Finger of the Unknown God

After evading some penetrating questions from reporters over the radio, Murphy, Anderson and McKeowan took the Gabrielle bound back for Dunedin, New Zealand and the end of their ordeal. However, on December 23rd, overhearing a fight between a crew-member and his bunk-mates, whom he had accused of "stealing his black opals" they became concerned. Their concern turned to suspicion when they realized that whetever had been in the jar had consumed every last trace of tobacco, and their suspicion became major worry when they found acid pits on the floor and tracked a hole near the radiator to a hole in the ceiling of a shower downstairs.

Next day, one of the engineers was attacked by "a black rat" that ate through his leg. Some of the crew captured it and the investigators sided with First Mate Turlow's advice: throw it over the side! The captain ordered them to investigate the thing first, especially since there appeared to be more than one on board ship. They discovered most of the blob's physical properties in the course of the day and when the dogs began howling, they immediately guessed what must be happening. Following Fiskarson into the dog compound, Murphy carefully observed the thing in the dog and only when Anderson was in position above the hatch did he start to prod the creature.

It leaped directly at Murphy's face. Murphy instinctively knocked it to the ground and it flew up the shaft, looking like an evil mix of dog, rat and spider. It was also much larger. Anderson attempted to use a firehose on it to knock it overboard, but was unable to cope with the hose by himself and was nearly swept overboard. The thing disappeared into the air vents.

The three came up with the plan of luring it to the engine room -- the warmest part of the ship. They were going to trap it in a safe and throw it overboard. Chemical fire extinguishers and large tubs of ice were set up around the engine room, with some of Turlow's men to hand as well. Murphy waited in the engine room and Anderson and McKeowan searched the ship. Returning to the engine room after one leg, McKeowan noticed that the thing was already there, curled up on a boiler. The sight of the visibly larger, horrible added to Anderson's over-taxed imagination; from that point on he was unable to talk except in a strange babbling language unintelligeable to the others. Nevertheless, the three started herding it towards the safe, but it was there that their well-executed plan failed. If they had put a heat source in the safe, all would have been well, but instead they had put ice to keep the other blobs they had found cold, and the thing was not keen to enter. Turlow's men tried to drive it in with axes and long pieces of metal, but it was too large for that now. It lept on one man, killing him instantly and presenting a horrific sight as well as triggering a strong feeling of wrongness as the animiculum took its largest form and became almost man-sized.

At this point the investigators, riding the edge of insanity already, drove right past it at high speed. Murphy decided that if he filled himself full of food, the thing couldn't fit inside him and started eating from the trunk of ice nearby. Anderson, who had developed a fetish for weaponry, dropped into complete despair and decided that everyone had to die to stop the thing. McKeowan knew that becoming very cold would save him, and started running to take a dip in the ocean. His run was stopped short at the top of the stairs to the deck by a bullet from Anderson that fractured Carlisle's knee and started an artery pumping blood out. One of the crew was able to stop the unconcious form dying of blood loss. The thing kept digesting the crewman, as Turlow's party fled and Anderson shot at Murphy, winging him slightly. Murphy started swinging his fists in return and after a few rounds, both came to their senses and realized that the thing had nearly finished eating and might want dessert.

With Anderson using a fire extinguisher and Murphy using a blowtorch, they managed to lure the thing on deck. Anderson followed the thing back up on deck, but was not sufficiently careful and when his extinguisher ran out, the thing jumped on him, covering him with acid and nearly killing him immediately. Turlow and Murphy turned the firehose on the fast-becoming-one form and knocked it overboard. Anderson made a last despairing attempt to hang on to the edge of the ship, but failed and sunk rapidly from sight, dragged down into the depths by the last finger of the unknown god, reaching out from the eternal cold of the trap in the valley of the Elder Things, high on the plateau, beyond the mountains of madness ...

Epilogue

What about Miss Lexington? She was being escorted by Sykes and when they realized they were alone on the plateau, they took the few remaining air canisters and started walking out. They had no problems at all with climbing - both of them were very good at it - but Lexington died of oxygen starvation coming down, leaving Sykes committed to hiding the terror on the plateau, but bitter about being deserted. Sykes managed the walk to Lake's camp and found it deserted. Not giving up hope, he achieved the next walk to the depot, where the radio had been left. He returned to the world months later, to amazement, a hero's welcome, and then confusion over the investigator's story.

Murphy was committed to a sanitorium in New Zealand, believing that all people were elder things endlessly experimenting on him. After six months, his belief was lessened to the point he could cope most of the time, unless people became aggressive or seemed unpleasant. That was their true nature coming out.

McKeowan initially received a hero's welcome, but the confusion over Sykes's story and the suggestion they had abandoned Miss Lexington to die tarnished his reputation and he retreated to obscurity. He had Dr. Weiss transferred to the Arkham sanitorum, from where he was eventually released, and the two started making preparations to sabotage a proposed expedition to go back to the plateau and find out the truth about Acacia Lexington's death and the investigators' actions. Weiss made contact with the Elder things using his Thoth spell to study their cipher and pictograms from memory. He again summoned a Byakhee to take him to the Antarctic, where he surrendered all vestiges of sanity and became a servant of the Elder Things, communicating with McKeowan by dreams and ferrying a chain of byakhee-carried victims from Anderson to Weiss to the Elder Things and to the wall. Any further expeditions beyond the mountains had better come prepared and armed, because the city is growing again ...

.. end of this story ..