Panopticon

Uncertain Death

“They’re getting closer.”

“They are,” agreed Henry. “And there’s nothing we can do to stop them.”

The distant ring originally formed by the prisoners had mutated as the group watched, trapped powerlessly inside the Hub. Some of the red markers seemed to have lost their way, or fallen still after meeting with another, but one pair of them were now approaching the centre of the map. The Hub, designed to watch over all of these convicts, was now firmly in their sights.

“What do you mean, nothing?” Nathan turned on his host. “You don’t have any sort of protocol for this?”

“We didn’t anticipate this! Of course we have protocols for individual break-outs, and attempts to escape the island, but for widespread system failure and the Hub under siege there is only so much preparation you can do.” Charon wiped her brow. “Henry is just the eyes up here; he monitors all of the security, and remotely deals with any problems out in the park by calling in the relevant help. We didn’t expect that the problems would come to him.”

“We’re helpless, then?”

“Not exactly.” Henry stepped forward, suddenly willing to be helpful. “There should have been an automatic call for support the moment security was compromised, so back-up could be arriving from the mainland at any time.”

“Could be?” Alex didn’t sound convinced.

"If my controls are down, I don’t know how badly the system’s been hit. If whatever cut me off was also responsible for disabling the collars, it should certainly be capable of blocking the signal. Somebody could have disconnected part of our power supply.”

“Could that be done externally?” Nathan considered that the saboteur could be standing just feet away from him, and he’d be completely oblivious. If so, there was nothing stopping them from striking again. They were in even more danger than he’d previously thought.

“I don’t know,” admitted Henry. “They’d have to be experts. I don’t see why a group with those capabilities would target us, though: we have nothing worth stealing, and we’re not really high profile enough for terrorists.”

“What about the elaborate rescue of a prisoner?” Charon looked uneasy discussing the topic, and though her suggestion was valid Nathan suspected she wasn’t telling the entire story. The security expert considered confronting his hostess. If she knew who was attacking them, there could be a chance to negotiate.

Before he could press the topic, however, Alex jumped in.

““It doesn’t have to be malicious. The system could have shorted out; there was that big storm last night, let’s not forget.”

Charon nodded, considering the possibility.

“Forgive me for interrupting, but I couldn’t care less about what caused the attack right now. Right now, I care about how we’re going to survive it.” Henry seemed to be growing in confidence, and Nathan could no longer hear any bitterness in his tone.

“You’re right, I apologise. Even if the signal did work, it’s a long journey from England. We can have this discussion when we’re safe on the mainland.”

“I would love to leave, but how can we?” Charon didn’t seem sold on their plan. “There is a horde of murderers at our doors, if you’ve forgotten.”

“Mr. Pike, can you switch to the cameras? I’d like to know exactly what we’re dealing with.”

The technician followed the orders without question, all pride apparently forgotten.

If this was a surprise to Nathan, though, it was nothing to what he saw on the screens. There had been two dots on the map, but the Hub cameras showed just one man.

“I recognise that face.”

Henry nodded. “We showed him to you at the start. Roland Peck. The Hunter.”

“Where are the others?” asked Alex. “Have they formed an ambush?”

“Teamwork? Unlikely for Roland, that’s not his profile.” He pointed to the killer’s arm, where a rolled up shirt was stained with blood. “Taking trophies, on the other hand, definitely is. He must be harvesting their trackers. He’s a clever man, so he might even see their strategic value: he can’t remove his own tracker without medical assistance, but if he escapes and releases some we’ll be unable to tell which dots are his. It’s the perfect decoy.”

On the screen, The Hunter was probing their outer defences, his bright eyes scanning The Hub for weak points.

Nathan steeled himself. “We leave now.”

“Are you insane?” Charon tore her gaze from the screen. “The man is a psychopath! He’ll kill us all!”

“Not all of us. If we all run now, some of us will make it. If we stay here, however, that gives him time to come to us, or to block off the exits. It gives time for the other killers to arrive, surrounding us. If we run now, there’s a good chance that most of us will live. If we stay here, though, I can guarantee that none of us will.

“Many more killers will target The Hub. If we stay here, that means a constant and insurmountable threat. If we leave, though, that becomes an advantage. If our enemies congregate here, we have a better chance of surviving elsewhere, and of reaching that helicopter. That’s the real prize here, not this empty tower. Our only hope is to realise that… before they do.”