Читать книгу The Shards Survivors - Joe McKinnon - Страница 6

24/1/2013 @ Midday

The news coverage was reporting that many citizens were panicking and starting to riot in some sections of the city, whilst others were asking for advice as to what to do. Police were trying to contain the rioters, and were pleading for calm. However it only seemed to fester like an over-ripe pimple ready to burst.

Bubbles and I were also getting a little heated, as we argued as to what to do. However that was cut short by my cell phone ringing.

Sammy was on the phone, trying to remain calm and in control, but I could tell by his voice that he was under a lot of pressure. Sammy told us to go to our foyer of the motel and wait to be picked up. He said he was going to take us to a more secure location. He said that he didn’t want his friends being caught up in this silly behaviour. Then he hung up.

Where were we going? Did he know more than he let on or did he just want to ensure we would be safe and not get stuck in the middle of a riot, whilst trying to gauge what to do ourselves?

As the shrinks would say, we were stuck in a classic case of flight or fight. We couldn’t decide as we really had nowhere to go and the last thing either of us wanted was to get into a great throng of nervous and angry people with my pregnant wife. At least the decision was made for us.

24/1/2013 @ 12:30pm

Our lift arrived in the form of a lightly armoured police van. We were bundled into the back of the van with four police officers. I sat on the side of the van next to a small window, as I prefer not to be enclosed in small, dark spaces. We took off with a burst of speed, as though we were late for our wedding again.

The van was taking corners very fast, causing Bubbles and me to keep bumping into each other. I was getting worried, what was going on? Was there something being withheld from us, or was it simply a case of getting the cargo from A to B as quickly as possible so that the police officers could return to whatever they were doing? None of the police officers said anything, other than polite words. So we had no idea what the rush was for.

I’m normally pretty good with spatial problems and navigating around, however with the swiftness of cornering and the lack of knowledge of the city I was lost. They could have stopped and kicked us out of the van and I’d be totally confused, lost.

There wasn’t much traffic on the road, at least from the view I had and the number of pedestrians didn’t appear to be too many. I guess the media was playing that old game of half-truths.

We did come across a ‘riot’, but it looked like an old fashioned protest march. They looked well behaved, just searching for answers to help them come to terms with what was happening. Just like us, why, how, when, where and what to do about it all?

24/1/2013 @ 2pm

Finally the ride was over and we were met by one of Sammy’s personal guards. We followed him through a series of turns, doors and steps. I didn’t notice at first, but this guy was armed with a gun and I don’t know what it was, but it looked like something out of a secret service movie.

After walking for about two minutes we came to a very solid looking door that was flanked by two more armed guards. One of which scanned our bodies and then they did a thorough physical search, which was a first for me. Then one of the guards, through a whisper in his lapel mike, ordered the door to open.

Did I say massive? It took one minute before it was open enough to allow people to pass through it.

On the other side of the door, we were greeted by another guard, who asked us to follow him by saying ‘Follow me’. He left us with the impression we were trained dogs who must obey their master. We went down a corridor, climbed down some metal steps and then through an airlock into a hallway with many doors.

We stopped outside of door 14 and were told to go in and wait in the room until someone came to collect us. So we went into the room and closed the door behind us. I was expecting to hear a lock being turned, but it wasn’t locked.

24/1/2013 @ 2:30pm

I guess you can say we know what it must feel like to be in prison, this room was 2 metres deep, 2.5 metres wide and 2 metres high. The walls were of a uniform texture of poured concrete and they were certainly solid to touch or tap on. They definitely weren’t like some cheap motels and their paper thin walls.

It had a bunk bed, made out of solid, polished metal, a couple of dinted metal lockers, a toilet, shower and basin. There was a mirror that was really a sheet of highly polished metal. On the back of the door there was a map of the complex with directions on where to find things like meeting rooms, the kitchen and laundry.

The room was cool. The air had an odour about it, similar to a hospital smell, but a bit dusty.

The lockers had some toiletry items and plain clothing, along with a couple of torches. There was an intercom like device on the wall and a largish speaker on the ceiling. The room was spotless with no obvious signs of wear and tear. It was as though we were the first visitors to the room.

Lucky we didn’t have any cats with us, because we certainly couldn’t swing them anywhere.

I know it’s a bunker, but I couldn’t figure out why we were here, other than the fact that Sammy asked us along for the ride. This question was one of many questions that needed to be asked and hopefully answered.

24/1/2013 @4pm

Finally the knock at the door, the one we had been waiting for so long, finally happened. We had been waiting for so long Bubbles had fallen asleep. She has this talent of being able to sleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. I wish I had this talent as I was feeling wretched from the lack of sleep and worry about what was happening.

I opened the door, and the guard said “Follow me. We are going to the main hall.”

So like good children we followed his directions, at least I could see everything and know where we were going and could find my way back to the room or the main door. It wasn’t a long walk, just several passages with airlock doors. By the time we came to the last one I was able to work the mechanisms without a hitch.

As this last airlock door opened, there was a sharp increase in sound of people, radios, media reports and the sounds of movement. Until that moment in time, we could have been in a large underground tomb.

Walking into the room we saw on one wall a large projection of the world with hundreds of moving lights, another wall had several media channels going, the wall to our right had a canteen behind a large serving area which had been cut in the wall and the last wall was pretty much blank, expect for an area for a media crew and camera system. In the middle of the room there were rows of benches and tables.

We guessed that there were about 50 people in the room, most were clustered together in groups looking at the news channel broadcasts. The rest were in a small group, talking and pointing to the wall. Our guide took us to the canteen, told us to get some food and sit at the benches.

So we grabbed what we wanted and walked to a bench facing the screens. I don’t know if the food was wonderful, but it sure tasted good to me as we hadn’t really had anything but a couple of bags of junk food. What can I say? A bag of cheese corn chips and some coke cans is great diet food. I reckon the guard could hear our stomachs complaining of hunger. We both went back for seconds.

We noticed that around the world there seemed to be a number of marches, almost covering every thought I could come up with – peace, war, invasion, visitors, government denial, military cover up of new technology, weapons of terror.

24/1/2013 @7pm

Sammy dropped by and said hello, but said he couldn’t stay and chat as he was off to a meeting, and would be back in an hour or two. He looked happy that we were here and safe and said that we could stay here and watch the news coverage and help ourselves to food when we wanted something.

He apologised for having to depart so quickly but there was a lot developing and policies were being created set on the run. So we stayed in a nearly empty room watching the broadcasts, as the majority of the people had left for this meeting.

We watched the coverage, and we had been starting to get a little bored with it as it was fairly much status quo around the world. However they started to show the ships moving again, rearranging how they appeared in the sky, not knowing what they were up to as no one knew what to expect. Maybe it’s a form of communication?

We also realised that on the map of the world the dots had moved, and formed new clusters over large cities. This was worrying me, why do that? Were they trying to get our attention, were they looking for signs of life, were they going to land and beings come marching out to greet us or their army to wipe us out?

But nothing seemed to happen, they stopped moving and it was pin-drop quiet again.

24/1/2013 @10pm

We were still watching the coverage, when Sammy and several people returned. It seemed that Sammy had more authority than we suspected. He was giving orders that didn’t seem appropriate for his stature. He’s always been one to deal with many things and get things done. I guess there is even more to this ability than I have come to know.

Sammy approached us, and said “Hi” with a smile that said more than I could have imagined. “Now to cut to the chase, you are in a New Zealand Defender command and control bunker. We aren’t military by the definitions of the everyday citizen, because our charter is for the defence of the New Zealand’s people against natural disasters. In reality we are the nucleus of the disbanded army and we mobilised the troops just as this event started.

“I’m not just the Mayor of Wellington; I’m also the deputy minister of the army. We did this to allow for the neutrality to be acceptable to the rebels. We hoped that they were serious in their desires and therefore avoid any bloodshed on our shores.

“I’ve asked you here because firstly you are my friends and secondly you are one of the best IT Generalists that I know of. So when that first bombing occurred in Australia, when you called me, I knew that I could offer some level of personal safety, given our new neutrality. I also had the perfect role for you, all in one package.

We were a bit stunned by all this, but it explained why he was in charge of this centre. I said to him “Ok you’re a commander of a secret army, which defends against natural disasters and who happens to be Mayor of the city, with your own bunker complex.”

“Yes, and I was offering a job to you. Sorry I wasn’t allowed to tell you the full truth. The bunker was one that the army built a little under a decade ago. However this one is located 1.5 nuclear blast radiuses from the old military complexes and naval base. The idea was to be away from the site of a likely target, and hopefully survive any near misses, as our intelligence was pointing to a high level of risk from possible attacks from the allies against our freedom.

“This site was to become the main command and control facility in New Zealand, but the Minister felt that Christchurch’s complex was larger and better equipped for more personnel. The only concern was it was located at the heart of the city. So they are the primary site and we are the deputy site, so we wait for orders and carry them out.

“I know you probably have a thousand questions, but save them for another time. Just know that you are welcome to stay here as long as you wish, if you want to help out just say so and we will find you something to do. I recommend that you stay here for a couple of days until at least the population has calmed down a bit and hopefully we will know what the Shards are planning.”

Bubbles said “Shards? What do you mean?”

“Well the PM’s wife said that they look like shards of mirrors joined together to form this jewel-like craft, and since that time the PM has been calling them Shards, it’s as good as any name for them.

“So far we, as in governments around the world, have tried to communicate with the Shards via radio, signalling lights, laser beams, fly pasts, TV broadcasts, flags, loud speakers and music. At this stage we haven’t seen a response, and frankly we don’t know if we would understand one. We thought we had a response when they started to move, here at Wellington, but it seemed to be a coordinated effort by the Shards. Repeating what we were doing at the time resulted in no change in their behaviour.

“Various governments have different theories, we hope it’s the ‘come in peace and we greet you’ response but like most paranoid officials many are preparing to defend themselves. The Shards may look like glass or crystal, but they have to be much more advanced than us. We hope they are honourable in their intentions.

“We have declared a state of emergency and all resources are being put under our control. This will ensure that we maintain control over the population before the mob mentally gathers momentum.

“Now, I know that was a lot of information for you. It’s getting late. Go to bed and rest, because we don’t believe it’s going to resolve itself any time soon. If there is a change I will ask someone to get you, but you are welcome to stay in the room here. The advice from one of my old soldiers is to grab sleep whenever you can, because you never know when you can next get a nap. I’m following his advice, I’m dead tired and need to rest, and you should too. Good night.

He turned and left through one of the several passage ways and was gone. I said to Bubbles, “I’m going to bed, I’m tired and my butt is getting sore from all this sitting around.

“Me too, this is the most insane day in my life.