Countdown to Extinction

by Louise Moss

  “We’ll lure him out then grab him,” Michael said. “See how he likes being kept a prisoner.”

  “That’s not going to work,” Gerald sighed.

  “That’s not the way,” Richard agreed, “but maybe we can persuade him to come over more often to discuss things. Gerald, is there any reason why only you talk to him?”

  Gerald wondered just where he would start to explain Hagan’s special powers, the link, the way they had worked on the regeneration of the Earth together, the trust that had taken years to develop between them, let alone mind projection and mind connectedness. Before he could start, Michael said, “You see, he hasn’t got an answer. He’s a control freak as well. He wants power, he doesn’t want us to be involved in decisions.”

  June said, “I don’t think that’s fair. Don’t you remember the meetings we used to have with Hagan every morning where we would all discuss what we were going to do? Gerald would write everything down on the wall with a piece of chalk. That was all we had in those days.”

  “Yes, I remember,” said Christine. “Couldn’t we have something like that again?”

  “Why did it stop?” Richard asked.

  “We used to all live together. Pretty much anyway. Then everything changed when Helkos and the other survivors came to live in the dome. Hagan sent us to live out here, and we haven’t had much to do with each other since.”

  “Maybe that’s the answer then, more integration. What we need is for them to come out and talk to us.”

  “I’ll talk to him, tell him how you feel,” Gerald said.

  Michael sneered. “You see. It’s like I said. He doesn’t want anyone else involved.”

  “I can’t make him talk to us,” Gerald said. “He only talks to me when we need something for the farm.”

  “Fool,” Michael scoffed. “That’s your opportunity to do something.” He looked round the circle. “What’s the matter with you? Are you scared of him or what?” It wasn’t clear whether he meant Hagan or Gerald.

  He thumped his fist in his hand. “Make a choice,” he said. “Who’s with me?” He stared menacingly round the circle. Nobody moved. Michael’s eyes alighted on Susan who put her hand up cautiously.

  “You’ve given us plenty to think about,” Gerald said. “Thank you. But as you will be returning home soon, the decisions are not yours to make.”

  “Idiots.”

  “Oh,” said Emma. “Hagan’s here. Look!”

  Hagan had left the dome and was making his way towards them. He was not happy to be disturbed. He had been dissecting Auxo’s body. Even Helkos had not been able to heal him.

  “Here’s my chance to get him.” Michael tried to grab him, not realising it was only an image that stood before him. His arms sliced straight through.

  Pete said, “It’s like a trick I saw once on stage by this magician. Clever, he was, made you see things that weren’t there and all sorts.”

  Gerald said, “There is nothing to be afraid of. Hagan does not wish to harm us.” Michael had not moved. “Come away,” he said.

  “Susan, there is no longer any reason to stay here.”

  “How does he know about that?” Christine whispered.

  “You and Michael will leave straight away.” As Hagan spoke, a pod came trundling around the corner of the cottages.

  “How does he do that?” Pete said.

  Michael looked round the group. “Here’s our chance to get him. Don’t just stand there.”

  Nobody moved. “You can’t make me leave,” Michael said.

  There was a sharp intake of breath from Gerald. Pete said, “Look mate, you always meant to go home when you were better. Don’t make such a fuss.”

  Michael glared at him. Back in the dome, Hagan gathered his energy and directed it towards the Primitive. There was a gasp of horror as Michael flew backwards, his arms like windmills as he tried to find something to hold on to.

  He landed on the pod with a thump, the door opened and he was pulled inside. They could see him through the window hammering and shouting.

  Susan glanced anxiously at Hagan, whispering, “I’m going.” She hurried over to the pod. The door opened a little way. Before she could get in, Michael aimed himself at the gap but was jerked back into his seat by an invisible force. He stared wildly out of the window, his arms pinned by his side.

  “That man and that woman will not come here again,” Hagan said.

  Gerald had no doubt that this was an order and now they all understood the penalties of disobedience.

  “Now perhaps you see why we can’t take control,” Gerald said.

  Richard looked shocked. The others were silent.

  Emma was in tears. Richard said, “I hope we haven’t blown our chances with him. It wasn’t our fault, but that might not be how he sees it. He might think we put Michael up to it.”

  “Let me explain what I know about Hagan,” Gerald said as they returned to the cottage. He told them about Hagan’s ability to project his image and that he was unlikely to come in person if he came at all, because he disliked the outside.

  “It’s no different really from a web cam,” Richard said, and had to explain what that meant to Emma and Gerald.

  “Ooh, I wish I’d lived then,” she said. “When Rob went off on one of his trips, I could have messaged him.”

  “Let’s just concentrate on the future,” Gerald said.

  23

  Before they had died, the Leaders had explained to Hagan that he must allow the use the Primitives to breed and to bring up their offspring until such time that they could survive independently. However, learning about his father’s experiment that had resulted in the birth of him and his brother, had given Hagan a better idea, one that he felt sure the Leaders would approve of.

  When he had a cure for infertility, he would create a new race by mixing his seed with the eggs of the youngest, healthiest, most intelligent female Primitives in the vault, developing a superior race by careful selection. Those offspring that had the thought-merging and projection abilities of his people would have no contact with the Primitives and would be allowed to breed with each other. Those of Worker level or below would be destroyed. If he succeeded with this breeding programme, eventually there would be no need for Primitives.

  He needed June’s knowledge, but he could not tell her of what he really wanted to do. He asked her to come to the laboratory.

  “Before the riot, I was working on a drug to increase fertility in the Primitives,” he told her. “But I have not yet found an effective treatment for my own people.”

  “What formula were you using?”

  “C23H36N2O2.”

  “You could C19H28O2. Testosterone was found to be helpful in cases of infertility in men but I don’t know how effective it will be on your people.”

  When she had gone, he mixed the chemicals according to June’s formula then drank it down and waited.

  It was not long before his body began to react. The first thing he noticed was that he was becoming preoccupied with thoughts of June’s hair. It had always held a fascination for him but this was different. There was more of an urgency to his thoughts, a desire to touch. It was not unpleasant.

  He projected his image to the back of the wood so that he could watch June. He had not noticed before the way her hips swayed as she walked, the shape of her body beneath her clothes. When it grew dark, she went inside and he returned to the vault. Tomorrow he would see her again.

  The only person he could contact was Gerald. When Hagan had removed the extra connective tissue in his brain that resulted from the Kudlu handshake, he had left the tissue that allowed him to contact Gerald through his mind. He sent a message that he needed to see June. She appeared soon after breakfast with the news that Emma’s baby had been born and that the index finger on the right hand was missing. Hagan had no interest in this. He had taken a second dose of the drug earlier and his interest in the woman had increased.

  “It appears that the veins in
my cheeks have dilated,” he said. “Do you know the cause of this? I have not experienced it before.”

  “You’re blushing,” June said and he noted the way her own cheeks were reddening.

  He voiced the thought had been circling his mind for the past hour. “ I have never seen a woman’s body.”

  She was looking straight into his eyes and he had to remind himself that she did not understand how deeply insulting the gesture was. As he turned away, she came nearer, standing close. He should have been revolted by her proximity, but his eyes were fixed on her hair.

  She leaned forward and put her head on his shoulder. He liked the feel of her hair on his cheek. He reached up tentatively and touched it.

  “Do you want me to show you?” Her voice had a strange quality and he wondered whether she was suffering from a problem with her throat. He thought he was referring to her hair, but she leaned away from him and began to undo the buttons on her laboratory coat. She did not stop there, but removed her jumper too. Hagan took in her smooth body, the shape of the breasts, and her hair cascading over her shoulders. It was pleasing.

  “More?” she said, slowly pulling off the rest of her clothes, until she was completely naked.

  “I have seen this,” Hagan said, recalling an image he had seen in the record rooms of Proteus. “Birth of Venus.” He pronounced the words strangely but she nodded. She knew the picture: a nude red-haired lady standing on a shell.

  Hagan reached out and gently touched her arm, stroking the hairs, remembering how the images at Proteus had shown the Primitives placing their lips together. It would be interesting to try it again. As he placed his lips on hers, she took his hand and moved it to her breast. He could feel the hard nipple contrasting with the soft tissue. It was interesting but he did not know why the Primitives craved such a touch. With scientific precision, he noticed her lips were parted, her eyes dilated and her breathing rapid.

  He felt their minds linking together, something he had not thought a Primitive capable of. She retained the mind contact as he moved slowly forward and touched his lips to her face and her forehead.

  He seemed to have no control over his movements. He moved his hand around her body, noting the way her mind ballooned out towards him. His own body was undergoing changes too, stiffening in a way he had never known possible. It was so uncomfortable, he removed his clothes and was surprised to see how his body had changed.

  “Lay down here,” June said. As he did, she knelt over him, bringing her body to his. He closed his eyes and experienced, for the first time, body, mind and soul spinning together.

  There came a time when his body no longer desired such intimate contact. As he moved away, he prepared himself for the terrible sense of loss that would occur when she withdrew her mind. But instead, she maintained the connection as she nestled into the crook of his arm.

  “I would like to experience this again another time,” he said. He was behaving like a worker now, but what did it matter? There was nobody to report him to the Leaders.

  “I had better go back or they will be wondering where I am. I will come back tomorrow.”

  When she had gone, he was unable to concentrate on his work. He thought only of her and the feel of her body pressed to his. This continued until the drug began wearing off a few hours later. It had been an interesting experiment, but his desire to repeat it was fading.

  Telling himself it was necessary to repeat the test to discount a random result, he prepared another dose. What he had done with June was wrong. That was what the workers were for, but if the planet was to be populated again, it was something he must endure. It was not unpleasant.

  The next day, he waited until June left her cottage and set off for the laboratory before drinking the solution he had prepared. By the time she arrived at the laboratory, he was already feeling desire for her.

  As she came in, he slipped his hands beneath her clothes and caressed her body, enjoying the sensation that flooded his body.

  “You’re in a hurry,” she said.

  “You do not wish to do this?”

  “Yes, of course I do.”

  As he pulled her clothes off, he wondered whether he had given himself too big a dose of the drug. He was ready to enter her already. She was gasping, leaning against the wall, he was inside and suddenly it was all over. It was a deeply disappointing experience, with none of the connection of their minds that he had experienced before.

  “I think you’ve got the dose wrong, you were too quick,” she said. By the time she had explained what she meant and had taught him how to caress and kiss her, his body was ready again.

  When she had gone, he recorded in detail the effect of the drug. The result was clear and there was no need to repeat the experiment.

  When June arrived the next day, she smiled and moved close to him, too near.

  He moved back, increasing the distance between them.

  “What is it? What’s the matter?”

  “It is a question of protocol.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We do not stand so close together.”

  “But we were a lot closer yesterday.”

  “Before you came yesterday, I administered to myself some of the formula you suggested. I do not know whether it increased my fertility, but it gave me a desire for contact.”

  She was staring at him in a manner he found deeply insulting.

  “So you used me.”

  “I do not understand.”

  “Get someone to explain it to you. I’m going now.”

  June had gone, but there was someone else in the vault, someone who was able to cloak his mind in a disguise. Hagan intercepted him in the corridor outside the laboratory. Baestel, with a strange grin on his face.

  “So you know what it’s like to be a worker now.”

  “I was testing a fertility drug. The people have been infertile for many decades.”

  “You enjoyed it though, didn’t you? She’s a tasty bird,” Baestel leered.

  “What do you want?”

  “This, for a start.” Suddenly Hagan was encased in chains, unable to move. Foolishly, he had left himself unprotected. He launched an attack, trying to pierce Baestel’s skull and gain control over his mind.

  “How did you become so strong?”

  “I used to go Outside when everyone was asleep and practice mind control on the animals. I knew they would destroy my mind if they found out, so I hid behind a mask. They thought I was the perfect worker.“

  “You went Outside? But it was not possible to survive out there at that time.”

  “That’s what they told you.”

  “Why would they lie?”

  “They wanted to know where you were, to control and manipulate you.”

  “No, that’s not right. The Leaders cared for us.”

  Baestel’s laugh reverberated around the laboratory. “You’re even more stupid than I thought.”

  “What are you going to do? You can’t keep me imprisoned here. I have work to do.”

  “That’s exactly what I am going to do. You’re going to stay here while I go and enjoy myself.”

  “You’re not to harm the Primitives. Without them, the planet will die.”

  “I won’t touch them. I’m going to watch while they destroy themselves, and I’m going to let you watch too.” He left the vault and went over to the dome, every movement captured on the monitors which lined the wall of the laboratory.

  To the Primitives, it was Hagan who appeared in the garden. “Gather round, I want a word with you,” he said. “I’ve realised the error of my ways.”

  “What’s happened to Hagan? He doesn’t sound like himself,” Emma said.

  “I made a mistake. Now I’m going to put it right. Tell me what will make you happy. Anything. Anything at all.”

  They glanced at each other in puzzlement. Eventually Emma said, “We wanted some things out of the storerooms, just a few things to make the place nice.”

  “No
problem.”

  “We need farming tools,” Richard said.

  “Medical supplies,” Susan said.

  “Just go and help yourself,” Baestel said.

  “We can’t. You sealed them up,” Gerald said.

  “I’ll unseal them straight away.” He smiled. Everyone knew that the Primitives had nearly destroyed themselves with their greed. Let the fighting begin!

  They grew bolder with their demands. “I need things for the baby.”

  “I’d like some paints.”.

  “A razor, that’s what I’d like,” Pete said, stroking his beard.

  They followed the man through the underground passageway until they got to the store rooms. The corridor of tse tse flies was gone. Over the next few days, they brought out as much as they could, storing the things they did not want straight away in the empty cottages.

  Baestel was disappointed. There had been no arguments or fighting over who had what. He sealed up the storerooms and looked forward to the Primitives getting angry and blaming each other.

  A few days later, Gerald reported to the group that he had been unable to get into the storerooms again. The others shrugged their shoulders and went back to working on the farm. “At least we got the things we wanted before he changed his mind,” Emma said.

  Baestel looked for another way to amuse himself. Seeing June alone in the garden, he went over and stood close to her.

  “You haven’t been over lately,” he said, reaching out and stroking her bottom.

  She drew back and gave him a hard stare. “I think you need to reduce the dose,” she said.

  He took hold of her arm and pulled her behind the pomegranate bush. “What are you doing?”

  “You want this as much as I do,” he said, pulling at her clothes.

  She pushed him away. “Not like this. Anyway, I’m with Richard. The other day – it was a mistake.”

  As she tried to go, he grabbed her and forced her to the ground. As he loosened his clothing, she kneed him in the groin. “I’ll kill you for that,” he gasped.