“Ms, apparently in the last hour the government have forcibly taken control of the installation upstairs. Now they are demanding access to come downstairs Ms.”
“They’ve taken control of what!”
“Upstairs Ms, now they are demanding access down here.”
“I thought they didn’t know we even existed?”
The operator only shrugged his shoulders.
She clicked her headset. “Someone up there hear me?”
“Aye Ms,” came the reply, Catlin recognised it as Jacob’s voice. “Number Two here.”
“What the hell is going on up there?”
“We have been overrun Ms, the government has taken control of our facility.”
“Since when?”
“Not long ago Ms, Thomas was released by a Ronald Baker. He and some soldiers came back and just took over. Under authority from the Australian government.”
“Why didn’t you stop them?”
“I ... I have no authority Ms.”
“And how does he know that I’m down here?”
“Because we told him Ms.”
She cursed him under her breath, “You did what!”
“He was aware anyway Ms.”
“Dammit!” she scathed, what a fool.
“Ms, Thomas is demanding access.” Jacob sounded again.
“Is he there?”
“Yes, he’s …”
“I am here Ms Conley.”
“Thomas? What the hell is going on?”
His voice was a little crackled from the scratchy line but the severity of his tone was not. “Ms Conley you are hereby ordered to relinquish control of the facility immediately and unlock the main entry doors.”
She laughed at him down the length of the phone. “Under what authority? For surely you have none down here!”
The laugh seemed to affect his tone slightly, but he did respond in kind. “Under the authority of the Commonwealth, I hereby command you unlock the doors and relinquish control of this facility.”
“Ooooh, so scary Thomas!” She jibed, “You are not in the army and you do not tell me what to do in my own installation.”
“We are prepared to take this installation by force if necessary Ms Conley.”
She was a little taken aback when he said that, for she wasn’t expecting it to come to any sort of violence. She paused a moment and then responded. “I’ll get back to you in ten minutes, give me ten minutes ok?”
“You have five,” came the smug response. “Make it quick.”
She stood there, at one of the stations silently, completely shocked.
Several operators were prompting her for orders but she was temporarily frozen in her predicament. How could everything have gone so pear shaped so quickly? But then she realised that things had been that way since the start, since she took over.
She knew other people were involved in this, that she was being played by bigger players in a bigger game, a game she knew nothing of. But when you play and don’t know the stakes, you can’t control the outcome.
What to do? You’re Catlin bloody Conley, man up and sort this shit out!
With a set of determination on her jaw, she turned and walked over to the main staircase, climbed a few steps and called attention to all the staff at Destiny. It took only a moment for everyone to stop what they were doing and come together in front of her.
The floor fell silent, all eyes were cast on her and Catlin didn’t hesitate. “I feel I need to be honest with you all about what’s been going on in this installation. I don’t want anyone here to be a part of something they don’t want to be a part of, so I am going to be honest with you. Right now, outside this installation the government have taken control.”
“They’ve taken the facility by force and now they’re demanding access down here, to take control of us as well.”
“I don’t know why or what happened upstairs, so their motivations I am not entirely sure of. But I have a feeling that it had something to do with the disappearance of Ma’am and with the event that has killed millions of people.”
She sighed heavily. ”Now, I must tell you, it appears Samuel too has disappeared as I cannot locate him anywhere on the premises.”
Several eyebrows furrowed and heads turned at Catlin’s last sentence, the people at Destiny were largely uninformed, so the revelation caused a stir amongst them, they had lost two important leaders in the space of a few days.
Catlin continued, “As I said, I want to be honest with you all. I have only just discovered Samuel is missing. Also, to make matters worse, it appears the thread has disappeared as well. As to the whereabouts of either I do not know. So, if anyone can assist with any information please speak up now.”
Silence in the room, nobody spoke up. But several heads were turning around the small group, each looking to the other for their reactions. No leaders, no thread.
“I had a mandate when I started here, find Ma’am, the culprits of the disaster and protect the facility at all costs. I do not intend on changing this.”
“Now in my role as head of this facility I am making it a priority that we work as hard as possible to figure out what has happened. What happened to Ma’am? What happened to Samuel? What happened to the thread? And what the hell caused so many millions of people to suddenly drop dead around the world.”
She paused a moment to draw a breath. “Now, it seems to accomplish this we’ll need time. With the government loonies knocking on our door it’ll make things difficult, so to prolong this we may need to defend ourselves. I fully intend on staying here until we have resolved everything and I fully intend on defying the government.”
“But I cannot do this alone.”
“So, to all of you, for the first time since you have joined this facility you are being given a choice.”
She looked around at them all slowly. “If you want to be a part of this then stay, fight with me and help solve this mystery. I can’t think of anything more important in the world than what we have right in front of us, I want to be a part of this and I need your help to do it.”
“I feel there is no more important place than here, the Destiny facility.”
“If you do not wish to stay then there is no way I can stop you, we have no access to the thread as it is no longer here. Any threats that Ma’am or Samuel may have made to keep you here are now empty, you are now here by your own volition.”
Now people started to talk.
“Time is of the essence, so please, if you intend to leave the facility then you have sixty seconds starting now to get to the landing and leave via the main door. Once you leave the installation you are on your own, you are no longer a part of Destiny and are free to do what you wish, whatever that may be. I don’t have a clue what the government intends to do with you if you do venture out, this is a risk you’ll have to deal with on your own. But if you do decide to leave then you may never return here, our doors will be closed to you, permanently.”
Silence in the room, not a soul moved.
Catlin beamed with pride. They were staying.
Catlin couldn’t believe it, not a soul moved. She blinked her eyes several times as she couldn’t quite believe they all stood still. Just as she was about to thank everyone for sticking with her, from the corner of the room she noticed Okko fidget where he was standing and then eventually move forward as he made the decision to walk.
Catlin stood surprised as he moved to the steel staircase, he didn’t even bother to look at her.
“Sorry lady, I’m out.” He waved his hand in the air as he took to the staircase.
Once people noticed Okko take the first step it made things easier for them to make the decision to follow, quickly others began joining him as he casually wandered up the stairs. Suddenly the voices and chatter started up again and within seconds ther
e was a procession of personnel making their way up the stairs.
Catlin wasn’t sure how many people worked at Destiny, forty perhaps, but she had a fair idea that everyone was abandoning her. She spied the good doctor moving as part of the group and moved to intercept him, “Doctor Paul?” she pleaded.
He stopped before ascending the staircase and looked up its length. “You know my dear,” he smiled at her. “Up until the other day I hadn’t seen fresh air or sunshine for over six years.”
Catlin was taken aback, she hadn’t realised.
“I think I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a human in the real world. Very sorry Catlin, it’s time for me to see the sun again dear, I wish you luck,” he said, joining the procession.
Sixty seconds had passed and people were continuing to leave, all filing up to the landing and waiting there patiently by the main door. Only two people remained, Marion and Ursula, which Catlin found strange for she had no idea why they would want to after the mass exodus, after everyone else had decided to leave.
But they weren’t even watching her speech, they were buried in their computers. Catlin wondered if they’d even heard her speaking.
She looked up at the group of people waiting by the main door and then back down at the two remaining women pitifully. She called out to them, “Hey, you might as well leave too.”
She sighed and turned away from them, taking a seat at one of the consoles. “Thomas?”
“Ms Conley?”
“Yes Thomas. We have made a decision.”
“Yes.”
“We are coming out, all of us. Standby for the doors to open.” Catlin said as she keyed a command into the console, opening the doors.
“Excellent decision Ms Conley, I didn’t want to have forced you, so I thank you for your co-operation.” Thomas said.
Something about the way he said the last sentence rubbed her the wrong way and she quickly switched emotions from resignation to anger. She hated the tone of voice people used when they had a victory over another person, almost as if they thought they were better somehow. It was pious and she detested it.
Rage bubbled up inside her.
She typed the commands, unlocking the main doors and stared away into nothingness. The doors opened and people began filing up the stairwell, back above ground, through the outhouse and into waiting government hands.
As the last few people began clearing the steps, Catlin stood up from the desk and was about to make her way to the stairs herself, when suddenly the entry door came crashing down, sealing her inside the facility.
Not only the entry doors closed but thick blast doors shut behind them too, followed by a siren indicating emergency protocol had been engaged.
It snapped Catlin from her daze and she turned, noticing to her surprise that Marion had jumped onto a console and activated the lock down procedure. In her ear the headset buzzed again with Thomas’ voice, “Ms Conley, what are you doing?”
Catlin looked over at Marion, who smiled in response and said, “Tell him to piss off.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve been with you for a long-time Catlin and I’m not about to abandon you now.”
Catlin, clearly confused, asked Marion, “What’s going on?”
Marion came over, grabbed Catlin’s hands and clutched them in her own. “Catlin, I have been here since the start.”
“Ok?”
“Do you know what my role here is?”
“Lifeline operator, Station Eight.”
“Exactly,” she winked at Catlin.
“Which means?”
“I watch the threads, which means I’ve followed you, your whole life.” Marion emphasised the word whole.
“Oh my god,” was all Catlin could muster in reply. With Thomas still buzzing in her ear she was becoming rather disoriented, “I …”
“Ms Conley, can you hear me?” The impatient voice of Thomas buzzed. “Can you hear me?”
Catlin looked again to Marion and then to the figure of the younger Ursula standing patiently behind her, “I still don’t understand Marion. Why are you helping me? And Ursula, why are you helping me?”
“Family sticks together Catlin.” Marion replied as she put an arm around Ursula.
“Huh?”
The two of them winked at her, in unison.
“You two are family?”
“Uh-huh.”
“That’s weird.”
“Why?”
“She’s your daughter, isn’t she?” Catlin said, pointing at Ursula.
Marion smiled and nodded.
“So, she’s here because of that?”
“She’s here because she’s my daughter …”
Catlin was surprised, but less so as she looked at the two of them together, they were so similar.
“Ms Conley!” Again her headset buzzed, Thomas demanded her action.
“What!” she replied angrily.
“Please check your tone Ms Conley.”
“Thomas ...?”
Marion came over and snatched the Bluetooth headset off Catlin’s head, placing it over her own.
“Yes, Catlin, what happened?” Thomas buzzed, this time in Marion’s ear.
“Thomas?”
“Uhh … who is this?”
“It doesn’t matter, is this Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“Mate, you can go lick a donkey’s arse!”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, piss off you twat.” she spat, pulling the receiver from her ear and throwing it to the ground, the Bluetooth unit smashing instantly into several pieces.
“Marion?’ Catlin asked, confused.
“You know my dear, I read somewhere on a wall in a cell, not so long ago, a few words that have been grating at me for a while …”
“And?”
Marion only looked up at her with a smile, “If you can’t beat ‘em … screw ‘em!”
RECALLING
destiny
RECALLING
destiny
Truck
Truck safely makes his way across the void and into the apartment attached to the other end of the zip line. He climbs in through the open window, unclips himself, double checks the lines are free of him and turns around to give Smith the thumbs up. Strangely, he finds himself smelling the heavy aroma of perfume in this room, just like the last one.
Smith, still wearing a balaclava and shades, returns the signal to Truck across the gap between the two buildings. He too clips himself in and starts making his way across the line towards Truck. Once he’s on the line safely Truck takes a moment to look behind him and take in the room.
Like the apartment he’s just come from, this apartment too is completely bare. And like the previous apartment, this one has been setup with metal bars fixed in place on the window and floor. The only difference Truck notices between the two apartments are two identical backpacks on the floor by the door. He wonders what’s in the two backpacks, what did Smith have planned for the next stage?
Sensing Smith has premeditated this either very quickly or well in advance, Truck turns his attention away from his surroundings and back to the the oncoming figure of Smith careening down the zip line. He smiles when he sees him coming down, it’s good to see him and he couldn’t have come at a better time.
His hand feels for his chest, for the wounds he’s sustained, and he’s concerned when he feels no pain there anymore. He pokes his fingers tentatively inside his shirt, feeling the wet bandages plastered there. Feeling no pain he presses further, underneath the bandage, curious to feel the painless wound. But there is nothing there, no wound, just perfectly normal skin.
What had Smith done to him back up in the apartment? Truck remembers feeling a loss of consciousness coming on as he donned t
he harness, but then Smith had touched his face. Miraculously he had stood back up and crossed the line safely without impediment.
Initially he hadn’t liked Smith, he was an unknown and had come conveniently at a time when things were getting serious. There were also unanswered questions about his motives the night he disappeared, why didn’t he help.
Then of course, the package had turned up. According to Harrison it was because Smith had sent it, so Truck guessed the Viper must have been lying when he claimed to have killed Smith, otherwise Smith wouldn’t have been able to send it.
Suni had mentioned Smith was special somehow, but hadn’t elaborated any further.
Truck grunts and rubs his chest again with a furrowed brow.
Regardless, if Smith was here, it could’ve only meant he was here to help and for the moment it was all that mattered. Truck had prevented the soldiers in the apartment from getting at his friends, now he needed meet back up with them. Thankfully he knew exactly where they were going,
Truck though, was no fool, he knows there are questions Smith still needs to answer. Namely, how in the hell he helped Truck to recover from two gunshot wounds, almost instantly.
Something flickers in the corner of Truck’s eye as he watches Smith approach and he shoots a look back up the zip line, only to see a solitary figure standing in the apartment window returning his stare.
The face is a bloody mess, but there’s no mistaking one of the eyes, flecked in a straight manner, like that of a snake.
It takes him a moment to realise who it is and he quickly cries out a warning for Smith in response, “Watch out!” he yells out the window. “Danger, behind you!” He screams and points behind Smith.
Smith turns calmly and has a look behind him, if he’s alarmed he doesn’t show it on his face, he simply turns back around and keeps on descending. Truck curses himself for his stupidity as he’s forgotten his captive in the midst of the soldiers arriving. Now the captive was free and gaping at him ominously from across the void.
The Viper, though, doesn’t waste any time in thought as Truck calls out his warning for Smith. He pulls a knife from his side and begins sawing at the zip line, licking his lips and snarling at Truck as he does so.
Recalling Destiny Page 34