The Grid 2 Read online

  It’s likely they lead directly to Damien Hunter. You could be doing the citizens of The City a great service, Mitchell.’

  Mitchell nodded. It felt good to be working at this level, alongside the President. He only wished he could share the information with his friends and family.

  As he considered the excitement of his current situation, Teanna’s tone changed and she leaned towards him in the vehicle.

  ‘Mitchell, I don’t want you to mention Hannah James when you speak to the President. Is that understood?’

  Mitchell was surprised by these words, he wasn’t expecting a request like that. Teanna’s tone made it clear this was a statement rather than a question. He didn’t know what to do or say. He just nodded.

  They travelled in silence until they reached the President’s offices, then Teanna excused herself. Mitchell was taken aback, but guessed the President would want to talk to him alone.

  The President was genial as ever and very complimentary about Mitchell’s technical abilities. Mitchell felt that Joe, Lucy and Wiz took him for granted much of the time, and it was good to be acknowledged for his contribution. Even better that it was by the President.

  ‘I’m interested to hear a little more about Talya Slater and your friend Hannah,’ he began. ‘We’ve been unable to find out much about them. Hunter keeps himself very much to himself.’

  Mitchell went for the easy option first, explaining the events of the day and the progress made.

  ‘That’s really quite excellent, Mitchell. I can see how your friend – Wiz, isn’t it? – I can see how he relies on you so much to help him out.’

  Mitchell felt vindicated. At last somebody who saw his true contribution and value.

  ‘Are you any closer to retrieving the data from those files?’

  ‘Not yet. Wiz is working on it tonight, but I don’t think he’ll get very far without me there.’

  Mitchell was beginning to believe the praise that was being heaped upon him.

  ‘We didn’t make a massive amount of progress today, other than to get our infrastructure set up. I think things will start to move tomorrow.’

  The President nodded, and then his eyes narrowed.

  ‘You haven’t told me anything about Hannah James yet. How is she connected with all of this?’

  Mitchell felt a bead of sweat trickle down from just above his temple. He hoped the President hadn’t seen it. He gulped, concealing it as well as he could.

  ‘Not much to report, sir. She’s working as a Gridder, as far as I know, but she’s stuck in there until the trial ends. We can’t talk to her, and she can’t talk to us.’

  President Delman said nothing. He waited in silence until Mitchell became too uncomfortable.

  ‘Nobody has managed to contact her, I’m afraid.’

  Were they testing him? Is that why Teanna had asked him to keep his mouth shut about Hannah? Should he reveal to the President that Hannah and Talya had spoken?

  Another trickle of sweat ran down his cheek.

  ‘It’s very warm in here,’ he said by way of cover. Mitchell doubted that Delman had been fooled.

  ‘You are telling me everything, I hope?’ Delman asked. ‘I’d hate you to curtail your prospects in this office by withholding information. You know how important it is for me to monitor Damien Hunter’s activities?’

  Mitchell considered his options. To tell or not to tell? Teanna had been very clear earlier. It didn’t sound as if she wanted him to deceive the President, it had just seemed she didn’t want him troubled by this information.

  He made his mind up as Teanna walked through the wooden door and entered the office.

  ‘Mx Schaelles, thank you for joining us,’ said Delman. ‘Mitchell was just telling me how there’s no progress to report on Hannah James. That’s a shame, isn’t it?’

  Teanna didn’t even look at Mitchell. She kept her face straight and answered as if nothing had happened.

  ‘That’s unfortunate, sir. Hopefully the situation will change soon.’

  ‘I think we’re done here, Mitchell. We don’t have a lot of time left, and I’ll be relying on you to make some progress by the time we talk again tomorrow.’

  He checked himself. He was beginning to threaten. It was his default style, and this wasn’t what was required to best motivate this particular person.

  ‘I know we can rely on you to progress this little project of yours. I’m sure your friend Wiz will be grateful when you’re able to rejoin him once again.’

  Mitchell and Teanna were dismissed with a nod, and Teanna accompanied Mitchell to the waiting vehicle outside.

  ‘I didn’t say anything—’

  ‘Shh!’ Teanna hissed back. ‘Keep your voice down!’

  Mitchell stopped talking immediately and continued to walk with Teanna.

  They climbed into the car and drove through the security gates as they had done on the previous day. But instead of accelerating away, the vehicle took a turn, moving into the park and woodland area that lay beyond the gates of the President’s offices. It pulled to the side of the road where a truck was waiting, its lights dimmed.

  Mitchell’s instincts immediately told him he was in danger. His hand moved to the door handle, but it was locked, there was no escape. He actually looked at Teanna, as if she was going to supply him with an explanation.

  She remained silent, then indicated to the driver that he should let her out of the car. It was too dark for Mitchell to see what was going on, but he knew it wasn’t good.

  What had he done? Had he exposed his friends and put them at risk? Of course he had, but he’d thought he was helping the President.

  They’d got him, but was this what the President wanted or did Teanna Schaelles have an agenda of her own? Mitchell didn’t have any of the answers, but he knew he had to get a message to Wiz and Talya fast.

  He typed a warning swiftly into his WristCom, keeping his hand low so the driver wouldn’t figure out what he was up to. It was too late anyway – his door was being opened.

  His heart almost stopped beating when he saw who was with Teanna outside the vehicle. There were four Centuria, a full Quad Team, armed and looking more threatening than they’d ever looked to Mitchell before. They patted him down and tore off his WristCom. One reached into the car and retrieved his bag of tech.

  Mitchell was thrown into the back of the truck. There was no attempt to make it easy for him. He was not a guest there – it looked as if he was about to become a prisoner. He retreated as far back as he could. He wanted to keep as great a distance as possible between him and the guards.

  Was this what the President wanted? He thought not. Centuria were Fortrillium employees, and the President had his own guards. It was never good news if the Centuria were around, but what did Teanna Schaelles have to do with the Centuria?

  Mitchell got his explanation moments later. Another vehicle drew up alongside the truck. Out of it stepped Damien Hunter. He embraced Teanna then turned to Mitchell, who was now cowering in the furthest corner of the vehicle.

  ‘Welcome, Mitchell. How lovely to meet you!’

  Teanna smiled at that. It looked like this was all pre-planned.

  ‘I’m going to have a little chat with you, Mitchell. Let’s call it a getting-to-know-you session. I’m going to ask some questions and you’re going to answer truthfully. Now, we already know you’re a nasty little rat who’d ditch his friends at the slightest hint of flattery.’

  Mitchell felt shamed and fooled. How stupid he’d been, they’d been playing him all along.

  ‘We can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way.

  In fact, I’m busy. We’ll just do it the hard way – I want to encourage you to tell the truth. Teanna tells me you’ve already lied to the President this evening, and I want you to understand that is something I refuse to accept.’

  One of the Centuria handed Damien a black case, and he took it and placed it on the floor of the truck. Damien hoisted himself up into th
e truck, and then stood right on the edge looking intently at Mitchell.

  He picked up the case, opening it slowly and deliberately. He meant to intimidate Mitchell and it was working. He walked slowly up to him and then signalled to the Centuria. Two of them helped Teanna up into the back of the truck, then climbed up there themselves.

  One of the Centuria standing guard outside the vehicle reached up and closed the doors. They were heavy and thick – nobody would hear what was going on. The rear of the truck was fully lit. Mitchell was dazzled as he looked directly at the four people in front of him.

  Damien opened the case, then turned it round so Mitchell could see what was inside it. He didn’t bother to do a full inventory, he got the gist of what was about to happen. The steel implements caught the light as Hunter brought the case directly up to Mitchell’s face.

  ‘So, let’s get started, shall we, Mitchell? I’m going to ask you some questions about Hannah James and Talya Slater. Every time I ask a question, I’m going to encourage a full and frank answer with one of the implements in this case.

  ‘The question is not if I will use them, only how many I will use.

  ‘So let’s get started, shall we?’

  Contact

  Wiz would have liked to have had some company in the apartment, but once again he was on his own. Just like the previous night, he’d been abandoned by Mitchell, and Jena and Dillon were nowhere to be seen.

  He wasn’t sure what to do with the new information. There was something very serious going on with Delman, but he didn’t have enough information to work with.

  He attempted to contact Talya. Her WristCom was blocked – she was probably busy with Law Lord duties. He tried Mitchell’s WristCom. Again, no response, the device was blocked for incoming messages.

  Silk Roaders seemed to be able to just step away from a crisis. He’d had no sleep, and he was struggling not to become resentful of the others.

  ‘It’s all about Lucy and Joe,’ he repeated to himself, flicking to the screen feed to see how his friends were faring. The camera feed was back again – he hoped Talya’s contact had done whatever he needed to do. The serial killer was free again. He wasn’t anywhere near Joe and Lucy, but he was on the move.

  Wiz wasn’t sure what to do next. He’d have to discuss his discovery about the Centurial with Talya – they needed to find out what that was. Why was Delman making plans to leave The City? Nobody left The City, there was nothing out there. He’d heard Delman tell them himself on the screens. They were lucky to have sanctuary within its walls; there was nothing but death and ruin in the world outside.

  Wiz decided the best course of action was to work on Matt’s files. He’d monitor the screen feed, leave Delman’s communication line open in case he used it again, then try to find out whatever Matt had been hiding.

  It didn’t take him long to get back into the files, but it was worrying him that somebody in Fortrillium had tried to lock them again. Was Fortrillium on to them? They’d seized Lucy and Joe’s tech when they were taken by the Centuria, and they must have had a pretty good idea what they were looking at. Fortrillium didn’t know that Wiz had access. He’d managed to avoid detection so far, and they were oblivious that he’d been down in the sewers to secure his feeds.

  The encryption had been easy to crack. Wiz still had the DNA-based release codes saved, so the files were still accessible. Fortrillium would not be able to access Matt’s secret data, it was invisible to them, they didn’t even know it existed yet. Wiz moved around the Fortrillium folders – there was so much he didn’t understand, and he wished Talya or Mitchell were around to guide him through it.

  Wiz was on secure ground when it came to the tech. He typed away, moving through the data, looking for something he could use. Then he saw it. Matt had been clever. He’d known that Fortrillium might access the information if he was captured, so he’d added this extra level of encryption. The reason Wiz couldn’t find anything was because there was nothing to find. That’s how Matt had left it. But these were mirrored files.

  He was looking at a digital reflection. The real files were in Matt’s secure area, but invisible. Wiz knew this technique well. It was in common use among the few tech users in The Climbs; it was a dark technology which they would not use on Silk Road. How had Matt known about that? Did it matter? Wiz could access the files. It would just be a matter of time until he worked out the encryption cipher.

  There was a commotion outside the apartment. He’d been aware of the booming voices from the outdoor speakers, and he could tell there was a lot of excitement about whatever drama was playing out on the screens. There were several windows missing in Harry’s apartment – decay and neglect meant that several glass panes had fallen out over the years, crashing onto the ground below.

  Old plastic, rotten wood and rusted corrugated iron sheets often had to suffice instead, but it meant Wiz was aware of what was happening outside much of the time. He was high up in the apartment, so he only got a general sense of what was going on, but the change in atmosphere was enough to make him stop his work and look down.

  There were armed teams of Centuria gathering below in the square. They didn’t seem to be there for the crowds watching the screens – there was no unrest, no sign of any incidents.

  His WristCom sounded an alert. It was Mitchell at last. There was just a short message, and it told Wiz everything he needed to know: ‘Get out of there, they’re coming for you. I’m sorry.’

  Damn Mitchell. What had he done? The Centuria were out there for him. He was so close to getting into the files, and now Mitchell had messed things up.

  How long until they reached Wiz’s floor? He worked it out. They’d often race themselves to see how fast they could run up the stairways. The Centuria were armed and had to carry heavy outfits. They’d be slower than Wiz, Lucy and Joe.

  He reckoned at least ten minutes. He was nearly in. If he could break into the files and send them to Talya, at least she would know what to do with the information.

  Wiz typed fast at his console. He was so close, but they were on to him, there was no time left. If only he’d realized what Matt had done sooner, they’d have had more time to work with the information. Matt had had to make it secure, of course he had, and he must have had a lot of faith in Joe to think he’d finally be able to crack the encryption.

  Well, Joe was gone, and it was up to him. He’d seen them enter the building moments before, as he looked down from Harry’s apartment. How long would it take them to reach him? They wouldn’t move as fast as Wiz could – they had equipment to carry, those black suits to wear. He had ten minutes surely, maybe even as much as fifteen, if he got lucky. He’d never considered having no elevators a blessing, but today he was grateful that everybody had to use the stairs. It might just save some lives. If he could just see what Matt had left them and send it over to Talya, it wouldn’t matter so much if they got him now. Talya would be able to take it from there if it came to that.

  He kept entering the codes, cursing that Mitchell had betrayed his whereabouts. What had he been offered in return? What had made it worth forsaking his companions and sending them to almost certain death? Wiz hoped Mitchell could live with himself after this. He thought they’d been friends. He’d been sure they were friends.

  Every time he entered a new password, an obstructing beep would sound on his console, denying him access. He pictured the staircase, trying to assess how far the Centuria would have made it by now. Level 10 maybe, Level 15 at the most, and there was debris at Level 17 – that slowed everybody down.

  Then there was a different electronic sound. He almost missed it, he was so used to being blocked. His console began to run a program; it was like nothing he’d ever seen before, and he wasn’t sure what was happening. It took about half a minute. The device drew what little solar power it had managed to store in Harry’s apartment and, like a ghost from another world, a holographic image of Matt appeared in front on him. He looked tired and bloody.<
br />
  Wiz had never known Matt personally; his death was before he’d even met Joe, but he realized who it was anyway, there was only one person it could be. He wished Joe could see this – he knew how much he’d have liked to see his own father again.

  The image was unstable, and Matt had taken a few moments before he’d started to speak. Wiz heard the smashing of debris from the stairwell out on the landing – they’d reached Level 17. He hoped he’d have enough time to catch the message.

  ‘Joe, if you’re watching this you’ve turned into the man I knew you’d become. I’m so sorry about what happened, but when I tell you what was going on you’ll understand why I did what I had to do. Joe, I wish I could be with you. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life to leave you, Dillon and Jena. But if you’re watching this now, it could soon be over. You must never let Fortrillium know about this, Joe, whatever they try to do to you. If they know what I’m about to tell you, it will all be over. Joe, I know this will be difficult for you but ...’

  The holographic image of Matt hesitated – he seemed to be a man who had a lot on his mind. He stared directly into Wiz’s eyes, and it was almost as if he was there. The sound of heavy boots could be heard thundering up the stairwell – there wasn’t much time now.

  ‘Joe, this will be difficult to believe, but you have to trust me. I know what you saw on the screens. I know what everybody saw. But the truth is, Joe, it was all a deception. I’m still alive, Joe, and you need to come to me now ...’

  Wiz was stunned by Matt’s message. What else would he discover in those files if this is what he’d seen first? He was out of time – he could hear the approaching footsteps.

  He could send the access codes to Talya, but would she know what to do with them? Dillon might help, but his tech skills were nowhere near as good as they needed to be. What about Hannah? Could Talya use her skills to access the data?

  Wiz cursed Mitchell once again – what had he done to get them discovered? He needed to send this data to Mitchell, but was it safe?