Liberty Is Mine |2| The Liberty Saga

Chapter One: The Archer

July 2012

In the dead of night, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best scientific research facilities was being evacuated quickly, quietly and methodically. By the time Nick Fury arrived on the scene with his second-in-command, Maria Hill, the removal of all essential data, equipment and weaponry was well on its way.

"All personnel, the evacuation order has been confirmed. This is not a drill."

"How bad is it?" Fury asked as he met Coulson a few feet from the helipad.

"That's the problem, sir," he replied. "We don't know." Together, the three of them walked into the compound, going against the flow of agents working the evacuation. "Dr Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago."

Fury frowned. "NASA didn't authorise Selvig to test phase."

"He wasn't testing it," Coulson said, shaking his head. "He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement."

"It just turned itself on?" Hill asked, raising her eyebrows. Coulson nodded.

"Where are the energy levels now?" Fury asked.

"Climbing," Coulson answered. "When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evac."

"How long to get everyone out?"

"Campus should be clear in the next half hour."

Fury nodded to him. "Do better." Coulson nodded, heading off in the opposite direction to carry out his orders.

"Sir," Hill warned as she and Fury continued deeper down into the compound, "evacuation may be futile."

"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Fury asked, incredulous.

"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance," she reasoned.

He ignored her. "I need you to make sure the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out."

She blinked. "Sir, is that really a priority right now?"

"Until such a time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on," he ordered, turning to her. "Clear out the tech below. I want every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone."

"Yes, sir," she said, setting her jaw. She walked away, nodding to a pair of agents nearby. "With me."

***

The radiation lab at the heart of the facility was bigger than any he'd seen before. Technically speaking, it was an aircraft hangar that had been repurposed—nobody knew how big the effects of the Tesseract could be. When Fury walked in, he couldn't see Dr Selvig, and he didn't bother looking. That would take time they didn't have. "Talk to me, doctor!" he called.

A nervous, middle-aged blond man appeared from behind one of the machines, his brow furrowed. Dr Erik Selvig. "Director."

"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury asked.

"The Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig told him, shrugging.

Fury scoffed. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not funny at all," Selvig assured him. "The Tesseract is not only active, she's... misbehaving."

"How soon until you pull the plug?"

"She's an energy source," Selvig explained. "If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..." He trailed off, giving Fury a meaningful look.

"We've prepared for this, doctor," Fury reminded him. "Harnessing energy from space."

"We don't have the harness," Selvig pointed out. "Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, just low levels of gamma radiation."