The Covert Academy by Laurent Peter

Author:Laurent, Peter [Laurent, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Published: 2013-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

The doors slid apart with a swish. Joshua and Ichiro rushed through into the darkness beyond, their suits’ camo easily hiding them. They weren’t taking any more chances however. Sarah may have killed the lights for them, but she wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to killing anything else. Being in a hurry was no excuse. Joshua made a mental note to talk to her about it later. He didn’t like how robotic she seemed to behave. What had happened to make her this way?

He and Ichiro had entered into a wide room filled with low, carpeted cubicles.

So this is where their conscripts work, thought Joshua. Looks almost ordinary.

Each cubicle had an old fashioned desktop computer, with cables snaking all over the floor.

Clever. Joshua huffed in admiration. It would be easier for the Confederacy to keep an eye on what their scientists were up to, without letting them use any wireless networks that the iPCs required. Keeps everything isolated.

The juice was out, but in the dim light cast by the computers’ power backups, Joshua could see hundreds of people panicking. Some huddled in groups while others clawed at one of the other exits. Sarah must have gained control of the doors, as the way back to the lobby behind Joshua had now sealed itself. The underground bunker would have been claustrophobic at the best of times, now it was positively oppressing. Joshua felt a pang of remorse for these people. Most had never wanted to be here, torn from their familys’ arms when the Confederacy came knocking with some newly invented law.

He stayed low, indicating for Ichiro to do the same. They scrambled around the office cubicles in a crouch run. It wouldn’t have mattered. With the lights out, everyone was cast in silhouette. They hugged the outside wall, and Joshua finally ran into a map of the area. It was a simple not-to-scale diagram intended for new recruits, showing which rooms adjoined each other.

‘Here,’ said Ichiro, pausing. He tapped a small room on the map with a finger. ‘Experimental technology. That is where they would have Brock. It is a secure wing.’ He traced a line with his finger down to a larger room, labelled “Observation”. ‘This is us here,’ he said. Ichiro pointed across the room. They couldn’t see the other side through the gloom. ‘That way.’

‘Are you crazy, man?’ Joshua whispered fiercely. He glanced around, but no one had heard the sound from the seemingly empty area.

‘Come on, do not be a baby,’ Ichiro whispered back, then hustled away into the depths of the room.

Joshua hesitated, and someone darted in front of him, nearly toppling over his invisible form, before hurrying off to beat on another exit. Ichiro had vanished. Sarah was long gone. Joshua was rooted to the spot, panic rising in him, the room’s mood becoming infectious. He couldn’t go back the way he had come. He thought he had gone mad when he saw a head bobbing towards him, low to the ground. It got closer and Joshua recognised Ichiro, the hood of his jumpsuit thrown back to reveal his face.

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