Instinct (2010) (22 page)

The scientists Takeshi, Susan, George, Lisa and Mike were still shot through with fear. And even if they had managed to calm themselves down, they had no idea how to contribute, so they sat on the couches worrying and speculating.

‘See? This is what I meant,’ said Mike, tapping his foot.

‘What are you
talking
about?’ asked Lisa, her eyes searching, her voice trembling.

Mike’s words were coming with scrappy speed, the sentences running into each other, stumbling, then continuing at pace. ‘I said – and I said it to these guys – that something was up. I bet you anything Roach and Martin are dead. I bet Heath’s dead. Someone fucked up. I mean, did you see those wasps? Did you fucking
see
them?’

‘No
cabron
, we missed them,’ said George, lighting a red Marlboro with shaking fingers.

‘Roach and Martin are dead?’ said Lisa. Her arm was
rubbing Susan’s tight shoulders as she sat, stunned into silence, on the couch.

‘We don’t know that,’ Susan replied.

‘Oh, they’re dead all right,’ said Mike. ‘Just like we’re going to be. No one here knows what the fuck they’re doing, and we have superfreak wasps flying around all over the fucking place.’

‘They are behind the Inshield,’ said Takeshi calmly.

‘We’re safe here. We just have to get to the surface.’

‘Oh yeah? What the fuck is the Inshield, and how come you know so much about it?’

‘It’s in the orientation pack you were given to read when you arrived,’ said Takeshi. ‘The Inshield is the final security measure. When it comes down, everything on the other side of it is frozen, then we will leave.’

‘Yeah, ’cos leaving’s gonna be a piece of cake. You see the elevator? Does that look like it’s moving?’

Takeshi gave a small shrug. ‘I don’t know. Perhaps it would help if we all remained calm.’

‘Easier said than done,’ muttered Mike.

As Wainhouse organized the weaponry, he looked over to the scientists and wondered how much they were going to depend on him. If they couldn’t get Garrett and Carter out of the elevator, it was going to be down to just him and Webster to make sure the rest of them lived. Looking unconvinced of their chances of success, he continued checking the weapons.

In the corridor, Laura was talking to Bishop. ‘Is there no way of communicating directly with the people inside the elevator? At the moment, I’m writing everything
down on bits of paper, and I know it would help Andrew if he could hear my voice.’

‘The intercom in my office can do that. Press the blue button – but it’s only one-way. Their emergency line goes up to Taj. And take the major with you. Maybe he can find out why Garrett and Carter were on their way down here, heavily armed, with your son in tow.’

Bishop walked into the barracks to find the scientists looking at him expectantly, and Wainhouse standing beside his cache of weapons with his arms folded. Silence greeted his arrival.

‘OK, I know you will all have a number of questions regarding the situation we currently find ourselves in. Bottom line: without my knowledge, over the last few months, David Heath was engineering a strain of wasps larger, smarter, stronger and more aggressive than anything we have previously produced here. The ones you’ – he pointed to Takeshi and Susan – ‘saw up close and the rest of you have just seen through the window of the holding bay.’ He paused for effect.

‘Now, I have to tell you that Dr Heath was … overcome by these wasps.’ Another pause. ‘He was killed in the process of his research, in the line of duty, if you will. Then, as some of you also know, three of our military force were killed trying to deal with the situation. We have now reached a stage where these wasps have got into the wall cavities and come out into the labs. The decision has been taken to bring down the Inshield, which means the corridor, barracks, canteen and my office are the only areas available to us. The
plan is to freeze everywhere else, kill the wasps and evacuate, restarting the facility either here, or elsewhere if that is not an option. Any questions?’

‘How long is this going to take?’ asked George.

‘As this is the first time we have done it, that is currently unknown. Less than twenty-four hours.’

‘And how do you know we’ll be safe when the freezing is over?’ asked Mike.

‘The movement sensors beyond the sapphire glass will give us an idea of whether we can at least end the lockdown and leave the facility. People, I know this is bad, and it’s ultimately my responsibility, but none of us … out here … is in danger. It’s just a matter of sit and wait.’

Susan looked puzzled, then put her hand up.

‘You don’t have to raise your hand, Miss Myers.’

‘Did you just say that the shield is made of sapphire glass?’

Bishop finally had something to look confident about. ‘Specially toughened sapphire glass, which is around ten times harder than the regular stuff, so I don’t think the wasps will be getting through it anytime soon.’

Susan continued to look puzzled, then put her hand up again, before Bishop’s impatient expression made her lower it. ‘What is it, Miss Myers?’

‘Well, I only did one semester of Applied Materials, but isn’t sapphire glass known for being brittle?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Sapphire glass is very strong, as in resistant to scratches, but it is much more brittle than normal glass,
so if it were subject to impact, it would be much more likely to break.’

A cloud of trepidation descended on the room.

‘But they’re just wasps,’ Bishop said, with as much scorn as he could muster.

‘Larger, smarter, stronger and more aggressive wasps, you said,’ reminded Mike.

‘But they couldn’t possibly …’

‘If they can get through the plastic of the walls, they can get through the Perspex lab windows,’ said George. ‘And if they get through that and are determined to have a go at the Inshield …’

Bishop could feel himself getting colder, from the face down. He had no answer and no way of testing this theory. If they broke any part of the shield glass, who knew how far that break would spread.

‘But they’re just …’

‘They’re just a few pounds of anger that can probably manage five or ten miles an hour,’ said Mike. ‘You’d better have a Plan B.’

‘Can you hear me? Over,’ Laura said carefully.

‘It looks like you’ve got a yes,’ called Webster. He was watching the elevator, and a thumbs-up from Carter, Garrett and Andrew told him all he needed to know.

‘OK, Andrew, I’m going to explain exactly what is going on here. You’ve got to be really, really brave and listen to me so that this all works out the way we want it to.’ Andrew was staring at Webster as if he were saying these words. In return, Webster was looking like the solidity Andrew needed.

‘There are some big wasps behind the walls down here. We tried to keep them confined, but they got out. Now this area has been locked down with these glass shields so that we can protect ourselves, freeze the rest of the complex and kill them.’ She took a breath as the difficult part arrived.

‘Because of a timing accident, you are on the wrong side of the shield, but we’re going to get you out here with us. Until then, you have to sit tight and wait.’ Carter and Garrett looked pensive. Andrew looked scared. Webster saw Carter say something to Garrett then write a note, which he held up to the glass:

Can the wasps get in here?

Webster raised his hand to Carter and headed for the intercom to tell Laura.

‘Well, we’re not going to get away with keeping it from them,’ she said.

Webster nodded and took the receiver. ‘We don’t know for sure if the wasps can get to you. Take the panels off the south side of the lift, away from where the wasps are. If you find concrete, then we know that’s what the entire lift shaft is made from, and you’ll be safe. If it’s plastic, like the lab walls, we know we’ve got to get you out fast, OK?’

Webster returned to the elevator to find Carter and Garrett already attacking the panels with their knives.

Laura came at once and knelt down next to the glass. Looking into her son’s face, she saw only the features his father had given him, especially those searching blue eyes. Andrew tried not to look worried, but his attempt at a brave smile collapsed into a helpless frown. That was about all Laura could take, and she turned away to protect Andrew from her tears. The next time she felt able to look at her son, Carter had a big arm round his shoulder and was no doubt saying the words she wished she could. Andrew looked at his mum and nodded to let her know that he could get through this.

For a moment, she believed he was going to be OK, that they would both get out of here and get back to England, but then the look on his face became one of utter terror.

Following his eyes, she saw what he did: the wasps
had torn through the wall at the back of the holding bay and were now butting up against its windows. It was the first room on the right ahead of the elevator, so they were now only a few feet from Andrew. Laura had not told him just how big the insects were, so his horror was multiplied by incomprehension.

He was rooted to the spot, confronting the thought of what could lie ahead: giant insects beyond anything he ever thought existed. Now that he could see into their eyes, a terrible reality fleshed out what his imagination had created. They looked so angry, evil and powerful that he couldn’t see how they could be overcome. They had killed people much tougher and better armed than him. What chance did he have? What chance did his mum have?

They had already stopped trying to force their way through the window. Instead, they were using whatever grip they could find to keep their claws attached, while their acidic saliva burned through the Perspex.

Their jaws were wide open, and the spit they released was washing down the window, distorting the images of the yellow and black creatures behind it.

Andrew could see Laura talking to Webster with obvious concern. That worried him even more, and he gave an involuntary shudder.

Carter felt this and turned to Andrew, gripping his shoulders. ‘Kid, I’m not going to let them get me, and if I’m not going to let them get me, I’m not going to let them get you. Are you listening?’

He said it louder: ‘Are you listening?’

Andrew stopped staring at the wasps and met Carter’s fixed eyes. ‘Right, yes … Yes, sir.’

‘OK. Now you have to do exactly as I say, and we will get out of here alive.’

Carter turned to the walls of the elevator on the opposite side to where the wasps were approaching.

‘First, we’re going to get these panels off. The intercom speakers will be the weak point. Work on them with Garrett.’

Meanwhile, Laura and Webster were doing their best to distract the wasps, waving at them and tapping on the glass near where they flew and hovered.

Bishop stood behind them, looking for the right moment to draw Webster away without arousing further alarm.

‘Uh, Major, we just received another communication from Paine,’ he said with an obvious wink. His attempt to sound genuine was poor, but Laura was paying too much attention to the wasps to notice. Webster turned and saw the deepening fear on Bishop’s face, and immediately followed him to his office.

‘The scientists have just pointed out an important design flaw with the Inshield. Sapphire glass is scratch resistant, but it’s not too good when it comes to impact.’

‘What?’

‘If the wasps get through the Perspex, they can get through the Inshield.’

‘And I just saw them. When they tried to get through the lab window the first thing they did was butt into it.’

‘They do that on the Inshield, it might come down
in ten seconds or ten minutes. We can’t know for sure, and that’s the problem.’

‘OK. Let’s check on Harry, then we need to open this situation up to everybody. No shitting around. Facts on the table, has anyone got any answers, because we might be ten minutes from being wasp food.’

In the elevator, Garrett was wrenching the speaker off the far wall.

‘Good,’ said Carter, and reached in to pull back the surrounding panel.

Andrew and Garrett stood clear as he bent the metal away. It peeled off easily, with a tearing sound and a large clang, but before Carter could get to work on the next one, he saw Laura gesturing towards him and pointing at the wasps.

They had heard the noise from the elevator and had grouped together at that end of the lab, hovering against the glass and climbing the wall.

‘OK, no need to panic,’ said Carter quietly, continuing to bend away the panels.

As Laura watched, Bishop and Webster came out of the office, walking as fast as they could without running.

‘We’re going to check on Harry,’ Webster told Laura. ‘Then we need everybody in the barracks.’

They turned and headed back to Lab 7. Laura joined them.

When they got there, Harry was gone. There were now only a few wasps, which were exploring the equipment, searching for anything that might be food.

Laura was confused, wondering if there might be some hidden safe haven. Webster looked at the gene sequencers and thought the same. Could Harry fit inside one of those? But no inner workings seemed to have been removed to allow him the space he needed.

For Bishop, there was no such uncertainty. He remembered how he had found Heath and looked to the floor.

There it lay: Harry’s skeleton.

This time, the wasps had not stopped at the meat. Harry’s bones had been separated from each other and lay scattered across the floor of the lab as if by the force of a small explosion that had detonated from his pelvis. A few of the smaller bones, the ones from his fingers and toes, were missing. They were now inside the digestive tracts of the wasps which were searching for more food.

Laura looked away and crouched down, her knees unable to support her.

‘Oh no, oh no,’ she moaned softly, over and over.

With everything that had happened in the minutes since the Inshield had come down, she had almost forgotten about Harry. She thought he would have been able to last longer than this. There was an awful difference between how she had left him and what had happened since. It made her feel as if death was spreading through this place with an awful inevitability.