Web of Fire Bind-up by Steve Voake

mouth of a brightly lit tunnel, Sam saw several figures in black uniforms drag a man from his car and bundle him into the back of a windowless van, which drove off with its siren blaring and a green light flashing on its roof.
    â€˜Scum,’ said the driver, adjusting his rear-view mirror for a better look.
    He waited until the van had overtaken them and then, to a chorus of angry horns, he swung the car left across three lanes of traffic and Sam heard the hiss of its tyresover wet tarmac. He peered out at the lighted buildings stretching up into the blackness and saw an arrowed sign above the road which read: ‘VERMIA CENTRAL OFFICE: PERMIT HOLDERS ONLY’. The car slowed to a halt at a thin metal barrier and the driver wound down his window. The guard in the security booth peered at Sam through the hatchway for a few moments and then turned his attention back to the driver.
    â€˜Clearance documents?’
    The driver reached into his top pocket and handed the security guard a crumpled piece of paper. The guard smoothed it out on his desk, nodded and spoke a few words into a microphone. Then he handed the piece of paper back through the window and said, ‘OK. They’re expecting you. You’re to drop him off in Zone One.’
    â€˜Zone One?’ The driver looked worried. ‘You sure?’
    At that moment there was the roar and clatter of heavy machinery and Sam turned to see two armoured vehicles approaching. One pulled up behind the car and the other flanked them on the left-hand side. Soldiers wearing steel helmets and goggles stared at them from the top of the vehicles and the turret guns swung around to point at the car.
    â€˜Like I said – Zone One.’ The security guard nodded in Sam’s direction. ‘Seems as if you’re carrying a pretty important package.’
    Sam was dragged from the car towards a tall cylindrical structure that soared high above them into the night sky.He looked up in awe at the sheer size and scale of the building. It shone metallic green in the light of the powerful arc lamps and Sam recognised it at once as the tower he had seen from the window of his cell.
    A shiny metal door slid open and Sam felt his handcuffs being unlocked. Then he was shoved inside with such force that he fell to the floor. He heard the men laugh but the sound was cut off abruptly as the doors shut behind him again and he was on his own once more.
    â€˜Hey, blubber boys!’ he shouted back defiantly. ‘Get some exercise!’ But inside his stomach churned at the thought of what horrors might lie ahead of him.
    The room hummed. There was an electrical-sounding whine and then he felt his stomach drop; he had the sensation of moving upwards at great speed and guessed he must be in a lift. He stood up, closed his eyes and shook his head to try to clear it. Droplets of water scattered around him like rain.
    When he opened his eyes again, he found himself staring into the pale, drawn face of an unkempt, dark-haired boy who looked as though he hadn’t had a decent meal in months. As the boy stared back at him with frightened brown eyes, Sam remembered something Skipper had said to him back at the prison about the Olumnus changing the way he looked. It suddenly dawned on him that he was looking at his own reflection.
    Or rather, the reflection of someone he had never seen before in his life.

    When the lift doors slid back, Sam found himself in a stark, circular room constructed mainly of glass and steel. The floor was green marble, shot through with patterns of white that twisted like currents in a deep ocean. Walls of lightly smoked glass curved round on all sides and through them Sam could just make out the dark shapes of more storm clouds stacking up in the distance. He decided that he must now be at the very top of the tower.
    In the centre of the room a group of men was gathered around a steel table, its polished surface reflecting the harsh glare of a