by Chris Lofts
Helix ran his gloved fingers over his smooth chin. ‘We need to get our heads together. Gather all the data, the recordings and other—’ He tilted his head, focusing in the distance. Chestnut brown hair, full length black coat. No, it wasn’t her. ‘What? Sorry, Bruv.’ He turned back to Ethan.
‘Other what? The recordings and other…’
‘Other evidence. We can give a brief summary, in lieu of a fuller report.’
‘Sofi’s already gone to work on that. She’ll have it done by the time we get back to Down Street.’ Ethan folded his arms. ‘Anyway, that wasn’t what I meant.’
‘What did you mean then?’ Helix looked over his brother’s shoulder. ‘Do you know him?’ he said. ‘Stocky fella, apologising his way through the crowd.’
Ethan turned. ‘Nope.’
‘Major Helix,’ the man said breathlessly, ‘I’m glad I caught you.’ He clamped his hands together. ‘Could you both come with me, please?’
‘And you are?’ Helix said, pressing back his shoulders.
‘Sir Aubrey Crisp,’ the man replied. ‘The Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff.’
‘We’re needed elsewhere to provide a report on the events at the MoHD earlier this morning.’ Helix exchanged glances with Ethan. ‘No doubt you’ve seen the news.’
‘Yes, yes,’ Crisp replied. ‘To whom?’
‘To whom?’
‘Yes. To whom are you providing your report? General Yawlander’s replacement hasn’t been appointed, the Home Secretary is, err… so the next one in the food chain is the PM.’ He held his hand out towards the Foreign Office. ‘Shall we?’
Helix had never met the PM. Following Wheeler’s downfall, the party hadn’t been able to agree who else to put in her place, so they’d decided the decent thing to do would be to give her another shot. As with most things in Parliament these days, it had been the easy option. The short, grey haired octogenarian always reminded Helix of their granny but with a full set of teeth and a sharper mind. Many a leader of the opposition and members of her own party had mistaken her frail frame as weakness, only to be torn apart at the dispatch box or in cabinet.
Their short procession snaked its way through the crowds and into the Foreign Office building. Pausing outside a pair of heavy oak doors, Sir Aubrey gave a firm double tap, stepped back and straightened his tie. He moved between the open doors and came to attention. ‘Major Helix and Lieutenant Helix, Prime Minister,’ he announced.
Helix took Crisp’s standing aside as an invitation to enter. With Ethan at his shoulder, they marched into the room, came to a halt and saluted.
‘At ease, gentlemen,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘You’ve had quite a year so far, haven’t you?’
‘Ma’am?’ Helix said.
‘Please. Take a seat,’ she said, gesturing towards a pair of high-backed armchairs. She leaned back against the moulded front edge of the Victorian pedestal desk. ‘You can go, Crispy.’
‘I thought I might stay, Prime Minister.’
The look over the top of the glasses was enough. The Chief of Staff eased the door closed behind him.
Pushing away from the desk, the Prime Minister sauntered around to the office chair and sat. ‘Yes, quite the year. First there was the Wheeler, Stepper and Lytkin business, and now this,’ she said, leaning her elbows on the brown leather desktop. ‘I should thank you for the former, by the way.’ She smiled.
Helix removed his cap, placing it in his lap. ‘By this I assume you mean the death of the Home Secretary, ma’am?’ He coughed into his hand. ‘We can provide a summary and then a fuller report once we’ve collated all the evidence.’
The Prime Minister nodded. ‘Go ahead.’
Together they summarised the previous 48 hours. By the time they’d finished, were it not for the red lipstick providing some contrast, her features might have been as grey as her hair. She rose from the chair as they concluded. Helix shot a sideways glance at Ethan as she crossed to one of the tall windows, her hands clasped behind her back.
‘What is the likelihood of someone else getting their hands on Stepper’s research and completing the work?’ she said.
‘Until Lytkin’s backups are destroyed, there remains a possibility, albeit a small one,’ Helix said. ‘Doctor Stepper and her sister are living off grid and without one of them the pathogen can’t be unlocked.’
‘We need to neutralise the threat, Major.’
Helix swallowed. He shot a questioning glance at Ethan.
‘There may be a way, ma’am,’ Ethan said. ‘With full access to all of the Home Secretary’s data, I may be able to unearth a connection between her and her brother and access the backed-up research. Valerian Lytkin was originally planning to go with Doctor Stepper to Berlin to complete the work.’
‘Are you asking for permission, Lieutenant?’
Ethan laughed. ‘Sometimes it’s easier to ask for forgiveness, but yes. With your permission, I believe I can eliminate the risk.’
‘OK. You’ve got the gig. You will report to me directly,’ she said, pulling aside one of the net curtains. ‘I also need someone to put the brakes on Gaia before we end up with an all-seeing eye on the top of Big Ben like some psychotic Lord Sauron.’
Ethan raised his eyebrows at his brother. Helix nodded. Now wasn’t the time for modesty.
‘That might be a little more involved, Prime Minister. I can undertake a review and put together a proposal.’
‘Very good.’ She turned back from the window. ‘I see you’re carrying a General officer’s ceremonial sword, Major Helix. A little above your paygrade, isn’t it?’
Helix cleared his throat. ‘Ma’am, I thought it a fitting—’
‘I liked Yawlander,’ she interrupted. ‘And he always spoke highly of you.’ She propped her glasses on top of her hair. ‘You’ve done this country a great service. Another great service. Both of you,’ she said, taking a graphene tablet from the desk. ‘I never liked Ormandy. But she could have been PM.’ She scowled. ‘It would have made her double life more difficult. But, with little old me as the focus of attention, she could plan and prepare her coup unnoticed. I always wondered why she didn’t throw her hat in the ring after you hung Wheeler out to dry. Now I know.’ She glanced up from the tablet. ‘And she was far too keen to install that snake Ortega as Yawlander’s successor,’ she added. ‘OK. You’ve got work to do, gentlemen.’
Helix and Ethan took that as their cue and rose to their feet. ‘Thank you, Prime Minister. Who should we notify when we have all the—’
‘Me, Major.’ She sighed. ‘Thanks to you, I don’t have a Home Secretary, or a Secretary of State for Defence.’ She pressed her fingers to her lips. ‘There was one other thing.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ He put on his cap.
‘Not only do I need two new cabinet ministers, I also need a replacement for General Yawlander.’ She dropped her glasses to her nose and pushed them up. ‘Someone I can rely on.’
Helix shuffled on his feet. ‘General Moore-Hyland, from the north would be my suggestion.’
‘I was thinking of you, Major Helix.'
39
24 Hours Later
The shadow of Chepstow Castle crept north over the muddy brown waters of the River Wye. The heavy blanket of snow surrounding the main gate had begun to fray at the edges. A pair of vehicular tracks stopped yards from the gate, a pair of muddy footprints completing the journey from the vehicle inside. More prints linked the gate with the stables and a pit from which billowing black smoke and orange flames rose. Cawing crows complained from the ramparts, unimpressed with the invasion of their domain.
Helix trudged up the stone stairs, a mug of coffee in his hand. Pulling back the chair from the desk, he slumped down and waited for the satellite comms to connect. A crude pixilated outline of a face appeared on one of the screens, eventually rendering into sharp focus.
‘You took your time,’ Ethan said, a spliff held between his lips.
‘The road trip was always goi
ng to be slower than the hyperlink, plus I—’
Ethan held his hand up. ‘I know. You needed time to think,’ he said, flicking ash from the spliff.
‘Actually, smart arse, I was going to say, I had shit to clear up once I got here.’
‘Oh, that shit.’
‘Exactly. Anyway, it’s done now. Thank Christ it’s not summer or they would have really stunk.’ He took a sip of coffee. ‘Moving on, this setup seems to work reasonably well.’
Ethan glanced away. ‘Yep. Are you sure you don’t want a mobile rig to take to the village?’
It was one amongst many things he’d been thinking about on the journey down. Life in the village had its own rhythm. They made things work. Nobody was cold or hungry. People were fit and healthy. The kids only learned what they needed to know, not about what they hadn’t got. Sure, technology could have made their lives better, but better by whose standards? If something ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
‘No. It’ll be fine. We have comms. I have spare power cells for the PCM. I’ll keep this as a backup site.’
‘You’re the boss,’ Ethan said, laughing his mouth empty of smoke. ‘Oh, by the way. Wheeler’s stuff has turned up.’
Helix sat up. ‘Really? Anything interesting?’
‘Dunno yet. It’s paper, Nate. I’ve got better things to do than leaf through that lot. One of the hamsters in the office is going to digitise it and send me the files.’
‘How close was I?’ he said, taking a sip of coffee.
‘How close to what?’
‘The location of the stash.’
‘Close but no cigar, I’m afraid.’ Ethan pulled on his spliff. ‘We always knew Wheeler was a cock, but to hide it underneath his daughter’s gravestone was callous even by his standards.’
‘Cock is right,’ Helix said, blowing out a deep breath. ‘Jesus. Whatever you do, don’t mention that to Gabrielle, it’ll break her heart. That was where she used to camp out with Eve, by the oak just below the Observatory.’
Ethan nodded. ‘So, how long are you staying?’
Helix stared out of the window at the trees, the rolling hills, the sun dipping towards the horizon. Before they’d delivered the detailed brief to the PM, he would have said forever. The PM hadn’t been joking about a Knighthood but had settled with promoting him to Colonel and Ethan to Captain instead. He and Ethan shared the same opinion about rank. It wasn’t important. It was the work that counted. Filling Yawlander’s shoes would have meant spending more time sharing a chair with his arse. Plus, smiling and being polite to politicians wasn’t his thing either. The service had changed, everything had changed but not as much as it would have if Lytkin had got her way.
Helix had been happy to stand aside and let Ethan shine. He could handle the deskwork. If they’d stayed much longer, the PM would have buried them in special projects. She’d also wanted a thorough drains-up review – as she’d put it – of the structure and organisation of the security services across the country. Helix had kept quiet, relieved to have dodged that particular bullet when the PM said she would get Moore-Hyland to do it.
‘Nate?’
Helix snapped his eyes back to the monitor. ‘Sorry, Bruv.’
‘How long?’
‘Dunno. You won’t have time to miss me with all the shit you’ve got on.’ He shrugged. ‘For as long as I can.’
‘You don’t seem convinced. What are you afraid of?’
It was a good question. He glanced at his brother, his spliff held between his lips, smoke curling around his nose and face. It had been close. So much could have gone tits up and he wouldn’t have been there.
Ethan cleared his throat. ‘Let’s get one thing straight.’ He took a deep drag. ‘I don’t need a babysitter, I’ve—’
‘I know, it’s not—’
‘Let me finish,’ Ethan said, holding his hand up. ‘I’ve got Sofi, or at least I will have once I’ve rebuilt her. You never were any good at looking after other people’s things.’
‘It was her idea to self-destruct, not mine.’ He took a deep sip of coffee. ‘Anyway, she’s still there, maybe not in the flesh, but…’
‘As I was saying. I have Sofi. There’s a couple of new locations I need to check out. The middle of London’s not for me. We tried that and we all know how that ended.’
Ethan was right. He didn’t need looking after and the PM said he could work from wherever he pleased. There might be new threats, but none of the old ones. Helix wasn’t proud of how things unfolded but it was the right thing. No loose ends. ‘OK. Keep me posted,’ he said, swirling the last of the coffee in his cup. ‘Say hi to Sofi for me.’
‘Aww, that’s cute. I think you’re warming to her.’ Ethan nodded. ‘Same to Gabrielle. I told you, Nate, she’s a keeper. And don’t you forget it.’
Helix sat on his bergen, just back from the brow of the hill above the schoolhouse. He scanned around watching knots of villagers, Bo amongst them, fetching and carrying wood or tending to the animals. SJ and another woman rocked in chairs on the porch of the dining hall, patchwork blankets draped over their laps as they knitted and chatted. At the side of the hall, a thin weathered man leaned into a clay bread oven, slipping out loaves the size of rocks, tapping their bottoms to check if they were done. Next to that, charcoal smoke rose from a pit, a pig on a spit above, pork fat fizzing and hissing as it dripped into the embers. He closed his eyes and let the sounds and smells etch the image into his mind.
A rumble from the schoolhouse, chairs being pushed back, heralded the end of the day’s lessons. Helix peered over the brow as the door swung open and Gabrielle stepped onto the porch. Calling goodbye to each kid by name, she radiated health and happiness as they streamed out, leaping down the steps, scattering in all directions, slipping and tripping back towards their homes and evening chores. Cocking her head, her hand hesitated towards the school bell. She cupped the small plastic unicorn, suspended from the clapper, in her hand.
Helix’s bergen felt weightless on his shoulder as the broad smile broke across her face. He froze mid-step, her eyes pinning him in place. They stood for a moment, each caught in the other’s gaze. The door cracked shut as it slipped from her hand, the sound like a starting pistol. They ran towards each other. Helix dropped his bergen and gathered her in his arms.
Thank You.
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Also by Chris Lofts
Helix Genesis - On Amazon - Also available in paperback.
2039 GREAT BRITAIN is socially fractured. The London elite enjoy a life of privilege, comfort and plenty, while those outside for age, hunt and dig for survival.
MAJOR NATHAN HELIX has survived twenty years of service to his country at the cost of one brother and almost the second. Doctor Gabrielle Stepper, wife of the Chancellor and venerated scientist credited with defeating the virus, craves normality and anonymity. Her dream is shattered along with her reputation when she is accused of murdering of her lover.
HELIX IS ASSIGNED to investigate. Stepper’s revelations about a genetically engineered pathogen point to a spurned former colleague with a score to settle. Con fronted by his own demons, Helix fights for his and Stepper’s survival in the shadow of a Government conspiracy, a lust for revenge and the threat of another global catastrophe.
Als
o by Chris Lofts
Life Untenable - On Amazon - Also available in paperback.
PANDORA STRAFER’S consuming passion is her art. Celebrity is within her grasp. However, a terrible secret she shares with her despised brother Tobin threatens to destroy everything she has worked for.
BUT PAN KNOWS something Tobin doesn’t – there is a witness. With their livelihoods and liberty in jeopardy, both will do almost anything to conceal their side of the story. Tobin’s increasing paranoia and desperation drag Pan deeper into his sinister world.
PAN FIGHTS BACK with the only weapon she has: her art. She has the time, the talent and the opportunity. But can she find the killer instinct?
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Helix Nexus. I hope you enjoyed it. Why not join my Readers’ Club to be amongst the first to received news and updates about my forthcoming books and other giveaways? In return you’ll receive a free eBook of interviews with the two main characters from Helix Genesis and Helix Nexus: Nathan Helix and Gabrielle Stepper.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the following fantastic people who have provided expertise, help, support and encouragement.
My beta readers: Hayley Parker and Dave Lofts. Thanks both for giving up your time to review the earlier drafts and for the honesty of your feedback.
A huge thank you to my editor, Debi Alper, for her continued wisdom, clarity of feedback and generous words of encouragement.