CHAPTER 9 – Loose Ends
In the morning Signor Beppe decided to serve Simon breakfast in bed. He prepared poached eggs on toast, pan-fried mushrooms, cooked tomatoes, continental sausages, and freshly squeezed mango juice. The master, whilst holding the silver tray in one hand, used the other to gently knock the door. It was 1pm and he thought that some food in Simon’s stomach would do him wonders. When Signor Beppe opened the door and entered the bedroom, he found the bed already made and Simon nowhere to be seen. Signor Beppe picked up his mobile and made a call.
“It’s me. As you predicted he has taken off. I’ll make the necessary arrangements and see you there!”
“Yes, I do have time. It will take Simon approximately 24 hours to get to London”.
Signor Beppe simply hung up as he knew no reply would be coming.
Simon was racing at 230 km/h on his motorbike towards Treviso. During the sleepless night his feelings of sorrow were replaced with a strong surge of anger. He started by feeling upset that he did not have a ‘normal’ life. He then progressed to feeling angry that his dad was avoiding him. In turn it eventually made him furious that his mum was taken away so early. By the early hours of the morning, he had found himself feeling livid that someone was playing with his life. So, not knowing what to do about switching between the various shades of depression and anger, he decided to confront his puppeteers by a strike of aggression against them. He would start with his kidnappers. Other than being able to focus on venting his anger and hopefully getting his mind off his mum’s death, he figured that he would expose the puppeteers by forcing them to reveal themselves.
Once he arrived in Treviso, hoping that Steve and Whisper were still there, he took the communication device given to him by Inspector Lau and began using a software application that he had spotted whilst flying back from Malaysia. The application allowed him to enter a mobile phone number and have the location of the handset shown on a Google map.
Simon entered Steve’s mobile number that he had stolen a few days before during their fight at the quarry. To his disappointed, he was shown that the phone was no longer being operated out of Italy. He now had to find a way to get himself to London.
Steve, having just agreed to be part of a new MI6 training program, left his ‘mentor’ at the restaurant and decided to enjoy his day off by walking along the Thames River. He contemplated how much his life had changed within the last two weeks. He went from hating the British secret agency to working for them. His father would laugh at the notion that out of all of the teenagers that the MI6 could have selected for their strategic plan, they chose the son of one of their enemies. Steve certainly had to be extra cautious about his actions from now on. What he also found amazing was that his trainer was most likely a double agent - Steve knew that this would come in handy one day.
The walk along the river was pleasant and, as most of the lunch crowds were now back in their offices, the walking track was fairly empty. Other than infrequent requests by tourists to take their photo, Steve was left to his own thoughts.
Steve, satisfied that everything was going according to plan, eventually allowed himself the freedom to smile at his recent good fortune.
The fist came flying from behind a tree too fast for Steve to prevent the contact. The strike was direct to his temple, making him lose balance and fall to the ground. Feeling the throbbing pain in his head, Steve took advantage of the fall and used the momentum to roll back away from his attacker. As Steve’s roll brought him back onto his feet, a foot connected with his chin driving him back into a tree. The tree trunk abruptly stopped Steve from travelling backward. Instantly he used one of his feet to propel himself forward toward the assailant in the hope that the aggressive move would allow him the opportunity to gain the upper hand. The move simply provided him the ability to finally see the face of the aggressor.
Simon was prepared for Steve’s counter attack and side stepped his opponent to the right whilst driving his left fist on a direct course to Steve’s face. The fist connected directly with Steve’s left cheek, making him tumble to the ground. This time Simon was not going to stop until the anger he had inside was completely gone. Simon took advantage of his opponent being on the ground used his right foot to drive a kick into the opponent’s ribs.
Although Steve managed to raise his left arm in time to prevent any likely injury to his ribs, the connection with the leg was severe enough to temporarily paralyse his arm due to the pain. Simon also felt a sharp pain in his shin that caused him to stop his attack for a split second. Steve knew that this was his first real chance to gain the advantage. Therefore, he grabbed Simon’s striking leg with his right arm whilst kicking at his other leg in the hope to throw Simon off balance.
Simon knew that in a split second he would also be on the floor and reacted by directing his fall on top of Steve. As his body weight crushed Steve below him, Simon felt the air explode out of his opponent’s lungs.
Steve immediately felt himself blacking out due to a sudden reduction of oxygen supplied to his brain. Steve glanced around in the hope of seeing an object that he could use as a weapon, but instead found a potential way out.
Simon, satisfied that the battle was about to be won, clocked back his right fist so that additional momentum could be gained for the final strike.
“Not here!” yelled Steve in the hope that Simon would register before driving forward the fist that he saw being set for the final blow.
Simon instantly understood. He was so caught up by “White Line Fever” that he had failed to see a small number of tourists watching the fight in shock. The driving fist stopped a split second before connecting with Steve’s temple. Simon stood up slowly and offered a hand to help Steve get up.
“I can’t believe it worked!” contemplated Steve knowing that the same would not have been the case if the roles were reversed. He accepted the hand and he gave a friendly wave to the tourists in the hope that this might undermine their own perception of what had just unfolded.
“Where?!” barked Simon not wanting to let go of his anger just yet.
Steve looked up at Simon and, as he stared into his opponent’s eyes, felt a chill run down his spine. Steve’s mind immediately went into overdrive to identify a better venue to continue this battle. Unable to keep eye contact, Steve instinctively glanced just to the right of Simon’s shoulder where the answer was suddenly clearly in focus.
“The London Eye!”
Simon looked over his right shoulder and could see the famous London Ferris Wheel.
“Once we are inside one of the capsules, nobody will be able to interfere for 30 minutes” Steve added whilst feeling confident that within minutes he would knock out his opponent.
Simon did not answer and simply started walking towards the 135 metre high tourist attraction.
Steve simply followed him whilst contemplating what his first strike would entail.
“I am sorry about the death of your mum!” offered Steve in honesty.
Simon ignored him.
Within 10 minutes, the two teenagers were among the crowd waiting to get onto the next capsule. The London Eye capsules never stopped moving which means that, although not required to rush in, tourist have a limited time to board. As Simon stepped into the empty capsule, Steve stopped at the door and took an aggressive stance directed at those behind him. The intimidating behaviour worked as planned as a young family, out of fear, decided not to insist on getting into the capsule with the boys. The crowd behind were not able to clearly see what had caused the pause, but simply assumed that the attendant at the entrance had directed everyone to wait for the next capsule. The attendant, having been completely involved with an argument with his girlfriend on his mobile, looked up a few seconds too late and simply assumed that the family needed some encouragement. By then, the capsule with only two passengers in it was already commencing to ascend.
The Ferris wheel has 32 capsules that at the peak of the rotation reach a height of 135 metres.
Each capsule is able to carry approximately 25 people and in addition to standing room it provided an oval bench in the middle for those who preferred to sit down. Not dissimilar to a bicycle wheel, the London Eye was developed with multiple tie rods that shoot from its centre outwardly towards an outer rim. The outer rim, where the capsules are attached to, is a crisscross of numerous steel beams.
The two teenagers stood on opposite sides of the capsule staring at one another.
“Let me guess, who ever winks first loses” joked Steve.
“So, you’re MI6?” asked Simon ignoring the joke.
“Looks that way.”
“So where do I fit in?”
“I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you!” smiled Steve.
Simon turned to face the view of the Thames River.
Steve did likewise.
For the next 10 minutes, Simon stood in silence contemplating the events that lead him to London. He felt his anger slowly subside. Simon understood that Steve was simply following orders and that he had nothing to do with his mum’s death. He could not believe that she was gone.
“I should have never left her behind whilst on a wild chase for a man that did not want to be found. I should have stayed in Malaysia” Simon thought to himself whilst fighting back the tears.
Simon thought back to the time when Inspector Lau picked him up from school. The first time he saw his mum lying in a hospital bed. The time she told him that she didn’t have long to live. The time he found out that his dad’s death was a lie. Suddenly, in a succession of flashes, Simon also remembered the time that some stranger tried to take him away from his mum. Followed by the time that the same stranger arrogantly threatened him at the hospital. And finally the time that the stranger broke into his house, followed him to Italy, and sent his apprentice to prevent him from returning home.
Simon exploded!
Without warning, Simon turned on Steve. As he prepared to somersault over the bench separating him from his opponent, Simon feared for his life at the sight in front of him.
Steve pressed a button on his mobile phone that triggered a firing mechanism hidden within the handset. The bullet exited the mobile via the aerial, which also acted as a barrel and travelled at high speed across the chamber towards its target.
Simon never felt the bullet penetrate his shirt just below his right armpit. The bullet travelled through the various layers of clothing never finding any skin tissue. Upon exiting the last layer of cotton, the bullet continued on its travel whilst beginning to drop height. Upon impact, a glass panel behind Simon shattered outwardly allowing the cold winter wind into the chamber.
Simon landed perfectly on his feet. Although he heard the sound of the bullet being fired, he had no idea where it had landed. He also had no idea if the firing device in Steve’s hand had more bullets: but he was not going to wait and find out. Simon used the momentum from the roll to launch himself forward tackling Steve and driving him into a frame behind him.
Steve, although acknowledging the sharp pain in his spine, drove his right knee upwards connecting with his adversary’s jaw.
Simon’s teeth vibrated from the contact. Simon clenched his fist, trapping Steve’s clothing. Using all of his energy, Simon then dug his heels into the floor of the capsule and drove himself backwards pulling Steve with him. As he took a second step, Simon let himself fall towards the floor but continue to hold on to his enemy.
Steve felt that the weight and strength of his opponent was too much to resist and simply let himself fall forward hoping to take advantage of the situation. As his opponent hit the ground, Steve suddenly felt a set of heels drive into his hips.
Simon pushed his legs with all his energy throwing Steve over his head and over the bench.
Steve was unable to react and let himself fly through the air whilst preparing to soften his landing and immediately launch a counter attack. Although he had managed to carry out a paratrooper roll across the floor, his hope of regaining the advantaged was cut short by a blow to the back of his kidneys. Steve, arched backwards in pain.
Simon felt nothing but anger. Even though he knew how much pain he had just caused his opponent, he simply felt no remorse or pity for him. He proceeded to inflict a second blow to the same region when he felt his legs being swept out from underneath him.
Steve initially held his weight up by leaning on the side rail. At the same time he slid his legs between his opponents’. He then extended his feet outward and retracted his legs with all the energy he could muster. As his legs moved back in, the tops of his feet connected with Simon’s heels sweeping them from underneath him.
As his opponent fell backwards to the ground, Steve let himself fall on top of him whilst rotating mid-flight.
Simon felt himself pinned below his adversary. In an attempt to force himself clear, he placed a downward force through his shoulders and his heels. To Simon’s dismay he found no floor to press against with his heels. Glancing around, Simon spotted shattered glass everywhere. He immediately realised that one of the lower panels had also shattered by the bullet and his feet were now hanging outside the chamber. The two teenagers had several failed attempts at head butting one another. As Simon’s arms were pinned back by Steve’s, neither were able to throw any blows at the other. Simon, realising that Steve was most likely stronger, turned his head to one side and using his tongue and upper lip, managed to collect a few shards of glass in his mouth. As he turned his head back to his adversary, he received a harsh blow to his nose. Although it did not break, Simon felt the extreme pain and his eyes started filling up with tears. Simon saw Steve smiling and took advantage of the pause by filling his lungs with air and blowing the glass at his opponent’s eyes.
Although Simon did not manage to hit Steve’s eyes, he did manage to send one piece of glass into his throat.
Steve, aware of what had just happened, quickly forced himself to gag and cough the glass back out. The distraction allowed his opponent to free his hands and drive them towards his temples. Steve spontaneously ducked. The downward motion initiated by Steve was enough for his body to start sliding out of the chamber. Probably out of fear, Steve attempted to slow his slide by grabbing onto Simon.
Simon felt Steve slowly sliding outside and he knew that if his opponent grabbed hold of him, he would be dragged outside as well.
Steve could feel a sense of panic setting in as he feared he was about to go for a fall. But suddenly he was relieved to feel something solid underneath his feet. With most of his body now outside the chamber, Steve found himself standing of one of the struts that composed the outer rim. It never occurred to him that at some point the chamber would be resting on the rim instead of hanging from it. As they were now almost at the highest point of the ride, the chamber was now suspended over the rim.
Simon felt himself being dragged out. At first he assumed that Steve was hanging in the air and holding on in order not to fall. But once he was almost completely out, Simon also realised that they were resting on the rim and not hanging from it.
Immediately Simon let himself slide completely out and come to rest on the same rim as his opponent.
Both teenagers wasted no time and commenced throwing a barrage of blows at each other. Both Simon and Steve, whilst maintaining their balance 135 metres above the ground, managed to continue the duel and successfully found their targets on numerous occasions.
Simon, confident in his own gymnastic ability, proceeded to tackle Steve, aiming to overbalance him. The manoeuvre worked. Steve fell backwards between two struts whilst Simon, with the agility of a gymnast, caught onto one of the side beams and rotated himself back onto his starting position. Simon felt satisfied that the move had worked and felt no guilt or regret.
Simon stood on the beam looking across the Thames River in the direction of West Minster. Steve took advantage of the lapse in his opponent’s concentration and used one of the beams in the lower layer of the rim to spring upward and grab hold of his ad
versary’s ankle.
Simon once again felt his feet being swept out from underneath him. The move caused him to fall backwards onto a steel beam that cracked one of his ribs. Simon was momentarily taken over by the pain, and fell through the top layer of the beams, hitting a cross beam beneath which caused a second fractured rib. Again, whilst drifting into a world of pain, Simon’s fall continued through the last layer. In a split second, an instant before going into a 135 or less metre free-fall, Simon shot an arm out in time to grip the last beam. As a result of the sudden hold, his body began a pendulum movement that allowed Simon to bring up his spare hand and get a second firm hold. Using the pendulum momentum, Simon brought his feet up so that they ended in between his hands resting on the under section of the beam. He then used a move he had learned whilst doing the high bar in his gymnastics class. At the top of one of the pendulum swings Simon let his legs drop in order to gain extra speed. As Simon reached the peak of the motion, he heaved himself up in order to gain the extra speed required for an effective drive of his feet into Steve’s chest.
The blow to the chest was strong enough to clearly knock Steve off his feet and make him fall backwards in between the various beams. This time Steve was too late to react and simply speared past the outer rim into a free-fall.
Once Simon had connected with his opponent’s chest, he allowed his feet to continue in an upward movement, allowing him to gain enough height to safely place his hands beneath him into a handstand position. Having found the centre of balance, Simon held the handstand position whilst staring down in between beams to witness his adversary’s plunge. To his amazement, his opponent had managed to grab onto one of the wheel spikes that connected the centre rim to the outer one. As he looked down in amazement at the resilience shown, Simon considered quitting the fight and getting back into the capsule. Just as quickly as the thought of quitting came into his mind, so did the thought of ending this battle once and for all. Simon knew that the years of gymnastics provided him with the advantage. If he let Steve go, he would simply come back at a later date in an environment more suitable to his skills. Simon opened his legs into a split as he let his body collapse in half and fell backwards in between two beams. As he cleared the beams, using the momentum initiated from the fall, Simon extended himself out and prepared to grab onto one of the spikes.
As Steve was sliding closer to the centre rim, he allowed himself an upward glance. To his horror, he saw Simon walking down the spike in the same manner a tropical islander would walk down a palm tree. Despite Steve’s hands burning from the friction caused by his body slide down the spike, he immediately increased the rate of his decent. Never the less, Steve knew that it would only be a matter of seconds before Simon would catch him.
Simon’s adrenalin began to increase as the distance between the two adversaries decreased. Within a few moments, Simon was directly on top of Steve.
Simon saw Steve jump the last metre onto the centre rim - often referred to as the wheel hub. The hub was not dissimilar to those built for bicycle wheels. It comprised of an axle, bearings and a hub shell.
Steve knew that his opponent would have the upper hand if the fight recommenced whilst descending the next section of the spikes. Therefore he decided to make a stand at the hub section.
Simon saw that Steve was not continuing his descent, and instantly knew that he was taking a stance where the odds would be more even. Aware that continuing his quick descent would provide Steve an opportunity to take the initiative, Simon slowed down his pace.
Steve felt concerned that Simon could once again leap at him and potentially push him off the hub. Therefore he decided to take a few steps backwards and allow his opponent to find his feet before recommencing the battle. Although the two teenagers were now almost half way down, they both knew that a fall from this height would result in their death.
Simon did not waste any time reengaging into combat, doing so the second both feet were firmly placed on the hub.
Steve, concerned about his balance, opted to strike mostly using his fists. He also moved forward whilst maintaining a defensive boxing posture.
Simon was confident in his proven acrobatic and gymnastic skills and therefore had no concerns with balance. Simon knew that if he fell, he would simply lunge towards one of the several spikes below them.
Steve, a Golden Glove lightweight boxing champion, commenced his attack with several fast jabs towards Simon’s face. Although Simon’s reflexes were finely tuned, his initial focus on blocking the punches exposed his ribs. Steve’s plan worked - the second that he saw the ribs exposed, he took the opportunity to feint another blow to the head but at the last minute driving his fist downwards. The scream from his opponent confirmed Steve’s suspicion that one or more ribs were damaged during a previous fall.
The blow to the ribs caused excruciating pain and forced Simon to give in to instinct and place his hands in the injured area. Simon, unable to stop himself from dropping his defences, knew that the next blow would be targeted at his head. Despite his accurate premonition, he did not have the ability to prevent it.
Steve saw that the next three successive blows to the head resulted in the desired affect - his opponent collapsed on all fours on the metal surface. Steve, not wanting to lose the advantage, took a step forward on his right and swung the left leg towards his adversary’s head.
Simon was barely able to remain consciousness but at the last second managed to lean back enough to be able to cross his hands in the path of the oncoming kick. Although the move prevented the kick reaching its target, the strength was sufficient to throw Simon backwards against the spikes at one end of the hub.
Steve not only felt disappointed that his kick did not have the desired affect, but suddenly he felt pain shooting up his shin from the point where the contact had occurred. Despite the pain, Steve took a step forward on his left leg whilst driving his right heel down towards his opponent who was now on his knees.
This time around Simon managed to avoid the contact by twisting his torso.
Steve, surprised by the sudden change of his opponent’s bodyline, attempted to stop his action in vain. As the right foot passed Simon’s torso, Steve felt a strike to the inner side of the opposite leg. Steve was at first relieved that the opponent did not take advantage of the exposed crotch area. However, as his knee collapsed underneath him, he suddenly would have preferred the groin pains instead of free falling to his death.
Steve’s fear came to fruition. Simon knew that he had to regain the advantage by forcing Steve back onto the wheel’s spikes. As Steve fell to his knees, Simon swung his right leg out in a sweeping motion.
Steve’s feet were swept out from underneath him causing him to fall to his right. For a second Steve felt fortunate that he was still on the hub and had not fallen off it. This was short lived as Simon used the leg that was still extended from the previous kick and drove it backwards in the direction it had come from. Simon’s heel connected with Steve’s jaw, momentarily disorientating him. The momentum of the kick was also sufficient to launch Steve off the hub making him plunge headfirst. As Steve cleared the hub, he managed to throw his right arm out. Although it was too late to stop the fall, the limited grab allowed him to swing the legs around and change the direction of the fall towards one of the wheel spikes.
Simon was satisfied with the manoeuvre and proceeded to stand up and see if Steve had fallen all of the way or if he’d again managed to grab onto something. As Simon brought his feet underneath him, the agony caused by his damaged ribs made it difficult for him to retain his balance. As he stood up, he took the opportunity to look over the hub to see of the whereabouts of his opponent.
“Why can’t you just die!” called out Simon as he saw Steve 10 metres below him. Simon, for the first time since this battle commenced, also noticed that there were hundreds of tourists looking up. Some of them stood silently in disbelief at what they were witnessing, whilst others were either photographing or filmi
ng the event. Simon, now fully aware of the surrounding environment, also spotted the police cars in the distance speeding in their direction. The law did not concern him as right there and then he felt that he no longer had anything to live for. Simon dived off the hub.
Steve also became quickly aware of the spectators below and the police cars heading their way. He knew that if he made it to the ground alive, he would be arrested and subsequently released by the MI6. Steve had to beat Simon to the ground. As Steve looked up to determine how much time he had left, to his horror he saw Simon losing altitude at a great rate whilst continuously swinging himself around one of the spikes. Steve immediately loosened his grip and let himself slide down as fast as possible without losing complete control.
Simon’s swinging movement was initially unintentional as his legs simply flew past him as a result of the speed reached when he finally caught onto a wheel spike. However, instead of fighting the momentum and potentially losing his grip, he took advantage of it by driving into a circular horizontal motion around the spike. As Simon felt himself dropping at a rapid rate, he remembered seeing parachutists use the same technique when wanting to descend quickly. Although the swinging manoeuvre proved to be very effective, Simon knew that he would only have a limited time before gravity would take over and bring his legs down.
Steve was now only 5 metres from the outer rim at the bottom of the wheel. Initially he contemplated letting go and simply jumping down, but then thought against it as he could not afford to injure himself and be unable to finish the rest of the decent. Two metres later, Steve’s freedom to jump was taken away from him.
Simon, only two metres above Steve, suddenly released himself from the spike and drove his fall towards his opponent. The momentum gained by the fall proved to be sufficient to dislodge Steve from the spike and drive them both towards the outer rim.
The free fall only lasted a split second. At the time of the collision against the first beam, both teenagers were interlocked. Both boys managed to release one arm and used it to strike one another. Despite the heavy hit with the first beam, amazingly both combatants only sustained general bruising. As their fall continued through the outer rim, Steve collided with a cross beam resulting in his right shoulder dislocating. To add insult to injury, Steve saw that Simon had come through unscathed. In addition to the sustained injury, Steve bounced on top of Simon, where he found himself welcomed by a right hook to his cheekbone. Both teenagers flew in between two outer beams escaping any potential injury.
Simon hit the ground first, instantly breaking his left leg and concussing himself on the hard concrete. Steve managed to remain upright during his fall but lost his balance as he landed on Simon’s forearm. He subsequently fell forward breaking both wrists. Both boys laid in agony on the ground unable to continue the fight.
After a few minutes, just as the police were making their way through the crowd, Simon attempted to stand up and flee the scene. He barely made it a few centimetres above ground when he felt a small pricking sensation in his neck. In a split second he was sprawling painfully on the ground and then mercifully Simon’s world went black.
Steve, not concerned about being arrested, simply decided to lay still until an ambulance was called. Concerned that the police might be a bit too rough at first, he decided to roll onto his side and call out that he was an undercover agent. As he rolled to his side, Steve too felt a prickling sensation. Within 2 seconds, Steve was completed sedated.