by Tony Batton
"Yes, Sir," said the first man. "All fuelled up. The equipment you specified is on board."
"Good. You can leave now." In his coat pocket, Croft felt the heft of his automatic pistol.
The second man frowned. "Sir, surely you're not going out alone? Protocol states that--"
"The mission is classified, soldier. I can't tell you any more."
"If that's the case," said the first man, "we'd still expect confirmation of orders from our CO."
Croft held his breath, his fingers brushing the stock of the pistol. "Why don't we get Director Reems on the line, so you can tell her why you're defying my direct order." He watched as they considered this. Had he played it too strong? He just needed them out of the way, so he could load his cargo onto the boat. He felt a trickle of sweat on his scalp, and his fingers tightened on his weapon.
"That's OK, Sir," said the first man. "I'm just going to note this conversation in my report. I trust that will be in order."
"I'd expect nothing less," Croft replied.
The two men glanced at each other, gave a quick salute, then moved away.
Croft watched them run to a Jeep and drive off. He waited five minutes, but they did not return. Nodding to himself, he turned back to the van. Inside, bound securely, was the heavily sedated form of his cargo.
Tom Faraday.
Sixty-Seven
LENTZ PUSHED OPEN THE DOOR, holding the rifle prominently. "Are you alone?"
Kate put her hands on her hips. "What the hell is that for? And of course I'm alone. I need to speak to you."
"I've had the kind of twenty-four hours where I'm questioning a lot of things. Like why not speak to me at the office?"
"Because it couldn't wait. Geraldine was murdered." Kate blinked rapidly, her voice oddly uneven. "Then the same guy came after me."
"You mean Sharp? He was here too." Lentz shook her head. "I'm so sorry about Geraldine. Completely senseless."
"I agree. But I don't think it's over."
Lentz dropped the rifle to her side. "You'd better come in."
They descended to her workshop. Kate collapsed onto the sofa, rubbing her legs.
"How did you get here?" Lentz asked. "I didn't see your car."
"I've been doing my best to lie low. I took the train, then a cab to the village. From there I walked." She rubbed her feet. "It took nearly two hours."
"Have you heard from Tom?"
"No." Kate narrowed her eyes. "Why? Have you?"
"I saw him yesterday." Lentz hesitated. "He was here with Alex."
"He was what? I thought that bitch was dead."
"No, she's very much alive. And they were working together."
Kate screwed up her face. "That makes absolutely zero sense. She tried to kill him! More than once! And she murdered Jo."
"Technically it was another henchman that killed Jo... Look, I didn't believe it either, but they left together to rescue Marron."
Kate appeared to choke. "And you didn't try to stop them?"
"Alex said he had information they needed about the location of the CERUS beta site. Where we believe Bern has gone."
"And did they get to Marron?"
"Things got... complicated. While Tom was at Northwell A this evening, the site was destroyed by an explosion."
Kate's eyes widened. "You're not saying that he...."
"Is dead? Reems thinks so."
"I'm hoping there's a 'but'."
Lentz gave a faint smile. "I know he's alive. I have a way of contacting him. A one-to-one comms channel that uses his Interface." Before Kate could speak, she raised a hand. "He made me swear to keep it secret."
"So where is he?"
"I can't get a reply – probably because he's unconscious. The system doesn't tell me his location."
"You mean someone has him."
"That would be my guess. I just have no idea who. And, unfortunately, I have no leads."
Kate looked at her fingernails. "Maybe I do."
Lentz listened as Kate told of her discovery about Bern's lawyer. "What are MI5 these days?" she said, after Kate had finished. "A bunch of amateurs?"
"To be fair, Fiona Farrow checked out on the law firm website – but they obviously didn't take the trouble to actually go to her firm, like I did. She presumably never tried to smuggle anything to him, nor did anything else to raise suspicion."
"So who is she?"
"That's why I came to you. I thought you might come up with some clever way of finding her."
"From what? Do you have a photo?"
"A splendid profile from the website."
Lentz gave a muted laugh. "It's not exactly a lot to search on."
"Hey, you're supposed to be the genius. My job is simply to dig up interesting facts. Then you can work some magic."
Sixty-Eight
THEY HAD PASSED THE FIRST of the ice floes several hours back, the submarine slowing to negotiate them. Its hull was strengthened to navigate such waters, but cruising underwater at anything approaching full speed would still have been a risk. Its passenger may have been frustrated, but then it was a journey he had waited twelve months to make: even so, Bern knew he would have to put up with waiting a little longer.
The captain was relying entirely on his instruments as he tracked the coast of North East Canada. The sun had risen several hours ago, but remained low on the horizon, fiery red but weak. They passed Newfoundland and finally made progress up the Davis Strait, with Greenland far to the east. They had seen no other vessels, but then they were way off regular routes – which was exactly why the location had been chosen. If they had surfaced, they would have seen a humpback whale breaking the surface two hundred metres to starboard. Tourists travelled from all over the world to see such a sight, but the vessel's passengers were focused purely on their destination.
Eventually the captain located the beacon: a single, low frequency pulse, faint and highly directional. They were only five kilometres out. They surfaced. The coast looked white and featureless, rocky crags covered with ice and snow, the dock hidden from sight. The captain made a last course adjustment, then announced their imminent arrival over the intercom.
Bern, wrapped in cold-weather gear, emerged onto the viewing deck and stared towards the approaching cliffs. Last year so much had gone right, and then everything had gone wrong. He had failed to plan for two things – that Dominique Lentz was still alive, and that his son would prove so... capable. But now he had a second chance. Whatever happened, whatever the complications, he would not fail.
His thoughts turned to Fabienne, who was completing her preparations below decks. Smart and wise beyond her years, resourceful, and incredibly persuasive: he couldn't have done this without her, nor would he be able to complete the crucial final stages. He almost felt he could trust her.
The cliffs steadily drew nearer, but still nothing was visible. Nobody was going to find this place unless he wanted them to. They rounded a cliff and a small harbour was revealed; on one side a small metal jetty ended in a set of metal steps, leading up to a tunnel opening. No technology had been used to hide it: Mother Nature had done the job well enough.
The submarine powered its thrusters and manoeuvred alongside the dock. Two men appeared from the cave and began tying the vessel up. Bern smiled and made his way to the gang plank. Waiting was a familiar face, almost hidden in the hood of a parker jacket.
"Good to see you, Mr Bern," Brody said. "It's been a while."
"Longer than I'd anticipated." Bern stepped ashore. "How are our plans progressing?"
"The labs are in overdrive analysing the item." Brody motioned that they should start walking. "And we are making preparations for our various guests."
"What about the suits?"
Brody reached the metal steps and paused. "The operating system update has been broadcast, so they're already significantly enhanced. But the possibility of solving the power-consumption issue is getting the development team quite excited."
"What abo
ut security?"
"The usual systems are in place, plus we have a team of six in suits at all times. This site is almost impossible to find and incredibly difficult to reach. We're not going to be taken by surprise."
Bern stopped walking and turned to him. "The worst dangers usually come from within. Nevertheless, if someone does find us, then we need to be ready. And, as history has shown us, it's always a mistake to rely too much on automated systems."
"So you're concerned about..." Brody trailed off and looked over Bern's shoulder. "Good to see you, Ms Fox."
Fabienne was stepping ashore. She walked over and slid an arm through Bern's. "Exciting times, Mr Brody. I trust we are ready for William's arrival?"
Brody nodded, lowering his gaze.
"Good, because I..." She frowned and pointed behind them.
Bern turned and saw six men at the top of the metal stairs. Five of them were huge and muscular. They all raised handguns and pointed them at Bern.
"What is going on?" he asked.
The smallest man smiled, and spoke in a thick Russian accent: "I never thought I'd see the day." He hurried down the stairs, followed by his men, and jabbed Bern in the chest with his handgun. "Do you know who I am?"
"Someone with an overstated idea of his own importance."
The man swung sharply and punched Bern in the stomach. It was the easy swing of a man used to hitting people and not getting hit back. Bern doubled over in pain. The man kicked him hard, then again. Bern gasped.
"That is not for my father," growled the man. "That is just my way of introduction. Vengeance for my father will come later. But, first, we have something for you to do. Because my name is Andrei Leskov. And you are not in charge anymore."
Sixty-Nine
LENTZ HAD TAKEN THE PHOTO of Fiona Farrow and run it through a suite of image processors and enhancers. Then she had co-opted MI5's databases and started running an analysis. So far no match had been found.
"How long is this going to take?" Kate asked.
"We have to be patient."
"But it will find her?"
Lentz shrugged. "This only shows people with criminal records or those suspected of criminal activity. She may not be on it."
Kate rubbed her eyes, staring at the screen as image after image flickered by. "Can we search more broadly?"
"A worldwide database of faces doesn't exist, whatever the media might have you believe. Or at least, the British government don't have one." Lentz paused. "You know, I can't get over how she looks a little familiar."
"I thought that. But maybe that's just a look some people have." Kate puffed out her cheeks. "I saw Tom a week ago. In London."
"You never said."
"He didn't look well. A year of living with the Interface has taken its toll. I felt like I didn't know him."
"Things have got a lot worse in a week. He's been injected with... we're calling it dark nano. Nanites hostile to his, designed to counter the Tantalus nanites." Lentz stood up and walked over to a centrifuge, pulling a test tube out and holding it up. "I took a sample of his blood, but I'm not making much headway analysing it."
"Who would have...?" Kate blinked rapidly, then held up her hand, rippling her fingers. "Did you feel that?"
"What?"
"A buzz of static."
"Where? In the air?"
"I... I don't know. You were saying?"
Lentz held out the test tube. "Whoever designed this had full access to--"
Kate closed her eyes. "There it is again."
Lentz frowned, looking at the test tube. Then she took a step towards Kate, holding the test tube in front of her.
"Again," Kate said. "Am I going crazy?"
Lentz shook her head. "No. I think this is craziness on a much larger scale."
Lentz ran a number of tests. "You can sense the dark nano," she said finally.
Kate shook her head. "I'm not just imagining it?"
"We've tried it enough times to be sure. The reaction is specific."
"But how?"
"I don't know. Have you felt like this before today?"
"When I met with Tom, I felt something. It wasn't as pronounced, but when I touched his hand, I got a static shock. Was I detecting something in him?" Her face fell. "Or did he do something to me?"
"The latter is very unlikely." Lentz hesitated. "At least, I don't think he would have done anything intentionally."
"Could it have anything to do with the truth nano that Marron injected me with?"
"At this stage, I'm not ruling anything out--"
The computer chimed, distracting them both. It displayed a 'NO MATCH FOUND' message.
"What if she showed up on CCTV footage?" Kate said. "Near the law firm. Or where Bern was being detained?"
Lentz shook her head. "If I'd known in advance, maybe I could have traced her. But now the digital trail will be pretty cold. Even if we found her, what would we do?"
"Track her movements?"
"Perhaps. It wouldn't give us what we're hoping for. It would be easier to trace her mobile. Although of course we don't have it."
Kate snapped her fingers. "Or maybe we do. Her details were listed on the law firm website."
Lentz raised an eyebrow. "You think she'd list her actual phone there."
"She would need to be contactable. Even if she didn't have it on her all the time, she'd have to have used it while coming and going from the jail."
"You know that's just dumb enough that it might actually work." Lentz slid over to the nearest computer and pulled up a browser. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. "Come on, Fiona. Let's see who you really are."
They tracked the cell phone. Lentz discovered the woman had spent half an hour before each meeting at a cafe a short walk from the jail. Scanning the area identified there were three CCTV cameras to choose from and, using an MI5 hack, Lentz accessed footage from all of them. She got a much clearer photo, including one with the woman vanishing into a bathroom, where she apparently removed a wig, turning a mid-length blonde bob into dark hair that fell over her shoulders. The change was dramatic.
"This should have a much better chance of a match..." Lentz stared at the image. "Felicia Hallstein," muttered Kate.
"She's been at CERUS for most of the past year. God knows what she's been doing."
"I presume you ran background checks?"
"Clearly they were flawed. We have to find her."
"She'll be long gone. With Bern, I assume."
"Maybe that's exactly what we want."
"I don't follow."
Lentz rewound the CCTV footage. "Look at that." On screen a man in a suit came and sat next to Hallstein, spoke to her for a few moments, then handed over two phones, while taking hers. "One of them is a sat phone. Maybe I can run a trace."
"You can track a sat phone?"
"If it's used to make calls and you have direct access to a satellite." Lentz smiled. "Which we do."
"Don't you need to have its number?"
"Most sat phones aren't military - they run on a commercial service. But very few people use them. All I need to do is get into a few systems and find which sat phones were used at that time and place. Not entirely straightforward. But entirely doable."
Kate raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't want to get in your way."
"It's best not to try."
Seventy
REEMS, NOW DRESSED IN PROTECTIVE overalls, stepped through the charred ruins of Northwell A. There were minor injuries amongst the MI5 team, who had fled the site at the last minute, but they had all got out alive. All except for Croft and Faraday.
Truman walked over to where she stood, wearing similar protective clothing. "I'm sorry about the loss of your people," he said, his expression flat. "Someone's obviously trying to clean house."
"I agree. But who? Bern? Leskov?"
"I have no intel on that."
"Then, what we do have, we should share." Reems reached into the small backpack she was carrying. She removed a
tablet computer and handed it to Truman. "It's a short brief on Project Tantalus. I've been authorised to disclose it as a gesture of cooperation."
Truman scrolled through the document. "My information just said it was an implant to control a helicopter. But this goes fundamentally further."
"We've not been able to verify whether it works because every test subject except one died. That survivor has spent the last twelve months avoiding us."
"Obviously Tom Faraday."
"He demonstrated some extraordinary abilities in the brief time we could observe him, but it seems now Marron's daughter may also have the tech in her. We're not clear how."
"Can she do the same things he could?"
"I'd love to ask her. I have teams searching in every direction but we've found nothing."
"So why did the assassin plant a bomb? There are cleaner ways to kill."
"Maybe he didn't? Maybe Alex brought it with her." Reems shook her head. "Your people have picked up nothing further of Bern?"
"You want us to trawl the ocean to see if we can find his body?"
Reems looked at him. "You won't find him there. Because he's not dead."
"You're convinced of that?"
"You would have had satellites overhead? What did they show?"
"Nothing. We've already reviewed the footage."
"What about for the hours before and after the explosion?"
"What are you thinking happened? Are you suggesting he had some sort of submersible waiting for him?"
"I don't know. But somewhere there's a clue. We just haven't found it yet."
Truman narrowed his eyes. "I'll make some calls." He stepped away.
