‘Alive at all costs, but better dead than left,’ Mother says.
‘Ma’am,’ Alpha says in response, now knowing she wants the whole bloody house flattened if it means preventing anyone getting back through any device. ‘Are you monitoring live time?’ he asks.
‘Satellite is being positioned and I will be monitoring . . . And gentlemen? I will not be the only one monitoring this now. This has gone up the food chain. Do you understand? The PM is convening an emergency meeting for the Cabinet Office to eat cucumber sandwiches while they watch you. Good luck. I will be here for anything you need. Do not fail. Bring Tango Two up to speed on everything. She signed the waiver to be used as a honey trap. Use her if you need to. A female can still do things a male cannot.’
The hologram cuts off instantly, leaving a heavy silence that hangs in the room as the five take stock and process everything she just said.
Five minutes later, the five march out into the main room. What they wear is identical to everyone else, and they select the same sidearms and submachine guns from the crates, yet they stand out. The aura oozes from them. The way they keep their masks rolled up like hats, the way they carry themselves and the complete confidence each conveys. The way each issues orders to everyone else with the supreme knowledge that they have authority. The operatives know they just spoke with Mother too. They had a personal conversation with Mother. That happened. Nobody ever talks to Mother unless they are being promoted or something has gone very seriously wrong.
‘Ready?’ Alpha asks, stepping outside to see Tango Two waiting by a black four-by-four with darkened windows.
‘Ready,’ Tango Two says, reaching up to start rolling her mask down.
‘Leave it up,’ Alpha says quietly as he walks over. ‘Sets us apart,’ he adds when Tango Two drops her hands to watch the operatives all piling out from the lodge. She suppresses any reaction to the micro-nuance that something so small works so well and he was right. Everyone else has their masks already down, as per procedure. Only the five refrain, and now her too.
They gather at their vehicle, pausing as everyone else loads up.
‘Do you know the way to the heli from here?’ Bravo asks.
‘I do,’ Tango Two says.
‘Out,’ Charlie says, opening the door. The driver complies instantly, rushing off towards the lodge. ‘You drive,’ Charlie says, looking at Tango Two.
She climbs in and works quickly to adjust the seat. Alpha takes the front passenger position, the other four go into the rear. Tango Two pulls away, following a different route to the other vehicles and sensing something else is going on.
‘Mother wants you brought up to speed,’ Alpha says after a few seconds’ pause.
‘Okay.’ Tango Two stares ahead through the windscreen.
‘What do you know?’
She glances at him, sensing this is an integrity test. ‘Just what we’ve been told, sir.’
‘Alpha, not sir.’
‘Sorry. Just what we were told, Alpha.’
‘No rumours?’
‘Something to do with an advanced weapons system that everyone else wants,’ she says honestly.
‘Worked then,’ Bravo says from the back.
‘Worked?’ Tango Two asks, her eyes darting to the rear-view mirror to see Bravo smiling at her.
‘False rumours generated to hide the truth,’ Alpha explains. ‘Time machine. Confirmed to be in existence and in use. Actively in use, I might add. Berlin was a sort of staging area they were using. We did not know who. We launched the strike today, but that staging area was rigged to detonate . . . Watch the road, Tango Two.’
‘Sorry, sir.’
‘Roland Cavendish died in 2046, but is still alive now . . . at the same age he was when he died in 2046.’
‘Fuck off,’ she blurts. ‘I am so sorry, Alpha.’
‘It’s fine. Watch the road,’ he says again. ‘Delta said the same thing.’
‘I did,’ Delta calls forward.
‘We think Bertie Cavendish invented the time machine. We secured two of their operatives in Berlin. They died, but information they held has led us here. Understand?’
Tango Two nods quickly and swallows. ‘Understood . . . Have you seen it?’
‘We think so,’ Alpha replies. ‘Our surveillance suggests the device manifests as a bright blue light shaped like a door. Although we also believe it is mobile and the size can be altered.’
‘Understood,’ she says.
‘His Majesty’s government is very keen to ensure we secure this device before any Johnny Foreigner does,’ Alpha says as they start bouncing down an unmade road towards the chopper waiting in the near distance. ‘We had dozens of agents in Berlin. Mother said they’re either dead or seriously injured. Bad for them. Good for you. Positions are suddenly becoming vacant. Juliet One was killed last month. Mother said you’ll be getting her position. That puts you in the top ten. India One was also in Berlin. If he’s dead, then you make ninth agent . . . Do you understand what I’m saying, Tango Two? Mother needs results. At any cost. This is a snatch mission, but we are prepared to do anything to secure either that device or the inventor . . .’
Tango Two nods, a gritty reality sinking in. She signed the waiver because all the other female trainees signed it. It was expected. The expectation is that agents will do anything to serve their country.
‘Are we clear, Tango Two?’
‘We are, Alpha. Very clear.’
Six
‘BLUE,’ Harry shouts, seeing the device come instantly to life as Miri activates the tablet in the portal room. ‘VERY BLUE.’
‘STOP SHOUTING,’ Safa shouts.
‘HAHA,’ Harry laughs.
‘Fuck me,’ Ben mutters, shaking his head as he stares at them both, then looks round to a somewhat defensive Doctor Watson.
‘Wasn’t cocaine,’ the doctor says again.
Miri looks up at them from the tablet held in her hands. Finding Cavendish Manor was easy. It was logged in the software system as Roland’s House for a start. That fact, along with nearly everything else, appals her. The lack of security is staggering. The lack of care taken for something so powerful. In her mind, it’s like asking high school kids to look after a nuclear arsenal.
She places the tablet down and draws her pistol from the holster, which makes Safa instantly counter-draw with a speed that even Miri finds impressive. A second of eyes locking. Of Safa’s pupils now huge from whatever drugs she has been given, but staring intently.
‘Er, everything alright?’ Ben asks carefully.
‘Weapons check,’ Miri says, making a point of turning away from them to eject the magazine from her pistol.
‘What for?’ Safa asks, the words coming too fast and too loud.
Miri checks the weapon and reloads with a show of confident hands that have done the same many times before.
‘I said, what for?’
‘Coming with you,’ Miri says.
‘Are you asking me or telling me?’