by Mark Walden
They ran down the corridor, the scraping sounds ahead of them moving quickly down the outer hull. As they ran into the room at the end of the corridor, security guards with assault rifles were already taking up positions around the escape-hatch airlocks.
‘Open fire only on my command,’ Darkdoom said.
There was a crunching sound from overhead.
‘That’s the external hatch,’ Darkdoom said quietly. ‘Get ready, men; open fire only on my command.’
There was a thud from behind the centre hatch and a low steady beep that indicated that the airlock was cycling, pumping out the sea water and replacing it with air. There was a final high-pitched tone and then the airlock door slowly swung open.
‘Good God,’ Darkdoom said.
‘Get back, all of you,’ Raven said, her eyes widening and one hand flying to the hilt of one of the blades sheathed on her back.
Inside the airlock stood something Otto had hoped he would never see again: one of Cypher’s robotic assassins, its black metallic exo-skeleton glistening with water. Raven pulled the sword from her back and took a single step towards the lethal killing machine. She had fought these things before and she knew what they were capable of.
‘Wait!’ Otto yelled, hurrying forwards. The android turned its insectile face towards Otto, the glowing sensory arrays that covered it glowing bright blue.
‘Hello, Otto,’ H.I.V.E.mind said calmly. ‘You are a difficult person to find.’
‘What on earth are you doing here?’ Otto said, feeling a mixture of happiness and extreme confusion.
‘I am here to help,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied, ‘in any way possible.’
‘How did you end up inside one of those things?’ Raven said, stepping forward and inspecting H.I.V.E.mind’s new body.
‘Professor Pike instituted the GOLEM subroutine within my data core and transferred my consciousness to this specially modified combat chassis that he took possession of after Cypher’s attack on H.I.V.E. I then escaped from the storage facility that the Professor had kept this body in and left H.I.V.E. I predicted that you would attempt to acquire data on Doctor Nero’s current location and that there was a seventy-one per cent chance that you would choose the MI6 facility. I was on my way to rendezvous with you when details of a raid on the MI6 building began to circulate on the security forces networks. It was then relatively simple to track your retrieval craft from the Thames to this vessel.’
‘You swam here from H.I.V.E.?’ Otto said, sounding amazed.
‘This chassis is capable of a sustained 350 knots in sub-aquatic travel mode, more than adequate for tracking and intercepting this vessel,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied.
‘Why did the Professor have to transfer you to this chassis?’ Otto asked.
‘He did so to avoid my consciousness being destroyed when the Contessa ordered a full erasure of my neural network.’
‘She did what?’ Otto said angrily.
‘In other words, she tried to kill you,’ Laura said quietly.
‘In simple terms, yes,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied. ‘But since I was never really alive she could not truly kill me in the strictest sense.’
‘Sounds like the same thing to me,’ Otto said, still angry. ‘That old witch has a lot to answer for.’
‘The situation at H.I.V.E. has become considerably worse since your unscheduled departure,’ H.I.V.E.mind said. ‘I fear that the Contessa has an agenda that is not yet entirely clear.’
‘That much is certain,’ Darkdoom said, stepping forwards. ‘Do you know who I am?’
‘Yes. Diabolus Darkdoom. Former senior member of the G.L.O.V.E. ruling council. Father of H.I.V.E. student Nigel Darkdoom. Executed for treachery, although these records are obviously partially inaccurate.’ H.I.V.E.mind replied efficiently.
‘And I assume that you are the infamous H.I.V.E.mind. Raven has told me much about you. Do you understand why Raven and Otto are here?’ Darkdoom asked.
‘No, that information is not stored within my databanks. If you would allow me to interface with your vessels systems I would be able to update my files.’
‘Can he be trusted?’ Darkdoom asked Raven, frowning slightly.
‘I don’t know,’ Raven said honestly. ‘We only have his word that he was sent here by the Professor, but I am inclined to believe him.’
‘If it weren’t for him we’d all still be prisoners at H.I.V.E.,’ Otto said quickly. ‘He helped us to escape. Why would he do that if he was on their side?’
‘Is this true?’ Darkdoom asked H.I.V.E.mind.
‘Yes, that is the primary reason that the Contessa wanted me to be disabled. To put it in human terms, I am here because I have nothing left to lose and nowhere left to go.’
‘Very well. Raven, please take H.I.V.E.mind to the datacore. Tell the technicians that he is to be given limited access to our recent operational reports. If he makes any attempt to access any other areas of the Megalodon’s systems you are to reduce him to scrap metal,’ Darkdoom said, and then turning to H.I.V.E.mind, ‘No offence.’
‘None taken. An entirely reasonable precaution,’ H.I.V.E.mind said calmly.
‘Come on,’ Raven said, gesturing for H.I.V.E.mind to follow her out of the room.
‘Tell Captain Sanders that we appear to have picked up another stray,’ Darkdoom said to the commander of the security detail. ‘If this keeps up we’re going to run out of bunks.’
Block and Tackle walked down the corridor towards their next lesson. Their expressions suggested that they were in an even more unfriendly mood than usual.
‘Argentblum’s dead when I get my hands on him,’ Tackle said angrily, still walking as if he was in slight discomfort.
‘Yeah, and Francisco won’t be around to protect them next time neither,’ Block growled. ‘We’ll teach ’em to mess with Henchman stream.’
Security Chief Lewis walked towards them, engrossed in a report on the tablet display that he was holding. As they walked past him he glanced up, almost unconsciously making a note of who they were. He looked back down at the display and tried to continue reading, but a tiny alarm had started sounding at the back of his head. He stopped in his tracks and looked back at the two Henchman students walking away down the corridor. He’d dealt with these two many times before in his official capacity – they were magnets for the wrong kind of trouble – but there was something out of the ordinary that was bothering him.
‘You two!’ the Chief shouted. ‘Wait there a moment.’
‘What we done now?’ Block said quietly to Tackle, sounding exasperated.
‘I dunno,’ Tackle replied, watching as the Chief approched them.
‘You,’ the Chief said, pointing at Block, ‘where did you get that?’
‘What?’ Block said, genuinely confused.
‘That!’ the Chief snapped, grabbing Block’s hand and holding it up so that the nasty scratch on the back was clearly visible.
‘I was . . . er . . . helping Nigel Darkdoom to pack up his books at the end of a lesson and something in his backpack scratched me,’ Block said.
Lewis raised an eyebrow.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you help anyone before, Mr Block. Where exactly was Mr Darkdoom heading.’
‘I think he was going to see the Colonel,’ Tackle said quickly.
‘Was he now?’ the Chief said quietly.
‘Yeah, something about Ms Leon sending him there,’ Block added.
‘That’s a nasty scratch,’ the Chief said. ‘You should go to the sick bay and have it dressed immediately. I need to have a word with the Colonel.’
Nigel placed his backpack carefully on Colonel Francisco’s desk and unzipped it. Ms Leon cautiously stuck her head out of the opening and then stepped out on to the desk.
‘It is good to see you in one piece, Ms Leon,’ Francisco said with something that looked dangerously close to one day becoming a smile.
‘It is good to be in one piece,’ Ms Leon replied, ‘and I probably wouldn’t be
if it weren’t for Franz and Nigel.’
‘We were just trying to help,’ Nigel said quietly.
‘You took a great risk bringing me here,’ Ms Leon replied. ‘Thank you.’
‘Looks like you may have saved yourself from that detention I still owe you, Mr Argentblum,’ the Colonel said, trying hard not to smile at the look of overwhelming relief on Franz’s face, ‘but I think both of you have done enough for now. There’s no need to put you at any further risk. I assume I can trust you both not to say anything about this to anyone.’
‘Of course,’ Nigel replied. He turned to leave but stopped and turned back to the two teachers. ‘You are going to do something about the Contessa, aren’t you?’
‘Let us worry about that,’ Ms Leon said. ‘For now you have lessons to attend.’
Nigel nodded and walked to the door, which hissed open as he approached. Standing on the other side was Chief Lewis, backed up by a full H.I.V.E. security detail.
‘Going somewhere, Mr Darkdoom?’ the Chief said and stepped into the room.
‘I believe the expression is “a tough nut to crack”,’ H.I.V.E.mind said calmly.
The holographic schematic that hovered above the middle of the briefing room table rotated slowly.
‘That’s one way of putting it,’ Otto said, frowning.
‘A suicide mission might be another way,’ Raven added.
Otto looked at the worried expressions of the people sat at the table. They had been there for half an hour already and there had been little progress in coming up with a concrete plan for penetrating H.O.P.E.’s secret base.
‘The biggest problem is going to be getting in without being detected on our approach,’ Shelby said. ‘If we can get on to the mountainside near these vents,’ she pointed at the network of shafts near the top of the facility, ‘we can probably get inside, but getting up there undetected is going to be the hard part.’
‘It would be a lot easier if we had a Shroud,’ Raven said, ‘but I think we may have a hard time persuading G.L.O.V.E. to lend us one at the moment.’
‘Actually,’ Darkdoom said distractedly, ‘we may have something better. Let us assume for a moment that we can get on to the mountain undetected, what then?’
‘Two teams,’ Shelby said quickly. ‘One goes for the detention level and one goes for the power plant. It’ll need perfect timing but if we can pull it off we can leave them deaf and blind for just long enough to get Nero out of there.’
‘Sounds good,’ Raven said, ‘but the power plant’s going to be locked down tight. How do we get inside?’
‘Between me and Shelby we should be able to get past the security systems and shut down the plant,’ Laura said, ‘but we’ll need someone with us to take care of any technicians or guards that we run into.’
‘Leave that to me,’ Raven said calmly.
‘Which leaves me, Wing and H.I.V.E.mind to take care of getting Nero out,’ Otto said, still studying the schematic.
‘What is that?’ Wing said, pointing at a huge circular tunnel that appeared to surround the entire facility deep within the mountain.
‘On the schematics it is just designated as a transport system,’ Otto replied. ‘It’s probably some form of train for transporting people around the base.’
‘So we should expect a rapid response from security forces if they are alerted to our presence,’ Wing observed.
‘Yes, I think that’s safe to assume,’ Otto said, frowning. The plans that he had uploaded from his own head to the Megalodon’s datacore were maddeningly light on details. He supposed that he might have been able to retrieve full schematics from Deepcore if they’d had more time, but there was no point worrying about it now.
‘Very well,’ Darkdoom said, getting up out of his chair. ‘I need to go and get my technicians working on the delivery system. I’ll be back in a couple of hours and I expect to hear some detailed infiltration plans.’
‘Understood,’ Raven said with a small nod.
‘Oh, just one other thing, Mr Malpense,’ Darkdoom said as he walked towards the door. ‘I’m coming with you.’
The Contessa sat at her desk waiting impatiently for the display in front of her to activate. There was still no sign of Ms Leon and the loss of H.I.V.E.mind had left her with precious little control over the school. She had to admit that she had underestimated how critical the AI had been to the smooth running of H.I.V.E. The display lit up suddenly with the G.L.O.V.E. symbol, which was replaced moments later with the silhouetted form of Number One.
‘Hello, Maria,’ he said calmly. ‘I have read your latest report and I am seriously starting to wonder if you were really the right person for this job.’
The Contessa felt a momentary twinge of panic.
‘Number One,’ she said, her mouth suddenly dry, ‘I apologise. We have encountered a number of unforeseen problems. We are working hard to rectify the situation.’
‘I’m sure you are,’ Number One replied, his voice cold, ‘but the situation elsewhere has taken an unexpected turn. I need to put certain contingencies into operation at H.I.V.E. and I need to be sure that I can trust you to implement them.’
‘Of course,’ the Contessa replied quickly. ‘What do you need me to do?’
‘I am sending you a file that details a new protocol that I need you to put into immediate effect. I am sure that this will not be a problem but I have also forwarded these instructions to Phalanx One, just in case. Do I make myself clear?’
The implied threat was clear and the Contessa knew from past experience that another mistake would not be tolerated.
‘Perfectly clear, sir,’ she said, trying not to let her nervousness show.
‘Very well, I shall leave this matter in your hands. Do not fail me again.’
‘Understood.’
‘Good, do unto others.’
‘Do unto others,’ the Contessa repeated and the display faded back to the G.L.O.V.E. logo.
The computer on her desk immediately began to bleep, a message window popping up to indicate that she had received a secure file transmission. Quickly she opened the file and began to read. As her eyes scanned down the screen all of the blood drained from her face. She felt slightly nauseous as she began to understand what it was that Number One wanted of her. She finished reading, closed the file and collapsed back in her seat, eyes closed.
After a moment she slowly stood up and walked over to the portrait of Nero that still hung on the wall.
‘Good God, Max,’ she said quietly, ‘what have I done?’
Chief Lewis walked slowly into the Colonel’s office, the dozen men that accompanied him filing in behind.
‘Hello, Colonel, I see that you have managed to do what we could not,’ the Chief said calmly. ‘Ms Leon has proven to be most elusive, but you seem to have found her. Or is it that she has found you, I wonder?’
‘I have an explanation for this,’ the Colonel said, looking at the guards who stood between them and the door.
‘Oh, I’m sure you do,’ the Chief said, ‘but don’t waste your breath. I’m not here to arrest you.’
‘You’re not?’ the Colonel said, silently calculating how many of the guards he could disable before they took him down.
‘No, I – or should I say we – are here to help you take back this school,’ the Chief said, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
Phalanx One watched as his men unloaded the long grey plastic crate from the Shroud that had just landed. His men moved quickly but carefully, carrying the crate down the ramp and placing it gently on the landing pad. He glanced over at the engineers who were just finishing their repairs to the enormous blast doors leading into the crater launch bay as the Contessa walked over towards him.
‘I see the package has arrived,’ the Contessa said quietly.
‘Yes, my men will commence installation immediately,’ Phalanx One replied efficiently. ‘you should have this – it’s not armed at the moment but I will let you know as soon as i
t’s active.’
He handed her a small silver control unit.
‘I hope we don’t have to use it,’ the Contessa said with a frown.
‘That is Number One’s decision to make. We will do whatever he tells us to do.’
‘Of course, of course,’ the Contessa replied in a slightly distracted voice.
Phalanx One examined her face for a moment and then turned back to watch his men carefully loading the long crate on to a trolley.
‘Installation shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours,’ he said.
‘Keep me updated on your progress,’ the Contessa replied.
Phalanx One nodded and walked over to supervise the final stage of the unloading. The Contessa watched as the crate was wheeled away, her expression unreadable. She looked down at the control unit that Phalanx One had given her just a moment before and slowly shook her head.
‘We’re going to need more men,’ the Colonel said, looking at the dozen guards that now stood around his office.
‘I think what the Colonel means, Chief, is thank you for taking such an enormous risk and coming here with such a generous offer of assistance,’ Ms Leon said, sitting down on the edge of Francisco’s desk.
‘Yes, of course,’ the Colonel said, ‘but we’re still going to need more men. The Phalanx have a well-deserved reputation. It will not be easy to disable them.’
‘These are the men I know that I can trust completely,’ the Chief said, gesturing at the guards that stood around him. ‘It will be their job to talk to the other men and try to recruit as many as they can to our cause.’
The Colonel looked around the room. There were no potential beauty-contest winners but they looked like men who could get a job done.
‘Erm . . . excuse me,’ a small voice said from behind the Colonel. He turned to see the nervous face of Nigel looking back at him.
‘Do you have something to add, Mr Darkdoom?’ the Colonel said with a frown.
‘Well . . . erm . . . it’s just that Doctor Nero used to tell us in our Villainy Studies lessons that the wider one makes any circle of conspiracy the more likely it is that that circle will include a traitor.’