Survival by Joe Craig Page B

her.
    There was an unfamiliar churning in her gut as shejogged down the escalator into Camden Town station.Did it mean something, or was it the effect of Britishhot chocolate? It slowly worked its way from herstomach to her mind. Could it be confusion that shehadn’t been ordered to kill these new subjects. Or wasit fear that she still might have to?

13 MUTAM-UL-IT
    The closer Jimmy came to Mutam-ul-it, the darker hisfeelings grew. The place was deserted. Even the Frenchpress helicopters had to keep their distance because ofthe smoke. There was no way they would have been ableto see Jimmy, which was just as well. If the crew of theBritish destroyer found out that he was there, Jimmywas sure the mine would suffer a few more missiles.
    He could almost feel their presence, just off thecoast, waiting. They were probably at that momentplanning their own strategy to make the mine safe, sothey could take it over just as they’d planned. Perhapsthey’d also realised they could send in a geneticallymodified assassin and Mitchell was on his way. Or here already, Jimmy thought.
    He tensed up, his programming prickling at his skinfrom the inside. What if British long-range surveillance could see him? He tried to force away his doubt bymarching faster. All the more reason to make sure Stovorsky gets Mum, Georgie and Felix to safety , he toldhimself with false confidence. While he was inside themine, the French would have to do exactly as he said.And they couldn’t touch him.
    The gates loomed over him, twisted and charred, as ifthey were bowing to the tower of black smoke. Jimmybroke into a jog and entered the compound. Suddenlynothing was as simple as it had seemed on Stovorsky’slaptop. The smoke was low and thick now. And it wasn’tso obvious which buildings were which. None of the signshad survived the blasts. Jimmy had to think back to theplans he’d seen, but whenever he thought he knew wherehe was, a clearing in the smoke showed him a glimpseof something out of place. Where was the centralmaintenance system that would tell him the true extentof the damage? And where was the actinium stored?
    Jimmy choked in the smog and shielded his face withthe back of his arm. As he moved through the complex,the smoke became so thick he couldn’t see where hewas going. There was a nasty smell too –simultaneously bitter in the back of his throat and sicklysweet in his lungs.
    Every step he took was carpeted with blood. Then herealised that the stench was roasting human flesh. Hebreathed in short gasps to stop himself puking. How did I get into this nightmare? he wondered.
    In horror, he picked his way through a dense forestof body parts. He felt his disgust grow into a seethinganger. Didn’t the British or the French Governmentscare that they had caused so many people to get rippedapart? How could they justify this slaughter, no matterhow much money was at stake?
    Jimmy felt violence throbbing inside him. Was he theonly person in existence who cared about what wasright and what was wrong? The whole of the rest of theworld had turned rotten. Maybe he should let Britainand France destroy each other in a stupid war, hethought. They were as bad as each other.
    But then he realised that in the carnage around himwere real people, not governments. And there were atleast three other people in the world that he knew whoweren’t evil. Three people he cared about in Londonwho would be trapped in the middle of it all if there wasa war. He tried to calm himself down by focusing onthem, but only fuelled his anger with fear. They were sofar away and yet it was up to him to keep them safe.
    Suddenly there was a noise. Jimmy jumped. It wasonly faint and it was immediately blown away in thewind, but it was new and out of place. It sounded like anengine starting. Had Stovorsky and the driver somehowfollowed him? He looked around, trying to work outwhich direction the noise had come from. Then hepicked out a black rectangle surging towards him out ofthe