Chapter Two
The drive to the Lakes was long, over 200 miles, and it was lunchtime when Ian's BMW finally pulled up outside the facility nestled in the craggy hills of the Lake District. The car's sat nav had experienced some trouble with the narrow, winding, hilltop-hugging roads, and Ian was just relieved to have made it in one piece. Sometimes he wondered if a good old-fashioned map would serve its purpose better than the high-tech gadget.
Nah! he decided, and smiled. The sat nav was a nice toy.
"I like the car" A male voice greeted him as soon as his door was open. Ian stood and regarded the man openly, his expression friendly.
"Thanks" he said. "I'm Luke Bosworth"
"Charles Hansom. We've been expecting you"
He held out his hand for Ian to shake. He was a tall man, with greying hair, and he wore a lab coat over a comfortable jumpers, cord trousers and brown loafers. Thick glasses were perched on his head. He looked every inch the pleasant scientist.
Or librarian Ian mused.
"How was your drive?" Charles asked, leading him towards the building. Ian made some small-talk answer while he followed the scientist, subtly checking out the building as much as he could.
Built into the hillside at the end of a steep and winding road, the facility couldn't been seen from the air, or indeed from very far away overland. It was a dull green-grey colour to blend into the landscape, and unless you knew what you were looking for, the eye woulddrift over it without noticing a thing.
There were, Ian knew, many such places dotted around the country. Government records had to be kept somewhere secure, as did other sensitive information. This particular facility, however, didn't belong to the government. It belonged to a private multinational, who used it as a scientific research base. It was underground, secure, and its staff were highly qualified and vetted and behaved with the utmost discretion.
Which was why a number of bribes had failed, and MI6 needed an agent on the inside. Ian had the relevant qualifications once he'd taken over the role of 'Luke Bosworth'. A graduate of Cambridge, Bosworth had been killed in a car accident just a month previously. He'd applied for a position at the facility as a lab technician only a few weeks before his death, but hadn't got the job. The successful applicant had met with his own unfortunate death a week later and Luke Bosworth, now looking thinner, healthier and somewhat blonder, had agreed to take his place. Luckily, the recruiting officer was based in America and had no plans to visit the Lake District facility anytime soon.
Just inside the heavy concrete doorway Ian found himself in a small lift compartment.
"Going down" Hansom said, and the lift lurched slightly as it began its descent.
Ian knew that the shaft was 120 feet deep, but he counted the time it took to make the descent anyway, just to make sure. The doors finally opened onto a long corridor with strip lighting, doors opening off it at regular intervals.
"I'll give you the tour now" Hansom said, motioning Ian to go first. "And then you can have some lunch. This place may look grim but we eat well"
"Good" Ian grinned. "I'm starving"
"Tour won't take long" Hansom assured him. "I can only show you the areas you have clearance for. That's….Lab 1, the Supply Room where you'll be working, sleeping quarters, the gym, and the canteen. Not much really…" He glanced at Ian. "Uh…sorry. You only have level four clearance"
"Don't worry" Ian said. "I only need level four clearance. I'm just a technician!"
Hansom laughed softly. "Yes…well, this way!"
Ten minutes later Ian had seen the few rooms Hansom had listed. If they were to be his life for the next few weeks, he was going to have to think of ways to pass the time. Staring at the same featureless walls and wandering the same few corridors would drive him crazy if he wasn't careful.
Luckily, he'd packed his walkman. Unluckily, his portable television almost certainly wouldn't receive a signal at this depth.
Every door in the complex had a card machine, into which a key card had to be inserted for the door to open. Ian's card would only open the doors he had clearance for, so even if he knew what was behind every door, he wouldn't be able to get through them without some trickery. He already had a mental map of the place, that had been included in the case file. He was glad to note that everything he saw matched with that plan. However, it was still going to be difficult to move around outside of his designated work areas.
"Well, that's the tour" Hansom opened another blank door onto a large grey room. "This is the canteen"
The room had the same yellowish strip lighting as the rest of the facility, the kind that hurt your eyes after too long spent in it, and gave everyone's skin a sickly pallor. Metal tables were bolted to the floor at regular intervals, with metal chairs scattered around them. A long counter at one end was manned by men wearing blue hairnets, and the smell of food made Ian's stomach grumble.
"I have to be off" Hansom said, "so make yourself… oh, Scott!"
A young man in a lab coat who had stepped past them stopped and turned. "Yes Mr. Hansom?"
"Scott, this is Luke Bosworth, the new technician…"
Scott smiled. "Hello"
"Hello" Ian took the proffered hand. Scott was light-haired, dark-eyed and slender, a couple of inches shorter than Ian. He looked like a student, he still had acne which looked worse than it probably was under the garish lighting.
"Can I leave him in your capable hands?" Hansom was saying. "It's his first day"
"Sure" Scott nodded and waved at Ian. "This way"
He led the way to the food counter, grabbed a plate, shoved another at Ian, and looked the older man up and down openly.
"You don't look much like a technician"
Ian raised an eyebrow. Surely my cover hasn't been blown already? Thoughts of the 'other agent' Blunt had mentioned flitted across his mind.
"Oh?" he said. "Well, I haven't put my lab coat on yet. Or my glasses…"
Scott grinned. "Yeah, that's probably it. I mean, you look too normal. You should see some of the freaks that work here"
Ian smiled, inwardly relieved. It was probably a compliment not to look like he worked there.
"Yeah, we have some weirdos" Scott continued. "Lasagne please"
One of the blue hairnet men scooped lasagne onto his plate. "Not that it matters, everyone's pretty much working, all the time. Not a lot of socialising, y'know"
"Oh." Ian copied the young man in choosing lasagne and followed him down the table to get drinks.
"None at all?" he asked disappointedly.
"Not enough" Scott bemoaned. "The gym's alright but that's just for exercise. We're not really allowed out so unless you run and stuff, you go a bit crazy. Well, I do. Then there's this place, which as you can see isn't exactly the Nu Bar"
The canteen was about half-full, and Scott chose an empty table by the wall. Looking around, Ian realised that he hadn't seen such a bunch of pale, weak-looking, ill-humoured human beings since… well, since a particularly horrible mission involving a foreign prison.
"I see what you mean" he whispered to Scott as they sat down. "Grim lot, aren't they?"
Scott nodded around a mouthful of food. "I think it's cos there's no windows" he mumbled. "People need light. Without light and fresh air, you become…like them…"
"How long have you been here?" Ian asked, digging into his own food, which was surprisingly good.
"Almost six months. Not long enough to go completely mad. Did you bring any pictures?"
"Pictures?"
"Yeah… you know, photographs, magazine cut-outs…"
Ian thought of the small photo of himself and Alex in his wallet. "Erm…No" he said. "Why?"
"I have this theory" Scott looked conspiratorial. "If you see the outside say, three times a day, it keeps your mood up. You don't get all pale and depressed. I have loads of National Geographics under my bed. I'm trying to run some tests but I don't know who to use as a subject…"
Under his bed? Ian got the impression the boy was actually slightly crazy. Who keeps nature porn underneath their bed?
"Count me out" he said, shaking his head. "I'm not mad yet"
Scott sighed. "Ah well. Y'know, there are some people who've been here like, twelve years"
"Really?" Twelve years. Here?
"Yeah, rumour has it, that guy over there…"
Scott pointed to a little wrinkled man hunched over a bowl of soup at the next table. "He's never seen the light of day"
"Oh no…"
"Oh yes. And don't even get me started on the women"
Ian looked round thoughtfully. "What women?"
"Exactly"
Oh God Ian thought. This is some kind of purgatory…He wondered what he could possibly have done to anger Mr. Blunt so much that he got sent here.
"Also, corridor 10 is supposed to be haunted"
Ian perked up. Hauntings sounded fun.
"Haunted how?"
Scott just shrugged. "Strange noises, bumps in the night, glowing orbs, that kind of thing"
"Hmm…well, my tour only included about three rooms" Ian mused. "What else is here?"
"Ah, you're a lowly technician" Scott smiled. "Like myself. We only need to see about three rooms"
"What else is there?"
Ian already knew, of course, but it was useful to get an employee's idea of the place. Someone who had worked there a while was likely to know things that didn't appear on a simple map of the complex. Like unexplained hauntings, for example.
"Well, there are three labs, and one supply office where the technicians work. I'm the technician for Lab 2, you're Lab 1, and Christian, who's a complete weirdo by the way, is Lab 3. Then there are about a dozen storerooms, each at the end of a secure corridor. Corridor 13 leads to the Quiet Chamber, and that's it"
"You're allowed to tell me all that?"
Scott shrugged again. "Just because you're not allowed in doesn't mean you can't know they're there. Nothing interesting down there anyway. If there was, this lot wouldn't look so glum. At least, that's what I figure"
Ian nodded his agreement. "What's the Quiet Chamber?" That hadn't been on the map he'd memorised.
"I'm not sure. I heard Christian mention it one day. To be honest I think he was annoyed that I overheard. Only the Controller goes there"
"Who's he?"
Ian studied Scott carefully. He looked uncomfortable, like he was having second thoughts about mentioning the room. Might be worth investigating, especially if only the Controller uses it…
"There" Scott said. "By the door"
A huge blonde man was stood where Scott pointed, talking to another scientist in a white coat. He wore a dark suit, practically burst out of it, in fact. All of his features were strong and prominent atop a thick neck. He fairly exuded physical power, but Ian couldn't place his age to within ten years. 30-50 was his best guess.
"Big bloke" Ian remarked.
"Yeah" Scott agreed. "Don't get on his bad side"
Ian started to laugh, then trailed off as he saw Scott's look. "What?"
"I'm not kidding" Scott said. "He runs this place like a ship, and he has a temper. Everyone tries to stay out of his way"
Ian searched for something to say, but before he could reply a tray thudded down next to his own, followed by a dark-haired woman. Her hair was in a bun at the back of her head, but she brushed a loose strand away from her face in annoyance.
"Hi" she said, and stabbed a fork into her food.
"Hi Julia. This is Luke Bosworth"
"Nice to meet you" Julia said, putting out a hand for Ian to shake. She met his bemused gaze. "Sorry, I'm in a hurry. Got a meeting at one"
"Who with?" Scott asked.
"Controller" Julia shovelled more food, and Scott grimaced.
"Ouch"
"Yeah, wish me luck. What do you do?" she addressed Ian, who was watching her curiously.
She looks normal enough he noted. "I'm the new technician for Lab 1" he said. Julia smiled.
"Great, we've needed you for about a month. I work in Lab 1" she explained.
"Ah…" Ian smiled and exchanged a glance with Scott, who raised his eyebrows.
"What's the meeting about?" Scott asked.
"Eh, some results the Controller didn't like" Julia sighed heavily. "I spent all last week working on these tests but he doesn't agree with my findings so he wants to know what went wrong" She shook her head and Scott looked sympathetic.
"Did anything go wrong?"
"Not in my opinion. We'll see. I have to go!"
The clock on the far wall of the canteen read one o'clock, and the Controller had gone from the doorway. Julia picked up her half-finished meal and waved at the two men. "See you later. Nice to meet you Luke!"
Scott watched her go and sighed. Ian grinned mirthfully, he sounded like a lovesick puppy. With that hair, and dark-framed glasses over big blue eyes, legs ending in killer heels, Julia lookedevery incha naughty schoolmistress.
Which is probably exactly what Scott's thinking Ian decided.
"That was a woman" he remarked.
"Yeah, so there's one woman" Scott agreed. "But she's not interested. It's not exactly a single's bar down here"
"How long has she been here?" Ian had decided she didn't look crazy enough to have been there long.
"Longer than me… seven or eight months" Scott said.
"Oh" Probably is crazy then...
"Hmm. Well, we should get going too. Have you put your stuff away?"
"Erm… I think Hansom said it'd be put in my room"
"Right, well, I'll show you round the Supply Room." He got up and carried his tray to a receptacle by the door. "The job'ssimple enough, when one of the scientists asks for something, we take it to them"
"Think I can manage that" Ian said.
"It's passing the time in between that's difficult" Ian sighed. "Hey, have you ever played chair hockey?"
A/N:Having just seen the film, Ian wason screenjustlong enough to make me interested and then bang! I'd hopedthere were Ian fics but finding none, decided to write my own. Please review, keeps me going!
Hoonah: I will join the campaignfor more Ian fics. I hope this one goes in a good direction...I had an idea for a different mission too so maybe one day i'll write that one. Since we know almost nothing about the character there's really a lot of scope!