Rogue (11 page)

‘It’s not like I have any intention of ever going into politics,’ Shelby said as she and the others walked down the corridor towards their first lesson of the day.

‘I know,’ Lucy said with a sigh. ‘I mean, we’re all being trained to be villainous, but even if you’re truly evil you’ve got to draw the line somewhere.’

‘Hey, guys,’ Laura said, looking ahead, ‘is that who I think it is?’

Raven was hurrying up the corridor towards them.

‘Now there’s someone we haven’t seen in a while,’ Shelby said quietly. All enquiries about Raven’s absence had been met with the same response – that she was ‘on assignment’. It did not take a genius to work out just what that assignment might be. If anybody was capable of finding Otto, it was her. They watched in silence as she rushed past them.

‘Here, take this,’ Wing said, handing his Blackbox to Shelby as Raven disappeared round a bend.

‘Where are you going?’ Shelby asked as Wing set off after Raven. Whatever he was planning, he clearly did not want to be tracked via the homing beacon in his communicator.

‘To see if I can get some answers,’ Wing called back over his shoulder.

‘I’m coming with you,’ Shelby said, taking her own Blackbox out of her pocket.

‘No.’ Wing stopped. ‘I wish to speak to Raven alone,’ he said firmly.

Shelby knew better than to argue with Wing when he had made his mind up and she watched in silence as he hurried off the way Raven had gone.

‘I hope he knows what he’s doing,’ Laura said as Wing disappeared from view.

‘If anyone can get some info out of the ice queen, he can, I guess,’ Shelby said with a shrug. Raven had been giving personal combat training to Wing almost since they had all first arrived at the school, and if any of them could claim to have some sort of bond with her, it was him.

‘Guys,’ Lucy said, nodding towards the other end of the corridor. Nigel was walking slowly towards them, looking like he was in shock.

‘Nigel, what is being wrong?’ Franz asked gently as his friend walked up to them.

‘It . . . it’s my dad,’ Nigel said, his voice cracking. ‘He’s been shot. The medics have just finished operating on him. They’re . . . they’re not sure if he’s going to make it.’ He gave a soft sob and started to cry.

‘No . . . Oh, that’s terrible, Nigel,’ Laura said, hugging him as the tears trickled down his cheeks. ‘What happened?’

‘Doctor Nero wouldn’t tell me,’ Nigel sniffed. ‘He just said that it could have been much worse and that they were doing everything they could for him. They won’t even let me see him.’

‘He is being very strong,’ Franz said, placing his arm around his friend’s shoulders. ‘He will be OK, you will be seeing.’

‘I’m going back to my room,’ Nigel said as he took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. ‘Doctor Nero said I didn’t have to attend any classes, under the circumstances.’

‘I am coming with you,’ Franz said. ‘You should not be being on your own.’

‘Thanks,’ Nigel said with a weak smile, ‘but I don’t want to get you into any trouble.’

‘Nonsense,’ Franz insisted. ‘Anyone who is having the problem with this can be taking the short walk off the long pier.’ He took Nigel’s backpack, slung it over his own shoulder and walked off with him.

‘Poor Nigel,’ Laura said. ‘It just seems like one disaster after another around here at the moment.’

Nero made his way towards the Science and Technology department deep in thought. He hardly noticed as Raven walked up behind him.

‘Something on your mind?’ she asked, coming as close to startling him as anyone ever did.

‘I’ve just had to tell Nigel about his father,’ Nero said with a sigh. ‘His reaction was much as you would expect.’

‘How is Diabolus doing?’ Raven asked quietly.

‘He’s out of surgery,’ Nero said with a slight shake of his head, ‘but Doctor Scott says that it’s still touch and go.’

‘It could have been worse, Max,’ Raven said softly.

‘Which is exactly what I told Nigel, but it doesn’t alter the fact that he faces the prospect of losing his father for a second time.’

Until a year ago Nigel, like everyone else, had believed his father was dead. In actual fact Darkdoom had merely been in hiding after it became obvious that Number One was planning to have him killed. He had not been able to tell anyone of his plan without putting them at risk and that, unfortunately, included Nigel and his mother. Nigel had mourned his father then, and now he was facing the prospect of having to go through that all over again, except this time there would be no second chance.

‘I have better news,’ Raven said, and she quickly recounted her recent discovery of a potential area in which to search for Trent’s base of operations.

‘I see,’ Nero said thoughtfully as he absorbed the information. ‘It still seems rather like you will be looking for a needle in a haystack.’

‘It’s somewhere to start,’ Raven said. ‘It’s certainly more than we had twenty-four hours ago.’

‘Of course,’ Nero replied. ‘I assume you will want to return to your assignment immediately.’

‘Yes, I have a Shroud prepping for take-off right now. I just wanted to let you know that I was heading out again.’

‘Very well. Be careful, Natalya – I fear that we face opposition from within now as well,’ Nero said quietly.

‘It should be Trent that’s worried, not you,’ Raven replied with a grim smile.

She had started to walk away when Nero called after her.

‘Natalya, you know that I want Otto retrieved as much as anyone, but if that is not possible you may be left with a difficult choice to make.’ He looked her straight in the eye. ‘If it comes to it, Malpense is too dangerous to leave under Trent’s control. The attack on Darkdoom showed us that much. Try to take him alive, but if that is not possible you may have to eliminate the threat that he now represents. I cannot allow the rest of the ruling council to be picked off one by one. I hope you understand.’

‘Perfectly,’ Raven replied, her expression unreadable. ‘I will do whatever needs to be done.’

Nero simply nodded, and Raven hurried away towards the hangar. He paused for a moment, apparently lost in thought, before heading off in the other direction. As he walked away he failed to spot the figure hiding in the shadows behind a storage locker on one wall of the corridor. Once the passageway was clear, Wing stepped out of his hiding place, his face a mask of confusion and concern. He had overheard the entire conversation between Nero and Raven. Not only did it now seem that Raven had at least an idea of where Otto was, but it appeared that he had also become a threat to G.L.O.V.E. Wing knew what Otto was capable of, but he could not believe that he would willingly turn against his former friends and allies. That, however, did not change the fact that something very serious had obviously happened to Diabolus Darkdoom and that Otto was somehow involved . . . an incident that had driven Nero to sanction his execution if there was no alternative. That was something Wing would not allow to happen. He hurried down the corridor after Raven, not knowing exactly what he was going to do, but at the same time knowing that he had to do
something
.

Wing reached the hangar bay and made his way inside unnoticed. He hid behind an inactive refuelling rig and watched as Raven talked to a member of the ground crew who were prepping the Shroud for launch. He knew that he probably only had a couple of minutes and began slowly and silently to make his way across the hangar towards the idling drop ship. Raven finished her conversation and walked up the loading ramp at the rear of the Shroud. Wing was only thirty metres away now, concealed from view by the landing gear of one of the other identical aircraft that were lined up beside the pad. He watched as the last of the crew hurried away from the aircraft, their pre-flight checks complete. As the Shroud’s engines spun up, Wing took advantage of the distraction that they provided to dash across the open space between him and the landing ramp. When he was halfway across the pad the ramp began to close and he accelerated, sprinting towards the closing hatch and throwing himself through the shrinking gap just moments before it shut with a solid thunk. He landed in a crouch inside the cargo compartment, half expecting to hear Raven’s familiar voice asking him what on earth he thought he was doing, but the compartment was empty save for a couple of small equipment crates. He realised that Raven was probably up on the flight deck. She was, after all, perfectly capable of flying a Shroud herself. He crept silently forward through the cargo bay and slid behind the crates that were strapped to the floor at the other end. Outside, the noise from the engines rose to a high-pitched whine and the Shroud lifted off the pad. Wing had no idea what he was going to do when they reached their destination, but wherever they were going it was one step closer to finding Otto.

Otto sat in the large black leather chair in front of the array of monitors. His eyes were closed and to the untrained eye it would have looked very much like he was asleep. In truth he was fully immersed in the stream of data that was pouring in through the H.O.P.E. base’s network connection, filtering and assessing the information at an inhuman rate.

Sebastian Trent stood watching the boy. He had seen him do this on numerous occasions before, but he was still no closer to understanding what exactly it was that Malpense was doing or how his strange abilities worked. Dr Creed had assured him that Otto appeared to be fully recovered from his mysterious collapse in Sydney, but that did not change the fact that they still did not know what had happened or, even more worryingly, what part the unidentified object inside the boy’s head might have played in causing it. Trent did not like unknowns – in his business they almost invariably caused problems. He pressed the button on the panel next to him that severed Malpense’s connection with the external network and waited as the boy’s eyes slowly opened, unfocused at first, as if waking from a dream. Otto stepped out of the chair and turned to face Trent.

‘Report,’ Trent said impatiently.

‘G.L.O.V.E.net is quiet,’ Otto said, looking slightly annoyed, ‘which is hardly surprising under the circumstances. It would appear that the attack in Sydney has sent the remaining members of the ruling council scurrying for cover.’

‘I want a target,’ Trent said irritably. ‘We have to hit them again while they’re still off balance.’

‘I understand,’ Otto replied, ‘but until one of the council breaks cover there is nothing I can do.’

Trent looked carefully at the boy. He had no reason to doubt that what Malpense was telling him was true, but recent events had left him with some doubts about the boy’s reliability.