Pep Squad (21 page)

‘So far so good. Let's try this way first,' said Krivan, marching Jess down the dark corridor, which was lined with a number of barred cells. The air was chill and damp. Jess was glad she had got to keep her ski jacket and pants.

Another red-and-black uniformed guard stood at the very end of the corridor, right in front of a cell. Three teenagers were inside. Krivan made a show of herding Jess roughly towards it.

‘Jess! Thank goodness you're OK. What's going on? Where's Krivan?' cried Emily, jumping up and running towards the bars.

‘Silence!' bellowed the real guard in heavily accented English.

‘I've been told to relieve you,' Krivan said in Russian.

The guard unlocked the cell and held open the door.

‘Check for bugs,' Krivan whispered to Jess as he shoved her roughly into the cell.

After closing and locking the cell again, the guard passed a bunch of keys to Krivan before striding down the corridor towards the stairs.

The other three crowded around Jess in a giant group hug. ‘I'm so glad you're all right,' said Emily.

‘Hang on – Emily, what are you doing here? And where's Lieutenant Parry?' asked Jess, using her hard-earned acting skills to look concerned and pretending not to know what was going on in case anyone was watching or listening in – and also to fool her friends for the time being.

‘They knew we were coming,' said Matt. ‘They let us in all friendly-like and as soon as they closed the portcullis a heap of guards jumped us, took our equipment – and I mean all our gadgets, it was like they had an inventory or something – and tied us up. Then they dragged Benny and me down here. Emily arrived not long afterwards.'

‘They were waiting for me back at base. As I was powering down the helicopter they stormed the cockpit, took me prisoner and one of them flew me back here,' explained Emily.

‘And the lieutenant?' repeated Jess.

‘Dunno,' said Ben anxiously. ‘I didn't realise he wasn't with us until they locked us in here. Maybe he's locked up somewhere else. But what happened to you? And where's Krivan?'

‘We were waiting for Emily to come pick us up but that guy came for us instead,' Jess said, pointing at Krivan in his guard's uniform. ‘Krivan put up a great fight but the brute pushed him into a deep fissure in the mountainside.'

‘Holy crap!' said Ben. ‘Is he …?'

‘There's no way he could have survived the fall,' said Jess brokenly, as if fighting back tears. She wished Signora Enigmistica could see her now.

‘Jesus,' said Matt. ‘I can't pretend I liked the guy but I wouldn't have wished that on him.'

Outside the cell, Krivan snorted.

‘Bloodthirsty killer,' Emily muttered.

‘I can't believe they killed him,' Jess said, slumping to the floor, pulling her knees up and resting her head on them. Her hair falling down either side gave her enough cover to fish the phone out of her inside pocket and she used the app to do a quick bug scan. The only transmitters the program picked up was a series of three cameras, positioned along the corridor. Fairly sure there were no listening devices within earshot, she decided to bring the others up to speed. She slipped the phone back in a pocket and then let out a loud sob.

‘Jess,' said Emily, concerned, ‘it's going to be OK. We'll get out of here.' She sat down beside her friend and put an arm around her shoulders. Ben and Matt came over too and crouched down in front of her.

Jess looked up and eyeballed each of them.

‘None of you is to react to a single word I say, do you understand?' she said quietly and urgently.

Other than tiny nods, Emily and the twins didn't move.

‘Krivan's not dead,' Jess whispered.

‘What do you–?' began Matt loudly but Jess gave him a death stare. ‘Sorry,' he whispered.

‘He's standing right outside the cell,' continued Jess.

The other three turned at once to look at the guard.

‘I said not to react!' hissed Jess. ‘Geez, if I was marking this work-experience assignment you'd all fail.'

‘Jess, did you hit your head? That guy's not Krivan,' said Ben.

‘Yes I am,' said Krivan quietly in his own voice, turning his body slightly so that the cameras couldn't see that he was talking to them. ‘I take it we're clear?'

‘Just three optics in the corridor. Double-check 'em?'

Krivan nodded, then took a slow stroll down the corridor.

‘What the …?' said Matt.

‘He's wearing a prototype P.E.P. Labs mask,' said Jess.

‘His leg seems to have made a remarkable recovery,' observed Ben.

‘And where'd you get the uniform?' asked Emily.

‘We killed the real guard,' mumbled Jess.

The other three stared at Jess open-mouthed.

‘I think I must've hit
my
head – did you say you
killed
someone?' exclaimed Emily.

‘It was an accident,' said Jess, her voice cracking for real this time. She took a deep breath before continuing. ‘But on the upside I've got a phone and a ROACH and, as long as we can keep them hidden from those cameras, we should be able to find out what's really going on here.'

‘So when did you two come up with this private plan of yours?' asked Ben.

Jess had never seen him look so disgusted.

‘Krivan sprang it on me when I stayed back to wait for Emily with him.'

‘And you don't think
he
might have an ulterior motive?' whispered Ben as footsteps echoed along the corridor.

‘Optical only, as far as I can tell,' said Krivan. ‘Love the nickname, by the way. Which one of you geniuses came up with Krivan?'

‘That was me,' said Emily sheepishly.

‘Maybe this will explain things,' said Jess. ‘Ben, shuffle over here.' Ben slid around so that he was close to her, with his back facing the camera. Using his body as a screen, she retrieved her phone again and played them the recording of Krivan's ROACH transmission from Theruse Abbey.

‘Where'd that come from?' asked Ben.

‘You're not the only one who gets special assignments from Herr Klug,' murmured Krivan.

‘Krivan's ROACH picked this up inside Theruse Abbey,' said Jess. ‘We were sent here for a reason and it's got nothing to do with work experience.'

‘Then why are we here?' asked Ben.

‘I don't know yet,' said Jess. ‘But it might help if we could find that laboratory. Or Lieutenant Parry. Do you want to drive, Ben?' Jess offered, shielding her left arm from the cameras as she passed him the ROACH.

Ben took the ROACH without a word, skilfully guiding it out of the cell and along the corridor.

‘Lieutenant Parry said he thought the lab would be underground. Try behind the steel door at the base of the steps,' suggested Emily.

Ben guided the ROACH around the door, looking for a gap between the brickwork and the steel frame.

Jess, who had a partial view of the ROACH display, was surprised. ‘That thing goes vertical now?'

‘Just one of my many improvements,' replied Ben. ‘However, the ROACH is too large to get through any of the cracks. We're just going to have to sit it out until the door opens.'

‘Told you it should have been a ladybird,' said Jess quietly so only Ben could hear.

The faintest of smiles played about Ben's lips.

The steel door remained shut for what seemed like an eternity. The cadets were tired, hungry and bored. Finally the sound of footsteps clattering down the stairs echoed along the corridor.

On screen Ben watched as a man in the red-and-black guard uniform slid a card over the reader and the steel door opened. He guided the ROACH onto the back of the man's boot and they both disappeared behind the door. ‘We're in,' he said.

Jess had to quell her urge to move around and look over Ben's shoulder for a better view of the ROACH display, because the corridor cameras were still active.

‘Was Em right? Is it the lab?' she asked.

‘I only have a dark view up a trouser leg at the moment,' said Ben. ‘He's stopped at another door. I can hear a beep. Moving again. It's brighter now, wherever it is.'

The man took a few more steps, then came to a standstill. Ben guided the ROACH off his boot and made it climb a wall and scuttle over the ceiling before coming to rest, shielded by one of the overhead lights.

‘Bingo. It's a lab,' said Ben. His excitement at finally doing something seemed to have dispelled his dark mood. ‘There's a central room that's all glassed off. Inside it are big fridges – I can't quite see what's in them – microscopes, specimen bottles and some weird-looking equipment on the benches. Everyone in there is wearing a biohazard suit. And in the rest of the room … I don't believe it!'

‘Don't believe what?' said Matt, as Ben just stared at the screen.

‘It's Lieutenant Parry. He's looking a bit roughed up, but he's sitting at a computer, not tied up or anything.'

The cadets looked at each other.

‘What sort of expression is on his face?' asked Emily quickly. ‘Disgust? Disbelief? Fear?'

‘Yeah, right. Like Lieutenant Parry's scared of anything,' said Matt.

‘Well, he's frowning,' said Ben. ‘But it's one of those concentration frowns. It looks like he's working. His eyes are darting round a bit.'

Jess tried to avoid the ‘I told you so' look Krivan was sending her.

‘Woah,
he's
looking a bit the worse for wear,' said Ben.

‘Lieutenant Parry?' asked Jess.

‘No. Cameron Hess!' said Ben. ‘He's got skinny, and wrinkly, and kind of bald. I barely recognised him. They're talking. I'll try to get the ROACH closer to them and pipe the output through the phone.'

Ben connected the ROACH display to the mobile and activated speakerphone, holding the phone in front of him so everyone else could see what was on the display and hear what was going on.

The cadets watched the ROACH's view of the lab on the phone's screen while Krivan kept an eye out for any movement down the corridor.

‘
So this is definitely the molecular structure of the BS3 virus?
' a tinny version of Lieutenant Parry's voice asked.

‘
Yes. It took us over a year to isolate it and recreate it synthetically, but it mimics the progression of the pathogen in Biosphere 3
,' replied Hess.

‘Mimics?' said Krivan, who was straining to hear what was going on from outside the cell. ‘Why would they need to mimic it?'

‘
And the antidote?
' asked Lieutenant Parry.

‘
I'm afraid that's why they've brought you in, old friend
,' said Hess. ‘
My employer is particularly anxious for an antidote
.'

‘
I'll bet. When a virus like that occurs spontaneously once, who's to say it won't happen again? All biosphere experiments should have been put on hold until the origin of the virus in Biosphere 3 was identified and an antidote developed
.'

‘So Hess didn't invent the virus,' commented Emily.

‘
Unfortunately my employer's reason for developing the antidote is not to prevent the recurrence of such catastrophes
,' sighed Hess.

The lieutenant looked at him sharply. ‘
What do you mean?
'

Hess looked around nervously and waited for a guard walking past to move out of earshot.

‘
You can tell by the treatment you and the teenagers have experienced that my employer is no humanitarian
,' he continued so quietly that Ben had to turn the volume to maximum so they could hear him. ‘
Wayne, we've known each other a long time. If it weren't for my family's safety, I wouldn't have anything to do with this.
'

‘
Your family? Has somebody threatened them?
' asked Lieutenant Parry.

Hess nodded.

‘
I've been stalling as long as I could, but now they've brought you in …
'

‘
Why have I been brought in, exactly? I'm no scientist.
'

‘
No, but you do have one of the most brilliant analytical minds on the planet. I've been working on this close to fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, since they closed down Biosphere 3 eighteen months ago. I'm getting burnt out. And to tell the truth, I'm not even sure I want to create an antidote under these conditions. However, with my research and your ability to figure things out, your boss seems to think you'll crack this in no time
,' Hess said.

‘
What do you mean?
My boss has nothing to do with what's going on here
,' said Lieutenant Parry.

‘
Au contraire
,' said a third voice joining the conversation.

Ben swivelled the ROACH around to identify the speaker and almost dropped the phone. Standing behind Cameron Hess and Lieutenant Parry was none other than Vladimir Metsen.

‘
I have everything to do with what's going on here
,' continued Metsen.

Lieutenant Parry gaped him.

‘
You're Hess's employer?
' Lieutenant Parry said slowly.

‘
You catch on quick
,' said Metsen.

‘
Why?
' asked the lieutenant.

Metsen smiled. ‘
You're a smart chap, Parry. I know I've been on your radar for a while. So why don't you pull together everything you think you know about me and figure it out
.'

Slowly the expression on Lieutenant Parry's face changed to one Jess had never seen before. If a human was capable of shooting poison from their eyes then the lieutenant would have been soaking Metsen with it.

‘
Now it all makes sense, those sudden unexplained business trips and late-night phone calls to Germany and the Middle East.
You're planning to use the virus as a weapon
,' spat Lieutenant Parry.

‘
And Wayne Parry does it again
,' said Metsen, clapping slowly.

‘
But why? You're supposed to be one of the good guys
,' said the lieutenant. ‘
You set up
P.E.P. Squad to
prevent things like this being developed
.'

‘
And I'm still one of the good guys.'

Hess laughed incredulously.

‘This virus is to help P.E.P. Squad achieve our goal
,' Metsen continued.
‘To help us win the fight
.'

‘
We're already winning the fight. We've saved thousands of lives from terrorist plots,
' said Lieutenant Parry, shaking his head.

‘
But we've lost some good agents too. Think about it, Wayne. This weapon is the ultimate deterrent – far more powerful than nuclear weapons or any other type of chemical or biological warfare. With the antidote at hand, we can unleash it safely–
'

‘
Safely?
' yelled Hess.

‘
… and turn it on and off as we see fit
,' Metsen carried on, ignoring him.

‘
As who sees fit? The United Nations?
' asked Parry.

‘
Well … me
,' said Metsen.

‘
And who, exactly, are you planning to unleash it on?
' asked Lieutenant Parry.

‘
Depends
,' said Metsen thoughtfully. ‘
The usual terrorist cells, of course. Plus corrupt governments in the Middle East and Asia. And maybe the North Americans if they get too big for their boots.
'

‘
No matter where you release it, you'd be harming innocent civilians as well
,' said Hess.

‘Collateral damage
,' said Metsen. ‘
Although the majority of civilians in a democracy can hardly be called innocent.
'

‘
You're insane
,' said Parry. ‘
This is not the P.E.P. Squad I signed up for. You can count me out
.'

‘
I'll be counting you in for a little longer
,' said Metsen, smiling smugly. ‘
Perhaps it slipped your mind that I have four of your precious students in a cage on the other side of that door? I would hate for them to become collateral damage too.
'

‘
Collateral … did you say four?
' said the lieutenant sharply.

‘
Oh, did I forget to tell you? You must have guessed we would reunite the rest of your little team. Emily was easy to take with her injury, but I have to admit, after watching her progress through the year, I thought your star pupil would put up more of a fight. Quite disappointing. And as for the Krivlyakaev boy, well … I just hope the bad news won't break his father – he is a very useful operative
.'

‘
What did you do to Ivan?
' said Lieutenant Parry coldly.

‘
Oh, I can't take the credit. It would seem he resisted my guard's kind offer of shelter, preferring to perish on the mountain.
'

All the colour drained from Lieutenant Parry's face. ‘
This is my fault. I knew something was wrong with this assignment from the moment you gave it to me. I should have followed my gut and stayed the hell away from here
.'

‘
That's the trouble with you ex-army types. Always so quick to follow orders
,' sneered Metsen.

‘
I swear if you hurt any more of those kids–
'

Metsen cut him off. ‘
Oh, they're safe enough. For now. But I can't guarantee they'll stay that way for long if you don't start producing results.
'

‘That's it,' said Krivan. He dialled a number on his phone and shouted ‘
We have what we need.
Go, go, go!
' into it in Russian.

There was an explosion, followed by machine-gun fire from the floors above.

‘What's going on?' Jess yelled to Krivan.

‘The cavalry's arrived,' said Krivan, moving to unlock the cell door, but dropping the keys in his excitement. ‘I contacted Dad from the Wirtshaus last night. He got in contact with Parry's strike teams in Munich and Salzburg, and they've been on standby since we rigged up the trap for the snowmobile. They texted to say they were in position when I went to check out the cameras. Now we have Metsen's confession on tape, it's time to roll.'

Just as Krivan found the right key, loud footsteps clattered down the hallway towards them. Krivan quickly turned and drew his gun. Vladimir Metsen was hurtling towards them, a crazed expression on his face.

‘Open the cell,' he barked at Krivan.

Puzzled, Krivan unlocked the cell using his left hand, his gun still clasped in his right.

Metsen entered the cell and grabbed Jess, dragging her outside.

‘Kill the others,' he ordered Krivan in Russian.

Krivan raised his gun.

‘Ivan! You can't!' Jess screamed.

‘Ivan
Krivlyakaev
?' shrieked Metsen, shoving Jess so hard she ploughed head first into the wall. He then lunged at Krivan, who was distracted by the sight of a stunned Jess slumping to the floor, and with one hand grabbed the gun from him and with the other ripped the prosthetic off one side of his face.

‘Well, well. Little Ivan Krivlyakaev. I don't know how you pulled that off, but you can take the secret to your grave.'

Metsen raised the gun and rapidly fired four shots, hitting Krivan, Emily, Ben and then Matt in the centre of the chest. As each was hit they were thrown backwards by the force of the bullet and fell to the ground, lifeless.

Jess's ears were ringing from the shots and she still felt woozy from her impact with the wall. She barely noticed Metsen's hands on her as he hauled her up and dragged her down the corridor. As they neared the staircase, Jess became aware of another noise, something high-pitched and whiney. It took her several seconds before she realised the noise was coming from her own throat.

‘If I'd known you were going to be a screamer, I would have shot you and taken one of the others,' growled Metsen, forcing Jess up the stairs.

Jess didn't even try to resist. The shock of watching Krivan, Emily, Ben and Matt being shot in front of her in cold blood was more powerful than Memory Wipe in making her forget all her secret-agent training.

‘Why don't you then?' Jess sobbed.

‘Why don't I what?' said Metsen distractedly, steering Jess down a hallway.

‘Shoot me!'

‘Tempting as that is, you're more use to me alive than dead at this point,' grumbled Metsen, swiftly changing direction and ducking into an alcove, clamping a hand firmly over Jess's mouth so she could not cry out.

A pair of men, dressed in white camouflage suits and with guns drawn, raced past them. Once their footsteps had receded, Metsen clasped Jess close to him like a human shield and headed for another flight of stairs.

He's heading for the roof
, Jess thought to herself, her training starting to kick through the fog of grief inside her head.
Once he gets there, he'll be free and I'll be dead
.