The Thing: from the Depths of Hell Read online

  Suddenly, Kruger saw a faint mist surrounding them, and people started examining it, trying to see what I was, and gasping, and Kruger looked at the door, instantly looking for a fire outside, but it was not coming from outside, and just about everything there was not flammable.

  It was thickening visibly into a drifting cloud over the floor, and it moved around as though there were no artificial gravity.

  Don watched it and held the weapon firmly, not letting go of anything, but stayed silent, waiting for something to happen.

  The next thing Kruger saw was that it was not made of smoke!

  The cloud was made of some form of energy, and he still looked for the source. He was sure that something was there or somewhere, and he looked for projections off something, or if it was being projected from somewhere. Yet there was nothing anywhere that could produce anything like it.

  It hung there thickening, in the air over the middle of the room, swirling around in an intelligent way, and as he watched it to see if was being controlled. He saw straightaway Dan reacting in an uncontrolled fashion! He mentally seemed to be actually doing something! Don watched on satisfied, sure that he was going to get the reaction and answers that he wanted. He was sure he was not fully able to explain its presence, and stayed still and where he was, ready for action, and to take any course of action that appeared and he could.

  It shifted creepily, forming a more turbulent thickening formation, formed shapes in itself, and everyone started rushing for the doors, as people from outside came in to check what the excitement was, and stood pondering what was occurring.

  Marsha and Kruger stayed where they were, watching what Don would do next – checking if was a figment of their imaginations.

  Strange sights and silent sounds began manifesting everywhere about them – like partially visible life forms were appearing.

  Strange glowings and swirlings forces formed and reformed, as the energy around them increased and increased as though something was manifesting or creating itself right across the room, almost in a bubble formation, surrounding them.

  Some formations were similar to what he thought telepathic visions were like, like spirits in shrouds flying about, with wails and shrieks.

  Don held them there, with him almost forcing them with the gun not to leave him. Dan had gone into what looked like some form of dream state, but only partially, and was still holding himself upright. Then it swiftly increased, and it was like they were holding onto reality, and sanity.

  The cloud was actually forming itself into something!

  He strained his tired mind trying to form a mental picture of what it could be. It resembled a giant mind-bending round life form, with strange multicolors, which he could not recognize.

  Don suddenly moved back from it, as some form of mysterious force prevented his arm from pointing the weapon on Dan.

  “We better get out here now!” Don screamed, holding out the weapon, watching wild energy surges making his arms shudder and vibrate crazily.

  Dan had turned green, and slime poured out his mouth, and Kruger shouted, “We better get him out of here. It will kill him!”

  “No!” Don shouted back. “He must stay! It is him that is causing it, so leave him! It is dangerous, and will kill!”

  Don shifted them back, and Dan exploded into a burst of energy that joined with the energy cloud, turning to part life form and part entity, with beams of light and energy pulsating and beaming out in multicolors from it.

  Its form altered continuously, from one form to another, trying to form a correct and permanent life form. An altering manifestation, and Don fired the weapon into it, and it screeched loudly and reformed into another style of entity/life form that would not be damaged by the weapon.

  At the door they watched the whole lot, and the formation become one and turn into an acceptable ghost life form, which still took shape shifting alterations, and it floated and rushed to the floor, and its energy life form formation passed straight through the thick hard floor material, without leaving a hole or mark, like light passing through a window, and like a poltergeist life form.

  Chapter 11

  The Entity/Life Form

  A spectacular energy explosion had discharged, with searing hot beams, mystifying the entity for seconds, as it had continued its work examining the amazing weird life forms in the vehicles, as they had continuously accelerated across the world, at high speeds.

  It had recalled that a long time ago that it had encountered a miniature object that had swiftly passed through it, and its examination of it and occupants had been too swift and uncontrolled, and it had failed, and had failed to come up with any proper examination, and from its present findings it wondered why it had not realized that they and their technology had existed.

  Their world was different and so dense, and when it examined their minds it started to realize the truth, and that solid matter and dense space was the common state, and that it was in an empty formation, in a bubble, in the real universe.

  While it had continued its explorations another part of it had started work on creating a copy of one of the life forms, and it had examined their minds, thoughts, communications, behavior, and chose the life form called Kruger, because he communicated the least, and he had been an outsider, which it realized was the best form to take to avoid discovery, and revealing itself.

  On the barn world it had formed a copy of the man, in its suit covering, and it had been surprised to find another life form in another vehicle appear in an identical vehicle, which was vehicle six, and it had believed it had created it by accident, by some form of unknown reaction, as it had been so new to it.

  After examinations of the new life form it had decided to alter its creation of the human to the stranger in the sixth vehicle, as it had been the only one in a vehicle on its own, but when it had completed it, the life form had activated an energy shield similar to the one that protected the ship, and it could not enter the vehicle or replace the human, and brought the human to vehicle four.

  The next problem that it had discovered had been that the humans could recognize a stranger, after it had examined their minds further, and it found a way to alter their memories so that they would not recognize the stranger, and had caused the vehicles to crash to cover what it had been done, and it had altered the records in the vehicles, and, even though its powers were weak and limited through the energy shield of the GX1, it had just managed to use its powers to alter the records and memories of the life forms aboard about the life forms in the vehicles.

  Through all that had happened it managed to explore the strange life forms, and their existence, and had been delighted to make it aboard the GX1, but though it got aboard it had little control of itself aboard, and the life form it had created had even taken control of itself as a human, and it had had a hard time controlling it, and it had realized its next problem, and that they had discovered that there were three humans that were identical, and that there was an extra vehicle.

  Its human having some control of itself had helped, with its will to survive, and it had managed to avoid being caught in interrogations on it, but the other human in vehicle six called Don, which it got its name from, but as Dan, did not believe it was human, and it had realized it somehow knew what it was, and the entity could not destroy it without being discovered.

  It had learned more about the energy shield, but it never found a way to deactivate it without being caught and destroyed, and its confrontation with Don at the bar, with a powerful weapon capable of damaging it, had made it alter itself into another form, but had ended up in a confused state of life form/entity to avoid destruction, and it had revealed part of its identity, and its further formation had been faulty, as it never had any proper life forms to alter to, and it had chosen what it had found in their records.

  Chapter 12

  The President

  Max Mason was the president of the GX1 and the GSO (Galactic Space Organization), and Kruger knew that he
could do just about anything on the spacecraft, if it could be done. Everyone insisted in carrying out his slightest notion to the letter. So he was the most interesting person to meet if you ever had the chance.

  Kruger knew little about him except for a few appearances on their media, and was surprised to meet him in person and have him question him on what had occurred, and tactically query what was happening, and what it was that they were now up against.

  The entire ship’s media had been pushing stories on it for an hour, because it was the only real occurrence that had happened since they had started the voyage. Stories like it, even on the colony worlds, never had anything like it either, and everyone aboard was taking an interest in it, and their safety. Most wondered if they had found some new form of life out there in the depths of the void.

  President Mason could scarcely grasp what was there, or happening, and perhaps, for the first time, had less or the same information. The descriptions everyone at the bar had given were vague and confused, and had no real detail. People had not realized what it was, or if it was even a life form, or what shape, characteristics, features, or identity it had. It had altered, and had given nothing but a confused mess of details.

  What sort of powers did it have? Should they be happy with the discovery? Should the ship head home? What kind of science and creations did it have? Could the voyage and GSO profit greatly from it?

  Kruger also, when he never thought of the danger, wondered what it could be, and what it could teach him.

  He was a scientist, and he had not just entered the voyage to expand his career and fame. He was interested in science, space, alien life forms, and anything else that existed out there.

  He was one of the most experienced people in alien life forms there, and he continually thought of the glory of the discovery!

  Before he had been up against memory loss, and some crime against them. Now he knew that it was a new life form, and had surely entered the ship to escape from the hellhole that it had existed in. It had been attacked and threatened with death by Don, and had escaped for its life.

  He wondered if they could now capture and study it!

  He was startled at it being Dan, and how they had met him, as an unknown member of the crew, who had appeared out of the darkness of the desolate world, in a spacesuit, and that they had brought it back.

  The power of it was tremendous and it could have killed them all easily, even with Major Ripley holding the weapon on it.

  Kruger gave descriptions of its figure as he had first seen it to the president on the media – shown to just about everyone aboard – seeking the truth about what had taken place – and seeking adventure, which they had mostly joined the voyage for.

  Major Ripley was then brought in, and helped him out with vivid details, from the location of his quarters.

  It was incredible that he had finally given his thoughts on what he had suspected back there, and that it was a new form of alien.

  He expressed his confused thoughts at what it had wanted, and about what it had been up to and what it was capable of.

  He had clearly even gone to the bar to see the mess that it had created, and to question the people there about the incident and what it had looked like, in its true form.

  The president questioned him intensely about it, to find out what he wanted. He had to take the responsibility for such an incident and occurrences, and he reassured everyone aboard that he and they would do everything that could to capture it, and perhaps study it, and at that moment they were building up a special task force to seek it out, and it was to be lead by Colonel Pratt, of the Military and Space Forces, and it would be based at the Military and Space Forces control center, and that he was the second highest military authority there, under General Chisholm, head of the Military and Space Forces, and the security of the entire spacecraft.

  General Chisholm made an appearance and warned everyone aboard of the dangers of the alien intruder, and gave the location that was below the bar to avoid, and told everyone to remain out of its path, and to stay in groups and to kill it if they had to, and he then introduced Colonel Pratt, who was at the Military and Space Forces control center, located at the center of the spacecraft.

  He gave as much information as he could, and showed everyone his task force, and that they were all busy at work organizing men, and the information people were giving them.

  It was then that Kruger started to realize that the thing was actually a great danger. He had known it as Dan, and in its unnatural state. Yet he had never properly communicated with it! It had been a human, or copying a human, and had not shown anything of its true identity, and he could not realize just how much danger it was, and what it intended to do.

  People had been clearly startled by it, and he could not decide if it was to do with its extraordinary form that it had taken, or if it had started to defend itself from attacks against it, or was the thing a deadly menace, and intended to capture them and the spacecraft.

  They just did not fully know what its motives were. They had caught it and forced it to reveal its identity, and Don had threatened it with a powerful weapon, and perhaps destruction.

  The issue of Don was brought up by the president, who could not understand his identity, and he asked Colonel Pratt to identify him, and about his mysterious appearance there in the sixth vehicle, which he had remembered had been told earlier, when it had been discovered.

  Colonel Pratt recalled his discovery and admitted not being able to get any proper explanation, due to the records and people’s memories being tampered with.

  The whole affair was a muddled mess, and Don was contacted at his quarters, for them to query him.

  Don was his normal calm self, even after, and throughout, the incident, and was just out of his shower, with towels on, and was willing answer all their questions, and asked Colonel Pratt if he would put him on his task team to locate the alien, as they needed him, and he had information about it, and he assured them that he knew more about it than anyone, and Colonel Pratt assured him that he and Kruger would be on the team, as consultants, and they would help identify it, with descriptions – and that they would be needed as all the descriptions so far were confused, and that all the different people there had given different accounts.

  The president asked him to use them, and asked to talk to Don, and asked him where the sixth vehicle had actually come from, and Don answered that he had woke up after his vehicle had crashed like the others, with memory loss, and that he had lost his memory of his identity.

  The president was left confused, and never proceeded further, and Colonel Pratt continued by asking him why he had been so sure the alien had been an alien and not just Dan, suffering from memory loss like everyone else, and why he had confronted the alien with the powerful weapon, which he had to have been unauthorized to take, as they would not have authorized it, and if they had authorized it that it would have been the military that would have handled the problem in the proper way, and he asked what he had intended to do, and if he had realized what its reactions to the weapon would be, and if he had been surprised by its true identity when it had been revealed in the bar.

  Dan answered swiftly without thinking, explaining it was an alien and it had acted like one, and he had known that it had to be dangerous, and for starters it would have revealed its identity to them and would not have gone to such lengths to get aboard the spacecraft, and enter through their only defense the energy shield, and that he had known that it was powerful and a danger to them by the way that it had made them crash, wipe away their memories and records, and that had been capable of changing its appearance to what it wanted, including altering its speech and thoughts.

  It had ruthlessly done everything it could to get aboard the spacecraft undetected, and he had known he could not have proven it enough – for them to have captured and kept it imprisoned or to have thrown it out of the spacecraft – and with his experience of where the weapons were, and how they kept them se
cure, he had managed to find a way to get the weapon, and had used it to force the alien into revealing its identity, and that he had done it in the bar in front of as many witnesses as possible, but had underestimated its capabilities.

  Chapter 13

  The Monster

  The monster that appeared at the library below the bar had been hideous beyond anything anyone had seen. Not only had it been an entity/monster, altering from one appearance to another, it had been mad, and ready to kill anything to survive. Its entire plan had been instantaneously ruined, and it could detect the crew of the spacecraft starting to build a defense against it and to exterminate it, and it sensed how far they intended to go.

  It had lost touch with the outer entity, while it had been altering itself, and it had lost memories, and it had turned into a new life form completely, and had separated itself from the outer entity, and even believed it would no longer consider it as part of it, unless it could lower the energy shield and give it what it wanted, and make proper contact with it. It had to do it now or it would be killed, even if it had to kill everyone aboard to do it.

  What it and the outer entity had not realized was through it being a human, and for so long, it had altered itself to being one of them so much that its way of thinking had altered, and it was what it considered close to madness, with nothing left to do but survive, and kill the puny life forms, who were taking away its dreams of leaving the void and entering the outer universe.

  After it had seen all that existed beyond, and the truth about itself, it now considered itself trapped in the void, and the void as its prison, and that it would be trapped there for all eternity, wondering what it would have been like to be in the outer universe, where it should have been.