Township of Kokadjo White Mountains of Maine 27 July, 1984 1508 Local Time Dr. Carpentier had not had a greatly revealing day. He had come to Kokadjo to meet with a number of Penobscots who had reported that members of their families were missing, and yet all that Alain had learned from having interviewed them was background. Nothing definitive. The families of the missing were heartbroken, and justifiably so. But they could not help. ...Until late that afternoon, when John Hawkes and Ramona Mariah returned from their ordeal with the Atlantic Coast escorts on the road near Mt. Katahdin. "Mr. Hawkes?" Alain asked. He had earlier been told by members of Ramona's family that John was the one man who might shed some light on the matter of the missing. "Yes?" "I am Dr. Alain Carpentier. Professor Robert Traylor of the EPA has asked I and Dr. Benton Quest of Rockport for help in his investigation of this region, both with the environment and on the matter of the missing members of your people. Their families tell me that you're the man that I should speak to." "Are you employed by the Federal Government, Dr. Carpentier?" John asked. "No, both Dr. Quest and I are working independently. We will, however, report to the Federal Government." Hawkes was discontent with that. "I see. You don't sound as though you're an American. You're accent is vaguely French." "I am a Canadian, from Montreal." "What science do you follow?" "Oceanography." The Penobscot simply stared directly into Alain's eyes at that. "Mr. Hawkes, oceanography is an environmental science. And Dr. Quest is from phenomenology, the study of the unusual. I assure you that we can help you and your people." "Hm. Well, I seem to have met your Dr. Quest earlier today. However, I have no knowledge of Professor Traylor. He has not been among my people." "So I've been told." It made John go a bit defensive. "And what else have you been told?" NOTHING AT ALL CONCLUSIVE ABOUT YOURSELF, Alain thought. But he didn't say that because he wanted to draw Hawkes out. "Very little that helps me understand what has happened in this region." "Perhaps I might tell you, then. You have heard from the state police that I lead my people in a movement against the Atlantic Coast Company. You have heard that we're drunks, that we're violent, and that we're murderers. And that's what they're saying in Washington as they attempt to discount our claims with these lies." I HAVE TO GAIN HIS TRUST, Dr. Carpentier saw. "We know that large corporations will attempt to protect their profit interests. But what do you know of the EPA's investigation?" "I understand that Professor Traylor was ordered by his agency to make no contact with my people. This is why we have very little faith in anyone other than ourselves." "You can't believe that anyone else cares, then?" Alain asked. "No," Hawkes admitted. Alain moved against that immediately. "John, Professor Traylor was given no such orders. The truth is that his investigation had not yet led him here." "You say 'had,' Doctor, as if Professor Traylor is no longer working with you." "Indeed. The Professor himself is missing." Something in Hawkes eyes told Alain that he had nothing to do with the loss of Traylor. "When?" John asked. "He disappeared late last week." "What is the significance of his loss?" "None on the investigation. As to his personal life, his children are all grown, and his wife is deceased." "Had he grandchildren?" "Yes," Alain revealed. "May God protect them all," Hawkes replied. "Yes. The Professor was a man of great compassion." Hawkes let it stand for a few moments of respect. He then made a decision. "Are YOU a man of compassion, Dr. Carpentier?" "I try to be." "Have you children?" "One, so far," Alain replied. "Tell me what you know of our circumstances." "I know that your people are suffering from some new and mysterious illness. I know that some of your people have disappeared, as have several others who are not of your people. I know that there must be causes for these things, and I know that those causes will be found." "I see," John said. He then considered his options. "Tell me, Doctor. Would you be willing to go with me out into the country? I can assure you that you will not be harmed." "You know of something that might impact our study?" "I know of SEVERAL things which WILL impact your study. Will you come?" "I will. How long will it take?" "It is not far even by foot. You can be back here within five hours." "Let me find out if my pilot will wait for me. If she will, then I also need to let my base know that I'll be returning later than they expect." "Very well," John replied. Alain's pilot was a maverick ex-Army helicopter scout named Tina Alecia Johnson, a.k.a. Talon. She used to fly H-58 Kiowas. However, in the company of her amiable copilot, Jaret Lawlor, she now flew a great big, working-class Aerospatiale, one that could lift dead tonnage equivalent to three times its own weight fully fueled. Tall, tough, proficient, and above all conscientious, Lecia was someone whom anyone would want nearby when the going got rough. As such, she asked Alain the obvious question... "You want to take along anything under your jacket, Doc?" Dr. Carpentier had to smile. "Just my transceiver." "Hey. It's just me and Jaret, here. If you call up and tell us that you're in trouble, about all that we can do is to hover overhead and lower the winch for you." "I truly believe that I'll be fine, Lecia." "It's your call. I'll let 'em know you'll be late getting back to Jo-Mary Lakes." "Thanks for all. I'll be back before it gets dark." "Okay, Doc." Third Roach Pond 27 July, 1984 1804 Local Time Third Roach Pond was remote, though not far enough away that John and Ramona had any trouble leading Alain there within two hours on foot. This in spite of the pond's being settled behind First and Second Roach ponds and between White Cape, Wadleigh, Jo-Mary and Baker mountains. Amazingly enough, it was accessible from Jo-Mary Lakes via the same sorts of narrow waterways that Alain had taken the Sea Ray through in order to pass between Northern and Southern Jo-Mary Lakes on Saturday. The difference was that Southern Jo-Mary Lakes was accessed at the south end of Northern Jo-Mary Lakes, whereas Third Roach Pond was accessed at the north end through Nahmakanta Lake and Second Roach Pond. Jo-Mary Lakes were east of Jo-Mary Mountain, Third Roach Pond was west of Jo-Mary Mountain, Nahmakanta Lake was north of Jo-Mary Mountain, and the Appalachian Trail cut between them all. Were it ever called for, Alain could bring Benton to Third Roach Pond in the boat. "My God!" Dr. Carpentier breathed as he looked over what to him seemed an ecosystem right out of the early days of the Earth. "This is the way that the forest used to be," John agreed. "Come," Ramona replied. "My grandfather lives on the east side." And she led the way, within fifteen minutes reaching her objective. This, Alain saw, was an incredibly traditional Native American homestead tucked well away from so-called "civilization." "Amazing!" the Doctor quietly exclaimed. "Nineteenth Century Penobscot construction, Dr. Carpentier. I wanted you to see this in order to illustrate how cleanly my people once lived." "I don't quite understand, Ramona," Alain admitted. John explained it. "Our people are fishermen, Doctor. We live off the land and make very little use of the likes of alcohol. Our lives are thus clean, and so the mystery of our illness can only be explained by way of our environment." "If that is so, then it's true that it must have somehow been altered." "Yes." Alain needed to know more. "Tell me something: exactly how seriously has your health been impacted?" "Allow me to answer you by first asking a question of my own," Hawkes replied. "What is your concept of the environment? Is it rocks?" "In oceanography we study whole ecosystems. We study the sea and its relation to all living things." "Then you well know that the environment isn't only land, but that it is also us. Doctor, my people are violently ill. They are beginning to lose their faculties. They stagger, and they fall, and it has nothing to do with alcohol as the lumber men claim." Ramona then continued. "I am a midwife, and I've seen children born dead, or deformed." "Some so badly that they've had to be put to death," John added. "Three times we have been to the government, and all three times we have been turned away," Ramona once again said. John summed it up. "You see, Doctor, the end of this forest will be the end of my people. Whatever has happened, we are losing our fight to discover it." A very old Penobscot man emerged from his dwelling. Ramona saw him and smiled for the first time since Alain had met her. "Dr. Carpentier, this is my grandfather, Hector Mariah. ...This is the man from the government," she slowly addressed her elder. He was very old, and he was very much Penobscot. He was thus hard of hearing and used English very infrequently. "Only one man?" Hector replied. Alain spoke. "There are two of us, honored elder. The other is working on another lake today." "Ah." "Your home is very beautiful," Alain said. "Thank-you," Hector smiled. John then spoke very respectfully. "Don't limit his home to what you see here, Doctor. He lives within this whole forest." Alain could only try to comprehend it. "You know, last week I visited a place where there were eleven people living in a single room." "Oh, yes?" John asked. "I just thought you should know." "What, that we are asking too much?" "John, you know there are people in this world who are fighting for a single inch of clean living space. Please note that I did say clean." "Yes, it is because they fought too late." Hector then spoke. "This place is as old people lived. I am teaching these young people so that someone will remember. Here, we do everything the old way. For example: beneath us are underground tunnels, where we store perishables below the frost line. The forest provides more food than a man could possibly need. Here, everything grows big. REAL big. It is the Garden of Eden." Alain smiled in agreement, though he did notice something about the elder. Hector was smoking a cigarette, and where he held it between two fingers his skin was burned. It had to have hurt, but the man seemed not to feel it. The Doctor made a mental note of it for future reference. "Come," John said. "We brought you here so that you could also see the pond." And with that said, the elder led the way. Hector took them to a hidden area of Third Roach Pond that was even more primal than the rest. "I have let no one come here," he told Alain. "You are the first to see it." Dr. Carpentier looked out and took it all in. Perhaps two hundred yards long by fifty yards wide, the little area of the larger pond was lined on all sides by dense double canopy forest. The pine trees were enormous, and in the water floated three rafts of ten to twelve trees that the Atlantic Coast Company had to have been holding there. "It's magical," Alain said. "We were once a magical people," John replied. "It's true," Ramona added. "When I was little, every rock and tree had a story. This entire forest is filled with legends." Alain frowned, remembering something. "One of your people in Kokadjo told me about one such legend. He called it 'Katahdin.'" Hector spoke out. "Katahdin is no legend. I have seen him. He is part of all things created. And he bears a mark of each of God's creatures." It caught Alain completely. "You say that with great passion, as though you truly saw Katahdin." "He has wakened to protect us," Hector replied. "And you've seen him?" "Yes," the elder said. "Where? And how tall is he?" "Katahdin moves within all these mountains. He is just taller than that tree behind you." Alain looked. It was a young pine tree compared to the others, but it had to have been twelve feet tall. "Taller than THAT?" "By almost the height of your head as it sits above your shoulders," Hector replied. MY GOD! Alain thought. IF SUCH A CREATURE LIVED... "Could Katahdin be the cause of your missing people, honored elder?" "I am certain of it. He will not permit further harm to come to the forest." "And why are these logs here?" "They come twice each year. Then they disappear." Just then, something disturbed the surface of the pond. Hector then spoke excitedly to Ramona and John in their native language, while also gesturing to the pond. John ran back to the dwellings and returned within three minutes with a net. Hector then ordered him out into the water, and afterwards he spoke to Ramona. She then turned to Alain. "He says he will show you why he calls this the Garden of Eden." But Dr. Carpentier saw something else that he knew to be odd. He walked there to study it while John was working in the water. Ramona followed the Doctor. "What is it?" she asked. "These roots— too large, and they should be underground." "Here!" Hector called. Alain and Ramona quickly returned. On the ground at John's feet was a tadpole... one that was not less than a foot long from one end to the other. "How can THAT be!" Alain exclaimed. "I told you things grow big here!" Hector smiled. "You've seen this before?" "No," John replied. "No one has seen them," the elder said. "They grow only in THIS pond." Alain stood up and looked out at the floating logs. "What does this pond feed into?" "The Espy River," John replied. "Odd. Atlantic Coast operates well away from here, through three rivers and across three lakes. They can't be taking that many trees, can they?" "Enough that they would bring them here? No, they do not," John admitted. "But come... We should begin to walk back to Kokadjo if we want to get there when we promised your pilot." Jo-Mary Lake 27 July, 1984 2054 Local Time The sun had just set, having long since fallen below the tops of the mountains. Still, it was but twilight. The first stars had appeared in the east, though the sky to the west was still aglow. It was thus possible for a good pilot to make a safe landing. Lecia set her helicopter down very softly out in the lake, and she just as carefully brought it up to the dock beneath the cabin. It was almost full dark, but both Michelle and Rachel were waiting for Alain on the cabin's front deck. He stepped out onto the pier below them, ducking well below the deadly rotor blades as he walked towards the land. He then turned and waved his thanks to Lecia, who quickly backed out and left. The Doctor then joined the ladies at the top of the steps, and all three of them watched the chopper take back off. "Did you have a good day?" Michelle asked after hugging her man. "You wouldn't believe it. I need to organize my notes right away." "You've discovered something, then?" Rachel asked. "Nothing that adds up just yet. We need to see what Benton returns with." "Come in and work while you eat," Michelle said. "You must be famished." "Oh, yes," Alain admitted as he stepped inside the cabin. Rachel then closed the door. "Latch it," the doctor told her. "What? Why?" Rachel asked as she secured the door. "Something I learned today that validated Benton's hypothesis that we may be dealing with a terrible monster in these mountains." "Can it be that bad?" Michelle asked as she prepared her husband's meal. "How does thirteen feet tall sound to you?" "THAT bad," Rachel agreed very seriously. "Are you sure that we have the right loads for our rifles?" "It's about the right amount of anestha to knock down a horse," Dr. Carpentier replied. "I believe that we should load the green darts up to double that dosage, though. And just to be on the safe side, let's prepare our real guns." "Dear," Michelle said as she placed a plate before Alain. "Thank-you. ...Rachel, what exactly did you and Benton bring?" "I brought my favorite, a .444 caliber Winchester lever action that will take down a bull. I grew up with it in New Mexico. We also have two Buck Special semi automatic shotguns built by Browning, and Old Bess." "Whatever is Old Bess?" Michelle asked. "Oh, she's a nasty old girl. Let me show her to you." And Rachel ducked into she and Benton's room, returning within a minute with the most wicked looking weapon that Alain had ever seen. "Isn't that a replica of the same shotgun from the movie EL DORADO?" he asked. "That's right. My father is a big fan of John Wayne, and he had three of these guns made. He gave me this one the day that I married Benton." Both Alain and Michelle smiled at that. "Can you shoot that and stay on your feet?" he asked. "It looks like a ten gauge shotgun." "I've fired it many times, Alain. But you're right. It does take special handling." "And it's legal to carry it in Maine?" "Yes," Rachel replied. "Benton had it registered with the state police so that they know that we have it. I also obtained their written authorization to carry it here." Alain had to smile. "Rachel Wildey, attorney at law for whom no legal detail is too small to be overlooked. What kind of loads do we have for the Brownings?" "Cutters. I can guarantee you that whatever you hit with them will slow down or stop," Rachel said very seriously. She was both a lawyer and a bit of a killer, the scariest possible combination of attributes that Benton often said that he had ever seen. The lady knew both when to shoot AND how. "What about Old Bess?" Michelle asked. "Benton brought some kind of odd new loads for Bess. He calls them 'fleshetts.' From what he told me, they'll strip the skin off an alligator. We won't want to use them unless we have to." "Did you bring anything for Jordan?" "I suppose. Are you sure you want him to carry, Michelle?" "Dear?" "He's in good practice," Alain confidently said. Rachel sighed. "We brought a very fine Browning Hunting that will fire twelve gauge magnum. It's just a normal two-barreled gun, though. It's also our only spare." "So we're short a gun?" "For killing, Alain, we are. I will carry my Winchester and Bess, and you and Benton will carry your anestha guns and the Buck Specials. I had hoped to give the Hunting to Michelle." "Then someone's going to have to go without. I—" But Alain was cut off by an odd scratching sound that was coming from outside the front door. His eyes narrowed as he looked there for a moment, and then they went wide. He then made a kind of cutting motion that told Rachel to put down Bess and get her Winchester. He was aware that she had long since loaded it. READY? he silently asked her as he reached for the door. But Rachel was obviously Wildey ready, and he smoothly but swiftly opened the door as she covered the opening. Outside on the porch lay a convulsing raccoon, one that was obviously sick. It shook there on it's side for a moment as the onlookers stared on in amazement, and then before they could react it ran through the door directly at Michelle. She cried out and fell back over a heavy chair, which in turn covered her and seemed to save her from the scratching and biting wild raccoon. It tried to get through to her, couldn't, turned on Rachel, but was stopped cold by Alain, who had grabbed a broom and pinned the little animal in a corner. Rachel then shot it. All this happened within twenty seconds, stunning all three people. And as if that wasn't enough to get their adrenaline pumping, the heavy beat of a motor was heard outside. But it was Benton and Jordan with the boat. They had returned without staying overnight on Chesuncook Lake. Dr. Quest heard the shot, and ordering Jordan to take the helm and back out into the safety of the lake, he jumped down on the dock and bounded up the steps to the cabin, taking them three at a time. "What happened?" the doctor demanded as he met Alain in the doorway. "Some kind of crazed raccoon. I don't know if it was rabid or not, but we're all safe. The animal itself is dead." And he let Benton into the common room of the cabin, where they saw a very dour and disheveled Rachel helping a very cool but even more disheveled Michelle to her feet. "Are you two all right?" Dr. Quest asked. "We're fine," Rachel replied. She wasn't even sweating from it, though her friend was just a bit. Alain and Benton then looked at the raccoon. "No," the junior man saw. "Not rabid?" Alain asked. "I'm ninety-nine percent sure that it isn't. What's been going on here? Why is Old Bess on the table?" "That hypothesis that you had back at Rockport about all of this... I met an elder of the Penobscot tribe today who said that you're right." "What? He's seen it?" "So he said," Alain replied. "My God! Rachel—" But she was already behind him with a now loaded shotgun, which he accepted very gratefully. "Load the others while Alain and I see to Jordi and the boat." "Take Bess," she agreed. "Which rounds did you put in it?" "The ones that you brought for deforestation," Rachel smiled in chagrin. "Let's go, Alain," Benton said as he accepted Bess and gave the other gun to his friend. Fifty yards out into the lake, Jordan was shining the Sea Ray's spotlight right through the cabin doorway. He saw Benton come out and make a motion first to his eye, then out to the left. The boy then swept his very brilliant light out into the woods to that side of the cabin, and then into the right when Benton saw that the left was clear. Once the right was seen to be safe, Dr. Quest made one last motion that told Jordan to approach the dock. The men then tied up the boat as the boy jumped down with his eyes full of concern. "It's all right," his father told him. "It was just a wild raccoon. ...Benton, do you have anything to unload?" "A few things, yes." And once the boat was secured for the night, they went about setting up the common room so that everyone now slept there. The only one who still didn't understand why was Jordan, though he knew that things were truly serious when he was given the Hunting and enough rounds to fight a light war. He also noticed that his father was working with the anestha darts that Dr. Quest had brought, upping the dosage in each by measuring the anestha with a hypodermic and injecting it into the bodies of each dart. There were four projectile colors: green, the most powerful of all, then in order of next most powerful to weakest were yellow, blue, and red. The pump action anestha rifles themselves had had their wooden stocks modified to carry their extra ammunition inside, where they could most quickly be found and selected for breech loading. The guns could hold a selection of twenty darts in their stocks in addition to the five in their magazines, and it had been decided that it would be best to carry five of each dart color. "Well," Alain began. "We haven't yet asked why you two have come back early." "There was no reason to stay," Benton said. "As it turns out, Traylor was right on the edge of a major breakthrough. In the last entries in his journal, he said that he wanted to check the Atlantic Coast mill on Chesuncook Lake. Sure enough, Jordi and I walked right through the evidence on our way out." "You're certain of it?" Alain replied. "Absolutely. They gave us a grand tour, and quite a fine job of whitewash. I was almost convinced that they were clean until I remembered reading last year that they hold their lumber stocks in the ponds if they fall behind on production in the plant." "And?" Rachel asked. "And they're preserving the logs in those ponds with chemicals. Their story almost had me fooled in that they outright dared me to test the water in the plant. The guide's words were as follows: 'We test that water every ten days, and there's not a thing floating in it that we don't know about.' Stress 'FLOATING.'" Alain knew right away what Benton was saying, his eyes growing wide at the realization of what his friend was alluding to. But the ladies weren't quite with it just yet. "What are you saying, dear?" Rachel asked. "I'm saying that the chemical that they're using is too heavy to float in the water in their plant. That's why their water tests good, every time. But their soils, that's another thing altogether. The stuff is everywhere where we tied up the boat. Jordi's right boot became covered with it when his foot slipped off into the bank where we parked the boat, and he ruined his clothes as he began to clean the boot. I had to have him strip down and bathe in the lake." "What could cause you so much concern that you'd consider Jordi's boots and clothes to be ruined?" Michelle asked. "Alain?" Benton prompted. "TMT, otherwise known as methyl mercury," Dr. Carpentier replied. "My goodness! Isn't mercury a mutagen?" "Yes, Michelle. It is," Benton said. "If it's consumed by the female of a certain species, it can corrupt every chromosome in a developing fetus to the degree that the mother gives birth to a monster." "So you're saying—" "Freakism!" Benton cut her off and exclaimed in shock and anger. "Atlantic Coast has been treating the wood that they keep all over the White Mountains with methyl mercury, and only God knows how far that the contamination has spread, or what kinds of creatures have been created by it." "God in heaven!" Alain breathed. "It would go right up the food chain beginning with the fish! That raccoon we killed tonight, it eats fish." "...And the poison with the fish, warping its mind and causing it to go wild right here the cabin." "Benton!" Alain continued. "The people that I met today, their exact words were that they are fishermen, that they are losing their faculties in exactly the same way as that raccoon!" "Yes." "The creature that they told me about, Katahdin it's called. The elder described it as being thirteen feet tall. I also saw enormous root development in the trees around a pond that was full of Atlantic Coast's preprocessed stock. And I saw a tadpole that was at least a foot long." "Go on. What else did the old man say about that beast?" "He said that it's a part of all things created, that it bears a mark of all of God's creatures." Benton nodded. "Jordi and I heard about it from another source that described it as being as big as a dragon and having the eyes of a cat." "You two are beginning to scare me out of my wits," Rachel admitted. "How is it that this animal can look like that?" "Take the human fetus for example," Benton began. "It literally develops right up the evolutionary scale. In the beginning, it looks a bit like a tadpole. Then it looks something like an amphibian with it's little webbed hands and feet. After that, it appears somewhat feline with pointy little fingers that resemble talons to a degree. Now, methyl mercury is one of maybe two mutagens that can jump the fetal barrier and corrupt the chromosomes of the baby. This in turn can cause the fetus' development to freeze at certain points on the evolutionary scale so that at birth it doesn't even remotely look human. THAT is how the thing that we're dealing with can, as our Penobscot friend says, 'bear a mark of all of God's creatures.'" "And who's to say that there's only one of them," Alain said with a thousand yard stare. "Not I," Benton agreed. "Do all of you realize that only the anestha guns will be effective on such a large animal? Not even Jordi's heavy magnum rounds will drop the beast with just one shot." "Surely if it's hit in the right way it will go down," Michelle thought. "Rachel?" Dr. Quest asked his wife. Having been raised on her father's ranch in New Mexico, she was the most experienced of the five at hunting. "Benton is right, Michelle. It's a myth that all head shots will instantly kill anything, either man or beast. The use of high powered rounds can dramatically increase the likelihood of an instant kill, but the thing that our men have described is very big. It will absorb a great deal of gunfire even coming from the very large caliber weapons that we have." "At least we have plenty of them," Michelle replied. She then smiled and put her arm out for her son. "Snuggle up, Jordi." Benton spoke again. "Yes, we need to try to sleep so that we can organize all of this tomorrow. "Do we have enough evidence to take to the authorities?" Rachel asked. Benton considered it. "No," he told her. "We have Jordi's boots and clothes, and I'm sure that there are traces of TMT on the hull of our boat. But that's not good enough. We also need the end results of the contamination." "Why did I know that you'd say that?" Rachel fell back and said. "You have a law degree, and so you know what's required to press charges. ...Let's all try to sleep." And so they did. Jo-Mary Lake 28 July, 1984 0330 Local Time It was not a foggy night as they slept fitfully within the little cabin, though the moon was getting on towards full. The forest thus seemed lit in an erie glow, as all throughout it little animals went about their nocturnal activities, peacefully gathering up their winter stores of food. The deer heard it first... heavy breathing and rustling trees. The cause of it drew closer and closer, and before it every living thing fled. It eventually encountered the cabin, and even though it easily smelled the humans inside, it passed them by in search of other prey. The Destroyer would encounter them on another, darker night. End Part IV