Helix Nexus, Chris Lofts [best android ereader .txt] 📗

‘If you need to take a piss, I suggest the lift shaft.’

Wheeler handed him his hat and coat. ‘Err. No. Thank you. I’m OK at the moment.’

‘Your shout,’ Helix said, perching the fedora on his head and tossing the coat over his shoulder. ‘Anything loose in your pockets?’

‘No,’ he replied, patting himself down to be sure.

Helix pointed to the folding chair. ‘Good. Up on the seat then. Sit on the back, feet on the seat, not on the floor.’

Wheeler took a tentative step towards the chair, pausing as Helix tapped out a series of commands on the panel in his jacket sleeve. ‘What exactly is going on, Major?’

‘Take a seat and I’ll explain.’

Wheeler climbed onto the chair as instructed, his hands flat on his thighs.

‘Okey dokey. Here we go.’ Helix stepped outside the box. A mesh of green lasers emerged from the devices, running across the floor, walls and ceiling, enclosing Wheeler in a virtual but deadly cell.

‘I don’t understand,’ Wheeler whined. ‘I thought we were—’

‘I am. You’re not.’

‘You are what?’

‘Going to collect your dirty little secret.’ He rubbed his neck. ‘Christ, Wheeler, I’m not bloody stupid. It won’t be in a safety deposit box. Too vulnerable to Ormandy and a court order. It’s not in Parliament for reasons we discussed earlier. No. You need it in a place where you can get to it away from prying eyes, but after what happened you’ll be worried that someone might find it by accident.’

‘After what happened. What are you talking about?’

‘The explosion,’ Helix said, raising his eyebrows. ‘Yes. That explosion. The one you saw on the news. When they clear the site, it’ll either be found, which could be a bit inconvenient, or it’ll might end up encased in concrete when they rebuild.’

‘It’s got a fifteen-character alpha-numeric code. You have three attempts. If you get it wrong three times the contents are destroyed.’

Helix nodded. ‘Good to know, but if you do the right thing, I won’t be needing the code. In fact, I’m not even going to ask you for it.’

‘What?’

‘You sit tight and I’ll be back as soon as I can. Oh yes, I better explain how things work just in case you haven’t worked it out. If you step off the chair, the charges detonate. If anything touches the walls, the charges detonate. Same for the ceiling. If that’s too complicated…’ He tapped a final command on his sleeve. The lasers changed from green to red. ‘Just remember not to touch anything red.’

The echoes of Wheeler’s protests were lost in the darkness as Helix updated Sofi from the stairwell. ‘Phase one complete.’

32

14 Hours

A milky steam snaked from the slick surfaces of the roads and pavements along The Strand. The rain had subsided, but the temperatures continued their tumble towards freezing. Revellers regretted their clothing choices as they stumbled from pubs, clubs and restaurants, shivering in the chill as they searched for their AVs or hailed taxis. Colourful holo-ads swarmed, plying their trade, their bio-selected victims brushing them aside like persistent flies. Sharp-suited dealers surveyed their turf from the shadows and recesses. Transactions were concluded with handshakes and air kisses.

On the edge of the shadows, Helix pulled up the collar of his jacket and glanced over his shoulder. Dominion over the patch had been won in a battle that was as brief as it was brutal. Ten feet back, between two bins, the glassy-eyed weed monger stared into the distance, his defeated face fixed in place by a glowing blue halo-cuff. Propping himself in the arch, Helix scanned the street. The pounding beat of music, somewhere between house and trance, leaked from the windows and double doors of the club opposite. Hopeful patrons were penned behind crimson ropes. Dressed for summer, they shivered and shook, hoping to catch a sympathetic eye of the robotic doormen who regulated the ebb and flow.

Helix edged deeper into the shadows as a heavy limousine drew to a halt at the curb in front of the club. The doormen took position, each with a hand on the heavy brass handles of the entrance doors. A faint movement of the limousine’s suspension was followed by the door opening. The tailored suit, haircut and demeanour of the man who emerged told Helix everything he needed to know. The minder scanned the street, the windows opposite, the queue of hopeful patrons and the two men minding the doors. He nodded to them, leaned down to the cabin and held his hand out. His underdressed client emerged into the cold. She teetered forward on her too-high heels, carried on a wave of whispers from those hopeful of joining her. A second heavy greeted her at the door and ushered her inside.

‘Game on,’ Helix said, watching the minder return to the limo. ‘Do you have control?’

‘Affirmative,’ Sofi replied.

The limo moved off. Helix merged into the flow of pedestrians heading in the same direction. Autonomous vehicles had done nothing to purge the problem of traffic congestion along London’s narrower streets. Helix moderated his pace, maintaining his distance as the limo lumbered into a side street and parked. Anyone assigned to security detail had their own ways of beating the boredom of waiting. Some slept, some read or found other ways to pass the time. Pretending to study the menu outside a restaurant, Helix didn’t have to wait long to discover the minder’s favourite distraction. In the restaurant window’s reflection, he watched a woman with long legs and a short skirt enter the side road and saunter up to the limo. Skipping between puddles she cursed, pulling her fake fur jacket tighter around herself. The limo door opened. A brief conversation ensued. She nodded, tossed her cigarette away and climbed aboard. Helix rubbed his chin. ‘Could have done without that,’ he said.

‘I’m sure you’ll think of something,’ Sofi replied.

Helix weaved his way across the two lanes of slow-moving traffic. Apart from the limo and a couple of street cleaning