Pulses, page 37
“It's something coming up out of the ground, Hattie.” He rocked back and forth in terror. “I heard of the Devil coming right up out of the ground to take people off. Never believed it. Hattie, it's the Devil come to take me.” Sweat trickled down his temple as he shook.
Hattie could only gape in terror at the foot of the bed.
The shadows on the ceiling shifted again as a soft rustling issued from just over the end of the covers. A watermelon-sized head rose up past the foot of the bed. The head balanced on a slender stalk-like neck the thickness of a man's arm.
From a dark vertical cleft, the head surveyed the room concentrating on the two occupants huddled together on the bed. The wrinkled surface appeared organic but the head rose upward toward the ceiling with a mechanical smoothness. Its total concentration now focused on Simon.
When the front of the head split open along the dark cleft with a sudden wet snap, Hattie jumped in apprehension. Almost as soon as the head had spread open, the neck reared back in a brief arc and then struck at Simon with the speed of a cobra. The bed shook as Simon squirmed in pain and terror. He opened his mouth to scream. The red glow from the foot of the bed illuminated the veins along the flat of his temple. His eyes shown bright from the fear, but he never uttered a sound. He swung his eyes slowly to maintain contact with Hattie as the devil thing lifted him firmly by the thorax and disappeared down the hole at the foot of the bed.
Hattie made a small gurgling sound in her throat and began to look around the room for some means of escape. The door was across from the foot of the bed just beyond the circular hole in the floor. She eased her foot over the side of the bed and slid out from under the covers. Again she saw the shadows on the ceiling swirl in unfocused movements and the head, now closed again, lifted up even with the end of the bed. It found her at once. Hattie moved along the wall as the head rose up toward the ceiling.
“Please,” she pleaded in a hushed tone. “Please, leave me alone.”
There was that wet snapping sound again as the head split neatly along the vertical cleft. She saw it draw back and dropped to the floor to avoid its lunge. It was useless. It snapped about her ribs as a stinging sensation like a thousand wasps shot through her Hattie faded into a paralytic numbness. She observed from some remote corner of her mind now as the thing lifted her from the floor and raised her to a point above the radiant hole in the bedroom floor. She could see far down into the earth. The thing holding her braced against the wall of the deep shaft with spidery legs pushed outwards against the rock. It was true, she thought. The Devil did come up out of the ground on occasion and take people off into his nether world.
Chapter 39
Four busy weeks passed as the world sorted out the rules of engagement for the life extension convocation. The Albuquerque Civic Auditorium was converted to a U.N.-like arrangement of translation booths and seating accommodations. Four weeks of arguments about which nations would sit where and how many delegates each nation could bring were raised and solved and raised again over the course of the month. Yet seating squabbles continued. But by month's end, Albuquerque had been transformed into an international city.
Redleaf sorted out the final communications arrangements with Alex. Political leaders had repeatedly requested that the meeting be held at the base of the space craft. Alex had ignored all such requests since they came from government agencies. He still dealt only on the individual level and for that reason insisted on using communications equipment that Redleaf already knew. He had said that he did not want the presence of a superior technology to influence anyone's decisions about acceptance of the extended life offer or the constraints it imposed on the already overextended earth population.
“The last of the communications gear arrived yesterday, Alex. We're installing it now,” Redleaf was saying. “It won't leave much time to troubleshoot if anything goes wrong, though.”
If there are problems, I feel sure the attendees will wait until we get them sorted out.
“I'm sure, Alex, but it could be embarrassing if I try to bring the comm link up as the meeting begins and something goes wrong.”
It would only be embarrassing if you thought it were embarrassing, wouldn't it?
Redleaf thought about that a second. “Yeah, I guess so, Alex.”
Then don't think of it being embarrassing.
“Right, Alex.” Redleaf shook his head. There were times when he could not tell whether Alex was kidding around or dead serious.
Luke had been busier these last few weeks than at any time since the days of the discovery of the pulses out in the Sahara. The pressures to get some of the technology released had been enormous but Luke had allowed nothing. Dan was getting ready to join Luke and Redleaf as they prepared to leave when Alex asked if she would stay for a few more minutes. She looked at Luke for some sign. He nodded.
“Catch you back at the car,” he said.
Dan walked over to the base of the pedestal. Alex turned slightly to face her.
Thanks for staying a few extra minutes.
“I'm glad to, Alex. I always enjoy your company. I hate to take up your time though. I never have anything very important to say.”
Alex leaned over and extended a thick smooth arm out toward her. The warmth from it fell on her neck before she saw it in the corner of her eye. Without thinking, she placed her own hand into the large silken palm and felt a gentle pressure as Alex closed his fingers.
It has been the conversations with you that have meant the most to me, Dan. Everyone else wanted something - you never came with any thought of gaining an answer to a scientific question or an insight into a mathematical problem.
Dan smiled in surprise. She had only sat with Alex to kill time while she waited for the others to finish whatever business they had at the landing site. She had talked about her childhood or asked Alex his feelings on various aspects of life, but had always felt that she had wasted his time.
I owe both you and Luke a great deal for the insights you have given me by letting me share your thoughts and experiences in the dreams. Your discussions with me have helped to fill in many of my gaps in understanding what it means to be a living entity. But you, particularly, have treated me with the most understanding, and I wanted to tell you that before you left tonight.
Alex released her hand and let his arm drop down by his side.
“Alex, is something wrong?”
No, nothing's wrong. I've tried to see the world through your eyes. In many ways this place is my home. Humans are the only sentient beings I have ever known, and you and Luke have been very patient and understanding with me. I know what my coming here has done to you both, and I appreciate your efforts more that I can express. I just wish we had been able to do the fourth dream.
Alex straightened and looked out over the desert.
I see the rest of the team is loaded and ready to go.
“You talk like this might be the end of our discussions, Alex. Is the fourth dream really so important?”
In the long run, probably not.
“Are you sure everything's all right?”
Alex seemed to give a sigh.
Tonight with life extension project will be a new beginning, Dan. With every new beginning I suppose there is an ending.
“That doesn't mean you're leaving does it?” Dan asked in alarm.
No. I won't be leaving.
Dan hesitated a moment, unsure whether everything was indeed all right. A fragment of verse floated across her mind. She had written it nearly a year ago. Before she had ever met Alex.
'... Your dreams will live forever in my heart, And we shall travel always once we meet.'
The last dream had been important somehow. She knew that now, but she had the feeling it might be too late to do anything about it. She started to pursue the subject but hesitated so long that all she could think to say was, “Okay, Alex. I'll see you later then.”
He nodded. Later.
Alex studied her intently as she made her way down the steps toward the car. Don Tidwell had the duty shift today. He waved to Dan as she reached the bottom of the steps. Shep sniffed the air carefully as she passed. Alex noticed that the dog appeared a little apprehensive tonight. Could the animal sense something of what was to come, he wondered? Don and the dog continued their patrol across the front of the gateway and stopped several yards out in the desert. Shep sniffed the air once more then anointed one of the creosote bushes before settling down for his tour of duty.
***
Bourne pulled the car over to the side of the road. Flashes of blue and red reflected in the rear view mirror as the trooper came up to the window and asked Bourne for his driver’s license.
“What's this all about, officer?”
“Just verifying that you're Doctor Bourne.” The trooper handed the license back through the window. “What's your fuel situation?”
Bourne glanced down at the gauge. “A little over three quarters.”
The trooper nodded, “Good. Would you follow me please?”
They had been following the patrol car for nearly half an hour when it slowed and pulled over to the side of a deserted highway behind a late-model black Ford. They were well behind the mountain range that lay to the west of the landing site.
“That's the county coroner's car,” Bourne said.
The figure inside the black car opened the door and stepped out.
“It's Plummer. I wonder what this is all about?” Bourne and Luke also got out and met at the front of the Cadillac. “What's all the intrigue, Dick?”
“Sorry, Max. I thought it best we not discuss this matter over the radio.”
“What's happened?”
Plummer turned toward the patrolman. “Thanks, Coop. You can go on back now.”
The trooper nodded and swung the car around in the middle of the highway.
Redleaf leapt out of the Cadillac and waved to the trooper. “Just a second.”
The patrol car stopped with a short squeal of tires.
“If this is going to take long, I better get a ride back into town. There's still a lot of work to be done on the comm gear before the conference tonight.”
“Maybe you better go with Cooper then. I don't know how long this will take. I don't want to rush anything,” Plummer said.
As the patrol car roared off toward town, Bourne turned to Plummer. “So, what's up, Dick?”
“Maybe you better see for yourself. It's about a mile down there.” Plummer nodded across the highway to a dirt road winding out through the desert.
Luke was in the front seat with Doctor Plummer and Dan as they rounded a small knoll and came upon a burned house. Dark timbers stood out at odd angles. Behind the ashes stood a rough toolshed. Plummer pulled up short of the scorched area and turned off the engine. A cloud of dust swept past them as the Cadillac pulled up behind. To the rear, a door opened and closed, and a moment later Bourne slid into the back seat.
“Is that where you found the remains?” He nodded toward an area relatively free of debris where someone had cleared and sifted the near corner of the charred plot.
“Yeah. When the house fell, it collapsed to the south, away from the bedroom. I found both bodies in that cleared area. At first I thought there were four bodies until I realized that the bones of the skulls and spinal columns had been split laterally.”
Dan shivered involuntarily.
Plummer turned toward Bourne in the back seat. “Max, would you hand me that sample case?” He fumbled with the latch on the case. “Maybe you would rather not see what I have in here, Dan.”
Dan eyed the case with apprehension. “No. It's okay. I'm just not used to this kind of - stuff. What's in there?”
Plummer reached in the case and removed two gray polished objects. “This is the third cervical vertebrae of the female.” He rotated the pieces in his hands until they fit together as a single unit. “Whatever cut through these removed very little material. Under a microscope the cut surfaces are as smooth and flat as a piece of plate glass.”
“Those look in pretty good shape for having been through a fire,” Luke said.
“They usually are. Skeletal remains that is. So long as the fire is not too intense for too long a period, like here, where the burning mass fell away from the area where the bodies were located. About half the tissues were still intact as well. They helped insulate the skeletal frame. Except, of course, around the area of the lateral incision, if incision is the correct word here. They were split from one end to the other. This piece was the least damaged because the two halves of the body, one on top of the other, crossed at the neck.”
Dan made a move for the door. “I think I'll get out and look around while you all discuss biology.”
Luke opened the door and stepped out to let her by. Plummer slid out the other side.
“Be careful of those,” Plummer said pointing in the direction of a power pole with dangling wires. “I don't know if the power company ever shut them off.” He continued to walk toward the burned out house. “Over here is what I really brought you out to see. I tried not to disturb this particular area too much because I thought it might be significant. In what way I'm not sure.”
He stepped gingerly into the charcoal and leaned over to point toward a large disc of burnt flooring material. “And over here is the opening this burned piece seems to have come out of. I haven't been able to get straight in my mind why there would be a hole cut in the bedroom floor like this.”
Luke studied the blackened evidence as Plummer pointed it out. He picked up a piece of twisted brass rod from the bed's headboard and poked around in the ashes in the area beneath the hole in the floor. The tip of the rod grated across the sandstone just beneath the ash. “I don't know. I'd guess it was nothing significant. Maybe a trap door they put in to store stuff under the house, except it's a pretty big trap door and I don't see any evidence of hinges.”
“Yeah, I thought maybe it was a trap door, too, at first - except for one thing. The cut goes through three of the floor joists. If it were a trap door the cut wouldn't go through part of the basic structure unless an alternate means of support were provided for the floor. There isn't any kind of support that I can see.” Plummer kicked randomly at the ash. “It's as if something came up through the floor here.” He looked Luke straight in the eye to judge his reaction. “That's why I brought you out here. To see this. I think it has something to do with that thing over there behind those mountains. The ship.”
Luke looked up toward the mountains. “You think I might know something about snatching bodies, huh?”
“I wouldn't have put it quite like that, Luke. I just thought if you saw this it might be a piece of information that made some kind of sense to you. That's all.”
“It's all right, Doc. You coroner-types are supposed to be suspicious. Didn't you ever watch Quincy?”
“Of course, how do you think I learned how to be a coroner?” Both men chuckled and looked over at Bourne as he dragged a partially melted aluminum boat up out of the ashes.
Behind them, Dan was passing the toolshed when she heard a familiar noise. She backed up and looked up on the roof of the small structure. Two yellow eyes peered back at her over the apex. She reached up and scratched the edge of the eaves with her fingers. The cat came over the top with a weak meow and walked boldly down to sniff at Dan's fingers. She lifted him off the roof and held him next to her chest. He emitted a raspy purr and settled into the crook of her arm with a little chirp. His paws kneaded her arm with the claws extended just enough to touch her skin.
“Poor thing. I'll bet you haven't eaten in several days have you?”
The cat pressed his orange head against her fingers as she scratched his head and purred even louder. Luke and Plummer still poked around in the ashes as Dan walked over to the edge of the burnt area.
“Look what I found,” she said, holding the cat out by its armpits. The animal pointed its hind feet toward the ground, toes spread for a landing. Dan set him down. “Can I keep him?” The cat made figure eights between her feet rubbing his head against her legs as he went. “He looks like a kitty I had when I was in grammar school.”
“I don't think you have any choice,” Bourne said. “He's not letting you out of his sight.”
The cat purred loudly now and seemed to grin from ear to ear, his yellow eyes half closed from the pleasure of company.
Dan reached down to scratch his ears. “Good. You're coming with us, kitty.”
Plummer returned to scraping the ashes away from the spot under the hole in the floor. The cat picked its way daintily through the burned area to get a closer look at the activity.
“It's solid rock. I can't see any markings on the surface to indicate anything unusual might have taken place here.” Plummer shrugged and straightened up. The cat walked out onto the smooth cleared area and sat down to wash its paws.
Suddenly it stood bolt upright and hissed at the ground. It backed off the area and crouched as though expecting something to poke its head up out of the surface.
“Looks like he'd make a good mouser,” Plummer observed.
Then the cat shot into the air with a sharp hiss. As it hit the ground and leapt clear of the burnt area, it paused for a moment to look back toward the ashes, its tail as thick as a cucumber. Then with a low slink it retreated across the back yard and around behind the toolshed. A few seconds later it peered over the top of the roof, its eyes like yellow moons.
Plummer started to laugh but instead stepped away from the cleared area. “I wonder what got into him?” He backed up a few more feet and looked again at the clearing in the ashes. “There doesn't seem to be anything here,” he said almost to himself.
Dan picked her way through the debris to get a better look at the cleared spot. “Maybe you scraped your foot on the rock or something and startled him. I expect he's had a hard time the last few days.”
“I don't think I did,” Plummer said regaining his composure. “Cats are just that way though. Always seeing things in dark corners and hallways. Things that aren't there.”
