Extinction Game

by Gary Gibson

  I found him right where I had left him. His head was slumped to one side, his jaw slack, his eyes closed as if in death.

  I felt the bottom fall out of my stomach, thinking I had lost another friend. But then his eyes opened, and he squinted up at me.

  ‘I guess she found you,’ he said. ‘You catch Casey?’

  I knelt down beside him and helped him to stand. ‘We caught him,’ I said.

  ‘And Rozalia?’ he asked haltingly. ‘I heard shooting.’

  I shook my head and said nothing. Yuichi just nodded, looking suddenly old.

  ‘Come on, you goddam hippie,’ I muttered, doing my best to take his weight. ‘Time to get the hell out of here.’

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Yuichi gazed down at Rozalia’s body with a look of infinite sadness when I manoeuvred him down the steps of the basement some minutes later. The stage was powered up and ready to take us home. All I had to do was punch in a last command.

  ‘We’ll come back and get her, I promise,’ I said, just before the basement faded from view.

  ‘Yeah,’ Yuichi muttered, looking lost. ‘No one gets left behind, right?’

  I felt the familiar seesaw during the moment of transition, and then we were back inside the shipwrecked trawler. My heart swelled inside my chest when I saw Chloe standing framed in the moonlight, just beyond the rent in the hull. She came forwards and I held her tightly, feeling tears run down my cheeks. I had never been so glad to see someone alive.

  Finally I let go of her, and she helped me guide Yuichi back outside, to where Randall, Winifred and Selwyn were waiting for us. Kip Mayer sat on a rock nearby, looking dishevelled and forlorn, his suit streaked with dirt. As we emerged from the hull he stared at us as if we were ghosts.

  Selwyn grabbed hold of me by both arms. ‘Casey?’

  ‘Dead,’ I replied. I looked over at Mayer. ‘The Authority’s safe. We stopped him just in time.’

  ‘We were going to go through and look for you, but we couldn’t make the connection,’ said Selwyn. ‘We were afraid something terrible had happened.’

  I glanced at Mayer, and suddenly decided I didn’t want him to know about the second secret transfer stage. ‘There was a glitch, that’s all,’ I told Selwyn, extemporizing quickly.

  Selwyn peered into my eyes, looking for something. ‘And Rozalia? Oskar?’

  I met his gaze as steadily as I could. ‘They didn’t make it.’

  Selwyn took a step back and nodded grimly. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

  I walked over to Mayer, who sat staring off into space. I saw he had my predecessor’s last testament gripped in one hand, as if he’d just been reading it.

  ‘You people shouldn’t have lied to us about retirement,’ I said, nodding at the crumpled pages. ‘None of this would have happened otherwise. As far as I’m concerned, that makes you people nearly as much to blame as Casey.’

  He gazed at me hopelessly, then looked away again. The moonlight revealed bruises on his face, and I wondered if he’d received them during his brief incarceration at the hands of the Patriots.

  ‘There isn’t time for this, Jerry,’ said Winifred, coming towards me. ‘We need to get going.’

  I turned to look at her. ‘Where to?’

  ‘The Authority,’ she replied. ‘Remember what Howes said back at the Mauna Loa? We have to take the evidence back through to the Authority ourselves, along with Kip.’

  I nodded as it came back to me. ‘What happened at the base?’ I asked her. ‘It all went okay?’

  She nodded. ‘Pretty much the way Howes said it would. They took him prisoner, and that gave us the opportunity to get Kip out while their backs were turned. We can’t hang around. They might have seen our headlights.’

  Selwyn stepped towards Mayer. ‘Mr Mayer? If you’d care to program the stage with the appropriate coordinates, we’d be delighted.’

  Mayer nodded. ‘You’ll need to leave your weapons,’ he said.

  We all looked at each other. ‘If you go through armed,’ said Mayer, ‘the people on the other side will shoot first, trust me. Just leave them somewhere out of sight here.’

  We did as he said, not without some trepidation, then waited as he programmed the stage for the Authority. He and Yuichi were the first to climb onto the tiny stage, followed some minutes later by Winifred and Randall, then Selwyn on his own and, lastly, myself and Chloe, gripping each other’s hands as the light swarmed around us.

  Men in dark suits were waiting for us when we arrived at our destination, all of them conspicuously armed. I felt a brief moment of terror, thinking perhaps we had misjudged Mayer and inadvertently walked straight into a trap. But when I saw the other surviving Pathfinders standing unguarded nearby I decided we were safe.

  Two of the men – agents? Soldiers? I had no idea – guided us out from the circle of field-pillars, then led us towards the other Pathfinders. I saw Mayer standing in a far corner of the room, tapping at the notes in his hand and speaking animatedly to another man.

  ‘Do you think they all share the same tailor to keep the bills down?’ muttered Selwyn, leaning in close to me as he regarded the armed men all around us.

  I looked about, seeing that the stage occupied one end of a long, high-ceilinged room with peeling wallpaper. It looked like a ballroom that had seen far better days. Rows of ancient-looking computers sat on desks pushed up against one wall, their screens shrouded with plastic dust covers. I heard the muffled honk of traffic from beyond heavily curtained windows, and shivered. It was freezing cold.

  Tall doors opened and yet more men in the same dark suits entered. One of them stepped towards Mayer.

  ‘I need a situation report,’ he said, before glancing towards us and frowning. ‘What are they doing here? Are they cleared?’

  Mayer shook his head. ‘No, but there wasn’t any choice. I had to bring them with me.’

  ‘They shouldn’t be here,’ the other man insisted. ‘There are strict quarantine laws, you know that.’

  ‘I need to show you something first,’ said Mayer, pressing the pages into his hands.

  ‘Kip . . .’

  ‘I’m serious,’ Mayer insisted. He glanced towards us again. ‘They can wait while we talk, okay? Then, if you’re still not happy about it, we can send them back over. But only if you insist.’

  Mayer’s companion regarded us for what felt like a long time.

  ‘All right,’ the man said with a sigh. ‘But make this quick.’

  ‘That, sir,’ said Mayer, ‘is not something I can guarantee,’

  Mayer disappeared in the company of this other man, and the rest of us were led away down a corridor beyond the tall doors. A wheeled stretcher appeared, along with a nurse, and Yuichi was hoisted up and onto it by Randall and Selwyn, who had been helping him along thus far. I watched as they trundled him away, trying to ignore my misgivings at being separated in this way in this cold and bleak place.

  They led the rest of us along a corridor and past a dust-specked window, through which I caught sight of a city’s streets.

  ‘We’re in Washington,’ Winifred said from behind my shoulder as we walked on, almost whispering the words. ‘I’d know the place anywhere.’

  We came to a small room, devoid of either windows or any furniture apart from some rickety wooden chairs. They locked the door when they exited, and I sat there, tense, hoping it didn’t mean we were prisoners.

  Randall tried to make small talk, but gave up after a couple of minutes. No one was in the mood for anything more than waiting for whatever came next.

  An hour passed before the door next opened, and two of the men who had brought us to the room entered, one of them pushing a trolley loaded with food. They left the door unlocked behind them as they handed out paper cups of oily coffee and thin, moist sandwiches that tasted of grease and fat and little else.

  Before they departed once more, one of the two men turned to me. ‘We need to talk to you, sir.’ He indicated the door with his head.<
br />
  I regarded him warily. ‘About what?’

  ‘Why just him?’ asked Chloe.

  ‘Relax, lady,’ the man said. ‘We’re not Patriot agents. We just want you to tell us everything that happened, Mr Beche, all in your own words. We’ll be recording it. That okay by you?’

  ‘Sure,’ I said, aware that saying “no” almost certainly wasn’t an option. I stood carefully, then looked around at the others. ‘I’ll see you in a bit.’

  ‘Famous last words,’ said Selwyn with a faltering smile.

  I wondered how Yuichi was doing, wherever he was.

  I followed the man out while his companion took charge of the now-empty trolley, locking the door behind us.

  ‘Is that really necessary?’ I asked.

  ‘Orders,’ said the first man with a shrug. ‘They see you wandering around, people might ask questions. And we might have difficulty answering them.’

  This time I was led upstairs. They took me into a room with a table, two chairs, a microphone and a large mirror on one wall that I assumed was one-way. My predecessor’s pages were sitting on the table, arranged in a neat pile. According to the calendar on the wall, it was some time in August.

  One of my guards closed the door, the other taking one seat before gesturing to me to take the other. ‘Relax, pal,’ he said. ‘My name’s Louie. Just tell me everything that happened, right from the beginning. Can you do that for me?’

  I swallowed away the dryness in my mouth. ‘Sure,’ I said. And then I started talking. But I was careful to omit any mention of Haden, and more than once I reached into my pocket to confirm that the envelope he had given me was, indeed, still there. Then my fingers touched the memory card from Casey’s camera. I hesitated a moment before lifting it out and handing it over to them, explaining what it was and how it had come into my hands.

  I answered questions for another couple of hours after that. By the time they took me back downstairs and unlocked the door again, most of the others had curled up where they could to try and get some sleep. Chloe opened her eyes and blinked as they brought me in.

  ‘What happened?’ she murmured.

  ‘It’s just like they said,’ I told her. ‘They asked me questions and I told them everything I knew that happened.’

  I sank onto the vacant chair beside her, and she laid her head on my lap before closing her eyes again. Within seconds she was asleep. I leaned my own head back and closed my eyes, and it wasn’t long before I had joined her.

  I woke to the sound of the door unlocking. This time it was Mayer, in a fresh suit, and accompanied by Louie and the other guard. The others woke, grumbling and stretching.

  ‘Sorry that took so long,’ said Mayer.

  ‘They kept us locked up like prisoners,’ I said.

  ‘I’m sorry about that,’ he said. ‘They just weren’t taking any chances.’ He gestured to the empty corridor behind him. ‘I need you all up and ready, because we’re going for a ride.’

  We shuffled after him and the two guards. They led us down an echoing stairwell that terminated in an underground car park. Light from the street above filtered down a steep access ramp. It was bitingly cold and felt like late December or early January back home. I remembered the date on the calendar and wondered if perhaps it hadn’t been changed in a long while. I also couldn’t help but notice that the air smelled of burning wood, as if there was a fire nearby.

  Apart from two old and dusty-looking limousines that had to be at least thirty years old, the car park was empty. Louie guided us all towards one of the limousines, before pulling open the rear door and gesturing to us to get in.

  I paused by the door, my teeth chattering from the cold, and looked over at Mayer.

  ‘Go on,’ said Mayer. ‘I’ll be in the other car, right behind you.’

  ‘What about Yuichi?’ I demanded. ‘Where did they take him?’

  ‘He’s in there,’ said Mayer. ‘Just get in.’

  I dipped my head and peered into the darkened interior of the limousine and saw a grinning Yuichi, his leg wrapped up in heavy bandages, a pair of crutches by his side.

  ‘Don’t look so surprised,’ he said. ‘Just get the hell in before you let all the warm air out.’

  We piled in around him, laughing and chattering and suddenly I felt that everything was going to be all right after all. We got comfortable on two dark leather couches facing each other across the rear compartment while Louie got in behind the wheel, the back of his head visible through a thick sheet of glass separating him from us. It wasn’t long before we were underway, driving up the ramp and onto a broad avenue streaked with slushy snow.

  The Washington skies were cloudy and dark, with little hint of sunshine. Everything looked grey and miserable. Even so, I marvelled at the sight of a city with people filling its streets; no one smiled, however, and no one looked remotely happy. It might just have been down to the lousy weather, but I had not failed to notice that the clothes they all wore were dark and threadbare.

  ‘You notice something?’ Randall muttered. ‘I hardly see any other cars.’

  ‘Me neither,’ said Chloe, glancing out of the window.

  There were indeed few, if any, other motorized vehicles. Most people seemed to travel on foot, although I saw one or two hardy souls pedalling past on rickety bicycles. Most of the shop windows were as empty as Casey had described them, and I saw little in the way of advertising. At one point we skirted a park denuded of trees, their low, black stumps stretching across the unweeded grass. I had already noticed the many trails of dark smoke rising from roofs and into the sky, and realized with a shock that people here burned wood for heat.

  This, then, was the Authority.

  At one point we passed several army trucks parked by the side of the road, along with a couple of limousines that looked more or less identical to our own. Men wearing suits with a similar cut to those worn by the Patriot agents were kneeling in a row in the slushy snow, their hands on top of their heads, while uniformed soldiers stood watch over them. A body lay sprawled face-up in a gutter, a dark stain across the white of its shirt.

  We drove on out into the suburbs, which were hardly more joyful than the city; eventually we pulled up before a set of broad iron gates that swung open at our approach. Louie guided the limousine down a long driveway that terminated before a building that might have been a private mansion, or might equally have been an embassy. The second limousine, carrying Mayer, drove on around the other side of the building and out of sight.

  After that, Louie ushered us through a marble-clad entrance flanked by stone angels, then guided us into a room that was clearly someone’s private office. A mahogany desk stood before a set of French windows, while wood crackled and popped in a fireplace. Louie left us alone, and we stood waiting for a few minutes until a second door opened.

  Mort Bramnik stepped through, accompanied by the same man who had argued with Kip Mayer just after we had crossed over to the Authority.

  ‘Senator,’ said Bramnik, clasping one of the man’s hands in both of his own. ‘Thank you. I’ll take it from here.’

  The Senator nodded to us, then left.

  ‘Now will you please tell us what the goddam hell is going on?’ Winifred demanded.

  Bramnik took a seat behind the desk and spread his hands on the varnished wood. ‘I’ve been talking with Kip,’ he said. ‘He told me everything you told him, as well as showing me your predecessor’s written evidence, Mr Beche. It’s quite a story.’

  ‘Wallace Deans can tell you the rest,’ I said.

  ‘I’m afraid he died a few hours ago,’ said Bramnik.

  I let that sink in. There were so few of us left now.

  ‘And Howes?’ I asked. ‘Is there any news about him?’

  Bramnik nodded. ‘He’s fine. We sent a number of detachments back to the island just after you arrived, in order to place the Patriot agents under arrest. A lot’s been happening since you came here.’

  ‘What’s going on
with them?’ asked Chloe. ‘The Patriots, I mean. Are you going through some kind of a civil war, or is that just how you people do business?’

  Bramnik shook his head. ‘Let’s just say there are elements in our government that believe strongly in one way of thinking, and others that feel strongly in the opposite direction. As it happens, the group to which I belong managed to win the day. And that’s all that matters.’ He gazed around at us all. ‘It’s been hard work, keeping your presence here a secret.’

  I nodded past him, to the snowy gardens visible through a window behind the desk. ‘It’s the middle of August,’ I said. ‘It’s getting bad, right? How long do you have, before the extinction event really kicks in?’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ asked Chloe.

  ‘When they interviewed me,’ I said, ‘there was a calendar on the wall. It said it was August.’ I turned back to Bramnik. ‘Snow and freezing skies in the middle of summer? That’s a hell of a pickle you people are in.’

  Bramnik leaned back in his chair. ‘You have no idea.’

  ‘So what’s the reason for bringing us to this place?’ I asked, indicating the office around us.

  ‘Because you deserve explanations.’ He looked around the others as well. ‘All of you. I’ve barely had time to scan the documents your predecessor left behind, Mr Beche, but his discoveries and his insights are going to be invaluable to us.’

  ‘Who is “us”, exactly?’ asked Winifred.

  ‘I said there are groups struggling for influence within our government, and they have different ideas on how to handle our . . . current difficulties.’

  ‘What’s your approach?’ I asked.

  ‘I, and others like me,’ said Bramnik, ‘believe that working openly towards a common goal is the only way to ensure our survival, as a species as much as a civilization. The Patriots had different ideas. For a long time now, Greenbrooke and his agency were in the ascendant here. They had growing influence over policy, and they wanted nothing more than to . . . neutralize our mutual enemies. Myself and the Senator feel our best chance at long-term survival is by working with them.’