Cliff Ryder: The Finish Line

And if the planet itself cannot strike back, then it must have help, Harry thought.

As he turned the corner and strolled down Lambeth, Harry mused about the stroke of providence that had brought Marlene and her brother into their little circle. Not only had their devotion to the cause been fervent and absolute, raising the at-the-time flagging morale of the cell, but they had also been instrumental in moving the plan forward, helping to obtain the high-quality anthrax spores the cell planned to use to contaminate the British Museum, the Tate Gallery and several other large public areas where many groups of people attended. Harry, always pragmatic, had reserved a healthy dose of suspicion about them and the fact they had come to the Wyvil Road flat at such an opportune time, but his careful surveillance on the two had turned up nothing. When away from the rest of the cell, they carried out whatever duties they had been assigned, usually taking the Vauxhall Tube to scout out the various assigned targets. The two were dedicated members — and one an absolutely great shag. With another dozen as committed as them, Harry knew he could bring London to its knees. But for now, he'd have to settle for sowing contagious havoc throughout the city. Unlike those stupid gits who had tried to drive car bombs into the capital of England last year, his plan would succeed.

At the corner of Wheatsheaf and Lambeth, Harry ducked into a tuck shop and picked up two packs of cigarettes: an expensive pack of Gitanes Blondes for her, and Marlboros for himself. Although aware of the irony of smoking while trying to save the planet, he preferred to think of it as suffering along with the Earth instead. Resisting the urge to light up on the way back, he decided to wait until after the second round. The thought made him quicken his step, however, and he was almost trotting as he retraced his steps back to the flat.

Coming up the walk, he stepped on a rock that twisted under his foot, splintering apart with an odd scraping noise. Stifling a curse, Harry stopped and looked down at the sidewalk. In front of him was something that looked like a loose red brick that might have come from one of a dozen buildings or walkways in the neighborhood. But this one hadn't turned his ankle like a real brick would have, and it hadn't made the solid impact against the walk it should have when he'd stepped on it.

Squatting, Harry looked at the ersatz brick without picking it up, a sinking feeling growing in his stomach by the second. As he suspected, it was made of some kind of Styrofoam, and he spotted the round tube of a camera lens in its center.

The bastards are on to us.

Rising as if he didn't have a care in the world, Harry's brain churned through the possibilities open to him. Chief among them was that he could simply keep walking, continue down the street and get the hell out of the city. Glancing up at the first-story window, he shook his head. He couldn't abandon Marlene and the rest to get nicked.

Climbing the steps, Harry fumbled with the lock, already going over the necessary actions. Don't stop moving, get upstairs, get everybody up and out the back way. He knew the high improbability that the back way would be clear, but it was the only chance they had. If they hit us before, it's everyone for themselves. Even Marlene. He knew she was the real reason he was even going back inside.

Wrestling with the lock, he wrenched the door open and slipped inside, resisting the urge to slam it. Instead, he shut it with a soft click and shot the bolt, then whirled around to head for the staircase — only to stop dead before he could take a single step.

Standing in front of Harry was a person dressed from head to toe in some kind of matte-black, close-fitting uniform, with a web harness across his chest covered with equipment. The intruder's face was completely covered by a sinister-looking mask that completely hid his features. The smell of burned gunpowder and blood was thick in the hallway. Harry absorbed all of that in a split second, but his attention was drawn to the smoking, silenced pistol aimed directly at his face.

"Where's the girl?" the masked figure whispered.

Harry frowned in feigned confusion. "I have no idea who you're talking about."

The pistol's muzzle dipped and coughed, and Harry's left leg buckled as the bullet smashed into his kneecap. He dropped to the floor, gritting his teeth as he clutched his ruined leg. Who the hell is this bloke? No copper, that's sure.

"Last chance for you to limp out of here rather than be carried out. Where is she?"

Through his tears, Harry couldn't help glancing up at the staircase, but he was determined to give her as much time to get away as possible. "Bugger off!" he barked, then opened his mouth to shout a warning. As if in slow motion, he saw the pistol's muzzle in front of his face, the round hole looking large enough for him to fall into. Then his world flashed apart in a burst of orange-and-red fire, and Harry knew nothing more.

"Team Two, hold your position!" In the white panel van parked in the turnoff north of Wyvil Road, Midnight Team member David Southerland wiped sweat from his brow and squinted at the suddenly underpowered forward-looking infrared system he had been using to watch the front door of the eco terrorists' flat.

The five-man squad had been watching the flat for the past six hours, preparing to infiltrate the house and capture or eliminate the occupants, all wanted for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts against a sovereign government. Once their undercover agent had confirmed the presence of both biological weapons and homemade explosives in the house, Room 59, the global, top secret intelligence agency that had been tracking this cell for the past several weeks, had called in a Midnight Team, their own special-weapons-and-tactics division.

David was ready to move, but at the moment he was caught between closing the trap and trying to figure out what had just occurred. He and his partner in the van had just watched their target crouch down on the sidewalk, as if he had spotted something, but they couldn't be sure. Even with the fourth-generation thermal vision scope he was using, he couldn't make out the fine details necessary to confirm if their surveillance had been spotted.

"Jesus, M-Two, I told you, we've got a two-man hit team that just entered the back door. We need to get in there before they rabbit," one of the other operatives said.

The voice of their leader came on. "I ordered radio silence unless anyone spots a target leaving. Anyone else speaks out of line, and they'll answer for it."

"What do you think just happened?" Next to David, the newest member of the squad, a green recruit named Tara McNeil, lowered the infrared binoculars she had also been using to scan the house.

"I can't tell, but get your MASC on — we'll be going green any second. Team Two, any activity on your side?" he asked over the radio.

"Nothing coming or going since we took our position, M-Two."

David thought he heard the other half of the backdoor team, the member who'd been dressed down earlier, mutter, "At this rate, they'll die of old age before we get to them."

David ignored the comment as their leader spoke again. "Nothing on the rooftops. However, one of our targets has been eliminated. My scope picked out two figures in the hall, and two flashes of what was undoubtedly a firearm just now. Move in and take the house," he ordered.

David flushed as their team leader pointed out what he should have seen in the first place. "Damn it!" He switched channels with a practiced flick of his eyes. "Vole, there are hostiles inbound, repeat, hostiles inbound on your position." The plan had been to "capture" their inside man, in case his cover needed to be maintained. Now that, along with everything else, was in jeopardy.