The Agathon: Reign of Arturo (26 page)

Chavel looked at the scanners. The huge object’s speed had increased and it was definitely coming straight for them.

“Young, we have to go. Now!” he said looking out at the diver.

The urgency in his voice was picked up by Barrington who suddenly came on the comms.

“David, we just picked up your reading. Get the hell out of there,” he said.

Chavel looked at the scanner.

“Jesus Christ, it’s right on us,” Chavel said.

The shuttle began to sway slightly as the currents under the ship began to shift. Chavel turned it to face the sea floor and pointed the lights in the direction of the movement. What he saw next sent a wave of adrenalin through his veins so large that his heart nearly burst. It
was an enormous set of teeth attached to an open mouth that must have been a hundred meters across. A gaping moving mouth attached to the biggest animal Chavel had ever imagined. He had less than a few seconds to react. He looked at Young and instantly saw that they were both dead. He hit the thruster controls engaging the engines to full power. The force pushed him back in his seat as he piloted the craft forwards and into a barrel roll pulling a hard right in the process. He felt the impact as the shuttle bounced off the outside of the huge creature. The pod went into a flat spin and began to descend. Chavel was thrown clear of his flight chair and into the back of a computer console behind him. Sparks rained down on his head as a panel exploded above him. His arm felt wet as the world around him started to dim. He recognised the familiar feeling of a head trauma and tried to remain conscious. A small freezing jet of water hit him in the face sending an icy chill through his skin. The hull was clearly breached and the shuttle had begun taking on water. It slowly fell and in the distance, he could hear Barrington’s voice over the comm system.

“Chavel?” Barrington shouted, “what the hell is happening?”

The light from the shuttle craft illuminated the creature only seconds before Young saw Chavel initiate a crazy manoeuvre sending the shuttle into the side of the monster and falling in the depths of the vast ocean. Young had only a second to react and nowhere to go, so he turned sharply and laid himself as flat as he could against the rock face. The creature skimmed his body as it passed. Young saw a series of eyes along an impossibly large torso as it passed. It was like some sort of mutated blue whale, but had to have been ten times its mass. The force of the current snapped his tether to the ship and sucked Young away from the rock face and sent him tumbling into the open sea. An alarm inside his helmet sounded indicating a tear in his atmo suit. He felt an icy chill run up his left leg and a sudden loss of pressure inside his helmet.

“Fuck!” he tried to shout as his body was tossed and turned in the wake of the alien sea monster. He curled himself into a ball and tried to let the current take him, instead of fighting it, but the terror in his heart was making it difficult to function. A breach in his suit meant that water was beginning to seep into his now compromised pressure seals. He figured he only had minutes before his helmet would flood.

The current suddenly subsided and his body was released from its grip. He floated freely in the dark. The rock face was nowhere to be seen and the sea monster had disappeared into the blackness. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out an emergency pressure seal, strapping it straight onto the tear on his leg. The only light source was the small lamp attached to his faceplate, but it was sufficient for the task. His leg felt heavy as it was filled with ice cold water. It was starting to go numb. He could feel his pulse racing as he looked out into the darkness to try and find the shuttle.

“David?” he said into his comm system.

There was no response.

“Young to Agathon,” he said.

He looked at the heads up display in his faceplate and saw a blinking error message telling him his comm system and scanning array was out.

“Shit,” he said to himself.

He was completely disorientated. Surrounded by blackness and water. The only way to tell which way was up, was to try and find some way to gain buoyancy. He felt a light current from beneath his feet. He looked down at the hand scanner and saw that it was still functioning. It was a miracle that he had been able to hold onto the device at all. He reached up and found the manual entry directory and began typing. It was still transmitting to The Agathon. Somewhere in the distance he heard a low growling and popping sound. He began to feel water pressing against his body as he looked directly ahead. Out of the darkness, he saw it. A large black mass heading straight for him. His heart began to sink. He had nowhere to go. Rows of enormous teeth attached to a gaping mouth approached. Like a moving cave.
He looked furiously around and saw the blinking of lights off in the distance. Too far away for Chavel to get to him. If he was alive at all.

“Young to Agathon?” he said quietly as the mouth approached steadily towards him.

He was dead. He knew that now. He had lost it all. His company. His planet. His hope of finding the Signal Makers. Sienna Clarke. It was time.

He looked down at the scanner and began typing furiously as the great mouth continued to approach. He felt a surge of water as if being pulled into the gaping abyss. He typed. The boulder sized teeth surrounded him as he moved slowly into the beast’s mouth. The overwhelming fear and terror of what was about to happen made his vision blur as he tried to finish his message. He looked up and saw the inside of the monster as the teeth closed around his body and he was enveloped by it. He felt soft tissue surround his body. It folded down on him softly at first before a crushing force sealed him inside a cocoon of flesh. He screamed into his faceplate that was now filling with icy water. His legs cracked under the pressure and his ribs soon after. Water and blood filled his lungs as a burning sensation filled his whole body. He prayed for it to end as he choked on blood, water and vomit. He gave one final muffled scream as he relinquished himself to the terror of being eaten alive.

17

The Void

C
arrie was tired. Her shoulder ached from the burns she acquired from the shuttle craft fire. They had been waiting in the great chamber for over two hours. Tyrell stood quietly watching the emptiness, but Carrie’s tired legs had wandered off to a nearby wall where she had kneeled down and rested her back against it.

“Okay, seriously, Tyrell, what the hell?” she said looking at him.

He was perfectly calm and his posture was strong and straight. He looked over at her.

“You really need to learn patience, Carrie,” he said.

“Whatever,” she said leaning her head back against the wall and closing her eyes.

Her arm hurt and she was sure that she needed some sort of dressing on it. She stared at the magnificent architecture of the long walls as they reached the height of the hall. She started to think of her father. About how worried he must be. Something suddenly peaked her interest. A cool breeze drifted across her face. It was accompanied by a second and then a third.

“They are here, Carrie,” Tyrell suddenly said looking over at her.

She stood and looked around at the empty hallway. She wiped her dry eyes and walked over to Tyrell. Another cool breeze blew a
strand of hair away from her face. It was like someone was opening and closing a window during a storm. She could not see anything. She opened her mind to her surroundings and suddenly sensed a presence. Something very old.

“Close your mind, Carrie,”
Tyrell said suddenly inside her mind.

Carrie looked at him and nodded.

“They will let you know if they want you to access their thoughts. Just remain calm and still,”
he said.

Carrie did as she was asked and closed her mind. She thought about what it was that she had sensed before doing so. She thought she felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around only to see nothing there.

“What the?” she said looking at Tyrell.

He smiled.

“Let them examine you, Carrie. They are curious,” he said remaining still.

Carrie felt like she was being toyed with, by both the unseen entities and by Tyrell. She was tired.

“I am Carrie Barrington! Show yourselves!” she suddenly shouted into the seemingly empty grand hall.

Tyrell looked at her and raised up one of his eyebrows. She shrugged. Carrie suddenly thought she heard the sound of whispering all around her. As if there were hundreds of unseen watchers talking about her behind her back. It was ghostly and unnerving. She did not feel threatened by it. It was starting to frustrate her. She needed answers and needed them now. Her family was in trouble and whatever these things were had kept her waiting. She looked at Tyrell and was about to fire a burst of electrical energy into the air to get their attention, when suddenly a form appeared before them.

It emerged from a light cloud of vapour. The resemblance to the surrounding statues was remarkable. The figure that stood in front of Carrie was tall. At least seven feet. It was bipedal, from what Carrie could tell. It wore a dark fabric over its body that looked ceremonial. The creature had pale skin and a soft oval head with small blue
almond eyes that regarded Carrie with a soft expression. She felt no danger from the creature. It was actually quite the opposite. She felt great warmth radiating from it. She had not noticed herself take a step back when the creature had suddenly appeared in front of her. It was Tyrell’s hand on her arm that had alerted her to remain still. The creature stood looking at the pair. Its lightly blinking eyes darting from one to the other, but it seemed to take a special interest in Carrie. It took a step towards her and stood looking down. Carrie could see a softness in those almond eyes. There were lines under them, much like the crow’s feet on an aged face. She looked at the embellishments on the entities robe. There were brooches and pins depicting strange symbols. The creature tilted its large head and blinked several times. It had a thin mouth, with no discernible lips that Carrie could make out.

“Hello there,” the creature suddenly said to Carrie.

Carrie was stunned. The softness of the strong voice was not what she was expecting at all. Not to mention that it spoke English.

“Eh ...” she said looking at Tyrell, “Hello?”

“How wonderful of you to join us here,” the creature said.

Carrie had not realised that her mouth was hanging open in astonishment. She was genuinely lost for words.

“Okay then?” she said realising that she must have sounded like an idiot.

She suddenly realised that if Chase Meridian were to find out that Carrie’s first words to an alien life form were ‘Eh … Hello’ she would not be happy, so she tried to muster up some words. It was hard considering the dire situation they were in.

“Who are you?” she asked the creature.

“So inquisitive, how refreshing. You have developed well. You are still too early, however, and we must send you on your way,” said the creature.

“What?” Carrie said, “what do you mean too early? For what? Who are you?”

The creature blinked what looked like two sets of eyelids before turning to Tyrell. It placed one of its long arms on his shoulder and
formed what looked like a smile, revealing a set of sharp pointed teeth. It had three digits attached to a long hand. There were no fingernails. The hand was covered neatly in a thin layer of skin. The grin gave the creature a sinister look that unnerved Carrie.

“Welcome back, it is so wonderful to see you return. You are the first, you know. But you are too early, we must send you on your way,” it said to Tyrell.

Tyrell looked the creature in the eyes and said nothing.

“I see,” the creature said looking back at Carrie.

Carrie opened her mind to try and sense something. She was getting frustrated by the clearly telepathic communication between the two. The creature suddenly looked at Carrie and shot its long arm out in her direction. Before she could react, she felt like she had been hit by an invisible boulder that sent her flying backwards through the air. She landed hard on her hip and tumbled head over heels onto the hard floor. She felt the air being knocked out of her lungs and placed her hands onto the ground to stop herself from rolling. The sudden impact made her head spin as she took several large breaths to counter the shock of the sudden attack. She lay on the ground and looked up at the creature as it took several slow steps towards her. Tyrell remained still, just watching her.

“What the fuck!” Carrie said getting to her knees and trying to get up off the ground. She felt a tingle of electrical energy make its way up her spine. The creature approached her and shot its arm out in her direction. Once again a powerful force lifted her off the ground and sent her tumbling through the air. The world began to spin as her body was tossed like a rag doll through the open spaces of the grand hall sending her crashing down on the hard marble floor. This time she hit her head on impact, sending her into a blurry spin. She felt a warm trickle of blood seep through her hair and travel neatly down her cheek. Her anger intensified. She lay flat on her back trying to get her breath and stared at the intricate ceiling a hundred feet off the ground and thought about her mother. Turning her head, she saw the alien approach her calmly. She lay there. Unmoving. Waiting
for the creature to get closer. She turned on her side and slowly got to her knees. She was injured. She felt a sharp pain in her ankle as she rose to her feet, so much so that she had to shift her weight onto the other foot. She looked furiously at the creature and felt the electricity pour through her spine and into her arms.