They reached the haunted island next morning. It appeared on the horizon as a rugged set of hills and lowlands, Eric instantly spotted the right-angle outlines of an overgrown building.
“Tell me more about this curse.” Temerin peered through his binoculars.
“Aye,” replied Vonlal. “It is a force of darkness which drives away all who set foot on this, the Whispering Isle.”
Selva asked, “How so?”
“Unimaginable terrors, I am told. Men who step into those woods are set upon by monsters.”
“Dinosaurs?” Selva asked.
“No, not those beasts. This is something different, something worse. Shadow beings formed from pure terror, which lash out upon all and drive them back.”
Temerin turned to Selva.
“It must be an active defense system, but it’s impossible to know the specifics from here. Anything else you can tell us? Legends of animate machines, or apparitions formed from light?”
“The fear,” Vonlal took a deep breath. “My brother, before he was taken by a storm, came here once when running from pirates. He tried to find supplies—they were low on water—but not even the bravest among them could venture far into that forest. There is something about this place which strikes terror into the souls of men.”
“Ever hear of anyone dying to it?”
“A few may have been driven mad. Many more will recoil at the mere mention of it. But now that you ask, no. No one can withstand it long enough.”
Selva grinned. “I’m willing to bet we can. Ready the boats, we are going ashore!”
“I will not,” Vonlal said. “Take volunteers from the crew if you wish, but my feet will not touch the earth of such a dreaded place.”
Eric found himself drafted into manning an oar on one of the ship’s boats, rowing with his back to the island as the ship shrunk away and saltwater spray showered his head. They landed in two boats, on a rocky outcrop jutting from a low shore—four centuries since Meridian’s terraformation wasn’t enough to build up sandy beaches.
Cobb looked around, sniffed the warm salty air. “Looks okay to me.”
“You three, watch the boats,” Temerin said to a group of sailors. “Kadelius, Two-Tooth, you’re with us. We’ll be back by nightfall.”
They headed towards the forest, Eric watching his step over the jagged surface. He caught up to Selva. “Seems like you know what’s behind this ‘curse’.”
“Not quite, but I have an idea,” she replied, as a wave crashed against the rocks. “Infrasound. There are certain frequencies which can cause resonances in the human eye, make you see things that aren’t there, and trigger a fear response.” Reaching the treeline, she stopped, grabbed a stone, and tossed it in while checking her scanpad. Bushes rustled as a small creature scampered away, maybe a rabbit or a compy. “It must be rigged to a sensor system, perhaps the Keepers used it to keep colonists out.”
“What are you speaking of?” Kadelius asked. “Was this a temple of the Keepers?”
“More a factory, I think. I’ve got a satellite map here.” She unrolled a computer tablet, expanded it out. The Whispering Isle was large, big enough for an entire complex of buildings and fenced areas, the outlines of which could still be distinguished under the overgrowth. “One of these will be an operations center, maybe this one here, in the center. The controls to shut down the system might be in there.”
“You mean we’re going…” Kadelius jabbed a thumb at the trees.
“I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” Eric said.
“You will feel fear. Intense fear, maybe greater than anything you’ve experienced before—but it is a ruse. Whatever strange things you see in there, or feel, none of it is real. Shall we?”
Eric kept his stunner in hand, palm sweating on the grip, while to his right Sir Wotoc’s katana glinted in the rays of sun poking through the leaves. Ahead was a sturdy metal fence, now covered in vines. They went around it, and started up a hill. Suddenly, he became aware someone, or something, was watching him.
“Anyone else feel like we’re being watched?” Cobb asked.
“It’s the infrasound effect,” replied Selva. They continued on, into a thicket of flame-retardant trees.
Then the fear hit. It gripped him by the throat, a deep primal terror. Something formed in his peripheral vision, a huge black shape. Moving towards him. He spun, and nothing was there. Another came from the left, rushing forward and closing upon him. He crouched down and shielded his head, fear jabbing at his heart like a knife. Covering his ears did no good—this infrasound, whatever it was, affected his whole body.
A thick arm hauled him to his feet—Sir Wotoc, who swung his sword at an imagined target and buzzsawed off a few tree branches.
“It’s not real!” Selva shouted. “This way!”
The trees thinned out as they began to weave past decrepit buildings, though Eric was sure a monster lurked around every corner. The structures here had been made of metal and nanogrown diamondoid, and still held their color. A large open space formed what once was a central road running down the complex, to the right was the operations building, terraced balconies topped with a flat pyramid. They ran.
Eric looked back and spotted Kadelius, but no sign of Two-Tooth. Sir Wotoc kept his sword raised, bellowing out to no one at all challenges to come face him like a man. His squires urged him into retreat, following up the stairs and inside the building.
Its interior décor had long since decayed away, the floor covered in dirt and plants. The fear-effect diminished somewhat. In the center was a semicircular control console, he followed Selva over and pulled the vines off. The touchscreens underneath were dead, sun-aged surfaces caked in detritus. He helped her open a panel below, some lights inside still glowed.
“There!” Selva pointed. “Perimeter Systems, that lever!”
Eric found the red-handled switch and wrenched it open. As suddenly as it came, the fear stopped.
Sir Wotoc, panting, removed his helmet. “By my stars! What was that?”
“Infrasound,” Selva explained. “I could hear it— a grating whine, mixed with evil screams and growls. That’s what caused the effects in our eyes, and made you feel fear.”
“You didn’t feel it?”
“No. It’s an instinctual reaction in humans, perhaps an evolutionary response to an ancient predator which emitted similar sounds.” And lupens, being uplifted predators, were naturally immune.
“Makes me wonder what the fuck that could’ve been on ancient Terra, to make our ancestors so scared,” Cobb added.
From behind, Eric heard a bird-like chirping. He spun around and saw the long neck of a dinosaur peering out a doorway. Selva, her lupen hearing alerting her, had reacted even before he did. The dinosaur stared him down, a neck frill with black-and-white eye-spots popping open as it hissed.
“Careful!” Rachel shouted. “It’s venomous!”
It stepped into the atrium, six feet long and rearing up to Eric’s height. With a quick head-twitch, it spat out a rivulet of black liquid. Eric raised his hand fast, but not fast enough. It splashed against his face, and his right eye seared in pain.
