Infinity's Gateway, page 20
One of them lowered its head, sniffing the fallen dinosaur, nudging it with its nose. After a couple of moments, it raised its head and gave a terrifying roar, a roar filled with rage. Colton expected them to attack, but instead they clawed the ground, lowering their heads and studied their prey more closely. This temporary pause gave the marines time to reposition for the attack they knew was coming.
Colton ran over, placing himself directly in front of the dinosaur that had attacked Corporal Lee. Shouting and waving his hands in the air, he tried to distract the creature as Lee continued to belly crawl away, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the creature. “Reload,” shouted Garrett. “We have to take down the one by Corporal Lee.”
“Sir, we are running really low on ammo,” shouted Diaz. “It takes too many bullets to knock those walking nightmares down.”
“Colton, back up, you’re too close,” yelled Garrett, her eyes glued to the other three creatures who continued to mill around the fallen dinosaur.
“When those three start to advance, hit them with more grenades,” ordered Colton. “Diaz is right, we don’t have enough ammo to do the job.” Colton had a nearly full clip in his rifle but had only one remaining spare clip before he too would be out. His pistol, he knew, would have little effect. “Continue to pull back. Our only chance is to take cover in the larger boulders.”
The stench was almost overwhelming. It was an odor that Colton had experienced on a much smaller level in the zoo reptile house decades ago in a saner world. How many of these things were there? He almost giggled at a wildly inappropriate thought. What was the genre, a “stink of dinosaurs?” A “fart of death dealers?”
His mind flashed back to Flight 19. He prayed that the pilot had died quickly and mercifully in the crash. To have faced one of these creatures with 1945 armaments, and possibly being injured and alone, was too terrible to consider.
The creature in front of Colton tilted its head, now staring directly at him. Slowly it started to advance towards him, its head lowered, its mouth partially open. The only good thing about this was that it didn’t seem to be aware that Corporal Lee was lying in the rocks behind it, nearly helpless. As it advanced on Colton, its jaws began to open. Colton started to inch backwards, doing his best to keep pace with the creature.
But the ground was covered with sticks and small gravel shaped rocks. As Colton moved backwards, he was doing his best not to trip and fall. Suddenly the creature lunged its head forward, roaring at Colton. Involuntarily Colton stepped backwards too quickly, his foot coming down on a thin, flat rock that slide out from under him. Having had his full weight on the rock, it threw him off balance. Colton landed hard on the flat of his back, nearly knocking the breath out of him. The fear that rushed through him was more intense than the pain of his fall.
The creature raised its head, roaring in victory, its prey lying before it. The strength of its roar gave the other three creatures what they needed to advance. They too roared as they approached the doomed command. It was a roar of victory. Colton raised his rifle, taking aim at the creature’s throat, but knew his situation was nearly hopeless. Four of the marines pulled the pins on their grenades, waiting on Garrett’s command to launch as the creatures charged.
“Argos confirmed that the sounds we heard are gunshots and most probably grenades,” said Mercer as he hung up the phone. “We have two armed drones prepared to launch. Shall I give the order?”
“Stand by,” said MacKay. “I want to help Colton and those marines as much as you do. But there’s no point in sending another drone in over the interior. The mist hasn’t lightened up, so we’d have very limited visibility. Even if we already had one in position, we’d be firing blind.”
“Don’t those things have heat sensors, or something like that?” asked Father Ryan. He’d joined them on the bridge not long after Colton and his team had pushed off.
“Yes, Father, they do. But we still wouldn’t know who to target. We’re not able to distinguish between the heat signatures from our team and the force attacking them.”
They thought they heard another explosion. Then everything went silent. They waited, but try as they might, they couldn’t hear anything else. MacKay picked up the phone and called Sahir. “Is Argos still picking up sounds from the battle?”
“Just a moment, Captain,” said Sahir. MacKay could hear Sahir’s team working in the background. “No sir, everything has stopped.”
“Try getting them on the radio again. Argos was able to boost the signal last time. Have it do it again.”
“On it, Captain,” said Sahir. “Stand by.”
Waiting for Sahir to get back to them was agonizing. The only thing they could hear now was the gentle pounding of the surf and the occasional eerie cry from the jungle.
It had only been two minutes, but MacKay had taken all he could take. Just as he reached for the phone, it buzzed. “What have you got?” he barked into the receiver.
“We’ve not been able to reach them. Argos has even further strengthened the signal, but they’re not responding. However, it’s important to keep in mind that despite what Argos has been able to accomplish, there could be several reasons why they’re not answering,” said Sahir.
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” said MacKay. “Keep trying and let me know the minute you hear from them.”
MacKay put down the receiver and motioned for Mercer and Father Ryan to join him outside the bridge. Resting his arms on the railing, he stared at the jungle in front of them. “If there was ever a time for prayer, Father, this is it.”
Father Ryan put his hand on MacKay’s shoulder. “Way ahead of you, Callum, way ahead of you.”
“Mr. Mercer, launch both drones. At this point I’m ready to do anything I can to help those men.”
“Will do, sir,” said Mercer, and he left the bridge.
“We all knew how high the risk was sending them in, and that was before Argos determined that we were no longer in our world, so to speak. Based on what we now know it’s hard to guess what they’re facing.”
Father Ryan stood next to MacKay, deep in thought. “Based on everything I’ve read, and the things you’ve shared with me, Colton is a tough guy to kill. I wouldn’t write him off just yet.”
“Agreed,” sighed Captain MacKay. “I’m trying to stay positive, but this whole thing is just so impossibly bizarre that I really don’t know what to think anymore. How did we get here? And more importantly, how do we get back?”
“The crew is going to be asking the same questions, if they aren’t already,” Father Ryan said quietly. “We’re going to have to be ready for that.”
“I know,” said MacKay, sighing deeply. “It’s been eating at me ever since Sahir briefed me on their findings. Oh well, as they say, one dragon at a time.”
Mercer returned to the bridge, joining the two men. “Both drones are away and should reach the estimated location of the battle in about seven minutes. Argos provided us with the navigational headings.”
Once again, they were forced to wait. For all his years in the navy, for MacKay there was nothing worse than waiting to find out if your crew was all right.
It was Petty Officer Briggs who came and got the captain. “Sir, I have Lieutenant Sahir for you.”
Glancing at Father Ryan and Mercer, MacKay reentered the bridge and picked up the receiver. “What do you have, Lieutenant?”
MacKay listened to what Sahir had to say and his facial expression stayed the same, but Father Ryan noticed his knuckles turning white as he gripped the phone. When Sahir finished MacKay just stood there for a couple of moments. “Stay on it, Mr. Sahir. Let me know if you find anything else.”
Hanging up the phone he turned to Father Ryan and Lt. Commander Mercer. He cleared his throat and said, “Neither drone was able to pick up any human heat signatures. In fact, the entire area was devoid of life.”
Everything was quiet except for Father Ryan. Apparently, his order still used Latin for some things.
CHAPTER 15
Colton’s eyes locked onto the creature standing in front of him. Its huge, wet, black eyes glared back, slowly closing the gap between them. It was only about twenty feet away from him, but Colton held his fire. Taking careful aim, he took deep breaths, doing all that he could do to keep his hands from shaking. No margin for error.
The creature took two more steps toward him, strands of saliva spilling from its tooth-lined jaws, its rotten breath choking him. Colton began to put steady pressure on the trigger of his rifle, still trying to steady his aim. His talk with Father Ryan flashed through his mind. He breathed a silent prayer that he wouldn’t miss. Perhaps he could put enough rounds into its neck, all in the same spot, tearing the creature’s throat out.
Then, for some reason, the air seemed to ripple, blurring his vision. Colton blinked his eyes, desperately trying to clear them, but he still couldn’t see clearly. Is this what panic is like? Were his senses shutting down? The air had taken on the appearance of the concentric circles, just like what you see when you throw a rock into a pond, completely distorting the reflection of everything around it.
As suddenly as it had started, the rippling stopped, and his eyes cleared, but it didn’t last for more than a couple of seconds. Once again, the air started to ripple, but this time it was far more pronounced than before, completely blurring his field of vision. Colton quickly looked to his right for Garrett and her men. He was getting ready to yell for help but realized that everyone had stopped firing their weapons. Whatever was happening, it was affecting everyone in the same manner.
Colton’s eyes darted back to the creature that had been standing over him to find that it too seemed to be having problems. Rather than attacking him, it had backed away and was now making its way towards the other dinosaurs. Raising himself up on one arm, he saw that all the dinosaurs were moving off towards the jungle. The air cleared, but only momentarily before the third rippling wave washed across the area. This time, however, it was accompanied by a soft, bluish-white light that covered the entire area.
The light, for some inexplicable reason, was comforting. Colton’s hands stopped shaking and he found that he was suddenly able to breathe normally. The paralyzing fear that had nearly taken over his mind and body no longer held him in its grip. Searching for the source of the light, Colton gazed up into the sky. As startling as his first glimpse of the dinosaurs had been, that was nothing compared to what he was seeing now. In fairness, he had prayed. Maybe it was an angel.
A huge, egg-shaped ball of nearly pure white light hovered above them. Its edges were indistinct, constantly changing in a gentle, flowing motion. Try as he might, it was hard to get a clear look at this thing as it was so intensely bright. It was no different than trying to look at the sun. Nevertheless, Colton continued to take brief glimpses at the object, trying to figure out what this could possibly be.
He continued to steal brief glimpses of the object. Colton could see that there appeared to be some kind of a large, multifaceted object rotating inside the egg. With almost regular intervals, Colton caught a glimpse of seemingly hard edges and corners of this object as it pierced through the sides of light, only to quickly disappear again within it. He had absolutely no clue as to what he was looking at. Worse, he didn’t know if he and his team were now facing some new kind of threat.
The egg-shaped light didn’t move at all, holding its current position, hovering directly over them. Colton estimated that it couldn’t have been more than two hundred feet off the ground. Its dimensions were close to 120 feet in height, with a girth, at its widest point, being close to fifty feet. The bluish-white light covering the area radiated from this thing.
The realization that everything had gone deathly silent finally registered in Colton’s mind. Everything had gone completely silent. There were absolutely no sounds coming from the dinosaurs, his team, or the jungle. Even the egg-shaped craft, or light, or whatever it was hovering above him, operated with absolutely no sound.
Colton sat up and once again looked at Garrett and rest of the marines. Finding his voice, he yelled out, “Hold your position; cease fire. Do nothing that can be taken as a hostile act.” He was surprised at how loud his voice sounded in the absolute silence that dominated the area.
Standing up, he carefully moved forward, not making any sudden moves, and helped Corporal Lee to his feet. Together they slowly made their way back to where Garrett and her soldiers were standing. “Do you have any idea what is going on here?” asked Garrett, never taking her eyes off the dinosaurs that had grouped together at the edge of the jungle.
Two of the men were mouthing prayers. One of them was recommending himself to Mary, full of grace. The other was mumbling something repeatedly, but it was unintelligible.
“No, Captain, I do not,” answered Colton. “Who is the wounded man?”
“Private Lockridge,” said Garrett. “At first only one of those creatures attacked us, but it charged out of the jungle so fast we had almost no time to react. One of its claws caught Lockridge across the chest and dug into one of his legs. Then it swung its tail around, slamming it into Private Blake, knocking him into those trees over there. I don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
Colton was getting ready to go and look for Blake when beams of light-blue light shot down from the egg, encompassing the heads of each of the dinosaurs in front of them. The beams were quite dense, so much so that you couldn’t see through them. As they watched this, they could see white, star like flashes of light glide through the beams, softly penetrating the heads of the dinosaurs.
This didn’t last long before the dinosaurs turned and left the area, melting back in to the thick jungle from which they’d emerged. Despite the unexplained calmness that had already settled over him, their departure brought a sigh of relief from Colton. Just ten minutes ago he’d expected to be killed by one of those creatures. Now he didn’t know what to expect.
“Sir, I need help over here,” shouted Corpsman Payne. “Lockridge is still losing blood, and if I don’t stop the bleeding soon, he’s not going to make it.”
“Stay where you are and stay alert,” Garrett ordered the rest of her men as she quickly made her way over to Payne. Colton followed right behind her and couldn’t believe that Lockridge was still breathing. It was plain to see just how serious his wounds were, and it was nothing short of a miracle that Payne had been able to keep him alive this long.
Without warning, a beam of the same light-blue light shot down, landing on Payne’s head, completely encompassing his head and shoulders. Almost on reflex, Colton and Garrett pulled their pistols, aiming up at the egg above them. “Payne, are you all right?” shouted Colton. “What’s happening?”
Payne didn’t respond. He stood completely still, as if frozen in place. Colton saw the star like flashes of light descending onto his head. As it had been with the dinosaurs, the beam was so dense that he couldn’t see Payne’s head, but, at the same time, he didn’t appear to be suffering.
“Payne,” shouted Garrett, “are you all right?”
Then the beam of light lifted off Payne and he looked at both officers. He was smiling, smiling as if he’d just won the lottery. “It’s okay, I’m all right. We’re all going to be all right.”
Before either of them could say anything, Corporal Lee said, “Captain, look up, Something is happening.”
A small, blue sphere emerged from beneath the egg. It hovered there for just a few seconds. It then silently moved toward Payne, landing softly on the rocks in front of him. It wasn’t there long before it lifted off, returning to the egg-shaped craft above them, but it had left something behind. On the rock where it had landed now sat what looked like a small, rectangular crystal box. It too glowed with the same bluish white light.
Payne started to move toward it, but Colton cut him off. “Stay away from that, Private. We don’t know what that is.”
Ignoring Colton’s order, Payne brushed by him and knelt beside the box, carefully opening its lid. Inside was a dark blue gel. “It’s okay sir, they told me all about this. It’s medicine. It will help Lockridge.”
“How can you know that? Who told you about it?” demanded Garrett.
“I can’t explain it,” said Payne, “but when that light shown down on me, it was the most relaxing, comforting thing I’ve ever experienced. I felt like I was back home with my family, just as happy as I could be and completely at peace. Then they told me that they were going to send me some medicine that will help Private Lockridge. Sir, they knew his name! All I have to do to help him is to apply this gel to his wounds.”
“They?” said Colton. “Did you hear more than one voice?”
“Again sir, I just can’t explain it, but I didn’t hear any voices,” said Payne. “Yet somehow they were able to tell me that this would help him. What I mean is that I didn’t actually hear any words, but it couldn’t have been any plainer to me than the way we’re talking now.”
“We can’t use that stuff until we know more about it and figure out what’s going on here,” said Garrett. “For all we know it will kill him.”
“I agree there is certainly risk, but I don’t believe it will hurt him,” said Colton. “Whatever that thing is up there, it just saved our lives. If they wanted us dead, they could have just let the dinosaurs finish us off.”
Garrett started to respond, but Payne cut her off. “Sir, if I don’t do something fast, Lockridge is going to die. There’s nothing more that I can do. This gel, whatever it’s made of, is all I’ve got. We have to try it.”
Colton wasn’t anxious to overrule Garrett in front of her men, but he knew time was of the essence. He looked at Garrett, giving her the chance to respond.
Nodding her head, she said, “Do it. It seems to be our only alternative.”
