Escape Velocity

by Mark Walden

  ‘You may be right,’ the Colonel said thoughtfully, ‘but if you’re not . . .’

  ‘If I’m not then we can’t hope to succeed anyway,’ the Professor replied. ‘It’s a chance we have to take.’

  ‘OK, I’ll speak to him discreetly,’ the Colonel said.

  ‘Right, that’s long enough,’ the Phalanx guard announced, walking back towards the cell, looking anxious. ‘You’ll have to leave. There appears to be something wrong with some of the monitoring equipment.’

  ‘Oh, how annoying,’ the Professor said with a crooked smile. ‘Nothing seems to be working properly around here at the moment, does it?’

  ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought you two had been specifically trained to deal with Raven,’ Sebastian Trent said angrily as he walked in behind the two women who stood at rigid attention in his office.

  ‘Raven was not the problem,’ Constance said quickly.

  ‘It was the Malpense boy who caught us off guard,’ Verity added.

  ‘So you’re telling me that you can handle the world’s deadliest assassin but you can’t handle a single thirteen-year-old boy,’ Trent snapped angrily.

  ‘He is more . . . capable than we had been led to expect,’ Constance replied. ‘He will not surprise us a second time.’

  ‘You’re assuming there will be a second time!’ Trent yelled. ‘I give you a simple task and you fail me. This might have been our one opportunity to take out Raven and capture the boy and you two blew it. Tell me why I should trust you with something this important again.’

  ‘There is no excuse,’ Verity said firmly.

  ‘No, there is not,’ Trent barked. ‘You are supposed to be my most capable operatives, not bumbling incompetents.’

  ‘We will find them,’ Constance said, her voice like ice, ‘and we won’t lose them again.’

  ‘I wish I could share your confidence,’ Trent snapped. ‘Now get out of my sight. I have to report this fiasco to control and find out what our next move is going to be. Make sure you’re ready if I call on you again. You are dismissed.’

  The twins turned in unison and marched out of Trent’s office. Trent sat back down behind his desk with a sigh. He had not been relishing the prospect of the call that he had to make now, but he could not put it off any longer. He keyed a code that only he knew into the computer on his desk and waited. After just a few seconds the display lit up with the silhouette of a man’s head and shoulders.

  ‘Mr Trent,’ Number One said coldly, ‘I have been expecting your call.’

  ‘Yes, sir, I’m sorry for the delay but I wanted to make sure that I had all of the facts before I contacted you,’ Trent explained.

  ‘You mean you needed time to come up with an excuse for this display of withering incompetence,’ Number One said in a voice that froze the blood. ‘I assume you will not try to insult me by expecting me to forgive you.’

  ‘Sir, please, we are doing everything possible to –’

  ‘Enough!’ Number One snapped. ‘I have read your report and despite all of the assets at your disposal you still failed to acquire Raven or Malpense. I am starting to wonder if you are truly the right man for the job, Sebastian. Tell me, am I wasting my time with you?’

  ‘Please, give me a chance to rectify this,’ Trent pleaded. ‘We will find Raven and when we do she will not escape us again.’

  ‘You have told me that before and yet here we are again, dragging the Thames for a body that is not there. Do not make the mistake of underestimating Raven,’ Number One said angrily. ‘You will not find her, not if she does not want you to. Fortunately for you I do not believe that will be a problem for very much longer. If I know Raven, and I believe I do, she will be paying you a visit in the very near future. Now that she knows where Nero is she will attempt to free him – that is when you will finish the job that you so spectacularly failed to complete in London.’

  ‘But how could she know where we are?’ Trent asked, sounding confused. ‘Deepcore was not hacked; they didn’t have time. The location of this facility is still –’

  ‘Do not underestimate the Malpense boy either,’ Number One said sharply. ‘He has skills that you would not understand, the very skills that make him so essential to the Initiative’s success. Trust me when I say that they know exactly where you are and it is inevitable that they will attempt to liberate Nero.’

  ‘H.O.P.E. has other facilities,’ Trent said quickly. ‘We could transfer him to –’

  ‘You will do exactly as you are told, Sebastian, and leave Nero precisely where he is. Why do you think I have kept him alive this long? If there is one thing I have learnt over the years it is that when one is fishing for sharks it is always best to use live bait.’

  Nigel and Franz walked down the corridor towards Colonel Francisco’s office. Nigel may have been feeling nervous about the risk they were taking, considering the contents of his backpack, but he was doing the best he could to conceal it. Franz on the other hand looked pale and sweaty, his eyes darting from side to side as if some kind of monster would lunge from the shadows at any moment.

  ‘Try to act casual,’ Nigel whispered.

  ‘I am acting casual,’ Franz whispered back.

  ‘You look like you’re about to have a heart attack,’ Nigel replied with a slight frown.

  ‘It is being the distinct possibility,’ Franz said, swallowing hard.

  ‘Oh no,’ Nigel moaned as he saw the two figures who walked around the corner at the far end of the corridor. It was Block and Tackle, two of the more thuggish products of the Henchman stream, who were well known for the delight they took in tormenting the younger students. Nigel and Franz held a special place in their list of victims though, ever since they had knocked the pair of bullies out cold with a Sleeper gun during Cypher’s invasion of the school. Block and Tackle may have been under the nefarious influence of the Contessa at the time but that did not appear to stop them bearing a nasty grudge. Nigel swallowed hard as they walked towards the two over-muscled goons, deliberately avoiding eye contact. He couldn’t help but be a bit surprised as the two boys walked past them in silence, almost as if they weren’t there. Nigel was just breathing a small sigh of relief when he was tripped from behind and toppled forwards on to the floor.

  ‘Aren’t you even going to say hello?’ Block said with a nasty smile as he loomed over Nigel.

  ‘Leave us alone,’ Nigel said in the strongest voice he could muster, knowing there was little real chance of that.

  ‘Leave us alone,’ Tackle mimicked in a high-pitched girlish voice. ‘What if we don’t want to – whatchoo gonna do about it?’

  Nigel tried to get up but was stopped from doing so by Block’s heavy boot on his backside. Block suddenly noticed a slight movement from inside Nigel’s backpack.

  ‘What you got in there, baldy?’ Block said, reaching down and unzipping Nigel’s pack and sliding a hand inside. Block yelped in pain as something sliced across the skin on the back of his hand. He reflexively pulled his hand from the backpack and looked at it. There were three deep, perfectly parallel scratches, oozing blood.

  ‘What the hell . . . ?’ Block said, startled.

  ‘You are being the girly men who are not prepared to be picking on someone their own size,’ Franz yelled suddenly. ‘You pick on Nigel but I am thinking that you are scared of me!’

  ‘Is that a fact?’ Tackle said, turning to Franz.

  ‘I am warning you not to be pushing us,’ Franz said nervously as Tackle walked towards him. ‘Wing has been showing me all his tricks. My fists are now the deadly weapon!’

  Franz raised his tightly clenched but obviously trembling fists up in front of him like a boxer.

  ‘Oooh, I’m frightened,’ Tackle said with a nasty laugh. ‘I’ve picked a fight with the world’s fattest ninja.’

  Franz felt a sudden wave of anger as the older boy approached him.

  ‘Tell you what,’ Tackle said, stopping just a couple of feet away from Franz, ‘you ge
t the first shot free.’ He put his hands on his hips and leant forward, offering his unguarded chin to Franz. ‘But then it’s my turn.’

  Tackle just smiled and closed his eyes as Franz drew his fist back.

  ‘I am not fat,’ he said, sounding angry. ‘I am big-boned.’

  Franz took a single small step towards Tackle and kicked him in the crotch as hard as he could. Tackle collapsed to the ground with a strangled gasp, curling into a moaning ball. Block took his foot off Nigel and strode quickly over to Franz, who turned to face him with an expression that fell somewhere between victorious boxer and rabbit in the headlights. Franz threw a punch but Block simply caught it in one of his huge hands, wrenching Franz’s arm up into the small of his back and pulling hard. Franz let out a yelp of pain and dropped to his knees, helpless.

  ‘Pick a bone,’ Block whispered viciously into Franz’s ear. ‘It’ll only be the first one I break but at least you get a choice.’

  ‘What’s going on here?’ Colonel Francisco bellowed as he strode down the corridor towards them.

  Block quickly let go of Franz and stepped away from him. Tackle slowly got to his feet, looking slightly dazed.

  ‘Argentblum attacked Tackle, sir,’ Block said before Franz or Nigel could speak.

  ‘Really?’ the Colonel said, raising an eyebrow. ‘Is that true, Mr Argentblum?’

  ‘It was self-defence, sir,’ Nigel said quickly.

  ‘Did I ask you, Mr Darkdoom?’ the Colonel said firmly.

  ‘No, sir,’ Nigel replied, ‘but Ms Leon sent us here for our detention assignments. We really don’t want to get into any more trouble.’

  Francisco’s eyes narrowed as he studied Nigel’s nervous-looking face.

  ‘Very well, we’ll go to my office immediately. And you two should know better than this by now,’ he said, turning to Block and Tackle. ‘Being a member of the Henchman stream is about discipline, not brawling in the corridors. Get out of here, I’ll deal with you later.’

  Block walked away down the corridor with Tackle hobbling slowly along behind him.

  ‘Come with me,’ Francisco said, turning and striding towards his office. ‘I think we have things to discuss.’

  Otto followed Raven down the steps from the Megalodon’s mini-sub docking pool. The divers from the mini-sub had rescued Raven and him from the submerged car with just moments to spare and transported them both back to the Megalodon. He felt absolutely exhausted, but at the same time he could not help but feel satisfied that they had succeeded in their mission. Captain Sanders stood waiting for them with a broad smile on his face.

  ‘Well done,’ the Captain said, ‘both of you. If I was a betting man I cannot say that I would have put a lot of money on you being able to pull this off.’

  ‘And yet, here we are,’ Raven said with a slight smile.

  ‘Indeed, most impressive,’ the Captain said, gesturing to the hatch that led out of the docking bay. ‘Darkdoom is waiting for you in the command centre.’

  Raven nodded and walked out of the room with Otto.

  ‘He’s right, you know,’ Raven said as they walked down the corridor towards the command centre. ‘You did well. You never know, we might make a G.L.O.V.E. operative out of you yet.’

  ‘Something tells me we aren’t going to be welcomed back by G.L.O.V.E. any time soon,’ Otto said quietly.

  ‘Time will tell,’ Raven replied. ‘If Darkdoom is right and Number One is behind all of this, I think you might be surprised at the ruling council’s reaction. He has controlled G.L.O.V.E. by fear for a long time, and in my experience someone that you are afraid of can never command your true loyalty. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that G.L.O.V.E. is bigger than just one man. The League will go on regardless of how this all plays out.’

  ‘I wish I could say I shared your confidence,’ Otto said, sounding tired. ‘I can’t help but feel that Number One is always a step ahead of us.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Raven said with a crooked smile, ‘but the advantage of having someone one step ahead of you is that they expose their back.’

  She pushed the heavy door to the command centre open and Otto stepped inside.

  ‘Otto!’ Laura said happily, running over and hugging him. ‘You made it!’

  ‘That’s twenty bucks you owe me, big guy,’ Shelby said with a grin, punching Wing playfully in the arm.

  Wing walked up to Otto and smiled.

  ‘I never bet against a sure thing,’ Wing said, slapping Otto hard on the shoulder.

  ‘I’m just glad that we all made it out in one piece,’ Otto said happily, ‘though I did have a little help.’

  Otto gestured at Raven, who just smiled slightly.

  ‘You have all done remarkably well,’ Darkdoom said, walking towards them, ‘but we must not forget that there is much yet to be done. Mr Malpense, I believe you have a set of coordinates for me.’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ Otto replied, ‘but you can’t have them . . . not yet anyway.’

  ‘What?’ Darkdoom said, sounding surprised.

  ‘I want in on the mission to save Nero and until I’m convinced that’s happening the coordinates of the facility where he’s being held stay right here,’ Otto said, tapping the side of his head.

  ‘Mr Malpense, this is no time for games,’ Darkdoom said firmly. ‘Just give me the coordinates. There’s no way I’m letting you go on this mission.’

  ‘Why not?’ Otto said calmly.

  ‘Because I would be sending you into the lion’s den. We have to keep you out of these people’s hands, not deliver you to them gift-wrapped. It was dangerous enough letting you be involved in the MI6 operation. I am not prepared to put you at any further risk.’

  ‘That’s my decision,’ Otto replied. ‘If anything, what we’ve all just managed to pull off demonstrates that we’re quite capable of looking after ourselves.’

  ‘Darkdoom’s right, Otto,’ Raven said with a frown. ‘Those women we met weren’t there to capture me. For whatever reason, you are a priority target for these people. We have to keep you out of their reach.’

  ‘I understand that,’ Otto said, sounding frustrated, ‘but that’s exactly why I want to be a part of ending this. I’m fed up with not knowing why I’m suddenly so important. I need answers as much as anyone.’

  Darkdoom stared at Otto in silence. There was something about the boy that was familiar, but he still couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He was not prepared to try and extract the information on Nero’s location from him by force and so it seemed that, for the moment at least, Otto held all the cards.

  ‘Very well, Mr Malpense. If you are determined to risk your life there is little that I can do to stop you.’

  ‘If Otto is going then so am I,’ Wing said calmly.

  ‘We all are,’ Laura added. Shelby just nodded her agreement.

  Darkdoom looked at the four of them standing together, totally determined. Slowly a tired-looking smile spread across his face.

  ‘I think that if Max was here now he would be rather proud of you all,’ he said, turning back to the large display set into the centre of the console in the command centre. ‘I assume, Mr Malpense, that you are at least prepared to tell us what sort of facility we will need to be prepared to –’

  ‘TORPEDO, TORPEDO, TORPEDO!’ one of the men seated at the control consoles suddenly yelled. Darkdoom spun towards him.

  ‘Is it tracking us?’ he said quickly.

  ‘Affirmative, sir. It’s heading straight for us, bearing 184,’ the man replied, a trace of panic in his voice.

  ‘Initiate evasive manoeuvres,’ Darkdoom barked at the helmsman. Otto and the others were forced to grab for the nearest furniture as the giant submarine was thrown into a tight turn, the whole control centre tipping to one side.

  ‘Torpedo turning to intercept,’ the weapons control officer yelled, ‘range three kilometres and closing.’

  The control room tipped in the other direction as the helmsman fought to shake the torpedo’
s lock on the Megalodon.

  ‘Torpedo still on an intercept track!’

  ‘That’s impossible,’ Darkdoom said. ‘There isn’t a weapon in the water that can track this boat.’

  ‘Range two kilometres. Deploying countermeasures!’ the weapons officer reported.

  Everyone heard a series of thuds as several anti-torpedo drones detached themselves from the hull of the Megalodon and spiralled away into the dark water surrounding them.

  ‘What the . . . Torpedo has evaded countermeasures . . . but –’ the weapons officer stammered.

  ‘Torpedoes don’t evade countermeasures,’ Darkdoom shouted. ‘What is that out there?’

  ‘Range one kilometre. Torpedo has acquired final solution and is accelerating.’

  Darkdoom snatched a handset from the wall and spoke into it.

  ‘All hands, brace for impact.’

  Otto hung on to the railing in front of him, his knuckles white.

  ‘Three hundred metres . . . two hundred metres . . . one hundred metres . . .’

  Otto braced himself, waiting for the explosion.

  ‘Impact!’ the weapons officer yelled and an eerie silence fell over the command centre. There was no explosion, the deck simply vibrating with the usual hum from the submarine’s powerful engines.

  ‘Must have been a dud,’ the weapons officer said, sounding confused but relieved.

  ‘Somehow I doubt that,’ Darkdoom said quietly.

  Suddenly there was a scraping thud on the hull, clearly audible inside the command centre, and then another and another.

  ‘Something’s attached itself to us,’ Darkdoom said quietly. The scraping sound seemed to move along the ceiling towards the rear of the vessel.

  ‘Whatever it is it’s heading aft,’ the weapons officer said.

  ‘The escape hatches,’ Darkdoom said angrily. ‘Get a security team down there now! Raven, with me.’

  Darkdoom rushed out of the command centre and down the corridor heading towards the aft of the Megalodon, Raven close behind him.

  ‘Come on,’ Otto said to the others and they all hurried after them.