The Fog - James Herbert [130]
There were a few moments of static then the professor’s voice came through. ‘Hello, hello, Mr Holman. Can you hear me?’
‘Yes, I can, Professor.’
‘Quite a blast, eh? Well it seems to have done the job at this end. Captain Peters has just gone for a closer look, but from here it looks fine. How about your side?’
‘It’s completely sealed at this end. Sergeant Stanton is just climbing the slope to the top, but he’s already indicated everything’s fine.’
‘Excellent, excellent. I shall move forward myself now along the top road, and examine the damage from there. The dust is settling and the air over here seems to be clearer than on your side, so I am getting a pretty clear picture of the results of our little blast. Yes, yes, the nearer I get the better it looks. I can see Captain Peters directly below me; I think he will be satisfied with his work. He is looking round for me – ah, yes, he sees me. He is waving. Good, good, I think he is happy – he is shaking hands with himself.’ Holman heard a strange metallic rasping through the receiver which could only have been the Professor chuckling to himself. The voice went on: ‘I am moving past the blockage now and I must say it looks very, very solid to me. There is one enormous concrete slab at an angle at the top, it must be at least twenty feet across, that is – ’ the radio went silent for a few moments, then the voice continued, and Holman could sense a sudden tension in it, even through its distortion. ‘There is something wrong. There – there is dust spewing from the top of the concrete – no, from behind it. Is it dust?’ There was a long pause. ‘Or is it just the disturbed fog? No, the fog is clearer over here, it must be dust. I will look closer. It seemed to be coming out rapidly, like steam. I am near to it now, I can see behind the con – ’ again his voice broke off. ‘There is a gap!’ Holman started at the sudden exclamation. ‘There is a gap in the roof! The fog – it is escaping from it! But this is impossible. It must be the force of the blast. The air inside the tunnel must be forcing the fog out. It must be that, surely the fog couldn’t – God! There is a light! The hole is beginning to glow. The light is coming out. It is the light we saw in the tunnel, the yellow light. No, no, the mycoplasma is escaping. It is emerging with the fog! I must get away from here! I must get away.’
The radio went dead, except for the sharp crackle of static, and Holman, for the first time in many years, broke down and wept.
‘Holman! Sergeant Stanton! Can you hear me?’ Holman raised his head at the sound of the voice and made a grab for the radio. He had no idea of how much time had elapsed since the receiver had gone dead: it might only have been seconds, but more likely it had been several minutes for his tears of frustration had blotted out all sense of time. Was there no answer to this nightmare? Was there no way to succeed in destroying it?
‘Hello, this is Holman,’ he said hastily into the speaker. ‘Ryker?’
‘No, this is Captain Peters. Professor Ryker is beside me in the vehicle; I don’t think he’s too good.’
‘What happened?’
‘The mycoplasma; it got loose. I heard Professor Ryker shouting and scrambled up to the top of the slope to see what was wrong. He was down the road a piece, near the vehicle, lying in the road. Ahead of him, I could see a – I can only describe it as a sold mass of light, although that hardly fits. It seemed to be drifting away with the fog; it must have passed right over him!’
Holman drew in his breath slowly. ‘Is he all right?’
‘I don’t know, he seems sort of dazed. I dragged him into the vehicle, but couldn’t risk taking his helmet off to examine him. I think it’s more fright than anything; the sight of that thing escaping and coming towards him. Anyway, he seemed to come out of it a minute ago; he told me to follow it, said we mustn’t lose sight of it this time, and then he just slumped back and seemed to black out. I think he’s coming round a bit now.’
‘Peters, be careful’ Holman urged. ‘He may have