Harry Heron: Into the Unknown

by Patrick G Cox

  One of the others said, “We think they’ve somehow been exposed to the psychotropic drugs we were testing.”

  “It’s a bloodbath outside this level,” the wounded man interjected. “We tried to access the computer to reverse the contamination, but all the files on the formulae have been erased, and the computer is not responding to our commands.”

  “So you tell us,” snarled Paddy Murphy, visibly shaken by the atrocities these people had inflicted. “I sure as hell don’t know how it’s happened, but I hope it lasts a long, long time.”

  The man cowered from the hatred blazing in the youth’s eyes and whispered, “Please—I’ve lost a lot of blood. Can I have some water?”

  Sub-Lieutenant Trelawney considered this request. Knowing that the water probably contained mind-altering substances, he faced a difficult choice. He made it. “Do you recognise the young man at that terminal?” he asked quietly.

  The trio nodded; their fear was evident.

  “Until he collapsed, you were having your fun testing one or more of your mind-bending drugs on him. Something you bastards did to him has enabled him to talk directly to your computer. You can’t find the antidotes or the formulae because he destroyed them—and he told the computer to contaminate your food and water supply.” Watching their faces, he paused. “If you drink the water, you do so entirely at your own risk. You may get lucky. I have no idea how long-lasting these chemicals are.”

  The wounded man whimpered, and his companions looked scared.

  Signalling to Paddy Murphy, the sub-lieutenant asked, “You brought those manacles from the guardroom, Paddy? Good, cuff these three together at the ankles.” He smiled viciously at the trio and said, “We’ll be back to fetch you, and we’ll bring some angry Marines with us. I am looking forward to your trial—it should be very interesting.”

  He watched as the trio were hobbled, ordering, “Ferghal, I want you to take that control terminal apart as creatively as you can and make it so that anyone attempting to fix it is in for a surprise.”

  WITH NORMAL ACCESS TO THE COMPUTER IMPOSSIBLE from the lab, the group climbed a long staircase and emerged into an accommodation area. Making their way cautiously along the empty corridors they found a trail of destruction, as if the inhabitants had all departed in a hurry, desperate to escape.

  “Looks like they are running from their own shadows,” commented Hans indicating a destroyed service unit. The droid had been torn apart.

  In the lead, Paddy bent to examine one of the guards. “Dead, and so are these others. Someone’s using some heavy weaponry here—the sort of stuff you’d use against armour, not people.” He recovered several weapons. “We can make good use of these.”

  “Yes, gather whatever weapons you find.” The sub-lieutenant studied a door blasted completely out of its mountings. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say the place was under assault from outside. Come on, we’ll have to be damned careful. This is really ugly.”

  They passed what may have been an office area. It was strewn with corpses, its workstations smouldering. “Damned if I know what was in that stuff they’ve been fed, but it’s sent them over the edge.”

  “Some survivors here, sir.” Hans leapt back slamming the door. “Bloody psychos!” He blasted the door control. “That’ll hold them for a bit.” With a shudder, he added, “They’re all raving in there.”

  The scene was repeated at several more levels until halting at one of the upper levels, the sound of explosions, plasma fire and screaming indicated that the level above was still in the grip of a struggle.

  “Sounds like a full-on war up ahead.” Trelawney looked at his team. “And we’re not equipped to take that on. We need another way out, I think.”

  Harry turned, listening to something beyond the wall. “Sir, I think the main computer core is here. If we secure the core, we can preserve the evidence of what has taken place in this vile facility. I believe the Commodore will be interested to see it.”

  “Good thought, Harry, but how do we do that? It sounds like a full scale war up there, and we still have to get past it.”

  “No, sir, the computer is here,” said Harry. “I can hear it. All the records are here too, if we can secure them.” He looked round and found his friend. “Ferghal, you know how to do this?”

  “Aye, Master Harry,” nodded the other, looking from Harry to Sub-Lieutenant Trelawney.

  “I don’t know what you think you can do, but let’s try it. What the hell, we’re in this up to our necks anyway. Murphy and Dinsen, guard this room. No one comes down here. Clear?”

  “As daylight,” said Paddy Murphy, and Hans Dinsen nodded his agreement.

  THE LARGE CIRCULAR CHAMBER APPEARED STERILE, the walls lined with panels on which lights blinked, the patterns rippling from one display to the next. Some were blank, others displayed only red lights and others gave the appearance of being in fault mode. Rising like a solid column at the centre was the core itself.

  “We need the data recorders from this area,” Harry said.

  Ferghal applied the point of his blade to the panel and used it to lever the panel free of its mountings. Looking inside, he nodded. “Aye, this be the memory storage, Master Harry. We cannot take it all. If I remove the link and the key access module, no one will be able to alter them.”

  Harry looked through the banks of recording crystals. Pointing to one row deep inside, he said, “There, those are the most important. Take those and disable access to the rest.”

  Watching the whispered conversation, Sub-Lieutenant Trelawney tried to work out how this pair could do what they were doing. He was about to ask when Ferghal shut his eyes for a moment then reached inside and removed an entire bank of crystals. He repeated this process several times, removing a number of smaller units, which he handed to Harry.

  Wrapping these in a backpack they had grabbed, Harry said, “We have the storage crystals, sir. And the ones we have altered will lock out anyone who attempts to access anything in this computer—disabling all terminals unless our code is entered.”

  Shaking his head, the sub-lieutenant stared at the bundle. “Harry, you two are a constant source of amazement. Six months ago, you’d never seen a computer, and now you’re controlling the damned thing with your mind—and you’re about to collapse from exhaustion, no less!” He laughed.

  Harry nodded, his tiredness ageing his face. “Over there we spotted a tunnel through which all the service cables run, sir.” He pointed to a blank panel against the wall. “According to the schematics of this place in the computer, that is the intake for the cooling system.”

  “Right, then that’s the way we’ll go. Get it open while I get the others in and secure the access to this place.”

  Trelawney watched as Ferghal opened the panel so that they could gain access to the tunnel.

  “It’s open, sir. We must stop the fans, but that is easy.” Ripping open a control unit, Ferghal found what he was looking for. A flash of light told them he had destroyed the switch. He laughed. “It’ll soon be a little hot for the system now.”

  When Hans and Paddy joined them, the sub-lieutenant ordered, “Paddy, seal that door. Make the bastards work to get in here.” He turned to see Ferghal using the replicator to create a weapon that he vaguely identified as a cutlass.

  When Paddy was finished, Trelawney said, “Harry, Danny—into that tunnel, please. Paddy, Hans, get going after them. O’Connor, help me close this panel. If anyone comes looking, I don’t want them to just walk in on us.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.” Ferghal moved aside, hefted the panel into place and closed the latches. He bent these out of shape, and with a few well-aimed blows, folded the latch points over the damaged tongues. To the astonished officer, he said, “It’ll take them some work to get those free.” Grinning, he added, “We might as well make them sweat a little while we’re at it.

  THEY EMERGED INTO THE OPEN AIR at the mouth of what appeared to be a small natura
l cavern. Situated in the shoulder of a mountain, it was screened from above by an overhanging cliff, and the approach from below was steep and open.

  Hans held up a hand to stop them as he turned the final corner. “Open air ahead, sir, and still daylight.”

  “Right, stay where you are, all of you. I’ll take a look. Any intruder detection?”

  “Yes, sir. Looks like a pressure pad.” Paddy laughed. “Well hidden—but only if you’re coming from the other way. Reckon I can disable it from here, sir.”

  Trelawney moved forward and examined the device then inspected the walls above and behind their position. “There’s an imager up there.” He pointed. “We should make sure it isn’t active.”

  “That part of the computer is no longer functioning, sir.”

  Harry’s voice made the sub-lieutenant turn. “You’re certain?”

  “Aye, sir. I could not see any part of the monitoring system by the time we reached the core. Up to then I could see it on all levels.”

  Giving Harry a strange look, the sub-lieutenant considered carefully. “Can we do something that’ll look like an accident? O’Connor?”

  Ferghal grinned, studying the manner in which the device was fixed to the rock. “Aye, sir. Easy.” He moved closer and explored the exposed rock face. “If you’ll stand clear, sir.” Inserting his cutlass in a crack beneath the bracket holding the imager, he wiggled it, producing a small shower of dirt. Repeating this several times, and taking care to stay out of the imager’s field of view, he worked a chunk of stone free. It fell away, dragging more with it, and the imager, the thin fibre cable still attached, fell swinging before it smashed against an outcrop. “There ye are, sir. Anyone investigatin’ that’ll think the stones gave way.” He pulled a few more pieces down, making sure they fell on the broken imager and disguising the marks his levering had left.

  “That’ll do.” Sub-Lieutenant Trelawney led them to the pressure pad and approached the opening. “I haven’t the faintest idea of where we are, but there’s a settlement down there. Maybe we can get closer tonight and find out what’s happening.” Studying the terrain below the cave, he said, “We’ll move out of here and take shelter in that grove to the right. There’s a stream there, so we’ll have fresh water, and those trees look like fruit trees. We can rest until sunset and work out what to do from there. A comlink would be a first priority, I think.”

  “How long have we been here, sir?” Harry asked when they reached the trees. Close to collapsing from exhaustion, he slumped to the ground as soon as the order to stop was given. “I’m afraid I have lost track of time since our abduction.”

  “I’m not surprised,” said Trelawney, motioning to Ferghal and Danny to collect some water and fruit. “This is the seventh day since we were taken, Harry, and you spent a little over five days in their lab. We heard them bring you back yesterday.” Watching Harry drink the water and take a bite of the fruit, he said, “You look completely done in. Get some sleep. Danny can look after you. The rest of us will see what we can come up with from here.”

  The sub-lieutenant recognised that now they faced another challenge. “Until we know the situation in that village, we have to look out for ourselves. We need to find something we can carry water in. We’ll need something other than fruit to eat as well.”

  “Begging your pardon, sir, but we can make water bottles from the gourds on that tree.”

  “It looks feasible, but how do we know it isn’t poisonous?”

  “The people here eat them, sir. We ate some at the hotel, and the beasts eat them.”

  “Then you’d better show us how to convert them into water bottles,” said the sub-lieutenant.

  Selecting several of the gourd-like fruits, Ferghal, Paddy and Hans sawed off the tops then carefully extracted the seeds and the soft flesh. Scouring the gourds clean, they flushed them several times with clear water. “We should rinse them out with the boiling water to cure them, sir,” Ferghal told the sub-lieutenant. “That hardens the shell, sir.”

  It was the work of another hour or so for everyone to be equipped with an improvised water bottle. As the sun sank beneath the distant horizon, Trelawney reluctantly woke Harry.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Harry said as he rubbed sleep from his eyes and eased himself into a sitting position. “I hope I have not slept too long.”

  “Long enough, Harry.” The sub-lieutenant was relieved that Harry seemed much better now that he’d rested. “Ferghal has been teaching us some of his skills, but now we must move on. As soon as the moon rises, we will be under way.”

  Chapter 27

  Ferghal Unleashed

  THE JOURNEY DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE was harder than expected and painfully slow. No one and no animals disturbed their progress. It was almost midnight when they reached the outskirts of the small settlement. Moving cautiously to a concealed spot, Hans spotted one of the inhabitants using an optical viewer, his attention focussed on the facility they had escaped.

  Joining him, the sub-lieutenant assessed the situation. The man’s attitude and caution suggested he was not one of the people from the laboratories or one of the Consortium guards. It raised the hope that the villagers might not be in sympathy with what went on there. “Remain here, O’Connor.” Trelawney signalled Paddy Murphy forward. “Work round behind that fellow. I’ll distract him. I want you to take him. We need to know what we’re facing down there.” He watched as the midshipman slipped into the encroaching darkness. “O’Connor, I want you to make sure there are no other watchers. Keep out of sight, and don’t get in Midshipman Murphy’s way.” He hesitated. “And I’d prefer them alive if you do find anyone.”

  Ferghal’s teeth flashed in the gloom as he grinned. “Alive, sir? Aye, aye.” He slipped away, leaving the officer to watch for a sign of Paddy Murphy’s progress.

  Catching a glimpse of Paddy below and behind the watching man, Trelawney created a diversion, deliberately moving clumsily through the undergrowth. Giving the impression of trying to be stealthy, he took a diagonal approach across the man’s front. “Come on, Paddy, the bastard may have a weapon trained on me,” he muttered to himself as he ducked into a thicket. A moment later came the sounds of a scuffle and a shout.

  “Got him, sir!” Paddy’s voice sounded pleased.

  THE MAN PROVED TO BE A VILLAGER. “You guys aren’t those Consortium bastards, so who are you? What have you done up there?”

  “We’re from the Fleet, and I want some answers. Where the hell is this place? Who are you, and how many of these Cons are in the village down there?”

  “You’re on New Caledonia, and that is—or was, until the Cons came—Urquhart.” His gesture indicated the huddle of small domestic domes. “Now it’s Johnstone.” He spat on the ground. “Some bastard named it after himself.” His thumb jerked in the direction of the mountain. “My name’s Grover, Marcus Grover, second generation Pangaean. My parents migrated here with the first settlement and helped build this place. Now it’s run by jerks the Cons brought in and put in charge of us.”

  The sub-lieutenant asked, “How can we set up a communications relay? We need to contact our commander. We were abducted and brought here a few days ago, and Harry there needs a medic, I think.”

  Marcus Grover snorted. “You’re out of luck on all counts. The only coms are through the facility, as it’s called—up there. And the only medics are up there as well. Come to that, you’re stuck unless you can fly. This is an island. Our sea-going transports have been confiscated, disabled or sunk, and everything else is just pluerodon bait.”

  Considering this, the sub-lieutenant asked, “Okay, so who is working for the Cons, and who might help us?”

  “Unless you guys have taken out everybody up there, you’re in trouble.” He paused. “Hurker is the main man, but he’s got five people handling different remits. You’ll need to take them all out.”

  “Well, if that’s the only way....” Trelawney hesitated. “Where do we fi
nd these people?”

  “I’ll show you.” Standing at the signal from the sub-lieutenant, Marcus said, “Look, I’m sticking my neck way out here. How did you guys get out? That place is their top security facility. When they take you in, you generally only come out in a box.”

  “Long story. Let’s just say I don’t think anyone up there will be causing any problem for a while.”

  “What? Did those snakeheads get loose in there? Bloody good job then, but if they got out....”

  “Snakeheads?”

  “Yeah, aliens, we think. Fast, strong, and can regrow arms and other body parts. You can only see them if they want you to. The Cons kept some here for experiments. A few were kept in a cage the other side of the mountain.”

  “We met some. I doubt they’ll bother us. Now, show us where these Cons live.”

  AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE SMALL TOWN, Trelawney called a halt. “You’re certain of no patrols?”

  “No patrols necessary. They hold all the weapons, and their informants make sure the rest of us stay in line.” He pointed to a group of low domes. “Those are the ones you want.”

  “How many people live here?”

  “One hundred and twenty settlers plus fifteen Consortium incomers—the Council and their families, five of them kids. Up there.” His thumb indicated the mountain. “About sixty permanently, plus the guard, but it varies—and Hurker let slip there’re a lot more in a separate deep facility who never come down here.”

  Trelawney considered. He had four young men, a child and himself, a few weapons and a local population clearly in thrall to the operators of the base—or at least under their control. Against him were the unknown collaborators, an unknown number of surviving guards and staff from the facility they had escaped, a camp full of beings he wasn’t sure would be friendly toward humans of any description and their heavily armed guards. He called a council of war.