Bats Out Of Hell

Guy N Smith

Bats Out Of Hell

Chapter One

It was humid inside the small laboratory in spite of the window which was open contrary to all regulations. Outside the sun shone and, but for the absence of foliage on the trees surrounding the squat grey stone buildings which comprised the Midlands Biological Research Centre, one would have been forgiven for assuming that summer had already begun. Small birds twittered incessantly as they busied themselves searching for twigs and dry grass with .which to complete the building of their nests. Rooks circled and cawed noisily above a line of tall elms. Another cycle of life had begun.

The tall, fair-haired man in the long white coat moved away from the window and, ignoring the 'no smoking' sign above the long table which supported several oblong glass cases, he lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, and slowly blew twin streams of smoke out through his nostrils. His handsome, ta

The rats, mice and guinea pigs in the other cages were u

Even the reinforced glass could not muffle the shrill, almost insane shrieking of the bats within the cage. Usually they were motionless and silent by day, only becoming active when the laboratory was in darkness and the bacteriologists had left. Not so today. For the last three days they had been abnormally active, with the exception of those that lay dead on the floor of their prison. Even in death they had an u

The living flung themselves blindly at the walls, some dropping stu

One small, reddish-brown silky body attempted to secure a hold on the smooth sides of the case with its minute claws, slipped, and fell to the floor. It rolled onto its back, kicking frantically at first, then slowly the twitching limbs stiffened as though rigor mortis were preceding death. Yet the two watching humans knew by the way the bat's eyes dilated that it still lived. They realised also that it was in indescribable pain—and there was nothing whatsoever that they could do about it.

It was a quarter of an hour before the bat's eyes dulled and it died. The last victim, an hour ago, had suffered for forty-five minutes before it was granted a merciful release from its suffering.

'Hell,' the tall man muttered to himself, 'I've never seen anything like it before!'

The girl moved closer to him, and asked in a low, husky whisper, 'What is it, Brian? What's happening to them?'

He seemed to notice her presence for the first time, and his expression softened momentarily. 'I don't know,' he murmured, averting his eyes from her gaze.

'But. . . ' her fingers closed over his as she spoke, and he made no attempt to remove them. 'The tests. The tests we did yesterday. They're bound to show something . . . the reason for this paralysis in the bats, the mad rages, the pain ...'

Professor Brian Newman looked silently out of the window. Out there, across the soft, springy heather which was just begi

Newman remembered the begi

'The tests,' Susan Wylie squeezed his hand and whispered huskily. 'What did they show, Brian?'

Newman turned to her, and sighed loudly. They showed that the inexplicable has happened. Something which we ca

'But Brian,' Susan slipped an arm about him. 'There's no harm done. Whatever you've created is confined in that single glass cage. The whole disease is trapped in there. It can't get out. Admittedly there's nothing we can do to ease these creatures' suffering, but once they're all dead, that's that. As you say, cremate the bodies and nobody will be any the wiser.'

'I guess you're right,' he tossed the butt of his cigarette out of the window. 'A couple of days and I reckon it will all be over. But it's frightening to think what freak mutations can be brought about by experiments like this one. All over the world scientists are conducting such. experiments daily. Students, too. It could happen anywhere, anytime, and something far more terrible than nuclear war could be unleashed upon the world I don't know how this came about. I'd feel one helluva lot easier if I did. Nevertheless, we must end it here and now. This laboratory must be kept locked. Nobody must come in here, not even Haynes. At the end of the week, when there's no trace of this mess left, I shall report that my experiments were a failure. Negative results.'

'I suppose that's the best thing,' her pert features puckered into a smile. 'Let's forget all about it tonight and enjoy ourselves.'

He stiffened slightly, and looked away.

'What's the matter?' there was concern in her voice.

'I... I'm afraid we'll have to postpone tonight, Susan. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is.'