The Final Curtain (9 page)

‘I want nothing more than to say sorry and finally admit that I became obsessed with beating Spyforce, with exacting revenge on Harrison for having me ejected from the Force. After all I could have done with my talents and knowledge, all I am left with is very little more than this crumpled excuse for a body and a genuine desire to make good.'

Peckham placed a kindly hand on his shoulder.

Max tried to read Blue's eyes. To read behind
the words that seemed so oddly placed coming from him.

Blue let his gaze fall on the city outside the café. ‘When you come so close to death as I have, you see differently. You take notice of things you never did before. Like London. What a lovely city this is! So many beautiful buildings and monuments. Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. And down small side streets there are all sorts of hidden treasures. It's all so good for one's health.'

Another cough rattled his body. Kronch again handed him the oxygen mask.

‘It really is magnificent, isn't it? A city that makes people sit up and take notice. It takes a clever person to see behind the fuss to what is really there.'

Blue left them in a long wheezing pause.

‘Is that all?' Max asked.

Blue attempted a smile. ‘Yes, that's all.'

With a careful sidewards glance at Kronch, Max slid out of her seat. ‘We'll be off then.'

‘Take care, Max and Linden. It all could have ended quite differently if I'd never met you.'

Max and Linden paid the bill and left the café.

From outside they could see Peckham collect a wheelchair and Kronch lift Blue into it.

‘He can't walk?' Max asked.

‘It seems not,' Linden answered.

They turned away from the café and into the footpath that bustled with shoppers, tourists and schoolkids.

Max ducked under a balloon advertising Madame Tussaud's Museum. ‘Do you really think he's that sick?'

‘He does have this way of making it hard to believe him,' Linden said.

‘And what was with the compliments and the “
isn't London great
” speech?' Max pulled out her palm computer. ‘Steinberger will know if he's telling the truth, but my guess is –'

The streets ahead reverberated with a thundering tremor. Max's computer was flung from her hands as Linden pulled her to the ground and shielded her with his body. Shouts of panic and scrambling feet raced past them, while a few streets away the sky filled with a thick choking plume of grey smoke.

‘That felt close.' Max sneezed as a pall of dust snaked its way towards them. People ran with small children, dropping bags, tripping in their haste to get away.

Linden helped her up. ‘What do you think it was?'

‘I don't know.' Max picked up her computer before it was trampled. ‘Let's go find out.'

Linden reached out to stop her, but she had already begun running against the stampeding crowd. He crisscrossed after her. ‘Max! Wait!'

At the edge of Trafalgar Square he caught up.

‘It's gone.' Max stared at the plinth that once held the tall stone monument of Lord Nelson standing atop a column – and that now lay as a crumbled pile of rubble.

More people gathered around the collapsed statue with cameras, videos and phones. Ambulance officers tended to injured passers-by, and police gathered to cordon off the statue's remains and evacuate the area.

Linden managed to take a few photos with his watch before they were moved away.

Choppers swooped in overhead with loudspeakers: ‘Please leave the area in an orderly fashion, I repeat, please leave the area.'

The main roads became clogged with people trying to escape.

‘Let's go the back way,' Linden said. ‘Follow me.'

He led Max through a series of small cobbled back alleys that delivered them to their hotel. They pushed through the front doors and raced into the foyer.

‘Excuse me madam and sir, but we don't allow running in –'

‘Sorry, we're in a hurry.' Max ran past the concierge to the elevators just as her palm computer vibrated in her pocket.

‘Ben. Hi.' She opened the connection.

‘Max, where are you? Are you and Linden okay?'

‘We're fine. We're in the hotel elevator. We'll be up in a few minutes.'

As the doors opened on their floor, Ben and Eleanor were waiting for them.

‘Thank goodness you're okay.' Ben looked them both over. ‘We got back a few minutes ago and you weren't here and we worried that …'

‘Sorry. I woke up really hungry, so we went to have some lunch. You know about Nelson's Column?'

‘We were on our way home when we heard.' Eleanor opened the door of their hotel room. The TV was on and plastered with reporters, studio interviews and photos and video taken as the column was collapsing.

‘Is there any word on what caused it?' Linden asked.

‘Not yet.' Ben flicked through the channels. ‘It's on all the stations.'

Max and Linden sat on the lounge with Ben. A news anchor from the BBC stopped an interview she was conducting with the mayor of London. ‘I'm sorry, Mayor, but there's breaking news about the incident. Can you hear me, Olivia?'

The image crossed to a smartly dressed reporter holding a microphone. In the distance was Trafalgar Square.

‘Yes I can, Phoebe. As you can see behind me, the police have evacuated the area and moved us away from the square and the now-devastated monument. Differing reports are coming in about what happened at the time of the column's collapse.'

The camera shot widened to reveal an athletic man with a bandaid on his brow standing beside her.

‘I have with me Tony, who was at the monument the very second it was destroyed. Tony, can you tell us what you saw?'

‘I was admiring Nelson's Column, a lot of us were, and I was thinking how amazingly tall it is – I mean
was
. It always looks smaller in the photos, and that's when it happened.'

He paused.

‘Can you tell us what you saw?' Olivia asked.

‘There were clouds passing in the background, which made the column look like it was moving, until I realised it really
was
moving. Then, we all felt it. The ground started shaking and thousands of tiny cracks appeared all over the column, and it started to … fall apart. Small pieces flew into the air. That's when people started running, and a piece of it clocked me on the head. It took only a
few more seconds before it disintegrated into a heap.'

‘Thank you, Tony. There you have it, Phoebe. Police are considering a range of possibilities, including a localised earthquake, perhaps years of vibrations from the underground railway, but until they investigate more thoroughly the cause of this terrible occurrence will remain a mystery. Over to you, Phoebe.'

Ben lowered the volume.

‘It was lucky no one was seriously hurt,' Eleanor said.

Max leapt out of her seat to answer a knock at the door.

‘Is that news or what?' Toby headed straight for the mini-bar and grabbed a drink and a chocolate bar before taking Max's position on the lounge. ‘One of Britain's greatest military heroes hangs around on top of a column for over 160 years and then falls apart.'

‘Has anyone heard from Steinberger?' Max asked.

‘No,' Eleanor answered. ‘My guess is he has his hands full at the moment.'

Toby pointed at the TV. ‘It looks like Nelson's not the only one falling apart.'

Ben turned up the volume. A different reporter was standing outside Buckingham Palace, where a corner of the royal building lay in ruins at the base, exposing an inner-skeleton of ornate rooms and corridors. In the background people were scattering in different directions.

‘… the police are asking anyone with any information to contact them immediately on the number you can see on your screen.' The reporter held one hand to his ear to block out the cries of panic. ‘They are also urging people to stay calm and to avoid any major tourist destination.'

‘Nelson's Column,' Linden whispered to Max.

‘Followed by Buckingham Palace.' The dread in Max's eyes wasn't hard to see.

On the TV, two long black cars with tinted windows rushed towards the gates from within the grounds of the palace. They were led by a police motorcade. Guards in red coats and tall bearskin hats opened the gates.

‘We have been told that this is the Queen and her family being escorted to a secure location outside the city,' the reporter continued.

‘Noah, do the police think there is a link between what happened at Trafalgar Square and the Palace?'

‘Phoebe, all we've been told at the moment is that the police aren't ruling out anything. It could still be an unfortunate coincidence, or the two episodes may indeed be linked.'

A look of concern shot between Max and Linden. One that Ben caught.

‘What's wrong?'

‘It's not a coincidence.' Max entered Steinberger's details in her palm computer. ‘But I think Steinberger should hear it at the same time.'

‘Hello, Max. I'm afraid it's not a very good –'

‘Linden and I think the collapse of Nelson's Column and Buckingham Palace are related and that Blue is behind it.'

‘Blue?' Ben leant forward.

‘But Max,' Steinberger frowned, ‘Blue hasn't been seen or heard of since he disappeared in Scotland.'

‘We've seen him.'

‘Where? When?' Eleanor asked.

‘Today. At a café near our hotel. He didn't die in the fall at the blowhole. He was pretty banged up and kept in a coma for months, but he said the near-death experience made him rethink his life. He claims he's cooperating with the police and doing good works for them in return for not having to complete his sentence at Blacksea.

‘Did you know about this?' Linden asked.

‘No, we didn't,' Steinberger replied. ‘But I find it very hard to believe he's working with the police. There is an international order in place that if an authority hears anything about Blue,
we
are the first to be notified.'

‘Why do you think the collapses are his work?' Ben asked.

‘Blue went into this sentimental speech about how much he loved London's sights and started naming them. He started with Nelson's Column.'

‘Then he mentioned Buckingham Palace,' Linden added. ‘Followed by Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.'

‘The Houses of Parliament?' Steinberger's face whitened. ‘We'll have all those places evacuated immediately. Meanwhile, you stay there until we let you know more.'

‘Steinberger?'

‘Yes, Max?'

‘He also said something about London being “a city to make people sit up and take notice”. You don't think he's going to do anything to Chief Harrison again, do you?'

‘Don't worry, Max. Harrison is safe here at Spyforce. He's in the Control Room right now
coordinating this whole operation. I'll have CRISP run a thorough security sweep of the Force. I'll be in touch when I know more.'

Steinberger turned away from his computer to sign-off but stopped. ‘Max, how did Blue know you would be at that café?'

‘One of the hotel staff brought a note to my room asking us to meet him there, but the note was written as if it was from Toby.'

There was a flinch. A fraction of a second where Steinberger faltered before steeling himself. ‘I'm sending a secure car over there right away. If Blue knows where you're staying, I'll order the immediate evacuation of the hotel. I want all of you over here, with us, where it's safe.'

Steinberger disappeared from the screen in a gaping, hollow snap to black.

‘I've come across a lot of mud cake in my day, but the cherries and grated chocolate make
this
the best I've ever tasted.' Toby patted his stomach.

‘You really know how to make the perfect cake, Irene,' Linden said.

Irene paraded herself with one hand on her hip. ‘Just one of my special talents, I guess. Which comes to me easier when I'm cooking for a good-looking man like yourself.'

‘Mum used to say a similar thing.' Linden smiled.

‘Well, wasn't she a wise woman?'

‘And don't forget about his good-looking friends,' Toby said.

‘As if I could forget such looks?' Irene ruffled his hair and slid a cake slice beneath another piece. ‘Anyone for more?'

Even Ben waved his hand. ‘Irene, I never thought I'd say this, but I think I've had enough.'

‘Well, I'll leave it here in case you change your minds.' She rubbed her hands against her apron. ‘I'll be in the kitchen if you need me. There'll be a lot of mouths to feed over the next little while now that Blue is back.'

‘It was creepy seeing him again.' Max slumped against the table. ‘It was like thinking I'd woken
up from a nightmare, only to find out I was still in it.'

Irene leant on the table before Max. ‘Enough is enough, eh? I'm not saying I know what's going on up top, but I think this time it's going to be the end of his snaky ways.'

‘He's a hard one to beat, Irene,' Linden said.

‘At the risk of sounding like a trailer for an action film: if anyone can do it, Spyforce can. With you involved in this whole process, how can they fail?' Irene kissed him on the forehead before beelining through the swing doors into the kitchen.

‘Irene's right,' Eleanor said. ‘Spyforce will put an end to this in no time. You'll see.'

The TV flared blue light from the corner of the room. The sound was turned down. It replayed images of people running and scared, of columns and buildings collapsing, of reporters talking to eyewitnesses.

‘Blue has this way of making you feel that wherever you go, you can't escape him,' Max said.

Ben rubbed Max's shoulder in a hug. ‘That man has been working on being the perfect nightmare for a very long time, but he has
never
perfected outwitting the Force.'

‘Who would want to go around the world making a pain of themselves everywhere they go?' Toby asked.

‘Yeah,' Max shook her head. ‘Who would?'

‘The sad thing is,' Eleanor sighed, ‘with his intelligence, he had the potential to be a great man. He seemed to have such high ideals when we worked for him.'

‘Yeah, but we know now that was all a front to increasing his own riches,' Ben said. ‘At any cost.'

A heavy silence fell over the room.

‘Do you think Spyforce will be okay?' Max asked.

Ben's mood lifted along with his chest. ‘Of course it will. They've got that new security system, and the whole place was double-checked before the party. Even if Blue did have something planned, I don't know how he'd carry it out.'

‘But this is
Blue
we're talking about,' Max said. ‘We know what he's capable of and that he won't stop until –'

‘Ben?' Linden's voice shook. ‘Look.'

Ben grabbed the TV remote and boosted the volume.

A location reporter standing before the Houses of Parliament could barely conceal her anguish at
what she was describing: ‘… as one of Britain's most recognisable and loved icons, this is quite a blow.'

The image switched from the reporter to the half-collapsed tower that was Big Ben.

‘It was once the world's largest four-faced chiming clock … and now it simply lies in waste.' The reporter's voice cracked. ‘And as you can see, the Great Bell, which gave the tower its name, lies on its side amidst debris, twisted mechanisms and clock faces.'

The camera cut back to Phoebe in the studio.

‘Allie, are the police able to say who they think may be behind these events?'

‘The police are unwilling to reveal who they believe is responsible at this time,' Allie reported, ‘but, as we heard from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner's press conference only a short time ago, they do have quite solid suspicions.'

Max's palm computer vibrated in her pocket. She read the screen. ‘Steinberger wants us in the Control Room. Now.' She slipped her computer into her pack. ‘I don't even know where it is.'

‘We do,' Ben said. ‘Follow us.'

The corridor outside the kitchen led to the internal terracotta-pot elevator system. Since the
recent security upgrade, they had been equipped with Face Readers. After each of the spies had their identities confirmed, the doors closed and they were transported deep down into the subterranean levels of the Force.

On opening, Max stared at the darkened, round bunker with metal walls. ‘We're here?'

‘I thought the control room of a major spy organisation would be a little more high-tech than this.' Toby sounded disappointed.

A melodious voice sang around them. ‘Please stand on the dark tiles around the edge of the room.'

‘What dark tiles?' Max squinted through the low lighting.

‘Not sure,' Ben said. ‘This must be part of the new upgrade.'

Linden searched in the darkness until he found a slightly darker tile near the wall. ‘Found one.'

‘Me too,' Eleanor said.

The others soon found more tiles stationed around the room. ‘Please remain perfectly still,' a voice sounded.

Each of the spies' feet were encircled by a luminous blue ring of light that rose up their bodies like a glowing hula hoop. When it reached their
heads it faded and the melodious voice welcomed them, ‘Body identification scan complete. Please proceed to the Spyforce Control Room.'

In front of each of them, a section of the wall lifted to reveal a cavernous room beyond.

‘This is more like what I expected.' Toby's mouth fell open.

An oval conference table dominated the centre, while the walls were ringed by a 360 degree screen that projected a satellite map of the world – parts in darkness, parts in light. Above the map, a string of television monitors were lined together, revealing various images relating to the collapses around London. Agents worked in silence beneath the map at rows of computer terminals, their fingers feverishly tapping at keyboards, streams of data, charts and diagrams filling every screen.

‘It looks like Spyforce has every angle of the world covered.' Linden gently nudged Max. ‘There's no way Blue will be able to hide from this.'

‘Ah, there you are.' Harrison and Steinberger stepped forward to greet the newly arrived spies.

‘Thank you for drumming. Oh blast and bother it, I mean thank you for
coming
.'

‘Of course,' Ben said. ‘Is there anything we can do?'

‘There are agents all over the world at the moment, using every resource available to find Blue.' He waved his hand behind him. ‘In order to leave nothing to chance, our agents here would like to ask you a few questions.'

Steinberger's face was pale grey and his hands tightly clenched his palm computer. ‘Even the smallest of details could lead to a breakthrough.'

‘Did the police have an agreement with Blue?' Max asked.

‘No,' Steinberger said. ‘He lied about that.'

‘Now there's a surprise,' Toby said.

‘But you do think it's him behind the collapses?' Max asked.

‘At this point we are assuming it's his work. We've also found what caused the destruction. Police have sifted through the rubble of Nelson's Column and discovered a small electronic device no bigger than a test tube. It was sent to Quimby for immediate examination. Even though it was badly damaged when the column came down, she discovered that inside the metal casing is a powerful transmitter that, when activated by an external mechanism, sends out vibrations at such a high frequency that it destabilises an object's very atomic make-up. It's like the structure is being torn apart from the inside out.'

‘You said it's activated by an external mechanism,' Linden said. ‘Where is that?'

‘We're not sure yet. If it's one device, it would need to be situated somewhere high in order to send out an uninterrupted signal to the source. The government has ordered all signal towers and tall buildings in the city to be investigated and has created a complete no-fly zone over the entire country. Quimby thinks for the signal to be strong enough, however, it has to be within a ten kilometre radius of the target.'

‘And if it's not one device?' Toby asked.

Steinberger paused before answering. ‘It could be anywhere.'

‘And Spyforce?' asked Max.

‘CRISP has thoroughly checked every inch of the Force. All security procedures are in place and working properly. We have every available agent on the case trying to stop any more destruction from happening. But for the moment you'll be most helpful to us if you answer some questions.'

They were each invited to sit at a computer with a different agent.

‘Max, I'll leave you in the hands of Agent Josiah Saxby, he's one of our best when it comes to surveillance and reconnaissance.'

Max was questioned about every detail of each of her encounters with Blue: where she'd seen him, what he'd said, his assistants, his plans. Agent Saxby's fingers flew over the keyboard typing in her answers.

‘Okay,' Agent Saxby said. ‘I think we're done.'

‘So Blue's not at his castle yet?' Max asked.

‘Which castle?'

‘The one at Cape Wrath in Scotland?'

‘It isn't there,' Agent Saxby replied.

‘What do you mean?'

‘How's the interview going?' Steinberger pulled up a chair beside Max.

‘Blue told me he was going to stay at his castle in Scotland.'

‘I'm afraid that was another of his lies. Look.'

Steinberger nodded to Agent Saxby, who began entering data into his computer. ‘The map around us is like the virtual global search engine on your palm computer, only much bigger,' Steinberger said. ‘It's linked to a satellite that transmits to our database here at the Force and is updated every few minutes to even include weather and traffic conditions. Like a webcam on the world.' The image around Max zoomed in on Britain, before veering up the coast of Scotland to a stormy, wind-blown Cape Wrath.

The camera zoomed onto a pile of stone and wood.

‘He destroyed his own castle?' Max whispered.

‘Blue has a vicious streak when it comes to possessions,' Steinberger said. ‘If he can't have what he wants, no one will.'

‘Chief Harrison?' Agent Saxby pointed to the monitors above him, each one filled with various angles of the Houses of Parliament. There was a gaping hole in the middle spilling forth an avalanche of rubble.

A phone in the centre of the conference table rang. Harrison picked it up. ‘Yes, Mr Prime Minister. Everyone was cleared from the building. Yes, we're close to confirming who we think it is. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.'

The elevator doors opened. A dishevelled Quimby entered, her hair streaming out of her scarf. In her hands was the damaged metal tube.

‘Quimby,' Harrison said, ‘what have you discovered?'

‘We cut the casing in two to discover how it operated.' She laid the casing on the oval table in two pieces. Inside was a crushed network of wires and electronics. ‘We also found this.' She pulled a small gold telescope from the pocket of her labcoat.

She held it over the device as Chief Harrison bent over and levelled one eye down the barrel. He didn't move for a second. Then he straightened. ‘Blue's hidden seal.'

A heavy gloom forced its way into the room.

‘Right, everyone listen.' Harrison's voice was firm and unyielding. ‘We need to –'

His instructions were interrupted by a low rumbling sound from above. The ground shook and small cracks began to appear in the Control Room walls. A warning siren echoed around the room.

‘Everybody out!' Harrison cried. ‘Now!'