by RR Haywood
‘Mother won’t stop. She wants Maggie . . . She’s planning an extinction level event.’
Emily freezes any tiny motion she had. Listening hard and taking it in.
‘Hydrogen bomb and anthrax. Tell Maggie to react and do something small to buy time. We’ll see the change in the timeline. I want out . . .’
‘Fuck you . . . I saw you in Cavendish Manor, Alpha. I was there . . .’
‘That was a different me. I’ll try and find a way to get a message to you . . . Is Maggie in charge?’
She hesitates, not wanting to give any information.
‘Tell Maggie to react. Do something to make us know you are aware of us . . .’ He moves fast and swift. Yanking her shoulder to make her pivot while spinning round to ease back down the hallway towards the stairs. ‘Your hand,’ he says quietly.
‘I know,’ she says without looking at it.
‘Poor skills,’ he says, still backing away towards the stairs. ‘Don’t let that happen again, seven Ps, Tango Two . . .’
‘My name is Emily now.’
‘I need tonight to think. Tell Maggie to meet me on our third visit to Herr Weber. I’ll be alone . . .’
She watches him back away to the stairs and only then does he lower the pistol, but pauses as though waiting to see if she will aim and fire.
She doesn’t.
Alpha goes fast up the stairs, pushing his sidearm into the holster while thinking of things he should have said and done. He reaches the top floor and slows his motion to ease his breathing before tapping lightly three times on the door and pushing in.
‘Anything?’ he asks Echo standing side at the window.
‘Negative. You?’ Echo replies, staring at his leader.
‘Nothing,’ Alpha says. ‘That couple lost a child.’
‘Okay,’ Echo says, turning back to face the window.
He saw the woman and the man pushing to run against the flow of people. He saw her staring at Alpha and he saw her veer off towards the building. He also noted the point Alpha went out of view below and the time it took to reach this room, which was too long, but he stays quiet and stares out of the window.
Alpha falls in at his side, resuming the observations and realising just what a view it is from up here. Echo would have seen the man and woman pushing through the people. He would have seen her coming after Alpha and he would know the time between entering the building and arriving in this room is too long.
Neither move. Neither say or do anything, but nerves and sinew bunch and gather and adrenaline starts to dump. Senses become heightened. They both watch her running up the street, tracking her progress and Alpha’s heart sinks when she goes inside the ground floor door to building number twenty-five. She should have deviated the route or waited. She’s just shown them where her point of entry is.
‘Everything okay?’ Echo asks, his voice soft and quiet. A personal question almost, from one man to another.
‘Fine,’ Alpha whispers. They don’t look at each other. They don’t move for fear of making the other react faster.
‘Tango Two,’ Echo whispers.
Everything poised on this second. Everything weighted on this second now. Alpha’s instincts tell him to take a chance on Echo. To at least try.
‘Yes.’
Echo says nothing and both men stare ahead and slightly lower their heads to increase their peripheral vision. Both with hands loose at their sides ready to reach for sidearms. Tension mounts. Neither willing to take the next step without knowing which way it will end. Both trained. Both professional. Both calculating every possible outcome that holds them in a stalemate.
Echo moves first and he’s fast, but the mistake he makes is going for his pistol while turning and moving back to clear space to draw and fire. Alpha doesn’t try to outdraw him, but simply steps in and kicks hard at Echo’s stomach, sending the agent smashing into the wall.
‘Fuck,’ Echo gasps, bending double as he slides down the wall clutching his stomach.
‘Don’t,’ Alpha says, pulling his gun to aim at Echo’s head and seeing the other agent’s hand moving towards his belt line. ‘I said don’t.’ Alpha lashes out, slamming his foot into Echo’s shin to make him topple down. ‘Hands out . . . OUT . . .’
‘What did they do?’ Echo gasps, twisting his neck to look up at Alpha. ‘What? What did they do?’
‘Who?’
‘Them. I don’t get it . . .’
‘Get what?’ Alpha demands, pressing his gun to Echo’s temple.
‘The others! We saw it on that footage . . . They saved an autistic kid from us, Alpha . . . People like that don’t murder. They didn’t kill everyone in the complex . . .They’re not fucking terrorists so why are we going after them?’
Alpha holds still, thinking hard with the gun aimed at Echo’s head.
‘Kill me,’ Echo says in disgust. ‘I’m not part of this. I didn’t sign up for this shit . . .’
‘Why did you try and pull your gun?’ Alpha asks.
‘To warn them,’ Echo snarls. ‘It’s Tango Two . . . She’s with them . . . Go on. Mother’s lost the plot. She’s fucking crazy so you’d better kill me because I swear the second you lower that gun I’m going for you . . .’
‘Shut up,’ Alpha snaps, trying to think.
‘Alpha, I swear to god you’d better shoot me now. I dropped a nuke for this . . . You kill me now because I’m not going back to that sick bitch . . .’
‘Shut up.’
‘I can’t sleep at night . . . We killed thousands for nothing. I dropped a fucking nuclear bomb for revenge . . .’
‘Christ, Ian, shut the fuck up and let me think . . .’
‘PULL THE . . .’ Echo’s voice drops out midway as Alpha’s words sink into his head.
‘Who else?’ Alpha asks quickly, his voice soft and urgent. ‘You spoke to Charlie and Delta about this?’
‘No one else,’ Echo replies instantly. ‘Just me . . .’
Alpha rolls his eyes at the reply, realising the stupidity of the question and wondering what he expected Echo to say. This could be a trap. This could be a test, but his instincts tell him to take a punt. ‘I’ve warned them. I told Tango Two they need to react, to slow Mother down . . . I spoke to her downstairs.’
Echo stares at him, trying to read every muscle twitch and facial expression in Alpha’s face and posture.
‘Don’t shoot me,’ Alpha says, lowering his gun as he rises and steps back. He sweeps his overcoat back to holster his weapon and rubs the tension from his face with the first human gesture Echo has ever seen him make. The other agent stays on the floor, watching Alpha as he goes to the window and stares out with a look of intense worry showing.
‘What’s going on?’ Echo asks.
‘You tell me,’ Alpha whispers.
Echo rises slowly, wincing at the pain in his gut from the hard kick. A few steps and he joins Alpha at the window, both staring out in silence.
‘It’s not right,’ Echo finally says. ‘What we’re doing . . . It’s not right . . .’
‘I know.’
‘Bravo?’ Echo asks.
‘Don’t trust him.’
Echo shakes his head while rubbing at his stomach with another grimace. ‘Charlie and Delta, they don’t like the mission, but I think they’re just bored. This a trap, Alpha?’
Alpha looks at him, lifting his eyebrows in question. ‘Seriously?’
‘Gotta ask,’ Echo says with a shrug.
‘Yeah, like I’d admit it.’
‘You might.’
‘I wouldn’t. Would you?’
‘No.’
‘Then don’t ask stupid questions.’
‘Sorry, Alpha. What now?’
Emily runs down the ground floor hallway to the stairs and starts going up as she hears footsteps coming down. ‘Coming up,’ she shouts in German, drawing her pistol.
‘Emily? It’s us,’ Safa calls out, running down with the others, all of them holding weapons ready. ‘What
happened?’
‘I spoke to Alpha,’ she whispers urgently.
‘Not here,’ Miri says. ‘Fall back to the island.’
She follows them through to the instant warmth and golden light of the shack and out into the bright sunshine to see Konrad sitting on the floor with his knees to his chest, weeping hard as Malcolm and the doctor give comfort.
‘I’m not going back,’ Konrad says, hearing them coming out. He rises to his feet, glaring at them all through red eyes and tear-soaked cheeks. ‘I’m an engineer . . . not a bloody spy . . .’
‘It’s okay, Kon,’ Malcolm says softly.
‘It’s not okay, Malc. I saw dead kiddies. I don’t want to see that. I’m not one of you . . .’
Emily tugs at her overcoat, suddenly stifling in the heat. A presence behind her and Harry’s big hands come to her shoulders, helping her from the coat.
‘Report,’ Miri orders.
Emily relays the details, keeping it succinct and to the point while everyone listens, and spots the nod passing between Miri and Ben. ‘That’s it,’ she finishes off. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Do you trust him?’ Ben asks.
‘Alpha? Not a chance but . . . there was something about the way he spoke. Having said that he is Alpha and very bloody good at what he does . . . and he gave me a chance to shoot him.’
‘Should have done,’ Safa mutters.
‘Ben? Miri?’ Emily asks. ‘What’s going on?’
‘We thought about it earlier,’ Ben says, thinking hard as he talks. ‘Miri said the UK government wouldn’t have sanctioned the use of a nuke, especially on their own people . . . And it fits what Alpha told Emily . . . We were gone for nearly two months, remember. They did the Roman thing and we didn’t react so she escalated up to dropping a nuke and now we’re still not reacting . . . This isn’t the government coming after us. It’s just Mother.’
‘He said she’s planning an extinction level event,’ Emily says, repeating what she said before.
‘How does dropping one H-bomb cause an extinction?’ Safa asks. ‘I know they’re big but . . .’
‘It doesn’t work like that,’ Ben says. ‘A big modern nuke needs a launch facility and if Mother launches one then everyone launches theirs . . . If she does that and releases anthrax then . . .’ He trails off with a shrug.
‘Yeah, that’s bad,’ Safa says mildly. ‘Right, better fix it.’ She looks round at the others, at the stress showing, even on Miri and Ben. ‘It’ll be fine. Worrying doesn’t get things fixed. We’ve got a time machine. Plus we’ve got Miri and Ben, who are a hundred times smarter than they are, plus we’ve got Harry and me . . . and Malcolm, and Konrad . . . and the doc . . .’ She stops to smile as everyone looks at Emily. ‘Oh, and Emily too, who will be making everyone a nice drink.’
‘I beg your pardon? I just risked my life for . . .’
‘You got caught by Alpha is what you just did,’ Safa cuts in. ‘Only a twat runs after someone like that on their own. You’re on brew duty. We’ll have a drink and go back for the third visit.’
‘Alpha said he needs time to think tonight,’ Emily says.
‘I’m going to regret asking this,’ Safa says, more to herself, ‘but what difference does that make? We’ve got time machines. We can go now and he can go next bloody year but we’ll still be there at the same time . . .’
‘They noticed our two-month gap,’ Ben says. ‘Which means our time is synched to theirs.’
‘So . . .’ Safa says slowly. ‘Does that mean we’ve got the night off? Yes? Awesome. Paris it is then.’
‘What?’ Ben asks.
‘I am going to see Paris before we get made extinct. Get brewing, Rose . . . Mine’s a tea.’
Twenty-Seven
The Complex
‘Shut it down,’ Alpha orders in the portal room.
‘Gasping for a coffee,’ Echo says lightly. ‘Alpha? Want one?’
‘Er, yeah, sure,’ Alpha replies as though distracted and in deep thought. He looks round the room, seeing the pensive expressions on the faces of the workers. ‘Plans going okay?’ he asks Gunjeep.
‘They are,’ the man replies without any trace of humour. ‘Turns out it’s far easier to steal a hydrogen bomb than we thought.’ He busies himself at the portal terminal, jabbing and swiping at the screen.
‘We’ve got our own,’ Echo says, making the connection.
‘We certainly do,’ Gunjeep says. ‘The UK nuclear arsenal is fully equipped. Using a big one is out of the question because of the codes and launch protocols . . .’ He trails off, glancing at the two men with a neutral expression. ‘However, and as Mother pointed out, we don’t have to launch a big one at all. Lots of smaller ones all in one place will do the job . . . or, as she suggested, lots of small ones in lots of places . . .’
A look between Alpha and Echo and both men nod as though impressed.
‘Lots of big bangs and everyone dies.’ Gunjeep beams at them, forcing the smile. ‘Then we catch the bad guys, reset and go home for our dinners, eh?’
‘Shouldn’t be doing it.’ A voice behind them makes Alpha and Echo spin round to see Roger, one of the technicians glaring at them both.
‘What did you say?’ Alpha demands, striding to the man to grab him by the collar and drag him several feet across the room. ‘Say it again . . . SAY IT AGAIN . . .’
‘We shouldn’t be doing it,’ Roger shouts. ‘It’s wrong . . . It’s genocide . . .’ His head snaps back from the punch delivered by Alpha that breaks his nose, sending a spray of blood over the man’s white lab coat.
‘This is our mission,’ Alpha says through gritted teeth. ‘You signed up for it. YOU ALL SIGNED UP FOR IT . . .’ He shoves the man to the ground, watching with distaste as he curls up into a ball while clutching his face. ‘You two, get him to the infirmary . . .’ he shouts at two men. ‘We will not have insubordination here. This is a disciplined mission. Do you understand? DO YOU UNDERSTAND?’
Murmurs come back, scared nods and low voices from people who can’t look him in the eye.
The two agents walk through the complex, unable to speak or share words on what they just learnt or what just happened. An act to maintain. A cover to hold, but it’s shared now and there is strength in that unity and a glance between them tells both that Alpha had to hit the man. Mother watches everything, she hears everything, and a broken nose is a small price to pay to save the world.
Alpha stops at Mother’s door, knocking once and waiting as Echo walks on.
‘Enter.’
Alpha pushes in and stops with one foot over the threshold, turning to call out to Echo, ‘Stand down for tonight. Be ready to deploy in the morning.’
‘Roger,’ Echo says smartly.
‘Mother,’ Alpha says, coming to a stop in front of her desk.
She carries on working with a show of power at making him wait. It stinks in here. Pungent and unhealthy and he notices her hair looks greasy too, unwashed, and the array of coffee cups and plates tell him she’s hardly leaving her office.
‘Nice punch,’ she remarks quietly, not bothering to look at him.
‘I was . . .’
‘Report,’ she orders, speaking over him.
‘Nothing.’
‘Nothing?’ she asks as if it’s his fault.
‘Not yet. We’ll pick it up tomorrow . . .’
‘You’ll go now,’ she says.
‘Tomorrow,’ he says firmly, at last making her head jerk up. ‘I want to get my head round your plans.’
A pause, a look from her to him and for a second he fears she will launch into another fit of rage, but she just nods. ‘Basic plan is on that. Smaller warheads with . . .’
‘Gunjeep just said—’
‘I don’t care what GUNJEEP JUST FUCKING SAID . . .’ she screeches. ‘Don’t ever interrupt me again or it will be Bravo standing in front of me as the lead agent.’
The temptation is right there. The urge to pull his gun and shoot her through t
he head, but that leaves Bravo, Charlie and Delta plus a facility full of innocent people.
‘Apologies,’ he says calmly.
‘Go away,’ she snaps.
He goes out, heading for the canteen, which falls silent as he walks through. He stops at the food bar, grabbing pieces of fruit and shoving a mug under the coffee dispenser before glaring round enough to make people carry on talking, albeit quietly and in hushed tones. At Kate’s door he strides in, ignoring Rodney, who was in the middle of saying something before rushing off with a muttered excuse.
‘Ooh, fruit,’ Kate says. ‘Is that a banana in your pocket or have you just got a big willy?’
He forces a smile before bending to kiss her cheek. ‘We need to talk.’ The risk of a whisper, but his breath is barely more than warm air.
‘Can I have your apple?’ she asks as he pulls back.
‘Sure.’
‘Thanks, so hungry,’ she says, biting into it. ‘Bad atmos today,’ she adds with a roll of her eyes. ‘Everyone’s a bit grumpy.’
‘I noticed.’
‘Would be nice to get out,’ she says, holding eye contact on him for a second. ‘I’m doing the hourly check if you fancy it?’
‘Er, yeah, yeah, sure. Few minutes wouldn’t hurt. I’ll meet you in the portal room.’
‘Okay . . . and I know you have a big willy! Not as big as a banana, but then that would hurt so . . .’
‘Bye, Kate,’ he says, giving her a quick grin at the door.
He walks on, thinking a thousand thoughts with an urge inside to go back and shoot Mother, then find Bravo and shoot him. Sometimes the simplest method is the best. Negate both threats, take over the mission and establish a line of dialogue with Maggie Sanderson. They can agree to reset the changes and Alpha can report back to the government. Will that work?
‘What ho,’ Bravo booms as he enters their section. ‘Fruit, eh? Nice and healthy.’
‘Something like that,’ Alpha replies, nodding at Charlie and Delta. ‘Echo give you the news?’
‘We’re standing down for tonight?’ Charlie asks.