Moon Rocks, page 14
“Great!” Nick replied. “I can hear you, Molly.”
Nick reached down to a pocket, fumbled with the zipper, and pulled out a survival knife.
“Molly, listen to me, sweetheart. I want you to tap on the wall next to you. Find a rock, or maybe you have something in your pocket.” Nick brought the knife up and began tapping the handle on the side of his helmet, making a loud clicking sound.
Tap, tap, tap…
“Can you do that for me, honey? Can you find something and make a tapping sound?”
There was a long silence, and then he heard a dull tapping sound echoing out of the dark, just to the right of his position.
Tap, tap, tap.
Across the void from Nick, wedged in the fissure, Molly struck a rock against the wall.
Tap, tap, tap.
Nick scissor kicked, rotating himself a few degrees to the right until he was facing the sound. He pointed his helmet lamp, following the beam with his eyes to what looked like a V-shaped opening in the wall forty feet directly in front of him.
At the bottom of the opening, protruding from its base, was a rock shelf that looked big enough for him to stand on.
Nick kicked again, adjusting his position. “Molly, honey, I think I found you. Keep tapping, honey. I’m going to try and get to you.”
Nick waited. Just when he thought she’d given up, he heard it again, slow and steady. Tap, tap, tap…
Good girl!
Twenty feet below the ledge, jutting from the opening, the creature dangled by one hand, its razor claws sunken into the wall like pitons, its free arm rising and falling as it hammered a rock against the wall.
Tap, tap, tap.
Tap, tap, tap.
Chapter 37
Kylie was clutching the radio and jumping up and down, unable to contain her excitement at what she’d just heard.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Nick, are you sure? Are you sure it’s her? Are you sure you found her?” Without waiting for him to reply, she said, “Nick, you have to get her, you have to get her out of there.”
With the exception of Emmett, who remained on the line, anchoring it by coiling the rope around his waist, the rest of the group crowded around Kylie, all of them anxious to hear the news about Molly.
Below, Nick gripped the rope, looked up at the light filtering down from the Ballroom, and as he slowly compassed around the void, he said, “Roger that. I’m not going anywhere without the girl.” He lowered his head, illuminating the opening in the wall, trying to judge the distance. “But I’m going to need some help.”
He studied the gap between himself and the rock shelf, and after a couple of quick calculations, he continued, “I’m too high up to reach the girl. I’ll need to be lowered ten feet. And then I want you to swing the line so I can reach the wall. My best guess is that I’m about forty feet away from the opening. From your position facing the hole, swing the line left to right.”
Nick waited for a response and then he said, “Do you copy?”
Back in the Ballroom, Lucas stepped up to Kylie and motioned for the radio, then held it up to his mouth and said, “We copy. Hang on, Nick. Give us a minute and we’ll get you over to the girl.”
* * * *
Five minutes later, Nick was swinging through the void, each pass bringing him closer and closer to the opening in the wall.
Lucas had attached a spring line to the rope, working it as far down as possible, giving him the leverage he needed to get Nick swinging on the line.
On his sixth pass, Nick was just able to get the toes of his boots on the rock shelf below the opening, but he was already swinging back through the open darkness before he had a chance to secure himself.
He swung back toward the wall and the opening loomed once more. His boots dropped onto the ledge, he thrust an arm out, and he locked his fingers onto the lip of the opening, pulling himself forward and righting himself on the shelf, his heart jackhammering in his chest all the while.
Jesus, it worked. He gulped a lungful of air, fished up the radio and yelled, “Hold up! Hold the rope!” After a couple more breaths, he said, “I’m there. I’m at the opening.”
As his heart slowed, he heard Lucas say, “Roger that. Standing by.”
Nick stepped sideways and positioned himself directly in front of the opening, then leaned forward and flooded the fissure with his helmet lamp.
The opening was about ten feet high and no wider than his shoulders, but it looked big enough for him to squeeze into.
Nick grabbed for the radio and was about to call for more slack in the rope when he suddenly remembered the rappelling device on his harness. He double-checked his footing, reached down, and eased the rope, giving him enough play to enter the fissure.
With the tail of the rope dangling over the shelf, he rotated his body sideways and slipped into the opening. Poking his head forward, he saw that the fissure went back five feet and then the ceiling plunged and the opening doglegged, blocking his view.
The girl has to be in here, Nick thought. Maybe she was stuck, wedged out of sight and unable to move. But there was no way he was going to be able to squeeze past that turn in back. Shit.
He slid forward as far as possible, pointed his helmet light at the rear of the fissure, and called out to Molly.
“Molly, can you hear me?”
He waited. Nothing—just silence. He called her name again, “Molly…Molly, listen honey, you’ve got to come to me. I can’t get to you. The opening is too narrow.”
There was no response – and then he heard a moaning sound that turned to sobs. A moment after that, a girl’s face appeared at the rear of the opening, her cheeks streaked with dirt and grime.
Molly.
Nick reached forward, extending his arms as far as possible and calling to her. “Molly, give me your hands. Just take my hands. I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise. Come on, I’m going to take you back to Miss Sinclair.”
When she didn’t make a move toward him, he said, “Are you hurt? Can you move?” But she didn’t have to say anything; Nick could see it in her eyes. Fear.
Molly stared at him, and after a long moment, she began to shake her head. She was afraid to come out.
Nick inched forward and said, “Molly, give me your hands. I won’t let you fall.”
Tears welled up in Molly’s eyes and streaked down her dirt-caked cheeks. Ever so slowly, she inched forward, and then two arms reached up, and she was in Nick’s arms, clinging onto his neck for all she was worth.
“I’ve got you,” Nick said, giving her a hug. “You’re safe now.”
Nick pulled her up and shuffled backwards until they were in a sitting position. With Molly’s face buried in his chest, he asked her, “Are you hurt anywhere?” He glanced down and saw some cuts and scrapes on her legs. “How about your legs, honey? Are your legs okay? Can you stand?”
Molly raised her head and looked at Nick, but didn’t respond right away. “I’m okay,” she said. Then she added, “I think.”
Nick smiled and gave her a hug. He grabbed the radio, and in a calm voice he said, “I’ve got the girl. I’ve got Molly.”
Kylie’s voice burst out of the radio. “Thank God! Nick, is she okay? Is Molly hurt?”
“She’s okay. She has a few cuts and scrapes, but amazingly, that’s all.”
“Molly, honey, I know you’re there with Mr. Walker. Just do what he says. He’s going to get you out of there.”
Five minutes later, Nick and Molly were perched on the rock shelf, ready to be hoisted up. Nick took the end of a nylon strap that he had wrapped around Molly’s waist, and as he clipped it to the belay strap on his harness, Molly pointed down, to beneath the rock ledge, and tried to pull away.
“It’s okay,” Nick said, trying to reassure her. “I won’t let you fall, I promise.” He tugged on the nylon strap. “See?”
Before Molly had a chance to protest, Nick raised the radio to his mouth and said, “Okay, bring us up in five. Swinging out now.”
Nick bent, wrapped Molly in his arms, and said, “Okay, hang on, honey, we’re going to swing out into the opening, and when we stop, they’re going to hoist us up.”
Molly squirmed and shook her head, trying to break free, trying to stop Nick from leaving the safety of the fissure.
Ignoring her, Nick tightened his grip, and as he stepped off the shelf he said, “Hold on.”
They dropped off the shelf and the rope swung out, but instead of sweeping into the void, the line was jerked tight, and Nick and Molly spun in a violent one-eighty.
What the hell?
Thinking the line was hung up on something, Nick snapped his head down, letting his eyes trace along the line, and there, right below the shelf, clutching the end of the rope, was the creature, its alien eyes fixed on them.
The creature twisted its spatula-shaped head, sizing up its next meal. Saliva welled in its mouth and streamed between its razor-sharp teeth.
Oh shit.
Molly screamed and began to climb, clawing her way up Nick’s chest and over his face to the rope above.
“Molly!” Nick shouted, hauling her back down. “No!” He clamped an arm around her, holding her tight, and then using his free hand in concert with his legs, he began to pull and bounce the rope, trying to break the creature’s grip.
When it was obvious that wasn’t going to work, Nick grabbed the radio and keyed the mike, but just as he was about to call up top and tell them to pull them up now, the creature released its grip on the wall, and the three of them went sweeping into the inky void.
* * * *
In the Ballroom, Emmett felt the line jump in his hands. He snapped his head down and saw the rope begin to stretch.
A second after that, there was a loud bang, and the pulley at the end of the cable exploded, sending metal parts flying through the air like shrapnel from a roadside bomb.
“Get back!” Lucas yelled. “Get back from the rope!”
As everyone scrambled to get clear, they heard a loud grunting sound.
Emmett.
He grunted again. The pain was unbearable. What the hell was going on? Then he saw the carabineer brake fail and felt the coils around his waist constrict. Emmett thought he was about to be cut in two, and then, without warning, he was yanked off of his feet, sliding across the chamber’s floor toward the opening.
“Emmett!” Lucas shouted. Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on down there?
Pumping his legs as hard has he could, Lucas sprinted forward, and just before he reached Emmett, he launched himself horizontally. He hit the ground, skidded on his chest, and as Emmett skidded past, he dropped his arms across Emmett’s legs and clamped onto his ankles.
Now both of them were being dragged toward the opening.
“Help! Help us!” Lucas yelled, fighting to hang on to Emmett.
Ray and Major Atwood were already on their way when Lucas yelled, and as they skidded across the floor, Ray and the major dropped across Lucas’s legs and dug their boots in, trying to stop the rope.
By the time Kylie and Slade arrived to help, it was all over. Emmett’s body had slammed into the boulder that supported the cable and then had been wedged beneath it.
The coils around Emmett’s waist were yanked up, crisscrossing his chest, and then there was the horrible sound of snapping bones as his ribcage collapsed.
Emmett’s eyes went wide with shock. He stared up at Lucas and whispered, “Oh Lord,” as blood filled his mouth and spilled across his chin. A second after that, his eyes closed, and he was dead.
“No!” Lucas shouted. “Emmett, no. God, no…”
“Do something!” Slade demanded. But there was nothing to be done.
Chapter 38
Molly screamed. Her hands were ripped from the line as it jolted to a halt stopped by Emmett’s body, both of them left hanging at crazy angles, Nick’s harness the only thing keeping them from plunging to their deaths.
“Help me!” Molly screamed as she hung upside down below Nick.
With his head swimming and the world tilting, Nick gripped the belay loop. He rolled his body up, got a hand on the rope, and then with his free hand he pulled Molly up, clutching her tightly to his chest.
“Don’t look down,” he said, cradling her in the crook of his arm. “Listen to me. Here’s what I want you to do: I’m going to push you up, and I want you to climb the rope until you’re just above my head. And then I want you to hold on using your hands and legs.” Nick pushed a wedge of hair out of her face. “Can you do that for me, honey?”
After a short pause, Molly sniffed and nodded her head.
“Good girl.” Nick moved the carabineer at the end of Molly’s safety line from the belay loop to the rope so she’d be able to climb up.
Then they both felt it. The rope. It began to move. No, bounce.
Nick looked down. The alien beast was moving. It was coming up the rope! It hissed as it rose on the line, pulling itself up with its powerful arms.
“Molly, climb now!” Nick thrust her up, pushing her with a hand, wincing as she kicked off of his shoulders.
She scrambled up the rope until she was hanging just a few inches above Nick’s head. Gripping the line with her hands and clamping it with her legs, she held on with all her might, giving Nick the chance he needed to deal with the advancing creature.
Nick looked down. The creature was still coming, its eyes glowing like burning coals as it hauled itself up, hand over hand.
Nick reached down to a pocket, looking for his knife, then realized the pocket was closed. Zipped tight. He fumbled with the zipper, found the pull, and yanked, but it wouldn’t slide. The damn thing was stuck!
The creature was coming. It was right there. Ten feet… five feet… It advanced another foot, and then a scaly arm shot up and a claw clamped around the toe of Nick’s boot, slicing into the leather upper.
Nick kicked hard, breaking the creature’s grip. He tore at his pocket, the zipper split wide, and he ripped out the knife, snapping the blade open with a flick of his thumb. He reached down between his legs and began to furiously saw the rope.
The creature hissed. It seemed to sense what was happening. It reached up, and just as its razor-sharp claws were about to rake Nick’s legs, the rope frayed and then parted, and the creature was suddenly freefalling through the darkness, the severed line still clutched in its hand.
With his lungs heaving, both physically and emotionally spent, Nick watched as the alien’s eyes grew faint and then finally winked out as it disappeared into the void.
Then he heard a tiny voice above his head say, “I’m slipping…”
The next thing he knew, Molly’s feet were on his helmet and her legs were kicking. Just before she lost her grip and fell, Nick caught her around the waist and pulled her into his arms.
Gotcha!
“It’s okay. It’s gone. The creature’s gone.” Nick lowered his head, illuminating the severed line with the beam of his helmet lamp. “See? Gone.”
And then Kylie was on the radio: “Nick? Are you and Molly okay? Nick, are you all right?”
Nick scooped up the radio and keyed the mike. “Kylie, we’re okay. We’re both okay. It’s gone. The creature’s gone.”
“Thank God.” After a quick pause, she said, “Hang on, Nick—there’s been some trouble up here with the rope. Just hold tight. We’re going to get you up in a minute.”
Molly gave him a wide-eyed look and then began excitedly pointing at something.
Oh shit, was the first thing that shot through Nick’s mind. The creature—the goddamned thing had defied gravity and was on its way back.
Nick torqued his head in the direction of Molly’s arm, expecting the worst, expecting to see the creature, but instead, there, just above their position, the beam of his helmet lamp glinted off of something metallic.
A metal cage.
A lift.
With a flood of relief, he realized they’d found the access shaft.
Chapter 39
A half hour later, the group was reunited in the Ballroom, with the exception of Lucas, who had volunteered to go down the opening and rig a zip line to the access shaft.
Nick and Molly had been safely hoisted up and out of the void, and Emmett’s body had been covered and laid in a corner of the chamber to be retrieved after help arrived.
“It’s a miracle,” Kylie said as she knelt in a pool of light, bandaging a cut on Molly’s leg. “It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”
Molly reached out and touched the gleaming white bandage that covered her knee, then looked at Kylie and said, “I don’t know what happened. I heard a blast, and then I was falling, and when I woke up, I was inside the ground. Then I heard that thing—the creature. It was trying to come up the wall. It was awful. And then Mr. Walker was calling to me.”
“Well, I think you’re very brave,” Kylie said, wiping a smudge off of Molly’s cheek. “We’re going to get you out of here safe and sound. Promise.”
A short distance form Kylie and Molly, Nick knelt before a series of Kevlar straps he’d laid out on the ground and was busy mating each strap with a pair of carabineers, one at each end.
Hovering at Nick’s side, Ray held a flashlight, watching as he paired the carabineers to the straps, each becoming a makeshift trolley that they would use to lower themselves down the zip-line to the access shaft below.
“Tell me again,” Ray asked, “how exactly is this supposed to work?”
Before Nick had a chance to tell him what he had in mind, Slade and Major Atwood emerged from the darkness. Slade said, “Yes, Walker. I’d like to know the details, too.”
Nick looked up at Slade and the major. He grabbed one of the straps, rose to his feet, and held it up, making sure they could see the carabineers clipped to the ends.
“See this? One end clips to the climbing harness we’ll be wearing, and the other end clips to the line Lucas is anchoring in the airshaft. After we’re safely clipped to the rope, we climb on, and then, suspended by the trolley strap, we lower ourselves down the zip-line using our hands and legs to the shaft below. It’s steep, but it’s doable.” He panned his eyes around the group and said, “Any questions?”
