Condition Black by Tom Barber

Author:Tom Barber [Barber, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2014-01-06T23:00:00+00:00

‘Hold on a minute.’

‘What?’ Olson asked. ‘You see something?’

‘There’s a second parking space in the garage,’ Miller said. ‘That means there’s a second vehicle.’

‘Correct.’

‘So where the hell is it?’

Pause.

‘How many of you work here?’

‘Five,’ Olson said, glancing at Garcia and Weathers.

Miller turned. ‘So where are the other two?’

‘Out at the Markers.’

‘What Markers?’

‘Two mining posts. They’ve been there for a couple of hours. You haven’t met them yet.’

Miller stared at the man, dumbfounded.

‘Jesus Christ. Gunfire, screaming and Keller appearing in the middle of the desert, and you didn’t think to tell me you had two guys out there?’

‘I didn’t think it was important. They do it every night. No big deal.’

Miller continued to stare at him in disbelief.

Garcia and Weathers glanced at each other, the atmosphere charged and tense.

‘So where are these Markers?’ Miller asked after a moment.

‘Over that ridge. Marker A and Marker B,’ Olson said, pointing outside towards the right, the opposite side of the moon from where the Spartans had crashed. ‘Two guys. Dawson and Harrison.’

‘Are they armed?’

‘No. Why would they be?’

Miller swore, walking over to the comms equipment. The buttons for the Markers were clearly marked; he pushed one with A printed on the key, not waiting for Olson to show him, severely pissed off at this sudden revelation.

‘Dawson, Harrison, do you copy, over?’

Silence.

‘Dawson, Harrison?’

Silence.

Miller pushed the button for B beside it.

‘Dawson, Harrison, do you copy over?’

Silence.

Miller’s anger rose by the second.

Stay here, his mind screamed at him. Stay here. You don’t need to go out there. They aren’t your responsibility. You only just met these people.

No unnecessary risks, Miller.

He checked his watch and swore, long and hard, his sense of duty overpowering everything else.

He turned to the trio, who were standing there silently, and focused on Olson.

‘Get the keys to the truck. We’re going to get them.’

‘You don’t need to,’ Garcia said. ‘Stay here. They’ll be back soon.’

‘He’s right, they’ll be fine,’ Weathers said. ‘They do this every night.’

‘Then why the hell aren’t they responding?’ Miller said, heading for the door with his assault rifle.

On the way, he grabbed the roll of duct tape from the main desk as he passed it. He strode out of the control room and moved down Stairwell A, Olson following close behind.

Miller headed down the ground floor corridor and passed through the two other doors leading to the garage. He walked down the steps and towards the Dodge as he checked his assault rifle then slung it over his shoulder.

He pulled down the rear gate and dragged out the bodies of Haas then Rodriguez, laying the two men carefully to one side.

Slamming the gate shut, he opened the back door to get Keller, but stopped in his tracks.

Olson joined him and noticed Miller had paused.

‘What’s wrong?’

Miller stared at the back seat in disbelief.

Keller’s body was gone.

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