Report #3270, Transcript Section #48
(Operation SANDMAN)
©1998-1999 Shane Ivey

KEEPER: Your last memory is of being engulfed, swallowed and invaded, by something formless.

KEEPER: Perceptions follow, but disjointedly.

LUNDQUIST: I gotta check that off on "Monsters Encountered" on my character sheet.

LUNDQUIST: (For future SAN purposes)

KEEPER: You have no sense of time, only a confusion of impressions.

KEEPER: Warmth... pressure... a brief flash of overwhelming organic stench...

KEEPER: A strange, acrid taste, warm and moist; your body is not your own.

KEEPER: But not sight. You think it must be a long while, but time has lost its bearing.

KEEPER: At least, not at first. You become conscious of more consistent impressions.

KEEPER: They are merged, confused...

KEEPER: A silvery visual haze and a constant, swelling, orgasmic sense of physical pleasure.

KEEPER: After a time--perhaps--the latter sensation fades. The visual sense slowly takes precedence.

KEEPER: And then you feel another sense, something like vertigo, though nothing you see is distinct.

KEEPER: Until, suddenly, it is: the silvery sheen seems to tear or shatter, and you can see.

KEEPER: You can see that you are not where you were.

KEEPER: It's a long room, some kind of laboratory.

KEEPER: You are an observer, standing apart, though you strangely can't feel your feet on the floor.

KEEPER: You can look around, but your perspective is--strange.

LUNDQUIST: How so? Can I put my finger on it?

KEEPER: Your sense of peripheral vision shifts unpredictably, often expanding to impossible widths.

LUNDQUIST: Whoa.

KEEPER: Your hearing is strange, too; sounds shift and fade and change, sometimes merging together.

KEEPER: Around you, the room is filled with workstations and monitors.

KEEPER: They are attended by men and women in white coats.

LUNDQUIST: Human men and women?

KEEPER: You blurrily see books and folders with indistinct titles. Human, yes.

KEEPER: None of them react to you.

KEEPER: The monitors' screens are each split into several segments.

KEEPER: One frame shows a person lying alone in a hospitalbed, head bristling with electrodes.

KEEPER: Another shows vital signs in shifting line charts.

KEEPER: The third varies somewhat from monitor to monitor...

KEEPER: But most show a flickering silvery or purple haze.

LUNDQUIST: Like what I saw before?

KEEPER: Yes.

LUNDQUIST: Where is my mind on all this? Do I feel alert, conscious, with just

KEEPER: As you watch, the researchers pay closer attention to one monitor.

LUNDQUIST: some sensory wierdness?

KEEPER: You feel disconnected.

LUNDQUIST: Or do I feel odd, like in a dream? Or what?

LUNDQUIST: I head for that monitor, if I can.

KEEPER: Your sight and hearing are strange, as described.

KEEPER: Your other senses perceive nothing, at first, as if forgotten and abandoned.

KEEPER: You find yourself moving toward the monitor, though the movement is strange.

KEEPER: It seems to be half-drifting, half-lurch or jump. You are closer to the monitor.

LUNDQUIST: I'm looking at it, especially that third section of the screen...

KEEPER: On it, the vital signs rise, but not dangerously.

KEEPER: The subject breathes heavily, still sleeping.

KEEPER: The third section shimmers, silvery-purple, shot with sparks.

KEEPER: Then it flickers and breaks apart, replaced by a wide landscape, seen

KEEPER: from far above.

KEEPER: The researchers watch closely. One speaks into a microphone, but you can't make out what he

KEEPER: You can't make out what he says.

KEEPER: The perspective on the screen changes, dives lower, toward the ground at impossible speed.

KEEPER: As it descends the screen shows figures in a rocky desert.

KEEPER: They seem to be training, poorly-dressed Arabic guerillas in clumsy maneuvers.

KEEPER: One of the researchers moves toward another monitor.

LUNDQUIST: I follow that one.

KEEPER: As you follow, you feel a new sense, a strange sense of nearness.

LUNDQUIST: How so? Another presence?

KEEPER: You vaguely hear the researcher yell, and he runs toward the desk, staring at the monitor.

KEEPER: Something like that.

KEEPER: The researcher flips a switch and talks into a microphone.

KEEPER: On the monitor, you see a woman writhing, her mouth open in a scream.

KEEPER: Her eyes stare in blind shock and horror.

KEEPER: Her vitals have peaked on the charts.

KEEPER: On the third screen, the silvery haze has disappeared.

KEEPER: It is replaced by a mass of writhing, penetrating tendrils in a fecund, cloudy mass.

KEEPER: Something about it is very familiar.

KEEPER: You see the researcher pointing toward a hall, shouting to someone.

KEEPER: A thick-bodied man in grey USAF fatigues appears in the hallway, shouting back.

KEEPER: The researcher shakes his head and types at his keyboard.

KEEPER: On the screen, the woman shudders for a moment. You see some of her vitals dipping rapidly.

KEEPER: The soldier steps out of sight again, back into the hall.

LUNDQUIST: Could I see a name or rank insignia?

LUNDQUIST: Or at least if he was an officer or an enlisted man?

KEEPER: Officer. You can't tell anything more detailed than that.

KEEPER: After another moment, the woman in the monitor sags against her bed, soaked in sweat.

KEEPER: The third screen fades to black. Her vitals level out, barely registering.

KEEPER: The researcher stares at the screen for a long minute, then shakes his head nervously.

LUNDQUIST: How is the image on the screen familiar? Is it like what I saw at the farmhouse?

KEEPER: It felt more like a reflection.

LUNDQUIST: Huh?

LUNDQUIST: Like, of me?

KEEPER: Yes. On some intuitive, irrational level.

LUNDQUIST: Oh, good. :-(

KEEPER: You feel another strange sense, a tugging; your view of the room and the monitors contracts.

KEEPER: Then you feel a shock of cold and dizziness; the clinical lab is replaced in a crazy shift.

KEEPER: In its place is an uncertain glimpse of a swollen black membrane over cold stone.

KEEPER: Some great bulk swims nearby, approaching at shocking speed; then it's all gone.

KEEPER: You see the silvery haze again, for a time; perhaps only a moment, you can't tell.

KEEPER: And then darkness. You feel your muscles cramping from immobility.

LUNDQUIST: I try to move.

KEEPER: You feel sluggish, as if moving against some resistance. Your lungs feel strange.

LUNDQUIST: Maybe coughing would help?

KEEPER: You try, but even that is sluggish and muted.

KEEPER: Every breath is heavy, like breathing through a thick cold or flu.

LUNDQUIST: Can I see anything?

KEEPER: Not at first. As you move your hands, pressing outward, the resistance lessens.

KEEPER: You see something, then, just a blur, a slight lightening.

LUNDQUIST: I focus on that.

KEEPER: It remains indistinct, though as you move it increases, growing wider.

LUNDQUIST: All right...

KEEPER: Finally, you feel a lessening of pressure around you, like an exhalation.

KEEPER: You feel a stark chill. You feel moisture on your skin, hair, in your mouth and lungs.

KEEPER: Blinking, your eyes focus slowly, through an oily fog.

KEEPER: You see twilight and trees.

KEEPER: For a moment, your eyes swim dizzily, as if still adjusting. You have little balance.

KEEPER: Finally you make out that you are several meters above ground.

LUNDQUIST: ??

KEEPER: You cough reflexively, vomiting thick fluid.

KEEPER: You're hanging in a cocoon or sac some fifteen feet above ground.

KEEPER: Below, you see a dark stain on the earth--fluid drained out of it from the hole you punched.

LUNDQUIST: Crap... I tear/kick my way free of it, trying to get out.

KEEPER: You feel yourself falling away from it slowly.

KEEPER: Finally, you tear loose and tumble out, down, and slam to the earth...

OnlineHost: Keeper rolled 1 6-sided die: 2

KEEPER: (Take 2 HP damage from the impact.)

KEEPER: (And make another two SAN rolls.)

OnlineHost: Lundquist rolled 2 100-sided dice: 17 4

LUNDQUIST: Hey, a 4... lookit that!

LUNDQUIST: Wish I was shootin someone...

OnlineHost: Keeper rolled 1 4-sided die: 3

KEEPER: Lose 3 SAN as the "trip" catches up with you.

LUNDQUIST: In hindsight, it's much worse than when it's happening to you...

KEEPER: Something like that. More like it wasn't quite real until everything else was, in a way.

KEEPER: You hear a voice: "Lundquist! Shit..." It's Brenneman.

LUNDQUIST: I'm at the farm?

KEEPER: You're in the woods. They could be the same woods. You don't see the farm.

LUNDQUIST: "Brenneman? Argh, is that you?"

KEEPER: "What the... yeah." He jogs closer. "Jesus, what happened to you?"

LUNDQUIST: "Fuck if I know... What the fuck time is it? Morning?"

KEEPER: He crouches next to you. "Yeah... almost dawn. Hold still, let me check you out."

LUNDQUIST: "What happened? I passed out."

KEEPER: He looks you over, gently prodding here and there to check for injuries.

KEEPER: "Your signal shut off. I didn't hear anything else from you, didn't hear any guns."

KEEPER: "So I said, 'Fuck it.' What is this shit on you?"

OnlineHost: Keeper rolled 1 100-sided die: 28

OnlineHost: Keeper rolled 1 3-sided die: 3

LUNDQUIST: "I got no idea. I fell in some crap in the basement of the house... Got it all over me...:

KEEPER: "You look okay. Just a little banged up. Can you stand?"

KEEPER: (Get that 2 HP back.)

LUNDQUIST: "Got some in my mouth, I was choking on it... I must have passed out, because that's

LUNDQUIST: the last thing I remember..."

LUNDQUIST: "Yeah, I can stand," I say confidently. "Where's the car?"

KEEPER: "Need to get you checked out by a doctor, then. Come on, the car's over here."

KEEPER: He gestures into the woods. He stays close in case you need support.

LUNDQUIST: "Yeah, and I need to make some calls, too." Where's my phone?

KEEPER: "I didn't find it."

LUNDQUIST: "Okay, I got another back home."

LUNDQUIST: "Where

LUNDQUIST: "Where's the farmhouse from here? I'm all disoriented."

KEEPER: "It's over this way..." He points in another direction. "Not too far. It's empty."

LUNDQUIST: "You checked it out? It's clear?"

KEEPER: "Yeah, nothing there but bullet holes. It's been cleaned out."

LUNDQUIST: "No toxic goop in the basement, huh?"

KEEPER: "Nothing."

KEEPER: The car comes into view as you walk.

LUNDQUIST: "Wonder what it was... Let's find a motel, I need to get cleaned up."

LUNDQUIST: I retrieve my bag from the other car, if it's there.

KEEPER: "You ought to go to a doctor, first. Find out what this shit is."

LUNDQUIST: "My people will be here soon. One of them's a doctor. He can help me out. I need to check in with them right away."

KEEPER: The other car--the one the other guys left there--is a good distance from the farmhouse.

KEEPER: "Okay. Get in."

LUNDQUIST: "You can drive." I bet the car smells good, with all that blood drying in the back...

KEEPER: It's getting a little rancid.

KEEPER: He drives you away from the farmhouse, along the dirt road.

KEEPER: You reach the end of the road, where it intersects with the paved road, a rural route.

KEEPER: He drives to the other car, nearby.

LUNDQUIST: I check it out, briefly. Any clues to the others' whereabouts?

KEEPER: Nothing. It's as they left it.

LUNDQUIST: No other vehicle tracks in evidence on the dirt road? (Spot hidden)

OnlineHost: Lundquist rolled 1 100-sided die: 26

KEEPER: No tracks.

KEEPER: Just the treadmarks from their car and footprints.

LUNDQUIST: I got a bad feeling about this.

LUNDQUIST: What do I have on me? Clothes I was wearing? OICW? Sidearm? Holster? Wristwatch?

KEEPER: Clothes, holstered pistol. Rifle and wristwatch are gone.

LUNDQUIST: Is the pistol all fouled with that goo?

KEEPER: Soaked in it.

LUNDQUIST: I put it back in the holster. If nothin else, there's a sample for MEREDITH to play with...

KEEPER: Brenneman waits as you poke around.

LUNDQUIST: "Let's go." Time to find a quiet motel.

KEEPER: "Yeah. Where to? Back to New York?"

LUNDQUIST: "Not just yet. I want to get cleaned up, put on some fresh clothes. Let's find a motel."

KEEPER: He drives about an hour to a nearby town.

KEEPER: He pulls into a Royal Court Motor Lodge, parks in back, and pays cash for a 1-bed room.

LUNDQUIST: I go inside. "Just give me a few minutes, will ya?"

KEEPER: "No problem."

LUNDQUIST: I bolt the door, then I use the phone to dial MEREDITH.

KEEPER: After a moment's silence, you hear the signal ring three times.

KEEPER: "You're not on a secure line," says the voice.

LUNDQUIST: "Correct. I don't have one right now."

KEEPER: "Understood. Is your last house still safe?"

LUNDQUIST: "Yes. But I'm nowhere near there right now."

LUNDQUIST: "Should I just call back when I get there?"

KEEPER: "Call when you feel safe reporting what you have to report."

LUNDQUIST: "Look... Fuck.... What about my injured friend?"

KEEPER: "He's been transferred. He's safe. Police are looking over the... crime scene... now."

LUNDQUIST: "And what the fuck is safe? I don't even know what that means!"

LUNDQUIST: "Is there any word from Michael?"

KEEPER: There's a pause. "No. None of them."

LUNDQUIST: "Well, shit." I hang up.

LUNDQUIST: Pulling myself together, I get this gunk cleaned off me as best I can.

KEEPER: An air conditioning unit rumbles to life at the heavily-curtained window.

LUNDQUIST: Then I switch to a clean set of clothes.

LUNDQUIST: After that, I gather up anything with any of the gunk on it and stuff it in my bag.

LUNDQUIST: (Old clothes, towels, whatever)

KEEPER: You feel cleaner after all that, but not much better. You feel... used up.

LUNDQUIST: I go find Brenneman. "Let's get going. Back to New York. My bosses at Justice want a word with me."

KEEPER: "Yeah, okay. What's the situation?"

LUNDQUIST: "I'm not sure yet, they weren't real specific. Danforth came through okay, apparently."

KEEPER: He whistles. "Lucky kid. Damn. That's good to hear."

KEEPER: He gets on the road and heads east, for the highway and the long drive north to New York.

LUNDQUIST: When we stop for gas, I'll buy some chewing gum.

LUNDQUIST: (I'll be okay once I get the taste of that stuff out of my mouth...)

KEEPER: It helps a little. But you still feel spent.

KEEPER: By mid-afternoon you're driving across the New Jersey kills and over Staten Island.

KEEPER: The car's hot and sticky, even with the air blowing at full.

LUNDQUIST: "So what's up with you? Still on suspension I guess?"

KEEPER: "Affirmative. All for the greater glory, right?" He sighs and stares ahead.

KEEPER: "I hope so, anyway. Keep my nose clean, and I can get back on the job in a week."

LUNDQUIST: "Yeah. Or something... Look, I don't know what the situation is, exactly. But you've been a real help. I'm not going to forget that."

LUNDQUIST: "Why don't you take a day or two off. I'll see what's going on and let you know."

KEEPER: He chuckles. "You got a job opening in DoJ for a busted Deputy Marshal?"

LUNDQUIST: "Well, let's not jump to any conclusions. I'll let them know that your were acting on my instructions, maybe they'll go easy on you over the whole hospital thing."

KEEPER: "Yeah, maybe. Sounds good to me."

LUNDQUIST: "And there's one more thing... What were you doing there, at the farm? You were

LUNDQUIST: supposed to get lost if you lost contact with me."

KEEPER: He winces and shrugs. "Well... It didn't sound like anything was going down."

LUNDQUIST: "Well, for what it's worth, I guess I'm glad you didn't split. I wasn't in much shape

LUNDQUIST: to walk out of there."

KEEPER: He shrugs again. "You're doing all right. You just need to sleep a couple of days."

LUNDQUIST: "For starters, yeah. Can I drop you off someplace?"

KEEPER: "Let's get in town. I'll get out at City Hall, take a train to my place."

LUNDQUIST: "Good enough."

KEEPER: He drives across the Verazano Narrows bridge, back onto the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

KEEPER: North around Brooklyn, until the Manhattan skyline rises once more.

KEEPER: Then over the Brooklyn Bridge... and you're at City Hall. It's a hazy, sticky summer day.

KEEPER: "Here's my stop." He offers a hand to shake. "Good luck with all this, boss."

LUNDQUIST: "You too. I'll be in touch."

KEEPER: He nods and steps out of the car.

KEEPER: He looks around for a moment.

KEEPER: Then he shuffles off along the sidewalk and grassy parks around Gracie Mansion.

LUNDQUIST: I'll pull out and circle the block, starting the old check-for-tails routine.

KEEPER: You don't spot any.

LUNDQUIST: Making frequent such checks, I'll wind my way back to the safehouse.

KEEPER: You reach it around 5:00 that afternoon. It looks empty, as you left it.

LUNDQUIST: I'll go inside, taking my bag with me.

KEEPER: It hasn't changed; you see Danforth's equipment upstairs.

LUNDQUIST: Nobody here?

KEEPER: Kelley's and Cabot's stashes in their rooms. Rogers' suitcase in his.

KEEPER: Nobody there.

LUNDQUIST: Okay, I'll find the phone and call in again.

KEEPER: It rings three times. The same voice: "Yes?"

LUNDQUIST: "Look, what's going on?"

KEEPER: You hear a sigh. It sounds strange with the masking.

KEEPER: "There are details you're not cleared for, Mark."

LUNDQUIST: "Yeah, forget them. Are we comprimised in Pennsylvania or what?"

LUNDQUIST: "Is the cover going to work?"

KEEPER: "I don't know. If our missing operatives are compromised, the cover-up in Dutch Country

KEEPER: won't matter. But we don't know where they are."

LUNDQUIST: "Well, some fucking thing got them, I can tell you that. It got me, too, you hear me?

KEEPER: "What are you talking about?"

LUNDQUIST: "I got fucking cocooned! And... It got all in me, down my throat, in my fucking lungs..."

LUNDQUIST: "And I saw shit... Crazy, didn't make any sense... Though I think maybe it's starting to..."

KEEPER: "We've..." There's a pause. "We've got a medical team still in the region."

KEEPER: "They should examine you. Make sure you're fit."

LUNDQUIST: "That's not the problem. If it makes you feel better, sure, I'm always up for it."

KEEPER: "You need to send a report. A full report."

LUNDQUIST: "What for? What's the point? Look, last I heard from Michael, they had the place secured, and they had a prisoner."

LUNDQUIST: "it was OVER. And then, they all just fuckin vanish, right off the face of the earth."

KEEPER: "You say you made... contact with something, out there. It needs to be documented."

KEEPER: "And you need to be examined. And then we need to evaluate the operation."

LUNDQUIST: "Sure, sure... Look, whatever it was, it took out this team, okay?

LUNDQUIST: "What am I supposed to do by myself? Because the only thing I can think of is to get back out there and look around some more..."

LUNDQUIST: "When you evaluate the operation, you'd better consider how far you're willing to take it."

KEEPER: There's another pause.

KEEPER: "Understood. Look... stay there. Compile your report. Wait for the medical team."

LUNDQUIST: "They took out one of our cells. You, or whoever's above you, needs to decide if it's

LUNDQUIST: time to cut our losses there, or pile on more."

LUNDQUIST: "I got my own ideas on it, of course... But you've made it clear I also don't have all

LUNDQUIST: of the facts. So I'm going to have to pass the buck on this one to you, unless you want to share."

KEEPER: Another sigh. "We can't just cut out. Refocus, yes. Reorganize, yes..."

KEEPER: "The Dreaming Man is still out there. It's still spreading."

LUNDQUIST: "Well. Somebody screwed up. Because I got a theory now about what it's about."

LUNDQUIST: "But I gotta warn ya, it's not all that sane."

KEEPER: "Too few things are. Please share it."

LUNDQUIST: "I'll have my report done pronto. When do the medical people arrive?"

KEEPER: "Sometime this evening. I don't have an exact ETA yet."

LUNDQUIST: "I'll be expecting them then. I'm not going anyplace."

KEEPER: "All right. Look, Mark; I'm glad you got out of there."

LUNDQUIST: "Me too."

KEEPER: "We'll check the region again for any signs of the others. Meantime--stick with the plan."

LUNDQUIST: "Look for my report in a couple of hours."

KEEPER: "Affirmative."

LUNDQUIST: "Be seeing you."

KEEPER: [click]

LUNDQUIST: I'll fetch my laptop, boot it up to start on that report, and fall asleep.