by James Flynn
They are going to kill me.
Chung Su felt Beltrano’s hands grip hard around her arms. She let out a scream and tried to fight him off … it was useless. She watched as the man lifted out the syringe, pushed in a capsule, and flicked out the air. Chung Su thrashed as he came closer. Beltrano tightened his grip, and shouted in her ear, “Keep struggling, Miss Chung, and you will die.”
Chung Su was panting hard, tears started to fall. The man shifted closer, and in two swift movements lifted her arm and sank the needle into a vein in the crux. There was a pinching pain and then as he pushed down on the syringe a cold sensation started to rush up her arm. Chung Su felt a wave of nausea. Almost instantly her eyesight started to blur; her limbs were going numb, first her arms, then her legs. Her body felt as though it was being lifted away. The world was moving slowly. Her head fell back and the ice cold air rushed in over her face. Rolling her head forward she could feel the world slipping away; the car steamed ahead, a giant tunnel eating them up. The last thing Chung Su was aware of was the loud roar of the car engine…then there was nothing.
***
The burning smell reached its crescendo; Luke thought the tiny engine would catch fire at any moment. He had managed to hunt down the BMW but the moment they had hit the A24 Viadotto Temperino the more powerful BMW had opened up the throttle and really started to push the limits.
Luke was too experienced to try and stick like glue to Beltrano; he only needed to keep them in view without raising alarm. His leg was starting to throb and he knew when he had a chance to check it he would more than likely see blood seeping from the wound. Can’t fix it, can’t worry about it.
Eventually the BMW reached the Galleria Gran Sasso, the tunnel that led them out onto the L’Aquilla side of the range. It was very tricky to tail a car in a tunnel in the dead of night so Luke had to drop back, losing the vehicle at points on the bends.
They both emerged back into the night and the road began to skim the northern point of L’Aquilla. Up ahead Luke saw the BMW slow, and without indicating turn right off the road into what seemed like a track.
As Luke passed he saw the BMW bouncing over a poorly made access road. He stopped just past the turning and watched as the BMW came to a stop next to a large metal circular structure seemingly painted onto the hillside. After a moment, to Luke’s surprise, the circle began to slide open, revealing a gaping hole. The BMW disappeared into the earth. A moment later the metallic circle slid back and shut tight.
Luke banged the steering wheel in frustration. He processed all the details, replaying Chung Su’s words; replaying Beltrano’s words … time is running out. Chung Su would still be alive. There was no way anyone would go to the trouble of taking her just to kill her. But Luke had to keep a bigger objective in mind, the experiment! Beltrano was part of the Iranian cell that was operating in Teramo, and it was fantastically frightening to think how far they had penetrated. But Luke did now have a crucial detail; the BMW had just shown him where the second laboratory was located … under L’Aquilla. The lesson Chung Su had given him in the hotel room played on his mind. If the experiment was unleashed then the whole area would again be devastated. But far graver was the notion of the Iranians getting their hands on the knowledge for an eternal energy source … it didn’t bear thinking about.
Banging the steering wheel again, he told himself to get a grip, and to get to work. Do I call Davison? Call for a full-scale attack? He instantly dismissed the idea; there were far too many complications to call in the cavalry, and besides he knew in his heart Davison would put Group 9’s interests first.
Davison …
Luke remembered the last call he had with Davison before they got to Brun’s. One thing I can do for you is provide some accessories. Luke’s mind reconstructed the address he had been given. Corso San Giorgio, 36, IT64100.
Luke had been a Group 9 operative long enough to know that if Davison said accessories then he meant weaponry. International barriers were never a problem for his handler. At this stage, he was left with only one option … assault the laboratory and destroy the experiment. The time for delicacy was over, he would have to strike back.
78.
Saturday 17th November
He pressed his palm against the ice-cold concrete, closing his eyes; he fought the excitement rising within. He had now been awake for two days straight but his pulse beat through the very walls around him; there was no tiredness, just a lust for the event that now sat hours away … his destiny.
He took in a lungful of recycled air, reluctant to open his eyes in case his heartbeat dropped. As they flashed open he was again bathed in the aquatic blue light stretching out before him.
She is here …
The anticipation was linked to his pride; the fact that she was now there with him allowed him to flex his ego, to show someone who had shared his struggle that he had achieved the impossible … He achieved the impossible through me. He did not see her as an enemy; she was merely a fellow enlightened soldier against the hypocrisy and the devil’s own will, and she would make the ultimate sacrifice for her country. He was partly jealous that she would make that ultimate sacrifice for the cause, but he had a bigger purpose. He knew there was risk in bringing her down to the depths; he had been strongly advised against it but he knew it was right, it was fate, and she needed to see the end.
He began his favourite walk along the long concrete corridor. Soon it would be a walk he would do for the last time. He stroked his fingertips along the wall; soon there would be no laboratory at all. Behind the rock throughout the complex were multiple high explosives powerful enough to collapse the whole structure. He smiled at the poetic irony of the decision to blow up the laboratory; behind something that seems so solid is something so destructive. That applied to his whole life. It was now time to step out from behind the mask, the final experiment, the final step. He tried hard to fight the pride but it reared its head. We stand before the ocean in its vastness, and for the first time we will hold control over the tides.
79.
He strolled into the brightly lit station and Sarah came running over. They were the only two people in the large arrival hall. He wanted to say something but Sarah pressed her lips tightly to his.
He took her hand and began walking towards the stairs leading up and out of the station. They had only managed two steps when the crack of a gunshot echoed around the empty expanse. Suddenly, Sarah’s hand was no longer in his. Bullets began to flash around the station, the sounds of fizzing velocity and the sharp clangs of metal against the walls; he couldn’t see any gunmen but the bullets kept coming. Panic gripped his heart, Sarah would be hit any second.
The low rhythm of an approaching train started up. Where was she?
The train rhythm was getting faster and louder. His panic reached breaking point. There she was, frozen to the spot amid the hail of bullets. He had to reach her.
The train became deafening, his heart was thumping against his chest. Five more steps. He could see her eyes; tears filled them.
He was only two steps away, Sarah was screaming his name: “Alex, Alex, Alex!” Then the world around them exploded into a fireball. Her shrill scream filled his ears as the darkness enveloped them.
Luke jolted awake and scrambled to get to his feet. As he stood, his head cracked off a low ceiling. The small space held a deep stench of paint and tar. His eyes slowly dilated and a small sliver of daylight assisted identification … a Portakabin.
Luke had arrived at the address Davison had given him in the depth of night. Corso San Giorgio, 36, 64100. The entrance was a solid oak door with an ornately carved stone archway curving overhead. Within the stone arch were four carved letters A.R.D.M. Luke had no idea what the letters stood for but it was clear this building was purposefully understated.
There was no way he could check into any hotel or apartment while he waited for dawn to break. After the evening’s carnage, law enforcement would be crawling all over Teramo. The nearb
y Portakabin would be good enough.
Stretching out his limbs, Luke could feel the familiar cold. Pushing open the flimsy door, a brilliant white light hit his eyes, causing him to raise his hand. There had been a heavy snowfall during the early hours and it now glistened in the morning sun.
Luke saw little activity in the shops as he headed to his destination. A few people inside were standing and chatting but they appeared to be staff. Drawing level with the arched A.R.D.M. there was no sign of life. He continued on past and walked twenty metres further, arriving at a pillared restaurant which was still locked up. He leant on the cold stone and observed … nothing.
Feeling the press of time, Luke couldn’t wait any longer. He walked back up Corso San Giorgio toward the mysterious building. Before sleep had overtaken him Luke had been furiously running through scenarios, assessing, rotating, changing, adapting. Luke hoped Davison had left him a magic wand.
The flimsy trainers Luke had taken from Brun were now well and truly battered, and the snow clung to them, encasing his feet in a numbing liquid.
Luke felt the familiar anger rise within. How did I not see Beltrano for what he is? You were slow, Luke! You forgot the basics. Furthermore, Beltrano would now no longer be working to contain the situation and without that it left one dead Iranian and one dead Carabinieri: a simple criminal act.
Luke strode over to the wooden doors; they stood eight foot tall from bottom to peak. He gently pressed his hands against them and could feel they were solid. Running his eyes over the wood Luke could see no evidence of a handle.
Only opens from the inside …
Just as he was about to make his presence known by banging, his eye caught a small sunken button built into the stonework to the right-hand side of the doorway. He pressed it.Nothing.
Pausing for a moment, he went to bang on the wood and as his arm was on its backward motion a sharp click came from the other side of the door. Next moment, there was a swift shift of metal, and finally with a mechanical judder the door slowly opened.
Taking a last look around, Luke stepped inside.
***
Luke was stood in an unexpected room; in fact, it was more of a modern chamber. The floor was white-tiled and the soggy trainers squeaked as he took up position in the centre of the room. The small space could have been no more than twelve feet wide by twelve feet long, the ceiling was low and both flanking walls were covered with floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Directly in front was a sheet of glass that had been tinted; all Luke could make out beyond was the white-tiled floor stretching on. The whole space was lit by bright neon lights.
An x-ray chamber.
Now Luke’s senses were firing; this was no ordinary building. X-ray chambers were common in high-security buildings, but they were not cheap and it seemed completely out of place in a sleepy town in Italy.
Suddenly, the strip lights flickered to blue and the glass panel slid open. Luke took the cue and walked out into a very different kind of room.
The ceiling stretched to double height; from floor to ceiling the heavy stone was ornately decorated with hand-carved cherubs. Below the ancient carvings the marble floor was home to four large desks with computers on them. The desks were odd; they each had raised counters at their front, above waist height.
The room was silent except for the clicking of keyboard keys and Luke’s trainers on the marble. Two desks were manned, but both occupants were so engrossed in their work they didn’t even look up. Luke tuned in, absorbing every detail of the room.
No exits.
From around a hidden corner a suited gentleman appeared. He had a mop of grey hair and a tanned, leathery face. He was dressed in an immaculate light blue jacket, white trousers and brown leather loafers. He glided across the floor toward Luke.
“Good morning, Sir,” he spoke in English with a hard-edged German accent.
Now he was close, Luke saw he had piercing blue eyes and a distinct Alsatian look. He reminded Luke a little of Brun. Luke nodded a response but didn’t shake hands; he had no idea what he now needed to do. Before he could say anything the man spoke again. “Please Sir, come this way.”
Does he know who I am? Luke’s natural disposition was cautious. He didn’t know if he had been plastered all over the news and this man was leading him to a firing squad.
“My name is Wynn and I am the manager here.”
Manager? Luke thought. Wynn must have sensed his apprehension.
“Do not worry, Sir, I do not require your name.”
Wynn led them into a square space that had a metallic lift door. Wynn moved over to the lift and pressed the button.
“What is this place?” Luke asked.
“We like to think of ourselves as a ‘deposit’ service.”
The lift door pinged and slid silently open. They stepped inside.
“Like a bank?” asked Luke.
Wynn pressed the only button that was on the internal panel. “Yes, I suppose you could say that, a bank for people who do not trust other banks.”
They moved out into a very small box room. Directly opposite was another lift door. Wynn produced a metal device from his pocket and inserted it into a port and the lift opened.
“Security is our commodity,” Wynn stated with pride.
They both stepped into the new lift and Wynn again stuck the metal into an internal port. The lift closed and rattled into motion.
“Our clients pay a lot of money to assure that their property stays safe.’’
Luke tingled. Wynn went to talk, hesitated and then seemed to make up his mind to proceed anyway.
“Sorry sir, just so you are aware I have actually readied one of our larger pods as I was informed that it would be yourself and one other? A lady …”
Chung Su …
Luke felt an uncharacteristic pang of guilt as she entered his mind. Davison had made the assumption he would keep her close.
“You were informed wrong,” Luke said curtly.
The lift gently came to a stop and the doors opened onto a black void.
As Wynn stepped out, strip lights whined and flickered to life. They were stood in a circular room, in the centre of which was a black plinth glistening in the light.
Dotted around the outside of the room were at least a dozen solid metal doors, no handles, no locks. Wynn walked across to the plinth and Luke followed in silence. The room had the deep acoustics of a space covered by tonnes of rock and earth.
The plinth was a rectangular slab; it was as smooth as marble. There was a raised step on the nearest corner and Wynn motioned for Luke to stand on it.
“I have allotted you room seven.” Wynn walked up to the plinth and placed his hands on the flat surface. A high-pitched whining erupted from inside. Is it an alarm? Luke’s body tensed; there wasn’t anywhere he could run. The next moment a brilliant red glow filled the space. Luke glanced at Wynn; his smile looked demonic in the red light.
It is an alarm …
But as Luke was about to spring into action his eye caught the cause of the noise and light. A brilliant red beam was firing from the plinth and hitting one of the doors. After a moment the beam disappeared and the door slid open.
Wynn had a proud look.
“Please take your time in the pod. You have no time constraints; you have utter privacy, I assure you. Once in the pod, press the button on your left and the door will lock and the container will appear. When you are ready to exit press the button again.”
Wynn began walking back to the lift. “Once you are all finished down here press this switch by the lift and it will open a secure line to the top room. I shall then return to collect you.” With that, he jammed the metal into the port and stepped back inside the lift, and he was gone.
Luke entered the pod and moved over to the silver unit. He lifted the lid to reveal a haul of items inside a black dry bag. Luke had to admit that Davison was good. He delved in and began laying everything out neatly.
There was a black soft-shell jacke
t, trousers and waterproof plimsoles, as well as thick socks. Next up was a fourth-generation Glock 19 pistol.It was lighter than his preferred Sig Sauer but he knew it was a reliable weapon that had accuracy in the shot.
There are 105 bullets in total … let’s hope that is enough.
Tucked inside the container with the Glock was a black tactical scope mount. Designed to attach to the frame of the gun, a tactical scope mount was an S frame that slipped over the pistol. Tthe top portion of the S held a refined, bespoke sight, and the bottom section of the S housed a built-in torch. Davison must have known I would be heading down into an abyss.
He then turned his attention to the surprise item … a climbing rope. Several cords of tough pieces of Mammut rope were tightly coiled and tied with a spring cord. Laid on top was a standard pair of abseiling gloves designed to take the friction and strain.
No fall arrester, no harness … but better than nothing.
Next to the rope was a small black box, it had a “Handle with Care” label stuck on it. Inside was an inner layer of soft lining used for safe transport and sat in two separate grooves were two small bulbous black circular objects. Luke took one out. It sat in one hand comfortably, and was dense and heavy. The casing was sleek black; facing him was a digital screen with three buttons in three separate colours, Red, green and yellow. Luke pressed and held the green button, and the small screen lit up with four green zeros.
They must think I am going to be waging a war …
Luke had not seen one of these devices with his own eyes before; he had read about them and heard them discussed around the corridors of Group 9. But now he held one he was impressed with its compact nature; it was hard to believe such a small device could cause so much damage.