Déjà Vu

Chapter Thirty-Four

David felt dizzy. The spacious blackness was reminiscent of the 2003 bombing, although there was no undercurrent of panic. Jennifer led the way through the corridors behind the infra-red eye of Ego, whose exterior displayed a crisp representation of the view ahead. Saskia was in the middle and David was at the rear. Saskia bridged the gap by holding both their hands. David stumbled as Jennifer pushed them against a wall. A guard ambled by with a line of high-spirited personnel.

When they neared the base of the stairwell, the infra-red view on Ego’s screen became dark. They stopped. David whispered, ‘Ego? What’s happening?’

Some words appeared on the screen: ‘System is busy. Please stand by.’

‘Ego,’ David said, ‘you have no business but ours. Belt up.’

Nothing happened.

‘Should we wait?’ Jennifer asked.

‘We could reset it,’ Saskia suggested.

There was a beep and the infra-red view reappeared. Ego said, ‘Task completed.’

‘What task?’ David demanded.

Ego did not answer.

‘We’ll discuss this later,’ he said to the computer.

They emerged onto the level zero corridor. Ahead of them was an airtight door. Jennifer located a panel and pressed it with her palm. A dazzling bar of light swept beneath her hand. In the brief illumination, David read ‘Project N83261 (Déjà Vu)’.

‘Wait,’ Saskia said. She withdrew Hartfield’s gun and handed Jennifer her shoulder bag. ‘Me first. I have the training.’

The door began to open on a vertical hinge.

Saskia ran through the door. She found herself in a well-lit, cylindrical chamber with sparkling walls. The floor had been levelled to form terraces. To her left, higher up, was some kind of control room. To her right, she saw two centrifuges. They were rotating in opposite directions. A short gantry led to the middle terrace, which was a reservoir of sand. She double-checked that there was a round in the chamber of the gun and, holding it both hands, swept her gaze around the immediate area. Hartfield was nowhere to be seen. She hurried along the gantry to a metal boardwalk that ran lengthwise up and down the chamber. There, she crouched behind an equipment crate and strained to hear footsteps above the groaning centrifuges.

Saskia put her finger on the trigger and ran in a zigzag towards the lower terrace. She put her back to the safety baffle. Then she rose on tiptoe and looked into the first centrifuge. The gondola and the operator’s cabin were empty. The second centrifuge was empty too. Both, Saskia realised, were slowing.

Jennifer put a hand on Saskia’s shoulder.

‘Too late. He’s already gone.’

Saskia lowered her gun.

‘So what now?’