The Hunting (27 page)

‘Your job is to transmit me. But you have to press the buttons in the right sequence. It’s complicated.’

‘And if I screw up?’

‘I explode.’

‘No pressure then.’

Cary looked at her and smiled. ‘No pressure.’

Denis appeared in the control room suddenly. He looked curiously happy.

‘I’ve changed the code on the entry door. It’ll keep them out for about ten minutes.’

Cary nodded.

‘All the servers are up. You’re ready to go, Cary?’ Denis asked him.

‘God,’ Genie whispered. ‘I’m scared.’

Denis was suddenly quite close to her.

‘I fixed the security cameras. They won’t be able to see you when you leave Radspan.’

‘You did?’

Denis smiled. ‘I did.’ Then he turned to Cary. ‘I’m not coming.’

Cary looked at him with astonishment.

‘This is our only chance, Denis. You have to come. It’ll work. You won’t explode. It’ll work. It’ll be just like before, in the woods.’

‘I don’t want to be that small kid any more. I don’t want to be Denis any more.’

Genie looked at him, confused. ‘But you won’t be anything if you don’t go. They’ll delete all the stuff on the servers and you won’t exist at all.’

Denis just smiled. ‘I made up my mind. And I’ll still be around. I don’t have to be stored here. I can be everywhere. Cary understands.’

Cary did understand, but didn’t necessarily comprehend.

‘You’ll never be flesh and blood, Denis. You’ll never be real.’

Denis walked back to the end of the control room. Genie noticed he’d changed his hair and was wearing a leather bomber jacket. Denis was changing.

‘I’ll be there, when you need me. I made up my mind. I don’t want to be “real” or shorter than my stupid sister. I’m going to live for ever. You’ll see. I’ll be turning up in places you never thought of. Being flesh and blood isn’t everything, y’know. There’s all kinds of possibilities.’

‘Denis—’ Genie began.

He pointed to the control panel. ‘Countdown started. Pay attention. I’m not saying goodbye. But good luck – and thanks for being my friends.’

He disappeared.

Genie felt a lump in her throat. He’d chosen to stay with the machines. That was so …

‘He started the sequences. I haven’t shown you what you have to do yet.’

Genie heard the panic in his voice. ‘Show me. Show me now.’

She looked up suddenly. She could see technicians trying to get into the teleport chamber, puzzled their swipe cards weren’t working.

‘Show me now, Cary.’

Renée was cradling Genie in her arms. She’d begun to moan some time earlier and had seemed to be choking. She held her and stroked her head to calm her.

‘What’s happening, Marshall?’

Marshall hadn’t got a clue, but Rian had. He returned from the kitchen with a warm wet towel and sponged Genie’s face and neck.

He looked at Renée. ‘It soothes her. She’s been gone for ages now. These trips are getting longer.’

‘You worried?’

‘I worry about what will happen in the future. It’s dangerous. Just losing control like this. I know she’s trying to help, but I’m scared for her.’

‘I wonder where she is?’

‘I don’t know, but she’s tense. Look at her clenched hands. She’s really tense right now.’

The speakers by the computer suddenly crackled. All of them looked across the room.

‘Dr Milan would like to speak to Marshall Miller,’ the computer voice said.

Marshall’s hair practically stood on end. Renée and Rian felt goosepimples rise on their arms. It was just a computer voice but it spooked them all.

‘Dr Milan would like to speak to Marshall Miller,’ it repeated. ‘On-screen.’

Marshall and Rian wandered over to the computer control screen. They looked at each other.

‘Type in “Hello”,’ Rian told Marshall.

Marshall did just that.

‘Hello, Marshall Miller here.’

Rian looked back at Renée to make sure she was OK.

All of them had seen the video of Dr Milan exploding. This wasn’t a guy stored on any servers. This was a dead guy communicating. Altogether different to anything else that had happened.

‘Dr Milan on-screen in five, four, three, two seconds …’ the computer voice told them.

Marshall stood back a little, nervous. He looked at Rian.

Rian shrugged. They watched as one quarter of the screen came to life. This was ‘live’ streaming from beyond the grave. Totally weird.

‘Good afternoon, Marshall. Have I been gone so long? You look so old.’

Marshall was surprised, then noticed the camera at the top of the screen.

‘Had an accident, Dr Milan. Prematurely went white.’

Marshall was trying to remember when they had last met. Must have been at least fifteen years. A long time.

‘I might say that you don’t seem to have changed a bit.’

Dr Milan smiled. ‘An illusion, I assure you.’

‘Are you a ghost?’ Rian asked.

‘Who is speaking?’

‘Rian Tulane. I am assisting Marshall.’

‘Ah yes. I see you now.’

‘I need to know that too,’ Marshall told him. ‘We saw Test four thousand five hundred and one.’

There was a momentary silence.

‘It was a last throw of the dice.’

‘That I understand, Dr Milan. But it doesn’t explain your presence here now.’

‘A young man found me – Denis. Test four thousand five hundred and one was a partial success, despite all appearances. He explained to me about the servers in Synchro. I am speaking to you from there.’

‘Denis?’ Rian asked. ‘Our Denis transferred you?’

‘Showed me a way out beyond the firewall, I’d prefer to call it. Your stability programme worked well, Marshall. I was impressed when I saw your design. I am overawed to meet the first successful teleporters. To think they arrived at your farm unaided.’

‘They had a little help from an electrical storm,’ Marshall informed him. ‘All you lacked was power and speed, Dr Milan.’

‘Power and speed. It was ever thus.’

‘Why are you here now?’ Marshall asked, amazed that Dr Milan and Denis seem to have connected.

‘To warn you. Shut down the E3. You will have incoming transmissions in … eighty-five seconds. The amount of power coming through will melt the cable cores. You must shut down now and prepare for incoming.’

Marshall began the shut-down process.

‘It will be hot, the coolant—’ Marshall began.

‘The fans will operate normally to keep it cool,’ Dr Milan cut in. ‘Shut down now. Wait! You need to switch to manual operation for the doors.’

Marshall could see the auto-manual light flashing and made the switch. A light came on over the exit door.

‘Manual override on,’ the computer announced. ‘Doors unlocked.’

Marshall paused on the shut-down.

‘Goodbye, Dr Milan.’

‘I shall cease to exist in ten seconds. Please convey my regrets to my wife, Ingrid,’ Dr Milan told them. ‘She still lives nearby.’

Marshall shut down. It was a slow set of sequences and as things began to quieten they could hear the automatic rush of the fans keeping the overheated computer cool.

‘That was so weird,’ Rian declared. ‘He’s been living in limbo all this time and Denis set him free?’

‘Denis is getting about. I’ll have to ask him about that when he comes through.’

Moucher began to bark. He’d sensed a change in the atmosphere.

‘Grab him,’ Marshall told Rian. ‘Keep him still.’

With the computer down, the temperature began to rise. All eyes were on the transmission platform.

‘I don’t understand. If the power is down, how does this work?’

‘It’s taking power from the grid. Dr Milan is probably right. The sudden surge of grid power on those old cables would most likely overload everything. Renée, cover yourself, and leave Genie. Get the clothes and fresh water ready. They are going to need help the moment they arrive. All of you, shield your eyes. It’s going to get immensely bright in here.’

Renée lay Genie’s body flat, spread her denim jacket over her face, making sure she could breathe OK and left a thick book under her head to lift it off the floor. She ran to the transmission area and stood ready beside Rian.

‘I’m scared. What if they explode?’

Rian took her arm. He was worried about the same thing.

‘Turn away,’ Marshall instructed them. ‘Close your eyes, cover them and go back ten paces. Do it now.’ They both began moving.

Instantly there was a bright, intense burst of light that swamped them, shone right through their hands so they could see the bones. Renée screamed with fright. The heat on their backs was intense and she smelled burning.

Moucher was yelping, trying to hide behind Rian’s legs.

And then it went incredibly dark. Worse, the extractor fans had ceased to work.

Strindberg saw all the computer screens blink out. He stood up and looked out across Whistler. The power flickered and blinked out for just a second right across the city and beyond. He was annoyed. He had a meeting in an hour and he didn’t want anything to go wrong. He wondered what was going on and only briefly thought of the Fortress and an impending transmission. He checked his watch. 16.44. This had nothing to do with Fortransco then; the next test wasn’t due till twenty-one hundred hours. Nevertheless, he was intensely annoyed.

‘Can you see anything?’ Renée asked. She was almost blind, despite having her eyes closed during the transmission.

‘Here, now, quick,’ Rian was calling. He couldn’t see so well either. He was over by the transmission platform and there was definitely a body lying there. He knew he had to get them off the platform before the next one arrived.

‘Who is it?’ Renée asked. It was too dark to make anything out and the only light came from the emergency blue light over the door.

‘Off the platform now. Just haul him or her off,’ Marshall instructed them.

Rian did just that, establishing where their shoulders were and lifting whomever it was off and on to the floor at the far end.

‘Get ready for another. Move to the rear of the room. We were way too close before,’ Marshall added. He groped his way to the kitchen area and took Moucher in there. He couldn’t see anything at all. ‘Renée? Rian? Kitchen area. Safest place.’

The light started again.

Rian and Renée jumped into the kitchen and shut the door. Even so the brightness of the light that shone from the base and sides seemed brighter than the sun and they all had to look away.

Mouch was whining, paws trying to cover his eyes.

As soon as the light began to fade Rian and Renée were out the door to haul the kid off the platform. Their eyes were better adjusted now. They could see it was Miho.

Miho’s eyes opened. She looked startled and afraid.

‘You’ll be fine. You’ll be fine,’ Rian told her. ‘You’re safe now. Cover your eyes, Miho.’ Reluctantly Miho put her hands over her eyes.

He carried her over and put her beside Julia, the first one to come through. She was still unconscious.

‘Kitchen,’ Renée shouted. ‘Next one incoming.’

The light was just as intense – the smell of burning stronger this time. Marshall sensed something was wrong.

‘Stay back,’ he told them. ‘I’ll get this one.’

Rian stayed in the kitchen with Renée and Moucher. He splashed water on his face to try and cool his eyes.

‘Who?’ Renée was asking.

‘Julia and Miho so far,’ he told her.

‘Rian!’ Marshall shouted.

Rian dashed out of the kitchen, the smell of burning intense now.

Marshall had Cary halfway off the platform.

‘Cables are burning. The fumes from the plastic will asphyxiate us if we don’t get air extracted. When we shut down the computer it turned off the extractors.’

Cary had scorch marks on his back. They put him with the others and quickly covered them as they dashed back to the kitchen.

They remained there for five whole minutes before they realized no one else was coming.

‘That’s it?’ Renée asked. ‘That’s all we saved?’

‘Saving one is good,’ Marshall remarked. He was puzzled Denis hadn’t come through. Just three.

Renée suddenly remembered Genie.

‘Go to them. I need to make sure Genie’s OK.’

She burst out of the kitchen only to find Mouch was already with Genie. He was standing right beside her, looking at her very oddly.

‘What?’ Renée asked him. ‘Is she back?’

Moucher rested his head on Genie’s shoulder and whined. Renée felt suddenly scared. It wasn’t a good sign. Not a good sign at all.

Strindberg stared out across Whistler. The power was out now completely. The whole resort was in darkness. His phones were down. All the power had gone. There was a sub-station fire in the distance. The emergency lighting kicked in, which was a comfort, then spluttered out. Right now he realized, a lot of people would be trapped in elevators across town, including his own building.

He wondered what had caused it. It wasn’t cold, it was early evening and there was no excessive power use. It certainly wasn’t the weather, it was very mild for the time of year.

Another sub-station fire broke out across town. He began to get worried. Was Whistler under attack from terrorists? If so, who on earth would attack a ski resort? Made no sense at all.

Marshall led them out of the chamber. The air was already unbreatheable. They’d had to carry everyone out to the corridor and shut the door. And now they all faced those steep stairs.

‘Do we wait for them to recover?’ Rian asked.

‘How long did it take before?’ Marshall asked Renée.

Renée shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I was like in suspended animation and then suddenly lying on the forest floor. Once I woke up I was OK pretty quickly. Their legs will be weak though. No way they can climb stairs.’

‘Then we’ll have to carry them.’

Renée looked at the three girls and Cary. She understood why Julia and Miho were out of it, but why hadn’t Genie recovered?

‘I’ll carry Miho. But how are you going to carry three of them?’

‘In stages,’ Marshall told them, thinking of his own bad leg. ‘Genie may come back to us soon, with luck.’

‘What about the power? We could use the elevator?’