Down in the passenger compartment Otto had thought for a moment that the engines had been shut down, an unnerving feeling when the Shroud clearly wasn’t yet on the ground. As his ears adjusted to the relative silence he realised that he could still just make out the sound of the engines, but they were almost inaudible, obviously designed to enable the Shroud to make as discreet an entrance as possible.
The aircraft passed silently over the bustling streets below, its disguised outline invisible against the night sky. Their target was one of the tallest buildings in Shinjuku, the throbbing modern heart of Tokyo, a building whose top five floors had been discreetly purchased by G.L.O.V.E. several years ago and which now functioned as one of many safe houses that the organisation maintained around the globe. The Shroud slowed to a hover above the helicopter landing pad on the roof and then began to descend. At the same time the landing pad split down the middle, the two halves dropping away and retracting to reveal a much larger landing area hidden within the top of the building. The Shroud dropped soundlessly into this concealed hangar, its landing gear unfolding like a flying insect’s legs as it came to rest with a soft bump on the pad. The roof panels slid back into place, once again concealing the secret landing pad from the outside world as the Shroud’s cloaking device disengaged, rendering it visible to the naked eye.
The large loading ramp at the rear of the Shroud whirred slowly to the ground and Raven walked out on to the pad. Two men in black suits and ties were waiting, and each gave Raven a curt nod as she approached.
Behind Raven, Otto and Wing walked out into the brightly lit hangar. The brushed-steel walls reminded them both of H.I.V.E. Indeed, if they had not known better they might almost have believed that they’d never left.
‘Gentlemen, welcome to Tokyo,’ Raven said, gesturing at the blank steel walls that surrounded them. ‘I’d like to introduce you to two old associates of mine, Agent One and Agent Zero.’
The two dark-suited men gave brief nods of acknowledgement to Otto and Wing. Agent One was a short but stocky Japanese man with spiked black hair, and Agent Zero was a tall, athletic-looking black man with long dreadlocks that were pulled back into a tight pony-tail.
‘Good evening, students Malpense and Fanchu,’ Agent Zero said in a deep, American accent, ‘I hope that your journey was comfortable.’
‘These agents will be assisting me in assuring your ongoing security over the next twenty-four hours,’ Raven continued, ‘so I will expect you to treat them with the same respect that you would give me.’
Otto understood the coded message that Raven was delivering. These two agents were just as dangerous as she was and would be just as keen to ensure that neither he nor Wing would do anything to jeopardise security.
‘Agent Zero, would you be so good as to escort these gentlemen to their quarters?’ Raven asked. Zero nodded and gestured for Otto and Wing to follow him towards the exit on the far side of the hangar.
‘You’ve read the briefing materials, I trust,’ Raven said to Agent One as she watched Otto and Wing leave.
‘Of course,’ Agent One replied, ‘though they don’t look like the kind of security risk that they are made out to be.’
‘I know, but don’t make the mistake of underestimating either of them. Fanchu is one of the most talented fighters I have ever encountered and as for Malpense, well . . .’
‘Unusually highly developed intelligence,’ Agent One said. ‘At least, that was how the report put it.’
‘More slippery than a buttered snake is how I would put it,’ Raven replied with a smile. ‘Work on the principle that if you can’t see him, he’s already gone.’
‘Understood,’ the Japanese man replied. ‘I shall ensure that we take all necessary precautions.’
‘You may want to take some unnecessary ones as well,’ Raven said, looking Agent One straight in the eye. ‘You can’t be too careful with these two.’
Laura and Shelby strolled slowly along the walkway leading to their room. They’d managed to get a couple of good seats for the practice match and now Shelby was excitedly discussing the relative merits of the players. Laura was only half listening. She’d barely paid any attention to the players thrashing around in the pool, her mind still focused on decrypting the mysterious transmission she’d intercepted.
Shelby pressed her palm to the reader next to their door and gave a little gasp as the door slid open. Laura’s computer lay in shattered pieces on the floor, the hard drive smashed beyond recognition.
‘What the hell . . .’ Shelby whispered as she looked at the components scattered across the room.
Laura pushed past Shelby and knelt down to inspect the remains of her machine. It was no good – whoever had done this had made certain that it would be impossible to retrieve any of the stored data. This was a deliberate act, not just senseless vandalism.
‘You have an attack of code rage,’ Shelby asked, gently prodding the shattered system unit’s case with her toe.
‘This wasn’t me,’ Laura said quietly, a deep frown furrowing her brow. She snapped open her Blackbox. ‘H.I.V.E.mind,’ she said, and waited for a couple of seconds until the blue wire-frame face appeared on the tiny screen, ‘who has accessed my quarters in the past hour?’
‘There are no records of any access to your quarters within the last fifty-four minutes and eleven seconds,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied. ‘Entry logs indicate that the last recorded activity was your departure from the room at that time.’
Laura’s mind raced. There was no way that somebody could have got into their room and done this without there being a record of it. The logs that H.I.V.E.mind kept of access to all areas of the school were exhaustive. For there to be no record, somebody would have had to deliberately conceal their activities from H.I.V.E.mind, changing access codes, diverting surveillance and wiping logs. All of which Laura knew required a level of security clearance that very few people at H.I.V.E. had. A shiver ran down her spine – there was something very wrong here.
‘May I be of any further assistance, student Brand.’ H.I.V.E.mind’s tone was still cold and mechanical, lacking any of the personality that had once been present.
‘Yes. I’m afraid there’s been an accident, I’ve managed to break my computer,’ Laura said, ignoring the look of surprise mixed with confusion on Shelby’s face.
‘Understood. I shall inform the service department of the incident and instruct them to issue a replacement.’ If H.I.V.E.mind cared at all about the circumstances of this accident he gave no indication of it.
‘Thank you. That will be all,’ Laura said, watching as the screen went dark again.
‘Accident?’ Shelby said, disbelief in her voice. ‘This was no accident, somebody did this.’
‘I know,’ Laura said, staring at the debris scattered across the floor, ‘but I think we may have a bigger problem.’
‘Bigger than somebody breaking into our room and destroying your computer?’ Shelby said, shaking her head.
‘Yes. I know H.I.V.E.’s security system, and believe me when I say that it’s unhackable. There’s no way that somebody could have got unauthorised access to the servers and deleted the logs to cover this up.’
‘So how’d they do it?’ Shelby asked.
‘There’s only one way,’ Laura continued, ‘and that’s to already have the authorisation you’d need to cover your trail. And there’s only one group of people at H.I.V.E. that have that sort of clearance . . . the teaching staff.’
Shelby suddenly understood the fear that flickered across Laura’s face.
‘You think one of the teachers did this?’ Shelby said, disbelief in her voice.
‘I don’t see how else it would be possible to get in here and do this without being detected.’
‘Shouldn’t we report this?’ Shelby asked. ‘If a teacher did this, we’ve got to tell someone.’
‘No,’ Laura replied firmly. ‘We don’t have any proof that a teacher’s actually involved, let alone which teacher it m
ight be. Why would anyone believe us?’
Shelby rubbed her forehead with one hand. She knew that Laura was right, but something about this whole situation made her nervous – an unusual and uncomfortable feeling for her.
‘OK, I see your point,’ Shelby sighed, ‘but this has got to have something to do with that signal you picked up, right?’
‘It would be a strange coincidence if it didn’t,’ Laura replied, ‘which means we’ve got to work out what it says and who sent it. Hopefully, that should be enough proof to take to Nero or the Contessa.’
‘But the file was on your computer,’ Shelby said, gesturing again at the smashed components at their feet. ‘How on earth are you going to do that?’
‘Always make a back-up,’ Laura said with a smile and sat down in front of Shelby’s still intact computer.
‘You copied it?’ Shelby said excitedly.
‘Better than that,’ Laura replied. She rested her hands on the keyboard and closed her eyes. Just as before, the jumble of characters began to stream past her mind’s eye.
Eyes still closed, Laura began to type.
.
Chapter Five
Dr Nero sat staring into the fireplace in his private quarters. In one hand he held a large glass of very good, very old, brandy and dangling from the other, glinting in the firelight, was the mysterious amulet that had nearly cost him his life in Vienna. It spun slowly, its glossy black surface catching the dancing light from the fire. It had mysteriously arrived many years ago. Nero could still clearly remember the feeling of disbelief he had felt as he had torn open the brown paper package and found the tiny piece of jewellery inside. He had recognised the design immediately. It had belonged to someone he had known in what seemed like a previous lifetime. Somebody whom he had also assumed was long dead. Unbidden, the memory of her face came back to him. Even after all this time he could still remember the pain he had felt when she had died – or at least that was what he had believed had happened.
He got up from his seat in front of the fire and walked over to an ancient map that hung framed on the wall. He pressed a concealed button on the frame and the map swung aside to reveal a small safe built into the wall. There was a brief flash as the camera mounted in the front of the safe scanned his retina and verified his identity and the heavy safe door popped open with a slight hiss. He reached inside and retrieved a plain white envelope, on the front of which was one word, ‘Max’. It was the only other thing that had been in the brown paper package and he still felt a slight chill as he pulled the carefully folded note from inside. He read it again for what seemed like the thousandth time.
.
Max,
There is no time for apology or explanation; in fact there is no time at all. The item contained within this package is of vital importance – you must protect it at all costs, never let it leave your sight. I hope to God that you never need to use it, but should that time ever come you will know what to do. You are the one person I can trust with this – I hope you understand and I hope that you can forgive me.
You are in my thoughts, always.
Xiu Mei
.
It was not every day that one received a letter from someone who was supposed to be long dead and, just as when he had read it for the first time, the note left him with far more questions than answers. He had of course tried to track down the origin of the package but Xiu Mei, if she had indeed sent it, had gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that she could not be found. If she was truly still alive out there somewhere, he had no idea where, and all his avenues of enquiry had led to frustrating dead ends.
Nero folded the note back up, placed it in the envelope and returned it to the safe. Understanding the significance of the amulet had suddenly taken on a new importance, given that somebody wanted it badly enough to risk a direct attack on him to retrieve it. That meant two things, firstly that somebody knew of the pendant’s existence and that Nero was in possession of it and secondly, and perhaps more worryingly, that someone knew what secret significance it held. He slipped the chain back over his head and tucked the pendant under his shirt. For now all he could do was keep it safe, as the note had instructed, and hope that in the fullness of time the pendant’s purpose might become clear.
He picked up his glass and took another sip of brandy. As he stared into the flickering flames in the fireplace he found old, uncomfortable memories flooding back. Memories of fifteen years earlier, memories of Overlord . . .
Nero stepped down from the helicopter. Even through the thick coat he was wearing he could feel the biting cold of winter here, high in the mountains of northern China. He understood the need for secrecy, but he found himself wishing that G.L.O.V.E.’s facilities could at least be hidden in places with a more hospitable climate. Nero walked across the landing pad towards the concealed entrance of the laboratory, as behind him the helicopter lifted from the pad and flew back down into the valley below.
As he approached the laboratory the camouflaged door opened and a guard stepped out, gesturing for Nero to enter.
‘Good afternoon, Doctor Nero. I hope you had a pleasant flight,’ the guard said as Nero removed his coat and handed it to him.
‘Oh yes, there’s nothing more enjoyable than a high-altitude helicopter flight through a blizzard,’ Nero said sarcastically. ‘I hope that whatever Miss Chen has to show me is worth the trouble.’
‘The team are assembled, Doctor. If you would like to follow me I’ll show you to the laboratory.’
‘Thank you, but that will not be necessary. I know the way.’ Nero walked past the guard and through the inner doors to the main facility. As he made his way to the main lab he glanced through the windows that lined the corridor. The rooms he could see were filled with technicians and scientists, all working on new technology that G.L.O.V.E. could exploit to extend its power. All manner of projects were being worked on from surveillance devices to weaponry but none of it had the raw power or huge potential of what he was here to see.
At the end of the corridor were heavy steel-blast doors, and printed above them were the words Project Overlord. That was what he was here to see. Nero retrieved his access card from his pocket and slid it into the slot beside the doors. There was a soft beep and the massive doors rumbled apart, granting him access. Nero walked into the laboratory and surveyed the familiar scene before him. Technicians scurried around, moving between the numerous workstations that were positioned all around the room, taking notes or entering data. There was nothing unusual about that; in fact it could have been any one of the laboratories that filled the facility, but for one thing. There, in the centre of the room, was an array of black monoliths, arranged in concentric circles around a central black pillar. Red lights occasionally flickered on the surface of the monoliths, forming fleeting patterns that blinked out of existence as quickly as they appeared. Standing in front of the central pillar, with her back to Nero, was the woman who had created all of this, the genius behind Overlord, Xiu Mei Chen. She was engrossed in her work, holding a small portable display that was connected to the pillar by a fibre-optic cable. The cable occasionally flickered with the same blood-red lights that danced across the monoliths. Nero walked slowly towards her, stopping just a few feet away.
‘Miss Chen,’ Nero said. She didn’t turn to face him, merely stuck out one hand as if expecting Nero to give her something.
‘About time, Danny. I needed those core nodes ten minutes ago, where the hell have you been . . .’ She turned to face Nero. Her eyes widened and she fell silent as she realised who she was actually talking to.
‘I’m afraid I must confess that I quite forgot to bring any core nodes with me,’ Nero said with a slight smile.
‘Doctor Nero . . . I’m so sorry, sir, we weren’t expecting you till later. I thought you were –’
‘It’s quite all right, Miss Chen. I had to move my flight up, the weather was closing in and I didn’t know how long it would be before I could get back up here.
I trust everything is proceeding to schedule?’ Nero surveyed the frantic activity around the lab; it certainly looked busier than he had seen it before.
‘Yes, ahead of schedule, actually. In fact I think we may be almost ready to bring Overlord online.’ She looked pleased.
‘Excellent,’ Nero replied. He had been personally supervising this project for the best part of three years and it was undeniably a relief that there was now light at the end of the tunnel. Number One would occasionally assign him to run projects such as this, and normally they would be minor distractions from his duties running H.I.V.E. This project was much more important, though, and it would be a relief to see it completed so he could finally devote more of his time to the school again. His only regret was that once the project was complete he would not need to spend as much time with Xiu Mei. Not only was she breathtakingly beautiful, but they had developed a friendship and trust that Nero valued greatly.
‘There are a couple more tests that we need to run, but we should be ready for activation in a couple of hours,’ Xiu Mei continued.
‘I still say it’s too soon,’ a familiar voice said from behind Nero. He turned to face a tall handsome Chinese man who was carrying another small portable display. ‘This is the first evolutionary consciousness ever created – we should proceed with more caution.’
If Xiu Mei was Overlord’s mother then this man, Wu Zhang, was the project’s father.
‘We have taken every precaution, Wu,’ Xiu Mei replied. ‘We are as ready as we will ever be.’
‘The facility is externally isolated, yes,’ Wu shot back, ‘but I still have concerns about the internal network’s vulnerability. There is still more we could do.’
‘And how long would that take?’ Nero asked calmly.
‘Three or four weeks,’ Wu replied.
‘It’s an unnecessary delay,’ Xiu Mei said, sounding angry. ‘We could put this off for ever, but at some point you must wake the sleeping giant.’