Chimera Code (Jake Dillon Adventure Thriller Series) (35 page)

Claudia Dax paused; stared around guiltily, like a child caught
stealing a toy, sweat pouring down her forehead as she moved closer
to the large wall panel.

Her flattened palm pressed against the cold black glass of the
bio-metric reader. She held her breath.
The panel slid open; a soft-touch keypad was exposed - she
keyed in a complex series of digits.
Then the inner sanctum opened, to reveal the core processor,
the nucleus of the mountain facility. The core processor that not only
controlled the facility’s environment but also, because she had been
the one who had hidden it there, it held the final codes to complete
the Chimera Programme which could allow it to operate at 100%!
Kirill’s very own core processor held the key to Chimera...
…and Claudia was the only one who knew that the key had been
under his nose all this time!
She tapped in a few digits; there was a hiss, a disk slid into place
and within ten seconds it was done. She pulled free the tiny silver
optical disk and stared thoughtfully at its mirror-like surface.
To hold the most damaging data in the world in your hands, she
thought: every scrap of information about the Chimera Programme.
How it worked - its entire design - its heart...
The blueprints for Chimera’s
soul
.
She smiled nastily to herself. Fuck you, you murderers, she
thought; I have something you not only want, but you need! The final
scripts had been there all the time, you just didn’t know where to look,
and now I have the data I need to create a Chimera that will operate
at one-hundred percent.
And what’s more, I can now build as many Chimera Programmes
as I like...
Claudia thought back to all the blueprints, the designs. Chimera
was a programme that, once loaded onto even the most basic
PC, could launch itself onto the world-wide-web and leech data,
constantly self learning, and taking whatever it wanted, when it
wanted. Carry Chimera loaded onto a WiFi enabled laptop into any
public building; within five seconds it would, without alerting even
the most sophisticated spyware, have entered the network and taken
control of every machine within the building. At twenty seconds it
would have replicated a billion times across the globe, taking control
of satellite links, weapons systems, government mainframes, and the
world’s stock markets. In effect, whoever launches a Chimera running
at one-hundred percent - has total control!
It was a malicious parasite.
It could go anywhere, control anything.
It would make whoever controlled the source of the programme,
the
most
powerful person on Earth.
Chimera undeniably worked at its optimum in amongst the
most sophisticated of processors and programs. Designed to learn
and adapt with stealth at lightning speed, and without leaving a spec
of evidence that it had ever been on the host hard drive. Chimera
was one of a kind. The most advanced mal-ware programme on the
planet - and Claudia Dax had not only created it, but she now had the
completed programme in the palm of her hand...
Claudia Dax reached forward, and then stopped. She glanced
over her shoulder, half expecting to see an Assassin with the muzzle
of its Uzi pointing at her.
But she was alone.
Claudia had found a black satchel type bag; she dropped the disk
into a zipped pocket inside and turned... Only then did she see the red
flashing LED light on the side of the black box like device attached to
the side of one of the main server units.
As she stared at the device, the red flashing light changed, to
amber...
Her mind worked quickly; the Assassins had all left, and those
left behind, had been systematically killing those members of staff
deemed ‘expendable’, apparently this barbarism was being overseen
by Kirill himself, her boss. A flashing light on a device. This had to be
a bomb.
Had to be
. It wasn’t unreasonable of her to assume that they
wanted to totally destroy the facility. Claudia had a gold-plated security
clearance. She had access to most of the information that flew around
the facility; and she knew, knew that Chimera was developed to be one
of a kind - in total control...
Claudia took a deep breath.
Shit, she thought.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her
hand, turned, and then sprinted across the lab. Her footsteps light on
the tiled floor; she bypassed several security doors and returned to the
corridor and the ventilation shaft.
She hauled herself up into its confines.
And it was then that she heard the gunshots.
Claudia crawled as fast as the restricted space would allow.
The shots continued to echo through the ventilation system and she
wondered just what the hell was going on. She went through the shafts
faster than she thought possible, knees and elbows sore from friction
against the aluminium walls, sweat soaking her clothing. Finally, she
reached the spot and, spinning around on her bottom, kicked free the
vent grille.
She dropped down into one of the reception level female rest
rooms that she used as part of her route during her frequent midnight
jaunts outside. She moved to the entrance, looking cautiously around
the doorframe, ever fearful that she might be spotted by a guard or
worse, an Assassin. She ran, keeping low, her breathing heavy with
fatigue, past conference rooms and security offices. She passed one
of the facility’s many guard stations, huge banks of monitors stood
looking out at her, blank and lifeless. And even now, she felt their
accusatory gazes against her sweat drenched face as she went by.
She reached the emergency exit. The solid round metal doorway
looked as if it were stuck fast. She pulled out her security pass card,
swiped it through the reader, there was a hiss and the door released
outwardly... And she stepped out onto the mountain-side.
The strong cold northerly breeze hit her with its full force, sleet
and rain washed across her body.
The cold sweat running down her back made her shiver
involuntarily.
Claudia ran, fuelled by fear, fuelled by the guilt of her theft,
pushed on by the concept of a bomb not that far from her. She left
deep footprints in the snow; indelible, as in fast drying concrete.
Reaching the corner of the gangway, some primeval part of her
soul forced her to halt, to peer around the reinforced concretecolumn.
She saw the winch-house. She crept, as low as possible; peering inside,
and then around the general area. Looking down, her gaze went
instantly to the bloodied twisted corpses of the dead guards, not more
than two feet away from where she was now standing. She gagged at
the sight of so much blood, raising her hand up to her mouth to stop
herself from throwing up. Glancing quickly around, she moved to the
entrance and opened the door.
She went inside.
Closed the door gently.
In the gloom of the interior, she could make out the large wicker
basket hanging over the trap-door that would take her away from the
danger to the safety of the valley far below.
Claudia pushed the start button, and then climbed into the
basket as the winch motor cut in and the two wooden trap doors
started to open. Then, as if for the sole purpose of reassuring herself,
she said aloud, “Please God, don’t let anyone with a machine pistol in
their hand, look through that trap-door now...”

“...She really is one of us, Mr Dillon. Tatiana has always been on
our side
.”
Several things all happened at once.
Outside, the noise of the winch motor cutting in could be heard;
and then the cable running out as the basket was being lowered.
Dillon turned back to Kirill and saw the look of shock on his
face.
The
crack
of the Glock 9mm echoed across the reception area.
The Assassin crumpled to the ground, relieving Dillon’s head from
the pressure of the gun’s barrel.
Dillon’s eyes flicked around the immediate area. He looked up
and around. Into Tatiana’s tired eyes.
“That was close. Felt the heat off that one.” He said softly.
“If she had wanted to kill you, Mr Dillon. You would now be
dead.” Said Kirill, his voice was low and a little shaky. “When I said
that Tatiana was one of us, what I should have said is that she is one
of them.”
“Don’t listen to him,” said Tatiana, her stare fixed on Dillon.
“Damn it, Dillon. I’ve just saved your life.”
Dillon turned fully towards her. “So who are you going to kill
now? Me or him? Tats - your gun is still pointing at
me
...”
“Drop your weapon, Tatiana.”
They both turned. The Assassin had tossed Kirill a Black Beretta
pistol that nestled evilly in the Professor’s hand.
The Priest squeezed the trigger and the
crack
reverberated
around the reception area. He was standing in the ideal position by the
entrance to have a clear shot. The Assassin dropped to the ground, the
side of its head obliterated. The second
crack
followed immediately,
the bullet grazing the side of the Beretta’s grip in Kirill’s hand with
bone shaking ferocity.
At the same time, Tatiana kicked the Glock across the floor.
The Priest and Alix stepped over the bodies of the other dead
Assassins towards Dillon.
“Took your time, didn’t you?”
“We made it didn’t we?”
“And, lady and gentlemen. In just under two minutes you’re all
going to have to say your goodbyes to each other. Truly, a suitably
fitting end to this act! So perfectly written! So beautifully performed!”
Dillon’s alter persona stirred deep within his subconscious.
Kirill checked his watch and smiled. Dillon looked sideways at
Tatiana whose face was unreadable; he swallowed as time seemed to
slow, turn to infinity and he felt the familiar heightening of awareness
at the back of his mind; waiting, watching, timing, listening and then,
surging forward.

He dropped to his knees and rolled - the Glock slipped like a
glove into the palm of his hand.
He rolled rapidly, he came up fast to see Kirill, the small black
Beretta wavering, pointing in the wrong direction because Dillon had
moved so fast and snapped the Glock up - Kirill just had time to
register surprise and absolute fear as Dillon pulled the trigger hard
and four bullets slammed into Kirill’s chest, ripping holes through
his clothing, skin tissue and muscle, blood splattering like a crimson
waterfall across the stone floor.
Kirill’s head was slumped forward, sightless eyes staring down
at his gaping chest. Very slowly, he toppled sideways onto the ground
and lay still.
“That was way overdue,” said Dillon quietly, his voice laced with
satisfaction. He rounded on Tatiana, the Glock trained on her face.
“You make one false move and I will kill you. You say the wrong
thing, you will die, Tatiana. Do I make myself clear?”
Tatiana nodded solemnly.
Then let’s get the hell off this mountain top before we’re all fried.
Tatiana, the Priest, and Alix all moved towards the main entrance at
a run.
Dillon, exhilarated, put another bullet into Kirill’s slumped body.
Then another. He stared into the lifeless eyes. Then he ran across the
room, collected the Nemesis sniper rifle, muttering, “Can’t let such a
beauty go to waste,” and sprinted for the open entrance.
Tatiana and the others had reached the winch house, a look of
despair across her face.
“The basket is down in the valley,” said Alix, “And we don’t have
the time to bring it back up, Jake.”
Dillon was about to speak, but the Priest cut-in. “Forget the
basket, we’ll go down the same way that Alix and I came up.” He
beckoned everyone to follow him inside the winch house.
“We’ll go down the wire two at a time,” He extracted the climbassist unit from his rucksack, and attached it to the thick wire cable.
“The motor mechanism will act as a brake on the way down.”
“Is there a back-up system?” Asked Dillon.
“If it fails - say goodbye to this world for good. There is no
back-up, Dillon. But I will say a prayer and hope that the great man up
above is looking kindly down upon us.”
“Oh, that’s reassuring then.” Dillon said sarcastically.
The Priest placed his wrist through the webbing strap, and then
instructed Tatiana to hold on tight, for a quick decent. They went
through the open trap door.
Alix and Dillon positioned themselves over the trap door, and
then after a second or two disappeared down towards the valley far
below.
Neither saw the figure crawling out of the shattered entrance to
the facility.
There came a single metallic
click
...
An obscenely loud
boom
rumbled deep within the facility,
followed by an intense rush of hot air up through every air-shaft and
corridor.
And then came a huge ball of raging fire and gases; fire roared
and screamed upwards and outwards; large chunks of concrete and
stone and glass were spat up high into the air; an insane release of
energies rushed screaming and burning out across the mountain range.
“Hold on tight, Dillon.” Said Alix excitedly.
The cable quivered violently with the sudden bursts of explosive...
And then the fire came, slithering like a white hot snake out of
the open trap door, bearing down on the two men.
As Alix adjusted the climb-assist braking mechanism to quicken
their descent, they were buffeted from above by the fist of the
explosion. The two men were thrown around like rag-dolls as the
cable flayed around in the turmoil, anger and total madness…
The ground came rushing towards them, Alix shouted to Dillon.
“Get ready to jump clear of the basket and don’t forget to roll
or, you’ll snap both your ankles.”
Dillon landed roughly, rolling out of the force of momentum;
followed by Alix who performed a near perfect parachute roll landing.
Even though the tongue of the fire had expelled itself high up the
mountain face, the heat pursued them and could still be felt at ground
level.
And then - the mountain top exploded...
Everything was in chaos.
Tatiana gazed up through tears at a vision of hell raging high
above them.
Then from a dull grey sky, large chunks of rock started to rain
down upon them.
All four sprinted for the cover of the nearest overhang, as
moments later the guard’s station was turned into match-wood, and
rocks fell out of the sky to pound the damp earth all around the
immediate area.
Everything became calm.
“Whoa!” Alix looked around at the devastation, and then called,
“You out there Lola?”
“Perhaps she got the hell out of here when the fireworks had
started? Dillon said casually.
“How did you get here, Dillon? “ Asked the Priest.
“Army issue quad-bike. Why?”
“Because we need to leave - and fast. If that really was a small
nuclear device that has just been detonated, we need to get as far
away from here, as possible. We’re already running a risk of radiation
exposure as it is.”
Dillon stood with his hands on his hips, staring out at the scatter
of burning debris littering the valley floor.
Tatiana approached him from behind.
“You feeling okay, Dillon?”
Dillon whirled, so fast that Tatiana blinked, taking an involuntary
step back. Only then did she see the Glock pointed at her.
Dillon smiled. A wide grin.
“You fancy going back up there, Tats. See your old pal, Kirill,
eh?”
“Dillon, you’re acting very strange.”
“Stop talking!” He spat the words out vehemently. “Don’t
you dare judge me, you little bitch. Do I have to remind you of the
damning words Kirill spoke. You traitor.”
“Dillon, he was lying.” She whispered softly.
The Glock snapped up - pressed against the soft flesh of her
slender neck, just below her left ear.
“The only reason that you’re still alive, luv. Is that I want to put
you in front of Edward Levenson-Jones and The Partners of Ferran
& Cardini International. Now, get moving.”
Tatiana turned and strode off down the valley towards the
hidden quad-bike. Dillon smiled suddenly, his gaze upwards towards
the flames and the smoke at the summit of the mountain. “Not so
smug now, are you Professor...” He said quietly to himself, then turned
dark brooding eyes to watch Tatiana walk away, fine swaying hips and
long slender legs, temporarily mesmerising him.
He looked up once more admiring the devastation that had once
been Kirill’s top-secret facility. His gaze took in the huge torn blocks
of stone and the sea of broken glass that had rained down from the
mountain.
He nodded his approval, eyes sparkling triumphantly.
“Dillon, you said there would be fireworks. But hell man, that
was one of the coolest pyrotechnic displays I’ve ever attended.”
“Yeah, cool Alix.” Dillon said wearily, as he walked away down
the valley.