Countdown to Extinction

by Louise Moss

  The usual methods would not work. Gerald could walk through a barrier created with an image of solid rock. The most effective method was to fill the corridor with a dangerous creature, one that the Primitive feared. If the fear did not stop him, it would kill him.

  He dismissed large animals such as the lion or hyena as being impractical, as well as sea creatures like the puffer fish and box jellyfish and settled on the tsetse fly, a small creature whose bite killed. It would be a powerful warning.

  Within seconds he had created thousands of the creatures with their yellowish/brown coloration, large, widely spaced eyes and long proboscis. Gerald was already through the first corridor. Hagan fashioned a glass wall in the second corridor and placed a warning notice on the door using the danger signal Gerald would recognise: the skull and crossed bones, then filled the corridor with the flies.

  When Gerald saw the flies, he realised they might be a harmless illusion but all the same, he did not want to risk going through. He turned away and went back empty handed. Michael was furious.

  “When are you going to stop letting him run things around here? We don’t need him anymore. We have enough food, we can harvest the seeds in the autumn and continue growing them next year. I don’t see the problem.”

  “Michael’s right. We don’t need him,” Susan said.

  Emma glanced at Gerald. “Is he right? Do we still need Hagan?”

  “It will take a great many years before things are in a state of balance,” June said.

  “There are thousands of species still in the vault,” Gerald said. “Only Hagan can bring them out.”

  Michael said, “I say we get rid of Hagan, drive him out, and run things our way. Who’s with me?”

  Susan held her hand up tentatively. The other three sat with their hands in their laps. Michael pushed his chair back angrily and stormed out.

  Once the system showed that Gerald’s brain had slowed to below 4 hz, which meant that he was in a deep sleep, Hagan began the difficult task of reversing the effects of the Kudlu handshake. Having suspended all electrical activity in the Primitive’s brain, he began the delicate task of removing the interconnecting threads in such a way that it did not do any damage. The Kudlu handshake had caused a rapid growth of new connectors and it took an hour to remove the extra tissue. Another day and it would have been much more difficult.

  When Gerald woke, he remembered nothing about the Kudlu handshake or the tse tse flies, but did remember Michael and Susan coming home late from a long walk.

  As they all sat around eating breakfast in the dining room, Susa said, “Sorry for worrying you. We walked and walked…further than we’ve been before. Beyond the plains, it is like the surface of Mars, barren and rocky. Nothing grew at all, no matter how far we went.”

  “What about the barrier?” Gerald asked.

  “It’s gone, like Hagan said. After a long time, we arrived at another dome. Inside it was awful, like those pictures in the Blitz…stones, bits of metal and plastic lying around. I doubt if anyone has lived there for a long while.”

  “You didn’t meet anyone then?”

  “No, nobody at all.

  “So Hagan was telling the truth?” Gerald said.

  “I think we should offer him a home here, among us,” June said. “There’s nowhere else for him to go.”

  After a pause, Emma said, “I’ll agree if that’s what everyone wants.”

  “Why are you bothering with him?” Michael said. “He clearly doesn’t want anything to do with us. We don’t need him.”

  “He’s the only one who can access the crops and frozen bodies in the vault,” Gerald said.

  “So you’re saying we suck up to him? How lily-livered can you be.”

  “I’m saying we need each other, we need to work together to restore the earth.”

  Michael’s face formed into an ugly sneer.

  19

  “So what do you want me to build, and what do I build it with?” Pete asked. Gerald had explained about his body being frozen for hundreds of years and had taken him to meet the others. The community was growing. Christine, a midwife, and Richard, a farmer had been brought out at the same time as Pete.

  It was a good question. “There’s mounds of stuff out beyond the plains but I don’t think it’s suitable for building,” Gerald said.

  Hagan moved forward slightly. “You may demolish the houses in the town for materials. Suitable transport can be made available.”

  Michael grew agitated. “What’s this about? If you’ve got transport, why haven’t you let us use it before?”

  “Yes, why was that?” Gerald asked, remembering how they’d pulled the trailer by hand across the pitted ground.

  “I followed the instructions of the Leaders.”

  Michael thumped the table. “You and your Leaders. That’s just an excuse.”

  Pete didn’t like the way things were going. Christine was close to tears and her hands were shaking. He’d met guys like that Michael before in the tough environment of southeast London. Things could get ugly if he didn’t do something quickly.

  “Hey mate, don’t talk to the man like that,” he said.

  Michael stood up. “Don’t you tell me what to do.”

  “Sit down and let Hagan explain,” Gerald said.

  “Yes, let Hagan explain,” Susan said quietly, gently pulling on her husband’s arm.

  They all wondered how long it would be before a real fight broke out.

  “At the time, the transport was only available to those of higher rank than I,” Hagan said. “Before the Leaders died, they gave me all necessary permissions.”

  “You see, mate, there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, even if he did say it in a funny way,” Pete said.

  “We should decide things for ourselves, not have to rely on him all the time.”

  “It’s okay with me. The little man seems to know what he’s talking about,” Pete said. The others nodded. “Who gets to drive it?”

  “No driver is needed. It is propelled by a fusion process that requires only light. The pod will be programmed to carry out whatever task is required.”

  “Gosh!” said Emma.

  “Crikey!” said Pete.

  “Do they still work?”

  “The system has reported no irregularities.”

  “I was wondering, if there’s a glut of building materials - beyond the dome are the ruins of ten Workers’ cottages that used to stand in the clinic grounds. Would you allow Pete to rebuild them for our use? We would be much happier living outside the dome.”

  “Oh yes,” said Emma, squealing in delight at the thought.

  Hagan considered the request. If the Primitives were no longer in the dome, he would seal it up and live there himself. He would have no need to have any contact with them again.

  “Yes, I can allow that,” he said.

  “Oh, I could kiss you!” Emma said. “Don’t worry, I know you wouldn’t like it! Oh, I’m so excited. You can see where there used to be a stream running behind the cottages. It’s all choked up with rubbish now, but do you think we could get it going again?” She looked hopefully at Pete.

  “No problem, luv, it will be a pleasure.”

  “A home of our own. A home for the baby!”

  “I’ll go outside and see what state’s the soil in,” Pete said.

  Richard, jumped up. “I’ll come with you, see if we can start planting out there yet.”

  The others trooped out with him. Outside the dome, he picked up a handful of soil and ran it through his fingers. “I reckon we could make a start.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Gerald asked.

  “The best crop for clearing the ground is cannabis.”

  Emma laughed. “You want us all stoned?”

  “I was serious. It was used in my time to clear contaminated land.”

  “When was that?”

  “2052.”

  “OK. Cannabis. What else?” Gerald asked.

&n
bsp; “Squash, peppers, beans, okra. I’ll draw up a plan.”

  A sleek, black pod pulling a trailer the size of several small houses slid silently to a halt in front of them.

  “Looks like my transport. I see it comes with its own tools,” Pete said, eyeing the hammers, crowbars, prybars and other demolition tools. “Just as well. I haven’t brought mine with me.”

  “If only we’d had a trailer when we had to go and get those bones,” Emma said.

  Gerald agreed. “A lot of things will be easier with transport…if Hagan lets us use it.”

  “I wish he didn’t still have control over things.”

  “Yes, so do I.”

  As the demolition needed at least two men, it was agreed that Michael would accompany Pete to the town. Nobody had said anything, but they were pleased they did not have to put up with Michael’s volatile presence for a few hours.

  Pete and Michael squashed themselves into the pod, pulling up their knees and leaning against the door. “Is this thing made for one, or were they all the size of Mickey Mouse?” Pete said.

  “How on earth do we drive this thing? There’s no controls.”

  The pod began to slide silently away from the dome.

  “I hope it knows where it’s going and how to get back,” Pete said.

  “Hagan said they were individually programmed.”

  “A sort of remote Satnav?”

  The pod and trailer travelled smoothly a foot above the ground. Although Gerald had explained to Pete that nothing grew beyond the farm and the plain, when the vast expanse of uncultivated, naked land came into view, he was visibly shocked. He was a man from the twenty-first century, and to him “bare earth” meant a few scrubby bushes, a bit of moss, a few weeds, and birds pecking at insects. He drew his breath in. “Look at that. Gerald told me there was nothing there, but….”

  “I know. It looks like another planet, doesn’t it?”

  “They’ve got a lot to answer for, letting it get into this state. We’ve got to put this right, mate.”

  “They had no right bringing us into this,” Michael said.

  “There used to be a town here - houses, shops, a big business park, schools….”

  “Yes, and it’s all gone.”

  “Me and my missus used to go to a country music club just over there.”

  “You were from around here, then?”

  “Yes, we lived a couple of miles away.”

  “Music. That’s something we don’t have, unless you count Emma’s singing.”

  “I miss my missus, and the rest of the family. I suppose that Christine’s meant for me.”

  “That was part of it, but they needed a nurse for Emma.”

  “Yes, that young kid’s got a tough time ahead with no hospitals or that. Glad I’m a man, eh? My missus was a care assistant, used to go around helping the old ‘uns – washing them, feeding them, that sort of thing.”

  “That’s the town there, just coming into view.”

  “That dome thing?”

  “Yes, that’s it. What about Christine? Do you like her?”

  “She’ll do. I haven’t got much choice, have I? Richard’s keen on June but she likes that little one, although I don’t know why. He’s the strangest man I ever met.”

  “He’s only part human and part some other race that came here from a planet far away. That’s his story, anyway.”

  Pete laughed. “What a weirdo. I knew a man once. Said he’d been spirited up into a UFO, where they’d removed part of his brain!”

  Michael laughed. “You’d better not let the others hear you say that. We’ve all been tiptoeing carefully around Hagan.”

  “These little men always want to boss everyone else about.”

  “I hate it. But he’s the only one with access to all this,” Michael said, indicating the pod. “It’s been a terrible strain having him around. He won’t join in, and we’re supposed to watch what we say around him.”

  “You want to stop that. He’s the one that’s different; he’s the one who should be trying to fit in.”

  “You’re saying what a lot of us think,” said Michael. “But Gerald and Emma stick together. They won’t say a word against him.”

  “Well, old boy, we all have to get along. No point in getting het up.”

  Michael fell silent. It would take a bit more time to get Pete on his side, but together they’d get rid of Hagan. He’d have to choose the right time. The women didn’t count. They could be easily made to do what he wanted.

  The pod slid inside the dome and came to a halt.

  “What’s gone on here, then?” Pete asked, sliding down to the ground and surveying the scene in front of him. A number of houses were standing, but most were dilapidated and looked unsafe. “It’s like one of them third world shanty towns. My missus was from the Philippines. I went over there once to visit her family. People think the country’s lovely, with sandy beaches and that, but they’ve only seen the bits the Yanks have done up. Some of it’s pretty awful: houses made of cardboard and bits of corrugated iron, people sleeping on the pavement.”

  They walked up the hill to get a better view. The houses here were bigger and had withstood the ravages of time better.

  “Can you use any of this stuff?” Michael asked.

  Pete ran his hand over the wall of a house. “Don’t know what this is made of, but I’ll do something with it.“

  Michael took hold of a club hammer. Pete rummaged in the tools until he found a wrecking bar set.

  “Look, it’s just slotted in,” Pete said. “That makes it easier.”

  The two men worked solidly for several hours, stopping only to drink from the water bottles they had brought with them. At last they had enough. Pete counted on his fingers. “There’s you and Susan, Gerald and Emma, Richard and June—if they want to share!— and me and Christine, if she’s going to shack up with me. Four houses.”

  “There will be other things to build too, like the animal houses.”

  “There’s plenty of stuff here for now, but how are we going to get it home?”

  To their surprise, the trailer was making its way up the hill. They loaded it up and climbed inside the pod. “I hope this thing knows its way home,” Pete said.

  Back at the dome, the group had formed a welcome party, waving and clapping, resembling the scenes at Houston when Apollo 13 made it back to Earth. It felt a bit like that.

  Gerald was the only one to notice Hagan standing alone at the entrance to the vault, observing the group as they laughed and patted each other on the back. He felt sorry for him, alone as he was in a world of people he didn’t understand and who didn’t understand him, with no possibility of building the life he was used to.

  “I’ll get started straight away,” Pete said, but as he went towards the cottages, the sky darkened and it began to rain.

  As they made their way quickly inside, a flash of lightning spread across the sky, accompanied by distant thunder.

  “Are we safe in here?” Emma asked as they shut the outside door.

  “Safest place there is,” Gerald said, although he had no idea what the dome was made of or whether there was a lightning conductor. The safest place would be the vault, of course, but there was no way Hagan would let them in there.

  A bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky directly above them, hitting the roof of the dome, lighting up the whole sky. Someone screamed, but the lightning surged down the side of the building, setting alight the grass.

  “We’re going to die in here, Emma said, making for the door. Gerald held her back. “We’re safer in here. Look, the dome isn’t catching light.” As they watched, the skies opened and released a torrent of rain.

  “This reminds me of 1947,” Gerald said, raising his voice as a loud clap of thunder rolled over the house. Images appeared unbidden in his mind of the severe winter with unrelenting cold and snow, animals freezing to death, daily power cuts, food shortages and a shortage of coal. Spring was the wettest
for three hundred years, with widespread flooding.

  At night, they huddled together inside the dining room and told stories of their past life. In the morning, the storm had abated and they went outside to assess the damage.

  They made slow progress, slipping and sliding on the mud. The rain had eroded the sides of the lake and the water had flooded the land. On the plains, the grass lay flattened.

  June picked up a handful of soil and let it fall through her fingers. It was firm and dark and reminded her of the black earth of Russia, rich in humus and carbonates and containing everything for plants to thrive. If the rain had released nutrients from beneath the surface, the soil would be improved.

  Richard said, “I think it’s time we ploughed the land and started planting the crops so that the climate becomes more stable. Two horses pulling a plough would do it in no time.”

  “We don’t have no horses,” Pete said.

  “Farming with horses was particularly useful in third world countries back in the 21st century, but it also had a great come-back in America.”

  “You sound quite knowledgeable,” Christine said.

  He felt the mood in the group shift as he explained that his uncle used to work for a brewery in London who was still delivering with dray horses into the 21st century. “Working the horses is a skill, especially if you’ve got a pair of them. My uncle showed me a few basics,” he said.

  “It’s a good plan, but we don’t know if Hagan will let us have horses,” June said.

  “Surely even he will see that we can’t do all this by ourselves,” Christine said.

  20

  One year later

  Once the plants around the perimeter of the dome had grown large enough to obscure the view from outside, Hagan moved there from the vault. He grew enough crops inside the dome to feed himself and no longer had any need of the Primitives.