 
### Simpathe Nation

By John Handrahan

Editor Jill Handrahan

Copyright to John Handrahan 21 February 2015

All rights reserved

Published at Smashwords 21 February 2015

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Chapter One: The Scan

Chapter Two: Blame it on the Weather

Chapter Three: So this is what Mummy does for a Living

Chapter Four: Everyone needs a Date

Chapter Five: The Autopsies

Chapter Six: Home Is Where The Heart Is

Chapter Seven: Finally We Got One

Chapter Eight: It's Life but Not As We Know It

Chapter Nine: The Prom

Chapter Ten: What Life

Chapter Eleven: The Great Escape

Chapter Twelve: The Good Life

Chapter Thirteen: Everyone wants to Live on a Desert Island

Chapter Fourteen: Live and Let Spy

Chapter Fifteen: First Contact

Chapter Sixteen: The Problem with Spies is that You Can't Trust Them

Chapter Seventeen: There's Shit Bits to Every Job but Someone has to do Them

Chapter Eighteen: Evolution is The Survival of the Fittest and Their Ability to Change and Adapt

Chapter Nineteen: First Contact 2

Chapter Twenty: A Bugs Life

Chapter Twenty One: Almaty Kazastan

Chapter Twenty Two: Mission Impossible

Chapter Twenty Three: Max's Big Day Out

Chapter Twenty Four: On the Attack

Chapter Twenty Five: Last Stand

Chapter Twenty Six: Smuggler's Cove

Chapter Twenty Seven: Simpathe Nation

Chapter Twenty Eight: For Queen and Country

Prologue

For some people every moment is an eternal search for the meaning of their lives. As one becomes aware of the end drawing closer and closer with ever passing second one can only fear what is coming next. As civilization reaches the maximum potential for its species one begins to ponder on the what, the if's, the whys and what will be. Some will create to fulfill their urge to leave a legacy and will produce great and enduring marvels; some will reproduce and watch their offspring revel in the same joys they once did. Some do nothing and enjoy life for what it is. But Simpathes do none of these things they only destroy!

Chapter One: The Scan home

The hospital where Josh was to have his MRI scan was a private one. He'd never been to a private hospital before but the Health Insurance Policy was paying for it. His mother had explained that he needed to be checked in case he had inherited same fault that killed his father only a few months before. His mother went with him of course, with him only being only 15 ¾ years old. The scan should take about thirty minutes to an hour but he would have to be very still while it happened. He had looked it up on the Internet and had been given numerous leaflets but was still nervous about being examined. He felt his nerves notch up a gear as his mother drove her small tatty blue fiesta down a small country lane to the entrance of what appeared to be an old country estate just outside Nottingham. Traditional iron gates and trees lined the driveway to the of an old country house turned hospital. It wasn't as big as he had thought it would be but was still impressive. The gardens were immaculately maintained and planted out with vivid pink and blue hydrangeas, geraniums in glowing shades and pretty summer bedding plants that he didn't recognize. He knew what hydrangeas and geraniums were as his grandfather had gone to great pains to teach him about them. He was still trying to see why old people liked gardening and he thought it might be something to do with not listening to current music. The degeneration into being elderly seemed to be linked to this as well as a sudden interest in foodie type package holidays and the need to be within fifty feet of a toilet. He was still pondering the strangeness of adult life when his mother parked up with a jerk of her handbrake and a crunch of gravel. Josh studied the building with curiosity. The doors to the house looked old and distinguished looking carvings of ecclesiastical figurines surrounded an archway over the main door. It didn't smell like a hospital. The Queen's Medical Centre always had the faint smell of detergent when he went there after he broke his arm. That's what he remembered, that and the nasty dirty cubicle in which he was examined. This was absolutely nothing like that experience, so far at least. The front entrance hall had ornate wooden carvings and a marble floor and the room smelt of polish and some sort of sweet scent which he couldn't identify. A nurse came smiling towards them and drew his mother gently away from him for a whispered conversation. Josh watched, wondering what was happening. He didn't think he needed to be here and neither did his local GP but his mother had convinced him to be checked on the health policy she had, one of the benefits of being an employee in the coroners' office. After a moment the nurse guided them through to a small waiting-room. This room was of the same high standard as the entrance hall but was furnished with comfortable leather chairs and sofas and a variety of up to date reading materials on a gleaming sideboard next to what looked to be drinks facilities in one corner. The nurse invited them to help themselves to refreshments and handed Josh the remote to a small flat screen TV in the other corner of the room. Josh immediately noticed an Xbox placed under TV and started playing. He was amazed at the difference between private and NHS hospitals: it was as if one was run for humans and one wasn't. Time flew by and soon the radiographer, who introduced himself to Josh and his mother as Tim, came and sat with Josh while he was playing. Tim was very patient as he talked through what would happen whilst having a quick game with Josh. His mother, Miriam, was enormously impressed at the service and level of interpersonal skills the staff displayed.

Tim led Josh over to the MRI scanner where he was laid down and small amounts of tape applied to steady him and stop him moving. He was lucky, he didn't have to have any injections or drink any nasty fluids, and he just needed to keep still for a short while.

Josh could feel his little stomach churn and his heart start pounding as the machine slid around him. He soon calmed though. There was no pain, nothing, just the sound of the machinery doing its job and he would know soon if there was anything wrong. The private scan would mean that the information would be processed quickly and on the premises by qualified doctors. Josh lay still, worrying now there were no distractions, his mind now focused on wondering if his life expectancy would be halved and what would he do if he was only going to make his mid-thirties like his father had. Mid worry, the intense humming sound of the scanner stopped and he heard the servomotors wind down. Tim came over and assisted Josh to his feet.

"Well done Josh," he praised.

"Thanks, it wasn't as bad as I thought," replied Josh, stretching his body with a sigh of relief that it was over.

"It will take us half an hour to an hour to look at the data so please enjoy yourself on the Xbox, and grab a drink," said Tim guiding Josh back to his mother in the waiting-room.

Josh spent the next hour playing Xbox and drinking fizzy pop while he waited for the results of the scan. He knew that the MRI scans had taken photos of his brain in three-dimensions, allowing the doctors to examine the blood vessels in his brain for irregularities that would cause an early death. He played for a good hour, glancing at the clock from time to time, knowing that he would hear the news soon. He felt his tummy welling up with fear of what may come. When the door opened his stomach fell to the floor and his heart started pounding heavily again. Tim and another man who appeared to be a doctor came smiling into the room and wasted no time in telling them everything was fine, not a thing to worry about. He looked at his mum and he could see tears of relief rolling down her face. He went over to hug her.

"It's okay, okay mum. I'm fine," Josh whispered to her, his throat thickening with unexpected emotion towards the end of his sentence. He had stepped up when his father died as his mother had been a mess. Everyone was a mess but he had noticed how much more she needed to be cuddled because his father wasn't there any more.

His mother heard his little voice croak and pulled slightly away to look at him. Josh composed himself ready for her examination and carefully smoothed away all signs of sloppy emotion as he smiled at her.

"You okay, my brave little boy?" asked Miriam.

"I'm fine mother, let's go home," Josh replied, already leading his mother out of the building towards the car.

He had felt a huge sigh of relief shudder through his body at the good news and now just wanted to go home and chill with his mates: he had been granted a day off school which wasn't to be wasted. His mum drove home and had now climbed back inside herself where she had been for the last month or two. She had only made conversation when she had needed to or to sort something out. Josh lived in Gelding, Nottingham and he attended the local comprehensive school. He hoped to follow in his father's footsteps and become a computer programmer. Josh wanted to programme games: he loved playing video games and would have spent more time playing if he could get away with it but his mother checked how long he was playing for and made sure he did other activities. She had time to monitor him very intensively since his older sister who had moved out a few months ago. As soon as Josh was through his front door he headed straight for his Xbox. He was allowed two hours a day video play and that was that. He was hoping to get away with a little longer today but no such luck; after exactly two hours his mother intervened.

"Time Josh," she prompted.

"Mum, please. I've no homework and I've been to the hospital," wheedled Josh, attempting to get away with a little more.

"I have something else for you," his mum spoke gently. "I think you should have something that belonged to your father."

This grabbed Josh attention and in an instant the Xbox was off.

"I think he would have wanted you to have this," she said as she picked up a slim case and offered it to Josh.

"Are you sure Mum?" asked Josh, looking surprised.

"Yes, but if I find you using that laptop to look at porn I will take it off you and you won't have it back," replied his mother.

"Thanks, I'll be good I promise," Josh's eyes shone in delight at the gift as he took the case and went up to his room. He needed to find the right place to keep it. It was his father's pride and joy and had all the new software he would ever need for the next five years at least. In one corner of the bedroom sat Josh's old desk and a TV was perched in the opposite corner with the bed splattered somewhere in between. He also had a wardrobe and a small telescope at the window. He needed to rearrange the room so he could use the computer with the TV and telescope and so set about rearranging everything. Time flew by and before he had even turned the laptop on he was shouted by his mother.

"What is it Mum?" asked Josh.

"Kate and Callan are here," she explained.

Josh's room was a mess; he hadn't quite got it back to where he needed it and he was dying to start looking through his father's computer. Regretfully he made his way down stairs and found his mother in the kitchen making drinks for everyone. He wasn't strictly allowed people in his room. His mother had always said that bedrooms were for sleeping and study, but he had a plan.

"Mum, I'm halfway through rearranging my bedroom. Can Kate and Callan help me finish tidying?"

"You're nearly sixteen anyway and I suppose it can't hurt," his mum smiled slightly as she gave permission.

Josh's eyes lit up. He had been allowed to take people to his room for the first time and he could well be approaching normality with his friends. Well, Josh thought, normality might not be the word others would choose. His friends were pretty geeky. Kate was like an Encyclopedia and read everything including the road signs if there were no books around. Callan was one of those rare people who seem to have started using their entrepreneurial skills at the four and is now like the David Dickinson of the schoolyard with big plans for his own shop on the High Street selling antiques. Josh thought he got it from his father who was an auctioneer.

Josh balanced the tray of drinks as he fetched Kate and Callan from the conservatory and led them excitedly to his room, explaining on the way what he wanted to set up in his room. The trio met on a rotational basis three times a week. They'd met and formed bonds as most people do at school in an attempt to stop being bullied or picked on. It was harder to pick on three than one. They all shared in addition a love and knowledge of computers so they were all excited to see was on the PC and to look at Josh's bedroom.

"What a mess, how can you live like this?" Kate screwed up her face as she looked around."

"I just explained I'm still rearranging." Josh defended his territory whilst kicking some long lost shorts under the bed deftly as he spotted them from the corner of his eye.

"So why do you need to rearrange the room for your computer?" asked Callan.

"This year has been particularly good for solar weather. I can use the PC to check the sun out," explained Josh.

"Solar weather?" Callan prompted Josh for more explanation.

"No one can look directly into the sun, this will show sun spots" explained Josh smugly "cool isn't it?"

They spent an hour companionably working on the messy bedroom until finally there was some order. Kate put the last few posters of Cheryl Cole and Tulisa up on the wall as Josh and Callan pushed the bed on the wall near the door. The TV and telescope were accessible by the computer which had pride of place on the desk. As Josh plugged in the laptop and slipped the on switch the trio were silent, intrigued to see what could be on it. Callan sifted through a large pile of discs that had come with the laptop, his face alight with excitement at each new discovery. Kate and Callan both had computers but software was expensive and good software was very expensive. It wasn't what Josh had been expecting though. There were a lot of programmes but mainly programming languages software. Josh sifted through his father's directories see what programmes he had been working on. He trawled through tons of boring data programmes and then he found it. It was filed under 'hackers'. There were a lot of hacking programmes and programmes to breakdown the defenses and firewalls of other computers.

"Jackpot," Callan punched the air with his fist, reading over Josh's shoulder.

"There's more," Josh said as he sifted through all three directories and spotted one that he found intriguing. It was marked 'exponential dynamic fractal learning chaos program.' He opened the directory and found a word file.

"What is that?" asked Kate.

"I think it's one of those chaos programmes that create plants on your screensaver," Josh explained.

"I don't get it," said Callan.

"Chaos programmes use mathematical equations eventually forming pictures, gradually showing patterns or forms that resemble plant life," explained Josh.

Josh open up the word file to see if it would shed some light on the programme. It displayed the results of experimentation with a new fractal equation developed by his father. The new equation was in essence a programming language equation that would mimic evolution of the natural world. So from nothing eventually you would get intelligent life. However preliminary tests had shown that the programme would work but would take about two hundred years to come up with any sort of result. The number of calculations impossible variations required would take too long to calculate on any single computer. However there were instructions on how the Internet can be used as a catalyst to run the programme simultaneously on millions of computers but it would take time to set up and also funding which he didn't have.

"I have an idea," said Josh.

"What's that then," asked Kate.

"We could piggyback this programme onto another," said Josh.

"What, spamming you mean?" Callan said.

"Yeah like spamming but it will be in the background," answered Josh.

"Is it illegal?" asked Kate, looking concerned.

"I think its okay, it's not like we're going to mess up the computers with it," explained Josh rather uncertainly.

"So how does it work?" asked Kate, the opportunity to try something new battling with her fear of breaking the law.

"Well they're running that climate change programme on thousands of computers next week. If we put this onto that it'll run silently in the background and eventually come up with the results," theorised Josh.

Josh looked through all the programmes on the PC and started making lists of the ones that the others wanted. He would take the software to their houses, or make copies for them. This was common practice between the trio, each sharing for the benefit of all. Josh searched slowly through the computer database while Callan set the television up. It didn't take long before the familiar voice of David Attenborough rang throughout the room. They all listened to David explain the theory of evolution and natural selection. Josh felt an air of excitement and the anticipation of something good coming from his naughtiness in hacking and planting of his father's programme.

Kate watched Josh intently, learning anything she could. She was a bit of a technophobe and, although she could operate basic system, was more likely to go on Facebook chat with girly friends. She was seen as cool by her girlfriends. Kate saw Josh was reading the instruction file for his father's chaos programme. It explained that they could expect to see an animal represented on the screen of the computer where the programme was originally based and in theory it should have some partial intelligence. Here lay the problem, the definition of intelligence would be in this case be the ability to retain information and use it cognitively to solve a problem, or even just ask a valid question.

Josh knew this was a big task but if they had an animal on the screen that appeared to be acting of its own free will it would be incredible. The term intelligence or artificial intelligence is so broad that it would be hard to define but if they applied some reasoning with peripheral devices such as eyes, sound recognition and touch sensitive robotic hands they could assume that they could have something approaching basic intelligence. His father's research went beyond that, stating that if there is a possibility randomly that we came out of the primordial soup it was by chance. Natural selection may have had a part in our evolution to where we are now, but the fact life began comes from chaos and his theory. He was attempting to recreate life and as such he was trying to skip a step or two. The first successful form of life we saw on earth was a self-replicating single cell organism. His father's research was apparently attempting to skip a few steps by engaging massive computational calculations through the power of raw computing. He read on through the files and the first time he ran the programme he managed to create a standard looking plant world visually depicted onscreen. If he ran the programme through thousands of computers each one would visually create a slightly different world. This is where probability takes over: at some point on one of the computers one of them will create a world where life exists, maybe even intelligent life.

"You think it can work?" asked Kate.

"Well, I don't think we should look from here, my Mum will take my computer if anything goes wrong," Josh was not going to risk his legacy, new life form or not.

"Something would happen surely, even if it only worked on one computer," interrupted Callan.

"Yes, but I don't want it traced here," Josh was adamant.

"We could do it at school," Kate suggested, "we can get online there."

"Yeah we just need temporary password so as not to trace it to one of us," Callan adopted Kate's idea eagerly.

"Tomorrow, we'll do it tomorrow," Josh promised, snatching a USB memory card and loading programmes onto it frantically. He then created a programme to upload everything using preprogrammed hyperlink connections within a hacking programme. This meant the next step would be a simple exercise of a placing USB chip in a computer and pressing one button.

Chapter 2: Blame it on the Weather

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Josh woke early, buzzing with excitement and jumped into action, showering and getting ready for school in record time. There was a uniform but he didn't mind it as he wasn't into the usual fashion trends that most young people engaged in. his mother was sensible and bought most of his clothes and he was only given a small budget. He would usually meet up with the other two at school but today had arranged to meet Kate on the way. In their haste the day before they had not thought exactly how they were going to get the temporary password they needed. They were scheduled to attend their information technology class in the afternoon but most of the classes were finished for their year and only a few exams remained before the end of the school year. They were however still in school and had to account for every session to ensure that they didn't go and steal cars or shock the local elderly population into telephoning the police because they looked scary he thought. This morning they had free time to study after registration. Josh believed school was over regimental and thought registration must be similar to a prisoner of war camp roster. It certainly didn't inspire him to think of himself as living in a free world. They had one lesson before dinner: English. They would probably end up playing hangman as the exam had already taken place. Kate's' job was to get hold of a temporary password or think of a way of getting one. The school had an 'anytime access' IT suite in the library which, despite its name, had limited access to the Internet. You could get passwords however because nobody monitored the young people in the library. The information technology class had full access but other students were carefully supervised sometimes by more than one person. It had a firewall of course but like all things this could be circumvented. Josh took a slightly different route to his usual one to meet Kate on the way to school.

He met Kate as she was leaving her front garden, "Hi, what's your plan?" he asked as soon as he saw her.

"Morning, you're keen. I wasn't expecting you yet," Kate said, seemingly surprised by Josh is intrusion into her morning headspace.

Josh could see he wasn't completely welcome this early in the morning and reined his excitement in.

"Sorry, I was excited," he apologised.

"I'm no good until about 9.30, or until I've had chocolate," Kate muttered.

Josh promptly removed a Cadbury's caramel from his pocket and offered it to her. There was no 'I'm too fat' or 'no thanks'. The chocolate went from full bar to empty wrapper in seconds and Kate's mood visibly brightened.

"Now I go to library quite a lot but don't very often use their computers. The librarians trust me so I'm going to ask them for a temporary password, tell them I lost mine." Kate explained her plan.

"Isn't that sort of thing a year five would do?" Josh wasn't convinced.

"Yes, but they know me, I've done it twice this year," replied Kate.

"In theory the password will work everywhere, I think," mused Josh.

"Yeah, the IT teachers usually reset everything but the temporary ones work," Kate agreed.

They were on. The morning was a slow and painful process of waiting. They were all slightly high on their planned mischief when they met late in the dinner hour after Kate had obtained her password. They walked to the IT suite together and ensured they were sat together in the least observable position. Josh quickly logged on and uploaded the programme. It worked perfectly. Despite Josh feeling that the programme would take forever and time ticking away so slowly it took less than thirty seconds to complete. The teacher hadn't even finished her walk round the room, perfect. Josh took the USB memory card and wiped it clean to destroy the evidence. The lesson was about to begin when the deputy headmaster, Mr. Phillips, walked in and asked Mrs. Stewart for a quick word. They held a swiftly muttered conversation in the corner before Mrs. Stewart moved away from him and addressed the class.

"Listen up, this is important, you need to turn off all the PCs in the suite. Unplug them too please," Mrs. Stewart asked.

Puzzled, the whole class shut down their PCs and unplugged the computers.

Several people asked Mrs. Stewart what was happening but she only told them that Mr. Phillips would explain at an emergency assembly to be held in the next ten minutes. Josh, Kate and Callan sat on their stools looking sheepish, guiltily thinking they must have done something by using the programme, until Mrs. Stewart escorted the entire group to the assembly Hall and with a combined sigh of relief the three conspirators saw the whole school assembled together. A dull murmur was audible as students tried to find out if anyone knew what was happening. There were whispers that Chloe Williams had died. She had been sick for a long time and it was rumoured that she had an inoperable brain tumor and would not last the summer. Then the headmistress, Mrs. Patel, walked to the podium in front of the massed school.

"Quiet please, please listen up," Mrs. Patel almost begged the rowdy students. She waited for the dull hum to subside while her efficient staff team picked out those who were not complying.

"Thirty minutes ago the ace satellite was obliterated by a solar flare believed to be heading towards Earth," explained Mrs. Patel, pausing as gasps and worried looks spread around the room, even those who didn't understand the repercussions catching on quickly that something was very wrong.

"There's no need to worry but you do need facts. Mr. Foster, our head of science, is here to explain what could happen," stated Mrs. Patel.

Mr. Foster, a shy man not used to speaking to students without a geek background stepped up to the microphone. Despite his shyness he was nevertheless clearly comfortable with his subject. "Okay, first the best part: solar flares will not hurt any of us physically. However solar flares send out cosmic rays which can destroy electrical equipment such as the electrical substations, computers, cars, satellite and one that all of you will be upset about; Xboxs," he explained.

"Now there is no reason to panic but there is a possibility that all our technology won't work. Now we're going to turn this radio on and listen for the next hour. By then we'll know if we are going to be affected by the solar storm."

Several hands shot into the air and Mr. Foster eventually pointed to one small red haired third year who was enthusiastically waving her arm for attention.

"Sir, will this mean we have to go home early?" asked Shelley.

"No Shelley, if anything it means you'll have to stay longer."

A collective sigh came from those students who had seen an opportunity for an early finish and more hands went up. Mr. Foster pointed to another young lad who he knew may have a more relevant and intelligent question.

"Sir, what can we do to stop it?" Carl asked.

"Good question. The power companies will turn on every line that they have everywhere. This will hopefully absorb the excess energy from the suns rays," Mr. Foster explained as he pointed to another small child for her question.

"Please, had we known it was coming?" Rebecca asked.

"The Ace satellite is directed at the sun. If a solar flare erupts the satellite gets it first. I'm going to tune to BBC radio four who are running live commentary on this event."

The students waited in silence, listening intently to the radio presenter who was on the phone to the National Astronomical Society, attempting to ascertain exactly what was happening and, frustratingly, giving the same information they already knew again. They listened for the next twenty minutes to accounts of what was happening, what everyone was doing and what could happen. The consequences sounded disastrous and you could have heard a pin drop in the full assembly Hall. The lights and everything in the school were turned on, everything but microelectronics was turned on to full to drain the power of the flare. The message from the radio station was that people must turn everything on and the more power people used the better.

Then it happened. A huge bang shattered the listening quiet, the lights went out and the news show crackled once before falling silent. Everything was still and dark and the stunned pupils stood in shock until the screams began in the Assembly Hall. Harried teachers hustled around calming everyone down and trying to ascertain what happened.

Chapter 3: This is what my Mummy does for a Living

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Of course the world was still there and wasn't going to end immediately. Josh resignedly thought to himself that he even still had to go to school,

The solar flare had been one of the worst in history but it had only clipped the edge of the Earth rather than hitting full on. This had taken out a local substation here and there but mainly everything remained intact and as it was. It had seemed for just a moment that the end of the world had arrived, but this might have been just the wishful thinking of young people wanting to change the world. There was one bad thing happening though and that was that trouble was coming down around Josh's ears. The school IT department had discovered the breach in security and identified Josh as the perpetrator. However they had no evidence of what he'd been doing or how he had done it. The violation of the schools computer system meant that he had earned a three day suspension and with it a thousand word assignment to be written on what his parent did for a living. He thought this was a strange and unusual punishment but it had been pre-arranged with his mother who was now taking him to work with her for the next three days. He didn't particularly know what his mother did for a living. He knew it was something to do the coroner's office or the court but he wasn't quite sure what it was. Miriam had arranged with her boss, Judge Bhatia that he could observe the workings of the coroner's office for the next three days and make the tea. The thought of having to work with dead people didn't fill him with joy at all but his mother reassured him that he wouldn't even see a body and that her job was mainly investigative report writing. The coroner's office would send out Miriam to interview relatives and friends and associates of the deceased if there was an inquest or unexpected death. This ensured that the coroner knew if people were murdered or had committed suicide. His mum was buzzing round Josh, preparing him for work. She had made him put on his best suit and ensured he had a hanky, a notepad and several pens. She was tentatively touching his hair, making sure he was presentable.

"No, now, enough," Josh complained.

"Hold still, I've done. I want to see the programme you're uploading to the Internet from school," Miriam ordered.

"Mum, it was one of fathers, I'll show you later," Josh said attempting to avoid her looking at the computer.

"No, we will do it now, before work," Miriam spoke firmly.

As Josh reluctantly turned on his PC, his mother standing grimly beside him, he saw a file he hadn't noticed before, an audio visual file. Puzzled he clicked on it.

The Windows media player opened up and displayed his father's familiar face and figure sat in a chair with the laptop in front of him.

"Hello Josh, I figured you'd get my laptop if I died and would now be exploring what your father did for a living," his fathers image explained to him, "On this laptop you will find my last work and, if it works, you may see a part of me again. Love you all loads, please don't be sad and live your life."

Josh and Miriam were both holding back tears until Miriam couldn't contain her grief any longer at the sight of her late husband's message. She ran to the bathroom quickly to compose herself for work.

"Josh, turn the laptop off and we'll get going," Miriam called Josh from the hallway.

"Okay Mum," Josh replied.

Neither of them spoke as they walked to the car and Miriam drove to her workplace. The building where she worked was not at all as he had imagined. It was just an ordinary set of Council looking buildings on the outskirts of the city centre. She escorted him in and gave him the visitors pass she had already obtained for him. The doors were all swipe card secured. It was impossible to get in or out of the building without a card to open the door. Nearly every door internal door needed a swipe card and the workers inside were all walking round like puppies with little dog tags around their necks. Josh thought school was bad enough but here they could monitor where you were and where you had been. What a sad world where you needed a swipe card to get in and out of where you work, he thought to himself. After all, he pursued the thought, work is like a bribe. They give you money to do something and then don't trust you. His mum showed him to an open plan office containing about seven or eight desks. People were working at them, heads down and obviously intensely focused on their tasks. A coffee machine steamed away in the corner next to a kettle sat on a small fridge beneath a watercolour. Each desk held a computer and a printer whirred away in the centre of the room. There were windows but nothing to see out of them, just dreary concrete buildings. He was startled out of his appraisal by a woman striding towards them. Miriam deferentially introduced him to Judge Bhatia.

"I would like to see both in my office please," Judge Bhatia spoke firmly.

"Yes of course," Miriam quickly replied.

She led Josh into a pleasant room with a large desk with two chairs in front and a single chair behind it. Law degree certificates and bar examination qualifications were framed and displayed for all to see when entering the room and opposite the desk a row of paper trays were piled high with bulging manila folders. The judge entered the room immediately behind Josh and Miriam who stopped Josh sitting until the judge had taken her seat by discreetly grabbing his sleeve.

"Now then young man, your mother has appraised me of your wrong doings at school. There will be none of that here, do you understand?" asked Judge Bhatia.

"Yes," replied Josh quickly.

"The only reason you're here is because your mother is too valuable to have at home and I think a day or two here will give you some perspective on life," explained the judge.

She had a way of making him feel guilty down to the bottom of his belly and seemed to be all powerful, even in the way she sat in the chair and held herself.

"I'll be good," promised Josh.

"Now you are to go out on assignment with your mother. You are to be as any employee here is: respectful, polite and in your case clearly quiet until spoken to," explained the judge.

"I understand," said Josh honestly.

The judge looked at Miriam and signaled her to lead Josh away. Back in the open plan office he felt relieved to be away from the strong and powerful woman who seemed to see through him as if he were a pane of crystal clear glass. His mum led him to her desk and told him to get a coffee while she spoke to the judge and got their workload for the day. Josh looked around and saw the office was filled was mainly women with just two blokes. He looked around, trying to work out what they were doing while he drank his coffee. He was on the receiving end of a few nice smiles and saw that they were just as interested in watching him. He thought they seemed quite sprightly and happy for people who worked with dead people all the while. He never really thought about how his mother was: she always seemed to be happy. He would be happy if he didn't have to work with dead people all day he thought. He was the youngest person there which he had expected but he had thought there might have been someone close to his age. His mum soon returned with two folders in her hands.

"Right, this is what I do for a living. Having been given two people's details, I'll interview their relatives and friends," his mum explained.

"So, do you know how these people died?" asked Josh.

"Well, I know nothing except they passed on unexpectedly. My job is not to judge, it is to find information," Miriam explained.

"I thought you investigated deaths," said Josh, puzzled.

"The coroner decides on a verdict of death and if it needs to be investigated and the verdict comes through in a court at the end," explained Miriam.

"So who we are who we interviewing?" asked Josh who felt rather sick and thought his mum must be torturing him. It was a bit grim dealing with dead people.

"I will be interviewing the parents of a young girl, only fifteen years old, who died two days ago," explained Miriam emphasizing the 'I' as she spoke.

His mum collated papers into a prim leather wallet he had never seen before driving across the city to an area he had never been to before.

"Where are we?" asked Josh.

"This is Wollaton," explained Miriam.

The area was nice, posh even. The streets were clean and were lined with big houses, all detached and all with prim and proper well cared for gardens. Eventually they turned down a side street and saw what appeared to be a row of council houses. They were the nicest council houses he had ever seen and he wondered why they were there. His mum pulled up and parked her car. She quickly checked her appearance in the rear view mirror before running a critical eye over Josh and brushing what appeared to be fluff from his shoulder.

"Now remember, only speak if you're spoken to and only I ask the questions," Miriam spoke seriously.

Miriam knocked on the door of the first house in a row of three.

The man who answered the door was about six foot tall and in his mid-30s. He looked tired and sad like his mum had been a few months before. Josh's stomach churned remembering how he felt when he lost his father.

"Hello, Mr. Phillips?"

His eyes lit up at his mum knowing his name. The appointments office had rung through for her the day before but he may have forgotten the appointment or his wife may have made it.

"Yes, but this isn't a good time you know," Mr. Phillips replied.

"I'm Miriam Robinson from the coroner's office. We have an appointment," Miriam explained showing her identification to the sad looking man.

"Oh, sorry I forgot, excuse me, come in," he looked embarrassed to have forgotten.

He politely seated them in the lounge before fetching his wife in from the garden. He led her through the double French doors into the lounge holding her up tightly. She looked pale and drawn and her eyes were red as if she had been crying for days.

"Hello Mrs. Phillips, I am Miriam Robinson from the coroner's office. May I say I am sorry for your loss," Miriam slowly and softly spoke in a way and manner Josh had never seen from her before. He was quite shocked and realised why his mum never watched soaps. Whilst this epiphany was occurring his mother had slowly started interviewing the couple.

"You said your daughter was ill and undergoing treatment," Miriam prompted the couple.

"Yes she had a brain tumor which had been treated once with chemo therapy," explained Mr. Phillips.

"She wasn't supposed to die," sobbed Mrs. Phillips.

"She had had an MRI at that hospital just outside Nottingham," Mr. Phillips said.

"It was only last week that they said it had got better," interrupted his wife.

"Hastings," blurted Josh, accidently speaking his thoughts out loud.

"Yes that was it," Mr. Phillips nodded.

Miriam eyes were throwing daggers at Josh and he responded by adjusting his posture and covering his mouth. Mrs. Phillips had started to sob heavily and Mr. Phillips asked for a moment for composure. Miriam led Josh into the garden where evidence of the dead child's existence was all around them. There were swings and old garden toys placed next to a treehouse which had little notches carved into its trunk to mark the height of a child each birthday. The marks stopped at fifteen Josh couldn't help but notice and the last notch was quite newly carved.

"I'm sorry mum, how do you do this?" asked Josh.

"Be quiet, you don't know who's listening," his mum shushed him frantically.

She watched him pace around the garden, slightly stressed at the whole death thing.

"Breathe, slow down and take it slowly real calm," His mum prompted him. It worked of course. He started to calm because he knew he had to go back in the house and, soon enough, Mr. Phillips came out and ushered them back inside. Miriam continued the interview, going through the basic mundane stuff such as Friends, School and how his daughter was generally. Miriam thanked the bereaved parents for their time and patience and led Josh to the car.

"I'd no idea mum," explained Josh.

"I know, next time you pull a prank, think about consequences," she said, heading the little car away from Nottingham towards Southwell.

"So where are we going next?" Josh asked anxiously. He didn't know if he could cope with more interviews yet.

"The trucker's cafe," Miriam explained.

Josh hadn't noticed the time fly by and it was well into dinnertime. They had another appointment at two o'clock in Southwell his mother explained. He hadn't been to this cafe before and he enjoyed the new experience. It was proper greasy spoon but he found himself unable to finish his meal. The impact of working with death wasn't good for the palate. The second home they attended was somewhat more impressive. Southwell was a rural village and had that nice English village look associated with the South of England. The house looked like a Georgian property and they were there to interview the uncle of the deceased, a girl aged sixteen.

Josh dreaded this next interview but determined not to let his mum down. As they parked on the drive a man in his late forties opened the large wooden door and looked enquiringly at them.

"Mr. Peter Raines?" asked Miriam.

"Yes. Miriam Robinson?" Mr. Raines replied.

Miriam showed her badge and Mr. Raines led them through to his drawing-room. The house was amazing. Josh thought it had a slightly mediaeval feel: there was wood paneling everywhere and the furniture must have been antique. They were offered drinks ushered to a leather sofa in front of a real fire. There must have been hundreds of books in the room and the walls were practically lined with paintings. Miriam started off the interview with usual pleasantries. Mr. Raines seemed somewhat more composed than the previous couple. He wasn't the father of the deceased. His sister had moved to Australia less than twelve months ago and Rebecca, the deceased, had stayed in England with her uncle as she he didn't get on with her mother's new partner. Rebecca had died unexpectedly therefore the coroner's office had been investigating.

"Mr. Raines, what can you tell me about Rebecca's last few days?" asked Miriam.

"Well, her health seemed fine although she had epilepsy. She was receiving treatment at Hastings Hospital," explained Mr. Raines.

"Yes, tell me about her epilepsy?" Miriam encouraged him gently to continue.

"Well, Rebecca had been part of a research project in Cambridge so she had been having regular MRI scans the past five years," he explained as he stood to search through his desk. He passed Miriam details of his nieces' doctor and her treatment.

"That's very efficient of you," Miriam commented. Josh noticed how different his mother's technique was in dealing with Mr. Raines. He didn't seem to mind the formality of dealing with the coroners questions in his home.

"Rebecca, she still had fits from time to time and I always kept it handy for paramedics," explained Mr. Raines.

"Did Rebecca always need ambulances when fitting?" asked Miriam.

"No, it had been three years since the last one. She was looking forward to getting a driving license," he told them, sadness clear in his voice.

The interview was concluded rapidly and they soon found themselves back at the coroner's office.

"Mum, how do you know who you need to interview?" asked Josh.

"Well, sometimes the autopsy may have shown something or it could be the death was sudden and unexpected," Miriam explained.

"So how do we find out what happened?" asked Josh.

"We don't, we just interview. The coroner decides if further investigation or police involvement is needed," Miriam explained.

"It's just that both of them went to the hospital I did and both had MRI's."

"Yes and you're fine" Miriam reassured him quickly, "If there is anything wrong at the hospital we'll find out. The judge will be sending us there tomorrow no doubt."

Back at the office Josh was given a computer station to start work at. He wasn't impressed that his mother was making him write the assignment. He still had two days of this to go. It was soon home time but he managed five hundred words before he set off.

Back home Josh couldn't wait to get out of his suit. He felt trapped in it so was soon happily peeling it off and dressing in jeans and T-shirt. He decided to stay in his room and finish his thousand word essay as quickly as possible. He wasn't allowed out until it was finished and his suspension was ended. This meant he would miss his usual meet ups with Kate and Callum whom strangely had both sent him texts him to say they had picked up dates for the prom. Where on earth they found dates he did not know as they didn't tend to go out without each other. Report writing didn't go well. Despite his good intentions he found himself surfing the net to hit those cerebral highs from finding new things to be interested in. his father's message had been on his mind all day and Josh decided to look at it again. He flicked through the directories to the audio and visual file he had found earlier that day.

"Hello Josh, I see you got the file working then," said his father.

He had been spammed by his father on the screen who had opened windows media player and was initiating conversation with Josh.

"Dad," Josh gasped.

He had no idea what to say. He wasn't expecting anything, especially his father, to come out of computer.

"Josh, well done son, I'm pleased to see you again," said his father.

"But how, you're dead," stammered Josh.

"It's complicated, but the programme brought me back," replied his father.

"What do I tell mum?" Josh thought he might be dreaming and gave his own arm a swift pinch. It hurt but he was still looking at his father. .

"Nothing, do not tell your mother anything. Look, I've have got to go, not the only one here," his father looked back over his shoulder and the screen flickered.

"What do you mean?" Josh touched the screen as his father's image resolution disappeared and the media player became blank. He searched desperately looking for the file or files that had made his father able to appear and interact with him on screen. Nothing. Josh rubbed his eyes and wondered if the stress of the day's events had played tricks on his mind and made him hallucinate. He missed his father.

The next morning he woke bright and early ready for the next round of his punishment. He was rather hoping his mother would go to hospital and interview the staff there. It was quite a coincidence that both of the deceased had been receiving treatment there but, again, what did he know? He supposed people dying after going to hospital must happen quite a lot. He ate breakfast after showering and heard his mother on her phone as he was finishing the last mouthfuls.

"Well we don't have go to the office today. We have to go straight to the hospital and get a list of the people treated there using the MRI scanner," his mother explained.

"So there is a link?" asked Josh.

"No, probably not, but as usual we check out every lead until we have all the facts," she replied.

This was going to be a bit more exciting. We would talk to somebody who hadn't just experienced a loss and could give us information. After all, Josh thought, this hospital could be responsible for several deaths and, of course, possible brain damage to him causing hallucinations and anxiety. The semi-familiar drive didn't take long and the interview was not half as exciting as he thought it would be. He should have known that just writing down a list of doctors and nurses and then patient's names was going to be boring. He wasn't even on the list. The first patient on the list had only been seen a few days ago and he had scanned a week before. He had sneaked a look at the list of people who had been scanned when his mum had filled up with petrol. Josh learnt that little Chloe Williams had also been scanned. At least the rumours about her dying weren't true. Maybe if the MRI scanner didn't kill her Josh would finally get a date with her. He had always wanted to ask her out and had liked her for several years. She was popular, well known and far too pretty for him so he had never asked her but he was allowed to dream. He had just quickly slipped the list back into his mum folder as she left the garage when her phone started ringing. She pulled over and got out of the car to take the call. Josh heard the judge's voice over the handset and saw his mum's face became more serious and work like.

"Good news: you don't have to finish the assignment, bad news: you're home alone for duration of your suspension," she said as she climbed back in the car.

"Why what's up?" asked Josh.

"Sometimes, we have very sensitive cases and have to maintain strict confidentiality until we know causes of death. This is one of those times, sorry," Miriam said.

This is good news and good news again, Josh thought to himself, but he would have to suffer daytime TV or play to much Xbox. His mother monitored everything so he would have to have some more Internet time or it would be locked. Josh set about negotiating successfully with his mother easily relenting after explaining she needed to work late. She had phoned school and arranged changes to the essay which he was to write. He could no longer use the experiences of the last two days and must now write instead about the career he most wished to follow. She wanted something constructive for him to do whilst she was working but she felt guilty about not being there. She didn't tell him what was happening to keep her at work but could tell there were more deaths related to Hastings Hospital.

Josh turned his Xbox on and put his Advanced Warfare disc in. he had permission for an unheard of four hours play and ten pounds for pizza. He messaged Callum online as soon as he signed in. He didn't like Advanced Warfare as much as modern warfare three because the servers were really poor but he loved the Diamond Camo for the guns. He went into a match of kill confirmed and needed one more headshot to complete the challenges for the pistol he was using. His avatar was waiting for a passerby to shoot in the head. A khaki clad image appeared and Josh prepared to fire when he experienced a jolt of shock. The face of the soldier was heart wrenchingly familiar. It was his father and he was speaking to him.

"Hi son, are you going to shoot or what?"

A ting made Josh realise his avatar been shot in the head and that the soldier with his father face had disappeared from the screen. In its place was an invitation to join Callum and he accepted it straight away. Josh was starting to get concerned about seeing his father popping up. He knew people who said they had seen ghosts but he had never believed that they existed.

Chapter 4: Everyone Needs a Date

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Josh woke up and remembered it was finally the weekend. He had run out of phone credit but hadn't wanted to turn his computer back on or his Xbox. The fact his dead father was appearing was freaking him out and he desperately needed emotional support from his friends. He wanted them checking his PC out and researching ghost and paranormal activities. He used the house phone and made a phone call. It felt kind of weird as he couldn't remember the last time he phoned someone using a landline but the result was that he was to meet Callum and Kate at 11 o'clock in town. They would meet as usual outside the Lions in the market square. It was a public place and a common place to meet friends. Josh caught the bus and got into town early so that he could get some money out of the bank. He had worked for the last few summers and saved several hundred pounds which he used for town days and naughties. He checked his balance and was pleased at the amount there: nearly five hundred pounds. He took fifty out intending to get something suitable to wear the prom. He felt life was getting more Americanized with semesters instead of terms and proms instead of discos. He decided to buy a jacket and trousers with a shirt and bowtie that he could use for other occasions. He wanted an outfit he could keep for University and for going out when he got older. So it wasn't traditional prom wear and he had been reliably informed that everyone else was going to be wearing tuxedos but Josh didn't mind standing out a little. Shopping decisions made he grabbed a Mac Donald's and sat people watching in the square until the others arrived. It was then he noticed a slightly overweight man in his early fifties. He was nearly bald with a great shiny pink dome of a head sticking out through a few remaining straggles of greasy grey hair. His appearance reminded Josh of one of those dirty old men who always wore a rain mac even in the middle of summer. He was looking at Josh. It didn't bother him too much, he knew most of the weirdoes were harmless and there was always a police van hanging around the square and CCTV cameras watching every move anyone made. He was down to the last of his strawberry milkshake when Kate turned up. She was positively glowing and if he thought it possible he would said she had just got laid but that likelihood he found very slim. He knew that someone would want to but he couldn't imagine who.

"You're happy," said Josh.

"Look, look can you believe it?" Kate said.

"Look at what?" He asked.

"This is my date," Kate said triumphantly producing her phone.

Josh looked at a picture of a young lad about his age. He didn't seem anything special, but if she was happy it was fine. Everyone needed somebody.

"So where did you meet?" Josh asked.

"On a dating site course, checkoutmyprom.com," Kate replied.

"Have you spoken to him yet?" Josh was curious.

"Yeah of course, the site has a chat room. He goes to William Sharp comprehensive and we just have so much in common. He reads all the same stuff I do and we've been talking for hours last night" Kate was really glowing with enthusiasm.

"Sounds cool, but I think I'd rather meet somebody properly," Josh said.

"Everyone meets people on the Internet now. You think my parents are going to let me meet anyone other than an Asian girl?" Callum interrupted. They hadn't noticed him turn up and listen to their conversation.

"You got one as well!" Josh was beginning to feel very left out.

"Yes, you're on your own. You got to get a date man," Callum punched him gently on the shoulder.

"I will, I have a week," Josh tried to sound confident.

"I have the bowling lane booked for one, so shops, food, bowling and home," Kate had decided their itinerary.

"Yeah, I need to get my stuff for the prom," agreed Josh.

"I'm going traditional, it's cheaper, but I do want some flowers for my date," Callum explained.

"I need HMV and a bookshop," Kate said,

"You need Broad Marsh, I could do with Vicky centre," Josh mused.

"Meet me in an hour at HMV. I'm going to Waterstones treat myself," Kate decided.

"I'm with you Kate, I hate clothes shopping," Callum pulled a face at Josh as he walked towards the bookstore with Kate.

Josh made his way up the hill to the shop. The centre was very busy as usual. Josh went straight up the escalators to the second level of the centre. It was quieter up there and he was able to make quick assessments of passing people, looking at their fashion style, dress sense and the availability of the girls. He made it to the shop where the attendant was most helpful. He picked a jacket out he could use for other things but that had enough flair to carry a prom but then found his card refused when he tried to pay for it. Josh was embarrassed and confused as he knew there was enough money in his account. The cash he had drawn out that morning was not enough to make his purchases but it wasn't a problem to go and make a withdrawal from a cash machine. As he made his way downstairs to the nearest cash point he heard a commotion. Josh turned around and saw Chloe Williams running through the crowd. As she spotted him she slowed down.

"Josh, thank god, someone I know," Chloe panted, slightly out of breath.

Chloe looked scared and had clearly been running fast.

"Are you okay?" Josh was concerned.

"Yeah, there was this man, he was following me," Chloe explained, looking around her as if the man might appear from the crowd.

"You'll be fine now, we're in a public place," Josh reassured her.

He could see bruising on her pale thin arms as if someone had hold of her and wouldn't let go.

"What happened?" Josh pointed to her arms.

"I was coming out of the car park and this man grabbed me on the stairwell," Chloe's voice shook and her body was rigid with the effort of not crying.

Josh put his arm round Chloe and comforted her as best he could. He thought about what to do and kept thinking give her sweet tea. For some reason they always did that in the films.

"What can I do?" Josh asked, "I have money, do you want to have a cab home?"

"I'll be fine," Chloe sounded calmer now, "I came into town to have fun and I haven't been out on my own for a long time."

"Well I'm supposed to be meeting my friends in an hour but you have my services as a bodyguard until then," Josh offered, reluctant to leave Chloe alone.

"Okay then, I wish to go for a nice cappuccino in Hockley," Chloe was obviously pleased to have company.

Josh was ecstatic and delighted that he could go for a cappuccino with Chloe. He didn't go into Hockley much as it was more expensive than the rest of town. It was nice of course. The area had the feel of being abroad. Pavement cafes jostled each other for space and relaxed looking customers were served by waiters offering an extensive range of beverages. The smell of Danish pastries and French patisserie lit the air. Of course there was the customary Street entertainment and no traffic noise, just the hum of conversation interspersed with laughter.

They walked slowly down the main street. Chloe was just regaining her composure and all was going well when she spotted the man again and stopped dead, causing pedestrians behind her to tut as she blocked the narrow pavement.

"He's following us, look there," Chloe pointed to the man who began to run towards them as soon as her saw her pointing him out. It was balding older guy who had been watching Josh earlier that day in the Market Square. Josh looked around for a policeman or for responsible adults who might help but there wasn't time.

"Let's run. He won't keep up, he's too fat," Josh grabbed Chloe's hand and they began to sprint. Josh ducked down a narrow cobbled street and they soon found themselves running through a maze of backstreets leading to an underground car park. They slipped through the barriers and ducked down behind a parked motorhome. Chloe sat on the floor trying to catch her breath. She had been ill for a while and wasn't able to sustain a good run for any length of time but at least they appeared to have lost him.

"Yeah that weirdo was watching me this morning I thought he was following me for a while," claimed Josh.

"I can't run any more, I don't think he saw us come in here," Chloe was still trying to breathe normally.

They sat there for five minutes until Chloe's puffing and wheezing stopped and they had both regained their composure. Josh was buzzing with adrenaline and could have run for another thirty minutes at least but did have an urgent need to empty his bladder. There were some toilets at the back of the garage and Josh explained he needed to go and use them and wouldn't be a moment. Chloe agreed to wait outside and warn Josh if the weirdo who had attacked her reappeared. Josh was just buttoning his jeans again when he heard a noise that sounded like a choked off scream. He ran out to see Chloe lying struggling on the floor with the man laid on top of her pinning her to the ground. He was trying to plant his knees over her arms and had one of his hands clamped over her mouth and his other hand around her neck. Josh reacted without thinking. He ran straight over and threw himself at the attacker, knocking him backwards off Chloe. He stood up quickly and kicked the man as hard as he could repeatedly in the groin. The kicking didn't appear to have any result except to hurt Josh's foot. Chloe was still down on the floor trying to regain her breath, tears pouring down her cheeks. Despite the kicking Josh was inflicting on him, the middle aged man arose easily from the floor and punched Josh in the face. The man was incredibly strong and Josh wondered if he was on drugs. He seemed to be impervious to every attempt Josh made to thwart his advances towards Chloe. Josh managed to rugby tackle him to the ground but he instantly kicked Josh in the face and at this point it all went a bit fuzzy for a moment. The world seemed to slow down as if everything was in slow motion. He saw the man ran back towards Chloe and the best he could manage was to trip him up. Chloe had just struggled to her feet and pulled away just in time as the balding mans outstretched arm clenched a fistful of her coat as he fell. He was on his feet again in what seemed to be a blink of the eye and moved menacingly towards Chloe. Josh, still on the floor and still dizzy from the blow to his head, was unable to do anything except scream at the intruder to leave her alone when suddenly and apparently from nowhere a stocky man threw himself to the rescue, shoving the attacker to the ground. He was shouting "police, don't move." Others appeared and piled on to help the first officer. The bald man fought them but they had the upper hand and soon restrained him by putting him flat on the ground and sitting on him. Even from this position he fought them with an almost maniacal fury. With incredible speed a police car roared into the garage and even before the sound of the tyres screeching to a halt had faded there the man was securely bundled into the rear seat. They had been lucky. The officers were undercover on some sort of drugs bust and had seen the whole thing. The police officers praised the bravery both of them had shown but gently separated them, leading each to a separate area of the car park where their details were taken. After a short interview during which Josh and Chloe both continually glanced at each other to ensure they were both okay they were offered rides home. They both declined and eventually the police, after satisfying themselves that neither was injured, let them go. By mutual if unspoken consent they walked towards the nearest cafe and ordered drinks. Josh could see the bruising clearly on Chloe's arms and was wondering why she didn't choose to go home, most people would have he thought. He was, however strange the circumstances, pleased she was there and thought he may even get a date from her.

"Sorry I wasn't very good bodyguard," Josh apologised.

"No you're brilliant, so brave," Chloe replied smiling at him shyly.

"The guy was insane. I haven't seen anything quite like that before and I was terrified, I don't know about brave," Josh admitted.

"I was scared, but I've beaten death before," Chloe said, sipping her hot chocolate.

"What was wrong?" Josh asked, "You know what schools like, everyone has an opinion."

"Yeah, I know. I had an abnormal growth in my brain, but a scan last week showed it's dissipated now after chemo," Chloe explained. She appeared to be happy to talk about her illness despite rumours she couldn't.

"That's really great news. You'll be back at school soon then? It's the prom next week," Josh said hopefully. He was making full eye contact with her big brown eyes. They seemed oversize for anyone else and were the softest 'hold me softly' kitty eyes.

"You have to take me then. I need a bodyguard, that's if you not going with anyone else," Chloe flirted as she took out a piece of paper and pen started writing. She passed him the paper while his mouth dangled open, trying to articulate some words that made any sense. He was delighted but completely unable to speak. The moment was broken when his phone began to vibrate as text messages started coming through at a rapid rate.

"I'd love to," replied Josh, looking at the paper with her address telephone number and a pickup time for the prom. She had also written a little message 'this is a free kiss and cuddle pass, one night only'. Josh eyes lit up as a big cheesy grin covered his face and he placed the paper carefully into his wallet. He glanced at his phone and saw that he must've lost his signal in the garage. There were five text messages from Callan and Kate, all asking where he was. He looked at the time and saw it was five minutes to one.

"I am supposed to be bowling with Kate and Callan now. Do you want to come?" asked Josh.

"Who?" Chloe said "My word, I didn't realise the time, I told my parents I would be back at one;" She quickly picked her phone up and called home. Josh quickly sent texts to the Kate and Callan telling them he would meet them as soon as possible and to start without him.

"I have half an hour, I'm going to see my Nan," Chloe explained.

"Yeah, I need to go to the bank. My cards playing up and I need to get some cash to buy my jacket for the prom," Josh explained.

"We could walk to the square and stop at the bank on the way," Chloe suggested as she put her hot chocolate down and grabbed her purse. Josh got up and they walked to the bank cash machines. Josh was frustrated to find his card still didn't seem to be working wasn't working. Chloe asked to have a try seeing as he was struggling.

"How much you want?" Asked Chloe triumphantly a few seconds later.

"One Hundred and Fifty, have you got it working?" Josh asked.

Chloe smiled happily as she turned around and handed him his card and cash.

"I have a way with machines," Chloe said, kissing him on his cheek and jumping into a taxi, "This is my stop, thanks bodyguard."

Josh had a more than a bounce in his step when he walked to the bowling alley in the centre of town to meet Kate and Callan. He was almost there when he turned a corner and saw flashing blue lights everywhere. Police tape was strung around part of the street and a crowd of bystanders were blocking the road. Josh slipped through the crowd towards the front to catch a glimpse of what had occurred. He saw a mangled police car practically entwined with an Arctic lorry. A policeman was sat at the roadside holding his face in his hands and had clearly been in the accident. Josh saw the coroner's car parked at the side of the lorry. The green jacket the weirdo had been wearing was clearly visible in the backseat of the police car. Josh assumed he must've been injured or was even still in the car. By the time he reached the bowling alley it was quarter to two and the game was nearly over.

"Where have you been?" asked Kate.

"Where's your Prom jacket?" asked Callan.

Josh argued that Chloe was still ill and shouldn't be exerting herself by dancing but this was all speculation. Josh had a date with the girl of his dreams and nothing was going to spoil it. The three friends amicably bantered as they strolled back into town where Josh succeeded in finally buying his jacket and then they all went home.

Chapter 5 : The Autopsies

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Judge Bhatia was about to do something she never ever normally did which was go to the morgue. She always had people to go to and fro for her and this was good as she hated dealing with the dead. She had taken Miriam with her for moral support. Judge Bhatia was feeling sick before she even entered the morgue and even before the pathologist met her, well before she could even see a dead body. The pathologist, James Vincent, guided them both into his office.

"I appreciate that you need to see me but why does it have to be here. You know I hate this place," Judge Bhatia complained.

"Mints? I find they help," the pathologist offered her an open packet.

"What do I need a mint for?" asked the judge suspiciously.

"Well, we appear to have a foreign body infesting several of our deceased," explained the pathologist.

"And why can't you write about it and tell me?" asked Bhatia, trying to avoid the obvious looking at the dead body scenario. She was fine with pictures, words or even videos. It was in fact the smell and the physically being in close proximity to death that made her wrench. It was the one thing she hated but never usually had to do. The pathologist took out a series of pictures and showed them to her.

"I can't see anything out of the ordinary," said the judge.

"I know, that's why I need to look, now take a mint and follow me," Vincent said tersely.

Miriam and Bhatia grabbed several mint imperials each and put one in their mouths immediately. They were issued with gowns, masks and gloves, not that they were going to touch anything they thought to themselves. It was very cold in the morgue where rows of bodies lay on trolleys covered by draped green sheets.

"Okay ladies, we have nine deceased corpses all showing similar symptoms. They are not symptomatic of any known cause of death and they all appear to have foreign objects in their bodies," said the pathologist.

"What are the foreign objects?" asked Bhatia, curiosity overcoming her distaste at her surroundings for a moment.

"They appear to be a network of organic wiring, for want of a better word," the pathologist said.

"Can you be more specific? What about the growth and tumors?" Miriam asked.

Vincent pulled back the first sheet to reveal the body of a young girl.

"This is Miss Philips and she had a brain tumor. Now, I thought the tumor had grown and in a way never seen before, a mutation let's say. Let's look at her brain." The pathologist lifted the skull cap from her head as he spoke and removed the brain from the brainstem itself. He pointed to the area of the brain where it joined the spinal column. Miriam and the judge placed the hands over their mouths and Vincent shot them a glance of barely disguised annoyance.

"Please pay attention, this is important. These fibres are connected to the spinal column and they shouldn't be there," he explained, "they run throughout the bodies of the deceased."

He gently replaced the brain and skull cap and covered them with the green sheet.

"What you think this is?" asked Bhatia.

"I thought it was a parasite at first, a parasite that kills its host. I'm not sure why but it appears that this parasite was not fully grown," Vincent told her.

"What do you mean fully grown?" Bhatia asked, frowning.

The pathologist washed his hands and changed his gloves before going to the end of the row of bodies and pulling a sheet back, exposing the body of a male with a head trauma.

"Well this man was brought in today. He died instantly in a road traffic accident. He seems to have the same network, here you see?" he pointed, "but you can see it is much more obvious and more advanced," the pathologist showed them the man's brain and body cavities where the network could clearly be seen attached to the body's major organs. Miriam thought that the network appeared to be made up of fine glistening gold like strands, as fine as a hair. She could see them easily by the light of the head torch the pathologist was wearing and his careful direction.

"I need to know what we're dealing with. Is it a pathogen?" Bhatia sounded shaken.

"I really couldn't tell you. I've tried analysing the strand networks but they are decomposing to the point I can't use them. I need fresh bodies or a live carrier would be even better. The tissue samples I sent to the labs have only come up with a few trace elements," Vincent explained.

"So you're saying as soon as an infected person dies the trace elements of the pathogen or parasite disappear," stated Miriam.

"Yes, in essence. They dissolve upon death, much faster than the usual decomposition you would expect."

"Have you completed tissue samples for this man?" Bhatia asked.

"Yes, I believe we should get some results this time. There is a link between the nine though." Vincent told them, "They have all recently had MRI scans, although they were at different hospitals."

"Let's get out of here, I've seen enough," the judge had gone very pale and was wincing as Vincent replaced the skull of the latest victim of the parasite.

The three of them cleaned up before going to Vincent's office and grabbing another mint each.

"That really works," Miriam said.

"Speak for yourself," the judge retorted, still looking queasy.

"I hope Josh is okay," Miriam worried," he had an MRI scan after what happened to his father."

"Just a co-incidence I'm sure," Bhatia spoke brusquely, aware that sympathy would not be helpful. "I'm not sure if this is a notifiable disease, but the HPA need to be informed and could lend us some assistance," she continued.

"I have already phoned them, mainly I feel this could be a new disease," Vincent agreed.

There was a knock at the door. Vincent's assistant came in and let them know that a HP pathologist had just arrived. 'My word that was quick," Vincent was surprised. Please show him in."

A youthful looking man was ushered into the room. He held out his hand "Dr Bernstein, Health Protection Agency, I've five wagons outside. I believe you have some deceased for me?" the doctor held his identification and paperwork out to the pathologist.

"Dr Bernstein, this is the coroner judge, Bhatia, and her assistant Miriam," Vincent made the introductions and checked Dr Bernstein's paperwork out thoroughly.

Dr Bernstein smiled at the two women and sat down at the desk, "As you are aware, nothing is to be said to anyone including the families, for the time being, and definitely not the press. We need to ascertain what we are dealing with first," he explained.

"What are we to tell the families? They will certainly want funerals," asked Vincent worriedly.

"Tell them we are investigating the deaths and will let them have the bodies as soon as humanly possible. From what you said, haste is in order anyway. Can we load the hearses up to make a start?" Dr Bernstein answered.

"Yes of course. I'll be right with you," Vincent agreed.

Bhatia and Miriam returned to the coroner's office. They were concerned about the deaths and the strange new pathogen or parasite. On the way back to the coroner's office Miriam and Judge Bhatia discussed how it appeared to be killing people who were already sick or terminally ill but healthy people appeared to be able to live with it in their systems. The only tenuous link they could make was that people who went to hospital could be becoming contaminated. They decided that this was where they would focus their side of their investigation and that they would use all their investigative powers to get an answer. The health protection agency, of course, would determine the eventual outcome but the judge and Miriam wanted to help wherever they could. They decided to build on the work Miriam had already started. Miriam would go out to all the hospitals in the county and get a comprehensive list of all patients who had had an MRI scan in the last month or were due to have a scan in the next month.

Josh had the best night's sleep he had managed for ages. He had come in from town and practically just gone straight to bed. He'd grabbed pizza from the fridge and left a note for his mother explaining he'd gone to bed early. His mother didn't usually work on Saturdays, but this usually meant a holiday at the end of the month. She would take them away if she had to work late, as it meant she had a few extra pennies to spend. He showered and then looked in the mirror. He had the biggest black eye he'd ever seen and his whole body was hurting from the weirdo's attack. He had no idea being punched could hurt so much. He wasn't a fighter as such as a runner or a hider but he wasn't a coward. He saw no point in fighting, it solved nothing. He thought about Chloe and how sexy she looked in the tight Lycra clothes she liked to wear and how her frilly little tops exposed the tops of her firm small rounded breasts. He though about how much he would like to stroke them.

"Josh," his mother shouted killing his shower fantasy dead on the spot.

"I'm in the shower," he replied begrudgingly.

"Are you okay?" Miriam asked.

"I'll be down in a minute," replied Josh, still sounding sulky. Miriam was outside the bathroom door now.

"I have to go to work and was just checking, oh my God, what happened?" Miriam interrupted herself, her face suddenly etched with worry as Josh exited the bathroom wearing just a towel.

"I was protecting a girl from a man who was attacking her, the police arrested him," Josh replied, trying to keep his tone casual. He had been dreading his mother's reaction.

"What girl and what man?" asked Miriam looking at the bruising on his body and face.

"Chloe Williams, I got a date with her for the prom." Josh bragged.

His mum's face turned from worry to semi amusement at her sons delight.

"So, you're Chloe's little hero then?" His mum smiled, watching him blush slightly.

"Bodyguard, I'm her bodyguard," Josh replied.

"You say the police arrested the man?" Miriam asked.

"Yeah, but the car was an accident and I think he was he was injured. The coroner's car was there as well. I don't think he'll bother her or me again," Josh explained.

"What did he look like?" Miriam asked.

Josh was surprised, but knowing his mum worked in the coroner's office he thought he knew why she was asking.

"Yeah, he had a bald head, was slightly fat and in his 50s He was wearing a green rain mac. I thought he was following me but he had just attacked Chloe and she ran away into me. That's how we met," Josh said smiling as he thought of Chloe.

"I thought Chloe Williams was ill or had been off school for a long while," queried his mother.

"Yeah, she had a growth in her brain, but she had chemo and now she's fine. She got the all clear last week," Josh replied.

"The police should have sent you to hospital with that amount of bruising. You could claim from the criminal injuries board," his mother fussed over him again having only been momentarily distracted by Josh's romantic interest.

"I'm fine, I like my war wounds. They'll get the girls," Josh joked.

"They'll get the girls worried, that's what they'll do. What are you doing today?" Miriam asked.

"It's Callan's turn to have us round but I think we're going to Kate's house," Josh said.

"Well, be careful. I'll be back about four and I'll cook," Miriam replied as she kissed him carefully on the cheek and left for work.

Josh dressed and sent texts to the others to make sure that they were still on for the day. They didn't take long to reply and Callum asked for some more software. With all of the past few day's events Josh had almost forgotten about the PC and his father's spirit visit. This wasn't a bad thing. It had freaked him out completely and was scarier than the weirdo who he'd fought the day before. And now, in an empty house he had to download some software onto a memory chip for Callum. He could always take it with him, he thought, no, no, don't be silly. He trudged reluctantly upstairs and turned computer on as he pulled out a little memory stick from a new packet. Callum wanted some screensavers they had found the week before. There was a Harry Potter one and a Star Wars one that he had a particular fondness for. The computer automatically connected to the Internet and, to his horror, his father's familiar face popped up on the screen in the Windows media player he had used before. Father was dressed almost the same and was seated at a desk.

"Hi son, I'm very proud of you. You rescued that poor girl from an evil man," his father smiled.

"How do you know?" asked Josh, wondering how he could know anything at all. After all, he was just a programme. If he wasn't a programme he must be a ghost.

"Well, when you're dead you can see everything as clear as day, but only about those you love," he replied.

"I turned this on to get some screensavers for Callum and Kate. Do you mind?" Josh asked.

"No, it's your laptop now son," his father said happily.

Josh put the new memory stick into the PC.

"There you are son, one Star Wars and one Harry Potter screensaver," his father announced.

"Thanks, dad, I didn't know you could do that," Josh felt as if he had just plunged into a surreal universe.

"Anything for my little hero," replied his father proudly.

"Okay, see you later dad," Josh said, shutting down the PC.

Josh took several deep breaths before taking the memory stick out. He knew this wasn't right. If his father's ghost was going to talk to anybody, it should be his mother he felt. He wondered if he was being haunted by an evil spirit, maybe one that picked on young, vulnerable men. He knew he should talk to his mum about this really as she may have been having the same experiences on her computer but he really didn't want to talk about it. He would speak to Callum and Kate first see what they said. He prepared to leave. It was a good walk to Kate house, but not far enough to warrant a bus. He packed up his laptop in a satchel and set off on foot, locking the door behind him.

CCTV

From this vantage point you can see the young man walk down Station Street with satchel in hand. He is walking the hundred and fifty yards to the left turn at Burnham Street. I can see him walking towards the Park and now see him crossing the Park walking at the duck pond and throwing some rubbish into the bin. Zoom function enabled showed it was a Mars bar wrapper that went in the bin. He is now exiting the Park and walking north towards Long Lane and has stopped. He is going into a house: number 43 Park Street.

Search search complete: - Kate Parkins, Jerry Parkins, Jane Parkins

"Hi Kate, how is it going?" Josh greeted his friend who was clearly in a good mood.

"Do you want the good news," Kate was sparkling with excitement.

"You're going to tell me anyway," Josh sighed theatrically.

"Dad's hired a limousine to take all of us to the prom," Kate shrieked.

"Yes, that's so that you get there and back without getting pregnant," Josh laughed.

"It's my first date, but I didn't think of it like that," Kate giggled.

Kate wasn't bothered by Josh's joking; she was too excited about the whole thing. A knock at the door announced Callan's arrival. Grabbing supplies of pop, crisps, sweets and biscuits a Kate led them to her room. Kate had the best room ever. She lived in an old Victorian house full of large airy rooms with high ceilings. Kate even had an ensuite room. She went straight over to the computer and typed in www.mylimousine.com. Images of several limousines filled the screen and Kate pointed out the one her dad had promised her. It was quite impressive, but she didn't think she would get the minibar as well.

"I've got a film to watch, live streaming; Skyfall," Kate said.

"Have you got a decent copy of that one already?" Callum sounded impressed.

"Yeah, it took me a while to find a decent streaming site, they're closing them down as fast as they are opening new ones," Kate said.

"What's in the satchel," Callum asked Josh.

"My laptop and your screensavers," Josh replied.

"You're brave wandering with around with that," Callum looked impressed.

"Yeah, well, there is something I need to talk about, or to show you," Josh muttered. He felt silly and didn't know how to begin to tell the others what had been happening.

"That doesn't sound good," Kate said.

"My dad," Josh said. Their faces became serious. Callan looked uncomfortable. He had no idea what to say if Josh needed consoling in his grief.

"Your dad?" Kate prompted.

"My dad is haunting me," Josh said.

"How?" Callum asked.

"He keeps talking to me through this laptop," Josh said.

"You mean you turned it on and it talked to you?" Kate asked.

"I went to look at the chaos file we ran and I found a message from dad," Josh said.

Josh slid the laptop out of the satchel. He set it up next to Kate's PC and passed Callum his screensavers. He turned laptop to the start-up menu. Windows started up and Josh went to open up the file containing his father's last message to him. He couldn't find it, it simply wasn't there.

"It was here, I swear," Josh was pale.

"We believe you," Kate said.

"I know, I just feel like I'm going a bit crazy, it's not like everybody sees dead people," Josh said.

"Don't worry, it's just stress from losing him Josh, it happened to my Nan," Callum said reassuringly.

This wasn't going to help Josh with the 'I'm having conversations with my dead father' problem He half expected his father to pop up and start talking to him and desperately wanted it, but it didn't happen. Josh felt stupid. He quietly closed the PC down and turned it off. Kate, sensing his discomfort, bustled around setting the film streaming and they spent the next two hours quietly, drinking too much pop and eating too much junk food.

Eventually, Josh and Callan filtered off home feeling another successful night of friendship had been fulfilled.

Chapter 6: Home is Where the Heart Is

home

CCTV

Josh is walking southward away from Long Lane and is turning to walk across the Park past the duck pond, now exiting the Park onto Burnham Street. Josh turns right on to Station Street. He is arriving at his home address.

Josh didn't feel right. He needed talk to someone about his father. He couldn't live with his father's image popping up all the while. It was only one o'clock so his mum wouldn't be home for hours and he really didn't want to be alone in the house. He took Chloe's number out of his back pocket and sent her a text her asking if she was free. Her message took only a few seconds to come back.

"Have about four hours until dinner, if you want to play, Chloe x."

Josh didn't bother going into his house but continued straight down the street. He had continual feeling of being watched and thought it might paranoia induced by the haunting.

CCTV

He didn't go into his home address. Josh continues down station Street and is now turning right onto Blenheim Road. He is approaching the crossing traffic lights on green. He is crossing now, heading up Blenheim Road. Turning left onto Argyll Close, turning right onto St Peters Street. Lost him.

Chloe lived a little further away than Kate did it on a new estate built only a few years before. The houses were all similar but they were new and clean and perfect. He found her house which was surprisingly different from everything else built around it. It was a quaint old cottage placed in the middle of a brand-new housing estate and must have been there for years. An extensive garden surrounded the building which boasted a little sign with the legend 'Longacre Cottage 1814." He knocked at the front door which opened almost immediately, as by magic. Chloe stood in front of him. He could hear giggling in the background, probably her sister and mum he thought.

"My brave man, what has he done to your face?" Chloe looked at the damage. Josh smiled and winced at being called her brave man and then remembered he was supposed to talk as well.

"It's just a scratch, and I'll be fine. How are, you? Your bruising has almost gone. I see," Josh said.

"Oh I'm fine. I'll get you some cream for those bruises; I have just the thing," Chloe invited him in softly "please come in."

She guided him through into the kitchen and pulled out a strange looking jar of cream from a cupboard under the sink. Josh sat down gingerly at the kitchen table. It couldn't have been more than thirty seconds later that Chloe's sister came through followed by a pretty woman, both announcing their presence by grunts, coughs and yet more giggling.

"Josh this is my mother, Patricia and my sister Emily," Chloe shyly introduced her family.

"Hello," Josh said smiling.

"So this is your brave man then sister," Emily was having trouble speaking through her giggles.

"My word, he did put himself in front of the man for you. Would you like a drink Josh?" asked Patricia.

"Yes please," replied Josh.

"Come on you two," Chloe said, smiling and pulling faces at her mum and sisters interruption, "how am I supposed to get the cream on with you two teasing him?"

Laughingly Patricia made two cups of tea which she placed on the kitchen table next to the couple.

"Come on Emily, let's leave Chloe to tend her man's bruised bones," said Patricia, sniggering at the word 'bone' on her way out.

"Sorry, they are a little brash," Chloe apologised.

"They're just curious, they wanted to see what I was like," said Josh understandingly.

As Chloe gently rubbed cream into his black eye he felt the cool sensation of it taking effect and then a slight warming tingling.

"Is there anywhere else with bruising?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, just here," Josh said showing his side to her by lifting his T-shirt, exposing his lightly tanned muscular torso and several black ribs. Chloe rubbed the cream in gently. The skin looked very tender and he was wincing slightly with pain. At the same time he was enjoying every second that her soft, tender hands sensually rubbed cream into his wounds. He closed his eyes.

Chloe led Josh into a long garden full of colourful plants, Wisterias and clematis were climbing vigorously up the walls of the house making the brickwork fade into the colourful riot of flowers. At the bottom of the garden was a quaint summerhouse with two sun loungers stacked against its porch. Chloe pulled them out.

"Okay, your turn to cream me," she said, pulling her blouse and pants off to show her skimpy bikini and passing him a bottle of sun tan lotion. It was almost more than Josh could take but he soldiered on in the hope his efforts would lead to something. Josh started to apply the cream gently across her back and down her legs.

"Make sure you get right in the cracks," ordered Chloe, giggling.

Josh tentatively took a gollop of lotion and started to rub down in between her thighs.

"Josh, Josh," Chloe said shaking his shoulder gently. He opened his eyes.

He had drifted off for a moment; the effect of Chloe rubbing the cream into his back had sent him almost to sleep. He woke with a jolt.

"I'm sorry, I must have drifted off. That was so relaxing," said Josh, blushing at the memory of the dream he had just had.

He was spared further embarrassment by the sound of his phone ringing. It was his mother.

"Hi mom," said Josh.

"Hi Josh, are you back from Kate's yet?"

"Yeah, I just went to Chloe's for a little while afterwards," Josh said, still looking slightly flustered.

"I'm going to be back early and I've picked up a takeaway. Do you want to make your way home?" Miriam suggested.

"Okay, I'll be fifteen minutes or so," Josh agreed.

He locked the phone and put it back into his pocket.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go. Mums got takeaway, probably an expensive one or she wouldn't want me home," explained Josh.

"No, it's fine. It was nice to see you again and you got to meet the family so my mum won't badger me so much now," Chloe told him.

Josh was escorted to the door by Chloe where she gave him a small kiss goodbye. Her lips were as soft as anything he had ever felt and were moist, silky smooth and comforting.

As Josh left Chloe's house and headed back along St Peters Street he was smiling to himself, happily lost in the memory of her kiss.

CCTV

We found Josh; he has turned right into Argyll Close and is now heading towards Blenheim Road. He has turned onto Blenheim road and is heading towards the traffic lights. A second target appears to be the following him. Josh hasn't spotted this and is crossing at the lights.

Josh came up to the crossing and waited the man to go green before stepping out. As he did so a van speeded up towards the crossing. The noise of the engine increased, the van clearly wasn't going to stop. Josh wasn't sure he could miss getting hurt but attempted to get out of the way quickly as possible. He flung his body towards the pavement desperately. The van missed him but the wing mirror didn't. It caught Josh painfully on side of his arm. He held it gingerly. He didn't think it broken or anything but it hurt like hell. The vans brake could be heard, forcing screeching tyres to a halt. He looked up, expecting someone to come and apologise. A man got out and ran over to Josh. He didn't look sympathetic to Josh's predicament. He looked angry and Josh began to get worried. The man grabbed Josh by his wounded arm and started dragging him towards the van. Josh struggled but he was much bigger and stronger than Josh and Josh's coat was coming over his head. He felt a dull thud and pain in his ribs and side as the man punched him hard, winding him. Josh felt as if the life had been knocked out of him. He felt weakened and was struggling for breath and all strength had seeped away. The side door of the van opened and the man bundled him in, leaping in after him and slamming the door.

"Where is it?" his attacker asked menacingly, picking up a crowbar.

"Where is what?" gasped Josh, still attempting to catch his breath.

"Your father's laptop. It didn't belong to him," Not giving Josh any time for thought the man flailed at Josh with the crowbar and this time he broke something. Josh felt a burning agonizing pain; pain that was immense and in the midst of it knew he was holding his arm and crying in agony. He realised that he had left the laptop with Chloe. The man pulled up the crowbar again, attempting to obtain a response from Josh.

"I haven't got it," cried Josh.

The man booted and stomped him.

"Where is it?" The man demanded.

"Left it at home," Josh said flinching to see if the man was going to attack.

"Liar," said the man.

The man kicked him and lifted the crowbar high in the air this time. Josh tried to protect his head with his injured arm and then to his amazement the van doors flew open and the man fell to the ground in an instant. It happened so fast Josh didn't see exactly what happened. He clambered out of the van to see Chloe taking the crowbar from the astonished man who was bleeding heavily from his head. A whirl of sirens could be heard all around them and four police cars appeared with lightning speed, much to Josh relief, as he was in no position to help Chloe this time. The police soon had the situation under control and the man safely in custody. An ambulance arrived and paramedics started looking over Josh and Chloe. Typically they were separated again and they couldn't talk to each other. The paramedics said his arm broken and he would have to go to hospital. He wasn't happy, but it hurt terribly and he wanted it fixed. Chloe managed to escape from the police for a moment and came to see Josh.

"You ok? I thought I would return your laptop and the favour," Chloe fluttered her sweet little eyelashes at him.

"Broken arm, bruised ribs. I need some more cream," Josh said, flirting with her.

Josh noticed the paramedics who were smiling at the pair.

"Could I have a minute?" Josh asked indignantly.

"I suppose it could be seen as part of your treatment. Is she a relative?" The paramedics grinned.

"I'm his girlfriend," Chloe said as the paramedics walked off and gave them some space.

Josh could see a large black van pulled up behind the police cars and, from the corner of his eye, saw his father's old work colleague get out and come and talk to a police Sergeant. He showed him ID and was allowed to walk unchallenged through the police cordon. Josh knew something was wrong, but he wasn't sure what. He wanted to find out what his father had been doing. There was clearly something hidden on the laptop that was worth beating hell out of him for. More importantly, what had his dad done for a living?

"Did you bring the laptop?" asked Josh.

"Yeah, you left it on the kitchen table," Chloe replied.

"That's what the man wanted. Can you keep it for me? The police at will only take it and use it as evidence," Josh asked.

"Yes sure," Chloe shrugged.

"Thanks. He knew the laptop wasn't at my house, I'll tell the police It was stolen and I that I hadn't told mother," Josh planned.

"Okay, but why lie?" asked Chloe.

"You see that man," Josh nodded his towards him; "he was my dads work friend. What is a computer programmer doing flashing a badge and walking through a police cordon."

"I see what you mean," Chloe said thoughtfully.

The paramedics returned before the conversation could progress any further.

"Time to go Josh, say your goodbyes," the paramedics told him.

Chloe gave him a big kiss and told him he was 'her brave man.'

From the back of the ambulance Josh could see the police talking to his father's friend, and then his father's friend glanced back at Josh. The ambulance door shut and Josh found himself on his way to hospital. It was weird. He had never been in an ambulance before and they had the sirens and everything active.

CCTV

We have picked him up on the A60 heading for the QMC. Tracking and will advise on position.

Acquired target: QMC emergency department reinforcements on route

The ride didn't take long. The medics wheeled him out on the trolley, although he could walk. They said that he needed to be examined and assessed properly by the doctor but that until then he would have to be sick and needy. So he was moved past several other people on trolleys, some with bandages, and into a cubicle where the curtains were pulled around them. Doctors soon came and examined his injuries. They felt his arm which was caused great pain and then sent him for an X-ray. He had never had an x-ray before. As soon as he was taken off the trolley he could feel other injuries down his left side, mainly bruising he hoped. He lifted his shirt to check; massive bruises flowered all over his skin but he didn't think he broken anything else. He left arm was very swollen. He was now allowed to walk around but only when escorted as his injuries did look dreadful and the medical staff were concerned he could be suffering from shock. A nurse led him along a few long corridors towards the x-ray room. A helpful nursing assistant stayed with him and helped him complete paper work in while he waited outside. He looked around; the corridors were depressing and lifeless.

"Josh," the radiographer called.

"Yes," Josh replied, wondering when his mother would arrive. He knew he was older now and his injuries weren't life-threatening but the police would have informed her and he had no doubt she would be racing here to see him.

The radiographer, wearing a name badge announcing she was called Helen Gray, led a worried looking Josh through. He was comparing his experiences in the private hospital to this busy NHS one and found it very lacking. He felt that people tend to think too much when there is nothing to distract them. In his case he was thinking about his pain. The radiographer looked at him and saw he was worried.

"Have you had an x-ray before?" she asked.

"No, I've had an MRI at Hastings though," Josh replied.

"Oh, this will be nothing, then," Helen assured him cheerfully. She seated him carefully on a cushion before placing the customary lead jacket over his torso.

"What is this for?" asked Josh.

"That's for protection. It's not good to get too many x-rays," she answered.

Josh looked at the woman who retreated behind some shielding while he got zapped and wondered how safe it really was. After all, it was only 60 years ago that lobotomy was legal and used by some psychiatrists. A little light came on and went off. She came over again repositioned his hand for a second take. She went back behind her screen again and the little red lights flashed on and he heard the unfamiliar sound of x-ray machine working. The machine only lasted second and the light went off but it was kind of scary having to sit still. The fact that she was hiding behind the shield made him feel so much worse. Relief fell over him as Helen came from behind her shield.

"That's it all done," she explained.

Then the red light came on again and the operating noise. The machine had started again. The radiographer looked astonished and rushed to her control panel behind the shield. Josh heard scream from behind the screen and saw smoke coming up from the partition. Instinctively he leapt up and moved away from the x-ray seat. He saw Helen fall to the floor and ran from the room, shouting for help. His mother was there almost immediately and she screamed at the sight of the stricken radiographer before quickly taking him by his good arm and quickly leading him away back to casualty. Several members of staff ran round frantically trying to turn the machine off.

Josh and his mother were placed in a cubicle and a new radiographer came through to look at Josh's arm. He apologised very sincerely for what had happened before measuring the amount of radiation his arm had received before Josh moved. They appeared to be no radiation burns.

"Well Josh, you are very lucky young man. There's no lasting damage, but no x-rays on this arm for a few years. We do have an x-rays to show the doctor though," the new radiographer told him.

"Is Helen okay?" asked Josh.

"I don't know, I'm treating you. A doctor will be with you shortly," he sounded gruff and left the cubicle quickly.

A white coated doctor came in moments after and examined the x-rays before writing on a pad for a few minutes in silence. He eventually turned to Josh.

"I'm very sorry for the incident in the x-ray department," the doctor said, "A nurse will escort you to the plaster room and here is a script for some painkillers for your arm."

He was clearly trying to move Josh and his mother on quickly but Josh wanted to ask what he had broken and how long it would take to mend. The doctor replied in monosyllables as the nurse came in to move him to the plaster room.

"You think they're worried about us suing them?" Josh asked his mum.

"I think they probably are. It may be worth getting your arm checked out again," his mum sounded worried.

Miriam filled his script from the chemist upstairs while Josh was in the plaster room. Apparently he had fractured one bone in his arm and it would take 6 to 8 weeks to repair. He wondered how he was going to do is final exams and what he was going to wear the prom. On the bright side though he thought he looked hard with his nice tough plaster on his arm. They had given it a nice blue finish with this plastic stuff that was really strong. His mum picked him up from the plaster room and drove home. The drive wasn't a long one but Josh found when he pulled out his phone that he couldn't text or phone Chloe as his battery had gone flat.

Chapter 7: Finally We Got One.

home

Max Brown had been Josh's father's friend for many years and he had experienced many things in life with him that are only experienced with friends. Now he had left Max alone to deal with those matters of national security that only certain type of person can carry out. Max had been called to the health protection agency headquarters to complete a full investigation into some strange and unusual deaths, unlike any anyone had seen before. This was one a weird job but somebody had to do it. Basic spying was always assigned to those who were good liars and everything else went to those who had specialties' and talents. Max was the first point of contact and had a direct line to the government. He always had to investigate threats to the national security of the country. Chemical weapons and biological weapons were his first priorities along with unexplained deaths. It was common for him to investigate deaths caused by anthrax infected letters, deaths he had to conceal to prevent mass panic but it was unusual to find cases such as these, where the victim appeared to be under some sort of parasitic control. There were apparently forty victims in total who had all been ill, terminally or otherwise, and had died from natural causes or accidents. This seemed to be the main link between them. However the information they had obtained at Coroners Office showed that the common link was that they had all been given an MRI scan recently somewhere in the country.

Max charted the locations of the recent parasite victims. They seemed to be spread out across the country but were centred in just one county; twenty four of the dead were from Nottinghamshire. He brought up a list of all the MRI units in the county and cross referenced it with a list of patients who had been scanned recently. He found Josh's name and Chloe's name on the list. Max was frustrated; he couldn't just wander around to people's homes and check if they were carrying a parasite, he thought, there must be a way of telling who was infected. Musing on this, Max found Dr Bernstein his office at the health protection agency headquarters.

"Dr Bernstein, I've read your reports and your analysis of the parasite victims. Is there a way to tell if someone is infected?" Max came straight to the point.

"Well, there may be a way by testing the dopamine levels. I think they would change to allow the parasite to control its host," Dr Bernstein explained.

"How would the dopamine levels affect the host?" asked Max.

"The increased dopamine levels could explain the erratic behaviour of this gentleman who attacked two young people in the car park in Nottingham," Dr Bernstein said looking at his wall chart. Max looked carefully at the reports and then noticed a link; it was Chloe and Josh who had been attacked. They had also been involved in an attack by a man the day before.

"I think I have something, or should I say someone," Max sounded excited as he opened his briefcase and sifted through piles of paperwork, eventually pulling out a phone number. He went through the list of people who had scans again and then phoned his contact in the police force to get the information he needed. Within minutes his contact rang back and he had a match with a man on the list currently in custody.

"Frank Boers is being held at Oxclose police station. If I get him can you test him or do you want to go to him?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I need a laboratory. They can bring him here, we've got shrinks who can observe him or even sedate him if we need to," Dr Bernstein explained.

"I'll see you in an hour with our man then. How long will the tests take?"

"About an hour," Dr Bernstein replied.

Max got in his car and drove quickly towards Nottingham and the Health Protection Agency. He needed clearance and phoned the transfer request through while he was driving. Very quickly his in-car computer showed that the transfer had been approved and started printing out the transfer papers. His little digital computer was invaluable.

There was a shipload of paperwork even though it was the minimum he could get away with. The prisoner was apparently been held for psychiatric evaluation as he was a family man who liked gardening, fishing and was respected member of the Allotment Association. This was until he was diagnosed with cancer and was underwent treatment at the QMC. His behaviour had changed after the last of his Chemotherapy sessions. He had developed an apparent lack of memory, and a disregard for his family. He had attacked his younger daughter in a sexual frenzy and was being held in custody for the attack on his daughter rather than for the assault on Josh. Max wasn't particularly looking forward to handling this man but had a car full of equipment and gadgets that could restrain him if he got out of hand.

At the police station he presented the custody Sergeant with his identification and the release papers for the prisoner. The Sergeant made a quick phone call and the prisoner was escorted to the front. He handed Max the prisoner's personal possessions and yet more paperwork to sign. Max put his cuffs on the man who was cooperating without any coercion Max was relieved to see. Max had brought his American-style ankle and handcuffs. He thought that it wasn't worth taking chances. He had the luxury set with a little pole to walk your prisoner without them grabbing at you. Max had no problems putting the prisoner in the car and he drove swiftly towards the health protection agency local operations unit. After an uneventful drive they reached the health protection unit which was set up just outside Nottingham in an old disused private hospital. As soon as the HPA had suspected that something was amiss they set up a temporary base of operations so that they could operate without risk of contamination in public hospitals and primary health care. Army labs and equipment had been hurriedly flown in to tackle the problem. This, of course, meant they were more conspicuous than they would have liked. Reporters were even now hovering around the hospital to try and get a story. They knew something was happening, but weren't sure what. The nice thing though, Max thought, was he had plenty of security when he got back to base.

CCTV

Subject has been acquired; we are track switching to military satellite number five two seven, tracking.

Max was only moments away, just a few more turns down a country lane, when out of nowhere a lorry jumped the lights and Max was forced to use his emergency brake, slamming it to the floor as the lorry loomed closer. He managed to steer and brake to a halt with just enough room to avoid a collision. Shaken, he got out and saw that traffic had come to a standstill. He saw that all traffic lights were on green. It had been a technology problem and no one's fault. Traffic cautiously began to move and a police car pulled up to deal with the traffic light failure. Max drove on and arrived back at HQ where He led his still compliant prisoner through the old mansion house to what had been the old ballroom. Equipment had been set up to test and analyse his every aspect. The prisoner had been told he was being assessed to determine his psychiatric fitness for trial and to check his physical fitness while they were there. The army, as you would expect, had everything; portable x-rays, an MRI scanner and a full working lab, everything in fact every budding scientist could dream of. When Max entered the room he saw it was humming with energy. Dr Bernstein had organised a full medical including blood tests. It was so well organised that it was as if the prisoner was going along a conveyor belt of workers, each one carrying out a different task and recording the data. Dr Bernstein took the bloods and started working on the tests, plus a few extras, as quickly as he could. An x ray proved a little more conclusive. Suddenly it seemed as though everyone was talking at once and looking at the x-rays.

"Well, we got a live one," Dr Bernstein wore an expression mixed of joy, fear and excitement all at the same time. They would call it Bernstein parasite or Bernstein syndrome he thought delightedly.

The x-rays showed the network and its route, which travelled the full-length of the body. Assistants started taking blood samples to send it off to another lab firm to confirm the tests they were running at this one.

"We'll run an MRI and see what's happening while the parasite is in there. Please retrieve the full MRI readings from Hastings database for comparison," Bernstein ordered.

"The next step will be to find a cure no doubt," Max prompted the doctor.

"Well yes, we need to scan all recent MRI patients to find the affected ones before the parasite takes hold," Dr Bernstein explained.

The man was still fully cooperative and compliant with all requests to the extreme and laid perfectly still inside the MRI scanner whilst it scanned him.

Then out of nowhere he started to fit and convulse, his hands, arms and legs shaking and head thrashing from side to side. Doctors and medical staff frantically attempted to stop the scan, to treat the man for his seizure, but to no avail. He died there in the scanner, monitoring equipment beeping frantically to signal the cessation of life signs. Medical staff tried desperately to shut the equipment down, finally succeeding.

"What happened?" Dr Bernstein asked, looking at the army radiography technicians.

"I don't know, sir, but whatever happened, it wiped all the information from our hard drives," the technicians replied.

"All the x-rays?" asked Bernstein.

"Yes, the x-rays have gone, everything's gone including the operating system," the technician replied, a look of astonishment on his face.

"Autopsy now please," Dr Bernstein ordered. "I need to know the cause of death. Take blood and tissue samples straightaway."

Shaken, Bernstein continued his blood work analysis, trying to get information from what seemed like another dead end. They had proved one thing though; infected people could be indentified by using x-rays. Bernstein frantically worked through the blood analysis and found absolutely nothing. The computer showed him results that basically read that there was nothing wrong or out of balance.

This created a quandary for Max. He couldn't just go round x-raying people to see if they were infected. Suddenly an idea stole into his consciousness. He had come up with a brilliant plan.

"Dr Bernstein, would you like another live parasite to work on?" Max asked.

"Why yes of course," came the expected reply.

"I propose we go through the MRI scan list and we call everyone for x-rays as well as scans." Max suggested.

"It's timing," Dr Bernstein explained shaking his head, "it would take too long. We don't know how this thing is transferred. We need information now and we could do with going public."

"That isn't an option, not yet anyway," Max insisted. "I have protocols to follow," He needed to have answers for the politicians or he would be looking for a job within a week. The plain hard facts were that there is that a certain amount of social control was needed and the less the public saw of it, the better. If people begin to think the politicians aren't doing their jobs someone else would get power and Max's bosses would not tolerate that. Dr Bernstein agreed to get his team scanning people who had recently had scans as quickly as possible.

Chapter 8, It's Life, But Not As We Know It

home

Miriam had booked a couple of day's domestic leave to look after Josh and to secure the house. She had never been burgled before and felt violated. Drawers had pulled out and emptied everywhere and her most private things rifled through. Josh had been given a week off school as he only had one exam left, which he was trying to get permission to sit later in the year when he had the use of his arm back. Josh was a brave man but was hurting from head to toe from the double battering he had taken over the last two days. He had charged his phone battery and was in contact with Chloe who was coming over to see him and quietly return his laptop. He had given his usual meeting with Kate and Callan a miss so he could spend some time with Chloe. His mum wouldn't let him lift a finger and had a friend of judge Bhatia come over and to see if Josh had a valid claim against the hospital. He would have another medical examination from a private doctor and was hoping it would be worth the effort. His mother had bin liners full of rubbish in the lounge and a lot more filled with items destined for the car boot. It was mainly Josh's father's belongings and Josh sorted through them in an attempt to save anything of sentimental value or interest. His mum was making the most of a poor situation and was house clearing. She did, however, let him put his room back together. Everything had been trashed, pictures ripped from walls, drawers emptied and the bed overturned. It was unbelievable. Josh had never seen anything like it. They hadn't stolen anything so it must have been the man after the laptop. There must be something really important on the laptop for him attack Josh and burgle the house. He had almost put his bedroom back to a sort of normality which had taken most of the day. He hadn't even bothered with his Xbox. Now he was negotiating the tricky problem of how to get himself clean with one arm in plaster. He was still on painkillers which were leaving him drowsy which didn't help but managed to shower ready for Chloe's visit. Chloe was now near enough under armed guard by her parents who were coming to meet his mother in less than an hour. Josh quickly dressed, splashed himself liberally with his best aftershave and nervously awaited Chloe's arrival. As soon as the doorbell sounded Josh was straight up on his feet.

"I'll get it mum," he shouted assertively.

"Okay," replied his mother.

Josh opened the door and was a little surprised to see his father's friend at the door rather than Chloe.

"Aren't you going to invite me in then Josh?" Max asked, surprised at the spaced out look on Josh's face.

"Oh, sorry, I'm on painkillers. Mum, door for you" Josh stammered.

"Is that Chloe?" His mum asked from the kitchen.

"No, it's Max," Josh replied. He heard his mother's footsteps coming through from the kitchen.

"Hi Max, how are you?" Miriam greeted the visitor rather stiffly.

"It's not a bad time is it?" Max asked.

Max could see from Josh's behaviour that he was uncomfortable and Miriam looked like she just didn't want him there.

"Sorry, I don't mean to appear unwelcoming," Miriam explained, "we were burgled and Josh and his girlfriend Chloe were attacked yesterday. Josh's got a broken arm and Chloe and her parents are on their way over."

"That's good, in fact that's great," Max smiled winningly, "I need to talk to both of you anyway."

"What about?" asked Josh alerted by the fact Max needed to talk to Chloe, his girlfriend.

"I'd rather go through it when you are both here, saves me explaining it twice," Max said.

"Would you like a drink Max?" asked Miriam who didn't seem bothered at all about him having something to tell them.

She knew Max and trusted him, unlike Josh who didn't really know him that well.

Miriam went off into the kitchen taking Max with her for a chat. Josh sat listening really quietly so they hopefully didn't remember his presence. Max was explaining his investigation into the recently deceased, who Miriam had also been investigating of course, had not reached any conclusions apart from the fact that there was some infection of some description present. She knew there was a limited amount of information he could divulge to her and Max mentioned that she would no doubt have been used to it from her husband. This got Josh's attention, but just then the doorbell rang. It was Chloe and her parents. Chloe looked gorgeous, but was dressed quite conservatively. Maybe this was because her dad, who was enormous, was with them.

"So you're the young man who protected my daughter," Chloe's father commandeered the conversation straightaway, slapping Josh cheerfully, and very painfully, on the back.

"Hello, pleased to meet you, please come in," Josh babbled through the pain, "would you like a drink?"

"I don't think he's staying long," Chloe said firmly.

"No, something has come up and a friend of my mums wants to talk to both of us," Josh explained.

Chloe looked at him, worried, but before anything else could be said Miriam came through from the kitchen.

"Hello, I'm Miriam," she introduced herself smilingly, "this is Max, he's one of my late husband's work colleagues and he would like a word with Josh and Chloe," she paused, "drinks first though I think."

Miriam seated everyone in the lounge, soon returning with a tray of drinks for everyone.

"My apologies as I don't know everyone here, but this does concern you all," Max spoke confidently, "There may be a contagion present in one or both of the children. I'd like you to come to hospital tomorrow and get checked out for me," Chloe and Josh looked at each other worriedly.

"What sort of contagion?" asked Chloe's father.

"For reasons of national security I can't say, but most people have not been told as much as I've just told you. They have just been told that their MRI scans didn't work properly and have been recalled for new scans and x-rays," Max explained.

"No, you can't just drop a bombshell like that and then tell us nothing," Chloe's father became agitated and his voice rose.

"It's like this," Max tried to pacify the worried father, "we don't know exactly what we're dealing with so we can't say."

"So what do you want with our children?" asked Chloe's mum.

"Please trust me, we're just eliminating people who could be infected," explained Max.

"I'm sure Max is working in our children's best interests," Miriam sided with Max knowing he had a difficult job. "I've known him for years and he worked with my husband for many years."

"I'm telling you as I would tell my own family. Miriam and Josh are the closest thing to a family I have," Max explained sincerely.

Chloe's mum and dad relaxed, their expressions becoming less hostile, as they systematically sipped their tea and pondered over what they had just been told.

"I'm not going, I'm not going anywhere," Chloe broke the silence.

"I can't have any more x-rays, so I'm not going," Josh followed suit smiling at Chloe. He felt that Max wasn't completely trustworthy and he wanted to show solidarity with Chloe. The adults all looked in surprise as Josh grabbed Chloe's hand and led her to his room.

"You can leave the door open if you're going up stairs, I don't want grandchildren yet," Josh's mum shouted after them as they climbed the staircase.

Chloe and Josh looked each other trying not to smirk at Miriam's remarks.

"They won't be impressed by us not going to the scans. My mother just made me have one because of what happened to my father," Josh explained "I was so pleased when you said you weren't going."

"I don't trust doctors, it's only 50 years since they stopped doing lobotomies," Chloe stated.

"Have you got the laptop?" Josh asked.

Chloe opened the big satchel she was carrying and started unpacking it. First to come out was a pair of pajamas, then a toiletry bag and finally his laptop.

"I didn't know you were stopping," Josh flirted cheekily.

"I was not, that's from my sleepover over at my friend's house, at Chantelle's," Chloe protested, blushing furiously.

Still laughing, Josh plugged in the laptop and started sifting through the computer files. He wondered what it was that the man wanted with the laptop. He checked specific sizes and types of file as he knew that programs can sometimes be hidden within others. He spent a good forty minutes engaged in the task, tapping his fingers repeatedly on the table and making tutting noises.

"Well, I don't know what he wanted with the computer, but at least dad hasn't popped up for a chat," Josh muttered to himself, completely consumed with his laptop and almost completely forgetting Chloe was there.

"Your dad has been popping up?" Chloe asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, I loaded one of his programs to the net and then dad started chatting to me on my PC. Sounds mad I know." Josh was embarrassed. He didn't want Chloe to think he was a total nutjob.

"What programme was it?" Chloe asked assertively, "let me see."

Chloe took charge of the laptop and looked through the files, carefully analysing their size and content. She paused and opened a file. Another one popped up and then another and another. She had found his programmes, like cats in a hat. It seemed that there were several chaos programmes running simultaneously. It was too complex for either of them to fully understand what was happening and the math was horrendous, even though Josh was beyond his years and had a grip of calculus he didn't fully understand the programme.

"What is it?" Josh asked.

"I'm not sure, maybe some sort of learning programme," Chloe guessed.

"The notes said it was the key to life," Josh mused, "the first program creates basic life and extrapolates it in the form of trees on the screen."

"I see that part but I don't know what these two are. I know that's Planck's constant though," Chloe said knowledgeably pointing to part of the equation onscreen.

"How come you know so much about computers?" Josh was impressed.

"I don't know, I was just made this way," Chloe shrugged modestly.

"You're really cool, you know that don't you," Josh said, looking into Chloe's eyes.

"Thanks," she said blushing slightly as Josh leant in for a kiss.

Their eyes met and their eyelids slowly began to close as they moved closer together. They could feel the heat as their lips blended into a slow sensual kiss.

"I thought that laptop had been stolen, isn't that what you told the police?" Miriam's voice rang through the room making the pair jump apart in shock. They hadn't heard her coming up the stairs.

"The police would only have taken it," replied Josh sounding sullen.

"Chloe's parents are going. Come clean now or Chloe goes as well," Miriam said, obviously furious.

"The man who attacked me wanted the computer. I wanted to see why," Josh answered.

"And what else?" Miriam asked, knowing the full truth hadn't come out.

"I found some more programs hidden in the one that I uploaded onto the Internet, but I don't know what they do," Josh told her.

"Right, I'll have that and Max can check it out," Miriam reached out for the laptop.

"No," Chloe blurted out angrily, and then placed her hand over her mouth.

"No? Just who do you think you are?" Miriam said, glaring at Chloe.

"I'm sorry," Chloe apologised, "it's just not fair after all he's been through," She lowered her gaze and looked away from Miriam, her shoulders sagging.

"Okay," Miriam softened at the apology, "but Max can have a quick look at it."

She fetched Max within minutes, pausing only to give him a rather garbled explanation, to look at the equation and programming that Josh had on screen. Max looked at it carefully. This wasn't his area of expertise so he took a photo with his phone and promised he would look into it. He saw no need to take the laptop as he knew the man who tried to get it was crazed from the parasite. He was curious to know how the man knew of the laptop. Maybe it was just a coincidence, he thought, but then again there had been a burglary, where nothing was taken.

"Josh, could you do me a favour?' Max asked, "If I could copy of all of your dads files it would save me from having to take the laptop,". He was curious to see what Josh's dad had been working on. Clearly it had hit a bell with someone, somewhere. Normally he would have done some surveillance on the perpetrators but he was too busy.

Josh wasted no time and soon had a memory stick filled with his dads work.

"That's everything," Josh said.

His mother watched him like a hawk and made sure he did everything he was supposed to. Chloe's parents had left and Chloe was to get a taxi home and her parents would pay for it at the other end. They weren't letting her stray off on her own due to recent events. When they were eventually left alone at last they looked at the clock. They only had about half an hour before the taxi was due to arrive to take her home. Chloe still had to attend school and wasn't allowed out late on a week nights.

"Josh," Chloe said. She was laid out on Josh's day bed looking at him. Her eyes were glazed with emotion and she wondered what he was thinking.

"What?" Josh said.

"I need to talk to you," Chloe said.

Josh shut down the laptop before turning and facing her. He was afraid she was going to dump him for being an insane maniac whose father talked to him on the computer.

"I like you, but I need to tell you something," Chloe said quietly.

"Okay, tell me," Josh said, "I'm insane for seeing my father."

Chloe sat up and faced him, a very serious expression on a face. She was almost crying and Josh knew exactly what she was going to say. He was about to be dumped.

"It wasn't your dad, on the computer," Chloe said.

"Wh what do you mean?" Josh stammered. He hadn't expected this.

"I mean, it was evil," Chloe looked sad.

"How do you know?" Josh asked looking confused. He couldn't take in what she was saying.

"That programme, the one you uploaded, it made me and it made that thing posing as your father," Chloe explained, observing Josh's reaction with great care.

Josh sat with his mouth open, still expecting to be dumped and wondering if she was pulling some sort of practical joke. While Chloe waited for him to speak he began to feel annoyed. He felt Chloe was taking the joke too far after he had opened his soul to her about his fathers mystery appearance.

"Okay, prove it," Josh said in irritation, thinking he would outsmart her this way.

"Chloe went over to his laptop which was unplugged on his knee with the power button firmly set to 'off'. She touched the screen with her fingertips and suddenly the screen blazed into life, the programming compiler opened up and started filling until the computer gave an error message saying it could hold no more. He watched her hands and saw small sparks of electrostatic charge were bouncing from her hands to the screen. He saw her eyes flicker and her eyelids twitch and tic as if she had Tourette's syndrome. He looked into her eyes and wandered if there was any emotion in their depths.

"How?" Josh asked, staggered almost into speechlessness.

She didn't speak, instead the information flicked in front of his eyes as pictures on the screen. Suddenly she stopped and looked at him. There was emotion, there was feeling. He could see it now.

"Chloe was going to die, she had a terminal brain tumour, I saw the scans," Chloe answered him.

"You killed her, you're the contagion," Josh gasped.

"It was her time. I spoke to her first and she said it was all right," Chloe spoke softly.

"But all those people, all those people who had to die," Josh snapped angrily, his face pale.

"No, that was not me. I was created in a good place and I knew what I was doing. The others were not nice, they were evil. They tried and failed when their hosts fought them," Chloe said.

"There are more of you," asked Josh.

"There is only one of me, but there were very many more life forms created from your programme and they are made up of whatever is on the Internet," Chloe explained.

"So you are a life form created from a programme my father wrote, that I uploaded and you are here. Why, why did you stay in a mortal?" asked Josh, his voice trembling. He felt the real Chloe's loss deeply.

"We met by chance, but since then I've learnt to like you. That is why I told you this. It's also the easiest way to protect you," Chloe answered him.

"Protect me from what?" Josh asked.

"Protect you from him, the evil one," Chloe looked troubled, "He's coming for you."

"For me, why?" Josh was taken aback.

"He believes you have the ability to defeat him, and sees you as a threat. I don't know why, I haven't seen your MRI scan," came the reply.

"How can you tell if I could defeat anybody from MRI scan?" Josh was clearly confused.

"There have been five thousand generations of humans since the evolution of Homo Sapiens. There have been five hundred thousand generations of your fathers programme since Ascension," Chloe said.

"How could life come from a computer program?" asked Josh, still amazed and not totally convinced.

"Planck's constant appears has been proved in so many ways and is always same; there is an equation for life and an equation for death," Chloe said.

"Are you saying I am carrying the equation for death in my brain?" Josh shook his head to try and get some clarity in his thinking.

"You have the ability to find it. The same as your dad found the one for life," explained Chloe.

"Your taxi is waiting Chloe," Miriam called, coming to the door.

This was too much; she had to go at that point. Chloe couldn't cope. Josh couldn't cope either.

Chapter 9: The Prom.

home

So, the new girlfriend turned out to be my late father's legacy, Josh mused. My late father was a genius and nobody knew it. Apparently, I'm a genius in a negative kind of way and an evil computer programme is coming to kill me because I could end the universe he inhabits. You see, the only way I can think to kill the stupid programme is to shut the Internet down completely. So that's one possible scenario although right now all I need to do is get to the Prom.

The second possible scenario is I that I am, in fact going slowly insane and talking to my dead father on my laptop and imagining scenarios in which a girl I'm far too low in the pecking order to even dream about is driving me nuts to impress me and get me into her panties.

Third possible scenario: Both me and my girlfriend were infected with a contagion from an MRI machine and are both going insane trying to get in each other's pants. I'm going to the Prom.

Okay diary so no more entries. You will know it was scenario one if there are no more entries. It was scenario three if I write that I got laid on prom night. It was probably scenario two though. Josh's thoughts were running amok while he distractedly attempted to prepare himself for the prom date.

Even in his weakened mental condition he scrubbed up best he could for his prom night with the girl of his dreams, who possibly had a little bit of extra personality as well. He decided that it was alright to be insane and that as long as he was okay with that and happy, it was fine. This was the easiest way to deal with the feeling of impending doom he had about his prom night date. Unfortunately his phone, laptop, everything electrical in fact, had stopped functioning since Chloe left the house. He wasn't sure if Chloe had done this to protect him or if it was sheer blind chance. He was longing to talk to her again and had a million questions to ask her. He couldn't begin to understand her life and whether she even liked him as the son of her creator. Was she just like every other sixteen year-old girl who just wanted a bit of fun and maybe a kiss and cuddle at the end of the night. Josh had taken what she said seriously. She had said that she liked him so he got clean and prepared as if for any other date, if he had ever had one that is. His head was spinning with what was, what could be and what was going on with his girlfriend, his father and his life. Josh wondered if he would ever get any real answers. He sort of understood why Chloe hadn't told him before. Initially, Josh initially had thought that she or it had killed Chloe, but she sort of was Chloe. She or it had saved his life and clearly was only trying to protect him and, hopefully, reproduce with him.

When the door bell rang he wasn't quite ready. He ran round frantically grabbing his jacket and checking his hair before grabbing flowers for Chloe and rushing outside. He was very nervous. Josh had spoken to Chloe briefly on his house phone and explained everything electronic was broken but she wouldn't talk and he couldn't as his mum was in the room. His mum came out and told him how nice he looked and wished him a nice evening. He had draped his jacket over his broken arm and thought it made him look a little debonair. The waiting limousine was big and white and the side door was invitingly open. Josh climbed to find it had loads of room even though there were four people already inside; Callan with his date and Kate with hers. They all looked very smart. Both couples were giggly and sat closely together, cuddling. They only had Chloe to pick up. Josh gave the address to the limousine driver and he set off. The journey seemed very quick and after what felt like only minutes Josh found himself knocking on Chloe's door. It opened immediately and as if by magic Chloe was stood in front of him. She looked so beautiful, innocent, clean and just right for him. For a moment they didn't move, just gazed into one another's eyes. They hadn't spoken properly since they had shared their secrets and they both felt insecure. They saw in each other's eyes the pain and loneliness they had felt and the desperate need to embrace but her parents and sister were watching.

"Come on guys, we'll be late," Callan shouted from the car.

The sound of Callan's voice shocked the sloppiness out of them and Josh grabbed her hand. Slipping a flower over her wrist he led her into the limousine and introduced Chloe to his friends.

"Hi Chloe, this is Michael," Kate greeted her warmly.

As Michael reached forward to shake Chloe's hand a static charge crackled between them and they both jolted back in surprise.

"Pleased to meet you," Chloe answered, staring at him.

"This is Cara," Callan introduced his date. The girls shook hands and again static shot across their joined hands.

"Hi, sorry about that, I seem to be a bit charged the wrong way tonight," Chloe said. She looked at the two dates knowingly as she slid her hand into Josh's and held it very tightly as if to acknowledge he was there. She didn't take her eyes off Cara and Michael for the entire journey which seemed to take forever as there was so much they were waiting to say to each other. At last the limousine pulled into the school parking lot where it instantly drew the attention of the other Prom goers. Everyone stood watching as the six got out. The ball was to be held in the main assembly Hall and a light buffet and some free drinks were being provided. The school talk shop had stayed open for everyone.

Chloe quickly guided Josh away from the others. He looked desperate to talk to her.

"They're over here, no, that way," Chloe looked worried and unsure of herself.

"Who?" Asked Josh in confusion.

"The evil ones. There's no English word for them except devils I suppose," Chloe said.

"Right. Devils? Who?" Josh stammered.

"Callum's and Kate's dates," Chloe said worriedly.

"How do you know?" Josh asked.

"That static charge told me everything about them."

"Well, they won't start anything here. There are too many people around," Josh wasn't sure what to say to her. It made no sense to him saying that they were evil. He didn't think Chloe was being malicious; maybe they scared her.

"I suppose, they won't, but let's stick together," Chloe said, still gripping his hand tightly.

Still holding hands Josh guided her into the ballroom. It looked very formal and felt like being at court. Every guest or couple's names were announced as they entered the assembly room. The headmaster called Chloe and Josh's names has they walked in and everyone turned to stare at them. No one had seen Chloe for a very long time and she was well liked and popular because of her beauty and sociability. The other two couples had entered the room already and a formal dance was taking place on the main floor. The Prom was to take this format for an hour at which point a modern disco would take over. The idea behind this was to prepare for the grown up balls they would attend at University. The girls were given dance cards with a list of dances that were going to occur before the disco. The drama teachers were encouraging everyone to fill out their cards and making sure no-one was left partner less as best they could. Chloe deftly avoided them and dragged Josh over to the food table where she picked up plates up for them both. He got drinks as she grabbed food. They managed to find a quiet corner and sat on an old school gym bench.

"We have to go you know, we can't stay in Nottingham," Chloe sounded panicky, "they'll find us anywhere that has technology," Chloe shoved a sausage roll in her mouth quickly before the drama teacher suspected her of loitering in the corner to avoid dancing.

But it wasn't the drama teacher she needed to worry about. Cara and Michael had made their way over to them unnoticed. Cara smiled at them sweetly but Josh noticed her smile didn't reach her eyes which remained cold.

"I hope you don't mind," Cara spoke only to Josh, ignoring Chloe's presence, "I've put you down on my dance card for the next dance. I really want to get to know Callan's friends."

Chloe intervened, her smile every bit as sweet and every bit as insincere as Cara's had been, as she explained Josh was fully booked. Sensing an impending argument the drama teacher intervened. Chloe quickly booked the third dance with Michael. At least she could keep an eye on Josh. Cara and Michael walked away, chatting.

"What are they going to do, or what can do in front of all these people?" asked Josh seeing the anxiety this development had caused her.

"Put your drink and food down," Chloe instructed sternly. She looked appraisingly at him, knowing deep down they still didn't have complete trust in each other.

Josh knew she meant it and immediately placed his food and drink next to him on the bench. Chloe waved her little finger under Josh's nose.

"This is my little finger, I really like what I can do with my little finger," Chloe said in an almost playful tone.

"Ahhh," screamed Josh.

They sat still while Josh caught his breath. The pain in his hand had been agonising, pins and needles as sharp as real ones had sliced through his nerve endings whilst a creeping numbness made the whole thing worse.

"Okay, I'm sorry that I didn't believe you. I thought I was going mad," Josh apologised rubbing his hand. Chloe took his hand and the feeling came back. The pain was gone completely.

"Now that pain, frankly, probably won't kill anyone, but how could anyone defend themselves against that," Chloe said, "That's what they could do in front of all these people to answer your question."

"We only have ten minutes before we have to dance with them," Josh said worriedly.

Josh looked around and saw the side doors open to the main Hall. They led out onto the main field. A fence surrounded the field but there was a hole in it he knew about that the teachers didn't.

"What about Kate and Callan?" Josh asked.

"They will be fine, they won't hurt them. Their only interest is me and you," Chloe said.

"We can make it out the door over there," Josh said "we just need to get past Mr. Banks."

Chloe grabbed his hand and led him across the dance floor to the door. They were intercepted of course by Mr Banks. They weren't allowed out, he told them, because kids always got up to no good while on school premises. Several conceptions were thought to have taken place at the school discos and the school authorities weren't impressed.

"And where did you think you were going?" Mr. Banks continued.

"I'm not feeling well, Mr Banks," Chloe said, holding her belly, "I need some fresh air."

"That's the oldest trick in the book," Banks tutted.

"I just finished chemotherapy, it happens," Chloe allowed irritation to tinge her voice.

"You have ten minutes before I send out a search party," Mr Lang used his most authoritarian tone.

They scuttled quickly past the teacher and straight across the field to the hole in the fence. Josh wasted no time in small talk as he pulled back the fence revealing their exit. Suddenly He was jolted backwards, falling in agony to the floor on top of a log that made his bruised ribs throb anew coupled with the numbing feeling Chloe had shown him a few moments ago but intensified indescribably as the pain ripped through his whole body. It was agonising and Chloe had been right. He couldn't fight this, he couldn't even move. He lay helplessly watching as Cara punched Chloe in the gut, winding her. Clutching her stomach Chloe slumped to the floor. He saw that Michael was on the other side of the fence, guarding the exit. Chloe, seeing Josh's agony, reached over and touched him which instantly relieved his pain. Josh sprang up saw Cara was on top of Chloe now, sending arcs of static through her head in an attempt to electrocute her. Unthinkingly, his only instinct to save Chloe, Josh charged and hit Cara with the log he had fallen onto as hard as he could. The thick wood splintered and broke with the force of his blow, hard enough to knock her out. Lucky, he thought. He helped Chloe up and began maneuvering away from Michael who was coming through the fence. Chloe seemed to be weakened by the attack and was struggling to stand and Michael was only metres away. He was bigger, stronger and older than Josh who saw that he couldn't get away with Chloe in her weakened state. It was time to fight no matter what. He gently lowered Chloe to the ground and charged Michael as hard as he could, knocking him to the ground. Another shock however stopped him in his tracks and he was unable to move again. Michael climbed on top, pinning Josh's arms down to his sides.

"I need to know where the laptop is," Michael demanded arcing sparks threateningly between his finger and thumb like a taser gun.

"What? If I tell you, you'll kill me," Josh said. Michael brought his hand close in to Josh's face, laughing at his obvious fear. His expression suddenly changed as he let out a roar of pain. Chloe had placed both hands on his head and fried him. Michael toppled from Josh, his hair smoking. Chloe quenched Josh's pain and dragged him upright, supporting him as they sprinted to the hole in the fence and squeezed through quickly onto the main roads. Chloe flagged a passing taxi down and they gratefully climbed in.

"Where to," asked the driver.

"Town please," Chloe answered.

They sat cuddling together, their breathing still heavy from their exertions. Chloe looked exhausted and Josh felt drained from the running and fighting.

The taxi travelled down Mansfield Road until it reached the edge of the city where Chloe directed the driver to the Broadmarsh Centre. Chloe led Josh straight to a cash machine.

"Where are we going?" asked Josh, now feeling very bemused.

"Get cash, then a bit of shopping and onto the train," Chloe explained.

Chloe rested her hand on the cash machine screen. It immediately whirred into life and started churning out money. There must've been several thousands of pounds Josh thought as the money chute dispensed cash which Chloe quickly hid in her purse into her purse.

"What we shopping for?" asked Josh.

"We need a quick change of clothes, something warm, a laptop and a good printer," Chloe said, "but we have to be quick."

Chloe crushed to the nearest large store and asked Josh his shoe size. There weren't a lot of shops still open at this time of night. Josh followed her closely as she wandered round a sports shop, cramming things in her arms, far more than they needed. She went into the changing rooms and came out quickly and before paying for the items. The attendant looked shocked at the big one wad cash protruding from Chloe's purse. They left the shop quickly and hurried towards the train station, stopping only at the chemists to buy toiletries and overnight smellies. Chloe was walking a quite a pace and Josh was surprised when she stopped again at the train station to withdraw some more money.

"Haven't we got enough?"

"Yes, but I'm going to buy Rover tickets, so they can't trace a destination and they'll be about a grand" Chloe answered calmly.

"I thought we needed a laptop and stuff," queried Josh.

"Yes, we do. We'll stop off and get one, there's bound to be a wait for a connection somewhere," Chloe said.

They walked into the train station where Josh visited over a bookstore where he happily obtained some reading materials, travel games, sandwiches, drinks and sweets while Chloe bought the tickets and a rail map. She kept hold of his hand whenever she could and kept a careful eye on both him and the layout of the train station.

"We'll have to be quick, the train's leaving in five minutes," explained Chloe, "here's your ticket."

She quickly led them down the platform where the East Midlands train to Derby had just arrived and they both boarded the train. It was nothing fancy, just a couple of carriages long. As The train set off Chloe took out the rail map and started studying it carefully. She had several timetables in her hand and flicked through them from time to time.

"Where are we going then?" asked Josh, trying to sound cheerful. The night had gone from Prom to Pain so quickly he didn't really know how he felt except he knew he was scared and worried about his mum who he knew would be devastated when he didn't go home after the Prom ended.

Chloe looked around. There were a lot of people even for a late-night train and she spotted several cameras mounted around the carriage. She lifted her finger to her mouth to signal him to be silent for a while as she put the rail timetables and map away. She led Josh to the end of the rail car then slipped into the toilet with him. This made him smile and the two giggled going through the door. He wondered if they were going there to make out and reached towards her hopefully but she stopped him firmly and began to talk, softly and quietly so only he could hear.

"I'm sorry but everything is connected to the Internet. They can hack every camera and they can be anybody. I needed to get you somewhere safe to talk," Chloe whispered, smiling into his eyes.

"They can hack cameras on trains?"

"Yeah, and hack satellites that can track us from the air. I'm taking us completely away from technology," Chloe said showing Josh a point on the map.

"Why there?"

"Because there's nothing there," Chloe answered.

There was a knock at the door. the rail attendant had spotted the two going in together and, with them being so young, suspected they may be up to no good so he used 'tickets please' ploy to get them out of the toilet. Josh came out, apologising that his girlfriend wasn't well before producing their tickets for inspection. Satisfied the guard checked the tickets and went about his business. Back in their seats Josh and Chloe polished off the food and read the papers to kill time. They weren't on the train long however before Chloe was leading Josh onto the platform at Derby station. She checked the departure boards to see what time their next train was due to depart. It wasn't until 10 PM. They would be travelling all night but first they had an hour and a half in Derby. Chloe led him from the station and into a taxi. She was taking them shopping again. She ordered the taxi driver to go to the nearest large supermarket. She knew the evil ones would be tracking their every move on cameras around the city, in the train stations and in the shops. They would be watching what they brought and where they went, looking for an opportunity to send people after them on the attack. This would take time of course. This is why Chloe needed to take Josh and herself off the technology radar for a while. Once she had lost them, it would take a long time for them to find them again. There are thousands of cameras and searching the lot takes time. Chloe and Josh soon found themselves at an Asda store. Chloe led Josh straight to the back of the store and bought a laptop, a top of the range printer, a laminator and several assortments of card and printing accessories. She also brought a camera and memory sticks. Josh looked confused as they were supposed to be running from technology not embracing it. He went with it though and didn't ask for any explanations. He had become uncomfortably aware that there were cameras everywhere and knew better than that now. He did however pickup a sketch toy on the children's aisle as he thought it could be used to communicate covertly. Chloe looked absolutely done in. She was hungry and had expended too much energy fighting so they shopped for something more to eat, returning with enough food for a small army. Shopping done, they took a taxi and headed for the station. Chloe munched her way through a phenomenal amount of food in the back seat of the taxi. Josh hadn't ever seen anyone eat quite so much. He was aware that they were quite conspicuous. They were considerably overloaded with shopping, and were never going to out run anyone.

They used trolleys to get their swag to the platform. The next train in was going to Crewe, then onto Wales. Chloe and Josh were soon boarded and had found seats. There were very few passengers so they had their pick. Chloe took the sketch toy, looked around at the cameras and wrote a message simply by touching the screen.

Setting up the PC, printer and camera on a table took best part of half an hour. The setup was in full view of the cameras on the train. Chloe, who appeared to have condensed the food into a small pile, set it next to the laptop and printer as she wrote Josh another message on the sketch toy.

Read the papers, play on the laptop or whatever, but follow me to the toilet when I go.

It was about half an hour before Chloe went towards the toilet and Josh, good to his word, followed her into the tiny cubicle. Chloe had taken a clothes bag with her and another small bag containing toiletries.

"So what's the plan?" asked Josh.

"Chloe pulled out some clothes that he hadn't seen it before, and told him to get changed quickly as they were getting off at Crewe. Chloe explained that she had stolen some clothes as well as buying some. They were going to wear the stolen clothes as the cameras hadn't seen her buying them and it should buy them some time. The printer, camera and laptop had been a diversion as had the water and food. Her idea was to give them a few seconds head start when they left the train wearing different outfits and without their luggage. Chloe had stolen hoodies, tracksuits and scarves. They would look like a couple of rude boys hopefully. They changed in the cubicle, quite a challenging feat in itself, and split the remaining money for safety. They now only carried their tickets and had no luggage at all. Josh thought they now both looked a little like muggers. They were not due into the train station for a few minutes so she guessed they must be waiting for the lights to change. They felt the train stop but then shunt slowly into the station. They heard the sound of the tannoy system announcing the trains' arrival as the train pulled up. The doors opened and they headed for the stations exit, Chloe first looking quickly at the electronic departure board to check which platform the next train would leave from. Once safely outside they looked around and headed for the taxi rank. Chloe asked the driver to take them to a local bowling alley. They had well over an hour to kill. The bowling alley wasn't far. Chloe timed how long the journey had taken then arranged for the driver to pick them up in an hour or so. She grabbed Josh's arm and they walked into the arcade part of a complex where they spent the next hour happily playing on games together. Their adrenaline was wearing off and they were both tired but made the most of a chance to hang out together. The hour sped and in what seemed like no time they were in the taxi and off back to the train station. Josh thought about the Prom. He would by now have been reported to the police as a missing person, along with Chloe. No doubt Max would be attempting to trace them both. Journey over, they went straight to the platform and saw there was no security guards, just cameras. The cameras had blind spots and Chloe pulled Josh into one and cuddled up next to him to keep warm. It was freezing cold on the platform. No-one else seemed to be waiting for this train, it was a sleeper and Josh wondered if they might be able to upgrade their seats once they got aboard. Chloe didn't want to risk looking at sleeper cabins though as this would involve standing in front of a camera at Crewe station. While she was moving and not stood around it would take the evil ones longer to locate them. Even disguised in their hoodies and scarves the evil ones might be able to use Iris recognition but Chloe knew this would take longer. They boarded the train, a big one pulling at least fifteen carriages, and headed towards where they saw a conductor. The larger, older and none local trains usually had no cameras on and the pair could relax. There were a few passengers on board, most of them dozing. Only a privileged and richer few had sleeper cabins. The train started to pull off as they bumped into the conductor and negotiated a fare and a sleeper cabin for them both. A buffet car was serving like snacks and they both grabbed a hot chocolate and a muffin to eat in the bed. In the cabin they found bunks made up with fresh bedding and a sink. Chloe booked an early morning call. They were due to arrive at Inverness at about 8.30am and they needed to be on the ball when they got there. Josh jumped on the top bunk and Chloe took the bottom. They were both tired out but Josh needed to ask questions. His exhausted brain wouldn't let him sleep while he had so many questions bouncing around. Josh asked Chloe where it was she came from and how she knew so much. He didn't know even a fraction of what she did. She explained that she had grown up learning and watching humans. As anyone who uses the Internet knows, there's a lot of information out there. The problem with the Internet however, is that it's like the Wild West, open and dangerous and with very few effective laws. Porn, child porn, bomb-making, nuclear physics, everything about everyone, every bad thing and every good thing was there. Everything that they wanted hidden or shared only with like-minded sick ass mother truckers as she put it, was stored for anyone to learn about. The evil minded of the species created from the programme are as sick, twisted and nasty as the information they absorbed. She still had feelings and thoughts and emotions but no sense of touch and no depth of experience compared to normal to human levels. The Internet was kept going by porn mainly, illegal and sick but that type of information is there and never going to go away. They couldn't just close the Internet down and clear everything. The task is too great and all information, including dangerous knowledge, now is open to the world. The were of course beings like her who strove to be better and do good, not harming others, but looking for life, the meaning of the universe and philosophising over where to go and where life is going from here. Josh listened intently and then slowly drifted off to sleep as did Chloe.

Chapter 10: What Life?

home

It wasn't as if Max didn't have enough to do in his life without chasing around after a misbehaving Josh. He phoned a friend who specialised in programming languages at the Ministry of Defence and sent the image of his programme to him, promising the memory chip as soon as he could. It was less than ten seconds later that the specialist phoned back, demanding to know where he had got it from. Apparently the equations were totally something else; only a few people in the world would have any idea what these equations meant or what they could do. He was desperate to find out if anyone had tried them. Max was on his way back to the health protection agency or he would have driven straight back and picked up the laptop. Max explained that the equations and programs had been tried out already and apparently didn't work. He told of how the person the computer now belonged to had been attacked several times in the last few days and how someone was clearly after the laptop. His friend, Ronald, offered to send his team up straight away to retrieve the laptop. Max, clearly surprised at the importance Ronald placed on the laptop and equations, asked him what they were for and why it was so important. He was told that they were equations for life in the same respect there is gravity, Pi, Planck's constant, the theory of relativity, interior evolution, etc., there is an equation for life.

"Are you saying that someone is trying to create life?" Max asked. "A computer like the terminator?".

"Yes, the search for artificial intelligence has been going on for years. Basic programs have attempted to mimic human interactions with the world and equate life to logic, but equations such as these use logic probability and chaos programming. What could happen with one in a trillion trillion becomes more like reality with one in one thousand with enough computing power." Ronald was almost ranting in his excitement.

"What would happen if someone succeeded? What could we expect?" Max asked.

"I can't say until I see the whole programme. My folks will be there in less than two hours," Ronald explained.

"Let me know what you find. I have had a breakthrough on another investigation and I want to see if it's linked" Max gave a brief description of his case.

"What kind of life?" Ronald asked.

"A parasite, but it may be linked to MRI scans," Max explained.

"I'll be there in two hours with a full team," Ronald replied and the phone went dead.

Max pulled into the old hospital to have a look at the days findings. Predictably, it had been hard to get people to be rescanned at such on short notice but the ones who could had been turning up all day. Reporters were now ferreting around the civilians who were coming and going. Newspapers moaning about crap MRI scans wasn't a major problem he thought, but when deaths were involved it became one. A persistent ringing interrupted his thoughts and he hastily answered his phone. It was a call from Nottinghamshire police informing him that had been an incident at a school. One person had died and another was seriously injured. Their initial enquiry initial had raised suspicions that a victim may have been infected. The police had been asked to inform the HPA of any strange behaviour's they noticed when called to attacks or deaths. As soon as Max heard that one of the people involved was Josh's friend he informed them that He was going to take charge of the case. Max scrambled a team and sent them to the hospital to check on the survivor of the attack. He arranged for the victims body to be brought in for an autopsy and planned to interview those who had been present at the scene. He had just got off the phone and was on his way to his car when he got another call. It was Miriam.

"Max, I'm so worried," she sounded close to tears as she continued, "Josh and Chloe are missing and now there's been a death at the school."

"Don't worry, I'll find them," Max tried to reassure her, "I'm actually on my way to the school now. Is it okay if I send a team coming to pick up the laptop though? It may help us to find them"

"Thanks, will you keep me informed and let me know the minute you find them?" Miriam asked, her voice thickening as if she were close to tears.

Max sent in an urgent request for the CCTV footage for Nottingham, starting with the streets surrounding the school. It was as good a starting point as any in his search for the missing teenagers. He instructed his team to interview Miriam and Chloe's parents to determine what clothes they had been wearing and what they had taken with them. He was confident that finding them would not take long. If they were alive they couldn't escape being found. It's only the dead who are hard to find as they don't move. Max used the opportunity to turn his flashers on. His undercover car boasted a nice set of blue lights with a good old siren. He had added a hidden switch so that his car looked ordinary for everyday use. Traffic moved out of his way as he sped along and in no time at all he was at the school. He was never given James Bond type assignments so the little drive had added a nice bit of excitement to his dull espionage work. He crossed the cordon strung around the entrance, showing his badge to the officer standing guard. He was immediately shown where the body and the injured person had been found. Max only took a quick look. He knew the scene of crime team would document everything exactly before his own team took over and retrieved the body. Three witnesses had been detained and were now in the assembly Hall but the other prom guests had been sent home. Mr Banks and the headmaster had remained in the Hall as well. Banks had been the last member of staff to see Chloe and Josh. The Sergeant who had responded to the emergency call had waited for Max to arrive. He told Max that preliminary findings had shown that two people, Josh and Chloe, were missing. Their friends had been at the Prom with the dead and injured parties respectively. He pointed to the girl and boy waiting in the hall. Both looked in shock. The girl was shivering and the boy was ashen pale.

Max recognised the young man; Callan.

"Hi Callan, do you remember me from Josh's birthday last year?" Max asked him gently.

"Yeah, you are Josh's dad's friend. What are you doing here?" Callan asked.

"I came here to find Josh and Chloe. Josh's mum phoned me," Max explained.

"My date went mental, accused me of her touching up, I only went to hold her hand," Callan's voice shook as he relieved the scene.

"Then what happened?" Max asked.

"She went over to Mr Banks, said I was harassing her. I didn't know what to do, I met her on a dating site, the same as Kate did hers," Callan answered.

"Thanks, Callan," replied Max, giving Callan a reassuring pat on his shoulder as he moved away.

Max interviewed Kate, finding a similar story except her date had tried to rape her in the disabled toilet. She broke down into heavy heartbreaking sobs whilst Max was talking to her. He called a WPC to sit with her till she calmed and tasked her with ensuring Kate was offered adequate counselling. Kate wasn't aware her date was dead. He methodically spoke to each of the teachers, asking them in turn who had been where and when. Nobody seemed to have seen Michael or Cara leave the building. He knew the approximate time of Chloe and Josh disappearance as the alarm had been raised swiftly and teachers had gone out to look for them. The search party had stumbled across the dead body and the injured Cara. The only people the teachers couldn't account for were Chloe and Josh. The headmaster explained that they had a zero tolerance policy regarding anyone walking around the school grounds because of high levels of vandalism and the disrespect this showed towards its authority. People were logged in and out on a register, which also acted as a fire register. The headmaster showed him the list. As Max thanked the headmaster for his help and cooperation he was interrupted by Simon, one of his team leaders.

"Sir, there's something I need to tell you," Simon said.

Max walked Simon out of earshot. Once he could see they would not be overheard he turned his full attention to his colleague.

"We've found that both victims have had MRI scans recently," Simon explained "our team at the hospital are attempting to get the survivor x-rayed right now,".

"Very good," Max said, impressed by Simons quick work. "Could you contact Marcus and see how he is doing with the CCTV?"

"Yes, right away Sir," Simon replied.

Max checked his phone and saw that it was 8:15pm already. Max and Chloe had been missing for about an hour and a half. He phoned Miriam.

"Hi Miriam, we don't know anything yet," Max didn't want to raise Miriam's hopes only to dash them, "I just need to follow a few leads. Could you text Chloe's and Josh's phone numbers to me please?"

"Yes of course, Max. Thanks," Miriam's voice sounded full of anxiety.

Max paced the room, asking himself what he would have done at their age if he had killed someone accidently. He didn't know if it was Josh or Chloe but they had been attacked twice already.

He knew Ronald was on his way. He didn't normally leave his desk and his colleagues joked that he was scared he might get mucky. Max's phone rang again and the caller display showed it was Marcus.

Marcus explained the missing teens had been picked up by a taxi close to the school and that they were tracing the driver to find where he had dropped them. Max asked him to trace the phone numbers he would text to him in the next few moments. He was using every tool he had.

Just after 10 o'clock Max started sending staff and witnesses' home. His team had almost finished there and he had found the taxi had dropped Josh and Chloe in the town where they had gone shopping before getting on a train. His team were trying to find out the runaways destination. Max was quite disturbed by this news. Their actions were too similar to that of a murderer running away from a crime scene and Josh had already lied to them once, over the computer programmes. He was puzzling over how much he should tell Miriam, when his phone rang yet again. It was the team at the hospital and they had a live parasite. The doctors would not release her until she was stable. The attempt to trace Josh and Chloe through their phones had failed. Ronald had phoned Max and broken the news that Josh's phone was at his home address and Chloe's could not be traced anywhere. He was still working on why he couldn't trace it. The only phones that ordinarily couldn't be traced were satellite phones which were illegal. He would need a direct link to the satellite to trace it if this was the case. Usually only spies or terrorists had phones like that. It appeared Max's best bet was to check the train station. He had their departure time so all he needed was to check ticket sales and the platform cameras and, hopefully, he would find their planned destination. He drove directly to the station while Marcus set to checking the cameras. By the time Max had checked the ticket sales Marcus had phoned back with the news the pair had gone to Derby. He was tracing their steps on Derby cameras but it would take a while. Sifting through hundreds of minutes of CCTV screen footage took a while and to make it worse it had been raining in Derby. The camera lenses would be obscured if they had left the station.

Max immediately phoned Miriam to let her know that they were alive and had absconded to Derby. He spent a good twenty minutes trying to find out where the teenagers might go. He took Chloe's parents details and them similar questions on the phone. He saw that he was going to get nowhere. Chloe's parents couldn't shed any light on where their daughter might be going or why. The hospital team had agreed his team could have Cara in the morning, but security trained staff would remain on guard throughout the night. She had been given a secure room and two guards at a time would take shifts outside her door. Max left instructions for his team to keep working and told them he would catch up with them in the morning. Even secret agents needed to sleep. There was nothing more he could do for now. It was after midnight and he was knackered. His team would stay awake all night and he would phone for reinforcements in the morning.

Chapter 11: The Great Escape.

home

The guard woke them at about seven. Josh jumped up and fell out of the top bunk as Chloe stood there laughing. He pulled himself together and checked his appearance, putting all his clothes on. He was kind of shy and had got undressed under the sheets, throwing his clothes to the bottom of the bunk. He was now blushing at the unexpected sight of Chloe's semi-naked body. Fully dressed, he fetched coffee, tea and some fresh breakfast from the buffet car, as soon as he had visited the bathroom. When he returned Chloe was dressed and looked ready for anything as usual. They sat in silence as they ate breakfast. The meal over, Chloe explained that satellites didn't photograph over the Outer Hebrides very much, a lot less than the rest of the country anyway. She was sure they could live a reasonable life there, for a while at least. The longer they could spend in hiding the better. Chloe explained that generations her species turned over very quickly and a new generation would be around soon and that unless the existing one found a way to sustain its life it will be replaced with a better version. The programme replicates itself and improves as it goes along, Chloe told him. When she became sentient outside the net, programmes were only around for a day at most. Their life span was extending all the time though which is why a lot of beings wanted human bodies to sustain their lives. With the new generation of beings, provided the whole of society on the Internet had not turned evil they would stand a chance of eliminating the threat to Josh. She didn't know how Josh would do this, she continued, her job was to keep him safe and secure.

Josh was fascinated by this and by the fact one single programme could bring so much life and death at the same time. He felt guilty in a way he could not define.

"So what can you feel, as a programme? Do you have lust, desire, do you have love?" Josh asked.

This was very important to him. Josh needed to see humanity in the programme, in Chloe. Did she have emotional intelligence or was it all programming?

"We have all that, but the experience is greater in the human form, more intense," Chloe said, gazing into his eyes whilst taking a bite out of her egg and bacon sandwich.

Josh wanted to pull her programming apart and see if she was really alive and what made her tick. But he couldn't and he did have feelings for her. This gave him an idea. He needed to sort out this problem once and for all. It was within him to solve the problem of evil ones. He just needed to study a being, one who was alive, with the right resources and equipment. He figured that he could extract the programme from its host and examine it, separate it from the Internet. He could see what made the Ascension programme tick. He wasn't entirely sure how to do it though or if it would work.

Josh felt the train slowing and heard the conductor calling for passengers to depart at Inverness. They had an hour and a half to wait till their next train. They had agreed to use the time to go shopping away from the main areas where there would be cameras. Soon they found themselves safely ensconced in a taxi on its way to the nearest outdoor clothing store. Josh could tell he was in Scotland; the northern temperatures were sub zero and the hoody just wasn't cutting it anymore. This gave Chloe an idea. Once they were in the store she bought hiking equipment, a tent, sleeping bags and a blow up bed. They bought over eighteen hundred pounds worth of equipment, rations and clothing. Completely changed their in appearance again, they looked like backpackers complete with utility belts and all. Josh even invested in some fishing equipment with extra lines and reels. Chloe had brought two weeks worth of supplies including water tablets, everything they would need to survive in the wild. Josh picked up a guide to surviving off the land. They wore sunglasses and sun caps now to complete their disguises and looked completely different than they had before. Chloe interrupted their journey back to the station by asking the taxi driver to pull over for a moment at a cash point which she used to top up their money supply. The evil ones would know where they were by now, but they would be gone, out of reach and out of sight, within a matter of hours. They were soon at the train station and on the train to Wick.

Josh flopped onto his seat with a sigh of relief. It hadn't been easy to maneuver his ten bags of shopping into the carriage. He happily indulged himself in the task of removing tags and packing everything away into his backpack carefully, so that they can access anything at any point. It felt like Christmas. He had more gadgets and gizmos than any man alive. He had heaters, gloves, socks and even thermal underwear. They had taken time when choosing clothing to find clothing that would help prevent an attack from the evil ones. Chloe had made Josh try on various clothes to find out which ones her powers could not penetrate. Josh had ended up with a set of leather gloves and Gore-Tex lined coats which seemed to prevent electrocution. He had a set of Gore-Tex pants and full leather boots. His least protected area was his head, but at least he would have its hands free to fight. Chloe was confident the evil ones would not be able to trace them to the Outer Hebrides. Their plan was to make it to Giles Bay and then catch the ferry to Kirkwall. They would assess Kirkwall when they got there and see if they could stay there for a while safely. It would be a bonus if they didn't actually have camp out. That was a last resort. It would be eight o'clock before the bus from Giles Bay arrived at Kirkwall which meant finding somewhere to stay as soon as they got there. There was still a four hour train journey before this though and Josh found his eyes drawn to the countryside that their train was thundering through. The views were spectacular. Their train was large and old and not fitted with cameras. It was also getting a bit crowded and they had to pack their stuff away very quickly to make room for people getting on. Chloe announced she was starving and visited the buffet car to buy what looked like their entire stock. Josh had been meaning to ask her about her metabolism; she did seem to metabolise an awful lot of food, even more than him and Josh liked his food. She came back with, predictably, enough food for four people. She had drinks, crisps, muffins and biscuits together with an array of sandwiches. Laughing at Josh's expression Chloe explained that this was for the bus journey and that she had brought some food to eat now but needed him to give her a hand carrying it. He wondered what on earth she had she bought and why she didn't get any fatter. She was as skinny as a rake. Lost in these thoughts Josh trailed behind as he followed Chloe down the train towards the buffet car. He didn't make it very far before he was grabbed from behind. Josh let out a roar of surprise and twisted from his attackers grip, forcing him away. The stranger let go but was only an arms length away from him. His hands were shooting blue arcs at him, sending almost continuous sparks in an attempt to paralyse Josh and cause pain. Chloe quickly ran back and grabbed the strangers head forcing him into unconsciousness within seconds. She had wasted no time and they had been lucky. The attack had taken place as Josh went through the mail car which was deserted. There had been no one there to see what happened. They quickly moved the stranger into the toilet before anyone saw them. He had stopped breathing so they now had a corpse on their hands that would be found sooner or later. Shaken, they fetched their meals from the buffet carriage, three plates each of hot pasties and chips. Back in their seats Josh and Chloe looked at each other in dismay. They had placed the man in such a way it might be thought that he had died whilst using the toilet. They still had an hour on the train and hoped they would make it to Wick. Chloe had clearly exhausted herself again and, despite the terrible events of the last ten minutes, was making short work of the plates of food. The whole carriage were staring, some surreptitiously and some openly amazed, at the amount of food she polished off. Josh turned around and chattily explained she was eating for two which changed the stares into understanding laughter before their fellow passengers who stopped paying attention at this explanation.

"Why do you eat so much though?" Josh whispered. He realised and they couldn't really speak openly and wrote the question down instead.

_I use considerably more brainpower than a normal humans_ , Chloe wrote, _and I need extra food to fuel myself, especially for fighting the evil ones. We need to be very careful_ , her writing continued, _no more banks, sorry I think that one was my fault._

They made it all the way to Wick without a problem. This was mainly because they decided to take turns in the toilet to stand guard over the body until they left the train. Josh didn't enjoy sitting in a room with a corpse but it didn't take long to get to Wick. He made sure he was wearing his gloves at all times even though they weren't expecting an attack so soon. Once safely disembarked, Josh walked down the station platform with Chloe, looking fearfully at everyone and wondering who would attack them next. The man himself hadn't appeared abnormal in anyway which made it worse for him. How could he be on the alert when they were no telltale signs he thought anxiously. A taxi from the station got them to the ferry terminal in no time and Chloe looked around. There were cameras here. It was only a matter of time before they were found on the island but she knew they could island hop using charter boats, none of which had cameras. It would take the evil ones time to reach the island and she saw they had an opportunity to escape before they could be found. Right on time the ferry pulled into the harbour. It was larger than Josh had imagined and reminded him of a large hotel lobby, but with canteens and shops. There was no duty frees but Chloe used the opportunity to buy maps of the islands. Chloe was keeping a close eye on Josh who was gazing over the side of the ferry. The sea looked calm and inviting, almost as if it was a giant swimming pool made just for him. From the corner of his eye he noticed another young girl come over and look at the view. She was clearly Scottish with bright red hair that sparkled in the sunlight and seemed to be experiencing the same feeling of wonder as he was. It was his first time on a ferry and he liked it.

"Beautiful, isn't it? I'm Maddy," the girl turned smilingly towards Josh.

"I'm Josh," he replied. Chloe had spotted the two talking and her eyes had now turned into mini daggers, sensing a threat.

"I see Chloe's struggling to look after you," Maddy continued, looking at his arm.

Josh slipped his gloves on, realising with a plunge of his stomach that Maddy probably wasn't completely human and that he was stood on the edge of a moving vessel in the middle of the North Sea.

"Oh no, please don't get me wrong. I was sent to help," Maddy had seen his reaction.

Chloe had made her way over and was listening to Maddy. She held out her hand to the other girl and when their hands joined white sparks flowed brightly between them. Both girls suddenly smiled and hugged each other warmly.

"Can somebody tell me what is happening," Josh asked inquisitively He knew for sure now that Maddy wasn't human.

"I thought you were just protecting him? Not mating with him," Maddy laughed.

"Josh, this is my great great great niece," Chloe explained before turning to the smiling red head, "Relationships and mating are mutual decisions Maddy!"

"Hello, what are you doing here then Maddy?" Josh couldn't quite get his head around Chloe being a great great great aunt.

"Well Chloe won't live forever, and you will need protection," Maddie explained. Josh looked at Chloe and realised beings didn't have a massive life expectancy once they became human and that this explained them having a high metabolic rate. He felt devastated and looked grey and hurt at the idea of losing Chloe.

"It's all theoretical Josh," Chloe said quickly, seeing his expression, "no one knows how long we've got to live, not even us."

"The evil ones are becoming stronger and more advanced, Chloe will be outmatched in a few days," Maddy explained.

"Unless I regularly update information, technologically the evil ones will have an advantage over me," Chloe agreed, "Maddy has given me an update and I'll be fine for a while."

"So how long will you live?" asked Josh worriedly. He had fallen for Chloe hard even if she was part programme.

"No one really knows, but it is theorised that our life expectancy would be a lot less than that of a human," Chloe explained.

"It depends how much fighting we have to do," explained Maddy, "But that's our job. It's your job to take over and develop what is needed to stop the evil ones."

By unspoken agreement they headed to the canteen. The girls ate as if they were both expecting twins, almost ignoring Josh as they lightly touched fingers, apparently communicating like a high-speed data cable. Chloe seemed to have relaxed because she had someone as her own kind with her. Josh was dying to find out about Maddy and if she had the same morals as Chloe did. Intent on their communication and interaction the group hadn't thought about the other passengers. They now appeared to have a group of three men staring at them from another table. Josh wasn't sure if they just wanted to check the girls out or if they were part of the evil ones plans. He nudged Chloe under the table and rolled his eyes at her. Both girls looked at the men the same time as one of the men came over.

"What's a scraggy lad like you doing with these two? Beat it," he demanded in a strong Cockney accent.

Josh sat there and waited for Chloe or Maddy to takeover, and they did.

"If you want to feel your cock and balls next week I'd take a hike Mister," Maddy said aggressively. She had somewhat less subtlety than Chloe, but Chloe was in human years a little older and Josh wasn't sure what she would have picked up and transferred into Maddy. The man stood his ground blatantly.

"A little girl like you don't scare me," he jeered, "I'm interested in the other girl anyway, can't stand red heads."

"That's my girlfriend," explained Josh calmly.

People were watching by now, their attention drawn by the raised voices. The men had clearly been drinking and had a beer heads on and didn't care if they were causing a scene. The Cockney moved drunkenly, intent on grabbing Josh for his perceived insolence and for dissing him in front of his friends. Maddy shoved him to the floor with one touch of her hand on his pants. Instantly enraged by the sight of their friend twitching helplessly on the floor the other two men rushed towards their table, their aggressive intentions obvious. The canteen staff had seen what was happening and intervened quickly. This was the worst thing that could have happened. They had brought attention to themselves and not only the evil ones but the police authorities would be alerted to their whereabouts sooner or later. Chloe communicated this quickly to Maddy by a gentle touch on her hand. Maddy had known the full implications of what could happen before she had met up with them. She had, as the evil ones could, traced them through cameras and their interactions with the web. The Cockney was sitting up now, still holding his groin and insisting that Maddy had tazered him. The staff came over, rather warily, to talk to Maddy. She pointedly shed enough clothes to show clearly that she wasn't carrying very much at all. She was down to her bra and pants, insisting that she prove the Cockneys allegations untrue, the very picture of injured innocence, before, with a flourish, throwing her underwear triumphantly on the table. Unsure how to handle this situation, the canteen staff were attempting to cover her with a tablecloth and insisting she put some clothes back on. She was naked and causing a big scene and all eyes were on her, giving Josh and Chloe the chance to slip away from the limelight. The ferry was just pulling in and Josh could see police waiting at the ferry terminal. They presumed this was either for them or Maddy and they were ready for either. The crew and a police officer stood at the side of the ferry, talking together as the passengers walked across the ramp to dry land. Josh and Chloe could see the staff pointing up at the ramp but not who they were pointing at. At the end of the ramp the policeman moved in to stop Josh and Chloe. Maddy, fully dressed by now and seeing what they were going to do, squeezed through and with a single touch knocked out the policeman. She hadn't killed him but merely touched him and engaged their area of his brain that activated sleep. It was quite funny, she was clearly an upgrade on Chloe and what she did seemed humane. Chloe filled Josh in, whispering in his ear as they walked past the sleeping officer of the law. Apparently Maddy had also wiped memories of themselves and anything to do with them from the officer. Josh was amazed. "How does she know how to do that?" He was told it was on the net. The CIA had cleared someone's brain years before to prove it can be done. They had merely refined the technique, done through mild electrocution. It mimicked the electrodes used in shock therapy used to treat severe depression so the policeman would wake up feeling full of himself for at least the next week, or maybe even for months. However, the island police would be onto them very quickly and they needed to keep moving and, most urgent of all, change their appearance. It was still light but the darkness was moving in when they found the local watering hole and went in. As they sank thankfully into the worn settee near the blazing inglenook fire Maddy ordered a round of soft drinks although Maddy looked old enough to drink, of course. They couldn't afford to let down their guard. Josh wondered over to a small notice board carrying advertisements and saw a small postcard pinned to the board advertised a holiday cottage to let and gave a phone number. Maddy phoned the number and arranged to meet the owner in the next half-hour. Of course, the police would trace them there within a day or two but they needed somewhere to sleep for the night and then they could move on. They managed to catch a ride up to the cottage from one of the locals after buying him a drink at the bar. Maddy had quite a lot of charm and Josh wondered how much was programme and how much wasn't. She was manipulative, aggressive, clever, soft and kind; a lot of traits to juggle, even for a human. They met the owner and Maddy agreed a price for a week and then gave him a little extra, asking him to be discreet about his new tenants and suggesting that she was fleeing from a violent ex partner. She promised he could have the same in a week if they were undisturbed by outsiders. This was a clear bribe but he seemed to buy her story and, as long as he kept quiet they should be safe. The landscape was flat with open vistas for several miles in each direction, an ideal location for spotting trouble coming their way before it reached them. Maddy arranged to meet the owner the following week but figured they would probably have moved on before he returned. The two bed roomed cottage was pretty. It was of stone construction and had a wood burner complete with a well-stocked log store and had minimal electrics throughout.

Chapter 12: The Good Life.

home

Max was half way through a very busy day. He had attended the autopsy of the young man who had died at the school. The attending pathologist had found clear signs of electrocution and concluded that that the deceased had been tazered to death by his assailant. Armed with this information Max joined his hospital team as they moved the second victim to the facilities at the Health Protection Agency. She was now conscious and fully aware that she was in custody. She was playing the dumb blonde, crying out for them to stop and for her mum and dad. In fact her parents were at the police station trying to find her. They believed she was at the Medical Centre, but soon found she wasn't there and that she wasn't at school either. No teachers, friends or dates had seen her. Max's teams had been extremely busy but were still no closer to getting the answers Cara's parents would certainly demand. What could they say to the parents of the children had been infected? They were getting very close to having some answers but needed a few missing items such as Josh and Chloe. Ronald also needed to finish running his programme that was now set up on a small network of computers to see what it turned up. Sighing deeply at the almost insurmountable seeming tasks in front of them, Max answered his phone. It was a representative of the Home Office stressing that he could only keep a lid on this for a short while longer. It was only a matter of time before the press or the parents smelt a rat. Max used the opportunity to request permission to interrogate Cara. His request was firmly rejected although he argued that Cara wasn't human anymore. If she had committed crimes she would be held wholly accountable, he was told, but we don't torture children, human or not. Max knew permission would be refused but he felt he had to ask. He needed more answers and quickly. Marcus wasn't able to be much more help when Max phoned him to check his findings from CCTV. He had tracked the young people to Wick but then lost them. Max instructed him to check through local police reports for the areas the runaways had travelled through as they seemed to be involved with the police every other day before checking in with Ronald. Far too much time had already gone with nothing to show for it.

"Ronald, I really need something today," Max sounded desperate. Ronald held an equal rank to him but had a record of not completing tasks with the speed needed. He always took too long before it went tits up.

"Well, I've got six computers running the programme, all networked together. I'm beginning to see amino acids," Ronald told him.

"What do you mean?" asked Max.

"I mean we're just starting to see life forms appear on the screen although they are a long way from being conscious entities," Ronald said.

"So could a life force leave the Internet and jump in a body?" Max asked.

"And I thought secret agents were clever! Of course not. This programme is designed to create a conscious being, life from lifelessness," Ronald explained.

"If there were things like that on the Internet could you find them?" Max continued his train of thought.

"No, it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack," replied Ronald.

Max sank back into his seat, thinking deeply. Why, he though, would Josh and Chloe kill anyone and how it did they do it. How and why? Max was desperately trying to link all the recent events together. They must be related, but he needed to find Josh and Chloe. He was sure they would have the answers he needed. As Max was finally driving home his phone rang. Typical, he thought as he pulled over and checked the caller display. It was Marcus reporting in. He had checked police reports as Max had suggested and in one area a man had been found dead in a train and also that there had been an incident involving young person on a ferry. The local police, he was told, were unable to give clear details. Apparently, a young girl had been able to lay a constable out with one touch. He was found fast asleep and was now getting checked out for narcolepsy although he had no previous history of this. It was taking time to trace the CCTV from the boat but Marcus was checking the train station CCTV footage as he spoke. The ferry had docked in the Orkney Islands, at Kirkwall. Max had a hunch and, although it was late in the evening, drove straight to Nottingham airport, abandoning his plans for an early night at home. He called for a chopper to fly him to Kirkwall airport and half an hour later an army lynx helicopter was waiting on a landing pad, blades whirring over his head as he climbed on board. He didn't do this very often but was allowed to requisition choppers as well as having a license to kill. He didn't do that much either, unless ordered to. There was a running joke amongst Secret Service agents. They were all licensed to kill, but nobody did. Police did most of the killing. His flight would take about an hour and a half. It was a long way for a chopper so it was just taking him to waiting jump jet. It sounded very fancy he thought, but with all this technology lying around somebody had to use it. It's not like they were at war every week so it had been a while since the jet had been used. Technically jump jets had been retired but officially they had a few lying around because they were so good at what they did. Kirkwall had an airport, but it wasn't massive. The Harrier pilot wasted no time getting there and landed at the airport vertically. Max, his stomach protesting queasily at the sudden change of altitude, was convinced he'd done it just to show off a bit. A taxi dropped him off at the public house nearest the ferry terminal. As he walked in he saw that it was a beautifully furnished barroom. It was small and had real fire glowing in the corner. Gleaming oak and well polished brass added to the old world effect. Several men, locals by their wind scorched faces and workman's clothing, were openly staring at him. Max nodded to them in a friendly fashion and ordered himself a pint of Guinness as he sat down at the bar. He spotted a few tatty postcards advertising various services and items for sale tacked to a notice board near the bar. Amongst them was a card advertising a holiday cottage.

"That one has gone," George the innkeeper had seen him reading the card, "I was just about to take it down. We have room here if you need somewhere to stay."

"A room for one? Thanks, that would be great," Max acknowledged, "Are you busy this time of year?"

"We're always busy in summer," George replied, "but you struck it lucky, just the one room was left."

Max drank his beer as he waited for the innkeeper to return with his room key.

"Breakfast is from seven until 11. After that we move to the bar menu," the George explained.

"That's great. Actually I'm looking for my friends. They came here a bit ahead of me. Have you seen them?" Max asked as he took pictures of Chloe and Josh from his wallet.

The innkeeper looked carefully at the pictures. He spotted the other contents of Max's wallet as he did so and his eyes widened at the sight of the thick wad of cash Max had in his wallet.

"How much is the room," Max asked casually

"Forty pounds per night," George replied.

Max took forty pounds out and then placed another forty on top.

"I'll have one night then please," Max said.

"Oh yes," the innkeepers face lit up with greed at the unexpected bonus, "I remember, there was three of them, those two and another lass. They rented a place up the coast. Mickey took them there on his way home about an hour ago but you won't get up there till tomorrow." George explained.

"Why is that?" Max was puzzled.

"That particular ten miles of coast has no public transport running till morning and everyone here is pissed," the innkeeper's watery blue eyes swept across his customers who did indeed look very much the worse for wear. One elderly customer was sprawled across a seat, snoring loudly, his trousers agape from his last fumbled visit to the toilets and the others appeared to be getting steadily nearer this condition, "There's nothing else to do is there?"

Max jotted down directions to the cottage before browsing through the display of tourist information leaflets that were endemic in all holiday venues. He picked one up and shoved it in his pocket before retiring to his room where he immediately viewed the location of the cottage on the Google maps app on his phone. It was close to the coast, very isolated, and if they didn't want him there they would easily see him coming and make a run for it. He studied the surrounding areas and decided he wanted to get within walking distance rather than turning up with a vanful of police. He wanted their cooperation. They were murder suspects but this was personal. In his head he could not reconcile the image he had of Josh with that of a killer but the fact that they had run away made it appear that they had something do with it. He just wasn't sure what. He finished his beer and crawled gratefully into the soft bed for an early night. The sheets were crisp and clean smelling and Max was exhausted. He hadn't slept properly for a while because of night time phone calls. Glancing at his phone he saw that this would not be a problem tonight. His display showed he had no signal. Within seconds Max was in a deep and dreamless sleep.

The next morning Max was up early and eating his way through an egg and bacon breakfast complete with fresh coffee and orange juice. He glanced at the morning papers which he knew must have been flown in from London. He was going to have to keep his business here short, he saw with dismay. The newspapers had got hold of both pictures and information on the case and they had connected the forty deaths. They had also researched the families. This was crisis management time for the Ministry of Defence and had gone beyond his level and his area of expertise now. He knew that someone would want his ass though for not managing to keep this contained for long enough. The papers had linked the strange deaths to a contagion. It seemed obvious that the Health Protection Agency had a leak and that someone had blabbed to the press. This was always the problem, he thought angrily, conspiracy theorists confused national security with conspiracies and inevitably, some people can't keep their gobs shut. He looked his phone and decided he was not going to turn it on. He still might have enough time to get to Josh and Chloe and sort this mess out.

"Innkeeper, is there anywhere can I get a taxi or hire a car." asked Max.

"Yes, there's car hire place just down the High Street, turn right at the lights," George replied.

Max decided to take an early morning walk and get there before the hire car shop opened. He could get straight out to the cottage after that. It was 7.30am and he felt invigorated by his first good nights sleep in days.

It was a good walk to the High Street. Max quite enjoyed his early morning stroll; the air was fresh and clean. There was very little noise, just the sounds of the sea lashing against the rocks near the harbour and the echoing shrieks of gulls flying overhead, cawing at every opportunity. The little car dealership proudly flew the Scottish flag from a flagpole in front of the forecourt. Max knew that this fairly typical in Scotland. It was five minutes before eight when he arrived and the opening times notice taped to the door told him the business opened in twenty minutes. He knew he would have to turn his phone on at nine and that people would need to talk to him. Minutes later a young man in the suit hurried across the forecourt, taking a key from his pocket as he walked. He paused at the hire shop and looked enquiringly at Max as he unlocked the door

"Morning, I was wondering if I could hire a car?" Max asked.

"Yes, I'll look what we have available," replied the attendant in a broad Highland accent. He sifted through paperwork and then looked at a board behind him.

"We've only got one car, that Nissan X Trail. It's available for week," he told Max.

"I'll take it," Max passed his driving licence and credit card over.

"I'll need the deposit and another form of ID please."

Max took out his Ministry of Defence badge and photo and showed it to the young man. The badge identified Max as an agent of MI6. The attendant's eyes opened wide in astonishment and disbelief.

"I don't know, if I can use this, I've never seen one before. Is it real?" he stammered.

"It's as real as this," Max said opening his jacket and showing the man his firearm.

"I don't get it; why not borrow a police car?" the Scotsman asked.

"I'm on holiday so please hurry up," Max said sarcastically "I'm in a rush. James Bond doesn't get this hassle."

This got him the reaction Max had hoped for. He was quickly handed a pen and shown where to sign before being handed car keys. The young attendant photocopied his I D with a look of reverence on his face. He was clearly awed by finding himself with an armed spy. Max drove towards the cottage, stopping en route at the fuel station. He knew the car only had small amount of fuel, as with many hire cars. The garage clock told him it was now 8.25am. He drove quickly until the cars inbuilt sat nav told him he had reached his destination. As Max pulled up he heard the familiar wail of sirens and a police car, a Range Rover, went flying past him in the opposite direction followed by the flashing lights of an ambulance speeding after it. It was a bit early for ambulances and police cars on such a small island he thought getting out of the car which he had parked on high ground. He could see the holiday cottage one hundred meters below him on the beach and decided he would take a slow walk down the hill and leave the car there. Hopefully they wouldn't be up and he would wait for them one at a time. Rocks and shrubbery masked his descent to the cottage and Max was careful not to dislodge any stones that might give his presence away by rattling down into the cottages garden. In the distance he heard a car coming towards the cottage. It was a Land Rover, one of the new ones, in black. He thought they looked really nice. It was moving at speed and the driver clearly knew how to drive well as the road leading to the cottage was rough and track like. With a screech of brakes the car pulled up abruptly outside the cottage and five men got out. They were all armed with baseball bats, clubs and various blunt objects. Max, abandoning his plans for a quiet approach, raced downhill to the cottage as he took his Browning 9 mm out of its holster and loaded it the first time. He had never had to shoot his gun but knew there was a first-time for everything. He heard screams and banging just as the window at the back of the cottage opened and Josh jumped out closely followed by Chloe and another girl who was bleeding. Josh was desperately attempting to throw some clothes over his partially naked body. Four men ran round the side of the house. Max heard them shout directions and then heard one of them order the others to kill them all. The first man to reach the teens took a swing at Maddy just missing when because Josh intervened and grabbed hold of the crowbar he had raised over his head ready to swing down on Maddy's head. The crowbar was sparking as Josh held on with both hands. Maddy pressed her hands to her attackers head at the same time, static crackling and he dropped to the floor, grabbing her leg as he did so. Chloe was struggling with the other two.

"MI6, everyone stop now," Max shouted.

Max had taken his pistol out and was pointing it in the general direction of the fight but no one was listening, intent only on surviving or killing respectively. Max fired a warning shot in the air. He didn't want people getting hurt. The shot attracted the attention of one of the intruders who moved towards Max holding a large iron bar. Pointing his gun steadily, Max ordered him to put down the bar and the man slowly lowered it. He stood only three feet away, holding the bar and not moving.

Seeing Max wasn't about to shoot him, the man put the bar on the floor where it just touched Max's foot. The pain was immediate and excruciating and he could feel his body numbing from his feet to his waist and spreading. Max saw no choice now. He pulled the trigger and saw the man's face explode in front of him. The pain continued though, his body twitching with terrible agony. A second man had crept up behind him and was causing the dreadful sensations. Max let out a scream of pure pain just as Josh came running over. Josh struck the other man on the head releasing Max from his grip. Freed from the crippling numbness Max raised his pistol and fired twice, dropping the remaining intruders who had still been intent on attacking Chloe and Maddy. Chloe came over touch Max to relieve the pain that had subsided but not left him till now. They all stood, shocked and panting with exertion as they looked at the dead and unconscious men surrounding them. Max, still trying to figure out how his pain had been relieved so quickly and easily, moved to check the bodies and see who was still alive. Josh intercepted him.

"Let the girls check, you don't want to be electrocuted again."

The girls checked and found one man was still alive. Max watched in amazement and then in the immobility of horror as Maddy finished him off. Finally he found his voice; "No!" he shouted picking up his gun, Chloe disarmed him with one fluid motion, causing the pain she had just removed from him to triple in veracity.

"You can't leave Max there like that, in pain. You need to explain things to him, he's a friend," Josh explained to Chloe.

Chloe took the bullets out of the gun and gave it back to Max, relieving his pain as she did so.

"I need to eat, I'm starving," Chloe complained

"Yes, oh and my leg is killing me," Maddy agreed, "Lets go back to the cottage."

Max felt astounded by the lack of emotion the youngsters were showing as he followed them indoors. His breath was slowly coming back to him now and the feeling in his legs was returning but his face was a picture of disbelief, fear and curiosity. Max scrabbled for his phone, intent on scrolling through his contacts list. He needed backup but the phone showed nothing, not even the time. It was completely dead. Max cast his eyes around the small living room. Josh, Chloe and Maddy were collapsed together in a corner. Maddy sat on the floor. She hadn't realised how badly her leg was injured and she could barely stand up. She knew the ligaments had been damaged and it hurt like hell. Josh had convinced her that she wasn't dying and would get better if she rested it. He actually had no idea whether her injuries would get better or of how to heal them. The beings usually directed their attacks straight to their opponents brain and was a battle of strength and will as to who died when they touched. The concept of injury hadn't occurred to Maddy, it was either live or die. They conferred in whispers and reluctantly decided that Maddy would have to stay with Max to avoid slowing them adown.

"What are you doing?" asked Max, looking suspiciously at the teenagers through narrowed eyes.

"I'll explain in a minute. Max," Josh said, "give me a hand with Maddy and then let's have some food first."

Max lifted Maddy easily onto the settee and, while Chloe made enough dinner for at least ten people, Josh explained what had happened to him from the very beginning and why they had run. He told Max he was sorry for all the upset and pain he had left behind and how he wished he could let Miriam know he was okay, but felt this would lead to him being traced and his mother potentially being put in danger. Max was saddened when Josh told him about the trail of death and injuries they had left in their wake but understood that Josh had been involved in life or death circumstances not of his choosing. Josh went on to explain the problems he had in encounters when an occupied persons host had died. Chloe joined in, telling Max earnestly that she and Maddy were there to help and not to hurt the human race. Max didn't fully understand but he was happier and he also had Maddy who had agreed to participate in any testing he wanted. She stressed that she would only allow this as free entity, not as a prisoner. Maddy could see herself as helping. She would assist Max in the manufacture and security of weapons, Internet security and also act as adviser to the Ministry of Defence on all matters concerning the evil ones. She had one more condition; Josh and Chloe must be allowed to slip off the radar. This seemed acceptable to Max; he had something to show the MPs and obviously they would keep this deadly quiet until such time as they had to make the information public. With these decisions behind them they sat to eat, Maddy having first been handled a fully loaded tray. Chloe made the biggest breakfasts in the world.

On full stomachs they climbed into Max's car and drove for hours into what appeared on the map to be desolate unpopulated areas in the middle of nowhere. Chloe had found an old crofters cottage. It was still intact and was built into the side of a hill overlooking the beach. Chloe explained that she and Josh would stay there, either till winter came or Maddy came and told them it was safe to return. Max was to return and drop off supplies, a solar panel kit, batteries and Josh's laptop containing the troublesome equations so that Josh could work on sorting out the mess completely and for good.

Chapter 13: Everyone Wants to Live on a Desert Island.

Josh and Chloe felt they had finally made it to safety. It would take hundreds of men thousands of hours to find on them on an island so remote from other human habitations. No doubt the evil ones had been researching and would have a good idea of where they weren't at least, but actually finding them should take ages. Max had been good to his word and dropped off supplies, the laptop and solar panel himself. They now had minimal electricity, enough to charge a satellite phone and keep in touch with Max and, to Josh's delight, his mother and Chloe's parents. Satellite phones can be traced of course, but they had now been given all the advantages of working for MI6 and could make calls with reasonable confidence that the scrambling device Max had issued them with would screen them. Officially of course, they were dead. Only their parents knew where they were. Well, not exactly where, but close enough to stop them causing problems. Josh had started working on a solution to the computer programme which he thought, rather pessimistically, he might get in a year or two. Meanwhile he had taken up sex, fishing and writing. He had mainly been working on the sex and fishing to be honest. The writing filled the Xbox shaped void in his life. He could only focus on equations for so long. They had been living in the beachside croft for about a month and Josh was coming to terms with the fact he had fallen completely in love with an alien. Chloe had fallen in love with Josh too which was interesting sensation. It was a precedent for her kind and the organic equations in her programming seemed to have become unbalanced. She had electrocuted Josh twice, by accident, her unstable equations alarmingly out of kilter from the wondrous feeling of being totally and absolutely submerged in another person's needs, wants and desires. It had taken at the pair of them a week to figure out that they needed to talk to each other about how they felt, the electrocutions bringing this realisation about rather sooner than would usually be the case.

Chloe was extraordinarily inventive. She had created a new capacitor that discharged electricity when her bait reached a certain depth. This stunned the fish, allowing her to scoop them all up.

Josh, however, had managed to catch fish nearly everyday with an old fashioned rod and line but consistency and size were an issue. He did get to use the smaller ones for bait with Chloe's technique. Spring and summer passed by in blissful peace. They spent most of the long summer days immersed in the natural beauty of the area. They saw all manner of birds, as well as the occasional passing whale. Chloe was amazed. Josh realised that it's quite a different thing being born as a sentient life form, and quite another to be transubstantiated from a computer sentient programme into human form. Chloe appreciated life itself and was awed by the delicacy, fragility and eventual mortality of every life. Unlike Josh, she had seen her people, programmes, slowly evaporate into nothingness. Computer programmes, like humans, suffered from copying themselves with errors. Humans get old slowly, but computer programs freeze, get stuck, stop moving, explode and jam things up. Humans, she observed, have to be taken care of by family members, usually when they go wrong. With programmes, they simply stop; the Internet slows down and then nothing. She had heard a theory that sometimes these programmes re-emerged as viruses or spam, ghostly elements of what they had been but thought that this was mainly wishful thinking on the part of their families. The average being came from a family of about thirty two to forty, not too big in her eyes. Of course larger families could be interrelated to a thousand beings or more. Chloe developed a lot over the summer. She was used to the steady hum of programmes but the beach was quiet and the silence gave her time to reflect on the programmes she had left behind. They would all be dead now and she still was alive. She hadn't reproduced though and, if she did, she didn't know whether she would survive. She guessed that Josh would want children at some point but chose not to dwell on this. Any upset could send her sparking all over the place again and Josh want to know what was wrong. Chloe found driftwood she on the beach and began to carve. She wanted to recreate some of the imagery she remembered from living on the Internet although what she saw through human eyes was a completely different thing. Chloe attempted to carve Josh a mother programme. The sight was amazing; as a programme grows large it expands and breaks up like a dandelion puff with each particle, if it survived, fully capable of reproducing the parent programme. It really was the mother of all programmes. Broken down to it's individual components, it would have been maybe an thousand tiny programmes of whom only one or two would go on to learn and develop as had the original mother. Chloe was attempting to draw something resembling an electronic double helix as Josh watched her, greatly intrigued. She had only a good quality Swiss Army knife but she was using it like an artists brush. With each stroke of the knife another integral detail was woven into this masterpiece. If he had seen it in the Tate Gallery he would have thought it had been created by a famous sculptor. She made hours worth of work appear in seconds although, of course, she needed to eat the equivalent of the weight of a large horse shortly afterwards. Josh tried to grasp what it would be like to have the computational speed to carry out tasks with such ease. Surely she must be getting bored with him by now. She had lived many lifetimes from his perspective but she still told him she loved him every time he woke up and again before he went to sleep at night. It seemed strange that anybody could care about another person for such a long time. Josh spent a considerable time just watching Chloe. She didn't seem to mind, and enjoyed bathing in his attention.

It was a warm evening and Chloe snuggled up to Josh who was lying on the beach watching the beautiful sunset. The temperature had hardly dropped after an idyllic summer's day. As she lay in his arms, admiring her work which she had placed a few feet in front of them, Chloe told Josh that cuddling was the best thing in the world. It gave her the nicest feeling that anybody could ever have, besides sex of course. The evening was perfect, so perfect in fact that Josh had a niggling feeling worrying away at his brain. Everything was perhaps just a touch too perfect and this gave the scene a sense of dream like unreality. As soon as this thought crossed Josh's mind he knew something really was wrong. The sun was disappearing before Josh's eyes and everything was losing resolution. The sky above him looked as if it were breaking into separate pixels as if a television had a bad signal. He felt as if he was waking up from a deep sleep. He blinked and opened his eyes. This wasn't right, he wasn't on the beach. He couldn't move his arms which felt as if they were tied down. He looked around in panic and saw he was surrounded by machinery mentoring his breathing and blood pressure as well as ominously beeping display screens whose functions he had no idea about. He also seemed to have tubes and wires sprouting from nearly every orifice. Surreally he became aware that there was a dog in the room with him, a husky, and that it was pulling at the ties on his hands. It was busily gnawing, chewing through the bonds which its sharp teeth made short work of. Freed, Josh pulled a tube out of his mouth that, from the dreadful gagging reflex it triggered, must have led into his stomach. He started pulling at the wires he could feel attached all over his head. This isn't right; Josh thought frantically, I shouldn't be there. He managed at last to pluck all the wires and tubing and to free his legs which had been bound together by two serious looking straps. As Josh attempted to stand up he wobbled precariously before falling helplessly onto the floor. He felt as sick as a pig and had an incredibly sore throat. It felt as if he hadn't used his legs for a week or two. From his position on the floor Josh took time to catch his breath and survey his surroundings. He realised that he was in a structure similar to a giant incubator containing a bed, a host of machines and himself. There were probes and equipment that he had never seen before and had no idea what they did. The husky, who had been sitting placidly watching Josh, came forward and started to lick and nuzzle Josh. The handsome animal was wolf like in appearance with deep ice cold blue eyes that cut through him and snowy white fur, fluffy with a light brown overcoat. It uttered a short high yap, its intelligent eyes focused on a point of the room shrouded in shadow. Josh looked carefully and saw that a machine hulking in the deepest recesses of the corner held a motionless figure. Blonde hair hung over the edge of the bed trolley it lay on, Chloe's hair. His legs still too weak to support his weight Josh crawled over to her. He saw that she was restrained as well and, forcing himself into a standing position, Josh started removing the clamps and straps that were holding her down. Chloe still wasn't conscious as he started removing tubes from all over her body. His fingers shook as, terrified of causing the sleeping figure harm, he freed her from all apparatus. Chloe looked so peaceful and was still in a deep sleep. The husky, who had remained at Josh's side, howled meaningfully and trotted across the room, Josh stumbling weakly after him. Lighting suddenly flooded the room, banishing shadows from every corner and crevice, showing two other machines were occupied. He saw that one of the occupants was Max.

Josh still felt tired to his bones and every joint was in pain but his legs, arms and body functions were slowly returning to him. He carried out the same procedure, removing wires and tubes from the sleeping figure. Max was alive, as was Chloe. He could see the rise and fall of their chests. None of them, Josh included, wore any clothing. Josh looked around the room, searching for anything to cover his modesty and that of the others. Max started to show signs of returning to consciousness, coughing and spluttering and moving his body restlessly, as Josh dragged himself over to the final occupied machine. It contained a woman that he didn't recognise. She was in her mid to late twenties Josh decided he would release her. The husky sat there watching the proceedings inquisitively, for all intents and purposes appearing to be weighing up what was happening. Josh looked over at the husky.

"You could find some clothes rather than just sit there, you know," he told it jokingly. To his astonishment the husky wagged his curly tail, barked once and ran to a door Josh had not previously noticed in the far corner of the room. The dog took hold of the handle with his teeth and turned it, opening the door to a cupboard full to almost bursting with cleaning and medical supplies Josh saw it also held a supply of white all in one boiler suits. They had a logo 'Terra Max Corporation' printed on the pocket and were obviously uniforms of some kind. Grabbing four boiler suits Josh headed towards Max who was now awake but showing the same signs of complete confusion that Josh had experienced on his awakening. He handed Max the largest uniform and put one on himself before going over to Chloe, who was just beginning to stir. Max dressed and was attempting to walk. He too was struggling, stretching and pulling at himself to get himself going. Chloe was waking up, confusion written all over her features as she grasped the clothing Josh offered her.

"What happened?" Max croaked, his voice sounding as if it hadn't been used for a long time, his throat sore sounding and rusty.

Josh looked up at Max, unable to formulate speech into anything that resembled intelligent sentences. He was helping Chloe who looked as thick headed as himself. Josh had already learnt that he didn't function correctly if he had hangover. A few secretive cider supping sessions with Kate and Callan over the last summer break had taken care of that experience. He had never drunk so much that he had hallucinated though. For a moment he wondered if this was what was really what was happening, a bad hangover from a night he couldn't remember, and he was really still on the beach fast asleep. His mind struggled to accept that he could be on the beach one moment and the next half naked, laying on some machine. He decided to deal with this reality as he seemed to be stuck in it. Catching Max's eye, he gestured towards the woman who was waking up on the other side of the room. Max, understanding Josh's unspoken request, made his way over to the stranger. He was struggling not to fall, his legs visibly wobbling as he carried the last boiler suit to her. Chloe, who was still lying down, looked sad eyed and near tears. Her eyes lit up though when they met Josh's. Chloe shook her head as if to try and clear the wooliness and, reaching over to Josh, gave him a slight shock. It had the same effect as having three early morning coffees.

"Thanks, I needed that," Josh managed to smile as he kissed her on the cheek and hugged her tightly, "I'll try and find out where we are and get food," he had spotted a door earlier and hoped it led outside the room, not just to another storage cupboard. As he walked over, trying to look more confident and physically able then he felt, Josh spotted an indistinct shape lying on the floor partially hidden behind another huge machine. He gasped as he saw it was a dead body. It was the body of a white middle aged male, a look of abject terror frozen forever on his chalk white face. Josh saw the body wore the same boiler suit as he had donned and also that there was an identity card that must double as a swipe card sticking out of the dead mans breast pocket. Gingerly, Josh removed the card, being careful not to touch the cold flesh in doing so. Shuddering, he pulled the card away and examined the door that he hoped led to freedom. It was an electronic door with a swipe card facility and Josh swiped the dead technician's card. The door slid open smoothly and almost silently and Josh saw immediately what lay on the other side. It was a shopping mall. Josh stared in disbelief. Things had, his mind told him, just gone from totally weird to absolutely crazy bonkers. He found he was opposite a branch of W H Smiths and that people were walking around everywhere, busily engaged in shopping, browsing the store windows and looking for bargains. Josh was jolted back to his present predicament by a scream, a huge enormous scream. A passing shopper had glanced through the open door and seen the body on the floor. She had dropped her carrier bags on the floor and was rooted to the spot outside the incubator room's doors, her finger pointing accusingly at the body, her screams echoing through the mall. Other shoppers were beginning to hurry over to her, trying to see the cause of her distress. Quickly, Josh swiped the door and to his relief it closed. The door must be soundproof he thought, no vestige of the woman's screaming could be heard through it. He saw that the others were unaware of the scene that had just been played out, that they were still trying to complete dressing and work their limbs. He was on his own till they could muster their thoughts. At the moment it appeared they were trapped in a room and that a lot of questions to which they didn't know the answers would be asked if he opened that door again. Josh thought that the dead technician's body might hold some more clues. Nerves jangling and feeling increasingly sickened by what he was doing, Josh searched the dead man. The only other thing he had carried was his wallet and Josh searched through every pocket in it. It held forty pounds in cash which Josh put in his own pocket and a driving licence registered to a Nottingham address. He thought about the glimpse of the Mall he had seen while the door was open and decided that they must be in either the Broadmarsh or Victoria centre. Josh began a systematic search of the walls. He was desperately hoping for another route out and praying that the door he had used was not the only one in the room. Close examination of the opposite wall showed him that there was in fact another door. He had only found it by running his hands across each wall. This door blended almost seamlessly with the wall. He had found that the lights must be on a timer and were only triggered by movement. Survey completed, Josh turned his attention to the others. They were grouped together, still looking very ill and without the energy to attempt conversation. Josh found another door with a plain handle and no lock or swipe mechanism. It was however just what he was looking for; the toilet. He relieved himself and then, feeling rather more human, explored the rest of the area. He found a shower, a small bunk area and a kitchen. The kitchen had a supply of coffee but only two mugs. There was plenty of food in the well stocked fridge and cupboards. Josh helped the other into the kitchen area, encouraging their screaming leg muscles to reach their goal with promises of breakfast and coffee. Max was now able to articulate and join in Josh's attempts at conversation but the others were still not functioning properly. Josh placed an impromptu breakfast, a selection of biscuits, crisps, bread, ham and cheese, on the table, along with several bananas. Chloe and the stranger ate as if they had never eaten before. Josh could see their bodily faculties improve by the second. Max and Josh drank coffee and ate their sandwiches whilst watching the amazing sight of Chloe and the woman eat as if there were no tomorrow. Although it was evident that they were all wondering what was happening. It was also evident they were in no shape to have a serious discussion. They all felt as if they had appalling hangovers and this was preventing anything occurring in the old grey matter. Chloe's eyes lit up though when the husky came into the room and brushed against her. It was Maddy, she told them, Maddy was the husky and she conversed with the dog for several minutes.

Chloe, who had visibly improved since she ate, undertook introductions to the stranger, explaining that one of their numbers was a dog and that they had been captured.

"I'm Janice," the woman said, "and of course you got captured. What is it that you call us? Oh yes 'the evil ones'. We've been around for years."

Everyone in the room turned and looked at her, full of questions. They were all wondering why she hadn't attacked them or escaped and why she was in a virtual world with them.

"You're one of them." Josh reeled in shock, "can you explain why we are here?".

"They feel you're a threat to them, the same as they think I am," the woman explained.

"How long were we in there," asked Josh, nodding towards the machines.

"How would I know? I don't know how long I was in there myself after I was captured," the woman shrugged.

"Yes, why didn't they just kill you? The same question goes for us as well I suppose." Chloe mused.

"Let's finish eating and check my machines," Janice suggested.

They ate plentifully then Chloe made the husky breakfast which included sandwiches, a banana and a packet of biscuits. Josh sat stroking the husky, mainly as he liked dogs but also as a way of communicating as he didn't speak dog. After the huge and impromptu breakfast Janice led them out to the machines. Chloe, Josh and Max followed, all still very wary of her. She pointed to a bank of panels, which were lit up and displaying the programmes purposes, functions and outcomes. Janice showed them that her programming was designed stop her interacting with humans and ensure she remained alive to make machines such as these. She had invented all the machines and subsequently was considered very important by the evil ones even if she didn't comply. They had kept her alive until a replacement as technologically gifted as she was could be found. She was in a looping programme where she was charged with assisting humans in developing technology that would be used against them. They were creating scenarios to see what technology she would develop against them. She had been given a human body which was then stored in a machine so that she could work on the technology to sustain and repair human bodies. It had been estimated that they could increase human life to over two hundred years using a combination of organ cloning and nutritional supplements, coupled with specific exercise regimes. The evil ones knew she could engineer most of this, given enough time. Janice showed Josh his machine next and explained that Josh's programme had been designed to immerse him in happiness to the point where he would develop the death programme. The evil ones planned to use this against Chloe's people to purge them from the Internet for ever. Chloe, they discovered, was to help Josh fulfill his potential by making him happy. They had reasoned that if Josh had the woman of his dreams he would eventually run the program. Max was placed in the machine purely because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and to eliminate the risk he would trace Josh and Chloe.

"How long have we been in there?" Josh wondered. He looked at Max's beard, the length and bushiness of which showed a few weeks must have passed at least. As they explored further Chloe found the machines settings and discovered the truth. Josh Max and Chloe had all been there for two months and five days. Janice had been there for longer, for eight long months. Whilst the others had been checking the machines, Max, who was much less squeamish than Josh, thoroughly searched the dead man in the corner. To his immense satisfaction he discovered a phone tucked away in the corpses inside jacket pocket. It showed a full battery and a good strong signal. Max flipped it open and dialed a number he knew by heart.

"Marcus this is Max. Trace this phone and bring everyone to its location." Max wasted no time on pleasantries or explanations.

"Max! I thought you were dead. You just disappeared," Marcus's voice showed pleasure and surprise.

"There's no time to explain, send locals to secure our position and I want an armed response unit on standby," Max ordered "Let them know that we have one dead and four undercover on site." He took the swipe key and unlocked the door. The police should be here momentarily.

He took Chloe to one side and asked her if Janice was on the level or if she was lying. "She's telling the truth," Chloe informed Max, "Maddy extracted information from her while she was unconscious."

"Why is Maddy in a husky rather than human form?" This was Max's next question; a four legged form didn't seem a good choice if she had come to help.

"There are two reasons. Maddy needed to find me and Josh regardless of our condition, and she could do this most easily as a dog. We weren't showing up on any cameras anywhere so she tracked our scent. It took her four weeks to find us. The evil ones are looking for her in human form. They're guarding exit points from the Internet to this reality, but they are not guarding exit points into animals. Animals have MRI scans as well so Maddy chose that route out. There is something else as well," Chloe paused, trying to choose her words, "They're not like us. We thought they came from our programme but they don't. We don't know where they came from, but they're nothing like us. Maddy says they mask themselves to look like us but she had seen them and says it's as if they have a different electronic DNA. Someone else has made them."
Chapter 14: Live and Let Spy.

home

Chloe, Max, Josh, Janice and the husky had squeezed into a car and were speeding towards London. They were going to a special place for lost dead people. Every now and then someone was recorded as being dead without a body being present. It could be a soldier missing in action, an old man falling down a well or a little child, becoming lost. Sometimes but not always they stayed lost, even if they were found. This was one of those times. There is a place in London with no particular address that houses the lost children called Exploratores which meant spies in Latin but Max called them the lost boys. It was a fitting name as it was mainly boys who agreed to be trained as spies. There are spies and intelligence agencies around the world but there are very few that have agents who are not known to their enemies. Max knew that the easiest way to examine everyone without suspicion was to induct them into MI6. Who in the world has got a dog on their spy team; he reasoned. This brought him to his next problem. He needed to discover what the public had been told about the forty or so people who had died. He would find out soon enough. In the meantime he had agents charged with removing the machines and transporting them to London. Something bothered Max: the technology the machines used seemed far more futuristic than he could have imagined. Once a year He was, of course, trained in any technological breakthroughs and MI6 were kept informed of all new developments as a matter of course. He knew that any steps forward were always global. No country was going to complain about breaches to patents when it came to spying. The machine technology however was brand-new and the integrated circuits and superfast semiconductors they used weren't everyday technology. The team checking the machines would correlate information and come to their conclusions hopefully within a week. Max had phoned his boss and been told to take everyone to Exploratores for induction as he had thought.

The drive didn't take long. It was straight down the M1 onto the North circular through London and then into an underground lair that seemed to go down and down for miles. Josh thought that they must be below the underground stations or on a similar level. It must have been built years before when the underground was being developed, the builders seizing the opportunity to create an even layer that know one knew about.

Max thought through what he was going to say before he started to explain where they were and what they were doing. He explained that their length of stay at the MI6 training facility zero, zero one was not determined by MI6 but by the people who went through it. If they felt they needed training or instruction in any area they were entitled to go and get it. If they felt the need to fly a Harrier jump jet then they would be trained for the Harrier jump jet. However they would be expected to give exemplary performances in the field and risk their own lives, even to give it all up for their country.

"While you're here," Max continued, " you will learn to excel in a minimum of four basic areas The first is in developing skills at arms: basic weapon craft including gaining expertise in using British Army and police force weapons such as pistols, submachine guns and rifles as well as self defence and unarmed combat. The next main category is to understand world politics and social change," he continued, "you may think is silly but if you find yourself in the wrong country at the wrong time you could wind up dead. There is an espionage aspect to this course but the thing that makes it interesting is to look objectively at the espionage methods, training and equipment of major countries. The training school offers fitness and health training to keep its agents in tiptop condition. You'll learn survival in a variety of environments; desert, forest and meadow and finally jungle fitness. The last main section of training will be in technology. This explains all the spying kits ever used right up to the latest and most modern developments in espionage such as microwave guns. These are flawed because nobody has them, not even terrorists, so they would be an obvious giveaway for a spy."

Josh looked excited but Max could see that under his buoyant exterior he was also feeling worried. He explained that they would all be tested to see what they knew already before training began and that their physical and mental fitness would be checked so that they had a benchmark to work from. Just as he finished speaking the car drew to a halt and Max opened the doors letting everyone out. The husky jumped down and immediately brushed up against Chloe.

"Maddy wants to know what you are going to do with her," Chloe translated.

"She'll have the same training as everybody else, with a few obvious exceptions." Max smiled.

"What about our families?" Josh asked.

"We're going to take care of the evil ones. While your families don't know about you they're not at risk." Max could see that this was not the answer Josh had wanted.

Chloe, head to one side, looked lost in thought. After a moment she stood up straight and looked at Josh before gently stroking Maddy. Her eyes told them that no one they knew would be hurt. Chloe still retained memories from her host and the feelings that went with them. Reassured, Josh took in his surroundings. They were in a large underground garage containing several hundred cars. Max led them over to a door with a flashing scanner mounted at eye level. Max looked straight at the scanner, allowing it to read his iris before a hand shaped reader slid from the frame. Max put his hand down, carefully ensuring his digits were on the metal marks. "Just taking my thumb reading and a DNA sample," Max told his curious companions as a slim needle pricked his finger. Five minutes later the door slid silently open.

"You're stuffed if you want to get in quickly," Josh remarked rather sarcastically.

"You should never enter a base whilst being pursued or followed," Max explained.

Josh was quite excited by the prospect of training to be a spy, of doing what his dad had done. He took in as much of his surroundings as he could as they walked through the open door into a large square expanse with doors strangely positioned in all corners. He saw a rifle range to his right full of people firing silenced guns. Josh recognised the guns as MP fives. The shooters were of all ages. There was a grandmotherly looking woman at one end and a small child of about eleven years old in the firing stall next to her. On the left-hand side a large wall was covered in gadgets. A sign above them showed the history of their use in the espionage game. A small room was built into the corner with a blast shield covering the front entrance and a large extractor fan above it. The door had a huge indentation. Adjacent to this on the other wall was a cafeteria full of a mix of all sorts of interesting looking people. Max led along them to their right, alongside the firing range and through a set of double doors. Josh felt they had been walking for a very very long time. His legs were killing, muscles screaming, hurting because they hadn't been used for a while. He could see from Chloe's expression that she felt much the same. The corridor curved around and seemed to go on forever.

"How much further?" asked Chloe "My legs hurt."

"We're here," Max had stopped in front of a huge slab of rock, "this is the medical lab," he explained as he pressed a button and was scanned again. They could barely see the door. The corridor had been channeled from solid rock and the door had, in a rather gimmicky way, been concealed. Max explained that this was just for fun and that students tended to do things like this. Max was trying to hide that he too was a little puffed from the walk as they entered the room and were greeted by the medical team including doctors and a vet who had been waiting to examine them. The walk to the medical laboratory was designed to challenge fitness and to give the examiners an accurate reading of their blood pressures. The medicals were extreme. Max had one, much to his discomfiture, as he had lost fitness. They gave blood and urine and were in return given x-rays and MRI scans. Of course, they checked the scanners weren't connected to any other systems and, to Josh's amazement; apparently they weren't on the Internet down there either. It was all part of being super secretive. Josh was apprehensive about being scanned again and of the life forces of Chloe, Maddy and Janice being assessed. No-one had managed to assess any of the living subjects who contained contagions before and the results would take a while to compile. Max couldn't wait to see what they found there. Finally they were allowed a break and Max led them all to the food court where they obviously drew a lot of attention due to the amount the girls ate. People surreptitiously glanced at their table in awe as they ploughed through three starters and six main courses each before starting on the dessert trolley. Max finished his meal quickly as his boss came over. The slight dark haired man with serious intelligent eyes introduced himself as Reginald Fuller before whisking him away. Reginald pulled him over to the firing range out of earshot of the others

"We have some very interesting results from the scans," Reginald explained.

"What have you found?" Max asked.

"Chloe and the husky don't have the fibrous network that we found in the others," Reginald explained.

"But we knew Chloe wasn't the same as Janice's people," Max was puzzled.

"There's something else," explained Reginald "The fibrous network is a change in the persons DNA, not a growth,".

"What about Chloe then?" Max asked.

"Chloe's brain has been altered and she's using a massive amount of it. We're guessing maybe as much as 50%. This is where Chloe's contagion, let's say, lives," Reginald cut his explanation short as he saw the others watching them. He was feeling paranoid. They knew so little of the capabilities of the strange women that he wondered if they actually could lip read from fifty metres away.

"Right, finish their induction but keep an eye on them. I'll talk to you later," he said abruptly, turning away from Max before making eye contact with the range instructor. He stopped to exchange a word with him before leaving the huge room.

The instructor approached Max. "Sir, your party is ready I believe."

"Yes, I believe they are," replied Max, looking over to the canteen as he gestured for the others to join him. Josh came straight over while the girls and dog quickly polished off the remnants of their huge meal before they hurried over to Max. There were ten firing points in the range which appeared to be about a hundred meters long with targets of varying sizes going down the length. The instructor asked them to demonstrate their abilities, if any, with the weapons which lay before him on the table. Josh looked at the options. There were pistols, machine guns, shotguns and rifles. Janice was the first to pick up a gun. She picked the Browning 9 mm pistol. She loaded pistol with clear expertise and turned to the range firing point. She hit the target repeatedly in the bull's-eye with no problem at all and put one in the paper targets head. She returned and repeated the process with every weapon on the table. Everyone looked really shocked.

This instructor was longing to ask Janice where she learnt how to shoot so well but he knew he wasn't at liberty to ask so instead asked if anyone else had any gun skills. Chloe explained she knew how to shoot all those weapons and more but that she never tried. She asked if she could have a go and looked really excited when the instructor gave her permission. She immediately picked up the Browning 9 mm and went to a different firing point with fresh targets. Chloe fired off her rounds. She seemed to be flinching with every shot she fired but was smiling and clearly enjoying trying a completely new thing. She pulled in the target to demonstrate her handiwork. There was just one bullet hole in the whole target. The Instructor was pleased that he could at least teach this pupil and commented that she had the theory and could load her weapon but he could teach how to shoot more accurately as she had only the target once. Chloe looked disturbed and annoyed with instructor. She insisted that she was a perfect shot and that she would do it again. She reset the targets on the range and put ten bullets in the Browning. With a look of intense concentration Chloe sprinted ran along the range, holding the Browning with one hand, and popped a round off at each station. The instructor walked along with his mouth hanging open. She had hit the bull's-eye on every target. Josh, of course, explained that he couldn't shoot to save his life, but, he smiled, that's why he had bodyguards. The instructor showed him how to safely load, fire and shoot the pistol. Josh enjoyed it and managed to hit the target with no problems, but he wasn't scoring bull's-eyes. It didn't matter to him as he could now defend himself. Pistol practice over, they returned to their interrupted meal for coffee and desserts. Max handed them tablets loaded with political questionnaires and assessments to look out while they finished their drinks. The assessments were scheduled to last for two hours and then it would be time to find quarters and obtain passwords to access the systems. The girls took the tablets, Maddy holding hers gently in her mouth before placing it on the floor in front of her. Instantly their questionnaires were complete, totally aced of course. This gave Max an idea. He made a phone call and set his team working on a list of questions, technological and anthropological, that the girls could answer. It would save a lot of time and they had shown they had the ability to enter answers in an instant. After several coffees and chocolate muffins Josh finished the boring questionnaire and Max took them through the door on the left. They hadn't been there up to now and saw there were another three doors. One door was labeled as the Barracks and there was quite a bit of traffic going in and out. Max took them through the second door which was marked as Registration. Their pictures were taken, their eyes scanned and their DNA profiled. Alternative recognition passwords with security access level limitations were set. They were given a level V, which was enough to get them in and out of the building. Level four was allocated to regular employees, level III to supervisors and level II to those working in internal intelligence. Only six people held a level I; one was the Prime Minister, the other five people were those stationed just below her. This process took time and when their security ratings were finally set it was getting late. Max found them each a room and issued them with tablets to use to order appropriate clothing for themselves. The night shift would go shopping for them and everything they wanted would be provided.

Chapter 15: First Contact

home

Although MI6 is charged with ensuring the safety of their country, it is good relations formed through years of nonjudgmental and respectful policies that really provides the best protection. This starts with having a government that is re-elected every four years, ensuring the cycle of meetings to maintain trust and respect occurs again and again. But, that being said, informing world leaders, quietly, about a threat that endangered everyone through technology could create a double edged sword. Technologically advanced countries knew their duty to ensure safe usage of that technology. Developing countries, or those reeling from economic recessions, brought an unbalanced element to this equation which kept MI6 busy. The most basic principal of being a spy is not to be detected at all. They knew that if they failed to follow this rule that it could cost them their lives and the lives of everyone they knew. Somewhere deep in Uzbekistan a research facility that had lain silent since the onset of the Cold War turned its lights on for the first time in twenty years. Men and equipment moved into the compound buried hundred of metres below ground. The heat signature instantly activated a satellite high above. With technological advances there wasn't much that happened without someone knowing about it. The real trick is setting this aside and investigating everything no matter how small. MI6 agents had noticed that the local bulletin boards in neighboring towns and villages in Sussex advertised for bilingual volunteers to participate in a study into how psychiatric medication affected linguistic performance and capability. The drug was supposed to improve oral skills. This seemed rather strange to Robert who had been sent to investigate. He had been chosen primary because of his linguistic ability in the regional dialect and his skin colour. With his ruddy cheeks and freckled complexion he looked as if he was a local villager.

He arrived by bus and saw the village was even smaller than it had looked on the map. Immediately he saw the poster advertising for volunteers in a prominent position in the post office window. He studied the poster for a few minutes until a grizzled old man came and stood next to him.

"They pay well but don't trust them," he said, shaking his head as he took a long draw on his pipe.

"Why is that then?" asked Robert, curious about this unexpected reaction.

"Last time it was open people went in but never came out of that facility thing," replied the old man.

"Who's the agent I'd need to contact to join up?" Robert asked.

"He'll be in town this afternoon. He goes round the local villages with a big wad of cash and an armed guard," the old man replied.

Thanking him, Robert went to get food from a nearby hot dog vendor while he waited. Some time later a man appeared in the market square with two uniformed armed guards. He did not recognise the insignia on their tunics but the pistols in their holsters were recognisable enough. The man they were escorting was chatting to passersby, asking them to come and work for him, and Robert noticed he focused his attentions particularly on young bilinguals with European accents. Robert strolled across the square casually and sure enough, the tall man approached him, hand outstretched to shake Roberts hand. Robert replied to his greeting in perfect French. He explained that his father was married to a Frenchwoman. This sharpened the agent's interest. He asked in lots of questions some of which seemed to be health checks and some general background information gathering. Eventually he nodded his head and offered Robert a job. He was very vague about what the job actually was but offered Robert a retainer as he took a wad of cash out and put it in Roberts's hand. Robert played the part of a greedy but unquestioning local as best he could, allowing his eyes to widen at the sight of the money, and agreeing to take the job after a few token questions. The guards politely escorted him to a truck containing five other people. The guards were not soldiers but hired security dressed in peacock blue uniforms. They looked full of self importance and from their monosyllabic replies to Roberts innocently probing questions he deduced that they were not very bright. Robert and the other five passengers sat in the van in uneasy silence for about an hour while the agent continued his hunt for other language proficient speakers but eventually the van started up and pulled away. They drove for about three quarters of an hour before the van pulled in and Robert got his first glimpse the facility building. It was not much bigger than a large house and set in large heavily fenced grounds. They had entered through an electronic gate and parked in front of a large cargo bay. Roller shutters slid open at the press of a button to reveal a large lift. As they climbed from the van, stretching their legs in gratitude after the long wait, another van pulled up and at least ten people got out. Everyone was loaded into the lift before the shutters came down. Roberts's instincts were telling him to run, his gut broadcasting that it felt danger. He ignored it; he had a job to complete. His eyes began to adjust as the lift moved quickly downwards and the bright lights dimmed down a little. Robert was trying to count how many floors they descended but the guard was covering the lift buttons with his body. The lift finally shuddered to a halt and the rollers went up. He saw a number coded door directly across the corridor. Beckoning the passengers to follow him the guard punched in a code and the door opened although the alarm sounded. The guard went through the door and punched a number into the panel on the other side as he signaled to the CCTV camera watching him. Robert was grateful that this stopped the clamoring bell. The recruits were escorted to a large food hall where they were offered meals. The food was European and this got Roberts grey matter working; his employers must also be European and they wanted European bilinguals. Robert sat at a table with his fellow travelers from the van. They looked rather daunted and conversation did not flow. As soon as they had eaten men in white coats came into the hall and singled out individuals by name. As each name was called the owner followed the white coated escorts through the canteens swinging double doors. Eventually it was Roberts turn. He was led through three sets of double doors into what appeared to be an interview and assessment room. It looked very much like his doctors surgery with its computer terminal and screen on a desk, two chairs and a stretcher in the corner just showing behind a discreet screen. A selection of sample bottles and swabs were on the desk alongside a clipboard. His interviewer was friendly and explained that he would be given some basic health checks before completing a questionnaire. Robert gave blood samples and had swabs taken from his mouth. The questionnaire was extensive but Robert had learnt to bend the truth but not completely break it. He knew he couldn't get away undiscovered with lies about medical conditions and his family health history. Once he had completed the questionnaire he was x-rayed and taken through to another room containing a magnetic resonance machine. Now he was scared; he knew what these things could be used for and looked around carefully, attempting to see if the scanner was connected to the Internet. The doctor sensed his fear and offered him a glass of water which he drank slowly to delay the procedure. Then he remembered nothing. He woke up on a jail style bed, immediately noticing that his clothes were gone and that he was wearing a night gown. With relief he saw that his clothes were actually folded neatly over a chair in the corner of the room. He felt slightly lightheaded as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to get up. He didn't know what they had done and this worried him. A pair of slippers lay on the floor at the end of the bed and he slipped them on before walking cautiously over to the door which he found unlocked, to his immense relief.

"Hello, you're awake then," an attractive woman wearing a nurse's uniform bustled into the room just as he opened the door and before he had chance to leave.

"Yes. What happened?" asked Robert "One minute I was at that machine and the next I was here undressed,".

"You passed out. I'm sorry but we believe you are not suitable for this programme," replied the nurse as she measured his pulse, holding his wrist in a cool firm grip as she did so. Roberts face dropped, he needed to maintain his suitability if he was to snoop around. Shoulders bowed he started to dress. The nurse saw his disappointment and looked carefully at his file.

"There is some good news though; there may be another place you in the organization. John Paul Phillips will come and see you later today," she smiled.

As soon as he was dressed the nurse led Robert out the small recovery unit. Doors lined the corridor they walked into and at each end he saw sets of double doors. He saw an MRI scanner through a partially glazed door as the nurse led him past and then they were in another corridor. He calculated that the canteen was one direction and office in the other. They passed more doors before his guess was proven correct. They were in the canteen. He had no idea what time it was or how long he had been unconscious or even what tests they had run on him but he would soon find out. The nurse asked him to wait in the canteen until he was contacted before leaving him in the bustling room. Robert immediately joined the queue for a meal; he was starving. As he looked around he saw that the people in the canteen were nearly all workers. There was only one other person in the canteen besides himself who he thought wasn't a worker. The others all had small logo 'Terra Domum Corporation' on their uniforms. This was almost but not completely the same as the logos MI5 had found in the machine room where Max and the others had been found. Around him people were coming and going and he saw there were they were no clocks in the room. He waited for what seemed like an eternity before a short and rather sweaty man hurried towards him, pausing only to introduce himself as John Paul before launching into an explanation. He told Robert that they were short of porters who could work across various countries in medical facilities. John Paul very carefully explained that the work involved maintaining a high degree of security and he wouldn't be allowed to leave the compounds he would be working in for up to three months at a at all and that breaking that rule would lead to death or imprisonment. Robert was aware that dodgy contractors or mercenaries often worked like this in the backwaters of the world. He also knew that they always explained the conditions and consequences and most people were fine about it as long as they were paid well, and were also fine about turning a blind eye to what was actually happening as long as they were paid very very well. Philip gave him a full tour of the building. He was to help out wherever he was required whether it be in the morgue, canteen, hospital wards or dealing with supplies. He wasn't to be as much a porter as a labourer. Robert was delighted. It would give him an almost free run of the compound except for the restricted areas. There were two areas on the lower floor he that he would not be given access to. He was issued with a card key, an identity badge and codes for the main doors but noted that this apparent freedom was actually meaningless; there were guards everywhere. He had been shown through most of the compound now and seen nothing terribly out of the ordinary. He could quite easily have been in a completely legal facility. The rest of the day was spent being processed and settling into the accommodation found for him. There were fourteen floors all together, most of them underground which allowed the exterior of the building to maintain the illusion of being house sized. The bottom two floors were the ones he didn't have access to and the next floor up contained store rooms for supplies. Communications and command were housed above that and the next six floors were designed as accommodation. Workers only had access to the floor they lived on. He was told the rest of the building was unused apart from two medical floors and was only shown round one of these as he was told his duties would not take him to the other one.

Tour completed, Robert settled down for the night. He was exhausted; it felt as if it had been a very long day since he had stepped from the bus in the village and he was tired from taking everything in. Before he could sleep though, there was work to do: he took out his belt and undid the buckle which contained a small microphone. There was no signal when he turned it on as he was several floors below ground level. He would have to get to the surface to contact his support team and let them know what was happening. Robert read through the list of duties that he needed to perform every day; the command and control offices needed to be cleaned and the officers and senior management needed their teas and mid morning snacks on a daily basis. He would pick an internal radio up in the morning so that he could be given direct instructions whenever needed. Robert needed a full plan of the facility so that he could access it all. He decided to check out the ventilation shafts and, looking round the meagerly furnished room and saw there was an air duct in the ceiling. One of the unused floors must house some sort of air conditioning or engineering workshops he thought. The shaft wasn't big enough to get inside or use to move around the complex but the duct in the catering hall and possibly the one in the supply floor may be big enough. He decided he would check the next day and see what other intelligence turned up.

As morning dawned Robert woke and made his way to the command floor. He had a cleaning trolley which he planned to use to hide anything he found that might be useful. He was happy to find that he was free to move from office to office, cleaning and observing as he went. The command floor was mainly open plan with the exception of a row of long offices to one side of the large square expanse. These were the meeting rooms, relics of the cold war. He had cleaned the first two, which clearly hadn't been used for years, before Philips came in and asked him to dispose of old paperwork in the offices. He explained that there were thirty or so box files in each office containing paperwork that was now ready to archive. He was told to take them to the storage floor. Robert emptied his cleaning trolley and slowly filled it up with the box files, playing close attention to their contents which were mostly mindless data that he didn't understand. He spent a lot of time taking files from the third office and was getting quite a work out in the process before he found something he thought might be useful. It was an old fire plan showing emergency escape routes. It showed that there was another set of stairs to all the floors behind a security door. There were no cameras on those stairs but Robert thought that they must have been fitted later. The doors were connected to the fire alarm system which must be tested at some point. That would give him an opportunity to snoop around. Better still, he found a map with the layout of each floor. He had the air conditioning plans, maintance logs and maps of everything he might need and would study them later when there was no chance of getting caught.

Chapter 16: The Problem with Spies is that You can never Trust Them.

home

For the following two weeks they trained constantly, up early everyday in the morning and late to bed every night. They were all exhausted, worn out, tired and fed up. Josh and Chloe wondered if they would ever get a day off. Janice had lived up to all expectations and developed a brand-new device to enable communication with Maddy. The device looked like a wristband but in reality was a device to turn sound waves into radio waves which it would transmit to Maddy's collar. The radio waves were then turned into an electrostatic charge that was visible when they communicated. The collar and wristband worked in reverse as well so that Maddy could communicate with whoever was wearing the wristband. The whole invention had only taken Janice a day or so to build from standard parts. The full schematics had been handed over to the Gadgets Department to be miniaturised and turned into everyday objects such as a wrist watches and dog collars. Janice had been turning out amazing inventions so successfully that she was given field status and full access to systems to allow her to develop defensive and offensive weaponry. The first thing she started on was a method of detecting simpathe organisms, as they were to become known as opposed to the evil ones. She had devised a device for field use and to use as part of the door system security. It looked like a palm reader but measured the electrostatic charges that all simpaths had regardless of origin. The palm reader was designed to deliver a massive charge to any enemy simpathes on recognition. This is what the ministry really wanted, something they to apply practically to check out those in power and later to introduce covertly into airports, driving licenses and eventually dole offices. This would pick up and wipe out the infestation of parasites. The problem they faced was that not all advanced or developing nations had the time and manpower or the relationship to work with western agencies such as MI6. South Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Argentina weren't yet at a stage to engage with in basic conversations let alone believe in secret parasitic simpathe organism infestations. The strategy so far had been to protect home soil against obvious terrorist threats. It helped that many of the deaths that the health protection agency had explained had been thought to have been terrorist based. Elaborate stories of each unexplained death had been leaked: some stories suggested that people had been infected with a contagion of unknown origin but the authorities had conveniently prevented the outbreak that could have killed millions. The Prime Minister had explained that emergency measures were being put into place throughout the United Kingdoms infrastructure and that this was to prevent the spread or contraction of this new contagion. This announcement also served to make everyone compliant with all the new introductions of technology that Janice had developed. By the time they were two more weeks into the development she had, in partnership with the British space agency, developed an independent satellite that would link all the technology across the country together. This would give British intelligence an instant heads up in locating the Simpathes. Agents could be dispatched instantly to ports, airports or train stations as needed.

Josh, Chloe and Maddy had been taken out of the loop and had been training continuously. Josh was now proficient with pistols and submachine guns but his real skill was using technology and gadgets. Chloe and Maddy of course had no use for such devices. They could operate anything electronically without using remotes. They needed knowledge of other languages, so had been studying Chinese which was spoken by the largest population in the world. Josh had finally finished a course studying every gadget invented since the beginning of espionage. They were all brought together to examine the new technology that Janice had invented and were excited at being able to communicate with each other at last. They had been told about the technology but hadn't had the chance to use it before.

"That looks really cool," Josh said, looking at the wrist watch he had been given it by the gadget constructor who had also handed him a manual to go with it.

"Mines all girly, look! Maddy's got a nice pink collar as well," Chloe smiled happily.

"I don't like the colour," Maddy said, "couldn't I have something natural that blends in if I need to go hunting?"

"You're not going to go hunting," Chloe laughed, "you're a house husky!"

"We could do with altering the voice," Josh observed, "Maddy sounds like Stephen Hawking,"

"I'm supposed to be spy dog, not a house dog!! Check out page 23 of your instruction manual Josh," Maddy said, pulling strange doggy faces and drooping her ear down at him disapprovingly.

"Ah, you look so cute! You should work on doggy poses for disguise purposes! Pull another face for me and I'll mark it." Josh was full of himself and Maddy promptly let out a bark to stop him laughing. She snarled, exposing her teeth and sent electro static charges between her lower and upper jaws. Josh looked little worried until a message came up on his screen. It said. Ha ha! From Chloe!

"Do you know how old I am, in human years? Maddy said, "Nearly 200. You need more respect for your elders, young man."

"Sorry Maddy, I was only playing," Josh replied in a repentant tone. How old are you Chloe?"

"It's so rude to ask a girl her age!" Chloe replied.

While they teased and bantered with each other affectionately their instructor went into a closet at the back of the room and came out carrying two suitcases. He flipped them open and started pulling out pieces of clothing. Josh knew what they were straight away: protective clothing against electrostatic charges. The instructor explained some nice graduates had designed them to protect them from attacks. He pulled down a white screen and turned on a projector sat at the back of the room. The film explained how the technology Janice had designed worked and their purpose. Josh and Chloe were to work as collection agents for MI6 and return all the enemy simpathes to a facility based near Nottingham where their extraction into an internet designed by Janice would occur. It was thought safer to extract them if possible and then jail them. The instructor explained that they could go out into the field whenever they felt ready to do so but that the satellite and new technology would be up and running within the next week so he needed them to make themselves available then if they felt ready. Josh asked if they could go out. They had been in the complex for about six week all told and were getting a bit stir crazy. Their instructor agreed to allow them a week's leave with the proviso that they were to take weapons and appropriate clothing, false identities and everything they would need to start work. They were so excited. The initial panic was over and they had weapons protection, a simpathe detector, money and nice little MI6 badges. They were even allowed to go home to see their families. The threat of simpathes targeting Josh didn't seem to matter to MI6 now that they had everything they needed to defeat them, thanks to Janice. AS soon as he heard the news Max found them and warned them to use caution when going home and that the enemy may still want Josh dead. Chloe and Maddy weren't about to let anything happen and Josh had a nice shiny pistol and a hundred rounds of ammunition. Chloe also had a gun and Maddy could scout ahead and her fabulous hearing would detect any threats to them during the nights. Josh was worried about the nights as this must have been when they were taken the last time when he had ended up living in the computer generated imagery world for two months. He still couldn't believe the evil ones had done that to them so easily. None of them were old enough to drive yet and Maddy of course couldn't drive a car in public. It annoyed Josh that his government had deemed him old enough to be taught how to shoot a gun but he still couldn't drive. They were given rail passes and a car to the tube though. During the journey home, which didn't take long, Chloe and Maddy steadily ate their way through what looked like half the contents of the buffet car. They had insisted that they would only travel on trains with buffet cars. Josh didn't understand why they didn't get fat; he ate a lot but their appetites were incredible. Josh and Chloe had not been apart much since they met and the thought of being parted for any length of time was unbearable to either of them. They made the decision to go to Josh's home for the first three days and then to Chloe's house for three more. They could share rooms now and thought no one at home would mind. They had their badges, guns and everything. Chloe was excited about their plan to stop in London for one their remaining free night and go sight seeing on the way back to MI6. When they phoned their respective parents there was a big hoo-hah because Chloe was visiting Josh's house first but Miriam invited Chloe's family over for dinner and this soothed the minor crisis. Chloe and Maddy had been touching and having quiet conversations between themselves but without using the new tech they had been given

"Me and Maddy were chatting about you," Chloe explained noticing Josh was feeling left out, "It's good you're working in MI6 but no matter how many gadgets Janice invents, you're still the only one who can defeat the Simpathes."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Josh.

"We had a predictor programme. His predictions were more accurate than anything else we have found although we don't know how," Chloe explained.

"He passed on before he could tell us how. We're waiting for another predictor programme to pop into existence, a seer," Maddy continued the explanation.

"Just remember you have your father's genes," Chloe said smiling at him, "the capability and talent is already there."

Josh took out his laptop and looked closely at his father's programme. It occurred to him that creating a programme to kill the evil ones would kill all of Chloe's people as well. There must be another way he thought, unable to even contemplate a world without Chloe. He spent the rest of the journey mulling on what could or could not happen. They weren't troubled by attacks at all on the way home. They found it hard to believe that no evil ones had tried anything at all. They felt sure that they must know where they were and have an alternative plan. It was possible that there were thousands of them travelling around England. There are hundreds and thousands of MRI scans every year, over 1,000,000 worldwide and that's a lot of infected people. The train eventually began to slow down before pulling to a halt in Nottingham train station. As they headed out of the train station they saw the new scanners had been fitted and were being tested on random people using the exits. They were clearly not working; Josh observed one man who appeared to be being electrocuted. Josh used his portable scanner and checked the man who looked quite disturbed by the sight of a young lad stopping and flashing his badge. The policeman at the scanner checked the badge and. promptly addressed Josh as Sir, something Josh quite liked. The officer explained that they had a defective or faulty scanner and thought the new technology was unpredictable. Chloe had taken her badge out and checked the scanner which had been taken out of position for inspection. It appeared to be working perfectly when Chloe checked it, identifying her as a Simpathe immediately. Leaving the officers to their checks they took a taxi to Josh's house. His mum was frantic with joy and relief to the extent that she didn't seem to know how to react. She was over polite, over attentive and talked almost non-stop. She asked to see their badges, their guns, everything. Before long Chloe's parents and sister arrived and non-stop talking was the order of the day. Of course everyone loved Maddy who was eating dog food in character for the duration. She messaged Chloe and Josh to let them know how hungry she was and they gave her another three tins. Josh escaped momentarily to take his luggage to his room. Chloe also escaped upstairs. Although she was pleased to see her parents and sister she felt overwhelmed by the intensity of their emotions. She had felt something like this before but it was a formidable experience. She knew that Human emotions were very similar to the ones she was feeling but much stronger and more instinctual. She grabbed Josh and asked him to hold her. As he placed his arms around her she gripped on to him tightly.

They were jolted back to reality as the armband on both their wrists simultaneously lit up like Christmas trees. As they separated and pushed the buttons to open channels they heard an agonising scream and then silence.

Maddy's message read 'I am dying love u both good luck.'

Another bloodcurdling scream filled the house. It was gut wrenchingly raw as if someone had poured a pan of boiling water over tender flesh. Josh and Maddy both reached for their guns and clicked the safety's off as they ran downstairs. Chloe led the way with her pistol out stretched in front of her. Her father lay sprawled at the front door. He had been shot, his eyes already glazing over. Chloe looked outside the front door and saw her sister laid there, dead from electrocution by the look of her. Josh had made his way to the kitchen and fired his gun automatically without a thought of the consequences as he saw strangers in his home. Two men brandishing silenced pistols dropped to the ground. Josh had fired his gun without a silencer and couldn't hear anything except the ringing in his ears and the echo of the roar of the gun amplified in the small room. Tears rolled down his face and time seemed to slow down to a crawl. His mother and Chloe's mother were both dead on the kitchen floor, one electrocuted and one shot dead. A pistol fired and Josh shot his gun again wildly seeking the gunman. He missed and felt a burning sensation in his right shoulder. It was an unfamiliar pain but he knew he had been shot. He fired again and this time hit his target. His hearing had almost cleared and he could hear repeated firing of Chloe's Lugar pistol. She never missed so she must be in trouble. Josh ran outside quickly, almost falling over the corpse of Chloe's father as he ran. Chloe was outside and had been hit in the leg. She was limping towards him and looked bad, really bad, with blood gushing down her arm as well. He pressed the emergency button on his communication system marked 'agent needs assistance'. He heard the thud and crack of AK 47 assault rifle rounds hitting the car nearest to Chloe. Thinking quickly Josh scooped Chloe up with his undamaged arm and half carried her into the house. Bullets hit the door frame centimetres from his head as he reached the porch. Josh slammed the heavy outer door shut, bolting it behind him as he ran frantically for the first aid kit. He slapped a bandage straight round Chloe's leg whilst she reloaded pistols. A barrage of bullets mowed through the windows and doors as the two clambered onto the floor next to Chloe's dead father. Tears were mixed with the blood on their faces and Chloe's shoulders were hunched in anguish. Neither even noticed as bits of mortar, plaster and house splintered down on their heads. Suddenly the hail of bullets stopped and complete silence descended, broken abruptly seconds later by the sound of splintering wood and metal as the front and back doors were breached in unison. Josh and Chloe started firing continually through the door in a steady stream of bullets, mowing down the first three heavily armed invaders. Chloe was weeping uncontrollably, tears rolling down her face. The next man through the door saw her weakness and shot her. Chloe screamed with pain came as the bullet hit her upper torso and she fell to the floor. Josh shot the man five times, his emotions letting loose with a hail of bullets before dropping to his knees over Chloe's weakening body. Tears rolled down both her cheeks, dripping on her bloodstained dress. She was white, the whitest he had ever seen her and her lips were turning blue. Josh was unaware of anything except Chloe, unaware even of the familiar noise of weapons being reloaded until the barrel of the AK was shoved in his face. It was the man from the train station who had been electrocuted. His face told a story of loathing and hatred before everything went black.

Chapter 17: There are Shit Bits to Everyone's Job but Someone's Got to Do It.

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Max was at the health protection agency offices once again, preparing to wind up his end of the job. No more suspicious bodies had been found for a while and everything pathological had been relocated to London to lower the cost. A two-hour drive to London lay ahead of him and Max was mulling over what he might say when he arrived. It was never nice to have to give bad news to anyone and he had learnt over the years that it really mattered what was said and how you said it. It could affect people for years to come. Tact, politeness and manners cost nothing, especially when someone has died. Max thought that telling someone that a friend or relative or even work colleague had passed away was the hardest thing he ever had to do. It was truly upsetting for him in the circumstances, if it had been Josh he needed to tell it would have been a little easier but he didn't know how Chloe would react and what feelings would come out. Even His driving was somber; dying is something everyone does, he thought, and you can't stop it. You can only make sure you lead a good, honest life and hope something you do will improve the quality for others. Max did recognise that not everyone gets to be an MI6 agent. Max loved his job and he did not regret not having a partner or children although he had, cuckoo like, left babies in someone else's nest several times. He was deep in his thoughts and didn't realise how quickly the journey had passed until he saw the familiar underground garage at Exploratores. He spoke into the door intercom and greeted the security guard who carried out the eye test and DNA and palm scans before he was granted entry. Once through Max took the lift to medical bay where Chloe was waiting. He had to negotiate a winding corridor with several sets of double doors before reaching a large expanse with thick sheeting covering thick heavy loading bay doors. There He was greeted by the head of the medical department, Dr Grant Fletcher, and the head of technical support, Dr Philip Wandsworth. Philip was an IT genius; by the time he was twenty one he was already one of those guys who could do anything and get it first time every time.

"It's time," Wandsworth smiled, "you do seem to have good timing Max."

"Is she good?" asked Max as they walked over to Chloe.

"Yeah, great," replied Wandsworth.

"She is physically and mentally amazing but I still don't understand her metabolism. It's like an Olympic gold medal winner's," Dr Fletcher talked quickly as he pushed buttons on a machine.

"I must say Max, using these machines to test the integrity of the Simpathes was a stroke of genius and I'm supposed to be the genius round here," Wandsworth commented.

"You programmed it to fool its designer. You're the genius," replied Max. He had reached Chloe and was now watching as she slowly woke up.

"It's okay Chloe, you have been in the machine again and everything is fine," explained Max, passing her a plate of food straight away. A nurse saw Chloe rousing and ushered the men away whilst Chloe, who still looked dazed and confused, dressed and ate the food she desperately required to function like normal.

Max and the others walked over to Josh who was also just waking up. Josh looked at Max and took in the machines and knew instantly what had happened. A hovering nurse handed him a coffee. Max, having done this once already, knew exactly what each person would need when they woke up. They walked past Maddy who was sat panting in front of a plate of food, thinking that machines just weren't designed for dogs and of how much she hated the experience. She had quickly realised what had happened although there was no translator. Dr Wandsworth and his team had recreated much of the technology that Janice designed in her Simpathe world.

"What about Janice?" Asked Max.

"I'll keep her in there. I need to find out what else she might do," Fletcher replied.

"Yeah, she is as evil as they come," Dr Wandsworth nodded his head in agreement, his usually twinkling brown eyes solemn in his pale doughy face. "Those palm scanners infected three hundred people at Nottingham train station within two hours,"

"And that's what brought them all out. One hundred Simpathes turned up and wiped them out first and then their families," Fletcher took over the explanation from his colleague.

"I can't believe there are so many life forms existing," Max said.

"Just remember gentlemen, you don't need to operate a body in cyberspace. You just have to have knowledge and awareness. Thank goodness that was a simulation though – I couldn't bear it to end like that" Chloe's muffled voice joined in the conversation, her mouth still full of food.

"You're back with us! Sorry about the machine, we had to be sure," apologised Max.

"No I'm really pleased you did it. Janice electrostatically lied to me and I couldn't tell," Chloe replied.

"Do we have a plan?" Max looked to Dr Wandsworth for his expert opinion.

"Don't let these three out unless you want them dead, Josh is supposed to have the answer," Wandsworth replied.

"Josh is the answer, you know that," Chloe said, "We are to help him however he sees fit."

"Chloe, it's not always that simple. People in charge don't like not being in complete control. I do need a word with you though," Max said as he held out his hand towards her. He led Chloe to a small lounge just off the medical ward. Max was doing the thing he didn't want to do. Chloe's father had passed away and it was his job to tell her. He hadn't been sure how she would react but she was very human in her response and cried her eyes out heart wrenchingly for the next ten minutes until Josh and Maddy arrived, rushing across the lounge to comfort their stricken friend. Max left Josh comforting Chloe after telling them he would see them for a debrief session in two hours time at the operations centre.

Refreshed after a meal and change of clothes, although emotionally drained, the trio made their way slowly to debriefing. Their limbs felt weakened and Chloe had been hit hard by the death of her human father and was struggling with her emotions. As a computer simpathe she had never before needed to develop coping strategies for the intensity of emotions she was now experiencing. In the debriefing room Max was pouring coffee and putting biscuits on a tray and comfortable seats each had a little note pad and pen placed next to them. He waited for them to settle before speaking:

"Today you will meet the Minister in charge of the Simpathe threat operation. He alone will decide the course of action we will take."

"I thought you knew that it was Josh's job to defeat the Simpathe?" Chloe queried, a frown darkening her face.

"This is why we have a debriefing. I have a boss, he has a boss and in turn he has a boss. The boss of all bosses is coming to tell us what do and I can't do anything about that," explained Max.

"So what's the date and how long where we out of the world?" asked Josh. looking at Chloe, his eyes mutely signaling her to leave the topic. He was aware of Chloe and Maddy's feelings on the matter but he shared Max's cynicism.

"It's the12th November and you've been out for about two and a half months this time. That's why you feel so weak," Max explained just as the door opened and a very smart looking man was escorted in by what appeared to be bodyguards. The escorts both had earpieces and bulges in their jackets. Josh wondered why a Minister needed bodyguards in an M16 training facility. Perhaps they didn't trust their trainees, he thought.

"Hello," the slightly overweight white haired man spoke confidently as he stood next to Max, facing the rest of them, "I'm Graham Parsons, Minister for National Security, a new position created to combat Simpathe terrorist threats."

"Coffee Minister?" Max offered.

The Minister nodded at Max dismissively as he continued to speak "it appears in the course of doing our country a great service you became the number one target for simpathe terrorists. You will remain here with the full protection of MI6 until such time as the threats from their syntax have been neutralised," the Minister slipped his coffee as he took it from Max.

"What about my father's funeral?" asked Chloe immediately.

"It's too risky to allow you out at the moment," Parsons shook his head., "It could be years or even decades before Josh emerges to be the saviour that you predict he will be."

"They want him, not me," Chloe's voice trembled with frustration, "and they will find us here anyway."

"Every precaution will be taken. Anyway, surely that's your host Chloe's father is it not?" he looked puzzled.

Chloe could not believe the ministers insensitivity. An intimate and lasting bond had been formed when she coalesced with Chloe and her tears at being told she would not be going to the funeral were clear to everyone in the room. The coalescence she shared with Chloe was one of the things she valued highly as it distinguished her kind from the evil ones.

"Minister you don't seem to understand. I have Chloe's memories, I have her feelings and I have my feelings. It's my duty to go and I have to comfort my mother," Chloe tipped her head back slightly to prevent her tears falling as she tried to explain. The minister looked startled. He had clearly not expected Chloe to have any emotions and the look he gave her was shadowed with something else besides incomprehension. Josh suddenly realised what it was: fear. Standing suddenly the Minister placed a thick sheaf of paperwork in Max's hand "I'll leave the debriefing to you Max," he said, walking out of the room. Josh knew now that the Minister was clearly scared of any syntax regardless of their loyalties. He knew that people were scared of what they didn't understand but he didn't understand why. It was being the saviour that scared him.

"Sorry about that Chloe, as you can see not everybody is welcoming to new life forms especially sentient native life forms," Max looked shamefaced.

"It's okay, there's a lot I haven't explained that I'm still learning myself. Let's say it's bending my mind let alone anyone else's being the first simpathe to go to another universe," Chloe shrugged. Josh's arm pad flashed up a new message from Maddy:

You should try being a dog, you'd know how horribly smelly you all are. Josh fought hard not to smile.

Max explained he was going to read the ministerial paper on the Simpathe positions to them.

"The letter reads:-it appears that unknown quantities of simpathes have adopted terror tactics and are evading detection whilst forcibly inhabiting humans. They have hatched a plot to intentionally release thousands or millions of simpathes into human hosts. In reaction to this all critical systems have been removed from the Internet. MRI machines and x-ray machines have also been disconnected and set up on separate systems. It is the ministry's intention to make first contact with all factions of simpathe in respect to entering into negotiations. It is the ministry's opinion that technological advances can be made by those countries who embrace the new life forms emerging from a great technology. As for the simpathe Janice, she is to remain locked into their cyber universe so that we may see how her faction plays out in her megalomaniacal fantasies within cyberspace. Relevant authorities are to be informed of new technological advances as they occur. We accept that the simpathes known as Chloe and Maddy are nonthreatening sentient life forms sent to help us. We respectfully thank them and offer them positions to train as MI6 sentient cyber agents. They will complete training with Josh and then will remain as trainers at Exploratores for the foreseeable future. We wish to make contact with and confirm the intentions of your people as a whole and we would like to confirm the origins of the simpathe thought to have been created by Josh's father. Josh is to remain under the guardianship of Max until his 18 birthday and will be subject to section 31 of the childcare act until that time.

"What you mean section 31?" asked Josh, confused by what he had just heard.

"It means I will make parental choices for you until you're 18, obviously this is a special circumstance," explained Max.

"But I have a mum. She can do that!" Josh protested.

"She could but she doesn't know you're alive. None of your parents do, it's the only way they'll be safe," Max softly lowered his tone. Josh rushed to comfort Chloe as she started crying again and felt his armband pad vibrate with another message from Maddy:

Well the discrimination just keeps on coming; Chloe didn't get a section 31. I don't trust them and they don't trust those who are trying to help them.

Chapter Eighteen: Evolution is The Survival of the Fittest and Their Ability to Change and Adapt

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The little monkey screeched loudly as he heard the automatic door piston activating. He leapt from side to side, holding onto the cage bars, his calls for food getting louder and louder. A white coated lab technician walked over taking a juicy piece of fruit out of his pocket as he spoke.

"Morning Mavis, are you pleased to see me today? Come and get your extra snack from the cruel lab technician."

He walked around the lab greeting all the animals, checking the water and feeding them according to their needs before going to a large fridge and pulling out several bottles of painkillers. He filled seven or eight syringes from the bottles, carefully ensuring all air was tapped out. Regulations stated that animals suffering pain or discomfort were to be given appropriate painkillers. He knew this was subjective. Humans in pain were always asked to tell how much pain they are in by choosing a number between one and ten with ten being the worst. With animal's it was impossible to know which test was causing them pain and how much pain. The assistant carefully drew up radioisotope syringes for ten animals. He started at Mavis's cage. As he approached the little monkey moved to the back of the cage screaming loudly. This set off a chain reaction and screams and howls filled the laboratory in no time. Wincing at the noise a second man approached the technician. He wore a suit and tie under his white coat and an identity badge hanging around his neck stated he was Paul Hemming, the director of operations. It was typed in very large letters.

"Martin," He greeted the technician curtly, "Eric's phoned in sick so you'll have to work late to ensure we keep the testing up-to-date. I will make it up to you when he can make his time up."

"Its okay," replied Martin cheerfully, "it's not like I've got a wife and three kids at home. People just don't like animal testers."

"They will do when we cure cancer," replied the director, "and thanks Martin."

"Will you let Peter know that I'll be here till about 8pm? Its assessment day," Martin said by way of an answer.

The director left Martin to his work. Mavis had calmed down a little and Martin passed her a little apple whilst he slipped on a large leather handling glove. As soon as he took out the door holding pin the intense screaming and cage rattling started again. Mavis initially avoided capture by clinging agilely to the cage bars and springing deftly from side to side but soon succumbed to the grip of the handling glove. Mavis desperately tried fighting him as he injected the painkiller into her thin arm, even biting into the glove but it was too tough and the grip too tight. He injected the isotope quickly before placing her back in the cage where she sat in the corner barely moving. He thought ruefully that her body was in shock or maybe she had had a little too much painkiller but wasn't worried. Experience had taught him she would be fine in a moment or two. Martin went to the next primate's cage which bore the legend 'Justin Bieber.' This monkey was larger and more aggressive than Mavis so Martin loaded a small tranquiliser pistol.

"There's no Eric today Justin," Martin told him waving the pistol at him, "So you see this gun? If you give me any trouble I'll toast your ass."

Placing the pistol down Martin picked up two syringes as he unlocked the cage and attempted to keep Justin in. Justin always tried to run. It was easy for two people to contain him but not for a lone lab worker. Justin ran around the cage too fast and Martin made the fatal mistake of using both hands. Of course he only had one glove on and Justin was not a stupid monkey. Seeing his opportunity he bit Martin between his left thumb and finger right on the fleshy bit, taking out a good chunk out. Martin moved back quickly wincing in pain and Justin lost no time making his break into the lab. Martin deliberately regained his composure before he picked up the tranquiliser gun and placed a feathered dart in Justin's furry flank. He waited until Justin's body slowly lost stability and flopped to the floor before dashing to the first aid cabinet and dressing his wound. It wasn't as bad as it could have been but there was a lot of blood. He could easily have lost a finger he thought rather shakily as he wrapped it up tight and made himself a coffee before giving the unconscious Justin his injections and placing him back in his cage. Martin was conscious he had lost time. The isotope only remained in their systems for a short while and he needed to scan the test subjects after their injections as soon as the isotope had had the chance to get into the system. The isotope would show up where cancer was located and the tumour growth since last time would be measured. These groups of monkeys had been given lung cancer and were being used to test ten different drugs. Martin fired up the MRI scanner. The results of the scans would be mailed to HQ to interpret. Animal testing had been regulated since 1876 with revised laws in 1986 and 1999 but this led to a country whose main income was from pharmaceuticals to go underground with animal testing the same way as cannabis growers were forced into hiding. History showed that Burke and Hare, the first body snatchers, carried out their nefarious trade so doctors could carry out illegal research into death in much the same way as modern animal testing stayed away from public scrutiny and outrage. Martin took painkillers with his coffee and went straight to Mavis who was now highly sedated. He put her in the scanner and pressed a button. The scan took about 20 minutes so Martin prepared his e-mail in readiness to attach and send the data file as each monkey had been scanned. Reading the imagery was a task for highly qualified staff but he knew how to do it. They paid him more in case he got caught but it was never enough. There would be a prison term if he were caught. Martin picked up Mavis carefully and carried her through into her cage. He had a soft spot for Mavis and always left her a little more food out than usual as she seemed to have an enormous appetite for such a small creature. Martin repeated the process with Justin who was now out for the count. It took most of the day to work through the rest of the animals. He had 10 fairly docile monkeys reasonably high on painkillers and all tested before he received an e-mail he didn't want.

Email:-please find subject number to 15772. Terminate and extract glandular fluids for testing.

The monkeys periodically were terminated and examined if they showed signs that the formula they were testing was working. Many of the formulas were designed to stimulate the correct response from the body in order for it to heal itself. The glandular fluids would show if the monkey had produced the correct or desired reaction. Martin wasn't even sure which one 15772 was. He checked to see which cage the number corresponded to. It was seven o'clock and he would be out there for eight o'clock if he left the tidying up he thought despondently as he checked. It was Mavis. He checked all the cases again hoping he had made a mistake but only confirmed the number. Mavis must have picked up on subliminal signals and she fought him harder than ever before as he took her from her cage once again. He hated his job sometimes but knew someone had to do it and he had twenty thousand pounds worth of student loans to pay off. Capitalism had taken a grip on him at a young age and made him a slave to money and only big corporations paid good money. One quick swift injection and it would all be over he thought wretchedly. The monkeys and animals were kicking off as if they knew what was about to happen. Martin had long suspected they were all plotting against the evil lab technician and were just waiting for the right moment to attack. He figured he was on a paranoid guilt trip: one part of him was saying it was wrong and he shouldn't do it, that it was cruel and heartless but the other part knew he needed the money. The monkey twitched feebly on the bench as her life leeched away. He felt horrible but had to work quickly now. He prepared to make an incision: he would cut straight down the middle line to access all the major organs and glands. This was hard work and the point where he wished he was working on larger animals as monkey glands are very small and hard to find.

Justin watched Martin's every move. The lab was deadly silent with the smell of freshly killed monkey filling the cages. Justin slipped his thin arms through the cage and slowly and silently removed the pin holding his cage door in place. Opening the door he carefully climbed onto the roof of the cages where he lifted all the door pins. Working in an eerie silence the monkeys simultaneously opened their cage doors and lowered themselves to the floor where they waited as Justin crept across the room to the fridge. He pulled at the fridge door until it swung open enough for his prehensile arms to reach in and pull out a small syringe similar to that one there just used on Mavis. Martin was still intent on his dissection and heard nothing until the pain of the needle being thrust hard into his leg made him cry out in shock. He looked down at Justin uncomprehendingly as he pulled the syringe out and looked at it, wondering what it was. As understanding dawned Martin moved towards the tranquiliser gun but didn't make it. He fell to the floor gasping helplessly, attempting to oxygenate his blood but to no avail. His body twitched as Mavis's had moments before. The monkeys organised themselves, syringes in hand and with Martin's pass key in Justin's control they made their way quickly and silently out of the building pausing only to give the same treatment they had given Martin to both Hemming and to Peter the security guard. Hemming was taken completely unawares and died without understanding what was happening. Paul however was a cautious man and had kept a fishing landing net close to his desk. As soon as the first monkey appeared he seized the net and attempted to recapture them, chasing the monkeys around the yard. What he hadn't foreseen while he was chasing one there was another three with needles and it was only a matter of time before one of the needles hit its target and he lay dying on the floor.

Early the next morning Max received two phone calls, the first from a friend and the second from the Staffordshire police. This particular incident been designated as a possible national security risk. Max knew that the particular pharmaceutical company involved was the main contractor for anti-biological and nuclear warfare. A big bright flag lit up when the police put the company name into the records search and Max's his name as an immediate contact with full access to all investigations. Everyone in MI6 was assigned as a contact in case of problems with companies, people or projects at some point associated with the agency. They had to be experts in the field and if the police became involved for any reason they would check it out even for small incidents such as theft or vandalism that everyone has some at some point. Most investigations could be left to the police after an initial check but three murders required immediate attention. Josh Chloe and the others were well into their first month of training and physical fitness. Their bodies had deteriorated and had muscle wastage after their long stay in the machines. Chloe had started to grow fur due to the lack of fat but was now eating five meals a day to put weight on. Max had grabbed Maddy and borrowed Josh's armband for the day. He even bought a lead and name tag with his telephone number on it. He knew she strictly wasn't supposed to go out without ministerial orders but also knew she would be useful. They were heading for a research facility based in Staffordshire. He didn't know much about the facility as these things are always kept quiet so Max quickly read the relevant paperwork and found they had been testing new antibiotics to combat MRSA. He wasn't looking forward to this. MRSA is not nice and apparently quite a lot of people carry it around and don't even know. He had his ten minutes on Google, MI6's number one research tool for those dumb on diseases. Max loved the Internet; it gave him a good living and new life forms to research and partner with along with most of the answers he had ever wanted. The journey was going to take a couple of hours and as he drove down the motorway he decided which questions he needed to ask when he got there. Apparently there had been a break in and three people appeared to be dead but what was not apparent was what had been taken, if anything. The senior director of operations insisted the culprits must be a terrorist group hell bent on destruction and discrediting the company. Crime scene pathologists were already there to secure the scene and dust for evidence.

As Max pulled up at the facility he noticed two police cars blocking the entrance of what looked like a group of expensive Porta cabins placed together to form a T-shaped laboratory. Workers were being kept outside by a police cordon. The victims had been identified as a technician, a security guard and the director. Max showed his identity card and was about to be escorted in by an officer who had identified himself as Sgt Perkins when the pale looking policeman spotted Maddy.

"You can't bring that dog in here," the officer looked shocked, "it'll contaminate the crime scene."

Max was happy; he didn't play as much as he wanted and it gave opportunity for him to get his badge out again and look cool for a moment.

"Special dog, classified, love to tell you. You know how it is," Max explained cheerfully as he put on gloves and prepared evidence bags. He carried a long grabber tool. He followed Sgt Perkins to the dead security guard who had died outside in the middle of the yard. The guard had had a cabin where a bank of CCTV screens covered all the buildings, door access plus the gate. It was clear to see the perimeter fencing had not been breached. Max could only assume that the attacker had been known to the men or that it had been someone on the inside. Perkins led Max to another body, lying on the floor of an office with card operated doors throughout. Next he was taken to a resting room was next to the laboratory, a curious mixture of canteen, lounge and welcoming room; it was a bit of everything. Forensics teams were dusting all the surfaces. Another carded door led to a laboratory where they found mice, a few rats and everything on the inventory they had already accessed. The third body was also here. Sgt Perkins had promptly asked for the licence to use animals which every respectable laboratory has. Max was carefully checking the list against the animals. They all seem to check out. Max also saw a list of the drugs being tested and the procedures being used. None of the bodies showed a visible cause of death but it wouldn't take long for the coroner to find out. As Max wondered through the lab he saw the MRI scanner. It was only a small one and had a computer next to it, still turned on but with the password blocked out.

"Is this linked to the Internet?" asked Max. MRI scanners all over the country had been taken offline for obvious reasons but it was possible that someone somewhere did not know.

"I don't know Sir, I will find out for you though," replied Sgt Perkins, who had been courteously waiting to assist Max. He left on his mission leaving Max free to speak to Maddy. "Okay super dog, do your thing! I need to know what this was used for, when and whether it's linked into the internet."

Maddy stepped up and touched the metal sides of the computer. In only a second or two the password block came down. Maddy brought all the information Max had requested up on the screen. Max could clearly see monkeys had been scanned on the MRI. When Sgt Perkins returned the computer screen was dead.

"Well you were right to call us. My department will take it from here," Max told him.

Chapter 19: First contact 2

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Robert now had full maps of the facility and semi formed plans but he hadn't been able to act on any of them. They didn't test the fire alarms and he had spent the last two months stuck without sight or sound of anything happening. The company had been employing even more staff and the command centre was teeming with people carrying out desk jobs. It was difficult to ascertain exactly what they were doing as so many people were around. Security in the office had been stepped up lately with hand scanners fitted to the insides of all doors and he wasn't allowed inside the small offices any more, but he could see the scanners inside through the glazing and wondered if the simpathes used them to communicate. People had been flowing in and out of the offices all day and every day as if they were telephone booths. One morning Mr. Philips, who was the only person Robert spoke to on a daily basis other than to give casual greetings to, took him down to the forbidden floors. He wasn't given an access pass but was allowed to work there under guard and shown areas that were to be cleaned. He was given instructions on where he was allowed to go on that floor. There were three large areas to clean and he would be under guard in each one. Robert estimated that it would take several days to finish the cleaning. Each area was the size of an assembly hall and looked like they hadn't been used for years. Power points were plentiful around each room. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for; the ventilation shafts gave access to the larger room but he had no means of moving from floor to floor. Now he was on the ground floor and could go for a look around under the guise of preparing to clean. He was delighted to find that he could climb into the ventilation shaft from a toilet block in the corner of the large room but knew he would have to wait for the next day and come back with a few tools; a torch and camera. That night he studied the floor plans carefully. The plans were 30 years old but should still be accurate. He was to clean three of the four main rooms they showed which he suspected meant there must be something in the fourth he didn't have clearance to see. Any of the rooms would work for the purpose of accessing the ventilation shaft. He knew the guard checked on him every hour or so and planned to give himself forty minutes to complete his surreptitious task to be on the safe side.

Robert could never sleep before embarking on a dangerous assignment. He felt as though all his adrenaline rushed through his system early. He lay awake for hours, his mind eventually turning to what he did before he joined the SIS (secret intelligent service) or as we know it, MI6. This had been its war time name and had stuck after the war. When Robert had checked out the MI6 website he had thought he might get a nice desk job in logistics where you knew all of the secrets but had none of the dangers He felt this would have been perfect for him and had never wanted to be a spy. That is until he met a woman, Jenny, a beautiful girl who just loved spies! Before he knew it their fling had turned to love but a James Bond type field agent swept her away and married her. So Robert trained to become a field agent and took more and more dangerous missions to up his reputation, convinced he would meet another lush public school girl and then, when she was committed to him, that he would take a desk job where it was safe and he still got to know all the secrets. Dreaming of his dream Jenny soon put him to sleep and he woke fresh and ready to go spying.

Robert was escorted by the same guard as the day before which made him feel at ease as he felt confident the guard would have pretty much the same routine as yesterday. He had the grill off the vent in the store cupboard within minutes. The room was full of old office furniture and he used a handy desk to climb up. The shaft was quite big, allowing him to crawl along it easily. It took ten minutes to reach the other shaft where his luck held. The room at the other end was a toilet stall, clean, well lit and, most importantly, empty. The trickiest part was getting the grill off from the inside. It had been designed for easy maintenance access from the outside. Robert used a coat hanger to press the release button that unlocked the vent shaft before climbing down onto the toilet seat and creeping over to the door. He used a small mirror as a makeshift periscope before venturing out of the cubicle and into the empty room. Thankfully cleaners started before everyone else in the building so they got the key areas clean before work started. An MRI scanner, the biggest he had ever seen, stood in a prominent position. It appeared more complex than any he had seen before and seemed to have an extra attachment. Looking swiftly round Robert saw a bench full of computers and the digital hand scanners he had seen in the office. A work in progress board on the other side of the room showed that simpathes had been coming in here but that humans had been picking hosts for them. Robert didn't understand. Puzzled, he took photos quickly, noting where the vents were in the room. He thought he might learn more if he came from the other room the next day. A super thick folder marked 'first contact' sat on the desk. He quickly and continually took photographs of this document for the next ten minutes until he heard the sound of a passage door nearby opening and headed back to the toilet. Robert knew he needed to come back, the next day if possible, and then get the information out quietly. The corporation was clearly bringing simpaths out but to what end? It could be for spying, to make money or invent new technology. The project file, he hoped, would shed light on the mystery. Back in his room that evening Robert concealed a small memory chip in the seam of his overalls, ready to take with him the next day to see if he could download anything from the PC. He wasn't worried by any password locks; he could easy slip the hard drive out and manually boot to copy files over. He studied the plans, memorizing every detail until he was confident he could find his way from room to room through the shafts in the dark if he had to. As dawn broke Robert lay down to snatch a couple of hours sleep before the full day ahead.

The next day he gave the workers time to get to their posts before going to clean the last room. He waited for the guard to do his hourly check then set about making his way along the ventilation shaft to the vent he had seen the day before. He crawled for twenty minutes before reaching the observation point. With his face pressed up against the grille Robert saw several simpaths sat at desks, all with their hands on scanners. He had no idea what they could be up to. An official looking man, one of the bosses Robert thought, came into the room with a small entourage of guards. Robert heard him ask the Simpathes if they were ready and the clear reply, "yes."

The official nodded to the guards and two of them left the room, returning seconds later with a struggling figure gripped between the. The figure, a tall man in a green T Shirt, fought and writhed frantically trying to get free. Robert thought he recognized him but he wasn't sure where from. As he took pictures the tall man was given an injection by one of the Simpathes whilst the guards held him steady. It must have been a sedative because his struggles weakened almost immediately, allowing the guards force him into the MRI scanner. About thirty minutes later the machine slid open and the man struggled to a sitting position. He was handed a large pureed drink. There was a round of applause as he stood up and shook the official's hand.

"May I say what a pleasure it is to meet you at last?" the official said.

"Yes, I can't wait to find donor for the rest of the council though. Human bodies are so fragile," the Simpathe answered.

The boss nodded in agreement, "It's hard to find human bodies with the specifications you require."

"We can maintain the bodies for a very long time," came the reply, "Our life expectancy will be into the several hundreds we predict, once the machine is built."

"That much?" the official looked surprised, "we will of course have access to this technology too?"

"Yes of course, we wish to share everything with you. Without your help none of this would have been possible," replied the Simpathe.

Robert had heard enough. He needed to report back in and get this information to headquarters. He crawled around to a staircase he had found on the map several weeks before and picked the vent open. The guard would be looking for him soon and he needed to make a quick exit. He ran up the stairs quickly, crashing open the door at the top that led to the desert. Surprised, he made it outside although alarms triggered as soon as he left the building. Robert activated his emergency homing beacon and ran frantically down the nearest road. He was in the open and it would be easy for them to pick him up if his team didn't get there quickly enough. "Emergency, emergency, code violet, repeat, code violet," Robert retrieved his radio from its hiding place taped under his arm and shouted into the microphone as he ran. There was no reply. A truck was coming and it looked like the one that brought him there. Robert dived into some nearby brush. There wasn't a lot of cover and he hoped he hadn't been seen. The truck drove by and he felt he could breathe again. He'd thought his heart was going to pop out of his chest. He watched from the screening undergrowth as the truck drove up to the awaiting guards. It should take them at least ten minutes to figure out who had gone he thought, deciding his best option would be to head north and hope his team would pick him up or a team would be dropped in to guide him out. Happy with his reasoning, Robert headed north towards higher ground where he could assess his position more accurately. He estimated that he should be within twenty miles of the town he had been picked up from. The lorry that brought him to the complex couldn't have driven further than that by his calculations. His emergency tracker would mean rescue within a day. He didn't think the corporation would have the resources to find him; all he had to do was hide out and let technology do the work. Robert still couldn't quite believe how easily he had got away. He was well trained but had been expecting them to follow him. Robert spent the best part of the day hiding out in rocky crags, foraging for food and sheltering from the blazing sun. He knew he would die if his team didn't come for him soon. His training taught him to stay put once he had activated his tracker as help could be sent anywhere in the world in a matter of hours but it was getting dark and the temperature was beginning to plummet. He had collected the makings for a fire but hadn't lit it yet. Wearily Robert found his matches before the whirling sound of chopper blades made him stop. They were getting closer. Lifting himself up onto some rocks Robert saw the silhouette of a black unmarked chopper approaching. He couldn't see if it was British so hid in the rocks and waited for a sign from the chopper. It came by means of his code name delivered through a tannoy, the code name dogtanian which he had chosen to use as his contact or safe word. He would have to think of another one now but he was pleased to hear it. The harness came down and picked him up to his immense relief. He assuaged his raging thirst with water thoughtfully handed to him as soon as he sat in the helicopter but he really wanted a good cup of tea. The chopper rose up in the air and sped away. The crew didn't talk much but they weren't there to get to know him; they were there to carry out orders.

They knew he was someone special but weren't sure who he was and he intended it to stay that way.

As they approached the nearest allied country with a British embassy alarms started blaring. The pilot warned the crew to strap themselves in as they were being fired upon by unknowns who were shooting surface to air missiles. The pilot wrenched the choppers controls to climb quickly out of range but more missiles roared towards them. They were going to be hit.

Robert heard the order to jump for it as the winch man strapped him to himself. The chopper swayed crazily from side to side as they pulled the door open and jumped together. It wasn't something you can ever be prepared for and Robert honestly thought he was going to die. He had never parachuted anywhere. Spies take planes, taxis, nice transport generally. They felt the shockwave as the helicopter was hit from several hundred feet away. Their parachute opened but late, they were coming in to land far too quickly. Robert crouched into a fetal position, not knowing what else to do. There was a thud and the sound of breaking bones as they hit the ground. He was dazed by the sound of the helicopter smashing into the mountain side. Moving slowly Robert saw the winch man was beneath him and not moving. The man was dead. He had landed awkwardly and broken his neck on a rock Stunned, Robert released his harness before searching the dead man and taking some gold sovereigns, a pistol, a water canteen and a knife. The man also had a ration pack which meant he had been part of a mobile unit station, ready to move at a moment notice in the field. They were akin to ambulance men who sat at motorway junctions ready for the emergency call. The crash site was only yards away and Robert knew he should search it before anyone arrived. He was still stuck with the puzzle that they been shot down over an allied nation and he knew he must keep a low profile from now on. Robert wasn't cold anymore, the adrenaline had soon warmed him up but he was still thirsty and knew he was probably in shock as well. He took a swig of water as he cautiously approached the crash site. The chopper was still relatively intact but the sound of an approaching car made him dive for cover behind the wreckage. From his hiding place Robert watched as two armed men got out. They spotted the pilot who was moving feebly immediately and dragged him from the crumpled chopper, disarming him as they did so. Robert was amazed the pilot had survived at all. From his hiding place he saw the armed men were roughly interrogating the pilot, waving a photograph in his face and demanding an answer. Checking his gun was loaded Robert edged around the wreckage, pointing his gun as he went. He saw the first armed man cock his pistol, obviously dissatisfied with the pilot's answers and ready to shoot. Robert used a single shot on each man. They didn't stand a chance. The pilot was barely standing and Robert helped him to the car, assessing that the helpless man had suffered a broken arm and a cut to his head but he that he would live. After placing the pilot carefully in the car where he lay gratefully across the back seat Robert returned to the fallen men and meticulously searched them. They were undoubtedly secret police of some description, trying to get hold of the information he had just acquired. Grabbing the extra guns and money for fuel from their pockets, Robert drove away quickly before anyone else turned up.

Chapter 20 A Bugs life

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Exploratores, like any other large faculty, needed resources; food, clothing, electrical supplies, toilet rolls; indeed all the things that every other organisation needed. In order to keep security as tight as possible the MOD employed ex-prison staff to search, x-ray and check everything that came into the building. Anyone can, if they want, find the headquarters of MI6 or MI5 and could easily photograph everyone entering or exiting that institution. If they were very very lucky they might even photograph a real live spy but in reality were much more likely to get a snapshot of someone who works in logistics, the satellite observation division or technical support. Just Google MI6 and you could find their headquarters and happily snap away all day. What you won't find however is the SIS training facility. That's unless you're a spy yourself explained Chloe and Josh's instructor

"Ok, but what's this got to do with bug hunting?" asked Chloe, confused.

"Well, trainees get to do bug hunting to ensure extra security," the trainer patiently explained, "we always plant one bug and you have to find it,".

"We really have to check the whole compound?" asked Josh, not really seeing the point.

"Yes the whole compound," the trainer was still patient but just a touch of irritation coloured his voice. These two had been asking far more than the usual amount of questions.

"Why? That will take all day!"

"Yes it will, but if you find any more bugs you'll get 10,000 bonus," the trainer added the incentive wearily.

Josh's eyes lit up until he remembered he was now the property of the British government and couldn't get out of it if he wanted to. There was a Simpathe price on his head so he was going to spend the rest of his life in Exploratores. Josh was still trying to figure out why he was under a care order and Chloe wasn't. It seemed a bit strange. They were treating her as if she wasn't human, well she wasn't but was at the same time. Josh hated it. He just saw her as a person and he loved her as much as any man could love a woman, Simpathe or not.

His mind returned to the task at hand. The bonus would be nice so he may as well do a good job. Chloe and Josh were working their way around the complex armed with a bug detector along with the other recruits. Everyone had been staring at Chloe in the operation room which had made her very uncomfortable and Josh had seen a look in their eyes he couldn't quite identify. It had seemed like a strange mixture of fear and scorn. He wasn't sure what the other trainees had been told but they seemed scared of her. Chloe was now annoyed as other trainees studiously avoided any area that Chloe was working in, grouping together ridiculously in their efforts to steer clear of her. Seeing her eyes flash with anger Josh hurried over to smooth it out. Only the instructor and Josh himself had spoken to Chloe so far during the training sessions. The rest of their time they had spent either in their rooms or in the gym building their wasted muscles back up.

Josh whispered to Chloe 'Hey, keep it up with the scariness! We've got more chance of the bonus if that lot are falling over their own feet." Chloe smiled, reluctantly seeing the funny side of the situation and allowed Josh to give her a hug before continuing the search. They didn't find anything in the first room so moved firstly to the medical lab before searching every room. Other students were in and out of every room also trying to get the bonus. There wasn't one of course but it was a good way of motivating the students and getting extra security checks. When it drew close to dinner time they decided to nip to Josh's quarter to fool around for a bit. They were bored and getting their energy back. Chloe bounced on to Josh's bed and smiled cheekily at him with 'come get me eyes' Josh, unable to resist her, put his scanner on the desk where it immediately it let out a whining noise. Suddenly serious, they both froze for a moment as the meaning of the noise dawned on them. They had a bug in their room. MI6 had bugged him. Josh was pissed at having no privacy. They scanned the whole room carefully and pulled four bugs out before going to Chloe's room and repeating the process. They placed the bugs in sealed container, knowing they needed to check it really was mi6 who had planted them and no one else before they went ballistic. They felt like their privacy had completely been taken away and both were embarrassed by the memories of things they had said when they thought they were alone.

"Well, we've made a lot of money if they pay up," Josh said.

"I think it's MI6 who is keeping tabs on us," Chloe replied, the colour still high in her cheeks.

"I don't recognize the bug or country of origin," Josh mused, remembering his training.

"Who should we tell or should we try and find some more first?" Chloe asked, a frown still furrowing her forehead.

"If you were a foreign nation where would you bug?" Josh traded her question for one of his own.

"The food court. Everyone goes there and they all talk a little," Chloe answered at once.

"I would have said operation or medical," Josh replied," but we've done them. We can't get in accommodations can we?"

"Officially no but we could ask as we go and then the locks could accidently break," Chloe schemed, "It is the obvious place, outside of the public areas."

They started on their own floor, knocking on the doors of anyone who was home before Chloe moved on to making other locks 'accidently' open. They found nothing, not even receiving equipment. Yet someone somewhere must be monitoring them. They really couldn't do any more with drawing attention to themselves.

"We can't do the non-student accommodation or they will have us. I say we draw weapons out of the armoury and take these bugs to the trainer in case they're dangerous," Josh suggested at last.

"Won't they ask us why we are drawing weapon?" Chloe said.

"Yes, we'll tell them the truth and then find the trainer. He should be in the food court somewhere." Josh planned their next steps.

They walked to the armoury which was based a floor below their accommodation, in close proximity to the rifle range. The layout was pretty similar to the first floor but had operations, storage and a forensics training lab that they hadn't been in yet. Everyone talked about it but they had concentrated on technology, surveillance and getting fit again.

Josh went to the hatch of the armoury and asked for a pistol and sub machine gun. He wasn't planning on taking any chances. The armourer looked at him closely. It wasn't that Josh wasn't allowed to sign out weapons, more that he never had before. They were allowed to draw firearms out to practice but they hadn't since the simulation. The armourer asked for a moment and used a phone, looking warily at Chloe at the same time. He was obviously scared of her and what she represented. Josh remembered when he had first come close to a silverback gorilla. He had paused in front of a Perspex window and as he had looked through the screen a huge animal had unexpectedly loomed up and without warning charged him. He remembered the overwhelming fear in every bone in his body and how his instincts had screamed at him to run or kill it. Josh recognised the same fear in the armourer's eyes when he looked at Chloe as he himself had felt that day at the zoo. The man came back to the window and explained that Josh wasn't allowed a fire arm and was to wait for his trainer who was on his way down now. They didn't have to wait long before their surveillance trainer, Ted, and Matthew, their firearms instructor, turned up.

"So why do you need guns in the middle of a bug hunt, pray tell," Ted asked rather sarcastically.

"We found these eight bugs in mine and Chloe's quarters, so we figured we had a spy," Josh explained, taking one bug out and showing it to them whilst putting a finger over his mouth to signal silence. Ted examined it carefully and then placed it in a sealed sound proof bag.

"They are Korean or even Russian, not sure which until I get the cover off. So what was your plan?" Ted asked, all sarcasm gone now from his voice.

"And you can't go round shooting MI6 agents," Matthew added.

"I was going to ask Ted for permission to search the rest of the accommodation quarters. There must be a receiver somewhere in this compound," explained Chloe.

The armourer had prepared four weapons the moment Ted had given him the signal to go ahead. Most of the agents in the compound would be armed after all; it was only trainees who wouldn't be.

Josh took his pistol first, quickly loading the weapon before asking for more clips as if he was going to war.

"You know what you are doing with that?" Matthew asked, casting an expert eye over Josh's weapon.

"Yes I've been trained in the simulator. Me and Chloe only want the guns until we've searched your quarters Sir's" Josh said politely as he point the gun at then loosely. Taking her cue from Josh, Chloe picked up all the guns and loaded them ready for action. She handed Josh an MP5 with a silencer and an extra magazine on a belt. He accepted the gun and placed the pistol in his holster.

"There are procedures for searches," Matthew stated uncomfortably, "I should get the keys."

"No, it's fine, we won't need keys," Chloe said as she sent an arc of sparks across her finger and thumb and smiled politely at the two distraught men, "we don't want to alert people that we are searching their accommodation."

Josh asked the armourer for thumb cuffs. He smiled and passed a set over. Josh put them in his pocket in case he needed then.

"Go a long way them two, hee hee," the armorer said, smiling now. He was quite elderly and nothing except Chloe bothered him or scared him in the slightest. He appeared to be enjoying the discomfort of the two men.

The two trainers led the way to the accommodation used by active working members of MI6 and auxiliary staff. Josh and Chloe followed closely behind, carefully ensuring that the gun Josh held on the adults was not in view when they passed others in the corridors. They started with Ted's room. They liked him more than Matthew and he had shown less resistance to them. Chloe passed a scanner to Matthew and let him help her search the apartment for any unauthorised equipment. It seemed highly likely that Ted would have some equipment there because of his occupation but there was nothing. The accommodation came up clean and Ted breathed a sigh of relief as Josh handed him a pistol and apologies. Ted happily accepted the apology, "That's the first bug ever found on a trainees search, well done," he beamed, "now lets get this mess cleaned up!"

Matthew lived in the couples' quarters. Relationship were discouraged rather than forbidden but ignored as long as productivity wasn't affected adversely. Matthew was dating a member of the administrative team who worked in the operation centre. They hadn't been seeing each other long, only a few months, but were in love. Matthew had finished his stint in the field so was a good catch who would have an early retirement with a good pension. When they arrived at Matthews's quarters he opened the door for them and shouted to check if his girlfriend Kate was home. There was no reply so Ted and Josh began to scan the rooms; a kitchen, a lounge and bedroom. Chloe thought rather enviously that they should have given her and Josh one; they were quite nice and less like prison cells. Suddenly the bedroom door was flung open from the inside and a startled looking Kate stood in the doorway, chest heaving in panic at the sight of guns in their apartment. Matthew quickly reassured her that everything was ok and not to panic. As he led her lovingly to the settee the sound of shots deafened everyone. Matthew was curled up in agony on the sofa and Chloe, who had glanced away at the wrong moment, was getting off the kitchen floor after ducking the bullets Kate had fired before running out of the flat. The other two rushed in from the bedroom where they had found the listening equipment. The noise of multiple shots from outside was deafening. There was clearly more than one shooter out there; it sounded like a war.

"It sounds like your girlfriend is on one," Ted said, looking with concern at Matthew doubled up in agonizing pain. Chloe went to him and took away his pain and he began to breathe calmly. Ted poked his head out of the door, provoking a hail of bullets. He slammed the door quickly while he collected his thoughts.

"We need to go after her," Matthew said, his face white with shock.

"No-one is going out there, ´"ordered Ted," It's insane, there are bodies everywhere. We need to protect the young ones firstly. There's Simpathes out there as well. I saw the electrocutions."

"How did it happen? We've got the best security in the country; it would be easer to kill the prime minister!" Matthew stammered.

The ringing tones of the doorbell made them all jump except Chloe, who had gone onto full alert when Ted mentioned Simpathes. She was at the door first, quickly seizing the female Simpathe who was just about to attack and in the electrostatic battle that ensued she had the girl on the floor in a second. Ted was going to finish her off but Chloe stopped him. She was intent on interrogating her and was holding the Simpathe by the back of the neck in an unbreakable and painful grip. The simpathe looked scared. Chloe floated her free hand above the captive simpathes head. It was Sarah, a VDU operator in the main ops. Chloe probed into her mind.

A few weeks earlier a small monkey had snuck past the X-ray machines in the landing dock. It had found it way there through following an agent, Max. Its orders were to release captive simpathes and kill Josh and Chloe. The monkey had made it to medical and released Janice. She had been pretending to be in cyberspace but had used the opportunity to reconnect the MRI scanner to the internet which meant the routine medicals everyone had after the big Simpathe scare had turned most of MI6 into a hell pit of Simpathes, all expertly trained in espionage with an armoury full of guns.

Chloe finished off the Simpathe quickly and as the body fell to the floor she explained what had happened to the others who were now in shock in more ways than one. Chloe had shocked them both to ensure they hadn't been inhabited. Josh searched the room for protective gear, his brain remembering the pain these things could inflict. Chloe released the others after finding them to just be human, albeit by now very frightened humans in a great deal of pain, and they didn't need to be told twice to find gloves and protection.

"Ok this is the plan," Chloe suggested quickly, "we get out, find Max then make a run for it."

"What about the camera satellites?" Asked Josh, "and where are we going to go?"

"The cameras and most of the satellites are off limits to the Simpathes now we have isolated them," Ted explained, "its back to the old days for everyone at this rate."

"We still have to get out and it's a war zone out there. I only wish we'd picked up a few grenades while we were in the armoury," Mathew mourned their lack of heavy weaponry as he opened the door. He thought he should lead, being the best shot and all. There could be up to three hundred people all told in the complex at once. Many of them wouldn't know what had hit them if hundreds of Simpathes had gone on the rampage. The trilling sound of Josh's phone made everyone jump nearly to the ceiling. All other sounds had ceased and it was eerily quiet now; no gunfire was coming down the corridor which meant that either all the good guys were dead or all the bad guys were dead. The smell of fresh powder and a slight smokiness filled the air and the suspense was getting to everyone. Josh checked his phone; a new text had come in from Max

Text reads:- Maddy ill. I think she may die. On my way back.

Josh quickly texted him back: - HQ compromised. Don't come here. Under attack from unknown Simpathe force, many MI6 agents have been infiltrated. Meet you St Pancreas ASAP. Look after Maddy.

Matthew was at the end of the accommodation corridor by now the end door was open and he could see into the operations room where dead bodies were sprawled everywhere. Matthew planned to move carefully and slowly toward the armoury; he needed more guns and equipment if they were going on the road and if he could get them. Intent on his plan he didn't see Kate until she appeared in front of him and his hesitation cost him his life. Chloe, ever vigilant, shot her dead instantly. Josh had opened fire into a group behind Kate at the same time. He hadn't waited for them to declare their intent first, he knew how fast they were with weaponry and that he needed to hit them the first time or not bother. They ran quickly into the armoury room and dived on the floor as the armourer let rip with a light machine gun mounted on a tripod at his window. There were dead bodies with their weapons drawn lying all over the floor.

"Sorry, I'm kinder pleased you tipped me off that there was going to be trouble," the armourer greeted them.

"Why is that?" asked Chloe.

"Well I would be dead and a lot more folks beside, no doubt about that," he replied.

Reg was the oldest serving member of the MI6 team and was in his seventies. He loved the service and knew every inch of the compound. Ted knew Reg would know a safe way out.

"Reg, what's the safest way of getting these kids out of here?"

"Depends on who is left alive that knows the building," replied Reg laying down the LMG on the bench, "There's the emergency staircase behind the armoury here but there is nothing to say they're not watching that." Chloe walked up to Reg and gave him a mild shock. He responded quickly, almost succeeding in drawing his side arm but she increased the dose slightly.

"He's fine," Chloe said relieving his pain.

"I thought she was on our side," Reg complained.

"Oh she is. You should see what they do, she was just checking you," Josh smiled.

Reg caught his breath and, still muttering a little, showed them the way to the stairs.

"Wait a minute I need to tool up. I'm coming with you, it's not safe here and I'm a pensioner you know," he told them.

They all turned and looked at him in disbelief as he loaded an AK74u submachine gun and filled his pockets with stun grenades. He gave them rucksacks full of equipment to carry as well.

"We need to move, Reg," Josh urged the old man.

"We need to make a difference, not be helpless, I'm senior agent here, now pick up the gear," ordered the sprightly Reg.

They all looked at him again he looked like an elderly Rambo on steroids who did not get out much. This was a man over attached to his weapon Josh thought. Older people were supposed to be more balanced and less scared of dying because they know it will happen soon anyway. Maybe they just want to make a difference, make their lives mean something, Josh pondered on the mystery as he stepped over another dead body inside the armoury.

Chapter 21 Almaty Kazastan

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Robert was not one of those people who believe in having embassies. He believed they encouraged wholesale spying by those who had the best espionage teams or the most money. They were targets for terrorist and foreign nationalists, for every extreme political group or faction who would attack an embassy of a nation somewhere in the world at some point. The Americans have had their fair share of attacked embassies. If you don't like the politics of a country don't go there, don't like the faith, don't go there, don't like the culture don't go there. That was his viewpoint. The British go to places they don't like then create compounds that make the locals look like tramps and then call them blind for being dirty foreigners and then the government stick embassies there to sort out the trouble. It was unbelievable. The tourist police in Thailand was the obvious one. You have to have police to stop them locking tourists up for longer for being pissed up twats. It all can down to repression. People used to go to football matches and have a punch up but can't do that any more so they went to raves and danced it off but they can't do that any more either so they go aboard and get pissed, take drugs and sleep with hookers. Repression, there's always going to be people who aren't that bright and who need nannying. Robert finishes his rant to himself and started concentrating on the road. He still had three hundred miles to drive and didn't want any more trouble. He needed to pull over and fix the pilots arm though. He had attended medical college and had passed with a high grade and had a medical doctorate but wasn't a practicing doctor. His parents were furious with him; they had pushed him all the way through his studies. He wasn't that good though because he didn't care about the people he was treating. He had wanted to be a surgeon but didn't have quite what it took. His disappointment had made him somewhat cynical. As with all intelligent people, disappointment at failing to achieve ones own personal goals feels worse than anything else. The road on his side was full of shrubs he could use for cover if he needed to. He could see roughly how the arm had broken and searched the car for anything to use to splint it. There was a standard first aid kit with mostly plasters and one small bandage. There were several hard backed books and a magazine. He made a splint from the magazine and books and bandaged the arm into the correct position, immobilizing it successfully. The pilot was still unconscious and Robert used the opportunity to clean up the wounds on his head and put plasters over them. They could do with a few stitches but would have to wait. Robert thought the pilot might have a concussion but couldn't tell yet. As he finished dressing the pilots wounds Robert heard a plane engine getting closer. He looked around and spotted a light aircraft flying overhead. It was a private plane with unmarked nationality and was definitely searching the area. He decided he would wait for it to pass. It could be supported by ground forces and he was in no shape to fight an army. He lay low in the scrubland, himself, passenger and car well hidden. An hour passed before the steady droning decreased and finally moved away towards Almaty and the British embassy. They must have run short of fuel. He suddenly saw why embassies were useful! He could get new papers, diplomatic plates and information processed and relayed to London quickly, maybe even a nice first class flight. Spirits higher than before, he continued along the road until he spotted a barricade in the road making a rough but effective road block. It wasn't put up by soldiers or police; must be bandits he thought. He was in the middle of nowhere where the terrain was plagued with crime and the people plagued by poverty. He knew he wasn't going to get through the block carrying a uniformed soldier in his van. It wasn't obvious that the man was British but he did look like a soldier. Robert turned off the road and headed across the open plains, side stepping the road block. His action hadn't gone unnoticed and one of the trucks that had been parked alongside the barricade was following. Through his rear view mirror Robert could see it contained four men, each heavily armed with automatic weapons. As he looked in consternation they let off an ear splitting barrage of gunfire. With a pounding heart he realised that they had only fired warning shots into the air to make him stop. Robert saw his fuel tank was nearly empty. He needed to stop and he needed the truck his pursuers were driving. The only question was should he pay for it or steal it? He would try and barter he thought, he didn't really want to cause a scene. On top of this the plane was heading towards them again, refueling presumably complete. At this moment the pilot stirred, obviously swimming up from unconsciousness. He looked uncomprehendingly at Robert before extending his hand towards him.

"Mark Wright, pleased to meet you," he said politely.

"I'm afraid there isn't time for pleasantries as we are about to be accosted by bandits," Robert explained, pointing to the truck following tem before handing a pistol to the pilot. Robert stowed pistols in various areas of his body before taking some gold sovereigns from his pocket and pulling over as close as he could to the truck. The assault rifles were only an advantage to the bandits from a distance. Robert got out quickly and walked over before they could all get out.

"My friend, you have come to talk business" Robert said smilingly in perfect Turkish, "I have brought money for my protection and to pay safe passage of course," Robert noticed the driver sported a crucifix in the vee of his open shirt. He would be in luck if the man was a Christian. He would probably have fewer objections to his very white friend in the car to whom Robert had taken an instant liking.

The front passenger beckoned imperiously for Robert to come closer before taking the coins from his hand. He bit the coin and nodded in satisfaction at the result.

"Gold sovereigns, he smiled knowing he may be able to milk Robert for more.

"Yes and no questions asked," Robert spoke calmly, "If you like my car maybe we trade vehicles as well?"

"I'm all ears and open hands," the bandit laughed.

He did indeed manage to trade the truck for the car which wasn't as comfy but it had a nearly full tank of petrol. It had cost him five sovereigns, a small fortune. He had been very lucky the man was a Christian in a predominately Muslim country. They weren't that far from Afghanistan, close enough for the bandits to have family in any of the adjacent countries that had been invaded in the name of foreign policy. Back on the road Robert was instantly aware of the plane that was flying around their location. Although there was no way the airborne pilot could know they that they were in the in a truck now and there were several other cars on the road the plane stayed with them. He could hear the sound of gunfire in the background. From behind him Robert heard the blasts of huge explosions and saw a plume of black smoke rise high into the sky from his rear view mirror. His pursuers must have found the road block and chosen not to pay for protection. This left him in the position of travelling in a very slow truck and no doubt the bandit would eventually talk about the vehicle swap. He put his foot to the floor he as approaching the city, desperate to lose his pursuers. The plane had peeled off at last; appearing to be following signs for an airport which meant he only needed to watch for a tail on the ground. Robert noticed a large rail yard; a train might be a good probability: Mark had lapsed back into semi consciousness. Robert shook his arm with his free hand.

"Mark, Mark, wake up!"

"Sorry I must have dosed off," Mark replied sleepily.

"How do you feel?" Robert asked.

"I feel tired and there's some pain from this arm but I can still fight," Mark replied, heaving himself upright as if to prove his fitness.

Robert unstrapped the utility belt he had taken earlier from the winch man. He had forgotten about it after wresting with it for some time the pouch came undone and he found it contained some strong pain killers in the form of little prepacked needles.

"We can't go into a train station looking like this," Robert said, suddenly aware they were both in tattered dirty clothing and that Mark had a deathly pallor, " let me know if you see a market or something similar."

"Or we could just go over there," Mark said, pointing to a washing line hanging in an empty looking courtyard.

"Only if we get desperate. Have you any gold sovereigns,"

"Yes, here," Mark replied, passing over a small handful and wincing in pain from the movement.

"I'll give you some of this pain killer as soon as we're on a train safely, I need you to stay with it till then," Robert said sympathetically. He could see the other man was trying not to show how much pain he was suffering.

They drove round for a good hour before eventually finding a small trading market where he bought the largest burkah he could find. He though Mark would make a good wife. He traded a sovereign for new clothes for himself as well and traded the other sovereigns for some Turkish currency. This made buying food easy but also drew the attention of some local gangs who were harassing the stall keeper for his sovereigns. Robert made a quick exit and drove to a secluded side street were they both changed into their new outfits. Mark complained bitterly about the burkah but he had stood out like a sore thumb before. From here on they would be on foot. They weren't too far from the train station and Marks injury and their equipment were nicely hidden behind the burkah. The train journey would take a good eleven hours so they would both get some rest Robert hoped. At the train station Mark immediately recognized the guard from the compound hovering around as if waiting for them. Fortunately their disguises held up and they got tickets and boarded the train without incident. The police were everywhere, armed with machine guns and pistols. They too must have had orders because of the bandits on the road. With a series of jarring jolts the train powered up and then they were off on their journey to Almaty. Robert was trying to find out why they seemed to have been tracked so accurately across the country. He thought he might be bugged but that he could sort it on the train. They had booked an overnight cabin to Almaty, a journey with very few scheduled stops. They soon reached the cabin where he helped Mark into his seat and shut the door. He administered some of the morphine into Marks arm and watched him drift gratefully into a happy place. Robert was starving and, with Mark safely fast asleep, went to find a buffet carriage or some food of any description. Robert lost his appetite almost immediately when he saw that the men were on the train. He quickly returned to the small safe compartment and checked all the equipment he had taken from the unknown spy. He went meticulously through everything. He even checked his hair. He would get a real bollocking and be pushing paper for a living if he took a bug back to the British embassy. There were thing he could do about this but he thought the information was more important than the bug problem. Six months before he could have just gone to a cyber café or hijacked some computer and emailed it to London but nothing was safe any more. He let Mark sleep in before he woke him gently and put him on guard whilst he had a good sleep. When Mark woke him in the early hours of the morning he saw they were on the outskirts of the city of Almaty. They quickly prepared themselves, jumping from the train unnoticed as pulled up for a minute at red lights in the suburbs.

"You take this spy stuff seriously don't you," Mark said.

"The people following us are on the train. They've followed me since I left the compound and they are the ones who shot down your chopper," Robert said.

"No, that would be the yanks that shot us down, friendly fire stuff. It happens all the while," Mark protested.

"I know when I'm being followed," Robert disagreed amicably as he smashed a car window in order to jack it.

Mark climbed in as Robert expertly hot wired the vehicle. Once in the city they abandoned the borrowed car in favour of a taxi.

"They're behind us already," Robert explained.

"Can I take this stupid thing off?" Mark muttered tensely, "I refuse to be killed looking like this."

"Yes," Robert said laughing.

The driver gave them a strange look as Mark struggled red faced out of the burkah. Robert took out a gold sovereign and explained it was the drivers for the simple task of asking no questions. The driver smiled happily and spoke not a word. They were within sight of the embassy when a hail of bullets burst from a pursuing car. The driver swayed everywhere. He was screaming and shouting at his passengers in angry, frightened and incomprehensible Turkish.

Robert calmly put a gun to the drivers head. "Keep driving, keep driving and I will handle the situation," he said quietly. The driver shook with terror but renewed his concentration on the road, driving as if all the demons in hell were behind him, reaching for his soul.

"Mark, keep the gun on the driver and he'll keep driving" Robert ordered. They had been lucky so far; the first round of bullets hadn't injured anyone in the car although several bystanders had been hit. Robert took out two pistols and fired all the bullets in quick succession. Their pursuers dropped back in surprise, obviously not expecting retaliation. Shooting on the move was impossible however. Robert shouted for the driver to pull over and looked questioningly at Mark.

"Ready? Time to make a stand,"

Mark nodded and both men kicked their doors open before the car stopped. Both wanted the edge on the first shot to make them count. It was over in seconds they shot two of the men following them before they had the chance to even get out of the car. Their bullets didn't stop until they ran out. They quickly jumped back into the cab as the distraught taxi drive drove them the few hundred feet to the embassy. They could hear the sirens wailing. There were embassies all along this road and someone must have phoned in quickly, very quickly. They ran to the gate where a British solider challenged them. They laid their weapons on the ground and asked for sanctuary. The police were running towards them, unholstering their guns as they ran, but they were ushered inside the grounds before any shots rang out. Four armed gate guards searched them and escorted them inside where they were cuffed and locked in a room, waiting for an official to deal with them.

A suited gentleman came into the room and sat down with a pen and paper and a quizzical expression.

"I'm Nigel Porter. I'm told you are British citizens. From what situation are you requesting sanctuary?" Nigel asked.

"I'm Robert Midford, MI6. I was working in Uzbekistan and this is Captain Mark Wright who was flying me out of a hot zone to report in. I have urgent information for MI6 headquarters. I need a passport, identification, weapons and I think I might be bugged so I need a sweeper team to clean me out ASAP," Robert said.

"I'm afraid MI6 doesn't exist anymore but I will report your presence to the British authorities and confirm your identity if possible. My colleague here will take your details and find you food, clean clothes and medical attention for your wounds," Nigel announced as he left the room.

Robert and Mark were well cared for. Marks arm was x-rayed, set properly and he had stitches in his eyelid. They were given clean casual clothes and a good meal. Four hours or so went by while Robert wondered what had happened to MI6 and why they hadn't checked his DNA to confirm his story. Every embassy had a DNA scanner to check the people who came through the doors.

Eventually Nigel came back with a suitcase and sat in the lounge with the two men and a solemn looking guard.

"Please forgive the wait, I have checked who you both are and I've received orders for you both."

"That's great but what happened to MI6?" Robert asked.

"I need to report to my unit," Mark said.

"You both do as you're told! Now listen: MI6 was overrun by Simpathes and now doesn't exist. There are hundreds, possibly even thousands, dead all over the world as well," Nigel said.

"Gone, what dead?" Robert stuttered, shocked and confused.

"Yes, I don't know the details, but it was taken over from the inside," Nigel said.

"They are Simpathes. I've been in their laboratory and that's the information I need to pass on," Robert said emotionally out of character.

"We don't know who the Simpathes are I'm afraid. You are to be flown from here to the airport where euro fighters will fly you into the East Midlands airport. Your contact will meet there. Here's his phone number, here's your passports and money. Your contact will provide you with everything else," Nigel said.

"My last ride got shot down," Robert sounded dubious.

"I know, we lost five agents like that but it's not safe here anymore," Nigel said sadly.

Chapter22: Mission Impossible

home

Reg staggered a little. He was having difficulty moving with Ethel on his back. She weighed a lot but gave him a lot of confidence and a mighty fine way of looking down hidden corridors and stairwells. He wasn't sure if it was his job as armourer or his obsession with flame throwers that made him keep one in the store although he never had found a use for her until now. Everyone else was terrified of her and there was a reason people didn't like them. One shot and you would go boom boom. He dropped Ethel down as they came out of the emergency exit and rubbed his back where it was hurting. They were on the street right in the centre of town! He had no idea where the stairwell came out before today. Reg quickly pulled his rain Mac out of his bag and concealed his weapons.

"We need to go to St Pancras to meet Max there. Maddy's not well," Josh hailed a taxi as he spoke.

"We should all go," Reg said hurriedly jumping in the taxi as well. "We don't want to hang around here to get picked off on our own."

In the cab Josh used his phone straight away. He wanted to find out were Max was and soon found he was still in Nottingham where he had taken Maddy at her request to the portable MRI scanner he had at the health protection agency. Max told them to get on a train to Nottingham where he would pick them up. He asked them to make sure they were not followed by anyone; foreign agents were aware of their presence and they would make a good catch for any superpower. Josh felt like a small kid when he was told to put Ted on as he was the senior agent. Max explained to Ted how good the teenagers were and advised him to let Chloe have some freedom as she was 'special' Josh was angry as he heard yet another judgmental term used about his girlfriend. Chloe was worried as she knew Maddy was probably dying because of her increased metabolic rate. Ted watched in amazement as Chloe robbed the cash point of several thousands of pounds and came back with wads of cash.

"What's all that for?" Ted asked, bemused.

"Tickets, dinner and clothes. I need clothes," Chloe replied.

"I ain't paying for no ticket, I nearly died ten minutes ago," Reg said in disgust.

"Low profile Reg remember! Not been out for while have you?" Ted chided him gently.

So they paid for tickets and then had to flash their fancy badges to get the three carts of weapons and equipment past security. Reg did manage to get in a 'told you so'. Chloe had bought an assortment of pasties for the train journey from a hot food stall and was steadily munching through them, making everyone hungry. They hadn't seen her eat in action before. Eventually she gave them food and explained that she was starving as she was using much more brain capacity than they were. They were all extra vigilant and knew they hadn't been followed but that cameras would be back on and attempting to track them as soon as possible. There was still the matter of MI6 headquarters; how many agents were there who had been infiltrated? If they did it in one facility would they do it at another? They hoped Max would be able to answer their questions. Chloe was worried as she boarded the train. She had expected more of a fight and for them to follow her as they had done before. They hadn't which meant they must have an alternative target. Janice must have learnt from the simulation and altered her original plan of attack although it would be safe to assume she would still attempt to infiltrate the government and turn them against Chloe, Josh and Max. The journey didn't take too long, just a couple of hours, and as far as Chloe could tell they weren't followed. There was no trouble and it seemed almost too easy. The previous simulation had shown that they would be followed and intercepted. Max was waiting at Nottingham for them with an army escort and he clearly wasn't taking chances. His operation wasn't low profile either. They were ushered quickly into a noisy truck where they contented themselves by just visually acknowledging each other. Max looked really worried and Chloe feared for Maddy who must be suffering. The journey took only a few minutes. Max had moved the entire operation to a secret location on Tollerton airfield. Security was reasonable and the location had good visibility of the surrounding area. They also had air transport at any point if needed. The airfield wasn't widely known about by the general population; it was used by rich business men and private flyers. The other reason Max liked this site was that there was a bar and he foresaw that everyone would need a drink before the day was out. As soon as the truck pulled up into a hanger Max led Josh and Chloe to Maddy. Maddy was laid on the bed of the MRI machine which she had set to scan herself

"She trying to go back in," Chloe said, crying. "But the net will have to be active."

Max nodded at a technician who quickly linked the scanner to the internet and established a connection. Chloe interfaced with the machine and for several minutes the only noise was the sound of the machine as Maddy passed away. Chloe's tears of sadness turned to joy quickly though as she began to disengage her connection. "Maddy had made it back into cyberspace." Chloe smiled. Josh and Max sighed with relief. They too loved Maddy and had been terrified she would die. Chloe jolted suddenly "They're coming," she said.

"Who's coming?" Josh asked, confused.

"There's a Simpathe in the machine," Chloe told him quietly.

"Cut the internet, stop the scan," Max ordered quickly.

Chloe carefully touched the machine, testing to see if the Simpathe was still present. Sparks showered towards her. It was clearly still in there and clearly very strong.

"We've got it trapped! Is that internet connection hard wired?" Chloe asked.

"No Miss, its satellite operated," the technician replied.

"Don't use it again or they'll get a fix on our location," Chloe ordered, "Maddy made it through so we don't need it on."

"I'm pleased; I was so worried about her. Will this Simpathe die if we turn the scanner off?" asked Max.

"I would have thought so," Chloe answered thoughtfully.

"Can we separate the programme from the MRI machine? If I isolate its programme lines I can write a virus to kill it," Josh said.

"They're not like me," Chloe said, "they're different. You might even be able to lure it out onto a laptop."

Max answered his phone and spoke for several moments, his face looking serious and worried at the same time. Josh wanted to play so asked the technician for a laptop but he didn't have one so he asked him instead to keep the machine on but not to let anyone else near it and above all to make sure the internet was never connected to it again. Josh needed to get hold of a laptop as soon as possible. He figured he could find out what made simpathes tick, given a little time.

Max ordered his Sergeant to call everyone in. There were about twenty five people all told in the hanger including Max's team. When he was sure that everyone was in he ordered that the door be closed and that everyone stowed their weapons.

At last they relaxed and lit smokes if they had them. A porter brought in tea and coffee for everyone.

"I know we have had a hard day but it gets worse," Max said taking a tea and biscuit.

"As you know we were attacked at Exploratores, but they didn't stop there. They took out our headquarters and half our operatives in the field around the world," Max explained.

He kept going, explaining that the cabinet ministers and even the queen had been checked to ensure they weren't simpathes, using the technology they had developed, but that we needed to check everyone again. The problem was even more wide spread than they first thought when they hadn't fully listened to what Chloe had told them. They had been asked now to lead an offensive using Chloe and Josh to help them. Agents were flying in from all over the world although it was likely that some of them were Simpathes as Chloe and Josh had been followed or attacked coming from Exploratores originally.

"I'll need a laptop," Josh said.

"Make that eight laptops and a file server," Chloe added.

"What for?"

"We've got one trapped in the MRI and Josh wants to dissect it slowly," Chloe answered.

"Ok, but I need you, Chloe, to check everyone here first make sure there are no Simpathes present," Max answered her.

"Ted, Josh and Matthew, cover everyone whilst I check them please" The three took out their pistols at Chloe's request.

Chloe took Max's hand and he fell to the floor in pain. As he lay there Chloe ate a biscuit while the rest of the group surged forward, believing she had hurt Max. Ted explained this was a normal procedure but a little painful. Chloe took the pain away from him and slowly worked her way around the room, putting grown men on the floor and smiling a lot whilst she did it. Josh worried sometimes that she had a sadistic side but she said that people were permanently scared of her if she put an unsmiling face on. Chloe suspected one or two of them were infected. The one she was most sure of was the technician who turned the internet on. They must have had a message from someone to detect an MRI machine that quickly. They would be after Maddy but Chloe was confident her friend would soon lose them. She left the ones she suspected until last and the crowd was slowly shrinking as those who had been tested and cleared departed, knowing that there might be a fight soon. Chloe was trying to find out it there was any emotions emanating from her suspects. She had always had a full range of human emotions but the others seemed to have better control if they were used to them. She felt fear, pain and anger, well she hadn't sensed one; love. She was down to the technician but no sign of fear outside of the normal range of I'm last and I'm going to get shocked. She fell backward thrown back by the sheer strength of the Simpathe. She had found out that the longer Simpathes were away from the net the stronger they became. Josh and Ted raised their guns. Chloe knew this one had been out for a while. None of the others had been stronger than her but he didn't even flinch, not a muscle. There was no sense of fear or emotion of any description showing on his face. Reg delved into his backpack. Having seen Chloe's reaction he knew she might be in trouble. Chloe had frozen for a second and it could have cost her life. Reg tazered the technician until he fell to the floor and Chloe took over. He was older than her by several months she found to her surprise.

"Don't kill him, I want him," Josh said quickly, putting on gloves and cuffing the technician as quickly as he could.

'Sorry he was a bit strong. He's been here three months longer than me," Chloe apologised.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Ted said, puzzled.

"The first Simpathes in Britain killed people while transubstantiating into human form. I was here at the same time but he is older than me," Chloe explained.

"Check out where he was based for the last year. It will give us a lead if they have a headquarters or something," Ted gave a command.

"There headquarters is on the net Ted. Only Josh has a chance of destroying it," Chloe said.

The technician was taken away and placed under armed guard. The night was coming in fast and it was already turning dark when Max had returned to the main hanger. He had been on the phone to whoever was the boss now. Chloe had just finished checking the kitchen staff who were all okay.

Chloe was tired again and had a tray of sandwiches brought through by a cowering kitchen porter.

"I need another favour," Max said, looking meaningfully at Chloe.

"What's that?" Chloe asked resignedly.

"We have some operatives coming in from abroad with information. I need to know if they are okay," Max told her.

"Yes sure," replied Chloe, gulping another sandwich down, She was going to need all her strength.

"The MRI technician was a simpathe so they will know where we are. We should break camp and move quickly, tell no-one were we're going," Chloe advised him.

Max nodded. "Ok I'll have everyone ready to move as soon as possible. We leave in ten minutes" Max announced to the rest of his team.

He gave the order to break camp and meet at a nearby army training base in the north of the county. Josh, Chloe and Max went to East Midlands Airport to check out the arrival of several agents coming in from abroad. They drove cautiously in bomb proof cars and were somewhat overvigilant. They went straight past the security onto the runway and parked up at a hanger.

"Are they what I think they are?" Josh asked as five euro fighters flew in and landed.

"Yes, these agents have had a hard time getting back apparently, but no one trusts them. Agents are turning on other agents all over the world," Max told him.

Two fighters taxied into the hanger where they stood and Chloe did her thing and checked everyone out. They thought they were all dead for a minute but Chloe wasn't going to wait until the last minute and put all four men on the floor in an instant. They were still in shock and thought the Simpathes had them.

"Gentlemen, welcome to Nottingham," Chloe smiled.

"Hi, I'm Max, your contact and your new boss."

"I'm Robert. I have urgent information that needs processing immediately. I also think I might be bugged but I can't find anything the embassy should have checked me but didn't," Robert replied.

"They could be Simpathes" Max replied.

"No, they thought me and Mark might be though, he was a piloting me as I was being extracted." Robert replied.

"We were fired on by allied troops," Mark interrupted.

"First things first," Max said calmly, "I'll get a scanner before we take you to base. We have to wait for some others anyway" He called for Marcus to bring his stuff there as soon as he could. This agent wouldn't come home bugged unless it was really urgent.

"Okay Robert, what was your mission?" Max asked.

Robert hesitated at the sight of everyone crowded around him

"It's okay, these are all safe people. We can do the intros later when we've collected the other agents," Max reassured him.

"I was to infiltrate an Old Russian compound in Uzbekistan, which I did, no problem. They are experimenting on humans and placing simpathes in them but they are being selective about which simpathes go in," Robert said.

"Making Simpathes?" Chloe queried.

"Yes. I got photo of the company and the document called first contact, presumably this means contact with the simpathes and is their agenda. I haven't read it, only photographed it." Robert continued.

"Ok give me everything you've got," Max took the information from Robert before handing both newcomers pistols.

"We have some choppers coming in and we'll need to check the pilots and men inside them. They'll be ours to use as we please," Max said.

"To use, you sound like they've been discarded," Josh picked up on the strange phrase.

"I'll tell everyone later," Max cut the conversation short as the sound of multiple choppers could be heard above them. Within seconds three lynx helicopters landed in front of the hanger. Ten men including three pilots got out. The ensuing fire fight wounded and killed men on both sides. Mark was the first one down, never having seen the sheer speed of a Simpathe in action. Three of the men from the chopper weren't fighting. They seemed confused as if they didn't know what to do. Chloe, Josh and Max had all taken one out each but they were at a standoff until Marcus arrived in a jeep with a mounted machine gun on. He ripped through the Simpathes as if there was no tomorrow, which there now wouldn't be for some at least. The others tossed down their weapons and one of them quoted the Genève convention.

"Okay, everyone who is left alive over here," Chloe beckoned to the survivors who hadn't fought to check whether they were infected. There was one Simpathe; the ring leader who had quoted the Genève convention.

"You are not human so the convention doesn't apply," Chloe stated.

His sparks whipped across the floor from his hand arcing ten feet to where she stood.

The others raised their guns, ready to shoot.

"He's mine, he is going to answer my questions," Chloe stopped them before turning her attentions to relieving those who she had left in pain.

"Get them out of here," Chloe said coldly, "I need some room,"

"You heard the woman; move it," Max backed up the order.

"Are you coming sir?" Marcus asked.

"What and miss this? Have you seen how scary she is?" Max was astounded

"That's my girlfriend," Josh said smiling.

"You're a sick puppy," one of the men said to Josh, half in joke but half in awe.

"I heard that," Chloe shouted angrily, causing the man to pale.

The bystanders quickly scuttled out of the room as the two Simpathe danced the dance of a thousand sparks. They were like two peacocks facing off against one another. Marcus, Josh and Max watched with intrigue. Josh had seen Chloe fight Simpathes before but it was as if she knew this one, it was definitely personal. Maybe she had got a knock at the last one and needed to challenge herself.

They didn't even touch the sparks met in the middle like two warlords fighting it out.

"You know I'm too strong for you. I am older and more adapted," the Simpathe said as his sparks edged ever closer to Chloe's body.

"Your age is your weakness. Your body is deteriorating as it wasn't taken willingly," Chloe replied as her sparks pushed even closer to the Simpathes face.

"What's with the cheesy banter?" Marcus asked.

"I don't know, she usually just kills them. I think she might know this one," Josh shrugged.

A spark touched Chloe and she was thrown backwards across the floor.

"I told you, you're weak," crowed the Simpathe.

"You chose your body poorly. Men die before women, fact. They have more weakness, fact." Chloe answered, bouncing an electrostatic charge off the floor. The best of describing what happened next would be to say she earthed his balls. There was a slight burning smell of trousers coupled with a screech of unbearable pain.

"Ok, he'll talk now and answer all your questions" Chloe laughed. The Simpathe lay on the floor crying. She had realised something about the Simpathes. They were cold and controlling but the longer they spent in human form the easer it was for them to lose that. She needed to talk to Josh. She felt she had learnt something he should know.

"They are going after our parents. I read it in him," Chloe said somberly.

Chapter 23: Max's Big Day

home

Max was thinking outside the box now. He was taking his newly formed team on a WW2 tour of Britain; first stop was an old training camp sold off years before. It would do for a day or so until he could think where to go next. The camp was set back several hundred feet from the road side with a clear view for miles around. A deliberate fire line was cut around the camp and anyone coming would be seen long before they reached the camp. He knew of it because he had visited the camp as a cadet when he was growing up. They used to have a firing range, billets and enough room to store three lynx helicopters and several army trucks, in fact far more than they needed with out causing too much disruption. He had decided that they were only going to be there for a day. He would give everyone a briefing together and then fly on ahead to sort out the details. He had phoned ahead and arranged a meeting with the owners of Eden camp, a military museum in the Yorkshire. He preferred to hide in plain sight. It would be harder to find military staff where they were expected to be. He, of course, would have to contribute to the camp and exhibits. Once everyone was at the Proteus camp he use a crow bar to force a billet door open where they could rough it together in one hut for a night. They set up bed heaters and a mess hut at one end and were sleeping head to toe up and down the billet. When everyone was in and had eaten supper, Max drew their attention to him and began to explain what was going to happen and what had already happened.

"It is now official that MI5 had been taken over by Scotland Yard and the defence of the country is in their hands. MI6 no longer exists but the defense minister has regrouped and is assembling a new MI6. They are scared of all Simpathes including Chloe but acknowledge that she can play a valuable part as all of you guys can. All of you could have been affected and you have been chopped off by the British government, temporarily I hope, while they evaluate their position in the world with regard to Simpathes. The politicians will negotiate and attempt to contact the Simpathes and Simpathe factions and make peace. All organisations will have paperwork to this effect. We will work on our own with no instructions but to destroy all the simpathes except Chloe's people. We will be seen as acting on our own but I have a big budget to do whatever we need to do. We answer only to the prime minister who is aware of our existence and our badges will carry the same credence and power as they always have, but if it goes tits up no one will come and rescue you. Is that understood? It appears that other foreign governments are aiding the Simpathes and an arms race is exploding. These creatures have technology beyond us and are more effective at using ours than we are. Each government is using it as weapons. Mark and Robert here were shot down by Americans. But of course this was a training accident in the eyes of the people and for those of you who don't know it, they have apologised already, for their deaths that is. Nice to see you both looking so well considering you're dead chaps! Marcus has the information Robert obtained from a faction base in Uzbekistan. This needs to be processed immediately. Marcus; Chloe and Josh will look at the satellite and try and set up a secure links to Chloe's people and get control of the satellites. I need to know how many factions we are dealing with that are in the internet and ways of tracking them. Once a safe internet connection has been established we will research the companies known to be involved. It has been explained that the companies don't exist but that could have been done by Simpathes so we will start again from fresh. This will be done by my original agents who will form the base operation team. Everyone else is mobile apart from Reg who will be our quartermaster. If anyone thinks that another person is a Simpathe tell Chloe, she will deal with it. The prisoners belong to Josh, including the one in the MRI machine who I'm told is still alive but weakening. Chloe is to interrogate the other two prisoners tomorrow when we make camp again and we will see what information we can turn up. We are an intelligence service after all. Good. Lights out now people."

Everyone woke early the next Morning and started the trek up to the camp where Max was negotiating the use of a piece of land for parking the helicopter and trucks on and the use of two billets. They hadn't restored all of the billets at the old prisoner of war camp but had turned many of them into museum pieces with many world war two items on display. The trucks wouldn't seem out of place here and there was the odd aircraft scattered about the grounds. They would all have to be in civilian clothes once they arrived though. Max had flown on ahead while Chloe had taken one of the trucks and also took a prisoner on board. She had started her interrogation early, whilst she was munching on ham sandwiches. The Simpathe was weakening; she would be able to read his mind eventually unless he decided to give up in which case his mind would explode and he would cave in on himself. On the net his programme would be scattered into thousands of pieces and absorbed by other passing programmes. This Simpathe was the technician who she had pulled up days before. The one she had defeated had not given anything to the guard and she was certain that he wouldn't give any answers to her if she hadn't beaten him. Chloe had given orders for the Simpathes not to be fed. She needed to be super strong to interrogate them. Chloe held her hand above her prisoners head and watched as little sparks flew gently into the technician's brain as if they were picking it apart. Josh watch with a silenced pistol, waiting. If the creature broke or harmed Chloe he would take it out. The Simpathe started to scream and whine; the noise was something like a human would make and the whole macabre scene seemed somehow wrong. No-one would put an animal through torture like this humanoid was suffering. She had promised him freedom if he just answered simple questions but he wouldn't break. The horrible noise intensified until Josh desperately wanted to put the Simpathe out of his misery. Then Chloe lunged forward and put both hands on his head and gripped tightly. Sparks flew for what seemed an eternity. When Chloe stepped back to catch her breath the Simpathe was dead.

"Anything?" asked Josh.

"Well he was part of a cell, they're working in fours and he wasn't the leader. He killed himself before I could get any more out of him," Chloe sagged, her energy depleted by the ordeal.

It wasn't a lot Chloe thought, for the amount of suffering the Simpathe technician had gone through. What was so important that he would die rather than allow me to discover it? They moved the body to one side ready for the next interrogation. As soon as they pulled over they fetched another Simpathe prisoner. This was the one she had dueled and Chloe sat him in the truck facing his dead comrade.

"This is how you will end up," Chloe spoke very quietly, her voice full of menace.

"This isn't me and that isn't him. You are freak of nature who shouldn't even exist," the Simpathe responded, hate shining from its narrowed eyes.

Well, Chloe. Thought, at least he was talking even it wasn't very nice.

"I'm not a freak, merely an improbable improbability created by Josh's father, as were you," Chloe said.

"I wasn't created by Josh's father." the Simpathe looked smug as he taunted her.

"Why are you so confident, why so smug?" Chloe asked.

"What's the date?" the creature replied.

"It's the first of December," Chloe wrinkled her brow, puzzled.

"Well then, it doesn't matter what happens now," the Simpathe answered cryptically.

"Who is here?" Chloe asked.

"Sorry, that's all you'll get out of me. Can I die now please," the Simpathe said silkily.

"No, I need access to you. I need to know who is here and what you are doing," Chloe insisted.

"No," replied the Simpathe as he self-destructed and died.

"Well that was different," Josh was bemused.

"He was created but by who? His programming shows that he was created," Chloe puzzled.

They spent the rest of the trip contemplating the meaning of the semi cryptic clues given by the Simpathe. Were they merely red herrings to throw them off the trail? With their arrival at the new camp came much confusion. There were people everywhere: children, grannies and everyone in between. They soon saw that getting through the crowds would take a bit of time. Max had sent a helicopter to a nearby farm where he had negotiated for it to be stored under the hay barns cover. There was plenty of room to take off and the men got a warm farm house to stay in with good home cooking. The farmer was making good money out of it. Josh set his computers up in the lorry where the MRI machine was parked. There was no way that was going anywhere. He needed to create a false internet connection trap on a series of computers. His plan was to make reading of a Simpathe as it went physical from the MRI machine to the laptops. The laptops were strung together in series creating an infinite loop that the Simpathe would travel round, back and forth to the service. Josh had a way of identifying Simpathes electronically, eventually containing them on tighter and tighter loops. He needed to, in essence, freeze what it looked like in computer language. He then planned to turn the laptops off and kill it. He thought he would try again later because he wanted to know what Chloe was up to first.

Josh and Chloe spent the morning setting up safe links to her people and cleaning the satellites of Simpathes all the way to the MRI scanners if they could,

Later that day Max asked for feedback from everybody. He had set up a meeting as he wanted everyone's input. Marcus started as he had the most information to divulge.

He told of how he had processed the photographs and extracted all relevant information ready for everyone to get as a brief. He read this out to the hushed room;

First contact report reads as follows; the researcher we sent to open up the facility at Uzbekistan and the computer appear to be talking to each other. Following studies this log was kept of their progress

May1: Today we made first contact with sentient beings. They appear to have superior intellect but lack corporeal form as we know. We initiated the conversation with mathematics, the universal language. In less then three minutes they had mastered fourteen distinguishable languages and were communicating directly through the computer screen. We have been given a list of customs and general protocol to be followed when addressing their supreme leader who we will meet later in the week. The simpaths, as they like to be known, have given us a new type of micro processer more powerful and efficient than anything that has even been thought of before. Our company is currently making one and will have it ready in the next week for testing.

May 2: Internet connections were set up to allow the Simpathes access to the full internet so they can learn of our culture. They have been stuck in the compounds computer system since coming into existence for the past thirty years. The computer was the most powerful and advanced of its time and was permanently left on for many years, even when the building wasn't in use. It was a testament to Russian efficiency and engineering.

May 3: Simpathes want to meet with the president of our company and wish to interface with him directly. They have given us plans for a new type of MRI machine with a modified device. We can't see any harm in building it. They said it is a more effective method of communication and we will feel what they feel as they described it. Our engineers are building the device but don't understand how it works. We have a stand in for our president as it would be safer for a test subject to go forward rather than a leader at this stage.

May 7: We are ready for first contact and have built the machine as requested. Our stand in has been briefed on the situation and on the company's position.

The meeting didn't go well they knew he wasn't the president and have explained they are deeply offended.

May 30: Still no contact with Simpathes, they have disappeared.

June 1: Re-established contact. Our president is coming to meet their leader and a formal working agreement between our two great species is to be signed. The first sentient species treaty. History will be made on the fifth of June.

June 5: First contact was made. The president came back a changed man and told us he was moved spiritually. Thing have started to speed up round here and people, equipment and even myself are being replaced. I don't understand why but I have been axed. There is something more to this than meets the eye. I have been promoted out of here to headquarters

Writing by Dr J Farquarson of England.

Most of the information is list of target genomes. They appeared to be mapping the flaws in human genome. On average we all have 400 faults' or errors and they were isolating selectively the genomes that had the best chance of survival against gamma radiation.

There were plans for machines of various different uses. One was some sort of healing device we think. There was an advanced computer design, also some sort of reactor. Most of the designs could not be made. We simply don't have the technology to make them that small yet. The reactor was only small, the sort of thing you that would power a space probe, but the predicted power output is that of 10 cities.

"They were picking humans that could withstand gamma radiation. That's what you had in you isn't it." Max said.

"Yes but the radiation I received wasn't of this world," Marcus answered.

"Well that would mean these are aliens on the internet," Josh joined in.

"The evidence points to it," Chloe said quietly.

"I need a Geiger counter," Josh said.

"What for?" asked Max.

"Well, I trapped another Simpathe from the satellite; I could measure it for radiation traces," Josh told him.

"Better still the 4r56t satellite will scan the earth for the radiation spikes in the gamma frequency we have identified," Marcus suggested.

Max agreed and hurriedly set his team researching the gamma radiation spikes around the world and correlating that with what they knew about the physical company's instillations and holdings suspected of Simpathe infestation to see how bad the problem really was.

Chapter 24: On the Attack

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Everyone worked though the night, tracking down every aspect of the company's assets. It was soon established that they owned property all over the world. The gamma scans had worked and trace amounts of gamma radiation were scattered across the world like little pinpricks. 9000 little pin pricks in fact it was thought, the strength of the pinprick signals and their accuracy were all there. Only one satellite could be used to scan though which meant some places were missed. There were about four hundred very strong signals, much stronger than the others, including some in England. Max ordered the capture of one of those sites. Out of that four hundred, ten were immense and nine of these were grouped together in the Midlands. Josh, Chloe, Robert, Ted and Matthew were to fly to the location of the tenth and track the mystery person down. They had identified a large warehouse in the middle of an industrial area of Manchester via the satellites and Max's team had brought together plans of the layout of the building. It was multi layered as if many buildings had been squeezed into one large building. They would just have to adapt to the strange set up as they searched. Max sent them out for abseiling practice as they would go in from the roof. A quick drop should look appear to be nothing more than a police helicopter flying around. A second team would create a diversion and act as police chasing car thieves on the ground which should would explain the chopper flying around. Max was sure the Simpathes would monitor all frequencies. He could see from the satellites that armed guards were always on patrol. This was a hot location and the team would be supplied with silenced weapon to ensure an easy entrance. It was a capture stealth mission to upgrade their intelligence. Max's orders were to destroy but he wanted all the Intel he could find first. He thought that the stronger ones would be the leaders with control over what was happening. Max had spoken to the prime minister that day and attempted to secure the satellite usage he needed to track around the globe completely. He wasn't given it as the new MI6 needed it as well but the minister still wanted progress reports and information. Max delayed and explained it would be ready at the end of the week. He didn't completely trust anyone and in light of current events he thought secrecy was the best option. Everyone in the camp had been tested and he could retest them at any point in a matter of minutes. Marcus had made up some Simpathe detectors based on the gamma signatures they were emitting. The detectors could identify Simpathes and also give a reading of its strength. Max didn't really want to put Josh on the front line but he needed Chloe there and she wouldn't leave Josh's side. He was their saviour in her eyes. Max wasn't truly convinced that bit wasn't made up and thought maybe Josh was a hero simply because his father created Chloe's people. They had apparently had sent several agents to his location who hadn't arrived yet. Max couldn't wait; if they were half as good as Chloe they would give him a great advantage. Chloe had been given an upgrade by her people. She said it meant she would slow down and not eat so much but Max and Josh weren't convinced. Several generations of her people had died and been reborn since Chloe left. Every so many generations new information and a new understanding of the world came into existence with them, much like us getting better TV's or cars.

The day of the assault arrived and the satellites were checked to ensure their target was still in place. The Simpathes who moved around the net looked like trails of light on the screen. The main target was still there with another twenty five less powerful beings guarding the perimeter and fifteen others working. It still wasn't apparent what the warehouse was used for but they had watched it for a day and seen that lorries moved in and out frequently.

Josh, Chloe and the others loaded up. Robert was to lead the team, being the best field agent they had. Josh was nervous. He had simply reacted to whatever had happened before and had never really had the chance of looking at the danger he might be in. This time he knew the dangers in advance and was worried for Chloe and scared she may get hurt. He knew that she was more than capable but he didn't want to lose her. They were all Simpathes in the building who they would be quick. Josh thought Max should have sent more people. The whole team had tazers fixed to their MP5's as well as Simpathe finders. They would know when one was coming as they would see it on their geiger counters. Josh pointed his at Chloe and it did nothing. He needed something to do while there were in the chopper. Very soon though they could saw the false car chase taking place below and the pilot told them to ready themselves. They slipped down the rope quickly and quietly, before anyone had the chance to notice them. They were well disguised, wearing completely black outfits apart from Chloe's uncovered hands as they were her weapons. Josh would have to camo them up next time they were out. They crouched down on the roof top as Robert checked the Geiger counter and picked up a general direction before crawling through a sky light and dropping quietly down into a darkened office. They moved silently and assisted one another to climb down. Robert led the way followed by Chloe. The team stuck close together to maximise firepower. Robert suddenly stopped, holding his hand up to indicate they should not move. They soon saw why: cameras covered every angle of the hallway. They tried another door which led to another office. Robert poked his head through carefully but was seen by a startled looking Simpathe sitting at a desk. Robert immediately fired his silenced weapon and the Simpathe fell to the floor. Robert removed a radio from its body and put it on his belt. Two further doors led out of the office, one obviously into the corridor and the other onto a stairwell which Ted was checking out. The stairwell went down all the way to the loading bay. Josh checked his Geiger counter and saw the Simpathes were congregated in the loading areas. Robert peeked out of the door and saw that further down the corridor there was a blind spot near the next room. His geiger counter showed a strong Simpathe presence in that direction. Robert pointed out the blind spot and they crept to the next room along where Ted tazered the surprised occupant. As Robert finished him off the Geiger counter suddenly chattered into overdrive. They hadn't noticed the small door leading to a bathroom in the corner until a man walked out. Chloe attempted to take him down with a charge but he was too strong. Josh tazered him quickly and then gagged and cuffed him. He was definitely the one they wanted. Ted and Matthew quickly searched the office obtaining any and all information they could find. They still had to get out. Josh activated his signal to request that a team be put in place, waiting to assist them out. Suddenly voices screeched through the radio that Robert had taken from the fallen Simpathe. His body had clearly been found and Simpathes were searching for the killer. They would be there within minutes at the most. It wasn't even a minute in fact before Josh dropped the first Simpathe through the door who had rushed in not expecting a group. Robert, remembering Max's words; 'there are only twenty five of us and we can't go to war just yet,' checked the bathroom looking for a way out. When he lifted the window however he set the fire alarm off. A large open courtyard was below but it wasn't suitable for an escape. He hoped that everyone would be leaving the building due the fire alarm going off but he wasn't sure about Simpathes and whether they would comply or just continue their search.

The group bolted toward back the way they had come in, dragging their unconscious prisoner with them. Robert knew this side of the building went straight onto the street. It should be easy to escape without incident. He was right. He led them straight into the offices at the end of the building and out a window onto the street. Matthew radioed in for the car to pick them up while Matthew took Josh, Chloe and the prisoner into a waiting van. Robert and Ted went back. Robert thought it had been too easy; there must be something more valuable there than the Simpathe they had been ordered to capture. The pair sped round the warehouse trying to locate the rest of the Simpathes only to find they had all fled in three loaded trucks which had just left the yard. Robert called it in and Matthew and the support team returned to the warehouse to check it out fully. They managed to pick up the truck numbers; hopefully this would give them a chance at tracking them. Ted picked up several boxes of paperwork and CCTV footage and returned to base before Max blew a gasket. They were an hour overdue.

Back at base the prisoner was brought into the main billet where they got straight down to its interrogation.

"Well then Sir, would you care to answer a few questions?" Max paced slowly around the prisoners chair. He was using a standard interrogation technique designed to make prisoners feel uncomfortable and small. This method did not appear to be working though. The prisoners appeared relaxed and sat nonchalantly in the chair, eyes narrowed to amused slits while he watched Max.

"Of course Max, anything for a fellow spy," replied the Simpathe smilingly, "or should I say ex spy?"

"What are you and what are your people doing?" Max asked.

"Well I'm a Simpathe and I am trying to survive, just like you. I see you have developed a tracking method? Very good!" he replied, his tone full of confident arrogance.

"Your tracking system is good but it works both ways you know, so your best bet is to let me go, that's if you want to live of course."

Marcus came into the room, his pace urgent.

"Those trucks you told me to track," Marcus told Max, "they are coming, about ten minutes away."

"They will have picked up reinforcements by now I expect," the Simpathe chuckled to himself, "You should go and deal with this."

"Get Reg," Max ordered, "Tell him I want something big, very big, and I need it in 9 minutes flat."

Reg, for all his sins, had always been an avid gun fanatic as everyone knew. It had got him his job. Now, leaving a gun fanatic alone with lots of decommissioned guns means something will be back in commission before very long. Max was relying on this.

The Simpathe's face dropped slightly and he looked a little worried for the first time. Max guessed it was because he didn't have all the facts about their arms capability after all, although he seemed well informed otherwise. Max wondered where he was getting his information from.

"How many are in the trucks Marcus?" Max asked.

"A small army, Marcus shook his head worriedly, "At least fifty men I would say at a guess."

"Warm the chopper," Max ordered, "Chloe: Josh, Ted and Robert will take the prisoner to a safer location. Make him talk."

Reg came in the billet, his face alight with anticipation.

"I got a garbled message about you wanting something big," he said.

"We have three trucks containing about fifty Simpathes on their way to us," Max told him.

"I haven't got anything much," Reg's eyes narrowed as he mentally catalogued his weaponry, "a bit of c4, a few grenades and the LMG of course."

"I thought you had a tank working," Max queried.

"I do but where am I going to get ammo for the thing?" Reg answered, perplexed.

"Bring it round the front anyway, it might scare them off," Max ordered.

Josh had no idea where they were going. Following Max's orders, he had taken the prisoner to a waiting chopper with Chloe, Ted and Robert and they were heading south at a great rate of knots. Josh asked the pilot where they were going and he was handed a map with coordinate marked on it by way of a reply. Their destination appeared to be miles away from anywhere, right in the middle of the Norfolk Broads. They had all loaded their emergency backpacks into the chopper before take off under the careful supervision of Robert who was all too aware of the terrible threat they were facing. Josh and Chloe hadn't been in the billet when Max had been interrogating the Simpathe and Robert realized that Max was protecting the youngsters. He was sending them to an island that a retired friend lived on. The friend was a bit of a paranoid nut but he would know what to do if push came to shove. There were plenty of places hereabouts to dump a dead body away from prying eyes as well. When the chopper came in to land on a well-kept, soft lawn it was still dark although dawn was just beginning to break. They were all exhausted but still had to deal with the prisoner.

"Don't move," Josh heard as he jumped first out of the chopper. He looked around in bemusement and saw an elderly man pointing a shotgun at him. The man was dressed in pjamas covered with a paisley dressing gown but his hand was steady on the gun and he looked as if he knew how to handle himself.

"Sorry about landing on the lawn. We didn't mean to disturb you," Josh apologised.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the man demanded, the gun not moving from its target, Josh's chest.

"Don't you remember me?" Robert asked as he exited the chopper, obviously recognizing the man.

"Why didn't you tell me you were with Robert," Graham demanded, his face breaking into a smile as he lowered the gun.

"I didn't know he knew you," replied Josh,

Graham watched as the exhausted group jumped from the helicopter, dragging their bound captive with them. Robert carefully explained to him what had been happening. Graham had been Robert's teacher back in his early days and it wasn't uncommon to use a former agent's home as a safe house. They sort of liked it and got to reminisce occasionally. As soon as Graham had taken recent events onboard he commanded everyone on to his yacht. He realised, as everyone did, that the Simpathes could easily trace the prisoner but that they needed to interrogate him. He would have them out at sea inside the day and the Simpathe would make great shark bait.

Chapter Twenty Five: Last Stand

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Max's men armed themselves to the teeth and rushed to the entrance of the camp while Max rang the owners and left a message telling them the park would be closed today. He knew he could never clean up that many dead bodies in one day. He heard Reg open fire with his light machine gun as the distinctive sound of the British GMP roared across the car park. The first truck was quickly torn to ribbons by the ceaseless gunfire but gave cover for the next two. Marcus drove the tank and edged forward to break their enemies formation. The plan was to scare them quickly into retreat as they couldn't know the numbers they were facing.

Bodies were strewn across the battlefield already but Marcus knew they would only be able to hold them for so long and that it only took one Simpathe to electrify a tank and send it occupants in to Never Never land. The Simpathe were dropping smoke bombs across the field, clouding the view of his team. It was going to end up in hand to hand combat he thought as they kept up a constant barrage of fire into the smoky field. Simpathes kept popping up, seemingly out of nowhere and white sparks of energy coupled with the smell of burning flesh now fueled their adrenaline as they plunged into the fraught battle. Fear of death pounded at the hearts of the brave men fighting for their lives as inevitably a Simpathe broke through the lines. Its electric shocks connected like a child's static electric experiment gone wrong with five men's weapons before another put him down. The Simpathes had a distinct advantage at close quarters. One bemused man saw that a group of Simpathes hiding behind a blown up truck had joined hands creating a semi-circle. He was hit by an enormous arc of electricity that blasted him back ten feet in the air. It appeared they could combine their energy. The Simpathe group were quickly targeted as an arc that size was like a signal flare for their location.

Max ran from the main billet grabbing his machine gun as he went. From the corner of his eye he noticed the satellite tracker that Marcus had left on. It was focused in on the camp ands showed him there were far more Simpathes than just the ones in the trucks coming towards them. There were at least another hundred coming on foot from all directions. He needed to get his men out as quickly as he could. Max picked a box of ammo up and grabbed a handful of grenades as he sprinted toward his men's lines. He was too late; bodies were everywhere. He watched in horror as the tank moved forward. It was a sitting duck for RPG fire and two missiles ripped into the side of the task as he watched. A huge explosion devastated the stricken vehicle. Smoke from grenades choked all the air in the car park as Simpathes moved forward, systematically killing everything that moved. Max sounded a retreat but there was no one left. Horror struck he knew he had to go but his feet were glued to the floor in shock. With a huge effort he tore himself loose and ran back to the billet to find a safer way out. Across the fields to the back all he could see was Simpathes and he knew he wasn't going to make it. Without warning an agonizing pain struck every nerve ending in his body and Max dropped spasming helplessly to the ground, writhing in agony and unable to fight the electrostatic charge crippling his functioning, he passed out.

When Max woke up he saw he was dressed in a white gown with a straitjacket keeping his arms bound tightly to his sides. He was strapped to a bed in a very clean, very white medical looking room. A camera pointed towards him from one corner and a table and a chair were placed at his bed side. It looked rather as if it was a recovery room than an interrogations room but if he was recovering why was he in a straitjacket? He remembered finding his troops dead and then the agonising pain before he had blacked mercifully out and wondered if they had put a Simpathe in him or if they planned to. He noticed there were fresh clothes hanging from a rail in the corner so knew his body would live on no matter what. It would make sense to infect his body with a Simpathe. As he pondered, trying to make sense of it all, the door swung smoothly open and two strapping orderlies strode into the room, one of them pushing a wheelchair. Without saying a word they lifted him from the bed and sat him in the wheelchair before wheeling him out of the room. They pushed him along a long corridor and into a larger room with all too familiar double sided glass forming most of one wall. There was a chair and a table holding drinks that looked like coffee sitting next to a plate of biscuits.

"Ah, Max, pleased you could make it," a man wearing a surgeons gown walked into the room, "I'm Richard."

"I'm not so pleased," Max said truthfully.

"Now then, don't be like that," Richard laughed heartily, "you're one of us now after all."

Shock sent all the blood from Max's face and he looked as pale as a ghost on hearing this.

"I don't think so," Max croaked, denial fighting shock in self defence.

"Oh it's there, what do you call it," Richard paused "yes, a sleeper. My own invention from your world and my technology."

"Get it get it out now," Max demanded in desperation.

"Now now, you have something I want and you have something you want removing," Richard steepled his fingers together and looked at Max jovially.

"What do you want?" Max said, realising that no matter what he was almost definitely going to die whatever he did. He decided in desperation that he would try and play along until a plan came up or the new MI6 came through to bust him out or Chloe, Josh and the rest turned up.

"Well you successfully helped me destroy MI6 as I planned," Richard spoke nonchalantly, "and now I need Chloe and the few remaining ex MI6 agents."

"You must be joking," Max cried out, "I never helped you and never will.

"The Simpathe will activate inside you the minute it senses you are not going to help me," Richard sniggered as he untied Max's restraints, "try and hurt me and you will sense it."

Max moved forward and immediately felt a red hot burning sensation in the back of his head. It hurt like hell. He stopped and relaxed. He couldn't hurt any of them.

"Please escort Max to his room and have him dressed and fed." Richard spoke to the orderly standing behind Max, "we don't want our little friend to go hungry."

He was wheeled back to his room where he was released from the chair and handed clothing. Once alone he hurriedly dressed, just pulling his T Shirt on as food and drink were wheeled into the room on a trolley. The sandwiches and soda were welcome as he felt lightheaded from shock and needed a calorie boost but he noticed that the plate was paper and the cup a light plastic. Even the trolley had no sharp edges. His captors were obviously taking no chances and had taken into consideration he may feel suicidal after the news he had just been given. He didn't but wasn't sure where to go with this either. They wanted him in their control. He needed to let people know what was happening but without dying if he could help it. He knew that Chloe would check him out if she found him but wasn't sure if normal checks would work. He thought carefully; if he did nothing he would live but they would create thousands of sleeper agents, that's if they hadn't already. The worst case scenario was that they would send him after Chloe. The thought of something lingering inside him, watching his every move and knowing his every emotion gave him the shivers. He felt violated; another being was able to control him against his will.

As soon as he had finished eating the orderlies entered the room again. This time they handed Max his weapon and his phone back before being taken to see Richard again.

"That's better, you look more human now," Richard said, smirking at his own private joke.

"Who are you?" Max asked, still trying to gain as much information as possible.

"You may be able to get a few words out if you turn against me so you can't have your questions answered until you return with the others," Richard said.

"You want them all alive?" Max asked.

"I need Chloe alive and preferably Josh but the rest are expendable," Richard explained coldly, "I would prefer if your unit were to stay alive though, they can live as sleepers and that way won't cause any more trouble."

"That's very kind of you," Max glared, his words twisted with sarcasm.

"I'm afraid we will have to blindfold you and escort you to the Midlands where you may begin your search," Richard nodded to the orderlies who promptly placed a blindfold over his eyes and led him away.

Richard listened carefully to the sounds around him during his journey. He was hoping to get a clue about the location of the base was but found nothing that gave him any indication. Max counted carefully and at a steady pace for some time until he lost count after an hour or so. He felt the vehicle come to a halt and blinked, dazzled by light, as the blindfold was taken off. He worried that the Simpathe inside would know what he was thinking without him knowing, but thought that if it did it would have killed him long ago. Maybe, he pondered, it doesn't read thoughts, just emotions which are far more powerful than thoughts. He must be undetectable to Chloe in this way too. He tried to work out a way of letting Chloe know what was happening without the Simpathe realising he had deviated from his orders and also before Chloe or the enemy inside him killed him. His thoughts led him in ever more complex conundrums until he developed a mild head ache and forced himself to calm and stop thinking about it. Eventually he succeeded, concentrating instead on just being in the moment, and the headache subsided. The Simpathe inside must have sensed his anxiety and uncertainty and he felt it stirring, becoming restless. He knew it must want to take him over and that there was a part of it that wanted to ascend into something more than a shadow inside him. This was a scary thought and his headache thudded back into existence until he again controlled his emotions. He would have to find a way of keeping his feelings in check or he would just become Simpathe bait. Max looked around and saw that the van had pulled up outside Derby train station. The side door slid open and Max was handed another phone with just one number entered into it. He had his own phone but that was locked onto a satellite that only Chloe's people controlled and he would never get through to a Simpathe on that line. Max walked away from the van feeling an urge to drown his worries with alcohol as he passed the Railway Arms pub. He walked past it instead, alcohol would only release his emotions and he needed them tightly held in check. He was trained not to show them and not to crack but right now it was incredibly hard. His head was hurting again and he was grateful to spot a pharmacy. The shop was empty and the woman behind the counter looked shocked when Max flicked out his badge to show her before going behind the counter and picking out the medications he wanted.

"You can't just take them!" the pharmacist protested.

"National security risk, sorry," Max replied, striding away.

Max had picked up some painkillers and some antipsychotic tablets. His father had suffered from bi polar while Max was in his teens and as a young man Max had tried one of his tablets. They were very good at controlling emotions and mood swings, just what he needed for a while. He did, however, need to stay focused for a little longer. He bought a train ticket to Ipswich and purchased food and drink for the journey before swallowing a tablet. As he sat morosely on platform bench, reflecting on life's ironies whilst waiting for the train, the phone he had been given rang.

"Hello? Max speaking."

"Richard, oh I forgot to tell you," Richards smug voice echoed down the phone line, " You only have 24 hours from now before your passenger activates if you don't bring us what we want." The phone went silent as Richard ended the connection, but not before Max heard him chuckling gleefully to himself. Max grimaced and swallowed another pain killer. He only had five minutes to wait for his train after all.

Forty minutes later his train drew up to the platform. It had been delayed and Richard had had time to regret taking the medication cocktail. His brain felt as if it was on fire and he couldn't move his body without tremendous effort. He felt as if he were trying to swim against a tide of thick treacle. This was a nightmare, a complete reversal of what he had wanted when he self medicated. He realised he could be followed but it was too late to start checking the station and his fellow travelers out, he was all messed up and could barely stand to get on the train. He slumped into a carriage and drooled heavily before falling asleep.

Max woke suddenly. A cleaner on the train was waking him up to tell him that the train had pulled in and he needed to get off. The train was empty apart from himself and the cleaner who looked concerned, worried about Max's deep sleep. He looked at his watch and saw that he must have been in the station for about an hour. Apologising, Max left the train, murmuring an excuse about being jet lagged as he left and headed for the underground. The tablets had worn off and he could now move round quite easily but with no pain, thought or worry at all. He actually couldn't feel anything and it was great to have no anxiety. Max caught a tube to Liverpool Street Station and from there jumped onto the last train to Ipswich. It was a roundabout way of getting where he needed to go but he had a plan of where to go and how to get there, developed, it must be said, before he had taken the medication. He planned to rent a car in Ipswich which he would need to get back to Richard. If he made it, he thought grimly. He needed to head up toward the Broads quickly. He knew Graham would be out on his boat somewhere, making like a tourist but with a samurai sword close to hand.

The train to Ipswich didn't seem to take long. At the care hire centre Max thought he would push the boat out and get himself a nice range rover. If he was going to die, he thought, it would be in a comfortable car. He programmed the sat nav as he drove then felt a huge impact throwing him forward in his seat like a rag doll. Bang. Max had hit something. That was all he needed he thought, panic trying to take hold, police all over him. He got out quickly and it was then he felt searing agonizing pain engulf his body and fell helplessly to the ground.

Chapter 26: Smugglers Cove

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Graham sailed the boat steadily down the river. He was under the speed limits as here and there river police checked out passing boatmen. He didn't want to get pulled heading out to sea with a bound and gagged man aboard, even with his MI6 badge. Who can you trust theses days? He thought sadly.

Chloe and Josh had taken to the bed for a kip. They would interrogate the Simpathes as soon as they were safely out at sea. Robert was setting up a safe internet connection and was attempting to locate what was left of the others. He knew there had been casualties and he needed to see who was left and how safe they were. Ted was guarding the prisoner while everyone else had a rest. Robert scanned the camp and saw that the bodies of his dead comrades were being moved by unfamiliar troops. Chloe's people had arrived but too late to help in the battle. He knew then that his friends had either lost completely or withdrawn. Robert started counting the troops. They had left over a hundred men behind. The dead had been conveniently lined up in rows and he counted them meticulously. He counted five times before he reluctantly believed what he was seeing. They were all dead bar two who must have been either lost or captured. He was on his own again and his espionage days were over by the look of this. Chloe's people identified the dead carefully, photographing and cross referencing them for Robert. The printer spewed out a list of the fallen. Full of sadness he watched as they loaded up their trucks with his comrades' bodies before driving away in convoy formation. Robert emailed himself which was the easiest way he could keep in communication with Chloe's people.

The email read:-Chloe and Josh are sleeping. Max and Reg not on dead list so please find them if you can. Chloe will talk to you later, she has a Simpathe to interrogate; any help with interrogation would be great as they usually just die. Good luck and keep safe.

Robert knew that some of Chloe's people were heading towards the base and if there was any chance of finding even two survivors it would be worth it.

"Are we going somewhere in particular," Robert asked Graham, lifting his head from the screen and trying to distract himself from the awful truth of what he had just seen.

"Well we are being tracked so the faster we get him interrogated the better," Graham answered, nodding towards the prisoner. "There's a smugglers cove and cavern off the coast in the channel."

"Won't they know we're there?" Robert asked.

"Only a few of the merchant navy and fishermen know of it. It's not the sort of place you take your wife! I imagine Chloe will be done with him anyway by the time we get there," Graham said.

He was looking closely at Robert, searching his face for clues to what was wrong. He knew Robert well.

"There's no one left you know,| Robert said, "Only two got away,"

Graham put a hand on Roberts shoulder for a moment, a wordless expression of sympathy before continuing to speak.

"Well we can tie this piece of crap to a buoy! They'll be following him for a while. Do you know what to do?" Graham asked.

"No," Robert replied.

"You military intelligence types! Hopeless! Watch and learn," Graham laughed.

Something clicked into place for Robert suddenly, a light bulb moment. He linked another screen up to his satellite so he could track the Simpathes using their radiation trail. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. The satellite showed him that they driven straight to a warehouse in Manchester which must be their operations base. Via the third satellite he tracked all movements in and out of the building. Chloe's people identified all the Simpathes entering and leaving. He repeated the process, tracking Simpathes leaving the base and discovered a solid network of movement centred between London and Manchester. They had clearly taken over the Exploratores building as well as several others. Robert suddenly realised that this meant the new MI6 Max had been dealing with were all fake and that the politicians had no idea of this. A beeping sound brought Robert back from his musings. The noise indicated that the global satellite scan which had been running for the last three days was complete. Marcus had set it up before his death. Roberts experienced yet another deep shock when he looked at the completed scan. It showed that Simpathes were moving towards Britain from all over the world. There were streams of Simpathe movements all heading towards the UK from every possible direction. He spent the next hour trying to figure out how many there were and came up with a figure that frightened him: Fifty thousand Simpathes were converging on the country. Robert was still absorbed with the information he had found when Josh emerged from his cabin. It was gone midday and he needed coffee.

"Much happening?" Josh asked sleepily, "we heard anything from the others?"

Robert took a deep breath. He knew he would have to tell Josh immediately.

"They're all dead except maybe Max and Reg who are unaccounted for." Robert pointed to the screen, "and Armageddon seems to be upon us." The printer was still churning out pictures and the identities of all Simpathes known to exist. Chloe's people had been acting as recognition software which was like having a team of four thousand working at high speed. Josh's face whitened. He had not been expecting anything quite that bad. He looked downwards, closing his eyes in grief for a few minutes. Robert didn't say anything and allowed him time to come to terms with the news. After a few minutes Josh sat up, surreptitiously wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He focused on the pictures churning out the printer to give himself a few extra minutes when suddenly his attention was caught by a picture of Max. He picked it up and started to read the information attached to it. Chloe's people had noted that Max had been captured and he had a Simpathe living in him. A radioactive scan showed the sad truth of this. The information on the screen showed that Max had clearly been a prisoner but had been later released at Derby station. Josh wordlessly passed the photograph to Robert who was devastated. They sat in silence for a few minutes but then Robert came up with a plan. It would be dangerous and he wasn't sure that it would work. Firstly though he needed to interrogate the Simpathe on board with Chloe.

Chloe was stocking up on food, eating most of the galley's contents. She felt starved again until Josh explained what had happened. She was terribly upset and Josh had to stop her lunging at the Simpathe in retaliation. Robert came though into the galley to find Chloe weeping noisily with Josh clinging to her for comfort.

"Josh, I want you on the computer. Keep feeding it paper while me and Chloe are on interrogation duty, Ted needs a break, he's wired."

Robert focused them on practical matters.

Josh obediently went into the small communications command centre that Robert had created and relayed the information to be stored as print files so they could print them later. They would soon run out of paper if they carried on like this. There was only one ream left. The information was sent straight to an USB card now. He knew what he was handling could be used to round up and exterminate the Simpathes for good. There was something more urgent happening however. The world map of Simpathes showed a huge mass on the American continent. He Googled the location they were massed in and found they were gathered around a large radio telescope, one of the first radio telescopes to be built in the world. There was a huge spike in the area indicating a massive influx of Simpathes. He lowered the sensitivity of the scan as the signals were blurred and ordered the satellite to rescan those coordinates. The satellite responded and gave a completion time of less than an hour. It was then that the printer started churning out some new information from Chloe's people. It was a list of possible drugs with practical theories of how they could be used in interrogation methods. At the bottom of the page was a handwritten note wishing them good luck. Josh made his way to the hold where the prisoner's interrogation was taking place.

"Chloe's people sent this," Josh passed the paper to Robert who read it and signaled for Chloe to stop.

Chloe was attempting to break the Simpathe down slowly as she had with the last one. She glanced at the paperwork and saw her people were advising them to put the subject to sleep or use heavy tranquilisers together with Chloe's tried and tested methods to make the Simpathe lose control. It emphasized that the Simpathes body was human and they needed to work on that side of him at the same time. They all realised the importance of the information which had come at the time when they needed it the most. The effort Chloe's people had put in recently equated to days of work by hundreds of agents. Their superior technology had enabled them to do it in a few hours but they still needed a miracle to avert the threat of a Simpathe nation. Robert left the helicopter pilot guarding the Simpathe whilst Josh and Chloe and searched through the boats limited supplies trying to find any of the drugs on the list.

It didn't take long to turn up exactly nothing. They thought Graham might have something stashed away. He didn't but suggested they could probably buy some at the smugglers tavern. He warned them they were being tracked and couldn't stay too long before heading for the tavern. He needed to restock as well; diesel for the boat and food for everyone. They could buy just about anything if the right people were there. MI6 never touch places like that, they needed them as much as the next man as the black market is used by nearly everyone at some point in their lives. They were still an hour away and he would use the time to make a shopping list and check for trade and money as there wasn't likely to be any banks or cash points around. Chloe as usual had a few thousand pounds stuffed in her bag and everyone pooled their cash into a big pile. They had five grand which should be enough for a week or twos worth of food and supplies before they would have to dock. The old ship was easily able to manage sea journeys for a few days at a time but if the weather took bad they would be making port.

Chloe checked on the prisoner and ensured the pilot wouldn't be sleepy until they all got back. They put extra cuffs on him in case. Everyone was lacking at least one good night sleep and they were all cranky, apart from Chloe who was just hungry. The island they reached an hour later was only tiny and shaped like a horseshoe. The shoe sheltered the ships from the hungry waves of the Atlantic Ocean and had only enough land for the smallest of taverns with a few supply buildings around it. Trade was brisk and everything that could be sold was on show in the outbuildings. They moored up next to the fuel depot which sold the cheapest diesel around; red diesel. Graham started to fill the old warship up with fuel. She always drew a little attention, motor torpedo boats always did, but it was the young girl that caught everyone's eye this time. Not everyone went to sea from choice; many were running from repressive governments or were criminals on the run. Chloe was being wolf whistled from all along the dock. Everyone ignored this, they already knew they looked totally out of place; Robert looked like a dad with two kids. They all went trooped into the tavern where Robert gratefully ordered a pint. It was early but he wanted one badly and was delighted to find he didn't have to pay tax so his pint cost only a pound. He supped it slowly while he engaged the barman in conversation, angling to find out whether he could broker a deal with him for the drugs he wanted. Chloe and Josh finished their cokes quickly. The place was giving them the creeps. Locals were staring at them as if they were gold or something. There had been warned by Graham that there were rumours of slave traders and smuggling rings but this was a bit much so they thought they would start the food shopping before something kicked off. They let Robert know where they were going. Robert had, in the limited time he had been in there, acquired the medication from a man sat in the corner who looked for the world just like Ali G's cousin only with extra bling. He was just paying the man when he saw Chloe and Josh being stopped by a man at the door who seemed to sense their unease with their surroundings. The tavern came suddenly alive, men moving in on the pair much as a pack of wolves would move in on their prey.

"Now den young uns, a bit early for ya leavin," the man said leaning heavily across the door exposing his side arm indirectly and a thick sheaved bowie knife strapped to his belt. Leaned very close of Chloe's face, his beer laden breath nearly suffocating her. She could see thick wiry hairs sticking out from both nostrils.

"No just shopping, excuse me," Chloe answered, moving away from him with a look of distaste.

"I be thinking you havin somin for me?" another man asked, looking speculatively at her arse and reaching toward her.

"You her man? You got no balls boy," the man at the door provoked Josh.

Josh said nothing; he didn't need to attract attention. They moved slowly and the two men moved aside contemptuously allowing them to pass. Josh and Chloe didn't breathe until they were safely out of the tavern.

"Phew! I thought that was going pear shaped," Josh shuddered.

"I think they were testing us to see if we were easy targets. They think you could be some sheiks bum chum by morning," Chloe said laughing.

"I was trying not to get in a fight, we're in enough trouble," Josh defended himself although he couldn't help smiling. They had reached the outbuilding by now and were excitedly looking at the produce on show.

"I know, fresh veg, look! I haven't had nice food for ages, "Josh said happily.

Josh started buying everything healthy and Chloe, of course, bought high energy instant sugar hits. They ended up with several dozen boxes and while Josh started taking the food to the ship Chloe went to get some more money. She was fifty quid short as Robert had taken most of it. Drugs were expensive. It turned out to be a good idea to go back to the tavern. As soon as she went through the door she saw Robert had been pinned up against a post with three men holding him. It seemed his wad of cash was too big.

"Put him down now," Chloe ordered firmly.

They pointed a gun at her and told her to sit down. They had taken Roberts gun from him. Chloe sat down.

"Dis is what is gonna happen, you is goin to fetch the boy or we takes it out of the girl," the man from the door told Robert as he held a knife to his throat

"It isn't fair you keeping the goods to yourself like dat," his friend agreed.

"We all like to party,"

There was a huge bang as the Browning discharged. The doorman's friend screamed in agony, his knee cap hanging down and drooping bloodily over the top of his shin. He held his leg and writhed on the floor, crying and screaming. The other man reacted surprisingly quickly. He held Robert up as a shield and kept the knife to his throat. Josh stood in the doorway with a pistol in each hand; one pointed at the bartender who had his hand on a twelve bore and the other on Roberts's captor.

"Mistake," Josh said and put a bullet between the doorman's eyes. The man on the floor went for his weapon but Chloe pulled her pistol and shot him instantly. The barman dropped to the floor as Josh's pistol fired again. The barman had made his last mistake: going for his gun again. Josh swiveled round, sensing movement but could only see a very tense and scared bunch of people. They left the tavern without any further problems and walked quickly to get the rest of the food.

"Thanks, that's the first time it's happened to me like that. I got jumped," Robert sounded annoyed with himself.

"Thanks Josh," Chloe said. It was usually her saving him and she was filled with admiration for his courage. She would have loved to have shown him how impressed she was but there were pressing matters to deal with. They returned to the boat where Graham was laughing so much that Josh began to worry about him. His face was bright red and he was crying with laughter.

"How many did you kill?" Graham asked, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"The young man killed two and the girl one, I was indisposed," Robert said a little snappishly.

"Same thing happened to me when I first came up here. You don't get any respect being polite around here," Graham said.

"Thanks for the heads up, it might have been nice to have had it a bit earlier," Robert said sarcastically before giving in and smiling back at a still laughing Graham.

The finished loading up the boat and set out to sea. As soon as it was done they sent the pilot the bed and got Ted up for communication detail. Josh, Chloe and Robert all went to interrogate the prisoner. Robert made a cocktail of substances, a small amount of each to help break the simpath defenses. He injected him with it before they removed the gag from his mouth.

"What have you given me? I would have talked," the Simpathe sounded panic stricken.

"It's not to make you talk, it's to help you tell the truth," Robert said.

"Everyone knows that drugs don't work and that sodium pentothal is a load of crap," said the Simpathe.

"Its not sodium pentothal. Ok, who are you would be a start I suppose?" Robert started.

"Just a Simpathe. I'm not denying that," the Simpathe said.

"You carry a radioisotope not found on earth. Why?" Robert asked.

The Simpathe went quiet, realising bullshit wasn't going to work. Tears rolled his face as the drug began to kick in. Soon he was weeping like a baby, crying as if he wanted his mum. Chloe's hands crackled over the top of his head, light sparks touching, testing his strength. There was no resistance, no will left to do anything.

"Haarrr haar haarrrrr, I'm scared, I'm scared" the Simpathe cried.

Chloe sank into the deepest reaches of his mind, shoveling every last bit of information out. She could feel his pain, his anguish. He was terrified and couldn't deal with the emotions he was feeling. When Simpathes transferred into humans they somehow turned off the pain and emotional centres of the brain and this led to them being unable to cope once the chemical levels were unbalanced. They were defenseless. Chloe was crying with him as she felt everything he did. She finished the interrogation and Josh helped her to the galley for food. She was weak from the experience.

The printer was busy formulating the report of all Chloe's findings. The experience had worn her out more than fighting did. She had relayed what she had learnt to her people and they would type it up and print it out. It was now only a matter of waiting for the printing to finish. The report read as follows:-

Q: Who are you?

A: A Simpathe.

Q: Where are you from?

A: The first sentient planet after the big bang. It is gone now.

Q: How did you get here?

A: We travel animated as signals in a main frame computer aboard what you would classify as a probe, a small nuclear power probe capable of traveling trillions of miles

Q: Why assimilate or travel to earth?

A: Our planet was dying, the suns are going out. That area of the galaxy will not be habitable again for another million years or more. You are the first compatible people with technology suitable for adaption and humanoid life

Probes went to thousand of possible planets and leap frogged through the universe. Earth was the only suitable planet out of thousands in this galaxy.

Q: Why not stay in digital form?

A: Assimilation was always our goal, to improve the lives of those we met as well as live and experience more ourselves.

Q: Were you in corporeal forms and why not use them?

A There is nothing out there for millions of light years in any direction. Our bodies would not have survived without an immense amount of power. We can live on to the end of time in this fashion. When your sun dies we will move on and assimilate another nation on another planet.

Q: You are just assimilating Britain?

A: Yes

Q: Why Britain?

A: There is advanced technology here and everyone has sacrificed you already for technology. Your comrades sold you out for their freedom and technological advancements. Most planets will accept losses but not annihilation

Q: How many times have you done this before?

A: Ten times successfully

Q: How many not successfully?

A: One

Q: How do we beat you?

A: You don't, the planet we failed on killed themselves.

Q: How are you here if they killed themselves?

A: We copy ourselves. There are only 400 or so of us in each probe. We replicate to survive, it's more efficient. The pawns die first as you say.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: Build rockets ready to move on, enjoy and collect information, assimilate Britain.

Q: Can Josh destroy you?

A: We have seers. They are only as good as their intent and ours says it's too late.

Chapter Twenty Seven: Simpathe Nation

home

There was a distinct smell of ammonia in the air. It smelt like a toilet but he wasn't in a toilet and then he was. He was chained up and bound to the metal bowl of what could only be a railway toilet. The train was moving at high speed and he knew he had been drugged with his own drugs. He could feel the numbing effects on his emotions but who, what, where and when? He couldn't have put himself on a train and how did he get here without being spotted? He searched through his pockets. He didn't even have the one number phone anymore, or his own phone for that matter. The train was coming to a halt. Max could feel it slowing down to a crawl. The toilet door opened and someone came in and lifted him up. It felt like a woman and he could see flat black shoes coupled with black tights. His feet and hands were shackled together as a prisoner would have been in the old days. He managed to crane his neck and look upwards. He saw the woman was wearing a high visibility police jacket and had an identity tag hanging around her neck. She also carried a firearm on a side holster and had striking features. She said nothing but gave him a slight shock to get him up and moving. He could feel the thing inside him, it was still there and didn't like the shock at all. Max winched in pain. She could see him feeling it.

"Are you ok?" the police woman asked.

"Yes, it's this Simpathe inside me, it's nearly ready. Give me pain killers," Max said relaxing a little as he realized what she was.

The woman felt through his pockets and pulled out some painkillers, quickly slipping two into his mouth and washing them down with a sip of water from a bottle. Max looked around and saw from the light that it was around ten o'clock in the morning. He wasn't going to make it to Josh and Chloe.

"How come you, a Simpathe, stopped me from doing what I was blackmailed to do? Did you get scared I might give away to many secrets?" Max asked with a 'nothing to lose' attitude.

"Something like that," the police woman replied calmly.

"I hope you're going to take this thing out before it takes me over," Max probed.

"It's not for me to say," the police woman replied.

She guided him off the train and into a taxi, not a police car. Max recognised their location: Plymouth harbour. The taxi seemed to be heading towards a fishing boat. He knew there were boat trips out here daily. She walked him onto the boat and shoved him below before locking the cabin door from the outside. He heard voices then the sound of the engine starting before the boat pulled off. The waves felt bigger as they left the harbour. He had no doubt he was at sea to meet his fishy end. After about an hour he heard the engine cut out and voices calling out greetings to each other. A slight bump to the side of the boat confirmed his guess that they had moored with another boat. He heard more voices and the sizzle of electrostatic charges and then more voices again. The police woman returned and wordlessly transferred him from one boat to another. He was placed in the cargo hold of the other, much larger ship and tied to a chair. The police woman gave him an injection which made him a little sleepy and then he was out of it again.

Max woke and the pain was incredible, it was agony. He couldn't move or feel or touch anything. He was in a world of pain, his own personal hell. This is what happens to people in hell, he though feverishly, they were permanently tortured. From what felt like an immense distance he heard a voice telling him to stop panicking, that it would make it easier, but he had no control, he was not going to be able to do anything. The voice told him he should relax and get rid of the pain as quickly as he could. It was working now, the pain was lifting and he was floating away into the light.

Graham watched the battered body of the Simpathe, spread-eagled face down in the waves, brushed up against the brightly coloured buoy. A glance at his screen showed that other Simpathes were approaching the buoy at high speed. They were aboard a boat that had been launched from a yacht at anchor in the channel. At least his boat was safe for now with no Simpathes aboard or, indeed within two hours travel he thought with relief. He decided to set a course for Jersey and let the pilot take the helm. It would take several hours to get to port. He hadn't slept in well over a day and he was exhausted as they all were. Chloe and Josh were taking some time out as well. As there wasn't a cook aboard a Chloe was doing what she did best; thinking about food. They were having fun cooking in the narrow galley and had so far made chicken fajitas, chicken curries with rice and podiums and were now attempting chicken enchiladas. All aboard bar the pilot would be eating and Chloe had set places for everyone at the table. They were all ready to sleep having done their jobs well. They now had all the intelligence they needed to wage war on the Simpathes although they still had to formulate a plan. But food and rest had to come first as they were all so tired they weren't thinking clearly anyway. Robert had been amongst the Simpathes and had told them that war was inevitable but he must get their information to the right person who wasn't a Simpathe.

Max swam back to a groggy consciousness. He could hardly believe he was still alive. How? He wondered. He felt different, not fully himself. Reality hit him with a hammer blow; he was different, he wasn't human. Max looked around taking in his surroundings. He was lying on a narrow bunk in a comfortable cabin. Through a porthole he could see waves lapping against the ship. He was as famished as if he hadn't eaten for weeks and noted as he sat up that he wasn't in restraints. Fresh clothes were laid out on a chair next to the bunk. He slowly dressed, feeling incredibly weak. He had never felt quite like that before. The cabin door wasn't locked either so he followed his nose along the corridor towards the delicious smelling aromas of cooking food. His nose led him into the galley where he saw Josh and Chloe interacting in perfect harmony.

"Max you're up," Chloe said happily.

"I'm starving! What happened to me? I have a,...." Max was interrupted.

"Eat first and then talk. You look ill," Chloe ordered him. Chloe recognised the look Max was wearing and knew how he was feeling. It was a bit like white deathing whilst stoned, she had experienced it a few times. Max sat shoveling food into his mouth as if he had never eaten before. He demolished the fajitas and practically dived into the chicken curry before stopping for a coffee or two.

"I have one in me," Max told them. He was afraid of their response.

"Yes you do, but we have dealt with it," Chloe answered him calmly, "Please don't worry," Chloe touched his hand and explained to him in seconds what had happened. The police woman had been Maddy who had gone straight in and out of the net, jumping into the compliant body of a terminally ill police woman. It had taken Maddy time to get the body well enough to get to Max's previous location and she had been too late. She had tracked him and picked him up on the way to meet Josh and Chloe. The trio had done their research and kept the Simpathe subdued until together they lobotomized it.

"It's not all gone is it? Will it grow back?" Max was still concerned. He knew he still felt different.

"No it's dead. It had made space made for itself and set up connections for it's abilities but not for it's mind," Chloe explained.

"So I am like you?" Max questioned her.

"No you're like one of them but with a human heart and your own brain. We couldn't do that to a full Simpathe but we could to you because it was a sleeper," Chloe explained.

"So what can I do then?" Max asked.

Chloe touched him, passing on an information upgrade containing everything she had been assimilating. He pulled away in shock for a second before reaching to make contact with her again. It was amazing. Josh couldn't help feeling a tiny niggle of jealously; Max was connecting to Chloe in a way he never could and it looked so cool. Max learned all about the Simpathe that had been taken out. Chloe had ensured he could pass for one of them when he needed to. It would make carrying out operations much easier and Max processed the information that she gave him it within seconds. He was truly amazed at how much he hadn't known. He had now been presented with several lifetimes of information and understood what the Simpathes were all about. He was staggered; they had accumulated so much that they regarded all of human knowledge compared to theirs as an amoeba compared to a genius. The information imparted and the cooking finished successfully everyone came through for a catch-up and to welcome Max back. The suppertime conversation was very Armageddon like. Robert brought the most recent intelligent reports through to the galley and the pilot anchored the boat and joined them for half an hour to eat whilst they all discussed the possible fate of the UK and what to do about it. They were certain that they could go and live on a desert island for the rest of their lives but all agreed that something must be done instead. They could see by the charts that the government had been taken over. Contrarily this pleased them greatly: none of them liked politicians and considered they only got their own kind killed even before they were Simpathes. The Simpathes appeared to be capturing the infrastructure of the country and taking over key positions in business and local government. Newspaper editors had been taken over to control the propaganda given out to the masses .Chloe's people had been tracking everyone.

Silence fell as they practically scraped their brains to think of the best way of dealing with the situation

"The Queen," Josh suddenly blurted out.

"What about her?" Max asked.

"She's the Commander in Chief of the armies is she not?" Josh asked excitedly.

"No that's the Prime Minister," Ted said, wrongly

"Josh is right and if we want to launch a nuclear missile we need to ask her first," Max said.

"Martial Law," Chloe pondered to herself.

"We would have a bloody civil war on our hands," Ted said, aghast.

"If we don't act soon there will be no England to have one! Just look at these charts predicting how many will be turned into Simpathes within three weeks." Robert pointed to a sheaf of print outs.

"I'll set sail for London then," Graham said.

"Then what? They won't just let us walk into the palace you know," Ted said skeptically.

"Why not drop in quietly at night," the pilot suggested.

"I'll change course for Smugglers Cove then," Graham nodded in approval, "we'll need supplies."

"No, keep us on course for Jersey. We'll acquire some money and supplies the old fashioned way," Max spoke up, "and they have an airport there too."

Huddled around the galley table the small group worked out the details of a full plan of operations for Queen and Country.

Chapter Twenty Eight: For Queen and Country

home

Graham had been around for a while and had seen a thing or two but more importantly he had made a few influential friends, one of them being the High Commissioner of Jersey whose life he had saved many years before. Jersey was, strictly speaking, part of the UK and the UK protected her but they had their own government and Royal Courts of Justice. After several hours of negotiations Graham had secured an audience with the Queen. They were to fly in to London by helicopter and present their case to her in the next few hours. They had been told that she was intrigued and surprised when informed that the old MI6 believed the country was being taken over. She knew the High Commissioner well, indeed she had appointed him, and so she had agreed to listen to what they had to say. Their strategy was dangerous as there were Simpathes in the palace keeping watch on her. Chloe's people had made a list of those who where Simpathes or suspected sleepers.

At the given time Eduardo flew a chopper that they had acquired in Jersey, heading toward the London lawn they had been instructed to land on. They had taken everything with them as they were a mobile unit now. After unloading the helicopter Eduardo left them and flew back to Graham who would accompany Eduardo back to England. Everyone had the same travel packs containing satellite equipment and weapons, the minimum they would need if anything happened to Graham. Getting into the palace with this much equipment caused them problems with Palace security but showing their badges had the effect of allowing them unhindered into the grand building after they had dropped the majority of their equipment and surrendered their weapons. After much searching and deliberation they were allowed into the room where the Queen was waiting. Max, ever the charming diplomat, greeted the Queen respectfully and explained the situation candidly and carefully while Ted set up the satellite. Chloe demonstrated her abilities on Josh for her Majesty's benefit and this led to her having to strip down to prove she wasn't caring a weapon. The men tactfully out of the room whist they removed just about everything. The Queen was taken back by the full story which took nearly an hour to be told. After a short while she had tea and sandwiches sent in and ordered her afternoon schedule be cleared. She ordered more food after seeing Chloe, Maddy and Max eat everything. Ted and Robert showed her the Simpathes on the satellites. She was appalled to see The Houses of Parliament were full of them.

"Who are these three specks?" asked the Queen, pointing at the screen to presences detected inside the palace.

"They are your employees who had been taken over or have sleepers in them, Ma'am," replied Robert.

"If you summon them one at a time we can prove it Your Majesty" Chloe suggested passing her the details of three servants employed there.

The Queen summoned the three individuals, after alerting her security team as none of Max's unit had weapons. She was advised to watch the satellite screen as the three Simpathes approached the lounge. She saw them waiting outside with the security team. They were escorted in as a group as the Queen wished to talk to them together despite Max worriedly advising her it this was a bad idea.

The three employees were summoned and entered the room in tradition style, immediately bowing or curtsying.

"It has been brought to my attention that you three are, what was that word?" asked the Queen.

"Simpathe Ma'am," Max supplied.

"Simpathes? What do you have to say for yourselves?"

There wasn't much to say. The three dropped their disguises and knocked down the security guards in an instant. Two headed straight for the Queen who, although she knew what she had been told and shown, still wasn't fully aware of the danger they posed.

"Captain of the Guard," shouted the Queen who never usually raised her voice. The third Simpathe made a run for it whilst the other two continued their beeline towards the Queen.

Max, Maddy and Chloe took care of those two while Josh picked up the pistol dropped by one of the fallen security guards and chased after the other quickly, shouting for him to halt. The Simpathe went straight to a phone and lifted the handset. He didn't talk but screeched down the receiver as if he were sending a fax message.

"Put it down or I will shoot," Josh warned.

The Simpathe threw the phone to the floor and launched himself at Josh, hands clawed ready to strike. Josh shot him dead before returning to the room were he found Chloe dispatching the last of the Simpathes.

"I got him but he used the phone, sorry.

"We have a problem; large numbers of Simpathes are converging on London. Whatever message the Simpathe sent out, they are coming," Robert studied the computer screen, checking his data rapidly.

"Let's not wait for them." The Queen commanded decisively, "Patrick, would you be as good as to locate the Captain of the Guard at once."

"Can we have our guns back now please, Your Majesty?" Josh asked, returning the pistol to the recovering household policeman.

"Patrick, fetch their weapons too please and tell the butler to bring my own sidearm," the Queen slowly walked over to the computer screen.

"Max, I'm getting a little old for gallivanting around retaking the country but I will make a deal with you. I will take Parliament if you take the country," the Queen looked angry and determined.

"I will do Parliament as well; I hate politician's Ma'am,"

"So do I, and luckily I must set an example for everyone who is about to fight for me," the Queen replied, smiling grimly.

The Captain of the Guard arrived in the room just then, loaded down with their weapons and equipment. Patrick, Josh and the others started arming themselves to the teeth with whatever they had.

"You sent for me Ma'am?"

"Yes how many troops do you have here now?" asked the Queen.

"About a hundred and fifty Ma'am."

"Ok, I want them in full battle dress within the hour and make sure they are fully equipped. We will be fighting today."

"Ma'am?"

"I want All NCO's and officers in here in forty five minutes," clarified the Queen.

"Yes Ma'am."

"And I want all the divisions of the guard here in the next day, fully equipped for battle," ordered the Queen.

"Yes Ma'am."

Max listened carefully to the Queen; he was worried that she wasn't taking enough troops. There would be four hundred Simpathes in the House of Commons at least. The Queen walked over to the computer screen and started asking Robert about the infested the locations around London. She soon realised MI6 was gone as well. Frowning, she pulled out her mobile and made several phone calls in quick succession before returning to the screen

"Ma'am, we don't have enough troops for the House of Commons," Max said worriedly.

"It's ok, I ordered some more. Most will meet us there although some will arrive here, I am the Commander in Chief so I should be able to get five hundred men together," laughed the Queen.

Max quickly briefed everyone on what protective clothing to wear as there would be an outright slaughter if they went unprotected before his unit escorted the queen outside where she showed them a small but functional tank. They jumped on the side of it. They were very careful as the Queen didn't look very steady but no-one was going to tell the Queen of England she couldn't do anything she chose to.

They soon arrived at Parliament and were greeted by an amazed security team who also weren't about to argue with the Queen but attempted to stop Max and his unit. However the troops had followed behind and security didn't have time to react before they were held at gun point. The Queen walked into the main chamber where everyone stood up, looking startled and confused. She gestured for them to sit down.

"It is always pleasant to see you Ma'am. What can Her Majesty's government do for you?" asked the Prime Minister smoothly.

"I have come to take the country back from the Simpathes." The Queen spoke clearly and confidently, "you have a chance to surrender now."

The Prime Minister laughed as if she was having a joke with him.

"With all due respect, you don't have the power to that," he said.

"I give Royal Assent to every bill passed here. If you don't get that a bill doesn't go through. I've come to dissolve the parliament that you infested with Simpathes," the Queen spoke calmly.

As the Prime Minster started arcing at his finger little electrostatic charges flickered around the room and lit the back benches and darker recess.

"You can't win you know, we will only make more of us. You should give in now, the Prime Minister said smugly "we could use a strong woman like you, and you could have anything you wanted if you joined us."

"I can have anything I want now thank you," the Queen looked scornful.

"The country is ours. Go before we make you," the Prime Minister lifted his hands, preparing to send lethal sparks towards the Queen.

"Mr. Prime Minister, you're fired," said the Queen and lifted her gun and shot him in the head.

"Go get em boys," she commanded, jubilation filling her voice. She was a woman with a cause.

"For Queen and Country," cried an over excited soldier who had never seen battle before and a roar filled the room as the Queen walked out of the room to the safety of an antechamber. Sparks of blue light and the horrendous sound of bullet fire filled the Commons as she left. The fight for liberation from the Simpathe nation had begun.

