Pacific Rim: Iceland
Four years after the Breach was destroyed, there is a shadow of a new threat.
"I intend to file a complaint," huffed Dr Hermann Gottlieb. "I was promised a holiday. Instead I am being forced to travel for work. Which I dislike intensely."
"Stop complaining, Hermann," said Dr Newton Geiszler, from the seat beside him. "Haven't you ever wanted to see Iceland? And the volcano Eyjafjallajökull? It's very famous. A real troublemaker, as volcanoes go."
"No, and no," said Hermann. "The only thing worse than being in Iceland would be another awards ceremony. Like that one in … that cold country."
"You mean the Nobel Prize?" said Ranger Elle Castro from the co-pilot seat, in front of the two men.
"Which you won jointly, so stop arguing," said Ranger Dee Delacroix, as she made some adjustments to the controls of the UH110 jet-copter. "And it was either this or another talk show."
"Humph," said Hermann. "Well, I must say that anything is better than that."
"And Iceland looks quite interesting," said Elle, looking out the window at the grasslands below. "Surprisingly warm and sunny. Might be good for some topless sunbathing when we get back." She winked at Dee, who winked back.
"And I hear they have natural hot springs," said Dee. "There is a law that you have to be naked to use them, apparently."
They could not see the two men behind them but they could almost hear them gulp.
Hermann sighed. "I miss my office," he muttered.
"I thought you said you wanted a holiday," said Elle.
"Yes, which I would take in my office," said Hermann.
"Topless sunbathing, you say?" said Newton.
Dee and Elle laughed.
They were approaching the volcano Eyjafjallajökull. It had not erupted since 2010 but it was nevertheless spewing a constant plume of ash into the air.
"We're not going to be able to get much closer," said Dee. "The air filters are starting to overheat."
Elle checked her instrument panel. "Eight to go to anomaly," she said. "We'll have to land here and walk the rest. There's a tent in the supply pack, so we can camp overnight if we have to."
"Eight kilometres?" said Newton. "We're going to walk eight kilometres?"
"No," said Elle. "Eight miles."
"Oh dear," said Hermann.
Dee set the jet-copter down. The two Rangers began to take supplies from the copter's cargo hold and sort them into packs.
Newton was given the scanner and Hermann was given the computer. The two women hefted the packs with the tent, the sleeping bags, and the rations. Dee and Elle also each carried an automatic rifle and a heavy pistol.
"Do you actually try and make us feel inadequate, or is it just an ongoing accident?" said Newton.
"Bit from column A, bit from column B," said Dee.
"You guys are the brains," said Elle. "Or so we are told."
Newton stared at the two women. Dee was slim and blond, Elle was dark and more curvaceous. Dee was a former fighter-pilot and a former JumpHawk driver. Elle was a former Marine who had transferred to the Rangers Recon Unit during the Kaiju Wars. They both exuded competence and confidence. As he was thinking that, Newton managed to drop the scanner.
The two women rolled their eyes.
Newton picked it up and dusted it off.
"Like I said, the brains," said Elle. "Which way, genius?"
Newton looked at the screen of the scanner. "That way," he said, pointing up the slope.
They set off.
"No doubt this is another wild steeplechase," said Hermann.
"Goose," said Newton.
"I am not a goose!" said Hermann indignantly.
"Debateable, but not what I meant," said Newton. "These figures are … interesting." He showed the scanner to Hermann.
Hermann nodded. "Possibly," he said.
"Even though this is the fourth anomaly we've chased down," said Dee, "I don't really understand what they're about. Except that it could mean another Breach."
"The back story," said Newton, "is that the Breach in the Marianas Trench had a specific radiation signature. During the Kaiju Wars, when monsters were popping out, everyone thought that the Breach had appeared all at once. But more detailed research showed that it had taken a long time to develop. It had started small, with a minor leak of Anteverse radiation. Of course, no-one knew what it was at the time. It took a fair while – no-one knows exactly how long – to grow to a size that could allow Trespasser through.
"But now there are satellites that keep a lookout for any new leaks. The past three have been false alarms, turned out to not be Anteverse radiation at all. Wrong spectrum signature. But hard to tell until you get close and take more detailed readings."
"And analyse them according to certain algorithms," said Hermann.
"Yeah, yeah, we know, the Gottlieb formulas," said Newton.
"Formulae," said Hermann.
"So can we look forward to another wave of Kaijus?" said Dee.
"Given the stakes, no-one is ignoring the possibility," said Newton. "And there are the new-gen Jaegers, just in case."
"Maybe when Gipsy Danger exploded in the Anteverse, it wiped them all out," said Elle.
"It's a … big place," said Hermann.
"Kind of wish we could see it," said Elle.
"No, you don't," said Newton. "Trust us in this." He still had nightmares about Drifting into the Anteverse. He was sure that Hermann did too.
And that was four years ago. As the key figures of the burgeoning Kaiju Science Corporation, Newton and Hermann had contributed huge amounts to the field, including the use of cloned Kaiju material in everything from advanced medicine to Jaegers, and the application of Drift technology to treat mental diseases. The two of them had opposed any further attempts to Drift into the Anteverse, although there were occasional rumours of experiments on the semi-legal fringe of Kaiju research.
Despite the commercial success and personal satisfaction that their research had brought, Newton and Hermann had always placed the highest priority on identifying further Breaches. They knew exactly what the last one – the first one – had cost. Newton knew that Hermann, even though he complained whenever forced to leave his spotless office in Hong Kong and venture into the wider world, would do whatever it took to prevent a further Breach. So whenever there was even the possibility of Anteverse radiation, all other projects went on hold.
The grassy slope had turned into a smooth lava field. Eyjafjallajökull was a long way off but the pall of ash hung in the air like a low cloud. As they walked across a patch of the lava field, it seemed to echo beneath their feet.
"Volcanic chamber underneath," said Hermann. "Lava fields often form over them. It should be safe enough for us. But I don't fancy doing it on the dark."
"There's about another two kilometres to go," said Newton, looking at the scanner.
Night was beginning to fall. "We should camp here, then," said Elle. She and Dee took off the packs and set up the four-person tent. With the sun down the temperature dropped, and the four of them huddled in the tent. They ate a meal.
The two women took off their Ranger jackets and shirts. Elle was wearing a t-shirt which said: I MARRIED A ROCK STAR!
Dee's t-shirt said: I MARRIED HERMANN GOTTLIEB!
The women rolled out the two double sleeping bags. They each got into one. Then they looked at the two men.
"Damn, we have great wives," said Newton.
"Do you ever wonder," said Hermann to Newton, "what they see in us?"
The four of them were walking up the slope towards the indication of the anomaly. Even with the supplies and weapons – although they had left the tent and some of the other supplies at the campsite, down the slope – the two women easily outpaced the men. They had been walking for only an hour but Newton and Hermann were beginning to puff. Dee and Elle, walking ahead, were just getting warmed up.
"Well, I wonder what Dee sees in you," said Newton.
"Humph," said Hermann.
Newton sighed. "And, yes, I suppose that sometimes I look at Elle with a certain degree of puzzlement," he said. "I can only assume that she is entranced by my boyish good looks and rugged charisma."
"Unlikely," said Hermann.
Newton sighed again. "Maybe the whole question should go into the category of mysteries not meant to be solved," he said. "In case you break them."
"Agreed," said Hermann.
Newton's scanner beeped. He called to the two women to join them. He recalibrated the scanner for a more precise fix. "Two hundred metres," he said. "That way."
They headed as he indicated. The two Rangers checked their guns.
"If this is a Breach," said Dee, "why would it be on the side of a volcano?"
"The same reason the first one was in the Marianas Trench, at the intersection of two tectonic plates," said Hermann. "So the Precursors could draw upon a huge source of energy. That is the theory, anyway."
"We're there," said Newton, looking at the scanner.
"No, I don't think we are," said Elle, looking around.
"Yes we are," said Newton, staring at the screen. "Should be right at our feet."
Elle surveyed the area again. "Sorry, sweetie," she said. "Zip."
Hermann looked at the screen. "Much as I always hate to admit that Dr Geiszler might ever be correct about anything, in this case he is right," he said.
"Nope," said Dee.
Suddenly, the lava field began to shake. A crack began to appear in the surface. It emanated a strange red glow.
Together, Hermann and Newton felt a slash of pain through their brains. As one, they cried out.
"Back!" shouted Elle. "Get back!" They all retreated several steps.
Hermann recovered sufficiently to activate the camera in the computer. Instruments in the scanner began to record as well.
The crack widened to about a metre. Then it stopped.
"Is this a Breach?" said Dee. "Or just something that volcanoes do?"
"According to these readings," said Newton, "this hole goes … a long way. Really long way. And … my god, it's stabilising. It's … a stable pathway. Dilation of … about eighty centimetres."
"I'm not sure what that means, but I think it is eighty centimetres too much," said Elle. She took her pistol from its holster and handed it to her husband.
"And just what am I supposed to do with this?" he said, taking it and staring at it.
Hermann was studying the screen of the scanner.
"Something … is coming," he said.
"A number of somethings," said Newton.
A creature leaped from the crack. It was the size of a large dog, but it had a heavy, armoured head with massive jaws, and spikes on its back.
Elle and Dee fired together. The bullets slammed into the creature and there were spurts of blue blood. But it did not go down.
The creature began to come towards them. Elle and Dee kept firing. The creature slowed … and then slumped to the ground. It gave a growling hiss as it died.
Two more of then erupted from the crack. And then two more. They began to advance on the four humans.
Elle stopped to re-load as Dee kept firing. One of the creatures went down.
"Get out of here!" Elle shouted to Hermann and Newt. "You need to get to the radio in the chopper! We'll lead them away!"
Elle started to fire again as Dee re-loaded.
"Go!" Dee said to the two men. "If this means another Breach, you guys are too important to lose!"
Elle and Dee began to run, firing as they went. The creatures began to follow them.
And then the ground, weakened by the appearance of the Breach, collapsed under them. The two women and the creatures slid into a chamber, five metres below the surface. Dee and Elle were unhurt but the creatures were still coming at them.
Dee had lost her rifle when she began to fall, and now she drew her pistol. They had no further to run.
Hermann and Newton ran to the edge of the collapsed chamber. They looked at each other.
"We should get to the radio in the helicopter," said Hermann. "The world needs to know there is a new Breach."
"Yeah, we should do that," said Newton. "We really should."
Hermann picked up Dee's rifle. Newton lifted the pistol Elle had given him and flicked what he hoped was the safety catch.
They jumped, sliding down a slab of stone.
Dee and Elle had taken another of the creatures down but were now out of ammunition. The creatures growled and crouched, preparing to spring. Elle took her rifle by the barrel to use it as a club and Dee drew her knife. Didn't seem like much. They exchanged a glance.
"Son … of … a … bitch," said Dee.
"Never got to do that topless sunbathing," said Elle.
And then there was volley of shots as Newton and Hermann appeared behind the creatures, firing wildly. Most of the creature's armour was in the front, so the bullets from behind tore into their flesh. One, and then the other, fell.
"Damn," said Newton. "We did it. We actually did it."
"Yes," said Hermann. "I think I need to sit down now."
Dee and Elle laughed. "Our heroes," said Elle.
They managed to climb out of the hole. They made their way back to the Breach. It was gone, but they could see a glassy mark on the surface.
"I guess it comes and goes," said Newton. "Hermann, did you get enough data to make some guesses as to when it might open again, and how fast it might grow?"
"I do not make guesses," said Hermann. "If you mean, can I model a prospective timeline, yes, probably. I will need to return to the lab, of course."
"What were those things?" said Dee.
"Some sort of scout, I suppose," said Newton. "Since this Breach isn't under water like the first one, maybe they needed to learn a few things, test the atmosphere, that sort of stuff."
"Since we killed them all, does that mean they won't try it again?" said Elle.
Hermann and Newton looked at each other. They remembered the Drift into the Anteverse. They remembered the Precursors' relentless drive, their insatiable will to conquer.
"Unlikely," said Hermann.
The four of them began to walk down the slope, towards the communications equipment they could use to inform the UN about the new threat.
"I suppose we should be angry that you chose to save us instead of running," said Dee. "But somehow I just can't bring myself to be upset about it."
"We considered it," said Newton.
"Really?" said Elle.
"No, not really," said Newton.
"One way or another," said Dee, as she put her arm through her husband's, "we will have to find some special way to repay you."
"I'm thinking hot springs," said Elle.
Newton and Hermann looked at each other.
"Tempting as that might be," said Hermann, "we really need to get back to Hong Kong to start work on this."
" 'Fraid so," said Newton.
"Huh," said Dee. "Well, I suppose that that's why we love you."
Elle nodded agreement. Then she said: "Then what we should do is have a hot spa set up right in our apartments. We can book it by radio and they'll be ready by the time we get there. Deal?"
The two men stared at their wives. "Deal," they said together.
END