Chapter 4
Freeman’s Saab made the trip even faster than the Omen had. In less than 10 minutes, the Saab passed the roadblock and detour signs.
“That wasn’t here when we drove in,” Straker commented.
“Maybe the road washed out?” Freeman suggested.
“Maybe.”
Freeman followed the detour onto the highway. Less than a mile down the road, the two men spotted a section of the guard rail torn away. In the distance, red and blue flashing lights could be seen. Sirens wailed from the lights.
“Here, stop,” Straker ordered urgently.
Freeman pulled the Saab over to the shoulder, just beyond the break in the railing. Straker was out of his seat belt and out of the car almost before it had stopped. He ran down the muddy slope, following the torn ruts in the grass.
Freeman climbed out of the car more slowly. “Ed? Ed!” he shouted after his commanding officer and friend.
Straker slipped and skidded down the slope, brush grabbing at his uniform. He didn’t care. He saw the glint of bronze colored metal below. The Omen was leaning against a large oak tree. How the tree had survived the impact, he couldn’t guess. But the car hadn’t. The passenger side of the car was completely stove in.
“Kate?” Straker called. There was no answer.
He slid closer to the car. She was still inside, strapped in the driver’s seat. He felt around for the door latch and popped the door open. The hydraulic lifts failed to open the door. He forced it over his head, the hydraulics whining as he did so.
“Kate?” Straker called again. She wasn’t moving. He touched her neck to find a pulse. Her skin was cold and clammy, but he found a weak pulse. She stirred beneath his touch.
“Ed?”
“Shh. I’m right here, baby,” he said quietly. It was too dark to see how badly injured she might be.
“It was a Ufo,” she said weakly.
“I know,” Straker said. “Now, just lay still. Help is on its way.” He lifted his head and shouted: “Alec, get an ambulance, NOW!”
Freeman reached inside the car and placed a call to headquarters. After a moment he hung up and walked to the top of the rise. He started down the slope, much more cautiously than Straker had.
“Paul’s sending an aerocopter with an aid team,” Freeman called. “Should be here in a few minutes.”
Straker didn’t answer.
“There’s a multi-car smash up ahead, all lanes are blocked,” Freeman continued. “Ed? Did you hear me?”
“There’s a Ufo somewhere near here,” Straker said.
“One got through the defenses about ten minutes ago,” Freeman confirmed.
Straker touched Komack’s face.
“Ed?” Freeman asked.
“Alec, she’s so cold,” Straker told him.
“The aerocopter should be here any minute.”
They heard the rotors of the aerocopter almost before Freeman finished saying it. The white and blue copter landed on the roadway beside Freeman’s car, disgorging a three man paramedical team. They spotted Freeman and headed down the slope towards them with a stretcher basket. The team leader took a moment to assess the situation, shining his hand lamp inside of the Omen. He beckoned his team to move in.
“Move aside, sir,” he ordered Straker, who hadn’t left his place beside Komack. Straker reluctantly moved away, and the team began their work. Within minutes, they’d secured her head and back with a brace, had her out of the seat and into the wire stretcher basket.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital,” Freeman told Straker. He wasn’t sure the blond man heard him.
“No. Get onto work. Find out what’s happened,” Straker said after a moment.
“Very well,” Freeman agreed reluctantly. He climbed into the Saab and watched the medical team load the unconscious woman into the copter. Straker climbed in behind the medical team.
More lights had appeared in the distance, reflecting off the windscreens of both the Saab and the aerocopter as Freeman started the engine and sped away, back the way they’d come to avoid the mess ahead.
Inside the copter, Straker knelt beside his wife was the medics began their work.
“Maybe you’d be more comfortable up front, sir,” the team leader said. His name tag read: ‘Martin, M. E.’
“Yes, of course,” Straker responded, moving aside and heading toward the cockpit. He stopped beside the cockpit door, finding a seat that would let him stay near.
Martin had put a headset on and one of the medics handed Straker one, plugging into the communications console for him.
“Tell Mayland we’re coming in,” Martin was telling the pilot through the internal system. “We need a trauma team and an emergency obstetric-neonatal team.”
“Sir, Mayland wants us to divert to Covington,” the pilot said after a moment. “They say they have that smash up on the way in.”
“Inform Mayland that this is a SHADO code one,” Martin responded.
The exchange bothered Straker. The SHADO code was reserved for alien patients. It alerted security and the receiving medical team to be prepared for anything. He wasn’t aware that the signal was used for other purposes.
The pilot finally announced: “We have clearance to land at Mayland. They have both teams standing by.”
Straker could see Mayland’s tower growing larger in the cockpit windscreen.
“Sir, Mayland has the best trauma team in the area,” Martin said to Straker. “If anybody can pull her through, they can.”
“And the baby?”
“The OBN team is standing by,” Martin said. “So far, the baby seems to be doing okay.”
The aerocopter swooped in and gently set down on the roof-top landing pad. With speed developed with long practice, the medical team off-loaded their patient into the care of the Mayland emergency team.
* * *
Ellis’s beeper chirped. Ellis and Bradley disentangled themselves from the sofa and she grabbed the beeper from her purse. Checking the number, she said: “It’s the office.” Puzzlement colored her voice. She hadn’t known she was on the headquarters’ emergency duty roster.
Bradley handed her the phone, first making sure the security protocols were in place. A quick phone call: “There’s a major alert and they’re short staffed.”
“I can stay here with Esther,” Bradley volunteered.
Ellis hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, he was so sweet and she loved him, so much. “I don’t think that would be such a good idea, Mark,” she said, finally. “It wouldn’t look right.”
“Why? Because of this?” Bradley asked, touching his dark cheek.
“No, silly,” Ellis said. She was a little surprised that such a good fighter pilot and astronaut could be so naive. “Because you’re a man.”
* * *
The three camouflage-painted mobiles trundled out of their transports and headed across the dark landscape in search of the U.F.O. that had caused such havoc on the M-3. It was the embodiment of SHADO’s worst nightmare - a U.F.O. landing in a heavily populated area. The one saving grace was a bad weather. While making the search more difficult, it kept people indoors and out of the way, making it less likely that SHADO’s search would be noticed.
“Mobile one to SHADO Control,” the driver of the command and communications center called in. “We have reached the termination area and are initiating standard search procedures.”
“Roger, Mobile one,” came the response.
Within SHADO Headquarters, Paul Foster waited for results.
* * *
Straker had lost track of time, standing at the glassed wall of the trauma unit waiting room. It was still raining hard and he watched as lightning repeatedly crack across the sky. His muddy uniform jacket was thrown over one of the chairs and he idly wondered how much it would cost to clean the chair. The jacket was undoubtedly ruined.
The announcer on the table radio reported more power outages due to the viciousness of the storm. Phone lines were down and even portable phones were affected as the transceiver towers lost power. Several radio stations were out of commission, their antennas damaged by the fierce wind.
Someone approached, their movement reflected in the glass. Straker didn’t move from his place at the window.
“Paul has everything under control,” Alec Freeman said. “He has two teams out looking for the Ufo.”
“Good.”
“How’s Kate?”
“They have her in surgery,” Straker said, his voice flat with shock and fatigue. “She’s lost a lot of blood and they said with all the accident victims coming in, they may not have enough blood to go around.”
“What about the other hospitals, the other blood banks?”
“The problem is time. She doesn’t have any. The storm’s knocking out communications, the roads are blocked. The air ministry’s just ordered all non-essential air traffic to stay on the ground. Right now, the only thing in the air within ten miles of Mayland is Sky-one. The mobiles are about the only land transportation still moving.”
“So, what do we do?
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Freeman repeated in disbelief.
“There’s nothing you can do,” Straker said flatly. “There’s nothing either of us can do.”
“So you’ll just stand there, all proud and stubborn, and let her die?” Freeman spat.
“Alec, my hands are tied,” Straker said, voice cracking. “Regulations do not take personal needs into account. And you, of all people, know how our regulations read. You used to tell me often enough what I couldn’t do.”
“Is that why you didn’t tell me about Johnny that night?” Freeman asked quietly.
Straker didn’t respond.
“You could have told me. We could have figured something out.”
“And have you face charges of gross misconduct as well?” Straker asked without moving. “I knew the risks. Not that it would have made any difference.”
“You don’t know that,” Freeman reminded him. “We could have let the transport off-load the drug first. Or found a way to get the drug down here, chartered a plane. Something.”
“You did what the situation demanded, Alec. I’ve never faulted you for that. But tell me, would you have made the same decision if you’d known the drug was on the plane? If you’d known that Johnny was in the hospital?”
“I don’t know,” Freeman answered after a moment’s thought.
“Someone had to be in command that night,” Straker said. “It happened to be you.”
“You still should have told me.”
“We’ve been over this.”
“No, we haven’t, not really,” Freeman said. “I tried, God knows I tried everything I could think of, but you wouldn’t do it. I found out about Johnny from
Kate, for God’s sake.”
“I’m sorry, Alec.” Straker’s voice was so soft Freeman almost missed the comment.
“I hope you rot in hell!” Freeman exploded, suddenly angry with his friend for taking everything so calmly, so coldly.
“We each build our own hell to live in, Alec.” Straker said dully.
* * *
“Mobile one to SHADO Control,” the mobile driver called in. “We’ve covered half of the search area. No joy. Continuing search pattern.”
“Thank you, Mobile one. Control out,” Foster acknowledged, standing beside the duty supervisor’s console.
There was a flutter of motion from Johnson, the duty supervisor. Foster looked up to see Gay Ellis and Mark Bradley walk into the control room. Bradley was carrying a sleepy blonde girl child with a bear and blue blanket - Esther Komack-Straker. Foster noted in passing that both Bradley and Ellis were dressed casually, as if they’d been planning an evening in. Without a word, Ellis went to a vacant communications console and fitted the headset over her ears.
“The commander and Colonel Freeman are over at Mayland,” Johnson told Bradley. “I can have someone from security show you the way. And I’m sure Doctor Jackson wouldn’t mind looking after the girl for a while.”
Bradley smiled his thanks.
* * *
“We don’t often use these tunnels,” Melek Binte Asad said as she led Bradley down the corridor after dropping his charge at SHADO’s medical center.
Jackson had been there and Esther woke up long enough to say: “Hi, Doctor Doug,” before falling back to sleep on the couch in his office.
Asad continued at Bradley’s questioning look. “We keep them locked down after that time a med student nearly walked into the Control Room looking for Doctor Jackson’s office.”
“I hadn’t heard about that,” Bradley admitted.
Asad laughed. “Somebody told the poor kid that Jackson’s office was in the hospital basement. She followed Jackson trying to find it, got lost and ended up here. Needless to say, Jackson now has an office in the Mayland Clinic. I’m told he sometimes can even be found there, usually when he’s hiding from the rest of us.”
“How did she get past the alarms?”
“Jackson was in the habit of shutting them off when he went over to Mayland,” Asad explained. “We’ve fixed that, too. If you want back in from there, you’ll need to call in first so we can get someone to open the door for you.”
She handed him a card. He glanced at it: “Harlington Security Services.” The phone number and extension belonged to Security Chief Natiroff’s direct line in SHADO Headquarters.
“For such a smart man, Jackson sometimes does really dumb things,” she said, placing her thumb over the lit security panel set beside the door at the end of the corridor.
‘DOOR OPEN’ flashed across the bottom of the panel and Bradley heard bolts disengaging. Asad pushed the door open and let Bradley though. The door shut behind him and Bradley noted there was no door latch on the hospital side.
* * *
A woman wearing surgical scrubs approached from the trauma center.
“Mr. Straker?” She looked to the unmoving figure standing at the window. She stepped closer and he finally turned at her approach.
“Mr. Straker, congratulations, you have a son,” she said with a smile.
"How's my wife?" Straker asked. The woman’s expression became more serious.
"Still in surgery," she said. "It’s going as well as can be expected." Her expression was solemn, as if she wasn't saying everything. “We’re running short on blood, especially in her type.”
“I see,” Straker commented. "How's my son?" he asked, almost as an afterthought.
The woman flashed him a smile. "He looks good. They’ve just taken him to the neonatal ICU for observation. You’ll be able to see him there in a little while.” She smiled once more and headed back the way she came.
* * *
Freeman got on the elevator on the main floor. The Australian’s uniform jacket was thrown over his shoulder and he was buttoning his left shirt cuff. The one thing he had been able to do to help out in the emergency was give blood, even if it wasn’t Kate’s type. Freeman was surprised to see Bradley standing in the elevator car. “I thought you were on leave.”
“Gay was called on duty,” Bradley explained. “The regular phones are out and security said you and Commander Straker were both over here.”
“Colonel Komack was attacked by that Ufo that got through. It doesn’t sound good,” Freeman said. “I just wish there was something we could do.”
The elevator doors opened onto the trauma center lobby. Freeman and Bradley both stepped out to find Straker still staring out at the storm.
“How’s the search going?” Straker asked without turning.
“It’s slow,” Freeman said. “But they’re making progress.”
“Have our people found out anything about that call?”
Freeman grimaced. “The phone was a pay-unit in central London, not too far from the Zodiac. Mason cancelled the night shoot when the weather started turning. Mason and Magillis left together, Byrnes said he was heading home and that’s what he did.”
“Alone?”
Freeman shrugged. “Not according to our report.”
Straker turned to give Bradley a curious look.
“Gay was called in. We brought Esther and left her with Dr. Jackson and Nurse Theberge. They were short-handed downstairs. The storm, I guess,” the astronaut explained.
Straker nodded then turned back to the window.
“Any news?” Freeman asked.
Straker’s mouth pulled into a bitter smile. The reflection in the window, Freeman noted, was more like a death’s head. “I have a son. They may let me see him in a little while.”
“And Kate?”
The death’s head reflection became more pronounced. “As well as can be expected when there isn’t enough blood for surgery,” Straker said. “You hate me for not allowing the mobiles to transport the medical materials.” A statement.
“No,” Freeman said. “What’s one life, when hundreds are at risk? I just wish there was another way. And I wish it wasn’t Kate.”
Straker bowed his head, resting his forehead against the cold glass. “I let her go, Alec. God help me, I let her head out there alone. They asked for me, not her. I was the target.”
“There’s no way you could have known, Ed,” Freeman found himself saying. “And if you’d both gone, one of you would certainly be dead now.”
“They were gunning for me. It should have been me.”
Freeman didn’t know how to respond to that, since quite honestly, he wasn’t sure he disagreed with Straker’s assessment.
Bradley cleared his throat. “Is the situation really that bad?”
“They’ve got accident victims stacked up in emergency and they’re almost out of supplies. But the only transport that’s functioning in this weather has other duties.”
“I have the same blood type as Colonel Komack. So does Keith Ford,” Bradley said.
“I can’t order people to give blood,” Straker said. “Our rules don’t allow it and that’s not all they need.”
“Yes, sir,” Bradley said with a grimace. “I’ll head back to work. They may be able to use my help.”
“You can call Natiroff from the phone over there,” Freeman said, indicating a wall phone not far from the elevators.
Bradley went over to the phone, punched in the number and spoke for several minutes before hanging up.
* * *
“Mobile one to SHADO Control,” the mobile driver called in. “We’re at the three quarters mark on the search. Still no joy. Continuing search pattern.”
“How soon before Sky-one gets to the area?” Foster demanded of Johnson.
“At least ten minutes, sir,” Johnson answered. “Visibility is down to zero and the channel was so rough, they had to get further out to sea before they could launch.”
“Any good news from meteorology?” Foster asked.
Johnson shook her head. “Only that it should blow over before morning.”
“Colonel,” Major Natiroff called, walking into the control room. “My people have located Amy Magillis.”
* * *
“Thanks, Paul,” Freeman said, hanging up the phone at the nurse’s station. He turned to Straker. “Amy Magillis is here, at Mayland. She was found wandering near the smash up on the M-3 and one of the ambulance crews brought her in.”
“What about Mason?”
Freeman shook his head. “Nothing yet. According to the report Paul got, Magillis and Mason were arguing about going into London when they left the set. They were seen driving out together in Mason’s car, but they haven’t been able to get a lead on where he, or the car, is now. Natiroff suggested you and I go talk to the girl, see what she knows, since we’re already here.”
“You go,” Straker said. “They should be finishing surgery shortly. I want to be here.”
“You’re sure?”
“Alec, it was Amy Magillis, or someone using her name, that started the chain that put my wife in this hospital,” Straker said sharply. “My objectivity isn’t exactly...” His lips thinned with self-annoyance as he bit off his statement.
“And mine is?” Freeman wondered aloud.