‘I’ve got it!’ Five shouted, plucking the DataBlok from the security pocket in his SimulSkin.
He stood in Professor Perdu’s office, panting heavily. His voice was shaky, his body bruised and battered, his tattered uniform saturated from the NoWhen wave that had nearly killed him. But he was far too elated to let little things like that stop him celebrating.
Grinning with a mix of triumph, satisfaction and relief, he held up the DataBlok, the tiny computer chip barely three centimetres square that would hopefully give them some answers.
‘Let’s see what this has to tell us,’ he said.
Professor Perdu took the DataBlok and inserted it into a reader console. Alpha One immediately appeared on the screen, his face serious.
‘Professor Perdu and members of Omega Squad,’ he said. ‘If you are listening to this then it is likely that I am out of action and unable to relay this vital message to you in person. I only hope that it is not too late, that there is still time to avert global catastrophe.’ He paused, as if unable to believe his own words. ‘That’s right,’ he repeated, ‘I said global catastrophe and I mean it. This DataBlok contains conclusive evidence of a plan for planet Earth that will spell disaster to the human race, possibly even extinction.
‘This plan is the work of a small group of MANIC scientists and others who seized power in a silent coup a few years ago and have been controlling the organisation from behind the scenes ever since. I call them the MANIC Maniacs, for they are unquestionably mad. Their plan is insane. It would be laughable if not for the fact that they have the means and resources to carry it out, and that everything is in place to launch it soon. It may even be too late.
‘In this DataBlok I provide irrefutable proof of this plan. I also identify the Maniacs; you will be astonished at who they are. But right now, it is far more important to outline the facts of this devious plan as quickly as possible. Please listen carefully and act swiftly.’
Alpha One paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.
‘The Maniacs have decided that the Earth is doomed, that in its present state it has no future as a place where human life can exist. The only solution, they claim, is a radical one: re-create the past. They intend to stop the present, turn back time and colonise the past. This will save the planet, they claim, because we can start again and do a better job of looking after the Earth this time.
‘To do this they have been collecting time and storing it. The attacks on Operation Battle Book are only part of that collection process, and Horace Horologe’s Time Store is only one of many storage units. This operation is unimaginably big, but the biggest part of it all is the Time Processor, for the Maniacs are not only stealing and storing time, they are also making it.’
‘Making it?’ whispered Nine. She looked at the others, all spellbound by Alpha One’s words. ‘It’s just like you said, Four.’
‘Hidden deep underground in the Time Store district,’ continued Alpha One, ‘is a Time Processor – the only one of its kind – a sort of giant furnace known as the Aeon Reactor in which Time is radiated and made to grow. All those Time and Energy Bubbles they have been stealing from Operation Battle Book are fed into the Aeon Reactor where they are bombarded with past particles, accelerating the raw time within them.’
‘Unbelievable,’ BA005 muttered. ‘It’s madness.’
‘I know this all sounds too crazy for words,’ Alpha One continued as if in response to Five. ‘But they’re serious, and they’re right on track with this plan. They are going to stop time, the time we are living in now. They are going to freeze us all in a kind of global Epsilon Phase. And when they’ve done that they’re going to take us back to the past, as far back as they can go, and lock us into a period.’
‘A Time Lock,’ said the professor. ‘No. It’s far too dangerous.’
‘As I said, the Maniacs insist that this is for the good of Earth,’ Alpha One went on. ‘They claim it will save the planet. And in theory it’s not a bad idea. But in practice there is one big problem: Almost all the human race will perish in the roll-back! The Geo-Chron forces in a time shift of that magnitude will be staggeringly massive. Only a select group – the MANIC Maniacs, of course, and other chosen ones – will survive the journey, safe in specially designed TimePause Pods.
‘You must be wondering how anyone, even the maddest of scientists, could devise a plan that would destroy most of the human race, let alone carry out such a plan. The answer is as simple as it is terrifying: the Maniacs are not human. They are androids.’
Professor Perdu and her squad stared at each other in stunned silence. The very idea that androids – creatures the professor had helped create – could actually be taking over the planet was as terrifying as it was unthinkable.
‘It seems that a number of the most advanced androids who were working alongside our best human scientists have been plotting behind our backs for quite a while, communicating wordlessly in their own cyber-cerebral language, planning a revolution – the first totally techno-revolution.
‘I know this all sounds like the stuff of science fiction. But, believe me, the groundwork has been done, and enough Raw Time has been collected and stored. The Aeon Reactor is primed and ready. The only thing needed is a special catalyst to set off the chain reaction in the Aeon Reactor. That catalyst is the ancient crystal known as the Chronos Stone, and the Maniacs know exactly where it is.’
At this point Alpha One allowed himself a little grin of satisfaction.
‘Luckily, I also know where the Chronos Stone lies. I found out when I spied on a special meeting of the Maniacs just before finalising this DataBlok. The crystal is locked inside Battle Book 3, in the Temple of Zeus. Sigma Squad has been chosen to retrieve it.’
Alpha Agent 001 leant forward and raised his voice.
‘Professor Perdu and Omega Squad! It is essential that you beat them to the Chronos Stone. Unless you do —’
Alpha One’s voice was suddenly drowned out by a warning beep from Skin.
‘Intruders have entered the building and are heading this way at a rapid pace. They emit high-level negative vibes. Immediate evasive action strongly recommended.’
Professor Perdu flicked her wall panels over to the security cameras at once. ‘It’s Vandakrol and some thugs.’ She ejected the DataBlok and tossed it to BA005. ‘You lot vanish, and take Alpha One with you. You know the secret exit. Disappear in the city somewhere. And wait to hear from me.’
‘But you can’t stay, Prof,’ said BA009.
‘I have to, to keep them off your tail.’ The professor locked and bolted the main door from the hall to her office. ‘And I have to make them think I know nothing about their plan at all.’ They could already hear shouting in the hall and the thunder of footsteps. ‘Hurry!’ she hissed. ‘Get out of here. Go!’
The Battle Agents rushed from the office through a low side-door, followed by TEX with Alpha Agent 001 slung over his shoulder. Professor Perdu locked the door behind them and pocketed the key. She then concealed the door by sliding an upright storage trunk in front of it. In the next moment Vandakrol was pounding on the main door.
‘Perdu!’ he shouted. ‘We know you’re in there. Open up.’
The professor calmly tidied her desk as the commotion outside her office grew louder.
‘Open at once or we’ll smash the door down.’
‘One moment.’ She smiled to herself, ruffled her hair and clothes, and practised a yawn. ‘I’m coming,’ she called and slowly made her way to the door. ‘Be patient.’
She intentionally fumbled with the key and eventually unlocked the door. Dr Vandakrol barged into the room with a team of six guardroids. He was red-faced and huffing.
‘Where are they?’ he shouted. ‘Where are you hiding them?’
Professor Perdu yawned, rubbed her eyes and stared blearily at the doctor. ‘What’s all the racket about? You’ve just woken me from a very deep sleep, Dr Vandakrol. I’ve been working hard. What on earth do you want?’
&nb
sp; ‘Omega Squad, of course. Where are they?’
‘I don’t have the faintest idea. I haven’t seen them for ages.’
‘You’re lying. You’re hiding them somewhere, I’m sure of it.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ She sat on the edge of her desk. ‘But you’re more than welcome to search the place, if you must. I’ve nothing to hide.’
Dr Vandakrol snapped his fingers and the guardroids immediately began ripping open drawers and cupboards, spilling computer parts and other technical components onto the floor. Professor Perdu winced at the violence, especially when the guardroids trampled over the delicate electronic pieces in their heavy metal boots.
‘Correct me if I’m wrong, Doctor,’ she said as the guards tore open large storage compartments and prised service panels from the walls. ‘But this looks like wilful vandalism of MANIC property.’
‘Not to me, Perdu,’ he sneered. ‘And I’ll be the one making the report.’
‘I see.’ The professor cracked her knuckles. ‘So to whom do I send the bill?’
Dr Vandakrol laughed. ‘You don’t. You’re finished, Professor. I’m here to kick you out; that is, once I’ve collected a few important items from you, of course.’
‘Really? Such as?’
‘The electronic key to your Battle Book Library for a start. And the password. I don’t want to smash the place up busting my way in. But I will if I have to.’
‘Don’t tell me you want to borrow a Battle Book?’
‘No. I’m taking one.’
‘Any particular one?’
‘Oh, yes, a very particular one.’
‘In that case, perhaps I can get it for you, Doctor.’ The professor smiled sweetly. ‘All part of the service.’
‘Just give me the e-key and password. I’ll handle the rest.’
‘Of course.’ Professor Perdu eased herself off the front of the desk and walked slowly around to the other side. ‘Now where did I put that key?’ she said, knitting her brow.
‘Don’t play games with me, Perdu. My helpers can be hard to stop once they really get a taste for wrecking things. I’d hate them to wreck you as well.’
Just then there was a shout from the far side of the room. ‘Doctor.’ One of the guardroids beckoned. They’d slid the storage cabinet out of the way, revealing the narrow side-door.
‘Where does that lead?’ Dr Vandakrol demanded.
‘Nowhere special as far as I know. To be honest I haven’t used it for ages. I don’t think I even have a key, but I can —’
The guardroids were already kicking at the door with their metal boots, and had soon smashed it off its hinges. They stood back for a moment staring into the low, dark passageway.
‘Don’t just stand there,’ Dr Vandakrol yelled. ‘Get going. After them!’
The guardroids bent down and filed through the small doorway one after another, the doctor pushing and hurrying them from behind. When they were all through, he leant down and poked his head into the passageway, shouting instructions after them.
‘Faster, you fools. Faster!’
When he turned around, Professor Perdu had vanished.
* * *
‘Where do we go now?’
BA005 posed the question as much to himself as to the others in the limousine. They’d just pulled onto the main motorway that skimmed over City Central, and were peering through the windows as dawn spread its pale hues across Futura.
‘Prof wants us to hide until she figures out our next move. But how do you hide in a place where everyone’s after you?’
‘The city looks so harmless in the soft early morning light,’ said 009.
But even as they had left the library, security units were being bussed into the central city area. Surveillance vans were arriving to set up on corners, foot patrols with andogs were preparing to scour the streets, and the faces of Omega Squad were already up on Street-Screens.
‘I don’t know how we managed to escape City Central without being stopped.’
‘Sheer luck,’ said BA005. ‘My guess is it’s too early for them; the security guys still aren’t ready. They probably don’t even have their full orders yet. At most they’d be looking for three teenagers and a super soldier on foot – not a limousine. But another ten minutes and we would have been stopped and searched for sure.’
‘So we’re still not out of danger,’ said 004. ‘In fact in a way we’re even more likely to be noticed now. A whopping great limousine cruising down a near empty motorway is hardly the best of hiding places.’ The city-bound traffic was quite heavy, but hardly any other vehicles were heading out of town.
‘How true, Master Winston,’ said Bernard. ‘Indeed we are already being followed – from on high.’
They all looked up through the darkened sunroof and immediately saw a hawk-like security drone tailing them, barely a hundred metres above.
‘That’s it, then,’ said BA009. ‘We’re finished. It doesn’t matter where we go, they’ll just follow.’
A tense silence filled the limousine. There really did seem to be no chance of escape. Manned aerial units would be brought in next, and roadblocks set up. Their capture was only a matter of time.
Alpha Agent 001 suddenly groaned and began shaking, as though sensing the tension as well. He lay across one of the seats, his head on Nine’s lap.
‘He might be in a coma,’ she said. ‘But he knows what’s going on, and it’s affecting him.’ She felt his forehead. ‘His temperature has gone way up. If only we could take him somewhere quiet and peaceful, some place he can be looked after properly.’
‘Thanks, Nine,’ cried 005. ‘You’ve just given me an idea. My grandmother’s retirement village is close by. I know she’ll let us hide there.’
‘Yes but the drone will just follow us.’
‘No. It will follow the limousine. But we won’t be in it.’
‘What are you suggesting?’ asked 004.
‘There are a few tunnels on this motorway, one coming up very soon. I suggest we exit the limo when we’re inside the tunnel.’
‘How?’
‘Simple. Bernard stops briefly in one of the service bays. We leap out and he drives off. The drone follows him and we cut across the fields to my granny’s place; she’s less than a kilometre away.’
‘Sounds good,’ said Nine. ‘Can you carry Alpha One overland, TEX?’
‘Of course,’ said the super soldier.
Bernard pointed ahead. ‘One tunnel coming up,’ he said, and they were soon inside it.
As the service bay loomed into view, Bernard swerved into it and screeched to a halt. The Battle Agents leapt out, followed by TEX with Alpha One cradled in his arms. They quickly scrambled into an exit tunnel on the side, and the chauffeur roared off.
‘Okay,’ said Five as the limousine disappeared in the darkness. ‘Let’s get moving.’
* * *
As Bernard drove out of the tunnel he checked that the security drone was still following, and smiled to himself. He thought for a moment and then nodded eagerly, realising what he had to do next.
He pressed the accelerator to the floor. The vehicle’s twin turbo kicked in at once, its massive engine roared like an angry bear, and the limousine shot forward. In a matter of seconds it doubled its speed to more than 300 kilometres per hour and was still accelerating. By the time the drone had responded and sped up in pursuit, the limousine had entered another tunnel.
The smile on Bernard’s face turned to a broad grin. Now for the real fun. He checked ahead, searching for a good gap in the oncoming traffic. There was one. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the gap, and slammed his foot on the brake. At the same time he tugged hard on the steering wheel and accelerated full bore. The limousine spun on the spot, a perfect 180 degree turn, and roared off in a cloud of burning rubber.
Bernard laughed out loud. That should confuse them, he thought to himself, and flicked on his favourite piece of classical music.
‘You do realise what a
great honour this is, don’t you?’
Alpha Agent 002 narrowed his gaze on each of the other three members of Sigma Squad – Battle Agents 011, 016 and 021. The squad was standing at the entrance to a great hall, waiting their turn to enter. Alpha Two had visited the hall a day or so earlier with Dr Vandakrol, but it was new to the others. They’d been brought here in the early hours of the morning, driven across the city in a black van. Top secret mission – that was all they had been told.
‘But where are we?’ asked BA021, the youngest member of the squad. ‘Underground somewhere?’
‘It doesn’t matter where we are,’ Alpha Two snapped. ‘It’s a special place, okay? For a special mission, the most important you’ll ever carry out.’ He held up his hands before they could ask any more questions. ‘You’ll find out about the mission soon enough. But I want you to understand this above all else. We have been chosen by none other than the Board of Controllers. Think about what that means. We have been singled out from all the other squads by the top brass to do this job.’
Alpha Two paused to let that sink in. Battle Agent 011 nodded at once, and 016 eventually did too, but 021 seemed confused.
‘Now, I have given my solemn word that we will succeed,’ Alpha Two continued. ‘So you had better not let me down. I demand total commitment. There will be no room for failure. Is that clear?’
The others nodded gravely. Battle Agent 021 raised his hand to ask a question, but then thought better of it.
‘Here we go, then,’ Alpha Two said as an official walked towards them. ‘It’s our turn. Remember: we are Sigma Squad, Best of the Best.’
The official beckoned, and the squad entered the hall, Alpha Two in front, the others filing behind. They all gaped the moment they marched through the doors, even Alpha Two, who knew what to expect. The hall was grand, suffused with a rich golden light, its walls draped in imperial purple.
The squad marched down a central aisle between rows of official guests towards a raised platform at the far end. They passed scientists in white coats, dark-suited bureaucrats, uniformed military personnel and others, all influential figures in their fields. Dr Vandakrol was among them. He waited at a place especially reserved for Sigma Squad, dipping his head slightly as they took their position and gazed up at the elevated platform.
Time Makers Page 4
