Chapter 20 A Bugs life
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Exploratores, like any other large faculty, needed resources; food, clothing, electrical supplies, toilet rolls; indeed all the things that every other organisation needed. In order to keep security as tight as possible the MOD employed ex-prison staff to search, x-ray and check everything that came into the building. Anyone can, if they want, find the headquarters of MI6 or MI5 and could easily photograph everyone entering or exiting that institution. If they were very very lucky they might even photograph a real live spy but in reality were much more likely to get a snapshot of someone who works in logistics, the satellite observation division or technical support. Just Google MI6 and you could find their headquarters and happily snap away all day. What you won’t find however is the SIS training facility. That’s unless you’re a spy yourself explained Chloe and Josh’s instructor
“Ok, but what’s this got to do with bug hunting?” asked Chloe, confused.
“Well, trainees get to do bug hunting to ensure extra security,” the trainer patiently explained, “we always plant one bug and you have to find it,”.
“We really have to check the whole compound?” asked Josh, not really seeing the point.
“Yes the whole compound,” the trainer was still patient but just a touch of irritation coloured his voice. These two had been asking far more than the usual amount of questions.
“Why? That will take all day!”
“Yes it will, but if you find any more bugs you’ll get 10,000 bonus,” the trainer added the incentive wearily.
Josh’s eyes lit up until he remembered he was now the property of the British government and couldn’t get out of it if he wanted to. There was a Simpathe price on his head so he was going to spend the rest of his life in Exploratores. Josh was still trying to figure out why he was under a care order and Chloe wasn’t. It seemed a bit strange. They were treating her as if she wasn’t human, well she wasn’t but was at the same time. Josh hated it. He just saw her as a person and he loved her as much as any man could love a woman, Simpathe or not.
His mind returned to the task at hand. The bonus would be nice so he may as well do a good job. Chloe and Josh were working their way around the complex armed with a bug detector along with the other recruits. Everyone had been staring at Chloe in the operation room which had made her very uncomfortable and Josh had seen a look in their eyes he couldn’t quite identify. It had seemed like a strange mixture of fear and scorn. He wasn’t sure what the other trainees had been told but they seemed scared of her. Chloe was now annoyed as other trainees studiously avoided any area that Chloe was working in, grouping together ridiculously in their efforts to steer clear of her. Seeing her eyes flash with anger Josh hurried over to smooth it out. Only the instructor and Josh himself had spoken to Chloe so far during the training sessions. The rest of their time they had spent either in their rooms or in the gym building their wasted muscles back up.
Josh whispered to Chloe ‘Hey, keep it up with the scariness! We’ve got more chance of the bonus if that lot are falling over their own feet.” Chloe smiled, reluctantly seeing the funny side of the situation and allowed Josh to give her a hug before continuing the search. They didn’t find anything in the first room so moved firstly to the medical lab before searching every room. Other students were in and out of every room also trying to get the bonus. There wasn’t one of course but it was a good way of motivating the students and getting extra security checks. When it drew close to dinner time they decided to nip to Josh’s quarter to fool around for a bit. They were bored and getting their energy back. Chloe bounced on to Josh’s bed and smiled cheekily at him with ‘come get me eyes’ Josh, unable to resist her, put his scanner on the desk where it immediately it let out a whining noise. Suddenly serious, they both froze for a moment as the meaning of the noise dawned on them. They had a bug in their room. MI6 had bugged him. Josh was pissed at having no privacy. They scanned the whole room carefully and pulled four bugs out before going to Chloe’s room and repeating the process. They placed the bugs in sealed container, knowing they needed to check it really was mi6 who had planted them and no one else before they went ballistic. They felt like their privacy had completely been taken away and both were embarrassed by the memories of things they had said when they thought they were alone.
“Well, we’ve made a lot of money if they pay up,” Josh said.
“I think it’s MI6 who is keeping tabs on us,” Chloe replied, the colour still high in her cheeks.
“I don’t recognize the bug or country of origin,” Josh mused, remembering his training.
“Who should we tell or should we try and find some more first?” Chloe asked, a frown still furrowing her forehead.
“If you were a foreign nation where would you bug?” Josh traded her question for one of his own.
“The food court. Everyone goes there and they all talk a little,” Chloe answered at once.
“I would have said operation or medical,” Josh replied,” but we’ve done them. We can’t get in accommodations can we?”
“Officially no but we could ask as we go and then the locks could accidently break,” Chloe schemed, “It is the obvious place, outside of the public areas.”
They started on their own floor, knocking on the doors of anyone who was home before Chloe moved on to making other locks ‘accidently’ open. They found nothing, not even receiving equipment. Yet someone somewhere must be monitoring them. They really couldn’t do any more with drawing attention to themselves.
“We can’t do the non-student accommodation or they will have us. I say we draw weapons out of the armoury and take these bugs to the trainer in case they’re dangerous,” Josh suggested at last.
“Won’t they ask us why we are drawing weapon?” Chloe said.
“Yes, we’ll tell them the truth and then find the trainer. He should be in the food court somewhere.” Josh planned their next steps.
They walked to the armoury which was based a floor below their accommodation, in close proximity to the rifle range. The layout was pretty similar to the first floor but had operations, storage and a forensics training lab that they hadn’t been in yet. Everyone talked about it but they had concentrated on technology, surveillance and getting fit again.
Josh went to the hatch of the armoury and asked for a pistol and sub machine gun. He wasn’t planning on taking any chances. The armourer looked at him closely. It wasn’t that Josh wasn’t allowed to sign out weapons, more that he never had before. They were allowed to draw firearms out to practice but they hadn’t since the simulation. The armourer asked for a moment and used a phone, looking warily at Chloe at the same time. He was obviously scared of her and what she represented. Josh remembered when he had first come close to a silverback gorilla. He had paused in front of a Perspex window and as he had looked through the screen a huge animal had unexpectedly loomed up and without warning charged him. He remembered the overwhelming fear in every bone in his body and how his instincts had screamed at him to run or kill it. Josh recognised the same fear in the armourer’s eyes when he looked at Chloe as he himself had felt that day at the zoo. The man came back to the window and explained that Josh wasn’t allowed a fire arm and was to wait for his trainer who was on his way down now. They didn’t have to wait long before their surveillance trainer, Ted, and Matthew, their firearms instructor, turned up.
“So why do you need guns in the middle of a bug hunt, pray tell,” Ted asked rather sarcastically.
“We found these eight bugs in mine and Chloe’s quarters, so we figured we had a spy,” Josh explained, taking one bug out and showing it to them whilst putting a finger over his mouth to signal silence. Ted examined it carefully and then placed it in a sealed sound proof bag.
“They are Korean or even Russian, not sure which until I get the cover off. So what was your plan?” Ted asked, all sarcasm gone now from his voice.
“And you can’t go round shooting MI6 agents,” Matthew
added.
“I was going to ask Ted for permission to search the rest of the accommodation quarters. There must be a receiver somewhere in this compound,” explained Chloe.
The armourer had prepared four weapons the moment Ted had given him the signal to go ahead. Most of the agents in the compound would be armed after all; it was only trainees who wouldn’t be.
Josh took his pistol first, quickly loading the weapon before asking for more clips as if he was going to war.
“You know what you are doing with that?” Matthew asked, casting an expert eye over Josh’s weapon.
“Yes I’ve been trained in the simulator. Me and Chloe only want the guns until we’ve searched your quarters Sir’s” Josh said politely as he point the gun at then loosely. Taking her cue from Josh, Chloe picked up all the guns and loaded them ready for action. She handed Josh an MP5 with a silencer and an extra magazine on a belt. He accepted the gun and placed the pistol in his holster.
“There are procedures for searches,” Matthew stated uncomfortably, “I should get the keys.”
“No, it’s fine, we won’t need keys,” Chloe said as she sent an arc of sparks across her finger and thumb and smiled politely at the two distraught men, “we don’t want to alert people that we are searching their accommodation.”
Josh asked the armourer for thumb cuffs. He smiled and passed a set over. Josh put them in his pocket in case he needed then.
“Go a long way them two, hee hee,” the armorer said, smiling now. He was quite elderly and nothing except Chloe bothered him or scared him in the slightest. He appeared to be enjoying the discomfort of the two men.
The two trainers led the way to the accommodation used by active working members of MI6 and auxiliary staff. Josh and Chloe followed closely behind, carefully ensuring that the gun Josh held on the adults was not in view when they passed others in the corridors. They started with Ted’s room. They liked him more than Matthew and he had shown less resistance to them. Chloe passed a scanner to Matthew and let him help her search the apartment for any unauthorised equipment. It seemed highly likely that Ted would have some equipment there because of his occupation but there was nothing. The accommodation came up clean and Ted breathed a sigh of relief as Josh handed him a pistol and apologies. Ted happily accepted the apology, “That’s the first bug ever found on a trainees search, well done,” he beamed, “now lets get this mess cleaned up!”
Matthew lived in the couples’ quarters. Relationship were discouraged rather than forbidden but ignored as long as productivity wasn’t affected adversely. Matthew was dating a member of the administrative team who worked in the operation centre. They hadn’t been seeing each other long, only a few months, but were in love. Matthew had finished his stint in the field so was a good catch who would have an early retirement with a good pension. When they arrived at Matthews’s quarters he opened the door for them and shouted to check if his girlfriend Kate was home. There was no reply so Ted and Josh began to scan the rooms; a kitchen, a lounge and bedroom. Chloe thought rather enviously that they should have given her and Josh one; they were quite nice and less like prison cells. Suddenly the bedroom door was flung open from the inside and a startled looking Kate stood in the doorway, chest heaving in panic at the sight of guns in their apartment. Matthew quickly reassured her that everything was ok and not to panic. As he led her lovingly to the settee the sound of shots deafened everyone. Matthew was curled up in agony on the sofa and Chloe, who had glanced away at the wrong moment, was getting off the kitchen floor after ducking the bullets Kate had fired before running out of the flat. The other two rushed in from the bedroom where they had found the listening equipment. The noise of multiple shots from outside was deafening. There was clearly more than one shooter out there; it sounded like a war.
“It sounds like your girlfriend is on one,” Ted said, looking with concern at Matthew doubled up in agonizing pain. Chloe went to him and took away his pain and he began to breathe calmly. Ted poked his head out of the door, provoking a hail of bullets. He slammed the door quickly while he collected his thoughts.
“We need to go after her,” Matthew said, his face white with shock.
“No-one is going out there, ´”ordered Ted,” It’s insane, there are bodies everywhere. We need to protect the young ones firstly. There’s Simpathes out there as well. I saw the electrocutions.”
“How did it happen? We’ve got the best security in the country; it would be easer to kill the prime minister!” Matthew stammered.
The ringing tones of the doorbell made them all jump except Chloe, who had gone onto full alert when Ted mentioned Simpathes. She was at the door first, quickly seizing the female Simpathe who was just about to attack and in the electrostatic battle that ensued she had the girl on the floor in a second. Ted was going to finish her off but Chloe stopped him. She was intent on interrogating her and was holding the Simpathe by the back of the neck in an unbreakable and painful grip. The simpathe looked scared. Chloe floated her free hand above the captive simpathes head. It was Sarah, a VDU operator in the main ops. Chloe probed into her mind.
A few weeks earlier a small monkey had snuck past the X-ray machines in the landing dock. It had found it way there through following an agent, Max. Its orders were to release captive simpathes and kill Josh and Chloe. The monkey had made it to medical and released Janice. She had been pretending to be in cyberspace but had used the opportunity to reconnect the MRI scanner to the internet which meant the routine medicals everyone had after the big Simpathe scare had turned most of MI6 into a hell pit of Simpathes, all expertly trained in espionage with an armoury full of guns.
Chloe finished off the Simpathe quickly and as the body fell to the floor she explained what had happened to the others who were now in shock in more ways than one. Chloe had shocked them both to ensure they hadn’t been inhabited. Josh searched the room for protective gear, his brain remembering the pain these things could inflict. Chloe released the others after finding them to just be human, albeit by now very frightened humans in a great deal of pain, and they didn’t need to be told twice to find gloves and protection.
“Ok this is the plan,” Chloe suggested quickly, “we get out, find Max then make a run for it.”
“What about the camera satellites?” Asked Josh, “and where are we going to go?”
“The cameras and most of the satellites are off limits to the Simpathes now we have isolated them,” Ted explained, “its back to the old days for everyone at this rate.”
“We still have to get out and it’s a war zone out there. I only wish we’d picked up a few grenades while we were in the armoury,” Mathew mourned their lack of heavy weaponry as he opened the door. He thought he should lead, being the best shot and all. There could be up to three hundred people all told in the complex at once. Many of them wouldn’t know what had hit them if hundreds of Simpathes had gone on the rampage. The trilling sound of Josh’s phone made everyone jump nearly to the ceiling. All other sounds had ceased and it was eerily quiet now; no gunfire was coming down the corridor which meant that either all the good guys were dead or all the bad guys were dead. The smell of fresh powder and a slight smokiness filled the air and the suspense was getting to everyone. Josh checked his phone; a new text had come in from Max
Text reads:- Maddy ill. I think she may die. On my way back.
Josh quickly texted him back: - HQ compromised. Don’t come here. Under attack from unknown Simpathe force, many MI6 agents have been infiltrated. Meet you St Pancreas ASAP. Look after Maddy.
Matthew was at the end of the accommodation corridor by now the end door was open and he could see into the operations room where dead bodies were sprawled everywhere. Matthew planned to move carefully and slowly toward the armoury; he needed more guns and equipment if they were going on the road and if he could get them. Intent on his plan he didn’t see Kate until she appeared in front of him and his hesitation cost him his life. Chloe, ever vigilant, shot her dead insta
ntly. Josh had opened fire into a group behind Kate at the same time. He hadn’t waited for them to declare their intent first, he knew how fast they were with weaponry and that he needed to hit them the first time or not bother. They ran quickly into the armoury room and dived on the floor as the armourer let rip with a light machine gun mounted on a tripod at his window. There were dead bodies with their weapons drawn lying all over the floor.
“Sorry, I’m kinder pleased you tipped me off that there was going to be trouble,” the armourer greeted them.
“Why is that?” asked Chloe.
“Well I would be dead and a lot more folks beside, no doubt about that,” he replied.
Reg was the oldest serving member of the MI6 team and was in his seventies. He loved the service and knew every inch of the compound. Ted knew Reg would know a safe way out.
“Reg, what’s the safest way of getting these kids out of here?”
“Depends on who is left alive that knows the building,” replied Reg laying down the LMG on the bench, “There’s the emergency staircase behind the armoury here but there is nothing to say they’re not watching that.” Chloe walked up to Reg and gave him a mild shock. He responded quickly, almost succeeding in drawing his side arm but she increased the dose slightly.
“He’s fine,” Chloe said relieving his pain.
“I thought she was on our side,” Reg complained.
“Oh she is. You should see what they do, she was just checking you,” Josh smiled.
Reg caught his breath and, still muttering a little, showed them the way to the stairs.
“Wait a minute I need to tool up. I’m coming with you, it’s not safe here and I’m a pensioner you know,” he told them.
They all turned and looked at him in disbelief as he loaded an AK74u submachine gun and filled his pockets with stun grenades. He gave them rucksacks full of equipment to carry as well.
“We need to move, Reg,” Josh urged the old man.
“We need to make a difference, not be helpless, I’m senior agent here, now pick up the gear,” ordered the sprightly Reg.
They all looked at him again he looked like an elderly Rambo on steroids who did not get out much. This was a man over attached to his weapon Josh thought. Older people were supposed to be more balanced and less scared of dying because they know it will happen soon anyway. Maybe they just want to make a difference, make their lives mean something, Josh pondered on the mystery as he stepped over another dead body inside the armoury.