James Axler – Stoneface

Ryan didn’t speak for a long moment. When he did, his tone was barely above a whisper. “I hope you’re wrong. I hope Helskel isn’t representative of what the world will come to be.”

The brassy bleat of a trumpet came in through the open window, startling them both so much that they reached for their blasters.

They lay quiet in bed, listening for the sound again. When it came, Ryan rolled to his feet and went to the window. By poking his head and shoulders out and craning his neck, he saw of spots of distant torchlight beyond the limits of Helskel.

“Something’s happening,” he said over his shoulder.

He heard the horn again, and as he stared at the flickering pinpoints of light, an urge to see what was going on grew within him. It wasn’t simple curiosity, or a tactical decision to recce a possible danger that tugged at him. It was a compulsion.

A quick rap on the door made him jump and smack his head painfully on the window sash. Krysty didn’t laugh. She was sitting up in bed, holding her blaster in a two-handed grip, thumbing back the hammer.

“It’s me,” J.B. said in a hoarse whisper.

Removing the chair from beneath the knob, Ryan opened the door and allowed J.B. to enter. In the hallway stood Jak, his ruby eyes shining in the gloom. Behind him were Doc and Mildred, looking keyed up and anxious.

“You hear that horn?” J.B. asked.

“Yeah.”

“What do you think it means?”

“Probably the function we were told about.”

J.B. wasn’t satisfied with the response. “I think we should check it out.”

“I think someone wants us to check it out,” Krysty said. She had put down her blaster and was massaging her temples with her fingers.

“Why?” Ryan asked.

Her green eyes narrowed, Krysty said, “Does anyone else feel an almost overwhelming need to go out there?”

“Yeah,” J.B. replied.

“Me too,” Ryan stated.

“Sure,” Jak said.

Krysty worried her lower lip with her teeth for a moment. “I suspect we’re on the receiving end of a psychic beacon. Very subtle, but very insistent. If I wasn’t so sensitive to such influences, I’d just discount the call as impulsive curiosity.”

“Hellstrom,” Ryan stated flatly. “Bastard.”

Standing up, Krysty strapped on her gun belt and tossed Ryan’s to him.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“We’ve got a lot of questions about Helskel,” she replied. “Time to get some answers.”

“I thought you were afraid.”

Momentary anger flashed in her eyes, then she smiled sardonically. “I am. But I’m more afraid of what might happen if we don’t respond to the invitation.”

Ryan sighed. “All right, let’s move out. Everyone on red alert.”

They left the saloon by the back door, moving stealthily , blasters in hand, every sense alert. As it turned out, their precautions were unnecessary. No guards were posted; no one hailed them or barred their way. Helskel was as empty of life as a rad zone.

The sky overhead was a deep blue-black, stars gleaming frostily around a weak quarter moon. The stars and moonlight provided enough light for them to creep through the sagebrush and scraggly vegetation without stumbling into holes or tripping over rocks.

They moved toward the glowing spots of torchlight until they reached the foot of a gentle slope. Ryan took the point, clambering up the deeply furrowed face to the crest. The others watched him peer over it, then drop flat. After a few seconds he gestured for them to join him.

Krysty lay down beside him and Ryan whispered into her ear. “I guess this is where it’s at.”

“Christ Almighty,” Mildred murmured.

Chapter Seven

A glance at his wrist chron showed Ryan the hour of midnight was close at hand. “Looks like we’re right on time,” he whispered.

In the center of a natural bowl formed by several low hills reared a pyramidal structure. Made of long lengths of gleaming aluminum, it was at least fifty feet high and a hundred wide at the base. The interior of the skeletal structure was packed with cordwood, coal and paper. It was kept inside the pyramid shape by a high chain-link fence that stretched around it. At least a half ton of tinder was spread out beneath the fuel.