Clickers III Read online

  “I will help fulfill the ritual of awakening. I would see the glory of the arrival of Dagon. And I will help you track down and kill every one of these invading mainlanders.”

  “My brothers are doing this! What good could you accomplish?”

  “If some escape, I know where they will hide.”

  “Do you?” The Elder stepped toward the boy, his gait menacing. He breathed down on the boy, unaware that his breath was that of carrion. The boy didn’t even flinch or blanch in sickness. “If so, I order you to tell me now!”

  “Only if you let me live long enough to prove myself worthy to you. Let me lead you to every last trespasser on this island.”

  The Elder paused; off in the distance, he could hear the Clickers and his fellow Dark Ones retreating farther into the jungle. No longer did the sound of further slaughter reach his ears, nor was the fresh scent of blood and death heavy in the air. Had his soldiers killed every last human on the island?

  As if reading his thoughts, the boy said, “There are more trespassers. They are retreating, hiding even now. Your brothers will kill the rest of my people, they will leave some to repopulate the island as has passed in the years bygone…but only I can lead you to those invaders that have escaped. Not even what is left of my tribe know the many hiding places on this island.”

  “And you do?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who told you?”

  “I have observed…I have watched and waited…and learned…”

  The Elder glanced at his generals and a silent under-standing seemed to pass between them. Spare the boy. For now…

  The Elder turned to the boy. His face was an ugly grimace. “You have four of your hours. The ritual must commence within six of your hours. If you have not found the trespassers in four hours, you and your people, every single last one of them, will be slaughtered along with the rest of the surface dwellers. Do you understand?”

  “So it shall be.”

  The Dark One rose to his full height and stepped aside. His generals followed suit. The boy sensed the shift of energy among the Dark Ones and his fear lifted. He stood up, still eyeing the Dark Ones warily, and stepped forward boldly. “Come!” the boy said, gesturing to the jungle that lay beyond the beach. “I will take you.”

  And with that, the boy headed into the jungle followed by the half dozen Dark Ones and their Elder, chief priest of Dagon.

  Jennifer gasped for breath. Her clothing, drenched in sweat and covered with the blood of her dead associates stuck to her skin. Her hands and knees had been cut and scraped and bruised by rocks and pebbles, and her parched throat was sore. She also had the beginnings of what was going to be a raging migraine; her temples throbbed faintly and she felt a tightness in her abdomen she couldn’t pinpoint. Fear? Nerves?

  She assumed that the tunnel that Keoni was leading them down couldn’t be that much longer; already it seemed as if they’d traveled a couple of miles through its subterranean depths. There was a dampness to the chamber that made Jennifer think of an old basement or root cellar. As they traveled along the narrow corridor, Keoni’s flashlight led the way. Jennifer wasn’t positive, but she suspected that the beam was growing dimmer as they progressed. She was afraid to mention it in case she alarmed the others.

  Ed was behind Keoni, asking him about the tunnels. “How many people know about them?”

  “Just the tribal chiefs and myself,” Keoni said.

  “But you’re not from here. How is it that you know about them?”

  “It’s a long story,” Keoni answered. “I’ll tell you later, when there’s time. Come on. We need to pick up the pace.”

  “I agree.” Susan nodded.

  Jennifer assumed that Susan had gotten over her fear. For the first few minutes as they traveled down the tunnels, she’d glared at Jennifer with a smoldering gaze, which Jennifer ignored. Jennifer didn’t have time for that nonsense. Bitch would’ve had them all killed if she’d kept hollering. Jennifer did what she had to do to survive. Wade seemed to have chilled out on his anger over Jennifer’s handling of the situation, too. Within a few minutes, both of them had fallen into line with the rest as they followed Keoni down the tunnel.

  “This tribe is a secretive one, aren’t they?” Wade asked.

  “They are,” Keoni replied. “People from the surround-ing islands avoid them. I know people in my family, from my father’s side, they never wanted to have anything to do with Naranu.”

  “Your father’s Samoan?” Susan asked.

  Keoni nodded. Despite his insistence that they increase their speed, he stopped in the middle of the tunnel and looked back at them. The rest of the group halted as well, and Jennifer tried to listen for any sounds of pursuit. The more distance they put between themselves and the command center, the less destruction they heard. Keoni had been right; the Clickers and Dark Ones had not found the basement. All they’d heard so far was the sound of the creatures rampaging through the building’s first floor and that had faded as they drew farther away.

  “My father was a tribal chief,” Keoni explained. “Many years ago, before others came to colonize the Polynesian islands, my ancestors had two skirmishes with the natives of Naranu. My ancestors came from a long line of warlords. They conquered many islands and many people. But not Naranu. Something about their people made my ancestors uneasy. Even today, when I ask my father and his uncles about it, they won’t talk much. They only say that Naranu people are to be left alone. The thing is, Naranuan people aren’t very plentiful. They could have easily been conquered by my people, by the Tongans or Fijians many years ago, but they never were. Instead, they’ve seemed to somehow deflect whatever invasions on their island very quickly and those invaders, for whatever reason, never tried again.”

  Susan was standing next to Keoni. “I have to concur. My specialty is human anthropology among the Australian and Pacific Island indigenous people. My only exposure to the Naranuan people has been through what I’ve read on them in books. I was excited to come here to learn more about them, to observe them first hand. When I heard of the archeological findings, I thought it would help greatly with my research. I thought Naranu’s natives were peaceful. Secretive, but peaceful.”

  “Our presence here sure has changed that,” Wade said.

  Jennifer frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean it doesn’t matter anymore if they were peaceful or warlike. Either way, they’re dead. Just like the rest of us. Those crab-things and those lizard-people don’t give a shit. We all taste the same to them.”

  They stood in silence for a moment, catching their breath. Then Susan cleared her throat.

  “Do you guys think anyone else is alive?”

  “Probably not,” Jennifer said. “The Clickers aren’t the sort to take prisoners. They’re basically eating machines. And the Dark Ones—well,

  you saw how angry they were when they first emerged from the water.”

  “I’ve been wondering about that,” Susan said. She sighed. She no longer appeared angry with Jennifer. “Their attack was sort of surprising, don’t you think?”

  “Not really,” Jennifer said, confused. “It seems to go along with the behavior they’ve always exhibited in the past.”

  “Yes.” Susan nodded. “But it intrigued me, nevertheless. I’m sure the rest of you noticed their immediate hostility toward us when we arrived. We know, of course, that they have a grudge against humanity, but they seemed genuinely surprised and full of loathing. Almost repulsed by our presence, as if our very existence here in this place was somehow abhorrent to them.”

  “They believe they’re protecting some god or something,” Ed said. “Don’t forget, there’s evidence that this is some sort of holy site for them—a place of great religious significance. The statues and the carvings seem to bear that out.”

  “Could it be that the island’s natives and the Dark Ones worship the same deity?” Susan turned to Keoni. “Do you know the name of their god?”

 
Keoni shook his head. “I don’t. All I know is that the island’s natives think he sleeps beneath the island and that they’re protecting him.”

  “Did your family ever speak of this when they related their oral history?”

  “Yes,” Keoni said. He looked reflective. “I didn’t believe any of it. I don’t believe in any of the legends the natives of these islands hold to. Even those of my people. I’m a Pacific Island rarity—I don’t believe in the myths of my own people and I don’t believe in Christianity, which most of my people converted to many years ago.”

  “You’re an atheist?” Susan asked.

  “I guess. Come on. We should get moving again.”

  He led them down the corridor once more.

  “Why?” Susan asked.

  “Why what?” Keoni’s tone was puzzled.

  “Why are you an atheist?”

  “Well, why not?” Keoni gestured ahead into the darkness as the tunnel began to slope slightly downward. “A god sleeping beneath the island that nobody’s ever seen? Come on! If I find that hard to believe, it’s kinda hard to believe in an old man that lives in the sky.”

  Jennifer smiled. Ed chuckled. Even Susan and Wade grinned at Keoni’s matter-of-fact answer. “What else do you know about their beliefs?” Susan asked him.

  Keoni shrugged. “That’s it, really. Just that they believed they were guardians to this island because they were protecting their god. They defended this island fiercely because of this belief. Drove off every invading war party from neighboring islands with a ruthlessness never seen, especially among my people. I have to be honest, I am surprised that they succeeded in keeping European settlers from colonizing this island.”

  “They didn’t keep them away entirely,” Ed said.

  “No, not entirely,” Keoni agreed. “But you’ll notice that this island is the least populated, not only among the natives, but among Europeans and other people. Much of that has to do with their ability to keep people away. In the old days they thwarted invasion through violence. Today, they use the power of persuasion.”

  Jennifer chuckled. “You can say that again. First thing one of them told me was that if we didn’t leave right away we’d catch some awful disease and die, or the water was undrinkable or something.”

  The others nodded. They’d all been told various stories about why the island was uninhabitable, everything from the more superstitious natives spiritual beliefs in their god, to one of the tribal elders explaining that the islands natural resources were actually poisonous to non-native people. He’d backed this up with a story that past research teams had either died on the island from poisonous snake and spider bites, to being carried away by a subset of the Naranuan tribe that was comprised of cannibals. The extreme weather on the island was unbearable, too. It was tropical, with the temperature never dipping below eighty degrees Fahrenheit even in the winter. The humidity was stifling. The storms that blew in from Southeast Asia were brutal. Typhoons were common and often flooded the island. Why would white people want to colonize Naranu?

  “Well, the conditions here are trying, but the place is livable,” Ed said. He was looking at his surroundings, collecting his bearings. “I have to wonder, though, why they didn’t rise to defend the island when the Dark Ones arrived tonight?”

  “Were they even aware of the Dark Ones presence here?” Wade asked. “And if so, have they fought the Dark Ones before?”

  “Maybe,” Jennifer said. “Or perhaps they’ve coexisted with them all these years and have used this knowledge to keep other people away.”

  Wade grinned. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “It would explain those carvings on the western face of Mount

  Rigiri,” Susan murmured.

  Mount Rigiri was the small mountain in the center of the island that had, thus far, lain unexplored to modern science until recently when a small team of scientists somehow managed to sneak on to the island and trek inland on an expedition. They’d alerted Susan’s team on the nearby island of Pohnpei of the findings. Susan had, in turn, called Ed in Hawaii. It was those phone calls that had opened the gates to the scientific community.

  “Those carvings do bear an uncanny resemblance to the Dark Ones, don’t they?” Wade agreed.

  Jennifer had only seen the photos, taken by the team who had made the initial discovery. She had yet to venture into the lush jungle to see for herself. She’d spent much of her time along the island’s south shore gathering specimens and venturing a little bit inland to explore a small lake where she’d discovered several new amphibian species. The animal and plant life on Naranu was simply amazing. Some of it was highly toxic—one of the natives had warned them of a giant orb-weaving spider that grew to the size of a dinner plate and possessed venom strong enough to kill a man within seconds—but thus far they had yet to run into anything truly dangerous. As professionals, they had all been extremely cautious. Jennifer had handled her specimens with gloves and had been careful to not allow skin contact with any of them, especially the frog specimen she’d found, which had resembled a poison arrow dart frog.

  Ed looked grave. In addition to his background in Paleovertebrates, he was a herpetologist, with a specialty in prehistoric reptiles and amphibians, not dinosaurs per se, but the links between dinosaurs and modern day reptiles and amphibians. It had been Ed that had discovered and named Titanaboa, a prehistoric anaconda that had grown to a length of sixty feet in the South American jungle. Steinhardt had also worked with a team of scientists during the Clickers/Dark Ones invasion a few years ago and held a keen interest in the physiology of the Dark Ones. Jennifer was adamant that if he had the capability, he’d study one in a controlled environment.

  “The Dark Ones,” he said, “possess a cunning that is unprecedented in my field. Reptiles and amphibians are, by nature, solitary creatures. Their intelligence rating is the most primitive of all the land-dwelling vertebrates. Komodo Dragons are an exception to this rule; evidence suggests they not only hunt in packs, but they communicate with each other in a pack mentality. Pack leader instructing the lesser members of his pack in the hunt, so to speak. They’ve also been known to intentionally startle pregnant deer to induce miscarriage, which they then proceed to eat. ”

  Jennifer nodded. “I’ve read about the reports. And the article in National Geographic.”

  “The Dark Ones are human-like in their reasoning capability,” Dr. Steinhardt continued. “We’re still learning about them. The few remains we were able to preserve from the DC event has yielded much information. Their physiology is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”

  “You can say that again,” Jennifer muttered. “And there’s that new Clicker to think about, as well—the black one that killed the vegetation topside. Is it a mutant? A one-off genetic freak? Or are there more of them?”

  She cast a backward glance where they’d come. So far so good; there were still no sounds of pursuit. Apparently noticing Jennifer’s nervousness, Keoni gestured down the corridor. “We should get moving.” He set off down the tunnel. The others resumed behind him. Jennifer watched the flashlight beam grow dimmer.

  “Where are we going?” Wade asked.

  “We’re going to the High Priest’s quarters,” Keoni answered. “These tunnels empty out in the cellars of half a dozen homes in the village, all belonging to tribal elders. We’ll talk to Josel Buada, the High Priest. Besides, I’m sure the tribal chiefs are in the process of getting an evacuation plan in action.”

  “Evacuation plan?” Susan asked.

  Keoni shrugged. “Yeah, they told me once that they’ve got an emergency evacuation plan. I don’t know what that’s all about. I always assumed it was due to the volcano.”

  “Volcano?” Jennifer asked. “What volcano?”

  Not pausing in his stride, Keoni turned around and grinned. “The god that sleeps beneath Mount Rigiri? That’s their volcano. It’s blown a few puffs of smoke in the last few hundred years, and some scientists think it last blew its top a f
ew million years ago. Might be time for another big blow up, don’t you think?” He faced forward again.

  Dr. Steinhardt nodded. He smoothed his long gray hair back from his forehead. “You might have a point. I’ve heard there’s been a lot of seismic activity in this part of the South Pacific lately. That would indicate something’s brewing below.”

  “Maybe their god is waking up, after all,” Jennifer mused.

  “Maybe the Dark Ones are their harbingers,” Wade added. “They show up, attracted by the warming waters or the seismic activity—and

  that signals another eruption.”

  Susan went pale. “My God…”

  Jennifer noticed Dr. Ehart’s expression. “What?”

  “The natives believe they’re guardians to their god,” Susan reiterated. “The god sleeps beneath the island, has lain there since the dawn of time.”

  “Yeah, and?” Wade looked impatient.

  “The carvings on the wall of Rigiri suggest depictions of the Dark Ones,” Susan continued. “And the way the natives were ambivalent to us…their cautions and strange behavior…” She looked at Dr. Steinhardt. “They really were warning us.”

  Ed looked like he might be about to get sick.

  Jennifer put the connection together. “The natives worship the Dark Ones?”

  “No.” Susan regarded them all. “They do the Dark Ones’ bidding.”

  Jennifer blinked in confusion. “Excuse me?”

  “The Dark Ones worship the god that sleeps beneath the island,” Susan said, her voice heavy with dread. “Those carvings on the wall…some depict the Dark Ones…others depict…something else…a squid-headed monstrosity.”

  “So…the natives have been doing the Dark Ones’ bidding,” Ed repeated. His voice was low, soft. His eyes reflected contemplation of what Susan was insinuating. “They’ve been protecting them. That’s why they’ve been keeping people off this island for so long.”

  “Oi Sole, kefe!” Keoni muttered.

  Jennifer had no idea what Keoni had just said, but she had to imagine it was some kind of Samoan profanity. The only Samoan curse word she knew was palagi, the term he’d directed toward Susan earlier back at the command center. Palagi was derogatory slang for non-native white people. It was obvious he was making some kind of connection with what Susan was saying.