Emergence Read online

  Way above London, Justio watched the sounds and pictures coming in. Since Jack had returned from his canal dipping, Justio had been receiving very little information from the room.

  Then the bad news flooded in. Justio watched as Bob and Jack walked down to Bob’s office. The mini-bots pushed the previous hour of activity onto the crew room wall.

  Bad news. They had alien proof. They knew about Triple Alphas.

  Justio knew his options were limited. First the very loose ends. He tracked Ashley Davidson’s position.

  An alarm sounded.

  Justio turned his attention to the relevant video feeds to see Aytch coming back up the corridor towards the blast doors. Justio switched on the communications channel. ‘Aytch, I’m venting the corridor in ten seconds if you don’t go back.’

  Aytch looked determined for a few moments but then went back towards the stasis area.

  He turned his attention back to the university. They’d shut the door to the Pryson room, but Bob was in his office with Jack.

  Justio accessed the real-time sound feeds.

  Bob—Look, Jack, I appreciate your position, but I think that the government will offer you better protection than Louise Harding.

  Jack—I’ve had plenty of dealing with government organisations before. They’re mostly well-meaning, but also strangely blinkered.

  Bob—But Louise’s treatment of you?

  Jack—She’s passionate and committed. And I trust her word.

  Nothing more was said. Bob stayed in his office, while Jack made his way back to the Pryson Room.

  Justio opened up the mini-bots distribution screens. There were plenty covering the team, but even if they self-destructed the explosions would be insufficient to kill them. The mini-bots had to be internal to make a kill. He needed a bigger bang.

  Although the university was full of exotic materials, there wasn’t too much of danger near them.

  Mike’s garage?

  When Jack let himself back into the Pryson Room, the scene was very peaceful. Mike and Jeff were huddled by the whiteboard covering it with strange notation. Louse was sitting on the floor scribbling on a notepad.

  He walked over to Louise. ‘You may have to keep an eye on Bob. He tried to tempt me to elope.’

  Louise looked up sharply. ‘Has he gone?’

  Jack shook his head. ‘Not yet. I don’t think he’d leave without some proof. And I’m not going with him.’

  Louise went over to the alien artefact in the glass jar. She picked it up and hid it under one of the experiment benches. Mike and Jeff noticed her; she gave them a shushing noise and shook her head.

  Mike and Jeff returned to their work. Jack made himself comfortable on the floor. ‘So we wait for you to finish your story?’

  Mike called over to Jack. ‘We can start discussing your training anytime.’

  Jack was tired. ‘I think I’ll take a short break.’

  Twenty minutes or so later, Jack opened his eyes to see Bob come back into the room. He was carrying Louise’s phone. ‘I thought you’d come for this.’

  Louise jumped up. ‘Sorry, I thought you were bringing it.’

  Jack noticed Bob’s gaze sweeping the room. He’s noticed the missing jar.

  Bob spoke. ‘I’d like to do a bit of prodding on the alien artefact.’

  Louise replied. ‘We’d prefer you didn’t take it out of this room.’

  Bob nodded. ‘Okay.’

  Jack relaxed. Bob seemed to have calmed down.

  Louise pointed out where the glass jar was hidden. ‘I’ll put a call into Harry to warn him of a big story. I won’t give any details yet.’

  Then she took her phone outside into the corridor.

  Jeff followed.

  They were back a few minutes later, and Jack returned his attention to trying to get some sleep.

  Chapter 55

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  Jack was awakened from his doze by commotion. As he came round he picked up scraps of an ongoing conversation.

  ‘…‌Crash…’

  ‘…‌Ashley…’

  ‘…‌Dead…’

  Awake fully now, Jack saw Willis standing in front of the others. Willis was out of breath, his clothes apparently soaked through with sweat.

  ‘As I walked to the tube, I checked the news feeds. Something looked odd, and then I tried Ashley, and then I called his home number. He’d been on that coach.’ Willis sobbed. Mike went over and gave him a hug. ‘It turned out, I was the one to tell his wife the news.’

  Jack scanned the room. They’re picking us off. Everyone was subdued, everyone except Bob—who looked spooked.

  Jeff was standing at the doorway, fiddling with his phone. ‘The coach crashed, there’s talk of failed brakes.’

  ‘We have to stay together…‌here.’ said Mike.

  ‘No way!’ Bob pushed passed the group. ‘We have to tell the authorities.’

  He left the room.

  ‘Traitor!’ Louise sneered. ‘You’d better warn him never to see me again.’

  Mike sat down heavily on to a chair. ‘He did what he felt was right; he didn’t take the data, didn’t take the alien bug. Give him a break.’ He paused. ‘So what now, do we stay, or go? Personally, I think we’re as safe here as anywhere. All the dangerous activity so far seems to have been contained to motor vehicles: the attempt on Jack, and now Ashley’s crash.’

  Jack stood up. ‘If Bob has gone to the government, then the police, or army, will be here soon. I’m going to leave. I’m not ready for any government probing.’

  Mike took his phone from the pile that Bob had left on one of the tables. He walked over to the whiteboard and took a few photos. Then he started collecting the laptop and various other materials together. ‘We have a little time; let’s try to clear up this place. Jeff, you start to dismantle the laser.’

  Jack and Willis followed Jeff through to the second area, where they spent ten minutes dismantling the apparatus as best they could.

  Suddenly, Louise put her head around the partition wall. ‘More information. Come round.’

  They gathered around Louise. ‘A text from FibonacciEddie, it says “army on the way to university, suggest you run”.’

  Mike stood again. ‘It may be a trap.’

  Louise frowned. ‘Not sure…‌he’s helped before. But we need to move; the SAS will be kicking down the doors soon.’ Louise started to gather her things together. ‘I need time to finish the story. I’m going on the run. Who’s with me?’

  Jack put up his hand. ‘I’m in.’

  Mike threw up his hands in exasperation. ‘Bloody populist politics! Okay, we’re all in, we have to stay together. But remember what I said…‌so far the danger has been on the roads.’

  Louise sped off, walking fast towards the university entrance. The others followed.

  Halfway to the reception area, Jeff suddenly stopped. ‘We forgot the bug! I’ll go back for it and see you in the car park.’ Jeff peeled off from the group and retraced his steps.

  They momentarily stopped as Jeff left the group. Mike took a moment to get his breath back. He turned to Louise. ‘Where do you think we can go to be safe?’

  A few hundred miles straight up, Justio listened in. ‘Where indeed can you be safe? Nowhere springs to my mind.’

  James Chambers waited for Bob with growing nervousness by the ticket booths in Liverpool Street station. The message from Bob had been incredible; he didn’t know what to think. Positive tests for aliens and superpowers? He’d always believed in aliens, but at a distance—the conceptual existence of other life somewhere in the 100 billion other galaxies.

  Suddenly, Bob appeared, looking panicked. James led Bob towards a coffee shop, but Bob shook his head and pointed downwards. They passed through the barriers and went down a staircase towards the underground platforms. Halfway down the stairs, James stopped. ‘So tell me what happened.’

  B
ob sat down on one of the steps and recounted the events of the previous 24 hours. He summed up. ‘Jack has special powers. We are being watched by an alien force. Apart from that, I don’t know what to think.’

  ‘Jack won’t come quietly?’

  ‘Definitely not. I had to abandon them.’

  ‘And you didn’t bring the drone?’

  ‘No, in my panic I forgot it, but it’s in the laboratory. I’m sure we only managed to capture it because of the EM shielding. I’ve got a copy of the data, but without Jack it’s probably meaningless.’ Bob passed over the zip drive.

  ‘Have you theorised what may be happening?’

  ‘I’ve discussed it with Mike, but it’s a minefield.’ Bob shrugged. ‘I wanted to see you face-to-face, phones can’t be trusted. But I don’t want the others to think I’m a deserter. Tell me the next steps and I’ll return.’

  ‘I’d better call Major Sebastien.’ James massaged his temples. ‘Saying that, I’m actually officially in charge of government activity on alien contact.’

  ‘I suspect you’re only in charge until some extra-terrestrials are actually found.’

  James smiled ruefully. ‘Spot on. But let’s get our twenty minutes in the sun anyway, before the fun police take it away.’

  They travelled back up to ground level. A few seconds later Justio had a full transcript of the conversation.

  James called Major Sebastien. This time the phone was answered and, after a short conversation, the Major asked James and Bob to go directly to the MOD building in Whitehall. Bob was explicitly forbidden to return to the university.

  Chapter 56

  It was dark when James and Bob exited Westminster tube station. As they were getting their bearings a large soldier dressed in black camouflage fatigues approached them. He was conspicuously armed: pistol, rifle and knife.

  ‘James Chambers, please follow me.’

  James and Bob followed meekly and were led into a side street where at least 14 more soldiers stood in readiness. One of them stepped forward. ‘I’m Major Sebastien. I’d better hear the full story.’

  Five minutes later, Sebastien dispatched two soldiers to the university campus, two to Jack Bullage’s house and two to Mike Littlejohn’s garage. Then he turned back to James. ‘We have contingency plans for this type of thing. Our first job must be to secure the participants. There can be no publication of information unless fully vetted by MOD chiefs—national security.’

  James and Bob were then invited to get into a large black truck, which had a command centre set-up in the back, complete with a table and multiple screens fed from cameras on the soldiers’ helmets.

  As they were settling into their seats, James asked many questions, which were roundly ignored. However, once the truck started moving northwards, Sebastien spoke. ‘I am not much more informed than you. There are records from the 60s about possible alien incursions, but there’s never been any hard evidence. However, my unit has a constant watching brief for this type of thing—Platoon Z00A’s real job is counter terrorism. Rule one is that we cannot trust any communications, so we’ll all drive up to the University. Until we get Jack Bullage and the alien bug we’ve got nothing.’

  Justio received a message from Jeremy Benedict. He’d finished his golf early, and was on his way to Jack Bullage’s house. Justio redirected Benedict to the vicinity of Mike’s house, albeit not giving the exact address or name, and then programmed the reconnaissance drone to detach once it got within a few hundred metres.

  Justio then turned his attention to the Harding team. Firstly, he re-routed all of their phones into the Gadium crew room. They couldn’t send or receive anything without his explicit permission.

  Secondly, he tracked Jeff’s movements through the university.

  Thirdly, he followed the progress, and conversations, of Louise, smiling ruefully as they discussed the morality and logic of the alien interventions.

  And finally, he kept a watchful eye on Aytch.

  All by myself, no AI support, a hostile partner…‌and I need some sleep.

  As they approached the entrance, Mike turned to Louise. ‘If the aliens do mean us harm, then it’s probably to silence us. So there’s a gamble to be played…‌tell everyone everything right now. Use social media, and don’t wait for tomorrow’s exclusive.’

  Louise thought for a moment, and Willis chipped in. ‘It may be a moral test by the aliens. While we look for personal gain then we’re vulnerable to reprisals.’

  Mike blew out his cheeks. ‘I’m not sure we can ascribe human motivations to them. But they’re unlikely to destroy the whole world…‌if they wanted to they’d probably have done it a long time ago. Remember, there were only a few unexplained disappearances in the 1960s—not wholesale slaughter.’

  Willis added more. ‘Maybe they repress the knowledge to keep their own ruling position in the galaxy?’

  Mike reached out to Louise. ‘So, Louise?’

  ‘So, I have a story to write. I’m giving Jack his anonymity, and that’s all.’

  Louise’s phone buzzed and a text came through from Jeff.

  Have seen soldier out of window. Run! I will meet you at Mike’s.

  They ran. Then, piling into Louise’s car, set off for Mike’s house. Mike tried to call Jeff but the phone diverted to voicemail.

  Jeff picked up the glass jar with the alien bug and started to walk back down towards the car park. His phone buzzed, a message from Louise.

  Soldiers in the car park; go out the side entrance and meet us at Mike’s. Run.

  Chapter 57

  Justio watched with growing frustration as Louise’s car pulled up in the street outside Mike’s house. Jeff hadn’t arrived yet. He needed to get them all together. He turned to another screen, and watched Jeff going into a corner shop!

  Justio had banked on getting the whole team to take refuge in Mike’s garage while they finalised their plans. Unfortunately, Louise and the others just stood by the car, and Jeff was absent. Justio thought for a few moments and then texted through to Louise.

  Hey, love, I’m a few minutes away, suggest you take cover in the garage. Jx.

  Then he texted through to Jeff.

  We’re at Mike’s. See you in the garage.

  Then he checked the other data. The reconnaissance drone had detached from Benedict’s car and was a few minutes away from the garage. The 5,000 antiprotons in each missile would be plenty to vaporise someone’s head, but he still wanted to avoid using it, or at least save it to erase the alien proof being carried.

  The perfect scenario would be for Jeff to see them entering the garage, and to follow them in just as Justio detonated. Justio checked Jeff’s progress. He was ambling along with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He was still at least a minute’s walk away from Mike’s garage. That would work, but something itched in Justio’s subconscious.

  Louise, Mike, Willis, and Jack walked towards the garage.

  Justio cursed. He’d forgotten that they’d smell the gas. Ruefully, he rubbed the area on his face where humans would have a nose.

  Louise, and the team, continued towards the garage. A few steps away, Willis turned to the others. ‘Something doesn’t feel right.’

  Everyone stopped.

  Willis took half a step towards the garage. Trying to look through the small windows inside. He took another half step forward, then turned and gestured for the others to hang back. ‘Something’s odd.’

  Jeff came round the corner and started walking up the driveway. ‘Hey, guys!’

  Willis reached out to the garage door.

  Justio still thought there was a chance he could get all of them. Slow down a bit, Willis.

  But Willis turned, and shouted, ‘Gas!’

  Growling in frustration, Justio authorised the mini-bots within Mike’s garage to self-destruct immediately.

  The explosion from the garage flooded outwards sending everyone flying. Jack was the firs
t to pick himself up. He looked around, quickly taking stock of the scene.

  Mike seemed to be unscathed, but Louise was badly injured and Willis was not in sight.

  Jack looked at Louise. There was a gash in her leg and what looked like arterial blood spurting out. He pulled off his jumper and put pressure on the wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. ‘Mike, help!’

  Mike ran over. ‘Try your luck powers!’

  Jack focused. He looked down at the leg, willing the blood to stop flowing. There was no immediate change. Louise gasped in pain. He focused again. What do I do? Louise was going very pale. Jack focused in on the wound; he didn’t want the blood coming this way. Surely, some of it could clot, or slow down. He pushed hard on the wound.

  ‘Jack!’ Mike had found Willis

  Jack looked over, Mike was crouched over a body, half-concealed in burning bushes on the side of Mike’s garage. Jesus, he’s been thrown 20 metres

  Mike appeared to be checking for signs of life, but shook his head.

  ‘Louise!’ The scream came from Jeff as he finished the last few metres at a flat sprint. Dropping the glass jar on the lawn. ‘Louise!’

  Jack looked up at Jeff. ‘I’m trying to save her life. Push down on the wound.’ He focused back on the wound. It seemed to have stopped pumping, but Jack couldn’t tell whether that was a good or a bad thing.

  There was a car horn. Mike had started his car. ‘I think we need to get moving.’

  Jeff jumped into the back seat, and then, with Jack’s help, pulled Louise in next to him. Jack got in the front.

  Jack turned. ‘Willis?’

  Mike shook his head. ‘I found the body. I checked for a pulse…‌I think.’

  From the back came the sound of coughing. Louise was coming round.

  Jack looked in amazement. ‘How are you doing?’

  She patted herself all over, wincing when she touched her thigh wound. ‘My leg aches like mad, but I feel okay. A bit weak, but okay.’