NorthWest (John Hazard - Book II) (16 page)

John took the next item from the case and held it up. It looked like a digital music player. “This one is much smaller because it is a digital audio recorder. I don’t think I need to pass this one around. I brought this baby with us to record the sounds around us in the woods. There have been cases where recordings were made in what seemed like total silence, but sounds and voices could be heard on playback that had not been heard by anyone present at the time of the recording. I’m hoping we might pick something up with it. In the field, this is a great device to have on hand. It has a high capacity for up to ten hours of recording”

“Record the forest sounds? Like what, crickets and frogs?” Eddie laughed at his own joke, while Karla turned and glared at him. “What?” he asked, a wave of embarrassment swept across his face.

John put the device back in the case and removed the last object, holding it up as he had done before. “Lastly, this baby is called a Gauss meter. It measures magnetic fields and any changes in them. This one is so sensitive that it can find a refrigerator magnet from twenty-five yards away – inside of a house, through the walls!” He turned it in his hand showing the display.

“If we were closer to the North Pole, this thing would give us a massive amount of readings. At night, if there were Northern Lights, since they’re caused by fluctuations in magnetic fields of the earth, this thing would just about jump out of your hand.” Then he pressed the button on the grip and the object came to life. The meter on the upper face of it was measuring at about twenty percent and the light on the dial was green.

“That’s all I have, folks. Take your time checking them out. I’m not worried about the batteries. The case has a solar charger built into the lid, so I can recharge them later.” He handed the device to Marcus and moved the case to the aisle floor. “Once again, my name is John, and I’ll be here all week!” He grinned and took a bow before sitting back down in his seat.

Twenty-Eight

As the devices made their way around the plane, each person took the opportunity to play with the buttons and use them on the person sitting nearest to them. When Raj got hold of the thermographic device, he pointed it at his legs and saw the two red images that represented them on the small screen. He moved it away and then back again. He turned it toward Sherri who was sitting in the seat across the aisle from him.

The red blob that represented Sherri came clearly into view, but as he studied the image, he noticed two purplish objects moving to either side of her arms. They rose above her and hovered over her head. Initially, Sherri thought Raj was just playing around, but then she became aware of the look on his face. “Raj, what’s the problem? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Uh… I’m not sure what I am seeing. There are two purple objects hovering around you.”

Sherri seemed startled and waved her arms as if to shoo the objects away. “Are they still there?”

“Yes, they are! You were passing your hands right through them! Hey, Marcus, check this out.”

Marcus unfastened his seatbelt and stepped back beside Raj. Taking the device from his hand, he pulled the trigger and aimed it at Sherri. “Holy shit, Spooky! You got two purply blobby things floatin’ around you right now! Damn, girl! One just went right through your head!”

Raj unfastened his seatbelt and stood up next to Marcus. He tapped him with the back of his hand. “See, I told you something was going on. Look, they just went through the top of the plane. Now they’re back!”

Macy had unhooked her seatbelt and stood looking over their shoulders, “Oh shit, Sherri. I didn’t know you could see your…” But Sherri didn’t hear the last few words. Instead she heard her great aunt’s voice. “Keep your seatbelt on, baby. It’s gonna be bad, but don’t you worry. You are gonna survive this, so don’t be afraid. We are right here with you.” She heard her grandmother add, “You might want to tell your friends to sit down.”

The blobs on the screen had suddenly disappeared. Marcus and Raj were looking at each other in amazement as Macy grabbed the sensor from their hands, trying to see what they were looking at.

Sherri was looking at her watch to see how long they’d been travelling when she heard the voices. She tried to collect her thoughts, this was totally unexpected. She had to say something to warn the others, so she yelled at peak volume, “Everybody get in your seat! Put your seatbelt on, NOW!”

“Geez, Sherri. What’s up?” Raj squatted down so his face was level with hers.

“Gran and Nana just visited me, and something bad is gonna happen!”

“What’d they say?” Macy asked her leaning toward her.

“They said to keep my seatbelt on and not to worry because I was gonna survive! Get in your seat!”

Macy hurried to her seat as Marcus and Raj were buckling themselves in. All of the excitement had awakened John, who had drifted back to sleep. He looked at Emily, his confusion apparent from the expression on his face. “What’s going on?” He tried to straighten out his bed head.

“I don’t know. Sherri was visited by some purple blobs or something and then she yelled at everybody to put our seatbelts on. I think it’s some kind of premonition!”

“Oh shit, something bad is about to happen!” John checked his seatbelt and fastened and tightened it. “Get the pillow from under your seat to cover your face with and prepare to brace yourself!”

“John, what’s going on?” Emily was starting to feel panicked.

“Sherri’s family warns her when bad shit is about to happen. I guess I didn’t tell you about that. Well, we better get ready because obviously some bad shit is about to go down!”

Emily had been holding the device for measuring fluctuations in magnetic fields and, in the excitement, her grip on it was pressing the trigger. Suddenly the device sprang to life with a loud buzzing alarm and the meter on the face of it started flashing.

As she held it out to John, he could see the indicator needle jumping and the light on it flashing as it went past the overload marker on the dial. It pegged at maximum load and stayed there. What happened next seemed to occur in a slow motion time warp.

Twenty-Nine

In the pilot’s seat, Mark’s flight instruments were going crazy. He was oblivious to the escalating panic behind him. He tapped the dials thinking they might be malfunctioning.

The passengers were anxiously preparing for whatever was coming next. Karla, on one side of the plane, and Eddie on the other were both looking out the windows. So far neither of them could see anything unusual until, all of a sudden, there they were.

“Oh my God!” screamed Karla just as Eddie let out a scream of his own. “What the fuck is tha…” was all he could get out.

Everyone turned to look out the windows now, and what they saw scared the shit out of every one of them. Two flying objects coming in fast from both sides seemed to be on a collision course with the plane. They were cylindrical and silver blue in color, and seemed to mirror the sky and clouds around them making it nearly impossible to spot them.

Seconds later, the two objects struck the plane on either side of the fuselage, just ahead of the wings. They hit the plane at such a high rate of speed that large indentations from the impact could be seen from inside. Everyone screamed and grabbed for the person nearest them.

Somehow the shimmery objects remained attached to the plane and they generated some kind of humming sound that was beginning to rise in volume and pitch to such a level that it drowned out the noise of the plane.

Mark was scrambling. When the plane was hit, he lost control, but could not see what was going on. He switched the plane to autopilot and unfastened his seatbelt. He didn’t notice that it did not engage as he removed his headset and got up out of his seat to move back to where the passengers sat staring in terror out the windows. As he realized what they were looking at, three small panels opened on the sides of the objects.

Some kind of probes began extending from inside the objects to the skin of the plane. There was a loud metal piercing sound as the probes simultaneously pushed through the walls and moved into the cabin.

Emily screamed and nearly jumped out of her seat when the silvery rods started thrashing about in the air in front of them. She and John pushed back against their seats as the probes continued to thrust themselves into the space inside the plane.

With a crackling, sizzling sound, three bolts of gold lightning arced across the cabin. The plane’s engine died instantly without a sputter. It was as though someone had simply switched it off. The plane jerked, throwing Mark to the floor as they began to free fall out of the sky.

Something kicked on inside the two objects and the humming sound coming from within them gave way to the sound of an engine of some sort. The screams and sobs of the passengers were silenced as everyone realized at once that the plane was not in a free fall at all. Instead, it was being pulled from the sky. Then a second discharge came from the probes. It spread like a cloud of energy that crackled and sizzled filling the inside of the plane like thick smoke.

Heads drooped. The team fell unconscious as the energy cloud spread quickly throughout the plane. Before it could filter down to Mark, who was still lying on the floor, he muttered, “Oh shit!”

Thirty

On the ground, the creature stood before a holograph of the plane being guided through the sky to the clearing. It was a killing field where previous flights had met their demise. Most of the ships he had brought down were smaller craft usually carrying one to three passengers, but he could see that this one was slightly larger.

Many larger ships had flown over in the past few months, all of them out of range and carrying dozens of creatures. He had been frustrated each time since they flew at such an altitude, but this one was flying low enough. His anticipation grew as he could visualize nine life forms on his screen.

This would be more than enough food to ensure the survival of his young hatchlings. He communicated this to the female who was resting in the hammock-like nest he had constructed. She was quickly approaching the time for the evacuation of her eggs.

As the plane descended from the sky, he monitored its progress. He had to make sure it would end up in the clearing where the other craft had been forced down. Here he had set up a harvesting station after his first encounter with the strange creatures. It angered him when they tried to escape, running through the forest screaming. They were often so loud that they scared off other food sources.

He had built a semi-circular barrier with an opening on one side only and designed the walls to curve inward at the top making it impossible for any creature to climb out. Once inside, the only way out was through or past him, and so far there had been no escapes. 

After a minute or two, he could see the object in the sky above them and he pulled the control that would slow its descent. Now all he had to do was go to the clearing and harvest the food, a task that would complete his purpose in this life and guarantee that many of his children would survive.

The trap extenders could hold the plane suspended without difficulty but, after the capture, there was no real reason to bring the craft to a soft landing. It hit the ground hard as it came to rest, and the impact was enough to damage the integrity of the fuselage. Landing on a large log of a fallen tree, it cracked open like an egg when it hit.

The break had occurred along the line of panels between the first two rows of seats and the last two. The male creature came upon the scene and could see the strange animals strapped into their seats. Packs and suitcases were scattered about the clearing. They had been dislodged from the storage compartments.

The monster did not care whether the animals were dead or alive. He would harvest them regardless of their condition and strategically position the bodies in proximity to the egg cluster for the coming hatch.

Thirty-One

The receptionist looked up as the young man came up to the counter. She smiled and waved to indicate she’d be with him in a moment as she turned her back and continued talking to the person on the other end of the phone. Assuming she would not be long, the wilderness guide stood and waited. He’d been hired to lead a group up into the forest and he was eager to get it going.

Looking around the small airport, he hoped he could find someone else to help him. He was growing quite weary of the receptionist’s incessant chit-chat. She was droning on and on about her boyfriend as she paced back and forth behind the counter.

Occasionally she glanced at the guide. She was gesturing and seemed to be telling him to Hang on a second, I’ll be right with you, Please be patient with me, and finally, Get over it! With every nonverbal communication from the otherwise verbose woman, he became more frustrated until finally he broke his silence.

“Miss, I need to talk to you if you don’t mind.” She replied in sign language by holding up her index finger and mouthing the words, Just a minute.

He walked over to one of the plastic chairs that lined the wall and sat down with arms folded, cursing under his breath and shaking his head. While he was waiting, two men entered the office, dressed well and wearing darkly tinted sunglasses like some kind of government agents.