Revenge

by Joe Craig

  “Quinn and Rick Doren,” she announced. “Playing with toys for bigger boys than you, no?”

  “He killed our sister,” Quinn said bitterly, spitting mud out of his mouth. “If we’d let you kill him, we would never have had our revenge.”

  Miss Bennett thought hard, examining the two young men on the ground in front of her. She nodded to the surrounding agents to let them up. Then, from Miss Bennett’s boat, came a teenage girl, wrapped in a thick black coat.

  “Quinn! Rick!”

  She was already crying, clearly distraught at the events she had watched unfold in front of her.

  “Eva!” shouted the two men, running to embrace their sister. They suffocated her in a muddy embrace. All three wept. For a few seconds they were huddled together.

  “You killed Jimmy!” Eva sobbed quietly. The boys didn’t reply, but Rick slipped a small piece of card into her coat pocket.

  “What are you…?”

  Eva discreetly pulled it out, using her two brothers as a shield so that nobody else saw. In her woolly gloves she grasped what looked like the torn-off corner of a small cardboard box. On it was a lot of technical information she didn’t understand, but one word stood out: LASER-BLANKS.

  “Blanks?” she gasped. Quinn quickly pulled her towards him and smothered her before she could say anything else.

  “I’m so glad you’re OK,” he whispered. “I’m so glad everyone’s OK.”

  He held on to his sister for several seconds more. He could feel that, wrapped in his arms, she was squealing with delight and laughing.

  Meanwhile, Rick confronted Miss Bennett. “You told us she was dead!” he bellowed.

  “Oh, look,” Miss Bennett said blankly. “We found her. Hooray.”

  “But we only killed Jimmy because we thought he’d killed our sister.”

  “I know.” Miss Bennett was eyeing Rick and Quinn suspiciously, sizing them up. “Such an unfortunate turn of events. But at least the outcome is happy. In the end you’ve done your country a great service. Even if you thought you were doing it for personal reasons.”

  Rick and Quinn stood on either side of Eva now, waiting for Miss Bennett’s judgement.

  “Well, look at you,” the woman cooed, deep in thought. “A family affair.” Then she added, “Eva is doing very well in my office, you know.” She looked from Quinn, to Eva, to Rick, and back again. “You’ll need training, but if you can all keep a secret from your parents, how about adding two more Doren recruits to NJ7?”

  All three broke into huge smiles – though for very different reasons than Miss Bennett believed. Quinn and Rick shook her hand, then Eva escorted them back to the boat.

  Meanwhile, Miss Bennett had a clean-up operation to run.

  “Get me divers!” she screamed. “Bring me charts of the currents. Show me the exact spot where his body is going to be washed up. I want divers trawling every miserable litre of this river. Bring me the body!”

  “Miss Bennett, this isn’t London!” Paduk yelled back, marching up to her. “We don’t have jurisdiction here. We’re lucky we haven’t all been arrested already.”

  Miss Bennett scrunched her fists in her hair. “I need confirmation,” she insisted.

  “Confirmation?” Paduk whispered, so that none of the other soldiers could hear. “What more confirmation do you need? Didn’t you see that little boy’s body being torn apart by machine-gun fire?”

  “Are you implying something, Paduk?”

  “It’s not right,” Paduk hissed. “What we’ve done here today. It’s not right.”

  “You were protecting Britain,” Miss Bennett barked back.

  Paduk marched off, not daring to contradict his superior officer, but he muttered under his breath, “I’m beginning to wonder whether Britain is still worth protecting.”

  Miss Bennett drew in a deep sigh. Her brow was furrowed in thought. She never imagined quite these sorts of tribulations facing her when she took on the role of running Britain’s most powerful and secret intelligence agency.

  She walked right to the edge of the island, to the very spot where Jimmy had fallen. She looked out across the river, narrowing her eyes against the wind. It made them water a little and blew her hair into a flame behind her head. There were so many shadows shifting beneath the surf. She wanted to examine each of them in turn, but as soon as she looked at one, it was gone again. The waves lapped around the island while behind her, Paduk commanded the NJ7 unit.

  It was several minutes before Miss Bennett turned away from the water, away from the wind, and walked back towards the ruin. Her eyes were still watering.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO – NEW VISION

  Union Square bustled with traffic and people. In the centre of the square, near where everybody was rushing in and out of the subway, there was a small collection of stalls. Some were selling home-made products like cheese, bread and jams; others stocked trinkets and carriage clocks. This was Union Square Market and plenty of people slowed down to browse what the stallholders had to offer.

  One of those people was Colonel Keays. He looked strangely uncomfortable in jeans and a faded leather jacket. No more than two metres behind him, at all times, was one of his agents, also dressed so that he blended into the crowd.

  In fact, all around the square, on every corner and on the roof of every surrounding building, there were more CIA agents in constant communication with each other. No member of the public would have noticed them, even as they moved among them. What’s more, that morning the square was packed with NJ7 agents too. Each of them also looked like a perfectly normal member of the public – shopping, dashing back to work or meeting friends for a coffee.

  Miss Bennett spotted Colonel Keays straight away and marched right up to the stall where he was browsing for second-hand watches.

  “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Keays,” she snapped, quietly.

  “And so have you, Miss Bennett.”

  Neither of them looked directly at each other. Anybody observing from a distance would have had no idea that they were even in conversation.

  “Well, you’re starting,” Miss Bennett ordered. “What were Quinn and Rick Doren doing in a US military helicopter, with American army machine-guns?”

  The two of them moved along the stalls together, worming through the crowds.

  “How do I know?” Keays sighed. “This army seems to leak hardware all over the world. They could have bought the stuff off eBay. There’ll be an enquiry, but it won’t find anything.”

  “Don’t give me that—” Miss Bennett started, but the Colonel cut her off sharply.

  “And don’t you forget your place. I won’t have the head of the secret police of some insignificant dictatorship thinking she can treat me the way she treats her prisoners. Keep that in mind when you speak to me, Miss Bennett, and we’ll continue to get along fine.” He glanced up for an instant and shot Miss Bennett a huge grin. It quickly vanished.

  “I went to a lot of trouble for your ‘Reflex Plan’,” the man continued. “I arranged for you to transmit covert signals over the United States cellphone mast network on the understanding that it was a joint operation.”

  “It was,” Miss Bennett insisted. “We wanted the President dead and I thought you did too.”

  They both looked around, uneasy, and walked along to another stall.

  “Of course I do,” Keays whispered.

  “So what went wrong?”

  “What went wrong? I’ll tell you what went wrong. You did.” Keays was having trouble keeping his voice down. “My side of the operation went perfectly: I showed Jimmy the schematics of the building. I gave him his security pass. I diverted three whole police divisions so that only my handpicked team was on site. The President had no protection. I cleared security from the rooftops so the assassin could get away. It was perfect. Except that the assassin forgot to do any assassinating. Where was the NJ7 back-up?”

  “The French had an agent in place to take out the Prime Minister,”
Miss Bennett explained. “We couldn’t have foreseen that. The PM’s life was our priority.”

  “And yet this mysterious French agent has completely disappeared. Then, to top it all, I find out that you started transmitting a new signal – still using our masts, of course – and kept it secret from me. What were you thinking?”

  “It worked, didn’t it? Jimmy Coates is dead.”

  “Some of us didn’t want Jimmy Coates dead,” Keays snarled.

  “Oh, really? And what did you plan to do with him if he had survived? Use him to get you into the White House?”

  Keays pulled himself up to his full height and for the first time they stared at each other.

  “If Jimmy were alive,” the Colonel rasped, “that’s exactly what I would do.” There was a sharp glint in his eye. Against his will, his face threatened to crack into a smile, so he turned his back on Miss Bennett, pretending to inspect the cheeses on the stall next to him.

  “Alphonsus Grogan is a money-obsessed chump,” he muttered. “He thinks this place is his private company, not a great nation. He only takes advice from the heads of big business, and most of them are his uncles, aunts or cousins. His only principle is ‘How much money can I make today?’ He’s selling America to the highest bidder.” Keays looked over his shoulder to make sure even his own agent couldn’t hear him. Miss Bennett leaned in closer so her ear was right next to the man’s face. The smell of the cheeses was overpowering, but so were the Colonel’s words:

  “I won’t sit back and watch the USA being run like a market stall. Grogan needs to go. Then I can declare a state of emergency and step in to run this country efficiently.”

  Miss Bennett nodded sagely. “I look forward to seeing the end of old-fashioned democracy in the United States,” she announced with a soft smile.

  “Ha! Old fashioned democracy died a long time ago – if it ever really existed. People here might be allowed to vote every now and again, but that’s just because we know they like to feel free. Really, a vote means nothing unless you’re rich. In America, only those with money have any power.”

  “And in Britain, only those with power have any money. I suppose that’s the difference between us.” Miss Bennett smiled, then asked, “Can we count on your support if Britain and France…”

  “Until I’m in the White House, that’s up to Grogan. And he will act according to his business interests. That could either mean backing France to punish Britain for not trading in US goods, or it could mean backing Britain so he can blackmail you into putting a Starbucks on every corner again.” He hesitated and finally added, “Good luck, Miss Bennett.”

  They made eye contact and nodded to each other discreetly, before Miss Bennett strolled away, blending into the Union Square crowd.

  Colonel Keays’ assistant chose that moment to step forward and hand him a palmtop. Keays stared at the screen. His future was a green dot travelling fast along a map of New York, heading for a secret military airbase just outside Piscataway, New Jersey. At that he chuckled, then slipped the gadget into his pocket.

  Jimmy knew he was surely being tracked. But in these circumstances, it was reassuring. He was with a powerful organisation now and he knew they were only tracking him to protect him. The car was speeding out of the city. The driver had told him a private plane was waiting to whisk him into the clouds and several thousand miles away.

  It was such a relief to have his head clear of those visions. They’d invaded every thought and now, at last, they were gone. But in their place was a heavy anxiety. He still didn’t know what had happened to his mother. And until he received word from Colonel Keays, he couldn’t be sure that the others were in protection with their new identities.

  Nevertheless, Jimmy’s future looked a lot brighter now than it had for a long time. Even though he had no idea where he was going, or who he was going to see when he got there, he had a chance at living a life. His only battle now would be with time and the progress of the powers inside him.

  He couldn’t help wondering whether he’d made the right decision. Thinking about it made his insides feel heavy. He didn’t want to feel sad because he was sure that this was the best outcome – NJ7 wouldn’t be looking for any of them any more. But how could he be happy, when he didn’t know if he would see his mother, his sister or his friends again?

  He sniffed, pretending the cold from the river had made his nose run, so the driver wouldn’t notice he was holding back tears. He covered his eyes with his hand. What would it take for him to go back to a normal life, with Georgie, his mother and Felix? There was only one way that was going to happen: if the Neo-democratic British Government fell and NJ7 became a force for good.

  Jimmy laughed at the idea. But then, after a minute or two, he started thinking about it more seriously. It could happen, he told himself. And if he really wanted to take revenge on his ex-father, maybe the way to do it would be to turn Britain back into a true democracy, with Ian Coates as just another citizen.

  Jimmy stared out of the window, watching the unfamiliar landscape rush past – vast industrial estates with occasional spring flowers pushing through the concrete. Bubbling inside him he could feel a new strength. It wasn’t his programming, and it wasn’t some vision that had been forced on to him by a phone network. It was determination. He gritted his teeth, picturing himself with Georgie and Felix in the Prime Minister’s office putting together a new government. It was so ridiculous it made him laugh again – but there was something in the back of his mind that didn’t find it so funny.

  Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted.

  “Oh, by the way, Jimmy,” the driver called out, “this fell out of your pocket.”

  With a look of intense concentration, the man had one hand on the wheel while the other hand was picking apart the sodden leaves of a white paper napkin.

  “No!” Jimmy cried. “Don’t read that!”

  It was too late. The agent was already rotating the paper this way and that, trying to make out what it said. He glanced round when he heard Jimmy’s protest, then turned back to watch the road.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Jimmy,” he said with a smile. “But it’s OK…” He held up the napkin to show Jimmy, who shrank away, not wanting to see. “I think the water made the ink run, or something.”

  He threw the paper on to the front passenger seat, but carried on examining it as he drove. The faint red smudge puzzled him. Does that say what I think it does? he thought. Didn’t he used to be Prime Minister of England? He shrugged, then muttered, “It’s almost illegible, anyway.”

  Jimmy dropped his head back and breathed a massive sigh of relief.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he whispered with a confident smile. It really doesn’t, he thought to himself. Whoever’s name is there, I’m not going to be him. I’m going to be me.

  JIMMY

  COATES:

  SABOTAGE

  If you think it’s over, think again

  Sneak preview…

  BANG! The plane gave a massive jolt. Jimmy was hurled sideways, slamming his head against the side of the cockpit. If it hadn’t been for the helmet, he would have been knocked out cold. He heard both agents yelling through his headset, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He was suddenly aware of the whole plane violently shaking. His stomach rolled around, and he cried out without even knowing what he was doing. His head was still reeling from the impact. Then he heard the first clear words through his earpiece.

  “It’s there!” the pilot shouted. His reedy voice came as a shock. Jimmy strained against his strap to see what the man was talking about.

  “On your DS!” said Froy urgently, reaching over to shake Jimmy’s shoulder. “Your display station!”

  Jimmy looked down at the screen in front of him. There was a green outline of jagged straight lines surrounded by blue, representing the coastline beneath them. The whole screen was criss-crossed by thin blue and red lines, but it was hard to make anything out because of the furious vibrations
of the plane.

  “It’s sprung out of nowhere!” the pilot cried. “They won’t miss next time.” Then Jimmy saw it – first the black aeroplane icon that represented the EA-22G Growler he was sitting in. Then, barely two centimetres away on the screen, the flashing red dot that could only mean trouble.

  “They’ve found me!” Jimmy gasped, barely able to get the words out. “How did they find me?”

  “Hold on tight!” the pilot screamed.

  For a second Jimmy felt like the plane had disappeared from under him. The pilot had sent them into a rapid dive, then he swooped out of it almost immediately. The massive reversal of the g-force thrust Jimmy deep into his seat, and the blood rushing to his head made it feel like his brain was about to burst.

  “I don’t know how they found us,” Froy shouted, peering behind him through the glass. “I’m sorry Jimmy.” Jimmy looked over as well. With the intense shaking and the limited view, he only caught sight of it for a split-second, but it was enough – the wing-tip of another plane. It was behind them, it was fast, and it could only be NJ7.

  The plane surged onwards, back up above the clouds. The vibrations calmed a little and the pilot kept deploying what countermeasures he could. Instinctively, Jimmy knew that first would come a hot flare to divert heat-seeking missiles, then chaff – debris which would disrupt any missile that automatically sought the nearest solid objects.

  Jimmy closed his eyes, searching for that power inside him. He had to forget that he was terrified – that was only the human part of him, the 38 per cent that was a normal, frightened boy. He willed the assassin to take him over. He knew that somewhere within him was enough strength, resilience and expert knowledge to survive this crisis.

  At last, he felt a rush up the side of his neck – like a rising flood taking over his brain and energising every muscle. His breathing slowed. The panic in his chest crumpled into a harmless ball.

  “Can’t we fire back?” Froy shouted.

  Jimmy didn’t wait for the pilot to answer. His voice came out low and calm.