Ben Hammott - Siberia

*****

Kelly cursed when the helicopter tilted to the side. “What the hell was that.”

Colbert peered down the ropes. “Shit! The alien’s on the rope.”

“Get rid of it or none of us will be leaving,” screamed the pilot, turning away from the perimeter fence before Sullivan crashed into it and possibly snagged the abseil ropes.

Richard reached for the coupling securing the rope to the helicopter.

Colbert grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

“Getting rid of the monster.”

“Sullivan’s also on that rope.”

“Then tell him to get off because if I don’t cut the creature free, it will soon be in here with us. Then we all die!” Richard yanked Colbert’s grip from his arm and continued unscrewing the coupling.

Colbert snatched a headset from the roof and slipped it on. “Sullivan. Get off the rope, we’re cutting it free.”

Still climbing, Sullivan tore his eyes away from the monster below and glanced up at Colbert looking down on him. “On it.” He stretched for the nearest rope that was beyond his reach.

Colbert looked at the locking pin about to be freed from its thread. “Now, Sullivan!”

To avoid the reaching tentacles, Boris leapt for the nearby rope being whipped by the wind and the downdraft, grabbed it and climbed.

Heeding his commander’s warning, Sullivan leapt as best he could from his unstable perch that offered no leverage to push off from and fell towards the creature’s tangled limbs.

“He’s falling,” uttered Colbert.

As soon as Richard turned the screw free from its thread, the rope dropped. “Now can we get out of here?” said Richard.

Gripping the rope with three limbs, Boris grabbed at the falling human’s hand reaching for the rope beyond his grasp and snagged it with his fourth.

Sullivan gripped the rope he swung towards. When he was securely on it, he nodded his thanks to his strange savior, but Boris was already climbing. Envying the chimp’s climbing prowess, he looked down at the alien crashing to the ground. Having lost track of time, Sullivan wondered how long they had before the bomb detonated. With what little strength he had remaining, he restarted his climb.

Surprised by what he had just witnessed, Colbert informed the others. “He’s safe. The chimp caught him.”

“What about the alien?” asked Mason.

“Returned to earth,” answered Richard. “And good riddance to it. I never want to see another alien creature for as long as I live.”

“Living might not be very long,” stated Krisztina. “Fifty-six seconds to detonation.”

Colbert glanced at the back of the pilot’s head. “Punch it, Kelly!”

“I’m punching! I’m punching!”

In a last-ditch effort to stop the humans from escaping, EV1L rushed for the fence, climbed it and shot out a limb that grew to an impossible length. Just as it looked as if it would grab the rope the human hung from, it was pulled from its reach.

Richard dodged back when the chimp bounded through the door and then returned to staring back at the alien creature watching them from its perch on the security fence. He pictured film footage he had seen on TV of nuclear explosions and thought they were still awfully close to be able to survive the blast. “Can’t this thing go any faster.”

“Only if we lighten the load,” replied Kelly.

“You want me to throw him out, sir?” asked Mason, smiling at Richard.

Colbert looked at Richard. “Before this mission I wouldn’t have hesitated, but he did save our asses.” He reached for Sullivan’s hand when he was near enough, and after hauling him inside, released the remaining ropes and slid the door shut. “You took your time.”

Panting, Sullivan sat on the floor. “Sorry, sir. Paused to play with the alien wildlife.”

Richard nodded at Boris on Krisztina’s lap. “What about throwing out the chimp?”

Boris pouted at Richard.

Krisztina grabbed Boris’s hand. “No one is throwing Boris out.”

Mason glanced at the countdown on Krisztina’s watch. “Forty seconds.”

“We’re not going to make it!” informed Kelly anxiously. “Hold on, it’s about to get bumpy.”

Those who weren’t buckled in, secured their harnesses and held anything solid they could find to cling to.

Sullivan slid into the co-pilot’s seat, strapped himself in and looked at Kelly. The worry etched on the pilot’s face increased his own. “Anything I can do?”

“Pray like you’ve never prayed before.”

The group fell to silence as the seconds ticked away.

Looking at her watch, Krisztina counted down. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…”

Those with their backs to the facility growing more distant with each second turned to observe the detonation.

“…five, four, three, two, one.”

Nothing happened.

Richard sighed. “All that damn trouble for nothing.”

“Why didn’t it explode?” asked Mason.

“Russian engineering is probably to blame,” offered Sullivan.

Krisztina was about to argue the slur against her countrymen when a bright flash followed by loud boom rolled across the sky. A mile-high mushroom of smoke, flame and debris rose into the sky above the facility. The shockwave sped dust and debris towards them. Richard gripped his seat when it was almost upon them. Picked up by the wave, the helicopter surged forward, jolting its fearful passengers.

The turbine whined in protest from the spinning craft. The tail rotor vibrated so violently it struck the fuselage. Torn violently from its mooring it whizzed along the side of the fuselage with a loud clatter until it shot off ahead of the craft. Fighting the excessive pitch and yaw as the helicopter spun in the opposite direction of the rotors the lost tail rotor no longer corrected, Kelly battled the G-force thrusting against him and activated autorotation. It was a lame attempt to bring back some semblance of control to lessen the impact with the ground that was coming close fast.

His face a mask of fear that matched some of the others who knew what was coming, Richard looked at Colbert. “How’s your lucky charm working out for you now?”

Colbert grinned. “Ask me again after we’ve landed.”

“We’re going down!” shouted the pilot unnecessarily. It was the only thing presently occupying everyone’s thoughts. “Brace for impact!”

After watching the humans escape in their flying machine for a few moments, EV1L headed back to the building. She would collect the decapitated human corpse and go below to search for any of her surviving brood. After they had nourished themselves on the dead human, she would initiate a second birthing phase to boost their numbers. They would then leave this place and start their colonization of this human world.

As EV1L pushed through the hole in the side of the building, her plan to conquer Earth was brought to an abrupt end by the bright light that vaporized every molecule of her evil form.

In a frantic attempt to cushion the landing, Kelly flared the rotors just before machine met ground. Contact with the frozen tundra sent a powerful, metal-crunching jolt through the craft and everyone inside. The craft’s forward momentum rolled the helicopter with accompanying sounds of crushing metal and fuselage. The rotor tips sheared off. One embedded in the fuselage, the end a finger-width from Colbert’s face. The rotor stumps dug into the earth, sending the helicopter spinning across the ground. The engine, ripped from its mount, rolled over the craft. The spinning ends of the rotors ripped through the flimsy fuselage and passed between the horror-struck seated passengers with a terrifying whirring blur before rolling out into the tundra. Accompanied by the crunching and buckling of metal and the flimsy fuselage, as well as Richard’s drawn out, hysterical scream, the occupants were tossed chaotically like laundry in a tumble dryer when the helicopter rolled over and over before coming to a stop.