Invisible Armies

Chapter 38

They are marched, hands cuffed behind their backs, down a narrow side hallway, panelled in teak, in which alcoves display marble and alabaster antiquities. Then they enter the wide central hall of glittering mirrors and chandeliers that confirms Danielle's suspicions; they are once again on Shadbold's superyacht Lazarus. They ascend the marble staircase adorned by a bestiary of carvings, and emerge into a galley so clean and well-appointed it looks like a TV set for a cooking show. The food-smells make Danielle's stomach roil. Past the galley they continue into a small dining room, a whole wall of which is a single window that reveals an expanse of pale deck and the endless ocean beyond. The sunlight is bright and Danielle has to squint. Vijay and the two burly guards remain in the dining room; Laurent, Keiran and Danielle continue through another door into a small library, a room maybe fifteen feet square, lined by ornate bookshelves, with a mahogany table in the middle and four Aeron chairs.

Sophia is sitting in one of the chairs, her blonde hair pinned up into a bun, a Vaio laptop in front of her. She looks uncomfortable. There is a large jade bowl, full of water, in front of one of the other seats. Laurent guides Danielle to that seat, then Keiran to the one opposite. They sit without protest or comment. Laurent does not sit in the last seat; instead he moves to stand behind Danielle. She looks at the bowl of water and remembers the way Laurent interrogated that man in Paris, what feels like so long ago.

"This conversation will be gentler for all of us," Laurent says, "particularly Danielle, if you are as forthcoming as possible."

"Don't bother with the threats," Keiran says tiredly. "I don't care any more. I'll tell you whatever you want."

"Very sensible of you. We only have three questions. Once you've answered them we'll helicopter you back to shore. On the understanding that you never speak of us again."

Keiran says, "Don't bother with the lies either."

"The first question is technical. Sophia reports that you have access to some extraordinary computer network. You will tell her how to take it over."

"Shazam," Keiran says. "Yes."

Danielle looks at Sophia, and wonders if her paleness means she is seasick or wrestling with her conscience. There was something she wanted to say to her. Of course. Keiran has begun a lengthy technical discourse, and Sophia has begun to tap at her laptop in response, but Danielle interrupts about thirty words in.

"You poor thing," she says loudly to Sophia. "You're so smart. But you were too close to it to see it, weren't you?"

Sophia stops typing. Everyone falls silent for a moment.

And then, simultaneous with Laurent's sharp "Don't waste our time," Sophia asks, "What do you mean?"

"Your father," Danielle says. "It never even occurred to you to wonder, did it? First you make a name for yourself as a teen super-genius. Then your dad gets sick. Then you happen to stumble across Jack Shadbold, and he gives you a job, wins your loyalty, and puts you to work. Don't you see it?"

"No. See what?"

"That wasn't coincidence. Shadbold infected your father. With the same drugs he uses to give the people at Kishkinda cancer. So he'd have someone to use the military tools he found. Someone he could rely on to be as loyal as a dog."

Sophia sits up very straight and stares at Danielle. "That's insane."

"You really think Shadbold's going to cure your father? No. He's no good to him cured. Your dad will be kept in great pain, on the edge of dying, for as long as Shadbold can, as long as Shadbold needs you, and then he'll kill you both –" and then a strong hand grabs Danielle's hair and forces her face into the jade bowl of water.