The doors exploded outwards, tearing them violently from their brackets. Krank and James instinctively lifted their weapons and aimed them at the smoke filled gap.
Carter smiled as he saw a small grenade device roll through the thick fog.
"Flasher!" Krank screamed. A second later the vast observatory was consumed by white light.
Gunfire ricocheted through the hollow chamber and Carter, hand still over his eyes, dove to the floor.
"Atkins?" he yelled.
"Sir!" a thin voice barked from the corridor.
Magnificent, Carter thought, daring to uncover his eyes and survey the scene, Atkins was here to re-address the balance of power. Carter appreciated the ruthless, dogged efficiency of a man like Atkins. Unlike Anthony, if he was given a task, he would follow it through without remorse, or die trying.
"Get the girl," Carter shouted, trying to get a visual on Atkins or one of his men. He saw Krank lying on the floor to the left of the entrance, but it was not obvious from this angle if he was shot. James had seemingly vanished, perhaps hiding behind the equipment. He saw the shadows of three men dressed in combat fatigues sneak across the open area heading to the telescope. But Ebbe and Anthony were nowhere to be seen, despite having been at the viewing station only seconds earlier.
Scrabbling forward on all fours, Carter took a peek over a computer terminal, and saw Atkins stride through the thinning smoke. He had an arm dressing, several cuts and bruises deforming his face into a permanent scowl, and he appeared to be using a rifle as a make-shift crutch. His eyes scoured the room intensely, immediately spotting the prostrate Krank. A flick of his free hand sent a fourth man in Krank's direction. The soldier pulled out a handgun and looked to Atkins for orders. Atkins gave a nearly imperceptible nod, in response to which the man unloaded six shots point-blank at Krank.
If the man weren't already dead, he sure is now, Carter thought. Time to reveal my whereabouts he decided, having yet to identify where any of Anthony's team were hiding. Best to get behind the armed men, and let them seek out and destroy.
Cold steel pressed against the nape of his neck gave him pause. Slowly Carter turned to find himself face to face with Jake's steely visage. Jake kept his semi-automatic pressed firmly against skin as he gestured with a shake that he didn't want Carter going anywhere. Without removing his gun, Jake looked up for a second, before returning his attention back to Carter.
Moments later Art emerged from the shadows, keeping ducked and low, his eyes seeming to flicker to scour the whole room as he moved.
They won't kill me, Carter tried to tell himself, Ebbe said she needs him. That means they have no choice. But the indentation of the gun barrel was all too real, and the quivering sensation in his bladder and bowels was impossible to ignore. They may not kill, but God only knows what else they could do. The temptation was to shout to Atkins, to get these two bastards outnumbered. But this guy, whatever his name was, he had the same look Atkins had in his eyes. It was cold, undoubtedly a sociopath. Great soldier, but difficult to reason with. The other guy he had called over, he looked like a man of reason. But he was on lookout, presumably for Anthony, Ebbe and the other kid.
"There's no way out," Carter hissed, trying to making it sound like a threat.
He received a gun butt to his forehead for his troubles. From the man of reason no less. Guess your character judgement is a little off today Carter old boy, he told himself.
"Do you think?" Art asked Jake, who responded with a toothy shark grin. "Yeah me too," Art concluded the unspoken conversation without further elaboration.
They think Ebbe can do something, Carter suddenly realised. Of course she could! What an idiot. They had been transported here in a second, therefore they can transport out without detection. But they were still here, why? That doesn't matter now, take advantage. They won't kill you. They need you.
"Atkins!" Carter yelled urgently, "quickly!"
Jake didn't flinch, and Carter heard the deafening crack of his gun blasting at point-blank range. Numerous bullets tore through his flesh, and he felt a hot, burning sensation at the point of entry.
A dark cloud fogged up his vision, the room fading into murky nothingness.
I'm dying, he concluded, feeling curiously light, almost as if he were lifting up and beginning to float from the ground. A pin-prick of light emerged in the pitch black of his mind, and soon began to widen, flooding his eyes, if that was how he was seeing this, becoming like a tubular tunnel of light.
Ebbe? What was she doing standing in the tunnel?
Anthony too walked into his field of vision.
"Wakey wakey sleepy head," chided a hollow voice which sounded like it came from within his skull.
"I'm not dead?" Carter mumbled with a dry mouth.
Laughter echoed from within his head.
"I told you." That was Ebbe's voice, clear and confident.
"What did you tell me?" Carter muttered, finding he had arms with which he could rub his eyes. Blinking, he re-focused on the pure white room, with no definable join between the ceiling, wall and floor, it was almost as if they were floating. Except he was definitely lying on a firm surface.
"You aren't really here. None of us are. This is, er... like a memory bank for our original selves."
Carter sat upright, rubbing his temples, before patting his chest where the burning sensation from his gunshot wounds had been.
"But, he shot me," he gasped incredulously.
Anthony cackled with unreserved amusement.
"Let me guess, Jake?" he asked.
But Carter didn't care to answer. Frantically he scrambled back to his feet, only for a large forearm wrap around his neck.
"Going somewhere chap?" a familiar voice boomed, the sound dropping silent unnaturally. Carter squirmed and the arm loosened its grip, allowing him to whirl around to see Krank towering over him with a large grin plastered across his face.
"You... you were shot," Carter fumbled over his words, taking several steps back, only to find himself tumbling into Anthony's arms.
"Yeah," Krank agreed, "hurt like a son of a bitch oddly," he added, "how could that be?"
"With quantum linking it's perfectly possible," Ebbe responded matter-of-factly.
"Sure, sure, I thought so too," Krank muttered sarcastically.
"If you could transport everyone away, why didn't you?" Carter asked, pulling himself away from Anthony, trying to smooth out the creases in his suit.
"Best to keep up the illusion as long as we can," Ebbe replied.
"Keep Atkins busy fighting ghosts," Anthony added with a chuckle, before the humour dropped away from his face, "Krank!"
Carter found himself in a bear grip before he had a chance to react. He made a futile effort to wriggle free, before concluding the first time he had not escaped Krank's grip, he had been released.
Anthony strode up to him slowly, coming closer and closer, until Carter felt his warm breath on the skin of his nose, though oddly he could discern no obvious odour.
"Minister," Anthony hissed, "you know what we need," he started, "you understand we don't have a lot of time to fuck around," he paused and leaned in so they were almost touching, "can you deliver?"
Carter tried to pull back, recoil from the hot breath heating his face, but Krank was immovable, and Anthony lingered uncomfortably long, his eyes fixed on Carter's.
What choice did he have? The technology he had so long wanted to investigate was now firmly in the grips of Ebbe, and he had, for the moment, lost control of her. His usual tricks wouldn't work right now. The only choice was to play along, play the long game. He was good at that. Sure, they could organise their little space trip. He could even make it seem like they were in charge. But ultimately, no one fucks Carter Huntington over and doesn't live to regret it.
"Fine," Carter sighed with convincing resignation. "Whatever you need, I'll help if I can."
Anthony slapped his cheek a couple of times.
"That's a good lad," he grinned with a cheeky wink.
Enjoy your small victory now, Carter thought, you'll soon wish you'd died back in that basement.
