Brett Battles - Exit 9

They heard the footsteps enter the hallway where they’d been, and walk past their current position. There was only a single set.

Olivia pointed at two of her men, then opened the door wide enough so they could slip out.

When they returned forty-five seconds later, they were carrying a man with a sidearm strapped to his belt. Though there were no obvious wounds, it was apparent the man was dead.

Once the body was on the floor, Olivia said, “Everyone ready? We’re not going to have time to stop again.”

Nods all around.

“They’ll all be in the Cradle.”

“The Cradle?” Ash asked.

“It’s what they call the command center. There’s bound to be some security there, but not much. The rest will be upstairs covering the ground entrances. Once we have the Cradle secured, I’ll lock them down so they can’t get to us.”

“We’re going to have to deal with them at some point.”

She smiled. “Trust me.”

Ash frowned, uncomfortable, but said nothing.

“Any other questions?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“So we can go?” she asked.

“Please.”

As they reentered the hall, Ash couldn’t help but think there was something she wasn’t telling him.

I.D. MINUS 2 MINUTES

BLUEBIRD TIME 10:58 AM

As the dop entered the Cradle from the conference room, everyone sitting at the monitoring stations stood. There was no applause. Silence seemed to be the appropriate response to the moment.

Solemnly, he made his way to the empty station that sat by itself, front and center in front of the monitor wall. Once he reached the desk, he turned and faced the personnel of Bluebird. Along with the Directors who were standing in front, and those at the stations, there were two dozen others squeezed in along the walls, nearly everyone at the outpost who wasn’t needed on security detail elsewhere. All eyes were on him.

He felt a surge of pride. These were some of the most dedicated members of Project Eden, most had been a part of the organization for at least a decade, and many of them for more. What he was about to do was as much for them as it was for everyone else.

Though it wasn’t part of the plan for the day, he felt he needed to say something, something everyone would remember. He’d been wrestling with what that should be for days. Finally he decided to just go with the first words that came to mind.

“Our actions here today are meant to accomplish only one thing-the ability for humankind to reach its full potential. With your dedication, heart, and service, we will achieve this.”

All right. Perhaps it wasn’t One small step for man , but no one in the room seemed to care.

He looked at the digital clock on the wall. They were eighty-three seconds away, less than a minute and a half until the time finally arrived.

They paused at the junction, each of them listening closely for anyone who might be in the intersecting hallway.

For several seconds there was nothing, then a distant voice drifted toward them.

“…here today…meant…one…for…to reach…potential…”

Ash glanced at his watch. It was almost eleven a.m. If Olivia was right, they were seconds from being out of time.

“We need to go now,” he whispered.

I.D. MINUS 55 SECONDS

BLUEBIRD TIME 10:59 AM

As the DOP sat down at the computer, a hush fell over the room.

Ross had already brought up the activation screen, so all the DOP had to do was input his personal password and the correct code. He typed the alphanumeric combination he’d memorized long ago into the password box.

The code itself he didn’t know, not yet, anyway. It was currently in the Principal Director’s possession. Per protocol, the Principal would not hand it over until thirty seconds prior to the time assigned for Implementation Day to begin. Which meant, as the DOP noted, he would have it in twenty-five seconds.

He clasped his hands and set them in front of him. He heard the door at the back of the room open.

“Well, I’m glad we made it in time.”

The door was open about an inch. Through the gap, Ash spied several people, all looking away from the door at an angle. The voice they heard earlier had stopped and been replaced by an eerie silence.

Olivia quickly divided her people into two groups, and made it clear where she wanted them to go. She looked at Ash and Chloe, and indicated they were to follow her.

She put one hand on the doorknob, and began counting down with the other.

Three.

Two.

One.

She pushed the door open. The two small groups went in first, then she stepped through with Ash and Chloe behind her.

“Well,” she said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “I’m glad we made it in time.”

The entire room seemed to turn as one to look at them. Immediately, the five security men scattered throughout the space went for their handguns. They could have saved the effort. Before any of them had their weapon above their waist, Olivia’s people opened fire. The security guards dropped to the floor, dead.

Screams of terror and surprise filled the room, as those nearest the new arrivals moved away as quickly as they could. Several people went for the doors, trying to get out, but when gunfire rang out again, slamming into the wall near the exit, they pulled back.

Olivia rushed toward the front of the room, where an unremarkable middle-aged man sitting in front of a computer on a solitary table had just been handed an envelope by an older, but similarly unremarkable man.

“I’ll take that,” she said, snatching it out of his hand.

I.D. MINUS 0 SECONDS

BLUEBIRD TIME 11:00 AM

The DOP froze. Standing at the back of the room was Olivia Silva.

She had once been one of the brightest stars of Project Eden. In fact, KV-27a would not have been possible but for her early work. Up until that previous spring when they learned otherwise, they had thought she was killed in the raid on the lab where she had been doing her research.

For the initial seconds, he thought she’d come back to join them, but that idea immediately vanished when the people who’d come in with her opened fire on the security detail. Joining them was not on her agenda, he realized.

The Principal seemed to have come to the same conclusion. He rushed forward, his hand moving under his jacket. Just as he pulled out an envelope, there was another round of gunfire, this time aimed at the doors to keep anyone from leaving.

“Here,” the Principal said as he handed the DOP the envelope. “Input the code!”

The DOP turned the envelope over, and stuck his finger under the end of the flap. But before he could rip it open, Olivia was standing in front of him.

“I’ll take that,” she said, grabbing it.

She had come to stop them. He couldn’t believe it. The Project was something she’d believed in just as much as he had, but now she was going to keep it from happening.

“Why?” he asked.

“You know what we’re trying to do,” the Principal said. “If you stop us, you’ll damn our whole species.”

“Oh, will I?” she asked. She pulled out a pistol from her pocket, and pointed it at the old man’s forehead.

“You wouldn’t dare,” he said.

“Oh, please. I would.”

She pulled the trigger.

A collective gasp filled the room as the Principal Director dropped dead to the floor.

Olivia pushed the DOP out of the way, and sat in front of the computer. Without closing the activation window, she opened the program that ran Bluebird’s security system. Navigating it like an expert, she began sealing off different sections of the facility until the only exit from the Cradle would be out the emergency tunnel.