IT LIVES IN THE BASEMENT (11 page)

Sensing more than seeing what Carter was trying to do; Sagano pushed the light button on his digital watch.  “Ten minutes to ten.  Sergeant Alvarez asked me to wake you up.  I told you before to get a digital watch.  At least then you
’d be able to tell the time in the dark.”

Grumpily Carter mumbled, Then why didn’t you get me one for my birthday?”

Reaching out, Sagano helped pull his groaning friend to his feet.  “Yeah?  And I suppose you’d wear it, right?  You’ve never taken off the Elgin Flynn gave you for your birthday ten years ago.  Never mind, I understand.”  Stretching, Carter’s back let out a crackle/snap, and he moaned, loudly.  Sagano patted him on his shoulder, saying, “Sleeping on the grass isn’t exactly what a sixty-year old man should be doing, buddy.  Come over to the fire and have some coffee.  Alvarez is at his Blazer, doing something, said to wait at the table for him.”

As Carter’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could discern people, without lanterns, fishing along the bank.  He followed Sagano to the fire-pit, where he could see glowing coals, and smell fresh-brewed coffee.  He headed toward the picnic table intending to take a seat, when he tripped over something heavy in the grass; falling face down on what he thought was a tripod.

Sagano helped him up.  “Sorry John.  I left the tripod there after Alvarez showed me how to use the video cameras.  This is some setup your friend brought.  I’ve never seen anything like these cameras before.  That camera over there even uses infrared film.  Alvarez told me I should be able to see everything, no matter how dark it is.  If there’s anything to see, that is.  Will there be?”

Rubbing a sore knee, Carter m
uttered, “I sure as hell hope so.”

Pouring coffee, Sagano said, “How come I get the feeling you don’t mean that?”

From the darkness came a soft voice, “Probably because he does not mean it, as I myself hope we find nothing tonight.  Yet at the same time, I pray we do.  May I have coffee too, Mark?”

With a soft thump, Alvarez sat two long cases on the picnic table in front of Carter.  As he unsnapped one case
, he softly said, “I waited until darkness fell before bringing these out, John.  I saw no reason to alarm the other campers by letting them see us with the rifles.”  Grabbing a rifle, he handed it to John.  “This rifle is for you, my friend, a Remington .308 with an attached nightscope.  Earlier today I, uh, borrowed it from the weapons room.  Of course, I did not tell them the real reason I needed the rifle.  Go ahead and try sighting through the scope.  You will notice there is plenty of light coming through the scope to aim with.  Your .308 is a semiautomatic, so you have five shots before you must reload.  As to our previous conversation, if it must be, please use all five rounds.”  Placing additional ammunition on the table, he continued, “Here are three more clips, so you have twenty rounds.  I hope this will be sufficient for our purposes.  In less than an hour, the Moon will rise above the hills, so you will be able to see more clearly.  Ah, you have of course used one of these before, have you not?”

Holding up the heavy ri
fle, Carter sighted on the hills across the lake.  “Yes, Pete.  I have a .308 at home, a bolt-action one.  Don’t worry; I know how to use it.”

The .308 rifle Carter owned had a scope as we
ll, but nothing as fancy as the big scope on the weapon he held.  As he sighted across the lake, he was surprised at how well he could see.  The hundreds of pinpricks of starlight were enough, when amplified by the scope’s mechanism, for him to see almost like daylight.  He moved the heavy rifle slowly from bush to bush across the lake, following as close as he could to the path the Tescara had used last night.

“I have the same
scope on my rifle as well,” Alvarez said as he hefted the long barrel of the tranquilizer rifle and experimentally sighted through the scope.  Sagano refilled the coffee cups: Alvarez pulled out a small flask, pouring a large dollop into each metal cup, saying, “A toast gentlemen.  To us, to what we do and to what may be.”

**********
 

No one spoke as the Blazer rounded the end of the lake.  This time Alvarez didn’t stop at the side of the road, but drove right into th
e field, over the three-strand, barbed-wire fence.  He turned off the lights and pulled the vehicle into low gear.  Slowly he plowed through the high weeds, until they were about fifty feet from the pool, seen as a dimly reflective surface in the dark field.

Alvarez killed the engine. Softly he said, “We can carry the cage from here and set it up over by that bush, yes?  Then we can take our positions.”

They worked in silence; the only noises the grunts and scrapes as they pulled the heavy cage from the rear.  Sweating profusely, the three men carried it to the designated bush.  After setting the cage in place, Alvarez pointed to Mark.  “If you will, please carry the net over here from the truck, while John and I assemble the cage.  Then you will need to bring the rifles and cameras.  We do not have a great deal of time left to prepare.”

Rapidly w
alking away, the only sounds heard were Sagano’s heavy breathing and the swish of the tall weeds against his jeans.

After the cage was assembled, Carter helped Sagano set up the three cameras on the special tripod.  He was surprised at how clear he could see through the lens
es of the video cameras.  In less than twenty minutes, the three men were in place, Alvarez waving at them to duck, as they hid and waited.

Carter glanced to where he knew Alvarez was laying in the tall weeds, his tranquilizer rifle ready, but all he could see were the weeds.  He turned to Sagano and whispered, “If we lay down like Alvarez, the camera will be the only thing showing.  Remember Mark, don’t make a sound and whatever else happens
, be damned sure you get everything on film.  Okay?”

Sagano didn’t answer;
instead squeezing his friend’s shoulder and nodding.

The full Moon slowly appeared over the hills in
front of them.  The tension mounted as the minutes ticked by, with the occasional laughter, or splashing from across the lake adding to the stressful waiting.  Time seemed to be standing still, but Carter knew it was passing by the steady, relentless passage of the bright Moon, now high overhead.

Carter nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt a
light touch on his shoulder. 

Sagano grabbed his arm tightly, whispering, “Jeez, John
.  Take it easy, buddy.  I just wanted to tell you it was quarter to twelve.  And all things considered, I’d rather be fishing than laying here in --.”

Carter cut him off with a low
, “Sshh,” pointing up the hill.

Starin
g hard at where Carter pointed, Sagano couldn’t see anything.  He rose up slightly, peering through the camera.  Then he saw a slight movement in the bushes.  From bush to bush, just as the animal had done the previous night.  The small, brown animal looked right at Sagano for a moment, then deciding whatever it was looking at posed no threat, moved to another bush, each advancement bringing it closer to where Alvarez lie in wait, with his tranquilizer rifle.

Frozen in place, Sagano stared at the small beast, so Carter slowly reached up, turning the cameras on.  A small red light in the camera viewing lens was the only indication they were running. 

Sagano was transfixed by what he was seeing through the camera lens.  An animal, three and a half feet tall, covered in light-brown, coarse hair, with enormous eyes that reflected an orange, yellowish light, creeping slowly along on four legs, with a short stump of a tail.  The creature sniffed the humid night air as it scurried forward, heading right for where Alvarez waited.

Having watched it the night before, Carter and Sagano knew the Tescara was acting differently tonight, as it kept stopping and sniffing the air.  Somehow the creature knew, or sensed
it was not alone.  After an exquisitely long pause, the creature crept forward again, to the edge of the pool.  When it sat on its haunches, Carter lost it in the high weeds; he hoped Alvarez could still see it from his closer vantage point.  Through his rifle scope, Carter tried to locate the creature, and failing that, tried to locate Alvarez.  Because of the tall weeds, he was unable to see either of them.

A sudden movement in the tall weeds caught Carter’s attention.  Swinging his scope to track the movement, he was shocked as something small was
streaking toward him.  For a split second he saw the creature, the Tescara, in his scope, as it rose on its rear legs and ran right at him. 

In a flash
, the creature was upon him with a loud hissing and a scream definitely not human, hitting him hard enough to knock the rifle out of his hands.  The Tescara rebounded off the big rifle barrel, over Carter’s back, and flew right into Sagano and the big tripod; all three cameras going down in a crash, then another scream tore the night apart.  This scream was definitely human. 

Rolling ov
er, Carter found Sagano standing with what looked like brown fox skin wrapped around his head.

He heard Alvarez yelling, “I hit it, John
.  I hit it.  Where is it?  We must move quickly now.”

As Alvarez was yelling, Carter watched
Sagano fall face first, the brown skin still attached to his face, then Carter was up and hurrying toward his friend.  Without thought, Carter grabbed the brown animal and yanked with all his strength.  It didn’t budge, so Carter pulled again, a savage yell escaping from him, unnoticed.

Alvarez arrived, grabbing his arms, yelling
, “No, John.  You will pull Mark’s head off.  Here, let me unwrap the Tescara from Mark.  I will do it, you get the net.  Quickly now before it awakens.  Hurry, John.”

Car
ter stared stupidly at his friend’s inert body, as Alvarez rolled Sagano over and began to loosen the arms and legs wrapped around Sagano’s head.  With a start, Carter remembered the net and cage, and stumbled off into the weeds.  Disoriented, Carter tried unsuccessfully to drag the heavy cage from the bushes.  Giving up, he then looked around, not knowing what else he was supposed to be doing. 

His eyes fell on the big cargo net piled near the cage, suddenly remembering he was supposed to take the net to Alvarez.  Soaked in sweat, trembling with exhaustion, he dragged the heavy net to Alvarez, who had the brown creature almost unwrapped from Sagano’s head.
  When the creature was loose, Alvarez rolled it into the net and began trying to drag the net toward the cage. 

The thin Mexican wasn’t strong enough, so he yelled to Carter, “Help me, John
.  For God’s sake man, before it awakens.  If it does, we will all be dead.”

Snapping out of his delirium, Carter helped drag the net to the stainless-steel cage, throwing the whole mess unceremoniously inside.  The thick gate slammed down with a resounding BANG
.  Alvarez quickly placed a huge padlock on the cage door, then fell to his knees, panting heavily.

A moaning from the weeds caught Carter
’s attention.  He hurried back to Sagano, lying on his side, blood flowing from at least twenty places on his head and chest.  Carter shined his flashlight on his friend, who blinked and moaned as the light blinded him.  Carter stood frozen, staring.  Sagano looked like someone had used a straight razor on him.  Someone who had been intent on skinning the man alive, in one inch strips. 

Sagano was struggling to sit up, so Carter was trying to help him, as Alvarez arrived and told Sagano not to move.  The Sergeant turned and ran toward his Blazer, as Carter helped Sagano lay back down.  In minutes, Alvarez was back with a fluorescent lantern, and a first-aid kit.  As he worked on Sagano’s tattered face, Alvarez asked Carter to check the cameras.

Moving, in slow motion, Carter found the three cameras, torn loose from the tripod.  All three were still running, and he updated Alvarez on their condition, who nodded and asked if Carter was alright.

Glancing down at himself
in confusion, Carter realized he was covered with blood.  Down the front of his shirt ran a dark stain, so he gingerly felt around his face.  Feeling no wounds on his face, he opened his shirt and inhaled sharply.  Just above his left nipple, he saw a four-inch gash.  The cut wasn’t deep, but it was bleeding profusely. He checked his shirt and found a tear across his left pocket. The creature’s claws were so sharp, he hadn’t felt the slash.  But now, the cut was starting to burn.

When the Tescara
ran into his rifle barrel, it made one swipe at him before the barrel deflected the charging beast into Sagano.  With a shudder of revulsion, Carter relived the power of the small creature as it literarily tore the big rifle from his grasp.  Power, intense, contained power, far too much power for something so small.

After Alvarez finished doctoring Sagano, the man resembled a frightful character in a mummy movie.  His hea
d and neck were wrapped multiple times with bandages, already beginning to show the dark stains of seeping blood.  Alvarez applied a long bandage to Carter’s chest, securing it with tape.

“We must get Mark to the hos
pital, John.  You as well.  Each of you will require stitches, I am afraid.  Can you help me load the cage?  We cannot, we must not, leave the Tescara here.  I will return tomorrow in the light of day for our remaining equipment, but now we must load the cage and proceed to the emergency room.  Come, help me please.”