Black Desert

by Peter Francis

  On her own insistence, Jenny was granted temporary membership of the crew of Challenger on the mission to steal the Sarin. At first Stiers had resisted adamantly but as Jenny pointed out, if anything went wrong their entire plan was in jeopardy anyway. Stiers was concerned that if she became infected the future of the mission would be in doubt. In the end she was given the job of remaining behind with Lillishenger where they could together watch proceedings on a screen set up in the structure and have two way communication with the original crew of the ship, all of whom were going. It seemed to satisfy her as Gowan, Ramirez, Ogden and the Captain climbed aboard the vessel and prepared for takeoff as soon as darkness hit.

  As it was quite black in the desert, they only used the chameleon cells for obfuscation in order to spare the cloaking device which Ramirez and Lillishenger had tried to screen from the nuclear pulse. Their profile of the surrounding area had not changed in any significant way and they were certain they were not being watched; not that observers, if there were any, would see anything apart from a swirling of dust at any distance.

  The ship made a graceful exit from the yard, zooming rapidly into the sky with its cells projecting blackness. They climbed to 60,000 feet, well away from any aircraft, on a parabola which would see them descend over the buildings at Porton Down. It was the Saturday night and Sunday morning of the English bank holiday. Everything went perfectly – apart from all the things that didn’t.

  They generated their pulse five miles from Porton and blacked out the countryside around them but as they approached the compound and began their final descent Ramirez gave them some bad news.

  “Lock your guns and hold your buns,” he said. “They still have some power down there.”

  “Damn,” said Ogden, who swore but once a year. “Their power is shielded against nuclear attack.”

  “Second pulse – double the size,” commanded Stiers.

  “That will knock out our cloaking device,” warned Ramirez. “It won’t be able to withstand that amount of energy.”

  “If they still have radar, we could be visible,” warned Gowan.

  “Second pulse now,” said the Captain.

  Ogden charged their nuclear capacitors and sent a second pulse across the countryside. Sensors showed a broader area being hit including the compound below which went totally dark. The Englishman sighed. “They’ll be able to trace that pulse to the facility which will act to alert them.”

  “Then let’s try to get in and out fast,” said Stiers.

  He took the big craft down to hover a bare few centimetres above the roof of the building that was their target. Gowan and Ramirez stood by the portal with a selection of laser cutting devices and self-sealing container for the sarin. Ramirez pushed Gowan aside and leapt through the portal formed by Ogden who shouted, “Careful…”

  “But Ramirez heard the warning too late, tried to change direction mid-jump, turned over and crashed headfirst through a skylight and disappeared from view.

  “Bugger,” said Ogden, using up next year’s expletive ration.

  “I hope he’s not dead,” said Gowan.

  “I didn’t think you cared,” said the Captain.

  “I’m the one who has to bring him back,” she said. “Impulsive little sod.” She jumped out to a safe part of the roof and shone her shoulder light into the skylight. “Bad news – he’s moving.”

  She lowered herself and their kit through the skylight and dropped to the ground beside Ramirez who was groaning in pain.

  “Did you land on your head?” she asked.

  “No. My ass.”

  “No injuries then?”

  “Why didn’t that idiot Ogden warn me before I jumped,” wailed Ramirez. “My coccyx is back there.”

  “That must have been some knock then,” smirked Gowan.

  “I must have fallen thirty feet.”

  “Twelve.”

  “I could have been killed.”

  “That way we could have just buried you instead of having to listen to you,” said Gowan. “Can you stand?”

  “I doubt I can walk,” said Ramirez but struggled to his feet anyway. He tried a few steps and complained again. “It hurts. I’m limping.”

  “Give yourself a quick shot of tens from your suit,” said Gowan.

  “That won’t help if I’ve broken my ass bone.”

  “I don’t claim to be as medically qualified as you, but do humans have ass bones?” asked Gowan.

  “Something back there is damaged,” he said.

  “If you landed on your ass you should be careful of brain damage.”

  “Funny, Gowan. A little sympathy wouldn’t go amiss.”

  “I’ll kiss it better for you when the mission is over,” said Gowan.

  Ramirez brightened up. “You mean that?”

  “No.”

  “Are you guys going to spend any more time discussing Ramirez’s rear end or do you plan to get on with the job?” asked the Captain through their ear studs.

  “We’re getting on with it,” said Gowan.

  “Thanks for the sore ass, Ogden,” said Ramirez. “Still you’ve probably heard that line before.”

  “It’s the first time from you, Senor Ramirez,” said the Englishman. “I did say ‘careful’.”

  “I was in mid-air when you said it. A tad too late, old boy.”

  “I could ask the Professor to kiss it better when we get back.”

  “I’ll just suffer, thanks.”

  “I’ll kiss it better,” said Jenny through their ears studs.

  “No you won’t – and you’re taking his mind off this mission,” cautioned Stiers.

  “Come on, let’s go,” commanded Gowan.

  “You really are in charge then?”

  “You’re wounded in action,” she said and raced off along the corridor following their direction finder.

  Ramirez sighed and raced after her, checking the direction on his own instrument. He knew they had to find a way to the basement avoiding any guards on the way. They had no idea how many security personnel they may encounter but according to their research, Porton was left with four guards to cover all buildings on bank holiday weekends when, it was considered by the authorities, most terrorists would be at home with their children enjoying the holiday.

  They arrived at the elevator and halted, realising the power outage meant it would not be working. “This way,” they both said and raced off while facing each other, collided by the door to the elevator with Gowan staggering back. “Idiot,” she said and went past Ramirez who followed loyally to the lesser used fire escape staircase. They crept down as quietly as they could, passing the ground floor until they were in the basement.

  “Now which way?” asked Ramirez, whose direction finder was giving a confused signal.

  “Along this corridor,” said Gowan and they ran until they came up against a solid steel door. “We’ll never get through,” she muttered.

  “Should have gone my way,” said Ramirez and led them back to the staircase and up to the first floor. This time he led along a new corridor arriving at a staircase close to the elevator. They went down the stairs carefully but their finders showed nobody approaching them or even moving. “This way,” said Ramirez and ran until they found a sealed glass door. “This has to be the place,” he muttered.

  The door was reinforced glass set in a steel frame held by what appeared to be tungsten hinge and a strong lock. They both studied it. “Hinges,” said Gowan and Ramirez nodded agreement.

  They pulled laser cutters from the kit and Gowan stooped to take the lower hinge while Ramirez cut the one at the top. It still took the best part of a minute to get through with the self-guiding lasers leaving a cut like polished glass. Together they gripped the door and wriggled it free from the lock and scraped the heavy glass over to stand against the wall. The alarm will go off when the power is back on,” said Ramirez. “Scout a bit while I weld the connections again. The closed circuit may buy us some time.”


  This took a few moments and Ramirez joined Gowan as she stared into a strange structure. This was a laboratory and storage area of some kind with warning notices plastered over the doors, tiled walls and twin glass doors which formed a seal against whatever was inside. Gowan explained, “This outer door slides and is sealed by vacuum. The vacuum is off and the seal broken. The inside door has a simple but effective wheel lock. Turning the wheel compresses the door against the seals. It has no locking mechanism.”

  “Okay,” said Ramirez. “Let’s try this outer door.”

  But it was heavy and they strained to shift it. It was meant to be power operated using a rack and pinion mechanism. The door barely moved and finally Ramirez used his laser to cut through some teeth on the wheel so they could move the heavy device with straining against its own gearing. It opened wide enough for them so get through and allow them to attack the second sealed unit.

  Ogden’s voice came over their ear studs. “Haven’t you found a way inside yet?” he asked.

  “I don’t need any questions from a guy who parks a spacecraft over a skylight then instructs me to jump out,” said Ramirez.

  “I did not instruct you to job, burrito brain. I merely cautioned you to be careful.”

  “Yeah, after I had nearly plunged to my death.”

  “Most people watch what they’re doing.”

  “Most people aren’t on the same crew as you.”

  “Enough, dudes,” said the Captain. “It seems you are close to the lab.”

  “One door remaining,” said Gowan. “It looks simple enough.”

  “Perhaps Ogden would like me to jump through it,” said Ramirez. “Save us all that turning of the locking wheel.”

  “As you wish,” said Ogden. “But remember to be careful.”

  Gowan and Ramirez persisted turning the locking wheel and found it a job to break the seal for the door to open. “There’s some kind of negative pressure in operation,” she said. “The pressure inside is a tad lower than out here.”

  “There’s a suction fan,” said Ramirez, “but it’s not working now we’ve cut the power and probably destroyed its battery backup.”

  “Close the door after I go in,” said Gowan. “I’ll find the Sarin then you can let me out when its secure.”

  “Okay,” said Ramirez and shrugged.

  Gowan entered and waited as Ramirez sealed the safety glass behind her. He watched from outside as she studied the cabinets. There were two of them, each locked with Yale locks and a padlock. She cut through the first lock and looked inside. There were lots of sealed glass jars with various coloured labels, some bearing inscriptions in Latin.

  “Which one is it?” she asked.

  “Bring them all.”

  “We’ll never carry them all,” she said.

  “Then I suggest the large one on its own with the red warning label is the safest bet,” said Ramirez.

  “There’s something in the air here that is making me sneeze,” she stuttered then let loose with a sharp breath out through her nose and mouth.

  “Get that sneezing under control,” cautioned Ramirez.

  “It’s okay now it’s out,” she said and gingerly reached for the jar. She turned and placed it on the desk beside her. “I’ll get it in the carrier first,” she said and carefully placed the carrier next to the jar. But even as it touched the surface of the desk another sneeze shook her body and the carrier knocked the jar from the desk and onto the floor. To Ramirez it appeared to fall in slow motion, time retarding as it aimed for the hard tiles. He even had time for a thought – I hope that glass is tough – before it hit and shattered sending a dark blue liquid and gas across the floor. The gas rose immediately and Gowan barely had time to shrug. Ramirez watched in horror as Gowan reacted with hopelessness at her own fatal stupidity.

  The sealed door swung back again as Ramirez stepped in against her frantic waving of hands. “Clumsy girl,” he said.

  “You idiotic fool,” she said, coughing. “Why didn’t you stay out there where you’re safe?”

  “I don’t know, Gowan. I just reacted.” He sat down on the floor near her and she slumped down adjacent to him. He said, “To be honest, I never had much faith in Tittyslagger’s scheme to get us back home. I just couldn’t see you die here alone.”

  “You sacrificed yourself.”

  “The way I see it, I’m just keeping you company. I told you, you’re my favourite hot girl.”

  “Eric,” she said and smiled at him. “We’re both going to die uselessly now.”

  “We died when that alien ship decloaked. All the rest has been a bonus. Anyway, if we are going to die, we’ll do it together.”

  “All the horrible things I said about you.”

  “That was just part of your charm, Gowan.” He looked at the mess on the floor. “How long does this stuff take to work.?”

  “I’m not sure. A few minutes maybe.”

  “Then that’s all the time we have left,” he said.

  “So let’s use it,” said Gowan. She spoke into her microphone. “Sorry, Captain. We screwed up and spilled the Sarin. Ramirez tried to rescue me but now it’s too late for both of us. Good luck with the rest of your mission. We’ll be dead shortly and a rescue would be pointless and time-wasting. The Sarin has gone and we’re infected and the lab doors are not sealed properly. We’re both signing off now.” She turned to Ramirez. “I’m sorry. How can I make it up?”

  She turned off her camera and microphone and ear studs. Ramirez looked at her, took her hand and smiled. She closed her eyes and thought, ‘he has lovely teeth’.

  In the Challenger, Stiers stared for a moment at Ogden, who had heard the monologue, and raised his eyebrows. “We don’t have a Plan B, do we?”

  “I’m afraid not, Captain. We could try to locate more Sarin or attempt to develop something else.”

  “So we’ve lost Gowan and Ramirez.”

  “It would seem so,” sighed Ogden. “I liked them both – despite their constant bickering.”

  “So did I. The trouble is, we can’t leave them there with all those devices from the future.”

  “I expect they’ll set the self-destruct mode on their suits.”

  “That itself may destroy the Sarin and leave it safe for us to enter and clear up what’s left.”

  “Yes, but we can’t enter until it’s safe. I’ll take the bio-reader when we investigate.”

  “We don’t have too much time, Captain.”

  “Let’s give them a couple of minutes then head on down there, Pard.”

  “Half our crew gone and we’ve signed on the Professor,” said Ogden. “And we need everybody else right where they are.”

  So they spent a couple of minutes in silence then exited the same portal. Stiers went through first and shouted up for Ogden to follow. Ogden looked at the drop. “I don’t feel comfortable dropping that height,” he confessed.

  “I’ll catch you and break your fall,” said the Captain.

  Ogden edged his way to the edge of the skylight and sat on it, his legs inside. He pushed off and dropped and Stiers stepped back. The Englishman crashed below with a loud grunt and his third cuss of the year. “I thought you were going to break my fall,” he wailed.

  “Have you seen the size of your gut lately?”

  “I may have broken my ankle.”

  “And you would have broken both my arms,” said the Captain, already hunting for the way to the basement.

  Ogden clambered ungracefully to his feet with the delicacy and poise of a buffalo in ballet and tested his legs. They supported him fine. “As a leader of men, there are some areas where you need refinement,” he said.

  “Follow me,” said Stiers, “and keep your oxygen mask close.”

  They found the staircase by the elevator and followed the staircase to the bottom, taking note of where Gowan and Ramirez had cut through the doorway. They put their masks on which immediately fogged up slightly, some future technology being as reliable as a pizz
a delivery rider. They slowly approached the security door to the lab and paused outside at the sight that greeted them.

  Stiers, who was having the most trouble with his mask, said, “Why is Gowan wearing a sporran and what’s that pink thing in her hand?”

  Ogden, blessed with clearer sight, said, “That isn’t a sporran, Captain. Gowan is naked and the pink thing she appears to be holding is Ramirez’s penis.”

  “A penis?” gasped Stiers.

  “A penis – happiness; some would say it’s the same thing.”

  “And what’s that bulge under her top – the one that’s moving?”

  “Ramirez’s right hand at a guess,” said Stiers.

  “Well what are they up to?”

  “How many children did you say you have?”

  “I know what they doing,” said Stiers. “I mean why aren’t they dead? And why are they making love during working hours?”

  “They’re alive,” said Ogden, peering closely at his bio-reader, “because they appear to have spilled some kind of cold remedy which must be here under test.”

  “Not Sarin.”

  “No.”

  “So it’s safe to go in there?”

  “Safe, but they seem engrossed. It may be courteous to wait.”

  “The hell with waiting,” said Stiers. “How much time do they think we have?”

  “In their case, obviously very little.”

  “Let’s get these doors open and take off these blessed masks. I feel like an apple pie at a barn dance.”

  They removed their oxygen masks and stepped through outer and inner doorways. Gowan saw them first and shrieked. “It’s dangerous in here,” she yelled, reaching for her clothes.

  “So I can see,” said the Captain. “Have you found a way to raise your temperature to kill the germs – in this case a cold cure?”

  “What? It’s Sarin,” said an embarrassed Ramirez, clutching to hide his manly parts.

  “Let’s get this other storage closet open,” said Stiers and began to cut through the locks as Ramirez and Gowan dressed hurriedly. The doors swung open. There were three items inside – the one on the bottom shelf secured with additional locks and a titanium container with a skull and crossbones and lots of warning labels, including one that read ‘B2 Sarin X – not to be moved or opened – highly toxic’.