The Research Station

By Katherine Franks

What is Beneath the Red Dust?
Deep within the earth, two hundred metres under the surface, a tiny black bacteria sat nestled into a sandstone nook. Its nook was cool, dark and eons old. No one had seen the nook, or the bacteria in this lifetime. Or the lifetime before.
It had been so long since someone had seen the bacteria that it had been forgotten. Completely forgotten by man and humanity. Completely forgotten by the people who had vowed to make sure it did not get forgotten. Completely forgotten by the people who absolutely should remember it. How it had been forgotten was not important. Maybe someone who had been meant to pass the knowledge down to their children had died unexpectedly. Maybe a whole race of people had died unexpectedly. Or been murdered.
So the bacteria sat there, in silence, not dying but not exactly living either.
Existing.
And no one knew it was there.

Poppy Geordanis figured taking a job at a remote research station as the head chef would be a dream come true. Partly for the experience, and partly to escape the constant questions from her family about when she is going to marry – as a woman of thirty, it's a solid option. Or is it?
Twenty floors under the earth, a life or death battle has begun in a secret research station. Poppy is caught in the middle, but she doesn't know it yet. As well as cooking dinner for fifty staff, she must use all her wits to survive when a well-trained, gun toting force invades. With the help of her best friend Amber, scientist Gary and head of security Jonah, Poppy attempts to protect her friends and colleagues from the mercenaries. That's a tough ask when you're 5 foot 3, as graceful as an elephant and scared shitless of guns. Poppy also has a growing suspicion that resident heartthrob- chemist Nick- is not who he says he is, but Nick suggests maybe it is in fact Jonah who is a double operative. Unsure who to believe, Poppy knows she must act to prevent the force from killing those she cares about. But is the station's research the bigger risk to her and her friends?

Katherine Franks is an author from the Sunshine Coast, Kabi Kabi Country, Queensland. She writes thriller, mystery, and romantic suspense novels.
Katherine has taught at University, been a Governess on remote cattle stations, written policy for the government, designed health policy and worked in social work. She has a Masters degree in Public Policy and a Bachelor of Social Science.
Based on her experience working in the outback and living by the bush, Katherine's novels feature rugged Australian landscapes and characters.
Check out Katherines other books: Beneath the Red Dust is an action thriller set in the Outback of Australia, and The First Wave is a thriller set on the Coast of Queensland. Devil Tree Road is a romantic suspense starring a new start, a handsome national parks worker and possible murder.
You can check out Katherine Franks on socials.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katherine Franks
• Release date: Jun 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223506584

Book preview

Prologue

DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH, two hundred metres under the surface, a tiny black bacteria sat nestled into a sandstone nook. Its nook was cool, dark and eons old. No one had seen the nook, or the bacteria in this lifetime. Or the lifetime before.

It had been so long since someone had seen the bacteria that it had been forgotten. Completely forgotten by man and humanity. Completely forgotten by the people who had vowed to make sure it did not get forgotten. Completely forgotten by the people who absolutely should remember it. How it had been forgotten was not important. Maybe someone who had been meant to pass the knowledge down to their children had died unexpectedly. Maybe a whole race of people had died unexpectedly. Or been murdered.

So the bacteria sat there, in silence, not dying but not exactly living either.

Existing.

And no one knew it was there.

Scientists theorised it could exist. Academics debated whether it was possible that such a bacteria could be on earth. But it was just academic. No one really believed they would find it.

But they got close. Really close. Not just in theory but in practice. By chance, or educated guess, that nook now sat metres from a science lab.

The bacteria didn’t know, and the scientists didn’t know, but they would soon.

The bacteria’s nook would no longer be quiet and private. The bacteria would no longer be still and alone.

Those thick stone doors that had protected humanity from the bacteria for eons would not stop the destruction to come.

Chapter One

DOWN I WENT. THE CEMENT was hard against my shoes, the metal railing cold on my hands. Eight steps, then the landing. A quick turn and another eight steps. Another flight. The alarm rang in my ears. Three quick shrill rings.

Woop. Woop. Woop.

We did the drills the second day I was here. The first day was filled with excited chatter, meeting my fellow corps, exploring our new quarters. For me, checking the kitchen, my new workplace.  The second day was down to business. First up on Intel Biological Innovations – our new employer – agenda was drills. One ring was a warning. Get ready. Two rings for fire. Get out. Three rings, security. We had to pay attention, because for security issues we went down.  For fire, we went up.

Up and out.

My mum would’ve told me not to take this job, had I asked her. But after a failed relationship, the third in three years, and with my mums ringing endorsement of the guy I had just dumped still echoing in my ears, taking this once in a lifetime job had seemed the right thing to do.

Woop, Woop, Woop.

Now, though, I wondered.

The evacuation was just like in my dreams. I don’t know why, but I had dreamt of pounding down the stairs often in the months since I had moved down here. Out of contact with everyone I knew and loved for a year, we had our own little world. Me and fifty other corps. Though you wouldn’t know it now, the only other person I could see or hear was the gorgeous Nick Hadden, who had suddenly stopped on the landing above me.

‘Come on,’ I said to him. We had jogged down the hallway heading away from the kitchen. The alarm had gone off over a minute ago, and it had only been the two of us left on the floor. Everyone else had left the eating area already. Without warning, Nick grabbed me and pulled me back. He smelled of pine, a rugged scent that made me feel like I was outdoors. His smooth brown hair brushed against my cheek as he leant down, his six foot frame dwarfing my five foot four. He turned around, holding my hand still, pulling me up the flight of cement stairs we had just come down, through the massive fire doors, and didn’t stop running until we got back to the kitchen. A single finger held up to his mouth and the darting, frantic glance he sent around us told me everything I needed to know.

We weren’t alone.

How he had heard them over the sounds of the drill, I had no idea. I hadn’t heard a thing, except for my own blood pumping. Had they been on the stairs too?

There were no sounds indicating anyone had breached the kitchen. I glanced around then pointed out the freezer and pantry to Nick. My chefs pants rustled as I twisted, my apron still tied around my waist. Was it only an hour ago I was serving lunch?

He nodded and headed across the kitchen to the freezer. I tossed up following him, Nick had already disappeared into the freezer. I was about to call out to him when the alarm stopped. No more shrill woop woop woop. It was deathly quiet.

That’s when I heard it.

A footstep. No more than that.

Just the tread of a boot or sneaker lifting off the cement floor.

Where had it come from? I cocked my head and listened closely.

Another footstep. Whoever it was walking slowly. But they were still outside of the kitchen. The bench which ran the length of the front of the kitchen banged against my hip. I hadn’t even noticed I was walking backwards. The jarring collision sent a surge of energy to my flailing brain. What the actual fuck?

I looked toward the pantry, then back to the massive freezer. I was closer to the pantry. I bit my lip, worried.

Oh, fuck it. Nick could take care of himself – and he had that walkie, I had noticed it when I was serving him lunch earlier. I had thought how strange it was that a chemist had a walkie, something that usually only the security or maintenance staff had strapped to the cargo pants. It looked incongruous hanging from the belt of Nicks dark blue pressed pants. Whatever the reason for him having it, he would be able to call for help. I crouched down and made my way over to the pantry, slipping through the half open door. I stayed at the entrance so I could peer out into the kitchen.

The pantry smelled of tea and rice and flour. There were mountains of all three. We only got deliveries every six weeks, and with tens of staff, we went through food fast. We were nearly fully stocked at the moment; a delivery had come a week ago. So different to other kitchens I had worked in. As an apprentice the head chef would send me out in the morning to get broccolini and avocado. My mind flashed to the buck toothed woman who had been my last head chef. She had been such a cow. I had a moment of superiority as I thought to myself there was no way she would be able to manage this kitchen. This kitchen where three times a day I fed fifty people. All me. With only a few volunteers helping at each meal. I glanced out the pantry door.

Nothing moved.

Minutes went past. I don’t know how long. It felt like an age. I wondered if I should go back to the freezer and see if Nick was ok. Tried to figure out a way to call Jonah in security. Were they watching the cameras that were posted in every room, wondering what we were doing?

Then, movement by the freezer door. Nick had cracked the door. Neat brown hair appeared, followed by peering eyes. Looking left then right. He seemed happy with what he saw.

Slowly he exited the freezer. I couldn’t say I blamed him; it must’ve been cold in there.

But still.

He looked around the room, maybe for me? Then ran, half crouching, from the kitchen.

I watched him go with astonishment. He had just left me here. He hadn’t even properly searched around for me. Part of me thought maybe he thought I had already gone, but then, how would he know?

He hadn’t even looked for me.

I stayed crouched down near the door of the pantry, listening.

There. Another footstep.

And again. It was probably Nick coming back for me. Of course, he wouldn’t leave me.

I waited, hardly daring to breathe. I was about to peer around the door again, maybe stand up and leave when something stopped me. A whisper of a sound. So quiet I hardly noticed it. I dared look out, just one eye, and saw it. On the other side of the room to the pantry, around the corner of the kitchen doorway, a gun barrel appeared. It was shiny black, and perfectly round. My eyes widened and my heart beat faster. The round black barrel filled my vision.

Holy shit.

Seconds passed. Behind the gun barrel came a man. He was dressed head to toe in black, with what looked like pockets all over his pants. He had some kind of mask on his face, and goggles over his eyes.

He looked like some kind of spaceman in black.

Another one followed him in. They both looked huge to me. Their guns waved around my kitchen as they searched from side to side. If they found me in here, I would have no way to defend myself.

Maybe I could throw cans of corn at them? I grabbed two from the shelf next to me – one for each hand - and waited.

I listened as they stalked through the kitchen. My breathing was coming faster, my heart hammering through my chest. Would they shoot me when they found me?

What were they looking for? A sweep for people? Or something else? If they wanted the scientists, they might kill me because I was unimportant. Jesus. Why was I the chef and not a chemist?

‘Nothin here, let’s go’ the second one said. I breathed a sigh of relief. Too loudly.

The first one swung his head in my direction. ‘Idiot Poppy!’ I admonished myself silently. He took a step towards me. I pushed my back up against the wall, losing my vision of the men. My hands gripped the canned corn so hard my knuckles were white.

They would find me now for sure. My heart was going so hard now I was pretty certain my shirt was bouncing up and down on my chest.  I tried not to gasp, but my fear was growing by the minute and I felt like I couldn’t get enough air. Who were these people and why were they terrorising us?

Oh my god. Was I going to pee my pants? It felt like a definite possibility at this stage.

Something banged in the dining room. I heard a shuffling sound then nothing. Time went by. It felt like an hour, but maybe it was just a few minutes. When I thought I had waited a full ten minutes, that it had been quiet for long enough, I peeked out the doorway. There was no one in the kitchen.

I breathed another sigh of relief. No one came towards me. I closed my eyes for a second, to try and calm down.

When I opened them, someone was coming. But this time I smiled.

It was Jonah. He was crouched down running through the kitchen. Somehow he must’ve known I was in the pantry.

Head of security Jonah. Tall blonde surfer Jonah Le Fleur. Capable and confident Jonah. Rugged with day old blonde growth making his chin spikey.

‘Poppy!’ He threw the door open and hugged me. I realised I was crying. But I hadn’t peed my pants so that was a win.

‘Jonah’ I blubbered. Some people looked beautiful when they cried. Not me. Somehow, my already plain face went completely blotchy, mousey brown hair stood up on end and my outfit became too tight. Too hot.

‘Are you okay Pop? We saw the men come in, they’re gone now, and it’s ok. Are you ok? It’s ok, it’s ok’.

‘I’m ok, it’s ok’. I wasn't sure who was saying what now, but I kept crying and hugging Jonah. Jonah’s second in command Marcus ran into the pantry. At least he seemed too preoccupied to notice my red tear streaked face.

‘Right Jonah, Poppy, we gotta get downstairs, now. The intruders are cornered in the east side of level two. We need to go now!’ Urgency radiated from him.

‘Come on Poppy’. Jonah made for the exit, holding my hand the whole time. I followed him blindly, running into his chest when he paused.

'Wait! Where’s Nick, he was here with me’. Last I had seen him he had been making his way out of the kitchen into the dining room.

‘Don’t worry about him Pop, just follow me; we’re heading for the west elevators. Come on. They are still in the station. We have to go back down, where you’ll be safe.’ He spoke calmly but firmly. I followed him.

Within a couple of minutes, we were down on level 15.

‘What happened, Jonah?’ I looked to him and Marcus.

‘We were watching you on the monitors downstairs making sure all was safe, that everyone had evacuated, and then the intruders breached. We came as soon as we could, but they were fast. They swept level one and two before we could get up there’. Marcus gave me the overview. The kitchen was on level three.

‘Are you ok Poppy?’ Jonah asked, his voice full of concern.

‘It's ok Jonah, honestly, I’m fine, you’re fine’. I squeezed his arm. Someone must have said something funny because everyone started laughing behind us.

‘Where’s Nick?’ I asked again.

I looked to Jonah, but it was Marcus who replied. ‘He’s over there. He is fine. He’s been down here for a while already’ his words were filled with scorn.

So, Nick had left me up there. What an arse.

‘I mean, I know he’s on the research team and not the security team, but geez. He could’ve stuck round made sure she was ok.’ Marcus said this to Jonah. Jonah’s scowl deepened.

‘Yeah. Pretty shit I reckon.’ I thought he might have had more to say, but he didn’t go on. Whatever he thought of Nick leaving me in the kitchen while he made his escape, he wasn’t saying it.

I looked around the room to see if I could find Nick. Everyone was already here. When the alarm goes off, we are supposed to go straight to the Evac level. There is a massive blast door above it which they close. We haven’t had to do a real life evacuation before, just the drills. And of course the drills in my dreams. Or nightmares. I wasn’t sure which. I saw my best friend Amber with her new boyfriend standing by the doors. I saw some of the women I do yoga with. Where did Nick go? Jonah saw me looking and looked the other way. Was he angry at me?

‘Who the hell were those guys?’ I finally had the chance to ask, the elephant in the room.

Jonah and Marcus looked at each other, then Jonah turned to me.

‘Look Poppy, this doesn’t go beyond us ok? It’s really important that this doesn’t get around the station. I don’t want to cause a panic’.

A panic?

‘Uh, ok?’ I replied, curious. Information wasn’t usually hidden from people down here. Secrets like that would breed discontent. Put a bunch of adults in an enclosed environment and information found a way of getting around to everyone.

Jonah went on. ‘Look, I know that the intro package that you all watch when you came here says there is a security team at Sentinel Station, the station up top. But it’s not strictly true. As of right now, there is no team up top providing security. So, all our security is right here, in the station.’ I nodded.

I calculated quickly. No security up top? The research station was in the middle of nowhere. Nothing for hundreds of kilometres, except the station. We had seen a photo of it in the induction pack. The station staff were supposed to provide basic security from up there, monitoring and turning people around if they got too close. If they weren’t up there, any old person could breach the entry, theoretically.

‘Well, clearly someone else has worked out we are exposed right? We are thinking that they sent an advance team a little while ago, not well prepared for infiltration - more for searching. Nothing really came of it, we weren’t even sure if it was a search party at first. But this team, they were a strike team. Small but effective. Four guys, fast in. We were lucky we got to them so quickly.’ Marcus added. He was shorter than Jonah, but no less intimidating. Where Jonah was fair, Marcus was dark. His spare time was spent in the station gym. The guy was built.

‘So, the two guys in the kitchen – there were more?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, we think so’.

‘How did they get in?’

Jonah ran his hand through his hair. As he lifted his arm I had a whiff of his body odour. He must’ve run hard to get up there so quickly.

‘They found one of the old entry points’.

‘You mean one of the ones in the paddocks? Or the old mine?’

‘Yeah. One of the paddocks’. He repeated. ‘It’s a tricky entry. And we have guys blocking it off right now.’

‘So they didn’t come in through the way we did? From the loading dock?’

Jonah shook his head. ‘No. and these guys were well geared up. The two we saw were ready for everything. Well, everything except for you jumping on that guys back’. He said that to Marcus. I gathered that Marcus had jumped one guy and the other guy had shot towards him, before Jonah had shot the first guy. That guy had escaped back the way they had come in, possibly injured. There was a team on the surface looking for him and any accomplices now. The guy Jonah had jumped was in the security level, contained for now.

‘Well, what are you going to do now? I mean someone will have to be told right?’ Blonde-brown curls bounced around Amber Allen’s round coffee coloured face. Her short frame may have given a diminutive impression from afar, but no one who spent any time in Ambers company could call her anything but fierce. And right now, she was directing her fiercest look at Jonah. For a fraction of a second, he seemed to shrink under her gaze.  Amber went on, insisting in her firmest voice. ‘What is Brian doing?’ I didn’t know how long Amber had been standing there, as I was so intent on Jonah. But now she was asking the question that I had wondered about myself.

‘Oh, yeah, of course. Brian already said they’ve got a team coming out to provide surface security.’ Jonah replied, running one hand through his hair in what could have been a nervous gesture. I had a feeling that Jonah wasn’t as sure as he came across what Brian, the boss, was actually doing in response to the threat. ‘I'm gonna have you guys back topside by tomorrow morning though. I reckon we’ll be right’.

‘Right. Well, we better get you to somewhere more comfortable’. Amber turned her attention to me after one last withering look at the two security men. I realised suddenly I was exhausted. She winked at me, and we headed for the sleeping area.

Chapter Two

NO ONE COULD ACCUSE me of being careful. Thoughtful? Yes. Compulsive? Yes. A little bit daydreamy? Yep.

Careful, no.

Perhaps my nervousness in some situations could be mistaken for being careful. But ever since I was a girl, I took risks. Skateboarding, climbing trees, the bad boys in high school. Saying yes to working at a remote research station with no way of contacting anyone I knew for a year.

I woke up slowly, thinking of weekends at home. My mother would be bustling about her kitchen, preparing a feast for all the family, cousins, aunties, grandparents, children, babies. Everyone would bring a plate of course, but she would still make food for days. I rubbed my eyes as I pictured it. Maybe felt a little sad. Then I rolled over and looked at the clock. 4AM! Time for work.

With slightly more energy, I dressed in my regulation chef pants and white shirt. My apron was in the kitchen already. I hardly even closed the door of my tiny dorm room, exactly the same as everyone else’s – the powers that be had decided that equality amongst the staff, whether they be scientist, cleaners, doctors of chefs, would reduce conflict. It worked mostly. In my 8 months under the surface, the most conflict I had seen had circulated around a threesome. The woman in the middle, Renee, a curvy red headed woman who worked in geology; I don’t know how she had done it, but she had soothed the conflict between the two men and they were all happily shagging again. Yep, all of them. Together.  

No one else was awake as I dashed down the pale yellow hallways to the lift. My kitchen was up close to the surface – level 3. The bottom levels were saved for the science. I didn’t go there much, but I did go to the gardens. Visiting a garden 24 floors under the ground was one of the perks of working here.

I rushed into the kitchen, hitting my thigh on the bench in my hurry. Everything was gleaming, ready for the morning meal. Waiting and chatting quietly were a small crew of Corps staff meeting their volunteer obligations ready to help prep and serve. It had been two days since the alarm and things were easing back to normal already.

Breakfast was pretty straight forward, everything running like clockwork. It felt like minutes had passed by the time I was cleaning the last pot and closing the dishwasher on the glasses. The conversation had circulated around the emergency alarm yesterday. I was interested to hear that Jonah and his security team had indeed kept the events pretty quiet. No one spoke about intruders. Or danger, or guns. I kept quiet too, still too unsure about the whole thing to venture any commentary. Occasional glances at my hiding place in the pantry was all I would allow myself.

Compartmentalising. One of my skills.

I had finished my chef apprenticeship, and a nutrition degree by my late 20’s. Living in the city, I had loads of work. I went from restaurant to private chef, and even filled in at an aged care home. I love working with food. But when I would come back home for the weekends and events, my nonna would say ‘Poppy Geordanis! You have no ring! No husband! No boyfriend and no children! Why you no marry?’ And then everyone would start.

For the first few years, I would say I didn’t want to. Then I moved onto lying – I did have a boyfriend, they were busy. A few failed relationships and I decided to take a job a long way from my curious family. Maybe some people would argue too far. Marco, the sexy Italian god I was seeing at the time did. Tangled up in bed together, he stroked my frizzy brown hair and said ‘Poppy, stay with me, you and I, we are good together.’

I thought about it, I did. For about two seconds.

‘I'm sorry Marco. I have to do this. It’s the chance of a lifetime.’ I’d said. How many thirty year olds had run their own kitchen for 40 plus diners? Planned meals weeks and months in advance, worked with mostly pantry items, and only very limited fresh food? Not many, if any.

Lucky I had stuck to my guns though. My gorgeous Marco had turned out not to be exactly mine anyway. He had been seeing someone else on the side. Or I had been on the side. I'm not sure of his priorities. Shows how much my mother knew. She had loved the guy. Not much longer and I would have been fighting off the marriage conversations. Not down here though. We didn’t have any contact with the outside except for a small amount of time sending and receiving emails every week.  It was part of the contract we signed. Top secret science. Too secret to share with family back home.

Breakfast was over fast, and everyone headed off to their various work stations. Each scientist had a work station, though I didn’t know too much about what they did, I made a point of not asking in case I seemed a bit daft when I didn’t understand their responses. Occasionally I had to deliver lunches to the science levels - that’s what I called them privately – the people I was used to seeing relaxed and chatting in the dining hall were wrapped up in white lab coats with hardly a nod for me.

So when I left the kitchen after breakfast and didn’t want to go straight back to my room, I didn’t head to the science levels. I wandered around the dorm levels instead, letting my mind be as blank as the pale yellow walls.

I took turn after turn, not caring where I went.

‘Poppy! What are you doing over here?’

I jumped. ‘Oh, Jonah, hi. I guess I’m just walking, taking a walk. Nothing really.’  I was surprisingly happy to see the big blonde security guard. Straw coloured hair met golden skin and dark brown eyes. ‘What are you doing?’ The sexy, strong jawed, white toothed head of security wasn’t in his usual uniform.

‘Well actually, I was looking for you.’ And those lips. Dark red and thick.

‘Huh?’ Not sure if I had heard him correctly as I had been imagining kissing him right there and then. My brain must have been fried since my pantry scare. I could usually talk to men without imagining them naked.  

‘Looking for you.’ He repeated.

I couldn’t have been more surprised if he had thrown an apple at me. ‘Why?’

‘I was wondering if you might like to, ah, come for a swim?’

‘A