by Mark Walden
Shelby and Laura had also become fast friends, partly due to long late-night conversations in their room and partly due to the fact that Laura had succeeded in persuading Shelby to join their scheme to get off the island. Initially she had been reluctant to join them, insisting that she ‘worked better alone’ but soon she realised, just as Otto had, that escaping would take their combined efforts if it was going to be possible at all.
In fact the only person who seemed to be really struggling to adapt to life at H.I.V.E. was Nigel. For several days it had seemed that each new lesson they attended just made him more miserable, not helped by the fact that all of the teachers seemed to have higher expectations of him than they had of the other students. Otto had lost count of the number of times that he had been picked on by a teacher, singled out to answer a particularly difficult question or had his poor performance compared unfavourably with the past successes of his father. Clearly the Darkdoom name was a burden that he was expected to bear without complaint, but Otto had grave doubts that Nigel was really a suitable candidate for the Alpha stream. The only subject with which he didn’t seem to struggle was Biotechnology, often displaying a depth of knowledge of the subject that had surprised the teachers and even his fellow students. Consequently, the only place where Nigel seemed happy was in the hydroponics lab, where he had quickly become fascinated with the carnivorous plants that H.I.V.E. cultivated for experimental purposes. Otto had accepted an invitation from Nigel to come and feed his charges with him one evening after dinner and he had been struck by the care with which Nigel had fed insects to each of the numerous varieties of plants.
‘I used to tend the gardens with my mother,’ he had explained, ‘this reminds me of home.’
Homesickness was not something that Otto found he suffered from, but in that regard he seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. Laura had been missing her parents particularly badly, refusing to believe that they could possibly have consented to her abduction. She wanted to get home, believing that they would be worried sick by her disappearance and frustrated that she could not reassure them that she was OK. This was just one reason why their ‘extra-curricular’ activities had been proceeding quickly. If they were going to escape, they needed to act fast. The longer they spent on the island, the greater the chance that their efforts would be discovered.
It had not been until the end of their first month at H.I.V.E. that Otto had explained the details of his plan to Wing, Laura and Shelby. The four of them had sat in a quiet corner of the atrium as Otto had explained to them exactly how they were going to escape, his voice low to avoid any chance of being overheard. As Otto had predicted, they had initially greeted his suggestion with open scepticism. Shelby in particular seemed highly dubious that the four of them were capable of doing what Otto was suggesting while still avoiding detection. Otto had been prepared for this and had reassured his three co-conspirators by going through each stage of the plan in detail and providing apparently satisfactory answers to all of their many questions. After a couple of these secretive meetings it seemed that they were all starting to really believe that they could actually pull it off, and Otto turned their attention to solving some of the initial practical problems that had to be overcome before any escape attempt could be mounted.
First he had gone over the list of components that he and Laura would require in order to construct some of the equipment they’d need. Otto thought that he could smuggle some of the more common items out of Practical Technology lessons himself. Professor Pike was not, after all, renowned for keeping a particularly close eye on the students during his lessons. Some of the more exotic components, however, would be rather more difficult for them to lay their hands on. He knew where some of them could be acquired, but the security around them might be tight. He had discussed these items with Shelby and she had, after a couple of days of discreet investigation, assured him that she could get them what they needed without being detected. It was Otto’s turn to be sceptical then – he knew that she was uniquely gifted when it came to acquiring hard-to-reach items, but this would be a real test of her prowess.
It was no small surprise, then, when after only a couple of days Shelby had walked into Otto and Wing’s quarters and carefully laid out on the bed every single item on the list. Otto made a mental note that he would remember in future to have more faith in her abilities. That had been the cue for Otto and Laura to start work on assembling these components into something they could use. Otto was ninety-nine per cent certain, after searching every inch of their rooms, that there was no surveillance of the students in their quarters, and so they had decided to use their bathrooms as makeshift workshops for this purpose. The way he saw it, if they were being watched as they worked on these unapproved science projects then they would doubtless find out soon enough. The fact that they had eventually completed their work without the ever-present guards breaking down their bathroom doors suggested that their activities had thankfully remained undetected.
And so it was, as they approached the end of November, that they were finally ready to put their plan into action. There were still elements of the scheme that worried Otto, places where they might have to rely rather too much on luck for his liking, but they could not afford to sit around worrying. They finally settled on a date for their attempt and, as the fateful day drew nearer, Otto could not help but feel nervous and a little excited. There was no doubt that H.I.V.E. was a unique establishment, and much of what they’d studied he’d found fascinating, but he still felt like a laboratory rat in a maze. Secretly he feared that if he stayed much longer he might start to enjoy his studies rather too much, which would only make it that much harder to leave. There was a nagging voice at the back of his mind that kept asking what exactly it was that he was so keen to get back to. The orphanage may have been his home for years, but he didn’t miss it as much as he thought he would, and it wasn’t as if he could spend the rest of his life there. The louder this voice got the more determined Otto became that he had to leave now before these doubts became impossible to ignore.
‘So, with such a potent combination of natural neurotoxins it is easy to see why this particular family of plants has so much potential. Full-scale cultivation may even –’
MWAH, MWAAAAH, MWAH!!!!
The school bell echoed around the hydroponics dome, drowning out the final words of Ms Gonzales’s Biotechnology lesson. As everyone started to pack their bags she raised her voice.
‘Remember I want you all to complete an essay on the genetic manipulation of growth characteristics in complex plants for next week’s lesson.’
Otto couldn’t help but smile to himself. If all went to plan tonight he wouldn’t have to worry about that particular piece of homework. Wing caught sight of Otto’s expression and grinned.
‘Perhaps we should post our essays to her,’ he said quietly.
‘We could if we had an address to send them to,’ Otto replied, and, noticing Nigel approaching, quickly placed a finger to his lips, silencing Wing.
‘Hi guys.’ Nigel seemed unusually cheerful. ‘Are you going straight to lunch or have you got a couple of minutes to have a look at something I’ve been working on?’
Otto swung his backpack on to his shoulder. ‘I’m in no hurry to get to lunch. Let’s see what the mysterious Darkdoom has been up to his in lab.’
Nigel smiled happily at Otto. ‘Cool. Do you want to come too, Wing?’
‘Certainly, though I don’t mind telling you that I find those insect-eating plants of yours rather unsettling.’ Wing wasn’t joking. He didn’t like the way that an apparently innocent-looking plant could hide the fact that it was a killer, even if it did only murder bugs.
‘Oh, this is much better than them, trust me,’ Nigel replied, sounding strangely proud. ‘Come on.’ He beckoned for Otto and Wing to follow him up a nearby flight of stairs.
They passed through an airtight door and down a long gantry that hung above the steaming tropical environment that was
artificially maintained in this part of the dome. Eventually they came to a door which Nigel opened to reveal a small room with glass walls that looked out on the carefully cultivated jungle below. In the centre of the one workbench in the tiny room was a large cube-shaped object covered with a black cloth.
‘Please speak quietly – she’s very sensitive to sound,’ Nigel whispered.
Wing glanced at Otto as Nigel turned to the cloth-covered object, a look of confused curiosity on his face. Otto gave a small shrug in reply. It had been a couple of weeks since Nigel had excitedly announced that Ms Gonzales was letting him use one of the spare rooms in the hydroponics dome to conduct extra research. Otto remembered feeling pleased that Nigel had found something to interest him at H.I.V.E., especially given his dismal performance in their other classes. Now it seemed that they were finally going to get to see what he’d been doing in this tiny little room.
‘Here, come closer,’ Nigel instructed, and Otto and Wing obediently crowded round the mysterious cube.
‘Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to Violet.’ Nigel pulled the cover from the cube with a flourish to reveal a glass tank containing the strangest plant that either of them had ever seen. It looked like a single Venus flytrap at the end of a fifteen-centimetrelong stem, but it had long sharp thorns in its mouth rather than the soft flexible fronds that made up the normal plant’s ‘teeth’. Arranged around the base of the stem were prickly leaves and long tendrils that occasionally waved around in the air, as if seeking prey. Nigel seemed delighted by the amazed looks on Otto and Wing’s faces.
‘Isn’t she beautiful?’ Nigel sighed. ‘It’s taken me ages to sequence the right characteristics from my other plants, but she’s been worth all the work.’ He popped open a plastic box on the workbench and pulled out a long fat earthworm. ‘Watch this.’
Nigel dropped the earthworm on the soil near the base of the plant; Violet’s reaction was swift and violent. The tendrils at the plant’s base snaked out, gripping the worm as the toothed jaw bent down on its flexible stem with startling speed, snatching up the helpless creature, devouring it in seconds. Wing’s expression turned to fascinated revulsion.
‘That is truly one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen,’ he said softly. ‘How did you create this thing?’
‘Oh, just a slightly modified gene here, a bit of judicious cross-pollination there. You know, the usual.’ Nigel looked as if he was going to burst with pride.
‘She’s amazing, Nigel, just amazing,’ Otto said, unable to tear his eyes away from the final moments of the unfortunate worm’s existence.
‘I haven’t shown her to Ms Gonzales yet. I’m worried that they might experiment on her. So you mustn’t tell anyone, OK?’ He fixed them with a serious look – this was clearly very important to him.
‘My lips are sealed, Nigel, don’t worry.’ Otto reminded himself that after this evening he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone else at H.I.V.E. about Violet, even if he wanted to.
‘You can count on my discretion,’ Wing said seriously, ‘as long as you promise never to feed her in front of me again.’
‘Thanks, guys,’ Nigel smiled again, ‘I really appreciate it. You know how badly I’m doing in my other classes. I don’t want to mess up Biotech as well. I just wish I could show her to my mum, she’d be so proud.’
Otto felt a familiar twinge of guilt. On more than one occasion he and Wing had sat discussing late into the night whether or not they should take Nigel with them when they left. Unfortunately they just kept coming to the same conclusion – Nigel was a liability. There was no way that he’d be able to keep up with them when they made their break for it – he would just slow them down in a situation where speed would be everything. It didn’t stop Otto from feeling terrible that they were going to be leaving the small bald boy behind.
‘She’s only two days old. You should see the rate she’s been growing, and she hasn’t stopped yet. In a few weeks’ time you won’t recognise her.’ Nigel looked proudly at the plant, which seemed to have gone quite still. ‘She always rests after a kill,’ he explained. ‘Doesn’t she look cute?’
Otto thought that this was probably his and Wing’s cue to leave.
‘Come on, Wing. Watching Violet eat has made me hungry. We’d better go and get some lunch before it’s all gone.’
Wing nodded. ‘Are you coming, Nigel?’
‘No, I want to run a couple more tests on Violet. I’ll see you guys later. Thanks for coming up and meeting her.’ Nigel replied happily.
‘Any time, Nigel. We’ll have to come up and see her again in a few days,’ Otto replied. He was still feeling guilty about having to lie to Nigel as they left him talking happily to his new friend.
Otto, Wing, Shelby and Laura sat at a table in one of the more secluded corners of the dining hall, taking quietly amongst themselves as they ate.
‘Everything’s set, then. We go tonight,’ Otto whispered, looking around carefully to ensure that there weren’t any potential eavesdroppers within hearing range.
‘Ready as we’ll ever be,’ Laura replied. ‘I still wish there was some way that we could test the primary device before we go, but we’ll just have to pray that me and Otto got our sums right.’
‘Try not to overfill me with confidence, won’t you?’ Shelby replied sarcastically, looking uncharacteristically nervous.
‘We know it will work, the theory’s sound,’ Otto reassured her. ‘The parts you got were perfect, there’s no reason it shouldn’t go smoothly.’ He tried to sound more confident than he felt. He too wished there was a way they could conduct more tests, but the very nature of the device meant that it was going to be a one-shot deal.
‘If we stick to the plan, we will be successful,’ Wing said calmly. He seemed to be immune to the nervousness that the others were feeling. ‘We must simply hope that we do not encounter any unforeseen circumstances.’
Wing was right. Otto knew that there were risks they couldn’t completely eliminate, but he too was more worried about the wildcard factors that could completely derail the plan than anything else.
‘Just keep your eyes open over the next few hours for anything that might cause any problems. Once we start this we can’t stop – it’s all or nothing.’ Otto knew that the tiniest detail might be important.
‘Do or die, huh?’ Shelby replied.
Otto smiled grimly. ‘Yes, if not the precise words I would have chosen.’
Otto and Wing left Shelby and Laura in the dining hall. It was best that they kept apart from each other now; they all knew what they had to do. Wing appeared distracted as they walked towards the accommodation block. He was unusually quiet.
‘Something on your mind?’ Otto asked.
‘There is one thing I am not sure about. If the plan is successful and we make it back to civilisation, do we tell people about H.I.V.E.?’ Wing asked. It was a question that Otto had already given considerable thought to.
‘No, we don’t,’ Otto replied firmly.
‘Why not? What about the other students here?’ Wing didn’t seem happy with Otto’s opinion.
‘For the same reason that once you’ve sneaked past a wasp’s nest in a tree you don’t return and start hitting it with a stick,’ Otto replied.
‘I’m not sure what you mean.’ Wing stopped walking and turned to face Otto. ‘Surely it is our duty to try to free the others. We can’t just walk away.’
‘That’s exactly what we’re going to do. If we expose the school, they’re going to know exactly who was responsible, and I guarantee you that they will not rest until all four of us are dealt with . . . permanently.’ Otto doubted that Wing had given this as much thought as he had.
‘So we should be silenced by fear?’
Otto tried to keep his voice calm. Wing could be infuriating to argue with about things like this – he seemed to see everything in black and white. ‘No, we should disappear. H.I.V.E. can’t kill what it can’t find. Besides which, what
do you think would happen to the other students if H.I.V.E. was exposed? Do you really think that Nero’s going to thank them for their time and wave them on their way? No, they’ll cover it up, and if that means covering up the students too, that’s exactly what they’ll do . . . with concrete, probably.’
Wing looked carefully at Otto, as if trying to see what he was thinking.
‘I suppose you’re right,’ Wing sighed. ‘It still seems unfair to just abandon the others to their fate like that, though.’
‘A worse fate would await them if we spilled the beans about this place.’ Otto stopped suddenly, spotting someone approaching down the corridor. ‘Oh no . . .’ Wing turned round to see Block and Tackle standing just ten metres away; Block was holding a length of steel pipe.
‘Oh dear, looks like we found a couple of maggots who lost their way, Mr Tackle,’ Block said, tapping the pipe into his palm.
‘We should show them where to go, Mr Block,’ Tackle replied, grinning. Otto suddenly noticed how very deserted the corridor seemed as the two thugs advanced towards them.
‘Get behind me,’ Wing instructed Otto. ‘When they attack, run.’
‘No way, Wing. I’m not leaving you alone with those two.’ Otto sounded braver than he felt. He doubted very much that he had any chance of disabling either of the two hulking henchmen in the same way that he had done in the dining hall on their first day. A nerve pinch might be an effective way of dealing with someone once, but its success depended very much on the element of surprise, which was something he no longer had. Unfortunately the steel pipe that Block was wielding suggested that this time Block and Tackle were playing for keeps.
‘Very well, leave the one with the pipe to me. Hold the other one off for as long as possible. If I go down, promise me you’ll run,’ Wing replied, not taking his eyes off their two assailants for a second.