Jon Merz - Prey

She desperately wanted to drive.

But Viksorksy was gone.

Vanished.

The mountains would have to wait.

“Tell Nung to shut the Cat down.”

Mick looked at her. “We’re not going?”

“We can’t drive off now,” said Julia. “What if Viksorksy is somewhere inside the station? He might be hurt. He might be somewhere we don’t know about. He might need us. Leaving this place for eight hours might even mean his death.”

Mick looked down. “He might already be dead. Did you ever think of that?”

“I’ve considered it,” said Julia. “I don’t want to accept that yet, though.”

“Kendall’s going to have a field day with this one,” said Wilkins.

“Just tell Nung to shut it down. I want everyone inside. We’ll organize a search party and see if we can comb the place over again.”

Wilkins shut the door and hurried to the other Snowcat. Julia watched him pull the door open and begin gesturing with his arms. She could see the disappointment on the faces of the other crewmembers.

Did they feel it, too? Did they feel the inexorable pull coming from the horizon. Did the mountains have some sort of weird control over them?

“Julia?”

Mick’s voice.

Beside her.

Warm.

Soothing.

She turned. His blue eyes bore into her. “Yes?”

“You ready to go inside?”

She nodded. But the only place she wanted to go was to the mountains over the horizon.

Julia thanked her guardian angels for including Wilkins on the trip. As soon as they got inside he stood right behind Julia. She could feel his strength and warmth behind her and it lent her the stability she felt she needed.

“Vikorsky’s gone missing. We’re going to find him.”

Kendall’s predictable frown stood out among their faces. “How are you planning on doing that? Remember, the other crew vanished without a trace.”

“We’re not discussing my memory,” said Julia. “The others disappeared before we got here. There’s not much we can do about that right now. What I’m concerned about is Vikorsky. He was here with us last night.” She glanced around again. “Did anyone see him after we went to bed last night?”

Mick spoke up. “Just what I told you a few minutes ago.”

“What was that?” asked Kendall.

“Mick heard some noises down by the greenhouse, apparently,” said Julia. “It was late, he was tired and didn’t investigate. It doesn’t help us much.”

Kendall peered at Mick. “How come you didn’t check it out?”

Mick stared back at him. Julia marveled at his stony expression. “I was tired. I wanted to sleep. Besides, it might have just been a strong gust of wind.”

“It might have been Vikorsky pleading for help, too.”

Wilkins cleared his throat. “I don’t think we’re accomplishing anything debating what might have happened.”

Julia nodded. “We’ll search in pairs.”

“We’re not an even number, anymore,” said Kendall.

“Wilkins, Mick and I will search as one group. The rest of you can pair up. We’ll take the greenhouse. Everyone grab some radios out of communications and we’ll stay in touch that way.”

“Does this mean we aren’t going out today?”

Julia looked at Kendall. “I think we’d all agree that our first priority is to see if Vikorsky is still here. If he hasn’t vanished, he might be hurt.”

“And if we don’t find him?”

“We’ll go out tomorrow. Weather report says there’s another batch of snow headed our way.”

Kendall sighed. “This is turning into one helluva trip.”

Julia smiled. “You can always start for home, Kendall. Provided you don’t mind walking and swimming.”

Kendall frowned and walked out of the room followed by Darren. Julia turned to Wilkins and Mick. “You guys ready?”

Wilkins held up a walkie-talkie. “Already grabbed a radio on the way in. Let’s go.”

He led them down the cylindrical corridor. Overhead, an extensive array of ductwork funneled heat throughout the station. Julia felt like she was walking down a long series of tubes. Behind her, she heard Mick chuckle.

“I feel like I’m in a habitrail.”

At the next intersection, Wilkins bore right. Julia could see the heavy door ahead that kept the greenhouse warmer and more humid than the rest of the complex. Wilkins punched the open button and they stepped inside.

A wave of sticky heat enveloped them.

“Sauna City,” said Mick.

“Has to be this way,” said Julia. “The vegetables and plants do best in this kind of weather.”

“What exactly do they grow here?”

Wilkins moved off from them, already poking among the tall stalks of green that sprouted up from the floor. Julia inhaled the scent of produce. She could pick out the rich scent of soil, the delicate fragrance of flowering buds and an almost ethereal quality to the air.

“The greenhouse grows everything from carrots and potatoes to onions, tomatoes, and broccoli.”

“I hate broccoli,” said Mick.

Julia could see Wilkins ahead some ten feet. “Anything up there?”

Wilkins looked up. “Not a damned thing.”

“What exactly did you hear last night?” Julia looked at Mick.

He frowned. “Wish I was more awake. It sounded like it might have been a thud or something. I mean, there was nothing especially exciting about it. If it had sounded unusual, I would have come down.”

“Well, let’s see if there’s anything here.” She turned right and moved down the narrow walkway. She heard Mick fade off the other direction.

The greenhouse itself was forty feet by forty feet. Julia’s direction took her toward the leafy stalks of plants the station used in horticultural research. She didn’t recognize the varieties, but knew the station had been attempting to study soil conditions hundreds of feet below the surface. One of the scientists apparently believed the conditions would be extremely fertile. The plants had been flown in to test their ability to grow in soil samples retrieved through deep-boring efforts.

From the look of it, they seemed to be doing well.

Indeed, as Julia stooped lower to check in and among the plants, the stems seemed to loom larger around her, almost closing in and shutting out the sunlight that filtered in through the opaque heavy duty roof.

Julia sighed, hoping she wouldn’t find Vikorsky’s body down in the dirt and among the plants.

At the same time, she longed to hear the crackle of the radio informing her that Vikorsky had been found — alive and perfectly safe.

But she only heard quiet.

She moved ahead, dropping now to her hands and knees to peer in the tightly woven stems. She could almost imagine the stalks entangling a human body and slowly devouring it like some type of giant Venus flytrap.

But that was silly.

Wasn’t it?

“Find anything?”

Julia jumped. Mick. Behind her. She breathed.

He smiled. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“That’s okay.” Julia sighed. “You just caught me daydreaming is all.”

“Anything good?”

“Nope.”

Mick thumbed over his shoulder. “There’s noting back that way.”

“Where’s Wilkins?”

Mick turned. “I don’t know. He oughta be up where we saw him last.”

Julia stood and followed Mick back to the main throughway. “Wilkins?”

His head appeared among some corn stalks further up. “Yo.”

Julia relaxed. For a minute she’d almost thought that Wilkins would disappear. That wouldn’t have been good. Not at all.

“Find anything?”

Wilkins shook his head. “Nothing. You guys?”

Mick frowned. “Nada.”

Wilkins nodded and pointed skyward. “What about the roof?”