Chapter 16: The Problem with Spies is that You can never Trust Them.
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For the following two weeks they trained constantly, up early everyday in the morning and late to bed every night. They were all exhausted, worn out, tired and fed up. Josh and Chloe wondered if they would ever get a day off. Janice had lived up to all expectations and developed a brand-new device to enable communication with Maddy. The device looked like a wristband but in reality was a device to turn sound waves into radio waves which it would transmit to Maddy's collar. The radio waves were then turned into an electrostatic charge that was visible when they communicated. The collar and wristband worked in reverse as well so that Maddy could communicate with whoever was wearing the wristband. The whole invention had only taken Janice a day or so to build from standard parts. The full schematics had been handed over to the Gadgets Department to be miniaturised and turned into everyday objects such as a wrist watches and dog collars. Janice had been turning out amazing inventions so successfully that she was given field status and full access to systems to allow her to develop defensive and offensive weaponry. The first thing she started on was a method of detecting simpathe organisms, as they were to become known as opposed to the evil ones. She had devised a device for field use and to use as part of the door system security. It looked like a palm reader but measured the electrostatic charges that all simpaths had regardless of origin. The palm reader was designed to deliver a massive charge to any enemy simpathes on recognition. This is what the ministry really wanted, something they to apply practically to check out those in power and later to introduce covertly into airports, driving licenses and eventually dole offices. This would pick up and wipe out the infestation of parasites. The problem they faced was that not all advanced or developing nations had the time and manpower or the relationship to work with western agencies such as MI6. South Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Argentina weren't yet at a stage to engage with in basic conversations let alone believe in secret parasitic simpathe organism infestations. The strategy so far had been to protect home soil against obvious terrorist threats. It helped that many of the deaths that the health protection agency had explained had been thought to have been terrorist based. Elaborate stories of each unexplained death had been leaked: some stories suggested that people had been infected with a contagion of unknown origin but the authorities had conveniently prevented the outbreak that could have killed millions. The Prime Minister had explained that emergency measures were being put into place throughout the United Kingdoms infrastructure and that this was to prevent the spread or contraction of this new contagion. This announcement also served to make everyone compliant with all the new introductions of technology that Janice had developed. By the time they were two more weeks into the development she had, in partnership with the British space agency, developed an independent satellite that would link all the technology across the country together. This would give British intelligence an instant heads up in locating the Simpathes. Agents could be dispatched instantly to ports, airports or train stations as needed.
Josh, Chloe and Maddy had been taken out of the loop and had been training continuously. Josh was now proficient with pistols and submachine guns but his real skill was using technology and gadgets. Chloe and Maddy of course had no use for such devices. They could operate anything electronically without using remotes. They needed knowledge of other languages, so had been studying Chinese which was spoken by the largest population in the world. Josh had finally finished a course studying every gadget invented since the beginning of espionage. They were all brought together to examine the new technology that Janice had invented and were excited at being able to communicate with each other at last. They had been told about the technology but hadn't had the chance to use it before.
"That looks really cool," Josh said, looking at the wrist watch he had been given it by the gadget constructor who had also handed him a manual to go with it.
"Mines all girly, look! Maddy's got a nice pink collar as well," Chloe smiled happily.
"I don't like the colour,” Maddy said, “couldn’t I have something natural that blends in if I need to go hunting?"
"You’re not going to go hunting,” Chloe laughed, “you’re a house husky!"
“We could do with altering the voice,” Josh observed, “Maddy sounds like Stephen Hawking,"
"I’m supposed to be spy dog, not a house dog!! Check out page 23 of your instruction manual Josh," Maddy said, pulling strange doggy faces and drooping her ear down at him disapprovingly.
"Ah, you look so cute! You should work on doggy poses for disguise purposes! Pull another face for me and I’ll mark it." Josh was full of himself and Maddy promptly let out a bark to stop him laughing. She snarled, exposing her teeth and sent electro static charges between her lower and upper jaws. Josh looked little worried until a message came up on his screen. It said. Ha ha! From Chloe!
“Do you know how old I am, in human years? Maddy said, “Nearly 200. You need more respect for your elders, young man.”
“Sorry Maddy, I was only playing,” Josh replied in a repentant tone. How old are you Chloe?”
“It’s so rude to ask a girl her age!” Chloe replied.
While they teased and bantered with each other affectionately their instructor went into a closet at the back of the room and came out carrying two suitcases. He flipped them open and started pulling out pieces of clothing. Josh knew what they were straight away: protective clothing against electrostatic charges. The instructor explained some nice graduates had designed them to protect them from attacks. He pulled down a white screen and turned on a projector sat at the back of the room. The film explained how the technology Janice had designed worked and their purpose. Josh and Chloe were to work as collection agents for MI6 and return all the enemy simpathes to a facility based near Nottingham where their extraction into an internet designed by Janice would occur. It was thought safer to extract them if possible and then jail them. The instructor explained that they could go out into the field whenever they felt ready to do so but that the satellite and new technology would be up and running within the next week so he needed them to make themselves available then if they felt ready. Josh asked if they could go out. They had been in the complex for about six week all told and were getting a bit stir crazy. Their instructor agreed to allow them a week’s leave with the proviso that they were to take weapons and appropriate clothing, false identities and everything they would need to start work. They were so excited. The initial panic was over and they had weapons protection, a simpathe detector, money and nice little MI6 badges. They were even allowed to go home to see their families. The threat of simpathes targeting Josh didn’t seem to matter to MI6 now that they had everything they needed to defeat them, thanks to Janice. AS soon as he heard the news Max found them and warned them to use caution when going home and that the enemy may still want Josh dead. Chloe and Maddy weren’t about to let anything happen and Josh had a nice shiny pistol and a hundred rounds of ammunition. Chloe also had a gun and Maddy could scout ahead and her fabulous hearing would detect any threats to them during the nights. Josh was worried about the nights as this must have been when they were taken the last time when he had ended up living in the computer generated imagery world for two months. He still couldn’t believe the evil ones had done that to them so easily. None of them were old enough to drive yet and Maddy of course couldn’t drive a car in public. It annoyed Josh that his government had deemed him old enough to be taught how to shoot a gun but he still couldn’t drive. They were given rail passes and a car to the tube though. During the journey home, which didn’t take long, Chloe and Maddy steadily ate their way through what looked like half the contents of the buffet car. They had insisted that they would only travel on trains with buffet cars. Josh didn’t understand why they didn’t get fat; he ate a lot but their appetites were incredible. Josh and Chloe had not been apart much since they met and the thought of being parted for any length of time was unbearable
to either of them. They made the decision to go to Josh’s home for the first three days and then to Chloe’s house for three more. They could share rooms now and thought no one at home would mind. They had their badges, guns and everything. Chloe was excited about their plan to stop in London for one their remaining free night and go sight seeing on the way back to MI6. When they phoned their respective parents there was a big hoo-hah because Chloe was visiting Josh’s house first but Miriam invited Chloe’s family over for dinner and this soothed the minor crisis. Chloe and Maddy had been touching and having quiet conversations between themselves but without using the new tech they had been given
"Me and Maddy were chatting about you,” Chloe explained noticing Josh was feeling left out, “It’s good you're working in MI6 but no matter how many gadgets Janice invents, you’re still the only one who can defeat the Simpathes."
"How can you be so sure?" asked Josh.
"We had a predictor programme. His predictions were more accurate than anything else we have found although we don't know how," Chloe explained.
“He passed on before he could tell us how. We’re waiting for another predictor programme to pop into existence, a seer," Maddy continued the explanation.
"Just remember you have your father’s genes,” Chloe said smiling at him, “the capability and talent is already there."
Josh took out his laptop and looked closely at his father's programme. It occurred to him that creating a programme to kill the evil ones would kill all of Chloe's people as well. There must be another way he thought, unable to even contemplate a world without Chloe. He spent the rest of the journey mulling on what could or could not happen. They weren't troubled by attacks at all on the way home. They found it hard to believe that no evil ones had tried anything at all. They felt sure that they must know where they were and have an alternative plan. It was possible that there were thousands of them travelling around England. There are hundreds and thousands of MRI scans every year, over 1,000,000 worldwide and that's a lot of infected people. The train eventually began to slow down before pulling to a halt in Nottingham train station. As they headed out of the train station they saw the new scanners had been fitted and were being tested on random people using the exits. They were clearly not working; Josh observed one man who appeared to be being electrocuted. Josh used his portable scanner and checked the man who looked quite disturbed by the sight of a young lad stopping and flashing his badge. The policeman at the scanner checked the badge and. promptly addressed Josh as Sir, something Josh quite liked. The officer explained that they had a defective or faulty scanner and thought the new technology was unpredictable. Chloe had taken her badge out and checked the scanner which had been taken out of position for inspection. It appeared to be working perfectly when Chloe checked it, identifying her as a Simpathe immediately. Leaving the officers to their checks they took a taxi to Josh’s house. His mum was frantic with joy and relief to the extent that she didn’t seem to know how to react. She was over polite, over attentive and talked almost non-stop. She asked to see their badges, their guns, everything. Before long Chloe's parents and sister arrived and non-stop talking was the order of the day. Of course everyone loved Maddy who was eating dog food in character for the duration. She messaged Chloe and Josh to let them know how hungry she was and they gave her another three tins. Josh escaped momentarily to take his luggage to his room. Chloe also escaped upstairs. Although she was pleased to see her parents and sister she felt overwhelmed by the intensity of their emotions. She had felt something like this before but it was a formidable experience. She knew that Human emotions were very similar to the ones she was feeling but much stronger and more instinctual. She grabbed Josh and asked him to hold her. As he placed his arms around her she gripped on to him tightly.
They were jolted back to reality as the armband on both their wrists simultaneously lit up like Christmas trees. As they separated and pushed the buttons to open channels they heard an agonising scream and then silence.
Maddy’s message read ‘I am dying love u both good luck.’
Another bloodcurdling scream filled the house. It was gut wrenchingly raw as if someone had poured a pan of boiling water over tender flesh. Josh and Maddy both reached for their guns and clicked the safety’s off as they ran downstairs. Chloe led the way with her pistol out stretched in front of her. Her father lay sprawled at the front door. He had been shot, his eyes already glazing over. Chloe looked outside the front door and saw her sister laid there, dead from electrocution by the look of her. Josh had made his way to the kitchen and fired his gun automatically without a thought of the consequences as he saw strangers in his home. Two men brandishing silenced pistols dropped to the ground. Josh had fired his gun without a silencer and couldn’t hear anything except the ringing in his ears and the echo of the roar of the gun amplified in the small room. Tears rolled down his face and time seemed to slow down to a crawl. His mother and Chloe's mother were both dead on the kitchen floor, one electrocuted and one shot dead. A pistol fired and Josh shot his gun again wildly seeking the gunman. He missed and felt a burning sensation in his right shoulder. It was an unfamiliar pain but he knew he had been shot. He fired again and this time hit his target. His hearing had almost cleared and he could hear repeated firing of Chloe's Lugar pistol. She never missed so she must be in trouble. Josh ran outside quickly, almost falling over the corpse of Chloe’s father as he ran. Chloe was outside and had been hit in the leg. She was limping towards him and looked bad, really bad, with blood gushing down her arm as well. He pressed the emergency button on his communication system marked ‘agent needs assistance’. He heard the thud and crack of AK 47 assault rifle rounds hitting the car nearest to Chloe. Thinking quickly Josh scooped Chloe up with his undamaged arm and half carried her into the house. Bullets hit the door frame centimetres from his head as he reached the porch. Josh slammed the heavy outer door shut, bolting it behind him as he ran frantically for the first aid kit. He slapped a bandage straight round Chloe's leg whilst she reloaded pistols. A barrage of bullets mowed through the windows and doors as the two clambered onto the floor next to Chloe's dead father. Tears were mixed with the blood on their faces and Chloe’s shoulders were hunched in anguish. Neither even noticed as bits of mortar, plaster and house splintered down on their heads. Suddenly the hail of bullets stopped and complete silence descended, broken abruptly seconds later by the sound of splintering wood and metal as the front and back doors were breached in unison. Josh and Chloe started firing continually through the door in a steady stream of bullets, mowing down the first three heavily armed invaders. Chloe was weeping uncontrollably, tears rolling down her face. The next man through the door saw her weakness and shot her. Chloe screamed with pain came as the bullet hit her upper torso and she fell to the floor. Josh shot the man five times, his emotions letting loose with a hail of bullets before dropping to his knees over Chloe's weakening body. Tears rolled down both her cheeks, dripping on her bloodstained dress. She was white, the whitest he had ever seen her and her lips were turning blue. Josh was unaware of anything except Chloe, unaware even of the familiar noise of weapons being reloaded until the barrel of the AK was shoved in his face. It was the man from the train station who had been electrocuted. His face told a story of loathing and hatred before everything went black.