‘It is good to see you, Natalya,’ Nero said, placing a hand on her shoulder. ‘I knew I could count on you.’
‘Always,’ Raven said with a slight smile.
‘Did you deal with Trent?’ Nero asked, his expression serious.
‘No,’ Raven said angrily. ‘There was no opportunity.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Nero said quietly. ‘I suspect that we have not heard the last of Sebastian Trent or H.O.P.E. There will be other opportunities.’
‘I hope so,’ Darkdoom said. ‘We have some scores to settle.’
‘Diabolus,’ Nero shook Darkdoom’s hand, ‘thank you for the lift.’ He gestured at the Megalodon.
‘Thank Mr Malpense,’ Darkdoom said warmly. ‘He was the one who sent us the coordinates where we would find you, but, if my communications officer is right, the origin point of the transmission was rather . . . unusual.’
‘That, my friend, is a long story,’ Nero grinned.
.
Chapter Fourteen
The Megalodon slid smoothly into H.I.V.E.’s submarine pen and the men standing on the deck threw anchor lines to the security guards waiting on the dock. A boarding ramp was lowered and Nero walked down to the docking station, followed by Raven and Darkdoom. Professor Pike, Colonel Francisco and Ms Leon stood waiting for them.
‘It is good to see you, sir,’ Professor Pike said happily, stepping forward and shaking Nero’s hand.
‘It is good to be home,’ Nero said. ‘I have been briefed on recent events here. Not only have you all shown great courage but you have also saved the lives of everyone at H.I.V.E. You are to be commended.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ the Colonel said, ‘but there was one person who deserves our thanks even more. She gave her life for the school.’
‘Maria will be remembered,’ Nero said quietly, ‘not as the enemy she had become but as the friend she once was.’
‘I understand that she was not the only casualty of this situation,’ the Professor said.
‘No – you are certain that he cannot be restored?’ Nero asked.
‘He’s gone,’ the Professor said sadly. ‘The only copy of H.I.V.E.mind’s consciousness was on board that combat chassis. I’ve tried everything – it’s no good.’
‘Then he too will be remembered.’
‘DAD!’
Darkdoom looked up as Nigel ran down the dock towards him. He grinned and hugged his son hard. It had been too long since he had seen Nigel and suddenly he understood what the events of the past few days really meant. He was free of Number One at last; they all were.
‘You don’t know how much I’ve missed you,’ Darkdoom said quietly.
‘I thought you were dead,’ Nigel said, looking at his father in amazement. He almost sounded angry.
‘I know, I’m sorry. It was the only way to keep you and your mother safe,’ Darkdoom said. ‘I promise I’ll explain everything later.’
‘It’s quite some story, believe me,’ Otto said and Nigel spun around to see him, Wing, Laura and Shelby walking down the boarding ramp.
‘I should have known that you lot would have something to do with this,’ Nigel said happily.
‘Hey,’ Shelby said with mock indignation, ‘we don’t go looking for trouble. It comes and finds us.’
‘Frequently,’ Wing added with a smile.
‘Shall we head for the debriefing room?’ Nero said to them all. ‘We have a lot to get through.’
He ushered the group up the ramp leading from the dock.
‘Something wrong?’ Laura asked Otto. He suddenly looked sad as he watched Darkdoom walk away up the ramp with his arm around Nigel’s shoulder. He felt slightly jealous as he watched the pair of them leave. He had never had a family and now he knew that he never would. The nearest thing he had to a father was a homicidal supercomputer and his mother had been a cloning vat. It was not something that he’d ever really thought about before, but now he knew the truth about his past it suddenly bothered him more than he expected.
‘No, just a bit envious, I suppose,’ he said.
‘Don’t be,’ she said, putting an arm around his shoulder and nodding in the direction of Wing and Shelby, who were walking along in front of them, chatting to each other. ‘You’ve got family now too.’
two weeks later
Nero sat at his desk reviewing the reports on the repairs to the landing area. It would be some time before the crater was functioning fully again but the crews seemed to be making good progress. There was a sudden beep from the communications console on his desk and Nero put down the papers he had been reading as the G.L.O.V.E. logo lit up the screen. After a moment or two the screen was filled with a man’s silhouette. Nero felt a chill run down his spine.
‘Very funny,’ Nero said, the corners of his mouth curling.
‘Sorry,’ Darkdoom said and the lights in his office turned on, illuminating his face properly.
‘Just because the ruling council chose you as the new leader of G.L.O.V.E. doesn’t mean that you can start doing without proper illumination,’ Nero said, smiling.
‘I still think that you should have taken the job when they offered it to you,’ Darkdoom replied. ‘Besides, you have a much more striking silhouette than I do.’
‘That may well be true but I’m going to concentrate on H.I.V.E. for now. This is where I’m most useful. I’ll leave the meetings, politics and surviving multiple assassination attempts to you if you don’t mind.’
‘This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?’ Darkdoom said with a chuckle.
‘I couldn’t possibly comment,’ Nero said, raising an eyebrow. ‘So would you rather I called you Number One now?’
‘No, I think that’s a title that is better off dying with its previous holder. The ruling council seemed to agree with me after you had briefed them on what happened up on that station. I think some of them feel they have been played for fools.’
‘We all were to one degree or another. Let’s just be grateful that we were able to stop him before he could take his plans any further. Speaking of which, I should go. I have a ceremony to attend.’
‘Of course. Give my best wishes to your staff and pupils,’ Darkdoom said. ‘if there’s anything else H.I.V.E. needs, just let me know. We all owe you and your school a great debt.’
‘We owe you just as much, Diabolus, but some made greater sacrifices than others and I need to go and make sure that no one forgets that.’
‘They will not be forgotten,’ Diabolus said, looking sad for a moment. ‘I shall speak to you soon.’
The line went dead and Nero stood up, straightened his suit jacket and walked out of the room.
‘Pupils of H.I.V.E.,’ Nero said, standing at the lectern at the front of the main meeting hall, ‘we are gathered here to remember the sacrifice of two valued members of our school. They were both instrumental in saving this institution from a situation that would have almost certainly meant its total destruction and the deaths of everybody in this room. The specifics of what occurred are classified and so I cannot provide you with details, but it is still important that we do not forget what they have done. So without further ado I would like to unveil this memorial to H.I.V.E.mind and the Contessa Maria Sinestre: they gave their lives for all of us.’
Nero stepped over to a black cloth that was covering something behind him and pulled it aside. Beneath it was a single column of white marble that had a blue laser beam shooting straight up from its centre towards the cavern roof far overhead. Carved into the column was the coat of arms of the Sinestre family. Applause broke out around the cavern and continued for many minutes.
Standing in the middle of the section of Alpha students, watching the unveiling, Wing felt a sudden tug on his sleeve. It was Laura, looking worried.
‘Where’s Otto?’ she whispered. ‘I didn’t think he’d miss this.’
‘He said he had somewhere else that he had to be and that he’d see us later,’ Wing replied with a reassuring smile.
&
nbsp; ‘Are you sure he’s OK?’ Laura asked. ‘He hasn’t talked much about what happened up on that station. He’s seemed really distracted since we got back.’
‘I know,’ Wing replied, ‘but do not worry, I think he will be OK. He just has a lot on his mind at the moment.’
Otto stood in the dimly lit room, looking at the silent white monoliths that surrounded him. He remembered the first time that he had been in this room when he had first tried to escape from H.I.V.E., and it seemed like a very long time ago. H.I.V.E.mind’s central core was quiet now, its occupant long gone, but Otto found something strangely comforting about the room. He closed his eyes and placed his hand on one of the white slabs that surrounded the central pedestal. He reached out with his mind but there was nothing there, just the low-level traffic of H.I.V.E.’s basic network.
Otto sighed and stepped away from the monolith. He had not really expected to find anything but he still felt disappointed. He looked around the darkened room one more time and then walked out of the room.
The door shut with a hiss behind him and the lights dimmed, plunging the room into darkness. On one of the monoliths on the other side of the room there was a tiny flicker of blue light in the blackness, and then it was gone.
Mark Walden, Escape Velocity
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