“The joy,” Raylan replied pithily, his beam never wavering. Although he appeared calm, Vincent could see the man’s finger never left the trigger of his gun and his eyes were constantly scanning the area.
“I knew this momentous occasion would be lost on you,” She turned to Raylan and smiled. It was softer this time and appeared almost authentic.
“Indeed,” The brute replied.
“Leave half of your troops here to protect the transport the other half will accompany me,” She paused and arched back to Vincent. “Would that be acceptable to you doctor?” The tone again, made it clear that this was not a question but more of an order.
Desperately he tried to think of a way to convince her to leave more of her entourage here, thus making it easier later when he would have to detain her. “Well I can assure you, that you would be perfectly safe. This is after all a secure Earth. Force facility.”
It was her guard Raylan who answered coldly, his troubling gaze fixed on Vincent and he was abruptly very afraid of this man, “Doctor you may well know, that there is no love-loss between Sci-corp and Earth. Force, I don’t have to tell you this and Clarissa will not go anywhere within this facility without an escort of my troops is that clear?” For a brief instance, Vincent thought the beast would simply step forward and quite literally tear his head from his body.
Yet before a situation could arise, Clarissa lay her hand upon her protector’s arm gently, almost fondly. Her voice lowered, “Be calm Raylan I believe the good doctor understands our position.”
“Yes indeed I’m sure a small escort, say an honour guard to signify someone of your position would be acceptable,” Vincent countered, having to think quickly.
“An honour guard indeed,” Raylan retorted curtly. Without another word he turned and signalled to the retinue, ten troops immediately broke off and marched to his side, while the remainder flew to create a perimeter around the ship.
“Well, now we have that all sorted,” Clarissa said, “Shall we go, I imagine that you are anxious to begin your test, I know that I am anxious to witness it?”
“Yes let us go,” Vincent answered as he lead Clarissa and her honour guard towards the far end of the hanger. His mind racing again not only did he have the test to worry about, but now there was the mystery of the Sci-corp interest in his project. Still he was a man that had always thrived under pressure and today would be no exception. Yes he would conduct his first successful test and also solve the Sci-corp mystery at the same time. Perhaps he would even live to see tomorrow, although as he was all too aware, God laughs at those who make plans.
As Vincent left the hangar he did not see the other hundred Sci-corp troopers descend from the bowels of the transport ship, like snakes writhing from the shades. Nor did he see the three heavily armoured battle robots. They were impressive machines and the scientist in him would have been amazed, after all they were some of the most advanced models currently in service. Each one possessed three powerful hydraulics legs, which allowed them to move quickly and above all silently over any terrain. Atop which was a small heavily armoured torso. It was from this that four arms extended each culminated in, a chain cannon, flame thrower or rocket launcher. Every machine was more that capable of with dealing with at least two hundred troops. They made their way across the hangar like a ghost, there very shadows seemed to flee from the light. They had a mission to accomplish, one that could very well decide the fate of every living human soul in the universe.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Vincent reached the stairs to the main laboratory in just under two minutes and began to climb them slowly, his slight limp, which was compensated by the mahogany walking stick only slackened him down marginally. He arched his head back slightly so that he could see his guests. Raylan came first, his weapon held prone, as his eyes scanned every inch of the deserted corridor, behind him Clarissa drifted with almost inhuman grace and seeming almost to glide up the staircase. While flanking her were the remaining members of the honour guard. He was all too aware that any one of those who followed, could kill him in seconds.
He felt that familiar feeling rise in his gut once again, as it had done fifteen years ago on the day of the terrorist blast that had shattered his whole World.
He is back on that transit station, once again, a veil of dust shrouds his vision, what he is aware of first are the screams, at the time they all seemed to sound the same, yet now so many years later, he perceives them differently. Some of the cries are from the injured, pleading for help, some of them are from those who are in shock, simply crying out against the horror and some are from those desperately searching for their loved ones. What he is aware of next is the tinny taste of blood and dirt in his mouth. It’s then the smell that hits him, burnt hair and clothes commingled with something acrid that burns his lungs. He peers down and sees his right leg is no longer there. All that is left is a mangled mess of shattered bone and flesh.
Vincent crested the top of the stairs and paused for a minute to catch his breath. There was nothing he could have done all those years ago. How are you to stop a lunatic, willing to kill himself and others for some perverse view of religion? Yet now he must be able to think of something, if only he could work out what the Sci-corp really wanted here. He was sure the Marines stationed within the facility could deal with the Agent and her killers. Still the more pertinent question was why these intruders were doing this at all.
Why would the Sci-corp risk revealing themselves like this, attacking an Earth. Force station, for years the truce had held between each side and the war itself had been conducted in secret; so why make such a brash move, why an assault on a military installation. He had to think, a piece of this puzzle was eluding him and he would find out what it was. Clarissa certainly didn’t have the numbers that would be required to take, let alone hold this terminal and even if they did, they would have to know that if the base didn’t send the correct authentication code every hour a Special Operations rescue team would be sent from Travellers Gate to investigate. So even if somehow they were able to gain control of this place, they would only be able to keep it for several hours and that was not enough time to get anything. It would take hundreds of super computers months, to crack the firewalls that protected the data stored within the servers, and if the objective was to try and take any of the equipment with them, they would soon find out it is too bulky to transport.
He felt a torrent of anger within him, he must be failing to see another angle to all this, the Sci-corp didn’t act rashly, however much the rhetoric may be laced with ancient religious doctrine, at the core they were still scientists and they never made a move without intricate planning. So the answer was simple, he was missing some vital piece of evidence. He had always hated things that he did not understand, that’s why he was probably driven to science and equally why he had always failed so dramatically in his personal life.
He tried to get his emotions under control, whatever the Sci-corp was planning it would fail he was sure of that. He set off once again towards the entrance to the control room. As he neared the door, a numbered pad appeared in the air in front of him, he typed his clearance code into it.
“Cleared,” a toneless, computerised voice emitted from speakers in the wall. “Prepare for full body scan.”
Vincent stood perfectly still as a beam emanated from the top of the wall and drifted over his entire body.
“Scan complete, welcome back Doctor Vasiquez,” the voice uttered as the door to the lab slid open silently. “The test is due to begin in nine minutes and thirty-four seconds.”
“Thank you very much April,” he replied with a smile, he had always had an affinity for the Artificial Intelligence that ran the complex. It always intrigued him, the idea of a genuine, sentient intellect, wrapped up within the circuits and wires of a machine.
“Very good Doctor, I have detected several anomalies.”
“What sort of anomalies?”
“Three within the lab complex,
cameras are currently down in three sectors, a power drain has been found in the habitation sector and one energy signal has been detected in this solar system, do you wish me to investigate further?”
Before he could answer, Clarissa was next to him her voice little more than a sigh, “I wouldn’t worry about any of that Doctor, after all, you have much more important things to think about.”
His stomach plummeted and suddenly he was all too aware of what was happening, the Sci-corp were taking this facility. He had no idea, how or why, yet that mattered little at this point.
“Doctor Vasiquez your heart rate has spiked, do you wish me to alert the medical team?”
“No,” he managed to cough, “I am fine thank you April.”
“Very good Doctor, do you wish me to investigate the anomalies further?”
Now Raylan was beside him, “You should listen to Clarissa, I wouldn’t worry about it Doctor,” his voice calm and calculating.
“No that will be fine thank you April I will deal with it.”
“Very good Doctor, good luck with your test,” April replied cheerfully.
“Thank you April,” he said, for a second unsure of what to do now, the ruse was perhaps blown and his first thought was that, Clarissa or one of her killers would simply assassinate him right here.
Yet instead of a bullet, Raylan edged past him, “Don’t you have a test to conduct good Doctor?”
Clarissa was next, “Yes, you have much to do Vincent, don’t let your mind wonder now.”
He didn’t glance at either of them, instead he just made his way inside the control room. It was usually a hive of activity, yet right now just before such a major test it was a manic scene, of controlled chaos. Men and women dressed in various military uniforms and gleaming white lab coats, hurtled between control stations and holographic displays.
“Very impressive Doctor, it reminds me of a bee hive, which would make you of course the Queen bee,” Clarissa chided as she slide next to him, her honour guard formed up behind her, their arms hung loosely from their shoulders, yet each was ready for combat, sinews stretched and fingers still hovered over the triggers.
“I don’t like this,” Raylan spat, his tension palpable.
“We’re perfectly safe aren’t we Doctor?” Clarissa enquired.
Vincent mind swam, he was all too aware that if this turned into a fire fight a lot of innocent people would be caught within the crossfire, the longer he could keep the blood shed at bay, the more time it would give him to think of a way out of this mess and perhaps keep as many of his people alive as he could. “Yes of course we are, this is a secure facility and these Marines are highly trained, they will not fire unless provoked.”
Raylan laughed, “Highly trained, yes perhaps you could say that,” his gaze shifted around the room quickly. “I count twenty-two Earth force personnel in this room who are armed, most small calibre except for those five in the corner, they have heavy assault rifles.”
“Boys and their toys,” Clarissa said as she strode into the chamber. “Am I right Doctor?” she glanced at him again, with that same smile and for a moment he forget that she was an agent and most certainly a murderer.
“The good doctor has his toys and I have mine,” Raylan countered as he signalled for his troops to spread out along the wall.
“What are you doing?” Vincent managed to ask.
“Why I am just setting up the honour guard,” Raylan turned to him his face a blank slate. “Now these men and women are very well trained and they like your marines will not fire unless provoked, or I order them to do so,” He marched closer. “Be aware though that if they start firing, they will not stop until everyone in this room is dead, it is how they are trained, even if I order then to stop they won’t,” his voice trailed off.
“Now Doctor you have a test,” Clarissa said, “Why don’t you go and get everything started we will stay here out of the way.”
“Yes of course,” Vincent uttered as he wiped sweat from his forehead, as he slinked to get past her, a gloved hand shot out and took hold of his arm gently.
“Doctor I want to be clear with you,” Clarissa whispered. “I think you know what is happening here, so I don’t have time to beat around the bush as some would say.” her grin, warm and infectious, “You will start your test and not worry about anything else, if it all goes to plan then you and all the people here will live and continue your great work.” Her expression shifted and the smile vanished. “However if you try stop us, or any of the Marines in here begin to shoot, then there is nothing that I can do to stop what will come next,” she sealed her eyes for a moment, then when she opened then the beam returned. “You don’t have to understand what is going on here, but I hope it will count for something that you are still alive and you have heard no firing or reports of casualties from the rest of this facility.”
“So just complete my test, that’s all that you want?” Vincent inquired.
“Yes run your test as scheduled and let me see the results and then we will leave here, I hope without any loss of life.”
For an instance he fixed his stare upon her eyes and noticed for the first time the various hues that commingled to almost create a perfect jade. The few Sci-corp members he had met before were zealots, dedicated entirely to the dogma that governed the scientific arm of the Government. Yet this striking woman was different, he saw something else when he looked upon her. “Ok Miss Flanders,” he replied slowly. “I will try and control the Marines in this room and run the test as scheduled, however if you make any hostile moves I cannot guarantee anything.”
“I believe that we have a deal then good doctor.” Clarissa replied, letting go of his arm, “Now you have a test to complete, we will be waiting.”
Vincent nodded in response and set off across the room, within his mind he was back on the transit platform, people were all around him, a medic was trying to stem the bleeding from what was left of his leg, yet all he could do was watch the red balloon as it floated along the ceiling, blood caked to its handle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE ECLISPE ONE, TRAVELLERS GATE
Daniel traced his gloved hand slowly over the smooth steel of the emergency pod, above it the green light flashed, rhythmically. He had no idea of what he would find inside. Could it be a member of this slaughtered crew, a witness to this butchery who could perhaps make some sense of all this. Or perhaps was it whatever person or creature had caused all this carnage. One way or the other, they would soon find out. Once again the image of his sister came to him, she stood at his side, a silent phantom and waited to bear witness to what was to unfold.
“Sir,” Millie was standing with him, through the distortion of the glass face mask he could see she was worried.
“Yeah Doc,” he replied as he took his hand away from the pod.
“Everyone’s a bit on edge,” she spoke slowly trying to shroud her emotions, “Me included.”
He allowed himself a grin, “You’re not the only one Doc, but we have a job to do here, it’s why we get paid the big credits.”
Her own smile was warm and genuine, “Well that’s certainly why I’m here.”
“I knew it, who needs that doctor money?”
He shifted to Kelly who was attempting to override the controls to the Emergency pod, “How we doing Geek?”
“Just give me a few more minutes Lone Star,” she answered, never taking her gaze from the circuit board, as her covered fingers flew over the holographic keyboard that hovered next to her.
Daniel took in a deep breath of the recycled air and glanced down at the timer on his wrist, they still had another hour of oxygen, plus the emergency tanks. He would have liked nothing better than to get out of the bulky space suit, as he didn’t like being locked away inside it. He wasn’t necessarily claustrophobic, it was just that he had always preferred being outside, maybe it was his childhood and a life spent outdoors. A picture of his parent’s bodies exploded in his mind and he felt bile ris
e in his gullet. He muffled the urge to vomit and instead tried to envision the fields he had played in with his sister, immense meadows of gleaming wheat.
“Ok team listen up,” he swung around to find the other five members of his unit staring back at him, each face illuminated and distorted in equal measure. Yet still, fear, apprehension and tension were etched on each. “We have a job to do, we’re going to open that escape pod and hopefully we can get some answers and then we can get out of here.”
“Yeah that or some kind of mummy alien burst out and eats our brains,” It was Mathieu who replied, although it was an attempt at humour his voice was unsteady.
“Or it could be someone that needs help,” Millie added, “A human being that managed by some miracle to survive all that.”
“I don’t mean to be rude Doc,” Hollis said “But I think we’re all thinking the same thing here, that there’s no way that anyone could have survived this shit. So I have to put my money on the alien.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Denzel concurred.
“Enough,” Daniel stepped forward his tone, firm now. “We’ve got a mission to complete and were going to do it, we’re going to get my sister out of here.”
There was a brief pause as the other members of the team looked at each other, before any of them could speak he realized what he had said and sought to correct himself, “I mean get whoever is inside the pod out.”
“Sir are you ok?” Millie enquired.
“I’m fine you know me,” he desperately wrestled, to cover what he had said. “Just a slip of the tongue, its being in this place too long.”
“You said your sister, lone star?” Hollis piped up.
“I know what I said,” Daniel snapped, his voice harsh and dripping with vitriol, he brought himself under control quickly. “I’m sorry snowman,” he lumbered over to the giant and laid a hand on his shoulder, “I just need a break that’s all, we have a mission to complete, so let’s just do it and then we can get off this ghost ship ok?”
The First Dawn (The Sci-Corp War Saga Book 1) Page 16