Burnt Black Suns: A Collection of Weird Tales Read Online Free Page A

suffered no such worries. He was nearly incapacitated by terror.
    “We can’t stay here. Didn’t you guys hear it? Last night? That muffled creaking? And the crunch—I thought it was something else. I thought it had to be. It couldn’t have been footsteps, but all I see on the ground are thousands of them, and all our stuff has vanished. We can’t stay. We have to go. We have to go before it’s too late.”
    “Calm down. Nobody’s going anywhere,” Dr. Hanson said. “This expedition is a one-time event. It took all the grant money to send us here. If we don’t bring back something, we will never return to Melville Island.”
    “Good,” Isaacs said, his whole body shaking. “We shouldn’t be here. There’s something wrong.”
    Dr. Hanson scoffed, but Wendell wasn’t certain he agreed. Dogan certainly seemed as though he didn’t, but said nothing. After the journey they’d taken and what they’d seen, they had to trust Dr. Hanson knew what to do.
    But what he did was turn to Gauthier for an answer, only to receive none. The pilot was more interested in sizing up Isaacs. When he finally spoke, it startled all of them. Isaacs almost screamed.
    “The kid is right. We can’t stay here. Even if we wanted to. Our supplies and rations are gone. We wouldn’t last more than a few days.”
    Dr. Hanson shook his head. Wendell could see he was frustrated. Scared, tired, and frustrated.
    “I told you: we can’t go back. This is it. There’s no time to spare, not even a few days. Not if we’re to complete our tasks in the window. We have to stay here.”
    “Do we all need to be here, Doctor?” Dogan asked. His voice wavered with uncertainty.
    Dr. Hanson hesitated a moment. “No,” he said, “I expect not. At least, not all of us.”
    Dogan looked directly at Wendell. Wendell swallowed, outsmarted, and prepared himself for the inevitable. Instead, Dogan surprised him.
    “Send Gauthier back to replenish our supplies while we stay here and work. It’s only a few days. We can hold out that long, but we can’t go on forever without food.”
    “Maybe Isaacs should join him,” Wendell added, nodding when Dogan looked over. “He sounds on the verge of cracking, and for his sake as well as ours he should be off this rock if he does.”
    “Yes, we should go. Can we go? Can we?” Isaacs looked ready to swallow Gauthier. His bug-eyed face was slick and pallid, and Wendell wondered if Isaacs was too sick to travel. Then he wondered if it might be worse if he stayed.
    Dr. Hanson did not seem entirely convinced. None of them did. None but Isaacs. Wendell had to admit, thinking about the strange footprints in the snow outside the tent, he wasn’t sure if he’d rather be the one leaving.
    “Maybe we should vote?” Dogan said.
    “No point,” Gauthier said. “I’m leaving. The kid can come if he wants.”
    Isaacs looked as if he were going to dance. Hanson nodded solemnly while Dogan said nothing. Wendell wasn’t sure what he felt.
    They split what little food they had left among them before Gauthier and Isaacs loaded their packs and left. There were six energy bars, a bag of peanuts, and four flasks of water. The two men took only half a bar each—as little as they could to get them back to the landing strip while Wendell, Dogan, and Dr. Hanson kept the rest to help them last until the plane returned.
    “I want you to get back here as soon as you can,” Dr. Hanson said. “We can’t afford to be down this many men for long.”
    “We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Gauthier said, then handed Dr. Hanson a small leather bag. “Take this. In case of emergency.”
    Dr. Hanson looked in the bag and shook his head.
    The two men waved at them as they started back—Isaacs nearly bouncing on the ice, while Gauthier’s gait remained resolutely determined. They passed the tall, smooth rocks without trouble, and the crunch of their boots on the icy snow faded quickly once they were out of sight. The three