Gorgon

CHAPTER 33

The stocky female HAWC started quickly down the steep steps. The rest followed, but their descent was slow. Sam took the longest; not from any lack of agility, but because his foot placement was critical given his size and the deadweight of the MECH suit. He found out very early that a misstep crumbled the ancient carved stonework from right underneath him.

At the bottom, Alex half-turned to Matt and Rebecca. ‘Get in behind us.’

He pointed two fingers at Sam and Franks, then left and right. The two HAWCs spread out, keeping low, and took up positions in the paved street. Alex walked a dozen feet into the center of the street, his gun up.

Tony bent to scoop up coins, loading his pockets.

Matt picked up a few coins too, and turned them over to show Rebecca. ‘Silver, gold, very old — not perfect — hand-cut.’

Rebecca took one from him. ‘I’ve see these in museums, but never of this quality. They’ve probably lain here untouched for thousands of years.’ She frowned at the various images on the coins: the Gorgon’s terrifying face, a horned bull, a snarling dog. ‘Looks like these were specially made — as offerings perhaps.’

Matt nodded. ‘Tribute to the gods, or the Gorgons.’

Something swooped low over their heads, ruffling Matt’s hair. ‘Jesus Christ!’ He dropped to the ground, pulling Rebecca with him.

Alex turned and fired in one motion. The thing dropped to the tiled street.

Casey Franks was first over it, nudging it with her toe. ‘Looks like a giant freakin’ bat.’

‘Was this what you saw before?’ Sam asked Alex.

He shook his head. ‘I think the thing I saw was bigger … much bigger.’ He used the barrel of his gun to turn the creature’s head toward him. ‘But just as ugly.’

The thing did look like a bat, with a snub nose, long ribbed ears, and needle-sharp teeth. But instead of a bat’s elongated forearms with membrane stretched underneath, it had proper legs. On top of its head were six eyes, making it look more like a spider than a mammal.

Rebecca dropped to her knees beside it, and pulled out a small knife to prod at the carcass. ‘This thing has lived down here a long time — probably hundreds of thousands of years. It’s undergone some kind of evolutionary deformation.’

She levered open its mouth, showing another row of sharp teeth inside the first.

Franks leaned closer. ‘Look at those teeth — two sets. That thing bites you, you’d never get it off.’

‘I’m not sure it’s a bat,’ Rebecca said. ‘I think it might have been some sort of rodent once. Looking at the teeth, I’d say it’s definitely a carnivore.’

‘Carnivorous flying rats. Nice.’ Franks snorted. ‘What the hell does it eat down here?’

Rebecca stood and looked around, then pointed to one of the columns coated in the greenish sponge Alex had noticed earlier. ‘Not sure, but those growths — plants or fungi — might be the basis for a food chain. There might be something in it that caused the deformity too.’

Alex turned slowly. There was near silence in the huge cavern, and also just beyond the red gloom of the fires there was nothing but darkness. But he was nearly overwhelmed, by the sensation of life, of scrutiny, and of danger.

Alex waved Sam, Franks, and the two SAS soldiers in close. ‘Stay with our guests. I’m going to scout ahead — check out the sphere. Stay sharp.’ He looked down at the dead creature. ‘That thing leads me to believe there could be even larger predators down here.’

Alex turned to Matt. ‘Find those words, or weapons, or whatever we need to stop Magera. I don’t want to be down here any longer than we need to be.’

Matt waved without looking up, his focus back on the coins.

‘Matt!’

Alex’s voice caused Matt’s head to jerk up fast. ‘Huh, sorry … Oh, sure, we’ll split up. I’ll take the left side of the street.’

‘I’ll go with you, Prof,’ Franks said, and winked at him.

Sam nodded to Rebecca. ‘Looks like it’s you and me, kid.’ He turned to Reece Thompson. ‘Give us some eyes on the street. See you in ten.’

Thompson nodded, and he and Jackson eased into the shadow of one of the buildings.

Sam turned to Tony. ‘And you, stay where I can see you.’

Matt waited while Casey Franks peered into the gloom of the small house’s interior. She’d pulled down her night vision after changing out of thermal scope, as the heat of the cavern floor exceeded 100 degrees, making everything in the environment a hellish red.

She nodded, lowering her weapon only slightly. ‘Clear, but stay close, pretty boy.’

Matt stepped inside, and tilted his headlamp to look around the room. The terracotta color of the walls was still vivid, as were the frescos of boxing and running youths. On a stone table sat urns and platters, some still with food on them. When Matt touched the food, it collapsed into dust.

‘I think that was an apple — about 5000 years ago.’

Franks snorted. ‘I still can’t get my head around the thought of people actually living down here. I mean, why the fuck would you?’

As she spoke, she kept moving, her eyes on every corner of the room.

‘Not sure,’ Matt said. ‘Maybe they were priests, living out their lives in solitude, or in the service of their living god.’

He picked up a goblet, which immediately broke in half, the cup part falling to the floor with a clatter. Franks swung around and was down on one knee, the muzzle of her rifle pointed at Matt.

Her eyes blazed. ‘Jesus Christ, Kearns — you trying to get yourself shot?’

Matt grimaced, hands up. ‘Sorry, sorry.’ He bent and picked up the broken goblet. ‘This is lead, so probably didn’t belong to a priest or official.’ He looked at the wall below the table, and frowned. ‘Something here.’ When he got close, he could see rows of words scratched into the wall, hundreds of them, but only one and two words per line. ‘Looks like names … so many of them.’ He traced symbols next to the words. ‘Also Aegean numbers — some in the tens, some in the hundreds. Was that the number of days they were down here? What else could they be counting?’

‘You know who does that?’ Franks said. ‘Prisoners on death row — they carve their name and sentence in their cell. Bit of a I was here type thing.’

‘Prisoners?’ Matt stood, frowning. ‘Maybe. But the names … there are so many. Why would they be down here for so long? According to the numbers, this house was occupied for centuries, and by hundreds of people — men and women.’

‘Then they just all up and left, huh?’ Franks asked.

‘They went somewhere.’ Matt looked out one of the small windows. The gloom was just lit by the hellish red glow from the burning oil. Dante’s Inferno ever needs a location shoot, it’s right here, Matt thought. ‘If you’re going through Hell, keep going,’ he whispered.

‘Churchill.’ Franks said over her shoulder. She turned briefly to wink. ‘Yeah, we HAWCs have read a few books — at least about great military leaders.’

‘Maybe they didn’t leave. Maybe it was Magera and the Gorgons that left, and the people had no reason to be here any more.’

Franks grunted. ‘Yeah, and maybe the freakin’ Gorgons just ran out of food. You think about that?’

Matt exhaled slowly. ‘Yeah, I did think about that. Let’s get out of here. This place give me the creeps.’

They moved on to the next house. It was identical, as was the next one; again with evidence of many people over spans of years. Like they were halfway houses.

There was a larger building near the center of the row of houses. Once again, Franks was first in. After a few moments she whistled for Matt to follow.

She stood back, grinning. ‘I’m no archeologist, but even I can see this was the garrison.’ She gestured to the remains of sleeping bunks. ‘Looks to have been about twenty of them stationed here.’

Matt nodded, his hands on his hips. ‘You’re right; I’ll make a scientist of you yet.’ He paced around the room. ‘It’s also an armory.’

A rack of spears lined a wall; shields too, with the face of the Gorgon in relief. There were a few swords, many little more than hilts now, but a few had been heavily greased, retaining their polish and edge.

Franks lifted one, and slashed it through the air. ‘Nice balance, but heavy. Like a thick machete. Would have loved to see one of these babies in action.’ She stuck it in her belt. ‘I’m taking it.’

Matt frowned. ‘I don’t get it. Judging by what we’ve seen so far, and the number of houses overall, there can’t have been more than a hundred people living here at any one time. Not exactly the sort of crowd you need twenty guards for.’

‘Like I said, prisoners. Maybe these guys weren’t just keeping the peace, they were keeping these poor saps down here.’

Matt sniffed the sulfurous air. ‘You might be right. Not exactly a seaside resort, is it?’

Franks moved to the rear of the room, and used the barrel of her gun to lift the lid of a coffin-shaped box. The lid and sides collapsed outwards, spewing forth a cascade of gold coins.

‘Holy shit. King Midas eat your heart out.’

Matt scooped some up. ‘All brand new, uncirculated.’

‘Why’d they need their own currency down here?’ Franks asked. ‘To buy what? Nothing makes sense.’

Matt shook his head. ‘Nothing makes sense — yet. Come on, let’s try the next house.’

Alex jogged to the end of the ancient street. Except for sounds of his team searching the houses, all was silent. To him, the village felt alive and dead at the same time. He expected to peek in a window and see a family sitting down and eating a meal. It reminded him of pictures he’d seen of Pompeii after it had been excavated and restored — the place had looked alive, vibrant, just … abandoned.

He’d seen more of the strange bat-like creatures swooping in and out of holes in the steep cave walls, and from time to time something that looked like a lizard scurrying away into the darkness. This wasn’t a dead cave; it was a thriving habitat. And he knew what kinds of things could live in places like this. His senses were screaming warnings. He knew they weren’t alone, hadn’t been since they got here. They were being watched.

He came to an open space like a broad balcony, red-tiled, and ending at the chasm drop-off. Gold coins were scattered everywhere. He ignored them and peered down into the black canyon that stretched the entire length of the street behind the dwellings. It was hundreds of feet across, and about fifty deep. There were the remains of pillars fixed into the ground nearby, and he could see corresponding pillars on the opposite side. There had been some sort of bridge here once.

The sphere was on the other side of the chasm. He looked down into the blackness again, estimating, judging. His instincts told him the white orb held the answers to Magera.

His jaws clenched in disgust as his vision adjusted to the dark and he was able to pick out details at the bottom of the chasm: twisted limbs and shattered skulls. Most were stone — the results of meeting Magera, he guessed; but there were broken human bones down there too. It looked as if something had fed on the flesh, then splintered the bones to suck at the marrow. Alex thought again of the large shape he’d seen darting through the shadows.

He turned away from the canyon, and noticed a dark alcove near the balcony. He crossed to it and kneeled. There were the remains of about twenty people, judging by the cracked skulls strewn about, and the leather tunics, metal swords, and helmets — all broken and dented. Some of the swords were bent, as if they were tinfoil against whatever they’d struck. The alcove was a dead end, a trap.

A last stand, he thought. He picked up one of the larger leg bones and saw deep scratches in its surface. And not against Magera. What the hell happened here?

He dropped the bone and lifted one of the skulls. He calmed his breathing and closed his eyes, trying to draw out some image of the brutality that had taken place here.

‘Alex.’ He opened his eyes and turned. Matt was jogging toward him, waving. He stopped at the scattered bones and frowned. ‘What the hell?’

Alex stood. ‘Something ripped them to pieces … before they could get turned to stone.’ He nodded toward the chasm. ‘There are more down there.’

‘These aren’t Minoans,’ Matt said, lifting one of the swords. His eyes went wide. ‘This is Roman. Constantine — he must have sent an expedition here to find out more about Magera.’

Alex nodded. ‘Makes sense, but looks like they found more then they expected.’

‘But what? Magera was long gone by then.’ Matt crouched, using the sword to push at the remains. ‘This is amazing. What would these men have made of this place? It would have been the stuff of legends to them. And they came down here with just these swords and some burning torches.’ He went back into the open square and called to Rebecca.

Casey Franks came jogging up, scowling at Matt. ‘Son of a bitch, Kearns.’

Alex gave her a hard look for letting her charge get away from her.

‘Sorry, boss. He said he was going to take a leak.’

Jackson came up beside them, and leaned out over the edge of the chasm. ‘That’s fucking deep.’

Alex felt the skin on his neck prickle — that sensation of being watched again — no, stalked. He closed his eyes and pushed out his senses, trying to grasp whatever was out there. He felt a presence, but it was primitive, and hidden behind something harder than stone.

‘We’ve got to get over there,’ Matt said.

Alex opened his eyes and saw that Matt had walked closer to the chasm edge and was staring at the orb. As he watched, everything around him seemed to slow … he felt his muscles automatically begin to bunch. Danger — lethal, and coming at them fast.

‘Incoming!’ he yelled.

He moved to grab Matt in the same instant that something struck the professor, lifted him off his feet, and swept him over the edge into the chasm. Another of the huge objects struck Jackson, and he grunted and disappeared into the darkness.

Franks fired several rounds after the attackers — whatever they were — but they were gone before she got a clear hit. They moved faster than anything Alex had ever seen, but a fleeting glimpse had given him an impression of a large, powerful beast with six legs and armor plating. He reacted immediately — his body exploding into action and diving into the canyon without a second thought.

He landed forty feet down on a flat boulder. He could just make out a shape bounding away into the dark, Jackson’s body hanging loose and lifeless in the enormous jaws.

The other creature was dragging Matt along in its mouth. It was dark in the chasm, but Alex saw the thing as clearly as he knew it saw him. Matt beat uselessly on the monstrous snout, blood running down the side of his face and streaking his shirt. The beast obviously had one goal — finding somewhere quiet to consume its prey.

‘Not today,’ Alex said. He pulled the KBELT handgun, and fired a round.

The super-condensed pulse of light struck one side of the armored body and just bounced away. The beast turned to face Alex — seemed the laser burst had got its attention, at least. It placed Matt carefully behind it, and rested one clawed foot on his body, protecting its prey. It snarled, showing teeth longer than Alex’s fingers.

Alex edged closer. The creature looked like a cross between an armadillo and a giant dog, and was easily the size of a bull. Huge claws on its six powerful legs gouged into the rock they gripped, but the most monstrous thing about it was its two heads, both constantly moving. One was large, while the other one was smaller and less formed; Alex thought it might be blind as there was little coordination in its movement. The larger head watched Alex, and gave a deep growl that ended in a reptilian hiss. Its tongue flickered out, purple and forked at the end.

‘What the fuck are you?’ Alex said, and fired again, this time at the larger head.

The thing lowered its brow and the armor plating came together like a shield, impenetrable to the condensed energy burst.

‘Shit.’ Alex holstered the gun. ‘Okay, we do it the hard way.’ He pulled his Ka-Bar blade, and leaped from one rock to the next, closing in on the thing.

The beast looked down at Matt, who groaned softly. It lowered its head and its tongue slid out to lick at the blood trickling from a wound on his forehead. It hissed again, then bunched itself to leap.

Alex did the same, and met it midair.

The creature was fast, but hampered by its large armor-plated body in an arena of boulders and broken rocks. Alex spun and brought an armor-plated fist down on the thing’s forehead with all the force he could manage. There was a crack, and some of the armored scales chipped away. The creature shook its head and blinked in confusion.

Alex grinned without humor. ‘Hurts, huh?’

He moved his blade from one hand to the other as more shadows materialized from the dark canyon. Two of the creatures approached, slinking like large cats over the tumbled rocks and human body parts, moving into an attack formation.

Like a true pack, the creatures encircled Alex, concentrating on their major threat. Sam and Franks rained laser pulses and bullets down on them from above, but they bounced off their armor plating.

‘Jesus!’ Alex ducked as a bullet ricocheted toward him. The fire from above immediately stopped.

One of the creatures leaped at him, but before it had covered the twenty feet between them, something huge crashed it to the ground. Sam rolled away from it, coming to his feet close to Alex.

‘Mind if I join the party?’ he said, grinning.

Alex returned the smile. ‘About time. But watch it — they have a hide like iron.’

‘So do I.’ Sam rolled his shoulders, the MECH suit mimicking his movements.

He turned to deal with the beast that had gotten to its feet and was now circling him. For a large creature it flowed smoothly over the broken stones.

Alex turned to two others moving into an attack position in front of him. He grabbed a fist-sized chunk of stone and threw it at the closest. The ten-pound rock traveled fast and exploded against the beast’s skull before it had time to evade it. It staggered momentarily.

‘Yes, you can be hurt,’ Alex said.

He grabbed another stone and threw it at the second beast, but his aim wasn’t as good and the creature caught the missile in its jaws and pulverized it.

These things had cunning and intelligence, he realized. It had destroyed the rock deliberately, to display the power of its jaws. They needed to be careful — even with Sam’s suit, and Alex’s amazing strength and regenerative powers, these things could grind them to dust if they got the chance.

As if working to a signal, three beasts charged at Sam and Alex in unison. Sam met one of them head-on as it lunged, bracing his legs and trusting the combined weight of his body and suit to hold his ground. He grabbed each side of the larger head and hung on, using the hydraulics to try and crush its skull.

The other two came at Alex. He knew he couldn’t beat them with strength alone, so he leaped a dozen feet into the air, leaving them snapping at his heels. He twisted in the air and landed lightly, bouncing away immediately to avoid another of the ferocious beasts. He leaped again while they formed themselves into another attacking formation, landing beside Matt and quickly feeling his neck for a pulse.

He was alive, and opened his eyes weakly at Alex’s touch. ‘Cerberus — it’s real.’

‘Matt, quickly — how do I fight them?’ Alex asked, keeping his eyes on the approaching creatures.

Matt raised his head. ‘Hercules blinded Cerberus. The eyes — it’s the only area without scales.’

Alex pushed him back down. ‘Play dead,’ he told him, ‘or you soon will be.’

He leaped away, yelling as he went to draw the beasts’ attention away from Matt. They turned to follow him, but he knew he couldn’t keep bouncing around like this. Eventually they’d either anticipate his landing point, or simply grow bored and return to Matt.

He landed and spun just in time to avoid one of the beasts crashing into him. Alex ran, jumping from rock to rock, until he came to the cavern wall. He could hear the creature speeding after him, a sound like rock pounding rock — it was obviously used to navigating the hard surfaces and fissures of its subterranean domain. Alex leaped at the wall, but as he struck it, he coiled his legs to bounce back hard, flying at the creature so fast, he was on it before it had a chance to react. He landed on its neck, and punched down with his blade, digging deep into an eye on the larger head.

The reptilian hiss became a roar that shook the air, and Alex was thrown free, his blade trailing a string of jellied optic fluid. The beast raked at its head, then searched again for its attacker. But Alex hadn’t gone far. He was already leaping, knowing the creature’s depth perception would be shot now one eye was gone.

He landed on its scaly shoulders, and stabbed his blade into its other eye. It reared up and fell over backward, writhing and screeching on the ground.

‘No more humans for dinner tonight!’ Alex told it.

He saw that Sam was struggling with another of the monsters. He had it by the neck, managing to hold it at bay so it couldn’t get its jaws around him.

‘The eyes, Sam,’ Alex yelled. ‘The only weak spot.’

Sam half-turned, his face red and streaming with sweat. He sucked in a huge breath, released the creature’s neck, then brought his power-assisted fists together over each eye. Shards of the stone-like armor broke away, but the thing was hurt, not beaten. It raked a claw down Sam’s body, ripping away the hyper-alloy tubing, plates and pins embedded in his flesh. Sam’s movements slowed, hampered by the damage to the suit. He was a huge man, and fit, but he was fatigued and the suit was heavy. He rolled side-on, but the beast released him instead of attacking, and wheeled away.

Alex saw they were all now focusing their attention on an easier prey — the beast he’d blinded. One grasped it by the neck. The armor-plated skin was no match for the crushing power of the huge jaws, and with a noise like breaking plates the prey’s neck collapsed. The huge beasts leaped away into the dark, the corpse of their fallen brother bouncing on the stones between them.

Alex fell to his knees, breathing hard. He looked at his hands resting on the dark rocks — the biological armor plating was shattered and ripped. He bet his body probably looked the same, and knew it couldn’t sustain much more punishment. But he had a feeling their trials had only just begun.

He kneeled and wiped some blood and sweat from his eyes. I did it, he whispered. He had retained control — even under attack, his body and mind had continued to belong to him. He flicked away more blood, smiled, and got to his feet.