Otto sat down next to Laura, placing his tray on the table. She was reading a book filled with circuit diagrams and technical schematics.
‘Any good jokes in that?’ Otto asked with a smile.
‘Oh yeah,’ Laura replied. ‘Intercontinental ballistic missile guidance systems are a real laugh fest.’
‘I can imagine,’ Otto said, sticking a fork into the food on his plate. The dining room was bustling with lunchtime activity. All around them students from each of H.I.V.E.’s streams were eating and chatting. It was one of the few times that the streams mixed like this but even now most of the tables arranged around the giant cavern were occupied by groups from just one stream. Nearby a group of Henchman students in their distinctive blue jumpsuits were sitting round a table having a noisy argument about exactly who had achieved the most kills in their latest holographic combat training session. Next to them was a table filled with students from the Science and Technology stream who were having a much quieter discussion about the differing properties of various forms of thermal shielding for reactor cores. They all wore white jumpsuits and would occasionally glance nervously at the Henchman students at the next table. Otto didn’t blame them for feeling slightly uncomfortable. The members of the Henchman stream were notorious for their constant bullying of students from the other groups. They had an unpleasant habit of picking on the SciTech students in particular or as they called them, ‘the nerd stream’. Otto sometimes wondered why Dr Nero tolerated the aggressive behaviour of the Henchman students. He supposed there had to be a reason – with Nero there seemed to always be a reason for everything.
‘I’ve been thinking about our plan,’ Otto said quietly. ‘I think we should do it sooner rather than later. I’m getting nervous about the special attention we’re getting from Dekker.’
‘Aye,’ Laura replied, ‘I know what you mean. If we’re going to do this we’d better do it before she puts us all under lockdown.’
‘I’m thinking tomorrow night,’ Otto said. ‘Do you think you’ll have finished the new code for the device by then?’
‘There’s just a couple of bugs to be worked out,’ Laura replied, glancing around to make sure that they were not being eavesdropped on. ‘We can’t risk hooking it up until we’re one hundred per cent sure that Big Blue won’t feel it.’
Big Blue was Laura’s affectionate nickname for H.I.V.E.mind. He was much more than just a piece of software, acting as he did as a digital guardian, protecting and securing the entire school. He had also become a friend to Otto and the others, saving all of their lives on more than one occasion.
‘Yeah, well, we wouldn’t have to be bothering with all of this if he’d just been a little bit more cooperative,’ Otto said.
‘Oh, come on, Otto, you didn’t really expect him to just give you the exam papers because you asked him nicely, did you?’
‘It was worth a try. He still owes me,’ Otto replied.
‘You know he can’t ignore a direct command from Nero,’ Laura said. ‘It’s not his fault.’
‘I know,’ Otto said with a sigh. ‘Now we’re just going to have to do it the hard way.’
‘I think it’s been more fun this way actually,’ Laura replied with a smile. ‘I’ve really enjoyed us working on the device together. I mean . . . the intellectual challenge of it . . . you know.’
‘Yeah, me too,’ Otto said. ‘It’s been fun doing it the old-fashioned way.’
‘What do you mean old fashioned?’ Laura said with mock indignation. ‘I’ll have you know that this is cutting-edge stuff we’ve been working on.’
‘Cutting edge for you maybe . . .’ Otto said with a grin.
‘Right, that’s it, no more soldering for you, my boy,’ Laura said, folding her arms and leaning back in her chair. ‘I’m revoking your tinkering privileges.’
‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’ a voice with an American accent asked from behind Otto.
Otto turned round and saw a tall boy with neatly trimmed brown hair standing behind him. His grey jumpsuit marked him out as a student from the Politics and Finance stream and the pips in his collar indicated that he was in his fifth year at the H.I.V.E. Otto had seen him around on occasion but he had no idea who he was.
‘Hi,’ the boy said with a smile, extending his hand. ‘I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Cole Harrington and you must be the infamous Otto Malpense. Mind if I join you?’
‘Actually we were just having a conversation,’ Otto said, glancing back at Laura.
‘It’s fine,’ Laura said, putting her book in her backpack and picking up her lunch tray. ‘I need to go and do some revision anyway. I’ll catch up with you later, Otto.’ She glanced over at Harrington who was sitting down in the seat opposite Otto and raised a quizzical eyebrow as she left.
‘It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person,’ Harrington said, still smiling. ‘I’ve heard a lot of stories about you.’
‘Most of them not true, I’m sure,’ Otto replied. There were comparatively few people at H.I.V.E. who really knew the precise details of the incidents that Otto had been involved in since his arrival at H.I.V.E. and so the rumour mill had filled in the blanks with little regard for accuracy. If Otto had actually done half of the things that he was supposed to have done then he would have either been expelled or executed long before now. Although, in fairness, at H.I.V.E. they were often essentially the same thing.
‘Maybe, but my sources tell me that you’re still a very useful person to know,’ Cole said, ‘especially with the exams coming up, if you know what I mean.’
‘I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,’ Otto said, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable.
‘Of course you don’t. Humour me for a moment though and just pretend that you do. Let’s just imagine that actually you have some sort of plan for getting hold of the exam questions. And then, having imagined that, let’s also imagine that there was someone who might be able to reward you handsomely for sharing that information with him. Can you imagine that, Otto?’
‘Oh, I have a very active imagination,’ Otto replied, ‘but what makes you think that I would be interested in sharing any such information with my new imaginary friend? It’s not like there’s anything he could offer that I really need. Not while I’m stuck here at least.’
‘That’s just where you’re wrong,’ Harrington said. ‘There are all sorts of ways that a person’s life at H.I.V.E. can be made easier.’ He paused for a moment, the previous friendly warmth in his expression suddenly vanishing, replaced by something much colder and harder. ‘Just as there are all sorts of ways that a person’s life at H.I.V.E. can be made much, much harder.’
‘Are you threatening me?’ Otto asked, looking Harrington straight in the eye.
‘Of course not,’ Harrington replied, the broad smile returning. ‘I’m just clarifying your options for you.’
‘Good,’ Otto replied, ‘because it would have been really, really stupid of you to threaten me.’
‘Is everything OK here?’ Wing asked as he approached the table and noticed the expression on Otto’s face.
‘Everything’s fine,’ Harrington said as he stood up. ‘We were just discussing a little business. Do let me know what you decide, Otto. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.’
‘Who was that?’ Wing asked as he watched Harrington walk away.
‘A future President of the United States,’ Otto replied with a frown, ‘and just possibly a really big problem.’
Raven tightened the final strap on the stretcher, making sure that the unconscious boy lying on it was firmly secured. She checked the pulse on his neck and was pleased to feel that it was steady and strong. The Sleeper guns were designed to incapacitate their targets as safely as possible but she did not want to take any chances. She moved further along the Shroud’s passenger compartment and repeated the check on the young girl who had tasered her. She had a small bruise on her cheekbone from falling against the car when Raven had hit her with the Sleeper but nothing more serious than that. Raven had to admit to a grudging respect for the speed and accuracy of the girl’s shot with the taser. It wasn’t often that someone caught her by surprise like that.
Raven headed back to her seat and picked up the tablet displaying the latest reports from the retrieval teams. Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly. The vast majority of the operations had been completed successfully and there had only been a couple of minor injuries. Nero would be pleased. She placed the tablet back on the seat and climbed up the ladder to the Shroud’s flight deck. The two pilots sat in the darkened cockpit, the only illumination provided by the banks of video displays and hundreds of illuminated switches that lined the control panel in front of them.
‘How long until we’re back at H.I.V.E.?’ Raven asked.
‘Three hours,’ the pilot replied.
‘Good,’ Raven said. ‘Notify me when we’re five minutes out.’
‘Understood,’ the pilot replied with a nod.
Raven climbed back down to the lower deck and sat on one of the seats opposite the young girl. She looked like she was simply in a deep sleep, her chest rising and falling rhythmically, her expression peaceful. Raven watched her for a few minutes before she closed her eyes and leant back in her seat. She was too wired to sleep but she had taught herself over the years to use these moments of rest to clear her mind and centre herself. Normally it was easy but for some reason tonight she was finding it difficult. She could not shake off the image of the girl’s face from earlier that evening as she had pulled the trigger on the taser. Unafraid, determined, efficient. It reminded her of something, a place that she had tried very hard to forget over the years. Tonight though, for whatever reason, she could not stop the memories flooding back. Memories of the past. Memories of the Glasshouse . . .
eighteen years ago
‘Natalya,’ the boy whispered, urgently shaking the shoulder of the girl lying on the top of the steel-framed bunk. ‘Natalya, wake up!’
‘What is it, Tolya?’ Natalya groaned as she reluctantly opened her eyes. The boy standing next to her bed was looking round anxiously. They would both be punished if they were caught talking after lights out and she was already physically exhausted by the day’s training without adding punishment exercises on top of everything else.
‘It’s Dimitri, he’s gone,’ Tolya whispered.
‘What do you mean “gone”?’ Natalya asked, pushing herself up in her bed and looking down the dormitory that was only dimly lit by the watery moonlight pouring through the skylights far overhead.
‘I mean he’s gone, not here, vanished, what do you think I mean?’ Tolya said impatiently. ‘A noise woke me up and when I looked across at Dimitri’s bunk it was empty.’
‘If this is some kind of joke, Tolya, I’m telling you now that it’s not very funny,’ Natalya whispered, getting up out of her bunk. The pair of them crept through the room as quietly as they could. It was always cold in the dormitory and the plain cotton pyjamas that they wore did little to keep them warm now that they were out from under the heavy woollen blankets on their beds. They arrived at Dimitri’s bunk and sure enough, it was quite empty.
‘You checked the toilet?’ Natalya asked, nodding towards the door in the corner of the room.
‘No, I suppose he could be in there,’ Tolya replied.
‘Tolya, you idiot,’ Natalya said with a sigh, ‘if you’ve woken me up just because Dimitri needed a pee I am going to hurt you really quite badly.’
Natalya walked over to the door to the bathroom and looked inside.
‘Dimitri,’ she whispered, ‘are you in here?’ There was no reply. She walked down the long line of cubicle doors and checked that none were occupied.
‘See, he’s not here,’ Tolya said, sounding rather relieved.
‘Then where is he?’ Natalya said. ‘He can’t have just vanished into thin air.’
Suddenly something caught her eye.
‘What’s that?’ she asked, pointing into the gloom.
‘What?’ Tolya said, looking in the direction she indicated but seeing nothing.
Natalya walked over to the corner of the room and with a rush of excitement she realised what it was. Hanging down from one of the bracing girders that ran across the space below the skylights was a thin rope. Natalya tugged on the rope experimentally and found that it felt firmly attached.
‘Where’d that come from?’ Tolya asked.
‘The rope fairy must have left it,’ Natalya said.
‘What?’
‘It’s Dimitri, you idiot,’ Natalya said impatiently. ‘He must have found a way out.’
‘Up there?’ Tolya said with a look of disbelief.
‘Only one way to find out,’ Natalya said as she grabbed the rope and began to haul herself towards the ceiling. She stopped halfway up and looked down at Tolya who was standing at the bottom of the rope looking extremely nervous. ‘Come on,’ she said, ‘what are you afraid of?’
‘It’s not what I’m afraid of,’ Tolya muttered to himself as he grabbed the bottom of the rope, ‘it’s who.’
Natalya reached the top of the rope and hauled herself up on to the dusty girder. It was probably only ten metres to the concrete below but that seemed quite a long way down from up here. She could also see the rows of bunks on the other side of the partition wall that separated them from the toilets and she was glad to see that no one else seemed to have been woken by their creeping around. A few moments later Tolya pulled himself up on to the girder beside her.
‘Where did Dimitri manage to find a grapple?’ Tolya asked quietly as Natalya examined the hook that secured the rope to the girder. Natalya had no idea but then she rarely had any idea how Dimitri managed to get his hands on the things that he did. He had been one of the first friends she had made when she arrived at the Glasshouse two years ago and without him and Tolya, Natalya doubted that she would have survived the first six months. He was one of the few people she knew who had not had his spirit broken by this place and she loved him for it.
‘We can ask him when we find him, can’t we?’ Natalya said with a smile. ‘Look.’ She pointed over at one of the nearby skylights. The padlock that had secured it hung open and it was propped open, just a crack, with a thin piece of wood. Natalya crept carefully along the girder towards the skylight. She slid her fingers into the narrow gap and lifted it open very slowly as its old hinges creaked in protest.
‘Come on,’ Natalya said, as she stepped on to the roof outside, holding the skylight open for Tolya. He hesitated for a moment, looking uncertain. ‘This could be our chance to get out of here.’
‘OK,’ Tolya said with a slight shake of the head as he climbed out after her, ‘but I must be crazy.’
‘After two years in this place I think crazy is actually pretty normal,’ Natalya replied as she crouched down and crept over to the parapet that ran along the edge of the roof. She peered over the top of the dirty brickwork and down into the moonlit courtyard below. Everything seemed quiet. There were no signs of any unusual activity. Beyond the courtyard was the perimeter wall and she watched as the guards who were supposed to be patrolling it, stood sharing a cigarette and chatting. On the other side of the wall was another fence and beyond that many miles of frozen forest. They wouldn’t make it more than a couple of miles in the pyjamas they were wearing, so their first priority had to be finding warmer clothes. She knew that there was a storeroom on the east side of the courtyard that held just what they needed. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get down there.
‘What now?’ Tolya asked as he too peered down into the snow-covered courtyard.
‘First we need to . . .’ Natalya stopped as the courtyard was suddenly flooded with bright, white light. A small figure bolted out of the storeroom she had just been planning to loot and sprinted across the cobbles towards the perimeter wall. He was wearing full survival kit with one pack on his back and was carrying another two bulging packs, one in each hand.
‘Dimitri!’ Natalya gasped as she recognised the boy running across the brightly lit square. There were shouts from the guards on the wall as they raised their rifles to their shoulders. Dimitri slowed to a halt, dropping the other two packs to the ground and raising his hands in surrender.
‘What’s he doing?’ Tolya asked, sounding bewildered.
‘You idiot, Dimitri,’ Natalya said under her breath. ‘Why do you always have to play the hero? We should have all gone together.’ But she knew what he had done. He had been trying to get the gear that all three of them would need to escape. He had more chance of successfully escaping on his own but he was going to come back and take her and Tolya with him. That was why he had propped the skylight open and left the rope in place instead of taking it with him.
‘Oh no,’ Tolya whispered as he recognised the two figures that were walking out of the front door of the compound’s main building. Anastasia and Pietor Furan. They walked towards Dimitri who stood his ground defiantly, head held high. Pietor Furan raised his hand and delivered a scything backhand fist to the boy’s jaw, knocking him to one knee. Dimitri slowly stood back up as Anastasia put a restraining hand on her brother’s arm. She began to talk to Dimitri and Natalya strained to make out any details of the conversation from her high vantage point but it was pointless, they were too far away. Her mind raced as she watched the scene unfolding below. There had to be something she could do to help him. Anastasia turned away from Dimitri and reached inside her long white coat. Natalya felt the scream issuing unbidden from her lips as she saw the woman raising a pistol towards Dimitri’s chest.
‘Nooooo!’ Natalya screamed, standing up and watching powerlessly as Anastasia Furan’s head turned slowly towards her. The woman stared at Natalya, looking her straight in the eye as she pulled the trigger. Natalya felt her legs give way underneath her as Dimitri fell backwards, the white snow blooming with crimson red beneath him.
Natalya sank to the floor, turning her back against the parapet and wrapping her arms round her knees. She sat there staring vacantly into space as Tolya, tears streaming down his face, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.
‘Natalya, please, we have to run, now!’ he pleaded, knowing in his heart that there was really nowhere to run to. She didn’t offer any resistance as the guards poured out of the nearby door on to the roof and dragged her down the stairs to the courtyard. What was the point? The guards hauled her across the snow-covered cobbles and threw her to the ground in front of Anastasia Furan. The older woman leant down and cupped Natalya’s chin in her hand, raising her face until she was looking directly into her eyes.
‘What a terrible waste,’ Anastasia said as she looked towards Dimitri’s body, ‘of a bullet.’
Deep inside Natalya something broke, something that would never again be truly whole. She let out a scream that turned the nearby guards’ faces pale as she launched herself at Anastasia Furan with every intention of killing her where she stood with nothing but her bare hands. Pietor slammed Natalya to the ground, pinning her against the cold cobbles as she fought fruitlessly to get free. Tolya could do nothing but watch in horror as he saw his friend Natalya replaced by someone . . . no, something . . . different.
‘I wondered how long it would take us to find the animal inside you, Natalya,’ Anastasia said, a chilling smile on her face. ‘And now I have my answer.’ More guards helped Pietor to restrain the feral girl. ‘Take them both to the detention block,’ Anastasia said with a dismissive wave as she turned to leave. ‘Indefinite isolation.’
There was no such thing as time to Natalya any more. There was no daytime or night-time, just unrelenting blackness that was broken for a few seconds each day by the shaft of light that poured into the cell through the hole in the door when the guards used to give her food and water. She slept only fitfully – the nightmares that plagued her were too terrible to grant her even that refuge.
Days passed, then weeks, or so she guessed. There was no way of knowing for sure. There was a part of her that just wanted to fade away, here in the darkness, shrinking to nothingness, but there was another, stronger voice in her head. That voice told her to hold on, to not let the despair and the isolation break her. She had a mission, one that only she could complete and so she could not surrender to the pain. Killing Anastasia Furan, that was all that mattered. She would not let them break her, she would not give them the satisfaction.
Then, one day, without warning, the door to her cell was opened. There was no one on the other side, just a corridor that seemed impossibly bright. She stepped out into the light, squinting in pain as the glaring brightness seemed to almost press down on her. The door at the far end of the corridor was open and she walked slowly towards it. Beyond that door was a circular room, its smooth concrete walls leading up to a caged gallery ten metres above. As Natalya entered the room the door slammed shut behind her and locked. She stood staring up at the gallery above as Anastasia and Pietor Furan appeared.
Natalya tried to speak, but her voice was little more than a croaky whisper. It had been a long time since she had used it.
‘What was that, Natalya?’ Anastasia said with a smile.
‘I said you should have killed me,’ Natalya whispered.
‘No, Natalya,’ Anastasia replied, ‘you have too much potential for that. I saw it in you the first time we met. Call it instinct if you like but I can always spot a killer. I look at you and I see myself many years ago.’
‘I am nothing like you,’ Natalya said, her voice seeming to grow stronger again each time she used it.
‘Not yet perhaps, but you will be in time and today you take the first proper step on that path.’
The door set in the opposite room of the circular pit swung open and a barely recognisable figure staggered into the room.
‘Tolya,’ Natalya gasped. There was no hint of recognition in his eyes as he looked at her, just a terrible blank stare that made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. ‘What have they done to you?’
‘He has received exactly the same punishment as you, my dear,’ Anastasia said, ‘but I’m afraid he lacks your strength. They say that if you leave a person in darkness for long enough they will always carry some of that darkness around inside them. I fear that in this poor boy’s case it has consumed him.’
Tolya made a terrible low guttural growling noise, more beast than human and he ran at Natalya. She dodged to one side, pushing him away from her and into the wall. He spun and lunged back towards her with an infuriated roar and she backed away, circling him, trying to stay out of his reach.
‘Tolya, it’s me, Natalya,’ she said as they circled each other. ‘We’re friends, please, try to remember.’
‘Let’s speed things up shall we,’ Anastasia said as she watched Natalya duck away from another of Tolya’s lunging grabs. She signalled to Furan and he opened a section of the cage that surrounded the upper walkway and threw two objects into the centre of the pit. Natalya stared at the gleaming pair of blades that lay on the floor between her and Tolya. He dashed forward and snatched the twin katanas from the floor before Natalya could react. She ducked backwards as he swung the blades wildly at her. She felt the concrete wall at her back and he lunged. The tip of one of the blades sliced into her cheek, leaving a long curved gash, and she hit back blindly, punching him in the face. Tolya staggered backwards as Natalya advanced feeling the blood trickling down her cheek. The training she had received over the last two long years suddenly kicked in and she delivered a series of precise punches and kicks to Tolya’s torso. He flailed at her with one of the swords and she ducked beneath the wild swing and jabbed at his wrist, paralysing his hand and sending the blade clattering away across the floor. He swung at her again with the other katana and she ducked beneath the sweeping blade and rolled towards the sword lying on the floor. She scooped it up, despite the fact she had never fought with a sword in her life, and turned back towards Tolya who charged at her with an animal roar. She brought her sword up in a vain effort to defend herself as he hit her like a freight train and she felt a sudden, shuddering impact run through her weapon. She struggled to throw him off her as she felt his hands closing around her throat and squeezing. She couldn’t breathe, feeling panic as the fringes of her vision started to blacken. Then Tolya’s grip slackened and just for a moment Natalya thought she saw a flicker of recognition in her friend’s eyes. He gave a small pained gasp and then collapsed on top of Natalya with a final rasping sigh. Natalya rolled Tolya’s limp body off from on top of her and staggered to her feet. She grabbed the hilt of the katana that protruded from her dead friend’s chest and pulled it free before picking Tolya’s sword up from the floor. She looked up at Anastasia Furan, half her face covered in blood and with a sword in each hand. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t need to, her expression made the depth of her hatred perfectly clear.
‘She’s going to be dangerous,’ Pietor Furan said, looking down at Natalya.
‘No, Pietor, she is going to be magnificent,’ Anastasia replied with a smile.
now
Raven caught the Shroud’s co-pilot’s wrist in a vice-like grip a moment before he actually touched her shoulder. For a fleeting instant there was a look of such unbridled malevolence in her eyes that he felt his heart quicken but then her expression softened.
‘I’m sorry to wake you,’ the man said slightly nervously.
‘I wasn’t asleep,’ Raven replied, trying to shake off the feeling of lingering despair that always accompanied the memories of her childhood. ‘Are we nearly home?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ the co-pilot replied with a nod. ‘Five minutes.’
‘Thank you,’ Raven replied, standing up and heading over to the stretchers on the opposite side of the passenger compartment. She checked the unconscious boy’s pulse – still strong.
‘I know you’re awake,’ Raven said to the girl in the other stretcher, smiling to herself. ‘So feigning unconsciousness will not catch me off guard.’ The girl’s head turned so that she could see Raven.
‘Where are you taking me?’ the girl asked, straining against the straps that secured her to the stretcher.
‘You’ll find out very soon,’ Raven replied. ‘If you stop struggling, I’ll undo those straps.’
The girl stared at Raven for a moment and then lay still. Raven moved over to her stretcher and released the straps one by one. The girl sat up and looked at Raven, as if sizing her up.
‘Who are you?’ the girl asked, frowning slightly.
‘You may call me Raven.’
‘Why have you kidnapped us? Who do you work for?’ the girl demanded. Raven could not help but admire her apparent lack of fear.
‘Let’s just say that I work in . . . recruitment,’ Raven replied with a slight smile.
‘Recruitment for what?’ the girl asked, looking round the dimly lit interior of the Shroud.
The boy in the other stretcher let out a low moan and his eyes fluttered open. Raven moved over to his stretcher, undid the restraining straps and helped him to sit up. He was tall and handsome with a thick mop of brown hair that hung down over his forehead and his dark brown eyes. He seemed totally disorientated for a moment or two and then his eyes widened and he pushed himself back against the bulkhead away from Raven.
‘What’s going on?’ he said, sounding bewildered.
‘I’ve already asked her that,’ the girl said as she sat down next to the confused-looking boy. ‘I’m afraid straight answers don’t seem to be her speciality.’
There was a sudden soft thud as the Shroud touched down and Raven moved over to the boarding ramp release switch.
‘You’re about to get all the answers you could possibly want,’ Raven said as she hit the button and the ramp began to descend. ‘Please, after you,’ she said, gesturing for them to proceed.
The girl helped the boy get unsteadily to his feet and they walked down the slope. At the bottom were several security guards armed with Sleepers.
‘This way please,’ one of the guards said, gesturing for them to follow. They followed him without question, eyes wide and mouths hanging open in amazement as they tried to take in the scene that greeted them. Dozens of sleek, black insectile dropships like the one they had just disembarked from were spread out around the floor of the huge hangar that surrounded them. There was a rumble from high overhead and they looked up to see two massive reinforced shutters sliding together far above them, sealing them inside the enormous floodlit cavern. Several other children were climbing down from the strange aircraft and following security guards across the hangar floor towards a massive opening in the rocky wall. They shared the same look of dumbstruck awe.
‘All retrieval teams report for debriefing,’ a soft, vaguely synthetic voice said over speakers hidden somewhere in the walls. ‘All flight crews to perform post-flight checks.’
Raven watched as the pair of new students who she had recruited joined the group of twenty or so other children who were being herded towards the main meeting hall by their security team escorts. She followed along behind, quietly taking up a position at the back of the enormous cavern that was used for all full school assemblies. There was a low-level buzz of nervous chatter now as the new intake of students was arranged in lines in front of the lectern at the far end of the room. Behind the lectern was a sculpture depicting a fist hammering down upon a cracked globe, the symbol of G.L.O.V.E. At its base was inscribed the G.L.O.V.E. motto: ‘Do Unto Others’.
A moment later the door at the side of the stage hissed open and Dr Nero strode over to the lectern. He paused for a moment, looking at the array of bewildered but curious faces that stared back at him.
‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,’ Nero began. ‘Welcome to H.I.V.E. and the first day of the rest of your lives.’