Promethean Files 2: The Prometheus Gambit
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Frankie glanced back to Cole, who was stood waiting. ‘That’s Cole, the minister's bodyguard. He was vital to the success of the mission, sir. The minister’s wife would likely have been killed if he hadn’t assisted me.’
‘Is that right? Okay, let’s go and see the minister, shall we? And sort out this mess’
‘Right behind you, sir,’ she said and fell into step behind him. On reaching the house, she watched William step up to Cole and offer him his hand.
‘Thank you for your assistance today. Frankie here says you were invaluable,’ William said.
‘I just did what anyone else would have done, sir,’ Cole replied, standing at ease, giving away his military background.
‘You’re a military man?’ William asked.
‘Ex-military, yes, sir. Green Berets.’
‘Thank you for your service, soldier. We’ll speak later,’ William said and moved past him into the house.
Frankie followed and smiled at Cole as she walked past him. He smiled back and nodded his thanks to her. Frankie continued to walk inside, staying just behind and to the right of William and directed him to the office of the minister.
Stepping into the room, Frankie saw Isaac Hughes, the new Foreign Secretary standing behind his desk, pacing back and forth. Meanwhile, Nigel York, the Business Secretary sat slumped in a chair with Gibson standing before him, his gun held at the ready.
‘You can lower that, now,’ William said to Gibson. ‘You’re not going to be any further trouble, are you, Mr. York?’
The Business Secretary looked up, a look of recognition passing over his face. ‘Mr Forrester, hmmm, curious. So, you have had a promotion, then?’
‘You are free to go, Mr. York,’ William said.
‘What? But, he threatened my family and me! He needs to be arrested,’ Isaac Hughes protested.
William looked up at the Foreign Secretary, waiting a beat to see if he would say anymore. ‘You know as well as I do that nothing would come of such an action. The Corporations would never let that happen. It’s pointless to even try,’ William said in a calm and measured voice.
Frankie knew he was right, even though she sympathised with Isaac, it would be a pointless and futile action that would be more trouble than it was worth. They were better off letting him go.
‘Mr. York, if you would be on your way, please?’ William said, gesturing to the door with his hand.
The Business Secretary stood and straightened his jacket with his two prosthetic hands. ‘This is all very curious, William. You, this team. What are you involved with?’
‘Thank you for your cooperation today, Mr. York. Please accept our deepest apologies. Good evening, sir,’ William said, his tone final.
Frankie noticed Isaac behind his desk, a look of fury on his face as clear as day.
‘Well, at least some people still have the correct respect for their betters,’ Nigel said before he turned to Isaac. ‘Thank you for your hospitality, Isaac, this has been very enlightening, I will see you in the week, perhaps.’
Isaac said nothing. Instead, he stared at Nigel with a look that could kill.
‘This was merely business, Isaac, nothing personal, I assure you. Have a good weekend,’ he said and walked out of the room.
Frankie walked to the nearby window that looked out the front of the house and watched the Business Secretary leave the house and get into his car and leave.
‘What the hell was that? I should have shot him when I had the chance. How can he get away with that? It’s sick! I have to work beside that scum,’ Isaac said.
Frankie heard the office door close behind her and turned back to see William had just closed it. He looked over at Frankie. ‘Are we secure?’
With a thought, Frankie scanned the room, her cyber brain hunting for any signals that might indicate the room was bugged, but she saw nothing. ‘The room is clean as far as I can tell,’ she said.
‘Good enough,’ William said. ‘Now, Mr. Hughes, we’re sorry that Nigel York walked away from this, but you know as well as we do that the Corporations would never let him be arrested, he’s too valuable to them, and the revenge they might take on you would no doubt be grave. It is better to let him leave with his ego stroked and to fight another day.’
Isaac slumped into his chair and put his head in his hand. ‘This is crazy. How can this happen? How can they get away with this?’
‘You know how they can get away with this. The real question is: what can we do about it?’ William said.
Isaac looked up at William and eyed him for a moment. ‘I know you, don’t I? Where have I seen you before?’
‘I used to work on Susan Weaver's close protection detail before she became Prime Minister, sir,’ he said.
Isaac looked over at Gibson, and then at Frankie before looking back at William. ‘Who are you guys?’
‘One moment,’ William said, and he seemed to think for a moment. Frankie was fairly sure he was getting a message to his Neural Net and after a moment, she watched William’s focus return to the external world again. ‘If I might be so bold, I will let the PM answer that question,’ he said.
He’d barely finished his sentence when the terminal on Isaac’s desk started to beep. Isaac looked a touch surprised before he reached forward and tapped an icon on his terminal. A holographic screen flickered into life with the image of the Prime Minister, Susan Weaver, on it.
‘Isaac. I’m so glad to see you and to hear you’re alive and well,’ she said.
‘Prime Minister, I take it you are aware of what’s just happened here, then?’ Isaac said.
‘I am. How’re Clare and the kids?’
‘They’re fine. Clare is upstairs with them now.’
‘I’m so pleased to hear that. When I listened to the report of the attack, I feared the worst,’ said the PM.
‘Well, thanks to William and his team, we’re all okay. A little shaken, maybe, but okay,’ Isaac said. ‘Speaking of which, what the hell is going on? Who are these guys?’
‘I’m pleased you’re all unhurt. William, is everything secure?’
‘Yes, ma’am, as far as we know,’ William said.
‘Isaac, you probably remember William from his time on my security team back when I was running for Prime Minister. I spoke to you before about the team I was assembling to take on the Corporations? Well, William here is the director of the other branch of my team. He heads up the A.C.T., the Anti-Corporation Taskforce. As you have just experienced, the Corporations play dirty, and we need to be able to play just as dirty as they do, which is why a Black Ops team was imperative as a part of this initiative. They have full autonomy, the highest clearance, and report back only to me. The reason they’re with you now is because when I heard that you were meeting with Mr York at your home, I suspected the worst. So, I asked them to monitor the situation, which, as it turned out, was the right thing to do.’
‘Thank you, Prime Minister. I think you saved our lives today,’ Isaac said.
‘Actually, I think the thanks should be directed towards the team who came to your rescue and please, call me Susan when we’re away from Westminster.’
‘Of course,’ Isaac said.
‘William, thank you for everything today, I will leave this in your capable hands,’ the Prime Minister said and the Holo screen flicked off.
Isaac stood up and offered William his hand. ‘Thank you, you have no idea how grateful I am for everything you have done,’ he said as he gripped William’s hand. He then turned to Frankie and offered his hand to her as well. ‘Seriously, anything I can do for you, anything at all, just name it, anytime, anyplace.’
‘That’s very kind of you, Minister,’ Frankie said with a smile.
‘And timely,’ William said. ‘We’re a new organisation, so we need contacts and resources. If you can arrange some contacts within the intelligence community that would be a huge help to us.’
‘Consider it done. How do I get in touch with you?’ Isaac asked.
Frankie nodded and smiled at William. ‘Good evening, sir,’ she said to Isaac before she walked out with Gibson after he’d shaken the minister’s hand as well.
‘Not bad, for our first mission,’ Gibson said to her as they walked through the lobby to the front door.
‘Absolutely, and hopefully the first of many successful ones,’ she said as they passed through the front door. She saw Cole outside the front entrance, sitting on a step and looking into the distance. She noticed that the dead and unconscious Corporate soldiers were gone as well, the only evidence they were ever there being the dark blood stains on the concrete. ‘They took their own dead away with them?’
Cole looked up at her. ‘They did,’ he said before he stood up. ‘You’re done for the night, then?’
‘That’s right. Thanks for the help tonight,’ Frankie said. She had been impressed with Cole’s abilities. They could do with someone like him on their team, she thought and made a note to mention that to William.
‘Anytime,’ he said. ‘Good night.’
Frankie nodded. ‘You, too,’ she answered and turned to leave the property, walking past William’s flyer. She had come here in another one with her team, which was parked a short walk away. She was looking forward to getting back to the base and relaxing for a bit.
2.03
Frankie sat back in her flight seat, stretching out her legs with her eyes closed. Today had been their first mission since William had recruited them outside the police precinct just a couple of weeks ago. She thought back to the assault they had undertaken on the building, taking on those Corporate forces. They were lucky to have escaped with their lives, let alone with what were really relatively minor injuries in the scheme of things. Both she and Gibson had lost arms, and both had been repaired and replaced within a couple of days in their new base.
With Frankie, it was easy. Doctor Xenox had a stock of spare parts for her, so it was a fairly simple task to remove the ruin of her old arm and attach a new one in its place. Gibson’s replacement took a little more time, but the 3D printed biological replacement was soon grafted to his stump, and, within a few days, it was as good as new.
They were still a small team, and they were all here within this flyer that was the A.C.T.’s to use as they wished. Gibson and Veronica sat opposite her while Doctor Xenox was strapped into a chair before a terminal and a bank of screens on her right.
Everyone was quiet for the moment, taking stock and thinking through the mission like she was, probably wondering if they had done everything to the best of their ability. They had saved Isaac and his family, but the situation had been hanging in the balance for a while there when the minister’s wife and children had been taken. It had all worked out in the end, though.
‘Good shooting today,’ Frankie said to Veronica, raising her voice to be heard over the engine noise.
Veronica smiled. ‘Thanks, I just wish I could have hit the guys who had captured his family,’ she said.
‘Hey, they lived, and everyone we went there to protect survived, so, don’t beat yourself up over it. You can sleep well tonight,’ Gibson said.
Veronica nodded as she listened to him.
‘You’re right, of course,’ Frankie said. Gibson had been going out onto the streets for years, so he knew from that experience how to handle the aftermath of missions like these, she thought. It would probably pay for her to listen to him.
Frankie sat back again and relaxed into her seat as the flyer zipped over Greater Neo-London, back into the heart of the metropolis. As she sat there with her eyes closed again, she sensed Gibson move to her side of the aircraft and sit next to Xenox.
‘Hey, Doc, any news on my family?’ he asked.
Frankie cursed silently to herself. The parallels of this mission with his own situation were all too clear to her all of a sudden. But they had saved this family from being ripped apart by the Corporations, unlike Gibson’s. Sure, they could be pleased with the result of this mission, but deep down, he must be really hurting. He hid it well, though. He didn’t mope about and didn’t seem to let it get to him, even though it was likely tearing him up inside. She wondered how he was really doing. She decided she would try and talk to him when they got back, to see if he would open up a bit. It wasn’t good to keep these things bottled up, and it might help him to share his worries and concerns with someone.
She wouldn’t force him to talk to her, of course, but she would offer him the chance to.
‘Sorry, nothing,’ Xenox said. ‘I’ve been trying, using the algorithms that Frankie has in her cyber brain, but there’s only so much I can achieve. I’m not a hacker, not really, and neither is Frankie. Her programs are powerful, but this is a little beyond the scope of them really.’
Frankie agreed with Xenox’s assessment. Hunting for this kind of hidden, classified data, which the Corp would know would be of value to Gibson, would not be easy. You could be hunting for weeks or months, and, for all they knew, it might not be on any accessible network anyway.
Which reminded her, they really did need to find an I.T. guy soon. Xenox was okay at the computer stuff, but he was better served working on the cybernetics than sitting behind a terminal.
No, they needed someone whose job was to do this all day every day. They needed an Information-Technology guy.
‘And your contacts in Psytech?’ Gibson asked.
‘They all seem to have cut communication for the time being, so, no luck there, either. I’m sorry,’ Xenox said.
‘Well, I knew it was a long shot,’ Gibson said as he sat back in the seat he had been perched on.
Frankie really felt terrible for him. His family had been ripped away against his will, and might yet be used as leverage against him once again. Frankie knew what it was like to live without a family, but her situation was slightly different to Gibson’s. She had walked away from her parents. The choice had been hers and hers alone, so she couldn’t really compare it to what Gibson was going through.
The roar of the engines changed pitch, and she felt the inertia of the flyer want to send them flying forwards as it slowed down. Frankie glanced out the window and recognised the area of the city they were in. They were on final approach to their base as the flyer descended down between the huge skyscrapers towards a squat, unremarkable building that sat on the lowest levels of the upper city. She heard the clunk of the landing gear folding out as the aircraft dropped into an open section of roof on the building and landed with a gentle bump on the concrete of the buildings hanger.
The rear loading door to the flyer was already levering open, so Frankie gathered her things and walked down the ramp into the large open hanger. For now, there were a few cars in here and just the one flyer they had landed in. The second one they had would be returning shortly with the director inside it. They had room for four or five more flyers and more vehicles besides, but all in due time, she thought. She glanced up to see the large motorised shutter set into the hanger’s roof close the last few meters, shutting out the view of the night sky with a boom as it slammed home.
The entire ground floor of the building was basically a hanger, with the rest of the building’s living and work space located in sublevels, descending down into the platform the hanger sat upon, and even extended down below the underside of the mid-level above the Undercity below.
Frankie walked with the others to a nearby bank of lifts and a wide set of stairs that led down into the sublevels and boarded the waiting elevator. Everyone was very quiet as the elevator car dropped several levels to the living quarters before the doors opened and allowed them to disembark.
Frankie had wandered through all the levels of the building they were in one day shortly after moving in here, most of which were unused and sat waiting for more people
to move in. Most of the floors were in a state of disrepair, with dust everywhere and very little in the way of furniture, apart from a couple of floors that had been working offices at some point and looked like they had just been left one day with no one bothering to clean up afterwards. The couple of floors they did use, however, were clean and serviceable, certainly more than enough for their current needs.
The elevator let them out on the edge of their communal area. A large room that sat towards the centre of their various living quarters, which was filled with sofas, pool tables, a large vid screen, communal terminals, and various other things to keep people entertained.
Frankie walked across the communal space and headed for her quarters, which were just off a side corridor. Like everyone else’s quarters here, her place was like a small apartment, with everything she would need to live if she decided she didn’t want to be sociable. She had a living space, a bedroom, kitchenette, and bathroom, all of which were quite basic, but perfectly liveable. Heck, it was better than her previous place and her hawkish landlord, Mrs Scrivens, so, she had no reason to complain.
She sometimes wondered what had happened to her neighbours. Had the Corporations come and interrogated them, asked them questions about her and her habits, maybe? Where they think she might have gone? She felt that she should go back sometime, she owed that much to her next door neighbour, Oliver, at the very least.
She also wondered what had happened to Dion, the kid whose friends had been killed by the Corporate Agents on the rooftop. She’d sent him to the hospital when she had last seen him to get his wounds seen to. She wanted to go back, but she felt sure that her place was being watched.
Heh, that thought made her shake her head. She had been an idiot before, heading back to her apartment after escaping the clutches of the Corporations in the Undercity. That was a school girl error if ever there was one. She had no idea what she had been thinking that day. Suffice to say, she probably wasn’t thinking at all. She had almost certainly been in some kind of state of shock, and even though her new body gave her new fighting abilities coupled with battlefield tactics and such, that’s all it was. Knowledge, data, and it didn’t take into account the vagaries of the human brain. After the shock of having her body replaced, all she wanted to do was to go home, to be somewhere familiar, somewhere comforting and safe, even though, had she really thought about it, she would have realised that it wouldn’t be safe.