“What do you have inside you, May-Rose?” Jimmy asked.
“The future,” she replied.
“I don’t understand.”
“Yes you do,” the girl smirked. “I’m carrying an entirely new genetic strain.” She moved down the line again looking closely at Dave and Simon.
“All living things are controlled by their genes. They hunt, kill, and compete so that the strongest will survive. That’s as it should be. The way it’s always been.”
She pursed her lips in a childish pout.
“But humanity keeps trying to rise above its programming. You fight your urges. Form societies where those with inferior genes are able to thrive.”
“So yer no a fan o wheelchair ramps,” Dave said defiantly. “Get tae the point.”
“Now you’ve tried to manipulate your own genetic material. Bend nature to your will.” A note of outrage had crept into the child’s voice. “Genes are not your playthings! They are your masters!”
“We didn’t know what we were dealing with,” Monk spoke in a faraway, monotone voice. “We created our own Frankenstein’s monster.”
“What are they talking about?” Nulce hissed to Madrid. But the blonde was listening intently to May-Rose and the Doctor.
“May-Rose is the host for a new DNA strain,” the Doctor said blankly. “One that can think for itself. One that has improved her”
“It’s one that controls her.” Jimmy spat. “She’s as much a puppet as you are.”
‘No. No. she’s a self-aware programme,” Sherman insisted. “Like the Colonel said. Don’t you see that?”
“Enough! I intend to transform all of you too.” May-Rose smiled broadly, revealing perfect white teeth. “We’ll all use the Machine to travel to a point in the future where Pinewood doesn’t exist. Infiltrate you into society. You’re already geniuses. Armed with what I carry inside, you’ll become an unstoppable force.”
“And we spread the disease?”
“You call it a disease. I call it a cure,” May-Rose moved along the line to Jimmy, stood on tiptoe and peered into the boy’s eyes. “Did you really think humanity could overcome millions of years of evolution?”
“I was hoping that, eventually, we would.”
“Your arrogance is breathtaking as usual, Jimmy.” May-Rose moved further along the line. “Once I’ve injected you with my DNA, then you, Simon, David, Barn and Leslie will use your voices to change the world, just like you always wanted.”
“Not Leslie.” Jimmy shook his head angrily. “Leslie escaped.”
“Don’t be silly,” May-Rose stopped in front of Madrid. The woman was still rigid, staring over the little girl’s head.
“This is Leslie.”
19.37
Jimmy tried to turn and look at Madrid, but his body refused to obey. The boy’s stomach was churning.
“She came back through time to save you, Jimmy,” May-Rose said. “Can’t think of any other explanation. Even though she knows the past can’t be changed. That’s the kind of stupidity I will see wiped out.”
“Just wait a Goddamned minute!” Nulce was struggling against the invisible bond that held him. “We didn’t come back through time! The year is 2027 and this is a damned computer simulation!”
“Is that what you were told?” May-Rose sneered. “You were double crossed, you moron. This is 2019, twenty years earlier than you think, and everything around you is very real.”
“And you are a self-delusional, insane little girl,” Nulce yelled. “No! You’re not even that! You’re a computer programme, who can’t accept the fact!”
He tried to fling himself forward and even moved a few inches.
Monk swung his gun to cover the raging man.
Sherman launched himself at the Doctor. He collided with Monk and both men sprawled across the floor, wrestling for the gun.
“Stop it! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!” May-Rose roared at Sherman. But her terrible voice seemed to have no effect on him.
The others watched helplessly, unable to come to Sherman’s aid, as the men rolled backwards and forwards clawing at each other. Sherman threw his head forwards and butted Monk in the face. The Doctor slammed a fist into Sherman’s throat and he jerked backwards, gasping for breath. In that split second Monk swept the gun up from the floor and pulled the trigger, but Sherman twisted out of the line of fire and thumped the barrel away with the palm of his hand. Monk hit Sherman across the throat again..
“Stop doing that!” Sherman rasped, pulling Dave’s knife from inside his jacket. He slammed an elbow into Monk’s face and, as the Doctor recoiled, thrust the blade deep into his adversary’s chest.
With a slow, gurgling sound, Doctor Monk sank back and died.
Sherman jerked round, still holding the knife.
May-Rose was standing over him clutching at the bullet hole in her throat, a red flower of blood seeping down onto her yellow dress. Silently she sank to her knees, her mouth trembling.
The siren sound that seemed to envelop her slowly faded away and the others suddenly found themselves able to move again.
“Aw Jesus, I’m sorry, kid!” Sherman grabbed the girl round the waist and tried to pull her upright. Her head lolled to one side, eyes vacant. “I was just trying to get the gun. I didn’t mean….”
“She’s gone, Sherman.” Madrid came over, lifted May-Rose from her leader’s arms and laid her gently on the floor.
“How the hell were you able to fight?” Nulce demanded, unaffected by the girl’s death. “I couldn’t even move a muscle.”
“My earpiece isn’t just a communication device,” Sherman said wearily. “It’s also a hearing aid.” He thumped his ear with a fist. “I can lip read but, without it, I’m deaf as a post.”
Nulce snorted. “I knew there was a reason Colonel Cruikshank picked a loser like you to lead the team.”
“Did you say Colonel Cruikshank!” Jimmy gasped. But Nulce was looking at his watch.
“Hell! We only got twenty minutes to complete our mission,” he announced. He picked up a gun and strode towards the containment room. “The MR12 sample must be in here.”
“You have some explaining to do Madrid,” Sherman said bitterly.
The woman sat down on a bench and put her head in her hands. Jimmy walked over and stood in front of her.
“You’re Leslie?”
Madrid nodded, not looking up. Simon, Dave and Barn crowded round her
“You look different doll. Mair mature, know?”
“I stopped dying my hair,” she muttered
“Hey! Who the hell is this Leslie person?” Sherman was trying to wipe May-Rose’s blood from his hands. “Tell these kids who you are, Madrid.”
“May Rose was right,” the woman sighed miserably. “In 2019 I escaped from Pinewood Military Installation right before it blew up. So did a boy called Cruikshank. We were both fifteen, protégés like these kids. Eventually we were picked up and interrogated but I didn’t know what had happened here and Cruikshank claimed he didn’t either. So the army kept us on. Cruikshank grew up and eventually became a Colonel. Pinewood was rebuilt, and he was put in charge of it.”
“They rebuilt bloody Pinewood?” Simon moaned. “Wasn’t it unlucky enough the first time?”