Survivor - Collector's Pack (eBook)

CERN Research facility, Switzerland
Three years earlier

After the briefing Kasanov had led them all back down to the underground laboratories, to the ellipsoid ship that Ryan thought more and more was like something out of an old science-fiction movie. Technicians in protective clothing were standing on hydraulic ramps going through long checklists and using specialist instruments on the exterior of the strange ship.

Kasanov led them around to the other side where a tall man of indeterminate age was standing. He had a shaven head and steely blue eyes which to Ryan seemed to be focused on what looked like a clipboard. Only when they were a bit closer did he realize it was a computer tablet on which the man was entering data. He was dressed in a white overall with the CERN emblem and the flag of the European Union on the sleeves.

“I’d like to introduce you to the fifth member of the team,” Kasanov said. “Dr Gabriel Proctor.”

Proctor looked up when he heard his name and greeted Ryan and the others with a brief nod.

“You have all been chosen for your unique and remarkable abilities,” Kasanov said. “If the mission should turn out to be dangerous, your gifts will be of help to you. When it comes down to it, we are sending you to a distant alien planet. What we think we know about this planet is little more than hypothetical. We hope your extraordinary abilities will help you overcome all conceivable — and inconceivable — dangers.”

Kasanov walked over to Proctor.

“Gabriel here also has a particular gift.”

“And that would be?” asked Ai.

“It’s not quite like yours,” Kasanov started. “It is somewhat … complicated.”

“Try us,” said Ryan, impatiently.

“Gabriel … knows,” Kasanov replied.

“He knows?” said Ai, in obvious confusion.

“Yes, he knows,” Kasanov nodded. “Dr Gabriel Proctor is quite probably the most intelligent man on Earth. His IQ is so high that it is beyond measurement by current tests. His brain stores all the information it receives, sorts it, orders it and draws whatever conclusions may be necessary. He just knows. More than you, faster than you, more precisely than you. Don’t ever ever question what he tells you to do. Just do what he says.”

Ryan was skeptical. “How come?” he asked, giving Proctor a sidelong glance.

“Because what Dr Kasanov means by ‘knowing’,” Proctor spoke up, “is that my brain can draw conclusions from hundreds of pieces of information and hundreds of other conclusions my brain has already come to, all within seconds.” The fashion in which he said this made it sound as if he was apologizing for himself and didn’t want to appear smarter than the others. “I’m speaking of information chains and conclusions that would normally take hours if not days to correlate,” he added.

“I get it,” said Ryan, far from convinced.

“Dr Proctor’s knowledge and his intellect could be decisive for the fate of the mission in dangerous circumstances, even for your survival,” Kasanov added.

“Great,” said Jabo. “We’ve got our very own Mr. Spock!”

 As Maria looked at Proctor it was clear she was struggling to decide what to do. “No,” she said again, letting her head fall. “I simply can’t do it.”

Ryan stared at her. It was as if his best friends had suddenly morphed into other people: strangers who felt and acted completely different than the people he had known.

“I can’t force you, Maria,” said Jabo calmly. “The three of us should get out of here. If this Proctor really is a friend of this guy, it might be better if he doesn’t wake up. Who knows what they’ve been planning …”

Maria lifted her head and looked at Ryan with tears in her eyes.

‘“If you really know me as well as you say you do,” she said, the pain in her voice clearly audible, “then you know that my gift has been a curse that has haunted me all my life. I’ve sworn never to use it again.”

Her words wiped out Ryan’s final hopes. Whatever it was that had happened to them, the mission was a failure. All the research and development, the vast expenditure, the intensive training they had gone through, Kasanov’s inspired plans and the gifts they possessed that were supposed to help them succeed, none of it counted any more. They had reached the end of the road.

All of a sudden Ai gave a cough and stumbled against one of the control panels, fell to her knees and indicated with a gesture that she was having difficulty breathing. All the color had drained from her face.

“Shit, man, what’s going on here?” Jabo exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing to us, you bastard?”

“I’m not doing anything. The oxygen is running out,” said Ryan. “Unless we do something we’re going to suffocate.”

“Open the door, Maria,” Jabo ordered, his voice sounding drained and weary. “We’ve got to get out of here before we croak.”

Ryan Nash had never been a man to leave things to the whim of fate. He had been in situations before that had seemed hopeless but usually there was an option, even if it sometimes wasn’t a very pleasant one.

In his inner eye he pictured himself holding a gun to a child’s head. After that incident he had been reluctant ever to hold a weapon again. That had been one of the main reasons he volunteered for the CERN project.

But Maria had left him with no option. There was only one way to save them all. Ryan only hoped that she really had completely lost her memory.

Without warning he kneed Jabo between the legs. The giant yelled in pain and lowered his hands to protect himself. Ryan made use of the opportunity to roll to one side and in the same movement reach the armory. He flicked it open with a practiced movement and grabbed a SIG Sauer P226.

As he scrambled to his feet he saw Jabo hurtling towards him. Ryan raised the gun and fired.

The bullet hit Jabo in the stomach, bored a hole through his guts and out of his back before embedding itself in the metal hull of the ship.

Ryan knew how to fire a single shot that could be fatal but not immediately so. Jabo would live for at least three or four minutes in hellish agony. Ryan felt sick to his stomach, but knew he had no other way of persuading Maria that she had to use her gift.

Jabo collapsed to his knees moaning loudly, then fell to the ground. “You piece of Yankee scum …” he managed to splutter. “Filthy US crusader!”

Yankee scum … filthy crusader … Ryan knew Jabo’s parents had been Muslims but he had never before heard him use such extremist language.

Ryan lowered his weapon and looked at Maria. She was staring at him in abject horror as if he were one of those callous killers he had spent his life fighting. She had every reason to know otherwise, but clearly didn’t. Maria hadn’t the faintest idea who he was.

And if she really didn’t remember him, then she also didn’t remember Jabo — or his gift.

Ryan nodded towards the black Frenchman, lying on the floor with his hand clamped over his wound. Ai was on her knees next to him. From the look on her face it was clear she knew there was nothing to be done for Jabo. A wound like that was fatal.

“What’s up, Maria?” Ryan asked. “Are you just going to let him die? If you don’t do something he is going to bleed to death.”

Jabo tried to speak, but the pain was too much.

Ryan watched as Maria looked down at Jabo, and the blood oozing out from between the fingers clamped over his wound. Ai had Jabo’s head in her lap and her dark eyes were staring at Maria.

Maria fell to her knees, ran her fingers over Jabo’s body and whispered. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll save him. Don’t worry.”

Gently she inserted her fingers into the hole in Jabo’s suit and stroked her thumb and index finger around the wound. She shot a quick glance at Ryan, a look of pure hatred mixed with fear. Ryan realized she considered him a monster. He could hardly blame her.

Maria closed her eyes.

Ryan watched in fascination as her gift began to manifest itself. He had seen it many times before but had never ceased to regard it as a miracle.

All the blood suddenly seemed to dry up at the touch of Maria’s fingers. The wound closed, leaving not even a scar.

Ryan sighed with relief. His memory at least had been sound as far as one thing went. Maria had not lost her extraordinary ability. Nor, it seemed, had Jabo.

“Sorry, Jabo,” said Ryan. “But I had no choice. I need Maria if I am to wake Proctor up and save all of us. I need her gift.”

They both stared at him. Then Jabo looked up at Maria. “You can let go of me,” he said. “The Yankee conned you.”

Maria was looking at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I have a gift too,” Jabo said. “I can heal myself. Within a few minutes my own body would have healed the wound.” He turned and glared at Ryan, “And that’s why I’m going to kill you, you son of a bitch. I …”

Something hit the ship with enormous force. Everyone except Proctor, still...