Fast

by Shane M Brown

  Terrorist-proof engineering?

  Cairns whispered to the containment door. ‘There is no…such…thing.’

  Success was less than ten minutes away. He stepped back and signaled the two men to push the drill into position. The first man knelt at a laptop connected to the drill. At a few keystrokes, tiny motors moved the drill-bit into perfect alignment.

  ‘Ready, sir,’ advised the driller with the laptop.

  ‘Begin,’ instructed Cairns.

  #

  Third Unit swam single file through the underlab.

  Vanessa led the way, stroking hard.

  The scene looked totally surreal.

  They swam down a single long corridor. Every ten feet, ceiling lights passed overhead. The blue-green light silhouetted their bodies on the corridor floor. Coleman heard a repeated clink, clink, clink of metal hitting metal as a piece of someone’s equipment came loose, but otherwise it was quiet.

  It felt like diving at night into a backyard pool. Except the underwater lights were above you. And this pool had no surface when you needed to breathe.

  Pacing his strokes, Coleman was using minimal energy and oxygen to propel himself through the water.

  It had taken Vanessa eight seconds to open the hatch. They had now been swimming for another twenty seconds. Her movements became jerky and rapid. Swimming in her clothes, in sneakers, she had to be experiencing a pretty intense lung-burn by now.

  Coleman watched Marlin and King’s shadows gliding along the floor. They were using the same measured stroke.

  The plan was to emerge in D-lab, a good fifty meters from the saturation chamber. They were over halfway there, but now it was getting tough. If the fully-clothed underwater swim wasn’t enough, they hadn’t actually started swimming until the flooding chamber was totally saturated and the hatch could open.

  They might find anything in D-lab. If Cairns had already breached the labs, Vanessa might emerge into a ring of hostile gunfire. If they were allowed to emerge at all.

  The water color changed around Coleman. It looks red now.

  Looking ahead, he saw Vanessa reach the flooded gallery under D-lab. The red light came from a diamond-shaped ceiling panel.

  She swam along the ceiling and thumped the glowing red diamond.

  The diamond instantly turned green.

  The entire ceiling began sliding away like an oversized manhole cover being dragged aside by a giant. A crescent of expanding light appeared in the ceiling.

  When Vanessa said hatch, she meant HATCH.

  She kicked frantically for the light.

  Coleman drew his colt and emerged beside her. Breaking the surface, he tried to control his breathing in case any hostiles were close. He twisted in the water, trying to scan D-lab for danger, but it was hard to see without pulling himself up.

  Vanessa gasped noisily at the pool edge.

  Marlin and King broke the surface. For a few moments they all clung to the edge, recovering and listening.

  Nothing. Just some deep droning sound from the west.

  When his breathing evened, Coleman lifted his head over the edge.

  They had emerged into what appeared to be a fairly standard-looking research laboratory. About fifteen meters across, it could have been a chemistry lab in any large university. The round lab had a single exit to the west. The exit was sealed by a plexiglass barrier. Their pool was four meters wide and set right in the center of the lab’s floor. The ‘edge’ of the pool, the floor of the lab, was five inches of solid steel. The lab was dim and shadowy. Through the plexiglass barriers there was no sign of movement.

  ‘This lab looks clear,’ reported Coleman, lowering himself back into the water. D-lab had most of its research equipment built into the walls. There didn’t seem to be anywhere for a creature to hide. In the muted light it was hard to tell. ‘Why is it so dark in here?’

  Vanessa finished coughing and said, ‘This entire level is isolated from the Complex. All the lights conserve power when the labs are empty. I can turn them up again now we’re inside.’

  ‘Not yet,’ said Coleman. ‘The darkness might work in our favor. Can you raise the plexiglass barriers from here?’

  ‘No. The security measures can only be countermanded from my main lab. We have to keep swimming.’

  ‘How much further?’ asked King

  ‘Same distance again,’ muttered Vanessa. ‘It’s harder than I thought.’

  She started to pull herself from the pool. ‘Actually, it’s probably a bit shorter. The pool in the main lab is offset on this side of the room. I can open the pool hatch from this computer terminal.’

  ‘Stay down,’ hissed Coleman, grabbing her shoulder before she could climb from the pool. ‘Which terminal?’

  ‘That one near the plexiglass.’

  Coleman looked over the edge and saw the computer she meant. Through the plexiglass, the narrow visible section of her main lab was still clear of hostiles. ‘Okay. Go now.’

  Vanessa pulled herself from the pool. Her wet sneakers squeaked across the lab floor to the computer terminal. She glanced through the plexiglass before she dashed back to the pool.

  ‘It’s done. The pool hatch is opening.’

  ‘Alright,’ said Coleman. ‘I’ll swim through first. I’ll signal back through the plexiglass if it’s all clear.’

  Coleman placed his palms under the edge of the pool. He pulled straight down, pencil-diving his body under the water. With the hatch open, there was no longer a red tinge. Above him, three sets of legs kicked in the water. There were two underwater exits. One back to the saturation chamber and one leading off towards the main lab. Coleman made a mental note that this intersection was the only way out of the research level and back to the saturation chamber where Forest waited.

  He struck out for the main lab, not wasting any energy in diving deep. Skimming along just under the gallery ceiling, he used the same steady stroke as before. After twenty meters he saw the underlab gallery serving Vanessa’s main lab. The underwater chamber was brightly lit.

  If there was anyone in the main lab above, they would instantly spot him emerging in the pool.

  Mirroring the main lab, six submerged exits led away from the flooded gallery. A simple steel pool ladder stretched from the underlab floor to the pool edge above.

  Reaching the ladder, Coleman pulled himself up and silently broke the surface. He forced himself to inhale slowly and quietly.

  The lab was quiet, except for the slightly louder droning sound to the west. The lights were dim in here too. The pool’s underwater lights sent shimmering blue patterns up over the ceiling.

  He knew there was a very good chance one or more creatures occupied this room. Personal vibrations needed to be kept to an absolute minimum.

  Lifting his face over the edge, he looked back through the plexiglass. Marlin peered back from D-lab. Coleman signaled him to swim through, then pulled himself quietly up the ladder, placing each boot down carefully onto the pool’s edge.

  So far, so good.

  He glanced back through the plexiglass and saw King starting his dive. Marlin would be partway through his swim. Vanessa would follow.

  From the pool’s edge, his fatigues dripping liquid onto the floor around him, Coleman quietly drew his colt.

  He scanned the room over his pistol sights.

  Unlike the first lab they’d reached, this place was straight out of a science-fiction movie. A shallow dome seventy-five meters across, the lab was dotted with crowded islands of specialist workstations. Its open plan separated into six zones, each with dedicated equipment and facilities. On both sides of the pool stretched two long work benches.

  Strange. The middle of the lab appeared suspiciously clear of equipment, bare except for a large, round floor grill.

  Coleman’s gaze rose to the ceiling above the grill.

  His eyes widened as he recognized the equipment embedded into the ceiling.

  It can’t be, he thought. It can’t possibly be w
hat it looks like.

  It was. An emergency extraction fan. The largest extraction fan that Coleman had ever seen in his life.

  Emergency extraction fans were used to suck away contaminated air or toxic gases. They were sometimes used in labs that studied infectious diseases. This one looked like the wing engine from a Boeing passenger jet had been grafted into the ceiling. Masses of thick silver ducting surrounded the huge turbine.

  Coleman stepped forward and looked down the floor grill.

  There was another massive exhaust turbine, identical to the ceiling unit, embedded under the grill. The two turbines faced each other about twenty-five feet apart.

  Once activated, they would turn the room into a hurricane.

  Scanning the lab with a fresh eye, Coleman noticed that every piece of equipment, every bench and trolley, was securely anchored to the floor. Every piece of non-essential equipment was stored in strong cabinets. A checkerboard of recessed anchor points covered the floor.

  Near Coleman’s boots, someone had been repairing the floor grill. A portable blowtorch sat on a small trolley. On the floor beside the blowtorch rested a large square of replacement grill.

  Coleman realized his colossal error of judgment as he approached the loose square of floor grill.

  Moving from the pool had been his big mistake. He heard the creature instantly.

  It was above him.

  Right, above him.

  It must have been lurking up among the coiled ceiling pipes.

  As he looked up, the creature fell towards him with its limbs outstretched like a fishing net.

  Coleman dove away as the creature crashed down. Its wasp-like body smacked into the floor just inches from his boots. The spiked tentacles thrashed all around him. He scrambled over the grill, but the creature launched after him.

  The floor slipped sideways under his hands. He was on the loose piece of replacement grill. He spun himself over the grill, up onto his feet, and yanked the grill up like a shield, still using two fingers to hold his colt.

  The creature’s head smacked into the grill and catapulted Coleman backwards. He flew through the air like he had been shot backwards from a cannon, his arms and legs windmilling until he crashed onto his back and slid along the floor.

  His body armor absorbed the impact, but his arms felt like he had tried to stop a bus.

  Still sliding backwards, he swung down his right arm and blasted three fast shots at the creature’s head.

  The creature thrashed left and right to dislodge the grill. Only one of Coleman’s shots was on-the-money, but it ricochet off the grill with bright orange sparks.

  Coleman jumped to his feet as the creature dislodged the grill.

  Run.

  He needed to draw the creature away from the pool so the others could emerge safely. He took off running, treating the room like an impromptu obstacle course. He didn’t have time to think beyond that simple plan. He leapt over a low trolley loaded with scientific instruments and heard the creature collide into the trolley behind him. Reaching the edge of the chamber he turned and started a big lap around the lab, putting as many obstacles as possible in the creature’s path. He hadn’t forgotten that there was possibly another creature in here somewhere. Glancing towards the pool he spotted Marlin emerging and yanking free his CMAR-17.

  It’s about time!

  ‘Hold on! I’m on it! I’m on it!’ shouted Marlin, scooting sideways between two benches to find a clear shot.

  King emerged from the pool behind Marlin. His eyes went wide as he absorbed the spectacle of Coleman sprinting the wild obstacle course just ahead of the marauding creature. ‘Holy crap!’

  Marlin opened fire on the creature.

  A stream of bullets tore up the lab behind Coleman as a second later, both Marlin and King’s CMAR-17s churned out rounds. Sparks exploded off the steel surfaces behind Coleman. He lost track of the creature in the mayhem. The Marines leveled the lab in his wake. They could only be catching glimpses of the creature, but they were doing a good job of destroying the place in the process.

  ‘Hold your fire!’ hollered Coleman, realizing he had no idea where Vanessa stored the templates. The Marine’s weren’t holding back. Marlin and King would decimate the lab before they killed the creature. They needed a line-of-fire unobstructed by all the research equipment.

  There were two fixed benches on either side of the pool, arranged in a ‘II O II’ formation.

  Marlin and King were between the closest set of benches.

  ‘The bench behind you!’ yelled Coleman, cutting left and sprinting straight towards the Marines. ‘Climb up now!’

  Without question, Marlin and King scrambled onto the second bench. Up on the bench, they spun around and raised their weapons. Coleman sprinted directly at them, straight down their line-of-fire.

  Two meters short of the waist-high bench, he dove like he was trying to steal a World Series home-run.

  He slid straight under the first workbench. Momentum and wet fatigues carried him right through the gap between benches and under Marlin and King. He slid at eye-level straight towards Vanessa, who had just poked her head over the side of the pool.

  The creature crashed full speed into the first bench.

  The bench crumpled under the impact. Splintering white laminate bench-top flew past Coleman’s head. Vanessa ducked as pieces splashed into the water around her. Twisting to peer back from floor level, Coleman saw that two of the steel bench legs had snapped clean off. Two more were bent over parallel to the floor. The bench’s entire steel frame was buckled around the creature.

  The pinned creature thrashed among the twisted steel at Marlin and King’s feet.

  ‘Now!’ yelled Coleman. ‘Fire!’

  Braced on the second bench, Marlin and King opened fire. They hosed bullets through the pinned creature. White gouts of fluid fountained into the air under their assault.

  As though choreographed, both Marines simultaneously stopped firing and snapped up their rifles.

  Vanessa lifted her head over the pool edge again. ‘You guys certainly know how to make an entrance.’

  Marlin and King jumped down from the bench. Vanessa climbed from the pool.

  ‘I knew you were in trouble,’ Marlin said to Coleman. ‘I heard your colt firing when I was underwater.’

  ‘The spiky bastard dropped right off the ceiling,’ puffed Coleman, still catching his breath, waving his colt towards the pipes surrounding the exhaust turbine.

  Marlin switched on his flashlight and carefully scanned the ceiling.

  Vanessa surveyed the destruction around the pool. ‘Look what you’ve done to my lab.’

  Regaining his breath, Coleman pulled the body armor flap to expose his skirmish maps. He flicked through them to the third map in the series: the research level floor plan. On the map, the research level was arranged with the smaller sub-labs branching off the large main lab. The floor plan reminded Coleman of a molecule diagram from chemistry class.

  Orientating himself on the map, he realized the strange sound they noticed earlier sounded louder.

  King crossed to the plexiglass barrier leading west. Craning his neck, he scanned the lab beyond. ‘Looks clear. I can’t make out the source of that noise.’

  Vanessa rushed to a shelving unit covered in assorted gadgets and instruments. She quickly spotted her goal. ‘Ah, perfect.’ The touchscreen tablet computer she’d had the techs waterproof. She clipped it to her wet cargoes.

  Coleman pointed to the plexiglass near King. ‘Can you raise that barrier, Vanessa?’

  Vanessa crossed back around the pool to a low control station. Blue light patterns played over her back as she touched the glowing options on a wide computer screen. ‘Okay. I’m unlocking the barriers. The independent door controls will raise the barriers now.’

  Coleman jerked his thumb towards H-lab. ‘Check out that noise. Shut it down if you can. We don’t want any more interest from the creatures than is absolutely necessary. If ther
e’s any sign of trouble, fall back double-time.’

  Coleman caught Marlin’s eye as he said the last. ‘I mean it. I know you two are itching for payback, but this isn’t the time.’

  ‘On it,’ said King.

  Coleman pretended not to see the knowing smile pass between Marlin and King. Those two were planning to kick some serious terrorist ass the first opportunity they got.

  Marlin raised the plexiglass barrier. They scanned the lab beyond then disappeared through the doorway.

  Two butterflies flew in through the open doorway. A second later, four more flew in. All six butterflies alighted on the dead creature.

  ‘The Monarchs are following the creatures,’ observed Coleman absently. ‘This is the third time they’ve appeared with the creatures.’

  Vanessa spun from the control station, obviously interested by Coleman’s observation. ‘Are you sure? That species of butterfly has been genetically designed just to serve inside this Complex. They’re not exactly Monarch butterflies. It’s a multi-pollinating insect sensitive to the chemical signatures of plant reproduction.’

  ‘Sex pheromones?’ tested Coleman.

  Vanessa rushed around the pool for a better look. ‘Exactly. These butterflies just exist to chase chemical signatures. It could be incredibly significant if they are following the creatures. Are you sure of what you saw?’

  Coleman plucked two butterflies off the creature and backed up twenty paces. He tossed the butterflies into the air. The two insects immediately homed back to the creature.

  ‘That could be useful,’ he muttered thoughtfully. ‘Wherever we find butterflies we know we’ll find the creatures.’

  He quickly collected four butterflies using a screw top plastic canister lying among the bench wreckage. The canister fitted under his body armor.

  The remaining two butterflies seemed to fascinate Vanessa. She stared at them in a trance.

  Coleman had to speak twice before she answered.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Coleman again, sensing an abrupt change in her manner. She’d suddenly developed a rigidness in her posture that Coleman associated with Marines entering a high-risk zone.