The next couple of months seemed to pass by in a blur for Sam. At times it felt like his feet had barely touched the ground since he had woken up in the infirmary. Stirling had explained to him early on that every one of them was expected to be useful to the group in some way. It had been clear pretty much from the start that he wasn’t going to be joining Will and Anne in the lab, but there was no way he was going to just help out around the base in some logistical capacity either. He knew exactly where he wanted to be – on the surface Ops Team, and that was exactly where he’d ended up.
The training schedule that Jackson had put together for him had been punishing and relentless, both mentally and physically. He had learned not only how to fight but also when to fight. Jackson spent as much time teaching the Ops Team about the theory of guerilla warfare as he did showing them how to shoot.
‘The most powerful weapon you have is the one inside your skull,’ was what he told them over and over again. They had no chance of winning a stand-up fight against the Threat so they had to fight smart and they had to fight dirty, hitting the enemy and then fading away before they had a chance to retaliate.
The physical training had been exhausting, with workout sessions that were so regular that after a while they all seemed to blur into one. At the same time he was being taught not just how to shoot, but how to field-strip and clean his weapon, or how to plant explosives, or how to make the best use of cover. He had kept asking both Jackson and Stirling for more details about the facility and their knowledge of the Threat, but just as Jay had warned, his questions remained unanswered. He could sense that the others were equally frustrated by this lack of information, but there really was nothing they could do about it. No one was forcing him to stay, as he had been reminded on more than one occasion, but that didn’t change the fact that he was determined to get some answers to the questions buzzing around inside his head.
Now, as Sam stood, assault rifle raised, aiming at the target at the far end of the range, he realised that he was actually starting to feel less like a frightened survivor and more like a soldier, and he had to admit that it felt good. He gently squeezed the trigger and put a three-round burst of fire into the centre of the target.
‘Good,’ Jackson said, ‘but, remember, don’t anticipate the trigger point; a good marksman is always slightly surprised when their weapon discharges.’
Sam gave a quick nod and fired again, putting another burst into the centre of the target.
‘OK, let’s see how you do against moving targets,’ Jackson said, nodding towards a door on the other side of the Ops Training Area. Sam placed the rifle on the rack next to the range and followed Jackson across the room. Rachel and Nat were already waiting for them, both checking their weapons.
‘I see you’ve returned for a little more ritual humiliation,’ Nat said with a smile as Sam approached. ‘Talk about being a sucker for punishment.’
‘You got lucky last time,’ Sam said as he picked his own pistol up. He took one of the small gas canisters from the box on the table and screwed it into the bottom of the grip. The paintball gun felt light in his hand in comparison to the real thing, but for live fire training purposes it was their only real option.
‘OK, enough chatter,’ Jackson said with a slight frown. ‘Rachel and Natalie, you have three minutes before I send Sam in. I trust you’ll make it as difficult as possible for him.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ Rachel said. ‘I give him thirty seconds tops from the moment he walks through the door.’
‘Be surprised if he makes it that long,’ Nat said as they both entered the training area.
‘OK,’ Jackson said to Sam as the door closed behind the girls, ‘you’re facing an entrenched enemy that knows you’re coming. What’s their greatest weakness?’
‘Overconfidence,’ Sam replied.
‘Correct,’ Jackson said. ‘Which is something that you can take advantage of. Now, remember what I told you the other day about the secret to fighting an enemy with superior forces? What did Sun Tzu say?’
‘“If you have a superior force, make for easy ground; with an inferior one, make for difficult ground”,’ Sam replied.
‘Good,’ Jackson said. ‘So get in there and make them fight on your terms. Find the difficult ground.’
Sam thought about Jackson’s advice for a couple of minutes and then an idea suddenly occurred to him.
‘OK, ready?’ Jackson asked a few seconds later, looking at his watch.
‘Ready,’ Sam replied.
‘Go,’ Jackson said, pushing open the door to the training room.
Jackson watched Sam enter the training room and then turned towards a narrow staircase leading to a dimly lit room. At one end of the room was a large one-way mirrored window that allowed him to observe Rachel and Nat as they made their way carefully through the maze of training rooms below. The dummy walls were only made of plywood and they had no ceilings, but they were useful for training the Ops Team how to fight in enclosed urban spaces. Jackson heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs behind him and he turned to see Stirling enter the room.
‘Morning, Iain,’ Jackson said. ‘Don’t see you up here very often.’
‘Yes, I know, but I’ve located a possible target of opportunity and I wanted to discuss putting an Ops mission together to go and have a look at it.’
‘No problem,’ Jackson replied. ‘Just let me watch this exercise and then we can talk about it.’
Stirling came up and stood alongside Jackson and looked down at the training area.
‘Who’s in there?’ Stirling asked.
‘It’s Rachel and Nat versus Sam,’ Jackson said, watching as the two girls advanced through another area, covering each other’s backs, in a textbook room-clearing sweep.
‘That seems somewhat unfair,’ Stirling said.
‘They have to learn how to fight when outnumbered,’ Jackson said, ‘because they always will be on the surface.’
‘True,’ Stirling said. ‘Where is Samuel?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Jackson said. He couldn’t see Sam anywhere within the training course.
Suddenly, a purple paintball hit Nat squarely between the shoulder blades, and she reluctantly lowered her weapon and knelt on the floor to show she was out of action. Rachel whirled round and another paintball hit her in the chest. Jackson was still trying to work out where Sam was when a slight movement on top of the lighting rig that illuminated the training course caught his eye. Sam was lying flat on top of the metal frame, with his gun pointing down at the girls below.
‘Clever lad, you found the difficult ground,’ Jackson said. ‘Well done.’
‘Is that allowed?’ Stirling asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘No, but that’s why I like him. He’s a good shot and he’s bright. Not only that, he’s a born leader. Which is exactly what we need right now. He’s ready to go back up top.’
‘Good, because, as I mentioned, I have a job for your team,’ Stirling said.
‘Right, I’ll come and find you,’ Jackson said, following Stirling down the stairs.
Stirling headed out of the Ops Training Area and back to the upper level as Jackson approached Sam, Nat and Rachel who were having a heated conversation.
‘You cheated,’ Nat said, jabbing her finger into Sam’s chest as he grinned back at her.
‘There’s no such thing as cheating,’ Jackson said. ‘There’s alive and there’s dead. You were thinking two-dimensionally. Don’t get horizon focused – an enemy can attack from above or below. Sam, good job. Get cleaned up and then go and get some lunch.’
‘We have located a new alien transmission source,’ Stirling said, looking at the five members of the Ops Team in front of him. Sam, Jay, Tim, Nat and Rachel listened as Stirling began the briefing with Jackson beside him.
‘The signal from that source is extremely unusual,’ Stirling said, ‘and extremely worrying. The reason it is of such concern is that up until now the only Threat transmission source with this kind of power was the main Threat vessel hovering above central London. What I need you to do is find whatever is transmitting this new signal and, if possible, destroy it. We must do everything we can to slow the spread of the Threat’s influence and this may well be a perfect opportunity to do just that.’
‘So we have no idea what this thing actually is?’ Rachel asked.
‘No, not really,’ Jackson replied. ‘Adam and Kate did try to scout the location, but they couldn’t get inside the stadium.’
‘The stadium?’ Jay said. ‘Where is this thing?’
‘Right here,’ Jackson said, pointing at a location on the large map of London that covered the wall.
‘Great,’ Jay said with a grin. ‘I’ve always wanted to play Wembley.’
‘How heavily guarded is it?’ Tim asked.
‘Outside it’s not too bad,’ Jackson replied. ‘Kate and Adam saw Hunter patrols, but nothing worse than that. Inside, we just don’t know.’
‘How much do you want to bet that, whatever this thing is, it’s got a Grendel sitting on top of it,’ Rachel said.
‘It’s a possibility,’ Jackson said. ‘I don’t like to send you in blind like this, so no heroics. Get in, plant charges on this thing if you can and get out. If it’s too well protected, pull out and we’ll try a different approach. OK?’
‘When do we head out?’ Jay asked.
‘Three hours from now,’ Jackson replied. ‘You’ve got until then for equipment and weapons prep and tactical breakdowns. So I suggest we get started.’
Jay carefully pushed the steel hatch open just a few centimetres and peered outside. After scanning the surroundings he turned to the others and gave a single quick nod before heading out. The others followed him into the enclosed courtyard, all feeling the sudden chill of the cold night air. Jay raised his rifle to his shoulder, sighting down the barrel and moved quickly across the courtyard towards the archway leading to the street. They stopped, backs pressed against the archway wall as Jay quickly peeked his head round the corner, checking for any sign of Threat activity. He headed down the street with the others close behind, all moving towards their target as silently as possible.
They arrived at the end of the broad pedestrianised street that led to the entrance of the enormous stadium half a mile away. Overhead, the moon disappeared behind a cloud bank and the street was plunged into shadow. The Ops Team activated their night-vision goggles and proceeded cautiously down the concourse, moving between cover positions quickly and efficiently, just as they had been trained to do. Jay suddenly held up his arm, fist clenched; the silent signal to hold position. A moment later they heard the familiar sound of approaching Hunters. Sam scanned the surroundings, all bathed in the eerie green glow of the night-vision goggles. He spotted a pair of Hunters gliding across the street less than a hundred metres away. He held his breath, watching as they floated out of sight, seemingly oblivious to the team’s presence.
‘OK, guys,’ Jay’s voice whispered in his earpiece, ‘stay sharp, keep your eyes and ears wide open. We don’t want any nasty surprises.’
Jay slid out from behind the fast-food kiosk where he’d been taking cover and continued along the street with the rest of the team close behind. The darkened stadium loomed over them and Sam began to feel the nervous fluttering of butterflies in his stomach. It didn’t matter how intensively he had trained for this, it didn’t quiet the voice in the back of his head telling him that he was walking straight into the lion’s den. He followed as Jay led the way up the long ramp to the stadium entrance, eager to avoid staying out in the open any longer. Sam had expected there to be more patrols, but there was no sign of any Hunters as they approached the top of the ramp. For some reason, that just made him more nervous.
One of the automated turnstiles that once would have checked people’s tickets stood wide open and the five of them passed through one by one and into the vaulted concourse that encircled the stadium.
‘Oh God,’ Nat’s voice whispered in Sam’s ear as they took in the sight that greeted them. The floor of the concourse was filled, as far as the eye could see, with people lying in neatly ordered rows, flat on their backs with their eyes shut. Sam’s mind flashed back to the first night after the arrival of the Threat and the warehouse that was just the same. Suddenly, he saw his sister’s face in his mind, looking just as it had on that night, the last time he had ever seen her.
He shook his head and told himself to focus.
‘OK,’ Rachel said quietly, ‘we all know that there’s nothing we can do for them now. We need to keep moving.’
Jay pulled the handset that Stirling had given him from one of the pouches on his chest and examined the display.
‘OK, on me,’ he said, setting off across the concourse.
They picked their way carefully between the rows of bodies, following Jay as he studied the direction and range indicator, hunting for the source of the transmissions that Stirling had intercepted.
‘Have you seen this before?’ Sam asked Rachel, gesturing at the dormant bodies that lined the concourse floor.
‘A couple of times,’ Rachel said with a frown. ‘This is how the Threat store people who were wiped by the Signal. It’s always large buildings like this – kind of mass dormitories, I suppose. Creepy as hell, no matter how many times you see it.’
‘You can say that again,’ Sam said.
‘The source seems to be inside the stadium itself,’ Jay said, looking up from the scanner and over to one of the numerous gates that led into the central arena.
‘Can I just go on record as saying that this feels all wrong,’ Nat said, looking both ways down the concourse, her rifle raised. ‘If this thing is as important as Stirling thinks it is, why isn’t it better protected? This is too easy.’
‘Maybe the Threat weren’t expecting any kind of attack,’ Rachel said. ‘Perhaps they’re just assuming that they don’t need to protect the transmitter.’
‘Hey, I’m not complaining,’ Jay said. ‘I kinda like easy. Come on.’
The others followed as Jay headed through the archway and into the stadium. Sam’s mouth dropped open in amazement as he looked around. The stadium was filled to capacity, every seat taken by dormant Walkers. There was no sound except for the creepy whisper of tens of thousands of people breathing. Below them in the centre of the green rectangle of overgrown grass that had once been the most famous football pitch in England was a black spire, twenty metres high, made up of dozens of huge, angular obsidian shards. Occasional pulses of green light shot across the surface of the spire, sending ripples of light dancing across the grass.
‘I’m guessing that might just be what we’re looking for,’ Sam said quietly.
‘You know, I think you might be right,’ Jay replied.
The five of them walked down the stairs between the sections of banked seating, heading towards the pitch. As they got closer, Sam began to hear a muted, throbbing hum that seemed to be emanating from the transmission spire. The sound was deeply unpleasant, resonating inside his skull and filling his head with a dull ache.
‘What is that?’ Sam asked, rubbing his temples as the sound grew louder and louder the nearer they got to the spire.
‘What is what?’ Rachel asked, looking slightly confused.
‘That sound,’ Sam said. ‘It’s giving me a headache.’
‘What sound?’ Nat asked, frowning. ‘I can’t hear anything.’
‘It’s coming from that thing,’ Sam said, pointing at the black monolith. ‘I can’t believe you can’t hear it.’
‘I don’t hear anything either,’ Jay said, turning and looking at Sam. ‘Are you sure you’re feeling OK?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s just plant the charges so we can get out of here,’ Sam said, backing away from the Threat transmitter. He took another few steps away from the spire and realised with growing unease that the sound wasn’t getting quieter as he moved further from it; in fact, it was getting louder. Now he could hear another sound within the subsonic thrum: a high-pitched whispering noise that felt like it was scratching at the inside of his skull. He gradually realised that he could make out something bizarre within this hissing sound, something that sounded almost like voices. He couldn’t make out what the voices were saying, but it definitely sounded like some sort of language. Sam tried to ignore the sound and focus on the rest of the team, watching as Jay placed the explosive charge on the base of the spire.
‘OK,’ Jay said, ‘once I hit the switch we’ve got five minutes to get clear before these puppies blow.’
‘What about all these people?’ Nat asked.
‘The blast radius shouldn’t be more than about ten metres,’ Jay said. ‘They’ll be fine.’
Jay hit the switch on the timer and Sam yelped in pain as the whisper in his head turned into a scream. Suddenly he heard what sounded like a multitude of answering screams that seemed to come from somewhere above them.
‘We need to get out of here now,’ Sam said as he looked upwards.
‘Don’t worry,’ Jay said. ‘We’ve got five minutes – that’s more than enough time to get clear.’
‘It’s not the explosion I’m worried about,’ Sam said, pointing up towards the stadium roof.
The others looked where Sam was pointing and realised exactly what he was talking about. The entire underside of the stadium’s domed roof was covered in Hunters, countless thousands of them hanging upside down from the ceiling.
‘Oh my God,’ Rachel said as the first of the alien creatures began to detach themselves from their perches and drop towards them. ‘It’s a nest.’
‘RUN!’ Jay yelled at the top of his voice when the trickle of Hunters dropping towards them quickly turned into a torrent as the alarm spread throughout the swarm. The buzzing drone from the ever-swelling host of Hunters grew louder and louder as Sam and the others sprinted across the grass towards the nearest flight of stairs that led out of the arena. The five of them bounded up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time. As they ran through the archway and on to the outer concourse, Tim turned and raised his rifle, opening fire at the nearest Hunters, the hammering noise of his rifle echoing off the concrete walls.
‘Tim!’ Jay bellowed as Sam and the girls ran on ahead. ‘Don’t be stupid! We’ve got to get out of here now. There’s no way we can fight that many of them.’
Tim fired one last burst into the mass of silver creatures before running after Jay. Sam pointed at another block of automated turnstiles set into the outside wall fifty metres away.
‘Come on,’ he yelled. ‘That’s our way out.’
They sprinted between the dormant Walkers covering the floor around them, and headed for the exit, the deafening buzz from the pursuing Hunters filling the air. Sam felt a sudden moment of despair as he realised that the gates ahead of them, unlike the ones they’d entered through, were firmly sealed.
‘There’s no way out here,’ Nat shouted. ‘Keep moving. Head for the next gate!’
Tim turned and fired another burst into the swirling mass of Hunters just thirty metres behind them and getting closer all the time. It was pointless; he might as well have been shooting at a tidal wave.
‘Oh no,’ Nat said under her breath, coming to a standstill.
Sam ran up beside her and stopped as he saw what she had seen. The concourse ahead of them was filled with Hunters coming in the opposite direction. They were cut off from the exit. Sam looked around desperately, trying to spot some way for them to escape. ‘Everyone! This way!’ He hopped over the unconscious bodies and vaulted across one of the refreshment counters that were set into the outside wall of the concourse, with Rachel and Nat just behind him. Jay and Tim stood back to back, firing at the waves of Hunters that were now advancing on them from both directions.
‘Help me!’ Sam yelled at the two girls as he climbed up on to the counter and grabbed the bottom edge of the rolling steel security shutter protruding from the ceiling above them. The three of them pulled as hard as they could and the shutter began to slowly inch downwards.
‘Jay! Tim!’ Sam shouted. ‘Come on!’
Jay lowered his rifle and sprinted towards the counter, sliding over it and then grabbing the shutter and pulling on it as hard as he could. Tim backed towards the counter, still firing at the nearest Hunters who were getting closer all the time.
‘Tim, get in here!’ Jay yelled. ‘Now!’
Tim stopped firing, turned and ran towards them. He was only five metres away when he tripped over the legs of one of the brainwashed people lying on the floor. He fell forward, landing flat on top of another dormant Walker. He tried to scramble back to his feet, but it was too late. He barely had time to scream as the Hunters hit him from both sides, and he disappeared in a whirling mass of stinging tentacles.
‘NO!’ Jay screamed. He was halfway back over the counter before Sam caught hold of his pack and dragged him back inside.
‘There’s nothing you can do. He’s gone,’ Sam shouted, grabbing the bottom of the shutter again and hauling it downwards with all his might. Jay hesitated, just for a second, and then he too helped them finally slam the shutter down on to the counter. Sam quickly threw the bolt at the bottom, locking it firmly in place. Moments later the shutter began to rattle and bang as the Hunters on the other side attacked it. Jay, Sam and Rachel leant against the shutter trying to brace it against the onslaught.
‘Nat, we need a way out!’ Rachel said.
Nat dashed into the back of the store, looking around desperately for an exit. She spotted a door at the far end of the room and carefully opened it, wary of what might be waiting on the other side. The room was lined with shelves filled with cardboard boxes that had once contained food for the hungry visitors to the stadium. Their contents had long since rotted and now the boxes were covered in mould. Nat walked to the back of the storeroom, and felt her heart sink as she realised that there was no obvious way out. She ran back to the others who were still desperately trying to support the steel shutters against the ferocious, relentless assault from the other side.
‘There’s nothing back there,’ Nat said, fighting to keep any sign of the panic she was starting to feel out of her voice.
‘There’s got to be a way out,’ Sam said with a grunt as something slammed into the shutter right next to him.
‘There is,’ Nat said, pointing at the security door next to the counter that led back out into the concourse.
‘Well, we’re not going that way,’ Jay said. ‘Please don’t tell me that’s the only way out of here.’
‘It’s not,’ Sam said, as he suddenly realised what they were going to have to do. He leapt down off the counter and ran over to Jay. ‘Give me your pack.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Jay asked, frowning, shrugging off his backpack and handing it to Sam.
‘I’m going to get us out of here,’ Sam replied, running towards the storeroom.
Jay turned back to the shutter just as a Hunter sting punched straight through the metal just a few centimetres from his head.
‘Make it quick!’ Jay yelled as one end of the shutter buckled, popping out of its runner and numerous metallic tentacles began pushing through the gap. The writhing mass slowly forced the opening ever wider, just a metre away from where Rachel was still desperately fighting to brace the shutter.
‘They’re coming through!’ Rachel yelled as Nat climbed up on the counter beside her and tried to help reinforce the barrier.
Sam ran to the rear of the storeroom and put his hand on the wall.
‘Here goes nothing,’ he said under his breath as he pulled one of the two remaining C4 charges from Jay’s pack and placed it on the floor next to the wall. He tapped on the keypad attached to the charge, set the timer for thirty seconds and activated it. Sam slung Jay’s pack over his shoulder and ran out of the storeroom, slamming the door behind him.
‘Everybody, take cover,’ he yelled as he ran back towards the others. ‘Fire in the hole!’
‘What?’ Rachel gasped in astonishment. ‘Are you mad? Have you seen the size of this room? You’re going to blow us all to pieces.’
‘That’s a chance we’re going to have to take,’ Sam said, pointing at the silver tentacles that were forcing their way around the buckling edges of the shutter. ‘Anything’s better than the alternative.’
‘He has a point,’ Jay said, leaping down from the counter and taking cover behind one of the stainless steel units. ‘At least this way it’ll be quick.’
Sam felt the blast a split second before he heard it as the concussion wave blew the heavy storeroom door clean off its hinges and sent it spinning across the room and slamming into the opposite wall. A sheet of flame roared out of the doorway and raced across the ceiling and Sam felt the heat on his face as he forced himself to his feet.
‘Move!’ he yelled at the others and began to pick his way through the burning debris towards the shattered remains of the storeroom doorway. He held his breath and stepped into the smoke-filled room, praying that the explosion had been powerful enough. The smoke began to clear and he felt a wave of relief when he saw a ragged hole in the back wall. He ran up to the hole and kicked at a couple of the loose cinder blocks around the edge, widening the gap just enough for someone to crawl through.
‘Come on, through here,’ Sam said as the others hurried into the room. Nat went first, crawling on her belly, quickly followed by Rachel. From the other room, there was a groaning crash as the steel shutter finally gave way under the combined assault of the Hunters and the shock wave from the explosion.
‘You first,’ Jay said, raising his rifle and pointing it at the storeroom doorway, the buzzing of the Hunters grew louder.
‘No,’ Sam said, pulling the last C4 charge from the backpack. ‘Go. I’ll be right behind you.’
Jay hesitated, just for a moment, and then dived through the hole in the wall, dragging himself over the still-hot rubble. Sam watched Jay’s boots disappear and set the timer on the charge for five seconds before tossing it back towards the door. He threw himself through the hole, scrambling out into the cool night air. He dragged himself out of the narrow opening and took cover a split second before there was a deep, muffled thump from the other side of the wall and a fireball roared out of the hole. He climbed to his feet and set off after the others who were already sprinting down the broad ramp that led away from the stadium. He knew that the final explosive charge would probably only have bought them a few seconds’ head start. As if to confirm his fears, he heard a buzzing behind him as the first of the Hunters began to follow them outside. He didn’t look back; knowing how close their pursuers were would make no difference. He just ran for his life.
As the sound of the Hunters grew louder and louder, Sam looked at his three friends running ahead of him and with a sudden, cold certainty he knew exactly what he had to do. He stopped running, turned and raised his rifle, aiming at the swarm of Hunters that were now only twenty metres away. He’d never be able to stop them, but he might slow them down. When the swarm raced towards him, he could have sworn he heard their angry screams inside his head. He squeezed the trigger, growling through gritted teeth as he emptied the rifle’s magazine into the silver-skinned creatures, sending spurts of viscous green blood spraying into the air. Despite the hail of bullets, the swarm hardly slowed as it bore down upon him. The other three members of the Ops Team slowed, turning and looking back to see what was happening.
‘Sam!’ Rachel screamed. ‘No!’
At the base of the black spire in the centre of the stadium a digital counter hit zero.
Sam heard a distant explosion and felt a tremor run through the ground underfoot. The Hunters all screeched in unison and then fell out of the air, hitting the ground and sliding and tumbling towards him, their tentacles flailing uselessly. Moments later, the ground in front of Sam was covered with the fallen creatures. Sam lowered his rifle, staring in amazement at the dead swarm. The sound in his head was gone. The others ran back towards him, Rachel in the lead, with a furious expression on her face. She ran up to Sam and punched him hard on the shoulder.
‘You bloody idiot,’ she said angrily. ‘What the hell do you think you were doing?’
‘Ow,’ Sam said, rubbing his shoulder. ‘I was just trying to buy you some time.’
‘That’s not how this works,’ Rachel snapped. ‘We’ve already lost one person tonight. There aren’t enough of us left for you to just go throwing your life away like that.’
‘Hey, Rach, chill,’ Jay said as he walked up beside them. ‘He was trying to do the right thing.’
‘Whatever,’ Rachel said, turning and marching off with an exasperated sigh, heading back towards the tunnel access.
‘Thanks,’ Sam said to Jay as they watched Rachel walk away.
‘Hey, don’t thank me,’ Jay said with a smile. ‘I agree with her. You’re an idiot. Brave, but definitely still an idiot.’
‘What happened to them?’ Nat asked, crouching down and poking one of the dead Hunters with the muzzle of her rifle.
‘I have no idea,’ Sam said, shaking his head. ‘The charge in the stadium blew and then … well, see for yourself.’
‘Are they dead?’ Nat asked.
‘I don’t know. It certainly looks like it,’ Sam replied with a shrug.
‘Come on,’ Jay said. ‘We need to get out of here.’ He pointed to the east where three points of green light could be clearly seen, growing steadily larger as they headed towards them.
‘Looks like we’ve caught their attention at least,’ Sam said.
‘Not sure that’s a good thing,’ Nat said before standing up and jogging after Rachel.
‘This might sound crazy,’ Sam said, ‘but I think we should take one of these things back for Stirling.’
‘You’re right,’ Jay said with a nod. ‘That does sound crazy.’
‘Seriously,’ Sam replied. ‘I bet he’s never got his hands on one that’s dead but undamaged. It could be useful.’
Jay stared at him for a moment and then let out a long sigh.
‘Just remember that this was your idea,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘Come on, give me a hand,’ Sam said, taking hold of one side of the upper carapace of the nearest fallen Hunter.
‘Why do I get the feeling that I’m going to regret this?’ Jay said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and taking hold of the other side.
‘Mind the stingers,’ Sam said as he lifted the Hunter off the ground. It was surprisingly heavy for its size.
They walked quickly after the girls, carrying the Hunter between them. In the distance they could now hear the throbbing rumble of the approaching Threat drop-ships.
‘What on earth are you doing with that thing?’ Rachel asked as the boys entered the enclosed courtyard with their prize.
‘Sam thought Stirling might cheer up a bit if we brought him a new pet,’ Jay said. ‘I suggested a puppy, but then we realised it might be difficult to take it for walks.’
‘Very funny,’ Rachel said, frowning. ‘I suppose you geniuses have considered the possibility that it might not actually be dead?’
The boys looked at each other and then down at the Hunter.
‘Ummm, no,’ Jay said, suddenly sounding nervous. ‘We hadn’t actually thought about that to be honest.’
‘Well, let’s just make sure, shall we?’ Rachel said, raising her rifle and pointing it at the Hunter.
‘No, don’t,’ Sam said, holding up his free hand. ‘The whole point of this is to bring one of these things back undamaged for Stirling.’
‘He has a point, Rach,’ Nat said. ‘Stirling’s never had a chance to look at a Hunter that’s not been blown up or shot to pieces before.’
‘OK,’ Rachel said, lowering her rifle, ‘but if that thing so much as twitches, I’m emptying a clip into it. Understood?’
‘Understood,’ Sam said with a nod.
‘OK, now that’s settled, can I suggest we get underground?’ Jay said as the rumble of the Threat ships drew nearer. ‘Because any minute now those things are going to start dropping Grendels, and I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather not still be here when that happens.’
‘Fascinating,’ Stirling said as he gently lifted the section he had cut out of the Hunter’s shell and inspected what lay beneath, ‘absolutely fascinating.’
‘Glad you like it, Doc,’ Jay said.
‘Are you certain it’s dead?’ Jackson asked, eyeing the Hunter warily, his rifle lowered but ready.
‘As certain as I can be with a creature with such an alien physiology,’ Stirling replied. ‘It really is quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. A seamless hybridisation of the organic and the mechanical. It’s hard to say for sure if it was constructed or grown.’
‘I don’t care if it is dead,’ Rachel said. ‘Damn thing still give me the creeps.’
‘You say the Hunters all deactivated simultaneously,’ Stirling said, still staring at the creature.
‘Yeah,’ Sam replied, ‘as soon as the transmitter inside the stadium blew, they all just hit the ground.’
‘It sounds like some sort of catastrophic signal feedback loop,’ Will said.
‘Just what I was thinking,’ Jay said, rolling his eyes.
‘Either that or the transmitter was required to send instructions to the swarm,’ Stirling said, frowning slightly. ‘Which would suggest that there is a finite limit to how far they can travel from the Threat Mothership without the control signal being boosted in some way. I suspect that the signal would normally be relayed by Threat drop-ships in the area, but these new ground-based transmitters would provide a more permanent solution. It’s hard to be certain since we have never managed to bring down one of the drop-ships and see what effect that might have on any Hunters in the area, but it would explain why we have not seen any of these transmitters before now.’
‘Which means that we could take down every Hunter within range if we destroy the transmitters,’ Rachel said.
‘In theory, yes,’ Stirling replied.
‘Assuming we can find them,’ Nat said.
‘You were lucky not to take more casualties this time,’ Jackson said. ‘We had no idea we were sending you into a Hunter nest. Not to mention the fact that the Threat are bound to have increased security around any other transmitters they’re putting up after what happened last night. That may have been our first and last chance to hit them like that.’
‘I agree,’ Stirling said. ‘I cannot justify another operation like that, no matter how tempting the target may be. However, there is another option. Now that we know that the transmissions from these towers are so vital to the control of the Hunters, we can try to find a way to block them.’
‘Easier said than done,’ Will said. ‘It was the strength of those signals that led us to that transmitter in the first place. To jam even one of them would require … well … a lot more power than we have available.’
‘Yes, William, you’re quite right,’ Stirling said with a nod, ‘which is why we won’t try to block the transmission of the signal; we block its reception.’
‘Limit the range and lower the power consumption,’ Anne said, nodding enthusiastically. ‘If the electromagnetic interference ratio is reduced …’
‘And this is where they start talking science at each other,’ Jay said with a sigh. ‘I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hungry.’
‘Yeah,’ Nat said, ‘let’s go and see what delights Toby’s prepared for breakfast today.’
‘If it’s tinned grapefruit again, things could get violent,’ Jay said with a grin as the pair of them walked out of the lab.
Sam and Rachel watched in silence as Stirling, Will and Anne continued their examination of the dead Hunter.
‘Listen,’ Rachel said quietly after a minute or two, ‘I’m sorry about losing my temper with you back there. I appreciate what you were trying to do. It was just … you know … with losing Tim like that. I just …’ She trailed off.
‘Hey, don’t worry about it,’ Sam said. ‘You were right. It was a stupid thing to do. I’m just so sick of running from the Threat, I wanted to stand and fight for once. Jackson’s right, though – we can’t fight them like that. If that charge hadn’t detonated when it did, I’d have ended up just like Tim. It’s like Jackson always says, frightened but alive beats brave and dead every time.’
‘True,’ Rachel said, ‘but I know what you mean about wanting to fight back. We can’t go on living in holes underground for ever.’
‘Maybe these guys will come up with something we can use to level the playing field slightly,’ he said, gesturing towards Stirling, Will and Anne, who were deep in conversation. Jackson stood to one side, never taking his eyes off the Hunter on the bench.
‘Well,’ Sam said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be much use here, so I’m going to hit the mess hall for breakfast before Jay cleans the place out.’
‘Yeah, I’ll come with you,’ Rachel said, ‘but, I tell you, if Jay starts going on about bacon again, I’m going to shoot him.’
Sam thought back to the incident when Jay had spent five minutes talking with such passion about the smell and taste of bacon that it actually still made his mouth water just thinking about it.
‘Oh, if he does that again,’ Sam said with a grin, ‘you can use my gun.’
‘Well, you guys certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest,’ Adam said as he walked towards the other Ops Team members. Behind him Kate walked through and then resealed the heavy steel door that led out into the tunnel system. They had left on a scouting mission several hours ago and had only just returned.
‘What do you mean?’ Rachel asked as Adam unslung his rifle and handed it to Jack.
‘Well, Jackson asked us to go and take a look at what was happening around Wembley after last night and the place is absolutely crawling with Threat units now.’
‘There’s no chance we’re getting anywhere near that place again. We counted four Grendels patrolling the perimeter and Hunter activity is off the scale.’
‘But we destroyed the transmitter,’ Jay said, frowning. ‘How come there are still Hunters operating in the area?’
‘I have no idea,’ Kate said as she too passed her weapon to Jack, ‘but the whole area’s flooded with them now. We barely made it out undetected.’
‘Maybe they’ve already got another transmitter up,’ Rachel suggested.
‘I was kinda hoping it would take them a little bit longer than that to recover,’ Jay said with a sigh. ‘Just giving them a blind spot for a few hours is hardly worth the price we paid.’
‘You did more than that,’ Jackson said as he approached. ‘You demonstrated that we can hit them where they’re vulnerable. The scale of their response shows that. That’s why I sent Kate and Adam up there, so that I could get a better idea of just how badly we hurt them.’
‘Oh, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve got them pretty annoyed,’ Kate said. ‘That whole sector’s going to be a no-go area for a while.’
‘They’ve diverted their forces to defend one area, which means in turn that they’re going to be more vulnerable everywhere else,’ Jackson said with a grim smile. ‘Now all we have to do is work out where to hit them next and that’s exactly what Doctor Stirling is doing right now.’
‘Sounds good,’ Jay said, ‘assuming he doesn’t send us into another Hunter nest.’
‘You’re right, Jay, about the price being too high,’ Jackson said with a nod. ‘We all know that we can’t afford any losses. We are too few and they are too many.’
‘So where and when do we attack them next?’ Rachel asked.
‘When?’ Jackson said. ‘Soon. Where?’ He moved over to the map of London that was hanging on the wall and pointed at the huge circle in the centre of the city which represented the position of the Threat Mothership. ‘Right where it will hurt them the most.’