Dunbar reached inside his jerkin and brought out a plastic bag containing several blank disks. ‘Not long,’ he replied. ‘I just have to copy these.’
‘I’ll take a look around,’ said Douglas.
‘Don’t move anything,’ cautioned Dunbar. ‘We don’t want anyone to know Santa’s been.’
Dunbar made copies of the three data disks, switched off the computer and put everything back as he’d found it. ‘That’s it,’ he said when Douglas had returned. ‘Can you lock the drawer again?’
Douglas looked at him as if it was the strangest request he’d ever heard, but complied. He had slightly more trouble locking the drawer than he’d had unlocking it, but it eventually clicked and everything was as it had been.
‘Let’s go,’ said Dunbar.
As they left the office and started to make their way back down to the pig house, Douglas said, ‘Do you notice anything strange?’
‘What?’
‘Take a good look, then think back to how the building looked from the outside.’
Dunbar did as he was bid, shining the torch all over the walls. ‘What?’ he asked.
‘Part of the building is missing. I twigged it while I was having a nose around. Look at the length of the place.’ Douglas swung the torch to and fro. ‘Now think about the length from outside.’
‘You’re right,’ said Dunbar. He pointed the beam straight ahead. ‘That must be a false wall.’
‘If there’s no access from the outside, there has to be a door in here.’
They walked over to the end wall and started searching for a way through.
‘Strange,’ muttered Dunbar, running his hands over the wall. ‘Seems unbroken.’
‘Crazy,’ agreed Douglas. Suddenly something he had touched caused a panel in the wall to slide back. It startled him and he dropped the torch, which went out, leaving them in darkness.
‘Christ! What’s that?’ exclaimed Douglas as the sound of grunting filled their ears.
‘More pigs, I suppose.’
‘Don’t smell like pigs,’ replied Douglas, cautiously entering the new part and reaching to the side to feel for a light switch. ‘Where is the bleeding thing?’ he murmured as he failed to find one.
Dunbar inched his way along the wall, guided only by the sound of Douglas’s voice. He froze suddenly as Douglas let out a scream that rent the air.
‘What the hell…? Where are you?’ gasped Dunbar. He reached the entrance and felt for a light switch. He found it and clicked it on. Douglas’s face was contorted with pain. He had unwittingly reached into the steel-barred cage of a large female ape. She had grabbed his arm and bitten it and was now trying to tear it off. Douglas’s eyes pleaded for help; blood was streaming down his arm.
Dunbar attacked the ape as best he could, punching at it through the bars, shouting at it, trying to distract it, but the animal kept hold of Douglas. Dunbar looked around for something to use as a weapon. He saw the torch that Douglas had dropped just outside the opening in the wall and retrieved it. One particularly good blow to the animal’s head made it release its grip and stumble backwards. Dunbar was able to pull Douglas away.
Douglas sank to the floor, shivering with shock.
Dunbar did his best to staunch the flow of blood, using two towels that he retrieved from a wash-basin at the far end of the room. As he was applying one as a tourniquet, he became aware of his audience. There were five apes in the room. All were female and all were pregnant. Despite the distraction of the moment, he couldn’t help but notice that all of them had scars across their bellies as if they’d had Caesarian sections, yet they were all still swollen in pregnancy.
Douglas clutched weakly at his neck and muttered something Dunbar couldn’t make out. He leaned closer.
‘Omnopon,’ murmured Douglas.
Dunbar suddenly realized what he meant. He reached inside the man’s shirt and found a little bag of the painkiller Omnopon hanging from a leather thong round his neck. ‘Old habits die hard,’ he said. Douglas must have served with a Marine Commando unit at some time: this was standard operational practice. He administered the drug to Douglas and took off his jerkin to make it into a pillow for his head while he thought what to do next. At that moment he heard the front door open. ‘I’ll be right back,’ he whispered. He stood up and clicked off the light.
‘I’m telling you, I heard a bloody scream,’ said an animated male voice.
‘It was your imagination,’ replied a calmer voice. ‘It was something on the radio.’
‘It was James fucking Last on the radio.’
Dunbar pressed himself against the wall, trying to decide what to do. Both security men had come to have a look, so there was still some doubt in their minds. It sounded as if only one man had heard something, so the chances were that they hadn’t yet reported anything. If he could close the wall panel, the guards might go away without finding anything amiss; unless, of course, they decided to search the whole building routinely. He was feeling for the button when Douglas tried to move and let out a loud moan. The game was over; the guards came running.
Almost without thinking, Dunbar pulled down his balaclava and ran towards them as the main lights came on. The two men were taken by surprise. One had hardly opened his mouth when Dunbar hit him sharply on the left side of his chin and he went down like a felled tree. The other turned to run for the door, but Dunbar caught him and dropped him with a blow to the side of his neck. He lowered him to the floor and dragged him back to lie beside his companion. He had been as restrained as possible. He wished them no harm.
Dunbar ran back to see to Douglas. The painkiller was doing its job, and Douglas was conscious and calm, sitting up, holding the towel against his arm.
‘Can you stand?’ asked Dunbar.
‘Sure.’ Douglas tried to get up, and succeeded with some help from Dunbar. Dunbar put his jerkin back on. ‘Put your good arm round my neck.’
Dunbar half carried Douglas to the front door, then turned out the lights before pressing the door-release button. The door slid back letting them breathe in fresh night air.
‘Where did you leave the rucksack?’ Dunbar asked.
Douglas seemed sleepy. He hesitated before saying, ‘Behind the pipe.’
They made painfully slow progress along the back of the building till they reached the waste pipe. Dunbar retrieved the rucksack and started to put it on, but Douglas stopped him.
‘Inside…’ he said. ‘Paint… Spray paint…’
Dunbar’s first thought was delirium, but then he understood. Despite his pain and shock, Douglas was still thinking about their mission.
‘In case… things went wrong. Someone… to blame.’
Dunbar searched the sack and found a can of spray paint.
‘Will you be okay for a minute?’ he asked.
‘Go…’
Dunbar went up to the wall of the building and started spray-writing. ‘No to Vivisection… Free the Animals… Scientist Bastards… Stop the Experiments… Evil Bastards’. The can was empty. He ran back to where Douglas lay and put the empty can in the sack before slinging it on his back and helping Douglas to his feet. ‘We’ve got to get you to a hospital,’ he said.
It seemed to take forever to cover the three hundred yards or so to where they’d left the Land-Rover, but there was still no commotion behind them. The security guards must still be unconscious. Dunbar took the keys from Douglas’s pocket and eased him to the ground while he unlocked the vehicle. He manoeuvred Douglas into the front seat and strapped him in securely. Douglas’s head rested on his chest but he was still conscious.
‘Are you okay there?’
‘I’m okay,’ grunted Douglas.
Dunbar started the vehicle. He considered briefly the idea of driving across country to avoid the possibility of meeting the police on their way out to Vane Farm, but decided that Douglas could not take the rough ride. He’d have to risk the road.
He glanced to the right as they passed the farm entrance. The gate-house was empty. He turned to Douglas and asked if the Omnopon was still working.