Chapter 12: Culmination
Field Station Delta: A paranormal military thriller.
Welcome to Field Station Delta. This novella is a paranormal military thriller that I am releasing as a serial for my readers on Substack.
Day 3, 18:05
Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance as the two Humvees charged towards the Medicine Wheel. The lead vehicle was the SOCOM Ground Mobility variant, with a flatbed in the rear. There sat Metzger and Cathy Doyle, who looked uncomfortable and self-conscious in her flak jacket and helmet. Between them, resting on the flatbed was the ECGG, or “XAP-trap.”
The device was a reinforced box about the size and shape of a small portable generator. Metzger grit her teeth. She was uneasy, sitting so close to a gizmo that housed captive extradimensional murder-monsters. Also, the cut on her head, though bandaged up, still throbbed like hell. Every jolt of the Hummer made her wince.
Shake it off, sister. You’ve got a job to do.
Metzger reached into a pocket on her combat uniform and drew out the Saint Michael medal that Valdes had given her. She cradled it in her palm and looked at it, trying to form in her mind words to give adequate expression to her tempest of feelings—fear, anger, grim determination, doubt.
She was never very good at this prayer thing.
Just show me the way and let me loose. Let me loose.
If anyone “up there” could hear her, she figured they got the gist.
She closed her fist around the medal and brought it to her lips. Then she put it away. When she looked up, she saw that Cathy was watching her curiously. Metzger shrugged. Cathy averted her gaze quickly and coughed.
“So, these… Awwakkulé… Have you ever actually seen one of them?” Metzger asked.
Cathy shook her head. “Not in their humanoid morph.”
“What do you mean? They can change form?”
“Yes,” said Cathy, grasping at the chance to put her mind at ease by geeking out about her work. “It’s incredible, really. What you saw on the cell phone footage last night—the stunted goblins with bulbous heads and big eyes—that’s what we call the humanoid morph. But these XAP entities seem to be able to transmute their bodies from normal matter—or what we think is normal matter… we’re not actually sure—to a pure energy state at will. In that form they look like a pulsing globe of blue light. We call that the orb morph.”
Metzger remembered her encounter in the barracks and how the sinister shadow-beings had disappeared in a flash, replaced by hovering blue globes. Sam Brewster had ranted about being buzzed by blue orbs inside his truck…
By the time she’d begun to fit the pieces together, it was too late for Brewster or anyone in Van Cleef.
No. Don’t start blaming yourself again, Metzger. Focus.
Cathy was still going on about the orbs. “We think that this transmutation ability works in tandem with their psychokinetic functioning. Both of these, well… superpowers, for lack of a better word, helps the entities to travel back and forth between dimensional planes at locations where the earth’s EM field is tenuous or distorted.”
“Like at the Medicine Wheel,” said Metzger.
“Exactly,” said Cathy. “As orbs, they can hover in the air and pass through solid matter. The generals at the Pentagon were pretty scared by that—Imagine an enemy that can just effortlessly phase through your defenses! That’s why the R&D team were tasked to develop countermeasures like the MEEP-gun and the XAP-trap.”
“I don’t understand,” Metzger said, gesturing at the device. “How can you trap them in this box when you just said that they can phase through anything?”
“We discovered that the entities’ association with EM makes them vulnerable to certain wavelengths of radiation, especially when they manifest as orbs. At the right frequency, you could hurt them. That was the key to developing the MEEP. Doctor Groenke was the one who proposed the idea to construct a kind of ectomagnetic cage to contain them once they manifest in our reality. That’s essentially how the trap works.”
“Congratulations,” Metzger said. “I’m sure the townies are super glad you figured all that out. Why try to trap these things at all? That sounds like poking a Tasmanian Devil with a stick—only worse.”
“The idea was to have at least one Awwakkulé in captivity so we could study it and maybe learn enough to develop more effective countermeasures… We had no idea anyone would get hurt.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it! You people had no clue what would happen. Didn’t anybody stop to consider whether these Things would try to strike back once they figured out what you could do to them?”
Cathy was silent and looked down at her shoes.
Metzger sighed. She hadn’t meant to come off that harsh. Cathy was trying to do the right thing. She and Violet had risked Cartwright’s wrath by exposing this whole crazy scheme at the briefing. Then Metzger frowned, reconsidering everything Cathy had told her.
“When you said earlier that we can hurt them, how badly are we talking about?”
Cathy grimaced. “Well… theoretically, based on our readings… a lot? Probably. Like Dr. Groenke said, the MEEP isn’t combat tested yet… Which I guess is why you’ve got one!” She smiled awkwardly.
Metzger glanced down at the big weapon that lay across her lap. It was surprisingly lightweight for its size. Her mind flitted once again back to the mountains of Afghanistan. She grimaced. The throbbing pain in her head redoubled in intensity… That night her squad’s own weapons had been turned against them. They'd been utterly defenseless… But not anymore. Metzger smiled; a grim, cold smile.
Payback time, she thought.
“Okay! Look alive, señoritas,” called Valdes from the shotgun seat upfront. The Humvees crested a final ridge, and a familiar bluff loomed up before them. The Medicine Wheel lay at its feet. In the deepening dark under the roiling clouds, the standing pillars reminded Metzger once again of leaning gravestones. Her head swam for a moment, whether from the unpleasant thought or from something more uncanny, she couldn’t tell.
The two Hummers rolled to a stop and the airmen piled out. Doyle began tapping away at a large tablet device, running diagnostics on the XAP-Trap. Thunder rumbled, much closer this time. Sergeant Phan huddled the squad together.
“Okay. Harper and Whitts, you’re with me. We get that box as close as we can to the Wheel. We’ll have to hoof it from here. I didn’t understand all the techie jargon Groenke told me, but from what I could gather, the XAP energy is so high right now it might interfere with the Hummers if we tried to drive them right up to the stones.”
“Just our luck,” snorted Whitts.
“Valdes and Metzger, stay with Ms. Doyle. And keep the engines running. We may have to haul ass if things go sideways again. If any of those Things get close, use the big guns and let ‘em have it.”
“Copy that,” said Valdes with a wicked smile, hefting his MEEP prototype into a ready position.
Phan and Whittaker heaved the trap out of the back of the Humvee. “Hit the remote release the second we’re clear of the device, Ms. Doyle,” said Phan.
It suddenly got darker all around. They looked up and saw that the evening sky was now completely overcast with black thunderheads.
“Um… were those clouds there a minute ago?” said Harper, her voice faltering.
“Looks like we’re about to run out of time,” said Phan. “Let’s roll.”
Metzger watched the three airmen go, Phan and Whitts lugging the trap, Harris providing cover. Above them thunder cracked. Cathy yelped in surprise.
“Easy, Ms. Doyle,” she heard Valdes saying. “It’s just thunder.” He didn’t sound convincing.
The air seemed to hum with static electricity… or was it something else? No, there was a distinct humming sound, and it was growing louder, like someone had struck a giant invisible tuning fork. Metzger’s eyes widened.
Uh oh.
“Valdes, do you hear that?” Metzger called. But her voice was drowned out by the rising tone. Suddenly the pitch spiked in intensity and Metzger dropped her MEEP to clap her hands over her ears. She sank to her knees.
NOT AGAIN!
Minutes seemed to pass, or was it hours? All her senses were consumed with the piercing tone. Her very body seemed to be vibrating with it. Then, in an instant, the excruciating sound cut short. Metzger’s head throbbed and she felt blood trickling from her ears. She forced her eyes open.
The Medicine Wheel seemed to shimmer like a heat mirage. Metzger rubbed the tears out of her eyes, but the distortion remained. Three figures—Phan, Whitts, and Harper, were lying sprawled on the ground just outside the outer ring of stones. The XAP-trap lay beside them.
Her skull was still pounding, but Metzger managed to stagger back towards the Humvee. Valdes and Cathy were both unconscious. The tablet controller had fallen to the ground nearby. Metzger snatched it up and forced her blurry vision to focus on the screen. It was cracked, but she could still make out the display. The flashing red icon read: CONTAINMENT FIELD RELEASE.
Metzger tapped the icon. Nothing happened. She tapped it again and again. Then several more times. Nothing. The trap lay quiet underneath the shadows of the standing stones. Either the tablet’s touch screen was completely busted, or something was interfering with the wireless transmission.
“Dammit!”
She flung the tablet away and retrieved her MEEP, slinging the weapon over her shoulder. Then she ran towards the Medicine Wheel. The device must have a manual release switch of some kind. If she could reach the box and drag it inside the stone ring—
Her head swam again, and she stumbled. Scrambling back up, she sprinted the last few yards and grabbed hold of one of the XAP-trap’s heavy-duty handles. She hauled it between two of the eerie gray pillars. The air around her was roiling with waves of distortion and the very ground beneath her feet seemed to reel. Metzger fell, clutching at the box for dear life. She closed her eyes, shut and grit her teeth as the high-pitched tone returned and rose to a sickening wail.
Then, there was a stillness.
It was not a stillness from outside. The wind, the thunder, and the unearthly shrieking sound remained. This stillness came from somewhere deep inside her soul, from a place where no danger or malice of this world or any other could reach. And when Metzger touched that stillness and let it flood through her aching limbs and frantic mind, all fear passed away and was replaced by the most profound peace she had ever known. And out of that peace, out of that sacred stillness, something primordial sang out, just as it had on that awful night of the snowstorm on the mountain in Afghanistan.
Metzger opened her eyes.
Things had changed.
The rocky ground beneath her was replaced by a carpet of springy grass, a brighter and fuller shade of green than she had ever seen in her life. She rose to her feet and saw she was in the middle of two concentric rings of stones, exactly like those of the Medicine Wheel. Except these rocks were etched with strange, swirling patterns and tinged green with patches of moss. She seemed to be on a plateau of some kind. The air was thin. There were no clouds. In the velvet sky above, strange stars shone bright and blue.
“What the hell?” she murmured.
No, not hell. Not quite.
She was now in the same uncanny realm she had accessed during the Nuristan incident. So, the Medicine Wheel was undoubtedly a doorway of some kind. And somewhere, in the recesses of her innermost being, Metzger had found the key.
A sudden breeze, cold and chill, swept the hilltop. Out of the shadows among the standing stones stepped four child-sized figures, but Metzger saw at once that they were not human. Ashen skin, bulbous heads, wide mouths, large oval eyes that were black as a moonless night.
Them.
“Why did you bring me here?!” Metzger screamed. “Where are my people? What have you done with them? Answer me!”
One of the creatures moved towards her. Its eyes narrowed slightly, and hissing syllables crept through the air between them and brushed against her mind.
We bought you not… You came to us… RELEASE THEM.
Metzger staggered back a pace as if she had been pushed. She nearly stumbled over the Xap-trap.
The trap! Somehow, she had brought the device with her to this place.
Release them… NOW… We will not ask again.
Metzger knelt beside the trap and found a latch above which was stenciled in red: CAUTION! MANUAL CONTAINMENT OVERRIDE. She opened the latch and found a lever. She grabbed it and pulled it down; an audible click came from inside the machine. The whole unit buzzed to life and the air around Metzger seemed to crackle with static electricity. She scrambled away just in time.
Above the trap, two shining blue orbs flickered into existence. They pulsed rhythmically with an inner flame—a kind of heart beat? Or maybe a signal?
They sped over to the four humanoid entities and circled around them before settling near the ground. There was a sudden flash like lightning and Metzger was momentarily blinded. When her sight recovered, she saw that the two orbs were replaced by hunched gray humanoids identical to the four others.
The entity that had spoken before, apparently a leader of some kind, addressed her again. The voice that formed in her brain was thin and menacing.
Now we return your brethren. But YOU shall stay.
Her blood ran cold. “What?”
You have the gift. You passed the gate. Trespass shall not stand. Your brethren go free… You stay.
Metzger unslung her MEEP and pointed it straight at the creature. “Get back!”
Your weapon is of no use here. Not unless we permit it. We do not. You shall stay or your brethren shall perish.
“No! That’s not happening. Here’s the deal: I released your people. Now I’m leaving with mine.”
The dark wells of the creature’s eyes stared at her impassively. Then it spoke again, but not to Metzger. What say you all?
We suffer none to pass the gate, said a second voice.
None have done so since its kind was young, spoke a third.
It is a threat to us. Do not let it escape, answered a fourth.
There was a pause before two more hissing voices spoke in unison.
Yes. It is a threat. It must be punished for what was done to us. SEIZE IT!
Before Metzger could so much as flinch, three of the creatures were on top of her. They moved quicker than sight and their diminutive size masked a terrible, grasping strength. In a moment, she was thrashing on the ground grappling frantically with the hideous things. As they tried to wrench the MEEP from her hands, Metzger’s hidden power sang out desperately and the world around her changed again.
She was alone, laying on her back on hard stony ground. Dark clouds swirled overhead, the wind whistled in her ears.
Where am I? Back at the Ranch?
Metzger leapt to her feet and saw that she was just inside the outer ring of the Medicine Wheel. Not far away she saw the three prone figures of Phan, Whitts, and Harper. The two Humvees were parked farther back, engines still idling, headlights shining in the gloom. The XAP-trap was nowhere to be seen.
Something moving at terrible speed struck Metzger from behind. She stumbled and nearly missed careening into one of the megaliths. She hit the ground and rolled outside the Wheel.
Recovering into a crouching stance, she saw the three gray creatures facing her. Their wide mouths hung open, baring their rows of needle-like teeth. They had black forked tongues that quivered in the air. A stabbing pain assaulted Metzger’s skull and then she heard their ugly voices screech inside her mind.
Die! There is no escape. Curse in vain and DIE NOW!!
“You first.”
She pulled the trigger of the MEEP and held it down. A piercing electronic whine split the night air. The gray entities shrieked audibly and fell to the ground, writhing in torment.
Metzger’s head throbbed with redoubled anguish as the edges of her vision darkened. She could sense the wordless agony, the raw hatred, and the terrible despair of the Awwakkulé as they withered under the assault of the MEEP-gun. The weapon began to heat up in Metzger’s hands, but she kept pouring it on.
No mercy.
She grinned nastily without realizing it.
The air around the Medicine Wheel began to shimmer and contort. There was a blinding flash, like the sun had suddenly descended to earth. Metzger flung herself to the ground and covered her eyes.
Then there was silence.
Well...that escalated quickly.