Chimera Code (Jake Dillon Adventure Thriller Series) (37 page)

* * *

After a couple of hours they stopped for a break, and a little
respite from the rain that was falling heavily again. They stood at the
base of the cliff face under a craggy overhang that jutted out like a
witch’s brow. Dillon looked up, allowing a cold trickle of water to run
down over his face.

“We’ll be with Vince in about an hour and a half.’’

“Text him. Let him know we’re on our way, and to get some hot
food on the go - I’m absolutely starving.” Tatiana said softly.
Claudia Dax had wandered off a little way, stretching her legs.
Her clothes were stained, and her leather jacket had a long tear in one
of the arms, she looked in a sorrowful state, as they all did. Dillon
caught her attention and she moved over to him, accepting his canteen
with a radiant smile of thanks.
How is it you know about the Chimera Programme? It’s a top
secret project,” she said, lips glistening with water.
Dillon shrugged. “It’s a very long story, luv, and believe me, we
don’t really want to burden you with our problems. Kirill was the man
with the answers and now he’s dead. Very dead.”
“So the explosives detonated?”
“Yes,” said Dillon, smiling a nasty malevolent smile. “Tell me; is
this Chimera Programme really as powerful as they say?”
“Chimera? Oh yes. It works all right. And because it is completely
self-learning, there is no limit to what it can do. As a virus it is lethal.
As a programme that can; seek - search - retrieve, it is capable of
stealing; not only documents and files, but the entire contents of even
the largest network. State-of-the-art security software doesn’t even
know that Chimera has entered the system.
Kirill’s words came back to Dillon.
“This programme is so powerful; it will bring governments and global
companies to their knees in a matter of seconds. It will throw up information
about anyone or anything that could jeopardise its very existence. Chimera was
able to enter the Government’s most secure Ministry of Defence server, and extract
information relating to certain elements of the Scorpion network. It then advised
that the Special Operation Units should be eliminated to safeguard the project in
the future. You see, these were considered the most dangerous. Along with yourself,
Mr Dillon.”
Dillon was starting to get a crystal-clear picture of conspiracy:
Kirill and this other man Ramus were in league and planning a global
cyber-terrorist attack on a scale never seen before. The Assassins were
obviously the private army of Ramus and had eliminated the Scorpion
squads and had very nearly succeeded in killing him. They had tried to
take out Ezra and had destroyed his facility on Santorini, because they
wanted the final piece of code that would allow Chimera to run at
one-hundred percent and not be copied as an anti-virus. These were
cold blooded killers who would stop at nothing to safeguard their
objective. The ultimate control of every military satellite orbiting the
planet in their quest for global power…
But what next? Where would they go next?
What would be their next move?
Bastards, he thought sourly.
“What do you know about the Assassins,” he asked quietly,
rubbing his tired eyes.
“The Assassins? You mean those people in the black skin-tight
lycra?”
Dillon focused on Claudia. “When did you first notice them?”
She shook her head, “They arrived about a month ago. It was the
Assassins who killed most of Kirill’s research and development staff.”
“Really…” Dillon scratched at his heavy stubble; it was making
his neck and face itch bad and he needed a bath... Ye Gods, for even
the most basic toilet! And a bath! And a cold beer! Or a glass of
Champagne or two...
“My God,” Tatiana said excitedly, rummaging in her pocket and
pacing around. She pulled free her Ferran & Cardini smartphone.
They all turned to stare at the slender black device.
“Hell Tats. Did it bite you or something?” Dillon snapped. “You
made me jump, and I almost choked on my water!”
“It’s vibrating,” said Tatiana.
“So what, it’s most likely the partners checking up on you!”
“Dillon, as you know, it’s not just a smartphone but also a secure
line receiver and it’s receiving now.”
“Shit,” agreed Dillon. He peered warily into the distance, and
checked overhead in the skies. “So whoever is sending knows exactly
where we are?”
“I suppose so.”
“I thought the Government mainframes that served that phone
of yours had been brought down?”
“They had, but someone must be routing through another
smartphone. They’re configured in such a way that allows them
to work independently of the main servers in London, should the
impossible happen and they fail - which they have.”
Dillon slowly looked down, and then gazing out beyond the
confines of their shelter, looked warily around the vast open space
before them. He couldn’t see anything suspicious but that didn’t
mean it wasn’t there. “So then, are you going to answer it?” He said as
Tatiana continued to stare at the sleek black device.
Tatiana touched the screen lightly. It immediately lit up with a
soft blue background to a series of digits. Tats squinted at the data
rolling down the page. It ended - reading:

CLASSIFIED TRANSMISSION
- Level 1/ ENCRYPTED
SEND TO: T-0918273645 REC: E-1920384756
“Oh my God,” said Tatiana softly. “It’s from Ezra.”

“That’s impossible,” said Dillon wearily. “We saw what happened
on the cliff top on Santorini.”
“But think about it, Dillon. If this was coming from Ramus, or
whoever, then surely we would be fighting those Assassins for our
lives?” There was hope in her voice, and her eyes had a sparkle in
them. The tiredness and lethargy he had witnessed earlier had all but
gone.
Dillon looked at the smartphone suspiciously, then at Tatiana.
“I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all,” he said.
“And you think I do?”
Dillon remained silent, merely gestured with the Glock for
Tatiana to open the file and read the message. She read:

“He said that it was Vince Sharp’s device that saved his life. He
said you’d know what had saved him when he fell of the cliff on
Santorini?”

Dillon nodded. He walked back to the quad bike, staring out
across the windswept landscape. What he’d give for a cigarette right
now...

Tatiana moved up behind him. She gently placed a hand on
Dillon’s arm.
“You okay?”
“Hmm. Maybe.”
“It’s a trap, right? Ezra is dead. We saw him jump, with our own
eyes. We saw him die on Santorini.”
Dillon nodded, turned around to face her, and looked into her
eyes; and he saw it again, the desperation, the need to believe that her
only next-of-kin was still alive. And yet...
Could
Ezra be alive? Could
he have really been rescued by the SAS? Could he have been wearing a
Chameleon Para-vest, something Vince had come up with in his lunch
break, and could he have pulled the cord at just the right moment to
brake that terrible fall into the water? The cliff top must have been at
least three-hundred feet above sea-level. And if he did
survive
- is he
now on the trail of those traitors who stole Chimera from the British
Government?
Ezra had been a
very
resourceful man. Maybe, he had always had
a contingency plan? But, it still left the question as to why he had not
let the SAS take-out the Assassins. If he knew there was a squad on
the island, why not let them fight the ferocious attackers of his facility
on Santorini? And Tatiana, Dillon thought sombrely. If Kirill was
telling the truth; if you really do work for the enemies of the British
Realm - “traitors” - then you’re a bloody good actress.
“We will go. We have to go.”
Tatiana gently touched the side of his unshaven face with the
palm of her hand. “Really?”
“Yes, but don’t get your hopes up - and we’ll do it my way.
Understand?”
“Dillon, I know you think I...”
“Don’t say it.” He placed a finger against her lips. “Kirill was
lying, I know. But I’ve got a really bad feeling about this - and yet, if
Ezra is still alive, if the mad bastard did survive that fall, and managed
to escape those two Assassins, and get off the island unseen... Well,
he’s just about the only ally we’ve got. It’s not as if Kirill was any great
enlightenment... All we got out of him was a name - Ramus - a name
we already knew.”
Claudia had come up behind the two and Dillon spun his gun in
her face. He smiled weakly. “Sorry, force of habit.”
Claudia waved his apology away. “You said a name just then,
didn’t you?”
“Yes I did, Ramus. An international terrorist; originally a Russian
mafia hit-man, based in Moscow. Graduated from Cambridge with
a First in applied mathematics, with distinctions. His link with Kirill
is most likely kept deliberately fluid, which is why there’s only the
sketchiest details about him or his whereabouts. Have you heard of
him?”
Claudia nodded. “Heard of him, met him, turned down an offer
of sex with the creep. Thought I was going to get fired.” She laughed
softly. “Wish I had now.”
“What do you know about him?”
“Very little. He visited the facility on a number of occasions. He
was a pent-up tough looking guy. One of those stereotypical ruffians
- but he had a certain refinement about him, that made him very
different from others.”
“Sounds like a really nice bloke,” said Dillon, staring into the
distance.
“You want to know an amazing coincidence?”
Dillon met Claudia’s gaze. She smiled gently. “Sorry, I’ve been
eaves-dropping. But I think you’d like to know this... Ramus, well, on
the occasions when he visited the facility, I overheard conversations
with Kirill - said he’d come straight from The Bahamas.”
“New Providence, by any chance?” Said Tatiana, frowning.
“Nassau,” said Claudia.
“Well, there’s a coincidence,” said Dillon grimly.
“So what now?” asked Tatiana; Dillon could see it in her face.
She knew the dangers, knew that there was the strong possibility of
the whole thing being a set-up, a plot to ensnare them. But she wanted
- needed - had to know if Ezra was still alive.
Dillon looked into her eyes for a moment, thinking. Was she the
bait to lure him into a trap?
They’re either extremely clever and manipulative, thought
Dillon. Or Ezra is onto Ramus... he’s still alive, and on the trail of
those dedicated to creating global chaos...
Decision time.
He scratched at the stubble on his face. He placed a hand on
Tatiana’s shoulder. “We’ll go,” he said softly. And smiled. “I have a lot
of friends in the Bahamas.”

* * *

Night was falling as the quad bike reached the SAS depot. Vince
was there and was sitting at a small fire he had lit; his almost trademark
metal tea pot brewing over the flames.

“Dillon, it’s good to see you back in one piece, mate. What took
you so long?”

“It’s a long story,” Dillon said, with a quick glance at Tatiana.
“Is there any of that tea on offer? I think we could all do with a hot
drink.” Vince nodded, and poured out three mugs.

He raised his gaze in Claudia’s direction, and then looked
at Dillon quizzically. “You been picking up waifs and strays again,
Dillon?”

“This, Vince, is Claudia Dax. She escaped from the facility
shortly after the Assassin’s started killing all of her work colleagues.”
“Streuth. You’re one lucky lady, then.”
“Claudia has a master copy of the Chimera Programme!”
“Well, aren’t we the lucky ones, then. I suppose you know that
Ezra is still alive?”
“How do you know this?” Tatiana snapped.
“He emailed the partners at Ferran & Cardini, telling them to
thank me for his Chameleon Para-vest. Said it saved his life when he
jumped off that cliff on Santorini.”
“Well I’ll be, so it’s true.” Dillon said softly. “Tats also got an
email from Ezra. He’s in Nassau in the Bahamas. And wants us to
meet him there within 24 hours.”
“We going?” Vince said excitedly.
“Yes. But the problem is how do we get there?”
“You leave that to me, mate. I know just the man who can fix
that for us.”
“Who?”
“Edward Levenson-Jones.”
Dillon felt his head ache at the mere mention of LJ’s name.
“Does he know that I’m back on the payroll, so to speak?”
Vince looked up at Dillon sheepishly, “We’ll cross that bridge
when we get to it.” He resumed tapping furiously at the laptop’s
keyboard, and a moment later he punched the
enter
key, and said.
“There...”
“
There
?” Dillon mimicked.
“Dillon. Don’t you know that,
there
, is a highly technical computer
nerd’s term?” Tatiana said laughing. Claudia joined in as well.
Vince looked up at them, unimpressed with the joke. The laptop
made a strange pinging sound, announcing an incoming email. “Ah
ha, LJ has sent back an encrypted response.”
“That was bloody quick. It’s good to see that he still works all
hours, what does it say?”
“Well, I asked him for an aircraft to be made available and ready
to take us all to Nassau.”
“And...” Dillon said impatiently.
“And there’s a Navy helicopter on its way to pick us up, with
instructions to take us to the nearest military airfield. From there a
Ferran & Cardini Learjet will fly us to the Bahamas.”
“Estimated time of the chopper’s arrival?”
“ETA is twenty-five minutes, give or take.”
“Good. I think that we can safely assume, then, that LJ and the
Partners are treating this whole Kirill affair seriously.”
“Oh, they started to take this threat seriously, when the Scorpion
squads started being assassinated, and Scorpion HQ was destroyed...”
“Great,” said Dillon. He sipped the tea, and then held out the
mug for a refill.
“What do you think, Claudia? Are we walking into a trap?”
Tatiana shot Dillon a sharp glance. “Dillon?”
“Hmm?”
“What’s with asking the opinion of the girl we’ve just picked up
and know nothing about?”
“I wouldn’t say that, Tatiana. We know that Claudia worked
at the facility, and that she has a full working copy of the Chimera
Programme. What more do we need to know?”
Claudia hesitated before saying,” Well, if you look at it logically,
it is highly probable that you’ll be walking straight into an elaborate
trap. But, my gut instinct is that it’s not, and that tells me that Ezra is
still alive and on a mission - to stop Ramus.”
“Thanks, Claudia. That’s settled, then. We go - even if only to
get away from the infernal cold of the Scottish Highlands.” Dillon
said finishing the last of his tea.
They could hear the distinctivesound of rotor blades beating the
air long before the Sea-King came into view. They all looked skywards
as the Royal Navy helicopter approached, creating an enormous
downwash as it hovered into land.