The Aeschylus

1

Mason pushed open the church doors and stepped out onto the dirt. The sun was dipping towards the horizon, an orange giant against a backdrop of distant mountains. The church was more cellar than gathering hall, and the air greeted him like a welcome friend. He was assaulted by the smells of the sea, the sounds of his men playing football over the hill. It was beautiful down here, and unlike the others, he wasn't too dim to notice. Also unlike the others, being here always made him think of retirement. That day was coming, and it wasn't far.

He dropped the duffel bags onto the dirt and stretched, feeling sweat trickle down his bare chest. The guns were heavy, and no one had offered to help him carry them up. That was all right. He liked the time alone. He liked the smell of dirt and gun oil and the feel of the old church over his head.

Footsteps echoed above him, and he turned to see old Padre Manuel coming up on the entrance. He nodded. The padre nodded back.

Old Manuel wasn't here with any real purpose, he was just walking the grounds, just as he always did when Mason was here. Seeing that all was satisfactory, the padre continued up the path to the cemetery and the little flower garden behind the walls. His leg brace, a metal medieval contraption, squeaked as he passed. Some of the padre's history was well-concealed, but some of it — like his mangled kneecap — was not. Mason wondered if that was what was in store for him if he pushed too far into old age and allowed himself to get slow.

His thoughts were interrupted when he looked up the path and saw Reiner coming over the hill. Like Mason, he was shirtless, still sporting a sunburn leftover from their last job in Mexico. He was wearing his cowboy hat and shades, a look that only true rednecks could pull off. And Reiner pulled it off just fine.

“Goddamn, boss. Praise God and pass the ammunition,” he said, sifting through one of the bags with the tip of a steel-toed boot.

“Have a look if you want.”

He did. A moment later, he was holding an AR-15 out in front of him and checking the stock.

Mason wiped the sweat off his brow. “Any complaints?”

“None from me, boss. What else you got in there?” There came out 'nare.

“A couple of Mossbergs, a few forty-fives. Oh, there are two fifty cals. I figure we'll take one per chopper.”

“You think we'll need 'em?”

“Not likely, but you never know. And speaking of shit we don't need, I managed to get a new toy for St. Croix.”

“Oh yeah?” Reiner looked in the bag and found the grenade launcher. “Christ, one of them China jobs? You'll be lucky if that shit don't blow up in his hands.”

Mason laughed. “You know as well as I do that he'll be like a kid at Christmas. If we don't have anything to blow up, he'll find something.”

“Hell yeah, he will. I don't reckon I'll be walking in front of him any time soon.”

“I just want to see that grin of his, the one that makes him look like a monkey.”

Reiner chuckled. “You hate that grin, boss. You know it.”

“You're right, I do. Where's he at, anyways? With the others?”

“Yep,” Reiner said, shifting his hat back. “Want me to get 'em?”

“No, let them have a few minutes. We're still waiting on the civies.” He'd been out of the military for well over a decade now, but some words just stuck. Civies was the only way he could think of the soft-bodied.

“You're wrong about that, boss. They're here. That's why I came to get you. I thought you would have heard the chopper.” Reiner spat into the dirt.

Mason grunted. Had he really been too lost in his own thoughts to hear the thing? It didn't matter; digging up the hole in the cellar was good for him. It was therapeutic.

He looked behind the church and saw the padre up on the hill, watching them. He pointed east towards the beach, looking more scarecrow than man.

“That guy gives me the creeps.”

“Quit it,” Mason said, but he was glad. The fact the cowboy could see old Manuel was somehow reassuring. Had he come to this place alone the first time, Mason would have wondered if the padre was real at all.

“Grab the bags.”

“Am I following you?”

“No. Head on over to the helo and make sure it gets refueled first. I'm going to see about our guests.”

Mason started up the path and crested the hill overlooking the beach. He didn't have far to walk. Most of his own men were still tossing the pigskin, but the new kid, Nicholas, was talking to the civilians. Mason had worked with almost everyone on his team before. He'd known Markus Reiner for six years, Christian Vytalle and Jin Tae for four. Their Alpha pilot, Hal McHalister, he'd flown with on and off for eight. Nicholas Worsch was the only new addition. Black Shadow had put him in at the last minute, and he didn't know everyone yet. That was fine. He'd come around after this job, Mason was sure. As for the others, Mason figured he'd have to reintroduce himself, and that was also fine. Then, he counted and frowned. There was an extra man. The McCreedy woman was only supposed to bring back one. Instead, she brought back two. That was what you'd expect putting a woman in charge, wasn't it? They always overdid it. He started down the hill.

In moments, the man in the center caught sight of him. “Well, sonofabitch. Mister Mason Bruhbaker. I see you're still in the business.”

He nodded. “AJ.”

They embraced, and Mason slapped the other man on the back. “Been a long time.”

Kate stood with her jaw hanging. “You know this guy?”

“Old AJ and I go way back. Ain't that right, AJ?”

“We were in the same unit, once upon a time,” AJ said. “Did a few private sector jobs after, back when I was young. Guess that's ancient history.”

“Hey, did you know his name is 'Angus?'” Dutch said, chiming in.

Mason showed his veneers. “Who are you?”

“Henry Jones,” Kate said, interrupting them. “He and AJ are attached at the ass. It was the only way he would agree to come.”

Mason looked his old friend up and down. “Is that right?”

“When I found out who was footing the bill for this little excursion, I thought it would be better to have backup. All the more so when I learned you were the one in charge on the ground.”

“Bet that was the first thing you asked.”

“You bet. I know the mission always comes first. I've got to look out for my own safety.”

“I see you brought a piece too, huh?” Mason looked at the pistol tucked into his old friend's belt.

“Well, we didn't exactly run through customs on the way in.”

Mason appraised him, and he couldn't quite suppress a smile. AJ was as paranoid as ever. The thing was, he was right to be. “Guess it's obvious I didn't ask for this. The client thought it would be a good idea if their ex-security chief came along for the ride. Don't know why, but it's their money. I suppose if they really valued your opinion, they probably wouldn't have fired you in the first place, right?”

AJ's face tightened.

Mason knew how to get under his skin, and he was glad to know that some things hadn't changed. AJ wasn't a bad guy, but he didn't know his place in the world. When they used to run together, AJ had been a fine soldier. He was a good shot, calm under fire. He could man artillery. He could pilot a tank. But he was a smartass, and Mason had no use for smartasses. It had taken him years to find a team full of players he could trust, and AJ would have never made the cut.

“You know he used to play ball?” Nicholas said.

“Yeah,” Mason said. “Yeah, he did.”

“Who'd you play for?” Nick asked.

“Notre Dame. Third string. I still got a pretty good arm.”

Mason looked at Kate. She was trying to hide it, but she was impressed. Imagine, the things that some women liked. He looked behind him and saw Jin and Peter smashing into one another, wrestling for a fumbled ball like animals. Friendly competition amongst real men… well, it never was.

“Hey Jin!” he called. “Jin Tae!”

His engineer looked over, sweating in the afternoon heat. “Yeah?”

“You want to play a round with another college boy?”

The man waved. “Whatever you say, boss.”

Kate stepped forward. “We don't have much time. We need to get moving.”

“I say when we have to get moving, and I say we have time for a first down play amongst old buddies. What do you say, AJ? You too old to show us what you got?”

AJ looked at Henry, then at Kate. “Like the man said. Whatever you say.”

Mason heard the wind whistle behind him. He may have been lost in his own thoughts in the church, but now, it was game time, and at game time, he could hear a dove taking flight a half a mile away. He turned and caught the football just as it came within reach. It was a catch Jerry Rice would have been proud of, and he barely had to step to grab it.

“I told you. That's five bucks!” St. Croix said.

Jin waved him off, but he looked glad to lose it. Faith in your commander was something that couldn't be underestimated, and Mason always welcomed their little tests. There was a reason he was Black Shadow's best.

He tossed the ball to AJ, and the man coughed as he caught it. “Sure,” the man said, looking at Kate and his loser friend. “Sure, what the hell?”

2

“Do you know what you're doing?” the girl asked. “You know, they're all bigger than you.”

AJ was already headed towards the beach. “I never really know what I'm doing. I just go with it.”

The girl scoffed, and he smiled at her. He liked her, as stiff and stodgy as she was. Of course, being out in the mountains with nothing but dirt and machinery for a year, he'd probably like any girl that walked his way, especially one offering money.

Meanwhile, the men on the beach were looking at him skeptically. Not counting Mason, there were eight altogether. That made sense; Black Shadow assignments were usually divided into two four-man fire teams, and they usually took at least one pilot. Nicholas stepped over to his side, and AJ nodded.

Then, something slapped him on the shoulder, and he spun. He found himself facing another merc. This one happened to be the team medic. “What's up, baby? You AJ?”

“Yeah, that's me.”

“I'm Melvin. You used to play ball, huh?”

“Long time ago.”

“Me too, man. Half-back.” He made a point-and-shoot motion with one hand and blew wind through his teeth. Then, he took off his glasses and tossed them over to Mason, who was now walking up the sidelines. “Heard you were good. I don't trust ya enough to leave those on, though.” The man winked, and AJ sighed. It looked like he was going in with a big target on his back after all.

He tossed Melvin the ball and took his place in position behind him. For now, old Melvin was stuck with center. He didn't know his other teammates, and he didn't know what play they were going to run. But these neanderthals looked like they were just going to run straight through each other, so he didn't guess it mattered.

On the other side of the line, he was facing off against one pilot and three other men. Even four against five, they looked like they outweighed his side two to one.

He could see the sweat dripping down their center's chin. He had a crazy, green look in his eyes. AJ was just about to ask him what his problem was when Melvin hiked the ball. He caught it with an oomph, stepping back out of sheer instinct.

The four men on the left locked up, but Nicholas went long. AJ was just about to toss when Melvin dropped to one knee. The other center launched himself over, planting one boot on Melvin's back as he hurtled towards AJ like a missile. AJ turned just in time to see two hundred and fifty pounds of meat hit him square in the chest. He fell against the sand, nearly blacking out with the impact. It was a good minute before he could push himself up. He thought Melvin would be apologizing, but the man was laughing.

“Oh, shit!” he said, coming over to him. “You okay, man? Holy shit, sorry about that.” And then, another gale took him. “I have to say, that was a nice one, Vy. Damn.”

The other center held out a hand and gave Melvin a high-five.

AJ spit out a mouthful of sand. Looking back, he saw a hand extended to him, this one connected to Nick. He took it but saw even the kid was grinning.

“What the hell are you smiling at?”

“I don't know. I guess I've just never seen an old guy get hit that hard before. You have to admit, it was a pretty good hit.”

AJ waved him off. “Yeah, yeah.”

Further up the beach, he could see the girl with her hands on her hips. She had a look in her eyes like his ex-wife used to get, like she would say something if she thought it would do any good.

“All right, gentlemen,” Mason said, clapping his hands. “I think it's about time we get going. The clock is ticking.”

AJ turned. “No.”

“No?” Mason asked. “I don't think you're in charge here, old buddy.”

“One more play.”

“We don't have time for—”

“Thirty more seconds. Unless your lackies are too afraid I'll shove this ball up their ass now that I know who can and can't block.”

Mason paused, then nodded. “All right. It's your funeral, but make it quick.”

“Last time wasn't fair, anyways.” He looked right at Melvin. “It was five on four last time. One of our team should sit out. What do you say there, chief?”

Melvin looked at the others, then huffed. He strode past AJ and off the playing field, kicking up sand as he went.

AJ turned to Nicholas. He kept his voice low. “Can you throw?”

“What do you have in mind?”

AJ told him. A moment later, they stepped back to the line, this time with a plan. Melvin's buddy was looking at AJ with murder in his eyes, and he wasn't the only one. They didn't have a clue as to what was coming, though. Twenty years wasn't long enough to wash the playbook out of AJ's head.

The kid hiked the ball and then circled around behind him. AJ tossed the ball back to him underhanded, and then cut up the middle. A moment later, Nick threw, arcing the ball up and over the guys on the front line. He wasn't great with a football, but the distance wasn't long, and AJ caught it like it was nothing. He sprinted up the beach, heading towards the piece of driftwood marking the goal line. He could feel himself grinning as he went. There was someone behind him though, and he was gaining.

AJ pushed off of his left leg, intending to jump into goal, but another meat hammer hit him in the back, driving him face down into the dirt. He landed straight on the ball, the pigskin cutting into his chest and knocking the wind out of him a second time. He coughed as he pulled his head out of the earth, tasting grit all of the way in the back of his throat. He looked up and saw the driftwood directly to his right. Behind him, Melvin's buddy was getting off the ground. The guy hadn't been fooled for long; he had good instincts.

Nicholas came running up behind them. “Holy cow, good run. Is it in?”

AJ looked at the driftwood. “Yes.”

“No,” Christian said at the same time.

“It looks good to me,” AJ said.

“No.”

“You want to fight about it?”

Mason came striding over. “All right, it's over, you two. It's time to go.” AJ was about to say something else, but he was cut short. “I said cut the crap. Go find Markus. We move in five minutes.”

With one final glare, Christian started running up the beach.

“Not bad for a man my age,” Mason said. “I don't think he likes you, though.”

“I don't think he's the only one.”

“You never were very good at making friends, Angus.”

AJ nodded. “You never were very good at keeping them.”

He wiped the sand out of his mouth, then headed off without waiting for a response. Nicholas seemed to be the only one pleased with the whole affair, and the kid gave him a thumbs up.

“You done playing games?” Kate asked when he got within earshot.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good. Now if you don't mind?” She pointed towards the shore.

“Are we flying?”

“Yeah,” Mason said, coming up behind him. “Greg Marten and I are on the Delta chopper. You and the stragglers will be riding with Alpha. They're both fueled and ready to go, so let's get moving.”

Kate groaned. “I thought we'd be taking the boat.”

“Not so lucky,” Mason said. “But we'll get there fast. It should take just under two hours.”

“Why are you two the only ones flying in the first chopper?” she asked.

“It's over three hundred miles out to the platform. On the outside chance their fueling station is incapacitated, we want to make sure at least one bird has the fuel to get back.” Mason smiled. “And it will be a tight thing at that.”

He walked off, and Kate groaned a second time. AJ could almost see the fluids in her stomach churning.

They marched off as a group, following the flux of mercenaries as they headed to the shack serving as a fueling depot. A few of them whooped as they went, slinging their shirts overhead.

“You look grim.”

AJ turned and realized Kate was talking to him. All he could do was nod towards the men. “Bunch of idiots.”

He'd seen the same thing a dozen times — guys getting worked up right before shipping out. He and Mason never did, but then again, he and Mason had been alive longer than all of these yahoos. When the dying started, that cavalier bullshit went fast.

Probably just an accident and a downed radio tower, he thought. Easy clean-up, and easy money. Even if it wasn't, he had nothing to complain about. He was tired of sitting on his ass in the middle of nowhere. When he had first left, he had needed to get away from everyone and everything in his life. That was over a year ago now, and things had changed. And here was this girl offering him… what, a second chance? He didn't believe in second chances, but it was something.

The pilots hit the ignition switches and the choppers roared to life, the blades spinning up from standstill to whirlwind. Mason stood between the two, watching as his men climbed on board. By the time they got in, they were fully outfitted and dressed.

Two hours with Melvin and that cowboy Mason was using as his second in command. AJ couldn't wait.

He lifted one mud-splattered boot and placed it inside. As he climbed in, he looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of the priest up the hill. The padre was standing against the sun, skeletal in the afternoon light, watching.

3

On land, Kate considered herself a fairly diplomatic person, but two hours into the flight, she found herself unable to wipe a look of disgust off of her face.

AJ sat strapped into the seat across from her. “Something wrong?”

“I'm just thinking how much I hate the man that got us into this.”

Michael had seemed a little too eager to let her come hadn't he? No… no, she supposed he hadn't. Had, in fact, tried to stop her. Of course, when you find yourself in over your head thanks to your own big mouth, you tend to overlook the niceties.

“Well, you're here now,” AJ said.

Next to him, Dutch looked half asleep. How anyone could sleep with the racket, she didn't know. The chopper blade was spinning with such force that she expected it to fly off at any moment. She put a hand to her mouth and put her head back, trying not to get sick.

“You don't like air travel, huh?”

“What was your first clue?”

“The vomit, probably.”

She flushed. Her mother had always hated air travel, even in a private jet. Kate figured that she must have inherited the same problem, because she got physically ill every time she was airborne. Her father hated showing weakness in front of other people, and she'd inherited that aspect from him. When you put those two traits together, it was bad news.

“It's no big deal. My wife used to get sick, and she loved to fly. Well, at least she loved to go places. She doped up on Dramamine whenever we traveled. You ever take it?”

Kate shook her head.

“She used to say it was a histamine reaction, but I guess that doesn't do you much good now.”

She'd read AJ's file, but she still couldn't picture him married. Bouncing from place to place, living out of the country, working six days a week and sleeping at the job site — those weren't the characteristics that endeared you to a spouse. “You were married?”

“Three years. Gave it up about the time Valley Oil gave up on me.”

“Was it the same cause?” she blurted.

“They didn't like my recommendations. Especially when it came to policing the geography near the drill site. Too expensive. I guess I wouldn't shut up about it.”

“No, I meant your wife.”

“Oh, that.” He gave a wry smile. “Let's just say it ended badly.”

Somehow, Kate wasn't surprised. “I'm sorry I asked. It's none of my business.”

“No harm. Anyways, by the time it was over, I had the offer in Chile. It seemed like a good a time as any to change things up.”

Dutch had come awake when the two of them started to talk, and he patted his buddy on the shoulder. “Check it out, you two.”

Kate turned to the window and saw splash of foam. A school of creatures swam beneath them, darting in and out of the water. She could just make out their black and white bodies as they broached the surface.

“Killer whales?” she asked.

“Hourglass dolphins,” Dutch said. “Rare as shit.”

She looked again. One of them jumped ten feet into the air, spun, and then dove back into the water. She had never been to Sea World as a kid, but she imagined that's what the animals in captivity were trained to do on command. It was strange to see it here in the wild, strange and oddly beautiful.

“We're coming up on the platform,” the pilot called. “Sit tight.”

The S-70 slowed to a halt and hovered in mid-air. Kate looked out the opposite window and saw Mason's chopper doing the same. A few seconds later, she heard a bunch of radio chatter from the cockpit. It all sounded like gibberish.

The team around her, animals on the beach, were now sitting with their equipment in their laps, as docile as sheep. The tension was palpable, and they were all feeling it. Kate herself never did like sitting still when she was anxious. She unbuckled her seat straps and stood up, able to balance more easily now that the chopper was hovering. AJ put a hand on her wrist, but she shook it off and stepped forward, moving between the ceiling handholds. She reached the flight deck and the pilot turned.

“Ma'am?”

She looked past him out of the front windows. “That's it, huh?”

The platform was still two miles out, but she could see it on the horizon, a clenched fist rising from the water. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but she thought anything would have surprised her equally. If its current state held a surprise, it was how normal it looked. There was no smoke rising from the structure, and she could make out at least one crane still intact. There seemed to be something wrong with the bottom of the platform, but at this distance, she couldn't tell what it was.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned, expecting to see AJ, but it was one of the men from the beach.

“It don't look like much, huh?”

She was about to tell him to back off, but instead, she said, “Do you think they're dead?”

“Don't know.”

“What else could it be? I mean, the place doesn't look like it's burning down or anything.”

He shrugged. “Could be nothin' more than a dead com tower and an accident that's got 'em scared. That's what the boss says, anyways.”

“But you don't think so?”

A smile crossed his face, but she didn't like the look of it. “Yeah. Yeah, I reckon we'll find a tomb. Only thing that makes sense, don't it?”

She shivered.

“You stay close to me, baby, you'll be fine.”

“You finish med school, Melvin?” AJ said, coming up behind them.

The other man's grin faltered. “Why? You planning on getting shot out there?”

“That didn't answer my question.”

“Man, you know I'm a field medic. What's the point?”

AJ grabbed a handhold. “I just think if you ain't got a philosophy degree, you should keep your stupid ass opinions to yourself. You're scaring the girl.”

“You want it to be like that, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you do get shot out there, I'll see if I can remember enough training to save you. How about that?”

“How about it?”

Kate sighed. Without even trying, she found herself in the middle of another pissing contest. She didn't know how they found the time to start so many.

“Hey,” the pilot said. “If you two are going to argue, get the hell away from the flight deck.”

“And away from me,” Kate added.

Then, the radio in the cockpit crackled. “That's a negative, Hal. They're still not responding. Let's give them one more try on your end.”

The pilot hit a switch, ignoring the group behind him. “Roger. Trying now.” He hit another button. “Platform Aeschylus, please respond. This is Alpha One-Niner, rescue team inbound on behalf of Valley Oil corporate. Please give us a sit-rep, over.” He waited a few seconds, then tried again, repeating the message.

“Time to go,” Melvin said, pushing past AJ and returning to his seat.

Kate was tempted to do the same but didn't want it to seem like she was following. Instead, she stood her ground, feeling awkward. AJ was looking down at her — staring, really — and she didn't like it.

“Don't do that.”

“Do what?”

“Stare at me.”

“I'm not staring.”

“You're staring,” she said. “It makes me uncomfortable.”

He cocked his head. “A lot of things make you uncomfortable, don't they?”

“Yes, and the sound of your voice is one of them.” It was infuriating. Back home, she could have just gotten up and left. Here, she was stuck in metal box with nothing but six feet of space on either side.

In the cockpit, the pilot hit another switch. “That's a negative, boss. No response here.”

The reply came fast. “That's a roger. We're going to have a look.”

The second helicopter roared forward, and out of the window, she saw it thunder towards the platform. They were low enough where the whip of the blades left a wake on the ocean surface. By the time the water settled, the helicopter was a spec on the horizon.

The pilot turned to her. “Have a seat.”

Kate hesitated.

“Move it!”

With a grimace, she turned towards the passenger bay, found her seat, and buckled up. The men were staring at her. The man next to Melvin whispered something to his friend and smiled. She wanted out of the cattle car more than ever.

A moment later, they all heard Mason's voice crackle through the radio. “Alpha come in. Your path is clear. You better come on up, over.”

“What's the situation?” the pilot asked, clicking on the radio.

“The helipad is secure. The rest, you have to see for yourself.”

Then, they were lurching forward, the chopper skimming the top of the water as it blasted towards the metal skeleton ahead.

4

As the S-70 came upon the platform and circled round, Kate looked out the window and found that her first impulse, barely stifled, was to scream.

5

Grotesque, black shapes encircled the bottom of the spar, strangling the base of the platform like vines. They seemed to have grown up out of the water, huge amorphous strands unlike anything she had ever seen. Whether native or allochthonous, the things looked almost like they were a part of a carnivorous plant. It was as if the bottom of The Aeschylus was being swallowed — or cocooned — by a mass of tentacles.

“What the hell is that?” someone moaned.

“Man, I don't like the looks of this,” Melvin answered.

Kate found that her distant impression of the upper Aeschylus wasn't entirely accurate, either. Circling the platform, she saw that while the central derrick was mostly intact, a nearby crane was almost completely severed. It hung over the side of the platform like a dead finger. A communications dish lay crumpled nearby, shattered by the same force that had cracked the crane. And there was more: broken hallways, a collapsed stairwell, debris and broken metal visible on the drilling deck.

None of these things had been visible from the satellite images, and as they rounded the top, Kate realized why. The satellite looked almost straight down. The organic mass, the collapsed catwalks and stairs… none would be visible when looking at the square from above.

And there were no people.

Kate wasn't sure if she found this more upsetting or not. If she had seen corpses piled across the platform, as horrible as that would have been, it would have provided some kind of closure. It would have meant that whatever struggle had taken place here was over. Of course, finding a group of refugees waving a white flag on the main deck would have been the best outcome, but she hadn't been naïve enough to expect that. What she found instead was that the mystery didn't end. If the crew were alive somewhere, if they were hiding, or if they had been swallowed by something in the ocean, there was no way to tell.

The helipad at the top of The Aeschylus was wide enough to accommodate two helicopters, but a burnt shell of a machine occupied one of those spaces. Kate realized it must be the helicopter she had seen from the satellite images in her father's manila envelope.

Kate's pilot, Hal McHalister, touched down next to the old husk, powering off almost as soon as the legs touched. She breathed a sigh of relief when the platform didn't collapse under their weight. Ridiculous maybe, but seeing those things below, they had no idea how much of the undersea structure remained intact.

Next to her, Markus Reiner took off his sunglasses and brushed back his cowboy hat. “Stay here, sweetheart. The rest of y'all know what to do.”

“Where do you want us?” AJ asked, indicating Dutch and himself.

“Right behind us. Take your piece. It looks quiet, but we don't know what's out there. You get it?”

AJ nodded.

The rest of the men filed out, rifles in hand. It happened so fast, Kate blinked, and they were gone. They took position around the square, scanning the area through the sights on their weapons. A few, Melvin included, took position by the burnt chopper, using its walls for cover.

Mason's bird hovered at the edge of the platform, unable to land, and the man himself jumped across the gap onto the concrete. He walked towards the center of the helipad and greeted Reiner in the middle. The two men exchanged words, and then Reiner jogged back towards the hovering helicopter. He stepped off the platform and into its open hatch, fearless of the gap between solid ground and aircraft. He shut the door from the inside, and in seconds, the chopper was gone, flying up and over the water.

Mason motioned towards Kate. “We're all secure here. Come on out.”

It took her a moment to get moving. She was supposed to get up, but it felt strange. She was going out there. Her knees began to shake as she stood.

Kate wasn't afraid of heights, but she felt nothing but vertigo as her feet touched the concrete. The helipad was just an elevated square overlooking the rest of The Aescylus, the highest point save for the crane cabs. Water stretched beyond two of the sides, the steel bones of the rig beneath the other two.

Mason whistled and swirled one arm in the air, his index finger to the sky. Four men broke position and jogged back to the center. She saw that one of them had a grenade launcher, and she shuddered, wondering if that kind of firearm could have caused some of the damage to the upper platform.

“All right, listen up!” Mason said. The men huddled. “High ground is secure. There's nowhere to go but down. We stagger movement and secure this place sector by sector.”

“I never thought I'd be hoping for some jihadies,” the one with the big gun said. “This is some weird shit, man.”

Mason shook his head. “Different shit, same day. In any case, you know the drill. No chances.”

“And what exactly were you told?” Kate asked.

Mason looked at her, his expression unreadable. “We have our mission, and you have yours. When we clean up the mess, you can decide how you want to report it. That is your job, right? Figuring out how to report this to the shareholders?”

Kate put one hand on her hip. “It's a little more complicated than that, thanks.”

“So is our job. And if you don't mind, we'd like to get to it.” He turned to AJ. “Only one stairwell down, is that right?”

AJ nodded. “That's right, it goes right to the main deck. There are three paths down from that point. The northwest end leads to the employee barracks and housing units, the southwest end to the storage tanks. Drilling operation is one level down from there. And the east stairwell goes to security and the generator levels. They all connect at the bottom where the boat deck is. That's a hike no matter which route you take.”

Mason nodded. “Yeah, that gels with the blueprints. You think more than four men are needed to secure the top deck though, huh?”

AJ looked at Dutch and then back. “Considering we don't know what we're dealing with, I'd say so.”

Mason grunted. A moment later, he jogged off, sending the four men ahead of him to the stairwell.

Kate turned and was surprised to see AJ looking hard up. “You all right?”

“Yeah. I guess I didn't think it would matter so much being here.”

“And it does?”

He shrugged. “She's my baby. I didn't build her, but it was my job to make sure she stayed safe.”

“It would have if you were still here, man,” Dutch said.

AJ spat, and Kate winced; it was a vulgar gesture. “Yeah, that's part of what pisses me off.”

Someone cursed below, and then Mason reemerged from the stairwell. “It's blocked from the other side. Onto Plan B.”

“There's no other way down,” AJ said.

Mason chuckled and slapped him on the arm. “That always was your problem old buddy: you don't think outside the box.”

The bigger motioned to his fire team. “Rappel lines. Here and here. Ready?”

The men nodded, drawing nylon rope from pouches on their vests. They were light and thin, each one containing a huge clamp at the end.

“Aren't you too heavy for that?” AJ asked, looking at the hairy guy who'd tackled him on the beach.

The man slapped on a clamp and flashed AJ his teeth. “Your mama,” he said, and hopped over.

It wasn't free fall, but it was a close thing. Each man dropped effortlessly, their feet bouncing against the side wall. They detached and fell the last three feet to the ground, facilely moving to cover. Mason followed, and it didn't look like his age slowed him down one bit.

Kate watched as the team scattered, setting up fire positions around the cargo containers. Their tactics were perfect, each man covering another, the whole unit moving in a wave across the deck. When they got halfway across, they held position, each man surveying the deck with the barrels of his gun.

“Excuse me,” Melvin said, pushing past Kate and Dutch. He was attaching his own rappel line to the railing.

“Just leaving us here, eh?” Dutch asked.

AJ's buddy from the beach, Nicholas, stepped through. “You'll be fine, old pal. Back in no time. Besides, Hal will be here.” He indicated the chopper behind them, where the pilot was smoking a cigarette.

“Nick,” AJ said, his tone serious. “What's down there?”

The boy's smile faded as he strapped on his harness. “You don't want to know.”

He and Melvin dropped out of sight. Kate thought that at the rate the team had been moving, they'd have the whole platform cleared in ten minutes. But it was over an hour before they heard back.

6

Reiner saw the island before his pilot did. He tapped Marten and pointed. “There it is. Hell of a good size.”

The pilot flipped a switch on the console. “Alpha team leader, come in. This is Delta. Target is in sight, over.”

Mason's voice shot back a moment later, permeated with static.

“Say again, team leader?”

This time, nothing but noise.

Marten sighed and looked at Reiner. “Your call.”

“Let's have a look.”

Marten tilted the rotor, and the helicopter began to move, revealing more of the land mass beneath them. Even at their present distance, Reiner could see more of the black tar tendrils twisting and coiling across the landscape. Their Valley Oil representative had thought it was some kind of organism that had emerged from underneath a tectonic plate. A Scotia Plate anomaly. But for all he knew, it could have been caused by a goddamned meteor. Bring up something like that in a room of military grunts, and everyone laughs at you, but he wondered if his teammates were laughing now.

“Now we don't have any notion that this new anomaly, whatever it is, had anything to do with what happened to the crew.” That's what their Valley Oil contact had said. He'd said it with a straight face too, like he really believed it. “For all we know, they could have gotten scared when it started showing up and ran off. You know how superstitious they are down there. Or maybe its appearance caused some kind of dispute and they had a mutiny. Maybe they were hit by terrorists and its appearance is completely coincidental. We just don't know. But the fact is, the site is unsecured. We need it locked down, and we need everyone who's had contact with this new anomaly accounted for. We can send in our analysis teams once that happens, but until it's been declared safe and we get those workers away—”

“If we can find them,” Mason had cut in. “And if they're alive.”

The representative had smiled then. “Yes, of course, but let's not jump to conclusions. We just need you to assess the damage from on site, gather the workforce, and make sure no one else comes near the place. With communications down, this has turned into a bit of a situation.”

Reiner grimaced. A situation. Is that what you called it when you sent in nine men with enough firepower to level a small town? As to the three civilians who had come along for the ride, that was a dirty deal. Reiner had done too many things in his line of work to worry about dirty deals, though. Life was cruel.

The chopper closed in on the land mass. Marten had to increase their altitude; the center of the island was covered in hills and mountains. Mountains. Even the geography here was alien. The terrain of the island shifted from sand, to grass, to jutting rock, as if God couldn't make up His mind when He was trying to decide what kind of island to make.

“Ain't that something?” Marten asked.

Reiner reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of gum. He offered Marten a piece, but the pilot shook his head. He pointed down to the buildings on shore. “You recognize 'em?”

The satellite photos had shown as much: concrete walls, metal bunkers, and rotted tarp that had all but disintegrated. Further up the coast, Reiner knew they could expect a group of warehouses and a small factory from an industry long dead. But they weren't going in that direction. They were going towards the… well, towards the source.

The executive said they had detected half a dozen fissures beneath the surface of the water. The largest of the underwater fissures, of course, was directly beneath The Aeschylus. The largest fissure of all — the source—as it had been called, was on the island. Reiner didn't know if that meant that this place was just the biggest, or if it had actually seeded the other spots, and he didn't care. Their job was to have a look, and that's what they were going to do.

As the chopper crested the next set of hills, he saw it.

Marten's mouth hung open. “Good God…”

The thing on the island was not a fissure. Set between the mountains, it looked, at first glance, like a crater. But it was a crater without a bottom. Where the earth should have been, there was only an empty void of black, endless space. It looked like it could very well go to the center of the earth.

“That's not possible,” Marten said. His face was white. “There should be a lake there. That thing descends below sea-level for… who knows how far. It's like the earth just… goes straight down.”

“How far south to solid land?” Reiner asked. He couldn't quite keep the shake out of his voice.

Marten shook his head. “Two hundred miles, maybe. We're close to the coast but this doesn't make any sense.”

As Reiner looked at the edges of the crater, however, he thought maybe it did. There was no rock. Where the hole opened to the mountains, there were only more of those strange, black tentacles. They reached up and over the sides, covering the edges and extending onto the hills beyond. From their current position, they looked enormous.

“A Scotia Plate anomaly,” Reiner said. It sounded even crazier out loud. “Well, shit on toast.”

“What?”

Reiner shook his head. “Never mind. Call the boss, hoss.”

Marten flipped another switch and put the chopper into hover. They were directly over the center of the hole now, the sea barely visible over the tops of the hills. He hit the radio button, but shut it off an instant later. The static that came through the speakers nearly blew their eardrums. He tried again and got the same result.

Reiner yanked his headset off. “Goddammit, boy.”

He noticed something else strange, then. It was very warm inside the chopper. He and Marten were outfitted for freezing weather — it was still only about twenty-five degrees at this latitude, even at the height of the summer season — but he realized he was sweating. It was the air. It was as if the thing below was breathing on them. It sounded absurd, but as he looked at Marten and saw the flush on his face, he knew he wasn't imagining it.

They stared at each other a moment, their minds reaching the same conclusion.

“Let's you and me get out of here.”

“Yeah,” Marten said. “Yeah, I think that's a good idea.”

He flipped the switch to take the chopper out of hover, then pushed down on the foot pedal.

Reiner could hear the blades speeding up. “Come on!”

Marten looked at him. The color had completely drained from his face. “It's not moving.”

Reiner looked out of the window. He could see the blades spinning, could feel the S-70 trying to move, but it wasn't.

A noise came from below them, something like a hiss from the bowels of the earth. And then, the chopper was spinning downwards, spinning and spinning into a vacuum. Reiner screamed.

In seconds, the chopper had descended into the blackness of the pit. Looking at the crater, you would never know it had been there at all.