‘Once the night is over,’ finished McCormick, ‘you can live out the rest of your days in the English countryside, away from Grant’s brave new world. How does that sound?’

Salter nodded.

‘Wait,’ said Kate, ‘you’re just going by trust? How do you know he won’t give us away the moment he’s out of sight?’

‘Because,’ Ewan said, ‘when Grant finds out what he’s done, he’s dead. What do you think, Arnold? Is it worth giving your life to reveal our presence?’

‘No. Now please, just let me get out quickly.’

The soldiers backed off, and McCormick passed the dead clones’ radios to Salter. Even unrestrained, Salter didn’t move a muscle, perhaps magnetised to the table through fear.

‘Here,’ said Alex, tossing a little green box towards him. ‘Have a med-kit for your hand. No hard feelings, mate.’

Salter tried to catch it, but it slipped through the remains of his wounded hand.

‘Right,’ said Ewan, ‘let’s head off. The Central Research Headquarters and the Experiment Chamber are both on Floor F. Alex and I will take that.’

‘Wait—’

‘And no, Alex, you’re not doing your lone wolf thing again. We can’t afford the risk. Sir, you and Kate can take the data servers and the paper archive, since Floors P and R are next to each other.’

‘Learn the alphabet, Ewan,’ said Alex.

Ewan didn’t waste time checking whether Alex was right. It would do him no good.

‘One thing I’ve been meaning to ask,’ said Kate. ‘Even if we destroy all those things, won’t all the border points still be around the Citadel? Can’t they get something back from them?’

‘Border points don’t contain software,’ answered McCormick, ‘they just respond to a remote computer. Trust me, Grant trying to extract data from a border point would be like looking for files inside a printer that just printed them.’

Ewan nodded, pretending to understand. At his side, Alex opened the exit door and wandered straight into the corridor without checking for enemies.

‘Alex!’ snapped McCormick. ‘Where’s your concentration?’

Alex looked up and down the corridor. Once he knew the coast was clear, he rolled his eyes at his allies.

‘I’m a clone, remember? Why would I need to be careful walking around my own corridors? I don’t even know we’ve got intruders yet. Come on, Ewan.’

Ewan fought his way past the blatant demand from Alex, and forced himself to hold his tongue since Salter was listening in. McCormick passed him the rucksack, after reaching inside to remove the cigar-shaped little detonator which he passed to Kate.

‘Salter,’ said McCormick, ‘aren’t you supposed to be going somewhere?’

Ewan looked back at Salter, who hadn’t moved a millimetre from his position on the table.