Target Silverclaw (7 page)

The helicopter began to descend.

“We should leave the helicopter before it lands,” said Chopper. “We can make a full search of the area, and then find a way into Silverclaw’s HQ.”

“Logged,” replied Sabre.

They scuttled down to a hatch at the base of the cargo hold, which led to the landing gear. Morph squeezed into the tiny gap at the edge of the hatch. He expanded and twisted his gelatinous exoskeleton, forcing the hatch to pop open, which allowed the robots to crawl through.

Moments later, they dropped out beneath the helicopter. Chopper carried Morph on his back. The centipede had to hold on tightly, as the fierce downdraft from the aircraft buffeted the tiny robots violently.

As the helicopter moved ahead of them, Hercules and Chopper managed to steady their flight.

Chopper suddenly noticed the island Nero had pointed out earlier. “I’ve detected something strange,” he said. “Visual and satellite data places us at a known point on the Scottish coast. However, that small island positioned two
hundred and four metres off the shore doesn’t appear on any database I can access.”

Sabre ran some checks of his own. “Confirmed,” he said.

“Look!” said Morph. “The helicopter is heading straight for it. It isn’t landing at the cottage at all.”

The aircraft had slowed and was turning in mid-air. It descended gradually and made a perfect landing on a flattened patch of earth towards one side of the island.

“Silverclaw might be using the island to store equipment,” said Morph.

The robots flew closer. As the helicopter’s rotors wound down, the two androids began to unload the crates. Chopper zoomed in and observed the crates being lowered through an opening in the ground.

“I’m trying to direct probes at it, to see how much equipment might be there,” said Sabre, “but all I’m reading is earth and vegetation. There must be some sort of chamber below, but nothing registers.”

“There are high concentrations of metallic elements in the soil,” said Chopper. “They help
mask long-range sensors. We need to get closer.”

The robots flew low across the choppy waters, waves rolling around them. As they approached the island, they saw the two androids follow the crates down into the opening.

The SWARM agents landed on a rocky area a few metres in front of the helicopter.

“I don’t think this is simply a storage facility,” said Sabre. “I’m reading multiple rooms, advanced electronics and several power sources.”

“There’s a small fusion reactor down there,” said Chopper, “linked to a series of machines. This must be Silverclaw’s headquarters.”

“That’s not all,” said Sabre. “The island is a vehicle. It can move!”

CHAPTER 8

At that exact moment, Nero the scorpion was coming to the same conclusion. “There’s only one logical explanation – this base is mobile.”

The tunnel from the cottage had led under the shoreline and out to the island. As soon as the travel pod came to a halt, and a bulkhead sealed behind it, Drake had got to his feet and stalked off.

Nero, Hercules and Widow were now concealed in the shadows on top of a tall bank of switches in the main control room of Silverclaw’s HQ. Below them, androids moved around the
room from screen to screen, monitoring and making adjustments. A low hum of energy throbbed throughout the base.

On the other side of the control room, Gold Leader and Morris Drake were arguing.

“I took a considerable risk getting you away from MI5,” said Gold Leader. “Be grateful.”

“Oh, I am, I am,” said Drake, raising his hands. “But it’s not like you to take risks. I thought my part in your scheme had ended. I’m flattered that I’m so important to our masters.”

Gold Leader suddenly lunged at him and grasped his collar with her mechanical hand. “I didn’t do it for them,” she spat. “I did it for me! They might be content to leave you in the hands of the enemy, but I’m not. I’ve brought you here because odd things have been happening. I want answers! I won’t have this operation sabotaged by the likes of you.”

Drake angrily pulled himself free. “The likes of me? That’s rich, coming from a half-robot!”

Gold Leader’s face flushed with fury. For several seconds, she fought to control her temper. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and
venomous. “In London, my most important unit, the replacement Sir Godfrey Kite, was the subject of a scan of unknown origin.”

“What sort of scan?”

“If I knew that, you idiot, it’s origin wouldn’t be unknown, would it?” shouted Gold Leader. “It was sophisticated, and it was right inside the House of Commons. You didn’t warn me about such systems!”

“I didn’t know they existed,” said Drake.

“While you were a member of MI5,” snarled Gold Leader, “you had access to everything on UK government security. You were supposed to supply me with details of every system installed in every building in Westminster.”

“And I did!”

“Oh, but this one thing you just happened to overlook, is that it?”

“Tomorrow,” sneered Drake, “you are going to blow up sixty-seven heads of state! Do you really think they’re not going to boost security in the days before a World Leaders’ Security Conference?”

“You should have informed me!” cried Gold Leader. “All systems, all possibilities!”

“There are undercover sections of the secret service that even I don’t have access to! There’s one in the Secret Intelligence Agency that ruined two of my own operations, and I don’t even know what it’s called!”

In the shadows, Hercules flexed his wings. “Well, well, I think he’s talking about us.”

“We should inform SWARM HQ at once that Silverclaw intends to detonate a bomb at the World Leaders’ Security Conference,” said Nero. “Wait a minute… My network signals can’t get through the barrier that’s on top of this island.”

“Testing…” said Hercules. “Mine neither.”

“We could increase power,” suggested Widow.

“We can’t do that,” said Nero, “without reducing the stealth effect and exposing us to discovery. For the moment, we will have to stay out of contact.”

“Hive 1 to Hive 2.” Chopper’s voice suddenly cut into the robots’ communications network. “We have entered the base, through an engine vent located beneath the waterline.”

“Perfect timing,” said Hercules.

“Hive 2 to Hive 1,” said Nero. “Outside contact
functions are restricted in here. One of you should go back outside and update HQ. Silverclaw are planning to detonate a bomb at the conference tomorrow.”

“Logged,” said Sabre. “I’ll go.”

While Sabre buzzed back towards the vent, Chopper and Morph began to make their way through the base towards Nero, Hercules and Widow. In the control room, Gold Leader gave orders to the two androids who’d flown in the helicopter.

“Mercury 5, load the weapons for the main strike into our armoury here. Were the contents of the crates as expected?”

“Yes,” said Mercury 5.

“Then use the high explosives to make up the bomb for tomorrow, and get that back on to the helicopter. Take enough arms for the Platinum units, too. Then get to London as fast as possible.”

“Acknowledged,” said Mercury 5.

She turned to the other android. “Mercury 2, when you get to London, make sure the van is in place at the correct time. And repair that damaged face of yours before you go.”

“Acknowledged,” said Mercury 2. Both of them left the control room.

“So Gold Leader is a mixture of human and machine,” said Hercules.

“The correct word is ‘cyborg’,” said Nero.

“I wonder how she ended up like that,” said Hercules.

“Cross-checking internal mission databanks…” said Nero. “Her facial features match those of a woman named Alexis Vendetti, who was reported killed in an accident one year, eleven months and four days ago. She is one of the experts in robotics that HQ were checking up on earlier. Since she is listed as dead, they would have made no further enquiries.”

“How could she have vanished?” said Widow.

“She was known as someone who held extremist political views,” said Nero. “She supported a number of brutal dictatorships in Eastern Europe and Africa. Alexis Vendetti was directing the construction of an automated factory in the Far East when a power unit exploded. Ninety people died and it was assumed that she had been buried under tonnes of rubble.
The government she was working for wanted to cover up the incident, and have never officially admitted it took place at all. They simply bulldozed the site. Her body was never found.”

“I can understand why she’s angry,” said Hercules.

Gold Leader was pacing the floor of the control room, her artificial limbs whirring. “I don’t trust you, Drake.”

“The feeling’s mutual, I assure you,” sneered Drake.

“If you’ve withheld information from me, what have you not told our masters?”

“I’ve withheld nothing!” shouted Drake. “How dare you imply that—”

“MI5 had you captive for weeks! What did you tell them? Did you offer them a deal? Did you promise to spill your guts about Silverclaw in return for your freedom?”

“Of course not! They threatened me, they offered me bribes, but they never got a word out of me! Not a single word!”

Nero checked the data. “Analysis of Drake’s body language and heart rate shows he’s lying.”

“With Drake, that’s hardly a surprise,” said Hercules.

Gold Leader stared directly into Drake’s deep-set eyes. “Why do I have difficulty believing a slimy little worm who’d switch sides and betray his country, just for money?”

“An awful lot of money,” smiled Drake. “MI5 pay isn’t all it should be, you know. Don’t worry, I’m loyal. As long as the price is right. Perhaps it’s your loyalty we should question? Why are you supporting our masters’ goal of world domination? You’re their puppet, just as I am. How do we know you’re not going to turn your androids against them? Perhaps someone who’s mostly mechanical is more likely to side with the machines?”

With a yell of rage, Gold Leader landed a punch on Drake’s jaw. He spun on his heels and collapsed to the floor. He scrambled to sit up, dabbing the back of his hand to the fresh cut on his lip.

“Yes, that’s a touchy subject with you, isn’t it?” he grinned. “Being less than a real person.”

“Agents for our masters saved my life!” growled Gold Leader. “They dragged me from
the wreckage, near to death. They financed this operation and let me run it. They valued me and my skills in robotics when I was abandoned by the rest of the world. Now the rest of the world will pay! And you, a miserable turncoat, question my loyalty?”

Gold Leader’s mechanical arm grasped Drake’s throat. She lifted him up and off his feet. He struggled for breath.

“I’ll give you one last chance,” she hissed. “Tell me everything you know!”

“There’s nothing more I can tell you!” croaked Drake, his face going red. “Everything I know, you know!”

Gold Leader tightened her grip on him. She held his face close to hers. “Tomorrow, the World Leaders’ Security Conference will be destroyed. There will be chaos. And while there are accusations and wars, and confusion on a global scale, our masters will step in and take over half the countries of the world. Our revolution will have begun. And you know what? I’m going to make sure that they realize what snivelling pond scum you really are. Your life won’t be worth living.”

She flung Drake aside. A pair of androids caught him, holding him upright as he coughed and spluttered.

“Take him away!” spat Gold Leader. “I’ll hand him over after the main strike. In the meantime, I want him safely out of the picture. Put him on ice!”

“Acknowledged,” replied the androids. They marched Drake out of the control room.

“Hive 2 to Hive 1,” transmitted Nero.

“I wonder who these mysterious masters of theirs are,” said Hercules.

“Hive 1 online,” answered Chopper, in response to Nero’s signal.

“Drake is being taken towards your position. Can you monitor him?”

“We’re picking him up now,” said Chopper. The programs in his visual circuits cycled through X-ray, motion detection and bio-scan modes, getting a detailed picture of Drake.

The androids hauled Drake along, down a
corridor and past a sliding door marked “Cryonic Storage”. Drake struggled and protested all the way.

Chopper, carrying Morph in his legs, whipped through the gap just as the door slid shut.

Inside, arranged along the length of one wall, were a series of tall transparent tubes. Six of them were occupied by the six humans who’d been replaced by androids back in London. They stood motionless, surrounded by a green mist, their eyes closed.

“We’ve discovered the whereabouts of the real Sir Godfrey Kite and the others,” signalled Chopper. “They’re held in suspended animation.”

“Why has Gold Leader kept them alive?” mused Morph. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to dispose of them?”

“Logically,” signalled Nero from the control room, “they are being kept alive in case specific knowledge they have is needed by their android replacements. Obscure pass codes, for example, or information about other people. It’s also possible that they might be returned to their normal places after tomorrow’s ‘main strike’, making it appear
that they were responsible for the destruction.”

One of the androids tapped a seven-digit code into a keypad beside an empty tube. It rotated to reveal an open section, just the right size for a human.

“No, no, no!” cried Drake. “I’m not getting in there! No way!”

Without a word, the androids bundled him inside and tapped a second code into the keypad. The tube rotated, and Drake was engulfed in green mist. Gradually, his eyelids drooped and closed.

“This is a very worrying development,” said Morph. “Now that we’ve pinpointed the location of this base, SWARM HQ may send an attack force to destroy it before Gold Leader can disappear by moving the base out to sea, or along the coast. The lives of these humans may be in great danger.”

“Sabre,” signalled Chopper, “have you left the base? Have you made that transmission to HQ yet?”

“Negative,” reported Sabre. “The vent we entered through has been automatically sealed.
Not even Morph could squeeze through. We must have come in while the engine was routinely venting heat. I’ve been trying to find another way out, without success.”

“Unless we can warn HQ that there are innocent humans here,” said Morph, “they could be killed.”

“SWARM HQ may not realize we’ve located the base,” said Chopper. “We’ve been in stealth mode for some time, which means they can’t detect us any more than the androids can.”

“Just so long as they don’t launch an attack,” said Morph.

“You’re forgetting one thing,” said Hercules. “Something left back at the cottage.”