Doom 3™: Worlds on Fire

5

MARS CITY—DELTA LAB

THE AIRLOCK TO DELTA OPENED, AND KELLIHERhurried in ahead of the others. The lock shut behind them and the chamber filled with precious air.

After a few moments, the lock leading to the lab opened, and the party gave their life-support suits to some lab assistants. Kelliher gazed past them, marveling at the sight before him.

The lab past the airlock teemed with activity; people moved through a great open space as if hell-bent on a mission of amazing urgency. Surrounding the great open lab, Kelliher could see chambers and storerooms in the background, and then a raised area, with more rooms.

An incredible display, all of Mars City, all of the UAC’s great plans. This lab, its work, the future it represented.

There was, however, one thing missing from Kelliher’s sight. “Where the hell is Betruger?”

Swann stood beside his boss. “He was notified that we were on our way.”

“Really?”

Despite his irritation, Kelliher knew that Dr. Malcolm Betruger commanded a certain level of respect—he was, after all, the brains behind everything that made the UAC what it was today. And if Betruger was correct about the work up here…it was only the beginning.

Nonetheless, Kelliher began to fume. “Am I supposed to stand here and wait? What the—”

Suddenly Betruger came rushing across the floor, emerging from behind a massive podlike chamber on the main floor. “Ian,so glad to see you.”

Kelliher stuck out his hand. Betruger gave it a quick shake as if such flesh-to-flesh contact bordered on the unappealing.

Physically, Betruger wasn’t imposing at all. On the short side, a bit stocky. But the eyes…Betruger’s eyes burned with an intelligence and clarity that could hold a boardroom riveted, or make every person in the room feel two inches tall, from fellow scientists down to the lowliest lab assistant.

Betruger looked at the other men and nodded, not acknowledging Hayden by name.Shows who’s is in control of this operation. Kelliher guessed that Betruger certainly liked the fact that Delta was—for now at least—cut off from the rest of Mars City.

“Good to see you again, Malcolm,” said Kelliher.

“Things look…busy here.”

A smile, not a terribly warming one, bloomed on Betruger’s face. “Busy. Oh yes, that we are, Ian. And it’s only going to get more so. You got my requests for the next quarter?”

“Yes, they are being processed—”

Betruger’s eyes narrowed. “Processed? Ian, I told you that they represented the minimum. The absolute minimum…”

“I still have a board to report to, Malcolm. I’m still on Earth.”

A grin from Betruger. “The old world.”

“Yes, a magical place where boards still have to sign off on giant budget increases.” Though, truth be told, they would rubber stamp any proposal, but why let him know that?

“The minimum, Ian. That’s all I—”

Kelliher put a hand on Betruger’s shoulder and smiled. “Malcolm, don’t worry. It’s all going to happen, everything you need. The personnel, the material—I put Swann here in direct charge of overseeing it. He’ll be coming up here to liaise with you.”

Kelliher saw Swann’s head turn at that bit of information. Unexpected news for his chief counsel, but Swann knew a lot of Kelliher’s and the UAC’s secrets. If there was one person to trust in this, it had to be Swann. And if he didn’t like it?Tough shit, my friend.

Betruger didn’t exactly shrug off the hand on his shoulder, but instead turned and faced the great open expanse of the lab. “A tour then? Show you where we are…and where we will be going?”

Kelliher nodded and smiled. “That’s what we’re here for, Malcolm. Just nothing too technical, okay?”

“Of course. We’ll start with the new chambers, shall we?”

And Betruger hurried away at full speed, making no secret of the fact that he was probably way too busy to be so accommodating.

“Dr. MacDonald, if you would do the honors?”

Kellyn MacDonald turned away from the just-installed chamber, barely put together for this dog and pony show. Certain irony there, he thought.Dogs. Yes, we’ve used them. No ponies—yet.

MacDonald lowered his clipboard and stuck out his hand.

“Ian Kelliher,” Betruger said, introducing the UAC boss.

Kelliher took MacDonald’s hand, but his eyes were fixed on the twelve-foot-tall, room-sized chamber. “Impressive,” he said. Only then did he look at MacDonald. “And untested?”

“Yes, sir. We only—”

Betruger walked up to the chamber. “Not to worry, Ian. It follows the specifications of the smaller modules. We continue to test with those as well. There’s no question in my mind that these will be ready for full testing soon, with these pods.”

“And operational?”

The question came from a man standing just behind Kelliher. MacDonald looked at him. Strange to see a guy in a suit, on Mars no less. Was this the lawyer he’d heard about? Yes. Elliot Swann, in the flesh. The shark who made sure that no matter what happened on Mars, it didn’t come around to bite the UAC. The whole colony could be wiped out in some massive incident and—MacDonald imagined—the UAC not only would be found completely blameless, but would probably come up smelling like roses.

Betruger looked at Swann. “The big question, Elliot. One that—well, I’m sure I need not explain to someone as bright as you—can only be resolved bytesting. ”

Was that a bit of a grin on Kelliher’s face? Enjoying his lawyer facing Betruger? No one faced Betruger and escaped unscathed. The scientist pushed his glasses back, pausing—a little thinking time. “Just as when I developed the ion engine. That too…remained to betested. Thattoo spent years without being operational.” The scientist took a step closer to the lawyer.Oh…this is fun. “Until it did becomeoperational. Enough to bring you and every person and every bit of machinery and every chunk of Mars City here—in days. Think about that for a moment, Mr. Swann. Days.”

Finally General Hayden—who had been lying back as if this lab was a potentially threatening environment—intervened. “All right, Malcolm, I think you’ve made your point.”

Kelliher nodded. “People have questions. I get them all the time. When I go back home, the board will certainly ask them. It’s wise to have answers, Malcolm, no? So let’s continue the tour. And then maybe I’ll have some really good answers for them.”

Betruger turned away from the lawyer, and—almost like some barrel-headed clown applying makeup—he plastered a smile on his face. “Yes, Ian. Lots to show you. You’ll see everything you need. Follow me.”

They turned and walked away.Everything they need, MacDonald thought. Maybe.But they won’t see everything. Of that, MacDonald was absolutely sure.

Mars City PDA

Dr. Kellyn MacDonald

Personal Folder, Security Enabled.

Checked and Opened_4_27_2144 12:37:42

The “inspection” seems to be progressing exactly as Betruger rehearsed it. Kelliher got to see what he thought was the whole lab—the gleaming new transporter chambers and the older, smaller modules all in working order. While they didn’t get a live demonstration, Betruger did show them vid of what he called “key experiments” using physical objects. Then he explained the irregularities, the anomalies—or rather, tried to.

Because we don’t know what caused them. Why would the polar orientation of an object’s molecules reverse? Why would certain chemical bonds disappear, changing the nature of some substances, while others would be transformed into some new kind of bond, previously unseen?

All fascinating, and why I am here, to be sure. But Betruger, and all of us on the team, made sure that certain things are not seen. All the vid from the live experiments, from example, and the cadavers—kept only a few rooms away from where the party tours. Made me very nervous, I must confess.

Not a single word about that as Betruger plunges on with his experiments, his plans. No one can question him, of course. Heaven forbid—not the man who gave humankind the ion engine. But I am keeping records. And I file my own reports to Kelliher. Then there’s my own personal musings here, of course. And copies of files, test results, the images. At some point, I may need to show them. But not right now.

For now, it’s watch and wait.

Personal Folder Closed and Locked_4_27_2144 12:51:08

Betruger walked the tour party back to the airlock. “Satisfied, Ian?”

“Not sure how to answer that, Malcolm. Based on your test results and what I’ve seen, there seems to be a lot yet to figure out, a lot—”

“Oh yes—there is, and we will. The team here is the best. You should know—you pay their salaries.” Betruger laughed—an unpleasant sound. “But they are all here because each and every one of them believes in what we are doing, what we will attempt.”

Kelliher started to step into his EVA suit. “I’m sure they do. I’m sure they understand that if they achieve the goal of moving matter through space instantaneously…this dream of teleportation…”

“It’s not a dream.”

Kelliher paused. Betruger was difficult to talk to at the best of times, but there seemed to be an increased edge to his tone.Is Mars getting to him? Kelliher looked at Campbell and Swann; both would be dealing hands-on with this man in the coming days and weeks. Good that they see Kelliher’s concern. “It is in my book, until you achieve success.”

“It’s all there. We are so close. Twelve months. At the outer limit.”

Kelliher nodded. “I hope so. The UAC has high hopes for Mars City…” He grabbed his helmet.

Betruger smiled. “Exactly—everything else pales. And when I succeed, humanity will be forever changed.”

“I’m sure. And now—thanks again, but General Hayden has some boring administrative matters I have to review.”

Kelliher was about to reach out and shake the lead scientist’s hand, but stopped himself. Somehow, it just didn’t feel like something he wanted to do. His instincts warned him that something was completelyoff about the entire situation up here.