by Paul Teague
When we walk into the Operations Centre, my heart suddenly jumps because I think that we’ve walked into an area where there are other people. I’m mistaken, although there are voices coming from the screens. In fact there are three faces there: two men, one woman, and they’re all speaking at once. They don’t appear to know who they’re talking to, neither do they appear to know that they’re all speaking at once. Who are these people?
I wouldn’t claim to have seen everybody in this bunker yet, but they are all dressed in different uniforms and they are all clearly broadcasting from areas not dissimilar to the Control Room on the upper floor. But it is definitely not the same Control Room that Kate is in.
Their messages are on a video loop I think. They’re not live broadcasts as far as I can tell, but they are certainly distress calls. They’re referring to the drones and obviously in a panic because they are under threat of attack. That ties in with what Doctor Pierce told me.
‘I know you hate him,’ I say to Nat who has been taking in the video messages alongside me, ‘but I think we have to play along with Doctor Pierce to find out what’s going on.’
As if on cue, the main screen on the Operations Centre lights up and Doctor Pierce’s face fills it entirely. He looks tired and anxious, he is unsettled and nervous.
‘Maybe you should hide?’ I suggest to Nat, ‘in case it’s a two-way screen?’
‘It’s fine,’ she replies, ‘I’ve seen these things before. The two-way camera above the screen is inactive at the moment, a little light comes on when they can see us. This is a one-way message, an announcement, so we’re fine for now.’
Doctor Pierce begins to speak. The three smaller screens continue to broadcast their looped messages; it’s very distracting, but Doctor Pierce seems to have got the edge on volume. As he begins to make his announcement on the main screen, the console to my side, where my phone had magically recharged, suddenly surges into life.
It looks like I’m about to get another private message from Doctor Pierce.
21:07 Quadrant 3: White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Magnus and his team gathered in the Control Room for the unscheduled announcement from Doctor Pierce. Hopefully this would give some clarity about the drones, as they wouldn’t take long before they reached their destination and began to release their missiles on the bunker.
Although it was built securely underground, it had been created primarily to withstand general atomic bomb blasts, not a constant and targeted assault from the air. As Doctor Pierce began his message, it was immediately clear to Magnus that he was uncomfortable. He looked, for want of a better word, to be rattled.
‘This is a secured message for Quadrants 2, 3 and 4 only,’ he began.
That’s four bunkers in all. Magnus had thought – they’d all thought – that there was only one bunker monitoring these events. Their bunker.
‘I am sure that you will be surprised to hear that you are not alone in your mission,’ the Doctor continued, as if he’d read Magnus’s mind.
‘It is true, there are four bunkers positioned in locations around the world, each one known as a Quadrant. Together, you form the core teams in the Genesis 2 project.
‘You are all charged with a different, unique and crucial mission during the terraforming process, and you were to have remained unaware of the teams working in the other Quadrants.
‘That I am sharing this information with you now is an indication of the gravity of the situation which we now face together.
‘This was to have been an entirely peaceful process, with the full agreement and cooperation of all members of The Global Consortium.’
He paused, and looked tired and weary.
‘It seems that the operation has been sabotaged, though at this moment I cannot tell you by whom. However, as you will have seen on your screens, drones have been launched from Quadrant 1 in Scotland and these are heavily armed and heading for each one of your own Quadrants.
‘Genesis 2 teams, you are all in very real peril, and the future of our planet lies in our hands right now. It seems that all personnel in Quadrant 1 are working with these saboteurs – these terrorists – and consequently threatening the regeneration of our planet.’
He said the word ‘terrorists’ with contempt, as if this was personal.
‘It is unclear why they are doing this and what their purpose is,’ he continued, ‘but we are all at very great threat here, and that includes your own loved ones on the surface of the planet who rely on you totally as their guardians right now.’
Magnus gulped at that. He knew that this was a role with great responsibility, and he was certainly up to the job, but this was not quite how he’d anticipated things playing out.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, guardians of the Genesis 2 project, I believe Quadrants 2, 3 and 4 to be free of terrorist infiltration at this moment in time, but how long that situation will remain, I cannot be sure.
‘We need to be vigilant at all times, we are now on full alert status.’
Magnus noted the uneasiness around him in the room. He would need to show leadership and authority once this announcement had ended, this was no longer just an administrative role for him.
‘There is one person who can navigate us through this treachery, and you must welcome him in your bunker if he makes himself known to you.
‘I cannot reveal why for security reasons, but this boy has a very special role to play in this scenario and he is the only one who can help us today. His name is Dan Tracy, and here is a photograph of him.’
A photo of a young adult appeared on the screen; Magnus looked at it particularly closely, though it should be easy to spot a child in this place, everybody else around him was a highly trained adult.
‘I cannot reveal my own whereabouts at the present time as it is crucial that I am able to act as a conduit of communication during this crisis. However, I am at a secure location and in direct contact with your three Quadrants.
‘At this time, nobody who is presently conscious on this planet knows where I am, and it needs to stay that way for now. This is how The Global Consortium planned this process before the terraforming began.
‘I will continue to update you as I am able to glean more information about this terrorist attack. In the meantime, please remain vigilant and give Dan Tracy anything he needs if he contacts you. He’s a bright lad, I have every faith that he will figure this out.’
Magnus was ready to turn away, thinking this was the end of the announcement, but Doctor Pierce drew breath once again, deciding at the last minute to add a little more.
‘Quadrants 2, 3 and 4, our focus now is to disable the drones, this can only be done with the help of Dan Tracy. He will make contact with one of your Quadrants soon, be ready when he comes.’
Chapter Five
21:17 Quadrant 2: Balaklava Bay, Crimea
Viktor sighed to himself, taking great care not to show what he was thinking. Like the other Custodians of the remaining Quadrants, he’d also now accessed the Tier 10 documentation which he was never supposed to see as part of this mission. He too had been alerted to the drones from Southern Scotland heading off on the radar to three unknown destinations around the world. Doctor Pierce had at least clarified that point – they were not alone in this as he had thought … as they had all thought. And it was now very clear exactly where those drones were heading.
Viktor thought of his wife and two daughters at home, in a sleep of oblivion like the rest of the world’s population. This was no time for sentimentality. As a man with a military background, he knew that their security, survival and well-being now depended on people just like him. He would do what he had to do to work with the other Quadrants and defend the planet against this latest threat.
This had been part of the training and testing that had culminated in his taking this position in the first place, the ability to make the correct decisions in moments of extreme stress when all of the information around you is changing from minute
-to-minute. Yes, Viktor knew what had to be done. He’d seen war and conflict before and he knew when it was the time to fight for your life.
Saved
She was not so much taken aback by the fact that he’d seen Kate shot dead – or so he’d thought. She’d already been on the receiving end of too much shooting herself, she’d be happy to never have to see a gun ever again. And that included on the TV.
More surprising to her was that he seemed to be describing a mirror incident to what she’d experienced with James.
‘What happened with you and Kate?’ she asked, sensing that this was all linked.
‘I don’t have time to go into detail right now,’ he said, ‘but let’s just say the last time we were in the same room together it was as part of a military exercise. Only we messed up their plan and shot each other,’ he continued. ‘We didn’t kill each other – as you can see!’ he added, realizing how obvious that was as he said it.
‘Funnily enough, this device I’m holding now came out of that same exercise. It’s an amazing thing, it massively accelerates the healing process in non-fatal injuries. It just takes what Mother Nature does slowly and speeds it up many hundreds of times. It’s why I took the gamble to shoot you. Sorry about that.’
She was beginning to understand why he’d had to do what he’d just done. After all, she’d made similar decisions in her own life. Poor old James.
Not only had she shot him, she’d now whacked him on the head. So she understood the necessity of hard decisions like these in times of stress. This man seemed to have been through a similar experience to James and herself. Why then were they all gathered in this place together? It had to be connected with those Army exercises all those years ago.
And then there was Nat of course. Nat was back, how could that possibly be? Before her mind began to wander off, she snapped back into decision-making mode.
Her wound was sore and uncomfortable, but – miraculously – healed. It had actually healed right in front of her eyes. Incredible.
She was quite clear about what needed to be done next. Kate and her team thought she was dead. She needed to change her appearance and stick close to this man. He was a security ‘hero’ so, as long as she looked different and stayed with him, nobody should be looking at her too closely.
Next priority was the safety of her family. Mike, David and Harriet were in imminent danger, they had to be rescued first. Then Dan … and Nat. She needed to find them as soon as possible. And James was crucial in all of this too.
The bunker wasn’t that big – surely it couldn’t be too hard to locate everybody? It wasn’t as if they could go anywhere. She held out her hand. ‘I’m Amy, thanks for shooting me,’ she said drily.
‘Simon!’ he replied, taking her hand and shaking it.
‘I don’t know what’s going here Amy,’ he continued, ‘but I want to help you and your family get out of this and figure out with you how all of this is connected.’
‘I’m with you on that,’ she replied. ‘We need to find a disguise for me first, then we must sort out Mike and the kids.’
‘I’m ahead of you,’ said Simon, and he indicated some lockers to her right, where an array of different uniforms were hung.
Around the dormitory area were various bits and pieces that staff had left by bedsides and in drawers. They hadn’t brought a lot – there were no suitcases or anything like that – just a few bits that could be carried in small bags so that they looked like regular tourists when they arrived here.
It wasn’t long until she’d changed her appearance. A hair tie here, a pair of glasses there, a different coloured uniform and a clipboard in hand and she was transformed. Well, enough at least not to be spotted, bearing in mind she was supposed to be dead.
The new allies headed along the corridor towards the BioFiltration Area. This was where Kate had imposed a sentence of death on her family. It wasn’t Kate who’d done this of course, but whoever was controlling her via the Neuronic Device in her neck. She was simply a host body for some malevolent entity, completely oblivious to the terrible actions which she had set in motion.
Amy and Simon entered the BioFiltration Area, and it was very clear that they had little time left. You didn’t have to be a medical professional to see that the life support data on the screens to the side of each cocooned body was not looking good.
It was the bright red alert graphics which probably gave it away. Simon made directly for a panel in the corner of the room and pulled it away. It revealed a complex system of cables, lights and electronics. He studied it for a while, then grabbed a cluster of cables and ripped them all out at once. There were electrical sparks for a few seconds then silence.
All of the BioFiltration units closed down, the life support panels dying instantly.
‘What have you done?’ shouted Amy urgently, as the lights in her family’s caskets faded to black.
Secret Broadcast
Doctor Pierce begins to speak.
‘This is a secured message for Quadrants 2, 3 and 4 only ...’ he starts.
There’s too much going on all of a sudden. It’s like walking into a TV shop with loads of different channels broadcasting all at once.
I can’t focus.
‘Nat, you listen to that one!’ I say, in a voice that’s much more assertive than I’d normally use.
That’s just what Nat wants, to return from goodness knows where after three years just to have her twin brother pushing her around.
She realizes why I’m saying it though, and nods in agreement.
There is a small ear device at this console and I pop it into my right ear. At least I hope that’s what it’s for. My hunch turns out to be correct, because for the second time today I am receiving a dedicated message from Doctor Pierce or ‘the Devil’ as Nat prefers to refer to him.
‘Dan, this is an encrypted message, I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to send these undetected.
‘I can tell from monitoring your Quadrant that you’ve found your way around already – I always knew you were a smart lad.’
I wasn’t expecting flattery to be part of this, but now you mention it …
‘Dan, I don’t have time to explain everything to you now, it’s very complicated and there’s so much for you to take in. Please trust me though, and trust your dad’s judgement in passing that video message on to you.’
He paused.
‘You’re going to need to make a lot of fast decisions about who to trust in the next couple of hours. Please be assured that I am one of those people.’
I think back to what Nat called him again. Is this man the Devil? Is he manipulating me here?
Doctor Pierce carries on. I don’t think this is a two-way conversation as he isn’t asking me any questions and besides I can’t see a microphone anywhere.
‘You need to stop the drones first Dan – you can do that by communicating with one of the other Quadrants. You’re in the right place to do that right now. I suggest you speak to Magnus first, he’s in the Energy Quadrant.
‘There’s a lot to take in here Dan, but there are four bunkers – Quadrants as we call them. You are Quadrant 1, Quadrant 2 is in Crimea, Quadrant 3 in West Virginia, and Quadrant 4 in Beijing. Each bunker has a different primary purpose. Your bunker is technology.
‘Quadrant 2 is hydroponics and biology, 3 is the energy hub, and Quadrant 4 is science. They’re built for interdependency; in the eventuality of a crisis, all the bunkers must depend on each other for survival.’
He frowns.
‘We built them that way Dan, but it was never supposed to come to this. I still can’t believe that we’ve been sabotaged.
‘Each bunker was supposed to monitor the terraforming in isolation, they were not supposed to know about each other’s existence.
‘We class this sabotage of the drones as a Tier 10 event – that means that I’ve had to divulge some of this information to the Genesis 2 Custodians.
‘Quadrants 2,
3 and 4 seem unaffected by the terrorists as far as I can tell, but I don’t know how long it will stay that way. Once they take over Quadrant 1 they can start to exert their control over the tech.
‘Dan, there is something unique about you and your sister – well you at least – that makes you key to all this.’
He doesn’t seem to know about Nat yet. That’s a good thing for now, but puzzling. But why did he mention Nat as if she’s no longer with us?
‘You can stop the drones Dan. Hook up with Magnus in Quadrant 3, together you’ll be able to disable them.
‘I have to go, my main broadcast is ending now, I’ll send an encrypted update whenever I make a general announcement, but eventually they’ll detect them and block them.
‘A couple more things Dan, quickly …’
I can tell he’s pressed for time now, he looks like he’s beginning to wind up his announcement on the main screen. One of these must be recorded I’m guessing.
‘Grab some Comms-Tabs from the Weaponry Room, that way you can securely speak to your mum and James when you find them. They’ll stay secure until Kate and her team discover the lower levels – when they figure out there are more levels to the bunker, the Comms-Tabs may no longer be secure.
‘You’ve got about an hour to disable the drones, and then they’ll start to reach their targets. The bunkers will be able to withstand a few hours of concentrated firing, then they’ll begin to fall.
‘Finally Dan, do you have anything of your sister with you – a memento like a lock of hair for instance? If we can access her DNA, you can get into all four Quadrants, you’re the only one who can do that Dan. It’s because of what – who – you are …’
He finishes mid-sentence, his main announcement has ended, and that triggers the abrupt termination of his encrypted message too.