Strange Temple

by John Lilley

  ‘Do you think you could shuffle yourself outside, or would you like a hand?’ offered Eric.

  ‘I’ll try shuffling,’ said Julie. As she manoeuvred out of the tent, she realised that her knee was hurting more because the swelling had reduced and it was no longer tightly constrained by the fabric of her pants. But wait a minute, how did Eric know her knee was injured? Nobody saw the landslide, nobody saw her fall otherwise they would have come running straight away. Judging by how dark it had become she must have been asleep for an hour or more. There was no way the Rangers Lodge knew what had happened. Now it was not so swollen there was no way that he could have known it was damaged from just looking in through the open door of the tent. No, I’m being irrational. What’s your problem missus, being rescued by two good looking young men? She was now out of the tent and sitting up. Looking around towards where the landslide was, she realised that the fire she’d lit was not there. Not only had it gone out, but someone had carefully removed all traces of it, very strange indeed.

  ‘OK Julie,’ said Eric as he knelt beside her. ‘I’m just going to gently touch your knee through your trousers. Tell me if I’m hurting,’

  ‘Don’t worry, I will,’ said Julie.

  Eric’s fingers felt cold against her knee. He was right, he was very gentle as he followed the contours of the injured knee and at the same time comparing them to those of her other knee with his other hand. It was only when he went over the inside that she winced slightly.

  ‘From the shape of the swelling I’d say that you’ve done your medial collateral and anterior cruciate,’ said Eric.

  ‘Bugger, that means weeks down at the medilab while they grow me new ones,’ said Julie.

  ‘Well, at least you’ve not broken any bones. I’m sure a fit person like you will mend quickly,’ chipped in David, who was crouched over watching Eric.

  ‘Probably the best thing for you is that we give you some more painkillers and wait for the rescue team?’ said Eric.

  ‘How long will they be? Can you check on your link?’ asked Julie.

  ‘Sure, will do, David, why not give the Rangers Lodge another call while I find Julie the painkiller?’ said Eric, handing David Julie’s link.

  Julie’s eyes widened when she saw the link with its distinctive yellow and red stripe from the Rangers Lodge across its back.

  Shit, who are these two? Why are they using my link? Who would not have a link of their own, a bad-tag? Thoughts flashed through her mind. And now he wants to give me some more painkillers.

  ‘I think I’ll be OK without the pain killers Eric. In fact, I’d like to see if I can stand up, can you help me?’

  ‘Really Julie, you will only damage your knee even more if you try that. What it needs is to be splinted before you move anywhere. The rescue team will have all that kit,’ said Eric.

  ‘So what happened to my fire?’ she asked.

  ‘What fire?’ said David, too easily distracted from making the call.

  ‘What I would really like is a fruit bar I have in my pack, would you mind passing it over to me?’ she said.

  David strolled over to the tent and picked up Julie’s pack. ‘Which pocket are they in?’ he asked.

  ‘Just give it to me please,’ said Julie, trying not to imply that she didn’t want him going through her bag, just as he seemed to be stopping her from having access to it and whatever unknown items it might contain.

  David placed the bag next to her and watched as she rummaged around to extract an energy bar. After finding the bar, she tucked the sack behind her back to use as a cushion.

  ‘Come on David, let’s find some wood and make Julie a fire,’ said Eric.

  ‘OK, back in a tic Julie,’ said David.

  They turned away from her and came face to face with Trevor.

  ‘No need to make that call, I’ve already called the Rangers Lodge,’ he said from behind the 200-millimetre Bowie knife he was pointing at them from his outstretched hand. The deception worked; while they stared at the knife, he fired the taser from waist height into David’s midriff. Designed to give a large predator a nasty surprise, it instantly overloaded David’s onboard systems. He twitched a couple of times then collapsed. Eric flashed toward Trevor, but Trevor managed to keep the knife between them and buried it deep into Eric’s chest as he darted forward. Eric crouched, the embedded knife oozed internal fluids briefly before his autonomic systems cut the pressure and made the diversion. The instance the pressure returned Eric attacked the now circling Trevor. His first kick sent Trevor sprawling and like lightening Eric was upon him, one jab of his third finger to Trevor’s jugular and the inbuilt needle injected enough sedative to put Trevor out for a few minutes. Winded, Trevor tried to get up, raised his head a few inches, but then his eyes glazed over and he fell back unconscious.

  Julie screamed at Eric: ‘What have you done to him you abomination?’

  ‘Don’t worry; he’s just taking a short nap,’ Eric said as he walked over to David, knelt down and removed the taser darts. Throwing them to one side, he ran his fingers over the wounds. Then he grasped both of David’s hands, shut his eyes and bowed his head. For twenty seconds the two were stock still, and then David’s eyes flickered open.

  ‘Hey man, what’s happening?’ David said groggily.

  ‘I had to reboot you, mate. Stay still while the diagnostics run their course,’ said Eric.

  David saw the hilt of the knife sticking from Eric’s chest and smiled. ‘Oh, that really suits you man.’

  ‘I know, I could hang things on it?’ said Eric as he gripped the knife and pulled it free from his chest. His skin sealed the hole when he applied some gentle pressure. ‘I’m down about 30% already, another centimetre to the left and I would have been scrap. My internal repair droids tell me that I need to shut down my skeletal systems while they patch things up. It should take about twenty minutes, OK?’

  ‘Hey no problem, I’ll keep an eye on our new friends,’ said David as he stood up.

  Eric laid down on the forest floor, closed his eyes and placed his arms down by his sides. David watched patiently, he could see occasional small movements in Eric’s abdomen and the odd twitch of his feet. Julie was not moving; her recent exertion had exhausted her broken body. They were both taking stock while all around them the vibrant forest hummed with life.

  Eventually, David noticed Eric’s eyes flicker open.

  ‘OK, buddy?’ he said.

  ‘Not good, they’ve cannibalised to make good. Speed is down 20%, and strength has been limited to 60% to avoid any further blow-outs. Sorry mate, you’re going to have to take up the slack,’ said Eric.

  ‘Wow, it must have been bad, but no problem, I’ve been looking at the local systems again, and I think I can see a way to complete this mission without leaving the island, assuming no more problems get in our way. All we need is some help from our new-found friends here,’ said David.

  At that moment they both sensed that Trevor was beginning to come around. He knew immediately that he had been hog-tied but slowly opened one eye a fraction and could see Julie laying only a metre away. The two simulants were not in his limited field of vision, so he kept as still as he could while he tried his bonds, moving as little as possible.

  ‘Welcome back,’ said David.

  Trevor raised his head, disappointed that he had been rumbled; ‘If you’ve hurt her in any way.’

  ‘Well, you’re not in a position to threaten us. Let’s get some introductions over with. As you’ve probably guessed that Eric and I, I’m David by the way, are not your average tourist. In fact, we’re from many miles away. We bring a message for Mother, but it’s not for human ears. We need to deliver it electronically via a secure direct connection. Julie, your link was smashed in your fall, and your friend here doesn’t seem to have one on him after all, despite him saying that he called the Lodge.’

  ‘I always leave my link at the Rangers Lodge. Call me strange, but I like to do the whole old-style backwoods t
hing,’ said Trevor.

  ‘He’s a bit crazy like that. I do have a go at him every time, but he’s not one to be told anything,’ said Julie.

  ‘Well at least we know that nobody is coming to rescue you from the Rangers Lodge,’ said David.

  ‘Your story seems too far-fetched. How do we know you’re not just looking for a way to get at Mother, your message may be a virus?’ said Trevor.

  ‘Well, if we were unfriendly types we could have easily killed you both and then moved on to your friends in the Rangers Lodge. We have no intention of hurting anybody, but we do need to get this message through. It really would not help our case if Mother discovered we had fought our way in here. The problem with the way Britain’s defences are set up is that they’re on a hair-trigger and tend to shoot first and ask questions later. That’s why we’re skulking around in the forest on this remote island,’ said David.

  ‘Come on now, you’re going to have to do better than that, what is that message?’ said Trevor.

  ‘Look we really do need your help. It would be so much better for us if we walked into that Rangers Lodge with you two. If you refuse then we’ll have to just leave you here and go it alone, but please help us,’ pleaded Eric.

  ‘No way,’ said Trevor. ‘Not without more on the message.’

  David looked at Eric. ‘I suppose we could show them the video bits?’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, why not, I’ll set up the transcorder, its screen is small, but it might help.’

  The image was indeed small, but the commentary made up for it. The narrator explained the history of the kidnapping and the escape plans. The story then cut to flashes of technical data: iris scans of all the Kids, technical details and finally spun off into pure data bitmaps for non-humans only.

  ‘So they’re on their way across the Atlantic as we speak and Mother needs the whole story soon otherwise your patrol ships will blast them from the water. What do you say, will you help us?’ asked David.

  ‘I think we should trust them a bit more,’ said Julie. ‘As they say, they could just leave us here or even worse, and they’re not armed. Why they’ve even gone to the trouble of reasoning with us,’ said Julie.

  ‘They don’t need any weapons, they are weapons. I do remember that kidnapping incident when I was younger, I think there was some sort of explosion in Paris and everyone was killed so their version of the truth is a bit different. But it could just be a cover story, so I still don’t trust them, but if they can help us get you back to the Lodge they might win me over a bit more,’ said Trevor.

  ‘You really are the most stubborn man I have ever known. Come on let’s get me on my feet,’ she said as she nodded to David.

  Trevor rubbed his recently released wrists as he watched David and Eric get Julie in position: sitting on their interlocked hands. He was glad to have the comfort of his bowie knife back in its sheath on his belt. Next time he would aim for the head.

  ‘That feels great guys,’ she said, ‘but you’re going to have to walk sideways, and it’s a good 10 km to the Rangers Lodge.’

  David just smiled and raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Oh, OK then, off we go. Come on keep up Trevor,’ said Julie.

  47 ICELAND

  After fifteen days at sea Greenland was now a distant memory, not that there had been much to see from 10 miles away in the evening gloom. The Cloud Maker was making real progress in a heavy swell and was now only 12 miles south of Iceland; its black cliffs were clearly visible. Many of the crew were thinking that their journey was nearly over; the next land they would see would be Northern Ireland and then Britain. The seabirds were circling the ship expecting the bonanza they usually got from the regular incursions by the British fishing factory ships.

  Fifty miles to the east, well beyond the horizon, the control systems on the patrol ship were probing all available information sources to make sense of the massive unidentified contact that was approaching from the west. It fitted none of the usual signatures but was definitely a powered vessel of some description, but the biggest problem was that it was not British registered. If it had been then its beacon would have been screaming for all it was worth: ‘Hi I’m friendly, don’t attack’. At 35 miles, just before it became visible to the Cloud Maker, the patrol ship armed its long-range weaponry and throttled-up its engines to maximum. The ship’s current mission dictated that no warning would be given. All it was waiting for, was a last minute visual confirmation before attacking.

  On the Cloud Maker, an orange warning light had begun to flash on the navigation panel. Harry was on watch at the time. The decal beneath the light had long since faded. He asked the others on the bridge to see if they knew what it meant, but nobody had a clue. They began to trawl through the manuals on the primary display monitor. Harry instinctively started scanning the horizon, seconds later he said: ‘I think I know what it means guys.’

  Just then the light turned red, and an alarm sounded.

  The crew were looking where Harry was pointing at the small black shape on the horizon. As they watched a plume of white smoke erupted from the object and a vapour trail rapidly sped towards them.

  ‘We’re under attack,’ Helm screamed as he yanked on the wheel.

  The ship lurched precariously to port; coffee cups and half-eaten meals cascaded and smashed across the bridge. Harry held onto the crash rail and watched the black shape leading the vapour trail get terrifying bigger. Within seconds it was upon them. At 100 metres it exploded with a blinding flash and a concussive force that deafened everyone on deck and blew in every window on the bridge. Cloud Maker listed briefly to starboard before continuing its turn to port. Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events and those on deck rushed to get under cover below.

  ‘Damage report,’ howled Harry into the intercom.

  ‘Rotor three severely damaged, non-functional.’

  ‘Fire amidships, but we’re dealing with it.’

  ‘Broken stuff everywhere, rice pudding ruined, galley.’

  Harry was waiting for a ‘Hull breached, taking in water’, but nothing came through, so he felt he had to ask: ‘Can anyone see any holes in the hull?’

  ‘Nothing down here in the engine room, but there are some strange looking lumps on the inside of the hull. This plastic stuff that the hull is made of seems to have taken quite a hammering. It’s like it’s melted and re-solidified? Yes, hang on I can see some black stuff sticking through… blimey, that’s sharp and hot.’

  ‘OK everyone, keep calm, we’ve just been hit by some kind of fragmentation missile from a vessel that is fast approaching,’ said Harry. ‘We’re heading straight for Iceland now; I don’t think we could take another hit like that. Prepare for the worst, get into your immersion suits now.’

  He nodded to Helm, who nodded back to confirm they were on their new course. Losing one rotor had slowed their pace slightly. Helm compensated by adjusting the drain limit on the batteries, he would drain them dry to reach the shore if necessary. Harry scanned the sea astern and soon picked out the approaching vessel which was much nearer and closing fast. Then he heard a rhythmic beating sound and dropped the binoculars as something out of focus flashed past his field of vision. Looking up he could see the sinister black shape of the drone as it hovered 100 metres off to starboard.

  ‘What the hell is that?’ yelled Helm.

  ‘It’s a drone, checking the damage,’ said Harry, not losing sight of the ugly looking device for an instance. Yellow flames and a stream of empty cartridge cases erupted from the drone. The bullets ripped and zinged through the now empty windows of the bridge.

  Helm spun around and was thrown against the compass housing, his left shoulder spurting bright red blood. Harry and the others had already hit the deck. The smell from the non-slip floor covering now dominated their senses. The pounding continued, but the walls of the bridge were made of the same stuff as the hull. Some of the shells created weirdly angled stalactites of hot plastic. The drone seemed to have turned it
s attention elsewhere, so Harry risked a quick look. He spotted the drone instantly; it was firing at something between the first and second rotors. Then an explosion blew away one of the drones landing skids, and black smoke started to billow from its underbelly. Harry just caught a glimpse of a figure diving across the deck and down one of the deck hatches. On its back was a quiver of arrows; John Blackhawk, he thought, and then glanced back at the drone. Its guns were now silent, and it was not looking well: the smoke was more intense, and the small craft seemed to be having trouble staying on an even keel. It spun around 360 degrees a couple of times then flew sideways along the Cloud Maker towards the stern, stopping briefly to study the busted rotor. As it left the stern it just kept moving away, but Harry could now see the enemy vessel without the binoculars it was only three kilometres away at most. He spun round to look at their heading, but the shores of Iceland seemed no nearer. The crew in the bridge were applying compresses to Helm’s gaping shoulder wound and getting into their immersion suits.

  ‘Someone take the helm, start to zig-zag: every 20 seconds change course by 10 degrees,’ croaked Helm through the pain from his busted shoulder. Harry wondered what the attacking vessel’s next move would be. They all watched as it drew nearer. At one kilometre there were three short puffs of smoke from the front of the vessel. Rotor 6 took most of the impact this time. Something snapped within its supporting lattice, and it toppled down on itself in a tangled mess of rotating plastic and metal. Three more puffs and down went rotor 5. Cloud Maker now maintained her course and speed by running mostly off its batteries. Iceland did seem a bit nearer at last, but the enemy vessel was almost upon them. They watched as it pulled away to starboard, came alongside at a range of 300 metres and matched speeds with Cloud Maker. Sitting very low in the water it was entirely black and slipped through the water without leaving any wake. As they watched, four gun turrets rotated to point directly at Cloud Maker. The barrels of their guns rose and fell with the swell.