The Aurora Conspiracies- Volume One

by Sam Nash

  Mr Muscle summoned them to the Tactical Room. The countdown clock now overlaid a real-time traffic camera image of Route 68, which ran between Camp Williams and the NSA Data Centre, south of Bluffdale in Utah. Flynn clicked an icon on his computer and the main wall screen sectioned into smaller monitors, showing different video feeds from the mid-west state.

  Some were of urban areas, others showing military personnel at the fort. Mary sat next to Dan in the viewing area, distancing herself and her feelings from Parth. Dan laid his hand on her arm. “You had us all worried sick. Are you okay?”

  She forced a smile and nodded. “Have you been plotting?” Mary whispered.

  Dan reached into his inside jacket pocket and edged the corner of a folded document into view. “Uhuh.”

  “No luck, sir.” Yelena pulled the communications headset away from her mouth. “The HAARP facility cannot isolate power to their equipment without taking all other systems offline. I cannot see that it would help matters anyway, since Visser could simply compel someone to power them back up. He has done it before at Fairbanks Airport.” Yelena removed the headset altogether and walked towards the rear of the room.

  “Mary.” The Secretary of State for Defence turned from Flynn’s computer to address her. “I hear that you attempted to connect with Lars Visser. I’m sorry to hear that it made you unwell. Never the less, we are still in rather a fix, vis-à-vis locating the um, Hive. Can you shed any light on their plans? Where they might be headed? Is there any possibility that you could try again?” The minister’s straggly eyebrows lowered over his hooded eyelids.

  Mary could feel him transferring his responsibility, and any subsequent failure, to her. She looked around the room. Every person in Tactical fixed their attention in her direction. Acid reflux returned. Mary looked at the clock. There were nineteen minutes left till Alexi’s deadline.

  “Even if I could get to Visser’s brain and somehow…disable him, it wouldn’t make any difference. By now, he would have given his orders to the Hive. They would carry them out whether Visser was connected to them or not.” At least it rendered the internal conflict over remote assassination moot. They all contemplated her point, watching the seconds tick by on the countdown.

  Yelena broke the silence. “If you could just tell us what you saw, during your connection, we might be able to piece the bits together.” The sparkle in her eyes had dimmed and her neck had receded into the knotted muscles of her shoulders. For once, Yelena looked older than her years.

  “We have drones on standby at Eielson Airforce Base, south of Moose Creek, in Alaska. We just need to provide the coordinates for the strike.” Flynn chipped in. As he turned in his chair, his elbow clanged multiple empty coffee cups together on his desk. He checked each one for remaining dregs to supplement his waning buzz.

  “Drones? You plan to bomb all the operatives in the Hive? They are living breathing people who are just following orders. You cannot just slaughter them.” The residual headache stinging in her grey matter did little to temper Mary’s animosity.

  “They are complicit in killing perhaps thousands of innocents with the likelihood of killing many thousands more.” The minister tucked the back of his wrists into his waist and jutted his drooping chin forward. Mary saw him transform into an elderly vulture, preparing to pick the bones of victory and collect any scraps of ministerial praise for his small but deadly input. “They cannot be allowed to go on unchecked.”

  “And by unchecked you mean to eradicate them from the face of the planet. Those men have wives and families. They did not volunteer to be drugged into oblivion.” Her voice rose an octave.

  There was nothing she could say that would convince him. This man had made up his mind long before meeting her, that none of the Hive should survive. A public trial would reveal the extent to which governments in the west monitor civilians across the globe. How they circumvent laws via covert operations between collaborating nations. There is no such thing as private and confidential in the enormous information pouring of our electronic soup. This would be vindication at last, for the whistle blowers of the last decade.

  A vision of a tabloid newspaper flashed in her thoughts. The headline read, Soviet Soldiers Can Control Minds. She wondered how the media would receive that little bombshell. A midsummer April Fools prank? More likely the beginning of an evidence trail that could uncover the covert experimentation on gifted human beings, funded by feuding and opposing governments the world over. She was willing to bet that Parliament would be eager to quash that particular line of enquiry with something more lethal than a D-Notice.

  “Never the less,” the vulture continued, “they are still soldiers. They must not be allowed to destroy our secure data feeds and disable the Stoneghost network.” He flapped an arm about him, gesturing towards the electronic equipment around the room.

  “Well, good luck finding them.” Mary stood up and flounced towards the exit.

  “Young lady…if you fail to help us, we will have you indefinitely detained for collaborating with terrorists.” He glowered through the whiskers of his brows at her. Mary halted, same jeopardy, different threat. What made the Secretary of State for Defence any less of a bully than Visser or Alexi? Either side was driven and determined to achieve their devious goals regardless of the causalities incurred or the violation of Human Rights. There were no depths this man would not sink to in order to keep this situation contained.

  “I will help you,” Mary stumbled over the due deference of calling the minister, sir. That implied he deserved the authority with which he held and wielded with careless force. “But, you must stand the drones down. When they switch the solenoid shields off, I should be able to talk directly to the Captain of the Hive. He is a reasonable man. I think I can talk him round.” Her little frame sagged in defeat. They had co-opted her husband, leveraged her brother with the seclusion of his girlfriend and threatened to take her liberty. What more could they inflict? “Once I have their location, you can arrest them.”

  “What about the geomagnetic storm? We have no idea what damage that seizure had on your mental faculties. Is it wise to risk such a valuable ability at this time?” Parth said.

  All Mary heard was that Parth’s prized lab rat, new studies and unlimited funding were slipping away before his eyes. Mary shot him a withering stare. “Dan will help me.” They all faced the lofty man, folded in the viewing area seats.

  “I’ll certainly try. If you think it’ll make a difference.” He looked surprised at Mary’s suggestion, but warmed to the idea of assisting his little sister. “We can form our own mini Hive together.”

  “Precisely. We can combine our energies in the same way that the Hive does. That way, any information that I can glean from Captain Thirty-Four, Dan can relay immediately to you.” Mary sensed that he was masking his anxiety behind a placid façade. His Adam’s Apple bobbed repeatedly in his throat.

  “That’s all well and good…” Flynn interrupted, “but you might be too late. Look…”

  The monitors of the Tactical wall flicked through different views. Main streets in Bluffdale, then feeds from the highway and night lit shopping precincts. Other screens showed Camp William’s trucks and exterior views of buildings. All of them had one thing in common. The cameras were all shaking in unison. Visser had begun his attack.

  “But there is still ten minutes till midnight in Utah.” Mary wailed. “I don’t understand.”

  “I guess he decided that Stoneghost should be out of action well before the scheduled backup.” Flynn announced, applying his callous logic.

  They watched in horror as a crack in the thoroughfare tore along a main street in the centre of Bluffdale, sending vehicles spinning in an attempt to avoid the rift. Glass from office blocks splintered and smashed to the ground, showering a funnel of patrons fleeing from night clubs and late bars. Overhead cables whipped like skipping ropes between toppling posts. Stationary Airforce vehicles bumped and jostled against concrete walls as the orderly
evacuation of personnel filled the car parks and assembly points. People swayed with the camber of the rocking ground, like a pitching ferry amid a turbulent storm. The mounted cameras shook on their brackets, making it all the more difficult to witness the pandemonium developing across the Tactical Room wall.

  As quickly as it began, the tremors lessened, then ceased altogether. The shaky pictures on the screens steadied. Under the Bluffdale City centre street lights, they could see that buildings had remained almost intact. Only the floodlit Wasatch inhabitants continued to move, running in circles and tending their wounds.

  “Is that it?” The minister threw his arms in the air. “All that bother and a fairly minor quake is all we can expect? Get Fort Williams on the line. I want to speak with their top man.”

  Flynn acknowledged the order and began placing the call. Yelena and Mary exchanged pensive looks. “That was their test run. They did the same thing in Japan. The next quake will be devastating, and soon.” Mary signalled Dan to follow her towards the door. Flynn switched the wall monitors back to full screen as the beige general flickered and pixelated before them. Mary hesitated, waiting for the man to speak and wondering whether the delay would be worthwhile.

  “Well, I take ma hat off to you, ma’am. You warned me of a quake and we did experience something of that nature. It was proceeded by some very odd noises, but as you can see we’re all as right as apple pie down here in Utah.” There was a determined smugness about his smile that prompted Yelena to cringe. She had little affection for the United States and even less for their rank and file.

  “General, did these noises sound like a squealing trumpet?” Mary piped up.

  “Why yes, they did, ma’am. It was soon drowned out by the rumbling of the quake though.” He ran his sweaty hand through his greasy hair and replaced his cap.

  “We have reason to believe that there will be a much larger aftershock. You should prepare your troops, general.” Yelena folded her arms across her chest, shifting her weight onto one hip.

  Mary did not linger in Tactical. She beckoned Dan to follow her down the corridor and into the lab. Parth, bewildered by rapid events, trotted after them. Jumping into the leather chairs, Mary reclined to an almost horizontal position while Dan remained upright. “Stay with me Dan. We are in for a bumpy ride.”

  “Always.” The sincerity was touching. Mary smiled to herself, closed her eyes and sang.

  The journey was brisk with the additional buoyancy of Dan’s energy to supplement her own. It was when her consciousness reached northern latitudes that the strain was most noticeable. The continuous barrage of polarised particles in tightly packed geomagnetic fields pulsed through her psyche in waves of discordant pain. “Stay calm, little sister. Instead of trying to block the fields, let them wash right through you.” She thought for moment, recalling the MRI scan Parth had subjected her to. The first of the scans aligned charged particles throughout her body in a head to toe direction. That procedure was bearable. It had been during the second scan, when the magnetism sliced across her brain that the intense pain caused her to react violently. She surmised that the solar storm would achieve its greatest intensity along the natural field lines, close to the magnetic pole.

  Mary adjusted her route, lining up with the direction of particle flow. Almost immediately, the pain diminished, allowing her to soar towards Fairbanks. “Okay, Dan. I’m not sure if this is going to work. I don’t know if I can tune into the Hive, but if I can, your mind might combine too. That will make communication between us, without the others hearing, tricky.”

  “You’ll find a way. I have faith in you. Good luck.”

  Right then. How did I manage this before? Think about Captain Thirty-Four and his men, and the few women too. “Hello? Captain? Can you hear me?” She waited, listening intently for an answer. Her thoughts wandered to the feelings she last experienced when joined to the Hive. How their camaraderie and loyalty had effused her presence with courage. The differences in personalities put aside while they focused every ounce of strength on achieving their mission. There was no reply. “Captain Thirty-Four, can you hear me?” Still, she heard no response.

  “Mary, what if they have been ordered to ignore you?” Dan’s reassuring voice echoed inside her head. He felt closer than breathing. She considered his statement. It would make sense to disavow her authority within the Hive after she had escaped their clutches. She changed tack.

  “Captain, if you can hear me, it’s Mary. Colonel Visser has lied to you. Your mission is not to infiltrate a US research facility. It is to kill thousands of innocent people.” She waited again. The magnetic pulsations throbbed through her subconscious like nuclear radiation in a reactor. It made her feel giddy. “Captain…”

  “I can hear you, Mary.” Captain Thirty-Four interrupted. “We have been instructed to terminate all communication with you.”

  “Please, Captain. Just hear me out.” Mary listened for any signs of dissent. She could feel her energy amalgamating with the Hive energies. The boost in power was immense. “Colonel Visser is using the Extra Low Frequency waves generated at the research facility to target plate tectonic boundaries in subterranean regions of the United States. You are triggering catastrophic earthquakes in populated areas.” She knew that the entire Hive had heard her. There were undercurrents of Russian dialects muttering in the background, louder voices telling their subordinates to be quiet.

  “Wait, please.” The captain said, before quizzing another numbered officer in their own distinctive language. Mary heard, but did not understand the reply to his query. He switched back into English for her sake. “Hive member trained in geology, not sure what you say is possible. The colonel is an honourable man. He would not risk civilian lives. He said the mission is critical.”

  “Ask your man who worked at the Russian Ionospheric facility at Sura. He will tell you that it is fact.” She had him on a hook and was keen to maintain dialogue. A reasonable man he might be, but what would it take for him to abandon his mission and defy orders?

  “Not possible, Mary. He timed out. He has gone home to his family.” The Russian mumblings grew louder inside her head. The Captain had reopened a wound, a canker festering within the ranks. He shouted an order for them to be silent and the moaning and muttering abated.

  “Captain. I am sorry to have to tell you this, but he did not time out. None of your former operatives have gone home to their families. They are dead.” The hush was ominous and oppressive. Each entity within the Hive assimilated her news and applied it to their long-held suspicions about Visser. Belief in a person’s virtue was not something that could be ordered. One of the Hive members with a deep voice, spoke to the Captain. There was a long moment of quiet before he reengaged his discussion with Mary.

  “Whether what you say is true or not, Mary, we have had our orders. We must reintegrate with worker at HAARP. Colonel Visser gave us new coordinates just a short time ago.” The Soviet cacophony roared again. High and low voices, harsh intonations and furious cadences filled her head until it felt as though it might explode.

  “I think your troop agree with me, Captain. They obviously have some grievances of their own.” The noise died down once again.

  “One of our older operatives, Twenty-Two, is a big man. I mean physically, a large man.” The Captain paused, wondering how best to relay the story. “A short while ago, Twenty-Two lost contact with us. He woke up. He told us that he could feel a tube sticking into the back of his head. Then a bright light flooded his eyes, almost blinding him. He said he was at the bottom of a stack of bunks, like in um… boat or submarine.”

  Mary’s mind flickered back to the vision she had seen of racks of patients inside shipping containers during Visser’s evacuation from the disused hospital. The soldiers viewed the image in her mind and were getting restless again. The deep voice of Twenty-Two barked at them to pipe down. Then he addressed his captain. The Hive listened to his response and the captain translated. “Yes, Mary. He says tha
t is exactly what he saw. Shipping containers with us strapped inside.”

  The desire for the captain to continue was all it took to prompt him. Her thoughts and his were one. “He saw men wearing surgical clothes in the doorway. They were pulling body bag across floor. One of the men pressed button on small electronic box. It pumped liquids through tubes all around racks. Twenty-Two sleep again. Came back to us.” The Hive voices remained silent, a solemn moment of mourning for their fallen brethren.

  “Captain. The volume of drugs that Visser has been pumping into each of you is seriously damaging your bodies. If you will help me to locate you, I can arrange for medical help. I can have teams of medics transport you to a hospital to have the drugs flushed from your systems. You could be reunited with your loved ones. Your wives and children, parents, boyfriends…they could all visit you while you recover.” The intonation of the voices sounded more hopeful to Mary. She heard tiny relieved chuckles interspersed between their fast words at the prospect of ending the tour of duty. Only Captain Thirty-Four remained stern.

  “You seem to forget that there are often fatalities within military missions. We will honour our fellow soldier and mourn his loss, but our orders remain. If we defy them, we will all be court marshalled.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  It seemed futile. Captain Thirty-Four could see the logic in her argument but was not prepared to defy orders. More importantly, he appeared to be gearing up to infiltrate the US research facility again with revised coordinates that would more accurately target Camp Williams and the NSA Data Centre in Utah. Civilians residing near the Wasatch Fault would be merely collateral damage. She had used up all her bargaining chips and short of pleading with them, Mary had exhausted her options.

  “Mary.” It was Dan’s voice, rich and soft in the back of her thoughts. “The Hive are on US soil. Offer them asylum and citizenship with a promise to extract their relatives shortly after. I will negotiate the offer from this end.” She felt Dan’s presence leave her. His stabilising influence was noticeable by its absence, despite the support from the Hive. Alone in her mission now, anxiety heightened her awareness. There was dissension in the ranks and a mixture of emotions that manifested as antipathy towards her.