Evolution

Phillip Crowley was sound asleep, and it took a few seconds for the fact that the house phone was ringing to seep through his fuddled brain. All that he could manage was to reach out and pick it up with a "Hello?" "Mr Crowley, this is Chief Inspector Cheeseman, based in Bournemouth. I am connected with the Agency. I need you to be awake enough to have an important and sensible conversation with you." That caught him, and he suddenly felt the adrenaline rush in and perk up his brain. Did he just mention the Agency? He was quickly awake and said "Chief Inspector, talk to me." Now it was the time for the Chief Inspector to be caught out. "Um, Mr Crowley..." "Chief Inspector, get on with it. I realise, more than most, more than you may realise, that since you are cold-calling me at this ridiculous hour then things are happening, so stop dithering. Tell me, and tell me true. Now!" Shaken, but the professional Police Officer that he was, he managed to answer "Mr Crowley, all of your family is alive and well, but we have a ... situation." His hairs stood up on the back of his neck. He hadn't heard that for a few years. "Talk." "I will say that, at this time, I do not have all of the situation information available to me, but suffice it to say that your son and your daughter-in-law are well. They are being looked after in Southampton Hospital -" "What the hell are you talking about?" "Mr Crowley, I am trying to get there! Your granddaughter is also alive and well, but we can't get into the house so that we can actually speak to her, or collect her up." A stunned silence spoke volumes to the Chief Inspector. Finally "What do you mean - 'you can't get into the house'? What the hell are you talking about?" He heard the man at the other end sigh. He sounded very tired. "I wish I could answer that in some way that makes sense. I can't, so you will have to accept that what I tell you is the most accurate information that I have available to me at this time. Whatever, I need your presence at the hospital with your son and your daughter-in-law, as soon as you can. I am currently at the house that your son and daughter in law live in. We have a car waiting outside your house now. Please do not delay." Disbelief in his voice, he managed "You have a car? Outside? Now?" He moved from the bed and pulled the curtain to one side, where he saw the large executive saloon sat outside. He returned to the phone "I will be three minutes." and he hung up. He sped through the house, collecting a few items and getting dressed. He then ran downstairs and out of the front door, walking quickly to the car. He approached it and the driver leaned out with a "Mr Crowley?" "Yes, that's me." "Please get in the back, sir. I have my instructions to take you to your destination." "Oh, good." He stopped, before he got into the car. "And where might that be?" "The Southampton Hospital, sir. Where your -" "No, no. I don't know what your orders are but they are changed. Get me to my son's house now. The hospital can wait." The driver spoke into a microphone, and Phillip hung back from getting into the car. The driver had a few words into a microphone but eventually came back with "Your son's house it is, sir. Please get in." He did so, and sat down, automatically putting the belt across him. "How long before we get there?" he asked the driver. "Around fifteen minutes, sir. Please sit back and try to relax." What? Fifteen minutes? It's over a hundred miles away. In a tense voice, which the driver couldn't fail to pick up on "Driver, some questions, and answer what you can. Do you have a name, and are you just a driver, or do you have information on this situation?" Making some last minute adjustments to his controls, the driver replied "My name is David. My last name is not really necessary, but it is Anderson. I have very little information on the current status of the incident, so I would only confuse you. It seems that there are a lot of people who are confused at the moment - I'll go one further on that. I know of nobody who is NOT confused." "Thank you." He went pensive, and then "Oh, yes. How are you proposing to get over one hundred miles away in fifteen minutes? I don't care how good a driver you are, the road system won't allow it." "Who said we were going to use the roads?" The driver was smiling now, and Phillip could sense it in the voice. Not use the roads? Then how the hell...? Now what? "Please relax sir. Everything here is under my control." and then the car lifted, straight up. Phillip immediately tensed, but said nothing, while the world literally fell away from him. The car continued to climb, straight up, for a few moments, and then levelled off, and moved forwards, gaining speed as it went. "Ah...I think I see how we are going to arrive in record time." "Sorry, sir, but I have my instructions, and part of that is to get you to the destination as soon as possible, in one piece. That does not allow me much time to explain a great deal, such as this car." He eventually relaxed and shrugged. He chuckled. "David, you and I will have to have some drinks when I get this sorted out. You'll have to tell me a lot, I reckon. I've been away too long from the projects. I think this car was only someone's idea, on a drawing board, when I left, and that was only three years ago! David, this is amazing. To have come so far, in such a short time! Wow, I have a ton of stuff to get up to speed on." "Yes, sir. Let's get to that after tonight." He looked out and could see the ground speeding by. It was dark, but random lights flashed underneath him, and he knew that this technology was something to be impressed by. "David, let me know when we are arriving. I need to catch five minutes." "As you wish, sir." Phillip went quiet, and felt himself sag into the contours of the extremely comfortable seat. He needed to think, and he was very good at taking himself away, mentally, and working through issues and problems in minutes instead of hours. He had a 'knack' of shutting out the world. He let his mind wander, as he went over the current patterns. His son and daughter-in-law were both 'safe', in hospital. What did that mean, 'safe'? His granddaughter was at the house, alone, and for some reason nobody was able to get in? Had he heard that correctly? That made no sense. She was only three, for heaven's sake! What the hell was going on here? The Agency was involved. That, to him, spoke volumes. He knew that his son was somehow connected to the Agency, as he had been for over twenty years. With the tight security that was always invoked he knew nothing about the work that his son was doing, or had been doing for the last five years. He knew better than to ask, and his son was professional enough not to volunteer. Which left him with... nothing. He didn't have a thing to go on, so he had no option but to wait until he got to the house. "We are coming in to land sir. Don't release the seat belt until I have parked." The car came in fast and low, and stopped within an incredibly short distance. Have they got an artificial gravity, too? "Thank you, David. A nice ride." He opened the door and was met by the Chief Inspector. "Mr Crowley, welcome. I'm Cheeseman. Let's walk and I'll tell you what I can on the way." "Fair enough." They both strode in a determined fashion. "Little to update you with. The house is secure, with nobody able to get in, and I am presuming nobody can get out. We picked up your relatives an hour ago, from the front of the house. It was suggested by the officers first on the scene that they looked as if they had been thrown there, but we have no idea who by. We have tried calling to the inside of the house but nobody answers." They had arrived at the house, and Phillip just stood there, looking at the scene. When the Chief Inspector had said that nobody could get in, he had not been too accurate with his description. To Phillip, newly arrived, it looked as if a huge half-football had been dropped over the whole house. A bubble, or perhaps a dome, covered it all. He saw immediately that the front door was smashed in. Just what the hell had happened here...? What the hell is this...? "Mr Crowley, if you have any ideas, then please share them. We are stumped. We had four of our officers try to get through and it just bounced them back. They are slightly damaged, through impact, but they will be fine. We simply, at this stage, don't know what to do next." Phillip just stood there, nothing in particular going through his mind. He had no idea what this was, in front of him, and no idea of how to cope with it. "Chief Inspector, I have no idea. Who have you called?" "Everyone. I have some boffins from the Military on their way, but they are miles away. We are trying to secure the area, but there doesn't look to be much in the way of hostiles. This isn't anything that I have dealt with before. There are no phone calls, no terrorism, no threats from anyone." They both stood there, looking at it. Eventually Phillip had to say something. "Well, that's a first in my books. Nothing makes sense, so how do we react to it? You said that some of your people were hospitalised by approaching? What happened?" "We didn't know any more then to what we do know now. We had a couple of people try to approach it, but when they touched that screen, or 'field', whatever you want to call it, it was as if they had a massive electric shock, and it threw them back. After that, we gave up trying to get near it." "Let's get closer. I want to see that field up close." They both walked slowly up towards the dome, and stopped some ten feet from it. It had a range of colours running through it, rather like oils mixing. He looked at the dome, then looked at the Chief Inspector. "It's got me stumped. This is Science Fiction made real." He was about to continue when a soft voice popped into his head. Grandpa, is that you? He jumped. "What? What the - Jody, is that you?" Easy, Grandpa. I'll explain. First off, don't speak. The police man next to you will wonder what's going on. Secondly, just think things. You and I need to have a talk, and I don't want anyone else to be part of it. Thirdly, do you know how mum and dad are? I've been a bit busy here. "Jody -" Then he stopped, and recalled what was just said. Jody, what is this? Explain to your old Grandpa - please? The Chef Inspector caught him starting to speak and voiced "Mr Crowley? You were saying something?" "No, it was - it was me just running some things through my head. I may have some ideas, but nothing that I can share at the moment. I need to get a bit closer." Without waiting for an agreement he just walked right up to the dome, stopping just two feet from it. "Mr Crowley, please -" "Yes, yes, Chief Inspector. I will be careful. Tell me, do you know if this causes any radio interference? Do your people have any reception issues with their radio transmission?" "Not that I know of. I will ask - and please be careful!" He turned away, to call to a sergeant close by. Jody, I'm here by the dome. Talk to me, kiddo. What's happened, and why is this dome up? I need to know if you can come through the dome. I have some things here that I need to get sorted out, and I'm not sure that I can do them by myself. Would you be able to help me, Grandpa? Jody, I am here to help out in any way that I can, you should know that, beautiful, but you have to tell me what's going on. I can't guess all of this. There was silence for a few seconds and then OK, Grandpa. I'm going to open a door in the dome and I want you to walk through it. I need to close it after you, because I don't know who else out there can be trusted. Shocked, all he could manage was Jody, you are going to have to explain that. I will, but first of all, can you make sure that there is a 24x7 guard on my parents? They need to be secure. Taken aback by what this three year old was asking, he managed to turn to the Chief Inspector. "Mr Cheeseman, I need your assurances that my son and his wife will be guarded, 24x7. What this is part of I don't as yet know, but I need maximum security around all of the personnel involved - including me, starting now." Surprised by the request, Cheeseman could only say "I'll get some people on to it." "Thanks. I need confirmation from them that they are in place, and that they know what they are doing. Mr Cheeseman, there is a lot riding on this. This whole crazy thing today is not an accident. Something happened here, and I aim to find out what. You might want to set up perimeter blocks, perhaps a half-mile away. I don't want any surprises. And tell your people to be on the lookout for vehicles that are parked and observing. Don't intercept them, just tell me." Even more surprised, all that the Chief Inspector could answer was "I'll get it sorted now." With that he was talking to other officers, getting them to take messages. OK, Jody, if we are going to do this, it better be soon. I'm available but only for a few seconds. Good. When I say, just walk into the dome. It'll let you through, but I will need to close it afterwards. Jody, my little lovely, you have a lot of explaining to do. You are only three years old, and yet you are running this show. He smiled. Good girl! OK, Grandpa, here we go. The cloudy dome in front of him seemed to clear, and then there was a space, a door. Now, Grandpa. and he stepped through, continuing to walk towards the house. Behind him there were shouts and cries from various people, but he ignored them. He assumed that the dome was now closed again. Jody, I'm in, and just outside the house. What do you want me to do next? He saw the damage to the door to the house, and knew that something violent had happened here. He stepped over the splintered frame and walked in. We need to meet and then go over a few things. Fair enough. I'm on my way. Just where are you, sweetheart? I'm in the kitchen. Come on through. On my way, baby. He knew every part of the house, so he went through the hallway and turned into the kitchen. He was very surprised to see his granddaughter in the centre of the kitchen, and he was even more surprised to see that she was about five feet off the ground! Just floating there. He could see that her eyes were closed - she looked as if she was asleep. Jody, I'm here, and I'm right next to you. Good. Can you get ready to catch me? Just put your hands under me and don't let me fall. He did as he was asked, and felt his heart skip a beat when she dropped into his arms. He gently repositioned her so that her head was on his shoulder, and she was cradled like a baby. Jody, Jody, Jody, what are we into here? he asked, very gently. She didn't move or wake, but she did reply. I'm not too sure myself. Can we go into the lounge? There are some things there that you need to see. He walked through the house to the lounge, carrying her quietly all the time. He was shocked to walk in to the room and see six black-clad masked men - he assumed that they were men - also in the room, and also floating about five feet off the ground. Softly, as he didn't have a clue what this was all about, he asked Jody, explain, baby. I don't have all of the details, but I'm sure that it's connected to dad and his work. We three were all OK at home when they burst in and got a hold of mum and dad. I was upstairs in my room, playing so I didn't understand it at first. When they started attacking mum and dad I could feel the pain that they were in and came to see what was going on. I went into the kitchen so as not to disturb things. Grandpa, I don't know how to explain it but I could 'see' everything in the lounge - please believe me. Jody, I'm not about to doubt you. Tell me what happened next. I could see that these men had bags, and they were putting their hands in and pulling out stuff, which I think is explosive. He looked around and could see four bombs in the centre. Oh crap. Jody, are these live? Yes, they are, but I have a hold on them at the moment, but I can't keep them suppressed forever. I picked up mum and dad and had to throw them out of the house, to get them out of harm's way, while I tried to work out what to do with these creeps. I put the bubble up after that. I needed time to see what was happening. Jody, we need to leave, or we need to get these people out of here. This could blow at any time. I figure about five minutes. That's time enough. Time? For what? Go and have a word with that police officer. I need a large van - armoured if they have it - backed up against the shield. Tell them to open the back doors first. When it's in position I will extend the shield and then load this lot, and their explosives into it. Then I will retract the shield and they will have to close the doors and get the van somewhere safe. There's a car park just down the road. I would advise that it is driven into the middle of it and then the driver had better run, fast, away from it. Grandpa, I really can't hold this much longer than that, I'm afraid. He turned his head and gently kissed the cheek of his granddaughter. Holy shit. Sorry, beautiful. That's what we call a rude word. You'll get the hang of it while you grow up. Jody, we'd better get things moving then! He turned and walked back to the front door. When he got there he saw the people milling around. "Mr Cheeseman, please don't argue. We are running on a small time window here. I need a large armoured van reversed against this shield, and I need it now! Open the back doors first, as we have some dangerous things to go into it. Can you get on that now? I'll tell you the next bit after you have started that off." "Damn it, Crowley - alright!" He turned and yelled at some of his staff, and they ran off. "We have one - sixty seconds." "Good. I need a way cleared down to the car park just down the road, and I need that park to be cleared - nothing in it! This armoured van is to be driven into the middle of it and then abandoned. Whoever is driving it might have seconds to get clear, because it might well blow up on us, so don't delay this anywhere along the line. Understood?" "Understood, even though I don't understand. How is your granddaughter?" "She looks to be fine, but I need to clear this up first - we can talk later." "Understood." The van roared up towards the house and turned, and two people jumped out of the back, pushing the doors fully open. It then reversed until it was inches from the shield. The driver called out "Ready Mr Cheesemen!" "Crowley, what next?" Jody, it's up to you, now. The men from the lounge floated up and moved out into the hall and out of the front door, closely followed by all of the bags and bombs that they had brought into the house. Crowley looked as the shield seemed to grow outwards and form a seal with the rear of the van, and this was followed by six men and their belongings flowing into the van. The seal came away and reformed. Grandpa, close the doors and get that van far away from here. "Close those doors! Van driver - you know what to do?" he called out. "I do, sir." "Go, get away, then. And don't delay. Park it and get far away from the van. Now! Go!" He accelerated away and everyone watched him go. It took less than two minutes for the van to turn into the park and roar into the middle. The driver was good, and he slowed and pulled on the hand brake. The van stopped and the driver was out, running away as fast as he could. He got two hundred feet away, and started to slow down, and turned. The van was isolated, except for another small number of vehicles littered around the edges. With no notice it blew, creating a small mushroom cloud, and blowing the van driver some forty feet further away from where he had been standing. Down the road they could all see the cloud. Jody, that was close. I know. Too close. I will try to not let that happen again. Jody, what happened here? What happens when you wake up? Will you remember any of this? I don't know. I've never done it before. That's an interesting thought. I'm a good defender, so long as I'm asleep. Rather like having an invisible man who is only invisible just so long as nobody is looking at him. Can you get the police to look after everything? Secure the house and such? I think we need to get to see mum and dad. "Mr Cheeseman, can you get this area secure? We need to get to my son and his wife now." "We can. I don't suppose you'd like to explain anything?" He let it drift off, knowing that there would be no explanation. "Mr Cheeseman, can we get to the car, with you, and then move to my family? I fear I may need you to open some doors when we get to the other end. Please check that full security is in place around them." "Granted." he spoke briefly into a radio and received an acknowledgement that it was all in place. "It's all good, Mr Crowley." By then they were at the car, with the driver ready. "Mr Anderson. Good to see you. Ready for another trip?" He looked at the police officer, who nodded. "It seems, Mr Crowley, that you are calling a lot of the shots. Just don't give me too many surprises, please." They all got into the car, with Phillip still holding his granddaughter, fast asleep, on his shoulder. Ready for the trip, Jody? I'm ready. If this night shows anything, it seems that I was born ready. The car lifted and moved at great speed off towards the hospital housing Crowley's son and daughter-in-law. "Can I get a status update? Are they awake yet?" "No, not yet. No further information is available."