Page 8 of The Program

He checked the room for listening devices before giving us the go-ahead to start.

‘It’s good to see you all,’ I started.

‘We don’t have much time,’ Markus reminded me before I could continue.

I cleared my throat, hating the way I couldn’t take the time to truly check in with them. ‘Right. Straight to business then. Any updates?’

Our guard stepped forward. ‘They’re increasing their numbers. They have a new shipment coming in tomorrow with more guards.’

‘That’s not good,’ Addy supplied, deterred.

I placed my hand on her leg and squeezed gently, reminding her she wasn’t alone and not all hope was lost. ‘Do you know what’s in the shipment?’

He shook his head. The mask covering the lower half of his face reminded me of a muzzle and I wondered how he was able to stand constantly wearing the thing. It made his voice coming out muffled when he spoke. ‘I wasn’t about to get that much information. I only know about it because of the guards. Our schedules are changing. Security will be a lot tighter.’

I blew out a breath through thin lips. ‘Then we’re out of time.’

‘Maybe not,’ Markus piped up. He pulled out a small metallic item and placed in on the holo-table. ‘The colonel gave me this to show you. One of their facilities was destroyed from the inside,’ he spoke as a holographic image appeared to float above the table.

‘And how does that help us?’ Cadmus asked the question on all of our minds.

Markus simply gestured to the hologram. ‘Just watch.’

The image began to move and it took a moment for us to process what we were seeing. Two women were in the centre of a room surrounded by a contingency of guards aiming weapons in their direction and a single scientist. One woman was on the floor and looked to be unconscious, darts sticking out of her skin, while the other stood over her protectively. But what really grabbed my attention was the unusual substance that seemed to be spreading over the latter’s skin.

She was speaking to the scientist, but I couldn’t get a visual of either of their faces from the way the camera was angled. He pointed his own gun at the pair, first at the unconscious woman, but the vertical female merely squared her shoulders and glared him down.

Gasps echoed throughout the room when he pulled the trigger and a beam of plasma shot right at the woman on the floor, only it didn’t get very far. The other woman had curled herself around her faster than I could comprehend,but that wasn’t all. The plasma seemed to hit an invisible wall, splatting against it before dispersing completely without any harm to the women.

Shot after shot tried to break through the mysterious barrier, but none were successful. When the scientist realised he wasn’t getting through he backed away into the crowd of guards to hide behind them while they shot at the women instead. The barrier had somehow fallen away, but I watched as each dart bounced right off her skin, whatever was coating it refusing to allow anything to penetrate.

The scientist backed away from the room fully just as the woman straightened. The guards seemed to realise the danger they were now in, their earlier confidence no longer present.

I was angry on the women’s behalf that the scientist managed to escape, but that anger quickly dissipated and morphed into shock at what we witnessed next. In less than a minute she had killed every last guard – there must have been around two dozen – brutally slaying them where they stood. A few had enough time to race to the door, but she got them before they were able to escape.

Blood sprayed. Limbs were torn from bodies. Skulls were caved in. She even managed to rip one man’s head clean off his body with one pull. Brain matter and other organs created a macabre carpet on the hard cement floor. My stomach turned at the sight and I had to force down the urge to throw up.

Once they were all dead she took in her work before kneeling beside her friend. She checked her pulse and the way she relaxed told us she was still alive. The woman hauled her friend into her arms, then thought better of it and tossed her over her shoulder. The unconscious woman dangled limply, but it allowed for her to keep one hand free as the cameras followed them through the hallways.

And one arm was all she needed to kill every last person in the facility. At least, the ones that were her enemies. Each one of us was enraptured when she walked down multiple hallways and corridors, unlocking doors as she went. From every door she unlocked, out stepped another subject. All were women. And all were distraught. They cried into each other’s arms while some ran around frantically as if searching for something. Or someone, if the way they called out was any indication.

The original woman was still encased in whatever it was that had covered her skin, and the other began to notice. They flinched away from her as if they would contract it like a disease, and I wondered if that was an actual possibility. Eventually, she calmed them down enough to pass the unconscious woman to another – a redhead – who took her carefully and tenderly. Then they all climbed up the countless flights of stairs until they reached the top. Bright light filtered through when they opened the door into the outside world and stepped out.

All except one.

Room after room, floor after floor, she destroyed everything in sight. She smashed objects, obliterated walls, pounded her fists into metal tables and holo-systems. And when it all burned to the ground she was still inside it.

The feed cut out. The room was eerily silent as we processed what we’d just witnessed.

Whatever they had done to that woman had clearly been a mistake, for they had created a weapon that not only prevented them from controlling her but allowed her to strike back.

Only two questions remained: did she survive the destruction she’d caused, and was she now a new danger to the Intergalactic Union?

‘What the fuck?’ asked Bromm, his voice cutting through the silence like the sharpest blade.

‘How does that help us?’ Henrik asked, and one glance at his green complexion proved how much that footage had freaked him out. Even I had to admit it wasn’t easy to watch, and I had been part of a few bloody battles.

‘That, my friends, was Subject A-173. Her friends call her Artemis,’ Markus informed us, and both Addy and I inhaled sharply as that information sunk in.

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