Jon Merz - Prey

“Well, shit,” said Wilkins. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.” He turned to the team. “Okay, you heard the lady, let’s get the lead out. Kendall, Darren you’re with me and Mick. Let’s get it on, people.”

Julia stepped back and let Wilkins take the lead from here on out. He was better at motivating. She’d chosen him for his ability to instill confidence in the team, among other things.

Mick smiled as he dashed past her. “Nice job, chief. I think you’ll make this work after all.”

“You had some doubts?”

He grinned. “Be lying if I said no. But I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. I’m glad I was.”

“Thanks.”

She turned and grabbed Havel. “Come on, buddy. We’ve got work to do.”

The storm hit them harder than anyone expected. A seething swirl of blinding snow and ice that thundered against the pre-fabricated cylindrical units of the station — it reminded Julia of being inside an oil drum and having someone pound on the outside with a hammer.

Peering out of the windows made Wilkins shudder. “Glad we’re in here. Helluva night to be out.”

Kendall snorted across the room. “You scared of a little snow?”

“That’s not snow,” said Wilkins. “That’s Mother Nature reminding us that we’re nothing but tiny pimples on the backside of life.”

Kendall pushed his dinner away from him. “Nifty visual. Thanks.” He yawned. “If no one objects, I’m turning in for the night. It’s been a long a day.”

Julia took a sip of coffee. “Thanks for your help today.”

“No sweat, Boss.”

She watched him go. Wilkins shook his head. “Guy’s a piece of work, that one is.”

“Too bad he’s one of the best damned technicians and jack-of-all-trades I’ve ever seen. I wish to hell we could have left him behind.”

“He’s here just like we all are,” said Nung.

“And why’s that?” Darren spoke around a forkful of spaghetti.

“Because we’re being paid to be here,” said Nung. “Ain’t that right, Julia?”

She smiled. “Sure. I mean, I guess so. Yeah.” She frowned. “Well, maybe it’s more for me.”

“More what? More money?”

“No. No. I meant more than the money for me.”

Wilkins lit his pipe. “Well sure. I mean this is the bottom of the goddamned world. Who wouldn’t want to come down here for a spell and see this kind of natural beauty up close.”

Julia looked at him. What was it about that statement that made her think there was more to what Wilkins had said than just those words alone? She shook her head. “I’ve dreamed of this place since I was a teenager.”

Darren looked up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s not something that I could really explain, I guess.” Julia sipped her coffee and listened to the wind beat out a discordant rhythm against the research station. “It’s just I’ve always know I’d come down here eventually. I didn’t know what kind of effort it was going to take on my part. I just sort of knew I’d be coming here.” She looked up. “Sounds silly, I know.”

Silence draped the room. Wilkins cleared his throat and exhaled a smoke ring. “It’s not silly. It’s not silly at all. It makes a whole lot of good sense, actually.”

“Thank you.”

Havel put down his mug of coffee. “I too, have dreamed of coming here before this day.”

Julia smiled at him. She felt good the team was rallying around her idea. Maybe they really did believe in her after all. “Thanks Havel.”

He shook his head. “It’s not…agreement. The same thing happened to me. When I was a boy. A dream. And ever since I also dream of coming to this place. Now, I am here. At last.”

“A nice coincidence,” said Julia.

“Must be contagious then,” said Darren. “Because I dreamed of Antarctica a long time ago, too.”

“When?”

“In college.” Darren grinned. “Must have been after one of those late night drink-fests. I stumbled home and had the funkiest dream of my life. I couldn’t really tell you what it was all about, but the thing ended with me being surrounded by snow and ice and cold and shivering like a damned hypothermic case. And somehow, I just knew it was Antarctica that I was at.”

“What was the dream like?” Nung’s voice sounded quiet over the din of noise outside.

Darren frowned. “It’s not important-”

“It IS important!” Nung slammed his hand on to the tabletop. Dishes jumped and clattered back against the steel.

Wilkins came alive and grabbed Nung by the shoulders. “Calm down, buddy. Calm down. We’re just talking.”

But Julia could see Nung’s eyes. She could see the intensity of his outburst. The pounded-down memories prying their way out of his subconscious. She could sense the fear. Her fear. She’d had dreams, too.

Nung slumped back down in his seat. “Sorry.”

Darren leaned back. “Hey, man, it’s cool. If you want me to talk about the frickin’ thing, I will. I just didn’t think anybody’d be interested.”

“I’m interested,” said Nung.

Julia nodded. “Me too.”

“And me,” said Havel.

Wilkins and Vikorsky agreed. Julia looked at Mick who was staring at the ceiling his eyes half-closed as if deep in thought. What makes him tick, she wondered? What’s his story?

Darren got up and refilled his coffee, stirring in a heaping pile of sugar before sitting back down. He took a sip, sighed and leaned back. “Okay. Just don’t think me totally freaked out or anything when I finish, okay? I mean, this is some pretty freaky shit, as far as I’m concerned. I mean, I haven’t even discussed this with anyone before tonight, that’s how freaky this shit is. I shit you not.”

“That’s three shit in a row,” said Wilkins. “You shit any more and you’ll dehydrate yourself.”

A small chorus of chuckles filled the room. Havel smiled. “I like this. Is like a ghost story around the campfire, yes?”

“Well, except for the campfire bit,” said Julia. “Our stove here will have to do.”

Darren took another sip. “The dream starts out with a mess of bright lights. All sorts of colors. It was sort of like being in some funky dance club with all those swirling strobes flashing and blinding you. Almost like those old stop-animation films. A million lights. Blinding stuff.

“The fucked up thing is that I think I’m awake while the dream’s going on. I’m convinced that I’m in my dorm room. That I’m under the covers and the lights are all around me. I mean one minute they’re outside my window and the next they’re surrounding me.

“I never felt as scared as I did that night, you know. It wasn’t like there was some kind of monster attacking me. Dracula wasn’t sinking his fangs into my jugular. But there was something…ominous about the lights. They weren’t friendly. There was no warmth.” He looked into his coffee mug. “They were cold. Cold lights.”

“What happened after the lights?” asked Wilkins.

“The lights never left. I couldn’t see. But then my body felt really light. Like I was flying. I read somewhere about astral travel and how people think it’s like the sensation of flying or being really light. I don’t think I astral traveled that night. Because I didn’t really get the feeling like I went anywhere until the end when I was suddenly standing in the middle of all this ice and snow and somehow just knowing it was down here.”

He sighed and took a long deep drag on the coffee. “I woke up the next morning with the worst fucking headache I ever had in my life. I swore off tequila after that night. I’ve never had another glass of the stuff.”

“So, you think it was just the alcohol?” asked Julia.

Darren grinned. “Sure.”