Chapter Three

The Challengers of the Unknown, for that was what they were, disembarked from their flying craft and began searching the lonely Louisiana acreage situated in the swamplands. The only building on the site was a large, old barn which had fire damage.

"I hope this isn't a fool's errand, Prof," said Ace Morgan, the crack pilot of the Challengers, after the team had been searching the area for several minutes. "I know we agreed that our search for alternative sources of energy was to be one of our top priorities, a way of giving back to the world, but if we're going to go flying off after every blip on the radar--"

"This wasn't just any 'blip on the radar,' Ace," interrupted Prof Haley, the master skindiver, oceanographer, and scientist. "As I explained to all of you earlier, the energy signature I picked up this time was very different from anything I've ever seen before. And it moved as if with intelligence. It was no accident that it landed here, I'm sure of that much." Prof whistled with his fingers and shouted to his teammates, "We may have to start searching underwater. There's no time to lose! That energy signature is fading fast!"

"That's your field of expertise, Prof!" laughed Red Ryan, the Challs' circus acrobat and electronics expert.

"I brought along enough wetsuits for all of us, if need be," Haley replied. "And it doesn't look like we'll be able to find anything on the surface. The energy seems to have dissipated."

"Then why're we still here?" asked Rocky Davis, ex-heavyweight boxing champ and wrestler.

"Well, I'm hoping that whatever intelligence was behind that energy is still here. My best bet is that it's at the bottom of that bog." Prof quickly began changing into his wetsuit while trying to keep from getting bitten by the many mosquitoes hovering in the air.

***

Terrebonne Parish Hospital, Houma, Louisiana:

Abby Cable's heart was leaping a mile a minute as she walked through the hospital doors which had become so familiar to her over the last three years. Her mind was reeling as a sudden mix of conflicting emotions washed over her. Matt Cable, her husband, had awoken from his coma. She had resigned herself to the fact that he would never wake up again long ago. Or at least she had believed it was a fact. The doctors had told her so.

She had no idea what she would say to him. Things had been so difficult with him the last couple of years before the car accident that his slipping into a coma was not hard for her to deal with. Had she wanted him to stay in that coma forever? Had she wanted him to die? She wasn't sure about that. She wasn't sure about anything any more.

Over the last year she had been waiting for her lover to come back to her. Not Matt, no. Alec. She had lost the two loves of her life within the span of one year, and she had hardly had any time to think about what she would do if either of them came back to her.

It was going to be difficult to face Matt, she realized. How could she look him in the eye? "Sorry, Matt honey, while you were in a coma I took a swamp monster as my lover." It wasn't quite that simple, she realized, but it was essentially the truth. She had failed her marriage vows to the man she had begun referring to as her "first husband." Hadn't she agreed to stand by Matt till "death do us part"?

No, she finally decided. No guilt. She had her reasons for doing what she did. Matt was gone; he had been distant from her for long before his coma. And Alec had never tried to pressure her into anything, ever. But it was only natural that the two were drawn together, despite their obvious differences.

As she walked through the hospital corridor she wondered to herself what she would do now. She had been waiting for Alec to return to her for so long that she had denied the possibility that Matt would ever himself return. She had often thought about being granted a divorce, but she could never bear to do it. Matt -- the real Matt -- had always been good to her. But the horror of his body being used as a vessel for her own uncle was too much to think about. It had colored her very perception of her husband. She really had no idea how she felt about Matt any longer or what she would do now that he was back in the world of the living. She didn't think she would know until she could look him in the face. She didn't want to have to make any decisions just yet, but she thought to herself that, if she could only look into the eyes of the man she married, she would know exactly what to do.

Abby stopped in front of the closed door to Matt's room. She thought it strange that she wasn't crying. She only felt numb, as if none of this were real. Finally, after taking a deep breath and steeling herself for whatever she might face in this room, she turned the doorknob and began to push open the door.

***

"Any luck, Prof?" shouted Ace.

"No," Prof Haley replied. "There's nothing particularly unusual down here. It looks as if this may have been a wild goose chase, after all. It's strange, though... there's some odd-looking biomass at the bottom of this bog. I've never seen anything like it."

"Ya think it could be the source of that energy-whatzit?" asked Rocky.

"No, this appears to have been forming here for quite a few years. Some chemical in this water, perhaps, has caused unusual plant growth. Hmm." Prof paused for a moment, as if in thought. "Oh well. I suppose it has nothing to do with our energy signature. We might as well head back home."

"Did you hear something?" Red whispered. The others shook their heads. "I could have sworn..." He listened more carefully, and the others stopped and listened as well. After a few moments it was apparent that something was moving.

"What do you suppose it is?" whispered Ace.

"Probably just a squirrel or something," said Rocky.

"Shhh! There it is again," whispered Red. "It's coming from over there," he said pointing.

"What is that...?" said Prof. "Is that a grave?"

"Looks like," said Red as he cautiously edged over to the grave, where the earth looked like it had moved. He waved the rest of them over to it, and they stood around it and watched as the soil was pushed upwards.

"Not another dead man coming back to life," groaned Rocky.

"It could be," said Ace, "or it could be something else entirely. I'd suggest we exercise caution, gentlemen."

The team continued to watch for another few moments until a dark hand broke through to the surface. None of the Challengers batted an eye. This was familiar territory for them. In another few minutes the rest of the body would be breaking through. And the Challs would be ready for anything.