by Paul Teague
James moved towards the control panel that he’d operated earlier, to begin the process of closing the bunker doors. He was not expecting a third person to step out of the darkness, so he was not even aware of what was going on just beyond the illuminated shield. A third figure stepped out from the blackness beyond the bunker doors. The woman and her young companion were completely disorientated and still did not have full vision, but this third person had an advantage, his eyes were already accustomed to the light. He had been wearing a device that had enabled him to have full vision during his time beyond the bunker entrance.
This man was used to making quick and ruthless decisions. As he stepped into the light he had a weapon drawn. He would have had time to think this through, he was very familiar with the processes of strategy and planning. He glided quietly behind the man at the control panel and past the woman and her companion, who could still see virtually nothing as their eyes adjusted to so many hours in complete blackness. Undetected, he made his way at speed along the long corridor, as James moved to assist the bunker’s two new inhabitants.
As he turned the corner at the end of the corridor, the man pressed a large, red alarm button – one of many that were placed at regular intervals throughout the structure – and immediately the bunker sprung to alert, lights flashed and deafening alarm sirens sounded everywhere. He needed this distraction; it would buy him some time to find a uniform and integrate himself in this place without being noticed. He knew that the three people who he’d just left at the entrance would be safe for now, even though there might be some difficult questions to answer and possibly even a heightened state of security to deal with in the aftermath. But if he’d played this correctly, nobody would even know that he was in the bunker. And that would leave him a free agent to get to the bottom of what was really going on here. Because if the child was still alive, this was much bigger than anybody in this bunker could possibly imagine, himself included.
27 November 1983
It’s difficult to determine from the historical articles exactly when governments throughout the world began to publicly acknowledge the universal threats to the environment. Publicly, many countries rejected the claims of the scientists, others didn’t even reveal them to their citizens and some were seen to be taking action, although it was never deemed to be enough.
The public did their bit, turning off lights, reducing aerosol use, buying the correct type of fridge and leaving their multicoloured wheelie bins at the end of their drives. But the damage had been done a long time before that. It was never globally acknowledged, of course it wasn’t, there would have been mass hysteria, riots and anarchy. And the planet would have died anyway.
We’d taken the steps that were killing our planet a long time ago, many of them we couldn’t have even detected with the technology that we had available to us. We were so blissfully ignorant of the extreme damage that we had done.
So on 27 November 1983, a global consortium representing all territories across the Earth’s surface signed an agreement that put us on a path to renewal and regeneration. The world continued to function as it does – wars were fought, pacts signed, treaties forged, and everything else that makes up the daily news headlines. But completely unknown to the population on Earth, steps were in place to secure the survival of the planet, an operation that was taking place only at the highest global level of security. It would take more than thirty years to put in place, but when regeneration began, it would start with darkness.
Secret Reunion
Even though she’d left the military not long after that terrible event, she’d still kept in touch with Roachie. Nothing that could be traced of course. After the mission debriefing, they’d been warned – threatened to be more accurate – never to discuss the events that had taken place that day. Naturally, they weren’t direct threats. But it was made very clear that this really was top secret stuff. She hadn’t even been allowed to visit Roachie. They’d given her regular updates about his progress, made sure that she knew he was okay. But they were forbidden from ever discussing that exercise together.
They were monitored for a while – phones, emails and meetings – but she’d shown every sign of being relieved that she was away from military operations. She knew in her heart that she was well clear of it all. Not long afterwards she’d met a man called Mike in her civilian life and they’d married very soon after that. They stopped monitoring her after the wedding. They’d wrongly assumed that she’d put it all behind her.
But she knew how to play the waiting game, and when the time was right, six years later, she reached out to Roachie via a disposable mobile phone and a bit of online research. DIY espionage kits now available using your home PC. He was delighted that she’d contacted him again and they met up when he was on leave: on a train, where they would never even think to monitor.
It was a snatched conversation. It started with a hug. She was so sorry for what she’d done to him, but so utterly relieved that he was okay. A hug from him too. And congratulations about the twins. He didn’t know about the lasting damage that he’d done to her, but he too was relieved to see her standing there, alive. They’d never really known what had happened that day. They’d thought they were on a routine mission together. They’d even taken a photo of themselves together just before they’d been deployed. It was the one on Roachie’s desk in the bunker, though she’d never got a copy as it had been on his camera. Probably best that Mike and the kids never knew. They understood that the mission was a little unusual.
But what had really happened that day? How did they get out? Their gamble had certainly paid off as far as they were concerned, but when they had come round, they’d both been led to believe that they’d been ‘extracted’. Rescued in other words. There really wasn’t a lot that they could agree on about that day. Only that there were a lot of worried faces around at that time. Somebody had got into serious trouble over their injuries. And it was very clear to her that they couldn’t get rid of her quick enough when the redundancy notice came through. It had the air of a cover up, as if somebody would have to do some serious smoothing over.
They were both agreed on one thing though. Whatever the source of that voice that had demanded a response from them, it was like nothing they’d ever heard before. The voice that had compelled them in such a desperate situation to make an impossible choice. It was at once commanding, threatening, urgent … and definitely not of this world.
Chapter Two
Lost
I know straight away that the alarms are connected to whatever I just left going on in the bunker entrance. I wonder what Kate will say if Mum is waiting there – in a different set of clothes to the image that she has just shown me on her screen. Now that would take some explaining! Kate moves instantly. I hadn’t considered it before, but she seems to be pretty well in charge of this place. She isn’t shouting orders or anything like that, and in fact I’ve found it pretty hard to detect any hierarchy here so far. But it’s fair to say that she knows exactly what’s going on, and, as she leaves the Control Room, she is joined – as if it has been rehearsed beforehand – by four armed guards.
Nobody has placed her in charge, but let’s put it this way: they’re following her. I run along behind, anxious to see what’s going on here.
Split Second
The bunker doors were securely shut and the wonderful colours of the protective shield, no longer required, disappeared as fast as they had started. James rushed towards the two figures, who were blinking madly and rubbing their eyes, desperately trying to acclimatize to the light levels inside the bunker.
‘Come with me!’ said James, his tone suggesting that this was not up for discussion. He grabbed the arm of the woman and as he did so something dropped from her pocket. There was no time to investigate, the alarms were ringing, he must have made a mistake. The bunker staff knew that somebody was here, at the bunker’s blast doors, but they did not know who. If they could make it to the end of this corridor, they
may have been able to go undetected. At that moment, the blue lights in the necks of the woman and the man stopped pulsating. They were at rest. This part of the mission was completed; they were safely in the bunker.
Whoever was controlling these devices knew that this man and this woman could now avoid detection better on their own, without the assistance of the devices. Their thoughts and memories of what had been taking place in the past half-hour were restored. As the pulsing stopped, recognition dawned on them both at once. ‘Roachie!’ she exclaimed. ‘Amy,’ he replied.
This was not unlike a scenario that they’d found themselves in many years previously. A sudden crisis situation. Limited data from which to make fast decisions. Whoever was controlling those blue devices knew that these two were best when they worked together, under conditions of extreme stress, and without interference from the devices in their necks. A unique 0.01 percent of a test sample. They were being left to get on with it on their own. And it didn’t matter now that they recognized each other. In fact, that’s exactly how it needed to be. For this part of their mission, they would need to rely on their innate skills and judgement. She was slightly ahead of him, just as it had been all those years ago. As partners, they were perfectly in tune in situations such as this. There were few options.
The alarms were sounding. The alert had been raised. This was not necessarily a hostile situation. Very soon, they would be met by security guards of some sort. Hostile or not, it would result in questions and probably, some form of detention. You didn’t have alarms unless something serious was going on. Whatever was going on outside, it had something to do with this place. And there was this additional information that only she could digest and he had no knowledge of. Most people would display huge extremities of emotion when confronted with the sight of this child in front of her. The blue device had suppressed that recognition so far, but now there was no doubt about it. But this pair were one of only 0.01 percent; they didn’t do what other people would do.
There had been a lot of trouble over what they’d done all those years previously. But that was why they needed to be here. Together, in this bunker, at this time. James had been scheduled to be here already. Amy would have been lured here at the last moment, when events had taken a sudden turn. Over thirty years in the planning, and nobody could have foreseen this. In an instant the decision was made. All those years ago, it was about buying more time, creating a different option, an alternative outcome when it seemed that none were possible.
James knew in that instant that if Amy was here it had to be connected with those events years earlier. This crazy darkness outside, the secrecy, the planning, the military overtones of the entire affair.
Amy realized the same: it must all be connected, but with the child here too, inexplicably, they must have been at the centre of this somehow. Most people would have waited, like rabbits frozen in the headlamps, so much in panic that they couldn’t even see what options were available to them. They knew that they had to buy more time for explanation, to figure out what was going on here.
‘Sorry Roachie,’ Amy said as she took her laptop out of her bag and smacked James firmly on the head.
She didn’t notice the phone that had fallen to the ground to her side. She grabbed the child’s hand, and they ran for their lives as Roachie slumped bloodied to the ground.
Fallout
He thought that he was going to be taken off the project after the near-fatal injuries, but by the skin of his teeth he had managed to salvage his role. After all, with so much energy and expertise invested already, and with time running out for the planet, this was really no time for an impromptu change of personnel. He was uniquely qualified for this job, above everybody else on the planet, so a bit of collateral damage was easily explained.
The military were furious, calling him incompetent for allowing live rounds of ammunition during the simulations, wanting his head on a plate because their two soldiers had been exposed to so much real danger. They’d been assured that the worst case scenario was a bad headache and temporary unconsciousness from the lasers, which would be set to stun. But with both Zero-97/4 and Zero-98/4 sustaining life-threatening injuries, this was becoming uncomfortable. It didn’t take too long for the posturing and temper tantrums to die down and the assertions of rank to cease. Once it had been passed up and down the command chain a few times, it was agreed that the situation should just be ‘contained’.
She was to be exited from her military role, with immediate effect. They’d call it redundancy, move her on without a fuss. He would be given the best care and support possible, then allowed to continue his long and exemplary career. For him, that was the course of least resistance; he was a military man, easier to keep him where he was most comfortable, but no more special missions for him. They would be forbidden to communicate and this would be monitored to ensure full compliance. Besides, he had a strong interest in how they’d both performed that day. Results like those could come in useful, he wanted them out of everybody else’s sight. But he wanted them where he could see them. He had known about the meeting on the train, he knew that there was a lifelong connection there. Honestly, a disposable mobile phone? It was easily traced back to her. Nobody else knew about their meeting and he certainly had not shared that information.
The research and tests continued, the furore settled down, and he continued at the forefront of the project, working from his base in the UK. A role sanctioned by The Global Consortium. But ultimately controlled by a much higher power.
Chapter Three
Message
By the time Kate and the guards arrive at the entrance, whatever happened here seems to be over. There is no sign of Mum. That is a huge disappointment for me.
However, slumped against the wall with a fresh trickle of blood from a nasty wound on his head is the man I’d been watching only a short time beforehand. The bunker doors are firmly shut, the wonderful blanket of light across the entrance has disappeared, and there is no sign of anybody else.
Kate is taken aback by this. ‘James,’ she says, ‘what happened here?’
It’s strange to see her refer to James’s name badge on his uniform. Here we are in a hi-tech installation, yet all the people around us are only just getting to know each other and still have to resort to what are effectively supermarket name badges to figure out who they are talking to. As if she is about to ask him where the cabbages are.
James rubs his head melodramatically and gives the appearance of being dazed. I’ve seen acting skills like that before. In fact, I’m the master of them!
‘I was running a routine inspection of the doors and cameras,’ James explains, ‘and I think I must have hit my head on the panel here.’
Kate looks uncertain and turns to the security team for guidance, but there doesn’t seem to be an awful lot to say here.
‘We’d had a problem with the cameras,’ James continues. ‘I’m sorry, I should have flagged it in the Control Room, I just put it down to routine teething problems.
‘At least I managed to sound the alarm to get your attention,’ he adds, almost pleadingly.
Kate appears hesitant, but reasonably convinced by this. What he is saying seems unlikely, yet only hours earlier she’d had to send a team to retrieve me from this very area, so it’s certainly not impossible that another problem has occurred here. They’d used biohazard suits when they came for me because they didn’t know that the area was fully clear from the darkness outside at that stage. I decide to help this James guy out. I can see through his bad acting, and I want to get a chance to talk with him in private.
‘Kate, that head wound looks pretty bad, I wonder if he should get that looked at?’ I propose.
With nothing else to suggest, Kate nods agreement, then asks one of the security team to check system records to make sure that James’s story checks out.
James is escorted away from the area, towards the MedLab, to get the head wound looked at. The security guys make sure that
the control panel is secured, then leave the area. I am lurking, and nobody seems to have noticed. I hope that they won’t spot what I’ve just seen hiding away in a shadowy edge of the corridor. It’s my phone. Mum has been here. And James is covering something up. As the security team start to head off down the corridor, I grab the phone and tap the screen to force it back into life. The battery is really low. They can power a fluffy pink rabbit with a cymbal for several days in those TV adverts but they still can’t make a mobile phone stay charged for any decent length of time.
Fortunately, because we’ve had no internet in Scotland, all the connectivity was switched off, so I still have a little bit of life left in the phone. There is a new text message waiting for me. Actually, it’s a multimedia text message; if it had just been a text, I might not have looked. It has been sent from Dad’s phone. I open it up hurriedly, cursing the battery life on my phone. Could he have sent me this when we were separated? Would the text service even work down here? I open up the video. It is Dad. In the background is Doctor Pierce. It has been filmed outside our front door. It was dark outside when this was recorded.
This must have been filmed that night we got the strange knock at the door. When I thought I’d heard Doctor Pierce’s voice. It had been Doctor Pierce. I play the video, and Dad’s voice comes through the speaker. It’s not that long since I’d last seen him, but it feels reassuring to hear his voice. ‘Dan, it’s Dad,’ he begins. I actually laugh at that.