Meadowbank: A dark fantasy thriller (The Shael Chronicles Book 2)

by Jonathan Kent

  George looked disappointed. 'I was expecting more,' he said.

  'Like what?'

  'Well, firstly I was expecting some evidence of recent activity. The way we barely got that door open tells me it's been awhile since anyone was down here.'

  'Which means they haven't come down here.'

  'Exactly.'

  'What do you want to do? Got back up a level?'

  'Eventually, yes. But if this is such a restricted area, no harm in having a snoop around.'

  They tried the first three doors, but all were locked tight. George couldn't tell if it was through lack of use or something more deliberate. The fourth door had a little give in it and they used the rocking technique to unlock the seal. Once they'd forced it open, they were hit with another blast of rotting air.

  George was resigning himself to the fact that they had made a wrong decision in searching these lower levels. What he was expecting to find was another dingy room full of nothing more than centuries old rotting furniture. What he wasn't expecting to find was a control room bedecked with banks and banks of surveillance monitors. There were sixty in total, set before a long control desk and taking up an entire wall. Most of the monitors were dead, a few flickered with static but five were still streaming images live from around the compound.

  'Jesus,' said Thomas, 'Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more surprises. What is this place?'

  'Looks like a security monitoring station.'

  'Looks more like a TV studio. Or Cape Canaveral!'

  'Amounts to the same thing I suppose,' said George, 'Shame only a handful are working though. Could've been handy.'

  Thomas was pointing to a monitor near the floor. 'Is that the main shopping mall?'

  'Yeah, looks like it anyway. Three of the cameras in that area are still working. Must have been where they spent all the money!'

  'The place looks brand new. How can that be?'

  'I guess out friend Charles may have something to do with that. The people in charge must have wanted their pride and joy kept in tip top condition. Interesting as it is, there's nothing to see here.'

  'Wait a minute,' said Thomas, 'Is that Karen and Andrew?' he was still pointing at the same monitor, but instead of the previous image showing only the polished white marble architecture, this time two figures were making their way across the screen.

  'It is,' said George with slight concern in his voice, 'Must have decided to cut the tour short. Now why would they do th...'

  'Shit!' said Thomas, 'What the hell is that?' he was pointing at the same monitor. At the top of the screen Andrew and Karen were just about to disappear from view, but it was movement towards the bottom that caught his eye. On one of the upper levels, directly above the unsuspecting pair, a jet black four legged creature was preparing to pounce.

  George stared on, unbelieving. 'Our friends are in trouble,' he said, 'We've got to go!'

  5

  The higher profile technicians of the Sector 72 research facility lived the life of luxury. Unknown to most, the research they completed during the final few years of the facilities life was highly prized by the powers that be. So prized in fact, that after some major breakthroughs in ESP technology, the Shael elders deemed their work as too higher priority for the outlying regions and moved the entire department to the Sector 4 facility close to the inner city. From this point on, Sector 72 was deemed surplus to requirements and closed as a functioning centre.

  But when it was fully operational the senior scientists accommodation was a sight to behold and would put many a five star hotel to shame. Apartments were bedecked with all the latest technology and leisure facilities. Each floor of the living quarters housed its own dedicated team of 24hr serving staff catering for every need. The inhabitants had the choice of literally thousands of differing cuisines from across all the realms they created. Any and every desire was catered for - no matter how extreme. The rulers of Shael were clearly great believers that a happy worker was a productive worker.

  Each accommodation level also had a state of the art medical wing. It was in one of these pristine white walled wings off the main concourse where Kane was attempting the resurrection procedure: The Greyfaer.

  Dex had placed both Lizzy and Gillian into sleek looking medical 'pods' in preparation for the procedure. The pods looked like futuristic glass cocoons with sharp blue scanning lights moving up and down their bodies. On the women's heads were delicate glass crowns that danced with the same blue lights.

  Dex and Elida stood to the side waiting, as Kane used the inbuilt pod computers to scan the still unconscious bodies. But the longer the scan took, the more agitated he was becoming. It didn't help that the pod computer had the most patronising female voice Elida had ever heard.

  'SUBJECT ALPHA, GILLIAN OF SECTOR 19 IS READY FOR PROCEDURE,' the voice said in a "I really can't be bothered with this shit" tone.

  'And the second subject?' asked Kane, 'Is she ready too?'

  'NEGATIVE. SCAN INCOMPLETE.'

  'How can that be?' he said, 'You started the scan at the same time, hours ago. Is there a problem with subject Beta?'

  'INCONCLUSIVE,' came the voice. But she could quite easily have been saying go fuck yourself.

  'What does that even mean? Is there a problem or not?' he turned to Dex and Elida for help, but they just stood, looking nonplussed.

  'RE-SCANNING SUBJECT. PLEASE WAIT.'

  Kane slammed his fists down on the pod which shook from the impact. 'Computer!' he bellowed, 'Give me an answer. What is the delay?'

  The blue light scanned Lizzy's body twice more, then stilled. Seconds later the lights on the crown died as well. There was a faint click and the pissed off voice returned. 'SUBJECT BETA IS UNSUITABLE FOR GREYFAER PROCEDURE.'

  Kane stared wide eyed at the figure in the pod. 'What are you talking about?' he said, 'Why is subject Beta unsuitable, please scan again.'

  'I HAVE ALREADY PERFORMED TWENTY FIVE SCANS OF SUBJECT BETA. ANY FURTHER SCANS WOULD BE UNNECESSARY.'

  'But why!' he screamed, 'Why is the subject unsuitable. There were no issues with the other one!'

  'THAT IS CORRECT. SUBJECT ALPHA IS SUITABLE FOR THE PROCEDURE.'

  'And what's the difference with this one?'

  'SUBJECT BETA IS IN AN EARLY GESTATE STATE.'

  'An early...what? Are you saying she's pregnant?'

  'THAT IS CORRECT. NINE WEEKS AND FOUR DAYS TO BE EXACT. EARLY INDICATIONS SUGGEST A FEMALE OFFSPRING.'

  'I don't give a fuck what sex it is! Why is this a problem?'

  'THE GREYFAER TRANSFERENCE PROCEDURE INVOLVES DRAWING A SUBJECTS ESSENCE FROM A SHAEL HOST AND CONJOINING IT WITH TWO SEPARATE SECONDARY SUBJECTS. SUBJECT BETA IS UNSUITABLE AS MOTHER AND CHILDS SOULS ARE INTERLINKED. ANY ATTEMPT TO PERFORM THE PROCEDURE WILL FAIL WITH THE POTENTIAL LOSS OF 95% OF THE TRANSFERRING ESSENCE.'

  'Can you not just transfer into this one host? It contains two subjects.'

  'NEGATIVE. THE SUBJECTS NEED TO BE TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES.'

  'Can we not just destroy the child and separate the link?'

  'THAT IS AN OPTION, BUT THE SEPARATION PROCESS CAN TAKE SOME TIME.'

  'How long?'

  'TO SUCCESSFULLY SEPARATE THE SUBJECTS WOULD TAKE APPROXIMATELY 12 HOURS AND 42 MINUTES.'

  'FUCK!' he screamed, 'We don't have 12 hours!' he turned now to Elida, eyes wide with ugly red blotches high on his cheeks. 'You knew this,' he hissed, 'You knew she was pregnant all along. You never wanted this to succeed.'

  'What are you talking about?' she said, 'How could I know this? I didn't even know who she was?'

  'You lie!' he screamed, 'All you've ever cared about is getting your fix. Well, let me tell you missy, you will never get another fix. You've fucked this up and you knew all along.'

  'I promise, I...'

  'SILENCE!' he bellowed and struck her across the face, hard. She immediately tasted blood in her mouth and her legs went wobbly beneath her. Inexplicably though, she didn't go down. She felt i
ncredibly strong arms from Dex keeping her upright as Kane struck her again. This wasn't a slap, this was a fist that made solid contact with her nose. She felt a scream of pain and warm, wet blood streaming down her face.

  'You bitch!' he hissed, 'You had no intention in helping us. You are a pathetic junkie who deserves to die a pathetic death.' The next punch landed on her stomach, immediately knocking the wind from her lungs. She crippled over in pain as big black spots danced before her eyes, but still Dex didn't let her fall. He just stood silently propping her up like a human punch bag.

  Kane moved in close, his face almost touching hers. 'I should never have trusted you,' he hissed, spittle spraying her face, 'You have ruined everything.' The next punch landed hard on the side of her face and this time Dex let her fall. She crumpled awkwardly to the floor, her wrist snapping back painfully against the Shimbala she still wore. Consciousness was phasing in and out and she needed all her strength to keep herself alert and ready for the next assault.

  But it didn't come.

  She sensed, rather than saw Kane move away and a computer voice speaking. It seemed to come from all around, but wasn't the female one from the pods, this was a male voice with a soft American accent.

  'SIR. I APOLOGISE FOR THE INTERRUPTION,' said Charles, his voice ringing out clear through the hi-tech medical facility speakers.

  'What is it Charles?' said Kane, 'We are kind of in the middle of something here.'

  'I UNDERSTAND THAT SIR. BUT I MAY HAVE A SOLUTION TO YOUR CURRENT SITUATION.'

  Kane turned to look directly at the crumpled Elida on the floor. 'How so?'

  'IT INVOLVES OUR OTHER GUESTS.'

  'I told you to keep them distracted and away from here. Don't tell me you couldn't even manage that!' the fury, slightly lessened by the distraction, was bubbling up again.

  'NO SIR. ALTHOUGH IT WOULD SEEM THAT HALF OF THEIR COMPANY HAS ELUDED MY SENSORS AND THE OTHER TWO HAVE CHOSEN TO END THE TOUR EARLY.'

  'What are you telling me here Charles? Are you telling me you've lost them?'

  'NO SIR. ONLY TWO ARE CURRENTLY OUT OF SENSOR REACH. BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT I AM MAKING.'

  'Then what is the fucking point!' he yelled.

  'SIR. THE POINT BEING THAT ONE OF THEIR PARTY IS FEMALE.'

  Kane stopped in his tracks and stared at one of the overhead speakers. 'Say that again.'

  'ONE OF OUR VISITORS IS A SECTOR 19 FEMALE. IF SUBJECT BETA IS UNSUITABLE FOR THE PROCEDURE. THEN THIS NEW SUBJECT MIGHT BE AN ADEQUATE REPLACEMENT.'

  A dawning look of understanding stole over Kane's face. 'Is she pregnant?' he said.

  'INITIAL DNA READINGS FROM THE RECEPTION AREA WOULD SUGGEST NOT. BUT I CAN SCAN AGAIN IF YOU WOULD LIKE.'

  'No, that won't be necessary. We will scan from here.' His mind was racing, trying to formulate a plan and make sense of the second chance they had now been handed. He looked at Dex who was still stood like a sentry with Elida at his feet. 'I need you to bring this new subject in.'

  'Very well,' said Dex.

  'But we need to be quick. If one group has got free, then the second group will be hot on their tail. They are also armed.'

  'I've dealt with worse,' he said, 'I will collect the female and eliminate the male.'

  'Good. May I suggest you make a change. Something fast...and powerful.'

  'I know just the thing.'

  Dex turned and exited the medical bay. Kane got a brief glimpse of jet black fur as he left. He knelt down beside the dazed, but conscious Elida. 'You are one very lucky girl,' he said and landed another hard blow to the side of her face. This time she lost the fight and passed out.

  'Computer,' Kane said, 'Ready the pod for the new subject.'

  'SUBJECT BETA IS STILL CONNECTED TO THE GREYFAER HEAD BRACE. THE DISCONNECTION PROCEDURE WILL TAKE APPROXIMATELY 58 MINUTES TO COMPLETE.'

  'I don't care about any disconnection procedure. Get her out of there now and ready the pod.'

  'SUDDEN REMOVAL OF THE EQUIPMENT WILL RESULT IN SEVERE AND IRREPARABLE BRAIN DAMAGE TO THE SUBJECT. IMMEDIATE EJECTION WILL RESULT IN ALMOST CERTAIN DEATH FOR BOTH THE SUBJECT AND UNBORN CHILD. IT IS AGAINST MY MEDICAL PROTOCOL TO COMMIT SUCH AN ACT.'

  'I don't care about any fucking protocol. Override code 4.2.9.8.Alpha.Foxtrot. Immediate pod ejection.'

  'YES SIR,' said the voice, all of its former personality replaced by formality, 'EJECTING POD NOW.'

  There was a loud hiss and the cover opened on Lizzy's pod. The glass crown she wore lifted from her head and two small trickles of blood ran from her ears as the connecting tubes retracted. A gurney hovered into view from a side room and two robotic arms from the pod gently lifted the unconscious body onto it. The now laden gurney disappeared back to where it came, as the medical pod snapped shut and immediately filled with sterilising steam.

  'EJECTION COMPLETE,' came the voice 'MEDICAL POD BETA IS NOW READY FOR USE.'

  'Excellent,' said Kane, looking at the unconscious Elida, 'Maybe you won't be dying today after all.'

  6

  Charles didn't make it easy, which made Andrew all the more desperate to get away. The tunnel section between the Southern and Main concourse was well lit and he felt that Charles was teaching them a lesson as he really floored the carriage for an incredibly nerve-racking ten minute ride from hell. If the previous inhabitants could endure such speeds, then Andrew thought they must have had balls of steel.

  The speed eased off as they approached the second concourse and he felt Karen's hand slip into his. He gave it a squeeze, and without turning said. 'No hesitation. As soon as I move, you move.' She squeezed his hand back to acknowledge: message received.

  As before, the carriage slowed to walking pace as the tunnel gave way to a passenger platform. Andrew didn't know whether this was built into the things programming as a safety precaution or whether Charles was showing off his pride and joy. Either way it didn't matter. The second they neared the platform he was off, out of his seat and away from the carriageway. He could sense rather than see that Karen was right behind him.

  Charles' voice rose incredulously from the carts speakers. 'THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE TOUR,' he said, 'YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO ALIGHT THE TRANSPORT HERE. PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR SEATS.'

  Andrew skidded to a halt and pulled the Luger from Karen's belt. Before she could react, he fired two shots into the carriages control panel. The sound was deafening in the silence of the concourse. 'Boring conversation anyway,' he said and nonchalantly blew the end of the muzzle like a prized gunfighter.

  'Better?' asked Karen.

  'Much. I've always wanted to say that!'

  'I would never have guessed. Now where?'

  'No idea. But at least we are shot of that annoying shit.'

  On cue, Charles' voice boomed through the concourse like a supermarket announcement. 'YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THE WILFUL DESTRUCTION OF MUSEUM PROPERTY AND YOU ARE POLITELY ASKED TO IMMEDIATELY LEAVE THE PREMISES. VANDALISM AND VIOLENCE OF ANY KIND IS NOT PERMITTED IN THE SECTOR 72 RESEARCH FACILITY.'

  'You know what pal,' said Andrew, 'Unless you want to see exactly how violent a Sector 19 psycho can be, I suggest you shut your pie-hole. Better still, why don't you take whatever appendages you have and go fuck yourself!' he loosed another shot from the Luger into the air, listening between the echo's for a response. Thankfully it would seem Charles chose silence as the preferred option, probably to avoid anymore damage to his precious architecture.

  Karen gently plucked the Luger from his grip. 'I think you've had quite enough fun for one day.’

  'I think maybe you're right. Hopefully we won't be hearing much more from old Charlie-cock.'

  'I wouldn't count on it. Look, he's got eyes on us.' She pointed to an area just below a first floor walkway and sure enough, there was a CCTV camera pointing towards them.

  'Do you think that even works?' asked Andrew.

  'You bet your ass it does. Now come on, it makes no difference whether they can see us if they can't do anything to stop
us.'

  They headed away from the tracks towards the open area in the concourse centre. There was indeed some spectacular architecture and statues carved from the white marble. Most of it seemed to be based around a similar gargoyle design; kind of a dragon mixed with an eagle. There were various statues of the thing in differing poses; some with its wings outstretched, some with it curled sleeping and a number of it attacking a selection of different animals.

  The ground floor walkway was fed by a grand marble staircase and in the very centre was a huge ornate fountain that inexplicably was still working; shooting spouts of water high into the air following some ancient pre-programmed routine.

  'If I didn't know any better,' said Karen, 'I could be in a shopping mall. Something like Cribbs Causeway or The Trafford Centre. Not many shops though.'

  Andrew looked up to the glass ceiling some five levels above. He'd been on a package holiday to Florida three years previous with Lizzy and he felt this place was even grander than some of the malls they visited there. The one main difference was the lack of merchandising of any kind. There were obviously restaurants and shops somewhere, but this current area just seemed to be a giant indoor meeting spot.

  'Maybe they had no need for shops,' he said, 'A place this grand would probably provide their workers with everything they need.'

  'It must have been a perfect urban utopia!'

  'If I even knew what that meant, I'd agree with you. Where do you think we need to start looking.'

  She turned and looked towards the upper levels. 'Maybe up there would give us a better vantage point.'

  'Yeah maybe, perhaps we need to...Karen! Whats wrong?'

  She was still looking behind him at a higher level, but the look of wonder on her face had been replaced by wide eyed horror. The colour had run from her face and she stood in shocked silence.