Fading Light

by Nick Cook

  I glanced back at Dad. He was writing something down in a notebook. New formulas, ideas on how to break reality, building a time machine…who knew? Meanwhile, Clarke was scanning the crowds around them with a scowl on his face. The scientist in a world of his own and a police officer doing what police officers did.

  I dipped my chin towards Claire. ‘I’m going to miss Allan. He was like a dad to me.’

  She nodded. ‘That doesn’t surprise me in the least. Although I hadn’t seen him in years, he was always such a kind man. A bit gruff on the surface sometimes, but such a big softy on the inside. I remember at Martin’s funeral –’ she glanced back and shook her head – ‘how Allan said he was going to do everything he could for you as you grew up.’

  ‘He always, always did…’

  Claire seemed so easy to talk to. I couldn’t believe I was opening up to her like this. In a way, she reminded me of Mum, even though I’d been too young when she’d died to remember her properly, apart from her big smile and infectious laugh. Claire had those too.

  A flicker of darkness moved outside beyond the reflections in the window. I peered harder, instinctively trying to drop into the Shadowlands. Instead, I felt the now familiar throb of pain inside my skull.

  ‘What is it?’ Chloe turned to look out at the bustling crowds.

  ‘I thought I saw something.’

  ‘A Shade creature?’

  I shook my head. ‘I don’t know – but I wouldn’t be able to see them, thanks to Gemma. It was probably just a pigeon flying past.’

  Claire sighed. ‘This world that you’ve been dropped into is all so incredible. I don’t know how you cope.’

  ‘I don’t always…’

  Outside, a tour guide was herding a group of Chinese tourists towards one of the Royal Festival Hall’s entrances. Behind them, a grey-haired old man shuffled through the crowds.

  With a last swirl of music, the jazz band stopped playing and applause rippled through the bar.

  ‘Let’s get back to the others,’ Claire said. ‘In all the chaos, I forgot to tell you all about something that happened at the lab where I work…’

  As we approached the table, I couldn’t help but notice the way that Claire’s face seemed to light up she when she saw Dad…and his too. There was definitely some sort of spark between them. Maybe she was an old flame. Although, it was hard to imagine Dad with anyone else except Mum.

  Clarke looked up at Claire as we sat. ‘I thought a certain lovely lady had promised me a fine Irish whiskey?’

  ‘Oh, sorry, we got side-tracked. I’ll make it a double in a minute. But first, I was just saying to Jake that something happened at work that could be relevant to what’s been going on.’

  ‘Which was?’ Sentinel asked.

  ‘Some men turned up at my lab last week,’ Claire replied. ‘They waved some MI5 ID cards in my face and muttered something about the Official Secrets Act. They demanded all my records about your DEC experiment, Martin. They then made me delete all my own files about the project, fobbing me off with something about it being in the interests of national security.’

  Clarke shook his head. ‘I can almost guarantee that they weren’t from MI5, but from an outfit called Genesis Security.’

  ‘Genesis Security?’ Claire asked.

  ‘They’re effectively the front-line human troops for the Shade,’ Sentinel said from the phone.

  ‘I see…’ Kelly sat back and took a long sip of her champagne. ‘I should have been more suspicious. And I should have been even more apprehensive about the official story regarding what really happened with the original DEC experiment, Martin. But Dave was so convincing about everything at that damned enquiry.’

  ‘He had us all fooled, but of course he’d been infected too,’ Dad said.

  ‘It’s hard to know who to trust at the moment, especially anyone in government,’ I added.

  ‘Well, if there’s anyone I would trust in this situation, it’s a retired general called Hammond,’ Claire replied.

  Clarke’s eyes narrowed. ‘What, that maverick in the House of Lords? The one who is always giving the government a hard time?’

  ‘That’s the one. If part of the government has been corrupted, he’s just the man to deal with it. He’s very influential and does lots of charity work too – a good man through and through. Even if he can’t do anything directly, he’ll certainly know the people who can.’

  ‘Sounds a useful man to know,’ Clarke said.

  ‘He is.’

  Outside, heavy rain started to pour down the windows. People began hurrying past while raising their umbrellas.

  ‘I thought we were sitting in the eye of the storm, Sentinel,’ I asked.

  ‘You’re right, Jake, and this is very odd. According to the forecasts I’ve just checked online, we should only be seeing clear skies currently. That suggests something may have changed and their new DEC could now be operational. I’m still not detecting any disruption to the data network in London, but that’s almost certainly just a matter of time.’

  ‘In that case, it’s even more urgent that we get Waverider fixed,’ Dad said.

  Claire’s focus tightened on a spot over Dad’s shoulder. ‘That’s odd – I saw that old man near our offices earlier today.’

  I glanced around and spotted the man I’d seen outside. Under the indoor lights, I could take a proper look at him. As I watched, he straightened up from a bent position. Although still grey-haired, he looked much younger…and very familiar.

  ‘That’s Mathews!’ I said. ‘That’s who I saw in Big Ben! Try not to attract his attention.’

  Clarke nodded, his hand moving beneath his jacket.

  ‘Who?’ Claire asked.

  ‘The man who posed as a priest and abducted Gemma,’ I replied.

  Claire put her hand over her mouth. ‘This is all my fault. He must have followed me from work and I led him right to you.’

  ‘No, I’m to blame for this,’ Sentinel said. ‘I should have realised that Archios would work out we’d try to contact someone Martin knew. He’s obviously keeping all likely contacts under surveillance.’

  ‘So what are we going to do?’ Dad asked.

  ‘We need to get back to Waverider and repair it as quickly as possible. That has to be the priority,’ I said.

  He nodded. ‘Claire, did you get those spare parts I asked for?’

  She tapped her shoulder bag. ‘Yes. I raided the lab stores before I came here.’

  A loud gabble of Chinese voices filled the room as the tour guide, followed by her group, swept into the middle of the bar area, blocking Mathews’s view of us.

  ‘We need to slip out before he spots us,’ Clarke said. ‘The problem is, he’s bound to be watching the exits.’

  ‘OK, I’ve got an idea. Just stick with me,’ I said.

  ‘Which is?’ Clarke said.

  ‘Just follow my lead.’

  Using the huddle of tourists as cover, I herded our group towards the musicians as they finished packing their instruments away. At that moment, with another flurry of Chinese, the tour guide pointed her umbrella forward and ushered her group to move.

  Mathews glanced at the table where we’d been sitting a moment ago.

  ‘Too close,’ Claire whispered to me.

  The band shook hands with one of the bar staff. Waving, the musicians began to lug their instruments towards the exit.

  ‘Here we go,’ I said.

  I made sure I kept the band between our group and Mathews, as we tracked them towards the nearest exit.

  My pulse raced as we reached the doors, expecting a shouted challenge at any moment.

  The musician at the front pushed the door open. He was talking and laughing over his shoulder to the saxophonist when a large woman, clutching a broken umbrella over her head, rushed in from the pouring rain outside.

  It all played out in slow motion then… The woman crashing into the musician and knocking him flying…his large double bass case skidding
away across the floor, squealing…the absolute hush that fell over the room as all heads turned towards the commotion.

  I could feel Mathews’s gaze on us before I even turned round. His flint eyes locked with mine as a dark smile filled his face.

  ‘Run!’ I shouted.

  We pushed past the woman flapping her hands and apologising to the groaning musician on the floor, and rushed out into the rain-filled world outside.

  Chapter Fifteen

  We ran back in the direction of the road through hard rain that fizzed off the pavement, passing commuters almost running to get wherever they were going faster.

  Clarke pulled up, leant on his stick and pointed ahead of us. ‘Look!’

  Two men wearing dark suits – one short, one tall – hurried up the steps towards us. They couldn’t have looked more Genesis if they’d tried.

  I was painfully aware that Mathews would be somewhere right behind us too. ‘They’ve got us surrounded.’

  Claire shook her head. ‘No, they haven’t. Follow me.’

  She began to thread her way back through another group of Chinese tourists who’d assembled outside the hall. We followed her down some steps and on to a wide paved area that ran alongside the Thames. It was filled with people under a bobbing sea of umbrellas.

  ‘We need to get back to the boat and Waverider,’ Sentinel said from my phone. ‘When we get it repaired, you’ll find that you’ll be safe inside its field from any Shade attack, because it’ll disperse dark energy.’

  ‘As though we didn’t have enough incentive already,’ Dad replied.

  Claire clutched her bag as we started to jog along the embankment, but Clarke quickly fell behind.

  I glanced at the two men behind us. They were striding our way, but getting stuck in the crowds. There was no sign of Mathews.

  ‘We’re losing them,’ I said.

  Clarke wheezed as he strode rather than jogged, using his stick to help him. ‘They won’t try anything here – they are too many witnesses.’ He grimaced and stopped, clutching his arm.

  I dropped back to him and saw a spot of blood soaking through his jacket sleeve.

  ‘Hang on, guys,’ I called to Dad and Claire. They turned and ran back to us.

  ‘Are you OK, Paul?’ Claire asked.

  He shook his head. ‘Not really, but it’s not my arm… I have a fracture in my foot.’

  ‘And you didn’t think to tell us?’ I asked.

  ‘I swore the doc to keep it a secret,’ Clarke replied.

  ‘Now you tell us.’ I glanced back, but I couldn’t see the men. ‘It looks as if we’ve lost them for a moment, so maybe we can afford a breather.’

  Clarke shook his head. ‘No, you go on ahead. Get back to the boat. I’ll be fine.’

  ‘I’ll stay with you,’ I said.

  ‘No, you go and help get Waverider repaired – that has to be our immediate priority.’

  Dad shook his head. ‘But we should all stick together—’

  I held my hand up to stop his protest. I was with Clarke on this. ‘We haven’t got time to debate this, Dad. Look, you go ahead and I’ll stay back with Clarke. We’ll catch you up at the boat. Don’t worry about us – with all these witnesses around, the Shade won’t dare try anything.’

  Dad held my gaze for a moment longer.

  ‘Please, Dad…’

  He slowly nodded. ‘OK, you win, Jake, but I want it on record I’m not at all happy about this.’

  ‘Noted, but it’s still the right decision.’

  He grimaced and Claire gave us a worried frown before jogging away with him into the crowd.

  Clarke pointed ahead to a sweeping, graceful structure spanning the river. ‘It’s a good twenty minutes on foot to the Millennium Bridge. But we can cross over that and then grab a black cab for the last short hop back to the dock.’

  ‘Good plan. But are you sure you’re up to walking?’

  He scowled at me. ‘I may be injured, but I’m not an invalid yet.’

  ‘OK, OK.’ I put my arm round his back to support him under his shoulders, despite his protests, and we started forward again.

  It wasn’t long before the dull pain of my headache grew stronger. I massaged a temple with my free hand. Just how powerful was Gemma’s power that it could jam me like this?

  Clarke gave me a sideways glance. ‘That headache of yours still giving you trouble?’

  I nodded. ‘I could murder a couple of paracetamol.’

  ‘You and me both.’

  As we started to climb the ramp on to the footbridge, he pointed along it with his stick. ‘Look, there are Martin and Claire.’

  I spotted them just reaching the other side of the bridge, but they soon disappeared from view, just as the rain intensified as the wind blew harder.

  ‘That can’t be a good sign,’ Clarke said, now pointing his stick along the river.

  A massive bank of fog was rolling across the Thames towards us. I knew from bitter experience that nothing ever good happened in fog when the Shade were around. I started to quicken my pace, almost hauling Clarke along with me.

  My phone burst into life. ‘Jake, I’m detecting a significant temperature drop from weather-monitoring stations along the river. That alone makes me reasonably certain that the Shade are massing and are headed your way.’

  ‘I kind of worked that out for myself,’ I replied.

  Clarke clutched the handrail of the bridge. ‘No wonder those Genesis men have taken their time coming after us. Once the fog rolls over us, the Shade can attack under its cover and no one will see what’s happening.’

  No witnesses, no foul. If I ever needed my powers it was now.

  I closed my eyes to try to focus just enough to light a plasma ball. As soon as I attempted to concentrate, Gemma’s mind-storm swamped my mind, but I let her anger in this time.

  My muscles spasming, I breathed deeper, battling the pain. I opened my eyes and put all my concentration into trying to break past the power of her thoughts invading my own, but my focus kept breaking under the psychic assault. No, I was never going to shift like this. I was going to have to do it the old-fashioned way: rely on my normal human senses.

  ‘We can still make it across before the storm hits,’ I said.

  Clarke nodded and managed to increase his pace, although he hissed with pain at every step as we crossed the crowded bridge. I kept glancing along the river at the fog eating up the distance between us. Without warning, the sleeting rain roared up into a squall that hammered on to the bridge, ripping umbrellas from the hands of those around us. People huddled into their coats and ran off the bridge.

  I spotted something odd then: a teenager casually walking up the ramp on to the bridge behind us. Despite the distance between us, his hard grey eyes locked on to mine.

  My blood chilled. Gavin.

  The wind screamed around us as the last sodden family hurried past him and off the bridge. Then we were alone, just him and us.

  A dark smile filled his face. ‘You might as well both give up now,’ Gavin called out. ‘And I promise you that I will make your end quick.’ He tilted his head to one side. ‘Or I can make you an alternative offer.’

  ‘Such as?’ I replied.

  ‘You turned us down once before, Jake, but if you join with us, you and your friends will be spared from our purge of life upon this planet. We will even throw in the release of Chloe’s consciousness for you. How does that sound?’

  A way to save Chloe… For a split second, I felt my determination waver. But just as fast I imagined Chloe’s furious reaction to me throwing everything away for her.

  ‘You can’t listen to him, Jake,’ Sentinel said, between pops of building static from my phone’s speaker. ‘They are trying to use her as leverage.’

  ‘I know…’

  The first tendrils of mist began lapping over the bridge, the dark swirls obscuring the far bank of the Thames.

  ‘You have five seconds to decide,’ Gavin said.

 
; I drew myself up to my full height. ‘You know where you can stick your offer, Knotley.’

  ‘Such a pity,’ Gavin called back.

  His form flickered. Without the ability to shift, although I couldn’t observe the shadow crows flowing around him, but I could still see what was physically happening to his body.

  Gavin’s face twisted in pain as it elongated. He dropped on to all fours, his legs bending forward from the knees, dark fur spreading all over his body. The transformation of man into beast slowed to a stop. Then the wolf threw back its head and howled. It fixed his grey eyes on us and started to stalk closer, towards its prey.

  Clarke fished a notebook out of his pocket and handed it to me. ‘Take this. It’s got all my evidence about Langton’s and Genesis’s involvement with the Shade. It will help you convince the authorities that this threat is real.’

  I stared at him. ‘What are you doing? You can tell them yourself.’

  Clarke shook his head. ‘You’ve got to get away, Jake.’ He took out a set of goggles with a battery pack attached to them from his other coat pocket. ‘You’ll probably need these too.’

  ‘What are they?’ I asked, taking them.

  ‘Night-vision thermal goggles. I might not have your ability, but these work just as well when it comes to seeing the Shade. There’s a switch on the side to turn them on.’

  I reached out my hand to his shoulder. ‘But, Paul—’

  ‘We haven’t got time to debate this. I was too late to help Gemma, but I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. This is my chance to make amends. Now please go, Jake.’

  I hesitated. The shadow wolf was less than sixty metres away. ‘But I can’t leave you to die.’

  ‘Do it for me, for the sake of Chloe and for all the other victims that the Shade have claimed,’ Paul said. ‘In the great scheme of things, my life isn’t important, but yours is. Do this for me, Jake, please.’

  I slowly nodded, reached out and shook his hand.

  He looked deep into my eyes and nodded back at me. ‘Now go.’ With a groan, he lowered himself to one knee and pulled out a taser from beneath his pocket.