Rogue (18 page)

Nero looked up from the plan that Colonel Francisco had given him as the face of H.I.V.E.mind appeared on the display on his desk.

‘I am sorry to interrupt, Doctor Nero, but I have received a text communication of which I believe you should be made aware,’ H.I.V.E.mind said.

‘Put it on screen,’ Nero replied.

He quickly read the urgent bulletin that had just been posted to G.L.O.V.E.net.

‘What on earth does Chavez think he’s doing?’ Nero asked angrily.

‘I assume that you doubt the veracity of his account of events,’ H.I.V.E.mind said.

‘Yes, absolutely,’ Nero said, struggling to make any sense of the message. ‘There’s no way that Natalya would move against a G.L.O.V.E. facility without explicit authorisation. I take it that the other members of the council will have seen this.’

‘It is a Priority One communication,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied. ‘It is highly likely they will have been informed as soon as it was received. Do you wish me to arrange for you to speak with the rest of the council?’

Nero considered his options. He knew that using G.L.O.V.E.net was dangerous at the moment, a fact that Chavez had clearly chosen to ignore. If it was indeed how H.O.P.E. was isolating their locations, it would be extremely risky to use it to contact the other members of the council. Even if he took that risk, what would he tell them? That he was unable to contact Raven for unknown reasons, but that, yes, she was in South America, and by the way he’d just let one of G.L.O.V.E.’s most dangerous enemies escape from H.I.V.E., someone he had told them over a year ago was dead. He could already imagine their reaction. On the other hand, if he said nothing, many of the other council members would assume that he had known about – or, worse than that, ordered – the attack on Chavez.

‘No,’ Nero said quietly, ‘do not contact the council. I need to speak to Raven first. Have you had any success contacting her?’

‘There has still been no response from her Blackbox.’

‘What about the Shroud she took – can we communicate with that?’ Nero asked.

‘Yes, but as yet there has been no response via that connection either,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied.

‘Have Colonel Francisco inform me the moment that his tactical team reaches Rio,’ Nero said impatiently. ‘I want answers.’ He’d had no choice but to send the Colonel after Cypher, as he still did not know Raven’s status.

Nero had a sudden uncomfortable feeling that everything was spinning out of control.

Otto’s eyes flickered open and he sat upright in his chair. He had just intercepted the first communication via G.L.O.V.E.net in twenty-four hours, and its content was extremely valuable. He reached out with his senses and activated the bank of monitors in front of him, switching impossibly quickly between a huge number of television news channels until he found one that appeared to be relevant. An immaculately groomed woman was standing in front of a police roadblock. In the background was Mount Corcovado.

‘Details are still sketchy at the moment,’ the reporter said, ‘but it appears that a terrorist attack has taken place at the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Eyewitnesses report that there was a pitched gun battle between several well-armed individuals less than an hour ago. The police have been unable to provide much more detail so far, but they have given us this picture of an individual they are keen to talk to.’

The screen switched to an image of a woman with short dark hair running across a car park. Otto immediately recognised her face; she was a priority target. It merely served to confirm what the intercepted G.L.O.V.E. communication had suggested. Otto got up and walked quickly to Trent’s office. He knocked on the door and a voice called him in.

‘What is it?’ Trent asked as Otto walked into the room. Ghost was also there, standing beside Trent’s desk.

‘I believe I have located the operative codenamed Raven,’ Otto said calmly. ‘She is in Rio de Janeiro.’

Trent looked surprised.

‘That’s less than an hour’s flight from here,’ he said. It was excellent news, but at the same time worrying. It might just be coincidence that she was in Brazil, but Trent had learnt long ago that there was rarely such a thing in their business.

‘Indeed,’ Otto replied. ‘I suggest that we mobilise a tactical team immediately. If I can get within range of any computerised G.L.O.V.E. equipment, I should be able to isolate and track its signature.’

‘Get to the pad,’ Trent said quickly. ‘We may not get a chance like this again.’

Otto nodded and left the office. Ghost went to follow him.

‘Wait,’ Trent said as she walked towards the door. ‘I want her taken alive.’

‘Why?’ Ghost asked. ‘You promised me I would be allowed to finish her.’

‘And so you will,’ Trent said, ‘but all in good time. Right now we have to consider the bigger picture.’

‘Which is?’

‘Darkdoom and Nero,’ Trent replied. ‘Raven knows where H.I.V.E. is, which means that she knows where they are.’

‘That is not information that she will give up willingly,’ said Ghost with a slight shake of her head.

‘I know,’ Trent said with a vicious smile, ‘and so I thought that extracting it from her might be something you’d rather enjoy, my dear.’

.

Chapter Nine

Raven watched the reflection of the police cars howling past in the shop window. There was no doubt about it – the events on Mount Corcovado had stirred up a hornets’ nest.

‘Let’s get moving,’ she said to Wing. ‘We must return to the Shroud.’

‘So we’re just giving up?’ Wing sounded irritated.

‘No, we’re not,’ Raven replied with a sigh, ‘but at the moment we don’t have any other leads on Otto’s location. I need time to think about our next step.’ She also needed to use the Shroud’s communication equipment to check in with Nero. Her Blackbox had been damaged during the events earlier in the day, and she knew that he would be worried about what had happened.

‘I meant what I said earlier,’ Wing said. ‘I’m not going back to H.I.V.E. until we’ve found him.’

‘You may not have a choice,’ Raven replied impatiently. ‘Look, Wing, I understand your frustration and I admire your loyalty to Otto, but we have no idea where he is. It might take me months to track him down in a country this size and that’s too long for you to stay here. You saw what happened today. That’s what life is like on these kinds of missions, and it’s not something that Doctor Nero will allow you to be part of. I’m sorry.’

‘You cannot force me to leave,’ Wing said defiantly. ‘I will continue the search on my own if I have to.’

Raven turned and looked at him.

‘I can force you to go, and I will if I have to. Don’t make me do that.’

‘Do not threaten me,’ Wing said, sounding genuinely angry now. She had known him for long enough to realise that was extremely unusual. He was not given to unnecessary displays of emotion.

‘Do you trust me?’ Raven asked him.

‘Why?’

‘Answer the question,’ Raven said.

‘No,’ Wing said quietly.

‘Why not?’ Raven asked, frowning slightly.

‘Because I heard what Nero said to you back at H.I.V.E.,’ Wing said. ‘He told you that you were to kill Otto if you could not retrieve him. How can I trust you when I know that is what you have been ordered to do?’

Raven suddenly understood why Wing did not want to return to H.I.V.E. It was not just out of loyalty to his friend. It was because he was afraid of what she might be forced to do when she found him.

‘You have to believe that I would exhaust every possibility before it came to that,’ Raven said. ‘But you also have to accept that it is a possibility.’

‘Has he really become that dangerous?’ Wing asked.

‘Yes, he has,’ Raven said gravely. ‘If whatever has happened to him cannot be reversed, he could destroy us all – G.L.O.V.E., H.I.V.E., everything.’

‘You must know how hard that is for me to accept,’ Wing said sadly. ‘He is my friend.’

‘I know that, Wing,’ Raven replied gently, putting a hand on his shoulder, ‘and I will bring him back if it is at all possible. I promise you.’

Wing said nothing, just nodded.

‘Come on, let’s keep moving,’ Raven said as she heard more sirens in the distance. ‘We’re not going to be able do anything if we get arrested.’

The trio of black helicopters swooped low over the city. Their specially suppressed engines were so quiet that the noise they made was barely audible over the background noise of the city at street level. Otto stood behind the pilot in the cockpit of the lead chopper, his eyes closed. He extended his senses as far as he could, brushing against the myriad electronic systems that passed by below them. It was difficult to block out all the background digital static, but he focused on the specific signatures that he was searching for. Suddenly something caught his attention, a faint echo in all the noise.

‘There,’ he said, pointing north-east of their current position. ‘Bearing oh-three-seven.’

The pilot adjusted his course, banking in the direction indicated, and the other helicopters dropped into line behind. Otto could sense the signal getting stronger. They were close. Ghost entered the cargo bay of the helicopter and faced the dozen H.O.P.E. troops in black body armour and respirators who filled it. There were as many men on each of the other choppers; they were taking no chances.

‘We’re moving on our targets.’ Ghost addressed the masked men. ‘I want to impress upon you again the threat that this woman represents. Some of you here will be thinking that we have exaggerated that danger. If she gets past me, those men may very well be going home in body bags. You have been issued with non-lethal weaponry for a reason – we want her alive. Do I make myself clear?’

The men in the compartment nodded.

‘Good. Prep for drop. You will form a tactical cordon around the containment zone and wait for further orders. I will be going in alone.’

She turned and stepped back on to the flight deck.

‘There’s definitely something with G.L.O.V.E. technology signatures down there,’ Otto said.

‘Order the other choppers to break off and surround the area. Five-hundred-metre stand-off. I don’t want them to know we’re coming.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ The pilot relayed her instructions to the other helicopters over his headset.

‘I want to come with you,’ Otto said.

‘You’re too valuable,’ Ghost replied.

‘I’m sick of hearing that,’ Otto complained. ‘What use is all this training if I can’t use it?’

Ghost turned and looked at him for a moment. Her expression was, as usual, completely unreadable through her armoured white faceplate.

‘Very well,’ she said, turning to the squad leader on the other side of the hatch. ‘Give him a weapon.’

Raven had a vague sense of unease as she and Wing approached the abandoned lot where the Shroud was hidden. She knew she was probably just being jumpy after the dramatic events of earlier in the day, but at the same time she had learnt long ago that it paid to listen to her instincts.

‘Wait here,’ she said to Wing as they entered the lot. He raised his eyebrows as if to ask what was bothering her. She put a single finger to her lips, instructing him to keep quiet. Then she carefully slipped the kitbag off her shoulder and placed it on the ground, unzipping it as gently as possible and reaching inside for her tactical harness and swords. She’d had to take them off when they were walking through the city; it seemed fair to assume that they would have attracted unwanted attention.

‘Raven!’ Wing shouted suddenly, and she sensed movement behind her. She kicked backwards without thinking, aiming for head height, but felt her foot being caught and someone twisting her ankle with incredible strength, flipping her on to her back.

‘Hello again,’ Ghost said, standing over her. Raven rolled to her right as Ghost punched the ground, missing her head by just a few centimetres.

‘Wing!’ Raven called. ‘Get inside the building.’

Wing hesitated for a moment and then ran towards Ghost, launching a flying kick at her head with a yell. Ghost moved inhumanly quickly, ducking the kick and delivering a flat-palmed counter-blow to Wing’s stomach. He went down gasping for air.

‘I see you brought help this time,’ Ghost said calmly. ‘Not that it will make any difference.’

‘Wing! Go!’ Raven ordered him again. Wing struggled to his feet, still fighting for breath, while Raven got up and dropped into a defensive stance as Ghost advanced on her again. ‘One of us has to continue the search!’ Raven yelled.

That finally seemed to get through to Wing and he turned and ran into the abandoned building that loomed over the lot.

‘He won’t get away, you know,’ Ghost said as she walked calmly towards Raven, ‘and neither will you.’

Raven aimed a fast straight-fingered punch at Ghost’s windpipe, going for one of the softer unarmoured areas of her body. Ghost moved in a blur, catching Raven’s wrist when her fingertips were just millimetres from delivering what would have been a killing blow. Ghost twisted hard and Raven screamed as she felt pain shoot up her arm. Ghost followed up with a lightning-fast punch to Raven’s ribs that sent pain stabbing all the way up to her armpit.

‘Think a couple of ribs went there,’ Ghost taunted, releasing Raven and letting her stagger a few steps away. ‘Trent said he wanted you alive – he didn’t say anything about undamaged.’

Raven flew at her opponent with a cry of rage, delivering a kick straight to her chin. Ghost’s head snapped around with the impact and she took a couple of faltering steps back.

‘That’s more like it,’ she said, laughing, the sound made sinister and twisted by the synthesised edge to her voice. ‘It’s so much more fun when you’re angry.’

Raven was running out of ideas – that had been one of her best shots and it barely seemed to have broken the other woman’s stride.

‘Time to finish this,’ Ghost said, walking towards Raven again. She aimed a quick straight-legged kick, which Raven ducked, and followed through with a savage backhanded roundhouse punch that caught Raven squarely on the chin and knocked her to the ground. Raven tried to stand, dazed by the power of the blow, tasting blood in her mouth. Whatever Ghost was, she was not entirely human – no normal person hit that hard or that fast. Raven managed to get to her hands and knees and, ignoring the stabbing pain from her wrist, forced herself up on to one knee. She never felt the last blow from Ghost, the one to the back of her head that knocked her out cold.

Wing moved through the shadows of the abandoned building. He could hear no sounds of combat from outside. The woman in the white armour had moved faster than he had ever seen anyone move before. Including Raven. He moved towards a window overlooking the abandoned lot and cautiously peered out. Raven was lying immobile on the ground, clearly unconscious. The woman in white turned and looked up at the building and he quickly ducked. There was something about her that was undeniably . . . unsettling.

‘Don’t move,’ a voice said behind him. It was only two words, but Wing knew the voice almost as well as his own. Despite the instruction, he stood and slowly turned. There, standing just ten metres away from him, was Otto. He would have walked over and given him a rib-cracking bear hug had it not been for the fact that Otto was pointing a very large handgun straight at his chest. Wing could immediately see that there was something physically wrong with his friend. There were fine black lines, like inky capillaries, running over his cheeks, and his eyes were clouded and dark.

‘Otto, it is me,’ he said, smiling cautiously. ‘Wing.’

There was a flicker of what looked like a combination of confusion and pain on Otto’s face, but it disappeared in an instant.