‘Yes,’ she said, not bothering to lower her voice. ‘Suddenly they’ll be at the mercy of their victims. They can try and barricade themselves in here but I don’t know how successful their efforts will be. We won’t be leaving them any weapons or ammunition, so not for too long, I suspect. Then their supplies will run out. There’ll be no power. I suspect they have very few survival skills between them. My best guess is the oily bastard in the grey suit will go first. It’s very obvious he has no value at all. Farnborough might persuade some man to take her under his wing but if it comes to a choice between eating her and fu— Well, I think we can guess. I suspect they will either die quickly at the hands of their former prey or slowly starve to death in the cold. I must confess I really don’t care.’
‘A warning to others,’ said Callen.
‘Exactly, Major. Does anyone have any strong moral objections?’
Apparently, no one did. Only the now hysterical illegals themselves and no one took any notice of them.
A breathless officer appeared. ‘Ma’am, the medtecs want to get Lockland and Parrish back to TPHQ asap. Can you manage with one pod less?’
‘Yes. Go. Tell the doctor if they die, I’m coming for him.’
She turned to Ellis. ‘Reigns of terror are quite enjoyable. I’m beginning to see the benefits.’
‘I’m very happy for you, ma’am. All team leaders report they have what they need in the way of equipment and records. With our lost lambs recovered, all search parties are now on their way back to the pods.’
‘Then our work here is done.’
Ellis watched Geoffrey’s shoulders sag. Had he been holding on for a rescue? Given what had just happened at TPHQ – were those the standing orders? Say nothing and wait for us to get you out? If so, he was out of luck today.
‘Let’s get back to the pods, Major.’
There were screams of protest. ‘You can’t go. You can’t just leave us here. We’re still zipped. What about what’s out there? You blew the outer door. What about us?’
‘What about you?’
‘You can’t leave us. We can’t even secure the building any longer. It’s not safe.’
‘Not safe for whom?’
Silence as the implications sank in.
Major Ellis considered a timely reminder. ‘What of the indigenous people, ma’am? We left them in their cages as you suggested, but we can’t leave them there to starve.’
‘No, indeed. Make sure we’re all well clear and then hit them with the EMP. That should knock out the locks on the cages and they can free themselves.’
Major Ellis, recognising the glint in her eye, knew his duty. ‘And what then, ma’am?’
‘Oh, well,’ she said carelessly, ‘I suspect most of them won’t be inclined to hang around . . .’ She smiled at her prisoners. ‘You hope. On the other hand, of course, it’s very possible that revenge will be uppermost in their thoughts. An interesting situation, Major.’
‘Indeed, ma’am. I wonder if, perhaps, you might care for a small wager.’
‘To make things interesting, you mean?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Excellent idea, Major. Open it up to everyone. Excluding our friends here, of course.’ She smiled wolfishly. ‘Well, can’t hang around here all day. Places to go, people to see, winnings to collect. Lead on, Major.’
There were screams of protest. ‘We can tell you everything you need to know.’
She turned. ‘I already know everything I need to know. We have files, downloads, uploads, records, photos – the lot. And what’s missing here will be provided by your colleagues from the King’s Arsenal and the pretty green building in Shoreditch. I don’t need any of you. You are of no use to me at all. Or the world in general. On the other hand, I’m certain you’ll be an excellent source of protein to your former . . . guests. Lovely to have met you.’
They left with Imogen Farnborough’s screams ringing in their ears.
Once outside and out of earshot, she said to Ellis, ‘Give them twenty-four hours to experience real cold and real fear and think seriously about in which order they’ll eat each other and then go and pick them up. They’ll sing like cassowaries.’
Halfway back to the pods, and flanked on either side by Majors Ellis and Callen, she halted suddenly. ‘The missing pod.’
Ellis stopped too. ‘Ma’am?’
‘How did they get here? Where’s their pod?’
Major Callen shook his head. ‘It’s not here, Commander. I checked all pod signatures myself and records show their pod left again shortly after landing. Not sure of its ultimate destination at this moment but we can get people on that.’ He paused. ‘I know you’ll find this interesting – the pilots’ names were Smallhope and Pennyroyal.’
She nodded. ‘Yes. We should have guessed, I suppose.’
‘They make me nervous.’
‘They make everyone nervous.’
‘Including anyone stupid enough to employ them, I suspect. Well, that changes things slightly, Major. Leave a small team here to keep an eye on things – just in case anyone turns up. As soon as we get back home, send a rescue team for our friends back there. We can’t risk them falling back into the hands of their employers.’
‘Yes, Commander.’
She and Ellis set off towards the nearest pod. Major Callen stood for a moment, staring at a patch of empty snow some one hundred yards from Site X. His face showed no expression. Then he hitched his blaster over his shoulder and followed his commander.
39
A safe distance away, two people, very carefully camouflaged in the snow and with only their eyes showing, watched the Time Police emerge with box after box, crate after crate. Lines of officers passed them to each other for careful storage in the three black pods lined up to the north of the facility.
‘Well, this didn’t end quite as expected, Pennyroyal.’
‘No, my lady.’
‘Not quite sure what our employer’s going to say about this.’
‘No, my lady.’
‘And we haven’t been bloody well paid, yet.’
Pennyroyal sighed. ‘They’re stripping the place, my lady.’
His companion nodded sadly. ‘Bastards. Did they find the other two? Those young people?’
‘I believe so, my lady.’
‘Our good deed for the day, Pennyroyal.’