The Green House

         In this storm, the forest was more dangerous than the lightning bolts that lit the sky. Broken branches blocked James and Sandra's path. Those still attached to trees swung viciously in every direction. Yet somehow they kept on moving, dodging and diving with only minor scratches. They aimed away from the torches, barking dogs and men shouting to one another between thunderclaps. The rain came down in sheets, at least there would be no trail to follow, no footprints nor scent for the dogs either. This was Northern Ontario, Canada in the Autumn. Forest without end, enough cover to hide behind, and enough undergrowth to deter any but the most determined souls.

         Finally, the lights faded and then vanished entirely. They looked for shelter and found none. They pressed against a giant spruce tree, which protected them from the wind, as the storm raged around them. Their heads swiveled with every sound. There was a mighty crack as the neighboring pine tree came crashing down. As it did so there was a flash of light that was not lightning and a piercing electric hiss.

         The tree had crashed through some kind of grey grid. The grid around the gapping gash fizzled and flashed with electricity. The land through the gap looked dry and they could see stars and even moonlight through it. It looked better on the other side than on this one in the storm.

         James looked at Sandra and said, "Let's go see shall we." They headed for the gap and made their way through it careful not to touch the electrical activity on either side. They entered a forest with no undergrowth between mainly deciduous trees, rare this far north, in what was mainly boreal forest. Above they saw the storm black and angry, flashing lightning on one side of a wall of grey, and on the other, the night was clear with stars and moon. Two miles in the distance, through the trees and down a slope, they could see a lake with a big house on an island in its center, its lights blazing into the night.

         Seconds later they were surrounded by men with rifles and torches and pushed to their knees with their hands behind their necks.

         They were marched to the house in the middle of the lake. Parts of the forest floor were covered with leaves and small gray machines collected the leaves into a larger container truck that also appeared to be automated. They noticed a queue of these at the ferry port when they arrived there. Barges shuttled the leaves and debris to the back of the house. They boarded a motor boat and crossed to a jetty on the island.

         The house was as grand inside as it looked outside. They were provided with dry clothes. Then led through brightly lit paneled corridors, with pictures of various soldiers and generals from Imperial times on the walls. Both of them were fascinated by the silent tour. Two men before them and two behind ensured there was no chance of escape.

         They entered into a grand living room furnished in a British Victorian style with overly ornate carpet design, thick drapes with ruffled white French curtains. Two major couches and several armchairs were arrayed around a low mahogany table in the center. A man sat in one armchair and directed the men to place his guests on the couch opposite him.

         This man was dressed in a silver three-piece suit. His watch looked expensive but was nothing so gauche as a Rolex or Timex. He had cufflinks and his shoes were immaculately polished Italian leather. He was clean-shaven, his hair clipped precisely and parted to the right. His accent was posh British, public school educated.

         "My name is Gerald Wolfe, and yes I am related to the great General that took Quebec. So Professor James and Sandra MacKensie you found a way into my home."

         "You know who we are? There was a storm..."

         The man cut him off with a wave of the hand. "You took a lot of risks to get away from your pursuers and ignored a lot of 'Keep out' signs in the process. Who were they?"

         "They were gangsters, my Lord," said Sandra. James gave her a sideways glance.

         The man laughed, "I am only a little blue-blooded." He paused considering Sandra's words. "Gangsters you say," he gave a wry smile nodding to a man who left the room, "We will check that out. Meanwhile, you have presented me with a bit of a dilemma because you have seen my tech."

         Sandra and James exchanged a look.

         "The electric stealth grid around this property was penetrated by a wet tree fall and you came through the gap. My men were there within minutes of the breach. It was just unlucky that you were able to get through before they were able to restore the field. I cannot let you go right now."

         "We are prisoners!?" James exclaimed.

         "Better, long-term guests. So far you have only seen my stealth shield which I plan to sell to the US military in about three years. So long as you do not see any of my other tech I should be able to let you go then. Stay out of the basement unless you want to become permanent guests."

         A new man holding a tablet entered the room and presented it to Wolfe who studied it. He then continued, "However it seems that we can perhaps make this arrangement something that benefits the both of us - he waved a hand across the tablet and the TV screen on the wall lit up with imagery of the gangsters who had pursued them earlier. They recognized some of the faces.

         "The people pursuing you work for a rival of mine. The hired thugs were tasked with capturing you because of your DNA targeting research which threatens their own more retarded research programs. I could outfit a lab for you here and fund your work. You would be unmolested by troublemakers, guaranteed full academic credit, with a top salary that can simply accumulate in your time with us, as you will not have any costs. Perhaps best of all I offer you safe haven from your pursuers behind my stealth shield."

         James looked at Sandra who nodded, her priority was safety right now and this did not seem like captivity as they would be able to continue working on the thing they loved most, together.

         Work in the lab was fun, there were no distractions here, the equipment was first rate and they had all the resources they needed to push the boundaries of their research. James and Sandra worked well together and the place felt a little like a honeymoon resort. There was a gym and a heated indoor swimming pool. In Spring they found some beautiful runs inside the stealth shield around the lake where they also sailed. They felt safe and productive and loved the time they had together.

         They noticed that while the stealth shield extended far into the sky during the storm thereby protecting the Wolfe property, its normal parameters did not extend that far and would allow normal weather to cross at altitude. They were far from the normal plane routes here. However, when a small aircraft appeared the stealth shield would turn into a dome rather than just a walled cake dish and completely cover them from view above. Being scientists they were interested in its design and more fundamentally what powered it and the house. They were too far away from any mains grid so the supply had to be local. There was no smoke from fuel being burned, no solar panels nor indeed windmills. They suspected that the biomass taken by the machines from the forest undergrowth supplied some kind of advanced biochemical energy plant under the house. Given the outputs necessary to power everything including the stealth grid that must be some fantastic new design. But neither of them wanted to extend their stay too long and so they did not go down into the basement.

         Wolfe liked to spend time with them and they had the impression that he might be a little lonely. He let slip that he had had far more companions in the "beginning" but that many had died on the way. On the way to what they wondered.

         One night in the middle of their second Winter, they could not sleep and went for a midnight walk in the snow. There was no one around and they walked near to the outside cargo entrance. They heard a blood-curdling scream from within the entrance. Unobserved they stood still pressed against the building trembling for some minutes. Three men emerged carrying machetes, cleaned them in the lake, and then sheathed them into holders on the side of the cargo boat.

         "Did yer see dat last one, when 'ee lost 'is arms, 'is eyes near popped outta his head. 'Ee made the funniest face." One of the other men attempted to mimic the face and his colleagues roared. It was the cruel laughter of brutish men.

         They remained silent, pressed against the building as the cargo barge departed. They passed through the entrance coming into what looked like a big hydroponics module. Biomass came in one end and various machines processed it into a green sludge which was further refined and purified by a series of chemical processes. The tubes led into the next room.

         The next chamber was much larger. The ground was slippery with red blood. They watched their feet. As they raised their eyes they looked in horror at what appeared to be a chamber full of dismembered corpses attached to tubes filled with green sludge. Three fresh corpses were still pink in color and the recent trails of blood led directly to these. A plastic container to one side was filled with the limbs and heads of the men just killed and which had been removed from each body, a metallic cap placed over each position on the torso where the limb used to be. In place of the head of each was some kind of microprocessing unit linked by wires to a central cable. A tube funneled green sludge through the processing unit down the esophagus of each corpse. Two little red tubes inputted and outputted blood into the same unit from hearts that were still pumping. The torsos of each corpse were wired to a grey panel in the corner of the room. It seemed that the corpses were being used to generate electricity. A waste tube funneled out a paler reddish-green fluid from the rectums of the corpses.

         The Mackensies looked around at thousands of corpses, hearts still pumping, in this grotesque energy farm. The other bodies had a greenish tint. At the center of this chamber of horrors was what looked like a giant battery.

         "So now we know how he powers the shield," said James.

         In the next heart-stopping moment, they heard footsteps behind them. Armed men appeared with Wolfe who said, "I wish you had not seen all this."

Notes ▼

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Notes: The average human body generates 110 watts while seated with a surge to 550 watts with heavy activity. The technology assumed here has found a way to massively inflate those numbers by focusing the body's food processing organs exclusively on the production of electricity, by removing all unnecessary limbs and especially the brain which consumes a lot of energy while not generating any and by something peculiar to the feed given to those bodies.