The Nemesis Program

Chapter Forty-Two

‘He went that way,’ Roberta said, pointing towards a thick clump of trees. ‘I don’t think they got him, but I can’t be sure. He might be hurt.’

‘Wait.’ Ben paused by the gruesome corpse of McGrath. There was no point even trying to frisk the bodies for any kind of ID or a clue about who had sent them. But the pistol was still in McGrath’s belt holster and Ben wasn’t about to venture into the woods unarmed in case of survivors. He knelt down by McGrath’s severed lower half. Reaching past the trailing intestines, he unsnapped the restraining clip of the bloody holster and drew out the handgun. It was the kind of old-fashioned pistol Ben favoured and trusted. All metal, no polymers or synthetics. A Colt Combat Commander model chambered in .38 Super. He wiped it clean on the dead man’s trouser leg and was about to stand up when he frowned and paused to examine the Commander more closely.

‘What is it?’ Roberta said, looking curiously at him.

‘Nothing,’ he said, standing up. He tucked the pistol into his pocket, walked over to where McGrath had dropped his assault rifle and picked that up too.

They moved cautiously through the trees, calling Daniel’s name. There was plenty of broken foliage to indicate where the Swede had gone crashing through in a hurry, but no sign of blood.

‘I hope he’s all right,’ Roberta said.

They found him in the hollow of an old dead tree a few hundred yards from the cabin. He started as he saw them appear through the leaves, then relaxed with a sigh when he saw their faces. He was shaking and pale and still out of breath from his sprint. ‘I’m sorry,’ he stammered. ‘I’m sorry I ran. I just couldn’t …’

‘You did the right thing,’ Roberta said, taking his arm and helping him out of the tree hollow. ‘Sure you’re not hurt?’

Daniel shook his head. ‘No. I mean yes. I’m not hurt.’ His eyes darted from Roberta to Ben and back again, taking in their bloodied appearance. ‘What about … Is it …?’

‘It’s over. They should have sent more guys,’ Roberta said with a dark smile.

‘And maybe they will,’ Ben said, ‘So we’d best get moving.’

As they walked back through the trees, Daniel caught sight of the smoke rising from the ruins of his home. ‘My cabin,’ he gasped.

‘It wouldn’t have been much use to you any more, anyway,’ Ben said. ‘It’s time for you to relocate.’

‘I thought we said I was coming with you?’ Daniel asked anxiously.

‘We hadn’t got around to deciding that,’ Ben said.

‘I can help. I know more.’

‘Then you’d better tell us all about it,’ Ben said. ‘But you can do it on the road. I’m driving.’ He held his hand out flat. ‘You’d better tell me the Land Rover keys are still in your pocket.’

Daniel nodded uncertainly, reached for the keys and dropped them into Ben’s palm. Ben took them without a word, walked over to retrieve his bag where he’d left it near the vehicle. His movements automatic and second nature, he removed the magazine of the AR-15 he’d taken from McGrath’s body, slid out the take-down pin and broke the weapon down into its separate components, then packed them inside the bag before slinging it into the back of the Land Rover.

‘Where are we going?’ Daniel asked as he clambered into the back seat.

‘Out of Lapland, that’s for sure.’

‘But how can you travel, with guns?’

‘Borders mean nothing to us,’ Roberta said. ‘We have our own private transport, remember?’

Ben fired up the engine and they left the scene of devastation behind them, bumping and rocking harshly along the rutted forest track. ‘Now talk,’ Ben said, making eye contact with Daniel in the rear-view mirror.

‘I was telling you about what Guardini told us, before he died,’ Daniel explained. ‘How he’d told us they were planning something, something big? Well, there was more to it that I didn’t mention before. He said that Shelton had described to him a secret base where the agency was doing all its research and development of the Tesla technology. Told us all about it.’

‘Where?’ Ben said.

‘Indonesia.’

‘Indonesia?’ Roberta said, turning round with a quizzical expression.

Daniel nodded. ‘One of the old CIA bases left over from the mid-sixties, when they were secretly involved in the purge of the PKI, the Indonesian Communist Party. Half a million people were killed or executed. Then the Yanks supposedly went home after the “New Order” was set up. But they kept a foothold in the place, needless to say.’

‘What is this base, a laboratory?’ Roberta asked.

‘From the outside it just looks like a big industrial facility, all sealed off behind wire and teeming with armed personnel,’ Daniel said. ‘I can only imagine what’s inside the place, to be so heavily guarded like that.’

‘So you actually went there,’ Ben said. ‘All the way to Indonesia.’

Daniel nodded again. ‘That’s right. It was Claudine’s idea. She was convinced it’d lead us to the next stage. Personally, I wasn’t so sure, but she just wouldn’t let it rest until I finally agreed. We took a flight to Jakarta last April. We knew the base was on one of the islands, but Guardini had only given us a few clues, passed on from Shelton.’

‘What clues?’ Roberta said.

‘Claudine had them all written down. She was the one who was leading the way, like always. I was just there as her helper. Anyway, it took over a week of travelling from island to island and a lot of very careful asking around. We were losing hope of finding a damn thing and just about to give up, when we eventually found the place. You have to cross over from Java to Sumatra to get there. It’s on the west coast of the island, near a place called Arta Beach.’

Ben said nothing, but just listened intently as he drove the Land Rover along the bouncy track through the forest.

‘Do you think you could find it again, Daniel?’ Roberta asked.

The Swede shrugged. ‘It’s remote, right out on its own. Nothing nearby but a few small towns and villages. But sure, I’m pretty certain I could find it, if you were willing to risk going there. Like I said, the bastards have got the place wrapped up tighter than a max-security prison. The two of us didn’t stand a chance of getting inside. Before we’d got two hundred yards from the fence, the alarm was raised and a jeep full of guys with guns came speeding out to intercept us. We just ran like hell and managed to get back to our car in time. I’m certain they’d have shot us if they’d caught us. I’ve never been so scared witless in my life. Until today,’ he added.

‘So after you came back from Indonesia,’ Ben said, ‘That’s when you told Claudine you wanted out?’

‘What was I supposed to do? It was just too dangerous. I said I was going to come back to Sweden and find someplace to lie low and try to forget about all this. I said she should do the same. I did everything I could to persuade her to give the whole thing up. But she wouldn’t have any of it. She insisted on going back to Paris and carrying on like before so she could expose what these people are doing. Pleaded with me to join her, but I was so damn scared. It turned into a big fight between us. She said I was a coward, I said she was a fool. I really tried, but in the end there was nothing I could do. She broke things off with me and went off on her own. I came back here. Every so often I’d drive to a town and email her, try to make her see sense. But it was no use. The thing I was most afraid of happened.’ Daniel shook his head forlornly. ‘Now they’ve found me too. I won’t be safe anywhere, ever again.’

Ben watched him for a moment in the rear-view mirror, then slipped the Colt he’d taken from McGrath out of his belt and passed it back to him. ‘Here, you can hang on to this if it makes you feel happier. You’re not much use to me if you keep running away whenever we get into a spot.’

‘Does that mean you’ll take me with you?’ Daniel hesitated, then reached out for the pistol and turned it over in his hands with fascination. ‘Oh, my God. I’ve never operated one of these before.’

‘There’s nothing to it,’ Ben said. ‘You’re cocked and locked. The safety catch is the little lever by your thumb. Flip it down and you’re ready to fire. There are still a few rounds left in the mag, plus the one up the spout.’

Daniel held the weapon tightly in his fist and a glow of determination seemed to spread over his face. He nodded solemnly to himself. ‘I want to make this right,’ he said. ‘We can do this. I know we can do this. With someone like you … I mean, the way you took those men down. I never saw anything like it — never met anyone like you before. You must be a soldier, right? Only some kind of special training could …’

‘I’m just a guy who was studying to be a priest,’ Ben said.

‘It’s a long story,’ Roberta whispered to Daniel.

‘Let me come with you,’ Daniel said after a beat. ‘Please. I’m asking you. I’m begging you. Take me to Indonesia on your plane and I’ll guide you to where the base is. We’ll find those bastards and put a stop to this thing once and for all. This time, I don’t care if I die trying.’