Enemy Invasion (25 page)

Easy,
she soothed, forcing the dreams away and replacing them with calming, neutral images. Robert began to breathe more slowly and she removed her hand.

“Sarah.” One of the screens flickered on and Dr. Fincher appeared.

“Hi,” she said, happy to see a familiar face.

“I’ve analysed the blood data you sent,” Dr. Fincher said. “I’m afraid your brother has a very serious infection. It’s some kind of mutant strain of the fall
virus, but it seems to attack the host at the genetic level. Altering DNA strands. Hence the changes you can see on his skin.”

“How do we stop it?” Sarah demanded.

Fincher shook his head. “We still don’t have an effective cure for the fall virus, let alone this mutation. All we can do at the moment is slow the spread of the infection until we
can run a proper analysis at the base. I’m sending data through to your medical computer for a series of injections that should slow it down.”

“But what if we can’t find a cure?” Sarah asked, looking down at Robert.

“Don’t worry, Sarah. Robert has a natural resistance to the virus, as you all do. Don’t forget that. We’re going to do everything in our power to turn this around. I
promise.”

And HIDRA had promised a cure for the fall virus as well, Sarah thought, but after more than a year it had not come. What chance did Robert stand against this… What had Fincher called it?
Mutant strain?
The black mark on his neck was moving down his arm, making the skin reptilian, scaly. She thought the most horrible thing about it was the way it reminded her of the black
mark spreading across Major Bright’s face. How many hours did Robert have left?

Keeping these thoughts to herself, she looked round at the doctor as an alert flashed on another screen. “I have to go. See you in a few hours, doctor.”

Taking a final concerned look at her brother, she walked through the cabin towards the cockpit where Wei and Louise were waiting. Ahead, a giant refuelling plane swung into view, flying above
their position. Sarah took the pilot’s seat and turned off the automatic pilot.

“Just in time,” Louise said, pointing to a flashing fuel warning light. Any longer and the jet would have fallen out of the sky.

As Sarah made the fine adjustments necessary to the position of the jet, a refuelling nozzle emerged from the back of the larger plane. The nozzle stretched down towards them on the end of a
hose over fifty metres long.

“That’s it,” the pilot of the fuel plane said in Sarah’s headset. His accent was a heavy Texan drawl and she imagined someone in a cowboy hat. “Lookin’
good.”

Sarah tapped the joystick and the stealth jet moved perfectly into line with the nozzle. The coupling on the front of the stealth jet hit the nozzle and they locked closed with a
clunk
.
Sarah reactivated the autopilot to hold them in position.

“Contact!” the other pilot said. “Beginning the refuel. Shouldn’t take more than five minutes.”

“Thanks.”

“Just doing our job,” the pilot said conversationally. “You sound kinda young to be flying that thing. Where you taking it?”

Sarah thought for a moment before saying, “We’re going home.”

26

The C-17s touched down at an airstrip eighty kilometres south of London just after dawn. The airstrip had been bought by Goodware Inc. two months before, ostensibly with the
purpose of shipping PC games into Europe. However, the real intent behind its purchase was to act as the staging point for Major Bright’s entry into the UK.

Mercs hurriedly offloaded the two UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and started prepping them for departure. Less than twenty minutes after landing, Hack and May were escorted down the ramp to one
of them. As the rotor blades whirred into life, May looked around their new surroundings: the mist hanging in the air and the early morning sun shining through.

“I always wanted to go to England,” she said. “But not like this.”

Hack nodded. After the heat of their jungle prison, the cool atmosphere was a shock to the system. Kotler, the merc leader, pulled open the back of the Black Hawk and ordered them to get in. As
they took seats, a merc sat down opposite, gun cradled in his lap. Hack spied a pair of padded jackets on a rack in the ceiling and, without bothering to ask permission, grabbed one for May.

“Thanks,” she said as he draped it over her shoulders.

“Keep your eyes open,” Hack whispered, bending close to pull it around her. “We need to find a way to escape.”

May nodded as the merc pushed Hack’s shoulder. “Sit the hell down.”

As the helicopter engine noise rose, Major Bright and Marlon Good jumped inside. Bright banged his fist on the back wall of the cockpit and the machine rose into the air. Hack looked out of the
still-open back door at the flat English countryside below and then at the machine guns and rockets strapped to the side of the Black Hawk.

“Don’t worry,” Marlon Good said, reading his mind. “We’ve got flight clearance all the way into central London.” He tapped a finger against the side of his nose and said in a fake English accent, “Friends in the Ministry
of Defence, don’t you know.”

As they circled over the airstrip, Hack saw mercs loading equipment onto trucks, ready to ship out by road. He looked round at Good. “So, we’re headed to London then?
Where?”

Good opened his mouth to reply, but Bright cut him dead. “The less you know for now, the better.”

Hack shrugged and looked at May, who shook her head – indicating that he should stay quiet. Bright’s voice had a dangerous edge to it. The long flight had clearly done nothing for
his temper.

After that, Hack contented himself with staring at the unfamiliar English landscape passing by outside. The fields and motorways soon gave way to an endless suburban sprawl. Despite their
situation, he was fascinated by the landscape – row after row of two-storey buildings joined together, punctuated only occasionally by the tower blocks he was used to from Hong Kong. The
streets were thin lines jammed with traffic.

“It’s so different to where I’m from,” Hack said, to no one in particular. “But similar too. So many people.”

“Living like ants,” Bright replied with no effort to disguise his contempt. “Eating and sleeping and working in an endless cycle. Pointless existence repeated day after day
with no thought. No change.”

Good laughed. “Well, not for much longer.”

“Yes,” Bright replied with a nod. “By the end of today we’ll sweep it all away. Then the drones will serve us.”

“How can you think about them like that?” May asked. “They’re human beings.”

Bright turned his piercing gaze on her. “Are they?”

May looked away.
They’re both mad,
she sent to Hack.
We have to do more than just escape. We have to find some way to stop them.

Yes,
Hack replied.
But that’s not going to be easy with these collars. One wrong move and Good will trigger these bombs around our necks. I know it.

She glanced at him.
Maybe there’s more at stake than just our escape. They’re talking about enslaving an entire city. Then the rest of the world. We have to stop them even if it
costs us our lives.

Hack studied her face and saw the determination there.
I know,
he said.
How are you feeling?

Okay. Have you noticed? They haven’t given me a shot since we left the island.

Hack realized she was right. In the chaos of the evacuation of the island base, the mercs responsible for administering the drugs that held May’s power in check seemed to have forgotten
their job. Or perhaps they assumed the explosive collars would be enough to hold them in check.
Can you—

Not yet,
May replied, face betraying no emotion.
But I can feel the drugs wearing off. I just need a little longer until I’ll be able to use my power freely again.

Good. Just don’t take any unnecessary risks until you’re at full strength. We aren’t going to be able to do anything if we get recaptured as soon as we escape.

May eyed the gun in the merc’s lap.
Or killed.

Hack nodded and rubbed the bandage on his arm. The crude stitches one of the mercs had sewn into his skin after Bright dug out the GPS tracker were really starting to hurt – and itch. He
hoped that didn’t mean they were infected. Seeing him fussing, May reached out and placed her hand over the bandage. There was a brief feeling of warmth, followed by a complete cessation of
pain. Hack looked at her in surprise.

What did you just do?

Healed your arm,
she replied.
But leave the bandage on – we don’t need them to know about that.

Hack smiled.
Thanks.
The more he saw of May’s power, the more amazed he was by it. He wondered what she would achieve with it in the future – if they survived the day, that
was.

The helicopter powered on towards the very centre of the city, towards the taller buildings of the business district. Hack couldn’t help craning his neck round the side of the helicopter
to make out the famous landmarks below: Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace.

“We’re almost here,” Marlon Good announced, clearly excited and showing off in front of Bright. “You’re going to love the new base.”

The major sniffed. “By evening we’ll own London. All this place has to be is secure and low profile.”

The helicopter passed over the Thames and turned to the west. Hack looked down at the great, dirty river cutting through the centre of the capital and then ahead as the helicopter began to
descend. Marlon Good pointed to a structure on the south bank.

“There it is!”

The building was several storeys tall, rectangular and rather nondescript. However, it was the four white cylindrical towers stretching up from each corner that caught the eye. They gave the
building the appearance of a giant, upside-down plug, dwarfing everything around it. From some piece of half-forgotten trivia, Hack recognized it as Battersea Power Station. He craned his head
round to see better as the helicopter did a circle.

“Low profile,” Major Bright said. “Right.”

Marlon Good shrugged. “I got a good deal! They were going to turn it into flats!”

Bright shouted through to the pilot. “Take us down.”

As the Black Hawk flew between the chimneys it was possible to see that the roof of the main building was open, revealing a single, giant room within. The space was large enough for them to fly
inside. As the chopper descended into the belly of the building, the walls and towers rose high above.

Good grinned and then looked at Bright, who sat impassive. “Come on, Major! Don’t tell me you’re not impressed!”

Major Bright said nothing and, as the helicopter touched down on concrete, jumped from the vehicle and strode away towards a group of waiting mercs.

Good wrinkled his nose. “No pleasing some people.”

Hack and May exited the chopper after Good, closely followed by their guard. May had the same dumbfounded expression on her face as Hack as she looked over the interior of the disused power
station. The area where the chopper had touched down functioned as a landing pad and there was enough space for several more such vehicles. At each end of the building stood closed double doors
– at least twenty metres high. Beams of light from windows set high into the walls fell across the centre, giving the place the look of a cathedral or the palace of some king. To the left and
right were raised platforms linked by metal stairways. Technicians worked at computers and equipment here, while more armed soldiers patrolled.

Great, more mercenaries,
May thought as she went to stand beside Hack.
So much for making an easy getaway.

Hack nodded.
This place is a fortress.

He pointed high up to the edge of the open roof, where it was possible to see sniper positions and even mounted machine guns.

“How did you manage to set up all this stuff in the middle of the city?” Hack asked Good.

The American grinned. “Money. And very influential friends. Come on. Let me show you around.”

Hack looked at May as they followed him to a raised platform.
He wants to show off his toys. Let’s see what we can learn.

“Battersea Power Station,” Good said, waving a hand through the air as he strode ahead. “Initial construction completed in 1933. Almost burned down in 1964. At its peak it
consumed a million tonnes of coal a year for electricity generation. Closed in 1975. Since then there have been suggestions for redevelopment as a theme park, shopping mall, apartments and museum,
but without success. Now it belongs to me.”

They stopped on a platform a few levels up and Good placed his hands on the railing, surveying the scene of mercs and technicians working all around. Hack looked towards the roof at the sound of
another helicopter. The vehicle swung into view a second later, on a descent path into the building. Strung from the bottom of this Black Hawk was a net. It contained the hypersphere.

The helicopter hovered in place so the sphere was just a couple of metres above the ground. Technicians moved in with a cage on wheels. The sphere slotted into a cage like an egg into an eggcup,
then the net was released. On the ground, Major Bright and a group of his soldiers watched the technicians wheel the cage to an elevated area packed with machinery in the very centre of the
building.

“Do you really think Bright is going to let you live after you help him take over the city?” Hack asked, turning back to Good.

The American laughed. “The major needs me and my technology, as you might have seen.”

May and Hack exchanged a glance. “For now,” she said, going with Hack’s lead. Anything they could do to drive a wedge between the two men would be to their advantage.
“But what about after he owns London? He won’t need you any more. It will be just him and the alien he’s carrying around inside.”

Good frowned at her, but then forced his expression into a smile. He waggled a finger at them both, as if he was telling off two naughty children. “Nice try, but Major Bright and the
Entity need me far into the future. After London, there’s Europe to be subjugated. Then the rest of the world. If I were both of you, I’d be more worried about my own necks…if
you’ll pardon the pun.”