Tiberius Found

CHAPTER 24

  Daniel inspected the door in the polymer cell; it looked as if it was more designed to stop people from getting in rather than preventing anyone getting out. It only took him a few seconds to prise the hinge pins up and push the door open.

  He darted through into the wider, empty room and took several deep breaths of the clean air. To his right sat a large, metal sink against the wall with a mirror above it. He ran the water, washed his hands free of dried blood then splashed water over his face and head. He pulled several pale-green paper towels from a dispenser next to the sink and wiped away the dripping, red water. He managed to clear away the majority of the blood but his skin had been tinted a pale rose.

  He looked like some sort of mad devil.

  ‘Well,’ he muttered, ‘that might not be such a bad thing.’

  He tossed the paper towels into a bin and walked up to the air-lock. He searched through his satchel – his phone and the stolen bio-reader were still there. Dryden and his people must have been so scared of the contamination caused by the deadly gas, that they were too afraid to take anything from him. He activated the A.I. and security hack programmes, searching for the appropriate PathGen network which would detail the security digit sequence he needed. A ten-digit number appeared on the screen.

  He wiped the bio-reader free of blood, swiped it through the scanner and entered the numbers into the pad. The door clicked open. He repeated the process on the second door and stepped into a wider, open space. The corridor ahead of him was empty.

  He quickly walked past the room holding the Claudius children and up to a very familiar-looking lift door, knowing that Dryden’s office would be at the end of it. He glanced back the way he’d come. Above the archway he saw the word “Morgue”. His lips tightened and he nodded slowly to himself, acknowledging what must have happened. The realisation strengthened his resolve and determination.

  He pulled the same small, poly-ceramic unit he used to access the lift at Brinkley House from his satchel and was about to hold the unit up to the encoder pad when he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him, along the corridor.

  He darted back around the corner and waited for the footsteps to get closer – there was only one person; a man, if the heavy tread was anything to go by.

  Seconds later a technician rounded the corner, his head bent over a Tablet reading the screen. Daniel swiped the man’s legs from under him. The technician fell to the floor, dropping the Tablet, but rolled away quicker than Daniel had expected. Daniel lunged for him but the man pushed his hands away and reached for a large red push-button on the wall. If the alarm was pressed then Daniel knew Dryden wouldn’t make the same mistake twice; he’d kill him for sure if he had another chance.

  Daniel grabbed the man’s trailing leg and pulled him back. A lightning-quick fist smacked into the technician’s chest and he crumpled with the sound of snapping ribs. Daniel followed up with a two-fingered jab to the man’s neck. He fell like a dead-weight.

  Daniel paused; looking back down the main corridor, waiting to make certain that there was no one else. The space was empty. Daniel took hold of the technician’s feet and dragged him to the closest doorway. He opened the door of the cold-room holding the dead Claudius children and dumped the unconscious man inside. He was about to toss the man’s Tablet in with him but stopped as a thought came to him. A smile creased his lips as he knew what he had to do; the irony of the thought making him laugh. He quietly closed the cold-room door then accessed the Tablet’s building schematics.

  The details he sought only had three layers of security protection, and within a minute he’d identified all the information he needed. Daniel moved passed Dryden’s lift and headed further along the corridor with a skip in his step, going deeper into the building.

  ‘This is crazy,’ Davis said as he watched Brennan limp up the steps leading to the roof. ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to fly you?’

  ‘No, not this time,’ Brennan replied.

  Davis leaned an elbow on the stair rail. ‘Okay. What’s going on?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean that you haven’t been yourself these last few days. I’m not stupid; I know something’s going on. Is it because of this kid? Is it because of what happened earlier?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘So what’re you trying to prove?’

  Brennan stopped and turned around. ‘Listen, Robert; you’re a friend but believe me I’m doing you a favour by keeping you out of this.’

  ‘Out of what?’

  Brennan smiled then continued going up.

  ‘You know you won’t be able to fly the chopper with your leg like that.’

  ‘I can,’ Brennan replied opening the door to the roof. ‘And I will.’

  Daniel stood at the doors to Dryden’s private lift, held the poly-ceramic unit up to the encoder pad and ran its open end across it. The colour of the plastic square turned green.

  Daniel coated his thumb with a duplicate of Dryden’s print then used it to summon the lift. He barely waited for the door to close before pushing open the hatch in the centre of the ceiling.

  He looked up the shaft and let out a long, slow breath. ‘Well, this looks familiar.’ He took out his grey gloves from the satchel and pulled them on.

  The climb up the lift shaft “ladder” took him far less time than before but he was panting heavily by the time he stepped onto the ledge by the highest set of doors. He ran his fingers around the edge and located the emergency release, the doors gliding open. Another plastic wedge from his satchel kept the door open.

  Before Daniel stepped into the lobby area between the lift and the opaque glass doors he could see the blurred image of a man in the room beyond. The muted sound of Dryden’s voice reached him.

  Daniel slipped off his gloves and pressed his thumb against the encoder pad. The opaque glass doors opened and, judging from Dryden’s expression, he wasn’t sure who was more surprised. Dryden sat at his desk with his phone to his ear and for a few moments stared at Daniel, his mouth slightly open.

  ‘I’ll have to call you back,’ Dryden muttered into his phone.

  Daniel stepped into the office and let the glass door close behind him.

  ‘Well, well, Daniel,’ Dryden muttered, slipping the phone back into his jacket. ‘Still alive?’

  ‘What can I say? Call me Lazarus.’

  Dryden gave a thin, dry laugh. ‘Quite. It seems that there might be a little more to your DNA than I first thought. Perhaps that could make me even more money than your intelligence gene.’

  ‘I’m not your meal-ticket,’ Daniel replied moving closer to him. ‘Never have been. You’re not going to make anything off me.’

  Dryden sat back against the edge of his desk and folded his arms. ‘I must say that I’m astounded by your lack of acceptance, Daniel. I suppose it’s true what they say about intelligence being no guarantee of common sense.’

  ‘Your experiments end here. This time I’m going to stop you for good.’

  Dryden let out a loud, hearty laugh. ‘You continue to labour under the misapprehension that I’ve done something wrong.’ He moved over to the metal cabinet and pulled out the top drawer. ‘You couldn’t be further from the truth.’

  He selected a pale blue folder, lifted it out of the drawer and slipped a three-page document from it. The document’s front page was emblazoned with the blue and gold Seal of the European President. He held it for Daniel to see. ‘Would you care to read it for yourself?’

  Daniel looked at the floor. ‘No.’

  Dryden held the document out in front of him at arm’s length, a smug grin across his face. He gave a small cough, clearing his throat. ‘There’s a lot of legal gobbledygook that I won’t bore you with, but the pertinent detail is that this is my “get out of jail free” card. Everything I’ve ever done here at PathGen, every action that I’ve ever conducted on behalf of the Emperor Initiative – all of it, Daniel – has been authorised. With this piece of paper n
ot even the World Court could touch me.’

  ‘Alright. That’s enough.’

  ‘Yes,’ Dryden said as he slid the document into its folder and dropped it back into the drawer, ‘it is. So how do you feel about this crusade of yours now? Hmm? I can only imagine how impotent you feel; knowing that it’s all been futile.’

  ‘Futile?’

  ‘You’re an experiment, nothing more. And as I’ve already told you: all experiments have to come to an end. There was only ever going to be one outcome to all of this and it’s about time you faced facts.’

  ‘Facts? Yeah,’ Daniel nodded, ‘you’re right. Do you remember the last thing I said to you before … before I was taken downstairs?’

  ‘You said so much and, to be quite frank, I didn’t find a great deal of it to be of any interest.’

  Daniel fixed his eyes on Dryden. ‘I said that this wasn’t over.’

  ‘How is this not over?’

  ‘It’s over.’

  Dryden sat back on the edge of his desk and folded his arms once more. ‘Oh, I see. Are you here to kill me, Daniel? Is that why you’re still here? Is it? Well let me tell you something; I might look vulnerable but believe me, I have defences that I doubt even you could withstand.’

  Daniel’s voice hardened. ‘It’s. Over.’

  ‘Simply repeating the words doesn’t make it true, you know. And that hard-man stare you think you have going on – it isn’t. You’re a child, Daniel, and in the end what do you think you could actually do? I mean, really?’

  Daniel held Dryden’s eyes and grinned.

  There was something within Daniel’s expression which caused Dryden to stop smiling. There was a confidence in them which made him frown. ‘What can you do?’

  Daniel’s grin turned into a smile. He glanced at his watch.

  Dryden stood up from the desk, his face now full of concern. ‘What have you done?’

  ‘You told me earlier that when the professor took me from here, he had a plan. You said that he did you a favour by blowing up the building.’ He checked his watch again. ‘I wonder if you’ll be thanking me this time – when it’s all over.’

  An alarm sounded deep within the building; high-pitched and wailing. Another one began then a third and a fourth. Dryden’s phone buzzed and his computer screen flashed red. He darted around to the front of his desk and pushed his chair aside. The display on his monitor showed alarms going off all across the building. A flashing box revealed there was an issue with the reactor. The automated building-evacuation warning began.

  ‘Like I said,’ Daniel continued with a broader smile. ‘It’s over. You kept talking about history, so before I came up here from the morgue I thought I’d create a little of my own.’

  Dryden tapped furiously on the holographic keypad and brought up the Thorium reactor schematic; a series of graphics appeared on his monitor – the most significant readout showing that the cooling system had failed – and all the other safety controls were red-lining. The reactor core temperature was rapidly approaching critical.

  Dryden pulled out his phone and pressed the screen. ‘How did this happen?’ he yelled into it, barely pausing to hear the answer. ‘Then fix it!’

  He looked up at Daniel. ‘How the hell were you able to access the reactor system?’

  ‘You may not have heard but I can somehow remember everything I see or hear. Or read.’ Daniel pulled the PathGen Tablet he took from the morgue technician, from his satchel. He tossed it to the floor.

  ‘I guess it’s just one of those things you’re either born with or you’re not,’ he continued. ‘Every system’s got a back door, even one as advanced as what you have here. Locking it off once I’d finished re-setting the controls was a little more difficult but I’m pretty sure that your men in white coats won’t be able to regain control before it’s too late.’

  ‘If the Thorium salts superheat then the whole system will blow,’ Dryden yelled. ‘It’ll take down the entire building. You’ll be caught in it just as much as I will.’

  Daniel shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’s a price worth paying. Besides,’ he said smiling wider, ‘haven’t you heard? I can’t die.’

  A muffled boom sounded from somewhere far below, and the office shuddered. Another explosion sounded – this one much closer – as the reactor vented pressurised, ignited gas through the air ducts. Up on the roof all of the silver vents exploded, sending a pillar of flame high into the air through each one. Dryden’s helicopter pilot wasted no time in firing up the engine and releasing the vehicle’s wheel locks.

  Dryden held Daniel’s eyes and his mouth twisted into a leer.

  ‘I told you it was over,’ Daniel said.

  Dryden sprinted away from his desk, heading for the door leading up to the roof. Daniel was after him like a greyhound snapping at a rabbit. Dryden slowed as he accessed the door’s security system and Daniel caught him by the collar of his jacket. Daniel’s hand tingled as he gripped the maroon fabric but he held firm and yanked the older man away from the door.

  Dryden spun around, one arm raised. He jabbed Daniel in the throat, causing him to fall to his knees, gasping for breath. Dryden turned back, hurriedly opened the door and sprinted up the short flight of steps to the roof door. He keyed in the security code and pressed his eyes against the retinal scanners; swearing under his breath as he waited for the reader to turn green.

  The roof door locks released and he pushed it open in time to see his helicopter wheel away into the clear sky.

  ‘Come back here!’ Dryden’s face twisted. ‘Come back here!’

  The helicopter continued on its path away from the building.

  ‘Come! Here!’

  An explosion from further into the main part of the building made him stagger as small pieces of debris rained down on him – a sizable chunk of the roof had collapsed, leaving a smoking crater. He swore again but this time not under his breath. He glanced back down the short flight of stairs: going through the building was now his only way out.

  He made his way back down, taking the steps two at a time and darted through the door into his office. The roof door swung behind him but was stopped from closing fully by blocks of rubble. Daniel stood several metres into the room with his head stooped over his knees, his breathing still ragged.

  Dryden made to dash past him but Daniel lashed out, tripping him up. He caught hold of Dryden’s foot, pulling his shoe away, and sent him falling to the floor. Daniel tossed the shoe behind him and reached out to grab hold of Dryden’s legs but several sharp kicks to his face enabled the older man to get away.

  Dryden got up and sprinted towards the opaque glass doors. Daniel recovered his breath and threw himself like a rugby player; catching Dryden around the waist and bringing them both crashing down to the carpet. Dryden spun around and kicked once more at Daniel, but this time his hands held firm. Another explosion rocked the office sending debris and rubble across the room. Dryden’s monitor fell from the desk, shattering. The sound of the warning sirens grew louder and panic flared up in Dryden’s eyes. He thrashed like a wild animal but still Daniel held on.

  ‘Right,’ Dryden muttered through gritted teeth. ‘You’ve asked for it.’

  He clamped his legs and arms around Daniel’s waist and pulled the teenager’s face into his chest. The fabric of the maroon suit shifted and warped as it made contact with living skin.

  Dryden smiled as he hugged Daniel tighter. ‘I told you I had defences.’

  Daniel arched his back to give his arms room to move and punched Dryden twice in the ribs. Above the noise of the sirens came the snap of bone. Dryden cried out and his grip on Daniel eased. Daniel brought his head up – smacking Dryden on the base of the chin – and freed himself from the suffocating embrace.

  ‘Was that it?’ he asked, getting to his feet. He rubbed a hand against his cheek – it was slightly reddened. ‘What’s the big deal? Just feels like I’ve been out in the sun a bit too long.’

  Dryden spat a mouthful of
blood and let out a yell like a trapped beast. He lashed out; kicking Daniel’s legs from under him then continued his desperate search for an escape. Daniel bounced back to his feet as though he were made of rubber and caught hold of Dryden for the third time, by the glass doors. Daniel spun him around, his fist balled ready for a punch, when an explosion ripped through the office.

  Both men were sent flying through the air, like wind-tossed leaves, towards the open lift doors. Daniel smashed into the lift frame with a thud and snap of bone, as Dryden sailed over him into the shaft, hitting the metal workings head-first.

  Daniel crashed down with a shriek onto the lift’s entrance plate, his left arm hanging limp at his side; twisted at the elbow so that his hand faced the wrong way. He clamped onto the entrance plate with his right arm as blood dripped freely from the fingertips of his left hand.

  He heaved himself up so that his stomach was flat to the floor and only his legs were left in the shaft but yelled again as his damaged arm slapped against the hard floor. He fell back, suddenly, into the shaft, managing only to hold on to the lip of the plate by his fingertips and let out another cry of pain. Daniel turned his head and saw what had pulled him down – Dryden held on to his legs; his arms wrapped so tightly around them his face was pressed into the back of Daniel’s knees. His eyes were half-closed and dark blood seeped freely from a deep gash on the back of his head, making his brown hair appear black. Dust from the explosions rippled on his suit, almost as if the fabric was trying to shrug it off.

  Daniel also saw, far below Dryden’s swinging feet, yellow flames flickering through the open hatch in the lift. And they were gathering in intensity.

  Dryden groaned and his eyes fluttered open. It seemed to take him a few moments before he realised where he was; and when he did an expression of fear and desperation flooded his face. He hung on tighter to Daniel’s legs and scrabbled at the wall of the shaft with his feet – his one shoe scuffing against the concrete wall – but the act only made it more difficult for Daniel to keep a grip on the lift’s edge.

  Daniel kicked his legs, trying to free himself of the weight but the movement only succeeded in banging his dislocated elbow against the side of the shaft causing him to cry out.

  ‘You started this,’ Dryden shouted, his words slurred, ‘so if I fall you’re coming with me.’

  ‘It’ll be worth it!’

  Dryden began to claw his way, slowly, up Daniel’s legs. ‘Better men than you have tried and failed. You’re not the one to end me.’

  He gripped against Daniel’s waist and slapped his hand against the broken elbow. Daniel screamed and nearly let go of the lift plate.

  ‘Looks like you’re not quite so invincible, after all.’ Dryden clamped one arm around Daniel then pulled out a handkerchief from his suit’s pocket, pressing it against Daniel’s bloody hand. ‘And now I’ve got a sample of your DNA to replicate. I think I may have to forego the pleasure of slicing you up. After some consideration I think I’d much prefer to see you die for good.’

  He continued his climb and clambered up onto Daniel’s back.

  ‘You talk too much.’ Daniel snapped his head back, colliding with the bridge of Dryden’s nose.

  It was enough to cause Dryden to release his grip and slide back down onto Daniel’s legs; just managing to hold on to the teenager’s feet. The bloodied handkerchief floated away from his hand, and Daniel watched as it disappeared into the flames below.

  ‘So much for my DNA. Guess you’ll have to try something else.’

  Dryden let out another yell, his fingers clawing at Daniel’s trousers. Daniel kicked his left leg free, closed his eyes and shut out the pain. He pulled himself up and swung the heel of his free boot up onto the lip of the shaft.

  ‘No you don’t,’ Dryden yelled. ‘No you don’t.’

  Daniel kept his eyes closed and continued in his agony of heaving the combined weight of Dryden and himself out of the shaft. He managed to get back to the flat of his stomach when Dryden, once again, pulled him back. This time, however, Dryden had released Daniel’s leg and gripped onto his trailing broken arm. The act spun Daniel around and would have pulled him head-first into the shaft if he hadn’t have braced himself against either side of the frame with his right hand and leg.

  It felt to him as if Dryden was pulling his left arm apart.

  The move hadn’t been quite the success that Dryden hoped it would; the blood seeping onto Daniel’s fingers made his grip on it hard to secure. It was as if he was trying to hold on to an oiled fish; his fingers slipped and he had to constantly scramble for grip. With every new grab of Dryden’s hands Daniel’s cries grew louder.

  A shadow fell over both of them from above, causing Dryden to go quiet and his eyes widen. ‘Brennan?’

  Daniel snapped his head back up. The man he’d fought with at Brinkley House loomed over him with his feet spread wide. The adhesive plaster across his nose and discoloured eye gave his expression a fearsome demeanour.

  ‘For God’s sake get me out of here,’ Dryden yelled. ‘I can’t hold on much longer. My head … I … Stop looking at me like some stupid idiot and get me out of here.’

  Brennan turned his gaze between Dryden and Daniel.

  The animosity in the man’s grey eyes told Daniel all he needed to know: there was a deep-seated loathing in them. This was it. Outnumbered and hurt; in that instant he knew that it was the end of the line.

  ‘Brennan!’

  ‘My knee,’ Brennan muttered to Dryden, patting the brace on his leg. ‘I’m afraid it’s a little stiff from what happened earlier and the flight over here in the chopper didn’t do it any good. Plus, for some reason, my ribs are really sore. I’m having trouble bending down.’

  ‘Stop messing about and get me out of this bloody lift. Can’t you see the whole place is going to blow?’

  Brennan gave a resigned nod and eased himself down onto one knee, giving a grunt of pain. Daniel didn’t say a word as Brennan reached down into the shaft, took hold of Dryden’s bare wrist and released the man from Daniel’s bloody hand.

  ‘You okay?’ Brennan asked.

  ‘Do I look okay?’ Dryden yelled back.

  Brennan held Dryden’s crazed eyes. ‘What makes you think I’m talking to you?’ He turned his grey eyes to Daniel. They softened into a smile. ‘Kid, are you okay?’

  Daniel managed to give a short nod in reply.

  Brennan grabbed Daniel’s collar with his free hand and hoisted him over the ledge.

  ‘What is this?’ Dryden said, trying to catch hold of Daniel's legs. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Better get yourself out of there,’ Brennan told Daniel.

  Daniel managed another quick nod of his head then pushed himself away from the lift shaft. Dryden tried again to grab hold of him, but failed. Daniel sat close to the opening, cradling his damaged arm and desperately trying to understand what was happening.

  ‘What the bloody hell’s going on?’ Dryden said, scrabbling to get hold of the lift plate with his free hand. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

  ‘I’m just following orders,’ Brennan answered, the smile leaving his eyes. ‘But the thing is; they’re not yours.’

  ‘No,’ Dryden said; the word tinged with panic. ‘No, don’t do this. You can’t.’

  Brennan nodded and gave Dryden a cold smile. ‘Didn’t you once tell me that I should just follow orders, not to question them or try to comprehend their reasoning?’

  ‘I didn’t mean like this!’

  ‘Tough.’ Brennan smiled. ‘Goodbye, Mr Dryden.’

  Brennan let go of his wrist. Dryden flailed in the air and cried ‘No!’ as he dropped like a stone. He clipped the side of the shaft wall – his one remaining shoe being pulled off – and spun twice before thudding with a crunch onto the flame-kissed ceiling of the lift eleven floors below. He bounced once then didn’t move.

  Another set of explosions rocked the building and almost sent Daniel back into the lift shaft.


  ‘Come on,’ Brennan said regaining his feet and turning back towards the office, ‘it’s time to go. We’ll have your arm seen to once we get back to London. Do you think you can manage ‘til then?’

  Daniel stayed, rooted to the spot. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘We haven’t got time for this. We need to go now.’

  ‘No. You tell me who you are or I’m not going anywhere.’

  Brennan stopped and turned. His eyes softened. ‘My name is Miles Brennan,’ he muttered. ‘And as I tried to tell you before; I’m not your enemy. I’m here to help you.’

  ‘Why?’

  More explosions sounded from deep below. ‘I promise you that I’ll answer any questions you have, later. If we don’t leave now then we’re likely to join that slimy bugger at the bottom of the lift.’

  ‘Why should I trust you?’

  ‘Daniel, we don’t have time for this!’

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Okay, fine. I knew you were here ‘cos the guy in America who sold you your phone synched you up to a haema-tag –’

  ‘You know Pickford?’

  ‘Know of him. He gave my associate over there your location.’

  ‘Associate?’

  ‘Yeah. I think you met him when he stopped a car running into you and your girlfriend.’

  ‘Oh, him.’

  ‘Anyway, he was with this Pickford when you … when you got better. I was sent to retrieve you.’ Brennan gave a wry smile. ‘Personally I’m hoping it’ll go smoother this time than it did at Brinkley House. I’m not sure I could take another one of your right hooks. Really now, we need to go.’

  Daniel nodded. ‘Alright.’

  ‘At last.’ Brennan then turned back around and headed towards the doors to the roof.

  Daniel fell in step cradling his injured arm but the movement was too much. ‘Ow!’

  Brennan turned back. ‘Here.’ He said pulling off his jacket. ‘This might hurt.’ He tied the arms together, looped them over Daniel’s neck and fashioned a make-do sling with the rest of it. ‘That’ll have to do you for now.’

  Daniel relaxed a little as he eased his arm into the sling. ‘Thanks. That’s better.’

  ‘Wait until I send you the cleaning bill. You’ll not be thanking me then.’

  Daniel laughed. ‘Sure.’

  ‘Now come on.’

  Daniel followed Brennan up onto the roof. From up there he could hear the multiple wails of sirens much clearer. Columns of black smoke billowed out from numerous open wounds in the fabric of the building and the smell of ammonia filled the air. A trio of fire engines were making their way along the lane towards the building; their lights flashing and their sirens blaring. Brennan waved at him from the helicopter, urging him to hurry along.

  Daniel climbed in through the open door, struggled to strap himself into the passenger seat and then pulled on a set of headphones. ‘I’m sorry about your neck,’ he muttered looking at the twin burn marks above Brennan’s collar, his voice tinged with embarrassment. ‘I … I hope it didn’t hurt too much.’

  ‘No, no. Don’t worry about it. Better than the alternative,’ Brennan replied, powering up the engines and lifting the helicopter off from the building. ‘And besides, fifty-thousand volts just clears the head, nothing more.’

  ‘So tell me,’ Daniel said as they peeled away from the burning labs. ‘Whose orders are you following?’

  Brennan turned to him and smiled.