Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

"We should raise anchor and leave right now," Mary Alice, the chief engineer, told them her lower lip quivering. "If you have any doubts follow me."

Everyone followed the petite woman back to the captain's quarters. A single bullseye lantern illuminated the room. She picked of a strange looking metal cylinder. She placed it on the captain's writing desk. Mary Alice reached up and closed the open shutter of the lantern and then twisted the top of the cylinder. An eerie blue-green radiance filled the room.

"Regard the far wall," she said and a collective gasp rose up from the assembled officers.

"What in God's name is that," the Weapons Master asked in a wavering voice.

"That is how the captain and the others were taken from the ship. These things, whatever they are, can pass through solid matter. That outline is where they dragged the captain to his death. If he is alive we cannot save him. We have no defense against these things. If would be suicide to stay here."

The officers met in private and discussed the matter. While they were in council one of the men on the watch discharged his firearm. His shot struck something and an unearthly cry rose up in the darkness. Several more shots followed and the thing fell dead in the grass. A group of ten men took lanterns and went out to inspect the body. The marines closed in on the thing in the grass, a short while later sounds of gagging and cries of alarm could be heard. The bobbing lanterns approached the ship as the men fled back to the safety of the Raven. This was no disciplined retreat but blind panic. The marines were incoherent when asked what they had seen.

"Pull yourself together man, what happened," the Master of Arms demanded of his men.

"Charles shot it, his bullet wounded it," Conner offered. "He saw movement in the grass and shot the damned thing. We each fired off a single round down range and killed it. We grabbed lanterns and went to make sure it was dead."

"What did you find," Thaddeus asked.

"It ain't any beast that God ever fashioned," Conner continued. "It is an abomination I tell you! We should burn it and leave this place. This is hell Lieutenant! We have landed in Hell!"

"We need to hunt the rest of these beasts down and kill them," Alan Croft cried out.

"Are you fucking mad," one of the other marines howled. "You haven't seen the damned thing. Who knows how many other things are out there."

It was Thomas Drake, the head of the expedition that summoned the officers into a second meeting. It was a brief meeting. Fifteen men, mostly officers including the ship's surgeon, went out to examine the body of the thing the marines had cut down with gunfire. They found the thing's remains as well as the corpse of the captain.

"He wasn't here," Conner cried out. "When we came out the first time he was not here. Those beasties drug him out here."

"Amazing," the surgeon said as he examined the thing in the grass. "It appears squishy and weak at first but look here; can you see the fibrous structure? These things while they may seem quite vulnerable are quite durable and resistant to injury. These tentacles are hollow feeding tubes." The doctor moved over to look at the captain's wounds. "It looks like they feed off of the brain and soft internal organs. I can't see anything that appears as eyes, ears or a nose. I have no idea how they perceive their environment. It could be by heat, scent or some range of spectrum we are unaware of."

"How do they move doctor," Thaddeus asked.

"What did you men observe?" The surgeon asked.

"It kind of floated, drifted along the breeze," one man offered.

"Yeah, the tentacle things sort of brushed the ground as it flew in the air," another added.

"We can only assume we are dealing with a very intelligent creature here and we should consider our next action very carefully."

"Let's take both bodies back to the ship," Thomas ordered. "Let the surgeon do his work while a burial duty will bury the captain at dawn. I don't want to add on to the body count if I can avoid it."

The men brought two tarps from the ship and carried the bodies back to the ship. No one slept that night. The doctor performed two autopsies and detailed the anatomy of the enemy while he explored the length of damage done to their dear captain. Anna cried herself hoarse as the first hint of dawn broke over the forbidding valley. Then she bit down her revulsion and anger and did detailed sketches of the beast that might have been responsible for the death of her lover. As she drew the thing's anatomy the surgeon explained what little he had learned about the monster.

The thing possessed three feeding tentacles that stretched eight feet in length. These hollow tentacles were attached at regular intervals around a spherical bulbous body. The overall color of the thing was a milky white that reminded the viewer of maggots. There was an opening on the bottom of the sphere that could have been for breathing or communication. The outer skin was tough and leathery while the area inside the 'mouth' was soft and spongey. Powerful muscles surrounded the opening of the maw and hinted at a series of three mandibles. But nowhere was there a hint of ears or eyes. How it perceived its environment was a complete mystery.

"In a word gentlemen, it is alien," the surgeon said as he sipped his morning tea. "In all of my years I have never seen or heard of anything like this exomorph. It uses some form of levitation for mobility and feeding tentacles to impale and kill their food animal. I am still stumped at how they see or hear if that even applies to these creatures. I will tell you this. They have a highly developed brain and possess more than animal cunning. I cannot express the limits of their intelligence. The fact that they placed the captain's body for us to find worries me greatly."

The officers and members of the Orcus Club made a final council of war. It was agreed that they could harm, even kill these things but was it wise to stir a hornet's nest? There were many unknowns and they were already four men down and one of those the captain. The council of war ended and it was only then that Alan Croft was noticeably absent. They began searching when they heard the commotion from the main deck. The officers raced up and found marines crying out to a quickly disappearing Alan Croft. He was armed with a rifle and was running in the direction of the cave.

"Damn him," Thaddeus cried out. "He just committed suicide. Oh no, I know that look! Fine, let me put it this way. We have three choices, first we pack up and leave and let Alan suffer his fate alone. Second, we can split our forces and send half our men after Alan and maybe, maybe revenge ourselves on these things. Third and I will say this right now my least favorite option, we send a majority of our men after Alan and leave the ship wide open for attack. If you decide on the third option Thomas we may never get home alive. I mean any of us."

"You aren't going to leave him," Felicity asked as tears streamed down her cheeks. "He is your best friend Thaddeus!"

"He raced off without thinking things through. Typical Alan Croft and this time it could cost lives, a lot of them Felicity. Do you want to wait here when those things could come after you and feast on your brain and internal organs? Do you?!"

"I will fight. I will take up a weapon for him. He is my flesh and blood! I will not abandon him!" Felicity barked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

The officers offered their insight and Thomas listened to each of them as they argued one of the three options. All the while Alan got nearer to the cave and most likely his own death. Thomas made his decision a half hour later and a majority of the men took up arms, lanterns and promised to return alive. Felicity stayed with the woman and handed out pistols to them. As the men left the woman and engineers were schooled in firearms. Mark Trent led the way and tracked Alan in the dark. They moved as quickly as they dared. They reached the cave opening a few hours before dawn. No corpses were found along the way so they entered the cave.

They cautiously walked down the angled entrance and it became obvious very quickly that it wasn't a cave. It was in fact a ramp that led into a constructed space. Could it be the long lost temple? Mark ordered a tight formation as they began exploring the pillared hallway. If the things were going to launch an ambush this was a good spot. The pillars created blind spots and the lanterns cast shadows everywhere. The tension in the air was reaching a critical point. A single movement would create a shooting frenzy. Mark called a halt and told the men to relax. He didn't want them to panic and break formation. They moved forward again and Mark found Alan's footsteps in the dust covered floor. It proved one thing, whatever these monsters were they could fly.

"Those in the middle keep an eye on the ceiling," Mark whispered.

"Yes Sir," a marine replied.

There were a set of steps that led further down. Alan had made it this far on his own power. At the bottom of the steps was a pair of massive doors. The door on the left had been pushed open. A weak flickering light spilled from the open door. They were forced to enter single file and this is when the men nearly broke but once they had all passed the boundary into the chamber beyond they relaxed. That is because Alan Croft stood in the middle of the treasure room smiling at them.

"We found it," Alan said pointing to the walls. "The lost temple is ours!"

"Good Lord is that all gold," Thaddeus asked even as Thomas placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Steady old man, this is all wrong," Thomas said as he brought his rifle up and took aim at Sir Alan Croft.

"Have you lost your mind," Thaddeus asked but it was Mark that opened his eyes.

"Look around Thaddeus, really look around at where we are," Mark said raising his own weapon.

The attack came even as the soldiers brought their weapons to bear. Ten marines fell before a single shot could be fired. Thomas barked out orders and the marines formed a circled and opened fire. The creatures slowed and even a few dropped, but more came on. Thomas levered the next round into place and coolly took aim and fired. He soon discovered that the creatures were vulnerable to attack at what could be described as its head. He cried out his discovery and the things began to drop quickly and their initial attack was stalled and they fled, for now.

"Alan, what the hell is going on," Thaddeus called out.

"Why aren't they attacking him," a marine asked.

"It could be this," Alan said as he held up the silver locket and smiled.

"Let's go everyone," Thomas ordered. "While they are unsure, we will return to the ship. Alan this is your last chance."

"I... I can't move," Alan cried out his eyes wide with terror and his smile a forced rictus grin.

"Everyone, I am going to grab Alan, once I reach him we are leaving," Thaddeus called out.

Thaddeus shouldered his weapon and raced towards his oldest and dearest friend. What should have been a simple rescue ended as a tackle on the dusty floor of the treasure room. The two men grappled and the silver locket spun away into the dark. Alan was wracked with pain as Thaddeus hauled him up and over his shoulder. The marines formed up around them and they fled in an orderly retreat. The things waited until the men were forced to exit single file. The narrow doorway became a killing field. The things attacked from both sides now and the forward movement of the marines was halted. The men dropped down to a firing position and focused on the enemies this side of the doorway.

"Do you hear that," Mark asked as a strange echo filled the air.

"Is that gunfire," Niles asked as he blasted one of the beasts center mass.

"It is coming from the other side of the door," Thaddeus said smiling.

What had been a narrow doorway and tactical nightmare now became a choke point against the creatures on the far side of the door. Five marines focused their attention on the door while the others kept firing at the monsters in the treasure room. The second assault faltered and by this time Alan had recovered some of his senses. The men poured through the open doorway and joined the engineers led by Felicity of all people. They raced for the exit and open ground. The sun would be rising soon. If they could make the ship before the monsters regrouped they might survive.

It had begun as a controlled and well organized retreat. It had ended in chaos, blood and panic. By the time they reached the surface it was a mad dash and each man for themselves. The chief engineer hadn't been idle. The Raven was airborne with a length of cargo net flung over the side. The pilot slowed the ship and turned so that net was directly in front of the fleeing group. Perhaps a dozen souls grabbed ahold of the net and hauled themselves up. The roar that came from the cave caused many men to turn and look, this proved fatal. The sun was coming up but the valley was still shrouded in shadow. The hoard burst from the temple and washed over the fleeing marines in a living wave. Another six men managed to grab the bottom of the net when the ship gained altitude. The men screamed as they climbed fearing they would be snatched at the last moment into the torrent of alien limbs. The wave rushed forward but a new sound echoed over the hidden valley. The series of gunshots was faster than any human could possibly produce alone and yet a single source of muzzle flash could be seen from the ground.

"Take that you sons of bitches," screamed the chief engineer as she turned the gun's crank and sent a hundred rounds into the mass of creatures. "Die.... Die.... Die..."

For the third and last time the rush of monsters faltered and they fled both the sun and the bullets filling their ranks. Of the fifteen men and women that had climbed the net eight survived their wounds initially. Two more would succumb before the Raven dropped anchor in the Cape of Good Hope. Niles cradled the body of his sister as she took her last breaths. The head wound proved fatal as half her brain had been extracted before she locked her arm around a loop in the net. Two engineers managed to carry her up to the deck and into Nile's arms.

Alan wept when he saw how few had returned from his rescue mission. Felicity led him to the surgery and the doctor looked him over. There were clear signs of shock and nerve damage. Whatever had taken over his mind had left lasting damage. Thaddeus took over command of the ship and managed to use the skeleton crew to reach a safe harbor. He pushed the crew and they rose to the occasion so that they reached the Cape of Good Hope four days later. There they took on new crew and restocked their supplies. They filed a report and returned to London under a cloud of suspicion. The survivors were interviewed by a council that was made up of Lords, businessmen and the remaining members of the Orcus Club.

While Alan had been unable to carry any gold back he did manage to pocket quite a few raw gemstones that he handed over to Niles in front of the newly elected club president. The fleet of flying craft might still have a future. A year later, Sir Alan Croft disappeared from public life and was taken in by the staff of St. Michaels. His exposure to the creatures and the unknown silver artifact had eroded his mind and sanity. Thaddeus made a solemn vow to visit him regularly and keep him in touch with society functions, gossip and events throughout the Empire. Felicity gave birth to a daughter eight months after her return from Africa. Mother and child have kept a low profile on land owned by relatives far from London.

Mary Alice Strange received a royal charter to build and develop a small fleet of flying ships that maintained the power and might of England well into the next century. She was the sole individual that learned the secret of the silver locket. Niles managed to scoop up the relic while Thaddeus caught Alan in his arms. He pocketed the item in the folds of his handkerchief. While the Raven returned to London the chief engineer examined the locket under powerful electric lights and magnifying lenses. It was a lovely thing and there carved on its lid were the words in Latin, Know Thyself. There were a series of tiny screws hidden in the folds of the crafted silver. She took a screwdriver used for clockwork mechanisms to loosen and remove the screws.

Mary Alice removed the front and rear covers for the locket. Beneath the silver was a platinum case. The case was etched with a spiral series of strange characters. Undeterred she slipped into Alan's room and borrowed his research library. The dozen handwritten books aided her in identifying the characters. While she never fully deciphered the letters their meaning was plain. It was some sort of spiritual prison. Carefully she used hand tools to open the locket and laughed.

"Know thyself," she said aloud as she stared at the two mirror bright surfaces inside the locket instead of pictures of loved ones. "Did the mirrors keep the spirit prisoner? Was something released when you opened the locket Alan Croft? Is it still free or has it found a new home? Oh, you poor bastard you..."