Below Zero

34 OUTPOST ZERO, ANTARCTICA ^NOW

The two aircraft rumbled as they hovered over Outpost Zero. They drifted in circles, sweeping the ground with powerful searchlights before separating and moving to opposite ends of the landing strip, where they began to descend. A storm of snow kicked up as they neared the ground, and Zak couldn’t tell if they had landed or not until the rhythmic thump of their engines cut out and the base fell silent.

Inside Storage, Sofia put a hand on Zak’s shoulder and stood to look out of the window. ‘Well done. You guys must have got a message out,’ she said without taking her eyes off what was happening outside.

‘No.’ Zak brushed her hand away and manoeuvred himself so he could see better. ‘No we didn’t. Nothing worked.’

‘You sure?’

‘Positive.’

‘Well, that’s weird, then. ’Cause I didn’t get a message out either.’ She bit her bottom lip as the flurries of snow settled and the aircraft became visible through the glass.

One was positioned at either end of the landing strip, facing away from the base. In perfect coordination, the back door on both aircraft lowered and six figures emerged from each one.

‘So now I’m wondering who they are. Because they definitely don’t look like science nerds from Exodus.’

Zak couldn’t agree more. The figures were dressed in heavy white combat trousers and jackets, marked with light grey camouflage patterns. They wore helmets with blue-tinted visors covering their faces, and each had a pack on his back and an assault rifle in his hands. To Zak, they were more like Imperial Stormtroopers landing on Hoth, than scientists.

‘Soldiers.’ Sofia ducked so she was peering out of the bottom of the window. ‘And that kit looks state of the art.’

Zak ducked too, and watched the tactical teams fan out from the aircraft, finding good arcs of fire to cover all angles of the base. Some dropped to one knee while others remained upright, rifles pointed ahead of them. They paused, scanning the area as a thirteenth figure emerged from the darkness of the aircraft to Zak’s right, and strode out on to the ice.

The thirteenth soldier was not dressed the same way as the others – this one wore black from head to toe, with a red-tinted visor on a shining black battle helmet. Faceless. Anonymous. Terrifying.

From the way the figure moved, Zak was pretty sure she was a woman. Tall and strong in her combat gear, she had a large weapon slung over her back and carried an assault rifle. She moved out to stand between the two teams, and turned in a circle, inspecting the base, before raising a hand. Immediately, the team that had emerged from the aircraft to Zak’s left, reformed and headed towards The Hub. Within less than a minute, they had entered Outpost Zero and were gone.

The second team remained outside.

‘They know what they’re doing.’ Sofia glanced at the detonator still in her hand. ‘Maybe I won’t need this after all.’

‘You can’t use that,’ Zak said. ‘You have to believe me. The hive doesn’t want to hurt us. But them…?’ He tapped the window. ‘I’m not so sure about them. I’ve got a horrible feeling. I don’t think they’re the cavalry.’

‘Then who are they?’ Sofia studied Zak’s expression.

‘I don’t know, but they look dangerous.’

Sofia turned to watch the operatives again. ‘Oh yeah, they definitely look dangerous.’

‘The Exodus Project is all about living on Mars,’ Zak said. ‘Not fighting. Why would they have people like that?’

The air seemed to go out of Sofia. ‘I so want that to be the cavalry, but right now my gut is agreeing with your gut. There’s something not right about this. But if they’re not Exodus, then who are they? BioMesa? And what do they want?’

Outside, the second team of operatives was splitting into two groups, one team of three heading towards Storage, weapons raised.

‘They’re coming here!’ Zak couldn’t take his eyes off their guns. ‘What do we do?’

Sofia looked at the kid beside her, seeing how scared he was. She was scared too, but she also felt something else – guilt. This was her fault. If she hadn’t taken Jennings’ card and gone out to The Chasm that day – if she had left core #31 alone – this would never have happened. She’d probably be in The Hub right now playing video games with Pablo, or one of the others. And this kid here…

‘What’s your name?’ she asked.

‘Zak.’

… and Zak would be safe with his mum and dad instead of being terrified and stuck in here with her.

She had to do something.

‘I’ll go out there,’ Sofia said. ‘Let them know we’re here.’

‘What? No!’

‘We don’t have any choice. They’re going to be in here in a few minutes anyway. What else can we do?’

‘Hide?’

‘Where? There isn’t anywhere to hide, and we don’t want to surprise them. I reckon it’s better to go out and talk to them.’

‘I…’

‘If we surprise them, they’ll probably shoot us. Look, I’ll go out there,’ Sofia said. ‘You stay here.’ She held out the detonator. ‘Keep hold of this.’

Zak stared at the device and shook his head. A few minutes ago he had been trying to make Sofia give it to him, but he didn’t want it any more; didn’t want the responsibility of what it could do. What if he detonated it by accident? What if—

‘Take it.’ Sofia grabbed his hand and pressed the detonator into it.

‘You can’t go out there,’ Zak said.

‘They’re going to find us whether I go out there or not. So you stay here and I’ll go out. Hopefully they’re friendly, but if they’re not, I’ll give you a signal—’

‘What signal?’

‘I don’t know, I’ll think of something, and when I do you need to trace your finger along this symbol.’ Sofia pointed at the device in his hand. On the screen, the white dot was still zigzagging in a Z pattern. ‘That’s all there is to it.’

‘But the hive,’ Zak said. ‘It’ll blow up the—’

‘Yeah. And it might distract those fellas out there long enough to buy us time to… Well, I dunno, but it’s all we’ve got.’

‘I can’t.’ Zak stared at the detonator. ‘I can’t do that.’

‘Let’s hope you don’t have to.’ Sofia patted him on the shoulder and went to the door. ‘Wish me luck.’ She pressed the button and stepped out.

The soldiers spotted Sofia as soon as she left Storage, but it was the woman in black who shot her.

She raised her rifle to her shoulder, aimed and fired. The movement took her no more than a second.

Sofia dropped to her knees at the bottom of the steps. She stayed upright, swaying, then fell forward into the snow and lay still.

No!

The soldiers moved forwards, the woman in black marching across the ice like a shadow. Like Death. She was gesturing with her left hand, giving orders, pointing at Storage. The other soldiers fanned out as they approached.

Watching from the window, Zak was reeling from what he had seen. These people, these monsters, were far worse than anything else he’d had to endure here at Outpost Zero. They had killed Sofia as if she were nothing, without saying a word, and now they were coming to get him.

They would kill him like they had killed Sofia, and they would do the same to everyone else.

Mum. Dad. May.

Everyone.

He stared at the detonator in his hand. Sofia had said he should use it to buy himself some time, but with his finger over the ‘Z’, ready to set it off, he thought of what it would do… of all the life it would destroy. Life that only wanted to survive. And he came to a decision. No matter the situation, he couldn’t harm what was beneath the ice. He put the detonator on the ground and smashed his heel into it. He would not destroy the Ark. And if he protected It, perhaps It would protect him.

Please, Zak thought. Please don’t let this be happening. He had pleaded like this before, without realizing it, but he meant it now more than he had ever meant it. He had begged for help when they were in the plane, when he had wished for the lights to come on so they could land safely. He had begged for it again, when they needed light and power in the base. He had made wishes and his wishes had been granted. In The Hub, after Dima fell down the stairs, May had said it was weird, but it hadn’t been magic, it had been them. He was sure of it now. His mind was connected to those things breaking out from under the ice, and they had helped him when he most needed it. And if they had helped him before, they would help him now.

Please, he thought again. Help us. Help us and we’ll help you.

You have to help. Please.

The woman in black led her soldiers closer and closer, weapons ready and trained at the door and the window, but Zak tried to not to think about her. He tried not to think about Sofia lying dead on the ice. He tried to crush his fear inside him. He concentrated on projecting his thoughts, hoping the insects would see them. That they would come. He imagined the same image over and over again.

A swarm. He needed a swarm.

But he didn’t get a swarm. Instead, the three Spiders appeared from the far end of the airstrip, horrifying and beautiful all at once. Huge and imposing, they moved quickly across the ice, like living, breathing beasts of metal and muscle. They covered the ground at amazing speed, bearing down on the soldiers.

As they raced across the ice, the woman in black heard them or sensed them, Zak couldn’t know, but she turned, whipping her rifle round and firing without hesitation. The weapon kicked in her hands and Zak saw the muzzle flash. The other soldiers did the same, and as they opened fire, the operatives who had entered The Hub emerged back on to the ice, drawn by the sound of battle.

Bullets thumped into the attacking Spiders. They cracked the composite, ricocheted from the steel, dented the aluminium and sank into the flesh. Each hit caused more damage than the last.

Zak had no idea who the soldiers were, but what they had done to Sofia told him all he needed to know. They were not here to help, they were here to kill. And the machines he had once been so afraid of were now his only hope. He no longer saw them as monsters, but as his saviours.

The Spiders reached the Osprey at the east side of the airstrip and began to close the distance between them and the soldiers. They only had to withstand a few more seconds of fire.

They’re going to save us.

The soldiers concentrated their attack, trying to force the Spiders back with a wall of bullets. The machines jerked and juddered under the impact, their progress slowing, but they were getting closer. They were gaining ground.

The Ark is going to save us.

Just a few more seconds and… the woman in black dropped her rifle and unslung the large weapon from her back. Bulky and deadly, Zak knew what it was. He’d played enough video games to recognize a grenade launcher when he saw one.

The woman in black tucked the stock against her shoulder and fired.

There was a short pause – less than a second – and the explosive detonated in front of the oncoming Spiders in a blast of ice and fire. The eruption shredded the muscular machines, blowing them into a thousand pieces. Their legs ripped away, their bodies shattered, and pieces of them tore across the ice in all directions. Burning fragments pounded the closest Osprey, like hellfire, and a second explosion erupted with a muted WHUMP! as the Osprey’s fuel tanks ignited in a huge ball of orange flames. The blast tore the aircraft in half, spinning it around on the landing strip as the fuel tanks beneath the second wing detonated. The air was filled with fire and smoke and heat as shrapnel blasted out in all directions. It thumped against the Storage building like heavy rain and Zak ducked as the reinforced glass shattered and sprayed fragments into the room.

The machines that had taken so long to build, that had been given life by something ancient and pure, were torn to pieces in a few seconds. They were nothing but broken parts.

And for Zak, all hope was lost.