The Secret Bunker Trilogy

by Paul Teague

  There was only one solution to rescue this dying planet, and The Consortium knew that it would have to be done.

  It was a matter of survival now, the planet had maybe ten years left before the critical point was reached. It couldn’t be done without their help, they’d have to accept the only real prospect that was still available.

  The Earth was going to have to be saved using very drastic measures. It would require environmental alteration. Carbon dioxide would be removed from the atmosphere. It would be seeded with algae to convert nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds.

  Microbial life would be introduced, geophysical and geochemical processes would be implemented. The Earth’s geology and planetary biosphere would require complete recalibration.

  These processes had once upon a time been proposed for Mars and Venus. Now they were urgently needed on our own planet.

  If Earth was to survive this impending catastrophe, it would require something radical and unique. The entire planet was about to be terraformed.

  Clarity

  Amy was momentarily stunned. Only moments ago, she’d left her companion standing by the door. Now she was on her own. She allowed herself an expletive. Normally, she was very controlled in front of the children, but she was an adult and this situation required a swear word. Her emotions were running furiously, she’d had a lot to take in in a very short amount of time. And she needed to know what had happened to her family – she was desperate to find out if they were okay. Amy made for the door and had her previous lack of success with opening it. First she pressed – as was instinctive – then she pushed, then she remembered how it had opened the first time. She placed her hand on the pad – it opened.

  She stepped outside in the corridor, scanned for any other bunker staff in the area, and when the coast was clear, she tried her hand on the door pad again. It wouldn’t open. Okay, so you needed special access to get inside rooms, but once inside, you could easily get out again. She’d need to be careful to follow other people into rooms, try to avoid getting caught without access. There was a long list of people that she needed to locate. And she hadn’t even worked out yet if there was a problem with her being in the bunker.

  She knew enough about military life to understand that it was very unlikely that there would be freedom of movement for civilians, so stealth mode seemed to be the best bet for now. She would need to summon the nerve to walk confidently through the corridors. Any hint of looking furtive or suspicious and they’d be on to her.

  Amy walked along the corridor, aware of the surveillance cameras overhead and trying to get a sense of what this place had become since she last walked along here. It was very obvious that some amazing changes had taken place, and whatever was going on outside, the people in this bunker were connected with it all in some way. Everything here had the feel of military efficiency, but this was not the military that she’d known. Here there was no expense spared, the quality, newness and technology used in everything that she saw was beyond her own experience.

  She decided to try to pick up a main flow of movement through the bunker and to follow that to the centre. Wherever she ended up, it would probably enable her to glean a little more information at least – and get a feel for what was going on here.

  As she moved along the corridor, she became suddenly aware of a person walking quickly behind and gaining on her. They were walking with purpose, at some pace. She wanted to hurry, to run – and even to look back – but she knew she had to stay calm and continue walking at a steady pace. The person caught up with her and grabbed her arm. ‘Come with me!’

  Glimpse

  So Doctor Pierce is connected with all of this in some way. I’d never known his first name – he’d always been ‘Doctor Pierce’ when I’d encountered him at school – but this has to be the same person, it’s just too much of a coincidence. And in the video message from Dad, he’d been with Doctor Pierce at the time. Dad had told me to find Level 3. Well, here I am and this is Doctor Pierce’s desk … but no sign of Doctor Pierce himself. I’m supposed to find out what’s going on here. I lay my mobile phone on the desk, might as well get rid of this somewhere safe, it’s no use to me right now.

  I scan the screens at the workstation, but everything seems to be set on that graphic of the Earth. The darkness appears to be at 98 percent now. Looking at the time, I’m guessing that we get the mission statement at 8.00 p.m., when it reaches 100 percent. That would make sense, but I’m only guessing here. Maybe putting two plus two together and ending up with five. There’s nothing more to be done here as far as I can see.

  I scan the work area once again: there’s no sign of Doctor Pierce, nothing on any of the screens that gives me a clue and no sign even that anybody has been here recently. A dead end. I decide to move back towards the lift to check out Level 4. I have a nasty feeling that I’m not going to be able to gain any ground here, I think I’ll have to wait until the briefing at eight o’clock to get some clarity.

  As I head towards the lift, I can hear movement beyond the doors. The lift is moving. If I’m not mistaken, that was heading upwards from Level 4. That means somebody else has access to these levels – it could be Doctor Pierce. I call the lift and it arrives at Level 3 swiftly. As I press the button to Level 4, I notice that one of the two buttons that are unusually marked is illuminated. The same as it was when I had tried these mystery buttons earlier. That means somebody else with my access rights has to have been in this lift only moments previously – and they were heading to Level 4. I press the Level 4 button and the lift descends. The doors open. Once again I am confronted with the black corridor with the thick red stripes all along it.

  It has an ominous feel about it. I make my way along the corridor and hear a door slide open up ahead. Everything here is Black Zone, the same as Doctor Pierce’s work area in the level above. I ignore the other doors that I pass and make directly for the one which I believe has just been used by somebody else.

  It’s about where the sound of the closing door came from. When I reach it, I can see that it has just been opened, because the light on the entry pad is still illuminated. Whoever it is doesn’t seem to be aware that I’m following them. Either that or they’re trying to shake me off. I step into the room, this is unlike anything that I’ve seen so far. It’s the usual hi-tech, but it seems to be some kind of transportation area.

  There are platforms on which boxed equipment is placed. But this area doesn’t seem to be just for transporting equipment, it appears to be used for transporting humans too. At the far end of the room, somebody is standing on one the smaller platforms. They are surrounded by a pulsating orange light, as if some process has already begun. They have their back to me. I can’t see if it is Doctor Pierce. I run towards the area, shouting to get this person’s attention. I can see that whatever this device is, it is operated in the same way that everything else is here – by a hand pad. The hand pad is activated, whoever is standing in front of me has just started this process. The orange, shimmering light surrounds the person inside and their image is diffused.

  I can’t tell what this machine – this contraption – is doing, but it seems to be harmless. The person inside it wanted to do this, they are not in pain or anxious about this in any way. They appear to have done this before. I can see that they’re about to turn around – they must have heard me now, even though this thing makes an electronic sound, which seems to be getting more shrill as the process continues. I slam my hand on the panel in the hope that it will stop whatever is happening and I will be able to talk to whoever is in there. In the instant that I touch the panel the person inside turns around. Whatever I just did, it failed to stop the process. In fact, it seemed to complete it. The orange shimmering lights disappear along with the person inside them. But not so soon that I don’t get a definite glimpse of who was inside. I suspected it from the minute I had walked into that room. My sense of connection has been fully restored.

  For the first time
in three years, I feel ‘locked-in’ again; the signal that I’ve been searching for all this time has finally been re-established. There is absolutely no doubt about it now. Even through the illuminated orange shield, at the moment that they turned to face me, I knew exactly who that person was. They were older, taller and their hair was different. The person who’s just used this device is my twin, Nat. It’s the sister who I’d seen dying in front of my own eyes three years earlier.

  Chapter Six

  Reunion

  She’d been alarmed by the words ‘Come with me!’, but in the instant that she heard them, she also recognized the voice that had delivered them. It was James. He guided her into a Green Zone room that had the appearance of a meeting room. There were no cameras in here; they could speak privately and undetected. They hugged as old friends do, but hung on a little tighter, because they’d been through such terrible events together in their past.

  ‘What’s going on, James?’ Amy asked. She had so many questions that she needed to ask.

  ‘I signed up for this mission because I need the work; I was made redundant last year,’ James began. ‘It’s not like anything I’ve done since you and I last served together, but I didn’t think anything of it – until you arrived. Amy, I can’t explain what happened, but I don’t really recall going to the bunker entrance to let you in. I just suddenly became aware that you were there. I knew it was you all the time. I saw your face, but I didn’t make the connection.’

  Amy recognized this. ‘James, I’ve just seen my daughter, Nat. I can’t explain it, it had to be her … but she died, three years ago.’ She paused, the pain of those events surging back like a bullying emotion, which refused to stop picking on her.

  ‘I lost her, though; we barely had time to speak, but it was the same for me: I discovered her in the car when I went back to get the phone and the laptop. I saw her, but I didn’t make that emotional connection. It just didn’t register, but the moment my eyes began to focus again after you’d let us into the bunker, I recognized her immediately. She’s older and taller, of course. But you don’t forget your own daughter.’

  These words hung in the air. Neither of them could offer an explanation. As yet, they were unaware of the blue pulsating lights lying dormant beneath their skin. Resting for now, but ready to be activated again if required. ‘And my family are in here somewhere – Dan, Mike, Harriet and David, I need to find them,’ she continued after a long silence.

  ‘Amy, your family is safe, but you won’t be able to see them, I’m afraid.’ At least James was able to offer this reassurance. ‘All civilians who were caught inside the base have been placed in stasis, for security and safety reasons. They’re safe, but they’re asleep, the same as everybody outside the bunker. I don’t know who’s in there, but we can find out pretty easily. I’ll bet that’s where your family is.’

  Amy was relieved to hear this, but still anxious. ‘I’m concerned about Dan,’ she continued. ‘He’d got separated from Mike when the bunker doors closed. He was calling out to me when we got shut outside.’

  ‘What does he look like?’ James asked.

  ‘Same height as Nat, jeans, T-shirt, dark hair …’ Amy began.

  ‘I think I’ve seen him,’ James interrupted. ‘There was a kid in the corridor earlier, suits that description perfectly. Not sure why he was not in stasis like everybody else though.’

  Another question that hung in the air. At that moment Amy’s eye was attracted by a faint pulse in James’s neck.

  ‘You okay, James?’ she asked. ‘I’m worried I might have hit you too hard with my laptop. Sorry about that. By the way, I take it you knew what I was doing?’

  ‘Yeah, my head does!’ he replied. ‘I’m fine; why do you ask?’

  ‘You’ve got a weird vein in your neck, looks like you’re under extreme pressure!’ She looked more closely. ‘That’s no vein,’ she continued. ‘See if you can see it in the glass, it’s a dim light under your skin.’

  James couldn’t see it in his reflection in the glass, but by pressing on the skin in that area, he could definitely feel something below the surface.

  ‘You too!’ he replied.

  If she hadn’t mentioned it first, he would never have noticed. But there was a definite blue colouring beneath the skin on Amy’s neck. She could feel it too. Sometimes the mind can make massive, sudden leaps, piecing together random strands of information and cleverly fusing them together.

  Amy remembered her earlier uneasiness about apparently having given blood. When she couldn’t even remember giving blood in recent years. And the absence of a mark on her arm. She had a strong feeling that these matters were connected in some way, but no idea why. Their conversation was interrupted. The announcement system throughout the bunker was summoning all personnel to the Control Room.

  The Second Genesis

  It was 20.00 hours. An alert sounded throughout the bunker. All personnel were to gather in the Control Room or the canteen, depending on their role in these events. In each meeting area, there was a large screen displaying a fixed image and a logo derived from a design of Earth. The same logo that was displayed on the uniforms of every person in this bunker. It had the words ‘The Global Consortium’ beneath it.

  The bunker staff gathered in the designated areas, an air of expectation crackling like an electric current through the building. What happened next would define the mission in precise detail. The holding image faded out, and a man appeared on the screen. It was Doctor Pierce. The chatter in the room died to a hush. The same logo and wording was displayed on the plain background behind Doctor Pierce. He drew breath and began to speak.

  ‘My name is Doctor Harold Pierce. I have met all of you already, but due to the highly confidential nature of this mission, none of you will remember those meetings,’ he began.

  ‘Firstly, let me start by reassuring you that your loved ones are all completely safe and secure.’

  Nobody uttered a word, but you could feel the collective sigh of relief across the room.

  These people were voluntary participants in this mission, but their contracts stipulated that they could designate family and friends for dedicated support. Basically, The Global Consortium had made sure that they were all in a safe and secure place at the time the darkness had begun to fall. A letter here, a phone call there, the occasional email, and it was easily orchestrated. Doctor Pierce continued to speak.

  ‘The terraforming process that is occurring outside is completely benign to living creatures, though to enable it to operate effectively, it is necessary to place everything into a state of stasis. This will last in total for a period of fourteen days. During this time, oxygen, water, and nutrients will be delivered via TerraLevel 1. This is the process that is connected with the darkness beyond the bunker – that has just reached 100 percent of successful completion.’

  Doctor Pierce had a riveted audience, hanging on to every word and scrap of information that he was offering.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, while the whole world sleeps outside, you are its guardian for the next fourteen days,’ he carried on. ‘This process will be fully automated, it is completely pre-defined.

  ‘I must apologize for the initial delays in timing and restoration of lighting. We are investigating the cause of these at present, but we believe them to be routine issues.

  ‘Your role in this is to keep watch over the planet. If your intervention is required at any stage, you will receive further instructions, as per your training.’

  He paused, not for dramatic effect, but to gear up to what was possibly the most worrying part of his speech. ‘And so to the reason for this mission,’ he began. ‘The entire planet and atmosphere which sustains it has long been in critical danger. In short, our planet can sustain life in its existing form for no more than ten years. The Global Consortium has made a radical intervention.

  ‘What will occur over the next fourteen days are the essential components required for the reanimation of our planet and
its atmosphere.

  ‘The process will continue well beyond the fourteen days, but it will remain undetectable by all available instrumentation. After the project, your memories will be erased of these events.

  ‘The Global Consortium will maintain that recent catastrophes were caused by a series of unexpected solar flares, and although there will be some inevitable casualties, the safety and security of the planet will be assured for many millennia in the future … if we don’t continue and repeat the mistakes of the past.

  ‘As military personnel, you will understand the risks involved in a mission of this scale and the overriding importance of achieving the final objective.

  ‘Your individual briefings will be delivered directly to your personal E-Pads. In the meantime, The Global Consortium thanks you for your service in the Genesis 2 project.’

  With those final words, his face disappeared from the screen and the holding image returned. Genesis 2 was underway.

  Encryption

  Seated at James’s vacant workstation, he had quickly managed to navigate the terminal. This was a standard Consortium configuration; he had access, of course, via his own work.

  Although only on the periphery of this project, he was party to the basics of the Genesis 2 operation. After all, it was he who had escorted many of these people to the training centre and returned them to their civilian lives, all memories erased. He had never met Doctor Pierce personally, but he received his instructions from him via his E-Pad and, of course, he was the very reason he had come to this place: to find out Doctor Pierce’s connection with the child. He had basic clearance on the mainframe.