TimeRipper Page 5

  His audience became uneasy at this news. All he could do was attempt to placate them. I can’t and won’t lie to them, he thought as he stepped down from the podium.

  6.

  THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE in the castle was dark and moody. It was in sharp contrast to the bright technological marvel that was the ground floor, but The Quest leaders had wanted to keep at least some of the original features when they remodelled. The underground room was vast. It had previously been a banquet suite. Apparently, through history, some of the previous owners had been paranoid enough to create a whole subterranean working castle built into the hill of Inverness that would allow them to live a semblance of normal existence while under siege from above.

  It had suited The Quest’s needs perfectly.

  Six women, the unofficial hierarchy of The Quest, were seated around a long, oval, mahogany table. Six visual display monitors represented the only technology in the room.

  There was very little cheer.

  ‘We need to release a statement, and it needs to be done soon,’ one of the women along the table shouted.

  ‘Agreed, but how do we announce it? Do we call it a victory? A triumph?’ another woman answered.

  ‘No!’ came a definitive answer from the tall, thin woman who was standing in the shadows. She moved into the light of one of the monitors, and the glow from the screen partly illuminated her face. ‘We simply announce it as a matter of fact!’

  Carrie Millwood looked around at the other women in the room, taking every one of them in with her gaze. ‘It’s not a triumph, or a victory. Far too many innocent people have died today. This is a stance for what we believe in. The Earth Alliance has denied us for too long. Soon, they’ll no longer exist. We are the government of this planet now. We will put out a statement. We will lay claim to this event. But there will be no celebration. How can we celebrate the death of so many of the Earth’s population?’

  The silence from the room was complete.

  ‘The EA will be scraping together anything they can to offer succour to the survivors of The Event, and they will fail, miserably. We, on the other hand, have built our reserves. We knew that this apocalypse was coming. We will offer help, food, and shelter to the populous, but most of all, we’ll offer hope. Hope in a new dawn, in a new regime, in a new way.’

  The silence prevailed. The other five women looked at her. There was reverence within their gazes, and there was awe. All six of them had planned this event, down to the very minutest detail. Ever since they walked out of that lab, almost twenty years ago, they had dreamt of this moment. The moment they took control.

  ‘When do we announce ourselves as the new power to the people?’ one of the women, asked.

  Carrie smiled; it was a rare occurrence these days. ‘As soon as the Earth Alliance admit their inadequacies in dealing with this global catastrophe. It shouldn’t be too long.’

  Everyone in the room smiled, none more so than Carrie herself. She had handpicked this team, groomed them, recruited them from the Earth Alliance herself.

  She had chosen wisely.

  7.

  ‘YOUSSEF, WE’VE MADE contact with New Mexico. It looks like they haven’t been affected by The Event, but their communications array has been down under the pressure of so much traffic passing through it,’ Amanda reported as he walked into the control room.

  ‘Excellent, how many is that now?’ he asked. His spirits were rising, only a little, but every person found alive was something to celebrate.

  ‘Twenty-five cities in total, and all but one of the orbital platforms,’ she replied. ‘Up to now, it constitutes maybe thirty percent of Earth’s inhabited regions.’

  Youssef sighed. ‘Well, it’s a start. Have we had any reply from the teams we put in place to contact these cities?’

  ‘We’ve had communication from some of our teams in Mexico, and some in Eastern Europe. They’re reporting mass rioting, looting. Murder and suicides are on the increase. The situation is dire, sir. It seems that the areas attacked were targeted for good reason. They were mostly areas of high production of either food or other essential products. Analysis points to them hitting these locations to create scarcity.’

  ‘This hasn’t been a random terrorist strike,’ he mumbled, more to himself than to Amanda. ‘It’s been well planned, probably for years. It’s my bet that they’ve been stockpiling supplies to hand out to the stricken populous in return for their loyalty. How have we not seen something like this coming?’

  ‘Sir, a communication’s coming in,’ Amanda interrupted. ‘It’s using almost every frequency, even the emergency ones. I’m patching it into our system now.’

  A holographic device blinked into life. A symbol of a rotating Q appeared. Inside it was a small purple globe. Underneath it, in purple upper-case lettering, were the words, THE QUEST.

  Eventually, the symbol faded away and was replaced by the image of a woman. She was tall and elegant. Her face, like her attire, was serious.

  ‘Carrie Millwood,’ Youssef whispered.

  She looked old, and tired, nothing like his vibrant former colleague from the lab twenty years ago.

  The holographic Carrie raised her arms and spoke, and as she did, her voice came from everywhere. ‘Citizens of the planet Earth. If you are listening to this broadcast, then you are the lucky ones. You have been chosen, and you have been spared.’

  A shout of anger flared up in the room. Youssef tried his best to silence it, he needed to hear every word of this message.

  ‘You may not understand this now,’ she continued, ‘but in the future, you will know the benefits of what has transpired here. We are not celebrating a triumph. We take no joy in what we have done, but please know that what has passed has been done for the benefit of this planet and the future of everyone left upon it.’

  Another burst of anger filled the room.

  ‘We have lived in the shadow of a fascist regime for far too long. The Earth Alliance tell us how to think, they tell us how to live; but no more. Their time is over. The Quest will now be your government. We will allow the Earth Alliance one calendar year to relinquish all control over to us. We are the ones with the resources now. You’ll find that the major production plants and food processing plants, that you have relied on for too long, are now gone. You have little to no resources left. We, on the other hand, have an almost limitless supply. To show our benevolence, we will offer you, the people, unlimited access to these supplies on one condition. The condition is that you renounce the Earth Alliance, you join with us in The Quest. Our quest is not only for a brighter future for you, but a better future for all. Representatives will be communicating with the leadership of the Earth Alliance to work out the transition process. We want this to pass as smoothly, and as peacefully, as it can. We now own the immediate issue of feeding the remaining population. This is our highest priority, and all petty squabbles will be overlooked.’

  There was no sign off. Carrie’s holograph simply blinked into non-existence, and the symbol of The Quest reappeared.

  Youssef stared at the spinning symbol. Why would Carrie be sending representatives to speak to our authorities? Why not come herself? he thought.

  He took this thought with him as he re-entered his office. Once the door was closed, the rest of the people in the control room went back to their duties, shooting sparing glances towards his office, mumbling to each other in hushed tones.

  ~~~~

  Over the next few days, the situation on Earth worsened. The Quest’s broadcast had been shown in what was left of every country on the planet and had been broadcast in every language. In a number of these countries, the Earth Alliance headquarters had been overrun and the personnel forced to leave, to be re-housed on orbital platforms, for their own safety. Youssef had been watching events unfold from his safe haven above the troubles.

  This disturbed him more than anything.

  He was in his personal quarters with his wife; his daughter was playing with some old
-fashioned cars on the floor, at their heels. They were trying to eat a family meal, but he couldn’t focus.

  ‘I don’t understand why they would do such a thing.’ A statement he had made repeatedly over the last few days. ‘They’re holding the planet to blackmail; and worst of all, they’re winning.’

  ‘Youssef, you need to relax,’ Helen, soothed. ‘I swear your hair is already going grey.’ This was her attempt to lighten the mood a little, a hard task considering the recent activities.

  ‘What’s getting to me, though…’ he continued, ignoring Helen’s last comment, ‘…is why she said they’d be sending representatives to talk to EA. We have history, she knows my position. Why not come herself?’

  ‘That’s probably why she won’t come herself. You do realise that you’re now the highest-ranking officer in the EA, don’t you? It would have to be you she dealt with.’

  He stared at his wife. His face was a blank canvas, but his eyes were working. He hadn’t thought about that; he was the ranking officer in the EA. It was up to him to sort out this mess. ‘Well, Allah be praised,’ he mumbled. ‘The buck stops with me.’

  There was not a lot of humour in his voice.

  Helen looked at him, an enigmatic smile on her lips.

  He hated that the precious time they had together had to be tainted with work. They hadn’t seen much of each other in the last few days as he’d been putting out metaphorical fires left, right, and centre. He knew that Melissa, their daughter, had missed him terribly. She was not taking to life in the sky too easily. He had explained to her, and Helen, that this was really the only safe place left to them since The Event. But he knew that it wasn’t ideal.

  Her smile grew in confidence as she took his hand in hers, locking their eyes. ‘Youssef, you need to start delegating some of this work you’re doing. You can’t do everything yourself. I understand that the EA needs you, and the survivors on the surface need you, but do you know what? We need you too, Melissa and me. I won’t ever stand in the way of your work, I know how important it is to you, but please think of what you are putting yourself through.’ As she spoke, her eyes locked on their daughter who was looking up at them both.

  He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and exhaled as he bent down to pick her up. She flung her arms around him, planting a wet kiss on his lips. He smiled, laughed a little even, and for a moment, things felt like they could be heading in the right direction.

  His personal intercom chirped, and Amanda’s voice brought it all back. He rolled his eyes towards his wife, who rolled hers back, as he handed Melissa to her.

  ‘I’m sorry to trouble you on your personal time, but we’ve just had a communiqué from Orbital Platform Three. They’ve made contact with Antarctica. The operations team stationed there are alive and active. They’re teleporting in as we speak.’

  ‘Fantastic news,’ he replied. This time there was genuine happiness in his voice.

  ‘Sir, Kevin Farley is with them, and he’s asking to talk to you right away.’

  ‘Kevin? That’s great news.’ He turned to his wife, and there was genuine cheer in his features.

  ‘It looks like you might have gotten what you wished for,’ he whispered to her. ‘My workload has just halved.’

  Helen pulled an exaggerated smile.

  ‘He’s requesting to talk to you right now. He’s on line twelve in your office.’

  He gave his wife a pleading look, coupled with a shrug.

  ‘Go on!’ she hissed, ushering him away. ‘You can’t leave the world waiting for Kevin Farley.’

  He offered her another apologetic smile, kissed Melissa on the forehead, then leaned in and kissed his wife on her lips. ‘I won’t be long, I promise.’

  Helen nodded. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow sometime then,’ she replied with just the right touch of sarcastic frost in her voice. She watched as he jumped out of his seat and left the room.

  ~~~~

  ‘Kevin… Praise to Allah, you’re a sight for sore eyes!’ Youssef shouted as the image of a cold and dishevelled Kevin Farley flickered onto the monitor.

  ‘Jesus, man, I’m gone for less than a month and literally the whole world goes to shit!’ His smile faded, and Youssef could see desperation in his cold eyes. ‘How are you, man? It’s good to see your face again, even if it is the ugly one that I know and love.’ Kevin would always squeeze a joke into any situation. If he wasn’t joking, then you knew you were in trouble. ‘In all seriousness though, what’s the damage?’

  Youssef’s face fell from the smile he’d been wearing into the deep-set frown it was accustomed to these days. Kevin also had the ability to do that to a person. ‘As an estimation, from a potential ten billion people on Earth, we think we’ve lost somewhere between forty and sixty percent. We can’t get precise records yet because everything is crazy.’

  A moment of silence passed between the two men. It was Kevin who broke it. ‘Jesus. Four billion people, gone, just like that?’

  ‘It looks that way. We’ve no way of knowing for sure. Communications are still sketchy, even in the areas we know haven’t been affected.’

  ‘Word on the street is that it was The Quest that did it,’ Kevin stated. Even though he already knew it was, Youssef knew that he needed to hear it from the one man he could believe it from.

  He dropped his head and averted his eyes before he could answer. ‘Yeah. It was them.’

  ‘Have they been in contact yet? You know, regarding a meeting?’

  ‘Only to say that they want one. To tell you the truth, when Amanda told me we had a communiqué, I was hoping it was them.’

  ‘Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you with, you know… just being alive,’ he joked, breaking another pained smile. ‘Is there any way of us getting hold of them? Don’t they hole themselves up in a castle in Bonnie Scotland somewhere?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Youssef replied. ‘But our resources are so dilapidated, we’ve got no way of tracing them back to their origin.’

  ‘Youssef, I’m on my way up. We need to get together on this. Between us, I don’t think I would be wrong in saying that we’re the highest-ranking officers in the Alliance, God help us.’ He shook his head, the smile on his face remaining steadfast. ‘I’ll be there in ten minutes.’ Kevin looked like he was about to get up when an arm appeared on the monitor and rested on his shoulder. Youssef heard a voice talking off camera.

  ‘You need to rest, you have hypothermia, and you also have malnutrition.’ The disembodied Germanic voice off the monitor spoke softly, but assuredly.

  He watched as Kevin, ever the hothead, grabbed the arm and held it. ‘I’m required on OP One, Doc. I’m going whether you like it or not.’

  As the doctor held his ground, Youssef smiled to himself. That sounds like Hausen! This is going to be one hell of a stand-off.

  ‘I’m fully aware of who you are and what rank you have, but I’m your doctor, and I have the authority to override any order, or command, that you make if I feel there is a legitimate medical reason to do so. I will not hesitate to exercise this.’

  Youssef watched as his friend staggered to his feet; his face like thunder. ‘Look, doctor, this is a matter of global security, and I…’

  ‘I don’t care about global security, sir, I care about my patients getting the correct…’

  ‘Guys, guys. Stop,’ Youssef shouted into the screen. ‘Listen, Kevin, Doctor Hausen is right. You get some rest, there’s nothing we can do until they contact us anyway. I promise I’ll let you know if anything happens. You’re no good to anyone dead.’

  Kevin’s face was a picture. He had climbed up the ladder in the Earth Alliance to Director of Operations solely because he hated being told what to do.

  ‘You get twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep, some food and liquids, and I’ll call you later,’ he commanded. ‘Oh, and just one more thing before you go. What’s the state of your team there?’

  ‘Full compliment. Why?’

  ‘Just
in case we need some operational personnel.’

  Kevin smiled into the monitor and winked. ‘They’re standing ready and waiting orders.’

  As the screen went blank, Youssef saw it as an opportunity to go back and spend the rest of the evening with his family. He checked in with Amanda first to see if The Quest had been in touch. She informed him that there had been no further communications. Thankful for that news, he went home.

  8.

  CARRIE MILLWOOD WAS alone in her office in the lower chambers. She was reviewing the footage of what everyone had come to call ‘The Event.’ The smile she was wearing was cold as the room was, and sad. She knew that the others would be there soon. It was almost time to finish what they had started. The task they had been working on for nearly twenty years. The ultimate sacrifice to true science. They were about to risk everything for the Higgs Storm.

  When Carrie left the Earth Alliance, taking the others with her, she had an idea. The idea had taken root after she’d watched Gloria die. She did not crave power, nor did she have radical idealism, she was a pure scientist.

  Her idea had been to start again. To reboot.

  She’d known back then that it would involve sacrifice, both personal and public, but the science of it was far too alluring for her to let it go. She had begun small. She started stealing equipment from the lab. Little by little, she accrued the raw materials to build her own rough Hadron Collider. It was then that she began to recruit other, like-minded, scientists in her team to her own way of thinking. The one scientist she had really wanted, even needed, had resisted her; he had outright refused to join her.