Different (10 page)

"Oh, yes. What I had in mind was this..."

Russell Downey was a professional and despite being closer than he liked to his fiftieth birthday, he was fit and looked ten years younger. He rechecked the grenade launchers and set off after Henry, Richard and Janine. Jeremy was at a conference in Brussels and by the time he returned, it would be over.

The jeep carrying the others, and containing Ben and Eve's weekly supplies would be at the hut now. Russell was jogging alongside three of his best men, all hardened professionals who would execute Ben and Eve with no more thought than swatting a bothersome fly. He was anticipating an easy kill and looking forward to getting it over with. It was a pity that Eve was a freak, because she was really cute and he would've liked to have a little fun with her first, before he killed her. He'd also reasoned that Ben and Eve would be too distracted with unpacking their food to realise they were about to be taken out.

They were about five minutes away from the hut when the Jeep came towards them on its return journey and Henry gave him a mock salute as it drove past. It would drive on for another few hundred yards before doing a U-turn and wait for the sound of stuns grenades going off. That would be the signal for Henry and the others to return to the hut to pick up Russell, his men, and the infant.

Russell turned off the track and led his men through the trees. It was slower because he had to test the ground in front of them for hidden boreholes or even an abandoned mine shaft. It took twenty minutes to reach the clearing where the hut stood. A few yards from the hut a huge black plastic water tank with a lid was mounted on a steel scaffold framework. About two hundred yards behind that he could see the mist rising from the swamp.

Ben and Eve were sitting by an open fire in front of the hut eating something. A small child appeared from behind Eve, toddling unsteadily, it went towards the hut and went inside.

Russell smiled grimly; at least the child would be safe. He nodded to his men and they aimed their rifles with the grenade launchers towards the fire where Ben and Eve sat. Russell squeezed the trigger of his own rifle and a millisecond before the hammer struck the round, Ben's head jerked up.

Despite his ear protectors the blast of the four stun-grenades exploding almost simultaneously was deafening. But Russell was already running towards the hut to get the child, his men would dispose of Ben and Eve.

The child was just getting back to her feet her hands clamped over her ears. Russell pulled her arms down behind her back and fastened them together with ducting tape. Kicking her legs from under her, he grasped her ankles and used the tape to fasten them together too. A final piece of tape went over her mouth and then he opened up a heavy-duty plastic bin-liner and dropped the child inside. Twisting the opening of the sack around, he taped the bag shut, sealing the child inside. There was more than enough air in the sack to last the five or six minutes it would take for the jeep to get here. Then Henry, Richard and Janine could take care of the child.

Picking up the sack in one hand, Russell emerged from the hut and stared in disbelief. Two of his men lay dead alongside Ben's corpse and his other man was rising unsteadily to his feet. Eve, an arm missing, was crawling towards him and even as he stared, he saw pink healthy flesh emerging from the bloody stump of her arm.

"My baby,” she said. “Give me my baby!” The look of hatred in her eyes caused Russell to take a step backwards as Eve climbed to her feet.

The surviving member of his team was frantically slamming a fresh magazine into his rifle. He turned his terrified gaze on Russell.

"She's not human,” he cried. “Look! She's laid a goddamn egg!"

For the first time Russell saw Eve's undamaged hand was pressing an egg-shaped oval of pink membrane that was about the size of a small melon against her chest.

She took a step towards him and the colour was returning to her face. Russell raised his rifle with one hand and emptied the remaining bullets in the magazine into her head. Her body was hurled backwards and her egg fell to the ground splitting the membrane. Russell stared in disgust at the small foetus writhing amongst the wreckage of the egg. He nodded to his remaining man who fired a short burst into it, blowing it apart.

The jeep was speeding towards them and Russell felt an overpowering urge to run for his life, but resisted it. Ben's corpse lay where it was and Eve's decapitated body was where it had fallen.
They're not coming back
, he told himself.
The freaks are finally dead!

"What the hell happened?” Henry asked looking in horror at the four corpses that lay around the fire.

"Russell went into the hut to get the kid,” the remaining man said, “and me, Tom and Mike went after the two adults. The young guy came straight at us and Tom blasted him in the chest but then the woman attacked us. She took them out with one hand she was so fast and would have gotten me too if she hadn't tripped over a log. I fired a burst at her, which took off the lower part of her arm, and then I saw she was holding an egg. I think she knew that she was going to be dead neat though, because she ignored me and went after Russell who'd got her kid in that bag.” He indicated the bag that still hung from Russell's left hand. “She should have bled to death but her arm started to re-grow and she got back on her feet and that's when Russell blew her goddamned head right off. What were they? They weren't human I can tell you that and is their kid the same?"

"That's what we intend to find out,” Henry said. He took the bag containing the child from Russell, opened the top and peered inside. “She's still breathing. It's a wonder she didn't suffocate in here."

"Perhaps it would be best to take her out too,” Russell said. “End it right here and now."

"Don't be stupid,” Richard Anderson said. “She could earn us millions. We'll have a titanium steel cage made to keep her in until we've finished with her. It shouldn't take more than about six months and then we'll put her down."

"That makes sense, Russell,” Janine said. “We won't make the same mistakes with her as we did with Ben and Eve."

"It's decided then.” Henry said, handed the bag and girl to Richard. “Let's get her back to the lab. Russell, you and Jake clear up here. Throw the bodies into the marshes, they'll never be found in there."

Russell was about to concede defeat when Henry cannoned into him with such force they both fell to the ground. “What the...” he began but then he heard Janine and Richard both cry out in shock.

Rolling out from under Henry, Russell saw that Jake was on his hands and knees and Janine was sprawled on her back. Richard, his white coat fluttered around his legs as he was carried six inches above the ground towards the swamp. The single hand that held the scientist was bunched in the material of the doctor's coat, just below his neck. In Adam's other hand was the black bin-liner containing the child. It had been eight-years since Russell had seen Adam, who'd been seven, but the boy hadn't changed much. His hair was long and tied back with a strip of leather, he was now about six feet tall and wearing only a pair of jeans that had been cut off above his knees.

He reached the edge of the swamp, his left hand swept forward, releasing the bag. It sailed in arc before falling onto a solitary white water flower about halfway across the swamp.

"Jay be free!” he cried and the bag sank slowly beneath the surface. Without pausing, he ran towards the trees on his right. Russell snatched up his rifle and sighted onto Adam's bare back. It was a clean hit and Adam staggered almost dropping Richard, but then he recovered and made the safety of the trees.

"Come on Jake. Let's get the bastard,” Russell said and together they went after the boy who was supposed to have been dead. Why he'd thrown the child into the swamp baffled Russell but steeled his resolve. Once he'd killed Adam it would all be over and he could get on with his life.

Adam stood in a clearing beneath a huge oak tree and on the very edged of an open mineshaft. If they shot him he would fall into the shaft taking Richard with him.

"Don't shoot,” Russell said to Jake. “Let's see if we can talk the boy into letting Richard go."

"Look,” Janine hissed and point to the shaft.

Russell saw it then. The shaft itself looked as though it had been lined with pale green intestines, which were coiled around its walls. The tubes about three inches in diameter ran down the hole in a tightly packed spiral and seemed semi-transparent. Russell took a hasty step back.

"It was all a mistake, Adam,” Richard said, glancing down at the void over which Adam held him suspended. Adam kicked a small rock into the opening and about thirty seconds later Russell heard a faint splash.

"Let's go for a swim, doctor,” Adam said and stepped into the waiting hole.

"Jesus!” Henry said and was brushed to one side by Hank who peered down into the shaft. A green beam of light shot out of the hole, Hank's head and shoulders instantly froze. His legs collapsed and his lifeless body toppled headfirst into the shaft. From above them, something in the tree made a sound like a leg breaking and a thick branch from the oak tree crashed down only to be followed by another and then more. Those that fell into the beam instantly froze and then crumpled into frozen dust.

Russell saw that the beam of light, now some six feet square was now shining in an uninterrupted beam up to a height of about fifteen feet. The branches of the trees closest to it were covered in a thick white frost.

"What the hell is that?” Henry asked. He looked at Russell and shook his head. “I never should have allowed you to talk me into letting you kill Ben and Eve. Now they're all gone. Richard, our men, Adam and the child. Why did he kill her?"

"Who cares,” Russell said and fired a burst of bullets at the green tube. The bullets disintegrated as soon as they hit the beam. “Shit! And just for the record Henry, I didn't talk you into anything you didn't want to do. The thing now is we can't afford to relinquish the lease on this place for obvious reasons.” He pointed at the beam of green light. “After I've cleaned up here, I'll string up some camouflage nets to hide that. God knows how long that thing will last but we can't risk anyone seeing it. We'll us the Foundation's Adoption Agency as a cover and I'll organise another doctor."

Russell loaded the bodies of his men, Ben and Eve into the back of the Jeep. He reversed to the edge of the marsh and heaved the bodies into it. After the last one had been sucked under the surface, he returned to the hut to pick up Henry and Janine.

"Let's get back to the house,” he said. “I could use a shower and a drink."

2008

Russell and Janine stood a few yards away from the opening of the shaft into which Adam had jumped to his death, taking Richard Maylor with him, thirteen years ago. The beam of green light only rose about eighteen inches out of the shaft now, but when Russell lobbed a stone at it, the stone disintegrated.

"I don't know what the hell that is,” Russell said, “but it would have made the ultimate weapon if we could find a way of duplicating it."

"We don't need it, Russell,” Janine said gently. “We're making a fortune with our adoption sideline and besides, I've had an idea."

Russell gathered her in his arms and kissed her. He'd been back in the States for over eight months and he'd missed her more than he'd ever thought he'd miss anyone in his life. He loved her, it was as simple as that, and each enforced separation only served to enforce the emptiness of his life without her. Breaking off their kiss, he nuzzled her neck. “I've had an idea myself,” he said.

She laughed a light tinkling laugh, and looked up into his eyes. “We've already made love twice since you arrived. You're getting insatiable.”

He smiled and shook his head. “I can't get enough of you, but that's not what I meant. I want you to marry me, Janine. I want to you to be my wife."

Her face clouded and she pulled herself free of his arms. “I love you, Russell, but I'm scared. We've been together as a couple for over twelve years now and it has been wonderful. Even when you have to go back to the USA, I can cope because I know that eventually you'll be coming back again. But married? What if getting married changed things and we ended up hating each other. We've both seen it happen to other people. What if it happened to us?"

"It won't! I won't let it happen to us."

She looked at him for a long moment and then took both of his hands in her own. “I believe you,” she said and smiled mischievously. “But you'll regret it when you see the price of engagement rings at Cartier's."

Relief swept through him and laughed aloud. “So you'll do it? You'll marry me?"

She kissed him lightly on the lips. “You'd better marry me, unless you want me to sue you for breach of promise? Come on. Let's get back to the house. I've never been to bed with a fiancé, before."

"What about the staff? They'll be expecting us to do the tour."

"They'll just think you're suffering from jet-lag.” She playfully squeezed his bottom. “By the time I've finished with you, you're going to be exhausted."

"What a way to go,” he laughed, holding hands they strolled back to the house.

It was several hours later, after dinner that Russell remembered what Janine had said just before he'd proposed to her. “You were going to tell me about your idea,” he reminded her.

"Yes, that's right. You know that we have far more prospective parents than babies to sell and the problem's been getting worse every year. Well, I had this crazy idea but the more I think about it the less crazy it seems. A lot of the pregnant girls we get here are dropouts from university and runaways who just turn up here. I suppose that they've heard about the Foundation through the grapevine."

"Probably, but I don't see..."

"Let me finish,” she interrupted. “Otherwise I'll lose my train of thought. I got this idea of setting up a help-line, direct to the Foundation, targeting runaway girls of eighteen who've got themselves pregnant. I could arrange to meet them locally and in confidence. If, like a lot of those who've turned up here, they're isolated from their families, friends, and the father of their babies, I could lure them here and keep them in the hut that Ben and Eve used to live in. No one would ever know where they were, or even miss them, they're runaways, and we could simply take their babies and sell them."