by Tony Batton
"We've not moved, Mr Leskov," said the second. "Door hasn't opened. No one's gone anywhere."
Fabienne held up a tablet computer. "The system shows the door was opened."
"Open it again," Leskov said. "And let's find out."
The first guard nodded, waved his card over the lock and pushed the door open. They all rushed into the room.
It was empty.
"Well?" Leskov shouted.
"It's impossible," said the second guard.
"Really? Perhaps you were asleep?" Leskov snapped his fingers. One of his four bodyguards handed him a pistol. He turned to the first guard and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the man in the chest. He fell back with a jerk, collapsing against the wall. Leskov turned to the second guard and fired again. The crack reverberated around the room and Leskov slapped his ears in frustration. "Remind me to use a silencer next time," he said, handing the pistol back to its owner. The bodyguard nodded in silence, glancing warily at the two bodies.
Fabienne blinked, then looked again at her tablet. "One of the lifts is moving up from this floor. It could be them." She tapped a quick command. "I'll hold it on Sub Level 2 until we can get there."
Leskov nodded. "Good. Bern would have been trying to get to the surface. Where is Brody?"
"He's showing as on Sub Level 1."
"I want all our people there. We have to contain whatever is going on. If they've gone outside, we'll go after them." He paused, allowing himself a smile. "Not that they've got anywhere they can realistically go."
The sound of footsteps receded from the cell, the door hanging open. Tom let out a breath from his position under one of the beds. Under the other, the form of William Bern shimmered into view.
"Deactivate the translucency," Bern said. "Don't waste the suit's power."
Tom reached out and tapped the control panel on his wrist. His body rippled back into sight. "What if they'd reached under the beds to check?"
"What ifs won't get us out of here. We need to move."
They both eased out and stood up. Tom tried not to look at the bodies of the two guards. "Leskov is a bastard, isn't he?"
Bern shrugged. "He doesn't tolerate failure."
Tom shook his head. "So, where to?"
"The comms room. There's a message we need to send."
Eighty-One
OUTSIDE THE CERUS DOME, THE two guards were at the northern most part of their patrol route when a flashing green light appeared briefly on the snowy ridge surrounding the building, then vanished.
"Did you see that?" asked the first. "Up the slope?"
"I saw something blinking," said the second. "It might have been a reflection off the dome."
"We should check it out."
"There's equipment all over the place up there. Could be that."
"What sort of equipment?"
"Heavy drilling gear, I think. Brody said it was off limits." The second guard adjusted his goggles, wiping snow from them. "I'd rather get back. We're due to go on our break."
"It won't matter if we're a few minutes late. It might be important. Look, there it is again!" said the first guard, starting to run up the hill.
The second guard muttered under his breath and followed. They crested the rise and found a silver torch lying in the snow.
"It must have been this," said the first guard, bending to pick it up. "Why would someone leave it out here?"
"Grab it and we'll head back in--"
Neither of them saw the two figures approaching. But then in fairness, nobody would have done so.
Lentz and Kate stood over the two unconscious guards.
"Nice moves," Lentz said.
"Not exactly a fair fight," Kate replied. "Couldn't we have zapped them with something?"
"Zapped?"
"You didn't mention weapons, but I presume you've brought something hi-tech."
"I have one automatic rifle coated with Resurface nanites, but these are just people doing a job. I'd rather we didn't hurt them unnecessarily."
"Speaking of which, what are we going to do with them? If we leave them out here, they'll freeze to death."
"About two hundred metres to the north is an insulated storage barn. We can leave them there."
"Did you bring anything to sedate them?"
Lentz raised an eyebrow. "Tying them up should be enough. Sedation, really? Ever considered a career in intelligence?"
"Would you recommend it?"
"Life expectancy can be short. And there's a lot more paperwork than they'd like to have you believe."
"Maybe I'll pass."
Lentz pulled a camera-like device from her pack and held it over the face of the first guard. After several seconds, she nodded and clicked the camera onto an attachment on the belt of her suit. There was a soft beep, and then her suit shimmered.
Kate gave a gasp.
Lentz smiled. "So, what do you think?"
"I think," she said, "that you really aren't looking yourself."
"Now it's your turn."
Eighty-Two
THE CORRIDORS WERE DESERTED AS Tom and Bern made their way from the detention area; they took a staircase down, ignoring the lifts. The comms room was located on Sub Level 7; it was a cramped space filled with monitors displaying views from around the base.
Bern walked over to a large microphone and keyboard. "I need to contact Stephanie Reems."
"Very funny."
"It's no joke. Do you think we're going to escape without some serious assistance? Leskov has at least sixty armed men. And I'm pretty sure he has a lot of weaponry here as well."
"That may be true, but what makes you think you can get through to--"
Bern tapped a code into the keyboard and a series of clicks came through speakers. Then a voice spoke: "Who the hell is this? And how did you get this number?"
Bern smiled. "Stephanie, would you believe it's good to hear your voice?"
There was a moment's silence, then a muffled curse. "Bern? I knew you were alive!"
"Did you ever really doubt it?"
"You're too rich to die it seems."
"Unfortunately I doubt it. In fact, my life is rather at risk at the moment. To that end I thought I'd tell you where we are."
"I already know where you are. I said we would find your Beta Site."
Bern paused. "That is excellent news."
"You don't want to know how I know?"
"Right now I'm more worried about us getting out of here safely."
"Why am I immediately suspicious that you're up to something? And what do you mean by 'us'?"
"Suspicion is in your nature. And I'm here with Tom Faraday." He motioned to Tom to speak.
"That's right," said Tom. "And we really need your help."
There was a lengthy pause. "Also not dead, I see. What is your situation?"
"The facility," replied Bern, "is under the control of Andrei Leskov."
There was the muted sound of a conversation between Reems and someone else, then Reems' angry voice. "You keep pleasant company these days."
"To be honest, we're doing our best to avoid him, but I don't know how much longer we'll be able to do that."
"We're close. Perhaps only an hour away."
"I hope you brought some serious resources."
"We've come prepared."
"Be careful. Leskov will do anything to defend himself."
"I have a... friend here who is asking if the stolen power source is on site. He suggests complete transparency would be the best approach."
"I agree. And I've seen it in one of the labs."
"Good. We'll be with you soon, William."
Tom watched as Bern terminated the call. "The power source? You mean the Accumulator? The one you made it look like I stole. Wait, does that mean Reems is with US forces?"
"A Navy task force, I expect. I had to find you Tom. I couldn't do it alone, so I made sure that someone else had a really strong reason to find you."
"But why tell Reems
all that? Are you just giving up?"
"I'm trying to protect you," Bern said. "I want you to trust me."
"You think that's possible?"
"I have to try. Now let's go."
"Where?"
"First, we're going to collect the Accumulator before someone else thinks to grab it. If we're going to have any leverage with the US, we'll need it in our possession."
"And after that?"
"We'll head the last place Leskov will expect: down."
Eighty-Three
ON SUB LEVEL 2, LESKOV and his team approached the lift. The indicator showed the lift-car was there, but the doors remained closed. "What are you waiting for?" Leskov said. "Open it."
Fabienne tapped her tablet and the doors slid back. The lift was empty. She frowned. "I don't understand. Nobody else in the facility was anywhere near. It had to be them."
Leskov's voice became a growl. "What is going on--?"
"Someone has taken over the lifts. Possibly other systems, too. Look, I'm a scientist, not a security expert. Brody would know better."
"Then let's go speak with him."
One of the bodyguards held the staircase door open and they sprinted up the heavy metal steps. Emerging onto Sub Level 1 they saw the room was full of Leskov's men: more than sixty of them.
"Where are the scientists?" Fabienne asked, looking around. "They should be here."
Leskov's eyes bulged. "Somebody had better explain things fast."
Two more guards walked in, slightly shorter than the others. They brushed snow from their uniforms.
"You," Leskov said. "What's happening outside?"
One of them cleared their throat and spoke in a gruff voice. "All... fine, Sir. We didn't see anything unusual."
"No civilians trying to run away across the snow?"
The guard hesitated. "No, Sir."
Leskov clenched and unclenched his hands. "Anyone got any ideas?"
Fabienne swallowed. "Maybe they're all wearing suits."
"Just how many did we make?"
"Over a hundred. I thought you'd requisitioned them."
Leskov scowled. "You're saying they might still be in the building, but we can't detect them?"
"They might be. Either with translucency or camouflage activated. The power sources won't last long, though. They can't hide for long."
"I'll start conducting a sweep," said one of the short guards, heading to the stairwell, their partner following.
"Some initiative: excellent," Leskov said. "This is our only priority."
The two guards nodded and disappeared down the stairs.
"I don't know if it's the only priority," Fabienne said. "We have another problem." She tapped on her tablet again and turned to a large display screen hanging in the cafeteria. It flashed up a map of the Dome and the surrounding terrain, extending out to the sea to the east. Three large red dots were blinking in the bottom right of the display.
"What are those?" asked Leskov, his voice rising. "Fishing vessels? Cargo?"
"From their signatures, they're military." A bigger dot appeared, blinking angrily. Fabienne swore. "And that, from its size, is an aircraft carrier."
"Heading here?"
"Based on their course I don't think there's any doubt." Two green triangles appeared and started moving much more quickly. "Jets," Fabienne said. "From the carrier, I'm guessing."
Leskov snorted loudly. "So it's shock and awe, then. I'm sure they'll be on the ground here within the hour. We should prepare a welcome party."
"You're not really suggesting you can outgun them?"
"Not in a fair fight." His eyes gleamed. "But we won't be fighting fair."
Eighty-Four
THE TWO SHORT GUARDS RAN down three flights of stairs, then stepped into the main corridor of Sub Level 3. The first one touched a control on their belt. Instantly, the male features blurred, changing to those of Lentz. The other morphed into Kate.
"We aren't being followed," Kate said, listening at the stairwell. "I can't believe that worked."
"They seemed distracted," Lentz replied. "Which is good, because I forgot the suit only changes your appearance, not your voice."
"Oh I don't know. You sounded like a very convincing man."
"Must be my MI5 field training. Or a sore throat."
"Well, considering they're untested, the suits have held out pretty well."
Lentz shrugged. "We haven't really touched on the untested functionality yet, but let's cross that bridge when we come to it." She felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a familiar name on the caller ID: Reems.
"You have reception here?" Kate asked, frowning.
Lentz snorted. "My phone has reception anywhere."
"OK, but why would Reems be calling you now?"
"Maybe she's found out I've gone missing. Well it's too late for her to do anything about it." Lentz put the phone back in her pocket. "I'm certainly not going to waste time talking to her now."
"How are we going to find Tom? I thought we'd be hacking into the building systems like at CERUS, but if the building can't track him we have a problem."
Lentz pulled out a scanner and started adjusting it. She frowned. "I'm detecting an odd signal. Traces of radiation."
"Could it be the Accumulator thing Tom mentioned?"
"Probably. I'm guessing the theft was conducted by someone wearing one of the suits even if it doesn't explain why they would want to look like Tom."
"Where's the signal coming from?"
"It's not really directional. And all this metal isn't helping, but it's stronger below us so I guess we head down."
Kate looked around the corridor. "How far down do you think it goes?"
"Now that," said Lentz, "is an excellent question. Why don't we find out?"
Eighty-Five
THE USS INIMITABLE, A 9,000 ton destroyer-class ship, was a kilometre off the coast, making ten knots through icy waters. The coastline was a near unbroken line of high cliffs apart from a single point where a tunnel had been cut through and a short jetty constructed.
Stephanie Reems stood on the bridge, staring at their target. "They'll know we're coming."
"I don't doubt it," Truman replied, looking through a pair of binoculars. "I hope they do the sensible thing and surrender." Two jets screamed overhead, returning from their sweep. "I'm told we're not seeing any activity on the ground."
"And what if they don't acquiesce?"
Truman lowered his binoculars. "They are not keeping that power cell. We'll do what we have to."
Reems leaned close to him. "Faraday and Bern are in that building and I had your word they wouldn't be harmed. I also have reason to believe Dominique Lentz and Kate Turner are there too. Any action you are planning needs to make their safety a prime consideration."
"Assuming you're right about all this. I know what Bern said, but can we really believe him? Look, we'll send in a team and evaluate when we have more information. Just be patient."
Three small reconnaissance drones flew overlapping patterns, providing different views to a set of display screens in the ship's communications centre. Reems and Truman, accompanied by the ship's First Officer, watched as two squads of twenty US commandos used small, powerful boats to cover the kilometre to the jetty. They were clad in white thermal jackets, wore special variable-enhancement goggles, and carried powerful small arms.
The boats approached the dock. A submarine was positioned there, and they drew alongside, jumping onto the jetty. Nobody else was in sight.
Reems pointed at the submarine, triumphantly. "I'm guessing that's how Bern made his escape from the explosion."
Truman coughed. "Does it matter now?"
A voice broke over the speakers, the Lieutenant in charge of the operation. "The sub's sealed up. Can't tell if there's anyone on board. Do you want to send over cutting gear?"
"Negative," Truman replied. "It's not a priority. Leave two men to watch it and proceed. Just remember Leskov's back
ground. He may have brought some of his merchandise with him."
"No sign of anyone at this point, but we'll stay frosty." The Lieutenant hesitated. "That's no reference to the conditions."
Reems and Truman watched as the two squads advanced quickly up the metal staircase and through the rocky tunnel. The drone footage then showed them appear at the far end, a single four-wheel drive vehicle sat empty. Their scanners showed no movement ahead, so they proceeded down the heavily-rutted ice road, towards the target location.
Ten cautious minutes later they approached the huge dome structure. At a signal from the Lieutenant the men split into four smaller groups and sought cover.
"I'm still seeing no movement," said the Lieutenant.
"Two squads proceed," replied Truman. "Two provide cover. Blow the door if you have to."
"Yes, Sir." The Lieutenant raised his hand to give the signal. As he did, a voice broke out from a hidden public address system.
"What was that?" Reems asked.
"I'm focusing the sound for you," the Lieutenant replied. The message repeated:
"YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. LEAVE NOW AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED."
"Orders?" the Lieutenant asked.
"Proceed," Truman replied. "The drones show nothing outside the Dome."
"Yes, Sir." On screen the lieutenant raised his hand again. "Squad A, follow me, and--"
In front of them the air shimmered and warped. From nowhere, weapons fired. There were screams.
Truman turned, swearing. "What the hell just happened?"
The First Officer stood, white-faced, staring at a real-time satellite image on the main screen. "I don't understand. Were they using some form of camouflage?"
Reems frowned. "Could this be the same tech that Bern used to escape from his home?"
Truman ran a hand through his hair. "How many casualties?
"I'm not getting any telemetry," replied the First Officer.
The Lieutenant's voice broke over the speakers, harsh and urgent. "Do you copy?"
"What happened?" Truman shouted. "What's your status?"
