MF1.0 - 52 - Cannery

As Stef stroked Frankie’s scratched casing, the world blurred and spun. She fought the urge to reach out and grab something as everything came back into focus. She wasn’t sure that she would ever get used to it – fiction always portrayed teleportation as something seamless – Star Trek crews didn’t fight nausea when Scotty/Chief O’Brien/random bad guy of the week transported them somewhere. Shifting was entirely different – then again, thing in reality usually were, reality wasn’t able to gloss over the inconvenient details.

Curt slapped her on the back and earned a glare. ‘You’ll get used to it,’ he said with a jovial laugh. ‘We’re in a sub-level. There’s no employees down here, and there won’t be until we clear out, so we don’t have to worry about civilian casualties. However, if you like cheap canned fruit, watch out for the collateral damage.’

She looked at the suspected Solstice cultist as though he grown a second head – he almost sounded competent, it was a little unsettling.

‘You two go left, check in every five minutes. We’re looking for something big and ugly. I’ll take the newb, she knows what we’re looking for.’

Enid and Lisa saluted then moved off, Curt looked up at the roof, then down at her. ‘So what are we looking for?’

‘You’ve been briefed. A monster.’

‘There are plenty of monsters, wanna be a little more specific?’

Ignoring him, she looked up at the pipes and noted the lack of lighting. The layers of shadows covered more than they showed, it was going to be a nightmare to find anything.

 Require: night-vision goggles.

The world was bathed in fluorescent green light, but the tangles of wires and pipes still concealed hiding spots and boltholes.

A mocking laugh stripped away the joy of using a technology she’d always revered. ‘What did I do now?’

‘Every newbie FBI agent asks to see the X-Files office. Every NSA recruit asks to be reassigned to something off the books. Every member of ASIO wants to know why most people don’t know who the hell they are. Every Agency recruit requires night-vision goggles. Exactly how many time did you see Jurassic Park?’

‘Four,’ she answered in a hiss. ‘This place is the armpit of hell, conjure some spotlights, or let me use the goggles.’

The attack came from nowhere. One moment, she was fine, the next, the side of her head was stinging. ‘Did you see that?’ he asked.

The goggles clattered to the ground. ‘Exactly why did you do that?’

‘Did you see the attack coming?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘No, you smacked me in the head.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He hit her again, this time, she saw stars. ‘Did you see it that time?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Hazing. I get it. Touch me again, and you’ll lose that hand.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He set his jaw and shook his head. ‘It’s not hazing, I’m teaching you. Goggles might help you see in the dark, but they put blinders on you. They take a lot more lives than they save.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘And you couldn’t have just told me this?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘This method is more effective.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">This method makes you look like a jerk.

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘I…’ she began, then a pipe beside them exploded. The force flung her backwards, into a guardrail and over it.

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,CenturyGothic,Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She had a moment to realise she was aloft before she fell into the darkness.