Ice Rift (16 page)

Unable to slow his descent into the unknown, Richard sped down the long, blood-slick chute before entering open space. The headlamp beam moved across rough, arched stone during his plummet. The fall seemed to go on forever. If his landing wasn't a soft one at the very least he'd suffer a broken bone or two. He made contact with something, and though not particularly soft, it was far from solid. Clattering of things unseen accompanied his bruise-battered slide to the ground. When he slid to a halt, he was surprised, that except for a few aches and pains, he was uninjured. He roamed the light around with a turn of his head. Tall textured walls that appeared to be made of stone blocks, but from past observations since aboard the ship Richard was certain were metal, rose to form an arched roof. Random patches of luminescent green growth adhered to the walls cast a ghostly green pallor on the surroundings. Large metal collars attached to chains formed with links four times the size of his hand, hung ominously from the ceiling. Mustard-coloured stains ran from yard-tall arched openings set high in the corridor wall and dribbled down to the stagnant water covering the passage floor. Tips of slime-covered rocks poked above the water either side of the passage. A suggestion of a larger room at the tunnel's end and another large, dark opening on the far side, hinted at the possible vastness of the subterranean world he'd fallen into. The whole effect was of a medieval dungeon or torture chamber, and equally uninviting.

He turned his attention to what had helped cushion his fall, and though surprised, he felt no astonishment on discovering he rested upon a pile of large bones, so many they formed a gruesome skeletal pyramid below the chute. Eyeless sockets in the many huge, pale skulls littering the pile and the ground below seemed to stare at him mockingly for entering their world and the promise of a similar fate. His light picked out one fresher than the others; if the skin and flesh covering it was an indication of its age. Richard remembered the bones the small creatures had been dragging over to the trapdoor he'd jumped through, and knew where their final resting place would be. He climbed to his feet and moved unsteadily across the bone layers to be clear of the hole when the latest bone additions arrived.

Astounded by Richard's escape, Henry, Theo and Max focused their attention on the Web monster that had chased him into the room and the group of female aliens.

The Web creature landed in the space its quarry had swiftly vacated, and with a squeal of claws across metal, it skidded a short distance into the blood puddle. So intent had it been on its prey, it had failed to see the threat in the room. It saw it now.

Still gripping the bones each of them held, the smaller aliens casually stared at the creature, as if waiting to see what it would do.

The Web monster kept its eyes focused on the smaller creatures and sniffed the air. Though the creatures were of small stature and appeared un-formidable, the Web monster recognized the underlying threat the creatures radiated. It wasn't a warning it would ignore. The size of their last victim was an indication killing was something they were very good at. It would normally have stayed clear of another creature's domain, but hunger had forced it to act rashly. Unable to resist the tantalizing aroma flooding its senses, it slowly lapped up some of the blood from the floor as it backed away, and with a piecing shriek, it leapt into the chute.

The three human observers, slightly overwhelmed by recent events, watched the small aliens drag the bones over to the trapdoor and drop them inside. After one of them had closed it, they reformed into the larger version of itself and left the room via the door Richard and the Web monster had appeared through a few moments earlier.

Only when they were certain the female alien had gone, did the three men climb down from the pod.

“Though gruesome to witness, the way that female alien disintegrated into…well, whatever it did change into, and then reform again into smaller versions of itself, was amazing,” stated Theo. “How could it do that?”

“However fascinating it is, alien physiology is not something we should dwell on right at this moment,” said Henry. “We only need to know it's dangerous and to be avoided; there's no way we could guard against an attack like that.”

Max looked at the trapdoor. “If Richard survived the fall, it's unlikely he'll survive an attack from that cobwebby thing that followed him down.”

“There's nothing we can do to help him, we have our own problems.” Henry gazed at the door the alien had exited through and then around the room. “Now where do we go?”

Theo pointed at the door through which the female alien had entered. “We have no other choice. We go that way.”

The piercing shriek filtering down the chute into the bone chamber sent a shiver of fear down Richard's spine― not a rare occurrence since setting foot aboard the hellish ship. Claws scraping against the chute's metal sides signalled the fast approach of the Web monster and with its arrival, his imminent death. With no time to run before the creature appeared, he frantically scanned the area for a place to hide. He spied only one and raced across the shifting bones.

The Web monster scanned the gloomy room when it dropped from the chute. It had lived all its life trapped inside the ship and had chosen the vents as its preferred domain, where its eyesight had become well adjusted to the darkness. It twisted its body so its feet landed on the bone pile. Halfway down its slide to the bottom, it leapt onto firmer ground and searched for its prey. Though it detected no sign of the creature it hunted, it did detect an escape route it might have taken; however, it had also detected other creatures, too many for him to successfully fight and win, and they were on the move. But it still had a little time. It twisted its head to glance at the bones dropping from the hole and moved away, its wispy webs floating and wavering when it moved across the room.

It followed the scent of fresh blood to the large head. It leapt on top and ripped off a chunk of flesh, which it quickly devoured. While it chewed, it glanced along the waterlogged tunnel. A swarm of the animals Theo had named space rats, splashed through the putrid water and surged toward the appetizing scent of the freshly arrived meal the Web monster currently feasted upon. It ripped off another piece of flesh and with the blood dripping meat dangling from its jaws, leapt from the head and raced along the bones toward the oncoming wave of teeth and claws. Shortly before the two species collided, it leapt for the wall, scrambled up to a small arched opening and disappeared inside.

Though muffled by the gruesome walls of his hiding place, Richard had heard the creature arrive and move across the bone pile directly to his place of concealment. Fear shook his body so much he was certain he'd given away his position. The giant head had been his only source of refuge. He'd pried its dead mouth open and against all his senses screaming what a bad idea it was, he had squeezed between its lips and teeth, curled up on its moist, fetid tongue and pulled the mouth closed. He'd only just managed to stifle a scream of terror when the Web monster landed on the head and wobbled him from side to side. The gruesome sounds of the monster feasting on flesh only a handbreadth away, had almost been more than he could endure, he was certain it knew he was inside and was toying with its food, like a cat with a mouse. Richard had formed a rash plan. He'd quickly open the mouth, leap out, grab a bone and strike the monster around the head before it recovered from the surprise of his appearance. It had to be better than waiting for the monster to eat its way through to him. Just when he conquered his fear to a level where he could force his body to enact the rash plan, events took that opportunity away from him. When the creature leapt from the head, it disturbed its tenuous perch on the side of the bone pile and down it rolled. Trapped inside, Richard tumbled around and around like a piece of clothing in a tumble dryer.

The head bounced and rolled until it came to an abrupt halt against one of the many sections of its brethrens' skull fragments littering the floor. Richard listened. He wasn't sure if the Web monster had gone or waited for him to crawl out so it could attack.

With insufficient food to feed them all, the space rats raced along the tunnel and surged over the head in desperation to claim part of the spoils. Only the quickest or strongest would succeed. As soon as one had bitten off a morsel of flesh, it leapt aside. Others, not as quick or strong as some of the pack, waited around the perimeter and seized upon the opportunity of a taste by chasing and attacking those who'd been successful. Others, knowing neither opportunity would bring them a meal, attacked other rats that had momentarily dropped their guard in the rush to feed. As soon as blood was shed the unfortunate vermin stood little chance. Now fair game, it was set upon by those around it. Though the meat of their brethren was not as succulent as that cloaking the large skull, it was better than no meat at all.

Though Richard heard the terrifying shrieks, cries and the scrape of teeth and claws on bone, and knew it was more bad news, he was unaware of its cause, only that there were a lot of them.

When one of the large rats feeding on the giant's juicy lips squeezed its head between the giant's jaws and looked at him, Richard recognized the vicious space rat species and the danger it and its kind threatened. The rodent let out a surprised, but decidedly pleased, shriek at the unexpected feast, and wormed its body further inside to reach it. Richard dug his fingers into the giant's top gums and yanked down hard. Crushed by the large teeth, blood exploded from the rat's trapped body. While death throes shook the dying rodent, it was dragged out by its bloodthirsty comrades and quickly consumed.

Richard, rocked about from the rodents' frantic feeding on the skull was now more terrified than before, something he thought impossible a few moments before. At least there had been a slim chance of defeating the single Web monster. The hoard outside fighting over the limited amount of flesh on offer was impossible for him to defeat. Soon they would find and devour him one painful bite at a time, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

Unexpectedly, the space rats terrifying shrieks and cries ceased and were replaced by gloom-filled silence, which held malevolence almost as frightening as the noise of the feeding.

As one, the rodents froze to form a macabre statue of bloodstained fur, teeth and claws. A rattle of chains focused their yellow eyes on the large, pale form that had appeared in the tall, arched opening at the far side of the room the passage led to. It bellowed and rushed forward. Stagnant water sprayed like a fountain as each large, bare foot slammed into the water. While most of the rats abandoned the fight for food, some seized the chance to grab a quick bite before joining the others in a panicked dash to be free of the tunnel before the creature blocked it. Not all made it.

Rats were snatched from the walls and water by the giant's huge shovel-like hands and, in a continuous flowing motion, fed into its mouth and chewed with teeth the size of tombstones. Bones crunched, blood and gore sprayed as it shoved in one rat after another in an attempt to satisfy its vast hunger. Some rats, believing they'd escaped the murderous clutches by running along the walls past the giant, found themselves struck by the chain that whipped out from the metal collar around the giant's neck with exacting vengeance. They were swiftly plucked from the air and sped into the reach of the giant, who swiftly crammed them into monstrous jaws.

Richard cautiously parted the teeth and gazed out at the titanic creature lit by patches of florescent green slime and watched it gobble down as many of the rodents as it could seize in its huge hands. It was his chance to escape.

Head first, Richard slithered between the teeth, over shreds of ripped and bite-scared lips that left him smothered with purple blood, and dropped onto the bone pile. He crawled over to the wall and hid behind the corner of the tunnel. After he'd caught his breath and marginally calmed his nerves, he peered around the edge. The large creature, whose massive bulk practically filled the tunnel, had stopped. It was busy scooping up any rats that tried to escape past it. Hardly any reached the freedom they desperately sought.

Though the giant had a nose and a mouth, presently choked with wriggling vermin, blood, gore and bones that crunched hideously with every chew of its large jaws to reduce the vermin into swallowable chunks, its eyes were missing. Sockets existed, but they were empty of the eyes that'd once dwelt there. From the evidence of the grotesque, scarred skin around the orb-less sockets, it seemed they'd been gouged out with something blunt, and the wielder of said instrument either lacked the necessary surgical skill to perform the surgery with finesse or the inclination to care how much pain, suffering and disfigurement it caused the patient. In either case, the giant would have probably been an unwilling participant. Except for a conveniently placed wrap of cloth concealing the giant's no doubt huge dangling dick, its body was bare. Tree trunk thick arms and legs, joined to a chest the size of a family car, made the huge monster a formable opponent, and from the old scars covering its grotesque muscle-bound skin, one that had experienced much suffering.

Richard briefly wondered who its tormentor had been. A glance at the many collars attached to chains hung from the ceiling and the piles of bones long stripped of flesh littered below each gave evidence it hadn't been the only unfortunate creature to have suffered in this dank, dungeonesque cavern.

When some of the surviving frantic space rodents realized to try and pass the huge creature would bring them only death, they turned tail to head back into the bone chamber. The rat-ravenous giant chased the fleeing food.