En route to the up-state hunting lodge, about 8:00AM, Wednesday 10th March, 2055.

Yuki did indeed manage to catch up with the others. She could have beaten them to the hunting lodge, but we decided to arrive together. You know, the safety in numbers argument. The bigger the group the less likely it is that you'll be the one who gets shot.

It takes us about 40, or so, minutes to reach the lodge. The turning for it off the main road leads on to a 'cosmetically rough' track. This is obviously a place designed to give its corporate clients the feel of being out in the wilderness, while not removing too many creature comforts. The track looks like it could give a rough ride, but is actually smooth enough that the group's street bikes, even Yuki's Shiva, have no trouble with it.

The track leads us through a lightly wooded area with plenty of glades and clearings. Obviously they don't want too many trees blocking the line-of-sight for those eager but green execs out on the hunt. There are plenty of signs of animal life around, but nothing to suggest there are any humans nearby.

As we're driving through, Roland spots several small cameras hidden amongst the undergrowth. It doesn't look like they're there for surveillance. More likely they're used for recording the stalking and killing that the execs are here to enjoy, so they can take home more than just a furry souvenir to show their boardroom pals.

We come across the hunting lodge itself in a large clearing. It's a big 'A' frame building, with a large gravelled area in front of it, that's obviously used as a car park, as well as preventing the ground immediately in front of the lodge from being too churned up by all the vehicles. Not that there are any vehicles present, other than ours that is. Next to the lodge is a large double garage, but with the doors closed it's impossible to tell if there are any vehicles inside it.

We all park up in front of the building, and it's Roland who's first to approach the lodge on foot. Looking into the large glass-fronted reception area, from the wooden decked area that runs along the front of the building, on which several wooden chairs are set, the reception desk can be seen. The computer screen upon it is flashing.

Roland pushes open the door and enters. On the desk is an old fashioned 'press-for-service' bell, like you see in the ever-present re-runs of Fawlty Towers on the TV. By now we've all wandered into the reception area, and can see that the flashing screen reads "Intruders. Stay where you are. Security is on it's way".

Crash approaches the desk. The computer screen switches to displaying advertisements for all things hunting related. He rings the bell. As well as the ring, a faint electronic buzzer can be heard somewhere nearby. Presumably it sounds in one of the offices. We're silent for a few moments, but there's no sound of anyone coming in answer to the bell.

Time to take a better look around. The reception/lounge area runs across the entire front of the ground floor of the building. There are plenty of sofas and coffee tables arranged so guests can relax and watch the woods, and car park, through the buildings glass front. From reception, a corridor stretches back to the far end of the building, where dining tables and chairs can be seen.

I head back outside to have a look around the exterior of the building for any signs of life. Yuki follows me out, but stays in the car park. The others, except Crash, who seems content to repeatedly press the bell, make their way down the corridor. Having split up, we all make use of our radios to let the others know where we are and whether we've found anything interesting.

From outside Yuki calls the hunting lodge's number from her mobile. No answer. So she heads back inside. Just a short way down the corridor is a set of double doors with a button beside them, that the others have walked on past. Yuki presses the button and the doors open. It's obviously a lift, so she gets in and goes up to the first floor.

The lift doors open onto a corridor lined with 5 doors that are probably guest bedrooms. She tries all the doors, but they are locked. She goes back to the first door and gives it a sharp kick. She leaves a good boot print, but the door stays closed. Never one to be put off easily, she kicks it again and again. The door finally gives in and swings open.

The bedroom looks exactly how you'd expect it to given the quaint, 'olde-worlde' English style decoration to be seen throughout the rest of the lodge. Having found nothing exciting, Yuki heads back down to reception.

Meanwhile, the others are slowly dispersing throughout the ground floor of the lodge. Crash has left 'his' bell, and followed Roland and Sykes through the dining area. A pair of swing doors, with porthole-type windows in, leads into a small square ante-room with a door on the left that probably leads through to the garage, and another pair of 'portholed' swing doors on the right, leading through to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the cupboards, larder and fridge are all well stocked. An open bottle of milk is sitting in the fridge door. The fact it still smells fresh says it's been open only a few days at most. Roland and Sykes spot three mugs in a group on the side, next to the kettle. Looking closely at the cups they can see tell that they've been there hours, rather than days, as the small amount of drink left in the bottom hasn't yet dried out.

Roland puts the package in the fridge, and then the three of them set about getting themselves some breakfast.

Shen, meanwhile, has found himself a video editing suite. and sets about looking to see if he can find any clues to what might have happened. But as we suspected on the way up the track, the cameras are used for recording the hunts taking place. If there is a security system for the lodge, it must be administered from somewhere else.

Bored with the video editing suite, he then goes outside, gets on his bike and rides off down the track we came up.

Yuki, back at the front desk, finds the keys to the guest bedrooms, and garage, all hanging on hooks. One hook is empty though. She slips on her bike gloves, belatedly trying not to leave any fingerprints, and sets about trying to access the computer. All she can get is a prompt for a password, so she gives up.

I've now been all round the outside of the building, but have found no signs of life. It plain to see that there's frequent movement of vehicles in and out the garage, but it's impossible to tell how old the most recent tracks are. I've tried both the front and rear doors to the garage, but they're locked.

Heading back in through reception I ask Yuki to follow me to the side door into the garage, from near the dining area. This door is actually already open. Going inside, I can see that there's one 4x4 in residence. Along the side and rear walls of the garage, except where the door I've just come through is, are cupboards, with workspace on top. The workspace is littered with all the paraphernalia you associate with a mechanics workshop. Spanners, cans of oil and spare vehicle parts lie about, giving the place a 'lived in' look.

Yuki, having followed me in, spots that the rear door of the 4x4 is ajar. It's about then we notice the smell. A real bad smell that we're both all too familiar with from our respective careers. The smell of death. She goes over to the 4x4. A strange humming sound can be heard coming from inside.

I close the side door we came through, while Yuki opens the main garage door. Then she goes to the rear door of the 4x4 and opens it, keeping it between her and the interior of the vehicle. A debilitating stench floods into the garage, closely followed by a vast swarm of flies.

The flies and stench slowly clear through the open garage door, and we both look into the back of the 4x4. The trophy from the last hunting trip lies decomposing in the back. A now fly-blown deer. I'm overcome by the sight and smell and lose last night's dinner.

Yuki spies something blue in the front of the 4x4, on the steering wheel and both seats. She goes round to the passenger door, and cautiously opens it. The 'blue stuff' looks like thick, semi-dry emulsion paint. Ominously, there are clothes and boots amongst the gloop. Yuki takes a sample, for later study with her medkit.

Elsewhere, Crash finds a door that is so far untried by anyone. Finding it locked, he kicks it and hurts his foot. Breakfast over with for the moment, Sykes takes the package back out of the fridge.

I decide to have a look through the cupboards in the garage. They're full of the usual garage type stuff, so nothing enlightening there. Except the last cupboard won't open. Then I realise that it does open, upwards! It hinges at the back of the worktop, and clips into a small latch that I hadn't noticed until now. The cupboard lifts to reveal the top of a ladder, leading down into the ground.

Roland enters the garage, and heads straight for the driver's side of the 4x4. He opens the door and begins peering closely at the blue gloop, probably using those cyberoptic implants of his. He finds several metallic objects amongst the goo, including jewellery, fillings and a pacemaker. Interestingly, the fillings and pacemaker show signs of corrosion, while the jewellery does not. Suggesting that whatever dissolved the driver worked from the inside out and was careful to stop at his skin.

Yuki spots the keys of the 4x4 are still in the ignition and removes them, gloopy though they are. She then heads off out the garage to secure the samples she has taken in her medkit.

Elsewhere, Sykes, who's busy reclining in a chair out on the decked area in front of the building, spots a motorbike approaching up the track. It seems Shen has decided to return.

Picking up one of the lamps that is lying around the garage, I turn it on and shine it down the hole. The ladder drops down about three metres and comes to rest on a stone floor. The 'chamber' looks to be about six feet wide and appears to stretch back under the garage, towards the lodge.

Climbing down, it turns out to be a corridor running back under the garage. Three crates are randomly strewn about, and shining the light down the corridor I can see that it runs for about thirty metres, before ending in a wall, with what looks like a large round bulkhead, or vault door, in the centre.

I turn at a sound from above, to find Roland climbing down the ladder. Crash follows him. They both head down the corridor and approach the door.

Shen has now parked his bike and is sat out on the deck talking to Sykes.

After a few seconds thought of the possible consequences, Roland turns the handle in the centre of the door and opens it. The door swings outwards revealing a small two metre square chamber, with another similar door in the far side. A small green light shines within the chamber.

They try the other door, but the handle won't turn. Figuring that the chamber must be an airlock of sorts, they enter. As they pull the first door closed behind them, radio contact with them is lost. I see the handle on the first door turn, and then hear the lock slide into place.

Inside the airlock, Roland and Crash open the second door. It swings out into what looks like a medical or biological research lab, about twenty metres square. Most of the equipment has been smashed, and lies broken on the work surfaces or the floor.

A number of lab coat-wearing splodges of blue gloop attest to the fact that at least some of the scientists died here. Perhaps two of them got out, but only made it as far as the 4x4? Perhaps whatever they were working on got out and killed whoever was in the 4x4?

A computer screen attached to a workstation in the corner of the lab is still working. The message is flashing, but when Crash takes a look at it, all he sees is a meaningless collection of seemingly random characters.

Having stowed her samples away, Yuki bumps into Shen, who's left Sykes outside watching the approach to the lodge. Wandering through the building, they come across a locked door with a boot print on it. Yuki tries all the keys that she took from reception, but none of them fit.

Shen kicks at the door, but only succeeds in hurting his foot. Pushing Yuki behind him, he draws his pistol and fires at the door. He manages to remove a small chip of the wood veneer covering the steel door, while the ricocheting bullet makes a somewhat larger hole in the plasterboard of the wall across the corridor.

The door seems pretty unmoved by the whole experience, so Shen gets out his trusty set of lock picks. After a few seconds of picking, success! There's a sharp 'click' and the tension on the lock pick is eased. However, upon withdrawing the lock pick, Shen finds that it has broken off within the lock. The door remains firmly closed and locked.

Unimpressed, Yuki heads back upstairs in the lift, to where she knows there are more co-operative doors. Shen follows her. Yuki takes the keys to rooms two and three, and gives Shen the keys to four and five. They begin searching the rooms for anything useful.

I climb back up the ladder into the garage, and take another good look round for anything that might shed some light on the situation. Meanwhile, out in his chair on the decking, Sykes has fallen asleep.

While looking around the garage, I hear the sound of the door between the dining area and the ante-room, with the door that leads into the garage, swing shut. A quick check of my mental map tells me that none of our group should be in that room.

I draw my gun, and check over the radio where everyone is. My radio call wakes Sykes out on the decking. Yuki is in guest room two, while Shen is near the lift about to head down. No contact from Roland and Crash, so they must still be in the lab.

Looking in through the front of the lodge, Sykes sees that the door that no one could open, is now slightly ajar. He draws his gun.

Taking cover behind the open rear door of the 4x4, I draw a bead on the side door into the garage, at about torso height. I wait, ready to issue the sub-vocalised command to activate my Sandevistan; my finger on the trigger...

This page © Greg Aldridge, 30 April 2003