Zero Hour

by Mark Walden

  He looked around the table at the other men and women. He could fully understand their nervousness but he was not really in the mood to debate the wisdom of his actions with them any longer. He would rather they stayed at H.I.V.E. as willing guests, but if it came to it he was quite prepared to force them to stay, whether they liked it or not.

  ‘So what is our next move?’ Joseph Wright asked. ‘Do we allow the Americans to deal with Overlord or should we take action against him?’

  ‘Reluctant as I am to admit it, we simply do not have enough information about what he is trying to achieve at the moment to make any sort of concerted move against him,’ Nero replied. ‘Once it becomes clear that the Americans have not been able to retrieve any of you, it will probably force his hand.’

  ‘So we simply wait and see,’ Lin Feng said impatiently. ‘Not what I would describe as decisive action.’

  ‘Perhaps you have an alternative suggestion?’ Nero said, looking Lin Feng in the eye. ‘If so, I would be delighted to hear it.’

  ‘Overlord is your mess, Nero,’ Lin Feng said with a sneer. ‘It was your project in the first place. I think it’s time you took some measure of responsibility for that.’

  ‘Do not worry,’ Nero said, staring back at him. ‘I am quite capable of eliminating any threat to this organisation, no matter where it may come from.’

  For a moment it looked like Lin Feng was about to reply but then he thought better of it.

  ‘Unless anyone has anything to add I suggest that you all get some rest. Quarters have been prepared and I trust you will find them sufficiently comfortable. We will reconvene when it becomes clearer what Overlord is planning next.’ Nero pressed a switch and Chief Lewis, the head of H.I.V.E. security, walked into the room. ‘Our security officers will escort you to your rooms. Chief, could I have a word with you, please?’

  Lewis walked over to Nero as the other members of the council filed out of the meeting room.

  ‘Keep a very close eye on them, Chief,’ Nero said with a slight frown. ‘I suspect we already have a wolf in the fold.’

  ‘Understood, sir,’ Lewis replied with a nod.

  ‘Remember to be discreet,’ Nero went on. ‘We have already ruffled their feathers by bringing them here. It would be preferable to not irritate them any further.’

  ‘They’ll never know we’re watching,’ Lewis replied confidently.

  ‘He did what?’ Laura whispered as she and Shelby walked down the corridor.

  ‘He kissed her,’ Shelby said, ‘or she kissed him. Franz seemed a bit confused about the specifics but there was definitely kissing, he seemed pretty clear about that. Afraid it looks like you might have missed your chance there, Brand.’

  ‘Why would I want to kiss Otto?’ Laura said indignantly. ‘We’re just friends.’

  ‘Course you are,’ Shelby reassured her, trying very hard not to smile. ‘So obviously this shouldn’t bother you at all.’

  ‘Of course not,’ Laura replied, blushing slightly. ‘He can kiss whoever he wants – I couldn’t care less. See? This is me not caring. I am a person without care. Clear?’

  ‘Crystal,’ Shelby said. ‘Look, here he comes. Remember to look carefree.’

  Otto and Wing were walking down the corridor towards them. Otto saw Shelby grinning at him and winced, feeling his cheeks grow hot again.

  ‘Well, if it isn’t the Smoochmeister!’ Shelby announced as the boys approached.

  ‘Could you kill me painlessly right now?’ Otto said to Wing with a sigh.

  ‘Of course,’ Wing replied, smiling, ‘if that is what you truly wish.’

  ‘You didn’t really expect Franz to keep this quiet, did you?’ Shelby said happily.

  ‘I was hoping he might,’ Otto replied.

  ‘And look! Who’s that over there?’ Shelby cried, pointing down the corridor to where Lucy and Nigel were walking towards them chatting. ‘Don’t worry,’ she whispered, ‘I won’t say anything.’

  ‘Really?’ Otto said hopefully.

  ‘Trust me,’ Shelby said. ‘Your secret is safe with me.’

  Lucy and Nigel walked up to them and Otto felt a sudden overwhelming urge to be just about anywhere else but right there.

  ‘Hey, Lucy,’ Shelby greeted her. ‘How you feeling?’

  ‘Fine,’ Lucy replied with a slight frown as she noticed that Otto was trying not to make eye contact and Laura appeared to be looking at her like something she might find on the bottom of her shoe. ‘Why?’

  ‘No reason,’ Shelby said. ‘I just wondered if you might be feeling a little bit tired after last night’s epic make-out session.’

  Otto decided it would be just fine if the volcano that housed the school erupted at that precise instant. At least it would all be over quickly.

  ‘Otto!’ Lucy said, blushing. ‘You didn’t have to tell everyone.’

  ‘I didn’t!’ Otto insisted. ‘Well, only Wing . . . and then Franz overheard and – well . . .’

  ‘Hey, don’t worry about it – I think you make a lovely couple,’ Shelby remarked with a grin, putting an arm around each of their shoulders and walking them off down the corridor. ‘Now, would you prefer me to pick out curtains or are you happy doing that yourselves?’

  ‘I’m going to the library – some of us have actually got school work to do,’ Laura snapped as she watched the three of them leave. She stormed off, muttering under her breath.

  ‘What was all that about?’ Nigel asked, looking slightly confused.

  ‘Let’s just say that life at H.I.V.E. just got a little more complicated,’ Wing replied. ‘If that’s possible.’

  Chief Lewis sat in H.I.V.E.’s security control centre watching the feeds from the cameras installed in the guest quarters. There had been nothing approximating suspicious behaviour from the members of the ruling council – if anything, they just looked bored. Some were working at the terminals in their rooms, some were asleep and a couple were reading. He turned his attention to the latest patrol schedule and was about to begin modifying some of the guard rotations when one of the feeds blinked out. He quickly checked which room had gone dark and cursed under his breath.

  ‘Lin Feng,’ he murmured. It might be nothing, just a glitch with the pinhead camera installed in the room, but Nero would have his hide if he didn’t make sure. He checked the charge level of the Sleeper stun gun in the holster on his hip and hurried out. When he was halfway to Feng’s room his Blackbox communicator made an urgent beeping sound. He pulled it out and quickened his pace as he saw the message flashing on the screen.

  UNAUTHORISED SECURITY SYSTEM ACCESS IN ROOM 56-GAMMA.

  As he ran down the corridor leading to Lin Feng’s room he pulled his Sleeper from its holster. He reached the door and slapped his palm against the scanner, raising his pistol as it hissed open. Raven stood over Lin Feng’s body, a blood-red stain spreading across the white material of his shirt. She slid the glowing blade of her katana back into one of the crossed sheaths on her back and glanced over at Lewis.

  ‘Took your time, Chief,’ she said calmly. ‘You’d better check what he was up to.’

  Lewis walked over to the terminal and punched in his clearance code, quickly scanning the status of H.I.V.E.’s security systems. Everything seemed to be normal – whatever Lin Feng had been trying to do, Raven must have got to him just in time.

  ‘Everything looks OK,’ he said with a relieved sigh. ‘Looks like Nero was right about him.’

  ‘He died a traitor’s death,’ Raven said as she stepped up to Lewis and looked over his shoulder. ‘I just wish I’d been quick enough to stop him before he killed you.’

  ‘What are you –’

  Raven grabbed Lewis’s head and twisted it sharply, breaking his neck and killing him instantly. She let go and his lifeless body collapsed to the floor, then calmly stepped over the body and quickly began typing commands into the terminal’s keyboard. A message popped up on the screen.

  EXTERNAL DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS DEACTIVATED. AL
L REMOTE ACCESS TO H.I.V.E.MIND BLOCKED.

  Raven pulled a small handset from her tactical harness and spoke into it.

  ‘This is Raven. H.I.V.E.’s defences are offline. You may begin your attack.’

  ‘We just lost radar,’ a guard at one of the terminals in the security control centre announced.

  ‘Defensive weaponry’s down too,’ a voice shouted.

  ‘External cameras offline,’ another guard reported. ‘We’re blind here.’

  The duty officer pulled out his Blackbox and called Chief Lewis, but there was no reply.

  ‘H.I.V.E.mind,’ the duty officer said, ‘get me Doctor Nero.’

  ‘Crater doors are opening,’ another guard shouted.

  ‘What the hell is going on?’ the duty officer snapped.

  ‘We’ve got system failures across the board.’

  ‘Sound the general alarm!’ the duty officer shouted. ‘We’re under attack.’

  Wing headed down the corridor towards the Alphas’ first lesson of the day in the Science and Technology department. As he rounded the corner he saw Otto approaching, staring at the floor, apparently lost in thought.

  ‘I see you escaped from Shelby,’ Wing said as he reached his friend. ‘How are you doing?’

  ‘I’ve had better mornings,’ Otto said with a sigh. ‘I don’t think Lucy’s very happy with me.’

  ‘I’m sorry. If I had noticed that Franz was there perhaps I could have –’

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ Otto said quickly, cutting him off. ‘Besides, you know what this place is like – everyone would have found out sooner or later anyway. It was just embarrassing, that’s all.’

  ‘Do you regret it?’ Wing asked as they continued walking together.

  ‘Regret what?’ Otto asked with a slight frown.

  ‘What happened with Lucy. Do you regret it?’

  ‘No, at least I don’t think so. But it was just one kiss and now everyone’s got us down as an item. I don’t know what to think, to be honest,’ Otto replied.

  ‘You can tell me to mind my own business if you want, but I think you should perhaps speak to Laura,’ Wing said as they approached the classroom.

  ‘Really? Why?’

  ‘I think she is rather upset about what happened,’ Wing said, looking at Otto.

  ‘I didn’t mean to upset her,’ Otto said with a sigh. ‘It’s not like I planned this, you know – it just kind of happened.’

  ‘It is not me you need to explain that to, my friend,’ Wing said, placing his hand on Otto’s shoulder.

  They walked into the classroom and Otto saw Laura standing on her own at one of the nearby workbenches. He walked towards her and she looked up with a slight frown as he approached.

  ‘Hi,’ Otto said, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. ‘Listen, I’m sorry about this morning. I was going to tell you but –’

  ‘It’s none of my business,’ Laura said, continuing to arrange the apparatus on the bench in front of her. ‘It really doesn’t make any difference to me what you and Lucy get up to.’ She paused for a moment and then looked at him. ‘It’s just . . .’

  ‘Just what?’ Otto asked as she hesitated.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said, shaking her head slightly.

  ‘Tell me,’ Otto said.

  ‘It’s just not what I expected, OK?’ Laura said quickly.

  ‘What do you mean? What were you expecting?’ Otto asked.

  ‘Something else,’ she said quietly as Shelby, Lucy, Franz and Nigel walked into the room chatting happily. ‘If you don’t mind, I’m going to ask Shel to be my lab partner today.’

  ‘Laura –’ Otto began, but she cut him off.

  ‘I’m sure you can find someone else to pair up with,’ she said, glancing over at Lucy. Otto stood there for a moment trying to think of something to say.

  ‘Hey, guys,’ Shelby said cheerily as she walked towards them. ‘Everything OK?’

  ‘Yup,’ Laura said with a smile. ‘Do you think you could give me a hand with this?’

  ‘Sure, as long as I’m not breaking up the junior brainiac club,’ Shelby said, looking puzzled. Otto shook his head slightly and gestured for Shelby to take his usual place at the workbench before walking over to where Lucy was sitting.

  ‘You OK?’ Shelby asked Laura.

  ‘Not really,’ Laura replied.

  Lucy smiled at Otto as he sat on the stool next to hers.

  ‘What’s up?’ she asked, noting his worried expression.

  ‘I dunno,’ Otto said. ‘It’s Laura. She’s angry with me and I’m not really sure why.’

  ‘You know, it’s just like I said last night,’ Lucy said with a sigh. ‘Smart but dumb – that’s your problem.’

  Otto was just about to ask her what she meant when sirens began to wail all over the school.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Lucy asked, raising her voice so that she could be heard over the alarm.

  ‘Nothing good,’ Otto said with a frown.

  ‘Stay calm, everyone,’ Professor Pike shouted from the far end of the room. ‘No need to panic.’

  He pulled out his Blackbox and gave it a puzzled look. Internal communications were down. He moved to the terminal on his desk and tried to access the school’s network, but there was no response. All access to H.I.V.E.mind had been blocked, even to someone with his level of security access. Something was very wrong.

  The door to the lab hissed open and Raven walked in.

  ‘Malpense, Fanchu, Dexter, Trinity, Brand – with me!’ she barked. ‘Professor, keep the rest of the students here. The school is under attack.’

  Otto and the others walked quickly over to her.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Otto asked as she ushered them all out of the door.

  ‘To a secure area,’ Raven replied. ‘I’ll explain everything when we get there. Now move!’

  Nero ran into the security control centre and found a scene of chaos.

  ‘Report!’ he snapped at the duty officer.

  ‘We’ve lost all external sensors and our defences are offline,’ the man replied. ‘Communications are down and we can’t find Chief Lewis.’

  ‘How the hell did this happen?’ Nero barked as he studied the bank of monitors that were still displaying images from H.I.V.E.’s internal security cameras.

  ‘We have no idea, sir,’ the duty officer replied, shaking his head. ‘Access to H.I.V.E.mind has been shut down – we can’t even find out how our systems were breached.’

  ‘Oh my God!’ cried a technician on the other side of the room and Nero looked at the screen he was pointing at. Several helicopters were dropping into the crater landing bay, dozens of heavily armed troops in black body armour dropping down the zip lines that hung beneath them.

  ‘Get every guard in the school up there now,’ Nero commanded. ‘I’ll reinitialise the security system and lock us down, but it will take a couple of minutes. You have to hold them back until then.’

  The duty officer nodded and ran out of the room with the rest of the guards who had been on duty in the control centre. Nero ran to one of the nearby terminals and brought up the security system access screen. He quickly typed in his master override code but found to his dismay that even he had been locked out.

  ‘That’s impossible,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘The only way someone could have changed my access code is if they knew it already, and the only person who has that code other than me is . . .’

  He felt a chill run down his spine. There was only one other person he had ever trusted with H.I.V.E.’s master override code – someone whose loyalty was unquestionable. He looked again at the bank of monitors and saw a group of Alpha students being herded down a corridor on the other side of the school by a familiar figure.

  ‘Natalya,’ Nero said, his voice a shocked whisper.

  g

  Chapter Four

  ‘Um, I don’t want to be a pain, but we appear to be running towards the gunfire,’ Otto said with a frow
n as Raven and the five Alphas jogged down the corridor. There was no mistaking the fact that the sounds of pitched battle somewhere ahead were getting louder.

  ‘Not now, Malpense,’ Raven snapped.

  Otto noticed something strange in Raven’s tone. Admittedly she had never been the easiest person to get along with – she was, after all, reputed to be the world’s deadliest assassin – but there was something unusually cold in the way that she’d replied to him. Suddenly there was a soft beeping sound and she pulled a small communicator from her harness. Otto noticed that it was not her Blackbox.

  ‘Raven here,’ she said.

  ‘Do you have an ETA?’ the unfamiliar voice on the other end asked.

  ‘Two minutes,’ she replied. ‘Prep the chopper for lift-off.’ She snapped the communicator closed.

  ‘We’re leaving the island?’ Laura asked, looking both puzzled and slightly worried. ‘Where are you taking us?’

  ‘Enough questions,’ Raven snapped. ‘You will do as you’re told or you will quickly discover that the consequences for doing otherwise are extremely unpleasant.’ She took a single step towards Laura, her expression enough to freeze the blood.

  ‘OK, OK. I was just asking,’ Laura said quietly, shrinking away from her.

  The alarm bells in Otto’s head suddenly started to ring more urgently. He had seen Raven in situations like this before and the one thing you could be sure of was that she would never lose her cool.

  ‘Why are we the only ones being evacuated?’ Otto asked quickly. ‘Why not any of the other students?’

  Raven turned towards him, the anger in her expression now very clear.

  ‘Oh, I don’t need all of you, Otto,’ she said with a nasty smile. ‘In fact I just want you, but this way I’ve got four chances to demonstrate what will happen if you don’t do what you’re told.’