Catscape (14 page)

Fergus looked more closely at the door to the Chamber. The most obvious features were the sign saying “Authorized Personnel Only” and a large digital clock above the door. Fergus automatically checked and set his DataBoy to the time shown. To one side of the door were temperature and humidity gauges and a numbered keypad. It had a digital readout saying “access code required for entry.”

Fergus felt sure that this was the place to be but he didn’t know what numbers he needed to get in, let alone how many were in the sequence or what order they should be pressed in.

And then it came back to him. The access code that Murdo had read out in the van. Could that have been Beanface’s reminder to himself to get into this room? Surely Beanface would be “authorized personnel?” Fergus knew immediately that there was only one way to find out and scrolled through the options on his DataBoy to recall the number he had entered only an hour before. Checking the passageway to make sure that he was still alone, he put his ear to the door to be certain that he wasn’t going to walk in to a roomful of people. Everything was quiet and so with a silent apology to Jessie for going even further into places that he shouldn’t, Fergus pressed 5, 1, 3, 2, 9 and a button marked “Enter Code.”

Just as he pressed the handle and the door began to open, Fergus heard a distant thud back along the passageway. It sounded as thought the door at the top of the metal ladder had swung closed again. Realizing that this meant that someone could be heading his way within a minute, Fergus pushed the door of the Chamber open just far enough to slip through before closing it softly again behind him.

Once inside, he was bathed in a dull blue glow. He blinked as his eyes adapted not just to the light, but to the sight that greeted him. In front of him all around the walls, from floor to ceiling and stretching far off into the distance, was row upon row upon row of glass boxes. His first thought was that the walls were stacked high with fish tanks, each with wires and tubes coming out of them. It had never really occurred to Fergus that the cats which Murdo had compiled information on, were only a small proportion of those that had disappeared. He now faced the shock that the forty-four missing cats that they knew of were just the tip of the iceberg. As his eyes adjusted to the gloom he gazed at hundreds of boxes. Each one held a sleeping cat.

Fergus moved towards the wall of glass boxes as if hypnotized, drawn closer by the sight of the cats. There were more cats here in one place than he had seen in the whole of his life. Fergus let his gaze run as far as he could see into the dimly-lit room. At a rough guess there must have been four or five hundred cats of all shapes and sizes, from scarred city tomcats to fluffy suburban Persians. At first glance it appeared like an enormous museum display of stuffed animals but as he moved closer he could see slight movements as each cat breathed in its sleep. Peering more closely at the containers Fergus saw that each one had a simple label with a serial number and a location. 0014 Edinburgh, 0036 Newcastle, 0045 Aberdeen. Fergus’s mind whirled. In just a few metres of wallspace he could see about seven different cities. Their investigation wasn’t just about a few cats in Comely Bank. It was about all of the numbers and cities he had seen on the clipboard in the loading bay.

Examining the boxes that the cats were contained in, Fergus could see that each had a tiny control panel with display gauges for temperature, nutrients and oxygen levels, while a flickering red number showed the cats’ steady pulse rates. Tubes reached from feeding bowls in each glass box down to drums of Nine Lives food stored at ground level, exactly like the ones that Fergus had seen in the laboratories next door. More gauges suggested that the cats’ sleeping, waking and feeding patterns were being carefully regulated.

Looking further into the Chamber, Fergus also now noticed what looked like a control console for the whole room. It was the size of two large desks and had dials, lights and sliding knobs
that seemed to play a part in maintaining stable conditions in the room. There was little sound other than an occasional bleep from some of the electronic equipment which drew Fergus’s attention to the only other structure in the room, a huge unit the size of a giant telephone box in the middle of the floor. A plaque at the top read “The Timebank.” Beside it a large digital clock showed hours, minutes and seconds in red digits. Below this on each of the four sides of the Timebank were numbered panels the size of postcards. Fergus quickly made the link that the numbers on each panel matched every cat’s container. On every little panel was a tiny digital clock counting down through days, hours, minutes and seconds, each readout at a different stage. Under each clock in small letters it read “Time Remaining to Preference Transfer Completion.”

Fergus weighed up everything that he seen so far and felt it all begin to fall into place. He was looking at hundreds of cats, each being controlled and fed for a set length of time until they had developed a liking for Nine Lives, without even realizing they’d been eating it.

It was like a breathtaking scene from a science fiction film and once again Fergus could see that in future Murdo’s crazier suggestions would merit serious discussion.

Thoughts flashed through Fergus’s mind about what he could do. He decided that he couldn’t try to free the cats. Although the cats had been stolen, it at least appeared that they were alive and relatively comfortable and he didn’t want to disrupt that.

Fergus knew that somehow he needed to get a message above ground to let people know that this was where the cats were and then let the experts deal with it.

Looking around the Chamber again at the scale of the scene, he knew how far-fetched it would sound if he tried to describe it. He decided that he needed proof so he delved into the rucksack and worked his way through the equipment until
he found Murdo’s digital camera. A quick glance showed him that there were very few buttons to manage and that the flash was automatic. Fergus lined up a shot that would include the control console and the banks of glass cases along the walls in the background. He steadied himself and prepared to take a picture. “Right, Exhibit A,” he said to himself.

Just as he pressed the button there was a brief thought in his head that this maybe wasn’t such a good idea. As soon as he took the picture he realized why. The flash exploded into the gloom and sirens immediately began blaring, echoing around the huge Chamber. The needle gauges on the console bounced towards a threatening-looking danger zone and an angry red light flashed under a glass panel saying “SYSTEM ALERT.” Before he could even think of an escape plan the door burst open and a man who Fergus recognized as Cogs ran in. He was brought up short by the sight of Fergus but gathered himself together quickly.

“What did you do?” he snapped, his voice cutting through the piercing noise of the siren.

Fergus was surprised that the first question wasn’t about him or why he was there. He was sure they wouldn’t be far behind but for the meantime the man obviously just wanted to deal with the emergency.

“What did you do?” Cogs rattled out the question again and this time grabbed Fergus’s arm as he did so.

“I took a photo,” Fergus said meekly holding up the camera. For a moment Cogs looked confused. “It flashed,” Fergus added.

Cogs visibly relaxed with the news that Fergus hadn’t done any more damage than that. He grabbed the camera from Fergus and turned to the control console before punching a series of buttons. The siren immediately cut off and faded to an echo around the room. The needles on the gauges shrank back out of the danger zone and the lights on the panel flickered for a last time and then stopped flashing.

Cogs turned to look at Fergus and at the same time picked up a phone connected to the console.

“It’s Lomax,” he said. “We have … we have an intruder in the Chamber. The boss should come down.”

Fergus was bundled roughly into a swivel chair beside the control console. Cogs then thought better of his decision and wheeled the chair some distance away as if expecting that Fergus would dive towards the buttons and switches if he sat anywhere near them.

After the shock of setting off the siren, Fergus sank into a low mood as he realized that he had gone from potential rescuer to just another captive by clicking a camera button.

The longer he sat there, however, he decided that he still had to make the most of the situation. He imagined that he had Jessie and Murdo for company and that the three of them were working out what to do next. Jessie, he decided would have switched on her beady eyes in order to take in some of the details of the Chamber. Fergus started counting the cat containers, but as his eyes drifted along the wall they began to blur into one another and he lost count at 143.

Next he turned his attention to the console but found that he had been wheeled too far away from it to make sense of the buttons and switches or to see what the writing said. As Cogs was now seated at the console he was also blocking some of it from view and any time that he wasn’t adjusting switches and knobs, he seemed to spend turning to give Fergus a hard stare.

Fergus then looked at possible escape routes, but the only route out seemed to be the door that he had entered through and what appeared to be a sliding door with a touch pad on another wall, although there was no indication of where it led.

Fergus glanced at his watch to check on how long he had been underground but stopped in puzzlement. The DataBoy was
showing an earlier time than it had when the boys were back at the loading bay. It had gone backwards. Fergus gazed around the room once again. It was as if the Chamber itself was having an effect on the watch. As he watched, the bleep sounded again as the readouts on each panel of the Timebank counted down another thirty seconds and Fergus made another connection. “The bleep from the tape,” he said quietly to himself.

It was then that he noticed a small plate attached to the Timebank. “Warning — timepieces may be affected. Please reset with corridor clock on departing the Chamber.”

Fergus looked up into the gloom towards the ceiling. In the middle there was a dark shaft like a wide chimney disappearing further upwards and out of sight. It dawned on him that he was sitting directly underneath the manhole cover on Comely Bank Avenue. They had nearly looked down on the Chamber right at the start of their investigation.
“So you’ve found our little animal sanctuary.”

Fergus spun round to find Davidson Stein standing by the control console. He had entered the room without a sound and he gave an almost imperceptible nod, indicating to Cogs that he was to leave the room. Cogs gave a last malevolent stare at Fergus and pulled the door of the Chamber firmly behind him, leaving Fergus alone with Stein.

Stein walked up to the console and glanced at it. He then surveyed the length of the walls of cat containers as if he were a king looking proudly over his kingdom. He turned to Fergus and spoke quietly but firmly.

“You are just a little too inquisitive for my liking,” said Stein. “You are on private property and you have no right to be here.”

“These cats are private property, you have no right to have them here,” said Fergus sounding braver than he felt.

“I have no right? … I have no right?” said Stein repeating Fergus’s words as if weighing each one up individually. “Perhaps not, but I have the means and the ability and I will not be
stopped.”

“I know exactly what you’re doing here,” said Fergus.

“Oh yes, I’ve read all about it in your amusing little book,” said Stein picking up Murdo’s missing Investigation Diary from the console. “But you see children really shouldn’t stray into places like this. Accidents can happen.” Stein seemed thoughtful as he said this and looked casually around the room as if he was weighing up possibilities.

“It’s not just me that knows,” said Fergus boldly, trying desperately to sound as if he was part of some bigger rescue plan.

“Oh you mean your sidekick?” said Stein turning to the console and tapping the large keyboard. On a TV monitor on the wall above it, the image changed from the passageway outside to the inside of a room. Around the walls were cages like the ones in the back of the van and there were worktop benches with straps and wires that Fergus guessed were the right size for restraining cats. In a cage in the corner of the room was Jock. Fergus then gasped as he saw Murdo sitting in what looked like a large dentist’s chair which he was firmly strapped into. Both he and Jock appeared to be unconscious. At least that was the explanation that Fergus tried to keep in his mind.

“There are others who know,” Fergus steeling himself.

“Ah yes, the old lady … Mrs. … what shall we call her? Mrs. Sprockett-Jenkins? Well, I can’t imagine she’s exactly given her approval for you to poke around here, but even if she has done, I’ll be taking some steps to take care of her. Terrible how old people can be susceptible to nasty falls, isn’t it?”

Fergus felt the heat rise within him. He wanted to say, “You couldn’t” or “You wouldn’t” but knew that Stein would simply throw those statements right back at him. He was now in full flow.

“Yes, I don’t think you can pretend that anyone else knows. I imagine you’ve been quite happy having your own little secret
mystery games to play. I can’t imagine it would have gone down too well at home if you’d told your mother that you were planning to break into one of the local shops.”

“You are a cat thief and you will be found out,” said Fergus trying desperately to sound confident but knowing that Stein had the upper hand.

“And you are currently breaking and entering on private property and I may just have to take appropriate action to defend myself,” Stein retorted.

“But people will notice that Murdo and I have disappeared later today,” said Fergus.

Stein continued to scan the control console and survey the Chamber seeming not to register Fergus’s comment.

“Do I look concerned about that, Fergus?” asked Stein, suddenly turning to face Fergus with a manic grin on his face.

“WELL DO I?” he bellowed, suddenly leaning into Fergus’s face and shouting at full volume.

Fergus pulled as sharply backwards as the chair would allow.

“This is
not
someone to get on the wrong side of,” raced through Fergus’s mind. “Too late!” he could hear Murdo saying as he imagined having the conversation aloud with his friend.

“Don’t you wonder why I’m not worried?” continued Stein now moving around behind Fergus, bending low and keeping his voice quiet and close. Fergus could feel Stein’s breath on his ear. “You’re not going to disappear for long. You’ll be back home very soon and so will your friend. You know you really should try to enjoy this bit of the day as much as you can because in a few hours I’m afraid you won’t remember any of it.”

Fergus’s mind started racing. What was Stein’s plan? It suddenly seemed that there could be whole filing cabinets of vital information that were missing from Murdo’s Incident Room. They really didn’t know what was happening in the vaults below Raeburn Place.

“Allow me to show you something,” Stein said with a leering
smile as he headed back to the console and punched a few buttons.

The image of Murdo tied to the seat re-appeared. Stein continued to attack the buttons on the console with glee and the camera that was focused on Murdo zoomed in. The whole scene with the dentist’s chair looked hazily familiar and Fergus forced his brain to try to retrieve where he had seen it before. The screen showed that there were leads attached to the helmet that Murdo was wearing, which looped away from the chair and connected to another console. Stein made more adjustments and the image changed to show the console’s gauges. Fergus stared and tried to focus on what the screen showed. There was a digital readout with a timeline that was creeping slowly along. He looked at Stein who grinned back and nodded to him, encouraging him to look again. The timeline said that it was sixty-seven per cent complete and underneath it said “Recall Processor.”

A cold feeling crept over Fergus and he froze. The Recall Processor. MM’s book.

Fergus began to speak again but found that his voice sounded strangely thin and quiet. “You’ve been scrubbing bits of cats’ memories. That’s how you’re doing it. Get rid of their memories of the tastes that they like and start them afresh with your own rotten recipes. Then your cat food will be the only thing they’ll eat.”