Fast (18 page)

            ‘Last visual had them trapped by the creatures in the north elevator,’ answered Bora.

            Cairns eyes flicked to the elevator before him. This was the west elevator. ‘You think the creatures finished them?’

            Bora was quiet for a moment. ‘I couldn’t say. They’re very…resourceful. Their Captain dropped a helicopter on top of us in the pool room.’

            ‘Are you saying that this small, under-armed, outnumbered, fragmented team of Marines is beyond your ability to eliminate, Lieutenant Bora?’

            Cairns felt Bora bristle over the radio. He could almost hear Bora suppressing an animal snarl.

            ‘No,’ replied Bora tersely. ‘They can’t access the research level, so they must be on the engineering or basement level. We’re searching engineering now. We’ll have them in the next few minutes.’

            Cairns checked his watch as the elevator arrived. ‘I’m timing you, Lieutenant. Don’t disappoint me.’

            ‘Understood.’

            Bora’s report reminded Cairns that it wasn’t time to relax. He stepped into the elevator after Gould and the chest. He nodded to the gunman at the elevator controls. ‘Level 3. Research Level.’

Coleman raised an eyebrow at Vanessa. ‘The future of the world?’

            She was never the type of person to exaggerate her achievements, but still….

            Defensive now, she let irritation spill into her voice. ‘I am not boasting. You need to understand that my research is completely
world changing
.’

            ‘Then help me to understand,’ said Coleman gravely. ‘Explain.’

Vanessa clicked her fingers. ‘Okay. Here’s one example. How many conflicts are being fought right now around the world over clean drinking water?’

            Her question fell on Marlin.

Marlin shrugged. ‘Anywhere with recurring drought conditions. A lot of tribal conflicts. Developing countries.’

            ‘Okay,’ agreed Vanessa, turning to address all the Marines. ‘Imagine a plant that could purify contaminated water for human consumption. Done that? Now imagine a second plant, a different plant, with tap roots deep enough to reach underground water tables. Now think of a third plant that could store water safely for humans to consume for months or even years. If those three different traits were combined into
one
plant, every drought-effected family on the planet could
grow
their own fresh water well.’

            She was animated now, gesturing fervently as she paced around the chamber, locking eyes with the Marines as he spoke. ‘The implications of this work are unparalleled. Without this technology, fresh water will one day cost more than oil. Civilized countries will be fighting wars over access to water. And unlimited water is just one benefit. Medicine will be cheaper to produce. We won’t have to search for new drugs – we’ll design plants to produce and refine them for us. The cost reduction for industrial refinement and drug manufacture will become so low that every developing country will have stockpiles of pharmaceuticals. The need for pharmaceutical aid programs will be completely wiped-out.’

            She pointed squarely at Coleman. ‘I can give you a hundred more examples of where this research is going to benefit mankind – engineering, agriculture, space colonization…and
that’s
why we’re given the flexibility to push our research ahead and draw together the best minds from all over the world.’

            Vanessa was breathless. She inhaled quickly, preparing to carry on, but Coleman jerked up his hands. He didn’t need a hundred more examples.

            ‘Hey – you’ve convinced me,’ he admitted. ‘Just slow down. We’re going off track here. Just tell me
exactly
what Cairns is after?’

            Composed again, Vanessa said, ‘Six small spheres of embryonic plant cells, each about the size of a marble. I grew twelve templates. Gould stole six to make these creatures. There are six more templates in my labs. Each template contains a living record of all genetic research since Mendel hybridized peas in his monastery garden. They contain the traits from every species of plant that has ever been genetically mapped. All the data is stored on long DNA strands inside the embryonic cells. Once the chosen traits are triggered on the DNA, the embryonic cells start growing.’

           
Okay
, thought Coleman.
Time for question two
. ‘Why does Cairns want the remaining templates so badly?’

            ‘That’s all I’ve been thinking about,’ confessed Vanessa. ‘But now you’ve suggested that a foreign government is behind the theft, it makes much more sense. The country with the stolen templates will be technologically catapulted ahead of every other nation. Think of the templates as being a seed that can grow into anything you can imagine, combining and twisting any traits that nature has ever created in plants.’

            She pointed to the dead creature. ‘Like these things. These are just
one
person’s work. Imagine one hundred madmen having one hundred ideas a day, and then having the ability to make these ideas reality. We’ll see genetic weapons that can ravage an entire country’s crops. We’ll be completely defenseless. How can you quarantine an entire country? Nature has no natural defenses to the new strains of organisms that would sweep around the globe. Whoever has the templates will hold world food economies to ransom. And these creatures? These are nothing compared to what Gould will do if he has enough time with the templates. Nuclear weapons won’t hold a candle compared to the destructive power of genetics.’

            Coleman had made up his mind. ‘Then preventing Cairns from acquiring those templates is now our first priority. Until the C-Guards are disabled, we’re basically on our own. We can’t call for help. So that means it’s just us against Cairns.’

            ‘How can you compete against Cairns?’ asked Vanessa. ‘There’s only four of you. Plus there are the creatures to avoid.’

            Coleman smiled a wicked smile. ‘We’ll snatch the templates first.’

            Vanessa gestured at the heavy containment door. ‘These doors are at either end of both decontamination corridors. That’s four heavy doors. The external doors can be opened from the admin hub, providing access to the peripheral research labs, but the doors sealing the core labs at the end of the corridor won’t open for anybody. My templates are in the core labs. I don’t know how Cairns plans to get in there, but I’m sure he’s started by now.’

            ‘It’s a race,’ agreed Coleman. ‘I bet Cairns has less information about the security arrangements than we do. You’re the expert. How can we access the core labs first?’

            ‘You can’t,’ replied Vanessa flatly. ‘They can only be opened by a senior authorized staff member from the admin hub.’

            ‘There must be a way with your personal security codes.’

            ‘Codes?’ she scoffed. She waved to the antechamber walls. ‘Where would I enter any codes?’

            Coleman scanned the room, a strong feeling of puzzlement blossoming at what he
wasn’t
seeing.

            Vanessa waited until Coleman finished scanning the walls before she spoke again. ‘This is going to sound pretty incredible, but you need to believe what I tell you next.’

            ‘Try me,’ prompted Coleman.

            ‘No one in the Complex understands how the security system works.’ She raised her finger as every member in Third Unit went to speak at once. ‘NO ONE. All the doors just open for authorized people and won’t open for unauthorized people. No one in the entire staff understands how it distinguishes identities. This whole level – computers, doors, equipment, everything – it’s all the same. They just work flawlessly for the right people. We don’t understand how.’

            Coleman looked around the room. In all the mayhem, he hadn’t noticed the obvious absence of security sensors. There were no cameras, no code panels, no iris, palm, or finger-print scanners.

            There was nothing.

            Coleman was stunned. He had never heard of anything like it. A blind security system with no apparent way of identifying individuals.

            He saw that the others, all security trained, were equally perplexed. Marlin was their expert.

            ‘That’s not possible,’ countered Marlin, searching the room. ‘There has to be something….’

            ‘That’s how I know the terrorists can’t bypass the system with security codes,’ continued Vanessa. ‘Wait until you hear what else I’ve discovered. No one in the Complex can leak security information because no one in the
world
knows how the entire security system works. I spoke to some of the installation technicians, and they don’t even know the names of the companies they work for. As best I can understand, the security company contracted to this job is made up of several specialist branches, and no branch is allowed to understand how the rest of the system functions. Each technician only understands his or her particular component. The information can’t be bought on the black market, because it just doesn’t exist.’

            ‘Okay,’ Coleman said, overwhelmed by the efforts the security consultants had taken to protect their clients. It was incredible that companies like that even existed. ‘Forget bypassing the security system then. What about access through a shared system like the air-conditioning ducts or mechanical services?’

            Vanessa’s eyes went distant. ‘No. Wait, maybe.’ Her gaze dropped to the floor. ‘There’s a security subsection under the labs that can be accessed from the stairwell. We call it the ‘underlab’. It’s just a system of corridors under the peripheral labs, but it gets more complex under the core labs. The underlab mirrors the layout of the rooms and passages in the core labs above it. It’s designed to let people move under the core labs without interrupting critical experiments. It uses access codes and large round hatches in its ceiling to access the core labs above.’

            ‘Right, let’s go,’ said Coleman, already heading for the stairwell.

            ‘Wait,’ blurted Vanessa. ‘What about David?’

            Coleman met her gaze. ‘I’ve thought it through. If David’s in the Evac Center, then he’s safe for the time being. If he’s not, then we have more chance of finding him by moving around, right?’

            Coleman didn’t mention that his plan would also serve to distract the terrorists from the evacuees and David. If Coleman’s team could cause enough trouble in the main Complex, hopefully the evacuees would seem insignificant to both the terrorists and the creatures.

            Vanessa nodded, perhaps understanding his plan after all. ‘OK. But you don’t understand about the underlab. It’s not what you think it –’

            ‘Vanessa, we don’t have time,’ insisted Coleman. ‘Cairns might already be in your labs. I don’t care about the risks. Can you access the underlab or not?’

            She nodded, her earlier hesitation gone. ‘Yes.’

            ‘That’s good enough,’ said Coleman. ‘We’re just lucky you called the lift and we ran into each other.’

            Vanessa shook her head at the elevator. ‘I didn’t summon the elevator. I was running for my life when the elevator doors opened and I saw you.’

            Coleman realized she was right. She had been running
towards
the elevator. And Forest definitely hadn’t touched the elevator controls. There was no one else around who could have summoned the elevator to the third floor. Coleman filed the information away in his mind as another mystery to analyze later.

            He joined Marlin at the fire stairs door. ‘Any activity in the stairwell?’