Armageddon Heights (a thriller)

by D. M. Mitchell

  Another explosion ripped the air above them, causing the ground to shudder and more of the roof to collapse. Wade and Keegan managed to dash to one side just as tons of rubble cascaded down and buried Cain and his dead guards. Once the dust had settled they could see that the tunnel had been completely blocked at one end.

  ‘Well that takes care of that moral conundrum,’ Keegan said, wiping dirt from her arms. She bent to her knees and began to scrabble around in the pile of earth.

  ‘What are you doing now?’ Wade asked.

  She put her hands on the AT4 anti-tank weapon and pulled it from the debris, brushing it clean. ‘We’re going to need this,’ she said. ‘I guess we’ll never be able to locate the rest of the ammo I brought along with me. At least we’ve got one shot we can use.’ She looked up to the large hole that had appeared above them, the cloudless sky an intense blue. ‘We can’t get out that way. The Sentinels will be here soon. We’ve got to find another way out.’

  ‘I’m not leaving without the others. You said you knew where they might be held,’ said Wade.

  ‘We haven’t got the time…’

  ‘I mean it, Keegan. I’m not going anywhere without them. Or, to put it another way, I’m not going to your Erewhon with you if they aren’t right there with me. And, need I remind you, unless we find some means of getting across that desert then none of us will be going anywhere.’

  ‘I’ve got ideas…’

  ‘Great. Fancy sharing them? You know, in your own bloody time!’

  ‘Give it a rest, Wade!’ Keegan retorted. ‘I’m putting my own neck on the line for you, so a little less grousing wouldn’t go amiss!’

  ‘Your neck on the line?’ Wade responded. ‘If I get this right, you can simply beam on out of here, or do whatever it is you do when you’ve had enough of the game or it gets a little too hot for you. Me, I’m stuck with it, apparently.’

  ‘None of this is my fault, Wade,’ she burst. Then she sighed and looked down at her feet. ‘Shit, that’s not strictly true…’

  They heard voices from beyond the pile of rubble blocking the tunnel; people were trying to break their way through.

  ‘We can argue the ins and outs of this some other time,’ Wade said. ‘Where are the others being kept prisoner, and are we likely to hit trouble along the way?’ He searched one of the dead guard’s pockets for bullets, found some in a pouch on his belt.

  ‘They’ll soon dig their way through that obstacle. There are also a number of other passages that lead to this spot so I suggest we don’t hang about. We can go this way,’ she said, indicating with a quick dart of her head. The tunnel she walked towards was in darkness, most of the lamps having been blown out by the blasts. ‘There’ll be more of Cain’s men lurking in the tunnels, and the cells where your friends are being held will be guarded unless the explosions have distracted the guards. On top of that, Lindegaard’s men will be at our backs all the way, and no doubt splitting up to try and get at us from different routes. It’s not going to be easy. Like I told you, the Heights is basically a glorified shoot-‘em-up game with hazards at every junction and juncture, and none more so than this place. Lindegaard’s Sentinels are in for one hell of a surprise, though – the company designed their avatars so that they enjoyed unlimited extra life and experienced no pain if hit, meaning they were all but invulnerable and unstoppable. Well one thing we have managed to figure out is how to turn that extra life advantage off for a while.’

  ‘So they’re as vulnerable as we are?’

  ‘No one’s as vulnerable as we are, Wade. We can be killed. Permanently.’

  They heard a fierce exchange of rifle and small arms fire from the opening above them. The staccato bursts of automatic rifles sounded like someone stepping on brittle seashells.

  ‘Cain’s men giving the Sentinels hell,’ Keegan said.

  Two cylindrical objects tumbled through the hole and landed with loud metallic clangs on the stone floor a matter of metres away from them. They both realised at once what they were.

  ‘Grenades!’ Wade shouted, but Keegan had taken her cumbersome anti-tank weapon and was already running towards a bend in the tunnel. He caught up with her just as the grenades went off, the blast sending shards of metal screaming through the air at bullet-speed and ripping into the stone walls. They were protected from the worst of the explosions, but their ears were buzzing all the same.

  ‘You okay?’ she asked as Wade peered through the drifting smoke.

  Within seconds there was the harsh sound of boots scraping the steps and a pair of camouflaged legs descending into the tunnel. When the heavily-clad torso appeared, Wade observed a hand getting ready to lob another grenade. He immediately opened fire with the rifle, catching the man in the legs. With a scream, the soldier plummeted down the steps and landed awkwardly on the floor, his automatic rifle skidding across the floor. Beneath his metal helmet his eyes were twisted in pain and shock, like he hadn’t expected to feel any of that.

  ‘Seems you were right about them being able to feel pain,’ said Wade, suppressing a grin.

  Seeing his opportunity, Wade tossed his aged rifle to Keegan and ran across to the Sentinel, who, seeing Wade bearing down on him, reached out for the fallen rifle. A swift kick under the chin sent the soldier sprawling onto his back. Wade retrieved the Sentinel’s automatic rifle, sending a quick burst up through the opening as more shadows appeared. When they finally backed off, he searched the groaning soldier for more bullet clips, found two and pocketed them. Bullets ripped through the opening as he scrambled back to Keegan.

  ‘This gives us a fighting chance at least,’ he said, brandishing the automatic rifle. Let’s get out of here. He glanced at the AT4. ‘Let me carry that,’ he said.

  ‘I can manage,’ she returned smartly, shouldering the weapon and setting off at a pace down the tunnel. ‘Just make sure you cover me if we run into trouble.’

  Wade heard the commotion from above as more men prepared to descend into the tunnel. He showered the area with another quick burst of fire to discourage their pursuers and then ran after Keegan, who was fast disappearing into the gloomy passage, the adrenalin pumping through his system and causing his body to flame with exhilaration.

  Except there wasn’t any adrenalin, he thought. There couldn’t be.

  So why did he feel so alive?

  33

  An Offer They Can’t Refuse

  ‘Do as I say. Don’t do anything stupid.’

  ‘Why?’ said Robert Napier. ‘Why did you murder them?’ Napier’s gun wavered as Jungius moved further into the room. ‘Tell that bastard to stop right there, now!’ he said.

  Dean Villiers waved a hand and Jungius came to a halt just behind Villiers’ left shoulder. His gun, however, remained fixed on Napier’s head.

  ‘What have you done with the rest of the staff? You killed them, too?’

  Villiers snorted in derision. ‘I’m many things, I grant you, but I’m not a psychopath, Napier. Jungius here escorted them to the basement. They’re safe. But I had to murder those two,’ said Villiers. ‘They had to go. Look, Napier, it’s over. I know who you are now.’ He gave a dry chuckle. ‘Actually, I’ve suspected for some time. So has Lindegaard. But you’ve been very clever at hiding your true allegiances, haven’t you, Napier? You were the mole Cobalt all along. Working for CSL right under Lindegaard’s nose and he never once saw it. Confirmation of your duplicity is guaranteed to make him real mad, and I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes when he finds out.’

  Jungius moved again, ever so slightly.

  ‘Forget it, Jungius,’ warned Napier, his gun shifting to cover the large man.

  ‘You had Lindegaard looking for a large competitor, a major setup, when all the facts pointed to the opposite,’ Villiers said. ‘Your ploy worked for a while, but the evidence of a smaller outfit started to become overwhelming, and that’s when he realised it couldn’t operate as it did without insider help. Lindegaard started to wonder why you persisted in throwing
resources at searching for a large – now mythical – organisation. The thing is,’ Villiers continued, ‘even when Lindegaard began to suspect you, he couldn’t understand why you’d do it. I mean, why throw away your powerful job and career, and maybe even your liberty and life, for the sake of CSL - a radical, second-rate, tree-hugging bunch of losers? Lindegaard’s words. I can see why that had him doubting the trickle of intelligence which he’d been gathering on you. They kept you under constant surveillance, tapped into all your communications, had you followed, and still you managed to evade them. Obviously you knew about his efforts and covered your tracks. What Lindegaard lacked – what he needed – was solid proof. Yet he couldn’t simply come out with it and accuse you – that would frighten off CSL, make them go underground, and he had his sights firmly set on irradiating them. So what to do?’

  Napier interrupted him. ‘Forget the speech, Villiers.’

  ‘Or what?’ said Villiers. ‘You’ll shoot me?’ Villiers slowly took out a handgun of his own.

  ‘Drop it, Villiers!’ said Napier.

  ‘You won’t shoot me, Napier,’ he observed collectedly. Villiers boldly ignored him and pointed the weapon at Melissa. ‘Not yet anyway. You can’t take the risk. I know what’s going through your head, Napier. You don’t want Melissa harmed, do you? Not your darling wife. Oh yes, I know about that, too. So let’s be level-headed about this. Stay calm. No itchy trigger fingers. Think about it; if you shoot me then there’s still Jungius to take care of, and by the time you turn your gun on him – if you manage to do that before he kills you, and he’s a crack shot, by the way – he’ll have killed Melissa. So you see, the odds are somewhat stacked against you. Do yourself a favour and put the gun down. This little standoff is getting us nowhere. Do as I say and you’ll both come out of this alive. You’ll even profit by it. Put the gun down on the floor. Nice and slow…’

  Weighing up his situation he realised his position was hopeless. Napier placed the gun on the tiled floor.

  ‘Now kick it over to me,’ Villiers said. Napier did so and Villiers picked it up and handed it to Jungius, who placed it in his coat pocket. ‘Good, now we can all settle down,’ Villiares said, pocketing his own weapon and wandering over to the chair in which Melissa lay.

  ‘Don’t you touch her,’ Napier said.

  ‘I admire you,’ Villiers admitted, a slender finger stroking Melissa’s shoulder. ‘Truly I do. Not only for actually loving someone so much you’d marry a woman in Melissa’s condition. Your devotion to her is admirable, if a little misguided, in my opinion. God knows what benefit you get from all that. I’ll bet dinner parties with friends are a hoot!’

  ‘You take your hands off her…’ Napier saw Jungius react slightly to his sudden movement towards Melissa.

  Villiers did so, raising both hands in the air. ‘Fine, fine. See? No hands.’ He went to Melissa’s front and bent close to her face. There was not a flicker of movement from her. ‘So what is it ultimately? Her fortune? She’s loaded, of course. So loaded it’s ugly. Shame to have all that she has and end up like she did, not being able to fully enjoy it. What a waste.’

  Napier’s temper was rising. ‘Watch your mouth, Villiers, and get away from her.’

  ‘I’ve been talking with your friend Adrian Levoir recently,’ Villiers said. ‘He’s proved very useful.’

  ‘Where is he?’ Napier asked. Then realisation seeped in. ‘It was you, wasn’t it? He didn’t disappear of his own accord – you took him and the CSL hard drives. What have you done with him?’

  ‘He’s otherwise engaged,’ Villiers said.

  Napier said flatly, ‘Is he dead, too?’

  ‘Ah, poor Levoir. Sadly, whatever happened to him is your fault.’

  ‘You’re twisted, Villiers…’ Napier said, scanning the room, looking for a way out of this. He met Jungius’ uncompromising stare and the single, menacing eye of the gun.

  ‘Truly the fault is yours,’ Villiers said. ‘I now know why you brought him all the way from New Mexico with you. It was to keep him out of the way, so he could do as little harm as possible. He might have been a jumped-up little shit, but I admit he was a very talented young man. He was the one who’d frequently managed to spot CSL’s incursions through all the firewalls you’d put in place. So by promoting him to working alongside you – keeping your enemy close, you might say – you’d be able to directly oversee his work and filter anything he was working on. A man like that could have undermined everything you were doing otherwise. You could have simply dismissed him from the company, but I reckon you suspected Levoir knew more than he was letting on about CSL. Perhaps you were even thinking of recruiting him to the Dark Side, eh? Testing his loyalty to Lindegaard, seeing how far he’d be prepared to go for the Lindegaard cause before making your move on him. You sure made him think you were with Lindegaard all the way.’ Villiers touched his damaged ear. ‘But all your supposed aggression and propensity for violence was a sham wasn’t it? You even used me to show Levoir how committed you were. How cruel and heatless you could be, just the right material Lindegaard needed. It was for Lindegaard’s benefit, too. Keep him guessing, throwing him off the scent.’ He rubbed his ear. ‘I could hold that against you, but I’m bigger than that.

  ‘But any time and effort trying to bring Levoir over to CSL would have been wasted,’ he continued. ‘Levoir was just another pole-climber looking after himself all along; I found his loyalty was far too easily bought.’ Villiers leant on Melissa’s leather chair. ‘Go on; tell me I’m wrong about all this.’

  ‘Screw you,’ Napier replied. He eyed the syringes on the tray. ‘This isn’t a game.’

  Villiers laughed. ‘God, now there’s an irony, eh? Games, games, games! But you’re wrong, Napier. So very wrong. It is a game. A very dangerous game.’ Villiers stood up straight, brushing an index finger over the brightly-lit computer screen filled with flickering images. ‘Lindegaard and I have moved you about the board like a pawn. Lindegaard needed to flush you out, so he recruited me to help him. It was unfortunate, but we decided we had to kill the CSL man Roland Fuller in order to force you to make a move. Desperate measures and all that.’

  ‘You cold-hearted bastard.’

  ‘And lucky for us you aren’t. Deep down, you’re a really decent guy, too decent for this kind of business. Seeing CSL people get killed was not what you’d bargained for, and it went against the grain. You don’t really care what happens to you, but when it comes to the lives of others… Now that’s a different story. If people put their lives on the line by making incursions into the Heights, well that’s a risk that comes with the job; but being murdered in cold blood? That goes beyond the call of duty. Frustratingly, you held your nerve. That’s when Levoir comes into the equation – when you set him to work on the recovered CSL hard drives you thought you’d be able to either intercept any data that would reveal CSL for what it is, or implicate you. Or maybe you thought you’d even get the chance to destroy it before anything came of it. But you never got the opportunity. Levoir disappeared along with the hard drives. But, you thought, how can that be? Adrian Levoir doesn’t work for CSL. Or does he? It set up doubts in your mind, or at the very least made you think something was wrong.’ He wore a smug grin, dwelling on the memories. ‘You were right, of course, his CSL allegiances are all a fabrication on my part, his disappearance down to me. I had no choice actually, I had to remove him. After all, he’d discovered that I wasn’t the real Villiers and was coming to you with that fact.’

  ‘So who are you, really?’ Napier noticed that Jungius’ arm had relaxed somewhat, his attention not as riveted on him as it had been. Maybe there was a chance to make a move...

  ‘Lindegaard still doesn’t suspect, but I work for another company. Let’s say a major organisation that has ambitions to become a key player in the TIG sector. A sector dominated, as we both know, by Lindegaard Software and Mindgames Inc. But like all potential competitors we struggled to develop the technology and chemistry needed
. The only organisation that had the ability to create the software, get access to tremethelene and override Lindegaard’s firewalls to get into Armageddon Heights was CSL, so we needed to find out the identities of Charlie Sharland and, when it became apparent there was a mole, how can I put it…? Make them an offer they can’t refuse. Thanks to Adrian Levoir and his work in pulling the data from the hard drives I now have both of them. Charlie Sharland and Cobalt.’

  ‘You’re bluffing,’ said Napier. ‘Or clutching at straws.’

  ‘Quit stalling,’ Villiers said. ‘I know who Charlie Sharland is. Quite frankly, the answer has been staring everyone in the face. Makes me feel almost embarrassed not to have seen it earlier. Lindegaard would be beside himself if he knew.’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ said Napier guardedly.

  Villiers bent back down to Melissa Lindegaard, his face mere inches from hers, his breath causing tiny wisps of hair on her forehead to fly like cobwebs in a breeze. ‘Hello, Charlie,’ he said, tapping her cheek with the flat of his hand. ‘How are we doing in there Mr Sharland?’

  34

  Playing God

  ‘You sure this is the way?’ Samuel Wade called to her back. He looked over his shoulder down the tunnel. He heard the sound of boots rattling on the stone in the darkness, some distance away but closing in on them.

  ‘Pretty sure, yes,’ Keegan said.

  ‘Only pretty sure?’ he said breathlessly. His body was now feeling the impact of the beatings he’d taken, his back and shoulders pulsing with sharp bouts of pain, his head throbbing. ‘They’re closing in on us.’

  She brought them to a halt before a rust-eaten door with a metal wheel in its centre. A small body of Cain’s men were running down the tunnel toward them, levelling their rifles. Wade let loose a burst of fire with the automatic, and three men toppled under the hail of bullets, their attack collapsing, the remainder falling back.