The Black: Arrival

by Paul E. Cooley

  Maeve groaned behind them. “We really have to move again?”

  Kate chuckled. “Hey, did you like the fireworks show?”

  The girl grinned despite the pain in her shoulder. “It was pretty cool. I thought you guys were going to start a fire, not throw a hand grenade.”

  Jay laughed. “The cloth I used to secure the battery connections. The wire must have warmed enough to set it off.” He stared down at his right hand. The skin was black in places, striated with crimson. “Shit.” He looked at Kate. “Got anything in that med kit for burns?”

  Her eyes stared down at the wound. “That looks third degree, Jay. Why did you just stand there?”

  He blinked. “I don’t know. It— It looked at me. Like it was—” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  She sighed. “Let’s table that for now. Let me get some bandages and see if we can find something for that hand.”

  *****

  There were three Bunsen burners in the chem-lab. The problem? They were in the chem-lab.

  Neil and Mike walked outside into the hall and then stood at the entryway to the lab. Neil glanced at the glass wall. Bill watched them from his chair, his face a bit more pale than Neil liked.

  He stared into the chem-lab. The distillation equipment was melted in places. The gaping, scorched hole in the ceiling was terrifying. The idea that, that thing, could just reach down and pluck them into its mouth was more than just a little disconcerting. He didn’t want to go in there. But it was the only way, the only goddamned way, they were going to get through this.

  And even then, the odds weren’t exactly in their favor. The plan? Set fire to the M2 that was still in the dispensing station. Neil wished he could take credit for it, but it had been Bill’s idea. Opening the barrel up and setting it on fire would be next to impossible if they didn’t want to risk releasing it from its temporary prison. But if they managed to set the M2 on fire in the pipes, it should travel back into the barrel and ignite all of it.

  Regardless of whether or not it worked, they were going to be in a world of shit. There was no telling what would happen once that much of it was alight. It could explode. It could do nothing. Or, more frightening, the M2 could just stream out of the pipe and kill them all.

  They’d have to break the vacuum to force air into the system. Neil hoped Bill was right about that too. The pipes had a purge system to force air and clear them. But if they couldn’t get it to go in reverse, it meant they’d have to drain the pipes and the barrel into the lab. At that point? All bets were off. Neil didn’t want to think about it.

  “How do you want to do this?” Mike asked.

  Neil glanced at his worry-lined face. His eyes burned with something akin to anger. It actually made Neil feel a bit better. At least he had one pissed-off wingman.

  “See that table over there by the distillation analyzer?” He pointed a finger toward it. Mike nodded. “There’s a burner over there with an auto-igniter. The only problem is the tubing connecting it to the gas jets. But there are lots of gas jets in here. We just need to disconnect the burner, take it to the dispenser, reconnect it, and then figure out what’s next.”

  Mike blinked. “Why can’t we figure that out now?”

  “Because,” Neil licked his lips, “I don’t know if the computer controls were damaged. If they were, we’re going to have to think fast. If that thing comes back down here, we’re not going to have a whole lot of time.”

  “That’s easy,” Mike said. “We turn on the gas jets, auto-ignite the burner, and let the gas do its job.”

  Neil gulped. “That could cause one hell of an explosion, Mike. I’m not sure we’d survive it if we were outside the lab, but we’ll be blown to smithereens if we’re inside when it happens.”

  “I don’t care.” Mike’s eyes were hard steel. “I let that shit into this place. I’m sure as hell not letting it back out. We can’t have this stuff out there. No fucking way.” He shook his head. “If I ever see Simpson again, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”

  For a moment, neither man said a word. Neil tried to put the idea of them blowing themselves up out of his mind. Mike was right, of course. If the CDC or whoever the fuck had been on the radio was telling the truth, they were already losing a battle with an M2 entity at Ben Taub. Should the HAL sample of M2 get loose, there was no telling what would happen. If it reached the sewers, it could eventually destroy the city.

  “Okay,” Neil said at last. “I’m with you. Let’s just plan on blowing ourselves up as a last resort, okay?”

  Mike grinned. “I didn’t say it was my first choice, Neil.”

  “I hoped that was the case.” Neil turned back to the lab. “You know the plan?”

  “Unhook the burner, take the hose, and meet you at the dispenser.”

  Neil nodded. “Right. Easy peasy.”

  “Easy peasy,” Mike echoed. “Let’s do this.”

  Neil opened the door to the chem-lab and stepped inside. The room stank of burned plastic and rotten meat. He stifled the urge to retch and suddenly wished they’d brought their gas masks. He was about to say something about it when Mike pelted past him toward the burner. Neil cursed and followed as fast as he could.

  Mike made it to the burner station before Neil was even halfway to the sample dispenser. He slowed and looked up at the gaping hole in the ceiling. The hole exposed ductwork, pipes, and electrical wiring. He tried to ignore the feeling he was being watched through that hole and headed to the dispensing station.

  The computer was still working. That was something at least. He brought it to life and logged in. The system took a moment and then returned with a login failure. “Fuck you,” Neil said. The network was trashed. It couldn’t contact the authentication server.

  He clicked okay and then grinned. Because the scientists were always losing their passwords, Chuckles had set the labs up with connections to the network, but also with a root password. They were only supposed to use the root account if there was a network failure. Now was the time.

  Neil typed it in and waited as the computer thought about it. The screen flashed and filled with a UI. From here, Neil could control most of the equipment in the chem-lab. Fortunately, there was only one item of interest on his mind.

  He brought up the UI for the dispensing station. The screen flashed again and a new window filled the screen. Neil scanned the interface and looked at the system health bar. According to the sensors monitoring the piping system and the dispenser, there were no problems with pressure and the system seemed intact.

  “I think we’re in business,” Neil said without turning around. “Everything’s green and we still have pressure.”

  “Good,” Mike said. “I’ve almost got this connection loose.”

  “Just don’t turn on the gas jet by accident. That would be a bad thing.”

  “Noted,” Mike said.

  As Neil searched through the commands on the interface, Mike huffed and puffed behind him. The clinking of metal against metal was hard to miss. He hoped like hell Mike was being careful. If a jet came on while he was messing around back there, that metal on metal could deliver a spark that would blow them both to kingdom come.

  At least M2 would die with us, he thought. Or hoped. He clicked through the menu and searched for maintenance mode. He found it and looked at the description. Neil nodded as he read it. He clicked a button and a new menu popped up.

  They could bleed air from the system if the vacuum wasn’t sealed. They could flush the system with water. Or they could force air into the pipes for a purge. As he searched, worry lines appeared on his forehead. What he was looking for, hoping for, wasn’t there. The only way to get air into the system would also force the oil into the lab.

  “Shit.”

  He barely heard Mike’s footsteps behind him.

  “Something wrong?” Mike asked.

  Neil hissed between his teeth. “Like I was afraid of. The goddamned purge is one way only. We can force the pipes to empt
y through the nozzle,” he said pointing to the metal and glass faucet, “in a purge. But that means we’re going to bring all that shit into the lab.”

  Mike grunted. “No way to force it the other way?”

  Neil shook his head. “I don’t see a way to reverse it. The software doesn’t support that and I’ve no idea how to jury-rig it.” He thrummed his fingers on the table. “Shit.”

  Mike put the burner on the table and dropped the hose next to it. He pointed to a gleaming metal nozzle on the wall. “Is that the gas?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.” Mike shuffled forward and put one end of the rubber hose on the nozzle. He fidgeted with it for a moment until he seemed happy. “One end in.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Neil said. “We can’t set what’s in the pipes on fire. We’d have to somehow get the flame up into the pipes.”

  Mike ignored him and connected the hose to the burner. “Fuck that. We get some buckets or something from the storage area, flood the M2 into them and set them alight. It’ll burn as it enters the buckets. No problem.”

  Neil stared at him. “You’re out of your mind, Mike. We don’t know what that shit will do once it’s out of the pipes. It could just fly right out of the buckets and into our faces.”

  Mike shrugged. “But it’ll die. Like us.”

  “Man,” Neil said. “You really are pissed off.”

  “Yes. Yes, I am. I have two destroyed buildings, dead friends, and an army of assholes outside that are unwilling to help. So yeah,” he growled, “I’m pissed off.”

  “Before we do that, let me think.”

  Neil stared at the vacuum pump mechanism. It was quite simple, really. The airtight connections at either end ensured no air could enter the system. Once everything was connected, the pump bled all the air from the pipes. After that? The dispenser end opened a valve and the fluid trapped in the pipes would flow through. When the valve was shut again, the vacuum in the pipes was restored.

  But how to get it to go the other way? If he attempted to purge the system, air would flow through another valve toward the beginning of the pipe system. He pursed his lips. To perform a purge, they couldn’t have the barrel connected anyway.

  “Shit.” Neil scratched his head. “Okay.” He turned to Mike. Mike’s eyebrows were raised. “Here’s what we can do. We set the burner down, ignite it, and I set the dispenser to allow a very slow trickle of liquid. Once it starts catching fire, any additional M2 that exits the system will automatically ignite.”

  “And if it doesn’t?” Mike asked.

  “We’ll let whatever’s left in the barrel out into the lab. And we won’t really have a way to stop it.”

  “So,” Mike said, “either we leave this crap where it is, or we take our chances.” He looked around the lab. “How many more of those gas nozzles are there?”

  “Um, I don’t know. Ten? Twelve?” Neil scrunched his eyebrows together. “What the hell you got up your sleeve?”

  A slow, sadistic grin spread across Mike’s face. “Help me find another hose. Two if possible. You’re going to show me what to do, and then you’re going to get the hell out of here.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  Mike laughed and shook his head. “No. Believe me, I don’t want to die in here. And you’re going to have to get Bill and Hoyt the hell out of here. Get them to the building foyer. Hide there. If it comes for you, do your best to get away.”

  “That’s a shit plan,” Neil said.

  “Got a better one?”

  “No. I don’t.” Neil grabbed the burner and placed it beneath the spout. He exited the maintenance interface and brought up the main dispensing program. He could set a timer. He could set flow. How long would Mike need? He exhaled through his teeth. “Okay. Let’s find those hoses first.”

  *****

  Neil and Mike were talking. He could see them waving their hands at each other. Something had gone wrong with the plan and Bill didn’t like it.

  His eyes kept wandering to what he could see of the damaged ceiling in the other lab. If they stayed in there much longer, they risked that creature coming down on top of them. Bill couldn’t really imagine how they’d get away from it since it would be between them and the room’s exit.

  He was feeling a little better, able to catch his breath, and his heart had slowed down. If he survived all this, it was time to get in shape. 58 was no age to have a heart attack or simply croak from exhaustion.

  CRUMP!

  Bill flinched and stared toward the far wall. He waited for another sound, something to clue him in as to what had created the noise. It didn’t sound like thunder. More like a gunshot from a very large caliber pistol. “Now what?” he asked aloud.

  The radio on the table squawked. “HAL? This is control? Dr. Illing? Are you there?”

  Bill walked to the table and picked up the radio. He fiddled with it until he found the talk button. “Dr. Illing isn’t here. This is Dr. Field.” He depressed the button. Grunted. Pressed it again and said, “Over.”

  “Dr. Field. Do you have any more casualties, over?”

  “No. What was that noise, over?”

  Pause.

  “We’re not sure. It came from building 2. We are investigating now. We have another team outside your building near the loading dock. They will come in to assess your situation momentarily. Over.”

  Bill blinked at the radio. “You mean you’re coming to get us, over?”

  Pause.

  “We will be entering the building to assess the situation,” the voice repeated. “Do not, I repeat, do not enter the secure area when our team enters. Any HAL personnel found will be treated as hostile. Do you understand, over?”

  “Shit,” Bill said. He didn’t press the talk button. He stared back at the chem-lab. Neil and Mike were hooking up hoses to gas jets. He didn’t know what the hell they were doing, but he had a bad feeling.

  “Dr. Field? This is control. Please respond.”

  They were going to enter the secure area. They were going to take out anyone that got in their way. And there hadn’t been a single goddamned word about saving the people inside. Great. Our tax dollars at work, he said to himself.

  “Dr. Field?” the radio squawked again.

  He pressed the talk button and grinned. “Control, this is Dr. Field. We are currently planning the destruction of the M2. We suggest your people stay outside until we’re finished. Over.”

  He dropped the radio on the table and walked to the hallway as fast as he could. He had to let Mike and Neil know what was going on.

  “Dr. Field? Dr. Field?” The radio was screaming at him as he walked out. “Do not—” The voice was lost when he closed the door.

  Hoyt was still in there, but that didn’t matter. He entered the hallway and made it to the chem-lab entryway as Neil was running out.

  “What are you doing here?” Neil asked.

  Bill pointed toward Mike. “They’re coming in. For that shit. What is he doing?”

  Neil shook his head. “Something really dumb. And something really dangerous.”

  “Well, we’re going to have an army of assholes coming through the loading dock any second.”

  “Goddammit,” Neil said. He turned and shouted into the chem-lab. “Mike! We have a—”

  And then the fun started.

  *****

  Mike wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow. You’re out of your mind. “Shut up,” Mike said to himself. He knew this was crazy. He didn’t need some inner voice to tell him that.

  The burner was set up. Neil had set the timer on the device for one minute. The stream would be just fast enough to keep a steady flow without dousing the burner. But just in case, Neil had started another burner on the nearest table. If he needed it, he could turn on a gas jet, light it with the burner, and use it like a flamethrower.

  Neil had told him that the fire through the hose wouldn’t shoot very far. And more than likely, the rubber end would melt damned fast. But it was at l
east something.

  The counter ticked down. 20 seconds. He moved away from the dispensing station and stood next to the other burner. Four meters separated him from the dispenser that would release the M2. He held a hose in one hand, his other on the gas jet.

  “Mike!” Neil shouted from the hall. “We have a—”

  Three things happened at once. And none of them good. The vacuum pump groaned as it sucked M2 through the pipes. Mike was frozen between the sound of the pump and Neil’s voice. Then? The secure area’s loading dock door exploded outward.

  The Bunsen burner beneath the dispensing faucet crackled and spit as the first drops of M2 hit it. The pipes groaned as something fought against the vacuum. More M2 drizzled out and then the little burner turned into a flame geyser.

  Mike shielded his eyes as the red and orange flame reached all the way up to the faucet. Through the roar of the flame and Neil’s screaming behind him, the sound of confused, panicked voices in the secure area caught his ears.

  The secure area was drenched in nearly blinding light. Bulky shadows moved in. Some of them carried equipment. Others? The easily recognizable shapes of rifles.

  Mike cursed and backed up. The fire had reached the dispenser. Metal squealed as it expanded from the heat and whatever was pushing on it from inside. The vacuum struggled to pull more of the substance through. Mike imagined it had grown appendages to grip the metal. He cursed again.

  Those assholes in the secure area were here for one reason and one reason only—they were going to take M2 out of the building. They wouldn’t save his team. Hell, they might even kill them. Regardless, he couldn’t let that shit out of the building.

  He had to break a pipe. Break the vacuum. Let the shit into the room and burn it. He looked around for something, anything, that could possibly break the pipes open. If he gave the stuff somewhere else to flow, he was sure it would.

  Mike ran to the wall of lab equipment. The fire was getting larger, but not fast enough. That didn’t mean the black smoke chuffing into the air wasn’t starting to choke him. Through watery eyes, he scanned the items on the wall. He finally saw what he wanted and hoped it would do the job.