He looked around, the helmet’s night vision illuminating the inky darkness, and could see no sign of any human habitation, let alone a global super-villain’s secret base. Again he felt a sudden twinge of doubt – if this was the wrong place it would be a long and dangerous climb back out. He also realised that there was no sign of Raven. He hoped that the detonation of the aircraft’s self-destruct device had not claimed her or damaged her jump rig in some way. It was going to be hard enough surviving this even with her help; he didn’t know what he was going to do if she had not made it too. He couldn’t panic – he knew that – and silently he reminded himself why it was that he was here. If Cypher was here, Otto was going to make him pay for what he’d done.
Suddenly a movement on the edge of his field of vision caught Otto’s attention. What had previously appeared to be a solid and natural rock wall was sliding into the ground and the light that came from behind it temporarily overloaded his sensitive night-vision equipment. Otto scurried for cover behind a huge boulder that lay nearby and watched, the electronics in his helmet compensating for the sudden flood of light, as several figures emerged from the previously hidden entrance. Otto immediately recognised the sinuous black forms of the assassins that had attacked them earlier that day. They moved through the doorway with the same silent grace that he had seen before, their heads turning this way and that as they fanned out across the cavern floor. This did at least mean that Otto was in the right place but it also suggested, rather more worryingly, that his arrival had not gone as undetected as he had hoped. Two of the black-clad figures remained at the doorway as the others proceeded to search the floor of the cavern, quickly covering the ground and moving inexorably closer to Otto’s position. He had to move. Otto frantically looked around the cavern, desperately searching for some sign of another exit, but quickly realised that there were none. The only way out of the cavern was past the two men guarding the doorway and he doubted very much that they’d eagerly invite him inside.
Otto slowly backed up, keeping the boulder between himself and the assassin now approaching him. He almost fell as his foot slipped on the wet rocks behind him – he was on the very edge of the roaring torrent that issued from the base of the waterfall. Over the centuries this underground river had carved a deep channel in the base of the cave which vanished into a black hole in the rock wall. Otto had nowhere to go. As soon as the assassin rounded the huge boulder behind which Otto was hiding, he would be discovered and, he realised with a cold certainty, summarily executed. Otto stood up and took a deep breath. If he was going out at least he’d go out fighting.
Raven spat a short, venomous curse in Russian as she drifted towards the cavern floor. Below she could see a fan of light spreading out across the ground as the concealed entrance opened and a dozen of the deadly assassins that had fought her to a near standstill earlier that day spilled out. They immediately assumed a search pattern, spreading out across the cavern floor quickly and efficiently. Whoever they were, they were extremely well trained.
She looked over to the hiding spot into which she had seen Malpense scurry as the door had started to open. From her position above them she could see that it would only be a matter of seconds before he was discovered. She knew what she had to do and she pulled on the control lines of her chute, steering it towards the hidden doorway. When she was twenty feet above the ground she slapped the emergency release on her harness and dropped the remaining distance, her orphaned parachute drifting away into the darkness. She hit the ground hard, rolling forward to absorb the impact and leaping immediately to her feet. She ripped the jump helmet from her head and drew the twin blades from the scabbards on her back in one fluid motion, running towards the two guards who remained watching the doorway. She knew that she had no chance of holding her own against so many of these mysterious ninjas, but she had to draw them away from Otto. The two guards on the door ran to meet her; they appeared unarmed but her experience in Tokyo had taught her that with these men that made little difference.
Raven’s twin katanas became a blur as she launched a withering assault on the two ninjas. Just as before, they moved with an inhuman speed and efficiency, dodging or blocking what would normally have been killing blows, matching her move for move. The other guards that had spread out across the cavern were running back towards the doorway now and Raven realised that the fight was already lost, backing away from the two men at the door as the other guards started to form a loose circle around her. She centred herself and grinned viciously at the shadowy figures of the assassins that now surrounded her.
‘One at a time or all at once?’ she snarled, looking around her.
The guards showed no signs of concern, slowly tightening the circle they had formed.
Otto watched in horror as the assassins surrounded Raven. He had escaped detection by seconds when her arrival had drawn all of the hunters back to the doorway but he felt no sense of relief as he watched the situation that developed on the other side of the cavern. The ninjas surrounded Raven, advancing remorselessly. One would attack from in front and several others would launch a simultaneous assault from behind, slowly wearing her down. Raven fought like a demon but it was all she could do to hold her own and the end, when it inevitably came, was quick and brutal. As the blow rained down on her Raven was knocked down on to one knee and then mercilessly battered to the floor. In a matter of seconds it was over, two of the ninjas dragging Raven’s limp form through the brightly lit doorway.
The remaining assassins moved away again, spreading back out across the cavern, resuming their search. Otto looked around desperately. There was no hiding spot that he could see that would conceal his presence and if he was discovered now Raven’s sacrifice would have been for nothing. A sudden thought shot across Otto’s mind. It seemed insane, but he quickly realised that it might be the only chance he had. He looked at the head-up display on his helmet and saw that he had just under four minutes of oxygen remaining. He had no idea if it was enough; he just had to hope it would be. He turned round, took a moment to slow his breathing and then dived into the raging torrent that issued from the waterfall.
Instantly he was caught in the breakneck current, tumbling over and over in the icy water as he was carried towards the black hole in the cave wall. Otto had no idea where the torrent would carry him but all he cared about at the moment was that it was the only way out. As he passed into the cave the river picked up speed and his helmet hit a rock hidden below the surface. The head-up display flickered for a moment and then went dark. His night vision was gone and he could no longer tell which way was up in the pitch blackness. He smashed against another rock and, as the wind was knocked from him, felt genuine fear as he realised that this wild torrent was as likely to kill him as any of Cypher’s assassins. Otto fought for air; his helmet was at least still feeding him oxygen but there were now less than two minutes’ worth remaining.
Suddenly he was airborne. His stomach gave a lurch as he fell through the blackness for what seemed like for ever before hitting the water again hard. His visor crashed into something solid and water rushed into his helmet. Otto fought desperately to pull the helmet off as it filled with the icy water, finally tearing it off, knowing that his remaining oxygen supply was now gone. He felt air on his face for a moment and took a desperate ragged breath before he was pulled under again. He fought to reach the surface as his lungs started to burn, but he was completely disorientated. The back of his head smacked against another hidden piece of rock and his final despairing thought as he lost consciousness was that Cypher had won.
‘What do you mean, “disappeared”?’ Nero asked impatiently.
‘It’s just vanished, sir. We can’t raise the Shroud on comms and there’s nothing on satellite tracking,’ the harried-looking communications tech replied weakly.
‘You’ve tried to activate the emergency beacon, I assume?’ Professor Pike said, walking across the command centre to the console at which the technician was working.
> ‘Yes, Professor, I’ve tried everything. There’s just no sign of them. Could they have been . . . shot down?’ the technician asked nervously.
‘In any other aircraft that might have been a possibility, but there isn’t an anti-aircraft system on earth that can even detect the Shroud, much less shoot it down. No, something else must have happened,’ the Professor replied, peering through his battered spectacles at the display.
Nero rubbed his eyes with one hand and let out a sigh. Today was going from bad to worse. He refused, though, to give up hope just yet. It would not be the first time that both Raven and Malpense had survived such unexpected developments. He knew that he should report the situation to Number One, especially as Malpense was involved, but he also knew from past experience that reporting to Number One without a full understanding of the situation was never a good idea. No, better instead to wait until he had a much clearer idea of what had happened.
‘See if you can pull up thermal imaging for the surrounding area,’ the Professor instructed, and the technician proceeded to hijack and intercept any relevant data from nearby satellites. The Professor walked back over to Nero, looking worried.
‘It’s not good, Max. I know the Shroud was designed to be invisible, but not to us. If it’s in the air we should be able to find it,’ he said quietly.
‘Any theories?’ Nero asked, looking tired.
‘Well, the Shrouds are experimental. There could have been an equipment failure.’
Nero thought that ‘equipment failure’ was not a terribly accurate description of a fireball in the sky and a rain of blazing debris on the ground below. He pushed the image out of his mind.
‘No, it’s too much of a coincidence that something should go wrong at the precise moment that they’re on final approach to Cypher’s facility. Something happened and it wasn’t an accident.’
‘I agree,’ the Professor said. ‘There’s only the prototype left, it’s such a shame to lose equipment like that.’
Nero glared at the Professor.
‘What I mean is that such potential loss of life is tragic . . . yes, that’s it, terrible . . .’ the Professor added hastily.
‘Doctor Nero, I have something,’ the technician reported, pointing at his display as Nero and the Professor hurried over to look at what he had found. The display was showing a thermal image of the area surrounding Cypher’s base. The majority of the screen was filled with the deep purples and blues of the cool, quiet jungle but tearing through the middle of the area was a deep gash of orange, yellow and white.
‘That’s a debris field,’ the Professor said quietly.
‘Professor, how long until you can get the last Shroud airborne?’ Nero asked quickly.
‘Well, it had been mothballed when construction on the other two was completed – a couple of hours, minimum.’
‘You have one hour, Professor,’ Nero said coldly. ‘I want a rescue team at those coordinates as soon as possible.’
The Professor nodded and hurried out of the room. Nero would not allow himself to believe the worst yet. There was still hope. Besides which, he reminded himself, if Malpense had been on the Shroud when it hit the ground he wouldn’t have to worry about anything ever again. Number One would see to that.
Otto slowly opened his eyes. There was wet sand in his mouth and his aching body felt as if he’d been attacked by a giant with a meat tenderiser, but he was alive, and that in itself was nothing short of miraculous. Tentatively he pushed himself up on to all fours and, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out faint details of his surroundings. He was on the edge of an underground pool in a large cavern. Bizarre rock formations filled the cave, their glossy, organic shapes produced by millennia of relentlessly dripping water. Otto took a couple of deep breaths and tried to stand up.
‘Owwww,’ he moaned as he got unsteadily to his feet. His left knee was throbbing but at least his legs appeared to be capable of supporting his own weight. He suddenly realised there that was a faint light coming from an opening on the other side of the chamber. His uniform was soaked through and he felt on the brink of exhaustion but he knew that he had to keep moving. Tempting as it was to curl up in a ball here in the gloom, he was now the only one who had any chance of finding and stopping Cypher and rescuing Raven. Assuming she was still alive, of course, a nasty little voice in the back of his head reminded him.
He trudged through the wet sand surrounding the pool to the opening from which the faint illumination was coming. As he approached the light source he could make out a new sound: the thumping clangs and hisses of heavy machinery. Carefully he peered through the opening in the cave wall and was staggered by what he saw. Below was an enormous cavern filled with industrial robots and other elaborate pieces of machinery, all serving an enormous conveyer-belt-fed production line. The machinery itself was not much different from what one might expect to see in any factory manufacturing high-tech equipment, but what was far more astonishing was what was being manufactured.
From his vantage point he could see every stage of the manufacturing process in all of its staggering complexity. Numerous components were being fed into the mass of machinery and it wasn’t until about halfway down the production line that it became obvious what the machines were assembling. There Otto could see what looked like black metallic skeletons being assembled and, as the process continued, more and more components were bolted to these frames. By the time these mysterious metallic bodies had reached the end of the production line they had taken on a sinister and unmistakeable form. Suddenly Otto understood why it was that Cypher’s assassins had been able to fight Raven to a standstill on several occasions. They were robots!
Otto could not help but be impressed by the ingenuity of their design. He could not make out all of the details of their construction from his vantage point, but he could see that they represented a huge leap in technology. He was desperate to get down on to the floor of the manufacturing cavern, partly to see if he could make out any more details of the android assassins’ design, and partly to see if there was anything he could do to throw a very large spanner in the works.
He looked around the cavern more carefully. There were a couple of guards patrolling the room, but they were just ordinary uniformed humans. Not only that, they both looked incredibly bored to be watching over the machinery, and Otto suspected that it would not be too difficult to sneak past them unnoticed. He could see where he wanted to go. The completed assassin droids were being carried through an opening in the cavern wall and he needed to find out where they were going.
Otto waited until both of the guards were on the other side of the cavern and climbed carefully through the opening in the cave wall. The rock wall that led down to the factory floor was steep but had plenty of good handholds, and Otto had soon reached the ground, apparently undetected. The noise of the machinery was even more deafening down here but Otto was glad of the cacophony. There was no way that anyone would hear him creeping around through that amount of background noise. All he had to do was stay out of sight.
Otto quickly surveyed his immediate surroundings. The number of different machines and control consoles that were clanking and buzzing away around him was slightly bewildering. He thought that he could see a couple of vulnerable points in the process but he needed something that would shut this place down for good as well as producing a big enough distraction to let him get further inside the base. A movement overhead caught Otto’s eye and he glanced upwards and saw a huge crucible of molten metal being transported past above him.
‘Perfect,’ Otto whispered to himself. He quickly moved between the rows of equipment, heading for the ladder that would take him up on to the raised gantries above the production line. Otto climbed the ladder as quickly and as quietly as he could. The guards that he had spotted before were talking to each other on the opposite side of the cavern, and if they did have any clue that he was there, they were doing a very good job of hiding it. Otto hurried over to a control co
nsole at one end of the gantry that looked like it might be suitable. As he worked at the console another huge suspended cauldron of bubbling molten metal passed by and Otto could feel the heat even from a distance of twenty metres or so. As the huge bucket reached a pre-programmed point it stopped and began to tip, depositing a stream of bright yellow molten metal into a holding tank below with a hiss. Otto worked quickly, grateful that the controls had a touch-screen computerised interface which made the adjustments he was making much more straightforward. Once he was satisfied with his new modifications Otto hurried back down the ladder and stealthily made his way over to the opening in the wall through which the completed robot ninjas were passing.
The inactive robots lay flat on their backs on the conveyor belt and once again Otto could not help but admire their design. They were not wearing the black silk robes that they had been wearing when Otto had encountered them before, but they looked no less sinister. Their matt-black metallic skins had organic, flowing lines, only broken here and there by bundles of thick black cable that looked as if they functioned as the machines’ muscles. The assassins’ unmasked faces were featureless and smooth, save for an array of small holes on each side of the head where the eyes should be. As Otto watched the machines pass by he was extremely grateful that they had not been activated. Raven had struggled to defeat just a couple of these things in a toe-to-toe fight and the machinery in this room seemed to be producing a new one every couple of seconds. Otto’s blood ran cold as he considered that fact for a moment; whatever Cypher was up to, an army of these things would represent an unstoppable force.