Somehow she managed not to scream.
***
Paul and Linda moved together on their single bed, their slow sinuous love the focus of their being. Their bodies slid slickly on each other and their hands gently touched the flesh both knew so well. Paul was relaxed for the first time in days - he had no thoughts, only emotions. But then Linda suddenly stopped. 'Listen, do you hear that?' she whispered urgently.
'Oh no, not again,' he moaned. Earlier they had been dis-tracted by the sound of the others moving up and down the corridor, opening and shutting doors. He had no idea what they were up to but he couldn't care less.
'It sounds like something big being dragged along the pas-sageway,' said Linda. 'Some kind of sack…'
Paul sighed and cocked his head to listen. She was right. It did sound as if a heavy sack was being dragged along outside.
The noise stopped at their door and then, after a brief pause, it was replaced by a curious scratching sound, as if a small animal was pawing at the door.
'What is that?' asked Linda in a frightened whisper.
'Probably Alex trying to be funny,' said Paul. He rolled off her and got up as quietly as possible. As he approached the door he felt a prickle of unease travel up the bare skin along his spine. It occurred to him it might not be Alex after all but one of the missing laboratory animals.
'Don't open the door!' cried Linda in a low, urgent voice.
'Don't worry, I'm not going to,' he assured her as he warily pressed his ear against the wood.
At that precise moment there came a tremendous crash and he recoiled in shock as the whole door shuddered under some enormous impact from the other side.
Simultaneously there was a bellowing roar that sounded totally unlike anything Paul had ever heard before.
Then the door began to splinter inwards…
FIVE
Though partially stunned Paul reacted with speed. He made a dive for the M16 lying on the floor beside the bunk, snatched it up then spun round and aimed it at the door. There were now five long fissures in the top half of the door and even as he looked more began to appear. The terrible bellowing sound continued, almost drowning out Linda's high-pitched scream.
He pulled the trigger. The weapon's selector had obviously been left on 'Auto' as the entire magazine emptied itselfwithin seconds. The bullets passed through the door as if it wasn't there and from the other side the angry bellowing immediately became a shriek of pain…
The door stopped shuddering and there was the sound of something very big and heavy rebounding off the opposite wall of the passageway. Then the shrieking began to fade as the animal, or whatever it was, began to move off down the corridor.
They followed its progress to the end of the corridor then heard it begin to go up the stairs leading to the level above. There were a few more distant crashes then silence.
Paul looked at Linda. She had retreated to the far end of the bunk and was pressed back into a corner, her knees drawn up in front of her. Her face was completely white. He had never seen anyone look so frightened before and suspected his own face presented a similar picture.
'Paul…' she said weakly.
He swallowed and tried to give her a reassuring grin. He didn't succeed. 'It's okay, it's gone now…'
He put the now useless M16 down and began to struggle into his pants. 'Get dressed,' he told her. 'We've got to check on the others then try and track down whatever animal that was and finish it off.'
'Finish… it… off,' she repeated blankly. 'Paul… what was it?'
'I don't know, a bear maybe. Here…' He tossed her clothes at her then picked up the loaded .38 revolver they'd brought into the cabin along with the M16. He went back to the shattered door and listened intently for a few moments then slowly opened it. The .38 felt ridiculously small and puny in his hand and he knew instinctively it would be useless against whatever it was that had tried to break in.
But there was nothing outside.
Giving a deep sigh of relief he stepped out into the passageway and called, 'Hey, everybody! The coast is clear! Are you people okay?'
One of the doors opened and Rochelle emerged. She was stark naked and carrying Alex's Ml6. She looked dazed and her face was completely drained of colour.
Mark emerged next, also alone; pale, shaking and covered in sweat. He looked as if he was about to collapse. Then, to Paul's surprise, Alex and Chris came out of the same cabin a number of doors away. Chris was hastily doing up her shirt and her face looked red and puffy, as if she'd beea crying. But, as if by unspoken agreement, this unexpected development was obviously going to be ignored - at least for the time being. Right now there were more important things on everyone's mind…
'Jesus,' breathed Rochelle, 'what happened? What was making all that noise? I've never heard anything like it…'
Paul shook his head. 'I don't know. It must have been some kind of animal. None of you saw anything?'
'You kidding?' said Alex, taking the gun away from Rochelle. She seemed reluctant to let go of it. 'No way I was gonna take a look-see outside with the sound that thing was making. Sounded like a bull elephant on heat…'
'Paul, look at the door.' It was Linda. She was pointing at their cabin door. The wood was scored with deep parallel grooves as if made by giant claws.
'Who did all the shooting? You?' Alex asked Paul.
'Yes. I emptied the gun through the door,' said Paul. 'Must have hit it a couple of times at least. Sure sounded in pain afterwards.'
'You hit it more than a couple of times,' said Alex confidently. He was examining the wall on the other side of the passageway. 'See. Only five holes. Means you put thirteen bullets into it.'
Paul stared at the five bullet holes. They were like craters. He felt a chill run through him. Thirteen similar holes would be in the creature he'd shot - yet it had been able to walk away. Just what the hell was it?
He jumped as a loud thump sound came from above. Then there was the distant sound of breaking glass and another muffled crash.
They all stared at the ceiling.
'It's on the next level. Right above us,' whispered Chris.
Paul's first instinct was to run into the nearest cabin and barricade the door but he forced himself to say, with as much calmness as he could muster, 'Okay, Alex and I are going after it. Someone get me another M16. Mark, you and the girls lock yourself in one of the cabins and don't come out until we give you the all clear.'
Alex looked at him in alarm. 'Hey, what's all this we stuff? If you want to play Great White Hunter go ahead. My ass is staying down here. The thing's probably dying anyway - nothing can stand up to an M16 at that range. Let's just wait until it croaks…'
'If you're going up there I'm coming with you,' Linda told Paul firmly.
'Me too,' said Rochelle. 'I can fire a gun just as well as you can, Paul. And probably better than he can.' She jerked her thumb at Alex.
There was another loud crash from overhead.
'Well, whoever's coming, follow me,' said Paul grimly. 'I want to get to the bottom of this, one way or the other. Whatever that thing is up there it's the answer to the whole screwy business.'
***
In the end they all went. With Paul in the lead they quietly and warily climbed the stairs to the next level. In the distance they could still hear the periodic explosions of sound. Thirteen bullets or not the creature didn't seem to be getting any weaker. And there was the problem of the blood…
It was Rochelle who drew their attention to this as they were going up the stairs. 'Hey, I've just noticed another weird thing,' she said. 'There isn't any blood. There's none here and there wasn't any on the floor in the passageway.'
'Yeah, Ro's right,' said Alex, who was bringing up the rear.
'Perhaps Paul didn't shoot it after all,' said Chris nervously. 'He might have missed completely.'
'Please don't say that,' said Linda and shuddered.
'If I missed where are those thirteen bullets?' asked Paul.
At the top of the stairs they paused. The sounds had stopped. Ahead of them another of the pristine, brightly-lit corridors stretched into the distance. There was no sign of any animal, large or small. There was no sign of anything.
They all jumped as something heavy, like a filing cabinet, crashed to the floor. The sound appeared to come from a room about twenty yards down the corridor.
Paul checked to see that the safety catch was off on the Ml6. He noticed that the palms of his hands were slippery with nervous sweat. He gripped the weapon tighter. 'Let's go,' lie whispered.
As they approached the door Paul kept expecting it to burst open and God knows what to fly out straight for him. He thought of the claw marks in the bedroom door…
But it stayed shut. Silently he indicated to Alex that he take up position on the other side. Reluctantly Alex obeyed. His face was white with strain. Paul had never seen him like this before.
Then, when the others were in position too, guns at the ready, Paul took a deep breath and reached out for the door handle. Deep down he was praying that it would be locked. He didn't want to admit it but he would have given anything not to have to open that door…
His prayers were answered but not in the way he expected.
Just as his fingers were about to touch the round, polished handle the door suddenly opened.
Paul almost pulled the trigger on the M16 but stopped himselfjust in time. He stared with amazement at the figure in the doorway and then almost burst out laughing with relief.
The man was small, plump and balding. With his white coat and glasses he looked like the scientist in
The Muppet Show.
He stared at them all with an expression of mild surprise, as if coming unexpectedly face-to-face with six armed strangers was an everyday experience for him. 'Oh, hello,' he said, in a thin, high-pitched voice, 'I was just on my way to see you. Sorry I wasn't able to meet you earlier - I was unavoidably detained…' He gave a brief smile.
Paul was trying to peer past him into the room. It was a lab of some kind. It was littered with smashed equipment but it seemed empty. Where was the animal? 'Who the hell are you?' Paul asked brusquely. 'And where's the thing that was making all that noise?'
'My name?' He frowned, then his face brightened, 'I'm Dr Shelley. Dr Gordon Shelley.' He sounded pleased to have remembered his own name. 'And as for the thing, I suppose you're referring to Charlie. But don't worry, we've got him under control again. He won't bother you anymore tonight, that I promise you.'
'Who the fuck is Charlie?' growled Alex, rising from his crouch beside the door.
'Who is Charlie?' said Shelley. 'Ah, that's a little difficult to explain right now. Why don't you return to your rooms and get some sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning. Yes. The morning…' He frowned again. 'Tell me, what day is it today?'
'Uh, Wednesday, I think,' said Paul. He looked at Linda for confirmation. She nodded.
'And the month?' asked Shelley anxiously.
'June, of course,' said Paul.
'Still June?' Shelley looked surprised. 'It seems so much longer since… since…' His voice trailed away and his face went blank. Then he suddenly smiled at them and said, 'Please forgive me. I'm not myself these days. Oh, not myself indeed!' He started to laugh. 'Ah, amazing that one can still retain a sense of humour in spite of everything - at least I think it's my sense of humour…' He stopped smiling and blinked at them in surprise as if he was just seeing them for the first time. 'We've got to get you off the rig. Yes, as soon as possible. For your own sakes.'
Alex took a step forward and grabbed Shelley by the front of his coat. 'Listen, professor, cut the bullshit and tell me what's goin' on here! And where is that goddamn animal that made such a racket earlier?'
Calmly, Shelley reached up, took hold of Alex's wrist and pushed his hand away. He did it without any visible effort and Paul noted the look of surprise on Alex's face.
'The animal is where it can't disturb you again, I assure you. Now please return to your rooms. I'll explain everything tomorrow. Goodnight.'
Before they could react he ducked back into the lab and closed the door. They heard the click of a lock and then silence. Angrily, Alex began to bang on the door. 'Hey, professor! We're not finished with you yet! Open this goddamn door!'
But there was no response from inside and finally he gave up. 'Now what do we do?' he growled at Paul.
Paul shrugged. 'Do what he said, I guess.'
'But how can we be sure that animal won't come back?' asked Chris.
'We're just going to have to take his word for it. Nothing else we can do until morning. But we stay on our guard.'
'Well, I don't trust that mother,' said Alex. 'He sounded crazy to me. Completely off his rocker. I mean, what kind of scientist doesn't even know what friggin' month it is?'
'There was something very weird about him,' said Chris in a hushed voice. 'Didn't you all feel it? The vibrations he was giving off - I've never experienced anything like it before.'
'Screw your vibrations,' sneered Alex, 'I'll tell you one thing about the little creep, he's strong…' Alex rubbed his wrist. 'He almost broke my goddamn arm.'
***