by Peter Parkin
CHAPTER FIFTY
"We won't spend much time here at this next lab. What you will see is similar in scope to what you witnessed at the de-socialization compound. Just a bunch of lethargic Vervet monkeys, sleepy and indifferent." They stopped in front of the glass panel. Fiona was trying to spot something that might be different, but Shannon was right. It seemed to be the exact same scenario as the first lab.
"So, what's different here that we can't see?"
"They're all stupid."
Fiona turned away from the window and frowned at Shannon. "Stupid?
What do you mean by 'stupid?'"
"Just what I said. These monkeys have completely lost their ability to think. We modified the alien organisms to rob the recipients of their brainpower. The little buggers barely have enough intelligence to eat. They simply can't function. These guys are sixth generation—and they'll have an average lifespan of only about two years, because they lack the smarts to even just survive."
Brett swore under his breath. "What's the point?"
Shannon chuckled. "C'mon, Doctor Sikorsky. Even a non-military man like you should appreciate how we could use this particular strain of the creepy crawlers. We spray a city, or an entire country for that matter—let's say Japan—and within months the population would be helpless. Their brains destroyed. We then swoop in and take over their industry and infrastructure. It's brilliant. Never again would we have to worry about the Japanese auto industry dominating an industry that we Americans invented. Hell, we were hoping Fukishima would accomplish that for us—you don't really think that the quake caused the tsunami, do you? Anyway, our subsurface nuke didn't do what we thought it would, so maybe this alien invention will do the trick."
Avery turned to Shannon. "Are you insane?"
Shannon scowled. "Hey, you military types gave us our marching orders. Aren't you in the loop, Colonel? I thought you were one of the architects of this little enterprise. I'm surprised that you sound shocked by this."
Fiona could feel goose bumps tingling up her back. She knew that Avery wished he could have taken back what he said. The brutal reality of what they were seeing was working to tear away their cover identities. Avery was clearly starting to forget who he was pretending to be. She could see that he was a bit flustered now, well aware of the mistake he just made.
Brett jumped in. "Doctor Shannon, I think it's obvious that for someone like you who works with the details of these experiments every day, you can get de-sensitized to the realities of them. For us back in our ivory tower worlds, we deal only in the high-level big picture. I think that I can speak for Doctor Huntington as well when I say that the three of us are shocked at how these applications can be used at the grassroots level."
Fiona had to fight back the smile that wanted to creep across her face. Brett to the rescue again. She had never met anyone before who was as persuasive and quick on his feet. She could see Shannon's face immediately lose its suspicious cast.
Shannon turned away from Avery and stared back through the glass wall at the almost comatose monkeys. "Well, that's understandable, I guess. To me, this is just everyday stuff. You folks only get to see and hear about it a few times a year."
He motioned with his hand and led the way further down the corridor, coming to a stop at another glass wall that, like the one with the superman chimps, was shielded on the inside by steel blinds. He pulled the remote control off his hip and hesitated before pushing the button.
"I want to warn you. This is not pleasant—not that any of it has been pleasant so far, but this one is really not pleasant at all."
Fiona felt her knees grow weak. She'd seen enough already and just wanted to turn around and run through the jungle back to Dennis.
"Prepare us."
"These are the mistakes. The cast-offs. The mutants that popped out once in a while in a litter. We knew we'd have some bad crops, but these were the exceptional ones. So, we study these guys and try to understand what it was in the strain that caused them to happen. As long as we can convince ourselves that these bad apples are unique and rare and won't start becoming the norm, we'll be satisfied. We sure wouldn't want this to happen in the human population."
Shannon let his eyes pass from one to the other. "Are you ready?"
They each nodded.
"Okay, then." He pressed the button on the remote and the steel blind folded back.
All three of them gasped in unison.
The immediate thought that entered Fiona's mind was that this was worse than the movie, 'Night of the Living Dead.' The floor inside the compound was covered with feces, with several of the creatures licking and crawling their way through the mess. Fiona thought she could smell it, even though she knew the unit was airtight and any escape of odor was impossible. But just the sight alone brought the notion of the smell to her nostrils and she felt like she wanted to puke again.
She could tell that these animals were monkeys, but only barely. Several had two heads, each with moving eyeballs and flicking tongues. Two heads that were both functional and competing with each other. One creature had two heads that had grown out in a manner that they were facing each other, biting and snarling at each other.
Fiona was startled from her hypnotic trance by a loud bang against the glass. She lurched, and stared at the animal that had tried to break the barrier. It was sort of a chimp, but had virtually no hair on its body—just an ugly gray mass of skin. It had four hind legs and three arms; one arm protruding from its chest. Each limb seemed to be functional, banging on the glass like a grotesque giant insect. Its tongue was too large for its mouth and hung down past its chin. It wiggled and twisted but seemed unable to retract into its mouth.
She glanced over at Brett to see his reaction. She could see he was transfixed by a curious creature that was licking the glass directly in front of him. The thing had three eyes in its forehead, a hole in the middle of its face—presumably a nose—and no ears. Protruding from its mouth were two teeth that were at least a foot in length, reminding Fiona of the illustrations of sabre-toothed tigers. It drooled yellow scum down the glass, and then just as quickly licked it back up again. Then more drool, more licking—Fiona guessed that this was how this beast occupied its day.
Avery was leaning up against the glass, examining several tiny little animals scurrying around the larger ones. They had shells covering their backs like turtles, but they also resembled crabs. Their heads though were clearly Vervet monkey heads—with one difference. They had antennae poking out from their foreheads; quivering, probing antennae that seemed to give the animals their direction. Then Fiona saw why these antennae were important—the animals had no eyes, not even sockets.
Brett coughed and turned away from the window. "Doctor Shannon, close the blinds. We've seen enough."
Shannon complied without argument, but Fiona thought she saw a grin cross his face for just a second.
"Okay, follow me. My office is just down the hall."
There was no hesitation from the three of them as they followed Shannon around the next corner and into a spacious office, a space that immediately struck Fiona as being functional but very cold. It suited Shannon's personality, being dominated by TV screens, computer terminals and a shiny metal desk.
She noticed also that there was a large control panel on the wall equipped with a magnetic keypad and button console. Fiona guessed that this was the main panel for the entire complex, controlling all the security and access doors. She saw that Brett and Avery were taking special notice of this panel as well.
Shannon motioned for them to sit down in the guest chairs that were parked in front of his desk. The chairs were metal as well and matched perfectly with the ugliness of the desk. He sat down in his plush leather chair behind the desk and stared at them.
"Well, what do you think? Did we pass muster?"
Avery cleared his throat before replying. "I think that what you're doing here is both remarkable and shocking at the same time. However, from a militar
y viewpoint, I'm quite excited about the prospects."
"I'm glad to hear that—in fact I'm relieved to hear that. How about you, Doctor Sikorsky?"
"The scientific aspects are fascinating, but I have to say..." Brett was interrupted by the buzzing of Shannon's cellphone. He slipped it out of its belt holster and looked at the screen.
"Excuse me—I need to take this call."
He put the phone up to his ear and said nothing. He didn't have to say anything. Fiona watched his expression change dramatically with each second. She glanced over at Brett and could tell that he was noticing it too. The goose bumps were back and Fiona got a strange feeling; kind of a premonition of impending doom.
With the phone still attached to his ear, Shannon reached his hand under the desk. Almost immediately a siren began screaming throughout the complex and Fiona heard a series of loud metallic clicks, starting with the door to Shannon's office and cascading on down through the corridor.
She knew in her gut that they had just been locked in.
CHAPTER FIFTY ONE
To Fiona, the next few tense minutes went by in a blur. Her eyes were transfixed on Shannon, the angry determined look in his eyes as he was pushing the panic button underneath the desk. His other hand dropped the phone and, in one swift move, yanked open a desk drawer and pulled out a pistol.
Her ears were filled with the wail of the sirens, but not even they were loud enough to drown out the pounding of her heart.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught Brett on the move—lightning fast, he leaped onto the top of Shannon's desk and kicked the pistol out of his hand. Then the foot twisted sideways catching the scientist on the side of his head knocking him to the floor.
Avery was on the move as well—he tested the door; sure enough it was locked. He ran over to the control panel and examined it. He turned to Brett as if to say something about it, then stopped himself and shouted, "Brett, he's popping!"
Brett swiveled around and dove on top of the prone Shannon. He pulled the man's hand from his mouth and rammed his own fingers inside just as the scientist chomped down. "Help, Avery. Scoop it out!"
Fiona had no idea what was going on—she just knew that her two companions were panicked. Brett kept his fingers inside Shannon's mouth and she saw him wince as the man's teeth clamped down hard. Avery grabbed the scientist's hair in one hand and inclined the head backwards as far as it would go, with Brett's fingers still inside. Avery then slid his index finger inside the corner of the man's mouth and made a scooping movement.
"Got it!"
Avery pulled something out of Shannon's mouth and tossed it onto the floor near Fiona. She picked it up and could see that it was a little oval pill, brown in color, and knew right away what it was.
Her Pentagon experience had exposed her to the seldom-discussed topic of cyanide pills. She had never seen one but knew that they were small and coated in rubber to prevent premature breakage. Underneath the rubber coating was a light glass capsule containing the death potion. People who were provided with these pills were instructed to crush them with their molars—after that brain death was quick and the heart would then stop within a couple of minutes.
Fiona knew that agents in the field and air force pilots flying sensitive missions were provided with these pills, in case they were captured and tortured for information. She also knew that astronauts were always provided with cyanide pills in the event that an incident in outer space made it impossible for them to return to earth. Fiona shoved the pill into her pocket.
Brett yanked Shannon up off the floor by the lapels of his lab jacket, and threw him roughly back into his chair. "You're not dying just yet, Doctor Strangelove. At least not until you unlock the door."
Shannon just stared back at him, no expression in his eyes at all—Fiona thought that it was the face of a man who had already decided upon and accepted his own death.
Brett reared his hand back and rammed a finger into the right side of the man's chest. Shannon started to cough as blood began to stream out over his white jacket. "Okay, Shannon, one lung is now punctured. You'll survive, but if I puncture the other one, it's doubtful if you'll last through the night."
Avery was over at the control panel again. He swiped his card across the magnetic pad. Nothing happened.
"Brett, throw me his card."
Brett rummaged through Shannon's pockets, found it and tossed it over to Avery. Avery swiped and they all heard the encouraging beep. But the door remained locked.
"We need his combination now to punch into the keypad."
Brett slapped Shannon's face hard. "I'm not fooling around here, Doc.
Give me the combination, now!"
Shannon's face was rapidly turning a sickly shade of white. He coughed up a bit of blood and shook his head. Brett rammed his finger into the man's forehead, just enough to make a small puncture. "I'll put the next one right into your brain, you prick. Give me the combination."
Shannon shook his head.
Brett stood up and rubbed his temples, cursing. "There's no point torturing someone who's already made up his mind that he's prepared to die. Think, think..."
Fiona watched the rare signs of frustration on the face of a man who always had a solution. She could tell that he knew he'd finally hit a brick wall, that this was probably the end of the road. She knew it would be for her and Avery too.
Avery walked over to Brett and rubbed his back. "We need to get behind the desk, Brett. The cavalry will be here soon. We'll just shoot our way through them."
Suddenly Brett slapped himself on the side of his head. "I know what numbers they used, the arrogant pricks!"
He rushed over to the keypad. "Nine, thirty, seventy-seven."
The door clicked open. Fiona shrieked with joy. As they each ran for the door, she asked, "How did you know?"
"That's the same combo that the real Colonel Wentworth used for the safe at his house. And that's the date when the assholes nuked the moon."
As they were going through the doorway, Brett suddenly stopped. "Wait. We can't have him locking the doors again on us."
Brett ran back to the scientist and rammed his finger into his right temple. He toppled out of his chair and lay prone on the floor.
"He'll be out for awhile. Let's go. Get your guns out and switch the safeties off."
With Avery leading the way, they ran down the corridor, back the way the scientist had led them from. They came to a metal door. It was locked. Avery tried his card—nothing. Then he tried Shannon's card. Nothing again. Brett punched in the same numbers—no luck.
"Okay, it's clear that the cards can get us through one way, but don't get us out. Another security measure. If they want to keep people in, they can. Shannon must have an extra code he uses—an exit code."
Fiona shoved the Glock into her waistband. "Let's go back the other way. When Shannon's door unlocked, I could hear the clicking of other doors somewhere in this complex, and that panel in his office looked like the main control panel. I'm sure his door must be on the same circuit as other doors, because I heard them unlocking."
Brett nodded. "Right. We'll head back and take another corridor. We'll find the open doors—if there's a clear way out of here, we'll find it."
The sirens had stopped, presumably when Shannon's door and others had unlocked themselves. In the silence of the corridor now, they heard the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps...coming from somewhere. Fiona felt her heart becoming heavy in her chest. Breathing in the antiseptic air was causing her to feel nauseous again, but she knew she didn't have the time to be sick now. She pulled her gun out of her belt and held it up in the air as she ran.
Avery held out his hand in the stop sign. He bent over and took off his shoes, and motioned for them to do the same. He cocked his head trying to ascertain where the footsteps were coming from—several hallways led off the main one they were on. It could have been any one of them. They knew they had to go north to get out of the complex, so there were only a
couple of options they could take. The first one they tried had been locked, and Fiona could see that the next north corridor was only about thirty feet ahead.
Avery was smart to have made them remove their shoes—they would now hear approaching footsteps but their pursuers wouldn't hear them.
He motioned and they started running again—this time to the comforting sound of the soft padding of their socks.
Avery raised his hand again. They stopped.
He whispered. "Brett, from the diagrams I saw of this complex before we came, I remember how all the hallways connected at different points. It's a labyrinth. There are plenty more labs that we didn't even see today. The corridors on the other side of that locked door back there all connect back to this side from what I remember. So, we could work our way around—do an 'end run.' It may be the only way we can get out of here. Some doors are going to be open, and some will still be locked. We have to find the ones that are on the same circuit that Shannon's door was on. As Fiona said, we heard other doors locking and then unlocking again."
"Yeah, I agree. The problem is, with all the tile and steel in these hallways, sound travels a long distance. Hard to tell where the sounds of unlocking doors—or even footsteps—are coming from."
"Let's just get going. We'll get out of this maze."
Avery started running again, and Fiona and Brett were just about to follow when they saw their first pursuer. About fifty yards down the hall in front of them—a soldier in green fatigues, carrying an AK47, burst around the corner heading straight in their direction.
He saw them at the exact same moment they saw him. Brett yelled a warning. Avery dove to the tiled floor, gun in hand, and slid along the smooth tiled floor on his chest for about ten feet, pistol barking as he slid.
The marine took the blasts from Avery in the chest and he screamed, machine gun bursting towards the ceiling as he fell dead to the ground.
They heard shouts and more footsteps. They seemed to be coming from the direction of the hallway the marine had turned in from. However, there was one other hallway before that one, and without saying it to each other they knew that was the one they had to turn into...and fast.