The Descent

If  only  he  could  see.  Impatient  with  the  technology,  Branch  abruptly  killed  the infrared  night  vision  and  pushed  the  eyepiece  away.  He  flipped  on  the  undercarriage headlights.

Instantly  the specter  of a giant purple cloud vanished.

Spread before them, Branch  saw  a  forest  –  with  trees.  Stark  shadows  cast  long  and bleak.  Near  the  center,  the  trees  were  leafless.  The  nitrogen  release  on  previous nights had blighted them.

'Good God!' Chambers's voice hurt his ears.

Pandemonium erupted  over  the airwaves.  'What the hell was that?' someone yelled. Branch  didn't  know  the  voice,  but  from  the  background  it  sounded  like  a  small  riot breaking out at Molly.

Branch tensed. 'Say again. Over,'  he said.

Chambers  came  back  on.  'Don't  tell  me  you  didn't  see  that.  When  you  turned  your lights on...'

The  comm  room  noised  like  a  flock  of  tropical  birds  in  panic.  Someone  was  yelling,

'Get  the  colonel,  get  him  now!'  Another  voice  boomed,  'Give  me  replay,  give  me replay!'

'What the fuck?' McDaniels wondered from the floating huddle. 'Over.' Branch waited with his pilots, listening to the chaos at base.

A  military  voice  came  on.  It  was  Master  Sergeant  Jefferson  at  her  console.  'Echo

Tango, do you read?  Over.'  Her radio discipline was a miracle to hear.

'This  is  Echo  Tango,  Base,'  Branch  replied.  'You  are  loud  and  clear.  Is   there   a situation in development?  Over.'

'Big motion on the KH-12  feed,  Echo  Tango.  Something's  going  on  in  there.  Infrared

just showed multiple bogeys. You say  you see nothing? Over.'

Branch  squinted  through  the  canopy.   The   rain  lay   plasticized  on  his  Plexiglas, smearing his vision. He angled down to give Ramada  an  unobstructed  view.  From  this distance, the site looked toxic but peaceful.

'Ram?' he said quietly, at a loss.

'Beats me,' Ramada said.

'Any better?'  he spoke into his mouthpiece.

'Better,' breathed  Chambers. 'Hard to see, though.'

Branch moved laterally for vantage  and trained the lights on ground  zero.  Zulu  Four lay not far ahead, nestled among stark  spears  of killed forest.

'There  it is,' Chambers said.

You  had  to  know  what  to  look  for.  It   was   a  large   pit,  open  and  flooded  with rainwater. Sticks floated on top of the pool. Bones, Branch knew instinctively.

'Can we get any more magnification?' Chambers asked.

Branch held his position while specialists fiddled with the image back at camp.  There beyond  his  Plexiglas  lay  the  apocalypse:  Pestilence,  Death,  War.  All  but  that  final horseman, Famine. What in creation are you doing here, Elias?

'Not  good  enough,'  Chambers   complained  over   his  headset.   'All  we're   doing   is magnifying the distortion.'

She was going to repeat  her  request,  Branch  knew.  It  was  the  logical  next  step.  But she never  got the chance.

'There  again,  sir,'  the  master  sergeant  reported  over  the  radio.  'I'm  counting  three, correction, four thermal shapes, Echo Tango. Very  distinct. Very  alive.  Still  nothing  on your end? Over.'

'Nothing. What kind of shapes, Base? Over.'

'They  look to be human-sized. Otherwise,  no detail. The  KH-12  just doesn't have  the resolution. Repeat. We're imaging  multiple  shapes,  in  motion  at  or  in  the  site.  Beyond that, no definition.'

Branch sat there  with the cyclic shoving at his hand.

At  or  in?  Branch  slipped  right,  searching  for  better  vantage,  sideways,  then  higher, not  venturing  one  inch  closer.  Ramada  toggled  the  light,  hunting.  They  rose  high above the dead trees.

'Hold it,' Ramada said.

From above, the water's  surface was clearly agitated. It  was not a wild agitation.  But neither  was  it  the  kind  of  smooth  rippling  caused  by  falling  leaves,  say.  The  pattern was too arrhythmic.  Too animate.

'We're  observing  some  kind  of  movement  down  there,'  Branch  radioed.  'Are  you picking any of this up on our camera, Base? Over.'

'Very  mixed results, Major. Nothing definite. You're  too far away.'

Branch  scowled  at  the  pool  of  water.  He  tried  to  fashion  a  logical  explanation. Nothing above  ground clarified the phenomenon. No people, no wolves, no  scavengers. Except  for the motion breaking the water's  surface, the area was lifeless.

Whatever  was  causing  the  disturbance  had  to  be  in  the  water.  Fish?  It  was  not impossible,  with  the   overflowing   rivers   and  creeks   reaching   through   the   forest. Catfish,  maybe?  Eels?  Bottom  feeders,  whatever  they  were?  And  large  enough  to show up on a satellite infrared.