Aftershock Read Free

unfamiliar with H.I.V.E. and will doubtless require some assistance adjusting to their new home. I know it’s unusual for us to take new students into the higher years of the school like this but I will still expect you to ensure that your new classmates are given a warm welcome.’
    There was a brief murmur of discussion as Nero paused and scanned the crowd.
    ‘Secondly,’ Nero continued, as the students fell silent once more, ‘I wanted to inform you that the groupings will shortly be announced for the field assessment exercise or to use the more lurid nickname it seems to have attracted . . . the Hunt. For many years this exercise has been an important part of the training for every student at H.I.V.E. and I have no doubt that some of the older students will have taken great pleasure in informing you about what it entails. For those of you who do not know, the Hunt is an assessment of both your wits and your physical fitness. You will be taken to an undisclosed wilderness location and given a one hour head start before elite G.L.O.V.E. forces, led by Raven, are sent after you. Beyond that there are no rules, you must simply evade capture for as long as you possibly can. In all the years that we have been running the Hunt no one has evaded the trackers for more than twenty-four hours. That is a record I would be delighted to see beaten by somebody in this room. You have one week before the Hunt begins – further details will be sent to your Blackboxes shortly. If you have any questions please direct them to H.I.V.E.mind. Please remember that this is merely the first stage of your examinations and, while I understand that the Hunt has a certain notoriety in the school, I do not want you to focus exclusively upon it. Additional time is being allowed within your existing timetables for extra revision periods and I urge you to take full advantage of the opportunity for extra study. I will expect you all to excel in your examinations, failure will have . . . consequences. Dismissed.’
    Nero turned and walked off the stage as the students dispersed to their first lessons of the day amidst a buzz of excited chatter. Raven was waiting for him at the side of the stage. As usual, she was wearing a black bodysuit that was covered in pockets and pouches filled with various items of lethal equipment. Sheathed across her back, attached to her tactical harness, were the twin crossed katanas that rarely left her side. She was widely regarded as the world’s deadliest assassin but, more importantly to Nero, she was also his most trusted ally.
    ‘Natalya,’ Nero said with a smile as he approached, ‘is everything set for our trip to London?’
    ‘Yes, but do I really have to wear that outfit?’ Raven asked with a frown.
    ‘You can hardly attend the opera dressed as you are, my dear,’ Nero said.
    ‘I suppose. Did Wright tell you what it is that he wants to discuss?’
    ‘No, but I can make an educated guess,’ Nero said with a slight sigh. ‘I know this meeting may be pointless but Joseph served G.L.O.V.E. loyally for many years. I should at least hear what he has to say. I owe him that much.’
    ‘It could be a trap,’ Raven said.
    ‘Which is why I’m bringing you along,’ Nero said with a smile. ‘Besides, I haven’t seen Don Giovanni in years.’

    ‘As if we don’t have enough to worry about with the exams,’ Otto said with a sigh as he walked along the corridor leading to the Villainy Studies department with Wing and Shelby. ‘Now we have to go and play hide and seek with Raven in some godforsaken corner of the planet as well.’
    ‘I think it might actually be quite fun,’ Shelby said happily, ‘and I don’t know why you’re getting so worried about the exams, computer brain. Can’t you just, I don’t know, download the entire library or something?’
    Otto did, in fact, have something of an unfair advantage over his friends when it came to studying. He had, after all, been genetically engineered