S.E.A.R.Ch

by Harrison Davies

  ‘Keep still, we’re nearly there,’ his gruff voice snarled.

  In the distance on the horizon, a black dot was growing larger; their destination an abandoned oil platform. Looming large, it was evident that the rig was in disrepair, but perfect for a hideout. The great hulking mass of sheet metal and girders, bathed in sunlight, gave off a rust colored hue.

  As the helicopter flew low under radar detection, the sea churned with the downdraft from the rotors, sending spray flying upwards in an arc. The pitch of the aircraft changed as it hovered higher than the pad, then lower, to land with a bump. Seagulls cried with indignation and flew into the air, disturbed by the metallic flying creature.

  Jack felt his hair being grabbed and found himself forcefully removed from the aircraft. Through the blur of tears, he saw his father being led away at gunpoint.

  ‘Where are you taking him?’ Jack screamed.

  ‘Oh, somewhere safe.’ Scorpio smiled. ‘You see, he is important to me. More so than you. So be a good boy and do as you are told. It is a very long drop from this platform to the sea,’ he chuckled.

  Karl, who still held him by the hair, dragged him to the edge of the landing platform and showed him exactly how high it was. It was an immense drop, accentuated by the crashing waves below. The salt air stung his lips, and the huge platform legs gave him a sense of vertigo as they angled away. Jack’s eyes widened with fear, and he swallowed hard at the thought of what a fall like that would do to his body.

  As he was pulled away from the edge, Jack quickly surveyed his surroundings and took in a boxy shape, highlighted by glinting sunlight. Above hung a single crane arm, with its cable swinging in the breeze. The smell of oil was stifling, and the hum of machinery ebbed from the bowels of the platform, vibrating the steel deck. Jack looked left and noticed an orange life raft perched in a downward arc, ready for release. To his right, there was a tall stack, which would have normally been belching flame and giving off black smoke that drifted out to sea. Surrounding the stack, many metal platforms and ladders led upwards.

  He was manhandled through a nearby doorway; semi crouched to avoid the rotor blades. Jack heard the aircraft depart, and listened as the deafening whir of the blades became fainter. The rig was dirty, disheveled and rusting, and he had to duck at various points to prevent his head contacting with metal girders. He began to tread as carefully as he could despite being jostled along at a fast pace.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘For some food. Have to keep you healthy as an incentive for your father, don’t we?’

  It was hours since he had eaten anything, but he just did not feel hungry. Allie was dead; his stepmother had betrayed them, and a crazed madman wanted to take over the world.

  He and Karl wound their way through a maze of stairwells and corridors until finally he was stopped outside a door that bore words in a foreign language. Karl noticed Jack’s puzzlement.

  ‘Chow house, or canteen’ he said.

  Karl motioned for Jack to open the door, which he did, revealing a spacious room, brightly lit by fluorescent lighting. There were no windows this deep in the underbelly of the rig, and the room was in need of a good clean.

  Stale cigarette smoke permeated the air, along with the stench of years old sweat and rotting food. The floor was a mat of half-eaten meals, gum, cigarette butts, and many years of grime. The furniture, or what was left of it, consisted of three battered brown tables stained by old coffee mugs and cigarette burns, and around each of these were five metal folding chairs.

  ‘Sit!’ Karl ordered, as he shoved Jack into a seat against the far wall. ‘Don’t move, or you’ll regret it,’ he finished, tapping his weapon holster.

  Jack glanced at the shining weapon and nodded. As he watched Karl he felt something dig into the soft flesh of his thigh, and moving his hand down; he felt a lump in his pocket. Reaching inside, he fingers gripped something cold and metallic, and withdrawing his hand he saw, to his surprise, a small black box with a flashing red LED.

  Where’d this come from? He thought, and then a memory returned to him: the man in black who had grabbed him in the cargo bay. He must have put it there, but what is it? A Bomb? No, they wouldn’t give me a bomb. Whatever it was, he knew he had to get rid of it; if he were caught with it, he would be in trouble. He noticed on the back of the box that there was an area of different colored metal, and it immediately struck him that this was a magnet. Watching Karl out of the corner of his eye, he reached under the chair and placed the black box, magnet side up, to the underside of his seat. With a small clunk, the box stuck fast. He sat upright once more and tried to look like nothing had happened.

  Meanwhile, Karl had paced the room in a few long strides and opened a small white fridge, withdrew two ready-made meals, removed the packaging, and dumped them into a grimy microwave. He stood, arms crossed, whistling to himself until the timer pinged. Turning around, he grabbed two forks from the counter behind him, opened the door of the microwave and took out the piping hot food. He walked briskly back to Jack and tossed the two meals onto the table.

  ‘Eat.’

  Jack had done nothing but think about Allie since they’d left the ship, and eating was the very last thing on his mind. He felt sick, but his stomach grumbled. With no appetite, but knowing he needed to keep his strength for any chance of escape, he lifted a forkful of the sloppy mess to his mouth.

  ‘So what happens now?’ he asked his captor.

  ‘You shut up and remain quiet,’ was the curt response.

  Jack sighed and returned to his meal.

  They ate, the silence only broken by a quiet crackling sound from the guard’s radio.

  ‘Karl? Scorpio wants the boy up here right now.’

  ‘Okay, on our way,’ Karl replied. ‘Finished?’ he asked Jack.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Too bad. You’re coming.’

  ‘Don’t you care that he killed all those people, and your friends?’ Jack dared to ask.

  Karl bent to Jack’s level, his face a few inches away. ‘Did I, or did I not tell you to shut up?’

  Jack held his breath from the stench of cigarettes on the man’s breath. ‘Yes,’ he said, his eyes wide.

  ‘Good, as long as we have that clear. Now move!’ Karl motioned towards the door with his arm outstretched.

  Jack was becoming more and more incensed at always being ordered from one place to another, and he knew before long his anger would surface. But for now he had to swallow it, and somehow, plan his escape.

  *

  Looking disheveled and exhausted despite their fitness, the five remaining men of the Delta Force sank onto their bunks but didn’t sleep. They had been debriefed and discussed at length what went wrong, and what could be improved upon. This time a forensics team would not take their weapons for examination; instead, they would keep them until after their next offensive.

  Of course further, up the chain of command, things would be not so peaceful. A media outcry would ensue, official enquiries would be sanctioned, and the list of after effects would be endless.

  As the Navy Destroyer slunk out of the harbor, the troop began to discuss the events of the day.

  ‘I don’t know what the hell Pete thought he was playing at jumping at the boy like he did,’ Fredrickson said.

  ‘Well we’ll never know I guess.’ Bob turned in his bunk, resting his head on his palm.

  ‘Well his suicide mission paid off boys,’ Foster interrupted as he entered the gym. ‘He managed to activate and place his GPS tracker, most likely on the kid. We know his attempt worked because it’s moving, and that doesn’t mean downwards.’

  ‘So what now?’ Fredrickson asked.

  ‘Well, the boss is getting a roasting from the D.o.D. about what happened. But they have revised things. They want us to retrieve the laptop. If that fails, destroy it and everyone around it.’

  ‘And the X-rays?’

  ‘They don’t come into the equation now. We are to retrieve the lap
top only.’ Foster raised an eyebrow.

  ‘There’s a kid out there, boss.’

  ‘I know. Don’t you think I pointed this out? We are moving to a new rendezvous position along the line the tracker is moving, while we wait for the tracker to stop or run out of power. We know the helicopter has a maximum of 3 hours of fuel if it’s been refueled.’

  ‘We’re not happy about leaving the kid behind boss,’ a tall skinny man with a pinched nose said.

  ‘Jim, I’m not saying if you get an opportunity to rescue the kid not to take it. But our orders are to retrieve the laptop only.’

  ‘So we can rescue the kid then?’ Jim continued. ‘I’ve got two of my own, ya know.’

  ‘I didn’t say that.’ Foster winked at him.

  Jim sat down satisfied. He knew the rest of the troop would do everything they could to find Jack, despite what the D.o.D. said. It might mean grief from the top when they returned, but so what? Many of the men had children; no way were they going to leave him behind if they could help it.

  ‘I want you lot to get some rest; we’re nowhere near finished yet. Oh, and you’re weapons free.’ Foster turned on his heel and disappeared out of the gymnasium, closing the door.

  Major Foster, tired himself, could not sleep; he still had work to do. He climbed a flight of steps and walked into a makeshift Forward Operating Base. The room buzzed with activity. Intelligence operatives and technicians talked non-stop into headsets to unknown individuals on the other end. Two of them were rushing around attaching new information to whiteboards positioned around the room. Thick cigarette smoke, despite the ban on smoking, hung in the air, irritating his nostrils.

  ‘Charlie, what’s new?’ Foster asked as he grabbed a passing Intelligence Officer by the arm.

  ‘We’ve just got a report that the tracker has stopped.’ Charlie moved some papers from a nearby table to display a map of the sea. ‘They are right about here.’ He stabbed a finger on an area of the map that had been circled.

  ‘What’s out there to land a helicopter on?’ Foster asked.

  ‘We’re not sure yet. We should have that information soon. There are no islands out that far, so it’s most likely going to be some kind of ship.’

  ‘Great, more boats.’

  ‘We’re gonna stop a few miles from that location. See what we can see.’

  ‘Right, okay. I’m going to see how the girl is. Call me if anything changes.’ With that Foster left the room, turned left down a corridor and into a room a few doors down.

  ‘Hey Doc, how’s the girl?’ he asked a white-haired gentleman dressed in blue scrubs.

  ‘Why don’t you ask her yourself?’ He winked.

  Foster skirted a group of beds and headed towards a curtained area. He opened the curtain and saw Allie propped up on pillows, her head crowned in a large white bandage, blood seeping from a wound he could not see. She lay staring at the ceiling, her eyes red from crying.

  ‘Hello, Allie. My name is Major Foster.’

  She stared at him blankly for a few moments before she found her voice. ‘Where’s Jack?’ she asked weakly, as more tears welled in her eyes.

  ‘I’m afraid he and his captors escaped our rescue attempt. But we will find him.’

  Allie’s hands covered her face as she sobbed uncontrollably.

  Foster sat at the edge of her bed and placed an arm on hers in an attempt to comfort her. He waited until her sobs turned to sniffles before continuing.

  ‘Allie, I need to ask you some questions. Will you answer them for me?’ he said in a soft voice.

  Allie nodded behind her hands.

  ‘What you tell me will help us find Jack much quicker.’

  ‘Okay,’ she said, letting her hands drop for a moment, before wiping her tear-stained face with her sleeve.

  ‘Do you know where they could have gone in the helicopter?’

  She thought for a moment. ‘No, I don’t know.’

  ‘How many people were on the helicopter?’

  ‘Six, I think. You will find Jack won’t you?’

  ‘Don’t worry; we will do our best. Just a couple more questions. Do you know the names of your kidnappers?’

  Allie frowned for a moment. ‘Scorpio, he was a General or something, then there was Karl, he was the one that kidnapped us. I can hardly believe it but Jack’s stepmom, she was one of them too.’ Tears streamed down her face, remembering Jack’s face when he realized she was involved.

  ‘Do you know what Scorpio wants Jack’s father for?’ Foster continued after taking a tissue from a side cabinet and handing it to Allie.

  ‘S ... Scorpio said he wanted to rule the world. He was mad. He said Mr Simpson had to finish some software on a laptop. He had a chip; you know one of those things in a computer. Mr Simpson was upset that he had it. He said he could take over the world when Mr Simpson finished what he wanted. He said he would hurt Jack if he didn’t agree.’

  ‘Thank you, Allie, that’s it for now. I’ll come by and see you later.’ Foster rose to leave, but Allie grabbed his arm.

  ‘Please find Jack,’ she pleaded.

  ‘I will don’t you worry,’ he said, hoping he could fulfill his promise.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Scorpio paced his laboratory. Computers sat beeping to themselves in one corner. The room was dingy and dark, certainly not a pleasant place to work. What light there was came from a single swinging bulb. The windows had been barred and boarded up with cheap ply board bearing the name of the manufacturer in bold spray-on lettering.

  Two other men and one woman occupied the room. A guard in fatigues stood by the closed door, weapon held across his chest, his beady eyes watching Joseph Simpson tapping away at the laptop keyboard.

  ‘When will it be ready?’ Scorpio demanded.

  ‘A few minutes, then I will have access to level one. It’s a delicate procedure to reinsert the chip,’ Joe replied, anxiety in his voice.

  ‘And this will achieve what exactly?’

  ‘It will give me access to level two security, so I can begin to program the final sequences needed to bring S.E.A.R.Ch online.’

  H ... Doct ... impson. The laptop emitted.

  ‘Something’s wrong,’ Joe announced.

  ‘What? What is wrong?’ Scorpio stormed over to look for himself.

  ‘I think it’s had a knock. I need to check a few circuits to make sure everything is okay.’

  ‘Do it! But remember I am watching you. One mistake and your son will take a very high dive.’

  Joe nodded, fear evident on his face. If something major was wrong, what then? He closed the laptop lid and turned it over to its face. Finding a small jeweler’s screwdriver from among the equipment before him, he began to slowly and carefully remove retaining screws from the case. He first started by removing the microchip once more. Examining the rear of the chip, he noticed one of the gold contacts had been slightly bent. He found a ballpoint pen and removed the plastic top, then used the clip to force the leg back into position carefully. Sweating in the heat of the room, and through fear, he left the chip to one side, cradled in its box, and continued to open the back of the case. He spotted the problem immediately, but there was no way he could pretend the problem was more than it appeared. A SATA cable connecting the two hard drives had split slightly across its plastic contact.

  ‘I need to replace this cable,’ he announced.

  ‘Use that laptop over there for parts.’ Scorpio pointed across the room to a small table containing a laptop hooked up to a printer below it. By the tone of his voice, he was becoming more and more manic.

  Joe got up, aware that he was being watched by Natalie, who was sat at the back of the room filing her nails. Seething with hatred for her, he rushed to the laptop, shut it down, removed all external cables and took it back to his work area. He proceeded to strip it when a knock at the door made him look up.

  The guard turned and opened the door slightly, and then flung it wide to admit Jack and Karl.
/>   Joe stood up.

  ‘Ah, Jack. I have decided that you do not need an escort wherever you go. You are free to roam this place. However, certain areas you will not be allowed to access. And I must warn you that any attempt to access them will result in your death. Remember, I have many eyes and ears. Are you happy with that Jack?’ Scorpio asked.

  Joe caught Jack’s eye and nodded.

  Jack nodded.

  ‘Good, good. Now go and play, and I may allow you to visit your father tonight.’

  Jack stood confused for a moment, unsure what to do, until Karl grabbed him by the arm and shoved him out of the door.

  Karl strode over to Scorpio. ‘Are you sure this is wise boss?’ he asked.

  ‘Do you question me?’ Scorpio glowered.

  ‘No of course not, I would nev -.’

  ‘Good, what can a young boy do against us?’ Scorpio laughed as he slapped Karl on the back. ‘Besides, I need you on watch.’

  Jack stood for a moment, unsure of which way to go, or indeed what to do with himself, but after a moment he decided to find his way out to the top of the rig. The maze of corridors was confusing, and he had walked in a big circle before he found a set of steps leading upwards. After climbing further up, he saw a sign which indicated a fire escape. He took this route, and it ended along a corridor at a steel door. He pulled the lever down and opened it.

  Beyond was a narrow walkway, just under the landing pad. He crossed it and began to ascend another upward ladder when he noticed that a surveillance camera was watching his every move. He gave it the bird and carried on.

  Reaching the top, he was caught by the wind and drizzle that he had been sheltered from on the walkway. He zipped up his jacket, shoving his hands in his pockets, and paced across the helipad towards the lifeboat he had seen earlier. He knew it was a potential escape route, but he needed to investigate it further. He stopped ten metres away and tried to act casual, trying not to show any cameras his intentions. He pretended to look out to sea by leaning on a guardrail, but by turning his head slightly and forcing his eyes as far left as they would go, he examined the lifeboat.