HIVE

by Taylor, Dan

  He lifted his phone receiver and dialled the number.

  A man’s voice answered after one ring, “You should never call me from your office phone,” and then hung up.

  Already Ken had made a mistake. He needed to calm down and remember the procedure. He walked to his office door and locked it. On the wall hung a yellow painting of a honeycomb structure. One of the honeycomb pieces had been filled in black. This was a gift from one of the HIVE elite. It was a reminder that for all the success he has had in rising to this position he was still just one small section of something larger. Ken lifted the painting off the wall to expose a small safe. He unlocked it and opened the door. Inside was a Nokia 3210 mobile phone. A relic of technology before smart phones. After working out how to unlock the thing he found the one contact that was saved on the phone and pressed the green button to call.

  “Don’t ever forget protocol Ken. We have these measures to protect you and us. There must be something important going on for you to disturb me. Do you know time it is here? Don’t answer that, it was rhetorical.” The man’s voice was quick and sharp.

  Ken tried to sound authoritative, “The outbreak yesterday will make people question what really happened. You need to do something.”

  There were a few seconds silence on the line. The man’s reply was icy cold, “Do not presume that you have the authority to tell me what I need to do. The terrorist angle you spun today was a good one. Well done. Holt is already en route to Morocco where the British Army, with the assistance of HIVE, will deal with a group who have claimed responsibility for the attack. He left this morning and by tomorrow the British Government with the assistance of HIVE would have stopped any possibility of another attack in the UK.”

  “I had a report that one of your scientists and HIVE agents have stolen a helicopter and this is heading up North. Are they going after the infected two that escaped with the police office and journalist?” Asked Ken regaining some confidence.

  “They have gone rouge. But HIVE is tracking them all using our satellite and we have a good idea where they are going. They shouldn’t be a problem. Is there anything else you wanted?”

  “No, I just wanted to make sure that this was under control and we were in the clear,” Ken replied. He was smiling now, but only because he had heard that smiling whilst talking on the phone makes you sound more relaxed.

  The man on the other end of the phone sighed and then hung up.

  Chapter 52

  Hours seemed to pass on the car ride to Stornoway. Lydia didn’t stop asking questions to Callum, whilst Klutz listened intently and Abel brooded about the whole situation. To Callum it seemed like the questions were non-stop. They were not just about HIVE and the virus, the bits Klutz was most interested in, but also about Callum and his background and past, the bits Abel was interested in. Although Callum knew he had brought along a journalist he figured she was just some local newspaper reporter and wouldn’t have treated the situation so proficiently and thoroughly. She tapped away on her laptop as she spoke pausing only to take inhale. The only true break Callum got from the interrogation of his life and work was when they had to stop for petrol and snacks to keep Lydia and Abel going and when they were on the ferry between Ullapool and Stornoway. Callum wondered if the questioning would have been less intense if it had come from the police officer instead. Nearing the end of their journey, Lydia felt as if she had gained all the information she needed on why and how they had come here. Now she needed to know who they were going to see any why. Callum had gone through how Operation Cauldron happened and the rise of HIVE and had mentioned they were going to see the Fishermen of Stornoway.

  “The Fishermen of Stornoway are an organisation who want to take down HIVE. They will explain more when you meet them,” Callum said. Abel thought Callum was skirting around the information they needed and told him so.

  “No, no. They are the ones who need to explain,” he insisted, “This is an extremely secret operation and they would want to tell you and the reporter what the plan is themselves.”

  The ferry docked into Stornoway port. The sun was setting which lit the sky behind them ablaze. By contrast the island’s sky was dark and star lit. The salty wind blew ferociously as it tended to do in the Outer Hebrides and it knocked against the car as it drove out of the docks and onto the road. There was a tension inside the car. Abel, Lydia and Klutz were heading into the unexpected. Their world had been turned on its head. Either their government was being puppeteered by a malevolent organisation who were now hunting them, or they had been kidnapped by a madman who had decimated a town with a virus he had created. Neither option was particularly appealing.

  The town was typical of the Scottish coast. Rows of white or grey stone buildings lined against the docks like a line of giant teeth. The streetlamps buzzed with a soft orange glow and were tethered with white and blue bunting. A few hundred meters into the town a building was lit up like a beacon. It was a local pub called ‘The Viking’. It was painted in a Navy grey and had a large Norse helmet painted on the side in gold and white. Callum parked outside. As they left the car, he noticed Callum didn’t bother to lock it which made him suspect they would not be using it again. The group walked inside.

  It seemed the whole town was in the pub. People were laughing and chinking glasses. Eighties disco blared from a machine in the corner and the yellow lamps glowed of the wood panelling radiating warmth and comfort.

  “Dya get wet on the Ferry?” asked a man behind the bar to Callum. His black jumper had by now been soaked through from his leaking boils.

  “Yes, I did,” Callum smiled at the man and licked his lips. This turned Abel’s stomach who was becoming more and more repulsed by Callum and Klutz. “Do you know if Fergus is here?” Callum Asked.

  “Aye, he’s in the back.” The bar man replied eyeing the strange mixture of out of towners. As they moved to the back of the bar Klutz overheard the barman telling his colleague that he thought Callum smelled like a skunk which made Klutz feel bad for Callum and his condition and ashamed for not to speaking up to defend him.

  In the back of the pub was a group of six men sat around a bench. Each wore a different beard style and had bright orange overalls. The oldest of the group stood up. His face was sunburnt and wrinkled like a peanut skin. He had fiery red hair and a wiry red beard.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you the Fishermen of Stornoway,” Callum bowed both dramatically and idiotically.

  Before the men could introduce themselves properly Lydia injected, “You’re all actually fishermen.”

  “Aye,” they replied in unison.

  She was stunned. “I thought you were some great rival organisation or something. No offense but, how on earth is a bunch of fishermen going to help?” Her astonishment was turning into anger and she looked at Abel searching for answers. How could she be so stupid. Abel was internally running through the legality of what they had done. ‘Sure, they could have alerted someone at one of the petrol stations or onboard the ferry, but they were sure it would have caused their kidnapper to attack and infect others.’ It sounded plausible. He had seen more frivolous arguments win over a jury.

  “Let’s hear them out. We have come a long way,” Abel told her and gave her a look to reassure that he knew what he was doing. He introduced the group and the six men huddled together and spoke hushed words.

  The man with the red beard turned to Abel. The lines on his face changed with his expressions like crossed telephone lines. “Sorry, we are very selective with who we talk to. There are spies everywhere. I’m Angus and I am the Captain of the Fear Knot. As you, Lydia, had guessed it’s a fishing trawler. This is my crew.” He pointed at the men one by one, “Douggie, Ralph, Matt, Glyn and Glen. We have decided that if Callum can vouch for you then you must be alright. Let’s go onboard the Fear Knot and we can explain what is going on. There are too many people here. Follow us.”

  The group got up and left through a back door of the pub. Klutz, not
looking where he was going accidently bumped into a patron who was drinking a pint of dark ale. Not yet used to his strength this bump was more like a shove and the man fell forwards into a wall and cut his lip open on the glass. He turned around and punched Klutz in the face thinking this was done on purpose. Klutz tried to apologise but the blood dripping down the man’s lip wouldn’t let him. Instead he pounced on the man and snapped his teeth at him. Abel and Callum grabbed Klutz who was screeching like a banshee. The man was screaming in return. They apologised and explained he was drunk and they pulled Klutz by the arms out the pub. The barman was shouting something about being barred but they did not care. Callum pinned Klutz to the car park floor and shouted at Able to get some meat from his satchel. Abel reached into the satchel and felt a plastic bag. He slipped his fingers inside and felt the disgusting cold wet flesh. He pulled out a thin chunk and felt chills run from his arm and down his back. Klutz was on the ground gnashing his teeth. Abel dropped the chunk from a foot away and it fell into Klutz’s mouth. He chewed and swallowed and his body stopped tensing. Abel saw Klutz’s face relax. He looked relieved and satisfied but there were tears in his eyes. For the first time Abel felt truly sorry for Klutz. An innocent bystander who did not want to harm anyone but was diseased with a compulsion to do so. He liked the boy and knew he was as innocent as they come. Klutz put his hands over his eyes and cried out of embarrassment and guilt.

  Chapter 53

  The trawler looked old. Its once shiny blue hull was now matt and flaking. The white bow was stained with orange streaks of rust that dripped down like the sides of a massive casserole dish. It sported a worn tire fender that hung limply like a black pearl necklace and precociously balanced its rigging and winches like huge cobwebs.

  Captain Angus looked at his watch. “Come on board now we are right on time.”

  Almost as soon as they had stepped on board, the ship was detached from the dock and they were launched into the bay. No sooner had they left the port they heard a voice from the wheelhouse.

  “Ahh, you have arrived at last. Me and my friend were worried you might have left already.” Stepping outside and onto the deck in radiant white lab coat was Dr Schaf Leiter, followed closely by Delta One in his sinister black HIVE uniform. One of the fishermen pushed past into the wheelhouse to guide the boat on its voyage.

  “Why have you brought him? This was not the plan,” shouted Angus in his thick highlander accent as he pointed to Delta One and spat off the side of the ship.

  Callum tensed. He recognised Delta One even with his helmet on. He was sure he had killed him. He had heard his bones crack when he threw him against the wall which could only mean that Schaf had reanimated him using the virus. The boils underneath his polo jumper bubbled intensely as his fight or flight instinct kicked in. Pools of ooze started running from beneath his polo and over his trousers. Delta One was brandishing a sub machine gun. Callum knew he had special healing abilities but was sure a gunshot to the head would kill him.

  “Delta One helped me to escape. I have lifted the veil HIVE had over his eyes and now he knows who HIVE really are and wants to stop them as much as we do.” Dr Leitner called down.

  “He is like me and Klutz. He is an infected,” Callum announced interrupting Dr Leitner. He did not want Delta One to have any advantages, “And he has come to kill me.”

  Delta One raised the machine gun and pointed it at Callum. “That’s right. You killed my team. One was called Phillip Mendes. A Lance Corporal in the British Army, a husband and a father of two. He was an asshole but he was my friend. At HIVE he was called Delta Three. You also killed a beautiful woman. She never rose past a private in the Army, but she was kind and loving and she made me happy. At HIVE she was called Delta Six. Her name was Mary. I was in love with her. You took her from me without hesitation and without reason. That I cannot forgive.” Delta One pulled the trigger and shot Callum in the arm blowing a hole straight through his bicep.

  Callum shouted in surprise more than pain. Another shot went through the same bicep with expert precision. He was going to make Callum suffer. In response, Callum jumped an unnatural height landing atop the mainmast and then jumping down onto of Delta One. He pummelled his fists into Delta One’s armour like a gorilla beating its rival.

  “I did not want to kill them. I had to escape. You were going to kill me anyway,” he screeched as he knocked the machine gun aside which let off a hail of bullet as it landed. One bullet narrowly missed Klutz’ head who, like the rest of the boat, was frozen starring at the commotion.

  “You knew we couldn’t hurt you. We had the worker bee serum in us. You knew and you decided to kill us anyway.” Delta One blocked Callum’s fists where he could. Callum was a full two feet taller and wider than Delta One making the match look very one sided. However, Delta One had the training and the resolve. He grabbed Cullum’s wounded arm and dug his fingers into the bullet holes. He pulled at the raw skin to try to tear chunks off. This had the desired effect and Callum yelled and jumped off. Delta One Kicked Callum in the knee so hard it smashed the bone and Callum fell to the floor like jelly.

  “You win,” he screamed in agony, “Just kill me. I deserve it. I did kill you friend and your lover. But I did not know at first that you would not be able to kill me. I did not want to kill you but there was no choice. You have the same virus inside of you and you must have felt the bloodlust it brings. I am sorry for how things turned out for you.”

  Delta One picked up the machine gun and stood over Callum. “It wasn’t just Mary and Phillip. Last I checked the death toll was around seven hundred. You and this whole party here had committed the obscenest genocide. I have already been told the reason why. Dr Leitner explained the reasons. But mad men always have good reasons for doing the horrid things they have done. Two foreigners and a boat of Scots murdering over seven hundred innocent people.”

  Dr Leitner interjected, “You of all people, Delta One, must know why it had to happen here. Why do you care so much? Because the people are British? Because they are ‘your’ people? The West would not care if this happened in the Middle East or Africa. How many massacres happen in those regions each day that no one cares about? How many have you been a part of? Have you heard about the outbreak of this exact same virus in Taiwan which wiped out an entire village six months ago? No, you didn’t because nobody cared and their government was too easily paid off. We live in bubbles separated by imaginary borders drawn up by old men hundreds of years ago. We have done something that very few can do and sacrificed ‘our’ people to help millions of others. The world is currently balanced on a string and the invisible hand of HIVE is resting a knife against it. The only way to stop them is to shed some light on those hands for the world to see. The ‘most obscene genocide’, as you put it, Is the first step to making the world know and become a safer place. Delta One you have the opportunity here to break free of them and the evil they have undoubtably made you do. Stop this fighting and join us. Your testimony will be invaluable to helping the cause. Plus, your new strength can be used to help others. Don’t be a puppet, make your own choice.”

  Delta One paused and thought deeply. The whole boat was on tenterhooks for his response. Delta One realised they were scared of him and he was scared of himself too. A groan rose from his stomach at the sight of Cullum’s blood on his glove fingers. “I get it. I really do. I have killed many in the name of doing the right thing, or at least by believing that my employers were doing the right thing. I also know that HIVE is evil and needs to be stopped. The truth is the clues have always been there but you have to put your faith in something. I know the hungrier I get the more I lose control.” His hands were trembling ever so slightly. “There is a monster inside of me that can only be placated with human flesh. Both HIVE and yourselves have taken everything away from me. So, I thank you for the invitation to the cause but I choose to decline.” He lifted the machine gun barrel under his mask and pulled the trigger. A spray of dark blood wetted the back of C
allum’s head as he shielded himself. Delta One fell to the ground solid and inanimate.

  The group looked around each other dumbfounded and silent until Abel pointed out two lights in the distance. The lights were pointed at them and were moving with the waves.

  Angus stroked his wiry ginger beard, “Here comes the HIVE cavalry. Right lads, drop the anchor.”

  “We’re not stopping to fight them, are we?” Asked Lydia to anyone who would listen. She could not bear another battle after seeing Callum and Delta One fight.

  “Nah,” replied Angus, “We have reached our destination.” On cue, from the starboard side of the boat the waves bubbled and crashed as something long and black rose from the deep. “Right, everyone into the sub.”

  In the dark the black submarine shimmered from the moonlight. It was forty meters long and rose around five feet above the water line. It bobbed gently like an ominous leviathan. Although calm compared to the madness onboard the Fear Knot, its unnaturalness compared to its surroundings made butterflies in Abel, Lydia and Klutz’s stomachs. A small hatch opened and another bearded crew member appeared. He greeted everyone politely and ushered them one by one into the submarine’s bowels. Angus was last onboard, but not before dousing the Fear Knot in oil and setting it alight. He had not known Delta One but felt the makeshift funeral pyre was probably more than he deserved.

  By the time the HIVE boats had caught up, the trawler was a blazing inferno and the Fishermen of Stornoway, along with Klutz, Abel and Lydia, had disappeared into the deep.

  Chapter 54

  The submarine was more cramped than Lydia expected. In truth she didn’t know what to expect. She had never even thought about what it is like on a submarine. The ceilings were low which meant Callum, even on crutches for his shattered knee, had to bend his neck constantly giving him a ghoulish Lurch appearance. The living area could be changed into the sleeping area with pull down bunks, there was a kitchen and pantry and also large animal like cages which were used for Callum and Klutz to be chained inside at night time. There was no way for her to tell how deep or where they were. She silently thanked God she was not claustrophobic. Angus had given her instructions on what they would like her to do. She had been told it was not in their plans to have her, Abel and Klutz on board but had really been fortunate that they were here. They were going to record tapes documenting the truth of what happened and send to all the media but having an actual reporter and two witnesses to tell their stories was a huge bonus and would give more credence to their cause. Lydia had agreed, on the condition that she did the reporting her way. She would get the truth and ask the questions she wanted to ask. The tapes would not be edited and she would not favour the fishermen or HIVE. She was to be completely neutral. Angus had reluctantly agreed and shown her to where he thought the interviews should take place. At the rear of the submarine was a flat wall with studio lights and a white bedsheet that had ‘Fishermen of Stornoway for the truth’ written across it in a scratchy black pen.