From hell, p.31
From Hell, page 31
part #8 of Alex Hunter Series
Mick screamed, and felt his mind beginning to slip into madness as his hands sank into the flesh of his friend. Jemma also screamed, and backed away, her hands to her face.
Mick screamed so loud now he tasted blood in his throat. Then he tasted something sweet, and in the next few seconds, he felt a calming warmth enter his body and mind. There was a voice, not words, just – a voice.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “Stay here,” he said soothingly to Jemma.
“Mick, what’s happening?” Jemma continued to back up, but slower now. “Please tell me.”
A forest of tendrils sprouted from the ground around her legs, and she danced away from them. But they raised up to block her exit, and then force her back, closer to the wall.
“What’s happening?” She backed up some more.
Mick shot out a hand and grabbed her. Her clothes smoked where his hand had hold of her.
“Join us,” he whispered.
She did, and the three people merged into one.
AUTHOR’S NOTES
Many readers ask me about the background of my novels – is the science real or imagined? Where do I get the situations, equipment, characters and their expertise from, and just how much of it has a basis in fact?
In regards to my novel From Hell, the case for a place called ‘Hell’ is interesting, because in every religion there is a destination where ‘wrongdoers’ are cast (down or up). Another interesting fact is that more than twice as many people believe in heaven as they do in hell. I guess that’s because most near-death stories you see in the media are of people relating how they were called toward a shining light, ascending with a feeling of warmth and peace.
Depending on your faith, if any, you may believe there is a place where huge demons steal souls, torment us in heat and hellfire, and is also ruled by a single malevolent intelligence.
All legends grow from strange phenomena, the imagination, or are even laid down as a warning for future generations.
The Swallowing of Pompeii
According to volcanologists there are around sixty eruptions every year – basically one every few days. Most are little more than murmurs and ground trembling. But some, though rare, are catastrophic.
On 24 August 79AD, Mount Vesuvius’ top exploded, spewing tons of boiling ash, pumice, and sulfuric gas miles into the atmosphere. A cyclone of poisonous gas and molten debris engulfed the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. Tons of falling debris filled the streets, covered rooftops, and submerged fields to an average depth of twenty feet. Nothing remained of the densely populated resorts. And the cities remained that way for almost 1700 years until excavation began in 1748.
What must it have been like to live in and through that hell? The Romans were brilliant record keepers and chroniclers of events, and there was a detailed and descriptive record created by a Roman called Pliny the Younger (Pliny), whose letters described the horror that he saw unfolding. The young man tells of a monstrous cloud rising like an umbrella pine, for it grew to a great height on a trunk and then split off into branches. It turned noonday light into a blackness the likes of which no Pompeian had ever experienced.
Among that blackness, hellish heat, and choking smoke could be heard the shrieks of women, crying babies, and children, and the screaming of men – some called for their parents, others to their lost children, trying to recognize them by their voices alone in the pitch darkness. People prayed, and people screamed and wailed.
Some ask what would Hell be like? For these poor souls who were trapped in Pompeii, Pliny’s words could not render a better description. This was one of the things that triggered my novel – people not being cast down to Hell, but instead, Hell rising up to engulf them.
In the beginning, there was the Archaea.
The word “archaea” comes from the Ancient Greek ἀρχαῖα, meaning “ancient things”, and it’s appropriate, as these extremely ancient life forms are more closely related to the first life on Earth.
Humans have been around for four million years in some form or other. But archaea have been around for around 3.5 billion, and remain little changed from their first forms. They are a domain of single-celled microorganisms that have no cell nucleus or any other organelles inside their cells, and are unique in having a totally independent evolutionary history and many differences in their biochemistry from other forms of life.
The first representatives of the domain Archaea were methanogens and it was assumed that this type of metabolism reflected Earth’s primitive atmosphere. Certain archaea aggregate to produce monster single cells, or in some cases, they can clump to form elaborate multicell colonies that can share nutrients, information, and even mount defenses for colony protection.
Some say that these life forms arrived on Earth during an asteroid impact when the planet was young, and they adapted very quickly to the primitive and hostile environment. They still exist down in the depths, living as they have for the last 3.5 billion years. They are the ultimate survivors, were here long before humans, and they’ll probably be here long after we have gone.
The Chimera – the sum of all of us.
According to Greek mythology, the Chimera was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of the parts of more than one animal. It is usually depicted with the body a lion with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake’s head or spikes (that it could shoot).
The term Chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals. However, historically, many ancient cultures had multi-form monster creatures that terrorized them.
In Medieval art, although the Chimera of antiquity was forgotten, chimerical figures appear as embodiments of the deceptive, even satanic, forces of evil and corruption. They were provided with a human face and a scaly tail that consumed the souls of unwary victims.
Further back, the Persians had a legendary creature called a manticore that was similar to the Egyptian sphinx. It has the head of a human, body of a lion, and tail of venomous spines similar to porcupine quills, while other depictions have it with the tail of a scorpion. It consumed its victims whole (the body and the soul), using its triple rows of teeth, and left no bones behind.
In addition, from Greek mythology, there was Geryon, a fearsome giant who was imprisoned on the island Erytheia and had one head and three bodies on one set of legs. Other ancient descriptions of the terrible beast also had multiple faces, six hands on six arms, and six feet on six legs. It was primarily this creature that drove a lot of the inspiration for my story.
Body liquefaction – from the sea we came, and to the sea we will return.
Concerned about the ‘footprint’ your burial plot will take up, or maybe the energy used in cremation? Then after you throw off the mortal coil, perhaps simply flush yourself down the toilet?
There’s a new way to dispose of your loved ones where you can convert them into a liquid, and then spray them on the garden. The ‘green burial’ process is based on alkaline hydrolysis, whereby the body is placed in a pressure vessel that is then filled with a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide. It is heated to a temperature around 160°C (320°F), but at a constant high pressure to stop boiling. In this hot and pressurized environment, the body is effectively broken down into its chemical components. Body tissue is dissolved and the resultant liquid (effluent) contains no DNA and is safe enough to pour directly into the municipal water system. Depending on the size of the body, it can take between four to six hours.
Already body liquefiers are being used in Japan, Australia, the US (Florida), and are being trialled in Europe. There might just be another use for this liquid, and anyone who remembers the movie Soylent Green will know how this might end!
About Greig Beck
Greig Beck grew up across the road from Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. His early days were spent surfing, sunbaking and reading science fiction on the sand. He then went on to study computer science, immerse himself in the financial software industry and later received an MBA. Today, Greig spends his days writing, but still finds time to surf at his beloved Bondi Beach. He lives in Sydney, with his wife, son, and an enormous black German shepherd.
If you would like to contact Greig, his email address is greig@greigbeck.com and you can find him on the web at www.greigbeck.com.
First published 2019 in Momentum by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000
Copyright © Greig Beck 2019
The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
A CIP record for this book is available at the National Library of Australia
From Hell: Alex Hunter 8
EPUB format: 9781760786984
Print on Demand format: 9781760786991
Original cover design by Danielle Hurps
Cover images: iStockphoto.com
Macmillan Digital Australia: www.macmillandigital.com.au
To report a typographical error, please visit www.panmacmillan.com.au/contact-us/
All characters in this publication are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Visit www.panmacmillan.com.au/ to read more about all our books and to buy books online. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events.
All rights reserved.
Greig Beck, From Hell
