She glanced down at her wristcom as the message arrived, then carefully removed the device and dropped it on her desk. The holographic representation of the bioweapon flickered, then vanished as she cancelled the display. It was a beautiful piece of work — pride in their creation was almost all the emotion she was allowed — but there was no time to become lost in admiration. All that mattered was that there was no need to try to build safeguards into its genetic structure. It would burn its way through the alien biochemistry like a forest fire, with no hope of a cure being discovered in time to save the aliens from certain death.
Opening her secure drawer, she removed a case and opened it, revealing a pair of stunners and one full-sized pistol. Keeping them hidden had been a challenge, but every scientist had their own personal workspace and no one else was allowed to use it. Galina would have rolled her eyes, if she’d been able to care enough to sneer. She had spent months taking time off her work to learn how to shoot properly, even though it wasn’t her strong point. But then, she was already inside the defences. No one else could get into the biological warfare laboratory without permission.
She hefted one of the stunners, then walked around her desk and through the hatch. Outside, four technicians — all British — sat at their desks, refining future versions of the bioweapon in the event it became necessary. Galina lifted the stunner, then opened fire, zapping all four of them before they even knew they were under attack. She watched them fall off their chairs and hit the deck, then walked dispassionately around the compartment until she reached the hatch to Doctor Russell’s office. He was fond of her, she knew; his eyes followed her sometimes, just like some of her superiors back on Russia. But she had no feelings about his attentions, one way or the other. All that mattered was her work.
The hatch hissed open and she stepped through, drawing the pistol from her belt. It looked much more intimidating, she’d been told, than the stunners, even though she didn’t dare actually kill him until her mission was complete. Doctor Russell looked up at her and smiled in welcome, an expression that vanished the moment he saw the pistol in her hand. She pointed the weapon at his head and motioned for him to stand.
“Galina,” he said, shocked. “What are you doing?”
“Stand,” Galina ordered. “Do not attempt to sound the alert.”
She motioned for him to stand against the bulkhead, then pressed the weapon into his back as she searched him roughly, removing his wristcom, terminal and collection of pens and pieces of paper. He’d always been scribbling down notes as they’d talked their way through the development process, something Galina had always found inefficient. If the Russian Government hadn’t needed the British DNA samples to construct the bioweapon, she was sure, they would have developed one of their own far faster. And they wouldn’t have needed such a complex plot to actually deploy the damned thing. But the British had managed to keep firm control over the living aliens…
“Come with me,” she ordered. “And keep your hands on your head.”
He was shaking as he walked back out of the cabin and into the research chamber. Galina noted his terrified movements with some irritation, although part of her mind was pleased. If he was scared, unlike her or anyone else with her conditioning, it was much less likely he’d try something heroic. He almost stopped dead when he saw the stunned technicians, gaping at them as if he thought they were dead. Galina almost rolled her eyes in annoyance. She’d seen co-workers die slowly, a moment’s carelessness costing them their lives. There was no point in whining over stunned co-workers when they could easily be dead.
“Galina,” Russell said, “why are you doing this?”
Galina prodded him with the barrel of the gun, forcing him towards the large sealed hatch that led into the bioweapon vault. If she could have opened it without Russell, she would have stunned or killed him and opened the hatch herself, but the safety precautions insisted they needed two people to open the hatch. A normal human would have cursed. She just took it in his stride.
“I won’t open the hatch,” Russell said. He stopped, trying to look stubborn despite his obvious fear. “The bioweapon…”
Galina pointed the gun at his leg and fired, once. Russell screamed in pain as the bullet shattered his bone, sending him falling to the deck. Pain — real physical pain — had never been part of his life. It hadn’t really been part of Galina’s either, she had to admit, but she’d had her pain sensitivity modified too. Pain was nothing more than a distraction from her duty.
“If you refuse to cooperate, I will shoot you again, then leave you to bleed out on the deck,” she hissed. “And then my comrades will do truly awful things to the other technicians.”
Russell stared at her, his eyes wild. Galina sighed, pulled him to his feet and dragged him over to the hatch, leaving a trail of blood on the deck. Russell didn’t even try to struggle as she pushed his palm against the sensor, which accepted his code. She added her own code a moment later, opening the first hatch. Inside, a keyboard glowed in the semi-darkness.
“Enter your code,” she ordered. She hauled him up and held him in front of the keyboard. Behind them, the outer hatch slid closed. “Enter your code or the pain will become a great deal worse.”
“Fuck…” Russell said. “I…”
Galina slapped him. She didn’t have time to let him go into shock. Perhaps she should just have twisted his arm instead, but that would have meant letting go of the gun. Russell stared at her, his eyes clearing, then looked at the panel. They didn’t have long before the security systems realised that no secondary code had been entered and sounded the alert, then put the entire complex into lockdown. It would be disastrous.
Russell weakly reached out and input his code. Galina didn’t pray, but she braced herself to kill him and then herself if he inputted the wrong code. If the system locked down, they would both be trapped until the entire complex was reopened by the Royal Marines. They’d find the stunned bodies and know that something had gone badly wrong. But the secondary hatch clicked open, revealing a waft of cold air. Inside, the bioweapon was waiting.
She dropped Russell to the deck and strode over to the first set of vials. It was a truly brilliant weapon in its own right, she knew, although she also knew that anyone with a conscience would consider it thoroughly horrific. Deployment wouldn’t be a problem, not as long as they had a shuttle and the correct ID codes. And it was completely harmless to human life. She could smash a dozen vials on Earth and nothing would happen. Unless, of course, the aliens took the planet and turned it into a colony.
This will ensure we never lose our worlds, she thought. The bioweapon would slaughter any alien or alien-derived lifeform that set foot on an infected world. And the aliens will know to leave us alone in future.
Galina pocketed four of the vials, then took one last look at Russell. He was clutching his leg, completely unaware of the outside world. She considered killing him for a long moment, then dismissed the thought as pointless. Instead, she walked back out of the hatch and closed it behind her. The chamber would remain sealed until someone opened it, but she was fairly sure he would survive. And if he didn’t… his work was already done. She didn’t give a damn about his future.