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The Basement

  Rahul lost consciousness at around midday, to Duffy's relief. The man's suffering had been gnawing at his soul. Livid red lines spread from all his injuries, which openly wept pus. The man had been weeping with the pain, and so when he fell silent and failed to respond to the sound of Duffy's voice the physicist had been ashamed at the relief he felt.

  He didn't know enough about medicine to know how much time the mathematician had left. All he could hope was for Sarah to return with the drugs he needed and for there to still be enough time for the man to recover. He stared at the stairs up to the main body of the building. Where was she? Maybe she was having trouble finding the place where the drugs were stored, or maybe the hospital had collapsed, as all the tall buildings in the city seemed to be doing, and she was having to look further afield for what she needed.

  Duffy paused in his worried pacing back and forth across the basement when he heard the unmistakable sound of car engines in the distance, coming in his direction. Bergman heard them as well and came striding over, looking disappointed. "They're almost here," he said. "Looks like we'll be needing Plan B after all."

  Duffy ignored him. He had no desire to waste words with a madman. Instead he moved towards the stairs. With the doors up to the car park closed, and too heavy for him to open by himself, the soldiers, if that's who was coming, would have no way of knowing how to get down to the Furnace. He would need to be up there to show them the way down.

  Before he could get there, though, six of the warrior creatures raced past him, four of them scampering up the stairs to the door while two turned to face Duffy, clawed tentacles raised menacingly at him. The other six remained to guard the Furnace. Duffy tried to edge past the two creatures standing in his way but they moved to block him, raising their claws higher. Duffy took the hint and backed away. The soldiers would find their way without him. He didn't need to do anything.

  "A setback, that's all it is," said Bergman to himself. "The powers that be won't be able to resist what's waiting for them on the other world. Riches beyond imagination. The power to dominate the world. Someone will get it sooner or later, they'll be thinking. It might as well be us."

  "I won't help them," Duffy told him. "And I think you underestimate them. They've seen the danger the anomaly poses. They won't risk causing another one. Wealth is no use to dead men."

  "They'll convince themselves they can create a portal safely," said Bergman, though. "That they can rig it to deactivate any time they want."

  "And what makes you so sure they can't?"

  "The Crystal Entity won't let them. It'll find a way. You've seen how intelligent it is. We're like insects to it. Once the portal's open again, once it has a way to influence things on our world, it'll find a way to fool them. This world will be beautiful. Even if you manage to resist the pressure they put on you, it's inevitable."

  Duffy started to argue, but was silenced by a crashing noise coming from outside. It made Bergman laugh with pleasure. "The Entity's still trying to drive them away," he said. "Maybe we won't need a Plan B after all."

  Then came the sound of machine guns. Lots of them, and not just the hand-held variety. The deeper, louder sound of larger, vehicle mounted machine guns was unmistakable. "Your friends are being blown to pieces," he said jubilantly. "They're coming, and they're not going to let anything stop them." Bergman just scowled and turned away.

  The crashing repeated itself over and over for a couple of minutes, accompanied by the machine gun fire, but then they both fell silent, making Bergman look up hopefully. Duffy wasn't downhearted, though. The vehicles had sounded as if they were only a few dozen metres away when they stopped. It probably just meant that whatever magnetic shielding they were using had failed. The men could make it the rest of the way on foot.

  Sure enough the two men heard the sound of shouting coming from above, along with the grunts of effort as weapons were wielded and cries of pain as casualties were taken. Duffy looked at the stairs again, down which the men would come, and at the creatures standing guard to attack the first of them to enter. He knew he had to shout a warning, but he decided to wait until the men were just outside the door in case the creatures found a way to shut him up. They wouldn't kill him, with him being their Plan B, but they could probably render him unconscious if they had to. He would have one chance...

  Suddenly Bergman crashed into him, knocking him to the ground. As he fell the other physicist shoved his hands behind his back so he was lying on them when he hit the ground. Then, with Bergman's weight on his chest, he was helpless to pull them out. Bergman's hand slapped over his mouth and pressed down hard. Duffy struggled and managed to free one hand but Bergman's other hand grabbed it and held it beside his head, his whole weight on it. Duffy struggled more but he was helpless and Bergman's suffocating hand left him unable to make a sound. There was nothing he could do but lie there as the soldiers drew closer.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  He heard the sound of people just outside the door and summoned all his strength in an attempt to throw Bergman off, but as well as having the strength of a madman the other physicist was heavy. The hand remained over his mouth as he heard the door open, followed by a man crying out in shock and pain. Only then did Bergman release him and Duffy scrambled to his feet to see a man at the top of the stairs pressing his hands to his throat in an attempt to stop a jet of blood that flew like water from a hosepipe. Then the man collapsed, but as he fell the gas mask was knocked from his head and Duffy caught a glimpse of his face. He cried out in shock as he recognised him. David Jeffcott.

  Soldiers wearing gas masks rushed in after him, swinging their sabres with deadly effect. The creatures were driven back and one of the soldiers fell to his knees beside Jeffcott. Duffy felt a sick horror as he merely shook his head to the other soldiers before rising again.

  Duffy ran forward, past the remaining creatures that now ignored him, to where Jeffcott lay motionless on the ground. One glance was enough to tell him that he was definitely dead. Before he could grieve, though, one of the soldiers was grabbing his soldier and pulling him to his feet. "Who are you?" he demanded.

  "I tried to warn you," Duffy replied, staring down at Jeffcott's body. "I'm sorry..."

  "A lot of men have died today," said the soldier without sympathy. "If we can shut down the Furnace their sacrifices won't have been in vain. That it down there?'

  Duffy nodded. He didn't seem able to find words to actually say anything.

  The sound of gunfire was coming from the basement now as the other soldiers found that their weapons worked again. The warrior creatures were blown to pieces, and as the surviving fish eggs tried to assemble themselves to form new creatures they were blown to pieces again. Soon there was nothing left in the basement to fight and the soldiers stared at the image of the other world in wonder.

  "Form a perimeter," the first soldier ordered, removing his gas mask. His uniform looked much the same as those the others were wearing but he carried an air of authority that made Duffy guess that he was the commanding officer. "Shoot anything that approaches." The men obeyed and a Corporal sent some of them to guard the stairs. Others went to guard the doors up to the car park.

  "There are two civilians here," someone shouted.

  The words brought Duffy out of the state of mental shock he'd fallen into. "Rahul needs urgent medical attention," he said. "Antibiotics."

  "On it," one of the soldiers said, swinging a backpack down off his shoulders. He had the look of a doctor to Duffy.

  "The other man's Ernst Bergman," added Jeffcott. "He's mad. He wants the creatures to win."

  Several soldiers aimed their weapons at Bergman. "That true?" one of them demanded.

  "Of course not," Bergman replied. "Professor Duffy has been under a lot of stress. He's not thinking clearly."

  "Watch us both then," said Duffy. "Don't let either of us do anything you don't like."

  "Good advice," said the soldier that Duffy guessed was a Captain. "Ellis, you heard the man."

  "Yes, Sir. Bailey, Cassino, watch that man. McGrady, Osterman, you watch the other.

  The men nodded and suddenly Duffy had two serious looking soldiers watching him closely, their weapons at the ready. He didn't mind, though, because Bergman was being watched just as closely. The Captain then turned back to Duffy. "I assume that's the Furnace?" he said, nodding to the circular structure that sat in the centre of the room. "The thing that's been creating the anomaly?"

  "Yes," Duffy replied.

  The Captain nodded. "Murphy, strap some C4 to that thing. Blow it to hell."

  "It has an off switch..." began Duffy, but then he saw Bergman smirking at him. "No, blow it up," he said. "Destroy it."

  Murphy and another man began strapping blocks of explosives to the Furnace, each with a remotely controlled detonator. "We should leave the room before you blow it," Duffy advised. "There's likely to be a release of hot plasma. It won't be healthy for anyone in here."

  "The Captain nodded. "Figgis, is the exit clear?"

  "Yes, Sir," replied a man at the top of the stairs. "The remaining creatures have pulled back."

  "You done, Murphy?"

  "Yes, Sir," Murphy replied. "Enough C4 to turn this whole thing to scrap."

  "Good," said the Captain. "Okay, everyone up."

  The men ran up the stairs, the men guarding Duffy and Bergman taking them with them. Two men carried Rahul, who was moaning softly. "There's a woman around somewhere," said Duffy as they ascended. "Sarah Bright. Have you seen her?"

  The two men guarding Duffy glanced at each other. "I'm sorry," one of them said. "She didn't make it."

  Duffy stared in shock. "She's dead?" he said.

  They glanced at each other again. "She didn't make it," the man simply repeated.

  Duffy was stunned. That meant that he and Rahul were the only surviving members of the first expedition. He couldn't get his head around the fact. "You're sure?" he asked, and cursed himself for a fool. Of course they were sure. Dammit, he'd liked her! He'd thought maybe... Never mind. She was gone. Another victim to lay at the feet of Ernst Bergman.

  They reached the top of the stairs, closed the door behind them and hurried along the corridor. They saw no sign of the creatures as they went except for the gore left by thousands of burst fish eggs. The Captain led them all the way out of the building, probably fearing that the explosion would bring down the whole structure in its weakened state. They emerged from where the front door had been and the men arranged themselves into a defensive circle, sabres at the ready, with the Captain and the civilians in the middle. Then Murphy handed the Captain the detonator. "I expect you'll want to do the honours," he said.

  "It'll be a pleasure," the Captain replied as he took it. "Is everyone here? Everyone accounted for?"

  "Everyone still alive," Ellis replied.

  The Captain seemed to wince, but caught himself. "Then let's do what we came here to do," he said, and he pressed the button.

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