Gorgon: An Alex Hunter Novel (27 page)

Alex paused and looked to Sam; he nodded the countdown from three again, and together they gave an almighty heave. There was the whine of the metal bar bending, then a huge cracking sound as the rocks, joined for centuries, moved. The pair heaved even harder, and the massive rock slid forward, then rolled. Above it, smaller rocks started to tumble, but falling inward instead of down.

A dark hole was revealed, and what started as a gentle current flowing into it soon became a torrent. Alex guessed the water was racing toward another underground cavern, or would spout out of the mountain to become a river flowing down its sides.

He felt himself lifted and sucked toward the hole. One of Sam’s hands shot out and grabbed him by the wrist. With the other, Sam had anchored himself to another large stone, the weight of the MECH suit allowing him to resist the powerful drag of the water. Alex felt like a flag in a strong wind as he held onto Sam, his legs inside the hole, the torrent rushing past him on its way to the valley, miles below.

It took twenty minutes before the pool had drained to waist level, and Alex could pull himself out of the mouth of the tunnel and crawl up onto the stones above the lake.

Sam joined him. They pushed their masks up, and bumped fists.

Sam nudged him. ‘I figured you didn’t really want to see where that water was going.’

Alex laughed softly and looked toward the hole. The rush of water was a monstrous growl, falling away into the dark. He recalled another mission, when he’d been trapped underwater in the dark, and his stomach lurched.

When he stood again, the water was only at his calves, and still draining into the hole. Sam used the spike to move more stones out of the way, allowing the pool to empty more quickly.

Matt and Rebecca were quick to join them, sloshing through what remained of the water.

Matt peered into the hole, then stood back. ‘Well, I guess if they want to refill the pool, they only need to seal this back up. No real damage done.’

Rebecca chortled. ‘Let’s just be long gone before the guides get here in the morning.’

‘Works for me,’ Alex said. ‘Now, Professor, show us what you found.’

Carlo Vangelis blinked in the dark, and sat up. His huge bed was unruffled by his night’s sleep – he never tossed and turned, was never troubled by tics, twitches or dreams. But he was a light sleeper, a habit developed during his early life on the streets of Crete. If you didn’t want to die while sleeping rough or in a doss-house, you had to remain on guard. He looked around the room at the heavy antique furniture – a wardrobe, dressing table, desk, and the huge four-poster bed he slept in: French, 400 years old and weighing as much as a small car. He frowned, wondering what had woken him. Lingering underneath the familiar smell of sandalwood and expensive aftershave, he detected another odor. Unpleasant. He’d get the cleaners to have a look later in the day.

He glanced across at the clock – it was still too early to rise. He lay back down, and almost immediately a huge hand clamped over his mouth. The intruder had been behind him the entire time. He was pulled from the bed as if he weighed nothing, punched in the stomach, and thrown to the ground.

He lay there, the wind knocked out of him.
A rival gang?
he wondered. Where were his men?

He got on all fours, straining to drag in a breath. A hand grabbed his thick white hair and pulled him up, and up. A massive ogre was holding him like a marionette doll. The giant had one eye, a dark beard, and a face that spoke of a psychopathic attraction to pain. Vangelis knew that look – there would be no mercy from this man. He could only hope his men would hear his screams.

The voice was deep and Russian. ‘Your guards are all gone. I cut their throats.’

Vangelis felt his stomach drop. His survival instincts took over. ‘I have a safe with a lot of money in it.’

There was also a gun, hidden behind the cash.

The giant shook him by the hair, causing him to cry out.

‘Keep your money, Little Mafia Man. I only want one thing – where did you take American professor?’ A wicked-looking black blade appeared beside Vangelis’ face. ‘I only ask once.’

The knife tip dug into his cheek.

*

Matt led the others to the huge column rising from the floor of the cave to the ceiling twenty feet above. It, and its smaller siblings each side, formed a massive barrier across the mosaic path. He got down on his knees and used his hand to wipe away the remaining silt, exposing more of the tiles. The face appeared in all its horror – the screaming Gorgon with writhing hair and red snake eyes.

‘Pretty, isn’t she,’ Franks said as she looked at the vicious face. ‘Not even I’d go that.’

‘Gorgon,’ Matt said softly. ‘The word means “dreadful” in ancient Greek.’

Alex stared, transfixed. He knew this was the thing he’d encountered in the desert, but if he had seen it, he’d now be nothing but a crumbling block of stone among the sand. At the time, he had felt the anger and loneliness of something that didn’t fit in or even belong among us. Perhaps he knew a little of what that was like.

Rebecca stared. ‘I still can’t believe it’s real.’

‘Well, we’re here to see what we can do to put it back to sleep,’ Alex said. He examined the huge column, then looked up. He shook his head. ‘If we knock this down, it could pull the whole roof down on top of us.’ He backed up. ‘Maybe if we knock out a few of the smaller ones, we might be able to squeeze though. It’ll be a tight fit, but we can do it.’

Sam rubbed his head. ‘Just how tight a fit?’

Alex looked at him, and grinned. ‘Suck it in, big guy.’

It took only twenty minutes to dig out one of the small stalagmites, and chip away some of the central column to create a three-foot-wide hole. Matt and Rebecca were first through, followed by Casey Franks, then the two SAS soldiers.

Alex, Sam, Ben Rogers, and the three Greeks remained on the other side.

Tony saluted, still grinning, but nervously. ‘No hard feelings.’ He edged back to the guard rail.

Alex grabbed him and pushed him toward the hole. ‘You’re coming too. Your men can stay here on guard duty.’ Alex glared at them. ‘Got it?’

They refused to look at him, so he lifted Tony with one hand and shook him. ‘Got it?’ His voice boomed around the cave.

Both nodded vigorously.

Sam growled, ‘Be here when we come back … or else.’

They nodded again. Alex pushed Tony toward the hole and he clambered through, cursing softly.

Alex turned to Ben Rogers. ‘We need the back door kept open. Don’t want these two thinking they can try out some dopey ambush when we come back.’ He looked back toward the surface, many hundred feet overhead, then added, lowering his voice, ‘And keep an eye on the peep – we’re still expecting company.’

Rogers smiled. ‘I’ll keep our friends out of trouble and watch the surface. Door will be open when you get back, boss. Good luck.’

Sam pulled his huge body and the MECH suit’s steel framework through the hole, scraping away a lot more of the stone. Alex turned to give Rogers a thumbs-up, and followed Sam through.

*

At the cave entrance, Borshov’s Spetsnaz took up positions either side of the gate, staying well back. Borshov crouched, a single lens to his eye.

‘Camera, on top of cave,’ he said.

One of his men lifted his AK-12 to his eye. The black assault rifle was a significantly enhanced Kalashnikov-series weapon, and in the agent’s hands deadly accurate. The rifle spat once and the small camera exploded into shards.

‘Quick now,’ Borshov ordered.

He knew the speed with which the device had been destroyed would make the operator think it had malfunctioned. But if he came to check, they needed to make first contact.

Borshov and his men sprinted into the cave, Borshov’s feet pounding heavily under the extra weight of the MECH suit.

*

Matt was first to the wall, laying his hands against it. This section of the tunnel was roughly fifteen feet wide and just as long, stopping at the perfectly smooth wall of flowstone. It glistened, and when Matt held his light up to it, he could just make out more depth beyond the natural barrier – there was something behind it.

‘Probably created long before the water filled the pool,’ Rebecca said. ‘It’s a flowing shelf of limestone that’s dripped down over the entrance and literally sealed it closed.’ She walked backward, looking along its top and sides. ‘Might be a foot thick – but that’s not too bad as calcium carbonate is fairly soft.’ She turned to Alex and raised her eyebrows. ‘Can you dig through it?’

‘Hey.’ Casey Franks moved her boot sideways along the floor. ‘More of those picture tiles on the ground here.’

The team crowded around her, shining their torches on the small tiled pathway. As they brushed aside the silt, more images were revealed – flames, huge urns filled with coins, other unidentifiable objects. Matt frowned, wishing he’d brought a camera. When he saw a huge beast the size of an ox, with three horned heads, holding the body of a man in one of its slavering jaws, he recognized it immediately.

‘Cerberus,’ he said.

Sam whistled. ‘That is one damned mother of a dog.’

‘Damned is right,’ Matt said. ‘Cerberus was the protector of Hades.’

He pushed away more of the silt, showing the creature’s monstrous muscled body covered with what looked like scales, multiple legs, and a reptilian tail.

‘Wasn’t real, was it?’ Franks asked, splashing water from her canteen over its head, clarifying the face and jaws.

‘No, but neither is Magera, right?’ Matt said slowly. He pointed. ‘Look at the horns. What other horned beast do we know of that was supposed to live in a cave?’

‘The Minotaur,’ Sam said. ‘This is gonna be fun.’

‘If it ever did exist, it’ll be dust now,’ Jackson said.

Alex was examining the wall that blocked their path. ‘Magera somehow reformed when it was released from its prison after eons, and survived thermobaric grenades and hundreds of armor-piercing rounds.’ He half-turned. ‘Franks, get me the spike we left outside.’

‘On it.’ Franks disappeared back through the hole.

Rebecca kneeled and laid her hand on one of the snarling faces. ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said about Magera melting away in the sunlight,’ she told Alex. ‘This thing – it doesn’t seem to be made the same way we are, out of trillions of cells, each with its own function and purpose.’

Franks returned and handed Alex the long spike. He nodded to her, but leaned on the spike, listening to the scientist.

Rebecca stood, wiping her hands on her thighs. ‘New research has shown that some insects follow the same biological rules as individual creatures – which makes their colonies more like a super-organism. Ants, bees, termites, wasps – their controlled interactions are like cells working together in a single body.’ She folded her arms, her eyes focused inward as she thought through what she was saying. ‘So imagine this Magera thing is made up of cells, just like us, but each cell is more than just a self-functioning amino acid factory, and more like this super-organism entity. What if Magera’s cells are capable of taking care of themselves individually, but work together as a whole when it suits?’

Alex shook his head. ‘I got the impression of a single entity. And it was solid, powerful.’

Rebecca nodded. ‘Maybe the single-entity shape is its usual formation. Each of our cells contains all the information needed to create another one of us, but Magera’s cells might go a step further, in that they’re a multi-celled organism acting as a collective.’

Sam exhaled loudly. ‘So is it one creature, or an army of millions?’

Rebecca shrugged. ‘I’m just guessing here. But we might know soon, if we can get through there.’ She pointed to the wall.

Alex grunted. ‘Right about now, everything helps, even good guesses.’ He lifted the spike. ‘Make room, people – time to see where Magera came from.’

He jammed the spike into the wall, once, twice, and then again, before punching through. Gas escaped through the hole, making everyone back away. Rebecca gagged.

‘Don’t breathe it in,’ Matt said behind his hand. ‘It was airtight.’

He put his entire arm across his face and backed up further, pulling the still-coughing Rebecca with him.

Alex held his breath and stepped in close, shining a light into the three-inch hole he had made.

‘Clear,’ he said, turning his head away and sucking in a deep breath. ‘The stone must have flowed over it completely, like a wax seal on a bottle. Upside is, it’ll be dry inside … and anything in there should be preserved.’

‘That’s an upside?’ Sam said and snorted.

Alex turned back and sniffed. ‘It’s stale, not toxic. Can’t detect any explosive gases. But it smells … strange.’ He sniffed some more. ‘Kind of … primordial.’

Tony’s nose wrinkled. ‘Smells like a freakin’ zoo.’ He shone his flashlight into the small hole. ‘Nobody home – that’s a good thing.’

‘Let’s go take a look,’ Alex said. He motioned Tony away, then jammed the spike into the hole again and again, working it in a circle to make it man-sized. He turned to Matt. ‘After you.’

Matt lifted his flashlight to the hole. His hand shook slightly, making the beam wobble. Part of him, the curious, adventurous, and scientific part, wanted to dive through and hurtle like a bloodhound into the mysterious cave, seeking answers to age-old questions of myth, religion, and strange creatures. But the other part, the experienced part, wanted to flee back to the surface, back to the safety of sunlight and fresh air – that was the part that had been in caves before, and that was the part that had seen what can exist below the earth’s fragile outer skin.

He sucked in a deep breath.
The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see – thanks Winston
, he thought, as he steadied himself.

Matt stepped through.

HAWC lieutenant Ben Rogers stood with arms folded cradling his rifle. The smell of drying slime from the drained lake thickened the air; soon it would become so dominating that he knew it would overpower his sense of smell, making it useless. As a HAWC, he relied on every sense, every limb, every angle and sharp edge of his body in both defense and attack. Nothing was ever left idle – his life depended on it.

He turned to the two Greeks. Both were looking at him, but turned away sullenly when he caught them. They spoke softly to each other, obviously still pissed about getting a job that left them standing at the bottom of a stinking cave, and smoking, always smoking.

Rogers looked up at the steel walkways and steps leading back to the cave entrance. He guessed he must be about ten stories down. The lighting had been strategically placed to give a theatrical effect and highlight the more impressive structures. For tourists, the lighting would be an excellent feature. For a Special Forces soldier, it created too many shadows.

He walked a few paces into the center of the dry pool, between where the Greeks loitered and where Alex and the team had disappeared into the wall. He looked again at the two men – both seemed tough and capable, but they were amateurs. They’d be fine against other amateurs, but against professionals he doubted they’d last twenty seconds. He sucked in a deep breath and turned away again. There came a sound from high overhead and he froze. The Greeks didn’t notice, continuing to laugh and talk loudly as if they were in a local bar.

‘Shut up,’ Rogers ordered, and backed up a step.

Both men looked from him to each other, and hiked their shoulders, comically mouthing,
What?

Rogers held up a finger close to his lips.

The Greeks, sensing his unease, drew weapons. The sound came again, still high overhead, and then one of the lights went out. In quick succession the sound came again and again, and more lights winked out, the darkness marching down toward them.

Rogers put a finger to the small comms stud in his ear. ‘Boss, we got company.’

He got nothing but a hiss of static – too much rock between them.

Gun up, he slowly moved one hand to his helmet, pulled down the visor, and switched on the image reproduction technology. As a HAWC, he had faced death dozens of times – and he was still standing. He liked to think he didn’t know fear any more, but now, as he waited to see if Magera’s image came up on his visor screen, something cold and dreadful crept up his spine.

He sucked in a breath, calming himself. The final lights went out. The Greeks started to whisper. One lit a cigarette, and kept the lighter on, holding up the flame. The other cursed, slapped at it, and turned on a flashlight instead.

Rogers’ visor remained black. He willed the image to appear so he had a target.

He heard Andronus grunt and, out the corner of his eye, saw him disappear. He turned in time to see Petro’s head explode in a mass of red and white bone fragments.

Rogers quickly pushed up the visor and brought down his night-vision scope – but it was too late.

*

Borshov put his foot on the HAWC’s chest and ripped off his helmet. The man’s eyes were open and his face was calm. Both his shoulders and legs had taken bullets – full incapacitation. The American’s expression of resignation told Borshov he already knew he was finished.

The big Russian shook his head. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t torture you.’ He grinned. ‘Only because I don’t have time.’ He grabbed the HAWC on each side of the head, his fingers digging into the flesh, and dragged him up so he could stare into his face. ‘This is for my men in Turgutlu.’

Rogers smiled. ‘You’re already dead, asshole – you just don’t know it.’

Borshov snorted. ‘But not before you, I think.’

He pressed. There was a soft whine as the electronics and hydraulics of the MECH suit came into play. Rogers’ teeth ground together and his eyes showed determination for a second or two, before they bulged with excruciating pain. Borshov pushed harder, the super-alloy pistons responding to his brain’s commands immediately. There was a crack, then a wet crushing sound that echoed around the cave. Rogers’ head collapsed in the big Russian’s hands.

‘Ha!’ Borshov let go, and flicked his hands to remove blood and brain matter, then wiped his fingers on the American’s armor suit. ‘One by one, all little HAWCs fly back to hell.’

He motioned to his men. Like wraiths, the black-clad Spetsnaz moved lightly across the drained pool toward the newly opened cave – ghosts on their way down to Hades.

*

‘This smells like crap,’ Franks said.

She’d taken the lead, and Alex could see she was trying to breathe through her mouth.

‘I smell oil,’ he said. ‘Perhaps some methane mixed in; we’re certainly deep enough.’

He stopped to wait for Matt and Rebecca. They were still fifty paces back, studying the mosaic frescos that covered the walls of the cave. The tiles were perfectly preserved and vividly colored, and probably looked the same as they had over 5000 years ago. Matt and Rebecca were like children let loose in a toy store.

Sam caught up to Alex. ‘Might be methane, might not. It’s getting too hot for explosive gases.’

‘Well, we’ll know soon enough,’ Alex said. ‘Keep an eye on our Greek friend. We don’t want him slipping away if anything unexpected happens.’

‘You got it, boss.’

Alex whistled, and waved Matt and Rebecca forward. Matt waved back, and they both picked up their pace, but their eyes still darted around, trying to take in everything around them. Occasionally, Rebecca ran her hand along the walls, as if feeling the texture of the stone.

The mosaics were amazingly detailed, and painstakingly put together. Some of the chips were so tiny they were little more than grains, giving the characters a lifelike effect. In the fresco next to Alex, men and women, their hair in the long, thick curling Minoan style, kneeled in front of four huge beings, holding up urns, cloth, and jewelry. The figures were clothed, but not in the same style as the Minoans, and their hair was alive with movement. Behind them was a gigantic white ball – possibly a representation of the moon or sun, Alex thought.

Matt and Rebecca caught up, and turned their lights onto the image. Matt leaned in closer to examine the figures.

‘There were three Gorgons of legend – Stheno, Euryale, and the most famous, Medusa. There have been stories of Gorgon-like creatures dating back thousands of years, though – from right here, on to Russia, Japan, and across Europe. Other than Medusa, who was killed by Perseus, all of them simply vanished from history.’ He moved his light to a different angle. ‘There was never any reference to a fourth Gorgon. Seems Magera is an anomaly – a myth within a myth.’

‘A myth that’s still alive,’ Alex said.

Matt stepped back. ‘We don’t know that – or not alive as we know it, anyway.’

‘We don’t even know if it’s the only one,’ Alex said, and shook his head. ‘I don’t even want to think about that possibility.’

‘There’s so much about the Minoans that’s a mystery,’ Matt said. ‘They were technological leaders of the world, so why did they disappear?’ He looked again at the white sphere. ‘And what’s that? They supposedly lived down here, in the underworld – no astral bodies down here.’

‘Maybe that’s not what it is.’ Rebecca fished in her pocket, and pulled out a small flashlight with a thick blue end. ‘Let me try something. Turn off your lights, people.’

Matt looked at Alex, and shrugged. Everyone switched off their torches, plunging the cave into total darkness. Rebecca switched on her new flashlight – and the wall glowed blue.

‘Wow – UV right?’ Matt asked.

‘Yep.’ Rebecca moved the beam around: the entire area shone like a neon light.

‘Is this a common effect?’ Alex asked.

Rebecca shook her head, her face glowing blue in the reflected light. ‘Not usually. Fluorescence in rocks occurs when there are a number of activators present – impurities within the mineral, crystal structural defects, organic impurities, or what I suspect: the result of significant gamma radiation.’

‘Gamma?’ Alex asked. ‘Down here?’

She nodded. ‘Occurs all around us, but at insignificant quantities. Of course there’s much more outside the Earth’s atmospheric shell. Natural sources of gamma rays on Earth include gamma decay from naturally occurring radioisotopes, radium and so on, and secondary radiation from atmospheric interactions with cosmic ray particles.’ She turned to them. ‘Or residue after a nuclear explosion, significant impact from space, or leakage from some sort of reactor.’

‘Impact from space? Reactor?’ Matt’s eyebrows went up. ‘So my space helmet theory wasn’t so crazy, huh?’

She shrugged. ‘Not necessarily. You’ve got to admit, it’s weird.’

‘So far everything down here is weird,’ Matt said, and flicked his light back on. ‘Well, I’m now moving my theory to the definite-maybe list.’ He wiped his brow. ‘Phew, it’s gotta be over 100 degrees down here. We must be near some sort of volcanic activity.’

‘Boss!’ It was Franks. She was out of sight, several hundred feet ahead, scouting. ‘Check this out.’

Alex turned to Matt and Rebecca. ‘Stay close, no lagging behind now.’

He jogged to meet Franks, rounding the bend. ‘
Whoa!
’ He eased back – the cave ended at a sheer drop-off. To their left, stairs were cut into the stone, leading down to the floor about 200 feet below. Franks stood out to the side, looking over the edge.

She pointed. ‘Now we know where the heat’s coming from.’

There were pools of black oil, some burning, obviously pure enough to ignite from the deeper volcanic vents from the heart of the earth. The roof of the cavern was way out of sight, probably the reason they hadn’t been overwhelmed by the build-up of gases.

Sam appeared behind them, and Alex held him back. ‘Not too close, big guy. Your weight could cause the edge to crumble.’

They all fanned out, staying back from the drop-off.

‘Wow, and wow.’ Matt shook his head, his mouth hanging open. ‘You do know what this is, don’t you?’

‘Hades,’ Rebecca said slowly.

He chuckled. ‘Hey, thanks for spoiling my dramatic finish.’ He stepped forward to peer over the edge. ‘Could this be any more perfect? An underground space of fire, heat, and … a village.’

The single broad street of paved tiles, their rich red patina perfectly preserved, was lined with small flat-topped single-story houses, each about ten feet square. On the other side of the village, the ground fell away into an even deeper chasm of darkness. On the surface of the street, scattered in between the buildings, something glittered.

Alex concentrated his vision. ‘Gold … gold coins.’

‘Huh?’ Tony reached for Franks’ scope.

‘Piss off,’ she said, nudging him away, and he teetered near the edge for a moment.

Sam pointed across the pit. ‘What the hell is that? Sure ain’t Minoan.’

On the far side, embedded in the cliff wall, was an enormous ball-like structure. Steps led up to it, and a platform, or perhaps an altar, had been constructed at its edge.

‘Just like in the mosaic,’ Rebecca whispered.

Matt held his arms wide. ‘And the stars shall fall and the gods will ride them to Earth.’

Rebecca’s grin nearly split her face. ‘I agree. Aristotle wrote that over 2300 years ago. He was said to have had insights into the future, and now I see why.’ She started for the steps. ‘We need to get over there to examine it.’

Alex pulled her back. ‘Not yet. Looks like there might be some of Magera’s handiwork down there.’

Behind the village was a forest of stalagmites, rising up in rows, and between them, in their hundreds, were magnificently detailed statues. Alex knew now that they were people. Everything down in the village – the figures, the walls of the houses, and the stalagmites – were covered in strange growths that looked like bulbous coral.

He looked at the steps, then tried a couple with his own weight. ‘They seem solid, but watch your step,’ he told Rebecca. ‘The light is poor, and it’ll make the shadows deceptive.’ He waved his HAWCs over. ‘Take us down, Franks. Greek, you’re next, then you, Thompson, then me, Rebecca, Matt, and Jackson. You bring up the rear, Sam.’

Alex pushed his rifle up over his shoulder. ‘Okay, let’s …’ He froze, staring down into the village. Something had moved down there – fast.

He replayed the split-second glimpse of the thing over in his mind. He had an impression of a long body, multiple legs, and a coat that seemed to shimmer, not fur or hair, maybe some kind of bony plating.

The HAWCs and two SAS men shouldered their guns, training them around the interior of the cavern.

Jackson nudged Thompson. ‘What the fuck’s going on?’

Thompson shrugged. ‘Hunter probably hears something we can’t. So we pay attention.’

Jackson snorted. ‘Freak.’

Sam edged closer to Alex, who still stood frozen, like he’d become part of the stone around them.

‘What you got, boss?’

‘Movement – end of the street – fast. I just caught it out of the corner of my eye.’

Silence hung as the seconds stretched. No one moved, or even seemed to breathe.

‘My legs hurt,’ Tony whispered, but it was loud enough to create an echo.

Alex shook his head. ‘Nothing now.’

His senses still screamed at him – something was there, but what?
We’ll know soon enough
, he thought.

‘We’re at alert level one, people.’ He pointed to Casey Franks. ‘Take us down to hell, Lieutenant.’

*

Borshov’s two remaining Spetsnaz slid through the hole Alex had broken in the flowstone wall. They scouted the area, then quickly formed up as Borshov followed them.

The giant Russian stood with his head turned slightly, his one good eye moving quickly over the adorned walls and mosaic floor tiles. He didn’t bother appreciating the aesthetics of the artisan’s work, instead focusing on the footprints, their direction and probable speed.

One of his Spetsnaz kneeled to examine the tracks.

‘How many?’ Borshov asked quietly.

The man stood. ‘Eight.’ He pointed to some large, deep prints. ‘One big, very big. Must be carrying something heavy.’