Meteorite Strike (14 page)

What about Daniel?

Sarah placed a hand on his arm.
He's got the virus, Robert. He isn't coming back. We're going to have to look after ourselves now.

At that, Robert began to cry quietly and she put her arms around him once more. Too soon, the voice of Michael from the mirror told her it was time to go and the door opened.

Don't go!
Her brother tried to hold her back as she rose.

I have to, Robert,
Sarah said firmly.
They won't let me come back if we cause trouble. I'm going to find a way for us to escape, but you have to be strong until then. Can you do that for me?

He wiped his eyes and nodded seriously. Sarah squeezed his hand and left the room.

20

Sarah lay awake in the darkness. Under the bed-sheets she turned the stolen security pass over and over in her hands, but her mind was focused on the woman sitting on the other side of the mirror. Sarah called her Mandy2, because she worked the night shift watching her. Mandy2 had never bothered to introduce herself properly and Sarah hadn't asked for her name either.

In her mind, Sarah sensed Mandy2 staring at the darkened room… The boredom and fatigue… Her eyes beginning to close, just like they always did at some point in the night…

Sarah waited until she was fully asleep before easing herself out of the bed. Taking one of the pillows, she placed it under the cover. If Mandy2 did wake up, she might be fooled into thinking she was still there for a while by the bulge. It was hard to see in the darkness.

Pleased with her handiwork, Sarah moved swiftly to the door with Magda's key card in her hand. However, she paused before she swept it through the reader – for all she knew it was only good for Louise's door. Perhaps it would even trigger an alert. Deciding it was worth the risk, she swiped the card…

The door opened silently and she slipped through. Sarah held her breath for a second in the corridor, fully expecting the place to light up with alarms. It didn't happen. She breathed again, casting her mind back to the room. Mandy2 was still sleeping and hopefully would be for the next hour, just like most nights. Enough time for Sarah to find out a bit more about the base and then sneak back into the room unseen. She moved towards the exit.

The dome was in semi-darkness. It was the first time Sarah had been out of her room at such a late hour and she was pleased to see they created a “night” in the dome as well. It gave her cover as she ran from building to building. She stopped beside one of those with sarcophagi inside and peered round the edge. In the distance she saw the main airlock – the only way in or out of the dome. Her heart sank when she saw the number of guards patrolling the area: six at least, even at night, all Special Forces.

She cast her mind around the dome, looking for anything of interest. It didn't take long for her thoughts to centre on a building over to her right. She sensed the presence of Colonel Moss inside and realized that it was the place where he'd argued with Rachel. Two guards passed close by her hiding place but didn't see her in the shadows. Sarah waited for them to go before sprinting across the open area to the building. She pressed herself against the wall in the shadows and focused on the people inside…

Colonel Moss sits at a desk facing Rachel… She paces angrily before him…

“…just where are you getting your orders from, Colonel?” she says, voice full of anger. “HIDRA is meant to be helping the victims of the virus, but you're turning this operation into a weapons research project…”

“I'm doing what's necessary to maintain control of this situation,” he interrupts. “Sit down Dr. Andersen. I'm getting sick of these scenes.”

“I won't,” Rachel replies. “I don't like how you're handling the children and neither do my team.”

“I gave you Sarah Williams, didn't I? I stopped the tank experiments. What more do you want?”

“I want your guarantee that no more of them will be harmed. Using Sarah to report on Louise's abilities is yielding results. I want her to spend time with more of the children…”

Colonel Moss sighs and leafs through a report on his desk.

“I've seen the answers she gave your team,” he says with contempt. “Nothing we didn't know already. I'm going to give you another day to get something I can use, then we return to my methods…”

Sarah momentarily lost control of the vision as she thought back to the tank. One day! She had to find a way out of the dome sooner rather than later. She focused on the room again.

“My people won't stand for that, Colonel,” Rachel replies. “These children have parents and they should be allowed to be with them, even if they're victims of the virus.”

Colonel Moss sits back in his chair. “Just get me results. Information about how their powers work. One more day, Dr. Andersen.”

Rachel shakes her head and walks from the room without another word.

Outside the building, Sarah held her breath as the doctor emerged. Rachel was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice her, however. As the woman strode off across the dome, Sarah turned her attention back to the colonel.

Moss rubs his eyes as a third person emerges from the shadows and stands to attention. Major Bright.

“I take it you heard all that,” Colonel Moss says. “I'm beginning to regret not removing her when we found out about the emails to Wellman. Too bad we need her to keep the scientists in line.”

“She's trouble, sir,” Major Bright responds. “But she's right. The scientists are starting to make noises. Our insiders on the science team have the names of the main trouble-makers. They can be easily neutralized.”

“And the men?”

“Special Forces can keep the normal soldiers in line, Colonel,” Major Bright states firmly.

Colonel Moss rises from his chair. “The way the Williams girl got out of that tank was…impressive. Hell, she might become as powerful as Octavio. I want that power, and no bleeding-heart bunch of scientists is going to get in the way.”

“Just tell me what you want to do, sir.”

Colonel Moss runs a hand over his scalp. “The sleeper subjects are an unnecessary complication. Start shipping them out to the civilian hospitals. That should keep the scientists busy while we prep for the next stage of the Superhuman project. By the time General Wellman finds out what's going on, we'll have our results. There have been no reports of Daniel Williams' body being found yet?”

Major Bright shuffles on the spot uneasily. “No, sir. As you know, two of our men took him out to the desert two days ago… They haven't returned.”

Moss looks at his second-in-command with ice in his eyes. “And you wait until now to tell me this, Major?”

Bright stiffens to attention. “I sent two of our best, sir. Williams would be no match for them. Our men must have been delayed. I've already sent a second patrol to find them.”

“Make sure they do,” Moss barks. “I want Williams confirmed dead and his children… What's that?”

Sarah snapped out of the vision with a jolt. The sound of an alarm carried across the dome. She heard a door being opened in the building and ran.

All around her, the dome burst into life as the lights, previously dimmed to create twilight, were thrown on full. Instantly it was daytime again and Sarah found that her shadowy hiding places were gone. Reaching the side of another building, she looked around desperately. They'd killed Daniel! Her heart was racing, but she tried to control herself. First, she had to get to Robert. She looked around the dome, searching for him with her mind.

His building was maybe a hundred metres away. She ran for it, aware of soldiers approaching from all directions.

Reaching Robert's building, she burst through the main door and found herself in a deserted corridor with three unmarked doors. Robert was behind the third one, Sarah sensed. Heart racing, she tried swiping the stolen ID card to open it, but nothing happened. She tried again and again, with no result. The card must have been locked out. Sarah slammed her fist onto the door and slumped against the wall.

Sarah! Sarah! I hear you!

She looked at the door, pressing her palms to the cool, plastic material.

Robert!

Get me out of here!

Sarah could sense the panic building in him. The continual tests had been hard for her to endure, but he was so many years younger.

The sound of a door opening caused Sarah to spin round in time to see a scientist approaching from one of the other rooms, a sleep aerosol raised to spray. In a flash, Sarah's pent-up anger directed fully towards the man and he froze in his tracks, eyes wide with fear as her feelings surged through his mind. She visualized the hand holding the aerosol moving round…

Struggling against himself, the scientist pointed the aerosol spray in his face and pushed the trigger. He crashed to the ground.

Sarah, you've got to run! They're coming!

Sarah sensed it too. At least three soldiers were approaching the building.

I'm not leaving you
, she told Robert.

Just run!

They lied to us about taking care of Daniel. Don't trust any of them. I'll be back for you…

With that, she bolted for the exit, dashing out past one of the soldiers, almost knocking him over as she went. Hands grabbed at her, but she ran on blindly, evading them and making for the edge of the dome. Maybe she'd be able to cut her way through somehow… A new voice broke through her thoughts.

Over here. Keep running…

It was a male voice. She slowed for a moment, looking for the direction from which it had come.

By the truck. Move!

The voice again, directing her towards a huge, camouflaged truck parked by the dome wall. She doubled her pace, aware of soldiers gaining on her.

An arm shot out as she passed the side of the vehicle, dragging her round and down by the wheels. A hand clamped over her mouth. She turned to find herself looking into a pair of brown eyes belonging to a boy her own age, his skin and hair darker than hers.

He held up a finger to his lips as two soldiers began to pace around the truck. At any moment, Sarah expected them to check under the wheels, but they didn't. One of them spoke into a communications device, receiving orders. A second later both soldiers walked away. The blaring alarms around the dome stopped abruptly.

Come on
, the boy ordered without speaking aloud, pulling her out from under the truck. They made for a smaller building near the wall and ran through the open door.

Inside, Sarah blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dimness. Her rescuer stepped into the room and closed the door. She looked around, making out two beds and a television. Computer games and books were strewn about on the floor.

Another boy appeared from the shadows. He looked almost identical to the other, except his features were a little sharper and his eyes a little harder.

“I'm Octavio,” he said. “And this is my brother, Nestor. What took you so long to get here?”

21

“Who are you?” Sarah demanded, stepping back against the door. “Why did you bring me here?”

She took another look around their room. It was nothing like the cold hospital cell she'd been given. The walls were lined with posters and shelves of books. A case of DVDs stood near the beds.

“It's okay,” reassured Nestor, the one who'd grabbed her. His voice had a definite accent to it. Spanish-sounding. “We just want to help you.”

His brother, Octavio, produced a deck of cards from his pocket and held up one of them in his slender hand, its back to her. Sarah felt for the handle of the door and turned it. It was locked.

“Let me out of here,” she said, looking from one boy to the other.

“You can go,” Octavio said slowly, pushing past his brother with the card held out. “All you have to do is tell me what card I'm holding.”

Sarah shook her head and side-stepped him, moving back into the room, almost tripping on the clutter on the floor.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she said. “I'm not doing anything you say.”

Nestor looked at his brother, “Take it easy, Octavio. Can't you see she's scared?”

“All she has to do is show us what she can do,” Octavio said relentlessly. “Then she can go.”

Sarah reached out and snatched the card from his hand, looking at it.

“Three of clubs!” she cried, throwing it back in his face. “Now let me out of here. I have to get my brother!”

Octavio calmly held up another card. His eyes were cruel and intense.

“Tell me and you can go.”

Sarah looked into his eyes angrily, concentrating on the card. The image on the other side started to appear, a blur at first, then becoming clearer.

“The king of diamonds,” she said, looking at Nestor, who hovered uncomfortably at his brother's shoulder.

“Well done,” replied Octavio with a nod. He produced another one from the deck. “She's fast, Nestor. Potentially powerful psionic ability. What about this card?”

Nestor walked to the door and pressed a button on the wall to unlock it.

“She did what you wanted, Octavio,” he said, holding the door open. “You can go, Sarah.”

She took a step towards the door, then stopped and turned on them both.

“How do you know my name?” she demanded. “How come you two are living like this when the rest of the survivors are locked up in cells?”

Octavio gave a little laugh. He sat on the edge of the bed and lounged back, shuffling the cards expertly in his hands.

“We're not survivors,” he explained. “At least, not of this meteorite. We've been with Colonel Moss for a while. Waiting to meet more people like us.”