1889: Journey To The Moon (The Far Journey Chronicles) (23 page)

The doctor hurried to the edge of the wide, shallow-roofed cave and peeked inside. The alien walked the suit to a place where thousands, maybe tens of thousands of other suits were stored, and placed this one beside the others. Conklin saw they extended far into the cave, perhaps two hundred yards or more, with only a narrow, weaving path through the center of them. His opportunity was now. The creature’s back was to him. Hot, almost sexual feelings surged throughout his body as Conklin felt himself
becoming
.

Jack the Ripper moved fast and his hands closed like a vise on the alien’s neck.

[ 78 ]

The snow all around the Ripper was stained different shades of red, and arranged in neat rows on it were portions of the alien’s viscera, muscle, and skin. The dismembered skeletal remains, separated at the joints, were stacked like firewood nearby. The severed head was intact except for the hollows where the eyes had been. Jack was pleased. He turned the head in his hands before placing it upright in the snow and talking to it. “I will examine every portion of you, from the hypothalamus to the cerebral cortex and all that is in between. I will know you intimately, my alien friend.”

The Ripper had cleared a room-sized area among the alien spacesuits and left a narrow trail to it from the central path. He felt secure, and the room could be enlarged whenever he needed.

A noise came from the cave entrance and The Ripper peeked over the suits, seeing another alien removing its spacesuit. He said, “Oh yes,” as he made his way toward the unsuspecting alien. “Oh yes indeed.”

[ 79 ]

The crew hid behind several hummocks of ice as they watched the alien at the cave mouth. Billy said, “It looks like one of those praying mantis insects, doesn’t it?”

Teach said, “It did until it shed its skin, or suit, or whatever that is.” The pirate covered his mouth with a hand as he let out a small cough. “By chance, does anyone have a bit of the anti-fogmatic about them? I could use a stiff swallow to settle me innards.”

Denys passed a silver flask to the pirate while everyone continued to watch the alien. Teach took a swallow, swished it in his mouth and let it slide down his throat. He returned the flask to Denys with a grin and said, “Settled me down, it did. Thankee, Jay-Patten.”

The alien disappeared into the cave and Ekka pointed to an offshoot of the path to their right. “We will go that way. I feel we are close to many of the creatures and we must be careful.”

“But Quinlan’s tracks go ahead, right by that alien’s cave,” Billy said. “We aren’t forgetting him, are we?”

“No. We go for a better vantage point so we may see into the cave. From there we can circle to be beyond the cave and continue on Quinlan’s trail without the alien seeing us.”

“Okay,” Billy said. Ekka led off and they settled into the new position in a matter of minutes.

“Heap many bug skins,” Two Hats said.

“There are sixty-four thousand two hundred forty-four alien moon suits in there, plus or minus point oh-oh one percent error factor. I can’t be entirely accurate from this distance, so that is a rough estimate,” Koothrappally said.

“That’s exactly the number I got,” Billy said, and winked at Ekka. Teach chuckled.

Denys said, “Where did the alien go?” It was nowhere in sight.

“There may be another exit,” Ekka said. “Let us go around and find Quinlan’s trail.” She led them on a path that passed other caves, and in every opening, there were many tracks of the aliens. They stopped several times to watch aliens, not wearing the spacesuits, walking on the paths and entering or emerging from caves.

Koothrappally said, “We are nearing their main area, I believe.”

Billy said, “From all the tracks around, I believe it.”

As they passed the next cave, Billy felt a slight indication of warmer air. There were no alien tracks inside the entrance. He tugged on Two Hats’ sleeve and said, “Let’s check this one out.” They went inside, cautious as wild animals, but there were no tracks or aliens.

Two Hats said, “Me hear water.” Billy listened and heard it too. They walked another sixty feet around a bend in the cave and saw it. A hand-wide rivulet of water ran out of the ice and across a waist-high abutment then descended into a stream that disappeared into the cave’s far wall.

The two earthmen checked the water by smelling it. There was no smell, so they bent their heads lower and drank. They looked at each other. Billy said, “It’s as good as rainwater.”

“And cold, like water from white-top mountain.”

They returned to the group and told them there was a water source, which everyone agreed was a good thing. They continued downward until the path made an abrupt left around a huge ice stalagmite and they almost walked into a large group of aliens.

The earthlings jerked back and hid among a cluster of ice spires, so close to the group they could hear them speaking. Things became worse as the aliens moved closer to their hiding place, then stopped and continued their conversations.

An hour later, the aliens had not moved. The crew eased into more comfortable positions to wait it out. Koothrappally whispered “They are missing some of their number, and are worried.”

Teach said, “You understand them?”

“A little. The more I can listen, the faster I will learn their language.”

Denys said, “My good man, I hope we are not in this hide long enough for you to become fluent.” The hours passed and the aliens crowded together, not leaving.

Ekka did not know how long they had been in hiding, but she jerked awake and saw everyone except Koothrappally still asleep. She looked out and saw the aliens still there, still conversing. 

Koothrappally said, “Seven of them are missing. They are angry, fearful.”

“It must be Quinlan.”

“I agree. They talk of organizing search groups, and of attacking the
Arcadia
. They feel sure their peril came from it.”

“They’ve been watching us, then.”

“Yes, and are very interested in the ship’s propulsion system.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Nor do I. They are two groups, what we would call civilian and the other are some sort of authority, like the military, or warrior group. They are the ones with rubies on the shoulders of their clothing. They also carry staffs that may be some sort of weapon. That group is forceful in the conversations.”

“True on Earth as well.” Ekka said. The others stirred and came awake.

Teach said, “Feels like morning, somehow. Though there’s no rising sun to prove it.”

Koothrappally said, “I calculate we have been in hiding approximately twenty hours.”

Ekka said, “Merkam will be frantic. He knows our suits do not contain that much oxygen.”

Koothrappally said, “And he does not know of the air in this underground world.”

Teach said, “We be in quite the dilemma.”

“And they have seen us,” Koothrappally said.

The aliens had them surrounded in an instant. Several of the ones with the staff weapons pushed forward. Koothrappally said, “They mean to dispatch us.”

Denys said, “Well, talk them out of it.”

Koothrappally stood and said, “I will try.” His first spoken words in the alien language caused the moon men to step back in wonder. “I think I have their attention,” he said.

[ 80 ]

Merkam paced back and forth on the
Arcadia
’s command deck. Tesla and Ross watched him with concern. Merkam said, “They are all dead. There is no doubt in my mind. Denys sent the Cyclops back to us yesterday. Look, it stands outside, still and silent as an Egyptian sphinx. If only it could tell us what happened.”

Nikola said, “Do not underestimate their resourcefulness, Jude. It may seem improbable, but I have faith in them.”

Ross nodded, “As do I.”

Merkam turned on them with a deranged look in his eyes. “Do you not see what is coming? They are coming for the
Arcadia
.”

Tesla and Ross looked at each other and Nikola said, “Who is coming?”

Merkam backed away from them, “You are with them, aren’t you?”

Jack Ross said, “What are you talking about? You make no sense, man.”

Merkam’s eyes rolled upward for a moment, then he touched a hand to his head as he staggered backward into the wall. He shook his head as if to clear it and said, “Forgive me, my friends. The blow to my head, and these events, have temporarily vexed me to a point of hallucinative prognostification. But I am calmed again, as you see.”

Tesla wasn’t so sure. “Would you like to take a respite?”

“No, it is not necessary. Let us prepare the
Arcadia
, for if our crew returns, they may well be escaping from some terrible danger. And if that is the case, we must be prepared to launch in an instant. So, gentlemen, if you will make the rounds, I will prepare the command deck for such a possibility.”

Merkam waited until the two men were out of sight, before he walked to the window, where he could see the giant robot outside. He flipped the red lens down on his torch light and worked the finger buttons to send an invisible code message to the mechanical figure, which instantly moved to a position in front of the cargo hatch and the entry hatch. There would be no way in except by going through the massive automaton. Merkam flipped back the red lens, hung the torch on his belt and readied the command post.

Tesla took his time examining each portion of the
Arcadia
’s interior as he descended. When he reached the engine room, he saw Ross sitting on the floor, taking a large swig from a whiskey bottle. Ross saw him and said, “We are dead, Tesla.”

Nikola entered the room, his concern for Jack growing fast. Jack pointed at the fern covered walls.

Tesla felt a cold ball of ice form in his stomach as he said, “My Lord, Jack.”

Almost half of the plants were brown and withered. Another third were a sickly yellow-green. Someone had poisoned the
Arcadia
’s only source of oxygen. Tesla said, “Does Jude know?”

“No. I thought it best if we both told him.”

Nikola nodded, his face grim, “We do it now. There is no time to waste.” The men hurried to the command deck where they told Merkam.

Merkam said, “Are you sure the plants are dead?”

Ross held up his metal arm, “As sure as this hand is steel.”

Merkam said, “It had to be Quinlan. The lad must be completely insane. He has killed himself as well as all of us.”

Tesla was deep in thought. He said, “If we can stop the poison’s progress and revitalize the living plants, we may have enough breathable atmosphere to return home. But we cannot tarry here. Our lives depend on a speedy departure and a race through the ether.”

Ross said, “In your calculations, were you counting our fellows who are exploring outside the
Arcadia
?”

Tesla said, “For all we know, they have expired. The oxygen in their suits is long used up.”

Ross said, “I cannot in good faith think of them as dead. Not yet. Ekka Gagarin and John Koothrappally are resourceful beyond anyone I know, and Billy Gostman is of the same cloth. I believe them to be yet alive.”

Merkam said, “This is not a time for discussion, it is a time for action. Both of you, see what you can do with the ferns to improve our chances. I will work on alternative actions while I watch for our crew’s return. I feel our chances are slim, but we will fight and push on until the very end. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” said Tesla and Ross.

When the two men left the command deck, Merkam turned to look out the windows.
Even if they return, I will not allow them entrance to steal my very breath.
He touched the brass torch light on his belt and gazed down at the giant robot.

[ 81 ]

The Ripper was ecstatic. Here he was, walking among the aliens and they did not give him a second glance. His idea to don the moon suit they used was genius. And it had been easy to learn, for all he did was imagine what he wanted the legs to do, and they performed without error. The small silver coils inside the helmet that touched his temples were the key, he was sure. The oxygen was in a large cylinder within the bug body, and made of the same light, hard material as the carapace-like exterior. He could enter or leave this place and survive.
And take as many of them as I please
, he thought.

When the Ripper left the cave, he wandered, taking his time, and ambushed three more aliens. He carried each one back to the cave without incident. It was
wonderful
. The Ripper continued walking, looking for a new one to capture, and noticed a buzz of activity not far away. The aliens were agitated, he could tell.

The Ripper moved among them to see the cause, and was astonished when Koothrappally rose from among the ice spires. He couldn’t understand what was being said, but the aliens listened to the man from India. He moved closer and saw the other members of the
Arcadia
’s crew. Jack the Ripper smiled inside the helmet. He would have them all.