Chapter 2
They all sat motionless, primed to move the moment their skipper gave the signal. After about 10 minutes, there was another of the ferocious screams but this time it was obvious it was off at a distance. They sat immobile for a minute longer, eyeing each other as they strained their ears for the slightest hint that something remained outside their shelter. Hearing nothing, everyone released a relieved sigh at once, garnering a quiet chuckle from the group.
"What do you think, Lee?" Chip asked quietly.
"Well I suppose we best take a look outside and see if anyone is about," Lee replied softly. He gently pulled his pack away from the door and listened hard for even a hint of anything around. "Sounds like the wind has died down and I can't hear anything rustling about. You stay here and stand ready. I'll take a quick look."
Chip looked about to protest until Lee met his eyes belaying his objection. Chip immediately nodded to his superior officer then made eye contact with each man to make sure they were prepared if their captain ran into trouble. Each man nodded in response to his unvoiced query and double checked their weapons.
Lee slowly crawled out the door listening intently for even the slightest sound. Hearing none, he pushed forward and was soon clear of the door and rose quickly to his feet rapidly scanning the area around their shelter for any signs of animals or movement. Finding none, he flicked on his flashlight and then played it around the area. As the beam washed across the snow covered ground he drew in an audible gasp. On both sides of the shelter were large footprints made by some sort of bipedal creature.
He immediately snapped the beam up off the ground and once more scanned the surrounding forest looking for any signs of what had made the tracks. He eased his way forward to more closely examine the prints and blew out an airy whistle at their size.
The individual prints were over two feet in length and nearly a foot wide. There were five toes with the largest toe offset lower than the other four and splayed out to the side similar to a gorilla or other large primate. The imprint in the snow was deep which indicated that aside from having big feet it was most likely tall and very heavy. The length of the stride put the creature on the upwards side of 10 to 12 feet in height. As he moved to the next set of prints, he noticed that there were apparently two of the creatures. One had entered the clearing from the left and the second one from the right. They joined up in front of the entrance to their quinzhee and then departed together traveling deeper into the forest.
"Chip, you can all come on out, the coast is clear," Lee hollered back towards the snow hut. As he waited for his team to emerge, he shot a quick glance up to the sky and noticed that the northern lights, although still extremely active, had resumed their normal pattern of flowing waves, and the wind had dropped to zero making it tolerable to be out in the night air.
"What's up Lee?" Chip asked as he crawled out the door of the quinzhee quickly followed by the other men.
Lee nodded his head to the side then illuminated the tracks with his flashlight. He heard a number of gasps and a couple of What the f… "It looks as though we had company. From the tracks I'd say two of whatever those are met up here then headed off into the woods." Chip and the others knelt down to more closely examine the large prints in the snow.
"That's definitely no bear," Ski offered as he played his light over the print.
"That's for sure," Patterson responded. "Even if we were up on the arctic coast, a polar bear wouldn't make a track that big."
"So what do we do now Skipper?" Riley asked.
"Well first we need to check out our Sat phones and GPS units to see if we can get a signal and a location," Lee replied as he pulled out his phone and flipped it on. The indicator showed the device searching for a signal but soon displayed the message that no satellites could be located. "Well damn, that's not good," Lee grumbled as he shut the device off. "Anyone else having any luck?"
The others quickly indicated they weren't able to lock on either. As they did that Lee pulled out his compass for a look. The needle dutifully indicated north and he sighed in some relief. "Compass is working now so apparently the magnetic interference has been resolved." He looked quickly at his watch and grimaced; it was 0045 so they had quite a while to go before the meager daylight returned.
"What do you want to do now, Lee?" Chip asked as he returned his phone and GPS to his pocket.
"Let's crawl back into our shelter and see if we can get some shuteye. We'll run 90 minute watches so everyone can get a chance to rest. Riley you take the first watch, then Kowalski, Pat, Bobby, Chip, then me, if we haven't given up trying to sleep by then," Lee responded. "Let's get the fire out here built back up and collect enough wood to make sure we make it through the night. If you hear anything suspicious report it immediately. Everyone understand?"
Everyone nodded and jumped into action either coaxing the fire back to life or moving out into the woods to collect wood to keep the fire burning bright. After 30 minutes they had enough fuel for the fire to last well into the next day and a roaring blaze to keep the watch stander warm and hopefully the bogies at bay.
"All right Riley, if anything seems the least bit odd don't hesitate to call out," Lee directed as he patted him on the shoulder.
"Sure thing, Skipper. Rest easy, I'll make sure nothing sneaks up on us," Stu replied as he moved nearer the fire to drive off the chill.
Lee nodded and smiled. "Okay, everyone else back inside and let's get some rest."
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Once back inside they all quickly climbed back into their bags as Lee added additional fuel to the fire in the quinzhee. When that was done, he eased his way back into his bag and stretched out on his bed.
"What do you think they are Lee?" Chip asked.
Lee smiled and shook his head. "Well to risk stating the obvious they're something with big feet. I seriously doubt it's anyone trying to pull an elaborate hoax. It's too damn cold out there and we're too far in the woods for anyone to be here with us. I think we've probably run into something that isn't supposed to exist."
"You really think it's a sasquatch, Skipper," Kowalski inquired quietly.
"Can you come up with a better answer? Although given our luck, it's some sort of alien bent on taking over the planet," Lee answered seriously, then smiled.
"So what are we going to do next? Are we just going to hang out here until the weather clears and we can get a signal?" Chip inquired.
Lee smiled devilishly. Like Nelson he had an insatiable curiosity and not knowing drove him up the wall. Also, he would catch all kinds of hell if he didn't do a little investigating if conditions safely allowed for it. Unseen by the others Chip noticed the glint in Lee's eyes and rolled his own.
"Well if things clear up enough, I think it would be worth our while to follow those tracks a ways and see what we find. With six of us we should have enough in numbers to keep them at bay. But as I said it will all depend on the weather, and whether we can get a satellite signal and can make a call," Lee responded. "Thoughts, anyone?"
"I'm all for checking it out, sir. I've wanted to know what those things are since me and my dad had our run-in with them," Ski offered.
"I have to admit I'm curious about what they are as well, and I think it would be worth the hike to see if we can at least get a glimpse of them," Bobby added.
"Count me in Skipper," Patterson chimed in. They sat there quietly for nearly a minute all looking expectantly at Morton for his response.
"I should act as the voice of reason here and point out how badly things could go if we really do find these creatures and they don't think that's a good thing. We're stuck out here miles from a road, in subzero conditions, snow up to our asses, with currently no means of calling for help let alone finding our way back should we need immediate assistance," Chip started. He looked closely at the other men's faces as their expressions changed from hopeful to resigned. "But all that being said, I think we should go for a little walk once the sun comes up and see where that trail takes us, assuming Riley is up for it. I can only imagine how badly the admiral would light into us for turning down such a unique opportunity."
They all sat back and nodded their heads in agreement then started to chuckle. Nelson would definitely rip them a new one if they didn't follow up if conditions allowed. Doc on the other hand would be less than thrilled for taking unnecessary chances with no backup. Lee mentally laughed knowing stars beat clusters everytime and they would be going for a walk in the 'morning'.
"Well that's settled. All right everyone, get some shuteye and we'll pose the question to Riley when he comes in."
Ninety minutes later, Riley pushed the door open and came in to get Kowalski to relieve him. Lee quickly recapped the discussion they had had while he was on watch then asked him whether he wanted to follow those tracks or just concentrate on getting back to civilization. To no one's surprised he was all in favor of the expedition. With their course of action set, Ski crawled out to take his watch and they all settled in for some sleep.
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Having completed his tour on watch, Lee pushed the pack out of the quinzhee door and crawled in finding everyone up and about. He shook off the cold and crawled over to his sleeping bag and slid inside to warm up. Chip quickly passed him a cup of coffee which he sipped on cautiously savoring the hot beverage.
"You want me to go back out Skipper?" Riley asked as he unzipped his bag.
"No, I think were done for now, since we're all up and about," Lee said between sips. "The weather has moved in and it's starting to lay down some serious snow again but at least it's warmed up above zero. I'm still not able to get a signal on my Sat phone. Everyone check yours just to make sure it isn't just my phone."
They all quickly pulled out their phones and turned them on to let the devices start scanning for a signal. Within minutes they were all shaking their heads indicating they couldn't pull in a signal either.
"I wonder what's blocking the signals? This seems to have lasted too long to just be coincidence," Chip commented as he snapped off his phone.
"I agree with you there, Chip. Even with solar flares, the interruption in reception shouldn't be constant. I wonder if this has anything to do with our visitors last night?" Lee replied.
"Well, that lends credence to your theory they're aliens here to conquer our world," Chip answered then winked and laughed.
"So what now Skipper?" Patterson asked.
"With nothing more than a compass, I'm not inclined to strike out for civilization just yet. I want a little more to go on, like the stars to give us more than a general direction. If you're all still up for it, I think we should go for a little walk before the snow completely erases those creature's tracks." Lee looked around the hut and found everyone nodding yes. "Good. Let's all get a good hot meal in our bellies and then we'll start following that trail and see where it leads us."
"Sounds like a plan, Skipper," Kowalski replied, a large smile on his face thrilled at the chance of maybe finding a sasquatch. They quickly set to boiling water to reconstitute their dehydrated foods and soon were packed up for a day trip to track down whatever had passed by their door.
As they crawled out of their hut, it was nearly 0900 and still dark; they wouldn't see daylight for another couple of hours. It was snowing heavily as they donned their packs, checked their guns, strapped on their snowshoes, and then began heading deeper into the woods following the rapidly disappearing trail.
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"Any luck on getting in contact with Lee and his team?" Jamie asked as he came down the stairs from his room.
"Not a word," Nelson grumbled. "I checked with the Troopers and they said something was seriously messing with satellite reception in the general area where we dropped them off. They also said it started to snow heavily in the area so visibility is next to nothing, so there's no point in putting up a chopper or plane to fly over and look for them."
"Well that's not encouraging," Jamie replied. "Still I don't doubt that they have everything under control and are safe."
"I'm sure you're right. I just don't like not knowing what's going on." Harri wiped a hand across his face to try and hide his concern. "Come on, let's get some breakfast started and we can make plans for a fly over with FS-1. If they can hear her, they may be able to fire off a signal to let us know where they are."
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They all immediately fell into line behind Crane as he broke trail. The snow was falling heavily and the world had taken on a rather mottled appearance with the white snow, gray sky and papery white birch and snow laden blue spruce that surrounded them. Every 50 yards or so they noticed the skipper take his knife and cut a notch into a tree at about head level.
"What are you doing that for, Skipper?" O'Brien asked as he watched the man mark a tree for about the 10th time.
"Blazing a trail, if you will. If it keeps snowing like this for much longer, we could easily lose the tracks we're following and the trail we've made. It's amazing how fast that can occur, especially if the wind decides to kick up again. We can look for the notches on the trees if for some reason we lose our path," Lee explained as he sheathed his knife. He lifted up his thermometer and took a quick reading. They were sitting at -15 F but luckily the winds remained calm. He conducted a thorough visual once over of his team looking for any indications of hypothermia or frostbite. Everyone so far was looking good.
"Let's take a quick break, get something to drink and relax for a few minutes. This tromping through the deep snow can get us overheated in a hurry."
They all nodded and quickly pulled their water bottles out from inside their jackets and took a couple of sips. As they relaxed and cooled off, Chip moved over to Lee and leaned on the tree next to him.
"How much further do you think we should follow these tracks?" Chip inquired.
Lee looked up at the gray-white featureless sky and then scanned the surrounding terrain as he considered Chip's question. "I'm inclined to give this another hour or two depending on weather. We're starting to get into some mountainous terrain and I don't want to take a chance on anyone getting injured. I think if we make that ridge ahead without encountering anything we'll turn around and head back. Thoughts?" he said and then looked at the men surrounding him.
"Sounds like a good approach to me," Chip replied.
"I'm up for it Skipper," Kowalski answered. "I'm curious as hell, but don't want to get caught up in a wild goose chase either." Patterson and Riley nodded in full agreement with Ski's comment.
"How about you Bobby? Still up for the hunt?" Lee inquired.
"Sure thing sir. It's not like we really have to be anywhere at the moment."
"Okay, then it's settled. We'll rest here for another 15 minutes and then make our final push for that ridge ahead. If we're still no closer to an answer, then we'll call it good and head back to our hut. While we're stopped everyone check your phones and GPS units. Call out if you get anything," Lee stated as he fished his phone out of his parka pocket and then flipped it on to start its scan for a signal.
He growled audibly as the units one after the other reported no signals to be found. Looking up, he saw similar reactions from the rest of his men. This just wasn't normal and he didn't think it happening at the same time they had spotted the footprints was in anyway coincidental. His sixth sense began to tingle as they got closer to the mountain, and he wasn't sure if they really needed to meet what might be there.
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Lee did a quick scan of his men and verified that they were rested and ready to go. "Pat, take over as lead for a while."
"Aye, Skipper," Patterson replied. He headed to the front of the line and they started their climb up to the ridge.
The snow continued to fall heavily making the large tracks appear to be no more than small divots as the flakes quickly covered everything in their wake. After nearly an hour of slogging through the snow they neared the top of the ridge and the trail stopped. They all quickly began to scan the area for any hint of where the creatures had gone.
"Hey Skipper! Over here sir," Riley called out. "Looks like there's a cave or something over there along that rock face."
"Good eyes," Crane replied. He turned and walked cautiously over to the opening and looked in as far as he could without entering. All he succeeded in seeing was the about 10 feet into the opening of the cave. "Well it looks like the only way we're going to find out if anything's in there, is to go in."
Lee pulled off his pack, unzipped one of the pockets and removed a flashlight. The others rapidly followed suit. They quickly put their packs back on and then turned on the lights as they all pulled out their guns.
"Okay, Chip and Ski are with me; you three stay out here until we determine if it's safe and we call you in," Lee said. "I'm really hoping no one's home." He then smiled and winked as he moved into the mouth of the cave.
Once inside they rapidly played their lights all around the cave looking for anything that would present an immediate threat. Finding nothing poised to pounce on them they conducted a more thorough search of the space. It seemed to be a hollowed out gap between two layers of granite. By the looks of it wind, water and temperature had worked in concert to create the void. The ceiling rose a good fifteen to twenty feet above them narrowing at the top and the rest of the dimensions of the space were about forty by forty feet. The walls were relatively smooth with an occasional outcrop of granite not yet eroded by nature. The floor of the cave was granite with little dirt or plant matter making it impossible to tell if the big footed animals had entered. Out of the elements, it actually seemed rather warm and cozy all things considered.
"Well what ya think Lee?" Chip asked, after having played his light all over the space.
"Looks okay, to me. You find anything Ski?"
"No sir, just an empty cave."
"Might as well call the others in and let them get out of the weather for a bit," Lee said. "Bobby, Pat, Riley, coast is clear, come on in." They quickly made their way into the cave glad to be out of the snow and growing wind.
Lee unzipped his coat as he found the cave really quite warm. He glanced down at the thermometer on his jacket and found it reporting a surprising 45 degrees. "There must be a thermal vent somewhere around here. Everybody take a load off and let's grab a meal and rest before we start back." He then divested himself of his pack and dropped it on the cave floor.
Everyone followed his lead doffing their packs and opening up their jackets to enjoy the warmth inside the cave. They all started rustling through their packs as they pulled out food for their lunch. Riley looked around the cave and found a large flat piece of granite that had sloughed off the wall and slowly lowered himself on top of it. As he sat down, the rock suddenly shifted retracting smoothly into the cave floor.
"What the hell?" he called out as he rolled off the side of the rock. The others turned to regard him then spun in the opposite direction as they heard a grinding sound and noticed a barrier rapidly lowering in front of the cave entrance from the ceiling. Lee and Chip launched themselves toward the mouth of the cave in hopes of jamming it open but the barrier was in place too quickly.
The Seaview men stood there stunned by the sudden development of finding themselves now trapped inside the cave. Before anyone could speak, there was a loud bang, like a locking mechanism releasing something and the wall opposite the mouth of the cave began to move upwards into the ceiling. They all traded surprised glances and quickly followed their skipper's lead as he grabbed his weapon and flipped off the safety.
With the wall now fully retracted, they were presented with a long, dark tunnel leading deep into the mountain. They quickly shined their flashlights down the tunnel illuminating the shaft. Much to their relief there was nothing immediately there to greet them and they all blew out a breath of air. Once their heartbeat's had returned to normal, Lee began moving slowly forward down the hall, followed closely by his men. As they worked their way deeper into the tunnel, they could see a faint light in the distance. As they got closer, they heard what sounded like a rhythmic beat and other sounds emanating from the other end.
"What do you think that is?" Chip whispered to Lee.
"Got me. Maybe we've found Bigfoot," Lee answered quietly. "Almost sounds like a ritual or something." As they crept closer they could hear what sounded like growls and roars and then a repeat of the scream they had heard inside their quinzhee. They all stopped and stared intently at each other.
"Come on," Lee said as he waved them forward, "Only one way to find out what that is. Keep your weapons ready and stay alert." That was met with a quiet chorus of "Aye, sir."
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