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Chapter Four

MARS IS HELL

X X X

Daniel emerged from New Scotland Yard with a distinct feeling of unfriendly eyes digging holes in his back. So he stopped quite deliberately at the top of the steps to look around him, quietly enjoying the thought that behind him people were probably ducking and hiding in case he turned and went back in again. They were probably also trying to find someone brave enough to come out and ask him to move on; part of him hoped they would, because he was just in the mood for a little more light exercise. But no one came out to challenge him. Probably because they were still clearing up the mess he’d made on the top floor, and trying to put the security men back together again.

Daniel’s phone rang, and he sighed resignedly. It had to be Tina, because she was the only one who had his number. He didn’t like to be bothered, when he was out and about.

“I know where the Martian base is,” said Tina. As usual, not wasting any breath on a Hello or a How are you? “It’s right here in London, at Horse Leigh Common. See you there.”

She rang off before Daniel could ask where the hell Horse Leigh Common was. He had a good working knowledge of the high crime areas, but had never seen any reason to bother with tourist hotspots. He glared at his phone, just on general principles, put it away, and hurried down the steps to his very illegally parked car. He’d been hoping someone would have clamped it by now, so he could have the fun of ripping the nasty thing off and throwing it through the windscreen of a car belonging to someone important. But apparently word about him had got around, because no one had bothered it. When he got back behind the wheel, he was relieved to discover the car came with satnav. He didn’t like to think what it would have done to his Hyde dignity, if he’d had to go back inside New Scotland Yard and ask for directions.


Daniel accelerated through the nighttime streets, putting the wind up what traffic there was and occasionally driving on the pavement just for the hell of it. Because he had a reputation to live down to. He finally slammed to a halt right outside the main entrance to Horse Leigh Common: towering Victorian gates composed mostly of black iron bars. Daniel got out of the car, patted it fondly on the bonnet, and looked around for Tina. He could hear her sneaking up behind him, but sportingly pretended not to notice until she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to smile at her, and she threw her arms around him in a fierce embrace that would have crushed any normal man’s ribs. Daniel hugged her back, and she laughed happily as he lifted her feet off the ground. Though neither of them would have admitted it, they were both still getting over nearly dying on the rooftop. They finally stepped back and nodded easily to each other.

“Miss me?” said Tina.

“Always,” said Daniel. “How did you get here?”

“I got this really neat new car from my contact.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Should I be jealous?”

“Not really,” said Tina. “He probably hasn’t noticed it’s missing yet. Well . . . it was just standing around, and hardly locked at all. What’s a girl to do?”

Before Daniel could suggest an answer, she reached into her cleavage, pulled out an envelope, and removed a map. Daniel considered raising another eyebrow, but it felt like too much of an effort. Tina held the map out before her, and they studied it carefully in the pleasant golden glow from the streetlamps. Daniel didn’t actually think much of the map, and was ready to sniff disparagingly, but given that Tina had a map and he didn’t, he rose above the impulse. It was just a hand-drawn outline of the Common, with a few useful landmarks and a big red cross to mark the Martian base. Tina peered through the gate, and pointed decisively.

“Just follow the main path. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.”

“If you say so,” said Daniel. “I never was very good with maps. All the details confuse me.”

Tina thrust the map into Daniel’s hands, and he folded it neatly before slipping it into his pocket. The gate was held shut with lengths of steel chain and an industrial-strength padlock. Daniel ripped the lock away, and the chains promptly fell to the ground, as though they knew there wasn’t any point in putting up a fuss. Tina kicked the gates open, and they flew smoothly back as though they’d been specially oiled for the occasion. Daniel shot them a suspicious look, and then led the way onto Horse Leigh Common.


The open ground was calm and quiet, under a star-speckled sky. The faint breeze barely had enough energy to move the cool night air around. A murmur of far-off traffic was frequently drowned out by the cry of some nightbird or other. The Hydes’ footsteps were the loudest sound on the Common, crunching crisply on the gravel path. Daniel kept a watchful eye on his surroundings, but there didn’t seem to be anyone else about.

“How did you get on with your contact?” said Daniel, quite casually.

“Oh, Alan was delighted to see me,” Tina said lightly. “Couldn’t do enough for me. How about you?”

“I had a very productive meeting with an old colleague,” said Daniel. And then he couldn’t hold his grin back any longer. “How many people did you beat up?”

“Lots and lots,” Tina said happily. “You?”

“Not as many as that. But mine were professional bastards. I almost broke a sweat.”

They laughed easily, and walked on. Glancing surreptitiously at each other’s new outfits. Tina weakened first, and raised her voice.

“Well? What do you think of my new look?”

“It’s very you,” said Daniel. “But possibly just a bit draughty round the sides, for a nighttime stroll?”

“It’s a style thing,” Tina said loftily. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Probably not,” said Daniel.

“I like your new tie,” Tina said sweetly. “It’s very colorful.”

They both knew there was something they weren’t talking about, and in the end Daniel shot Tina a sideways glance.

“Did you feel as uncomfortable as I did, having to reach out to an old acquaintance for help?”

Tina shot him a quick smile, clearly glad he’d raised the subject so she didn’t have to.

“We all have people in our past we thought we’d put behind us. Unfortunately, needs must when the devil has his teeth buried in your throat.”

“It worries me, that we might have made deals with the devil,” said Daniel.

Tina laughed. “We’re Hydes! Which makes us a match for any devil.”

Daniel would have liked to laugh with her, but that felt too much like whistling past a graveyard. He looked out over the Common so he wouldn’t have to look at Tina.

“We don’t have the Jekyll & Hyde Inc. organization to back us up anymore.”

“We have a new armorer,” said Tina. “Which means really big guns and spectacularly nasty devices are back on the menu.”

“But how much can we trust her?”

“About as far as we can throw her.”

Daniel smiled. “We can throw people pretty far.”

“Hydes don’t do the trust thing,” Tina said firmly. “We’ll just have to take advantage of her, while she thinks she’s taking advantage of us.”

Daniel nodded thoughtfully. “Do you think we should have found the time to pay the armorer a visit before we came here?”

“It’s just a bunch of aliens making trouble in the shadows,” said Tina. “How hard can it be?”

Daniel shook his head. “You had to say that, didn’t you?”

The path led them through pools of golden lamplight, ornate flower gardens that had been laid out to within an inch of their lives, and the occasional copse of trees still burdened with heavy greenery. Wherever they went, it was all very quiet, like the hush before the curtain goes up and the play begins. Daniel was quietly pondering what a Martian base would look like when Tina spotted something up ahead, and made an impatient sound.

“Of course! I should have guessed!”

“What?” said Daniel.

Tina nodded to an archaeological dig set right on the edge of the Common, and steered Daniel into the deep dark shadows of a nearby copse of trees. The dig was surrounded by tall temporary walls with just the one entrance, guarded by uniformed men with really big guns. Daniel felt an eyebrow rising as he realized they were wearing the same uniform he’d seen on the rooftop earlier. More armed guards patroled the perimeter, studying the Common with experienced eyes. Daniel cleared his throat.

“Tina, why are we hiding in the trees?”

She shot him an impatient look. “Hello? Really big guns alert!”

“Your usual response to that is to charge straight at them,” said Daniel. “It’s not like you to be cautious.”

Tina scowled. “When a fleet of attack helicopters and an army of mercenaries get together to kick your arse, it’s time to take the hint.”

Daniel wisely switched his attention back to the dig.

“How long has that been there?”

“Oh, come on,” said Tina. “It’s been all over the news for the past month. No one has been allowed inside, but supposedly they’re uncovering the biggest Roman mosaic ever found. But that would make perfect cover, for access to an underground base.”

“It’s a bit public, isn’t it?” said Daniel.

Tina shrugged, and then shot Daniel a knowing look. “Good thing my contact was able to provide us with the exaction location; wasn’t it?”

“My contact provided me with lots of useful information,” said Daniel, just a bit defensively. “And should be able to get me even more, in the future.”

“But right now I have a map,” said Tina. “You don’t have a map.”

“Actually, I do,” said Daniel. “I have your map, in my pocket. It’s good to share.” He looked carefully at the dig, checking out the possible approach routes. “Though I would feel just a bit happier if our map provided at least some information on the kind of protections and defenses we’ll be facing.”

“We’re Hydes!” said Tina. “We can cope, whatever they throw at us.”

“And that doesn’t sound at all like the kind of remark that will come back to haunt us,” said Daniel.

Tina glared at him. “Since when are you so superstitious?”

“Since Lady Luck vomited on my blue suede shoes earlier tonight.”

Tina sniffed loudly, and gave her full attention to the dig. “Does it feel a bit odd to you, that the Martian base should turn out to be right in the middle of London?”

“Not necessarily,” said Daniel. “All the monster Clans held their big gatherings in the city.”

“Maybe London really is the center of the world,” said Tina. “Okay . . . the Martian base is right ahead of us, and I feel a definite need to kick some Martian arse.”

“Always assuming they have any,” said Daniel.

“Well, whatever they’ve got I’m going to kick it,” said Tina.

“After we get past the armed guards,” said Daniel. “There’s a lot of open ground to cross, before we could get anywhere near them. If they all opened fire at once . . .”

“We survived the machine-gun fire on the roof,” said Tina.

“Good to know you’ve got your confidence back,” said Daniel. “But I don’t feel like putting what’s left of our luck to the test. And besides, if the guards see us coming they could sound an alarm. Alert the Martians, and give them time to put all kinds of special protections in place. We need a distraction. Something loud and dramatic, to hold the guards’ attention.”

“I’m all for loud and dramatic,” said Tina. “What did you have in mind?”

Daniel considered the nearest tree. It was tall and broad, the branches weighed down with lots of greenery. He gave the trunk an introductory shove, and the branches barely bobbed. Daniel grinned, and put his shoulder to the trunk.

“This tree . . . is going down.”

He dug his feet into the earth, and threw all his strength against the trunk, but even though the tree tilted right over, its branches waving madly, deep-set roots held the tree firmly in place. Daniel heaved and strained, but the tree would not be moved—until Tina put her shoulder next to Daniel’s. Gnarled roots burst up out of the ground, sending clods of earth flying in all directions, and the tree slammed all the way over. The crash was deafeningly loud, and all the guards’ heads snapped round. It probably helped that the top of the tree protruded a good yard or more outside the perimeter of the copse, so they really couldn’t miss it.

Daniel and Tina retreated back into the shadows and stood very still—just two more shapes in the gloom. They watched carefully as half a dozen guards came together at the entrance to the dig, and consulted with each other. There was a lot of shrugging and headshaking, before one of them gestured angrily and started toward the copse. The others hurried after him.

“There’s always one,” said Daniel.

“How does this help us?” said Tina.

“We wait for the guards to venture into this nicely gloomy setting,” said Daniel, “and then we take them down one at a time, steal their uniforms, and walk into the dig through the front entrance.”

Tina nodded. “That should work.”

“Just keep it quiet,” said Daniel. “We don’t want to alarm the other guards.”

Tina glowered at him. “I have done this before, you know.”

They eased out of sight behind two of the more substantial trees, and waited for their enemies to come to them. The guards stopped right at the edge of the copse, looked at the fallen tree, and then stared suspiciously into the gloom before slowly moving forward. The one in charge gestured urgently for the others to spread out, and Daniel smiled. It did help when the enemy made things that little bit easier for you. He waited for the first guard to pass him by, and then moved silently in behind him, clapped a hand over his mouth, and snapped his neck. He’d had enough of soldiers for hire for one day, particularly those who served invading aliens.

The Hydes took down three more guards in swift succession. The two remaining guards seemed to have some sense that they might not be alone in the trees. They looked quickly about them, sweeping their guns back and forth. Daniel concentrated on the guard nearest him, waited until the man was pointing his gun in entirely the wrong direction, and then moved quickly forward. Only to stop dead as the other guard turned suddenly to face him. His gun rose up, and Tina struck the man down from behind. The final guard heard the body crash to the ground, and spun round to find Daniel and Tina already looming over him. He started to lift his gun, and Daniel hit the man in the face so hard his head ended up pointing in the wrong direction.

Daniel and Tina shared a satisfied nod. After everything they’d been through earlier, even a small payback felt good. They looked over the fallen bodies, selected the two largest, and stripped them of their uniforms.

Tina picked up one of the guns, and waggled it hopefully. “Pretty please?”

“Too noisy, and anyway, relying on guns makes you predictable,” Daniel said sternly. “Better to stick to our Hyde strength and speed. The Martians won’t be expecting that.”

Tina tossed the gun aside. “Hand-to-hand vengeance has always been the most satisfying.”

“It’s the Hyde way,” said Daniel.

Tina started to pull off her dress, and then stopped. “Hold everything; I see a problem . . .”

Daniel looked at her. “What?”

“I can’t just leave my nice new dress here!”

“Hang it over a branch,” said Daniel. “We can come back for our clothes later.”

“What if someone comes along and steals my nice new dress?” said Tina.

“Like who?” said Daniel. “The fashion police? Or do you think one of the guards will come in here looking for his colleagues, and then get distracted by your dress?”

“You never know,” Tina said darkly. “You hear funny things, about some of these soldiers of fortune . . .”

“Put on the uniform,” said Daniel.

They hung their clothes carefully over nearby branches, and then discovered that the guards’ uniforms weren’t nearly large enough to accommodate a Hyde’s dimensions. Daniel had to struggle just to get into the trousers, and the jacket’s shoulders groaned warningly as he slipped it on. When he tried to pull the sides together to do up the buttons, the jacket split resoundingly all the way up the back.

Tina would have laughed, but she wasn’t doing much better. The trousers stretched dangerously tight across her rear, and when she pulled on the jacket she only had to look down at her bosom to know that buttoning it up was not going to be an option. She looked at Daniel, who shrugged helplessly.

“It’s night,” he said. “The guards should accept anyone who comes walking out of the trees in the right uniform. Just walk confidently, and none of them will give us a second glance.”

“What if someone does notice something?” said Tina.

Daniel grinned. “Flash your cleavage. And while they’re standing there stunned, move in quick and batter the life out of them.”

Tina grinned. “I like the way you think.”

They strode out of the trees and across the open space. Daniel held his head high and did his best to look like he didn’t have a care in the world. Tina strode along as though hoping someone would do something she could object to. The other guards accepted this as perfectly normal behavior, and didn’t spare them a second glance. Daniel and Tina headed straight for the main entrance.

“What if someone asks us for a password?” said Tina.

“Punch them out,” said Daniel. “But quietly.”

“I can do that.”

But when they stepped through the entrance, there was no one there. Just a great hole in the ground, with rough earth walls falling away. A long spiraling stairway had been cut into the inner wall. Daniel moved to the top of the steps and peered down into a darkness that seemed to fall away forever. Electric lamps had been strung along the inner wall, but their light didn’t travel far. Tina moved in beside Daniel.

“No way this is anything to do with uncovering a Roman mosaic,” she said. “It looks more like someone has been mining here.”

“I can’t tell how far down this hole goes,” Daniel said slowly, “but I’m guessing pretty deep.”

“Maybe the Martians need that, to feel secure,” said Tina. “Like moles.”

“I’d hate it if the Martians turned out to be giant moles,” said Daniel. “Those things have always freaked me out, with their weird noses and little hands.”

“Just pretend we’re weasels, come to seize Toad Hall for the masses,” Tina said briskly. She peered down into the hole. “The stairs would seem to suggest people come and go on a regular basis, so . . . when we get to the bottom, do we have anything like a plan?”

“Kill everything that moves that isn’t us,” said Daniel. “We need to send a message to Mars: coming to Earth can be seriously dangerous to your health.”

“Good plan,” said Tina.”

Daniel started down the narrow stairs, with Tina tucked in close behind him, and step by step they descended into the Martian underworld.


There was no handrail, so Daniel and Tina had to press their shoulders against the earth wall to make sure they didn’t stray too close to the open edge and the long drop. After a while Tina put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, to guide herself and reassure him.

“I’m not hearing anyone coming up,” she said.

“I shouldn’t think the soldiers are allowed down here,” said Daniel. “They just guard the entrance.”

“Then who uses these stairs?” said Tina. “Unless the Martians look like us.”

“I seriously doubt that,” said Daniel.

“Moles . . .” said Tina, in her best sepulchral voice.

“Stop it,” said Daniel.

They continued on down, listening carefully, but the only sounds were the scuff of their feet on the rough steps. Daniel turned once, to look back up the way they’d come, and found the entrance of the hole was no longer visible. Tina’s hand tightened reassuringly on his shoulder, and he started down again. The descent went on so long that Daniel’s leg muscles actually started to ache, but finally the stairs came to an end, and the Hydes found themselves confronted by a great open chamber, lined with gleaming metal walls. There was something disturbing about the color of the metal, as though it had soured and gone off. Daniel and Tina stood close together, and their reflections stared silently back at them, distorted and strangely ghostly, as though seen through a heat haze.

A number of large circular openings gave access to tunnels heading off into the earth, like a maze, or a warren. All of the tunnels were brightly lit, though Daniel was damned if he could see how.

“I’m not seeing any signs, or instructions,” he said finally. “I guess we just choose a tunnel at random and see where it takes us. The base can’t be that big. Maybe we’ll bump into someone along the way who can give us directions.”

Tina started to say something cutting and then broke off to cough harshly and spit on the floor.

“There’s something bad about this air.”

Daniel took a deep breath, and shook his head. “Could just be that new Martian base smell.” He pointed at the nearest opening. “This looks promising.”

“It’ll do,” said Tina.


As they made their way along the tunnel, their weird reflections floated serenely along with them, like watchful spirits. Daniel frowned as his feet clanged loudly on the metal floor, sending a warning that intruders were on their way. The light in the tunnel grew bright enough to blind a normal human, but Daniel just squinted into it and kept going. It worried him that he still couldn’t work out where the illumination was coming from.

The tunnel branched repeatedly, and Daniel felt the first faint stirrings of unease as he was forced to choose each new direction at random.

“We should have brought a compass,” he said.

“Or a ball of thread,” said Tina. “How are we going to find our way back?”

“I’m memorizing the route,” said Daniel.

“Of course you are,” said Tina.

And quite suddenly they emerged into a cavern the size of a cathedral. The huge open space was so wide the distant walls had no discernible details, and the roof was so high it gave Daniel a strange sense of vertigo. The sudden change in scale made him feel like a mouse that had just emerged from the skirting board. The Hydes moved in close together, for mutual support and protection, but it seemed they had the whole place to themselves. Massive stalactites thrust down from the high ceiling, encrusted with moving parts and flickering lights, and the closest metal walls were pitted and scarred, as though eaten away by some disfiguring disease. The cavern floor was split into separate areas by curving stone walls that rose and fell like frozen tides. Tendrils of alien technology spread across the rough stone, crawling and seething in a slow, deliberate way that made Daniel think they must have been grown as much as made. Shimmering lights pulsed up and down the tendrils, like thoughts chasing each other back and forth.

“What is that stuff?” said Tina.

“Connective tissues,” Daniel said absently. “Nerves in a gigantic brain, passing information to where it’s needed.”

Tina looked at him sharply. “How the hell could you know that?”

Daniel looked slowly around him. “There’s an underlying pattern to everything here, and it speaks to me, on some level I don’t understand. Aren’t you picking up any of this?”

“I’m getting something,” Tina said carefully. “Like picking up radio shows on your fillings. But I think we need to be very cautious about what we let into our heads, Daniel.”

He nodded briefly, and then started forward into the cavern, treading his way through the maze of stone walls as though following a path that was obvious to him. Tina stuck close behind, watching him cautiously. The light was painfully harsh now, and both Hydes had to breathe deeply to keep from coughing on the increasingly unpleasant air. The heat was so intense that sweat ran down their faces and dripped off their chins.

“Conditions are getting worse,” said Tina. “I’m not sure any normal human could survive this. It’s like being on another planet.”

“Exactly,” said Daniel. “All of this is for the benefit of the Martians. So they can feel at home.”

Tina looked at him sharply. “You mean they’re recreating how things are on Mars?”

“That’s why we haven’t encountered any guards or workers down here,” said Daniel. “Breathing this air would kill them. Luckily, we’re made of sterner stuff.”

“Good to be a Hyde,” said Tina.

“At least we can be sure we won’t find anything down here but Martians,” said Daniel.

And then he stopped and looked round, as something that sounded very much like human footsteps echoed out of a side tunnel. Tina raised her fists, but Daniel gestured urgently for her to join him in ducking down behind the nearest stone wall. She scowled, but went with him. As they crouched down, one of the metallic tendrils twitched and stirred, as though disturbed by their presence. It slowly detached itself from the stone wall, reached out like some metallic snake, and then closed and tightened suddenly around Daniel’s throat.

For a moment he couldn’t breathe, and then he braced his neck muscles to hold off the awful pressure. He dragged in a lungful of air, forced his fingers under the tendril, and broke its hold. He tore the struggling thing from his neck, and it twisted horribly in his grasp, fighting to break free. Daniel ripped the whole tendril away from the wall with one great heave. It twisted and whipped around with nightmarish strength and malevolence, and tried to wrap itself around his hands and arms, but Daniel just tore the whole thing to pieces and threw them on the floor. And then he and Tina took turns stamping on them till they stopped moving.

More tendrils stirred dangerously on the stone walls, but when Tina glared around her, hands opening and closing with dangerous intent, the tendrils grew still.

“It would appear they’re capable of learning,” said Daniel.

“Listen!” said Tina. “Those footsteps are getting really close now. Maybe those things summoned the night watchman.”

They turned quickly back to face the side tunnel. A tall humanoid figure stepped out, and then stood very still. It appeared to be fashioned from the same metal as the walls, and its form was all smooth curves with no joints or sections. Like a statue that had come alive in the night and gone looking for its creator. The face was blank, apart from a single light glowing in the center of its forehead. The figure turned its head slowly, as though scanning the chamber.

“Some sort of robot?” Tina said quietly.

Daniel nodded. “This must be what the Martians use when there’s hard labor to be done.”

“Why would Martians make a robot in human shape?”

“Because this form works best on Earth?”

“You’re just guessing now,” said Tina.

“Do you have a better idea?”

“I haven’t a clue,” said Tina. “This place is blowing all my fuses.” She scowled around the chamber. “I hate not understanding things.”

“You’ll feel better when we find something to hit,” said Daniel.

The robot turned abruptly, and went back into the tunnel. Daniel gestured quickly to Tina and they set off after it, at a discreet distance. The robot led them through several twisting tunnels and then out into an even larger chamber. The massive underground cavern was full of machines the size of buildings, with slowly moving parts and flaring lights that came and went. The shapes of the machines were constantly changing, their edges and boundaries slumping and reforming. Daniel tried to force some sense into what he was seeing, and only then took in the dozens of humanoid robots moving purposefully around the bases of the machines.

“I can’t even guess what this as all for,” he said.

“Probably something only a Martian could hope to understand,” said Tina. “Just looking at all of this makes my head ache.”

“The robots are here to keep the machines running smoothly,” said Daniel. “Like worker drones in a hive.”

Tina started to say something, and then broke into loud hacking coughs. Daniel thumped her hard on the back, trying to clear her lungs before the robots noticed. Tina finally twisted out from under Daniel’s hand.

“It’s not me, it’s the air! It’s getting worse.” She shook her head hard, and glowered around her. “Where are the Martians? Why haven’t we seen anything but machines and robots?”

“The air, the heat, and the light seem to be building toward full Martian conditions,” Daniel said slowly. “But the gravity is still Earth normal. Maybe the Martians can’t change that without drawing unwanted attention to themselves. And since they can’t function properly in our greater gravity, they have to rely on robots to get things done.”

He broke off as a robot stamped right past their hiding place. Daniel stood up suddenly and gave the robot a friendly wave, but it didn’t even glance in his direction. Tina slapped Daniel hard on the shoulder, but when he moved out into the open she went with him. Daniel waved both arms around and shouted at the robots, but not one of them reacted.

“I think we’re invisible to them, as long as we don’t interfere with their work,” said Daniel.

“At some point we may have to,” said Tina.

Daniel smiled at her. “And that’s when you get to hit something.”

Two of the huge machines lurched forward and slammed together, like rutting deer banging foreheads. The noise was deafening, and their whole structures trembled. Both machines put out jagged metal protrusions and thrust them into each other, locking themselves together. Daniel gestured for Tina to back away, in case one of the giant structures lost its balance. But instead the two machines seemed to fall into each other, merging and melding until finally there was just one quite different machine.

“It’s like they’re alive . . .” said Tina.

“Maybe they are, on some level,” said Daniel. “Remember the tendril that tried to strangle me?”

Something on the edge of his vision caught his attention, and he tapped Tina on the arm. She followed his gaze, and stood very still. In the metal wall beside them, the Hydes’ distorted reflections were moving independently, their arms waving slowly in unfamiliar gestures.

“They’re trying to communicate,” said Daniel. “Or whatever’s behind them is.”

Tina pulled him away. “Never talk to strangers. Especially in an underground base created by aliens intent on wiping out Humanity.”

“I was just curious about what they were trying to tell us,” said Daniel.

“I doubt it’s anything we’d want to hear,” said Tina. “But you’re missing the point: this means something knows we’re here. We need to concentrate on finding the Martians, so we can kill them.”

“Why can’t we all be friends?” said Daniel, just a bit wistfully.

“Please,” said Tina. “Remember you’re a Hyde.”

And then she started coughing again, great hacking spasms that racked her whole body. That started Daniel off, and they ended up leaning on each other as they struggled to control their breathing. The sweat from their exertions soaked into their uniforms.

“Things got worse when we came in here,” Tina said finally, mopping at her face with her sleeve. “It must be down to these machines. We were coping well enough before.”

“Of course!” said Daniel. “The machines are recreating conditions on Mars as part of a terraforming process, so the Martians can wipe out Humanity and just move in. What need is there for a war, when you can change the whole world enough that it will wipe out the local population for you?”

Tina grabbed Daniel by the shoulder and gave him a good shake. “You can’t let these things get inside your head! Stop listening to them!”

“I’m not,” said Daniel, calmly removing her hand. “It’s just common sense. This must be the trial run, to see if the machines can do what’s necessary.”

“We have to find the Martians,” Tina said stubbornly. “Slaughter every one of them, burn down the base, and then piss on the ashes.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Daniel. “Only . . . where are the Martians?”

And then his eyes went to a series of thick pipes that emerged from one of the machines, ran along the base of the wall, and out of the chamber. He moved quickly over to the wall, knelt down, and listened carefully.

“These pipes are carrying the newly manufactured air to another part of the base. And since the Martians would need the purest form of that air, all we have to do is follow the pipes and they’ll take us straight to them.”

“I had better get to hit something soon,” Tina said darkly.

Daniel trotted along beside the pipes, and when they took a sudden turn and shot off down a side tunnel, Daniel hurried after them. He could hear Tina muttering behind him. He glanced at the metal wall, and suddenly realized that the distorted reflections had disappeared. He didn’t think he’d mention that to Tina. The tunnel branched again and again, but Daniel just kept following the pipes.

“This base is a lot bigger than I expected,” said Tina.

“Not to worry,” said Daniel. “We’re Hydes. There’s nothing so big that we can’t break it.”

Tina beamed at him. “You always know the right thing to say.”

Daniel stopped suddenly. Tina looked around sharply.

“What?”

“I can smell something,” Daniel said slowly. “Something bad.”

Tina sniffed at the air, and pulled a face. “Spoiled meat and spilled blood. Have the Martians been killing things?”

“They must eat,” said Daniel.

“How would they smuggle animals down here?”

“Maybe there are other entrances.”

Tina looked at him steadily. “You don’t think it’s livestock, do you?”

“No,” said Daniel. “I think we need to find out where this is coming from.”

He turned his back on the pipes, and followed his nose through several tunnels until the way was blocked by a featureless metal slab that sealed off the whole tunnel. Tina stepped forward and studied the slab carefully.

“I’m not seeing any handle, or lock mechanism.”

Daniel tried waving his arms, just in case it was motion activated, but the slab ignored him. Tina tried forcing it, but couldn’t get a grip on anything to give her some traction. In the end, Daniel stiffened his fingers and slammed them into the metal. It hurt like hell, but he was able to force his fingers all the way in to the second joint. He braced himself, and threw his whole weight against the slab. For a long moment he stood like a statue, straining every muscle. The slab creaked and groaned, started to edge sideways, and then slammed back into place. Tina thrust her fingers into the metal beside Daniel’s, and together the two of them forced the door sideways, inch by inch. A terrible stench burst out of the opening, and the Hydes had to turn their faces away. The metal slab ground to a halt, and refused to move any further. Daniel and Tina let go of the slab, ready to grab it again if it started moving, but the slab stayed where it was. Daniel forced himself through the narrow opening, with Tina right behind him. The smell hit them like a fist in the face, as they stepped into the bloody chamber.


The intense heat of the Martian base was immediately replaced by a bitter cold. Then the room reacted to their presence and turned on the lights, revealing hundreds of corpses hanging on rows of hooks like an abattoir of human meat. A forest of dangling bodies: men, women, and children who’d been torn open from chin to crotch, and all the internal organs torn out. Blood had streamed down the dangling legs and dripped onto the floor. The stench of death and horror was almost unbearable.

“Daniel,” said Tina, “given how tight the seal on that metal slab was, how were we able to smell this out in the corridor?”

“I don’t think we did,” said Daniel. “It was just more information, picked up by our minds. Something wanted us to see what’s here.”

He had to stop talking. His stomach was churning, not just from the awful sight but because he was flashing back to memories of a cellar where the Frankenstein Clan had butchered people for their organs, for use in illegal transplants. Three of Daniel’s friends had been killed in that cellar, while he was left for dead. Dr. Jekyll’s Elixir repaired his broken body, but his mind had never fully healed. He suddenly couldn’t get his breath, and his legs started to give way. Tina was quickly there to throw an arm around him, as much for comfort as to hold him up.

“Don’t let this get to you,” she said fiercely. “We can’t save these people, but we can make the Martians pay for what they’ve done. And the things we’ll do to those bastards will make this seem like nothing.”

Daniel nodded, and stood up straight again. Hate made a Hyde strong. Tina stepped back to give him some room, and nodded at the hanging bodies.

“I wonder who they were.”

“Homeless people, sleeping rough on the Common,” said Daniel. “Or maybe just anyone who visited the Common at night. Get too close to the dig, and they’d be grabbed and dragged down the steps.”

Tina looked at him sharply. “You think the guards . . . ?”

“More likely the robots. This is why the Martians made their robots in human shapes. Because at night people wouldn’t see them as a threat until it was too late. And why the Martians needed a new base, with a new inviting entrance. So they could acquire human bodies without anyone noticing.”

“But why would they want human bodies?” said Tina.

“According to Edward’s file,” Daniel said slowly, “Martians have a taste for human flesh. They even drink the blood. But why keep so many bodies in storage?”

“Because they’re expecting company?” said Tina.

Daniel looked at her sharply. “It’s the invasion! The Martians are finally coming in force, to take possession of their new home. We have to stop the terraforming process.”

He turned to leave, only to find the door had silently closed behind them. Daniel hit it several times, but it wouldn’t budge. Tina lowered a shoulder and charged the door, but couldn’t even dent it. She stumbled back, rubbing at her shoulder.

“Now what?”

Daniel peered through the forest of hanging corpses, and narrowed his eyes.

“I can just make out what might be another door, on the far side of the chamber.”

“What if that won’t open either?” said Tina.

“At least it’s a chance.”

Tina looked at him steadily. “We’ll have to force our way through the bodies. Are you up to that?”

“They’re dead,” said Daniel. “They can’t hurt us.”

“Very good,” said Tina. “Now try saying it like you mean it.”

It took Daniel a moment before he could make himself move forward. He had to turn sideways, and ease himself between the tightly packed bodies. His skin crawled from the contact, and he quickly learned to keep his gaze fixed on the floor, so he wouldn’t have to look at the staring eyes and silently screaming mouths. Tina stuck close behind him, one hand resting on his shoulder, as much to reassure him she was still with him as to make sure she didn’t get left behind. Sometimes Daniel would bump into a body and set it swinging, and then it would set another moving, until a whole row was swaying back and forth in a horrible imitation of life.

He kept thinking he’d get used to the stench, but somehow he never did. He breathed through his mouth as much as possible, and his breath steamed thickly on the freezing air. More and more bodies, row after row with hooks thrust through their shoulders and upper chests . . . Daniel could feel a scream building deep inside him, but he fought it down. Because if he let it out he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to stop. Finally the bodies fell away before him, and revealed the far door.

“All right,” said Tina, moving quickly in beside him. “We’re here. Now what?”

Daniel closed his eyes, and concentrated. Ever since he’d entered the Martian base he’d been aware of what was going on around him. He knew things he shouldn’t know, as though he was tapping into a stream of hidden communications. He frowned, as he made a fleeting contact with . . . not a living thing, definitely not a Martian...One of the machines. It had been built to connect everything around it; but no one had ever thought to instruct it not to talk to strangers.

“Let us out,” said Daniel.

“Daniel?” said Tina. “Who are you talking to?”

“I don’t know,” said Daniel. “I just hope it’s listening.”

He walked steadily forward, and the door slid sideways. He stepped out into a metal corridor, and Tina hurried after him. The moment they were out, the door closed behind them. Daniel and Tina both stumbled and almost fell, as the bitter cold of the abattoir was replaced by the intense heat of the Martian atmosphere. But at least the stench of the dead was gone. Daniel smiled briefly at Tina.

“It seems we have an ally. Apparently the Martians never taught their machines the value of loyalty.”

“You always were good at making friends,” said Tina.

Daniel pointed suddenly at the opposite wall. “I see pipes!”

“Good for you,” said Tina. “Now let’s go find the Martians, before they discover their machines have been speaking out of turn.”


Following the pipes led them to the biggest chamber yet: a cavern deep in the earth large enough to land a plane in. The ceiling was hidden behind layers of shimmering mist, and the walls were so far off they were just a suggestion in the distance. The air was so foul Daniel and Tina had to struggle to get their breath, the heat was so intense it baked the sweat right off them, and the light was so dazzling they had to peer around through half-closed eyes.

“We’re not on Earth anymore,” said Daniel. “This is Mars.”

“Minus several thousand on Tripadvisor,” growled Tina.

There were no giant machines; the great open space was divided by a maze of stone walls, rising and falling in stationary waves. Their layout suggested a meaning without ever collapsing into one, hinting at purposes too alien for any human mind to cope with. Daniel felt Tina’s hand nestle into his, and without looking down he squeezed it reassuringly. They moved slowly forward into the cavern, like children who’d wandered into a dark wood.

Long strands of red weed hung down through the ceiling mists, like an upside-down forest. Thick and bloated and crusted with bulbous nodes, the red weed pulsed with slow malevolent life. The strands twitched sluggishly as Daniel and Tina approached, and started to reach out to them, only to pull back at the last moment, as though repulsed by the Hydes’ very nature.

Daniel investigated one walled-off section after another. The rough stone walls were beaded with something very like sweat, and when Daniel put a hand on the stone he felt something like a pulse of life. The walls were aware, and quite possibly dreaming; he didn’t think he wanted to know what was on their minds. Whatever had been speaking to Daniel had nothing to say, leaving him to wander without a guide in an alien landscape. He led Tina carefully around strange dark pools that seethed and bubbled, like tarns full of liquid night. Every now and again one would blast a geyser of frothing liquids high into the air. The heat that radiated from these explosions was enough to send both Hydes staggering, and the falling drops would smart fiercely when they hit their bare skin.

Mars, thought Daniel. This is Mars. So where are the Martians? His hands clenched into fists so tight they ached, and it was only then that he realized he’d let go of Tina’s hand. He looked quickly round, and found she’d dropped back a way, glaring around her with almost feral malevolence. Daniel started to say something and then stopped, as he made out a huge dark shape up ahead. He called out to Tina and she turned on him, her lips drawn back in a vicious snarl. He pointed steadily at the thing before them, and Tina’s face slowly cleared. She nodded quickly, to tell him she was back, and moved forward to stand beside him.

“I don’t know what that is,” said Daniel, “but it’s alive.”

“A Martian, at last,” said Tina. Her voice was heavy, almost drugged with hate. “Let’s go introduce ourselves.”

“Slowly,” said Daniel. “We don’t want to trigger any alarms.”

“Revenge is a dish best savored slow,” said Tina.

They moved cautiously forward, weaving their way round the stone walls surrounding the shape, until finally they had a clear view of the Martian. Huge and round, some twenty feet in diameter, it looked like nothing so much as a giant brain. Its crimson surface was mottled with dark throbbing veins, and from its base sprouted dozens of churning tentacles, punctuated with vicious barbs. A single great eye stared unblinkingly, set above a huge serrated beak like a cuttlefish. The Martian was feeding on a human corpse, tearing the meat off the bones with its tentacles and then stuffing the bloody morsels into the gaping beak. The Martian heaved slowly as it fed, making deep grunting sounds like a pig in its sty.

“I have never wanted to kill anything as much as I want to kill that thing,” said Tina. “I want to tear it to pieces with my bare hands and laugh as it screams.”

“Not yet,” said Daniel. “I want it dead as much as you, but first we have to make sure it’s the only one here.”

Tina looked quickly about her. “I’m not seeing any more, and something that size would tend to stand out.”

“But why would there be only one?” said Daniel.

Tina frowned. “The robots do all the hard work. Maybe it only takes one Martian to run the machines, and make sure there’s enough food in the larder for when the rest of them arrive.”

Daniel nodded. “Makes sense. Okay, let’s do this. It’s time to send the Martians a message they’ll never forget.”

“Finally!” said Tina.

She jumped up onto a low stone wall and shouted obscenities at the giant brain, and the huge eye rolled wetly round to stare at her. The Martian dropped the half-eaten corpse, and swiveled on its base until it was facing the Hydes. Its nest of tentacles roiled and churned, and then rose up like dozens of angry snakes.

“You’re going to die,” Daniel said to the Martian. “For everything you’ve done, and planned to do.”

“You think it can understand you?” said Tina.

Daniel shrugged. “It needed saying.”

And then the Martian spoke, in great bass booming sounds that reverberated through Daniel’s and Tina’s bodies. They staggered and almost fell, beaten back by sounds like blows. The Martian paused, as though to judge the effect of its words, and Daniel grabbed a nearby stone wall with both hands, broke off a large piece, and threw it with all his strength. The jagged-edged stone smashed right through the Martian’s unblinking eye, and buried itself deep inside the giant brain. Frothing liquid exploded from the ruptured eye, and the Martian swayed back and forth on its base and screamed like a wounded god. Tina howled with a pure and malicious joy and ran at the Martian, her fists raised.

A dozen tentacles shot out to intercept her. They snapped around Tina and brought her to a sudden halt, before lifting her effortlessly into the air. Vicious barbs sank deep into her flesh, and her blood rained down onto the giant brain. Tina struggled to break free, throwing all her Hyde strength against the tentacles, until they all contracted at once and crushed the breath out of her. She slumped in their grasp, her head lolling, and the tentacles pushed her toward the snapping cuttlefish beak.

They stuffed her limp body in—and that was when Tina’s eyes shot open. She got a hand on each half of the beak, and forced them apart. The Martian rocked back and forth, its ruptured eye rolling madly. And Tina forced the two parts of the beak so far apart, she broke it. The two halves sagged separately, dark blood spurted, and the Martian howled its deep bass scream.

Tentacles dropped on Tina like the wrath of a lesser god, but this time she was waiting for them. She grabbed them in midair and tore them apart, one after another, laughing out loud as she crippled the Martian. Until one tentacle snapped around her throat and squeezed until her eyes bulged. She tore at the tentacle with both hands, her fingers sinking deep into the crimson flesh, and a dozen tentacles fell on her from different directions.

Daniel should have been fighting at her side, but he was working on something. He’d spotted a high stone wall protruding out over the Martian, and set about climbing it. He smashed holes in the stone so he could use them as footholds, and scrambled all the way up to the curving top, and only then did he stop and look down, to where Tina was struggling for her life. Without any hesitation he launched himself out over the long drop. He plummeted down and slammed headfirst into the screaming Martian brain; the sheer impact of his weight forced him all the way in.

Violent spasms tore through the Martian. Its bass scream was so loud the vibrations buffeted Daniel back and forth. He thrashed around, trying to find some purchase in the crimson haze of half-liquid Martian flesh. And then he saw something ahead of him: a complicated pulsing shape that he just knew had to be important. He forced his way through the shuddering crimson veils, took hold of the shape with both hands, and crushed it to a pulp.

The Martian’s scream broke off. Its tentacles spasmed, and threw Tina away. She hit the ground hard, rolling over and over in a flurry of blood. Daniel dropped what he was holding and let it sink to the bottom, and then stamped on it hard. Just to make sure. After that, it was the easiest thing in the world to walk through the giant brain and tear a gap in its outer layers. He took a great shuddering breath of the foul air, and brushed away shreds of Martian flesh to leave a uniform soaked in gore. Behind him, the crimson brain was slowly collapsing, like a ruptured basketball. He moved forward to help Tina to her feet. She grabbed his arm with both hands, until she could get her feet under her and make herself stand up straight. She was bleeding profusely from dozens of wounds, her uniform almost as badly soaked in gore as his, but she still managed a smile for him.

“I did all the hard work, and you just fell on it?”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” said Daniel.

He took her in his arms. They clung together for a long moment, and then pushed each other away. Because they were Hydes, and there was still work to be done.

“Now what?” said Tina. She was so tired she was swaying on her feet, but her gaze was perfectly clear.

“We have to destroy the terraforming equipment,” said Daniel. “Sabotage it, so the whole base will explode. That should send a message to Mars, as well as put an end to their invasion.”

“Good,” said Tina. “Do you have any idea how to get us out of here, before the whole place goes up?”

“Of course,” said Daniel. “I memorized the route on the way in.”

“Show-off,” said Tina.

Daniel looked around, thinking hard. Tina was almost out on her feet, and he was so exhausted it was all he could do to stand up straight. They had no weapons, no explosives, and no help. Except, just maybe, they had an ally. Daniel concentrated, reaching out to the machine presence he’d contacted earlier. And just like that, an idea came to him. He smiled at Tina.

“Rejoice! For I have a plan.”

“Does it mean we can blow this place to shit and go home?”

“Oh yes.”

“Then I love this plan and want to have its babies. What do we do?”

“Follow the pipes,” said Daniel.


It took them a while, staggering on through endless metal corridors while holding each other up, but finally they made their way back to the chamber where the massive machines were manufacturing Martian atmosphere. And then all Daniel and Tina had to do was punch the hell out of the pipes until they collapsed in on themselves, blocking the flow of Martian air. Immediately the pressure began to build, and with the Martian dead there was no one to tell the machine to stop production. Daniel was confident that once the pressure built high enough, explosions would tear the pipes apart, and then one by one the great machines would go up too, in a chain reaction powerful enough to blow the whole base apart. The little voice in his head seemed quite sure about that. Daniel tried to say thank you, but wasn’t sure it understood the concept.

He still had to get Tina out of the base before everything blew. He pulled her arm over his shoulder, and got her moving in the right direction—only to find the humanoid robots had formed a solid wall to block their way. Daniel gave Tina a good shake, and her head came up.

“What? I thought we were done?”

“One last job before we leave,” said Daniel. “How would you like to beat up a whole bunch of robots that probably dragged lots of innocent people down here to die?”

Tina smiled slowly. She stood up straight, and pushed Daniel away from her.

“Better than flowers and chocolates.”

Daniel and Tina gathered up the last of their strength, and went to meet the robots. The metal figures surged forward, flailing their arms with inhuman strength. Daniel struck down one robot after another as they came within reach, tearing their arms off and using them as clubs to beat their heads in. Tina kicked the robots’ legs out from under them, and then stamped on their heads till they stopped moving. But no matter how many the Hydes destroyed, it seemed like there were always more robots waiting to replace them. And Daniel couldn’t shake the feeling that somewhere a clock was counting down.

He finally discovered that one good punch to the glowing eye in the middle of a robot’s head would drop it like a stone. He passed this on to Tina, and one short but very satisfying onslaught later, there was nothing left for them to hit. They looked around at the scattered robot bodies and nodded, satisfied.

And then, leaning heavily on each other because even Hyde strength has its limits, they headed for the exit. Exhausted, broken, and bloodied, they staggered through the metal tunnels until they reached the entrance chamber, and then made their way back up the steps and into the dig. They lurched out of the main entrance, and found themselves facing a whole bunch of startled guards with guns. And that was when the first underground explosion rocked the whole dig and toppled half the temporary walls. Daniel glared at the soldiers.

“Run!”

The guards took one look at the blood-soaked figures before them and didn’t stop to argue, just turned and ran. Explosions, one after the other in swift succession, shook the ground hard enough to throw some of the mercenaries off their feet. Daniel and Tina plunged on into the nearby copse, grabbed a tree each, and hugged it tightly. The ground rose and fell in an endless earthquake. The trees flexed and groaned, but didn’t fall.

Finally, the explosions stopped, and a blissful peace fell over Horse Leigh Common. Daniel and Tina relaxed their grip on the trees, and looked out at the great open space. It was covered with fallen mercenaries, some of whom were groaning loudly. Beyond them, the whole dig had disappeared. Not a trace of it remained—just a huge ragged hole in the ground with steam coming out of it. Daniel smiled at Tina.

“You can usually tell where Hydes have been.”

“Why did you warn the guards?” said Tina.

“Because it was possible they genuinely didn’t know what was going on, down below.”

Tina shook her head. “I’m going to have to toughen you up.”

“Looking forward to it,” said Daniel.

They moved back into the trees, to retrieve their good clothes.


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Framed