disappeared around the nearest corner, a bullet cracking the rock near his head.
Onethian, the example set for him, follows suit. This is too much for him. Physical dangers that he can understand are fine; he’ll mix it with anyone. But this… he can’t put a handle on it at all. Onethian, a traveler of much spine but little imagination, is out of here.
* * *
Bryce and Reina, descending into the caverns, marveled at what they saw. They gazed in silence, their mouths hanging open at the scale of the ruins.
The Senator’s reaction is more specific. “Oh,” he says, recognizing the style. “Nefilim… It has to be Nefilim.”
He wishes he could tell the two locals about the Nefilim, and how their dark reputation has spread through the furthest reaches of space and time. But then, he thinks to himself (knowing that he is wrong), these are just old ruins, dead, cold, and there is nothing here except dust and dissolution. There’s nothing at all for these people to worry about, and certainly nothing for him to worry about...
* * *
Meanwhile, Bark, Thead, Sahrin and Kali are feeling strange. Something is happening.
A wave passes through them all. They might not understand that anything has changed if the General was not staring at them. They have shifted frequencies, they realize instantly.
They are on the physical plane. Unheard of…
* * *
Suddenly, they were there…
The General saw four strangely dressed and confused people snap into existence a few feet from him. Everyone stood still, forgetting for a few seconds about the Nefilim.
The General came to his senses first. He turned his gun on the group. If he hadn’t witnessed their unusual arrival, he would have killed them straight away.
“I don’t know who you are, but right now it doesn’t matter. All of you stay exactly where you are. I’ll kill anyone who either interferes or moves. Got it?”
Bark nodded and said nothing.
The General took his phone from his belt and keyed Mount Weather. Screw waiting for anything. The small screen came to life as the UN logo appeared, and then faded away to reveal the face of the Secretary-General.
The fat face was contorted with rage. “What the hell is going on there? The monitors are down, we’re getting no feedback at all from your site. And the process is starting ahead of time at the other sites! It’s chaos; we’ll be lucky if we can maintain control. What the fuck have you done?”
“My hand was forced, Secretary-General,” the General said in his best voice. “The seal was breached as planned, but we couldn’t close it off. Virtually everyone here is down, in some sort of coma. The creatures have arrived here, what about the other...?”
“Yes, they have.” The Secretary was sweating. “We’ll have to make the best of it. Do they have what they need?”
“They have the two sacrifices. We were extremely lucky; there was a woman here, one of the scientists. They’ve taken her and a private. Is everything set in the other sites?”
“Yes, no thanks to you. You’re pushing your luck on this one, General. But we’ll discuss that later. Don’t screw up again.”
Shit . “I’ve got four uninvited guests here,” he replied. “Are they anything to do with you?”
“No. If they’re not with you, I don’t know anything about them. Kill them.” The Secretary-General closed the connection.
The General pointed his gun at the group.
“Now that wouldn’t be a good idea at all,” said Bark, not sure how far their new corporeality went, and how susceptible to bullets they would be.
“You might well think that,” the General replied, and shot Kali.
Their physical status was established beyond all doubt. Kali was thrown against the wall and slid to the ground, thoroughly and completely dead, a small hole in his chest and a much larger one in his back. Blood spread into a pool on the ground beneath him.
Bark grabbed Sahrin by the arm and pulled her around the same corner that had
Onethian, the example set for him, follows suit. This is too much for him. Physical dangers that he can understand are fine; he’ll mix it with anyone. But this… he can’t put a handle on it at all. Onethian, a traveler of much spine but little imagination, is out of here.
* * *
Bryce and Reina, descending into the caverns, marveled at what they saw. They gazed in silence, their mouths hanging open at the scale of the ruins.
The Senator’s reaction is more specific. “Oh,” he says, recognizing the style. “Nefilim… It has to be Nefilim.”
He wishes he could tell the two locals about the Nefilim, and how their dark reputation has spread through the furthest reaches of space and time. But then, he thinks to himself (knowing that he is wrong), these are just old ruins, dead, cold, and there is nothing here except dust and dissolution. There’s nothing at all for these people to worry about, and certainly nothing for him to worry about...
* * *
Meanwhile, Bark, Thead, Sahrin and Kali are feeling strange. Something is happening.
A wave passes through them all. They might not understand that anything has changed if the General was not staring at them. They have shifted frequencies, they realize instantly.
They are on the physical plane. Unheard of…
* * *
Suddenly, they were there…
The General saw four strangely dressed and confused people snap into existence a few feet from him. Everyone stood still, forgetting for a few seconds about the Nefilim.
The General came to his senses first. He turned his gun on the group. If he hadn’t witnessed their unusual arrival, he would have killed them straight away.
“I don’t know who you are, but right now it doesn’t matter. All of you stay exactly where you are. I’ll kill anyone who either interferes or moves. Got it?”
Bark nodded and said nothing.
The General took his phone from his belt and keyed Mount Weather. Screw waiting for anything. The small screen came to life as the UN logo appeared, and then faded away to reveal the face of the Secretary-General.
The fat face was contorted with rage. “What the hell is going on there? The monitors are down, we’re getting no feedback at all from your site. And the process is starting ahead of time at the other sites! It’s chaos; we’ll be lucky if we can maintain control. What the fuck have you done?”
“My hand was forced, Secretary-General,” the General said in his best voice. “The seal was breached as planned, but we couldn’t close it off. Virtually everyone here is down, in some sort of coma. The creatures have arrived here, what about the other...?”
“Yes, they have.” The Secretary was sweating. “We’ll have to make the best of it. Do they have what they need?”
“They have the two sacrifices. We were extremely lucky; there was a woman here, one of the scientists. They’ve taken her and a private. Is everything set in the other sites?”
“Yes, no thanks to you. You’re pushing your luck on this one, General. But we’ll discuss that later. Don’t screw up again.”
Shit . “I’ve got four uninvited guests here,” he replied. “Are they anything to do with you?”
“No. If they’re not with you, I don’t know anything about them. Kill them.” The Secretary-General closed the connection.
The General pointed his gun at the group.
“Now that wouldn’t be a good idea at all,” said Bark, not sure how far their new corporeality went, and how susceptible to bullets they would be.
“You might well think that,” the General replied, and shot Kali.
Their physical status was established beyond all doubt. Kali was thrown against the wall and slid to the ground, thoroughly and completely dead, a small hole in his chest and a much larger one in his back. Blood spread into a pool on the ground beneath him.
Bark grabbed Sahrin by the arm and pulled her around the same corner that had
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