‘Is it over?’ asked a timid voice from the end of the Sky Walk.

Connor turned to see Zhen peeking nervously through the lift’s open doors. He nodded. It certainly was over. The Sky Walk was littered with broken glass, weapons and comatose bodies. Chill night air and the sounds of far-off traffic leaked in through the hole in the floor. And Mr Grey, the ruthless and cold-blooded assassin, was finally dead. Connor slid to the floor, his legs no longer able to support his weight. A combination of relief, injuries and exhaustion had rendered him weak and battle-worn. He had no fight left in him.

‘My ears are still ringing,’ said Zhen, putting a finger in her ear and waggling it.

‘Don’t worry – that’ll fade,’ said Charley, her strength having recovered enough to wheel herself over to Connor. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked.

Connor gave her a thumbs up. Charley smiled and everything seemed to be all right with the world again. He glanced over at Zhen. ‘You certainly saved us with that flash-bang!’

‘That was Amir’s back-up back-up plan!’ explained their guide, working her way through the debris of bodies to check on their friend. ‘He told me to hide in the basement. If I heard the trigger phrase “final prayer” over the comms, I was to send up the stun grenade.’ Kneeling down, she brushed the hair out of his eyes.

Amir groaned, slowly coming round. ‘Am I … dead?’ he murmured.

‘No, of course not,’ said Zhen, resting his head gently in her lap.

Amir smiled dreamily. ‘Then why am I seeing an angel?’

‘Forget the chat-up lines, Amir – we have to go!’ said Connor as the guards began to come round too. Struggling to his feet with Charley’s help, he headed for the lift. In the streets below, a column of flashing blue-and-red lights could be seen making a beeline for the Shanghai World Financial Center. The distant sound of sirens grew steadily louder.

‘Come on,’ Connor urged as one of the guards feebly reached for his gun.

Charley purposefully ran over the guard’s outstretched hand with her wheelchair as she passed. ‘Oops, mind your fingers!’ she said.

Supported by Zhen, Amir followed Connor and Charley into the lift. In less than a minute the elevator took them down all one hundred floors to the ground floor. Since no one was expecting them to appear, there were no guards waiting for them. And, with the tourist entrance closed under the Director’s command, the lobby was empty so they were able to reach the nearest fire exit unchallenged. Outside, the four fugitives rushed across the road and down a side street, mere seconds before the police convoy screeched to a halt in the front of the building.

The embassy official scratched at his beard, peering at the four slightly dishevelled teenagers over the top of his glasses. When the nightwatchman at the front gate had radioed that an odd bunch of kids were seeking sanctuary, the man hadn’t been wrong. Sitting before him in the air-conditioned interview room of the US Consulate were a young blonde girl in a wheelchair, one of its armrests missing, a skinny Asian boy with bruises to his face and blood on his shirt, a Chinese girl in a black-and-orange Sherpa delivery jacket, and a tall muscular lad with a shock of brown hair and a distinct military bearing.

The official leant forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the desk. ‘So, you want consular protection?’

All four of them nodded.

‘Who exactly are you wanting protection from?’ asked the official. ‘The local police?’

‘No, not the police,’ replied Connor, although he knew this was a half-truth since the police and national security forces were after them too.

The official tapped his pen on top of his notepad. ‘Then from whom?’

Connor exchanged a hesitant look with Charley and Amir. They had to take a risk. They had no other option but to put their faith and fate in the hands of this man. ‘Equilibrium.’

The official frowned. ‘Who?’

‘It’s a multinational criminal organization with its central cell in China,’ explained Amir.

‘Oh, right,’ said the official, making a note on his paper pad. ‘And why are they after you?’

‘We know about their organization,’ replied Connor. ‘Know of its existence, what they’ve done and who’s involved in it. They’ve infiltrated numerous governments, stolen billions of dollars and are responsible for terrorist attacks worldwide.’

‘Really?’ said the official, taking off his glasses and giving them a polish.

Amir nodded earnestly. ‘They just tried to kill us at the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center!’

The official put his glasses back on and gave them a hard stare. ‘I heard about that PR stunt for a new TV crime show being beamed out live over the Bund. I suppose you kids thought it would be funny to play along and waste my time.’

He began to put away his pen and notepad.

‘It wasn’t a TV show. It was real,’ insisted Connor. ‘The police arrived just as we escaped.’

‘Did they?’ The official began to examine the three passports and one Chinese identity card laid out on the desk before him. He came to Connor’s and shot him a probing look. ‘You have a US passport? But you sound British.’

‘I am,’ replied Connor. ‘The President personally gave me that passport.’

The official snorted. ‘Our President?’

‘Yes,’ said Connor earnestly. He leant forward, hands clasped and expression sincere. ‘Listen, there’s some urgency. Equilibrium is holding our friends hostage in a shipping container out at sea. The cargo ship’s name is the MV Halcyon, and this is the container number.’ He pushed a scrap of paper across the desk towards the official. ‘They don’t have long to live.’

Eyeing the piece of paper dubiously, the official nonetheless made a note of the name and serial number, then stood. ‘This all sounds very serious. I need to speak to my superior. I won’t be long.’ Gathering up the passports and identity card, he left the room. They heard the door lock behind him.

‘Do you think he believed us?’ asked Amir hesitantly.

‘We can only hope,’ replied Connor. ‘If he checks out our story of the World Financial Center with the police, he might.’

Charley turned to him. ‘You don’t think he’s connected to Equilibrium, do you?’

Connor shrugged. ‘Well, he didn’t react when I said the name.’

‘But would he?’ asked Zhen. ‘If he’s an undercover agent for them?’

Connor sighed. ‘Good point.’

Amir frowned deeply. ‘I can’t recall how badly the American consulate in Shanghai had been compromised. I’d barely managed to skim the surface of what was on that drive.’

‘Even if he isn’t with Equilibrium,’ said Connor, ‘he’ll soon discover we’re terrorist suspects wanted by the Chinese government. Then he’ll probably hand us straight over to the authorities … aka Equilibrium!’

‘He can’t!’ cried Charley. ‘The American Embassy has to provide assistance.’

‘You may be an American citizen, but I’m not,’ reminded Amir. He glanced at their guide, who sat anxiously between them, her eyes darting like a sparrow’s as she followed their conversation. ‘And neither is Zhen.’

The four of them waited in silence, the clock on the wall ticking loudly with each passing minute. The air-conditioning unit in the room strained with a monotonous whirr, whirr, whirr.

‘He’s been gone a long time,’ said Amir, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

‘Maybe that’s a good sign,’ replied Charley. ‘Maybe he’s tracking down the ship or –’

Suddenly the door burst open and two men in dark suits strode in, their expressions grim and their heavyset physiques defying anyone to challenge them.

‘Come with us,’ ordered the lead man. Bald-headed and with a hammer jaw, he wouldn’t have looked out of place in a cage-fight. Only his shirt and tie lent him a veneer of respectability.

‘Who are you?’ Connor demanded. ‘Where’s the other guy?’

‘Move!’ snapped the cage-fighter, pulling Connor roughly from his chair.

They were escorted out of the room, along a corridor and into a lift. Descending two levels, they entered an underground car park and were bundled into the back of a blacked-out minivan. The rear doors were slammed shut and a moment later the vehicle roared away.

‘What the hell’s happening?’ exclaimed Amir as the vehicle cornered and he was thrown against the compartment’s side. Zhen clung to him nervously.

‘I guess Equilibrium has infiltrated the US Embassy,’ Connor replied grimly, clinging on to Charley’s wheelchair.

Charley tried the rear door’s handle. ‘Locked!’ She cursed.

With the windows blacked out and the rear compartment blocked off from the driver’s cab, there was nothing any of them could do. They huddled in the gloom of the muted overhead light as the minivan tore through Shanghai city. Connor felt a growing sense of panic. Once caught, there seemed to be no escaping Equilibrium’s web.

After about thirty minutes, the minivan came to a sudden halt and the rear doors were flung open. Cage-fighter and his companion beckoned them out. A roar of jet engines assaulted Connor’s ears as he stepped on to an airport runway.

‘Apologies for the rushed departure,’ said the cage-fighter as his companion helped Amir and Zhen lower Charley and her chair to the tarmac. ‘We didn’t have much time to extract you. The Chinese government had started to ask tricky questions and Equilibrium’s people were closing in.’

He handed Connor back his American passport, saluted, then gestured to the awaiting private jet.

‘President Mendez sends his regards. So too does his daughter. Have a safe flight home.’

Connor’s jaw dropped. He stared a moment at the US secret agent. His second passport had come in handy after all. As he was hustled aboard the jet along with Amir and Charley, Connor glanced back at Zhen, who was still on the tarmac. He raised a hesitant hand in farewell.

‘Don’t worry about Zhen,’ called the US agent. ‘We’ll take care of her.’