The Final Curtain (10 page)

Agents took off headsets, dropped pens and leapt from chairs in a rush towards several exits.

‘This is a CRISP emergency announcement. Please make your way into the escape tunnels. I repeat, please make your way into the escape tunnels, where you will receive further instructions.'

Agents all over the Force were hurrying towards a series of specially built, reinforced tunnels that acted as both a refuge and an escape route.

Ben grabbed Max's hand and led her into the tunnel nearest them, following a line of small lights embedded in the floor. The tunnel was joined by others at various points, delivering more agents into a main passageway.

At first no one said anything. There was a mass movement of agents, and only the sound of scuffling shoes could be heard as they concentrated on following orders.

Until an agent fell. Another two tripped over the agent in the dim tunnel, and a series of panicked cries echoed through the corridor as the escape was halted. This set off a chain of more shouts.

Ben released Max's hand to help the fallen agents.

‘Please continue directly to the evacuation hold area.' The announcement reverberated through the tunnel.

The crush of bodies trying to move made it hard for the fallen agents to stand. Shouts were thrown down the corridor to move back. Eventually, after a few shoves, enough room was created for Ben to help them stand and the evacuation regained pace.

‘Toby, are you okay?' Max called over her shoulder.

‘Yep.'

‘What about you, Linden?'

The only sound Max heard was the quick rhythm of escaping feet.

‘Linden?'

She craned her head behind her into a sea of faces.

A rumbling crash thundered overhead, sending waves of tremors into the tunnels. The ground shifted in a violent quake. An agent's terrified scream wrenched the air, triggering a clutch of anxious cries.

Eleanor hugged the crying agent and firmly led her forward. Ben took charge as a kind of traffic warden, keeping the flow moving with encouraging words.

‘Linden?'

Max was jostled and shoved in the scrum of agents forcing themselves further into the tunnels. The rumbling above became louder and more frequent. She fought against the tide of panic, searching for Linden's wild hair that should have been bobbing in the sea of black suits.

‘Linden!'

Max flattened herself against the tunnel wall and took out her palm computer. ‘Linden, where are you?'

No response came back.

‘Linden?'

Still nothing.

Max activated her locator and entered the code for Linden's computer. A white light bleeped to life. ‘The kitchen,' Max whispered. ‘He's gone to look for Irene.'

She turned and pushed against the flow of agents, dodging elbows, grappling hands and stamping feet. Eventually the crush thinned out as the last of them found their way to the tunnels. She now had a clear line to the Control Room. Max bolted forward, her heart racing, her breath tearing from her chest.

The Control Room was a mess of strewn computers, upturned chairs and scattered papers. A loud crack was followed by another shift in the ground, which flung Max hard against the wall. Her shoulder met the full force of the blow before she fell to the floor. She took a few breaths through the pain, dragging herself upright. She struggled over the debris to the exit, hurried to the terracotta elevator and slammed her hand into a large red button. The door drew upwards and, after waiting for the Face Reader to check her identity, closed firmly behind her.

It rose in a jerky rhythm, jostling Max back and forth as she tried to check her locator again. Linden's white light hadn't moved.

‘Come on …'

Max sidestepped through the doors as they opened.

On the upper levels the vibrations were stronger. Wide cracks had split open the floor, and chunks of plaster from the walls had fallen away to reveal the titanium-reinforced skeleton beneath. Great creaking sounds groaned all around her as the metal struggled to withstand the building's imminent collapse. She jumped back as a slab of plaster crashed in a dust cloud at her feet. She covered her mouth
with her sleeve and jumped over an ever-widening crack in the floor towards the kitchen.

Two CRISP agents in hard hats and face masks ran through the dust of the corridor, stopping to check rooms for signs of life.

‘Evacuation tunnels are below,' a tinny voice sounded through the mask.

Max could see the entrance to the kitchen not far off. ‘But I have to –'

‘Evacuate
now
!'

They stepped closer and blocked her path, legs wide, freeze-ray pistols aimed straight at her.

A buckled metal beam pierced the roof, sending crumbling plaster and metal crashing down, striking one of the CRISP agents on the head. The other knelt by his side and radioed for assistance.

Max ran through the shower of dust.

‘Hey!'

She springboarded over the debris and busted floors, hopscotching on the beams, until she reached the blown-out doors of the canteen.

Inside, the floor was buckled, and bent metal window frames whined as windows smashed and furniture upended. More beams were scattered across the room, like giant pick-up sticks.

‘Linden!'

She searched through the crumbled room, strewn with remnants of Irene's mud cakes and homemade juices.

Two new CRISP agents clambered over a pile of furniture.

‘You must leave now!'

Max scrambled into the kitchen, climbing over clumps of twisted metal shelves, cupboards and benches.

‘Linden!'

The building echoed and creaked, as if it had come to life. The floor spilled with bowls, cutlery, broken jugs and oven trays. Max's hands flew to her head as more beams fell beside her, crunching into a shelf of cups and plates. A shard of dinner plate stabbed into her arm. Blood seeped from the wound. She grabbed hold of the piece of porcelain, looked away and yanked it out.

Just as her arms were caught from behind.

‘Linden's in here!' she cried.

The CRISP agents picked her up and carried her towards the door. She kicked her feet out to block the exit. One of the agents held her arms while the other pinioned her legs. She flicked her
body upwards and threw her head back, catching a glimpse of a shock of wild hair.

‘Linden,' she whispered.

With one powerful twist, she flung herself from the agents' arms and fell heavily. She got to her feet but immediately tripped over a rising wave-like bulge in the floor. The CRISP agents struggled to follow as Max crawled across a layer of spilt flour and sugar, over chopping boards and mounds of baking dishes, her arm bleeding more freely.

Linden lay beside a fallen bench. His arm was bent at an awkward angle and his clothes were torn and covered with dust and flour.

‘Linden.' Max gently shook him as the two CRISP agents scrambled behind her. ‘He's –' Max's hand flew to her mouth, trying to smother the feeling of rising nausea.

Circled behind Linden's head was a widening pool of blood.

The CRISP agents moved fast. One checked Linden's vital signs while the other radioed ahead their situation and removed a fold-out stretcher from his pack. Max could do nothing more as she watched them carefully load Linden's body onto the stretcher.

A corner of the kitchen finally succumbed to the force of the collapse. The agents signalled Max to follow. This time she didn't disobey. She stuck close to them as they entered a series of hidden metal stairways and platforms that led to the street. She followed robotically, as if all the fear had washed from her, except the fear that Linden may die. Against that, everything seemed insignificant.

Out on the street, Max blinked against the sunlight. The pavement buzzed with medical assistants and volunteers attending to agents with cuts and sprains before releasing them to waiting vans and cars.

The world blurred around Max. Instructions were shouted around her in muffled waves. All her eyes could focus on was Linden.

Several ambulances were lined up, ferrying more seriously injured agents to hospital before returning to pick up more. Linden was carried inside one that had just arrived. The paramedics immediately went to work on him.

‘Watch out!' a voice cried from behind. Agents scattered and Max was wrenched backwards into the ambulance that took off in a spin of tyres.

From the window of the vehicle, Max saw Spyforce Headquarters struggle its last and fall in an avalanche of metal, plaster and a choking wall of dust.

Max's jaw was clamped tight. She stared at Linden as he lay in bed at a secret London hospital. She watched the shallow rise and fall of his chest, willing each breath to be stronger than the last.

Ben sat at her side, holding her hand below a bulge of bandage on her arm.

Linden's arm was in plaster and held aloft in a sling from the top of the bed. His eyes were closed and he had a tube taped to his mouth.

Max hadn't said a word since she'd found him. She'd just watched and listened for the moment he would wake and let her know he was okay.

‘Would you like something to eat or drink?' Ben whispered. ‘It'll help you build your strength for when he wakes up.'

Max shook her head.

A machine steadily beeped as small waves of light moved across a screen, monitoring Linden's beating heart.

‘He'll be okay,' Ben said. ‘He's Linden. He's the most bouncy kid I know. One time he fell off the shed roof in his yard. The shed must have been four metres high. He landed headfirst into a pile of manure, and all he did was stand up and brush himself down. None of us knew about
the fall until he was called inside for dinner, and his hair smelt like the back-end of a cow.' Ben laughed.

‘Have you called Linden's dad? In case he …' A tear fell down Max's cheek.

‘Harry's at his reunion and he doesn't have a mobile. And because Linden's going to be fine, there's not much to talk about, is there?'

Max frowned. ‘Look what they've done to his hair.'

The bandage wound around Linden's head had plastered it flat.

‘It's like it's not him anymore.' Max sniffed. ‘When have you seen Linden with tame hair?'

‘You're right. Linden and tame hair are two things that just don't fit together.' Ben smiled.

‘He has to be okay, Uncle Ben.' Max's shoulders trembled. ‘He has to.'

‘He better,' Ben sniffed, ‘or he'll get what's for, I can tell you.' He held Max close, wrapping her in his arms as thoroughly as he could, as if he wanted protect her forever.

‘Special delivery of two hot chocolates.' Toby stood at the door holding steaming mugs.

‘Thanks,' Ben said. ‘You can put them on the table.'

Toby stole a quick look at Max, her cheeks smudged with glistening streaks. He set the mugs down. ‘How is he?'

‘He's good.' Ben nodded. ‘He'll just need a bit of time.'

Ben's palm computer vibrated in his pocket. When he opened the connection, the pale and drawn face of Steinberger appeared on his screen.

‘Steinby, are you and Harrison okay?'

‘Yes, thank you. And Linden?'

‘He'll be back to his old self in no time.' Ben squeezed Max a little tighter. ‘Has everyone from the Force been accounted for?'

‘Yes, thank goodness. Considering the magnitude of the collapse, the situation could have been …' He caught himself and frowned. ‘Eleanor has been a gem and is helping out with the last few agents needing minor attention.'

‘Someone has to stop Blue.' Max's voice strained from her chest.

‘We have every intention of doing that,' Steinberger said.

‘But how can you when Spyforce has been …'

‘We've relocated to the offices of the British Intelligence Service. We don't have our equipment, but we are able to access all our
information that has been backed up on a vast data storage service in a secret location in France.' Steinberger let himself smile. ‘Blue may have damaged our building, but he hasn't even begun to make a dent in our information or determination to do what is right.'

‘What can I do to help?' Max asked.

‘You can be with Linden when he wakes up. He'll need you.'

‘But I can –'

‘Max.' Steinberger's face hardened. ‘What has happened to London shows us a reckless side to Blue that we've never seen before. We suspect he feels he now has nothing to lose, and that puts him at his most dangerous. We have the help of all the top agencies in the world, including Interpol. This time when we find him, we'll put him so far away that he'll never do any damage ever again.'

Max said nothing.

‘Okay, Max?'

She turned to Linden and nodded. ‘Okay.'

Steinberger spoke to someone behind him. ‘I'll be there immediately.' He turned back. ‘I have to go. I'll call when I can.'

The room plunged into a silence marked only
by the beeping machine and the sound of breath being drawn from Linden's lungs.

Until the beeping became one solid line of noise.

‘What's happening?' Max asked.

‘He's flat-lining.' Toby jumped to his feet and belted his hand against the emergency switch on the wall.

‘What does that mean?'

‘The electrocardiogram has …'

A team of doctors and nurses rushed into the room and asked them to leave. They fussed over Linden in a white-coated wave. Max clutched her pack to her chest.

Ben led her to the door. ‘Come on. They know what they're doing.'

Outside Linden's room, Max slipped her arms through the straps of her pack. Her feet refused to stand still; her breath came in short bursts and her hands squeezed together until they hurt.

The door opened. ‘He's back with us,' the nurse said to Ben. ‘I need to check a few medical details with you.'

Ben pointed to Max. ‘This is his –'

‘Just you, I'm afraid,' the nurse interjected.

‘I won't be long.' Ben kissed Max on the head and went inside.

‘That line meant he momentarily died, didn't it?' Max asked Toby.

‘Some doctors think that, but my dad says just because your heart stops doesn't mean you're dead.'

‘His heart stopped?'

‘He's back now though,' Toby said. ‘Dad's seen it happen loads of times and not do any harm at all.'

‘I have to go to the bathroom.'

Max ran down the hospital corridor. She pushed open the door of the ladies' toilet and slumped to the floor of a cubicle with her head in her hands and whispered, ‘Please, please, please.'

She leant against the wall and something from her bag stuck into her back.

‘Ouch!'

She sat up and pounded her hand against the wall. The pain of her gash raced through her arm. She cradled it for few seconds, rocking backwards and forwards, before springing to her feet.

She grabbed the handle of the door and jerked it open. ‘Aaah!'

‘Going somewhere?' Toby faced her with an unwelcome grin.

‘What are you doing in the ladies' toilets?'

‘Trying to stop you from doing something crazy.'

‘I'm not doing anything –'

‘Oh, so you aren't going to Blue's to sort him out for what he did to Linden and Spyforce?'

Max said nothing.

‘You're going to find him, aren't you?'

‘Leave me alone.' Max tried to push past, but Toby stood in her way.

‘I won't. Blue is a complete fruit loop. Don't get me wrong, you're a good spy, but this guy has perfected the art of being a maniac, and chances are if you go anywhere near him he's going to make sure it's the last thing you do.'

Max tried again to force her way past. ‘Which action film did you get that line from?'

‘A couple of them.' Toby held his hands against the doorjamb. ‘You're no match for him this time. What can you do against Blue that the intelligence agencies of the world can't?'

Toby stood his ground, ready to take any abuse Max hurled at him.

Instead, her shoulders wilted and she began to cry. Toby's resolute stance faltered. He lowered his arms and looked either side of him as Max wept into her hands.

He took a few small steps towards her, as if he had only just learnt to walk. He scuffed his feet,
reached out and patted her shoulder. ‘You really like him, don't you?'

‘You don't get it. I don't know what I'll do if I lose him.' Max's tears flowed more freely.

‘I
do
get it.' Toby stepped closer and widened his arms. Max cried as she let herself be hugged.

She wiped the back of her hands against her eyes. ‘I have to go, Toby. He can't get away with what he's done.'

‘Why don't we join Spyforce at the British Intelligence Service? With all you've had to do with Blue over the years, you'll be much more useful there.'

Max pulled away. ‘But I've told them everything I know.'

‘Maybe you've forgotten something.'

‘Why are you trying to stop me?' She shouted.

‘Because you're my friend and I don't want anything to happen to you.' Max frowned but said nothing. ‘Why do you think you know better than Spyforce?'

‘I don't, I just know the sneaky mind of Blue better than their computers.'

Toby crossed his arms. ‘So where is he then?'

‘He's at his castle in Scotland.'

‘On Cape Wrath? But they searched for it, and it wasn't there anymore.'

‘The satellites found
ruins
, but that doesn't mean he's not there.'

‘Okay, now I'm not following.'

‘The last Annual Spy Awards Night was held on a hidden volcanic island that only the secret agencies of the world know about.
¹³
It can't be found on any map or by using any satellite system, but it exists.'

‘How?'

‘There was an orange force-field around the island that protected it from intruders and satellites by making it totally undetectable. So it
was
there, we just couldn't see it.'

‘And you think Blue has created one of these force-fields?'

‘When we were in the café with him, he talked about inventions he'd worked on and specifically mentioned
that
as one of his favourites.'

‘After what he did to London, why don't you just believe he destroyed his castle?'

‘I've seen how happy Blue is around his possessions, and I know he'll do almost anything to
get more. He's too in love with what he has to ruin any of it.' She paused. ‘Toby, his whole speech at the café was full of clues about what he was going to do and how I could find him. I think he was testing me to see if I could work it out.'

Toby shook his head. ‘What are you going to do when you get there?'

‘I'm going to make him stop destroying what isn't his.'

‘How?'

‘I don't know. I haven't worked that out yet,' Max said. ‘Toby, I've been thinking about this a lot. When Linden and I met him at the café, he told me he thought I was
clever
, then just before we left he said it takes a
clever
person to see behind the fuss to what is really there.'

‘To see behind the ruins to the castle?'

‘I think that's exactly what he meant,' Max said.

‘Why don't we tell Spyforce and they can go and get him?'

‘Because they don't believe he's there,' Max sighed. ‘Toby, Blue's warnings were to me. I'm worried if they go, he'll use it as an excuse to cause more damage.'

Toby smiled. ‘Well he's going to get me too.'

‘You're not coming, I –'

‘Max, for once in your life stop telling people what to do and accept a little help! You'd let Linden go with you. Why not me?' He poked himself in the chest. ‘You can trust me just as much as you trust him.'

A slight smile crept into Max's lips.

‘What?' Toby threw his hands out.

‘We better get going then.'

‘Oh, right.' Toby calmed down. ‘Okay. And another thing, I'm into being the hero as much as the next spy, but I'm calling in help the minute we need it.'

Max nodded. ‘Deal.'

‘So how are we going to get there?'

Max pulled the Time and Space Machine from her pack. ‘With this. I snuck it out of Ben's bag.'

‘We're going to need equipment.'

‘I know.' Max entered coordinates into the machine. ‘That's why we're making a detour first.'

‘Where?'

She grabbed Toby's hand. ‘You'll see.'