Meltdown Read Free

down the track, the man's first few steps were
hesitant, but as he got closer he seemed to grow in
confidence. He couldn't see Fergus or Danny, but he
knew perfectly well that, somewhere, a weapon
was being aimed at his head. And as he neared the
cabin, he became increasingly certain that Fergus
was going to let him speak, rather than dropping
him before he got the chance to open his mouth.
    Fifteen metres from the cabin he stopped. He
spoke loudly and clearly, still with both arms
outstretched.
    'Good morning, Mr Watts. You have my word
that I'm completely alone, and unarmed. I'd be
most grateful if you would permit me to lower my
arms and join you in the, er . . . cabin.'
    There was no reply.
    He sighed. 'I'm too old for all this, Mr Watts. I just
want to talk. That's all.'
    Danny checked his watch. He'd been at the ERV for
nearly two hours and there was still no sign of his
grandfather.
    As the minutes passed, he grew more and more
worried and started thinking about going off his
grandfather's precious SOPs by carefully working
his way back towards the cabin to see for himself
what was going on.
    Fergus would be furious, but Danny was used to
that. Since they'd made it to Canada there had been
moments of anger and long silences, with neither of
them capable putting right what had gone wrong.
Danny's thoughts turned to Elena. She'd been his
best friend, his closest confidante, and much more
than that: he'd loved her. He still did. He knew it
more every day. And he missed her.
    He was thinking about the way they had talked
and laughed and planned their futures when he
suddenly heard the slight crack of a twig breaking.
    He looked up. It was his grandfather.
    Fergus saw the look of relief on his grandson's
face. He smiled. 'What have I told you about staying
alert at all times? You should have pinged me
several minutes ago.'
    Danny managed a slight smile of his own. 'I
was . . . thinking.'
    'Yeah,' said Fergus, nodding. 'It seems we've got
a bit more thinking to do.'
    Danny stood up. 'Who was it – in the four by
four?'
    'Dudley.' He saw his grandson's surprised stare.
'You'd better come and hear what he's got to say.'
    Dudley was one of the top men in MI5. He
had been behind Operation Black Star, which had
ended so calamitously in New York with the
death of Elena. And he had been in ultimate charge
of the earlier plan to eliminate both Fergus and
Danny. It was not surprising that they were wary
of him.
    He had come up with the new plan for Operation
Meltdown. It was daring and risky, but Dudley
didn't care about that. Not any more. They had
talked him into delaying his retirement; they would
have to go along with his unorthodox methods. He
had been looking forward to retirement, but the
sense of being needed and the heavy hint at a
possible knighthood if the vital operation was
successful were ample compensation for the delay.
    Dudley knew little about designer drugs, but
when the think-tank report labelled Meltdown the
most dangerous concoction ever to have come out
of an illegal laboratory, he reasoned that drastic
measures were required. Thousands, possibly
hundreds of thousands, of lives were at risk, and
there was the added dire warning of the
Meltdown formula falling into the hands of terrorist
organizations.
    Operation Meltdown would be a complex,
dangerous and dirty operation, and Dudley had
decided that the person he wanted to lead his task
force was Fergus Watts.

3
    Dudley slowly stirred a steaming mug of thick
black coffee. He looked tired; the flight from the UK
and the long drive had taken their toll. He sipped at
the coffee and felt the surge of caffeine.
    Having given Danny the broad details of the
growing Meltdown crisis and told him about his
proposed special task force, Dudley had suddenly
seemed very tired. He'd unbuttoned the overcoat he
always wore and asked for a coffee.
    While Fergus made the brew, Dudley glanced at
Danny, who was turning over in his mind everything
that had been said. Whatever