by R T Green
I’d just realized I maybe had a very able right hand girl.
But I’d taken it all in too. ‘Right now I don’t know how, but there’s thirteen of us girls. And I’ve got a couple of things hidden in my bag that might help. You ever killed anyone before?’
It wasn’t a serious question, but Kayla scowled back at me. ‘Of course not.’
‘Well I have. On more than one occasion, and I’m actually quite good at it. Escape isn’t a real option, so the only other thing left is to get rid of all the bad guys. You up for helping me with that?’
She looked at me, and I saw a steely determination in her eyes. ‘You bet.’
Our conversation was interrupted. Not by anything alien or human. A faint spooky knocking filled our ears. A rhythmic, ghostly sound, like something trying to get out of wherever it was trapped.
It wasn’t coming from outside. We were the only people in the room, and it was emanating from somewhere within our four walls.
Kayla looked petrified. Maybe I did too. She whispered the words. ‘What’s that?’
I shook my head, unwilling to speak. It grew louder, and a creaking, groany noise punctuated the knocking. We both stood up, trying to work out where it was coming from. I could feel odd vibrations beneath my feet, and a strange hissing noise joined the orchestra of creepiness.
I pointed to the wardrobe in the corner, Kayla nodded. It was hard to pinpoint, but it seemed to be coming from there.
‘Ever read The Chronicles of Narnia?’ I whispered.
She hitched her breath, made me think it wasn’t the best thing I could have said.
But she was the brave one, in no mood to mess about, tiptoed over to the wardrobe and reached for the handle.
‘Kayla… maybe not the greatest idea?’
‘Stuff that! Getting pissed off with being scared out of my wits.’
She wrenched open the door. I gritted my teeth. And a horrible musty smell filled the room.
That was it. Just the smell.
For a second or two she stared at the inside of the closet in disbelief. Hanging there were old, moth-eaten dresses. She flung them aside, frantically looking for some kind of ghoul.
‘There’s nothing here!’
And then the knocking stopped.
It was replaced by a quieter noise. The sound hot water makes when it’s flowing through places it’s not been for years. I put my hand on the ancient radiator fixed to the wall next to the wardrobe. It felt warm. And we both burst out laughing, hugged each other in a relieved and slightly embarrassed way.
‘Guess they’ve got the central heating going,’ I said, stating the obvious as |I tried to get my heartbeat back to normal.
It didn’t get very long to recover. The key turned in the lock, and Lisa was standing in the doorway.
And up went the heartbeat again.
She looked me straight in the eyes. ‘Please will you come with me.’
Had she recognized me? Surely she must have done. But there was no indication she had, just a blank face of nothing. Had my shock at seeing her given me away?
I had no idea of that either. And not a word was said as she led me along a passageway, and around a corner. I longed to ask her a hundred questions, find out how she was. I had to bite my lip, so hard I almost drew blood.
We stopped outside a door. She opened it, nodded to me. ‘Please, go in.’
I stepped inside, heard it close again behind me. I was in what had clearly once been the master bedroom. A huge ornate four-poster bed dominated the room, draped with once-sumptuous floral-patterned fabric. A large marble fireplace sat against one wall, an equally-huge log fire in an iron basket blasting heat into the room.
Apart from the fire, the only light came from the two bedside lamps, their dim light doing little to illuminate anything but the area around the bed. The flames from the fire flickered an ever-changing pattern of shadows around the room, and at any other time would have created a soothing, mellow ambiance.
But my heart was breaking all records for beats per minute. Someone was standing on the far side of the room, gazing out of the large bay window.
And I didn’t need much light to know exactly who it was.
She spoke, without turning round. ‘Thank you for coming… Delores, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ I said, trying not to sound like Madeline. Even though I was getting the distinct impression that was totally pointless.
‘I understand you were the last girl in?’
‘I think so.’ A croaky voice, not the least bit pretend this time.
She sighed, a menacing, stomach-churning sound. ‘Dressed in a red cape, I believe.’
No words to answer. The power of speech totally gone.
She turned away from the window, began to walk slowly towards me, spitting out the words. ‘You look ridiculous. Take out those idiotic cheek implants Madeline, so we can talk like adults.’
Chapter 180
‘Shirl, don’t suppose that Wikipedia of a brain of yours for abandoned buildings includes a floor plan?
‘You facking kidding? No one except the bravest ghost hunters been anywhere near the place for decades.’
‘Yeah, thought so.’
‘Why do you ask?’
‘Coz when you raid a place it helps to know the layout.’
The anti-Tiri-ist squad sat around the mess table, huddled together trying to formulate a plan that would incur zero human casualties.
It wasn’t proving very easy.
Coop had suggested waiting until nightfall, going in under the cover of darkness. Zana knocked that one straight off the pitch, telling him her people had far better night vision than humans. Going in at night would hand the advantage straight to the bad guys.
So they’d decided on a midday rescue, which didn’t leave a lot of time to prepare. And was leaving Coop even more frustrated that he didn’t know what he’d find once they got inside.
Miles had a suggestion. ‘We could use Queen Bee.’
Coop looked up. ‘Did you bring her?’
‘Sure did.’ Miles grabbed one of the silver cases they’d brought from the van. The female half of the squad looked puzzled.
‘Queen Bee?’ grinned Shirl. ‘What’s that?’
‘One more queen too many, if you ask me,’ said Zana.
Miles laughed, placed the tiny device on the lid of the case.
‘It’s a facking bee.’
‘That’s why it’s called Queen Bee.’
‘Ok, I’m not stupid, Dumb.’
Coop ignored that. ‘Oh you’re far from stupid, Shirl. This is actually a tiny drone, with a camera in it. They’re used mostly in the Middle East, to infiltrate terrorist cells, that kind of thing. DIAL managed to get its hands on one.’
‘But there’s a little problem.’ As he spoke, Miles pulled out a small box of tricks. It looked like a cross between a mobile phone and a hand-held gaming controller. ‘This controls the bee, just like a kid flying a toy drone. Shirl, a drone is a kind of…’
‘I know what a facking drone is. Just get on with it.’
He grinned, got on with it. ‘The camera in the bee sends back pictures of what it sees to the screen on the controller, so the pilot can see where it’s going. In turn, his controller sends the images to the laptop… here…’ He lifted his lappy. ‘So we can see the pictures too. The laptop and the bee itself can be anywhere up to two miles apart, that’s no problem.’
‘So what is the problem?’
‘Because the bee is so tiny, its range is limited. Just a hundred yards maximum between the bee and the controller.’
‘So someone has to get up close and personal.’
Coop groaned. ‘There’s another issue too. In this weather it’s unlikely there’ll be any windows or doors open for Queen Bee to actually get inside.’
‘So someone has to get up close and personal and get them to open the door?’
‘That’s about the size of it, yeah.’
Zana t
hrew frustrated hands into the air. ‘Well I’m the last person who can go and wish them happy new year. And my sister and Peroni have seen both of you guys when she made her grand entrance at the MI6 building.’
‘Suppose it’s my job then, said Shirl.
Coop looked horrified. ‘We can’t ask you to do that… you’re a civilian.’
‘Civilian my ass. Just tell me what to do.’
Miles seemed to be the only one with any confidence in the new recruit. ‘If you get the bee inside, you’ll have to find somewhere to hide right outside, so you can control it from close quarters.’
‘She can’t even fly the damn thing,’ Coop protested.
‘Oh really, Dumb? Just shut your unappreciative gob and listen while I tell you I’ve got a drone. A toy one admittedly… but I facking well know how to fly it.’
‘You’ve got a drone?’
‘Don’t look so surprised. I explore abandoned buildings, savvy? One piece of kit that comes in handy is a drone, so I can see the bits I can’t get to. Takes pictures and video for my records… so stop looking at me like I’m a useless tart.’
‘I… I wasn’t Shirl.’
‘Oh yes you were.’
‘No I wasn’t.’
Miles stepped in before the pantomime got out of hand. ‘The bee is a little more tricky to fly Shirl, but basically it’s the same controls as any other drone. You want a quick flying lesson?’
‘You bet your ass.’
While Shirl spent a few happy minutes flying Queen Bee up and down the walkway, Coop and Zana talked strategy. ‘We’re gonna need to get this shuttle closer to the action, Zana. The other side of this hill is just too far away. Can we do a flyover at low altitude, see the lay of the land and find somewhere closer to set down without Tiri knowing we’re there?’
She nodded. ‘My shuttle is cloaked as you know. She cannot see or detect it unless I make it visible. And it’s the same with hers.’
‘Ok. Firepower… Miles and me have an automatic rifle each… you got any hand weapons?’
She shook her head with a wry smile. ‘Those ancient things all you’ve got?’ She walked over to a tall door built into the alloy wall, pressed a button for it to open, and looked inside. ‘That’s good, there are five left. Here…’ She threw him a tiny device, pulled out the other four.
He looked at it wide-eyed. A vaguely handgun-shaped weapon, it was no bigger than the palm of his hand. ‘This?’
‘Trust me, Coop. As Madeline found out in my apartment, it packs one hell of a punch. Just be aware the bad guys will have the same weapon.’
And then there was a bee staring him in the face. It glared at him for five seconds, and then executed two perfect circles around his head. He spun round to see a grinning Shirl a few metres away.
‘Ok agent… you’ve made your point.’
‘You’d better believe it. Already I can fly this thing better than you drive a van!’
Chapter 181
‘I didn’t think my disguise would fool you for long.’
‘You insult me, Madeline. Did you really think it deceived me for even a second?’
Guess I didn’t, but I’d tried not to think about it.
Still she walked slowly towards me, a leopard who would never change her spots, advancing on me with her head slightly bowed but her eyes fixed onto my face. She knew all too well she was the predator, filled with a menacing confidence that her prey had nowhere to run.
And then she growled, words that had to be obeyed. ‘I said take them out.’
I took the implants out, with some relief, dropped them onto the dusty rug. Then she was next to me, our faces inches apart, her eyes flicking over the blonde wig, a sarcastic smile on her face.
I didn’t take my eyes off her, determined she wouldn’t see her prey defeated and quaking in her red boots. She raised a hand, lifted one side of my blonde locks, allowed her fingers to slide for a moment between the strands of hair. Then she smiled, turned her hand to caress my much-thinner cheek lovingly. ‘You are so beautiful,’ she whispered.
But then normal service was resumed. She dropped her hand, and the smile was gone. ‘And take that idiotic wig off, it makes you look cheap.’
‘I… I can’t. It’s fixed on.’
‘Oh, I don’t think so.’ She moved fast, like the predator she was, wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, grasped the hair with the other.
I felt more than a few hairs ripped out by the roots as she wrenched it off in one vicious pull. But as I closed my eyes in a futile attempt to stop them watering, I realized that was the least of my problems.
She’d staggered back in shock, disbelieving eyes staring at my lack of hair.
‘What have you done?’
Oh shit. I’d forgotten how much she loved my long black locks.
Something else she could never possess.
‘I fancied a change.’
She strode back, stood in my face glaring green fire into my eyes. ‘How could you do that to me?’
Our conversation was getting out of hand. I had to try and change the subject, distract her in some way while it was still words she was throwing at me.
She wasn’t the only one who looked different. Maybe I could use that. ‘You seem to have bits on your face that don’t belong either, Tiri. What’s that… lump of iron between your eyes all about? And the three little ones, above each eyelid?’
I was taking a risk, I knew. Deliberately insulting what likely meant something to her might well get me thumped anyway. But it was all I had.
She turned away, I sucked in my first breath for a whole minute. ‘You belittle me, Madeline. But I admire your spirit. These lumps of iron, as you so quaintly put it, are a precious metal found only on our world. And they are the equivalent of the crown your queen would wear. They adorn me now so that both my men and our human family are left in no doubt who is their leader.’
I bow to you, my queen of black hearts. Like hell. But my distracting insult worked. I didn’t get thumped… not yet anyway. She walked back over to me, the smile returned, and fingers drifted through my super-short hair as she sighed out the words.
‘But I suppose your hair will grow back in time.’
‘So what now, my queen?’
‘Now we will share some wine.’
She walked gracefully over to a huge dressing table, poured some red liquid into two glasses. ‘Come, drink with me, Madeline.’
I joined her, took a sip of the delicious wine I’d tasted before, back when I was last captured in Tobago. ‘You’re doing a very bad thing, Tiri. They will find you, eventually.’
She gave me a confident smile. ‘I think not. We shall remain here for a few months, while our family grows quickly. In that time I shall seek out new homes, and when the time is right split the family into three segments, each living in a different part of the country. There, each new family will also grow and flourish, until they too split into new families… and so on…’
Yes, queen mother, you’ve got it all worked out. And it was terrifying the hell out of me, because as family plans go it was a hell of a good one.
And if I didn’t stop it, one that had a high chance of success.
My perfect host put down her wineglass, turned to me. ‘Look at you…’ she said softly. ‘All dressed to impress, in clothes so tight they hide nothing of the beauty that excites me.’
A delicate hand slipped around my waist, dropped slowly to my buttock, her fingertips drifting around the curve of my hip, nestling into the tiny vee between the top of my legs. She pressed harder but still gently, her finger sinking a little into the valley of my crotch, lingering there, finding my button for a moment before drifting away again.
Her eyes were glazed over, almost closed, her words breathed out. ‘Yes, you excite me so much…’
Her touch repulsed me, every contour she was exploring without permission cringing as her evil tried to force its way inside me. I couldn’t let it show… if she suspected the
truth it would all be over.
Think Oscar-winning performances, Madeline.
Her hand rose upwards, felt the tenseness in my waist, cupped around my breast, teasing my nipple to a firmness neither it nor me really wanted. Again she sighed out her ecstasy, opened her eyes to gaze into mine. Our faces were so close I could feel the warmth of her hitching breath whisping her passion across my skin, her scent filling my nostrils with a delicious but unwanted pall of aromas, her hand drifting across my face, a single finger tracing the contours of my lips.
She whispered the words, so quietly I could only just hear them. ‘So Madeline… are you here to kill me or be with me?’
She caught me off guard, unprepared for the question. ‘I… haven’t decided yet.’
Before I could stop it, her full lips were pressed against mine, eating me, devouring me. Her arm around my waist pulled me tight into her, the other hand at the back of my head made sure I couldn’t pull away.
I tried to kiss her back, keep the deception going until I could pull my senses back into line.
I failed dismally.
She pushed me away, hands that were a few seconds ago so soft and delicate now clenching into out of control fists. Her green eyes blazed ferocious anger into me, her breasts rising and falling as she sucked in deep, bitter breaths.
‘Liar!’
The hand came at me, so suddenly and ferociously it slapped into my face before I realized what was happening. I staggered back, as much in shock as the force of the slap, put an involuntary hand to my stinging cheek.
Wish I’d not taken out those damn implants now.
My natural instincts tried to react, I started to raise a hand to retaliate, but by some miracle managed to resist. Maybe it was the realization thumping her back may well be the last thing I ever did.
Instead I dropped my hand and stared at her open-mouthed, trying to find the voice that had been slapped out of me so violently. It wasn’t easy. My queen had finally realized I would always belong to someone else. All that was left now was defiance.