by Louise Moss
It will not be like that.
“You don’t know that. They’ll send more bluecoats and—,” Emma cut in.
It is not possible for the Leaders to repeat a pattern that has proved ineffective.
“What’s he talking about?” Emma asked. “I can’t understand him.”
“He’s saying that the Leaders won’t do the same thing again, because they know it won’t work.”
“Why didn’t he just say so?”
“Don’t forget, he’s speaking in a foreign language. He doesn’t always get it right.”
“Is he? I didn’t know that.”
Come to the vault and I will explain everything.
“Look,” Emma said, pointing in the direction of the town. “Soldiers.” A column of marching men was crossing the naked plain, heading for the clinic.
“Let’s get inside the vault. At least there’s only Hagan and Zorina there – at least I think that’s all there is.”
“I want to be sure I can get out again if I go in there. They could keep us locked up forever once we’re inside.”
At the vault, they pulled at the doors but they did not move. Gerald tried a few numbers in the old-fashioned keypad to the side, but nothing happened.
The system scans your brain waves, Hagan said. The Alpha, Beta and Omega waves must be correct to pass through.
What do you mean by correct?
Only my brain pattern and those of Zorina and Tostig are recognised.
“Who’s Tostig?” murmured Emma.
The doors will not open unless the entire brain pattern is authorised. But once you are inside I can reset the system to allow you access.
That’s not very helpful now.
“You’d better hurry up, if we can see the soldiers, they can see us,” Emma said.
You must come inside now.
But you just said we couldn’t get in.
There is a way. It will be necessary for me to manipulate your brain waves so that the system believes it is I passing through. As soon as you are inside, your brain waves will be restored.
“Is he crazy?” Emma said. “How can he manipulate my brain waves?” Gerald was silent and she went on. “It’s dangerous, isn’t it?”
I do not fully know yet what the full effects of this procedure will be on your mind.
“He means yes, doesn’t he?”
Gerald nodded.
“I’m beginning to get the hang of him,” Emma said. “I’ll try it if you will. We’ve got nothing to lose.”
Gerald thought they had a great deal to lose – the procedure could leave them brain dead, but the soldiers continued their steady march towards them. “All right. We’ll do it.”
They braced themselves as if for a car crash. A sudden convulsion jerked their legs from under them. In a semi-conscious state, they felt themselves being dragged along the floor. When they opened their eyes, they were the other side of the doors, but there was nobody else there.
They lay on the floor until the feeling that they had just been hit by a ten ton lorry gradually evaporated.
Dim lights led the way along the wide corridor, taking them deeper underground. From time to time, other narrower, unlit corridors opened off to the side, but they continued to follow the lights. Eventually the corridor widened into an enclosed space, about ten meters square. Here the lighting was so dim, they could see nothing until their eyes adjusted and their surroundings gradually came into view like a photograph being developed. Zorina was glaring suspiciously at them.
“I am pleased you have arrived safely,” Hagan said from somewhere in the shadows.
“I’ve got the mother of all headaches,” Gerald said. “Last time I saw you, you leapt over the balcony. How did you survive the fall? Was it those strange walkways?”
“What walkways?” asked Emma. “I didn’t see any.”
“I will explain everything soon,” Hagan said. “But come now, I wish you to see the work so that you may understand.” He walked slowly, limping slightly as he crossed the room, passing through a door on the far end into a second underground room. A tunnel stretched upwards in the roof of the cave, bringing in a little natural light. In the middle, directly below the light, stood a low structure enclosing bare earth.
“Doesn’t he know nothing’s going to grow inside here? Even I know that,” Emma said.
“I have been working on a device to eliminate the pollution for many decades. I believe I now have the required substance. As you see, shoots have pushed through the surface and are growing.”
“Wow, so you can grow things underground.”
“It is a miracle that Hagan has grown them at all. I will explain it all later.”
“This is wheat,” Hagan said. “My studies show that in your day, it was produced in large quantities and was necessary to sustain life.”
“Yes. You are right.”
“If you can grow wheat, it means everything’s going to be all right,” Emma said.
“I will take you to the halls.”
“What about that Baestel?” Emma said. “He said he’s coming back. He was crazy.”
“I will deal with him,” Hagan said.
In the Thermal Chamber, they changed into the special suits that would maintain their temperature in the hall of frozen bodies. At the first hall, Emma peered into the semi darkness. “What’s that? It looks like that magician I used to watch on the TV. He made people lay on a piece of wood, then he took the piece of wood away and the people floated in the air.”
“These are the bodies that were frozen the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.”
“That was you and me in there. Weird seeing that, isn’t it?”
The next hall contained animals, all in a state of limbo. “I have heard rumours that these about creatures could tear your limbs from your body or rip your heart out while you were still alive,” Hagan said.
“Haven’t you ever seen lions or tigers then?” Emma said.
“No. Do you mean the rumours were true?”
“Of course they were,” Gerald said. “You don’t want to bring them back.”
“It’s like Noah’s Ark in here, except they’ve all been frozen,” Emma said.
Gerald smiled. She had a wonderful, simple way of seeing things. He drew her to him, feeling the first stirrings of desire since the riot.
The force of Zorina’s mind, full of loathing and disgust hit Gerald like a bullet. Her hatred was solid and right inside his skull. Springing away, he clutched at his head.
“What are you doing?” Emma yelled. “Stop it now.” She crumpled to the floor as Zorina’s hatred swamped her mind too.
Gerald felt an easing inside his head. Emma was standing up now. It was as if Hagan had placed a protective shell around them that deflected Zorina.
She turned on him. “What are you doing? They are Evil.”
“It is the Leaders’ plan that the Primitives are brought to life and are not to be harmed. We must obey the Leaders without question.”
Gerald felt her withdraw, taking her mind back into herself. Emma came and stood close to him. He put his arm tentatively around her shoulder and turned to Zorina. “What do you think you were doing? You could have killed us” He wanted to shake her, hit her.
She stepped backwards but went on glaring at him.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said. As they made for the door, he turned to Hagan. “And you can get out of my head as well!”
“Where are you going? It is not safe out there,” Emma said.
“It’s too dangerous in here. You saw what she did.”
“But what about that Bluecoat. I don’t want to meet him again.”
“He’s gone back to the town. He won’t bother us again,” Gerald said with a confidence he did not feel.
“But he said he was coming back,” she persisted
“It was only an image that we saw. He just wanted to frighten us.”
“He did that all right.”
10
The bare ground gave them no place to hide. Once they stepped out from the shadow of the vault wall, they could be seen for miles around.
Nothing moved in the landscape. The soldiers appeared to have gone. Perhaps they were an illusion.
“Let’s go,” Gerald said, stepping out from the shadows, trying not to let his fear show.
They moved quickly. When they were halfway to the dome, Emma tensed. “There’s something moving inside.” They dropped to the ground slithering forward slowly.
“We need to get inside,” Gerald said, as the wind raced across the plain, stirring up dust and stones.
They searched for movement in the empty landscape. Nothing. Emma was suddenly up on her feet, racing for the dome. With a few strides, Gerald had caught up with her.
Inside the dome, they paused to catch their breath. Anything that could be picked up and carried away was gone, and the dead bodies and broken furniture had been removed. There were only the buildings.
“The walkways have gone,” Gerald said.
“What walkways?”
“They floated a few feet above the ground.”
“I didn’t see any.”
“After I met Hagan on the balcony I could do things I couldn’t do before.”
“I thought them illusions were finished, but it’s just as confusing now as it was before.”
“They might not be an illusion. We don’t know what technology they have developed.”
“But I didn’t see them.”
“I think it’s something to do with that visit Hagan paid me, but I don’t know what.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know, but I will always be by your side.” He reached inside his tunic and drew out the ring he had held on to and slipped it onto Emma’s finger.
“But it belongs to your wife.”
“You’re my wife now.”
There was no time for romance. They had to solve the problem of how they were going to survive. “I told Hagan to get out of my mind back then, and maybe he’s done just that. I can’t hear his voice like I did. I don’t see how I can make it without him.”
“Do you want to go back to the vault?”
“No, I don’t think so, not as long as the woman’s there.” He knew enough about these people to know that the vault walls would not present a barrier if Zorina really wanted to hurt them, but he kept his thoughts to himself. There was no need to worry Emma unnecessarily.
“It’s just that - I can’t see a way forward without Hagan but I can’t talk to him anymore.” A dreadful isolation swept over him.
“Do you remember how I knew what he was saying that time?”
“Yes, but I didn’t understand how you did it.”
“Perhaps it works the other way round. Let’s call his name, see if he can pick it up.”
Gerald thought it was pointless, but he played along, joining his voice to hers and calling out, “Hagan! Are you there?”
Suddenly he appeared. “How did you get here so quickly?” Gerald asked.
“He’s not here,” said Emma.
“The woman is correct. I am talking to you from the vault.”
“I thought we’d finished with the illusions.”
“This form of communication is usual for Superiors. I did not know Primitives were capable of it.”
“It doesn’t feel as if he’s in my mind, like he was before.”
“When you told me to get out of your mind, some connections were broken,” Hagan said. “If you concentrate enough, I can hear you.”
“We called it telepathy. Only most people didn’t believe in it,” Emma said.
Hagan made a note of her words. These creatures had abilities they had chosen to ignore, to pretend they didn’t exist. What a world of illusions they lived in.
“Here, see if you can pick this up,” Emma said, screwing up her eyes and choosing one of her last memories, when some friends had come around and tried to distract her with a Ouija board.
Hagan saw the image of five females crouched over a board asking questions and saw, in the shadows, a misty figure of a woman dressed in a hat and long cloak, directing the pointer in the middle of the board.
“That is interesting,” he said.
“What have you shown him?” Gerald asked.
“We were playing with a Ouija board and the pointer kept going round. It was creepy, like someone was watching us. Linda said there wasn’t anyone there, we were doing it ourselves but Debra said it was a spirit.”
“You must return to the vault for your own safety,” Hagan said. “The Workers will come soon to start the rebuilding programme.”
“What about Zorina?”
“She will not harm you.”
“We can’t be sure of that.”
The Leaders have ordered that you must not be harmed.”
“I don’t suppose that will stop her,” Emma muttered.
“You’re surely not going to carry on with this plan of yours?” Gerald asked.
“I shall carry out the orders of the Leaders. You will please return to the vault.”
Hagan grew impatient. He was trying his best to mimic the way the Primitives talked to each other, but still they prevaricated. He had to get them back urgently. Baestel had not returned to the town but was prowling about outside, about half a mile away, circling the dome.
“I suppose we’d better go back,” Gerald said at last. “It will be safer. Can we still get in?”
“The Leaders have restored the passageway between the clinic and the vault. The system recorded your brain patterns when you were here, and it will allow you to enter.”
“I don’t want to live in a vault,” Emma said.
“It’s the safest place for us at the moment.”
“Why should we do what he wants? He was going to kill us when we’d finished having babies.”
Hagan had to get them to safety. Baestel was getting nearer, sniffing the wind like an animal searching for a scent. He had notified Security of the man’s presence, but the result was not a foregone conclusion. If Baestel had mutated and had some of the qualities of a Superior, he could easily evade capture. The Primitives’ minds were vulnerable to suggestion and could easily be weakened or destroyed just by presenting them with horrific images.
“How do we know you’re not planning to kill as soon as we’re no longer of any use?” Emma said.
“The original plan has not succeeded and will not be implemented again.”
“We hated living like that. We want freedom…the freedom to choose our own way of life,” Gerald said.
“Please, return to the vault and we will discuss this further.” The Leaders had instructed him to do anything that was needed to keep the two surviving Primitives calm and cooperative but if they did not come soon, he would have to move them to the vault himself. “A room has been prepared for you. It is too dangerous for you to go outside, but you may walk inside the vault, with the exception of my private quarters.”
“I suppose we’d better go,” Emma said.
“Go to the back of the clinic and follow the staircase that descends below ground,” Hagan said.
At the end of the passageway, Hagan was waiting to show them to their accommodation.
“So who are these Leaders? I think we should meet them, act as advisors,” Gerald said as they ascended to the upper floors of the vault.
“That is not possible.”
“There is so much they did wrong. Don’t you see? We were desperately unhappy living like that, having no freedom. You can’t let them do this again.”
“In this world, we do not seek freedom for ourselves but obey our Leaders, whose plans are for the good of everybody.”
““What about the riot?” Emma asked. “Was that doing the Leaders’ orders?”
“The Workers’ minds were altered by their proximity to the Primitives. That is something that was not fully taken into account when The Plan was constructed.”
“You were
working blind. You were working with people you didn’t understand, people with feelings and emotions you don’t seem to have.” Gerald said.
“We do not have emotions. We act from logical principles.”
Gerald recalled Zorina’s attack on him in The Vault, but decided to let it pass.
“But the riot….”
“Yes, it is true. We lost control of the Workers at that time.”
“We could act as advisors,” Gerald said.
“Your minds do not have the capacity for discussions with the Leaders.”
“What is he talking about?” Emma said.
“He’s saying we’re not intelligent enough to talk to the Leaders.”
“They would, like, blow a fuse in our heads?” said Emma, but only Gerald understood that reference.
Hagan stopped and indicated a room.
“Is this is?” Emma said, glancing at the bed, the table and the two chairs. “It’s worse than our other room. There’s no windows. It’s like a prison cell.”
“Hush, it’s only for a little while,” Gerald said.
“Before I go, I will teach you to build a shell around your mind. It will offer you some protection.”
“Protection from what?”
“Zorina will not harm you, but there are others … “
“You’re not going to mess with my head again,” Emma said.
“You must hold an image in your mind until the protection is formed. I have no control over the process.”
“I think we’d better try it,” Gerald said, thinking of the way Zorina had entered his mind.
Hagan left them practising and returned to his laboratory.
“These Leaders aren’t that bright,” Emma said when he had gone. “Look what a mess they made of things.”
“I think Hagan did something he shouldn’t up on the balcony and he’s afraid the Leaders will find out.”
“Well, I’m not afraid of them. I want to tell them – they can’t take more bodies out of the vault and put them in prison. We’ve got to stop them.”
Gerald sat on the bed. “They’re trying to bring the planet back from extinction. Hagan’s close to being able to grow wheat, but if he’s successful, they don’t have the knowledge or experience. They’re going to need us. We’ve got to find a way to contact the Leaders, to get their attention. We’ve got to stop them from doing the same thing again.”