Дэвид Уоллес - Island of Fog and Death

“Fuck this,” she muttered aloud. “It’s got too many bloody tentacles. How the hell do I dodge them all?”

The answer came to her and she slapped the cave floor in fury. “Fucking stupid bitch! Idiot!” she snarled at herself. She forced herself to calm down, and reached out with her mind to take a firm grip on the ribbon of time. A pair of tentacles were closing in from the sides, and were about to slap together and crush her. She yanked on time, as hard as she could, dragging it to a halt, and visualised tying off the ribbon so it could not move. She glanced around herself to see if it had worked.

Dust motes hung in the air, unmoving. The creature was still. The tentacles were close, but coming no closer. She could see the thing’s huge eye, focused on her, and its gaping circular maw ringed with pointed teeth. Carefully she stepped through the tentacles and past the beast’s head. As she bent to pick up the dog collar, her vision swam and it dawned on her that her body’s energy was all but drained by the effort of controlling time. She needed to get a move on.

Peri picked up the collar and unsnapped it. She wrapped it around a tentacle near its junction with the hideous head, and fastened it. Immediately, the collar tightened and clung to the beast.

Her heart pounding and her pulse racing, Peri moved to the cave entrance and stepped through into the outer chamber. It should not have surprised her, but nevertheless there was a moment of shock as she caught sight of her companions, stock still, with various expressions of horror or disbelief on their faces. She moved close to Gus, her limbs burning with the effort, and knew she could hold on to time no longer. Her vision went dark around the edges and time tore free from her mental grasp, as she collapsed onto the floor. Abruptly, her surroundings picked up speed and noises crashed back into her ears.

She called out, “Now, Gus! Now! Trap the fucker!”

Gus’ eyes went wide and he looked down in disbelief at Peri, lying in a bloody heap at his feet. But he obediently squeezed and turned the ring on his finger. There was a hissing sound and a flare of white light from the inner cave.

“Did it work?” demanded Peri. “Let me see!”

Troy looked round the door and laughed. He and Gus dragged the door wide, as Amanda helped Peri to stand. Amanda looked up at the cave, and she, too, started to laugh. Peri finally got her eyes to focus, and they narrowed as her sight landed on a small, surprised-looking sheep, wearing a dog collar.

“Right,” said Peri. “Now get me a flame-thrower, and a big fucking bucket of mint sauce. Stat!”

Gus quickly laid a hand on her arm. “Peri,” he said urgently. “I fear the containment of the collar would be destroyed…”

She laughed. “Relax, Gus. I just felt the circumstances called for a memorably badass line. I don’t really intend to barbecue it.”

“If that’s all your blood…” Troy started to say, before Amanda cut in.

“She’s healing already. Peri, you were cut up very badly, and you’re covered in bruises, but the wounds aren’t bleeding, in fact they have mostly closed up. What on earth happened… It killed you, but you came back!”

“Let’s just say I’m tougher than I look and leave it at that,” Peri said firmly.

Steve reappeared. “Okay, is it secure…?” he started to ask. But then he stopped dead, and stared at the improbable scene in the Mithraeum. The open doors, the sheep, the naked bloody woman. “What the hell? I only stepped out for five minutes! What happened? Why is there a sheep in there? And why is Peri covered in blood?”

“She’s also stark naked,” said Amanda, unbuttoning her top and stripping it off. “Take this. It’s opaque at least, even if it is a bit short. Gentlemen? Can any of you contribute towards preserving Peri’s modesty?”

They all needed to get out of that cave.

As soon as she reached ground level once more, Peri had to borrow a mobile phone. Her personal phone and her Sectera phone had both been in the pockets of her cargo pants, and goodness only knew where they were now. She called Tommy in London to provide an update – in guarded terms given the unencrypted channel – and to make sure the military had stopped whatever planning they had started for a big bang on Anifail. She was insistent on the latter point, telling Tommy in no uncertain terms that if she was accidentally nuked, she’d hold him personally responsible and make him suffer, even if it meant coming back to London as a zombie to eat his brains. He took the opportunity to let her know that she should be wary of Victoria Bandra, because his team thought it was likely to be a false name. To this, Peri’s response had been typically terse: “No shit.”

Steve had used his personal role radio to report in to Captain Mike on the mainland, stressing that the threat had been contained, but – at Peri’s insistence – providing no details by radio. Mike had sent more troops over to comb the island for chain snakes, and the scientific teams were following them to pick up any interesting samples they might come across. Commando Engineers were also on their way to repair the iron defences of the cave system.

The team sat or lay under the stars, outside the little chapel, to wait for helicopter transport back to the mainland.

Peri moved beside Amanda. “Hey,” she said. “Remember earlier, when you asked who you needed to sleep with? And I said that would be me?”

Amanda gave her a quizzical look. “I remember.”

Peri laughed. “Well, I know you haven’t got a room for the night. So, I’m not propositioning you or anything, but you’re welcome to sleep in mine. Unless you want to be propositioned, of course?”

Amanda gave her an appreciative smile. “Maybe another night. The propositioning, I mean, not the sleeping. I’ll take the sleeping now, thanks. And I’m babbling a bit, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are,” Peri confirmed. “But relax, I got the gist.” She gave Amanda’s shoulder a squeeze, and leaned to her other side where Gus was lying on his back looking tired.

“Lost without your dog?” she asked softly.

He propped himself on elbow and gave Peri a tight smile. “A little,” he admitted. “I have been looking after Tash for a very long time. When I think back, it is a surprisingly long time.”

Peri nodded. “You’re the Gustav Adolph, aren’t you? Gustavus the Second Adolphus, King of Sweden, Lion of the North, champion of the Protestant Reformation.”

Gus simply shrugged by way of reply.

“And that would mean you’ve been looking after Tash for about four hundred years.”

Gus nodded. “About.”

“Now what?” asked Peri.

Gus looked into her eyes, as if searching for something. “He’s in there, somewhere, isn’t he?”

She nodded. “I can feel him,” she said. “That isn’t the right word. I can – sense – him inside me. When I came back, he fled. It’s like he found a corner and curled up in it, and pulled a barrier round himself to cut himself off from me. He isn’t talking, he’s just there.”

“So now, I guess you are his caretaker,” he said, wistfully. “I am not sure what I am any more.” He slumped back down and stared at the stars.

“My valued advisor?” suggested Peri.

“It would be unfair on you not to be,” he answered. Then he propped himself up again. “When you – went away – and then came back ,” he said, slowly, “Did you meet someone?”

“The Servator.”

“So you did meet him,” he said with a nod. “Or her. A remarkably vague and ambiguous individual.”

“Indeed. She is definitely both of those.”