"What's your name?" said one of the missing women. She had a vibrant Indian accent and wore an orange sari. The girl recognised her from the news coverage of her abduction. She was a medical student at university-Priya Tiwari.

"Irene," Chloe slurred her voice a little, "what the hell is going on?"

The women, who had been huddled in the corner to keep away from Sanderson, were now creeping forward, gathering around the new girl like furtive animals.

"We're gonna be killed," said another with thick dark hair and a wolf tattoo on her bare forearm, "welcome to the club."

"What?" said Chloe, alarmed.

"Shut up Dina," said Priya, "you don't know that for sure."

Chloe so badly wanted to tell them it would all be okay. That people were coming for them, but she couldn't risk whipping them up into a frenzy and drawing attention to themselves.

"Do you want us to tell you everything we know now? Or do you need a minute?" Christie asked. She was rubbing Chloe back gently. A pang of guilt flashed inside the girl. Would Christie be so nice if she knew Chloe could have saved her in that abandoned building?

"Tell me everything."

A circle formed around Chloe. Dina slunk away to lie on a mat. Priya was opposite her. She seemed to be the de facto leader. Her energy was confident and calm.

"We were all brought to Vaughn by our partners. I hate to break it to you, but I don't think your boyfriend likes you very much anymore."

"I got that impression when he drugged me."

"Now that you say that, how are you lucid so quickly? The rest of us took ages to wake up properly." said a thin woman with a shaved head. Emily Cheswick. Chloe had memorised their names and descriptions before coming to the mansion.

"Dina was the same," another noted.

"Tolerance," Chloe explained, "I just have a high tolerance."

"Well, be thankful for it," said Chirtsite," the comedown was not fun."

"It seems like they're collecting us for some kind of mass killing," said Priya, "we've all tried to get the date out of them, but that meathead Sanderson is not very talkative."

"Yeah, it's like some kind of cult. Like the Jonestown massacre or some shit," said someone in the back.

"That was a mass suicide," Emily Cheswick corrected.

"Whatever. They were still a cult. Vaughn thinks it's some kind of spiritual thing. My boyfriend said he needed to 'free himself' right after he handed me off. Sounds like cult-speak to me."

"A cult…" Chloe said, "that's insane. This is the twenty-first century!"

"It's a lot to take in, but believe me, the best thing you can do for yourself now is to keep calm," said Priya.

Chloe looked around their enclosure. Being only twenty by twenty feet, there wasn't a lot of room to move. There were bunk beds against the wall. Dina was lying under one. The mattresses looked thin and well-worn. Decorated with all kinds of patterns, floral, little yellow ducks, dinosaurs, it looked like they'd been acquired from a charity shop. A solitary toilet was behind a screen as well as a standing shower. At least everything looked fairly clean. The cage cell was devoid of anything else. Not a crossword puzzle, book or board game in sight. The only other thing that Chloe took note of was the basement window she had seen from outside. The window was inside the cell and about two meters above the ground.

"This can't be real…" Chloe couldn't believe the conditions these girls had been living in. It was too cruel, "how have you survived this?"

"Dina's been here the longest," said Priya, "I was taken a few days after. We make do. We talk, we make games, tell stories, sing- anything to stay sane."

"Have you tried to escape?"

"Quiet!" warned the woman with the shaved head, "they don't like us talking like that."

"Why? Do they- hurt you?"

"No," she said, "but Sanderson likes to turn the lights out if we annoy him."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

Priya shook her head, "it's awful. It's terrifying. The seven of us crawling around in the dark for days. Can't see the person you're talking to. Can't see the food they give you. Can't tell where any noise is coming from. After the third day, you start wondering if the other's are just voices in your head."

Chloe shivered.

"You're scaring her, Priya," Christie said, taking her hand.

Chloe wasn't scared, she was horrified.

"Is there… is there anything else I should know?" the girl asked.

"Yes," said Priya, "the names of your new cellmates. Might as well get familiar with each other."

Priya Tiwari. Dina Bauman. Christie Johnson. Emily Arron and Emily Cheswick. Ocean Woods. Erika Ueno. Chloe committed all their names to memory. After the initial intrigue of a new inmate had worn off, the others dispersed. Some curled up in their bunks, others talked in small groups. Christie attached herself to the new girl. Maybe she felt bad for her, after all, she had been fresh meat only a few days ago and the feeling must have still been raw and sympathetic. The dynamics of the group relieved itself as the women talked and laughed. Few had let despair get to them. Even Dina, who was pretending to be asleep in her bunk, seemed to be jaded rather than nihilistic.

"I'm sorry to ask this, but…" Christie couldn't meet her eyes, embarrassed, "have you been watching the news? Are my family looking for me? God, what I wouldn't give to hear my sister's stupid voice..."

"They're looking for you. Everyone is looking for you. And they'll find us."

"I think so too," Christie said.

Chloe dropped her voice to a whisper, "Has anyone tried to escape? Is there a plan?"

"Yes and no. There's this guy that comes to check on us, make sure everything's in place and we don't have any contraband. One time Dina got hold of a pen, but he took it off her before she could do anything with it. If you haven't noticed, there isn't really anything in this place to use in an escape plan."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Anyway, who's this guy? Sanderson?"

"No. A different guy. I think he's Russian or something. Big scar down his face. Scares the hell out of me."

"Shit," so he was here.

"What's wrong? Do you know him?"

"So there is no escape plan? No other hidden pens or toothbrush shivs?" Chloe said, hoping Christie would move on from the Russian.

"God, no," she replied, "I think Dina would have got Sanders in the neck ages ago if we did. As for a plan, we're watched all the time. There isn't a way we can make one without being suspicious."

In a way, that was a good thing. Once MI6 descended, it would make things easier if the rescuers weren't wielding makeshift weapons. In the panic of it all, someone could get hurt.

"Hey!" Emily Arron called over to the pair. She was sitting in a circle with several others, "anyone wanna play a game?"

"What game?" asked Christie, already rising to join them.

"Haven't decided yet, c'mon."

Chloe got to her feet and knelt next to Erika. There were eleven of them in the circle now. Everyone but Dina, who had put a thin pillow over her head.

"I vote Shiritori," said Erika, who was wearing pink pyjamas.

"I second that!" chimed Ocean, a heavy set girl with long eyelashes.

"What's Shiritori?" Chloe asked.

"It's a word game," Erika explained, "I say a word, then you say a word beginning with the same letter the first word ended with," seeing the girl's confused expression, she provided an example, "so I say cat and Ginge would say- oh Ginge is Emily Cheswick by the way- Ginge would say-"

"Turtle."

"I think I get it. I guess you lose if you can't think of a word?"

"Well, yeah. But mainly you lose if the word you pick ends in n."

"This is a weird game."

"How about wink murder? We haven't tried that one yet," said Priya.

"Two truths and a lie?" Christie offered.

"I vote we let the fresh meat choose," Emily Arron said. She had dyed her hair green, but her brown roots had grown in an inch. The group smiled at her. Chloe felt like she was back at boot camp sitting around the campfire.

"How about… the Shiri- Shiri-"

"Shiritori," Erika finished.

"That one."

"Great! I'll start. We'll go clockwise," she thought for a moment, "Xenomorph."

"That ends in h, right? Um, harpoon?" said Chloe.

Several of the girls groaned.

"Out already. You can't end a word with n," Ocean reminded her.

"Oh shit, right. Come on, cut me some slack. Another go."

"Fine," the girl allowed, "let's go with… car."

"Rat," Chloe said. There was a cheer from the other players. She blushed.

"Tram," said Christe.

"Market."

"Tuna."

"Alphabet."

"Turquoise."

"Earbud."

"Da…" Ocean fumbled, "Damnation. Oh, shit," she laughed.

"Out!" the group declared and Megan accepted her defeat.

"Daisy," Priya picked up, looking at the pattern on Erika's pyjamas.

It was Chloe's turn again. Just as she opened her mouth, she noticed movement outside the cell. Someone had approached on silent footsteps. She looked up from her low position. Thick leather boots, black jeans and a black jacket. It was Yassen.

"Assassin," Chloe whispered.

"Irene, not 30 seconds ago we told you the rules-" but Erika cut herself off, noticing where the girl was looking.

"You," came the man's accented voice.

Everyone in the room acted on instinct at that moment. For the others, it meant leaping up and huddling in the corner. Safety in numbers. Chloe could hear them cry out as they tripped over each other.

"Irene," Priya hissed, "what are you doing?"

"I thought I told you to stay away," the man said, then, with an enigmatic look, "happy birthday, Irene,"

Chloe felt the hairs on her neck raise.

"This is low, even for you."

"If that's what you think, then you really do have no idea who you're dealing with," he grimaced.

"Why don't you just get this over with? I've met your standards."

To her surprise, it was Dina that pulled Chloe behind her back.

"I don't know what the hell is going on, but you keep away from her."

Yassen sighed, his silver eyes glinting. His scar looked pink and fleshy underneath the harsh light.

"Don't make this hard for yourselves."

The other girls had come forward, made bolder by Dina's confidence. Soon, every one of them was shielding her.

"What do you want with her?" the dark-haired girl demanded.

"None of your concern. Now be quiet. Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to tell Morton he has a rat and he'll tell me if you'll die now or die on the eclipse. It makes no difference to me."

The man took a sleek black pistol out of its holster, in the other, he dialled a number. Chloe knew this would be her only chance.

"Get back," she whispered to Dina.

After searching the blonde's eyes, she obeyed, joining the others at the back of the cell. Yassen had turned towards the door, speaking quickly to Morton on the other end of the line. Chloe wouldn't give him the chance to finish.

She slipped off her delicate bracelet, pearls looking brilliant white against her skin. Chloe reeled her arm back and threw it at the cell door. In the split second that it was in the air, Chloe realised Smithers never told her the blast radius of the explosive. There was a brilliant flash of light as the beads hit the metal. Chloe shielded her face from the blast. A wave of air hit her like a hot breath. Several of the women screamed. Yassen had been right outside the cell door. When the smoke cleared, Chloe saw that he had been forced back a few steps. There was also a mangled mess of metal where the explosion had destroyed the door. Chloe had a straight shot to Yassen, now leaning against the wall with one hand at his temple. When he lifted it away, the fingers came away bloody.

That was when the lights went out.

Christie's scream was immediately identifiable amongst the others. Chloe had heard it before. But there was no time to think.

"Stay back!" she told the others as she surged forward in the pitch black. She had an idea of where the man was and held it in her mind as she ran. Yassen still had a gun and who knew what else hidden away. This had to be Kyra's work. The man must have been dazed because the girl managed to reach him before he could react. Remembering their first fight, Chloe knew that she had to put him down as soon as possible. He was stronger, faster and more experienced than her. All she had on her side was his temporary state of shock. Chloe shifted her weight so that her left shoulder rammed into his body. She reached out to try and snatch the gun away from him. Yassen grunted at the impact and swore, but she could not wrench the gun free from his grip. Chloe changed tactics, stamping one foot down on his while twisting his arm. Still, he would not let go. Every sound was amplified in the darkness. The captives shuffled around carefully, trying to find the blast hole.

"Stay where you are!" Chloe bellowed.

Yassen and Chloe's grunts of effort were the only evidence of the fierce struggle between them. It was now a frenzied grappling match for the gun. The smell of blood and gunpowder hung in the air. Yassen's knee caught her in the side. The impact took her breath away. He followed up by cracking his fist against her face. Unable to see his target in the blackness, the blow caught her in the cheek, one knuckle digging into her eye. She cried out then, but only from shock. She was too full of adrenaline to feel any pain. Nonetheless, adrenaline wasn't enough to overpower Yassen. Another blow to her temple made her lose her grip. The girl fell to the floor, tasting thick, metallic liquid in her mouth. She spat it out and strained to hear Yassen's next move. Chloe had taken her earring out before throwing the bracelet. The girl held onto the foot that lashed out at her, driving the needle into his calf.

From how quickly Yassen jumped back, he must have known she'd done something to him. Chloe squeezed her eyes shut as if that would help her hear better. Yassen was somehow not making a sound.

"Irene!" Someone hissed. Maybe Erika.

"Quiet!" she snapped.

There was silence, then a door slammed. Chloe knew it had to be the vault door, not because of any district sound, but due to the lack of any.

"He's gone?" that was Priya's voice, "where are you? I'll come to find you."

"I'm here," she croaked, just now feeling her injuries. Her eye was already swollen shut and her nose was bloody, "I'm here."

Priya crawled along the ground, following the sound of Chloe's voice. Her hand touched the girl's foot.

"There you are," Chloe could hear the smile, "are you alright? What the hell just happened?"

"I'll explain later," she said, then louder, "Is anyone hurt?"

There was a round of no's from everyone. That was a relief at least.

"Can you stand? We have to get out of here."

Priya put her arms underneath Chloe's armpits. The girl winced. Her ribs were bruised if not cracked.

"Is everyone ready?" said Priya, "we have to stick together. I'll lead the way with Irene. Follow my footsteps."

But Chloe didn't allow Priya to pull her along.

"Wait, we should stay here. People are coming for us. And my name isn't Irene. It's Chloe."

"I don't care what your name is," Dina said from somewhere close by, she could feel her breath, "I'm not staying in this shit hole another second."

"How do you know that people are coming for us?" Christie asked.

"They were the ones who turned the lights off. Just wait."

"No way. I'm leaving before that Russian guy decides to finish us off."

Dina's hand found the wall, tracing it to the vault door.

"Dina, just wait!" Priya called.

Dina gripped the handle and pulled. Light flooded the room, blinding everyone in it. The next few moments were dizzying.

"Get down!" a man shouted. Chloe couldn't see him. He was holding a torch, it's beam shining down the short corridor, "get on the floor!"

"Do what he says!" Chloe said, getting to her knees and pulling Priya down.

Dina was pulled into the gallery, disappearing behind the shield of light. Reluctantly the rest followed. There were tears in Megan's eyes. The two Emily's were holding each other on the ground.

The man came forward and the light came on. It was Wolf. Behind him was Fox, Eagle, Snake and Alex Rider. They were wearing black from head to foot, each carrying a suppressed assault rifle. Chloe smiled at Alex but his expression twisted as he saw her. She must have looked awful.

"Is there anyone else in the room?" Wolf demanded to know.

"Yassen was here," said Chloe, "but he disappeared."

Wolf nodded, his thick beard pressing against his chest. He signalled for Snake and Alex to follow him to scout the rest of the area. Fox and Eagle stayed behind.

"You're safe now," Eagle told them gently, "I'm going to read off some names and I need you to tell me if that's you. We have to make sure everyone is accounted for."

"Dina Bauman was the one you took outside," Chloe began.

"Good, " said Eagle, pulling out a notepad and ticking next to her name, "Emily Arron."

The girl announced her presence.

"Jamilla Barron."

There was a pregnant pause.

"There isn't anyone here with that name," Priya said quietly.

Eagle nodded gravely and marked an x next to the missing girl's name. There was something wrong- was there more that they hadn't noticed were gone?

The process continued until everyone was accounted for. It was like a bizarre classroom registration. Raise your hand if you've been kidnapped.

"Alright. Let's get you guys out of here. It's all over."

Alex returned with Wolf. The team began leading the freed women from the vault. Chloe drew the back of her hand across her mouth, smearing blood across her face. The boy approached her, but Priya blocked him.

"It's alright. I know him."

The woman narrowed her eyes but accepted Chloe's answer. She busied herself with making sure everyone else was uninjured and leading them outside.

"You okay?" Alex asked, threading his arm underneath her armpits.

"Yeah. More or less."

"You look awful."

"Thanks," her laugh made her ribs ache, "is there any new information? Eagle said names I didn't recognise- who are they?"

Alex's lips pressed together, "let's just get everyone out of here first."

Jones was standing in the gallery, talking to a shell-shocked Dina. There were half a dozen agents at work, some guarding Jones with bulletproof vests, combat knives strapped to their thighs, others were paramedics on standby. Alex waved over one of them. Lights were shone into her eyes, parts of her prodded and poked. Chloe tried to make the paramedic's job easy, but the girl couldn't help but squirm to get a better view of the ex-captives. A primal sense of survival wanted them all to stay together. They were being led off, presumably to be examined by other medics. Even Dina was whisked away from Jones by a frustrated paramedic.

"Your ribs are badly bruised, but not broken," her examiner said, clicking her pen and filling out a sheet on a clipboard, "we're going to have to keep an eye on… on that eye."

The accidental pun felt absurd given the severity of the circumstances. Chloe was given a cold compress to put on her face. The medic had wiped away the blood and left to see to the others.

"I need to speak to Jones."

The woman was giving orders to the various teams of agents. Her long black coat whirled as she directed the people around her.

"Alex, Yassen was here."

His eyes widened, "and he didn't kill you?"

"Ha- he tried but he got away. I think he realised the game was up when the lights went out."

"Jesus Christ. One day our luck is going to run out, Chloe."

"I know."

He pressed his forehead to hers, hugging would have caused too much pain. Wolf approached them from behind, his gun lowered and put on safety.

"Time to go, kids. We'll escort you out."

Chloe spent the ride back to MI6 in an ambulance with several of the women. Erika and Ocean were crying openly, sucking in huge sobs that shook their bodies. The girl could only imagine how they felt. Dina was the only one without tears in her eyes. Instead, her visage was as blank as a statue. Chloe lent over and patted her knee. She didn't react.

"Why do these things always end with you getting beat up?" Alex whispered to her, "did you do something bad in a past life?"

"Is that a real gun?" she asked, ignoring his question. Despite the boy being rather tall, the gun felt absurdly large. It was a suppressed assault rifle, it's detachable magazines were lined up on a strap around his chest, "not a tranq?"

He shifted in his seat, "it's real."

"How did that happen?"

"You don't think they should have given me one?" he said, affronted.

"I didn't say that. It's just… something new. I wasn't expecting it."

Alex leant back in his seat. The gun was between his legs, the stock on the ground. He held it delicately as if it were a snake only temporarily tolerating his handling of it.

"I know. It was a surprise for me too. I guess they thought I was ready."

"Would you have used it?" Chloe whispered this as quietly as possible.

"If I had seen Yassen… Yes."

Headquarters was as celebratory as Chloe had ever seen it. Agents patted each other on the back and shook hands, telling each other well done for all their hard work. The disappearances of so many women in London had shaken them all. Everyone had a mother, a sister, a daughter, a girlfriend. The pressure to find them all had been stifling. The consequences of failure too great. Chloe had been expecting a debrief in the conference room, but Alex took her further down the hall. Past a keypad protected gate was the interrogation rooms. Chloe never had reason to visit them until now. Jones was standing in front of a pane of one-way glass, the white light from the overhead glinting off her glasses.

"Chloe," the woman's face softened, "I'm glad you're alright."

"I have to tell you, Yassen was there."

"I know that."

"Yes, but I stabbed him. With my earring I mean. I know he's most likely had resistance training, but it might have slowed him up. I just thought I should let you know."

Chloe rubbed the hand that the ring had been on. She started when her skin touched only skin.

"I guess I left it back there…"

"We've swept the area several times. There's no trace of him."

"How can that be?"

"There's no trace of Vaughn Morton either."

Chloe clenched her teeth.

"You're joking."

"Not in the slightest. That's why we've got him," she pointed through the glass where Micheal Chapman was sitting, harshly illuminated under spotlights, "we're hoping he might have an idea where he went."

"How could you have lost the guy?" Alex said, "we had the whole building under surveillance!"

"I said there was no trace, but that's not quite true. He ran- maybe Yassen was with him- a team caught up to him in his car. All three have unfortunately been killed."

"We have to find him."

"I am well aware of that, Alex," Jones rubbed the bridge of her nose, "but so far, Mr Chapman isn't letting anything slip."

A dark desire to make Micheal Chapman talk entered Chloe's mind. It made her skin crawl to think someone could hate a woman like Christie enough to kill her.

"Where are Christie and the others?" Chloe asked instead.

"The infirmary is undertaking more thorough examinations."

"Just what they need after the most traumatising experience of their lives."

"Would you rather they were left untreated? We're not forcing them to do anything."

"Can I see them?"

"I thought you might want to talk to Mr Chapman, Maybe seeing you would jog his memory."

Chloe scowled at the man through the glass. He looked shrunken next to the tall bulk of his guard. A team must have swiped him while he was preparing for bed. There were toothpaste stains on his t-shirt.

"I don't see what I could do."

"Can I try?" Alex interjected, "I've spoken to him before after all."

"Fine. And yes, Chloe, you can see them."

The infirmary was well situated in the heart of headquarters. It was a straight shot from the interrogation rooms to the white double doors. With bone-white walls and stark ceiling lights, the room was unpleasant to be in. The smell of disinfectant and disposable plastic gloves was distinct even before she opened the doors. A dozen cots lined the walls, almost all of them were occupied. Machines beeped and pressure cuffs were deflated and inflated. Pens scrawled to record readings and numbers. The bed closest to the doors was that of Erika Ueno.

"Can I interrupt?" she asked the nurse.

"Go ahead," she said and continued to poke at her patient.

"How are you feeling? Have you been treated well?"

"Better than we have been," Erika's grin stretched to one side, "I'm still on a high from everything that happened. You, on the other hand, have a lot of explaining to do."

"I know," Chloe shifted her weight to her other foot, embarrassed. Telling people that she was an undercover agent was always a strange feeling. Nevertheless, she explained to Erika what she was.

"Well, thank God for that. The state I was in, Santa Claus could have come down the chimney to rescue us and I wouldn't have said a word."

Chloe had to laugh. Humour was one of the best ways to deal with hardship.

"Are you going to get him?" Erika's brown eyes flashed.

Vaughn? We will."

"No. Jake- my boy- my ex-boyfriend."

Chloe said, "we have people looking into it," but the truth was that she didn't know. She couldn't believe Blunt and Jones would overlook it, "we have one of them. Christie's guy."

"Ha- you should tell her. She'll get a kick out of it."

"I will- which bed is she in?" Chloe asked the nurse."

"Christie who?"

"Johnson."

"There isn't anyone logged with that name."

Chloe felt her stomach drop. She grabbed Erika's arm.

"Did you see her leave with us?"

"Her name was called, so she must have been with us then… But after that, I don't remember seeing her. Everything was so chaotic."

Chloe swore.

"I have to go," she said, "I'll find her."