Deadlock by Mark Walden

police was an additional complication that they did not need. Darkdoom took a seat at a table in front of one of the many pavement cafés that surrounded the square and Otto and Raven followed suit.
    ‘Now we wait,’ Darkdoom said, as a waiter walked over to their table and offered him a menu, which he waved away. ‘ Solo un caffè per me per favore . Do either of you want anything?’
    ‘Just water,’ Raven said, her eyes flicking from person to person in the crowds that milled around the square, constantly watching for any sign of a hidden threat.
    ‘No, I’m fine, thanks,’ Otto said.
    ‘ Un caffè e una di acqua, grazie signore ,’ the waiter said with a nod and walked away.
    Otto took the opportunity to appreciate some of the magnificent architecture that surrounded them, dominated by the spectacular ornately decorated marble arches of St Mark’s Basilica and the towering red brick Campanile opposite it. The most striking thing for a place this busy was the lack of traffic noise; instead there was just the burbling white noise of humanity as a hundred different conversations went on around him.
    ‘He’s late,’ Raven said.
    ‘Maybe, but the important thing is that we’re not,’ Darkdoom replied. ‘Don’t worry, he’ll be here.’
    They had been waiting for several minutes when a voice behind Otto said, ‘Do you mind if I sit here?’
    ‘Actually we’re waiting for someone,’ Raven said, her hand slipping inside her coat.
    Otto turned to see a young woman standing behind him with long dark hair which was held back in a bunch, skewered by a pair of pencils. She was wearing a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, paint-spattered blue jeans and a battered khaki army surplus jacket that looked like it had probably been through at least a couple of wars.
    ‘Oh, I know you are,’ the girl said with a smile. ‘My name’s Gretchen and you’re here to meet with the Architect. I’m going to take you to him.’
    ‘Why the change of plan?’ Darkdoom asked, with a slight frown. ‘I thought we were meeting him here.’
    ‘Oh no,’ the girl called Gretchen replied, ‘much too public. He just wanted you to come here so that I could meet you and confirm that you actually are who you say you are.’
    I am detecting an encrypted narrow-band signal, H.I.V.E.mind said inside Otto’s head. It would seem to be originating from this young woman.
    Otto noticed the tiny hole in the centre of the peace-symbol badge that the girl was wearing on her coat and he reached out with his senses, trying to see if he could determine who might be receiving the signal broadcast by the microcamera that Gretchen appeared to be wearing. It was no good – he could sense the stream of data that was being sent, but after a short distance it was lost in the digital background noise of the hundreds of smartphones, tablets and laptops carried by the people that surrounded them.
    ‘Understood,’ Gretchen said after a few seconds, as if replying to someone. ‘OK, let’s go.’
    ‘Go where?’ Raven asked.
    ‘That would be telling,’ Gretchen replied. ‘Come on, he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’
    With that, she set off across the square and Darkdoom rose to follow her.
    ‘I’m not sure this is a good idea,’ Raven said as she and Otto stood up. ‘She could be leading us anywhere.’
    ‘Between the three of us ,’ Darkdoom said with a wry smile, ‘I’m reasonably confident we should be able to handle whatever situation might arise.’
    They followed Gretchen across the square as she made her way through the crowds.
    ‘We’ll take your boat, if that’s OK?’ Gretchen said as they walked.
    ‘Of course,’ Darkdoom replied. ‘Do we have far to go?’
    ‘No, not really,’ Gretchen said.
    Minutes later they were on board the sleek black boat, sweeping along one of the ancient city’s many canals. Otto sat quietly, memorising their route as Gretchen gave Darkdoom occasional directions. Eventually they pulled into a