5
Next morning Ianto headed into the bathroom where he quickly shaved off four days-worth of stubble from his face, before jumping in the shower. He towelled himself dry, pulled on a pair of jeans and a clean, light blue cotton shirt, and crept out of the bedroom, leaving Diane to sleep for a while longer.
Downstairs, Casey was already up, and in the process of sorting through items of equipment that he'd placed into small piles on the floor. Ianto could see hunting knives, flares, camping equipment, and rifles with high-powered scopes. Casey sat down as Ianto entered the room and started cleaning the reloading mechanism of one of the weapons, when he heard Ianto and looked up. "Howdy! Did you sleep well, buddy?"
"Yeah thanks. I woke myself with a bad dream, but apart from that, I slept like a baby."
"Not surprised that you had nightmares after what you witnessed buddy. Anyway, I'm just getting some supplies ready. The film company are paying for all this, so I sure as hell ain't going to hold back. Dicky and his team will be here in a few hours. We'll try to set off around lunchtime, so we can get up to the mountain before the government have time to set up proper security check points," he said, grinning.
"Morning," came Diane's sleepy voice, from the archway just behind them, a moment later.
Ianto turned to see her standing in her pyjamas, her blonde hair hanging messily, but sexily, across her forehead.
"Hey there, are you okay? I just came down. Didn't want to wake you," Ianto said, walking over and kissing her on her temple. Felt nice to have a little sister.
"I'll get the wife to rustle you guys up some breakfast," Casey said, locking and unlocking the loading mechanism on the shotgun, with a satisfying clunk.
"I was just telling Ianto we aim to leave around noon, as I'm sure you guys could do with a big breakfast. It's probably going to be late afternoon before we get the chance to eat again," he said, placing the gun onto the counter.
"Sounds good," Ianto said.
Diane nodded. "I'll go take a shower then."
After breakfast, Ianto asked Casey's wife if she could bury his smart phone in a pot of rice for a few hours. The brief spell at the police station hadn't been long enough to dry it out, or so he hoped. Casey's wife gave him a funny look, but carried out his request. The report given in heavy code on the unsecure line last night was already making waves back home and Ianto hoped they didn't send another team to assist with this one. The bounty on a killer like this might buy him a nice holiday with Jack and the little fella. He and Diane then headed back to the room. It was still only 8.45 a.m.
Through the bedroom window, Ianto could see the peak of Mount Black glistening in the early morning cloudless sky. However his gaze was suddenly distracted by a dark shape coming along the street below. He looked down and saw a dark green truck drive past, its noisy diesel engine spluttering black smoke as it headed up the road towards the camping area.
"Jeez, the military are here already," he muttered to Diane, as the truck rounded the bend and vanished up the mountain road.
Not long after the military vehicle had passed, Ianto was outside studying the now very fake-looking Bigfoot model standing near the entrance to the store, when two brand new looking Mercedes trucks pulled up onto the kerb and parked up. Large, bright yellow and blue lettering on the side confirmed the vehicles identity - Channel Five Productions, U.K. A stocky chap in his mid-thirties, with short, blond hair and a friendly, trusting face jumped out, stretched his arms, and yawned.
"Wakey, wakey," he said, either to himself, or another as yet unseen occupant inside the van. He noticed Ianto and walked over.
"Hey, I'm Armstrong, Richard Armstrong. Say, you're not Ianto Harkness-Jones, the guy involved in the grizzly bear-come-Bigfoot attack?" he asked, matter-of-factly.
"Um, yes, that's me. Well, it was my friends who were taken, I witnessed the attack," Ianto said.
"Un-bloody-believable. Great to meet you Ianto. I'm here courtesy of good old Channel Five. Where you from? I'm from Wales, lived in Penarth all my life," Armstrong said.
"Really? Well I was born in Cardiff, but lived in London for eight years, and have been back home the last four."
"Fantastic! I heard you studied physics at MIT? Perfect, lends an air of credibility to the documentary," Armstrong said, excitedly. Ianto wondered where he had heard that then knew Tosh was already working like a Trojan.
As he spoke, a tired looking brunette jumped out of the passenger side of the van.
"Meet Alicia, Alicia John, our make-up and lighting assistant," Armstrong said.
Ianto smiled at Alicia, reached out and shook her hand.
"Hi Ianto, it's nice to meet you," she said, yawning. "Excuse me, but I'm bloody knackered."
"Guys, I know you've come all the way out here to make a documentary on what happened, but this isn't a joke. I'm a pretty open minded guy, but I still can't get to grips with what happened last night, and you sure as hell won't need any makeup up there," Ianto said.
"We always need make-up. Anyway, I'll leave you to it, boss," Alicia pulled a face. she said, looking at Armstrong, and jumping back into the truck.
"Don't worry, Ianto; we're taking this stuff very seriously too. That's why I made sure I got over here as quickly as possible. We're here to make a documentary not a B-Movie."
At that moment a skinny, scruffy-looking kid with unkempt, ginger hair jumped out the back of the other truck, wearing torn jeans and a lumber-jack shirt. He looked excited and came running over to where the three of them were standing.
"Hey boss, boss, you're never going to guess what I just picked up. As you know, we've been eavesdropping on the U.S. Military radio channel to keep tabs on the security situation and…"
"Calm down, Bruce. This is Ianto. Ianto was involved in the attack last night. Ianto, meet Bruce, my computer geek and general all-round tech wizard. Anything goes wrong, Bruce can fix it," Armstrong smirked.
Bruce reached for Ianto's hand. "Ah, Ianto, yes, very nice to meet you. I'm very sorry to hear about what happened to your friends up there. Unbelievable, but then there's lots of weird, unbelievable crap going on around here right
now."
"So what did you find out, Bruce?" Armstrong asked, interrupting.
"Well, more weird shit really. Apparently, they've now detected some kind of signal that is being transmitted from the mountain to the Moon!" Bruce said, his eyes darting between Armstrong and Ianto.
"Say that again, who's detected what?" Ianto asked, his head starting to spin a little. Not good. Not good at all.
"Well, I just heard a conversation on the military channel I was tuned into. They were discussing a signal that SETI organisation, you know, the search for E.T., has detected, apparently originating from the mountain here and terminating on the Moon! I mean, how freaky is that with all this other crap that's going on?"
"Have you recorded the conversations?" Ianto asked, intrigued.
"Damn right we have," Bruce said, looking at his boss.
"Well done, Bruce. Keep us informed, sounds interesting. We could include it in the story," Armstrong said.
"Okay, I'll get back to it, boss. Let me know when we're due to leave, as I'll want a wash and change of clothes before we head off," Bruce said, heading back over to the parked truck.
"Knowing a bit about your background, that must be of interest to you eh, Ianto," Armstrong winked.
"The whole thing is crazy. Doesn't make sense, but if what I just heard is fact, then it's even more incredible than the events of the night on the mountain. I need to make some calls. See if any of my colleagues know anything about this," Ianto said.
"Okay, where's my pal, Casey, is he up and about?" Armstrong asked.
"Yep, follow me. He's getting the supplies for the trip ready," Ianto said, as they both walked into the store.
The trucks pulled away from Casey's store forecourt, following two black Tacoma's, one being driven by Casey and the other by his son, Arran. Ianto and Diane were in the vehicle being driven by Arran.
Ianto glanced back at the store, now closed until they returned. The stuffed animals outside, including the fake 'Sally' Sasquatch, appeared to watch them leave, as if bidding them all good luck.
"I can't believe we're going back up there," Diane said, expelling a little shiver as she snuggled up to Ianto in the passenger seat.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. You know you didn't have to come with me, but I just can't let this go. What happened the other night was one thing, but now the detection of some kind of signal, if true, is something entirely different. There's no way I can't not investigate this further," Ianto said. "This could be way beyond a normal hunt. This could be the start of an invasion."
"I know," Diane whispered, accepting the situation. Ianto pulled out his smart phone, now working again after the rice trick, which must have absorbed whatever remained of the river following his swim the night before, and checked the screen. There were no unread messages. He'd called his friend, Owen earlier, to ask him if he'd heard anything. Apart from the underground newsflash about the alleged Bigfoot attack, which was making the rounds, no mention had been made of any mystery signal mentioned by Bruce.
As expected, Owen had been intrigued, and would try to find out what he could. The Tacomas accelerated up the mountain road towards the campsite, followed by Richard Armstrong and the Channel Five film crew in the Mercedes trucks. The river flowed lazily on their right, hiding the horror and mystery of the events from the night before.
The pine woods of the National Park, home to more than just trees, deer, stags, and bear it seemed, stretched out either side of the road in a carpet of green.
A crackling voice erupted from the dashboard of the truck, and Arran yanked a radio that was attached to a bendy cable from the dashboard. Good old-fashioned VHF CB.
"There's a military roadblock eleven miles ahead? Okay, Pa, so I'll follow you then," Arran said, replacing the CB.
"Is there a problem?" Ianto asked.
"Not really Ianto. As suspected, the military have set up a checkpoint on the main route up. Bruce, the Channel Five kid, has been listening in for us. My father knows an alternative route about five miles up from our current location, takes us through the woods and right up to the base of the mountain, bypassing the main road. Nobody will know we're there, unless they have radar or motion detectors."
"Sounds good," Ianto replied. The only ones with those nits of tech were them.
They drove on for another ten minutes before Casey, in the lead Tacoma, braked and slowed. On the left side of the highway was a sloping grass bank, which appeared to lead nowhere. Casey drove his vehicle off the highway and down the bank, bringing it to a stop in an open area of grassland, some thirty feet away from the main road.
The radio sprang to life again, and Arran grabbed it from the dashboard.
"Follow me down, but be careful, it looks steeper than it is," Casey's voice cracked from the device.
Arran manoeuvred the truck towards the bank and then drove, and half slid, down the bank and onto the flat grassy area, the two Mercedes trucks following slowly behind.
With all the vehicles parked up, Arran, Ianto, and Diane got out. Casey was already standing alongside his vehicle, observing the woods through a pair of binoculars. Richard Armstrong, Bruce, and Alicia, the make-up artist, got out of the trucks and walked over to join them.
"Hey! Hello again, guys. It's a great day for an adventure eh?" Alicia said, smiling.
Armstrong strode over. "What's the plan then?"
Casey lowered the binoculars and handed them to Armstrong. "See that large fir tree directly ahead. Just to the left of it there's a small opening. It doesn't look large, but once we're through, it opens up to an old mining route that leads directly up to the side of the mountain. It's a bit bumpy, but we can avoid the military."
Armstrong looked through the binoculars, and after ten seconds or so nodded.
"I see it. I like it," he said, handing the binoculars to Ianto.
Ianto looked through the binoculars in the direction of the large pine tree and noted a natural arch formed by the trees, which opened into a dark space beyond. The route was all but invisible to any vehicles that might pass along the highway.
"Where exactly are we heading?" Ianto asked.
Casey stretched his arms. "Well, we'll be setting up base around mid-point between the camp site where you guys were attacked and the eastern flank of the mountain. It's a remote location, part of a hundred-year-old mining trail. The creature is unlikely to be anywhere near where we're going."
"Well I hope it's not anywhere near the mining trail either!" Diane said.
Ianto felt his smart phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out. Owen's name was displayed on the screen, and the start of a long text message appeared below it.
"Okay guys, let's get a move on," Armstrong said, heading back to the truck. "We'll follow you up."
Casey nodded and headed back over to his Tacoma.
"Don't worry Diane; these guys have enough firepower to stop a small army. Come on, I've just had a text through from Owen," Ianto said, as they followed Arran back to the vehicle.
Arran pulled off after his father, negotiating the vehicle around a fallen tree and proceeding under the low, pine tree canopy, and into the dark woods beyond. The film crew following slowly behind.
Ianto pulled his phone out and opened the text message from Owen.
JESUS, IANTO, I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'VE JUST BEEN TOLD. I CHECKED IN WITH MATT OVER AT SETI. HE CONFIRMED THAT A SIGNAL HAS INDEED BEEN DISCOVERED. THE SOURCE OF IT APPEARS TO BE A GLACIAL REGION ON THE EASTERN FLANK OF MOUNT SHASTKA, NEAR THE COBALT RIDGE GLACIER. THE SIGNAL APPEARS TO TERMINATE ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON. BUT THERE'S MORE. A SECOND SIGNAL HAS JUST BEEN DETECTED CLOSE TO THE POINT AT WHICH THE FIRST SIGNAL TERMINATES, APPARENTLY DIRECTED AT THE CONSTELLATION OF CASSIOPEIA, 21 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH. IANTO, THIS IS MASSIVE! THIS AND WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS LAST NIGHT, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!
Ianto had to read Owen's message twice to make sure he understood it properly. This is crazy. He showed the text to Diane. "Unbelievable, eh? It confirms what Bruce overheard the military saying."
Suddenly, the truck hit something large, jostling them about in the seat.
"Sorry, fallen tree; didn't see it," Arran apologised, slowing down a little.
They continued following Casey along the overgrown track, which was only just wide enough for the vehicles to travel along. Dense pine woods stretched out on either side of the hidden route, blocking out any view from main highway.
Arran's radio squawked to life and he pulled it from the dashboard. It was his father.
"Yep okay Pa, understood," he said, returning the handset.
"We're about two miles past Pine Crags now. There's an old mining hut and mineshaft coming up where an old wooden bridge crosses one of the tributaries of the river. We need to stop and check the integrity of the bridge before proceeding over," he said. Five minutes later, Arran pulled up behind his father's vehicle and cut the engine. They climbed out of the vehicle. A fragrant smell of fresh pine filling the air. The two Mercedes trucks stopped a short distance behind and their engines fell silent, allowing an eerie calm to descend. Just a faint gushing sound from the river a short distance away drifted across and permeated the surrounding woods.
Ianto looked around. To their right was an old steel corrugated hut, overgrown with creepers that rose from the woods floor. Directly ahead he could make out the wooden bridge that traversed the small tributary of the river, the reason they'd all stopped. Casey was already heading towards it.
"Come on, let's take a look," Ianto said, taking Diane's hand.
Arran grabbed his sawn-off shotgun from the front passenger seat and they followed him towards the bridge. When they arrived at the old bridge, Ianto could see the reason for Casey's concern. The old timber that formed the structure of the bridge had badly rotted and was covered in lichen for the most part. A sizeable hole where the timbers had completely perished had formed on the left side of the span, about quarter of the way across. There was no way the Mercedes trucks would get across.
"Any problem?" Richard Armstrong's deep Welsh voice made Ianto and Diane jump.
"Yeah, looks as if we might have to do a bit of repair work," Casey said, checking his watch.
"Well come on then, let's get it sorted," Armstrong replied, looking around them all, and the quiet, dense woods beyond.
Ianto tapped out a message to Tosh, knowing she was monitoring everything through the phone's tech anyway but still needed to let her know they had this sorted.
He did not want company.
They were already too large a team, he knew there would be more bloodshed before this was all over.