The Dark Descent

by William Oday

  I glanced to the side to see Martinez hobbling along like she was eighteen months pregnant. Between the two of us, it was a surprise they hadn’t already shot us.

  There was no way this was going to work.

  So I started forming plan B.

  The soldier on the right had a flat and square buzz cut with flecks of silver throughout. He wore a scowl, the lines etched in his face evidence that it was a permanent feature. He stood erect and angry, looking like we’d already insulted his grandmother.

  The soldier on the left was much younger. Probably right out of basic training. His cheeks still round, his posture awkward from trying too hard. His eyes too serious, pretending to be the seasoned warrior that only time and experience could create.

  He was no threat.

  But the older Gray was. He would need to be taken out first.

  A hard chop to the throat would incapacitate him. Side step behind and wrap an arm around for a chokehold. He’d be pliable and good cover so long as he didn’t collapse completely. Draw the pistol from the holster on his right hip and level it at the other guard. Disarm that one by whatever means necessary. A few stern words would likely do.

  It was a simple plan.

  One I normally would’ve considered to have a high probability for success.

  But now wasn’t normal because I wasn’t normal. That coupled with the awkward bulk of the hazmat suit lowered the probability of success considerably.

  Still, a marginal plan was better than no plan at all.

  The older guard stepped forward and held his arm out to stop Tanaka. The younger soldier’s grip tightened on his rifle. Some combination of anxiety and excitement spiking his nervous system. It was a subtle movement imperceptible to most people.

  I wasn’t most people.

  I edged to the side to get around Tanaka and clear a path to the bigger threat.

  “What are you people doing here?” he demanded.

  “I’m Dr. Tanaka and this is my team,” he said as he gestured to Martinez and me. “We’re investigating a possible outbreak on this level.”

  “Outbreak? What outbreak? I haven’t heard of any outbreak.”

  Tanaka puffed up his chest. “By the time you hear about it, it’ll be too late.”

  The soldier’s prominent Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He glanced at Martinez, eyeballing her large midsection. “Is it safe for her to be doing this? I mean, she looks like she’s about to pop.”

  Tanaka leaned forward and whispered. “Tell me about it, but she refused to rest until we get this contained.”

  Martinez stepped forward, peering at the soldier. “Doctor, do his eyes look red to you? They look red to me.” She lifted his chin, feeling his neck. “Do you have swollen glands anywhere on your body?”

  The soldier’s hard bearing cracked. Fear seeped out of the fractures. “Uh, no. I don’t think so.”

  Tanaka pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and studied the man’s eyes. “He is looking symptomatic.” He dug into his satchel, pulled out a forensic collection baggie and tore it open. He pulled out a cotton swab and poked it at the soldier’s mouth. “Open, please.”

  What had started as hard-nosed questioning had quickly transformed into confusion and just as quickly again morphed into growing terror.

  He opened his mouth, trying to speak while Tanaka swabbed the inside of his cheeks. “I ah no sih. I fll fie.”

  Tanaka pulled it out and dropped it into the baggie. He pulled out a small cup with a lid. “We’ll also need a urine sample.”

  The soldier glanced at Martinez with alarm. “You mean, right here?”

  “The faster, the better,” Tanaka replied. “Infectious diseases don’t wait for a more convenient time.”

  “There’s a bathroom around the corner. Can I do it there?”

  Tanaka smiled like he was doing the guy a favor. “Sure. Just be quick about it.”

  The guard turned to his younger companion. “Don’t leave your post. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Copy that, Sarge.”

  The first guard took off at a sprint with the cup in hand.

  Tanaka approached the remaining soldier. “We’ll need samples from you as well. But we can do that on the way back. Right now, we need to gather samples from the engineers working inside the core server rooms. And I’m going to need to you to swipe us through as there wasn’t time to authorize my badge.”

  He looked doubtful. “I’m sorry, doctor, but I can’t do—”

  “How many people are working in this section today?”

  “There are six engineers on duty right now. Six others clocked out a couple of hours ago.”

  “Dammit!” Tanaka said. “We may already be too late! If this thing gets loose, it could wipe out our entire community!”

  The poor kid’s lips quivered. The tears would arrive any second.

  “Open that door this instant, young man!”

  “I’m sorry, doctor. I can’t do that.” The rifle started moving to a more aggressive position. To his credit, he tried to do his job.

  But I also had a job to do.

  I skirted around Tanaka to get within striking distance. “You look pale,” I said as I closed the distance.

  “I don’t feel—”

  And then he started gagging and clutching his throat as I drew back from a lightning quick strike. His eyes went wide with fear. He was scared. Couldn’t blame him. Not being able to breathe would scare most people.

  I shoved him back against the wall and helped him slide down to sit on the floor. “You’re going to be okay. Just give it a minute.” I relieved him of his rifle and sidearm while Martinez tore the badge off his chest. She swiped it over the reader.

  It beeped and turned green. Magnetic locks thunked and the door slid open.

  Tanaka and Martinez went through while I brought up the rear. The door slid shut, cutting off the choking sounds of the recovering soldier.

  Martinez unzipped her suit and pushed it down around her legs.

  Crypto tumbled out onto the floor in between her suit boots. He lay on his back staring up between her legs. “Like a second birth. There was warmth and shelter and then I arrived in a cold, hard world.”

  “Shut up,” Martinez said as she kicked him in the ribs.

  Crypto grunted. “What kind of woman kicks her baby?”

  We all shrugged out of our biohazard suits. They were too unwieldy and the time for subterfuge was over.

  “I like watching you undress,” Crypto said, still on the floor.

  Martinez shot him a snarl. “Scout, give me the rifle and I’ll discourage them from coming in after us.”

  I passed it over and drew the pistol out of my waistband.

  Crypto tapped Martinez on the leg. “Did you know that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar?”

  “Did you know that I have a rifle in my hands?”

  I hoisted him up by the collar. “We don’t have much time. Get to work.” I let go as he slapped my hand away.

  He started off down the hallway of closed doors.

  Martinez stayed behind, crouched in the minimal cover of a doorway.

  “We’re looking for something like transport engineering or control systems or—” Crypto said as he wandered down the hall, looking left and right.

  I pointed to an upcoming door. “Core Transport Control?”

  “That sounds promising,” he said as he approached the door. He swiped the soldier’s badge over the reader and it responded with a low beep and a red light. “Okay. What now?”

  “Hey, what are you people doing here?” an engineer stood outside of an open doorway further down the hall.

  I had the pistol on him a second later.

  His eyes went wide with fear. They darted back toward the open door.

  “You think you’re faster than a bullet?” I said as I hurried over.

  He stayed put.

  I dragged him back to the waiting Crypto and
Tanaka and handed his chest badge over.

  Crypto took the badge and swiped the door open. “Do you know where I can interface with the core transport subroutines?”

  The engineer shook his head. “Sorry, no. I work on data back up and retrieval.”

  I dragged him inside and waited for Tanaka and Crypto to enter before slapping the button to shut the door.

  “Let’s see,” Crypto said as he strolled down a narrow corridor with a wall of servers stacked to the ceiling on both sides. Hundreds of black metal and plastic boxes faced with blinking blue and green and red lights. Bundles of multi-colored cables snaked across the ceiling, carrying data back and forth from various computation centers. The nerves carrying electrical signals from the brains to distant parts of the body.

  Crypto looked up and down each column of servers as he went, reading all of the printed labels stuck to the face of each box. He paused two-thirds down the corridor. “Here we are!” he said as he pointed down an aisle. He disappeared down the aisle and spoke a few seconds later. “Scout. Come. I need your help.”

  I didn’t like being called over like a dog, but I’d remind him of that later. Now was the time for haste. I joined him and saw him pointing to a server box a few feet above his head.

  “That’s the one,” he said.

  I reached down to pick him up.

  He smacked my hands away. “I’m not your child to pick up and swing around in circles like a doting father returning home after a long day at work.”

  I reached for him again, and again he smacked my hands away. I was considering lifting him by the throat. “Well, how else are you going to reach that high?”

  He pointed at me and then at the floor.

  He wanted me to get down on all fours!

  “I’m not one of your idiot bodyguards. I don’t take commands.”

  He crossed his arms. “Fine. Then we’ll all hang out here until they come and take us away. Are you okay with that? Because I’m okay with that. I’ve endured more than enough humiliation for one day. ”

  My jaws clenched tight, which was a good thing because I was about to insult him and his mother. I dropped to the floor and gritted my teeth as the little bastard climbed up onto my back.

  “There. You see? That wasn’t so hard.”

  Someone laughed and I looked up to see Tanaka at the end of the aisle with his hand covering his mouth.

  “You find something amusing, doctor?” I said in the most menacing way possible. Which was obviously a good deal less menacing than it would’ve been had I not been on all fours like a dog with an insane dwarf perched on my back.

  Crypto pulled out a recessed keyboard and started clacking away.

  Minutes passed while the speed and tempo of the clacking continued unabated.

  “How much longer?” I asked.

  “Almost got it. I think. This isn’t beginner’s level hacking here. And as good as I am, I’m not at the level your daughter was.”

  Was.

  What had happened to her?

  As much as I had learned since waking up after the bombing, there was still so much more that I didn’t know.

  Muffled gunfire erupted in the hallway outside.

  Martinez was under attack!

  I started to rise, but Crypto stomped his boot down. “Stay still! I’ve almost got it!”

  CHOICES:

  1. Stay put so Crypto can finish the job and hope that Martinez can hold out.

  2. Jump up to help out Martinez. Crypto’s work can wait.

  The group chose #1 and this is what happened next…

  46

  As much as I wanted to back up Martinez, Crypto’s work was the reason we were here. If he failed, we all failed.

  So I stayed put. “Get it done already!” I said through gritted teeth.

  “I don’t know if you think that’s helping,” Crypto replied, “but let me assure you that it’s not.” He continued clacking away.

  What had started out as sporadic shots in the hallway quickly grew into a full scale firefight. Through the thick, sealed door, it was like a string of distant firecrackers going off.

  “Hurry up!” I yelled.

  “Almost got it… I think.”

  My back ached and having him shifting his weight back and forth wasn’t making it any better. The faintly acrid smell of hot circuitry filled the air. Cooling fans whirred a background of white noise that was both soothing and irritating at once.

  Crypto clicked the keys so fast that the individual sounds blurred together into a single continuous tone. An annoying counterpoint to the fans in the symphony of the electronic brain.

  Whatever he was doing, he was doing it at full speed.

  The sound of gunfire in the hallway died away.

  A second later, a pounding on the door.

  I looked through an opening between the server rows and saw a sliver of her face in the window. She yelled, but the door reduced the words to a whisper. “Open the door!”

  “Doctor, open the door!”

  Tanaka tapped the button and it slid open.

  Martinez stepped into the cover of the doorway and pivoted with her rifle covering the security checkpoint down the hall. “We need to get this train moving! There’s a squad of Grays coming our way.”

  She fired a couple of shots, and then ducked behind the bulkhead before answering fire zipped by and thunked into the nearby wall. “And I’m not going to be able to keep them pinned down much longer.”

  “How’s your ammo?” I asked.

  “Half a magazine left.”

  Outmanned and outgunned. What was new?

  “Anyone deploying grenades or RPGs?”

  “Negative. I’m thinking they don’t want to chance fragging any of the servers.”

  Made sense. They were in the delicate brain of the facility. A high velocity metal sliver slicing through the wrong logic board or microchip could cause havoc.

  “Scout!” a voice I recognized shouted from the hallway.

  Martinez leaned out to take a quick peek. “It’s the general,” she confirmed as she dropped back into cover. “He’s at the back of the squad behind riot shields, but he’s not fully covered. I might be able to get a shot off.”

  “Hold your fire. We need to take him down the legal way. Killing him in cold blood won’t heal the rifts tearing this community apart.”

  “Copy that, for now.”

  “Scout! Are you there?”

  Still on all fours, I yelled back. “Yep! How you doing, General?”

  “I’ve been better,” his voice echoed down the hall. “Listen. It doesn’t have to be like this. Why don’t you come quietly so we can talk this through? We’re both military men. We understand the world a certain way. Despite the situation, we’re on the same side here.”

  I considered the offer. Not that I actually believed he was interested in talking it out. I considered it from the point of view of what he was trying to gain by having this conversation in the first place.

  From everything I’d learned about him thus far, his first and default choice was the use of force to solve problems. And from the horror I’d seen in the marketplace, lethal force was the preferred flavor.

  So why talk it out now?

  Had to be our location. He wasn’t thrilled about shooting up the place, much less using more indiscriminately damaging weapons like RPGs.

  “Crypto, how much longer?” I asked.

  “A few minutes. I think.”

  “Why do you keep saying I think? I thought you knew what you were doing.”

  “This is like doing brain surgery with chopsticks! It’s a whole different thing than I expected. I mean, it’s barely even programming. It’s more like doing surgery on living code. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “But you can figure it out, right?”

  The balance of his feet shifted back and forth on my back.

  “Did your head just nod or shake?”

  “Nodded. I think. Stop talkin
g to me!”

  “Scout!” the general shouted. “What do you say?”

  “Can I have a few minutes to think about it?”

  “We want the same thing. The continued security of every law-abiding citizen. Come out and let’s talk this over.”

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  “The time for thinking is over. What’s your answer?”

  A few seconds passed without reply.

  “Scout, it’s time! Do you want to live or do you want to die?”

  Well, our burgeoning peace talks fell apart in record time.

  “Corporal Martinez!” he shouted. “Put down your weapon and surrender. I understand that you’ve been acting against your will. Do it now and I promise you that you’ll still have a future as a soldier.”

  Martinez glanced over at me and her eyes clouded as her lips pressed into a tight frown. She turned back toward the corner she was hiding behind, nodding to herself.

  Was she going to accept the offer?

  I couldn’t blame her if she did. She’d done all she could for me. She’d more than repaid whatever debt she believed she owed for her brother. I was most likely going to die in the next few minutes. She had no obligation to do the same.

  “General Curtis, I have something to tell you,” Martinez said. “Something you need to know.”

  My brain spun through everything that had happened. What secret was she about to reveal? What piece of information would buy her freedom?

  “Go ahead, Corporal.”

  “Sir, you can bite me! I’m not going anywhere!”

  “Then you are a traitor! Kill them both!”

  Gunfire erupted in the corridor as Martinez backed away from the corner. Bullets snapped through the air. Others slammed into the wall nearby.

  Martinez grinned. “They’re not messing around, huh?”

  Damn. She was cool as a frozen cucumber. Cooler.

  The shooting abruptly stopped.