Fugitive

by Chris Bradford

  ‘Then … I guess you have free noodles!’ said Zhen, plonking the pots and several pairs of chopsticks on his desk. ‘It’s already been paid for.’

  The receptionist stuck out his lower lip and inspected the closest pot, giving it a sniff.

  ‘Chicken,’ said Zhen helpfully. As the man grabbed a pair of chopsticks and dug in, she asked, ‘Can I use your toilet?’

  ‘This isn’t a public convenience,’ said the man snootily, slurping up a long strand of noodle and dismissing her with a wave of his chopsticks.

  ‘But I gave you free noodles,’ she protested.

  The receptionist ignored her and continued to wolf down his food.

  Zhen hesitated, unsure what to do next.

  ‘You have to get into that toilet,’ Amir whispered to Zhen via the mic. ‘It’s our only access to the ground-floor server closet.’

  Connor and Amir saw Zhen’s hands reach up and remove her helmet.

  ‘Don’t show your face!’ cried Connor. But it was too late. He could picture her long black hair falling down over her shoulders. Now her face was in full view of the CCTV cameras, Equilibrium could identify her.

  But her actions had the desired effect. The receptionist’s indifferent attitude instantly changed. A cloying smile now graced his greasy lips.

  ‘Please,’ asked Zhen, her tone taking on a kittenish quality.

  ‘Why, of course,’ said the receptionist, only too keen to help the pretty young girl before him. ‘Take your time. It’s over there.’ He jutted his greasy chin in the direction of a white door.

  The man’s eyes lingered on Zhen as she hurried over to the ladies’ washroom, entered and locked the door behind her. There were three cubicles, a basin, a hand dryer and a full-length mirror. But there didn’t appear to be any cameras in the room.

  ‘You’ve got maybe three or four minutes before the receptionist starts getting suspicious,’ said Amir. He studied the blueprint of the building on his laptop. ‘Can you see the ventilation grille in the top-right corner of the ceiling?’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Zhen, hurrying to the far cubicle and clambering on top of the toilet seat. She unclipped the shoulder strap from the thermabag and used the metal fastener to prise open the cover, the grille swinging down on its hinges.

  ‘Now you need to climb up and work your way two rooms across.’

  ‘Good thing Zhen’s doing this,’ said Connor as their guide pulled herself up and into the narrow shaft. ‘I don’t think I’d fit in there.’

  They watched the screen go dark as Zhen entered the duct and began to crawl along. A rectangle of muted light appeared ahead as she wormed her way towards the first ventilation grille. In the room below they caught a glimpse of a man hunched over his computer. Zhen carried on, the screen going black again, only the sound of her breathing audible as she shuffled along the shaft.

  ‘One minute gone,’ said Connor.

  Zhen came to the second grille and peered down. A small room could be seen with a tower of computer servers and switch panels. She forced open the ventilation panel, it swung free and she dropped to the floor.

  ‘Good work,’ said Amir. ‘Now take the transmitter and plug it into a free socket in the back of a patch panel.’

  Through the contact-lens camera, they saw Zhen remove the transmitter from her jacket’s seam and approach the back of the server tower. A huge network of cables snaked between the multiple patch panels.

  ‘There aren’t any free sockets,’ whispered Zhen as her fingers sifted through the cables.

  ‘Then pull out a patch cable and stick the transmitter there,’ instructed Amir.

  ‘Which one?’

  ‘Any one.’

  ‘Two minutes,’ warned Connor, checking his watch.

  Zhen yanked out a cable and replaced it with the transmitter device. Then she hurried back to the ventilation duct. ‘I can’t reach the vent!’ she muttered in panic.

  ‘Find something to stand on,’ suggested Amir. They could only watch as she frantically looked around. Then in one corner she spotted a large bin and positioned it upside down beneath the grille. Stepping on top, she reached up but was still only just too short. Zhen made a jump for the opening, her fingers catching hold of the lip of the shaft. With grunts and strains, she managed to pull herself up.

  ‘Well done,’ said Connor as they listened to her panting in the echoing darkness of the ventilation duct. ‘But you need to hurry. Three minutes are up.’

  ‘What about the bin?’ she asked, glancing down at the floor where it lay tipped over for anyone to see.

  ‘Nothing you can do about that,’ said Amir. ‘Close the grille and go.’

  The video feed jerked and jolted as Zhen wriggled her way back towards the washroom. As she neared its ventilation opening, they could hear banging. The pounding grew more insistent with each passing second.

  ‘Hey! You still in there?’ came a shout from the other side of the washroom door.

  Zhen slid out of the ventilation duct and landed on the toilet seat. ‘Yes!’ she called, pushing the grille back into place and flushing the cistern. ‘Be out in a minute.’

  She dusted down her jacket, shook the dirt from her hair and rinsed her hands of grime. Then, grabbing the thermabag just as the door was remotely unlocked, she emerged from the washroom to be greeted by the scowling face of the receptionist.

  ‘What took you so long?’ he demanded.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said, clasping her stomach and grimacing. ‘Must’ve been those noodles I had last night.’

  The man’s expression morphed to one of queasiness as he examined his own pot of noodles.

  Zhen left in a hurry, not looking back or at the security guards as she exited the building. By the time she returned to the rickshaw, Amir had already linked up the laptop to the transmitter.

  ‘Great job,’ said Amir. ‘We’re in!’

  Connor grinned at Zhen and patted her on the shoulder. ‘You’d make a fine spy,’ he said.

  ‘I think I’d rather be a bodyguard,’ she replied, trying to steady her trembling hands. ‘Less dangerous.’

  ‘Not in my experience,’ said Connor.

  Amir tapped away at the keyboard. ‘OK, I’ve full access to Equilibrium’s databases and security systems.’

  On the screen he pulled up a matrix of CCTV feeds from within the Hive. White-coated technicians and doctors could be seen scurrying around like lab rats along the warren of concrete corridors and ‘air bridges’. Rows of unidentified and identical white doors were kept under constant surveillance, checking people in and out; yet none of the rooms behind those doors appeared to have cameras, their secrets remaining secret. A view of the lobby area revealed the receptionist tucking into another pot of noodles at his desk, greed obviously having overcome his nausea. And, in another frame, a small cell-like room held a silver-haired man who lay shuddering on a cruelly narrow bench.

  Connor peered closer. ‘That’s Colonel Black!’

  ‘Entering the Hive once was crazy, going in twice is insane!’ exclaimed Amir as Connor kitted himself out with his own contact-lens camera, earpiece and throat mic.

  ‘If we save the colonel and locate the others, Equilibrium will hold no power over us. We’re back in control,’ argued Connor, handing Amir the flash drive for safe-keeping. He clambered out of the rickshaw.

  Amir grabbed his arm. ‘Our plan was to hack into their systems and locate the shipping container our friends are being held in. Nothing more. Beyond that we’re jeopardizing the entire operation.’

  Connor shook Amir off and rifled through his Go-bag for the iStun phone and XT tactical torch. ‘At that time we didn’t know where Colonel Black was or what state he was in. This may be our only chance to save his life.’

  Amir threw up his hands. ‘I realize that! But think about what you’re doing first. Zhen going in was a risk, but you – they’re on the hunt for you. How do you plan to get past the guards? As a Western-faced delivery boy? I don’t think so.’<
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  ‘You’ve access to Equilibrium’s security systems, haven’t you?’ asked Connor, slipping the torch and iStun into his pockets. Amir nodded. ‘So we play them at their own game. Deactivate the alarms, then direct me when inside and cover my tracks.’

  Amir shook his head in defeat. ‘I now see why your previous assignments were all so eventful. You’re willing to risk everything for one person.’

  Connor shrugged. ‘I suppose it’s the reason why my Principals are still alive.’ Then he remembered Eduardo and his face clouded over. ‘Well, almost all. Now, can you override the security systems or not?’

  Amir sighed heavily. ‘Yes. I can disable the CCTV cameras and unlock the doors, but only for a few seconds at a time. Otherwise a security officer is bound to notice.’ He pulled up a three-dimensional interactive map of the Hive on-screen, numerous blue dots moving around the various levels. ‘The Hive’s security tracking system,’ he explained. ‘It monitors everyone’s movements in the building. But I can mask your presence. I can also track you with your thermic smartband and plot your location on to this plan.’ He pointed to a room near the top level. ‘This is where I think the colonel’s being held, judging by CCTV camera reference. I’ll guide you there.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Connor, glancing at the wafer-thin electronic band on his wrist. The bio-display showed his heart rate as elevated to ninety-five beats per minute. He was sure that would rise during the coming rescue operation.

  ‘Do you want my jacket and helmet too?’ asked Zhen.

  Connor shook his head. ‘I’m going in the back entrance. No disguises this time. I’ll have to rely on evasion, rather than deception.’

  ‘Good luck then,’ said Zhen with a tense smile. ‘And if the situation gets out of control … just run for it.’

  Connor let out a laugh. ‘Don’t worry, I intend to.’

  He jogged down a side alley and worked his way round to the back of the 1933 Building. He knew Amir was right. He was gambling everything to rescue the colonel, endangering all of them and the flash drive. But he owed it to Colonel Black to do all that he could. Connor recalled a story the colonel had once told him about his father in the SAS – how Justin Reeves had disobeyed a direct order to save the colonel’s life, living by the decree: no man is left behind on the battlefield. Connor wanted to be his father’s son and wasn’t going to leave any man behind, especially not the colonel. Having discovered that Equilibrium was responsible for his father’s death, he had no intention of letting them kill his surrogate father too.

  ‘Amir, are you reading me?’ he asked as he crouched behind a large refuse bin in the rear service yard. The area was unguarded, but monitored from all angles by CCTV.

  ‘Loud and clear.’

  ‘I’m by the bins at the rear. Can you cut the cameras and unlock the door?’

  ‘Done in … 3 … 2 … 1 … Go!’

  Connor sprinted from his hiding place and over to the back entrance. The electronic lock beeped green as he approached. He yanked the door open and darted inside the Hive. He was greeted by a cool waft of air conditioning and the hum of a generator. The room appeared to be a general storage area and dump zone for rubbish and recycling before it was transferred to the bins outside. Sprouting from the ceiling, a CCTV camera was directed at the rear door.

  ‘Straight ahead and up the stairs,’ Amir instructed in his ear. ‘Hurry! Remember I can only override the system for a few seconds at a time.’

  Connor rushed across the room to the opposite door, waited for the coded digital lock to go green and entered a deserted corridor. The walls and floor were all grey concrete, broken regularly by white-panelled doorways. He heard voices echoing from the far end of the corridor.

  ‘Move!’ urged Amir.

  Connor bounded up the staircase ahead of him. He was almost on to the next landing when Amir warned, ‘Stop! Two hostiles approaching from left.’

  Connor hunkered down in the stairwell, praying they wouldn’t spot him. His smartband was now peaking at a heart rate of a hundred and sixty beats per minute and he could hear the blood pounding in his ears. A pair of white-coated technicians strolled past the staircase, too engrossed in their discussion to even look his way.

  ‘All clear,’ whispered Amir. ‘Turn left at the landing, then over the second air bridge on your right.’

  Connor dashed up the last few steps and along to the air bridge. He glanced up and his breath was taken away by the sheer complexity of the internal structure of the 1933 Building. The central atrium was a cat’s-cradle of concrete walkways and bridges to numerous levels and rooms, spiralling all the way up to a glass ceiling. But the confusion of ramps, bridges and corridors played to Connor’s advantage. Like a mouse in a maze, he’d be able to evade the other people walking around the building.

  He scampered over the air bridge and up a ramp to the next level.

  ‘Follow the balcony to the end, then up the spiral staircase,’ instructed Amir.

  Connor raced along but as he was about to ascend the staircase Amir hissed, ‘Down to the next level, quick!’

  Doing as his friend instructed, Connor heard footsteps on the stairs behind him. He bounded down and kept going, past the ground level towards the basement.

  ‘No, stop!’

  Connor froze, his ears listening to the ever-approaching footsteps.

  ‘Wait … wait …’

  Pressing himself against the wall, Connor fought the overriding urge to run and flee. Against all his instinct he stayed where he was –

  ‘OK, retrace your steps. They’ve gone a different direction.’

  Hearing the footsteps fade, Connor breathed a sigh of relief and tore back up to the spiral staircase.

  ‘Two more levels to go.’

  His heart thudding in his chest, Connor took the steps two at a time. But he was forced to leave the stairwell early as another lab technician descended towards him. Under Amir’s direction, Connor shot down a corridor lined with white-panelled doors, a mystery concealed behind each one.

  ‘Back! Back!’ ordered Amir. ‘Hostiles up ahead.’

  Connor spun on his heels and rapidly retreated. He heard Amir swear in his ear at the same time as a door further along the corridor began to swing open.

  ‘Quick, through the door on your left,’ hissed Amir as voices converged on both sides of Connor, threatening to entrap him.

  Connor darted over and wrenched on the handle, diving through the doorway just as two security guards entered the corridor and a technician stepped out.

  ‘No! The other left!’ cried Amir. But it was too late. Connor had already bolted inside the room and closed the door behind him. And he wasn’t alone.

  ‘Connor?’ said a surprised voice.

  Connor slowly turned round, as if his whole world was moving at half speed. The room was painted a stark medical white, the only decoration a Chinese watercolour of far-off misty mountains on one plain wall. A hospital bed, its sheets crisply turned down, protruded into the centre of the room, a doctor’s report on a clipboard hanging from the end rail. On the floor lay a yoga mat and a pair of resistance bands. Cluttering up the bedside table was a mobile phone, a bottle of water, a half-used blister pack of painkillers and a well-thumbed paperback book. A second door was partly open, leading to an en-suite shower room from which Connor caught the sharp whiff of disinfectant. And by the window, sunlight glistening off the sheen of her beach-blonde hair, sat Charley in her wheelchair.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she cried.

  Connor stood in front of her, dumbstruck and motionless.

  A smile spread across her face like sunshine. ‘Not that I’m unhappy to see you. I mean, I thought I’d spotted you the other day, on the street outside – only I convinced myself my mind was playing tricks on me. But you’re actually here. Connor, I’ve missed you so much.’

  ‘Careful, Connor,’ Amir whispered in his earpiece. ‘Don’t fall for any more of her tricks!’

  But Charley’s
heartfelt smile made Connor want to surrender and he battled hard against his natural instinct to believe her every word. He’d seen the video of her betrayal, heard Mr Grey’s confirmation that she’d colluded with Equilibrium and been duped once before by her deception on the phone. He couldn’t allow himself to fall for her wiles again, however sincere she appeared now. Then her smile faded and her expression became strained and unnatural, as if she was trying to burn a hole through the wall with her eyes. Lifting herself up from the chair by her arms, Charley rose unsteadily until she was standing before him, unsupported.

  ‘Well?’ she said, spreading her arms. ‘Where’s my hug?’

  Connor didn’t know whether to be more shocked that she’d betrayed them or that she was apparently no longer paralysed.

  Charley’s expectant expression faltered. ‘Cat got your tongue? I know … it’s truly amazing. I can stand! The doctors have implanted a neuro-chip into my brain along with graphene receptors into my lower spine. They communicate wirelessly, skipping the injured section of my spinal cord, so allowing me to regain some control over my legs. Look, I’ll show you.’

  ‘That’s all part of Equilibrium’s cybernetics programme,’ hissed Amir as Charley’s face creased in concentration. ‘She must have sold us out in return for this therapy!’

  Connor finally found the words to speak. ‘You betrayed us … so you could walk again?’

  Charley blinked and frowned, swaying as if struck by a thunderbolt. ‘Wh-what did you say?’

  She attempted a step towards him, but stumbled and fell forward. Connor instinctively rushed to her aid, catching her before she hit the ground. They landed in an awkward embrace on the floor – her soft warm skin against his, the sweet scent of her hair in the air, her mesmerizing sky-blue eyes looking into his. As he held her in his arms, his resistance began to crumble. How could this wonderful girl have betrayed anyone?

  ‘Connor!’ barked Amir in his ear. ‘Remember she’s a manipulator – a traitor. You can’t believe her act.’

  ‘Thanks for catching me,’ Charley gasped, a bead of sweat running down her cheek. ‘I shouldn’t really have attempted that without a walking frame. I just wanted to impress you. I’m not fooling myself. I can’t walk, not yet. I need crutches, and then I can only take a few paces at a time. But it’s progress. Real progress. There’ll be years of physio and rehabilitation ahead – five, maybe more, I’m told. It’s going to take a great deal of sacrifice –’