The Kirkfallen Stopwatch

by J. A. Henderson

  “Very good.” The Colonel seemed satisfied with the answer. “Now. What’s your story, Mr Walton?”

  “I’m familiar with the set up here.” Colin didn’t bother with military protocol. “I know that, in the future, this island will be one of the few safe places on earth. I wanted my family to survive, so I arranged to have them brought to Kirkfallen.”

  He shrugged non-commitally.

  “That meant telling a bit of a white lie. Apathy is actually my niece.”

  “Your definition of a white lie beggars belief - and let’s not forget you deserted the island in the first place.” Potter’s voice was soft but the menace in it was unmistakeable.

  “I didn’t desert. I’m not a soldier.” Colin refused to be intimidated. “In my situation I imagine you’d have done the same.”

  Naish drew in a sharp breath. The Brigadier took his hands off the desk and stepped back.

  “Yes. I probably would have,” he chuckled. “It was a canny move, Mr Walton, and it worked. Dan and Emily are in Private Ainsworth’s cottage and they’re mad as hell at you.”

  He tapped the side of his nose.

  “But it’s better to have them here than on the loose, knowing what they know.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  The Colonel fixed Colin with an owlish stare. “So where’s your real daughter? And her mother, Libby Walton.”

  “They didn’t make it.” Colin’s demeanour was as rigid as the soldiers around him. “I barely managed to reach the mainland myself.”

  “It was quite a feat of seamanship, I’ll admit.” Colonel Potter nodded sagely. “So why the cock and bull story about Apathy being yours?”

  “Wanted to make sure I had your attention.”

  “You certainly got that and, I must say, I admire your chutzpah.”

  “Does this mean we can stay?”

  “I suppose so. Although, I did consider putting your whole family in a helicopter and dropping them in the ocean.”

  “You’re a humane man, Brigadier Potter.”

  “So. Here’s how it’s going to play out.” Potter put his hands behind his back in an official manner. With the blackboard behind him he resembled a stern schoolmaster.

  “Mister Stapleton, you are relieved of command. Since your son has obviously released his pheromones, your family will accompany us back to your home, the United States of America. You will be given some tests, sign a secrecy agreement - and then be free to go on with your lives. Is that acceptable?”

  “Sir. Yes, Sir.”

  “Emily and Dan Walton – or should I say D.B. Salty - will also accompany us for testing. Then they will be returned to Kirkfallen.”

  “That wasn’t part of the deal,” Colin interrupted.

  “I wasn’t aware we had a deal. They’ll be brought back unharmed, I promise.”

  “And the rest of the children?”

  “Your appearance has brought home just how… precarious our position here really is.” Potter rolled his eyes theatrically. “It’s time to act. Poppy Ainsworth and Millar Watt will be relocated to the Far East. It’s time the Stopwatch Project proved its worth.”

  There was a hushed silence through the room. Sonja Watt and Alison Ainsworth exchanged imperceptible glances but remained rigidly to attention. Everyone considered the enormity of what was being decided.

  “I’ll make sure the Unit is informed.” Edward said evenly. “Begging your pardon sir but we know our duty. Was a whole battalion as your escort really necessary?”

  “Probably not.” The Brigadier took off horn rimmed glasses and wiped them on the tail of his uniform. Without them his eyes were just as big and bulbous.

  “But I’m a cautious man too and I don’t appreciate all these loose ends suddenly appearing. Plus I didn’t want you going native on me.”

  “Understood.”

  “That will be all. I’d like to see the children before I leave, but I’ll make sure the majority of my men are back on the choppers first. Before we do, I’d like a chance to speak to the Stopwatch Unit.”

  “They expected as much, so most of them are digging out their old uniforms. We keep them hidden from the kids,” Edward added, self-consciously. “Let’s hope they still fit.”

  “That’s not really necessary, Mr Stapleton.”

  “I know, but the Unit hasn’t had a proper inspection for years. It would be a big boost for their morale. I can have them assembled on the beach in half an hour.”

  “Very well.” Colonel Potter gave in. “In the meantime, I’ll have a look round the village.”

  “Sergeant Ainsworth will be happy to escort you.”

  Alison Ainsworth looked far from happy but kept silent.

  “Mr Walton.” Potter turned to Colin. “Once we’re gone, the remainder of the Stopwatch Unit will help you build a home and give you a plot of land.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “And I suggest your family learn to farm real quick.” He dismissed Edward’s group with a wave of his hand. “We’ve no use for slackers here.”

  Gene was waiting for his father outside.

  Well done son.” Edward put an arm round the teenager, still trembling from his ordeal. “Go to the croft and tell your mum I’ll be there as soon as the Brigadier has finished his snoop around.”

  “Dad? What happened to the Orbisons? Did I do something to them?”

  “Later, son.” Edward pushed the teenager brusquely in the direction of their home. “Now’s really not the time.”

  Gene bit back a reply and left, just as the Potter and his entourage stepped out of the Information Hut and set off on their tour of the village. As soon as they were out of earshot Colin rounded on Edward Stapleton.

  “What’s going on? I’m a con man by trade and something back there sure smelled fishy to me.”

  “You’re a what?”

  “Long story.”

  “That was a bit of subterfuge,” Edward said.

  “Who the hell are the Orbisons?”

  “Orbison was their cover name. They were both army doctors.”

  Edward loosened his top button. He was far more muscular than he had been fifteen years ago and his uniform was uncomfortably tight.

  “They didn’t know it, but the army sent them here as human guinea pigs. When the first of the kids were quarantined, they were supposed to be there to monitor what happened. If the Orbisons went crazy, then Top Brass would know their experiment worked.”

  “What if they harmed the kid?”

  “Our people would be present too. And remember, sociopaths like us aren’t affected by pheromone release.”

  “Sounds like they did go nuts.”

  “They didn’t.” Edward hesitated, then plunged ahead. “Gene hasn’t released his pheromones yet.”

  “What?”

  Sonja put her head down and began inspecting her rifle.

  “Gene hasn’t released his pheromones yet,” Edward repeated. “I knew he sneaked off to Pittenhall Ridge to sketch birds every Sunday and the Orbisons liked to walk there too, so I slipped a tranquilizer into the boy’s food at breakfast. He slept through the whole thing.”

  “What thing? What killed the Orbisons?”

  “Sonja and I did.” Edward’s expression was unreadable. “The survival of this community depended on the army believing the Stopwatch Project worked exactly as they’d hoped. We had no choice.”

  “You bumped the doctors off, without a thought?”

  “No. We thought about it.” Sonja jutted out her chin defiantly. “Then we bumped them off.”

  “That’s pretty damned nasty.”

  “We weren’t picked to be in the Stopwatch Unit because we were Boy Scouts,” Edward replied contemptuously. “We used the old bag-of-seed-scattered-over-the-ground trick so the air was thick with birds. Prevented any spy satellites spotting the murder. Worked for getting you off the island too, as I recall.”

  “Oh,” Colin’s said awkwardly. “Well, I do appreciate a good
con.”

  “It worked. Everything has worked the way we wanted.” Sonja’s voice was tinged with pride.

  “Gene will go to the USA and Poppy and Millar to the Far East,” Edward continued. “But when they release their pheromones it will make people co-operate, not kill each other. We might even achieve world peace.”

  He gave a snigger.

  “Think of it. World peace achieved by a group of sociopaths, trained to do nothing but kill.”

  Colin licked his lips nervously.

  “It’s not going to happen, Eddie.”

  “What do you mean?” Edward’s hand went instinctively to the revolver strapped to his side. “Is this the something to do with the warning you were talking about earlier?”

  “You were right about Markus Kelty, all those years ago,” Colin said. “I found his daughter. Her name was Elspeth Flintheart.”

  Colin warily eyed the sidearm.

  “When Dr Kelty died, Aiki Conroy married a car salesman. I been keeping an eye on her the last few months and I don’t think she had any idea what Kelty had done to her.”

  He fished a cigarette from his breast pocket with trembling hands.

  “Problem is, Aiki Conroy was injected with Mandibular Pheromones, just like all of your kids… but as her daughter approached sixteenth, she began slowly releasing Alarm Pheromones.”

  Edward went white.

  “Oh, my God. That can’t be right.”

  “Humans are far more complex than ants.” Colin picked his words carefully. “I guess that was Kelty’s real problem. He could never really see the difference between the two species.”

  “I think the clue is in the number of legs,” Sonja said witheringly.

  “Let him speak,” Edward commanded.

  “Pheromones do different jobs for insects,” Colin continued. “But they don’t operate that simply in humans. Kimberly Flintheart became a teenager, with all the fears and worries that entailed. And her parents weren’t getting along. When that happened she stopped producing Mandibular Pheromones and started emitting Alarm Pheromones instead.”

  Colin bit his lip.

  “That got me thinking about when I was at Diamondback. I was happy then. And the others at the trailer park they became much more friendly and sociable. But I was supposed to be filled with the Alarm Pheromone.”

  “You were. Your release made everyone at the trailer park go kill crazy.”

  “Because I was scared out of my mind.” Colin lit his cigarette, cupping shaking hands around the flame.

  “I’ve had plenty of time to think about it and Kelty was wrong. It doesn’t matter what kind of pheromone we have inside. The stress of release will always produce the stronger pheromone, the Alarm Pheromone.”

  “So, what happened to Elspeth Flintheart?” Edward asked. “Is she still a danger?”

  Colin held his breath for a long, long time. When he exhaled his words came out wrapped round a thread of poisonous smoke.

  “She and her family are dead.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Gas explosion. Don’t ask me any more about it.”

  “And you have the temerity to call me cold.” Edward curled his lip. “Was D.B. Salty part of this?”

  “He had no idea.” Colin took another vicious drag. “My brother’s seen too much killing.”

  He held out his hands in a pleading gesture.

  “Point is, you put Poppy and Millar in China or the Middle East? They’ll be terrified. They’ll produce Alarm Pheromones. And they won’t survive the carnage they’ve created.”

  Edward stared into the man’s eyes, trying to find a glimmer of a lie in what he said. He recognised nothing but pained honesty.

  “And you came back to alert us about it?”

  “I did.” Colin held Edward’s stare. “Figured I owed you that much.”

  The commander let out a long sigh.

  “Thank you.”

  51

  Kirkfallen Island

  “What the hell do we do now?” Sonja Watt groaned. “How are gonna stop Potter taking Gene, Millar and Poppy with him?”

  “We fight,” Edward said. “Our hand has been forced.”

  “We were only expecting a small military contingent.” Sonja jerked a thumb at Colin. “Because of this bastard there are seven giant helicopters filled with crack troops.”

  “And just one of those choppers has enough space to hold all the kids on the island.”

  “Are you nuts?” Sonja shook her head. “Even if we got our hands on a copter, where would we take them?”

  “The British mainland,” Colin interrupted. “These things are bound to be pretty fast. You’d be there before you could be intercepted.”

  “We’re in the US Military. We’d be whisked off before the story ever came out.”

  “It’s a helicopter full of bloody kids!” Colin insisted. “Land them in Glasgow City Square, if you want. The UK authorities won’t just hand them over, no matter what cover story the US military concocts.”

  “And then what?”

  “I imagine the British Army will put you back here, with round the clock NATO surveillance. I’m sure the children will be allowed to leave once they pass puberty.”

  “That’ll sure sour US relationships with the rest of the planet.”

  “My heart bleeds.”

  “What you’re suggesting is impossible.” Sonja calmed down, deciding that a logical argument was her best course of action. “If we could steal a chopper. If we could disable the other six. Then what? The kids are in the barn and the terrain is too hilly to land anything there.”

  Edward thought for a few seconds.

  “What if we could get the kids up to the Maclellan Base? We could easily hold it until they all boarded.”

  “We could move them if we were only up against the squad we expected. But not a whole battalion. We wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  Her Commander ran a hand across his forehead.

  “We’re the Stopwatch Unit,” he said. “We do the jobs no one else can.”

  “I didn’t spend fifteen years on this rock to die because of some fat scam artist!”

  “And just how did you expect to die?” Edward moved Colin gently out of the way and faced down his second in command.

  “In my bed. In Kansas.” Sonja replied dispiritedly. “That’s where I come from.”

  “Sonja,” Edward said softly. “The game is up. It’s now or never.”

  Sonja covered her face with her hands, breathing heavily. Then her head snapped up and she saluted her Commanding Officer.

  “What are your orders, Sir?”

  “Are the moles in place?”

  “They are.”

  “Then switch the walkie talkies to our secure channel and give the signal.” Edward returned the salute.

  “Tell them to begin Operation Louise.”

  The Battle of Kirkfallen

  Studies have shown that 98% of soldiers who engage in active combat are later found to have been traumatized by their actions.

  The other 2% are usually diagnosed as being ‘aggressive sociopathic personalities’ who basically have no qualms about killing.

  52

  Kirkfallen Island

  Edward posted two of the Stopwatch Unit outside his cottage. The Brigadier had been and gone, but the sentries would warn the occupants if any of his men approached the dwelling.

  Inside, the highest ranking members of the Stopwatch Unit gathered in the cramped living room. They lined the walls, some smoking furiously. The air was thick with a grey fug and the sense of nervous anticipation almost palpable. Gene sat on a stool in one corner, pale and frightened.

  “There are a lot of troops at the Fence but only a handful in MacLellan Base itself, along with a couple of army doctors.” Edward looked around. “Wentworth Watt and his contingent will take care of them. Then, at least, we’ll have one stronghold.”

  “Tell them not to kill the doctors,” Annie Stapleton said. “We’
re bound to have casualties by the time we get there.”

  “Will do.”

  Colin watched in horrified fascination. He was seeing a side to these people that had lain dormant for years and it scared the hell out of him.

  “What about the kids?”

  “Doug McCombie and Deep Singh will be in charge of the children.”

  The men breathed out cigarette smoke in unison. They knew they had the biggest responsibility of all the Stopwatches.

  “And my compliments to you Doug for being so far sighted in your planning, in case it came to a fight.”

  “Now get out of here,” Annie tisked. “You’re stinking the place up.”

  “Is Walter De Guglielmo in place?”

  “He’s been there for an hour.”

  “Good. Now, we need to get one chopper in the air and disable the others.” Edward spread a hand drawn map of Kirkfallen across his kitchen table and sketched seven circles just north east of the village at Reardon Flats. “Any ideas?”

  Annie Stapleton joined him at the table. She was wearing a plain green dress and had a sidearm strapped to a belt round her waist.

  “The other helicopters will have to be destroyed.” She smoothed down the map as if it were her best tablecloth. “How many soldiers are guarding them?”

  “About forty,” Sonja Watt grunted. “The same as our entire fighting force.”

  “Perhaps we could take them in one surprise rush.”

  “They’re much better armed than we are. We might manage, but there wouldn’t be many of us left.”

  Sonja bent over the map, as if looking hard enough would produce some miraculous answer.

  “Certainly not enough to get the kids to Jackson Head and then defend it against the 400 men left.”

  “I’ve got an idea.” Edward thought for a second. “Fred Wolper used to fly choppers, didn’t he?”

  “Yup. So did Doug McCombie.”

  “He’s already got the kids to contend with. Let’s use Wolper.” Edward rubbed his chin. “Sonja? We’re going to need your son, Millar, to help.”

  “Yeah. That’ll be right.”

  “That’s a direct order, Sergeant Watt.”

  “And this is a direct refusal.”