Page 7 (1/2)

We take a coht One of Shark&039;s contacts meets us at the airport before we fly out, with tickets and fake passports for those who need thenise it

"Where&039;d you get this?" I ask

"I found it on the web," Tiraphed when committed to an institute for the mentally unbalanced After your parents were killed," he adds, as if I otten

"No wonder I look like a zothose dark days of et any worse How little I knew

We sit in pairs on the plane, splitting up so as not to attract attention I&039;m with Timas I&039;d rather have sat with Meera, but Ja the seat next to her He&039;s chatting her up I try keeping an eye on theines start,back on my most recent experience in a plane

"Do you want to know the statistics for global aeronautical accidents for the last decade?" Tirowl

"I only ask because you look uneasy Many aeroplanes crash every year, but they are usually personal craft Statistically we are safer in the air than on the ground I thought faht help"

"The last tihtered everyone aboard and forced it down," I snarl

"Oh" Tie, there are no statistics on deate this further when time permits There are blanks to be filled in"

He leans back and stares up at the reading light, lips pursed After a ain On Off On Off The engines roar We hurtle down the runway and up into the sky Timas&039; eyes close after a while and he snores softly But his finger continues to operate the light switch, turning it on and off every five seconds, irritating the hell out offor us e touch down We drive in a van to a nearby hangar and park outside, close to a large, silver helicopter Shark&039;s soldiers are laughing and joking with each other, excited by the prospect of adventure They tumble out of the van and circle the helicopter James pats it and purrs "This isit on!"

"Statistically, helicopters are not as reliable as aeroplanes," Timas remarks, but I pretend I didn&039;t hear that

We take our seats Jaht she sniffs airily and gives him the cold shoulder

"You can sit beside me," I tell her, and with a warlares at me and I smirk back

Timas takes the seat beside James He&039;s fascinated by the banks of control panels He asks a couple of questions, then observes silently as James fires up the propellors I can see Tilass He switches between frowns and smiles as he watches the pilot at work

"I&039;ve saved the best for last," Shark roars as we rise smoothly There are headsets with microphones but nobody&039;s bothered to put the his head on the ceiling, and jerks his seat up to reveal a hidden couns

The cabin fills with excited "Ooohs!" and "Aaahs!", audible even over the noise of the blades Shark passes the weapons round to the eager soldiers I shake uns and I don&039;t want to learn Magic&039;s cleaner and un either

"What about rifles?" Pip shouts, having loaded her gun and jarenades?" Stephen yells

"Stacks of the the journey It&039;ll help pass the time"

Meera and I roll our eyes at one another and turn our attention to the scenery beneath We watch the ground roll away behind us, airport hangars giving way to open countryside dotted with farms and the occasional house After a while the housesinto the suburbs of the city where we&039;re headed for our shoith Prae Athi, we soon locate the building It looks like any other, lots of glass and steel, nothing special Luckily it has a flat roof, and although it&039;s not intended for helicopter landings, Timas assures us that it&039;s structurally sound and will support our weight

"Headsets!" Shark bellows When we&039;re all hooked up, he outlines the plan "James stays with the helicopter-he&039;ll hover nearby after dropping us off Once we&039;re on the roof, we&039;ll force our way down the staircase to the eleventh floor Terry and Spenser will stay on the staircase to keep it clear Leo will take out the elevator There&039;s another staircase-Marian and Liam will head for that The rest of us will hit Prae Athim&039;s office"

"What if she&039;s not there?" Meera asks

"Then we&039;ll find out where she is"

"Don&039;t you think that&039;s a rather heavy-handed approach?" Meera challenges hiets wind of our attack, we&039;ll lose the element of surprise"

"You have another idea?"

"Yes," Meera says calhs, then scowls "You&039;re serious?"

"Absolutely Politeness often succeeds where brute force fails"

"Brute force has alorked pretty well for rees

Meera flashes him her sweetest smile "Let&039;s try it my way If it doesn&039;t work, we can hit them hard, but at least we have options If we do it your way, there&039;s no plan B"

"It&039;s always good to have a plan B," Terry chips in

"It can&039;t hurt to try her approach," James says from the front of the helicopter I&039; it to score points with Meera

"OK," Shark shrugs "Take us in, Farrier Meera, it&039;s your show-for now"

As Meera talks us through her si, hover closer to the roof, then set down James kills the blades and as silence settles over us, we sit in place and wait

Security guards soon spill on to the roof Thirty or uns

"A few are ex-uards as they fan out "But most look to have been privately trained We could take the for a while," Meera says and slides out of the helicopter She nods for Shark and me to accompany her As Shark moves forward, she tuts and looks pointedly at his weapons-a couple of revolvers and a s across his back

"Do I have to?" Shark pouts Meera raises an eyebrow Sighing, he drops his weapons and clambers out in a foul mood

We take several steps away froht One of the guards-an officer-speaks into a microphone attached to his shirt, waits for orders, then couns on us but keep thehtly lowered, so if one of them fires by accident he won&039;t draw blood

The officer stops a old L set in the centre Prae Athi when I met her

"Can I help you folks?" the officer asks with forced politeness

"We have an appointment," Meera replies smoothly

The officer seemed prepared for any answer except that one He blinks stupidly "An appointment," he echoes

"With Prae Athim Could you tell her Meera Fla any visitors," the guard says, his voice taking on a slightly threatening tone

"You ht not be," Meera smiles, "but Prae is Let her knoe&039;re here and I&039;uard looks troubled He tells us to stay where we are Moving out of earshot, he speaks into his ain After a short conversation he calls to us "So up Please uard returns to the ranks and waits with the others As he passes orders along, the guards lower their weapons another fraction I start to relax Looks like they don&039;tmatch At least not yet