You’re to wait here until Gold Leader sends for you. Those are my orders.”
“Right,” said Drake. “I need a toilet and some food!”
“Of course. The bathroom is at the end of the corridor, there,” the old man said.
Drake pushed past him and hurried along the hall. “I’ll do you some bacon and eggs, with a nice cup of tea.” The old man held up the holdall. “You’ve got clean clothes, too.”
“Oh,” said Hercules. “It looks like that tracker egg won’t be any use after all.”
In the control room of the Silverclaw base, Gold Leader watched the seconds tick away on one of the display screens beside her chair. Her electronic eye gleamed brighter than her realone, and her thin lips curled into a grin.
“The first delegates will be arriving in London about now,” she muttered. “Presidents, prime ministers, party chairmen.” She glanced around at the faceless worker androids manning the control panels. “Not long now.”
She tapped a code into a communicator at her side. A nearby screen flicked into life, showing the cockpit of the helicopter transporting the stolen weapons.
“Silverclaw to Mercury 5, this is Gold Leader. What is your status?” she said.
“Acknowledged, Gold Leader, this is Mercury 5,” said the android piloting the helicopter. “Weapons shipment has been acquired. We are on our way back to base. As ordered, we are flying at low altitude to avoid radar detection, and away from densely populated areas.”
“Wait a minute,” said Gold Leader, leaning forward in her chair. “What’s happened to Mercury 2? What happened to its face?”
“The unit sustained damage,” replied the android.
“How?”
“Bullets were fired at us by the army personnel delivering the consignment.”
Gold Leader froze in alarm. “Why?”
“Unknown. They were suspicious of us,” said the android.
“Why?” spat Gold Leader. “What happened? You were supposed to just get the crates and leave! It was a simple pick-up job!”
“One of them began asking unforeseen questions.”
“For what reason?”
“Unknown,” said the android.
Gold Leader thought for a moment. The fingers of her mechanical arm tapped impatiently at the side of the screen. “And were these army personnel dealt with?”
“Yes, they were dealt with,” replied the android.
“Good. Get back here as soon as you can. Gold Leader out!”
She switched off the communicator with an angry stab, then got up and walked over to one of the nearby androids. The artificial limbs on her right side whirred as she moved.
“First those odd scans,” she said. “Now thearmy get suspicious for no apparent reason. There’s something going on. I’ll bet Drake’s at the bottom of this – I never trusted him. Get him in here! Now!”
“Acknowledged,” said the android.
“Acknowledged,” said the old man. He was speaking into an antique landline phone, which was perched on top of the cabinet in the hallway.
Beneath the cabinet, the three SWARM robots monitored everything. They had been busy scanning the cottage’s interior.
“I’d need to access the landline cable to tap into the conversation,” said Nero, “but we can easily guess what’s being said at the other end.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll send him along straight away,” said the old man. “Goodbye.” He carefully replaced the receiver.
“Do you think Drake knows that the old man is an android, too?” said Hercules.
“Probably not,” said Nero. “The old man is a more-advanced model than the three whobrought him here in the car. It’s identical to the ones back at the Palace of Westminster.”
“And do you think Drake realizes there’s a transport pod built into the cupboard under the stairs?” Hercules added.
“Definitely not,” said Nero. “This cottage is designed to look old-fashioned and dusty, and the old man is meant to stop humans from examining it too closely. The android is a form of guard dog.”
“My X-ray probes are
“Right,” said Drake. “I need a toilet and some food!”
“Of course. The bathroom is at the end of the corridor, there,” the old man said.
Drake pushed past him and hurried along the hall. “I’ll do you some bacon and eggs, with a nice cup of tea.” The old man held up the holdall. “You’ve got clean clothes, too.”
“Oh,” said Hercules. “It looks like that tracker egg won’t be any use after all.”
In the control room of the Silverclaw base, Gold Leader watched the seconds tick away on one of the display screens beside her chair. Her electronic eye gleamed brighter than her realone, and her thin lips curled into a grin.
“The first delegates will be arriving in London about now,” she muttered. “Presidents, prime ministers, party chairmen.” She glanced around at the faceless worker androids manning the control panels. “Not long now.”
She tapped a code into a communicator at her side. A nearby screen flicked into life, showing the cockpit of the helicopter transporting the stolen weapons.
“Silverclaw to Mercury 5, this is Gold Leader. What is your status?” she said.
“Acknowledged, Gold Leader, this is Mercury 5,” said the android piloting the helicopter. “Weapons shipment has been acquired. We are on our way back to base. As ordered, we are flying at low altitude to avoid radar detection, and away from densely populated areas.”
“Wait a minute,” said Gold Leader, leaning forward in her chair. “What’s happened to Mercury 2? What happened to its face?”
“The unit sustained damage,” replied the android.
“How?”
“Bullets were fired at us by the army personnel delivering the consignment.”
Gold Leader froze in alarm. “Why?”
“Unknown. They were suspicious of us,” said the android.
“Why?” spat Gold Leader. “What happened? You were supposed to just get the crates and leave! It was a simple pick-up job!”
“One of them began asking unforeseen questions.”
“For what reason?”
“Unknown,” said the android.
Gold Leader thought for a moment. The fingers of her mechanical arm tapped impatiently at the side of the screen. “And were these army personnel dealt with?”
“Yes, they were dealt with,” replied the android.
“Good. Get back here as soon as you can. Gold Leader out!”
She switched off the communicator with an angry stab, then got up and walked over to one of the nearby androids. The artificial limbs on her right side whirred as she moved.
“First those odd scans,” she said. “Now thearmy get suspicious for no apparent reason. There’s something going on. I’ll bet Drake’s at the bottom of this – I never trusted him. Get him in here! Now!”
“Acknowledged,” said the android.
“Acknowledged,” said the old man. He was speaking into an antique landline phone, which was perched on top of the cabinet in the hallway.
Beneath the cabinet, the three SWARM robots monitored everything. They had been busy scanning the cottage’s interior.
“I’d need to access the landline cable to tap into the conversation,” said Nero, “but we can easily guess what’s being said at the other end.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll send him along straight away,” said the old man. “Goodbye.” He carefully replaced the receiver.
“Do you think Drake knows that the old man is an android, too?” said Hercules.
“Probably not,” said Nero. “The old man is a more-advanced model than the three whobrought him here in the car. It’s identical to the ones back at the Palace of Westminster.”
“And do you think Drake realizes there’s a transport pod built into the cupboard under the stairs?” Hercules added.
“Definitely not,” said Nero. “This cottage is designed to look old-fashioned and dusty, and the old man is meant to stop humans from examining it too closely. The android is a form of guard dog.”
“My X-ray probes are
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