All the time in the worl.., p.15
All the Time in the World, page 15
Al called out to the man he'd been speaking to, "How long have you been here?"
"Four days by my count, no food, and the only water is what comes off the walls, man. Plenty of the others are dead. I've been eating that black moss crap off-a the walls. It grows back every ten hours. Weird stuff, tastes like hell."
"Are we in flight?"
"No way of telling, man."
"Where were you abducted from?" Al asked.
"Apache Junction in Arizona. You?"
"I was in Davao in the Philippines."
"Everyone here is from a different place around the world. These aliens must go on hunting parties or something because I was the first taken."
"What's your name, man?" Al asked.
"Roy ... Roy White ... and you?"
"Black Alice."
"Ha! My name's White, and I'm black, and yours is Black, and you're white," Roy chuckled.
"Glad you still have a sense of humour, Roy," Al said.
"Black ... Alice ... is that the real Black Alice?" a weak female voice asked.
"That you, Sara honey?" Roy asked.
"Yes, Roy. I thought I heard someone say Black Alice ... is he a new one?" Sara asked.
"Hey, Sara. Yes, I'm new, and the last time I looked, I was the real Black Alice."
"The heavy metal singer?" she asked.
"None other," Al affirmed.
"Wow, a Rockstar ... I'm a fan ... Sara Douglass from Perth ... well, Adelaide, but they took me from Perth," she said, now with a little excitement in her tone.
"When, Sara?" Al asked.
"Three days ago. Some of the others here are from Scotland, Russia, and Spain."
After an hour, Alice had gleaned as much as Sara and Roy had to offer considering there was no apparent rhyme or reason as to why they'd been abducted or by whom. They hadn't seen any aliens other than the same holograms Al had encountered.
Al was pretty confident it was the same UFO responsible for the attacks on ships in Russia, Spain, and Glasgow that Secta had told him about just before the mission to Tempus. He'd drawn the conclusion because some of the abductees were from those places, and that had to be more than just coincidence.
Without warning, the entire craft lurched sharply to the left, as if an aircraft hit turbulence. It rocked the inmates about and woke some who had been sleeping. Then, the omnipresent background whirring sound that Al presumed was from the energy source driving the ship wound down, and a bright, almost blinding white light lit up the entire prison area. The light was obviously designed to awaken the prisoners, and it did the job. After a couple of minutes of intensity, the light dimmed, a servo sounded, and a door spiralled open in the wall between the rows of cells. At the same time, the holographic vertical cell bars deactivated, and the floor of each cell lit up with a dull green, illuminated from beneath. Al wondered what it all meant when the green floor he was sitting on suddenly became live. The electric shock forced him out of the cell into the aisle, which wasn't live. Now Al could see how many prisoners were alive, as the deceased remained in their cells. Roughly half of them made it to the aisle. There was murmuring and groaning.
Roy was close to Al, and then Sara emerged from her cell and stretched.
"Argh! That was terrible. Hi, Al, it's me, Sara," she said, sounding more cheerful than Al had expected.
In her late teens, she wore her blonde hair cropped short, her eyes were dark. She was dressed in a black T-shirt monogrammed with the official classic Queen crest, blue denim short shorts, and bare feet. Athletic and trim, she had a cheeky disposition.
Roy stood at six feet, lanky, with cropped hair, and dressed in the shaggy remains of a grey business suit.
"Hey, Roy, aren't you a bit overdressed for economy class?" Al joked.
"I was on my way home from work. Got my necktie in my pocket. Y'all never know if we're gonna meet the boss-man," he replied, light-heartedly.
All of them, except Alice, were stretching, glad to straighten up after confinement.
"Wonder what killed those poor dudes?" Al said, referring to those left motionless in their cages.
"Most of them were injured during the abduction. They were nearly dead when they were put in the cells," Roy explained.
The floor beneath their feet lit up green, just like their cells had. Thinking they were about to be shocked again, they quickly moved out through the open door.
Once outside the craft, everything became clear. It was sunny ... the sky was an unearthly yellow colour that graduated to emerald green higher up. The sun was enormous in the sky, much larger than what they were used to, and orange in colour, casting an otherworldly hue over everything. Three moons hung above, two small and one perhaps twice the size of Earth's. Al thought one of the moons was larger because it was closer. Not far away, there was a deep blue ocean.
Al gazed up at the ship overhead. It was massive, twice the size of an Airbus A-380, dark grey and marked with black scores from meteorites it had deflected. It looked like a larger version of an An-Zu bird to him. The outer skin wasn't smooth; it was angular and corrugated, presumably to deflect radar. There were no livery, numerous communication aerials, and as he scanned all around, he could see no signs of any alien beings ... just them, and no signs of life or habitat. Notably, there was no vegetation. The terrain resembled a desert, not with the red or yellow sand of Earth, but orange, stretching all the way to the sea. In the distance, a jagged mountain range of dark red loomed majestically. It reminded Alice of the Taurus Mountains on Earth, where he and Ninurta had dealt with the An-Zu pilot.
The craft stood on skis atop a massive circular metal disk countersunk into the desert floor. It reminded Al of the elevator at the Avalon bunker, only this was much larger. The air was fresh, clean, and fine to breathe. The atmosphere was humid but pleasant enough, with a temperature of around twenty-five degrees Celsius, yet the gravity was less than on Earth. It made Al feel light-headed, as if he could jump much higher than back home.
Further afield, on the ocean horizon of the cloudless sky, ominous thunderheads were rolling and crackling internally with fierce, bright red lightning—an alien storm.
"Where the heck are we? Another planet?" Roy said, awestruck.
But before Al could answer, he was distracted by the sound of a six-metre iris spiralling open in the circular plate they were standing on.
A voice growled in a broad Scottish accent, "Not for me, I’m outta here."
The big, burly, tattooed Scott bolted across the plate, but when he reached the edge of it, he struck an invisible force field. He froze as if electrocuted, and then, to their horror, vaporised into a melted blob of smouldering flesh. The women screamed.
Electra sat motionless in her office, deeply engrossed in meditation. Suddenly, she snapped out of it and spoke, "I am not satisfied that the Astara is still in existence ... it poses a serious threat," she communicated mentally as En-Lil to the hive. "More so, I believe the Nephilim took it."
"For what reason?" the multiple voices of the hive asked within her mind.
"They desire to generate a living being. We're aware that they have been abducting humans from Earth for years, attempting to breed a hybrid. Our knowledge indicates that this was impossible without using the Astara, which is why I suspect they took it."
"What is the basis for your evidence?"
"The report from my agent, Commander Walker. There were two crafts over Davao—one was a Watcher, and I am certain the other was an An-Zu bird."
"Are you absolutely certain this isn't just paranoia, En-Lil? The Nephilim have been your adversaries since En-Ki created them."
"The question is irrelevant ... the Nephilim must not be allowed to succeed," En-Lil emphasised.
Down the hallway from the Kairos control room, in a lab, the Professor and Hope were busy reverse engineering the TL-100 teleported from 2112.
Jax and Blake had been sent back through Kairos to Davao. Blake on a fact-finding mission, whilst Jax would study the treasure before the Philippines Government could impound it, which was inevitable.
Still unhappy, Vee was sitting in the control room with a dour expression on her face, listening to Turk telling Secta and Christina about the mission to the Rangers’ bunker. Though she could see Turk’s lips moving she was so spaced-out she couldn’t hear what they were saying. Alice missing had shrouded her in a veil of anguish, and being unable to do anything about it only increased her frustration.
For Secta, even though he’d experienced Alice missing a number of times previously, he couldn’t ignore the nagging suspicion that this time he may have met his match. Alice had after all once professed to him: ‘one thing is inevitable, just like a prize-fighter, sooner or later you’re going to come up against someone better than you.’
Rising from her seat to leave, Vee said, "I don’t know that I have enough emotional bandwidth to handle this."
"Vee," Turk called after her.
She stopped at the door and looked back forlornly.
"It’s all part of what we do, mate," Turk said, compassionately. "Come here, sit back down let me tell you something."
Vee respected Turk and complied, dawdling back and taking her seat.
He paused then said, "You know, I’ve been through some sticky times with Alice … any one of them would have stopped the heart of the average bloke. So, I want to tell you about courage. When Al occupied me, I had been sentenced to fight to the death in the arena like a gladiator. It was a walled arena, unarmed, we were forced to fight the hardest, most brutal bastards I’d ever come across … and I tell you, I’ve come across plenty. The thing-of-it is, I couldn’t help him, my implant had been shut down by Gorrick’s wicked offsider Dr Mennis … you met her … so, there was Al, alone in the arena, armed only with his mind and fists, up against impossible odds—two brutes on motorbikes armed with spears. The game was appropriately called Deathball. Like basketball a ball had to be thrown into a hoop … but there was only one hoop and it was positioned three metres up the wall of the arena. Three hoops for the prisoner would gain him freedom … and you know what? Nothing was going to stop Alice from winning … nothing. I know of no-one more noble, more courageous or tougher than that bloke."
"Coming from you Turk … there could be no greater accolade," Secta said, respectfully.
Vee had teared up. She knew Turk was right … on the few occasions she’d seen her brother in action, no-one could equal him … except maybe Turk.
The big feller gave her a bear-hug, then held her at arms-length and said, "Be as brave as your brother girl, because that’s what he would demand of you … am I right?"
Nodding her head, she wiped away the tears. Turk’s passionate narrative had grown her mentally taller in confidence. "I hear you Turk, thank you. Did he win?"
He grinned, "I’m here, that pretty-much says it all."
Chapter 18
PROBE
THEY WERE STRUCK frozen by what they had witnessed. It was then the gruesome reality of their dire situation impacted fully. They knew now that with such merciless captors, any attempt to escape would be an exercise in futility.
They were all startled when an eerie rumbling sound faded up from deep within the circular open cavity at their feet, forewarning something was coming their way. In fearful anticipation, they huddled together like frightened animals.
Alice knew he needed to take control. He was the fittest, he was the most experienced, and above all, he wasn’t intimidated.
"Now listen, for those that don’t know me, I’m Alice … stay calm, don’t panic, you can see what happens by the Scot if you panic. We’ll get through this … trust me."
Even though the ominous sound of whatever was coming out of that dark hole was increasing in volume, Al could feel his appeal for calm working.
A strange dark green globular-shaped vehicle rose out of the void. It hovered to wait for the aperture to iris shut and then it settled down on the closed disc. A hatch opened in its nose, and a ramp extended, which fluoresced green and blinked inviting them to board.
"Okay, let’s go on board … I’ll lead the way," Al said, taking the initiative. He presumed that just like the An-Zu bird he’d experienced before, everything to do with this alien species would be automated. He stepped onto the ramp to enter the craft, not expecting anything threatening. As he progressed up the sloping ramp, he noticed lights countersunk in it, blinking from green to blue when he stepped over them. Upon reaching the doorway, he stopped and turned back to watch the others coming up the ramp. He let several of them pass him and told them to wait just inside the door. A few of them weren’t in the best shape and had to be helped up the incline by others. When the first of the injured captives tried to step over the ramp light, it changed to red. She was instantly paralysed, unable to move. The ramp lit up red, and a line of green lights illuminated back down the ramp along the disc back inside the spacecraft from whence they’d come.
It dawned on Alice that it was a sensor that had detected imperfection and was rejecting the person commanding her by way of the strip-lights to return to the ship.
Al called to her, "Miss, you’ll need to return to the ship."
"No, no … I can’t," she said, in a panic still unable to move but capable of speech.
Al made his way to her and told her compassionately, "Look, I reckon this is a fitness test. If you go back to the ship, I think they’ll return you home. I don’t believe they mean you any harm. If they wanted to hurt you, they would have done so by now."
"But, but I, I’m afraid, Alice," the woman in her late thirties stuttered worriedly.
"Come on love, I’ll help you." He took her by the arm, the light intuitively changed to green, and she was released from the paralysis. It allowed Alice to help her back down the ramp towards the ship. A total of four abductees were rejected, and Al helped each of them back.
From inside, the seven remaining captives watched the ramp slide back, and the door glide closed. The interior of the globular transport was featureless. Just one round window like a ship’s portal and a big empty space like in a bus with straps suspended from an overhead gantry for them to hold while standing.
"Feel like an animal at an abattoir headed for the big chop," Roy whispered to Al.
"I don’t know mate, I get the impression they want us for some special purpose. I don’t reckon they aim to kill us."
Sara was eavesdropping and added, "We’ll find that out soon enough, won’t we?"
The craft travelled at about three hundred clicks at around five hundred metres above ground with uncanny silence. Al was intrigued by the propulsion system—he couldn’t fathom it. When after about fifteen minutes he felt the sensation of the craft slowing, he checked out of the small window. They were passing over a rocky, volcanic island with a coastline of dark blue waters. There was no sign of habitation.
"What do you see bro?" Roy asked.
"I think we’re about to land at an island resort," Al joked.
He was right about landing, wrong about the resort.
The craft entered an aperture that spiralled open in a mountain on the island.
Hopeful he would finally get to meet his captors, Al waited at the shuttle door for it to open. He was disappointed when exiting was only a repeat of the boarding procedure. Despite this, Al remained confident they would soon make first contact.
The floor lights guided them inside a massive grotto hewn from mountain bedrock. It looked to Alice like an extinct volcano, and that made him wonder why they would be residing underground—could it be that the surface was too hazardous?
A line of green squares illuminated, directing them to cross a vast floor. The squares stopped at a large set of metal doors recessed into the craggy cavern wall. It was obvious after the terrible demise of the Scotsman that stepping off the path could be fatal, so they were exacting with their footfall.
A sensor detected they had assembled at the metal doors, and the doors slid open. Beyond them, they could see a massive cavern containing a city. They were transfixed by the engineering skills it must have taken to construct it.
There was one gleaming white high-rise globular-shaped building that reached more than halfway up to a gargantuan skylight that enclosed the cavern at least two hundred metres above the ground. Around it were smaller globular buildings like houses. All the buildings were connected by two pipes of clear tubing that snaked throughout the city, through which they could see globular vehicles shuttling back and forth.
"This is incredible," Al mumbled. Then, a storm suddenly struck with fury outside, pounding the skylight with torrential rain and lighting up the cavern with reflected dramatic radiant red lighting. Thunder reverberated like the drums of hell. It all became clear to Alice why the inhabitants were subterranean dwellers; little could survive the brutal force of the tempest outside. He figured it had to be the storm he’d noticed when he’d first set foot on the disc from the craft.
"Whoa, glad we’re in here, that thing is sic," Roy said.
"You’re not wrong, mate," Al agreed. "They must get whacked by storms a lot, explains why they’re underground."
The entire cavern vibrated with each cacophonous clap of thunder.
In the midst of all the mayhem, a white rectangular pillar-box rose out of the path in front of them. A door opened in it, and squares leading to it fluoresced green. Al led everyone inside, where they found a ramp of illuminated green squares sloping down.
After a five-minute descending walk, they reached a platform inside the huge clear Perspex-like tube that connected the buildings.
Sara shuffled up beside Alice and told him, "This is like a magical mystery tour."
"Nothing to fear so far, Sara. Let’s hope it stays that way," Al cautioned. That old gut feeling of his had materialised a warning of imminent trouble.
After three globular shuttles had passed at speed, one pulled up, but the bubble had no door.
