The Secret Bunker 3

by Paul Teague

  Harold’s guess was that his brother wanted us to act as carriers to destroy Zatheon – a Trojan horse to get the nanovirus that was destroying us embedded into the Zatheon population. We were his guinea pigs.

  It was all a lot to take on board. Our comms tabs had been taken away from us, so I wasn’t sure how much time we had left, but I knew it couldn’t be long now. Simon and Kate were still at large on the ship. They must be up to something, so we had to trust we’d got people watching our backs. Our best strategy was to stall to buy more time. About ninety minutes at the maximum, by my reckoning. It was game over for me and Nat then, but if we could cheat our way through this, Henry Pierce might reverse the progression of the virus and Nat and I would get out of this alive. Harold agreed, but doubted there was any subterfuge he could use that would convince his brother. And then he dropped another bombshell on us. As if we hadn’t had enough for one day.

  ‘I need to tell you children that my brother and I are the same as you.’

  Okay, we knew that. We could see they were twins. Nat was thinking the same as me – this telepathy thing was pretty cool. Harold could see that we didn’t get it, so he carried on.

  ‘You and Nat are luckier than Henry and me. We were the first twins born to a Zatheon mother and a human father.’

  Okay, he had our complete attention now.

  ‘It’s why my brother and I were brought into the Genesis 2 project. Our capacity for learning and analysis is far superior to that of the average human, so we were obvious choices in many ways. But times were different when we were younger in the 1960s and they tried to suppress our non-human elements with drugs and experimental treatments. I attribute my brother’s aggression to the treatments we were given – he’s a brilliant scientist but also a troubled and dangerous man. I was lucky. I appear to have escaped from it with my sanity intact.’

  Nat and I were silent. This was an amazing story.

  ‘We’ve been separated for many years now,’ he continued. ‘Our symbiotic connection was severed a long time ago. Not unlike what you will be experiencing now, our connection will grow only stronger now we’re reunited. As is the Zatheon way, we will battle it out in our heads, my consciousness fighting with his to come to a mutual resolve. He will know soon enough that we’re trying to stall him, and he will quickly tire of my voice in his head urging restraint and compassion. When we were young he would torture me by pouring scalding hot water over me.’ Again he paused. This was difficult for him. ‘Now I have no doubt. When he’s tired of me again, he will kill me. And it will be spiteful when he does it.’

  * * *

  Stealth

  * * *

  Simon and Kate knew they’d have troopers on their tail before long, so they weaved as erratic a course as they could through the ship. Simon, in particular, was able to make sense of how this vast structure in the heavens fitted together. The corridors on Levels 3 and 4 of each Quadrant had been curved, while the upper levels were straight and regular. It was like a giant pizza in space, each Quadrant forming one slice – or quarter – of the structure.

  It was all based on a careful plan: they’d built in weaponry areas; they could fully re-populate here using the embryos that Dan and Nat had found earlier; they had a fighting force – the very troopers they were running to avoid – and they had the ability to grow their own food up here. It was all very clever, and Simon began to recognize how in many ways he’d helped to create this. He reflected on all the people he’d transported over the years – the scientists, the politicians, the ordinary members of the public. He’d carried out countless surveillance missions, many seemingly random tasks, but he saw now how all of that work had come together. He felt a sense of relief that the work he’d done was not all bad. Sure, something had happened that day with Nat, but it was looking more and more like it had been the result of interference from elsewhere. Perhaps it was an early glimpse of the sabotage that was to come.

  Whatever it was, the answers were beginning to flow now, and most importantly – amazingly – Nat was alive still. He and Kate would need to find the heart of this place, that’s where the battle would need to be taken. He wasn’t sure what the plan was yet, but he knew they needed to see their enemy, they had to know who – or what – they were up against. He’d agreed with Kate that once they’d shaken off the troopers, they’d start moving back towards the centre. It made sense that the main operation would be run from there.

  The corridors were still unusually quiet. It seemed they had no plans to use these Quadrants – the troopers must have been making for some other place. They’d just passed back from the outer rim of the ship – what had previously formed the lower two floors of the bunkers – into the central Orb, the part of this craft in which was sited the main technical hub.

  Simon had just ducked into a side room with Kate to avoid a passing trooper patrol. They took a moment to look around. They were in a vast hangar – it appeared to be disused, there were dust sheets over some of the equipment racks. Simon pulled off a few of the covers to look a little closer. As more and more equipment was revealed, they both began to realize what this was. They looked at each other. They’d been here before. This was where they’d been immersed in the simulation exercise all those years ago. The experiments had not taken place on Earth, as they’d thought, they’d been carried out up here, in space. No wonder they were transported under sedation, it would be imperative to keep this location completely confidential.

  And what of the strange figure they’d both seen in the corner just before they were rendered unconscious? It had seemed like a ridiculous fantasy at the time, a preposterous explanation. They’d barely dared to even venture the idea to each other. But now they were certain. They were dealing with off-planet matters here and whatever was waiting for them on this ship, it was not of their world.

  Chapter Ten

  The Precedent

  * * *

  The children were sitting up in their high chairs, playing happily and laughing at each other. The doctor felt a pang of guilt about what he was about to do.

  The birth of these children had rocked the Off World Federation to its core. It was still early days for Earth within O-Fed and as the lead scientist he’d had to stretch the boundaries of his belief and understanding to get to grips with the implications of it all. These children were the living consequence of what happened when different humanoid species began to procreate. At the time nobody had any idea what the outcome would be, neither humans nor Zatheons knew if the children would even be born alive.

  The birth took place on Earth. The Zatheon mother was monitored securely from a military base in the United States. There was secret joy and wonderment when the twins turned out to be living and healthy. The Zatheon genes were dominant but in every respect these babies looked as if they had been born to human parents.

  The positivity of seeing two new lives created in such a way turned swiftly to politics as pressure grew from other O-Fed members to manage the situation in line with agreed Covenant protocols. Certainly the Zatheon elders would have loved their people to mix with the humans, and even though opinions on Earth were much more guarded, there was a general consensus among O-Fed members – who numbered much fewer in the sixties – that this was not such a terrible thing to happen. But as new members of the Off World Federation, Earth’s representatives were unsure of their position, terrified of provoking an attack from planets more sophisticated than their own, and preferring not to make waves. This would change as Earth technology accelerated in leaps and bounds, and humanity in turn became much more of a threat to the other eleven planets within the interplanetary pact. But at that time this was a new and potentially threatening situation.

  So it was decided, as it would be once again many years later, that the parents of these hybrid children would be punished for their transgression. They’d simply fallen in love, of course, but that was against O-Fed rules and – under duress from the Helyions – it was agreed that both par
ents would be ostracized. This meant being separated from each other, their planet and their people, and living in isolation in self-sustaining pods in space. ISOCells. Their basic needs would be met, but they would be forever segregated from all other life.

  This rankled with the Zatheons, who were a cerebral and merciful species, but it was driven through by the Helyions. Even in the sixties, before the plight of both Earth and Helyios 4 was fully understood, the Helyions seemed to have earmarked Earth. They took a special interest in the planet and were extremely keen that its technology did not accelerate any faster than it would via natural evolution. They were particularly eager to separate Zatheons and humans, as if they could sense the natural affinity between the two worlds and were determined to stop the relationship dead in its tracks. Their reasons would become clear almost half a century later.

  This left the doctor with an ethical dilemma. His Hippocratic oath was to do no harm, but would what he was about to do help these children or hurt them? He consoled himself with the thought that animal testing had brought massive advances to man. Indeed, it was animal testing that had first brought Earth to the attention of the Off World Federation. The dog Laika and Albert II, the Rhesus monkey, had both been calculated risks at the time, but the experiments had resulted in successful space tests, paving the way for future human breakthroughs.

  So, as he prepared the drug trials for the twins, he fought against his instinct to do only good by reconciling the doubts in his mind. This was an important scientific study, a huge opportunity to observe the first ever human–Zatheon hybrids. The Off World Federation would learn much from this, and in future years it might pave the way for closer ties between one another, perhaps even multi-species life on different planets. As the first travellers on Earth had explored and spread across the globe so many hundreds of years ago, when the first ocean-going boats had been built, perhaps the same would now happen in space. And it all would have started with him, in this medical facility, with these twins.

  The choice was made on a whim. Harold was to receive the placebo, Henry was to be given the experimental drug treatment. It could so easily have been the other way around. The fates of two individuals were decided on that day, and no single person would ever be held accountable for the damage inflicted upon Henry Pierce as a result of those trials. But the harm done to him would be irreparable and fifty years later the whole world would be held to account for its silent acquiescence.

  * * *

  Cloaked

  * * *

  The darkness surrounding the planet had taken on a blue hue now. It was still haunting, impenetrable and all consuming, but Terra Level 2 was reaching its conclusion. This was the crucial next stage of the terraforming of Earth. The preparatory work was completed and what followed next would determine the planet’s future.

  Undetected by the satellite monitoring sentinels surrounding Earth, an event had taken place that very few would ever know about. It would form the basis of a future alliance between Zatheon and Earth that would be kept from the Off World Federation for hundreds of years.

  Unknown to even Henry Pierce, a cloaked ship from Helyios 4 had penetrated the satellite matrix surrounding the planet and entered the Earth’s atmosphere. The Helyions were not supposed to be capable of creating such technology, yet here it was – they had deftly handled extended interplanetary travel, and nobody even knew about it. On any planet. They kept many secrets below the surface of Helyios 4, but this was the one best hidden, it was the core deception that they’d planned for many years now.

  As the awkward, brutal-looking ship entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it made straight for a specific destination. Unseen by any monitoring or surveillance system, the Helyion ship hovered above Lake Karachay in western Russia, then began to sink slowly below the waters, like a hungry creature lying in wait.

  This was the most radioactive place on the planet, the perfect location from which to create the first Helyion settlement on Earth.

  * * *

  Unbearable

  * * *

  Amy checked her weapon and made sure it was set to kill. She’d vowed all those years ago never to have anything to do with firearms again. And now the man who was responsible for her making that decision was dead.

  In wounding James – and ultimately saving his life – she’d wielded a power she’d never wished to possess again. Yet here she was, almost twenty years later, with a weapon in her hand, less than a metre away from the body of the man whose injuries had forced that decision upon her as a 19 year old. She was angry – really angry – that she’d lost her friend. Sitting by his body, preparing to make her final escape from this wretched bunker, she knew she wasn’t a killer and never had been. She didn’t wish to become one either.

  These troopers – however threatening they appeared, whatever damage they’d done – they were no more in control of their actions than she and James had been when the pulsating lights had been active in their own necks. They aren’t responsible, she thought to herself. Whoever is orchestrating these events, they’re the ones who should be accountable for this. She flicked the switch back to its stun setting. It was the right decision. She didn’t want any deaths on her hands that day, she refused to pass judgement on who should live and who should die.

  She was still wearing the trooper’s helmet. Once again the female voice was coming through with a disturbing intensity. She couldn’t make out the words, but she got an overwhelming sense of sadness and isolation. Whatever or whoever was controlling these troopers, this seemed to be the voice of a hostage trapped in a cycle of events that she was unable to escape. Amy pulled off the helmet. It was unbearable to listen to. She was about to discard it, when she thought better of it. She should take it back to Mike and Magnus – they might be able to make something of it. Perhaps they could work out what this voice was saying and where it was coming from.

  She’d need to find a bag. She had a laptop and helmet to carry, as well as having to shoot her way out of trouble. There were a couple of rucksacks in the dorm. She’d been lucky to pass through the room twice now and to find what she needed to survive on both occasions. Amy slung one of the bags over her shoulders so that it was secure and out of her way, and paused by the door. The sym node was activated. The only thing that could scupper this escape plan was if the glove didn’t work. Only one way to find out. She exited the dormitory. Damn, all six troopers were in the corridor, still looking for her. Well, here she was.

  Dan had prevented any more troopers entering the area by causing the explosion further along the corridor, but who knew how long that line of defence would hold? She had a momentary advantage. She aimed her weapon and shot wildly at the troopers. One down, two, three … The remaining troopers were fast. One of them was running directly at her with a velocity which shook her for a moment. She fired again, hitting the trooper, but not managing to stop him. She braced herself for the impact as he struck her with massive force, bringing her to the ground.

  She felt a sharp pain from the wounds that had so recently healed. She flinched, but there was no time to recover. The trooper who’d floored her had struck her with such force that he’d damaged his helmet visor as he crashed into the floor. He’d have to remove the helmet to continue his assault. The remaining two troopers had weapons drawn, but were waiting to see what damage their colleague had done. It seemed they had instructions to apprehend, not kill her. For a few seconds Amy lay still, to sow the seed of doubt in their minds and buy a small time advantage. As the trooper to her side started to get to his feet, she turned over fast, shooting the two remaining troopers ahead of her and bringing them down.

  She got up to run along the corridor towards the elevator, but the now helmetless trooper grabbed her ankle. She pounded his hand with the end of her weapon. His instinctive reaction was to let go of her foot to avoid the blow. He might have been part-machine, but there was still a human in there with human reactions. She ran for her life, leaping over the unconscious bodies o
f the other troopers. She was aware of the man behind her preparing to run at her again. He was fast. Very fast. He was gaining on her. Damn this long corridor, it seemed to go on forever.

  As she saw the elevator entrance ahead of her, she looked down to check the sym node on her hand. To the other side of the elevator she could hear the sound of running feet. It was the other troopers. They had broken through the debris from the explosion. Amy drew her weapon, slammed against the elevator entrance and pressed the button to open the doors.

  Suddenly the trooper on her tail caught up with her, slamming into her with such force it took her breath away. Part of her wanted to crumple to the floor, to give up the fight, but she was determined to get through this. She had to get the helmet and the SD card to Quadrant 3 and she was going to do everything she could to save Dan and Nat.

  The trooper was about to strike her head. His speed was inhuman, he seemed to be supercharged, Amy could barely keep up with him. She took another blow, she could feel herself slipping out of consciousness, but with one huge and final effort she leaped into the elevator as the doors opened. The trooper hesitated for a moment, as if he’d doubted himself momentarily, then he followed her into the elevator, ready to resume the blows to her body. As he picked Amy up by her hair, she struck out and hit the buttons to her side. The doors slid shut just as the other troopers drew up outside.