CHAPTER FOUR: The Secret Base

From the journal of Doctor Jon Quayle Cornelius.  Investigations are proceeding gradually and the discovery that there are scattered around Strangerville are pods of an otherworldly origin is both a cause for concern yet a wonderful opportunity for study.  The disease that has infected a number of townsfolk seems to affect them on and off:  Corporal Jess Sigworth has shown moments of lucidity in between bouts of the mental possession.  

"This, David, this is what Corporal Sigworth planted in our back garden.  So far it's defied all attempts to analyse it even though we're using state of the art equipment at the DPR."

"That's state of the art of what we have available, Cornelius.  I say the eggheads up at this secret laboratory might have the equipment we need.  We should try to get up there and soon."

"I concur, David...there's not a moment to lose!  I have my Porsche 911 parked around the back; we can be at this base within minutes."

"Now you're talking!" said David, enthusiastically.

Strangerville was situated in a valley and the top secret laboratory was up on a mesa, about 5 miles out of town.  There were no signposts and they relied on directions that had been given to them by local residents, Lauren Mercer and Erwin Pries.  Cornelius drove his Porsche up the twisting, deserted road with a sheer cliff face on one side and a steep drop on the other.

"Lauren told me that there's a gap in the security fence around the back; we can sneak in to the facility there." said David.

"We must also be prepared for a hostile reception..." added Cornelius.

"They wouldn't shoot us, would they?"

"No, but you can be sure they won't lay on a welcoming committee either.  I have my DPR identification on me, that might bluff us an interview with one of the senior management there..."

"We can hope.  This place sure isn't easy to find.  No traffic, no signs or signs of habitation!"

"Hmmm, suspicious..." muttered Cornelius as he looked around and saw that this area seemed devoid of any life.

Up ahead they could see a cluster of modern looking buildings surrounded by a pale grey metal fence adorned with barbed wire along the top.  There was a gate that was shut and a small guard booth next to it...but it was empty.

"I guess this is it" said David.  "But where's the guard?"

"Where indeed..." said Cornelius, pensively.

The two parked up just beyond the fence and got out of the Porsche.  "Let's find that fence gap Lauren told me about" said David, cautiously.  Walking around the perimeter fence, all the while carefully looking for any signs of activity or something else out of place.

"David...no people or....signs of life" said Cornelius as he scanned the surroundings.

"Where did they all go?" David replied.

"There's one way to find out...through that gap in the fence and search the base."

The two of them stepped through the gap and into the base; the air was absolutely still and the place utterly silent.  Almost immediately they saw one of the strange, purple pods that had appeared all over Strangerville now sprouting out of the ground at this base.  Cornelius looked around and saw at least half a dozen such pods growing in the base.

"More of the mysterious pods, David."

"My hunch is that they're connected to what happened here." David replied.

To their surprise, there was an unlocked door that allowed them inside the lab so they cautiously went through it, again finding no signs of activity or life within.

"Nothing, Cornelius, absolutely no sign of activity!" exclaimed David.

"Except for a lot of scuffed footprints in the dust." Cornelius replied before crouching down to examine the floor.  "Sand..." he continued "lots of sand from outside brought in to the lab and scattered on the floor."

"You'd think a top secret laboratory would be concerned about hygiene and contamination from outside" said David.

"Yes, a logical assumption.  Look!  Down here is a small red smudge of something..." Cornelius spotted a few drops of red liquid and proceeded to touch it and rub a sample between his finger and thumb.

"Hmmm, O rhesus positive" he said, thoughtfully.  Springing back up on his feet he took another look around the corridor.  "Some kind of commotion happened here; panic, maybe." he said.

They ventured further into the lab, examining each and every room.  All around them were signs of chaos and abandonment:  documents thrown across desks and the floor, files hastily packed into cardboard boxes and then left in random places.

"It looks like they were preparing to bug out methodically but something happened and they just abandoned their work and fled" said David.

"I agree...but either fled or...something else happened to them.  No bodies or signs of blood other than that sample I took earlier.  Do you notice something else that's odd, David?" said Cornelius as he scanned the area intensely.

"No"

"No lab equipment.  There's nothing here to suggest this is a working laboratory.  It's all administrative or recreational here.  No microscopes, analysers, Bunsen burners or apparatus."

"You're right, Cornelius!  But maybe that stuff is on another level?"

"We shall see..."

Moving deeper into the lab they came across a set of electronically operated doors with warning signs on it.  The doors were shut fast and an electronic locking mechanism still had power to it but required a pass card or a code to open.

"That's where the secrets and the equipment is going to be, David, behind those doors" said Cornelius, closely examining them.

"What's the bet the scientists took the key with them?" replied David.

"Have some faith, David, have some faith...maybe there's a spare somewhere here?"

"There's being optimistic, Cornelius, and then there's just blind faith.  I'm surprised a top scientist like yourself is now going to rely on faith."

"Where logic reaches a dead end, there's always faith.  Now we've established no one is here, let's have a closer look around for some evidence and clues as to what went on here." said Cornelius, clapping his hands loudly.

As they searched they found documents stacked up on desks, in cardboard boxes and in some cases just lying around on the floor.  It took hours to sift through various loose sheets of paper to try and work out what was important for their investigation and what was inconsequential or frivolous.  

"This is going to take longer than I expected, David" said Cornelius, sitting down to rest his feet for a minute.  "We need to focus our efforts:  Solid evidence goes in that box, potentially interesting documents in this middle box and the irrelevant in that box.  Peggy should be here soon and this is her area of specialty...ah, here she is now, right on cue..."

 

"Ah Peggy, wonderful to see you...we've got lots of work to do" said Cornelius, clapping his hands with excitement.

"I trust you didn't have any issues in getting up here?" asked David out of concern.

"No problems...I drove straight from my home in San Myshuno to here without stopping at Strangerville; I figured that would attract less attention." she said.

"Clever girl!  And we're going to need your analytical brain to sort out these papers.  We think there's something of interest behind those doors but we can't find a way in.  See if you can find anything in these documents that can tell us how." 

"Will do, Cornelius" said Peggy.

Cornelius sprang to his feet and said "In the meantime I'm going to report in to DPR headquarters and tell them what we've discovered so far...maybe I can get them to find out from higher ups how we can access those security doors." as he pointed towards the heavily locked doors.

David looked around the messy area with its boxes and haphazardly piled up paperwork.  "Peggy and I will have our work cut out here!" he said, with an air of resignation.

"Laborious analysis is the meat and drink of our work, David.  I will see you back at the house." and with that, Cornelius departed.  David watched him leave before turning to Peggy and said "I bet he took the Porsche...I hope you brought your car."

It was, as David had feared, a painstaking process of trying to sort out documents that might seem important from those that were just frivolous or a red herring.  If it referred to scientific research, he put it in a box that they would take with them for further analysis.

"Ugh, they sure left a mess in here!" exclaimed Peggy.  "Have you checked this pile yet, David?"

"Not that one.  You go for it" he replied.

"I hope I don't catch some disease from it!  This place is filthy and probably still infested with whatever it is that drove everyone away."

"Or maybe it was the lunch menu at the cafeteria?" David joked.

"Don't even joke about that...oh, hello, what have we found here?" she said, holding up a loose sheet of A4 with lots of chemical symbols on it.

"I'm no scientist but these look interesting.  It's about the only thing scientific I've been able to find so far" said Peggy.

David went over to where she was standing and looked at the document.  He wasn't a scientist either but Cornelius might be able to make sense of it. 

"Well done" he said.  "This is Cornelius' department.  Make sure it goes in a special folder marked for his eyes only." 

Peggy nodded.  It wasn't much of a clue, but was the only one of note they had found.

"I'm going to head over to DPR headquarters to hand these documents in" said Peggy, once they had found enough information to go on.

"I'll head back to Strangerville.  I need to look in the library for more information." David replied.

"And to see your lady friend, perhaps?" said Peggy, coquettishly.

"Well...there's that as well" David replied, nonchalantly.

Sure enough, within minutes of arriving at the Strangerville Information Centre, David was approached by Lauren.

"David!  I'm sure glad to see you...did you manage to get up to the lab?" she asked with anticipation and expectation in her voice.

"I did...and we found some very interesting things but we can't talk here" he said looking around the library and noticing a few scientists from the other lab nearby.  "When can I see you, privately?" he asked.

"In a half hour.  I'll meet you at the bar." she replied.

Lauren was as good as her word and prompt as well.  

"You changed..." said David, noticing that Lauren had put on a fetching red dress.

"I had time and I wanted to wear something more comfortable.  I hope this meets with your approval"

"It certainly does...barkeep...vodka and orange for me and whatever this lady would like"

"Thank you...I'll have the same"

They waited for their drinks to arrive and David began to speak, in a soft voice which couldn't be overheard by anyone other than Lauren.

"Cornelius and I went to the laboratory...the one atop the mesa...and it was....deserted!  No one there at all."

Lauren looked shocked.  "Not a soul?  Where did everyone go?"

"We don't know yet.  It looked like they left in a hurry as well.  We're going back to investigate more and in the meantime we're gathering evidence."

"Do you have any idea of what happened to everyone?"

David shook his head, solemnly.  "No.  None whatsoever...except..."

"Except what?" asked Lauren, excitedly.

"We found a small bloodstain and more of those strange purple pods that have been growing around town."

"Do you think those pods are at the cause of what's happened there?"

"Cornelius thinks so.  That's all I can tell you right now."

Lauren looked shocked, then dismayed and nervous.  David took a gulp of his drink and said "I wish I had more answers for you...I'm sorry if this news distresses you."

"Don't be sorry...I'm just as keen to know what's happening here...thank you for telling me anyway.  I thought...I just thought you might have solved the case.  Silly thought..."

"No, it's not silly.  Cornelius, Peggy...that's another colleague of ours...and I are determined to get to the bottom of this and cure those afflicted with this illness.  We just need more time."

But although they had been speaking softly, others in the bar noticed that their conversation had been intense and sad and it drew attention...

"I must get back to the others" said David.  "We've attracted too much attention.  I'll be in touch again when we find out more."

"Please do..." said Lauren, her hand resting on David's arm.  He felt drawn to her but had to keep his emotions in check right now.

Back at the house, Cornelius and Peggy were talking with one another when David arrived.

"Hello David...did you find what you were looking for?" said Cornelius as a way of greeting David.

"I'm sure he did...what's her name again?  Laurel?" said Peggy, cheekily.

"It's Lauren and, yes, I did see her but that's not the reason I went to the library.  Here; a list of all employees of the Laboratory.  These are people whose security clearance was the lowest but it gives us something more to go on." and with that, David produced an A4 sized envelope from his jacket pocket.

"Excellent work, David.  This Lauren...she seems very keen and eager to help us but the question on my mind is:  Can we trust her?" asked Cornelius, pointedly.

"Of course!" said David, defensively.  "She's been helpful in many ways and is concerned about her fellow citizens and what has happened to them."

"Or maybe she's being too helpful" said Peggy.