by Mark Walden
‘Have you been annoying the wrong people again?’ Shelby asked, nodding at Raven’s shoulder as she worked on the handcuffs.
‘Just a little mild torture,’ Raven said casually. ‘I’ve had worse.’
‘There’s such a thing as “mild” torture?’ Lucy said to Laura.
‘Apparently,’ Laura replied, raising her eyebrows.
‘There,’ Shelby said as the second pair of handcuffs clicked open and Raven got slowly to her feet, rubbing her wrists.
‘I have not been able to locate students Malpense or Fanchu. Their current whereabouts are unknown,’ H.I.V.E.mind reported over the radio.
‘Is that who I think it is?’ Raven said, sounding surprised.
‘I am glad that you are still functional, operative Raven,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied.
‘When did you come back online?’ Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘It is, as a human might say, a long story,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied. ‘A story that would be better saved for a time when you are not in such immediate jeopardy.’
‘I suppose you’re right,’ she said with a small smile, as she moved over to the table where her swords and tactical harness were lying and quickly strapped on her gear.
‘Now,’ Raven said, sliding her katanas into the crossed sheaths on her back, ‘we’re going to find Wing and Otto, and God help anyone who gets in my way.’
.
Chapter Eleven
Trent looked up from his desk as Ghost pushed Cypher into his office. Otto followed just behind, his pistol pressed into the small of Wing’s back.
‘This is the best G.L.O.V.E. can do?’ Trent said with a sneer. ‘One man?’
‘I do not work for G.L.O.V.E.,’ Cypher replied calmly.
‘Really? Then who do you work for?’ Trent asked.
‘No one. I am here for my son,’ Cypher replied, gesturing towards Wing.
‘You tell me that you do not work for G.L.O.V.E., and yet your son is one of Nero’s brats. You’ll understand, I’m sure, why that makes it rather difficult for me to believe you.’
‘Wing was sent to H.I.V.E. against my wishes,’ Cypher replied. ‘His involvement with Nero has nothing to do with me. I have no intention of ever letting him return to that place.’
‘I will do as I choose,’ Wing said angrily.
‘You will keep your mouth shut unless I tell you otherwise,’ Trent snapped. Wing fell silent as Trent turned back to Cypher. ‘What is your name?’
‘Wu Zhang,’ Cypher replied, ‘but once I was known as Cypher.’
Trent stared at him for a moment as if trying to remember something.
‘Yes, I vaguely remember something about you from old intelligence reports. You were a member of G.L.O.V.E.’s ruling council, were you not? Before you betrayed them all, that is. As I recall, you’re supposed to be dead.’
‘You are not alone in that mistaken assumption,’ Cypher replied, ‘though I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage since I do not know who you are.’
‘My name is Sebastian Trent and I am the commanding officer of H.O.P.E.,’ Trent replied.
‘I’m afraid I’ve never heard of you, but then I have been . . . out of circulation for a while,’ Cypher replied.
‘Which limits your usefulness to me,’ Trent said dismissively. ‘Before long G.L.O.V.E. will cease to exist, but I’m afraid you won’t be around to see it.’ Trent nodded to Ghost. ‘Kill him.’
Ghost flicked the wrist blade out from beneath the armour on her right forearm and stepped towards Cypher.
‘Wait!’ Cypher said quickly, holding up his hands. ‘I have something you will want.’
‘I very much doubt that,’ Trent said, holding up a hand to stop Ghost from delivering the killing blow, ‘but let’s see what you think you could possibly offer me.’
‘What I can offer you,’ Cypher replied, ‘is the location of H.I.V.E.’ He was pleased to see the look of surprise on Trent’s face.
‘NO!’ Wing yelled, stepping towards his father. Otto kicked Wing viciously in the back of the leg, dropping him to his knees, and pressed the muzzle of his pistol hard into the back of his former friend’s skull.
‘You were told to shut up,’ Otto hissed in his ear.
‘But in return,’ Cypher continued, ‘I want safe passage away from here for me and my son.’
Trent studied Cypher’s face carefully. If he could furnish them with the information he claimed to possess, it would be the final nail in G.L.O.V.E.’s coffin. Not only would they be able to eliminate Nero and Darkdoom, but they would also be able to capture H.I.V.E.’s students. The loss of an entire generation of future operatives would be the final hammer blow to destroy G.L.O.V.E. once and for all.
‘Why should I believe you?’ Trent asked.
‘Because I want to see G.L.O.V.E. finished as much as you do. They have been responsible for nothing but tragedy in my life. It would please me a great deal to play some small part in their destruction. All I ask is that Wing and I be allowed to disappear. You would never hear from us again.’
‘An intriguing offer,’ Trent said after a moment’s thought. The truth was that this man and his son would pose no threat to H.O.P.E. if he were to release them. With G.L.O.V.E. out of the picture, there would be no one capable of stopping his and his fellow Disciples’ inevitable rise to power. ‘I would of course need to verify that the information you gave me was correct before I could let you go.’
‘Of course,’ Cypher replied. ‘I would expect no less.’
‘Then I agree to your terms,’ Trent said with a slight smile.
‘What guarantees do I have that you will honour your end of the bargain?’ Cypher asked, knowing full well what high stakes he was playing for.
‘You have my word,’ Trent replied impatiently, ‘which under the circumstances is the best you can hope for.’
Cypher stared at Trent for a few seconds, trying to spot any signs of deceit in the other man’s eyes. His negotiating position was weak and he knew it. He had little alternative but to trust that Trent would honour his word.
‘Very well,’ Cypher said. ‘May I?’ He gestured towards the pen on the desk and Trent handed it to him together with a piece of paper.
‘Do not do this,’ Wing said, feeling a sensation of despair in the pit of his stomach.
‘One day you will understand,’ Cypher said as he scribbled down a set of coordinates on the paper and handed it back to Trent. Trent took it and accessed the network of G.L.O.V.E. surveillance satellites via the terminal on his desk. He punched in the coordinates and waited as one of the cameras in high orbit slowly switched its focus to the location specified. Trent studied the image on the screen and then turned back to Cypher.
‘Do you take me for a fool?’ he said angrily.
‘What do you mean?’ Cypher said quickly. ‘I took those coordinates from the navigation system of one of H.I.V.E.’s own aircraft.’
‘Really? Then perhaps you would care to explain this,’ Trent snapped, turning the screen on his desk so that Cypher could see what it displayed. On the screen was an image of nothing but empty ocean.
‘I . . . I don’t understand,’ Cypher said, feeling a mixture of confusion and panic.
‘I do,’ Trent said coldly. ‘You’re just wasting my time.’
‘No, I know that those coordinates are correct. It must be a trick of some kind,’ Cypher said desperately.
‘I tire of this,’ Trent said calmly. ‘Otto, kill the boy.’
‘No!’ Cypher yelled, turning towards Otto and taking a single step before Ghost grabbed his neck from behind and forced him to his knees, her grip like steel.
Otto raised his pistol and pointed it at the back of Wing’s head, cocking the hammer with his thumb. He began to squeeze the trigger when suddenly something exploded inside his skull. The pain was overwhelming, like there was an animal inside his head trying to claw its way out. A single drop of black Animus fluid oozed from his nose as the pistol slipped from hi
s numb fingers and he fell to the floor screaming and clutching his head. Wing snatched up the fallen pistol and levelled it at Trent. Ghost took a step towards Wing and he pulled the trigger, putting a bullet into the wall behind Trent.
‘You so much as move again and the next one goes in his head,’ Wing said angrily, looking at Ghost. Trent raised a hand to restrain her. He knew how fast she was, but it would not be fast enough to stop the boy pulling the trigger.
Wing kept the gun trained on Trent as he knelt down and pulled Otto’s hand away from his face. Otto’s eyes were unfocused for a second, but then he looked up at Wing and spoke, his voice little more than a hoarse whisper.
‘I can’t fight it . . . any more . . . you have to kill me . . . too strong,’ His voice trailed off.
‘I would sooner die, my friend,’ Wing said calmly, putting a hand on Otto’s shoulder. ‘I would sooner die.’
Wing stood up slowly and pointed at Otto.
‘Help him up,’ he said to his father angrily. ‘We’re leaving.’
‘You’re not getting out of here alive,’ Trent said coldly as Cypher moved across the room and helped Otto up from the floor, draping the boy’s limp arm across his shoulders as he got unsteadily to his feet.
‘Then I will die trying,’ Wing replied calmly as he hit the button next to the door, which slid open with a hiss. Cypher walked out of the room slowly, struggling slightly to support Otto, who was still whispering to himself incoherently, barely able to put one foot in front of the other. He was relieved to see that the corridor outside was empty. Wing followed them through the door, pressing the switch outside to close it and then firing a single shot into the control panel.
Inside the office, Ghost ran to the door and tried in vain to open it.
‘He’s locked us in,’ she said angrily, before kicking at the jammed steel door. The metal buckled slightly under her inhumanly strong assault.
Trent reached for his radio and was about to speak when the floor shook and dust rained down from the concrete ceiling.
‘What the hell was that?’ he said, just as the communicator in his hand crackled into life.
‘All stations, this is a priority alert,’ the voice on the other end shouted in panic. ‘We’re under attack!’
The missile seemed to appear from nowhere, hitting one of the helicopters on the landing pad inside the H.O.P.E. compound. As the chopper was consumed by a column of flame, three heavily armed drop ships materialised out of thin air, hovering around the edges of the camp. Panicked H.O.P.E. troops ran in all directions as the machine guns opened fire and more missiles streaked through the air. A rocket struck one of the armoured personnel carriers parked in the compound, blowing it off its wheels and toppling it over. Hatches opened in either side of the uncloaked Shrouds, and men in black body armour and gas masks dropped to the ground on lines. They started firing before their boots even hit the dirt, taking out their targets with clinical efficiency. The H.O.P.E. troops returned fire, a heavy machine gun in one of the watchtowers opening up on the G.L.O.V.E. soldiers for a few seconds before another missile speared across the compound and blew the entire tower to pieces.
Colonel Francisco slid down the rope hanging beneath the lead Shroud and hit the ground, shouldering his rifle. He spoke quickly into his throat mic.
‘All teams move in,’ he growled. ‘Watch for the friendlies you’ve been briefed about; otherwise you’re weapons free. No prisoners.’
Raven felt the floor of the corridor shudder and heard the muffled rumble of an explosion.
‘Sounds like the cavalry’s here,’ she said.
She and the three girls ran down the passage, heading for the detention area. Raven stopped suddenly, her hands flying to the hilts of her swords as three figures rounded the corner at the other end of the corridor.
‘Oh my God!’ Laura gasped as she recognised who it was. Wing ran towards them, Cypher following slowly with the barely conscious Otto.
‘It is nice to see some friendly faces,’ Wing said with a grin as he approached them.
Shelby ran up and hugged him. ‘Good to see you too, big guy,’ she whispered in his ear.
Laura and Lucy ran to meet Cypher and Otto.
‘Surprised to see us?’ Lucy asked, glaring at Cypher.
‘We’ll take Otto from here,’ Laura said angrily. ‘Raven can deal with you.’
The two girls took Otto, lowering him gently to the ground as Raven walked towards Cypher, drawing one of her swords.
‘The girls told me all about your escape,’ she said as she brought the tip of her blade to within a centimetre of his Adam’s apple.
‘So this is it,’ Cypher said calmly.
‘Oh, I could just cut you down right here, but I think that Max will be able to come up with something far more interesting once we get you back to H.I.V.E.,’ Raven said with a nasty smirk. ‘Now get moving before I change my mind.’
Cypher glared at her and walked away down the corridor with Raven just a few steps behind him.
Laura looked down at Otto, stroking his hair as his head rested in her lap. His face was glazed with sweat and he was muttering something unintelligible to himself. His skin was covered in faint black veiny lines and his eyes were cloudy and unfocused.
‘What’s happened to him?’ she asked Wing as he and Shelby walked towards them.
‘I do not know,’ Wing said, shaking his head. ‘Trent has done something to him that seemed to place Otto under his control, at least until a few minutes ago.’
‘Otto, can you hear me?’ Laura asked quietly.
Otto stopped staring into space for a second and turned to face her. He reached up and touched her face, his fingertips as cold as ice on her cheek.
Laura bent down to hear as he whispered something to her.
‘What did he say?’ Shelby asked as Otto’s eyes closed and Laura lifted her head back up.
‘Doesn’t matter, he’s delirious,’ Laura said, blushing slightly. ‘If this is down to Overlord, we haven’t got much time.’
‘Overlord?’ Wing said, looking alarmed. ‘Is that what’s causing this?’
‘Honestly I don’t know,’ Laura said, ‘but whatever it is, we need to get him out of here.’
‘Couldn’t we just use that gizmo that Cypher was fiddling with on the Shroud?’ Lucy asked.
‘You heard what that treacherous snake said though,’ Laura said quietly. ‘It’ll probably kill him, especially in this weakened state. We have to try to get him back to H.I.V.E. and they can work out how best to treat him. At least there are medical facilities there. If something bad happens to him here, he’s got no chance.’
‘Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll know what to do back on the island. But right now we need to get going,’ Shelby said as the corridor shook again, ‘before this place comes down around our ears.’
With one last kick from Ghost, the battered door to Trent’s office finally gave way, falling to the corridor floor with a clang. Ghost walked out into the passageway, followed by Trent. He listened with an increasing sense of alarm to the panicked broadcasts from the H.O.P.E. troops in the compound outside. The G.L.O.V.E. assault had caught his men completely off guard. It did not sound like the battle was going in their favour.
‘We have to get you out of here,’ Ghost said calmly.
‘I will not retreat!’ Trent said angrily. ‘Not now, not when we are so close to finishing G.L.O.V.E. once and for all.’
‘You may not have a choice,’ Ghost said as they heard the rumble of another explosion nearby. ‘Better to live to fight another day.’
‘Yes, of course you are right,’ Trent said with a sigh. He lifted the radio to his lips, ‘Trent to hangar control, prep my helicopter for immediate takeoff.’
‘Yes, sir,’ the voice on the other end replied, ‘but there are hostile air units out there.’
‘They’re here on a rescue mission,’ Trent said as calmly as he could. ‘I doubt they will bother with a pursuit until they
have found what they came for. I will take my chances. Trigger the charges to seal the secondary exit – no one’s coming in or getting out that way.’
‘Understood,’ the voice replied, and Trent cut the connection.
‘I have unfinished business with Raven,’ Ghost said as they hurried down the corridor towards the hangar bay.
‘The interrogation room is on the way,’ Trent replied. ‘Just make it quick.’
‘Nearly there,’ Laura whispered to Otto as she helped him down the corridor to the exit. Raven was in the lead, pushing Cypher ahead of her. Suddenly she heard a rapid beeping noise coming from somewhere ahead of them.
‘Everyone, get down!’ she yelled, pushing Cypher to the ground and flattening herself to the floor. Moments later the series of explosive charges planted in the walls and ceiling around the exit door went off, sending a thick cloud of concrete dust billowing down the corridor.
‘Well, we’re not getting out this way,’ Shelby said with a sigh, slowly climbing to her feet and brushing the grey dust off her uniform.
‘You’re right about that,’ Lucy said, standing up beside her and looking at the rubble of the collapsed corridor that lay between them and the exit at the base of the waterfall.
‘Is everyone OK?’ Raven asked as she pulled Cypher back to his feet.
‘Aye,’ Laura said, as she and Lucy helped Otto up.
‘H.I.V.E.mind, they’ve just blown the corridor leading to our exit,’ Shelby said into the radio. ‘We need another way out of here.’
‘I believe your best alternative will be to go via the hangar bay,’ H.I.V.E.mind said over the radio. ‘There is an elevator there that leads to an external exit point within the main base compound. The base’s security personnel have been diverted to assist in the defensive efforts outside, so you should find your route unimpeded.’