One hand went up, a man whose face looked familiar.
“Dr. Rodriguez, you have used the word ‘urgent.’” The man looked at the others. “And we of course have seen the possible threat. The situation on Mars. But I—and a few of the others—would like to know why you—and perhaps Ian Kelliher—feel that the situation is urgent, and our work is needed to produce results quickly.”
David nodded. “Thanks for that question. And I can only say that the fear is that what is going on up there…might not be confined to Mars.”
“But how—” another scientist started to say.
David held up a hand. “I know. Mars is far away. But you see, there is one thing that drives this work now. The UAC, the survivors on Mars who—as you know—are now facing a second ‘outbreak,’ don’t have a clue what happened there.” David took a breath. “And if not knowing doesn’t pose an immediate threat to us, even here on Earth, well, I don’t know what does.”
He saw Dr. Krasanov look at him, a hint of a smile on her lips. Beyond her scientific accomplishments, there were other stories about the fiery redhead. David looked away from her eyes—a dark piercing green—and scanned the scientists.
“Other questions, please ask me at any time. For now—some of my assistants will take your bags to your quarters. All doubled up, I’m afraid. Going to be a bit crowded down here.”
“Me too?” Krasanov said, with just a hint of her St. Petersburg accent.
David shook his head. “No. For now at least. But there will be other female scientists joining us.”
He turned back to his two assistants and nodded.
“So if you’re ready, I will take you to our main lab.” David turned, and started to lead. Then he looked back and said, “And good luck to us all.”
27
UAC HEADQUARTERS PALO ALTO
IAN KELLIHER WALKED INTO THE LABS, AND the scientists stood at attention. He had, of course, sent them all the data and images from Mars. To say that they now looked rattled was an understatement.
Dr. Silvio Adoni, leader of the team here, walked over. “Mr. Kelliher. Sorry, we didn’t expect a visit. Is there anything you want—”
Kelliher cut off the apology. “That’s fine, Silvio. I came down because I wanted to speak with you and the whole team.”
Adoni, Kelliher knew, wasn’t Betruger’s equal, though the lab here attempted to replicate what was going on in Mars City. And it did—up to a point. The long-range live experiments had never been attempted.
One reason the teleportation work was being done on Mars was that, for something so revolutionary—and so controversial—it was better to have the work take place in as remote a location as possible. But that was then….
“I’ll want to talk with everyone else in a few minutes. But first, perhaps a few words between us.”
Adoni looked back at the others nervously. No, definitely no Betruger here. Smart, perhaps even a bit brilliant. But when Kelliher said jump, Adoni asked how high.
“Should I tell them to get back to work, or—?”
“No. Have them come here.” Kelliher put his arm around the scientist and led him off to the side. “Silvio, I imagine that you can guess what I might be about to say to you, to the team here?”
Adoni began to open his mouth, taking a big breath, obviously reluctant to answer.
“Relax. It’s not a damn quiz. I need this lab to try and find out what happened up there—what’s happening now, even as we speak. And I don’t think we have a lot of time.”
Adoni nodded. Kelliher was sure that Adoni saw this coming.
“I know it goes against some things we talked about, that you might even feel uncomfortable about it. But I need you leading it. Full speed ahead to get answers as quickly as you can.” Kelliher placed his hand on the man’s wrist. “I need to know that I can depend on you to do what must be done. To ask no questions and simply do the experimental work that must be done. Immediately. So—” Kelliher took a breath. “I need an answer. Can you do that for me?”
Adoni looked right back at Kelliher, his eyes locked on him, clearly understanding what was being asked. The answer, when it came, would mean he knew what he was getting into.
“Well?”
“I will, Mr. Kelliher. I—I’ll lead the project. Even with the rules we had in place…removed.”
Kelliher smiled and stood up. “Good. Let me talk with everyone, then.”
SOMEWHERE BENEATH THE SURFACE OF MARS
Dr. Axelle Graulich looked down at her last canister of air. Mere minutes left, and then she would have nothing to breathe. She looked at the small device clipped to the side of her EVA suit that recorded current temperature and air quality. It showed that if she took off her helmet, she would be dead in seconds.
Only then did she look into the steadily increasing madness that was this opening.
The time when she had been the lead scientist investigating Site 3 seemed a lifetime ago instead of mere hours, a time that left the rest of her team dead from the shock waves, and sent her plummeting into what at first seemed like a stone tunnel dug out of the hard red stone of Mars.
Dug out…by someone.
As she walked, she looked at the carvings that covered the walls: symbols, words, all defying—for now—any understanding, any interpretation. Would anyone else ever see this cave of wonders? Would anyone ever record the images, try to decipher the message here?
She had heard a second blast minutes ago, so much bigger than the first one. But nothing more than a distant rumble reached down here.
At one point, she had been scared. After all, the cave walls and floor seemed to glow, as if slick with sweat, slimy, alive. But her feet left no impression in the claylike floor. As for the walls, she wasn’t foolish enough to touch them.
And why did she keep walking? What other choice did she have?
Behind her, only dead soldiers and scientists. And no way to get up to the surface. And somehow this tunnel seemed naturally to lead deeper and deeper, under the skin of the Red Planet.
It would all be a moot point soon, when her air was gone. This strange mausoleum, with its glowing stone and symbols, would become her grave.
That was the other thing. The luminescence. She was unable to see where it came from, or even if it was true light. A soft deep-red glow suffused everything.
She’d love to send pictures and words back to Mars City. But there was no communication signal—hadn’t been since the first blast. No, this tunnel was simply for her alone to experience, to try to understand, but understand with no chance of passing along her observations.
She did have her PDA. That was an idea. She could talk into her PDA, in case anyone ever came down here to look for her. They’d find her PDA—that would be something.
As much as she didn’t want to, she looked back at the air canister’s meter, now showing a minute, maybe two, left of sweet air to breathe.
Kelliher looked around the room, then spoke.
“Thank you for all the work you have done up to now. Each and every one of you have had to accept sacrifices to work here, with all that you do secret, the hours grueling, long. And now, I am here to ask more.”
How many of them could guess what was coming next?
“You all have seen what has happened in Dr. Betruger’s lab. I know that those images must appear disturbing, frightening…”
The wide eyes looking back told Kelliher he was more than right on that score.
“Now, with a second outbreak, and communications down, we don’t know what is going on up there. Going on…or how to stop it. And so, after consulting with Dr. Adoni, I have made a decision.”
He looked over at Adoni, who nodded at the lie that this was their plan.
“Commencing immediately, this lab will—at an accelerated rate—attempt to replicate the recent experiments of Delta Lab. I will be asking for double shifts from all of you, and of course this entire complex will remain sequestered for the duration. But—to put it
simply—all those experiments that we have quite purposely avoided…this lab will now undertake.”
One of the scientists coughed. A bit of a protest?
“If any of you wish to quit the project, you may do so after some formalities relating to security. Neither I nor the UAC will hold that against you. But believe me that I think more than helping Mars may be at stake here.”
He stood there for a moment; the room felt frozen, glacial. He had given them the opportunity to quit. He wondered how many would avail themselves of that opportunity.
“You can take the next twenty minutes or so to decide. But after that, the work must commence. I have made all the arrangements at headquarters to get everything you need.” He nodded at that, letting the full implications sink in. “Everything.”
Another pause. And even Kelliher felt shaken by what he was about to do, right here.
“Any questions?”
Nothing, then a voice. “Mr. Kelliher.”
A man at the back of the room, hidden by the others in front of him. “Yes?”
“What about the nodes? The satellite labs? The network? Will they remain online?” Then, to make the question perfectly clear: “Will they remain connected to your lab here?”
Kelliher felt Adoni looking over at him. This was something they hadn’t discussed. But it was something that Kelliher had thought about.
“Yes.” Nervous looks were exchanged by some of the team. “I can’t tell what the trigger was, where the ‘phenomenon’—if we can call it that—came from. So for now, yes. The ‘nodes’—the network you have been using for your experiments—will remain intact. I will inform all the team leaders around the world of that fact. Any other questions?”
No one said anything. Kelliher felt as though he should say something like and may God bless us all. But he doubted very much that God was down here, half a mile under the California hills, and he certainly doubted that God was with his people on Mars, who remained cut off, incommunicado…and facing things that Kelliher couldn’t even imagine.
28
MARS CITY TO DELTA LABS
KANE GAZED AT THE NOW OPEN STOREROOM filled with weapons. “Christmas on Mars,” he said.
He picked up a large-bore, water-cooled shotgun. A great weapon—it could fire almost as an automatic, sending 5-centimeter shells blasting into whatever stood in your way. “I’ll take one of these.”
Maria reached up to a shelf, grabbed a few boxes of machine gun clips, and handed them to Andy. “What else would you like?”
Andy looked around. “Maybe half a dozen of these.” He reached over and picked up some thermite grenades and started clipping them to his belt. “A bit heavy, but might come in handy.”
“Yeah,” Kane said. “Me, too.” He started attaching as many of the grenades to his belt as he could find room for.
Maria handed him some machine gun clips. “Fill your pockets with these. They tend to go fast.”
“I’ve noticed that.”
Kane did a sweep of the room. He’d like to take the whole damn storeroom with them, but there were limits to how much they could carry before it started to get in the way of mobility.
“And I think we’ll need some batteries.” Luckily there were a few boxes of the narrow batteries for the micro-flashlights. They were supposed to be good for a day at full power. But who knew how long they had been sitting here. “Better grab a light for yourself,” he said to Maria.
She took one from a shelf, checked that it worked, and then grabbed another and gave it to Kim.
“Anything else?”
Kane’s handgun was fully loaded, and, he suspected, so was Maria’s.
Kane looked over the shelves. “No chain guns…. Plasma weapons?”
Maria shook her head. “No. Not standard issue. The brass may have some, but I imagine they’re already in play.”
“By ‘in play’ you mean the other team could have them, ready to use them against us.”
“Could be.”
Kane brought the shotgun up and took a practice aim. Nice balance. It was a newer model than the one he had slogged through the streets of Terekstan with. “We’ll be fine with these. I hope. Still, let’s keep our eyes open.”
“Right.”
He wondered if he should have another go at getting Maria to head back with Andy Kim. If he was about to head into the epicenter of whatever hell had been unleashed on Mars, the odds of coming back were—as the saying went—slim to none.
“You should reconsider. Go back—”
“Kane, enough! We have a plan.” She turned to Kim. “Andy, you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine—but I have to agree with Kane.”
She shook her head, and Kane again saw that getting Maria Moraetes to change her mind was a task that was well beyond him.
“Time to go, boys. We need to close the store and start moving.”
Kim nodded, and Kane saw Maria put a hand on his shoulder. “Be safe, Andy. I want to see you when Kane and I come back….”
“Yeah, and you two—don’t take any chances,” Andy replied. “If we get it together, I’ll try to organize some marines to come in relief.”
“Good, “Kane said. “But only if you are sure that Reception and Transport are secure.”
Kim rubbed his neck, the bruise from the imp visible on his throat.
“Right. If I can, I will. And that guy you said I should find—”
“McCullough. A pain in the ass, but I imagine he might have a handle on things back there. Tell him I sent you, and give him whatever help he needs.”
Andy Kim nodded. “You got it.”
For a moment they hesitated, a strange, unknown future ahead for all three, something that Kane was sure that they each felt.
Maria broke the silence. “Time to go.”
“Good luck,” Kim said, turning away and walking back, following Kane’s alternate route to Alpha.
“You, too,” Kane said.
Then he turned to Maria. “On to Delta,” he said. She nodded, and he saw her give her weapons a little heave, checking her balance. Then she started leading the way ahead.
Maria stopped. “That way is the monorail. Probably still running. If it has power.”
“But not the way to go?”
She turned to Kane. “No. If you’re right, if this all comes from whatever was going on in Delta Labs, the monorail could drop us right in the middle of it.”
“But Sergeant Kelly is there. A well-fortified squad.”
“Yeah. But maybe not.”
She saw in Kane’s eyes that she didn’t have to elaborate. “So, we’re going to actually move for a while away from Delta. This way”—she pointed down a narrow corridor—“circles around to the rear of Delta, back to the main reactor.”
“Delta has its own reactor?”
A nod. “It needed it. Supposedly. From there, we can find an elevator or a stairway to Level 2. After that, it’s a bit of a hill, but it leads to the rear entrance of Delta Lab. If something’s happening there, if something’s going on, we might be able to see it—”
“Before it sees us?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Okay, we should—”
Maria’s earpiece made a scratching noise.
“Hear that?” she asked.
Kane nodded.
“Comm coming back maybe? God, maybe we don’t have to do this.”
They stood there. Another burst of static, but then nothing. And no human voices cut through the scratchy noise.
“Not back yet,” Kane said.
Maria nodded. Some human voice would be good. Just so she didn’t have to think it was maybe only the three of them left alive. Like that story, “Ten Little Indians,” with the entire space marine company up here being whittled away, one by one.
“Okay. Maybe it will come back. Maybe it won’t. Let’s get moving.”
“So tell me—what do you think is happening here?” Kane asked.
Maria
looked up at him as they walked. This corridor was well lit by the emergency lights, giving it an almost safe feel. Light equals civilization, she thought. And probably has since the days when humans would huddle in caves by their fires, waiting for dawn to come.
“I think you’re asking the wrong person. I mean, there were rumors. Some weird shit happened.”
“Like what?”
She took a breath. “Well, for the past year some of the grunts on duty in Delta started losing it. They’d just snap, babbling about evil and demons. Some guys would fall to their knees babbling, praying; probably they were religious before they went in there….”
“And they saw something that challenged their beliefs?”
“Yeah, probably. Even happened to some of the doctors. One I saw…was wheeled out of here to a transport in a straitjacket.” She turned to him. “Can you believe that?”
“After what I’ve seen today? Yeah.” Then Maria noticed Kane wince.
“You okay?”
He nodded. “Just some bangs to the knee. Nothing major.”
“Need a stim?”
“Not now. Later.” He took a breath, and she knew he was in more pain than he admitted. “And the rumors?”
“Ah—that was the interesting part. Stories about the experiments were all over the place, though nobody really knew what Dr. Betruger was working on. Top secret, everyone sworn not to say anything, under penalty of prosecution. Still…stories seeped out.”
“Stories about—?”
“A new way to travel, perhaps a new engine that could really get us out of our own solar system to other star systems. That was one theory. Others about strange biological experiments that had to do with whatever happened to life on Mars. Most of those tales centered around Site 3.”
“That’s the excavation area that I saw.”
“Yeah. A big cave, a lot of scientists working. Supposedly had nothing to do with the experiments Betruger was doing in the lab, but no one believed that. No one at all. Somehow they were linked. But who knew how?”
Doom 3™: Maelstrom Page 13
