

# Biocide

## by

## C. J. Crichley

##

For my little boy.

6th March 2002 – 27th September 2012.

You gave my life meaning.

You were there on bad days.

You were there on good days

I will miss you always.

See you soon

## Chapter 1 – In the Beginning

John awoke to the pain of having the back of his blood sodden hair being tugged back. He could smell the rancid stale smell of sweat, and foul breathe hitting his nose from his captor.

"So my fiend" can the Middle East accent. "Are you going to tell me what I need to know?"

The room was dark and he was on a chair. Was he strapped to it? Handcuffed to it? He couldn't tell, but there were at least two people in the room with him. And one of them was bashing the hell out of him.

His blood was now dripping onto his body as it oozed from his head. It dripped onto the floor and fell into a gutter that was moulded into the concrete beneath him.

John tried to talk, but the blood that was oozing out of his gums after experiencing something hard being smashed into his mouth was choking and gagging him.

What's more, as he opened his eyes briefly he could see his captor bringing his right arm up and cracking the back of their hand across the right hand side of his face and then. Blackness.

It all started on Monday. Minding his own business. The alarm woke him nice and loud. And he got up to wash.

He ran the shower and got his electric toothbrush ready together with the tooth paste. And then the front door bell rang.

He gave a sigh. "Christ. Cant a guy shower without being interrupted" He said to himself.

John walked to the door, which had the bell ring again. "Alright!" John shouted impatiently. His left hand holding the towel around his waist while he slid the chain onto the door.

He looked through the crack in the door.

"John!" came a cry. "They've got him John. He's gone"

"Sarah?" came Johns reply. As he pushed the door closed and slid the chain off, Sarah burst through and embraced John crying.

"They've got him John, They've got him" She said in between gasps and tears.

John took Sarah over to the sofa, where his laptop was. And comforted her. She placed her head on his shoulder and carried on crying.

John slowly pushed her away and looked into her eyes. There was worry and fear in her eyes, fear that he had never seen before.

"Want to tell me what happened?" John said as he opened up his laptop.

Sarah, took a few gasps. "I don't know who they were, when I got there the place was in a mess, with everything everywhere" she said. "And there was this note" She added handing John a bit of paper with the following written in what was obviously blood.

""We have what we need to convince you that we mean what we say. This is written in the blood of your colleague. You will be issued with your next instructions when we are ready.""

John took the paper after reading it and placed it on the coffee table, and logged onto his laptop.

While it was firing up he went to his bedroom, and returned with a black box and some tissue. He gave the tissue to Sarah, who proceeded to wipe her nose.

He opened up the box to reveal what looked like a large metal chunky pen. John then took the end of it off, which revealed a white fibre tip similar to a bleach pen.

He traced the tip over the writing and then replaced the cap. He then took the end of the pen off by unscrewing the end which revealed a USB connector which he then placed into his laptop.

Sarah, looked on and as soon as John placed the pen into the USB slot of his laptop. She stopped mid wipe of her nose.

The computer program the pen worked with fired into action. And a box appeared in the centre of the screen.

"Blood type B+. CONFIRMED Employee 75983301. Professor Alfred Makin"

Sarah looked at John with a shocked look on her face. "I thought you left" she said.

"Afraid I never left, and you never really leave" he replied. As he got up and went to his bedroom.

"What are we going to do?" asked Sarah.

"Going into the lab to piece together everything" Replied John. "First though. We get our team ready" he added.
Chapter 2 – Job Done

John went to the bedroom to have a shower.

"Make yourself some coffee" He said to Sarah.

"You don't drink coffee?" she said. "Why do you keep something that you don't drink?" She added.

"Friends" he replied as he walked into the shower.

Sarah walked over to the Kitchen area and picked up the jar that logically had Coffee printed on it.

"You have friends?" she mumbled to herself as she picked up the coffee jar and opened it. Only to reveal tea bags. She then looked at the jar. Coffee. Hmm. She thought, and then looked at the tea caddy.

She picked up the tea caddy. Sugar. OK. She thought. And picked up the Sugar jar.

BINGO! – Coffee.

While John was showering he was going through his mind. Who to use. Who to call. Who to trust. Well trust was the easy one. Nobody. Always trust no one.

Sarah made herself some coffee and positioned herself on the sofa so that when John exited from the bathroom she had good view! Sadly this was something that she was going to be disappointed with.

John finished his shower and walked over to the sink and took out his electric razor. He started to shave. And once he was done with that he then brushed his teeth.

He towel dried himself and used talc all over to dry up the rest of the moisture. He then walked over to the toilet. Peed and then went back to the sink.

Under the sink there was a set of draws. Curiously with fingerprint recognition on them. He touched his thumb on them.

And out they came. Draw's with clothing, watches, aftershave, jewellery and 5 hand guns.

Hmm he thought. Gucci day, most certainly, a Gucci day he thought to himself. He took out the steel Chronoscope and put on his clothes, then two guns went in holsters either side. Both Walther PPKs and two stubbies went in holsters one on each ankle. The other he placed in his hand and exited the bathroom.

"You changed!" Sarah said in amazement. "You actually get dressed in the bathroom?" she added.

"Yup" came his reply. As he reached for his mobile. He looked through his contacts list. Touched the screen and placed the phone to his ear. "It's time" he said on the phone to someone obviously on the other end. And ended the call.

"Right." He said "Ready?"

"Where are we going?" Sarah asked. As she put down her coffee.

"We are meeting a friend" He replied and walked over to the closet in the hallway and pulled out his motorcycle helmet. Matt black and matching black visor. Together with black leather coat and matching trousers.

"I don't have a helmet. I've never been on a bike" Sarah said looking worried at him.

"No Fear" he added, as he got a spare helmet out and walked over to her.

"How do you know that it fits?" she asked John.

"It doesn't need to. It's universal." He said putting it on her head.

"See." He added. "Put it on your head. Pump up using this widget on the side. And Presto! One fitting helmet"

"Right" he said. "Time to get moving. Take this" he said giving her a gun.

Sarah looked shocked at the gun. "I've never used one of these!" she added looking at John.

"Always a first" John said and led her to the garage. Picking up some keys on the way.

John walked out of the front door taking Sarah with him. As the door shut the door he held a key fob up to the door and pressed a button. And the front door locked rather firmly.

"Nice" Sarah added

"Nice?" John repeated. "You 'aint seen nothing yet" he added and walked over to the garage. And opened it.

"Wow" Sarah Exclaimed. "What the hell is that?"

"A Matt black Victory 8 ball special custom matt black, Performance straight through matt black exhausts, and 107 cubic inches. This is my beauty. And I love her!"

Sarah gave him a look and watched John get on his beauty and fire it up. It roared into life. Loud and thundery.

"You need to get out more often!" She said with a smile.

John backed his bike out of the garage and as he passed the garage door, he pressed his remote and the door closed on its own.

"Get on and hold on tight. REAL TIGHT" he shouted over the sound of the huge twin cylinder engine to Sarah.

She fumbled her way onto the bike and sat on the pillion seat. John leaned around.

Right." He said "Put your arms around me and hold on tight. Lean with me into the corners, and don't talk to me or distract me"

"Anything else?" she said to him sarcastically. "Yep!" he said with a smirk. "Enjoy yourself!" he added, as he dropped the clutch and gave the bike a good wristfull of throttle.
Chapter 3 – Behind you.

John took the back roads to meet his contact, they were minding their own business, the wind battering their bodies as John cruised the back roads.

Sarah was looking left and right of her taking in the scenery. The fields were zooming passed them and the smell of the rapeseed engulfed her nostrils. Wow this was fun! She felt like she was 8 again on her little chopper bike she had.

She looked over Johns shoulder, as a bug decided at that moment to fly straight into her visor and deposit its body all over it in one huge mess. Then there was another noise a whooshing noise but with a buzzing or a whurring noise, but going the other way. Sarah looked around.

They were being followed by a car. And the passenger had a gun pointed out of the window and it was pointed in their direction. Sarah tapped frantically on Johns shoulder. John shouted back at her.

"I told you not to distract me" he shouted back to her.

"Is that a good enough distraction?!" she shouted back to him as she pointed at the left hand side mirror.

John looked in the mirror and caught a glimpse of the car following, and as he did the mirror shattered as a bullet hit it.

"Hold on tight!" John shouted back to her as he pulled the clutch in with his left hand and changed down 2 gears. The bike roared into life. But somehow the car was keeping up. And the bullets kept flying past them.

John gave the bike all he could while keeping them both on the road, but it was difficult with the two of them, as the bikes centre of gravity was all over the place.

Thankfully there were some corners coming up and John new that this is where he could have them. So he went for it. He also know the road very well and there was a little side road just up ahead, and if he could get enough speed up he could get far enough down the lane.

As he carried on he noticed up ahead there was a tractor just leaving the field up ahead. John Knocked the bike down a few gears and just got in front of it. As he did he looked back and pulled the gun from his right hand side and shot out the tyre of the tractor. Perfect shot, the tractor slowed to a stop right across the road.

John gave the bike another wristful. He wasn't taking any chances at all. The side road was coming up. And he took it.

He carried on down the road, and then pulled off where there was a small house with an old fashioned double door garage. And it looked a little shabby. John stopped just outside the garage.

"Off you get then" he said to Sarah, as he got off himself and opened the garage doors and put the bike away.

"Nasty men shot your mirror!" he said to the bike as he patted the fuel tank.

He looked at Sarah. "What?" he said

"You talk to your bike?" She replied and gave a little smirk.

"And your point is?" he added "I feed her, wash her and treat her beautifully and she never lets me down" he continued.

Sarah held her hands in the air. "Far be it for me to get in the way!" she said.

John shut the garage door and locked it with a key he had on his bunch. He then walked towards Sarah.

"So." Sarah said. "No machine guns on the bike or anything?"

John chuckled. "It's not Hollywood I am afraid" he answered "Although. Did you see that shot I did on the tractor? Well cool or what!" he said.

"Not bad John, Not bad" Sarah said as she patted his arm. "Where to now? She added.

"Now?" John replied. "Now we walk"
Chapter 4 – The Long walk.

John lead Sarah round the front of the house and down the side.

The house was lovely. Big and white with overlapping white wood and a wonderful porch, also made of wood with a slate pitched roof that matched the house itself.

The porch had the most wonderful pillars each side and were graciously black, matt black which matched the panelling of the front door.

John followed a wire fence on the left until they had reached the bottom, where there was a gate, which lead to the open fields beyond.

Just to the left of the field there was a small copse, and john climbed over the gate. He headed over to it. Sarah stayed the other side of the gate.

John looked back. "Come on." He said moving his head over to the copse.

Sarah looked over to the copse. "Over there?" She said looking puzzled.

"All will be reviled in due course" John replied as he held out a hand for Sarah to take.

Sarah climbed over the gate and walked over to John. "Wont the people who live in that house get pissed that you just walked down their front lawn and climbed over their gate?" She said

John looked at the house. He smiled then he looked at Sarah and chuckled a little. "No. They won't mind." He said. "I won't mind at all!" he added.

They walked over to the Copse. Sarah stumbled a little as they went, walking on a mixture of grass and mud. But they eventually got there. John walked them both down the side of the fence that the copse was surrounded by. Nothing lavish, just your average typical three row wire fence.

About 100m down it ended with a right turn and Sarah could see that it went on for miles. And for a moment she thought that this was the direction that they were going in for a while. But thankfully after five minutes they came to a small stile.

John stepped over it first, and then turned back and held his hand out for Sarah.

"Where are we going?" Sarah asked. Stepping over the stile and moving her hair over her right ear.

"Come on." John replied. We don't have much time now.

John walked them both for about five more minutes into the thick Copse, until they came to a drain cover, slightly raised above the ground. John bent down and grabbed one of the handles of the drain.

He grunted as he heaved up the cover and slid it to the left to expose a shaft. John got out his phone and touched the screen, to activate the LED the phone used as a torch.

He shone it down the dark shaft which the light picked up a small slightly rusty, metal ladder, fixed to the side of the shaft.

"Fuck off, uh urh, now way never and in that order!" Exclaimed Sarah.

"Trust me it'll be fine" John said reassuringly.

"Bollocks!" Sarah said looking John straight in the face and at his eyes and then glancing back down at the hole.

"Come on. After you." John said Nodding down at the hole.

"Screw You!" Sarah said. "You go first!" she added.

"No worries" John said as he got into the hole and started to go down." Just pull the Metal cover over when you are in. OK?" He added.

Sarah looked at the metal cover and remembered how heavy it was.

"Out!" She said looking at John, using her thumb as a gesture like divers do.

John climbed back out of the shaft and stood at the side while looking around.

Sarah knelt down and put her legs over the side of the opening. She moved herself around and put her feet onto the first few rungs and moved slowly down. John followed and moved over the cover grunting again as he slid it over to cover the opening above him.

The shaft was long, tight, dark, and got strangely warmer as they went down. As they went further down, Sarah could see light all be it dim. But yes there was light at the bottom.

"What's at the bottom?" Sarah said as they carried on.

"Don't Worry, just keep going" John said as they climbed down.

"Phew!" exclaimed Sarah as she got to the bottom and stared down the tunnel. It had red and white dim lights that seemed to stretch on for ages.

"Right. Follow me" John said as he moved passed Sarah and lead the way.

Sarah thought that they had been going for ages, right turn here, left turn there, so confusing. Every other corridor looked the same, and the red and white lights were strange, eerie in a way.

Ahead she could see a large metal door. Which seemed to just get bigger and bigger with every pace. There were no handles on the door, so it had to open from the other side, and on the right built into the wall, was a small flat TV type screen.

John touched the screen and it sprang into life, buy bringing up a logo. He tapped in a few codes and the screen just kept bringing up the same thing. A big red word. "DENIED" which seemed to puzzle John.

"It's no use John. I have changed the codes" a voice said which seemed to come from nowhere.

"Emilie! Thank God! John said. "It's me" he added.

"How do I know it is you?" replied the female voice. "Tell me. How do I know it is you?"

John leant his head forward and rested it onto the wall. "Jesus Emilie. I've been shot at, walked for ages and my beautiful gorgeous woman has been shot at and damaged."

"Over write code four three five Alpha Omega four" John said. To which there was a strange silence.

There was a rendering squeal and a clunk as the huge metal door slowly opened. And there stood a tall young lady with the most smoothest complexion a woman would die for.

She moved forward and moved so close that her nose touched Johns. And then she made her forehead touch his.

"Hello" she said warmly and smiled.

"May I come in?" John said not moving.

"You may" said Emilie, "Who's she?" Emilie added moving her right arm up and pointing to Sarah.

"SHE. Has a name" Sarah said as Emilie withdrew from Johns face and looked over to Sarah.

Emilie held out her hand. "I'm Emilie" she said, and smiled very precisely at her.

Sarah smiled a smile that turned slightly painful as Emilie had a handshake on her that most men would be very proud of! "Sarah. I'm Sarah" she added.

"Emilie" John said in a cautioning kind of way.

Emilie withdrew her hand and looked at John. "I'll put the kettle on" and she went back through the door.

John looked at Sarah and moved his arm up to invite her to walk through the door first.

Sarah stepped over the lip, and walked through. And then just stood there. She was in a huge single room, with a high ceiling.

There was a metal desk in the middle with a computer on it. To the right there was a hospital bed but slightly more mechanical and looked rather gruesome, and then there was a small lab type area to the left with things still bubbling on it. The most impressive thing though was the huge massive screen straight in front of her. And the whole room was white. All the floors, walls and ceiling.

John walked in after her. "You forget how far down you are," he said as he passed her.

The door closed automatically behind them and clunked shut, rather loudly. And Sarah was still stood in the middle of the room.

Emilie smiled at Sarah, and then looked at John who smiled and walked over to her. Emilie opened out her arms and embraced John.

"Good to see you" Emilie said.

"Right back at you kid" John said as he turned around to look behind him so they were both still looking at Sarah.

"Tardis effect!" Emilie said to John. Who agreed and uh hmmd.
Chapter 5 – Re – group.

John was staring at the screen of the computer. Scrolling back and forth on the video taken of the break in to the main lab and offices. He was ummimg and arring at everything, scrolling back and forward at key events of what had happened.

He could not help thinking that this was a very clinical attack. Emilie came over to see what John was doing with a coffee and most importantly as Krispy Kreme Doughnut.

John looked over at the doughnut. "Did you go out and get this?" he asked as Emilie moved round behind him and massaged his shoulders. "This?" she added. "No. I got them."

John turned around and looked at Emilie. "Them?" he questioned looking at her with a childlike face. "Them?" He repeated.

Emilie smiled at John as she leant forward looking at him very closely. "Uh Hmmm" she added. "Them. Coz I know you like them so much" she said bringing her right forefinger up and playfully touching his nose. "Whatcha lookin at?" She added.

"The security camera recording of the break in" John said feeling a little uneasy with the close proximity of Emilie to him. As he swivelled around on his chair, to reconvene looking at the monitor.

Emilie leant over and placed her arms around his neck from behind and placed her head by the side of his. "Found anything?" she asked.

John continued looking at the monitor. "Mmm no. But something just 'aint right." He said.

"What do you mean?" Emilie asked. "Well." John added. "It's all too clinical. Way too clinical. Well executed." He continued. "Look at this. Entrance by the front through the doors, just walk through and then rather than blasting the crap out of everything, single shots to the head. One for the receptionist, one for the poor sod who walked down the stairs and then into the computer system."

"Any ideas?" Emilie asked.

"Not a clue" Replied John. "Where is Sarah?" he asked.

Emilie raised her right hand in front of Johns face and pointed over to the hospital bed.

"Went out like a light" Said Emilie. "She snores though" she added. "Loudly".

"Where. Is. Carter." John said stiltedly.

"I do not know" Replied Emilie As john reached for the note pad in front of him.

Sarah rose from the hospital style bed after about an hour, and stretched while yawning. She slowly got up and swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked around the stand-up curtains you would normally find in a B rated horror movie.

Sarah saw Emilie with her arms over John, while she walked towards them. "Interrupting a personal moment?" She said.

John looked over to Sarah as she walked over to him. He smiled at the comment as he reached for the note pad in front of him.

"How did you sleep? Well?" John Asked. Looking over to her. "Shit!" John said as he gave himself a paper cut. "Why do these bastards hurt , SO. MUCH!".

Sarah reached for a hankie that she always carried in the front of her blouse in between her breasts, and walked over to John.

She was blocked though by Emilie. "Don't touch it!" she snapped. "I will handle it." Emilie added as she took John over to the hospital bed.

Emilie took John by his arm and raised his hand above his head.

"Jesus! It's only a paper cut!" Sarah Said.

"That's right Emilie. It's a paper cut." John said emphasising the words Paper and Cut.

"I know" Emilie said as she fumbled for more words, "Err, well..... He's anaemic" she added. "One little paper cut to you and me but ages to stop bleeding for him."

"Anaemic?" added Sarah.

John whispered to Emilie. "Anaemic?"

"Anaemic" whispered Emilie back to John.

With that the computer system bleeped, and a voice came over a loud speaker.

"Hi honey. I'm Home!" It was Carter.

Emilie took John over to the bubbling bottles of liquid and opened a draw underneath the counter, and withdrew a small bottle that had a pipet lid.

She unscrewed the lid and placed a small drop on Johns paper cut. John took a sharp intake of breath. "Big baby" Emilie said quietly to John.

"You gonna let Carter in?" John said.

"Oh. Yes." She said. "Open door. Code 463" she added.

A confirming beep and the door clunked and then opened. Carter came walking through. Big curly hair, fine beard which was in between designer stubble and a decent growth. He was wearing jeans, jumper and a backpack slung over his left shoulder.

"What's uuuup!" Carter said Looking over at John and Emilie. Walking over to them.

"Paper cut" John said looking over to Carter as he walked over to them placing his rucksack on the floor at the end of the metal table.

Carter took his right hand and smoothed it over the back of Johns head. "Aww poor sweetie. Got a paper cut." He said in a childish playful way. "What's with the drippy thingy?" he added.

John looked at Carter. "I'm anaemic it helps heal the wound" He said moving his head over to Sarah.

"Anaemic" Emilie said still looking over at the wound.

Carter picked up a glass measuring beaker like the ones you use at school, with millilitre marks up the side. He walked around the other side of the table to the middle and opened up a small valve, and poured a little of the liquid into the beaker.

He raised the beaker up and looked at the clear colourless solution, and placed his nose into it and sniffed slowly.

"Hello!" He said looking over to Sarah. "What's your name?" he said and raised the beaker in a salute, and promptly drank a small amount of the contents.

"Sarah" came the reply. As John looked at Carter and then the bubbling chemistry equipment on the table.

"You're making plonk?" he said questioning Carter.

"Palinka. To be exact. Want some?" Carter said offering the glass to John.

"Is it like the last year's Christmas tipple?" asked John.

"Better" came Carters reply. Offering the glass to John again.

"Are you kidding me? It took five coats of varnish to repair my living room floor. Fuck knows what that would do to my insides!" John said.

"Hmm sorry about that" Carter replied.

"What. For making it out of my equipment and stuff?" John said looking at everything on the table.

"Nowp!" Carter replied. "For damaging your living room floor!" He added winking at him and clicking with his mouth and patting him on the shoulder as he walked passed John and Emilie and over to Sarah.

John looked at the paper cut and mumbled "Off he goes. The Luuuurv stud"

Emilie chuckled.

Carter approached Sarah. With a smile from ear to ear and his hand extended.

"Carter" he said approaching her. As he took her hand rather than waiting for her to offer hers for shaking!

"I know. You already told me" came her reply. In a cold kind of way that put Carter in a complete dead stop in his tracts.

John looked at Emilie and smirked. And Emilie whistled a bomb falling down from the sky, and then chuckled.

Carter walked back over to the computer that John was at, and started looking at the video feed. Whilst sipping his drink. "What's this?" Carter asked.

"Video feed from the break in." John replied.

Carter scrolled the video back to the beginning and watched the feed, time and time again, sipping as he watched.

John walked over to Carter. "Find anything?" he asked. "Yup!" carter replied.

"Oh yeah? What" John replied. "Clinical" came Carters reply. "Very. Very. Clinical" he added.

Carter scrolled back the feed.

"Look" Carter said pointing at the screen. "Through the front. Pop the receptionist. Hack the computer, these two up the stairs, the other two through the door. While matey boy here downloads onto a USB and off he goes out of the front door"

"But where do the others go?" Asked John. "They don't reappear at all" He added.

"I know" replied Carter. "I'm guessing they knew about the underground exits. It was designed into it for evac reasons." Carter said. "These bastards knew this place BEFORE going through that front door."

"Inside job?" John questioned. As Carter shrugged his eyebrows and shoulders in reply. "Think you can get into the server and see what they took, or what folder it was from?" asked John.

"No thinking about it at all." Replied Carter. "Let's see what we can find" he added looking up towards John and interlocking his fingers together and pushed them away from him making them crack.
Chapter 6 – First signs.

Present day. Somewhere in the Middle East

The doors of the hospital flew open. A man carrying a child wrapped in a blanket came running into the waiting area and struggled towards the reception barging in front of all the people waiting in line.

"Please. PLEASE you MUST help me!" the man said, dripping with sweat, in the hot climate of the waiting area.

"SIR!" The receptionist shouted. "There are others before you!" she added pointing to the line of people, with cuts and grazes and the odd head wound.

"PLEASE." The man said sobbing. "My son is very unwell" the man said, moving the blanket off the child's face. Revealing the most awful sight, that made the people in the front of the queue move back rapidly shouting words of Allah.

The receptionist looked at the child. That had signs of an extremely bad bloody nose and the remnants of blood around his lips. And then at the father who had blood spatters all over his shirt.

"Dr Abdullah!" the receptionist shouted. "Dr Abdullah!" she shouted again. Louder than the first time.

A lady walked around the corner. And the father of the child looked shocked.

Dr Abdullah, knew the father was clearly expecting a man in this male orientated society. But he was desperate for help and walked over to her.

"My Son. My son" the father said sobbing at her.

Dr Abdullah moved to the side and placed a hand on his shoulder and escorted the man with his son to a cubical.

"How did this start?" the Dr questioned. Looking at the father who was running his hands through his hair in distress.

"I....I... don't know. He woke up this morning he was fine, and then he started to cough a few hours later, and then he could not stop coughing, and then this." The Father said pointing to his sons face.

Dr Abdullah looked at the boy. And took out her stethoscope from her pocked and placed it around her neck, while unbuttoning the boys shirt. She then placed the scope into her ears and placed it on the boys chest.

"I can't hear properly. Can you help me sit him up please?" she said to the father who walked towards the Dr and stood behind his son and propped him up.

The small boy took a deep bubbling breath and promptly coughed, spraying blood all over the doctor from her face to her chest.

The boy then started convulsing violently, as if he were being massively shocked with huge amounts of voltage.

The boy's father lost grip of his son as his son then laid on the bed continuously with arms and legs flailing around.

Blood then started bubbling and foaming out of the boys mouth and nose, while he was shaking violently, as his father just kept shouting for Allah.

Then everything stopped and the boy was silent. Dr Abdullah then took her stethoscope and placed it on the boys chest.

She looked up at the father and shook her head.

The father collapsed to the floor on his knees asking Allah "Why?!"

By this time there was a crowd of doctors and nurses around them shocked at what they had just seen.

The Doctor looked over at one of the nurses. "Get Dr Habib. Tell him we are doing a further examination" she ordered. "Get everything ready"

The father looked shocked. "No. We must bury him in time for Allah"

"Look. Sir. I understand but we must find out WHY" she demanded to the father. Who nodded. "We will make sure everything is ready. Don't worry" she added.

The nurse wheeled the boy into a separate make shift room, and Dr Abdullah followed closely behind. She looked back searching for Dr Habib. She saw him further down the corridor half running and half walking fast, struggling to put on his white coat while he was going.

Abdullah walked into the room, as the nurse walked out. And Habib joined behind.

Habib was looking down at the boy. "What happened to him?" He said looking up at Abdullah.

"That's what we are going to find out" she replied.

She took a scalpel and started the incisions.

She started with the abdominal area, and peeled back the skin. While looking up into the air.

"Allah, forgive us this behaviour" Dr Abdullah said as she looked down at the boy.

"What in Allah's name?" Dr Habib said in shock and aw.

Dr Abdullah, looked at the child's abdominal area. "Where are his intestines? There's nothing here just jelly"
Chapter 7 – Out of the frying pan

"Got it!" Carter shouted, bashing his fists on the table in excitement and completion. As John spat out the coffee he was drinking.

"Jesus man!" John shouted. "What you trying to do?" he added

"Found it!" Carter exclaimed "I've sodding found it!" He added pointing at the computer monitor which showed nothing but computer geek stuff like C:// and file names.

John walked over to Carter and stood behind him placing his left hand on the metal desk and the right hand on the back of Carters chair.

He leant over on Carters left hand side and looking at the screen said "Found what?"

Carter looked at John and pointing at the screen with his right index finger said. "This" Tapping to reconfirm his findings, "This is the file they copied"

John looked back at Carter. "So what is it?" he asked

Carter shrugged his shoulders. "No idea. Didn't design the system" he added

"So who did?" Asked John in a quiet voice into Carters left ear while cupping his hand over Carters right shoulder.

Carter slowly looked to his left and then slightly up to Johns eyes and raised his eyebrows, Carter had one of those hunches, where he was normally right.

"Shit. You're kidding. Please tell me the old man picked someone equally as good at framework design and software programming. PLEASE" John said in a rather begging kind of way.

"Uhh huh!" Carter re – affirmed. "It's got his name all over it. The architecture, the framework. Everything." He said tapping the screen. "Thing is that they never opened it. They couldn't, its secure, so they copied it, but in a messy way, so they left a finger print"

John leaned up from Carter, took a deep breath and breathed out slowly. He knew what was coming to the next question he was going to ask. But he had to ask it. He took a glance over to his left, looking at the ladies talking while sitting on the hospital bed, both swinging their legs slightly back and forth.

"So how do we find out? What WAS in it then?" He asked, noting Sarah and Emilie getting very pally.

Carter took a deep breath. And then whilst breathing out slowly added "We go and ask him. Well. To be exact" Carter was stopped in his conversation by John. "I go and ask him. Cheers. Thanks. Tops. Rocking." John interrupted finishing Carters conversation

John looked back at Carter. "You been doing some programe tweaking?" Nodding over to the girls.

"Yeah. Like it?" Carter said smiling at John who looked over at the girls.

"Err. No. It's off putting. Don't like it. Not used to it I guess." Added John looking at the girls who were still taking to each other like best friends at secondary school.

Emilie looked over to John and Carter noting that they were looking at them. She nudged Sarah, and nodded over to the guys.

"She has absolutely no idea does she?" Carter said looking at the girls and then up at John. Smiling as he looked up and winked with his eye and made a clicking noise with his mouth, like the beginning of asking a horse to go on.

"Time to fire up the main screen and get on with it then" John said tapping Carters shoulder with his right hand.

"While you go and pay a visit to the lovely Ishmael" Carter said winking again at John.

Emilie saw the screen activate and walked over to John and Carter. Sarah followed behind.

"Found something then I see" Emilie said looking up at the large screen and then towards the guys. As Sarah walked passed Emilie, round John and stood over Carters left shoulder.

Carter looked up over his right shoulder at Sarah. As she looked passed Carter and towards the screen in front of him, at the string of computer codes.

"What is it?" Sarah said looking down towards Carter and then over to the screen again.

"Lead. Just a lead" Carter said, smiling at John. "Which John now needs to follow up!" he added and winked at John making a clinking noise again.

Carter typed in a few commands on the keyboard and the large screen on the wall activated and flickered into life. He turned around to look at the screen on the wall.

"That is the file that they copied after trying to hack into it. And rather unsuccessfully I might add, thanks to an amazing bit of programming" Carter said excitedly, and to some degree pride, of his discovery.

Sarah turned around to also look at the large screen. Puzzling over what everything meant. She turned to John. "So who programmed it then?" She asked nodding up to the large screen to John.

"Ishmael" Said Carter with a smug smile on his face. And looking at John winking at him. "IIIIIshhhhmael" he said long and reconfirmed.

"Not THE Ishmael?" Emilie asked looking first at Carter and then at John. "Seriously. Really? Ishmael?" By now Emilie had a smile coming out she then started to giggle. "R. R. R. Really. Ishmael?" She stammered, uncontrollably holding in her humor.

"Hmmph. The one and ONLY thank god" replied John as Emilie sniggered a little more at John, and then had to look away at John as she started to lose it.

"Errm. Missing something here" Stated Sarah. "Who's. Ishmael?" She asked, to which point Emilie sniggered a little louder and Carter lost it.

"W.w.well" Started Carter trying but failing to contain his laughter. "Ishmael is a hot Turkish guy who is THE best file encrypter on this planet." He added as Emilie then butted in and added "And just Luuuurvs John" She sniggered.

"What do you mean?" Asked Sarah for clarification looking at all three of them.

John then looked at Carter "Git!" he said as he walked passed him, and John sniggered once more.

"Sorry" Sarah said to Carter and Emilie. "Totally missing something here" she said.

Carter looked at her. "Well. You see it's like this." He Added. "If you and Emilie here were the last women on this planet, and it was full of piss, and you had the only tree house. You STILL would not be his type" he completed.

Sarah's mouth opened a little in amazement, as Emilie then added something to the conversation. "But he has a real thing going for John" she added.

"Really? No you're kidding right?" Sarah asked."'Fraid not." John answered back as he walked towards them again.

"So where is he then? Do you know?" Asked Sarah Looking at all three of them one by one.

John looked up at the large screen. "Turkey. He lives in Turkey" he replied looking back down at Sarah. John then looked at Carter. "Think we can call in a favor?"

"Don't see why not" replied Carter. "Should be able to rustle up a lift from someone, doubt it will be first class but it will get you there.

Emilie looked at Sarah and walked up to her. "Right. Time to get you a headset and plugged into the system ready for when he gets there" she said leading Sarah to a room that left off from the Atrium they were in. As they both walked away John walked up close to Carter, and leant over towards Carters left ear. "Do we know where he is?" he whispered into Carters ear.

"Now. Why do you think he's connected?" Carter asked John also in a whisper.

"No idea really" John replied. "But at this moment in time I'm not sure about anything." He added.

"Hunch or gut feeling John?" Asked Carter. "Known you for years, which one is it" he continued.

John smiled at Carter and tapped his right shoulder with his right hand, as he walked passed Carter towards the room that the girls went into. John was not a gambling man but his gut had got him buy in every fix, scrape and situation he has ever had. And he did not think that this time was any more different or would be letting him down again. He knew this feeling. He had had it before in Bolivia when he was sent to sort out a drugs ring that was connected with the government. They wanted a big cheese out but only so they could control it and pocket the money for themselves.

He walked up to the edge of the doorway and looked round the frame. He saw Emilie putting a cordless headset into her right ear and asking Sarah to do the same, after handing her the same headset.

Emilie looked at Sarah, and was asking her questions as to whether they could hear each other, and fine tuning the fit in their ears. John cleared his throat and knocked on the frame. "Ready for me?" he asked Sarah.

Sarah nodded and waived John into the room.

The room was full of mirror fronted draws and cupboards all built into the walls, and there was a white ceiling but all of it was lit up, as if the whole thing was a light.

There was a small desk in the room with a lit panel to the right of it.

"You still got your cap?" Sarah asked John. As he got nearer to her he opened up his mouth and reached into it with his thumb and forefinger. He gently pulled the cap off, and handed it to Emilie, who held out her hand to take it from him.

She took it in her left hand and then with the thumb and forefinger of her right hand she took it and placed it on the desk in the room that they were in. She then opened up a small Draw to her right buy touching it, and it opened silently. It exposed a couple of crowns, and a small syringe and a bottle containing some bluish liquid.

She took the syringe and the bottle and looked at John as she pushed the needle into the end of the bottle and drew up a good syringe full of the liquid.

"Ready?" she asked John. Who nodded

Emilie Took the Syringe and rather than injecting the solution she used the precision of the needle to lay the solution over the post where the cap would sit. As it hit his post it turned silver and she then took the cap and from the draw with her thumb and forefinger and placed the cap over the post.

"OK. Now bite down GENTLY" Emilie said to John.

As John bit down, Emilie touched the open draw from where the cap came from and then touched the draw above it. As it slid out slowly it exposed another needle but something more industrial, looking something like what you would use on a large animal. It was like a normal syringe but had two loops each side for you to put a your index finger in one and your middle finger in the other and the using our thumb push the syringe down.

She took the syringe and next to it there was a huge needle, about 2mm wide, it was a beast. Emilie took the needle and screwed it onto the end of the syringe. Inside the same draw there was a small glass looking capsule, that has some small circuitry inside it. There was also a small bottle of clear colourless liquid as well.

She drew up some of the solution and placed the capsule into the end of the needle.

"Right or left?" she asked John who unbuttoned his right cuff of his sleeve. "Close but no coconut my dear!" she added, as she looked down towards his hip area.

"Shit. You're kidding me . Right?" he asked Emilie. Who shook her head.

"Get 'em off lover boy!" she said, waiving the syringe in circles and looking down towards his bottom.

"I have so gotta have a word with Carter for teaching you bad things" replied John as Emilie sniggered.

He turned around slowly and as he did he undid his trousers and pulled them down to the tops of his thighs and bent over slightly to make his cheeks proud ready for the needle.

Emilie walked towards John and placed his buttock in between her left thumb and all of her fingers and squeezed ready for the needle.

"After three?" John said.

"No Worries." Replied Emilie. "One.....Two...." and then she stuck the needle into Johns buttock and injected the capsule into him.

"Jesus! What happened to three?" Asked John wincing in pain. "Three!" replied Emilie chuckling.

John pulled up his trousers and turned around looking at Emilie in the face who was waiving the syringe still around in circles. "Ready to suit up?" she asked. John nodded.

Emilie placed the syringe back into the draw and touched it so it closed again. She then walked around to the desk and sat in the chair. She touched the draw under the desk which also opened silently with the same swishing noise.

She started to place items from the draw onto the desk on the lit area.

"One watch. Steel water proof to 1000m. Camera integrated into the dial. Capable of photos and live streaming video."

"One pair of glasses, rimless with camera integrated into the frame capable too of live streaming video."

"One pen. Laser on one end. Powerful enough to cut through mild steel one end. Pull apart for a set of lock picks inside the barrel, working ball point"

Emilie then got up from the desk and turned around and walked to the back wall.

"Close the door." She said to John. And as he did she pressed a button on the side of the wall and the door made a firm metallic locking noise.

Why the secrecy?" asked John, who walked towards Emilie.

"Get your kit off" Replied Emilie raising both eyebrows at the same time.

"You what?" Replied John. "God I really must talk to Carter about you" he said to himself muttering under his breath.

With that Emilie touched a small lit panel on the wall the same size of a single plug socket and two large areas of the wall moved out about two inches and then each one moved left and right respectively. On the left it revealed on the left a black combat type all in one suit with a few tweaks, namely the fabric, which had no shine or reflection. On the right there was a selection of passports, money and a rather cool looking rifle.

"Jesus!" Exclaimed John. "We have been busy" he said nodding to the rifle.

"OK John, this is where you need to listen up." Emilie said in a very officious manner.

She took a deep breath.

"This is the new nano suit. Developed for the SAS initially, but shelved because it cost too much money, so we continued to develop it and enhance many of the features. It has a very special non reflective, no noise fabric, even when cold, hot or wet. It is super smooth and is worn in direct contact to the skin, which means you are going to go commando. There are extra protection areas to the kidneys, chest, full back, elbows, knees and ankles. Stab protection to the sides and nano metal to the torso area."

"Nano metal?" John asked inquisitively.

"Yeah, quite a good development. It's basically a metal that is super thin but made up of the most finest strands of metal, densely packed together to give an ultra-light plate that is bullet resistant" Emilie Answered.

"Resistant" replied John. "Not proof" he added.

"If someone came up to you at point blank range then no, but then if you have not got them sorted by then, well." She replied.

Emilie carried on.

"On the right we have the usual suspects, money, passports, credit cards, but this baby is the best thing as far as I am concerned." She added pointing to the rifle, which was rather large, and a bit like an M-16 but on steroids with every area being larger and fatter.

She took the rifle from the hooks and threw it at John. Who was amazed that not only could he catch it, but at the way it felt.

"Christ! This weighs nothing. Absolutely nothing." He said in amazement.

"I know" Emilie answered. "It's made out of special composites and metals. You can fire 30 rounds out of this and they still won't pick you up on infra – red!" she added and continued.

"It has standard full metal jackets and tracers if need be, but also comes with two cool rounds. Firstly there is the retrievable sticky camera. A round that fires IR, and black and white cameras. Use the with these." She said reaching for what looked like standard issue sun glasses.

"Night vision?" John asked.

"Yes but with a twist" replied Emilie. "There is a receiver in them that receives the images sent from the sticky cameras, so you can get a better view of your surroundings. Plus they also have a speaker that plays various noises, like a human whistle, door opening or a knocking sound. So you can use them to distract."

"How do I make the sounds then?" asked John.

Emilie pointed at a button on the right hand side of the trigger guard. "Press this" she said.

"One button, three functions? How's it work?" John asked tilting the rifle over and looking at the button.

"Ahh. Glad you said that" Emilie said raising a finger in the air and turning back towards to the right hand side of the wall again. She picked up what initially looked like a gothic style choker. "This is a special throat mic, and it operates the sticky camera vocally."

"Cool! Exclaimed John.

"Not as cool as the second of the special rounds" Emilie added turning to the wall, and picking up what looked like a small hair curler, with two very sharp but fine spikes at one end.

"This. Is a very small incapacitant. Fire this at your subject and it shocks them with a variable dosage from that of a Taser, to that of a Taser on heat"

"Oh I like" said John nodding in acceptance.

"Oh it gets better" Emilie added. "Fire this little sucker into something like a wall or wood etc, and then press the magic button. And it releases a super concentrate of sleeping gas. Which will incapacitate your subject for about 3 hours!" She said proudly.

"Sweet" John answered. "But what about close stuff? I can't wander around with that hanging around my neck" he added.

Emilie pointed at John with her right finger. "Ahh, this is the best thing" she said turning round and pressing a panel under where the rifle was. Out moved a small draw. To reveal a small hand gun, and next to it was a few additional extras.

"OK" She added "This is your average PPK Hand gun. But made of composite. Totally undetectable by all methods. Light and handy. Comes with a silencer, which means that you could use it in open public and no one would know. Plus there are two types of round. There is your standard round, and there are these babies" Emilie said handing John the hand gun in his right hand and turning around to the draw, and pulling out two magazine clips. One had standard rounds but the other had small tiny vials.

Emilie looked at John right in the eyes. "These are the best" she said. "Small little shock rounds. Last about 10 seconds, but with THE most potent knock out electrical charge. Capable of taking anyone out and putting them to sleep for roughly 30 minutes. There are 10 rounds in each clip. And they also work if need be with the rifle."

John was motionless. Rifle in one hand and hand gun in the other. He just stood there looking from one hand to the other with a huge grin on his face.

"What?" Asked Emilie.

"I'm in heaven" he replied. With a grin from ear to ear.

With that Emilie walked passed John to the door. "Time for you to change and get ready, while Carter contacts Constantine for a favor"

"Who! No way. Uh Uhh, not a chance the guys a sodding maniac!" John said looking at Emilie in the eyes. "He lost his last job at crop spraying in Russia, for Christ sake, flying too low!"

Emilie turned around and walked back to John. "Ahh poor thing. Chicken?" she said placing her right index finger onto Johns nose playfully while blowing a kiss with her lips to him. Promptly turning around and pressing a button by the door frame, opening the door and walking out. Closing the door behind her.

"Jesus Emilie. I have SO got to talk to Carter about you" he said shaking his head while he put the weapons on the floor and started to change into the combats. He then noticed all of the mirrors around the wall. "Glad I'm not conscientious" he said to himself. And started to get ready.

John put on the combats. Noting that there were detachable boots to it. He put one foot in each leg part and pulled them on. "Ooo nice tight fit" he said to himself. Hauling the all in one up by placing an arm into each sleeve. He noticed detachable gloves too. He looked around the front of the suit for a zipper. But there wasn't anything that looked like your standard zipper. But there was something that you find on press seal bags, with a thumb slide to seal the two together. John slid it all the way to the top of the neck where it stopped. "Jesus, these are a little tight" he said. With that he noticed that the suit began to give and became more fitted.

John picked up the weapons and walked over to the door and pressed the pad to open it. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and carried the hand gun and walked over to Carter, who saw him walking over.

John was welcomed by a wolf whistle from Carter who pretended to look him up and down, and also wink at him. "Well, hello sailor!" Carter said with a wry smile, and chuckled. "Ishmael is just going to luuuurv you in that darling" he added. John just looked at Carter. In a very blank non – descript way.

"What?" Carter said holding his hands palms up in front of John, who had just one word for Carter. "Emilie" John said.

"Ah." Carter replied. "I can explain" he added. Holding his hands up palms facing John as if he was surrendering to him.

"Later." Replied John. As Emilie and Sarah walked up from behind him.

"Nice" Sarah said walking passed him on the left as Emilie walked passed him on the right smacking his right bum cheek on the way. John just looked at Carter in that way again.

John looked up at the large screen. "Does Ishmael still frequent the market by Hagia Sophia?"

"Yup" replied Carter.

John looked at Emilie. "How do I get about in a people saturated area wearing this?" Emilie looked him up and down and placed her left hand on his right shoulder. "Why, just unzip the gloves and boots, sweetie and put civvies on the top!"

"Where do I get the clothes from?" John asked.

"I'm sure you'll find a way." Emilie said in reply to John.

"So how are we getting there, then?" John said.

Carter looked at John squarely in the face. "YOU" Carter said. "How are YOU getting there" he added. As John just raised his eyebrows to Carter.

Carter looked at John. Right in the eyes. "Borrowing a lift from the good old air force. In a Herc" Carter replied noting Johns eyebrows raise. "We're owed a favor" Carter added.

"So when do we leave?" John asked.

"In the morning" Carter replied promptly. "Three in the morning to be precise" he added as john looked at his watch. "Less than 8 hours from now?" John added.

"You can sleep on the way" Carter replied winking at John.

Chapter8 – Istanbul

The inside of the Herc was cold and dark. Not to mention a little bumpy and noisy. All around him there were nets on the side walls, and the bench seat that he was sat on was particularly uncomfortable. He still managed to get some sleep though despite it.

John tapped all of his pockets to make sure that he had everything, but then if he had left anything behind then it was way too late anyway.

John looked over to the single aircrew person that was in the back with him. And nodded in a Hello type of way. The crew member nodded back and smiled as he checked his watch. With that the crewman got up and went to the cockpit door and knocked on it. There was a red light above the door that turned to green and the crewman opened the door. And shut it behind him. John dozed off again, while being rattled and jostled on his bench seat.

"Sir. Sir!" Came a voice being shouted into Johns ear, with a tapping on his shoulder. John opened his eyes to see the crewman standing above him. "Time to get ready Sir. We are nearly there. They told me to give you this. To put into your ear" He said handing him a small inner ear piece.

"When do we land?" John asked the crewman shouting into his ear, who looked puzzled at Johns question.

"Land?" the crewman shouted. "We don't have orders to land" added the crewman, as he held up his right hand to show a parachute and held his left to show an altitude meter.

"I haven't jumped in years" John shouted to the crewman who gave a wry smile, back to him.

"Like riding a bike sir" came the reply. "Like riding a bike. You never forget" he added, as the crewman helped John on with his chute. He then put the altitude meter on Johns Left hand.

"Remember to pull your chute when the meter reaches here" the crewman said pointing to the altitude meter.

"So what happens if I don't?" asked John. As the crewman looked at him. "Just remember to pull your chute when your meter reaches here" the crewman said reiterating his words.

With that there was a loud buzzer and the small but very bright light at the rear of the plane turned green, and there was a sudden sucking noise that became very apparent, followed by the most intense load rushing of wind he had ever heard. John placed the rifle into a long backpack bag that doubled as a hold all, and put it on his front.

It was followed by an electrical or hydraulic noise and a loud clunk of a very large latch unhitching itself. And then the inside of the plane became red and the rear of the plane turned black, as the rear opened to expose the night. And John could only think of one thing Cold. It was very Cold. Although he was starting to feel very warm. God he loved this suit.

The crewman looked over his shoulder at the now gaping black unwelcoming hole at the rear of the plane. He then turned back to John. "Time to go sir!" he shouted as he leant over to Johns left ear, handing him a set of goggles for his eyes, which John put on.

The crewman started to lead John over to the rear of the plane, and John couldn't quite get whether he was being pushed or led either way there was only one outcome and that was going to come very shortly.

John looked down, into the black, into the darkness, through the wispy clouds and could see the twinkling lights of Istanbul.

The crewman placed his right hand on John's left shoulder and pointed down at the lights. "That down there is Sultan Ahmet Park. There is a concert in two days' time so the whole area is closed off to tourists, but there is a load of police down there, so you will have to be careful"

"Why?" John shouted back. "What?" replied the crewman. Leaning his right ear to Johns mouth. John re – asked. "Why. Why should I be careful!" John re – shouted into the crewman's ear.

"Oh." Replied the crewman. "The police carry guns here, that's all."

"What? That's all? What you mean that's all?" John shouted back.

"Right" the crewman shouted. "Time to go!" and he slapped John on his back fairly hard to the extent that John became off balance and tumbled out of the plane.

"Remember to pull!" shouted the crewman as he turned to the side of the plane and pressed a button to raise the rear of the plane and close the opening. He reached for a headset that was hung on the side which had a boom mike on it. "Package delivered Sir" he said into the mic as the plane turned sharply and headed for home.

John was careering a little out of control initially. "You asshole Carter!" he shouted as he started to talk to himself. "Remember to pull. Remember to pull".

John looked at the altimeter. It was time to pull.

The chute opened and jerked Johns body which always took him by surprise. He grabbed the handles each side of him and pulled them down so that he could steer the chute to his intended destination. All the time thinking that at some stage he had to remember how to flare before landing or more to the fact when.

He could see the landing area but just off to it there was a policeman wandering around having a crafty smoke. John knew there was no way of landing without the policeman hearing him. Even though the suit is designed not to be seen. He steered the chute to where the policeman was, making small correcting turns to keep on course.

John could see the cigarette light up now as the policeman took a drag, but before he could exhale, there was a firm thump on the policeman's head and he went down with a force, as John pulled the two cords and landed rather smartly.

John looked up in the air. "That was so cool!" he said and then looked down at the policeman he just decked, and he picked up the cigarette that the policeman was smoking. "Disgusting habit" he said. "These will kill you" he added as he put the cigarette to his lips and took a drag. Looking down at the policeman.

Then something made John jump. It was Carters voice in his ear. "Finished Screaming then!" he said.

"Carter?" asked John looking around. "The one and only" Came Carters reply.

"You can hear me?" John asked. "Mmm Hmm. Voice come throat mic in the neck on the suit you are wearing." Carter answered.

"Hey Carter" John said. As Carter replied "Yeah?"

"Your still an arse hole" John replied. As he heard Carter chuckling.

"Hey John. Put the glasses on would you mate?" Carter asked as John fumbled and tapped around his body trying to remember which pocket he put them in. There they were. He opened them up and put them on. He was impressed. He took them off and looked at the glass, and then put them on again.

"Dark on the outside but not when you look through them. Nice." He said to Carter who was quick to reply. "Better than that, I can see everything going on, and in infra-red as well as heat. Look around for me would you. But slowly, need to calibrate everything this end."

John looked around slowly and he heard the policeman start to stir, so he looked down. Carter could see on the large screen, a body on the floor so he went into heat mode.

"Jesus John!" Carter exclaimed "Who the hell is that?"

John took a deep breath. And talking as he let out his breath said. "Ohhh no one special just a copper that decided to have a crafty fag while I was trying to land. That's all"

"Jesus John" Carter exclaimed again. "Hold on though." Carter added as he tapped at the keyboard and the large screen showed a green mesh overlay the policeman that was on the floor, and then formed over him. Then the words "Match" came up. "Hey John! His clothes match your measurements. Strip him and that should get you through the area so you can get some more civi like clothes"

"Hmm hold on though" John said as he took out the hand gun with his right hand. He pressed the button on the side of the grip, to release the magazine, noting that the knock out rounds were loaded. He re – inserted the mag, and loaded the hand gun with the first round. Pointed it at the policeman's backside and fired. The weapon made hardly a noise, and the policeman's body moved a little, as it were startled, and then all was silent."

"Did, Did you just shoot him?" Carter said. "Relax, Carter just a knock out round" replied John.

"Be careful John, you have a limited amount of those" Carter replied. "Oh don't worry. There will still be one for you when I return" John replied very coldly as he started to undress the policeman. He first started with the policeman's gun and made it safe and placed it in the hold all, and then started with everything that the policeman was wearing. He put on the shirt first them the trousers and then the shoes. Which did not fit at first. Then he remembered. Detachable shoes.

"Carter? Where do I put the boots when I take them off?" John asked Carter quietly.

"The patterning on the side of the boots, sticks to Velcro on the side of your ribs." Carter replied.

John sighed, "Typical. Have to take the shirt off again" John took the boots off, sticking the left to the left and the right to the right set of ribs. He then put the shirt back on followed by the trousers and then the socks and shoes of the policeman. He then started to look around for the policeman's hat.

"Hey Carter. Help me out. Can't find this guy's hat" John Said. "No worried mate, take a look around and I'll look at IR for you" Carter replied as john looked around on the floor slowly. "Got it mate!" Carter replied. "Go in the direction your facing now, about three paces and it's in front of you" Carter added.

John walked up to the hat and as he got closer he saw it on the ground. "I thank you!" he said in a way mimicking Arthur Askey. He looked around and could see a little chink in the perimeter that he could get through. He walked over slowly checking the pockets of the policeman's trousers. Cigarettes, cheap lighter, and a wallet, with a fair amount of money in it. Everything he needed really.

"Nice little wallet that John" Carter said. "Remember though you can't ask for anything from any of the open shops so no buying ice creams"

"Why?" asked John and Carter was quick to reply. "Your dressed in a Turkish police man's uniform and you can't speak a word of Turkish" Carter replied. John thought for a brief second "Oh yeah, didn't think of that one" John replied.

John walked through the gap and headed for the Grand Bazar area. He was cutting it fine on time as he knew from experience that it closed soon. And he had to find Ishmael. "Hey Carter. What's the time?" John asked.

"18.30 mate. Ishmael usually goes to the café at about 1845 so need to get a move on without getting too much in trouble." Carter replied, just as John spotted a local chap a little worse for the wear, which is not something that normally happens in Turkey, so John took his opportunity while he had it.

The tipsy Turkish chap spotted John and moved into a small alleyway in the attempt to get out of the way of what he thought was a real police man. "Carter?" Asked John. "Already on it John" came Carters reply, as he ran a check on the guys clothes. "Incomplete match 85 percent" came the words on the large screen. "OK John." Carter replied. "Not a complete fit but close enough I think, so long as you get to him before he throws up all over it you'll be fine. But either way, we will need to do something as a pukka coppa would bust his arse"

John changed the hold all over from his right hand to his left, and pulled the hand gun out that still had the knock out rounds in. He looked behind him to make sure that there was no one looking in his direction and then fired at the drunk who started to waiver. John ran forwards to catch him, so that there was not too much of a noise as the man hit the ground. John lowered him onto the ground by an industrial wheelie bin.

John propped him up against the wall sitting down, leaning against the side of the bin, so that only the man's feet could just be seen. He was wearing a traditional Turkish shirt, with granddad collar, and a set of light brown corduroy trousers, Light brown socks and sandals.

"Ooo. Nice shoes" Carter said into Johns ear. As john just Humphed in reply to Carters words. John started to undress the man. He started first with his pockets, he checked the shirt pockets and found a packet of cigarettes, and a box of matches. He then worked down to the trousers and checked the left pocket only to find a used tissue, which john placed on the ground with a thumb and forefinger screwing up his face at the same time. He then checked the right. A nice wad of money. Which was interesting as this chap had certainly had his fill of alcohol, and he still had money left. John placed the money in his pocket and undressed the man.

He took the man's shirt off and then unbuttoned his shirt, and swapped the two over. Placing the police uniform into the hold all. He put on the shirt, not a great fit but these shirts are not meant to be buttoned up fully anyway so he could get away it.

John then started on his shoes, and unlaced them, then out those in the hold all as well. He then took the sandals that the drunk was wearing and unbuckled them, placing them to one side. He then undid the man's belt.

John pulled the belt through the loops of the man's cords, and then proceeded to unbutton and unzip the trousers. He slowly unzipped the trousers. And pulled the trousers off.

"Well of all the things I ever thought I would see in my life that truly was not one of them John." Carter said to John as they both noticed the boxers the man was wearing. Sponge Bob Square Pants boxer shorts. John then took a deep breath. "Got to be a law against wearing something like these surely!" John added, as Carter chuckled in Johns ear.

John pulled the trousers on. Not an entirely complete fit. As the top clip could not be done up, but the shirt could be pulled over the top of them so you would not normally notice. He then put the policeman's trousers he was wearing into the holdall, and then put the sandals on his feet.

He then fumbled back into the holdall for the trousers the policeman had, and took out the wallet. He then placed the money the drunk man had into the wallet and then placed it into his right pocket.

He double checked around his area to make sure he had not missed anything and then picked up the holdall, and slowly walked down the alley way and looked left and right and headed for the market.

John could hear the hustle and bustle of the market, not to mention the police guard on the entrance to it. Which made him think it was luck that that brought the drunk man to them, plus the fact that he had to remove the sunglasses. It was clearly not bright outside. Without the change of clothes they would have certainly had an issue. With any luck the policeman wouldn't check him, or especially his bag. If he checked his bag then there would be no escaping the fact that he was up to no good.

Johns heart started to race the nearer he got. The police man looked John straight into his eyes. He looked back and nodded at him in acknowledgement. John was hoping that the man would just nod back.

Thankfully he did.

John walked past the police man and into the bazar. Even though it was in the evening there were hordes of people still in there.

He walked past a group of Japanese tourists being shown around by an interpreter. They were looking around in awe while he could see the shop owners looking at them like lambs to the slaughter, and inflated their prices a little more than they should have been.

John walked round the shops and the stands, glimpsing at various items as he went, then something caught his eye. A cigarette lighter with a colourful Harley Davison crest on it. God it looked lovely. Best thing is that he could get away with speaking English! He walked over to the stand.

"Special price!" came the words from the stand owner. John smirked and looked up at the stall owner. He looked him straight in his eyes. This put the owner off guard a bit.

"Oh yeah? How special. Look me in the eyes and tell me how special I am to you as a customer" John said in a very cold sort of way. Which put the owner off balance just a little further.

The stall own replied back in the most broadest Turkish English accent. "One hundred and forty five Lira" the man said.

"Try forty five and I might make myself like you" John replied. The stall owner flung his arms into the air blowing through his lips puffing them out. "I have a family to feed" the man replied.

John looked at the man squarely. "And your point is what exactly?" he replied, which disarmed the man just a tad more. "Does it work, and is it full of lighter fluid?" John added. To which the man nodded and operated the lighter with one hand. Being cocky at the same time as being proud that it worked.

"Seventy Three" John said in reply to the man working the lighter. The man looked shocked.

"It is full of lighter fluid and it works" the man replied looking to offend to John.

John looked the man very firmly again and leant forward to him, and very closely. "It works at the moment and might only have just enough lighter fluid to work for a few cigarettes" John replied looking at the lighter.

The man looked at John then at the lighter. "Eighty – Seven" the man said. "Done" John replied, pulling the wallet out of his pocket.

The man took Johns money and handed him the lighter. John thanked the man and continued on his way, walking to the rear of the Bazar.

He passed a stall that clearly sold replica watches and nothing that looked really decent, most of them showed that they should have had mechanical movements but clearly had quartz ones in them. And then he passed a Turkish Delight shop.

John slowed to look. As the shop owner was making fresh Turkish Delight on his stand. He noticed there was Pistachio. God he loved that one. And there was a convenient hand size bar of it as well. And not for very much money.

John pulled the wallet out of his pocket, and paid for the bar without quibble. This was handmade and something he loved. Even though he had literally fallen out of a plane to get it.

Once paid John continued on his way passed a few clothing stalls, perfume stalls and a fair amount of jewelers and leather shops. The smells were great. He turned another corner and there he was. Ishmael.

Ishmael was a broad built man, wonderful dark skin with a thick head of hair, but looking certainly middle eastern, with fairly bushy eyebrows. He always held his little finger out when he had a drink, and always had a cigarette with his coffee, and always had a cigar with his Turkish tea. He was dressed in a mid-blue shirt that had fine white chalk like stripes running vertically, with a pair of shades in the top pockets. He was also wearing a pair of tan or light coffee colour cords, with a pair of very pointed yet very shiny shoes. The café owner brought Ishmael a coffee and he took out his iPhone and started tapping away. John walked around the back of the café and made sure Ishmael did not see him. Ishmael took out his trademark Camel Cigarettes and put one to his lips. John walked in from behind and took out the Harley light her had just bought flipped it open with one hand and offered the light.

"You know they'll kill you?" John said to Ishmael. Who stopped dead in his tracks and turned around his mouth wide open.

"No! John is that you?" Ishmael said. "It is. It is you. Jonathan. Darling how. What? Why?" he continued to stutter, as he got up and held John by his shoulders and did the usual foreign kissing on each cheek. Which John really never did understand. But what the hell when in Rome!

"Hello mate. How are you?" John said

"My word! I am fine. Very fine. What are you doing here?" Ishmael said.

"I need your help mate. And you are the only person that can help" John replied looking Ishmael right into his eyes. Ishmael looked shocked and puzzled all at the same time.

Ishmael released his grip on Johns shoulders and beckoned him to take a seat with him at the table, and he called the café owner over to them. Ishmael looked at John and then to the café owner who came over with a note pad for their order. Ishmael looked at John. "Turkish tea, with pistachio Turkish delight." Ishmael said nodding in confirmation to John. John nodded and confirmed Ishmaels choice with his eyes closing slowly as he nodded in acceptance.

"So tell me. Why am I the only person who can help you?" Ishmael said to John with a puzzled look on his face.

"Someone broke into the offices. And tried to access a particular file on the server but it's encrypted, and you are the only person that would have encrypted it" replied John looking at Ishmael who looked shocked.

"This happened because of me?" Ishmael said looking at John.

"Ishmael this happened because they wanted something. Not because you did it." Replied John. "Carter you still there?" John asked.

"Yes mate. Here listening and waiting" Carter replied.

"Can you upload the video to the FTP Server so I can let Ishmael view it?" John asked quietly not wanting people around him to know that he was talking to someone that was not physically there.

"No worries John. On it now. Give me a few seconds" Replied Carter as the café owner approached John and served him his Tea and Turkish Delight. John nodded to the man who walked away. "OK. Done. You should be able to download and view it now" Carter completed.

John held his hand out to Ishmael for his iPhone which he gave him. John tapped the address into the top bar of the iPhone and handed it back to Ishmael.

He viewed the video and looked shocked. His mouth was open as the video streamed to his phone. He saw the part where the receptionist got shot and he placed his hand over his mouth. As the video neared the end. Carter added the file name that was accessed. Ishmael read the name, and looked puzzled.

"You look a little confused" John said to Ishmael who looked back at John, whilst double tapping the iPhones button and cleaning the website app of his phones memory.

"This File. I don't get it. I was employed as the gatekeeper on this." Ishmael said looking at John who looked rather puzzled back at him. Ishmael spotted this and elaborated. "This is a gatekeeper file. Which houses another file that contains documents. Imagine if you will, a door to a room with a secure lock, which holds a filing cabinet with a lock that has things in it. Well. I just did the door to the room. I can unlock the door. But you need the Key Master to unlock the filing cabinet." Ishmael explained.

John looked at Ishmael. "OK. So who do we talk to?" he added.

"I will give it to you but not here. Meet me in an hour by the toilets near the park." Ishmael said looking at John and putting his hand out to tap his hand and then holding it briefly. John looked at his hand and then up towards Ishmael.

"Ishmael? John Asked. "Yes my friend" Ishmael replied. John looked at his hand and then to Ishmael.

"Your....Holding my hand" John said, to tittering and sniggering in his ear from Carter.

It was a hot and clammy night. And John was walking up to the public toilets. Which if he was honest he found rather surreal. There he was in what was effectively local person clothing, meeting a very camp and if he was honest a rather good looking gentleman by the toilets. Not too suspicious then he thought!

By the toilets there was a rather large tree with a little edging by it. And the recognisable figure of Ishmael was standing there. John approached Ishmael looking around at the same time.

"John. Put your glasses on mate so I can see what's going on" Carter said in Johns ear in a rather firm yet concerned way.

"Ishmael" John said. "My Friend" came Ishmaels the reply.

Ishmael gave John the same firm grip on both shoulders and kissed him on both cheeks, just in time for Sarah and Emilie to see on the large screen.

"Ooo looks cozy" Emilie said to Sarah who chuckled a little while looking at the large screen as well.

"What's happening?" Sara Said to Carter nodding up to the large screen. Carter took his eyes of the large screen and looked at them both. "Ishmael is giving John the details of the person we need to talk to about the file that we can't get into." He replied.

Ishmael looked around and handed john a piece of paper. "This is the name of the contact they used for coding the file. This was the Key master. You can find this person in Bucharest, in a place called Hanul lui Manuc. It's the most amazing restaurant, with the most fabulous setting. Good luck" Ishmael said and gave John a hug.

Then John heard a whoosh and Ishmael Became very heavy in Johns arms. John looked around but could not see anything.

"Ish. Hey Ishmael, Oh Jesus no." John said pulling Ishmael off from him and putting him against the tree and letting his body lean back on it. "Ishmael. Stay with me mate" John said quietly, as Ishmael slowly opened his eyes.

Emilie and Sara looked in shock and horror. "Wha..What just happened?" Sara exclaimed.

Ishmael took difficult breaths, and as he did his lungs bubbled. John looked down, at the hole that now gaped open in Ishmaels right side of his chest. And blood was starting to really flow out. John pressed hard with his hands to stem to blood flow. Ishmael held Johns hands.

"N...N...No John. I know when things hurt this bad it's not good my friend." Ishmael said gasping for every hard and painful breath. "Th...Th...The person you seek, has a tribal tattoo o..o..on the left side of their neck." Ishmael grabbed another breath all be it very painful and raised his left hand and touched Johns cheek with his palm. John held Ishmaels hand to his cheek, and then he felt Ishmaels hand get very heavy, as he breathed out for the last time.

Then there was nothing but quiet in both the room and with John. Carter broke the silence.

"Err John. Mate I understand this is not a good time but you gotta get going, in case you are the next target" Carter said concerned.

John picked up his bag and set off. "Jesus Carter I can't just leave him here" John said standing up.

Carter took a big breath and said calmly and sympathetically, "I know John. And I understand I really do but we have to get going." He added.

"Where am I going Carter" Asked John.

"The only way we can get into Romania from where you are. We have to go to Zonguldak Harbor, we have a contact there that can get you into Romania from there. Time to find yourself some wheels." Carter said to John.

With that John looked around for anything, until he saw a large built person pulling up on a motorcycle. "That do?" John asked as Carter looked at the screen. "I was thinking something more civilized. But yes that will do" Carter said, as John pulled out his hand gun, aimed and fired a knock out round into the rider.

The round hit the rider just as he was getting off the motorcycle, and the rider slumped onto the road. He took the bikers helmet off and put it on his head. The keys were still in the motorcycle. John turned the ignition and pressed the starter button. The engine roared into life. He slung the bag at an angle over his shoulders and rode off towards the harbor.

"OK Carter. Whereabouts do I meet this magical person that's going to get me where I need to go?" John said shouting over the noise of the motorcycle.

Carter struggled to hear over the noise of the engine as John gave it full wristful's. "Jesus John. How noisy?" Carter shouted. "What the hell are you on?"

John slowed down on the motorcycle. "I am on one of the most wonderful old bikes ever. It's a ZZR1100 Ninja, and she's not bad at all!" John answered.

"OK, well when you are finished with making love over the bike, you need to head for the Hotel Mer. Its right by the Harbor. It's on a road called the D750, and the road is called the Uzun Mehmet Road. I have checked you in under the name of Charles Herkin." Carter replied.

John listened very carefully, and paused for a while. "Charles Herkin? Really?" He said questioningly.

"John Smith sounded so cliché" Carter added. "Especially as your contact is going to be meeting you in your room. Just concentrate on getting to the hotel. Plus the fact that it matches the Australian Passport that is in your bag."

John continued checking his mirrors, and something just wasn't right. There was a car with very distinct headlights and sidelights. It was an old Saab. Most definitely. Small sidelights right by the headlights. Matching his every move. John opened the throttle a little to check.

The engine of the ZZR roared a little and John thought about leaving them behind, but he really needed to send a message. So he pulled ahead a little, and watched. The car behind matched him and pulled out to overtake a few cars thus keeping in view.

"Carter!" John shouted. "I've got company"

Carter turned around to look at the large screen. "You still got your glasses on?" he said.

"No. But if you give me a while I will." John said as he opened his visor then his top pocket and put his glasses on. And it still amazed him how they looked clear even though they looked like sunglasses from looking at them. He looked up ahead and saw a lorry with a trailer and pulled ahead of it, then pulled into the service lane and slowed so he was by the side the trailer. He looked over his left shoulder and saw the car move past the lorry. John then slowed a little more and then pulled out behind the trailer. He then edged up to the car.

"OK Carter. Here you go." John said moving up behind the car. He was right. It was an old Saab 900 Turbo in black of all colours. Fairly good nick too!

"OK John, give me a second. Let me run the plate" Carter said turning around and tapping into the special program he had, as John noticed that they were now wondering where he was.

"Hurry up Carter they are beginning to look around for me" John said getting a little worried as he started to notice the driver look into his mirrors. John then took a decision. He pulled the bag around him and opened the zip a little and fumbled around for the police man's gun. He held it in his left hand while working the throttle with his right, and started to increase the throttle.

As John worked the throttle with his right hand, and while holding the gun in his left hand, he moved his left hand under his right arm and pulled up to the rear of the car. He aimed at the rear tire. Pulled the trigger and opened up the throttle, and to deaden the sound. The car moved from left to right a little as the driver fought to keep the car under control.

John looked to his right to the people in the car. "Get some mug shots Carter" John said as he rode passed and looked into the car as it started to slow down rapidly.

Carter looked up at the screen, and using the mouse he clicked as John went passed the car. "OK. Got them" Carter said as he saw a gun being withdrawn from the guy in the passenger seat. "Gun!" he shouted to John "Get out of there mate!"

"On it!" John replied giving the ZZR full throttle and pulling a wheelie to zoom past the car.

The computer beeped. It was the result on the number plate. Carter looked around at the computer, as Emilie came rushing over to Carter after hearing all the commotion. She looked up at the large screen. John was still there.

"He's alright Emilie. He's in good hands." Carter said to her. Emilie moved her head to the side. "Is that a ZZR 1100 Ninja?" Emilie said to Carter who smiled and looked at her.

"Nice" Carter replied. "Still remember what John did with you" he added as he looked back up to the large screen.

"OK John. Car has come back negative, in fact so negative the plate doesn't exist" Carter said. As the computer beeped once more at the face he snapped as John rode passed.

"John? We have a match on the passenger of that car" Carter said.

"Go on" Replied John.

"You'll love this." Carter said chuckling. "Mustafa Gala. Turkish Mafia." he added.

"Hired thugs then" John replied as Carter Hmm'd in agreement.

John continued on his way to the hotel, and the trip was pretty uneventful in every way. He parked the bike in front of the hotel. And got off the bike taking the keys with him. He remembered to look for the Australian passport in his bag and then walked into the hotel to the reception.

He handed over the passport to the receptionist. "Mr. Herkin" Certainly sir we have your room for you. Second floor harbor view with balcony. Would you like help with your bag?" the receptionists said.

"I'll be fine thank you." John replied. The receptionist handed him his passport back. "Lovely sir. Second floor. From the top of the stairs pass the lift on your left and its second on the left." The receptionist said. John thanked her and continued up the stairs. He hated lifts. You never know who would be waiting for you on the other side of them.

Second on the left and he inserted the pass key into the lock and the door opened. He placed the pass key into the holder on the wall and the room lights automatically came on.

John threw the bag on to the bed, turned the room lights off and walked over to the patio doors and opened them. The noise of the road outside instantly filled the room. He took a look around outside over the harbor and saw all the boats in dock.

"Looks fairly quiet out there, and the boats in dock" Carter said taking john by surprise. "Jesus Carter! I keep forgetting you can see everything I can with these on" Replied John as he continued to look around.

Carter was looking at the screen. "Hey John. Look left a little at the harbor entrance could you?" Carter asked. John moved his head slightly and saw a small plump man doing a sort of walk and jog. Like someone who is in a hurry but doesn't want to look like they are late. They guy was smoking at the same time as John could see him taking drags every now and then as the cigarette burned bright reddish orange.

"That's our man?" John asked Carter. "Yup!" Carter said in reply.

John walked into the bedroom and pulled out the rifle and loaded the shock darts into the mag holder, and cocked the rifle. He Aimed it at the contact.

"John? What you doing? John!" Carter said as John took aim. Very carefully he concentrated on his breathing, as Carter used the computer to zoom in on the area around the contact. He then heard a very dull yet high pitched air like "Pish" type of noise, and a guy just behind their contact slumped to the floor.

"Jesus Carter! We're compromised here as well." John said as he made his rifle safe and threw everything into the bag and walked to the door to vacate the room in order to meet the skipper of their lift in the reception rather than in his room. Before he could do that though the door burst open, and two built men came rushing into the room.

John dropped the bag as the first man came rushing in towards him. John dropped to the floor in a crouch and launched a right punch straight into the guys testicles. The man dropped to the floor, but straight after came a right shoe, which John just missed while he was crouched on the floor. As the foot came shooting passed his right ear, he grabbed hold of it and stood up, pulling the guys groin up, until John heard and felt a rather satisfying crunch. He then placed a heavy right kick into the groin of the other man. He went to the first guy and searched him. He took his wallet and is gun before landing another punch to the guys face knocking him out cold. He picked up the bag in his left hand, and turned around to walk out of the room. The other guy was getting to his feet. So John took a swift kick to the guy's face which propelled him backwards. John searched him as well and put everything into his bag again and then walked down to the reception calmly.

With all the noise going on over the speaker, Emilie came rushing to the large screen. "Is he bleeding Carter?" Emilie shouted. Carter held his hand up to Emilie. "Don't panic Mrs. Mainwaring! He's OK" Carter said to Emilie who was watching the large screen and seeing John walking down the stairs and also seeing the short and somewhat sweaty chap approaching him.

John looked the chap square in the eyes. "Sorry but my hotel room is a little cramped at the moment so I thought that I would meet you here. Shall we go?" John said turning the short chap around and walking him out of the door.

John hustled the man over to the Harbor entrance gate and let the man lead the way to his vessel which turned out to be a huge rusting disheveled old fishing boat that had seen better days.

John looked at the boat and he just hoped that it would make it out of the harbor, let alone get them to Romania.
Chapter 9 – First Signs 2

Present Day. Somewhere in the middle East.

The doors to the Hospital swung open and a tall somewhat skinny man with a well-kept beard stood in the doorway.

His shoulders were slack and he was standing with great effort. He raised his head up to the ceiling with his eyes closed, and the people in the hospital near him could hear him struggling to breathe as if he had an amazingly bad chest infection.

He took very painful steps one after another towards the reception desk, and the receptionist looked towards the man stopping in mid work to look at the man coming towards her.

She could also see that he was sweating very heavily and the pale blue shirt he was wearing was soaking wet, but also so was his trousers in his groin area. As he approached she could see was trying to speak but failing to do so.

She moved her chair away from the reception as he got nearer. And shouted for assistance while walking away from the desk.

A couple of doctors nearby came over and saw the man, who started to falter on his feet. They rushed over as the man slumped to his knees, each doctor took an arm each. They started to raise the man to his feet.

"Up we get" One doctor said to the man, noticing how bubbly his breathing was and looking at the other doctor as this happened.

"What is your name?" The other doctor said to the man, also noticing the man finding it hard to breathe through all the gurgling in his lungs.

They walked the man into the cubicle area and placed him onto a bed and sat him up so he could breathe a little better. They placed an oxygen mask on his face and turned on the air supply. They stood over the man one each side and started to undress him. Noticing that he was sweating all over.

"So what do you think? Pneumonia?" One doctor said to the other. The other doctor shrugged his shoulders and replied "No Idea. He seems way too hot for that, it's almost like a huge infection and his body is struggling to fight it off."

"I will get a nurse to help us in taking bloods and make him comfortable." With that one of the doctors walked off with his doctors coat flowing to find a nurse. He walked up to another curtained cubicle area and found a nurse.

"Nurse. I need your help to take some bloods for us." He said to the nurse. Looking at the small child she was tending to with what he assumed were its parents. The nurse looked at the child and then to the Doctor. "She is very unwell. She has had a nose bleed for some days now and it has not stopped. It is bleeding at such a rate that she is slowly bleeding to death, and we have no way to stem the blood flow. Nothing is working. All we can do is give her fluids and make her comfortable" The nurse added

"I will stay with the girl. You go and get the bloods." The doctor said, placing a hand on the nurses shoulder and moving out of the way. The nurse smiled and nodded. Not all doctors were heartless.

She went to the cabinet opposite and gathered up the things she would need. Needles, vacuum bottles and ties. She walked over to the man who was still breathing very difficultly. She looked at the Doctor who looked back at her very worried.

She took the tourniquet and placed it on the man's left arm. She extended his arm and tapped on the inside of his elbow to raise the major vein that you normally find. It raised nicely. She took the needle and placed it into the vein, as the doctor watched on opposite. She inserted the needle. The vein collapsed and blood flowed into the man's arm.

"DOCTOR!" she shouted. "DOCTOR!" The other doctor came running to the nurse. "What is it?" he said.

The nurse looked at the doctor then to the other doctor and said "I. I. Don't know. I inserted the needle and the vein collapsed." She added.

The doctor looked at her. "Release the tourniquet and start again then." He added. The nurse looked at the doctor. "No, you don't understand. The vein disintegrated" she said.

The doctor looked at the nurse. "Try the other arm. I will help you" he said. They moved around to the right and side of the man, as the other doctor moved backwards to let them get to the other arm. The nurse put the tourniquet on the man's right arm, once again extended the arm and tapped the inside to expose the vein. She took the needle and just before she was about to insert it she hesitated. The doctor looked at her. He put his hand over the needle and a one on her shoulder. "Here. Let me" he said softly. As the nurse looked him in the eye and smiled.

The doctor took a deep breath as the nurse moved to his side and the other doctor peered over the nurses shoulder. The doctor pressed the needle to the man's skin and then gently inserted it. Again the Vein disintegrated and blood flowed out into the man's arm. With that the man started to cough violently and started to convulse.

Blood started spewing out of the man's mouth as he started to convulse spraying everything in spitting range. Both doctors and the nurse stepped back in shock, watching the man literally convulsing and bleeding to death. They looked at each other in amazement, as this was something that had never happened in their professional lives combined.

The convulsing stopped and the man fell silent. He was covered in blood. Everything was covered in blood as if someone had taken the entire contents of him. Pushed hard on his chest and squirted everything out.

With that their attention was drawn to a man who came bursting through the front doors of the hospital, helping a woman in with her left arm over his shoulders.

"Please. Someone help my wife she is sick!" the man said, as blood dripped out of her nose. Both Doctors and the nurse looked at each other.

Chapter 10 – Bucharest.

John was never much of a sea legged person, in fact there were times when he was the exact opposite. The boat was noisy beyond belief, and smelt of three year old sardines and tuna coupled with the smell of diesel. But then John was in the area where they prepped the fish that the boat caught.

The boat was ploughing through the water at a sensible fishing boat speed so not to attract attention from anyone. John went through the bag that he had with him, making sure that everything that he needed was in there.

The short little Captain stepped through the doorway and into the fish prep area. "My friend it is nearly time for you to leave the boat. We are near Constanta"

John looked up and zipped up his bag. "Excellent. How many minuets till we dock?" John asked. As he noticed the little Captain look puzzled. "Dock?" The Captain laughed "We no dock. Customs cannot see you entering into here they will not like what you have in your bag. We will drop you just to the north. There is a beach that is not patrolled. You will swim into there." The Captain added.

John then took a deep breath. "Carter?" he asked. "Yes John" came the reply. "Is this earpiece water proof, along with the mic and the bag?" he added.

"Yes mate. Why?" Carter asked in a tone that John could already pick up on that Carter knew he had to swim for it. John then took a deep breath and looked down at the floor. "Because Carter when I get back I am going to stick it up your arsehole" John said coldly. John could almost feel the smile coming down the earpiece from Carter as he grabbed everything and got ready to swim.

The Captain escorted John to his bridge and slowed the vessel down to a crawl. He gave John a set of binoculars. "You see over there the beach. Just behind. Strada Mircea cel Batran. As soon as you get to this road go right. It takes you to the Panaramio, a round building. Opposite is Buelevardul Ferdinand. Take route three to the intersection, then follow signs for the A2. This will take you straight into Bucharest." The captain said pointing out directions with his hand.

John looked at the Captain. "How far?" he said. As the Captain held his hands up. "Two hours maybe" he replied. John looked at him. "Walking?" The Captain frowned. "No! Silly. By car. But I have friend meeting you on beach. He has bike to loan you" The Captain replied as Johns eyes lit up.

"Bike?" John asked. "What type of Bike." The Captain held his hands up. "It's black is all I know. Come you must leave" the Captain said placing a hand on Johns shoulder and showing him to the beam of the ship. As they got there the Captain turned to John and held out his hand. "It has been an honor and a pleasure sir. Good luck." The Captain said as John shook the man's hand and stood on the side. He then jumped into the water.

John hit the sea and the cold took his breath away, and then the suit felt warm, as if it were like a wetsuit. John went on his back and clutched the bag, and kicked with his feet towards the shore, looking over his shoulder at times to make sure that he was still on course.

He could hear the waves breaking on the beach as he started to get lifted and then dropped with every wave. And then his feet started to hit the bottom, and then his body. John turned around and got to his feet, to get his bearings. He was bang on where he needed to be. He walked ashore.

As he got near he could see a person on the beach, taking a drag on a cigarette every now and then as the end lit up orange. He walked towards the person.

As he approached the person he could see it was a man, as he took another drag on his cigarette and it lit his face up with an orange glow to reveal a slim faced man, with a moustache. As the man lowered his left hand, John saw he was holding something with thumb and fore finger with his right. As John neared him the man held up what looked like a set of keys and what look liked a necklace.

John looked at the man and nodded. "Nice evening for a swim!" John added. The man smiled "Even better for a bike ride" the man replied as he handed John a set of keys on a fabric neck band that had a kind of car remote fob on it.

The man looked at John as he handed over the keys. "You may use this to get where you need to" the man said walking John over to the path. And there she was in all her Black glory. A Ducati 1098 SP.

John looked at the keys again, and then at the bike. He just could not believe his luck, in fact he was so much on a high he almost forgot the route that he needed to take to get to his next contact.

Then a voice popped into his head. "John? John! Coo wee! John!" then John realized it was not a voice but Carter. John stuttered a little. "Err. Err yeah. Carter. Hi!" John said.

There was a little pause and then Carter said "Err you alright mate. Seem a little distant." John paused for a few seconds, and the answered. "Just gonna put those glasses on you keep telling me about." Carter was intrigued as this was one time that his words were taken out of his mouth.

Carter looked at the large screen, peering into the darkness. Then he saw it too. "Jesus John. Is that the wheels you've been given?" John paused for a moment. "Uh hmm" he said. "Errm, I'm just gonna have a little personal moment here for a sec OK?" John said as he walked around the bike touching and feeling and dragging his hands over every inch of the Ducati.

He placed the keys into the ignition, and pressed the fob to disarm the bike. He turned the key and the dials lit up. Both the rev counter and the speedo swept right round to the maximum points and fell back to zero. Both men ooo'd in delight. John then pressed the start button.

As soon as the engine roared into life Emilie came rushing over to the large screen. "Ducati 1098 SP! Oh. My. God. I'm in love. Tell him to rev her a little for me when the engine is warm will you Carter?"

Carter looked at Emilie. "When the engine is warm?" He repeated. Emilie looked at Carter, mouth open. "Everyone knows, you NEVER rev an Italian engine before its warm" she said to Carter in a way that he just knew there was something more than just recollection going on here. But this was something that had to wait for later. Emilie went back to be with Sarah.

John took off the shades and put on the helmet that the man gave him and replaced the shades again. He pulled down the visor and nodded to the man to say thank you. He then held in the clutch with his left and put the Ducati into first with a smooth push of his left foot. It made a lovely clunking sound and then he slowly let out the clutch and pulled away.

The ride to Bucharest was fairly un – eventful apart from the odd mad Romanian driver that never saw him coming down the road even with his lights on!

As he neared the restaurant John decided to cruise around the area, to make sure he knew where he was. The Hanul Lui Manuc, or the Hanul Manuc as it was generally called, was a rather large building, which was basically a square and had a large courtyard inside which served as the seating area. To the rear and the side was the Strada Franceza which met up with the Strada Halelor. To the North East was route 5 and the south was 6, both good enough roads to make a getaway should you need to do so.

John pulled up outside the restaurant and he could not resist revving the engine a little, just to make sure that everyone knew he was arriving. He kicked the side stand down and rested the bike.

The entrance to the Manuc was very impressive with huge wooden double doors, a good half foot thick. And inside there was a bar straight in front of him and to the left he could see a chimney that all their meat was cooked on. Now it was time to look for the person he had come for. He reached into the bag for the paper that Ishmael gave him.

"Hey Carter." John said looking at the paper. Carter looked up at the large screen. "Yup! I'm here" he replied. John took a deep breath as another motorcyclist pulled up outside the restaurant. They looked at John who still had his helmet and shades on and nodded to him, which John returned. Everywhere you go in the motorcycling fraternity, the same old nod was the same all over the world, amongst hardened bikers!

"The person we are looking for is female" John said. "How do you know that?" Carter asked. "Elementary my dear Carter. The name Ishmael gave me is Carmen" he replied. John looked around, off to his right was a church, opposite was the side road that lead off to the main road.

"John?" Carter said looking at the main screen. "Can you do me a favor and look back over to the church for me please?" This question sent a tingle down Johns spine. Carter never ever would ask unless he noticed something, and this was a question that he knew he was going to hate asking, but here goes.

John looked back over to his right and took a deep breath. "What am I looking for?" he asked. Carter looked intent at the screen. "Dark hair, Grey suit, smoking." Replied Carter.

John looked around a bit more. "Doesn't look to suspect though does he?" He asked as he looked into his side mirrors of the Ducati. Then he saw something that did set his senses off. "Now that does look suspect Carter. In my right mirror. Behind me. One black Range Rover. Why park right at the edge of the junction?" John asked. Carter looked up at the Screen. "Keep looking there John and I'll zoom in a little." Carter asked tapping away at the keyboard and mouse. Carter zoomed in onto the Range Rover.

"Keep an eye one him John" Carter replied. "His wheels are pointing in your direction" He added. "Hmm" John replied "As if we were about to strike" he added. "Keep your eyes peeled John" Carter returned. "We need to make sure we get our contact"

John returned his looks towards the front and the right. If the contact was near then, the bloke on the right would make his move, but what was it? Phone call? Turn around? Scratch his ear? What he did know was that this was something he had to keep an eye on. The grey suited man finished his Cigarette and stubbed it out with his foot. And then lit another one but instantly threw it to the floor and walked away. My god this was it! His contact was here. With that the Range Rover sprang into life. Where the bloody hell was his contact?

Woman, look for a woman, he thought looking ahead. There! A group of women walking across the road towards the restaurant. He leaped off the bike and rushed towards the women, he could hear the roar of the big Range Rover coming from behind him.

There! There she was! John rushed over and hurled himself at the woman. Bundling her to the floor, just as the passenger window of the Range Rover opened and a hail of bullets flew in their direction, hitting a number of people. Carter looked up at the Screen, to see Johns view as he fell to the floor. Emilie came rushing in. Looking up at the screen.

Everything went quiet for a moment and then, the screaming started. John looked up, to see the Range Rover flying down the road in a cloud of unburnt fumes. He looked at the woman. Who was looking straight at him.

"Are you Carmen?" he shouted over the din of people shouting and crying in the background. The woman looked straight through him. He placed his hand around her chin. "Are, You. Carmen!" he shouted, as the woman nodded. John got up and looked around, picking up Carmen with her right arm as he did. He looked over towards the bike, which was still in one piece but the rider of the other bike was on the floor, hit a number of times, and most certainly dead.

"Alegra!" John said to the woman pointing over to the bike. She looked over to her right, noticing that some of the women she was with at the time also got hit, but they were at least alive, although shouting in a lot in pain and in shock. Carmen looked worried and paused stopping John from running her to the bike.

John pulled her arm. "Look! We don't have time. They are OK, someone will have called the police. We can't be here for that when they get here. Carmen. I know you can understand me. Ishmael sent me. And we have to go!" he said looking at her straight into her eyes.

"Ishmael? How is he?" she asked. "Dead" John replied coldly, pulling her along with him. As he passed the motorcyclist, he took his helmet from the saddle of the bike and handed it to Carmen. "Put this on!" he shouted as the din of all the people shouting in the area started to get louder. He could also hear the distant sound of sirens. He ran with Carmen to the bike. "Get on!" he shouted. "Carter! I need a bloody quick out of this place and fast. Very fast" John said

"On it!" Carter shouted looking at Emilie who nodded up at the screen. Carter took a deep breath and a sigh. "I take it you are OK John?" Carter asked. "Peachy. Not a mark, and getting pissed off being shot at, now find me that bloody out!" John replied.

Carter swung around on the chair. As he heard John fire up the Ducati and raced away from the area, leaving screams and devastation behind him. As he looked into his mirrors he could see the blue lights, and also had a number of police cars and ambulances passing him on the other side of the road. That was way too close. But how. How the hell did they know where he was. How?

John took the road to the south of the Hanul Manuc, and picked up the Route 5 that headed north, through into Bucharest, at a reasonable speed not as to cause suspicion so he kept the speed down but Oh did he want to open this baby up for two reasons, one to leave behind the mess and two? Well it was a Ducati!

John weaved in and out of the traffic and kept his speed down. Carmen was holding his waist relatively tightly and he could feel her body taking sharp breaths as she was crying. But there would be time to comfort her later, now though he had to wait for Carter to come back with a way out for them.

Johns concentration was interrupted with Carters voice. "John. Found a way out. We have a nice captain at the 90th Airlift Flotilla of the Romanian Air Force. So you need to head for the airport. But you need to be careful; there are two airports on your route. The first one is the Bucharest Baneasa, then after that there is the Henri Coanda. You want the Henri Coanda"

"Great Carter, How do I get in?" John asked which lead to a little bit of a gap. "Carter?" John asked again. "errm. Working on that one John. Working on it mate" Carter replied. John took a deep breath. "At this speed I will be there in 20 minutes so you have until then" John said.

John continued on the main road, noticing a pair of lights ducking in and out of the traffic. "Carter!" John shouted. "I'm getting pissed off being out guessed. Someone your end knows, and is telling." John shouted.

Carter took a deep breath. It was hard to stomach but it had to be true. It wasn't him so it had to be Sarah, because it couldn't be Emilie. Could it? "I know John, but the only people that are in on this are me, you and Sara. I mean it can't be Emilie could it?" Carter replied. John nodded "I know Carter but I would like you to run a diagnostic over everything, and look into everyone. Because I have company. I need to drop a few cogs and get the hell out of here. Now where is my out?" John said noticeably irritated by having to get himself out of another mess again.

John started to weave in and out of a few cars, and noticed in his mirrors that the vehicle behind did the same. Great. Here goes John thought. He moved his head back to talk to Carmen.

"Hold tight. We've got company." John said as Carmen remained silent but gripped him tighter. He changed down a couple of gears and gave the Ducati a good wrist full of throttle. The car did its best to follow. Then John saw another car joining the road at high speed just ahead, and he knew things were going to get rough.

The car sped up and followed them weaving in and out of the traffic with him, and John could see the muzzle flash of a gun out of the passengers window, and he could occasionally hear the whizzing of the bullets flying passed them. Whoever these people were they had no regard for anyone else at all. And the occasional scream from Carmen this was very noticeable. Poor lass, saw her friends shot and others around her dead, which would have pushed most people over the edge.

"John!" Shouted Carter into Johns ear. "I have your out sorted. But it's not easy. There is a road called Strada Marasesti on your right, and the road after that is un named and this is the road that you need. How far are you from it?" Carter asked. "Not long but I still have company" John replied as he increased his speed and got a little ahead of the car. He hurled passed the road he needed to keep an eye out for and then gave a little more throttle and headed for the road he needed. He saw a lorry up ahead and took his queue, and zoomed in front of the lorry making it jam on its brakes and causing it to jackknife and create a huge tailback behind him. He threw the bike into the turn.

"OK Carter. I'm here where now?" John shouted. "First on the left Strada Aviatorilor then hang a right, There is a gate but we have it left open for us." Carter said.

John Followed his instructions. "OK Just passing through the gate, and I still have company!" He said troublingly. "Off to the left on the side road" Carter shouted getting very excited. "There should be a C130 on the taxi Strip, with his tail down. He has priority clearance for the next 10 minutes." Carter added.

John could see the aircraft off to the left, and the tail was open. OK time now to get the bike into the hold, and the car was getting closer and closer. John hung a left onto the taxi way, and could see the ramp, but the pilot was not hanging around. The wash from the props was making things a little hard to keep the bike stable, as the plane reached the start of the runway. John gave the bike one last go, and went for it. He followed the plane down the runway and the car followed behind, John was gaining a little and continued. His Front wheel hit the ramp and the bike shot into the hold, just in time as the cargo doors closed and the plane started to lift. John saw the car stop on the runway as the plane climbed.

Chapter 11 – To catch a spy

John arrived back at the control room and showed Carmen in first and closed the door. He looked over at Carter and walked straight up to him. "Well?" he said to carter.

Carter stopped typing and looked at John. "Well what?" he replied continuing to type again. He was beavering away looking into everything and bringing up the files that needed opening. John walked up to him and went close up to his face. He spoke in single words calmly and quietly in a way that sent a shiver down his spine. "Have. You. Found. Out. Where. Our. Leak. Is?" John said.

Carter took a deep breath. "Well. I took a deep look into Sarah's background and there was nothing of real concern, and I mean I delved really deep, but there was nothing, other than a slight flirtatious period with another woman." Carter said raising his eyebrows to John. "Really?" John said "Rocking!" he added.

John then stood up. "Well that just leaves you and Emilie" he said "And who do we get to check you out?" John said to Carter. Carter looked up to john. "We, might not need to, look at his." Carter said looking at John. Showing him a whole list of computer script.

John walked around the side of Carter and stood behind him, looking over his shoulder. "What am I looking at?" John said. Carter shrugged his shoulders. "That's just it. I have no idea, it's encrypted but I can tell you that it was sent over the net" Carter said looking at the screen.

John looked puzzled yet worried. He had an idea but could it really be what he thought? Things were put in place to make sure that this did not happen. So if it was what he was thinking then it puts everything into a very different perspective indeed.

John took a deep breath. "OK. Let's get on with the job in hand, but is there a way how you can monitor our traffic?" John said placing his hand on Carters right shoulder. Carter looked up. "Well, yeah I can even set it so that we are alerted to it." Carter said.

"Good. Do it." John said. "Now let's get on with everything in hand yeah?" He added.

Carter typed away as John beaconed over Carmen to Carter. Carmen walked over looking at Carter rather flirtatiously. Carter finished typing away and looked up at Carmen. His mouth opened wide at the slender woman, showing a tattoo on her neck, and still dressed to kill.

Carter was brought back round by a smack on the back of his head by John who gave only one word to him. "Concentrate" John said, as Carter cleared his throat. "Err. Err, yeah. Right. Yes." Carter said getting up and extending his hand. "Carter!" He said looking at Carmen, who smiled, as a dimple each side of her cheeks appeared as she shook hands with Carter.

John looked at them both. "Time to get to work me thinks." He said nodding at the screen. John pulled around a spare chair for Carmen to sit on. "Right!" Carter said as he clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Let's get to it." He added looking at John.

John looked at them both as they looked at him in anticipation. "What?" John said as Carmen looked at the floor, then to Carter and then back to John

"I was the Key master" Carmen said. "We need the gate Keepers key." John looked blankly at them both.

"Did Ishmael let you have his pass key?" Carter said to John who looked blankly at Carter. "Pass key?" he repeated.

Carter sighed and rolled his head backwards. "We can't open the file for Carmen to do her stuff without the password to open the file that Ishmael worked on."

"How many characters can it be?" Asked John. Carmen looked at him dead in the face. "Anything up to nine including numbers and punctuation marks" She repeated.

"Great." John sighed. Carter looked at John. "All might not be lost, let's try a few things" he said. "What was his mother's name?" Carter said turning back to the screen. "Svetlana" Carmen replied as Carter wrote it down.

"OK." Carter continued. "Fathers name". "Boris" Came Carmen's reply.

"Pets and children?" Carter asked. "No. He never had any pets as a child or ever and he never married so there were no children." Carmen replied.

John looked at Carter and placed his hand on Johns shoulder. "OK Carter. You will have to earn your money and do what you are good at." John said as Carter turned around on his chair and started typing away.

Emilie came over to John with a cup of coffee, freshly brewed and piping hot. John looked at the coffee and then to Emilie who looked at him straight into his eyes.

"What?" She said as John looked at the cup and then at Emilie putting his bottom lip out like a child and then said "No chocky bicky?" and then smiled at her jokingly.

Emilie smiled at John finally getting the joke and then looked over to Carter. "What's happening?" she said nodding over to Carters direction.

"Trying to find out the password that Ishmael put on his file in order to protect it." Carter said tying away while he spoke back, facing a screen that constantly came up with the same word in red capitals. "INCORRECT"

Emilie then turned around and walked back to the side room, as John turned and looked at Carter, still entering names into the screen. Carter was getting annoyed which John could see very easily. "Don't worry Carter" John said, placing a hand on Carters shoulder. "I have every faith in you and I know you can do this. We just need to get into Ishmaels head".

Carter then had that look on his face that John had seen before. Carter placed his pencil horizontally in his mouth. He then started typing.

"INCORRECT"..... He typed again "INCORRECT" he typed again "INCORRECT" then once more.

"BINGO!" Carter said, as he clapped his hands together once and turned around to John and winked.

John looked at him. "Well? What was it?" John asked Carter who looked back at him and said each letter singly. "J, Zero, H, N, four, T, H, four, N."

John looked puzzled at carter who replied. "Johnathan."
Chapter 12 – The wedding Party

Present Day.

Simon woke up in his hotel room in his bed, stretched and yawned, and then looked over to his side table on his left, and picked up his watch

His eyes were still a little hazy from the stag night. He placed his watch in front of him with his left hand and then wiped his right hand down his face to try and regain some focus.

He squinted at his watch and wiped his face again. He looked puzzled. Then it hit him.

"Oh Shit! Christ no! Oh god! How much did we drink?!" Simon said as his hotel bedroom phone rang. He leant over and fumbling he picked up the phone. His ears were blown out with the person on the other end.

"Simon! Your still in your room! Are you even up yet? Come on! We got to sort out the tables!" Came the shrill from the other end of the phone.

"No worries Tracey I'll be down, just need to get ready. Stag nights and jet lag don't mix" Simon replied.

"It's only three hours until the wedding. Jesus. Tell me Jack is in his room and not outside somewhere with a shaved head!" Tracey said.

"Chill out my dear Chief Bridesmaid! I left him in his room last night. That is one thing that I do remember" Simon said struggling to stay awake.

"Chill out? Chill out! Jesus you have no idea! It's a mess down here. The guy meant to be doing the disco hasn't turned up and the staff that were meant to lay the tables are nowhere to be seen" Tracey said obviously in a little bit of stress. "Now get up and help me as Best Man will you?" she added and slammed the phone down.

Simon got out of his bed and went over to the bathroom and started the shower. He leant on the sink. Looking at himself in the mirror above at his unshaven face as the heat from the shower started to make the mirror fog up. He opened up the door to the shower and started to shower and shave at the same time. He leant his head on the sower wall. His head really hurt.

Simon finished his shower and got ready by putting on his wedding tux. Whilst combatting a huge hangover. He completed this mammoth task quite effectively but then searched for his shades.

He walked slowly over to the door of his room and opened the door. He walked out of his room, and his door slammed behind him. He winced as the noise thundered through his head as if there was no brain inside just a little rubber bouncy ball banging around the inside of his head.

He walked down the corridor and went down to the reception area of the hotel to meet up with Tracey. She sounded in a big stress so it was wise he thought to make the woman feel more important than the Groom.

As he walked down the sweeping stairs to the reception area he saw a number of the bridesmaids walking back from the ladies loo.

"Ladies!" Simon said to them.

"Hope you have your nuts well secure and tucked away" one of the bridesmaids said as the other bridesmaid smiled and added "Yeah, she's out to chomp them for her brekkie. You are SO in the shit!" They both giggled and then stopped as they suddenly saw her. Standing there looking at all three of them. It was Tracey, and Simon had seen that look before on a woman.

"Batten down the hatches ladies this could be a bumpy ride!" He said to the bridesmaids from the corner of his mouth.

"Where. The. Hell. Is. Jack!" Tracey shouted to Simon who put his hands up in surrender and walked slowly over to her.

"You sounded like you were in need of more help than Jack. So I thought I would help you out first and leave Jack to sleep a little more" Simon said placing a hand on each of her shoulders and smoothing down her upper arms. Then she let him have it.

"The Disco guy hasn't turned up. Half the hotel staff are not in, and apparently unwell, the tables have not been put out, yet alone laid. And the catering staff are running behind on cooking the food already. So I guess you could say this is turning out to be a memorable wedding" She said as Simon pulled her to himself and gave her a little hug.

"Don't worry. We will sort it together. How's Emma?" Simon asked calmly and quietly.

"The bride?" Tracey asked. As she started to crack a little smile. "The bride is nursing a hell of a hangover!" She added has Simon released her slowly.

Tracey looked at Simon through his shades. "Look. I'll get things sorted here, you go and get Jack up and make sure he is getting ready, then come down and help." Tracy said smiling in thanks to him. "Come on girls, we have a mountain to climb but its doable" She said to the pair of bridesmaids. As they walked off leaving Simon to walk back up to Jacks room.

He started his slow walk up to the stairs and climbed them slowly. Every step made a thumping noise in his head as he slowly walked up to Jacks room. He found it very hard to hold back the want of throwing up together with pounding head but he made it to Jacks door. He knocked on the door. Wincing as he did from the pounding hangover.

"Yo Jack, it's me buddy!" He said calling through the closed door, but there was no sign of stirring from the room. Simon looked up and down the corridor and saw a room made coming out of a nearby room. He walked over to her. As he did she looked him up and down.

"Excuse me. I need to get my mate up and make sure that he is ready before the bride chops his nuts off" he said as the woman smiled at him.

"Certainly sir" smiled the woman and got out her maids key and walked to the door. She opened it up for him.

Simon looked at the lady. "Thank you ma'am. It's very good of you" he said.

She looked back at him. "Good luck" the maid said to him as she nodded into the room.

Simon looked back at her. "I guess you see this a lot?" he said as the woman nodded. "I see it many times, alcohol is not allowed, only in the western hotels so many people drink more than they think" she added.

Simon looked at her and removed his shades. "Well. Sadly this is me, but worst of all, my mate in there is tea total. He's got an ulcer so the poor sod 'aint allowed to drink. But he still had one hell of a time, even though he was on water all night!" he said.

The maid looked up at him. "I will leave you to it. Many of the staff called in sick and I have the floor above yet to clean. Good luck sir." She said and walked off to the next room to clean.

Simon walked into the room and closed the door gently behind him. "Yo Jack!" Simon said as he got into the room and walked over to the windows, and pulled back the curtains squinting heavily as he did.

"Yo Dude! Time to get up man!" Simon said turning around from the window and walked over to Jack in his bed.

Jack gave a mumble and turned over. Simon walked around the side of the bed and nudged him on his shoulder. "Oi! Sleepy head. Get your ass up its time to get married!" Simon said grabbing the covers of the bed and pulling them off him.

Jack stirred "Married? To who? I'm not getting married" Jack said in a sleepy way to Simon who looked at Jack. "Mate I know I have been doing nothing but drinking alcohol since I got here but you have been on the aqua mineral so you can't be that hung over!" Simon said as he walked into the bathroom and started the shower. Simon put his hand under the water in the shower to make sure it was OK and walked back to Jack. "Come on mate. Time for a shower and get ready" He said to Jack.

Jack looked at Simon. "Who are you?" Jack asked as Simon looked back at him "Mate enough is enough, Tracey is doing her head in downstairs and we need to get ready!" Simon said starting to get a little annoyed.

Jack looked up at Simon "Tracey who? And who are you? And what you doing in here? Jack said to Simon who was really getting annoyed but he could tell something was wrong. There was no smile to Jack's face.

Simon knelt on the bed. "Jack? You alright mate?" Simon said now starting to get a little worried. Jack looked at Simon. "Who's Jack?".

Simon walked into the bathroom to turn off the shower. No sooner had he turned it off he walked back, to find his best friend motionless. Still, and no longer breathing.

Simon scrambled over to the telephone. He fumbled in picking it up and dialed for reception. "Hello? I need a doctor to room 458."
Chapter 13 – The Knock List

Carter looked at the computer screen.

"OK Carmen time to do your thing." Carter said to her pointing with his hand to the screen and getting up off his chair.

Carmen then interlocked her fingers together and then pushed them out making them crack. She then wiggled them and then keyed in her pass key which then opened up a second screen that showed in big red capitals. SUCCESSFUL. She then looked at Carter. "So you tell me the files you need opening, and Carmen with happiness will oblige." She said in a Romanian come Russian accent that Carter found very intoxicating.

Carter looked at her as John then leaned over. "Let's start at the top shall we?" John said putting his head in between Carter and Carmen. "Let's see" John added pointing at the screen. "Three files. And the top one is?" John said nodding to Carmen who clicked on the file.

The file opened and Johns face changed. Carter looked puzzled. "Well. I think it's fair to say that whatever I was expecting it certainly wasn't that!" Carter said looking up at John.

Carter looked at John. "It's a personnel file of a Bio – Chemist, name address and age." He said surprised. "Carmen. Open the other one would you?" Carter added.

Carmen typed away and the other file listed underneath opened. It was details of a Geneticist with again his name and address etc. Carter looked at Carmen. "Open the others." He said.

She typed away and the third file opened. It was someone who had a title of Head of Delivering, and all the past three files had photos attached to them.

Carmen then typed away and then said in her Romanian accent. "There is other file here, buried inside last one. Highly encrypted. With a detail name called The Package" she said. John looked up from the screen. "You know what this personnel just became?" John said looking at Carter and nodding at the screen. Carter looked blank at John.

"A knock list" Replied John. "Let's concentrate on the names we can see and see if we can get to them before they do." John added.

Carter looked up at John. "How are we going to get you to the addresses without too much notice?" John took a sip from his coffee. "We still got that DHL van?" He said looking at Carter.

Carter looked puzzled. "Yeah we do. Why?" Carter asked.

John looked at Carter. "Well, people won't draw much attention to a delivery van and it gives me the ability of going right up to the door with a box full of kit just in case." Replied John.

"How do you want the information?" Carter asked as John took another sip from his cup. "Put the addresses straight into the Sat Nav we have. And leave the information on the computer. Don't email it, don't text it. Nothing. IF we have a leak then I want to be able to control it." John said Looking at the pair of them.

"Time to get everything ready then." Carter said "You go and freshen up" Carter added.

John returned from having a shower, as Carter put the lid on a box that contained all the weapons he would need in order to get himself out of trouble.

"Everything ready?" John Asked.

"Yup!" Carter replied. "In the box is the rifle and spare rounds. And in this belt bag is your hand gun and mag clips for the rifle. And the rifle and hand guns have clips already on them. They are both made safe and you will need to load them as soon as you touch them." Carter said looking at John.

John looked at carter Impressed at Carters thoroughness at the whole plan. "OK. Just one thing missing" John said looking at Carter.

"Huh?" Replied Carter looking puzzled. "What?" he asked.

John looked at Carter. "The Van." Replied John looking at Carter winking at him, to confirm he was pulling his leg a little.

John picked up the box and placed it on both arms. "Where to?" He said looking at Carter.

"I put it outside the house." Carter replied pulling the keys out of his right hand pocket and hung the key ring loop on his finger. "Sat nav is already onboard and loaded into the system are the areas we need to go to. You don't need to touch a thing just start the engine and off you go." Carter continued and hung the key on Johns finger under the box he was carrying "Good Luck"

John left the base and the door closed. Emilie came out of the side room and walked over to Carter "Where is he going?" She asked.

Carter looked Emilie. "Nowhere he is just following up on a few loose ends that's all."

John walked up to the Van and got into the driver's seat and propped the box on the passenger floor and rested it upright on the seat squab of the passenger seat.

He started the engine. "Right Carter, you hearing me?" John said. "Loud and clear John" Carter said. As John started to drive off and the Sat nav kicked in. John followed the directions to the first address and the drive went very much to plan. Boring and very uneventful. John arrived at his first point and drove down the drive that was the house of the Bio Chemist.

"Jesus Carter. We're in the wrong job. Jesus this place is impressive" John said looking around in amazement. The drive had high conifer trees on both sides with the odd sculpture as you drove down, and at the bottom there was a tudor style house with a huge wooden front door and stone pillars. The house also sported red brick on the bottom with the floors above coated in white paint and black painted wood. John peered through the front windscreen of the van, and looked around.

He opened the driver's door and looked up to see if there were any windows open but nothing. In fact it was very quiet. He walked around the van and opened the passenger door, to retrieve the box.

Turning around John looked at the front door and then to the gravel on the driveway. "Carter?" John asked. "Yes mate" came the reply. "I have two rather deep tram lines in the gravel here from a vehicle that has driven away a little faster than it should have done." John replied.

"Could be anything like another delivery driver though" Carter replied as John walked up to the front door. John pressed the doorbell, but he heard nothing. Maybe the door was too thick to hear it, one thing was for sure was that the door was locked.

"Hey Carter, front door is locked so I am going round the back." John said, as he walked back to the van and replaced the box back into the front of the van. He then opened his bag that was strapped around him and cocked his hand gun. He shut the door to the van and locked it with the key fob.

He walked around the house and looked for a back door. He looked into every window he came across but saw absolutely nothing at all. "Looks like no one's at home Carter." John said trying to find the back door to the house. "Put your shades on mate, so I can see what's going on" Carter replied.

"Sorry Carter. Still can't get used to that bit." John replied as he put the shades on. "Guess it's because they look like shades on the outside, and I forget that they have no tint when looking through them." John added.

"Don't worry mate. It's no problem just concentrate at finding that back door." Carter replied as John continued to walk around the back of the house to find the back door.

"Hey Carter! No back door. But I have found a conservatory." John said as he fumbled in his pockets. "Ahh ha!" He said to himself as he pulled out his Swiss Army Card that had a small knife in it. "Never leave home without it!" he said to himself, as he withdrew the knife and ran it around the small double glazed pain in the side of the conservatory.

"I give you top of the line weapons and you are using a small knife to cut the rubber trim out of a window." Carter said as John looked through the window at the small barrel lock on the other side of the door. He walked round to the door. "What's up?" Carter asked.

"Well most locks. Right. When you use them say in a toilet or case are locked when the bar is in the vertical position, like a letter "L" for lock. But this one is horizontal. So it's just a hunch but..." John said as he tried the door. And it opened.

"Hmm" John said.

"I'm still trying to get used to your hunches" Carter replied.

John entered the house and walked thorough into the kitchen, which had a Porsche Design kettle and toaster in it and a rather nice double ceramic hob. Carter wolf whistled as he saw the feed from John through the large screen. "Ya right mate. We are SO in the wrong jobs!" Carter said as John walked into the living room.

There was an open fire that was still lit and a huge red leather sofa in front of it and a large Plasma TV on the wall. John looked up to see exposed beams and hanging lights. And then down to an armchair that had a half drunk glass of red wine by it. He then walked though into the dining room. Nothing was disturbed, and there was a rather large dining room table and chairs in it with a huge candelabra on it.

He then walked out of the dining room and into the hall which had dark gold flecked ceramic tiles laid and very well too. "Nothing but up" Carter said looking at the large screen.

"Do you see what I see though?" John said to Carter as he stood at the foot of the stairs in the hallway. Carter looked at the large screen, examining everything that he could see. But all he could see was a staircase with rather thick top quality Wilton carpet.

"Sorry mate. No idea. What am I meant to be looking at?" Carter said as John kneelt down on the floor of the hall and looked up the stairs. "OK. Front door locked. Back door open and the living room had a half drunk glass of wine on the side. Nothing moved or disturbed. And the stair carpet is roughed up on the leading edges, hinting that something has been dragged up these stairs." John said getting to his feet and walking slowly up the stairs, drawing his weapon as he went and clicking the safety catch off.

At the top of the stairs John saw there were two directions, left was what looked like bedrooms and right was the main bathroom and a couple more bedrooms. John turned right and walked into the bathroom. It was full of light brown marble, a huge bath and a glass paneled shower. On the side was some very expensive Cartier perfume but everything was in its place. He walked out of the bathroom and into the two bedrooms on this side of the house but both were undisturbed but very tastefully decorated and fitted out.

John then walked over to the other side of the house and walked into the next bedroom, which had a huge running machine, a rowing machine and a set of weights in it. "Jesus!" Carter said. "And we thought the Kitchen was decked out!" he said looking at the large screen.

John walked out of the room and turned his focus to the next bedroom. "See the roughing on the carpet into the bedroom?" John said to Carter who looked at the large screen. "Kind of." Replied Carter as John walked into the room weapon drawn.

He entered the room and lowered the gun as he was presented to a huge mother of a room with a super king size bed that had white silk sheets on it, and to the right was a massive ensuite, with shower, and bath in it and twin sinks. "Jesus mate!" Carter exclaimed. "Some en – suite! It's almost as big as the master bathroom." Carter said looking at the Screen. "Whoa, Check out the bath!" Carter said noticing an arm dangling over the side. John walked over to the bath, replacing the gun into the body bag on his front.

In the bath was the Bio Chemist. Charlie Rockman. Or "Rockie" as she was known by her colleagues. She was on her back, and the shower attachment had its head removed and was placed into her mouth. She had red and black marks around her neck.

Carter looked up at the screen. "Jesus mate. That don't look nice." Carter said.

"I know" John said looking at her. "Looks like she was held down by her neck and they took the shower head off and rammed it into her mouth and turned the water on. It's not a nice way to go, first your stomach overflows and then you drown." He said.

"Jesus John that's horrid!" Carter said as John touched her face with the back of his hand. "Hmm I know. Such a waste of life" John added walking away from the bath, and towards the stairs.

As he walked he looked back at the bathroom and continued down the stairs towards the rear of the property and out of the patio. He opened the door and closed it silently behind him pulling the handle up to lock it. It wasn't necessary but it just felt right to leave the property in as tidy a condition as he could, in a sort of marking respect way.

He walked to the van and got into the driver's side, and fired up the engine slouching as he did over the steering wheel. He looked at the Satnav and turned the van around in the drive and set off to the next way point.

Carter felt a little uncomfortable as John remained silent throughout the drive to the geneticist's home, he just kept looking up at the large screen. John was following the Satnav. But the silence had to be broken.

"Errrm. John? You alright buddy?" Carter said, in recognition of noticing John's noticeable quietness. John looked at the Satnav checking where he was going.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just not something that you see every day really." John answered hauling the steering wheel over to the left and then the right while navigating a roundabout. He looked at the Satnav screen and noticed that there was another 20 miles to go so he settled down for the drive.

John started to enter the final part of this leg and turned up a country lane. Either side there were country houses with electric gates, or very fine stone chip driveways, coupled with houses that were hiding behind large trees.

Carter was looking at the screen in total awe. He made a wolf whistle which echoed in Johns ear as he turned into the open driveway.

"A Porsche?! Jesus!" Carter said eying the car in the driveway. "Ahh, but it's a convertible boxster Carter so life hasn't turned out quite like he expected!" John replied as he pulled into the drive and U – Turned in the beginning part of the drive to point the van nose on the drive facing the road.

John checked his handgun and got out of the van and walked to the door of the house. In front of him was a burgundy front door. Slightly larger than a standard front door, but obviously hand made. There was a bay tree either side of the door, and they looked beautifully hand crafted like a pair of green lollypops standing proud and tall in front of the bungalow.

John stopped half way to the front door. "What's up?" Carter asked peering up at the large screen. John took a deep breath. "Front door is slightly open." John answered taking his hand gun and taking the safety catch off. He walked to the front door and opened it with the muzzle, looking left and right inside the property. To the right there was a reception room and to the left was the dining room. Ahead he could see the kitchen, and a range oven.

He walked through the front door, and closed it slightly behind him with his shoulder, keeping his gaze forward. He walked over to his right into the reception room.

The reception room was very tastefully decorated with an armchair as you entered the room and behind it was a wall full of books in a built in shelving unit. John walked over to the books, and read some of the spines. "Some of these books are really old Carter." John said turning around walking towards the dining room.

John entered the dining room, to another wolf whistle from Carter. "Shit!" Carter exclaimed. "How many can sit round that table?" John looked into the room counting the dark mahogany chairs that were painstakingly positioned in place. "Ten" replied John as he turned around and headed for the kitchen.

"Nice range cooker." John said walking towards the kitchen. To the left there were cupboards and the most hugest fridge and a separate freezer he had ever seen. John turned around and saw the rest of the kitchen. There was a large clear colourless glass table with clear colourless legs and chairs that were exactly the same and matching.

"That looks expensive." Carter said "Nice touch. I like it" He added looking at the large screen. "Hold on." He added looking at the island in the middle that was like a separate food prep area. "John, on the floor by the island" Carter said, as John walked over.

There was a pair of feet just protruding from the edge. John approached slowly. Not wanting to see the end result but he knew he had to. As he got nearer he put the safety catch on his hand gun and put it in the pouch, Carter gave him.

John stopped at the feet of the Geneticist and looked the body up and down and around the entire kitchen area. Nothing was disturbed, absolutely nothing. It was almost as if they were taking a nap.

"This is scary mate" Carter said. "How does someone end up on their kitchen floor, with nothing on the counter disturbed, nothing anywhere in any of the rooms trashed." He added.

John took a deep breath. "Because they also knew their attacker or at least they were made to feel that they did." John replied as he knelt by the feet of the Geneticist.

He checked from the feet first. Shoes were still on and the faint brand was still visible. Carter wolf whistled as he viewed the large screen. "Gucci. Nice." He commented. "Assuming they are real" replied John as he followed the legs up to the hips. John noticed that the legs were side by side as if the body had been laid down. The torso was more on its right side with the left arm across the left ribs. John patted the pockets. The left one still had his wallet in.

"This just gets weirder John." Carter said. "Nothing is moved, people dead and things like wallets still in their pockets." Carter added.

John nodded. "I know. And that's not good. Coz it means that they were not interested in anything other than either what these people knew or what they could tell them. But that's what I just don't get about all of this." John replied.

"What's that?" Carter asked.

"Why would you get rid of a Bio Chemist and a Geneticist? Why not use them to your advantage and get information out of them and bring them onboard? John said rubbing his face at the same time.

"No idea." Carter replied. "Maybe fire damage limitation?" he added.

"Fire damage limitation?" John repeated.

"Well. Look at it this way. Two great minds. Obviously paid way more than I have ever been. Both with a connection to a file that was copied. But what if you had the information already?" Carter replied.

"Go on" John replied.

"Well. It's like this. If they are both linked to this encrypted file maybe this Director of delivery was responsible for whatever they were doing. So if you have all the information they have. And the team to re – create it, why keep them? I mean if you can't bring them onboard and you have people able to take apart what they have done. So you get rid of the people that could potentially stop you from doing what YOU want to do with whatever information they have." Carter replied.

"OK. Third stop then." John replied. As he got up from the floor and walked to the front door. Stopping at the fridge as he did so.

He opened the door to the fridge looked inside and took out a Coke. "What you doing?" Carter exclaimed.

"They 'aint going to need it are they? And I'm thirsty." John replied as he closed the door to the fridge and walked to the front door.

He closed to front door behind him and started the van. "OK Mrs. SatNav. Where to next?" John said to the nav unit as he pressed the button on the touch screen for the next waypoint.

"Hey Carter? Did you put this last waypoint in right?" John said to Carter back in the control room.

"Yeah. Why?" Carter replied listening to John turn the engine over and gunning the throttle, and hearing a huge spray of stones from the drive churn up. "John?....JOHN!" Carter shouted, but John wasn't listening. He knew the last checkpoint. And he knew who was there.

John sped off down the road at some speed. He couldn't hear anything and everything around him was dulled out from his adrenalin gradually he started to hear Carter. It was distant at first but became louder as if his hearing was returning to him.

"For Christ sake John. SLOW DOWN! Or you will draw attention to yourself and get pulled by the boys" Carter shouted. Trying to get John to listen. It seemed to do the trick. As John started to slow, but he was still continuing at a fair pace. But this was more delivery van driver pace.

Carter looked up to the large screen. "John. Can you hear me? John?" Carter said in a very quiet tone that always brought John home to planet earth.

John failed to reply. He was concentrating on the next waypoint. "Oi John. Going to tell me what's going on? This is a two way thing mate" Carter said but nothing was making John reply. "You know I can turn the engine off remotely on this van" Carter added very, very calmly. This brought John round.

"Albert" John said in reply to Carters threat.

"What?" Carter replied.

"Albert" John repeated. "The address you inputted on the Satnav is Albert's" John added. Carter looked puzzled.

"Our Albert?" Carter replied. "Yup!" John replied. "Did you not know?" John added.

Carter took a deep breath. "No mate. Didn't know him as well as you" Carter replied. "You know. We may well be in time. Whoever it is doing this might not have got to him yet." Carter said trying to comfort him. John just ignored him and continued driving.

His concentration on driving was disturbed by a black Range Rover zooming passed him at incredible speed.

"Blimey!" John exclaimed. "Give a man a four by four and he thinks he owns the road!" John said. Carter chuckled. "Yeah and they ALWAYS seem to have private rego's on them as well!" replied Carter.

John turned into the road that Albert was down, and turned into the double driveway. Edged with rose bushes. Carter looked up at the screen. "Wow!" Carter exclaimed.

"What's that?" John asked looking at the parked car on the drive.

Carter looked at the screen. "A Vauxhall Astra." Replied Carter laughingly.

John Turned off the engine to the van and before he even got out he took his handgun out of the bag. He ejected the magazine and checked all was OK and returned it into the gun and pushed it fully home. He then pulled back the barrel and loaded the gun.

Carter saw this on the screen. "John? Really?"

"Taking no chances this time Carter. No chances." Replied John as he exited the driver's door and jumped out of the cab. The front door was slightly open still. John hurried up his pace. His heart was starting to race a little more with every pace, which quickened.

"Hey John?" Carter called. "Dude. You gotta slow down, just in case. Come on. FOCUS!" Carter shouted. His raised voice alerted Emilie who came out to see what all the fuss was.

John slowed down and stopped just inside the front door. He put his head down and closed his eyes. John took a deep breath and raised his head. He breathed out slowly and gradually opened his eyes.

He held the gun up and clicked the safety off. Off to his left there was a downstairs toilet and in front of him there was a staircase. Beyond the staircase was a dining room. John walked slowly towards the downstairs toilet and looked inside. Nothing. He walked further down the hallway into the dining room.

It was decorated in a way that was very much set in the 80s and very much old person, with flowery wallpaper and patterned carpet. There was a round deep brown table, with pink velvet chair cushions to match the pink roses on the wallpaper and the pelmets.

Off to the right there was the kitchen which had the most 80s light and dark brown cabinets and work surface, all with sharp edges and not a roll top surface in sight.

Carter gave a long whistle. "Jesus mate. Retro or what?" He said quietly, looking up at the large screen and then to Emilie.

Emilie looked up at the screen and moved her head to the side. She had a puzzled look on her face which Carter noticed. "Blinding in' it?" he said looking up at her.

"I have no words." Emilie said in awe. As john turned around and walked to the stairs.

"OK Carter. Nothing down here. Going upstairs now" John said taking every step slowly and quietly.

He walked up the stairs with his right half of his body rubbing on the wall so that he had a more enhanced view of the landing. As he ascended the stairs he noticed there was three doorways. One of them was opened and this was the bathroom. He walked towards it. Inside there was a white tiled bathroom that had black tiles around the middle and a flamingo pink bathroom suite and very old fashioned taps.

John just stood there looking around. "Sweet Jesus. I thought I'd seen it all downstairs Carter, but this is awesome!" John said to Carter as he turned around and turned right towards another door which was shut.

He stood on the handle side of the door, slowly pushed down on the handle and nudged the door open to reveal a Bedroom with a double bed. Divan. Fully fitted with a bottom sheet that flowed down to the green paisley swirled carpet. The bed had the most shocking green floral design on it that John had ever seen with wardrobes either side and cupboards over the top of the bed. In a very nice beige colour, mirrored fronts and brass handles.

"Aww John you gotta go to the next room PLEASE! This is just getting better and better!" Carter said as Emilie sniggered.

John walked out of the bedroom and over to the next closed door. He stood on the handle side again, pulled down on the handle and pushed the door open.

"Wow. Didn't expect that" John said. Carter stared at the screen. The room had no furniture at all but it did have a multi coloured carpet with every colour you could think of and candy stripe wallpaper.

"I feel almost let down." Carter said to John who sniggered and then turned around to walk back down the stairs. He lowered his hand gun but still continued to walk slowly and quietly down the stairs and then doubled back towards the dining room. Stopping at the downstairs toilet.

He opened the door and walked in. Carter looked up at the screen. "Err John? What cha doing?" Carter asked.

"Going for a pee. Drank that coke a little too quickly" John replied as Carter looked towards Emilie in shock.

"Jesus John! There are just some things that you need to keep to yourself when you wear these glasses mate! Aww Jesus!" Carter exclaimed. "Someone wasn't ashamed in the school showers. Were we?" Emilie sniggered.

John flushed the toilet and turned around to walk out of the door. "Hands!" Emilie said loud enough for Carters mic to pick up.

John stopped and turned around to wash his hands. He turned the tap on and looked into the mirror that was hanging above the small sink. He then stopped and looked closer into the reflection of the mirror. Carter could see the puzzled look on his face.

"What's up John?" Carter asked as John looked at the reflection a little more.

John moved his head a little. "Eye spy with my little eye something beginning....With H." John said brining his right hand up that was holding the gun and touched the mirror with it. He turned around and faced the side of the stairs. There in front of him on the side of the wall was a small handle.

"It's a handle." John said walking towards it. He brought his left hand up and pushed down on the handle. He pushed and pulled the door slowly to check which way it opened. The door opened outwards.

He walked into the under stairs cupboard. And shut the door behind him. A light came on as soon as he shut the door. He then opened the door again, and the light went off. He then shut the door and the light turned on.

"Finished Playing?" Carter said to John who was now looking all over the inside of the under stairs cupboard.

"Ah haa! John said looking at the floor. There in front of him was a small metal ring. He knelt down and put his finger through the hole and pulled it up. It revealed a set of stairs that went down into what looked like a basement.

"Well. What have we here then?" John said as he ventured down the stairs. The light from the cupboard was bright enough to shine down the stairs. At the bottom there was a door to the right although there was no sign of a lock or handle the door was slightly open. John pushed it open, and noticed that it was heavy and made of metal. He stood once more in amazement.

Carter looked up at the large screen. "Blimey! From a house trapped in the 80s to a basement fit for the future! Look at all that kit!" Carter said in amazement.

Emilie looked at the large screen. "Wow Look at the set up on the desk! Is that's an EV8000 Spectro Analyser?"

John walked through the door and towards the desk. To his left there was a complete corner packed full of metal filing cabinets and the table had paper all over it. To his right there was a complete glass wall that sectioned off almost a quarter of the basement room. But inside this area it was lit with a red light. He looked down at the floor. And there he was. Albert. John rushed over to the glass wall.

He smacked the palm of his hand on the glass repeatedly. "Albert! Albert!" John said kneeling down at the floor looking at Albert. He looked around the glass wall looking for some sort of handle but the only thing he could see was a keypad with a red light on it.

"Albert!" John shouted thumping the glass wall. Albert stirred a little and breathed in with a very noticeable bubbling wheeze. He started to open is eyes.

Albert took a very noticeable painful breath. "Jonathan........Hel....Hello.....s...sss..son" Albert said grasping at every breath he could.

"Jesus Albert. Who did this?" John said looking at Albert resting his forehead on the glass wall with his palms pressed against it, tears welling up in his eyes. Albert noticed this and in between painful breaths he managed to release a smile.

Albert took a painful breath. "I...I... don't kno...know. Face...Faces covered." Albert said slowly closing his eyes. John smacked the glass wall.

"Hey Albert. Albert! Stay with me!" John shouted. Albert slowly opened his eyes. "That's it." John said. "I need you to tell me what is going on." John said calmly.

Albert nodded slowly taking very painful bubbling breaths. "We were working on a stabilisation gene for the package and the cure to stop it going airbourne."

Emilie was looking up at the screen with her hand over her mouth, as Carmen walked towards them with Sarah giggling as they went. Showing each other their freshly painted nails as they walked towards Emilie and Carter. They were stopped in their tracks by the silence of them both looking up at the screen.

John was silent for a while. "You were working on a program? Did it Work?" he said.

Albert painfully nodded his head slowly and took another painful breath. "Yes. But it is as unstable as the package. It needs to be transported via a host." Albert said coughing painfully as blood spattered out of his mouth. He winced in agonising pain.

"Stay with me Albert" John shouted through the glass wall. "Stay with me" He repeated, as Albert opened his eyes.

"It hurts so much" Albert said painfully in between breaths.

"Is there nothing that I can do?" John said tears now running down his cheeks.

Albert shook his head slowly. "They forced me to drink water laced with a biological agent. You must find Ivanahov" Albert said looking at John.

"Ivanahov?! You crazy? That arsehole could be behind this and selling all the information to the highest bidder!" John said to Albert.

Albert shook his head. "Ivanahov has no need for money. Not after the penny scandal. But you do need his help to get into the computer of whoever did this." Albert said, grasping to what little life he had left in himself.

John looked at Albert. "We have Emilie and Carter for that. Keep it in the family." He said noticing that Alerts breaths were getting very shallow.

Albert shook his head. He was now struggling to breathe, and he could see John's eyes welling with tears, knowing that John could do nothing to help him. He looked at John. "You must do three things for me son" Albert said. As John nodded his head. Albert took a few more painful breaths.

"One press the big metal button on the wall over there, two leave the room and don't look back and three find Ivanahov. You need him because my flower has aphids" Albert said.

John looked up as Albert spoke about his flower. Albert nodded to him. John placed his hand on the glass wall. Albert mimicked John as he took his last breath and slowly breathed out. Blood trickled from Albert's nose. John placed his head against the glass. His tears ran down his cheek and dripped onto the glass wall. John moved his right hand off the wall and kissed his fingers, and placed them against the wall.

"Good night Albert old Friend" John said as he got up from the floor. He pressed the big metal button on the wall as he left the room. He pulled the door behind him. It made a metallic clunk of magnets connecting. John could hear what sounded like burners firing up. He ran back up the stairs, and out to the van, as he got outside he noticed that the Chimney had started to emit a faint wisp of black smoke.

He got into the van and started it up. "Carter?" John asked allowed.

"Yes mate" Carter replied.

"I'm coming in" John replied. "Find Ivanahov" He added.

"On it!" Carter replied as he looked at the girls. All were still looking at the large screen in silence.

Carmen put an arm over both Sarah's and Emilie's shoulders. "Come. Let's go into the other room." She said as the girls retreated.

Carter watched the girls go into the other room. "John?"

"Yes Carter" Came Johns reply.

"The flower is in the other room" Carter replied.

John took a deep breath. "Good. Start searching for Aphids" came his reply. "Anything on Ivanahov?" He added.

Carter paused a little. "Only that I can trace him to the Middle East. But that's all." Carter replied.

"OK." John replied. "Keep looking." He added
Chapter 14 – Present Day.

Present day – Somewhere in the Middle East.

It was hot and humid in the government ministers room. He was covered in sweat from the humid temperatures of the day. He was looking out of his window at the road below, listening to the car horns honking, and looking at the heat haze making everything shimmer.

The door to his office burst open as he took another drag on his cigarette. Without turning around he exclaimed "Does no one ever knock anymore?"

The young man that came through the door put his head to the floor. "Sorry sir" he said and walked back out of the door and closed it.

There was a feeble knock at the door. The minister rolled his eyes up and shook his head, whilst taking a drag on his cigarette. Then there was another knock.

"Come in!" the minister said as he turned around to greet the young man. "There was no need for you to have gone back out of the door again" the minister said.

The young man put his head down to the floor again. "Sorry sir" the young man said once again handing a file to the minister.

The minister took the file. "What's this?" He asked.

The young man wiped the sweat from his brow with his shirt sleeve. "We have numerous reports sir of people attending hospitals and surgeries but dying while they are there." The young man said to the minister.

The minister looked puzzled and frowned whilst opening the file and flicking through it scanning the pages as he went. He slowed down flicking through the pages and read them a little more in depth. As he read them he slowly sat down on his chair, smoking as he read.

His drags got slower and slower, as he read and then he stopped mid drag and looked up at the young man. "Have you read this? He asked as the cigarette smoke poured out of his mouth as he spoke.

The young man nodded at the minister. "Yes sir" he replied "It is my job to make sure that everything is reported accurately and kept away from the reporters" he added.

The minister looked at the young man. "We need to make sure that no one finds out about this" He said pointing with his forefinger at the file on his table. "I need all ministers in the cabinet room as soon as possible. Is this the only copy?" The minister said to the young man.

"Yes. I made sure that it was" the young man said wiping his brow with his shirt sleeve.

The Minister shut the file with a firm slam of his palm on the table. "Good. Come with me and let's get all the ministers ready. And let's do it quietly" the minister said.

Inside the cabinet room all the ministers were smoking and chatting loudly, some were even laughing as they swigged on their highly potent alcohol. The main doors to the cabinet room swung open and the minister walked through with his aide.

The room went quiet as he walked in.

"People. Thank you for coming" the minister said handing the file to his aide as he walked around to the head of the table and took up his seat.

"Inside the file that is being passed around are the only notes and reports that exist of numerous people that have either gone into hospital or surgeries that have died whilst being there" The minister said watching the file being handed from one minister to another.

Each minister and cabinet staff member looked at the file in turn. One of the members placed the file down and took a drag on his cigarette. "Everyone dies in hospital" He said looking at his colleague.

The minister also took a drag on his cigarette also and nodded. "Yes my friend but not everyone that has an autopsy afterwards is found to have every living organ turned into mush" he said flicking his ash into the ashtray in front of him.

His colleague looked a little shocked and as he looked around the table the others looked just as equally surprised.

The minister leant forward at the table and rested on his forearms with his cigarette in his right hand and looked at everyone around the table. He took a deep breath.

"We are the only people to know about this at the moment. There are no other files that exist. The one that is being passed around this table is the only copy. It NEEDS to be kept that way people. The West MUST NOT find out that there is a problem. All of the people involved are aware we know and doctors that handled every case have been told to keep their mouths well, and truly, SHUT. And THAT people is what needs to happen here. OR ELSE." The minister said.

One of the ministers then piped up. "Do we know where this started?" they asked as the ministers aid walked around to the head of the table. "There are no direct areas, or concentrations of areas. In fact there is nothing to suggest that this started in anywhere particular. We don't even know what has caused it." The aide said, looking at everyone around the table.

One of the ministers looked at the aide. "What about food stock? Could it be coming from meat or grains?" they said.

The aide looked straight back. "We don't know is the honest answer, and this is something that you all have to find out in your respected departments. We need to look at Vets, Doctors, Hospitals and even our local policing for accidents. Just in case." The aide said looking at everyone around the table and finally ending up looking at the minister at the head of the table.

The minister stood up. Taking another drag on his cigarette. "Leave no stone unturned people. No stone at all. Report back to me directly. NO email and not a word is let out." He said as he stubbed out his cigarette walked around the table and collected the file that all the ministers had been looking at. He then walked out of the room.

Meanwhile not far from the ministry on a goat farm a small child came rushing in through the doors of his house.

"Papa! Papa! Come! Come!" the child shouted as he rushed towards his father who was sitting at his table eating some lunch that consisted of last week's goat that did not perform to his requirements. The child was grabbing at his father's arm at the same time as shouting. His father could see fear and terror in his son's eyes.

The man put his fork down onto the table and held his son by each of his forearms. He looked as his son in his eyes. Connecting with his fear and looking puzzled at him he said "Calm down. What on earth has got into you?" He said in a loud, firm yet caring tone.

The boy looked at his father in his eyes. "The goats Papa, QUICK!" he said trying to pull away from his father, who by now was getting worried and got up to let his son lead him to the front door of the home they lived in. Nothing lavish. It did. All on one level 2 bedrooms, and a kitchen, come living room come dining room all in one.

The boy led his father to the front door and stood just outside of the doorway. He pointed at the herd.

The boy's father looked at his herd. His face changed to one of horror.

Every one of his herd was writhing around on the floor in agony, some were already still and dead and others were showing signs of blood pouring out of their mouths as they coughed.

It didn't take long for the vet to call this one in, and soon there were officials crawling all over the farmers land.

A car approached the Farmers land with a stream of dust emitting behind it. It was a Huge Range Rover.

All in Black with blacked out windows. The passenger door opened and a pair of slender legs dropped down to the floor.

It was the ministers agricultural attaché who walked over to the vet who was examining the animal that was on the floor. She crouched down on the other side of the animal and looked at the vet through her sunglasses, which happened to be Raybans.

"Any ideas?" She asked the vet.

"No Nothing at all. I have not seen anything like this ever in my time as a vet" Came the reply.

"I need you to perform an autopsy on it. You can use our labs." The attaché replied.

The vet looked at her staring at his reflection in her sunglasses. "An Autopsy? You want me to do an Autopsy on a goat?" The vet exclaimed.

The attaché pulled her sunglasses down her nose a little with her thumb and forefinger to expose her eyes over the top of the frames. "That's right. I want YOU" she said pointing at the vet. "To do an autopsy on this goat" she added pointing to the dead animal. "And the offer to use our labs is not a request either" she added getting up and turning to a huge six foot tall and four foot wide man in a dark suit and also wearing shades. "Seal off the farm and clean the area" the attaché barked. The burly man nodded, and walked off to the bottom of the farm.

The attaché walked over to the car and got in and the driver sped away in a cloud of smoke while a man in an All – in – One bio suit came over to the vet. The Vet looked up at the man in the suit.

"Does HE actually speak?" The vet asked the man nodding over to the huge guy that disappeared around the corner of the building at the bottom of the farm.

The man smiled and replied "If you were six foot tall and four foot wide, would you?"

The vet nodded his head in agreement. "I guess not" he said getting up with help from the man in the suit.

The vet walked over to the corner of the building where a car had been driven to meet him. He heard a fairly high pitched voice ahead of him almost certainly on the telephone as he could only hear only one half of the conversation.

"Hi Honey........Yes I should be done here soon........No. Not long. Just need to clean things up here and I will be home I suspect in about 2 hours............Yes.... OK.... Love you too sweetie... By honey" Came the high pitched voice as he came up to the corner.

Just as he entered the car that came for him he noticed that the person on the phone was the huge guy, which made the vet smile as he got in the car, which was then driven away at speed.

In the air the vet noticed three helicopters landing at the village.

The vet was driven at high speed through the villages and adjacent town to the government laboratory, which was something out of this world, and never really looked like a vet surgery.

He was met by a man in a dark suit who opened the door of the car for him. "We've been expecting you sir" the man said beaconing the vet out of the car and extending his arm to the door of the building.

The vet stepped down out to the 4x4 and walked over to the front door which was opened for them both by a young woman. The vet was led by the man down a long corridor and half way down was greeted by a man who handed the vet a badge that had a huge red "V" on it. The man led the Vet through a set of frosted glass double doors.

"In here sir" the man said to the vet.

The vet looked at the man. "What? You not coming in?" the vet said to the man who looked back at the vet shaking his head. "Not allowed I am afraid. I don't have clearance." He said showing his hand to the door handle and allowing the vet through he pushed to the door open.

The vet walked through the door and on the table there was the goat. Together with two nurses to boot. And this seemed altogether completely normal right? He thought to himself as he approached the table.

One of the nurses looked up at him as he approached. She took a mask from the side and a gown and walked towards him.

"Here you go. Put these on" The nurse said handing them to him. He took the mask and placed it over his face and then put on the gown and did it up. He clapped his hands together.

"Right! Let's get to it shall we nurse?" he said looking at the nurse who handed him a scalpel.

He started at the chest of the goat, just underneath the neck and made a long incision towards the abdomen of the goat. As he got to the end of his cut the abdominal wall split under the incision and a river of goo, jelly and blood poured out of the animal.

The nurse saw this and upon one look, she took her right hand and clamped it over her mouth in order to prevent what lunch she had from coming up and spraying the entire area.

The vet jumped back in shock and his eyes widened as this was something that he had not seen before or ever to that extent. Every part of this animal's insides were completely liquefied.

He looked at the nurse. "Get the other animals in here, and notify your boss. Coz I have no idea what this is and I need cultures and blood samples taken and tested.

The nurse looked at the vet, nodded, and rushed out of the room to carry out his orders while the other nurse took up her post next to him.

The vet grabbed a kidney shaped bowl and started taken samples and cutting bits away from the carcass and then handed them to the nurse.

"Here" he said handing the bowl to the nurse. "Let's start with this one"

The day started hot dry and humid like all the rest. The minister arrived in his office as usual very early and sweating profusely. He used the back of his right hand to wipe the sweat already beading on his forehead.

He looked at the back of his hand "Jesus seven AM and I need another shower!" With that his aides came rushing in behind him.

"Sir you must look at this report." The aide said thrusting the light brown folded file crammed full of documents.

The minister took the file in his right hand and walked to his desk as all the aides behind him crammed through the door at the same time all jostling for position in front of his desk.

The minister put his briefcase down by the side of his desk and pulled his chair slowly away from underneath the desk.

He sat down at his desk on the same leather chair that he had sat on for years which was cracked old and very creaky. He opened the file in front of him and read the first facsimile page. He turned over to the next page in the file the aides noticed that his eyebrows rose very sharply. The minister turned to the next page in the file and he placed his right hand over his mouth.

The minister looked up "Have you all seen this?" He said pointing down at the file full of paper with his right index finger.

The aides all looked down at the floor "I take that as a yes then" the minister said closing the file and pushing it to his right he looked to his closest aide and said "please tell me that these are the only documents that exist and there are no copies."

His closest aide looked him straight in the eyes and said "Yes sir. These are the only copies that exist that we know of."

The minister looked at the aide straight into his eyes and said with his palms outstretched in front of him "That you know of?" He said in amazement.

The aide looked at the minister and then looked at the other aides who were standing in front of the minister's desk. "To the best of our knowledge. These are the only copies that exist in this cabinet sir."

The minister picked up the file crammed with paperwork which he placed to his right in his right hand and stood up from the desk. He looked down at the file took a deep breath.

"Inside this file are faxes and faxes exist from the source and are sent through the phone lines down to our receiving fax which spits them out. So there has to be an original copy at the source. Please tell me that source has been silenced."

The aide looked down and mumbled. The minister and shouted "Speak up man! And stop mumbling. If you have truly fucked up then admit to it."

The aide took a deep breath. "We haven't yet checked the source sir." He said worried now for the consequences.

The minister walked up to the aide and thrusted the brown file into the aides chest with his right hand. "Then I suggest my friend that you take this file. And check all sending fax numbers. And politely silence all the sender's. And make sure that they understand that they should not speak, and write down, or otherwise delineate what has gone on. Understand?"

The aide nodded his head and he looked to the floor again in a pitiful, humble way. "Yes sir. Consider it done."

The minister looked at the aide and said "Now. Take the file and your cronies and go get it done. Or I get very pissed off and start kicking arse." He said very quietly and in a sinister way.

The aide took the file and handed it to one of the others and nodded to them as he did so. The minister walked back to his desk and sat down he reached into is top right draw and pulled out a bottle of whisky. He placed the bottle on his desk and turned it with his fingers until the label was facing him. He moved his hands up the side of the bottle and twisted the bottle cap open with his fingers.

He placed the bottle cap upside down on the desk next to the bottle. And with his right hand he grasped the bottle and lifted it up to place the open neck up to his nose. He took a slow deep breath in and held it there for a while. He breathed out slowly releasing the vapors drawn from the bottle through his mouth. He placed the bottle back down on the desk and reached into his top drawer again to pull out a small glass.

The minister put the glass down on the desk to the left of the bottle, he lifted the bottle slowly, he was just about to pour and then hesitated. "Fuck it!" He exclaimed, taking the bottle and placing it to his lips, and took a long and large mouthful of whisky.

The minister leant back in his chair and it creaked as he did so. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back he took a long deep breath and while slowly breathing out he said. "Have we heard anything from our Agricultural minister yet?"

His aide piped up. "Yes we have sir. She was called to a farm 15 kilometers from here and has quarantined to the entire area sir."

The minister slowly turned his head to his aide and opened his eyes. "Say that again?" He said questioningly.

The aide took a deep breath. "She received a call and from a local police force saying it had a farmer that had reported his goats had all been killed. He reported the matter straight to us as per instructions upon your command for anything strange."

The minister sat upright in his chair which creaked again as he did so. "So. What is happening now?" The minister said

"Well minister. She shut down the entire area and called in decontamination. She appointed the best vet in the area, and has moved him and all the animals that are dead or dying to our government facilities, where he is performing autopsies on all the dead animals." The aide said.

The minister looked to the aide with a puzzled expression on his face. "Just exactly how many animals are we talking here?" He said

The aide held out his hands palms and outstretched then shrugged his shoulders. "We have no idea for sure sir."

The minister looked puzzled back at his aide. "What do you mean we don't know?"

The aide took another deep breath. "Local farmers, that have livestock for their own use and immediate community are not required by law to submit their livestock numbers."

The minister looked at his aide and the others stood in front of him and said, "If we have decontaminated and sanitized the area we should know how many animals we are talking about."

The aide looked a little uneasy and nodded his head in agreement. "I will find out for you sir."

"Make sure you do. And fast. And while you're at it make sure those fax numbers are also sanitized." The minister said very slowly and very clearly.

The aide then turned to his left and nodded to the others, he then nodded to the minister.

The minister picked up the pen on his desk, twisted and rolled it in between his fingers of both his hands and whilst looking at it he said, "That will be all."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." The aide said and turned and walked out the minister's door behind his colleagues and gently closed the door behind him. The minister took another swig from the whisky bottle, breathed through his teeth to aerate the whisky and swallowed slowly.
Chapter 15 – Aphid Hunting

Carter was busy, typing away at his computer with his pencil and is mouth lengthways, and rolling it in between his teeth with his tongue.

While he was busy working away Carmen walked over to him with a lovely fresh hot steamy cup of coffee. She approached him with a huge smile.

"You know that is a very bad habit and disgusting?" She said in a very thick Romanian accent, placing his coffee to the right of the computer.

Carter took the pen from his mouth with his left hand and using his right hand he picked up the coffee cup and took a quick slurp from it.

"Mmmmm. That is knockout, Carmen! How did you get it to taste so nice?" Carter said looking at Carmen. He didn't know exactly what attracted him to her, maybe it was her accent, maybe it was her hair, but all the new was that this woman had something about her that he liked.

Carmen looked at Carter and then the to the computer screen. "Found anything interesting?" She said questioningly.

"Don't know yet. But there's something definitely strange going on here. And it's annoying me I can't place my finger on it. But all the time we've been doing this someone has been one step ahead of us all of the time." Carter said in a very puzzled way.

This was just the sort of puzzle he enjoyed but this time round it seemed just a little bit too close for comfort. But he knew that John needed his help on this one. In fact they both needed his help on this one.

Carmen looked at Carter in the eyes with a sympathetic face. She could see that he was both puzzled and concerned and John meant a lot to him. In fact she could see that Emilie meant a great deal too but not just him but to them both.

"You seem very concerned. What really is bothering you?" Carmen said now beginning to look very worried that Carter. With that though the door opened with the usual whirring whooshing noise and John walked through.

"I have just made some fresh coffee you want some?" Carman said.

John looked over at both. He gave a wry smile. "Yeah dandy." John said with a big sigh.

Carmen tapped Carter on his right shoulder and disappeared to the room adjacent to make some coffee for John. Meanwhile John walked over to Carter and rested both hands on the top of the monitor of the computer.

"So did we find anything interesting Carter?" John asked.

Carter looked up at John and took a deep breath. He knew he had found something but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Well, I think I've found something but I really can't be sure. I found some spikes in the data transmission, but nothing really evidential." Carter said.

John could see the confused look on Carter's face and if he was honest with himself he too, was very puzzled. Nothing really seemed to add up but one thing was for sure. There was definitely a leak but just where and how is what really remained puzzling.

John looked at Carter "Do you think in your honest opinion that it is remotely possible and conceivable that we may be compromised in some way?" He said.

Carter took another deep breath. "Anything's possible." Carter said. "We are talking technology after all and it's only programmed by humans and there may be something I've overlooked which is possible. But I do want to test one thing now." Carter said.

John looked at Carter straight in his eyes. "Go on. I'm listening" John said.

Carter stopped looking at the computer screen and turned around in his chair to look up at John. "Well, it's like this. Although I haven't detected any real single transmissions I have noticed that our upload speed does drop a little at times."

John looked puzzled at Carter. "OK. Please forgive me for what I am about to say. But no techie speak. No bull shit. Just plain old honest layman's terms." John said raising his eyebrows

Carter took a deep breath. "OK. When you wear your glasses this signal goes from your glasses to the satellite and down to us. When I talk to you it goes up to the satellite and down to you. Signals from you to us come down from the satellite and that is download and the signals from us up to the satellite to you are called upload. It's that upload speed that concerns me. It's far too slow at times. And I think somebody's using it at the same time that we are uploading." Carter said in using his hands as well to described.

John looked at Carter. "OK. I get it but how do we test it?" John said pointing to the computer screen.

Carter gave a childish a smile to John. "I'm already onto it. I have started writing a sniffer programe, so when somebody uses our upload link it will know about it."

John looked at Carter and placed his left hand on Carter's right shoulder. "Once you've found something, give me a shout. OK?" John said softly. He could see in Carter's eyes that he was totally exhausted, but then they all were.

John saw Carmen coming back out with a nice hot steamy cup of coffee towards him. He winked at Carter and walked over to meet Carmen and half way.

"Here you go John" Carmen said handing him the cup. "Be careful. It's hot" she added handing him the cup handle first.

John took the cup in his right hand and toasted Carmen with it. "Cheers Carmen" he said taking the time to smell the aroma of the coffee that was wafting up. "I'm sorry we have not had time to talk. It would probably help you understand what's going on." John said sympathetically.

Carmen looked at John and placed her hand on his left forearm. Under the watchful eyes of Carter at the opposite end of the room. "Don't worry. It is not a problem. And it may only just confuse things!" she said with a smile. "Although there is one thing that does. Well. Puzzle me." She added.

"Oh? Do tell." John said now curious what could be on her mind. But he could see something in her eyes, so prodding would not harm.

"Well. Emilie. Don't get me wrong she is a lovely person, but does she have a problem at all?" Carmen said talking into John's ear really quietly.

John looked into Carmen's eyes curiously puzzled at her said, "Why do you ask?"

Carmen looked at John. "Well. It's strange. Sometimes when she does things she stops. Almost as if there is something else that she is thinking of. And when you ask her something she sometimes tops in mid-sentence or just doesn't hear you at all in the first place. Kind of irritating sometimes, but I guess that's probably because I have not seen her sleep." Carmen said looking over her shoulder to see behind her.

At the same time John also looked behind him towards Carter at the computer. Just at the same time that Carter was looking up towards them. John knew there was a connection but Carmen had no idea who she was spending her time with and to allow her into the fold would mean that at the end of this she would never be allowed home to regain her life.

This was a dilemma that John had to face. Allow a Romanian computer geek into the fold or what? Send her back? To what? She had theoretically seen more than she was meant to and been involved in more than they had wanted her exposed to.

He looked at her straight into her eyes. "Sod it Carmen. Dammed if we do and dammed if we don't. Time for you to talk to Carter" he said putting his arm over her shoulder and lead her towards Carter.

Carter meanwhile was busy at the computer, when they both approached him. He looked up at them both with his pencil in his mouth horizontally. "Alright?" he said talking through the pencil in his mouth.

John looked him in his eyes. "You need to talk to Carmen" he said to Carter.

"Oh really? How so?" Carter said removing the pencil from his mouth and placing it along the top of the keyboard.

Carmen repeated what she told John, and noticed that Carter had the same look on his face. And Carter looked up at John. "Did you tell her anything at all?" Carter said to John.

John looked at Carter and smiled. "Touched it last!" he said and turned away from them both.

Carter placed the pencil in his right hand and with the end of it he scratched the back of his head with it.

Carter looked at Carmen right into her eyes. "OK." Carter said taking a deep breath after a long sigh. "Emilie's name isn't Emilie" He said as Carmen looked back with a frown.

Carter took another deep breath. "You know that you have noticed times where Emilie is in another world?" Carter said as Carmen nodded in understanding. "Well." Carter said "She probably is" he added.

Carmen looked puzzled which was all Carter needed really to explain things a little further. He took another deep breath. "Emilie is really an Artificial Robotic Neural Intelligent Entity, But ANIE just didn't suit her!" he said looking at Carmen with a smile in his face.

Carmen looked into his eyes. "So she's a robot?" she said.

Carter gave a little frown. "Not completely. You see a robot just does a function that has been programmed into it, a bit like on a car production line. IT does whatever it has been programmed to do. And that's the key. Emilie doesn't. She thinks and decides for herself. Granted I can add the odd algorithm to add and remove certain learning area but she explores that and takes it internally to learn." Carter said gesturing with his arms all over the place.

Carter then placed both his hands behind his head. "I think that the gaps in her talking to you are because there is another calculation going on that we had not allowed for in her initial software." Carter said looking at an even more confused looking Carmen.

"So what's with the name then?" Carmen said looking at Carter as John came back to the both.

Carter looked at the computer screen while talking to Carmen. "Why did we call her Emilie?" He said.

"Yes" Carmen replied.

"It's my daughter's name" John interrupted

Carmen looked at John dreading asking but went for it anyway. "Where is she now?" Carmen asked.

John took a deep breath. "Living with my ex-wife in New Zealand" he said.

"We need to find Ivanahov" John he said to Carter tapping the computer screen.

Carter nodded his head and then looked up at John. "Agreed but first we must go bug hunting. Or we could be screwed!" He said.

John paused for a moment. He knew Carter was right. "OK. Defrag her, and then get on with it" John said as Carter nodded in acceptance.

Carter walked over to the kitchen area where Emilie was and popped his head around the corner of the door.

He stood there looking at Emilie, looking for that pause that Carmen had seen, but nothing.

"You know. Its rude to stare" Emilie said turning her head around to Carter and smiling.

Careter blushed a little and looked at the floor. "Can we go into the toy room and just give you a once over? We have a busy bit coming up and I need to make sure you are in tip top condition and ready" he said to Emilie as he held out his hand.

Emilie placed everything down that she was touching and took Carters hand and let him walk over to the room that she suited John up in. Carter sat her down on the chair at the desk.

He walked over to a black button on the wall and touched it. A square part of the wall then hissed and moved out and revealing a door hinged out and then up to reveal a type of head harness.

Emilie looked at Carter. "Do we have to use that?" Emilie said looking at Carter, who was a little puzzled as to why the question was raised.

"We always do Emilie, why do you ask?" he questioned.

"It sends tingly feelings into my arms that's all. I don't like it. It feels, strange. I don't like it" she said.

Carter looked puzzled again. "But it takes you offline Emilie" he said to her. "You should not feel anything" he added.

Emilie looked at Carter as he reached into the opening and took the harness out. As he went to place it on her head she held his left arm with her right hand. "But I do feel it. Don't leave it on for long. Please?" she added.

Carter looked at Emilie. I promise. And you can tell that from my pulse. Right?" Carter said softly and reassuringly.

Emilie nodded her head and let Carter place the harness over her head, and she immediately closed her eyes and he hand returned slowly to her side.

Within a few minutes the harness gave two short beeps and Carter removed the harness. He looked at Emilie as she opened her eyes.

"There you are, told you it would not take long, didn't I?" He said softly, remembering that he was patronizing what most people would call a robot.

Emilie looked up at Carter. "I don't care." She Said. "It still makes me feel dirty inside" she added and got up.

Carter looked at her. "What you doing now?" he asked.

Emilie looked back at Carter as she walked away from him. "Back to the kitchen to make some sarnies for everyone. Can't have you working on an empty stomach" She said as she went back to the kitchen.

There was never a moment when he was not impressed by Emilie, such style, such grace and effectively a five year old. But then the programming he gave her was nothing anyone had done before. She was able to learn, and dream, and feel, and touch. The only thing that she could not do was taste, drink or eat.

Carter walked back to his desk and plugged in the Harness through a USB cable to his PC. John came over and looked at his shoulder. "Anything?" He asked Carter.

Carter looked intently at the information. "Nothing that I can see here." Carter said in reply. "If there was I would either see it or it would be in this file here. Caught and ready to be squished like a trap" Carter said pointing at the computer screen and a specific file on the screen.

"OK. Right." John said tapping his right hand firmly on Carters left shoulder. "Ivanahov. Find him. You said you last placed him in the Middle East right?" John asked.

Carter looked up at him. "Yeah, but isn't he the one we think that's behind this?" Carter asked.

John shrugged his shoulders and put both his hands palms upward. "We gotta start somewhere and the old man was usually right" He said.

Carter unplugged the harness and got to work searching for Ivanahov.
Chapter 16 – Ivanahov

Ivanahov was a tall dark Middle Eastern gentleman and quite handsome, always impeccably dressed, although he never wore a tie but his shirts were always worn with cufflinks. The only odd thing was the deck shoes that he always wore.

Ivanahov was going about his usual business really, getting meat from the local butcher and buying fruit juice and vegetables from the local market.

The market bustled with noise and flies and lots of people going about their business. Market traders were shouting and trying to outdo each other which is something that all the locals were used to, but to a visitor it was very disorientating.

Ivanahov took the provisions he had bought and headed back to his car. A Mercedes 500 SEL. And to most this was a lavish and luxury car, but in the Middle East, this was merely a Ford Focus. Fuel was dirt cheap and everyone had Mercs.

He got into his car and started the engine. It roared and then purred into life, as he slid the auto box into drive and drove away. Well, to say drove was loose, as no one drove slowly and the streets were a death trap, and you generally just drove, not giving any thought to any oncoming traffic. The view of "If Allah believes it is your time then it is" was normally the name of the game.

Ivanahov drove through the traffic, weaving in and out. And even IF someone was following then they would never have any chance at all of catching up with him. He pulled up outside his house and reaching behind him he took his groceries and then exited his driver's door. Shutting it with his foot.

He walked up to his front door and then put his food down. Reaching into his right hand pocket he took out his door keys and opened his front door, picked everything up and walked through shutting the door again with his foot.

Inside his house was rather plain. And not something that you would normally expect from someone that apparently had a very substantial amount of money.

He went into the kitchen and placed his food onto the counter and took out his phone. It was an iPhone and he walked out into the hallway to a model of his car and opened the boot of it to revel an iPod dock. He tapped the music icon and music started playing throughout the house, not loudly but enough to be noticed outside.

He placed his food into the fridge and stored the rest of the food away in cupboards and walked out to the hall again and removed his shoes and walked into his living room.

He walked over to the table he had at the end of the room and picked up his laptop and fired it up. It sprang into life.

He checked his email icon at the bottom of the screen. He scrolled thought them looking at them all individually, mumbling as he did so. He then opened up his internet browser.

As sometimes is the case his browser was running a little slow on Wi-Fi but then the internet sometimes normally did. So this time he paid no attention to it either.

He put his laptop down and went to the fridge and poured himself some fruit juice. It was quite a hot day today and moisture formed instantly on the outside of the glass.

He picked it up and took a sip, savoring every molecule. He turned around and took the glass with him to the living room and placed it on the floor by the side of his chair as he picked his laptop up and sat back down again.

He was on the internet site to his bank, and proceeded to access his account with the usual names numbers and pass codes that you know use with a number generator these days.

His bank account sprang into life online and he started running though his accounts one by one. And none of them looked any different to a normal account, but if you looked closely then you would find something.

Ivanahov then started sighing loudly. Mainly as the internet connection he was using was taking ages to do things. Needless did he know that it was slow for a reason.

Miles away on the other side of the world there was an IT wiz tracking him down.

"YES! Found the little shit!" Carter said aloud.

John came rushing over to Carter. "You found him?" He said rushing over and took a position over Carters left shoulder.

Carter looked up at John. "I found him. I've only bloody found him!" Carter said looking at John with a big 5 year olds smile on his face.

John looked at the computer screen all he could see was a string of numbers and flashing lines. "So where is he?" he said looking puzzled at the screen.

Carter tapped away on the keyboard and pointed up at the large screen. "Well, it wasn't easy. Bastard's covered his tracks really well. If you look at the screen you will notice that he goes from one router to another, one node to another, piggybacking other signal, I mean it's really cool stuff the way he does it." Carter said looking up at the screen as the red line moved from one continent to another.

John looked at Carter. "So you know where he is, right?"

Carter nodded and held up his finger. "I do but there's more!" Carter said turning around at the keyboard and tapped away. He pulled up the bank details Ivanahov was looking at.

John looked at the screen. "You have his bank details? Shit Carter!" John said in amazement.

Carter gave a cheeky little smile. "It's simple really, but ignore how cool I am! Look at this. The bank accounts are normal and there is nothing fab about them. But look closely" Carter said.

John looked at the screen at the accounts, but nothing shouted at him. "I don't see anything. But then again there are no millions though are there?" John said.

Carter nodded to him. "You have half of it! There are no millions but there is a regular monthly income regular as clockwork, but I can't see where it comes from" Carter added. "But it's enough to give him a very comfortable living" he added.

John looked at the screen over Carters shoulder. "That's great but it still leave's one question" John said to Carter.

"What's that?" Carter asked.

"Where. Is. He?" John said, leaving a noticeable pause in between every word.

Carter looked at John and then looked up at the large screen and pressed a button on the keyboard. The screen then changed to Google Maps and brought up an address on the map.

"Know anyone with a big plane?" Carter said to John who was looking up at the big screen.

"I was kind of hoping you could tell me that" John replied looking at the address.

Carter smiled at John. "Leave it to me" Carter replied.

John went over to what he called the suit up room and checked the rounds in his rifle and stripped both that and his hand gun. He checked all of the rounds and made sure that all of them were in order.

After he had re – assembled his weapons he went over to the shower room, being passed by Emilie on route. "What you doing?" she asked.

John stopped and looked at her straight in the eyes. "Just going to have a shower and get out of these" he said pulling at his all in ones.

Emilie looked puzzled. "Why?" She asked.

John looked back puzzled. "Because, they'll smell if I dont?" He said sniffing his armpits.

Emilie smiled. "You silly. The fabric is meant to wick away your sweat. All you need to do is shower in it and they will be as refreshed as you are underneath. It's a very clever fabric, and becomes one with you" Emilie said "Just off to see if Carter wants a coffee. Want one too?" She said.

John looked at her in a kind of amazement before he answered. "Yeah but water would be better if that's OK?" he said placing his right hand on her left shoulder. He then went to the shower room.

He looked at the clothes he was wearing and decided to do as suggested by Emilie.

He started the shower and let it get warm. He got in with the suit on and started putting shower gel all over him. He cringed as the foam turned from a white fluff to a murky grey.

Once he had finished he got out of the shower and started using a started to dry himself off, noticing that the towel was hardly wet after and he was almost certainly dry.

He walked out the center and saw Emilie talking to Carter. "You alright you two?" He asked looking at them both.

Emilie smiled at John and left them both to talk and as she left she dragged her right hand over both of Carters shoulders as she left. John looked at Emilie and then at Carter. Carter looked back in amazement and astonishment at what Emilie just did. Was this a term of endearment?

John walked over to Carter. "Jesus Carter! There are times when your adapted programming scares the absolute shit out of me!" John said looking at Carter.

Carter looked at John and smirked, and he knew there was yet more to come from Emilie, but would there be time to watch this wonderful piece of artwork grow?

"So. Do I have a lift then?" John said to Carter who looked at him and smiled. "Oh yeah. Have I got a lift for you!" he said.

"So long as it doesn't involve chucking myself out of a perfectly decent plane I don't give a shit!"

Carter sniggered. Oh Christ, did he have a lift for John!

John finished getting ready and put everything into the center of the complex. He placed the heavy bag onto the floor. And it made a very satisfying thump, as the rifle that was in the bag connected with the floor.

John looked at Carter. "So. Where to then?" John said to Carter who span around on his chair as he was focused looking at his computer screen.

Carter looked at John. "Ah, well you'll like this, maybe not a lot but you will like it." He said winking and making a clicking sound with the side of his mouth.

John looked at Carter, head slightly down and eyebrows raised. Almost as if he was peering over a pair of glasses. "Go on" he prompted.

Carter put his finger in the air. "Remember that chap that we looked into about gun running, back say oh, 8 years ago?" Carter asked.

John nodded remembering and laughed a little. "Yeah, I remember. We let him go to piss off the yanks and kept a solid I owe you in the bag!" He said chuckling.

Carter smiled, he remembered the day too, and especially when he was looking at the American CIA field operative at the time he told him that they had lost their target. "Yeah. That's the one" he said in confirmation. "He has a rather nice aircraft and one that can in fact get you to the Middle East, and we can get him to land it at the local aerodrome as a private flight, because this plane needs only a short amount of runway to land and take off from" Carter added.

John picked up his bag. "Right then! Let's get going!" he added.

John picked up the keys to the van from the side of his desk, swung around on his chair and slid off it to stand up. "Come on then! What we waiting for!" He said.

The journey to the aerodrome wasn't a long way but far enough for a quick catch up with Carter out of prying ears and eyes.

John looked at Carter. "So. Did you find anything inside Emilie that you weren't telling me about?" he asked.

Carter looked at the road only glancing at John occasionally. "Nowp. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And that's the bit that scares me" Carter said with a very concerned face, one that John had seen before.

"Nothing? Really?" John asked puzzled.

Carter looked back at John. "Nothing. Zip, Nada, Sweat FA" he said.

John looked puzzled. "Hmm. OK keep working on it, there has to be something there" John said calmly. "Now. Tell me about Ivanahov." He added.

Carter took a deep breath. "OK. Right. Start at the beginning." He said. "He was originally fingered for the best cybercrime money could buy. He is said to have taken the equivalent of one penny out of everyone's bank account in the world. One that he denies and in fact one that he said he had nothing to do with. Except the guy does not work, but seems to have an income that is very nice at £190,000 per year. He even looks like he goes to work every morning to a night club, every day Monday to Friday. Now this may be an actual job, but we won't know until you pull him" Carter said.

John nodded all the way through Carters information. "Nice pension or job for that matter at a hundred and ninety grand a year! Tell me about his house. In points and out points" he asked.

Carter looked at John. "There is one main door and a rear door. The main front door is the only external way into the property with a set of stairs that lead up to it. The rear door is enclosed in a courtyard and not accessible to the outside. And there are no doors from the courtyard to the outside. Inside the house is your standard humble home. Kitchen, living room, and three bedrooms, apart from the fact that the smallest room is the downstairs bathroom at ten foot square! There are no cameras, and the only technology is that he has broadband and Audio Visual plumbed all the way through the property.

John nodded all the way through Carters informative brief. "What about cameras? Any CCTV at the property?" He asked

"Na, Nothing at all. Which I find weird. I mean. For a guy that apparently has access to a hell of a lot of money there is nothing that is really lavish about his home." Carter said puzzled.

John put his foot on the glove box of the van. "I guess at the end of the day, would you rather draw attention to yourself or have a humble home with a pretend job and never work again in your life?" John replied. "I know what I would rather have" He added.

Carter pulled into the aerodrome. "Right!" He said looking at his watch "Got about 10 Minutes by my watch. Made sure you have everything?" He asked as John replaced his foot down on the floor and took a deep breath inwards.

"Too late now if I 'aint got everything" John answered looking at Carter and seeing a plane in the distance coming in. "Guess this is my ride?" He added as Carter looked to his right.

Carter looked back at John "Go careful on this one mate. We have no Emilie in back up, and we don't want you getting hurt." Carter said putting the palm of his hand on top of Johns.

John looked at Carter. "Don't worry. With you as a spare pair of eyes and this whizzo rifle and hand gun there shouldn't be any problems" John said as Carter just looked at John.

"Carter?" John asked.

"Yes mate" Replied Carter.

"You're still holding my hand" John answered looking at his hand.

"Right!" Carter said looking at it and quickly withdrawing it from Johns. "Err Yes. Here is your ride" He said trying to change the conversation as John smiled in return.

"Just do one thing for me. Well two actually" John asked.

"What's that?" Carter replied as John placed a hand on Carters shoulder.

"Well." John started. "First find me that leak. And secondly, Leave Carmen alone you dirty bugger!" he added.

Carter smiled "I'll leave her alone honest" Carter replied.

John patted Carter on the shoulder. "That's a pity, coz I bloody well wouldn't!" he added and left the van to meet the aircraft.

Carter smiled. "Put your earpiece in and I will contact you when I get back into the control room" he said.

The aircraft came up to the taxi way and slowed to a stop with the engines still running. It was a private version of a Hercules and the back opened up to reveal a very familiar face. John got out of the van and walked over to the aircraft.

"So we meet again my friend!" Came the voice over the din of the engines as John walked closer to him.

John walked up to him extending his hand in greeting him and smiled as he did so.

"Hello my friend" John said "How are you keeping?" He asked walking up the tail of the aircraft, and then he looked to his right and saw Carter in the front of the van, to which he gave and American style salute to him and then proceeded to shake the hand of the guy that brought the plane in and walked up the tail inside the aircraft.

The plane moved off and Carter stayed to watch it go. As the plane moved down the taxi way the tail closed as it went until it was at the bottom of the runway.

Carter then heard the aircraft go full throttle and then move slowly. It got to about the half-way point of the runway and took off. As it got to height at the end of the runway it climbed steeply and as it did the aircraft gave a slow wave waggle to say goodbye. Carter drove slowly back to the control room.

The inside of the aircraft was rather nice. In fact once the tail section had closed it revealed that it was a completely separate part of the aircraft and once closed it pressurised with the rest of the inside.

Once the tail section had done so their contact opened the connecting door to the inside of the aircraft, once a green light shone. John walked though.

"Jesus! You would never guess! I mean. It looks like a normal cargo plane on the outside!" He said in amazement looking at the interior.

Inside it was like a living room with wood paneling, TV, Bar, armchairs, and even tables. John just stood in awe and gazed around.

This didn't go un – noticed by his contact who chuckled. "Nice huh?" he said to John putting his arm over his shoulder.

John nodded in acceptance. "I could so easily get used to living like this. You are one lucky bastard!" John exclaimed which made his contact chuckle a little in acceptance.

His contact pointed with his hand to the bar. "Please allow me to repay the many drinks you have shown me in the past my friend" he said and showed John to the bar and then walked around to the other side of the bar and promptly poured him a drink. John looked shocked.

"You remembered?" John exclaimed. "I can't believe you actually remembered all these years. Wow!" John added.

His contact then moved the drink to him. "One pint. Half Coke half orange juice in the same glass. As you call it a Muddy Puddle?" He added.

John smiled and took a sip and gave a big sigh. "Jesus this is nice" John added as his contact looked at him. "It may be nice but I still don't know how you can drink it" he said, as a crackle noise started in Johns ear.

"Yo John! You receiving?" came the voice. It was Carter. John smiled and then pointed to his ear to his contact who nodded.

"Yeah. I can hear you" John replied

"Everything OK? Can you talk?" Carter asked.

"Well." John said taking a deep breath. "I am sat on a bar stool, drinking a cold muddy puddle with an old friend" John replied.

Carter looked puzzled. "Your where?" he asked as John repeated himself.

"It's Got a bar?" Carter asked. "Blimey you would never have known from the outside." Carter said.

John nodded as he took a sit from his drink. "It also has windows!" he said looking at the man in front of him who shook his head. John saw this. "It hasn't?" he asked.

The man shook his head. "Small cameras on the fuselage pointing out linked to HD Plasma screens. Very cleaver. Means we keep a low profile" His contact said.

John looked amazed. "Did you hear that Carter? Small cameras and HD panels!" As he said that he then realized what he had said. "Carter?" John asked.

"Yeah?" Came the reply.

"What if Ivanahov has small cameras around his property?" he asked.

Carter looked up into the air. John had a point, this was a guy after all that did not work but seemed to have a very nice regular source of income every month. Anything was possible. But he tried to put Johns mind at ease.

"Wouldn't worry. The suit you are wearing would make it very hard to see you even if he had infra-red" Carter replied.

"Cool! OK" John replied "Guess there is no point in worrying about it now. Deal with it as and when" John added.

"Guess you had better rest before things get groovy." Carter said in a calm tone to John.

"Suppose so." John said turning around on his bar stool. "There are some bloody lovely chairs here that look like I could drop right off to sleep!" John said looking at his contact who raised a finger. "Hold on mate" He said to Carter, as the man walked from behind the bar and showed him through a door on the right that led down a small corridor, to a door. Which was opened in front of him.

There through the door, what the most lavish bed with cream satin linen. To the left was a built in wardrobe, and to the right was a full en suite.

"Jesus Carter. You aint gonna believe the bed I am staring at" John said.

"Lucky bastard!" Carter said playfully. "I suggest you get some rest before you need to get into things" Carter said. "Don't let the bed bugs bite" he added.

"I won't. Catch you later Carter" John said. Looking at his contact who showed him into the room.

"To your left Wardrobes. To your right washing facilities, and the bed is made to measure memory foam and same for pillows. You will sleep well" His contact said looking at John.

John turned around and laid his right hand on his contacts shoulder. "Thank you" John said quietly. "When do we need to get ready?" He added.

His contact smiled. "Three hours" he replied. John looked at him puzzled.

"Three hours?" John asked as his contact smiled back at him from his statement.

"Yes my friend. That is when dinner is served and its Crème Caramel and homemade shortbread for desert." Came the reply with raised eyebrows and a smile.

John looked at his contact square in his eyes. "Your mother's recipe?" John asked.

His contact smiled and nodded. "Now get some sleep my friend" He said, placing his hand on Johns shoulder and drawing him near for a man hug. He then turned around and left the bedroom.

John got ready for some rest.

There was a light tapping on the door to the suite. "John my friend. It is time to let your taste buds explore real food."

John breathed in and stretched in the huge cavernous bed he had just spent the last 3 hours in. He sat up and moved his legs over the side of the bed, got up and walked over to the door. As he opened the door his nose was greeted with the amazing aromas of the feast that he was about to endure.

"My god that smells soooo good!" He said looking at his friend straight in his eyes, as an arm came over his shoulder and held the top of his shoulder. "Just like old times Eh?" His friend said pointing the way with his other hand.

As John walked down the corridor of the aircraft the smells from the galley could almost be chewed right out of the air, and then he stopped. Right outside where he was going to eat. There he was presented with a table in deep mahogany and beautifully crafted in the middle was the most intricate pattern of the solar system you could ever have dreamed off.

On top of the table was probably the most expensive haul of silver service John had ever seen in his life. From candelabras, gravy boats, wine coolers, and even the cutlery.

"Come John. Sit." His friend said, handing John over the numerous silver service staff that were on hand for him. John was shown to his chair, in the middle of the table, and his contact sat directly opposite.

John went to pull out his chair but was beaten to it by the staff who pulled the chair out for him and as he took his position it was pushed underneath him.

John took his napkin and placed it on his lap, just as his soup arrived. He leant over the steam rising up from the bowl and took a deep breath. "Mmmm. Carrot and coriander!" John said taking his soup spoon and scooping up a good mouthful. He closed his eyes as the soup trickled down his throat.

He opened his eyes to see his friend looking at him with the biggest smile ever. "To your liking?" He said looking at John. Who just Mmmmd and then carried on.

After he had finished his soup he used his napkin and then took a swig of water from the glass that was already in front of him.

His friend looked up him after he had completed eating his own soup. "So tell me John. What is so important that Carter risks everything to contact me and help give you a lift?

John looked straight into his friends eyes and took another sip of his water and then used his napkin to delicately wipe his mouth.

He got straight to the point. "The Hive was breached" he replied looking at the response from his friends face.

His friend looked at him with a blank expression. "I thought the hive was impregnable" he replied.

John leant back in his chair. "So did I." John replied as the main course was served in front of him. He took his knife and fork and started to dig into the Rib Eye Steak and all the trimmings, and it was cooked perfectly, not to rare but then not medium.

He cut the perfect mouthful and placed it into his mouth. Such a lovely taste, meaty, juicy and slightly salty. Wonderful.

His friend paused from eating. He knew that he would hate asking this question. But he asked anyway, even though he knew the answer could still mean not knowing. He asked in one word. "Who"

John stopped eating and placed his knife and fork down carefully and gently. "I don't know but Albert told me that I should ask Ivanahov. So here I am" John replied picking up his knife and fork and finishing the rest of his meal.

His friend continued to eat also and they both continued to finish their main course. "So. Tell me" his friend asked. "How is the old man? He always has his head in the books like a little mad scientist. He Is such a mad scientist."

John took a long deep breath and another sip of water. "He was. That he was" John said quietly.

His friend looked straight into Johns eyes. He could see the sadness behind them. He almost wished he had not heard it, and he certainly did not want to confirm the information he had just thought he had heard, but he had to. "Was?" he asked.

John looked back. "Was. Whoever it is, they always either seem to be one step ahead or slightly behind us" John said taking a glance at the Crème Caramel that was being whisked his way.

His friend looked at him squarely. "Do you have any ideas at all?" He asked

John took the spoon from the table with his right hand and looked at his face in the reflection of the spoon. "Ohh Carter is on the case, he'll find it." He said using the spoon to crack into the burnt sugar glaze that was on the top of the caramel. He looked at the desert that was now on the end of his spoon and placed it into his mouth. He closed his eyes. "Oh my god." John said still with his eyes closed.

His friend chuckled. "Don't tell my mother that the chef is better than her. Or both our lives will be in grave danger!" He said chuckling.

Back at base Carter was still sorting out the mystery of the increased traffic on the carrier waves but he was still struggling to understand where it was coming from. He had checked Emilie over and found her to be in top form but there was certainly something. And if he could find it then he would be more at rest. There was something though. Why did Emilie space out sometimes? Maybe that was something he could look into?

Meanwhile back on the plane John was finishing up eating his pudding with the last final mouthful of shortbread, which he let melt slowly and then swallowed ever so slowly to savor the taste. "Mmm I could do that all over again!" John said looking at the hostess as she cleared away the dish that the cream caramel had once been in.

Just as desert was cleared away his friend was presented with a cigar and a liquor. He placed the cigar in his mouth and another very swift hand came around the front of him and lit the end of it. He took a deep breath in and slowly breathed it out.

"So tell me. What makes you think that Ivanahov has anything to do with this?" His friend said breathing through the cigar smoke as he spoke.

John moved his chair back from the table and took the glass of water from his place setting and held it on his lap. "The computers in the main hive were hacked. Nothing could be obtained, the file they were trying to get access to was encoded and encrypted. It lead us a pretty fair and merry dance, but Ivanahov is the only person that can help us out understand what they were looking for and why, and with any luck who." John said hoping that giving lip service was enough for his friend, as he too was left with no real reason as to why this set of files were looked at.

A steward then appeared and walked to the side of his friend. "Many apologies for disturbing you sir, but we are nearing our destination." He said nodding at his friend and then turning around and walking back out of the dining room. John was very impressed with the slickness of this operation.

"Right John my dearest friend. It is time for you to get ready." His friend said. Looking at him and raising from his chair. "Come. We must get you ready." His friend said ushering John out of the dining room and back to the rear of the plane which started to make John a little suspicious.

He was walked back to the rear of the plane, John stopped and turned to his friend. "So tell me. What time do we land?" John asked. His friend looked at him in the eyes and started to chuckle.

"Ohh, I am sorry my friend. But I have made far too many enemies in this world to even land where you are traveling." His friend said looking at him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

John looked back. "Mind if I just go to freshen up?" John asked, to which his friend shook his head with his eyes closed. "Not at all. Not at all. Feel free." He said in reply.

John walked up to the toilet and shut the door. Rather a nice loo this he thought. Marble and best porcelain. He touched his left ear. "Carter?" He asked. "Are you there?" There was no reply so John asked calmly again. "Carter? I know you can hear me you little shit." John said calmly not wanting to raise his voice.

Carter then replied. "Sorry mate. Bit busy trying to find the source of the extra traffic we found. What's up?" Carter asked.

John took a deep breath. "We are reaching our destination Carter." John replied. Carter stopped what he was doing. "Ah" he replied.

With that John flushed the toilet, walked out, and then went back to the rear of the plane where a crew member was already waiting with a parachute for him. "Excuse me sir. You'll need this", the young girl said with a smile. The same one that gave him his food he thought. He looked over to his right and saw his bag. He put in on like a back pack but on his front.

His friend watched him put the chute on and then smiled and opened out both arms inviting a hug. "My friend. It has been a pleasure." He said.

John hugged his friend. "It is always a pleasure. Do give my regards to you mum. And why the hug?" He asked.

His friend hugged him a little more. "Just in case your chute doesn't open!" he said back to him and then chuckled.

John pulled his friend away from him. "Seriously not fucking funny!" he said cracking a wry smile and walking through the door to the cargo area. He noticed the engine note change on the aircraft and the rear bay opened up and he ran off the end of the ramp.

The journey down to the bottom was as uneventful as a jump could be really. It was cold dark and very noisy.

John spotted his landing site underneath him. "Eagle's about to land Carter. Carter? CARTER!?" John said now shouting in the ever hope that maybe it might be his throat mic not picking his voice up.

His landing site, which happened to be Ivanahov's back garden was looming ever closer. "Carter? Sweetie luvvie darling?" John said. There was a rustling on the end of his ear piece.

"Sorry mate" Carter said "Little busy. Couldn't take the mike with me" He replied.

John took a deep breath. "I chuck myself out of yet another airplane, and about to land in a garden with no exit points if it goes wrong. And you're too busy to take your mic?" John said questioningly.

"Taking a dump mate. If you want next time I can take the mic with me and you can hear me squeezing one out. If you like?" Carter said neutrally back at John.

Carter then heard a muffled noise and humph sort of noise. "John? You alright mate?" Carter said.

"Arrrh, shit. JESUS! Bloody hell." John said in a quiet yet muffled way.

"John. You alright?" Carter said holding the ear piece to his ear with his finger. "John?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm alright. We have a small problem though" John said lying on the floor.

"In what way?" Carter said in reply.

"Tell me Carter." John said. "What's the backup plan if we miss the garden?" John said.

Carter looked puzzled "Define missed." Carter replied.

John sat himself up on his elbows. And looked up at the top of the wall.

John pulled himself up off the floor and gathered up his chute and looked around for somewhere to jump it. He had landed in an alleyway to the side of Ivanahov's walled garden and further down he could see one of those industrial type wheelie bins. He wandered down and stuffed his chute into it along with his harness.

As he walked back he started to think of a way into the house.

Carter broke the silence. "You alright mate?" He said quietly knowing that John was probably ripping himself apart inside for missing the target area.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Really sore arse though and pride is a tad dented but other than that I am fine" John said in reply.

"Got any ideas?" Carter said. "Tell me what you have around you coz I am getting a little challenged in the uplink to the glasses" He added.

"Well. There is an alleyway to the side but the wall is way too high to climb. So there really is only one way into the target." John said walking around to the front of the house and stepping back to look around him.

The front of the house was on a fairly quiet road and there were a few parked cars over the other side of the road and namely one of them was in the perfect spot for the idea John had.

Carter typed frantically on the keyboard in front of him. "Don't do anything just yet john. I'm just sorting out the uplink on the glasses." Carter said. "Bingo! Got it" he added as he looked up at the main screen.

"Carter? You pack the sounders and the gas rounds?" John asked.

Carter looked puzzled. "Sounders and Gas?" he repeated.

John took his bag off and opened it up to retrieve the rifle inside. "Yeah. You know the rounds that make a noise and discharge gas" He replied.

"Ahh" Carter replied looking up at the large screen. "Yes I did. But I also put something rather cool in there too" He replied.

John rummaged through the bag to get out the rounds he needed. One gas round and one sounder. "What's the cool item? John said in return to Carter.

Carter looked up at the screen. "Bean bag rounds. Very, very effective up to about 60 feet and silent." He replied. "So what's the plan then John? We can't just ring the doorbell, can we?" Carter added as he looked at the screen.

John looked through the scope of the rifle towards the front door of Ivanahov's home. "That's just exactly what I am going to do" John replied as he loaded the nerve agent and aimed at the front door.

"How tall is Ivanahov, Carter?" John asked.

"What?" Carter replied.

"Ivanahov. How tall is he?" John repeated.

"No idea mate" Carter replied.

John closed his left eye and picked a spot on the front door just above center and started to control his breathing.

"What do you mean you're going to knock on the door?" Carter asked John looking up at the screen.

John closed both eyes. "Carter?" John said quietly.

"Yes mate" Came Carters reply.

"Shut up." John replied as he placed the rifle back up to his eye and maintained his breathing.

He looked through the scope and took a slow breath in and then out. He took a second and then placed his finger on the trigger and squeezed it very slowly. The round left the rifle with extreme quietness and hit the door just where he needed it to. It fixed itself to the front door.

He took the rifle away from his eye. And paused. "Carter? How hard do the bean bag rounds hit?" John asked Carter looking at the clicker round in his hand.

Carter looked up at the screen. "Hard enough to knock your average brick outhouse clean out if you take them from behind." Carter replied.

John swapped the clicker round for a beanbag round and loaded it into the chamber of the rifle and brought the rifle up to his eye and looked for the doorbell.

Carter looked up at the screen and tapped on the keyboard. The screen brought up a smaller picture in picture of the sight that John was looking through. He could see John controlling his breath. He then heard the small crack as the round went off and the small puff of dust as it hit the doorbell of Ivanahov's front door.

Both Carter and John heard the bell ring.

"Cracking shot mate! Think he's in?" Carter said jokingly.

John pulled the rifle away from his eye. As he realized that Carter had a point. "Well I fucking hope so as that was one hell of a cracking shot that I don't think that could do that again!" He added.

They both waited what felt like an age, and then their questions were answered as the door started to open slowly. There he was. Ivanahov.

Ivanahov looked out, and then noticed the beanbag on the floor. He bent down to pick it up. He looked at it and then looked out towards the road. John then pressed the remote trigger to set the gas off.

Ivanahov fell to the floor in a heap, and John collected his equipment and ran to the door, pulled the sticky gas round off the door and dragged Ivanahov into the house and shut the door.

Ivanahov awoke in a blur and found himself strapped to a chair in the middle of his kitchen. John was sat in front of him on a chair turned around with the back of it facing Ivanahov. He was sitting on the chair as if he was sat on his motorcycle at home. On his right hand side on the floor was a bottle of water in a tall glass bottle, which looked like it was a fuel rod from a reactor. And in his hand was a sandwich.

Ivanahov started to come round a little more and his eyes started to focus on the man in front of him. He tried to move but found it near impossible. He noticed the bottle of VOSS Mineral Water on the floor.

Ivanahov had a very thick Russian English accent and it made him sound like your ultimate Russian Cold War Spy!

Ivanahov took a deep breath. "You mind if I have some of my water you are helping yourself to?" He said rather sarcastically to John.

John got up from the chair, went to the fridge and opened the door to get another bottle of water. He opened it and placed it to Ivanahov's mouth for him to take a couple of mouthfuls. He then placed the bottle down by the side of Ivanahov's chair.

John picked up his sandwich and continued eating. He pointed to the sandwich "Hope you don't mind but it's taken you about an hour to come round and I'm starving. Tell me. How much do you spend on your bread? It's wonderful." John said.

Ivanahov smiled and nodded to the water. "You like my water too?" He said in return.

John picked up his bottle and took a sig. "Mmm really nice." John replied back. "Must cost a fortune" He added.

Ivanahov shrugged. "At twenty four dollars a bottle. It should taste very nice" Ivanahov replied.

"A man as famous as you. I would have expected to see the fridge full of Kona Nigari Water" John replied.

Ivanahov chuckled to himself "I ran out. I'm sorry" He replied. "So tell me. What brings you to the delights of my house, my food and my water?" he added.

John looked at Ivanahov as Carter spoke into his ear. "Be careful John, he's a slippery bastard mate" Carter said.

John smiled. To both comments. But he thought he might as well get straight into the main question and look at Ivanahov's face.

"We had a little bit of an issue where I work you see, someone thought it would be nice to try and hack into some files and knock off all the people I used to work with for a project they were working on." He added. Not seeing any flinching from Ivanahov at all.

Ivanahov looked at John straight into his eyes. "And that gives you the right to be sat in front of me, eating my food, drinking my water and strapping me to my own chair in my own kitchen? Well fuck me pardon for breathing." Ivanahov said a little short and tensely. "Tell me Mr. Englishman. Why the hell me? Huh?" Ivanahov added.

John got up slowly from the chair and walked over to Ivanahov. "Listen. I need your help which is why you are still alive but I don't know WHO I can trust any more. And everyone we come to in our list always seems to die before I get to them" John Added.

"Well that makes me feel very fucking peachy. Maybe they took the wrong bus and are late getting to me? What do you think? Heh?" Ivanahov said in reply getting more upset with every minuet that passed.

John bent over and looked into Ivanahov's eyes. "Look. I have been told that whoever it was that tried to access this file left their electronic fingerprint on it, and I need to find that computer. And apparently you are the person to do it." John said in reply.

Ivanahov looked up at John. "And you think I can do this amazing feat because?" Ivanahov replied.

John smiled. "Because apparently you are good at this sort of thing. Take the last penny scandal. Of which I would have lead a little more of a lavish lifestyle by the way." John said.

Ivanahov smiled and nodded his head. "Ahh the penny scandal. One penny taken or its equivalent value in every country around the world from every bank account. Quite lucrative. Not me though" Ivanahov said looking at John. "And of course only 20% of the world's population have actual bank accounts" He added.

John smiled. "Of course it wasn't you. Which is why looking at your bin you are going through four bottles of Voss Mineral Water a day. Which is a nice amount of money to blow everyday on something that you are going to piss out afterwards." John added looking at Ivanahov smiling.

"How I make my living is no concern of yours, and your plan for me to help you has many floors" Ivanahov replied. "Firstly as you no doubt would have seen, there is not a computer that is good enough to do what you want it to do in this house, as you will have no doubt wandered around my home. And secondly if there was, then there is not much I can do strapped to this chair" He added.

"Quite right on both accounts." John replied "But I had to make sure that you were safe, so to speak" John added.

Ivanahov looked straight into Johns eyes. "Well seeing as no one has come barging through my front door, other than you of course and killed us both, I suggest you make me the same sandwich, with MY food. Out of MY fridge and untie me from this chair so I can eat it" He said.

John went behind Ivanahov and untied his hands so he could untie his own ankles. Ivanahov got up from the chair and stretched his back out. Promptly turned around looked John in the face and gave him a right hook knocking John flying.

John hit the floor and looked up at Ivanahov. "Kind of deserved that I suppose" he said. As Ivanahov turned around and walked over to the fridge and made himself a sandwich.

John pulled himself up from the floor. "You alright buddy?" Carter said in his ear. "Yes mate" John replied looking at Ivanahov.

John walked over to the fridge. "So tell me. What sort of computer do you need to use in order to do what we need?" He asked Ivanahov.

"You mean, what type of computer do I need in order to help YOU out." Ivanahov pointed out.

John heard a crackle in his ear. "Ooo someone's pissed at you!" Carter said with a chuckle.

John smiled at Carters comments and then re – asked the question to Ivanahov who was sorting out his sandwich.

Ivanahov placed the knife down that he was using. "I have the right computer with the right capabilities where I work, in my office."

John looked surprised at Ivanahov. "You work?"

"You think this is all paid for from the money fairy? Of course I work" Ivanahov replied as he finished making his sandwich. "We can eat on the way" He added.

"Now?" John asked. You have keys?" He added.

Ivanahov picked up his sandwich and a bottle of Voss out of the fridge. "Yes to both questions. We can go in my car, although I should let you walk" he said picking up his keys off the kitchen work surface and walked to the front door, eating as he went. Ivanahov looked back at John. "Coming?"

Carter could not resist "Come along little boy!" he said into Johns ear.

John picked up his bag and followed Ivanahov out of the front door and into his Merc.

"Shit Ivanahov. You're kidding me right? I mean really? Top of the range Merc with every extra?" John said excitedly. "You sure you never did the penny scandal?" he added as Ivanahov smiled getting into the driver's side while he opened the rear door, threw his bag onto the back seat and got into the passenger side.

Ivanahov looked at John as he started the car. "Do you know how many bank accounts there are in the whole world? Eight billion, five hundred and fifty million, six hundred and thirty three thousand seven hundred and fifty. Roughly" he added.

John looked surprised. "Eighty five million pound then" John replied.

"Eighty five million, five hundred and six thousand three hundred and thirty seven pounds and fifty pence. If we are talking sterling only." Ivanahov replied pulling away and driving off down the road.

The journey was smooth and graceful in the Mercedes. But then it should have been for a car that was worth in excess of forty grand in the UK.

They arrived outside of a building and Ivanahov turned the ignition off. "We are here. Bring your bag with you. The neighborhood isn't exactly the best." Ivanahov said looking up at the sign.

John got out of the car and retrieved his bag from the back seat. He looked up at the sign GLORYNIGHTS. He looked at Ivanahov. "Glory nights? Really?" he said as Ivanahov smiled back and walked over to the huge two men guarding the door. "Evening Sir" they both said in a military kind of way.

Ivanahov nodded at the two men and nodded over to John. "This is a friend of mine we are doing a little late night work" Ivanahov said as the two men nodded and opened up the front doors for them.

They both walked through into a dark hallway. In fact all the walls were dark and the floors and ceilings were white and there was a very impressive bar of to the right with the most hugest amount of scantily clad women that john had ever seen in his life. He put his shades on.

"One for you Carter" He said under his breath. "Jesus mate!" Carter replied looking up at the large screen. "Where the hell does he work?" Carter exclaimed fixated on the screen. John smiled at Carters amazement.

Ivanahov lead John down a hallway where there were doors on each side. Emitting very strange noises. John stopped at one of the doors, as he heard strange whipping noises. He heard some strange phrases too like "You have been a naughty boy". He couldn't resist the temptation and slowly opened the door.

There was a guy, dressed as a vicar in the middle of a room with two women stood over him in rubber and leather suits whipping him. And he had the most amazingly huge erection poking out from his trousers and a female dwarf smacking his hard on with a ruler.

Ivanahov stopped and looked back at John, who was mesmerised with what he was seeing. "Shit Carter. You getting this?" he asked.

"Too fucking right mate. Recording it!" Came Carters reply.

Ivanahov moved in front of John and closed the door gently in front of him. "We charge people who like to watch" He said to John calmly with a wry smile.

"Fuck it John. Pay the guy!" Carter screamed into John's ear.

John turned slowly to look at Ivanahov still in some degree of amazement at what he had just seen. "You work in a knocking shop?" John said.

Ivanahov smiled and placed his hand on Johns shoulders. "Work no. Own yes." He replied as he beckoned to John to follow him into the room at the end.

"Reckon you're going to get your arse spanked for looking?" Carter said to John who smiled and contained his chuckle.

Ivanahov opened the door with a pass card and walked through. "Jesus Ivanahov!" John exclaimed as he entered into the room.

There in front of him was a full media suite, with screens galore of everything going on. Whipping, Bondage, full sex, girl on girl, Girls on Girls, men on men, women on men. Two women spit roasting a man. Everything

"Christ John, you have to ask him for his IP address. I HAVE to get downloads of all this shit man. Jesus!" Carter said like an excited schoolboy.

John looked around in amazement. "Just. Exactly how many rooms have you got here?"

Ivanahov sat down at his chair and started to point at the screens. Twenty here in this building with one basement which is set up as a dungeon. And a further forty around the country each set up in exactly the same way. It brings in roughly ten million U.S. dollars a year" Ivanahov replied.

"Ten Million?!" John said flabbergasted "Really? Ten Million?" he added.

Ivanahov looked at John with a little wry smile. "When you are done chasing ghosts you can have a job if you like." Ivanahov replied.

"Refuse and offer it to me!" Carter said into Johns ear. John smiled and chuckled.

Ivanahov looked up at John. "So tell me. How can I now help you?" He said.

Carter spoke into Johns ear. "Type in this web address and you can download all the files we need him to look at."

John looked over to Ivanahov and nodded to his keyboard. Ivanahov moved away from the keyboard and let John type the web address into Ivanahov's computer and downloaded the file for him to have a look at. He moved away so that Ivanahov could look at the files.

"So. What am I looking at then?" Ivanahov said looking at the screen.

"These files were accessed when the main offices were broken into." John said. "Sadly no one seems to have been left alive, which means whatever they wanted on them was of importance, so we need to know who it was that accessed the files and why. And apparently according to our software guru this file contains the last details of the footprint that was left by them." John added.

John took a walk around the room looking at all the screens with all of the rooms on it. He stopped at one of them and looked closer. There was a guy. Lying on the floor with THE most hugest erection he had ever seen, and there was an amazingly leather cladded woman approaching him with a very over weight woman.

Ivanahov looked over to John as he looked closer at the screen. "He likes sex with big women!" Ivanahov said.

"Yeah?" John replied. "So what's with the other one then?"

"Scat" Ivanahov replied.

"Scat?" Jon repeated.

"Uhh Hmm. Just keep watching" Ivanahov replied.

"Carter, what's Scat?" John said under his breath.

"No idea mate, never heard of it" Carter replied as they both saw the woman sit on the man and start to bob up and down. They then saw the other woman straddle over the guys face. She then undid her trousers and started to bend at her knees and kiss the woman that was now riding this guy like a pony.

Then it happened.

"Oh Jesus! That's just not right!" Carter shouted as John just looked at the screen as it was being transmitted by the mini camera in Johns glasses.

John turned around and looked at Ivanahov.

Ivanahov smiled at John. "Now you know what Scat is!" Ivanahov smiled.

John moved to another screen and watched a guy being whipped and peed on by a number of women.

"So. Tell me Ivanahov. How much does this guy pay then per hour?" John asked in total amazement watching this guy on a screen really getting off on having a woman whip his belly and testicles while another was peeing on him.

Ivanahov looked up at the screen that John was watching and smiled. "He is my most important customer" Ivanahov replied.

John looked round at Ivanahov. "You've got to admit that there is something wrong a guy that likes doing this to himself. Right?" John asked.

Ivanahov took the pen that he was using and pointed to the screen. "Two hundred and eighty five Dollars. U.S. per hour says that it is not." Ivanahov replied. "Plus an extra three hundred to keep it quiet that he is the interior minister for justice" Ivanahov added with a wry smile.

"OK. John my friend. I can tell you one thing." Ivanahov said looking at his computer screen. "Whoever did this covered their tracks very well. Not as good as I would have done but very well never less."

John walked over to the screen that Ivanahov was using. "Yeah but do you know where they were from or what they were trying to do at least?" John asked.

Ivanahov pointed to the screen. "There seems to be some access to a file named the package or product, and a lot of access to a file named The Cure. It was copied and sent down a number of nodes and servers around the world. But eventually ended up in the Middle East. Here." Ivanahov said pointing at an area on Google Earth.

John looked at the screen. "You getting this Carter?"

"Yes mate" Replied Carter. "Looks like you are on another little trip mate" Carter said as he continued to type.

John placed his hand on Ivanahov's shoulder. "Cheers Ivanahov. You've been a great help."

"It's not a problem John. Are you still interested in coming back? There is a position here for you." Ivanahov replied.

"I'll give it a think. But so long as it doesn't involve being pissed on and whipped then I might give it an even bigger think!" John replied with a smile to Ivanahov.

Ivanahov Smiled back. "Tell your colleague that I hope he has enough video downloaded to keep him occupied" he added.

John Smiled and chuckled. "You've been rumbled Carter" John said with a smile. But Carter said nothing in reply. "Hey Ivanahov. Got a spare set of wheels that don't cost a fortune that will blend in?" John asked.

Ivanahov smiled. "Sure my friend. You can take the Hilux out back. Its diesel and full, so should get you there if you don't run into any trouble." Ivanahov replied taking the keys from the draw by his side and threw them to John.

"Where's the backdoor?" John asked.

Ivanahov got up. "Come. I show you. Wouldn't want you walking through the wrong door. Would we?" Ivanahov said with a smile and a chuckle.

John followed Ivanahov into the rear courtyard as Ivanahov placed a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful John. The people who tried to access those files are not nice. And there must have been an alternative reason why they looked at all of the files. And yours in particular." Ivanahov said in a very worryingly calm voice.

John realized what was being said and nodded. "Thanks. I will." He said. "I've got to come back anyway." He replied looking at Ivanahov. "I have a job interview to attend. Right?" He added with a smile.

He got into the Hilux and started the engine. Placing his bag on the seat next to him. He put his hand up to Ivanahov in acknowledgement and maneuvered the Hilux out of the compound.

"So Carter" John said. "Download anything tasty then?"

"Yes mate. More than enough to keep me occupied." Carter replied.

John smiled. "You know what I mean" He added.

Carter smiled. "OK. All I can see here is that there were a number of investments from a number of companies from around the world, all investing in his chain of establishments. But we are talking millions here. Five here, ten there, a few with three hundred thousand one with half a mil. All in all a total of about eighty four million." Carter replied.

John smiled and chuckled. "Less half a million for a Hilux, Fully loaded Merc and a nice house. You cleaver bastard Ivanahov" John said in a chuckle. "How far do we have to travel then Carter?" John added.

Carter typed out on the keyboard. "At your current speed, I guess we are looking at four maybe five hours." He said.
Chapter 17 – The Discovery.

Present day in a Government Lab in the Middle East.

The Vet stood at the bottom end of the lab staring at nothing but goats. Every single one of them looking a little puffed up and slightly worse for the wear. The door opened to the lab. It was the nurse. She stopped as soon as she entered the lab and looked around in amazement and horror.

She looked over at the vet. "Is this every animal that came of the farm?" She asked.

The vet walked towards her looking at the pile of petri dishes in her arms, he slowly shook his head. "No. This is just a few. The rest are being burned as we speak in the furnace." He said taking some of the dishes off her. "Come on. Let's get started" He added.

The vet walked over to a goat. "Let's start on this one" he said to the nurse.

"Why that one?" She asked.

The Vet looked around at all of the dead animals in the lab. "You have an animal that you would prefer?" he asked pointing around, and started to open the goat from the throat down to the abdomen.

The contents of the animal spilled out onto the table and started to drip onto the floor. He collected a sample from the abdominal area and put it in the dish.

After the tenth animal and exactly the same results the nurse looked around. "Why are all the animals we have looked at look like this? What has caused it?" she said to the vet.

He looked at the animals all over the room, some of them starting to now leak red foul smelling liquid from every orifice you could ever imagine an animal has. "I have never seen anything like this before. It's as if they are liquefying from the inside. Their body tissue is seemingly eating itself apart from the inside."

The nurse looked around the room. "Do you think that it is something that we could get from them?" she said. The vet froze for a second and then looked at the nurse. Just at the same time the lab door opened. It was the agricultural minister. She stopped in awe as the sight and the smell hit her as she entered the lab. She placed her hand up to her face covering her nose and mouth. Trying not to throw up and also breathe.

"How can you work with such a smell?" She asked.

The vet looked up. "I guess we have got used to it over time." He said looking at the minister. "I have taken samples but I have no idea what has caused this at all. But I suggest we burn the bodies of the animals. Because they are falling apart around us." He added.

The minister nodded and looked at the vet and paused for a while. He detected that there was something that the minister was holding back from asking.

Calling her bluff he asked. "Is there is something else?" The vet asked.

The minister looked at the vet. "Are you able to take further samples from other subjects?" she asked.

"Other. Subjects?" The vet questioned. "Elaborate on the word subjects Minister" the vet asked.

The minister looked at the pair of them. "I have a number of human subjects that need to have samples taken from them." The minister said.

The Vet looked at the nurse. "Human?" He confirmed.

The vet arrived at the hospital with the nurse inside a government 4X4 all in black. And was hurried through the back door to the morgue of the hospital. There were two bodies. One in a bag and another under a sheet. There was a horrid acrid smell in the air of the morgue, very similar to the one they had left in the Lab. It was coming from the bag.

The vet looked at the bag and took a petri dish off the nurse and held it underneath the dripping goo coming from the bag. He then turned around and went to the body under the sheets.

He pulled back the sheets from the corpse and looked at the minister. "Do we have any gloves and scalpels at all?" The minister looked over at some of the hospital staff who came up with the equipment that he needed.

The vet took the scalpel and started to insert it into the body just below the end of the breast bone and drew the scalpel down to the belly button. He parted the skin to reveal that the insides of the body had also turned to mush. He looked at the nurse who looked back at him.

The vet looked up at the minister with wide eyes like a rabbit caught in a cars headlights. The minister edged forward towards him and stopped as the vet held his hand up with a scalpel to gesture not to. He collected some of the insides of the corpse and then placed the lid onto the petri dish.

The ministers phone rang. Which she answered while walking away from the room.

The nurse looked at the Vet. "Do you think that this is airborne? Both the animals and now this person have the same signs"

The Vet looked at the nurse in her eyes. "I don't know. If it was airborne then loads more people would have it. And I mean loads more people. Not just one person in a whole town. Unless this is the first signs" The vet said as the Minister came back into the room.

The minister looked at the Vet. "We need to go" she said.

The vet looked at the nurse and then the minister. "Why? We are not finished." The vet informed the Minister.

The minister looked at the vet and walked over to him and the nurse, with a slow yet purposeful walk. She leant over the corpse and in a quiet voice she looked at them both.

"There's another two bodies I need you to look at." She said

The nurse looked at the vet and then the minister. "Two?" The nurse questioned"

The minister nodded. "Two" she added in confirmation. "Come. The driver's waiting." The minister added.

They all got into the black government SUV with blacked out windows and headed off to the next confirmed case.

The nurse was fiddling with her nails. Picking at them with nervousness.

She bit the bullet and ended the silence. Much to the vets relief. "So if we don't think that this is airborne, how comes there are more cases, and why are animals and human chains infected?" She asked.

The minister looked at the vet for his reply.

"Don't look at me!" The vet exclaimed. "I just know about animals, I have no idea about humans. My patients don't talk back to me but are always thankful of me helping them. That's why I became a vet." He said.

The minister leaned forward. "Look. I understand your frustration, but you've both drawn the shitty end of the stick, and we are not prepared to have anyone else on this information trail. You are a vet yes. But everything that you will see has a skeleton, heart, stomach and lungs etc. And of course blood. Let's get some samples taken and get the job done" she added.

With that the nurse piped up. "There's just one problem minister." She said. "None of the cases we have seen have anything left of their insides."

"The next two cases we are going to." The vet asked. "What is the history behind them?"

The Minister looked at them both. "Two cases. One male and one female from a wedding party. Everything was OK the night before but by the morning everything changed. That's all we know from the others."

"Others?" the vet asked.

"Yes. There are members of the wedding party that are unaffected at this moment in time." The Minister asked.

The vet looked at the Minister. "Where are they? The others" he asked.

The Minister looked a little sheepish, and looked down as she replied. "In a secure facility away from the press and other forms of communication." She replied.

The vet leaned forward towards the Minister. "Let's approach this from the other end. Every case we have is dead, so let's look at the ones that are alive that are connected." He asked.

The Minister looked at the driver who looked back glancing to the Minister.

"It's underground and highly secure" she added looking at the Vet.

The vet then looked coldly at the Minister. "Don't get all governmental on me. We need to see the whole picture. I need to see the whole picture. We need to find a link, otherwise all we are going to be doing is taking samples from jelly filled bodies." He said making his point.

The Minister smiled. "At last the vet grows some balls. OK" she said looking at the driver and nodded to him.

The nurse piped up. "Just exactly where and how secure are we talking?" she asked.

The Minister looked at them both. "It's one of our secure underground facilities located just outside of the town the incident was reported in. I am afraid to say that you are going to be seeing things and breath air way out of your salaries" She added as the driver altered his course and drove to the facility.

The car turned down a street that looked like all the others. The odd abandoned car, and offices. They went through some large solid metal gates that lead past a very impressive office building. They drove round to the rear of the property. In front of them there was an area that looked like a metal container.

As they drove towards it the door of the container opened and they drove in. The door closed behind them and a set of blue white lights flickered on.

The car shook a little and the walls of the container started to move above their heads as the car descended towards the lower levels of the facility.

The moving stopped and another door in front of them opened and they drove into a car park. Not just any car park, but one that had a huge amount of cars in it too.

The nurse leant forwards towards the minister. "Just exactly how many people work here?" she asked

The Minister looking forwards just replied "About two thousand. The facility extends for about a thousand meters in a circle and has four other lower levels." She replied.

The vet then leaned forward. "Just. Exactly WHAT do you do here?" He asked.

The minister looked at the vet. "There are four levels. Agriculture, Biology, Defense and Aerospace. And three of those areas are above my pay grade as well." She said.

The nurse then listening closely then piped up a comment. "OK. We are working on this and I would say that it was biological but you are the Agricultural Minister, so how come you are working on it?"

The minister smiled. "It's a good point, and one that I would have loved to know, but as I found out that there were human subjects I also learned that the minister for Biology was not contactable. So it ended up on my lap. So there are three of us out of our comfort zone." She added as the driver got out of the car. Everyone else followed.

They all walked down passed all the parked cars, to a non – descript door that had a card entry pad on the side of the wall, the minister took out her card and waved it over the pad. It bleeped and went from displaying red to flashing green. And the door magnet unlocked with a clunk.

The Minister opened the door and beaconed everyone to walk in through the darkened opening which had a very sticky floor. The minister released the door and blue lights turned on above their heads.

The lights turned to a bright white, which made them all squint a little and as their eyes became accustomed to the intensity they all noticed a door in front of them that clunked as the magnetic lock released itself.

The Minister opened up the door and they walked through into a concrete, steel and glass clad hallway. Everywhere they looked there were labs, meeting rooms and computers all working away totally ignoring them as they walked in, almost as if they knew that everyone that walked through that door, were of no interest and that they were allowed to be there or simply otherwise they would not.

The Minister led everyone down the corridor, as the driver walked in the opposite direction as if his duty had been done. She led them to another door. This time made of solid steel with the same card swipe reader on the wall. The door opened but slid sideways into the wall. The minister stepped back and showed the Vet and the nurse into the room.

The Nurse looked into the room. "You not coming in?" she asked the Minister who shook her head in reply.

"No. Afraid not." The minister said. "I have a heard of dead cows to clear up" she said rolling her eyes. "Everything you need is in the lab. Just find out what is or we won't have any animals left to worry about." The minister said.

"Or people" the Vet said in reply making everyone aware that that there was a bigger picture as they both went into the lab.

The vet took a look at the lab in amazement at what he could see. There was everything anyone with an interest in Biology could want, and included a very state of the art smart board.

They got the petri dishes out and started incubating them in the hope to find at least something, and fired up the smart board. The vet then walked over to the board and picked up a smart pen.

"Right. What do we have?" he said looking at the Nurse.

"Dead Goats" she said. "Dead People" the vet replied. "Completely different areas and parts of the country." Replied the nurse.

"All with the same end results. Liquefaction of the lower and upper organs" Replied the Vet.

They both stood back from the board. Looking at everything they had written on it. On the left were the animals, on the right was the human side. Underneath in the middle was the end result. The Vet drew lines in between them both. In the middle he drew a big circle and in the middle of it he drew a huge question mark.

"I don't get it." The nurse said. "I have never seen anything that has ever infected animal and human subjects. It's almost unheard of." She added.

The vet placed his right hand over his mouth and chin and talking through his hand he said "I know. But the cross contagion is remarkable, there are people and animals all over the country, and if this was airborne then we would be seeing an epidemic all over the country rapidly, not just in areas a time. And none of the cases have been on the same bus or any transport, and then even if they had then that doesn't explain the animal infections"

The nurse walked over to the smart board. "Maybe we are looking at this the wrong way." She said looking at the board and then the Vet.

"How so?" came the reply from the vet.

"Well" replied the nurse, taking the smart eraser and rubbing out the diagram. She then walked over to the computer and tapped in a few times to bring up a map of the country. She grabbed a smart pen and started marking areas where the cases were. "We know where the animals were located, and we can mark those in red. And we can mark the human cases in blue." She added.

They both stood back to look at the map. Although nothing still stood out at them it did give them a better understanding of what was going on.

While they were staring at the map on the board their door beeped and swished open. In walked the attaché. They both looked around.

"So. You are the two people that my Agricultural Minister has all their faith in. No pressure, right?" he said walking over to them.

The vet walked up to the Attaché and shook his hand. "Hello sir. We are trying to understand just exactly how this thing is working." He said turning around and pointing to the board.

"And do you know how its working?" The attaché replied.

"Not got a clue" the vet said.

"Well you can add another mark on your map." He said walking over to the smart board pointing to and area. "A herd of thirty cows. None of them alive. They are all being burned as we speak." The attaché said turning around looking at the pair of them.

The vet walked over to the incubator and patted its top. "Hopefully what's in here is going to tell us" he said.

The attaché walked over to the door of the room and turned around. "Let's hope it tells us soon, or otherwise we won't have anything left to test, and the skies will be filled with burning animals" He said turning around and walking through the door.

The vet looked at the nurse. "You sit down and work through all the case notes. While I get us some fruit juice."

"Wonderful. Apple if you can get it for me. I hate water tastes of nothing. And it's a pity the attaché isn't here. Did you smell his breath? Jesus! How much alcohol!" The nurse said.

"I know! And yet this is the man that is apparently in charge of this fiasco!" The vet said walking through the door as it swished open. He was stopped immediately by a huge guard with the biggest gun he had ever seen. He looked at the gun. Then at the guard.

"Just going to get something to drink" the vet said to the guard. The guard stood in front of the vet.

"Sorry sir. No one allowed to leave the room. Orders I am afraid." He said to the vet who looked at him with an open mouth.

"The attaché did" Replied the vet. As the guard just stood there, and the vet had exactly the right answer to the guard. "I see. I see. WE don't leave. I get it. OK. Then that will be one apple juice and one orange juice please" the vet said as the guard looked at him puzzled.

"Go on!" the vet added shooing away the guard as if he were a butler or waiter at a hotel. With that he turned around and headed back into the room. "You know I have a good rectal thermometer for gorillas in my case." He said under his breath walking back into the lab.

The nurse saw the vet coming back into the room. "Problems with the local wildlife?" she said with a smile. As the Vet sniggered in reply.

He sat next to the nurse and thumbed through some of the paperwork. Making notes with a pencil over everything.

Meanwhile the minister was on her way to the next site to investigate when her phone rang. "Say that again." She said looking at the driver, who returned a glance while he was driving. She ended her call and took a deep breath.

"We need to go to the hospital." She said looking at the driver. "We just found the minister for Biological research."

The driver made an alteration to his driving style by performing a handbrake turn and headed off to the hospital at high speed.

They arrived at the entrance to the hospital and stopped outside the front of the door. The minister got out of the car and trotted into the hospital she was stopped in her tracks by a doctor.

"I'm sorry this hospital is closed madam" the Doctor said.

"Closed? Since when did we start closing hospitals?" The minister asked the Doctor showing her ID to him. The doctor looked at the ID and then at the Minister.

"Follow me" the Doctor replied looking at the Minister.

He lead her round the side of the reception through the staff entrance and then down a corridor full of corpses under blankets all with blood dripping onto the floor from every hole that the body had.

The minister slowed her pace down, taking in the sight that she was seeing. "Where are they bleeding from?" the minister asked.

"From every hole the body has. It's almost like they are liquefying from inside." The Doctor said turning around while walking at the same time.

"Is the Minister like this too?" she said hesitatingly.

The Doctor shook his head. "Not yet but he is in a bad way and he will certainly not make it through the night. So if you know of any relatives then now is the time the get them here to say goodbye." The Doctor said.

The minister shook her head. "There's no one. He didn't have any family at all." The minister replied.

The Doctor stopped outside a door. And turned around to the Minister. "That's a pity." The Doctor replied. "No one should die this way on their own." He added as he opened the door slowly taking a mask out of his pocket and handing it to the Minister. She put the mask on and slowly entered the room.

She walked up to the Minister, he looked awful. "Hello Minister." She said as he opened his eyes slowly. In a way that she knew summoned every ounce of energy that he had left in him. He tried to speak.

"Shhh" she interrupted him. "Conserve your energy" she said looking at him. But he was not having any of it.

He tried to lift his head up but she could see this was not going to happen in a million years. She moved slowly towards him as he tried to speak. She could hear his breath bubbling as if he had a huge chest infection.

"Jack Frost" he said to her.

"I'm sorry?" she replied.

He took a huge deep breath which she could see hurt him a great deal. "Project Frost. Cryostasis. You must. Before it's too late. Use my lab. Take my card." He said handing his card to her. His hands were very shaky.

She took the card. "Put me on ice" he said. "Use me. Find what it is" he added. As she nodded to him in acceptance of the task. She walked out of the hospital and got on her mobile phone.

Within twenty minutes there was a black minibus sized panel van outside the hospital. The men driving the van met up with the minister and then headed into the hospital. They took out a gurney from the back of the van and wheeled it to the room. On the gurney though was a very shiny silver coffin looking casket.

They went into the room where the other minister was and opened the casket. It hissed open and a scifi like white cloud poured out from the inside. They placed the minister inside it, still alive and fully conscious.

The minister looked at the men placing him inside the casket. "You will hear me shaking inside the casket when you close the lid. DO NOT under any circumstances open the casket." He said at the same time the Agricultural Minister came into the room on the opposite side of the casket. He looked at her, smiled and nodded. She returned the smile and closed the lid. Then the shaking began inside the casket. As if there was a rabid animal inside trying to get out. She closed her eyes and as the noise continued and then subsided. She nodded to the men as they wheeled him to the van.

Meanwhile in the lab the Vet and the Nurse were still piling and sifting through the information that had been given to them about the surviving members of the wedding party. The vet got up and walked over to the incubator.

"They won't be ready yet." The nurse said.

"I know but I wanted to see how it was go..." He said stopping as he opened the door, and then closed it. He looked around to the nurse with a shock look on his face.

The nurse looked back at the vet. "Problem?"

"Where gonna need a bigger petri dish." He replied as his mobile phone rang. He looked puzzled as he stared at the screen. "My phone never rings" he said as he accepted the call.

"Ok. No problem." He said removing the phone from his ear and pressing the button for speaker phone. "OK, you're on speaker phone." He said placing the phone on the desk.

"I have found the Minister, and we are bringing him in. We are also using his facilities so you should get a visit soon from a load of guards to help you move your set up to the labs in the lower floors in the Bio center. I will then brief you later when I get in with the minister." She said.

"Just one question minister." The vet asked. "How do you know my number?"

"In the same way that I know you have a child from your previous relationship, and you called her Maria after your mother" replied the minister. "The minister is coming back to the lab, but not in the way you think. Can't explain over the telephone. The lines are not secure." She added.

"OK. But we need a better oven. The buns may get too big for it." The vet asked.

"Tell me more when I get back. I'm about twenty minutes away from you." The minister replied.

With that she ended the call and the vet and the nurse looked at each other.

The doors to the Lab opened and a group of guards came into the room. They said nothing and only nodded to the vet and the nurse. They gathered everything up for them and then walked out of the room. The Minister walked in behind them.

"Time for you to move into better surroundings" She said to them both beckoning them both to follow her.

The vet looked at the oven. "I need to wheel this over as well." The vet said walking over to the table and unlocking the wheels that the table had on it. He pushed it like a proud father would push a pram.

They arrived at the Bio level and were shown into a room that was pure white. Everywhere. At the bottom in the corner was the casket that housed the minister.

"What's that over there?" Asked the nurse.

"The Minister in charge of all of this level. The casket was his pride and joy. Part of something called Project Jack Frost. Very amazing. As we found a way of cooling the body down to a level that stops everything in its tracks. It solidifies the blood to a degree that turns it to a jelly like substance. Enabling everything to be examined but with none of the messiness." Replied the Minister.

The vet looked at the Minister. "The main thing we need to find out is why WE don't have it. We have all been in close proximity to those that are infected but none of us are showing any signs." He said. "I hope that the Petri dishes can reveal something but when I last looked there was growth in it that I had never seen before. The whole dish is full. And I would not normally see anything like that for the best part of three weeks." He added.

The minister walked in front of them both. "Look. I know you are a vet and you are a nurse, and this Is way out of everyone's comfort zones, but it's up to us." She said placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

The vet looked at the minister. "Out of our comfort zones? Out of our comfort zones?" the vet said twice taking her hand and leading her to the incubator oven. He opened the door. The minister looked at the petri dish. "Shit!" the minister exclaimed. "Should we not turn the thing off?" she said.

The vet looked at her and walked over to his case while saying "That's not the problem. This is" he said taking a dish out of his bag, with just as much growth on it. He showed it to the Minister. "If it grows that well in an oven and out of the oven then we have something really special on our hands, and it's not something that I am prepared to open up in this room. We need to give it to someone in a proper lab. Not this lab. One where they dress up in plastic suits." He said looking at the Minister and handing her the dish. She backed away.

"I'm not holding that!" she said.

The vet smiled. "Look, we've been carting this around for a while and so long as you don't open it up you will be fine. But to put your mind at rest I'll tape it up." He said handing it back to her while taking the other one out of the oven and taping that one up too.

The minister turned around and walked out of the room. "As soon as I have some answers I will let you know" she said walking away.

She walked down the corridor holding the dishes with the most firmest of hands as if they were a very pressure sensitive time bomb, and to an extent they were, but no one had any idea what they were going to come up against.

She reached the Bio Labs and used the other ministers card to gain entry. The door opened and she walked into a corridor with grey bare concrete on the left and on the right nothing but one inch thick glass walls. She stood there unaware of the small dainty young lady hat was approaching her.

"Hello minister. We have been informed to expect you. Would you like a tour first?" she said in a strangely deep voice.

"Not yet." The minister replied. "We really need to get these looked at while the others do their stuff on the minister" she replied handing her the two dishes.

She looked at them and the minister noticed her eyes open wide. "How long have these been in an oven for?" she asked.

The minister separated the two dishes one in her right hand and one in her left. "Well." The minister replied handing her one from her left hand. "This one has been in the oven for the time period written on the bottom." "And this one" she said handing her one from her right hand "Has never been in an oven."

The little lab assistant looked at the one handed to her from the ministers right hand. Her eyes widened further and her mouth opened slightly. "Never?" she questioned as the minister nodded her head and uh hummd. The lab assistant then looked at the minister. "I've seen a lot of shit in my time down here, and trust me. WE don't get out a lot. And for you to show me something that not only has growth that looks as good both from an oven and ambient temperature says to me that this is NOT something that originally came from nature."

The minister looked at the lab assistant. "So your saying instantly that this is manmade?"

The lab assistant shook her head. "We prefer to say created down here" she replied.

"I'll leave you with these. I've got to head back to the other two and see how they are getting on." She relied to the lab assistant and headed back out of the area. "Call me if you find anything interesting" she said turning around and talking as she went. The Lab assistant acknowledged by raising the two dishes up in the air in a kind of alcoholic salute.

She walked slowly back to the lab with her head looking down at the floor thinking about everything that was said to her. She approached the door and swiped her card. She saw the vet and the nurse looking over the casket that contained the minister.

The nurse looked up towards the door. "This is amazing engineering!" she said to the minster as she walked through the door.

"It should be" the minister replied. "We went through enough test subjects" she added as both the vet and nurse looked at each other with startled looks from the ministers rather frank reply.

The minister walked over to the casket to find that they had already opened up her colleague's body. She cringed a little and looked away squinting her eyes, then reverting them back to the body. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "It really does turn the blood to jelly" she added.

The vet looked at the minister. "Well. We can tell you that he doesn't have any severe bleeding to the major organs and that the only bleeding that he does have is to the stomach and kidneys. So we need to look at how it got there. Was it injected, eaten, drunk, absorbed or airborne?"

Just as they started to talk about the endless possibilities, the Attaché walked into the room. "Hold onto your nose!" the nurse said to the vet under her breath.

"Minister!" He said with his arms outstretched. He walked to her and placed a hand on each shoulder and embraced her with vigor, whist giving her a kiss on each cheek. She could smell the whiskey on his breath. "Attaché!" she said in reply, gently pulling herself away from him.

"So! Have we come across anything interesting?" he asked all three of them.

"We are getting there sir" The minister said in reply. "We are examining the minister, and the bio lab is looking at two further samples for us." She added.

The Attaché nodded as the minister spoke. "Good, good. Project Jack Frost?" he said nodding down to the cut open body of the minister in the casket.

The vet looked down at the minister and then up to the Attaché as he listened. "We were saying how well this works" the vet replied.

"Hmm. It bloody well should do for the amount of subjects it took to perfect it." He replied. "When do you think you will have some clarity?"

The vet shrugged his shoulders. "I really don't know sir. We need to find what it is first and then find out how it's getting into the body. One thing is for sure though. We have all been round dead animals and people and none of us have anything so I am willing to chance an answer that it's not airborne."

"As soon as you come across anything then you must let me know. But for the mean time I am going to get some water." The Minister replied. They all looked shocked.

"Water?" the Attaché replied.

"Water." Repeated the Minister.

"Why?" the Attaché asked.

"Well. It seems that I have run out of whiskey so I am having to stretch it out and thin it down to make it go further" he replied, as he tapped the side of the casket with his right hand and turned around to walk out of the room.

The Attaché turned around to talk to the minister. "You know we haven't had a delivery at the moment sir. So there's no soft drinks anywhere at the moment." She added.

"Mineral water? Good grief no! Wouldn't waste my money in the machine. If I'm going to create sacrilege on a fifteen year old malt then I may as well do it with tap water." He replied with a little smile. Almost proudly bragging about drinking such and expensive item and continued to walk out of the room.

After about an hour of looking at the board, and the body in the casket, the Attachés phone rang.

"Already?" she questioned the person on the end of the phone. She looked at the vet and the nurse. As she hung up her mobile. "Seems that they've found the little bugger that causes this." She said.

"What about how its transmitted?" the nurse asked.

"One thing at a time." The attaché replied as she walked out of the room to go to the Bio Labs.

She walked very purposefully to the labs and swiped her card. She was instantly greeted by the lab assistant, with a very amazed look on her face. A bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car.

"WOW! You'll never guess. I mean it's amazing, THE most beautiful thing we have ever seen, well. Considering that its killing things left, right and center. But it's awesome. You just HAVE to come to the briefing room. EVERYONES there. And I mean EVERYONE! Even our top boffins are there!" she said all excited like a child having their first proper Christmas. She lead the Minister to the conference room.

The Attaché could hear the chatter from outside the room and as the lab assistant opened the door, the room hushed and in front of her was the most hugest screen shehad ever seen. On it was a large blue sphere with droopy spikey bits all over it.

"What's that?" the minister asked.

An old man with long white hair and rough grey beard stood up. "That Attaché is the little bugger that was in the dish." He replied.

"How comes you found it so quickly?" The she asked.

Another man somewhat very much younger turned around to look at the Attaché. "To be honest it practically walked out of the dish it's that large." He said.

She looked at the screen. "So what is it though?" she said looking at the lab assistant.

"You mean natural or created?" the lab assistant replied referring to their earlier conversation, as the attaché nodded in acceptance of the question.

"Oh its created. Without hesitation shade or doubt. And with a shit load of money too." She added.

"Just one question. WHICH I want answered and HONESTLY." The attaché said looking around the room at everyone. But she was interrupted by a little young lady right at the bottom of the table near the huge screen.

"Is it ours?" she said taking the words out of the attache's mouth.

"Well? IS IT?" the attaché questioned.

"No." the little lady replied.

"And you know because?" the she replied back at the young innocent looking girl.

"Because I head up this floor. AND I spend the money, and I WOULD be proud of making this. Coz it scares the living shit out of me." She replied putting the attaché in her place.

There was a little pregnant pause in the room as everyone looked at the feisty little lass at the end of the room. The minister looked at the screen, and walked towards it on the same side as the head of the section. The attaché placed her left hand on the little feisty lady's shoulder.

"Know how it's transmitted?" asked the attaché.

The old man then piped up "We are running tests to see on a number of lab animals. We're injecting, feeding, drinking and getting them to breath this thing in." he replied.

The attaché looked at the old man. "It can't be airborne. We have all been exposed."

The old man nodded. "Yes ma'am we know, but we can't leave any stone unturned. Especially as this COULD turn airborne. All viruses have the ability of mutating." He added.

"Can I take a copy of this for the two we have working on the other floor?" she said pointing at the screen. And with that a picture of the spikey sphere was pushed down the table to her.

She picked up the picture, and walked to the door. "Let me know as soon as you have something. ANYTHING" she said looking back as she walked out of the room.

Her walk to the vet was with more pace than normal and she never took her eyes off the picture of this amazing blue sphere with droopy spikes all over it. She walked into the room.

"Well. This is the little shit that has been causing all the problems for us" she said walking to the vet with the picture held outwards towards him. The vet took the picture off her, and handed it to the nurse.

The nurse handed the picture back to the vet. He studied it and looked up at the minister. "So this thing is in him," he said pointing with the picture to the casket.

"Well. THATS what they found in the dishes that we, well, YOU gave them." The attaché replied. "They're now running tests on some lab animals to see how this thing likes to transmit itself." She added.

"What do you think they'll find?" the nurse said.

"No idea." The minister replied "But I could do with some fruit juice if we have any left." She asked.

The vet nodded over towards the table. "The last of the orange is over there. Use my cup" he said.

The attaché poured herself a cup of orange. "Oh I soooo could do with some gin or ice in this." She said taking a swig.

The nurse cleared her throat. "Errm. There is one thing that does puzzle me."

"Oh?" Replied the attaché.

"I didn't think that mobiles worked underground?" she questioned.

The attaché smiled. "It's a good question. But easy to answer. Each room has what's called a leaky feeder running into it from the halls. It's like our own little mobile network but underground. And it's the only way to keep in touch with everyone, considering the size of the place." The attaché answered.

With that her mobile rang. "Would. You mind saying that again?" she said.

The minister then dropped the cup onto the desk, and ran out of the room.

"Where are you going?" shouted the Vet.

"The minister! I have to find the minister!" she said running out of the room.

The minister was in a room with no windows, just a huge plasma screen with sky news running and a picture in picture of the local news.

The minister looked at his aide. "So when do we get out of this underground prison?"

His aide looked back at him while pouring out some of the last remaining whiskey into a glass and handed it to him. "We are here sir until we find out that you and everyone else is safe sir." Came the aides reply.

The minister took the glass and raised it towards the plasma. "At least we are managing to keep a lid on this, both with our own and everyone else's news channels." He said looking back at his aide who nodded and handed him a jug of water.

The minister looked at the jug and sighed. "This is just so wrong. Watering down a beautiful whiskey with tap water. I mean, I could almost bear it if it was with that water you get in the Hilton for twenty dollars a liter. At least you know that it came from a glacier that was hundreds of years old." He said pouring out the water into the glass.

The minister could hear a commotion outside the door to his room. He frowned and nodded towards the door to his aide who went over to the door. As he opened it the noise got louder. The two guards that were posted outside the room were holding back the attaché, and one of them turned his head around.

"Sorry sir." He shouted in a stressed kind of way. "She was insisting that she see you, but we are not aware of anyone needing to see you." The guard said as the aide assisted the guards in holding back the minister.

The attaché saw the minister in the room with the whiskey in his hand. "Has he added water to the whiskey?!" she shouted to the aide who looked at her puzzled.

The aide pushed her back. "What does it matter if he has?" he said as the attaché looked over the aides shoulder, seeing that the minister was turning back round to the TV, and added some more water to his whiskey as he did so. He placed the jug down on the table and started to put the glass to his lips.

The attaché shouted over the aides shoulder. "No!" came the words in a shrill. She fumbled in her pocket for her mobile as she was being manhandled and pushed back. She grabbed the mobile and with a huge breath shouted. "Don't Drink that!"

The mobile flew through the air and the attaché saw it in slow motion, as the aide turned around to see the direction that that it went. It struck the glass and both glass and mobile shattered just as the minister was about to place it to his lips and take a sip.

The minister ducked down as the glass shattered and guards pushed and pinned the attaché to the floor and drew their guns on her. One guard placed the muzzle on his pistol towards the back of her neck.

"Give me ONE very good reason why I don't pull this trigger!" the guard said, as the attaché gave a muffled answer. The minister walked over to the commotion.

"I believe if you let her mover her face off the floor she will be able to talk." The minister said quietly to the guard. The guard grabbed the back of the attachés head with a handful of her hair.

She winced as the guard pulled her head back. "The water. It's in the water." The attaché said as the guard released her hair.
Chapter 18 – The Capture, Plan and the Mole

John pulled the car up opposite a street vendor; the smell of what he was cooking was wafting over to him. He looked over to the guy to see what he was cooking. God it smelt so good, but there was no time to stop really. Just down the road there was a military looking complex that he had to get into. It looked like it had seen the odd round and shell in its time, and there were guards, lots of guards and they were armed to the teeth. He looked at the compound and starting thinking.

"Carter? You there?" John asked in a calm low voice.

"Yes mate" came the reply.

"I'm looking at four guards on the front and one in each tower to the left and the right. Can you see anything that I am not getting from these glasses?" John asked.

"Hold on I'll have a look. Let me Zoom in. OK. By the look of it the guards on the front are armed with AK47's and side arms, but I don't know what they are. One has 2 grenades and the other seems to have four stun grenades. The guards in the tower I have no idea, but I can tell you that they have M60's in each tower, so someone's been doing a little arms trading. Other than that I have no idea." Carter said in reply.

John looked over at the street vendor. He had an idea. But for now. Time to stay in the car and lie low.

"Got any plans?" Carter asked.

"Ohhh, I have something in mind" John said looking at the street vendor. "Juuust need to pick my moment," He added.

Time passed and John saw his moment as the street vendor started to look up and down the road. He placed more food on his hotplate to get ready for the next wave of customers. It was dark, humid and strangely quiet. Just the right place to have something like this complex. Anything going on louder than a mouse squeaking and that was enough to raise the alarm bells.

John leant behind and opened the bag on the back seat. He opened it up and pulled out the handgun and selected the stun rounds. He looked up and down the road. No one around . He set the street seller in his sights and controlled his breathing. He squeezed the trigger. The street seller slumped to the floor.

John walked calmly over to the street seller and picked him up. He walked him over to the car and un – ceremoniously dumped him into the back of the Hilux and got in behind and started to put the street sellers clothes on over the top of his.

"Nice shot" Carter said in his ear.

"Thank you." John replied. "I also get some food out of this too." John added locking up the Hilux after completely gagging and tying up the street seller. He walked over to the cart the vendor was working at.

"Oh Shit." John said looking at the hot plate. "Oh well. Food is food." He added.

"What's for tea John?" Carter asked.

"Bollocks" John added.

"What's up? Burn yourself?" Carter said

"No. Bollocks. He is cooking lambs testicles." John replied.

"Need ketchup? I hear that it helps them slide down a bit better." Carter answered back.

John checked the cart over. There was a great little storage area under the hotplate. Just big enough to store his bag in. He pushed the cart over to the Hilux.

He took the bag out from the car and stashed it under the hotplate and walked over to the main gate of the complex.

"Hey John." Carter said. "You're forgetting something." He added.

John stopped. "Forgot what?" he asked.

"Your glasses mate. Street sellers don't wear shades at night. You'll have to take them off until to dispatch the guards at the front." Carter added.

"Keep forgetting that. OK. I'll get rid of the M60s first, then the guards. After that I don't know. Play it by ear?" John said calmly.

"Play it by ear?" Carter replied. Looking up at the large screen.

"Yup! Play it by ear." John replied.

Carter then felt a tap on his shoulder, it was Carmen and Sarah with a coffee.

"Cheers Carmen." Carter said thanking her with a smile.

"It is not a problem. But you need to know that Emile is spacing out again when I talk to her." She replied. "You wanted to know when it happened again, so I am saying now"

Carter turned around and started tapping away at the computer keyboard frantically.

John approached the area where the street seller had his cart. And maneuvered the cart so that it was right across his front. He took the rifle out of the bag and loaded the rounds that would shock the guards into unconsciousness. He knelt behind the cart, took aim on the left. And controlled his breathing, and squeezed the trigger as soon as the other guard in the tower opposite had his back to the other tower. The riffle let out a little pish and the guard slumped to the floor of the tower. He aimed the rifle at the guard in the next tower and repeated the process. He then took the rifle and stowed it in the bag and then loaded the hand gun with live rounds and a silencer, and started walking to the gate.

He walked slowly and calmly with food on the top of the plate and as he got near the two guards came up to the gate and started shouting at him. John picked up a skewer and showed it to the guards, but this just seemed to piss them off more.

Then he placed the cart in front of him and held his hand up to the guards, showing that he was taking something else out of the cart for them. This really rattled them and they stood back a little. John placed his hand on the pistol, and in one quick movement, stood up and shot both guards in the middle of their heads. They slumped to the floor.

He reached through the bars of the gate and dragged one of the guards to him. He checked the pockets for keys to the gate.

"Bingo! Keys!" he said to himself. And proceeded to unlock the gate. He walked through taking the cart with him and pushed it into the guard room on the left hand side. He then took the street sellers clothes off and dragged the two bodies into the room as well. He wouldn't have long before the missing guards would be noticed so he had to work hard.

"OK Carter I'm in." John said putting his glasses back on.

"Errr right. OK John. Give me a sec?" Carter replied.

"Give you a sec? I'm not walking through a shopping center!" John replied.

"I know mate but I'm aphid hunting at the moment." Carter replied. "OK we are looking for a computer which means that anything that is a PC is capable of being our target PC." Carter replied.

"Great. So I'm looking for a needle in a haystack then?" John replied.

"Sadly yes." Carter answered. "But if we can find the server then assuming that there is a screen and keyboard attached to it, we can possibly find the computer that viewed the files." Carter added.

"So we can do this then?" John replied.

"Well, Assuming and possibly are the words to remember but yes it's possible." Carter answered.

"Any news on the Aphids?" John asked as he slung the rifle over his shoulder and carried the hand gun. He put magazines of live rounds in his left pockets, stuns in his right and the cameras in his top pocket.

"No. Not yet but they are here again, so it's time to find out." Carter replied tapping away at the keyboard.

John walked out of the guard room and kept low in a crouching stance over to the other side of the entrance. There was a large building, that had a number of rooms and windows. He peeked around the frame to look inside. It was a large room that seemed to be a store room, nothing else and no one seemed to be inside, but to make sure he crouched down and walked under the windows, just in case. Stealth was all about not being seen and always about silent killing.

He walked to the end of the building and looked around the corner. Nothing there but there was a door in the building opposite. He walked across. It was the canteen. With a couple of guards having a coffee. He continued to walk down in between the two buildings, there were some barrels on the left hand side and a doorway just after them. He could hear a couple of guards approaching. He hid behind the barrels and looked in between them. He saw them walking towards him. He took his hand gun and checking that it was loaded with live rounds he took aim. He waited until they were a little nearer until he squeezed the trigger. Both guards went down without a sound other than the rifles hitting the ground.

He walked out from around the barrels and took both guards one by one and dragged them into the store room that he passed recently.

He then went back to the same area that he had previously come to and tried the door in the opening. But it was locked. He continued down the walk way and changed his hand gun for the rifle. He took a camera round out of his pocket and loaded it into the rifle. He took aim at the wall opposite and pulled the trigger.

The camera activated and he looked at the telemetry on it. OK. Two guards on a doorway both sharing a cigarette. And there were a lot of people coming and going. Too many for him to take a gamble with.

He walked back to the locked door. He tapped his pockets in search for his lock picking tools. He found them and got started on picking the door.

Meanwhile Carter was busy tapping away at his keyboard with Carmen next to him.

"What's he doing?" Carter said to Sarah who looked around at the big screen.

"I think lock picking." She replied. As she looked back at Carter who suddenly stopped typing away.

"Oh Christ!" Carter exclaimed as he typed away frantically.

"What is wrong?" Carmen asked.

"Clever, very very clever." Carter replied. "Almost untraceable." He added.

"Have you found something?" Sarah asked.

Carter looked around at the large screen. "John? Can you hear me?" Carter asked in a rather concerned way.

John could hear but the transmission was a little broken in receiving. "Carter? Say again. You're a little broken." He said stopping at what he was doing momentarily and then continued.

"John! Get out of there! They know you are there. They have been using the feed from the glasses through Emilie as a Wi-Fi point."

Sarah looked at Carter. "How is that possible?"

"They took the feed from the glasses that we receive here and used the coms link in Emilie to effectively poach the signal and used the same receptors that she uses for hearing to listen to everything that we have been saying." Carter replied.

John heard the lock click and he opened the door.

"John! They know you are there! John!" Carter said, now shouting at him.

John walked through the door to see a small chair in the middle of a bare room. He walked towards it noticing a small trench running through the middle of the room under the chair.

The room was dark and cold and there were no windows at all. He noticed a small light hanging from the ceiling he noticed something in the corner of the room. He raised his hand gun and approached slowly.

As he approached the chair the ear peace crackled again. It was Carter.

"Ohn........Know......Coming!" were the only crackled disjointed words he got, just as he felt a huge blow to the back of his head.

Carter looked up at the screen and saw that the glasses were on the floor and they had obviously fallen off Johns head as he could see John via the small camera. Then nothing just a fuzzy screen. Someone had obviously stamped on the glasses.

Carter turned around to the computer and typed in a few commands.

"What are you doing?" Carmen asked.

"I'm rebooting Emilie. It's the only way. Then I'll reboot the main system. If I reboot them they will both have different addresses and then that way their system won't have a link to ours." Carter said. "Well that is until they start looking. Unless of course they even bother." He added.

With that there was a thump on the floor as Emilie was shut down. Carmen looked towards the noise.

"Maybe should have got you to be there and catch her. But never mind!" Carter said.

"So how long will it take to get everything back up then?" Carmen asked.

"Twenty minutes for the system assuming nothing has been laid to make sure that it doesn't, but Emilie is a different story." Carter replied.

"Why's that then?" Carmen asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Well." Carter said getting up and walking over to Emilie. "With the system it just reboots and everything is happy but with Emilie there's more at work. There's an artificial life program running around learning, evolving and creating. She really is the most amazing thing ever. Quite complex, yet very fragile in a way. She has even started to question the way she does things, and even started to learn from her mistakes and those from others around her. If you reboot her then there is the remote chance that everything can go back to the way that it was, as if she were just a child." Carter added.

Carmen followed Carter. As they got to Emilie, she looked down. "You know she really is a lovely person, well, not a person, but you know what I mean" she said placing a hand on Emilie's shoulder.

"I know. But if she reboots and remembers everything then she'll blame herself." Carter replied.

"She can't. She's artificial. Blaming yourself comes from thinking about your actions. Which isn't possible as thinking for yourself means intelligence, or life." Carmen said looking into Carters eyes.

"I know. Great init?" Carter said in reply walking over to the main server opening up a draw on route and taking out some memory sticks.

"So what are we to do now?" Carmen asked.

"Well." Carter said holding the memory sticks in the air at Carmen. "First we change the memory in case they installed a bug that was memory resident. Once we fire up the server then we reconnect the computers, then we boot up Emilie." He added.

"What about John?" Sarah asked pointing at the screen that now showed nothing but static.

"He can handle himself. And there is nothing that I can do. And I'm not going to call in any favors until I know that they are not being compromised as well." Carter said looking at Carmen and running his hand through his hair, closing his eyes as he did. He had no idea that what he wanted to do was really going to work one hundred percent, if at all. But at the moment they were blind. With no communications from anywhere. And with a worrying 20 Minutes at least until they were to find out that what he had done would really work.

"I'll make some coffee." Carmen said leaving Carter to pull the memory out of the server and replace it with new memory.

Carter had just finished putting in the last of the memory sticks and bolted everything back up when Carmen came in with a mug of coffee for him.

"Thank's Carmen." He replied looking at her and giving her a smile.

"Is it done then?" she asked taking a sip from her own cup.

"Know in a minuet." Carter replied looking at a red square button on the huge black server. He pressed it and huge fans started whirring around and lights started flashing on the network panels.

"OK. Wait for everything to fire up and get working. Then log in and start everything else up." Carter said in a little excitement. In fact this was the first time that the system had ever been turned off and secretly he was just happy that everything just started.

He walked over to the desk and looked at all the system root files scrolling up the screen, sipping his coffee at the same time.

After twenty minutes Carter saw what he wanted to see. The C prompt.

"OK. Here goes." He said, typing in the words. RUN HIVE.

The large screen crackled and popped up all the commands in duplicate to what was being shown on Carters screen. And then they heard it faint but audible. Voices. With the occasional crack and thump.

"Turn it off. I don't want to hear it!" Carmen said. "It sounds horrible. We have to be able to help him, we can't leave him in there." Carmen said getting distressed at every sound she was hearing.

Carter muted the sound for the time being. He knew that it was not John that had a need to worry. But his next priority was for Emilie. He typed in a few commands and hit the return key.

His screen showed nothing. "Come on Emilie. Wake up sweet heart, you can do it." He said speaking into his cupped hands. "Come on."

With that his screen sprang into life. "Yes!" he shouted punching the air. He jumped up and walked over to Emilie.

He knelt over her and held her head. "Come on Emilie. I know you're in there. Run a system check. Come on." He said waiting for a response.

Emilie opened her eyes. "System check in progress." She said in a rather robotic type of way. He fingers started twitching, then her arms, then her feet and lower limbs. Then her upper limbs, and then her neck and eyes.

"Hello Carter." Emilie said looking at him straight into his eyes. "I detect new memory in the server. Please confirm?" she asked. Her voice becoming less robotic.

"There is Emilie. Just in case there was any memory resident files. The signal into the server was breached and your Wi-Fi nodes were comprised, and the only thing I could think of was switching you off. I'm so sorry, I know that I said I would never do that but."

"John's life was at risk" she replied.

"You remember?" Carter asked.

"A.I. is intact" Emilie replied with a smile.

"Can you get to your feet? Are your gyroscopes working?" Carter asked.

"They seem a little out but I can reset them when I am standing. Thank you." Emilie replied.

"Good 'cause you need to hear something. I need to know what to do." Carter asked getting Emilie to her feet and walking her over to the computer. He brought up the volume.

She could hear muffled voices and the odd thump. Over the screens speakers as Carter brought up the volume.

Emilie stood for a while. And then looked at Carter. "I caused this!" Emilie said in shock.

"You weren't to blame sweetheart, your systems were compromised. But I need to know how many people are in there with him and what I need to do in ways of containment." Carter asked.

"That is a classified file Carter" Emilie replied.

"I need to contain the situation and get John out of there Emilie." Carter replied.

"Please elaborate Carter. Is your question aimed at the package?" Asked Emilie.

"Package? What Package Emilie? I'm talking about the situation Johns in. We need to get him out of there. Are you sure everything is alright with your files?" He asked touching Emilie's hair.

"You know that's really disturbing?" Carmen said walking up to them both.

"What is?" replied Carter.

Carmen looked at Emilie and then Carter. "She's artificial?"

"Real in our hearts though eh Emilie?" Carter said continuing to touch her hair.

"Very true Carter. But your signs of affection are wasted on me." Emilie replied.

"Like talking to a blow up doll Carter." Replied Sarah with a chuckle in her voice.

"Oh No. Not at all. You see I am incapable of having sex. So I am more like a manikin." Replied Emilie very straight laced. Which totally floored Carmen and Sarah for any response.

"Emilie. Please. John." He asked getting the conversation back on course. "How do we get him out of there." He asked Emilie.

"We cant." Emilie replied. As they all looked shocked in her reply.

"Johns in trouble." Sarah answered.

"Let's get him out of there." Replied Carmen.

"Like I said to Carter. We are unable to offer any help to John. As I believe he is being interrogated as we speak." Replied Emilie.

"That's just daft. He needs our help." Replied Sarah.

"Emilie. Why can't we get him out of there?" Asked Carter.

"I'm afraid that's classified Carter." Emilie replied coldly.

With that Carter went back to the terminal, and started to type away.

"Carter? What are you doing Carter? Why are you searching my system files Carter?" Asked Emilie looking over at Carter.

"I'm sorry Emilie, but we need to get John out of there and you are not offering and plausible answer." Carter replied.

"I gave a fully logical answer Carter. You asked and I gave the answer. Why are you searching for an alternative answer that will not exist?" Emilie asked Carter while looking around at the others.

"It's called intrigue Emilie." Carter replied.

"May I add this to my A.I. files Carter?" Emilie asked.

"Feel free Emilie." Replied Carter still typing away.

Sarah took her hand and waived it in front of Emilie's eyes. "Wow! Totally gone!" she said.

"Is that what's been happening then when she spaces out?" Carmen asked.

"Nowp. Emilie was spacing out as her system could not cope with three transmission signals in one. She is spaced out now coz I'm loading a file." Replied Carter.

"A file?" questioned Sarah.

Carter nodded with a pencil held horizontally in his mouth. "When I asked Emilie how we controlled the situation she asked about something called the package. So I'm uploading a small file that tells her to allow access to that file in emergencies." Carter added.

"Nice" Carmen replied as Emilie blinked.

"Emilie. How many people are in the room with John?" he asked.

"Can you plug me in directly?" Emilie asked. "I can hear more Carter." She added. Carter typed away on the keyboard, and the sound stopped on the main screen.

"One person near the mic. One further away. Please. Un plug me. I don't like hearing it." Emilie said as carter fulfilled her request.

"She doesn't like hearing it?" Sarah whispered to Carmen.

"Didn't think computers and machines could like anything?" Replied Carmen in a whisper to Sarah.

"Emilie. When I asked about containment I meant the situation. We need to get John out. What's the package?" Carter asked as Sarah walked into the center of them.

"That is classified Carter" Replied Emilie.

"I know but if you look at your subroutine you will see that you can access that file should John be in trouble, and we need to get him out of where he is." Carter replied.

"We can't get him out." Replied Emilie.

"Did your file not work?" Sarah asked.

Carter held his hand up to the girls. "Emilie. Why can't we get him out?" Carter asked.

"The Package" Emilie replied.

"What is the Package Emilie?" Asked Carter.

"That file requires a password Carter. Please enter your password." Emilie replied.

John turned to his computer screen and keyboard and typed away.

"The Package is John." Emilie replied. "Within John is a bio virus." She added.

"Bio virus?" Sarah Asked.

Emilie looked coldly at Carter. "If John is being interrogated and they are making him bleed. And should any of them in the room ingest his blood then nothing will happen, but should the blood come into contact with water then it will create issues. If there is a glass of water in the room and they drink from it and it has been contaminated they will have maybe a few hours until the package takes effect. Should the package come into contact with drainage then the issues are unlimited, and will be confined to that area or areas where the sewage system comes into contact with." She replied.

The three of them looked stunned at Emilie.

"John is the perfect weapon. Send him in. 10ml of blood in the countries water system and people drop like flies." She added.

"So. How do you stop the thing from getting worse?" Carmen asked.

"That is a very good question" Emilie replied. "According to the files that were copied, there was one titled the cure, so I can only assume that something has been done. And I do remember them working on something like this when John was in action." she added.

"In action?" Sarah asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Emilie nodded in response. "John was part of a top secret bio weapons project. They were initially trying to create a bio weapon that could create a decade of infertile people. The aim was to get him in drop it and run. John was completely infertile after having testicular cancer. So he volunteered his blood and body to be used to create the bio weapon. Problem is that the only way things could be continued was to add the culture to his system. And have him as the petri dish. And that is when things got messy.

Vials got mixed up and he had something added to him that nearly killed him, but his body soon adapted and what came out is what you will no doubt see shortly." Emilie added.

"So how do we help him out. We just can't let him get the shit kicked out of him." Carter asked Emilie.

"Sadly we don't. But John is very well trained and he knows when to do things. We can't go anywhere near him." Emilie added.

John felt another blow to the side of his head. It made a rendering thud as he heard the knuckles of the person hitting him crack.

The room was dark, it was also quite musty, and the chair that he was strapped to was also beginning to hurt him.

The hitting stopped for a while. And he heard the person that was hitting him walk away to what he thought was to the opposite side of the room. There was a clinking of bottles and then the footsteps returned.

"Ever heard of the phrase rub salt into the wounds?" the voice came over slow and methodical. John tried to look but his eyes were puffy from being hit and they were partially blinded by his blood dripping down his head. He then felt something being thrown into his face. It was liquid, and soon it began to really sting. He gritted his teeth as the liquid started a burning searing heat that stung every part that John knew where he was bleeding from. His eyes were also beginning to sting as well.

"I can make the burning stop. But you have to help me to help you." The Arabian voice said to him calmly.

John smiled. And gave a little chuckle which only made the person even more pissed off. So much so that he felt something being inserted into his nose. It smelt a little like menthol. And then the person squirted a little up his nose.

This made John catch his breath as the searing heat from the menthol acted very fast. So fast that he could hardly breathe. He was desperately trying to catch his breath but it was proving useless.

He decided to breathe through his mouth which was just as difficult but doable never less. He leant his head forward gasping for breath and squinting from the pain he was feeling all over his face.

"So. Are you going to help me?" the man said calmly and quietly to John, which to be honest he found really off putting to begin with.

John decided to bide some time and talk to the man. He took a quick gasping breath. "Just. Exactly. HOW can I help you?" John said.

He heard the man walk away and drag a chair over to him. The man turned the chair around and straddle sat it and leant on the back of the chair.

"I need you to tell me everything about the package." The man said calmly.

"The Package?" John said almost clarifying everything that the man had just asked for.

The man smiled, as the pain started to subside from Johns face, although this was probably as he had begun to grow to the pain.

The man got up from the chair and got a small glass of water and drank from it. "All you need to do is help me and I can let you have a drink. Make all this pain end. Just tell me what the package is and how we can get it and I can make all this stop for you." The man said. Taking a sip of water.

As the man took a sip he started to heave. He moved to his side and vomited. It contained his lunch and blood.

"Feeling a little unwell?" John asked as the man as the other one in the room came over to them both and placed a hand gun on the floor. The other man looked at John.

"What have you done?" he said looking at John.

"I am sat on this chair with my legs and arms handcuffed to it. Other that the fact that I am about to piss myself then I have done nothing." John said looking down at his body. The man vomited again. More blood came up.

"John looked at the man. "Look I know how to help in these situations. I am a trained medic. Let me help." John asked. The man hesitated and then looked at John again as the other man vomited again.

"Dam it man! Let me help!" John shouted. The man took the keys from his colleague. And unlocked all the locks on every handcuff.

John bent over and rubbed his ankles. He then rubbed his wrists and got up and arched his back and moaned.

"PLEASE!" the man said pointing down to his colleague. "You said you would help" he added.

John looked down at them both. "Oh yes. Sorry I did say that I could help." As he took his right leg and swung it hard connecting with the man's head, sending him flying. John bent down and picked up the hand gun and walked over to the man.

John knelt down beside the man's head. "You want to know about the package? I'm the package. Your friend has less than an hour to live. And you are going to tell me where the person you work for is." John said pushing the gun firmly into the man's crotch while pinning the man down with his knee pushed into his neck.

The man spat into johns face. "Fuck you! You western piece of shit." The man said. "I will never gvie you that information." He added.

"No worries." John replied taking his hand and wiping it over his face smearing the blood down to his face in an attempt to see a little better. He then rammed his fingers into the man's mouth, and put his face close up to the mans. "Enjoy." John said as he pistol whipped the guy and knocked him out cold.

He walked over to the other guy that was still in a very bad way.

"So. Tell me. And I will make all this pain disappear." John said to the guard, close up to his face in a very quiet and angry way through his teeth. "Just tell me who you get your orders from." John asked.

The man coughed and spluttered and looked over to the far wall as if he were looking through it. John lifted the guards head up and rammed it into the floor. It had a rendering crack as it hit the floor. Blood then started to flow out under the guards head and drain out onto the floor.

John walked over to a table by the door and saw an unopened can of coke. He opened it and took a few large swigs, and poured some over his face to wash off the blood and fluids off his face.

He saw his glasses and earpiece together with his bag and weapons. He put the glasses on and the earpiece in his ear, gathered all his things up and headed for the door. Checking and loading his rifle with live rounds. He cracked the door open. So long as everyone thought that he was in this room then everyone else will be off guard and ready for him to surprise them.

In the hive Carmen looked up at the large screen. "Look!" She exclaimed. "The screen." She added.

Carter turned around. "John is that you? John?!"

John kept close to the wall. It was nearly dark. "Yeah it's me. I'll need some help Carter." John said in reply.

"Anything mate. Just name it." Carter asked.

"Just be an extra pair of eyes for me would you? I can't seem to see clearly out of my left eye." John replied.

"That's good." Carter replied. "You aim with your right." He replied with a little humor.

"John, its Emilie. You can't go shooting people. You will become too conspicuous" Emilie said trying to install some sort of logic into the mix.

John smiled as he heard Emilie's voice. "Hi Emilie. It's great to hear your voice. Like a breath of fresh air." John said walking along the side of the building and sighting another lookout tower on the other side of the compound. He took aim. He controlled his breathing.

"John, you can't go knocking everyone off. We have to do this logically." Emilie said calmly trying to control John.

John breathed in and out slowly and then squeezed the trigger of the rifle. The rifle made a very silent pish noise and he watched the guard in the tower drop to the floor.

"Carter. Give me the heads up on what I have here." John asked. "I need to know where to go. There has to be something here that gives us the heads up on things." He added.

"On it already mate." Carter replied typing on his keyboard and bringing up a satellite picture of the compound.

"OK John." Carter said. "The images I have available are a little out of date but they are good enough to work with. Further down from where you are you should come to another corner with a large building. And after that one there should be a concrete wall, other than that there is nothing really that seems to say anything." He added staring at the satellite image.

"OK. Let's play this by ear then." Replied John, blood still dripping from his head a little. He approached the building and kept close to the walls. He could see a window further down, and decided to try something.

"OK Carter. I've got an idea. If I take the glasses off and put the frame just into the edge of the glass, you can tell me what's inside. Right?" John asked.

"Yeah! It's a good idea as well." Complemented Carter towards John.

"OK. Let's do this then." John said taking the glasses off and placing the left part of the frame just passed the window frame.

Carter looked at the image on the large screen. It was a little shaky. But visible. "OK John. Looks like there are beds in this block. Looks like squaddie quarters. And you have two away with the lambs and what looks like a few rifles on the floor. Possibly AK47's. I would suggest using the door, and a silencer on the hand gun."

John took the glasses and put them back on his face. "Thanks for the advice Carter but I have my own way, he said. Loading the rifle with stun rounds. He opened the door slowly, and thankfully it never made a noise. John aimed his rifle through the opening and aimed at the first guard. He breathed slowly and pulled the trigger. The rifle fizzed into action, which raised the attention of the other guard.

The guard scrambled for his rifle at the bottom of the bed, as john ran over to him and raising his rifle, brought it down onto the back of the guards head with a rendering crack and a thump which made Carter wince at the other end.

"He's gonna feel that in the morning." Carter said. Looking up at the screen.

"No he won't." John said bringing the butt of the rifle down onto the back of the guards head with a devastating blow, which made everyone in the hive cringe.

John walked back over to the other guard wiping blood from his head as he went. His fingers now covered in his blood. He opened the guards mouth and rammed his blood ridden fingers into the guards mouth. He checked the guard over. He found photos of a young lady and also some cigarettes.

"What's this?" John said checking the guards neck. "Carter? I've got an access control card here." He added.

"OK John. I'm on it." Carter replied searching for evidence on the photos. "I can't see anything John on these photos and images, but they are very old." Carter added.

"OK. Old fashioned approach. Look and see." John replied as he left the building that he was in.

"John? Can I ask? Was it necessary to do that?" Carter asked.

"Do what?" John replied as he pulled the door closed and walked back down the side of the building.

"Ramming your fingers into his mouth." Carter replied.

"Let's be honest Carter. This country is screwed in a few days. One more person 'aint gonna harm." John replied as he continued to walk around the building and continued to walk towards the bottom of the compound. As he got near the end of the compound he noticed something.

"Do you see what I see Carter?" John asked as he knew Carter could see the feed coming from his glasses.

"Looks like a door mate. Nice steel one. Kind of looks out of place in the middle of the wall. Don't see an access card reader though. Does it open?" Carter replied.

John put his hand on the doors handle and pulled down. It made a solid clunk. He pushed it open to reveal a set of metal grate steps that led down under the complex.

"You know as soon as you go down to the bottom of that we cant hear or see anything this end." Carter said trying to reassure John that he needed to know what he was doing, considering how bashed up his was.

"Duly noted Carter. I'll keep everything going through just in case." John replied. As he walked through the door, shut it behind him and started walking down the stairs.

The stairs were relatively new and the whole area was bathed in a red glow from the light above. At the bottom of the stairs there was a card reader by another door. He took the card he got from the guard and touched it on the reader. It made a beep and the red LED turned into green. He pulled the door open.

Inside there was a completely different style of compound. All bright white daylight lights and white walls. And rooms either side. Some behind other doors with card readers and others with glass walls and science kits like test tubes. John took out the handgun and silencer and loaded it with standard rounds. He slung the rifle over his shoulder.

All the labs looked deserted but one of the doors to the left opened so John walked back behind the main door he came through and kept it open just enough to see through the crack.

Two people came out of the door and walked to the door he was standing behind. John took his handgun and aimed at both of the people walking to him.

He squeezed the trigger and took both of them out with single shots to their heads. They both slumped to the ground. John opened the door and went to the two people now laying on the floor. He searched them but there was nothing. Only their cards that they must of used to open the door that they had both come through.

He dragged their bodies through the door, and put them under the stairs. He then took the access cards and walked up to the door that they had both come through. He placed on inside his pocket and used the other.

He listened at the door to see if there were going to be any surprises, but the door was so thick that he couldn't hear a thing.

He took the access card he had taken from the other two people and swiped it over the reader. It made a beep and the LED once again turned from red to green and a lock clicked. John pushed the door open. He opened it very slowly looking through the opening first before pushing the door open a little further.

He walked through the door and closed it behind him. Inside the room there were a few metal tables with some microscopes on them. And a whiteboard in the corner with some symbols on it, and to the other side of the room there was a small fridge.

John walked over to the fridge and opened it. There was a sandwich, a can of coke and a chocolate bar inside it. Other than nothing else. He took the can of coke out of the fridge and opened it to take a swig.

His train of thought was interrupted when he felt something cold and metallic pushed into the back of his head. "Put the drink down, with your rifle and gun VERY slowly."

The voice was a little deep but very cold and calm. He could not place the accent. He placed the can down on the metal table, together with his rifle and handgun.

"Good" came the reply after he did this. "Now walk towards the door. SLOWLY" Came the instructions. John did as he was asked and walked slowly to the door. As he started walking he heard the can of coke being picked up as it scrapped across the table's surface with a faint grinding sound.

An access card being held by a gloved hand came passed his right hand side and touched the card to the reader, which made the door open. "After you." Came the voice from behind with the gun being pushed into the back of his head a little more to tempt him to comply.

As he walked through the door another set of commands came. "Turn right SLOWLY and just keep walking and looking forward." Came the next set of instructions. "This time you can put your hands and arms behind you where I can see them."

John walked slowly down the corridor. He tried to turn his head slightly to the glass fronted labs to see if he could see a reflection of the person behind him. But the gun was thrusted into the back of his head a little harder. Which hurt. "JUST. Keep. Looking. Forward." Came the instructions.

John was walked further down the corridor until he came to another door. It was a strange dead end really as the white lights and walls were now encased in a red light. There was another reader on the wall. And the same gloved hand came passed him and touched a card onto the reader.

The door clicked and the gun was pushed into the back of his head. He opened the door. Inside the room was completely different. It was rough walled. No paint, just concrete, and dark. Just enough light to see. "Keep walking." Came the commands from behind him.

The person behind him then moved their left hand round the Johns left and side, holding the can of Coke at the same time. "Hold this." The instruction came. John complied. If there is anything that he had learnt in all of his training was that if you can't see the person behind you. Comply. Coz it might be a seven foot monolith or a 4 foot high wimp.

A chair came swinging round his left hand side. "Have a seat." Came the command. John looked down at the seat. Which was placed so that his back was still behind the person that lead him there.

"John?" came a voice in his ear. We can kind of hear what's going on. It's a bit crackly but overall we can cope." Came the reassuring tones from Carter. "Can see anything though." Came the additional information from Carter.

John heard another chair being dragged behind him. "So. Where do we start?" Came the voice behind him.

"You're the one with the gun at my head so why don't you start?" John said calmly.

The man behind him chuckled deeply. "Let's start with the old man shall we?" The man said smugly knocking the gun at the back of Johns head as he tried to turn around.

"You killed him?" John asked.

"Sadly no. He killed himself. By not working with us." The man said smugly.

"Did you get what you wanted?" John asked calmly which seemed to really annoy the man behind him.

The gun was pushed into the back of Johns head knocking it forward a little. "Think we got we wanted to achieve." The man said.

"And what exactly was that then?" John asked in a kind of sarcastic way, knowing full well that this was really going to upset the unknown man. "Looking into some computer files for creating your own little problem?" he added.

The man behind John chuckled a little and placed the barrel of the hand gun he was holding on the top of his head and ran it down the back to the middle of Johns neck. He twisted it around a little playing with John and then took a little breath and moved closer to the back of Johns head.

"Oh this is so much better than that. You see. If I may monologue a little. There are many ways of getting what you want and also ways of getting things that people have no idea what they have. So rather than fighting them you approach things in a different way." The man said cold and calculated.

John yawned. "Sorry. For a minuet there I dozed off. It's been a tiring day. So you will have to make things a little more plain for my splitting head ache." He said in such a sarcastic way that delivered a little yet firm blow to the back of Johns head with the muzzle of the gun that was behind him.

"This, filthy third class and rich separation in this country is diabolical. The rich are just getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. They are so concerned about how the world sees them that no one gives a shit on what they are actually doing. So long as the outside world sees them as a happy country that is fine and dandy." The man said getting a little annoyed at John.

"So this is a class hate thing?" John asked.

The man chuckled. "Oh it's so much more than that. You see, sat underneath this shitty little rich country is the largest and deepest concentrates of rare earth. In fact enough to topple China. Yes there are some deposits of gemstones like Blue Garnet, which is nice but the concentration amounts of Dysprosium and Cerium are amazing. And what is amazing is that they are relatively near to the surface, but they are hell bent on pulling all their oil out of the ground they can't see it." The man said.

"OhhhKaaaay." John said nodding his head. "So it's a greed thing. So why go to the trouble of stealing some computer files that you can't get into?"

The man chuckled once again. "I tried to work with them but Nooooo. So instead I concocted a little plan to wet their appetite. I told them about a project that meant they could develop their own biological weapon that had the potential of wiping out a while country. And I'll be honest with you. I never thought that the heads of state here would get such a huge hardon for this. And they threw disgusting amounts of money at it. Ready for me to drop the files on their desk! But what I did was to just crash my way into a lab. Try to hack into some files and leave a hard yet traceable trail to find me and have you come here!"

"Why Me?" John asked.

"Oh, you and I are so much alike John, yet so different. In many, many ways. You see I knew that you would find the trail. And I told the Army here to expect you. And to rough you up a little. They even built this complex with drain channels in the main interrogation room leading to the sewerage system! I know who YOU are." The man said knocking the back of Johns head with the hand gun.

"So. WHO am I then?" John said Expecting his full name to be said.

"You John are the package." The man said knocking the muzzle into the back of Johns head. "And you were part of a project that got mothballed. And hidden like a dirty little secret. And I know this coz the project was changed to look for a cure. I am that cure John. You see why try and walk into a country and fight them for their rare earths when I can let them think that they need to develop something else that will make them dominate the world by fright. So they build all the Labs possible for me. They even have one underground! And its HUGE! Bring you in. Rough you up. Your blood gets into the system, starts killing from the inside, and I then use me to stop everything and control the government! A little complicated I agree but effective." The man said a little proud of his plan.

"So. What's next?" John asked fearful that the answer would bring his own demise. "Shoot me?" He added.

"Oh John. I don't need to shoot you. I just need to close the door and leave you rotting down here." Came the reply and the barrel of the gun was then cracked over the back of his head. Sending John flying off the chair.

John hit the floor gripping the back of his head. "I'm so getting tired of this shit." He said to himself. Hearing the door close behind him. He put his hand in his pocket. "So glad I had two of these." He said getting up with a wince. He walked over to the door and placed the card over the reader. The LED went from red to green and he opened the door. He walked slowly to the room that he came from.

As he walked down the corridor there was a rendering explosion from a hand gun going off and the round hit the wall just above his head. Sending bits of concrete flying. John ducked down and hit the floor. He raced to the room where he knew his weapons were.

He saw a fleeting glimpse of the person that had just been with him, and John ran into the room he was taken from. He grabbed his rifle and a few different rounds and ran out as he heard the door close to the stairs. He swiped his card to the door that opened to the stairs as another rendering crack from a hand gun going off rebounded in the stairwell, and sparks flew as the round hit the metal of the stairs. John ducked and continued to run up the stairs in pairs.

As he got near the top he saw the man run through the huge door and start to close it behind him. John ran harder and threw himself at the door. Trapping a few fingers of the man's hand in the door frame. He heard the man scream in agony as his black gloved hand remained trapped in the seal. Then there was nothing. John opened the door and saw the glove fall out of the door frame and down through the grating that the stairs were made from.

His earpiece crackled into life. "John! John! You there?" came Carters voice.

"I'm here Carter think I just found The Cure though." John said running after the man as he saw and also heard an Army helicopter overhead.

John ran after the man but his direction was cut short as the helicopter unleashed a hail of gun fire which rained down a whole host of expended shells on top of John.

"Jesus John! Is that gun fire?" Carter exclaimed.

"Fuck me I'm so pissed off with this shit! For fucks sake. If you're not chucking me out of an aircraft, I'm swimming in cold water trying not to piss myself. I am so pissed at being in the middle of shit!" John shouted looking up at the helicopter as it passed overhead. He took his rifle and loaded his stun round into the chamber.

"To be fair John, that's a little harsh. I never made you jump out of the plane. You chose to jump." Carter said in a little joking way.

"Carter?" John said in a questioning way.

"Yes mate." Carter replied.

"Fuck you!" Came Johns reply.

John put his back to the wall of one of the buildings and took a deep breath to run after his target. He ran down the side of the building. Dust was starting to fill the air as he neared the landing site. As he approached the corner a couple of chunks of mortar from the building above his head rained down on top of him. John ducked back and planted his body as flat as he possibly could. He peered around the corner.

The helicopter was there nose pointing to his right, with the pilot looking at his direction. He had a small window open with a hand gun pointing in his direction. On the other side of the cockpit, he could see his target getting in. The pilot removed his hand from the opening and took control of the helicopter. The blades roared into an even greater life as the pilot took control of the bird.

John took his rifle, and placed it into the shoulder. He took aim though his sight, and pulled the trigger. The round shot off and screamed through the open window that the pilot had forgot to close.

The round hit the pilot and started to do its work by shocking him. "Bingo!" John shouted.

"Did you get him mate?" Carter shouted.

"Nowp! But I did get the pilot with a shock round." John replied looking at the pilot now convulsing at the controls.

The helicopter started to spin out of control. "What's happening mate? Are they down?" Carter asked.

"Well he's spinning out of control. And starting to head my way! Ohhhhhh Shit!" John shouted as he started to run very fast in the opposite direction. The blades of the helicopter now turning around at right angles to the floor and started to take chunks out of the building.

John ran to the door that led down under the compound and the handle froze and refused to budge. He kept trying the handle while looking back and seeing the debris starting to fly towards him in huge great chunks. He gave the door one last go on the handle. The door flew open and John rushed behind the door and closed it shut. Listening to huge lumps of debris crashing around outside and parts of helicopter obviously exploding.

"John! Are you OK?" Johns earpiece crackled as Carter shouted.

"Yeah. I'm OK." John replied opening the door as all the explosions and rubble had subsided from outside.

He opened the door to everything in ruins and burning. He looked over towards the largest burning area and could see the cockpit of the helicopter burning away with both its occupants still inside.

"It's gonna take a while for them to clean this up." John said.

"So who was it?" Carter asked.

"What?" John asked.

"The man. The cure. Who was he?" Carter asked.

"No idea. He's a little Bar – B – Q'd at the moment." John replied. Walking back down to the bottom of the stairs collecting the glove at the bottom before returning to the top.

"John? On a serious note mate. Emilie informed us about you while you were out of contact." Carter said. "How are we going to contain the situation?" He added.

John held up the glove to his face. "Oh I'm sure we can find a way Carter" John replied surveying the damage all around him. "Emilie? You there?" John asked.

"Yes John. Sorry about everything. Carter wrote a subroutine." Emilie said instantly apologising to him.

"That's fine Emilie. It's not a problem, but containment is. Now I've got a room here that has a channel that drains into the main sewer system. I need you to track the drain on the plans to the main sewer system, and tell me if half a finger is enough." John asked.

"No worries John. Let me analyse." Emilie said going into a daze.

John walked around the site that was now a huge pile of rubble. Smoke was billowing up into the air. He walked around all of the debris. "Carter? Going to need an out, coz this is going to cause a bit of stir if it 'aint already. I'll use the Hilux to get there." He said walking out of the compound towards the car.

As he approached the car he could hear thumping from the rear and a muffled voice shouting. "Ah. Yes" John said walking to the rear of the car opening it up.

The man saw John and cowered further into the rear of the back. He beaconed the man forward toward the lip of the Hilux, but as he didn't respond John leant in and pulled the man out. He sorted him out, helped him to his feet and pointed away from the Hilux. The man looked at John and ran away.

John got into the driver's door and started the engine. "OK. So where be I going then?" John said in a country accent.

"We have a number of options John." Carter said "But the main priority is that we just can't have you romping up to anywhere that is part of their military or government. You're off radar and so is this project, so they will lock you up and throw away the key before you could even do anything." Carter added.

"So what's the plan? Coz sitting around is not only pissing me off but will, but after a while will draw notice." John replied.

"The best option is the sleeper option. We set up a Gmail account, type an email and save it in drafts. We then give the recipient the logon details and get them to log into the account. They read the email and then type a reply and save it in drafts. This way we get messages from us to them and without sending. So there are no trails to follow." Carter replied.

"OK. Carter. So how long will all this take?" John asked, expecting an answer that would involve letting him have a rest in the car.

"I've already set up the Gmail account while we were talking, so I just need to get a message to our contact, and let it filter through. Problem is that the person we have in the country is normally in a bar by now. So it could get interesting!" Carter replied. "Just find somewhere quiet and inconspicuous mate" he added.

This was just the answer John was looking for and drove away to find a nice quiet spot. He drove the Hilux away slowly as every bone in his body hurt, and the cuts on his face were starting to coagulate so every movement sent shearing pains across his face.

Johns nap was ended by Carters voice crackling in his ear. "Wakey wakey my luver!" Carter said as John could hear the girls in the background chuckle.

John opened his eyes slowly feeling every bit as the dried blood cracked on his face. "What's the plan Carter?"

"Well it's all sorted. I will give you directions. But basically we are leaving the glove in a known secure drop. And they are using Emilie's instructions to grow cultures from the finger and to add it to their own water system. This way they can clean their own supply and then work on something to give to everyone that is surviving." Carter said.

"So where are we going then?" John asked.

"A few miles down the road you will see an old Crème coloured Merc. Admittedly there are loads around where you are but this is the only one that is crème. The boot is open. So we place the glove in the boot and walk away." Carter said making things sound seemingly easy.

"And the person that is collecting the glove knows what they are doing, they are kosher and above board? It will get to the right place?" John asked.

"Yup!" Carter replied quickly. "Seems the only people alive are going to be those that don't have anything with water. So we have either fruit juice freaks or pissed up old soaps to deal with!" Carter replied.

"You giving me directions then?" John asked. "I am about half a mile down the road I parked in a side turning to make it easier for you." John said hoping that he wouldn't have a huge drive again.

"It's easy mate. Just go back to the road you turned off and go about three miles straight down and the car is on the same side that you are going to be on." Carter replied as John started the Hilux.

"Carter?" John asked.

"Yes Mate" came the reply.

"Going to need an out mate, but one that doesn't involved chucking myself out of anything or for that matter swimming for miles. Just don't have the energy for that." John replied.

"You also need to clean yourself up mate before we even get you an out. So make the drop and find somewhere mate." Carter replied, as john started the journey down the road.

"OK, Carter. Got a crème Merc up ahead. You're kidding me right?" John said.

"What's up?" Carter asked.

"The Merc has a set of pink fluffy dice hanging from the rear view mirror?" John asked.

"Yup! Nice feature I thought." Carter replied. "Look at the boot lid" Carter added.

"Jesus! Really? They get away with this as a secure drop? And no one's torched it for also having the alpha fish sign on the back?" John asked in amazement.

He stopped the Hilux behind the Merc, and got out. He looked around for anything suspicious but then to be fair, everything was suspicious to him. He opened up the boot, placed the glove inside, closed to boot, walked back to the Hilux and drove away.

"So where do I go for this out then?" John confirmed.

"You need to clean up first mate. So I would say find somewhere that has water that drains into the city's water system. " Carter replied, as John drove down the road.

"Let me get this right. So long as I wash my face and the water drains into the cities drainage system then we are fine right?" Johns asked.

"Yes John, but it must drain into the sewerage system not the ground, or the water table will be effected." Replied Emilie.

John drove down the road a little further and came across a little farm that had some goats. John noticed that there was a drinking trough in the field so he stopped the Hilux and walked over to the trough. It was full of water which had a set of pipes leading from the overflow to the drainage system.

He cupped his hands and placed them into the water, splashing the water over his face a rubbing it gently, the blood came off little by little making the water redder as he washed.

On the side of the trough there was a stop tap. Which john turned on and let fresh water flow in. This way the water could replenish the trough and the excess would flow away into the drainage pipe. The water would also be turned from a ruby red colour to something that would look and resemble fresh water.

Once he had had finished, he walked back to the Hilux. Started the engine and drove off. "OK. All fresh and breezy. Where's my out." John asked.

With this Carter then spoke. "You need to drive on the same main road you were on for 20 minutes. You will then come across a large house with a windsock. Basically it's a grass strip. Your out will be there. But he can't wait for long. And he will be there in 15 minutes so you will have to get going but not get stopped." Carter said.

"Just one thing Carter. Will I have to jump out of this plane?" John asked.

Carter chuckled. "No mate not his time. Unless you want to?" he said.

"Na your fine" John replied. "Which route is the out?" He added.

"It's about four stops in total. We get you out of where you are under the Radar. Then its plane sailing so to speak. If you pardon the pun. So we should see you back here in a day or so." Carter said.

John breathed out long and slow. "Nice. And I could do with a bath as well. Ahhh a nice soak." He said looking up at the sky.

"It'll be great to see you again mate." Cater said. "I know Emilie just can't wait to pander after your every whim!" he said smiling at Emilie and the others.

With that Carmen piped up. "So did you find name of the person?" Carmen asked.

"Other than crazy fucker no. Sadly." John replied.

"John. Its Emilie. Are you still bleeding?" Emilie asked.

Nowp!" John said touching his forehead and face, then looking at his hand afterwards.

"That's good." Emilie said looking up at the screen. "I will get everything here for your arrival." She added.

"Just a nice hot bath is all I really need." John replied. "And a cup of chamomile tea." He added.

He neared the landing zone for his out, and drove off the road and up to the house and parked the Hilux. He got out and looked towards the sky. He could hear a small engine getting closer.

He waited by the Hilux and grabbed all of his kit. And shut the door. As he turned around the plane landed around the other side of the building. He walked around.

"Looks like my ride is here folks." John said walking around the building to the other side where the plane was.

As he approached the plane he noticed the pilot wave a hand and opened the door on the other side of the cockpit.

"Enjoy your ride John. See you back here in a day or so" Carter said.

"Cheers Carter. Thanks for all your help everyone." John added.

"Life will be pretty boring when you return." Carter said looking at the girls who nodded.

"You never know. Might just take up that offer from Ivanahov!" John chuckled.

"Have a great trip John. See you back here soon." Carter added.

"I Will Carter." John said. "Oh, and Carter?" John added.

"Yeah?" Carter replied.

"Thanks mate." John replied in a calm and quiet voice. It was the first ever time John had ever called him mate in conversation, which gave Carter a little lump in his throat.

John headed for the Plane and got in.

Meanwhile in a dark area in an underground bunker two people met a few weeks after everything had happened.

"Is this it?" A male voice said.

"It is sir. Both the package and the cure." Came the reply. "You can grow from both of them." The man added.

"Good. Very good." Came the reply.

"Be careful sir. The original was only waterborne. This is everything." The man said handing over a small shiny metal case.

"Thank you for getting it for us." The man said.

"Not a problem sir. Just be careful with it." Came the man's reply. "It was very difficult to get hold of. And thankfully our little bug we planted in that walking computer wasn't traced back to us. But I have worked with you for many years so it was worth it." He added.

"I understand that. Which is why it makes it difficult to do this." Came the Man's reply.

A large shot from a handgun and bright flash filled the area that the men were both in.

