“Sorry sir. I can’t reach him.”
Took suddenly looked startled.
“Wait a minute. Now there’s a visual communication coming in.”
Major Cowper appeared on the screen above their head.
“Sorry Sir, I haven’t had much of a chance to call in.” Cowper put a finger to his lips. “There are a lot of crazies with guns running around.”
“Do you know the situation?”
“Affirmative.
“You think that we should isolate Pinewood from outside communication?”
Major Cowper narrowed his eyes and nodded.
“I do sir. Most strongly.”
“Warrant Officer Took. Disable all communication links with the base. That includes HQ.” The Commander slammed his fist against his leg. “Authorisation Code 24ABD.”
“This is confirmed by Major Cowper. Authorisation 1234.”
“1234?” The Commander looked hesitant. “That isn’t a proper code.”
“But it’s working sir!” Took interrupted, tapping his keyboard. “Our lines to the outside are shorting. Only the internal communication system is still operable. Well… partially.”
“I have to go sir,” Cowper whispered. “Not very safe to stay in one place. I’ll report when I can.”
“Wait a minute…” the Commander began, but the screen went blank.
In the dormitory, Simon removed the headset and microphone. On the screen in front of him, the virtual Major Cowper was frozen in mid-goodbye. Simon’s hands were shaking so badly he could hardly tap the keys.
“Did I do OK?”
“Ye fooled them man. Gave it the full bhuna. Let’s just hope we’re doin the right thing, eh? ” Dave ran nervous fingers through his sweaty hair and held up the walkie talkie. “Ye werenae so smart wi the radio though. Ye left it switched on an the cell’s gone dead. I cannae get in touch wi Hicksy or Leslie.”
Simon grimaced in apology
“Damn! We need to get them back here before they get shot as terrorists or something,” he said. “Barn?”
“Yeah.” The large boy was standing upright now, though his face was still an alarming shade of red.
“Jimmy must be at the old well by now. I need you to go get him and bring him back.”
Barn’s large features crumpled.
“C’mon big man.” Dave cajoled. “You could do wi the exercise.”
“OK! Big Mongoose to the rescue,” Barn wheezed and vanished out of the door again.
“Are we still overriding the cameras, so he can get out?”
“We are.” Dave brought up the base schematics. “They’re so busy fighting each other in the complex that they’re no paying much attention to the outlying buildings. There’s naebody but us in them anyway. Even the guards took off for the main buildings as soon as the alarms went off.”
“Dave?”
“Aye?”
“Is there a way to reroute the intercom system in this building, so they go through our computer instead of the speakers?”
“Nae problem. It’s a digital system.”
“And use voice decoding software to convert the sounds into text ”
“Nae sweat, Si.” Dave looked puzzled. “Why?”
“If May-Rose starts using the intercom system, I think it’d be better if we could read what she’s saying, rather than hear it. You agree?”
“I’m on it.” Dave grinned at his spectacled friend. “You’d make a good officer, man.”
“I’ve decided to quit the army.” Simon gave a grimace. “If we live through this.”
18.17
Barn reached the outer door, panting with exertion. Klaxons were still sounding below and now he could hear shouted voices. His head was hurting and he was frightened and confused. In his mind he went over calculations in a vain attempt to stay calm.
“12,345,678,987,654,321 divided by 111,111,111 equals 111,111,111,” he chanted, nodding his head violently. He punched 1234 into the door console and pushed it open. A blast of freezing night air blew across his face and he breathed in a deep lungful of dark, clean air.
A figure stepped from the shadows further down the corridor. Barn whimpered and pressed himself against the wall, eyes tightly shut.
“Calm down, will you? It’s only me.”
The voice was instantly recognisable. Barn opened one eye.
Cruickshank was standing in front of him, lab coat splattered with blood. He was holding an automatic rifle awkwardly against his chest.
“I’ve been sent to fetch Jimmy Hicks back.” Barn rasped. “He’s out near the old well. Something has gone awful wrong,”
“Don’t I know it.” Cruickshank moved to the door and looked cautiously into the night. There was no sound from outside. “Why is he at the well? He’s supposed to be meeting Leslie outside the perimeter.”
“He’s going to hide Simon’s time travel formula first.” Barn glanced nervously round. “So we have a copy somewhere safe.”
“Smart move.” Cruickshank nodded approvingly. ”Listen, you go back upstairs to the dormitory. I’ll get Jimmy.”
Barn looked uncertain. “Dave and Simon sent me,” he said hesitantly.
“They did. But I know exactly what’s going on,” Cruikshank insisted. “I can explain everything to Jimmy. What’s the override code, so I can get back in?”
“1234.”
“Fine. Tell Dave and Simon that Major Cowper is dead.”
Barn’s eyes widened. He gave a gulp and peeled off his thermal jacket.
“Take my top then. It’s freezing out there.”
The jacket fit easily over Cruickshank’s lab coat and almost reached his knees. The boy fumbled awkwardly at the zip.
“My hands are shaking too much to do it up.”
Barn knelt and fastened the zipper for him. Then he ruffled his companion’s hair and ran back the way he had come.
Cruickshank watched until he had vanished round the corner. Then he hefted the empty rifle onto his shoulder and limped out into the darkness.
18.20
The intercom was still silent. The staff in the Ops Room glanced nervously at each other.
Lieutenant Dunwoody was the first to react.
“I think we should disable internal communications as well as external ones,” he said. “If this man, Olly, is telling the truth, we don’t want May-Rose transmitting to the whole base.”
“Yes, but I’ve been thinking.” Commander Saunders face was sickly white. “What if Olly is actually on May-Rose’s side? Suppose this whole ‘voice’ thing is a ruse?” He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve. “We’ve cut ourselves off from outside help. If we disable internal communications, she can exploit the confusion and break out that much easier.”
“My men have their own walkie talkies and they’re on a separate system.” Dunwoody tapped a small radio attached to his belt. “I can talk to them directly and make sure they keep the situation contained.”
“You sure?”
“This is what I do.”
The Commander nodded.
“Make it so Mr Took.” Saunders was a big fan of Star Trek, and had always wanted to say that. He had the dreadful premonition that it might be his last chance.
Took began tapping furiously at his console, shutting down systems one by one.
“Listen Lieutenant,” the Commander began. “I was trying to tell you earlier, there’s something you don’t know about Pinewood. It has a built in security failsafe in case of…”
A child’s lilting voice drifted through the Ops Room. It was accompanied by a soft, soothing hum
“This is May-Rose. I’m afraid Olly is dead.”