by Tomas Black
“Blast, we’re loading the array too fast. Wolfgang, reduce all non-essential processing until the neural net is fully loaded.”
“Yes, Professor.” Wolfgang looked over at Jeremy and nodded.
Jeremy brought up the systems console window and hit Enter. He stared at the blinking cursor and waited. The cursor jumped up a few lines and the words ‘packet received’ flashed across the screen followed by ‘Thank you’.
“What happened?” said Kovac. “Several TPU modules just went down—several more. Everyone, check your consoles. Wolfgang, run a diagnostic. Jeremy, what’s environmental doing?”
Jeremy glanced at his console. The displays were jumping around all over the place. He was about to reply to Kovac when a klaxon sounded. Everyone stopped what they were doing.
Kovac stood and looked around. “It’s ok, everyone, someone’s opened the door to the core room. Carry on with your work. We need to get the array back under control.”
A flash of white in the window behind Kovac caught Jeremy’s eye. Two men in white combat gear carrying automatic weapons crept by, followed by a Chinese woman carrying a gun. The woman stopped and looked at him, then doubled-back the way she had come.
“Jeremy,” repeated Kovac, “what’s environmental doing?”
“Er, it’s not looking good, Professor.”
Kovac pushed Jeremy to one side. “What’s going on?” He looked at the screen. “Good God. The entire system’s running out of control. Sarah, stop the transfer. Wolfgang, purge the array—bring it offline. It’s going into meltdown.”
One of the control room’s steel doors opened and Vashchenko stormed in followed by several armed guards and Baz carrying a gun.
“We need to go,” said Vashchenko, grabbing Kovac by the arm. “We have intruders in the complex—heavily armed.”
Kovac pulled his arm back. “We can’t leave, we have to shut down the array—”
“No time. We go.”
Jeremy wondered what was happening, but guessed help had arrived. Baz advanced towards him, his gun raised. Jeremy glanced down at his console. The terminal window had reappeared. A long string of commands typed themselves across the screen followed by the message ‘Execute!’
“C’mon, frat boy,” said Baz. “Time’s up.”
Jeremy leaned across the desk and hit Enter. A message scrolled up on the screen: “Goodbye.”
~~~
Drum and Sergei exited the core room and advanced down the corridor side-by-side with Mei bringing up the rear. Brock and Hazard exited in the opposite direction to secure their objectives. Drum’s first thought was to find Jeremy Burnett, but they had to get into the control room and plant the EMP otherwise this whole exercise would be for nothing. They walked past a wide observation window that gave them a view into the central area of the cavern. Drum just had time to glimpse the huge, spherical array which was lit up like a Christmas tree. He thought he saw Burnett.
Two armed guards ran around the sweeping curve of the corridor. “Hostiles,” said Sergei, and fired off two rounds into a guard on his left. Drum dispatched the guard on his right with a similar salvo to the chest, felling the man in his tracks before he could raise his weapon. Their suppressors sounded like sharp whispers in the confines of the cavern. They kept moving.
“Recognise anyone in the control room?” said Drum.
“Wasn’t looking.”
They continued down the corridor, coming to a steel door with a circular window. A sign above the door told Drum it was an infirmary. He stopped and cautiously peered inside. “Clear.”
“Where’s Mei?” said Sergei
Drum looked behind him. There was no sign of her. She must have seen something. There was no chance of anyone jumping them from behind. He wondered what she was up to. “No time. She’ll have to catch up.”
Sergei shook his head. “I don’t like it …”
They moved forward once more. Drum felt his phone vibrate. He signalled for Sergei to stop and pulled out his phone; a bullet whistled past his ear as he did so. Sergei cursed and flung himself against the wall to give himself a better angle onto the shooter. He let loose with several short bursts of gunfire.
“Now is not the time to take a call.”
Drum squatted down. “Jane, is that you?”
“Hello, Ben. I have been operating in stealth mode to avoid detection but Tau now knows my location. I only have a limited time to assist you. Have you reached your objective?”
Several more shots ricocheted off the wall. “We’re close. Make sure you open the door.”
“Time is of the essence,” said Jane, and hung up.
“Our shooter has reinforcements,” said Sergei.
Drum delved into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small canister. He quickly primed it and rolled it towards the shooters. “Cover your eyes.”
There was a bright flash followed by a deafening bang. Drum moved quickly forward and opened up with a sustained volley of gunfire. The corridor filled with the smell of cordite from the smoking tip of Drum’s suppressor and fell silent. Through the dissipating smoke lay two dead shooters, and a third was limping away in full retreat.
“Nice move,” said Sergei.
They heard more gunfire up ahead. A single shooter they couldn’t see. Then they heard a scream and the shooting stopped.
“That does not sound good,” said Sergei.
They moved cautiously forward. The corridor widened with a set of doors on one side and a large steel door, recessed back into the wall, on the other.
“The control room,” said Drum. “And that way leads to the cells.”
“We must place the EMP,” said Sergei.
Drum nodded. He moved forward and stopped. He could hear a rhythmic tapping of metal on concrete coming their way. “MSUs!”
Two of Kovac’s dogs advanced down the corridor. They locked onto Drum, scanning him. One dog stepped forward, its blood-tipped tail swaying from side to side above its head.
“Shit!” said Sergei. “Get to the control room, I’ll draw them off.” He started forward.
“Wait!” said Drum. He removed another canister from his jacket pocket and rolled it towards the dogs. The lead dog locked onto it. Drum and Sergei covered their ears and looked away. A loud bang echoed off the walls and smoke filled the corridor. “Open fire!”
Sergei let loose a sustained burst of automatic fire at the lead dog, damaging one of its forelimbs. Drum fired at the second, several short bursts to the dog’s head. It appeared to be confused and turned in a circle, its tail whipping wildly above it, gouging great rents into the corridor wall.
“Move!” shouted Sergei.
Drum ran into the alcove and up to the steel door. He looked at the camera above it. “Jane, open the door.” The door did not budge. He heard a noise behind him. One of the dogs had regained some control and was creeping towards him, its head scanning from side to side. Its optical vision had probably been damaged by the flare, thought Drum, and it was trying to sense him using sound or infrared. “Jane!”
The door swung open. Drum ran inside and was confronted by the array, glowing in the centre of the cavern, venting vapour from two exhausts at its base. Even from a distance, Drum could feel the heat from the device. A red, revolving warning light flashed ominously above it at the top of the cavern. Drum heard shouting from the other side of the array. Kovac and his team were being forced out of the door by Vashchenko and his men.
Drum ran towards the glowing sphere and past one of the observation ports. A figure sat at a console in a room behind the window. It was Mei.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Escape
Vashchenko manhandled Kovac out of the door and into the corridor, his men forming a protective shield around them.
“Move it!” shouted Baz as he ushered Jeremy and the two technicians through the closing door at gunpoint.
The sound of automatic weapons fire echoed down the corridor near the cell block. There was a serio
us fire-fight in progress. The three guards took up positions near a stairwell while Vashchenko furiously pressed the button to call the elevator. Jeremy heard the whine of the car on its way down.
“I must retrieve the data from the servers,” said Kovac. “All my work is there.”
“No, time,” said Vashchenko, “the site is compromised. We leave now!” The elevator panel lit up and the doors opened. Vashchenko pushed Kovac inside. He pointed the gun at Jeremy and the two technicians. “Stay here.” The doors closed and the elevator started its ascent.
“Bastard!” shouted Baz.
“Let’s take the stairs,” said Jeremy.
Before Baz could decide, two armed men in white combat gear moved stealthily around the curve in the corridor and quickly fired off a volley of rounds, peppering two of the guards taking point. The third guard opened up with a sustained burst of automatic gunfire, sending a cacophony of noise echoing off the walls of the cavern. Sarah and Wolfgang threw themselves onto the floor and covered their ears. “Don’t shoot!” shouted Wolfgang. “We are unarmed.”
“This way!” shouted Baz, pushing the barrel of his gun into the side of Jeremy’s head. “I’ll take you out before they get to me. Move it!”
Jeremy moved swiftly in the opposite direction.
“Where are we going, Baz? It’s over. Give yourself up.”
“Shut the fuck up and keep moving. We’ll take the stairs at the other end of the control room.”
They came to one of the infirmary rooms and Jeremy stopped. “What’s that noise?”
Baz listened. “Sounds like someone dragging something.” He hesitated. “Keep moving, frat boy.” He jabbed Jeremy in the back with his gun.
The scratching and scraping grew louder and one of Kovac’s dogs came into view, limping along on three legs, its broken forelimb hanging useless as it dragged it along the floor. Jeremy noticed that one of its eyes was also damaged. It stopped and scanned them, its head moving erratically. It raised its long, flexible tail above its head and moved the razor-sharp tip menacingly from side to side. Jeremy took a step back, bumping into Baz.
“It’s one of ours,” said Baz, hesitantly. “It won’t attack.”
Jeremy took another step back. “It’s damaged. I’d rather not chance it.”
The dog’s head dipped then raised, its tail slashing wildly above its head.
Baz raised his gun.
“Baz! Lower the gun.”
The dog locked onto the weapon.
Baz took a step back and fired, the round ricocheting off the robot’s armoured body. It crouched down and jumped, whipping its tail forward, the razor-sharp tip piercing Baz’s chest as it landed. He let out a strangled scream before falling lifeless to the floor, his blood spilling onto the white concrete.
Jeremy pressed himself against the wall and froze, barely breathing. The dog’s head turned and scanned him. It then emitted a soft whine before its internal mechanism lost power, causing it to collapse to the floor. Jeremy watched as its remaining red eye grew dim and faded to black.
He heard the word ‘clear’ and looked up to see two commandos advancing towards him, guns raised.
The taller and stouter of the two stopped. “Jeremy, isn’t it?”
“Yes, who … who are you?”
“I’m Brock. This is Hazard. We’re here to get you out.”
“What the fuck is that?” said Hazard.
“It’s a robotic security unit. If you see any more, just run.”
“This must be one of those MSUs that Drum was talking about,” said Hazard. He stood and peered down the corridor. “Where was he taking you?” he said, pointing at Baz’s body.
“Stairs leading to the upper levels. Vashchenko and Professor Kovac took the elevator up just before you attacked.”
“Yes, we saw them,” said Brock.
“What about Sarah and Wolfgang?” asked Jeremy. “Are they alright?”
“They’re fine,” said Brock. “We left them at the stairs. Listen, we’ll explain what’s going on later but we need to get to the server room now.”
“It’s down here. But you had better hurry, the array is going into meltdown.”
“The enormous glowing ball?” said Hazard.
“Yes, it’s become unstable.”
“We had better move,” said Brock. “You need to come with us, Jeremy. Stay behind me.” They set off down the corridor with Hazard taking point. Brock touched his throat mike. “Stevie, this is Brock.”
“Receiving.”
“We have Burnett.”
There was a pause. “Thank God.”
There was a crackle of static. “Say again, Stevie.”
“Be advised. That chopper we sighted earlier—”
“I’ve lost her.”
“Keep moving,” said Hazard. “We’re behind schedule.”
They walked a little further and two wide doors came into view, each with porthole windows.
“That’s the server room,” said Jeremy.
Hazard scanned left and right and approached the doors. He peered inside. It was dark except for an array of lights blinking in racks.
“Clear or not?” said Brock.
“Can’t tell, mate. It’s dark.”
“Try the door.”
Hazard pulled on one of the doors. “Won’t budge. I’ll have to blow them.”
“Wait,” said Jeremy. He looked up and found a camera. “Jane. If you can hear me open the doors to the server room.”
Nothing happened.
“No time,” said Hazard. He removed a small packet from his pack and peeled off the back. He slapped it on the door locking mechanism and inserted a detonator. “Stand back.” He triggered the electrically operated timer and retreated a few metres, turning his back to the door. There was a loud bang and the doors flew inwards in a cloud of smoke.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Dog Tired
Sergei watched as Drum made his run for the door and fired off his last few rounds at the approaching dog before emptying his clip. It was moving its head erratically from side to side as if scanning for him. It is blinded, thought Sergei. “Come on, this way you stupid machine.” He waved his arms.
The dog turned and zeroed in on him. He ejected the spent magazine and reached for another, slapping it into place in a fluid manoeuvre he had practised many times before. He fired off another salvo of rounds, taking careful aim at the head of the machine, all the time moving slowly backwards. The dog appeared to be moving more erratically but kept advancing. Sergei heard shooting behind him. He turned briefly to see if he was backing into a firefight. The dog leapt, sending him crashing to the floor, his weapon slipping from his grasp. Sharp, metallic claws ground into his chest. He cried out in pain, moving his head just in time to prevent it from being impaled by the scorpion-like tail. He reached for his sidearm and pulled it free. The machine appeared to be slowing, losing power. With an effort, he heaved himself up and fired his sidearm, point-blank, into its eye socket. It gave a high-pitched whine and relaxed its claws, falling sideways onto the floor, lifeless, its head a wrecked mass of smoking metal and circuitry.
Sergei sat up, clutching his chest. His Kevlar vest had taken some of the trauma but blood still seeped around the wounds and down his arm. He staggered to his feet, retrieved his weapon and dragged himself back towards the core room. As he passed the observation window, he saw Mei reflected in the glass in a small side room, working at a terminal. He walked towards the door. The sign above it said ‘Data Room’. He pushed down on the handle and limped in.
“What are you doing?”
Mei swung around and pointed her gun straight at him. “You’re wounded.”
He looked down to see blood dripping from his arm onto the floor. “What are you doing, Mei?”
She stood and waved the gun at the seat beside her. “Sit.”
He needed no further persuading. He slumped into the chair.
“Gun on the floor, please.”
He dropped his weapon. “You are after the data.”
“No, something more important.”
“What is more important?” Then he realised. “You are after the program.”
“I’m tying up loose ends. When Vashchenko and his team hacked into the Hong Kong facility, they inadvertently assisted Tau in escaping. It also had inside help from a man called Michael Chen. This program was not meant to be here.”
“I don’t understand. How can a program escape?”
She smiled. “You are a soldier. Of course you don’t understand. But Ben does. I think he guessed.”
“Guessed what?” He felt light-headed. He was losing blood.
“Tau. It is not the work of Professor Kovac. It was created in China. Vashchenko took the program to Kovac, who recognised it for what it was. He thought he could control it. I need to bring it back. That is my mission directive. To retrieve Tau.”
Sergei nodded. “What now?”
She held up a slim, hard-drive. “I have what I came for. There doesn’t need to be bloodshed between us. Ben will destroy the array and the stolen data.” She looked into the cavern. Drum was staring back at her. “He will do his duty. Now I must do mine. A team will be here shortly to extract me.” She moved to the door, keeping her gun trained on him. “Don’t follow me.” She hesitated. “I’ll send help.” She backed out of the door and ran towards the core room.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Fern
Fern looked down onto the huge domed structure as the pilot swung around towards the landing pad attached to the side, close to the glacier’s edge. People seemed to be running for the exits.
The pilot touched his headset. “An emergency has been declared. People have been advised to evacuate the complex. We should leave.”
“What sort of emergency?” said Fern.
“They didn’t say. I’ve been told not to land.”
“You will land,” said Misha, jamming the end of his gun into the pilot’s ribs.
Fern gave Misha a withering look. What had she gotten herself into? They seemed to be flying into a war zone. “Perhaps he’s right. Might be better to land elsewhere.”