Janus the Arrival (The Janus Trilogy Book 1) (30 page)

   
‘Yet, there must be something we can do. I
can’t believe that our hands are completely tied.’ Danny expressed with growing
concern.

   
‘Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.’ J’Mi
replied. ‘I’m afraid the future’s no longer ours to decide. All of our hopes
now reside with the woman we saw being hunted down just now, and in all honesty
her chances against Janus are practically zero.’

   
The Dra-Na-Zee Elders dreaded the fact that
all appeared to be lost, and once again they set about getting the mind-link
working between them. Once this had been established, they immediately
concentrated their thoughts back on the planet Earth. Knowing just how
powerless they were at this moment in time, all they could do was sit and watch
their fate unfold. They now awaited the final outcome of events before they
could even attempt to think about picking up any of the remaining pieces.

Dana
had run on blindly. She entered one of the plant rooms that contained giant
sized items such as boilers and all kinds of electrical equipment in various
guises. It was like a different world altogether, and this also held a large
amount of storage tanks, which were situated on an upper gantry amongst a mass
of pipes that snaked off in a number of different directions. Spotting what she
hoped to be a possible escape route up ahead, she instantly ran forward and
attempted to navigate the series of narrow metal stairs that led immediately
upwards. Having reached the top, being careful not to put too much strain on
her injured ankle, she ran along one of the thinner steel, reinforced gantries.
This wobbled a bit and felt far less stable than the stairway she’d just used,
but as she looked around to see if she was being pursued, a burst of hot steam
suddenly jettisoned from one of the pressure outlets that protruded from a row
of conduits along the wall just to her right. Vaporised water slightly scalded
the back of her hand as she instinctively lifted it to protect her face from
being hit. However, some of the water particles happened to trace their way
down and under her cuff as she fought her way through. The sound of the
turbines working away in the background were completely deafening, as they
continued to drive the huge electric generators that were required for the
activities being used in the theme park. She knew that people working in here
would normally be wearing some sort of ear protectors, but she certainly didn’t
have time to worry about that. From where she stood, Dana had a good viewing
advantage, and was able to peer down on the large rotating blades that belonged
to the highly pressurised equipment that spun far below in the heat and mist
laden room. At that instant, she also happened to catch a quick glimpse of Janus
moving around on the ground beneath her. Sensing her presence up on the gantry
above, his head suddenly twisted in her direction, then without any warning,
two shafts of blinding yellow light merged together as one thin strip and
struck part of the surrounding structure with great force. This had an
immediate effect, and sent a whole section crashing straight down. Fortunately,
the angle was slightly off, and as a result, it just missed one of the main
turbines below. Moving swiftly, Dana reacted just in time and having judged its
path she’d hurled her body forward and managed to become hidden from view.
She’d landed just behind one of the more modern vertical storage tanks and was
lucky that nothing too pointed had been in the way. Knowing that he’d be
closing in on her very rapidly, Dana gazed around in a desperate attempt to
find another way out of her present situation. Taking an extremely brave
gamble, and committing herself one-hundred percent to an on-the-spot decision,
Dana ran out into the open. She felt completely exposed for what seemed like a
lifetime, before eventually diving under cover of the nearest storage tank.
Lying flat, she listened for the slightest sound of pursuit, while she lifted
her head and scanned every nook and cranny in view. Yet as she lay silent,
doing her best to control her breath and fearing for her life, she just
happened to notice the words embossed on the side of the cylinder opposite.
This read
‘
Danger – This tank contains Sodium Hydrochloric Acid.’
Silently, easing herself back to her
feet, Dana
sidled up the side of the tank
and moved across to the wall on the far side. She then came to a sudden halt as
the passageway happened to end at the base of a solid piece of what looked like
concrete. Fully aware that there was no going back, having run into a complete
dead end, Dana shuddered inwardly. A voice, sounding very close behind, that
was fouled with a definite vein of malevolence, mocked her as it called out her
name.

   
‘
Holy
shit!’
she thought. This is exactly what the world’s worst nightmares must
be made out of. Hurriedly, turning to gaze back along the path that she’d just
taken, Dana almost had a heart attack there and then. Janus suddenly sprung out
from behind the bulky storage tank and glared victorious at his prey. Dana
stood totally trapped with nowhere to run.

   
‘I originally planned to kill you fairly
quickly, so that you didn’t suffer too much pain. However, seeing as how you
chose not to co-operate earlier, I’m afraid you’ve now left me with no other
option,’ he threatened, showing no sign of remorse whatsoever, before
continuing.

   
‘Therefore, I’ve decided that I’m going to
make you beg for mercy instead. It won’t be very nice, plus I’ve chosen to
extract every single shred of memory from you piece by piece. I can also assure
you, this will leave you lying crumpled on the floor in a completely vegetative
state, once I’ve finished.’
 

   
Dana stared at her would be executioner in
absolute horror. She tried to block out what he’d just said, and then placed
her hands in her jacket pockets as if in submission. That was the moment that
her right hand brushed against something solid. Realising straight away what it
was, she immediately eased her fingers around the gun. Lifting it from its
hiding place without a second thought, she didn’t even hesitate as she aimed
the barrel directly between his eyes. Janus didn’t even blink as he let out a
large guffaw, and then laughed at the poor woman’s last ditch attempt to save
her feeble human skin.

   
‘Fire at your own will!’ he said, teasing
her. ‘Even from where I’m standing, I can see that the nozzle’s slightly bent
at the end.’ Then, just to add insult to injury, he mimicked the actor Clint
Eastwood, by saying.

   
‘Go ahead punk, make my day!’ Dana was so
frustrated that she screamed out loud and fired off three shots in succession.
She knew that all was lost and that Janus had pretty much won the final battle.
Surprised that the gun had even fired in the first place, they both stood
frozen as they listened to the bullet ricochet off the metal surface of the
surrounding storage tanks. Janus didn’t even bother to look around. He simply
kept his stare fully focused on the angry policewoman standing before him,
while he concentrated his thoughts and began the process that would finally put
an end to her interfering ways. Dana took a deep breath and braced herself, as
their minds linked together, knowing that it would all be over fairly soon. An
immediate numbing sensation hit her just above the eyes, then her ears felt as
though a red hot poker were being pushed deep into the very base of her ear
drum. At that point, blood suddenly appeared from her ear lobes and dribbled
down both sides of her head. This then passed down the curvature of her neck
before soaking into the collar of her blouse. Her head was already starting to
thud crazily. Yet she was just lowering herself to her knees with her eyes
closed, hoping and praying for a swift death, when the pain suddenly stopped as
instantly as it had started. Hearing a strange moaning sound coming from just
in front of her, she slowly opened her eyes to see what was happening. Once her
vision had finally cleared, she saw to her astonishment, that Janus was
writhing around on the floor in absolute agony. Directly above him, she could
clearly see a large amount of liquid leaking out from a hole in the side of the
tank. This was busily spraying its contents all over Janus and eating away at
him as it did so.
Outstretched fingers
clawed at his clothing in an attempt to get free. In the meantime, tiny wisps
of smoke began to rise from numerous bits of material, which were gradually
turning white as they became saturated even further by the pouring solution.
Dana then recalled the hazard sign that she seen displayed on the opposite side
of the tank, and it suddenly dawned on her, that the chemical elements were
more commonly known as bleach. This remembered that this contained a very high
level of chlorine, which would also explain the rapid decolouring of his
clothing. The swimming pool incident that Debbie had told her about suddenly
made much more sense, then Dana realised that she’d finally stumbled across the
Dra-Na-Zee’s Achilles Heel.

   
As she stepped back and watched the dying
alien, Dana couldn’t believe that she’d now live to see another day. At long
last, after such a long wait, she’d finally achieved the long deserved revenge
that she’d been seeking for her father, along with all the other people that
had died at the hands of this evil creature over the years.

   
‘Help me!’ he pleaded, as he desperately
attempted to crawl along the gantry towards her. She noted that the voice had
sounded extremely weak. Therefore, confident that he no longer posed too much
of a threat, Dana crouched down and took a long hard look at the beast that had
tormented her for so long. Just at that point, a large red lump rose up and
bubbled on the side of his face, which then exploded into a horrible mass of
blood and shredded flesh, as it promptly splattered all over her.

   
‘Oh shit! That’s bloody typical,’ she
exclaimed, immediately standing back up and backing away as fast as she could.
Even in his final death throes Janus had managed to upset her. Dana used her
hands to wipe her eyes, then gazed down with an odd mix of satisfaction and sadness
as the yellow tinge in his eyes gradually faded and died.
Yet it didn’t quite end there, as his facial
features suddenly took on an agonising look of horror, before his eyes bulged
out on stalks, then popped completely out of their sockets. It was an
absolutely disgusting sight, especially when the tattered remains just dangled
down on all that was left of his cheeks. The lifeless head then lolled back
against the cold and bloodied metal surface of the gantry with a slight thud.
Taking one last look at the burning carcass that lay before her, with the
bleach that still leaked from the storage tank having slowed to a mere trickle,
Dana finally turned away and hobbled towards the doorway. If her instincts were
anywhere near correct, she hoped this would lead her to some much needed fresh
air, along with the ever wondrous freedom of the outside world.

After
Dana had run over her version of events more than a few times, her boss had
finally sent out a specialised clean-up squad to the scene of the incident.
He’d also left precise instructions for them to phone him, and confirm their
findings once they’d finished the task. He had wished to visit the place
himself initially, but that would have to wait until later, as he still had a
list of things that needed to be done first.

   
‘Well Dana you certainly made a meal of
that case,’ he joked, before ordering her to take a few days holiday and ensure
that she rested her newly bandaged foot. Gathering the last few items from her
desk, she took the lift down to the ground floor and was just about to leave
the building, when one of the receptionists called across the hallway to her.

   
‘Dana! I have a
long distance call for you. I’ll transfer it over to booth number two for you
right now,’ she told her.

   
‘Thanks Sarah!’ she called back, as she
hobbled across to answer the ringing telephone. The excited voices of Huey and
Duey really helped to lift Dana’s spirits, especially as they took it in turns
to congratulate her on a job well done.
 

   
They each expressed their heartfelt thanks
to her on behalf of their dead colleague, and both of them promised to keep in
touch with her in the future, before the line eventually went dead at the other
end. With a picture of Luey’s last few moments still floating around in her
head, Dana eventually left the building and headed for the newsagents just
across the road. Once there, she searched her purse for the exact change, and
purchased a copy of her regular evening tabloid, before walking back to her
car. ‘
Thank goodness that’s all over,’
she thought, as she entered the underground car park with a bit of a swagger,
before wondering what her next case could possibly entail.

Rebecca
made excellent progress over the next few months, having received a call from
Dana informing her about the death of Janus. Then, during her two day a week
job-share experience at a local packaging company, she met and fell in love
with a young man named Mark, who worked in the Finance Department.
She continued to keep in touch on a regular basis
with Dana, seeing as how she’d installed so much confidence in her, and it was
on the very day of her official release from the sanatorium that Rebecca asked
if she’d be her Chief Bridesmaid at her forthcoming wedding in the spring.

Tim
Blake never realised how lucky an escape he’d had by jetting off to the sunny
beaches of Portugal. He’d put his savings to good use, and now co-owned a small
bar in a sleepy fishing village, with his stunning Portuguese girlfriend. The
two of them would laze about sunbathing amongst the tourists during the day,
then swim in the Algarve’s beautifully stunning alcoves, before sauntering back
to the village square in order to tend to their customers during the evenings.
Tim certainly held no regrets about his actions, and he was extremely happy
with his life, now that he’d finally settled down and been accepted as part of
the village family.

Following
the death of her husband, Anna de Pre’ had sold the Chelsea home for just over
two million pounds. However, the biggest surprise had been the amount she’d
received for all of the contents, which she hadn’t deemed to be of such great
value. William had always been one to brag about his so-called collection of
priceless antiques, but his favourite piece, the small nineteenth century
Japanese Okimono-style Netsuke, had fetched a small fortune at auction. As a
consequence, this, combined with all the other investments he’d had, now made
her one of the richest women in England. Therefore, having decided to convert
Findon Manor into a health centre for the rich and famous, Anna happily
revelled in all the attention and never felt lonely again. She now had a great
choice of interesting people to talk too, and yet if she ever felt the need to
escape, she simply disappeared across to the farm and tendered the animals she
adored and treated as her substitute family. The whole idea about converting
the place into a health centre was something that she’d had to give quite a bit
of thought about at the time, especially as the lake had been another option
that had lain neglected for a good few years. This was something she could
possibly have restocked completely, then run it as a worthwhile fishing
business, according to her Financial Adviser. William had loved to fish there
in the early days, but that had sadly come to an end when most of the fish had
been hit by a disease that had all but wiped them out, over an incredibly short
period of time. Another factor had been, that although Anna had been informed
that it could have been a very viable business, with not much involvement
needed from herself. That was not Anna’s style however, she definitely wanted
to be more hands-on, plus she had a much greater passion for the health centre
project. Therefore, it all turned out well, and she was really glad that she’d
made the right decision in the end.

Rachel
never fully recovered from the loss of Danny, and although life had taught her
to be much harder, she finally drifted back up to the north end of the country,
in the hope of returning to the life she’d had in Sheffield, long before the
fateful meeting at the hotel. Rachel also found odd jobs easy to come by. This
would include things such as being a barmaid or a cleaner in various
establishments along the way, but in all that time, she never quite settled
down. Eventually, she ended up spending a day helping out a friend at a home
for children with special needs, and from that day on she spent the rest of her
life helping others who were in need, and a lot less fortunate than herself.

Life
for Ging and the remaining gang members was never quite the same after that
fateful day. Some of the skinheads just faded away into obscurity, then
following a brawl with another local gang, Ging ended up being rushed to hospital,
where he died on the operating table as a consequence of a fatal stab wound
that he’d received during the fight. Following a spate of similar incidents,
the estates housing committee decided to hold an emergency meeting, which had a
very good turnout. As a result of that, they spent the next year implementing a
huge clean up campaign, in which they repossessed many premises. Following its
amazing success, they then moved on and expanded it to all of the other estates
that also came under their jurisdiction.

Back
in the cavern on Pagos, the Elders had dutifully watched all of the events as
they’d unfolded, and still couldn’t quite believe what had happened. The future
of their people now seemed to be fairly safe, and therefore they could now go
ahead with their plans to create a new world in which the influence of evil
would never again raise its ugly head or attempt to destroy their home planet.
It appeared the cycle of events had finally come to a final conclusion,
allowing Pagos to once again evolve into the true paradise it had always been
destined for.

   
The Elders rose naked, as one from the
pool. They walked hand in hand towards the cave entrance, where they then stood
gazing up at the two enormous suns that loomed high above in the warm evening
sky.

Jane
and Michael Kennedy still found it very hard to believe their luck and stared
proudly at the triplets who, at only twelve weeks of age, already sat upright
on the sofa next to them. In the meanwhile, the photographer they’d hired, used
a small gadget to check the ambience of the lighting in the room, while he
busily set up his equipment. It had taken a very long time to achieve their
goal, and following countless visits to The Caring Hands Fertility Centre in
Harley Street, Jane had finally fallen pregnant with the use of their frozen
embryos. Giving birth had almost killed her at the time, but they’d still
managed to pull through, despite the odds.

   
‘Smile please!’ shouted the photographer,
who was suddenly finding it rather unsettling, especially as three separate
sets of deep blue eyes stared somewhat threateningly over in his immediate
direction, while the parents seemed to be totally oblivious to what was going
on between him and their offspring.

THE END