Pacific Rim: Iceland: Crisis/Opportunity
The new Breach represents both danger and possibility … or does it?
[Author's Note: This follows Pacific Rim: Iceland. It is four years after the destruction of the first Breach.]
It was three days after their return from Iceland. Newton, Hermann, Dee and Elle entered the research laboratory in the UN building in Singapore to the sound of a chainsaw. They joined Marshall Hercules Hansen at the autopsy table. Dr Makoto Sekido, a Japanese forensic specialist, was hacking away at the corpse of one of the 'dogs' that had come out of the Iceland Breach, as it was now designated. She looked as if she was having a good time, chopping into the creature's armour as bits and pieces flew everywhere. Several bullets sailed through the air and clattered onto the floor.
"Uh, you know it's already dead, right?" said Dee. It was no secret that the Japanese had a particular hatred for any sort of Kaiju. Which was entirely understandable.
Dr Sekido stopped the chainsaw and pushed her visor up. "This is a wonderful opportunity," she said. "As far as we can tell, this creature is very much like the big ones, aside from the size, of course. Made from the same stuff, just less of it. We've never really had the chance to dissect one before. Pity they're such tough critters. Can't use ordinary surgical tools. I had to borrow this from a building site down the street."
She began to re-start the chainsaw but Hansen stopped her. "What else can you tell us from what you have … done … so far?" he said.
Dr Sekido put down the saw and removed her visor and gloves. "Well, these things were not designed primarily as marine creatures, like the first-gen Kaiju," she said. "They are essentially land animals, some sort of scout, as you thought, Dr Geiszler. They breathe atmosphere, have much the same tolerances to heat and cold and pressure as we do. I've also done the estimates of strength and speed that you requested, Marshall. The bottom line is that there may be a liveable environment on the other side of the Breach. Not pleasant, but comparable. Probably why the Precursors want to conquer us."
She led the others to a bench with an array of equipment. "Something interesting came up on the DNA analysis," she continued, calling up a series of images on a screen. "These creatures do not have the same DNA structure as the others. Some important markers have been removed. There is still a lot we don't know about this but my guess is that the Precursors realised how they were tricked by Gipsy Danger, opening the portal by hanging onto Slattern. They have removed the possibility of that happening again. It is now a one-way gate only."
Newton nodded. "Yes, that fits with the readings we took," he said. "But if they couldn't get back, how would the Precursors get any information they collected?"
Dr Sekido called up another series of images. They were dissections of the creatures' brains. She pointed to an odd-looking, over-developed area. "We suspect that this is the source of the hive mind component of their consciousness," she said. "The Precursors must have some sort of telepathic connection with them, a sort of built-in radio. We might even be able to find the frequency, or its equivalent. So the Precursors would know that these creatures are dead, and know they were killed as soon as they came out of the Breach. They might even have an idea of who killed them."
"Oh, they already know us," said Newton. "We're old friends."
Dr Sekido sighed. "Of course, to learn more we really need a live subject," she said.
"A live … Kaiju?" saidHermann. "But even the ones this size are … murderous."
Hansen scratched his stubble. "Dr Sekido," he said, "I'll see what I can do."
Don't like the sound of that, thought Newton.
The site of the Iceland Breach had once been a bare plain of stone and sand but now it was a hive of activity, with a cluster of temporary military buildings and hangars. Above the Breach itself was an odd-looking scaffold tower. A host of weapons were trained on the Breach. The whole complex was surrounded by wire fences.
A lot had happened in a fortnight.
Newton and Hermann got out of the chopper and looked around. Dee and Elle had been here for several days, but the two men did not know what they had been doing.
Herc Hansen came over to them as the chopper pulled away. Dr Sekido was with him. "You're just in time," Hansen said. "If your figures are correct, Dr Gottlieb, the next opening of the Breach should happen within the hour. With a dilation of slightly under 1.3 metres."
" 'If'? " said Hermann.
"Quite a project you have going on here," said Newton, looking around.
"And the hardest part has been keeping it secret," said Hansen. "The news is going to leak eventually, and then we expect to be up to our ears in Church of Kaiju people. Or black marketeers. Both, probably."
"Darling!" shouted a female voice. Dee Delacroix came running up to them, and flung herself into Hermann's arms, a process which almost knocked him over. She kissed him passionately.
"Deeee!" hissed Hermann. "Not in front of the Marshall! Please! And people are staring."
And, indeed, all the soldiers and techs were looking at them, some with large grins and some with expressions of bemused puzzlement.
Hansen laughed. "Come on," he said to Hermann and Newton. "Let me show you the girls' new toys."
He led them into one of the hangars.
There were two robots there. Six metres tall. Built for combat.
"Fuck!" said Newton.
"Indeed," said Hermann.
There was an older man in overalls working on them. He came over to them.
"Hi," he said, shaking hands with Newton and Hermann. "We've met before, but it was a fair while ago. I'm Trent."
"Yes, I remember," said Newton. "The Southern Line. You drove the Fury Hell's Bells."
"And then you went to South America to work on the Jaeger program there," said Hermann. "I saw some of the code you wrote for Condor Shield. It was … acceptable."
Coming from Hermann, this was high praise.
"With his background of Furies and Jaegers, Trent was the logical person to bring in for this aspect of the project," said Hansen. "We call them Mustangs."
One of the Mustangs moved. It walked over to them. Newton was surprised how steady and fluid its movements were, even though it had a massive rifle attached to one arm and a sling-blade attached to the other. He thought that it probably had some Kaiju-clone silicon in its circuitry and joints. It was almost graceful, underpinned by strength and confidence. The way it moved reminded him of –
"Hi, sweetie," it said to him, in a voice both robotic and familiar.
"Elle!" he said. "That's you in there!?"
A panel at the front swung open. It was his wife, strapped in to a collection of servos and sockets. She blew him a kiss, the arm of the Mustang following her movements.
"The Mustangs are more like Furies than Jaegers, at least as far as operating systems go," said Trent. "No neural interface, they work on a movement-echo basis. This one is Apache. The one that Ranger Delacroix will drive is called Blackhawk. Their capacities are limited but they should do the job."
"And what job is that?" said Hermann.
From outside, a klaxon sounded.
"Game time," said Hansen.
Dee climbed into Blackhawk.
Hansen led Newton and Hermann and the others to a raised platform overlooking the Breach as the Mustangs took up positions on either side of the Breach. There was, Newton noticed, a lot of activity on the tower.
There was a tech sitting at a console, reading information from scanners arrayed around the Breach.
"Pathway stabilising … now," she read. "Dilation at 1.274 metres and holding. Movement. Three, by the look of it. And we are picking up the hive signal as well."
The first creature burst out of the Breach. It was the size of a grizzly bear, and moved like one, but it had the armoured exoskeleton of all Kaiju. Two more appeared in a moment.
"Fire the pod," said Hansen.
From the tower, an object the size of a suitcase went catapulting down into the Breach.
Newton realised what it was: a sensor package. In a few seconds, a flow of data and images appeared on the tech's screen.
"Breach closing, losing contact with pod." said the tech. "Closed, and gone. Time between final exit and full closure, six seconds. But we got a good slab of data."
"Initiate blocking signal," said Hansen. The tech flicked some switches and one of the machines near the mouth of the Breach sparked into life.
The creatures gave a sudden howl … and then stopped.
"Go," said Hansen.
The guns around the Breach began to fire, targeting two of the creatures. They went down, but were obviously only wounded. They were already starting to get to their feet.
From the tower, something dropped. It was a massive cage. It went over the third creature. At the foot of the cage, pegs were automatically driven into the ground.
"You know, that's probably not going to work," said Newton.
"Quiet," said Hansen. He activated the radio. "Ranger Castro, Ranger Delacroix, you're up," he said.
The Mustangs came running forward, firing at the two creatures. The bullets whacked into the Kaijus, but they were far from finished. One of them leaped at Apache. But Elle was ready. She swivelled, and the blade slashed into the creature, cleaving it to the core. It crashed to the ground, dead.
"Remember, I want at least one alive," said Dr Sediko.
"I know what you want, Doctor," said Hansen. "But my priorities are my Rangers, and ensuring that these things don't reach open country."
The other creature was trying to get past Blackhawk. It put its head down and, on all fours, began to run. It was fast.
But Dee was faster. She slammed one of the Mustang's feet onto the creature's neck, pinning it to the ground. But it started to push back, almost toppling the machine. Dee put the rifle to its head and fired a long burst. The creature went still.
The one in the cage was heaving at the bars, smashing into them again and again. The pegs securing it to the ground began to dislodge.
Suddenly, the cage went over and the creature was out. It charged at the nearest target: the tower. It crashed into it, and the structure, with a dozen people on it, began to go over.
"I've got it!" came Dee's voice over the radio. Blackhawk ran forward and grasped the frame, stabilising it. The creature charged at her – and then was lifted bodily into the air by Apache. It struggled but the Mustang was keeping it off its feet, holding it by the neck with both hands.
"I can't hold it for long!" said Elle. "Damn thing just won't quit! Dee, do the injection thing, and hurry!"
Blackhawk had pushed the tower back into place. Now the Mustang advanced towards the creature, drawing its knife. No, Newton thought. It wasn't a knife, it was more like a huge syringe. For the first time, he saw that there was a tank of green fluid on Blackhawk's back.
Blackhawk punched into the struggling creature, ripping a chunk of armour away. Dee rammed the syringe into the exposed flesh, and the fluid pumped in.
Gradually, the creature's struggle weakened. It sagged into unconsciousness. Elle lowered it to the ground and the two Mustangs put the cage over it. Soldiers ran forward and fastened the cage to the ground again.
"There you go, Dr Sediko," said Hansen. "A live one."
Newton, amazed, could only stare. Then Hermann leaned close to him and whispered: "This will not end well, I fear."
"Heard that, buddy," Newton whispered back.
END (BUT TO BE CONTINUED)