Alderley drove through the gate, making another phone call as he brought the car down a long driveway. ‘Alderley here. Brice still appears to be on-site, with his hostage. We’re going in. Wait for my signal before making any move, though. Remember, the hostage is a child.’
They soon reached a small car park by the building, the bushes surrounding it the tallest vegetation in the compound. An awning stood out above a set of security doors — which were open. ‘Well, here we are,’ said Alderley awkwardly as he stopped outside the entrance. ‘Look, whatever happens, we’ll get Brice and make him pay for what he’s done. So try not to be the last two people he kills, okay?’
‘You’re goddamn right we will,’ said Nina.
‘And, Chase?’
The Yorkshireman smiled slightly. ‘Back to being formal, are we? Just a one-night stand?’
‘Very funny. But here.’ The SIS officer took a handgun from his jacket and passed it to him. ‘I know that some people in London want Brice taken alive so they can turn him over to the Americans as a sacrificial offering. But if you get the opportunity to save yourself as well as your daughter… don’t hesitate to take it.’
‘Oh, I won’t,’ Eddie assured him. He quickly checked the gun, then slipped it into a pocket before opening the door. Nina followed him to the entrance. ‘Just be ready to get Macy out of here, okay?’
‘I will,’ said Alderley. ‘Good luck.’
‘Thank you, Peter,’ said Nina as she and Eddie entered. ‘For everything.’
Her first sight of the Funhouse’s interior revealed a disappointingly mundane reception area, which apart from the preponderance of security cameras could have been that of a hospital or government office. A glass-fronted cubicle adjoined the front doors. The man inside would normally have controlled access to the building — but now he was slumped in his seat with a bullet wound to his face, ghastly crimson rivulets on the wall behind him. The feet of another dead man poked out from a doorway. ‘Shit,’ muttered Eddie, raising the gun. Brice could be anywhere…
The agent’s voice echoed from ceiling speakers. ‘Ah, Chase. Welcome back to the Funhouse!’
Eddie snapped his gun between all the exits, but there was no sign of movement. ‘Where’s Macy?’ Nina demanded.
‘She’s fine. She’s just chilling.’
Eddie glared at the nearest camera. ‘Where?’
‘Inside the test zone, of course. I thought I’d give you a second chance. If you rescue her, you win.’
‘I thought you wanted an exchange? Me for her!’
‘Oh, I still want you dead, Chase. But if you want your daughter back, you’ll have to work for it. I’d recommend that you start straight away — you don’t want to leave her in there for too long. Go through the red door ahead of you, then turn right and enter the first room you come to. See you soon.’
‘What do we do?’ Nina asked as the speaker cut out.
‘We’ve got to go in,’ Eddie replied, even knowing they would be walking into a trap. ‘I have to, anyway. You should stay here.’
‘I’m not leaving Macy, and I’m not leaving you,’ she said firmly. ‘Besides, you don’t know what’s in there. You might need an extra set of eyes.’
He didn’t bother arguing; not only would it be futile, but they couldn’t waste any time. ‘Okay. Then stick close.’ He went to the red door, Nina following.
Beyond was a bland white-painted corridor. Another camera silently observed them. Both directions looked equally unassuming, but Eddie went right as instructed to reach a door a short distance away. He gestured for Nina to hold back, then readied the gun and warily opened the door.
The space beyond was a changing room with benches, clothes hooks and banks of metal lockers. He realised he had been there before. ‘This is where I got ready for the test,’ he said, crossing to the only other exit.
‘What’s through there?’ said Nina.
‘Could be anything. I had an Iraqi village; Alderley said his was a submarine.’ He yanked the door open and pointed his gun through it. A short grey-walled passage led to another door, this one metal.
‘He’s still watching us,’ she warned, seeing another camera covering the exit tilt to track them. ‘He probably isn’t with Macy, then. He must be in a control room somewhere.’
‘Maybe, but I don’t know where it is, and we don’t have time to go looking for it.’ He reached the door, leaning closer to listen for any noises beyond it — and twitched in surprise as his ear touched the metal.
‘What is it?’
‘It’s cold. Really cold.’
‘And Macy’s in there,’ Nina said in alarm.
‘“She’s just chilling” — that fucker! Shit puns are my department! Okay, stay back.’ He threw open the door—
A freezing blizzard hit them.
43
Eddie overcame his surprise and squinted into the swirling snow, searching for targets in the semi-darkness. Nobody there — but disorientingly, it seemed as if he were back outside. The Funhouse had been upgraded since his test. The ‘Iraqi village’ had been an obvious fake, painted wooden flats mounted on scaffolding acting as buildings and sand sprinkled over a concrete floor the extent of the illusion of desert.
This, though, required no imagination to be convincing. ‘Damn!’ said Nina. ‘I didn’t know MI6 had a holodeck!’
They had entered a simulated winter, the temperature low enough to make their breath steam. Before them stood a military facility, bleakly functional concrete structures surrounding a tall central control tower. The blowing snow disguised for a moment the true nature of the gloomy twilight ‘sky’; the high ceiling was hung with large sheets of a thin gauze, diffusing the glow of an expansive lighting rig concealed above. A glance at the chamber’s outer walls, on which were projected images of a mountainous Arctic coastline, revealed that the blizzard was being blasted in through vents. The room was huge, at least two hundred feet along each side.
Eddie had no time to be impressed. ‘Come on,’ he snapped, running to the nearest building. Nina followed his footprints across the newly lain snow. He peered around the corner. The heart of the fake facility was illuminated by stark floodlights. He saw Cyrillic lettering on one wall. The room had been configured as a Russian military base, MI6’s priorities little changed since the Cold War. ‘Macy!’ he shouted. ‘Macy, can you hear me?’
No reply, but the snow blowers’ constant drone masked other sounds. ‘If she’s in here, she’ll be freezing!’ said Nina, peering in concern through a window. The interior was unlit, but enough light came through from the other side to show that it was furnished. ‘Macy!’ Still no answer.
‘We’ll have to search,’ said Eddie. He cautiously started down the structure’s side wall. More of the imitation facility’s set dressing came into view ahead. Stacks of barrels and crates, a couple of Russian jeeps, even a truck—
And an armed man beside it.
Eddie retreated sharply, pushing the startled Nina back, then crouched and peeked out. The man was a Russian soldier, wearing a heavy winter camouflage coat and a dark fur hat. He had an AK-74M rifle in his hands, and was slowly turning to survey the scene…
The Yorkshireman relaxed. ‘It’s just a dummy,’ he said.
‘But he was moving,’ said Nina, still alarmed.
‘They had ’em when I was here last. Some are on tracks so it looks like they’re patrolling.’ He stepped back out, spotting other dummies positioned around the heart of the base. ‘Macy! Macy, it’s Daddy! If you can hear—’