“Excellent General, when this is all over I will personally see to it that you are well rewarded.”
The General smiled warmly and the two men shook hands
Xiu was horrified, for all his Leaders faults, he couldn’t believe that the man would commit such an atrocity. The Chinese were aware that there were problems in the North of Italy, but nothing could justify the planned, wholesale slaughter of millions of innocent people. He felt sick with revulsion for his part in this mission of death and also, fear for his own life. If Yetsen carried out this atrocity, it was almost certain that he would kill everyone involved in the brutality.
Yetsen was a survivor, he had clawed his way to the top of a particularly evil bunch of tyrants to get where he was today. Xiu knew full well that Yetsen never had left and never would leave any witnesses to his cruelty. His choices were stark, turn a blind eye to Genocide and in doing so, become complicit. Or, risk his own death by standing up to this Tyrant, confront him, show him the error of his ways and perhaps change his mind. In your dreams was the phrase that ran through his mind.
Finally, he decided, rather than keep quiet, his best option would be to do what he’d always done in his dealings with Yetsen, subjugate himself and plead with him. Throwing caution to the wind, Xiu leapt to his feet, accidently knocking over the seat that he’d been sat on.
“You can’t do this Sir,” he blurted out, “bring all these millions of innocent people back to life and then murder them all over again, it would be barbarism, a monumental crime against Humanity. I can’t believe that you’d want your name to be linked with such infamy. Just stop and think again Sir, if you don’t, just imagine how your name will go down in History, you will be reviled as the murderer of millions. When, at last, the World discovers what you are about to do, you’ll be hunted down and executed as a War Criminal. It’s not worth it Sir, please don’t do it.”
Both the General and Yetsen looked at each other, there was fear in the Generals eyes, but the Supreme Leader expression was one of amusement. He leaned over sideways and lifted a brief case that he’d brought with him up from the floor and stood it on his lap, he unlocked it with a key and pulled out a polished wooden box.
The silence was ominous, Xiu looked at the two men, the General avoided his eyes, Yatsen simply ignored him. He began to tremble and sweat as the enormity of what he’d said finally hit him, he attempted to speak and apologise, but his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. He was stood, rooted to the spot, making stupid gurgling noises, watching Yatsen with a dark, terrified fascination.
The Supreme Leader slid the top off the box and pulled out a Pistol, wrapped in a white cloth. He unwrapped it slowly, savouring the moment, then he turned to the General.
“This is something that I’m quite proud of Feng,” he said, holding the weapon in his hand and moving it about for the Generals benefit, “it’s a working antique for which I hold the full documented provenance. A couple of my agents acquired it for me from the ruins of the Kremlin in Moscow.”
The atmosphere in the room had become oppressive, almost stifling, Yatsen turned his attention to Xiu and smiled at him.
“This my young friend,” he said, indicating the weapon,” is a Walther PPK 7.65 Pistol. It is the actual gun that Adolf Hitler used, when he shot himself in his Fuhrerbunker in Berlin, on the 30th April 1945. To the best of my knowledge it has never been used since that day. So, thank you Xiu, for the thrill of excitement it will give me to actually fire it once more.”
Still smiling, his eyes like glass, he slowly took aim at Xiu, that was the last memory that Ouyong Xiu ever had and he took it with him to his grave.
CHAPTER 20
The train clattered on through the tunnels, some more brightly lit than the others, the Peacock, which was the accepted name for the train, carried two Dynamo spotlights at the front end, as back-up. Mary, Jake and Piper occupied the front carriage, Carlos and Jack, the next, each one of them had lost the battle with sleep, beaten by the gentle, rocking train.
So, it was a rude awakening when the train ground to a halt, with a hiss of steam and squealing brakes. Looking out of the windows it was clear that they had reached a settlement nestling under the glinting rock of a natural cave. The train had pulled up against the concrete platform of the small wooden station house, bearing the sign ‘Smelterstop 3’, a neat little village of little wooden cottages surrounding the railway track. Picturesque, almost fairylike in their random construction, scattered amongst the many Stalagmites that littered the cave floor. Jake could see a couple of shops and what looked like a school on one side of the tracks and on the other side was the factory, presumably this was the Steel Smelters.
Antonio came bustling along the platform, locked in conversation with another Italian, he gestured for them to step off the train. Both men looked nervous, their faces serious, Antonio looked towards Mary as he spoke.
“Mary, is Luigi,” he said, pushing his friend forward.
“Hello Luigi,” said Mary, expectantly.
“I speak a little English,” said the small, dark man, with gentle eyes, “we have some news on the telephone. It’s not good, a big Bomb has exploded in sea near Naples, made very big wave, everybody dead.
“Sorry, Luigi, what do you mean by everybody?” Mary shot a glance at Jake, he looked worried.
“All people Mary, Americans, Neapolitans, even American President, all gone.”
“My God,” said Jake, “what the Hell’s going on out there, how did this happen?”
“Big Bomb,” said Luigi, shrugging his shoulders, not knowing what else to say.
Antonio broke into the conversation, talking quickly to Luigi and gesturing to the tunnel that they’d just left, Luigi nodded.
“My friend Antonio wants you to know that there could be trouble in the tunnels. No water yet, but creatures may be driven this way. We must all be careful.”
It was established that this village was near Milan and Naples was 500 miles away, so nobody in their right mind really expected it to flood. Antonio said it was as far as they were going today and they should settle down for the night. They were to take Piper to the Station house, where they would eat and sleep and tomorrow they would continue their journey.
The Station House was simple, clean lodgings, it seemed a long time since any of them had bathed, so It felt like a luxury to enjoy a hot shower, followed by a meal of pasta, washed down with a glass of something that tasted a lot like Vodka. Jake decided to mount a guard through the night, just in case anything nasty came out of the tunnels. The locals had their own night watch, but the team felt that they needed to make a gesture of thanks for the Hospitality they’d received. Two four-hour watches, Carlos and Jake took the first, Mary and Jack the second.
The night passed without incident, then after much handshaking and hugging, they were underway again by 7am and boredom had set in by 7.30am, one stretch of featureless tunnel was about as interesting as the next. The only break in the monotony came, when they pulled into a siding to allow another train to pass them, going towards where they’d just come from. Once again, the train was a masterpiece of colour, a green Dragon, lovingly painted in beautiful detail.
Then, at 1pm they stopped for lunch at ‘Coalstop5’, a bigger settlement than Smelterstop, with probably twice as many houses on one side of the tracks. On the other side, were the mouths to two coal mine tunnels, with outbuildings and winding gear. They’d passed under the Alps and were now close to bombed out Geneva, another two hours and they would arrive at Cern.
Mary and Jake were becoming increasingly concerned about Piper’s health and her chances of survival. She’d neither eaten or taken any fluids for nearly two days, her breathing and pulse seemed normal, but the fact that her face was hidden from them, did nothing to allay their fears.
Cern was breathtaking, their little train left the narrow tunnel that they’d become accustomed to and had entered an enormous circular space with high vaulted ceilings. Dozens of pl
atforms filled the Station and were home to an assortment of colourful trains, tunnel mouths, formed a succession of black circles on the white tiled perimeter walls. The Railway Station was the hub of the wheel, the tunnels were the spokes, busy people thronged the platforms, trains arrived and departed continuously. Blaring Loudspeakers were constantly announcing arrivals and departures. A wide staircase led up to the next floor that had a circular walkway that wound past the busy shops, cafes and even cinemas.
Surrounding the Station, was a network of vast Caverns, blasted and hewn from the rock, filled with giant Forges, Steel smelters and waste reclamation centres on an industrial scale
Antonio drew the ‘Peacock’ to a halt at a long platform near the edge of the hub, with what seemed like perfect timing, an Ambulance was approaching, blue light flashing. Mary and Jake climbed out of their carriage, whilst Carlos and Jack came around to lift Piper, two men appeared from the Ambulance with a stretcher and took charge of her. In broken English, with heavy German accents, the stretcher bearers invited Mary to ride in the back of the Ambulance along with Piper.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next Jake,” she said, picking up her gear, “but I’d better go with her, are you three going to be alright?”
“Sure, don’t worry about us, we’ll meet you at the Hospital, there can’t be that many of them, so off you go, good luck.”
As the Ambulance reversed back down the platform, Antonio came to collect Jake and his marines and walked them towards the exit. They were becoming the centre of attention, people were stopping and staring at their uniforms and weapons, for their part, they tried to nod and smile, put people at their ease. Through an Iron gate and out onto the Concourse, a police car was waiting near a tunnel with a big red exit sign, Antonio hugged all three of them and waved goodbye as they whispered away in the BMW.
The Hadron Collider was a place of wonder, a vast circular tunnel, 16 miles in circumference, constructed from concrete and steel and the Molers European Capital. When the short war ended, many of the world’s top scientists along with hundreds of staff, were marooned beneath ground at the Cern facility. Some of the Technical staff, who were amongst the founders of the Molers Society, realised that their survival depended on a reliable source of electrical power.
So, despite the threat from Radiation and marauding gangs, they managed to seize control of the Verbois Hydroelectric power station on the Genevan Rhone. This constant supply of Electricity was instrumental to the Molers success as they spread out across Europe. The Collider was mothballed long ago, but the tunnel has now become the centre of Moler Government and home to two Universities and three Hospitals whose facilities are second to none. Most of the tunnel is now residential, the home of a vibrant and prosperous city.
As Jake and the two marines left the Station, they were taken aback by the sheer size of the place. There was a single, dedicated road, running the length of the tunnel, used by the public buses and emergency services only. The main method of transport was the humble Bicycle, a wide, custom made, cycle way was provided for easy access to the entire city.
The Police car pulled off the road and onto a Hospital forecourt, stopping at the side of an Ambulance and in front of a large glass sliding door. The Policeman got out of the car and opened the back door, indicating that the three men get out. Then, smiling and shaking each man by the hand, he pointed to the glass door.
Jake, Carlos and Jack walked into the Hospital and were met by a Nurse, who took them by Elevator up to the third floor. They walked down a busy corridor to a Nursing Station, the Nurse smiled and handed them over to a young male Doctor.
“I speak English,” he said, smiling, “my name is Dr David Lucas, your friends are in room 16, just follow me.”
Mary was sat drinking coffee at a small table in the anti-room, a wall of glass separated them from the room where Piper lay, surrounded by flickering, electronic instruments. There were drips into each of her arms and a tent of transparent plastic, hung from the ceiling and surrounded her bed. Mary smiled when she saw them.
“They’re using barrier nursing on her Jake, they’ve taken an x-ray and done some tests on the mask round her face, it’s like nothing that they’ve ever come across, so they’re not taking any chances.”
Jake turned to Dr Lucas.
“Is there nothing you can do for her Doctor, we’re in a desperate situation here, has Mary explained what’s happened?”
He looked across at Mary, questioningly, she nodded briefly.
“We’re trying to keep her comfortable Colonel, we’re re-hydrating her and feeding her directly into her stomach. She’s stable, but the mask on her face has us really concerned, like Colonel Mary was telling you, the mask has us guessing.”
“So, I get the feeling that the prognosis is not good?”
“We feel quite sure that the mask is Biological, in fact it displays a lot of the characteristics of human flesh, but it is without DNA or a blood supply. Her brain activity is good, in fact, I could almost swear that she’s dreaming, but there appear to be hair like tendrils from the mask that are entering her brain through her nose and ears, there are also what looks like parasitic worms in both of her Ear Canals. God knows what would happen to her if we tried to hack the thing off.”
“I think I speak for all of us, when I say how well you and the others have treated us,” said Mary, “we can’t praise you enough. But I get a feeling that we’ve hit a brick wall as far as Piper is concerned. We could try and get her back to the States, but after what’s happened at Naples, I wouldn’t know where to begin. Is there really nothing you can think off, nothing at all, that we could try, or have we really reached the point where we just wait for her to die?”
Dr Lucas avoided her eyes as he walked over to the glass wall and looked at Piper, he seemed to be weighing up the problem, nobody in the room spoke, the silence became heavy.
“Let me make a call,” he said, at last, “my girlfriend’s a physicist at the university, she’s doing some research on Subatomic Particles. Something she said last night, might just have a bearing on our problem.”
• • •
Dr Sylvia Long was a pretty woman in her late twenties, medium height, blond hair, piercing blue eyes with an easy, infectious laugh. When David Lucas had gone out to the telephone and called her, she had come straight round to the Hospital, his description of Piper’s symptoms had immediately aroused her curiosity. In the meantime, both Carlos and Jack had been given a room down on the ground floor of the Hospital, they were down there now, showering and changing. Jake was sat with Mary, drinking endless coffee, waiting for a decision on Piper’s chances. Finally, the two Doctors came back into the room, their body language was not good, Mary got the distinct feeling that they’d been arguing.
“Here it is then,” said Sylvia Long with a tense smile, “David’s acquainted me with the situation, I’ve examined Colonel Reed’s x-rays and we’ve discussed the problem at length. I feel that there is a chance that I could remove the Biological mask, using a technique that I’ve developed at the at the University.”
Mary and Jake looked at each other, a spark of hope in their eyes.
“How big a chance Dr Long?” Said Jake, don’t get me wrong, it’s all we’ve got and we’ll take it, but it would give Mary and I some idea of Piper’s chances.”
“Don’t stand on ceremony Jake, call me Sylvia. My professional opinion would be fifty, fifty, but having said that, it’s risky. I’m not a medical Doctor like David, I’m a physicist, I work with subatomic particles. My interest is in the so called Dark Sector, which was pointed to by the discovery of the Higgs Boson on the Hadron Collider. I concentrate on excited states of Omega-c-zero, often referred to as Physics beyond the standard model.”
“Just to give you both some background, we must go back to the war,” said David Long, looking a little irritated, “what Sylvia has not told you is that her Grandparents and mine were marooned here. In fact, many of the best brai
ns in the world decided to stay on here after the conflict. Their work and theories have been passed down through the generations, we have not only continued what they began, we have advanced and improved it.”
“Thank you, David,” said Sylvia, winking at Mary, “I couldn’t have explained that without you.”
He shot her an angry look, which she ignored.
“I’ve spent the last two years involved in Cancer research and therapies at the Newton University,” she continued, “my focus has been on Photon beams, x-rays or Gamma rays delivered by a Linear Accelerator. I’ve also studied Positively charged Particles and Positive ions. During this research, I stumbled upon a previously unknown subatomic particle that appears to destroy the Cancer cells like a Laser, destroying them layer by layer, leaving the good cells unharmed.”
“Are you saying that we could use your discovery on Piper,” asked Jake
“I can’t think of anything else that might work,” said Sylvia, “but it’s not without risk, we don’t know how the rather unique organic material covering Piper’s face will react. It may leap from one host to another, fasten itself to anyone else that’s in the room, we have no idea. Finally, we’ll have to move Piper to the University, the Particle Emitter that we use to administer the therapy is not portable.”
“I personally think that this is too risky,” said David, his face like thunder, “that’s what I’ve been trying to tell Sylvia, there is no protection or containment at the University. If anything goes wrong, the result could be fatal.”
“Look, like I’ve said before, everybody has been unbelievably kind, we’ll never be able to repay you,” said Mary, if this is in any way dangerous, show Jake and me how to do it. You two could go into another room, leave us to it.”
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