The Tactical Education department was almost like a school within a school. As Otto made his way towards the cavern where their first lesson with Colonel Francisco was due to take place he saw classrooms, firing ranges, gyms, climbing walls, swimming pools and a host of other facilities that appeared to be unique to this department. He also noticed that there were many more henchman students in this area than he had seen before, the vast majority of whom seemed to have the same imposing build as Block and Tackle. Otto saw that Wing was constantly surveying their surroundings with a practised eye, as if expecting to be ambushed at any moment. Otto supposed that he too was looking out for any sign of their lunchtime sparring partners from the previous day.
The atmosphere in this department was quite different to any other part of the school that the new Alpha students had seen so far. There was a feeling of barely suppressed aggression that seemed to pervade the entire area, and this was only made more intimidating by the openly hostile glares that they received from the blue-overalled thugs that surrounded them. It was with some relief that they finally arrived at the entrance to the correct cavern, the heavy steel doors rumbling apart to admit them.
They walked through the door and on to a large metal platform that was suspended from the wall of a deep cavern, a pool of dark water filling its base far below. Hanging down from the roof of the cavern, level with the platform, was a bizarre arrangement of girders and concrete blocks, looking almost like a suspended assault course. Standing at the far side of the platform was the enormous black man in military uniform whom Otto had spotted on the teachers’ table at lunch the previous day. He was wearing the same military-style camouflage fatigues and heavy black boots polished to a high shine, and looked thoroughly formidable. Now that Otto could observe him more closely he could also see that what he had taken to be some kind of gauntlet that the man wore was in fact a fully articulated artificial metal hand, suggesting that handshakes should probably be avoided if one wanted to avoid an unscheduled trip to the infirmary. He looked like the sort of person who would happily rip the head off anyone who did not do exactly as he instructed. As the last of the Alphas passed through the doors he bellowed at the group.
‘Right! Listen up, you worthless bunch of maggots. I am Colonel Francisco, but that’s “sir” to you. You will obey my orders at all times immediately and without question. If any of you disobey my orders, I will personally see to it that the next few years are a living hell for you – that’s a promise. I doubt that I’ll be able to do much with a bunch of no-good Alphas like you, but let’s see what you’ve got. Form up!’
He pointed to the circles painted on the floor in front of him and each of the students hurriedly took up position on one of the marks.
‘Stand to attention, now! Feet together, eyes forward!’ Francisco screamed at them, and they hurriedly obeyed. ‘What a pitiful display of spineless specimens,’ the Colonel said, walking along the line of students. ‘This is the first stage of your Tactical Education programme. It is highly unlikely that any of you will display even the tiniest bit of natural ability for what I will be trying to teach you, but I will not tolerate quitters. You give your all or I will damn well take it from you. Do I make myself clear?’
There were a few mumbles of agreement from the group, most of whom appeared to be in a state of mild shock.
‘I can’t hear you! When I ask you a question you will answer loud and clear. The first and last words I want to hear from each and every one of you is “sir.” Is that clear?’ He glared at them, as if daring them to defy him.
‘Sir, yes sir!’ the group replied loudly in unison.
‘Good. I intend to start your training by familiarising you with one of the most basic and fundamental pieces of equipment that you will use during your time at H.I.V.E.’ He walked over to a rack of strange black objects and picked one up. It looked like an armoured gauntlet with a small handle at one end and a bulky assembly attached to one side with a silver arrowhead protruding from it.
‘This is a mark-four tactical grappler unit,’ the Colonel barked, slipping the device on to his arm. ‘You will all become familiar with every aspect of its operation and tactical use. It is not a complicated piece of equipment, so even you Alphas should be able to understand it.’
Otto was beginning to get an idea where the hostility that the henchmen exhibited towards the Alpha students came from.
‘The primary trigger is located on the handle here.’ He pointed to the handgrip. ‘This will fire the grappling line, like so.’ He pointed the device straight up at the ceiling of the cavern and pressed the button. There was a small popping sound and a steel bolt, trailing a thin wire, shot from the barrel of the device and straight into the rock above. ‘The secondary switch is located under your thumb, and is used to reel the line in and out.’ There was a slight whining noise from the device and the Colonel was pulled several feet into the air, hanging suspended before them. After dangling there for a second he pushed the switch in the opposite direction and lowered himself on to the platform again.
‘Pull the trigger for a second time to release the grappler.’ As he pressed the button the bolt released from the ceiling above and, with another high-pitched whine, the line reeled back into the unit at lightning speed, the pointed bolt snapping into place.
‘Individually these devices can be used to scale vertical surfaces or to descend safely from elevated positions, but a pair of grapplers can be more useful.’ The Colonel walked back over to the rack and took a second grappler, snapping it on to his other arm. He stepped to the edge of the platform and fired a line towards the strange obstacles suspended from the roof. The bolt struck a concrete block and attached itself firmly.
‘Watch closely. You will all be expected to try this shortly.’ With that the Colonel stepped off the platform and swung out towards the centre of the cavern. As he reached the apex of his swing he released the line and started to drop, drawing gasps from a couple of the watching students. As he fell he fired the second grappler, the bolt fixing firmly to a distant block. He stopped falling, swinging now at great speed towards the other side of the cavern. He continued to swing from arm to arm, seeming to miss some of the obstacles by just a few centimetres, but always maintaining a constant speed. He moved with surprising grace and agility for a man of his size and had soon cleared the field of obstacles. When he approached the far side of the cavern he turned round and swung back again, switching from line to line just in time to avoid seemingly inevitable collisions. Finally he landed softly on the platform in front of the assembled students. He didn’t even appear to be out of breath. It had been an impressive display.
‘As you will have noticed, when used in this way a pair of grapplers can be used to transport you at high speed through an elevated environment. It will take considerable practice for you to achieve a basic level of competence with this equipment and with that in mind I want each of you to take a pair of grappler units and attempt to traverse the cavern to the platform on the opposite wall.’ The Colonel pointed across the cavern, indicating an identical platform that was partially obscured by the intervening obstacles. The students all looked suitably apprehensive at having to make the crossing, warily eyeing the drop to the dark water below.
Franz raised his hand nervously.
‘Yes!’ the Colonel barked, making Franz jump.
‘This is seeming rather dangerous. What if we fall?’ Franz asked, glancing again at the water below.
The Colonel stalked over to where Franz was standing and bent down towards him.
‘Do I look like someone that would place you in a dangerous situation?’ he growled, his nose inches from Franz’s.
Franz looked like a rabbit caught in headlights. This was clearly a question for which there was no correct answer.
‘Um . . . yes.’ Franz chose the answer that seemed least likely to bring about his imminent demise.
‘Good, because that’s exactly what I am, and you just volunteered to go first, maggot,’ said the Colonel with an evil smile. Franz looked horrified, but clearly realised that there was little point arguing with the Colonel, and he walked over to the rack of grapplers with the look of a condemned man. The Colonel quickly chose a pair of grapplers for Franz and put them on his arms, pointing out to the others how they should be fastened properly.
‘Right, let’s see what you’ve got,’ the Colonel said, gesturing for Franz to take up a position at the edge of the platform. Franz stood there, looking down over the edge with an expression of terror.
‘I am hoping this water is deep,’ he muttered to himself, slowly raising his arm to point the grappler at a point on the ceiling some distance away. He pressed one of the buttons and the bolt shot through the air, fixing to the ceiling with a thunk. He looked down again and then over his shoulder at the Colonel.
‘I am thinking that I cannot do this,’ he said nervously, his face white.
‘Only one way to find out, maggot,’ the Colonel replied, and shoved Franz hard in the back, sending him falling forwards off the platform.
‘Aaaaarrrrrrgggghh!!’ Franz screamed as he swung out from the platform. He spun and twisted, looking for all the world like a fish hooked on the end of a line. While the Colonel’s demonstration had been a display of grace and agility, Franz’s first attempt was more like a drunken wrecking ball. In his panic Franz had not even tried to fire off a second line, and after a few seconds he was left dangling at the end of the vertical wire, spinning gently, his eyes firmly closed. The Colonel did not look happy.
‘Fire the second line, you useless sack of lard!!’ he bellowed at the stranded Franz. ‘Or you’ll be hanging there all day!’
Franz raised his free arm obediently, one eye still closed, and fired the second grappler randomly at where he hoped the ceiling might be. The second bolt shot out, trailing its line, and secured itself to one of the concrete blocks dangling from the ceiling, leaving Franz hanging suspended from the two lines.
‘Now release the first line,’ the Colonel instructed. Franz did as he was told and swung out again, towards the middle of the cavern. This process continued for several minutes, and despite the Colonel’s barked instructions Franz only proceeded slowly towards the other platform, stopping and dangling between each swing. With his final swing Franz released the line prematurely and fell several feet on to the metal platform, landing in an undignified heap.
‘Right, who’s next?’ The Colonel slowly surveyed the group, choosing the next victim. ‘You’ll do,’ he snarled, pointing at Shelby. ‘Let’s see if you can do any better than our first volunteer.’
‘Sure, no problem,’ she replied. Shelby did not appear to be overly concerned at the prospect of trying to make it across the cavern. She calmly walked over to the rack, fastened a grappler on to each arm and approached the edge of the platform. She turned when she reached the drop-off and winked at the Colonel before swan-diving off the platform without even firing off her first line. The gathered group gave a collective gasp as Shelby disappeared. A split second later a line shot up from beneath the platform and she swung out towards the centre of the cavern like a rocket. She appeared totally relaxed – there was no hint of the panicked twisting that had made Franz’s attempt so painfully slow. Instead, Shelby appeared completely at home with the challenge, releasing one line moments before firing the other, using the speed gained in each short drop to make each successive swing faster and faster. She shot between the obstacles between the two platforms, seeming to miss collisions by just millimetres on several occasions, finally landing on the other side as lightly as a feather. It was hard to tell who was more astonished by this display, the students or the Colonel, whose mouth was hanging open in surprise.
‘Good . . . er . . . yes. That’s how it should be done. Yes, very good.’ The Colonel had clearly never seen anyone make their first crossing of the cavern quite like that before. Otto nudged Wing, raising a single eyebrow at him. It did not surprise Otto that there was more to Shelby than the grating personality she projected – he had already guessed that she was keeping something about her past secret. He just had to find out what that secret was.
Over the course of the next half hour the rest of the class attempted the crossing. Several had obviously had their confidence boosted by Shelby’s display, but found that the exercise was rather more difficult than it looked. This led to more than one of the students making the rather humiliating, not to mention soggy, ascent of the ladder that led up from the water at the bottom of the cavern to the platform. Nigel was one of these unfortunate few after swinging face-first into one of the concrete blocks in the centre of the cavern. The crunching impact drew a sympathetic ‘Ooohh’ from the watching crowd. He now stood dripping on the platform, looking thoroughly miserable, sporting what promised to be an impressive bruise on his cheekbone.
Otto was not terribly surprised when Wing crossed over quickly and efficiently, seeming quite at home with this deranged trapeze act. He didn’t look as comfortable as Shelby as he swung across the cavern, but nor did it appear to present him with any real problems. Otto was quite apprehensive about having to make the crossing himself, but once he started his first swing he found it surprisingly easy. He had never been the most physically active person, but as he swung through the air he found the whole process strangely instinctive. It was almost as if he could see his trajectory mapped out in the air ahead of him – this was, after all, just physics, he reminded himself, and he was little more than a glorified pendulum. He may have lacked some of the flair of Shelby or Wing, but he made it safely to the other side without joining the ranks of the unsuccessful students, who were now each standing in the middle of their own small puddles.
The Colonel stood in front of the group, a look of mild disgust on his face.
‘With very few exceptions you have performed predictably terribly today. Hardly surprising for Alphas.’ He stalked along the line of students and stopped in front of Shelby, jabbing his finger at her. ‘What’s your name, maggot?’ he asked bluntly.
‘Shelby Trinity, sir,’ she replied.
‘You look like you’ve done this before, Trinity,’ he said, looking at her closely.
‘No, sir. Just beginner’s luck, sir,’ Shelby replied, a tiny smile flickering across her mouth for an instant.
‘If that’s true, you’re the luckiest beginner I’ve ever encountered. Your performance was acceptable. Keep it up.’
Otto knew that this was something of an understatement. Her performance had been just as good as the Colonel’s, and this had apparently been her first attempt. The Colonel continued along the line, eventually stopping in front of Wing and Otto.
‘You two also showed a glimmer of natural ability. With practice you might actually be only slightly embarrassing to watch.’ Otto supposed that this might be as close as the Colonel got to a compliment. ‘Unlike the rest of you maggots, whose collective performance fell somewhere between abysmal and outright terrible. By the time I’m finished I expect each of you Alphas to make that crossing in the blink of an eye and bone-dry. Do I make myself clear?’ he growled.
‘Sir, yes sir!’ the students replied in unison.
The Colonel gave them an evil grin. ‘I hope so, for your sakes, because next time there might be something hungry in the water. Class dismissed.’
‘But if you move the quantum phase inverter it’ll cause a catastrophic feedback loop.’
‘Not if it’s positioned before the induction array, it won’t.’
Otto stared at the circuit diagram in front of him; the conversation with Laura was strangely exciting. He’d never met someone before who could argue so knowledgeably about complex technical issues, so it was refreshing to have this sort of discussion with someone who understood the ins and outs of advanced digital electronics. When Professor Pike had first announced that they would be partnered together for their Practical Technology lesson he had been worried that she would slow him down, but he was now realising that she was just as knowledgeable on the subject as he was, perhaps even more so. He was thoroughly enjoying their discussion of how the circuit diagram they had been given to study could be improved. Of course the test that they had been set had been only to spot the glaringly obvious errors in the design, but they had found all of those within the first two minutes.
The same could not be said for any of the other pairs of students seated at the workbenches around the room, who seemed to be struggling to understand the complex diagram that Professor Pike had handed out. He was certainly the least organised teacher that they had met so far; he had even arrived five minutes late. His scruffy unkempt appearance had changed little since Otto had first spotted him at the teachers’ dining table. Otto suspected that he may even be wearing the exact same clothes that he had been the previous day. His stained white coat was worn over a battered tweed suit and his wild white hair looked as if it had never had more than a passing acquaintance with a brush. When he had hurried into the room he had been carrying a large pile of papers and books which he had unceremoniously dumped on to his desk, adding to the chaotic mess that was already present. He had not even introduced himself, but simply distributed the erroneous circuit diagrams before returning to his desk and studying the papers he had brought with him to the lesson.
Otto got the distinct impression that the students were a rather annoying distraction to the Professor, and that the exercise had been chosen because it would be time-consuming rather than particularly educational. At the very least it had given him a chance to talk properly to Laura. Wing, meanwhile, had been partnered with Nigel, and the pair of them seemed to be making little if any headway with the problem the Professor had presented to them. A couple of the students had complained that they really didn’t understand the first thing about the diagram, but the Professor had told them that they should be more than capable of solving it and to try their best. To Otto, the diagram seemed to be part of a focusing system for an energy beam but, separated from its other components, it was impossible to tell what purpose it might serve beyond that.
‘It could be part of one of those sleeper guns,’ Laura mused, ‘but the power output seems too high for that.’
Otto nodded. ‘Whatever it is I reckon it’d be best not to be standing in front of it when it’s activated.’
Laura smiled. ‘Or possibly even on the same continent.’
Given some of the weapons that had been hinted at in their Villainy Studies lesson, this was probably no exaggeration.
‘Fairly advanced stuff for our first day, though, wouldn’t you say?’ Laura continued, looking at the confused expressions on the faces of those around them.
‘Maybe, but you don’t seem to have much problem with it,’ Otto observed.
‘No, but this is what I’m best at – computers, electronics, that kind of thing. All the same, this design is highly advanced; it’s a bit like giving someone Rachmaninoff to play at their first piano lesson, isn’t it?’
Otto nodded. It was an unusually difficult challenge to be set in the first lesson, especially given that many of the other students in the class might never have had any experience with sophisticated electronics like this before. It was probably another one of H.I.V.E.’s tests, the technical equivalent of grappling over a chasm.
The Professor seemed hardly to notice that the class was taking place at all, continuing instead to study the documents he had brought with him to the lesson. The chaos on his desk was reflected in the rest of the classroom. It seemed as if every spare inch of space was taken up with bizarre unidentifiable devices or piles of paper. Behind the desk was a blackboard with ‘DO NOT ERASE’ written across the top in large block capitals. Beneath this firm instruction, filling every spare inch of the board, was an incredibly complex equation that Otto had lost track of after a couple of lines when it had delved into areas of mathematics with which he was unfamiliar. Clearly the Professor had a lot on his mind.
‘So, did you get anything out of Shelby?’ Otto asked Laura quietly.
Laura had sat chatting with Shelby at lunch, her impatience with her shower-hogging room-mate clearly forgotten after her display in the Tactical Education lesson that morning.
‘No, she just said that she’d been a gymnast at school before she came here, and that it had seemed easy.’ Laura’s expression made it clear that she was less than satisfied with this explanation.
‘Right, because normal gym lessons often include that kind of exercise, don’t they?’ Otto was as sceptical as Laura that this was a plausible explanation for Shelby’s earlier performance.
‘Well, I couldn’t get anything else out of her. She just acted like it was perfectly normal and then changed the subject. I’ll see if I can find out more this evening.’ Laura looked over at Shelby, who was partnered with another girl on the other side of the room.
‘Speaking of secrets, what did you do that caught H.I.V.E.’s attention?’ Otto asked casually, still looking at the circuit diagram.
‘Oh, I don’t really know . . . er . . . is that a waveshift resistor?’ Laura’s clumsy attempt to change the subject could not hide the fact that her cheeks had suddenly turned red.
‘No, it’s a phase-alignment resistor.’ Otto wasn’t about to let her off the hook that easily. ‘You must have some clue.’
‘I could ask you the same question,’ she replied softly.
‘I asked you first.’ Otto smiled at her and her cheeks went a slightly deeper shade of crimson.
‘OK, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, and you have to tell me what landed you here as well,’ she replied, giving him a serious look.
‘It’s a deal. So?’
‘Well, it was nothing really. You see, there was this girl, Mandy McTavish, at my old school, and I thought she was bitching about me behind my back but I didn’t know what she was telling people. So I just listened in to a couple of her conversations on her mobile.’ Laura looked slightly uncomfortable, and Otto knew that there had to be more to it than that.
‘So H.I.V.E. recruited you because you eavesdropped on this girl? That’s all?’
‘Well, I didn’t actually have the equipment I needed to listen in on her, so I had to borrow some.’
‘Borrow?’
‘Sort of. You see, there was an American air force base near our village and I used some of their equipment.’
‘You broke into an air force base?’ Otto couldn’t keep the note of surprise from his voice.
‘Not exactly. I just faked a security clearance and hacked into their computer network.’ She looked even more embarrassed. ‘They always had a couple of those AWACS early warning planes in the air and I just gave them some new surveillance orders for a few days, that’s all.’
Otto grinned at her. ‘Are you telling me that you used part of the nuclear attack early warning system to listen in on this girl gossiping about you?’
‘I knew you’d think it was stupid,’ she replied miserably. ‘You promise not to tell anyone?’
‘Of course.’ Far from thinking she was stupid Otto was, in fact, deeply impressed. The systems controlling the tasking of those planes would have had some of the most sophisticated anti-intrusion software in the world. It was easy to see why H.I.V.E. had taken such an interest in Laura. ‘That’s amazing, you shouldn’t be embarrassed about it.’
She smiled sheepishly. ‘I thought I’d covered my tracks, but obviously someone noticed what I was up to and I suppose that’s how I ended up here.’ Otto could tell from the way that she said it that she was as keen to get out of this place as he was. That could be useful – for the escape plan that was forming in his head to be successful he might need someone with Laura’s talents.
‘You sound like you’d like to get off this rock,’ he whispered, ‘I know how you feel.’ He gave her a meaningful look.
‘Do you have something in mind?’ she asked quietly, pretending to study the diagram again.
‘Perhaps. It’s risky though.’ Otto glanced up at the Professor but he was still studying the papers on his desk intently.
‘No riskier than trying to survive in this place for the next few years,’ she replied.
‘OK, we’ll talk later when it’s a little more private.’ There were too many ears in this room for him to say anything else. They might want to get off the island but that didn’t mean that every student in the class felt the same way. They had to be cautious.
‘OK,’ Laura smiled at him. ‘So what’s your story, Otto? Come on, a deal’s a deal.’
Otto hadn’t really wanted to talk to anyone about this – he hadn’t even discussed it with Wing – but he felt as if he could trust Laura not to tell anyone. Besides, she had the most striking green eyes he’d ever seen . . .
‘Well, let’s just say that the Prime Minister’s funny turn a couple of days ago didn’t come as any surprise to me . . .’ He smiled as her eyes widened.
‘That was you?’ Laura’s incredulous expression seemed to suggest that she found it hard to believe that Otto was the one responsible for the Prime Minister’s involuntary resignation.
‘Our secret, right?’ Otto reminded her.
‘Yeah, but how did you –’
‘OK, time’s up. Please bring your papers to my desk.’ The Professor interrupted her question.
Otto picked up the diagram. ‘I can be very persuasive when I want to be.’ He was secretly delighted by the expression of shock on her face; he never normally got to share the details of his schemes with others. It was pointless to increase the chance of getting caught by boasting about his successes, but he knew that in this particular case it was a bit late to be worrying too much about that.
Otto walked up to the Professor’s desk with their corrected circuit diagram. As he approached, the Professor looked up, a slightly confused expression on his face.
‘Aren’t you a little short for a final year student?’ he asked, looking Otto up and down.
‘Er . . . we’re not final-year students, Professor, we’re first years,’ Otto replied, unsure as to what the Professor meant.
‘But this is the advanced tech class. What are first years doing in my advanced tech class?’ The Professor looked closely at the pips on Otto’s collar. ‘Oh dear.’ He pulled a battered piece of paper from one of his lab coat pockets and examined it. ‘Ah, yes, it would appear that my timetable is somewhat out of date. So you’re first years, eh? I didn’t think that I recognised many of you.’ Clearly the chaotic mess in the lab was a reflection of its occupant’s personality.
Otto handed the diagram to the Professor, aware that he and Laura probably shouldn’t have been able to complete it. He certainly wished that they hadn’t drawn the improved designs on the back.
‘Yes, that exercise was probably a bit advanced for you. Sorry about that.’ The Professor took the diagram and examined it closely. ‘Still, you appear to have done rather well, Mr . . .?’
‘Malpense, sir. Otto Malpense, and my partner Laura helped me a great deal with the exercise.’
‘This really is quite excellent. I’d never considered using a variable phase array before, but it could work, yes.’ The Professor appeared more interested in their suggested modifications to the design than enquiring about their ability to complete such an advanced challenge.
As the Professor studied the diagram Otto glanced down at the other papers strewn about his desk. He felt his heart jump as he realised what he was looking at. Those were blueprints of the school! He stared intently at the upside-down plans, committing them to memory in a fraction of a second. He closed his eyes briefly and could still see the blueprints in his mind’s eye as clearly as if he had photographed them. This could be the break that they needed. He looked at some of the other papers on the desk. One in particular caught his attention, entitled ‘Mk.2 Consciousness Transfer Device’, but the details of the design were hidden under another sheet of paper.
Suddenly the Professor glanced back up at Otto, noticing him looking at the plans on his desk. He turned the blueprints over without saying anything and looked at Otto carefully.
‘Well, this is rather a nuisance. I should have started with the basic tech course today, but by the looks of this diagram that might be a little bit simple for you two, wouldn’t you say?’ The Professor had the appearance of being scatterbrained, but Otto knew that it would be foolish to underestimate the man, all the same.
‘Oh, I’m sure that we need to learn the basics too, Professor,’ Otto replied carefully.
‘Indeed you do, Otto, indeed you do.’ The Professor’s eyes narrowed slightly and Otto thought he saw a hint of a quite different side to the bumbling persona that the Professor projected. ‘Let’s see how the others have done, shall we?’ Otto suddenly found himself wondering if it was an accident at all that they’d been given this advanced test. He wished that he and Laura had not completed the exercise so thoroughly; standing out from the crowd was probably not a good idea at H.I.V.E.
Other students were now approaching the desk with their papers, and it quickly became clear that Otto and Laura were the only pair who had made any progress with the test. The Professor was profuse in his apologies for the apparent misunderstanding and reassured the class that subsequent lessons would not be quite so challenging, much to the obvious relief of the class.
When Otto returned to their workbench Laura asked him how they had done with the exercise. He noticed that the Professor was watching them both closely.
‘We did well,’ he answered, ‘perhaps a little too well.’