serialstory

"Charles? Where are you, come in! We've lost track of your signal. Come in, damn it. We can't track you anymore," Barbara shouted into the microphone.

Giving up, she turned to the lab technician present with her at the site's mobile command tent. "Jonn, do you have anything useful to add?"

He looked down at the ground for a moment considering his next words.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Rogers. He grabbed his bag and headed on down the Hole. I told him to wait, to wait for proper support and everything. But he just bolted. He had this pasty look on his face, as if he had been stripped of his soul or something. I have never seen him look that out of sorts before. One moment we're working on the soundings over there on the resonance machine, and the next he screams out something unintelligible and takes off."

He pointed at one of the high tech devices that occupied one corner of the tent - the glow from its display a deeply hypnotic dance. The newer device was experimental and had a fancy name for it, but everyone called it a Resonator; it was an attempt to replace the more traditional magnetometer and gravitometer.

"And? What does the data say? Anything?"

"Just what we already suspected: That there is a large pocket of space below the lowest portion of the Hole as it is. There is a cavern beneath the Hole."

"How big?"

"Really big. And empty."

"Damn it; we weren't supposed to attempt to break through into the main chamber until tomorrow morning."

"I know that, Doctor Rogers; but he just up and took off. He kept repeating: There must be one, there must be one; there can only be one, there can only be one. It's in the pit, it's in the pit; the final one, the final one. I swear to whatever deity you wish to name, he looked quite loony as he ran away."

"Jonn, quit playing around. I need raw info here, not silly dramatics." She walked over to the display and gave it a long, hard look. "What did Charles take with him?"

"His pack, a pick axe and about hundred and fifty feet of rope; a harness, too. The winch, of course is already positioned at the bottom of the Hole; flares, flash light. I don't know what else he might have picked up; that's just what I saw him with." His hands fluttered like butterflies.

"Alright, fine. Let's get this onto some semblance of order, than, shall we?"

"Uhm, sure! How?"

"Get a hold of Lauren and Phil. Tell them to meet me at the Hole. I'm going to see what Charles might have gotten himself into. I'm guessing we're going into the deep dark earlier than planned."

"Jonn! What's our com status?" Barbara demanded.

"We are good, Doctor. I've got solid readings on all three units that you have there. I have solid readings still being returned by the resonator - sorry, I can't help it. That's just what I like to call the Imaging System."

"Jonn, you're babbling. Snap out of it and stay focused."

"Yes, Doctor; I'll try."

"Good. Now do we have any kind of telemetry on Charles?"

"The only thing that I can confirm is that his transponder is working and that he is precisely below your location. The depth readings are coming back, odd. They don't make any sense whatsoever. I am confident that he is getting our transmissions, but he is either ignoring them or has turned off his com unit." Jonn busied himself checking and re-checking equipment, trying to account for anomalies.

"Roger that. Stay online, and keep recording our chatter. We may need to go through the tapes later. We're going down the Hole. We'll keep counting and reporting our depths until we hit the bottom." She glanced at her fellow geologists, Lauren and Phil. Both nodded with confidence.

"Affirmative. Copy that, Jonn out."

"Alrighty; here we go, ready or not. Let's go down into the Hole."

One by one, the three geologists lowered down into the deep shaft. On the surface, it was loud with the wind and natural sounds of the plains. But, after a few minutes of descent, the volume rapidly diminished and was replaced by the random rattle of small rocks skittering against outcrops and the steady breathing of the team. The brisk tone of Doctor Rogers rhyming off the depth as they continued on was a metronome to their progress.

Phil, who had taken point, pulled out a flare, popped the igniter and dropped it to the ground below. He didn't watch it fall, he merely continued his descent. Lauren and Barbara close behind him.

Soon, he could see the flare’s harsh spluttering glow, lying at the bottom of the shaft. Galvanized by knowing they were close, he increased his rate of descent. He let go the rope and dropped to the ground with a gentle thud. He looked up at his partners, gauging their progress, the light off of his helmet showering them with brightness.

"Alright, ladies, not far now!" He hollered good-naturedly.

"Yeah, that's fine, Phil. Make sure ya get a good look at me bum while yer down there, OK hun?" Lauren quipped.

"Already well acquainted with it, mah dear. But thankee for acknowledging it!" He grinned as he set about inspecting the lower area of the shaft. He cleared the flare and what little tools that Charles had left carelessly about. Phil frowned at that. Charles was a neat freak. He wouldn't abandon things like this.

Lauren was down next, settling easily to the ground. Barbara followed quickly after. The landing was much wider than the shaft that led to it. Approximately sixteen feet square and easy to accommodate a few people and equipment.

In the corner off to the side, there was a hulking piece of machinery. The winch was of solid heft and could handle a thousand pounds. Currently, it had been deployed to the fullest extent of its rope. The auto cutoff had activated and it was quiet, dormant, waiting expectantly; lurking in the darkness like some mischievous creature.

"How long do you think he's been down there?" Phil asked in hushed tones, his words echoed like in a tomb.

"Not too long. Maybe twenty, thirty minutes tops. If he took his time and hacked at the opening with any degree of care, that is. What do you think of ..?" Barbara gestured at the winch.

"Well, frankly, that puppy has a good five hundred feet of very strong rope on it. From what you've told me, Charles had an additional hunnert and fifty to tie on to it. I'm assumin' from what ya've told me from Jonn, that the cavern beneath us is deeper than that, yes?"

Barbara nodded in the low light. "Then, I have no idea what he's planning on accomplishing. It won't get him down there any further than that. Basically, he should be swinging at the end of a rope in a very large open space, which, in and of itself, shouldn't be there."

"Well then, let's take a look, shall we?"

"Aye."

They moved closer to the opening that had been hacked out of the rock. Originally, they had drilled a hole only four inches wide in order to get some core samples. That was when they discovered that there was dead space below. The high altitude scans, the satellite imaging, the seismic readings, all indicated solid bedrock below, with a good potential of oil below that. Everything pointed to black gold. That hole, however, told a different story.

The hole now was eerily fractured, reminiscent of something trying to claw its way out, rather than the frantic excavation of a geologist of some report. Charles had managed to hack out a hole roughly two feet wide to a foot and a half. This new addition to the shaft continued down through another five feet of solidly compacted sedimentary rock.

"Man; that took a lot of work. I didn't think Charles would have that in him." Lauren said it softly, not wanting to make much noise.

"Yeah; go figure. How's the tension in the line? Is he still attached to it? Can we get a light down there? Anything reflective? Can you see the light from his hard hat?" Barbara spilled out. Nervousness for her friend mixed with concern about the continued status of the project.

"Slow down, slow down. One thing at a time." Phil reached over to the rope, pulling on it gently, swinging it one way and then another with tiny movements. Staring down into the hole, he brought to bear the full beam of light from his hard hat's lamp. Nothing pierced the inky darkness below the lower edge of the hole. He couldn’t even see a trace of Charles' light.

Phil reached into his pocket and withdrew another flare. Lauren put a hand up and shook her head, warning of the potential error of such a choice. Natural gas pockets would not mix well with flares.

"Well, the line still has tension so he's either tied to it or else he's managed to attach a sack of potatoes to the end. I can't see past nothing in the hole." He chuckled at the ridiculousness. Both Lauren and Barbara's expressions were painted with anxiety. Phil acknowledged their concern.

"Barbara, how would like me to proceed? Activate the winch and bring up whatever's attached to the line? Or do we move to another strategy?" He used his most professional voice, the one that he reserved for serious discussions and honored colleagues. It had the desired effect. Barbara shook herself awake and focused on his words.

"Yes, Phil. Pull it up. Let's see what he's gotten himself into."

He reached over to the machine, sliding past Lauren to do so, and flipped a switch to change the direction of the winch. Then he turned the power on and carefully cranked the handle so that the rope would wind at a slow pace. The machine groaned into life and began retrieving its connection back from the depths below. As it did so, Phil kept watch, occasionally guiding the rope so that it wouldn't catch on the edge.

"Well, ladies; this will take a little bit of time. Why don't you fan out and check to see if there is anything of note here as to why he went off like this?" Grunting, he manhandled the line again into alignment.

"Right." Lauren moved back towards the shaft and looked around the sparse space. She picked up tools and moved them into orderly storage on the far side of the chamber.

Barbara checked in with base camp. "Jonn? Can you read me? Are you receiving our audio signals?"

"Doctor Rogers. Yes, I’m receiving your signal. It is faint, but clear. I still show no change in readings. Everything still says there should be tons and tons of rock just below your position."

"Roger that. I was just checking our connection. Keep recording."

"Affirmative. Also of note, the sun has started to rise and the camp is now fully awake and ready to get to work. Is there anything that you would like me to start?"

"Yes; see if you can get a connection with Randolph at the head office."

"Are you sure, Doctor Rogers?" There was an uncomfortable moment. Phil turned and stared at her.

"Yes, I'm positive. Something is not right here, and HO needs to have clear info on the situation prior to worst case scenarios."

"Affirmative, Doctor Rogers." There was the crackle of static and then silence.

"Well, nothing to really report around this lovely little section of the armpit of the world.” Lauren said. “Tools are the only things that were left down here. It’s all stuff that we had left earlier in the day in preparation for today's fun."

Barbara just nodded at her blankly. Lauren continued putting things back in order.

"Well, ladies; it shouldn't be long now. Another minute or two, and this puppy will be hauled up." Phil kept his focus on the rope, preventing any chance of mishap. He gazed down the hole, but still couldn’t see any change in light or movement. However, there was still weight at the end of the rope; that was a good sign. Up came the last of the main heavy-duty rope and he could see the tie off between the added lengths. Briefly, he gazed at the knot combining the two and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Phil had worried that in his haste, Charles might have tied them together poorly.

"Only another hunnert feet ta go, ladies. Won’t be long now."

Barbara looked hungrily down into the hole, thinking of all the things she would say to Charles that might make an impact on his reckless mind. She couldn't nail down anything specifically that would really work, but felt that a major dressing down was definitely in order. She watched the rope continue to coil into the winch, and slowly, foot-by-foot, drag its cargo up.

"Phil, do you see anything in that darkness? Anything moving?" The drone, the waiting was driving Barbara into a state of monomania.

"Uhm, no. Just a big soup of blackness. I'd like ta really know what happened to Charles' lamp. It should be showing light by now."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

The top strap of the Charles' rigging finally crested the darkness, small shadows lapping away from the new shape of ascent.

Quickly, Charles came into view, the lamp on his hard hat dead. He shivered visibly, while his eyes remained closed. Clasped tightly in his arms, he held an odd object for a geologist to see at the bottom of a new dig: It looked like a book, one of significant age and testament to events dire. Even as his body was pulled higher out of the hole, and Phil swung the armature over to the cavern floor where he could lower Charles to the ground, he remained catatonic.

"Charles! Charles, talk to me!" Barbara spoke passionately. Charles shook violently once again, and his glassy eyes cracked open. His gaze was unfocused, not quite connected to his mind. Slowly, he rounded on Barbara's face, and recognition dawned. A little bit of color returned to his cheeks.

"Barbara?"

"Yes, Charles, it's me. And Phil and Lauren. We're here, you're safe now."

"No, not safe. Never again safe! We have to get out of here. Now. We have to get as far away as we can. Something bad is going to happen. Something really, really bad. We have to go!" He tried to get up, but clumsily fell down. Phil grabbed and stabilized him as Barbara began disengaging Charles from the rig.

"No, leave him in it. We'll tie it off to the rope for the main shaft and pull him up. He's in no shape to climb it now. Lauren, go now, straight up." Phil spoke with urgency.

"Charles, we're going to tie you off to the end of the rope here. We're going to climb up ahead of you. Can you hang on long enough to do that?" Barbara stared deeply into his eyes and wondered what was staring back.

"Yes, yes, I can hold on. It won't matter much though, of this I am sure. There's something evil below this cavern. Hurry, can we go now?"

"Yes, Charles. But what happened down there?"

"I don't know. But that wasn't a place of this world. There was an altar with this book on it, along with this…” He held out an ancient knife. “I think that's blood on it, but it's old, so very old. I'm sorry, but I don't have all of my mind with me right now, but, the only other thing that I'm sure of, is that … It Comes!"

"Clear, Barbara. He's tied off. Lauren should be near the top by now. Come on. If we want to get him to help, we need to move quickly."

"Yes, Phil. Go. I'm right behind you. Charles, only a few minutes, okay? And then we'll have you topside and we can get you some food and drink. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, sounds great. Will there be milk and cookies?"

"I thought you hated sweets."

"Naw, but I have a craving."

"Ok, well, let's get going then."

"Sure, sure, sure, sure …” Charles drifted off into unconsciousness. “It comes - from beneath, from the ground, from the pages written down. It Comes!"