‘Now, imagine my surprise when I found out Achilles was a child. A mere boy with other little friends to help him.’ Del Sarto stepped back and straightened his coat. ‘But, being a man of the modern era, I continued with my plan. I wanted to see your skills, Achilles, and I’ll admit you impressed me. The way you hacked into my account like that.’ He pursed his lips. ‘I decided to reveal the Proteus device to you and see what happened. You came along and removed the problem for me.’ Del Sarto snapped his fingers. ‘As easy as that. And I was happy to leave you alone, as long as Proteus was working.’
Jack nodded to Connor, Monday and Cloud. ‘Who are they?’
‘We’re freelance,’ Connor said. ‘The pay is better on this side.’
‘I bet it is,’ Noble said under his breath.
Connor shot him a look that said he’d like nothing better than to tear his throat out.
‘Sir?’ One of the security guards called from the other room. He pointed at a monitor. ‘We’ve got movement in the south-east corner of the estate.’
Connor strode over to the screen and squinted at it. He turned back to Del Sarto. ‘We’ll check it out.’ He gestured for the others to follow him.
Connor, Cloud and Monday marched from the room, weapons drawn.
‘So,’ Del Sarto said, refocusing on Jack, ‘I have been kind enough to explain what has happened to you. Now I want something in return.’
‘What?’ Jack said. ‘You’ve got the program. You can trap the virus. What more do you want?’
Del Sarto took a deep breath, then said, ‘The location of your hideout.’
‘No way,’ Charlie said.
‘Why? Why do you want to know that?’ Jack asked.
‘So he can destroy any evidence you have,’ Noble said.
Del Sarto nodded. ‘Exactly right, old man.’
‘There’s no way we’re telling you where it is,’ Charlie said.
‘I’m afraid you don’t have much choice.’ Del Sarto glanced over at the guards. They were too busy with what they were doing and weren’t listening. Del Sarto reached behind his back and pulled a semi-automatic pistol from his belt. He held it up and examined it. ‘You know, this is my bestseller: lightweight, compact, polymer grip, twenty-round magazine. Impressive stopping power . . .’ He pointed it at Noble’s head and Charlie gasped. ‘I can’t allow any of you to live. I have a reputation to uphold.’ He said to Noble, ‘I’ll kill you first – you are no use to me.’ Del Sarto addressed Jack again. ‘The location.’
‘Do not tell him, Jack,’ Noble said.
‘Oh,’ Del Sarto said, ‘I think you should, Jack. I have no qualms about killing a washed-up hippy.’
Jack’s mind raced for a way out of this, but he couldn’t think of one. ‘I’ll tell you where the bunker is, if you agree to my conditions.’
Del Sarto glanced at him. ‘Conditions?’
‘Jack,’ Charlie struggled in her chair. ‘No.’
‘What choice do we have?’ he shot back.
‘None,’ Del Sarto said, pressing the gun to Noble’s forehead. ‘I’ll give you exactly five seconds. Five . . .’
Jack’s mind raced. He couldn’t say where the bunker was when he had no way of guaranteeing Del Sarto would let Obi, Slink and Wren go.
‘Four . . .’
He could give a fake location but Del Sarto’s men would quickly report back.
‘Three . . .’
If Jack begged, would he spare all of their lives? Somehow he doubted begging would have any effect.
Del Sarto’s finger tightened on the trigger. ‘Two . . .’
Noble squeezed his eyes shut.
One of the security guards broke the silence. ‘Sir.’
For a few seconds, no one moved and even the dust seemed to hang motionless in the air, like time had stopped.
‘Sir.’
Finally, the spell broke and Del Sarto let out an annoyed breath, then lowered the gun. ‘Sorry about this delay,’ he said to Noble, and turned around. ‘What?’
‘You have to see.’ The security guard pointed at the CCTV displays.
Del Sarto muttered under his breath and strode over to the bank of monitors. He stared at them a moment, then his eyes went wide. ‘How many?’
‘Hard to tell, sir. Looks to be around twenty or so.’
Del Sarto gestured to the security guards. ‘You come with me.’ As they marched from the room, Del Sarto barked at the technicians, ‘Lock it down.’
Jack caught a glimpse of the CCTV monitors and saw immediately what the security guards had noticed. Several men and women in dark suits, their guns drawn, were walking up the driveway, scanning the area around them.
So, government agents were on Del Sarto’s trail – they must be coming to claim their property back.
The technicians typed at their terminals. Steel shutters dropped over the door and archway, sealing them in with Proteus.
Now on their own in the other room, Jack looked at the shutter, then at Noble and Charlie. ‘We have to get out of here.’
‘Jack,’ Charlie said, ‘there’s a knife in my boot.’
He glanced at her feet. ‘Which one?’
‘Left.’
Jack rocked back and forth in his chair. Each time he moved further until he toppled backwards and crashed to the floor, sending a sharp pain through his back.
Jack winced and rolled the chair on to the side, facing away from Charlie.
Charlie shuffled her chair until her foot touched his hands.
Jack strained to lift her trouser leg over her boot, then he reached inside. With outstretched fingers, he managed to get hold of the handle of a small knife. He slid it from her boot, spun it in his hand, unfolded the blade, and started to saw at the plastic that bound his wrists.
It seemed to take forever, but finally he cut through and his hands sprang apart.
Jack rolled over, cut his feet free and stood up. He reached behind Charlie and released her bindings. Next, he freed Noble.
The three of them stood for a moment, trying to get a grip of the situation.
Jack ran his fingers over the steel shutter. ‘We’ve got to get through this and destroy Proteus.’
Muffled shouting came from outside.
‘There’s not enough time,’ Noble said.
They heard gunshots and then banging on the front door. Soon the government agents would have the house surrounded and if they caught Jack, Charlie and Noble, there’d be a whole lot of explaining to do and, more than likely, prison would follow.
Jack looked back at the steel shutter and swore. He glanced up at the ceiling. Where were the motors? If they severed the lines, this would release the shutters and they’d be able to lift them manually.
Charlie grabbed Jack’s hand. ‘Come on. Hurry.’
Jack cursed, then he, Charlie and Noble ran to the door near the corner of the room.
It was locked.
Jack jogged over to a window and pulled back the curtains – it was bricked up on the inside.
Noble marched to the far end of the room and turned back. ‘Looks like this is the only way out.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Wish me luck.’ He ran full pelt across the room.
Shoulder down, he slammed into the door. There was a loud cracking sound and he crashed through, taking the door frame with him.
Jack and Charlie stood stunned for a moment, then hurried out and helped Noble to his feet.
Noble winced and rubbed his shoulder. ‘Remind me to never do that again. I’m far too old.’
There were more gunshots and shouting.
‘Time to go,’ Jack said, and they ran down the hallway, through the kitchen, and out into the back garden.
‘Quick,’ Jack said, and he ducked behind a bush.
Noble and Charlie followed.
They peered over the hedge. The side of the house and driveway were full of men and women in suits and dark glasses. Several cars and vans had pulled up and more people were getting out.
&nb
sp; Agents, guns drawn, ran to the back of the house.
Three more agents chased Del Sarto’s security guards and caught them before they reached the trees.
Connor, Del Sarto, Cloud and Monday leapt into the SUV and sped off across a field.
The night filled with flashes of gunfire.
Noble said, ‘Duck.’
Another two agents walked past, scanning torch beams around the bushes.
When they’d moved on, Jack, Charlie, and Noble sat up again.
Del Sarto and the others had managed to escape.
Jack watched as the real agents swept through the house.
There were a couple more gunshots and a small explosion.
Jack looked at Charlie and mouthed, ‘Breaking through the shutters.’
Charlie nodded, keeping her eyes on the back door.
Eventually, agents shoved the handcuffed technicians outside and led them to the waiting cars, while other agents started coming out carrying boxes and loading the vans.
‘They’re moving Proteus,’ Jack said. He stood. ‘We can’t let them –’
Noble pulled him back to the ground. ‘We’re slightly outnumbered.’
As much as Jack wanted to go rushing back in to destroy Proteus, he knew Noble was right. He cursed. Now, the government had Proteus back again, and he wasn’t sure which was worse.
‘We have to go,’ Noble said. He gestured to the two agents with torches. They were slowly circling the garden and heading back in their direction.
Keeping low, Jack, Charlie and Noble hurried to the trees and – staying hidden – followed the edge of the driveway.
‘Wait,’ Charlie said, looking back at the vans.
‘What’s wrong?’ Jack said.
‘We have no way to track Proteus once it leaves here.’
‘What do you suggest?’
Charlie reached into her pocket and pulled out the mobile phone. ‘We plant this on one of those vans and we’ll be able to see where they take it.’
Jack nodded. ‘Good idea. Del Sarto used it to track us, and now we’ll use it to track them.’
Obi would have the number stored and be able to trace its location once they were back at the bunker. Only problem was, so would Del Sarto, but what choice did they have?
Jack looked up the driveway. It was swarming with government agents. ‘I got this one.’
‘No,’ Charlie said. ‘I’ll go.’
Jack opened his mouth to argue but it was too late. She darted into the trees.
Jack and Noble crept up the driveway until they were as close as they dared. They waited for Charlie to re-emerge.
Finally, they spotted Charlie as she reappeared from the trees and slid over to the vans. An agent just rounded the corner but somehow she’d managed to slip past unnoticed.
‘Charlie.’ Jack winced. ‘Careful.’
Charlie crept to the open door of an unattended van, reached in and placed her mobile phone under the driver’s seat.
She checked the coast was clear, then hurried back into the cover of the trees.
Jack let out a breath.
A couple of minutes later, Charlie returned, and as they walked away she said, ‘We need to get back to the bunker and get Obi to run the tracking program.’
They reached the main road.
Noble looked left, then right. ‘The more immediate problem is how do we get back to London from here?’
CHAPTER TWELVE
The next six hours were the longest in Jack’s life. He, Charlie and Noble walked in silence, which gave Jack ample time to reflect. The whole thing had been a disaster, right from the moment Obi spotted that stupid crate with the Proteus logo.
They should’ve stayed away.
They shouldn’t have gone anywhere near it.
By the time they reached the train tracks, the sun was peering over the horizon and bathing Slink’s Urban Outlaws graffiti in bright orange.
Jack looked at it for a moment, wondering what was to come next and whether it was even possible to stop the government using Proteus.
But they had to try. The thought of a computer that was able to pass through any firewall, crack any code, and a world with no secrets made Jack uneasy.
How many innocent people would get caught in the crossfire as countries and governments went to war? Politicians only cared about money and power, and Proteus could help them get both.
That could not happen.
Jack wouldn’t rest until Proteus was dead.
• • •
They reached the bunker’s airlock. Charlie typed in the code and the door slid open.
Wren and Slink, who were sitting at the dining table, leapt to their feet and ran over to them.
Wren gave Charlie a hug, and even Obi climbed out of his chair.
Noble dropped on to one of the sofas, sighed and closed his eyes.
‘Look what we got.’ Slink hurried to the games area.
There was a large object covered in a sheet.
‘What is it?’ Charlie said.
‘Is it another pinball machine?’ Jack said, trying not to let the tone of his voice show his melancholy mood. Though, he had to admit, whatever was under there did look the wrong shape to be a pinball machine.
Slink grinned and yanked off the sheet.
For a few seconds, Jack and Charlie stood in dumbed silence.
Jack could hardly believe his eyes. It was Charlie’s motorbike and it didn’t have a scratch on it. In fact, Slink and Wren must have cleaned it because it gleamed under the halogen lights.
Tears filled Charlie’s eyes. She tried to talk but choked on her words.
‘We knew you’d left it somewhere,’ Obi said, ‘so I worked out the rough location using the CCTV footage.’
‘Took us a couple of hours,’ Slink said, looking proud of their achievement, ‘but we found it under a load of boxes. We must have walked past it a thousand times.’
‘How did you get it back here?’ Jack said.
Slink looked at Charlie. ‘We didn’t ride it,’ he said. ‘I pushed it.’
Wren puffed out her chest. ‘With my help.’
Charlie pulled the three of them into a hug. ‘Thank you.’
Once they’d finished explaining everything that had happened to them, Jack walked over to the computers. ‘Obi, we need to track Charlie’s phone.’
Obi climbed into his seat, ran a trace, but came up empty. ‘Did it have plenty of battery power?’ he asked Charlie.
‘Yes.’
They looked at Jack.
‘It must be out of range or something,’ he said, but as he started to walk away, the computer beeped.
‘Got it,’ Obi said.
‘Where is it?’
Obi frowned. ‘London.’
Slink rolled his eyes. ‘Brilliant. Any idea exactly where in London?’
Obi concentrated for a moment. ‘It’s a weak signal. Got to wait until we get good triangulation on it.’
Jack started to pace and wondered if Del Sarto was having the same problem tracing the signal. For now, they had to assume Del Sarto was hot on the trail. Wherever the government agents were hiding Proteus, the Outlaws had to get in and destroy it once and for all. No messing around this time.
Jack glanced over at Noble – he still had his eyes closed.
Obi called out, ‘Got a signal, and you’re not going to believe where it is.’
They gathered around him.
Obi had a map of London up on the main monitor and a red dot pulsated over one of the buildings.
For a long moment everyone stared at it.
‘That can’t be right,’ Charlie muttered.
‘It is,’ Obi said. ‘I’ve checked it three times. The phone signal is definitely coming from there.’
Charlie looked at Jack. ‘What do we do?’
‘Recon mission.’ Like always, Jack needed to see what they had to deal with.
He marched to the door.
‘I’m coming,’ Char
lie said, grabbing her backpack and hurrying after him.
‘Me too,’ Slink said.
‘And me.’ Wren jogged over to them.
Jack turned around and held up a hand. ‘You stay here.’
Wren’s face dropped. ‘But –’
‘No arguments.’ Determined, Jack spun back to the door and the three of them marched through the airlock.
• • •
An hour later they were standing in a narrow side road off Oxford Street, in the West End of London.
Heavy rain hammered the pavement at their feet and poured from broken guttering.
Hoods up, Jack, Charlie and Slink pulled back into the doorway of an old bookshop. The interior was darkened and the closed sign was on the door.
Jack pressed a finger to his ear and said, ‘Obi, is the signal still coming from this spot?’
‘Directly ahead of you.’
Jack glanced at the others. ‘No chance it’s a mistake?’
‘Nope, no chance,’ came Obi’s confident reply.
Across the road was a Victorian theatre, the Winchester. The front of the building was covered in scaffolding and plastic sheeting billowed in the wind.
There was a sign that read:
This historic building is under renovation. This extensive project will be completed in the next two years.
‘Proteus can’t be here,’ Slink said.
To the left of the theatre was a café with its windows boarded up and to the right was an alleyway.
‘You think it’s a trap?’ Charlie asked.
That had crossed Jack’s mind, but even if the agents had found the phone, why would they bring it here? It made no sense.
Jack stared at the theatre, thinking.
‘They wouldn’t have driven Proteus into a building site,’ Slink said.
Jack nodded.
Charlie frowned. ‘So, did they find the phone or not?’
A van turned into the alley next to the theatre and two men – wearing fluorescent jackets and hardhats – jumped out.
Jack smiled. ‘Bingo. This is definitely the right place.’
Charlie followed his gaze. ‘Jack, they’re just workmen.’
Urban Outlaws Page 14
