Genesis (32 page)

The other snowcats had pulled to a stop alongside theirs, and Mac saw men stepping out, their faces as pale as the snow that surrounded them.

“Screw this,” Mac said. He grabbed for the door handle and was outside before the officer or his men could react, Ryan right behind him, the chilled air freezing the first breath in his throat. Without even realizing it, he kept the door open, instinctively placing the meager barrier between himself and . . .

. . . the massive congealed-blood-brown bulk rising from the water of the bay, six articulated legs digging deep into the permafrost as it heaved itself from the water onto land, mist rising off it like steam. It looked like some gigantic metallic spider, a streamlined crab-shell-like body covered in bulbous protrusions, with a mass of ropelike tentacles that twisted and squirmed beneath its underbelly. The machine, finally free of the ocean, raised itself to full height, the water gushing from its body turning to ice before it hit the ground.

In two nimble leaps that belied its enormity, it positioned itself in the path of the humans, blocking the route completely.

The thought hit Mac like his proverbial namesake truck: he and his men had led the Caretakers right here to this place. Now, however many survivors there were on this rock were doomed, along with the rest of humanity, because there was no way off this island. They were trapped. They were all as good as dead.

“Ah fuck,” he hissed under his breath.

The Norwegian officer was out of the snowcat and standing directly behind Mac’s right shoulder. He uttered something under his breath, an expletive or a plea to whatever god he cherished, Mac did not know, but the next instant the man was yelling orders to his men. They began to take up defensive positions around the vehicles, while others scattered outward across the landscape, taking cover behind boulders or drifts of snow, all interest in Mac and his men gone in the face of this new, terrible threat.

The machine took several more steps toward them, the echo of its feet against the ground sending chunks of snowpack cascading down the face of the mountainside.

Somewhere a siren sounded, its wail echoing off the walls of the mountain.

The machine stopped, the joints on each of the sinewy legs snapping downward one by one in a controlled collapse, until the body was lowered to the ice. An opening appeared, and a ramp unfurled itself from it like a tongue. A second later, three silhouettes, two of them distinctly humanoid, began to descend the ramp.

The officer screamed a command to his men. Even though Mac could not understand the words, the intent behind them would have been obvious to any military man:
prepare to fire
.

Mac leaped from behind the door; running forward, he turned back to face the officer and his men, throwing his hands in the air.

“Don’t shoot!” he yelled. “For Christ’s sake, don’t shoot!”

Stories rarely write themselves. I’d like to thank a few people for their help with bringing
Genesis
to life. First, my wife, Karen, who is always at the front of the line to read each finished manuscript and always able to help whittle it into a better story.

Stefani Lowe, Kelly Graffis, and Rosemary Gaskell, for casting their eyes over the story and giving me their thoughts on what did and did not work. I shall be calling on you ladies and gent often.

Tegan Tigani, who is new to the Extinction Point series, but this writer could not ask for a better editor. Thank you for your keen eye and gentle manner. I look forward to a long and wonderful relationship with you.

All the folks at 47North for being so damn awesome.

Last, but not least, I wanted to again thank
you
for continuing to follow Emily, Thor, Rhiannon, and Mac’s adventures.

PAUL JONES

Photo © 2011 Paul Jones

A native of Cardiff, Wales, Paul Antony Jones now resides near Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and commercial copywriter, but his passion is penning fiction. A self-described science geek, he’s a voracious reader of scientific periodicals, as well as a fan of things mysterious, unknown, and on the fringe. That fascination inspired the Extinction Point series, which follows heroine Emily Baxter’s journey into the bizarre new alien world our Earth has become.