The Thing: from the Depths of Hell (8 page)

“
We have
been checking outside!” Bryan answered first.

“
What in
that emptiness? What the hell could exist out there?”

“
It is a
good way of detecting if there is something near here!” he
replied.

“
So you
should
theoretically
detect anything around here as well!”

“
Yes!
Why?”

“
So did
you detect anything from that alien we encountered?”

They
simultaneously nodded in disagreement, firmly, but he sensed there
was something else that they were not saying, and he only needed to
wait for while for them to agree to something and tell him.

Chapter 17

The Discovery

It never took
long for the two scientists to make an agreement, after conferring
in whispers at the other end of their laboratory, and they marched
over, with Mitchel in front, while Bryan followed trying to calm
him, and persuade him into not doing anything too hastily.

He soon saw
his point of view when they confided with him that they wished him
to keep their research confidential, especially with him being in
the media, and meeting leading scientists, and they wanted him to
agree to a verbal contract agreement of not disclosing anything
without their consent, which he agreed to, and wondered what they
could actually discover.

As they
considered what to say next, Kruger examined nearby equipment, and
that he recognized, and that it was for detecting neutrinos, and he
considered what it was for, and just guessed it was another way of
detecting paranormal phenomena.

Bryan moved
over again, and considered what he was doing, and examined him for
a few seconds.

“
We are
checking outside, as we detected something strange out
there!”

“
When
was that?”

“
When we
entered the region of this void!”

“
What
did you detect?”

“
We
barely even found it,” Mitchel added. “It was pretty well
concealed!”

Kruger looked
confused, and wondered what they were suggesting, and why they were
so secretive anyway. Surely they would only receive fame for their
discovery. Scientists all over the ship would have announced
whatever it was straightaway, without any hesitation, just to be
acknowledged as the finders, and they wished it concealed.

“
We
found something new!” Bryan continued. “And we have not seen
anything like it before. It is totally unknown, and it has
intelligence!”

“
A life
form that exists in space?”

“
We do
not know if it is a life form or what form of life it is, but it
exists multidimensionally!”

“
You
have equipment that can detect outer dimensions? I never knew all
that stuff actually existed! I have not seen it proven to exist or
anything that can enter or detect there yet!”

“
Exactly! We have equipment that does that! It is
confidential, of course.”

“
Of
course! But why not sell it? It could make a lot of cash, and they
may be able to advance the technology further along!”

“
Perhaps
we may! But it is new, and it needs to be checked out further, and
we may also come up with other finds before anyone else
does!”

“
Alright! I get you now.”

“
We
believe your alien monster, running around the ship, is connected
to it!”

“
That
could explain where it came from!”

“
Exactly! And that is why we wish you to know of it. We have
barely done any research here. We have been at this virtually since
we arrived here. We have barely slept! We had so little time! The
spacecraft would have left here by now, and it was pretty lucky
this world was here, and that alien’s arrival, or we may have
missed a great deal.”

“
You
could have contacted someone to prolong the stay to carry out your
work?”

“
No! We
checked that out! They will not do it!”

“
Well, I
know the president now, and he could do it! But you would have to
tell them why!”

“
Right,
and we will probably be here for a long time, until they catch that
alien! Whatever it is?”

“
What
kind of form does this multidimensional existence take, and what do
you call it?”

“
We have
not called it anything really! We have so little, and know so
little about its identity that it could even be embarrassing if it
came out. Or if it came out the wrong way!”

“
Meaning
they may not believe you? And that you can not properly back up
your claims?”

“
And we
also do not want it revealed for nothing!”

“
So
what’s the connection between it and the alien?”

“
Exactly! They would need to know everything they can about
it, as they will need to destroy it.

“
We need
as much as possible in detecting it, and getting rid of it – or
capturing it if we have to.”

“
Well,
currently we do not know, but if we come up with anything we will
contact you! Right?”

“
Alright! Thanks! This place gets more and more screwed up as
time goes on!”

All three
laughed at the joke, and considered the future and what the outcome
of such a situation would be.

Chapter 18

Weird Dreams

Mist flew
around everywhere, blinding Kruger in a surreal dream, with him
mildly seeing it, while he happily rested, floating freely.

In lingering
spots he caught only darkness, like the void surrounding the
spacecraft, and sounds or thoughts like whispers came out of hidden
places or invisible zones, and taunted him.

Energy shone,
which normally would have been invisible, and he saw the mist was
energy formations, and he was seeing it as what they really was,
powerful and intelligent, which never really made sense when he
thought about it, but it did as a fantasy.

It reminded
him of a dark cold cloudless night under a bright moon, with lunar
radiance visible everywhere.

It was golden
in places, and strange energy lights twinkled through thick areas
of the energy mist. A bright light appeared deep in it, and he
realized the depth of it. It was tremendous, and like looking into
the depths of the universe.

He sensed the
presence of something mysterious, which existed about him, and
which he could not account for.

Again he
looked out at the bright light, and wondered what it was, and
studied it. Even though he never recognized it, it looked familiar,
and he realized that it reminded him of the spacecraft.

Suddenly,
Kruger was awakened by a sharp buzz, and he pressed the button on
his communications device, automatically finding it in the
surrounding darkness of his quarters, and listened to the voice of
Major Ripley asking him where he was, and he told him he was still
in bed.

Even though it
was early morning, ship’s time, the room was in darkness, as there
were no windows or anything to light it.

“
You
wanted to me to contact you if anything happened,” Ripley stated,
excitedly. “Well, something has! So you better get down here if you
do not want to miss the action!”

“
What
action?” he answered, jumping out of bed, and for his clothes, on a
desk.

“
One of
our detection systems has picked up the alien, shifting through a
wall, and we have been able to detect where it is, and we have set
up an ambush. So if you want to see the thing, get down here now!
We’ll need you!”

“
Where
to!” he relied, putting on the last of his clothes.

“
Use
your ship’s communicator! I’ve placed the location on it, for you
to follow to here!”

Kruger grabbed
everything he needed and rushed out the door.

Finally he was
going to see this thing, and what it was really like! It as Dan and
the altering version in the bar had confused him, and he wanted to
see the real alien – and more than anything else – its
identity.

Chapter 19

The Alien

The moment he
got out of the transportation vehicle a loud ghostly and unearthly
screech ripped right through him, as some hideous monster from the
darkness pit in hell were out there.

Its
momentarily stunned him, and he opened his eyes wide, and he
marched out, observing everything in the corridor ahead, and all
the military personnel all along it, hidden in various locations,
behind large objects or in doorways, with their weapons ready, and
he looked at the furthest point, before a bend, and saw something
faintly move.

At his side,
Major Ripley edged over, and waited for him to react to him.

“
Don’t
say anything aloud!” Major Ripley announced, pulling his arm over
to him.

“
So
what’s happening?” he whispered back.

“
It is
at the end of the corridor. We are all around it. We have
completely surrounded it. In all the corridors and rooms around it,
and above and below it – if it tries to escape through the walls,
roof, or floor.”

A few minutes
later, a loud explosion blasted out, and Kruger realized the battle
against the alien had begun, and he saw it rush out, and along the
corridor towards him, as it made its escape, from its attackers
around the bend.

Kruger and
everyone else saw it simultaneously, and they all stood stunned. It
had a blood red devil appearance, and was made of pure energy, and
though it had legs it floated over the corridor floor, not touching
it, as though touching another higher floor there in another
dimension.

Its monstrous
appearance was worse now, and was like the devil itself they were
fighting, in blood red transparent devil.

Everyone
seemed to wonder what the hell they were up against, and if they
had finally confronted the devil itself!

The weapons
soon started blasting into it from everywhere with everything that
they had in a rage of violence, and Kruger finally placed his hands
over his ears to stop them being damaged, and noticed the alien was
not being destroyed, and even looked surprised that they were not
that good, and Kruger checked the metal walls behind it, where the
bullets were going straight through to.

Suddenly, he
started to see the danger in the situation and that the monster
could attack and rip their throats out, as it had done to all his
victims that were found spattered all over the place in the
library, and wondered why the hell he had not just stayed in
bed.

The situation
was ridicules. They had finally found their ultimate enemy, capable
of anything, which they could not kill!

It was the
military’s worst nightmare, and they all slowly started to
comprehend it, and show deeper signs of fear, and some made moves
backwards.

At that moment a loud scream of a woman came
from somewhere behind him, further up the opposite end of the
corridor, and he saw a woman rush out of her quarters, and he heard
the noises of something strange mingled in her sounds.

While he attempted to identify it, other
strange sounds appeared all about her, and him. He could not recall
hearing anything like it, nor did Major Ripley, who looked stunned
by everything, and as if he was preparing for death.

They stood listening to loud gurgles and
splutters from behind her, as she ran away down the corridor to a
vehicle, to escape. It surprised Kruger that she had been sitting
there in her room all along, ignoring the orders given to them
about remaining there, and her not leaving the area with the rest,
and that she must have been listening to the battle going on
there.

From something nearby, where she had been, a
man began shouting about something.

“
What the hell is going on
here?
”
Major Ripley loudly moaned, showing his intense depression of
the situation, surrounding him, and at that moment the alien, at
the front of them, started attacking and killing its first victim,
by viciously smashing and ripping a soldier apart.

All the men were then ordered out of the
region, and some were to follow the alien at a safe distance, to
find where it went.

After jumping into a vehicle with Major
Ripley, Kruger observed the corridor ahead, where they were going
and where the woman had been, and sat in amazement, with his mouth
and eyes wide open. He could not believe what he was looking at!
Three demon creatures were killing and smashing other people that
were there, which had to be with the alien.

Somewhere behind him there came the worst
horrifying howl that he had ever heard, from the alien, as it
started killing everything it could find in a wild frenzy.

Major Ripley reported the other aliens there
to the military control center as fast as he could, before leaving,
and the people at the military control center replied in confusion
trying to get descriptions and information from him of what he was
talking of.

Major Ripley continued giving more detailed
accounts, while they were clearly unsuccessfully trying to control
the situation there, with all the other soldiers, all about the
control center, and the withdrawal of the military from that
region, without any further deaths, of soldiers that some of them
clearly knew.