good, the drugs are only affecting your personality, I can deal with that. What tools do we have?”
“Pneumatic wrench, electron scanner, small laser cutter, and my multi-tool.”
“That’s it?”
“And these guns,” Athen flexed her arms. The joke fell silent. “Dublin carries all the good ones, sorry.”
“Well…” Orlean said, studying the wall. He traced the surface with his right hand as far as he could reach. “It’s alien technology, but logical reasoning would suggest there’s a system here. Something tripped the slab down, so something has to pull it back up. There’s got to be a service panel or a switch.”
“Maybe we can reverse it, override it, sudden pressure drop… I wish we had bubblegum,” Athen said, chewing on the end of her fingernail.
“There’s a tiny groove in the ceiling,” Orlean observed without optimism. The ceiling was easily a meter higher than he could reach with his good arm, and reaching up with his stump left him feeling a little self-conscious.
“There’s furniture in the room,” Athen replied.
“Great! Go grab it, oh, sorry. You sit there. How’s your leg again?”
“Still hurts.”
Orlean chuckled and shook his head. At least Athen was in a good mood; he hoped it stayed that way because he was doing everything he could to keep from freaking out. He spotted a cabinet of sorts and gave it a tug. Even with one arm, he should be able to move it, but the thing wasn’t budging. He wedged himself between the wall and the cabinet and pushed with his legs. It seemed bolted in place. If he dislodged it, he’d still have to drag it back, which wasn’t looking fun. He needed something smaller but wasn’t seeing anything. “Don’t these aliens sit down? Where are all the chairs?”
“I know! I asked the same thing!”
Orlean walked over and snatched the laser cutter from her outstretched hand. She sat there chewing her nails and then watched the cabinet inch across the floor, leaving scratches. Each of Orlean’s tugs moved the cabinet an inch.
“You’re very manly.”
Orlean looked down, holding his stump self-consciously with his good arm. Of all the ways he imagined having alone time with Athen, it was never like this. Her gruff engineering side only added to her beauty and pure feminine qualities. But in thirteen months, he hadn’t made a move. And this certainly wasn’t the time.
