Chapter Twenty One

 

Fireworks of the Ages

 

Hiram put the car into reverse and backed down the highway at high speed.

“What are you doing?” Williams yelled. “Are you mad?”

“I’ve just had an inspiration,” Hammy said. “Based on what you told me about this bug we’re after, our answer is over there.”

“What do you mean?”

“That truck, if it’s full of gas, I’m going to hijack it.”

“Gas, it’s a petrol tanker,” she said.

Bernard smiled. “I’ll interpret again. Gas is American for petrol and truck is a lorry in the same vernacular.”

“Thanks, Bernie,” Hiram said. “I’m sure the good doctor could work that out for herself.” He wheeled the car round and drove into the forecourt of the filling station. “You two stay there. If anything goes wrong, you’ll have to finish the mission on your own, okay? Keep your fingers crossed.”

With that he jumped out of the car and walked over to the office with his PXI still on his head. In the office stood the station attendant and the fuel truck driver having a friendly conversation.

“That your rig?” Hammy asked, butting in.

“Certainly is, mate,” the driver said.

“Any gas … er … petrol in it?”

“Certainly is, she’s full of quality high octane.” The driver was staring at Hammy’s unusual hat with a puzzled expression on his face. “In contact with Mars, are yah?”

Quietly Hiram pulled the revolver from his pocket. “No excitement,” he said, “and no one will get hurt.” He waved it menacingly. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

The attendant pressed the button on the till allowing the cash drawer to open. “It’s all yours, mate, just don’t get violent,” he said, putting his hands in the air.

“I don’t want your bloody money. I want the gas in that truck. Here,” he said, pulling out his wallet with his free hand. “I’m not a thief, but I must have that truck and the load of gas it’s carrying.” He handed his wallet to the driver. “My name and address is in there. Let’s say I’m just making a loan for the good of the country, okay?”

The driver nodded. “Whatever you say, mate,” he said, backing away out of the potential danger zone.

“Is there anybody else here?” Hiram asked.

“No,” the lad replied.

“Well, I don’t give a shit what you boys do, as long as you give me time to get away from here.” With that he ripped the phone off the counter, breaking the wires. “Come on, lads, in that back room. I’m going to lock you in and then I’m going to borrow your truck. I don’t want to hurt anyone, so please cooperate and no heroes.”

The attendant and the truck driver walked from the office into the back room. The key was still in the lock.

“Where’s the keys to the truck?” Hammy asked.

The driver handed them over. “Here, mate, she’s all yours.”

Hammy closed the door and locked it. “I’ll shoot the first one to come out,” he yelled.

Quickly he ran back to his companions. “Everything alright?” Bernie asked.

“Sure,” Hammy replied. “Let’s get this wagon train rolling.” Hiram jumped into the driver’s seat of the big rig and started the engine.

Minutes later they were once again hurtling down the road towards Craig, this time armed with more than enough high-octane fuel. It was obvious that he intended to use the fuel to create the heat necessary to kill the invading alien. Hammy thought it would be a fine back-up plan. His main purpose was to use the fuel to prevent any maintenance on the stop fire. There was a feeling of magic, a power lust, just holding the steering wheel of that big rig, bombing down the highway at breakneck speed, with all that liquid energy slopping around behind.

Hammy had decided that no one was going to stop him – not police or roadblocks. With all that weight and power at his fingertips he would reach his destination. For reassurance he felt for the gun in his pocket. His hands were sweating and he could hear the pounding of his heart over the roar of the engine. A glance in the rear-view mirror reassured him that Bernard was close at hand.

Strangely, without incident and with no traffic on the normally busy road they made excellent time. The village of Craig looked deserted as the big rig thundered in. Dangerously and barely slowing, Hiram hauled on the wheel, pulling the vehicle onto the dusty road beside the church. The sky was filled with clouds, but normal Scottish rain cloud. It began to rain and rain hard.

The big truck almost filled the mud lane as it thundered towards the trees. From the high driving position Hammy could see better and it gave him a false feeling of confidence and strength. The vehicle brushed through the wet trees and entered the circular drive in front of Craig Manor. Hammy was excited – he had made the trip in good time, it was still daylight and the enemy had not completed its defences.

Wheeling round the circle, he brought the rig to a halt, pointing towards the trees. Quickly he put it in reverse and backed it into the wreckage of the old pithead. The flimsy, scorched structure presented no obstacle to the big truck. Satisfied that he had backed far enough, he leapt out of the cab and ran to the rear of the tanker. It wasn’t quite where he wanted it. By the time Hammy had backed it up another 3 metres, Bernard and Williams arrived; both were wearing oilskins to protect them from the inclement weather. Hammy shut off the engine and again jumped out of the vehicle. Brushing the water from his face, he ran to the back end and opened the drain valve. The petroleum gushed out of the 10 centimetre pipe and poured onto the ground, running and cascading down into the mineshaft.

“What are you doing?” Bernard yelled. “Are you mad, Hammy?”

“Insurance,” Hammy said. “No one’s going to do any repairs with 40,000 litres of gasoline washing round their feet.” He took off and began running to the old manor house; Bernie and Doctor Williams followed.

Inside the tunnel that led to the kitchen, Hammy stopped to wipe the water from his face and glasses again. “You all got your stuff?” he questioned excitedly.

“Yes,”

“Yes.”

“Good, now you realize this is not altruism,” Hiram said. “This is revenge for 400 years of death and destruction. We’ll go down here, sort out that monster then try to get these cocoons out. There may be living people in them.”

Bernie nodded. “What about the petrol, aren’t you going to light it or something?”

“Sure, but not till we leave, okay? I really don’t want to hurt anyone that the bug is controlling, but I will if I have to.”

At that moment the laird came walking up the dimly lit passage. Hammy quickly checked his revolver and pointed it at the disgusting apparition. Doctor Williams was shocked and horrified by the sight of the terrible thing.

“Welcome,” it said.

“Is your boss down there?” Hammy asked.

“I see you have brought us another offering to replace the one you removed. The master will be very pleased.”

“No, you pile of shit. We’re here to kill you and that garbage down there.” With that Hammy fired and hit the thing square in the head, though it seemed to have little effect.

“Your time has come,” the laird said, ignoring the shot.

Hammy fired again and again. It took all six bullets before the ugly blood sausage collapsed to the dirt floor of the tunnel. The air reeked with the smell of cordite and the smoke shaded the already dim light. Doctor Williams stood, transfixed by the horrors she had just witnessed. Bernie took it all in his stride as though it was a normal occurrence after what had happened over the last few days.

Quickly Hammy reloaded his weapon, though he knew it was of no use against the master. “Come on,” he said, “down this way.” He led the way down the tunnel to the kitchen, where the master sat on its pedestal seemingly unaware of the danger it may be in.

The unrealistic sight of the huge insect-like creature stopped Doctor Williams dead in her tracks. For several seconds she stared totally transfixed by the monster. Bernard had never actually seen the master before; he, too, was mesmerized by the bewildering sight of it.

Hammy stood in front of the alien waving his pistol. “I’ve come for you, you bastard,” he shouted.

The thing seemingly didn’t even notice him, but with eyes like that it was difficult to know just exactly where it was looking.

Suddenly Doctor Williams shouted. “Look out! behind you.”

Hiram turned in time to see a second blood sausage attacking him with a claymore in its filthy hand. Instinctively Hammy fired. The fourth or fifth shot killed it, but the sword found its mark, piercing Hammy’s abdomen. He was seized with pain and surprise. Blood gushed from his stomach and staggered his mind into confusion. The situation felt surreal. Turning to face the master he fell to his knees, the squeezy bottle of hydrofluoric in his hand. With his near-last conscious effort he squeezed the bottle. The pain melted into a dull numbness as he watched the stream of death splash on the unearthly creature.

“No,” Doctor Williams yelled. “Not yet.” She tore her PXI off and flung it on the floor. “I am your friend,” she screamed at the beast.

For a moment or two there was peace and quiet. Hammy watched in helpless agony. Suddenly the monster spat a giant spitball at him. It felt sticky and smelled sweet, but it seemed to ease the pain. The lights dimmed and darkness gradually prevailed over his consciousness.

 

***

 

Slowly the light seeped back into the world. There seemed a great peace, a silence and a reverence. Hiram felt that someone had left the room. His eyes were focused, though every muscle in his body failed to respond. He managed to look around the room simply by rolling his eyes. The room was white and sterile and unfriendly. There appeared to be soft sounds in the background, though none made any sense.

An official-looking person came into the room. The newcomer was a woman dressed in a military uniform. She spoke, but the words sounded foreign, nothing she said was comprehensible. Suddenly Hammy felt gripped by fear. Painfully he used one hand to feel for the PXI on his head. There was nothing but hair. His mind suddenly filled with turmoil and fear. Desperately he tried to search his memory for a clue to this new situation.

The woman left and two white-coated males came in the room. They did not look friendly at all, with stern-looking faces. A female nurse came in wheeling a trolley. She took a very large hypodermic from it. It became obvious that Hiram was the target. The two male orderlies held him from struggling as the woman pumped the fluid into his veins.

Hammy expected to pass out and perhaps pass from this life into the next, but instead he began to feel relaxed. The intense emotion and excitement melted away. He began to feel at ease. The pins-and-needles feeling in his limbs slowly subsided and the sounds become comprehensible. There was music in the air and the sound of people in the background.

“How do you feel, Mr Kawalski?” the white-coated lady asked.

“Great, I think,” he said softly, listening to the sound of his own voice. “Thank you, nurse.”

“That’s doctor,” she corrected.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Where am I? What happened?”

“All will be explained to you shortly. You have a visitor.” She pressed a button at the foot of the bed and wound Hammy into the sitting position.

“Who was that military person with the foreign language?” he asked.

The doctor smiled. “Don’t worry yourself. Your visitor will be here in a few minutes.”

The two heavies and the lady doctor left the room. Hammy felt better than he had for a long time. Suddenly the door opened and Bernard walked in with a bunch of flowers in his hand.

“Hi,” Hammy wheezed.

“Well, it most certainly is nice to hear from you at last. I thought you were going to shuffle off this mortal coil.” Bernard sat on the chair beside the bed. He leaned over and placed the flowers in the vase that was already occupied by some other floral arrangement. “Welcome back, dear Hammy.”

“Where have I been?”

Bernard laughed. “Nirvana, I suspect.”

“Where’s that?”

“Do you feel alright?”

“Sure. What happened, Bernie? Where the hell am I? How did I get here? What happened to that bug?”

“Well, you do have a lot of questions. This is the Ely Military Hospital. You were in the Edinburgh Infirmary, but they had you transferred here. They have all the secret doodahs here, you know.”

“What are you talking about, Bernie? For the sake of –”

“Alright, alright, calm down.”

“Bernie, where’s Williams? Where’s Barbara? What the hell happened?”

“I took a flat here in Ely so that I could be close to you. You’ll never guess who paid for it.”

“No, no, I wouldn’t, you tell me.”

“Well, it was Professor John Willoden. The Cambridge professor whose house we broke into.”

“Why?”

“Gratitude. We released him from the bondage applied by that monster up in Scotland. When you blew up the moragnus he and hundreds of others were released. Did you know that Commander Willox was the first on the scene when the effects of the moragnus wore off?”

“Bernie, I don’t have a clue what the hell you are talking about.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll start at the beginning.”

“Great.”

“Do you remember when you shot the housekeeper of the laird’s?”

“No, not really.”

“Remember, Doctor Williams called you – she said to look out or something. You turned round and shot the housekeeper, alas, but it was too late.”

“Oh, you mean that blood sausage was the housekeeper?”

“Yes. Well at that point things went wrong. Doctor Williams tried to communicate with the master. She removed her PXI and protected you by standing in front of you. An amazing thing happened. She was wearing those wet oilskins and the master’s spitballs bounced off. It also spat at me. I had wet rainwear on and it bounced off me, too. A most amazing accidental defence, serendipity you could say.”

“Get on with it Bernie.”

“Well, to cut a long story short, it took her over. It took her brain over completely. I was terrified. I thought she would kill me. As quickly as I could I emptied my bottle of DBD over the master’s face. It most certainly did not like that at all. It terrified me. I could hear it howling. Did you know that thing could hop? It jumped off that pedestal, causing some of the ceiling to collapse. With a noise like a herd of elephants it left, travelling farther down the passage.”

“So you killed it?”

“Please listen. I was too terrified to follow and the poor doctor had fainted or something. There was blood seeping from her nose and ears. I thought that terrible creature had done her serious damage. I was terrified – that’s when Commander Willox turned up.”

“Who’s Commander Willox, for crying out loud?”

“Oh, you know him. Jock Willox. He’s a lieutenant commander in the SAS. Anti-terrorist group. He had been subdued by the master long ago.”

“Jock Willox, the poacher?”

“Yes. The master had neutralized him several years before. When you destroyed the moragnus his memory slowly came back, he even remembered his mission. What’s more he remembered you.”

“How did he know I would be at the manor house killing invaders?”

“Oh, he didn’t know that. What did happened was that he tried to complete his original mission. He had reported to the ministry and then he rounded up a few villagers and raided the manor with the intention of attacking the alien. It’s just coincidence that we got there before him.”

“You mean we wasted our time? You mean the authorities were onto it?”

“Oh, no. Commander Willox and his men would have been annihilated by the master’s mind tricks if we hadn’t created a diversion. Well, anyway, Terry told everything that he knew after he had been taken to hospital. Did you know that there is a special force that had been trying to find out about this thing for years, but the master’s mind tricks and the moragnus defeated their efforts?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Well, they weren’t having any success. Every time they discovered something the master would hide it in mental fog. Or even erase the memory of the investigator. Because the moragnus was silent, they could see their photographs for what they really were. Suddenly the department became galvanized. Everything they had been working on for years suddenly became comprehensible, people began to remember.”

“Because the stop fire was silent?”

“Exactly, dear boy. What with Terry’s statement and the evidence of the cocoon you left at my house, things began moving fast. Did you know, they mounted an airborne assault?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Oh, yes. Anyway, as we were there confusing the master and trying to poison it, the commandos were on their way by air and Commander Willox was already there on the ground. I think the master realized that it was in great difficulty. There were four blood sausages working in the mine trying to repair the moragnus. You terrified them with the petrol you poured down the pit. Apparently the fumes frightened them and delayed the starting of the moragnus.”

“As they workers fled the mine in an attempt to escape the petroleum they ran into Jock Willox’s men at the mine entrance. There was a brief fight. The master did not help because he was too busy preserving his own skin, or should I say chitin.”

“So what happened then?”

“Everything – and I do mean everything. I tried to get you out of that house after the master had scuttled off. You were covered in the spit stuff, so I tried to get Williams out. While I was struggling Jock Willox came into the chamber. Quickly he and his men took charge. They got you and the doctor out of the tunnels. Just as we reached the surface, the master made his getaway.”

“You mean that bloody thing escaped?”

“Oh, no. He tried. I’m not really sure what actually happened. I suppose it could be his rocket exhaust that ignited the fuel you poured in the pit.”

“Exhaust, what do you mean?”

“Oh, he had a spaceship hidden in the mine, there was a tunnel from the kitchen to the mine. When he ran away from us, he ran to his ship. I suppose that’s when everything went wrong for him. I think he tried to take off, but the exhaust ignited the fuel, or perhaps he had a self-destruct, I don’t know which. The whole place blew up. A fireball like an atomic explosion billowed up into the sky. Then that petrol tanker exploded. It was the most amazing pyrotechnic display I have ever seen.”

“So we got him then?”

“Maybe. The master’s ship emerged from its hiding place, not from the pithead but just the other side of the house. It lifted into the sky with a terrible sound. It looked as if it was burning. The poison I had squirted at him began to take effect. The spaceship crashed with a most spectacular explosion. You would have loved it, Hammy. It was most spectacular.”

“So it’s dead, then?”

“Oh, most certainly. The military very quickly closed off the whole area. What happened there is top secret. You will have to sign the secrets act, too. You can’t write any of this down or even tell anybody. You see, the official story is an industrial accident.”

“What about the cocoons?”

“Oh, yes. Barbara, a very nice lady. She will be here this afternoon to see you. Did you know she has been here every day since she recovered? There were thirty-one others rescued, too. You took the longest to recover. The experts thought you would die. You see, the master never had time to inject you with the protective substance that the others received. For almost three months you’ve been at death’s door.”

“Three months? You have to be kidding!”

“Yes, Barbara’s been out almost eight weeks now. The Glee girls were all saved, too.”

“Not Mindy. She was killed in the bus, I saw it happen.”

“Oh, no. She was in one of the cocoons – and the big lady, Martha. I don’t think we had a casualty at all.”

“But he said the master ate the dead one for supper. I saw it all happen.”

“Oh! that was the one found on the road. Somebody had run over her. You know, it was that girl from the pub.”

“Oh! What about Doctor Williams, then?”

Bernard smiled. “That woman has the cheek of old Harry. I suppose we have a lot to thank her for. Do you know what she wanted to know? Why she took off her PXI?”

“Go on, Bernie, surprise me.”

“She wanted to know the secret of that spitball stuff. Most surprisingly, he told her what she wanted to know. I think he believed her, believed that she wanted to help him. If she hadn’t got the secret from the master, you and all the others would have died. That sedative or anaesthetic can only be reversed by the use of some form of synthesized amino acid.”

“So, Bernie, are we rid of that thing and all its kind?”

“Well, yes. The military people have taken my PXI. They say that it will be the greatest weapon in their arsenal should any more of those things accidentally land here.”

“So, that’s the end of the Laird o’ Craigai Castle, then?”

“Yes, the horror of Craigai is dead and now the unseen is visible.”