"How is the new lab member working out, Gordon?" Malcolm studied his lead scientist over his half frame glasses. Ever since the episode of Lily's amazing route of the alien cubes, Malcolm's office had been inundated with calls and visits from everyone from the Whitehouse to the local minister, as well as around the globe.

"She loves it. Loves the magic of science, if you can imagine." He chuckled. "I think we've spent more time studying her than our regular work."

"Don't be making a habit of that." Malcolm shuffled some papers on his desk. "Speaking of work, I've had some reports from some city managers in towns in the Appellations with regard to mysterious events in and around the Smokies." He selected a sheet and passed it to Gordon. "I want this investigated. In light of what we just went through, I don't want to ignore any potential problems. I know they get these all the time, still . . ."

"Gather round folks." Gordon announced as he entered the lab. "Because of our," and he waved a hand pointedly at Lily, "success with Pipaluk and the cubes, it has fallen to us to investigate another possibly paranormal event."

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"What beautiful country!" Lily stared out at the incredible vista from the Blue Ridge parkway.

"Magnificent isn't it. In the fall it's dazzling." Gordon reminisced.

"Where is this Thomas Divide exactly?" Ortega fussed with his phone map.

"Under a place called Clingman's Dome. Before 1935 a trail ran parallel to a segment of the Newfound Gap Road. When the Dome road was built, the trail had to be moved, and became a tunnel underneath to keep hikers and others from having to cross the road."

"And it's this tunnel we are investigating?"

"Yes. In the 60s there was another road reconfiguration and the tunnel was abandoned - unnecessary anymore."

"Let me get this straight. This tunnel just went under a road? What is that, 30 feet?"

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but Malcom had a number of reports about strange sounds and lights coming from the tunnel. The Smoky Mountains are full of myths. This is probably just another. At any rate, we'll soon see, there's the road to Clingmans Dome."

The group climbed out of the car and stretched, teasing Victoria, who had slept a good portion of the way.

"Okay, we hike from here. It's about a quarter of a mile to a bridge, where we climb down to the tunnel. Got everything?" Gordon asked, looking at everyone. "Leave the camping gear for now, and be careful of those instruments."

There was a patient eyeroll as the group trekked up the road. Lily kept being amazed by the scenery and Ortega grinned constantly at her exclamations.

"There's the bridge. We climb down over there." Gordon led the way, admonishing all to be careful.

When they reached the bottom, they stood staring at the old stone arch that formed the tunnel entrance. They could see daylight at the other end and the sign of a lot of growth. The tunnel itself seemed quite sturdy and safe, and they entered as a group, moving through slowly, examining the stone walls and the floor area. Exiting the far side, they were faced with a cliff and a spectacular view.

"Wow! No wonder people like finding this place." Victoria ventured closer to the cliff, brushing aside some bushes. When she turned backed she froze, and a big smile broke out on her face. "We have a spectator." She pointed. "And one who isn't concerned with our intrusion apparently."

The group turned to where she pointed and broke out in chuckles and various comments. Lounging on a tree branch, with a slothful attitude, a racoon watched them back with a completely bland expression.

"Is this our ghost, do you suppose?" Ortega laughed.

"I don't see a flashlight on him anywhere, so he isn't responsible for the lights. Gordon grinned. "Okay, let's do some serious scans and tests inside, people. We don't want to be climbing out of here in the dark, and daylight is waning."

Gordon, Victoria and David busied themselves scanning, taking readings and samples, and doing concentrated examinations of the construction from end to end. meanwhile, Lily wandered back and forth, listening to, touching, and smelling the space inside the tunnel. She paused part way back on one of her circuits and closed her eyes.

The sensation was one of something tiny crawling on the skin of her arms. She resisted the temptation to brush at them. The feeling moved to her neck and the around to her chin. her eyes popped open and instead of the tunnel, with her colleagues, Lily was faced with an amber glow suffusing the space around her. She drew in a breath, allowing her mind to interpret the faint scent and sight she observed.

With a deliberate expulsion of breath, she curled her fingers and gripped them tightly together in front of her face, pulling hard. A sound emanated from within the colour, and it began to swirl around the tunnel walls.

"Lily! Lily, what's happening?" David ran to her side but was unable to touch her. It seemed she was surrounded by some invisible force that prevented contact. "Dr. Weller! Quick. Something is wrong."

The trio stood by helpless, watching Lily in her trance-like state. All around them the amber colour became visible, and suddenly a familiar voice startled them.

"Dr. Weller. How convenient for us, we meet again, and with the opportunity to return the assault from our last encounter." The face of the speaker appeared in the thickening amber light, and Victoria gasped.
"Pipaluk . . . ?" Gordon shot a look at Lily who was rolling her head around in a slow circle.

"Your friend isn't having as easy a time this time Doctor. We learned quite a bit from her previous assault." The face shifted, and a faint mauve coloured smoke seemed to drift from the glowing eyes, and mouth. "This time we will be successful, and soon all of your kind will be consumed."

David was becoming frantic as he watched Lily. He couldn't touch her or speak to her, and she seemed to be in a massive struggle. He yelled at Pipaluk and charged at his face in the amber light.

"David!" Victoria screamed as she watched him swing wildly at the image, miss and crash heavily to the tunnel floor. Gordon moved quickly to help his friend, ignoring the possible danger, and was kneeling by him when the amber light began fluttering and then dimmed. A blood curdling wail echoed off the tunnel walls and then there was silence.

"David?" Lily moved slowly toward the two men, her shoulders slumped and her face drawn.

"Lily, my God, are you alright?" Victoria helped her to a sitting position against the stone wall, making room as Gordon and David squatted down beside them.

"She seems to be in some kind of shock." Gordon was checking her heart rate and looking in her eyes.

"I'm fine, Dr. Weller. I just need to rest a bit. How is David?" She felt the strong hands grip hers and squeeze, and she smiled.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Gordon pressed.

"Gordon, she needs rest. We can talk later. Let's get out of here."

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"Do you think we'll be okay camping down here? I mean, what if he comes back?" Victoria sipped coffee from her thermos, offering David a mug as he dropped off the last of the camping gear.

"This is science, Victoria. We can't investigate behind a wall. We know at least who we are facing - which is actually a surprise since I thought he was destroyed last time."

"He was," Lily interjected, "this is another, different incarnation. This one has the same objective, but as he said, they have learned from the last time."

"But you still pushed him back. How did you do that?" Gordon asked.

"Short answer - telepathy."

"You mean you connected with Pipaluk mentally?"

"With this manifestation, yes. Indirectly there is a connection but it requires involving my hippocampal and parahippocampal brain regions as well as large increases of oxytocin." Lily set down her coffee mug. "I really need to rest now. That was taxing."

"Of course. I'm sorry." Gordon waved a hand and indicated her sleeping bag. Victoria made her goodnights and slipped into her own bag, while Gordon accepted first watch.

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The early rnorning sun crept across the campsite, poking at drowsy faces. Gordon sat up and saw David busy rolling up his gear.

"Morning. How's Lily?" He sat up stretching."

"I'm fine, Dr. Weller." She appeared from the bush around the cliff. "I was up earlier just feeling our surroundings."

"Eh, feeling?"

She smiled. "Yes. I think our friend Pipaluk is using a different approach this time."

"How? What have you found?" Gordon was out of his sleeping bag and nudging the still sleeping Victoria beside his.

"They are still using osmosis, but they are attacking the flora first." If you look across this vista," she turned and pointed over the cliff to the view they enjoyed the previous day, "you'll see a decline in the health of the growth."

"You mean they are attacking our plant life instead of us directly?"

"Yes. They have corrupted the vascular tissues - xylem and phloem - and are depriving them from growing."

Victoria wobbled up to the group rubbing her eyes. "That would mean the end of photosynthesis, and our oxygen supply."

"Good morning Miss Van Winkle." David teased. She stuck out a tongue.

"That's exactly right, and it is because they could then extract human water with no resistance because we would all be dead."

"What can we do? There's nothing we can do." Victoria waved her arms about.

"Certainly nothing we can do. It would appear, Lily, you are our only hope." Gordon's forehead puckered with concern.

"Wait a minute," David argued, "we can't put all this on Lily's shoulders. Look what she's done already, and what it's doing to her."

"It's fine, David. really. I'm okay." She held his arm, smiling warmly at her protector.

"But what can you do? My God, look." He waved an arm at the miles of mountains covered in trees and all the other varieties of flora that grew. "And it's world-wide!"

Lily suggested they all sit down and she would try to explain an option, possibly their only one. They all sat on their bedrolls and gave her their full attention.

"As before, we have direct contact with Pipaluk through another surrogate. This is to our advantage. Without this connection . . . well . . ." She gave a sad smile.

"But how can we use it?" Victoria asked.

"It is my hope, that when he appears again - and I'm sure he will - I can use a method I have only heard about at school. We were all taught the procedure but were never allowed to practice it. I think, in practice, this will act to counter his further attacks on our vegetation."

"Gordon," David half whispered, nodding his head toward the tunnel. "I think, Lily, you just received a challenge.

"Yes, I felt his mind probe." She rose from the group and walked to the tunnel entrance.

The amber light was bright and dense, and Pipaluk's surrogate hovered in the mist at the entrance.

"You human's are pathetic. You think you can stop what we have started?"

Lily smiled, answering with a simple yes, and then turned and walked to the cliff's edge overlooking the vista of mountains. She inhaled a huge breath, spread her arms and exhaled.

"What are you doing?" Pipaluk's voice came through tinged in confusion and fear.

"Good Lord, look!" Gordon held out his arms in amazement. Before their eyes, Lily seemed to dispatch a root system across space and they could actually see a reaction, as the whole mountain appeared to vibrate and emit a humming sound that could only be described as relief.

"Stop! You can't do this!"

They turned to see the amber light flickering wildly, and the surrogate's image becoming clearer as it slowly disintegrated. Nobody moved or spoke. They were entranced with Lily's transformation and the sight of her limbs becoming a life giving root system. The amber light vanished and a darkness suddenly fell over them.

David scrambled in his gear for a flashlight, shining it all around.

"Lily! Lily where are you?"

More flashlights came out and the three scientists all began calling, frightened and astonished over what was happening.

"Over there! Victoria shouted. "Oh, no. Lily?" She scrambled ahead of the others, dropping down beside the lifeless form.

"Lily?" David grabbed her hand while Gordon felt for a pulse. He sank back on his haunches and stared at David.

"What? Gordon, what?" He looked back at Lily's calm face and groaned, "No-o-o . . ."

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'NASA has denied any knowledge of the cause for the recent phenomenon witnessed by the cluster of satellites orbiting our planet. Opinions from around the globe suggesting everything from exploding comets to nuclear tests, to UFOs, have failed to explain the display captured by several of our satellites, that you can see on your screen.'

Gordon sipped his drink and grinned across the room at Malcolm. "If they did know, the world would go nuts."

"Fortunately, there is only a very compact group who do know. Your amazing young woman certainly has put paid to any doubts about the occult or paranormal activity." Malcolm sighed resignedly, turning off the TV. "How is she anyway?"

"She's been sequestered at the school facility where apparently she interned. How they found us is another mystery, but a few women showed up and just took her away. When we realized what had happened, all we had was that letter I gave you, telling us that when she was safe, she would return. Period."

"Well it can't be too soon for one of your members."

"Not for any of us, Malcolm. Not for any of us."

Word count - Wattpad 2335