Unparalleled

by D. S. Smith

  Chapter 62

  Dr Marks tried to reset the second stage keypad but the screen was frozen. The loud hum could still be heard coming from the capacitor bank so clearly power was being generated. The professor walked over to the cabinet and placed his hand flat against the metal of the door. He removed it again sharply, feeling an intense heat radiating through the metal. “Damn,” he exclaimed, “if we don’t discharge these soon they will burn out and that will set us back days.” What about just cutting the power and letting them cool down?” Dr Marks asked. “No, absolutely not,” the professor snapped back, “if we do that we’ll have to recalibrate which will set us back another twenty-four hours.” Dr Marks picked up the faulty unit and studied it for a moment. “We could just use one of the other pads,” she offered. “It will mean recoding it for each stage but that will quicker than a system recalibration.”

  “How long?” the professor asked. She did a quick calculation in her head before replying. “About five, six hours tops.” She placed the faulty keypad back on the desk before adding, “There is a quicker option, but it’s risky and the security guys won’t like it.” The professor opened the door to the cabinet feeling a wave of heat escape. “Well we need to do something quickly. What are you suggesting?”

  “We could use one of the laptops.”

  She did not need to elaborate further, the professor knew exactly what she was suggesting. The tertiary initiation sequence for the prototype Harmoniser had been triggered using laptops. These laptops still held the programs for each stage. The risky part would be getting them. They were stored in a locked cupboard in his office, directly across the corridor from the laboratory housing the original Harmoniser. He weighed up the risks. If the capacitor bank overheated they would have to completely rebuild the power generation unit and that would take at least two days. The optimum time for a successful transfer for Stuart was within the next six hours. Operating outside of this window meant the undulations between the two universes could become erratic. The more erratic they became the greater the chance Stuart would end up in the wrong universe. Recoding the keypads could keep them within the window but he was not sure if the capacitors would last that long. He figured he could get to his office and back to the lab in under thirty minutes. It would take about another twenty minutes to have the laptop configured and connected. This meant they could be in a position to discharge the power within the hour. As soon as they got the all clear from security, starting up again would only take a matter of minutes. The laptops were their best chance of success. “Ok, laptops it is. You stay here and monitor the capacitor bank.” He beckoned her to join him at the cabinet. “See these capacitors here?” He pointed to a bank of six large, blue cylinders connected to each other by thick copper wire. “If the outside of these distort or discolour pull the plug immediately.” Dr Marks nodded to show her understanding.

  “Good.” The professor offered. He patted her on the shoulder before heading for the exit. “If I don’t return within the hour pull the plug anyway and join the others in the control room.”

  Chapter 63

  The leader of the bomb disposal team introduced himself to Terry as Major John Styles. He was a tall, stringy man with gaunt features and a shaven, bald head. The black overalls he wore hung loosely from his body, apart from at the waist where a utility belt gathered them tightly around his hips. His breath smelt of cigarettes and his fingers were stained orangey-yellow indicating he was a heavy smoker. “We’ll need a large, clear area to assemble our equipment and an office desk from which to operate it,” the major instructed. Terry led them to a ground floor foyer housing the elevators that would take them to the second floor. “You can assemble your equipment here in the foyer.” He directed the men to a large space in front of the elevators. He turned to the major. “If you will follow me.” He led him to an office close by. The office contained four large desks, three with workstations and one empty. One of Terry’s agents already occupied the office and had the blueprints spread out on the empty desk. They approached the desk. Terry pointed to a location on the blueprints. “This is the room that’s wired major. There are three slabs of plastic explosive, each connected by wires to a small metal box. The slabs are about six inches long by three inches wide and about an inch thick.” The major studied the blueprints for a moment before taking a black marker out of his breast pocket. “Do you mind if I draw on these?” he asked. Terry nodded in agreement. The major removed the top off the pen and drew a circle around the room housing the explosives. “This is blast zone one, within this radius everything will be destroyed should all three slabs detonate. In all likelihood the whole building will collapse.” He drew a second circle enveloping the first. “This is blast zone two,” he advised. “Damage to equipment and people in this zone will be the result of the pressure wave, the heat wave and flying debris. Structural damage will be less but still likely.” He drew a third circle around the previous two. “Blast zone three. Damage here will be limited to injury from broken glass and falling objects jarred loose by the vibrations. Outside of these zones there is no potential risk to life, even if all three slabs detonate.” The major put the top back on the pen and placed it back in his pocket. Terry looked at the major’s drawings. The control room was well outside of the blast radius, as was their current location, but the laboratory containing the functional Harmoniser was just on the edge of blast zone three. The decision to evacuate had been the right one. “So, do you think you can make it safe?” Terry asked.

  “Difficult to say before I’ve seen it but we’ll certainly give it a shot. Have the areas within the three zones been evacuated?” the major asked. Terry advised him they had. “Good.” The major said, “So let’s go and see how the team are getting on.”

  They headed back to the foyer where the men were busy assembling what looked like a large orange bug on tank tracks. The major beckoned for Terry and his colleague to approach the machine. “What you see here is the latest generation in bomb disposal robots. Known as ABDU, which stands for Autonomous Bomb Disposal Unit, this machine dramatically reduces the risk of injury or loss of life as a result of us having to disarm bombs directly. Using satellite communication technology, we can operate this unit from up to ten miles from the actual site.” Terry nodded and studied the machine. It was the size of a child’s pedal car but stood about three feet off the ground due to the tank tracks. The main body was made up of two halves forming a dome of bright orange plastic. A robotic arm protruded from each side of the body with ends like metal claws. Recessed into the orange dome were a number of cameras and LED lights pointing in every direction.

  “Now, if you don’t mind, Stuart, we’ll head back to the office and set up our control station,” the major suggested.

  Set up within minutes, the control station consisted of three sixteen-inch monitors and what looked like a games consul, complete with joystick. One of the technicians sat at the consul and flicked a switch. The screens came to life. One screen showed the elevator doors, a second showed a back wall opposite the doors while the third was split into four views each showing a different area of the foyer. The man took hold of the joystick and used his thumb to manipulate a button that controlled the camera angles. He moved the joystick in various directions seeing the images on the screens change as the ABDU moved around the foyer. “Ok, ready for you now boss.” Thanking the technician, the major replaced him at the consul and turned to Terry. “Ok, if you are ready we will proceed to the site.” Terry gave the major the go ahead. The image of the elevator doors grew larger on the screen as the ABDU moved toward them. To Terry’s amazement, a robotic arm reached up and pressed the button for the elevator with a finger extending from the metal claw. Having navigated the lift to the second floor the ABDU was now on its way down the corridor leading to the room with the explosives. It took just a few minutes before the door to the room came into view. The arm appeared again, slowly extending toward the door.

  Chapter 64

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sp; Lin Lee checked the timer on her watch. Thirty minutes had passed. Seeing no further activity in the car park she figured everything and everybody required were now inside the building. She had no way of knowing who would be within range of the explosion but at the very least the Harmoniser would be destroyed. Taking out her phone she entered the four digit code. Without further ceremony, or thought for the consequences of what she was about to do, she pressed the call button. Nothing happened. She checked the signal. The screen displayed five bars. She checked the numbers again. They were correct. Pressing the red button to end the call she re-entered the numbers and tried again. Still nothing. “Fuck.” She exhaled the word through gritted teeth. She turned the phone off and on again before repeating the process. Still no explosion. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she repeated, squeezing the phone as hard as she could, resisting the urge to throw it from the rooftop. She tried to activate it one last time. Nothing. She resigned herself to the fact they had either disarmed the device or were somehow blocking the signal. The latter was the best she could hope for as there would still be a possibility the device would trigger accidently. All she could do now was stay where she was and wait for the explosion, or the reappearance of the bomb disposal team with their equipment.

  Terry eyed the monitors as the door to the room opened slowly, revealing a dark interior. A bright green light suddenly radiated from the end of the robotic arm. He watched as a green line scanned the wall at the back of the room before making its way along the floor and back toward the door. A readout on the console flashed red for the duration of the scan, turning to a solid green on completion. The major informed him he had just scanned the room for remote triggering devices and one had been discovered and disabled, meaning the bomb could only be detonated directly, not remotely. The room lit up as the LED lighting from the ABDU came to life. As Terry had reported, a slab of explosive lay in the middle of the room with wires penetrating it from three different locations. The major directed the ABDU along the length of one of wires until it arrived at the metal control unit. The robotic claw reached out, taking hold of the metal box. He manipulated the arm so that the box came into view, showing a small digital readout. A single digit flashed on the display, 0. “That is good news Terry,” the major explained, “It means there isn’t a backup timer. The bad news is, with this type of device, if any of the wires leading to a slab become open circuit the others will immediately detonate.” He stood up, gesturing to his colleague to take his place. “This is where humans triumph over machine,” the major said, pulling on his jacket. “Unlike the ABDU,” he continued, “we have the dexterity to rewire the control unit to disarm it.”

  “So you’re going to have to go up there after all, Major?” Terry asked.

  “Afraid so,” he replied. “But first I need some nicotine. Do you mind if I smoke on the way?”

  “Well under the circumstances I can hardly deny you a cigarette,” Terry replied. He offered to accompany him to the room but the major insisted he stay put and hold the fort. Heading out to the foyer the major grabbed a holdall from amongst the boxes the team had brought in from the vans. He undid the zip and peered inside the bag, scanning the contents. Without zipping it back up again he threw it over his shoulder and headed for the elevator. A few moments later he appeared in the room adorned in the items he had retrieved from the holdall. A Kevlar breastplate strapped to his chest protected his torso, shin protectors like heavy duty cricket pads protected his legs, while a Kevlar helmet fitted with a full-face visor protected his head and face. Back at the consul, the technician directed the camera and lights of the ABDU so they could see what the major was doing. Terry watched intently as the major walked over to the metal control unit and picked it up unceremoniously. He flipped the visor away from his face and held the unit in to the stream of light provided by the ABDU. There was a slight recess all around the edges on one side on the small metal box. Reaching into one of his pockets he took out what looked like a child’s pencil case. He sat down on the floor with his legs spread in front of him, placing both the pencil case and the control unit between his legs. He unzipped the pencil case removing a small watchmaker’s screwdriver and three short wire links, terminated at each end with tiny crocodile clips. Picking up the control unit with his left hand he grabbed the screwdriver with his right and inserted the blade end into the recess around the edge of the metal box. Applying just a small amount of pressure he pinged open the box, revealing the wires and circuitry inside. He was now able to identify where the wires from the detonators connected to the inputs and outputs on the printed circuit board that would generate the signal for detonation. The power source for the signal came from a tiny flat metal battery clipped to the circuit board. If the battery was removed, a tiny residual charge would provide enough power to detonate the explosives. He rested the control unit against his thigh. Using the screwdriver, he pressed the blade end against one of the wires connected to the battery. He pushed the insulation up to reveal about a centimetre of bare wire. One slip of the screwdriver now could bring the whole building down but his hand was as steady as a rock. Using his free hand, he reached for one of the wire links from the floor. He clipped one end to the exposed battery wires and the other to the output side of the circuit board, pressing hard so the metal teeth of the clip penetrated the insulation. He repeated this for the other two detonators. He reached into another pocket and pulled out a tiny pair of wire cutters. He paused for a moment, checking the security of each of the wire links again. One by one he cut the wires between the circuit board and the links he had inserted. Happy the detonators were isolated from the circuit, the major placed the metal box down on the floor carefully. He stood up and approached each slab of explosive in turn. Terry watched with admiration as the ABDU sent back images of the major tugging the detonators out of the slabs. He had already disconnected two and was approaching the final one at the far end of the room. Suddenly, a flash of orange light emanated from the control unit on the floor, followed by a puff of smoke. Before any of them had time to consider what had caused this, a massive explosion tore through the building. The floor shook and the windows rattled from the distant blast. Terry looked back to the screen, but all it displayed was static.

  Chapter 65

  Professor Humphries’ office looked more like a store room than a place of work. Every available surface was covered by stacks of scientific papers, manuscripts and books. To anyone else it looked like utter disarray. To the professor it was a catalogue of years of research. Nothing had been listed or indexed but he could locate every single reference from memory. Right now it was laptops he needed, not literature. He walked over to the cupboard that contained them. Like the rest of the room it was crammed with papers piled on the shelves. Under one pile the three laptops could be seen stacked on top of each other. He took the laptop from the top of the pile and noted the markings on the lid, Terseq03. He returned this to the shelf and took the next one. This was marked with the letters, Secseq02. It was the one he was looking for. In the bottom of the cupboard was his trusty old satchel. He stuffed the laptop into it and was about to close the cupboard when a thought occurred to him. They had not yet tested the keypad for the tertiary initiation sequence. What if that failed?

  “Belt and braces old boy.” He said to himself, before grabbing the other two laptops and squeezing them into his bag. He left the office, not bothering to shut the doors to the cupboard. He checked his watch as he raced down the corridor with the satchel clutched to his chest. He had only managed about twenty metres when a deafening bang erupted from behind. The noise was accompanied by a blast wave that hit him like a freight train, sending him careering uncontrollably down the corridor. He hit a wall with great force, shattering several bones and rendering him instantly unconscious. The satchel skidded along the floor impacting the same wall, scattering its contents in all directions.

  Chapter 66

  As the noise of the explosion rattled the roof slates around her, Lin Lee smiled i
n triumph. She couldn’t be sure of the extent of the damage, but judging from the vibrations the force was significant. She felt confident that at the very least she had destroyed the Harmoniser, completing the mission set for her by the Chairman. She considered heading back toward the utility shed on the roof above the explosion site to survey the damage, but decided this would be too risky as the whole structure of the building would be highly unstable. She looked back down to where the vans of the bomb disposal team were parked. There were two guards stationed at the entrance to the building and another guard positioned at the barrier leading into the car park. She chose to stay put a little longer to observe their movements. Trying to make herself comfortable, she thought she heard the sound of a nearby building collapsing. A low rumbling noise in the distance growing gradually louder. A bright light appeared, coming from the direction of the noise. Suddenly a helicopter swooped toward her. It swung around in a steep arch directly above her before settling into a hover just metres from where she sat. The wind from the rotors blew dust into her eyes. She raised her hands to protect them. She could just about see the side door to the helicopter was open revealing a uniformed man with a rifle pointing directly at her. Before she had chance to get out of the way she heard the snap of the rifle and felt an intense pain explode in the top of her left arm. She rolled into the gutter at the edge of the roof and leopard crawled along the narrow walkway it formed. She could still hear the roaring noise of the helicopter above her. The pain in her left arm was excruciating but she managed to drag herself out of sight. She stood up and continued along the walkway, heading back toward the roof above the bomb site. As she approached she could see part of the roof near the utility shed had collapsed. The helicopter was approaching from behind her so she had no choice but to continue forward. As she drew nearer to the site of the explosion the roof was littered with chunks of brick, dislodged slates and twisted metal from the gutter. She edged forward slowly but her left foot pressed onto a loose slate. It shot from under her and she stumbled backward, unable to steady herself with her injured arm. She fell heavily onto the roof in an area where the tiles had been blown clear. The roof gave way and she plummeted downwards until her body stopped abruptly, impacting hard against a pile of rubble two floors down. She lay motionless, her back arched at an unnatural angle against the hard mound that had broken her fall.