Ekaterina Zabolotskih
Whisperer in the Dark – the Sequel
Wilmarth woke up in the same room where he had last seen the 'professor'. Except that the interior had changed slightly: Henry Ecklie's personal belongings were no longer visible, and there were many "cylinders" in which Mee-goo had placed people's consciousnesses. The young man could not be sure that the latter had agreed to this voluntarily, so the last thing he wanted was to be among them. He tried to get up – his left leg buckled and he collapsed to the floor. He listened – footsteps could be heard on the stairs. Immediately the door opened, letting in a smiling Noyes, who held a tray with a mug of tea and two sandwiches.
"Ah, have you awaked already?" – Noyes sets the tray down on the bedside table and frowns at Wilmarth with that same wimpy smile.
"What have you done with Eckley?" – Wilmarth asked in an iron voice.
"No need to worry, you're in no condition to worry about such trifles now…"
"I ask you again – where is Eckley?" – this time the lad shouted and lunged towards the visitor, but was immediately thrown roughly to the floor.
"There's no need to act like a child, Albert" – the smile disappeared from Noyes' face, revealing excessive irritation – "If you think I'm going to patronise you like a child – you're sorely mistaken. Your failed escape plan has already put the Master in a bad mood and he needs more trouble. If you want to do something useful, eat your breakfast and read some books, there are plenty of them here," he left the room, slamming the door loudly.
Willmarth struggled to get up from the floor and crawled onto the bed. His thoughts were confused, his whole body ached, and his leg was bandaged with some rags. He lay back and stared at the ceiling, "And here I am again…" As embarrassed as it was to admit it – he had been caught after all. Enough time had passed for the Mi-goi to forget about his little escape, but something made them come back for the fugitive. Why? Alas, he had no answer to that question…
Half an hour later Noyes entered the room again: 'The council will be waiting for you downstairs in exactly one hour, change your clothes, you will find them in the cloakroom opposite. With a broken leg, it took Wilmarth half an hour to change, and in another 20 minutes he was on his way down the stairs to meet…
He saw the following picture – three people (Noyes, a driver and a third person) and two Mi-gos. If the unfriendly humans could tolerate it, the Mi-gos could not… The creatures were pinkish in colour, with a crustacean-like body and pairs of large dorsal fins or webbed wings and several ingenious limbs; on their heads was a coiled, snail-like ellipsoid with many short tendrils. Their bodies are made up of a form of matter not found in nature on Earth, so they do not register on ordinary photographic film. They communicate with each other through telepathy and humming. However, after surgery, a Mi-go can acquire the ability to mimic the language of any creature. It is too difficult for human perception to fully comprehend the alien body structure. Many people went mad when they saw one of the MI-gos. No wonder Wilmarth was stunned when he saw them in the living room downstairs. Yes, Eckley had described their appearance in detail in his letters, and Wilmarth himself had heard their buzzing, frantic speech, but he had never before encountered aliens in person.
Chapter 4
There was an awkward silence in the room. Only the Mi-go occasionally clicked their semblance of a mouth.
The silence was interrupted by Noyes: "Neo, we appreciate your involvement in our affairs, but killing Mr. Wilmarth is unprofitable, to say the least – a lot of people in Townshend saw us driving slowly down the dirt road.
Oh, and it turns out he left a will in case he died or went missing that clearly states where to look for him, which is here. We don't want any more trouble."
The creatures looked at each other, and their heads bloomed with an iridescent glow. It lasted only a moment, after which Gling moved quickly towards George, who had been silent the whole time. The man's eyes widened, "Not again…". – At the same instant, one of the alien's limbs sank into the man's neck, making a small deep cut in it. The poor man's throat was bleeding, he looked at Wilmarth and slumped slowly into the chair beside him. Mi-go began to wriggle. It did this until all present could see its insides. The creature let out a wheeze and tore off a piece of one of the organs at the top of its body. Gling then shoved this piece roughly down George's throat and returned to its original state.
The man's eyes went glassy, and a black liquid began to ooze from a cut on his neck. Marcus vomited. Suddenly, as if bound by invisible strings, the body began to rise. The man spoke, "Mr George has kindly agreed to loan me his body. Unfortunately, I haven't had an operation yet, so I can't speak human language. As long as it's necessary, I'll be borrowing our friend's speech machine. Marcus, are you all right? " – he nodded weakly, wiping the corners of his mouth with his handkerchief – "Now about Mr Wilmarth. My friend was hasty in his decision, you're right, Mr. Noyes, it's not profitable to kill him. And that man must not be lost in any way – we don't want any unnecessary worries. Neo and I, however, have a solution. We propose to move Mr. Wilmarth's creation to one of the Conductors, and until the plan is carried out, one of us will see to it that the aforementioned body returns home in peace and out on sick leave before Peace Day."
"Good idea, Mr Gling!" – commented Marcus – "Noyes, do you agree?"
"Absolutely," he replied – "Albert Willmarth has given us quite a bit of trouble as it is, so I'll only be glad if we can solve this problem.Thank you all, the council is over," he slammed his hand on the rest of the table again, and everyone began to disperse. Marcus grabbed Wilmarth's arm roughly and pulled him upstairs. But not to the room where the young man slept, but up to the third floor. There he threw him into the back of one of the rooms, locked the door and left.
Wilmart sat in a daze. He knew exactly what they wanted to do to him. Although the spies presented Mi-go as deities who did not wish people harm, the image of George did not leave the young man's mind. "And what is another Peace Day…" – Wilmart was finally confused. He was in a completely empty room – the only room on the third floor, not counting the two storage rooms where Ecklie's things were kept. It was about seven o'clock in the evening, as he could tell from the setting sun through the gaps in the outer wall. He couldn't reach the window; the slightest movement caused severe pain in his broken leg. There was nowhere to run…
Wilmarth lay on the cold floor all night until Marcus arrived with some liquid broth and a few slices of bread. "Your consciousness will be transferred to the Conductor at dawn. To make the process less painful, try to get some sleep." – He was about to leave, but hesitated for a second and added: "There is always a way out, Mr Wilmarth. Just listen and you will hear the call of freedom. ' With these words, the man closed the door and left.