J Henderson - Bunker 10

At the third try the snow-spoiled lid of the keg broke. Sherman scooped up a burning stick from the fire and plunged it into the shattered top.

As the bear reached him and a claw tipped arm cut into his chest, a ball of white hot flame engulfed the lean-to and blasted them both into oblivion.

Leslie, Simon and Jimmy Hicks were playing baseball a few hundred yards from the main buildings of Pinewood, in a scrubby triangle of grass laughingly known as the exercise yard. Beyond that a yellow painted line marked the farthest point that unauthorised personnel were allowed to stray from the main compound. Behind the line was a twenty yard stripe of grass. After that, a swathe of forest leading to a high electrified fence, with a lookout tower visible above the tops of the trees.

This was the location of the secondary gate, much smaller than the main one and the only other exit from Pinewood. As well as the tower, the fence and gate were guarded by laser topped cameras and a lock that could only be activated by a constantly changing security code.

“What the hell are we doing? Simon was almost apoplectic. “I’ve just made one of the major scientific breakthroughs of all time, and we’re out here for a ball game ?”

“You’re just scared of getting beaten by a girl.” Leslie wiggled the bat at him.

“I should be in there doing calculations!”

“Will you calm down?” Leslie continued breezily. “You’re as uptight as Hicks here. You could run a power station off his latent anger.”

Simon blinked in surprise.

“She reads too many women’s magazines.” Jimmy tossed the surprised boy the ball. “What you’ve done is brilliant, Simon. But it’s Christmas Eve and none of the top technicians are around. They’re all concentrating on whatever is going on in Bunker 10.”

“You’re up first, Jimmy. Try not to trip over your own explanation.” Leslie handed the boy her bat.

“We should tell someone , at least,” Simon said stubbornly. “This is important to me.” He pointed a finger at Jimmy Hicks. “What if your escape attempt screws this up?”

“Leslie.” Jimmy ignored the accusation. “You throw.”

The girl fetched the ball back from Simon, still absently holding it by his side. Jimmy took up a stance, legs apart. Leslie swung her arm back behind her head and let fly with a near perfect pitch. Even Simon was momentarily distracted.

But Jimmy made no attempt to strike and the ball whistled past his head, landing several yards away and bouncing across the torn grass.

“I’ve been practising,” Leslie whooped, running after the baseball. Jimmy turned quickly to Simon.

“Listen. How do you think the military will react to a thirteen year old boy wiping the floor with their top scientists, not to mention beating Einstein at his own game?” He looked round to make sure nobody in uniform was within earshot. “You think they want that kind of publicity focussed on Pinewood?”

Simon’s eyes widened.

“Heads up!” Hicks spun round as Leslie unleashed another sizzling throw. The ball whipped between himself and Simon, almost taking the boy’s glasses off. Jimmy let it go.

“What Hicks is trying to say is that we’re all in trouble.” Leslie came running past, grinning in mock triumph.

“She’s awfully cheerful for a Goth.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that .” Jimmy’s expression became serious. “She’s right though. The military advantages of faster than light travel are incalculable. Top Brass aren’t going to let you publish your findings or even talk about them. There’s no way they’ll allow you to take the credit.”

“That’s not fair!”

“This is the army .” Jimmy took up a baseball stance once more. “What’s worse is that the rest of us know what you’ve done. Now we’re all at risk. Stand back.”

Simon stumbled away, his mouth open. The ball whizzed past Jimmy once more and Leslie raced after it like some dark but happy sprite.

Simon’s lip trembled and he felt hot bubbles of misery clog his throat. This discovery was his . Even the great Jimmy Hicks couldn’t do what he had done. The army couldn’t just take it away.

Only he knew they could. He clenched and unclenched his fists, fighting not to cry.

“We need to create this escape route more than ever.” Jimmy said urgently. “It’s not just an opportunity to for Leslie and I to sneak off any more. We may all have to get out some time soon◦– and take your discovery with us.”

“You mean it?” Simon blinked back tears.

“Ready, Hicks?” Leslie said. But there was something different about her voice.

“The same angle as the other times, only this time, twice the velocity,” Jimmy replied. “Think you can do it?”

“I got magical hands.” Leslie grinned and rubbed the ball against her leg in preparation.

“No putting me off!”

She drew back her arm and let fly. The ball travelled faster than Simon’s eye could follow, a white missile heading straight at Jimmy Hicks. He took one step back and swung with every ounce of strength his arms could muster. The bat connected with a nerve jangling crack and the ball arced up and away into the sky. Simon gave a gasp as it sailed over the tops of the trees and vanished into the forest.

“Nice shot,” Leslie trotted over and giving Jimmy a kiss.

“It’s all in the angle.”

“There’s one of your transmitters inside that ball isn’t there?” Simon said suddenly.

“What makes you say that?”

Simon pointed to the spot where the baseball had come down.

A hundred yards further, in exactly the same direction, was the lookout tower guarding the back gate.

Sherman’s eyes shot open. He was lying on a soft pallet in an empty room. A woman in a white lab coat stood beside his head. Sherman grabbed her arm and she let out a small squeak.

“I need a mirror, he urged. “Get me a mirror. Now.”

The woman pulled a compact from her pocket and held it up. Sherman peered at his refection. A short, broad face with cropped hair, not ugly, but with grey stubble and heavy bags under crinkled eyes. Apart from an old scar on his forehead, however, the reflection was unmarked.

“My eyebrows are still there,” he said with obvious relief.

“Sherman. You deliberately blew yourself up.” The woman snapped her compact shut. “Eyebrows being intact are the least of your worries.”

“I like being able to frown.”

“The Colonel wants to see you in his ready room,” she said in a business-like manner. “Right away.”

The Colonel appeared to be in his mid-thirties, very young to hold such a rank. He was tall and fit with cropped grey hair and held himself ramrod straight, even sitting at his plain wide table. Sherman plonked himself in a smaller chair near the window. There was no other furniture in the room.

What the hell just happened to me?” He didn’t bother to salute. Despite his military demeanour, Sherman wasn’t a soldier.

“Get a bit of a shock?”

“I’ve tested plenty of virtual simulations before, but absolutely nothing like that.” Sherman looked down at his body as if he couldn’t believe he was still in one piece. “Not even close. I don’t even know where I was supposed to be.”

“The wilderness of Alaska, around the year 1745,” the Colonel replied. “It’s pretty authentic too◦– there was a freeze on that year.”

“How do you know what Alaska was like in 1745?”

“I read a lot.” The Colonel took a sip of water. “The Alaska simulation is designed to place combatants in totally unfamiliar situations to see how they react, like fighting a bear in sub-zero temperatures using only antiquated weapons.”