‘You need to understand,’ Hélio said, ‘I can’t activate something if I don’t know where in your DNA it’s located.’
‘So locate it,’ Jay said. ‘You’re the expert biofucker.’
‘Biohacker,’ he said. ‘As I said, we don’t have the blueprints for your missing ability.’
‘Then you better get finding the blueprint,’ Nasira said.
‘Perhaps we can help you, if you help us,’ Lívia said.
‘How do you figure that?’ Jay said. ‘Gene Hackman over there says he can’t do shit.’
Lívia tapped something on her phone and the surface of their table lit with a vibrant image, a frame from security camera footage. Aviary rose from her seat to see it properly. It showed two women, fighting outside a café. The camera showed the face of one clearly.
Sophia.
‘A friend of yours, I presume,’ Lívia said.
‘We know of her,’ Damien said, carefully.
‘What do you want with her?’ Nasira asked.
‘We require some cooperation here,’ Lívia said. ‘If you want everyone to stop capturing operatives, this friend of yours needs to do the same. In the last two weeks, she’s killed three.’
‘I don’t believe you,’ Nasira said. ‘She wouldn’t do that.’
Lívia tapped her phone again and the image faded. ‘Whatever the case may be, this is in all our best interests.’
Nasira nodded. ‘Fine, agreed.’
‘That image was taken in Kraków, Poland,’ Lívia said. ‘We have a talented virologist in Budapest, not terribly far away. She has worked closely with Hélio on improving our Argonautes. Together, they have the best chance of finding out where this kill switch is in your DNA and how to disable it.’
‘Without releasing the endotoxin,’ Hélio added. ‘See, that’s the tricky part.’
‘We can set up a meeting for you,’ Lívia said. ‘The first step is for her to confirm whether this kill switch is in your DNA.’
‘What about Jay?’ Nasira said.
‘Our virologist might be able to help him,’ Lívia said. ‘But I hope you understand, his inactive genes will take secondary priority. If you want our help with Jay, your friend in Poland needs to stop capturing or killing operatives. That’s the deal.’
‘So you have the market to yourself?’ Jay asked. ‘Is that what this is about? Gotta catch ’em all?’
‘Jay, be cool,’ Nasira said.
‘If you agree to our terms, my offer still stands,’ Lívia said. ‘Your possessions will be made available to you.’
‘You’re letting us go?’ Nasira asked. ‘Just like that?’
‘We hire operatives, we don’t control them,’ Lívia said. ‘Not like the Fifth Column.’
But do you track them? Aviary wondered.
‘I’ll arrange a private flight for you to see your friend, the one in that photo from Poland,’ Lívia said. ‘Choose your destination and we’ll get you there. Then you can proceed to meet with the virologist in Budapest.’
‘That’s not a bad plan, but I got one more question,’ Nasira said.
‘By all means.’
‘We don’t trust you. So why would you trust us?’
Lívia smiled and clasped her hands. ‘I don’t. Hélio and our two operatives here will accompany you. This will be a joint assignment.’
Hélio jumped in. ‘My attendance isn’t necessary. I can study the protein—’
‘That’s not your decision to make,’ Lívia said. ‘And your team can study it on your behalf while you attend to more pressing matters, such as meeting with the virologist. Will that be a problem?’
‘I … it’s—’ he stumbled.
‘Good, well that’s settled then.’ Lívia smiled thinly. ‘I wish you all luck. You’ll need it.’
Chapter Eighteen
Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast
‘I apologize, I didn’t know we had a briefing.’ Olesya slipped into the room and took a seat at the table.
Someone had put the table back upright with the map on top, and all the operative photos meticulously pinned to it. Illarion stood over it, studying the map. Ark was already seated, as were Marina, Andrey and Nika. Curiously, the only person missing was Gleb. Maybe no one had told him to come to the meeting either.
‘This is not a briefing,’ Illarion said. ‘But we do have intelligence from no fewer than two sources inside the Fifth Column.’ He paused. ‘It indicates there will be a shooting in Wrocław. Six hours from now.’
‘So it’s another party in Poland,’ Andrey said, ‘and everyone’s invited.’
‘Except us,’ Marina said. ‘We’re assigned to Purity now.’
‘I will be briefing you on Purity, as per my orders,’ Illarion said. ‘But as I said, this is not a briefing. This is simply a chat.’
Olesya and Marina exchanged a glance.
‘How many operatives are we … chatting about?’ Olesya asked.
‘Just the one.’ Illarion placed Val’s photo on the map, over Wrocław.
Ark’s gaze fixed on her photo. His lips moved, but he said nothing.
‘You have two days before you’re permanently assigned to Purity,’ Illarion said. ‘I expect everyone to be in attendance then. What you do between now and that time is entirely your own choice. Arkadiy, I have one last question for you.’
‘What question is that?’
Illarion leaned over the map. ‘Would you kill your sister? If you had to.’
Ark hesitated. ‘I’d do what it takes.’
‘The answer is not for me, it’s for you,’ Illarion said. ‘This concludes our chat.’ With that, he walked out of the briefing room, closing the door behind him.
Marina’s gaze lingered on Olesya. ‘So what are you going to do?’
‘Why are you looking at me?’ Olesya asked. All eyes in the room were on her.
‘You’re the leader,’ Ark said.
You’ve never said that in your life.
Marina drew a fresh cigarette, moved it restlessly between her fingers, unlit. Andrey and Nika said nothing.
‘I’m going to get your sister back,’ Olesya said.
Ark let out a slow breath. ‘I’ll do whatever I can to help.’
‘We’re coming with you,’ Marina said.
That surprised Olesya. ‘This isn’t your fight. She’s Ark’s sister.’
Marina frowned. ‘Is she your sister too?’
‘Yeah,’ Olesya said. ‘She is.’
‘Well, then she’s ours too.’
Chapter Nineteen
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Damien took a seat in the private jet, opposite Nasira and Jay. Sitting with the operative bodyguards on the other side of the aisle, Hélio slouched in his seat and glowered at Jay.
‘He really doesn’t like you,’ Damien said.
Jay shrugged. ‘I get that a lot.’
Aviary sat down next to Damien, which surprised him. She brushed his leg momentarily, but she wasn’t smiling. ‘Got a lot of reading to catch up on. ’
‘You should sleep,’ he said.
‘I wasn’t talking about me.’ She handed him her laptop.
‘Oh.’ He opened it. ‘Hal’s emails?’
Aviary leaned over to Nasira. ‘Do those bodyguards have enhanced hearing, like Damien?’
‘Not unless Intron gave them freebies,’ Nasira said. ‘They can lip read though.’
Aviary turned to Damien so they couldn’t see her mouth, then she spoke quietly. ‘Don’t get mad, but I kinda copied everything from Lívia’s phone.’
Damien couldn’t have heard her right. ‘What?’
‘It’s cool.’ Aviary leaned in more than enough. ‘I didn’t scrape her phone on purpose, it just happened while we were there.’
Damien sat upright. ‘That’s … not good. Really not good.’
‘What’s not good is that whole corruption story; it’s for real. They’re having problems.’ Aviary purposely spoke under her breath so on
ly he could hear. ‘And in one of Lívia’s emails, she mentioned the people who attacked her facility and stole something in a briefcase that was very important to her.’
Damien frowned. ‘So is it Jay’s abilities in the briefcase or not?’
‘Dunno, but maybe you can find out.’ Aviary flashed him a quick smile. ‘Lívia has a lot of emails on there.’
Damien looked over his laptop lid, watching Nasira carefully run her hand—without touching—over her own arms and upper body.
‘What’s wrong?’ Damien asked.
Nasira eyed him. ‘Just checking for tracking implants.’
‘You think they tagged us?’ Jay asked.
‘They had to,’ Nasira said. ‘I would’ve.’
‘What if it’s something you can’t detect?’ Aviary said. ‘Genetic, like he said?’
Nasira let her hand drop into her lap. ‘You should both be sleeping.’
‘I have a bit of reading to catch up on,’ Damien said.
Nasira held her tongue as the stewardess approached them with an enquiring smile.
‘Whisky. Four,’ she said.
Jay raised his hand. ‘Double for me.’
Once she disappeared, Nasira leaned in some more and spoke in a low voice. ‘Have you made contact with Sophia?’
Aviary shook her head. ‘She was last online over a day ago, in Lithuania.’
Nasira blinked. ‘Has she ... been offline that long before? What do you even mean by offline?’
Aviary sighed. ‘It’s the last time she’s accessed the secret part of her phone, our messaging network. She hasn’t checked it for a while.’
‘That’s not good,’ Damien said.
‘Can you stop saying that?’ Aviary asked.
‘Right,’ Nasira said. ‘Guess we wait until we land and go from there.’
Outside Damien’s window, tarmac rushed by as the jet started for its assigned runway. It was the first time he’d been to an airport in a while, at least to board a plane. He was carrying a newly issued false passport, courtesy of Intron. According to their new passports, he was an Intron employee with a new Brazilian name.
The stewardess returned with their drinks. Jay sipped his while Nasira ran her hand over him, using her magnetoception to check for implants. To Damien it looked like some sort of sexy Reiki. The less he thought about that, the better.
‘You’re clear,’ Nasira said.
Across the aisle, Felix rested his eyes while the other bodyguard busied herself reading a magazine. Hélio ordered a soda from the stewardess and cast another dirty look in their direction. Jay must have noticed, because he raised his glass.
Then the jet lifted off the runway, and Jay put his whisky down so he could clench his armrests. The city of shimmering skyscrapers, beaches and jungle was behind them now, and Damien wasn’t quite sure what lay ahead.
Chapter Twenty
Wrocław, Poland
A tram rattled across the main arterial. Sophia stepped off the pavement and through the shiny doors of a multi-level H&M store. On her phone, a single green dot pulsed. Valeria was already through the store and into the shopping mall, but two people moved quickly in her wake: a young woman with dark hair and gloved hands, and a tall man with a shaved head. Whoever they were, they were definitely following Valeria.
‘Stop walking,’ said a voice behind her. ‘Turn around.’
It was the Russian woman with the calcite-blue eyes and charcoal coat. So she’d made it out of Moscow unscathed. Standing between two racks of sweaters, she aimed her pistol at Sophia, startling nearby staff and customers.
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you again,’ Sophia said. ‘I didn’t catch your name.’
‘No, you didn’t. But you caught my friend.’
‘It’s what I do.’
‘And hunting people like you is what I do,’ she said. ‘My name’s Olesya.’
‘If you’re talking about Ieva, she’s totally my friend now.’
‘Don’t play games,’ Olesya said. ‘I know you work for the Fifth Column.’
Around them, customers scrambled for the doors. A sales attendant retreated from the countertop, her back to the wall. Sophia kept an eye on her.
‘I told you, not anymore,’ she said.
‘Then why did you abduct Val?’ Olesya asked.
Sophia didn’t hide her confusion. ‘I didn’t. I was hoping to, but she put me through a wall. And she’ll do the same to your friends if we don’t help.’
‘I’m just the backup on this one. They can handle themselves,’ Olesya said. ‘Step aside.’
‘I want to help you,’ Sophia said.
‘I don’t want your help.’
‘But you need it. You either take me in or you take me down.’
‘I’m aiming a pistol at your head,’ Olesya said.
Sophia nodded to the CCTV cameras on the ceiling. ‘I’m sure that’ll look great on the evening news. Execution style.’
Olesya moved fast. With her free hand, she reached down and drew something from her belt. It was black and cylindrical. But it slipped from her hand momentarily.
Sophia reached for the nearest clothing rack and flung it into her. The cylindrical object was lost in the pairs of sweaters, but Olesya launched over the rack, her knee catching Sophia in the chin. She fell into another rack and rolled to her feet.
Olesya’s lips curled to flash teeth. ‘I still hear their screams.’
She launched toward Sophia, sidestepped, then landed a blow across her face. Sophia moved her head with it, absorbing most of the impact. Olesya attacked again, but Sophia caught her arm inside a coat hanger. She twisted it, and kicked Olesya’s leg out from under her.
Olesya stumbled, then kicked Sophia in the back of her knee. Sophia fell. Something wrapped around her neck and closed fast. Olesya pulled hard on a belt, its large metal buckle digging into Sophia’s skin. Olesya yanked harder and circles of light popped across Sophia’s vision.
‘Tell me you blew them up,’ Olesya said. ‘Tell me it was you.’
Sophia slung a fist over her shoulder. It was loose and relaxed. She struck Olesya in the jaw, stunning her. Sophia moved clear.
‘What are you talking about?’ Sophia asked.
Olesya whipped her belt. The large metal buckle cracked across Sophia’s ear and disturbed her balance. She tumbled, sprawled across the tiled floor.
‘The Chechen suicide bomber,’ Olesya said. ‘You were the Fifth Column operative in charge. You triggered the blast and killed everyone.’
Olesya kicked low, catching Sophia under the ribs and sending her flying into another rack of clothes. She rolled through the rack, over metal and through a pile of leather jackets. Gasping for air, she remembered. Like most operations the Fifth Column assigned to her, she never really forgot them.
Sophia crawled to her feet. ‘That was four years—’
‘I was ordered to stop you.’ Olesya drew her pistol. ‘And I failed.’
Sophia knew that look, she’d felt it many times. Olesya would never forgive herself.
‘I was programmed,’ Sophia said. ‘I was Fifth Column.’
Before Olesya could respond, Sophia wrapped a jacket over her pistol, then elbowed her in the face. Olesya spat blood, then drove her knee into Sophia’s side. Sophia felt a rib crack, again, and pain crawled through her in fiery tendrils. She tossed the jacket aside—with Olesya’s pistol inside—and lost her footing. Olesya swept her legs from under her. She crashed down onto the rack of clothing.
Olesya came closer. ‘You are Fifth Column.’
‘That wasn’t the real me,’ Sophia said.
‘Is there a difference?’
Sophia reached for anything she could find. She grasped the clothing rack and found a thin metal pipe. She swung it low, into the side of Olesya’s leg. Olesya dropped to her knees. Sophia swung higher, aimed for her head. Olesya rolled clear, stealing her own pipe from the end of the clothing rack. Both on their knees, they attacked each other, metal c
langing on metal.
On their feet, they attacked each other again.
Olesya matched her every move, and Sophia countered Olesya’s. The pipes rang loudly, echoing to the upper levels of the store. Olesya twisted the pole from Sophia’s grasp and kicked her backward. She slammed into the front of a countertop. The sales attendant screamed.
Olesya’s eyes gleamed. Rage burned from her. ‘What about you? Did you forgive yourself?’
Sophia plucked an umbrella from a rack nearby. ‘I told you, I was programmed.’
Olesya came in with her metal pipe. Sophia cracked the umbrella down on Olesya’s arm, sending the pipe across the tiled floor. She thrust the umbrella’s metal tip into Olesya’s stomach. Olesya turned her hips, taking the tip along her stomach and redirecting the strike. Sophia pressed the catch on the handle and the umbrella blasted open in Olesya’s face. Sophia kicked the canopy, knocking Olesya into the counter. Her head struck the glass surface, but the glass didn’t break.
‘You lay a finger on Val…’ Olesya dived and slid across the floor. She reached a rack of sweaters, where she found her black cylinder. Blood mixed with tears. ‘Have you forgiven yourself now?’
‘No,’ Sophia said. ‘It’s what keeps me going.’
‘Then maybe you should stop.’ Olesya stood and walked over to a crumpled jacket. ‘I can help with that.’ She retrieved her pistol from inside, wielding a weapon in each hand.
‘I meant what I said. I want to help.’
‘In the Moscow subway, those code words you used on that operative,’ Olesya said. ‘Would they work on Val?’
‘I already tried.’ Sophia shook her head. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Then you’re of no use to me,’ Olesya said, and fired.
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Helix, Episode 3 Page 9