Tethered Twins Saga: Complete Trilogy (Twins, Souls and Hearts)

by Mike Essex

The delay between the attacks must have been deliberate, especially given that the target, St Thomas’ Hospital, was now nothing more than a large crater. I doubted anyone could have survived the blast. The injured, their loves ones and all those who had tried to help them were now gone. I suspected the attack had been timed to hit the hospital when it was full of people injured from the first blasts.

  For all the things my father had made me do in the machine he’d never once had me commit a horror on this scale. He’d made me kill but it had always been individuals and always in some way to serve the greater good. The deaths that had happened today felt so unnecessary and wasteful. It wasn’t like him at all.

  He’d clearly grown desperate in an effort to lure me back to the machine but I had to wonder who was authorising the attacks now. Without the influence of the machine controlling them I didn’t understand how anyone in the British military would attack their own country. Surely they wouldn’t carry this out under their own free will, especially attacking a hospital.

  “Emmie?” said Rex, over my comms unit.

  I didn’t know what to say to him. I’d strode into London so confident that I could help people but it had all been for nothing.

  “Emmie, are you ok?” said Rex, sounding panicked now.

  “I’m alive,” I replied.

  “There has been another wave of attacks, you have to get down to the sewers now!”

  My legs didn’t want to move. The quickest way to the sewers was to head towards the River Thames but that meant I’d have to look at the hospital and the bridge. The quick glimpse I’d seen before running for cover had been enough to permanently scar me.

  “Please Emmie,” said Rex. “I need you.”

  Truth be told I needed Rex as well. I needed him to tell me that it meant something that I’d tried to save those people. I needed him to say we could stop further attacks. Most importantly I needed him to act like the boy I’d grown up with and to put his arms around me. If this was how our world was going to end then I wanted to spend my last moments with him.

  I told Rex where I was and he promised he was on his way and that he’d meet me in the sewers. With a heavy heart I emerged from the courtyard and walked towards the river. It was then I saw the bodies.

  Everywhere I looked in the river was full of those who had died in the explosion. Adults and children floated by, face down in the water. It was eerily quiet, there were no screams of horror from passers-by, just a deathly silence that meant no-one had survived.

  As I walked down the walkway that would take me to the sewer I could see a body propped against the bank where it met the water. I ran down the steps desperate to save one person but as I flipped their body over all I could see was the pale face of the husband who’d tried to save everyone. His wife was nowhere to be seen. I hoped she’d survived but I was sure the current had taken her away from him.

  I pulled his body back onto the side and laid it down. At least that way someone could give him a proper burial one day, rather than his body being crushed against the banks of the Thames.

  The labyrinthine structure of the sewers was a welcome change of scenery. I never expected to be so happy entering such a haven for grime and filth but compared to what I’d seen on the surface it was the only place that felt safe. Knowing Rex would be down here only made it better.

  The walk to Rex was a lonely one that gave me a lot of time to think. I racked my brain to try and remember the meeting my father had held before this attack. He’d sown the seeds for these events in that meeting but all I could remember was that they’d said an attack had been the only option.

  Wait, that wasn’t right. They’d said a nuclear attack was the only option, but the attacks I’d just witnessed hadn’t been nuclear, they’d been caused by explosive missiles. If my theory was right, that meant the real attack hadn’t happened yet and something much worse was on the way.

  I followed the path Rex had explained to me so we could meet between our two locations. The only man who could help us now was Gabe. He’d been the closest to my father through everything. If anyone knew what he had planned it would be Gabe.

  “Jill, you there?” I asked via my comms unit.

  “Hello. Oh thank God you’re safe,” she replied.

  “Is there any way you can see where Gabe went after the fight?”

  “Already on it. I’ve got facial recognition software looking for him and for March. You want to find him too right?”

  I hadn’t even thought about March but as always Jill was one step ahead. March’s long undercover infiltration of our group made him just as likely to have insights into Eli’s plan.

  “Yes, tell me as soon as you find them,” I replied.

  “Okie doke. Bye for now,” said Jill and she hung up.

  A light flickered in the tunnel in front of me as a shadow against the wall grew longer. Someone was approaching. My heart skipped a beat when the shadow formed into Rex. I’d never been happier to see him.

  He didn’t ask me how things were on the surface, I think my face said it all, he just held me in his arms like I’d wanted. I could have stayed in those arms for the rest of my life but the threat of a nuclear attack took priority.

  “Did you and Rufus save those boys?” I asked.

  “They’re ok. Rufus is taking them back to the underground base,” he replied.

  “Is it safe there?”

  “No-one knows about it apart from QWS. It’s safer than the surface right now.”

  I hoped Rex was right, Jacobi didn’t have the best history of keeping his underground structures hidden.

  “We need to get back there quickly, no time to explain,” I said.

  The two of us ran through the tunnels with Rex leading the way. For a moment it felt like we were back in Smyth West running through the tunnels of the abandoned military base like we’d done as children. I trusted Rex to lead the way, he had far more experience navigating the maze of tunnels than I had.

  “Son of a bitch!” shouted Rex from up ahead. I couldn’t see what he was shouting at but I heard the thud as he hit the ground.

  As I reached him I saw why he’d been so shocked. March was lying on the floor underneath Rex who had tackled him to the ground.

  FORTY TWO

  I grabbed Rex’s fist before he could thrust it towards March.

  “Wait, he might know something,” I said.

  “He’s a liar and a traitor,” said Rex, trying to tug his hand free.

  “What?” said March “I didn’t betray you.”

  “Then how do you explain ratting us out to Eli?” said Rex.

  “You think I did that? Why?” said March.

  “To help him capture us,” I said.

  “Why would I help get you free and then return you to him? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “To help him get to Jacobi. He represented a threat to Eli and we knew where his base was hidden,” I said.

  “Do you really think he’d be prepared to let you go just so he could discover where an ex-Royal was hiding?” said March.

  “He attacked his own country to convince me to return, I don’t know what to think any more,” I said.

  “Exactly. If he was going to capture you anyway then why start the attack?” said March.

  “Stop playing games with us,” said Rex, tugging his hand free from mine.

  “Woah, relax,” said March.

  “Don’t tell me to relax! After what you did to her you have no right,” shouted Rex.

  “Look,” said March. “I know you don’t trust me but trust this. If I’d wanted to tell him where you were or any of your plans I could have done that when I entered the QWS base and saved him a lot of trouble.”

  “Well someone did,” said Rex.

  “I know,” said March.

  We didn’t have time to keep debating with March. No matter how good his argument was I knew he’d always been excellent with words. After all he’d done I just wasn’t prepared to trust him anymore
.

  “Leave him,” I said to Rex.

  “What?” replied Rex.

  “We have to get back to the base. This is bigger than the three of us.”

  “Thank you,” said March, putting his hands down in preparation of standing up again.

  “Not you,” I pointed towards March. “I don’t want to see you again.”

  “But Emmie, I didn’t…” he replied.

  “I don’t care what you did or didn’t do. I’m grateful that you saved me and for the time we spent together but I can’t forget how big a role you played in this.”

  “I thought we’d moved past this,” said March.

  “Clearly we haven’t. At the slightest sign of trouble I lost all trust in you again. When I’m around you I make bad decisions and right now I don’t need that in my life.”

  “I can help you. I need to help you,” said March.

  “You’ll have to find your redemption somewhere else,” I took Rex’s hand and walked away from March.

  With my father gone I knew there was a part of me that was projecting my hatred for him onto March but somehow it still felt right. I knew I needed to move on from those months we’d spent together and realised that right now I didn’t feel that way anymore. I needed a clean break.

  March knew better than to follow us directly but I knew he’d still be around somewhere. If he wanted to protect me from behind the scenes then that was ok with me. I just needed some distance between us, at least until everything was back to normal.

  Rex didn’t need to say anything for me to know that he was there and supportive of my decision. All he needed to do was grip my hand and lead me back to the base. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore and I think he knew that.

  We reached an underground entrance to the QWS base beneath the Keyes Theatre and Rex entered a passcode onto a small keypad. The doors threw themselves open, revealing the comforting white walls of their base. Compared to the darkness of the sewer the overwhelming whiteness of the QWS base looked almost angelic.

  I had half expected Jacobi to be waiting at the door, sword in hand, as was so often his style but for the first time no-one greeted us. It was eerily quiet inside the base. What had the day before been a bustling metropolis of people was now almost completely abandoned with just a few support staff remaining below.

  One of those support staff was Jill, who was the first person to say hello to us inside the base.

  “Hey, you guys. You made it. Thank God,” said Jill.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked.

  “On the surface,” she replied.

  “Makes sense,” said Rex. “They swore to protect this country and with Jacobi leading them I doubt they’ll be down here for a while.”

  “Didn’t you make that same oath,” I asked.

  “I swore to protect you a long time before I made that oath,” he replied.

  I squeezed his hand a little tighter.

  “Have you seen Grace?” I asked Jill.

  “Not yet. I’m already running a facial recognition scan for her so we’ll know when she pops up in the crowd,” said Jill.

  “Only doing that for Grace are you Jill?” said Rex with a coy smile.

  “No it’s not like that,” Jill started to blush.

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I see her,” said Jill.

  “Thanks,” I replied. “There’s something else as well.”

  “What is it?”

  “Were any of those attacks nuclear?”

  “Not from what I can tell, why?”

  “I think Eli was planning a nuclear attack before he died. I’m worried this is just the start of something much worse.”

  “You’re right,” said Jill. “Sit down there’s something you need to see.”

  I chose to stay standing. The adrenaline running through me meant I’d probably explode if I sat down for any length of time. Either that or fall asleep the second it wore off.

  “This transmission was received a few minutes ago, broadcasting across the UK on every channel. They hijacked the transmission satellites. It’s surprisingly easy to do when you know how,” said Jill.

  “And the announcement?” said Rex.

  “Right,” said Jill. She pushed a few buttons on her control panel and a tape started to play.

  The footage was grainy and low quality but it was clear enough to make out a man smartly dressed in a suit wearing a mask painted in red and white to resemble a tiger. The twinkling lights and blurred out visual displays behind him made it seem like he was in a control room but it was impossible to tell for sure.

  “Your Prime Minister is a lie,” declared a distorted male voice that had clearly been edited. I didn’t have any disagreement with his first statement.

  “Do you like to play with nuclear weapons Mr Prime Minister?” said the masked man.

  One of the blurred monitors behind him became clearer and showed footage of a nuclear rocket exploding over and over on repeat.

  “I see that you do,” he said. “To the people of Britain I say this, the man you have in power will destroy your country. Do not let him.”

  “Who is this guy?” said Rex.

  “I’m still working on that. His voice is so modified there’s no ethnic identifiers left and the lab shown behind him is just a blue screen, he could be anyone, anywhere,” explained Jill.

  “As your Prime Minister likes to play with nuclear weapons so much then I am very happy to give him one of our best. In 24 hours we will attack a target of our choosing in Great Britain,” he said.

  He came in closer to the camera until only his eyes were visible from beneath the mask. The footage flickered and his eyes showed the nuclear explosion, radiating from within his pupils. He seemed like someone who had been waiting a very long time for an excuse to fire them.

  “All we want is Eli Keyes,” he said. “Bring him to us and we will call off the attack. You have 24 hours Great Britain.”

  The screen faded to black.

  “They also left a coded message on the TV satellite which explains where they want to meet. Not that it’ll do us any good,” said Jill.

  “That’s it then,” I remarked. “Without Eli to hand over, a nuclear attack will take place on our country and then what? We’ll retaliate and they’ll retaliate, it’ll be a nuclear war before we know it. There has to be another way.”

  “Can’t we tell them Eli is gone? They’ll have gotten what they wanted,” said Rex.

  “They didn’t leave details on how to communicate with them,” said Jill. “Just a location and time.”

  “And today’s attacks, any idea if they were caused by the same people?” said Rex.

  “It’s probable,” said Jill. “They were cloaked missiles so there’s no way of telling the country of origin.”

  “So Eli didn’t cause the attack today?” said Rex.

  “He caused it,” I replied. “Whether or not he pressed the button he’s the reason this all happened.”

  “What do you want us to do?” asked Jill.

  “There’s only one thing we can do,” said Jacobi, striding into the room. “If they want someone in power, I’ll give them someone in power.”

  FORTY THREE

  “You realise this is suicide?” I asked Jacobi.

  “Yes,” he replied “But it’s the best way to protect this country.”

  “How did you even see the video?” I asked.

  “It’s all over Piccadilly Circus. I came back as soon as I saw it.”

  “Then I’m going with you,” I said.

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less but first there are two people I want you to see.”

  “Girls!” I said as Alyx and Anya ran into the room.

  I almost didn’t recognise them now they were in their early tweens. They’d grown so much, which was unsurprising as they’d more than doubled in age in the time I’d been away.

  “Aunt Emmie,” said Alyx, dropping the –ie from ‘Auntie’, another change with age.


  “We missed you so much,” said Anya.

  “I missed you girls too,” I said.

  The girls told me about school and life at the orphanage that Jacobi had found for them after London had been reopened. I was glad he hadn’t kept them in his base after I’d gone; that was no life for the girls. They seemed happy at the orphanage although I felt guilty that I hadn’t been there for them during some of the tougher times.

  “I’ve made sure they’re well looked after,” said Jacobi putting a hand on my shoulder.

  “Thank you,” I replied.

  “Come on, there’s someone I want you to see,” I told the girls.

  There wasn’t much time before we needed to leave but I couldn’t go without saying goodbye to my brother. His face when he saw the girls was full of life.

  “And who do we have here?” asked Will.

  “This is Alyx, and this is Anya,” I replied, urging the girls to say hello.

  They didn’t have any problem with strangers, a positive side effective of living amongst so many others in Q-Whitehall.

  “Hello,” said Anya. “What happened to you?”

  Their natural curiosity hadn’t waned with age. If anything it had grown. Will didn’t seem to mind.

  “I got hurt trying to help someone,” said Will.

  “Did you help them?” asked Alyx.

  “Yeah, they’re ok,” replied Will, looking at me.

  His gaze was soft and kind but I still felt an immense burden over how much he’d suffered during his time in the machine. He still looked to be in a lot of pain even now. It’d only been a few days but I was worried how little recovery he’d shown. He never asked to be the capstone.

  “What’s going on outside?” asked Alyx.

  “It’s nothing to worry about,” I replied, which only spurred their curiosity.

  “Come on, tell us,” said Anya. “Jacobi wouldn’t tell us anything, he just told us this place would keep us safe.”

  “Jacobi saved you?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” replied Alyx. “We heard a large explosion and then Jacobi arrived almost right away and told us to come with him.”

  “He was right to take you,” I said. “You’ll be safer here and you must promise me you won’t try to leave.”