The Buried Ark

by James Bradley

  ‘We have to go faster!’ I screamed over the roar of the engine.

  Ben didn’t reply, just pulled back on the accelerator again. The engine screamed. Behind us the helicopter was so close I could see the pilot through the glass of the canopy. Ahead of us a low stand of trees stood by the road; with a roar of the engine Ben angled past them and around, toward the heavier growth ahead. Just as we reached it and disappeared under the canopy the helicopter passed overhead, its downdraft striking us. Ben looked up, his eyes following it as it shot past, the sun glinting off its black exterior.

  ‘What now?’ I shouted.

  Ben was scanning the sides of the road, perhaps looking for somewhere to hide. Ahead the helicopter was swinging back and forth above the trees, the branches thrashing in the wind. Ben skidded to a halt and looked back the way we had come. I nodded, and he swung the bike around. But as we emerged from the trees the helicopter rose and came back toward us. I knew that now they had seen us others would be on their way. The engine growled and revved as Ben stopped again, then, swinging back, shot back into the trees.

  Once again the helicopter passed overhead. Although the canopy helped conceal us, there were enough gaps for them to keep us in view without too much difficulty. But as the road wound its way up into the hills the trees grew thicker and the helicopter had to angle back and forth to keep track of us.

  After ten or fifteen kilometres the land began to fall again, the road winding down, and as it did so the trees grew less thickly, so that once or twice we caught glimpses of the road ahead. At first I saw little more than a glimpse of a wide valley and beyond it more hills, but then I saw a black four-wheel drive heading up toward us. I touched Ben’s arm and he nodded. The helicopter was a little way behind us, swooping back and forth.

  Ben slowed, then, angling the bike sideways, bounced down off the road into the bush, the bike bumping and jarring as we headed down the hillside. I glimpsed the shape of the four-wheel drive on the road above us, but it didn’t stop, and as soon as it was gone Ben turned the bike and roared back up the slope toward the road. Back on the asphalt we screamed down the hill and into the valley. Looking back I could see the helicopter a kilometre or two behind us, swinging back and forth across the treetops, but it couldn’t have seen us, because when we reached the far side of the valley and ascended into the trees again, it was still there, and the road behind us was clear.

  We headed east for another couple of hours. I kept watch for signs of pursuit, but we seemed to have lost them, at least for now. Finally we reached the ruins of a petrol station; pulling in, Ben stopped the bike and we climbed off. He removed his helmet and unclipped a bottle of water from the bike.

  ‘Who were those people?’ he asked as he handed it to me. ‘Why were they after you?’

  I took a long mouthful and handed the bottle back to him.

  ‘They’re security. From the place they took me after we left the Zone.’

  ‘And where was that?’

  I explained what I had learned about the Ark and Firestorm. When I was finished, Ben shook his head.

  ‘That can’t be right,’ he said. ‘It must be some kind of mistake.’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘No mistake.’

  Ben glanced around. ‘I know the weapon you’re talking about. It’s not what you think. It’s a missile array of some sort. And anyway, what you’re describing: it’s insane.’

  I handed him the drive. ‘See for yourself.’

  He looked at it for a moment. ‘What’s this?’

  ‘The specs for the installation and Firestorm.’

  He hesitated. Then he took his screen out of his pocket and tapped the drive against it.

  ‘Where did you get this?’ he asked as the data appeared on his screen.

  ‘We stole it from the head of the project, Dr Omelas.’

  He looked up at me. ‘The biologist?’

  I nodded.

  Ben looked uneasy. ‘I thought he was dead.’ He began flicking through the information on the screen. After a few seconds he fell still.

  ‘This can’t be real,’ he said, although he sounded less certain. ‘Perhaps it was some kind of contingency they explored.’

  ‘It’s not a contingency. It’s a plan. And it’s underway.’

  Ben looked up. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The countdown. It’s started. We’ve got twenty-four hours to stop it.’

  ‘But how do we do that?’

  I shook my head. ‘Dr Omelas’ daughter says the system is networked to ensure even dispersal. She thinks that if we can take out one of the installations it might trigger a failsafe and delay the release, buy us some time to get word out.’

  ‘Thinks? What happens if she’s wrong?’

  I didn’t reply. Ben leaned back against the bike. He looked like he was going to be sick.

  ‘The installation. Have you been there? Can you think of some way we could take it offline or damage it?’

  He shook his head. ‘Our base provided a security detail for a while but I wasn’t part of it.’

  ‘Could some of your unit help? Give us information?’

  ‘Not if they’ve been assigned to guard it.’

  ‘Even if we showed them this?’

  Ben looked at his screen. ‘Perhaps. But if they didn’t believe me I’d probably be arrested.’

  ‘You haven’t got friends? People you can trust?’

  Ben shrugged. ‘Sure. But not enough.’

  I fell silent. It hadn’t occurred to me Ben wouldn’t know what to do.

  ‘There must be somebody!’

  He shook his head. ‘I can try, but there’s so little time, and this is . . . I don’t know.’

  I stared at him. ‘What about Quarantine?’

  Ben looked at me. ‘What?’

  ‘Quarantine. They’re stationed near here.’

  ‘What if they’re part of it?’

  ‘I don’t think they are. Besides, there’s one officer I might be able to get through to.’

  ‘Who?’ Ben asked. Then he stared at me. ‘The one who caught you? You can’t be serious.’

  In my head the plan had sounded like a long shot, but now I had spoken it out loud I was aware of how desperate it sounded. Could I trust Kostova? Was my assumption she wanted to do the right thing naïve? I wasn’t sure, but still, I nodded and said as firmly as I could, ‘She was tough but she wasn’t stupid. I think if we speak to her she’ll help us.’

  Ben pursed his lips, thinking. I could see he was uneasy about what I was suggesting.

  ‘What if you’re wrong? What if she just locks you up?’

  ‘Then it’s up to you,’ I said.

  For several seconds he didn’t reply.

  Finally he nodded. ‘So how do we do this?’

  ‘You give me your phone. I’ll call her.’

  Ben lifted his phone and placed it in my hand. As he did he smiled. ‘I was worried I’d never see you again,’ he said.

  ‘You don’t think it might have been better if you didn’t?’

  ‘Never,’ he said, and smiled.

  I smiled back, a wave of tenderness rising up within me. Taking the phone I gripped his hand and squeezed it.

  ‘Thank you,’ I said.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For coming to get me. For trusting me.’

  He smiled. ‘Always.’

  25

  My hands shook as I searched for Kostova’s number and selected it. A few moments passed, then Kostova’s face appeared on the screen. She was somewhere inside, in uniform, and looked distracted. Then she recognised me.

  ‘Callie?’ she said, failing to disguise her surprise. ‘Where have you been? Intel said you crossed the Wall.’

  ‘That doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘I need you to meet me. I need your help.’r />
  ‘My help?’ She laughed. ‘I think the time for that’s passed, don’t you?’

  ‘Please,’ I said. ‘It’s important. I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t.’

  ‘You had your opportunity, Callie. You don’t get second chances.’

  I swallowed. This wasn’t going to work. ‘I’m not asking for a second chance. You can do whatever you like with me after we meet. But I have to speak to you.’

  Kostova paused. I could see her thinking. ‘If this is some kind of trick . . .’ she began.

  ‘It’s not,’ I said.

  She gave a small nod. ‘Where do you want to meet?’

  I glanced up at Ben. ‘I’m going to send you some coordinates. They’re about three hours drive from your base.’

  As I spoke I punched the coordinates into the phone. Kostova’s gaze dropped as she read them.

  ‘That’s in the Transitional,’ she said. ‘I’ll have to arrest you. And if you’re infected you’ll be processed.’

  ‘I’m not infected.’

  She regarded me carefully. ‘You’re there now?’

  ‘I will be.’

  She stared at me. I saw her come to some kind of decision.

  ‘Okay,’ she said.

  ‘Are you sure we can trust her?’ Ben asked as I ended the call.

  ‘I don’t know. But I don’t think we have any choice.’

  26

  The coordinates I had given Kostova were in what had once been a small town. It had been Ben’s choice, selected because it was close to the installation, but as we reached the place I realised I recognised it.

  ‘I’ve been here before,’ I said as Ben killed the engine.

  ‘When?’

  ‘With Matt and Gracie.’

  I looked around. Up ahead the road wound past the general store we had slept in and a half-ruined line of houses, their fronts almost smothered in lantana and the encroaching bush. In the early afternoon heat it was familiar yet strange, the absence of people almost palpable.

  ‘We should hide the bike,’ Ben said. ‘Perhaps rest a bit until she gets here.’

  We parked the bike behind an old shed some distance back from the road. To one side somebody had built a sort of verandah with a sheet of tin and a stake. I went and sat under it out of the sun.

  ‘You look like you need some sleep,’ Ben said.

  ‘I’m fine,’ I said, and despite the fact I had hardly slept in two days, in that moment I was, but the next thing I knew Ben was shaking me awake.

  I sat up, disoriented. The sun had moved across the sky, and the shadow of the tin overhead was longer, the heat less intense.

  ‘You okay?’ Ben asked.

  I nodded, rubbing my face. I had been dreaming, unsettling dreams I couldn’t remember.

  ‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I didn’t mean to fall asleep.’ My voice trailed off.

  ‘What’s that?’ I asked, indicating the pistol strapped to Ben’s belt.

  ‘I thought it might come in handy.’

  Although I knew Kostova would be armed, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of taking a gun into our meeting with her.

  ‘You can’t shoot her.’

  He grinned. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t. But we can’t risk walking into a trap unarmed.’

  ‘I don’t want anybody to die today,’ I said.

  Ben nodded. ‘Neither do I.’

  In order to avoid the road we circled around through the forest toward the town. It was strange being back among the trees, and as we walked I felt the Change shiver through me, the echo of other voices hovering just out of reach. Part of me knew it had never really gone away, but now I was back here it was stronger than before. For one horrible moment I felt its attention pass over me; closing my eyes I willed it away, and it seemed to move on. But when I opened my eyes again I could not shake the suspicion that although we were seventy kilometres from the Zone, the forest was aware of us. I remembered Matt telling me the Change was already everywhere, my refusal to believe him, but now I couldn’t help but wonder whether he had been right all along, whether the Change really was already in everything.

  On the outskirts we came upon a field in which the Change had taken root, the swollen forms of puffballs and other organisms swaying and writhing gently in the stillness of the afternoon heat. As we picked our way passed them Ben stared around, his expression wary, distant, perhaps remembering his time in the Zone.

  The town was really little more than a main road with a couple of cross-streets, but as we walked toward the main street Ben pulled me into the shelter of one of the buildings. I was about to ask him what he was doing, but then I saw it as well: a black Quarantine van parked outside the store in which Matt and Gracie and I had sheltered all those months before. Ben gestured behind himself. I nodded, and followed him, slipping down the driveway beside the building into a wide yard choked with grass and creepers.

  I pointed across the yard and we began to move along the backs of the buildings, clambering over gates and broken fences until we reached the yard behind the store. Unlike the other yards this space was mostly clear, the vegetation held at bay by a wide concrete slab that ran from fence to fence. I looked up the driveway at the Quarantine vehicle. Although it was difficult to tell through the dark glass of the windows, there didn’t seem to be anybody in it, nor was anybody visible nearby. As quietly as I could I stepped out into the yard, intending to take a closer look, but as I did I heard a metallic click and a voice I recognised immediately.

  ‘Don’t move,’ she said.

  I froze.

  ‘You too,’ she said.

  Ben fell still behind me. I turned my head. Kostova was standing beside a rusted dumpster at the rear of the yard.

  She smiled. ‘You didn’t really think you were going to be able to sneak up on me, did you?’

  When I didn’t reply she took a step closer. ‘I want you to put your weapon on the ground,’ she said to Ben.

  I glanced around. Ben carefully set his gun down.

  ‘That’s better,’ Kostova said. She shook her head. ‘I must say I hadn’t expected to see you again, Callie.’

  ‘It wasn’t high on my list of priorities either,’ I said. To my surprise a faint smile appeared on Kostova’s face.

  ‘You know I have to arrest you? I don’t have any choice in the matter.’

  I hesitated. ‘If you have to then you have to. But first I want you to listen to me.’

  ‘About what?’

  I swallowed. This was going to be more difficult than I had imagined.

  ‘Can you put the gun down first?’

  This time Kostova did smile. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said. Next to me Ben took a step forward. With deadly speed Kostova shifted position and brought the gun to bear on him.

  ‘Easy.’

  Ben lifted his hands. ‘We’re not the enemy. Listen to us and you’ll understand.’

  Kostova nodded. ‘Okay. Talk.’

  I glanced at Ben. ‘Have you heard of a project called the Ark?’

  Kostova narrowed her eyes. ‘Perhaps.’

  ‘And what do you know about it?’

  ‘Why don’t you tell me what you know instead.’

  ‘It’s being run by a biologist called Dr Omelas, in a base a couple of hundred kilometres west of here. They’ve built an entire community underground, with water, food, power.’

  ‘How do you know this?’

  ‘I’ve been there.’

  For the first time I saw a flicker of surprise on Kostova’s face.

  ‘Both of you?’

  I shook my head. ‘Just me.’

  ‘And how did you end up there?’

  ‘That’s not important just now. What matters is what they have there.’

  ‘And what’s that?’

  ‘
Seeds, genetic material, soil cultures. Everything you’d need to recreate a functioning ecology.’

  ‘In case we can eradicate the Change? We’ll need that stuff.’

  I paused. ‘That’s just it. They don’t just want to eradicate the Change, they plan to eradicate everything, to burn the world back to lifelessness and begin again.’

  Kostova didn’t reply. Instead she stood staring at me for several seconds. Then she laughed.

  ‘You can’t be serious. You brought me all the way out here to tell me that?’

  ‘I didn’t believe it either,’ Ben said. ‘But it’s true.’

  Kostova looked at him and snorted. ‘And how would they – what did you say – “burn the world back to lifelessness”?’

  ‘A thing called Firestorm.’

  ‘Firestorm?’

  ‘It’s a doomsday weapon somebody created before the Change arrived. It causes a chain reaction, igniting organic matter. They think that if they release it they can wipe all life off the face of the planet and begin again.’

  For the first time I saw Kostova hesitate.

  ‘You say this is Omelas’ plan?’

  ‘He told me it was an opportunity,’ I said, my voice suddenly tight with anger. ‘A chance to build a better world.’

  Kostova stared at me. I could see she was uncertain. ‘Even if this were true, why come to me? What do you think I can do about it?’

  ‘The weapon, it’s in a facility near here. They’re planning to release it twenty hours from now. We need somebody who can help us stop it. Somebody we can trust.’

  Kostova laughed again, but less certainly this time. ‘This is ridiculous.’

  ‘Please,’ I said. ‘We have proof. Take a look.’ Reaching down I withdrew the drive from my pocket and handed it to Kostova. Without lowering her gun she engaged her goggles, her eyes moving quickly as she scrolled through the information in her overlays. After a few moments I heard her breathe out.

  ‘Is this real?’