Aquifer: A Novel (36 page)

Reaching the restaurant and gift shop, the pressing throng of people knocked over display cases, tables and racks of trinkets in their maddened dash for the exit. The creatures pursuing them thrashed, trampled, and smashed what wasn’t destroyed by the tourists, leaving the gift shop and restaurant in ruins.

The aliens pursued their prey into the parking lot, where most of the fleeing tourists found refuge in their cars. In their haste to evacuate, they turned the parking lot into a scene which resembled a demolition derby, as drivers smashed into each other in an effort to escape.

The creatures watched as most of their intended prey fled. In frustration, the aliens retreated into the Meramec River, which flowed along the back edge of the parking lot, and began to swim away.

At that moment, four fishermen in two canoes came around a bend in the river at the corner of the parking lot, lazily floating down the Meramec. The noisy commotion in the parking lot caught their attention. They uncomprehendingly watched the destruction and mayhem caused by the huge aliens as the river’s current drifted them downstream, dragging them ever closer to the brink of disaster. Then, when they saw the aliens entering the river somewhat downstream from them, the realization of their precarious situation finally sank in. They panicked and frantically began paddling for the far shore. But they had waited too long. They did not have a chance. Their canoes suddenly exploded with crushing force, slapped by the massive tails of the aliens and hurled out of the water into the air. The canoeists were immediately and mercilessly devoured.

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Sheriff’s Office

Sitting at his desk, Sheriff Akers hung up the phone from his call to Emergency Management. He paused for a moment, then turned to speak to his guests, his facial expression revealing that he was not at all pleased with what he had been told.

“They say they’ll send out an investigator as soon as possible,” the Sheriff said.

“That’s reassuring!” Larry stated sarcastically.

Sheriff Akers rose from his rickety wooden swivel chair and picked up a plastic box of push pins. He turned to face the wall behind him and began to stare at a map pinned to a cork board centered on the wall. He began putting colored pins into the map showing the locations of all the attacks.

“Let’s see, we’ve had attacks at Blue Spring on the Current River.” He put a pin in the map on the wall marking the location. “Here at the swimmin’ hole on the Jack’s Fork River at the Alley Spring Campground,” placing another pin in the map. “And here at Johnson Shut-Ins on the Black River. Though the Current and the Jack’s Fork merge, there’s no direct river way connection to the Black River, so my guess is that these creatures have gotten into the main aquifer.”

“Just how extensive is this aquifer?” Clayton asked.

“I don’t rightly know. We had some geologists from the State Water Department down here a few years back. They said that though they couldn’t prove it, there was some indication that at least some of the water in the aquifer comes from as far north as the Great Lakes and on into Canada.”

“If that’s true, and if these creatures have in fact gotten into the aquifer, then they would be able to travel through it to virtually any water way . . . to any city in the country,” Clayton added.

“I’m afraid you’re right,” the Sheriff somberly replied. “But that’s not the part that worries me the most. We’re not that far from the Mississippi River. If any of those creatures make it that far. . . . Well, everything that feeds into it will be easy traveling.”

“And with their aggressive nature that can only spell disaster,” lamented Larry.

At that moment the telephone rang. Sheriff Akers lifted the receiver from its cradle.

“Sheriff Akers here . . . What! . . . What time this morning did that happen? . . . Uh huh . . . Uh huh . . . I see. How many casualties do we have? . . . Uh huh . . . Okay. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”

The Sheriff hung up the phone. “It seems that our creatures have made it as far as Meramec Caverns. Twenty minutes ago they attacked a group of tourists. Sixteen are confirmed dead, another two dozen are badly injured, and several more are still unaccounted for.”

He turned around and put another pin in the map marking the cave on the Meramec River. Then he picked up a marking pen and drew a circle around Eminence with a radius of about seventy-five miles, the distance to Meramec Caverns. He stood there momentarily studying the map as if trying to understand what he was seeing.

“That means that these creatures could reach the state capital, here at Jefferson City, as well as Springfield, Branson, and soon even down here to Little Rock, Arkansas,” he tapped each city’s location on the map with his index finger. “And all the little towns in between. We’re talking about half a million people . . . all endangered.”

“There seems to be no doubt now that the creatures have found entrance into the continental aquifer. The entire country is now at risk,” exclaimed Clayton.

“Oh, great! The fate of the country's in our hands,” interjected Larry.

“The State Office of Emergency Management said they were considering contacting the military over at Ft. Leonard Wood,” said Sheriff Akers.

“Wonderful!” Clayton blurted out sarcastically. “That’s all we need. The only thing they know how to do is blow things up. Sheriff, I know that these creatures have created a lot of destruction, but we can’t just destroy them. We’re dealing with an alien life form. We have to protect and preserve them!”

“Well, that decision isn’t mine to make, but till I get some answers I’m closing down the waterways. No swimming, canoeing, fishing. I’m not allowing anyone within 100 feet of the shoreline,” stated the Sheriff.

“But if you tell them why, then mass panic will ensue and they’ll indiscriminately kill all the aliens. A whole species will become extinct. Do you understand the tremendous tragedy of that loss?” pled Clayton.

“Do you understand the human tragedy if we don’t?” retorted the Sheriff.

Squirming at the discomfort of the tension brewing between the two men, Larry glanced at his watch and then interrupted the conversation, “If you gentlemen will excuse me. Tina believes that she has been able to develop an antidote for the neurol-toxin. We’re going over to Blue Spring to try it out on some of the animals the creatures collected.”

“Why don’t you try it out on the victims that were taken to the Mountain View hospital?” asked Clayton.

“They could have if any of them had survived,” the Sheriff responded emphatically, driving home his point.

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Nesting Chamber

An hour-and-a-half later Larry and Tina surfaced inside the nesting chamber at Blue Spring. Cautiously they swam to the edge of the lagoon. Before exiting the water they searched the interior of the chamber with their flashlights. Assured that they were safe, they climbed out of the water onto the dry embankment and began removing their snorkels and scuba equipment. They were extremely alert because of their previous experience. Though it did not take long to remove their equipment they continually glanced about, keeping a sharp eye out for the presence of any adult aliens.

Tina had given Larry her grandfather’s 1905 Colt .32 for protection. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had. As they stood on the bank of the subterranean lagoon he fumbled with the waterproof bag in which he had carried it. Opening the bag he extracted the semi-auto pistol and cradled it in his right hand. Slowly and cautiously they began their search of the vast cavern.

“Look for a dog, cow, horse . . . anything that breathes,” instructed Tina in a subdued tone.

“I think that there were several of them over there,” Larry stated, shining his flashlight in the general direction of where they had found Ellie Jo and Honace.

They headed off in that direction, sticking close together. As they walked they continued scanning the interior of the nesting chamber with their flashlights, careful to be as quiet as possible.

After a few moments Larry cast the beam of his flashlight on an ambiguous lump of fur partially hidden behind a stalagmite about thirty feet in front of them. “There, I think that’s a dog,” he whispered.

They carefully picked their way along the cave floor as they cautiously approached the dog. However, as they rounded the stalagmite they startled a huge alien that had been sleeping behind the drip-water formation.

The startled creature sprang to its feet in a foul mood from having been so abruptly awakened. It groggily lunged for the couple. Still half asleep, the alien’s reflexes were somewhat sluggish, which allowed Larry and Tina to successfully dodge its powerful jaws.

“Run!” shouted Larry as he fired two rounds at the creature.

They sprinted for the river with the groggy alien lumbering after them in pursuit.

When they were just a few feet from the water’s edge, Gimp Foot surfaced at the edge of the lagoon. Both Larry and Tina immediately froze. The pursuing alien instinctively broke off pursuit, abandoning his prey in deference to the huge creature before them.

Gimp Foot’s reflexes were quick. Before either Larry or Tina could react it spit neurol-toxin into Tina's face. She screamed, trying to wipe the sticky venom from her face, but within two seconds she fell to the floor, comatose.

Larry fired the remainder of the shells he had at the massive alien but the bullets had no effect whatsoever upon the beast. In an effort to divert the alien away from Tina, Larry leapt onto Gimp Foot's back as it climbed out of the lagoon onto the dry embankment. In the process he was slammed by Gimp Foot’s massive tail, sending him hurling into the cave wall. He fell, sliding down the wall, behind a mound of clay, and landed squarely upon the deck of his catamaran.

From the bow of his catamaran Larry sipped a cup of coffee, peacefully watching a family of humpback whales swim off the port bow. They playfully jumped high into the air then fell back into the water as they rolled over onto their backs. When they dove they playfully slapped the water with their massive tails, creating a curtain of spray. The family pod seemed to revel in simply being alive. Larry smiled as he watched the rollicking whales enjoy themselves. In the background he heard the eery moaning of whale songs. It was a new song, one that he was not familiar with. Regretfully, he realized that he had forgotten to bring his tape recorder.

Slowly and blurrily however, his eyes began to focus. The whale images before him began to morph, congealing into a large mound of clay flanked by several stalagmites in the dark cavern, plasmicly back-lit by the blinding light which streamed from the underwater opening to Blue Spring.

Gradually Larry began to realize that he was not on his catamaran watching whales rollicking in the ocean, but was lying on the cave floor at the Blue Spring nesting chamber. He rubbed his painfully throbbing head. A huge bump was beginning to form which was quite sensitive to touch. From deep in the tunnels of the dark caverns the whale songs persisted in their eery and forlorn moaning.

Now fully conscious, Larry listened attentively. He was very familiar with all the variations of whale songs, yet he could not place what he was hearing. Though these songs were similar to the whale songs he had recorded, they were distinctly different – not quite as melodious. They had a raspier pitch, a wider vocal range and were a lot more choppy. Suddenly Larry realized that he was not listening to whales at all. These songs were being sung by the alien creatures.

“So . . . you can sing,” he said out loud, as if talking directly to the creatures. “Wait till I tell Tina . . .” Then Larry winced as he suddenly recalled where he was and what had happened to Tina. Almost in hysteria, and with complete disregard for his own safety, he called out her name as loudly as he could. “TINA!!!”

He grabbed his flashlight, which lay on the floor of the cave near his left hand. Quickly he sprang to his feet while tucking the now-emptied pistol into his waist band, calling Tina’s name again. But the only answer he heard was the echo of his own voice and the faint retreating songs of the alien creatures.

Frantically he began to search for her, sweeping the area with the beam of his flashlight in a wide arc. Then, just a short distance away, not far from the edge of the lagoon, he spotted her lying on the cold, damp clay of the cave floor. She was comatose and covered with egg jelly.

Quickly Larry rushed over to her and knelt by her side. He called her name several times as he gently tried to shake her into consciousness. In vain he tried to wipe off the eggs that had adhered to her skin. Then he shook her again. “Tina, I know you can hear me. I know you can see me.” He shook her again. “I’m not leaving here without you, just hang on. I’ll figure something out.”

He fitfully looked about, trying to decide what to do. Glancing to his side, he riveted his eyes upon the dark tunnel from which the distantly receding alien songs could still be heard, driving home the realization that the large creatures could return at any moment. He had to figure something out, fast.

Looking down, he noticed Tina’s waterproof fanny pack, which was still attached to her waist. Quickly he opened it and fumbled for a syringe and a bottle of antidote. “This has got to work,” he mumbled to himself.