by Nick Cook
I tried again. ‘This isn’t the time to talk about Gem, but as far as Chloe and Ethan go, there is the small matter of me acting like a jerk around them.’
‘So why haven’t you tried talking to them about it yet?’
‘Because they’re only going confirm that I’ve been an idiot and never forgive me.’
Sentinel sighed, his Zen-like calm blown. ‘If I have any real criticism of you, Jake, it is that sometimes you underestimate the people around you. I honestly believe you’ll be surprised by their reaction if you tried talking to them.’
‘Maybe…’ But putting myself in their places, would I get past something like this if they’d acted as I had? I drummed my fingers on my chest. ‘OK, but before I go pouring my heart out to them, I’d like to confirm that Daniel really has gone rogue on us. I’m not saying I can’t believe it, but we need to rule out that Jess hasn’t simply developed a grudge for him. I know it’s unethical, but can we somehow eavesdrop into his conversations?’
‘Unfortunately, with the removal of his eBud…’
I swung my legs off the sofa, dislodging Midnight. The cat leapt down and stared at Sentinel, as though he held him responsible for the disruption of his sleep. ‘But what if you use that lip-reading trick you utilised at the manor?’
‘That could work…especially if I use one of our security cameras to track him.’
‘Then please do it.’
‘All right, Jake. I’m rerunning Daniel’s movements within Ember… Right, I have his current position. Daniel and the Mongoose squad are gathered in their tent.’
Sentinel’s avatar head was replaced by a live feed of a view of the camp. The camera seemed to be soaring up into the air.
‘Hey, where is that video coming from?’
‘I forgot to mention it to you – I’ve been working on a small stealth drone with Chloe. We were looking for a way to augment my ability to monitor live events, including sending drones on missions with Awoken squad without the team having to wear camera headsets.’
‘Sound like a cool concept.’
‘Chloe certainly thinks so, and it could prove its worth here.’
The view from the drone dived towards a tent at the edge of a field and came to a hovering stop a metre from the ground. The drone’s camera zoomed in on the open tent flap ahead of it. Daniel was framed on the screen, talking to his squad, including Jess, but there wasn’t any audio yet.
‘Processing lip movements…’ Sentinel said. Markers appeared over Daniel’s mouth, tracking his lips. ‘Augmenting now.’
The muted video feed burst to life with Daniel’s voice. ‘It’s been agreed with at least three other squad leaders that we will seize Jake and take over control of Eaglehurst tonight.’
The lips of a woman in his squad began to be tracked by more markers. ‘But what about Chloe and Ethan?’ she said. ‘They’re bound to step in to save him.’
‘You’ve all heard the gossip. They had some sort of massive bust-up and Gem is out of the picture in Culham, so between us we should be able to deal with them. As for Sentinel, his mission to save this Earth will take priority over anything else. Also, I’m sure we can persuade him that we will do a more capable job than Jake and his cronies.’
‘That’s what he thinks,’ Sentinel voice said from a speaker.
Daniel grasped his hands behind his back. ‘Once we have taken over, we can start to really take this fight to the Shade and make them pay for what they did to my sister.’
I shook my head. ‘OK, Sentinel. I’ve heard more than enough. Can you get Chloe and Ethan here? We need to get on top of this immediately’
Chloe’s voice came from behind me. ‘Sentinel already called us.’
I turned round to see Chloe, Ethan and Domino looking at me from the top of the stairs.
‘Guys, I’ve got to brief you—’
Ethan waved me quiet. ‘No need – we heard everything from the live feed that Sentinel relayed to our eBuds.’
Chloe nodded. ‘I know Daniel is grieving and everything, but it’s hard not to see him as a little shit right now. He’s effectively talking about organising a bloody coup!’
Ethan dropped into a seat and Domino sprawled out on the carpet in front of him. ‘So what are we going to do?’
My heart caught on the we part in his question. ‘I don’t know…’
Sentinel’s avatar replaced the drone’s video feed on the screen. He didn’t say a word, but just raised his chin at me a fraction. I knew exactly what he was trying to say.
I sagged inside as I looked first at Chloe and then Ethan. ‘Before I do anything else, I need to get my apology out of the way.’ I stuck my hands in my pockets. ‘I’m sorry for acting like such a jerk with you guys. I wouldn’t blame you for hating my guts, but in my defence I think the pressure has been getting to me.’
Chloe stared at the floor as she blew out a long sigh. Then she raised her eyes to gaze at me. ‘And at last the Jake we know and love is back.’ She took three steps towards me and wrapped me in her arms. ‘You flipping idiot.’
Ethan stood and patted me on the shoulder. ‘What are you like, mate?’
‘A bit mental sometimes, I’m afraid. After Melissa’s death and everything, I was trying to sort all this out by myself.’
‘We noticed,’ Chloe replied. ‘You managed to pull your old trick of walling yourself in and pushing everyone who cares about you away. Me, Ethan and, most especially, Gem…’
My eyes skated away from Chloe’s. ‘I can’t afford to get involved with anyone at the moment, not at a time like this.’
‘You think?’ Ethan said. He took Chloe’s hand, squeezed it and raised it to my eye level. ‘This is what really matters when things get dark, mate. That’s when you draw those you love closest to you. And that’s what makes us different from the Shade. Yes, you’ve had a lot on your shoulders and we’ve understood that. But if you’ve made one dick move, it’s the way you’ve been acting around Gem. The thing that’s clear to everyone else is that you two are both crazy about each other. So apologies accepted – and not even necessary because we get it – but you need to make things right with Gem.’
Chloe beamed at Ethan. ‘You absolutely nailed it – that is why you are my man, right there.’
Ethan dragged his hand through his hair and grinned at her. ‘You’re pretty amazing yourself.’
I held up my hands. ‘Look, I know I’ve been stupid, in more ways than one, but I meant well.’
‘Oh, you bloody idiot, of course we know that,’ Chloe said. ‘And everyone deserves a second chance – even a third, fifth, hundredth in your case.’
‘And does that same forgiving attitude apply to Daniel?’ Sentinel asked.
‘We’ll see,’ I replied. ‘I think we should go and have a little chat with him to stop this coup in its tracks.’
‘Sure, and I will do my best not to strangle him,’ Ethan said.
I turned to Sentinel. ‘Is he still in his tent?’
‘No, he headed off to the beach to begin a training session with the Mongoose team.’
‘As in beyond the boundary fence where anyone off the island might spot them?’
‘I’m afraid so. It seems he’s already following his own agenda. As they’re not wearing their eBuds, I’ll send my stealth drone after them to see exactly what they’re up to down there.’
‘I’ll give him a bloody agenda,’ Chloe said.
‘Should we teleport there and use the element of surprise?’ Ethan asked.
‘No, this is a highly trained group of Awoken – we don’t want this getting out of hand,’ I said. ‘Sentinel can relay anything useful to us and then we’ll go in softly.’ We headed towards the stairs, with no idea just what wishful thinking that would be.
As Chloe, Ethan and I headed down towards the beach, I kept half an eye on the live feed from Sentinel’s stealth drone on my phone. The drone was hovering high out of sight but its camera was zoomed in on Daniel’s Mongoose squad ben
eath it.
On the video feed, the waves rolled onto the beach, the water gently slapping at the shingle, diamonds of sunlight dancing on the breaking waves. The squad had just finished some fireball creation practice and were all crashed out on the beach, Daniel looking out to sea in the direction of HMS Iron Duke.
It took me a moment to recognise the grainy, heavily zoomed figure approaching him as Jess.
‘I’m too high to get a look at their lip movements, so I’ve dropped a microphone bug on the beach to relay their speech if that’s useful,’ Sentinel said in our eBuds.
‘Please do – I’d love to know what that idiot has to say,’ Chloe said.
‘Turning on mic feed now,’ Sentinel replied.
At once Jess’s words reached us. ‘Can I have a word, Daniel?’ she asked.
He turned towards her. ‘What is it, Jess?’
‘Look, I realise I’m the newbie here, but I have to ask you to rethink what you’ve got planned tonight – before it all goes too far.’
So much for our plan to pretend she was on his side.
He frowned at her. ‘I thought you were on board with all of this?’
‘No, I’m not, but as the new girl I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything. The thing is, I can see when somebody is being driven by anger to do something outright stupid.’
Daniel visibly tensed and his fingers curled.
‘He looks as if he’s ready to lash out at her,’ Chloe said.
Daniel opened his hands again and his shoulders dropped.
‘No, I think we’re good for now,’ I said.
‘In some ways you’re right, Jess. I am really pissed at Jake and his lapdogs. However, you’re wrong about one key area. Far from my anger making me blind, it’s actually made me see very clearly what’s really going on here.’ He gestured towards HMS Iron Duke. ‘Why do you think that frigate is stationed here?’
‘To protect us – everyone knows that.’
‘So tell me: how can a huge great lump of steel like that protect us in any way against a Shade attack?’
‘I… I don’t know,’ Jess replied.
I raised my eyebrows at Chloe and Ethan as we approached the footpath that would take us down to the beach.
‘Exactly. Apart from making sure that only permitted people head in and out of the island, that thing lurking out there doesn’t stack up to anything when it comes to the Shade,’ Daniel said. ‘However, what does make sense is that HMS Iron Duke is an insurance policy against the Awoken.’
‘I’m not sure I follow?’ Jess said.
‘Where’s he going with this?’ Chloe whispered.
‘I’m not sure, but I definitely want to hear his theory,’ I said.
Daniel spread his hands. ‘Just think it through, Jess. The guns on that frigate may not be any use against the Shade. However, if the government decides that the Awoken are getting too powerful to control, what better way to take us all out than by shelling our encampment – especially when we’re so densely packed together like fish in a barrel? When you think about it like that, it’s hard not to see Eaglehurst as some sort of prison guarded by the military.’
‘Oh, come on, that’s just paranoia speaking,’ Jess replied.
But despite the blurry image, I could see the uncertainty behind Jess’s eyes. Daniel was getting through to her. No wonder people had begun to take him seriously.
‘Bloody hell, do you think he’s right?’ Ethan said as we descended the path.
‘I’m not sure, but although I hate to admit it, what he’s saying does make sense,’ I replied.
Daniel picked up a pebble and lobbed it out into the ocean. ‘You see, Normals are frightened by the Awoken – and they should be.’
‘Are you trying to say that’s why the government has been freezing us out of missions against the Shade, because they’re intimidated by us?’ Jess replied.
‘Yes, I’m afraid that’s exactly what I think. And Jake, even if he doesn’t realise it, is complicit in supporting their conspiracy against us. He’s too gullible to lead us. Someone needs to replace him – someone who doesn’t believe the government’s spin stories and can stand up to them.’
‘Oh, I am so ready to thump him in the face,’ Chloe said.
I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. This was starting to feel way too uncomfortable, because I could understand where Daniel was coming from.
On the video, Jess crossed her arms. ‘And I suppose that person just happens to be you?’
‘Why not? Right person, right place, and with a score to settle against the Shade. But don’t get me wrong – Jake and his companions have skills and will be a key part in helping us to move forward. However, Jake needs to be removed from any key decision-making. Then things will get much better around here.’
Jess dragged her teeth over her lip. ‘OK – half of what you said isn’t too mad. But you need to talk this through with Jake. He’s a good guy and will listen to you.’
‘I’m afraid it’s too late for that, Jess. Jake’s been too much talk and not enough action for way too long now. And that approach has to stop tonight.’
Jess didn’t reply, but stepped past him and stared out to sea. ‘What the hell is that thing?’
‘What are they talking about?’ Ethan asked.
‘I’m checking now,’ Sentinel said.
The video swung round as the drone reoriented itself. A blurry dark flying insect filled my phone’s screen, skimming over the sea. Sentinel adjusted the camera as the drone tracked it and a huge black waspy thing came into sharp focus.
‘That’s a shadow hornet!’ Sentinel shouted.
‘A what?’ I asked.
‘Something that can take over someone in a matter of moments. You need to get down to the beach now and destroy it before it can infect anyone. This can only mean one thing: the Shade have located Eaglehurst.’
But before we could focus to teleport ourselves to the beach, Jess came back into shot on my phone. The shadow hornet was diving straight towards her, a glinting dark stinger extended forward. In less than a heartbeat, Daniel had leapt and pushed her aside, at the same time lighting his spark in recognition of the threat. But the hornet was too close and too fast for him to blast it in time. The creature slammed into Daniel’s shoulder and he sprawled onto the shingle.
Jess placed her hands over her mouth and took three steps back as Daniel started to thrash around.
Chloe, Ethan and I exchanged tight looks, then stared at the images of the beach Sentinel was bringing up on the phone. We all focused on the screen and jumped at the same time as the world flashed white.
Chapter Thirteen
The three of us materialised on the beach a short way from Daniel and his team. His screams split the air as his squad tried to hold him down and his eyes rolled up into his head. We rushed over as he arched his back, hands clawing into the gravel.
Chloe grabbed Jess by the shoulders. ‘Where’s that Shade hornet now?’
‘It just dissolved into him like smoke,’ Jess said with a pale face.
Our eBuds burst into life. ‘Then it’s already too late,’ Sentinel said. ‘The immediate priority is to deal with Daniel.’
‘Deal with him?’ I asked.
‘A shadow hornet’s attack is much like a shadow crow’s – but worse. Once the hornet enters the body, it acts like a parasite that multiplies rapidly within its host. However, unlike a shadow crow, it kills its host after taking over their mind, but is still able to control the victim’s nervous and physical systems.’
‘So you’re saying they effectively turn someone into a Shade zombie?’ Ethan asked.
‘In a sense,’ Sentinel replied. ‘However, it’s different in two key aspects. After a short gestation period for the hornet’s pupa, they begin to hatch. When that happens, they discard their host’s body, emerging from the skin to attack others. Secondly, the Shade will have direct access to Daniel’s powers for a short time. You have no choice but to
end his life – and fast.’
Chloe put her hands to her mouth as she stared down at Daniel thrashing around. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’
Nausea churned through me too and I took deep breaths to try to stay in control.
Jess stared at us blankly – she didn’t have an eBud to hear what Sentinel had just said. ‘We have to help him,’ she begged.
‘There isn’t anything you can do to save Daniel, but you must act quickly to stop this threat,’ Sentinel whispered in our ears.
Everyone was looking at me now. Chloe and Ethan in shock, and Jess with wide, pleading eyes. The rest of the Mongoose squad stared at me, part hatred, part fear in their faces. I was the leader – the guy who had to take the hard choices.
I forced myself to meet all of their gazes. ‘Sentinel has just told us we can’t help Daniel. The only thing he says we must do is kill him – to protect ourselves.’
Jess took half a step back. ‘You can’t be serious, Jake.’
‘Deadly so, I’m afraid.’ I turned to address everyone gathered around. ‘You have to understand that Daniel is suffering – he is already lost to us. We have to do this.’
‘Hey, wait a moment! He’s calming down,’ a woman in his team said.
She was right. Like a switch had been thrown, Daniel had stopped shaking and his face had smoothed out as his hands relaxed.
I felt a surge of hope. Maybe Sentinel had been wrong.
The woman put a fingertip to his neck. She slowly shook her head.
A sense of darkness took hold of me again in the silence. Then Sentinel spoke in my ear. ‘This isn’t over, Jake, anything but. You’ve got to destroy Daniel’s body before the Shade seize control of his mind and his powers. We should also be worried about more Shade hornets attacking. Where there’s one, a swarm isn’t usually far behind.’
I knew he was right, but I wished he wasn’t. With a grim look to the others, Ethan, Chloe and I lit fireballs above our palms.
‘Everyone get clear,’ I said, as the Mongoose squad muttered among themselves.
Daniel’s body jerked again before I could move and he brought his hands up in a blur. Daniel’s fireball blazed straight up into the woman kneeling over him. She screamed as flames erupted over her and tumbled backwards into the sea with a hiss of steam.