Genesis Code, (Book 1, Genesis Series)

Chapter 27

Bill wandered the passenger ship's empty corridor, calling out. An eerie silence filled the ship. The hairs on his arm stood to attention as he forced one foot in front of the other, moving silently along the dark, tube-shaped passageway. Where the hell was everyone?

The ship's overhead lights illuminated each step. A deep desire to connect with another human drove him on. Could he be the only one on-board? His lack of trust kept him hidden from others but right now he had to know he wasn't alone.

Every step forward plunged his last one into darkness. His body tensed as he kept moving.

The place felt unfamiliar to him. Why? The ship was his second home. He had memorised every inch of it so he could stay off the radar.

But something felt wrong.

The air turned against him, tightening around his body, making it hard to breathe. He clutched at his throat, trying to work air into his lungs. He dropped to his knees, weak.

A male figure stood before him. 'Don't be afraid. Let me help you.'

Bill's body relaxed in his presence. The unbearable tightness lifted from his throat. His heart thundered in his chest as the dark shape glided towards him. He clambered to his feet.

'Who are you?'

A familiar man with loose fitting clothes stopped a foot away.

'I said, who are you?'

'Don't ask questions you don't want answered.'

Bill didn't recognise the voice.

The dark figure removed his hat to reveal a face with no expression, no features.

Bill touched the shape in front of him. His hand sliced through the wispy cloud that instantly reformed into a solid mass. Mesmerised, he let go of his inhibitions. Was this real or a dream? It felt real enough.

The man slipped in closer and Bill caught sight of a shiny object in his hand. He tensed up a second too late as the knife sliced across his throat.

Bill awoke with a start, drenched in sweat. His throat felt like someone had a hand around it.

He spluttered and sucked in the lifeless air around him. He fought against the resistance on his arms and legs. Then he remembered where he was and stopped struggling.

Instead he groped in the dark for the sleeping unit's lock. His head turned to search for new air, but found none. He pummelled the lock with his fist to force it to release but the effort only sapped what little strength he had. Light-headedness made his head swim.

'What the fuck—'

His eyes closed. When he came to, he focused on the lock, this time using his elbow to open it.

'Christ...'

A pain blazed through his bone as it connected with the hard surface.

He continued to pound on the lock, softer now.

'Open up. For Christ's sake, please open!' Panic gripped him. He was going to die.

All remaining effort drained from his body. He turned on his side and closed his eyes.

Isla shouted at him, 'Get up.' He tried, even though his body and lungs felt too heavy. A hot tear landed on his cheek. He left it there.

A blast of cool air rushed over him and he sucked it in like he was reclaiming his soul. The oxygen revived him like a dose of Actigen. He lay there, in no hurry to move and out of danger.

Cold arms wrapped around him and pulled him free from his unit.

His head hit the floor with a thud but the pain didn't matter as he swallowed another lungful of sweet, oxygen-rich air. In the dark of the sleeping quarters he tried to focus on the man hovering over him. Cool fingers rested on his neck. The man spoke to someone else in the room.

'His pulse is strong. They all seem fine now.'

Bill blinked to focus better on the men's faces. But when he opened his eyes again, in that short moment, they were gone.

He sat up slow, fighting against the pain in his throbbing head. Except for the others who'd been trapped in their pods, he was alone. So, how had the two men escaped their pods?

The wall gave him support as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Scattered across the hard floor were nine other people. Bill crawled forward, and checked each body for a pulse. They were all alive.

'What happened?' he asked one man, who lay on his back and stared at the ceiling.

'I couldn't breathe. The lock was stuck. If it hadn't been for those two men—' He didn't finish. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed out.

When the dizziness subsided, Bill walked the halls in search of someone in charge. He found a senior officer and flashed his World Government credentials. The officer rushed to explain the situation, with obvious embarrassment.

'I'm sorry, sir. There was a power failure in Section Seven, where your unit and fifty others are located. The situation is now under control.'

'How the hell does a ship this size get power failures?' Bill winced as his fingers probed the golf ball-sized lump on his head.

'Normally the back-up power supply takes over, sir, but because it didn't engage immediately, the computer shut off the oxygen levels to that area.'

'Surely the computer detects when someone is occupying the sleeping quarters.'

The officer's face reddened. 'Normally, sir, but the computers on board this ship are designed to save power, not to detect life on-board.'

'So, when the computer knocked out the oxygen to that section, the sensors locked the units so we couldn't escape?'

'Not quite, sir. The sensors assumed they were unoccupied and initiated lockdown to prevent tampering with unused units, sir.'

'Good to know we're in such safe hands.'

'Yes, sir.'

He shook his head at the officer's lack of sensitivity. 'If it wasn't for your officers, we would have all suffocated in there. Please thank them for me. I didn't get a good look at their faces, so I don't know who they were.'

'Sir?'

'Your officers,' said Bill.

The man stared at him, before answering in his best military tone. 'Of course, sir. Immediately.'

A stab of pain shot through his tenderised elbow and he winced.

'Do you need medical help, sir?'

'No, I'll be fine.' Bill began the walk back to his sleeping quarters. He trusted doctors as much as he trusted Charles Deighton. 'You'd probably only try to harvest my organs for donation.'