by Tony Batton
"Don't use the memory of my sister to justify your actions. Who gave you the right to make that call for these children? I don't believe you had parental consent."
"Actually, for two of them we did. And all three of them lived. Whereas we were told they each had no chance if nothing was done."
"So you picked children with the same condition? Isn't it very convenient that two were the children of CERUS employees?"
"What?" asked Kate.
"The second child was Alexis Marron – or Alex as you know her."
"The woman who tried to kill us?" Kate cried. "She's Peter Marron's daughter?"
Reems shrugged. "The branch didn't fall far from the tree there."
"So who was the last child?"
"His name was Connor." She paused. "Connor Reems."
A moment of silence hung in the air.
"Your own son?" Lentz said. "Your own son had exactly the rare condition that this process could help?"
"An impossible coincidence," Kate said.
Reems shook her head. "It didn't happen that way round. Marron found out about my son – don't ask me how – and they came to me. They offered me help if I would find a way to get myself tasked with managing the government's relationship with CERUS."
"And you just assumed it was chance that they had the perfect thing to offer you to make you do what they wanted?" asked Kate.
"I believed it because I wanted to believe it. By the time I realised what had really happened, the line had been crossed."
Lentz cleared her throat. "Where is Connor now?"
Reems shook her head. "A car accident, nothing to do with the chip. But it gave him fifteen years. I can't regret that."
Lentz lowered her eyes. "Stephanie, I'm sorry."
"What about Tom and Alex?" Kate said. "If this condition is so rare, how is it possible they both had it too?"
Reems bit her lip. "They didn't. I was lied to. CERUS lured me in then, when I realised what was happening, they made it impossible for me to walk away. When things went wrong, they threatened to reveal my involvement."
"So you admit you were compromised?"
"I decided not to play their game. I went to the then head of MI5 and we formed a plan to let things play out, to be ready to pounce if they ever created anything like Tantalus again."
"Or something exactly like Tantalus," Lentz said.
"And you expect me to believe all that?" Croft asked.
Reems pulled out her phone and pressed a number. "Yes, Sir," she said into the handset. "I apologise, but I have a situation at the Tower. Can you verify Project CT to one of my team?" She listened then handed the phone to Croft.
"Who is it?" he asked her, taking the phone warily.
"The Home Secretary. Hopefully he can allay your concerns."
ONE HUNDRED NINE
A NUMBER OF PHONE CALLS later, Croft and Reems had been officially designated to deal with the clean-up of the 'CERUS problem'.
"Congratulations on your security clearance upgrade, George," Reems said, pouring herself a second whisky.
"I'm just pleased I don't actually have to arrest you."
"So what next?" Kate asked.
"We need to get to Tom," Reems said.
"Perhaps you should be focusing on the bad guys," Kate said. "The ones responsible for all the deaths."
"Of course we will, but that doesn't make Tom unimportant. Dominique, I'd like you to reconsider your position. I think you'll find Tom will be better off under our protection. You know the other four subjects died because of complications. Even though Tom is clearly different, who's to say he won't develop different problems."
"Who's to say he will?"
Reems took a slow breath. "If you help me, I'll wipe your slate clean. This is an opportunity for you to start again. And let me reassure you: we don't want to cart Tom off to some black-site laboratory and stick needles in him for the next ten years. We want this technology to work. The inventive step has been taken. We just want to be able to take it again. And who better to lead the work forward than the person who created it?"
"You're not seriously considering it?" Kate said. "She's bribing you!"
"It's a proposal," replied Reems. "Not a bribe."
"And what," Kate asked, "are you going to offer me so that I don't publish this story?"
"My dear, I think you have an inflated sense of your own importance here."
Lentz folded her arms. "Are you sure? She was the one who discovered the truth of what happened with Tom's abduction. She made the connection with Croft."
Reems frowned. "She should stick to publishing lies and misrepresentations and stop dabbling in areas that risk national security."
"Is that the card you're going to play?" Kate asked dismissively. "Because if you want to talk to me about lies, I'll give you a new one I could write about."
"What do you mean?" Reems asked. "And I'd warn you to tread carefully, Ms Turner, with how you answer."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Do you really believe this is all Marron's doing? Look at the mess Bern left behind. How can you believe that he simply died in an accident? A very convenient one. Not to mention dying being a very comprehensive way of avoiding taking responsibility."
"You're suggesting it was suicide?"
"No I'm not. You should have another look at Bern's body."
"You think he was murdered?"
"Actually I'm wondering if he was killed at all."
Reems folded her arms. "That's ridiculous. The autopsy said it was him."
"Based on a pathologist who made a quick check of the dental records and assumed everything else. Think about this logically. What does Bern want more than anything?"
"I don't follow," Reems said.
"I do," Lentz said. "Bern always wanted to do whatever he wanted, free from any oversight or constraint. And, as I well know, being dead is pretty helpful with that."
ONE HUNDRED TEN
MARRON STOOD ON THE DECK of the yacht, staring at his tablet computer. "Where did you get this information?"
"From MI5 comms," Alex replied. "How did Faraday do it? I didn't think the interface worked like that."
Marron looked up as a crewman waved to him.
"A small motor cruiser is approaching our position," the man reported.
Marron smiled and nodded to Alex. "I think we're about to find out." Marron watched the motor cruiser stop for five minutes at a pre-arranged distance so that they could scan it.
Alex stood next to him, checking her own tablet. "No chatter on the coastguard or police channels. I'll tell them to proceed."
The motor cruiser began powering up its engines then slowly eased away, back towards shore.
Alex tapped the screen of her computer. "I have a small incoming submersible. Our visitor is here."
"Then we'd best go and greet him."
They made their way to the rear of the yacht and watched as the submersible docked. A man, clad in a heavy duty wetsuit and full breathing mask, pulled himself on board.
"Welcome aboard the Phoenix," said Marron.
The man reached behind his head and released a couple of heavy-duty clips on the mask.
Alex threw him a towel. "Nice boat you have here."
"Thanks. Although it's a yacht, not a boat." He lifted the mask off his head.
Marron smiled. "You look well, William, considering."
"Considering that I'm dead?" Bern replied. "Nice of Heidn to stand in for me in that regard."
"I meant considering you've been living off the grid for a week when I know how twitchy you get when your signal drops for a minute. But, yes, that too."
"It was necessary," Bern said. "Now, I want to know everything."
ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN
BERN HELD THE WHEEL, LOOKING out across the English Channel. Moonlight glittered on the water. Under his feet he felt the steady throb of the twin engines powering the yacht gently westwards. No need to get up speed just yet in these crowded waters and risk drawing a
ttention to themselves.
"My crewman can take the helm if you want a shower," Marron said, appearing behind him.
"I think I'll stay for a bit," replied Bern. He took a sip from the champagne flute in his right hand. "It's been quite a few weeks, Peter."
"You could say that."
"Do you really think Heidn would have used the gun?"
"I read the situation as best I could. And of course he was a similar enough age and build to play your part in the car crash. Dental records were hardly a problem to modify. All in all, it was extremely convenient. I wasn't looking forward to commissioning the theft of a suitable corpse."
"I see the newspapers lost interest in my death after only a couple of days."
"It looked like an accident; the world moved on."
Bern shrugged. "Well I'm anxious to move on as well. You have the money?"
Marron smiled. "It's taken you such a long time to get to that I was half wondering if you were the real William Bern. The Leskov funds are in the process of being sanitised through a number of accounts. They'll be at their destination within twenty-four hours. As will the money we've been siphoning off from CERUS these past years."
Bern nodded, turning the wheel slightly. "That was the worst part for me."
Marron raised an eyebrow. "Stealing from your company?"
"No. Having to suggest that I had failed."
Marron reached into his jacket pocket. He produced a small padded case. "Well, we have plenty of rewards to make up for it. Like this. Handle it very carefully."
Bern frowned and popped open the case. Inside was a single crystal vial surrounded by a cooling unit and protective padding.
"Blood?"
"Zero's blood. The nanites didn't work as we planned. But they worked all the same."
Bern smiled.
"That's the good news." Marron coughed. "We had a few... issues that had to be dealt with."
"I always knew there would be some collateral damage."
Marron hesitated. "I had to remove Celia."
Bern sucked in his lower lip. "I'm sure she gave you no choice. Was it quick?"
Marron nodded.
"She didn't deserve to suffer. Even if she wanted that for me. What about Holm?"
"Regrettably, Ed decided to go with Leskov."
"And Bradley?"
"He couldn't wait to get on that helicopter."
Bern smiled. "So it's not all bad."
"I'm still not sure that Leskov was the right play. We will have made enemies among his circle."
"Not if they think we're dead. More to the point, it wasn't us that shot him down. It was our friendly neighbourhood government."
Marron hesitated. "Leskov changed the deal at the last minute. He tried to pay only half."
"How rude."
"I think it was because he didn't trust me like he trusted you. I don't have your charm."
Bern flashed his teeth. "Nobody does. Anything else?"
"He insisted on taking Subject Zero with him."
"We lost Zero?" Bern blinked rapidly. "Why wasn't that the first thing you mentioned? That is... a substantial set back."
"You should hear the full story first." Marron frowned. "I didn't realise you'd be so concerned. I had limited options if I was to frame MI5 for shooting down Leskov and frame him for the destruction of the Tower."
"But the Tower is still standing," Bern said, "which means there will be evidence for the government to crawl all over."
"That bomb was unsolvable in the time they had – it was far too complex. But it wasn't defused by the government."
"Then how?"
"It was Zero."
ONE HUNDRED TWELVE
BERN TURNED FROM THE STEERING wheel, an expression of relief crossing his face. "You said he was in the helicopter."
"My passive monitors intercepted fragments of a government radio communication," Marron said. "It said he landed by parachute. They then dropped him on the Tower roof. I assume he used one of the ejector seats that Leskov was so proud of – even though he was also too slow to use one himself."
"But how did Zero manage to stop the detonator?"
"He must have used the interface."
Bern blinked slowly. "Then we have to get him back. He's too valuable to leave in government hands."
"What we have to do is get you away from here. The beta site is the only secure location. After all our planning we cannot risk you."
"I'm overruling you, Peter."
"You should know Reems is at the Tower. They also have Lentz."
"With any luck those two will cancel each other out." Bern drained his champagne glass. "Start deploying a team."
"There may be other options. We already have a Zero 2.0 waiting in the wings."
Bern's eyes narrowed. "You mean your daughter? You want to use Zero's nanites on her? We've discussed this before – many times."
"But the situation has changed. If it worked on Zero, there's every chance she's also suitable. Wouldn't it be better to have a subject who's loyal to us – who wants to cooperate?"
"Or we might produce someone we could never hope to control." Bern shook his head firmly. "If something went wrong... She's your anchor: she keeps you focused, grounded. I don't think the world is ready for an ungrounded Peter Marron."
"I'm prepared to take that chance. As is Alex."
Bern sighed loudly. "So, what? We should kill Zero to ensure he doesn't talk."
Marron hesitated. "That might be unduly risky in all the--"
"You were happy for him to die in the explosion, but you don't want to do it yourself? I'm confused. Are you emotionally attached to the subject?"
"It's not that. With the helicopter, I had no choice, no chance to discuss it with you."
"So? We're discussing it now. Is there a problem?"
Marron shifted uneasily. "There is something you need to know. My apologies for not raising it sooner."
Bern raised an eyebrow.
"There are certain things that you've always trusted me to handle without your express knowledge. You have to remember that I've only ever acted to protect the security of your operations. I've taken absolutely no pleasure in what have been necessary measures." Marron swallowed. "When we identified Zero as a suitable candidate for the original Tantalus, there was one element I kept from you."
Bern rolled his eyes. "Cut to the chase, Peter."
"He's your son."
Bern blinked several times, then tipped his head to one side. "Subject Zero, Tom Faraday, is my son?"
"You had a relationship with his mother: Amelia Fourier."
"I remember her having a termination."
"She didn't go through with it. She kept the birth from you."
Bern nodded slowly. "How long have we known each other, Peter?"
"Nearly thirty years, since our army days, but why is that your first question?" Marron hesitated. "Wait... you knew! That's why you were upset when you thought he was dead."
"You might know people, Peter," Bern gave a sigh, "but I know you. I know how you operate. You keep aces up your sleeve on everyone. It would have been naïve of me to assume that I was not on that list."
"Then why didn't you do anything about it?"
"Because I wanted you to think you did have a card to play. I didn't want you to know that card was worthless and start looking for a better one."
"You knew you had a son? You knew I'd chosen him as a subject? Why didn't you stop it?"
"Because, in all the circumstances, it was the right thing to do." Bern gripped Marron's shoulder. "Peter, this is why you are so good at your job. I'm not sure I could ever replace you. I like to spend my time on the grand vision, whereas you make things happen, including all the things that need to happen but nobody should ever know about."
Marron took a slow breath. "So what now?"
"We get Tom back. Do I now have your support?"
"You always do."
An alarm sounded on the deck.
Alex burst through the doorway of the bridge. "We have a problem."
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN
KATE FOLLOWED LENTZ INTO THE laboratory on Level 75, the special-forces soldier remaining on guard outside.
"Well," Lentz said, "I think that went somewhat better than expected. And, may I say, what a brilliant observation with regard to Bern's accident. I'm sure Reems is in a spin checking that out."
Kate folded her arms. "I've adopted a simple strategy: assume everything that happens is a lie."
Lentz frowned. "Why do I feel that some of your anger is directed at me?"
"You're considering their offer, aren't you?"
"I have to weigh all the possibilities before I can decide on the best outcome."
"Best for whom?" Kate asked. "For Tom? For you? I saw your eyes light up when Reems offered you the opportunity to be back at the centre of things. This is everything you've dreamed of for twenty-five years."
"When you're a little older, maybe you'll understand what it's like to be in hiding for so long, pondering past mistakes, drowning in might-have-beens. Maybe this time I can do it right."
"If you really believe that then you're delusional."
"If I don't do it, someone else will try. Better me, controlling this from the inside than fighting it from the outside."
"I'm sure Tom will see it that way."
Lentz gave a sigh. "You really think he'll be fine out there on his own? He needs our help. The reality is that we can't provide it without support."
"And you think you can trust Reems? Besides, it's all moot if we can't find him."
"It would help if we could narrow down our search. Do you have any idea where he would go?"
"He never said, but I think he'd go after them."
Lentz nodded. "It's likely. He may feel he can outmatch them now."
Kate shook her head. "After all he's been through, he's going to get himself killed."
"You know, I don't think Tom's the one who's really in danger," replied Lentz. "Not this time."
