Here's another story for you. I like the idea, I'm not convinced of the final result, or that it's that its even a final result. This might be better expanded as a novella/novelette (it would help the characters). I know there's very few places that don't dismiss non-traditional formats out of hand. The one place I'd like to put this is on a pause at the moment. So here it is, the North in all it's Endlessness.
Preliminary note
The
following is a transcript of a recording discovered in [Redacted]
University Audio Library. The recording was made using a
1980s-standard Dictaphone.
Day One
Voice:
Boarded the plane... waiting to take off... this is the audio log of
Staff Sargeant Crane of the 821st Air Base Group, Thule, Greenland. I
am... [inaudible] I'm recording an entry... It's a lovely day, May
23rd... 10:10am and the sun is shining... I'm accompanied by Airman
Danforth... [inaudible] Sorry! Senior Airman Danforth...
Laughter.
Danforth: Hello.
Crane: Only
temporarily demoted, He will be our pilot. Co-pilot is Airman Dyer…
Who is not speaking… also Flight Engineer Rasmussen of the Danish
Royal Airforce.
Rasmussen: Hi.
Crane: And Doctor Ross,
accompanying us from the National Weather Service...
Ross: That's me.
Danforth: Why are you
recording this?
Crane:
I am Commanding Officer of the Search and Rescue team leading an
expedition from the Thule base to locate and if possible contain...
Danforth:
Yeah, but why are you recording this?
Laughter.
Crane:
Audio record; it's the simplest and easiest way to account for what
happens on these kinds of missions.
Ross:
And what kind are we dealing with, boss?
Crane:
Doctor Ross has worked with me before... We are headed in pursuit of
a reported anomaly several hundred miles into the interior of the
mainland, the details of which are still being established but the
essentials are 1) intermittent but frequent radio signals of unknown
origins accompanied by 2) less frequent bursts of radiation, visible
in the night sky from 23:19 hours yesterday as flashes on the
horizon. Prior to this expedition two satellite passes were unable to
locate and engage the source of the anomaly, detailed briefing is to
follow. We are proceeding in a Cessna light aircraft with 20 days of
food and supplies and around 200 hours of fuel. I do not anticipate
being on the ice-field for that long.
...
Crane:
We are approximately ten minutes into our flight. Thule Base is
receding... Beautiful in its own way... Up in front is the ice-field.
There is about three and a half hours of daylight left... This is...
This is a truly vast country... The far north... You can only really
appreciate how... endless it seems... the sense of it from the air...
Broken only by occasional hills… Every time I see the uplands...
All is well. We will begin triangulating the signal shortly.
...
Crane:
It’s now approximately fifty-five minutes after take-off and we are
making great progress. We are currently receiving the anomalous radio
signals loud... if not clear. You might be able to [a mixture of
static, tonal sounds and voices] How soon did we begin
receiving?
Ross: Almost
immediately. The signal has been more or less consistent.
Crane: What about the
radiation?
Ross: Nothing much
really, it's all, uh... oh, there's a spike.
Crane: Is it dangerous?
Ross: It's hard to tell
at this range. We are still several hundred miles away, bearing
east-northeast. Anyway, we’ve come prepared. Nothing we can’t…
...
Ross: Here, listen...
Metallic
grinding and animal sounds, akin to roaring.
...
Crane:
End of day one, almost. 18:25pm. We have made camp; about to report
to base... The, uh, location of the anomaly has been narrowed
down to a twenty mile radius. We expect to... It's odd that the
intercept planes were not able to locate... whatever this is. I
suppose it will all come out in the briefing... This is not our usual
mission… I'm looking at the eastern horizon. There are flashes
in the long twilight, maybe one every few minutes... They're not
regular. They come in several colours. We have seen white, red,
green and indigo. Wind is gusting considerably, short blasts from the
uplands. It is unclear whether this is connected to the emissions…
Rasmussen is here.
Rasmussen: Lucas.
Crane: What?
Rasmussen: Please, call
me Lucas.
Crane: Ok, um, so,
Lucas, why’re you here?
Rasmussen: I
volunteered.
Crane:
But, [inaudible] motive-wise…?
Rasmussen: I’m sorry
I don’t…?
Crane:
What prompted [inaudible due to wind] volunteer?
Rasmussen:
Curiosity, I guess; that and the pay. I work at the base [inaudible]
civilian engineer. If all goes well… villa on Samso won't pay
for...
Prolonged gusts of
wind hit. Mostly inaudible except for occasional fragments, e.g. ‘get
inside’ or ‘secure the tents.’
…
Voice: Unknown flying
object was spotted 22:55 hours, altitude approximately 2,000 metres,
bearing east-northeast a controlled arc at an estimated speed of
440mph. Command Control attempted to contact the object but was
unsuccessful. The object disappeared after seventeen seconds. At
23:10 Command Control began receiving a radio signal on standard USAF
distress frequency. Signal was largely unclear but some variety of
English. No American or Allied craft is known to be lost. Russians
currently deny any involvement. Unable to pinpoint location via
satellite pass. Intermittent radiation bursts began at 23:19,
high-energy, electromagnetic radiation, largely directed upwards.
Bursts continue to be detected. Please repeat: over.
Crane repeats
message.
…
Crane: [Whispering –
wind noises in background] Early morning now, let’s see, 3.19am.
Gusts of wind have been intermittent but frequent. Thank goodness for
the snow-wall we built. It’s difficult to get much sleep though the
others seem to be… Keep trying. The sound has an unusual quality,
akin to howling.
Day Two
Crane: It’s morning.
The sky is bright blue, very little evidence of what happened… the
front must have passed over. Crisp and… I’m tired. We are
currently packing away the camp. Continue with mission once airborne.
I’m confident we will make visual contact today. I must check the
time.
…
Crane: It is 10:45am.
We have been airborne for about fifty minutes. Dyer is piloting
though... still not talking to me. There has been no sign of the
anomaly so far, no radio signals and no visual contact.
…
Danforth: This is my
demotion.
Pause.
Crane: What happened…?
Danforth: I don’t
know if…
Crane: Sure I mean…
Danforth: [Interrupts]
Too much trouble, see? I was a Staff Sergeant at Hohenfels but the
place got overrun.
Crane: Overrun…?
Danforth: Communists
were… all over the base.
Crane: How is that…?
Danforth: [Interrupts]
They’re good, they know what they’re doing and they’re
committed. Not like our side.
Crane: But how?
Danforth: They were
running the local drug trade, heroin, marijuana, you name it… They
were running the operation out of a brothel in the town, [chuckles
bitterly] Hotel Palatinate. The pimps were commies too. I was Staff
Sergeant in charge of training. It’s my life. The recruits… They
were just kids… I tried to stop them. I tried to stop my men from
seeing them. Sure I mean it worked. I called in the MPs… It worked…
The place was closed. The owner was holding Russian gold, literally…
I… I ended up getting busted though, taken in on a drink driving
charge, insulting an officer… must have been a commie too. They got
me… Now I’m here.
Crane: Right…?
Danforth: Still
[laughs] I like the north. What’s left to lose? They can’t get a
drop on us up here.
…
Crane: Three hours and
twenty five minutes... we are now flying directly over the centre of
the search area defined yesterday. There has been no contact visual
or radio...?
Ross: No contact.
Crane: Though I do note
what looks like odd patches of earth, roughly round, where the snow
has melted. Either the anomaly has moved or...
Ross: Wait a minute...
Sounds over the
radio resolve into a distorted human voice.
Voice: [Continually
repeats] A stairway to...
Crane: What's that...?
What's it saying...?
Voice: A stairway to...
Ross: A stairway...?
Crane: Can you get a
fix on it?
Ross: I can it, uh...
Sound devolves into
noise again, peaks and then cuts out.
…
Ross: [Mid-sentence]
something again. Listen.
The sound of white
noise then rhythmic bleeping emerges and a voice.
Voice: They got me
[inaudible] here [inaudible] closed [inaudible] stop the recruits.
The voice is
overwhelmed again by white noise. The bleeping continues.
Ross: What’s that…?
That’s SOS.
…
Crane: We have visual…
We have visual contact. Current co-ordinates are [gives co-ordinates]
heading in an east south-easterly direction. Subject it roughly at
ten o’clock. Bearing towards subject as we speak… Subject is
maybe fifteen to twenty miles away, large, difficult to tell what
colour or shape. Dark and flickering… Approaching directly now.
Radiation levels…?
Ross: Normal.
Crane: Radiation level
are…
Radio signal.
Voice: [Lightly
distorted – fairly clear - repeats] It’s like a stairway…
…
Crane: I’m in the
co-pilot seat. Closer now, getting a better appraisal of the target.
Very large, several hundred meters high… appears to be biological,
animal or… unsure. The target/subject is grey, dark-grey in colour
with lighter, mottled parts. It looks like a mass of fronds or tubes
in motion, fixed to the ground, waving like the action of water on…
water on an anemone. Radio signal is indistinct but not a… It
reminds me of...
There is sudden loud
interference and distortion on tape.
…
There is continual
background sound from radio, white noise and SOS signal.
Crane: About two or
three minutes ago, god what’s the time, I haven’t been keeping
the time?
Voice: [Sounds like
Danforth] Twenty past two.
Crane: 14:40, sorry,
14:20, there was a large burst of radiation, the, uh, subject
flickered rapidly then retreated to the horizon. Plane is coming in
to land.
Burst of turbulence.
Crane: [Shouting]
Sudden [inaudible] subject is still visible. We will [inaudible] the
time being. Take her down.
…
Gusts of wind are
audible throughout.
Crane: We have located
the source of the transmission; currently in visual. The
object/source is of [inaudible] unprecedented nature… possible EBE…
two to three hundred metres tall. Occasional strong bursts of high
energy radiation… [inaudible] Request back up…
Voice is inaudible
due to wind and some interference on signal.
Crane: [Inaudible] do
not understand, please repeat.
Voice is still
inaudible. Crane responds giving a set of co-ordinates.
Crane: Please repeat
those co-ordinates.
Voice appears to
repeat co-ordinates.
Crane: [To unknown] I
think they’ve got it. [To Voice] How long before we receive
support?
Voice begins but
signal becomes overwhelmed.
…
Ross: [Begins in
mid-sentence] mostly directed upward. See the colours above…? It’s
probably plasma in the mesosphere, I guess, where it hits and
spreads.
Crane: I see.
Ross: The object is
pretty vertical too from what I can make out with these. It’s
fifteen, maybe ten miles away. It’s like…
Crane: It’s like the
time on Aleutian Islands.
Ross: Yeah, but if they
came from an extra-biological entity that’s hundreds of metres
tall. Dyer, you, uh…
There is a short,
inaudible conversation between Ross and Dyer.
Crane: What shall we
call it…?
Dyer: Does it need a
name…? Let’s call it ‘Get the Fuck Out of Here, Now…’
Crane: They said for us
to keep visual contact…
Dyer: That thing, that
fucking monster fried half our instruments, man. Rasmussen and
Danforth are working on repairs… Who knows what they can do…?
Crane: We’ll see, all
we have to…
Dyer: We’re not in
this to die. We don’t have orders to die.
Ross: We’re not going
to die.
Pause.
Dyer: Fuck knows what
it’s doing to our balls.
Crane: What the fuck…?
I ought not.
Dyer: The radiation.
I’m not on some adventure. I’ve got kids! I got a family!
Ross: You know why you
were chosen.
Crane: We have
bio-suits.
Dyer: Who are you? I've
not seen you on...
Crane: [Angry] Stand
down, Airman!
Ross: [Interjects]
Look… Listen… [soothingly] We were caught off guard. Now we have
it, now we know where it is and what it’s doing we can take greater
precautions, yeah…?
Long pause.
Dyer: How long before
we get back up?
Crane: Forty-eight
hours they said.
…
Crane: What time is it?
20:23pm. I’m worried. I’m on watch in my bio-suit. It doesn’t
feel safe. We’ve built a snow barrier. Dyer and Ross are resting.
Danforth is manning the radio… It looks like a hand… The eyes
adjust. It’s not completely dark. Oh, it’s weird… It’s like a
huge hand with black fingers. There’s a vortex above the EBE. It’s
spreading, colours draining and whirling. It’s… not even evil.
[Long pause – the sound of shuffling in the snow] I don’t know
what it wants.
…
Radio signal: two
voices sound simultaneously in a loop, one speeded up, high-pitched –
“he’s gone where?” and the other slowed-down, “Danforth…”
This repeats for over a minute until a loud crashing sound:
Crane: Where’re you
going, stop, please, it’s…
There is the sound
of doors failing to slam. Crane disappears from audio range. Wind
becomes audible. The audio loop continues for approximately four
minutes. The radio-sound then changes to SOS signal atop more
metallic grinding. After seven minutes tape stops abruptly.
…
Day Three
Crane: 07:20am. We are
getting ready to leave. We have been unable to contact base however
it is my opinion, and that of my team, that it is too dangerous to
continue with this expedition. We’re not paid to die. Well… not
like this… I’m on watch again at this little… [the sound of
crunching snow]. Last night was unnerving. We were woken, those of us
who are asleep, by very loud noises, metallic/animal noises, very
close to camp, in the brief bit of darkness. It came from multiple
directions as well. Nothing... came at us however and we saw nothing
but something about the sounds though seemed like… I don’t know,
a warning, a mute warning. We were being told to get away. The
anomaly has grown. It must be a quarter of a mile high… Through my
binoculars I can see what look like scales, tensing muscles and tubes
venting some kind of warmth. Not of the Earth; it must immensely
powerful. It’s flickering a little, not like before. We have to get
back as soon as we… Guys… Guys… GUYS… [running sounds] Start
the engine!
…
Roaring sounds
throughout; almost overwhelming.
Crane: [Shouting] EBE
is in pursuit of our plane. It’s very… very fast… relentless…
following… I don’t know if we can…!
Very loud shaking
and banging sounds, roaring reaches a peak, crew can be heard
yelling. There is a flashing sound. The audio becomes
distorted. There is the sound of engines failing and a moaning voice
repeating something. The sounds reach a high pitch then cut out
suddenly.
Day Four
There is distant
screaming in the background.
Crane: I am alive. I am
amazed but [sharp intake of breath]. I don’t know if this is
working. My left leg is almost certainly broken, otherwise just.
Dyer: [Shouting –
distant] Shut that fucking thing off...! Liar... What're...?
…
Crane: Dyer is now
dead. It is dawn, Day Four. Yesterday we were pursued and attacked by
the EBE. Our plane was… shaken out of the sky. Rasmussen and Ross
died... on impact. The EBE is gone now. It disappeared more or less
after the attack… I think. It’s gone now. I am taking shelter in
what’s left of the plane. Danforth survived almost [pained intake
of breath] unscathed. He is off scouring the wreckage for… I don’t
know what. The fucker’s gone mad. This is mad. We’re all mad.
Dyer isn’t. He’s dead… and the others… Have set off an
emergency alarm; they should be here in two, three days. There’s
enough food. Must check the... radio…
…
Radio signal,
alternating phrases in a loop: “if all goes well” and “holding
gold.” This lasts for approximately thirty seconds.
Crane: [Deep, slow
voice] It’s still out there.
…
Very slow walking
sounds.
Crane: Danforth…!
Danforth…! [Sighs] He’s gone. Where’d he go…?
…
Crane: Dyer was
right... right to be suspicious... Danforth... that's what you get
for bringing army along... It's eight, something... night-time... sun
is setting... should it be setting there though...? Clouds are rising
up like... strange... stairway to heaven... [Laughs] [Loudly] I'm
Field Agent Crane of the Unusual Incidents Unit, FBI... Staff
Sargeant Crane of the... [Quieter] I hope the bureau bills
them for everything... [Painful sounds] I need more tablets.
…
Crane: Dark... [Long
pause] Windy... [long pause] The sky... the sky to the north is
glowing... different colours...
Sound of radio being
turned on.
Voice:
[Repeats] Plasma in the mesosphere it's still out there.
Crane:
Why...?
Day
Five
Crane: They came. It must have been after midday. I saw them, the
plane... a plane. I let off a signal flare and they just... The plane
just dived... I don't know where they went. I think I'm beginning
to... [distortion on tape] understand...
…
Ragged
walking sounds.
Crane: They came [distorted - low] again [repeats phrase]. I followed
them. I walked [more distortion] towards them and [lower] reached
out... and they [thins and speeds up] disappeared... out of the
sky... Making my way back to the plane but I think I'm beginning to
understand. The north is endless [echoes for two minutes before
diminishing].
Endnote
There is no record of this mission existing either in USAF or FBI
records.
There's an outside chance now that people might start to read this blog in the near future (oh man, why did I pick that name?). So, to have something decent to look at, as opposed to rough-work. Here's a link to all the stories I've had in the fabulous Sein und Werden. Hopefully, one day, it will come back but, until then, here's my Sein und Werden EP.
