Holes in the Ground (33 page)

“I’m not surprised,” said Sun. “You have them locked away hundreds of feet below the ground.”

Kane said nothing. He marched ahead and stopped beside a pair of armed guards. He exchanged pleasantries with the two men while the rest of the group caught up.

“In here,” said Kane. “Take a look.”

Here goes
, thought Andy.
Time to see what all the fuss is about.

Andy peered through the glass. The cell was nothing but a large white room with a bench.

“I don’t see anything. Did you bring me here just to see a bench?”

Kane cleared his throat. “Look up, Mr Dennison.”

Andy craned his neck and glanced towards the room’s ceiling.

Behind him, Sun gasped. “Oh God.”

Jerry whistled in awe. “It’s a flappy little demon thing. Cute.”

Andy glared at the batling in the cell. It was a mini version of the abomination he and Sun had faced off against three years ago; the thing that had almost killed them both—and had succeeded in killing most of their colleagues. Its flesh was a muddy red colour, matted with course fur. Its arm bore talons while its feet ended in goat-like hoofs.

Andy’s eyes narrowed at the creature. “Bub…”

“I understand that you have met before,” said Kane.

Andy nodded, not taking his eyes of the object of his hatred for a split-second. “After Samhain was blown up, Bub exploded into dozens of these things which flew off in all directions.”

“All perfect replicas of Bub,” Sun added. “Such a thing should be impossible for any living thing, but we discovered that Bub was able to manipulate his own DNA.”

“As well as that of other living things,” Andy added.

The batling hovered eight feet above the ground. It had the same malevolent, sideways-blinking eyes as its creator and gave off the same barnyard smell, even through the thick glass.

Andy cleared his throat and gnashed his teeth. Then he turned to face Kane. “You have to destroy this thing.”

“That would be premature.”

“Why? This thing is pure evil. Keeping it alive is just inviting disaster.”

Kane fiddled with his shirt cuffs momentarily and then folded his arms across his narrow chest. “As I understand it, there are many more of these things running around out there. Better that we learn what we can from this one so that we may have a better chance of destroying them all.”

Andy returned his gaze to the batling. The batling glared right back at him. “You’re making a mistake.”

“No. No, he’s not.” It was Sun speaking. Andy was surprised she did not agree with him. “We need to be smart about this,” she said. “We don’t know what Bub was planning when he turned into these things and flew away. Killing one would achieve nothing with so many more out there. What’s more important is finding out what these things are up to, and where to find the others.”

Andy closed his eyes and wished to be somewhere else, anyplace else but there. But it would be burying his head in the sand to not admit that his wife was right. He had no choice but to be there.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked Kane. “What are you going to do with this thing?”

Kane shrugged. “Find out all we can. Sun can tackle the situation from a biological standpoint; study the creature’s physiology et cetera. We need
you
to try and communicate with it. Use your knowledge of Bub to try and find out as much as possible about what these ‘batlings’ are planning.”

“What about me?” Jerry asked.

Kane glared at him. “You stay out of the way and try not to give me any reason to shoot you.”

Andy glanced at Jerry and smiled. The kid was here whether anybody liked it or not. It would be wise to make the best of it. “You can be here for moral support,” he said.

Jerry smiled. “I can do that. I can, like, hold the test tubes and stuff for you.”

“Yeah, whatever works for you.”

“So when do we get started?” asked Sun.

“As soon as you meet the other members of the team,” Kane replied.

Sun started heading towards the elevator. “Let’s do that now. Sooner we get started the better.”

“You’re going the wrong way,” said Kane. “The people working on subbasement 10 are housed on the same level rather than level 4 with the rest of the facility. They need to be able to work closely and efficiently with their subjects.”

Andy smiled. “It’s more than that, though, isn’t it? Level 10 is separate so that you can blow it if anything escapes, along with any staff that may have been compromised.”

“I’m afraid we learned some difficult lessons after Samhain, Mr Dennison. You are, of course, correct. In case of an uncontainable security breach, the entire level is rigged to fill with concrete, as are all the over levels above—but level 10 is self-contained to make a full-quarantine easier to achieve. Anything alive down here will be fossilised within minutes of the concrete setting, while the floors above would remain unaffected. The elevator shaft would also be filled in and sealed. Of course, there’s also the good old option to self-destruct the entire facility.”

Andy winced.

“Can I take it that both of you are staying then?” Kane asked.

Andy shrugged. “Like either of us have a choice. We’re here, so let’s get to work.”

“Very good.” Kane led them further down the corridor. They passed by a whole host of monstrosities along the way. There was a hairy, snarling beast that looked a lot like the classical description of a werewolf, and a vile creature that was equal parts snake and eagle. The body was like a large bird of prey but its neck and head were serpentine, stretching out at least three feet into the air.

There was also a humanoid creature that could have easily passed for a man if not for its dislocated lower jaw and dagger-like teeth sticking out through the torn flesh of its cheeks. Its eyes were jet-black, with pupils so large that the whites were not at all visible. Its fingertips were barbed like fish hooks. And it glared at them with malice and utter hatred as they walked by its cell.

Really don’t want to be trapped in a room with that thing.

Up ahead, the transparent cells were coming to an end. A heavy steel door—like a bank vault—punctuated the conclusion of the corridor. As Andy passed by the final cell he glanced hesitantly inside, wondering what horror he would see next, but he was surprised to find a perfectly normal-looking, middle-aged man. The handsome male was dressed in jeans and a long grey overcoat and nodded to Andy as he passed by.

“How’s it hanging there, Governor?”

Andy stopped and studied the prisoner. The man had messy brown hair that fell down to his shoulders and a carpet of jet-black stubble clung to his face.

“Nay seen your face around here before, fella. You a newbie?”

As competent with languages as Andy was, he struggled to keep up with the stranger’s rapid-fire Irish accent. “I, erm, just got here,” Andy said. “Who are you?”

“My friends call me Lucas. Thrilled to make your acquaintance, so I am.”

The way the man said ‘thrilled’ sounded like ‘trilled’.

“A pleasure,” said Andy. “So, what are you…
in for
?”

“We’re not sure,” Kane interrupted. “Lucas here has the distinction of being unlike any of the other residents housed here.”

“Why’s that?” Sun asked.

“He’s here voluntarily. We never captured him. About a week ago he just appeared inside this cell and has been here ever since. He doesn’t eat, he doesn’t sleep. He’s not even organic as far as our tests can find.”

Sun cleared her throat and took a second look at the man inside the cell. “Not organic. What do you mean?”

“I mean his blood tests give no DNA, his flesh samples are inconclusive, and his hair follicles contain no proteins. It’s almost like he doesn’t exist. Except here he is.”

Andy stared at Lucas. Lucas stared back with an amiable smile on his face. There was nothing to suggest the man was anything more than a forty-year old human.

“We brought you here because of the batling,” said Kane. “But this man right here…well, of all the mysteries the Spiral contains, he’s the biggest.”

While Sun and Andy went to meet their new colleagues, Jerry was escorted to his room by a dick with a gun, who practically frogmarched him to the room in which he now stood. The whole experience had left Jerry feeling abused and upset.

Goddamn bullies. Story of my life.

At least the new digs were pretty sweet. The living quarters they’d provided him were almost as big as the two-bedroom flat he used to share with his mother back at home, back before she’d…

Got to stop thinking about the past, dude. Dwelling has got me in enough trouble already. I can’t even go back home because of what I did.

Still, I landed on my feet with this place. I came to America for Comic Con and ended up in a real life episode of the X-Files. I’m like a cooler Fox Mulder.

And that Italian chick would make a pretty good Scully.

Except that she’s married. And way out of my league.

And old.

Jerry decided to take a load off. The come-down from the drugs he’d taken had left him feeling groggy and sick. It was an experience he wasn’t in a hurry to repeat. Taking drugs had been a stupid idea in the first place, but if his life was soon to be over he had thought, what the hell, might as well try it.

He lay down on the room’s plush double bed and stared up at the ceiling, his vision spinning slightly and adding to his nausea.

This is so messed up.

I’m alone in a strange country and now I’ve ended up stumbling across something top secret. They’re not going to let me leave; not after what I’ve seen. I don’t even want to think about those giant spiders. Jeez!

They have the entire freaking cast of
Hammer Horror
down here in the flesh. I swear one of those things I saw was a goddamn werewolf.

No, no way will they’ll let me go after seeing all this.

Even if they do, all I have to look forward to is getting nicked by the coppers as soon as I set foot back home.

My life is over one way or another.

Jerry reached into his back pocket and pulled out his tatty nylon wallet. He plucked a photograph from one of the sleeves and looked at it. It was a picture of his best friend, Ben.

Wonder what you’re up to, buddy. Hope you’re okay.

Jerry knew that his friend was not okay, though. Not after what had happened.

Wouldn’t be surprised if you never speak to me again. I really wish you were here, though, ‘cus this place would blow your mind. All of the times we spent discussing horror movies in your dad’s old video shop and I end up in a place like this.

Jerry felt a tear well up in the corner of his eye. He quickly sprang up off the bed to keep it from taking root. The key was to occupy himself. Sitting still or lying down would let in all of his regret, and there was way too much of it for a coward like him to bear.

Maybe I deserve whatever happens to me. If a bunch of muppets-in-black knock on my door and make me ‘disappear’, maybe I’ll finally find some peace again. Maybe I’ll manage to get some bloody sleep finally.

Even if it ends up being permanent.

Jerry located the suite’s bathroom and stripped naked for a shower. He hoped the hot water would burn the bad memories right out of his head.

But he knew better.

Kane led Andy and Sun into a vast room. Like the ‘Nucleus’ upstairs it was full of desks, computers, and various hi-tech equipment that seemed to do nothing useful other than blink and beep. Andy found it mightily impressive.

Wonder if it all runs on Windows Illuminati.

Kane strolled over to a large conference desk taking up the centre of the room and pulled up a seat for Sun. She sat down on it. Andy found himself a chair beside her. He looked around, observing the room in closer detail.

There were several offices that led off from the central room. People in lab coats occupied some of them, but most lay empty. At the far side of the room, chatting in a huddle, were three men wearing black-op suits and shouldering mean-looking assault rifles that didn’t seem to fit any design Andy knew of. Behind them was a door that read:
LABS 1-4
.

“This is the conference room,” said Race. “This is where you and the team will share notes and make use of the more basic research equipment. Each member of staff also has their own private office, but the efforts here are mostly communal. In other words, everyone shares what they know with each other rather than sitting on information to further their own agenda. There is no individual glory here—it’s all about the mission.

There are four fully-equipped labs down here, to which everyone has access, under the supervision of Doctor Gorman. I am in charge here, but beyond that everybody has their own autonomy within their own specific area of research. You take orders from me and no one else. That needs to be very clear.”

Andy and Sun said nothing, but both nodded.

“Okay then.” Kane leaned forward to reach an intercom unit set into the middle of the desk. He pressed a button and said, “Can I have everyone in the conference room, please?”

They sat in silence for a few moments while people started to funnel out of the adjacent offices. Each of the newcomers pulled up a chair at the large desk. It began to resemble a meeting of the joint-chiefs.

“Okay,” said Kane. “I think that’s everyone. Allow me to start the introductions.” He nodded to a large Hispanic man in one of the black ops suit. The guard had a long raggedy beard like Rasputin and biceps the size of melons. Strapped to his chest was a blinking radio unit. Two equally-large black men flanked him on either side. “This is Sergeant Steve Rimmer, head of Spiral security. Either side of him are his team leaders, Mike Handler and Tyler West. Any security breaches will be dealt with by Rimmer and his team.”

Rimmer nodded but never spoke. Handler and West both said hello and smiled.

“Next we have Dr Lesly Chandelling who is our lead scientist and head of IT. Any tissue samples you need analysing will go through him and his team of assistants. Likewise, any questions about our computer systems here should be directed his way.”