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  Josh stared him out.

  ‘He’s had an ear-bashing from Tito Manchetti, the Chief Moderator of the Security Council. Manchetti had been given a similar ear-bashing by the Chinese Ambassador, Mao Ying.’

  ‘Look ... Mark.’

  Mark raised a hand, pulled himself to his feet, walked round his desk and sat down. ‘Josh, I could put it down to a spur of the moment impulsive action, but would that make things any better?’

  Josh made to answer, but Mark cut in over him. ‘Steph has been trying to play it all down, claiming you only clipped Chinese airspace. But that’s not what the BigEye records tell us. Furthermore, because of your actions a civilian, Howard, died, and we almost lost several more lives, yours and Steph’s included. I won’t even go into the loss of a $100 million Silverback. Most importantly, you very nearly destroyed the rescue mission, which would have cost more lives.’

  ‘But I didn’t jeopardise the mission,’ Josh managed to say. ‘I saved it.’

  There was a silence for a moment, then Mark leaned forward on the desk. ‘But that’s not the point, Josh, is it? You lucked out this time.’

  Josh took a deep breath, feeling his anger build.

  ‘You know the rules, Josh,’ Mark went on. ‘Why do you insist on flouting them?’

  ‘I put the mission first. I always do.’

  ‘But that’s irrational. What you did undermines E-Force’s image, its reputation. It not only endangered this mission, it endangered future rescues.’

  ‘That’s absurd.’

  Mark shook his head. ‘It is not absurd. E-Force survives on trust. We need the governments of the world on our side. They must be there to help us, to let us fly over their territory, to allow us free reign to do our job.’

  ‘The Chinese don’t.’

  ‘No, they don’t. But they are one of a tiny handful of nations that won’t play ball. Some others are less than keen. I could name a dozen states teetering on the brink of withdrawing their cooperation. The Chinese are clearly unhappy about what you did and they are not going to keep quiet about it. I imagine you have noticed there is a little tension between China and the West at the moment.’

  ‘Don’t be so patronising...’

  ‘And don’t you be so ridiculous,’ Mark snapped angrily.

  ‘I would’ve thought the Chinese might be glad a renegade like Mengde Sun was exposed.’

  ‘Oh yeah, Josh! They’re thrilled! Makes them look great!’

  Josh said nothing.

  ‘Besides, the research base at Hang Cheng is not the only facility in the empty wastelands of the Chinese-Mongolian border. It was a coincidence you were brought down by the beam. But not a major one. If it hadn’t been that, it could have been something else – the area is littered with secret military establishments. Even ignoring that, you could have been picked up on radar. Questions would have been asked. It’s a hot zone, Josh. Very hot. Why do you think the Chinese don’t want us flying into their airspace?’

  ‘Okay,’ Josh said slowly and calmly. ‘Then maybe, Mark, this issue should be brought out in the open.’

  Mark was shaking his head, making a great effort to control his anger. ‘That’s not your job.’

  Josh stared at him, his own fury finally bursting through. ‘Oh, I see. So, it’s just dandy for me and the others to risk our lives, to put ourselves in danger purely to save others, but it’s not okay for us to have any say in politics. Is that how it is?’

  ‘Josh, you’re being childish.’

  ‘But grown up enough to keep putting my life at risk?’ he spat back.

  Mark let the silence between them linger for a few moments. ‘I’m going to have to take disciplinary action,’ he said eventually.

  Josh stared at him, his mouth open. ‘Disciplinary action? What? Lines? Something for the silly child?’

  ‘You’ll be replaced by a temporary backup for the next mission. One of the B-team is almost up to speed. I’m also docking your salary for three months.’

  Josh looked at him, stunned. He produced an uncertain smile. ‘You’re joking, right?’

  Mark shook his head slowly. ‘I wish I could say I was, Josh. I hate having to do this, but you have to understand there are parameters to our behaviour. There are limitations, both for you and for me. We all have our masters.’

  Josh shook his head. Then he stood up suddenly and brought his hand to his forehead as though pained. ‘Well ... nobody can say being part of E-Force is ever dull.’ He took a deep breath. ‘But you know, Mark, I don’t think I want to be part of all this any more.’ He removed his E-Force ID badge and tossed it onto Mark’s desk, watching it slide across the highly polished surface.

  ‘I quit,’ he said.

  Epilogue

  The Hilton, Suva, Fiji, the same day

  Afternoon sunlight streamed through the huge windows of the hotel lounge. Gentle jazz piano notes drifted over from somewhere near the bar and a TV in the corner showed soundless images of Chinese and Western diplomats facing each other across a huge conference table.

  Harry Flanders looked up to see his producer, Natasha Young, walking across the room towards him. She had flown in the previous evening, claiming she wanted to see how he was. Harry had been in the business long enough to know she was there for other reasons. She wanted to be ready with an open chequebook, ready for the exclusive of a lifetime.

  Harry was still in a state of numb confusion. The last few days had been like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. He knew it would take him a long, long time to get over it.

  The members of E-Force had not stayed around too long. They had returned to the Neptune but found no other survivors. Mark had succeeded in keeping the press at bay by volunteering to give a full account of what had happened to the hotel if the survivors were left to recover in peace. The deal had worked.

  The day before, Harry had said his goodbyes to Jim Kimble and Kristy Sunshine. The singer had given him her address and mobile number, and made him promise he would look her up if he was ever in LA.

  After that, he had some time to himself. Time to reflect, to pick a route slowly along the beach with the help of a new walking stick, to look out over the Pacific Ocean.

  That morning, Michael Xavier had held a press conference in which he had declared his intention to retire from business altogether so that he could spend a great deal more time with his wife and children. The hotel would be left where it was, at least in the short term – it would be unfeasibly expensive to repair it or to dismantle it. He had gone on to shower praise on E-Force for their professionalism, their skill and their immense bravery. To warm applause, he then described his fellow survivors as ‘heroes’. Each of them, he said, had gone to the hotel as ordinary people and had shown themselves to be extraordinary.

  After the talk, Harry had a quick work with Michael and learned that Miguel Bandonis had accepted a job as Chief Technical Consultant for one of the Xavier family’s US-Based companies, on a very large salary. Archie Barnet had booked a flight back to London and had taken a five-figure offer from a British national paper for his story.

  Harry had sat at the back of the room packed with hundreds of his fellow journalists. A week earlier, he could have been one of them, he thought, another hack trying to get a slant on a story, grasping at the air for any morsel of information.

  Afterwards, he thought long and hard about what Michael Xavier had said and wondered whether it was true about himself. Was he brave? Was he a hero? He didn’t think he was. He had just done what he had needed to do. He hadn’t been given any choices. People were only heroes, he concluded, if they had a choice and took a decision to risk their lives to save others.

  And had any of it changed him? It was probably too early to tell. He knew that; knew it would take time for the weirdness to filter through, for his mind to process it all. But then, a few hours later, he had been struck by a startling thought. For a year now he had been pining for his ex-wife, Jane. He had been blaming himself for let
ting their marriage crumble and he had felt only self-disgust. It was the thing that had driven him to find consolation in the bottom of a bottle. It had almost destroyed his career, almost destroyed him. But, as events had unfolded in the Neptune, he had not once thought about Jane. A part of him had risen above his obsession. He had found inner strength, new purpose. The will to survive had transformed him.

  ‘You look relaxed, Harry,’ Natasha said, plonking herself into a huge armchair.

  ‘Do I? What’s that?’ he asked, noticing for the first time a package in her hand.

  She looked down. ‘Someone handed it to me in Reception. It’s addressed to you.’

  ‘Me?’

  She passed it to him. It was a small, light package. On the front in lime green marker pen was written: ‘HARRY FLANDERS, ROOM 610’. He ripped it open at the top.

  A waiter approached with a tray of drinks and paused next to Harry’s chair. Harry put his hand inside the package and pulled out a CD and a card. He gazed at the cover of the CD, a huge grin spreading across his face.

  ‘What is it?’ Natasha asked, and leaned forward to take a closer look.

  ‘It’s from Kristy,’ Harry replied. ‘A special extended mix of her first single.’ And he burst out laughing. Opening the card, he read the line of writing: ‘Harry. Thank you for helping me find myself again.’ The words shocked him. What had he actually done for Kristy? Nothing more than anyone else would have done in the same circumstances. But it didn’t matter, he thought. Like him, Kristy was trying to find some meaning in what had happened. He closed the card, looked up at Natasha’s nosy expression, pursed his lips and shook his head slowly.

  ‘Sir?’ the waiter said. ‘May I interest you in a glass of champagne?’

  Harry looked up at him, tears welling in his eyes. ‘You know, I don’t think I will, thanks,’ he said, and turned back to re-read Kristy’s card.

  STATE OF EMERGENCY

  Sam Fisher

  E-Force: six gifted, highly trained individuals

  Mission: specialist rescue in times of global emergency

  The Emergency Force team – including former marine Mark Harrison, Space Shuttle pilot Maiko Buchanan and cyber-genius Tom Erickson – employs some of the most highly advanced equipment on the planet, from Mach-10 jets to incredible cybersuits that make the wearer almost superhuman.

  And they’ll need all the gadgetry they can get for their first mission – saving the life of US Senator Kyle Foreman.

  As Foreman gives a speech in LA, two bombs rip through the Conference Center where he and thousands of his supporters have gathered. Many die. Miraculously, Foreman survives – but he’s trapped inside, as fires rage and floors collapse.

  While E-Force plan their perilous route into the building, so too does The Dragon, a psychotic assassin who will let nothing and no one get in the way of his deadly mission...

  State of Emergency is the first of the E-Force series: highoctane, heart-stopping, action-packed thrillers.