Suddenly, the Faceless did move to the backs of their cells. Ben smiled, pleased that despite delaying they had understood him and were doing as instructed.
Then he saw why they’d stepped back.
A Faceless on the right of him had stepped all the way to the front of her unit. Ben pulled up the unit’s reference on his tablet and saw that this one had been given a name instead of a bland designation.
Carla Castleton.
Carla was smoking. Tendrils of smoke coiled around her. Carla’s face was reddening. Was she in distress? On fire?
There were no flames, but still, Ben considered deactivating her unit’s field emitter and letting her out of her unit.
Her skin was now very red, and her room was clouding with smoke, obscuring her.
Carla exploded.
The field emitter did all it could to contain the blast but the emitter coils at the base of the cell were damaged by the explosion and the field collapsed, releasing a blast of heat and debris from the unit. There was enough residual force from the explosion to throw Ben back against a supporting column, knocking his head and causing his glasses to fall.
The lights flickered then went out. By destroying the field emitter in her unit, Carla had affected the power to the entire containment block.
And Ben was in the dark. With a hundred Faceless. The humming of the field emitters in all those containment units ceased. He was in silence.
Emergency protocols kicked in. A low-level lighting system flickered into life and through the dull red haze, Ben could see the Faceless stepping out of their units and onto the gantries. He scrambled to his feet. His ears were pounding and the back of his head felt wet where it had struck the pillar. It was difficult to see. He needed to find his glasses. Without them, it was impossible to make out the shapes moving around him.
The Faceless were free.
58
5th June 2013
The evisceration of the soldiers was being played over again and again in Winborn’s office. Linwood was watching through a morbid curiosity as the images replayed. The swarm positioned itself into an attack configuration before targeting its victims. Then what happened? A frenzy of activity and the men were gone.
When she could finally tear her eyes away from Winborn, the room threatened to spin. She took a seat and waited for Winborn to leave his monitors. If the swarm could do that, what defence could they mount against it? They were displaying coordinating traits, forming new structures, adapting to their needs, then protecting themselves when threatened.
What else could be done with such a weapon?
She had ideas. She’d had ideas ever since she’d understood the nature of the Shun back when Irulal was first captured. Nanotechnology was not a new concept even in the 1980s, but it lay very much within the realm of science-fiction. Even now, three decades later, the practical application of nanotechnology was limited, yet here they were, facing aliens where the ability to create and adapt nanites was child’s play.
“You’ve got to call them off. Those men don’t stand a chance,” she said to Winborn.
He turned to acknowledge her. A strange expression that could have been pride on his face. It was a face she’d grown quickly to despise.
“But this is fascinating.”
“It’s murder.”
“They’re protecting themselves.”
“They were under no threat from those soldiers. You’ve created this conflict. It’s in your power to end it.”
He was shaking his head. “I need those nanites. And I’ve you to thank. The Shun have never needed to operate the nanites outside of a living host in this way. It’s something that has never occurred to them as necessary. Your research notes have proved invaluable.”
Linwood couldn’t answer. What could she say to a man thanking her for coming up with the idea he used to kill innocent men?
“I never released my research to my people. I kept the project notes locked in the Tombs because I didn’t want my government to get any ideas into their heads. Irulal was an alien we didn’t understand, and all I wanted to do was ensure that we knew as much as possible to save us from a conflict.”
“But you can’t deny that even back then, you were deliberating whether to keep your ideas secret.”
Linwood hesitated. “I didn’t tell them that the Shun had a nanite constituent at all. I thought it would only lead us down a dangerous path.”
“That’s what you say. I’m not sure I believe you. Besides, it’s not important now. I have my means to prepare for the Shun arrival.”
“Don’t do it. We can find another way to give your people what they want.”
“This is what we want,” Winborn said.
“To wipe out an entire species?”
“To bring ourselves closer to our creator.”
Linwood frowned and her eyes were diverted back to the monitors. The troops that had escaped the first attack had taken shelter inside support vehicles. The nanite swarm had now formed a barrier, holding position along the ridge. They were waiting.
Before Linwood could question what Winborn meant, he placed himself in front of his control panel and tapped away at a keyboard.
“What are you doing?”
“The swarm is cohesive and resilient. It’s ready to receive its new instructions. With these, it can create a new population of Heralds.”
Heralds, she thought. Winborn wants to create a new batch of Faceless.
Linwood could only watch as Winborn pressed a key and sent the new instructions, unleashing his hell unto the world.
59
5th June 2013
He was being transformed.
Kingston watched as the swarm lifted, leaving Captain Hollers lifeless on the ground, and with a snake-like rattling, it retreated beyond the stone wall on the ridge, thinning out to become a wide barrier.
Lieutenant Prichard, the soldier who’d tried to pull Hollers clear of the swarm, was holding his arm awkwardly, fighting back tears of pain. “It killed him.”
Only, Hollers wasn’t lifeless. He rolled over and revealed the change that had befallen him.
He’d been converted into a Faceless. One of the creatures Linwood had warned him about. The soldiers stared transfixed at their former captain, but Kingston knew he had little time. Linwood had warned about how tough they were to bring down and the damage and death they’d wreaked at Southport Police Station.
Kingston ran to Prichard, making a grab for the man’s pistol. With his injury, the soldier was slow and didn’t realise what was happening until Kingston unleashed a full clip into Hollers’s head. The Captain fell back, twitched twice, then lay still.
The soldiers’ reactions were immediate. Weapons were directed at the Director General and orders were issued for him to relinquish his pistol.
“It was too late for Hollers, but maybe it’s not too late for the rest of us. We need to take shelter or we could be next.”
“Lower your weapon, sir,” a sergeant said, his rifle centred on Kingston’s head.
“We need to move,” Kingston replied, “we need to be ready.”
The tension was palpable and Kingston feared his words were falling on deaf ears. A corporal hurried to the dead man but as he approached, his apprehension was clear.
“Status, Hughes?” the sergeant closest to Kingston asked.
Corporal Hughes looked up and shook his head. “He’s dead. But he was one of them.”
The swarm rattled, rippling like a sheet billowing in the wind. “That changed him?” the sergeant asked, glancing at Kingston.
“I know as much as you do. I’ve seen nothing like this. But you’ve got to use your own judgement. You saw what happened. That swarm of whatever did something.”
“Maybe that’s how they were made, these Faceless we’ve heard about. Could this have made all of them?”
Kingston shook his head. “No. That’s not what happened before.” He could have told them about the telephones, but he didn’
t have time and that wouldn’t help them now.
“It’s moving again,” Lieutenant Prichard said. Clicks around Kingston as weapons were brought to bear.
“Back off, everybody, get back,” Kingston said. “Regroup in the farmhouse. We need to come up with a plan.”
But they didn’t have time for a plan. The swarm moved quickly, rippling into a rough point, striking like a cobra.
Kingston flung himself backwards and felt a rush of wind as the swarm passed in front of him, missing his shoulder by inches. But his relief was short-lived as he realised he hadn’t been the target.
Lieutenant Prichard barely had a chance to scream for help as the swarm smashed into him. It knocked him to the ground, and he struggled to his feet only to be smashed down again. Corporal Hughes ran at Kingston and dragged him back towards the courtyard gate, just in time to avoid the smattering of bullets discharging from the fallen man’s weapon.
“Everyone get back,” Kingston yelled, but the men were refusing to listen. They were being attacked and retreat wasn’t an option whilst they had a man trapped and in pain.
The rippling swarm swirled again as it had around Hollers. Tugging and pushing at the trapped soldier. This time, no one tried to retrieve their comrade, aware of the injury sustained by the very same trapped soldier earlier.
And it was over again. Quicker than last time, Kingston mused. Whatever it was, they were learning, getting more efficient. The cloud rose and Prichard stumbled to his feet. Kingston raised his weapon but wasn’t ready for Hughes knocking his arm aside. His gun fell.
Before he could retrieve it, the Faceless that had once been Lieutenant Prichard, got to his feet and ran at the closest soldier. It moved quickly, feral, crouching low with hands raised, ready to grab onto a target. And it found a target quickly. It snatched at a female soldier and grabbed her head.
Soldiers shouted at it to stop then a shot was fired. Kingston saw the creature’s arm jerk and a spray of blood as the impact struck. But it didn’t slow, instead it twisted its frame and lurched onto the next closest soldier. More bullets fired, and one found the creature’s head. It fell to the ground.
A soldier screamed. Their attention had been taken from the woman the creature had attacked, only this woman was now attacking another soldier.
Men raced to pull her away from the soldier she was attacking, and when she was pulled from him, her features had gone. She’d become a Faceless.
Kingston shouted at the men, “Keep away from them. They’re able to convert you into Faceless, like them. The swarm isn’t needed anymore.”
He didn’t know how TALOS had done it, but they’d found a way to activate the inert nanites within people to force a conversion into the Faceless.
All hell was breaking loose on the ridge. There had been eight men when the swarm had first attacked. Captain Hollers had been the first victim, followed closely by Lieutenant Prichard and then this woman. But whilst they’d been trying to drag the woman from her victim, that victim too had been turned.
Kingston saw the situation was hopeless. A mere touch from one of these Faceless was enough to convert a man into their kind. He turned and ran back through the gate to the kitchen and ran inside.
Nixon and Carter were waiting, eyes wide in shock.
“What’s going on out there? Who are you fighting?” Nixon asked.
“It’s gone to hell. We’ve got to get out of here or we’re going to be next.”
60
5th June 2013
This was proving hard work. The Institute seemed deserted. This didn’t seem right to Payne, but he didn’t question it, all he was focused on was getting the hell out of here. Jaq was slowing them down, though. He held her arm as they half ran, half stumbled along the corridors. Dean and Max were ahead of the pair of them, leading the way, crashing open doors, Dean using his mobile to crack security when needed.
“Which way are we going?” Jaq asked.
“We’re heading for the back of the building. Kingston has a squad ready to extract us when we give the signal.”
“But what about Linwood?”
Dean slowed, and he glanced at Payne.
Payne said, “Linwood can take care of herself.”
“Like hell she can,” Jaq said, stopping. “Where are we now?”
Dean came over and checked the display on his mobile. “Section four. Level two.”
“Winborn’s office is section four, level four. DI Payne, you need to get Max Harding out of here. Meet at your extraction point and don’t take any chances. Dean, you’re taking me up to Winborn’s office.”
The woman was formidable. Payne could see why she’d built up this reputation as a no-nonsense agent. And like all good commanders, her orders weren’t questioned. Dean nodded, then realising she couldn’t see him said, “Understood.”
Dean took Jaq’s arm and led her to a set of double-doors. “You OK, Payne?” he asked, as he opened the doors.
“Sure.” And he was. They were up against some crazy people in this facility, and he was glad he’d secured both of their objectives. Jaq seemed to know what she was doing, and he hoped that Dean could protect them both. Winborn wasn’t likely to leave his office unprotected.
When they’d left, Payne nodded at Max. “I guess it’s time we made a move.”
“I’m not sure we’re doing the right thing. We could help them.” His tone was disappointed.
“I’m not sure any of us have been doing the right thing.”
But as they rounded the first corner, they came across another group of Faceless.
There was a moment of surprise on both sides. Payne couldn’t tear his eyes away from the group of creatures. The last time he’d encountered them this close, he’d only had two to deal with and had somewhere to run to.
Without hesitation, he raised his ion blaster, aimed, and pulled the trigger, readying himself for the energy discharge. When it didn’t happen, he checked the side of the weapon. Linwood had handed it to him less than an hour ago. Surely, he couldn’t have messed up its settings or discharged its battery in that time. The display on the side of the weapon had cleared. He pressed the settings panel, but it was unresponsive.
“My weapon’s dead,” he told Max.
Max was having the same problem. “These won’t help us,” he replied.
Payne looked at the Faceless. They’d held back at first, unsure of the men in front of them holding weapons, but now that fear seemed to have passed. Had they sensed something was wrong?
The Faceless at the front of the pack took a step forward.
“Go,” Max said. “I’ve got this.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Payne said, grabbing Max’s shoulder. “We’re both going.”
Max’s arm swung into Payne’s chest and knocked him aside. “I’m telling you, I’ve got this.”
And there was something about the way he was holding himself that made Payne want to believe that Max was capable of holding his own against these creatures, but his common sense was telling him to save his companion.
“No, you don’t have this.” Payne touched the man’s arm again, gently this time, but then he saw something flash across the surface of Max’s eyes. Silver.
“Go, now,” Max said.
The Faceless were stirring, all of them taking tentative steps closer. Payne regarded the approaching aggressors, then again at Max before reaching a decision.
With a last look behind him, Payne turned and ran for the exit, praying for a miracle.
61
5th June 2013
Max focused and he could see all that he was meant to see—feel all that his senses allowed. But there was more to him than that. Time was drifting for him—or was it that his reactions were now so much faster?
His friend had left him, but that was OK. Payne couldn’t do any more here to help and was likely to get himself hurt if he stayed and tried.
The Faceless were all around him. An encroaching circle of silent monsters. Fea
r flashed through his range of emotions and quickly faded, like an ambulance siren racing past. Recognisable, but irrelevant.
He breathed and struck out with his right fist, striking the closest creature on the side of the neck. It groaned and fell back, but there was another ready to take its place. A claw-like hand tore at his back, scratching as it grabbed at his flesh. He spun and brought his leg round in a sweeping motion, swiping the creature’s legs from under it. Following that with a well-timed shove at the Faceless adjacent, brought that down as well.
The remaining Faceless hesitated and Max knew they communicating with each other somehow. They didn’t need voices to speak. Something else was at play.
Hands pulled him backwards, and he stumbled. Using his elbows to strike at whatever body they could find.
And then blackness.
The next thing he could comprehend, he was standing in the midst of a crowd of fallen Faceless. None of them were moving. He bent and prodded one cautiously with a finger, half expecting it to react and grab for him. But it didn’t move.
Concerned, he pressed his fingers against the side of the creature’s neck. No pulse. And then he properly took in the unnatural angle of the creature’s head. The neck had been broken.
Max felt like he might hurl. It was one thing seeing a dead body, another to think he might have...
No, he couldn’t have done this. Swiftly, he moved on to the next Faceless and found similar evidence. There were eight Faceless at his feet, all dead. All with broken necks and some with additional broken limbs.
It had happened again.
62
5th June 2013
“We’ve got to go. We don’t stand a chance in here,” Kingston told the others.
Nixon and Carter were staring at him from the other side of the kitchen, Carter was by the window looking out, checking for any sign of danger.
The Faceless Stratagem (Tombs Book 2) Page 26