He watched as the teams spread out, and then turned to peer up at the huge statue. He walked to its base and began to climb. In only a few minutes he had reached one of the shoulders, and stood upright. The ceiling was still another fifty or so feet above his head, and he looked across to the face. The golden eyes glowed with hints of blue, reflecting the weak bioluminescent light from above. The statue’s expression was frozen in a permanent stare. He followed its gaze.
At the far end of the room, about fifty feet up, there was another carving in the wall. The tentacled horror he had become used to. Maybe that’s how it started for them — the warriors fighting the creature, he thought, and this was a monument to them.
Alex noticed that at the center of the coiling mass, there was another opening. As soon as his eyes alighted on it, something moved inside, darted back into the shadows. He had an impression of a humanoid shape and colorless flesh, but with dangling appendages.
So, he thought. You are watching.
“Boss, got something here.” Rhino waved an arm up at him over near one of the huge walls.
Alex climbed down and jogged towards him. Jackson and Yang were leaning over a spot on the ground.
Rhino crouched. “Ground’s all messed up. Something violent happened here.” He turned about. “No prints leading away, and no doorways… that I can see.” He stood and turned to the wall, giving it a push. “Can’t see any pivot points.”
Alex leaned in close to the stone, running his fingers along the edges of some of the blocks. They had sat for so long that they had fused together. “I think it’s solid now. Don’t think they went through here.”
“They didn’t fly away,” Jackson said.
Alex looked to the huge McMurdo soldier, and then up. He remembered the small darting figure he had seen above them. He spun to the group. “Everyone back from the walls!” His voice boomed in the large room. As soon as the words left his mouth, there came a gagging sound, and they turned to see Jennifer Hartigan rising up, a rope around her neck and under one arm. More ropes came down, lassoing towards Yang, and then Cate.
Ben Jackson caught a tether as it tried to loop over his large head. He grabbed it and yanked hard. In turn, it was yanked back even harder and the loop slid tight around his wrist.
“Ah fuck.” He started to rise up. “A little help here.”
Rhino rushed to him, and grabbed the cord. Immediately another dropped down and also circled Jackson’s neck.
“Farg-gggh,” was all the big man could rasp out.
“Use your knives, get to the center.” Alex yelled instructions, but there was nothing but the chaos of flickering lights and shouting people. He saw in an instant what the alcoves were now used for — they were staging portals for capturing prey. Whether this was their original purpose or something later adapted by the descendants of the once great race, he would never know.
In each of the window-sized alcoves, multiple figures hauled on the ropes they had dropped down. Alex frowned as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. They were smaller than normal, and were bone-white humanoids, but their faces were like nothing he could recognize. They seemed smooth-skinned, and there were dangling tendrils starting from halfway down the face. Their eyes were just vertical slits, like those of a goat… or octopus.
Yang easily stepped back, avoiding the tethers, not helping or hindering, just standing and watching. Alex was furious at his lack of support, but ignored the man, and pulled free his smallest Ka-bar blade. He spun it in his hand until he held the dark steel, and then launched it towards one of the humanoids dragging on Jackson’s rope. The blade flew through the air so fast it was near invisible, and then embedded in the center of one of the hideous faces. The figure disappeared, soundlessly, and Jackson dropped a few feet. The figure was soon replaced by another, and the big soldier began to be pulled up once again.
Alex took a step towards Jackson, but spun back at the sound of Aimee yelling. She had her arms wrapped around Cate’s waist, as the woman was also lifted, kicking, into the air.
He was momentarily torn, but in another second, both women were several feet up. He decided — then put his head down and sprinted. He pulled his last blade from it sheath, holding it backwards, and then leaping. In one powerful movement, he grabbed and slashed the rope at Cate’s neck, dropping her and Aimee to the ground. He landed on his feet, and called to Casey Franks, who was there to grab both women and drag them backwards, not bothering to check on their health until they were out of danger.
“Boss!” Rhino now had hold of Jackson, whose eyes bulged as his oxygen was cut off. Above them a large group of the humanoids tugged on the ropes, and both men were being lifted.
Too many of them, Alex thought. Must be how Blake and the two PLA soldiers were overwhelmed. He ran again, jumping up and catching hold of Rhino around the waist. The big HAWC still had hold of Jackson, who now had Alex clinging to his legs. The added weight made the soldier’s eyes bulge ever more furiously from his head as his neck was being crushed.
Alex began to quickly clamber up Rhino, but stopped when Jennifer’s scream dragged his head around. She was already halfway up the wall, twisting and struggling like a fish on a line. He knew if he went after Jennifer, then Jackson would be lost. He couldn’t be everywhere and his frustration was knotting inside him.
“Yang!” The man ignored him. “Goddamnit, Franks!”
He saw Casey run at the woman, and Alex then scrambled up the big soldier’s body, once again ripping a knife free and hacking through the ropes holding him. They fell in a heap on the ground. He turned to see Casey jump in the air at Jennifer, spearing toward her, arm and hand stretching out. Her fingertips grazed the woman’s boot, as she slammed hard into the wall. But she was too late, in another second Jennifer had been dragged into one of the windows and had vanished.
“Shit.” Alex bared his teeth and lifted both men to their feet as if they weighed nothing.
He yelled into their faces. “Get ’em all back.” He ran at Franks, who was now trying to scale one of the ropes. He was underneath her in a second, and pulled her back down. The female HAWC’s face was creased with fury, and Alex pushed her back.
“Defensive position. That’s an order.”
Her teeth were grit and her eyes were defiant as they went from Alex to the landing Jennifer had just been hauled onto.
“Franks.” Alex’s hand came down hard on her shoulder. Casey nodded, and headed back to the group, the HAWCs now herding the others back.
More ropes came down, trying to snag them, and Alex didn’t wait anymore. He dived for one of the looping cords that flew down to try and encircle him. He gripped it and began to climb, rapidly ascending. When he got near the top, the beings must have suddenly decided that Alex untethered wasn’t something they wanted to deal with and the rope was let go.
He fell backwards, plummeting the sixty feet to the ground. He spun in mid air, and landed hard, but on his feet. He immediately stood straight, the rope piling beside him.
“Holy shit. Awesome,” said Jackson, his voice still painfully coarse. He coughed and looked back up. “Did you see anything up there? Jennifer?”
“I saw people,” Alex said. “I think.” He backed up, keeping a watch on the windows. For now, they looked empty. “Pull in tight.” The group gathered in. He turned to Aimee, and reached out to her. “Are you okay?”
Aimee nodded. Cate rubbed at the red mark around her neck, scowling. “Hey,” she croaked. “I’m fine too. Thank you for asking.”