Helix: Episode 5 (Inversion)

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

‘The Russian hunters are moving south, to Poland,’ Sophia said.

Felix, one of Hélio’s bodyguards, placed his hands on his hips. ‘Is that a problem?’

Czarina eyed Sophia. ‘You want everyone in on this meeting?’

The bodyguards—Ezra and Felix—watched her carefully.

‘I don’t think we have time to be picky right now,’ Sophia said.

Behind Sophia, Damien drew the blinds and checked the surveillance cameras on her phone. ‘All clear,’ he said.

Sophia moved for the dining table, where Aviary’s laptop was resting. She checked the map to find it was still tracking Olesya’s phone, then she flattened the screen over the keyboard so everyone could see.

‘What did they say?’ Nasira asked.

‘Not much,’ Sophia said. ‘That’s why Aviary has hacked the mike on Olesya’s phone and Ieva is translating what they say to English. Now we know their destination and we know their operation. And we can track their movements.’

Aviary pointed to her screen. ‘Purity are holding a victory march in Wrocław tomorrow. Terror threat level is high, specifically in Wrocław.’

‘That’s ‘cause they raised it themselves,’ Nasira said.

‘If there’s one thing that can help Purity’s cause, it’s an act of violence against them. And all that violence has just arrived in Wrocław.’ Sophia elevated her phone; the screen showed a cluster of blips pulsing yellow: operatives on standby.

Damien’s eyes went wide. ‘How many are there?’

‘Eight Fifth Column operatives. Four engaged and four in reserve.’

Jay whistled. ‘Those Russians sure have their work cut out for them.’

‘The operatives’ activation time is tomorrow, midday,’ Aviary said. ‘The victory march should be in full swing by then.’

Ezra, Hélio’s second bodyguard, leaned over the table for a closer look at the blips. ‘What do they have planned?’

Sophia chewed her lip. ‘From what we’ve overheard Olesya saying, it’s a mass shooting,’ she said. ‘On a scale we’ve never seen.’

‘Do they have a projected number of casualties?’ Damien asked.

‘One hundred to three hundred,’ Sophia said.

‘Holy s**t,’ Nasira said.

‘Is there a proxy shooter for this?’ Czarina asked.

Sophia took a deep breath. ‘There are four proxies.’

Aviary raised her hand. ‘And Olesya was talking about kidnapped Russian intelligence officers. Not sure how that fits in though.’

‘I can take an educated guess,’ Sophia said. ‘The Fifth Column are putting Russia’s fingerprints all over this.’

‘That’s a good reason not to be there,’ Ezra said.

‘No,’ Sophia said. ‘It’s a good reason to be there. If the Fifth Column get away with this, Purity become immeasurably powerful and there’ll be no place for people like Olesya’s team. Especially when the whole world hates them.’

‘Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s already happening,’ Czarina said.

Jay’s eyebrows wrinkled together. ‘Is it still called a lone wolf if there are four proxies? Or is it like a wolf pack now?’

‘What else did they say?’ Czarina asked.

Aviary shrugged. ‘Not much. They complained about the quality of their cigarette filters, and some explosives stolen from Purity somewhere in Ukraine.’

‘Why don’t we just catch the Fifth Column operatives?’ Damien asked. ‘Before they start shooting. That’s the whole point of why you’re here, isn’t it?’

Sophia shared a glance with Ieva and Czarina. ‘The operatives have been upgraded.’

Damien’s brow furrowed. ‘Upgraded? How?’

Czarina snapped her fingers. ‘Punch-you-through-a-wall upgraded.’

‘Can’t you just deprogram these jokers?’ Nasira asked. ‘Avoid the punch-on.’

‘We tried,’ Czarina said. ‘But they keep … killing themselves.’

Damien scratched his trimmed facial hair. ‘Can you revise your trigger phrases?’

‘That takes time,’ Sophia said. ‘Right now, we need to help the Russians.’

‘With all due respect,’ Czarina said, ‘they don’t want our help.’

‘If we stand around waiting for their permission, it will be too late,’ Sophia said. ‘Whoever wants in, we leave in half an hour.’ She turned to Hélio’s bodyguards. ‘That goes for you too.’

‘Sorry,’ Felix said. ‘It’s not our fight.’

Sophia nodded, and surveyed the group standing around the table. ‘All right, whose fight is it?’

‘Mine,’ Nasira said.

Czarina crossed her arms. ‘Fine, I guess I’m in.’

‘Yeah, me too,’ Jay said. ‘If you need me.’

‘Just remember,’ Sophia said, ‘you don’t have your—’

‘I know, I know,’ Jay said. ‘No regeneration, no electrogenic ability, no infrared vision. Just plain old me. If that’s enough.’

‘Of course,’ Sophia said.

‘Count me in,’ Damien said.

‘Me too,’ Ieva said. ‘Please.’

Sophia looked over her shoulder at Aviary.

‘Do you actually want me there?’ Aviary asked.

‘At a safe distance.’

Aviary nodded. ‘Should be OK then.’

‘Do any of you get paid for this job?’ Hélio asked. ‘Even, you know, danger money or something?’ He looked at each member of the group. ‘You’re risking your lives like it’s nothing.’

‘It ain’t nothing,’ Nasira said, ‘it’s everything.’

‘The payoff is we survive a little longer,’ Sophia said. ‘And we come one step closer to destroying the real evil of this world.’

Hélio wet his lips. ‘The Fifth Column. Right. So you volunteer—no money, no funds?’

‘We can fund ourselves,’ Ieva said. ‘If that’s what you’re asking. We skim ATMs.’

Czarina gave Ieva a fist bump. ‘Victimless crime.’

‘Except … for the banks,’ Ieva said.

Hélio frowned. ‘ATMs. But you don’t risk your lives for that. You can do it whenever you want.’

‘There was that one time we did a heist,’ Jay said, until Nasira put a hand over his mouth.

‘I know it don’t make sense to someone like you,’ Nasira said, ‘but that’s how we roll. Stopping the Fifth Column and’—she looked over at Sophia, then at Jay—‘helping each other.’

Hélio raised his hand. ‘I … I think I want to volunteer.’

Everyone stared at him.

‘I can … I could be Aviary’s assistant. I’m no expert, but I know my way around some things.’ Hélio pointed his thumb over at his bodyguards. ‘And they could help.’

Ezra spoke through gritted teeth. ‘We don’t recommend that course of action.’

‘Your orders are, essentially, to do what I say,’ Hélio said. ‘Is that right?’

‘Your safety overrides your orders,’ Felix said.

‘Then keep me at a distance.’ He gave Sophia a nod. ‘My orders remain.’

‘You’re here to find the kill switch,’ Sophia said. ‘And you didn’t. So why are you helping us?’

‘Because I’m not done yet,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’ Sophia asked.

He removed a USB stick from his pocket. ‘I looked through the virologist’s report from Budapest. The results of her testing.’ He set the stick on the table. ‘She forgot to change the date. It’s outdated. I compared it to the files from when Hal Claycomb learned about the kill switch. The dates match.’

‘Hal Claycomb?’ Sophia asked.

‘He’s a Fifth Column agent, I’ll fill you in,’ Nasira said.

‘What are you saying?’ Jay asked Hélio. ‘That she didn’t even test Nasira’s DNA sample?’

‘I’m saying she probably discovered the kill switch in the first place.’

‘The email between Hal and the scientist,’ Aviary said. ‘You think that was Doctor Meresz?’

‘Was her name mentioned?’ Hélio asked.

‘No,’ Aviary said. ‘But the email went to an Intron email address, and she had one. Actually, so do you...’

‘Why would I be here if it was me?’ Hélio asked. ‘Think about it.’

‘All right, so we go back,’ Ezra said. ‘This time we don’t ask for Meresz to do the test, we make her.’

‘No.’ Nasira shook her head. ‘She’s probably dead by now.’

Sophia’s stomach knotted. ‘Explain.’

‘She was scared,’ Nasira said. ‘And not of us.’

‘Nasira’s right,’ Hélio said. ‘We need to run our own tests for the kill switch.’

‘We can do that back in Brazil, can’t we?’ Felix asked.

‘I’m not returning empty-handed.’

‘Fine, you can stay with us,’ Sophia said. ‘But there’s no need to put yourself at risk today.’

‘Yeah,’ Czarina said. ‘You don’t owe us anything.’

‘I said I wanted to volunteer.’ Hélio looked at Sophia. ‘Isn’t my word enough?’

‘Not nearly,’ Sophia said. ‘You can stay with Aviary and Damien, away from the action. I’m sure you can help them.’ She turned to Aviary. ‘Keep an eye on Olesya’s phone and the operatives in Wrocław. Can you prep a spare phone to track the operatives?’

‘Sure,’ Aviary said. ‘I have small, wearable cameras too, so I can see what everyone’s doing.’ She held up a small black camera the size of a coin.

Sophia nodded her approval. It couldn’t hurt. ‘Everyone, sort your kit. We’ll take three vehicles—Hélio, you can have one to yourself with your bodyguards. Jay, we’re running pistols, but I have one modified M4 with your name on it.’

‘Giving me the carbine?’ He chewed his lip. ‘Are the optics magnified?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘But I can swap out the holographic for a scope.’

‘That can work. But are you sure?’ he asked. ‘I’m not enhanced anymore.’

‘You’re our best sharpshooter.’

‘True.’