The Delta Chain (43 page)

‘What was the Russian
thing all about then…?
’
Hunter
began.

‘Not your concern
but…
’
Renshaw piped in, glancing at his
boss before proceeding. Asquith gave a nod.
‘…we’
ll let you in on it.
’
The weedy
little man was thoroughly enjoying this mission with his Nexus
superior.
‘
The Russian scientists were
experimenting genetically with dolphins. We wanted to put them out
of action, that
’
s something on
Nexus
’
own agenda. The Russian building
was demolished in the same way that the Institute here will go
down. Federal agencies here and overseas will make the link
immediately.

‘What
’
s more, we
’
ll make it even more
convincing, and put an end to further investigations into last
night
’
s murders, by linking it with
Melanie Cail. We didn
’
t have anything to
do with her death. Apparently that was some pathetic little attempt
at covering up by Mr. Donnelly.
’
Renshaw
sniggered here, a stomach turning blend, Hunter thought, of a
school bully and a corporate thug.
‘
But
it can be of great benefit to us.
’

‘Explain,
’
said Westmeyer.

Hunter picked up on the
frustrated world-weariness to his mentor
’
s tone. He knew Westmeyer hated Asquith and the whole Nexus
thing as much as he did. Westmeyer had put up with it because of
the enormous financial advantage, the chance to pursue his
dream
–
the Delta Chain project, his
obsession since his Vietnam days.

Asquith took up the
explanation:
‘
Melanie
Cail
’
s act of data sabotage was simply
for her own journalistic ambitions. But it could also be easily
seen to be an act of BTB terrorism. Our cyber boffins can hack into
the databases of the necessary Australian and U.S. agencies and
plant Cail
’
s name on their list of
suspected BTB members.
’
Asquith turned
his focus to Hunter.
‘
By the way,
Stephen, I
’
m sorry about Ms.
Cail
’
s murder. An unnecessary act by
Donnelly. I understand you were having sex with her. My
commiserations.
’

Hunter merely stared back at
him. What sort of freaks were Asquith and Renshaw?

How did he even know that
Asquith was genuine in his comment? His damning of his own man,
Donnelly, could have been a pretence, for the purpose of keeping
Stephen on side.

How the hell had he ever got
involved with them?

But of course he knew the
answer to that. Because of William, because of the project, because
of
the
speech
: that it was all for the greater
good; for the benefit of Man; that a few deaths along the way for
science was nothing when compared to the millions of deaths in
wars… He had believed it. Really believed it.

When had he stopped
believing? He wasn
’
t sure. After
Rhonda?

Or now, after Melanie?

He
’
d stayed away from the human experiments in the sub-level,
but he hadn
’
t been able to avoid reading
about the girl washed up on the beach. That wasn
’
t supposed to happen. But it had.

When had he stopped believing,
stopped being able to turn the blind eye? Perhaps it had been a
little at a time, a little of the idealism, a little of the
passion, eroded slowly day by day.

‘I don
’
t know why you
’
re involving me in
these meetings,
’
Hunter remarked
icily,
‘
I don
’
t
need to know all of…
this
.
’
He wanted to walk out in disgust.

‘As the senior scientist
on Delta Chain you
’
re second only to
William. You need to know exactly what is happening and why. And I
need you to advise me if our plans jeopardise anything we
haven
’
t allowed for?
’

‘Such as ?
’

‘Such as the resources on
the sub-level. We
’
re well under way with
backing up the DataStorming lab results and DNA sequences at HQ,
but given the urgent need to commence the relocation is there
any-
’

‘We don
’
t need the reptiles and we
’
ll be
starting afresh with a new subject for the completion test,
’
Hunter said, avoiding use of the term “human”,
resenting being drawn in further.
‘
However, to avoid re-supply of the reptiles, the blood is
needed…
’

‘Taken care of,
’
Asquith said.
‘
A road
freighter with the necessary gear to cryo- freeze the blood storage
units will be here, loaded up and gone again, within the
hour.
’

Hunter smirked.
‘
You won
’
t be able to
load them that quickly-
’

‘Can. And will. Anything
else?
’

‘Yes. A question. How can
you demolish the building today, when you
’
ve only been here a few hours. It takes weeks of
preparation, even for the top demolition firms.
’

‘You forget those teams
are going in, having to plan their demolition from scratch,
’
Renshaw explained.
‘
Obviously, Nexus has had the Institute
’
s layout on file since you
’
ve
been here. We already had a precautionary demolition plan worked
out, not just for the Institute but for all the buildings housing
Project Babel schemes. What
’
s more, we
don
’
t need to worry about being as
precise as a commercial demolition. We don
’
t need to ensure surrounding buildings are safe, as there
are none.
’

‘So the whole structure
will just…collapse in on itself, completely, within
minutes?
’

‘Less,
’
Asquith said, drawn in by his pride.
‘
A controlled demolition is about implosion
–
small amounts of explosives strategically placed
in the structural columns of the building and detonated in
sequence. Gravity then steps in to do the rest. The explosives just
get things going.
’

‘And we use a specially
created Nexus method for laying the explosives,
’
Renshaw said.
‘
Instead of
spending days laying detonating cord between the explosives
’
blasting caps, we
’
ve
developed computer controlled digital sensors to do that job
instead, controlling and detonating the explosives in a delay
pattern. So yes, a Nexus demolition takes just hours instead of
weeks.
’

‘The moment the data
transfer is complete the demo team will have finished positioning
the sensors,
’
Asquith said.
‘
We
’
ll shut down the
computer network. All staff will be advised the system is down and
they
’
ll be told to take the rest of the
day off, so the place is clear when detonation is
activated.
’

‘What if some of the staff
work back regardless of the system being “down”?
’
Hunter asked.
‘
Staff
here are dedicated, some will work on in spite of IT
problems.
’

‘That
’
s not your concern.
’

There was an uneasy pause
as the inference of Asquith
’
s words took
hold.

‘You
can
’
t just go ahead if
there
’
s innocent people-
’

‘Not your concern.
’
Asquith didn
’
t have
time for this. Scientists. A necessary pain in the butt.
‘
When you agreed to come on board, Stephen, you
knew this was a covert operation. You
’
re
one of the few who do, and even then it was only because of your
outstanding potential in blood genetics and
William
’
s insistence you be part of the
executive team. You may choose to ignore the unpleasant aspects of
a military research project like this but you knew the deal when
you signed on.

‘You
didn
’
t mind reaping the benefits, having
the chance to lead a team on a revolutionary breakthrough, the
“cover” of not having to go through decades of mundane industry
laws and codes. If it
’
s any consolation,
we
’
ll make every effort to ensure no one
is left in the building. As for yourself and William,
you
’
ll be flown out tonight with the rest
of the management, under the cover of attending a specially
convened scientific think tank in New York.
’

Hunter
didn
’
t respond. He averted his eyes from
the military man
’
s stare.

He wasn
’
t evil; he
’
d never thought of
himself as evil. He
’
d been selfish and
weak, not allowing himself to think about the inhuman practices
that the Nexus Group undertook. And that, he suspected, was also
true of William. Grabbing for the prize with both hands while
turning away from the inhumanity. Doing a sales job on his soul
that it was acceptable because it was for the greater
good.

And of course it was
bullshit.

He looked at William and
saw not the great man he
’
d once revered,
but the tired shell of a man who
’
d given
everything to his obsession, who
’
d sold
out his soul, all their souls, to the twin devils of power and
greed.

After their encounter with
fisherman Hughie Jones, Kirby and Harrison had raced to the Cail
home. With no answer at the front door they moved around the back.
As they did, Costas, Barbara and Joey were slowly stirring from
their drug induced stupor.

Kirby broke into a
run.
‘
Call for back up,
’
he instructed Harrison as he knelt beside them.
Thunder rolled from the distant corners of the sky and a light rain
had started spitting down from a ceiling of clouds.

Kirby
didn
’
t need to search the premises to
know the boy had been taken.

Jean Farrow reflected on
the irony that caused her to be sitting in the back of an idle taxi
in the very street from which a boy had been taken
–
forcibly she now realised
–
and transported to the rear dock of the Institute. She
couldn
’
t let Kevin
’
s killers be responsible for the murder of yet another
young man.

‘I
’
ve a favour to ask you now,
’
Jean
said to the driver as he pulled up in front of the
Institute
’
s main entrance.

He was a craggy faced,
middle-aged man with a strong Aussie twang.
‘
Just name it, missus.
’

‘Could I use your
radiophone to place a call to the police. It
’
s…an urgent matter.
’

‘Yeah? Well then, sure you
can.
’
He picked up the handset.
‘
Jillie, can you patch me through to Northern
Rocks police. Got a lady here who needs to speak to them
urgently.
’

‘This may sound a
little…well, dramatic,
’
Jean explained,
her tone apologetic, as she waited for the call to be
placed.

‘Lady, you would not
believe some of the things I
’
ve seen and
heard driving this cab.
’

Heart racing and breath
catching in her throat, Kate rushed to the front area of the second
floor. She felt a deep fear, as great as the one
she
’
d felt when running from the croc
hunters in the Marakai wetlands. She couldn
’
t let these men know she
’
d
overheard them.

William. And Stephen. She
could scarcely believe they
’
d be involved
in anything like this…

Rounding a bend in the
passageway she collided with James, just steps away from his
temporary office.
‘
Whoa, Kate.
’
They steadied themselves and Reardon could see,
immediately, that Kate was distraught.
‘
You okay?
’

‘Fine.
’
She sucked in a deep breath, composing herself. Reardon
took her gently by the arm and led her into his office.
‘
You know, Kate, I was looking forward to seeing
you this morning…but I was concerned, and so is Betty, that
you
’
re back at work too soon.
’

‘I
’
m okay, James. Really.
’
She felt
better, sitting here with Reardon in his office. The men in
Stephen
’
s office didn
’
t know she
’
d been listening. It
was business as usual as far as they were concerned. She
didn
’
t feel normal but she had to pretend
she did.