John Carpenter's

HOSTILE TAKEOVER - CHAPTER 9

MacReady and Haines were nearing their mark. They estimated twenty minutes before visual contact and another ten minutes before landing. MacReady was anxious. He did not want to be making this venture but he could not wait to land. He was a seething ball of nerves. He had not been this edgy in years. His emotions ranged from fear to hate to curiosity and despair continuously as he and Haines flew closer to their destination.

Haines noticed MacReady getting jumping as he sat in his seat. "Can't wait, can ya, eh?"

MacReady glanced at Haines then turned his attention back out to the ice-covered landscape pale and perspiring. He didn't make a reply to Haines. Haines realized that MacReady must be torn up inside making this trip. He decided to keep the comments to a minimum.

MacReady looked over the charts that Grant gave them. This was the seventh time he studied them since they went up. "Well, according to this, they never even came close to the crash site." He repeated for the seventh time.

Well, I hope that chart is right, then. They probably haven't been here but let's check it anyway. Maybe we can ensure nobody else finds it again."

"Can we just do that? I mean, doesn't that damned ship belong to some government, or something?" Queried MacReady.

Well, sir, from what I was told and from what could be found out: nobody can claim it. If what happened to your base happened to just your base and yours alone, then your story would have been just that, your story. The Norwegian government and ours would have probably gone to war trying to claim it as their own. But, since that thing destroyed yours and the Norwegian base, they decided to bury the ship, forget about it and hush up any evidence on it, meaning you." Explained Gersham.

"Why didn't they fight over it anyway, I mean, Christ sakes, this is a phenomenal find. It's a genuine, goddamn, flying-freaking-saucer. And, if they wanted to shut me up then why lock my ass up, why not just 'pop-pop', two in the back off the head?"

"Well, Mac, number one: Wayne had his people do some serious digging before we left and he found out that thing that flew that saucer destroyed your and the Norwegians camp in under four days. The authorities found notes made by your teammate, Blair. The Norwegians found similar notes in the wreckage of their camp. Now, the governments aren't idiots, contrary to popular opinion. They both realized that this was too dangerous of a find to play with and it could possibly spell the end of life on earth. It was decided to bury the saucer and leave it there until agreements could be met on how both parties could handle it. That's the real reason it hasn't been touched for all of these years. Both parties want it, yet neither one want to be responsible for possibility of dooming the planet."

"Hmh, I'd never thought I'd be glad for governmental hemming and hawing." Injected MacReady.

"Amen, brother. As for number two: you had become too vocal, too much attention was given to you in the media. 'Crazy MacReady kills camp comrades, claims cosmic creature caused calamity'. Now, wouldn't it be kinda strange with you, claiming to be attacked by a space alien that destroyed two research sites, getting shot down by an 'unknown assailant' or even dying by 'questionable circumstances' be it natural or accidental. No, sir, That woulda just made you a martyr to all of the conspiracy theorists everywhere. Everyone heard about your story, they would have not have easily explained your death. No matter how you died, be it by their hand or by fate. The American people love this kinda stuff. They love a mystery and conspiracy. They love to speculate about things they know not a lot of. That's why they still ponder over JFK's death, Marilyn Monroe's death, believe Paul McCartney is dead and think Elvis is still alive. People are interested enough in 'Area 51' without having an 'Outpost 31'. Nope, they decided to discredit you and your story. They get you declared insane, lock you up and forget about the whole ordeal. They didn't count on your getting let out and finding out Bruce Wayne's new project, did they?" Continued Haines.

MacReady accepted what he heard with disdain. It was better than anything else he had been told in nearly twenty years. It also rang true with what he thought all along. He turned to look back out the hood of the helicopter. His blood started to run cold in his veins. To their right on the horizon he saw it. The crash site. Mental images flooded his mind. He was overcome by a barrage of emotions. He started to sweat profusely. MacReady started to shake in his seat.

"My God. I can't believe it. There it is." Remarked Haines. He looked to MacReady. MacReady was staring at the site, his eye filled with terror.

"Mac? Mac! Mac, are you all right?" Haines tried to snap MacReady out of his trance.

"Yeah, I'm…I'm all right. It's just that…just that, damn, I never thought I'd come here again. Christ, I can't believe I'm here." MacReady was clearly upset.

"Well, do you think you can do this? I mean, if you can't, you can wait…"

"No, no I'm all right. It's cool. I just…need a minute. I'll be fine." Assured MacReady.

"Well, I'll wait until you're ready." Stated Haines.

It was very close to as MacReady remembered. The vast circular object embedded deep into the frozen waste. Unlike before, it was deeply covered with ice and snow. To someone new it was kind of difficult to discern it was a spaceship due to the build up of snow and ice, but MacReady recognized it instantly. It was the chariot of unspeakable of death.

Haines circled the site for signs of recent activity. It had appeared the crash site had been undisturbed. He scoured the terrain for a level area to land. He spotted a flat space about twenty-five feet away from the site. He set the helicopter down gently as to not kick up too much debris.

When the helicopter was settled the two men readied them selves to investigate the metal chariot of the alien abomination. With their gear in hand, they made their way to the edge of the crash site. It was a forty-foot drop into the crater. Haines could not get over the size of the craft. It had to be over five hundred feet in circumference. Even with all the snow and ice build up, he could make out some of the intricate mechanisms of the extraterrestrial construct. One of the engines on what must have been the stern was sticking out of its frozen shroud. That alone must have been twenty feet long and seven feet in width. He could only imagine how tall the ship must be from top to bottom.

With taking his eyes off the wreckage, Haines methodically started to hammer a spike into the icy flooring to secure a rope and repel over the cliff in an effort to reach the ship. MacReady was doing the same, yet he paid no attention to the craft. He just wanted to get this over with.

Slowly and carefully the two men climbed down into the vast pit. This was not an easy task since both men were carrying heavy flame-throwers on their backs. Inch by inch they made their way down the side of the slippery wall. After cautious moments of crossing over icy hills and dips, they reached the center of the crater. Five feet beneath them was the entrance hatch to the vessel. It was barely visible but they could tell that the hatch was open.

"It appears to me that nobody has been here in a awhile." Noted MacReady.

"Ya, you might be right at that. But I'm awful curious about what's inside. I don't know, something doesn't seem right."

What?! What doesn't seem right? What do you mean 'inside'?" Screamed MacReady.

"Well now, I'm no geologist but shouldn't there be more of a build up of ice and snow right here for being re-buried for nearly twenty years?" Remarked Haines.

"Yeah, I…guess, I don't know. The snow did seem to pack pretty good beneath my feet when we walked over to here."

"Right and according to the reports, there hasn't been a significant snow of late to cause that. And the ice covering the entrance is too clear for supposedly being so old."

"So, what are you suggesting?" Inquired MacReady.

"I…I don't know. I'm not sure. But lets use these things to melt away the ice covering this porthole and go in to look." Suggested Haines pulling out the nozzle of the flame-thrower.

MacReady stared at Haines for a moment. This wasn't what MacReady wanted to hear. Reluctantly, MacReady joined Haines a few feet back from the opening. When ready the men pulled their triggers sending two streams of fiery liquid at the ice build up. The flames danced and writhed around the ice, reducing it in size in a short time. With the ice gone, they released the triggers and approached the entrance. Haines peered down into the hole to survey their work. Taking up the gun again, he let loose with few more blasts directly into the opening. MacReady looked down when Haines was done. He wasn't surprised with what was found.

"That was it. The ice went down just a few inches below the rim."

"Right. That means someone went inside it recently. They must have covered up the hole with chucks of snow and ice and let nature do the rest." Speculated Haines. "Well, there's only one thing to do now; go in and see what they've done."

"Oh no. I'm not going in there." Stated MacReady.

"Why not, you went in befo…"

"No, we didn't go in. There wasn't time. The winds were picking up fierce and we had to get back. Besides, No one was going to get me in there for nothing." Lamented MacReady.

"Well, I don't think we have much of a choice now, do we?" Answered Gersham.

MacReady drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He looked into the hole, deep into the hole. He didn't know what he would encounter in there but he did know what came out of it.

Look, what ever is in there, if anything at all, is frozen stiffer than a board, so I think we have little to worry about, eh?" Consoled Haines.

"Okay, Christ, what ever. The only thing is; is that you're going first, no buts."

Haines went into the hole first. The opening was large enough for two men to descend together. There wasn't a ladder or stairs. There were, however nooks going down one side of the hole in a straight line. Another line mirrored it on the opposite side. It took a few moments for Haines to figure out how to negotiate the nooks. He had to use them like a ladder with his left hand and foot using the left side and the same with the right. He went down in a spread eagle fashion. It was difficult due to the fact that the footings were spread out four-foot part from another. The normal user of this apparatus must have been very large in stature. The farther he went, the darker it got. He reached up and turned on the flashlight he had strapped to his head. This helped to a degree.

"Hey, MacReady!" He yelled out. "Can you climb back up and get the large box lights and lower them to me?"

"Yeah, but it's gonna take a few minutes. How much farther to the bottom?" Asked MacReady.

"About, oh…I'd say…about eight-feet or so."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Reported MacReady.

"All right. I'll be here. I won't move."

After getting the box lights. He hurried back down the side and back to the opening. He tied the four lights together with an extra line and lowered them down to Haines. "Okay, here they come, all right?"

"Yeah, hurry up. I'm getting a cramp in my leg waiting." Informed Haines. Haines peered down to get a better view of the flooring that was at the bottom of the crawl shaft. He couldn't make it out the detail too well with the lighting at hand but what he could see was nothing he had ever witnessed before. He studied the architecture in awe. It appeared to be curved and twisted in the most unimaginable fashions. He wasn't sure but it looked like…

"Hey! Box lights, comin' down!" MacReady's voice echoed from the top of the hole. The sound snapped Gersham out of his concentration as he turned his head to gazed upwards. Haines watched at a shadowed dot danced around the circle of light from the top of the hole. It grew bigger and bigger then disappeared in the darkness all together. A handful of seconds later the dangling box lights came into view of Haines' flashlight. He reached up to grab them. Once in his grip, he turned one on and pointed it down wards. Halfway down, the tube opened up to reveal the interior of the ship. Two columns picked up where the nooks in the sides of the hole ended. They too had nooks in them for foot and hand placement.

Haines made it to the bottom. The core of the ship was a vast area, spacious and open. Devices and contraptions long since damaged with time and the elements lined the circumference. Panels and, perhaps, controls were torn from their respective housings and were unceremoniously frozen solid in chunks of ice. A walkway circled the array. In the middle of all this was a raised platform, also circular in a twenty-foot diameter. Situated in the center was an unusual apparatus. It appeared to be a chair-like object with three seats. In front of the seats were possible controls and, what may have been at one time, a monitoring system.

"Hey, MacReady! Get down here, now!" Shouted Haines.

Hesitantly MacReady followed the order and climbed down after Haines. Haines had reached the bottom and was waiting for his companion. After a difficult few moments, MacReady joined him at the bottom.

"What? What's goin' on?" Questioned MacReady grabbing one of the box lights from Haines and flicking it on.

"Look, I don't think those belong to the Norwegians that were here so long ago. Wadda ya think, eh?" Haines pointed the light to the floor of the ship. Deeply embedded into the snow there were footprints. These weren't ancient or extra terrestrial. They were made recently and made by men.

"Shit! I knew it! They were here! They were here, the bastards! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" MacReady screamed in frustration and rage.

"Now, now hold on. We don't now for sure that they were made by anyone from TOMAR. It could have been made by someone from another site "

"Oh, come on! Don't you think that's reaching a little? TOMAR is the closest site around. It would take the others hours to get here. The yahoos at TOMAR could make the trip here and back in no time. Boom, boom and no one is the wiser." MacReady knew in his heart that he was right.

"Yeah, you might be right. But, we don't know for sure if they, who ever they were, came into contact with any bodies of any other crash victims. So, let's look around first to see if we can find any proof it was TOMAR personnel or not. Who knows? They may have looked at all of this and left without finding another space monster." Haines tried to keep a level head about all of this. It wasn't easy. This was too much too fast.

"All right but lets hurry it up. We got about fifteen minutes before we should head out. It'll be getting dark soon." Macready commented.

The two split up from where they stood. They decided to just check the area they were in. The ship was too immense for a thorough inspection at the present time. According to the size of the ship and the size of the room they were in, there had to be many more levels and sections to explore. They each took half of the circling walkway. MacReady moving towards the right and up, Haines from the left. The hull they were in was filled with ice and wreckage debris. Searching there was complicated. They found more equipment and components scattered in their respective routes.

"This is interesting." Commented Haines.

"What?"

"Look at the damaged equipment. Notice anything unusual about all of it?"

MacReady studied the wrecked components and instruments. They appeared to be recognizable to earth technology albeit, alien and far advanced.

"Okay, I give up. What?" Capitulated MacReady.

Haines stepped close to a pile of debris. He pointed to the inside of one torn open box-like apparatus and to the back of another.

"You see? No internal or external wiring. None what so ever." Observed Haines.

"So theses…things are so advanced that they went beyond wiring for their equipment." Inferred MacReady.

"It looks that way. And, I add, they did it a hell of long time before we had advanced civilizations."

"Well, that's all very interesting but it ain't helping us with what we need to know." Remarked MacReady.

MacReady and Haines went back to their search. Stepping over obstacles and ice hills in their paths slowed them down considerably. A little under half way through, MacReady had to cross over a sizeable hill of ice. This was formed from snow pouring in from a gash in the top of the craft. The hill came down at a high incline and spread over the floor in a ten-foot radius. MacReady had to use both his hands and feet to crawl over it. The slope was too slick and steep to hold onto. He tumbled down to the bottom with a muffled thud. With slight embarrassment and self-loathing, he picked himself up and continued his search.

There were large holes in the walls and flooring to contend with also. Haines had to jump over a five-foot wide hole in his path. There was no way to cross around it due to the raised platform in the middle. He had to back up a little and take a running leap to cross it. He tossed his equipment over first so as to lighten the burden of the stunt. He made it safely across. He was curious as to how far he could have fallen if he had missed his mark. He shined his light down into the gaping maw for a quick assessment. MacReady had made to his end with finding anything of great importance.

"Mac, check this out." Yelled Haines.

MacReady hurried over to where Haines was as fast as he could.

"Yeah, what?"

"Look at this, will ya." Haines was laying down on the deck floor with his head and light box down into the hole. MacReady got as close to Haines as he could and mimicked his actions. What MacReady discovered took him by surprise. The deck below them had to have been one hundred-foot deep. There were catwalks encompassing the interior walls. Three of them to make up three separate levels. They weren't sure but, it seemed that the bottom of this cavernous hull was the actually the top portion of an enormous propulsion engine. Other than that the area was fairly empty. The walls were either covered with ice and snow or destroyed to an unsalvageable point. Several large, gaping holes were cut into the sides of the walls. It was speculated by the two men that this much have happened on impact and a long skid to this resting place. Mounds and mounds of snow and ice had long since poured into these open wounds and had since petrified into permanent slopes into the interior of the lower half of the ancient extraterrestrial relic.

"See anything?" MacReady asked Haines.

"No bodies, if that's what you're asking."

"Yeah, me neither. Well, we need to get going soon if we're going to make it at all." MacReady exclaimed.

"Ya, that we should." The two men got up and gave the deck a quick glancing before heading out. MacReady swung his light around in all directions to assure himself there was nothing to worry about. His light crossed the base of the hill he had to climb over. Something was wrong. The bottom of the side he slid down was shorn off at a ninety-degree angle three feet from the floor. He didn't think just his sliding down the side caused the slope to break off at such an odd angle. MacReady quickly walked back over to the hill. He knelt down at the base to see what caused this. He swept away the loose snow and ice away with his hands. The more he cleaned the more he could see that this part of the ice hill had been chipped away with a pickaxe recently. He rubbed the cut area with his gloved hand to see what was of interest to who ever did this. With every circle of his wiping he could see that there was something was inside the ice.

"Haines! Get over here! Now!" Shouted MacReady without looking up.

Haines ran over to MacReady. He dropped down to his knees next to him.

"What? What did you find?" Gersham prodded.

MacReady didn't look up or acknowledge Haines at all. He kept up wiping the ice and staring into it. A definite shape was inside the ice. MacReady stopped and assessed his work. He could see what appeared to be a large shape lying prone. Something of an appendage ran along side of the shape and curved out towards the edge of the ice but hidden by fallen snow MacReady had not cleared away yet. He traced the appendage with finger to the point it disappeared. He took a pickaxe from Haines and started to remove ice to find the end of this strange limb. The ice here fell off easily. When he finished hacking, he wiped the portion clean of all ice and snow. The end of this alien extremity was a blackened tube not unlike a deformed limb of sorts. It was frozen solid and broken off at the end.

"Oh, Christ! They found one! The found it and took part of it with them!" MacReady cried.

"Are you sure. It could be…"

"Look for your self. This is not metallic. It's a type of flesh, I think. Kinda like the frozen thing we found at the Norwegian camp. And look at the end of it. It's been broken off and done so recently. The bastards came here, stumbled on this thing, took part of it with them and tried to hide it as best they could." Shouted macerate.

"Now, wait. As I said, we don't know if it was them at TOMAR. It coulda been some one else. We gotta be sure before we act. If it was we deal with it as best we can. If it isn't, we get on the horn and warn the governments of the other bases to send in their armies or whoever to deal with them. We'll tackle it one problem at a time."

"That's just it, God damn it, time is something we don't have! If it is thawed out and takes over someone then it's just a matter of hours before that camp is gone and it either moves to the next one or to a warmer climate! We gotta go, now!"

MacReady raced up the ladder with Haines following close behind. The climbed as fast as possible and scurried towards their helicopter. Haines noticed something in the snow and knelt down.

"Come on! Let's go!" MacReady hollered in the freezing wind. The sun would be down soon and time was not a luxury they could waste.

"Wait a minute! I think I found some thing! Get me the schematics of the ESD-1126!" Haines yelled back in the deafening whir of the rotor blades. He bent back over and started to clear away the fresh snow from the ground in front of him.

"Are you joking?"

"Now, MacReady!" Yelled Haines without looking up.

MacReady was starting to get angry. They had to move. They didn't have time to sit there and play in the snow. He ran to the chopper and did as he was asked. A moment later he trudged back to Haines who was staring at the ground.

"Here. What the hell is the big deal, anyway?"

Haines took the notes with out looking up to MacReady or answering him. He quickly scanned the charts and designs while glancing now and then back to the ground.

"What the hell is it?" MacReady asked again with more anger in his tone.

Haines stood and hurried towards the helicopter. "Come on. We gotta go. It was them. TOMAR. It was them."

"How do you know that?" Asked MacReady incredulously.

"Let's go. I'll tell you in the air."

The two freezing men climbed aboard the helicopter and took off for the research site. MacReady could do nothing but stare at his companion. Long minutes passed with out a word from either man.

"What? What did you find that convinced you it was TOMAR who found it?"

Haines let out a long sigh. He cocked his head towards MacReady but still kept his eyes to the sky in front of them.

"I found tracks in the snow that were covered up with the blowing snow. The spinning blades and wind uncovered them a bit."

"Yeah, so?"

"I checked out the schematics of the ESD-1126, specifically the treads of the wheels. The tracks were made by the EDS-1126. They found it. They found it and that thing was brought back to TOMAR."

_____________________________________________________________

It felt good to take a hot shower. Sure it only happened once a week due to rationing of water, but it was something to look forward to. It made one forget that they were in a frozen prison and warmed them to the soul. It also helped you forget the problems of being stuck here and not being able to do many things you take for granted. It also helped you forget problem that arise here, such as the intrusion of the two men this afternoon. They waltz in here, round us all up, then they leave. What they hell was that all about? It didn't matter now, He was taking a hot shower and that was all that mattered.

He thought he heard someone out in the changing room. He turned the shower off and looked out. He didn't see any but, oddly enough, the light was out in the dressing room.

"Now what?" He stepped out, grabbed a towel to dry off and check the problem.

This was ridiculous. The one thing he looked for all day and now it was interrupted by a burnt out bulb. He slowly crossed in the darkened room to see if he could find out if it was indeed a burnt out bulb, a short or what.

"Ka-thunk!" Something was bumped or knocked over in the darkness ahead of him.

"Hello? Who is that?" He called out to the darkness not really expecting an answer.

Quietly a figure moved out into the dim light being cast by the light inside the shower. He couldn't make out who it was. It was still too dark to tell.

"Hey, who is that?" He asked the approaching figure. The person did not answer. When the figure moved more into the shallow lighting, he could see, who ever it could be, was nude.

"Excuse me but it's my turn for the shower. Give me minute and I'll be done. While you're waiting, check on that freakin' light, will you?"

The figure made not a sound. It drew closer and closer inch by inch. The light now illuminated it's face. He could finally tell who it was.

"Oh, hey, how you doin'? I'll be right out."

The figure stopped in its tracks. It slowly raised its arms as if to give their wet, naked companion a hug.

"Whoa, wait a minute. I know it's lonely down here and the women can be frustrating but I don't go for that stuff." He said in holding up his hands in protest.

The figure still remained silent. Then, it started to tremble in a weird fashion. It's muscles twisting and tightening as if it were having a seizure.

"Hey, you okay?"

The convulsions grew more erratic. Then the skin and tissue started to rip from the tip of the head straight down to the groin of the figure as if it was being gutted by an invisible knife. Another rip began from the palm of each hand and ran across the length of each arm, meeting in the middle of the chest. New rips began in the middle of the top of each foot, running up the legs and joined the first rip at the groin.

Horror engulfed him as he watched this atrocity happen to his colleague. He was so taken in by terror and confusion that he could not speak. He tried to scream but could not make a sound. The rips in the body of his friend started to spread open. Wider and wider they grew. He wasn't sure in the dim light, but he could swear that there were no bones or internal organs inside of his mutilated comrade. It looked as though the openings were lined with…teeth. His brain finally spoke up and gave the command to run. He turned to bolt. He had nowhere to run to. He only had five-feet to go and then hit a wall or maybe duck into the shower. Anything, but he had to get away.

Before he could a half a step away, numerous black cords, dripping a hideous mixture of red blood and green and yellow ooze shot out from the hollow body behind him and instantly and completely entangling around his arms, legs, waist and neck. He tried to yell out but several of the bloody tendrils wrapped around his mouth, muffling any plea for help. He struggled to free himself but the cords tightened around him. He fought as hard as he could but he was being pulled backwards by the cords. Pain engulfed him as he felt the tendrils pierce deep into his body. Quickly, he was pulled into the hollow body of his bizarre assailant. The sinewy tendrils held him taut as his body was fit perfectly into the other like putting on a suit. When he was trapped inside, the wounds closed up, seamless and without scarring. It was if this never happened.

The silent shape walked over to the darkest corner and hunched down. It wrapped its arms around its knees and bowed its head. It sat there in the dark. If the light was better and if someone was to have walked in, they would have sworn that they saw something twisting and struggling beneath the flesh of this individual. They would have also of sworn that they heard faint sounds of sobbing and screams coming, not from, the hunched over person them self but, from…inside it.
 

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