The Alien Orb (3 page)

While they
silently observed it loud pounds of something of immense weight
rushed around, causing them to scurry away from the location.

Chapter 3

The Things in the
Wood

They furiously
shifted through the swamp, shifting over to hard ground, and to
safety.

“
You
never saw that thing did any of you?” Mitchell moaned, dissatisfied
by their actions and retreat.

Could their
weapons have killed it? Was it something new? What could possibly
avoid the deadliness of their weapons?

Then, out of
nowhere, more lights emerged through the undergrowth with their
radiance pulsating like living things, magically illuminating
everything far more brightly, blinding their eyes with beams,
lighting the snow and trees everywhere and fully showing them their
surroundings and all its detail.

Bryson was
fascinated by it and everything, and was surprised what the place
really looked like. He had thought the other castle could not be
worse! And he watched Mitchell and his men remove their weapons,
and fired them into a region near the main light, where he had not
properly observed, and heavy snow, from the powerful explosions,
fell from just about every tree about them.

While
they silently observed it deep pounds and creature sounds of things
with immense weight rushed around, out of view, unaffected like any
normal life forms by the explosions and guns
-
and made their way towards them
-
causing them to scurry away.

They furiously
moved their legs in and out of bogs, shifting away to another
region, with Mitchell and his men in confusion unable fully
discover all the results of their actions were and what they were
up against – but they had failed and they really knew it!

They ran
almost blindly over humps and rough ground, rushing through thick
trees and snow, while heavy beast sounds furiously chased, smashing
trees down in way, like something out of a strange nightmare.

They were
breathless and they could not move fast enough, and a thing was
closing in on them.

Suddenly
one of the scientists shouted, “Look out
there
!
”

“
There
’
s something!
”
Mitchell confirmed first. “Quick over there! There’s
something there for us ...”

Over to their side there was a hill the
height of the trees, with its length going far away into the
distance, with a cliff front facing them, almost the only place
there without any snow over it.

The
lights
radiated its rock through the wood and they
forced their legs to go faster to it. The appearance in the hideous
place, out of the night, amidst the jungle of vegetation, was
staggering! They just knew it had to be a place of
sanctuary!

It was heaven within a phantom zone, out on
the edge of realism, beyond the bounds of what lay beyond, and they
were rushing away from the depths of hell, trying to return to
reality.

For a long time as Bryson rushed along with
the others he watched wondering why he and the others were so sure
it was an escape from anything! Why was it? What was there? Was it
just a hill and cliff? Could these things not climb or
something?

Quick glances he gave behind him at the
lights surprised him further! The place looked static, with it
supernaturally glowing, and as if he were staring at a mind-bending
animation, and he thought it was his exhaustion and breathing
heavily affecting him.

Branches broke to pieces as they ran through
them, as if dead for centuries, and some trees looked as if they
were ready to fall into dust and that forces of something
supernatural were keeping them in existence.

Behind them shifting lights were darting
about through the wood like sparks, and he saw ghost images of
creatures shifting about doing hideous things.

Yet all his looks showed him nothing of the
heavy sounding beast things, he still occasionally heard rampaging
towards them.

The minds of many of the others
clearly were conjuring up hidden demons
–
as they rushed on an on
-
as they
approached the hill
-
and they looked for ways to avoid
them.

They rushed over an area of flat hard
ground, clearly made of rock, and
staggered up to the hill, where Mitchell moved
over to an area next to the cliff, where they could climb up the
easiest.

A deep thud like an explosion made the
ground around them shudder like an earthquake and they all looked
for what it was, but saw nothing except that they had gained some
ground, but it was still approaching.

“
Over there!
”
one of Mitchell
’
s men shouted,
pointing.
“
There
’
s a cave!
”

Chapter 4

The Cave

White radiance streaked in the cave as the
last members of the team shifted in, and Bryson saw the lights and
things outside shifted away, and he sat wondering why. Even though
they had gotten in out of view, through a small gap in the cliff,
which led into a long tunnel cave.

They all rested about, ignoring what was
outside, and sheltered there and settled down, and Bryson searched
around for a proper view of his surroundings. His dreamy sight
probed into the tunnel, and into an abyss going deep into the
cliff, out of reach of their light beams, where silky dust blew and
settled, from the ground as they had rushed in, and some was in his
lungs, causing him to convulse, but as he searched about, he
covered his mouth with a piece of clothing, allowing him to
inhale.

Faint echoes of all their breathing and
talking could be heard in an extraordinary silence deeper in, with
occasional deep gasps for air from many of the others, and Bryson
wondered where the tunnel led to.

“
You
never saw that thing kill did you?” Mitchell moaned, dissatisfied
by the results of the dramatic display and the deadliness of their
weapons not having any influence, reminding them of the problems of
not having any weapons.

None of the
men replied and ignored everything, giving slight occasional
glances at the entrance for anything.

Mitchell
seemed to recall some of his old training and pointed at the
weapons without saying anything, and ordered them to keep them
loaded anyway and he had them remove them and practice firing.

“
This is
one for the books!” he moaned, staggered. “A scenario where weapons
have no use ... I never thought I’d witness it ...”

“
Something should affect them!” Mortimer replied for the
scientists.

“
Thanks!
If you could come up with it, I’d like to know it!”

Glimpses of darkened figures of scientists
and archaeologists moving deeper into the cave made Bryson stand
up, from where he had rested, and he vigorously checked through
debris about him, realizing something, and that the cave was a
straight line going inwards, and he considered why.

Thick chemical smells from outside blew in,
from gusts of wind, from the concentrated swamp pools pouring out
gases through the freezing air giving it a sulfur stench, which
some of them gave occasional coughs to, when it hit deep in their
lungs.

By their anxious reactions he sensed
that they believed that something was actually deep in the cave.
Although the descriptions that some of the archaeologists gave
still made it too unacceptable to him to believe fully what they
had suggested, and that the cave could lead somewhere. Yet it would
be better for them to go as far into it as they could as if they
things returned they stood a better chance away inside, and them
not being there if they just looked into the gap in the
cliff
–
and
he was sure their voices could be heard outside and they were
progressively growing louder, and Mitchell
’
s men could talk really
loud.

What was here? Everything was a mystery all
around them! The castle if it existed was specified in vivid detail
as something like a specified location of the resting place of
something. His mind conjured up vague visions of spooky medieval
things roaming ancient dungeons. Yet again it was far too vague and
he could not remember anything like it remotely turning true for
some reason!

When the scientists and archaeologists that
had been deeper into the cave returned, they all started discussing
going deeper inwards and everyone seemed to go along with it,
especially as they kept suggesting it was warmer and out of the
range of the cold wind blowing inwards.

Bryson joined some of the men at the
entrance studying t
he
fog clouds over at the swamp areas, seeing what it did, and saw
that it reacted little now, now that they were not in it, and he
wondered if it was part of something, like animals with poisons and
defense systems against being attacked, and he was sure that it was
not bothering them now as they were no longer a threat, and near
it.

Suddenly, a light appeared deep in the fog
to their side, and Mitchell asked them to move in the cave, surely
considering the same things. Bryson watched it vibrating and
brighten, and a beam pointed near them.

They moved in and away, while one man
suggested covering the cave entrance, but they decided not to
chance their luck as it may pick up any abnormalities, and even
that the entrance was covered up.

Chapter 5

The Tunnel

Bryson rushed along, grasping his torch, and
joined Mitchell and Mortimer leading the men into the depths of the
tunnel, going below the hill, as the cave descended towards
somewhere, nobody there could distinguish.

What could be at the end of such a cave?
Bryson and, as far as he saw, nobody else had heard of caves like
it. Its walls looked cut by something with a powerful force, and
they regularly examined it expecting to see marks from some form of
digging machine.

When it changed direction and went from one
direction to another they examined its corners trying to see how it
had been formed, and what natural occurrence could cause it.

They had started off trying to find a good
location to spend the night, and then the further away from the
dangers outside they got the happier they were, and the more they
explored it the more they wanted to see and discover what was
there.

Bryson confusedly looked ahead for anything
dangerous to leap out at them. It was surprising now that they had
the encounter outside that they left it open and that anything
could appear.

Their reactions created a less tense
atmosphere amongst them, making Bryson wonder what they were all
thinking! What were their true feelings now? He was sure he and
Mortimer had different thoughts of things after their past
experiences.

It was phenomenal, they had been surely
nearly killed and they never had a clue by what! What was its
motivation? Was it animal motivations? Did it intend to consume
them or kill a danger to it?

Should they leave it there, hidden away at
the place, or have the police informed? How would they handle
something that was supernatural? He could not decide the outcome of
it!

Mitchell was not stupid and he did not push
things too far, if he could help it.

One time the light shifted downwards
creating a bright circle of light where Bryon could closely examine
the dirt and saw the debris from the walls and picked some pieces
up and examined it, examining its cut edges, considering what had
occurred there.

It reminded Bryson of a shaft that had been
built for some work to take place. But when he thought of it he did
not have a clue what it was. What was a tunnel doing out there? Why
had they gone to such lengths to construct it? What hidden motive
had been behind it?

They had to have built it for logical
reasons, as all the constructions were, which he could recall. They
would only build it for their needs!

“
Perhaps it
’s
part of a mine for
something,
”
Merton concluded, trying to push things further long, trying
to recollect something such as it.

“
What happened to all the roads and
constructions that they would
’
ve had?
”
Mortimer replied.

“
How could they have built everything
with all those trees being there?
”
Mitchell answered.
“
There
’
d be gaps leading through. Nobody would get
anything through all that! Unless it was built a long time ago ...
And it all grew over it!
”

“
Perhaps it
’s
another part of the
castle,
”
Merton spoke, trying to recollect something; maybe from his
memories.

“
You
’
re psychic
researchers?
”
Mitchell replied, looking alert, and considering something
that had been bothering him.
“
As well as scientists! What
’
re your thoughts of all that
stuff outside ...?
”