Chapter 6 as it appeared

"A robbery? After that do we fly out to space and blow up the ISS? Rocket down on the back of a meteor, and have an orgy in the sea? Are you high?" Codeist jeered. "We need to find a new place to hide. That's what we should be doing. Maybe another one of the new Maltons."

"I'm fucking serious, mate. Now, I had guitars. Tons. At last count, it was pushing the thousand mark. I loved every one of them. Didn't have kids, no family left... kinda fucked up, I suppose. Anyway - I owned Blackie, Clapton's Strat. I had Slash's Les Paul, Lucille - I was like the fucking king of having famous guitars. I also had one of Slash's top hat's, signed. Thousands of famous picks... I owned the biggest rock n'roll memorabilia museum since the Hard Rock Cafe, for fuck's sake. Anyway, I saw it on the news yesterday - the authorities have jacked it, and are holding a criminal property auction thing. Proceeds will go to 'charity', but they'll probably line that amoral fuckwit's pockets. That fucking prick is going to sell everything that I held dear... well, not all of it," Gabe explained, his voice thick. His eyes had glazed over as he recounted his collection, but they flicked towards Cat for a moment.

"OK - there are six of us, mate. How do you plan to rob a police auction, and what good are a bunch of guitars anyway if we're on the run? They're hardly portable en masse."

"We find the resistance, or the rest of the DHPD, or just some hired guns. We arm up. We fight. Like in fucking Malton, like in the good old days. Blow shit up. Stop the auction. Get to the vault. Take the guitars, and then we sell them. It's my shit. I'll put the money to buying weapons, anything the resistance needs. We've done shit-all the past year! This is ridiculous, what is our purpose?"

"Surviving, Gabby. Simon has the army, the police, the press, all in his pocket. What can we do?" Cat murmured.

"Anything! And if we go out like martyrs, then we'll do more good than if we get eaten by fucking zombies in some NuMalton! Who wants to live forever if this is all life is?" Gabe exclaimed.

Cat glanced at Jim. "Have you been talking to him?"

Jim grinned. "Might have been."

"Fuck, I didn't escape Malton to spend the rest of time in even shittier versions of the place," continued Gabby, all the pent-up anger and frustration that had built up in Soldotna exploding out of him, "and I hope you didn't! If you're not with me on this, I'll go in alone, blasting out `Fuck the Man' from the speakers of my Ferrari as I drive through the fucking doors. They'll kill me at mid-day in Central London. That'll kick-start rebellion. Open violence in the culture capital of the world! Kill some little Chinese or some Brazilians, no-one gives a shit. Blow up their galleries, they're pissing themselves! If the Mona Lisa's not safe - who is?" Gabby was vaguely aware that he wasn't making much sense anymore, but he didn't care.

"Gabby - you'll be a terrorist. You were... eight when 9/11 happened? Don't you remember? It'll just give the government more excuses to take away freedoms."

"She's got a point," said Vicky. She had been sitting next to Sam but now she got up. "It was the terrorist attacks last year that gave Simon the excuse he needed to seize power. People do care about the Chinese and Brazilians, they just don't realise who was actually behind the atrocities."

"What freedoms? Don't you get it, Cat, Vicky? Simon has to have peaked. He can only lose power now. He can't take anything else away from us! Everything's gone, guys. If we don't fight, we've lost! If we don't take the fight to Simon, no-one will. Who's got more motive than us? Cat, that man made your life a living hell. I saw what he did to you. Danny? How long did it take you to make Wing Commander, don't tell me there wasn't political pressure to hold you back. Sam, Vicky... what can I say?"

"And he stole my bicycle," added Jim.

"Right! He stole Jim's bicycle and I know what he's done to me. Guys - we're the figureheads of the resistance. If we don't fight... no-one will."

"There is no resistance, Gabs," said Vicky. "Twelve months on, everyone is still in terror about the DHPD and the immortal conspiracy to undermine the world government. There are pockets of unrest, but they're all extremists with their own axe to grind."

"Says the media feeds," muttered Gabby.

"Maybe you're right, Gabby. But do you really want to die? You're... sixty? Not even that. You've got centuries, millennia left to live, maybe even more. Don't you want to see the future?" Vicky asked. "Don't you want to make more music? Push new boundaries of rock? Tour the world again? Fall in love?" she murmured, moving closer and looking up at the determined expression on his face. His lips had tightened over his front teeth, like they always did. "Have kids? Watch them grow up? Settle down?"

"No. If it's to let them live in this world, not a chance in hell. If I die to create a better world for Cat's kids and all the other kids, and you guys... then I'll have died for a great fucking cause. And how much more fucking legendary could I be? The first rockstar to openly fight the man, and die doing so. They would never forget my name!"

"Well, mate. If you're going, there's no way we're letting you do it alone," Sam said quietly, glancing at Daniel, who nodded. "All for one, and one for all, just like old times."

"I'm in," said Jim. "I've been saying for a while we need to do something."

"You think you're gonna leave us little women behind? Fuck off, lads," Vicky snapped, a smile plastered across her face all the same. Six rebels. Against the world, quite literally.

"And the bidding has closed!" The announcer said, throwing his suited arms up into the air with a dramatic flourish.

The gathered crowd of well-to-do music lovers, savvy investors and celebrities fell silent, a tremor of excitement rippling through the crowd. On the plasma screens lining the walls, various different guitars, memorabilia and even clothes, were displayed, each with a dizzying figure superimposed onto the image. The silence was disturbed by the sound of roaring engines in the streets of London. The guards frowned. This was a 30mph zone, and the perimeter outside was supposed to be tightly maintained. Bright lights were bearing down on their modern, glass-walled gallery, and the engines were getting louder.

"The winner of the 1959 Gibson Les Paul is..." the announcer left the name hanging, trying to build anticipation. He did not notice the guards drawing weapons. A lean man in a leather jacket and worn jeans approached the stage, a glass of champagne in his hand.

"Me," he said into the microphone, a charming smile on his face. Gabby straightened up, allowing the TV cameras and the spotlights to get a good look at him. Glancing at the approaching guards, he raised a hand.

"Shoot me, and the whole place explodes. Stay where the fuck you are. OK, so you all know who is the rightful owner of all this stuff. And it's going to stay in my hands, OK? I'm sure if anyone is desperate to buy anything, they'll have their chance. On that note..." Gabby snatched the handheld computer from the bemused announcer. "So you don't try and con me - the prices are all here. Good. Now, any minute now..."

The whole room seemed to implode. A silver Aston Martin DB9 tore through the glass wall, roaring through the crowd, which wasted no time in moving. It screeched to the halt by the stage, and the passenger door swung open.

"My men will have raided the storeroom by now. Laters, guys. It's been lovely seeing you all again, you backstabbing bastards," Gabe said acidly, glancing at some familiar faces. As he slipped into his car, he raised a two-fingered salute to the TV cameras. The driver gunned the engine, and he was gone, before the police could even leave their stations.

"Wasn't Danny supposed to drive?" Gabby inquired over the roar of the engine.

"It made more sense to have him on the explosives. Anyway, I wanted to see what it was like being a man, all obsessed with engines and stuff," Vicky explained matter-of-factly.

"And how is it?"

"I'm enjoying the adrenaline high. Still not convinced we needed such a flash car though. You know someone bid a hundred million pounds for Blackie? It's just a piece of wood!"

Gabby made a show of being affronted. "And the Venus de Milo is just a fucking rock! Bitch, that guitar is a legend!"

Vicky grinned dangerously at him from where she sat. "I reckon you are too, after tonight."

Gabby smiled back, suddenly thinking up all sorts of scenarios involving Vicky on an adrenaline high. "Reckon I am and all. How about it babe? Fancy a piece of the action?"

"Jesus, Gabby. My ex? Really?" Sam looked more hurt than angry. He had walked into Gabe's hotel suite to show him the headlines. Finding his ex-wife in the double bed with him, with their clothes strewn across the floor was quite the wake-up call.

"Sam..." Gabe groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Can you give me a moment to get dressed? This chat will be a lot easier if I've got some pants on."

Sam cast his eyes downward, sighing dejectedly. The old Sam might have raged, might have threatened various acts of violence upon Gabby. This new Sam didn't see the point.

"Alright, Sam. Now, I'm sorry I didn't talk this over with you first. It all came on very suddenly, to be honest. And if it makes you uncomfortable, I'll stop. But let's be honest, once you paid a hooker, I think you lost your eternal claim to Vicky's body."

"You don't believe that, do you? Of all people, I would have thought you could see through Wankin's bollocks?"

"The pictures were there, Sam. First and last time I'll ever buy the Sun, but they were there. Even if you did get pissed before sleeping with her, you still cheated on Vicky, mate."

"You try to face up to living with one woman for all eternity, Gabby. You don't even make two months most of time. Unless it's Cat - she's the only person that could sustain your interest this long."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabe said dangerously. "Cat and I are friends, Sam. Just friends."

"C'mon Gabby, who are you trying to fool? You slept with her. Besides, when did you get into your moral crusade against Simon? Was it when he got elected, when he beat you up... or when he started dating Cat?"

"Look, I tried to comfort you. Fuck off, mate," Gabe said flatly, storming out.

"Jim?"

Jim whirled around to find himself face to face with Tarrok. He instinctively took a step backwards, reaching out for a convenient weapon.

"You're going to hit me with a cucumber?" asked Tarrok.

Jim glanced at the vegetable and shrugged. "Only if you look really dangerous."

"Calm down. I'm not going to do anything?"

"How did you know where to find me?"

"I didn't. But intelligence doesn't think Gabriel Mallows has left town yet. Let's say I was playing a hunch. I thought he might actually lay low near the scene of the crime and I thought he might have other DHPD with him who I'd recognise."

"What do you want?"

"I represent a number of interests. We want to talk with someone, preferably without the whole resistance getting involved."

"Right, we need to get in touch with Ian. Tell him he's got funds to spend!" Gabby sat himself down next to Sam in front of the makeshift media screen. Cat was still sitting on the floor surrounded by wires, but Gabby could tell she was just running final checks on the set up.

Cat shook her head. "No one knows where he is. Hali hasn't heard a peep. Simon can't have him, he'd have trumpeted it to the rafters, but no one else seems to know where he is either."

"That's not good," said Gabby. "Why wouldn't he get in touch? He was the one who got Hali to set up the secret comms networks in the first place!"

Cat shrugged. "Who knows? But no one's heard from him since he flew that F-22 out of his house. They found the plane abandoned in New Mexico, but no sign of Ian."

"Fuck! OK, scratch Ian. What about Bob? Goldstar?"

"Both in jail. Goldy refused to go underground when Ian sent the warning. Bob got picked up a month or so ago. Same with most of the Alphas. They had the beginnings of a resistance network based on the West Coast but Simon dismantled it. Same with Kulko's lot in the Appalachians. Too many people knew about them, according to Hali. Kulko's still on the lose somewhere though."

"OK, we'll contact Kulko. Bravo and Charlie are mostly in jail, which sucks, except for Haliphax, thank goodness."

"I'm fairly sure they never got hold of Deadly, or Fox," said Vicky. She walked over and stood behind Gabby and Sam, giving Gabby a hug and squeezing Sam's shoulder. "It was hard to keep track. The arrests were happening thick and fast in those first couple of days."

"Man, if Hali gets caught we're all for it. He knows where most of us are," groaned Sam. He reached up and caught Vicky's hand.

"He's deep under cover," said Cat. "I don't think anyone actually knows where he is. He's kept a low profile. All the comms he works for us are on some private system Ian funded before it all when belly-up. That's why it's so complicated to get this stuff up and running. With luck the authorities aren't even aware it exists."

"For now, at least," agreed Jim. "They'll work it out eventually though. Then it'll get harder."

"Anyway, he's too important. We can't ask him to do anything beyond comms," said Gabby. In spite of himself he glared at Sam who was still holding Vicky's hand, even though Vicky had one arm round Gabby.

"Better cross him off the list then," murmured Vicky, kissing Gabby's forehead.

"True," Gabby decided, scribbling a red line through Haliphax's name on his hastily scrawled out DHPD roster. "Delta... well, we're here. Tarrok's still in the army. I wonder if he'd pull strings for us."

Jim coughed. "Best leave him be for the time being. He's got enough on his plate."

"You're right, I suppose. I wonder where Bam and the others are?"

"Think we'll have to fear the worst, mate. I know Bam was linked up with Bob's group. She probably took the others with her. What about Ghost?" Jim continued.

"Well, last I heard, Andy and Anton were inciting revolutions in Africa for Simon. Off the radar though, because of those fucking communication black-outs. The others? Not heard anything."

Jim shook his head. "Most of them were US-based. They might have linked up with Bob in which case they're probably in jail too. We should ask Hali though."

"What about Dixie?" Vicky said nervously, glancing over at Cat.

"Marty and Snow were already in jail when the emergency powers were announced. I never got why. Officially some shit to do with Kulko, but I never bought that," answered Gabby.

"They were my bodyguards for a while," Cat said quietly. "Simon had them arrested before you rescued me - probably because they asked about the... you know. I lost touch with the rest of Dixie. No idea where they are."

"Who else? Pedro's gone, for sure. I heard he blew up a coal power plant in the Australian outback last year. If he's still alive, he's in maximum-security prison." Gabby sighed. "This is useless. There seem to be less than a dozen free officers and we don't know where most of them are. Fuck me," Gabe grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "What about other resistances - there has to be something, right?"

"Well, the French aren't happy, as usual. They've been rioting for weeks. Maybe you could get in touch with their leaders?" Sam suggested. "There are guerilla movements in South America and Africa, but they're getting smashed. Maybe your resources can help. The Middle East seems a lot calmer than I'd expect. I don't know. Would it be a departure from our 'high and mighty' bullshit if we talked to some of the Islamic groups? Simon keeps doing his ultra-Christian stuff, that has to be rubbing them up the wrong way."

"Hmmm, open lines of contact," Gabby ordered. "Simon's enemy is our friend, right?"

"Don't order me about, mate. But yeah, that's what I thought."

Sam opened up the comms software and then blinked. "Talk of the devil! We've got incoming from Hali?"

"What about?" asked Gabby.

Sam looked up grinning. "He's found BD and Ant."

BD watched from a ditch beside the country road as a Ferrari drove up and then stopped.

"That should be them," muttered Anton's voice in his ear.

"Fucking amateurs, no reconnaissance," returned BD, keeping the car in the sights of his rifle. "Anybody could be here to meet them, anybody!"

The car door opened and Gabe got out. He appeared to be arguing with someone else inside.

"He's arguing with Cat," said Anton listening in with the benefit of his directional microphone. "She wants to get out. He won't let her - worried about snipers."

"Now he worries!" BD sighed and stood up, walking down the road towards them.

"You had better hope there aren't snipers," said Anton.

BD watched Gabby stagger backwards as Cat's figure powered out of the car and dashed down the road towards him. The next thing he knew she was in his arms, holding him tight.

"You should have said something," said BD as he drove the truck along behind Gabe's Ferrari. In his wing mirror he could see a second, less conspicuous car, currently containing Sam, Danny, Jim and Ant. It had been hidden in a layby. Sam, Vicky, Danny and Jim had been scattered around the area, all watching the road. It seemed like Gabby hadn't been quite so clueless after all. The Musketeers had been watching longer than he and Ant had. Vicky was now in the car in front with Gabby. Their obvious coupliness both surprised and reassured BD.

"Maybe," conceded Cat, breaking his train of thought. "I thought it wasn't that serious. That I could fix it."

"He was hitting you, Sis. In what way wasn't that serious?"

Cat shrugged. "Thirty years of marriage and then that concert. I could see how Simon might have had doubts and he was horribly upset that he'd... you know. So we were fine for a year or two after that and then Kulko started up his outfit and Gabby made some snide comment in an interview," she sighed, "and that's how it went. It kept feeling like it was behind us and then, bam! Someone in the DHPD would do something and we were back to square one. I just kept thinking it was over."

"If you'd have said something, I could have protected you."

Cat reached out and touched his arm. "You'd have tried. But it isn't so easy to make these things stick, least of all against the Global VP, and there was Bryn to consider as well. We managed to shut Gabby up and Simon had more levers he could use against you."

"Cat, if you think I would have let anything stop me."

"No! I didn't think you'd let anything stop you. That's one of the reasons I didn't say anything. There was too much at stake. The family, the business, Bryn..."

"Sis..."

"I think I half knew, even then, how far he'd be prepared to go. He gets sucked into things you know - the wheeling and dealing, balancing interests and demands, playing one group off against another. He's not a bad man at heart, just a very ruthless one who sometimes loses sight of his aims."

"Fuck Cat! He's got the entire DHPD on the wanted list."

"I know," she said in a small voice. "That's why I'm here."

"We need to strike soon. Simon's getting cocky."

"Good idea, Kulko. I saw an orphanage down the road. Let's blow that up. If we're lucky, we'll take out the hospital too! Or is that too easy for you?" Gabby offered, his voice mockingly bright. "Shit, we only hooked up with you a week ago and already you want to go on the rampage."

"Fuck off, kiddo. Stop pissing around - all you've done is kidnap Kate, mess about in Soldotna, steal some guitars and then talk endlessly with part-time revolutionaries who probably think direct action means giving policemen a two-fingered salute behind their backs. It's time you stopped pussy-footing around making links with other groups and did something. I'm thinking a political target. Or maybe a military one?"

"Who the fuck do you think pays to feed you? Who is going to pay for equipment? Those guitars are going to pay for your little attacks," Gabby snapped. "We need to do more planning."

Kulko bristled. "I don't need your cash, kid. I did just fine while you were off fucking teenagers and snorting coke!"

"Oh yeah? I'm sure you could go back to blowing up grain silos - would be very useful."

"Rather that then spend any longer with your god-damned group of fuck-ups!" Kulko snarled.

"The fuck's that supposed to mean?" Sam growled.

"The shell-shocked little woman, the washed-up playboy, the disgraced scientist and the surgeon who never grew up. I can't even keep track of who's sleeping with whom. Could you be any more dysfunctional?"

"I'm not washed-up, arsehole."

Kulko closed his eyes and rather visibly counted to ten. "Can we talk strategy?"

"Fuck you! You're just some lost cause hill-billy lunatic. Just because you can hi-jack the odd train, what makes you think you can take on Simon?"

"Look son, while you were busy kidnapping Kate here, with the help of her bodyguard, which didn't exactly make it difficult. I was blowing up half of Nairobi in a direct attack against Simon."

There was a long silence. "You were set up," said Sam at last. "Nairobi was a set up. Simon knew it was happening mate."

"Hang on!" said BD, who had been lounging in a chair looking bored up until that point. "Simon sent us into the stock exchange at Nairobi."

There was another silence. "He fucking set us up to get killed," said Ant at last. "He knew you'd find out about Kate's abuse sooner or later and tried to get rid of you."

"You can't be sure of that," said Kate. "It might all have been a co-incidence. I've never been convinced Simon engineered those atrocities he just took maximum advantage of them."

Gabby rolled his eyes. "Not now Kate, OK."

"Right! that's it!" said BD. "We split. Gabby's team carry on trying to link up with other groups, maybe take on a few high profile big news targets. You have to admit, Kulko, the guitar robbery played well on the news feeds that dared to cover it. Kulko and I will take the other team and focus on disrupting infrastructure."

Everyone looked at each other, then Gabby nodded. "OK, Sounds good."

"Kate, you're with us," said BD.

Automatically Kate started across the room.

"Now, wait a minute," shouted Gabby. "Who says she's going with you?"

"She's my sister."

"She's been with us for 2 years while you arsed around in Africa playing soldiers and didn't even notice she'd gone missing! Not to mention the fact you entirely missed what Simon was doing to her for the 10 years before that."

"Yeah? And who's fault was that, you little fucker!" BD took a step towards Gabby.

"Quit it BD!" interjected Vicky. "She's better off with us anyway. I may not be a psychologist but at least I have some idea how to help. All you're going to do is drag her around blowing things up."

"She'll be a liability anyway," said Kulko. "Let Gabby keep her. Last thing I want is a collaborator on board."

"What!" roared BD.

"Face it BD! What's she good for? Apart from fucking Simon Brankin, that is. She knew what was going on and did nothing until it was far too late. She does a nice little victim act, but people died while she sat around playing happy families. All she got were a few bruises. At best she's useless. At worst she'll sell us out to her husband first opportunity she gets."

BD stalked right up to Kulko. "Take that back!"

"Quiet everyone," said Ant suddenly. He didn't shout but the words had an authority that stopped the conversation dead. He walked up to Kate who was standing in the centre of the room pale and trembling. "You still with us Kate?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm fine," she whispered.

"No you're not," he said. "It's not like I've never had a flashback. I recognise the symptoms."

Kate nodded once more.

"What do you want to do Kate?" asked Jim suddenly.

Kate looked between Kulko and BD on one side of the room and Gabby and Vicky on the other. "I'll stay with Gabby," she said.

"Right!" said Jim. "That's settled then. I'm also staying with Gabby. You lot look far too serious. No offence mate," Jim nodded at Kulko, "but I'm not really a 'sneak around being inconspicuous' kind of guy."

"None taken," said Kulko.

"That's settled then," said Gabby. "BD, Ant and Kulko will go off and do their thing. The rest of us stay here."

"I'm going with Kulko," said Danny.

"What? Danny!"

"Danny! Don't go," said Vicky.

"I'm sorry guys. I know we're a team. But Kulko's right - we're not thinking tactically. I'm armed forces, I'll be of more use with them. Besides, the drama is getting to me a bit. You need to make up your mind Vicky, which of them you want to be with."

Vicky took Gabby's hand. "I'm with Gabby."

Danny shook his head. "Some days you could fool me. I don't mean to be harsh but the last couple of years, especially when we were in Soldotna, were like a re-run of Malton. That was fifty years ago. I never wanted to go back. We're not teenagers any more. I need a break, maybe just for a year or two. Hey! I'll blow up a couple of grain silos and then I'll be back. I'm not giving up on you guys, we're still the Musketeers."

"Still the Musketeers," echoed Gabby, a little hoarsely. "Look after yourself mate."

"You too. I'd hug you if it wasn't so gay."

"Stupid fucker," muttered Sam and hugged him anyway. Vicky and Gabby joined in.

"See what I'm saying?" complained Kulko. "It's like a goddamn soap opera around here."

"Are you sure this will be OK?" Cat asked anxiously for the fifth or sixth time as Jim negotiated his way through layers of cryptographic protocols and firewalls.

Jim squeezed her hand. "It'll be fine. Tarrok just needs to hear you say you're not being held against your will. It'll be one quick meeting and then you don't have to be involved again."

Cat nodded. "How do we know he can be trusted?"

"He's Tarrok. I trusted him with my life when he ran Delta squad. I don't believe he's changed."

"I'd be happier if Gabby knew, or Hali."

"He wants to keep the links minimal. Gabby knows, everyone knows, pretty much."

"And you've not told him about Hali, have you? I thought you said he could be trusted."

"Minimal links Cat. He's at as much risk of being found out as we are. The less he knows about how we operate the better for all concerned."

"How many of the national militaries are behind him?"

"Dunno. Not enough or they'd have made a move to depose Simon by now."

BD watched as Sam checked Bryn over.

"Well?" he asked as Sam straightened up.

"She looks good to me," said Sam. "The cold slows the decomp and the neural responses - one of the reasons they were testing up in Alaska to be honest. Shame they came up with a cold resistant strain. It would be nice to keep her under sedation as well, but you were probably right that procuring the drugs would make you too conspicuous."

"Is she aware?" asked BD. He hated to think of Bryn, trapped somewhere inside the zombie body, strapped in turn to the trolley bed.

Sam shrugged. "I wish I could say no, BD. But I honestly don't know. You know as well as I do what it's like to be a zombie. Our best guess is the fixer drug they shelled on us preserved all the zombies as they were, much like it preserved us. In which case she's as aware as a cold zombie would be."

"Best guess?"

"The fixer was supposed to be a cure BD. That's how it worked in the lab. Everyone, zombie and human alike, should have returned to normal. They thought it was just the zombies that didn't work out until, you know, they realised we had been fixed too."

BD sighed and touched Bryn's arm, wondering, not for the first time, if it would not have been kinder to let her go.

"What are you going to do with her?" asked Sam. "You can't keep carting her around indefinitely, not if you're serious about terrorist action. They'll identify the van after a while."

"I honestly don't know, but I can't risk Simon getting hold of her."

"A couple of researchers at private university in Malaysia have been putting out feelers for an incurable subject on the quiet. I can't guarantee they're trustworthy but your chances are probably better than driving her around."

"Why on the quiet?"

"I don't know, but it's clearly a no-questions-asked deal. Since all the incurable were officially terminated, they may be hoping someone has a relation hidden away. They must think there's some useful research they can do which will compensate for the illegality."

"Sounds pretty shady."

"It's shady as hell BD. You'll need to check them out and see what you think, but it may be a better bet than keeping her with you."

Kate smiled warily at Tarrok and gripped Jim's hand beneath the table.

"So you're definitely not being held against your will? No one is threatening you, or your children, or anyone else?" Tarrok asked again.

Cat shook her head. "No, no threats. I'm fine."

Tarrok frowned at her. "Would you consider going back anyway?"

Cat caught her breath in panic and glanced at Jim.

"Hey!" he said. "You never said anything about this?"

"Just think about it," said Tarrok. "An insider in the Brankin household would be worth a mint. I know it's not the most proper suggestion, Cat. But these are desperate times and if you were up for it..."

Cat shook her head in terror. "No! I'm not going back!"

"Leave it, mate," said Jim. "You don't know the half of what was going on. She's not going back, end of story." Cat felt him squeeze her hand and she fought to take deep breaths.

Suddenly something in Tarrok's pocket vibrated. He fished out an info-pager, scowled and then pulled out a pair of dataglasses.

"Someone's sold us out."

"What?" said Jim.

Cat was already on her feet, panic rising again.

"Through the kitchen," said Jim, propelling her forward.

Tarrok moved behind them, clearly still scrolling through incoming data. "It's a private security firm, probably Mafia funded, making a bid to get noticed."

"Is that good or bad?" asked Cat.

They were halfway through the kitchens.

"It means I haven't been compromised. Seems it was a random tip-off from one of the waiting staff." Tarrok produced a gun from a shoulder holster.

They tumbled out of the exit to find themselves face to face with three thick-set men.

"Hand over Mrs Brankin," said one. "We're only interested in the rescue money. The rest of you can go free."

Tarrok started to back into the cafe, but there were more men coming through, all armed.

Cat shrank back against Jim. "No!"

Tarrok pulled an identity card from his pocket. "Lieutenant Tarrok, US military. Mrs Brankin is already under my protection and I'm escorting her back to her husband. There's no reward to collect."

"No!" objected Cat. "I can't go back!"

Jim placed a hand over her mouth. "Keep calm," he whispered urgently.

Cat fought to get her breathing under control. Almost in slow motion she saw the men that faced them starting to laugh and raising their weapons. Tarrok opened fire. She buried her head in Jim's chest as he too raised an automatic pistol and began firing back into the kitchen behind them.