| By: Nils Durban |
Sean Perry felt dislocated from the unsavoury events that were unfolding about him. It was that
particular mode of self enforced denial which the brain decides to resort to when things begin to go
horribly wrong. Wrong to the extent that it convinces itself that normal reality has been postponed
and replaced with a surreal scene from a particularly frightful or disturbing movie, during which
belief can be suspended on the basis that there is surely no way whatsoever that this can actually
be happening to you.
"It's just another routine job," Joel had said earlier that morning. "I've been on a few of these things
now. Believe me, they're so well planned that they're practically boring!"
Perry was far from bored.
The ridiculously muscular, bald headed man wearing a skin tight vest and swinging a shotgun
around in an alarming fashion, had his complete and undivided attention.
"It's a shame, Doyle, if that's your name," the man shouted as he swaggered about the hanger
floor. "I was hoping to introduce myself to your Rector personally. In fact, I'm very disappointed,
you understand me?"
Doyle, dressed in his trademark tweed suit, as ever the personification of cool and collected, held
his palms up before him, passively, "I understand you, Angus, of course," he spoke calmly,
persuasively, "but you must try and appreciate my position, too."
Angus swung about, the barrel of the shotgun sweeping around randomly, causing Perry to duck
involuntarily, from where he was seated before the PC on the mock up table.
"I don't have to appreciate nothin'. You ain't dealing with Maltravers no more. Like I said, he's been
retired. That soft bullshit's over. There ain't gonna be no more of that old pal's act."
Angus was flanked at a distance by a dozen armed men arranged around the hanger. At least half
a dozen more were stationed at intervals between the entrance to the disused airfield and the
doors to the hanger itself. The armoured van and the single BMW saloon car in which The Rector's
men had arrived were parked just outside, under the supervision of Serge. Within were Doyle,
Steiner, two of Steiner's 'Actives' and Joel and himself, the two of them seated nervously before
the machines that were meant to be the subject of this 'routine job'. Perry realised, probably not as
quickly as the others, that the tirade being enacted before them now had not been preempted, and
hence was far from part of 'the plan'.
"Like I've already said," Doyle continued in a friendly manner, his arms held wide apart, "I'm only
authorised to deal with Mr. Maltravers. We've been working with him for some time, built up quite a
rapport. You know how these things develop, I'm sure."
Angus, whose face had turned a worrying shade of purple, exploded on Doyle. "I'm telling you how
it's going to work. Are you deaf, or what? I don't care about your authorisation. The deal is going
down, today!"
Perry looked at Joel, who fixed him with a steady stare, clearly meant to convey 'it's all going to
work out fine'. Perry wasn't so sure. He glanced past where Joel was seated beside him, to see
how Steiner was reacting to the developing situation. Unnervingly casual, was the answer. Perry
didn't know whether to be additionally concerned or comforted by this. Not for the first time he
thought, "this can't be happening to me."
Doyle, who had, Perry hoped, grasped the severity of the situation, endeavoured to placate the
larger man. "I'm sure we can sort something out, Angus. Perhaps you'd allow me to make a phone
call?"
"What do you think this is, Doyle?" Angus shouted, "Who Wants to be a bloody Millionaire? No,
you can't phone a friend." The men arrayed beyond him guffawed at this, which had the quite
obvious effect of increasing his air of bravado. "What's going to happen now is that your boys
here are going to give us a nice little demonstration."
Perry's heart stuttered as Joel took this as his cue. "I'd be more than happy to run you through how
the equipment operates, sir." he piped up.
Angus turned to face the two of them for the first time. "Good, I'm glad to hear that someone
here's willing to cooperate." He turned and gestured to one of his men, "Mario, bring that little
gizmo over here, will you, careful like?" Once again his men laughed, albeit a little nervously this
time. "And you two," he indicated a couple of men who had been slouched in the shadows, the
presence of one of which Perry had been totally unaware of, "take the wraps off that."
The hanger contained various bits of old equipment and machinery, and hence the large
rectangular bulk off to one side, covered in dusty sheets, had not looked out of place. Angus'
henchmen now pulled these sheets away to reveal a particularly sturdy looking steel container, a
room-sized box with one similarly solid looking steel door and a window, the shutter over which
was of the same material as the container itself and looked to have been welded to it on all sides.
It was the kind of secure cabin that Perry had seen on construction sites and in the dockyards.
Perry's attention then turned to Mario, or rather to the contraption that he cradled gingerly in his
arms.
"Do you mean," Joel hesitated, "an actual demonstration?"
Angus chuckled to himself. "What would be better?"
Doyle stepped forwards. "Angus, I'm not entirely sure that's such a good idea. We don't want to
draw attention to ourselves, do we?"
"Speak for yourself! You know, Doyle, you're really starting to bore me. Did The Rector send you
here just to get you out of his sight, or what?"
Doyle looked down at his shoes, resignedly, "I'm just saying..."
"Stow it!" Angus ordered. "We're hardly in bloody Piccadilly Circus, are we?"
During this most recent exchange, Perry took the opportunity to lean into Joel and whisper to him,
"what is that?"
"A mine, but it looks larger than usual." his friend replied.
A land mine? Perry's stomach cramped suddenly. A device such as that was just the kind of thing
the technology they had brought with them could trigger. IRD - Instantaneous Remote Detonation.
The laptops before them, as well as the other twenty three stacked in the rear of the van outside,
had been loaded with the specially developed software and fitted with integral modems and
transmitters which meant they could function at distances of up to a kilometre from the trigger.
Coupled with some basic surveillance equipment, it was a tool that would serve to further reduce
the element of chance that the activation of a standard mine relied upon.
As threatened as he was currently feeling, Perry was surprised that he found the time to castigate
himself for getting involved with an organisation that clearly supplied both technology and
weaponry that would ultimately end up being utilised in guerrilla warfare. Where was this particular
piece of devilment destined for? he wondered. Africa, the Middle East? He could certainly not
exonerate himself on the basis of ignorance. It hadn't taken very long at all to work out what he had
gotten into. As cutting edge and exciting as the technology was, its militaristic nature had never
been in doubt. Joel, as ever, had been relaxed about the situation. He had persuaded Perry with
arguments which, at the time, had seemed convincingly plausible. Things along the lines of "if we
weren't doing it, someone else would" and "we're only a very small link in the chain." Right now,
they felt like the worst kind of hollow excuses. He promised himself silently that he would get
himself as far away from The Rector's operation as was possible, if only he could survive the next
half hour.
"You," Angus pointed at Joel, "you were keen enough to stick your oar in. Get yourself over here."
"But," Joel protested, "everything I need to show you is right here on the screen."
"I said," Angus repeated in a threateningly quiet voice, "come here, and bring with you whatever
you need to attach to this," he indicated the plate sized bomb that Mario was anxiously clutching
on to. "Your boyfriend can push the buttons for me." Two or three of his men snickered at this, and
Angus whirled on them viciously, conscious of becoming the butt of the joke, rather than its
instigator.
Joel rose confidently from his seat, glanced over to Doyle who gave him a consenting half nod,
and strode over to Angus. "Be careful!" Perry whispered after him.
Perry watched as his friend approached Angus, who indicated to Mario that he was to hand over
his sensitive load. The underling stepped over to Joel and hurriedly passed the land mine into his
hands. He appeared to have dispensed of more than just a physical load as he gladly stepped
away. Joel was left stood there, looking distinctly uncomfortable now.
"How do you set it up?" Angus demanded.
"I..." Joel began, "I need the trigger device. It's in my jacket pocket."
The hapless Mario was once more drafted into action, fishing in Joel's breast pocket and drawing
forth a small black square.
"It's magnetic," Joel advised, "just attach it, gently."
Mario hovered over the device in Joel's hands, eventually bringing the small square into contact
with the shell of the mine. it held fast and, his participation hopefully complete, he backed away
once again.
Angus gestured to the large steel container, impatiently. "In there with it then, I haven't got all day."
Joel turned towards the doorway to the metal room, and stood there momentarily as if he was
facing his destiny. He gave Perry a sideways glance, shrugged his shoulders and presented an
unconvincing smile before returning his attention to the doorway. He walked slowly up to it and then
into the steel cabin.
Immediately had he done so, a figure appeared from behind the construction, one of Angus' men
whom had obviously kept himself concealed there thus far. He reached straight for the hefty door
and swung it shut with a dull thud. He then quickly proceeded to turn three large keys, one near the
head, one halfway down the jamb and one at the base of the door, before moving away to stand
alongside Mario.
"Whoa," said Doyle, "what's going on?"
Angus smiled broadly. "It's negotiation time." He said.
After a moment, they heard banging and shouting from within the container. Joel had obviously
placed the bomb upon the floor in order to do so.
"We're not here to negotiate," Doyle said, "we're not even here to deal with you, as I've already
said, but," he held his hands up to forestall the inevitable interruption, "if you wish to honour the
terms of the original agreement - and release our associate, I'm sure we can proceed."
"Those terms aren't to my liking," Angus grinned, "the new deal is: you walk out of here alive,
possibly with your 'associate', and we'll relieve you of this here kit. What do you say?"
As he spoke, his men raised their weapons simultaneously to cover Doyle, Steiner and his men.
Steiner spoke up for the first time. "This isn't how it works, Angus," he said, "you might succeed
today, but all you're going to do is upset the equilibrium. You're going to make an awful lot of
enemies awfully quickly. There are a lot of big players in this line of business and none of them can
afford to have a loose cannon like you running around."
Angus laughed out loud. "Oh, thanks so much for your lesson in politics, Mr. Army Man. Very
enlightening, that was. Have either of you grasped the concept that I'm actually trying to upset the
apple cart? It's all gone stale around here. It's time for some new blood."
As the final word left his mouth he raised his shotgun and fired it in Doyle's direction. The rapport
of the gun was deafening and seemed to echo endlessly around the cavernous hanger. Perry
dropped from his chair to the floor behind the table, feeling absolutely no shame in doing so. He
was not armed, or even trained in the use of firearms. His one and only instinct at this point was
self preservation.
Further shots rang out. Perry looked up to see that Steiner and one of his men were returning fire.
Steiner's other man was dragging the obviously injured Doyle back towards the hanger doors. A
dark and slick trail was left in their retreating wake.
The structure was now reverberating with the sound of shotgun fire. Everybody who was armed
must now be weighing in, Perry realised. Steiner and his man had found cover behind a couple of
large crates. The other man had succeeded in hauling Doyle out into the open, where Perry now
spotted Serge, who had joined the firefight but was also glancing over his shoulder nervously,
obviously expecting the arrival of Angus' reinforcements at any moment.
He realised that, behind the cover of the desk that was hiding him from view, he had a fairly clear
escape route. They were obviously massively outnumbered and Steiner also was steadily working
his way backwards to a point where he could make a dash for the doors. Torn between Joel's
predicament and his own immediate safety, he allowed common sense to prevail and scuttled on
his hands and knees towards the daylight beckoning from beyond the hanger doors. He was in no
position to assist his friend for the time being.
He was both surprised and relieved to reach the relative safety of the opening and the concrete
apron beyond. Surprised enough to roll around at Serge's feet in order to squint back into the
relative darkness of the building. Angus had reached the desk that Perry had been cowering below
only moments before and was gathering up one of the two laptops - the one that Joel had set up.
Perry's stomach suddenly clenched as he remembered that Joel had completed the full set up of
the arming routine, right up to the very simple activation command. He was always so prepared,
but Perry doubted very much that his actions had been wise in this instance. What would now be
displayed upon the screen was relatively straightforward to follow. It had, after all, been
programmed with third world guerrillas and mercenaries in mind.
Tyres screeched behind him and Perry turned to see their armoured truck departing in a cloud of
smoke, presumably seized by Angus' operatives who had been stationed outside.
"Get in the car!" Steiner shouted over at them.
Serge gave Perry a tap with his foot before retreating back in the direction of the black BMW.
"Wait!" Perry screamed, at anyone who would listen to him. "You need to get that laptop back
before he sets the bomb off!"
Steiner looked over at him, comprehension dawning, and yet he did not slow in his withdrawal.
"Just get back!" he yelled.
All gunfire had ceased abruptly. Perry turned back to see that Angus was disappearing into the
gloom of the hanger, the laptop held open on one large palm whilst he fiddled with the keyboard
with the fingers of his other hand.
"No!" Perry yelled, as he stood and began running back into the structure.
The explosion was obviously muffled by the steel enclosure that encompassed it, and yet it still
had the effect of temporarily deafening him. It happened in a split second. Almost too quickly to
register the flight of the container's steel door as it shot across the space before him, collecting
Angus on the way, before wrapping itself about one of the many steel columns that supported the
roof of the building.
Perry fell to his knees in disbelief as the smoke and dust began to billow around him. He held his
head in his hands, unable to comprehend what had just transpired. He did not register the touch of
the hands that came to rest upon his shoulders and he remained in the same stupefied state as he
was dragged back out into daylight and bundled into the rear of the car.
+++++++++
Steiner never knocked. They all had their own quarters, their own private space, but privacy was
something that Steiner did not appear to appreciate. Like patience or good manners, it was an
alien concept to him. To his mind, it didn't matter who you were or what you were doing, if he
needed you for something, he would insist upon your immediate attention, and God help you if you
didn't give it. He was a mean bastard at the best of times, a character definitely not to be trifled
with. It was rumoured amongst the Actives, those who accompanied Steiner on his various
missions, that if you stepped out of line or got on the wrong side of him, you may as well forget
about coming back from the next foray. The hearsay was that you would find yourself ascribed the
unenviable designation of 'lost in the line of duty', and who was to say that it mightn't be a case of
friendly fire? The only person that Steiner was answerable to was The Rector himself and it was
common knowledge that their leader kept his second in command on a fairly tight leash. Mostly,
they were all grateful for this. A Steiner given free reign was something nobody had the desire to
experience.
Perry had just brushed his teeth and was about to settle in for the night when Steiner barged his
way into his small room without a by your leave, as if it was the middle of the day and Perry was
sat in his office instead of stood here in his cotton pyjamas at half past midnight.
"Good," Steiner barked, "you're up. I have a task for you."
Oh, Perry thought to himself, you mean you haven't brought me my cocoa?
"What is it, sir?" he enquired instead.
Steiner thrust a sheet of paper at him. "Here's an address. We tracked a man back to it tonight.
One of my own men," he made it sound like a personal slur on Perry's capabilities, "has already
come up with a name which is also there. The Rector wishes to know everything that there is to
know about him, and that is your job."
Perry took the piece of paper from Steiner and gave it the once over. Unusual name, run of the mill
address by the looks of it.
"Okay," he said, "how long have I got?"
"You have," Steiner replied, "as long as you need. But remember that The Rector is not a
particularly patient man. I would suggest you begin immediately and contact me as soon as you
believe you have acquired a satisfactory amount of material."
"But, that could take all night," Perry complained.
Steiner glared at him. "Mr. Perry. Do I need to remind you that you have not as yet ingratiated
yourself with us. If I were you I would look upon this as an opportunity. A chance to prove your
worth, maybe."
And, with that, he turned on his heel and marched back through the open doorway. "Call me when
you have results, Mr. Perry. It doesn't matter what time it is."
Great, Perry thought, just what I needed!
+++++++++
Three hours later, Perry stood on the heavily piled wine red carpet before the broad mahogany
desk in The Rector's personal quarters. The man himself reclined at ease in his padded chair
behind the desk, leafing through the report that he had so recently commissioned. Steiner stood to
one side, at a kind of half-attention that Perry presumed was as relaxed as the man got. His mere
presence made Perry nervous, but not to the extent of The Rector himself, who now flicked back
through the papers a second time.
"Born 1977, Highgate, London; state education with unimpressive results; military service -
honourably discharged following a stress disorder; in and out of employment ever since; death of
brother - inexplicable circumstances, three post-mortems, inconclusive verdict, and then," he
smiled, crookedly, "he goes off the radar. Until last night, that is. Made your job a bit easier though,
hasn't it? The fact that he didn't bother changing his name?"
"Well, yes. But I might well have got past that."
The Rector stared at him long and hard before going on. "Why didn't he, though? It would have
been an obvious requirement if he were attempting to conceal himself from the authorities,
wouldn't you say?"
"Of course." Perry replied.
"So what is he trying to run from, I wonder?" he mused. "No matter," he glanced at the papers
once more. "Not bad, Mr Perry, not bad at all. I would almost go so far as to say that I'm
impressed. But there's still a missing piece to this particular jigsaw puzzle."
"Given a bit more time," Perry said, "I might be able to unearth a little more."
The Rector fixed him with another steely stare, causing Perry to look away. "You might, but I doubt
you'd come up with anything of consequence. No, this will suffice, for now. But there's something I
want you to see. Something that might just stimulate you to to find that missing piece. To find that
connection."
"A connection to what?" Perry asked. "What are we trying to connect this man to?"
The Rector tossed the report onto the desktop. "You're about to find out, Mr Perry. You can
consider yourself rather privileged. Rolf, Take Mr Perry down to the basement and introduce him
to our new 'guest', will you?"
+++++++++
The majority of the lower levels were off limits to all but a select few, and hence Perry was
permeated with an increasing trepidation as the steel cage descended into depths that he had not
even known existed. He braced himself, his teeth gritted. If Steiner had not been stood at his side,
the very picture of stoic indifference, he most likely would have clung to the sides of the elevator in
desperation.
The lift eventually came to a screeching halt which gave Perry a sudden start, even though he had
been attempting to anticipate it for what felt like some considerable time. Steiner swept aside the
steel gate before stepping out into a damp and dingy concrete corridor which, although identical in
layout, bore very little resemblance to the pristine and brightly lit passages of the upper levels.
Steiner strode off into the shadows and Perry hurried to keep up with him, inadvertently splashing
through the puddles which were spread across the floor of the corridor, the wall lights flickering
eerily. He passed a number of closed steel doors, equidistant on either side of him, and was in the
process of attempting to calculate whether this level was more extensive than the upper ones he
was familiar with, when he almost ran up against Steiner's back. He was unaware at first that they
had come to a halt before a man-sized portal at the apparent end of the passageway. A door
which appeared to have neither lock nor handle. In the dimness surrounding him, Perry did not see
exactly how the hatch was activated, but he could tell that Steiner had done something from the
sudden hiss which signified a release of escaping air. The door swung inwards on obviously well
oiled hinges and Steiner stepped purposefully through.
"What's down here?" Perry asked as he stepped through the doorway, mindful and partly
comforted by the fact that it remained open behind him.
"You'll see soon enough," came Steiner's reply, "hurry up."
Perry jogged to catch up with Steiner once more, and saw that they did now appear to be
approaching the corridors eventual termination. A figure arose from a chair behind a worn looking
wooden table and saluted. As they drew closer Perry recognised the figure as one of Steiner's
men, although he could not put a name to the face.
"Open it up, Rector's orders. He wants Perry, here," Steiner said, with a barely detectable smirk on
his face, "to take a look for himself."
The man, from whom Perry picked up a distinct impression of distress, took a bunch of keys from
where they had been clipped to his belt and ambled around a corner at the end of the corridor
which Perry had been oblivious to. "There must be miles of these god-forsaken tunnels," he
thought.
Steiner this time ushered Perry before him and, with an increasing chill that was due to more than
the cool temperature at this lowest level, he stepped around the corner himself. A little way along,
the wall to his left hand side became glass. Beyond that was a very secure looking door which the
guy with the keys (the jailer??) was in the process of unlocking. Beyond that was the very definite
end of this particular passage.
He suddenly became very concerned that he had embarked upon a one way trip. Had he done
something wrong? Did he know too much about something?
He turned to Steiner in desperation, "Look, just tell me what's going on, will you, Steiner? Why
have you brought me down here? Am I in some kind of trouble?"
Steiner, for once, looked uncomfortable with the situation. "That's a lot of questions, Perry. Just go
in there and take a look. That's all the Rector wants. When you're done, we'll go back up. Okay?"
Perry took a deep breath to steady himself and nodded. The glass wall suddenly lit up beside him,
causing him to jump and his heart to instantly begin racing once more. He turned and realised that
it was actually a window (what else could it have been? he supposed). Beyond it was a very clinical
looking white tiled room. In the centre of the room was a wheeled trolley or gurney, constructed of
gleaming stainless steel. And upon this gurney, draped in pale green surgical sheet, was a very
large something. Grey coloured parts of the very large something were hanging from the
extremities of the table. Perry's mind began to whirl as it tried to assimilate what it was being
confronted with. Whatever the something was, Perry grasped the fact that it was the same
something that he had witnessed being unloaded from the transit van in the Hall. That now felt like
days ago but, he realised, it was only a matter of a very few long hours.
He heard the key turn in what was obviously the last of several locks, because the door was then
swung open. Open for him. Admit One.
Perry felt his feet moving in the direction of the door and reflected upon the fact that he really
should be raising some objection and insisting that Steiner get him the hell away from here.
Instinctively, however, he was aware that there was some kind of revelation awaiting him within and
he was being inexorably drawn to discover what it was. He spoke without looking at Steiner, his
eyes focused ahead only. "Are you coming in, to?"
"No," Steiner replied, "But I'll wait here with Sykes. There's an intercom beside the door. Just let
me know when you want out."
They're going to shut the door, Perry thought. Why do they need to shut the door?
Before he could voice his concern though, he had crossed the threshold and the door had already
clanged shut behind him. He heard the keys turning in their locks one by one, each of them a
distinct testament to the uncertain circumstance he had committed himself to.
He reasserted himself and took in his surroundings once more, controlling his breathing as he did
so. The immense bulk of the shape was disconcerting. For the first time he allowed himself to
confront the fact that it must be a wild animal of some sort. Subconsciously, he knew, this thought
had occured to him already, maybe as early as when it he had first seen it - when it was being
wheeled away from the Hall. The drip that depended from a stainless steel stand beside the gurney
was a definite give away that the something remained alive. The room he was stood in, then, was
not a makeshift morgue.
He stepped quietly forward, extremely conscious of even the slightest sound that he might make,
until he was alongside the table. He felt compelled to draw back the sheet that concealed the
animal but, whilst he accepted that it was quite natural that he should want to, he stayed his hand
and, instead, squatted down to examine the various appendages that hung freely as a result of the
table being simply too small to bear the complete bulk of the body.
His stomach turned as he inspected the grey scaly skin of a forearm which terminated in a huge
clawed hand. And yes, it was far too much like a hand for him to mentally tag it as being a paw.
There were four fingers, but nothing that resembled a thumb. The curved claws themselves
appeared particularly deadly, each of them being several inches long with what looked like
extremely evil points. He promised himself that he would not attempt to test just how sharp they
might be. He turned to inspect what he had at first assumed was another limb hanging from the end
of the trolley, but he now realised that it was actually a tail, long and leathery, tapering along its
length, its end flopped limply upon the white tiled floor.
Resolutely, before he lost whatever nerve he still clung onto, he stood once more and reached
forwards with one hand to grasp the hem of the green sheet. He turned to look at the window,
beyond which he could make out the shapes of Steiner and his man (Sykes?) deep in discussion
and moving slowly out of sight in the direction of the workstation around the corner. He hoped that
they weren't going too far away. Facing what lay before him once more, he steeled himself and
then carefully drew back the cover.
He could not not prevent the gasp of horror which escaped his lips.
What Perry was confronted with was as unbelievable as it was dreadful. He recoiled in shock,
colliding with the drip stand, grasped out frantically to steady it before it fell clattering to the floor.
All the while he could not take his eyes from what he had uncovered, did not dare to.
Quite simply, it was a monster. At first he considered that it could be prosthetic - some clever
rubberised creation. But why the drip? The Rector was going to fool no-one with a stunt like that.
Not down here, God only knew how far underground. No-one except him, that was, but what did he
matter to anyone? What was his worth anymore? The next conclusion that his mind desperately
clutched at was that this must be the result of some kind of outlandish genetic experimentation -
some warped version of the human DNA straight off Doctor Moreau's Island, or some fantastical
cross between wild beasts. And yet there was nothing even faintly human about these features.
And his memory could find no frame of reference within the animal kingdom, no starting point that
would allow him to believe that this creature was even related to anything that was of this Earth. Its
head was massive and completely hairless, grey like the rest of its hide. Wide lids covered eyes
which straddled a large, broad nose. Beneath this its huge, blunt jaw lay slack, revealing a
cavernous mouth lined with rows of yellow teeth that looked needle sharp, behind which a
snake-like pink tongue lay coiled. At the side of its head, where one might expect to find ears, there
were the merest protrusions leading back into its bulbous skull.
No. This...this, thing, was from elsewhere. Perry had seen his fair share of aliens, who hadn't?
Everything from ET to Wookies, from Klingons to Daleks. But, as he gazed upon the face of this
creature, he realised for the first time what it actually was to see something alien, how it felt.
It felt wrong. There was no other way he could describe it to himself. He intuitively recognised that
what was before him was something that he should not be able to see, smell or touch. It was
inherently perverse that he was in the same room as this creature, breathing the same air. They
shouldn't even be on the same world! The wrongness manifested itself as a sickening wrench
within his guts. He had to get out of here, had to distance himself from this thing that should not be
here.
He turned to flee, to bash on the intercom until Steiner came to let him out. And then something
happened. Happened before Perry could avert his gaze. One of the creature's eyes flicked open. It
flicked open, and stayed open.
Perry froze in horror. He could not be certain, however, that the beast was looking at him. The eye
had no iris or pupil, no coloration whatsoever. It was completely black. A shining jet blackness.
He tried to back away, but couldn't. Attempted to turn his head towards the window, to wave
desperately at Steiner whom he could only hope was stood on the other side. He found, however,
that he could do neither of these things. The only act that remained to him was to return the stare
that this creature had focused upon him. And he knew now, with a dreaded certainty, that this was
indeed the case. The creature was looking at him, somehow looking into him, and he was looking
back.
As he gazed into the eye of the monster, he realised that it was no longer black, but that it had
begun to glow, first of all a particularly deep dark red, and then brighter and brighter until he was
transfixed by a pair of red hot coals.
Transfixed - it was exactly that. He could not turn away, nor move a single muscle. Even his
thoughts were becoming lost in a thick mist now, an all pervading blankness that enveloped his
mind.
And then he felt a piercing cold intrusion, probing the matter behind his eyes. The sense of
violation spread slickly across his consciousness like a heavy curtain and, as it did so, the beast's
penetrating glare faded from his view, no longer burning into him. It was replaced by its antithesis,
a brightly glowing blue globe that spun slowly about before his mind's eye.
From within this azure ball images slowly appeared, faces from his past swam into view to
confront him. His Mother and his two sisters, as he remembered them from his youth, his father - a
man that he could never claim to really know. And then Joel's face emerged from the spinning blue
globe. Joel's face smiled, opened it's mouth as if to speak, but was swept away just as quickly as it
had appeared. He was vaguely aware that the creature, this impossible animal that was
presumably (hopefully) still prostrate upon the gurney before his unseeing eyes, had stripped these
faces from his mind. But now, however, it's search seemed to have stalled. Perry intuitively knew
that it had happened upon something that intrigued it - some fact that it was now turning over and
over, feeling it's shape, attempting to figure out it's significance.
Another face surfaced suddenly out of the blue. It was a man's face, but not one that he
recognised.
And then a name rang out in his skull, a name which Perry knew. The creature had found the name
within his mind. It held some kind of fascination for it.
Sleet James
Perry instantly grasped the connection between the name and this new face - a face which the
creature had projected at him, had burnt onto his consciousness. They belonged together. This
was the face of Sleet James. And, Perry realised, with a further sickening wrench of his guts, here
was the connection that The Rector was searching for. A link between the man called Sleet James
and this nightmare monstrosity that had somehow fallen into his possession.
No language passed between the creature and himself. What occured next Perry could only
describe as a bonding or an imprinting. For a split second his brain was seared with an invisible
branding iron. The pain that accompanied it was fiery hot but lasted no more than an instant. As it
vanished his own vision returned suddenly to him. The bright white room came back into focus.
He fell to his knees, feeling giddy and decidedly delicate, but fastened his gaze upon the monster,
petrified that it would once more be searching him out with it's burning crimson stare.
It lay prone upon the table, as it had when he had first uncovered it's dreadful visage. it's eyes,
once more, were closed.
Perry stood shakily and turned towards the window. No-one was there. He shuffled across the
short distance to the wall and reached out to press the button on the intercom panel. Almost
immediately he spied Steiner through the window, coming down the corridor towards him. Soon
afterwards he heard the keys turning in the multiple locks once again.
He made a concerted effort to pull himself together before the door opened and Steiner
confronted him, knowing that some remnant of what he had experienced would be written large
upon his face.
One thought only hung heavily upon him at this moment. it was the realisation that, fearful and
disquieted as he had been within The Rector's organisation, he had now passed into the employ of
an overwhelming supremacy that was altogether more ominously dreadful.
particular mode of self enforced denial which the brain decides to resort to when things begin to go
horribly wrong. Wrong to the extent that it convinces itself that normal reality has been postponed
and replaced with a surreal scene from a particularly frightful or disturbing movie, during which
belief can be suspended on the basis that there is surely no way whatsoever that this can actually
be happening to you.
"It's just another routine job," Joel had said earlier that morning. "I've been on a few of these things
now. Believe me, they're so well planned that they're practically boring!"
Perry was far from bored.
The ridiculously muscular, bald headed man wearing a skin tight vest and swinging a shotgun
around in an alarming fashion, had his complete and undivided attention.
"It's a shame, Doyle, if that's your name," the man shouted as he swaggered about the hanger
floor. "I was hoping to introduce myself to your Rector personally. In fact, I'm very disappointed,
you understand me?"
Doyle, dressed in his trademark tweed suit, as ever the personification of cool and collected, held
his palms up before him, passively, "I understand you, Angus, of course," he spoke calmly,
persuasively, "but you must try and appreciate my position, too."
Angus swung about, the barrel of the shotgun sweeping around randomly, causing Perry to duck
involuntarily, from where he was seated before the PC on the mock up table.
"I don't have to appreciate nothin'. You ain't dealing with Maltravers no more. Like I said, he's been
retired. That soft bullshit's over. There ain't gonna be no more of that old pal's act."
Angus was flanked at a distance by a dozen armed men arranged around the hanger. At least half
a dozen more were stationed at intervals between the entrance to the disused airfield and the
doors to the hanger itself. The armoured van and the single BMW saloon car in which The Rector's
men had arrived were parked just outside, under the supervision of Serge. Within were Doyle,
Steiner, two of Steiner's 'Actives' and Joel and himself, the two of them seated nervously before
the machines that were meant to be the subject of this 'routine job'. Perry realised, probably not as
quickly as the others, that the tirade being enacted before them now had not been preempted, and
hence was far from part of 'the plan'.
"Like I've already said," Doyle continued in a friendly manner, his arms held wide apart, "I'm only
authorised to deal with Mr. Maltravers. We've been working with him for some time, built up quite a
rapport. You know how these things develop, I'm sure."
Angus, whose face had turned a worrying shade of purple, exploded on Doyle. "I'm telling you how
it's going to work. Are you deaf, or what? I don't care about your authorisation. The deal is going
down, today!"
Perry looked at Joel, who fixed him with a steady stare, clearly meant to convey 'it's all going to
work out fine'. Perry wasn't so sure. He glanced past where Joel was seated beside him, to see
how Steiner was reacting to the developing situation. Unnervingly casual, was the answer. Perry
didn't know whether to be additionally concerned or comforted by this. Not for the first time he
thought, "this can't be happening to me."
Doyle, who had, Perry hoped, grasped the severity of the situation, endeavoured to placate the
larger man. "I'm sure we can sort something out, Angus. Perhaps you'd allow me to make a phone
call?"
"What do you think this is, Doyle?" Angus shouted, "Who Wants to be a bloody Millionaire? No,
you can't phone a friend." The men arrayed beyond him guffawed at this, which had the quite
obvious effect of increasing his air of bravado. "What's going to happen now is that your boys
here are going to give us a nice little demonstration."
Perry's heart stuttered as Joel took this as his cue. "I'd be more than happy to run you through how
the equipment operates, sir." he piped up.
Angus turned to face the two of them for the first time. "Good, I'm glad to hear that someone
here's willing to cooperate." He turned and gestured to one of his men, "Mario, bring that little
gizmo over here, will you, careful like?" Once again his men laughed, albeit a little nervously this
time. "And you two," he indicated a couple of men who had been slouched in the shadows, the
presence of one of which Perry had been totally unaware of, "take the wraps off that."
The hanger contained various bits of old equipment and machinery, and hence the large
rectangular bulk off to one side, covered in dusty sheets, had not looked out of place. Angus'
henchmen now pulled these sheets away to reveal a particularly sturdy looking steel container, a
room-sized box with one similarly solid looking steel door and a window, the shutter over which
was of the same material as the container itself and looked to have been welded to it on all sides.
It was the kind of secure cabin that Perry had seen on construction sites and in the dockyards.
Perry's attention then turned to Mario, or rather to the contraption that he cradled gingerly in his
arms.
"Do you mean," Joel hesitated, "an actual demonstration?"
Angus chuckled to himself. "What would be better?"
Doyle stepped forwards. "Angus, I'm not entirely sure that's such a good idea. We don't want to
draw attention to ourselves, do we?"
"Speak for yourself! You know, Doyle, you're really starting to bore me. Did The Rector send you
here just to get you out of his sight, or what?"
Doyle looked down at his shoes, resignedly, "I'm just saying..."
"Stow it!" Angus ordered. "We're hardly in bloody Piccadilly Circus, are we?"
During this most recent exchange, Perry took the opportunity to lean into Joel and whisper to him,
"what is that?"
"A mine, but it looks larger than usual." his friend replied.
A land mine? Perry's stomach cramped suddenly. A device such as that was just the kind of thing
the technology they had brought with them could trigger. IRD - Instantaneous Remote Detonation.
The laptops before them, as well as the other twenty three stacked in the rear of the van outside,
had been loaded with the specially developed software and fitted with integral modems and
transmitters which meant they could function at distances of up to a kilometre from the trigger.
Coupled with some basic surveillance equipment, it was a tool that would serve to further reduce
the element of chance that the activation of a standard mine relied upon.
As threatened as he was currently feeling, Perry was surprised that he found the time to castigate
himself for getting involved with an organisation that clearly supplied both technology and
weaponry that would ultimately end up being utilised in guerrilla warfare. Where was this particular
piece of devilment destined for? he wondered. Africa, the Middle East? He could certainly not
exonerate himself on the basis of ignorance. It hadn't taken very long at all to work out what he had
gotten into. As cutting edge and exciting as the technology was, its militaristic nature had never
been in doubt. Joel, as ever, had been relaxed about the situation. He had persuaded Perry with
arguments which, at the time, had seemed convincingly plausible. Things along the lines of "if we
weren't doing it, someone else would" and "we're only a very small link in the chain." Right now,
they felt like the worst kind of hollow excuses. He promised himself silently that he would get
himself as far away from The Rector's operation as was possible, if only he could survive the next
half hour.
"You," Angus pointed at Joel, "you were keen enough to stick your oar in. Get yourself over here."
"But," Joel protested, "everything I need to show you is right here on the screen."
"I said," Angus repeated in a threateningly quiet voice, "come here, and bring with you whatever
you need to attach to this," he indicated the plate sized bomb that Mario was anxiously clutching
on to. "Your boyfriend can push the buttons for me." Two or three of his men snickered at this, and
Angus whirled on them viciously, conscious of becoming the butt of the joke, rather than its
instigator.
Joel rose confidently from his seat, glanced over to Doyle who gave him a consenting half nod,
and strode over to Angus. "Be careful!" Perry whispered after him.
Perry watched as his friend approached Angus, who indicated to Mario that he was to hand over
his sensitive load. The underling stepped over to Joel and hurriedly passed the land mine into his
hands. He appeared to have dispensed of more than just a physical load as he gladly stepped
away. Joel was left stood there, looking distinctly uncomfortable now.
"How do you set it up?" Angus demanded.
"I..." Joel began, "I need the trigger device. It's in my jacket pocket."
The hapless Mario was once more drafted into action, fishing in Joel's breast pocket and drawing
forth a small black square.
"It's magnetic," Joel advised, "just attach it, gently."
Mario hovered over the device in Joel's hands, eventually bringing the small square into contact
with the shell of the mine. it held fast and, his participation hopefully complete, he backed away
once again.
Angus gestured to the large steel container, impatiently. "In there with it then, I haven't got all day."
Joel turned towards the doorway to the metal room, and stood there momentarily as if he was
facing his destiny. He gave Perry a sideways glance, shrugged his shoulders and presented an
unconvincing smile before returning his attention to the doorway. He walked slowly up to it and then
into the steel cabin.
Immediately had he done so, a figure appeared from behind the construction, one of Angus' men
whom had obviously kept himself concealed there thus far. He reached straight for the hefty door
and swung it shut with a dull thud. He then quickly proceeded to turn three large keys, one near the
head, one halfway down the jamb and one at the base of the door, before moving away to stand
alongside Mario.
"Whoa," said Doyle, "what's going on?"
Angus smiled broadly. "It's negotiation time." He said.
After a moment, they heard banging and shouting from within the container. Joel had obviously
placed the bomb upon the floor in order to do so.
"We're not here to negotiate," Doyle said, "we're not even here to deal with you, as I've already
said, but," he held his hands up to forestall the inevitable interruption, "if you wish to honour the
terms of the original agreement - and release our associate, I'm sure we can proceed."
"Those terms aren't to my liking," Angus grinned, "the new deal is: you walk out of here alive,
possibly with your 'associate', and we'll relieve you of this here kit. What do you say?"
As he spoke, his men raised their weapons simultaneously to cover Doyle, Steiner and his men.
Steiner spoke up for the first time. "This isn't how it works, Angus," he said, "you might succeed
today, but all you're going to do is upset the equilibrium. You're going to make an awful lot of
enemies awfully quickly. There are a lot of big players in this line of business and none of them can
afford to have a loose cannon like you running around."
Angus laughed out loud. "Oh, thanks so much for your lesson in politics, Mr. Army Man. Very
enlightening, that was. Have either of you grasped the concept that I'm actually trying to upset the
apple cart? It's all gone stale around here. It's time for some new blood."
As the final word left his mouth he raised his shotgun and fired it in Doyle's direction. The rapport
of the gun was deafening and seemed to echo endlessly around the cavernous hanger. Perry
dropped from his chair to the floor behind the table, feeling absolutely no shame in doing so. He
was not armed, or even trained in the use of firearms. His one and only instinct at this point was
self preservation.
Further shots rang out. Perry looked up to see that Steiner and one of his men were returning fire.
Steiner's other man was dragging the obviously injured Doyle back towards the hanger doors. A
dark and slick trail was left in their retreating wake.
The structure was now reverberating with the sound of shotgun fire. Everybody who was armed
must now be weighing in, Perry realised. Steiner and his man had found cover behind a couple of
large crates. The other man had succeeded in hauling Doyle out into the open, where Perry now
spotted Serge, who had joined the firefight but was also glancing over his shoulder nervously,
obviously expecting the arrival of Angus' reinforcements at any moment.
He realised that, behind the cover of the desk that was hiding him from view, he had a fairly clear
escape route. They were obviously massively outnumbered and Steiner also was steadily working
his way backwards to a point where he could make a dash for the doors. Torn between Joel's
predicament and his own immediate safety, he allowed common sense to prevail and scuttled on
his hands and knees towards the daylight beckoning from beyond the hanger doors. He was in no
position to assist his friend for the time being.
He was both surprised and relieved to reach the relative safety of the opening and the concrete
apron beyond. Surprised enough to roll around at Serge's feet in order to squint back into the
relative darkness of the building. Angus had reached the desk that Perry had been cowering below
only moments before and was gathering up one of the two laptops - the one that Joel had set up.
Perry's stomach suddenly clenched as he remembered that Joel had completed the full set up of
the arming routine, right up to the very simple activation command. He was always so prepared,
but Perry doubted very much that his actions had been wise in this instance. What would now be
displayed upon the screen was relatively straightforward to follow. It had, after all, been
programmed with third world guerrillas and mercenaries in mind.
Tyres screeched behind him and Perry turned to see their armoured truck departing in a cloud of
smoke, presumably seized by Angus' operatives who had been stationed outside.
"Get in the car!" Steiner shouted over at them.
Serge gave Perry a tap with his foot before retreating back in the direction of the black BMW.
"Wait!" Perry screamed, at anyone who would listen to him. "You need to get that laptop back
before he sets the bomb off!"
Steiner looked over at him, comprehension dawning, and yet he did not slow in his withdrawal.
"Just get back!" he yelled.
All gunfire had ceased abruptly. Perry turned back to see that Angus was disappearing into the
gloom of the hanger, the laptop held open on one large palm whilst he fiddled with the keyboard
with the fingers of his other hand.
"No!" Perry yelled, as he stood and began running back into the structure.
The explosion was obviously muffled by the steel enclosure that encompassed it, and yet it still
had the effect of temporarily deafening him. It happened in a split second. Almost too quickly to
register the flight of the container's steel door as it shot across the space before him, collecting
Angus on the way, before wrapping itself about one of the many steel columns that supported the
roof of the building.
Perry fell to his knees in disbelief as the smoke and dust began to billow around him. He held his
head in his hands, unable to comprehend what had just transpired. He did not register the touch of
the hands that came to rest upon his shoulders and he remained in the same stupefied state as he
was dragged back out into daylight and bundled into the rear of the car.
+++++++++
Steiner never knocked. They all had their own quarters, their own private space, but privacy was
something that Steiner did not appear to appreciate. Like patience or good manners, it was an
alien concept to him. To his mind, it didn't matter who you were or what you were doing, if he
needed you for something, he would insist upon your immediate attention, and God help you if you
didn't give it. He was a mean bastard at the best of times, a character definitely not to be trifled
with. It was rumoured amongst the Actives, those who accompanied Steiner on his various
missions, that if you stepped out of line or got on the wrong side of him, you may as well forget
about coming back from the next foray. The hearsay was that you would find yourself ascribed the
unenviable designation of 'lost in the line of duty', and who was to say that it mightn't be a case of
friendly fire? The only person that Steiner was answerable to was The Rector himself and it was
common knowledge that their leader kept his second in command on a fairly tight leash. Mostly,
they were all grateful for this. A Steiner given free reign was something nobody had the desire to
experience.
Perry had just brushed his teeth and was about to settle in for the night when Steiner barged his
way into his small room without a by your leave, as if it was the middle of the day and Perry was
sat in his office instead of stood here in his cotton pyjamas at half past midnight.
"Good," Steiner barked, "you're up. I have a task for you."
Oh, Perry thought to himself, you mean you haven't brought me my cocoa?
"What is it, sir?" he enquired instead.
Steiner thrust a sheet of paper at him. "Here's an address. We tracked a man back to it tonight.
One of my own men," he made it sound like a personal slur on Perry's capabilities, "has already
come up with a name which is also there. The Rector wishes to know everything that there is to
know about him, and that is your job."
Perry took the piece of paper from Steiner and gave it the once over. Unusual name, run of the mill
address by the looks of it.
"Okay," he said, "how long have I got?"
"You have," Steiner replied, "as long as you need. But remember that The Rector is not a
particularly patient man. I would suggest you begin immediately and contact me as soon as you
believe you have acquired a satisfactory amount of material."
"But, that could take all night," Perry complained.
Steiner glared at him. "Mr. Perry. Do I need to remind you that you have not as yet ingratiated
yourself with us. If I were you I would look upon this as an opportunity. A chance to prove your
worth, maybe."
And, with that, he turned on his heel and marched back through the open doorway. "Call me when
you have results, Mr. Perry. It doesn't matter what time it is."
Great, Perry thought, just what I needed!
+++++++++
Three hours later, Perry stood on the heavily piled wine red carpet before the broad mahogany
desk in The Rector's personal quarters. The man himself reclined at ease in his padded chair
behind the desk, leafing through the report that he had so recently commissioned. Steiner stood to
one side, at a kind of half-attention that Perry presumed was as relaxed as the man got. His mere
presence made Perry nervous, but not to the extent of The Rector himself, who now flicked back
through the papers a second time.
"Born 1977, Highgate, London; state education with unimpressive results; military service -
honourably discharged following a stress disorder; in and out of employment ever since; death of
brother - inexplicable circumstances, three post-mortems, inconclusive verdict, and then," he
smiled, crookedly, "he goes off the radar. Until last night, that is. Made your job a bit easier though,
hasn't it? The fact that he didn't bother changing his name?"
"Well, yes. But I might well have got past that."
The Rector stared at him long and hard before going on. "Why didn't he, though? It would have
been an obvious requirement if he were attempting to conceal himself from the authorities,
wouldn't you say?"
"Of course." Perry replied.
"So what is he trying to run from, I wonder?" he mused. "No matter," he glanced at the papers
once more. "Not bad, Mr Perry, not bad at all. I would almost go so far as to say that I'm
impressed. But there's still a missing piece to this particular jigsaw puzzle."
"Given a bit more time," Perry said, "I might be able to unearth a little more."
The Rector fixed him with another steely stare, causing Perry to look away. "You might, but I doubt
you'd come up with anything of consequence. No, this will suffice, for now. But there's something I
want you to see. Something that might just stimulate you to to find that missing piece. To find that
connection."
"A connection to what?" Perry asked. "What are we trying to connect this man to?"
The Rector tossed the report onto the desktop. "You're about to find out, Mr Perry. You can
consider yourself rather privileged. Rolf, Take Mr Perry down to the basement and introduce him
to our new 'guest', will you?"
+++++++++
The majority of the lower levels were off limits to all but a select few, and hence Perry was
permeated with an increasing trepidation as the steel cage descended into depths that he had not
even known existed. He braced himself, his teeth gritted. If Steiner had not been stood at his side,
the very picture of stoic indifference, he most likely would have clung to the sides of the elevator in
desperation.
The lift eventually came to a screeching halt which gave Perry a sudden start, even though he had
been attempting to anticipate it for what felt like some considerable time. Steiner swept aside the
steel gate before stepping out into a damp and dingy concrete corridor which, although identical in
layout, bore very little resemblance to the pristine and brightly lit passages of the upper levels.
Steiner strode off into the shadows and Perry hurried to keep up with him, inadvertently splashing
through the puddles which were spread across the floor of the corridor, the wall lights flickering
eerily. He passed a number of closed steel doors, equidistant on either side of him, and was in the
process of attempting to calculate whether this level was more extensive than the upper ones he
was familiar with, when he almost ran up against Steiner's back. He was unaware at first that they
had come to a halt before a man-sized portal at the apparent end of the passageway. A door
which appeared to have neither lock nor handle. In the dimness surrounding him, Perry did not see
exactly how the hatch was activated, but he could tell that Steiner had done something from the
sudden hiss which signified a release of escaping air. The door swung inwards on obviously well
oiled hinges and Steiner stepped purposefully through.
"What's down here?" Perry asked as he stepped through the doorway, mindful and partly
comforted by the fact that it remained open behind him.
"You'll see soon enough," came Steiner's reply, "hurry up."
Perry jogged to catch up with Steiner once more, and saw that they did now appear to be
approaching the corridors eventual termination. A figure arose from a chair behind a worn looking
wooden table and saluted. As they drew closer Perry recognised the figure as one of Steiner's
men, although he could not put a name to the face.
"Open it up, Rector's orders. He wants Perry, here," Steiner said, with a barely detectable smirk on
his face, "to take a look for himself."
The man, from whom Perry picked up a distinct impression of distress, took a bunch of keys from
where they had been clipped to his belt and ambled around a corner at the end of the corridor
which Perry had been oblivious to. "There must be miles of these god-forsaken tunnels," he
thought.
Steiner this time ushered Perry before him and, with an increasing chill that was due to more than
the cool temperature at this lowest level, he stepped around the corner himself. A little way along,
the wall to his left hand side became glass. Beyond that was a very secure looking door which the
guy with the keys (the jailer??) was in the process of unlocking. Beyond that was the very definite
end of this particular passage.
He suddenly became very concerned that he had embarked upon a one way trip. Had he done
something wrong? Did he know too much about something?
He turned to Steiner in desperation, "Look, just tell me what's going on, will you, Steiner? Why
have you brought me down here? Am I in some kind of trouble?"
Steiner, for once, looked uncomfortable with the situation. "That's a lot of questions, Perry. Just go
in there and take a look. That's all the Rector wants. When you're done, we'll go back up. Okay?"
Perry took a deep breath to steady himself and nodded. The glass wall suddenly lit up beside him,
causing him to jump and his heart to instantly begin racing once more. He turned and realised that
it was actually a window (what else could it have been? he supposed). Beyond it was a very clinical
looking white tiled room. In the centre of the room was a wheeled trolley or gurney, constructed of
gleaming stainless steel. And upon this gurney, draped in pale green surgical sheet, was a very
large something. Grey coloured parts of the very large something were hanging from the
extremities of the table. Perry's mind began to whirl as it tried to assimilate what it was being
confronted with. Whatever the something was, Perry grasped the fact that it was the same
something that he had witnessed being unloaded from the transit van in the Hall. That now felt like
days ago but, he realised, it was only a matter of a very few long hours.
He heard the key turn in what was obviously the last of several locks, because the door was then
swung open. Open for him. Admit One.
Perry felt his feet moving in the direction of the door and reflected upon the fact that he really
should be raising some objection and insisting that Steiner get him the hell away from here.
Instinctively, however, he was aware that there was some kind of revelation awaiting him within and
he was being inexorably drawn to discover what it was. He spoke without looking at Steiner, his
eyes focused ahead only. "Are you coming in, to?"
"No," Steiner replied, "But I'll wait here with Sykes. There's an intercom beside the door. Just let
me know when you want out."
They're going to shut the door, Perry thought. Why do they need to shut the door?
Before he could voice his concern though, he had crossed the threshold and the door had already
clanged shut behind him. He heard the keys turning in their locks one by one, each of them a
distinct testament to the uncertain circumstance he had committed himself to.
He reasserted himself and took in his surroundings once more, controlling his breathing as he did
so. The immense bulk of the shape was disconcerting. For the first time he allowed himself to
confront the fact that it must be a wild animal of some sort. Subconsciously, he knew, this thought
had occured to him already, maybe as early as when it he had first seen it - when it was being
wheeled away from the Hall. The drip that depended from a stainless steel stand beside the gurney
was a definite give away that the something remained alive. The room he was stood in, then, was
not a makeshift morgue.
He stepped quietly forward, extremely conscious of even the slightest sound that he might make,
until he was alongside the table. He felt compelled to draw back the sheet that concealed the
animal but, whilst he accepted that it was quite natural that he should want to, he stayed his hand
and, instead, squatted down to examine the various appendages that hung freely as a result of the
table being simply too small to bear the complete bulk of the body.
His stomach turned as he inspected the grey scaly skin of a forearm which terminated in a huge
clawed hand. And yes, it was far too much like a hand for him to mentally tag it as being a paw.
There were four fingers, but nothing that resembled a thumb. The curved claws themselves
appeared particularly deadly, each of them being several inches long with what looked like
extremely evil points. He promised himself that he would not attempt to test just how sharp they
might be. He turned to inspect what he had at first assumed was another limb hanging from the end
of the trolley, but he now realised that it was actually a tail, long and leathery, tapering along its
length, its end flopped limply upon the white tiled floor.
Resolutely, before he lost whatever nerve he still clung onto, he stood once more and reached
forwards with one hand to grasp the hem of the green sheet. He turned to look at the window,
beyond which he could make out the shapes of Steiner and his man (Sykes?) deep in discussion
and moving slowly out of sight in the direction of the workstation around the corner. He hoped that
they weren't going too far away. Facing what lay before him once more, he steeled himself and
then carefully drew back the cover.
He could not not prevent the gasp of horror which escaped his lips.
What Perry was confronted with was as unbelievable as it was dreadful. He recoiled in shock,
colliding with the drip stand, grasped out frantically to steady it before it fell clattering to the floor.
All the while he could not take his eyes from what he had uncovered, did not dare to.
Quite simply, it was a monster. At first he considered that it could be prosthetic - some clever
rubberised creation. But why the drip? The Rector was going to fool no-one with a stunt like that.
Not down here, God only knew how far underground. No-one except him, that was, but what did he
matter to anyone? What was his worth anymore? The next conclusion that his mind desperately
clutched at was that this must be the result of some kind of outlandish genetic experimentation -
some warped version of the human DNA straight off Doctor Moreau's Island, or some fantastical
cross between wild beasts. And yet there was nothing even faintly human about these features.
And his memory could find no frame of reference within the animal kingdom, no starting point that
would allow him to believe that this creature was even related to anything that was of this Earth. Its
head was massive and completely hairless, grey like the rest of its hide. Wide lids covered eyes
which straddled a large, broad nose. Beneath this its huge, blunt jaw lay slack, revealing a
cavernous mouth lined with rows of yellow teeth that looked needle sharp, behind which a
snake-like pink tongue lay coiled. At the side of its head, where one might expect to find ears, there
were the merest protrusions leading back into its bulbous skull.
No. This...this, thing, was from elsewhere. Perry had seen his fair share of aliens, who hadn't?
Everything from ET to Wookies, from Klingons to Daleks. But, as he gazed upon the face of this
creature, he realised for the first time what it actually was to see something alien, how it felt.
It felt wrong. There was no other way he could describe it to himself. He intuitively recognised that
what was before him was something that he should not be able to see, smell or touch. It was
inherently perverse that he was in the same room as this creature, breathing the same air. They
shouldn't even be on the same world! The wrongness manifested itself as a sickening wrench
within his guts. He had to get out of here, had to distance himself from this thing that should not be
here.
He turned to flee, to bash on the intercom until Steiner came to let him out. And then something
happened. Happened before Perry could avert his gaze. One of the creature's eyes flicked open. It
flicked open, and stayed open.
Perry froze in horror. He could not be certain, however, that the beast was looking at him. The eye
had no iris or pupil, no coloration whatsoever. It was completely black. A shining jet blackness.
He tried to back away, but couldn't. Attempted to turn his head towards the window, to wave
desperately at Steiner whom he could only hope was stood on the other side. He found, however,
that he could do neither of these things. The only act that remained to him was to return the stare
that this creature had focused upon him. And he knew now, with a dreaded certainty, that this was
indeed the case. The creature was looking at him, somehow looking into him, and he was looking
back.
As he gazed into the eye of the monster, he realised that it was no longer black, but that it had
begun to glow, first of all a particularly deep dark red, and then brighter and brighter until he was
transfixed by a pair of red hot coals.
Transfixed - it was exactly that. He could not turn away, nor move a single muscle. Even his
thoughts were becoming lost in a thick mist now, an all pervading blankness that enveloped his
mind.
And then he felt a piercing cold intrusion, probing the matter behind his eyes. The sense of
violation spread slickly across his consciousness like a heavy curtain and, as it did so, the beast's
penetrating glare faded from his view, no longer burning into him. It was replaced by its antithesis,
a brightly glowing blue globe that spun slowly about before his mind's eye.
From within this azure ball images slowly appeared, faces from his past swam into view to
confront him. His Mother and his two sisters, as he remembered them from his youth, his father - a
man that he could never claim to really know. And then Joel's face emerged from the spinning blue
globe. Joel's face smiled, opened it's mouth as if to speak, but was swept away just as quickly as it
had appeared. He was vaguely aware that the creature, this impossible animal that was
presumably (hopefully) still prostrate upon the gurney before his unseeing eyes, had stripped these
faces from his mind. But now, however, it's search seemed to have stalled. Perry intuitively knew
that it had happened upon something that intrigued it - some fact that it was now turning over and
over, feeling it's shape, attempting to figure out it's significance.
Another face surfaced suddenly out of the blue. It was a man's face, but not one that he
recognised.
And then a name rang out in his skull, a name which Perry knew. The creature had found the name
within his mind. It held some kind of fascination for it.
Sleet James
Perry instantly grasped the connection between the name and this new face - a face which the
creature had projected at him, had burnt onto his consciousness. They belonged together. This
was the face of Sleet James. And, Perry realised, with a further sickening wrench of his guts, here
was the connection that The Rector was searching for. A link between the man called Sleet James
and this nightmare monstrosity that had somehow fallen into his possession.
No language passed between the creature and himself. What occured next Perry could only
describe as a bonding or an imprinting. For a split second his brain was seared with an invisible
branding iron. The pain that accompanied it was fiery hot but lasted no more than an instant. As it
vanished his own vision returned suddenly to him. The bright white room came back into focus.
He fell to his knees, feeling giddy and decidedly delicate, but fastened his gaze upon the monster,
petrified that it would once more be searching him out with it's burning crimson stare.
It lay prone upon the table, as it had when he had first uncovered it's dreadful visage. it's eyes,
once more, were closed.
Perry stood shakily and turned towards the window. No-one was there. He shuffled across the
short distance to the wall and reached out to press the button on the intercom panel. Almost
immediately he spied Steiner through the window, coming down the corridor towards him. Soon
afterwards he heard the keys turning in the multiple locks once again.
He made a concerted effort to pull himself together before the door opened and Steiner
confronted him, knowing that some remnant of what he had experienced would be written large
upon his face.
One thought only hung heavily upon him at this moment. it was the realisation that, fearful and
disquieted as he had been within The Rector's organisation, he had now passed into the employ of
an overwhelming supremacy that was altogether more ominously dreadful.
| Chapter 9: Perry's Story Part 2 |
| February 2010 |
| Serial Fiction |
| Copyright 2010 by Nils Durban |
In which we learn the second part of Sean Perry's tale.
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