“Sorry, I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“It’s okay. You’re sure she didn’t just meet somebody? Maybe…I don’t know…”
“No, she can’t meet anybody, none of the girls can. I don’t know who it was or how it happened, but there are rumors…”
“Do you think he’s…?”
“No,” said Paul, anticipating my question. “Apparently it’s all very clinical. It’s not a perverted thing, it’s like a horrible experiment. And Ava’s not the only one who is pregnant, although she is the youngest…she’s only seventeen, Isaac.”
Jesus. What sort of a sick situation had I led us into? We talked for about ten more minutes. Paul was of the opinion that resistance was futile, there were too few of us and too many of them, and they were very careful not to allow the males to mix unsupervised.
I wasn’t of that opinion and was damned if I was going to let Indigo, Brooke and Allie be used as brood mares for some nutty professor’s vision of Utopia. I saw a glimmer of hope in the friction between the military and the Professor’s men, but first things first, I had to wait until Luke was back on board. I knew now that Sonny would not be released and that rescuing him would have to be our first priority... then the girls.
That night, before lights out, John came to remind me that someone would come and get me at 0600 so I could begin my training the next morning. I was told to have my gear packed. I had almost suggested that maybe I could stay in the dorms on the middle level while I completed my training but decided against it. Given what we had discovered, me joining the military was one ace we might have up our sleeve.
I packed the few belongings I had before I went to bed and had a quick word to Ben about Brooke’s message to keep his head down and also told him to listen out for anything that might be of value to us. I deliberately omitted telling him what Paul had told me about the pregnant girls and also asked Paul not to say anything. The last thing we needed was Ben going ballistic and getting himself put in the brig.
4
I was extremely busy for the next three days. John collected me as promised from the dorm in the morning and surprised me by taking me not to the lobby, but around the Square to a large set of aluminum doors on the other side. John swiped his security card and I heard a humming noise behind the doors.
“Oh, I didn’t know there was another elevator here.”
“Yeah, it’s a cargo lift,” he said, as the doors opened. “Not for general use, but it’s quicker than going to the lobby every time.”
I made a mental note.
I was fitted for a kit, including uniforms and boots. The rough camouflage shirt and pants were a little big on me, but not ridiculously so. The boots fit perfectly but felt a little unwieldy. They made me feel taller but were less balanced than the canvass shoes I had been wearing.
Next it was off to the barber, who happened to be Gould, the soldier I had met a few days before. There was a decent halo of hair around my chair by the time he finished, and it felt weird when I ran my hands over my stubbly head.
John, whose surname I found out was Hurst, became my mentor during my basic training. Even though we were essentially partnered up 14 hours a day for the next four days, I didn’t really manage to learn much about John. He was very private and didn’t disclose anything about his previous life apart from telling me he was from Rochester in New York State.
Maybe that was a coping mechanism. If you didn’t talk about what you’d lost it couldn’t hurt you I guess. He also remained very professional and when I did tentatively put out feelers and ask what he thought the Professor’s long-term plans might be, he refused to be drawn into speculation.
Despite his reticence to talk, I got the feeling that if it came to the crunch, John… and the Colonel for that matter, could be counted upon to fight for what was right. It was also clear that there was no love lost between them and the guys under Professor Leahy - the Homeland Security people and Mr. Ragg, even if they did still have some respect for the man himself.
For the next few days I was taken through a condensed version of real basic training, including weapons handling and unarmed combat. Of course, my Kung-Fu training meant I already had a good grasp of hand to hand fighting, but it was good to dust off the cobwebs with real and competent sparring partners.
Thanks to my experiences on the road with Luke and the others, I also had a fair working knowledge of firearms and automatic weapons, but it was definitely helpful to learn from experts, particularly about the safety aspects. It was also comforting to know that the next time I fired off a warning burst from an automatic rifle, I wouldn’t be cutting someone down like I had in the alleyway a few months before.
The exercise and practice must have been doing me some good because after dinner and by the time I hit the Rec room every evening, I was absolutely ‘buggered’ as my English friend Ben would say. The boys teased me mercilessly about my buzz cut but I took it good-naturedly, telling the long-haired Ben in a fair Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation that at least I wasn’t a “girly man.”
At the end of the fourth day’s training I was told to shower and then go to Colonel Randall’s office. John was also present when I arrived, standing off to the side while Randall sat behind his desk. On the desk in front of him was a belt and holstered pistol. If it was the same one we had trained with, it was a Semiautomatic, 9mm Beretta M9. It was standard US army issue and pretty user friendly. Next to it was a Taser—the rectangular, hand held type with the two electrodes on the end for close quarters contact.
“Isaac, I’ve heard good things from John here. He said that in hand to hand combat you’re as competent as any of the men we already have, and that you did well on the firing range too. Well done, that’s quite an achievement for someone so young and validates my trust in you.”
“Thanks Sir. I guess I had lots of real world experience before I got here.”
“True, in fact, you’ve probably seen more combat than most of the men in here, besides Hurst here and myself. Anyway, we can’t really afford to spend any more time training you, and I think it would be flogging a dead horse anyway. We have a six-man scouting party going out in three hours and you’re needed to carry out patrol duties here in the facility until they come back.”
He slid the weapons across the desk towards me. “I don’t need to tell you to be careful with those, particularly the gun. In fact, you should never need to draw that. While patrolling you will basically be a police officer. Keeping the peace is what we’re charged with right now, unless the facility is under threat. If there’s a problem that can’t be solved with words, fall back on the Taser. Keep your weapons with you at all times, even when you’re off duty. As you’ve seen,” he said, somewhat bitterly, “it’s impossible to predict when an incident might occur.”
He stood up and came around the desk to stand in front of me. After I put on the belt and clipped on the Taser he saluted me. Feeling a bit dumb, I returned it, hoping I didn’t look like too much of a try hard. I suddenly felt like a kid playing games with grownups.
“Welcome aboard son, here is your pass.”
A pass! To me that felt even more crucial than the weapon and I pocketed it.
“Thanks.”
Randall turned back to his desk, “Okay, you’re dismissed, go have some something to eat and some R & R, your first duty will be tomorrow morning at 0600. You’ll be patrolling Midlevel with another of the men. Don’t enter the North wing, that’s under the protection of the Homeland guards, as is Top level.”
Travelling back up the elevator, I felt like I had achieved a small milestone. I had weapons, information and access to all areas…except the North Wing and the Professor’s level of course. The cafeteria was empty when I arrived, but as a soldier I wasn’t required to eat in shifts like the rest of the general population. It was getting close to meal times anyway, so I got a decent serving of the bland food on offer and sat down.
I dragged out my meal as long as I coul
d, but the first shift that came in was the female cleaning crew we had seen the afternoon Mr. Ragg had taken out the two soldiers. These were mostly middle-aged women, and they kept to themselves, although I received a few polite greetings. Two men in lab coats entered while the women were eating, the Doctor was with them and waved at me. I saw his eyes widen a little when he realised I was wearing the army uniform of green camouflage. He deliberately sat a few tables away. I shrugged and finished my meal before heading into the Rec room.
I briefly thought about doing some weights but I was actually feeling a bit sore and tired from my training that day so I went to the sofa in the darkened alcove, laid down and closed my eyes.
I awoke with a start to someone running the palm of their hand over the stubble on the top of my head and laughing. I opened my eyes, still sleepy confused and saw Luke’s grinning face looming over me.
“You’re in the marines now, boy! No sleeping on the job!” He yelled in a drill sergeant’s voice. I laughed and sat up, returning the awkward hug he gave me. Ben was grinning like an idiot behind him and I noticed a scuff on his cheek. Paul was also there, looking a little left out.
“Good to see you up and about Luke, about time!” I said. “Have you met Paul…and Toby and Beau?”
“Yeah, met them all about an hour ago. I took over your bunk… so you got drafted huh?” I nodded, and he looked at the sidearm on my hip. “Nice piece…Beretta?”
“Yeah… I’ve got lots to catch you up on,” I said and looked over his shoulder. “Ben, what happened to your face?”
“I got hit by a flying rock. Swinging a pick-axe isn’t as safe as it sounds, you know? Not too much damage. I am absolutely buggered though.”
“You’re not the only one…Jeez, it looks nasty. Any chance you and Paul can keep the other guys occupied for a while? I want to fill Luke in on what’s been happening.”
They both agreed, and it was only after he’d left that I thought Paul might be put out by not including him as I debriefed Luke. Ben knew how Luke and I operated, so it wasn’t an issue for him, but Paul didn’t know us that well. Anyway, I let it go because if he had taken offense, it didn’t show.
“How is your wound?” I asked Luke.
“It’s fine, I’m a quick healer. Not super quick like Sonny, but yeah I feel good enough to kick some ass.”
Even though I knew he was joking, the fact was, he might have to do just that before too long. I started to give him a condensed version of all that had happened since we arrived. He was eager to hear about my visit to Sonny, but his face darkened when I told him about my suspicions— that the Professor was working on a variation of the Pyongyang Flu, and that Sonny would be the test subject.
“I could be just freaking out a bit,” I said. “It just seems a little too…convenient that they wouldn’t let him join the rest of us. I’m sure there would be some in here who would be suspicious of him, but they would get over it, especially if the Professor called a meeting or something to introduce him.”
“No, you’re right dude. Something is wrong. We have to get him out of there. So, it’s been five days now?”
“Yeah.”
He looked worried and I suddenly felt guilty for not being more proactive, for letting my training distract me.
“We have to find out if he’s all right, Isaac.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to Colonel Randall tomorrow and ask him to arrange a visit.”
Luke had stayed relatively calm about Sonny’s situation, but I thought he might explode when I told him about Paul’s sister Ava, and what might be in store for the girls. I put my hand on his and gave him a warning look, shaking my head slightly. “Not here.”
To his credit he managed to bottle his rage, but I noticed the sides of his neck were flushed a deep red, a sign of his anger that I had only seen a couple of times before. I could see his mind ticking over as he struggled to find words.
“That bastard,” he said in a strange choked voice. “It’s so sick. Poor Ava…”
“Yeah, and at least one other girl too.”
“Right,” he said. “We have two main issues here, the girls and Sonny. They’re both urgent, but I think we have to give priority to Sonny. Yes, whatever they have planned for the girls is horrific, but at least at this stage it doesn’t seem they are in danger, otherwise Indigo and Brooke would have raised holy hell. It would make sense for the Professor to stagger the births. Oh Jesus… I can’t believe it. They don’t…you know, they don’t…”
“No,” I said, anticipating his question. “Paul said it’s all very clinical, so I guess he means artificial.”
“Fuck. For once in my life I’m sorry I was right. He’s worse than nutty, he’s downright evil.”
“I know.”
He turned his attentions to other problems. Like me, I think he came to the conclusion that the less one thought about what could be in store for the girls, the better.
“So Sonny is essentially a prisoner of war… or worse, a lab rat. If you’re right about your suspicions, I doubt the Professor is going to let you see him, but I guess you have to ask. At least then we’ll know one way or another. Just in case though, I think we have to make a plan to get to him ourselves.”
“How? There’s no way we can get access to Top level if he doesn’t let us in. It’s guarded day and night and he has the entire Homeland security force housed there.”
“They’re not Homeland security anymore. It’s his personal SS troop.”
“SS?”
“Yeah, it stands for SchutzStaffel, it means protection squad. The SS was Adolf Hitler’s personal guard and they were real bastards. This guy Ragg sounds like he would have been right at home in Nazi Germany.”
“Yeah, well, no matter what they were or are now, they have that place secured pretty tight. I don’t know what we could do, short of starting a war to get up there without permission.”
“Well that doesn’t take away from the fact that we need to know what is happening with Sonny. Besides…no place is airtight.” He glanced upwards. I followed his gaze high up the wall opposite us and saw the grill of the ducted air circulation system. It didn’t look much more than a foot in width.
“No way. It’s too small! Besides, how do you know where it leads?”
“I don’t, but they will be interconnected and will go floor to floor, probably from a hub on this level, and once I’m in it, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. In places like this, they’re designed to be big enough for men to access them for maintenance if they need to.”
“You? No way Luke, you’re still recovering.”
“Think about it Isaac, who else can do it? Everyone else is assigned to their disciplines, and you’ll be on patrol. I don’t have to work for a few more days and they haven’t even asked me what discipline I want yet. The Doc just told me to get lots of bed rest over the next two days and when I was up, to relax in here….no one will miss me for a few hours.”
I didn’t like it but couldn’t really argue with his logic.
“When do you want to do it?”
“The day after tomorrow.”
I racked my brains to try and come up with another way. Maybe I could get into the vent myself? It would have to be at night, but even then, I would be missed as I was now housed in the barracks. Luke was right, it would have to be him, and we had to take the opportunity while it was open to us.
“All right, how do you want to do this? It will be impossible to do it in here.”
“No, I’ll enter through the dorm. I’ll go in the morning before the mining shift heads out.”
“We have to check if there’s one in there first.
“There is, I’ve already scoped it out.”
Of course, he had. I was reminded again of how much I had missed my friend’s head for tactics and strategy.
“There is one thing we will need before long,” said Luke. “A map or schematic of the facility. Paul was right when he told you that they’re digging for nothi
ng. If there’s one thing that’s for sure, there will already be another way out of the facility; they designed these places to be almost impenetrable, but there is always an emergency exit. Most likely it is only known to the guy in charge and those around him.”
“Even if I find one, I won’t be able to take it…unless you want me to copy it by hand?”
“Dude, please, stop trying to find blockers.” He looked around quickly, burying his hand in his pocket for a moment before pulling it out and sliding it into mine. He deposited a shiny iPhone into my palm.
“Just take a picture or two.”
“Where did…”
“It doesn’t matter, but I didn’t steal it if that’s what you’re worried about. Everybody’s been throwing these away since the Chinese put the lights out, but it still has a great camera and the bonus is, I can also listen to music. It’s fully charged so there shouldn’t be any issues battery wise. Don’t lose it though dude! I never thought I’d hear the sweet sounds of Pink Floyd again…”
I didn’t even bother asking Luke who this Pink Floyd girl was, just shook my head at his resourcefulness. For the next half hour, we formulated a plan. Tomorrow I would see Randall about getting access to Sonny and in the meantime, Luke would spend the day gathering what he needed—a butter knife to use as a screwdriver and chalk or string for finding his way back to the dorm. He looked very excited by the prospect of taking some action and it rubbed off on me… being reunited with him made it seem like anything was possible.
We decided that he wouldn’t tell the other boys about the plan until tomorrow night, so there was less chance of someone accidently saying something, or if, God forbid, there was a rat in the ranks. I hadn’t even considered that possibility, but Luke said we had to be wary even though they seemed decent enough kids.
After we had settled on the plan, we went and played pool with the boys. I said my goodnights an hour later.
America Falls (Book 3): Cold Comfort Page 3