Falling Ark

by Leigh Snelson

  “Don’t do this! We can work something out.” I mumbled. I never thought I would need to beg for my life, so I didn’t really know what words to say.

  “You’re so naïve. What options do I have? You have nothing else I want and you know too much.” Lara walked slowly towards me and I saw her hand reach behind her. “You should have just drunk your champagne!” Her voice turned shrill and she grasped something behind her back.

  I decided I didn’t want to hang around long enough to find out what she was holding. Now that I had put a bit of distance between us I dove to my right, behind a floor to ceiling steel container that we used to store chemicals.

  BANG!

  It was the loudest noise I had ever heard. My first instincts were to pat myself down to make sure that I hadn’t been hit. Relieved that I couldn’t feel any pain I noticed the glugging of slime that started to pour out of the container I was hiding behind.

  It was a pink ooze that the biologists used to destroy their creations.

  “It is excellent and eating waste organic matter, just don’t let it get on your skin.” I remember Julie telling me when I had first started at the company many years ago. It was good advice.

  Quickly climbed to my feet and jumped onto a nearby stool. If I got that stuff on me, I will be begging Lara to shoot me. I had seen what it does, it acts quickly and painfully.

  “This stuff is dangerous! Someone is going to get hurt!” I yelled to the crazy woman holding the gun trying to shoot me. I grimaced at the irony of what I was saying.

  The stool wobbled underneath me. I am not a heavy man, slim and slender, but the stool was not designed for this and it continued to wobble.

  I also noticed that the rubber on my boots had started to bubble, it had been splashed by the pink ooze. Looking down I saw the whole floor had turned pink. I couldn’t get away, but Lara also couldn’t get close enough for a clean shot.

  “What is the plan now?” I shouted back. “I am trapped but you can’t get to me either. See sense Lara, please!”

  This corner of the lab was keeping me safe. The metal container against my back pouring its contents all over the floor. There was a rack of test tubes opposite me, but I couldn’t reach them without stepping into the slime. The only good thing about this position was that Lara couldn’t position herself to see me without stepping in the slime, I was trapped but safe, for now.

  BANG!

  The bullet hit the metal container on the other side but it didn’t travel all the way through. Bullets are useless at moving through liquid and I had an entire container of slime behind me.

  “You can’t shoot through that! It’s basic physics. Now can we please talk this through!” I yelled, the ringing of the bullet still in my ears.

  “I can wait. Don’t worry.” Lara yelled back. “Once that container has emptied all over the floor, I like my odds then.”

  She was right. I was safe behind this container as long as there was liquid in it but with every moment that liquid emptied and the more holes she shot into it, the quicker that would be.

  Another loud bang echoed around the lab as this time the bullet went through the top of the container and smashed all the glass test tubes on the wall opposite. I looked up and saw the puncture hole high up above me in the metal barrel. At least we now know the bullets can make it through.

  “How about we work together with this. All the best inventions were given away for free. The world wide web, polio vaccines, the ball point pen! You could be a modern-day hero.” I tried to appeal to her conscience.

  “Dom are you telling me that you want to give this technology away for FREE! Your survival instincts aren’t very good are they!” Lara shouted over the glugging liquid behind me.

  My eyes fixed on the door over on the other side of the lab. I wonder how good she was with the gun. I could jump over the tables and possibly make it. Then again, I suspect that this might not be the first time Lara has been in this situation.

  BANG!

  This time the container shook as the bullet entered it. Luckily it didn’t come all the way through but I could tell the container was emptying fast.

  There was one idea that came to mind, it was a long shot.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out my smartphone. While I had worked on previous prototypes of the gravity defying beach ball I found it useful to get technical readouts so I tasked my team with creating an app that could talk to the onboard computer wirelessly.

  Within that little floating globe was an array of sensors including a very awesome camera. If I could connect to it, I might just be able to fashion an escape.

  I told my phone to scan the local area. A few seconds later a device popped up. It didn’t have a readable name but it was the only device in range so it must be the ball. I pressed ‘Connect’ and held my breath.

  “Success.” The screen read and the custom app launched, the VisionTech logo glaring back at me while it loaded.

  Everything that I was about to do was all theoretical. It had worked in the simulations but there was no guarantee. To be honest I didn’t even know how the app worked. It had been created by one of my team who had torn apart a drone he received as a birthday present and reverse-engineered the code that made it fly.

  The app only took seconds to load but it seemed like a lifetime. My phone screen flashed and then a picture of the back of Lara’s head came into view. She was stood on a steel table to avoid the slime on the floor and she was aiming the gun at the container.

  A few moments later two little joysticks appeared on my screen. These were used for flight control. I hoped.

  I pushed the sticks forward towards Lara’s head and without hesitation the floating ball jerked forward, crashing into her.

  The clatter behind me could be heard before I saw it on the screen. Then I saw her, out cold. She was still breathing but had received the equivalent of a baseball bat to the head.

  Pushing on the joysticks I manoeuvred the silver beach ball around the lab to my location and jumped on top, careful not to move any of the dials or press the button that would turn the whole machine off.

  If you have ever tried to sit on a yoga ball you know it isn’t easy but when it’s life or death, even someone as awkward as me can learn to balance very quickly.

  The sensation was strange. I expected it to sag as it took my weight, the same way a beachball floating in the water will sink a little when you try to jump onto it, but it didn’t, it stayed completely unmoving, hanging in the air as solid as a rock.

  Finding a comfortable position was difficult and if I survived tonight, I would certainly re-think the design. It was difficult to sit on top, not touching any of the buttons or switches and still use my phone as a controller. Eventually I found a position that worked, an awkward pose that looked like a crouching ninja.

  I floated around the lab, over to Lara who was still unconscious. Her hand that was holding the gun was hanging off the side of the table where she lay. It was centimetres away from the rising pink slime.

  Lowering myself next to her I pulled her hand up, shaking the gun lose and watching it fall into the slime, sinking out of view, bubbles popping on the surface.

  Resting her hand back on the table I grabbed her ID badge and shifted the ball towards the door. As I went through the airlock door, I pressed the ‘Lock’ button trapping Lara inside. Without her ID badge she would have to manually override the door. It might just give me a little extra time.

  I looked at the cold corridors, to my left was the elevator, to my right, the stairs. Which way to go?

  Chapter 2

  It was a very odd sight.

  Me, floating down the corridor, sitting on top of a steel ball floating a metre above the ground. It was a good job there was nobody around. Staff in this building have seen some strange things but this would have certainly caught their attention.

  Why did I stay in this position? Who knows!

  When the ball cleared the pink slime in the lab it
would have made sense to dismount and carry the ball, but for some reason it just never occurred to me. When you are running for your life, logic takes a back seat.

  Navigating the corridors was the easy part, the same way I had done for years, heading to the elevators that would take me up to the ground floor.

  Tonight, everything seemed different. I couldn’t tell if it was the time, working late without anyone around, or because my boss had just tried to kill me. Either way these walls did not seem like the warm, friendly corridors that I was used too. Instead I saw them as the cold, concrete prison that they were.

  Passing the doors of my colleagues and friends it dawned on me that they might be in trouble too. Did they know what they had signed up for and what Lara planned to do with them once they were finished?

  I must stop her.

  Floating down the long, final corridor towards the lifts I noted that this environment, sterile and industrial was a terrible choice for innovation, it didn’t inspire me at all.

  The elevators were off to the right, down their own little walkway and as I approached, preparing to turn the corner to face them, I heard the motors from the shafts start to whine and the little ladies voice from inside the cart.

  “Basement, Level 2.” The voice said in her polite tone.

  It startled me at first. Was this someone coming to save me, or someone else looking to kill me? How far through the company did the corruption go?

  Immediately I pushed down on the virtual joysticks on my phone screen and sent the orb into reverse and just like a well-behaved robot it changed direction instantly, without hesitation or warning.

  The only issue was me; I was not prepared for the sudden change of direction and while the orb flew silently away in the opposite direction it left me behind, falling and hitting the ground hard.

  There weren’t carpets down here. It would have cushioned the fall a little but nope, the cold concrete floor met my face and inflicted shooting pains up my jaw.

  I would certainly pay for that little mistake tomorrow but now was no time for self-pity. I scrambled to my feet and flung myself around the corner just as the doors on the elevator opened.

  Several pairs of large boots came stomping out of the elevator almost in unison thudding down on the concrete. They came to a stop just around the corner, metres from me and the orb.

  “Guns ready men, this guy is dangerous!” The voice came roaring around the corner. They were going to shoot first and not bother asking questions.

  Looking around it became obvious that the smooth concrete walls that surrounded me offered no protection. Glancing back down the long corridor I estimated that I would make it halfway to safety before the shooting started. Not enough time.

  An idea hit me. Just like when I was trapped with Lara the orb might come to my rescue again. But if escaping Lara was improbable then this would require a small miracle. I didn’t have many options, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone again.

  Taking control of the orb, the screen flickered and showed the top of my head. We had equipped the orb with a state of the art 360-degree camera that was originally developed for the guidance system in missiles. It could see in all directions with perfect clarity and an insane amount of detail. When you have access to secret military blueprints you aren’t going to make do with off the shelf components. I just used Lara’s security clearance to access the files I needed; the replicator did the rest.

  Little joysticks appeared in the corners of the screen and slowly I manoeuvred the orb to the end of the corridor, just around the corner from the guns.

  Controlling it was much easier than it looked. I had never been able to control drones, planes or even remote-control cars with much success, although I had spent plenty of money trying. Money that on several occasions literally went up in flames.

  The controls on this were very easy. I think it was because the little orb didn’t bob up and down like a drone. It remained still, perfectly still and perfectly horizontal at all times.

  If you pointed it in a direction it moved in that direction, like a computer game character, and I had plenty of experience controlling them.

  Okay, only one attempt at this. Lowering the orb to waist height, about a metre off the ground I prepared myself.

  I pushed the joysticks forward and then banked around the corner. The orb followed the directions silently.

  There was no real front to the machine. The viewfinder on my phone panned around to where it thought I needed to look. Due to the all-seeing camera, the orb didn’t need to spin when it changed direction. It reminded me of one of the old arcade games where your main character moved around the screen, but the graphics were so primitive that they always faced to the right, even when walking backwards.

  As it rounded the corner it gave me the first view of the guards. I swiped on the screen to zoom out to fit them all in the viewfinder. Their startled faces were clear. They had never confronted anything like this before.

  There were seven guards in total. Standing in formation, rows of two with one huge guy at the back towering over all of them. They were wearing SWAT-style outfits, black with armoured padding and little pockets stuffed with equipment.

  Who did they think I was and why did they need all this equipment?

  Then I noticed the guns. These were the biggest guns I had ever seen. Well, they were the only guns I had ever seen in real life, and they were very big.

  The guards were obviously caught by surprise, my little orb, floating silently in front of them and it took a few moments before they gathered themselves and started to take aim.

  The amount of noise that erupted from the corridor as the guards started to unload their magazines was immense. If I thought the noise from one gun being fired by Lara was loud, this was on another level. They kept shooting, but their reactions couldn’t match the speed of the orb.

  Pushing forward on the joysticks the orb glided through the air faster than they could target. A spray of bullets missed and slammed into the concrete wall behind. Right in front of me.

  The orb flew between the guards. Straight down the middle of their formation while they kept shooting. They were obviously not very well trained because I imagine this is one of the simplest tactics that any competent military person would be able to handle. Luckily for me it went perfectly to plan.

  As the orb passed between them, each guard peppered their opposite colleague with a volley of bullets straight into the bullet-proof padding. At least I hoped it was bulled proof. I don’t know much about these things and tonight I wasn’t out to cause anyone any harm. It was them against me and I tried not to give it much thought.

  It was a simple tactic that worked like a charm. Six down, one to go.

  The last guy stood there as the orb got closer and I started to recognise him.

  His name was Frank, and he had been with the company for years. I had often seen him around campus performing his duties as head of security. Usually it involved making sure that people were wearing their name tags and not leaving doors wedged open on hot days. He always seemed like a nice guy. Just doing his job.

  I tried to pull back on the controls, but they weren’t responding. I tapped and swiped but nothing happened. Then the screen flickered, and the picture went dead. The words 'Connection Lost' appeared in front of me.

  The orb had drifted out of range. It was only a simple Bluetooth connection and not really designed for this. The orb did have greater connection capabilities, but I was hardly in a position to set it up properly. I was now blind to whatever Frank was doing around the corner.

  I felt my chest tighten as the panic of the situation set in. There was no way I could win a physical battle with Frank and no way I could outrun him.

  Frank was a big man. Rumours circulated that he was ex-special forces and I wouldn’t be surprised to find that was true right now. He likely bulked up during his army days and I don’t recall meeting a more physically imposing person. He was built like
a bear and the huge machine guns that the other soldiers held looked like a toy in his giant paws. He could easily lift me off the floor with one hand and possible crush my skull with the other.

  Neither fight nor flight seemed like options.

  Two thoughts hit me. How many people knew what Lara was doing with this company? Also, why were there no doors down this long, cold corridor?

  That second thought stayed with me. The temperature seemed to be dropping. It was the floor; it was cold. I had never noticed how cold it was before but right here with my senses heightened I felt myself starting to shiver. Looking down I realised why.

  Pink slime was stuck to the bottom of my shoes and it had been eating away at the rubber. This stuff was awful. It was designed to melt away dangerous experimental biohazards. In the past I had seen how quickly it dissolved flesh and had no desire to go through that pain. Kicking off my shoes I let my feet touch the concrete floor.

  Cold feet were the least of my worries. If that slime came into contact with my skin I would be begging Frank to shoot me.

  Staring at the soles of my shoes the solution came to me.

  Carefully I picked up the shoes, and moved to the corner of the corridor.

  Franks huge presence also meant that he had no ability to sneak around. His boots could be heard across the entire basement, the floor, straining to take his weight with every footstep.

  As he approached the corner where I lay in wait my muscles tensed.

  It only took a moment for the slime to take effect. As he turned around the corner I swiped with both hands, wearing my boots as gloves.

  Swinging at the point where his head should appear I realised my error. He was much taller than I remembered. Contact was first made with his neck before adjusting my aim and smearing the sole of the shoe up his face. Unfortunately for Frank this meant the slime spread more than I wanted. A little dab should have immobilised him and wouldn’t cause too much long-term damage. I had applied too much but I doubt he knew what had actually happened. The slime reacted quickly.