CHAPTER NINETEEN
In the doomed hanger Doctor Vincent Vasiquez the head of the scientific research station waited nervously, his ornate, polished mahogany walking stick gripped tightly in his right hand. He was never usually an impatient man, forty years of painstaking investigations would do that to you, yet today he could not wait to return to the lab and certainly could have done without babysitting some high ranking Military official. Still he had to keep Earth. Force happy, as not only did they run this facility and provide personnel but they also wrote the cheques, which had funded his project for the last ten years.
He found himself checking his watch fretfully, the test was supposed to start in ten minutes and already he could feel the tension at the nap of his neck and down the back on his spine. He leaned back and heard the familiar pop as his damaged bones shifted, the pain was less these days, yet it was always there, a usually silent ghoul that sat upon his shoulders and reminded him of the day his life had changed so markedly.
The test was of such importance as it would be the culmination of twenty years of research; ten years of development and so many millions of credits, that he had lost count. It would be the first long range scanner system to penetrate deep into the gloom of uncharted space and search for life.
An interest in space had been in Vincent’s blood, perhaps even hardwired into his mitochondria. His father had been a professor of astronomy and advanced particle physics at Mars University one of the most prestigious in Earth space. He felt a stab of regret as he thought about how much the red planet had changed now, brought out by the Sci-corp, the university converted into a quasi-religious training facility. His father would turn in his grave, if he could see that hallowed place of learning as it was today.
Although his father, had always wanted him to follow in his footsteps into teaching, Vincent’s dreams were always further afield. Since the first time he peered up at the stars as a child he had been fascinated, the idea that each dot of light in the sky was like the sun and that it too could have planets orbiting it, had always intrigued him. This desire to explore that infinite expanse had taken him from Mars to the Earth. Force, science department. While most of his friends and peers had chosen Sci-corp he had never trusted the religious/scientific stance they took, he was a purest in that fact. Science must stand alone, even though he was a man of faith, he kept his beliefs separate.
Abruptly a shrieking alarm fetched him back to reality, he glanced up just as the enormous roof of the hangar began to open, gusts of glacial wind and murky snow accompanied it. He turned his head down slightly as the transport ship began to descend towards the vast landing pad its powerful engines kicking up a profuse haze of dust. Once the ship had safely touched down, he shifted back and watched as the rear door slid down, with a gush of fleeing air.
There was an immediate problem though, instead of a middle aged male Earth. Force general descending from the craft, he was shocked to find a group of twenty heavily armed men and women in black jumpsuits and bulky body armour. They fanned out from the ship, weapons readied and frigid eyes narrow. They scanned the room guardedly, they possessed that kind of confidence and arrogance that only the most elite troops have.
After a few seconds, a collective shout of “Clear!” resonated around the concaved room.
“Just what is going on?” Vincent asked angrily, he had been told to expect a general Franklin a bore of a man, who had visited the station on four previous occasion and whose sole interest had been discussing the military implications of the facilities research; well that and the cost of course. Yet on each visit he had brought no armed guards, after all this was a secure Earth. Force facility.
“There is nothing to worry about Doctor. Vasiquez,” A soft, feminine voice echoed from within the transport ship. A second later a women emerged, as soon as he saw her he knew she was an agent, it wasn’t just the non-descript black jumpsuit which her petite frame was wrapped in, it was the way she moved. She was every inch the soldier, dangerous, gifted and above all superior. Yet as he studied her more closely he saw something else, caring eyes and a warm smile. She possessed a disarming beauty, the kind of women that didn’t appear to try very hard and simply always looked perfect. Her pale skin had the almost flawless gleam of porcelain.
She didn’t appear to be carrying any armaments, yet he was all too aware that not only would she be armed, but there were also numerous ways in which she would have been trained to kill him. Agents were at the heart of the silent war that raged between, Earth Force and the Sci-corp. Although a détente had been signed long ago, both factions still fought for control of the Government of Planets and if you could believe the rumours Sci-corp was very much winning.
All this made him anxious, he didn’t believe that even the Sci-corp had the nerve to assault a heavily armed Earth. Force facility, which would be seen clearly as an act of war. Yet they were more than willing to perhaps send an operative to gain information or kidnap or murder an important scientist. He was suddenly very aware that he was neither carrying a gun, nor had any support close at hand. Panic began to ebb within him, he was back again on the transport platform the moment after the terrorist bomb had been detonated and once again the screams filled his mind.
“I apologise for the change in plans good doctor. However General Franklin was unable to come.” The Agent’s voice was soft, her every demeanour designed to put you at ease, “and Sci-corp has followed with great interest the research you have been undertaking here, it truly is cutting edge.” She strode towards him, her gaze fixed.
When he managed to reply his voice was unsteady and he felt sweat trickle down past his temple. “I am not aware that Sci-corp has any right to enter an Earth. Force facility unannounced particularly one of this nature.”
The operative made the final few steps towards him, without saying a word. She flowed with an elegance and poise, which reminded him of the ballet dancers he had seen as a child. “I believe we have got off on the wrong foot,” her voice, balanced, confident and although feminine still imposing. “My name is Clarissa Fletcher,” She extended a slender gloved hand gracefully.
He was caught off guard, there was a brief pause and then he shook it gingerly, “Doctor Vincent Vasiquez,” he managed to cough.
She leaned in closer to him and her scent filled his nostrils, exotic aromas, which excited his mind, “Yes I know your name doctor.” She leaned back and seemed to study him for a moment, “I have read your file very closely, never married, no long term relationships except one,” she paused to gauge his response. “Committed really only to your work that is. Injured in the terrorist bombings at hope station.”
In his mind, pictures retold the story. The young boy, the red balloon clutched tightly in his tiny hand, his smile as he glanced back, The feel of the warm coffee cup in Vincent’s hand as it heated up, that strange sensation in his stomach and the hair on the back of his neck standing up. Already he is aware that something is wrong. The boy again, his mother takes his hand, he peers back one final time and the grin returns, several gaps where he had lost his baby teeth. Then the blast, the flash comes first, then the superheated air and then the agony. Without thinking his hand shots to his right leg, through his trousers he feels the cold metal of the implant.
He took in a languid lungful of the frigid air, attempting to control the growing sense of uncertainty and trepidation. “The price of greatness, miss Fletcher is the loss of any sort of social life,” He attempted to reply curtly, yet his words caught in his throat and he could see by her face that she was only too aware of the effect she was having on him.
“Indeed,” She retorted and beamed again. “It is the same with anything doctor in order for some things to live others must die.”
“That was not exactly the point I was trying to convey.”
Clarissa paused, her smile shifted; from warm to sardonic, “Indeed you didn’t doctor however the statement is still true and a doctrine of faith within the Sci-corp.”
“Life is dark doctor. It is a constant struggle for survival, isn’t that what this facility is really for, to protect us from whatever may reside within the bleak reaches of uncharted space?” she edged closer to him, her body so nimble, it was as if each movement itself was perfectly choreographed. “To protect us from any little green men that may be lurking out beyond the stars, just waiting to do us harm.”
It was his turn to grin, she had a lot more humour than most of the Sci-corp killers he had met over the years. “No Miss Faulkner, we are not looking for any little green men, although they may exist somewhere out there amid the stars. This facility is designed to search the void of unknown space and to try and detect any basic signs of life. To find those worlds, which have the ability to support life even in its most basic form, those within what we term the Goldilocks zone.”
She shifted back and once again her eyes fastened on his, “Yes but that is not why Earth. Force has pumped millions of credits into this research of yours doctor. They have done that because they, like us have realised the military benefits of your technology and the threat that may be posed by whatever may reside within the dark corners of this universe, that we have not yet explored,” her mood seemed to darken and her timbre shifted. “Do you believe in the existence of intelligence other than ours within the universe?”
His thoughts were clouded, not about the question as he had been asked that many times in the past. In fact it was the query that lay at the very heart of not only his research, but his entire life. Could it be possible that in a universe of infinite size, that was by all calculations still expanding, that we were the only life forms that had managed to flourish. That other sentient beings, did not exist somewhere in the gloom of space, perhaps they were so advanced that they existed on a plane outside of the realm of reality that we were even aware of.
No what really troubled him, was why this young woman was so interested. By rights her arrival at this location, which had been classified top secret by Earth. Force Command was illegal; the Sci-corp had no authority over the military, at least not yet. She also seemed to have far too much information, about his life and this project as a whole. He felt his stomach churn as scenarios played out within his consciousness, he thrashed to control his feelings and to answer the question.
“Yes I do believe that somewhere in the vast and never ending expanse of space life must exist. How advanced a culture, or what type of life-form, is still impossible to say. Of all the Worlds we have encountered up till now, nothing more than the most basic forms of living creatures have been detected and that is very little and far between,” he paused, his father’s image, crystal clear within his mind. “The fact that we have never heard or detected anything that would announce or confirm they exist, could mean that they have yet to advance to the level of space exploration. Or of course it is always possible that they possess intelligence way beyond our own and have evolved to a plane so advanced and different from ours that we are not yet aware of them.”
Before he could continue his speech, Clarissa interrupted, “There is of course that thought that an intelligence may exists whose technology is so far in advance of our own, that they could easily avoid detection by us. Would you not agree that in fact they could be here in this very room with us and we may have absolutely no idea?”
He reflected for a moment, attempting to decipher the true meaning of her questions, “That is of course possible, cloaking and stealth technology is something that I know you at the Sci-corp have been working on for some time now, with apparently a great deal of success.” he hesitated and waited for some kind of reaction or response on Clarissa’s face, yet he couldn’t discern anything, so he continued. “Of course Earth. Force has been working on its own versions. Some colleagues of mine have argued that alien races could be able to manipulate the very fabric of space and time and exist within phases and planes that we can simply not perceive.”
“It is a troubling thought, is it not doctor, that an alien intelligence could be observing us as we speak and we would have no idea. No way of knowing, or even defending ourselves against a sudden surprise attack.”
“Yes indeed it is. However I’m sure that the sight of your guards with their big guns would certainly scare them away,” He couldn’t prevent the sly smile from creeping across his wrinkled, olive skin.
Clarissa sniggered, “Very good doctor.” She peered back at her retinue of killers, “I’m sure that my guards would seem imposing to most.” She leaned in closer and dropped her voice to little more than a whisper, “Truth be told I am so used to having them with me, that they have become like a second skin. I am almost not even aware of their presence at this point.”
Without warning Vincent’s watch began to beep, almost instantaneously assault rifles tore onto him. Cold, dead eyes observed him, as a hawk, would study a rabbit. Fear hacked at his very soul, “It’s just my watch,” he managed to murmur.
Clarissa calmly shifted her hand up and the weapons immediately lowered, yet the hunters still followed him and he was all too aware that death was present in this room.
“You must forgive them doctor,” the beam again, attempting to defuse the situation. “They are paid a great deal of credits to be cautious,” her voice at a whisper now, “And if anything was to happen to me, they would all be put to death.”
He studied her visage, seeking out any trace that what she said was untrue or intended as a joke, yet he found none. Even the grin was gone now and for a brief instance he thought he could see genuine sadness within her eyes, “Of course,” he spluttered.
Her mask returned, “I believe that is to signify that the test of your facility is about to begin?”
For a moment Vincent thought of lying, that seemed pointless now though. “Yes that is correct, today is the first major test of our systems, although the actual scanners will not be online for some time,” that last part was a falsehood, yet he hoped if buried within the truth it would fool this Agent. It was clear almost immediately that he was mistaken.
“Now good Doctor why lie to me?” Clarissa’s visage shifted and he was suddenly very uncomfortable, “We both know that the scanner is ready to go live today, that is true isn’t it?”
Although it had been poised as a question it was clear that this agent sort a specific answer. “Well yes, what I meant was that not all of the scanners will be operational.”
“Well Doctor that is ok,” She slithered towards him, her gloved hand suddenly on his shoulder, “I would be most grateful if now that we are here, you would allow us the honour of observing the test, it would be a great pleasure for me personally.” She waited and waved her free hand towards her killers, “I am afraid that my guards would be less interested, their desire to learn is far less than mine.”
He didn’t reply at first, even though she had made a request rather than a statement, it was the kind of thing someone asked from behind the barrel of a gun. Although Clarissa was asking for permission, it seemed to him less of a request and more of an order. The only thing he could do at this point was to play along for more time, “Well I don’t see any problem with that, of course when we get to the control room I am going to have to check with Earth. Force for approval.”
“Of course doctor,” she stepped back, “I understand and of course they will tell you that my visit here has been sanctioned by the supreme command and by Government of Planets, there are a lot of people very anxious to see what results your new station will collect.�
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“I am sure,” he retorted barely able to smother his own sarcasm. He knew she was lying, there was no way that the Supreme Command would grant access to this facility to a member of the Sci-corp. It was possible the Government of Planets would, as the rumours of bribery and corruption at the very heart of the regime were rife. It had always been his opinion that you could only trust a politician about as far as you could throw them and by the girth of most of them, that wasn’t very far. All of those in power he had met or seen, seemed only interested with keeping their own supremacy and stations. They seemed to care little about the very people they were supposed to represent and serve. Still his panic was already starting to lessen, as long as he could make it out of this room alive. This operative may well have twenty killers with her in here, yet she was obviously not aware of the three hundred marines that guarded this facility.
“Very good,” Clarissa answered, before she pirouetted around, “Raylan.”
A beast of a man stepped forward. To Vincent he had the look of some sort of bare knuckle boxer, a man borne for conflict and violence. He stood clear over six feet tall and his heavily muscled torso and arms seemed to stretch the very fabric of his uniform. He strode forward with the similar cocksure swagger that all special operations soldiers did, “Yes Clarissa,” he replied with a broad, genuine grin that revealed a perhaps lighter soul than he had first given credit for.
“The good doctor has kindly invited us to witness the first test of his facility,” it was instantly clear that some sort of relationship existed between then. Energy seemed to crackle in the very air like static electricity and Vincent thought at any minute he would even see charged sparks.
The First Dawn (The Sci-Corp War Saga Book 1) Page 15