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  Razz checked that Lizzie had finished her call before starting to pull out lengths of cable. ‘It doesn’t often work from what I’ve heard––and hacking into the financial system is probably death penalty whatever legals you find. But this civil forfeiture thing, eighteen of us out on the street... there’s a lawyer in the north sector gives advice for free on condition of anonymity. I told Beau to at least give it a try.’ He looked around at the rack of carefully packed-in personal belongings. ‘I wonder where we’ll all live if it doesn’t work out.’

  Karim hadn’t had time to worry about where to live when he’d been evicted. Within a week of couch-surfing, his digital exploration had been discovered and he was out in the forest with armed patrols on his trail. Three weeks before his sixteenth birthday.

  He stared at the deserted bedroom, trying to work out how eighteen people could be so absent. ‘How come there’s nobody sleeping here now?’

  ‘They’re either at work or setting up a new clinic.’ Razz stood up and started coiling the extracted cable. ‘Midnight on the shift-change there’ll be chaos as they come in and try to get sorted. Then maybe we can figure out if any of us can get some sleep.’

  ‘Razz, you are truly amazing! I thought life at the Warren was hard. We slept on the floor, worked long hours, got one basic meal a day. But nothing like this. I swear I will never complain again.’

  Luc was back on his feet, leaning against the wall. ‘I also heard you swear you’d never skip combat training sessions again. No one will recognize you if you do all of it.’

  ‘Shut up Luc. I thought you’d gone back to sleep.’

  ‘I would if I thought I could stay there. But I think we’re going to have to move on.’

  Lizzie looked round. ‘Sorry Karim. I tried everyone. They’re all dodging and hiding. No one can move till it calms down a bit––and the focus beyond that is trying to find out where they’ve taken Fin and the others. I’ll guide you to the checkpoint myself.’ She picked up her bag.

  ‘Aren’t you taking a huge risk? They’ll be searching every vehicle.’

  ‘Mirel dropped off her last patients and dumped the unregistered jeep a few blocks away. And the hive traced my checkpoint contact, the one I’d already paid off to get our med shipment through before he was moved. Now he’s back on duty where he was supposed to be in the first place. He’s still got the description of the jeep’s false-plates so he can damn well earn his money letting you through in the opposite direction.’

  ‘When do we leave?’

  ‘Now.’

  Razz helped Luc make the distance on foot to the jeep and Karim drove towards the checkpoint. Lizzie gave intermittent directions to avoid street cameras.

  ‘Karim, don’t miss a turning. If the camera system registers the fake plates it’ll trigger an alarm and bring a patrol straight onto us. Sharp left here.’

  Karim swung the jeep round the corner. ‘Just give me enough advance warning!’

  Lizzie checked the charge levels. ‘Here’s another warning. Only enough electric for another half hour. I couldn’t get to any black market charge points with that hunt going on this morning.’

  Karim tried to sound optimistic. ‘We left horses at Agnes’ farm. If the jeep doesn’t get that far we walk the rest of the way, like we did on the way in.’

  ‘One of you wasn’t injured on the way in. Luc? can you make it through the forest on foot if you have to?’

  ‘I think so. All I can think about is wanting to get home.’

  ‘You’ve had a rough time of it in our city haven’t you?’

  Luc tried to smile. ‘In one way, yes. But in other ways I feel better than I have for ages.’

  ‘Must be something good to make up for getting your arm wrecked like that.’

  ‘It’s like being whole again. I’ve not had to fake being two different people any more... I guess spying takes more out of you than they tell you in training. I don’t expect anyone to understand.’

  Lizzie was looking at Luc strangely and Karim noticed a sadness in her eyes he hadn’t seen before.

  ‘Actually Luc, I think I do understand. Good luck, hope you make it back.’

  They joined the queue at the checkpoint. The walls of the buildings were still blackened from the smoke-bomb diversion that had sneaked the jeep into the city. The splintered barrier had been replaced.

  ‘This is where I head back.’ Lizzie opened the door. ‘May your God protect you.’

  ‘As yours protects you.’ Karim eased forward in the queue, watching Lizzie slip past the waiting vehicles to speak to one of the guards at the outer barrier. The bored enforcer waved them through as soon as they pulled into the inspection bay, hitting override on the barrier a split second before it could demand a handprint.

  Karim drove out of the city and the road felt free and open after so many days underground. ‘Space and sky and trees again! I took them for granted until I lived in an underground station.’

  Luc was leaning back in the seat, gazing up at pink evening clouds. ‘I just want to get home. But yes, it’s good.’

  Karim checked their charge levels. ‘Just hope we’ve enough fuel to make it through to the farm.’

  They didn’t. The warning light started to flash when they were still twelve miles short. Karim turned onto the next dirt track that presented itself and hid the jeep behind an abandoned cottage. He looked at the sky.

  ‘It’s starting to rain and I’ve had enough of being wet and cold. We stay here and start walking tomorrow morning. Agreed?’

  ‘Agreed.’

  17

  ‘Raine, you sure this is a good idea?’

  Cass was sitting opposite him, frowning over the lists of numbers on the tablet he’d passed to her. The two of them were alone in the corner of one of the barns Raine had been using as a makeshift office. He waved a vague hand as if the cramped space between the crates and boxes was answer enough, then acknowledged he’d need to present a few more reasons. His head of intelligence could be extremely demanding on proper explanations––and wasn’t shy about using the fact that she was twenty years older to question his orders.

  ‘Cass, I don’t think there’s any choice. The Tarn’s too far from the city while this manhunt is going on.’

  ‘But going back to the Warren so soon after it’s been raided? How can you be sure the military won’t go back there, checking it’s still abandoned?’

  Raine pointed to the tablet. ‘Scroll through to the report from the scouting team I sent back. It’s risky whatever we do. The recurring bad connection up here almost cost Luc his life and four of our people are under arrest. We have to reinstate the Warren’s analogue link before we lose anyone else. We can’t rely on Parry. He’s under too much pressure to prove himself to Moris, even if his conscience is telling him otherwise.’

  Cass sighed, acknowledging it was true. ‘Have you told anyone else he’s a potential ally?’

  ‘No. I can’t even be sure he’s an ally. Not yet. It could be disastrous if I persuade someone to trust him––and then discover I’ve just handed the new security chief the chance to make his career by capturing another high-profile prisoner.

  ‘So. How many will you take if you go back to the Warren?’

  ‘Eighty. I’ll send half to train with Pendrac in the western mountains, a handful at the Warren, the rest on patrol in the forest. Sixty rangers, intel, equipment, archives, stay here with you. We can set up a better relay for you using the Warren hub to improve transmission. All right, your turn.’

  Cass considered for a moment. ‘Actually, I think you’re right. It’s overcrowded here, the animals are having a hard time finding forage and communications go offline just when you don’t want them to.’

  Raine took back his tablet and flipped through a series of images. ‘The scouts just got back from their second recce at the Warren. The military made quite a mess of the place but didn’t find the coms hub or the hydro connection for the electric, so probably didn’t think i
t was particularly useful or significant as a base. They didn’t burn it or leave guards watching it.’

  ‘Cameras?’

  ‘A few. The tech team located and looped them. They’ll tell a peaceful story till the batteries die.’

  Cass conceded. ‘All right. It mostly makes sense.’

  *

  Parry sat in one of the three planes heading for the marshes, scrolling through Raine’s data on his handset, preoccupied with memorizing every detail of the fake base and its location.

  Smith sat opposite, staring disparagingly at the rest of their inadequate air cover. ‘Three small planes. Nothing like enough to scan the whole marshes area. Totally useless for air strikes. We need an increased budget.’

  Parry didn’t look up, his response automatic. ‘And what we do have comes with warnings of cuts. Fuel and raw materials are getting harder to extract with only patched-up remnants of infrastructure to work with. No amount of budget readjustments will do more than add a few tweaks to the inevitable in the long term.’

  Smith wasn’t interested in logical reasoning. ‘Never mind long term. I just want to wipe those terrorists off the map in the next couple of weeks.’

  Parry was still engrossed in handset data. ‘Every scarce litre of oil burned on a flight is that much less for manufacturing essential plastics.’

  Smith was getting alarmed. ‘I hope you can present a better case when you apply for next year’s funding.’

  It finally dawned on Parry that he hadn’t been repeating the right clichés. He extricated his concentration from grid references. ‘Don’t panic. I’ve already prepared a draft request. With all the right justifications.’ He saw the look of relief on Smith’s face.

  Maybe that’s why Burton was always so bad-tempered. Constant pressure from all sides and never enough resources to get the job done.

  He went back to studying information on his handset. It looked complex and convincing and he was almost tempted to believe it himself. He tried to imagine the hours Raine’s team must have put into creating it, with physical evidence on the ground in all the right places. He decided to abandon that train of thought. Better to remain at least half-convinced it was genuine.

  He put the handset away and focused on what he had to do in the next few hours. He hadn’t made an explicit bargain with Raine but he couldn’t walk away from what he’d done and still live with himself.

  And the chances of getting his people out undetected? Almost zero. Don’t think about that. You’ll lose concentration.

  The half-completed military base occupied a cluster of shabby abandoned houses on the last area of solid ground before the reed-covered marshes. From above, the extent of the east coast flooding was mapped out in a patchwork of brackish inlets and swathes of tall reeds. The original beaches had gone under decades before, while in the shallows a few dead trees still poked gaunt limbs above the waves.

  The planes hovered, then descended vertically to land on a flat area cleared of trees in readiness for them. Parry was first out. He walked across the rough grass to the guard waiting for him outside the largest house.

  ‘Where are they?’

  ‘In the back of this building. We held off interrogating till you arrived, as you ordered.’

  ‘Can I see their equipment first?’

  ‘It’s still in the jeep we brought them in. They’ve only been here ten minutes.’ He led Parry and Smith to the parked vehicle. Parry rummaged through the packs and weapons in the back, took a knife from one of the harnesses and tested the blade against his thumb.

  ‘Primitive but sharp. Did you find anything else with them?’

  The guard checked the list on his tablet. ‘No. That’s everything from the clinic where we found them.’

  Parry held out his hand. ‘Give me the key to the jeep. I’ll move it nearer the building so I can bring in items of this gear at short notice while I’m interrogating.’ He took the key, parked the jeep by the back door, picked up the knife again and showed it to Smith.

  ‘You won’t be held responsible if the prisoners happen to attack each other.’

  Smith registered surprise and a degree of puzzlement, then followed Parry into the building. The guard was waiting by a wooden door off a mouldy passageway.

  ‘They’re in here.’

  Parry opened the door and stepped into the dimly-lit room. Bel was standing by the wall to the side of the door, wrists clamped in steel cuffs. He deliberately caught her eye as he walked in and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

  She’s very intelligent. Is she quick enough to get that message instantly?

  Bel caught the movement and masked her shock of recognition. Parry noticed, but had no way of knowing how she would interpret his presence. She might already be planning to tell his subordinates how she’d kidnapped him during the Warren attack. More than a little embarrassing, but worse, it would seriously mess things up.

  He paused to take in the other occupants in the room. Two women were kneeling on the floor beside Bel. They were also handcuffed, trying to care for a young man lying on the bare boards, unconscious, a bloody bandage bright against his dark hair. The older woman looked round and Parry knew she’d recognized him. He saw her eyes meet Bel’s and tried to read the unspoken message that passed between them.

  Any minute now, one of them will say something and the whole plan will fall apart. Just stay in control and keep moving with this––

  He signalled the engineer who was fixing temporary lights. ‘Can you set up a wall screen for maps in the next room? I’ll need it soon as I’m done here.’

  The woman picked up her toolkit and went out. Parry fingered the knife in his hand, looking thoughtfully at Smith and the guard. ‘I think it best if you both leave for a couple of minutes. Plausible deniability and all that.’ He saw understanding dawn on Smith’s face, followed by a nod of approval. Burton had always employed others to do that sort of thing for him.

  Smith stepped back to let the guard out in front of him. Parry moved to the door and made to close it while Smith hovered in the corridor outside going through irrelevant bits of basic procedure, making it obvious he was hoping to be asked back in for part of the action.

  Parry tried not to think about what the next few weeks were going to be like, working with a ruthlessly ambitious second in command who relished this aspect of the job quite so much.

  He had to concentrate on the precarious next few minutes.

  18

  Jac watched the scene unfolding behind Parry’s back, thanking the stars the enforcers hadn’t bothered to handcuff an unconscious casualty when they’d made the arrest back at the clinic. Kit was slowly and silently getting to his feet, sliding the hidden knife out of his sleeve. Bel and Fin were having an eye contact conversation that had started at the mention of plausible deniability and the knife in Parry’s hand.

  Fin picked up a screwdriver left behind by the engineer and moved into position behind the open door, out of Parry’s sightline.

  Jac stood up slowly but stayed with her back flat to the wall, knowing she’d be no help. This fight would be a desperate one. If the others couldn’t kill Parry quickly and silently and grab his weapons they’d have nothing but a slow, agonizing death ahead of them. She watched Kit tense, ready to attack the instant the door closed.

  He’s in no shape to do anything right now. But it’s our only chance. If it all goes wrong, at least it’ll be a quick death for all of us.

  Bel positioned herself between Fin and Kit, signalling her gestalt-insights to them with the finely-tuned hand signals learned from their lieth-training. Parry wasn’t wearing body armour over his combat fatigues and Jac could sense the three of them focusing hard on the centre of his back, while Bel silently rehearsed her own precise moves to grab the handgun on his belt and use it on him with her hands in restraints.

  Jac found herself drawn into the tension, waiting for the right moment. The others might be the fight-experts but maybe she could keep watc
h, warn them if something unexpected happened.

  As soon as the door closes and he’s alone. That’s the moment...

  Time seemed to slow as she focused on every sound and image second by second. Dull grey afternoon light filtering through the grimy window, cries of seabirds over the marshes, the smell of damp permeating the disused house.

  The base is still under construction. Still gaps in the perimeter fence. Marshes are remote, we’ll need weapons and water bottles if we run––

  Jac heard Parry’s tone change, irritable with barely-controlled impatience. Bel hadn’t told her much about the time she’d held him prisoner in a lonely hut in the mountains but it was enough for that subtle sense of dissonance to start gnawing at her awareness again.

  Why so much rush and tension, trying to get rid of a subordinate who can’t wait to join in a torture session? Whatever else Parry is, he’s not a man eager to start the sort of things he’s about to do. Is it the effect of newly-gained power? Or is he a brilliant liar? Is something else going on here?

  The voices on the other side of the door shifted again. The conversation was coming to an end. Jac checked Fin’s position and felt Kit tense as he willed every drop of his remaining strength into one decisive stab to kill Parry and give them his weapons. Maybe with just enough time to deal with those outside when they came crashing through the door.

  Jac found herself focusing intently on Parry as his right hand finally, slowly, closed the door in the other man’s face. And in the same fraction of a second she saw his left hand behind his back, signalling wait––stay back––

  She had to make an instant decision. As Bel and Fin started to move she blocked their attack by stepping in front of them, simultaneously reaching up with her bound hands to grab Kit’s wrist as he lunged to stab Parry between the shoulders.

  ‘No––stop.’

  It was no more than a whisper as she confronted Kit’s disbelief.

  Parry turned to find Kit’s blade almost in his face. He controlled the initial shock instantly and Jac was impressed by how quietly he spoke.