Dangerous Reality Read Free

the reception desk. For once I would’ve preferred it if Gareth, one of the other early morning security guards, was on the desk. He never took any notice of me, whereas Mike always chatted away. This was one occasion when I didn’t want to be noticed.
    ‘So what brings you to our neck of the woods?’ Mike smiled.
    ‘Mum forgot her key card.’
    ‘I know.’ Mike sighed. ‘I had to issue her with a temporary one for the day.’
    ‘She’d forget her teeth if she didn’t keep them in a glass by her bed,’ I told Mike. ‘She sees them as soon as she wakes up each morning and yet sometimes I still have to remind her that she’s about to leave the house with only her gums on show!’
    Mike stared at me. ‘Your mum has false teeth?!’
    I burst out laughing. ‘You won’t tell her I told you that, will you?’
    Mike gave me a wry look, verging on disapproval. ‘I should’ve known this was another of your wind-ups!’
    ‘Had you going though, didn’t I?’ I grinned.
    ‘Yes, you did. OK. Pass the key card here then. I’ll make sure she gets it.’
    ‘Actually, I wanted to see Mum to talk to her about something else.’ As Mike’s smile faded, I added quickly, ‘It’s very important, otherwise I wouldn’t bother her. Not today of all days. I know how busy she is with the VIMS demo.’
    Mike looked from me to Liam and back again. ‘OK. I’ll write out two passes, but once you’ve spoken to your mum, you’re to come right back down here. D’you understand?’
    ‘Yes, Mike. Thanks.’
    I watched, holding my breath as Mike wrote us into the visitors book before writing out the passes. As he gave them to us, Mike said, ‘Wish your mum luck for me.’
    ‘I will,’ I said, and grabbing Liam’s arm, I made a bee-line for the lifts.
    ‘Dominic, this is nuts!’ Liam muttered. ‘If we get caught …’
    ‘This was your idea too, not just mine.’
    ‘My idea! It was not!’ Liam spluttered at me. ‘You’re the one who phoned me and said that we should try to sneak into the testing area to see your mum’s new project.’
    ‘You didn’t exactly tell me to hop on my bike!’ I reminded him. ‘You certainly didn’t say no – not until now at any rate.’
    We stepped into the lift and I pressed the button for the first floor, even though Mum’s office was up on the fifth floor.
    ‘It’s just that … I’m sure the security guard will notice if we don’t give back our badges and leave soon.’ Liam didn’t look at all happy.
    ‘Yes, I know. I was thinking that as well,’ I admitted. ‘But hopefully we can see the VIMS unit in action then sneak out of one of the emergency doors and back up to reception without anyone seeing us and before Mike sends out a search party.’
    ‘What’ve I let myself in for?’ Liam shook his head as we stepped cautiously out of the lift. ‘Why do I always let you talk me into these things?’
    I flashed my best ‘swashbuckler-on-an-adventure’ smile at him and we got going. You should’ve seen us then! We slunk, we skulked, we tip-toed, we ducked and dived and raced down the corridor like two people in a spy film. I glared down at my leg, ordering it not to give out on me. Oh, didn’t I mention? – I walk with a slight limp. I was born with one of my legs slightly shorter than the other and even though I spent months and months with my leg in plaster when I was a baby, it still didn’t cure the problem. My leg is better than it has been, but it’s by no means perfect. And occasionally it gives out on me altogether, although not as often now as it used to do.
    But where was I? Oh yes! So there we were, skulking down the corridor, desperate not to be seen. Luckily, there were offices and partitions all over this floor and no one was taking too much notice of us. I wanted to get to the service lift but it was on the other side of the building. I reckoned this was the most dangerous part of my plan. If we got caught here, Liam and I would be out on our