Chapters (45)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Prologue
- 2046
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- About the Author
Alpha takes his submachine gun and works the parts to check the weapon. Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo do the same. They strip their tourist outer jackets off to reveal tight black clothes. Balaclavas are tugged from side pockets and pulled down over heads. Holsters fitted. Pistols slid in. Magazines checked. Stun grenades taken from the truck. They work fast and in silence.
Alpha steps away to look down the road towards the warehouse. His men gather round him. The extra operatives brought in make ready, tugging down balaclavas in preparation for the assault.
Bravo looks round. Checking each is in position and ready. He pats Alpha on the shoulder. Alpha raises his right hand and motions ahead. As one they move down towards the warehouse.
She goes back through the warehouse and down the stairs to the ground floor. She stops to collect what she left earlier then moves along the corridor to the door. She stops, slides a thin metal file from her pocket and bends over with a groan at the stiffness in her lower back. She fiddles with, pokes and works the lock. She stands up, twists the handle, pushes the door open with her foot, picks up the two heavy objects and goes inside. She closes the door with her foot, grimacing at the dull pain in her hips. She waddles down the room, swaying side to side from the weight in her hands.
She tuts at the blue light bathing the room. She tuts at the objects left scattered everywhere. She tuts at the metal shelving units bolted to the walls filled with diving equipment, black clothes, grey tracksuits, lamps, furnishings, rugs, food, toiletries and everything else five people need to live in a bunker. She is amazed they haven’t put a sign outside saying ‘Time Machine in Here’.
Alpha leads. Bravo and Charlie right behind him. Delta and Echo out to the sides. They go steady but swift. No point in running now. Move carefully and approach with caution. Not that they need caution. The people who run this place have no security awareness. They have no surveillance awareness. They have no right to be in possession of such a thing.
That thing is the target. The device must be secured. Above all else, it will be secured.
She is too old for this. She moves round the room, focusing on the shelves then on the stacks of goods next to the portal. She moves steady but swift. No point in rushing. Move carefully and work with caution. She finishes the first and lifts the second to work into the crevices, the nooks and crannies. Do a thing right. Get it right first time. She lifts her head at the dull clunk reaching her ears and starts moving back towards the blue light.