Beyond Armageddon: Book 03 - Parallels (70 page)

            The ground exploded and a ripple of earth—a wave of white and black—carried toward them casting snow and ice into the air like a geyser. Trevor, Fromm, Nina, the soldiers, the Jaw-Wolves, and the Golems were thrown up and came crashing back down as if tossed from a bucking bronco.

            Ahead of them, the ice cap splintered with cracks reaching out from some massive epicenter. The landing party retreated in a sprint. Trevor had to grab the stunned Major by her arm to yank her out of the way of dropping ice slabs that had been thrown into the air.

            A black wall rose from the ground. No, a black
building
the size of a small city. Round and darker than a moonless night. It loomed above the puny humans and Chaktaw below and towered over the Earth—
all
of the Earths—a symbol of powers beyond comprehension.

Higher and higher into the sky. The wind whipped like madness across the barren white wilderness; the sound of its arrival came in such a powerful roar that it threatened to shake the battleship from the sky.

            Finally the ascension ceased; the gargantuan obelisk had grown to full height.

An eerie silence replaced the chaos and roar of the enigma’s arrival. For several long moments no sounds came, not from the wind, not from the air ship, not from the people or beasts on the ground.

            Then the great puzzle began to turn. Each of the obelisk’s many layers rotated in different directions, creating a sound of stone grinding on stone.

            Trevor did not have a clever line to speak or a comical crack to offer. He was not even so much relieved at the sight of the gigantic structure as he was afraid. It was one thing to hear the descriptions and see the digital photographs; it was another to be dwarfed by the object itself, an object that spoke of entities capable of controlling time and space.

            Fromm finally found his voice. He had to repeat his words twice because his human translator still struggled to regain her concentration, the most sign of humanity behind those beaten eyes Trevor had yet seen.

"What do we do now, Trevor Stone?"

Trevor licked his lips as he tried to remember what Jon had told him.

"It's like a puzzle box," Trevor said. "It's solving itself. I don't know how long that will take."

"Again, what do we do now?"

Trevor turned to Fromm and could not help the smug expression he threw at the Chaktaw leader. He wanted to shout 'see, I told you' but instead just said, "We wait."

---

            Indeed they waited. They waited for hours as the layers of the structure rotated and turned at varying speeds and intervals. They waited as morning turned to early afternoon and a hazy sun drove temperatures above zero.

            Trevor studied Fromm as they watched, first from the surface, then again from the warmer bridge when they returned to the airship. He saw that the Chaktaw leader tried to understand the rhythm of the turning enigma; his lips moving as if performing calculations in his mind.

Whether Fromm ever grasped the equation buried in the rotating layers, Trevor did not know but the enigma did finally stop. The constant grinding noise ended and all eyes—even some that were barely awake—turned to the structure and saw one large black hole of an entrance beckoning.

Through the slave, Fromm told the two humans, "You will remain here."

Trevor repeated a warning based on Jon Brewer's experiences, "Remember what I told you. It's chaos in there; a giant machine with gears and parts that could crush you without even taking notice. Plus, my team encountered several guardians that were indigenous to the obelisk."

"I understand," Fromm replied. "If I am not successful, Jaff will take a second team inside. You two are not allowed to enter the obelisk until the hands of a Chaktaw have possessed the runes. If you try, you will be killed."

"Of course."

Then Fromm was off, leaving Jaff in the Captain’s chair.

            Trevor and Nina stood on the bridge watching through the main windows while the crew monitored readings, checked systems, and otherwise kept busy.

            A soft vibration shook the gondola as the landing module separated from the undercarriage and sped to the ground. It wobbled and shook on its spring-loaded landing gear until, after several seconds, it stabilized and the long door fell open. Fromm, a pack of Behemoths, and several squads of infantry exited. They rendezvoused with a patrol of six Golems standing watch below the airship.

            Then it happened.

            Trevor and the people of his Empire had lived with the mystery for years, yet none actually saw it occur. Scientists advanced theory after theory but the process and the substance and the meaning eluded understanding although, interestingly enough, when Trevor mentioned the phenomena of 'riding the ark' to Fromm, the Chaktaw knew nothing of it.

            As Trevor saw it happen, he moved no closer to knowing. But as he witnessed the event, he realized Voggoth had broken yet another rule.

            With two leaders of the great races so close together and with victory on two worlds so near, The Order’s living God acted.

            A flash like a humongous camera bulb exploded in front of Fromm's expedition, its light flooding the surface as well as the battleship bridge for a split second. Trevor heard no sound, but he saw a shockwave of wind as a mass materialized and displaced air.

            Fromm’s path was blocked by a massive green glob of goo similar to the sarcophagi that had transported Ashley and thousands of other human beings from his Earth through time and space.         The only difference was in size. The green object on the snow stood fifty feet long, half that length wide, and dozen feet tall.

Fromm’s forces fanned out but kept their distance. The Behemoths scraped the ground in agitation like bulls preparing to charge, held back only by Fromm's hesitation.

            Trevor, Nina, and the rest watched from the gondola windows.

            Something squirmed inside the gooey blob, poking against the walls as if trying to push out. Something big.

            The blob of green mess popped like a water balloon and evaporated, replaced by a churning, bubbling mass of brown and black puss resembling more a pile of carrion than a creature. Yet it moved and groaned and a steamy mist rose from its edges.

            Slimy, rope-like appendages reached out while three distinct mounds grew at the center of the pile. Those mounds opened black maws that bellowed a cry that was as morose a noise as any sound ever heard on any Earth.

            Such a vile sight caused a moment of hesitation and the creature seized that moment. One of the trio of maws on the three head-like lumps opened as if yawning and a crackling ball of lightning fired from the beast into the air, slamming into the forward section of the dirigible. Blue sparks and balls of flame erupted in front of the bridge windows and carried through the ship's circuitry to the point that several bridge consoles sparked enough to flash-burn Chaktaw technicians.

            Automated warnings activated throughout the ship, howling in a Geryon-programmed klaxon that sounded more an animal bark than synthetic alarm. The lights of the bridge flickered then darkened, replaced by small red glows from battery-operated emergency bulbs.

            Trevor and Nina fell to the hard metal floor and lay still while the crackle and sizzle of frying circuits died. The crew gathered their wits and extinguished a handful of small fires born from the electrical surge.

            Jaff issued orders in his language, no doubt calling for damage reports and medics while also urging those still at their stations to get a handle on navigation and defense systems.

            After several seconds the chaos of the attack subsided. At that point, Trevor became reasonably sure they would not fall from the sky, at least not yet. He looked to Nina who nodded in silent reply, and then they both rose to their feet.

            With the sparks and lightning-like energy weapon dissipated, Trevor could see out the gondola windows again. The creature had taken more definite form: three bulbous heads, each with one eye and a big, toothless mouth. He saw slimy hose-like arms—maybe two dozen of them—but no legs, although he assumed the mound could slither if need be.

            Some of those arms held Chaktaw infantry, banging them against the snow until their white camouflaged ponchos changed to blood-red balls. The rest of the arms flailed about hoping to grab the next victim.

            The mouths on the heads opened and closed groaning that horrid groan. The rest of its body—if it could be called a body—was a mound of dirty, undulating flesh. Its dark, hideous mass contrasted starkly with the brilliant white snow.

            Fromm's infantry fired but their usually powerful and effective magnetic rifles did not appear to damage the best.

            Trevor yelled at Jaff, "The main gun! Fire your main gun!"

            Jaff did not appreciate the distraction as he coordinated medical attention for the injured crew and repairs to the damaged controls. Nonetheless, he paused and translated Trevor’s words for himself, then gaped at the human in a manner that required no translator.

No shit, asshole. You think I haven’t thought of that?

            Major Forest pointed forward and told Trevor what Jaff already knew:  "It's been hit."

            Trevor saw black burn marks on the weapons array. Wires hung loose from the cannon and sparks flickered.

            "Oh."

            The bridge crew worked frantically, restoring power and navigation control in two quick minutes. During those two minutes, Fromm’s ground team sent a wave of Behemoths into the mass. They extended their jaws to grasp and pull away flesh, only to be enveloped by the squirming beast; their carcasses pulled, stretched, and broke.

Infantry threw hand grenades and used a rocket launcher. All to no avail. When they aimed for any of the three heads, walls of gory flesh rose like defensive shields to block the shots.

Next, the Golems engaged at close range. Their missiles blew away chunks of the repulsive hulk, but the thing did not appear the least bit bothered.

            Two of Fromm’s version of the Steel Guard made ‘suicide’ runs, only to become engulfed, tossed, and then torn into inoperable piles of metal and wires. The remaining robotic sentries stood off and fired explosive shells. Of the weapons thrown against it, those shells made the most impact. Yet they were not enough.

            Trevor felt helpless as he watched from above.

"We have to do something! We have to help them!"

            Jaff roared, "I know this Trevor Stone! Our main gun is not working!"

"Wait…Jaff…do you have maneuvering power?"

            Jaff looked toward one of his technicians and asked a question in the Chaktaw language. Jaff accepted the answer then nodded to Trevor, who asked another question…

…This beast horrified Fromm, as it was certainly one of Voggoth’s children. A spawn not truly alive but not dead, either. An abomination.

Whatever he threw against the beast failed to cause any significant damage, and every attempt to circumvent the thing and drive for the obelisk was blocked by its tentacles.

            He knew he possessed two artillery batteries onboard the battleship. He would need to get them to the surface. But even then, the vile monster’s pulsating body seemed capable of protecting the only part of it that appeared vulnerable, the three bulb-like heads.

            Fromm, however, did not even know the status of the zeppelin. Obviously, the monster's energy blast had disabled the main gun. Judging from the amount of energy that had enveloped the front half of the battleship, Fromm feared it possible that the entire crew had been killed or the whole vessel disabled, a fear augmented by his failure to communicate with anyone onboard.

Regardless, he would not retreat. He stood on the brink of the greatest victory for his people since the beginning of the invasion. No more hiding; the time had come to strike at his enemies. Not long ago, that meant hitting the Geryons and human cities, but now that strike could prove even greater. Cutting off the gateways…that would be the blow to tip the scales in his favor.

No, he would not retreat. This beast would be slain, or he would die trying. Whatever the result, he would not leave the Ring of Ice without the runes.

As valiant his determination, his confidence faded measure as the monster grew. Its mass actually expanded. Suddenly, several of his men who were out of reach of the writhing tentacles were held in death grips.

            Worse, another ball of energy formed in one of the three mouths.

            Fromm barked orders.

            Two of his shock troops moved forward, each sporting acid-throwers. They took position and opened the hoses of their weapons. The gusting, cold wind at the top of the world turned the streams into wider, less-effective sprays. Still, most of the acid splashed onto the creature and sizzled on its rotten flesh. But before the Chaktaw could celebrate this blow, a new coat of skin grew over the wound.