The Secret Bunker Trilogy

by Paul Teague

  He sat slumped in the corner for two minutes, allowing himself a little time to recover. He thanked his friend Davran Saloor for her wonderful gift. A simple token, a tie made of a special Zatheon fabric.

  But on that day it had saved his life, and would give him a last chance of rescuing the planet that they both loved.

  He could see the Helyion ship approaching The Nexus for docking. They were going to connect via a larger airlock, they would not use the one he was in.

  The airlock’s inner doors opened swiftly without warning and he braced himself for the violence that would surely follow if they’d seen how he’d survived their attempts to end his life.

  He didn’t recognize this man, who was looking behind him urgently, as if there wasn’t a moment to spare. ‘I’m Dae-Ho,’ he announced. ‘Come with me!’

  Legacy

  Magnus stopped for a few moments to draw breath. There was a lot going on, a constant stream of updates coming his way, he was beginning to feel frazzled.

  The Trooper’s helmet was still on his work area, fully illuminated, receiving communications that were no longer being listened to by its owner.

  A thought struck Magnus – he wasn’t sure where the idea had come from. He’d been troubled by Jeff’s spinal implant, all the Troopers had them. They were not unlike his own work in this area, when he’d been running cybernetics trials in the lab.

  They’d come down really hard on him when he started to branch out into the non-military applications of his work, but it seemed uncannily similar to him, albeit a bit more brute force in its delivery. Nobody would be able to achieve this without some form of adaptive algorithm, he’d secured that concept many years ago, surely someone hadn’t created their own version?

  Magnus fumbled in his pocket and took out a paperclip that he kept in there to fiddle with. He bent one of the arms and used it to flick the lid off a small box that was concealed in the rear of the helmet.

  It was packed with micro-circuitry, but this was familiar territory for Magnus. He knew exactly what he was looking for.

  He found the main chip and pulled off the label that was obscuring the logo. He was right. Nobody else could have re-created his adaptive algorithm.

  The logo on the chip was printed with the words ‘Magnum Enterprises’.

  They’d used his own technical innovation to create these monsters. And now they were going to destroy him and his planet.

  Simulation

  Simon and Kate ran along the corridor. They could hear the heavy boots of the Troopers behind them, and the flashes from their weapons struck the sides of the walls as they struggled to outpace them.

  ‘I’m out of condition,’ Simon revealed to Kate as she stopped to let him catch up. ‘I wish I was as fast as the first time we had to do this.’

  Kate thought back to their simulation exercise all those years ago. Both of them were younger, fitter and more naive in those days. Now they had experience on their side. They would use what they’d learned in their twenties to help them survive this day.

  They wanted the Troopers away from the Ops Area, out of the heart of The Nexus. They were going to be the distraction. The bait.

  Nat was safely dispatched in the Transporter – they’d successfully diverted the Troopers in their direction. Now they just had to keep them occupied and buy time … in the hope that somebody, somewhere, in Quadrant 3 would do something in time to end all of this.

  In the meantime, they’d create as much mayhem as they could.

  Kate shot a mass of pipework overhead and a cascade of sparks shot across the corridor like a firework at a display.

  Simon smiled and they began to run again, Kate pacing herself more now so that he could keep up.

  For all intents and purposes, they’d already prepared to die once, in the simulation exercise that they’d been involved in years earlier. They’d both stared death in the face already, and they’d do it again.

  As Simon’s hand slammed on the pad of the Simulation Area, he activated the programme via his remote. The green grid lines which lined the vast hangar disappeared as the virtual renderer created in perfect detail the battle scenario which they’d both faced together years previously.

  The wire cutters were by the fence as they always had been, the camp was immersed in darkness and a rat scuttled across the yard. A laser appeared from nowhere and shot it dead, burning it to crisp in an instant.

  Beyond the doors they could hear the thundering boots of the Troopers approaching, a small, swarming army preparing to eliminate the last resistance to block its path.

  Kate cut the wire and Simon climbed through the fence. The battle for survival had begun.

  Predator (T minus 31 minutes)

  As the Comms-Tabs faded to nothing, the Transporter began to surge into life. We’ve been slow, we should have known that they’d follow, of course they would, we’re trying to save Davran Saloor, my mum. They won’t let that go unchallenged.

  This Transporter is not like the others, it’s not tied into my DNA or anything like that. It’s a bit do-it-yourself to be honest, it looks like it’s been lashed together on one of those TV science shows.

  There was a single unit in the Ops Area and this one on the ISOCell is almost exactly the same. You couldn’t fit more than three people onto this thing. It’s not for an army invasion or anything like that – I’d guess that Doctor Pierce and his pal used this to get from wherever they were based to Mum’s capsule in space. To do whatever they’ve done to her.

  I think that this is the only way on and the only way off this ISOCell, which means that we’re about to be boarded by somebody – or something.

  ‘Mum, split up!’ I suggest, urgently. ‘Don’t wait for me – if you find Davran, get her back to Quadrant 3. Just do what you can.’

  Mum nods and as we head off quickly in opposite directions, I think I hear her voice calling after me.

  ‘I love you Dan!’ are the words that I think I hear, but I can’t be sure.

  This place is much smaller than where we’ve come from. It makes sense I suppose, it only needs to house one person.

  I haven’t even thought yet about how we can get off this thing without exploding it. If I have to, I’ll stay behind. If Mum and Davran can get out alive, I’m going to die anyway from the NanoVirus, it might just as well be in this ISOCell.

  I’m running completely blind now – I don’t know how long I have left to live, I must be down to my last minutes. I still feel fine, but how long have I got? Twenty-five minutes maybe?

  I glance behind me and see an alien figure materializing on the makeshift Transporter behind me.

  It’s Zadra Nurmeen. He’s armed, but not with a gun of any type, this is some terrible looking sword. I’ve never seen anything like this.

  He looks reptilian now. I hadn’t noticed that before – it’s his eyes that do it.

  I want him to follow me, not Mum, she needs to find Davran and get her out of here.

  ‘Hey, ugly!’ I shout at Zadra Nurmeen. His eyes narrow even further and he scowls in my direction. He grips his sword, lowers his head and sets me in his sights.

  Damn, I haven’t got a weapon. I grabbed a Comms-Tab and forgot to bring something to defend myself with. I hope Mum has something to shoot him with – surely she would have been more on the ball than I’ve been.

  That sword he’s carrying has been saved for me. It’s not a normal sword, he’s holding it like one, but it’s a much more sinister tool altogether.

  This alien is a predator – and I’m its prey. Well, I’m going to give him a run anyway, hopefully long enough to buy Mum the time that she needs.

  I start to run away from Zadra Nurmeen, along the curved corridor that circles this ISOCell.

  There can’t be many places to hide here. It’s not that big, the size of a spherical house perhaps. I’m just beginning to think that I can outrun him when things turn against me.

  Zadra throws that sword at me, but it turns out it’s mo
re like a boomerang

  It spins through the air at a frightening speed, gashing my right leg, then returning straight back to its owner.

  I let out a cry of pain. Jeez that hurts like hell – I can feel the blood seeping into my trousers.

  My chances of outrunning Zadra Nurmeen just reduced drastically.

  Chapter Six

  Launched

  Viktor’s feeling of achievement didn’t last long. Magnus had got new data on the significance of Lake Karachay in this scenario. It wasn’t good.

  At first, they’d managed a scan of the area using radar, but nothing showed up. Magnus had had an uneasy feeling about it and decided to persist. In the end, it was a heat map generated via a mapping satellite that confirmed things for him.

  He could see twenty-eight of them, circular clusters of heat, hovering above the water. Something else seemed to be immersed under the water too, he guessed it was another ship, but its heat trace was almost non-existent. They were just waiting there, doing nothing, like a gang of hoodlums up to no good.

  As Viktor looked at the surveillance images on his screen, he knew what had to be done. He hesitated a while as he decided whether or not to share this information with Magnus. He was used to working alone, trusting no-one and resolving issues like this in isolation. That day he decided to change his policy. This small army of theirs was a force to be reckoned with – he was proud to be a part of it.

  He desperately wanted to save his wife and children now. They’d just come so close to death, he was not going to let that happen again. But he was going to have to take the biggest gamble of his life to save them. And he wanted to share that with his friend, Magnus, an American who had shown himself worthy of trust, loyalty even.

  So Viktor and Magnus moved unobtrusively to a meeting area off the Control Room and made the decision that would either hasten the destruction of their planet, or help to save it. They were chasing off a group of predators, gathering like jackals, ready to devour the spoils of war.

  Together they programmed in the coordinates.

  Together they placed everything on a knife edge.

  Together they launched Viktor’s fifty hidden nukes at a single destination:

  Lake Karachay, where the Helyion army had gathered, ready to take over the planet.

  Free

  Amy had seen Zadra Nurmeen arriving on the Transporter too, and she’d seen him head after Dan. She’d hesitated, thinking to go and help him, but she needed him to buy her some time. They’d come here for Davran, they were sure as heck leaving with her.

  She found The Queen almost immediately, the ISOCell was only small.

  Amy was horrified by what she saw. It was the stuff of nightmares. She didn’t know that the experiments carried out on her own daughter had helped to create the monstrosity that was now before her, experiments which had given essential data about Zatheon biology and neurological pathways.

  Davran had numerous tubes running in and out of her body; the entry points had been cut into her skin, they were messy and septic.

  Her head was roughly shaven, there were scars beneath the new hair growth, little attention had been given to her comfort when this happened.

  Electrodes were attached all over her head, she was showing high levels of distress, sweat covered her hands and face.

  Worse still, she was lashed to a metal frame, to keep her upright and still.

  Henry Pierce and Zadra Nurmeen had committed this atrocity, they had shown no compassion at all in their treatment of Davran.

  Amy didn’t know what to do, but she took action anyway. First of all, she freed Davran from the frame that restrained her, untying the strong binds that had been used to keep her attached to this place of crucifixion. She looked at the tubes and the wires, sizing them up, trying swiftly to figure out what purpose they were serving. Then she did the only thing that she could do.

  As gently as she could, she removed the tubes from the incisions in Davran’s flesh. Amy tore off the wires and cables. Finally, she repeated a trick that she’d learned from Simon in the Stasis Room. She ripped out all of the cables which served this area. As she did so, the power in the ISOCell died, leaving them in the darkness of space.

  Amy grabbed Davran and supported her weight as she rushed towards the Transporter, their path illuminated by the dying flashes of power from the severed cables.

  As Amy touched the panel on the Transporter, she saw the silhouette of Dan coming around the far corner. He’d completed a circuit of the ISOCell without being caught.

  She had to trust in him. She took a long, last look at her son and hoped that it would not be the last time she would ever see him alive.

  Broken

  Mike felt sure that the SD card must contain some important information. He’d checked out his theory when Xiang alerted him that Nat was back in the Quadrant.

  Nat passed on a message through Xiang that she’d retrieved the data from Henry Pierce’s computer wherever it was that they’d been experimenting on her.

  It seemed his best bet with time running out. He could wade through the Genesis 2 data for months and not find anything, and besides, Magnus’s guys were still working on that.

  Finally, after all the interruptions, Mike inserted the SD card into Amy’s laptop. The low tech was a relief to him after working to get up to speed with all the new systems in the bunker, but he was having a problem.

  The SD card was in and the laptop was charged fully, thanks to the wireless power available throughout the bunker. But there was nothing there. The drive was displaying fine, but it appeared to be empty. Hellfire, surely not?

  Mike tapped the return button, then tried it again. Nothing there still. Nat can’t have wasted her time on this, there must be something in this card. Was it encrypted?

  Then he thought back to something Dan would always say to Amy whenever she checked her emails.

  ‘You’re going to wreck that button!’ he would laugh as Amy worked through her inbox, cursing the spam and unwelcome mailshots. Maybe it was the return button.

  He virtually thumped the button, fearing that it might damage the laptop. He was right, the data sprang into life on the screen in front of him. He looked in expectation at whatever essential data this SD card had concealed.

  It was just a list of four codes. They were absolutely meaningless to him.

  Cornered

  Simon remembered the sequence exactly, he was surprised at how much of the detail he’d retained even though it was now almost twenty years ago. The frazzled rat right at the beginning had been genius, it just helped to build up the tension and jeopardy before the entire mission went awry.

  This Simulation Area was just one big psychological puzzler and it all made perfect sense once you knew how the tramlines worked.

  They would wait outside the door to the office block until the Troopers had followed them in deep enough to spot them, then they would finish it all off inside the main complex, after the rooms were mixed up, the twist that had disorientated them twenty years ago.

  All Kate and Simon had to do was to follow the tramlines – if you stuck to them, nothing hit you.

  It was disconcerting for both of them however. It took a real leap of faith to hold steady amid the weapon fire, the alarms sounding and the clumping boots of the approaching security teams. It might have been a simulation, but it was completely immersive and Simon understood now how they’d been herded into that final, terrible decision-making situation right at the end. By the time you’d got to that stage your adrenaline was pumping and you’d have jumped out of a window if they’d asked.

  It wasn’t long until the Troopers entered the Simulation Area. There must have been at least thirty of them.

  The Nexus had been breached and The Queen was issuing instructions to save the nest. Simon and Kate’s distraction had worked well, The Queen must have thought that her adversaries were still trapped on this ship. That would give Nat and Doctor Pierce the cover they needed to get away
, and hopefully Dan too might be able to move around unobstructed. Wherever he was, whatever he was planning.

  Kate jumped as a laser struck the door to her side, a little too close for comfort. It was simulated fire, not from the Troopers, but how would they tell the difference?

  Sticking to the tramlines would not save them from the Troopers’ shots, maybe they should have thought that one through a little more.

  ‘Keep to the tramlines!’ shouted Simon. It was difficult to hear him over all the noise.

  They just had to create some leeway, come up with a diversion, give Nat, Amy, Dan and anybody else who could make it out alive, time to get back to Quadrant 3.

  The Troopers would focus on him and Kate, they’d left a strong enough trail of destruction after all. They’d lure them to the centre, then, at the final moment, blow up the entire hangar. Take everybody out, themselves included, if need be.

  Kate and Simon walked through the office block door, the rooms scrambled as they had done previously. Both fought to concentrate on the tramlines – the distractions were enormous, everything was created to produce a massive affront to their senses, emotions, fears and doubts.

  The Troopers were close behind them. Real weapon fire had now been added to the mix – it was difficult to keep calm and level-headed even though they had a pathway through this nightmare.

  There was an explosion to the left. No worries, it was a simulation, not the Troopers. A laser beam hit the woodwork to Kate’s side. It began to burn. Not a simulation, a real weapon, hell how could she tell which was which?

  Something was thrown over their heads. Simon couldn’t work out what it was, but he was certain it wasn’t part of the simulation. There was an explosion, it pushed them both off their feet and hurled Kate violently against the wall.