Following your dreams

Through the stone archway of the villa, Steve saw an army jeep drive past the villa. Soldiers ran behind it. Then two more passed, followed by a truck, its unfastened tarpaulin cover flapping at the rear. He got up quickly, but continued to rise into the air, weightless. Steve was then slammed into the wall, along with the table and chairs and other loose furniture. He got to his feet ran up stone steps to get to the roof so he could get a higher viewpoint. The steps went on forever. They began to spiral, and get steeper, and narrower. Steve stopped at the top, staring at a dented red metal door with a sign reading ``Danger of Death, Keep Out”. He kicked the door open and was faced with a bright white light.. 

Steve sat up, the bed sheets soaked from sweat. He looked around, he was in his apartment in London. The TV was still on, playing some late night disaster movie. An explosion filled the screen taking out the White House and helicopters circling. He turned it off and got up to get some water. 

The dream seemed familiar, but he didn’t know the place, or what it meant. He felt as though he had dreamed it before, but that dream was like a distant memory. It was just after 03.30. He had to be up in 2 hours for his next shift. He knew he would not sleep again, but he lay down anyway, and closed his eyes. 

“You look whacked, late night?” said Chris. Steve and Chris had been paired together at the morning briefing. Chris had moaned jovially at this, complaining he wanted a quiet shift, and Steve had a habit of generating paperwork. 

“No, just couldn’t sleep. Been having some screwed up dreams.”

“Not like the bus that time?” 

Chris had forgotten about that. He had dreamt the number fifteen bus was out of control and ploughing down Ludgate Hill into pedestrians, until it stopped at the bottom and then exploded. A few weeks later, he saw a man get on a number fifteen at St Pauls. Something about him didn’t feel right. Steve had stopped the bus from departing. The man reached inside his jacket and pulled out a gun. Training said Steve should run and call for backup. Steve instinct disagreed, he grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him to the floor, restraining him until backup arrived. When armed response arrived that they found a bomb strapped to the mans chest. A wire had come loose in the struggle with Steve. 

“That was just a coincidence. There are so many number fifteens passing through, it was inevitable something would happen on one.”

“Yeah, but in your dream, it exploded. The guy you stopped had a bomb.”

“It also exploded at the bottom of Ludgate. That bus was going the opposite direction,” said Steve. 

“There was also that time you dreamt about the bodies on fire on Millenium Bridge, and you stopped that chestnut seller about to head on the bridge.”

“The one with the dodgy gas connection?” said Steve. 

“Yeah, the governor reckons that thing was primed to blow at any moment.” Steve was sure it was all coincidental, but Chris had made him wonder. 

Steve had the dream again. This time, as he ran up the stairs, he heard voices, but he couldn’t make out the words. He was also filled with a sense of fear, like he was hiding from something. Again, the dream ended with bright light when he kicked the red door open. 

Steve slammed his head back into his pillow. He knew sleep would evade him now, so he rose from bed and fixed himself some breakfast. 

There was never anything on tv at this time of the morning, so he let the 24 hour news channel roll over as he ate. The same old news stories cycled through, politics, economics, foreign affairs. Then something caught his eye. It was only fleeting, but he saw something that felt familiar, something from his dream. They always repeated the video feeds, so he stared wide eyed, waiting. 

“So what will this test mean for us?” said the news presenter. The screen cut to the guest.

“We, at the Atomic Research Institute, believe this could be the breakthrough of the century. This could mean unlimited power for mankind, it could mean interstellar travel. It is the biggest step forward since nuclear power.”

“Astonishing, and when will we know the result?”

“We expect to run the experiment on 22-02-2022.”

“There are some voicing concerns about the safety of this experiment. Is there any danger?” The news presenter said, raising his eyebrow.

“There is inherent danger in all things, but, the risks are being properly managed and the dangers contained, the operation will run without issue.”

The story came to its conclusion, but Steve was intrigued and began searching online for ARI. There was a basic website with a brief history of the company, setting out their manifesto; ‘Achieving advancements and putting all of mankind ahead of our time’. There were articles about space travel, entering the commercial space flight race. Then he found one about the experiment. It was being carried out in Scotland, at Loch Shin. It was suspended over the Loch so it could be submerged if it went wrong. Steve was so engrossed he had not noticed the time, “shit.” He grabbed his coat and rushed out the door. 

“I’ve got to go up there,” Steve said. He had been paired with Chris again. 

“Why? You’re not going to see anything.” 

“I can’t explain it, I just feel like, I need to be there.” Steve had not mentioned to Chris that it had something to do with the dreams. 

“I’ve never even heard of Loch Shin, but to be fair, I only know of Loch Ness. Not seen much of Scotland in fact,” said Chris. 

“Come with me?” 

“Nah, not sure I’m up for a road trip in this weather, bloody freezing.”

Chris made a fair point, if Steve was going to go, he needed to book a hotel. He looked on some comparison app and found a room in Lairg available. Reasonable price and only 20 minutes from the ARI site. He booked it, committing himself to the trip. 

The drive up had been long and tiring. He had left early hours on Monday and arrived in the early evening. He would be too tired to venture out tonight. A bite to eat and a good nights sleep, he could then get up early and head to ARI before the experiment started tomorrow. 

“Ye gonna want a beer before your off to bed?” Said Billy, the host. Billy had a glazed look on his eye, you couldn’t tell if he was looking at you or not. His rosey cheeks evidenced a liking of alcohol. Steve was tired, but a beer did sound appealing. 

“Yeah sure, thanks.”

“Get your stuff to the room and I’ll have it ready on the bar in a wee bit.”

The beer was good and it went down far too easily, so he ordered one more. 

“What brings you to Lairg?” Billy said, placing the pint down. 

“Not really sure, I was intrigued by the ARI experiment.” 

“This ain’t the sort of place people generally happen upon. What’s the experiment mean to you? You a journalist, or a scientist?”

Steve chuckled, “No, I’m a police officer. I have no specific interest at all. I had some spare time and thought, why not?”

“Fair enough. Be careful out there though. The armed guards are known to be trigger happy, and there will be a fair few activists voicing their opinions tomorrow,” Billy said. 

“What about you? Are you against it?”

Billy sighed, “I’m too old to care. If tomorrow is the end of the world, then so be it. Ain’t no good whisky left these days anyway.”

The next morning, Steve set off for ARI. Billy was not wrong, there were hoards of people with placards protesting against the experiment, citing end of days and crimes against god. Steve was used to these sorts of crowds from work. He made his way through them easy enough. That’s when he saw the jeeps and armed men forming a barricade. They were not the army, they were private security. They were heavy handed too, one protester probably needing dentistry after getting too close and personal to one of the men. Steve made his way away from the crowd. He saw a path leading up a hill and headed for it to get a better vantage point.

The view looked out over the Loch. He could see the white hexagonal building of the ARI laboratory over the water. The company logo set upon its roof in big blue letters. Down below to the left, he saw the crowd, still chanting away and giving the security grief. 

To the right, he saw a group of people, huddled together, seemingly unnoticed by the security. Steve’s police senses kicked in, these people were up to something. In confirmation of his suspicion, he saw one step aside with bolt cutters as the rest darted through a hole in the fence presumably just cut. Without thinking, Steve was running back down the hill toward them. 

It took Steve a few minutes to find the hole. He pushed the chain fence and slipped inside. He could not see the group, but he suspected they would have headed toward the main building. He began to run. A loud popping sound echoed around as gunshots rang out. The ground around Steve kicked up mud as the shots hit. He stood still and held his hands up in surrender. He looked around and could not see the shooter. 

“What are you doing?” Steve looked ahead and saw one of the group beckoning him over. “Get over here, quickly.” Steve ran over. 

“They were shooting at me,” Steve said. 

“Aye, and you're lucky they have a crap shot. Well, you're here now, so may as well help, here carry this.” The man handed Steve a rucksack, it was heavy. 

“I have not come to join you, I am a police officer, and you are trespassing. You need to leave.” 

The group all looked between each other, and the man spoke again, “Looky here Mr policeman, we can not leave now. If we go back that way, they may get a lucky shot in one of us. You closed that route off for us. To them, you're probably just one of us, so you’re just as likely to get shot. So you got a choice, chance a bullet, or carry the rucksack and try to find another way out when we are done?” He thrust the rucksack into his arms. Steve did not fancy getting shot, and if he went with these, at least he could act as a reliable witness to what they do. 

“Fine, I will take the bag. What's in it?” Steve said. The man didn’t answer, but signalled to the group to move on. Steve followed behind. 

“It’s just up ahead,” said one of the women. Steve watched as they all stopped by a door on the side of the building. The woman who had spoken scanned a pass, and the door unlocked. She must be an employee, or they had stolen the pass, Steve thought. Steve followed them in. The man who had given him the rucksack came in last behind Steve. Steps lead down from the door, Steve could not see how far down they went, but it was deep. The group moved quickly. 

“Bag boy, come here,” the woman with the pass called to Steve. He joined her and she took the bag off him. She pulled out a tubular device, with wires at either end. 

“Is that a pipe bomb?” Steve said. He was outraged, they had made him carry a bag full of explosives without any warning. 

“Calm down darling, I know what I am doing.” the woman said. She removed half a dozen devices from the bag and attached them along one wall. Each flashed with an intermittent red light. 

“What will blowing these up achieve?” Steve said. 

“This corridor is deep enough that no one will get hurt, but close enough to the experiment to make them abort. Damaging this wall should destabilise the whole structure, enough to stop them proceeding.” 

“This seems a little extreme, what is so bad about the experiment? “ Steve said. 

She looked infuriated. “The risks if it goes wrong are substantial. They could literally rip the planet apart, or create a blackhole on Earth. It is end of days kind of bad.” 

“There’s not long now, they begin in fifteen minutes,” said another of the group. 

“Look, I can not allow you to do this, it is against…” Steve stopped as one of the group held up a pistol. 

“You are not allowing this?” said the one with the gun, “tell me, Mr Policeman, how are you going to stop us?”

Steve looked around, for someone with some common sense, who could see that this was wrong, but all he saw were eyes on him, waiting for his answer. He did not respond. 

“As I thought, now, if we can proceed without further delay. We are going to have to get across the bottom of the facility and up the other service hatch to get out,” the armed one said, lowering the gun. 

“Shit, shit,” said the woman. 

“What?” said another. 

“The timer is all wrong, it has started, but we only have five minutes until they detonate.” 

Without a word, the group all began to run. Steve wanted to get out of here, and away from these people, but he had no idea where he was going. He had to follow them for now. A door slammed shut up ahead. The group stopped and listened. Torch light could be seen emerging from the dark as security ran up the halls. The group dove into one of the side rooms and hid. Steve could hear the footsteps getting louder. He considered calling out to them, telling them he was a police officer. As though she read his mind, the one with the gun pushed the nuzzle into his back. 

“Two minutes,” said the woman. 

The guards passed the door and after a moment, they all made their way back into the corridor. 

“You said no one would get hurt,” Steve said. 

“We can’t help them. If they find us, we get shot anyway, so it's us or them.” 

Steve could not accept this, he could not allow the men to die, he had to try and save them. He hung back as the group ran ahead, and turned and ran back toward the guards. He had not got far when he saw the torchlight moving frantically, the guards were coming back. 

“Move, get out of here,” one of the guards shouted to Steve. He ran, but the guards were fast. One of them pulled Steve into another corridor to more stairs leading upward. He ran up the narrowing stairs, the guards right behind him. His dream rushed into his mind. Steve came to a sudden stop. At the top of the stairs was a red metal door, with a sign that read, “Danger of Death, Keep Out.” Steve shook his head in disbelief. The dream always ended when he kicked the door open.  

“What are you doing, open the door.” Steve could not do it, cold sweat ran down his face and the blood drained  from his arms. One of the guards pulled Steve back and got in front. He pushed the door open, there was no need to kick it. A bright light did shine through the darkness of the corridor, but it was the fluorescent lights inside the laboratory. The second guard dragged Steve in and closed the door. 

“You have to shut it down, there are explosives in the maintenance corridor,” said the guard. 

The man he was talking to, a clean cut middle aged scientist with a white laboratory coat on, shook his head, “Impossible, we are ahead of schedule, we have passed the point of no return. All we can do now is submerge the lab, but I am not willing to do that now. We are so close.” 

Steve could see in the middle of the laboratory a ball of energy pulsating and growing. Small objects around the room had begun to float in the air, like there was no gravity. The facility then violently shook; the explosives. The white fluorescent lights turned red, alarms began to sound, “Warning, containment field breached.” 

“Dr. Stefan, we have lost all power. We can not abort or submerge. We are losing control.” 

The ball of energy began to grow, and now everyone started to float as the ball's strength increased. Steve was violently pulled toward the ball, smashing against the glass viewing window, as were the others. He could not move. Pinned against the glass, it began to crack, He tried to pull himself off the window, but the movement made the cracks happen faster. His heart raced as he looked at the ball of energy pulsating quicker. The pull toward it steadily increased. Steve saw one of the windows give way and the scientists on it pulled through screaming. They seemed to disintegrate mid air as they got close to the ball, their dust getting sucked into it like a vacuum. Steve knew it would not be long until his window gave way too. 

The news around the world reported on the disaster at Loch Shin. The fail safes had eventually come online, and the laboratory was submerged. All the research had been destroyed in the incident, and it was reported that there were no survivors inside the facility. ARI has pledged to restart the project in memory of those lost.