Chasing The Dawn (Luke Temple - Book 2) (Luke Temple Series) (48 page)

Chung Su felt the shame wash over her.

Vittorio continued: “Surely you must appreciate the way we have manipulated the West, how we have sucked dry the resources they so pride themselves on. Their foolish greed blinded them. The only way they can continue their fight against God, against my country, against
your
country, Miss Chung, is to hoard knowledge, so I agreed to hold onto the data on the speed of the neutrino to play to that ego … I did it so that I had a smokescreen for when we achieved the impossible. I could make the whole Western world look at one hand whilst I pickpocketed them with the other.”

Chung Su was intimidated by the energy with which Vittorio was speaking. His eyes burned and she could see his hatred laid bare. She had so respected this man, and the work he was doing promised so much, but before her very eyes he was transforming, and the most frightening thought repeated inside her mind:
how am I any better?
She felt the presence of her grandfather, and wilted under the feeling; she was ashamed.

“Professor … the world deserves this.” She spoke calmly.

Vittorio went to speak, and then turned away. “The world does not deserve anything. You speak of the world as if we are in some joined-up harmony. You know as well as I do, Miss Chung, that there is no such concept as a
world
.”

She moved closer to him. “I understand your feelings, Professor, but you are a great man, this is a giant step forward, something like this can bring the world together.” Chung Su had spent a lifetime being brainwashed into thinking that her country was being persecuted by the world. She had worked away in secret to unlock the secrets of science and for what? She had wanted what Vittorio wanted. But the violence that she had been dropped into had affected her. “Professor, I know the pain you feel, but you cannot take this and keep it from the world.”

“Why not?” Vittorio snapped. “For centuries they have kept everything from us. How can you not see the pattern of history?” Vittorio wore a pained expression. “I thought you would appreciate what we are doing here.”

“I … I …” Chung Su took a deep breath in and closed her eyes. “Science never asks if it should!”

“What?” Vittorio looked blank.

Chung Su felt the life return to her limbs, adrenaline flowed, “You are right, Professor, you are absolutely right, I do understand. I was being used to achieve exactly what it appears you have already achieved.” Vittorio again grabbed Chung Su by the shoulders and gave her a beaming smile. She broke free from his grip and walked to a corner of the room. “I was so far behind you, Professor … and now I stand here in front of you, I have never been so glad to be so far behind.” Before Vittorio could respond Chung Su continued, “I have seen much suffering in my life, _Professor, yet the sheer horror and violence that all of this has caused … it is not right. Whatever you believe, what you are doing is wrong, what I was doing was wrong. All we do is perpetuate the pain and suffering, what are you hoping to achieve?”

“I will bring balance. Whoever controls this technology controls the world. For once we will have the ability to make the world bow to us!” Vittorio clenched his fists tightly.

“Balance, how?” she asked.

“You have seen the evidence, we will create energy that will not be governed by any kind of Western input. We will bring energy and freedom to the masses, and if they try and stop us we will crush them with a source of weaponry so great it will destroy everything in its path.”

Chung Su shook her head. “Why does it all come down to destruction?”

Vittorio smashed his hand down on the screen. “Do not be naive, Miss Chung! That is the world we live in. If we are to bring God’s peace to earth then there must be casualties in the war.”

“Is that what those technicians out there are? Casualties? You were supposed to stand for more than just petty revenge, Professor.” She raised her voice.

Vittorio bounded over to her and grabbed her by the throat. She gagged at the shock. “Petty revenge? Those technicians out there will die in the same way thousands of my comrades have died, and they should be grateful to die doing something so worthy.” He released his grip.

“I am disappointed in you, Miss Chung, I had high hopes that you would see the brilliance of it all. But you are as short-sighted as they are.” Vittorio produced the cloth that he had wrapped around Chung Su’s eyes. She instinctively flinched. “My brother was right about you, we should have killed you. But I am going to make you watch tonight, I will give you a front row seat. And then when we are done, you and everyone else here will perish into dust.”

“How, Professor?”

Vittorio leant in close. “I am going to burn them in the fires of hell. Every inch of these walls is laced with explosive. Call it a quirk in design.”

Chung Su gagged, so many technicians would lose their lives. She pictured the fireball that would consume her and cause the collapse of the laboratory. The explosion would be blamed on a malfunction in the nuclear detonation. The scientists had been cut off for days, no doubt Vittorio and Beltrano would have moved in the armed guards after everyone was locked safely underground.

“What’s wrong, Miss Chung, you look unwell,” Vittorio cackled. “I am afraid our time is up. I have pressing things to attend to. I won’t be able to escort you back to the control room.” Vittorio walked over to the door and banged hard. The next moment there was a loud beep and two guards swung the door open and the noise from the chamber flooded back in. “But please don’t worry, my brother will keep you company.” Vittorio exited, and the guards didn’t bother with her protective hat or goggles, they grabbed an arm each and lifted her off the floor, walking back along the gantry.

“Who is he!?” Beltrano slapped Chung Su across the face. Chung Su cried in pain. Her legs and hands were now tied to the chair. And Beltrano was unleashing his fury. “Who is he!?”Chung Su knew that he could beat her all he liked, her body was already numb. Her world had fallen away; the crumbling edges were all that remained of a life that had been torn apart, and would end under the earth, thousands of miles from the ones who loved her. Her grandfather stood before her, his eyes resting on her lovingly. Another blow rang against her head.

“Miss Chung, do not confuse my brother’s mercy with my own. I need to know who Robert Reid is … now!”

Chung Su shook her head. She replayed the time she had spent with Luke, such a short time, but so intense. She had let down her family, her homeland and as she thought of the man who had been by her side for the past few days, she couldn’t bring herself to betray him. “I don’t know him; he told me he was Robert Reid, that was it.”

A hand crashed across her face. “Stop lying! He is a highly trained man. Does he work for your country?” Chung Su shook her head. She felt the warm trickle of blood running from her mouth.

“Miss Chung, focus.” Beltrano clicked his fingers. “This really doesn’t have to be this difficult. We all respect what you were aiming for, we sympathise with the plight of the North Koreans. In another time we would fight shoulder to shoulder. But Allah deemed the task should fall to us select few; the weight of change came to us and we shouldered it.” Beltrano stood and put his hands in his pockets. “We were strong enough to take responsibility for mankind …”

Chung Su stayed silent.

“Please do not take that as arrogance
. Walk not on the earth with conceit or arrogance.
That is from our holy book.” Beltrano took a moment; he sat back down, pawing at a lighter. “I do not want to hurt you … do you know what else the Qu’ran teaches us?” Chung Su felt her cheek tingling from the slaps she had received, and still she said nothing. “
God does not forbid you to be kind and equitable to those who have neither fought against your faith nor driven you out of your homes …
now I don’t believe you have done that.” He leant in close, “But if you continue to resist telling me about Robert Reid, then I am afraid I will have to class you as fighting against the faith, which means you are against what we are trying to achieve … and I must defend it at all costs.” He flicked open the lighter and held it close to Chung Su’s eye. She tried to turn her head away but Beltrano pressed on her neck, his dark eyes were on fire. As he stared back there was something else that betrayed itself; it was not just anger. He brought his hand up, and she saw in those dark eyes that Beltrano was desperate. That’s why he had resorted to violence
. That is why he is so agitated.
She could feel the heat from the flame against her eye.
Why is he desperate?

“Chung Su, tell me, tell me who he works for?” he bellowed into her face.

He is alive
. “He is alive, isn’t he?”

Beltrano looked at her and his lip quivered with frustration.

“That is why you are so angry … it’s fear.”

Beltrano snapped the lighter closed. He then levelled a kick in the centre of her chest, the chair rocked back and she crashed onto the floor, the wind leaving her body. He quickly sat her back up, gripping her hair.

“You are going to feel a world of pain if you don’t tell me what you know.”

Through spluttering coughs, Chung Su replied hoarsely, “He is alive, isn’t he? And he is coming for you …”

“Miss Chung, you have one final chance to tell me who he is …”

Chung Su spat blood at Beltrano. “He is coming for you … and I would be worried if I were you.”

Beltrano smiled. “He is too late …” He pulled out his pistol and took aim. As he stepped back to take the shot the black wall screen flickered to life and an image appeared. Beltrano turned; the screen was split in two. On one side there were a handful of men in highly decorated military uniforms and suits. On the other side was an expansive room filled by a range of individuals sat in banks of two with a variety of computer screens in front of them.

It is the Iranian laboratory,
thought Chung Su.

“Good evening, Karim …” came an voice from the screen.

Luke rounded the corner and was presented with yet another long concrete tunnel flooded with electric blue light.

A door opened a few metres down.
Picture frame.

Luke moved quickly, closing the gap silently. He reached his left arm around to press against the holstered Uzi and drove the blade in through the side of the man’s neck, behind the windpipe, and flicked it forward, spraying tissue and blood over the floor. The man gurgled and put up a weak struggle, but Luke held him tight and waited for him to go limp.

Then without warning there was a shout from behind. Luke turned to see a short man pointing an Uzi directly at him. It happened in slow motion. Luke swung the body round to act as a barrier, whilst simultaneously hitting the deck. The tunnel erupted in gunfire, and the noise was deafening.

An Uzi can let off almost a thousand bullets per minute, which equates to around fifteen per second. The dead body took a range of bullets and they tore through flesh and bone, sending it twitching to the ground. Luke ripped out the Glock, bullets screaming overhead. Without aiming, he loosed off two bullets. The first smashed through the shooter’s left eye,. The man was dead before the second bullet even struck.

Luke’s ears were ringing but his pulse remained steady. There was a comfort in now being able to confront the enemy head-on. He ran back to the corner and pulled out the Uzi from the rear of his trousers. He had not gone more than a few metres when the whole complex erupted with a whine.

Alarm …

Luke didn’t stop, he had reached the bend in the tunnel, and then he heard a door open behind him. There was more than one shout over the siren. He rolled down onto his side and propped back up on one knee facing toward the voices. In the same motion he pressed down on the Uzi, spraying a range of bullets. There were three armed men crouched facing him. His first hail of bullets ripped apart the largest of the men, his body flailing backwards with the impact. The other two threw themselves against opposite walls, spraying bullets as they ran. The shots flew harmlessly wide. Luke then brought up the Glock and let off two bullets at each man. They found their mark and they slumped dead to the floor.

Nine rounds left in the magazine.
He set off again round the bend in the tunnel. If the French scientist was to be believed then he should be coming across the command centre. The whirring alarm was pulsing in his ears.

A door opened in front of him and a man in a protective suit stepped out. A second door then opened on the opposite side and all Luke saw was a black jumper out the corner of his eye. Luke grabbed the scientist and pushed them both back through the doorway, stumbling and falling. Then a gunshot popped from behind and the world went black.

“This is a great moment, Karim. It seems as though you and your brother will bring us the glory that has been promised. Your country owes you both a debt of gratitude.”

“That is not necessary, Sir; we do it all for His glory.” Beltrano bowed his head.

“We are very much looking forward to the show.”

Chung Su flashed glances at the array of people looking down on her. She was still amazed at how they had managed to do it,
a replica laboratory
. As she looked at the technicians sat at their desks, ready to witness the most significant moment in their lives, she pictured herself sat in her own laboratory, her colleagues sat around her waiting for the moment. It sickened her how many of those men and women she now looked at had no clue how much pain and suffering their discoveries would cause.

Her thoughts were shattered as the room erupted with a deafening siren.

“What is that, Karim?”

Beltrano looked alarmed. He span round to face Chung Su, then whipped his head back to the screen. “Nothing to worry about, Sir. I shall return shortly.”

As Beltrano exited the room he shot a glance to Chung Su. He barked an order and then for Chung Su’s benefit spoke in English. “Anything happens, kill her.” Two armed men entered the room; one took up position directly in front of her, with an automatic rifle pointed at her head.