Hang on , Pearce, you were just told one of your staff was dead! Do you even care?

It was obvious he didn’t. Kate wasn’t much of a logician, but it must have meant that Pearce had a priority for the night that outweighed the well-being of his staff. No competent villain would throw their minions away as if they didn’t matter… unless there was something else that mattered more.

She also knew that the longer she let Pearce talk on the phone, the worse off she would be. She leapt in front of the window and fired bullets at the desk, none of which struck the tiny smartphone. A hand popped over the desk and returned fire, forcing her to shelter. Once the bullets stopped, she peered again and saw the phone in the corner of the room. In his panic to grab it, Hargreaves must have sent it flying across the office. Unfortunately, it lay out of range for Kate as well.

‘Well?’ Pearce asked, his volume unaffected by his phone’s new location. ‘Is it on yet?’

‘No,’ Hargreaves shouted from behind the desk, ‘it’s not.’

Kate sighed with relief.

‘Simmonds told me it was ready for launch three hours ago,’ said Pearce. ‘What are you wai—’

‘And if you’d have let us launch it at midnight, the dead body next to me would still be al—’

‘Hargreaves, calm down. If the shield’s ready, it’s your duty to raise it. Trap them all inside.’

That was the plan all along… lure us here and make it impossible for us to escape.

‘Just send in the Harpenden squad!’ the voice behind the desk began to wail. ‘They’re only a mile away!’

‘And give the rebels time to destroy the shield? It needs testing. Raise it now.’

Kate fired a couple more bullets at the filing cabinets, hoping that a bullet would at least ricochet behind the desk. They did nothing but puncture the metal, and make Hargreaves yell in fright.

‘Now!’ yelled Pearce from the corner of the room.

‘Get the army here and save me, and then I’ll push the button.’

All I need to do is keep him panicking…

‘I hear gunfire,’ said Pearce. ‘You don’t have that long left.’

‘I might…’

Kate tried to think of something she could shout into the room to influence the conversation, but no words came to mind. Besides, knowing her, she would say something wrong and persuade Hargreaves to raise the shield after all.

‘Jonathan,’ said Pearce, who unlike Kate knew precisely what to say, ‘do you know why all our families have luxury accommodation in New London’s walls?’

‘Because otherwise nobody would agree to work with you?’

‘Wrong. It’s so that every employee has something to lose. In your case, it’s Louise, Michael and Jessica. Turn the bloody shield on.’