Charging footsteps. A security team was clattering up the stairs after them.
‘Adam!’ Morgan’s voice boomed from the building’s PA system. ‘Whatever it is you’re doing, I want you and Dr Childs to stop and turn yourself in, right now!’
Adam had no intention of doing so. He went through the door after Bianca. The rumble of machinery surrounded him as he entered the maintenance level. ‘Follow the yellow line,’ he told her, pointing at a painted marking on the concrete floor. ‘It goes to the roof access.’
She saw that he had stopped, and paused to wait for him. ‘What’re you doing?’
‘I need to slow them down. Go on, keep moving!’ He took out another charge and placed it facing the doorway at the base of a large metal tank.
Morgan spoke again, his tone more sombre — and threatening. ‘Adam, this is your last warning. If you don’t surrender immediately, I’ll have no choice but to declare you a category one security threat.’
‘What does that mean?’ Bianca asked.
He flicked the switch and raced after her. ‘It means they’re authorised to use deadly force.’
Her reply was almost a shriek. ‘What?’
‘Just get to the roof. Quick!’
‘Agent Gray! Dr Childs!’ someone shouted from the landing. ‘Put your hands in the air and show yourselves! This is your only warning!’ Red laser lines lanced through the machine level — then suddenly converged on one spot, drawn by an electronic trill. ‘Oh shit! Back, get ba—’
The bomb exploded.
Adam had placed it on a seam running up one of the tanks containing the building’s emergency water supply. The steel split along the welded join — and the pressure of the thousands of gallons of water behind it ripped the metal wall open.
A deluge burst out, sweeping through the doorway on to the landing. The security team, already reeling from the detonation, were knocked off their feet by the frothing flood. They crashed against the railings, a couple of luckless tail-enders tumbling back down the stairs.
That was not the only damage. A waterfall cascaded over the edge of the landing down into the building, another wave sweeping through the maintenance level and dashing against banks of humming machinery.
Sharp bangs rippled through the space as equipment short-circuited in showers of sparks. The lights went out. A moment later, yellow emergency bulbs came to life, casting a sickly glow over the churning water.
The wave raced after Adam and Bianca, but too late to catch them as they reached the stairs to the roof and pounded up them. He opened the door. ‘Come on.’
Bianca followed him outside, squinting at the bright light of day. Her eyes focused on the flat expanse of the roof — and the drop beyond each edge. ‘You haven’t got a helicopter, have you?’
Adam took something else from the bag. ‘Just an umbrella.’
The Bullpen was in chaos.
The video wall had been switched to show views from the STS building’s internal CCTV cameras, tracking the fugitives as they made their way to the uppermost floor. The coverage was not total, so none of the observers had seen Adam planting the charge on the water tank… but it was impossible for them to miss its effects.
‘God damn!’ Morgan exclaimed as he saw the water sweep away his men — then all the screens went black. The overhead lights flickered and died, plunging the room into darkness for several seconds.
‘My system’s down!’ Levon cried as illumination returned.
‘Mine too,’ added Holly Jo in dismay. The computers were linked to a backup battery system that was supposed to keep them running long enough to allow the emergency power supplies to kick in, but something had clearly gone very wrong.
Kyle was the first to realise the cause. ‘The hell? I’m gettin’ rained on!’
Everyone looked up. Water was dripping from several points on the ceiling. One of the lights buzzed furiously before going out with a crack and a small puff of smoke. Kiddrick, standing beside Morgan, flinched. ‘That maniac’s destroying the entire building!’
Desktop monitors started to flick back to life as machines rebooted. ‘Martin!’ shouted Tony in alarm as he checked one of his screens, then entered frantic commands. ‘The security system’s gone into failsafe mode!’ He looked at one of the doors. The green light was flashing, telling him that the lock had been deactivated. In dire emergencies, the failsafe was intended to allow people to evacuate the building without fear of being trapped behind a security barrier. ‘I can’t reset it, everything’s— Shit! Qasid!’ He ran for an exit. ‘Martin, get security to the cells!’
Morgan had already picked up a phone from a nearby desk, stabbing at one of the keys. There was no response. ‘Phones are down,’ he reported. ‘Levon, we’re deaf and blind! How long before all the systems are back up?’
Levon gestured helplessly at his screens. ‘I’m still rebooting! Couple of minutes, at least.’
‘Damn it!’ Morgan slammed the receiver back down and took out his cell phone, swiping through the contacts list to find a particular number. ‘This is Martin Morgan. I need to speak to Admiral Harper — it’s an emergency.’ He waited impatiently for the call to be transferred. Finally, he got a reply. ‘Admiral! It’s Morgan — we have a major situation at STS.’
‘What’s going on?’ Harper demanded.
‘Agent Gray has gone rogue. We don’t know the full situation, but he assaulted Dr Kiddrick and stole a PERSONA module.’
‘Which module? Who’s on the disk?’
‘He is, sir. It’s a recording that was made when he first joined the project.’
There was a long silence from the other end of the line. When Harper spoke again, he sounded both angry and strained. ‘If what Adam Gray knows — what he used to know — gets into the wrong hands, there will be major implications for national security. That disk has to be recovered, Morgan. At any cost. Do I make myself clear?’
‘You do, sir,’ said Morgan, frowning. ‘If I may ask… when you say “the wrong hands”, do they include Agent Gray’s?’
Another pause. ‘That is correct. Where’s Gray now?’
‘We’re not sure. He’s knocked out our systems.’
‘What?’
‘He blew a water tank and shorted out a lot of the building’s electrics. We’re trying to bring everything back online now. We think he’s on the roof, but—’
‘Whatever it takes, Morgan, you have to recover that disk. Put Baxter and his team on it. They’re authorised to use any means necessary to take Gray down.’
Morgan was shocked. ‘Take him down, sir? Are you saying—’
He broke off, whipping round at a muffled sound from somewhere outside the room. Kyle jumped. ‘Was that a gun?’
‘Everyone stay calm,’ Morgan ordered, as more distant retorts reached him. ‘Stay at your posts — we need those cameras! Get our systems online!’ He brought the phone back up. ‘Sir, there have been shots fired. I’ll report back as soon as I know the situation.’ He ran from the Bullpen, following Tony’s path through the building.
He passed frightened workers rushing the other way. ‘Did you see what happened?’ he asked one woman.
She shook her head, desperate to get away. ‘No, sir. But I saw Mr Carpenter run past my office — and then we heard the shots.’ She pointed down the corridor.
‘Get to safety,’ Morgan ordered, running the way she had indicated. Towards the cells. It struck him that he could be heading straight into danger, unarmed, but he shook off his concerns. He was in charge; he had to know what had happened.
A security door ahead, the green light flashing. He hurried through. Beyond was the holding area. The door was open — and he caught the sharp scent of gun smoke in the air. ‘Tony!’ he called, going to the entrance. ‘Tony, are you okay?’