The Wild Adventures of Cthulhu: Volume One by Will Murray

Author:Will Murray [Murray, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798846896086
Google: DTBqzwEACAAJ
Amazon: B0BC3D12CP
Goodreads: 62100015
Publisher: Odyssey Publications
Published: 2022-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

THE SOTHIS RADIANT

“A call for you, Dean Webb.”

“Put it through,” said Dean of Astronomy David Webb, picking up the receiver.

The voice didn’t wait for his hello.

“Dean Webb. This is Randall Vincent. National Reconnaissance Office. I don’t have a lot of time. The National Weather Service forecast calls for clear skies tonight. You will wait for me in your office. I expect to arrive at eight sharp.”

“Do I know you?”

“It’s about Sparhawk.”

“Sparhawk!”

“No time. They’re calling my flight. Eight sharp.”

The line went dead. Dean Webb stared at it with a vaguely stunned expression lengthening his already long face.

“National Reconnaissance Office?” he muttered. He tapped the intercom key and asked, “Do you know anything about Sparhawk?”

“Sparhawk Observatory?”

“I imagine so. Is there a contemporary Sparhawk on the Miskatonic campus?”

“Not that I’ve heard.”

“Check Dean Parkman’s files, please. I just had an odd call.”

The secretary entered twenty minutes later, saying, “There is no Sparhawk file.”

“You don’t recall hearing Dean Parkman speak of Sparhawk, do you?”

“No, Dean Webb.”

Webb frowned deeply. “Thank you,” he said. He checked his watch. The phone voice had that urgent edge that dispelled all doubt. It was no prank call. He had a few hours until eight. Time enough for dinner and a brisk walk. He decided to take the walk first.

It promised to be a crisp night for a change. A number I on the Antoniadi scale—perfect viewing.

In the southernmost corner of the sprawling Miskatonic Campus sat Sparhawk Observatory, its verdigrised dome dull under an early February sun. Visiting professors of astronomy called it a jewel of a Victorian observatory. The first time he’d laid eyes on it, Webb’s heart had literally leapt for joy in his chest, only to splash back into the waters of disappointment when told that the old brick structure had been declared unsafe many years earlier, the facility shut and padlocked.

Webb felt drawn to it. The shuttered slit faced south as it had since the first day he arrived on campus. Ivy had insinuated itself into the brick walls, strangling the railed dome catwalks but stopping short of the dome itself. He tried to imagine it when it was new, before the brick had dulled and the mortar yellowed. The copper dome must have gleamed like a new penny.

Some impulse compelled Webb to climb the short wooden steps. He stopped before the door. The chain and padlock did not appear very old. He assumed there would be a No Trespassing sign, if not one saying, Condemned. There was none.

Feeling around the tangled dormant ivy by the door buzzer, his finger encountered the scratchy texture of rust. He exposed a small plate like an old doorbell nameplate off a Back Bay brownstone.

The plate was nearly obliterated by rust. It was very old. The screws were corroded into the plate itself.

Scraping with his car keys, he managed to uncover two words etched into the metal:

CLOSED

U.S. SECRET

The rest was too far gone. Giving up, Webb walked away, casting more than one backward glance.

What did the National Reconnaissance Office want with

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.