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.
Showing posts with label earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earth. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 October 2014
Monday, 6 October 2014
Chapter 16 - Part 2
Anthony investigated Ebbe's pale, angular face for any hint she was taking the piss. If she were, it was out of character, and frankly, her face seemed the picture of reason. Her eyes unwavering in their piercing intensity, seemingly boring a hole through the dumbstruck Carter.
If there were any humour in this scene, it was certainly seeing that fatuous politician reduced to a mumbling fool by this petite framed woman. Anthony saw the switch of power jump like a spark of static electricity. In that split second Carter's shoulders had slumped from being taught and proud, to quivering and frail. Ebbe, in contrast had seemingly grown in stature, commanding the attention of the room like a conductor.
"Let me see," he finally spoke, wanting to understand what had so shaken their esteemed leader. He knew better than to immediately question the frankly bizarre assertion that they were not on the planet earth. That was a tad too much to comprehend, no matter what he had seen of late. Let's peek through this magic telescope of hers before I make myself look stupid, he decided.
Ebbe said nothing, only gesturing to show he was more than welcome to see for himself. Slinging his gun over his shoulder, to rest on his back, he stepped towards the eyepiece with unexpected trepidation.
Fear no man, fear no beast, fear no unknown, he repeated an mantra his dear old mum had cooed to him as a young boy to allay his concerns about the unseen terrors in the dark recesses of the bedroom at his grandmother's farm. I am fearless leader, he added, which brought forth a little smile to his lips.
Crouching to squeeze into the sculptured seat, he glanced at his colleagues, all watching him as if he were walking to the gallows, to be strung up by the neck until dead. Their eyes wide, like deer who've just heard the hunter step on a twig.
His eye wrapped around the black scope and he took a few seconds to adjust to the view. For a moment his brain couldn't discern anything noteworthy. He could see white and grey contours, dappled with black pits. It was only when he pulled his eye away and looked up at the blackness above that he understood it was a portion of the moon within the eyepiece. With renewed understanding he looked back and concentrated on the image. It struck him as odd that Ebbe had focused on a hunk of the moon, and left a portion of black space in the lower left corner. Was it the moon, or the area of space she had been aiming at? What was he missing? Had the scope been adjusted since Carter peered through it and immediately saw something that drained the blood from his smug face?
No, it was no toy telescope that could be bumped by a careless elbow. This beast would only move if its master, Ebbe, commanded. And the master was not one to make careless mistakes. She aimed it where she did for a reason, and it was he, being a layman who could not see the stars for the solar system who was missing what was presumably in front of him.
But wait, there! The segment of space within the viewfinder was not the simple black void he had first imagined. There appeared to be an image, some sort of structure, or design, faint, but definitely discernible. Was it behind the moon? Or opposite? Impossible to tell without understanding the scale, but it appeared to be some sort of honeycomb configuration. The more he stared, the more obvious it became, until the pale white glow of the moon started itself started to look more like a two dimensional overlay upon this structure.
He forced himself away from the telescope to discover he had begun to shake. He clenched a fist forcefully, physically rejecting the nerves that the unearthly sight had started to instill.
Unearthly, he pondered, staring out at his team through a light, hollow head. Unearthly. That was exactly what Ebbe had said. But what did she mean? Surely there was some other explanation, a space station, or satellite, maybe, yes, maybe an alien craft. Maybe the telescope is simply defective. Surely that was it, the lens was structurally damaged and the honeycombing was being falsely projected back to their ignorant eyes to mis-comprehend.
But Ebbe was no fool. Ebbe would know if it were faulty equipment. That would be the first thing to check. It's what he would do too.
"Could it be the lens?" he asked, wanting to be sure she had eliminated the obvious.
"First thing I checked," she responded patiently, just as he suspected.
"Why do you say..." he stumbled over his words. It sounded too far fetched to be discussing the concept this was not Earth. Because if it's not Earth, then what in God's name is it?
"Call it an educated guess," Ebbe answered, clearly understanding exactly what he was trying to ask. "The discovery of the control room only further backs up my theory that we are living on an unnatural construct."
"Day to night," Anthony mumbled, marvelling at the thought that buried beneath the English countryside was a machine that could determine the time of day in the sky above, his head giddy with an influx of thoughts, his stomach churning like a raging sea.
"I can't be sure, of course.The technology beneath our feet is beyond all my wildest comprehensions. It's akin to seeking the Holy Grail and instead finding God himself," Ebbe enthused, gesticulating with wild-eyed enthusiasm.
She enjoys this, Anthony chuckled inwardly, finding the thought somewhat comforting.
"So, o' fearless leader," he began, forcing himself to make light of the moment, for fear of losing his sanity in an abyss of the unknowns that were encroaching upon him like dark demons, "what do we do now?"
Ebbe's eyes lit up, and her mouth curled into a sly grin, which reminded Anthony of the look a shark gets as it's about to kill.
"Carter here is going to get me a spaceship," she declared dramatically.
If there were any humour in this scene, it was certainly seeing that fatuous politician reduced to a mumbling fool by this petite framed woman. Anthony saw the switch of power jump like a spark of static electricity. In that split second Carter's shoulders had slumped from being taught and proud, to quivering and frail. Ebbe, in contrast had seemingly grown in stature, commanding the attention of the room like a conductor.
"Let me see," he finally spoke, wanting to understand what had so shaken their esteemed leader. He knew better than to immediately question the frankly bizarre assertion that they were not on the planet earth. That was a tad too much to comprehend, no matter what he had seen of late. Let's peek through this magic telescope of hers before I make myself look stupid, he decided.
Ebbe said nothing, only gesturing to show he was more than welcome to see for himself. Slinging his gun over his shoulder, to rest on his back, he stepped towards the eyepiece with unexpected trepidation.
Fear no man, fear no beast, fear no unknown, he repeated an mantra his dear old mum had cooed to him as a young boy to allay his concerns about the unseen terrors in the dark recesses of the bedroom at his grandmother's farm. I am fearless leader, he added, which brought forth a little smile to his lips.
Crouching to squeeze into the sculptured seat, he glanced at his colleagues, all watching him as if he were walking to the gallows, to be strung up by the neck until dead. Their eyes wide, like deer who've just heard the hunter step on a twig.
His eye wrapped around the black scope and he took a few seconds to adjust to the view. For a moment his brain couldn't discern anything noteworthy. He could see white and grey contours, dappled with black pits. It was only when he pulled his eye away and looked up at the blackness above that he understood it was a portion of the moon within the eyepiece. With renewed understanding he looked back and concentrated on the image. It struck him as odd that Ebbe had focused on a hunk of the moon, and left a portion of black space in the lower left corner. Was it the moon, or the area of space she had been aiming at? What was he missing? Had the scope been adjusted since Carter peered through it and immediately saw something that drained the blood from his smug face?
No, it was no toy telescope that could be bumped by a careless elbow. This beast would only move if its master, Ebbe, commanded. And the master was not one to make careless mistakes. She aimed it where she did for a reason, and it was he, being a layman who could not see the stars for the solar system who was missing what was presumably in front of him.
But wait, there! The segment of space within the viewfinder was not the simple black void he had first imagined. There appeared to be an image, some sort of structure, or design, faint, but definitely discernible. Was it behind the moon? Or opposite? Impossible to tell without understanding the scale, but it appeared to be some sort of honeycomb configuration. The more he stared, the more obvious it became, until the pale white glow of the moon started itself started to look more like a two dimensional overlay upon this structure.
He forced himself away from the telescope to discover he had begun to shake. He clenched a fist forcefully, physically rejecting the nerves that the unearthly sight had started to instill.
Unearthly, he pondered, staring out at his team through a light, hollow head. Unearthly. That was exactly what Ebbe had said. But what did she mean? Surely there was some other explanation, a space station, or satellite, maybe, yes, maybe an alien craft. Maybe the telescope is simply defective. Surely that was it, the lens was structurally damaged and the honeycombing was being falsely projected back to their ignorant eyes to mis-comprehend.
But Ebbe was no fool. Ebbe would know if it were faulty equipment. That would be the first thing to check. It's what he would do too.
"Could it be the lens?" he asked, wanting to be sure she had eliminated the obvious.
"First thing I checked," she responded patiently, just as he suspected.
"Why do you say..." he stumbled over his words. It sounded too far fetched to be discussing the concept this was not Earth. Because if it's not Earth, then what in God's name is it?
"Call it an educated guess," Ebbe answered, clearly understanding exactly what he was trying to ask. "The discovery of the control room only further backs up my theory that we are living on an unnatural construct."
"Day to night," Anthony mumbled, marvelling at the thought that buried beneath the English countryside was a machine that could determine the time of day in the sky above, his head giddy with an influx of thoughts, his stomach churning like a raging sea.
"I can't be sure, of course.The technology beneath our feet is beyond all my wildest comprehensions. It's akin to seeking the Holy Grail and instead finding God himself," Ebbe enthused, gesticulating with wild-eyed enthusiasm.
She enjoys this, Anthony chuckled inwardly, finding the thought somewhat comforting.
"So, o' fearless leader," he began, forcing himself to make light of the moment, for fear of losing his sanity in an abyss of the unknowns that were encroaching upon him like dark demons, "what do we do now?"
Ebbe's eyes lit up, and her mouth curled into a sly grin, which reminded Anthony of the look a shark gets as it's about to kill.
"Carter here is going to get me a spaceship," she declared dramatically.
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Chapter 16 - Part 1
The observatory was shrouded in darkness, with only small streaks of light penetrating the murk. Plastic sheeting rippled gently, briefly revealing the dated grey computer equipment below. The vast telescope was aimed at the closed ceiling, patiently awaiting a view of the night sky.
A brilliant white flash illuminated the entire chamber in an instant, before retreating back to a single point in the centre of the room, leaving behind a party of seven. Three of the team, Art, Jake and Krank, immediately stepped forward in three separate directions, guns pointed ahead, primed for any potential ambush. As the trio swept the room, Anthony lit a flare, filling it with a red glow, which threw quivering shadows of Ebbe, Carter and James across the towering walls.
"Hello sweetie," Ebbe cooed gently, as she made her way to the telescope, running a hand lovingly across the eye piece and checking her fingers for dust. "Some white light would be appreciated Gannymede," she shouted to James, who nodded, and scurried across the floor to a side wall, where he flicked a few switches. After a few seconds, several strip lights on the side of the walls started to blink into life, finally bringing a clean white light into the building.
"Clear," Art yelled from the left. This sentiment was echoed by Jake and Krank, and all three swiftly returned to Anthony's side.
"A little help?" Ebbe shouted to anyone willing to listen, as she started to pull the plastic sheeting away from the computer panels. Anthony nodded to Art and Jake, who both immediately stepped up and began pulling away the thin sheets and tossing them to one side.
Anthony eyed Carter with suspicion. He didn't like the way he was watching Ebbe, and he didn't like the way he seemed unperturbed by the events that had unfurled in the last few minutes. What reasonable minded man would remain so calm when transported across space and time without a word of warning? Besides, Anthony had an innate distrust of politicians. Especially their esteemed leader, who had surely reached his position by duplicity and corruption. Anthony could tell Ebbe a thing or two about her friend, that was for sure.
"Secure the room," he barked to James and Krank. James gestured to Krank, who followed, James leading him towards a pair of large metal doors with frosted glass panes. Krank tested the door, and found it was locked. Wordlessly the pair planted small amounts of explosives where the two doors met. Before taking up position, one either side, a few metres from the doorway, guns trained on the entrance.
Anthony acknowledged their confirmation that the only way in was now protected, and started to feel a little more relaxed. He turned his attention back to the prime minister, Hunter, as Ebbe had called him. Carter seemed blissfully unaware Anthony was eyeing him with mistrust as he slowly spun around, taking in the vast chamber that housed the telescope.
"Need any help Ebbe?" Anthony asked. She didn't answer, but he was pretty sure she shook her head. The lady was in her own world now, that was for sure.
"Pretty cool, eh," he said to Carter, who was staring up at the ceiling in awe. At first he got no reaction, and was about to ask again, when Carter turned and offered a wide smile that Anthony found hard to dismiss as anything other than a politician's mask.
"Spectacular," Carter agreed, "I've often wanted to visit, but the job rarely permits a getaway."
"All those foreign visits," Anthony replied suggestively.
"Quite so," Carter responded bluntly, refusing to rise to Anthony's jab at recent headlines. "Though with Ebbe's box of tricks, I could visit Russia, China and the US in the same day."
"It's some next level sci-fi shit ain't it!" Anthony enthused. While he had the man engaged on strange phenomena, Anthony thought it was a good chance to check how extensive the lapse of gravity truly was. "It's been a few days of crazy shit, don't you think sir? What with the sun, and the gravity."
Carter nodded thoughtfully.
"It's been the most difficult few days of my term so far," he confirmed. "Ebbe, dear girl, do you need any help?" he then shouted, before turning back to Anthony, "pardon me," he said, before striding off to Ebbe without awaiting a response from either.
Slimy son of a bitch, Anthony thought. Typical politician, never actually confirmed or denied anything. Look at him, leaning over Ebbe, placing his arm around her shoulder, as if she were a vulnerable waif, in need of his protection. My God, he snorted, she's actually playing into his act. He watched, wide mouthed with incredulity as the hard-edged Ebbe twirled her hair, and even seemed to giggle girlishly at something he whispered into her ear. Is this the same woman who defied his V6 and placed herself in the line of fire?
"Jealous mate?" Art remarked with a wide grin plastered on his craggly face.
"Fuck off," Anthony spat, "she's playing him like a violin," he countered.
"Whatever you say," Art grinned.
"At least you talked less when you were in a coma," Anthony joked.
"He doth protesteth too much," Art chuckled. Anthony responded by jabbing him gently in the ribcage with the butt of his gun. "She's an amazing woman," Art added, his grin dropping away.
"No mate," Anthony corrected, "she's so much more than that."
Art turned to eye Anthony with a lopsided smile. With an amused snort, he returned his attention to Ebbe and Carter.
"I suppose you're right mate," he added, rubbing the back of his head.
Ebbe suddenly stood and gestured dramatically at the ceiling.
"Release the Kraken!" she intoned with mock authority, as a loud hum began to vibrate through the building. A sliver of light peeked through the emerging crack in the ceiling above. The whirring vibrations intensified as the dome split apart and daylight spilled through. The mechanism shuddered to a halt once the roof had opened to the full width of the telescope. A eerie silence fell upon the room, as all the occupants stared up and out at the light blue sky now visible.
"Gentlemen," Ebbe started, "you have all seen recent phenomena that defies your understanding of the world as you know it. Am I correct?"
Everyone nodded, and mumbled she was correct.
"Sadly, you are all far beyond the curve in this matter. Some, I believe, have been aware of our precarious situation for some time now, but out of ignorance, or fear, or out of greed and malice, they have opted to shield the world from the truth. Now, I fear, it may be too little too late to reveal to all humanity what the few had learned. What do you think, Hunter?"
"Ebbe?" Carter replied with a frown.
"Your government have had a team protecting that control room for years now, have they not?"
"I, I..." he stuttered, much to the delight of Anthony. Gotcha!
"To be fair, I never expected it to be you who'd order my assassination," Ebbe added bluntly, much to Anthony's surprise. Instinctively he reacted, anger boiling up within. Stepping forward, he aimed the tip of his semi-automatic at Carter with a scowl.
"You son of a bitch," he cursed.
"Ebbe, I can assure you," Carter began to plead.
"Hiring a strike team to attack your own men was a stroke of genius, I must say," Ebbe continued, her steely gaze fixed upon Carter. "Eliminate me, and take control of the cubes below, all under the radar. Tricky tricky."
Anthony flicked a glance at Ebbe and she nodded back him, her eyes gesturing to Carter. The woman was a natural at this, Anthony thought, before signalling to his team that they should encircle and restrain the prime minister.
Within seconds Carter Huntington was tied up on a swivel chair, his hands behind his back, his feet secured tightly together with a plastic pull-tie.
"Lucky for you I'm not the vengeful sort," Ebbe glared at Carter, before turning back with a sweep of her hand, to gesture at the sky, "besides, sad to say that I shall be needing your help. And," she paused and turned back to face him, "if you're wondering why you would do any such thing, I shall show you why you have no choice, through the lens of this telescope."
"You'll have to wait until dark to show me a missing moon, and by then my team will have found us, and you and your team will be nothing more than a bad memory for me to digest," Carter scoffed.
"Wrong again," Ebbe smiled, eyes sparkling.
A bright white flash blinded the men, all turning their heads with a shout of surprise. When they turned back to the telescope, Ebbe was absent.
"What the?" Jake rasped incredulously.
Anthony just watched the area she had been standing only seconds later intently. He was certain she would be back shortly. She had simply returned to the control room.
"Dear lord," Carter gasped, shifting uncomfortably in the chair.
Every member of the team slowly followed his line of vision, and all allowed their guns to drop to their sides. Through the wide opening in the roof, the formerly light blue sky had began shimmer, wave and within seconds vanished. In it's place was the night sky. In the time it takes to blink, the mid-morning had jumped to the dead of night.
Before Anthony had time to process this switch, a blinding flash announced Ebbe's return.
"Now, Prime Minister," she continued as if nothing had changed, "give me just one minute," she added before taking a seat beneath the telescope and silently adjusting the view-piece. Everyone watched in awed silence, seemingly unwilling to comment on the newest impossibility their minds were having to process.
"There!" Ebbe declared with satisfaction. "You first Hunter," she said, giving a nod to Anthony that his legs could be released.
Anthony slowly unsheathed his blade and leaned in towards Carter. He held the sharp blade close to the prime minister's nose and let the man catch his own reflection in the weapon, before lowering it to cut the binds.
"No funny business," Anthony hissed after the cut released Carter's feet.
Carter opted not to respond, and instead stepped up obediently to the viewing chair, his hands still bound behind his back.
"This is a little awkward," he suggested, shaking his tied arms before he sat.
"Deal with it," Ebbe replied harshly, "now look," she commanded.
Carter exhaled, and shuffled awkwardly into position, grumbling a little as he did.
"What? What the?" he muttered incredulously. He pulled his eye away from the lens with a heavy brow, his eyes fixing upon Ebbe. "What, what does it mean?"
"I'm not entirely sure we are on planet Earth," Ebbe responded point blank.
A brilliant white flash illuminated the entire chamber in an instant, before retreating back to a single point in the centre of the room, leaving behind a party of seven. Three of the team, Art, Jake and Krank, immediately stepped forward in three separate directions, guns pointed ahead, primed for any potential ambush. As the trio swept the room, Anthony lit a flare, filling it with a red glow, which threw quivering shadows of Ebbe, Carter and James across the towering walls.
"Hello sweetie," Ebbe cooed gently, as she made her way to the telescope, running a hand lovingly across the eye piece and checking her fingers for dust. "Some white light would be appreciated Gannymede," she shouted to James, who nodded, and scurried across the floor to a side wall, where he flicked a few switches. After a few seconds, several strip lights on the side of the walls started to blink into life, finally bringing a clean white light into the building.
"Clear," Art yelled from the left. This sentiment was echoed by Jake and Krank, and all three swiftly returned to Anthony's side.
"A little help?" Ebbe shouted to anyone willing to listen, as she started to pull the plastic sheeting away from the computer panels. Anthony nodded to Art and Jake, who both immediately stepped up and began pulling away the thin sheets and tossing them to one side.
Anthony eyed Carter with suspicion. He didn't like the way he was watching Ebbe, and he didn't like the way he seemed unperturbed by the events that had unfurled in the last few minutes. What reasonable minded man would remain so calm when transported across space and time without a word of warning? Besides, Anthony had an innate distrust of politicians. Especially their esteemed leader, who had surely reached his position by duplicity and corruption. Anthony could tell Ebbe a thing or two about her friend, that was for sure.
"Secure the room," he barked to James and Krank. James gestured to Krank, who followed, James leading him towards a pair of large metal doors with frosted glass panes. Krank tested the door, and found it was locked. Wordlessly the pair planted small amounts of explosives where the two doors met. Before taking up position, one either side, a few metres from the doorway, guns trained on the entrance.
Anthony acknowledged their confirmation that the only way in was now protected, and started to feel a little more relaxed. He turned his attention back to the prime minister, Hunter, as Ebbe had called him. Carter seemed blissfully unaware Anthony was eyeing him with mistrust as he slowly spun around, taking in the vast chamber that housed the telescope.
"Need any help Ebbe?" Anthony asked. She didn't answer, but he was pretty sure she shook her head. The lady was in her own world now, that was for sure.
"Pretty cool, eh," he said to Carter, who was staring up at the ceiling in awe. At first he got no reaction, and was about to ask again, when Carter turned and offered a wide smile that Anthony found hard to dismiss as anything other than a politician's mask.
"Spectacular," Carter agreed, "I've often wanted to visit, but the job rarely permits a getaway."
"All those foreign visits," Anthony replied suggestively.
"Quite so," Carter responded bluntly, refusing to rise to Anthony's jab at recent headlines. "Though with Ebbe's box of tricks, I could visit Russia, China and the US in the same day."
"It's some next level sci-fi shit ain't it!" Anthony enthused. While he had the man engaged on strange phenomena, Anthony thought it was a good chance to check how extensive the lapse of gravity truly was. "It's been a few days of crazy shit, don't you think sir? What with the sun, and the gravity."
Carter nodded thoughtfully.
"It's been the most difficult few days of my term so far," he confirmed. "Ebbe, dear girl, do you need any help?" he then shouted, before turning back to Anthony, "pardon me," he said, before striding off to Ebbe without awaiting a response from either.
Slimy son of a bitch, Anthony thought. Typical politician, never actually confirmed or denied anything. Look at him, leaning over Ebbe, placing his arm around her shoulder, as if she were a vulnerable waif, in need of his protection. My God, he snorted, she's actually playing into his act. He watched, wide mouthed with incredulity as the hard-edged Ebbe twirled her hair, and even seemed to giggle girlishly at something he whispered into her ear. Is this the same woman who defied his V6 and placed herself in the line of fire?
"Jealous mate?" Art remarked with a wide grin plastered on his craggly face.
"Fuck off," Anthony spat, "she's playing him like a violin," he countered.
"Whatever you say," Art grinned.
"At least you talked less when you were in a coma," Anthony joked.
"He doth protesteth too much," Art chuckled. Anthony responded by jabbing him gently in the ribcage with the butt of his gun. "She's an amazing woman," Art added, his grin dropping away.
"No mate," Anthony corrected, "she's so much more than that."
Art turned to eye Anthony with a lopsided smile. With an amused snort, he returned his attention to Ebbe and Carter.
"I suppose you're right mate," he added, rubbing the back of his head.
Ebbe suddenly stood and gestured dramatically at the ceiling.
"Release the Kraken!" she intoned with mock authority, as a loud hum began to vibrate through the building. A sliver of light peeked through the emerging crack in the ceiling above. The whirring vibrations intensified as the dome split apart and daylight spilled through. The mechanism shuddered to a halt once the roof had opened to the full width of the telescope. A eerie silence fell upon the room, as all the occupants stared up and out at the light blue sky now visible.
"Gentlemen," Ebbe started, "you have all seen recent phenomena that defies your understanding of the world as you know it. Am I correct?"
Everyone nodded, and mumbled she was correct.
"Sadly, you are all far beyond the curve in this matter. Some, I believe, have been aware of our precarious situation for some time now, but out of ignorance, or fear, or out of greed and malice, they have opted to shield the world from the truth. Now, I fear, it may be too little too late to reveal to all humanity what the few had learned. What do you think, Hunter?"
"Ebbe?" Carter replied with a frown.
"Your government have had a team protecting that control room for years now, have they not?"
"I, I..." he stuttered, much to the delight of Anthony. Gotcha!
"To be fair, I never expected it to be you who'd order my assassination," Ebbe added bluntly, much to Anthony's surprise. Instinctively he reacted, anger boiling up within. Stepping forward, he aimed the tip of his semi-automatic at Carter with a scowl.
"You son of a bitch," he cursed.
"Ebbe, I can assure you," Carter began to plead.
"Hiring a strike team to attack your own men was a stroke of genius, I must say," Ebbe continued, her steely gaze fixed upon Carter. "Eliminate me, and take control of the cubes below, all under the radar. Tricky tricky."
Anthony flicked a glance at Ebbe and she nodded back him, her eyes gesturing to Carter. The woman was a natural at this, Anthony thought, before signalling to his team that they should encircle and restrain the prime minister.
Within seconds Carter Huntington was tied up on a swivel chair, his hands behind his back, his feet secured tightly together with a plastic pull-tie.
"Lucky for you I'm not the vengeful sort," Ebbe glared at Carter, before turning back with a sweep of her hand, to gesture at the sky, "besides, sad to say that I shall be needing your help. And," she paused and turned back to face him, "if you're wondering why you would do any such thing, I shall show you why you have no choice, through the lens of this telescope."
"You'll have to wait until dark to show me a missing moon, and by then my team will have found us, and you and your team will be nothing more than a bad memory for me to digest," Carter scoffed.
"Wrong again," Ebbe smiled, eyes sparkling.
A bright white flash blinded the men, all turning their heads with a shout of surprise. When they turned back to the telescope, Ebbe was absent.
"What the?" Jake rasped incredulously.
Anthony just watched the area she had been standing only seconds later intently. He was certain she would be back shortly. She had simply returned to the control room.
"Dear lord," Carter gasped, shifting uncomfortably in the chair.
Every member of the team slowly followed his line of vision, and all allowed their guns to drop to their sides. Through the wide opening in the roof, the formerly light blue sky had began shimmer, wave and within seconds vanished. In it's place was the night sky. In the time it takes to blink, the mid-morning had jumped to the dead of night.
Before Anthony had time to process this switch, a blinding flash announced Ebbe's return.
"Now, Prime Minister," she continued as if nothing had changed, "give me just one minute," she added before taking a seat beneath the telescope and silently adjusting the view-piece. Everyone watched in awed silence, seemingly unwilling to comment on the newest impossibility their minds were having to process.
"There!" Ebbe declared with satisfaction. "You first Hunter," she said, giving a nod to Anthony that his legs could be released.
Anthony slowly unsheathed his blade and leaned in towards Carter. He held the sharp blade close to the prime minister's nose and let the man catch his own reflection in the weapon, before lowering it to cut the binds.
"No funny business," Anthony hissed after the cut released Carter's feet.
Carter opted not to respond, and instead stepped up obediently to the viewing chair, his hands still bound behind his back.
"This is a little awkward," he suggested, shaking his tied arms before he sat.
"Deal with it," Ebbe replied harshly, "now look," she commanded.
Carter exhaled, and shuffled awkwardly into position, grumbling a little as he did.
"What? What the?" he muttered incredulously. He pulled his eye away from the lens with a heavy brow, his eyes fixing upon Ebbe. "What, what does it mean?"
"I'm not entirely sure we are on planet Earth," Ebbe responded point blank.
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Chapter 15 - Part 2
Carter Huntington gazed out of the large north facing window, swirling a glass of bourbon casually. Outside, the tops of the trees trembled gently and a collection of dark clouds could be seen in the distance.
Looks like rain, he thought to himself absently. Good, the land is better for a good dousing, it brings the world to life.
In his left hand he held several sheets of printed paper, all slightly crumpled in the centre due to his firm grip. Taking a sip of the amber liquid, he dropped the papers, letting them randomly drift to the plush carpet.
"Where is she?" he muttered under his breath, staring unblinkingly at the branches of the horse-chestnut tree. He turned and tossed the remaining bourbon down his throat, before dropping the glass to the floor and placing one hand onto the glass pane.
He stood, gazing at the dark green leaves and small spiked buds emerging, soon to be dropping and releasing their conkers. When he had received the message, the leaves were lighter green, fresh and vibrant, and the buds still months away from appearing. Had he acted too late? Everything took time. Bribes, under-the-table deals, cross agency politics, back-handers and all the while keeping a low profile. Finding out who was going to do what, which agencies were affiliated with whom and getting someone convincing undercover in a short time-frame. It was what he did, but normally you had a year, maybe more, not a few months.
He removed his palm from the glass, and watched as the imprint swiftly vanished, leaving no obvious mark. That invisible mark, he pondered, is my whole life. Someone could extract a full set of prints from the glass and know everything about me. A whole person, hidden from sight, yet in plain view. That sums me up nicely, he thought, I am in the public eye, yet know one sees me for who I am.
No one, that is, except her. She was different. What was it she had said when they first met?
'Why are you here?' she had asked.
He had thought that was an odd question to ask an MP at a political rally. I'm here to support my party, he had told her. No you're not, she had countered bluntly. You look distracted, she had explained. He had tried to argue he was simply new, and a little nervous about having to make a speech. She had told him that was utter nonsense, that he was perfectly capable of talking in public. She suggested he was uncomfortable selecting one set of principles to adhere to, that he was more suited to a more free-form society. She posited a theory that he was only there to please someone else. And then she left to present a speculative theory, something to do with increased UV levels.
He had looked for her after she finished the seminar, but he found no sign of her. She had apparently left immediately after her presentation. Despite efforts on his part, they did not meet again for another year.
Carter chuckled lightly, his tanned face creasing with fine lines as he smiled, his dark brown eyes thinning. In his career since that day, he had been the one in control, the one pulling the strings on the puppets below. But she, somehow, had a power all of her own. When she said jump, he didn't just ask how high, he asked what direction, when, and who else should jump too.
He eyed the curved glass his had let tumble to the cream carpet. A few drops of bourbon were still dangling from the side facing the ceiling, threatening to slide down and merge on the other side, but somehow remaining suspended.
He fixated on oak table reflected in the curve on the base of the glass. Even from a few metres away, he could swear the image was shimmering, as if the glass was vibrating. He glanced up at the vast window, squinting unconsciously at the wide panel. But it seemed perfectly stationary, the only discernible movement was wind outside causing a gentle ripple in the trees.
He stepped towards the glass suspiciously, and knelt, hand outstretched tentatively. There! The image was shimmering. His forefinger touched upon the surface of the glass cautiously, but he could sense no actual movement. Yet, even with his hand holding it still, the reflected image continued to shimmy. He released his gentle touch and leaned in closer. Before his curious eyes, he saw the table vanish in a blur, before the image seemed to re-tune, becoming the reflection, not of the library of his rural retreat, but of her, standing with a sideways smile set within a pale face.
Carter stood and whipped around. The library was gone. The window with the view through to tall horse-chestnut trees was gone. All of this was replaced by a room of pure, perfect white, in which stood Ebbe, James, and three other men he did not recognise.
"Don't worry mate," the tallest chap said, stepping forward, hand outstretched, "even if she explains to you what she just did, you won't understand." Carter stared at the man, and at his waiting hand, before grasping it and giving it a vigorous shake.
"Thank you for keeping her safe," Carter said as he released the man's hand and stepped up to Ebbe. Without saying a word, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace. From the corner of his eye he noticed the tall man glaring in confusion at this action.
"Ebbe, my dear lady, I had almost given up on you," he enthused after releasing her from his arms.
"And I you Hunter," she replied, her eyes flicking to the man he presumed was in charge and back again in a split second.
"Have I ever failed you?" he retorted, before continuing without giving her time to reply, "where in God's name are we?" he marvelled, spinning around on the spot.
"Unless you want to hear about quantum whatnots, don't ask such things," the man in charge told him, "Anthony Bishop, and my team, Art and Jake. This is Krank, current guardian of this chapel, and I guess you know the lad," he added.
Carter nodded to each man respectively.
"So, Prime Minister, er, how do you two know each other?" Anthony added.
Carter smiled flatly.
"We've got quite a history, Ebbe and I," he responded cryptically, "isn't that right?" he turned to Ebbe with a wink. She sucked in her lips and offered a wry shrug.
"Well, I presume you didn't bring me here for a cocktail party?" Carter continued, wanting to move the conversation on swiftly, "and I don't want an international incident to be sparked by my absence, so I suppose it is best we proceed."
"Oh don't worry about that, you're not really here," Ebbe responded cryptically. Carter's face crumpled in confusion.
"Quantum whatnots," Anthony reminded him with a grin, tapping his head.
Carter looked at the ragtag group before him, assessing the situation. They all looked worn and tired, all except the man with the pock-marked face, Art, who looked a beacon of health.
"And it's not an international incident we're trying to avoid," Ebbe explained, fixing him with one of her steely gazes that meant only one thing, trouble. "We're trying to avoid a Biotic Crisis," she concluded.
"A what?" Carter repeated, unfamiliar with the term.
"An extinction level event. End of days," she explained bluntly.
Carter wished he still had the glass of bourbon in his hand. He needed the reality of the smooth burn down his throat to counteract the sheer unreality of this pure white room, and Ebbe standing before him declaring the world was to end, as calmly as if she had just stated she had made roast chicken for dinner.
"Okay Ebbe," he sighed, "convince me."
Looks like rain, he thought to himself absently. Good, the land is better for a good dousing, it brings the world to life.
In his left hand he held several sheets of printed paper, all slightly crumpled in the centre due to his firm grip. Taking a sip of the amber liquid, he dropped the papers, letting them randomly drift to the plush carpet.
"Where is she?" he muttered under his breath, staring unblinkingly at the branches of the horse-chestnut tree. He turned and tossed the remaining bourbon down his throat, before dropping the glass to the floor and placing one hand onto the glass pane.
He stood, gazing at the dark green leaves and small spiked buds emerging, soon to be dropping and releasing their conkers. When he had received the message, the leaves were lighter green, fresh and vibrant, and the buds still months away from appearing. Had he acted too late? Everything took time. Bribes, under-the-table deals, cross agency politics, back-handers and all the while keeping a low profile. Finding out who was going to do what, which agencies were affiliated with whom and getting someone convincing undercover in a short time-frame. It was what he did, but normally you had a year, maybe more, not a few months.
He removed his palm from the glass, and watched as the imprint swiftly vanished, leaving no obvious mark. That invisible mark, he pondered, is my whole life. Someone could extract a full set of prints from the glass and know everything about me. A whole person, hidden from sight, yet in plain view. That sums me up nicely, he thought, I am in the public eye, yet know one sees me for who I am.
No one, that is, except her. She was different. What was it she had said when they first met?
'Why are you here?' she had asked.
He had thought that was an odd question to ask an MP at a political rally. I'm here to support my party, he had told her. No you're not, she had countered bluntly. You look distracted, she had explained. He had tried to argue he was simply new, and a little nervous about having to make a speech. She had told him that was utter nonsense, that he was perfectly capable of talking in public. She suggested he was uncomfortable selecting one set of principles to adhere to, that he was more suited to a more free-form society. She posited a theory that he was only there to please someone else. And then she left to present a speculative theory, something to do with increased UV levels.
He had looked for her after she finished the seminar, but he found no sign of her. She had apparently left immediately after her presentation. Despite efforts on his part, they did not meet again for another year.
Carter chuckled lightly, his tanned face creasing with fine lines as he smiled, his dark brown eyes thinning. In his career since that day, he had been the one in control, the one pulling the strings on the puppets below. But she, somehow, had a power all of her own. When she said jump, he didn't just ask how high, he asked what direction, when, and who else should jump too.
He eyed the curved glass his had let tumble to the cream carpet. A few drops of bourbon were still dangling from the side facing the ceiling, threatening to slide down and merge on the other side, but somehow remaining suspended.
He fixated on oak table reflected in the curve on the base of the glass. Even from a few metres away, he could swear the image was shimmering, as if the glass was vibrating. He glanced up at the vast window, squinting unconsciously at the wide panel. But it seemed perfectly stationary, the only discernible movement was wind outside causing a gentle ripple in the trees.
He stepped towards the glass suspiciously, and knelt, hand outstretched tentatively. There! The image was shimmering. His forefinger touched upon the surface of the glass cautiously, but he could sense no actual movement. Yet, even with his hand holding it still, the reflected image continued to shimmy. He released his gentle touch and leaned in closer. Before his curious eyes, he saw the table vanish in a blur, before the image seemed to re-tune, becoming the reflection, not of the library of his rural retreat, but of her, standing with a sideways smile set within a pale face.
Carter stood and whipped around. The library was gone. The window with the view through to tall horse-chestnut trees was gone. All of this was replaced by a room of pure, perfect white, in which stood Ebbe, James, and three other men he did not recognise.
"Don't worry mate," the tallest chap said, stepping forward, hand outstretched, "even if she explains to you what she just did, you won't understand." Carter stared at the man, and at his waiting hand, before grasping it and giving it a vigorous shake.
"Thank you for keeping her safe," Carter said as he released the man's hand and stepped up to Ebbe. Without saying a word, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace. From the corner of his eye he noticed the tall man glaring in confusion at this action.
"Ebbe, my dear lady, I had almost given up on you," he enthused after releasing her from his arms.
"And I you Hunter," she replied, her eyes flicking to the man he presumed was in charge and back again in a split second.
"Have I ever failed you?" he retorted, before continuing without giving her time to reply, "where in God's name are we?" he marvelled, spinning around on the spot.
"Unless you want to hear about quantum whatnots, don't ask such things," the man in charge told him, "Anthony Bishop, and my team, Art and Jake. This is Krank, current guardian of this chapel, and I guess you know the lad," he added.
Carter nodded to each man respectively.
"So, Prime Minister, er, how do you two know each other?" Anthony added.
Carter smiled flatly.
"We've got quite a history, Ebbe and I," he responded cryptically, "isn't that right?" he turned to Ebbe with a wink. She sucked in her lips and offered a wry shrug.
"Well, I presume you didn't bring me here for a cocktail party?" Carter continued, wanting to move the conversation on swiftly, "and I don't want an international incident to be sparked by my absence, so I suppose it is best we proceed."
"Oh don't worry about that, you're not really here," Ebbe responded cryptically. Carter's face crumpled in confusion.
"Quantum whatnots," Anthony reminded him with a grin, tapping his head.
Carter looked at the ragtag group before him, assessing the situation. They all looked worn and tired, all except the man with the pock-marked face, Art, who looked a beacon of health.
"And it's not an international incident we're trying to avoid," Ebbe explained, fixing him with one of her steely gazes that meant only one thing, trouble. "We're trying to avoid a Biotic Crisis," she concluded.
"A what?" Carter repeated, unfamiliar with the term.
"An extinction level event. End of days," she explained bluntly.
Carter wished he still had the glass of bourbon in his hand. He needed the reality of the smooth burn down his throat to counteract the sheer unreality of this pure white room, and Ebbe standing before him declaring the world was to end, as calmly as if she had just stated she had made roast chicken for dinner.
"Okay Ebbe," he sighed, "convince me."
Sunday, 7 September 2014
Chapter 15 - Part 1
A cool breeze whispered though the tall grass, making it sway back and forth gently. Crickets chirped to each other, and the scent of wheat drifted from surrounding fields.
Ebbe and Anthony were sitting in the meadow, their backs to the crashed helicopter, both munching silently on energy bars he had scavenged from the wreckage. To the right of them, Art, Jake, Krank and James had congregated, and were also chewing contentedly on the bars, chatting and joking as they did.
Ebbe gazed up at the sky, purposely trying to clear her mind from the buzz of recent events. The day she had driven home in her Land Rover, to be confronted by a group of armed men, tasked with her, and her loved one's, slaughter, seemed an age ago. It seemed a million more mysteries than she had contemplated had sprung up over night, like a dam being deluged with more water than it was designed to retain, slowly cracking and beginning to leak. That meant the water was certain to burst through shortly, but what that actually meant was still beyond her mental reach.
It doesn't matter, she concluded. Watch the sky Ebbe, watch the sky. That's where the mystery began, and that is where it shall end.
Clouds had lackadaisically filled up the light blue expanse, leaving only small gaps where pillars of light streamed out, highlighting random patches of countryside like a spotlight.
"Rays from heaven," Anthony said for no reason, as if sensing what she had been looking at.
Ebbe nodded in agreement, she may not believe in heaven, but the sentiment seemed fitting. Anthony had not yet asked how Moon Face was walking and talking, nor had he asked how they had appeared from thin air. She appreciated that right now. Especially because the desire to know was written all over his face. His green eyes were practically quivering with intrigue every time he looked into her own. He also kept glancing over his shoulder at Moon Face, who was currently laughing raucously with Krank.
"Moon Face," she whispered under breath, thinking maybe she ought to refer to him by his actual name. Though perhaps saving a man's life was enough to allow you to call him whatever you liked.
"Do we still need to go to this observatory?" Anthony questioned after a long silence.
Ebbe turned and studied his tired face, wondering how gaunt she must look herself. He had asked a good question. The whole point of going to Keilder was to show what she had learned, but now things were so advanced, it seemed a moot point. But yet, she could not truly explain the phenomena that had filled up their lives with so much recent drama. She could explain what was wrong with the view from that telescope. And ultimately, if a mission to fix the problem was to be arranged, the money men needed to understand how far reaching the issue was. Men of power tended to have isolationist viewpoints that didn't allow for the sort of thinking she would require for her ultimate goal to be realised. Facts that even a layman could understand were needed. She had a team of laymen, ready to have their minds expanded. There was one more man she also needed to convince, and she may now have a way to get him where she needed, without having to send in her new recruits to extract him from his always well-guarded locale.
"We do Anthony," she confirmed, turning her eyes back to the rays of sunlight streaming through the clouds. "Fearless Leader," she added, more to herself, with a little chuckle. She couldn't really remember when she started assigning nicknames to people, rather than use their own. It was just more efficient in her mind. Names were arbitrary, random designations. Her nicknames had reasoning and logic behind them. What did Anthony mean? Beyond being a random collection of vowels and consonants. Fearless Leader was so much more dramatic and descriptive. Gives a man something to aspire to.
Ebbe turned and surveyed the rest of her team. Grim Reaper, Moon Face, Chum, and young Ganymede. Those names all meant something to her. Jake, Art, Krank and James; they meant nothing, just a sound.
"What's my name?" Ebbe pondered out loud, lying back, crushing the stalks of grass behind her.
Anthony turned and almost looked as if he may lean over her and land a kiss on her lips, their eyes locked in a brief tryst, before he too leaned back and stretched out with a content sigh.
"Ebbe!" he declared, baffled about having to state the obvious.
"No, I mean, what name would you give me?"
Anthony's thick brows sunk low with confusion.
"I don't get you," he admitted, sliding his left leg up and crossing the right over it.
"You're Fearless Leader, Art is Moon Face, Jake is..."
"Grim Reaper," Anthony chucked, "I remember." He sat back up and studied Ebbe with such intensity she was certain she was starting to blush.
"I don't know," Anthony said with a sigh, "Brains?" he shrugged in defeat.
"Oh please!" Ebbe grumbled, "be original!"
Anthony waved his hand, his way of showing he couldn't do any better. Ebbe smiled and also sat back up. She caught him eyeing Moon Face again.
"It was the machine below the house," she decided to offer, "it cured him."
Anthony shook his head vigorously.
"No," he retorted bluntly.
"No?" Ebbe replied in confusion.
"No! It was you," he explained, fixing his stern green eyes upon hers, "I know it was you. Whatever you may have used, however you may have done it, It was you." The pair allowed the words to linger in the late morning air momentarily. Ebbe found herself unable to respond, taken aback by the sheer earnestness of his declaration.
"If you say we need to see this observatory I trust you also have a way of getting us there quickly?" he finally continued, as if he had been giving her time to digest his initial statement. Ebbe swallowed, and offered a gentle bob of her head to confirm his assumption.
"In which case, Miss Nystrom, my team is your team," he broke his attention from her, and stood, turning immediately to offer his hand to her. She waved his hand aside and picked herself up. The pair stared out at the countryside.
"It looks so ordinary," Anthony commented. Ebbe agreed with a single nod. "You're wrong you know," he added, causing Ebbe to turn to look up at him, his frame suddenly seeming more impressive and comfortingly muscular. "I'm not Fearless Leader," he paused, his ocean green eyes unblinkingly focused on her, "you are."
Ebbe and Anthony were sitting in the meadow, their backs to the crashed helicopter, both munching silently on energy bars he had scavenged from the wreckage. To the right of them, Art, Jake, Krank and James had congregated, and were also chewing contentedly on the bars, chatting and joking as they did.
Ebbe gazed up at the sky, purposely trying to clear her mind from the buzz of recent events. The day she had driven home in her Land Rover, to be confronted by a group of armed men, tasked with her, and her loved one's, slaughter, seemed an age ago. It seemed a million more mysteries than she had contemplated had sprung up over night, like a dam being deluged with more water than it was designed to retain, slowly cracking and beginning to leak. That meant the water was certain to burst through shortly, but what that actually meant was still beyond her mental reach.
It doesn't matter, she concluded. Watch the sky Ebbe, watch the sky. That's where the mystery began, and that is where it shall end.
Clouds had lackadaisically filled up the light blue expanse, leaving only small gaps where pillars of light streamed out, highlighting random patches of countryside like a spotlight.
"Rays from heaven," Anthony said for no reason, as if sensing what she had been looking at.
Ebbe nodded in agreement, she may not believe in heaven, but the sentiment seemed fitting. Anthony had not yet asked how Moon Face was walking and talking, nor had he asked how they had appeared from thin air. She appreciated that right now. Especially because the desire to know was written all over his face. His green eyes were practically quivering with intrigue every time he looked into her own. He also kept glancing over his shoulder at Moon Face, who was currently laughing raucously with Krank.
"Moon Face," she whispered under breath, thinking maybe she ought to refer to him by his actual name. Though perhaps saving a man's life was enough to allow you to call him whatever you liked.
"Do we still need to go to this observatory?" Anthony questioned after a long silence.
Ebbe turned and studied his tired face, wondering how gaunt she must look herself. He had asked a good question. The whole point of going to Keilder was to show what she had learned, but now things were so advanced, it seemed a moot point. But yet, she could not truly explain the phenomena that had filled up their lives with so much recent drama. She could explain what was wrong with the view from that telescope. And ultimately, if a mission to fix the problem was to be arranged, the money men needed to understand how far reaching the issue was. Men of power tended to have isolationist viewpoints that didn't allow for the sort of thinking she would require for her ultimate goal to be realised. Facts that even a layman could understand were needed. She had a team of laymen, ready to have their minds expanded. There was one more man she also needed to convince, and she may now have a way to get him where she needed, without having to send in her new recruits to extract him from his always well-guarded locale.
"We do Anthony," she confirmed, turning her eyes back to the rays of sunlight streaming through the clouds. "Fearless Leader," she added, more to herself, with a little chuckle. She couldn't really remember when she started assigning nicknames to people, rather than use their own. It was just more efficient in her mind. Names were arbitrary, random designations. Her nicknames had reasoning and logic behind them. What did Anthony mean? Beyond being a random collection of vowels and consonants. Fearless Leader was so much more dramatic and descriptive. Gives a man something to aspire to.
Ebbe turned and surveyed the rest of her team. Grim Reaper, Moon Face, Chum, and young Ganymede. Those names all meant something to her. Jake, Art, Krank and James; they meant nothing, just a sound.
"What's my name?" Ebbe pondered out loud, lying back, crushing the stalks of grass behind her.
Anthony turned and almost looked as if he may lean over her and land a kiss on her lips, their eyes locked in a brief tryst, before he too leaned back and stretched out with a content sigh.
"Ebbe!" he declared, baffled about having to state the obvious.
"No, I mean, what name would you give me?"
Anthony's thick brows sunk low with confusion.
"I don't get you," he admitted, sliding his left leg up and crossing the right over it.
"You're Fearless Leader, Art is Moon Face, Jake is..."
"Grim Reaper," Anthony chucked, "I remember." He sat back up and studied Ebbe with such intensity she was certain she was starting to blush.
"I don't know," Anthony said with a sigh, "Brains?" he shrugged in defeat.
"Oh please!" Ebbe grumbled, "be original!"
Anthony waved his hand, his way of showing he couldn't do any better. Ebbe smiled and also sat back up. She caught him eyeing Moon Face again.
"It was the machine below the house," she decided to offer, "it cured him."
Anthony shook his head vigorously.
"No," he retorted bluntly.
"No?" Ebbe replied in confusion.
"No! It was you," he explained, fixing his stern green eyes upon hers, "I know it was you. Whatever you may have used, however you may have done it, It was you." The pair allowed the words to linger in the late morning air momentarily. Ebbe found herself unable to respond, taken aback by the sheer earnestness of his declaration.
"If you say we need to see this observatory I trust you also have a way of getting us there quickly?" he finally continued, as if he had been giving her time to digest his initial statement. Ebbe swallowed, and offered a gentle bob of her head to confirm his assumption.
"In which case, Miss Nystrom, my team is your team," he broke his attention from her, and stood, turning immediately to offer his hand to her. She waved his hand aside and picked herself up. The pair stared out at the countryside.
"It looks so ordinary," Anthony commented. Ebbe agreed with a single nod. "You're wrong you know," he added, causing Ebbe to turn to look up at him, his frame suddenly seeming more impressive and comfortingly muscular. "I'm not Fearless Leader," he paused, his ocean green eyes unblinkingly focused on her, "you are."
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Chapter 12 - Part 1
It's impossible. Simple as that. Impossible and yet, here it was, deep beneath the plain old English countryside of green grass, bush lined patchwork fields, winding roads, copses and sheep, was a technological anomaly.
Ebbe had found the very breath in her lungs practically sucked out by the shock. The vast expanse of crisp white walls, tunnelling into infinity in every perceptible direction. Her mind immediately began to calculate possibilities; nuclear bunker, government warehouse, weapons storage, underground power station, but none seemed to fit the inhuman perfection surrounding them. It was alien to her eyes. Instinctively she stretched out a pale hand and ran it across the nearest wall.
She expected it to be cold, but it was stranger than that, for it didn't really have a discernible temperature. It made no sense to her, it was just there, solid and impossibly polished, but neither cold, nor warm. Her skin felt it, but felt nothing. Perturbed, she swiftly withdrew her slender hand and turned back to see Krank grinning at her broadly.
"Magnificent ain't it?" his voice died as soon as the noise had escaped his lips,
"I don't know," came Ebbe's honest response. Yes, it was magnificent, but she didn't know what 'it' was, and until she knew that, it was a magnificent nothing. Her mind was already processing the fact that sound was dead against what appeared to be a highly reflective surface.
"This is just the fucking cloakroom love! Wait until you see the control room," Krank enthused.
Ebbe nodded, trying to keep calm, not trusting herself to continue talking until her mind her settled. Crazy thoughts were starting to wind their way through her synapses and they concerned her, primarily because whenever that happened it usually led to trouble. A crazy thought about the data from the moon landings being manipulated, a crazy thought about the stars being extinguished, about a global government conspiracy to control the online data flow. She hated the crazy thoughts, because they were usually correct.
Now, she was beginning to suspect that, just as Krank had suggested, this space, that right now appeared infinite, was only the tip of a enormous iceberg. She suspected that even Krank, who had obviously been here before, still had no clue just how labyrinthine this place was. Her mind had instantly begun to calculate and she saw no reason why this place didn't just keep on going, on and on, deep beneath the Earth, deep into the Earth. Through and through. It made no sense, of course; it was utterly insane, beyond comprehension, utter fantastical drivel. But Ebbe was never one to dismiss a theory just because it was too fantastic. The fact that we are all made of stardust that has existed for billions of years is fantastic, but it is also true. Dismiss the extraordinary at your peril, she reminded herself. Press on, seek out the truth, see what there is to see, for Anthony, for Art, for Sam. For Sam.
Krank hadn't even noticed that Ebbe had yet to follow his lead and was already fading into white nothingness. Ebbe gestured to Jake and James to stay with Art before hastily heading in the direction Krank had vanished.
In seconds she was startled to find herself bumping right into him, standing impatiently looking out into the white void. It was as if he had been obscured from view until the very last second.
"Steady there missy, no need to crowd me," he thundered with good humour, before fixing her an icy stare, "brace yourself sweetheart, you ain't seen nothing yet."
He smiled and placed his hand upon a barely defined panel. A yellow glow surrounded his hand for a split second, before the panel faded back to bland gloss white. Silently a slice of black appeared in the wall opposite ,and Krank strode in, vanishing as if he had dropped into a pit on the opposite side.
Fearlessly Ebbe followed and was surprised to find she was now standing in another perfect white room. She turned to look through the doorway she had entered and saw only black. In her mind she questioned whether the previous room even existed anymore. Dismissing such thoughts as too hard to quantify at this stage, she turned back to see Krank standing in front of an endless array of black cubes, all topped with translucent grey spheres. The more Ebbe stared at the spheres, the more she questioned whether they were spinning, or if it was a visual trick of the eye.
Krank spread out his trunk like arms grandly and gestured at the cubes with a grin.
"I know what you're thinking," he paused for effect, "what the fuck?" He let out a booming laugh, "am I right?"
Ebbe nodded. Crude as it was, that summed up her myriad thoughts rather neatly. Silently she stepped up to the third cube and sphere along the row. She peered into the grey sphere and realised the apparent spinning was actually a shimmering, barely imperceptible to the naked eye, but definitely there nevertheless. She began to raise her right arm tentatively, but changed her mind swiftly.
"Go ahead," she heard Krank say.
"What?" She replied without turning, hypnotised by the phosphorescent sphere.
"Touch it," he goaded, "don't worry," he added, somewhat unnecessarily, Ebbe thought.
Slowly she raised her right arm again, and, as if she were caressing the face of a loved one, she ran the palm of her hand across the surface of the sphere. In an instant the sphere presented an image, both there, and not, like a barely remembered dream.
"Pretty nifty huh?" Krank spoke, but his words sounded distant and hollow to Ebbe. She was transfixed on the ghostly sphere in front of her. The image was fuzzy, out of phase with her own perception, but she sensed she was being shown something she already knew. There was movement within the image. There was more than movement, there was a sense of familiarity, of a connection. She understood the image. It was showing her something she needed to see, because it had understood her, bonded with her.
She heard Krank say something else, but it melted away before it could be processed in her mind. She saw only the image now and although she could not discern it, she began to sense she was being shown Anthony and he was in trouble. He was going to die.
Deep within the image, part of the image and yet not actually within the sphere, Ebbe started to make out symbols that she knew. One seemed to grow brighter and pulsate. It was the Greek letter lambda. Without even realising she was doing so, Ebbe reached deep into the sphere and grasped the glowing letter. It felt solid, real and warm in the palm of her hand and instinctively she held it tight and pulled it towards the edge of the sphere.
From somewhere deep in the bowels of the Earth a deep bass began to throb. Seconds later Ebbe and Krank began to lift off the floor, though Ebbe remained tethered to the sphere by her clenched fist. She stared at it in a state of apparent hypnosis, seemingly unaware she was now several feet in the air.
"Pull your bloody fist out!" Krank bellowed in a panic, flailing uselessly as he continued to drift upwards towards an unseen ceiling.
Ebbe, eyes glazed, suddenly let out a scream before a loud crack, like a gun firing, emanated from the sphere, and something burst from it's surface, lodging itself firmly in the opposite wall. In the same instant Ebbe pulled her fist from the sphere and the deep throb from the depths of the Earth ceased. Krank suddenly found himself hurtling to the ground and he did he best to control the fall, successfully rolling to the side and suffering only minor bruising. Picking himself up he limped over to Ebbe, who was lying motionless opposite the now blank sphere.
Ebbe had found the very breath in her lungs practically sucked out by the shock. The vast expanse of crisp white walls, tunnelling into infinity in every perceptible direction. Her mind immediately began to calculate possibilities; nuclear bunker, government warehouse, weapons storage, underground power station, but none seemed to fit the inhuman perfection surrounding them. It was alien to her eyes. Instinctively she stretched out a pale hand and ran it across the nearest wall.
She expected it to be cold, but it was stranger than that, for it didn't really have a discernible temperature. It made no sense to her, it was just there, solid and impossibly polished, but neither cold, nor warm. Her skin felt it, but felt nothing. Perturbed, she swiftly withdrew her slender hand and turned back to see Krank grinning at her broadly.
"Magnificent ain't it?" his voice died as soon as the noise had escaped his lips,
"I don't know," came Ebbe's honest response. Yes, it was magnificent, but she didn't know what 'it' was, and until she knew that, it was a magnificent nothing. Her mind was already processing the fact that sound was dead against what appeared to be a highly reflective surface.
"This is just the fucking cloakroom love! Wait until you see the control room," Krank enthused.
Ebbe nodded, trying to keep calm, not trusting herself to continue talking until her mind her settled. Crazy thoughts were starting to wind their way through her synapses and they concerned her, primarily because whenever that happened it usually led to trouble. A crazy thought about the data from the moon landings being manipulated, a crazy thought about the stars being extinguished, about a global government conspiracy to control the online data flow. She hated the crazy thoughts, because they were usually correct.
Now, she was beginning to suspect that, just as Krank had suggested, this space, that right now appeared infinite, was only the tip of a enormous iceberg. She suspected that even Krank, who had obviously been here before, still had no clue just how labyrinthine this place was. Her mind had instantly begun to calculate and she saw no reason why this place didn't just keep on going, on and on, deep beneath the Earth, deep into the Earth. Through and through. It made no sense, of course; it was utterly insane, beyond comprehension, utter fantastical drivel. But Ebbe was never one to dismiss a theory just because it was too fantastic. The fact that we are all made of stardust that has existed for billions of years is fantastic, but it is also true. Dismiss the extraordinary at your peril, she reminded herself. Press on, seek out the truth, see what there is to see, for Anthony, for Art, for Sam. For Sam.
Krank hadn't even noticed that Ebbe had yet to follow his lead and was already fading into white nothingness. Ebbe gestured to Jake and James to stay with Art before hastily heading in the direction Krank had vanished.
In seconds she was startled to find herself bumping right into him, standing impatiently looking out into the white void. It was as if he had been obscured from view until the very last second.
"Steady there missy, no need to crowd me," he thundered with good humour, before fixing her an icy stare, "brace yourself sweetheart, you ain't seen nothing yet."
He smiled and placed his hand upon a barely defined panel. A yellow glow surrounded his hand for a split second, before the panel faded back to bland gloss white. Silently a slice of black appeared in the wall opposite ,and Krank strode in, vanishing as if he had dropped into a pit on the opposite side.
Fearlessly Ebbe followed and was surprised to find she was now standing in another perfect white room. She turned to look through the doorway she had entered and saw only black. In her mind she questioned whether the previous room even existed anymore. Dismissing such thoughts as too hard to quantify at this stage, she turned back to see Krank standing in front of an endless array of black cubes, all topped with translucent grey spheres. The more Ebbe stared at the spheres, the more she questioned whether they were spinning, or if it was a visual trick of the eye.
Krank spread out his trunk like arms grandly and gestured at the cubes with a grin.
"I know what you're thinking," he paused for effect, "what the fuck?" He let out a booming laugh, "am I right?"
Ebbe nodded. Crude as it was, that summed up her myriad thoughts rather neatly. Silently she stepped up to the third cube and sphere along the row. She peered into the grey sphere and realised the apparent spinning was actually a shimmering, barely imperceptible to the naked eye, but definitely there nevertheless. She began to raise her right arm tentatively, but changed her mind swiftly.
"Go ahead," she heard Krank say.
"What?" She replied without turning, hypnotised by the phosphorescent sphere.
"Touch it," he goaded, "don't worry," he added, somewhat unnecessarily, Ebbe thought.
Slowly she raised her right arm again, and, as if she were caressing the face of a loved one, she ran the palm of her hand across the surface of the sphere. In an instant the sphere presented an image, both there, and not, like a barely remembered dream.
"Pretty nifty huh?" Krank spoke, but his words sounded distant and hollow to Ebbe. She was transfixed on the ghostly sphere in front of her. The image was fuzzy, out of phase with her own perception, but she sensed she was being shown something she already knew. There was movement within the image. There was more than movement, there was a sense of familiarity, of a connection. She understood the image. It was showing her something she needed to see, because it had understood her, bonded with her.
She heard Krank say something else, but it melted away before it could be processed in her mind. She saw only the image now and although she could not discern it, she began to sense she was being shown Anthony and he was in trouble. He was going to die.
Deep within the image, part of the image and yet not actually within the sphere, Ebbe started to make out symbols that she knew. One seemed to grow brighter and pulsate. It was the Greek letter lambda. Without even realising she was doing so, Ebbe reached deep into the sphere and grasped the glowing letter. It felt solid, real and warm in the palm of her hand and instinctively she held it tight and pulled it towards the edge of the sphere.
From somewhere deep in the bowels of the Earth a deep bass began to throb. Seconds later Ebbe and Krank began to lift off the floor, though Ebbe remained tethered to the sphere by her clenched fist. She stared at it in a state of apparent hypnosis, seemingly unaware she was now several feet in the air.
"Pull your bloody fist out!" Krank bellowed in a panic, flailing uselessly as he continued to drift upwards towards an unseen ceiling.
Ebbe, eyes glazed, suddenly let out a scream before a loud crack, like a gun firing, emanated from the sphere, and something burst from it's surface, lodging itself firmly in the opposite wall. In the same instant Ebbe pulled her fist from the sphere and the deep throb from the depths of the Earth ceased. Krank suddenly found himself hurtling to the ground and he did he best to control the fall, successfully rolling to the side and suffering only minor bruising. Picking himself up he limped over to Ebbe, who was lying motionless opposite the now blank sphere.
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Chapter 11 - Part 2
Anthony was unceremoniously dragged backwards. As soon as his right hand was free, he grasped at any loose rocks and hurriedly shoved them into his pocket. The second he'd realised Atkins was his rescuer he'd concluded he'd rather die trying to flee than be taken as a captive. He knew his limbs would not be up to supporting him so the chances of success were slim; any chance to even the odds were to be taken.
A slim, beak nosed soldier tugged at his arm and pulled him to his feet. But his legs were not willing to co-operate with this concept and immediately buckled. Beak nose just let him crumple to the floor like a ragdoll. Anthony took the chance to glance behind and check out the state of the corridor behind him.
Interesting, he thought, that beam saved my life, but if they'd dug from the opposite side the beam would have shifted first and sent half a ton of English countryside onto my noggin. Somehow he instinctively knew Ebbe would have seen the exact same thing and halted any further rescue attempt.
"Come on your lazy twat," beak nosed coughed at him, sounding to Anthony as if he were in the early stages of lung cancer.
Anthony looked up at the scowling face of the soldier and wondered if he had the energy to shove that damned nose into his brain with the palm of his hand. Still, what use would that do, one solider down, and the rest would just swarm on him. Best wait it out a little longer.
Beak nose grasped at his right arm and tugged him back to his feet and, before he could fall again, a second soldier counterbalanced his left side. The pair started to drag him back into the cellar, his feet scraping uselessly against the dirt floor.
Atkins didn't even glance at him as he was pulled past. His full attention was on the still blocked corridor, though Anthony noticed he was unwilling to step too far into the collapsed area. He was a cautious man, unwilling to place himself in harms way. He was many things, but he was not a fool. Several of his men, however, were in the corridor still trying to shift the rocks and break through to the other side.
Beak nose and his accomplice tossed Anthony to the ground at the foot of the steps. He sensed beaky was planning to make good on Atkins' instruction to reward his survival with some broken bones. Better to act now and have bones intact, than try and catch Atkins in the tunnel.
The wry smile on Anthony's face gave beak nose pause. He turned to his colleague and looked as if he may shout something by way of a warning to Atkins, still peering through the entrance of the corridor. But there was no time for such niceties.
Anthony pressed a small button on inside left of his wristwatch and the tiny silver explosive device he had scratched off his combats earlier detonated, with enough power to shift that unstable beam. Beak nose and his friend were knocked off their feet as a shock wave powered through the room, bringing with it a choking cloud of dust. Anthony didn't take the time to check if Atkins had been swallowed up by the debris. He knew, with his legs still out of action, he had seconds to act. Grabbing the sharpest rock from his pocket, he dragged himself forward, and lunged at the nearest body to his. The rock sunk into the flesh at the nape of the neck of an unseen foe. His victim began to gargle and flail uselessly, his lifeblood already pumping out fatally.
Anthony heard the click of a safety catch being removed. Using his arms he pulled himself towards the sound, rolling to the left just as the crack crack crack sound of the gun firing sent a deadly hail of bullets at his last known position. If he didn't bring his assailant down to his level in the next few seconds, he was dead.
With a swing of his arm, his hand made contact with material and he grasped tightly and tugged. He sensed the weight of a body beginning to fall. A gun fired upwards and backwards, before the body crashed to the ground. Before they could react further Anthony scrambled across the man and pressed his forearm across his neck. The cloud of dust was beginning to settle now and Anthony was disappointed to recognise his captive as beak nose, rather than Atkins. With swift pressure he squeezed the air from his lungs and beaky passed out, his body going limp. Anthony rolled off and grabbed the assault rifle that had fallen from his hands.
Now if only my damned legs could get me up those stairs, Anthony cursed. There's sure to be a fucking platoon of these bastards up there, if I crawl my sorry arse up there, I'm just going to get shot to shit. Besides, where's Atkins?
As if the thought had somehow awoken the man himself, Anthony found himself seeing double after a swift kick in the head from Atkins.
"I presume you think you've made an impact Bishop?" Atkins spat, "but you don't even understand what you're protecting. Do you? Has it ever occurred to you that you were on the wrong side? That maybe someone was hiding something here from us all and preventing an uprising that is long overdue? Who are you to help hide the truth?"
Anthony tried to lift the rifle, but Atkins placed his foot on his hand, crushing the grip away. A swift flick of his foot sent the rifle sliding up to the wall.
"Truth?" Anthony cursed, "when were you ever interested in the truth? I think you've mistaken truth for power Atkins."
Atkins laughed.
"I fear this is neither the time, nor place, for a philosophical debate my good man," and with a sneer he pulled out a pistol from it's holster. "Shame, I was looking forward to breaking you, but I can tell you would only be a liability if left alive."
The pistol was aimed at Anthony's forehead.
A deep guttural throbbing from deep within the Earth gave him pause. His trigger finger lingered ominously. Anthony knew he would have no time to roll out of the way. It was practically point blank range and the bullet would have exited the back of his skull before he'd even had the thought to move.
The deep bass throbbing mysteriously from far below stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and in that split second Anthony knew his time was up.
"What the?" Atkins exclaimed, waving his arms wildly, sending a stray bullet ricocheting past Anthony's ear, close enough to draw blood.
Anthony watched in dazed bemusement as Atkins began to lift off the basement floor gently, before he also began to drift upwards gently. Loose rocks and debris began to follow them in their ascent.
Atkins flailed his arms, still grasping the gun tightly, trying to steady himself as he floated close and closer to the ceiling.
Anthony quickly found that despite his legs still being dead, if he made swimming motions with his arms, he could move forwards through the air. Whatever was happening was besides the point for a moment. The fears of the unknown had to wait until his life was safe. This was probably the one chance he had and he wasn't going to waste it.
Using a breast stroke manoeuvre Anthony thrust himself directly at Atkins, who spotted him drifting towards him at the last second. Despite being clearly disturbed by his new found weightlessness Atkins swept his gun upwards and fired just as Anthony crashed into him and pushed him up into the ceiling.
The two men tussled. The gun fired a second time before being knocked free and floating off to the opposite side of the basement. Bubbles of blood floated away gracefully from the battling men and splashed against the wall. A well placed punch to Anthony's gut split the pair apart. Atkins was holding his left arm, bubbles of blood seeping out.
The pair eyed the gun, bouncing against the far wall. With a war cry Atkins pushed against the opposite wall with his legs and floated towards the gun. Anthony, unable to do the same looked around the room frantically. Atkins grasped the gun with glee, turned and fired without pause.
A slim, beak nosed soldier tugged at his arm and pulled him to his feet. But his legs were not willing to co-operate with this concept and immediately buckled. Beak nose just let him crumple to the floor like a ragdoll. Anthony took the chance to glance behind and check out the state of the corridor behind him.
Interesting, he thought, that beam saved my life, but if they'd dug from the opposite side the beam would have shifted first and sent half a ton of English countryside onto my noggin. Somehow he instinctively knew Ebbe would have seen the exact same thing and halted any further rescue attempt.
"Come on your lazy twat," beak nosed coughed at him, sounding to Anthony as if he were in the early stages of lung cancer.
Anthony looked up at the scowling face of the soldier and wondered if he had the energy to shove that damned nose into his brain with the palm of his hand. Still, what use would that do, one solider down, and the rest would just swarm on him. Best wait it out a little longer.
Beak nose grasped at his right arm and tugged him back to his feet and, before he could fall again, a second soldier counterbalanced his left side. The pair started to drag him back into the cellar, his feet scraping uselessly against the dirt floor.
Atkins didn't even glance at him as he was pulled past. His full attention was on the still blocked corridor, though Anthony noticed he was unwilling to step too far into the collapsed area. He was a cautious man, unwilling to place himself in harms way. He was many things, but he was not a fool. Several of his men, however, were in the corridor still trying to shift the rocks and break through to the other side.
Beak nose and his accomplice tossed Anthony to the ground at the foot of the steps. He sensed beaky was planning to make good on Atkins' instruction to reward his survival with some broken bones. Better to act now and have bones intact, than try and catch Atkins in the tunnel.
The wry smile on Anthony's face gave beak nose pause. He turned to his colleague and looked as if he may shout something by way of a warning to Atkins, still peering through the entrance of the corridor. But there was no time for such niceties.
Anthony pressed a small button on inside left of his wristwatch and the tiny silver explosive device he had scratched off his combats earlier detonated, with enough power to shift that unstable beam. Beak nose and his friend were knocked off their feet as a shock wave powered through the room, bringing with it a choking cloud of dust. Anthony didn't take the time to check if Atkins had been swallowed up by the debris. He knew, with his legs still out of action, he had seconds to act. Grabbing the sharpest rock from his pocket, he dragged himself forward, and lunged at the nearest body to his. The rock sunk into the flesh at the nape of the neck of an unseen foe. His victim began to gargle and flail uselessly, his lifeblood already pumping out fatally.
Anthony heard the click of a safety catch being removed. Using his arms he pulled himself towards the sound, rolling to the left just as the crack crack crack sound of the gun firing sent a deadly hail of bullets at his last known position. If he didn't bring his assailant down to his level in the next few seconds, he was dead.
With a swing of his arm, his hand made contact with material and he grasped tightly and tugged. He sensed the weight of a body beginning to fall. A gun fired upwards and backwards, before the body crashed to the ground. Before they could react further Anthony scrambled across the man and pressed his forearm across his neck. The cloud of dust was beginning to settle now and Anthony was disappointed to recognise his captive as beak nose, rather than Atkins. With swift pressure he squeezed the air from his lungs and beaky passed out, his body going limp. Anthony rolled off and grabbed the assault rifle that had fallen from his hands.
Now if only my damned legs could get me up those stairs, Anthony cursed. There's sure to be a fucking platoon of these bastards up there, if I crawl my sorry arse up there, I'm just going to get shot to shit. Besides, where's Atkins?
As if the thought had somehow awoken the man himself, Anthony found himself seeing double after a swift kick in the head from Atkins.
"I presume you think you've made an impact Bishop?" Atkins spat, "but you don't even understand what you're protecting. Do you? Has it ever occurred to you that you were on the wrong side? That maybe someone was hiding something here from us all and preventing an uprising that is long overdue? Who are you to help hide the truth?"
Anthony tried to lift the rifle, but Atkins placed his foot on his hand, crushing the grip away. A swift flick of his foot sent the rifle sliding up to the wall.
"Truth?" Anthony cursed, "when were you ever interested in the truth? I think you've mistaken truth for power Atkins."
Atkins laughed.
"I fear this is neither the time, nor place, for a philosophical debate my good man," and with a sneer he pulled out a pistol from it's holster. "Shame, I was looking forward to breaking you, but I can tell you would only be a liability if left alive."
The pistol was aimed at Anthony's forehead.
A deep guttural throbbing from deep within the Earth gave him pause. His trigger finger lingered ominously. Anthony knew he would have no time to roll out of the way. It was practically point blank range and the bullet would have exited the back of his skull before he'd even had the thought to move.
The deep bass throbbing mysteriously from far below stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and in that split second Anthony knew his time was up.
"What the?" Atkins exclaimed, waving his arms wildly, sending a stray bullet ricocheting past Anthony's ear, close enough to draw blood.
Anthony watched in dazed bemusement as Atkins began to lift off the basement floor gently, before he also began to drift upwards gently. Loose rocks and debris began to follow them in their ascent.
Atkins flailed his arms, still grasping the gun tightly, trying to steady himself as he floated close and closer to the ceiling.
Anthony quickly found that despite his legs still being dead, if he made swimming motions with his arms, he could move forwards through the air. Whatever was happening was besides the point for a moment. The fears of the unknown had to wait until his life was safe. This was probably the one chance he had and he wasn't going to waste it.
Using a breast stroke manoeuvre Anthony thrust himself directly at Atkins, who spotted him drifting towards him at the last second. Despite being clearly disturbed by his new found weightlessness Atkins swept his gun upwards and fired just as Anthony crashed into him and pushed him up into the ceiling.
The two men tussled. The gun fired a second time before being knocked free and floating off to the opposite side of the basement. Bubbles of blood floated away gracefully from the battling men and splashed against the wall. A well placed punch to Anthony's gut split the pair apart. Atkins was holding his left arm, bubbles of blood seeping out.
The pair eyed the gun, bouncing against the far wall. With a war cry Atkins pushed against the opposite wall with his legs and floated towards the gun. Anthony, unable to do the same looked around the room frantically. Atkins grasped the gun with glee, turned and fired without pause.
Monday, 4 February 2013
Chapter 10 - Part 1
Chapter 10 - Part 1
Ebbe's eyes adjusted, to what had at first seemed the pitchest of blacks, surprisingly quickly. But as the scene was laid out before her she almost wished they hadn't. Where only moments before there had been the doorway to the basement, there was now a vast pile of rock, rubble and twisted metal. Krank and James were already frantically grappling with the uneven chunks of debris, tossing them over the edge of the metal walkway with a clatter.
Somewhere within that landslide Anthony was entombed and Ebbe could barely believe the words that therefore escaped from her lips.
"Stop digging," she yelled breathlessly.
James, dutiful as ever, turned to query her command. Krank however continued to desperately pull aside rock with his good arm with stoic determination.
Ebbe ran back along the corridor in a panic, the echo of her clattering shoes reverberating endlessly into the darkness.
"Krank," she screamed, "God damn it man, stop!"
The vast man turned at her with a murderous glare, but immediately returned to the task at hand. Ebbe grasped at his trunk like arm and tried to pull it back, but she was simply tossed aside like a ragdoll, crashing painfully against the railing. Wounded but not defeated Ebbe stood and changed tactic. With all her might she grasped his broken arm and squeezed. Krank let out a crazed, high pitched squeal, an utterly inhuman sound, only made worse by it being repeated seeningly endlessly by the dark corridor.
At last he relented and crumbled to the floor, unable to muster the strength to push her away.
"Woman?" He managed to spit incredulously.
Ebbe released her grip and simply gestured to the roof. Krank, wiped some tears that had accumulated in his eyes and followed her hand.
"Fuck," he whispered, staring upwards morosely.
Ebbe had immediately spotted the vast concrete beam that had probably once served as a support above the entrance. Now, however, it was merely balanced precariously upon the very pile of rocks Krank and James had been trying to clear. It was obvious to Ebbe that no matter what they shifted, at some point that beam, and probably anything above it, what come crashing down. At best, only Anthony, should he still actually be alive, would be crushed to death, defying the point of attempting to free him. More likely, Ebbe felt, they would all be swallowed up in the resulting collapse.
Krank dragged himself backwards, his good fist clenched so tight Ebbe swore she could see blood seep out, though she surmised that may be an injury from his digging.
"We can't just leave him," he muttered dejectedly, clearly aware that was exactly what they must do.
Ebbe swallowed hard, staring at the probable tomb of the man she had just started to think she would like to get to know better.
"You never know," she started, her voice sounding dry and weak, "they may be able to dig him out from the other side."
"Jesus lady. Better he's dead than captured wounded by that bastard," Krank countered venomously.
Alive he has a chance to survive, Ebbe wanted to say, but instead bit her tongue, sensing any retort would only serve to antagonise Krank. Instead she wanted to get the big man moving, heading to wherever this accursed corridor led. She assumed it led somewhere worthwhile, otherwise what was all this effort for?
Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she tried to assess the location. It struck her that the they were cut off from any natural light and yet for every passing second, the corridor seemed to be getting brighter. There were no discernible sources of light, such as overhead lamps. It was almost as if the rock walls themselves were slowly starting to emit a glow. Ebbe was aware of naturally occurring bioluminescence, but could see nothing in this corridor that could actually be generating even this. The walkway itself could stretch to the other side of the world for all she knew. It just appeared to run in a perfect straight line and vanish into nothingness.
Jake was squatting just a few feet down the walkway, Art on his stretcher still lying out cold next to him. She caught Jake's eye and he immediately stood to attention, much to her surprise.
"What's the plan sir?" Jake barked. Ebbe raised her eyebrows and turned to Krank, who was still staring at the rubble.
"He's talking to you luv," Krank mumbled without even turning, somehow sensing her eyes upon him.
"What, what do you mean?" Ebbe spluttered, genuinely not understanding what was happening.
"Chain of command luv," Krank said and he turned and stood.
"Your commanding officer is MIA, his number two is lying paralysed on a stretcher and that leaves you sweetheart." Krank strode up to her
Ebbe shook her head frantically.
"No no no, that can't be right!" Her mouth dried up and her stomach began to churn as if she might need to vomit. "I'm not military. Surely you or Jake..."
"Sweetheart, my understanding is you were in fucking control of something, Jake here is just a puppet in need of a master. I'm not in your unit, Jake here is right. It's your choice." Krank offered something akin to a smile. Ebbe couldn't tell if it was a smirk or a genuine effort at affection. Either way it didn't offer her the respite from the fear she was experiencing.
She looked at James, looking timid and afraid. That she could identify with, that she could handle. Her eyes turned back to Jake, he was standing upright, looking every bit the merciless, heartless killer she had mistrusted earlier. This man expects me to command him in his military manoeuvres? What sort of madness is this?
"Sir?" Jake barked bluntly, his steely gaze unwavering.
Ebbe closed her eyes. She saw Sam, his face beaming back at her innocently. But he faded, just as the sun had faded, he vanished and was replaced only by a dark abyss, by an all consuming darkness. Her eyes burst open and somehow the dull light emanating impossibly from the rocks seemed blinding to her. What would Anthony do she asked herself, as if she were following some sort of military self help book.
What would Anthony do?
He'd knuckle down and get the job done. That's what. When there's no time to think, move and think on the go.
"James," Ebbe tried to sound authoritative, but it sounded pathetic to her as it bounced back to her as every sound had a frustrating tendency to do in this hell hole. "James," she tried again, injecting some bass into her voice which she felt did offer a better sense of gravitas. "You're with Jake, carrying Art. Krank, you know the way so you're, er.. in lead," Ebbe winced, thinking there was a more appropriate phrase, but struggling to pluck it from her mind. "Jake and James, you go next and I'll take the rear."
It was all obvious, simple instructions as far as Ebbe saw it. Clearly Krank was the only one who could navigate and she wanted to have the other two in her sight. It seemed almost stupidly simplistic and she expected there to be sarcastic retorts or grumbles. But to her surprise and delight everyone just nodded in agreement and within seconds the ragtag team were actually heading away from the rubble.
Ebbe couldn't resist one last glance back in the vain hope that she would see a hand appear through the rocks and they would have the chance to pull Anthony free before everything came crashing down upon them.
For a second, she did see the hand. For a split second she knew they could save Anthony and she'd made a terrible mistake in stopping the pair from digging. In the blink of an eye she realised it was a trick of the light, or more likely of the mind.
She turned to see her unit had already made their way into the infinite corridor. With a resigned sigh she whispered a goodbye to Anthony. And before she ran after the others, she did something that took even her by surprise. She prayed. She prayed to God that Anthony be safe.
Ebbe's eyes adjusted, to what had at first seemed the pitchest of blacks, surprisingly quickly. But as the scene was laid out before her she almost wished they hadn't. Where only moments before there had been the doorway to the basement, there was now a vast pile of rock, rubble and twisted metal. Krank and James were already frantically grappling with the uneven chunks of debris, tossing them over the edge of the metal walkway with a clatter.
Somewhere within that landslide Anthony was entombed and Ebbe could barely believe the words that therefore escaped from her lips.
"Stop digging," she yelled breathlessly.
James, dutiful as ever, turned to query her command. Krank however continued to desperately pull aside rock with his good arm with stoic determination.
Ebbe ran back along the corridor in a panic, the echo of her clattering shoes reverberating endlessly into the darkness.
"Krank," she screamed, "God damn it man, stop!"
The vast man turned at her with a murderous glare, but immediately returned to the task at hand. Ebbe grasped at his trunk like arm and tried to pull it back, but she was simply tossed aside like a ragdoll, crashing painfully against the railing. Wounded but not defeated Ebbe stood and changed tactic. With all her might she grasped his broken arm and squeezed. Krank let out a crazed, high pitched squeal, an utterly inhuman sound, only made worse by it being repeated seeningly endlessly by the dark corridor.
At last he relented and crumbled to the floor, unable to muster the strength to push her away.
"Woman?" He managed to spit incredulously.
Ebbe released her grip and simply gestured to the roof. Krank, wiped some tears that had accumulated in his eyes and followed her hand.
"Fuck," he whispered, staring upwards morosely.
Ebbe had immediately spotted the vast concrete beam that had probably once served as a support above the entrance. Now, however, it was merely balanced precariously upon the very pile of rocks Krank and James had been trying to clear. It was obvious to Ebbe that no matter what they shifted, at some point that beam, and probably anything above it, what come crashing down. At best, only Anthony, should he still actually be alive, would be crushed to death, defying the point of attempting to free him. More likely, Ebbe felt, they would all be swallowed up in the resulting collapse.
Krank dragged himself backwards, his good fist clenched so tight Ebbe swore she could see blood seep out, though she surmised that may be an injury from his digging.
"We can't just leave him," he muttered dejectedly, clearly aware that was exactly what they must do.
Ebbe swallowed hard, staring at the probable tomb of the man she had just started to think she would like to get to know better.
"You never know," she started, her voice sounding dry and weak, "they may be able to dig him out from the other side."
"Jesus lady. Better he's dead than captured wounded by that bastard," Krank countered venomously.
Alive he has a chance to survive, Ebbe wanted to say, but instead bit her tongue, sensing any retort would only serve to antagonise Krank. Instead she wanted to get the big man moving, heading to wherever this accursed corridor led. She assumed it led somewhere worthwhile, otherwise what was all this effort for?
Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she tried to assess the location. It struck her that the they were cut off from any natural light and yet for every passing second, the corridor seemed to be getting brighter. There were no discernible sources of light, such as overhead lamps. It was almost as if the rock walls themselves were slowly starting to emit a glow. Ebbe was aware of naturally occurring bioluminescence, but could see nothing in this corridor that could actually be generating even this. The walkway itself could stretch to the other side of the world for all she knew. It just appeared to run in a perfect straight line and vanish into nothingness.
Jake was squatting just a few feet down the walkway, Art on his stretcher still lying out cold next to him. She caught Jake's eye and he immediately stood to attention, much to her surprise.
"What's the plan sir?" Jake barked. Ebbe raised her eyebrows and turned to Krank, who was still staring at the rubble.
"He's talking to you luv," Krank mumbled without even turning, somehow sensing her eyes upon him.
"What, what do you mean?" Ebbe spluttered, genuinely not understanding what was happening.
"Chain of command luv," Krank said and he turned and stood.
"Your commanding officer is MIA, his number two is lying paralysed on a stretcher and that leaves you sweetheart." Krank strode up to her
Ebbe shook her head frantically.
"No no no, that can't be right!" Her mouth dried up and her stomach began to churn as if she might need to vomit. "I'm not military. Surely you or Jake..."
"Sweetheart, my understanding is you were in fucking control of something, Jake here is just a puppet in need of a master. I'm not in your unit, Jake here is right. It's your choice." Krank offered something akin to a smile. Ebbe couldn't tell if it was a smirk or a genuine effort at affection. Either way it didn't offer her the respite from the fear she was experiencing.
She looked at James, looking timid and afraid. That she could identify with, that she could handle. Her eyes turned back to Jake, he was standing upright, looking every bit the merciless, heartless killer she had mistrusted earlier. This man expects me to command him in his military manoeuvres? What sort of madness is this?
"Sir?" Jake barked bluntly, his steely gaze unwavering.
Ebbe closed her eyes. She saw Sam, his face beaming back at her innocently. But he faded, just as the sun had faded, he vanished and was replaced only by a dark abyss, by an all consuming darkness. Her eyes burst open and somehow the dull light emanating impossibly from the rocks seemed blinding to her. What would Anthony do she asked herself, as if she were following some sort of military self help book.
What would Anthony do?
He'd knuckle down and get the job done. That's what. When there's no time to think, move and think on the go.
"James," Ebbe tried to sound authoritative, but it sounded pathetic to her as it bounced back to her as every sound had a frustrating tendency to do in this hell hole. "James," she tried again, injecting some bass into her voice which she felt did offer a better sense of gravitas. "You're with Jake, carrying Art. Krank, you know the way so you're, er.. in lead," Ebbe winced, thinking there was a more appropriate phrase, but struggling to pluck it from her mind. "Jake and James, you go next and I'll take the rear."
It was all obvious, simple instructions as far as Ebbe saw it. Clearly Krank was the only one who could navigate and she wanted to have the other two in her sight. It seemed almost stupidly simplistic and she expected there to be sarcastic retorts or grumbles. But to her surprise and delight everyone just nodded in agreement and within seconds the ragtag team were actually heading away from the rubble.
Ebbe couldn't resist one last glance back in the vain hope that she would see a hand appear through the rocks and they would have the chance to pull Anthony free before everything came crashing down upon them.
For a second, she did see the hand. For a split second she knew they could save Anthony and she'd made a terrible mistake in stopping the pair from digging. In the blink of an eye she realised it was a trick of the light, or more likely of the mind.
She turned to see her unit had already made their way into the infinite corridor. With a resigned sigh she whispered a goodbye to Anthony. And before she ran after the others, she did something that took even her by surprise. She prayed. She prayed to God that Anthony be safe.
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Chapter 8 - Part 1
Ebbe stared at the reflection of the waning moon, looking like a chipped pearl drifting on the gently lolling water. She allowed herself a little wistful sigh, thinking back to the days when she had the luxury to soak up such moments. Now it was merely a snatched opportunity as she made her way back to the observatory, two hot cups of coffee defrosting her hands pleasantly.
The crunch of the leaves and the snap of the bracken beneath her feet always made her smile. It seemed so much more agreeable to have sound and texture underfoot, rather than the insensitive solidity of a pavement. It was for this, more than the need for the bad coffee served by the café on the tiny viewing station up the path, that brought her out into the cold air. That and the need to escape the observatory for a couple of hours. Kielder Observatory was of course, not so far away and that had a magnificent telescope. It was even easily accessible by the public. But that was also the problem. What Ebbe wanted to look at, she wanted to look at without herself being observed, without the questions and the probing. People could never just let you be in such places. Besides, such places were bound to be watched. Ebbe had already sensed via the chatter on the usual paranoid websites that the government wasn't keen on anyone taking too much interest in the skies.
Ebbe suddenly froze on the spot. To the far right, up a small slope and in a tiny opening amongst the towering trunks disappearing into the dark heights above, was a petite deer. Ebbe suspected it was a Roe deer, probably not fully grown yet. She watched fascinated as it tentatively trotted towards something indiscernible on the ground. It dipped it's neck, legs still relatively straight and gave a curious sniff. Without warning the deer gave a scared jump backwards and turned to flee, before pausing and and slowly, perhaps bravely, turning back to face the mystery foe. Ebbe found she was holding her breath, perhaps out of fear she would spook the creature, but she had no choice but to exhale. She did so with utmost care, though she was well away from the deer, and, if her smell had not spooked it she presumed a little breath would be harmless. But it was such a rare experience Ebbe was not willing to risk it even for a breath. She was trying to guess what the young deer could be battling. Her guess would be either a frog, toad or spider. Again the deer stepped forward. Ebbe admired it's dark brown, almost black winter coat. From her perspective she couldn't discern any antlers, but that may be because of it's young age or just the distance between them. Ebbe was sure they only had very small antlers, but she couldn't remember. Something spooked the animal and it's sharp little head bobbed up and Ebbe could see the bulging black eyes, like river polished stones, peering in her direction. Again she found herself holding her breath, sure it wasn't her who had caught it's attention. She strained hard, also trying to listen, and yes, somewhere is the distance she too could hear voices from behind. Laughter and chatter somewhere far in some distant part of the wood, bounced from vast trunk to trunk until Ebbe had no idea where the origin was. Her little Roe seemed more sure, however, and with a kick of it's hind legs it vanished from sight.
Ebbe waited, staring at the same spot, in the vain hope it would return. But she knew it had been spooked and regardless of it's small, unseen foe, it was not going to come back so readily.
With another heavy sigh she continued on her well trodden path to the observatory, giving a quick glance all around to ensure the voices really were somewhere distant. Unable to make out anything or anyone nearby she crunched and cracked her way back to the barely visible concrete entrance. It was a simple concrete structure shrouded in creepers and vines. In the centre was a rusting metal door that to an outsider looked as if it hadn't been opened since World War Two, when the former bomb shelter was built. They would, of course, be right. Ebbe took a swift turn to the left and made her way to the side of the structure, draped like a green waterfall, with lush vines. Here Ebbe stood waiting patiently, staring at the dark leaves. Hunter green Ebbe thought as she stared at one thinly veined leaf in particular. Makes sense, she concluded, hunter green would be the one that best serves as camouflage for those sneaking about in such a forest.
Growing impatient Ebbe gave a low cough, more a clearing of her throat and shifted her weight. The formerly warm cups were starting to feel decidedly tepid in her hands are her unexpected interlude. Never mind, it's bad hot or warm, she told herself.
Clunk! The sound of a solid bolt being lifted and then a squeal as the metal slid out from the catch and released. The draped foliage began to shiver before being swept aside and an opening became evident. A young man dressed in fatigues was grinning apologetically as he held the door open.
"I think I saw a Roe deer," Ebbe said as she stepped through the entrance gratefully, glad to feel the heat envelope her as she did so. The lad shrugged as he always did when Ebbe said pretty much anything. She had concluded the extent of his knowledge was terrifyingly basic. Barely scraping secondary level, she thought. Either that or he knew but wasn't much for talking. Ebbe had yet to truly pin down this old little guard she had inherited. "Do they have Roe deer in this forest?" she persisted, in the small hope she may eventually stumble across something he was interested in discussing.
"Dunno," came the blunt answer behind her as he slammed the thick door shut again. The natural moonlight was cut off and they were in a tight corridor lit by yellow lights lining the walls.
"They do have antlers don't they?" Ebbe continued, no longer caring if he knew the answer or not, but wanting to say something out loud to someone. Even though she was ahead of him, she knew he had simply shrugged, clearly not feeling the need to answer. "It was adorable," Ebbe finished, sensing she was pushing her luck.
"I like deer," came the unexpected reply.
Ebbe stopped abruptly, to be immediately bumped by the young lad who had not expected her to halt so suddenly. She maintained her balance, steadying the sloshing liquid in the coffee cups. She turned, beaming from ear to ear.
"James! What did you say?"
The bewildered lad stared at her mouth agape.
"I. I like deer?" He stuttered, obviously a little taken aback.
"That's simply marvellous my boy! Truly wonderful," she beamed at him before turning tail and striding down the corridor, humming The Girl From Ipanema quietly.
The pair emerged into a cavernous room, in the centre of which was a vast telescope, stretching from a small chair and expanding until it reached a cathedral-like dome, with a large split down its centre.
"Hello sweetie," Ebbe chirped, "James likes deer! Did you know that?" As she chattered to the equipment she turned and thrust out one of the cups. The still baffled James tentatively took the coffee and with a sideways glance made his way over to the CCTV desk on the far right. Ebbe smiled and popped the lid from her cup and swigged the coffee down in two big gulps. "Yuck!" She spat with a mix of disgust for the taste and satisfaction at the warmth.
James seated himself and sipped his own cup, eyeing Ebbe with suspicion, seemingly cautious of what she may say next.
"Let's crank the old girl open and check which stars are still with us eh James?" Ebbe shouted across the room.
James shrugged, as he always did.
"I'll tell you what I love James!" Ebbe shouted as she pressed the button that started the domes opening mechanism with a creaking gasp. "I love an 8.1 metre aperture pointing at Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa!" With that she took her seat at the eye of the telescope and peered through. Occasionally she cranked the mechanism to make the scope turn left or right, lower or raise. But once her eye was pressed up against the viewer she was, as always lost in a cosmos of stars, watched silently by her curious guard.
"Hello Ganymede," Ebbe suddenly piped up, making James jump. She turned with a cheeky grin and jabbed a longer finger at him. "That's you!" She exclaimed, before turning back to peer through the lens again. "Ganymede was one of Zeus' lovers, boy of exquisite beauty," she continued as she studied the small dot that was the largest moon in our Solar System. "He was kidnapped by Zeus to serve as a cup-bearer in Olympus," said Ebbe, unable to stop herself elaborating, "of course Hera was deathly jealous. But that was just Hera!" Silly cow, Ebbe thought to herself. "It's nice, us having this chat," Ebbe started, well aware that James wasn't contributing, but somehow feeling like his blurted revelation that he liked deer was the closest to a conversation the pair had had. The source that had gained her access to this facility, a place that theoretically didn't exist, had assured her he was perfect for the job. He was too dim, they had said, to know she didn't belong, and too green to be involved with anyone she wanted to avoid. That was for sure. The kid was wet behind the ears and she honestly felt he was unsuited to a military life. She had decided early on his father was in the forces and had bullied him into service. But that didn't matter, he just had to let her in and let her out and keep his mouth shut. It seemed he could follow orders, that was one thing most certainly in his favour. Ebbe just hoped that one day someone wouldn't take advantage of that.
"So Ganymede," she started, taking her eye off the skies, "how is it that I, Zeus, have to bear cups for my cup-bearer?" She eyed him with a smile, wondering if anything she had just said had meant a thing to him. He was looking back at her, his face the picture of concentration; brow furrowed, mouth pursed.
"Because I am Zeus and you are Hera?" Came the cautious reply.
Ebbe mulled this over in her mind. The boy was the mighty Zeus, God of the skies, the greatest of all the Olympians, and she his long-suffering, eternally jealous wife, and sister, Hera! She looked at the skinny little lad slouched at the security desk and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Within seconds James had been infected by her heaving gasps of uncontrolled laughter and joined in with her.
"You're a funny guy," Ebbe managed to gurgle, not really thinking he was and not entirely sure what was so funny, but still unable to halt the shaking laughter nevertheless. "You should talk more often," she spluttered, sending them both into further fits of cackling giggles.
Making an effort to maintain dignity Ebbe wiped her teared eyes and sighed. Back to work you idiot, she told herself, forcing a moist eye up against the the viewer. With great effort she ignored James, still attempting to quash his mirth behind her. Deciding viewing Ganymede was not going to help her sober up Ebbe began to shift the telescope in the hunt for another Galilean moon, namely Callisto.
"And there..." she began, "you are?" she ended on a question. All humour drained from her face and Ebbe pulled her head away from the telescope and turned to James. "I've lost a moon," she said seriously.
"That was careless," James snickered in reply.
"No James, it's insane, quite quite insane," she countered bleakly. Her heavy tone quickly sunk in and James forced out the last chuckle.
"Are you sure you're looking in...?" He started.
"Of course I bloody am," Ebbe snapped, cutting his sentence short. Inside she was churning. She pressed her forefinger down on an unseen button and to the side a printer began to buzz and whirr. Within a few seconds and crystal clear printout emerged and Ebbe tore it out from the printer impatiently. With an incisive eye she peered at the printout, before exhaling loudly. Even with her own, limited equipment, she had started picking up anomalies. One or two you could write off as the mind playing tricks. Three or four, equipment failure. But once she had gone beyond that she had hit upon the idea of using something more substantial. The Spartan Observatory complex, a highly secret outpost hidden within a restricted wildlife preserve, was her number one choice. It merely took the right connections, and Ebbe had made a habit of collecting those.
And here it was, the most powerful telescope in the United Kingdom could not see the third largest moon in the solar system.
"James, if anybody knows we are here. If anybody knows what I have seen. We are going to be in serious of trouble."
James returned her statement with a looked of fear and puzzlement. Ebbe gestured he ought to come closer. Tentatively he stood, his chair squealing on the flagstone floor. Again she gestured for him to come forward. She could see he was uncomfortable and uncertain. Again, she wordlessly gestured to him to come to her. With the awkward shuffling of a teenager asked to dance with a girl he likes, he made his way to her. When he was within grasping distance she grabbed him by the nape of the neck and pulled him close.
"You tell the man who got you this job that Callisto is awol. Tell him I'm going to ground. Are you getting this?" James nodded nervously, "Tell him I expect it will take them two or three months, four at most, so that's his time frame. You got that James?" She peered into his dark brown eyes. Yes, he's an orders boy, give him orders and he'll respond. He obviously got that from his bully father, for better or worse. "I don't think we shall see each other again after tonight, so Ganymede, get yourself some balls, before Zeus comes for you." With those parting words Ebbe grabbed her printout, gave him a kiss on the cheek and made for the exit.
As she reached the corridor, she stopped and turned.
"If we do meet again, be sure you've grown a pair!" She shouted before striding into the corridor.
The crunch of the leaves and the snap of the bracken beneath her feet always made her smile. It seemed so much more agreeable to have sound and texture underfoot, rather than the insensitive solidity of a pavement. It was for this, more than the need for the bad coffee served by the café on the tiny viewing station up the path, that brought her out into the cold air. That and the need to escape the observatory for a couple of hours. Kielder Observatory was of course, not so far away and that had a magnificent telescope. It was even easily accessible by the public. But that was also the problem. What Ebbe wanted to look at, she wanted to look at without herself being observed, without the questions and the probing. People could never just let you be in such places. Besides, such places were bound to be watched. Ebbe had already sensed via the chatter on the usual paranoid websites that the government wasn't keen on anyone taking too much interest in the skies.
Ebbe suddenly froze on the spot. To the far right, up a small slope and in a tiny opening amongst the towering trunks disappearing into the dark heights above, was a petite deer. Ebbe suspected it was a Roe deer, probably not fully grown yet. She watched fascinated as it tentatively trotted towards something indiscernible on the ground. It dipped it's neck, legs still relatively straight and gave a curious sniff. Without warning the deer gave a scared jump backwards and turned to flee, before pausing and and slowly, perhaps bravely, turning back to face the mystery foe. Ebbe found she was holding her breath, perhaps out of fear she would spook the creature, but she had no choice but to exhale. She did so with utmost care, though she was well away from the deer, and, if her smell had not spooked it she presumed a little breath would be harmless. But it was such a rare experience Ebbe was not willing to risk it even for a breath. She was trying to guess what the young deer could be battling. Her guess would be either a frog, toad or spider. Again the deer stepped forward. Ebbe admired it's dark brown, almost black winter coat. From her perspective she couldn't discern any antlers, but that may be because of it's young age or just the distance between them. Ebbe was sure they only had very small antlers, but she couldn't remember. Something spooked the animal and it's sharp little head bobbed up and Ebbe could see the bulging black eyes, like river polished stones, peering in her direction. Again she found herself holding her breath, sure it wasn't her who had caught it's attention. She strained hard, also trying to listen, and yes, somewhere is the distance she too could hear voices from behind. Laughter and chatter somewhere far in some distant part of the wood, bounced from vast trunk to trunk until Ebbe had no idea where the origin was. Her little Roe seemed more sure, however, and with a kick of it's hind legs it vanished from sight.
Ebbe waited, staring at the same spot, in the vain hope it would return. But she knew it had been spooked and regardless of it's small, unseen foe, it was not going to come back so readily.
With another heavy sigh she continued on her well trodden path to the observatory, giving a quick glance all around to ensure the voices really were somewhere distant. Unable to make out anything or anyone nearby she crunched and cracked her way back to the barely visible concrete entrance. It was a simple concrete structure shrouded in creepers and vines. In the centre was a rusting metal door that to an outsider looked as if it hadn't been opened since World War Two, when the former bomb shelter was built. They would, of course, be right. Ebbe took a swift turn to the left and made her way to the side of the structure, draped like a green waterfall, with lush vines. Here Ebbe stood waiting patiently, staring at the dark leaves. Hunter green Ebbe thought as she stared at one thinly veined leaf in particular. Makes sense, she concluded, hunter green would be the one that best serves as camouflage for those sneaking about in such a forest.
Growing impatient Ebbe gave a low cough, more a clearing of her throat and shifted her weight. The formerly warm cups were starting to feel decidedly tepid in her hands are her unexpected interlude. Never mind, it's bad hot or warm, she told herself.
Clunk! The sound of a solid bolt being lifted and then a squeal as the metal slid out from the catch and released. The draped foliage began to shiver before being swept aside and an opening became evident. A young man dressed in fatigues was grinning apologetically as he held the door open.
"I think I saw a Roe deer," Ebbe said as she stepped through the entrance gratefully, glad to feel the heat envelope her as she did so. The lad shrugged as he always did when Ebbe said pretty much anything. She had concluded the extent of his knowledge was terrifyingly basic. Barely scraping secondary level, she thought. Either that or he knew but wasn't much for talking. Ebbe had yet to truly pin down this old little guard she had inherited. "Do they have Roe deer in this forest?" she persisted, in the small hope she may eventually stumble across something he was interested in discussing.
"Dunno," came the blunt answer behind her as he slammed the thick door shut again. The natural moonlight was cut off and they were in a tight corridor lit by yellow lights lining the walls.
"They do have antlers don't they?" Ebbe continued, no longer caring if he knew the answer or not, but wanting to say something out loud to someone. Even though she was ahead of him, she knew he had simply shrugged, clearly not feeling the need to answer. "It was adorable," Ebbe finished, sensing she was pushing her luck.
"I like deer," came the unexpected reply.
Ebbe stopped abruptly, to be immediately bumped by the young lad who had not expected her to halt so suddenly. She maintained her balance, steadying the sloshing liquid in the coffee cups. She turned, beaming from ear to ear.
"James! What did you say?"
The bewildered lad stared at her mouth agape.
"I. I like deer?" He stuttered, obviously a little taken aback.
"That's simply marvellous my boy! Truly wonderful," she beamed at him before turning tail and striding down the corridor, humming The Girl From Ipanema quietly.
The pair emerged into a cavernous room, in the centre of which was a vast telescope, stretching from a small chair and expanding until it reached a cathedral-like dome, with a large split down its centre.
"Hello sweetie," Ebbe chirped, "James likes deer! Did you know that?" As she chattered to the equipment she turned and thrust out one of the cups. The still baffled James tentatively took the coffee and with a sideways glance made his way over to the CCTV desk on the far right. Ebbe smiled and popped the lid from her cup and swigged the coffee down in two big gulps. "Yuck!" She spat with a mix of disgust for the taste and satisfaction at the warmth.
James seated himself and sipped his own cup, eyeing Ebbe with suspicion, seemingly cautious of what she may say next.
"Let's crank the old girl open and check which stars are still with us eh James?" Ebbe shouted across the room.
James shrugged, as he always did.
"I'll tell you what I love James!" Ebbe shouted as she pressed the button that started the domes opening mechanism with a creaking gasp. "I love an 8.1 metre aperture pointing at Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa!" With that she took her seat at the eye of the telescope and peered through. Occasionally she cranked the mechanism to make the scope turn left or right, lower or raise. But once her eye was pressed up against the viewer she was, as always lost in a cosmos of stars, watched silently by her curious guard.
"Hello Ganymede," Ebbe suddenly piped up, making James jump. She turned with a cheeky grin and jabbed a longer finger at him. "That's you!" She exclaimed, before turning back to peer through the lens again. "Ganymede was one of Zeus' lovers, boy of exquisite beauty," she continued as she studied the small dot that was the largest moon in our Solar System. "He was kidnapped by Zeus to serve as a cup-bearer in Olympus," said Ebbe, unable to stop herself elaborating, "of course Hera was deathly jealous. But that was just Hera!" Silly cow, Ebbe thought to herself. "It's nice, us having this chat," Ebbe started, well aware that James wasn't contributing, but somehow feeling like his blurted revelation that he liked deer was the closest to a conversation the pair had had. The source that had gained her access to this facility, a place that theoretically didn't exist, had assured her he was perfect for the job. He was too dim, they had said, to know she didn't belong, and too green to be involved with anyone she wanted to avoid. That was for sure. The kid was wet behind the ears and she honestly felt he was unsuited to a military life. She had decided early on his father was in the forces and had bullied him into service. But that didn't matter, he just had to let her in and let her out and keep his mouth shut. It seemed he could follow orders, that was one thing most certainly in his favour. Ebbe just hoped that one day someone wouldn't take advantage of that.
"So Ganymede," she started, taking her eye off the skies, "how is it that I, Zeus, have to bear cups for my cup-bearer?" She eyed him with a smile, wondering if anything she had just said had meant a thing to him. He was looking back at her, his face the picture of concentration; brow furrowed, mouth pursed.
"Because I am Zeus and you are Hera?" Came the cautious reply.
Ebbe mulled this over in her mind. The boy was the mighty Zeus, God of the skies, the greatest of all the Olympians, and she his long-suffering, eternally jealous wife, and sister, Hera! She looked at the skinny little lad slouched at the security desk and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Within seconds James had been infected by her heaving gasps of uncontrolled laughter and joined in with her.
"You're a funny guy," Ebbe managed to gurgle, not really thinking he was and not entirely sure what was so funny, but still unable to halt the shaking laughter nevertheless. "You should talk more often," she spluttered, sending them both into further fits of cackling giggles.
Making an effort to maintain dignity Ebbe wiped her teared eyes and sighed. Back to work you idiot, she told herself, forcing a moist eye up against the the viewer. With great effort she ignored James, still attempting to quash his mirth behind her. Deciding viewing Ganymede was not going to help her sober up Ebbe began to shift the telescope in the hunt for another Galilean moon, namely Callisto.
"And there..." she began, "you are?" she ended on a question. All humour drained from her face and Ebbe pulled her head away from the telescope and turned to James. "I've lost a moon," she said seriously.
"That was careless," James snickered in reply.
"No James, it's insane, quite quite insane," she countered bleakly. Her heavy tone quickly sunk in and James forced out the last chuckle.
"Are you sure you're looking in...?" He started.
"Of course I bloody am," Ebbe snapped, cutting his sentence short. Inside she was churning. She pressed her forefinger down on an unseen button and to the side a printer began to buzz and whirr. Within a few seconds and crystal clear printout emerged and Ebbe tore it out from the printer impatiently. With an incisive eye she peered at the printout, before exhaling loudly. Even with her own, limited equipment, she had started picking up anomalies. One or two you could write off as the mind playing tricks. Three or four, equipment failure. But once she had gone beyond that she had hit upon the idea of using something more substantial. The Spartan Observatory complex, a highly secret outpost hidden within a restricted wildlife preserve, was her number one choice. It merely took the right connections, and Ebbe had made a habit of collecting those.
And here it was, the most powerful telescope in the United Kingdom could not see the third largest moon in the solar system.
"James, if anybody knows we are here. If anybody knows what I have seen. We are going to be in serious of trouble."
James returned her statement with a looked of fear and puzzlement. Ebbe gestured he ought to come closer. Tentatively he stood, his chair squealing on the flagstone floor. Again she gestured for him to come forward. She could see he was uncomfortable and uncertain. Again, she wordlessly gestured to him to come to her. With the awkward shuffling of a teenager asked to dance with a girl he likes, he made his way to her. When he was within grasping distance she grabbed him by the nape of the neck and pulled him close.
"You tell the man who got you this job that Callisto is awol. Tell him I'm going to ground. Are you getting this?" James nodded nervously, "Tell him I expect it will take them two or three months, four at most, so that's his time frame. You got that James?" She peered into his dark brown eyes. Yes, he's an orders boy, give him orders and he'll respond. He obviously got that from his bully father, for better or worse. "I don't think we shall see each other again after tonight, so Ganymede, get yourself some balls, before Zeus comes for you." With those parting words Ebbe grabbed her printout, gave him a kiss on the cheek and made for the exit.
As she reached the corridor, she stopped and turned.
"If we do meet again, be sure you've grown a pair!" She shouted before striding into the corridor.
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