‘All this time, you masqueraded as your own son,’ the Commander said.
‘They gave him Project GATE when it should have been mine,’ Denton said. ‘Also, there were other reasons but that’s my favorite.’
‘I gave him Project GATE!’ the Commander shouted. ‘And I gave it to him for a reason!’
Denton gave him a lubricated smile. ‘You’re right, the Nazi serum wasn’t half-bad. One little injection and I looked just like him, only somewhat more attractive of course.’ He withdrew his smile. ‘I killed your precious grandson.’
The Commander shook his head. ‘I protected you for so long,’ he said. ‘If I had any idea who you really were I would’ve—’
‘You would’ve what?’ Denton said. ‘Shot me back? Returned the favor? Given me a pep talk? Man to man? Jonathan Kent to Clark Kent?’
‘My time protecting you is done,’ his father said. ‘You will—’
‘Answer for my crimes?’ Denton said, reading his mind. ‘Really? That’s the best line you’ve got?’
‘They are crimes against humanity.’
‘These days it’s called a promotion,’ Denton said. ‘I was beginning to think it would never happen. Will there be a party? I’ll bring the cupcakes.’
‘It’s called a charade,’ his father said. ‘A charade you’ve maintained for two decades.’
‘That’s more or less why I was hired in the first place.’ Denton shrugged. ‘But faking your own death is fun, you should try it some — oh, you already have, haven’t you? Cheeky Daddy.’
Unlike the masked Blue Berets who flanked him, the Commander was armed with only his Colt .45 pistol. He raised it for the first time. To Denton’s head.
Denton tried to smile but he couldn’t be bothered. ‘Really?’
‘Don’t doubt me,’ his father said.
‘Oh I’m not,’ Denton said, finally managing a smile. ‘You’re doubting, I can read it straight from that antique head of yours. It’s like a big melon of … shame.’
His father’s finger moved into the trigger guard.
Denton wiggled his thumb. He was disappointed, to be honest. He expected something more. Something driving the man. But shame? That was not something.
‘Really?’ Denton said. ‘Of all the most insipid emotions, you’re ashamed? Well, I’m insulted.’
A vein in his father’s forehead quivered. He was thinking of squeezing the trigger but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Denton knew he was safe. Especially as half the masked Blue Berets in the Basildon Hall were not in fact Blue Berets.
‘It was a lovely chat, Father,’ Denton said. ‘But I really should run.’
He rolled to one side, used one foot to kick the carbine from the nearest Beret and the other to strike the kneecap.
On both sides of his father, two Berets stumbled, blood spraying from arteries. Their carbines were taken, fingers kept in the trigger guard, and their magazines emptied at the Blue Berets guarding Denton.
When the firing stopped, Denton could hear a hissing sound. Something stung his eyes, burned his throat. His sinuses clogged with mucus. There was movement behind his operatives, near the fireplace. Near the ruck containing the meteorite. His vision blurred.
The CS gas.
He couldn’t reach for his goggles with his hands tied behind his back. He shut his eyes and waited for his operatives to put their own goggles and masks on first. They couldn’t help him until they’d helped themselves. He felt a pair of hands place goggles over his face then retrieve a mask from his suit pocket.
He was helped to his feet and his wrists unbound. He peered through his goggles. He could barely see a thing, his eyes filling the goggles with tears. His father lay crumpled before him, spluttering.
Denton coughed, scrambled for the ruck near the fireplace. The ruck looked empty now. He ripped it open.
It was empty.
He threw the ruck on the ground, trying to check the hall with his blurred vision. He pointed to the hooded operatives retching from the gas.
‘Untie them,’ he said.
His free operatives moved to untie their less fortunate associates while he stumbled out into the silver corridor and almost collapsed on the black and white tiles. He propped himself up against a grand piano, his throat and nasal passages in searing pain. Sophia, he thought. It had to be Sophia. He pulled his goggles and mask off, used his hands to wipe the tears and snot streaming across his face. He could barely think, let alone breathe. He reached into his pocket and found Jay’s pink iPhone. On it, Sophia’s location blinked.
Chapter 47
Nasira found Jay halfway down the long platform, in the center. He was sitting beneath another one of those long single strings of fluorescent lights suspended by crisscrossing wires. There were no pillars on this platform so Nasira had a clear view. Silver suburban trains rested on both sides of the platform. One train had blue livery, the other red. The carriages stretched almost to infinity, beyond Jay, to the very end of the platform.
Nasira had placed her last iPhone on the bench of a gelato bar. It was close enough to connect with the antenna Aviary had plugged into the restaurant during their earlier visit. As she approached Jay she checked her own iPhone and found it was just in range of the antenna. She could see the camera feed of the dining concourse. If anyone came running down, she’d know about it. She reminded herself to ask Aviary to program in some sort of motion detection alarm for the cameras that would make her phone vibrate, saving her checking the screen every ten seconds.
Jay didn’t look up until Nasira had almost reached him. His hands were tied behind his back, but he didn’t seem to have attempted to free himself.
She stopped. Something felt wrong.
‘You could’ve at least moved your hands to the front,’ Nasira said.
‘My ass is too big,’ Jay said. He looked up. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘What the fuck do you think?’ Nasira said. ‘Visiting hours.’
Nasira surveyed the silver trains flanking her. They buzzed sharply. Large, angry spikes that shot through her arms. It rattled her, tingled across her spine. This wasn’t good, she could feel it. She walked across the nearest train and forced a door open. The carriage was spaced out with block-shaped demolition charges, two wires running from one to the other.
‘Denton wasn’t kidding,’ she said.
‘Not when it comes to RDX and thermite,’ Jay said.
Nasira crossed over to the train on the other side and pried the door open. Same deal. More demolition charges.
‘You can disarm them,’ Jay said. ‘But you’d have to go through here.’
Nasira watched him mark out a perfect square — a barrier that included the carriages themselves. The barrier ran across a break in the platform tiles where it shifted from a rusted brown to a line of black, and then back to rusted brown.
‘Where’s Damien?’ Nasira said.
‘Another platform, I was told,’ Jay said. ‘Probably far away to maximize the effect.’
‘What’s the mechanism?’ Nasira said.
‘Motion sensors,’ Jay said. ‘Two in front of me, two behind. I can see the infrared.’
‘I can snip the wires on one,’ Nasira said. ‘But that will—’
‘Trip another,’ Jay said. ‘They overlap.’
She turned to leave. She needed to find Aviary.
‘Don’t!’ Jay yelled. ‘Wait!’
He was standing now, hands still tied behind his back.
‘What?’ Nasira said.
‘You just activated another set of sensors!’ Jay said. ‘Don’t go back!’
‘What the fuck?’ Nasira said. ‘Where?’