Holes in the Ground (37 page)

To Jerry’s surprise, Wolfie let out a bark. It was the friendly, yippy bark that Betsie had used to make when he would come home from school.

Jerry grinned. “Dude, I would so adopt you if I could. Ben would shit his pants if he saw me walking you around the block. Oh yeah, right. You don’t know about Ben.”

Wolfie spun a circle, wagging his tail, before sitting back down and tilting his head again.

“Ben’s been my best friend since like forever. We grew up together, were in the same class in first school. I think I used to get on his nerves sometimes. He was smart, had his shit together, you know? I’ve always been a bit of a disaster zone. He always stuck by me, though, through thick and thin. Thing is, he wasn’t just my best friend, he was my half-brother. Only he didn’t know about it. My mom had an affair with his dad when they were both really young. Mom got pregnant but he didn’t want anything to do with it—the
prick
. He was getting married to another woman who was pregnant with Ben at the time. So I grew up without a dad. Through some crazy coincidence, I ended up making friends with Ben on our first day of school. Of course, I didn’t know then that we were brothers. It wasn’t until I was older that my mother came clean—although it took a bottle of vodka and some bad Chinese food to make her tell me. I was shocked at the time, upset, you know? But in the end I decided to keep it to myself. Ben and I were so close anyway. What difference would telling him have made?

Ben’s dad used to treat me like shit whenever he caught me hanging around with Ben. Used to warn him that I would bring him down. Who he was really slagging off, though, was my mom. He had money, a businesses, a nice little family. My mom had me and a crummy council flat. Ben’s dad—my dad—looked down on me and my mom like shit on his shoe from the moment I was born.” Jerry took a moment to catch his breath. He was breathing hard and felt anger in his veins. “When my mom died he didn’t even come to the fucking funeral. I was so mad.” Jerry took a breath and let it out in a bitter chuckle. “I showed
him
, though.”

Someone stepped out of the elevator at the end of the corridor and startled Jerry. It was a young bird with auburn hair and pale skin. Her red lips seemed to sparkle as she smiled at him.

“Oh, hi. Sorry,” he said. “I know I’m not supposed to be walking around here on my own, but the Dennisons are just down the hall.”

“It’s okay. Don’t see what harm you could do anyway. General Kane is just being overly cautious. Being a hardass is kind of his job.”

“Yeah, I guess. Doesn’t mean I have to like him, though.”

The girl giggled. “I’m Nessie. Pleased to meet you. You must be Jerry?”

Jerry blushed. “Pleased to meet you to. Take it you’ve been warned about me.”

“Nope. Dr Chandelling just told me that the Dennisons had a young Englishman with them. Love your accent by the way. Reminds me of my daddy a little. He was from Belfast. Not the same, I know, but it’s still a nice change from all the American accents I’m used to hearing.”

Jerry smiled. He wanted to say something funny, or at least interesting, but nothing came out.

“So, what are you up to?” Nessie asked him.

Jerry shrugged his shoulders. He wondered if she had heard him talking to the creature in the cell. If she had he was embarrassed. No point hiding it though. Last thing to do in a secret underground government facility was act suspiciously. “I was just chatting with Wolfie here.”

Nessie raised an eyebrow and gave him a lopsided grin that was extremely cute. “Wolfie?”

“Yeah, better than calling him
Lycanus Canus
.”

“I suppose you’re right. Don’t know who came up with all the names, but they do lack a little bit of colour. Wolfie in here can be quite playful. I smuggle a few chew toys in once and he seems to like them. Don’t tell the General, though. It’s strictly against the rules.”

Jerry smiled. He was glad there was at least one person looking out for Wolfie. “So, erm, is there anything I can help you with? I’m supposed to make myself useful around here.”

Nessie chewed the side of her mouth and seemed to think. “You can help me do some research in the library, but I’m only going to be in there for an hour or so.
Fatal Autonomy
is on later and I never miss it.”

Jerry laughed. He was surprised that someone so bookish could be a diehard fan of a flaky TV cop drama. “You actually like that show?”

Ness nodded enthusiastically. “I love it.” She put her hands up in front of her. “I know I know, it’s kind of lame, but I just find it fascinating. I hear they base the killers on real life psychopaths.”

“Wow, I did not know that. To be honest, I haven’t watched it since that got rid of the fat sidekick. She was hilarious.”

Nessie grimaced. “She was awful. The show is lot more serious now that they’ve gotten rid of her. Harry McGlade is much darker.”

“Then perhaps it’s time I give the show another chance,” said Jerry, feeling himself blush but not knowing why. He also suddenly needed to go to the toilet real bad.

“Great, then it’s a date. I’ll just check in with Andy and Sun and then I’ll show you to the library. The main one is on level 4, but there’s a smaller one down here that has all the material relating to the subjects on this level. It’s pretty cool, if you’re into that kind of thing. It would be good to have company. It can get a little lonely in there.”

“Then I’m very happy to come,” said Jerry, wondering why there was suddenly so many butterflies in his belly. Perhaps he was coming down with dysentery. Was it okay to drink the water in the United States? He assumed it must be.

“Come on,” said Nessie. “I’ll lead the way.”

Andy and Sun learned what they could from the batling for two hours—which amounted to very little—and then made their war to the conference room. Sergeant Rimmer was sat at the long conference table, filling in paperwork while sis radio squawked constantly on the table in front of him; his well-trained men reporting in habitually.

“Mr and Mrs Dennison. How are you settling in?”

“Fine, thanks,” said Andy. “This isn’t our first rodeo.”

Rimmer stroked his long beard and sighed. “I always said they needed better security at Samhain. I never knew what they had there exactly, but I knew it was of the highest clearance. Anything that important should have had a bunch of armed guards watching over it.”

“I’m not sure it would have helped,” said Sun. “But perhaps you’re right. It certainly couldn’t have been any worse than it was.”

“Well, you’re perfectly safe here. Hasn’t been a serious security breach on my watch for almost five years.”

“How long have you been here?” Andy asked.

“Almost five years.”

“So what did you do before that?”

“I was a Sergeant in the Army Rangers. On the ground during the invasion of Iraq.”

“How did you end up here?”

“Stumbled upon something I shouldn’t have.”

Andy leaned forwards. “Really? Care to share?”

Rimmer put down his pen and looked up at them. He sighed. “I suppose I can tell you. Not that I particularly enjoy telling it.”

Sun and Andy said nothing.

So Rimmer continued. “My unit were in the south-western Iraqi desert near Rutba. We were looking for a chemical weapons processing plant that Intel told us was in the area. We had managed to flip a guy in the Republican Guard. He’d explained that Saddam had several WMDs ready to launch the very moment he was declared dead or captured—kind of like a dead man’s switch. One of the Army’s primary objectives was ensuring that this was not true, or neutralising the devices in the case that it was. The plant south of Rutba was our first and only lead. We didn’t want Saddam to know that we were on to his plan, so command sent in three Ranger units. My unit was in the area directly south of Rutba. So far we’d found nothing but desert, but we had an itinerary and we weren’t going to bug-out until we hit every point on our map. But when a sandstorm came in, it ruined our radio equipment and left us all turned around on ourselves. I could have gone north towards the road and called the mission in as a bust, but I made the decision to keep heading south instead. We were in the middle of the desert, a perfect place to hide a facility. Turns out I was right.”

“You found the chemical plant?” Sun asked.

“I thought so at the time. My unit came upon a group of single-story buildings surrounded by a half dozen 3-tonners—big trucks. There was no natural cover so we dropped down low and approached from two sides. We were sure we were about to strike a mighty blow for America.” Rimmer blinked slowly as the story seemed to play out in his mind. “They opened fire on us before we even got half way. I didn’t realise at the time but the area was covered by thermal imaging and radar. They saw us coming a mile away. By the time I even knew what was happening, my entire unit had been slaughtered and I’d taken a bullet in the neck. I thought I was done for, even started to pray. Bleeding out into the sand, I thought about all the wives and families of the men I’d just led to their deaths. I was angry, ashamed, and a whole bunch of other screwed-up emotions beginning with A. Even though I was dying, I wanted to get up and scream, to fight for my men. But every time I tried, my body would not move. Last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was two men running towards me. Neither of them were Iraqi soldiers.”

“So what happened?” Andy asked. “Who were they?”

“Deus Manus. I’d stumbled upon the Iraqi chapter of the Order. They called their facility
Jahannam.
”

Andy frowned and translated the word in his head. “
Jahannam?
The Islamic concept of Hell?”

Rimmer nodded. “They brought me underground and locked me in a cell, vetted me for almost six months. Ran psych tests on me, background checks, the works. Checked up on every person I knew. After enough time had passed, the US government listed me as KIA—as well as all of the men in my unit, whose bodies they had relocated a hundred-miles north of where they actually died. That’s when Deus Manus inducted me. I trained for a few years at the Iraqi facility and eventually transferred here, back home. This was my first major gig and I’ve been here ever since.”

“You ever regret being here?”

Rimmer sniffed. “I regret
how
I got here, on the backs of my dead squad mates, but I don’t regret being here now. It’s important work. The things we keep down here are dangerous and vile. After what happened in Samhain you both should understand that.”

Andy and Sun said nothing.

General Kane appeared from one of the side offices. He quickly took a seat at the table with them. “Any issues, Sergeant?”

“None at all, sir. All systems optimal. Outside perimeters clear. We’re all alone out here as usual, sir.”

“Very good.”

Rimmer took his bundle of papers and left.

“Now then.” Kane turned to face the Dennisons. “Did you find anything out about our guests?”

“No specifics,” said Sun. “But it’s obvious that the batling is part of some kind of larger plan. If we were to believe the things it was saying to us, mankind should be preparing for some kind of war.”

Kane huffed. “Against a handful of flying goat men? I’ve faced off against far worse.”

“That may be,” said Andy. “But these batlings were created by something far older than anything we can conceive of. Whatever Bub is planning is something he’s put several millennia of thought into. I feel it would be wise not to underestimate him or any of the batlings.”

“You told me there were perhaps only a dozen or so of these things,” said Kane. “What harm could they possibly do?”

“Bub may not have an army,” said Sun. “But he can make one.”

Kane frowned at them both, waiting for something more. “He can make one?”

Andy nodded. “Bub has the ability to manipulate other living creatures. He can bend and twist their DNA, turning them into monsters. We saw such a thing at Samhain.”

“Nonsense,” said Kane. “Such a thing is the realm of God alone. That batling is no different to the werewolf we have locked up down here, or the imps up on subbasement 1. Deus Manus has captured and held every despicable creature on this earth, and has done it successfully for thousands of years. What happened to you both at Samhain has frightened you. General Race’s incompetence has rattled your faith in the ability of the human race to defend itself. We are top of the food chain for a reason, and nothing will knock us off that pedestal.”

Andy rolled his chin against his chest and sighed as his neck cracked. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his arguments rational rather than idealist like Kane’s.

“Firstly,” Andy said. “General Race was a good man. He served the United States Government his entire life and died trying to protect people. To speak ill of him, now that he is gone, is not something I will tolerate, head of this facility or not. Secondly, Bub, and that batling in particular, are like nothing else in this facility. It is a creature that may just hold the secret to life itself. We had a theory that…” Andy sighed. He didn’t want to waste his breath getting into theories which held no proof. He suddenly wished he hadn’t spoken.

Kane folded his arms. “A theory that
what?”

“That Bub travelled from another planet and created life on this earth.”

Kane stared at them. He didn’t blink, he didn’t react. After several uncomfortable seconds had passed, he simply got up and walked away, shaking his head the whole time.

Sun and Andy looked at each other.

“Guess he must be a creationist,” said Sun.

“I get the impression that having faith in God is a pre-requisite to be inducted into Deus Manus. Even Rimmer mentioned something about praying.”

“What about Dr Chandelling, Dr Gorman? Surely as people of science, what they have seen here must have made them question the existence of God.”

Andy shrugged. “Maybe. Or perhaps it made them belief in Him even more.”

Sun huffed and reached across the table to hold Andy’s hand. “So what’s the plan, hubby?”

“I don’t know. But I have an idea.”

Sun raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? And what would that be? Care to share?”