Rogue (23 page)

Cypher glared at her and walked away down the corridor with Raven just a few steps behind him.

Laura looked down at Otto, stroking his hair as his head rested in her lap. His face was glazed with sweat and he was muttering something unintelligible to himself. His skin was covered in faint black veiny lines and his eyes were cloudy and unfocused.

‘What’s happened to him?’ she asked Wing as he and Shelby walked towards them.

‘I do not know,’ Wing said, shaking his head. ‘Trent has done something to him that seemed to place Otto under his control, at least until a few minutes ago.’

‘Otto, can you hear me?’ Laura asked quietly.

Otto stopped staring into space for a second and turned to face her. He reached up and touched her face, his fingertips as cold as ice on her cheek.

Laura bent down to hear as he whispered something to her.

‘What did he say?’ Shelby asked as Otto’s eyes closed and Laura lifted her head back up.

‘Doesn’t matter, he’s delirious,’ Laura said, blushing slightly. ‘If this is down to Overlord, we haven’t got much time.’

‘Overlord?’ Wing said, looking alarmed. ‘Is that what’s causing this?’

‘Honestly I don’t know,’ Laura said, ‘but whatever it is, we need to get him out of here.’

‘Couldn’t we just use that gizmo that Cypher was fiddling with on the Shroud?’ Lucy asked.

‘You heard what that treacherous snake said though,’ Laura said quietly. ‘It’ll probably kill him, especially in this weakened state. We have to try to get him back to H.I.V.E. and they can work out how best to treat him. At least there are medical facilities there. If something bad happens to him here, he’s got no chance.’

‘Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll know what to do back on the island. But right now we need to get going,’ Shelby said as the corridor shook again, ‘before this place comes down around our ears.’

With one last kick from Ghost, the battered door to Trent’s office finally gave way, falling to the corridor floor with a clang. Ghost walked out into the passageway, followed by Trent. He listened with an increasing sense of alarm to the panicked broadcasts from the H.O.P.E. troops in the compound outside. The G.L.O.V.E. assault had caught his men completely off guard. It did not sound like the battle was going in their favour.

‘We have to get you out of here,’ Ghost said calmly.

‘I will not retreat!’ Trent said angrily. ‘Not now, not when we are so close to finishing G.L.O.V.E. once and for all.’

‘You may not have a choice,’ Ghost said as they heard the rumble of another explosion nearby. ‘Better to live to fight another day.’

‘Yes, of course you are right,’ Trent said with a sigh. He lifted the radio to his lips, ‘Trent to hangar control, prep my helicopter for immediate takeoff.’

‘Yes, sir,’ the voice on the other end replied, ‘but there are hostile air units out there.’

‘They’re here on a rescue mission,’ Trent said as calmly as he could. ‘I doubt they will bother with a pursuit until they have found what they came for. I will take my chances. Trigger the charges to seal the secondary exit – no one’s coming in or getting out that way.’

‘Understood,’ the voice replied, and Trent cut the connection.

‘I have unfinished business with Raven,’ Ghost said as they hurried down the corridor towards the hangar bay.

‘The interrogation room is on the way,’ Trent replied. ‘Just make it quick.’

‘Nearly there,’ Laura whispered to Otto as she helped him down the corridor to the exit. Raven was in the lead, pushing Cypher ahead of her. Suddenly she heard a rapid beeping noise coming from somewhere ahead of them.

‘Everyone, get down!’ she yelled, pushing Cypher to the ground and flattening herself to the floor. Moments later the series of explosive charges planted in the walls and ceiling around the exit door went off, sending a thick cloud of concrete dust billowing down the corridor.

‘Well, we’re not getting out this way,’ Shelby said with a sigh, slowly climbing to her feet and brushing the grey dust off her uniform.

‘You’re right about that,’ Lucy said, standing up beside her and looking at the rubble of the collapsed corridor that lay between them and the exit at the base of the waterfall.

‘Is everyone OK?’ Raven asked as she pulled Cypher back to his feet.

‘Aye,’ Laura said, as she and Lucy helped Otto up.

‘H.I.V.E.mind, they’ve just blown the corridor leading to our exit,’ Shelby said into the radio. ‘We need another way out of here.’

‘I believe your best alternative will be to go via the hangar bay,’ H.I.V.E.mind said over the radio. ‘There is an elevator there that leads to an external exit point within the main base compound. The base’s security personnel have been diverted to assist in the defensive efforts outside, so you should find your route unimpeded.’

‘Sounds good,’ Raven said. ‘Which way?’

‘Take the flight of stairs that is seventy-four point eight metres behind you,’ H.I.V.E.mind replied.

‘Damn her!’ Ghost screamed, kicking the empty chair in the interrogation room. ‘Damn her to hell!’

‘There will be other opportunities,’ Trent said, placing a hand on Ghost’s shoulder.

‘I don’t want to wait any longer,’ Ghost spat, rounding on him, her wrist blades snapping out and locking into place. ‘I want to watch her die!’

‘I understand that,’ Trent said, backing away from her, his hands raised. He had never seen her so enraged before. ‘I know how badly you want to avenge your sister. I brought you back from the brink of death to make sure you would have your chance to do exactly that, but you will never get that chance if we allow G.L.O.V.E. to capture us.’

Ghost stood there for a moment breathing heavily, before retracting her blades and pushing past him.

‘I am going to kill her, Sebastian. There is nothing on earth that can prevent that,’ she said as she stormed away down the corridor.

‘I do not doubt that in the slightest, my dear,’ he said quietly as he followed her.

The pair of them passed through the doors at the end of the corridor and walked out into the hangar bay. Trent was pleased to see that the helicopter on the pad appeared to be fully prepped for takeoff, its rotor blades slowly idling. The secondary hangar doors were already open, filling the space with the sound of the waterfall thundering down past the open end of the bay. They hurried across the hangar towards the waiting chopper and Trent climbed on board through the open side hatch. He watched as the giant block of concrete slid forward from the roof and diverted the waterfall enough for the helicopter to pass through. Ghost was about to follow him when she noticed a movement on the other side of the hangar bay. She felt rage rise in her again as she recognised the figures who had just entered.

‘We have company,’ she said, snapping her wrist blades out again.

‘Finish this,’ Trent said as he saw Raven, Cypher and the H.I.V.E. students on the other side of the hangar. ‘But make it quick. We don’t have much time.’

‘What about Malpense?’ Ghost asked.

‘Eliminate him,’ Trent said with a sigh. ‘He has become . . .
unreliable
.’

‘It will be my pleasure,’ Ghost said, walking towards the dishevelled-looking group.

Raven saw Ghost turn and walk towards them and pushed the fear down inside herself. For perhaps the first time in her life she faced a fight that in all likelihood she would not win. She had to stop her, no matter what the cost. If she did not, they would all die – of that she was certain. She turned to Wing.

‘I’m not sure I can beat her,’ Raven said calmly, drawing one of her swords from her back and handing it to Wing. ‘If I fall, it’s up to you.’ He gave a quick nod, hoping it would not come to that.

Raven drew her other sword and turned to face Ghost.

‘You should have run when you had the chance,’ Ghost said as she walked towards Raven.

‘I’ve never run from a fight in my life,’ Raven said, adopting a defensive stance, the dark crackling katana blade raised in front of her, ‘and I’m damned if this will be the first time.’

‘I’ve been looking forward to this,’ Ghost sneered.

Her wrist blades flashed through the air in a blur. Raven blocked one with her own blade, but the other raked across the side of her ribs, opening up a long cut. Raven counter-attacked, ignoring the wound and delivering a series of lightning-fast thrusts towards Ghost’s torso, each of which the other woman parried effortlessly.

‘You still don’t understand, do you?’ Ghost said as they circled each other. ‘I was designed to beat you. I’m stronger and faster than you could ever hope to be. To me it’s like you’re moving in slow motion. I can kill you whenever I want.’

‘So why don’t you do it then?’ Raven asked and dropped low, swinging her foot out in an arc that should have swept Ghost’s feet out from under her. Ghost leapt into the air, avoiding the kick and slashing at Raven’s face. Raven twisted away from the scything blade just enough that it only left a long but shallow cut across one cheek. She tensed and sprang upwards, driving her sword at Ghost’s chest, but the other woman sidestepped the thrust and caught Raven’s wrist in her hand. Then Ghost’s other hand shot out like a striking cobra and closed around her throat. Raven grabbed at Ghost’s wrist as she felt the woman’s grip tighten, crushing her windpipe and lifting her feet off the floor.

Raven fought for a breath that would not come, her sword falling from her numb hand and clattering to the floor as Ghost slowly twisted her hand. Raven’s vision began to fringe with blackness as she fought to remain conscious, weakening all the time.

Wing ran at Ghost, swinging the sword in his hands with all his strength and Ghost dropped Raven, her wrist blade blocking the blow with a sparking crackle. Ghost leapt in the air and delivered a powerful kick to Wing’s jaw, sending him flying backwards, the back of his head hitting the concrete with a crack. She walked towards him as, half stunned, he struggled to get to his feet. She pushed him to the ground with her foot, pinning his sword arm. She raised her wrist blade high in the air, ready to deliver the fatal blow, when suddenly she felt her arm seize up, a torrent of error messages from her internal cybernetic systems cascading across the display of her artificial eye. She staggered backwards and turned to look at Otto. He stood facing her, one hand raised and his eyes closed.

‘Malpense, what are you doing?’ she spat.

‘Something . . . I should have done . . . a long . . . time ago,’ Otto hissed through gritted teeth. In his weakened state he could barely maintain contact with the systems inside Ghost’s body, his head throbbing with pain as he felt his control slipping. He sank to one knee as she staggered towards him, feeling his connection to her vanishing.