by Tony Batton
She turned to Tom. "Thank you."
"Thank me later. Worry about him first."
She nodded and moved herself between Tom and Bern.
The older man had rolled to his feet. "You can't win," Bern said, tilting his head to one side.
She smiled and leapt at him, twisting in the air, her movements almost impossible to follow. But he moved faster, catching her extended foot and throwing her over his shoulder. Alex landed with a roll and spun to face him. "OK, you're improving," she muttered. "That's a concern."
Bern snarled. "Let's just end this."
She swung her head around. "Do you know what one does when faced with an opponent who outmatches you in every way?"
"What?"
"Look for complications. Can you swim?"
"What?"
"Let's find out." She sprinted forward, diving low, and head-butted him. He staggered backwards, then her shoulder caught him in the stomach, and she picked him up like a sack of flour. Bern screamed in surprise, flailing, as she charged to the edge of the deck. He tried to hit her, to break free, but it was futile. Then she threw him over. He fell with a shriek that was lost in the wind.
Tom staggered towards her, tripping as he walked.
Alex smacked her hands together. "Can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. Sea temperature is about four degrees centigrade here. He'll be dead in two minutes." She looked over the side. "Always remember your environment in any fight."
"You think it'll be that easy?"
"What's he going to do? Fly back up? Now it's time we got out of here."
"How?"
"The same way I arrived. Trust me, we have a plan."
"We?"
"Let's keep that part a surprise."
One Hundred Nine
BERN FELL THROUGH THE COLD air. Alex's move had caught him completely off-guard. Such a simple idea, so quickly executed. Below him was an ocean of near freezing water and near-certain death. The suits had not been designed to work immersed in water. What would happen to the power supply? He had been guilty of a stupid mistake in assuming he was invincible.
He needed a solution. One of the upgrades Lentz had so unwittingly provided perhaps? Could he adjust the Resurface nanites to somehow produce a waterproof barrier? Could he signal his crew to rescue him? All of these thoughts rushed through his head, faster than he rushed through the air, but there was no time to do anything. He needed a miracle.
Deep inside the suit, something changed. There was the sense of a switch being thrown. It was as if the world was suddenly twisted into sharp, colourful focus. Suddenly he could feel the suit like it was part of him: its control systems, its architecture, its capabilities. The very idea that it could do only one thing at once was, he realised, laughable. All it needed was control and power.
And in his backpack was the Accumulator, all its near-limitless power at his disposal.
He could do anything.
Up on deck Tom watched as Alex tapped a code into a small communicator.
"Who are you calling?" he asked, staring around them.
"Our ride, but don't worry: it's a special paired communicator. No one can listen in."
"Does the ship feel different to you?"
"No, but it's about to look different." There was a heavy thump, as if something had hit the carrier. "What was that?"
Tom was about to say something when pain erupted in every part of him. He screamed in agony, falling to his knees. In front of him, a hand appeared over the edge of the deck. And then another. And then with the inevitability of a mountain, William Bern hauled himself back into view.
Alex stepped forward. "Not possible."
Bern stretched slowly, as if unkinking tired muscles. "I'm afraid it is. Tom will know what is going on, and I have him to thank for it. In more ways than one."
Tom closed his eyes. "The Interface."
"Now my control over the suit is truly sophisticated. Watch." He held out a hand and, across the deck, the broken metal strut twitched.
"Telekinesis?" Alex asked.
"No," Tom said, "magnetism. He's adjusting the properties in the suit's surface. It was one of Lentz's next-generation features." He coughed. "That was the loud thump: him clamping to the side of the ship."
Bern nodded. "Now I believe someone just tried to kill me. And that deserves a response." He ran at Alex.
Tom watched as she read his trajectory and began moving away, but then Bern's suit shimmered. He landed suddenly, his feet thudding down on the deck like they were vacuuming to it. Alex launched a blow, but Bern caught her arm and twisted sharply. There was a loud crack and Alex's face went white with fury. Bern extended his other hand away from her and the broken strut flew into it. He spun it in his hand then rammed it into Alex's shoulder.
She staggered backwards as Bern turned to Tom and closed his eyes.
Tom felt something inside him lurch. The damaged nanites within him were straining to the commands of a new master. He felt himself being forced into a kneeling position.
"Whose nanites are they now?" Bern asked.
"I don't care. I never wanted this."
"You have to play the hand you're dealt."
Tom looked up, trying to convey every drop of hatred he could muster over the overwhelming pain in his body. And then over Bern's shoulder he saw something. Something huge.
"Any final words?" Bern asked, his suit crackling with power. "Either of you?"
"Alex," Tom said, continuing to look behind Bern, "is that why you said we had to leave?"
Alex had her hand around the metal strut and was trying to pull it out. She gave a pained smile. With a hiss, she pulled the strut from her shoulder. The jet of blood that followed seemed to stop almost immediately.
"You really should look behind you," Tom told Bern.
Bern raised his hands. "What is this, a pantomime?"
A booming male voice reverberated around the deck. "THIS IS THE USS INIMITABLE HAILING UNDESIGNATED RUSSIAN-CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIER. YOU WILL SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR WE WILL--"
The voice was cut off suddenly to be replaced by a female one: "BERN, YOU BASTARD. YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO."
Bern gave a final glare at Alex and Tom, then spun, a smile appearing on his face. "Stephanie? Is that you?" He slowly raised his hands. "I surrender. As always you are completely in control."
Alex staggered over to Tom. "We need to get out of here. Now."
Tom nodded to the approaching warship. "Isn't it too late for that?"
She shook her head. "Trust me. Which might be difficult given I just did this to your father."
"What--?"
With a sharp thrust, she pushed Tom over the side. He plummeted downwards, hitting the blue-black water with an explosion of cold. His chest and head screamed, as he plunged below the surface, vaguely aware of someone else entering the water next to him.
And then it got really cold.
One Hundred Ten
THREE ATTACK HELICOPTERS HOVERED OVER the Phoenix Reborn. Beneath them, William Bern sat cross-legged, waiting. A larger, transport helicopter landed on the deck. Eight heavily-armed navy SEALS emerged and surrounded him, shouting instructions. Another transport helicopter landed at the other end of the flight deck. Twelve more SEALs poured forth and ducked below decks.
Bern raised his hands as two SEALS rushed forward to search him. He was cuffed with plastic ziplocks and guided towards the first transport helicopter. Truman and Reems stepped from it.
"Welcome aboard," Bern said, with a smile. "Quite a show of force."
Two jets screamed overhead, as if reinforcing the point.
"We don't want you to be under any illusions as to who is in control here, Mr Bern," Truman said.
"Being in control means not having to say it," Bern replied. "Stephanie, lovely to see you again. How have you been?"
She glared at him.
"We had a deal, Mr Bern," Truman said. "You reneged, to say the least."
"I doubt yo
u planned to honour your side of things. All you wanted was free access to my tech." He nodded to Reems. "Governments are all the same."
"You stole something from us," Truman said. "The Accumulator. We know you used your chameleon suit to frame Tom Faraday. Now where is the device because I'm guessing it wasn't destroyed in the Dome."
Reems cleared her throat. "More importantly, where is Tom? Did you get him out of there?"
"Indeed I did," Bern replied. "He's right--" He turned and frowned. "He was right here." He took a step back.
"Stay where you are," Truman said.
Bern turned to Reems. "You seem to be here as a passenger."
"This isn't my operation."
"Frustrating for you. Well, I did not steal the Accumulator. You might say I recovered it seeing as the CIA stole it from CERUS in the first place. The power cell is based on our nanotech."
"That's ridiculous. If you had designed it, you would have built your own."
"Exactly. Admittedly it was not operational at the time. Still, it took an insider to get it."
Reems coughed. "Truman, is this true?"
"Of course not," Truman said. "He's deranged."
Bern smiled. "So you don't know. But now you hear it, you think it might be true, don't you?"
Reems raised an eyebrow. "Is this why Banetti has been so sensitive?"
"We'll explore the details back in DC," Truman said.
"I don't think I want to go there," Bern said.
"What you want is irrelevant. Now are you going to tell us where the Accumulator is, or do we have to tear this ship apart? I'm getting weary."
"You're weary?" shouted Bern. "I'm the one who has put in all the preparation and planning. I have taken incredible ideas and made them reality: ideas so far ahead of their time, most people wouldn't even believe they were possible."
"Many people lost their lives," Reems said, "because of your research. Thankfully, that's all over now."
"Did you really think I'd have given up that easily, Stephanie, if I didn't have some further plan in reserve?"
"Everyone runs out of ideas eventually."
"Cling to that hope." Bern closed his eyes. "What's the melting point of nylon?"
There was an acrid smell then Bern's plastic cuffs fell to the deck, lying warped and melted. He stretched his arms slowly. Around him the eight SEALS raised their rifles. Bern lifted a hand, pointing at one of the SEALs. With a wrenching sound, the rifle flew out of the man's hands, hurtling through the air. Bern caught it neatly.
Truman backed up quickly as Bern shouldered the weapon and aimed it directly at Truman's face. "I have the Accumulator right here. And with it powering my suit I think you'll concede that I am the one in control."
One Hundred Eleven
TOM AWOKE IN PAIN. HE was also, perhaps surprisingly, alive. He was strapped to a metal bed, electrodes attached to his chest. Above him were strip-lights and a panelled ceiling. There was the dull heavy creak of metal under pressure in the air.
"What is going on?" he croaked.
"We're on a submarine," said a familiar voice. "Although you're a smart kid so you'd probably worked that out already."
A face loomed over him. Ice ran through his veins.
"Hello, Tom," said Peter Marron. "It's been a while." He held up a large syringe and smiled.
Tom tried to shrink back. "You've got to be--" The lights flickered.
"I know we've had our differences, but that's in the past. I'm actually trying to help you."
"He's telling the truth," said Alex, appearing next to her father.
"Then why am I strapped down?"
There was an odd look on Alex's face – something he hadn't seen there before: sadness. "It's so you don't hurt yourself." She placed her hand on his brow and he felt a powerful tingling sensation.
Tom strained against the straps, but they held firm. "Why would I hurt myself?"
"Because," said Marron, "we're going to treat you. And it requires a delicately placed injection."
Tom stared at the syringe Marron was holding up. A milky liquid was swirling inside.
"This," said Alex, "is the antidote."
"To the dark nano?"
"To everything," Alex said.
"I knew all Bern's plans," Marron said. "He didn't want to leave anyone with your abilities permanently. You should know what he's like by now. This injection contains specific time-limited nanites that will locate and dismantle any nano material inside you."
"Will it hurt?"
Marron laughed. "These are going to fight what's in you, so, yes, it will hurt. Like death. Fortunately you don't need to be conscious during the process. Once it starts, we're going to place you in an induced coma. If everything goes to plan you'll wake up a new man. At least a normal one."
"And how long will it take?"
"It'll be done when it's done. But it could easily be a number of weeks."
"So I just go to sleep and wake up when it's over."
"By which time we'll have sailed somewhere rather warmer. There's an island in the Pacific that we'd like to show you. Lovely white sand, crystal blue waters."
"And if it doesn't work?"
"Then you don't wake up."
Tom saw the lights flicker again, hissing with static. "It sounds risky."
Alex shook her head. "Worse. After that you'll be normal again."
Marron sighed. "If you don't get this treatment, you're going to die. The nanites inside you have mutated, glitched." He pointed at the lights. "You're doing that, Tom. It's like a random spasm: you can't control it. And it's going to get worse. It's started affecting our other equipment." He turned and tapped the display screen connected by wires to the electrodes on Tom's chest. "Above all, it's affecting you. You might not feel it yet, but your biochemical balance is off. Before long your brain will start to lose functional control of your body."
"I don't understand why you're helping me."
Marron leaned close. "It would be simpler just to shoot you, but my daughter seems to have become rather attached."
Alex pushed him away and placed her hand over Tom's heart. "I know the gift you gave me. I'm just so sorry that yours has been taken from you. If there were anything I could do to prevent you losing your Interface--"
"We've discussed this," Marron cut in. "Now we need to get this done and get out of here. We need to be safely out of range."
The lights turned off for nearly a full second. "Out of range of what?" Tom asked.
"You saw what Bern has become with that suit, your nanites and the Accumulator. He has to be stopped. So I left them a little parting gift, clamped to the outer hull."
Tom's eyes flared. "You mean another of your bombs."
"Fittingly, it's built around nanotechnology. We have to make sure Bern is eliminated. There can't be any possibility he survives."
"And to make sure you're going to kill everyone on that ship."
"Everyone on all the ships in the area, I expect. Can't be helped."
"But Lentz is there, and Kate and Reems." Tom looked at Alex. "You're just going to let him do this?"
"Necessary collateral damage." Alex frowned. "Besides, who is this Kate to you? She seems pretty ordinary."
Tom jerked against his straps again. "You can't just kill them all."
"What's your alternative?" Marron said calmly. "Are you going to head back up there and kill your father? Even if you could, and I doubt it, what would you do afterwards? Negotiate with the US and UK intelligence services to leave you alone?"
"I have to try and stop him." Tom grimaced as a wave of pain shot through him.
"Tom, you're sedated. If not, you'd be unconscious."
Tom shook his head frantically, then suddenly stilled. A smile spread across his face. "What if you gave me more nanites? Tantalus nanites. Ones not infected with the dark nano."
"We don't have any."
Tom looked at Alex. "Yes, we do."
One Hundred Twelve
REEMS WATCHED AS THE NAVY SEALs formed a circle around Bern, rifles aimed at him. Bern kept his own rifle aimed at Truman. Nobody moved.
"I'd like to speak with him," Reems said loudly, her voice echoing across the deck. "Before anyone does anything rash, I want to negotiate. Make him an offer that benefits everybody."
Bern nodded. "Lower your weapons and she can approach. I will do her no harm."
She walked up to him slowly, as an eerie silence descended on deck. The wind seemed to have died, as if they were in the eye of a storm. Reems patted her pocket.
"You're not just trying to stall?" Bern said.
"I thought you might want to explain the situation. I don't think our American friends have any idea, and I'd hate more people to die unnecessarily."
He tipped his head on one side. "All those times I 'died'. You never really believed it, did you?"
"It was less convincing after the first few occasions. Still, you did a good job of drawing other people into your web. Leskov Junior, for example."
"He wanted revenge. I was never going to persuade him otherwise, so I used it against him."
"How did you coordinate your escape? How on earth did you get Tom out from Northwell A? And where is Tom?"
"Your man Croft was my asset once I found the right lever: his daughter. And it doesn't matter where Tom is. His abilities are gone. His nanites are destroyed. I took everything I needed from him."
"You did quite a job of hiding the beta site."
"And the moment you find it, you destroy it. Well done."
"Not my plan. Anyway, why did you turn off the cloaking device on this ship when you'd all but escaped?"
"It wasn't my idea. But here we are." He folded his arms. "So what now? You said you had an offer for me."
"I do. A choice." She pulled something from her pocket: a round metal object with a pin and lever. "Do you know what this is?"
