by Mike Essex
“So what was that call about?” I asked Grace as we walked towards the end of the tunnel.
“Jill created a fake panic about a gas attack at Buckingham Palace and now the grounds and building have been evacuated. We’ve got the place to ourselves,” said Grace.
“Great,” I replied.
“That’s not even the best bit. The company called in to cordon off the gas attack is…”
“QWS?”
“Exactly! So in addition to our guards in the sewers we also have a group of soldier surrounding the perimeter. It still means we’re on our own inside the grounds but it means we can prevent Eli from walking in with an entire army.”
“So we’re covered at ground level and below?”
“Yep, now can you see why I’m so happy?”
Grace’s happiness wasn’t surprising, Jill’s work would give us a huge tactical advantage.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else?”
Her cheeks went red and she tried to supress a smile.
“Nope, nothing, nada,” she said.
“Ok, then,” I replied with a wink.
She gave me a comically large wink back and tilted her head towards me.
We walked towards the light, whilst the van crawled along behind us; it carrying Evan to a reunion with his brother. Up ahead of us I could see light flowing into the tunnel. My eyes took a second to adjust, my mind so used to large beams of light signalling that a new nightmare was about to begin.
“You can see the light too right?” I asked Grace.
“Yeah, it’s a new day Emzie,” she replied, putting an arm around my shoulder.
Once the van reached the exit of the tunnel, Grace and I jumped on board, joining Jacobi in the front. With everyone else squeezed into the back, Jacobi drove the van out on to the streets of London.
Whilst we could have taken the tunnels directly to Buckingham Palace, we decided to keep the van with us so we could keep Evan safe inside. Until I saw Tom again I had no intention of letting Eli see Evan.
We joined up with a fleet of unmarked QWS vans that acted as a convoy all the way to our final destination. The soldiers dispersed around the outside of Buckingham Palace whilst we snuck our van inside and parked up.
The last time I’d been here, we’d been preparing for a war with Catherine McDougal’s forces for control of the newly christened State of London. The armoury that had seen us so well equipped last time was still here and Jacobi entered a code to let us inside.
Although we’d raided much of its innards before, the room still held enough weaponry for our small force. R&R took a sniper rifle each, Grace and I reloaded our pistols whilst March looked through a bag he’d taken from the van.
“Not taking any weaponry?” I asked.
“I’ve got the only weapon I need right here,” he held up a syringe filled with pale yellow liquid.
“What’s that?”
“A tranquiliser for Eli. He won’t come willingly but this’ll do the trick. I just need to find a way to get close enough.”
“We’ll get you close enough,” said Grace, whilst handing him some body armour.
We each put on our armour and left the armoury looking a lot braver than when we’d entered.
“Stay safe, I promise I’ll protect you,” said Rex, embracing me.
“Not much longer,” I told him.
His days of protecting me had to come to an end, for his sake. I just wanted him to have a normal happy life with his brother again. R&R disappeared up the stairs and towards a higher part of the building. From there they’d be able to support us without putting their lives in danger down below.
“Jacobi, I need you to do something for me,” I said.
“I don’t do favours. Too messy,” he replied.
“Just listen, ok?”
“Tell me what you want and I’ll decide if I want to help. But it’s not a favour. I don’t want anyone owing me anything.”
“Can you make someone disappear?”
“Eli?”
“No, I mean me. When this is over, can you help me disappear so no-one will find me?”
“You can’t do that to Rex again. It’ll kill him.”
“It’ll save him. He’s put himself through too much for me. I need to end it.”
“Then bring your father to justice and spend every second you have left with the boy. You can even have two kids and get a dog. I don’t really care. Just don’t abandon him again, you’ll be doing more harm than good.”
“I didn’t abandon him, I was captured!” I shouted back.
“That’s right, get angry and then turn that anger towards the man who is about to come through those gates out there. You got it?”
Jill kept in radio contact with us whilst we got to our positions around the base. R&R confirmed they were in place on one of the balconies, sticking close together so they wouldn’t trigger a Tether event for each other, whilst Jacobi took Carter to the sewers to wait with his other men. He’d done all he could to help us without implicating himself further.
March stayed in the van with Evan, under strict orders to kill him if anything went wrong and to only release him on our instructions.
Together with Grace, we stood on the grounds outside Buckingham Palace focused intently on the large golden gates to its entrance. The sound of a vehicle approaching caught my attention. I took a deep breath and waited for the moment I’d been dreading.
THIRTY SIX
The gates opened and a van drove slowly into the grounds of Buckingham Palace. It pulled to a stop thirty feet away from us and the engine was switched off.
“Ready?” asked Grace.
“Ready,” I replied.
I raised my gun towards the van. As Grace did the same, Gabe stepped out of the van. I was sure she’d pull the trigger.
“I know you have a lot of questions,” said Gabe.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“He’s safe,” Gabe replied.
“Show him to us!” I shouted.
Gabe reached inside the van and dragged Tom out. His face had been cleaned but it was clear he’d been beaten. Nothing could hide the purple colouring under his eye. He struggled to stand, from his damaged leg so Gabe pushed him onto the floor where he landed on his hands and knees.
“He’s safe, ok?” said Gabe.
“What did you do to him?” I shouted.
“I said he was safe, not unharmed. We did nothing worse to him, than you did to Evan and Eli.”
“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you feel any guilt for what you’ve done?”
“Do you? When you were in that machine we stopped wars and reunited nations. Now that’s all in jeopardy thanks to your selfishness.”
“I’m selfish? Well sorry for not wanting to spend my entire life stuck in a machine, turning the human race into obedient dogs.”
“And what about you Grace? This is why I signed you up. I didn’t expect you to get timid in the final act,” said Gabe.
Grace didn’t respond, she just looked dead ahead down the sights of her weapon.
“You were my favourite you know that right? It’s the only reason I spared you when we destroyed the other Diamonds,” explained Gabe.
“They had names!” shouted Grace.
“No Grace, they gave away those names when they joined The Deck. They became a part of something greater than themselves. They became part of our cause.”
“You didn’t have to kill them all,” I said.
“Didn’t I? One day I will make you understand what it means to make a sacrifice for the greater good and when that day comes I will be all that you think about. You got it?”
“We don’t have time for this,” said a voice from inside of the van.
Eli strode out of the van until he was next to Tom and Gabe. He was wearing dark sunglasses and looked visibly shaken. He’d clearly experienced the Tether events we planned for him. Despite this I knew not to underestimate him.
“Where is my
brother?” asked Eli.
“He’s safe, ok?” I replied, playfully throwing back Gabe’s response to us.
“I don’t have time for those childish games. Show me my brother and we can end this all quickly and peacefully.”
“You’re prepared to trade?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Eli. “But first, show him to me.”
“Don’t do it Emmie,” said Tom, soon silenced by Gabe pushing his foot down on top of him.
The sound of a gunshot echoed around the grounds, the bullet piercing the floor by Gabe’s feet.
“Do that one more time,” said Grace.
“What the hell? Who fired?” shouted Jacobi in my comms unit.
“We’re ok. I think,” I told him.
“You better be damn sure,” he replied.
“Enough of this,” said Eli. “I’ll consider that a warning shot. Anything else and we will rain fire down upon all of you. Is that understood?”
March took Evan out of the van and helped him to the ground. His face was still covered in the bandages, his hand all bloodied and his leg wrapped up, he looked horrible.
Eli showed no compassion for his brother and didn’t even question what we’d done. He’d done far worse things to our family, I don’t think he was in a position to judge us.
“You had a chance to kill me. Why didn’t you take it?” asked Eli.
“Because one day I want to see you suffer. Death would be letting you off too easily,” I replied.
“You’re right. The things I’ve had to do to help this world, death would be a blessing.”
“Then stop. Admit what you’ve done and hand yourself over to be judged for your crimes.”
“You think it’s that simple? How to you think people would react if they knew their Government had been controlling them for years? How do you think other countries would respond if they knew we’d controlled them? It would tear this world apart.”
Eli was right. The Siege had already caused half of the world to hate our country, something like this would see the end of it. He needed to be brought to justice but in that moment I had no idea how. Even releasing Jill’s file of his crimes seemed like a bad idea now.
“This country needs me to be in control now more than ever. Did you really think you could just walk away from the machine and it would have no impact on the world? There are things happening that you couldn’t even begin to understand,” said Eli.
He turned away from us to take a phone call, speaking quietly so we couldn’t hear. My comms unit buzzed to life and I answered the call.
“You need to get out of there,” shouted Jill, without any of her usual pleasantries.
“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked.
“There’s a huge heat signature heading your way on radar.”
“Like a helicopter?”
“Yes, but much faster. I don’t know what it is but I do know it’s heading for London and you need to go. Now!”
Eli hung up the phone and turned back to us. I cut off the call with Jill, hoping we could wrap things up quickly. There was no point running now, Gabe would gun us down the second we tried anything.
“Let’s trade,” I said.
“Fine with me,” said Eli.
March removed the bandages from Evan’s head so he could see again and tried to help him stand. Evan struggled to walk forward so March helped him, walking each step with him.
It seemed like suicide on March’s part, each step he took with Evan took him one step closer to Eli. I could only hope Eli would let him come back to us when the trade was done. March didn’t seem to show any fear, perhaps he saw it as a way to do penance for his role in everything.
Tom walked across the grounds on his own, using a crutch to help him make each step. He didn’t have the benefit of an escort and each step was agony for him. March timed his steps with Evan to match Tom’s pace as the two parties made their way towards each other.
As they reached the middle point and passed each other March whispered something to Tom and then the two of them continued on.
“You have to get out. Get ou…” a short message from Jacobi buzzed into my comms unit and was quickly cut off. We couldn’t wait around any longer.
I took a step towards Tom as the gates to Buckingham Palace were opened. I turned towards them to see the QWS team marched inside by countless soldiers in British military uniforms. From out of the sewers more soldiers emerged dragging Jacobi in front of them.
Eli had known they were there. Someone had betrayed us. There was only one person I suspected; the only person in our group who had shown compassion towards Evan and therefore Eli. The same person who has now walking directly towards Eli with Evan.
I turned around just in time to see the bullets pierce their way into Tom’s spine. He arched forward, carried by the power of the bullets and then hit the ground hard one last time.
THIRTY SEVEN
Tom’s body lay on the floor in front of me. His eyes stared at me, devoid of all life. He hadn’t moved for minutes, not even a twitch. Although I couldn’t reach him I knew that he hadn’t survived. Another victim of Eli’s agenda, another fallen soldier from The Deck.
My eyes were filled with tears and I couldn’t look at Tom’s broken body any longer. Gabe didn’t seem to feel any remorse after pulling the trigger. He simply reloaded and aimed back towards us. Tom was just another Club card to him; someone he should have killed a long time ago.
I looked at the soldiers that had been marched out in front of us. R&R were not amongst them. I hoped they were still safe somewhere and that they’d escaped when Jill told us to do so.
Eli stood over Jacobi holding the prince’s sword in his hands. He rested it against Jacobi’s shoulders and then playfully swung it towards his head and back.
“Do what you have to, just let my people go,” said Jacobi.
“You mean all of your lovely citizens?” said Eli.
Gabe, Evan and March stood in line on Eli’s side. I’d never felt more betrayed than I did now. After all March had done, I’d found a way to let him back in my heart and he’d broken it all over again. It was clear to me now how he’d played us and led us to this day, although I couldn’t comprehend what he was planning. He’d set me free and now returned me to Eli. Something didn’t add up.
“Do you have any last words?” said Eli, holding the sword above his head like an executioner.
“Go to hell,” said Jacobi.
“I expected better language from a royal,” said Eli.
I wondered if that was another one of March’s deceptions; leaking information about Jacobi to Eli. Only a few people knew Jacobi was a royal.
“That’s the thing about being Prime Minister,” said Eli. “You learn things. Secrets.”
“I’m no royal,” said Jacobi.
“Oh but you are. One of the last few remaining. You do know what they did to your mother don’t you?”
Jacobi said nothing.
“It was a terrible thing. ‘Off with her head’, I believe they were saying as they tore it from her neck,” Eli swung the sword down, narrowly missing Jacobi and striking the ground beside him.
Jacobi looked down at the ground whilst gritting his teeth.
“I can’t have a royal running around. Only one person can rule this country,” Eli held the sword up towards the sky. “Me.”
As he clenched his arms ready to strike, a trail of smoke blazed across the sky.
“Get down! It’s happening!” shouted Eli as he dove to the floor protecting his head with his hands.
He may have been a man full of tricks but those words sounded deadly serious. As I saw a burst of light pulse through the sky I dove behind the van for shelter. It took less than a second for a roar much louder than thunder to echo out around the grounds, drowning out all other sounds.
Wind billowed through the ground, carrying dust and debris with it. As my ears adjusted I could hear the clatter of boots on the ground around me as Jacobi and Eli
’s forces tried to find cover. It wasn’t long before their bullets rang out, carving through the air towards each other.
I looked out from beside the van and tried to focus through the dust filled landscape. From somewhere in the distance I could hear screams, coming from further afield than Buckingham Palace. Whatever had happened it hadn’t taken place at the Palace.
“Emmie? Are you ok?” asked Rex, through the comms unit.
“Yes,” I replied, relieved to hear his voice.
I blinked in quick succession, trying to see clearly again. In amongst the chaos bought on by the two opposing forces my eyes were drawn to the one person that was running away from the battlefield.
Eli had found his footing again and was dashing towards the entrance to the palace.
“Rex, Rufus. Eli is coming your way,” I told them.
I heard the high pitched sound of their guns firing and the dull thud of bullets hitting the ground but it was too late, Eli had made his way inside of the palace. Grace was nowhere to be seen, nor was Jacobi. Unable to seek their help I ran across the battlefield, praying that no stray bullets came my way. I knew that neither force would want to hurt me but in amongst the chaos anything was possible.
My arm was pulled to the side as a soldier grabbed it and dragged me towards him. I threw my body over to the other side and supporting myself on one arm kicked out my legs towards him. He released my arm immediately after the impact and was sent tumbling to the floor.
“Eli!” I shouted out on entering the Palace. “It’s me you want, come down here and face me.”
I could hear the sound of movement on the floor above me and I went up the grand staircase to investigate. I screamed Eli’s name a few more times, begging him to come down and face me. I’d lost too many friends already, I wasn’t prepared to lose R&R.
Quietly I whispered to Rex to ask if he’d seen Eli. The lack of a reply was all I needed to hear. Eli was either very near to him or had already hurt him. I ran up the stairs towards the room where R&R had been located.
“Don’t move,” said Rex.
Eli was sitting on the floor, a big red mark on one cheek from where he’d been struck. Rex retrieved a pair of handcuffs from his belt and placed them over Eli’s wrists. We’d got him.