The Buried Ark

by James Bradley

  ‘I knew it,’ I said triumphantly.

  ‘What?’ Meena asked.

  ‘Firestorm. The device is in this installation.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Ben talked about it when we were in the Zone. I don’t think he realised what it was but he knew where it was.’

  Somebody paused in the lab outside. Meena stared at me, her eyes wide. Lifting a finger to my lips I shook my head and turned off the screen, trying not to flinch at the hum as it shut down. Meena gestured to the wall beside the door and we darted across and flattened ourselves against it.

  There was a moment of silence, then the door hissed open. Light spilled into the darkness of the room, silhouetting Dr Omelas.

  I tensed, ready to bolt, but he hadn’t seen us. Instead he crossed to his desk and, touching the keyboard, punched in a password with one hand while spreading some papers on the desk with the other.

  I began to move sideways as quietly as I could, hoping we might be able to slip out the door while his attention was on the screen. I took a step, then two, but just as I reached the door he looked up.

  ‘Callie?’ he said, a note of surprise in his deep, resonant voice before he recovered himself. ‘How did you get in here?’

  ‘I let her in,’ Meena said, stepping forward beside me.

  Dr Omelas’ expression hardened.

  ‘Meena? Is this some kind of joke?’ His tone was jocular, light-hearted, but his eyes were cold. In that moment I understood why Meena hated him so much.

  Meena shook her head. ‘Not at all.’

  He looked at me. ‘What has she been telling you? That she can’t live with herself? That I’m a monster?’

  ‘You are a monster,’ I said. ‘I didn’t need her to tell me that.’

  Dr Omelas smiled. ‘I had hoped you were smarter than that, Callie. But it doesn’t matter, because although my daughter is very headstrong she is not stupid. She understands the stakes here. Isn’t that right, Meena?’

  Next to me Meena didn’t reply, just stood staring at her father. For a long moment nobody spoke, then Dr Omelas lifted his right hand and reached toward his screen. But before he could touch it Meena stepped forward and, raising her hands, pointed a blunt black thing with a trigger and something red inserted in its muzzle at him.

  ‘Don’t move,’ she said.

  ‘Is that . . .’ I began.

  Meena nodded. ‘It’s a flare gun. I took it from the equipment bay.’

  Dr Omelas stared at her in disbelief. ‘Meena,’ he said. ‘This is absurd.’ As he spoke he moved closer to the screen.

  Meena took another step forward, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she kept the gun trained on her father.

  ‘Don’t,’ she said, her voice hard. ‘I’m not afraid to shoot.’

  Dr Omelas hesitated.

  ‘Meena,’ he said. ‘Please. Don’t be ridiculous.’

  As he spoke I saw his eyes flick up toward the corner of the ceiling. Meena obviously saw it too because she took another step forward.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I disabled the cameras before we came in.’

  Dr Omelas looked at her in surprise, and for the first time he seemed genuinely concerned.

  Meena nodded toward the wall on the right. ‘There’s computer cable in the cupboard, Callie. Grab it and we can tie him up.’

  Keeping my eyes on the two of them, I backed toward the cupboard and pulled out a length of cable.

  ‘Okay,’ Meena said to her father. ‘Lie down on your stomach.’

  His face tight with fury, Dr Omelas did as he was told, and while Meena watched I knelt over him, wrapping the cable around his wrists and ankles, securing it as firmly as I could. At one point Dr Omelas winced, but Meena just shook her head.

  ‘Don’t listen to him,’ she said. ‘Make sure it’s tight.’

  When we were done she shoved the flare gun into my hand and grabbing a roll of tape, wound it around her father’s mouth. Then she stood up and, taking the gun back, stuck it into her belt in the small of her back.

  ‘Did you have that all along?’ I asked, and she nodded.

  ‘I found it while I was gathering glo-sticks,’ she said.

  On the floor Dr Omelas was staring up at us, eyes bulging and dark with fury.

  ‘Come on,’ Meena said. ‘We don’t have long.’

  For a long moment I stood, staring at her, aware once again of the strength in her, the determination. Then, stuffing the drive with the installation specifications into my pocket, I grabbed my backpack and followed her out the door.

  24

  We clambered back through the maintenance shaft into the filtration cavern. Relieved to discover the technician had gone, we darted across to the passage and crawled back through the narrow space. After a few minutes Meena stopped and pointed up at a small gap I had not noticed before.

  ‘This way,’ she said.

  The gap led into a narrow shaft that sloped gradually upward before opening into a larger cavern filled with the boring machines used to construct the tunnels. Careful to avoid the cameras, we slipped past the bulky shapes to a low tunnel at the cavern’s end. Slithering down into it we crawled for several hundred metres more until we came to a metal hatch.

  ‘It’s an airlock,’ Meena said. ‘To protect the Ark from the effects of Firestorm.’

  She punched a code into the panel beside it and the hatch swung open with a hiss. We emerged into a long low cavern that sloped down to a pool. Meena splashed out into the water, the beam of her lamp throwing dancing ripples of light across the ceiling and walls as it reflected off the bottom of the pool, and I splashed in after her. The pool snaked on, eventually disappearing into a low-ceilinged cavern, the ceiling of which grew lower with each step, until finally there were only a few centimetres of air between us and the rock above.

  The water was freezing, and as we struggled forward I forced myself to focus on Meena and not the dark water or the vast weight of stone above us, but as we stumbled on and the bottom dropped away beneath us that became more and more difficult. As the pool grew deeper my teeth began to chatter and it became harder and harder to keep my face above the water, and each time I lost my footing or stepped into a deeper section I would slip under, the icy water closing over my face so I had to push upward, spluttering. Each time it happened was worse than the last, my movements growing jerkier, more frantic as panic began to rise. But finally, after what seemed an eternity, the ceiling started to rise again, and as it did the water grew shallower, until at last we reached a shore and stepped out onto dry stone.

  For a few seconds we stood panting, our hands on our knees. My teeth were chattering convulsively. In an attempt to calm myself I forced myself to breathe slowly, deeply. Looking up, I caught Meena’s eye. Her face was pale, tight, her wet hair flat round her head. I didn’t say anything, but it was obvious she had found the trip through the pool as traumatic as I had.

  Once we had caught our breath, we clambered up the side of a huge boulder and on through another shaft into a low wide space, its ceiling a vast convex piece of stone so low I could barely lift my head to see Meena’s light ahead of me. Finally the space narrowed and angled upward until, with a skidding sound, Meena slithered through a gap and disappeared. Following her, I clambered over the lip of the exit and found myself in a hole of some sort surrounded on all sides by darkened walls of rock. Overhead, outlined against the edges of the rock and the broken shape of a tree, the night sky was visible, its vast space filled with stars.

  I stopped, swaying. My heart was pounding and my breath was ragged. Next to me Meena pointed upward. ‘You can climb up over there.’

  ‘Where are we?’

  ‘A sinkhole about half a kilometre west of the facility.’ Reaching into her pocket she took out a pouch and withdrew a small device sealed in a waterproof bag.

&
nbsp; ‘Here,’ she said. ‘This will guide you to the coordinates. I’ve disabled the ID so hopefully they won’t be able to track it.’

  ‘Wait,’ I said. ‘You’re not coming?’

  She shook her head. ‘I’ll stay here. Do what I can to slow them down.’

  ‘They’ll lock you up. Or worse.’

  She shook her head. ‘Don’t forget who my father is. And even if they do, I can buy you some time.’

  I stared back. I could see she wanted to say more but didn’t know how, and now we were here I didn’t either. Stepping forward I embraced her, trying not to think about the fact this might be the last time I saw her.

  ‘Be careful,’ she said as I released her.

  I nodded and, putting on my backpack, clambered up the loose rocks to the ground above.

  I emerged in what looked like desert, the dry, rocky ground spread out beneath the night sky, its pale surface broken here and there by dark shapes I guessed must be low trees or outcrops of rock. A few hundred metres to the west a series of low buildings and metal gantries surrounded by high fences were outlined by floodlights, the red and yellow shapes of the machines ghostly beneath the pale light. I ran fast and low, scanning the landscape for signs of pursuit. Although the sky was still dark, the first glow of dawn was already visible to the east, and behind me, in the distance, the Ark’s floodlit above-ground facilities shone like a beacon in the empty landscape.

  After so long in the processed air of the Ark it was strange to be outside, to smell the dust and the grass and feel the wind, to realise I had missed this, and even through my fear I was filled with a sense of the largeness of the world, its fullness, the way life in all its fragility filled it. But my pleasure was short-lived. For although I did my best to blot it out, now I was no longer underground I felt the prickling awareness of the Change’s proximity growing stronger once more, its whispering coiling through my head, not quite audible but still there, real.

  I didn’t know how long I would have before they realised I was gone. Presumably Dr Omelas would be found as soon as somebody entered the lab, but that wasn’t likely to happen for a few hours yet. And even once he was found they might not look up here immediately. Whatever happened I was unlikely to have more than a few hours head start, and if somebody discovered Dr Omelas sooner, or he escaped somehow, I might not even have that.

  I’m not sure I could have found my way without the device Meena had given me. The coordinates we had given Ben were just off the nearest road, almost twenty kilometres away, and although from what I could see of it in the dark the land was largely flat, unbroken except for clumps of low, scrubby trees and saltbush, it would have been easy to lose my way.

  As the sky in front of me grew lighter I tried to think through what I should do next. By Meena’s reckoning we had a bit over twenty-four hours until the dispersal began, so I couldn’t afford any mistakes. If she was right that disrupting the dispersal would buy us time, it would give us a chance to get the truth about Firestorm to people who might be able to stop Dr Omelas.

  As the sun rose, the landscape slowly revealed itself, making it easier to find my way, but also making me easier to spot. I knew there was little I could do to avoid observation from the air, so I tried to focus on the path ahead. Just after eight I saw something flash in the sky to the north. Realising it was a drone, I swore quietly to myself and slowed down, scanning the sky.

  They must have found Dr Omelas by now, which meant the drone was unlikely to be on some kind of routine mission. Ahead of me the land rose, the broken stone and low scrub giving way to larger trees. I didn’t know whether the drone would be able to spot me with infrared, but even if it could it seemed likely I’d be safer in the trees. Perhaps whoever was controlling the drone thought the same thing, though, because it was hovering between me and the trees.

  I decided to try to skirt around it by heading east and then looping back toward the trees. But when I was about halfway there I saw the drone move and head toward me. I dropped down low and headed for the nearest pile of rocks, skidding down beside them and lying still. From here it was difficult to see the drone, but after a minute or two I saw a tell-tale glint high above. I huddled closer but it didn’t stop, just moved on and away.

  I lay there for a few minutes longer, waiting until it was out of sight, then I stood up and set off at a run toward the trees. As I reached them I looked back and saw a helicopter moving fast and low across the landscape, its black shape like some bloated biting insect.

  Now I was among the trees I had more cover, but the ground was rougher and my progress was slower. Meena had chosen the meeting point because she thought Omelas and the Ark’s security team would probably assume I was going to head south, away from the Zone. Although, as Meena had remarked at the time, that wasn’t a prediction she made with any great confidence. Still, as I slipped and stumbled through the trees I found myself hoping she was right and that Ben hadn’t been intercepted already.

  It was late morning when I reached the road. Its verges were overgrown, the asphalt cracked and broken. According to Meena’s device the meeting coordinates were a couple of kilometres to the north, so I took off, scanning the road ahead for some sign of him.

  The meeting point was on a track just off the road. It was in one of the more wooded areas so Ben wouldn’t be spotted but the road went through a wide clearing not far before it. I was nervous about leaving the cover of the trees and as I crossed the open space I kept breaking into a run, anxious to be out of sight. About halfway across, I heard something behind me. I turned. At first I saw nothing, but then through the shimmer of heat on the road I saw what looked like a van or car. I stared around. It was flat on every side, nowhere to hide, so I began to run, throwing myself forward toward the trees. It wasn’t far – a few hundred metres, no more – but the ground was so flat that even if they hadn’t seen me already they would soon.

  I shot sideways as soon as I reached the trees. The long grass was thick, obscuring broken branches and who knows what else, and as I dove deeper, away from the road, I tripped several times, landing hard, but each time I leapt up and scrambled on. I was perhaps a hundred metres from the road when the car reached the edge of the trees. I dropped down behind a fallen tree, pressing myself in, hoping I was invisible.

  I heard the car slow, its engine idling. I wanted to look up, to see where they were, what they were doing, but I knew I couldn’t. Instead I lay, motionless, as it crawled past. Finally the engine growled and it pulled away with a screech of tyres.

  Breathing a sigh of relief I sat up. The road was clear again. Taking out the device I checked my location. The coordinates were now only a few hundred metres away.

  I emerged onto the track and looked around. We had chosen the spot well: shaded by trees and mostly overgrown, it would be almost invisible from the air. But there was nobody here.

  ‘Ben?’ I called quietly. There was no answer. I began to walk back toward the road.

  I called his name again, louder this time. There was a crack behind me, and I jumped and turned.

  ‘Ben!’ I said.

  He stepped forward. He was thinner, older looking somehow.

  ‘What’s happened? Are you okay?’ He took my wrist and turned my arm to one side. Blood was running from a cut.

  ‘You’re hurt.’

  ‘I’m okay.’

  ‘What are you doing out here? Why was it so important I come? Are you in some kind of trouble?’

  ‘I’ll explain later. For now we have to get out of here. They’re looking for me.’

  ‘I don’t understand. Who’s looking for you? Those people in the car?’

  I nodded. ‘Others too.’

  ‘Where from? This whole area is supposed to be off limits.’

  ‘There’s an underground base about twenty kilometres southwest of here. That’s where I’ve been since you saw me last.’ />
  ‘What kind of base?’

  I looked up. The low thrum of a helicopter was audible somewhere in the distance. ‘I promise I’ll explain everything. But we have to go.’

  He hesitated for a moment and then nodded. ‘Over here,’ he said, leading me down the track to where a motorbike was parked.

  Ben handed me a helmet and I pulled it on while he strapped on a backpack and pulled on his own helmet. ‘Where are we going?’ he asked.

  I handed him Meena’s device. ‘Here,’ I said.

  ‘I know that location,’ he said.

  ‘It’s the installation where the weapon you told me about is located, isn’t it?’

  He looked surprised. ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘That doesn’t matter for now. Can you get us there?’

  ‘It’s a restricted area. We could be shot.’

  ‘I know,’ I said.

  Ben glanced up. The helicopter was getting closer. ‘Okay. I can get us near it. But then you have to tell me what’s going on.’

  He flicked the ignition on the motorbike and it roared into life.

  ‘Hang on,’ he shouted, and with a jerk we bumped forward.

  Back at the road Ben nosed the bike out onto the asphalt. Through the branches the helicopter was visible to the south. It was heading toward us.

  I pointed at it and Ben nodded. Rolling back, he positioned the bike under a tree, and we waited as the helicopter passed overhead. As soon as it was gone he threw the bike into gear and we screamed out and away.

  As we cleared the edge of the trees I looked back. The helicopter was behind us, its black form swinging back away from the road, but it didn’t seem to have seen us. I kept my eyes on it as we raced on down the empty road, willing it to keep heading away. But just as I thought we were safe it swung around and started heading toward us. Touching Ben’s arm, I pointed back. Behind his visor his eyes widened. Pulling back on the accelerator he pushed the bike harder, sending us hurtling down the empty road. A few kilometres ahead the land began to rise, the dry plain giving way to low hills carpeted with trees. Despite our speed, the helicopter was still gaining on us.