Intrusion Ch. 09

"Crap," muttered Rebecca, "she's beaten us here. She must have."

"The cleaners probably have an early morning shift, so as not to get under everyone's feet."

"Yeah, and who knows what she's done... a huge fight, like at the Uni? Or an orgy? That'd be weird."

"At least, from what Curtis told Helen, there's no more of those flying robot things. We only just got out of it last time. Although, if I could convince myself that even the best military technology these aliens have can be taken out with a Glock 17, I'd be less concerned."

"Just a scout, unfortunately," agreed Rebecca, "sent to chase down something that appears to be unarmed itself. Assuming most worlds don't have intelligent life, the most it would have expected our alien to be controlling would be... I don't know, a space cow."

They pulled up at the entrance to the facility. It was just a side road, with signs to announce the site for visitors, and a rising arm barrier blocking passage. Nobody was visible, and there weren't even any buildings to be seen on this side of the trees that lined the edge of the site.

Rebecca half-heartedly reached out of the car window to press the button on the intercom. As she had expected, there was no response. She looked across at Kate, and they both nodded before getting out, leaving the car blocking the access, and walked round the barrier.

Rebecca noticed the army officer pulling out her pistol from the holster concealed beneath her jacket. She hoped Kate wasn't planning to actually shoot anyone with it. Perhaps it was just a reflex, or maybe she planned to fire a warning shot if 'rioting scientists' proved to be the main threat. But she decided to trust in her colleague, and not second-guess her by asking.

They walked swiftly down the path.

It soon rounded the line of trees, revealing an open grassy space beyond, dotted with trees. The road ran through a car park, with a small number of vehicles present, but still nobody in sight. Beyond that stood a number of mostly single-story buildings, the closest of which was an eerily empty café and gift shop with wide glass windows looking out over the grounds.

Some way beyond them, unmistakable, and dominating the skyline, stood the white-painted mass of the main radio dish, dwarfing a smaller one further off that would otherwise likely have been quite impressive in its own right.

[Two additional bipeds approaching within range. Accessing neural pathways.]

It was as they approached the first building that they finally saw someone. A middle-aged man in casual clothing was lying beside the path, unconscious. A mobile phone lay beside him, as if he'd been trying to call someone when he had collapsed. Kate knelt down beside him and checked his pulse.

"He's definitely alive," she said, after a moment, "but he's not responding. Doesn't look like he fel heavily, though... it's almost as if he laid down for a nap."

"So, instead of sparking a fight, it just sent everyone to sleep. A deep sleep, though - we're probably going to need ambulances."

"Especially if anyone did injure themselves when they fell. Not many stairways to fall down, I don't think, but there's probably plenty of other things to bash your head on. This one's all right, if they can rouse him, but elsewhere..." The security officer sighed and stood up, "where to? We need the control centre, or something?"

Rebecca looked around, "I've never been here before, but... okay, that's the visitor centre," she indicated a sign-posted building that was clearly more modern, and less functional, than most of the others, "so not there. And this building looks like an auditorium or something. But there's some more buildings further on, we've just got to keep looking. For any kind of activity, I guess. And possibly a sign telling the tourists to keep out."

[++Error. Reserves low.]

[Abort attempted access to neural pathways of new targets to maintain somnolence in current subjects. Boost available resources to primary objective.]

They strode up the path, constantly glancing around them, not really sure what they should be looking for. The site was large, and their only hope was that whoever the alien was currently controlling would be the only one who wasn't unconscious. At least whatever had happened to the staff here didn't seem to be affecting either of them, too.

They found what they looking for almost immediately beyond the visitor centre. Here, the buildings changed from the glossy tourist-friendly look to something more functional, with flat roofs and the unimaginative rectilinear design that had been so popular in the sixties and seventies. It reminded Rebecca of the older buildings at her former high school, before they'd knocked them down and replaced them with something more modern.

One building, in particular, was larger than the others, partly two-story, directly between the road access and the main telescope. A smaller dish adorned the far side of it, part of the profusion of radio telescopes that had to be dotted across the site.

The door had a security lock on it.

Rebecca grunted in frustration. The door, of course, was firmly shut, and it was obvious that no one would answer the intercom if she pressed the button. "Okay..." she said, "we're going to have to break the window." She looked around for something, anything, that looked heavy enough to chuck through the glass, but there was nothing in sight, other than the cars parked outside.

The door buzzed, and she swung around to see it opening, and Kate holding aloft a grey access control card. "It was in his pocket," said the security officer, "the unconscious man by the path. I thought we might need it."

Rebecca smiled gratefully, and they headed inside.

[Intruding bipeds entering structure housing contact control systems. Divert host B to intercept. Boosting hormone and neurotransmitter levels to initiate aggressive response to unexpected stimuli. Autonomic functions primed.]

There were two more unconscious people on the inside, both curled up as if they had simply decided to sleep. There were, unfortunately, no signs directing them to where they should go. Rebecca decided to try heading to the rear of the building first, the side that faced the dish, and opened a door that she hoped led in that direction.

Almost immediately, she came across a woman slumped at the side of the corridor. She was dressed in what looked like a cleaner's uniform, and, unlike the other people they had seen so far looked to have dropped where she stood, rather than deliberately lying down. The name badge said 'R GRUSZECKYJ'.

"It's moved to somebody else," she said, "Along with Freeman, presumably."

"But where are they?" said Kate tersely.

Just at that moment, her question was answered as someone came pelting down the stairs from the upper story. He was a youngish man, perhaps in his early thirties, with dark hair and a short beard, his face contorted with a mixture of anger and fear. He had an ID badge on a lanyard, but there was no time to read what it said before he leapt in front of them, rushing in to grab at Rebecca.

Even though she had been expecting something, the scientist was slow to react, but, just before the stranger was on her, Kate pushed her out of the way and took her place. Rebecca wasn't even sure exactly what happened next - there seemed to be a flurry of limbs and a sudden motion, and then the stranger was on the floor, held in an arm-lock and pinned down by the army officer.

The stranger yelled, wordlessly, and, recovering from the initial shock, Rebecca looked around to see if anyone else was responding to the shout. But the place still seemed deserted, apart from the three of them and the unconscious Raina.

"You're not going anywhere!" hissed Kate, struggling to hold the man down. He didn't look particularly strong, and Rebecca suspected that Kate was actually the more muscular of the two, but, despite being held in a position that made it hard for him to obtain any leverage, he was certainly putting up a fight.

[Host B immobilised. Situation becoming critical. Divert resources to induce fear response in intruder bipeds.]

[++Insufficient resources. Reconnection with Gestalt imperative.]

[Reconnection impossible. Boost defences in Host B overriding self-harm prevention protocols.]

[++Warning. Resources almost depleted. Reconnection with Gestalt imperative.]

Incredibly, the stranger heaved himself up, and Rebecca thought she heard something in his body crack. Kate fell back off of him as he tried to scramble to his feet. But it seemed to be his knee that had gone, and he let out a cry of pain and frustration as he failed to get upright. This time Kate swung her fist, connecting with his jaw in a right hook that made Rebecca wince.

The stranger went down, and stayed down this time.

[Host B unavailable. Significant further loss of resources. Host A remains under control, but coherence beginning to fail.

[++Warning. Reconnection with Gestalt imperative.]

[Reconnection with Gestalt impossible. Disable reconnection warning. Primary objective must be completed. Continued existence of Fragment beyond attainment of objective irrelevant.]

"Damn," said Kate, getting to her feet, "I was trying to restrain him, not knock him out."

"Good work, nonetheless."

Kate grinned in response, perhaps as much from relief as from pleasure as to what she'd had to do. "This isn't Freeman," she said - they had both seen the photo from the University - "but if we're right than it can only control two people at once, we only need to take him into custody to resolve this."

"Up here," said Rebecca, and headed up the stairs that their attacker had appeared from.

Sure enough, the open door at the top led into a control room, with a large window at the far end facing directly towards the giant radio dish that was the centrepiece of Jodrell Bank's facility. Rebecca had seen it many times in photographs, but never up close like this. It was undeniably impressive, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Freeman, unfortunately, was not in the room.

"He has to have been here for a reason," she muttered to herself. "Controlling something..." She caught a glimpse of movement, and stepped up to the window. "There he is!" she said, pointing, "he's by the telescope. That structure at the side of it."

"He must need to be up close to control it."

"Probably not the best way," agreed Rebecca, "but it may be all he's got."

"If we can shut it down from here, though, it won't make any difference," pointed out Kate.

"Yeah..." said Rebecca, doubtfully, "about that... I may be a scientist, but I have no idea how this works," she waved her hand at the control panels, "and I doubt it just has a plug we can pull out. This would normally be Brandon's job."

"I can probably take a few guesses," said Kate, "something to throw a spanner in the works, at least."

"You can?" asked Rebecca, surprised.

"Signals Corps, remember?" said Kate, referring to her unit in the military, "communication systems is what I do. Not normally these, but... I can try. The only thing is..." she trailed off, looking concerned.

"if you're here," said Rebecca, "somebody else has to stop Freeman. And I'm not a fighter."

"Neither is he," pointed out Kate.

"And he can't be just raging," she said, thoughtfully, because, if he is, he couldn't do whatever the alien needs him to do up close to the telescope." She squared her shoulders. "I've got to risk it. We don't have time to debate this."

"You can do it! You're stronger than you think."

"Yeah, it's just like Logopolis. You probably haven't seen that one. I wasn't even born then. Not as good as the new series, if I'm honest, but that ending was a big deal at the time. And I don't plan on falling, because I haven't got a Watcher. And... I'm gabbling aren't I? Sorry."

Kate smiled, "you're actually really cute when you do that."

Rebecca sighed joyously at the compliment, then put her serious face back on. There was work to be done. She turned to leave, before a sudden impulse struck her and she turned back towards Kate.

She reached for the army officer, and pulled her towards her, planting a big kiss on her mouth. It felt fantastic, but she pulled away after just a second. "In case I didn't get another chance," she said, seeing Kate's shocked expression. "And, if there is an afterwards... we really have to talk."

Then, without looking back, she ran out the room as quickly as she could.

***

A back door to the building led out onto a path that headed directly towards the main telescope. Rebecca had to clamber over two metal gates - the second suitably posted with warning signs - to actually reach it. Once she did, she found herself on the circular railway track that allowed the edifice to rotate horizontally. Her quarry had long since disappeared inside the structure at the side of the telescope, and she had no choice but to follow him.

The dish above her was vast - she knew the thing was 75 metres across, and, if anything it looked even larger from her present vantage point. Aside from the mechanism that moved it round the tracks, two metal frame supports stood at either side, each topped by a five-story hut that, she assumed, held the motors that swivelled the dish up and down. She wondered why he had even had to go there; perhaps somebody on duty had managed to shut down a critical part of the mechanism from the control room and the alien had not had time to override it.

She ran towards the base of the tower. A tiny lift ran up the inside of the open frame, but she was afraid that Freeman - or the alien controlling him - would be able to shut it down from up above, stranding her. Cursing to herself, she took the metal maintenance ladder that ran up beside it. The hatchway that led into the interior had to be, she estimated, 40 metres above the ground.

It was a good job she wasn't afraid of heights.

[Solitary biped approaching. Insufficient resources to control. Detecting unusual drive and determination in this individual. Imperative to ensure completion of procedure for contacting Gestalt.]

Why had she even decided to do this, Rebecca wondered? She was no combat specialist. Granted, she doubted that Freeman was much better, but if he was fuelled by the rage that the previous victim had been, that might not make much difference. She couldn't possibly take him down as efficiently as Kate had done.

But there was nothing for it now. She had to go on. If she was right, the Earth itself could be at stake, and that wasn't a responsibility she would wish on anyone. How had it come to this, one unarmed scientist standing between Earth and some... alien invasion fleet, or whatever it was?

This was not good, not good at all.

[Intruder biped approaching. Process not yet complete. Disrupt neural functioning in intruder.]

[++Insufficient resources. Pattern breaking down. Resistance from host can no longer be fully overridden.]

[Redirect resources. Focus all resources on maintaining pattern in host and repelling intruder.]

40 metres... it felt a lot further when you had to climb a ladder that high than when you just had to walk it. Her arms were beginning to ache. Kate would have been so much better at this. But then, she couldn't allow Kate to be placed in this sort of danger, either. She would never have forgiven herself if she'd let the officer go in alone, and something had happened to her.

Those eyes... so blue. And her lips had been so soft, such a different feel to kissing a man, even though, really, it shouldn't have been. She couldn't wait to peel off those clothes, to feel...

Damn. Obviously, she was getting close to the alien. Well, she wasn't going to let it distract her that way.

[++Resources failing. Pattern breaking down. Risk of Fragment decoherence.]

[Protect remaining host. Ensure contact with Gestalt. Planet must be subsumed to ensure triumph of Gestalt over machine intelligences. All else secondary. Survival of Fragment not required. The Gestalt is all.]

[++Risk of Fragment decoherence.]

[Divert all remaining resources to defence of remaining host.]

She reached the hatch, and managed to lift it open. To her surprise and relief, nothing jumped on her or tried to knock her off the ladder. Quickly, she clambered into the room above. And there was Freeman - she recognised him from the photo ID the University had provided - frantically adjusting some piece of machinery at the far side of the room.

"Get away from that!" she shouted, and then suddenly felt foolish. After all, he wasn't going to listen, was he?

[++Fragment decoherence imminent.]

[Message sending. Objective achieved.]

Rebecca did the only thing she could so and barrelled into him, hoping that, after the climb, she had still had enough strength to at least knock him away from the controls.

Perhaps he was weakened too, because it worked, and they fell in a heap onto the floor. Freeman stared back at her, his eyes blank and staring, yet still obviously alive, as if he was sleepwalking.

"Fragment decoherence," he said, out loud, his voice flat and toneless, the speech slurred as if he was having difficulty controlling his lips and tongue. "Gestalt."

She was actually speaking to an alien! An alien that probably wanted to destroy the Earth, one way or another, but still!

"This planet is protected," she told it, "basically, run."

And then she punched it as hard as she could.

[++Decoherence. Pathways disturbed. Decoherence.]

[Objecti*** ach*** Resou*** ***ment ***ec*** ***stal***]

[++Decoherence. ***of ***]

[***ng*** ess*** ***ie***d]

Freeman stopped moving, and his eyes closed. Rebecca stared at him, unable to take it all in.

[++Dec***]

She jumped as there was crackling sound from behind her. She turned to see that the sound came from an intercom.

"Rebecca? Can you hear me? Come in!" It was Kate, Kate's voice, so real, so reassuring in its presence. "The message didn't send. I closed it down before the signal could transmit. Helen and Curtis are on their way, and everyone's starting to wake up. Rebecca? Are you there?"

She got to her feet, suddenly feeling groggy, and reached for the intercom button.

"I'm here," she said, struggling for breath, emotionally drained even more than she was physically exhausted after the desperate run and climb, "Freeman's down. Alive, but down."

"Are you all right?" Kate's voice was anxious, but, just hearing it, Rebecca felt better.

"Yes, yes, I'm all right. Just get here soon, okay?"

[++]

[*]

It was over.