About the author and series.
This book is part of a series, written by IP Spall, consisting of 22 short stories in total. To find out more about this book series or any of IP Spall’s other publications, head to https://linktr.ee/ipspallbooks
Many of these short stories are free, and if you enjoy reading this book, you can even buy a total collection of all the short stories for a low price! Follow the link above to find out more.
This story can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2RRgMmI
An uncomfortable foreword
It has been said that a series of short stories must emanate unexpectedness and a sense of chilling surprise. Such a collection of stories would require a character framework that is present throughout the whole book; from tale to tale, offering the reader a chance to relate to the individual characters — their pain, their horror, their paranoia. Such a collation would also contain an underlying subplot, so all of the stories connect and relate to one another, in a weblike manner, allowing each entry to follow on from the last with some continuity, while still retaining individuality.
I gave this some thought and decided to do the complete opposite. For me, each story should be read as an individual tale of terror, and certainly not as a collective.
Each of my short stories should evoke thought, emotion, and hopefully, leaves the reader wondering what the hell happens next. Let’s face it; not everyone looks for a happy ending in the stories they read. With this in mind, let your imaginations run wild, and enjoy the unpredictability; often an uncomfortable ride.
Black Star
After the discovery of the map, the world would never be the same again. The nearest archaeological group to the new location were over in the Atlas Mountains seemingly on the time-wasting dig, which wasn’t yielding any positive results. It made sense for them to be relocated as quickly as possible, solely because they were closest. Collectively the group had produced minimal results over the past three months and because of such, they had already been given the order to wind up proceedings in the coming weeks. Their current assignment was consuming money at an alarming rate, with little results to show for it; it seemed pointless to continue. For the archaeological group, their current placement had been their most unproductive work ever, so it was the obvious choice and best solution to wrap the site up quickly and efficiently, as even archaeologists suffer budget problems. Their whole operation took four days to finalise everything, and under strict orders to relocate with immediate effect, there was more work involved in finishing than there was searching for artefacts. The National History Museum in London controlled the team in the field; they were the body who instructed the operational group to move a couple of hundred miles over to the Ahaggar Mountains in Southern Algeria, specifically to the highland plateau, located in the middle of the central Sahara region of the mountain range. The map, initially found in Morocco, had identified an isolated site of great archaeological importance, although, for the most, the workforce wasn’t divulged with any more information than necessary — they were just instructed to move and given the new coordinates.
The document itself was in bad shape, and apart from a few animals bones, it was alone, inside a cave. The paper was one of the oldest hand-drawn maps ever discovered, hidden away inside an old cattle horn, deep within an undiscovered cave. There were no markings on the walls, nor any other artefacts, as it was an accidental find. Under scrutiny, the map told a few tell-tale signs towards its ancient origins, but nothing was certain, and the markings found were all so questionable, mostly due to wear and age. The condition of the horn was poor, the structure suffered a great deal of degradation over time, and was only just intact enough to identify as a cattle horn. The owner of the map was unknown. The material was an ancient version of an old papyrus-style paper, showing little information except for a specific, marked point. Using the latest technology and a detailed first-hand analysis on-site, the team soon deduced its location, with a rumour rapidly spreading that it was the undiscovered tomb of Queen Tian Hinan, the legendary matriarch of the Tuareg people. The archaeologists knew that the specified location was old, as it had previously been dug nearby, where another team discovered a prehistoric settlement about ten years ago, again in a small cave, located half-way up a mountain. That was the area’s best find, as it contained many original rock paintings that dated all the way back to 6000 BC. So with little more than a location shared by London, a load of vague rumours flying around, and a vague yet specific area in the mountain range, they concluded that this mission was far too critical to ignore. If there were any truth in the rumours, then this would be the first-ever conclusive proof that the Queen’s reign and existence really did happen; it would be a tremendous find, and a discovery of great importance, especially for the local tribes and villages.
In coordination with operations, back in London, a small army of workers was to be employed from the nearest villages, some distance away. Machinery and staff were all coordinated to arrive and set up in conjunction with the team travelling from Morocco. In the weeks that followed, hundreds of workers began to excavate the side of a solitary mountain pinnacle, deep within the Hoggar Massif, in the land of the Kel Ahaggar Tuareg. The pinnacle was quite a sizeable one, locally known for its unusual shape and size. Strangely surrounded by another four massive pinnacle spires, it was locally known as the Hand of God. As such, some of the workers refused to work there and were subsequently sent packing after arrival.
It wasn’t long before the excavations started to make headway, under the watchful eye of the museum curator, who had been sent out to oversee the operation. London classed the job as a Class A job and was taking no chances of leaving anything to chance. With hundreds of workers from many of the closest villages, each rock and stone was painfully removed by hand and passed from worker to worker, down the side of the mountain.
Sue Bradley, who had been appointed the head of Ancient Antiquities at the museum, found herself in charge of the project. Many years prior, she lived in Algeria for a few years, so she had a personal interest in the history of the area, so she took it upon herself to volunteer for the project. Sue didn’t usually run field operations herself, but as an executive member on the board, and personal interest, the mission excited her much, so she readily volunteered to lead the crew. Her right-hand-man was Jonathan, who happened to be in charge of all antiquity storage and care at the London museum. He also had a personal interest in the find, so with a couple of additional hand-picked museum workers, Maisie and Steve, the departed immediately. The team of professionals were flown out to run the operation, confident with many years of local history and experience under their belts.
The working set-up was just a couple of dusty old tents on-site, located at the base of the pinnacle. A generator for the computers and showers was settled alongside the cooking facilities, and the hundreds of local workers were found nearby, just slightly around the mountain a bit. The workforce was generally in good spirit, and everyone following orders, happy and content with the pay and conditions, just meant that progress was good. Sue was utterly astonished by the amount of work the locals had already accomplished when she arrived, so where she could, she rewarded their loyalty and hard work as often as possible, which in turn transpired back as friendship, hard work and a much-respected loyalty.
The pinnacle of rock was slowly dismantled piece by piece over the weeks that followed until finally, they had a significant break-through. A large boulder of substantial size was eventually removed from its surroundings, creating a giant gaping chasm at the top of the pinnacle. The rock then quickly tumbled and fell down the mountainside, luckily dropping in the opposite direction to base-camp. A rupture of cheers rang out from the work crew, as they’d been working on it for weeks; this was a significant achievement. Sue was quickly summoned up to the hole it left. She usually spent most of her working day down near the tents, analysing all the small rocks and any found artefacts. Sue dropped everything and quickly ran up the gaping hole. As she approached, she could see the black hole exaggerated and standing out against the light brown rocks of the mountain and the sun beating down. The blackness of the hole seemed unusual, almost too black. Sue got her torch out ready to explore, but as she did, the hairs on her neck stood up, warning of something. She approached cautiously, requesting that all but her team remain on-site.
Sue looked at Jonathan with trepidation; he seemed quite excited. Maisie and Steve didn’t seem too sure either, both standing back a little, near the edge of the ledge. Mohammed, the workforce leader, also stood back, also looking slightly worried. The blackness of the hole seemed to swallow light, and as they looked, nothing was visible inside the vast black void. With all eyes transfixed on the hole, they all stood for a good few minutes before anyone said anything.
“What on earth do you think it is”? Jonathan said.
“I don’t know,” Sue said, without stopping her gaze.
“Why doesn’t the torch work in there”? Maisie added. “It’s creepy.”
“Yeah,” Sue said before he took a few steps forward. The light of the torch just faded into a column of light, literally just seemingly going nowhere. She then shone the torch onto the floor, making sure there was a floor to stand on before she ventured deeper into the cave. The others followed, slowly and reluctantly. She must have gone about three or four metres before the light shone on something. It intrigued her, so she moved a little quicker. As she stepped forward, her torch came to a wall made of stone. Large, solid-looking, and carved directly into the rock face, it was seemingly part of the mountain itself. It was huge, far too heavy to move. There was a strange inscription above the door, as the light of the torch slowly made its way around its bulk. The other torches joined in, further highlighting the door; Mohammed saw something in the light, whatever it was, it upset him much. He muttered something to himself and left; with no words to Sue or Jonathan, something had bothered him, as he turned and ran. Sue and her team turned and watched, asking him to stay, but he just left. An air of doubt then prevailed as they turned back to the door. As the light shone up, a strange star shape was seen carved into the top half of the door. Above it, an ancient form of Arabic said something; it was unlike any of them had seen before, and they were unable to translate it.
“I think it’s a warning,” Jonathan said, but he wasn’t sure at all.
“How do you know that”? Maisie said.
“I don’t, it’s just a hunch” he added. The four of them just stopped and starred; it was unlike anything found before.
Back at the entrance, a few of the local men, a rough-looking bunch had come to see for themselves. Mohammed must have said something on his way out, bringing the men up to see. Again, some of them ran upon the sight of the door, but strangely, not all of them.
Sue stepped back, turning to walk back to the entrance. One of the men that remained, she spoke too.
“Can you get this door open”? She asked. The man looked t the door before he turned and looked back at her. He said he’d try, replying in Arabic. Sue didn’t know much of the language, but she somehow interpreted his response as a yes. Jonathan took photographs on his phone before the Arab called in his men.
“Let’s go and get that photo’s analysed,” Sue said.
“I think we may just have stumbled upon something bigger than we expected here. I can’t tell at the moment, but I think it could just be the doorway to the Queen’s tomb.”
The four of them then left, taking their final glances of the door before they went. The cave then filled with men. A lot of shouting then followed.
“That door will take a lot of time to move, so let’s get back to base” Sue added, as they came out into the bright light of day. They left, leaving the cave swarming with villagers.
As Sue and her team started walked back down the track towards basecamp, a sudden strong tremor underfoot resonating from the mountain above them. It was strong, so intense in fact that all of them crouched down and held the ground for support.
“What the hell was that”? Steve said, in a worried, almost trembling voice.
“It’s OK,” Maisie said, reaching out to reassure him. Jonathan gave Sue a scouring look of disapproval.
“Come on; let’s go” Sue added, back on her feet, eager to get back.
As they carried on down, a few more tremors occurred. All around them, smaller rocks and boulders slowly tumbled down the side of the mountain. They all looked worried, and for a moment, they turned and looked up at where the excavations had been; there was nothing they could do, so they carried on regardless.
Just as they reached the bottom, stepping into the tents to start work, another much stronger tremor rippled through the mountain. A loud plethora of shouting rang out from the cave. The team quickly rushed out to look up. The pinnacle of rock was shaking quite violently, as a flurry of men scrambled down the side, running for their lives, shouting and screaming as they went.
“I think we should move back,” Jonathan added, as rocks fell on all sides. The tremors were getting worse, stronger, and more violent, with little sign of slowing down. Then, suddenly there was a vast explosion, emitted from the cave. It was so big that the whole top of the mountain pinnacle blew away, throwing huge rocks, boulders and the bodies of workers, all raining down the mountainside. A strong and violent shockwave blasted its way out of the rock; the team down near the base camp were all thrown backwards, as the force rushed past, flattening the tents. Steve was thrown backwards against the Jeep, hitting his head so hard, that he fell to the floor, unconscious. Sue also cracked her head open, leaving trail blood trickling down her face. Maisie was thrown against a rock, severely hurting her back, while Jonathan lay unconscious, quite some distance from the others.
With cries of pain, Sue pulled herself up and looked up in utter astonishment. The whole top half of the mountain had disappeared. In its place, a substantial black star-shaped thing, chaotically twisted and turned in itself, spinning, twisting and turning, like something the computer had generated. A strange, unsettling humming sound filled the air, while the ground subtly tremored still. Sue watched on in shock, as her brain was frantically trying to decipher what she was seeing.
“Oh my god,” she muttered to herself, just as she heard a sucking noise begin to start. As she looked on, the thin layer of sand and dust began to be pulled up towards the star, as it chaotically twisted and turned in on itself. The loud humming sound seemed to become one with the tremors underfoot, and as the seconds passed, the sucking slowly grew stronger. Within minutes, the thin layer of sand and dust now mixed with small rocks, all tumbling upwards towards the mountaintop. It continued as the sounds grew, drawing in more and more rocks, bigger and stronger, clearing the nearby mountain of all debris. As Sue looked on, something got inside her head; something alien and too strong to resist. As her eyes glazed over, she felt her body move independently to her thoughts. It started to walk, towards the path that led up to the cave. In a mesmerising state, she walked directly towards it, regardless of her injuries. Now, alongside her, Maisie also followed, also in a trance. The few remaining men down near the camp were also being drawn upwards, showing no emotions or fear of what on earth they were walking towards. Determined and sometimes climbing on all fours, none of the humans stopped for any reason, all drawn by the star up, through the gushing wind, up towards the weird, unearthly star-shaped creation.
The star shape thing twisted and turned on itself, emitting a strange black and grey colour, with a peculiar sort of haze that surrounded it. Its points that shot out into the air, before disappearing, being replaced by others, were sharp and pointed, almost needle-like. Its presence grew in intensity, the stronger it got. As the humans arrived, they all fell into the void, dissipating at point zero. There were no protests, just acceptance as they all willingly stepped into the shimmering haze that surrounded the star. The pull on the mountain and desert that surrounding it only grew stronger and stronger, until nothing surplus remained. As well as all the rocks and boulders, and the few remaining humans, the pull extended outwards, now sucking up the basecamp tents, furniture and vehicles. It didn’t stop there, the desert itself began to get hoovered up, as well as the villagers work camp; it seemed nothing could resist the strength of its pull.
The alien star continued shining with strength and ferocity over the days that followed. Somehow the rumours began, enticing the nomadic peoples from every direction. But once they arrived, it was all too late, as when they ventured within miles of the anomaly, they also became hypnotised somehow and victims of its strength and pulled. Some of them were so far away, they couldn’t even visually see it, yet they still became victims, drawn by an incredible force, bringing them to their doom. Everything became a victim; there was no differential, animals, rocks, plants, vehicles, it made no difference. If anything entered into its vicinity, it was drawn to its demise.
As the weeks passed, it continued to grow, gaining significant strength; when the rumours spread to the nearby towns, eventually the authorities came to investigate, and who was also pulled up the mountain, into the haze of the star. Whatever the star was, or from wherever it came, its intensity was so immense and powerful that it continued to consume everything, growing stronger by the day. By the time a few months had passed, it had surpassed the strength of anything known to man. Increasing its boundary of doom, it started eating the planet alive. Nothing was safe and with time, nowhere was safe, as it devoured the world. With no way to stop it, its grip on the human-kind it soon spread to neighbouring countries of Libya and Niger; it seems that there is no way to prevent the ungodly creation, as humanities future was doomed.
About the author and series.
This book is part of a series, written by IP Spall, consisting of 22 short stories in total. To find out more about this book series or any of IP Spall’s other publications, head to https://linktr.ee/ipspallbooks
Many of these short stories are free, and if you enjoy reading this book, you can even buy a total collection of all the short stories for a low price! Follow the link above to find out more.
This story can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2RRgMmI
Comments
Post a Comment