I’m the leade r of this boy’s arch – enemies , and in one conversation I must have offered him more compassion than any of the men he fights for.

‘You taught yourself that look of indifference,’ McCormick continued, ‘and you kept yourself cold and emotionless until you didn’t know anything different. But there’s help out there. You just need to start hanging with the right crowd.’

The portable lamps on the floor began to dim. There would not be much more time for conversation.

‘You must think I’m a terrible person,’ Roth muttered.

‘Terrible does not mean unreachable, Oliver. The only thing that could ever make you unreachable is your own choice to never be reached.’

Roth looked away from McCormick, as if he had been staring into the sun. McCormick was surprised when his captor picked his shirt and trousers off the floor, and offered them back to him. He had imagined being led to Floor B in his underwear, but perhaps this was Roth’s way of showing sympathy or respect.

‘You can put these back on if you like,’ said Roth. ‘We’re ready.’

McCormick slipped on his shirt and his trousers in turn, and when he looked up again he saw Roth’s fingers on the door handle.

‘You’re a fine man, McCormick,’ he said. ‘One of the best I’ve ever known. But if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll gut you myself.’

McCormick laughed, as if his captor were joking, and followed him back to Marshall and Pearce.

Chapter 24

As he was led through the security door on the stairwell between Floor C and B, McCormick wondered how his friends could ever hope to reach the higher floors themselves. Even if all their enemies vanished into thin air, the mazy corridors and security provisions would make it virtually impossible.

Nonetheless, the others were coming. Ewan, Kate and Alex would not abandon him, nor would they be able to rescue him. McCormick’s biggest hope was that they just didn’t get themselves killed.

At the top at the stairwell, he was met with an electromagnetically sealed door. It was secured shut; his power cut had not disabled the magnet or made the door slide open like in the movies.

‘You use fail-secure locking devices?’ McCormick asked Pearce at his side. ‘Not fail-safe?’

‘What’s the difference?’ asked Roth.

‘Fail-safe electromagnetic seals unlock themselves in a power cut. Fail-secure ones don’t. You’ve chosen the dangerous one.’

‘So?’ spat Pearce.

‘What happens if you need to evacuate?’

‘What happens if a feral old man cuts the power?’

They value security over their own safety . That would surprise me, if I still had any expectations of these people.

Marshall had his gold-coloured keycard ready for the moment the power cut was sorted, and when the lights flickered on McCormick sneaked a look at Pearce’s watch. Twelve minutes past ten.