by Kay, Ben
‘This doesn’t look good,’ said Webster.
Harry tapped at the wall. With no knowledge of what had happened in the holding bay, he leaned into the cool plastic with nothing more than curiosity. He had no idea the noise that had drawn him had anything to do with the wasps.
‘We’ve got to warn him,’ said Laura. She waved, but Harry was facing away from her, and any sound she could make would have no way of penetrating beyond the Inshield.
Harry put his finger up to a place where he could feel a firm vibration. As he did so, that inch of wall was ripped away, replaced by the enormous jaws of a furious wasp.
With a hole in the wall, the sound was able to blast through: the wingbeat of a mutant wasp was drilling angrily at Harry’s eardrums.
It had actually touched him, and the revulsion Harry felt at the contact made him stumble backwards into the sequencers.
‘Oh, shit,’ said Laura.
Harry was frantically searching for some sort of weapon. As in the holding bay, an antenna probed through first, followed by the mandibles.
The wasp was widening the hole just enough to get its head through when Harry ran towards it with a spray gun. He pumped the trigger and covered the insect in a fine mist of concentrated hydrochloric acid.
It had just the effect he had been looking for: the wasp’s face melted as if it had been pushed into a fire.
‘Go on, Harry!’ Laura yelled. She turned to look at Webster, who did not share her enthusiasm.
‘What is it?’
He was looking at the wall. It was covered in holes, each filled with the antenna or jaws of a wasp. Some were widening enough to accommodate a head.
Harry had noticed too, and was spraying as fast as he could, but then he looked back at the first hole. The acid was eating away at the surrounding plastic and the gap was growing larger.
Desperately, he searched for another weapon. He soon found a canister of liquid nitrogen and some rubber gloves. If he couldn’t melt them, maybe freezing would work.
He splashed a little nitrogen over each hole, and it acted like glue: the insects were stuck to the wall by their frozen legs. In a fury, they tried to free themselves until the effort tore their legs off.
‘Looks like he’s stopped them,’ said Laura.
‘Yeah,’ replied Webster quietly. ‘But even if they don’t get to him, I can’t see how we can get him out before we freeze it. If we lift the Inshield, we release the wasps.’
‘But you can’t just leave him there.’
‘I know,’ said Webster. ‘I know.’
45
In his office, Bishop was psyching himself up to make a call he would have crawled over several dead bodies to avoid. He picked up the receiver, breathed deep and dialled the three digits that connected him directly to the Pentagon office of Tobias Paine.
As usual, the phone rang only once before Paine answered in his distinct patrician tone.
‘Steven Bishop. A rare displeasure.’
Bishop laughed this off. ‘Good morning, Tobias.’
‘Forgive my weariness, Steven, but I can’t remember a time when you’ve called me with good news.’
‘I guess that’s because it’s never been necessary to let you know when the place is running smoothly.’
‘I suppose not. So, what’s the trouble this time?’
‘Well, it was all a result of attempting to make further progress in efficiencies, both, uh, economically and in minimizing our exposure as a facility.’
‘Yes, yes. Feel free not to bore the living shit out of me if you can possibly manage it.’
‘Uh … Sorry. Well, getting right to it, Dr Heath’s created some superwasps that are advanced far beyond any of the previous iterations. They’re larger, more aggressive and more intelligent.’
‘Wonderful. I thought you said this was bad news.’
‘Well, it would have been fine if we’d managed to harness them, but before that happened they turned on Dr Heath and killed him.’
A pause. ‘Go on.’
‘So I tried to get the reserve entomologist out here – the Brit? Laura Trent?’
‘Wasn’t there some kind of issue with her?’
‘She’s got a young son, so I couldn’t persuade her to join us.’
‘So?’
‘So we kidnapped him to blackmail her into making the trip.’
‘I assume you’re not calling to inform me of a simple change in personnel.’
‘Not exactly. The wasps got out. They’ve eaten through the walls and we’ve had to …’ his voice shrank ‘… deploy the Inshield.’
Silence. Then, ‘I see.’
‘So we’re just trying to work out the best course of action …’
‘Allow me to assist you with that task. I want you to evacuate all non-military personnel.’
‘We’re already looking at that.’
‘Then I want you to raise the Inshield and let the grunts deal with the wasps.’
‘Raise the Inshield? But these wasps have already killed three soldiers. The idea that the ones who are left will be able to provide any resistance is –’
‘Shut up, Steven. Freezing MEROS and restarting it again? That will take until next year. Do you have any idea how that will go down here? We have operations Fleming and Harper in the next month alone. How do you expect me to tell Jonathan that we have to cancel them because a few wasps got out and, rather than try to deal with them, you just wet your pants and ran away?’
‘Tobias, it’s a little more serious than that. I wouldn’t be calling if there wasn’t a very real and imminent threat.’
‘A threat to what? Yes, Dr Heath has died and that is a …’ he searched for the word ‘… shame, I suppose, but a few soldiers? That goes with the territory.’
‘But Tobias –’
‘If there are any further developments, call me again. Otherwise: do your job.’
‘Tobias –’
‘Am I understood?’
‘Yes, Tobias.’
46
Bishop left his office in time to meet Laura and Webster coming back down the corridor. Wainhouse was making frantic gestures towards the elevator.
Webster hurried towards him, with Laura following close behind. As they reached the end of the corridor, she saw Andrew standing helpless behind the glass.
On the side that was going to be frozen.
With everything else that was happening, Laura had been grateful that she did not have to worry about her son. Now that single source of comfort had been wrenched from her and replaced with the cold darkness of its opposite.
She was torn between her instinct, which was to let the twisted rush of dread take over, and her need to make Andrew believe that this was not going to be as disastrous as it appeared.
In the end, she brought her hands to her face to mask the fear in her eyes, then realized how bad that looked and took them away again.
Shit, she thought, shit shit shit shit shit.
‘Please tell me there’s something we can do about this,’ she said to Webster. She was trying in vain to keep her voice steady.
Before Webster could think of a reply that could possibly help, Bishop appeared behind them.
‘What the hell are they doing in there?’
‘We’re trying to find that out,’ said Webster.
‘Please tell me there’s something we can do about this,’ repeated Laura.
‘While we’re on lockdown, the elevator can’t go back up,’ Webster said.
‘But everything on that side of the glass is going to be frozen.’
There was a damp pause before Bishop spoke. ‘No one expected this to happen.’
Laura moved to the glass in front of the lift. Andrew looked ashen. The initial waves of fearful shock were still pounding through her, so her attempt to appear calm came out only as helpless confusion.
Meanwhile, Bishop took Webster aside.
‘Paine said to evacuate non-military and lift the shield, let your guys deal with the wasps. Obviously, that’s changed now.’
‘Yep. I think we’re going to be lifting the shield with no evac, otherwise no one’s going anywhere. Dealing with the wasps just went from hard to damn near impossible.’
Bishop agreed, like he was revealing a secret under torture. ‘We’d better check on Harry.’
They walked up the corridor to Lab 7. Through the Inshield and the glass, they saw him facing the hole-ridden wall, looking for the next wasp that fancied its chances against him.
Some of the jagged gaps were blocked with frozen wasp heads. By splashing liquid nitrogen on the parts that had come through, Harry had created a macabre series of ice-sculptures which were strangely fascinating to look at. Cruel eyes peered out over vicious jaws, some with legs trying to prise their way forward; others with thick, lengthy antennae probing ahead.
But there would be no more of these. Harry’s nitrogen had run out; he would have to search the lab for other means of defending himself.
The problem was that all the other harmful chemicals were corrosive, and he could see from the large, melted gap he had sprayed with acid there would be no point in using any of those.
His only other option was physical: he had smashed a beaker and was now armed with a jagged blade of glass, which he was using to stab the wasps that poked their heads through the wall. However, there were now so many of them, and they were smart enough to learn and adapt their behaviour. They would break down as much of the wall as possible, then take refuge in the cavity when Harry approached.
He knew it was only a matter of time before they made it through.
Catching a reflection of Bishop and Webster in the chrome piping at the back of the lab, he turned and saw their frustrated and despairing expressions.
Bishop shrugged hard and mouthed, What the hell –?, to which Harry replied with a What am I supposed to do? look of his own. Bishop closed his eyes, shook his head and walked off towards the barracks. Webster stayed to mouth, Hang on. We’re going to get you out of there.
Hurry, was the silent reply.
47
The remaining inhabitants of MEROS had gathered in the mess room of the barracks.
The soldiers Webster and Wainhouse were making sure they had access to the kind of weaponry that would come in useful if the wasps managed to get out.
The scientists Takeshi, Susan, George, Lisa and Mike were still shot through with fear. And even if they had managed to calm themselves down, they had no idea how to contribute, so they sat on the couches worrying and speculating.
‘See? This is what I meant,’ said Mike, tapping his foot.
‘What are you talking about?’ asked Lisa, her eyes searching, her voice trembling.
Mike’s words were coming with scrappy speed, the sentences running into each other, stumbling, then continuing at pace. ‘I said – and I said it to these guys – that something was up. I bet you anything Roach and Martin are dead. I bet Heath’s dead. Someone fucked up. I mean, did you see those wasps? Did you fucking see them?’
‘No cabron, we missed them,’ said George, lighting a red Marlboro with shaking fingers.
‘Roach and Martin are dead?’ said Lisa. Her arm was rubbing Susan’s tight shoulders as she sat, stunned into silence, on the couch.
‘We don’t know that,’ Susan replied.
‘Oh, they’re dead all right,’ said Mike. ‘Just like we’re going to be. No one here knows what the fuck they’re doing, and we have superfreak wasps flying around all over the fucking place.’
‘They are behind the Inshield,’ said Takeshi calmly.
‘We’re safe here. We just have to get to the surface.’
‘Oh yeah? What the fuck is the Inshield, and how come you know so much about it?’
‘It’s in the orientation pack you were given to read when you arrived,’ said Takeshi. ‘The Inshield is the final security measure. When it comes down, everything on the other side of it is frozen, then we will leave.’
‘Yeah, ’cos leaving’s gonna be a piece of cake. You see the elevator? Does that look like it’s moving?’
Takeshi gave a small shrug. ‘I don’t know. Perhaps it would help if we all remained calm.’
‘Easier said than done,’ muttered Mike.
As Wainhouse organized the weaponry, he looked over to the scientists and wondered how much they were going to depend on him. If they couldn’t get Garrett and Carter out of the elevator, it was going to be down to just him and Webster to make sure the rest of them lived. Looking unconvinced of their chances of success, he continued checking the weapons.
In the corridor, Laura was talking to Bishop. ‘Is there no way of communicating directly with the people inside the elevator? At the moment, I’m writing everything down on bits of paper, and I know it would help Andrew if he could hear my voice.’
‘The intercom in my office can do that. Press the blue button – but it’s only one-way. Their emergency line goes up to Taj. And take the major with you. Maybe he can find out why Garrett and Carter were on their way down here, heavily armed, with your son in tow.’
Bishop walked into the barracks to find the scientists looking at him expectantly, and Wainhouse standing beside his cache of weapons with his arms folded. Silence greeted his arrival.
‘OK, I know you will all have a number of questions regarding the situation we currently find ourselves in. Bottom line: without my knowledge, over the last few months, David Heath was engineering a strain of wasps larger, smarter, stronger and more aggressive than anything we have previously produced here. The ones you’ – he pointed to Takeshi and Susan – ‘saw up close and the rest of you have just seen through the window of the holding bay.’ He paused for effect.
‘Now, I have to tell you that Dr Heath was … overcome by these wasps.’ Another pause. ‘He was killed in the process of his research, in the line of duty, if you will. Then, as some of you also know, three of our military force were killed trying to deal with the situation. We have now reached a stage where these wasps have got into the wall cavities and come out into the labs. The decision has been taken to bring down the Inshield, which means the corridor, barracks, canteen and my office are the only areas available to us. The plan is to freeze everywhere else, kill the wasps and evacuate, restarting the facility either here, or elsewhere if that is not an option. Any questions?’
‘How long is this going to take?’ asked George.
‘As this is the first time we have done it, that is currently unknown. Less than twenty-four hours.’
‘And how do you know we’ll be safe when the freezing is over?’ asked Mike.
‘The movement sensors beyond the sapphire glass will give us an idea of whether we can at least end the lockdown and leave the facility. People, I know this is bad, and it’s ultimately my responsibility, but none of us … out here … is in danger. It’s just a matter of sit and wait.’
Susan looked puzzled, then put her hand up.
‘You don’t have to raise your hand, Miss Myers.’
‘Did you just say that the shield is made of sapphire glass?’
Bishop finally had something to look confident about. ‘Specially toughened sapphire glass, which is around ten times harder than the regular stuff, so I don’t think the wasps will be getting through it anytime soon.’
Susan continued to look puzzled, then put her hand up again, before Bishop’s impatient expression made her lower it. ‘What is it, Miss Myers?’
‘Well, I only did one semester of Applied Materials, but isn’t sapphire glass known for being brittle?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Sapphire glass is very strong, as in resistant to scratches, but it is much more brittle than normal glass, so if it were subject to impact, it would be much more likel
y to break.’
A cloud of trepidation descended on the room.
‘But they’re just wasps,’ Bishop said, with as much scorn as he could muster.
‘Larger, smarter, stronger and more aggressive wasps, you said,’ reminded Mike.
‘But they couldn’t possibly …’
‘If they can get through the plastic of the walls, they can get through the Perspex lab windows,’ said George. ‘And if they get through that and are determined to have a go at the Inshield …’
Bishop could feel himself getting colder, from the face down. He had no answer and no way of testing this theory. If they broke any part of the shield glass, who knew how far that break would spread.
‘But they’re just …’
‘They’re just a few pounds of anger that can probably manage five or ten miles an hour,’ said Mike. ‘You’d better have a Plan B.’
48
‘Can you hear me? Over,’ Laura said carefully.
‘It looks like you’ve got a yes,’ called Webster. He was watching the elevator, and a thumbs-up from Carter, Garrett and Andrew told him all he needed to know.
‘OK, Andrew, I’m going to explain exactly what is going on here. You’ve got to be really, really brave and listen to me so that this all works out the way we want it to.’ Andrew was staring at Webster as if he were saying these words. In return, Webster was looking like the solidity Andrew needed.
‘There are some big wasps behind the walls down here. We tried to keep them confined, but they got out. Now this area has been locked down with these glass shields so that we can protect ourselves, freeze the rest of the complex and kill them.’ She took a breath as the difficult part arrived.
‘Because of a timing accident, you are on the wrong side of the shield, but we’re going to get you out here with us. Until then, you have to sit tight and wait.’ Carter and Garrett looked pensive. Andrew looked scared. Webster saw Carter say something to Garrett then write a note, which he held up to the glass: