‘I’m going to make you an offer,’ Alyssa replied, as Jack watched the courtyard below. ‘We have enough evidence to bury you, John Jeffries, and everyone else associated with this sick project. Call it off, and we’ll not go public with it.’
‘And if I refuse?’ Tomkin asked with amusement.
‘Then I’ll kill you,’ Alyssa said with a straight face. ‘One life for many.’
Alyssa heard Jack gasp, and then she felt the chopper lurch as if it had been hit by a huge blunt instrument, or as if it had been weighed down on one side suddenly.
‘Jack,’ Alyssa said, ‘what is it?’
‘Anderson,’ Jack said in utter disbelief.
Tomkin’s chopper was already in the air when Anderson made the jump, just managing to catch hold of one of the long metal skids that ran down underneath both sides of the chopper.
His legs dangling freely in the air below as the chopper increased its altitude, the DoD headquarters smaller and smaller beneath him, Anderson forced himself to concentrate, pulling himself upwards with all his strength until his body lay against the skid.
Now all he had to do was get into the aircraft.
All three passengers jumped out of the way of the door as Anderson started firing into the metal skin of the helicopter.
Alyssa tried to keep control of what she was doing, but the impact of the pistol rounds was terrifying and before she knew it, Anderson had pulled the door open and squeezed himself through into the cabin.
Keeping his pistol up and aimed, he shut the door behind him, blocking out the shrieking wind and allowing the pilot to stabilize the aircraft.
Tomkin managed to keep his focus better than Alyssa. His military training and years of operational experience had not been totally lost during his years behind a desk. He used the distraction of Anderson’s entry to snatch the gun from Alyssa’s grasp. In the same fluid action he spun her round, his arm round her neck in a choke hold as he pressed the steel barrel against her temple.
‘Who’s got the flash drive?’ Tomkin asked. When there was no reply, he drove the barrel further into Alyssa’s temple, tightening his hold round her neck. ‘If you don’t tell me, we’ll just shoot you both and search your dead bodies.’
Alyssa saw Anderson raise an eyebrow, and realized in horror that he evidently thought that this was a better idea than asking them. She had to barter for time somehow, before they were both killed.
‘We’ve both got drives,’ she said quickly, to gain precious seconds. Maybe they could distract one of them and get one of the guns back.
But who was she kidding? These were both special forces officers, trained to kill like Jack was trained to use computers. It was what they did for a living. She sagged further into Tomkin’s grasp, a feeling of hopelessness pervading her.
Tomkin pushed Alyssa roughly across the leather-lined cabin, and she landed on a couch next to Jack. ‘Give them to us,’ Tomkin said, his gun still trained on her.
Alyssa looked at Jack and shrugged her shoulders. What else could they do? ‘We don’t just have the evidence on the drives,’ Jack said with more confidence than Alyssa could muster.
‘I don’t believe him,’ Anderson said to Tomkin.
Tomkin nodded. ‘I don’t believe you either,’ he said to Jack. ‘So you better show us those drives before you get yourselves shot.’
Jack held up his hands, palms out. ‘It’s true, I swear. I encoded it with the virus, back in your office. The evidence is living there now, trapped in the DoD system. Unless you permanently sever your computers from the outside world, the evidence will be on the web the moment the system goes back online.’
Alyssa saw Tomkin and Anderson exchange uneasy glances, clearly unsure if Jack was telling the truth. Like herself, they probably didn’t even know if such a thing was possible. She assumed it wasn’t, though, because Jack hadn’t done what he was saying. But it was a great bluff simply because it could be true.
The cabin was tense for several long, drawn-out seconds. Tomkin and Anderson exchanged looks again, clearly wanting to discuss the matter but unwilling to do so in front of them.
Alyssa could feel beads of sweat running down her forehead. Anderson clearly wanted to shoot them, but what about Tomkin?
The heavy silence was broken by the shrill ringtone of Tomkin’s phone, and Alyssa was convinced Anderson’s finger was a half-pound’s pressure away from firing at the sound of it.
Keeping his gun steady and his eyes on Alyssa, Tomkin reached into his pocket and answered the call. ‘Tomkin,’ he said, before listening with what appeared to be mounting horror. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked, clearly stunned. ‘How? . . . When? . . . OK. Colonel Anderson and I are on our way up there right now. I’ll take control of the situation when we get there. What assets do we have nearby? . . . You’re joking? . . . OK. Keep me posted.’
Tomkin hung up, shaken to his core but his gun still up and aimed.
‘Sir?’ Anderson asked, concerned. ‘What’s going on?’
Tomkin didn’t respond.
‘Sir?’ Anderson repeated.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘It looks like the HIRP base has been penetrated. Taken over.’ He shook his head in disbelief, and Alyssa thought she could almost see tears in his eyes. ‘The unthinkable has happened,’ he announced. ‘Spectrum Nine has fallen into the hands of the enemy.’
PART FIVE
1
UMBEBE LOOKED GRAVELY into the camcorder held by one of his loyal followers, ensconced now in the main control room of the Ionospheric Research Array. The video of his speech – as well as a visual tour of the captured facility to prove his words – would be put out on the web, and would be picked up by news agencies around the world in seconds. Within the hour, Umbebe was confident that almost every man, woman and child on the globe would know about it.
The assault had gone perfectly, and his team of crack international commandos had met little resistance. The head of base security, Colonel Anderson, wasn’t even there to help organize a cohesive defence, and so the facility fell with ease – almost as if it was meant to be, Umbebe had mused as he received the word from his team leaders that the complex was secure.
But now was the time for his final message to the world, and he settled himself. His entire life had led him to this single point, and he truly believed that it was his destiny. What he wanted to achieve today was no less than the desire of the universe itself.
‘Extinction,’ Umbebe intoned in his deeply melodious voice, ‘is inevitable. It always has been, ever since the dawn of time. It is the very nature of things.
‘There have been seven such extinction events over the course of our planet’s history, great upheavals which have resulted in catastrophic loss of life. My own order has charted these events with scientific rigour over the past thousand years, and we have discerned a pattern amidst the apparent chaos. It shows that the world is a living organism, expanding and contracting. Sometimes life on this planet explodes and we are faced with a multitude of new and incredibly diverse species; at other times, life is expunged. Think of it like a lung. What happens if air keeps filling the lung? It cannot expand forever, and without contraction, the organism will die.
‘This is what is happening on our planet. We are continually expanding, with no checks and balances. We are going to kill the organism before long.
‘Believe me, my brothers and sisters around the world, we are about to enter a very necessary period of contraction. Just as our order’s scientists have predicted, our time here on earth is at an end. We have pushed it out as far as we can with our technological perversion of the environment, but we cannot let it continue any longer. The time has come for the great sacrifice, which we must make together.
‘This broadcast comes to you from a government installation known as the High-frequency Ionospheric Research Project, based up near the Arctic Circle. The communications and navigation technology it purports to research is merely a cover. The real purpose of this faci
lity is something called Spectrum Nine.
‘Spectrum Nine is what has been causing the strange phenomena you have been experiencing in recent weeks, aberrant behaviour across the natural world. Even the moving statue was but a side effect of the weapon’s testing process. It is a weapon of truly epic proportions. Evidence of its power is came a few days ago when that small island was completely destroyed.’
Umbebe paused, to let his words sink in. ‘Yes, brothers and sisters, Spectrum Nine destroyed that island. And it can do much more than that. By manipulating sound waves within the recently discovered, so-called ninth spectrum, whoever controls the weapon can control the weather. And whoever controls the weather can create disaster.’ Umbebe raised his arms to the camera, hands wide open as if he was conjuring the disasters himself. ‘Earthquakes, tidal waves, typhoons, volcanic explosions, floods, storms, death and destruction on an unimaginable scale – Spectrum Nine can create it all.
‘And now, my brothers and sisters, the weapon is in the hands of the Order of Planetary Renewal. We attacked the facility earlier today, and have complete control of the entire system. Some of you may wonder what we are after; in other words, what do we want? What will make us refrain from using the device? My answer to you all is, nothing. There is nothing that will stop us. We did not capture the weapon to negotiate. We captured the weapon in order to use it. And use it we will.
‘We will unleash Spectrum Nine, and the result will be the annihilation of life on earth as we presently know it. This must now be accepted as cold, hard fact.
‘I make this broadcast not to terrify, but to inform. There is no going back, nothing that can be done to save you. What happens after the weapon has been unleashed is up to fate. Will humanity survive, perhaps in small isolated pockets? It is possible, of course. Unlikely, but possible. Who knows how the planet will restructure itself after its cleansing? But cleanse it we must,’ Umbebe said forcefully. ‘And we, the true faithful of the Order of Planetary Renewal, are proud to be the instrument of the universe’s will.
‘I give you notice so that you may ready yourselves. The road will not be easy, but accept it you must. Six hours from now, the world as you know it will come to an end.’
The four passengers watched Umbebe’s video together in the helicopter’s cabin, their differences momentarily forgotten.
It was Anderson who recovered his composure first. ‘It doesn’t matter any more anyway,’ he said. ‘We might as well kill them now. Two less witnesses when this comes to court.’ He raised his gun towards Alyssa and Jack.
‘He’s right in a way,’ Tomkin agreed. ‘Whatever evidence you have on you is moot now anyway. Our involvement will be front-page news by tomorrow. So fewer witnesses are a good thing.’
‘If there is a tomorrow,’ Jack shot back. ‘What was the answer when you asked about available assets on the phone earlier?’ Jack saw the look on Tomkin’s face and nodded his head. ‘Exactly. There are no assets available, because everyone’s tied up with the civil unrest. So why don’t you tell us your plans for recapturing the base?’
‘Watch your tongue, Murray,’ snapped Anderson.
‘They’re not going to use the weapon,’ Tomkin said. ‘Terrorists don’t follow through with threats like that. They want to negotiate, despite their words. They want something. People always do.’
‘You must be crazy,’ Alyssa said. ‘Did you hear the man? He’s probably been the one instigating the riots right from the start. His people have been everywhere since this whole thing began. And you don’t think he’s going to use it? I’ve read the plans,’ she said accusingly, fixing Tomkin with an icy stare. ‘If you were going to use it, why won’t they?’
‘We were going to use it selectively,’ Tomkin said instantly. ‘Our enemies would die, and we would win. What does he win if he destroys the whole world? He’d die too. What would it get him?’
‘Can’t you see?’ Alyssa said. ‘He believes what he’s doing is right. And whether he’s insane or not, he now has control of the world’s most powerful weapon. So what can we do to stop him?’
‘Tactical missile strike,’ Anderson said, his attention at last turning away from Alyssa and Jack to grasp the enormity of the situation. ‘We take the base out completely.’
Tomkin shook his head. ‘Can you imagine the chaos erupting around the President right now?’ he asked. ‘What is this weapon? Why didn’t I know about it? I mean, it’ll be hours before it’s even confirmed that there is such a weapon. And then authorizing such a strike, on our own soil, would take even longer. We have thousands of our own citizens there! The President would have to be one hundred per cent convinced that the threat was real. The problem is that there is no precedent for this, no protocol for him to follow. And even if an order was given in time, there are other complications. HIRP is probably the world’s most isolated research base. Submarines are out of range, our carrier fleets have been diverted to Asia and the Middle East, and it would take hours to arm and fuel our long-range bombers.’
‘Do we have any special operations forces in the area?’ Anderson asked.
‘None. Most of them are preparing for deployment to those same countries where the carrier groups are headed. In fact, many have got their feet covertly on the ground for reconnaissance already. There’s no way we can pull them back in time to launch an operation on the other side of the world.’
‘Other countries?’ Anderson persisted.
‘I’m not sure. Most are involved in their own civil crises, some are providing disaster relief and others are joining our own troops in the wrong part of the world. And it would take forever to sort through the red tape for such an operation, even if there were forces available.’ Tomkin squared his shoulders, seeming to come to a conclusion. ‘Colonel,’ he said, ‘have you got men on that chopper back at the DoD?’
Anderson nodded. ‘Yes, sir, six of my best.’
Tomkin nodded. ‘Get them rerouted to the air base, have them meet us there. We’ve got a plane ready and fuelled, with a flight plan filed. We’re going to spend the next few minutes calling all our contacts here in the city. Anybody trained, we want them with us. The plane will hold sixty, so let’s see what we can do. We started this thing, and it’s our responsibility to finish it. Let’s call in all our favours and get that plane filled.’ Tomkin looked at Anderson. ‘Colonel, you know that base better than anyone. With you leading the party, we might have a chance of retaking it.’
‘Sir,’ Anderson protested, ‘we have no idea how many people they have, where they’re posted, what kind of weapons we’ll be facing, and we’re only going to have a one-hour window to launch the counter-attack when we get there.’
Tomkin just stared at him. ‘What other options do we have?’
Anderson looked out through the window at the blue, clear sky. Eventually, he made a decision. ‘I can get some men rounded up,’ he confirmed. ‘We can plan and rehearse on the plane while we’re flying. We can get all the schematics of the base, I can identify likely points for the enemy to be stationed. We’ll look at worst-case scenarios and take it from there.’
Tomkin inclined his head, glad to have Anderson back on board.
‘But I’ll need something else too,’ Anderson said stiffly, and Alyssa wondered what it was. Surely he wasn’t going to ask for permission to shoot them, was he?
‘What’s that, Colonel?’ Tomkin asked.
Anderson nodded at Jack. ‘I’ll need Murray with me, sir,’ he said. ‘He knows the base security systems better than anybody. With him, we just might succeed.’
2
THE FLIGHT NORTH was long but over all too quickly for Alyssa.
After the decision had been made to launch a counter-attack, Tomkin and Anderson had been on their phones all the way to the airport, contacting everyone they knew in the area. By the time the plane was ready to take off half an hour later, it was nearly full with fifty-four grim-faced soldiers, and a cargo-hold full of arms.
Alyssa was on
board too, although held separately. She was being taken as insurance, in a way. Jack appeared keen to help but Anderson, ever suspicious, decided that he might need a bit more inducement. Alyssa was therefore being taken along as a hostage.
She spent the flight looking across the plane at Jack, locked in conversation with Anderson. It was clear that, despite the circumstances, he was in his element, lecturing the colonel and the other team leaders on HIRP’s security protocols. For a lot of the journey, Jack was also entering information on to a powerful laptop computer, and Alyssa wondered if he was able to access the security systems remotely. Was he already creating the conditions that would enable the shock troops to get close to the base without being seen? She remembered how he had created that invisible corridor, unwatched by security cameras, when they had climbed the roof of the main control building and they had first kissed; only days ago, but it seemed a lifetime.
She was sorry – so achingly sorry – that she couldn’t spend the hours of the flight together with Jack. They had been through so much together in such a short time; the intensity of their experience was like nothing she had felt in her life before. Other experiences had been intensely bad – the long, drawn-out and painful death of her husband, the shocking, all-too-sudden death of her daughter – but this had been intensely good, despite everything. It had all been worth it, to find Jack.
And as she watched him across the plane for hours – as the soldiers ripped out chairs to give themselves room to rehearse their team procedures, as they gathered around a mock-up scale model of the base, as they cleaned and prepared their personal equipment – she knew in her heart of hearts how she felt.
She was in love with Jack Murray.
‘Alyssa,’ Jack breathed softly, her head buried in the warm skin of his neck. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’ He held her hands, kissed them. ‘I have to go.’
Tears welled up in her eyes, although she tried to stop them. ‘I know,’ she whispered weakly. ‘I know.’
Extinction Page 26