The Chronicles of St Mary's Omnibus, page 19
The Boss stepped forward. ‘You will all have seen the disturbing images brought back by Miss Maxwell and Mr Dieter. The purpose of this mission, therefore, is to return to the Cretaceous and disrupt, with extreme prejudice, whatever is occurring there. To this end, I want chaos; I want noise, confusion, and maximum damage. I don’t want them to know what's come out of the dark and hit them. We go through the place, destroy everything in our path, and get out. After twenty minutes, we’re gone. You may shoot to defend yourselves but otherwise just scare the living daylights out of them. I want survivors returning to the future with such tales of blood, terror, and carnage that no one will ever want to try this sort of stupidity again. Major.’
Guthrie pointed to the contour map. ‘We land here in a V formation, about twenty yards apart. Pod Three will be at the apex and will contain an EMP device. On landing and on a given signal, a directed pulse will be fired at the compound. It's non-lethal, but highly destructive. At a low level, it will jam any electronic systems. A stronger pulse will corrupt computer data and a powerful pulse will fry any electronics within range. It will immobilise vehicles; knock out communications, electronic doors – the lot.’
He continued. ‘Because of this, Pods Five and Six will be slightly behind Three. Pods are Faraday cages, but, to be on the safe side, will power down immediately. Peterson, Black, and Maxwell, you will shut down your pods on landing; all coms, everything. As soon as the compound goes dark – and it will – power up again, get to the doors and wait. Maxwell, you will not set foot outside. Guard your pods, have them in a state of readiness, and wait for your teams to return. We will not be hanging around.
‘Security section, as soon as the pulse is fired, you’re up. You go through their main gate here. Chief, you and I go to the left, along here. Murdoch, your team to the right, along the perimeter here, and Ritter, your team goes straight down the middle. Stay in your groups. They will be blind, confused, and helpless. We come at them from all directions. Don’t get yourselves shot. That's an order.
‘Right, study the layout; get it straight in your heads. You’ll have night visors, but do it anyway. If you can’t get back to your own pod then get back to someone else's and advise your team leader. Does anyone have any questions?’
I raised a hand. ‘What about the captured animals?’
Barclay said, ‘Weren’t you listening, Maxwell? The EMP device will lock any electronic door systems. You don’t need to be afraid.’
I swear I’ll swing for that woman one day. ‘You misunderstand me, Izzie. Do we free them, sir? Or leave them in their cages?’
The long silence answered that question. I wasn’t happy and nor were Kal and Peterson. We shifted our feet and prepared to argue. The Boss intervened. ‘Should it be necessary, we will do what we can afterwards. While the attack is in progress they are probably safer in their cages and we certainly are. I appreciate your concern arises out of your training.’ (Ha, Barclay, swivel on that!) ‘The matter will be addressed.’
We spent three hours studying the available data and talking it through.
We drew our bits and pieces of kit and rehearsed our moves to get the timings right. I made sure I got a painkilling shot for my knee. We had a bit of a meal, a final briefing, and then we were ready to go.
This was my first combat mission ever. I was acutely aware of my own heartbeat. Even though I wouldn’t be leaving the pod – and now the actual moment had come I was grateful for that – I still had nerves. I looked at Kal and Peterson alongside me – a little quiet maybe, but quite calm. Well, if they could do it, then so could I.
We marched down the long corridor, now brightly lit. I could see Guthrie and Farrell ahead and Murdoch and his team stumped along behind. I could hear Weasel and Markham bickering about something. All the colours seemed very bright and all the sounds very loud.
We split up in Hawking and I got to Number Six. Murdoch and his team filed in behind me. I started the usual checks, glad to have something to think about. On the other side of Hawking, the Boss and Farrell had their heads together over a scratchpad. They exchanged a few quiet words, heads close together. They stepped back, paused, and then shook hands. Possibly only I knew how important this moment was for both of them. Not long now.
I jumped up and down in my unfamiliar night gear, flexing my arms and checking my weapon.
And then we waited.
I counted my team again: Murdoch, Whissell, Evans, and Markham. They were checking themselves, their equipment, and each other.
I said, ‘Are you guys going to be OK on your own, or would you like me to come with you to hold your lunch money?’
Murdoch looked at me. ‘You?’
‘Yes, me. Is there a problem?’
‘Just have the kettle on for when we get back like a good little wifey.’ He looked at the pod. ‘You might want to run a hoover around as well.’
‘Just to be clear; you’re winding up the person who's in charge of the getaway car? So it is true what they say about Security.’
He refused to rise to that one. A voice in my ear said, ‘Stand by.’ They lined up by the door. The voice said, ‘Jump.’ And the world went white.
It wasn’t as dark as I thought it would be. The light and noise coming from the compound lit up the whole area. These guys were morons. They couldn’t hear over the music and had no night vision built up should anything nasty emerge out of the dark. Like us, for instance.
I set my watch. Barclay set about preparing the EMP. It took her less than four minutes but seemed far longer.
I said, ‘Good luck, guys,’ and opened the door ready for them. They disappeared into the night.
I limped to the trip switch, pushed it up, and the console went dark. I heard nothing at all when the pulse fired, but everything went very black very suddenly. For long seconds there was silence. Over in the compound, a few voices were raised, more in exasperation than anger. They still had no idea we were here. And then, very loud in the still night, an unexpected series of metallic clicks and clangs. I stared out of the door. Now what?
And then the screaming started.
Shit, shit, shit. Suddenly, I knew what this was. Bloody Barclay and her high-tech gizmos. The pulse had caused the cages to open, not lock. There was now no question of completing the mission. Everyone's priority would be to get back to the safety of their pods as quickly as possible. How could things go so wrong so quickly?
I crossed my fingers and pulled the power switch down and just as it had done on my first jump, everything lit up again. I could hear the chatter over the com system. I switched to the night light.
Someone started shooting. Someone else shot back and then trigger-happy tourists were letting off at everything in sight including each other. Voices were raised, shouting to cease fire, but no one listened. Terrified out of their wits, they blasted away wildly into the night. I prayed our people were on their way back, leaving this lot either to shoot themselves, or fall prey to whatever was roaring and bellowing in the darkness around them. It seemed very possible we would all be killed by idiots rather than villains, which would be typical.
Someone shouted an alarm. I suspected we had been discovered, but they still weren’t sure what was happening and in the unexpected darkness they were their own worst enemies. Over the general din I could hear the unmistakable sounds of large animals moving through the night. God help everyone and everything out there.
The shooting had stopped. Everyone was running. Our guys would be trying to get back, but in the confusion I couldn’t work out who was who. I stood in the doorway, armed and ready to repel anyone or anything that wasn’t St Mary's.
Close by, I could hear heavy breathing. Very heavy breathing. I took a silent step backwards into the pod and whatever it was pounded away into the night.
The screaming redoubled. You put dinosaurs and people together, you always get screaming. For the dinosaurs, of course, it was a feeding frenzy. They roared, pounced, and ripped. Lumps of things that were no longer human were flung around the landscape. The top half of a man, still screaming, hit the side of the pod and bounced off into the night.
I could see green figures running back towards my pod. As they came closer I opened up the med kits so I could start giving treatment as soon as possible. The roaring and shrieking got closer. Come on guys! Then, finally, I could hear Murdoch shouting and they fell into the pod.
‘Report, ‘I said.
‘All here except Markham. Two casualties but nothing serious. Evans ran into a building in the dark and knocked himself silly, although it's hard to tell.’
Evans, lowering himself to the floor and clutching a blood soaked dressing over his right eye, grinned at me. ‘Did you see those fuckers run?
‘Any news?’ asked Murdoch.
‘The livestock's free.’
‘Yeah, we noticed. It's bloody chaos out there,’ he said, slapping another dressing on top of the bloodstained original. Evans yelped. ‘Wuss! Those things are crazy for blood. It's going to take more than cabbage spray to keep us safe tonight.’
I went back to the door. ‘We’re missing Markham and we may get stragglers from the other pods. I’ll stand guard. Who's the other casualty?’
‘Me,’ said Weasel, thickly. His nose was broken and bloody.
‘What happened to you? You fall over your own feet?’
I swear he blushed. ‘Go on,’ said Murdoch. ‘Tell her.’ Weasel shook his head. ‘He was hit by a flying body part. A bloody leg flew through the air and caught him right between the eyes.’
I know I opened my mouth to make some sarky comment and I know I never got to say it. A white-hot flash seared my vision, leaving purple and green after-shadows. The ground heaved beneath my feet. I swear the pod bounced and a shock wave knocked me backwards. I fell heavily on my injured shoulder. Everything flickered wildly. Fractionally later, I heard the massive boom. It seemed to go on for a very long time. The pod trembled. Shakily, I got up on to my knees and groped for my gun because the door was still open. Beside me, Murdoch, also on his knees, shook his head.
I said, ‘What was that?’ and my voice seemed miles away. I crawled to the console to check the systems. Maybe one of the volcanoes had erupted. I wasn’t steady on my feet and my ears rang. The screen broke up, showed nothing but static and then cleared again.
I said to Murdoch, ‘Any ideas?’ My voice sounded strange inside my own head.
He shook his head, carefully. ‘At a guess I’d say a fuel dump, given the heat and ferocity of the explosion. Bloody hell.’ He shook his head again.
I scanned the outside. Fires had broken out everywhere. There were a lot of figures on the ground. Huge shapes were swooping on the few still desperately trying to get away. I looked back into my pod. Evans and Weasel had managed to cover everything in blood. The place looked like a slaughterhouse. I was uneasy at having the door open, but had no choice. The two or three seconds it took to open could be the difference between living and dying a particularly unpleasant death. We heard a bellowing roar close by. Murdoch picked up his gun. ‘I’ve got it.’ he said. ‘Can you see to Whissell?’
I mopped up the still gushing Whissell. ‘I’m OK,’ he said wonkily, determined to be the tough man, so I switched the coms to speaker, to listen to the chatter and find out what was happening.
It wasn’t good. I could hear Kalinda's voice raised over the racket in her pod. From what I could gather they had taken heavy casualties and the Boss was down. Her team was all present. I heard her ordered to return.
I said, ‘Wait …’ But she had already gone. Faintly I heard Barclay say, ‘Maxwell, return to St Mary's at once.’
I said, ‘Izzie …’ but she said, ‘At once, Maxwell. That's an order.’
‘She must have Markham,’ said Murdoch. ‘Silly pillock.’ Not quite sure who he was referring to there.
I closed the door on the snarling and screaming. Sudden silence fell; no sound but Whissell's bubbly breathing. I took one last look at the screen just in case Markham could be seen somewhere, and we jumped.
I had the decon light on even before we got back. Helen waited with medical teams at the ready. I got my people sorted and away and then pushed my way towards Kal, shouting for Markham as I went. No one had seen him. Kal and Helen were bent over the Boss. His front was soaked with blood and his face looked very white. I couldn’t see if he was conscious.
Kal gripped my arm. ‘I’ll go with the Boss and see what's happening upstairs. You get this lot sorted.’ I nodded and moved away, bumping into Perkins.
‘Come on, Polly; let's get them all back behind the line.’
Shoving, persuading, cursing, we got everyone out of harm's way and behind the safety line. I stood on a crate.
‘Markham? Has anyone seen Markham?’ People shook their heads and looked around.
Someone said, ‘He’ll have gone back to the wrong pod. You know what he's like. Barclay will be bollocking him rigid at this very minute.’
I sent up a prayer to any deity who might be taking a temporary interest in St Mary's and at that moment, Number Three turned up. There was an audible sigh of relief and a minor surge forward.
‘Stay back, all of you,’ I shouted and went forward. As I got there, the door opened and Barclay stepped out. She looked awful; so bad that I visually checked her for injuries. She leaned forward and put her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. I rubbed her back gently. She was IT and not on the active list. It was her first mission. She had the right to a wobbly moment. I stepped past her into the pod. I don’t know what I expected. Worst case scenario: dead and dying men, blood, pain, trauma, the works.
The pod was empty.
I couldn’t grasp it. I kept looking round and round. It just didn’t go in. I stepped back outside. ‘Where are they?’
‘They’re dead. All of them. All four of them. Oh, God.’ She threw up on her own boots. I ignored my sympathetically heaving insides and stepped back into the pod again. Still no Farrell, Guthrie, Markham, or Peterson, no weapons, no trace, not even a bloodstain. I felt my own head spin. I took two or three very deep breaths and closed my eyes for a moment. Then I stepped back out of the pod and ran my eyes over those left.
‘Murdoch, Ritter – to me.’
She straightened up, wiping her mouth. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Rescue mission. You two; get your weapons charged up and back here to me.’
‘No.’
‘What?’
‘They’re dead. I told you.’
I said very gently, ‘Be that as it may, Izzie, we still go back for the bodies. You get yourself upstairs and I’ll see to this.’
‘No, I told you, they’re dead. There's no point.’
I was hanging on by my fingertips here. I wished to God she’d stop saying, ‘They’re dead.’
‘We don’t leave our people behind, Izzie, you know that. Don’t worry, no one's expecting you to go back; you’ve more than done your bit tonight. I’ll go. Are you ready, guys?’
‘Stand down, you men. Back in line.’ They looked at me, which pissed her off no end, but she had the seniority, so I kept my face neutral. They slowly backed off, not looking happy at all.
I tried again. ‘Look, Izzie, we have to go back for them. We can’t …’
‘For fuck's sake, Maxwell!’
Her voice rose to a scream. She never swore. I was startled into silence. ‘I know you never listen to anyone else, but do you ever stop to listen to yourself? How many more people do you want to kill tonight? This whole cluster-fuck is your fault. You’re a disaster. Everything you touch, everywhere you go, people die. You brought Dieter back in pieces. You didn’t bring Sussman back at all. The Boss is down. Half the unit is injured. Farrell, Guthrie, Peterson, Markham – dead. All thanks to you. There will be no rescue mission. No more lives will be risked over this. Now get your report written up and see me in the morning so I can decide what to do with you.’
‘Fine, yes, whatever. But for God's sake, you’ve got to send someone. If not me, then -’
‘Jesus fucking Christ, Maxwell, what do I have to do to get through to you?’ She really was screaming now. I could hear people breathing in the silence.
I struggled for the calm I wasn’t feeling. ‘Izzie, I know you don’t understand how important this is, but …’ I could not have said anything worse but I was hurt, frightened, and fighting rising panic.
‘No, Maxwell, what is important is the safety of every person in this unit, not your own over-inflated ego. You will – where are you going?’ I had stepped into the pod.
‘I told you. Rescue mission. I’ll go alone. No risk to anyone.’
‘Murdoch, Ritter, get her out of there.’
I’ve never known the unit so quiet. There was nothing, no sound, no background noises, just the total absence of any sound at all except for the blood thudding in my head. I tried again.
‘Izzie, I’ll go alone if that's what's concerning you. Just let me get a weapon.’
‘No!’ She was verging on the hysterical.
‘Then I’ll go without one.’
‘You will not go at all.’
She turned and began to walk away. I reached out, grabbed her arm and yanked her back, harder than I intended. ‘Izzie …’ and realised what I had done. Everything went very still. She looked down at my hand. I let go and stepped back. Her eyes glittered and she looked half mad.
