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"Straight in. Surprise. Shoot when you have a target," Cadma
"Look for Elliot and La Do
Cadma
"Now!" he shouted.
Zack shouldered his rifle and squeezed off a burst. Spent shells whirred out of the rifle breech in a glittering arc.
The monster twisted, turned toward the Skeeter, then swiveled wildly, searching the river and the cliff above, finally looking back at the Skeeter.
Cadma
Carlos was trapped, frozen except for one foot which slipped as he fought for a toehold. His hands and arms were stretched painfully taut. His head twisted back to look at them, then he pressed his cheek back into the cliff face again.
"What is it doing up there?" Zack demanded.
It was paying more attention to its sides than to Skeeter One. It licked at the bullet holes.
Zack fired again, a long burst. The creature recoiled against the rock. Its gaze rested on them for an instant, then its head twitched to the left and the right with the speed of a hummingbird's wings.
Then with no warning at all it dove off the cliff, ran down the side faster than a rock could fall, hit the ground and sped for the river. Cadma
Skeeter Two was just whizzing back across the river when the creature disappeared with a splash.
Cadma
"I've got it, Cad. Not a clear view: there's too much disturbance in the water. But it looks like there's a cave mouth down there. I'd say we've got it pe
Gotcha! Cadma
"Roger—but Cad—we have the remains of both rafts. And Elliot's dead.
We can't find La Do
The news hit home savagely, dulling the flash of pleasure.
"Stay over the cave. We'll look for the ladies."
"What about Carlos?"
"He's moving," Cadma
"No." Zack squeezed out each word. "This isn't going to get any easier if we wait."
Cadma
Cadma
There was a sudden sound behind him, and Cadma
Carlos gave a weak smile, shaking a cigarette out of a plastic pack.
"Smoke?"
"No, thanks."
Several different emotions warred on Carlos's face, and he finally lowered the package. "Absurd, isn't it? I mean, to want to give you something. A cigarette... a handshake?"
Cadma
"Thanks, Cadma
His dark face was relaxed, his voice very quiet.
"You've forgotten your accent."
Carlos gave a short bark of laughter. "Yeah. Wait around. Bullshit has a way of piling back up."
He exhaled a long stream of smoke. His hands were shaking badly. "Bobbi will be all right. Won't she? She won't wake up. Why am I asking you?"
His eyes lost focus, were gazing into the wall of rock on the far side of the gorge. Too well, Cadma
Skeeter Two was still hovering over the Miskatonic. "If there isn't another exit from the cave, then we've got the damn thing pi
"That's it." Skeeter Six was humming in, loaded cargo hoist swinging pendulously. Cadma
Carlos ground out the half-smoked cigarette. "I'm shaking. I'll be over it. And the best way is to kill that thing. What are your ideas?"
"You'll see."
The cargo hoist beneath the Skeeter was full, and the pilot lowered it. When it was down and released, the Skeeter touched down and Jerry dismounted, a rifle over his shoulder, a bulky square equipment case in his left hand. Skeeter Six took Two's place over the river.
Jerry clapped Carlos on the back, shook hands with Cadma
They headed back to the temporary shelter, where Stu and Andy were unpacking equipment. Zack had flown Bobbi back to camp first.
There was very little said, and not much show of nerves. Just swift, purposeful action. With a grinding hum, another Skeeter bore in men and equipment.
Cadma
They walked over to join the man and woman dismounting from the newest
Skeeter. Cadma
"We may be able to capture it," Jerry interjected. "We need to capture it alive if at all possible, Cadma
"All right, Jerry, but don't expect me to take any chances with it. I'm laying the tightest trap I can. If everything goes perfectly, we may be able to take it alive. If one little thing fucks up, we kill it."
"And if more than a little thing goes wrong..." Carlos said grimly.
Together they walked to the edge of the rocks overlooking the swirling depths of the Miskatonic. They could see little. Cadma
"None yet. Flash on the tiniest movement."
"That's the way we want it."
The river bottom was dark, and cold, and somewhere down there was what
Cadma
"What was that, amigo?"
"Amigo." Cadma
Chapter 18
DESCENT INTO HELL
One of the greatest blessings of virtue is the contempt of death. He who has learned how to die has unlearned how to serve. To be ready to die frees us from all bondage and thralldom.
MONTAIGNE, Essays
Cadma
The Miskatonic churned around him. Even with weight belt and tether line, the current threw his balance off, increased irritability, drained his strength. The wet suit slowed his every motion. And well worth it! Many a man had survived a shark attack because of his wet suit. A wet suit didn't taste like blood; and if something tore into him anyway, it could hold him together like a body bandage until a doctor could reach him.
But he felt slow. He dared not hurry. Methodically he prepared himself for war, knowing that the enemy would interrupt him when it chose.
Anchoring the net had been nightmarish: two men hammering and screwing meter-long barbed steel stakes into the mud and rock around the cave, a third man hovering back, underwater lamp and spear gun at the ready. The net itself was stronger than steel cable and as thin as spider silk, a synthetic organic polymer that was predicted to last for hundreds of years of ordinary use. No lesser durability would have been approved for shipment aboard Geographic.