BY: GLADIATOR
The
shockwave could be felt around the globe as a great earthquake traversed the
Pacific Ocean floor along no known fault line, and tidal surges threatened to
wash entire cultures off the map.
Worldwide
chaos and panic erupted throughout all civilizations as destruction on a
planetary scale began a chain of dreadful cataclysms. All across the earth, hurricane-force winds abruptly began
pounding coastlines, followed by tremendous electrical storms, increased
volcanic disturbances, and crustal displacements. The planets altered their
courses. The sky sank lower towards
the north. The sun, moon and stars
changed their motions. The earth
fell to pieces and the waters in its bosom rushed upwards with violence and
overflowed the blackened landscape....
The
sleeper had awaked, and Great Cthulhu arose amidst his keep.
The colossal ruins of R’lyeh submerged for so long had now surfaced.
Their queer geometry surly not built by any human hand.
His minions summoned him. He
would answer their call.
The
transporter beam gripped Kirk like a vise, and he could not breath.
For what seemed like minutes, his re-materialization was held in check.
Finally,
whatever force had him let go...and he drew in a huge breath.
Fear
and bafflement overwhelmed his senses at the realization of suddenly being
underwater.
Bewildered
at his ability to breath, he inhaled again.
He was actually breathing under water!
Around him he could see the other members of the Enterprise crew...
“Captain
Kirk!” Kirk heard his voice and paddled his way in an attempt to turn around.
How could he hear his voice underwater?
It
was Sulu!!!
“Sulu!!
You’re still alive!” Kirk instinctively shouted not knowing if even he was
alive himself.
“Captain...
I must tell you of the...” Sulu was interrupted.
Spock
swam over with one hand while reading the tricorder with the other.
“Fascinating.”
“Spock,
what is this, and where are we?”
“Unknown
Captain. Why we are able to exist
in this realm I cannot determine. Indeed,
there are other lifeforms all around us. Mostly
aquatic. I am picking up some
amphibious lifesigns toward a land mass indicated approximately 100 meters in
that direction.”
The
water was becoming predominantly more murky as the crew began swimming in the
direction Spock pointed.
Monstrous
coral reefs could be made out as they crew neared the landmass.
They passed schools of jellyfish and other marine life in the tranquil
abyss. All of which minded their
own agenda.
As
the party neared the shore, the light from above shown through and some shinny
disks in the shallow beach area caught his eye.
He
scooped them off the floor and palmed them while surfacing above the water.
He cupped his hand and the let sand and water drip though his fingers.
The concerns he had in the back of his mind were confirmed as the objects
once shiny appearance began to show through.
The
disks were coins... Kirk recognized
the artifact from his antique collection...
With the emblem of George Washington, the United States first president,
these were no doubt quarters. They
were on Earth.
“Jim,
look!” he heard the alarm in McCoy's voice, and at same time was almost
overpowered by a pungent fishy smell.
All
stood awestruck Knee deep in the Dead Calm water. To their left, three distinct lines of beings strode up from
the sea and were moving inland. Some
crawled on four appendages, while some humped along on two or three hind
extremities. A few even carried
some kind of glowing cubes.
The
strange beings lumbered along paying no hindrance to the Enterprise crew. Kirk
had the bizarre feeling they were not of their world, but that they looked
remarkably familiar.
“Fascinating.”
Spock said again.
McCoy
held his medical scanner in the direction of the creatures.
“Jim,
these creatures have a known cell structure.......... They are a hybrid
form of Sleestack!!!” 
The
thought was disturbing.
“Unbelievable...”
Kirk muttered. “Let’s see where
they’re all going. Everyone...
try and keep a low profile until we figure out what’s going on around
here...”
A
swooping bird off a nearby cliff caused them all to dive once more into the
shallow waters.
"What
kind of stork is that?" McCoy questioned, fully knowing Spock would have
some answer.
"That
is no stork doctor. It has all the
resemblance of a pterodactyl of your Earth's early history."
"Well...I'm
a doctor not an archeologist!"
Kirk
had a sudden sense of Deja vu for as they traveled further inland, other
dinosaurs began to show themselves. A
huge beast with an elongated neck ate peacefully from the treetops and they were
careful not to disturb it for fear of possible carnivorous tendencies.
They
moved on...away from the sea, and ironically the rancid fish smell became much
more intense, almost noxious. The
underbrush also become more dense, but the chants of the beings made their
passage easy to follow. The three
lines of hybrids chained into one as they crossed a small bridge.
A
giant chasm now blocked their route.
The
smell of burning wood and something else was now also permeating the air amidst
the definable fish odor.
“We’ll
have to find an alternate route,” Chekov deducted.
“Agreed,”
surmounted Kirk.
The
sky was turning an orangish hue and monstrous howling sounds could be made off
in the distance.
“Captain,
if I may speak,” Sulu now took charge.
“My
intuition leaves me to believe this is all a dream, and that these recurring
dreams we’re are all having are a prelude to the coming of the Old Ones.
Their recurring cycles are an aftermath in the revival of Great Cthulhu."
Sulu gave a quick synopsis to the group of his knowledge gained on
Babylon 5.
Kirk
smiled inwardly; proud of the way his old helmsmen had turned into fine leader.
Sulu continued.
“I
believe Captain, we are in the past, or glimpsing one possible future of Earth,
depending on how you look at it. Remember
how we thought we set the timestream straight back with the Enterprise-D. (See Message #117-118: Endings and Beginnings).
It is possible we are witnessing now the primeval conquest of Earth by
the Sleestack, and the subsequent rule of Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones.
Sulu
took a step off the cliff, and expectantly, defied real world logic.
The rest of the group followed Sulu in succession, and all were now
safely onto the other side of the Gap.
Several
times Chekov smacked with a resounding thud against colossal pillars which stuck
out of the forest like timeless giants, and hieroglyphs carved into massive,
angled stones gave the ruins a demeanor of great age.
The vast antiquity and imposing placement of the surrounding architecture
in relation to the setting sun's rays as well produced an intangible feeling of
consciousness as if shadowing some awakening intelligence...
An
enormous obsidian monolith could now be seen betwixt a ring of fire, which
radiated an atmosphere of prodigious energy and power.
The Sleestack hybrids pranced in circles writhing their arms up and down
like some ancient voodoo ritual. Skinless
bodies could also be seen hanging upside down from amongst the treetops; some
emitting morbid gurgling noises and still twitching and twisting against
entwined and restrained limbs. Mounds
of human remains lie burning and decomposing, many of the figures headless and
others noticeably hacked to death.
Then
at the mouth of a great cavern, an enormous being emerged.
Its grotesqueness and ghastly presence more horrible than could possibly
be described.
Chekov
screamed, mortified with terror, and threw himself to the ground, crawling at it
like a deranged animal.
Another
wave of fishy smell accosted the area, unbearably strong, and in the absence of
any wind.
The
sky was now dark, but denser black shadows could be scene silhouetted against
triple moons.
The
changing shapes and angles of the ruins around Kirk made his eyes Blur.
Something
was not right here.
The
lair of Cthulhu came alive with ghoulish cries as it emerged from the Lost City
of R’yleh.
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