Rogue by Mark Walden

leadership at all times.’
    ‘I take it you have an alternative suggestion?’ Lin Feng said quietly.
    ‘That is why I wanted to meet with you,’ Chavez replied. ‘I need to know if I would have your support if I were to put myself forward as a candidate.’
    ‘I see,’ Lin Feng said. The truth was that it was exactly what he had wanted to hear. Chavez had climbed to power in his own region through a combination of brutality and low animal cunning, and while that might be enough to ensure his place on the council, it did not mark him out as someone with the finesse required to run G.L.O.V.E. But that was precisely what made Chavez so useful. This fool could act as Ling Feng’s stalking horse, drawing the fire of the other members of the ruling council. He would let Chavez make his clumsy bid for power, and when the dust had settled from the chaos that would inevitably follow, he – Lin Feng – would step in and pick up the pieces.
    ‘I would not object to such a suggestion,’ Lin Feng continued, ‘but you know as well as I do that Nero would never tolerate it.’
    ‘Nero has his own problems,’ Chavez said impatiently. ‘If it were not for the fact that he cannot even control his own students, we would not be in this situation in the first place.’
    ‘It would be a serious mistake to underestimate him,’ Lin Feng replied. ‘Even with the problems he currently faces, he is not the sort of man you want as an opponent.’
    ‘I know that,’ Chavez said, ‘which is exactly why we need to weaken his position.’
    ‘And how exactly would you hope to do that?’ asked Lin Feng, raising an eyebrow.
    ‘By exploiting his greatest weakness. Darkdoom’s capture or kill order still stands. Regardless of his current condition, he is still the only person who can countermand it. Nero will go to any lengths to retrieve the Malpense boy without harming him. We, however, are under no such restrictions. If we can eliminate Malpense before Nero can mount a rescue attempt we will seriously undermine his credibility with the council while simultaneously strengthening our own.’
    ‘Or we may wake one morning to find Raven standing over us,’ Lin Feng replied.
    ‘Which is why, before we do anything else, we need to remove that particular piece from the board,’ Chavez said.
    ‘Eliminate Raven? Easier said than done.’
    ‘But not impossible,’ Chavez said with a small smile.

.
    Chapter Five
    Laura groaned as the morning alarm buzzer went off in her and Shelby’s quarters. She’d managed to get only four hours’ sleep after her late-night meeting with Nero and the Professor, and the full day of lessons that loomed before her was not a pleasant prospect. Shelby walked out of the bathroom at the rear of the room, towelling her hair dry and already wearing her black Alpha stream jumpsuit.
    ‘You look like death,’ Shelby said cheerily as Laura reluctantly climbed out of bed.
    ‘Thanks for that,’ she groaned.
    ‘So where’d you get to last night?’ Shelby asked.
    ‘I made a bit of a breakthrough with tracking down the source of the gremlins in the school’s systems,’ Laura said, rubbing the back of her neck. ‘I had to update the Professor.’
    ‘You get it fixed?’ Shelby asked, hoping for a short answer.
    ‘No, not yet,’ Laura replied, ‘but we’re getting there.’
    The truth was that Laura really wasn’t sure how much they had achieved with such a limited understanding of exactly what was behind the problem.
    ‘You better get a move on,’ Shelby said with a grin as Laura slowly shuffled towards the bathroom. ‘Who knows what’ll be left if Franz hits the breakfast buffet before we do? You’ll need to eat something – we’ve got Political Corruption this morning.’
    Laura groaned again. As she walked into the bathroom the door hissed shut behind her. Shelby was busy doing her hair in the mirror when she heard a startled shriek. ‘Still not fixed the showers then,’ she said with a