“I suppose so.”
“Then her son caused this, not Dan Salty.”
“I see what you’re getting at. You think Louise’s unborn kid absorbed the pheromone outburst that killed everyone else at Sheridan, leaving her unharmed?”
“I can’t think of a better explanation.”
“And then he unleashed hell at Diamondback Trailer Park, at the same age as Dan Salty was when he destroyed Sheridan.” Naish pulled the collar of her coat tighter as the wind whipped her long dark hair around her face. “You’re thinking it lay dormant in Colin all that time.”
“Sounds about right.” Kelty began putting the clippings back into his briefcase. “According to the military report I got, the army certainly believes so. They picked him up right after the massacre.”
“Then, you already know the answer. The Stopwatch Project is still operational, despite recent…. setbacks.”
“I was afraid of that. But it won’t work Naish.” Kelty gave a disapproving glare. “Dan Salty and Colin were flukes and both have used up their pheromones. All my data was destroyed and no scientist knows how to re-create the serum I used to set Dan off.”
“I’m sure they’ll try.”
“Even after two bases being wiped out?”
“Let’s hope they’ll be very careful.”
“You know they won’t. They’re too arrogant.”
“Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.” Naish pushed tangled hair back from her face. “Anyway, it’s nothing that I can change. I’m not part of the Project anymore.”
“You’re going to be, I guarantee it.” Kelty winked at her.
“Why did you come back, Markus?” Naish looked apprehensively around. “Soon as you called, wanting to meet, the army flew me over to Scotland. I’m sure you considered this might be a trap.”
“Of course. Top Brass would love to prise whatever knowledge they can out of me. In all sorts of unpleasant ways, I imagine.”
“So, why put yourself in such danger?”
“To be alone with you for a few minutes.”
Kelty looked around. The dog walker was closer now, the wind whipping at his scarf. The woman with the green coat was still reading her book.
“The military will hunt me down eventually, so I figured I better give them what they want.”
“I don’t understand,” Naish frowned.
“There’s a key to a safety deposit box in your coat pocket. I put it there when I was patting you down.”
“Now I really I don’t understand.”
“In that box is the last batch of active Stopwatch serum. I saved it from Kirkfallen.”
Kelty sat back and stared at the sky.
“It’s invaluable, as the military won’t be able to replicate it.”
“Any substance can be broken down and copied. You know that.”
“Don’t be foolish, Naish. They can’t even do it with Coca Cola.” Kelty wiped his nose with his sleeve. “They’d need to know the exact process of making it and I’ve stopped that ever happening again.”
“You sabotaged the Kirkfallen base, didn’t you?” Naish said quietly. “I always suspected it.”
“That I did. Wiped the data and killed everyone working on the project.”
“Then why are you giving me a serum you went to such lengths to destroy?”
“When they get nowhere, the military will put you back on the project. You were my assistant and the only qualified person left. Hell, they might even promote you and stick you in charge.”
“I don’t want the job.”
“Yes. You never approved of what I was doing, thank God.” Kelty put a hand on her shoulder. “But here’s why you’re going to take it and what you’re going to do.”
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear.
“You have got to be shitting me.” Naish’s eyes widened. “I can’t! It’s treason!”
Kelty’s lip curled
‘For once in your fucking life, Catherine Naish, have the guts to act on your convictions. People who blindly follow orders are as bad as those who give them.”
“What do you mean? I’ve always…”
“Why would anyone take their pet to a big green space and then keep it on a leash?” Kelty interrupted.
He nodded towards the dog walker, now only twenty yards away.
“I knew you’d betray me, Catherine. In fact I counted on it.”
He gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“If you won’t do the right thing out of decency, perhaps you’ll do from guilt.”
“Oh, Markus. I didn’t… ”
“It’s Doctor Kelty, Naish.”
He reached inside his pocket and brought out a gun.
“Markus, no!” Naish leapt to her feet. “There are soldiers…”
“There always are.” Kelty smiled sadly. “But they’ll get nothing more out of me.”
He turned and fired. The dog walker looked surprised, then toppled over. The dog bounded away, free at last.
Kelty turned and ran towards the brow of the hill, greatcoat flapping behind him. There was a sharp crack and the doctor spun sideways, clutching his leg.
“Don’t kill him!” Naish sprinted towards Kelty, waving her arms. “He’s the only one who knows the…”
She skidded to a halt as the doctor raised his gun and pointed it at her.
“No. He’s bluffing!” she yelled. “Don’t sho…”
There was another sharp retort and Kelty fell backwards. A plume of red spouted from his chest and was whipped away by the wind.
“Markus, no!”
A man in a black leather jacket emerged from the bushes a hundred yards away, sniper’s rifle in hand. He ran over to her.
“You OK, Major Naish?”
The woman knelt over, trying not to retch.
“What did say to you, Major?” the man asked urgently
After a few seconds Naish straightened up and patted her cheeks. She picked up Kelty’s briefcase from the bench.
“What did he say to you?” The sniper repeated
“That’s above your pay grade.” Naish tucked the briefcase under her arm.
“But, if you must know, he was saying goodbye.”
43
The Atlantic Ocean, Fifty Miles West of the Hebrides 2000
The trawler Lillian Gish II gouged a furrow through scudding whitecaps, scrappy clouds and seagulls duelling in the sky above. Colin stood at the prow with the skipper, both wearing woolly hats and overcoats.
“This isn’t what I signed up for.” Captain Hall wiped salt spray from his handlebar moustache. “You didn’t say anything about a girl coming along.”
“For what I’m paying you, I could bring the London Symphony Orchestra.” Colin pushed his hair more securely into his hat.
“Don’t you think it’s about time you told me where we’re going?” Hall indicated the expanse of heaving grey and green in front of the ship. “I doubt this is a seal spotting trip.”
“Set course for Kirkfallen Island.”
“Are you crazy?” The Skipper turned on his companion. “Nobody gets permission to land there. No ship ever has – rumour is, it’s owned by the US military or something. I’m not getting boarded or blown out of the water, no matter how much you’re offering!”
“Get on the ship’s radio and contact Kirkfallen.” Colin pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket. “This is the frequency. Ask for an Edward Stapleton. He’ll give you permission.”
The skipper snatched the paper and glared at it. Without another word, he stomped towards the wheelhouse.
Colin waited, hands in his pockets.
After a few minutes Captain Hall returned, sliding on the spray soaked deck. His face registered deep suspicion.
“We have authorization to land,” he grumbled. “You must know some pretty high up people.”
“When we moor, set us ashore, then head back to the Hebrides.” Colin took back the scrap of paper. He opened his fingers and it
was whipped over the side by the wind. “The second half of your payment will go into your bank account on one condition. You tell nobody about this.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m pretty sure we’re doing something dodgy.”
“I’m going below. Let me know when we reach our destination.”
Colin entered the cabin, shrugging off his overcoat. Apathy was sitting on a bunk, glaring at him.
“Well?” she said, stretching her thin arms. “When are we meeting my dad?”
“I told you. He’ll be following us shortly.”
Colin flopped onto the bunk opposite and pulled the red hat from his head. His static filled hair gently floated down to a more normal shape.
“I don’t know how your mum figured out where we were but the area was suddenly crawling with police. He’s covering our tracks while I get you to safety. Can’t risk the authorities returning you to Edinburgh in your condition.”
“Yeah. And where exactly are you going to hide me that’s safe?”
Colin patted the wall of the boat.
“This old crate is taking us to Kirkfallen Island in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s completely isolated. Perfect, in fact.”
“Where the monsters are?”
Colin raised a thick eyebrow. “Hmmmm…. I figured Dan might mention that.”
“He did. But I still don’t understand how you both know about this place?”
“The next part of the story, I guess.” Colin rubbed his red hands to restore circulation. “You ready to hear it?”
“I think my days of blissful ignorance are well and truly over.”
“After the Diamondback Massacre, Dan got away by walking over the hills. I unfortunately, was put on a bus.” The Lillian Gish II listed slightly as the ship changed course. “Did you know that 75% of all wanted criminals in the US are caught on interstate Greyhound buses?”
“I’m underwhelmed with indifference.”
“I managed to get about twenty miles before we were stopped at a military roadblock. I had no ID and no explanation for where I had been or where I was going. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out who I really was.”
Colin sighed ruefully.
“And some of these guys were rocket scientists.”
“They caught you?”
“Yup. The military tested and probed and poked me for months. They took blood samples, tissue samples, DNA samples. Samples of everything.”
Colin’s mouth set in a tight line.
“I didn’t realise, at the time, what some of these samples were for.”
“What did they find?”
“Nothing. I’d already released what was inside me. Even so, they kept me in custody for almost a year. Then they hit me with a bombshell. A Colonel Naish informed me I was to be relocated to a place called Kirkfallen Island. It wouldn’t be so bad, she said. It wasn’t a prison. More like a community. More like a… family.”
Colin slapped his hands on his knees to stop them bouncing up and down.
“They liked to play God, these people. They did it with D.B and they did it with me. Then Naish told me what some of those samples they took were really for. Artificial insemination.”
The engines changed rhythm as the trawler picked up speed.
“I was sixteen years old. And she informed me I now had a daughter.”
44
Kirkfallen Island 2000
The walkie talkie on Edward Stapleton’s belt crackled and a gruff voice cut through the static.
“Edward, it’s Wentworth. Are the kids gone yet? I’ve been hiding in this damned bunker for an hour, trying to stay out of their way. Over.”
“That’s my dad!” Millar gasped.
“Eh… They’re sitting right next to me, Geoff. They can hear everything you’re saying.”
“Damn!”
“We’re a little out of practice as a smooth running military unit,” Edward apologized. “It’s been almost fifteen years since we did anything but farm and fish.”
“My dad’s gonna kill me.” Millar moaned.
“No I’m not.” The voice came over the air again. “I’m more likely going to beg your forgiveness, but that will have to wait.”
“What’s our status, Wentworth?”
“We just got a radio message from a trawler called the Lillian Gish II. They have Colin Walton and his daughter on board, asking permission to land.”
“Colin Walton?”
“The very same. I gave them the all clear like Colonel Naish ordered.”
There was more crackling and Wentworth Watt came through again, loud and clear. “But that’s not his daughter with him. It can’t be.”
“We know that. But Naish obviously doesn’t.” The confusion was plain on Edward’s face. “I don’t know what the hell Colin’s playing at.”
“It’s not him that worries me.” Wentworth said. “It’s the fact that Naish is on her way – and she won’t be coming alone.”
“Now that the Orbisons are dead, the army was going to arrive anyway.”
The children glanced at each other but kept quiet.
“But they weren’t due for another week. This could really put a spanner in the works.”
“Alert the appropriate people, Wentworth. Then wait for my instructions.”
“Will do. Over and out.”
Edward clipped the walkie talkie back on his belt and nodded towards the entrance of MacLellan Base. A few minutes later Wentworth Watt emerged from the doorway. Millar stood up, clutching and unclutching his hands. His father strode over and pulled the teenager into a bear hug.
“Are you OK?”
“No time, Wentworth.” Edward nodded in the direction of the village. “I’ll finish up here.”
Wentworth gave a throaty growl. He hugged Millar one more time then stepped away.
“Just remember I love you.”
He kissed his son on the forehead, then headed for the Fence. He produced a key from his pocket, opened the padlock on the chain link gate and ran off in the direction of the village.
“You were talking about a guy called Colin Walton.” Gene looked up at his father. “Is he related to the Waltons who used to live here?”
“Who are the Waltons?” Millar butted in, dismayed that Gene might actually know something he didn’t.
“We’ve always claimed nobody ever left this island, Millar. A man called Colin Walton did.”
Edward cast his eyes across the Atlantic swells.
“What I don’t understand is why he’s on his way back.”
He clapped his hands together and pulled Gene to his feet.
“No matter. US troops will be here soon and, when they arrive, you are going to play a pivotal role in our survival.”
“I’ll do my best sir.”
“Don’t ever Sir me again. You’re not a soldier.” Edward patted his son on the cheek. “Here’s the last part of the Fallen story. The good part.”
His eyes glinted with sinister charm.
“The part the military would kill us if they knew.”
45
Kirkfallen Island
1996
Naish stood so close to the scudding surf that it occasionally rolled over her boots. She wore a US army uniform with insignia on the shoulders indicating the rank of Colonel. Behind her, where the beach surrendered to firmer, higher ground, a group of squaddies were building cottages. Further inland, a tractor combed rich, dark furrows into soil that had never felt the tear of a plough. Gulls circled angrily in white fluttering crowds as their habitat was torn apart.
She spotted Edward Stapleton and Colin Walton walking along the shoreline and waved them over.
Colin wore the same sullen expression that permanently darkened his face. Naish couldn’t blame him. The poor lad was only sixteen and she had sentenced him to imprisonment on this island, for God knows how many years. If that wasn’t bad enough, she had lumbered him with a family. A daughter he didn’t want and a partner the army h
ad chosen for him.
Edward Stapleton saluted when he reached her, but it was slack and cursory - a gesture that went well beyond insolence. Naish let it pass.
“Well. Here we stand at the limit of our universe,” Edward said disdainfully, drawing a line in the sand with his boot. The water rushed up and immediately eradicated the mark.
“This may be the last time you’ll see me, so I need to talk to you alone.” Naish adopted her sternest tone.
“What I’m about to impart stays between us.”
“Yeah. And who are we gonna tell?” Colin shot her a look of undisguised hatred.
“Please listen, I’m about to put my life on the line.”
Colin and Edward looked at each other. Naish pointed up at the wheeling cacophony overhead.
“What with the birds and the surf and the cloud cover, nobody can monitor us – not even if the army had a spy satellite pointed right at this spot.”
“Get to the point.” Colin, having gone through the stages of anger, unfulfilled hope and then despair in the last few months, had now perfected a rebellious insolence that befitted his teenage years.
“Let’s go over why you are here one more time, so it’s straight in your minds.” Naish kept her expression neutral. “What’s your cover story?”
“The Kirkfallen community is a social and scientific experiment.” Edward recited what he had learned by rote. “An attempt to see if an isolated island environment can sustain a community. We will be testing scientifically modified fertilizers, crops, pesticides and polymer fishing nets to see which combinations produce the best food yields. In order to do that, we have to live in near isolation.”
“And why is that?” Naish prompted.
“We can’t have boats from the mainland anchor here in case they introduce rats or insects or even stray pollen into our environment, negating the research we are doing.”
“Very good Mr Stapleton.”
“Except it’s all bull.” Edward didn’t bother to say Ma’am. His displeasure was more contained than Colin’s and all the more biting for it.
“Yes. The wheels behind the wheels.” Naish spun a circle in the air. “Only army intelligence knows the secondary role of Kirkfallen. For years the Stopwatch Unit has acted as a covert force sent to other countries to… eh… fix problems.”
The Kirkfallen Stopwatch Page 15
