Chapter 15
“We’ve got to get back into the elevator,” I said.
“But how? Its shaft travels up the center of the building and I think the only exit is at the Presidential suite,” Martina said. "There's no access from ground level."
“We'll make a damn access. If we have to, we’ll use one of these,” I said, taking out my laser gun.
There were police starting to come over from the security checkpoints into City Central. We were right downtown. We were at street level, the same area we were partying before we had left on our Earth mission. The same roundabout was always filled with space station citizens. It seemed like a lifetime had come and gone since then. The police were talking on their communication devices, yelling narratives of the scene to dispatch. One noticed me with my laser gun and it attracted his attention. He took out his gun and aimed it at me.
“Freeze, Police!”
I put my arms in the air, looking at the panicked officer coming carefully towards me. I knew him.
“Robbins, it’s me, Jonz—Tyler Jonz.”
Robbins, another young cop only a few years older than me, recognized me and put his weapon down. “Jonz, what the hell is going on here? Did you just scale the tower?”
“Yeah, we’re trying to stop terrorists threatening the government. We were fighting them upstairs, when they pitched a grenade.”
“The President, was he up there?”
“No, he wasn’t. He’s safe. There’s no time to explain all that. The terrorists escaped down a special security elevator traveling down the center of the building.”
“There’s another one apart from the elevators going up the sides?”
“Yeah. It’s only for top brass. Quickly, we’ve got to get into that elevator shaft. We’ll have to use our lasers on full force. Can you keep people away from us?”
“I have to check with my captain,” he said.
“There’s no time! I'm on a special mission for my father. We HAVE to hurry.”
There was a moment’s hesitation as he looked at me.
“Okay, let’s go.”
The explosion had drawn everyone out to the large circular roundabout surrounding the central tower. It was the widest street in the entire dome city and it was packed with people. Normally, the bar we walked into would be teeming with humanity; but everyone was outside, even the bartenders and waitresses.
"What was that noise?" one bartender said.
"It came from the top of the tower," a girl answered.
"All of you, get off the street, let us handle it!" a cop was vainly trying to control the growing crowd.
“Make sure your laser is on full force,” Martina said.
We both adjusted our guns as we went to the center of the bar. It was the dish washing area. We saw the central pillar standing behind some sinks and dish racks. The cop followed us. “This is an elevator shaft?” he said.
“Yeah,” Martina said. “and it’s about to have a big hole in it soon. Watch your eyes!”
We both aimed our guns at the central pillar and started firing.
"It's strong as hell this thing," I said, our guns aiming a constant laser at the central elevator shaft metal pillar.
"Just keep firing!" Martina said, "it's gonna be quicker this way than digging with a kitchen spoon."
We both started coughing as smoke started filling the room. Sparks were lighting up the shaft.
I heard a metallic cracking sound and then a loud thunk.
"I think we made a hole," I said.
“It’s working,” Martina said, “widen it a bit.”
As soon as the initial hole was made, it became much easier to widen. The surrounding shaft wall almost flaked off once it was pierced. We made a hole that either of us could fit in easily. I approached.
“Careful Tyler, let it cool off.”
It was hard to wait, and the smoke had to dissipate anyway before we could see anything. Finally, a few minutes later, we could look up and down. In a way I was disappointed. I don’t know what I expected, we didn’t have the time to really form any theories; but I looked up, then down—and I saw nothing but dangling cables and darkness.
“Let’s go,” Martina said, pulling on one of the larger cables to make sure it was secure, and then jumping on to it.
“Don’t you think, maybe--”
“No time to think Jonz. He’s getting away.”
"What about Andy?"
"There's no way Tyler, no way he could've survived. We've the whole world to worry about now."
She was right. I looked into the shaft again, looking up and then down. It was dark and smoky. The crumbled bits of cement I knocked off while climbing onto one of the cables fell off down the shaft. I heard the pieces falling and falling, seemingly endlessly, before hitting something down below. It would be a long drop that was for sure! I made sure my grip was tight as I started down; Martina was already about twenty feet ahead of me, disappearing into the darkness.
“What do you want me to do?” Officer Robbins yelled down, his voice echoing.
“I dunno. Make sure nobody drops anything heavy down the hole!” I said.
As I got down the cable, the light from the hole started fading. I looked up and the cable dangled precariously. Momentum started me rocking and I banged against the side of the elevator shaft. I was in good shape, but my arms were starting to tire. When I found myself swaying in the air, not knowing how close the bottom was; panic was beginning to set in.
“What the hell are you doing?” Martina yelled up.
“Trying to stay alive!”
“Well, quite rocking the cables,” she said.
We both plodded carefully downwards. This time I made sure my legs were wrapped safely around the cable below me.
Soon, light started increasing in the shaft, and to my surprise, it was coming from below. I was looking down with optimism at the light from below when I heard Martina cry, “Whooo hooo, all right!”
“What is it?”
“The bottom man, the bottom.”
I heard Martina’s feet hit the ground and I knew there was not much more to go. We both found ourselves on top of the elevator, light beaming in from the seams between the elevator top and the shaft. There was a lighted room down there. We opened the trap door on the elevator roof and dropped into the elevator. The door was already open and my eyes squinted from the bright white neon lighting. As my eyes adjusted, I realized we were in a station, much like the ones in the PTP that the general public could use. But this system had only the elevator to access it, and there was not a soul around. It was eerie to stand there.
“It only goes in one direction,” Martina said. “That eliminates another decision.”
“It’s the same one we came in on.” I said. “I guess there are only a few places to go. It’s not like the PTP.”
“I don't know, look at this pod,” Martina said. The pod was longer and more spacious than the ones from the PTP system.
“Better quality for the VIPs, but still only built for one,” I said, pointing to the only one available.
“We're wasting time. Get in.”
“I guess we have to share,” I said, opening the pod door.
“We're going far Jonz.”
I sat down and Martina sat down on top of me, cramped, but we both fit in.
“What sort of destinations do we have?” I asked.
“Let’s see, the interface shows we have four choices: laboratory, military office, science office, and presidential suite. I guess Presidential Suite would be out of the question, so that leaves three choices."
“We better go to the laboratory.”
“It’s your funeral,” Martina said.
“Your sarcasm is grating right now Martina.”
“Just push the frigging button!”
“Hang on.”
The pod shot off. The pod meandered around the tube system.
The pod came to a smooth stop at the laboratory station. It was deserted, but there were no stairwells leading up in several directions like in a typical PTP station. There was another elevator, just like the one leading to the Presidential suite.
“What crazy surprises do they have for us now,” I said.
“No choice Jonz. We’ve got to stop those bastards.”
“Let’s go,” I said as we entered the elevator.
The doors shut behind us.
"I'm gonna develop a fear of elevators soon," I said. We had our guns out and ready.
"I'm getting a fear of damn near everything," Martina said. The elevator rose.
When the elevator stopped, the automated voice said: "Secondary Project Cleanse Laboratory--restricted area--Second level security required."
Martina looked at me and said, “For Andy.”
“For Andy,” I acknowledged as the elevator doors slid open.
The laboratory had much equipment and cots. I saw some cylinders but they all looked empty.
Dr. Svoboda was there, sitting in front of a control panel. My father’s image was up in a hologram. They were communicating as Martina and I walked in.
“These recent situations force us to speed up the timetable,” my father said.
As we walked in, the doctor fumbled in his chair and fell to the ground. He was startled and grasped for something. He tripped and rolled on the floor.
“Looking for something doctor?” Martina said as we approached him.
“What's going on?” my father asked.
I could from his projected hologram that he was in yet another control center.
“You need to finish up and join me at the Project Cleanse Dispatch doc—” my father said, before the doctor lunged out and shut down the telecommunication.
“Okay, he’s at the Project Cleanse Dispatch,” I said. “Didn’t want us to know that, did you doctor?”
Martina and I both advanced towards Dr. Svoboda. He was paler than usual, wearing his usual lab coat.
“There is no reason for you two not to be involved in our work,” he began.
“Are you for real? Come off of it doctor,” I said. “You were getting ready to dissect me like an animal very recently.”
“Now, now,” he said. “You have to understand, it's not personal. We are working for the betterment of mankind in general. There is no time for personal feelings. Your situation, or even mine, is not important. We need to put that aside to work for the future.”
“Wow, even yours.” I said, gritting my teeth. “Even your situation is not important, how noble of you doctor. I am really quite impressed. It appears to me that your motivation is much more selfish than that. Now that your life is in danger, you're willing to change everything, take us on board as new partners, right doctor?”
“Well, we can adjust, a few minor changes; the main goal is still the same.”
“Oh, really doctor? The main goal is still the same and what is that?”
“The betterment of mankind,” he said.
I laughed.
We were approaching the doctor. I could see beads of sweat on his forehead. I realized at that second that my laser gun was still set at maximum force. I was ready to squeeze the trigger; hunger for revenge was seething in my body. Martina looked at me.
“Hold on a second Tyler. We need this guy.”
I looked at her.
“You must realize how important this work we are doing here is,” Dr. Svoboda said.
“You call this madness important? Maybe, but not in a good way,” Martina said.
“Madness, is that what you see? Do you have any idea how much work is involved here? This is not some college project. We are on the verge of perfecting human genetic makeup. It will be the foundation of Earth’s new population. The flaws that have tainted humanity and been the source of so much conflict and misery will be gone. Do you understand what that means? It would be madness not to share this brilliant discovery with the world.”
“I’ve been to Earth Dr. Svoboda,” I said. “Maybe you could fool some space station dwellers who hadn't seen any of your so-called 'genetic deviants', but I know better. I met a man, doctor, who knows more about history, about life, than you could ever understand.”
“Don’t fall for some primitive mumbo jumbo young man."
“Primitive mumbo jumbo! Oh doctor, you'd make me laugh if you weren't so ruthlessly evil. You think you're a great thinking mind, don’t you? You think because you have amassed so much scientific knowledge that you're open-minded, able to see the world clearly. Well, let me tell you something: I have met people, different types of people, that at first shocked me, scared me; but then, as you speak to them, you realize—we are all the same. You've bought into an obsession, a simple-minded primitive prejudiced way of looking at the world—and then you've dressed it up with all kinds of fancy scientific window-dressing and decor—but, you know what? It's built on a foundation of ignorance and lies—which makes it valueless and, more that that—just plain wrong! People are the same—good doctor. It's not genes that make any difference. People like you, in power, are just trying to justify their oppressive control. That's it doctor—and you're one of the main problems.”
“You don’t understand,” he started.
“I do understand doctor. I understand you missed one basic fundamental in life. We're all the same species. You're a scientist, aren’t you? You’re searching for differences, tiny features, skin colour, eye colour, reasons, excuses for your agenda. The reality is we're all very similar.”
“You're young,” he said, daring to stand up and walk over to a central column with a sliding door as access. “You're very young; the two of you, but you have shown great character. We don't have any soldiers who are privy to the full project, apart from you two.”
“We used to be four, and then three, and only two now,” Martina said.
“Yes, but that's the past,” he said. “We have so much to do, and you two could help us improve the future.”
“You don’t have a clue doctor,” I said. “You’re life is dissecting the world to its parts, while remaining oblivious to the whole. Besides, you've some nerve, the only reason we are privy to the full project is our own doing. You don't need or want informed soldiers.”
He put a hand on the column control panel and said, “That’s not true. It's true that it wasn't part of the original plan, but plans can be changed. We can adapt. Project Cleanse has adapted to changes through the generations. To prove to you that I want you two involved, I will show you something. In here, is my greatest achievement; I want to share it with the two of you.”
“Careful, doctor,” Martina said.
We both had our guns pointed at Dr. Svoboda as he touched the button on the control panel to open the sliding doors.
"Freeze Doctor!" Martina said, but Dr. Svoboda didn't listen.
"There's a vehicle in there," I said.
"We've got to stop him Jonz!"
Svoboda jumped into the vehicle. The sliding doors starting closing behind him. The closest to the doors, I threw my body between them.
“Don’t let him get away,” Martina cried.
I felt the doors slam on my chest.
They weren't like regular elevator doors. The force was stronger than expected. It knocked the wind out of me and I grunted as the air left my lungs. My gun fell to the ground at the base of the vehicle. I pulled my body into the launch area but the doors closed again, this time on my ankle. I felt hot pain shoot through my leg, radiating up from the ankle. I pulled my leg in, and the doors closed. Martina was banging on the doors from the other side. I found myself, winded, injured, unarmed; leaning on the vehicle. Dr. Svoboda gritted his teeth, looked at me and quickly played with some controls. The wing doors of the vehicle started to close. I kicked the driver’s door back up with my sore leg, and the pain rekindled. I threw myself at the doctor.
“Get out of here, you failed experiment!”
He hit me repeatedly in the head as I tried to get in. I was trying to pull him out of the driver’s seat. I tried with all my might to get at the controls of the vehicle, but he managed to beat me out of the way. I managed to get into the back seat, but my head was reeling. I could taste my own blood in my mouth, and one eye was stinging. I fell across the seats in back. I could see smoke coming from between the sliding doors to the entrance of the column shaped launch pad. Dr. Svoboda shut the doors to the vehicle. He entered a few commands into the vehicle’s system and the system’s voice announced, “Destination—Earth Base—Port 12A—Top Level Security Clearance Required. Please place palm for verification.” The system scanned Dr. Svoboda’s palm and eye. “Security clearance accepted. Destination acknowledged.”
The vehicle thrust up in the air, like a speck of dust caught up in a powerful vacuum cleaner. We were tossed up. We found ourselves floating softly for an instant, about a hundred feet above the space station. From this vantage point, all that could be seen was the huge surface of the station.
I lay there for a moment, trying to regain my strength, feeling the air slowly returning to my lungs. The doctor had his back turned, staring straight out the front windshield when the tiny shuttle directed itself and accelerated with great speed. The force pushed me back in my seats.
I felt for my belt. The doctor heard me pulling it off my pants and he turned around, startled. I had time to wrap it around his neck. He gasped for air as I tightened the belt. He fought hard and it took all my strength to hold him. My head was aching from the beating and my limbs screamed in pain as I strained to keep that evil doctor in my grasp. His feet thrashed at the control panel and the shuttle jerked around aimlessly. It did a 180 and climbed into the air. Dr. Svoboda and I were thrown around the shuttle. My head slammed against the windshield. The doctor started hitting me as my grip on the belt around his neck loosened.
Looking out the window, space and the station swirled around as the shuttle spun out of control. We were heading right for the hard side of the station. The doctor saw it too and screamed as we careened towards the tough surface. I sat at the controls and pulled back as hard as I could. We rose, but it was as if the station went on forever. No matter how much we climbed, all we saw was the station surface; and it was approaching quickly. I kept pulling back with all my might on the controls and we scraped the side of the station. The shuttle jerked off again to the right as we continued to take off upwards. The doctor had been trying to stand up when we were sure we would hit, and now that we had just scraped against the side of the station, the impact sent him flying to the side of the vehicle.
He was knocked out cold.
The instrumentation and controls were very similar to a standard hovercraft, but not quite the same. I managed to control the shuttle as we passed beside the station. I pulled away from the station and towards open space, so the navigational errors I made while trying to learn the shuttle’s controls had less effect. Soon I steadied the craft.
"Stability regained. Continue to Preset Destination?" the automated system said.
"Negative," I said. "Return to Departure point."
The automated flying system proved to be much smoother than my manual attempts. We approached the station portal and I could see a cylindrical hatch opening up. We hovered over the top of it for a second, then the craft was sucked into the cylinder, and I found myself back in the launch pad for the secondary Project Cleanse laboratory.
I heard Dr. Svoboda moaning. Hydraulic stabilizers came out of the launch pad and securely grabbed the craft. While checking the control panel’s screens for any warnings, I heard from the back seat, “You’ve been way too much trouble young man.”
I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. There was no way his weak little scientist’s fist could hurt that much. I felt another shot in the back of my head and almost passed out, but I managed to open the wing doors and lean out. I was lying flat. Svoboda had to come to the front to get at me. As he climbed over to the front seat, he was off-balance. While he was in that prone position, he was crawling over my legs. I kneed him and he went flying over top of me, banging his head on the winged door, and tumbling out onto the launch pad floor. I closed the winged doors, locking myself in the craft.
With the craft securely attached to the launch pad, I opened the launch cylinder’s hatch out to the exterior. Svoboda had gotten up and was climbing on the shuttle. He was looking straight at me through the windshield. His screaming was muffled as I was locked into the shuttle. His face was red and his teeth clenched. He looked up wide-eyed as the launch hatch started opening.
He was sucked out the hatch; hurled out into space like a rag doll.
I closed the outer hatch, decompressed the shuttle’s chamber, and opened the launch cylinder’s doors, just in time to see Martina standing there, anxious and curious.
“What happened? Where’s Svoboda?”
“He went for a ride outside.”
“What! He’s outside? Is he still alive?”
“Would be pretty hard.”
“Then, he’s dead?”
“I don’t know. I hear he's got good genes. Maybe they’re strong enough to hold his body together when launched into space.”