Apocalypse

50

Dennis Aubrey hurried down one of the corridors that joined the main dome with the ancillary structures that ringed it, heading for the communications dome. He fumbled in his pocket as he walked and retrieved a satellite phone, scrolling down through a series of numbers until he found the one that he needed.

The communications dome was normally controlled from the main hub, the two linked by optical fibers, allowing all major operations to be operated from Deep Blue’s main control panel. Joaquin had ensured that Aubrey could not contact anybody on the surface, by locking him out of the communications panel. However, Aubrey knew for certain that Charles Purcell would have built redundancy measures into the system, including the ability to contact the surface directly from the communications hub, in the event of a hull breach elsewhere in the facility.

Aubrey hurried toward the hatch, a lone guard on sentry duty standing with an assault rifle cradled in his grip. He looked up with a bored expression as Aubrey approached and raised one leather-gloved hand.

‘No admittance without prior clearance from Mr. Abell,’ the soldier announced in a monotone military voice.

‘Do you think Joaquin would have let me out of his sight if he didn’t want me here?’ Aubrey shot back. ‘Mr. Abell is in the control center with the governor of Florida, a member of Congress and an oil man worth more money than God. If we can’t ensure perfect communications with the outside world then I’ll know who to blame when Mr. Abell asks why we failed.’

‘I’ll have to clear it,’ the soldier intoned dully.

‘Then clear it!’ Aubrey snapped. ‘Just hurry the goddamned-hell up!’

The soldier reached for his radio, keyed the microphone and droned into it. Aubrey listened as a scratchy-sounding voice replied. The soldier lowered the radio and looked down at him for what felt like an eternity before he moved away from the hatch.

Aubrey wasted no time and heaved the hatch-seal handle before shoving the heavy door open with his shoulder and walking inside, careful to seal it behind him.

The communications hub was smaller than the others, little more than a shed-sized construction that contained a desk, two computers and a bank of radios, both digital and analogue, that connected to the tethered antenna buoy some two thousand feet above.

Aubrey sat down at the desk and quickly grabbed a set of radio jacks, plugging one end into the back of the satellite phone he had stolen from the control panel and the other into a digital transmission amplifier. He glanced at the controls and saw that the buoy’s transmitters had been shut off by Olaf, just as Joaquin had ordered. Aubrey smiled to himself. The satellite phone provided its own transmission — the buoy’s inactive antenna would simply boost the signal when it reached the surface, much like a television aerial. Aubrey brought up Katherine Abell’s number on his cellphone before dialing it into the satellite phone. He listened to the tone in his ear as the line began ringing.

‘Pick up,’ Aubrey whispered. ‘Come on.’

The line continued to ring and Aubrey clenched his fist in frustration as Katherine Abell’s cell went to voice-mail. Cursing, he waited until he heard the tone at the end of her message before speaking.

‘Katherine, it’s Dennis. Listen to me, I don’t have much time. Joaquin isn’t running a conservation project down here. This is a military facility and he’s developed a machine to cause earthquakes and other natural disasters. He’s aiming for where you are, Katherine. I am not allowed to leave this facility. Please, if you get this message, get onto high ground until the quake has passed, and then get in touch with the authorities — the coastguard, the police. Hell, call the goddamned Navy, just get somebody out here as quickly as you can!’ Aubrey paused and brought himself under control before continuing. ‘I’m going to try to stop him. Please hurry, and take care of yourself, okay?’

Aubrey shut off the line and unplugged the jacks before he stuffed the satellite phone back into his pocket and turned for the door. With a heave of effort he yanked the door open and stepped out into the corridor. The guard glanced at him without interest as he pulled the hatch shut and shuffled off back down the corridor.

Aubrey reached the main corridor that ringed the central dome and branched off to each of the ancillary domes. Aubrey turned right, waiting until he was out of sight of the guard before breaking into a run. He jogged around the outside of the hub until he reached a smaller, narrower hatch that led not to another tunnel but to a small storage facility attached directly to the side of the main dome. A card-activated security panel was affixed to the wall beside the hatch, restricting access, and for good reason. The small room beyond was the armory.

Aubrey reached beneath his sleeve and slid out Olaf Jorgenson’s security card. What the towering giant possessed in strength he lacked in wits and intelligence, and Aubrey allowed himself a nervous smile as he slipped the card in. It had taken only a mild sleight of hand to let the card fall into his shirtsleeve rather than drop into the box. The armory door clicked and he hauled it open. He ducked inside and looked at the racks of assault rifles, underwater pistols, knives and small arms.

Aubrey was no soldier, but he knew enough about weapons from watching television to figure out what he needed. Only the hand pistols were small enough for him to conceal beneath his clothes. He reached up and unclipped one of several Sig 9mm pistols from one of the racks, then looked down immediately below the rack to where a fully loaded clip lay.

Aubrey slid the clip into the gun’s handle and slammed it into place with the heel of his hand. It slid into place with a satisfying click. Aubrey checked that the safety catch was on before he stuffed the weapon into the waistband of his jeans at the small of his back, beneath his shirt.

Aubrey turned around and ducked out of the armory, then pushed the hatch shut behind him until he heard the electronic locks engage. With a sigh of relief, he walked back toward the main dome’s entry hatch.

‘What are you doing here?’

The words snapped like live current through Aubrey’s body as he whirled to see Olaf Jorgenson striding down the corridor toward him, his muscular chest pulsing with each swing of his blocky arms. The giant glanced suspiciously at the armory door.

‘Checking the locks on all of the hatches,’ Aubrey coughed. He stood his ground as Olaf loomed over him, and conjured more mystifying terms from the vaults of his memory. ‘We don’t want the longitudinal-mass accelerometer to emit electromagnetic pulses that could fry the locks and blow them open, do we?’

Olaf peered down at him, the long words apparently rolling slowly through his mind like ticker tapes.

‘You said nothing to Mr. Abell about the locks,’ he rumbled.

Aubrey raised his chin.

‘You think that Joaquin has time for a long discussion about the medium-range effects of pulsed acoustic wave signals in confined areas?’ he said. ‘I don’t think that his guests would care for it. Do you?’

Olaf squinted down at him and then bent forward at the waist, lowering his giant angular head until his icy blue eyes were just inches from Aubrey’s face. One immense and rock-solid forearm slowly pushed Aubrey inexorably backwards until he bumped against the armory hatch. Olaf’s arm pressed against his chest with enough force to restrict his breathing.

‘It’s Mr. Abell to you,’ he growled. ‘You think that I’m stupid, don’t you?’

Aubrey swallowed.

‘Not at all, Mr. Jorgenson. But it’s my job to look after this facility and if I’m not allowed to do so, we could all die down here. Mr. Abell has a machine of immense power and it requires delicate control and careful monitoring. That is what I am doing.’

Olaf glared at Aubrey for several long seconds before releasing him.

‘Get back into the control room,’ he ordered.

Aubrey turned without another word and marched back into the main dome, just in time to feel the immense vibrations emanating from the black hole’s chamber, which were now causing the entire facility to shudder. Governor MacKenzie was backing away from the machine, but Joaquin was laughing and clapping his hands together.

‘You see, gentlemen? This is real power!’

Aubrey walked up to Joaquin with Olaf behind him.

‘Sir, the box? We’d best keep it away from the chamber.’

Joaquin glanced over his shoulder and saw Olaf lumber into view. Satisfied, he didn’t even bother to look at Aubrey as he handed him the box.

Aubrey carried it to the control panel and set it down. In one smooth motion, he lifted the lid and slipped Olaf’s access card back inside before shutting the lid and placing the box in plain view on the panel. Moments later, the satellite phone was back in its cradle.