‘Luckily, I do not have to worry about explanations,’ Jack said. ‘I was told to find it and return it. More than that I cannot...’
A low throbbing sound in the air had been growing steadily as they spoke. Jack had noticed it in the back of his mind but had paid no attention. He should have been more alert. Even Emily was quicker; she walked outside to look in the direction of the noise.
‘Helicopter,’ she said.
‘Several of them,’ Jack said as he joined her. ‘Big ones. That’s bad.’
There was no point in trying to run or hide, even if they had wanted to. Jack knew full well that advance soldiers would have surrounded the retreat already, taking up position and checking for any threats before the helicopters arrived. This was the end of the operation, the grand finale, not the beginning. There was nothing to do except stand and wait. Somehow or other they had been tracked and followed.
Four huge helicopters flew overhead, making last-minute checks, then pulled back into the middle distance. Jack didn’t want to think how many guns were now trained on them, but he warned the others — the Retreat had only a dozen or so inmates and they all came out to look at the noise — to move slowly and deliberately, to keep their hands away from their clothes, to do nothing which might even be thought of as threatening.
They nodded nervously as he told them what to do, and watched as another machine — vast and terrifyingly noisy — loomed overhead, then settled down like a metal insect in the field opposite. Ten soldiers jumped out and spread across the ground, weapons at the ready. Two ran towards Jack and Emily; they did not speak, did not explain themselves, and no one was foolish enough to protest. Jack put his arm round Emily, both to give comfort and to warn her not to move. He knew from experience how nervous the soldiers would be. ‘Gently,’ he said quietly. ‘They’re doing their job. Let them get on with it.’
Then came the grand climax of the event, which was, he realised, choreographed to perfection. As the helicopter’s engines died and the huge rotors stopped, two more men leapt out and opened the doors; they put a set of steps up to the side of the machine. Then a small figure appeared at the doorway, blinked in the bright morning air and came down the steps, assisted by a guard who, almost touchingly, held his arm to steady him. He walked slowly towards them, then went straight past into the building. From the gestures of the soldiers, Jack gathered they were meant to follow, so he gripped Emily by the arm even more firmly. ‘Come with me. Don’t be alarmed,’ he whispered. ‘It’s a good show. It’s meant to frighten. If he’d wanted anything else we’d all be dead by now.’
Oldmanter was sitting in the one chair by the fire, which he briefly gazed at with what seemed almost like appreciation. Jack, Emily and Kendred were lined up in front of him. The bodyguards took up position at the doors and windows.
‘You understand my caution?’ he asked, gesturing at the guards with a lazy flick of the hand.
‘They are not necessary,’ Emily replied. ‘You know we do not approve of violence in our group.’
Oldmanter ignored the remark and looked around him at the room, which was bare and whitewashed, with wooden floors that had been scrubbed so often they were almost white as well. ‘Unusual. Not healthy, but appealing to the eye.’
‘Would you care for some refreshment?’
‘Would I care to drink some unhygienic muck that is not scanned in advance, out of a receptacle which has not been properly sterilised?’
Emily flushed.
‘No, thank you. I haven’t survived as long as I have by taking unnecessary risks. Shall we get down to business, or do you prefer a leisurely period of polite conversation first of all?’
‘I would like to know why you have come here. We have done nothing wrong.’
‘You think not? I could give you a very long list if I had the time. Unregistered Retreat, harbouring a fugitive. In fact, you know perfectly well why I am here. I want that document. Would you hand it over, please?’
‘I’m afraid I cannot,’ Jack replied. ‘You know that I am duty-bound to Dr Hanslip.’
‘He is under arrest and has been stripped of his status.’
‘Since when?’
‘Since we raided his institute last night. I took the precaution of bringing him here to demonstrate, in case you doubted my word.’
The old man flipped a hand and one of the guards walked out. They stayed there — Oldmanter sitting, the others standing, the guards with their backs to the wall, eyes flitting nervously everywhere — until the door opened once more, and two guards brought a dishevelled and badly beaten Hanslip into the room.
Far from being one of the rulers of the world, if only a minor one, Hanslip now seemed like one of the criminals Jack had arrested in the past. His face was filthy and bruised, and already it was scored with that look of defeat and resignation which he had seen so often.
‘Well, Hanslip?’ Oldmanter said — not harshly or cruelly, Jack noted. There was no tone of victory or triumph in his voice. ‘You see how well your employee serves you. He will not hand over the manuscript until he is certain his contractual obligation to you is at an end. Please confirm it now.’
Hanslip continued to look as though he didn’t quite realise where he was or understand what was going on. Eventually he attempted a weak smile, which made him grimace from some hidden pain.
‘I’m sorry to see you like this, sir,’ Jack said, ‘but you must answer the question. Am I now free to hand over the document to Mr Oldmanter?’
‘No!’ Hanslip croaked. ‘No! Never. You must not! It is mine! No one must have it but me...’
He got no further. One of the guards clubbed him sharply from the rear with his gun, and Hanslip sank to his knees, his head bowed. Oldmanter regarded Hanslip with what looked surprisingly like sympathy. ‘Oh, shut him up!’ he said, then turned back to More. ‘I am not to be trifled with. This is too important. Mr More, you no longer owe loyalty to that man and all contracts and loyalties have passed to me. You must surrender the document. That is now a direct order.’
‘I would do so,’ he said, ‘but unfortunately I do not have it.’
‘Then who does?’
‘I do,’ said Emily from the corner of the room. ‘It is concealed, and if you try to take it by force it will be destroyed. From what I understand of its nature, merely rendering a small section unreadable will make the whole thing useless, is that not the case?’
‘Then I ask you to give it to me.’
‘Certainly. By all means.’
Kendred instantly rounded on her.
‘Are you mad, girl? Don’t you know who this is?’
‘I do. This is the man who controls the fate of the world, whether we like it or not.’
Oldmanter’s eyes showed his amusement. ‘Quite right.’
‘Unless I destroy that little booklet,’ she continued, ‘in which case the machine you are all so interested in will be just a useless piece of ironware. Correct? You are not clever enough to reproduce Angela Meerson’s work and this is the only copy of it.’
‘An interesting opening, young woman. Let us say, for a moment, that your statement is correct. What do you do next?’
‘I make modest demands that you will find easy to accept, in exchange for giving you what you want.’
‘Oh, dear! You are going to beg me to abandon the campaign against the Retreats and the renegades. How wearisome of you!’
‘No. I want you to increase it.’
‘I beg your pardon?’ Oldmanter visibly perked up at hearing something new for once.