Deadlock Read Free

life?’
    ‘Because this girl was sent by Anastasia Furan, Diabolus,’ Nero replied, ‘and she might just be the only person who can help us find her.’

    Nero watched as the nurses transferred the unconscious girl from the wheeled gurney to the hospital bed on the other side of the thickened glass window. They spent a couple more minutes hooking her up to monitors and putting in an IV line before filing out of the room past the two armed guards stationed outside, a heavy steel door sliding shut behind them with a thud. The girl had just returned from emergency surgery and, lying there unconscious with her chest swathed in bandages and a dressing on the vicious wound on her face, she did not look anything like the threat that she quite clearly was.
    ‘How is she, Doctor?’ Nero asked as the head of the G.L.O.V.E. medical facility approached.
    ‘Critical, but stable,’ the doctor replied. ‘It’s a miracle she survived at all. A gunshot wound like that . . . well, let’s just say she is stronger than she looks. It will take time for her to recover fully, of course, but I believe her prognosis is good.’
    ‘When she is strong enough, I want her transferred to the temporary H.I.V.E. facility,’ Nero said. ‘Until then, be extremely careful, Doctor. Keep her restrained at all times and maintain twenty-four hour surveillance. This particular patient is very, very dangerous.’
    ‘Understood,’ the doctor said with a nod. ‘Number One wishes to speak with you. You can use the teleconference system in my office if you would like.’
    ‘Thank you,’ Nero said as the doctor gestured to a door at the far end of an adjoining corridor. ‘That will be all.’
    Nero looked back through the window as the doctor walked away and looked again at the girl lying in the bed. There was something about her that he could not put his finger on, something that was telling him that he had to try to help her, despite what she had done.
    ‘You’re getting soft, Nero,’ he muttered to himself, ‘and one day it’s going to get you killed.’
    He turned away from the glass and headed to the doctor’s office. He sat down behind the desk and activated the teleconference system. The screen lit up with the familiar logo of G.L.O.V.E., the Global League of Villainous Enterprise, a closed fist smashing down on a splintering globe with the words ‘Do Unto Others’ beneath it. He punched in the code that would connect him with Number One, the head of G.L.O.V.E.’s ruling council.
    ‘Please confirm identity,’ a synthesised voice said a few moments later.
    ‘Nero, Maximilian, authorisation code sigma nine delta seven,’ Nero replied. A few seconds later a silhouetted figure appeared on the screen.
    ‘Good morning, Maximilian,’ Number One said. ‘I have just finished reading your report on this recent unpleasantness in Hong Kong. If what this girl said is true, it is most disturbing. I had hoped that we had heard the last of the Furans after their disappearance, but unfortunately that does not appear to be the case.’
    ‘Indeed,’ Nero replied. ‘I have requested a termination warrant be placed on them. With your permission I would like to carry out the warrant personally.’
    ‘I will consider your request,’ Number One replied. ‘I am always wary of letting these situations become too personal, Nero, you know that. I am aware of your history with the Furans and I do not want to see a personal vendetta endanger G.L.O.V.E.’s interests.’
    ‘You can trust me to handle the matter professionally, sir,’ Nero replied.
    ‘As I said, I shall consider your request,’ Number One said. ‘And what of the girl? Do you believe she will cooperate?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Nero replied. ‘She is still recovering from surgery at the moment. It is impossible to say how deeply she was indoctrinated during her training. It may take time to persuade her to give the Furans up.’
    ‘There are quicker methods of persuasion,