Alien Storm (19 page)

Oooh, sinister
, Alex thought as they stepped out of the lift.
Perhaps Makarov's planning on setting up a restaurant or something
.

Shut up
, Sarah replied. They watched the woman disappear through the doors. Sarah's eyes fell upon an emergency exit. She led Alex over.

“Let's take the stairs,” she whispered.

They started down the stairwell. Glancing over the railings they saw that the shaft stretched down hundreds of steps to the very ground level.

What are we looking for?
Alex complained as they passed one landing after another.

Makarov's lab, Sarah snapped back, keeping a mental note of the signs they'd passed at each level:
Kitchens 2, Housekeeping 6, Maintenance 3
– nothing of immediate interest. Then Sarah stopped as something caught her eye.

Sleeper Modules
.

She pushed open the door carefully and they slipped into the area beyond, which was a massive chamber. There were no external windows and the only light was provided by the flashing readouts of the technology that the room housed – rows of squat, white caskets that resembled Egyptian sarcophagi.

“Are those what I think they are?” Alex asked.

“Sleeper caskets,” Sarah confirmed as she scanned the room – she counted at least thirty of them. Sensing they were alone, she released Alex's hand and became visible again.

“But what are they doing here?” Alex asked, appearing also. “I thought Makarov said all the virus victims from the last strike were shipped out to a hospital in Moscow.”

“Good question,” Sarah replied as they approached the nearest casket. “Let's see if we can find the answer. They look different to the ones used at HIDRA.”

The modules were indeed bigger and bulkier with more complex data readouts than the one that housed her father, Daniel. The entire top of the casket was transparent, domed plastic, rather than having a single window. Inside the casket lay a dark-haired woman in her twenties. As with the sleepers Sarah had seen at HIDRA, the woman had sensors attached to her forehead and chest. However, this sleeper also had a metal cap placed on the top of her head. A single thick cable extended from the cap into the top of the casket. Fibre-optic wires pulsed rhythmically within the cable in time with the rise and fall of the woman's chest as she breathed.

“What's that on her head?” Alex asked.

Sarah shook her head. “I don't know. Perhaps some kind of monitoring equipment. It looks as if Makarov has modified the original design for the casket.”

They moved to the next one. It contained a boy of about ten and he wore a skullcap identical to the woman's. Sarah pressed a button on the side of the casket and the lid swung up with a hydraulic hiss.

“What are you doing?” Alex demanded, catching Sarah's wrist as she reached inside.

“Don't you want to take a closer look?” she replied, pulling her hand free. “Or did we break in here just to wander around?”

Alex sighed. “Just be careful.”

With a nod, Sarah gingerly touched the cap on the sleeper's head. It didn't move, so she gripped the cable and gave it a wiggle.

“It's on firm,” she said. “Maybe held by some kind of suction.”

She pulled harder and the cap came away in her hand.

Alex leaned in. “But what's it for—”

Without warning, the sleeping boy's arm shot out and grabbed his shoulder. Alex cried out in surprise as the boy's eyes flicked open wide and stared wildly.

he demanded.

“It's okay,” Alex replied, gritting his teeth as the boy's fingers dug into his shoulder. “We're friends.”

The boy looked at him in confusion for another second, clearly unable to understand his words, before his eyes closed again. Alex laid his hand back down again and looked round at an equally shocked Sarah. Hastily, she replaced the cap on the boy's head.

“Is that normal?” Alex asked.

Sarah shook her head. “No. The coma should be deep. If these people are victims of the fall virus, then it's different to anything I've seen before. Did you understand what he said?”

“Sounded Russian to me. Why didn't Makarov tell us he was caring for them here?”

“Perhaps because he isn't caring for them,” Sarah suggested, indicating a readout on the side of the casket. “That looks like a power meter.”

“What are you saying? That it's draining their energy?”

Before Sarah could respond, there was a clang from the other side of the room and a huge set of double doors swung open. They both ducked beside the nearest casket as the main lights in the chamber flicked on full. Alex immediately began to fade out as footsteps approached. As he went invisible, he took Sarah's hand in his. Looking round, she saw her arm go transparent, followed by the rest of her body.

Good job you came
, Sarah told him with relief.

Just keep a hold of my hand
, Alex replied.
If it's Makarov, he'll be able to detect our thoughts even if we're faded out
.

Sarah indeed sensed the man's presence in the room and the power of his mind probing every corner. She threw up a psychic wall around herself and Alex, hiding them from Makarov's thoughts just as effectively as their invisibility.

I'm shielding us
, Sarah told Alex.
Let's see what he's up to
.

Hold on a minute
, he said as she began to move after the footsteps.
Perhaps we should just get out of here
.

You do what you like
, Sarah replied tersely,
but I'm going to get some answers. Come with me or go, just don't get in my way
.

Shaking his head, Alex allowed her to lead him from behind the casket out into the open. Makarov walked down the central aisle that bisected the circular chamber towards a wide flight of stairs leading up to another room. A metre behind him the hulking shape of the robotic hound, Balthus, padded along.

Moving quickly through the rows of caskets, Sarah and Alex followed Makarov as he reached the bottom of the stairs and started up. In his right hand he now held a cane that he leaned heavily upon, as if having difficulty walking. Sarah remembered how he had started to look drained towards the end of their time together that day. Now he moved like a much older man – slow and stooped as if every step was made with great effort. It wasn't difficult to catch up.

At the midpoint of the stairs, Makarov held out a hand to Balthus. “Stay,” he commanded and the metal beast stopped in its tracks. Makarov continued on up.

Leading the way, Sarah started up the stairs with her hand still in Alex's. They stuck to the very edge, giving Balthus a wide berth. As they passed, the robowolf's head darted round in their direction. The red slits that were its eyes looked directly at them. Sarah and Alex froze, not even breathing for a terrible moment. Balthus tilted its head slightly and raised its nose, as if smelling the air. Then the robowolf turned and sat down on its haunches with a metallic clang. Its eyes dimmed as if it was going into some kind of low power mode. Sarah and Alex moved forward again.

Nice doggy
, Alex thought as they edged past.

The stairs ended at an archway that led through to another circular, windowless chamber, roughly the same size as the last. However, this room had no sleeper caskets and was empty save for a raised area in the centre upon which a beam of light shone down from the ceiling. Every part of the walls was covered with computer components: LCD readouts, drives, access terminals and ports. One section of wall was taken up by a giant world map with red lines pointing towards various locations, like arrows heading towards targets.

Makarov stumbled towards what looked like a main terminal, the
tap tap tap
of the walking cane punctuating every step he took. Sarah and Alex slipped into the chamber, but hung back in the shadowed area near the wall and watched as the man examined data on the screen.

“Computer,” he said hoarsely, “status report.”

“Sleepers are in perfect stasis,” the machine replied. “Psychic energy levels are stable. I detected a power fluctuation in sleeper module 22, but energy harvest has been restored.”

The sleeper we awoke
, Sarah thought to Alex.
I told you the modules were draining their power somehow
.

“Have the pod checked for glitches,” Makarov ordered. “We cannot afford any disruption at this stage. Was the beacon affected?”

“The beacon is fully functional. No contact was lost with the meteor storm. Estimated time until first impact, 46.27 hours. Meteor trajectories remain within a 0.01% range of accuracy. All fifty meteors are on course for their targets.”

Satisfied by the answer, Makarov turned and walked to the middle of the chamber.

He's bringing more meteorite strikes!
Sarah exclaimed.
Why?

I don't know
, Alex replied as he turned his attention to the map on the wall. Cities around the globe were highlighted.
They look like targets! He's going to hit the cities!

Sarah turned to the light in the middle of the room.
What's that in the beam?

They strained to see, eyes adjusting to the brilliance of the light beam. There was something floating there – a dark, irregular shaped object about two metres in length. The surface of the object was smooth, almost like glass. It rotated slowly, polished sections catching the light as it turned.

It looks like a piece of rock
, she thought.
Or a meteorite fragment
.

Makarov stopped before the rock and went down on one knee, an operation that was clearly a strain for him. As Sarah and Alex crept closer, it was possible to see that his skin was as thin and crumpled as ancient paper. Now he really did look a hundred years old.

What happened to him?
Alex asked.

I think we're about to find out
, Sarah replied as Makarov raised his head to the rock, eyes glinting in the light.

“Master,” he croaked, still breathless from the effort of his ascent to the chamber.

A deep voice sounded in reply. It resonated around the chamber, at once seeming to originate from the rock and come from all around. Sarah felt the presence of something incredibly powerful – the owner of the voice was ancient… intelligent…

Evil.

“I am the Entity,” it replied. “I am the beginning and the end. My power spans galaxies; worlds are my playthings. Who disturbs my thoughts?”

The Entity
. With her enhanced mental powers, Sarah sensed that the voice came from a long distance away. It was not of the earth. The voice spoke across light years of space.

“Your servant, Nikolai Makarov,” he replied. “What is your bidding?”

“Ah, the earthling,” the Entity answered. “Are the children contained?”

“I have them at the tower, master,” Makarov said, his eyes fixed on the rotating object in the light. “Their fate is at your whim. I will have them killed before dawn if it is your wish.”

Sarah gripped Alex's hand even tighter, resisting the urge to cry out. She thought of Robert and the others sleeping innocently at the top of the Spire.

“No,” the Entity said. “We need them alive if we are to discover the limits of their power and control it. After my meteor storm brings the virus to the entire world, there will be many more of their type. Such organisms have thwarted me before on other worlds.”

“They will not stand in your way,” Makarov assured the alien. “I sense that some of them will join our cause, given the correct pressure.”

“What of the girl who leads them?” the voice asked.

Makarov shook his head. “Sarah Williams is already powerful and difficult for me to read. I sense she will not turn. It would be better to eliminate her—”

“The girl is of interest to me,” the Entity replied. “You will not harm her yet. Her weakness is her devotion to her friends. As long you have them, she is at your mercy.”

A flicker of annoyance passed across Makarov's face, but he bowed his head. “You are infinitely wise, master.”

“Is everything else prepared?” the Entity went on.

“The sleepers continue to power the meteor beacon at the top of the Spire,” Makarov said. “The storm draws near.”

“Excellent,” the Entity said. “You humans have proved to be an amazing source of psychic energy – one of the best I have ever found. How ironic it is that this energy will be used to guide my meteors to their final targets on earth – the bringers of humanity's inevitable enslavement.”

Makarov nodded. “When the meteor storm hits, the virus will be carried to every part of the globe. Those infected will become your slaves. Earth will be yours, master. All humankind will be subsumed into your consciousness. No one will stand in your way.”

“You have served me well these hundred years, Makarov,” the Entity said approvingly. “But I see you grow weak again. Touch the beam and drink of my power.”