The Void

CHAPTER 46

“Heads up.” Sam Reid had one boot on the cliff edge and stared down at the thing approaching that had just lifted out of the mist line.

Casey joined him, her quad-scopes engaged as she craned forward. “What the hell?”

Sam saw the silver being scaling the near-vertical cliff face like a spider, never slowing or missing a handhold. It held Morag over its shoulder. Even though it was dark, there was starlight and a moon so he retracted his own scopes as the pair reached the rim edge.

“Hoo-leey fuck.” Casey Franks stepped back as the silver android came over the edge. She laid a hand on her knife hilt. “Did that thing come out of the Orlando, too?”

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Sam raised a hand to it. “Sophia.”

“You’re shitting me — Sophia — it’s a woman?” Casey scoffed. “Now I’ve seen everything.”

Sam looked quickly back over the edge. “Where’s Alex?”

Sophia lowered Morag to the ground. The journalist rubbed her ribs. “Yeah, I’m fine too, guys, thank you for asking.”

Russell came and hugged her briefly, but then held her back a step so he could see her face. “Anne?”

Morag glanced into his eyes for a moment before shaking her head. “No, I’m sorry.”

Russell let her go. “The poor woman.” He went to turn away, but paused. “I’m glad you made it.” He didn’t sound enthusiastic.

Morag sighed. “Yep, it’s what I do.” She walked away. “And thanks,” she whispered.

The android turned to Sam Reid. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Lieutenant Samuel Reid.”

Sam frowned. “Where’s the Arcadian, Captain Hunter?”

Sophia didn’t hesitate. “He’s still down in the crater basin. He saw one of the Morg, and surmised it might have been the Russian with the image chip. I believe he planned to retrieve it.”

“Ah, shit,” Sam said, stepping toward the edge and peering over.

Sophia quickly turned. “He ordered me to leave him, and his clear instructions were to prepare ourselves for pickup. He was most emphatic.” Her head tilted. “And we will carry out those orders.”

Sam continued to stare down into the sea of mist. “Yeah, well…”

“HAWC operative Samuel Reid.”

What the hell? Sam spun to stare at the android — did it just raise its voice to him? He glared, but the featureless face was impossible to read.

Sophia turned to the group. “In sixteen minutes and seventeen seconds a significant explosive device will be dropped into this basin crater. All life will be extinguished. We must be well over the rim by then, or you will also be extinguished.”

“Looks like they got our message.” Sam looked at the timer on his forearm computer. “Can we slow…”

“Negative. The order came from five-star General Marcus Chilton.” Sophia’s voice was maddeningly calm. “Failure to detonate on time is a significant risk to all biological life on the planet. The order is immutable.”

“Jesus Christ.” Sam put his hands on his hips, and Monroe and Casey waited on his decision.

“You must trust Alex Hunter to carry out his orders and retrieve that image chip. And we must carry out ours.” Sophia’s red glowing eyes seemed to bore into Sam.

Sam couldn’t argue with her logic. After a moment, the HAWC nodded. “Yes.”

“First we need to decontaminate before extraction. Priority one is execution of contamination protection protocols. There will be no extraction without this occurring.”

Sam lifted one of his hands, seeing the splatter of slime on his gloves. He turned to her. “Burn?”

“Correct. Prior to removal of suits for destruction,” Sophia said matter-of-factly.

“Okay.” Sam nodded. “Line up people, we’re about to work on our suntans.”

“What’s happening?” Russell asked. “How do we decontaminate up here?”

Sam snorted. “That android is a walking thermonuclear reactor.”

“HiPER fusion, actually,” Sophia said. “HIgh Power Energy Release through fusion reaction.”

Sam nodded. “Her power source can be used to generate enough heat to create a flame. I’m guessing we’re about to take a bath in it. It’ll incinerate anything nasty that might be trying to hitch a ride home, right?”

“Correct,” Sophia said. “Please form a line.”

Sophia stood to the side, and pulled open a near invisible flap on her chest showing a glowing red disc. It began to emit a beam of light that formed a ball in the air that first became oily looking, and then turned to a wall of flame.

Sophia passed the wall over her own body, decontaminated herself, and then she projected it out to the side where it hung like a flaming doorway to hell.

“One at a time, walk into the fire, arms outstretched and turn once. You should be safe as long as you do not stay more than 3.5075 seconds within the heat.”

“Me first.” Casey sounded like she was grinning under her suit. She held her arms out and walked into the searing flame. She turned slowly, and then let out a scream of abject pain and horror. After another second, she walked out the other side, laughing.

“Good God, Franks. That’s some sense of humor you got there,” Monroe said. “Give a guy a heart attack, why don’t ya?”

“You pussies, these suits can withstand just about anything. Hurry the fuck up, as just about anything doesn’t cover a MOAB detonation.”

“Decontamination successful,” Sophia intoned.

One after the other the HAWCs walked into the flame, their suits smoking for a moment, but then cooling quickly in the freezing atmosphere.

Russell shook, his arms folded tight as if for protection as he approached the wall of flame.

“Arms out, please, Doctor Burrows,” Sophia said. “Unfortunately, your suit is not as flame resistant as the HAWCs, so you may feel some… discomfort.”

“Yeah, discomfort,” Casey sniggered and folded her arms, watching closely.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Russell held his arms out, very slowly, lowered his head and shut his eyes. Looking like a man condemned, he walked into the wall of flame.

“Stay cool.” Morag smiled.

Russell jumped and danced inside the inferno. “Fucking hot, hot, hot.” He turned once, and then fell out the other side. His suit smoked and was melted in places.

“Decontamination successful,” Sophia intoned again.

“Jesus Christ.” Russell rolled for a few seconds to put himself out and then got to his feet. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” He looked across to Morag, and smirked. “Your turn.”

“Oh goodie.” Morag exhaled as she steeled herself. Then she shut her eyes and walked forward. As soon as she entered the wall of fire, she felt the pressure waves go from warm to extreme heat in seconds. She ground her teeth and held her arms out, but exposing the softer areas under her arms turned the pain up to excruciating levels.

Morag screamed as a place on her shoulder turned to white-hot agony and inside her suit she smelled cooking flesh. She dove out the other side of the wall of fire, and moaned and gripped her tormented shoulder. Morag stayed down letting the pain ebb to a level of tolerance that allowed her to think straight.

Sophia turned glowing eyes on her. “Decontamination unsuccessful.”

“You okay, babe?” Casey Franks held out a hand to her, but Sophia’s voice was like a sword as it cut across her.

“Warning, Ms. O’Sullivan’s biological suit has been breached — physical contamination has occurred. Please remain clear.”

“What?” Morag felt her shoulder, and suddenly remembered when the Morg had grabbed her at the shuttle — its clawed hand had obviously penetrated the tough HAZMAT material.

She got slowly to her feet. “I’m fine.” She looked at Sam and then Casey. “I’m fine, really.” She took a few steps toward them.

Sophia held up a hand. “Stop, Ms. O’Sullivan. You risk recontaminating the rest of the team. This will abort evacuation.”

“Lighten up, slim.” Casey stood in front of Morag.

Sophia’s head turned toward Casey. “Contamination protection protocols require no infected personnel be evacuated.” She turned back to Morag. “This order is immutable.”

“Hey, just wait a minute.” Sam also stepped in front of Morag. “Let’s work this through. We can have them shoot down a containment tube, seal her off until we get her back to the labs.”

Sophia’s tiny glowing red eyes never seemed to blink or move from the fixed position on the infected woman.

“Impact and detonation in eleven minutes. Uninfected personnel need to be approximately eighty feet over the rim to guarantee safe shielding from percussive heat blast.”

“This is bullshit,” said Monroe. “We all go, or none of us go.”

“That is your choice.” Sophia remained implacable. “Please be aware that I am authorized to use extreme force to protect the global population.”

“Yeah, well we don’t take threats too well, get it?” Casey snarled and squared her shoulders.

“Stand down, soldier.” Sam stared at Casey for a moment, before turning away.

“Listen everyone; she, the robot, is right,” Russell said softly. He looked to Morag. “Sorry Morag, but if this thing escaped, then everyone is dead. And I mean, everyone.” He shrugged.

Morag slumped. “Oh fuck.” The thing was she did feel kinda headachy, a little dizzy, and had a crap taste in her mouth now. She had been telling herself it was just dehydration, fatigue and perhaps her oxygen running low. But now she knew it was something far worse.

She hugged herself, still feeling the throb from her seared shoulder and looked out over the fog. It boiled and swirled, like a turbulent ocean, and she saw that it was now a lot higher than when they first arrived.

This was why they needed to bomb the mountaintop. If not, then the entire nightmare would soon rise then cascade over the crater rim. She knew what they meant — following that came the slime, then more mist and the hellish abominations hiding within it.

She clenched her jaw to stop it from trembling and turned to Sam Reid.

“I don’t want to…”

Die, she finished the sentence only as a thought, not wanting to say it out loud. She looked away from the stinking smog and carefully undid the top of her suit, pulling the visored-hood from her head.

Morag closed her eyes and sucked in a huge draft of the most beautiful air she had ever smelled in her life.

She opened her eyes and craned her neck to look up at the clear, star-lit sky above her. After the suffocating, soupy atmosphere in the crater basin, it felt like looking at the difference between heaven and hell.

She spoke without turning. “Where’s Alex Hunter? He’ll know what to do.”

“Impact and detonation now in nine minutes, twelve seconds,” was Sophia response.

Morag hated the sound of the android’s voice. “What am I supposed to do?” she asked. “Just sit here?”

“Please, Morag.” Russell’s eyebrows sloped behind his mask. “You saw what happened to the others. Think of your family and friends back home… if this stuff ever got there…”

“Yes.” She titled her head back and looked up at the stars again. “This was going to be the greatest story ever written — a prize winner.”

If Alex Hunter were here now, he might be forced into a dilemma that could slow him down from saving his team… and the world.

“There’s no cure,” Russell whispered.

Morag looked to him, remembering Anne’s words. “How do you cure evolution, right?”

“You don’t have to… just sit here and wait for it to happen to you.” Russell looked away quickly.

“You fucking asshole,” Casey spat. The tough female HAWC’s teeth were bared.

Morag stared at him for a moment. Only Casey Franks returned her gaze as she looked between the two.

Casey’s brutal gaze softened, and her shoulders seemed to slump. “Hey babe, remember what you said your mom used to say to you?”

Morag nodded and said the words with her. “Fly free, girl.” The corners of her mouth twitched up.

Coming, Mom.

Morag ran at the cliff edge, shut her eyes, and launched herself out over the boiling sea of mist.