by Paul Heron
‘Hold on just one little second. For the love of the gods! We’re walking ten kilometres?’ Mohammad said, incredulous.
‘You’ll be fine,’ Carolina said while chewing on a tortilla. ‘Exercise is good for you. Where is your sense of adventure?’
Michael laughed, and looked at Mohammad. ‘She’s right, a bit of exercise won’t kill you.’ He looked around the table at the others. ‘And when we find Eduardo, we’ll get the book. My gut tells me that the book and Eduardo will be together. Then we can destroy whatever seed The Dark One has allowed to manifest.’
Scarlett agreed. ‘The Sirani Foundation believes it’s located somewhere close to their base.’
‘What do we do if this doesn’t go a smoothly as you have described, which it probably won’t.’ Ajit said. He put Michael and the rest on the spot.
‘We take one of the agents and get them to tell us their secrets, and where Eduardo is,’ Michael said, realizing they may have to become nasty in the process. ‘We’ll give them a taste of their own medicine. Then, finally, we’ll transmit our message. Put the world on notice. We’re not letting this continue.’
‘I like it when the chief gets bossy.’ Mohammad joked. They all laughed.
‘Do we have any equipment to broadcast this message?’ Ahmad asked.
‘I’m sure Ajit can find something around here. With Scarlett’s help,’ Michael said. ‘Ajit can program it to a frequency that won’t be blocked by L’amico. So that when we activate the device, we leave one channel open for our broadcast.’
‘My head hurts,’ Mohammad droned, scraping the remains of his dinner from his plate.
‘A lot is riding on L’amico being within reach. We can’t do anything without it,’ Michael continued. ‘Ajit, it was a good idea to put a lock on it.’
‘It will not take many times before they can break my password,’ Ajit sounded less than enthusiastic. ‘I have a feeling that Mancini Corporation and their money will get the best help.’
‘And what happens if nobody believes us?’ Marcel asked.
‘What do you mean?’ Sofia said.
‘Like, what if we broadcast a warning about the Mancini Corporation, and no one takes it seriously?’
‘Hopefully, the world will believe us; however, the world is a very sceptical place, one that needs proof to believe a lot of things.’ Michael said. ‘If all else fails, we shut down their military communication systems. Don’t forget what our device can do. So, this global message will be our preferred method. If it works, and pops the Mancini Corporation’s, God of Greed’s, and The Dark One’s balloon, then it will be worth it. If not, we shut down their military satellites. And I don’t think any country will go into battle blind.’
‘And who would be delivering this message to the world?’ Carolina asked.
All eyes fixed on Michael; there was a silence. Michael knew it was his responsibility. He came up with the idea in the first place. And to think that, just a few days before, he was sweating bullets when he had to introduce himself in front of these guys at Sir Herbert Noring’s library. The broadcast would be on every TV and radio channel, and it would be the only broadcast available on the internet. The entire planet was going to be forced to listen. Without a choice. He didn’t want to do it, but he couldn’t ask any of the others to. He had to be the one. It would be the ultimate test of his leadership.
‘I’ll deliver the message,’ he said. He couldn’t believe what he’d gotten himself into. Maybe if he just pretended that only Sirani agents would hear or see his broadcast, if he just imagined friendly faces listening to his speech, he would be able to muster the bravery. ‘Where are the others? Ringo, Alban, and Larry?’
‘They’re in the lounge. I think they’re watching football,’ Scarlett laughed, ‘men and their bloody football.’
‘Football?’ Marcel’s ears perked up.
‘They’re a part of this, too,’ Michael said.
‘I’ll go and get them,’ Scarlett said.
They all continued with their grub in silence.
‘What time are we leaving?’ Sofia shouted at Scarlett who’d arrived back with the rest. She looked at Alban.
He recommended they go in at sunset.
Larry chimed in. ‘The suits, or as I call them, the Chameleons, have night vision. A huge advantage.’
‘Right then.’ Scarlett looked around at everyone, ‘you have ten hours until sunset. Go and try on your suits.’
‘Us?’ Carolina asked. ‘Are you not coming with us?’
‘Carolina, it’ll just be the six of you, and Larry. I thought you all knew that,’ Scarlett said. ‘Ringo, Ahmad, George, Alban, and I are here to support you. Elisabetta chose you seven for a reason. But Larry, as I said, will go into the jungle with you in case something happens with the suits.’
‘Where are these suits?’ Sofia said.
‘They’re in the lab. Let’s go and have a look,’ Larry said.
Everyone sprung up and followed him. ‘I hope they don’t look stupid,’ Marcel said. ‘I want to look like a badass.’
‘Stupid?’ Larry laughed. ‘I spent three years working on these.’
‘Sorry, man!’ Marcel said. ‘But nothing stupid, please.’
Michael smirked, realizing Larry suddenly wanted to learn martial arts, but for the wrong reasons.
‘You know what? This might be quite exciting...’ Mohammad said.
Chapter Three
THE GROUP FOLLOWED Larry towards a huge steel door at the corner of the entrance hall - not something you would expect to find in a luxurious house. Next to it was an imposing grandfather clock which looked like it was taken directly from Elisabetta’s living room in The Otherworld.
The steel door was similar to the door of the charity shop back in Little Camberly – it looked like it would take a bomb to get through.
Punching in the passcode, Larry deactivated the lock. He turned to the rest and grinned. They entered the room. Walking down a flight of seven steps, it was as if each step represented one of the team. The Sirani Seven. The room looked more like a mad scientist’s lab – glass cabinets along the wall, each storing one camouflage suit and a matching pair of boots. They looked like army outfits worn by soldiers, but more form-fitted.
Sofia’s jaw dropped. ‘I’ll be like Lara Croft!’
Michael opened one of the glass cabinet doors, and touched the suit that hung like a dead body inside. He, too, was impressed. He took the suit out to have a closer look, and when he felt how light it was, he smiled.
Scarlett patted Larry on the back. ‘Good work.’
‘They’re very light,’ Carolina said, ‘I will feel like G. I. Jane.’
‘G. I. Jane wishes she had your badass skills,’ Sofia sniggered, grabbing a suit.
‘Yes, they’re light,’ Larry said. ‘They’re built with a very strong fibre called Aramid Fibre. There is a liquid called Kelvar, it’s converted into fibres. And the result: a very light, but durable, textile material. It’s what body armour is made from. But woven into these fabrics are tiny pieces of aluminium. This metal is the most reflective metal in the world, and I have discovered a way to stretch the fibres, at the press of a button, to produce the reflective metal. It causes the suits to reflect and blend in with its surroundings.’ He crossed his arms and beamed with pride, watching the team play with their new gadget.
‘What if we run into some ugly Fomorian, will it protect us from them?’ Carolina said.
‘These suits were made to protect from anything human, physical or magical. Swords, flames, animal bites or Formorians.’
‘Is it Mohammad proof?’ Ajit asked.
‘You’d all miss me if I wasn’t here,’ Mohammad replied, gawking at his suit, his head tilted.
‘It’s got night vision goggles attached,’ Larry said. ‘I call it the S7S, Sirani Seven Suit. Here, on the back of it, you’ll find a backpack attached. Inside you’ll find a first aid kit, a torch, a rope, some food and water, a lighter, matches,
and a survival manual. But most importantly, you’ll find silver daggers. Fomorian killers.’
‘We have guns, too,’ Michael said, feeling the bottom of the bag.
‘Use them as a last resort, Michael,’ Scarlett said, looking at them all. ‘You all make sure you don’t hesitate. Everyone hear me? This is very important. Use them if you must. Elisabetta has given you all otherworldly gifts, but you’ll also need to protect yourselves from this world’s dangers. But don’t enter a gun battle with them. They will no doubt win. They’ll have much heavier guns. Just use them to get out of tight spots. The silver daggers will take out anything with Fomorian blood, but there will be humans there, too.’
Everyone changed into their suits, while Scarlett’s words echoed around the room. A clear reminder that, although they weren’t normal humans, their bodies would still bleed if shot.
‘Follow me to the garden.’ Larry said.
Larry led the way through a door which brought them into the garden beside a rectangular flowerbed the size of an outside swimming pool.
Mohammad danced on his toes like he’d just entered a boxing ring. ‘I’m better than Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and all three of the Fantastic...’
‘Okay, gather around,’ Larry said.
‘What are you doing?’ Michael said.
Larry tossed Alban a golf club which he’d brought with him from the lab, and instructed him to swing it at him.
‘Larry... What are you doing?’ Sofia shouted.
Alban did as he was instructed, a grin smeared all over his face, and to everyone’s surprise, when the club made contact with Larry, he fell to the ground with the force but got up feeling victorious with a huge grin under his sunglasses, no pain whatsoever.
‘Please, can I have a go with this?’ Ajit said, smiling as he looked at Mohammad through his side eye.
Everyone started having a go, testing their suits for durability.
While the team was having the time of their lives acting like they were unbeatable, Scarlett approached them with her phone cradled in the crook of her neck.
Her crestfallen expression made them all stop in their tracks.
‘What’s wrong?’ Carolina asked, gleefully flipping her club in the air and catching it behind her back.
‘We need to be very careful.’ Scarlett went silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Waves in the distance, crashing onto the sand, was all that could be heard. ‘That was George on the phone,’ she said. ‘He just watched World News, and an unidentified aircraft was spotted flying over the Mexican sky. Us.’
‘They spotted our plane?’ Michael said. ‘But Ajit put the new SIMs in all of our phones, and Alban hooked the chopper up to the network.’
‘This is true, we are invisible on the waves.’ Ajit shook his head. ‘It’s not possible.’
‘I checked everywhere before we left England,’ Alban said defensively.
The mood in the air quickly changed. It seemed like everyone was looking for someone to blame.
‘George thinks there’s an operative within the Sirani Foundation who’s feeding information to Mancini.’ She sighed. ‘There’s an internal investigation being carried out by Domenico Cipolla – Director of Global Operations.’
‘You mean one of us?’ Marcel asked.
Scarlett shook her head in disappointment. ‘Alban, you and Larry check the jet and helicopter for anything suspicious. Ajit, can you make the chopper undetectable? There’s no way we’re going into the jungle if we're being tracked.’
‘But who?’ Sofia said angrily. ‘Who is the traitor? Who would want to double cross us? What would they have to gain? They’ve got more to lose than to gain.’
‘If someone working for the Sirani Foundation is playing a double agent with the Mancini Corporation, then we have a big problem,’ Carolina said. ‘Obviously, we can’t ignore this. We need to find them. It’s not like this is a game.’
‘Let’s try to focus on our job at the moment, but you’re absolutely right, Carolina,’ Scarlett said.
Michael took off his suit. ‘We have nine hours until we leave. Ajit, is nine hours enough time for you in the lab?’
‘Of course,’ Ajit replied.
‘This is bollocks!’ Mohammad walked away from the group.
‘Who put the stick up your ass?’ Marcel shouted after him.
Mohammad didn’t even attempt a snarky comeback, which was unlike him. It set off alarm bells in Michael’s head.
Mohammad walked across the garden to sit under the coconut tree in the corner of the garden. Michael and Marcel followed him.
‘What’s wrong, grumpy arse?’ Marcel threw some soil from the flowerbed at Mohammad. Him and Michael sat down beside him.
‘This is serious. We’re getting into big trouble with this. What the hell are we playing at?’
‘Only now you’re realising what this is?’ Marcel joked. Mohammad just nodded his head.
The three of them sat in silence. They had known each other for three days and were forced to face this uncertainty together. They sat there more like death row inmates fighting for their lives. They looked at each other with vulnerable expressions, the kind of expressions you’d get from any young person being thrust into the unknown. Words weren’t needed. They all knew what lay ahead of them, and they knew how the other was feeling.
Wave after wave crashed against the sand. Michael looked all around the garden deep in thought.
‘This is really scary,’ Mohammad finally broke the silence.
‘Amigo, I’m afraid too...’ Marcel said.
Michael’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.
‘This is dangerous; none of us know what awaits us.’ Marcel wrapped his arms around his bent knees. ‘But if Elisabetta is right, then this world of ours – everything you see – is in danger. Think of all the beautiful things you love. For me it’s...’
‘Cats,’ Mohammad blurted out.
‘...very funny,’ Marcel said. ‘Clothes. I was going to say clothes. And for Michael it’s probably...’
‘Cars,’ Michael blurted out.
‘Our world’s changed the day we met.’ Marcel said.
Mohammad looked terrified. His joker expression had disappeared.
‘He’s right. And we can’t just sit here,’ Michael said. ‘Let’s stick to the plan. If the Sirani Foundation can fly us around the world at the drop of a hat, it can keep us in hiding just as easy. At least until we pull off this mission.’
Mohammad looked around the garden as if deep in appreciative thought for everything around him, like he didn’t want to lose it all. ‘You’re right,’ he said, getting up to his feet. He reached down to Marcel to help him stand up. ‘We’re going to kick some Mancini ass.’ As he pulled Marcel up off the grass, he let go of his hand, and Marcel fell back to the ground with a thump. ‘Got you, knob head!’ Mohammad screamed, sprinting off laughing.
‘What a jackass,’ Marcel groaned.
Michael, laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach, pulled Marcel up off the ground.
A short while later, Michael joined Alban at the helicopter as the pilot searched for a tracking device. Michael caught his reflection in the window and studied it. Falling into a trance, as if he had stepped out of his body, he watched as Angus Og, the God of Youth, Love and Beauty smiled at him. He had the urge to run away, but he’d lost control of his limbs. Angus spoke to Michael in Gaelic Irish and told him to stay strong for what lay ahead. A crow landed on the Irish god’s shoulder in the reflection. The bird flew towards Michael, coming through the window and landing on his shoulder. Michael snapped out of his trance. Angus was gone, but the crow remained on his shoulder.
‘You’ll be alright,’ Alban shouted, dragging Michael’s attention away from his reflection. He was playing with the radio, seemingly aware of Michael’s thoughts.
Michael just looked at the crow, speechless. The bird flew off.
Alban switched on the radio. ‘I’ve found what was tracking us.’ He
handed the device to Michael.
‘Sneaky little...’
He jumped out of the chopper just as Ajit came out of the basement, feeling groggy and weak at the knees after his experience in the reflection. Why was he seeing all the gods? Why couldn’t they come and help. It would make their lives much easier.
‘Finished,’ Ajit shouted. ‘I was quicker than I imagined. Larry had everything I needed. We are ready to kick the behind of bastard Mancini!’
‘I like your enthusiasm,’ Scarlett said, joining them. She sipped from an espresso cup. ‘But we have a while to wait.’
‘I’m going to take a nap, then,’ Mohammad said.
Chapter Four
THE TIME HAD ARRIVED. Alban filled the chopper with fuel. Larry checked the suits – for the seventh time – to be certain they all worked.
Ajit was irritable, his suit was too tight. ‘I hate this damn suit!’
‘It’s meant to be tight,’ Larry said. ‘You don’t want loose clothing getting snagged in the jungle. Come here, I’ll help you.’
‘Are we all connected to our own network?’ Ajit spoke up so everyone could hear. ‘You should all see the Sirani symbol at the top of your phone's screen.’ He looked at his to make sure.
‘Woah,’ Carolina said. ‘I’m impressed.’ She performed a jumping spinning hook kick, with her kicking foot a few inches above Marcel’s head.
Sofia was first in the chopper. ‘Let’s go find Eduardo!’ The rest followed her, trying to look brave. Ahmad, Ringo, Scarlett, and Alban followed.
They all laughed as Scarlett handed out Imodium pills. ‘Don’t worry; it’s just a precaution. Nerves will do that to you, and we don’t need anyone having, umm, emergencies.’