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“Several of the floor crew claim to have seen rainbows wrestling inside the smelting chamber and dancing across the whole building.”
Ted glanced at Mike incredulously. “What? Were they high?”
They watched the metal running down the channel as the pot continued to tip and pour.
“Apparently not. Medics checked them out. They’re getting a few days off, just in case.”
“Shit! I’d claim to see rainbows for that!” Ted chuckled.
He heard Lee up in the crane booth squawk his radio, so he lifted it from his belt.
“What’s up, Lee?”
“Ted, I got some weird vibrations coming through the crane. I’m seeing a good connection, but- SHIT!”
Ted watched a surge of molten steel gush from the spout.
“Ted! It’s going over! The balance is all fucked up!” Lee yelled over the radio, and Ted slapped the alarm button on the wall behind him.
Lights began flashing, and a loud klaxon wailed. Ted saw his floor team start running towards the exits. “Get out of there, Lee!” he yelled into the radio and was relieved to see the man leave the crane’s control booth and run along the catwalk.This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .
His eyes were drawn to the opening of the ladle as… something was moving in the liquid metal!
“What the fuck is THAT?!?” Mike yelled.
Something large and glowing was climbing out of the opening. It suddenly tipped forward and fell, striking the floor below with a massive thump that shook the building. Ted and Mike were thrown to the floor. They looked at each other in shock, then scrambled to their feet and rushed from the control room, racing down the stairs to get to the exit. They stopped to direct the workers outside and looked back. A large creature was struggling to right itself. It was tearing the shit out of the surrounding equipment and concrete it was lying on.
Ted struggled to understand what he was looking at. Its body was roughly shaped like an eggplant, only it was the size of one of those subcompact cars. It seemed to have three thick limbs, each ending with a wide paddle. He couldn’t see any eyes, but it did have a cluster of hairs on the top of its head, and a jagged tear of a mouth and its squealing was horrifying. Like metal plates scraping together, the noise cut through Ted and jangled his nerves.
The last few people from the floor crew raced by, and Ted frowned. “Did you see Lee?” he yelled to Mike and saw the man shake his head. Then Ted spotted the man in question wearing a silver suit on the opposite side of the thrashing thing. He was trapped, and the thing seemed like it was about to right itself. Ted noticed it wasn’t glowing as brightly as it had been. That gave him an idea.
The creature somehow seemed to notice Lee and slowly started dragging itself towards the man. Its screeches took on a different tone, which to Ted sounded aggressive.
“Mike! Help me!” Ted yelled and ran deeper into the plant, closer to the monster. As he reached the fire equipment station, he turned and saw Mike was a fair distance back. He saw he didn’t have much time as the thing was closing on Lee.
Ted grabbed the fire nozzle and pulled the pin to release the hose. He began hauling the hose closer until Mike and two of his crew got behind him as a third man opened the valve.
They struggled to hold the hose as the water blasted out and struck the ground at the thing’s… feet.
The cold water exploded into steam when it splashed up against the superheated surface.
It screamed.
The sound it made before paled in comparison. It was deafening. It was terrifying. It shattered two of their helpers’ nerve, one on the hose and the man at the valve. They turned and ran.
With only three people to hold the hose, they were having trouble directing it. When the creature turned to charge them, Ted leaned back and managed to tip the torrent of water up to score a direct hit in its horrible maw. The sounds it was making immediately stopped, and it rocked back.
Lee saw his opportunity and made a run for it.
The creature slammed one of its paddle-like appendages against the floor just behind the running man causing him to lose his footing and take a nasty tumble. The next strike would flatten Lee to paste, and it raised its arm for a second attempt.
Ted, Mike, and the crewman held the spray on the area under the raised limb until it seemed to freeze in place.
Steam continued to pour off the creature, so they concentrated on the area of its ‘head’ as the water dripping down its body was doing damage as well.
The beast slammed a ‘hand’ down on the concrete floor, striking edge-on in a chopping motion as if attacking the incoming spray. The floor split in a massive crack under their feet, and the men were knocked down, losing their grip on the hose. It spun crazily as they dragged themselves from its path.
Ted got to his feet and saw the creature’s hand seemed to be stuck in the floor. He dashed forward and got an arm around Lee. They moved as fast as they could, avoiding the hose as well. They joined up with Mike and the crewman and hustled Lee away as quickly as they could.
Suddenly there was a flash of light, and the ground heaved under them. They all fell forward onto the floor. Looking back, they saw the creature was gone, and a crater in the concrete was all that was left.
The crane gave way, and the ladle hit the ground with a massive thump, and the remaining liquid metal poured out with three roundish orbs.
“Oh my god. It-it laid eggs in the molten steel?” Ted gasped.
“The eggs are moving! We need to call in the army!” Mike exclaimed as he got up and helped Lee to his feet as well.
“Nah, just the fire department,” Ted replied as they hustled towards the exit.
-=-
“We’re getting really odd readings from the caldera. I’m going to send a drone up for some pictures,” Freyja Remeksdóttir said quietly as she peered closely at her laptop screen. The vibrations being recorded didn’t match anything she’s seen before. Freyja was a volcanologist from Iceland, currently traveling with five fellow volcanologists on a tour of some of the world’s most active sites.
They were currently in Columbia, studying the Galeras volcano, which once again was showing signs of activity.
“Most of the drones are down for battery recharging after last night’s light show,” Magnús Kristjánsson complained. He was her life partner and official technical support crew, how she justified including him on this field study trip. He was highly gifted with the equipment they used, so she didn’t feel too bad about choosing him over one of the junior techs from her university.
At dawn, Freyja and Magnús hiked up to the observation site, which was as close as they could safely get without protective suits. From here, the team could launch their drones and still be within range for controlling them. Freyja was set up on a small table, and Magnús was currently unpacking his gear.
He glanced over at her and barely contained his snort of amusement as she’d decided to wear the birthday present he’d bought for her. Her short blonde hair was tied back under a brightly colored kerchief with the new GoPro clipped to a headband, looking very much like a third eye on her forehead. He thought she looked adorable.
The light show he’d spoken of had been captured by five of the team’s drones, sent up by Russian volcanologist, Pavel Morozov. He had twenty-five minutes of video showing rainbows twisting and stretching wildly on and above the active peak. They were still trying to explain how that light energy might have been created, and the theories were wild and varied. The arguments became heated, and Pavel had a lovely black eye this morning while their German volcanologist, Rolf Keller, had his hand in a make-shift cast. Bruised face or not, Pavel was giddy with the idea of the fame he’d achieved with his unique videos.
His words finally sinking in, Freyja looked to her husband in dismay. “We don’t have a drone?”
He grinned at her. “I didn’t say that. I have our drone, which I didn’t hand over to Pavel last night. Greedy bastard didn’t need any more drones.” She grinned at him, so he continued. “It’s fully charged, wearing its heat shields, and ready to go.” The shielding was an invention he’d come up to allow their drone to withstand the conditions found in the caldera of a volcano, for short periods at least. It was another reason he hadn’t loaned the drone to Pavel.
He turned on the camera and checked the feed. The signal was strong, the recording was working, and all systems were go. With a loud whine, the props spun up to speed, and up it went. Magnús expertly controlled the flying camera platform as Freyja sat next to him, watching the screen intently. She reached up and activated the GoPro, and he couldn’t suppress his snort then. She playfully pouted and poked him for teasing her.
“Pavel was bragging he was going to sell the video to a film producer friend of his,” he muttered as he carefully navigated around some hot spots and moved the drone closer to the lip of the caldera. “Seriously, he was getting very graphic about what he was going to do with all the pussy his friend was going to throw his way.”
“The man’s a troll,” Freyja agreed.
Magnús agreed the term was a good match for the physical reality of the man. Still, the man was happy and not moping as he so often did. That made him a little more bearable. Maybe he wouldn’t stare at Freyja so much. “Okay, I’m reaching the lip. Are the odd vibrations still occurring?”
Freyja looked away from the screen to review the readings on her laptop. “Yes, they’re stronger than before.
At Magnús’ sharp intake of breath, she turned her eyes back to the screen showing the drone’s initial view.