Doom 3™: Worlds on Fire

11

MARS CITY—ADMINISTRATION

FOR A FEW MOMENTS, NOBODY IN THE LARGE CONFERENCEroom said anything. They just stared mutely at the screen. Perhaps Hayden had seen this before. And certainly Kelliher had looked at the image often enough.

But Ian Kelliher thought it was worth the price of admission to see the looks on Swann’s and Campbell’s faces. Jack Campbell was one tough son of a bitch—but this gave him pause.

Without waiting for anyone to react, Kelliher touched the tabletop controls. The image began a slow 360-degree turn, so everyone could look at it very carefully as it turned.

“Jee-sus…” Campbell said.

“Indeed,” Kelliher replied. “Quite something, General, no?”

Hayden nodded.

Kelliher looked back at the thing on the screen. One of the more recent experimental results.

“I believe,” Kelliher said, “that this experiment involved increasing the distance of the teleported subject, am I correct?”

“I imagine so. I only get—”

“Right. ‘Need to know’ basis, and all that bullshit.”

Kelliher realized that he had spat out the last word—he needed to keep his cool here. Hayden—despite his well-honed instincts to hide any facts that might prove troublesome or disturbing to the bureaucratic cosmos—was, in fact, a good honcho to be running this operation.

Like Kelliher, Hayden knew how to inspire fear. Like Kelliher, he believed in the importance of this mission. They had had quiet chats back at the Palo Alto labs, discussing the future of Mars.

Not Earth’s future, to be sure. That shithole probably didn’t have one. If the people of Earth were to have any hope, Mars would be the key to it. And Hayden could be ruthless. So what was a little lying and duplicity among friends?

“You have seen this before, right, General?”

A pause. Not so long as to be insubordinate, but enough to show that Hayden was weighing the merits of his answer…

“Yes.” Then: “Briefly. Yes, I have.”

Kelliher now stepped back as the 3-D image finished its rotation.

“I believe the subject was a primate, correct?”

“A capuchin monkey,” Hayden said. “Betruger likes them for their size, their intelligence—a good match, he claimed.”

“A good match…to humans, that is?”

“Yes.”

Now it was Kelleher’s turn to pause. A smile in the pale blue light. “Doesn’t look very human now, does it? Or much like a monkey, for that matter.”

The image had returned to its starting position. Kelliher noted that there wassome fur on the thing—odd, scruffy patches. And it did have handlike paws. But those “hands” now ended in talonlike claws. A long tail curled out from the creature’s rear end, but that was no monkey tail. It looked barbed, with spikes coming out of it. Might work for some deep-ocean giant arachnid.

But on a goddamn monkey? It was the head that was truly the most disturbing. It seemed to have ballooned into an oblong shape. The two eyes had merged into one large, gooey sphere, a dark soulless pupil sitting in some murky greenish-white mucus—a pit of emptiness.

But that was the least of it. The mouth of the “subject” had stretched into a wide, constant grimace. More teeth than any creature could need or ever use. Long fangs, giant chomping molars, set in a mouth that completely dwarfed the head and the rest of the thing.

It looked designed—if that was the right word—for only one thing.

“I never got a report on this, now did I?”

“No, sir. Betruger has asked that all the bad transmissions—”

A full laugh now. “Abad transmission? Is that what he calls them?”

“Yes.”

“No report. But I assume something happened when this…thing arrived in the lab?”

Hayden looked at Swann and Campbell. “Yes. Things happened.”

“See—I don’t know all about that, General. So before we leave, before I tell you how things will go from here on, for this next crucial year…why don’t you tell me. Now.”

Hayden cleared his throat. Then, as if to reassert some of his status as commander of Mars City, the person actually running this place, Hayden stood up and walked to the image.

“It arrived in the lab…alive…”

Walker stood up in the main cafeteria, his plate of food mostly uneaten. He looked around the nearly empty room to see who might be looking at him.

Wondering what he was thinking, planning…

Because this was something he hadn’t talked about with anyone…anyone.After all, he was told not to talk about what he might see in the lab. The threats were quite clear. A few loose words and he might be in big trouble.

But then Walker had seen something that he wasn’t supposed to. He had been standing guard near the north portal. And one of the scientists fell to the ground. Someone yelled for help. Then, quite clearly, the sound and the smell of someone throwing up—

Now Walker reached the trash containers. He scraped his still-full plate into the blue container and placed the tray, the silverware, the smeary plate on the giant plastic yellow tray.

And in the lab on that day, he had moved from his position. He wasn’t supposed to do that. Not supposed to move at all from where he was standing.

Not without an order—

But the yelling, the scientist falling, those hacking sounds—

He had hurried toward the center of the lab. A tight circle of scientists were standing around some kind of small glass chamber. Walker’s eyes had gone to the guy on the floor. Someone in a white coat saying people should stand back. Another white coat to the side, the guy throwing his guts up—

But then he saw that everyone wasn’t looking at either of those two men—

No, the scientists were looking at what was inside the glass chamber—

And in that moment, Walker told himself. This iswrong. I’ve read enough stories, seen enough vids to know—

Inside the chamber…something alive.

Walker had frozen in his tracks looking at it, the way it kept splashing against the thick clear glass, trying to smash its way out. Or maybe, with the clatter of its clawlike appendages smacking the glass, trying toclaw its way out.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Except in those vids, in those weird stories he read back on the base on Earth.

His first instinct had been to back up. Which is when he noticed that the thing seemed to have turned, to follow Walker’s movements. Walker had felt its eyes locked on him, studying him as the claws banged even louder against the glass.

The circle of scientists had also now backed away, but they had looked at Walker, seeing that the thing in the glass case had its eyes on him.

Finally Dr. Betruger’s voice had cut through the air. “Everyone, back to work. Get the hell back now.”

The head scientist had turned to Walker. The marine had imagined that his eyes must have looked puffy, bulging out of his head.So goddamn scared…

“You. You…listen to me.”

Walked pushed open the cafeteria doors. No one was looking at him now. No one could guess his plan. What he was going to do.

Walker had finally looked at Betruger.

“You have seen nothing here, you understand?”

Walker had nodded.

“This is alltop security. Completely protected by National Security. If you so much”—Betruger had clenched his fists—“as say a goddamn single word about this, then you will spend the rest of your life out there, walking patrol in the goddamn frozen Martian night. You want that?”

Walker had cleared his throat.

“N-no sir. I—”

“Good. Then forget all this. Back to your post.”

Walker had walked slowly, taking so much care with every step, and with every step wondering,Is the thing still looking at me?

The clattering of the claws had begun to fade. Voices had begun talking again. The sound of something heavy being wheeled away—the glass tank perhaps.

He had finally turned when he was well away, back at his post. The tank had been moved to the rear of the expansive lab.

And that’s when Walker had started thinking about his plan.

The door to the cafeteria closed behind him. The hallway was full of people. His hand slid down to his sidearm. He made sure the gun’s safety was off. Then he started walking toward Mars City reception.

He’d have to wait. Time his move. It would be tricky. Nobody else knew it yet, but Private James Walker was about to get the hell out of this place.

“So you know guys up here?”

Maria wanted to tell Rodriguez to just give it up. She wasn’t on Mars to socialize, and even if she was, it was highly doubtful he’d be the first one she’d hit on.

She looked at the whole Martian experience as a way of escaping all that. For a year. Maybe more. The relationship thing had never been her forte, and this place seemed as good as any for getting away from it.

She glanced at Rodriguez. Not a bad-looking kid, anyway. Being the newbie here, she didn’t want to completely blow him off.

“Know? You mean, do I have any friends here?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“No. I came here to get away from whatever friends I had.” She fixed the other grunt with her eyes, hoping her next words found their mark. “And I’m not in the market for any new ones.”

Rodriguez nodded. “Gotcha. Good place for that. Long shifts. Work you like crazy up here. But good for your bank account. When I get back to Earth, I’m gonna be able to party big-time.”

“Good for you,” she said, turning away.

She looked at the conference room. Still sealed up tight.

Then she concentrated on her surroundings, looking up and down the corridor. This place could be any subterranean industrial headquarters anywhere on Earth. The lighting, the hallway. Certainly nothing “Martian” about it.

Kelliher had turned off the screen. He heard Swann take a breath.

“Yeah, I know—strong stuff. And whatever that thing was, whatever happened to it due to Betruger’s experiments, stands in the way of the promise of teleportation.”

“Ian, Dr. Betruger knows that, he—”

“Yeah, yeah, I bet he does. And I bet he has his theories as well. But from my source inside, that’s all he has. Some vague ideas about molecular distortions, genetic recombination. All sounds pretty impressive, except it means he doesn’t have a clue.”

“There are liabilities here, sir.”

Kelliher rolled his eyes at Swann’s words. “God, don’t you think I know that? Ofcourse, there are liabilities. I didn’t build this entire city for Betruger to cook up genetic mutations, if that’s what the hell they are. But he’s not an idiot. He knows what this is all about. He’ll want to solve the problem.”

Here Kelliher looked at Swann and Campbell. He could see from their expressions that his counselor and head of security were suddenly worried that he might tell Hayden something that—as of now—no one on Mars knew.Do they think I’m that stupid? “Betruger wants what I want. But his work, this place, needs to be monitored, General. Closely monitored.”

“And I am, Ian, I—”

“Of course. But remember I have someone in the lab who will continue sending me updates directly. And these two—”

He nodded to Swann and Campbell.

“—will be, as I said, coming up here regularly. I expect they will get your full cooperation. In addition to the results from Delta, I want updates on the construction progress in general, where things are ahead of schedule, where things are behind. And Site 3? That holds a great personal interest…for obvious reasons.”

“I’ll see that you get all that.”

“And see too that Swann and Campbell get it whenever they are here. Free rein. Complete access. Then maybe I can stay on Earth running things…”For as long as I plan on being on Earth.

“I understand,” Hayden said tightly. Not a man used to taking orders, Kelliher knew. And he imagined some people would get their ass kicked as soon as he left, just to balance the forces of the universe.

“Great. Then we are—for now—done here. Onward with Mars City. To the future.”

The men stood up. Kelliher hit a button and the windows of the conference room became clear, the bustling activity in the admin area suddenly visible, temporarily banishing the horrors they had all just witnessed.