The Delta Chain

by Ian Edward

  ‘Sounds like the best solution,’ Donnelly said.

  ‘Sir,’ the policeman addressed Asquith this time, ‘I have a special request from the task force superintendent, that all members of Mr. Westmeyer’s travelling party are required in Northern Rocks to assist with enquiries.’ The police officer seemed a little embarrassed having to make the point, but his tone was firm. ‘That includes the occupants of the other vehicles that were hired. They’re all currently being intercepted and escorted back.’

  ‘Surely this isn’t necessary-’ Westmeyer began.

  ‘According to my orders, yes it is, sir.’

  ‘Are we being placed under arrest?’ Asquith demanded.

  ‘I have warrants for your arrests, but the superintendent would prefer us not to invoke them. He feels it would be better for all concerned if you were able to co-operate of your own free will at this time.’

  ‘Then of course, we will.’ Asquith was seething inside. Strike and counter strike, cleverly played. He’d been checkmated, manoeuvred into co-operating with the local authorities.

  Tannen had said nothing all this time, remaining in the background. He’d wanted to stay with Erickson, and wished now that he had. Asquith had been annoyed that both Hunter and Erickson had disappeared on him, but now it seemed that was the better choice.

  Once they were back in the car, heading off with the police vehicle right behind them, Tannen said, ‘What the hell do we do now?’

  ‘Shut up, Tannen.’ Asquith’s tone was condescending, his lips curled into an animal snarl. ‘Let me think.’

  It was when his back was against the wall that Asquith’s lethal military mind went into overdrive.

  It was a moment of sheer horror for Adam, Elizabeth and Daniel: the scream; the long reptilian bodies in the watery half-light; the jaw clamping down over Daniel’s arm.

  Adam was momentarily distracted by a bright silvery glint. It was from a twisted piece of metal, part of the wreckage littering the subterranean maze.

  Adam picked it up and rushed forward, slamming the jagged edge of the metal junk deep into the crocodile’s left eye. The creature reared back, its jaw going slack and releasing the boy’s arm. Blood pumped from the eye as the reptile writhed in pain, thrashing and rolling repeatedly in the shallow river.

  A deep, bloody gash ran the full length of Daniel’s arm. Adam grabbed him by his good arm and pulled Elizabeth toward him at the same time.

  ‘Go!’

  They ran back, away from the rushing water and the crocodiles that were now flooding into the area.

  But Adam could not see where they were running. He could see walls of stone, he could see pools of light, but mostly there was darkness and no clear points of reference, just grotesque shapes in the shadows. And deep recesses that were pitch black. Water ran everywhere and the crocodiles, freed from whatever had held them, could be all over the caverns. Hungry, vicious, in their element, ready to strike.

  They had no defence against them.

  Kate fell flat on her back on the roof of the elevator car, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs. She coughed and moaned as Hunter took her by the hand. ‘Kate, Kate, my God, are you okay?’

  ‘Yes…’ Slowly she sat up. She looked up at the doors above, then to Stephen.

  ‘I think we’re stuck here for the time being, Kate.’

  She didn’t reply. She breathed deeply and slowly, the nervous energy finally dropping away. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of Markham, lying below, and Adam. Where was Adam? What were the chances now he was even alive?

  ‘Just who are those bastards that did this?’

  ‘The men behind the Institute. Nexus. Some kind of breakaway research unit, hiding inside U.S. Defence. All the other investors are just kept around for show. The real money, the real control comes from Nexus and a guy called Logan Asquith. But you were right the first time. They’re just bastards.’

  ‘And the Delta Chain?’

  ‘Let me try and explain – in layman’s terms, as best I can.’

  ‘Don’t patronize me, Stephen. Just tell me.’

  ‘Okay. You probably know that most of the molecules in the human DNA strand are not used. They once had a function but whatever those functions were they’ve long since been lost.’

  ‘I’ve heard that somewhere, yeah.’

  ‘The main molecules of use to us, now, are in chains of amino acids we call proteins. The haemoglobin in our blood is just one of those proteins. It’s made up of two amino acid chains. Of the thirteen hundred amino acids we have, only five are different from our closest relative in the animal world, the chimpanzee. Just five amino acids that make us human. Three of these are in a particular enzyme, one is in a molecule protein, and the fifth is in our blood, in a haemoglobin chain we call the Delta Chain.

  ‘We’ve been using that chain for our recombinant DNA, splicing human and crocodile haemoglobin.’

  ‘I gather there’s some purpose to this.’

  ‘In biogenetics, Kate, differences in the chemistry of proteins has long been used as a kind of evolutionary road map, flagging how mankind developed, how we separated from other species…’

  ‘Like the chimpanzee.’

  ‘Yes. But going much further back than that. All life on earth started in the oceans. Variations in the DNA of different species can help scientists determine how mutations occurred, splitting into different species right back near the dawn of time.’

  Kate was aware of a quaver in his voice, an excitement. This was his passion.

  ‘Okay,’ said Kate, focusing. ‘So when mutations caused a new species to evolve, certain functions within our human genes, within our DNA strand, became…’ She searched her mind for the right word.

  ‘Dormant,’ Hunter completed the thought. He snapped his fingers. ‘You’ve got it, understood it, just like that.’

  ‘Spare me, Stephen. Just…tell me, explain this Delta Chain project.’ Her anger was coming and going in flashes, punctuated by her need to know the truth. To make sense of everything that had happened.

  ‘With recombinant DNA, geneticists have been able to splice different human genes together to create genes with enhanced functions, super-genes if you like, the intention being to recreate proteins, reactivate dormant genes within the DNA strand. Abilities that humans once had, long ago, could be returned to us.’

  ‘And that’s what Delta Chain is about?’

  ‘Partly. But only partly. Don’t you see? That’s the reason for the crocodiles, for their blood being drawn and kept in tanks, for the haemoglobin…’

  ‘No, I don’t see anything.’

  ‘William and I had the same vision. That’s why he sought me out and brought me in on his project. He was much further along, but I was working on related experiments he believed fitted the overall pattern. With DataStorming accelerating our research a thousand-fold, we were in the very final stages…’

  ‘Not just because of DataStorming,’ Kate said, the final pieces of the puzzle falling into place, ‘but because you’ve been experimenting with human guinea pigs, haven’t you…?’

  ‘Think, Kate…visualise…there is only a small percentage difference between the DNA of human and crocodile haemoglobin. Crocs breathe air, but are capable of storing large amounts of oxygen in their blood, enabling them to exist underwater for long periods.’

  ‘So that’s it.’ Kate sucked in deep mouthfuls of air as though trying to cleanse her system of this twisted vision. ‘Creating a hybrid blood gene so that people could store oxygen and survive underwater for …’

  ‘Twenty minutes. A real breakthrough, but eventually – hours, Kate. Hours.’

  ‘You infused young people with samples of their own blood – with their haemoglobin genetically altered. You experimented on them one at a time, to see how long they lasted underwater.’ There was no inflection in Kate’s voice. A steady, icy monotone, a study in deep revulsion. She could taste bile in her mouth. ‘You were prepared to sacrifice young l
ives for some stupid vision.’

  Hunter hung his head. ‘I don’t know how I got so…sucked in. I didn’t know about the human guinea pigs at first, Kate, I swear. It wasn’t until later, when I’d become so much a part of the project, that Westmeyer came clean, told me there was a hidden lab replicating my mice experiments, but on kids. Kids. Westmeyer kept selling me on the greater good but I was never comfortable. He was obsessed with his vision, ever since he saw the possibility back in Vietnam.’

  ‘Vietnam…?’

  ‘He and some religious weirdo went AWOL from their troop, disappeared in the jungle and linked up with some Vietnamese religious cult.’

  ‘He told you this?’

  ‘Yes. I know it doesn’t sound like William, but this was over 30 years ago. He was very young and they were crazy times. Lots of those guys went troppo over there. William fell madly in love with one of the villagers. She was deliberately drowned by the Vietcong. Later, wandering the rivers, he and the other guy, Vender, watched the crocs, and discussed the oxygen storing capabilities of the creatures. William became obsessed with discovering a way to make humans “breathe” underwater, apparently for the memory of his great love. But mostly, I think, because of his supersize ego. Later on, when he returned to America and a life of scientific research, supported by his Army buddies, he envisioned how DNA splicing could make it possible.’

  ‘And that was this Delta Chain?’

  ‘Yes. William told me it was out there, on the Mekong Delta, watching the crocs, that he was prompted to think of the Delta Chain haemoglobin. And so it was a chain of events from there, involving this Nexus mob, and men like Erickson, Donnelly and Asquith that he first met in the delta. And Vender. He runs some cult now. That’s where the kids come from.’

  Kate shook her head, trying to take it all in.

  It explained the Vietnamese name of Westmeyer’s boat…

  ‘I thought I knew him, thought he was a decent man. And to think A.B.C.S.’ software helped him along.’

  ‘Kate, please understand that Westmeyer had me believing that the death of a few was worth it for the thousands who die from drowning every year. Every year, Kate…’

  ‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this, I can’t believe I’m actually listening to it. You turned a blind eye to something horrendous because you preferred to keep your eye on the prize. You wanted to be a part of one of the century’s greatest scientific teams, didn’t you? I knew you were a sleazebag but how could you, how could anyone, do something like this?’

  ‘Kate…’

  ‘Obsessed with some glorious breakthrough. But what does it matter now?’ She pushed herself to her feet. She was exhausted. She didn’t think there was any energy, any strength at all, left in her body. But she wouldn’t sit here with Stephen. She wouldn’t die in his company. That would be the final insult. ‘I’m going to climb out of here, alone, or die trying.’

  Kate strained her neck, looking up.

  The shaft disappeared into a dark, jumbled mass where it had been cut off at the ground level. For some reason the bottom of the shaft, where they were trapped, hadn’t been filled with the falling debris. Part of the rear section must have still been standing. It also explained the faint trickles of light seeping in from somewhere above.

  The cables had snapped and the shaft walls looked too smooth for climbing. How could she scale…?

  No warning. Another deafening boom and a sickening, shifting sensation as the shaft rocked and the walls around them bent rapidly out of shape. A thick rain of shrapnel and dust, blackening them like coalminers. Then, just as quickly, stillness and silence.

  Kate was on her knees, steadying herself, trembling, when she heard a tortured screeching shriek of a sound. She became aware of a dark shape filling the space above her. She rolled herself as far as she could across the roof of the car, collecting Hunter and rolling with him. Metal doors from above, dislodged by the weight of collapsing layers of metal and stone, struck the roof where Kate had been just seconds before.

  Hunter groaned. ‘Oh Christ. We’re never going to get out of this…’

  ‘Bullshit,’ said Kate. She didn’t know where the energy came from, but it came. It had always been her best friend, her energy. Maybe today it was her life saver. ‘We can get through that lift opening now.’ She clambered over the fallen elevator door. It was wedged now between the wall and the car. She shimmied up it and into the gaping black hole it had left behind.

  And onto the sub-level.

  CHAPTER SIXTY NINE

  ‘There’s still some light filtering through.’ Kate inched forward, Hunter right behind her. She was looking at the ruin of what had once been a corridor. Now, with the walls warped out of shape and sections of the ceiling caved in, it was a multi-level obstacle course, most of it completely black, water running on all sides like subterranean creeks. ‘What was down here, Stephen?’

  ‘A technician, maybe two, would’ve been working down here. There were labs, equipment, and a chamber with the crocodiles in covered pits.’ He couldn’t bring himself to include the girl he knew had been down here.

  ‘And passageways like this?’

  ‘Yes. All leading to the rear dock or the lift.’

  ‘Adam would’ve come across the technicians. But what happened then?’ Kate’s question was only meant for herself. She didn’t want to face the fact Adam was probably dead.

  ‘Kate, I don’t know that anyone would’ve survived-’ Hunter was cut short by a crash as a slab of stone fell nearby. It sprayed water all over them.

  Kate was silent, her eyes roaming the ruin as her eyes adjusted to the near dark. There were only pinpricks of light showing through the rubble. How was anyone going to find a way through this to Brian, further below, let alone get him back out again? She felt so helpless…

  ‘We just keep pressing forward. If there’s a way out we find it.’ She walked where she was able to walk, and crawled where the spaces were too low or too tight for walking. It was slow going, they were mostly feeling their way. Light still filtered through at some points but was blocked out in others. She tried not to think about crocodiles waiting in hidden, watery recesses.

  They came into a larger space. Here was a shallow underground pool, littered with piles of wreckage, a mass of electrical wires hanging like vines and wisps of light seeping through from another passage further along.

  A scream from somewhere in this underground maze, echoing along stone walls. A girl? Kate threw a glance back at Hunter. She heard him say, ‘What the hell…’ and then she saw the rustle of movement behind him.

  Seeing the fear etch into her face, Hunter began to turn. The crocodile’s enormous body slammed into him from out of the darkness, jagged teeth clamping deep into his waist and holding him vice-like as though he was a doll. The creature rolled its body over and away into the deeper water.

  Behind it, another reptile reared up from the same tunnel. Kate realised in an instant that the dark texture of the tunnel walls was the perfect camouflage for these creatures.

  She turned and ran. She didn’t intend crying out in terror but she did, and the cry echoed along the cavern walls.

  Recovered from the effects of the drug, Costas, Barbara and Joey, cleared by the attending paramedics, were heading for the police centre. They wanted to be on hand for updates regarding Daniel’s whereabouts. They were just a few blocks from the station when the news program on the car radio gave the first, sketchy report that an eco terrorist group had detonated a series of bombs at the Institute. The report revealed that a local detective had been in the building and was missing, along with an unidentified teenage kidnap victim.

  ‘Lord, no! That has to be Adam and Daniel.’ Costas immediately swung the car about and pressed his foot down harder on the accelerator. The Institute was fifteen minutes away.

  They arrived to a scene of total pandemonium. Throngs of people and dozens of vehicles clogged the roadway around the perimeter of the Institute. Costas parked a f
air way back along the road and the three of them hurried forward on foot. Barbara held on tightly to Joey, following Costas, weaving their way through the crowd of onlookers.

  Sirens filled the air as rescue vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks arrived. A helicopter swept in low across the ruined building. Visibility was poor. Rain created a fine mist beneath a sky blackened by storm clouds.

  Costas recognised Eddie Cochrane in the melee. ‘Eddie!’ Costas pressed forward, coming level with him. ‘Can you tell me what’s happening?’

  ‘Not much is going to happen here for a while. Area’s too unstable and the storm’s hitting. But there are searchers out along the cliffs. Looking for Second World War Coastwatch tunnels. Seems there could be people down on some basement level and they’re looking for another way in.’

  ‘Then I’m going down there.’

  ‘Look for Arthur Kirby. He’ll be able to direct you.’

  Costas turned to face Barbara and Joey. They were right behind him, huddling together as the wind and the rain raged. ‘Go back to the car, get shelter-’

  ‘Costas-’

  ‘I’ll be fine. I need to help, but you-’

  Barbara cut across him. ‘Costas, please. You can’t do everything for everyone. Joey and I need you. With us.’

  He looked at the surrounding activity, out at the rain swept coast beyond, then turned back to Barbara and Joey. No need for words. He went forward, placing his strong, comforting arms around the two of them and drawing them close.

  Then he led them out of the rain.

  Westmeyer sank back into silence in the back of the car. His mind wandered; he began to feel removed from the world around him. The destruction of his Institute played on his mind. He was fleeing from the destruction, just as he’d fled from the ravaged village on the Mekong Delta so long ago…

  He and Vender, wandering aimlessly along the river for five days and five nights. Heat rising like steam off the jungle as though in protest at the slaughter of the villagers. The drone of mosquitoes whining in their eardrums. William, sullen, depressed, mostly switched off from the constant ramblings of Vender, who was running off at the mouth more than ever.