Battle Lines. Will Hill

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       HE RISES

      “Even so,” he persisted. “If Dracula and Valeri released the prisoners, then we’re playing right into their hands.”

      “Thank you, Lieutenant Carpenter,” said Holmwood drily. “We hadn’t been able to figure that out for ourselves.”

      “So why are you doing it then?”

      Holmwood looked over at Jack. “Lieutenant Williams? Play the Crowthorne footage, please.”

      Jack nodded and pressed a series of keys. A new window opened on the wall screen, filled with a stationary image of a picturesque village street. He pressed PLAY and the image began to move, the black and white footage scrolling smoothly. A row of terraced houses was visible, the gardens neat, the pavement beyond the low walls clean and tidy. A small car was parked in the middle of the frame; its windscreen reflected the light of the street lamp that stood above it.

      After a few seconds, there was movement. A middle-aged man ran down the centre of the street, his arms flailing, his feet pounding the tarmac. He reached the car and slid into a crouch beside its radiator, facing the way he had come. Moments later a second man strolled into the shot; he wore a long white hospital gown, his feet were bare, and his eyes glowed ferociously. As he approached the parked car, he appeared to be smiling.

      The vampire stopped, and for a long moment nothing happened; the two men seemed to be in conversation, regarding each other from opposite ends of the vehicle. Then the vampire reached down and casually flipped the car across the road. It skidded over the tarmac, sending up showers of sparks, before crashing into a garden wall on the other side and coming to a halt.

      Gasps filled the air of the Ops Room; Jamie glanced round the table and saw expressions of shock on the faces of his colleagues. On the screen, the helpless man stood up, entirely exposed, and raised his hands in a futile plea for mercy. The vampire took half a step forward, then blurred across the screen, lifting the man into the air and carrying him out of the frame.

      Jack pressed a button and the footage paused, freezing the upturned car where it now lay. The Interim Director turned back to face the Zero Hour Task Force.

      “The vampire in that footage had been turned for a maximum of forty-five minutes,” he said. “Does anyone want to tell me what’s wrong with that picture?”

      “Jesus,” said Patrick Williams. “He was strong.”

      “And fast,” said Dominique. “Too fast.”

      “Correct,” said Holmwood. “The vampires who have been destroyed so far all exhibited strength and speed far beyond what would normally be expected of the newly-turned.”

      “How come?” asked Amy Andrews.

      “We don’t know. Science Division is examining the two inmates we’ve recovered, but they’ve found nothing so far. But there is obviously something different about these vamps, and there are about three hundred of them out there right now. That’s why this is our number-one priority, Lieutenant Carpenter, because this Department’s mission is to protect the public from the supernatural. Do you understand?”

      “I do, sir,” said Jamie. “How come the Science Division is examining the captives? Shouldn’t that be a Lazarus Project thing?”

      Holmwood shook his head. “I don’t want Lazarus diverted from its primary task. Dr Cooper is liaising with Professor Karlsson and, if he genuinely needs their help, I’ve authorised him to ask for it.”

      “OK,” said Jamie.

      “Good,” said Holmwood. “Anything else?”

      “Where’s Angela, sir?” asked Jack Williams. “She should be here for this.”

      “Lieutenant Darcy and her squad are in the field,” replied Holmwood. “They were active when the first calls started to come in. They’re due back within the hour.”

      Jack nodded, unable to keep his obvious concern from his face.

      “All right,” said Holmwood. “Anything else? No? In which case—”

      “What about Zero Hour?” said Jamie. “How are we going to protect the public if Dracula is allowed to rise?”

      Holmwood fixed Jamie with a cold stare. “The men who escaped from Broadmoor had been removed from society, Lieutenant Carpenter. Many of them suffer from the most severe personality disorders, a large number have long histories of violent and unpredictable behaviour, and the majority are dependent on pharmaceutical assistance. They have been turned in such a way as to make them unusually powerful, something that is worrying and new in itself, and in the next few hours every one of them is going to become insatiably hungry for running blood. If we don’t take them down, there might not be a public to protect.”

      Jamie dropped his gaze.

      “So what’s the plan, sir?” asked Patrick Williams, his voice steady, his jaw set firm.

      Cal Holmwood looked at him. “Search and destroy,” he replied, softly. “As quickly as possible. It’s as simple as that.”

      Jamie looked at the overturned car on the screen.

      Right, he thought. Simple.

      2

      LAZARUS REVAMPED

      Matt Browning pushed open the heavy door in the centre of the Level F corridor, as excited as a child on Christmas morning, and saw that, despite the early hour, he was not the first member of the Lazarus Project to arrive for work. Professor Karlsson looked up as he entered, gave him a smile and a brief nod, then returned his attention to a page of text resting on his desk.

      He is the boss, thought Matt, smiling to himself. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

      The reconstruction of the Lazarus Project had been undertaken with great urgency in the aftermath of the loss of Admiral Henry Seward. Cal Holmwood had given Matt, its only surviving member, carte blanche to make recommendations; he had done so, putting his natural shyness aside once he came to realise that he was not going to get into trouble for saying what he thought. His very first suggestion was that Blacklight make every possible effort to persuade Professor Robert Karlsson, the Director of the Swedish Institute for Genetic Research, to become the new head of the project. He had been aware of Karlsson’s work for some time, and considered him one of the cleverest people on the planet, a towering intellect whose area of specialisation was the manipulation of replicator enzymes within DNA, making him the perfect candidate to advance the search for a cure for vampirism.

      Holmwood had nodded with polite incomprehension. Four days later Karlsson had arrived at the Loop with a small suitcase and a leather satchel full of portable hard drives. He had been introduced to Matt, listened politely as the teenager gushed at him like an adolescent girl meeting her favourite pop star, then suggested they got to work.

      Today was to be the first day of the fully staffed, fully equipped, fully functional second incarnation of the Lazarus Project. Karlsson and Matt had spent the last month recruiting the finest minds from around the globe, rebuilding and expanding the laboratories, and overseeing СКАЧАТЬ