Sunday, May 28th
Wayne Enterprises Site B
East India Dock Basin
19:45 GMT+1 (18:45 GMT May 28th)
Amber had never been so frightened.
She shook violently as she screamed and screamed. She knew that there was something horrible lying beside her. She still retched at the thought of what she had lain on and what covered the front of her body – and the smell. She sobbed so hard she struggled to breathe and then she collapsed as she passed out from the panic attack.
The next thing Amber knew, she was lying somewhere cold and there were people all around her. She opened her eyes and she found herself looking up into the brown eyes of Rachel Clarkson.
"She's alright," Rachel announced as she stood up.
Amber felt her arms seized and she was dragged to her feet. Amber tried to stand but her legs would not support her. She felt herself being half carried; half dragged across the warehouse before she was dumped onto a chair inside one of the portacabins. She felt cold plastic under her bare feet and the cold plastic of the chair on her bare back, bottom, and thighs. The skin on her body felt horrible; the entire front of her body was covered in dried blood and felt like cardboard.
"How have you been passing on information?" Craig asked Amber from her left.
"Who have you been speaking with?" Olivia asked from Amber's right.
Amber was still shaking, and she struggled to comprehend what was going on.
"WELL!" Craig bellowed into Amber's left ear, violently scaring the girl who jumped.
"What have you got to say for yourself?" Olivia added.
"I've not done anything wrong!" Amber sobbed. "You must believe me!"
"Tell us the truth and we might just believe you," Olivia responded coldly.
The questions continued, thick and fast, but Amber could not answer a single one which just made Craig and Olivia all the angrier. Eventually, the girl was dragged back to her corner of the warehouse and left to sleep. Amber mercifully fell asleep very quickly, but her sleeping hours were filled with nightmares of what she had suffered and what she might still endure.
Meanwhile, their prisoner was awakened from his drug-induced slumber and fed a meagre meal of meaty soup and water.
The following morning...
Monday, May 29th
Thames House – MI5
09:30 GMT+1 (08:30 GMT May 29th)
Jasper sat in his chair awaiting his appointment.
"Mr Collins, Sir Edmond will see you now."
"Here we go," Jasper muttered as he stood up and made for the polished oak door.
Sir Edmond stood up from behind his desk and reached out his right hand.
"Sir Edmond."
"Jasper."
The two men shook hands before Sir Edmond waved Jasper to a chair across from himself.
"A debacle or two, eh, Jasper?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where shall we start?" Sir Edmond asked rhetorically as he began to throw various tabloids and broadsheets onto his desk. "The Daily Mail: 'Vigilante Justice in the Home Counties'. The Times: 'A Thoroughly Un-British Act'. The Guardian: 'Inside the Vigilante Mind'. The Daily Star: 'Essex Home Attacked by Aliens!'. The Sun: 'Big Busted Vigilantes – Page 3!'. The Daily Mirror: 'The Father of My Child is A Vigilante.' The Financial Times: 'Shares in AgustaWestland Rocket'. The Daily Telegraph: 'Bring in The F.B.I.'. I suppose your helicopters were seen as a great advert for AgustaWestland! That seems to be the most positive of the lot, I would have thought. As for the tongue-lashing I received, at home, on Sunday morning from the PM, enough said."
Jasper grimaced.
"I do hope that despite these," Sir Edmond waved his hand over the morning's newspapers, "your operations were a success?"
"As I mentioned in my email, Sir Edmond, we recovered the file on the second attempt."
"Yes, the Russians had it. Needless to say, an investigation is underway to find out how the Russians acquired that property. D Branch are currently clearing the property, but the Russians did well as they destroyed their facility before leaving. All have been declared PNG and summarily kicked out of the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the Russians have reciprocated and fifteen of our people are on their way home from Moscow, even as we speak, after being declared persona non grata. Where is the file?"
"I have it under guard, sir."
"Good, keep it that way."
"Sir?"
"I think the file is safer in the hands of Vengeance, right now."
"Sir Edmond?"
The man took a deep breath before continuing.
"Jasper, I think it important to tell you that we may have identified your leak – I am sorry to say that it has come from within Five. A troglodyte in H Branch, I believe – I will have her passed onto Commander Haig in SO15."
"What!" Jasper exclaimed, appalled that there was a traitor in Five, but equally appalled that one of his own was being tortured for information when they may very well be innocent.
"I think that wraps things up, for now, don't you?"
"Yes, Sir Edmond."
The interview was over, and Jasper hurried from the office.
Wayne Enterprises Site B
East India Dock Basin
11:45 GMT+1 (10:45 GMT May 29th)
Jasper raced inside, slamming on the brakes.
"Where's Amber?" he demanded.
"In her corner," Simon replied as he saw Jasper running in his direction.
"She's innocent," Jasper stated firmly. "The mole has been found."
"Fucking hell!" Simon exclaimed as he grabbed a blanket and he ran towards where Amber languished.
"Simon!"
The boy turned to see Jasper throwing a set of keys in his direction. He caught them and continued on his way towards Amber. Simon fell to his knees, scrambling to find the key to the handcuffs binding the girl. He pushed Amber forwards, releasing the bindings and then he pulled the girl out of her corner and wrapped her in the blanket. Amber had no idea what was going on as she was led into the changing rooms and she was sat on a bench by Simon who sat down beside her.
The blanket-covered Amber collapsed into Simon, and she sobbed her heart out.
..._...
Olivia was not convinced.
"There's no smoke without fire," she growled, totally unrepentant.
"I honestly don't see how she could have got information out," Jasper offered, quite reasonably, he thought.
"She had better keep out of my way," Olivia growled as she stalked off.
"It's her time of the month," Craig pointed out in Olivia's defence.
"Explains a bit," Rylee commented.
There was general unease amongst all but Olivia for the way Amber had been made to suffer. It was one thing to humiliate a traitor but quite another to find out that they were innocent – or at least perceived innocent. Many harboured their own feelings concerning Amber, but few actually wanted to do her harm. For the Predators, it harked back to their former lives. That was concerning, but they all knew that Amber had had to be treated harshly until her innocence was proved – or not.
Jasper was very unhappy about the entire affair.
13:02 GMT+1 (12:02 GMT May 29th)
The next hour passed in a haze for Amber.
She felt many hands helping her into a shower where she sagged onto the tiles. The hot water was soothing after two days spent sitting or lying on cold concrete. She felt her body being washed as she leaned into the corner of the showers. The hands washing her were gentle and were using soft sponges as they cleaned off the blood and other bodily fluids from her body. She was so tired that at one point, while someone washed her hair, Amber actually dozed off. She soon awoke to find herself being hauled to her feet while a towel was wrapped around her body and her hair was dried off with another towel. The next thing she knew, she felt herself being laid down in a soft bed and then the warmth of a duvet covering her. She dozed off again into another sleep, barely noticing the pinprick of a needle in the skin of her left upper arm.
Amber slept for nine hours of dreamless sleep, only coming awake towards ten o'clock that evening.
21:52 GMT+1 (20:52 GMT May 29th)
"Hello," a voice said.
Amber opened her eyes and she focussed on the face of Jeremy Lai who was smiling down at her.
"You look a lot better," the boy said supportively.
"I feel a lot better . . . what do you want?" Amber responded.
"I wanted to see if you were okay before I went to bed."
"I'm fine, thanks."
Jeremy sighed as he recognised the normal Amber coldness and he left the girl to rest, walking over to his own bunk. Amber's eyes followed the boy before she focussed on the other faces in the dormitory which had turned in her direction. She felt scared and embarrassed as she wondered what was happening to her. She knew that she was in her own bunk, but she couldn't remember much about the previous day's events apart from the humiliation and the interrogation. Was she free or was it all part of some ploy, she wondered? The answer came a few minutes later as Olivia and Craig appeared in the dormitory. Amber flinched as Olivia scowled in her direction.
"The bitch lives!" Olivia exclaimed sarcastically before she continued in a cold voice. "You got away with it, this time, bitch!"
"Olivia, leave it!" Craig said as he pushed his girlfriend toward their bunks.
Amber turned over, turning her back to the rest of the dormitory, and she closed her eyes, sobbing quietly into her pillow.
..._...
Scarlett and Mary were keeping a sharp eye on Amber.
It had been the both of them, with the assistance of Jeremy, who had washed Amber from head to toe and put her to bed. They had been appalled at the inhumane state she had been in and they felt sorry for the girl who appeared to be innocent of any wrongdoing. Yes, Amber could be a pain the arse, but that did not mean she deserved to be kept like an animal.
Scarlett was in the next bed and she kept an eye on Amber until the girl fell asleep.
The following morning...
Tuesday, May 30th
08:35 GMT+1 (07:35 GMT May 30th)
Amber tried to avoid everybody, but she was desperate for food having not eaten very much during her incarceration.
After dressing for the first time in two days, Amber nervously made her way to the galley where she took a seat in a corner, well away from everyone. She had only sat there for a minute when Lynn appeared, a plate piled high with food in her hands. Amber's eyes bulged at the sight of the food and she smiled.
"Eat it all up," Rachel directed with a smile of her own as she placed a giant steaming mug of sweet tea down beside the plate.
"Hi," Scarlett said as she sat down across from Amber.
"You not eating?" Amber asked.
"I've had mine – just want to keep you company."
"Oh!" Amber was a little surprised at that comment.
"Really?" Scarlett grinned. "I don't hate you – we've been living together for months and you haven't figured that out yet?"
Amber simply blushed slightly as she dug into her food.
..._...
After Amber had finished eating, she was feeling very full – actually, she felt bloated.
She was just finishing off her mug of tea when Jasper appeared, and he sat down at the table across from Amber.
"Amber," Jasper said. "I'm sending you back to Scotland."
"No!" Amber responded.
"You need time to get over what happened to you."
"I want to stay and help."
"She wants to stay so she can inform on us," Olivia hissed bitchily.
"Fuck off, Olivia!" Amber retorted as she stood up and stepped towards the girl.
"You think you're a hard bitch, do ya?" Olivia said, getting in Amber's face before she looked the girl up and down and then grinned nastily. "You couldn't fight yourself out of a wet paper bag!"
"I am better than you, Olivia," Amber stated.
"You think you're so bloody hard, fuckin' hit me – go on!" Olivia challenged.
Craig winced, knowing what was probably about to happen. He knew full well that Olivia had a weakness – her attention to detail. Olivia had not noticed – or bothered to acknowledge, more likely – that Amber had been present at almost every training session since the girl had become a part of Vengeance. Amber may not have actually taken part, but she had watched every move made by every fighter while sparring, shooting, throwing blades, you name it. Unknown to most, Amber had spent time training with Scarlett at home with Natasha and Cameron's blessings. The three of them had ensured that Amber could look after herself as well as built on some of her own fighting skills, of which she had a general knowledge. The girl was a fast learner and she had developed her own muscles – something which Olivia had also failed to notice, despite Amber's two days of total nudity. Craig, however, had noticed that Amber was not just a geek with a clipboard and was probably a force to be reckoned with.
Amber glared at Olivia, focussing her mind before she struck. And strike she did as her right fist struck the surprised Olivia's left cheek, sending the girl reeling back against a table. Kate scowled as she swiftly pulled her breakfast away from Olivia's backside as it collided with her table. Olivia tried to spring forward again but she was caught in the chest by Amber's right foot which sent the fourteen-year-old crashing into a group of chairs as their occupants briskly jumped out of the way, still munching on their breakfast. Olivia was severely pissed – not to mention humiliated – and the enraged girl flew at Amber, only to find Craig blocking her way.
"Get out of my way!" Olivia demanded.
"No, Olivia; you challenged her, and she accepted – Amber won," Craig said.
"Bullshit!"
"Leave it alone!" Craig persisted.
Olivia screamed and stamped her right foot before she bolted from the galley.
That afternoon...
16:10 GMT+1 (15:10 GMT May 30th)
"Scarlett?"
"Jasper."
"Mindy has put in a special request for a certain Radford asset and she needs it as soon as possible."
"What asset?" Scarlett asked.
"The Calico Quest."
Scarlett screwed up her face as she tried to place the name.
"That's a ship, if I remember."
"Yes – you and Natasha are heading out to Malta."
"Malta!" Scarlett demanded in a very surprised tone.
"Malta," Jasper confirmed with a grin. "You are the vessel's owner, so we thought it best if you went aboard."
"Wow!" the fourteen-year-old Scarlett Radford muttered. "When do we leave?"
"In twenty minutes – gear up, Scarlett!"
The young teen squealed as she bolted out of the space.
Twenty minutes later...
16:35 GMT+1 (15:35 GMT May 30th)
Rachel volunteered to take Scarlett and Natasha into London so they could then take the tube to Heathrow.
Of course, Rylee and Simon just had to go with them! It would not be an easy drive for Rachel, but it was the best way to get the girls to the airport in time to fly out. It was only a little under eight miles, but it would take anywhere from forty minutes to an hour. Amber did not seem happy that Scarlett was leaving as Scarlett appeared to be her main ally, but Amber waved anyway, then went back to work checking off all the equipment which was being loaded aboard the freshly repaired NIGHTSHADE in preparation for the helicopter departing around 17:00. As the packages and bags were brought aboard, David and Kate strapped everything down to ensure nothing moved in flight. Finally, once the helicopter was all but loaded, David manoeuvred NIGHTSHADE outside with the assistance of Trevor.
At the right location, David stopped the remotely operated aircraft tug and Keira, seated in the cockpit, applied the helicopter's wheel brakes. Then, as David guided the aircraft tug around and then up inside the back of the helicopter, Keira reached up to the switch panel located over her head and mounted on the centre beam. She moved a switch downwards from OFF to SPREAD, then she moved the next switch along to the right from OFF upwards to TAIL. With a dull hum of hydraulics, the tail of the giant helicopter, currently folded down the starboard side, began to unfold and within a minute, the tail with its 4.1-metre diameter tail rotor was moved into position. Once securely latched in place, Keira moved the second switch downwards to BLADE and the main rotor blades began to unfold until all five were fully deployed to form the full 18.6-metre diameter rotor disk. Only once those blades were securely latched in place and she had a green light for the tail and the main rotors did she begin to start the three turboshaft engines. Meanwhile, David ambled back down the aft ramp having secured the aircraft tug and he waved Kate onboard. Kate strode up the full length of the cabin and she climbed into the co-pilot's seat.
"Ready?" Keira asked.
"Always!" Kate grinned as she pulled on her flight helmet and connected up the intercom connections.
Kate monitored the centre screen, watching the temperatures and pressures for the three engines climbing while keeping an eye on the hydraulics and the fuel.
"Tanks one and four are empty. Five hundred kilos each in two and three. All stats are green."
The upper right side of the centre screen showed a list of essential systems coming online and all changed from yellow to green as they reached operating parameters. Kate then reached to the right, just beside her and she flicked several switches on the broad centre console.
"Exterior lighting set. AFCS set to Normal."
A few taps of the angled touch screen on her side of the centre console and Kate looked over at Keira.
"Ready for launch, pilot."
"Copy ready for launch," Keira replied. "Crew chief, pilot – ready to launch."
David checked around from where he stood a dozen yards ahead of the helicopter and then nodded.
"Pilot, crew chief – go for launch."
Keira would lift off, fly a one-mile check circuit and then land to pick up himself and a few others.
Inside the facility...
Trying to ignore the deafening roar of the three Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM3322-01 turboshaft engines at full power, just fifty yards away, Jasper answered his mobile.
"Hello, Commander," Jasper said as he recognised the incoming number.
"Jasper – we have a problem," Commander Patrick Haig said without preamble.
"What now?" Jasper asked wearily.
"The woman we have in custody, well, she knows your location, and I am fairly certain that she passed it on. You have minutes, Jasper – get the hell out of there!"
"We're gone!" Jasper announced, and he dropped the call before he bellowed a warning around the warehouse. "Code Alpha! Prepare to scatter!"
It was the worst possible alert, and everybody moved, gathering their kit and masking up. The first code told everyone that they were compromised and needed to leave. The second code told everybody that it would be every vigilante for themselves. For once, safety in numbers was not going to help them. They had to scatter in small groups to outrun and outmanoeuvre the enemy, much like the convoys of World War II would scatter when attacked by U-boats or a surface raider. The code words were spread verbally to ensure all knew about the emergency.
"How long have we got?" Amber asked Jasper as she ran out of the portacabin with most of her kit in a small backpack which she then threw into the back of a Sentinel retaining a similar but not so full backpack in her hand.
"No idea, Amber – could be a minute, or it could be..."
The sound of explosions could be heard outside.
"Or it could be now," Jasper grimaced.
Wayne Enterprises Site B
East India Dock Basin
17:05 GMT+1 (16:05 GMT May 30th)
NIGHTSHADE had already lifted off when the codewords had come over the radio.
Keira was about to bring the giant helicopter back around and onto the ground after circling when explosions began to cross her landing zone and she veered off. Both pilots were horrified to see upwards of a dozen vehicles converging on the warehouse. Men were deploying from those vehicles to surround and assault the warehouse. More men were coming in from the direction of the East India Dock Basin to the west while two large inflatables nudged up against the concrete steps leading up from the water onto the east lock caisson.
"We need to find that mortar," Keira said.
Kate was already scanning outside the aircraft, the FLIR camera sweeping around, the image displayed on the second screen from the left on her side of the aircraft.
"Got it!" Kate exclaimed. "Far side of the A1020 – come around to zero four two."
Keira could see where a vehicle was parked with a flat load bed and in the bed was a vertical item and two men. There were no pilot-controlled weapons aboard and the Maximi weapons were not immediately available. However, Kate had an idea and she scrambled out of her seat, disconnecting her helmet as she did so before reconnecting it to a long coiled cable in the aft section which would have normally been used by a crew chief and gave full manoeuvrability anywhere inside the aircraft. Kate ripped open a pack and she pulled out five hand grenades.
"Bring us in low, pilot," Kate advised as she hit the button to fully lower the already partially lowered aft ramp.
Before she ventured too close to the opening, she clipped a safety line onto the harness built into her flight suit. The helicopter raced north, crossed over the A1020 and then slowed abruptly over the vehicle which sat on a building site before the men aboard could even realise that they were under attack. The two men looked up, startled, their hands attempting to block the massive downdraught which rocked their vehicle. Kate smiled down at them as one by one, she pulled the pins and dropped the hand grenades into the vehicle load bed.
"Go!" Kate ordered as she dropped the third grenade.
By the time the fifth grenade had dropped, NIGHTSHADE had begun to move off, sideways, just as the first grenade detonated, taking out the mortar, the men, and the vehicle in an increasingly fiery explosion.
..._...
Inside the warehouse, everyone was scrambling.
Equipment was being thrown into the back of the two Sentinels while both were also loaded up with people as everyone broke up into groups. The very moment they received the call from NIGHTSHADE telling them that the mortar was destroyed, SENTINEL ZERO TWO with David driving, and Lynn seated beside him bolted out of the warehouse at speed. In the backseats, Jeremy and Christopher were firing short bursts from their SIG Sauer MPX-K submachineguns. At least two men dropped but they appeared to be wearing body armour and soon sprang back up again, much to the boys' chagrin. The Sentinel skidded around on the loose ground outside the warehouse, avoiding groups of men with guns and absorbing the bullets which struck the armoured vehicles.
At the westside of the warehouse, two groups of vigilantes pushed out, firing off bursts of death at the men who were doing their absolute utmost to prevent any of them escaping. A few well-placed stun grenades assisted the two groups. Foxtrot One, consisting of Harper, Amber, Mary, Electra, Jessica, and Ginny took up the right flank while Foxtrot Two, consisting of Cameron, Craig, and Olivia, handled the left flank. All eight moved as one – even Amber – as they encircled the men attacking them, gunning them down. Only, they were just as annoyed as the boys to find the men not dying. One man went down to a head shot from Craig – he stayed down – while another took two bullets underneath his body armour thanks to the accurate shooting of Harper.
Back inside, Jasper entered the container and he calmly and coldly shot their prisoner in the head. Next, he dumped a pre-assembled five-litre plastic can of petrol with a remote-controlled incendiary device taped to the side down beside the corpse. Jasper left the container, closed the doors, and locked them. Eight more of the cans had been distributed throughout their accommodation and also in the centre of the warehouse. As the bullets flew, Jasper jumped into the driver's seat of SENTINEL ZERO THREE and he stomped on the accelerator the very moment the engine caught, and he had shifted the gearbox into drive. Beside him sat Trevor while behind sat Dakota, Tanya, and Diana. Trevor waited until they were just six yards outside the warehouse before he punched the button on a remote detonator.
The almost total destruction of the warehouse took the attackers by surprise as the building imploded in on itself. The crescendo of sound caused by the roof as it collapsed was deafening while the flames and dust thrown up were a spectacular backdrop to the battle. The distraction allowed Foxtrot One to break contact and make for safety. The group of six raced for the lock and the foot bridge which took them over the squalid waters of what was left of the East India Dock Basin. They were pursued by eight men on foot while three others jumped into a waiting BMW X5 and then took off towards the A1020 in a calculated attempt to cut off the escaping vigilantes. SENTINEL ZERO TWO and SENTINEL ZERO THREE provided a perfect distraction for Foxtrot Two as Cameron raced towards the same lock followed by Craig and Olivia. Amidst the chaos of the imploded warehouse, the trio ran along the stone caisson and Olivia shot the men who remained in the large Pacific 24 RHIBs which sat alongside the caisson.
Craig scrambled down the stone steps and he jumped aboard the closest RHIB and he went about familiarising himself with the controls while Cameron jettisoned the dead body and Olivia provided covering fire.
..._...
Escaping at the same time as the Sentinels, DYNAMO, driven by Eric with Ewan and Jordan aboard, took advantage of the devastating explosions in the warehouse to bolt out of the site and take the slip road up onto the A1020.
Eric took a right at the large roundabout at the tip of the East India Dock Basin before taking a sharp left at traffic lights onto the A13. While Ewan kept an eye out for anybody following them, Jordan was in the back of the vehicle bringing the various systems online. Once they had their computers back online, they could track and communicate with those on the ground. Every member had an earpiece and a tracker which would allow their locations to be pinpointed via satellite and then external guidance provided.
"Okay, I'm in – systems coming online!" Jordan reported. "Vehicles checking in . . . I'm receiving signals from the earbuds, too."
"Good work," Eric replied. "But we aren't out of the woods yet."
Foxtrot One
Harper, Amber, Mary, Electra, Jessica, and Ginny were sprinting along the side of the Thames.
Each was clad in normal civilian clothing but with their FCCS2 suits worn underneath. All five wore their masks and a hooded top as a cover, putting their masked faces into shade. Amber, Ginny, and Mary also wore baseball caps beneath the hoods. The biggest problem was Mary: if she was injured, killed – or worse, captured – then they would probably all find themselves personally provided with a very close and personal demonstration of the execution block and axe on display at the Tower of London! Joking aside – at least they hoped it was a joke – they would need each other to survive the night. Behind them, by about fifty yards, eight very angry, heavily armed men were pursing them. Each of the vigilantes carried various weapons, and all had a backpack in which they could hide their larger weapons once they found themselves in public view. They were also all under strict instructions to avoid turning London into a bloodbath.
They raced away from the river, up several stone steps and onto Jamestown Way, racing past residential houses and flats. They received several disapproving glances which rapidly changed to terror as the armed men fired off single suppressed rounds in their direction, seemingly eager not to cause too much mayhem as they pursued their quarry. At the corner of Jamestown Way and Newport Avenue, Harper and Electra provided covering fire as Ginny pushed Mary onward with Jessica and Amber in tow. At the next corner, Ginny, and Mary provided covering fire for Harper and Electra as the pair moved towards their companions, preventing them from being shot in the back. Ginny grinned as one of the men fell back, blood erupting from his torn jugular. From further down Newport Avenue, Amber and Jessica provided covering fire from behind parked vehicles lined along the side of the street. Amber was a surprisingly accurate shot as another man sprawled on the ground, his left leg shattered below the knee. At the end of Newport Avenue, the looming steel and glass structure of the East India station for the Docklands Light Railway was visible. All they had to do was make it there in time to board a train before the bad guys.
Just as Harper and Electra sprinted past Jessica and Amber, they were met by the squealing of tyres and SENTINEL ZERO THREE skidded to a halt before them.
"Go!" Trevor yelled as he held a G36C ready.
Behind him Dakota was doing the same and she smiled as all six members of Foxtrot One bolted past ZERO THREE. The remaining six men in pursuit suddenly found themselves diving for cover as the armoured vehicle blocked their path and highly accurate gunfire tore past them. The interference of the Sentinel had allowed Foxtrot One to bolt up the steps which led up to the raised platform around thirty feet above their heads. After leaping up the two flights of steps, they held their left wrists against the Oyster Card receivers, where their computer screen doubled as an Oyster Card, which allowed them to pass through the security barriers and onto the eastbound platform. While Harper and Mary kept watch, Ginny checked out the digital display mounted above the platform. The next train to Bank was less than a minute out.
"Give us one minute, Zero Three," Ginny reported to the Sentinel on the ground as she heard the screech of tyres and more gunfire from below.
"Roger!" came Trevor's curt response.
Just as the unmanned train pulled into the station, everyone stowed their weapons and they stepped aboard, the very moment the doors opened. There was an agonising wait of maybe forty seconds before there was a beeping sound and the doors closed and the train moved off on its thirteen-minute journey into London.
"Foxtrot One is clear," Ginny reported.
Everyone sagged into seats and gazed down at the floor, thankful to be alive.
SENTINEL ZERO TWO
David, Lynn, Jeremy & Christopher
David raced the Sentinel along the A1260 dual-carriageway westbound, towards the City.
"We've got company," Jeremy reported from the backseat.
"Three X5s," Christopher added.
"Great!" Lynn groaned.
The roads were becoming increasingly busy as workers poured out of the myriad of office buildings in the area. The traffic was only going to get worse as they headed deeper into London. They began to pass the City, the massive towers rising up on their left. On their right, the Docklands Light Railway carried its trains on an elevated track. Lynn reasoned that the train racing past them probably carried Foxtrot One to relative safety. At the next slip road onto the A1260, a Gatso speed camera flashed twice as David raced past.
"Fuck you, Gatso!" he growled as he continued on his way at almost eighty miles-per-hour.
They flashed past the Canary Wharf turn off just as the BMW X5 4x4s pursuing caught up and moved to box them in, one to the right, and two on their rear end. The BMWs tried to force David off to the left, into the City where his options would be very limited and his chances of escape just as limited. As they passed beneath the DLR, David smashed into the BMW to his right, forcing the other vehicle into the crash barrier separating the two carriageways. Sparks flew as the steel clashed and scraped violently together. David kept the BMW pinned and he glared at the man just a few inches away with just two panes of armoured glass between them. The BMW driver did his best to force David's Sentinel off the road, but to no avail and David grinned as the four vehicles found themselves heading downwards into the Limehouse Link Tunnel which would carry them underneath a large swath of the western approaches of London.
The tunnel was narrow, just two lanes of traffic, two pavements, . . . and a thirty mile-per-hour speed limit which David exceeded by a wide margin as he dodged in and out of the existing traffic, his horn blaring and the blue lights fitted to the vehicle doing very little to encourage the heavy traffic ahead of them to move out of the way. The tunnel was not straight but full of curves as it negotiated pre-existing subterranean structures such as pipes, train tunnels, and rivers. After a short while, the tunnel was full of sound as other users added to the din with their own horns as the BMWs pushed through the traffic, often nudging other cars out of the way. David was forced to drive down the centre of the tunnel, forcing other road users onto the pavements on either side, or to take to the narrow pavement himself and force other road users into the centre.
Eventually, they burst out of the tunnel after a little over a mile underground.
Foxtrot Two
Cameron, Craig & Olivia
It took just seconds for Craig to start the giant 440-horsepower diesel engine which fed a jet drive at the stern.
Without hesitation, Craig took the helm and once Cameron and Olivia were holding on tightly, he selected forward for the pump-jet and then he pushed the throttle forward and the 7.8-metre Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat roared ahead, splitting the water of the River Thames, rapidly leaving the firefight behind and passing The Dome to their left. Once they were roaring upriver at twenty knots, carefully negotiating the sweeping curves around the former docklands, Cameron dug out three inflatable lifejackets, passed them out and helped Craig with his while he was driving. Ahead of the centrally mounted steering console, four could sit relatively comfortably on jockey seats. Two more could sit at the steering console on jockey seats with additional suspension.
Cameron sat beside Craig at the steering console while Olivia sat astride the foremost seat in the bow and to port, her SIG Sauer MPX-K held ready. As they bounced along the river, Olivia found herself enjoying the pounding between her legs as the craft crashed back down into the water. However, she forced herself to look in every direction for trouble. She soon found trouble as she looked astern and her eyes locked onto the wildly dancing RHIB which was powering in their direction with four men in the bow and two men at the controls.
"Trouble coming up fast from behind, guys!" Olivia called back down the RHIB.
Cameron and Craig looked aft and Craig shoved the throttle forward, accelerating the RHIB to over thirty knots. Cameron laid down some suppressing gunfire without a great deal of success as the two RHIBs bounced across the choppy waters of the River Thames. Conversely, the incoming gunfire suffered in the exactly the same way with bullets ripping past them. The two RHIBs continued up the river, racing past the Old Royal Naval College to port as Craig did his utmost to prevent the other RHIB from coming alongside. They curved around the curve in the river with the Isle of Dogs to starboard, both craft dodging other river traffic which included a medium-sized white cruise ship moored to buoys, fore and aft, in the centre of the river. At speed, both RHIBs roared level with the former Deptford docks with the enemy beginning to overhaul Foxtrot Two in what appeared to be the faster boat. The chatter of submachinegun fire echoed across the water and Olivia ducked down, returning fire from in the bow while Cameron returned for from the stern.
Two short minutes later, they approached the Canary Wharf Pier to starboard where a Metropolitan Police RHIB could be seen casting off to head in their direction. However, the RHIB was the least of their problems as a sinister shape descended before them. The Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin 2 completely ignored the police RHIB beneath it as it descended to about twenty feet above the water of the River Thames. There was no need to figure out if it was a threat as the aircraft bore a French registration and there was a pintle-mounted FN MAG 7.62-millimetre machinegun sticking out of the portside cabin door which was open.
Without warning, the muzzle of the FN MAG erupted into flame as bullets sped towards Foxtrot Two.