Jessica held his gaze, searching his face to see if he told the truth. Satisfied he was, she gave him a nod of thanks and then realised something. ‘Wait,’ she said. ‘That’s why you wanted the professor to speak to that woman, Selene Dubois. You knew what she was going to say, didn’t you, about his wife? You wanted to influence his decision, to get him to save the surface rather than those underground.’
Bic didn’t say anything at first.
‘I’m right, aren’t I?’ she said.
‘You’re a wise woman, Jessica Klein, and I forget, you know me well. I did – as you say – know what Selene Dubois was going to claim. How I know, I cannot say, but let’s just say I have ways of listening to conversations that would surprise some and shock many.’
‘I don’t care how you did it, if it works and it gets him to do what’s right, then that’s all that matters.’
‘I’m not sure it has had the desired effect,’ Bic said, sounding downcast.
‘What can we do?’
‘There is nothing we can do now, but when the time comes I may need your help to force his hand.’
Jessica nodded, although her fear remained. Her family was still in danger and she wouldn’t relax until she knew they were safe; that above anything, even saving the surface, was her priority. Nothing else mattered. And yet despite this, if the surface could be saved, then her family would not perish if they couldn’t find their way into a subterranean base. Which meant the surface and the lives she cared for most were inextricably linked, whether she liked it or not. And if saving America helped protect the surface, then no matter how small that chance may be, if it kept her family alive, or improved their chances just a little, she had to seize it. Everything else was out of her control, everything, that was, except Steiner’s audacious plan. A plan that mustn’t fail if she was to cling on to the life she’d known. Her world hung in the balance, and not just hers, the world of everyone on the surface of the planet, they just had no idea, no clue, what was about to happen. And the most worrying thing was, neither did she.
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Eight
After the heart-rending conversation with her family – and one that had been far too short for her liking – Jessica returned to the others as they prepared their respective disguises. Only Captain Radcliffe remained devoid of alterations. He, at least, wasn’t wanted for terrorism.
‘What do you think?’ Eric said, pointing to his shoulder-length wig and prosthetic. ‘The professor says I look like Barry Manilow. I have no idea who that is, but I’m not loving this nose, I can see it all the time.’ He touched the end of it. ‘How the Romans conquered Europe with these things stuck on their faces, I’ll never know.’
Jessica smiled. ‘I’ll have to call you Mandy.’
Eric gave her a funny look and Brett grunted and said, ‘It suits him.’
‘You can talk,’ Eric said. ‘You look like a man.’
‘I’m supposed to,’ Brett said, feeling her new facial features. ‘One thing’s for sure, I’ll make a better one than you’ll ever be.’
Eric gave the FBI agent the finger and Jessica looked away, her mind elsewhere.
Radcliffe touched her arm. ‘Are you okay?’
She nodded, but her eyes were drawn to the professor, who’d shed his glasses, shaved his beard and attached a nose somewhat smaller than Eric’s. He looked completely different, but Jessica knew the same man remained underneath, which is what worried her. If he didn’t want to go through with the plan, why even attempt it? It made no sense, unless he was still undecided, or worse, he had made up his mind not to go through with it and he was just keeping tabs on Bic. Assuming – praying – it was the former of the two reasons, she knew she had to make sure the professor made the right choice when the time came.
She wondered what plan Bic had devised to do the same. What she really wanted was to confront Steiner, to bring everything out into the open, but she knew it would do more harm than good. He might decide not to go through with it at all. It was sad, but she suddenly realised out of the four of them, the only person she could trust was Eric. He, at least, would tell her the truth.
Jessica picked up her fake nose and put it to her face. The device whirred as it activated on contact, its interior sucking onto her skin like a giant leach. It wasn’t a pleasant sensation, but after she’d smoothed down its edges and wiggled her real nose beneath, it was almost as if she’d been born with it. She felt it with her fingers. It was solid enough, much like an instant nose job sans the surgery and black eyes. Repeating the process with her new chin, Jessica then coiled her long hair flat to her head and pulled on the ginger-coloured wig Bic had selected for her.
‘Do you want to see how you look?’ Steiner said, coming over to her.
She nodded and he held up a mirror to show her.
A strange looking woman stared back her, a woman with her eyes and someone else’s face. She touched her curly hair.
‘What do you think?’ Steiner said.
She stared at him over the top of the mirror. ‘I think you made the right choice, shaving off your beard. I just hope you continue to make the right decisions.’
The professor made to say something, but he stopped when he saw Jessica’s meaningful expression.
‘I’ll do what’s best for everyone,’ Steiner said, and then moved away to speak to Brett.
Jessica watched him go and whispered, ‘But not what’s best for us.’
♦
Professor Steiner glanced at Jessica as she spoke to Captain Radcliffe near the front of the truck. He wondered if she suspected his indecision, or if Bic had filled her head with more of his lies. Either way, it changed nothing; the time to make up his mind was fast approaching and he was still to make a decision as to what he would do. He’d hoped that by now he would have made a choice, but the elusive solution to the most agonising decision of his life continued to torment him without pause, unrelenting and unbending.
What he faced now was the reason why the GMRC had been created in the first place – not only to prepare the Earth for what was to come, but to ensure no one government could influence the future of the planet, nor have to shoulder the burden for decisions made. The GMRC was to be an international collaboration, but it was never conceived that one of its own would be left to make a choice no one person should ever have to bear.
It was almost his hope that they wouldn’t make it far enough, effectively relieving him of the responsibility that haunted his nightmares and plagued his every waking hour. For the thousandth time he posed the question again: save the surface and billions of lives, but risk the future of the entire human race, or do nothing and let the surface burn, leaving those underground to the mercy of the likes of Malcolm Joiner, and Selene Dubois and her hidden masters. Each time he asked it, he tried altering it, adding different parameters, but the result was the same: deadlock. And how can a life ever be called a parameter? he thought. When it is less than a billion? Less than a million? Less than a thousand, a hundred? Ten? He closed his eyes. One?
He wished he could ask those around him to help him decide, but only he knew all the facts, only he had been with the GMRC from the beginning, only he knew the enormity of an action that would surely send him insane with guilt regardless of the outcome. He’d already been pushed to the edge of madness, waking in the night in a state of crazed delirium, talking to himself during the day and seeking guidance from a greater power, which refused to answer. He breathed deeply to stem the tide of anxiety and prevent it from consuming him. I am – was – Director General of the Subterranean Programme, a member of the GMRC Directorate. I should know what to do. You will know what to do, he told himself. You must.
‘Professor,’ someone said.
He opened his eyes to see Brett looking at him.
‘You okay?’
He nodded. ‘I’m fine.’ He adjusted his glasses, as his inner voice screamed that he was as far from okay as he’d ever been. ‘How about you? Second thoughts?
’
The FBI agent shrugged. ‘It is what it is.’
Steiner wished he could be so blasé.
‘Are you ready, sir?’ Radcliffe said, as everyone gathered together.
Steiner nodded.
‘Right.’ The Darklight man motioned to the driver. ‘Let’s get this show on the road.’
Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Nine
The Darklight vehicle made its way through the streets of Washington D.C., the occupants within deathly quiet as each thought about what was to come and what they were leaving behind. For some, perhaps all, this would be the last thing they ever did, and there would be no memorial if they died trying, or thanks if they succeeded. Only they bore witness, even though the very future of humanity rested on their every move. Professor Steiner gazed around at those who’d chosen to stand by him and wondered how he could continue to deceive them – and to his shame, in more ways than one. It’s as Bic said, Steiner thought, as the armoured truck slowed to a stop, even my secrets have secrets.
Captain Radcliffe, now dressed in a smart suit like the rest of the group, stood up and slid open the side door. Three of his men donned high-tech helmets, and then jumped out into a side alley, with weapons drawn.
‘They’ll cover our backs on our way in,’ Radcliffe said.
‘What about the assassin?’ Brett said to Steiner, as they all stood up. ‘What’s the play?’
‘Assassin?’ Eric said, sounding scared. ‘No one said anything about an assassin.’
‘He’s from a group called S.I.L.V.E.R.,’ Jessica said.
Steiner looked at her in surprise and wondered if Bic had told her.
‘You’re not the only one with secrets,’ she said.
Radcliffe motioned Steiner to one side. ‘You didn’t tell me it was a S.I.L.V.E.R. operative.’
Steiner gave Brett, Jessica and Eric a sidelong look as they listened in. He moved Radcliffe further away, toward the cockpit. ‘Does it matter?’
The Darklight man failed to hide his concern. ‘If you want to stay alive, I’d tell you to turn back now.’
‘But you won’t,’ Steiner said, ‘because we can’t.’
‘Then your odds just went from slim to none.’
‘My life doesn’t matter,’ Steiner said, finally accepting his resistance to the inevitable was futile. ‘If the president still lives, there’ll still be a chance.’
‘Professor,’ Eric said.
Steiner looked round to see they were no longer out of earshot.
‘Your life does matter.’
Steiner shook his head. ‘Not in the scheme of things.’
‘No, that’s not what I mean.’ Eric touched his arm. ‘It matters to me.’
Steiner gave the young German a fatherly smile and patted his hand. He was a sweet boy, and if Steiner had ever had a son, he hoped he would have turned out like him. ‘And yours,’ – he looked at them all – ‘all of your lives matter to me, which is why the plan goes ahead if,’ – he searched for the right words – ‘if I don’t make it.’
‘Why didn’t you give us this information before?’ Brett said, growing angry. ‘Do you want to die?’
‘I don’t think he knows,’ Jessica said, looking sad.
‘Why did you keep this from us?’ Brett stepped forward, her eyes wide with menace.
‘Because I knew it would make no difference.’
‘This is not what we discussed!’
‘Leave him be!’ Eric said, pushing the FBI agent back.
Brett stared into Steiner’s eyes. She gave a growl of fury and stormed from the truck.
Radcliffe went to go after her, but Steiner said, ‘Let her go.’
‘She cares for you,’ Jessica said. ‘We all do.’
Steiner looked to Brett, who paced around outside the truck, her anger a mask for the anguish within. ‘What do you want me to say?’ he said. ‘That everything will be alright? You know as well as I what we’re up against.’ He joined Captain Radcliffe outside and Jessica and Eric followed.
‘That the president still lives, is what we should be focusing on,’ Steiner continued. ‘Things have gone in our favour, the meeting has moved to Capitol Hill. The GMRC is on the back foot, Malcolm Joiner has failed to track us down, and Bic has so far lived up to his promises. Make no mistake; the asteroid can still be stopped. I wouldn’t be here if I thought otherwise.’ He looked at Eric and then Jessica. ‘And as you’re both so pig-headed, you’ll be able to help Brett complete the mission if I’m no longer around.’
Radcliffe touched his earpiece and then said to Steiner, ‘The hacker says your transport is en route. Let’s go.’ He slid the door of the truck closed and led the small group of five out of the alley and into a side street that led towards a distant crossroads.
Steiner glanced back as the remaining Darklight soldier drove the vehicle away toward its fallback position, further out of town. He suddenly felt very exposed and his eyes darted this way and that as he tried not to imagine crosshairs targeting his back.
‘Won’t they see your men?’ Jessica said, sounding nervous, as the three other Darklight operatives shadowed their movements.
Captain Radcliffe smiled and pressed a button on his coms device. ‘Darklight, switch to stealth, visors spectrum delta two. Stay alert, S.I.L.V.E.R. operatives might be in the vicinity.’
The hardened panels on the Darklight soldiers’ body armour and weaponry shimmered in the fading daylight and a moment later the three men disappeared from sight.
They reached the end of the street and Steiner activated his own earpiece. ‘Bic, how long?’
‘I’m nearly there, Professor Steiner.’
‘Coms check,’ Radcliffe said. ‘Can you all hear me?’
‘Copy that,’ Brett said.
Jessica nodded and Eric gave the thumbs up.
Steiner also gave a nod to the Darklight Captain and looked around at the strange faces of the three people he’d come to know as friends. Despite the radical change in their outward appearance, their disguises couldn’t hide their true nature, or the courage it took to remain by his side. Trying not to dwell on what lay ahead, he turned his attention to the deserted residential street in which they waited. Unlike the leafy suburb where they’d been before, the city townhouses and their plush exteriors hinted at the neoclassical architecture of their ultimate destination, Capitol Hill.
‘There it is,’ Eric said, pointing at an electric taxi cab as it switched lanes in the distance.
‘Take your rooftop positions,’ Radcliffe said to his men. ‘Keep us in your sights for as long as you can, but make sure no drones catch you. They’ll be using thermal scanners, so dial back internal power to minimum.’
‘That’s as far as they’re going?’ Jessica said.
‘They’ll be able to track us for a couple of miles,’ Radcliffe told her. ‘Your friend worked out the best coverage they can give us without being detected. And he’s assured us that if anything does pick them up it will not be able to relay the message.’
The whine of an electric motor announced the taxi’s arrival, the plain yellow car pulling up to the kerb, close by.
The door unlocked and Brett opened it, allowing Jessica, Eric and then Steiner inside the driverless interior. The FBI agent followed them in and Bic’s image appeared on the car’s central console.
‘You’ll find the necessary documents in your respective briefcases and folders, the hacker said. ‘Your photo IDs match your new features.’
Steiner picked up a briefcase and opened it to reveal Jessica’s ID papers. He handed it to her. While everyone else apprised themselves of their new identities, Captain Radcliffe, still outside the car, gave final orders to his men before the prearranged radio silence commenced.
‘Professor,’ Bic said. ‘I’m detecting a strange reading.’
‘Reading?’
‘Report,’ Captain Radcliffe was saying. ‘Red two, do you have eyes on Red one?
‘That’s a negative, Captain.’
‘Yes,’ Bic said to Steiner. ‘It seems like ... like ...’
Steiner sat forward in his seat. ‘Like what?’
‘Like someone is trying to intercept my signal.’
‘But that means—’
‘Someone knows we’re here!’ Eric said.
‘CAPTAIN!’ Steiner turned to see Radcliffe crumple to the ground.
A giant of a man in a suit approached the vehicle and slid into the seat next to Jessica. He held a strange-looking weapon in one hand, and it was pointed straight at Brett.
Professor Steiner stared into the unflinching gaze of the man destined to end his life.
‘Make any sudden moves,’ said Ophion Nexus, his voice tombstone deep, ‘and you die.’
Chapter One Hundred Seventy
The S.I.L.V.E.R. assassin kept his gun on Brett. He fixed his eyes on the professor and said, ‘Give me the weapon.’
Frozen in place, Steiner’s frightened eyes darted towards Captain Radcliffe, who remained motionless on the ground.
‘I won’t say it again,’ Ophion said, cocking the gun’s hammer.
‘He doesn’t have one,’ Jessica said.
‘Not him.’ Ophion turned his gaze to Brett. ‘Her.’
Steiner glanced at Brett, who’d tensed for action, and he gave an imperceptible shake of his head and prayed she wouldn’t make the move he knew her training demanded.
‘She doesn’t have one, either,’ Jessica said, the tremor in her voice giving away her fear. ‘None of us do.’
‘Does she not?’ Ophion continued to look at Brett, his demeanour terrifyingly calm.
Brett’s eyes narrowed and she reached toward her ankle.
‘You brought a gun?’ Jessica said. ‘What were you thinking?!’
‘Slowly,’ Ophion said.
Brett slowed her movements and inched up her trouser leg to expose a holster and a small black pistol. She slid the weapon free then placed it in the palm of her hand.
Ancient Origins: Books 4 - 6 (Ancient Origins Boxset Book 2) Page 92