Chapter One
THEY DON’T ALWAYS WAIT FOR
YOU TO START A WAR
X X X
After killing Edward Hyde, for many good reasons, Daniel and Tina went out on the town and partied till they dropped. Rampaging through London’s clubland, they made the scene at all the best establishments and the very lowest of dives, drinking, dancing, and starting fights just for the hell of it, before finally lurching home in the early hours to break any number of beds with their passion.
They visited underground fight clubs and took on all comers, barged into celebrated restaurants and ate their way through entire menus, and even broke into a bank vault just so they could throw the money around and have sex on top of it. After a while London tried to hide when it saw them coming, or claim it was out, but Daniel and Tina were just celebrating being alive—and being Hydes.
Eventually they calmed down a little, and decided to take some time apart. So they could work out what they wanted to do with their lives, now the war with the monsters was over.
Daniel went to the Purgatory Club—so called because it was considered to be halfway between Heaven and Hell. One of those very private establishments you can only find if you know where to look, down the kind of back streets that might not have names but certainly have reputations. The Purgatory—where everybody knows what you are. A home away from home, for those who couldn’t pass for normal on the best day they ever had.
The air in the club was thick with smoke and all the scents of temptation, and full of the kind of people who had good reason to believe they’d seen everything; but they all turned to look when Daniel Hyde walked in. He nodded politely to the scowling old vulture who ran the Purgatory, and had done since time immemoral. Old Man Trouble was a withered old stick, wearing nothing but a collection of black leather bondage straps, possibly to hold himself together. Time had scoured all the character out of his face, leaving nothing but hollows and shadows, and eyes sunk so deep they barely caught the light. But when Trouble smiled at Daniel and showed his teeth, it quickly became clear he could still be dangerous at need.
He extended a dried-up hand, so Daniel could kiss his ring. Daniel jerked the ring right off the finger and examined it, in case it might be worth something. The Gehenna Girls hissed angrily at him. The identical twin Goths were Trouble’s bodyguards, famine thin but burning with fierce energy. Their faces were so white Daniel thought at first it must be makeup, but it was just them. Long dark hair, black lipstick, and so much mascara they looked like pandas on the pull, the Gehenna Girls wore night-dark catsuits and their fingers ended in implanted steel blades. They started to rise from their seats, but quickly fell back again when Trouble looked at them.
“Not just yet, my little gore crows,” he said smoothly. “He is a Hyde, and must have his little ways.”
He caressed both Gehenna Girls impartially as he spoke, but they didn’t even glance at him. They kept their gaze fixed on Daniel, just in case Trouble decided to let them off the leash, and they could test the Hyde’s reputation for themselves. It was rumored they ate their kills.
Daniel tossed the ring back to Trouble, who caught it deftly and slipped it back onto his desiccated finger. One of the Gehenna Girls took the opportunity to slash the back of Daniel’s hand with her razor-sharp nails, and blood rose up in thin crimson lines. Daniel kept his eyes fixed on Trouble.
“I’m just visiting.”
“I didn’t ask,” said Trouble. “You want a drink, it’s on the house. Anything or anyone else, you pay standard rates.”
“I won’t be here long,” said Daniel.
Trouble showed his teeth in something that didn’t even try to be a smile.
“That’s what they all say.”
Daniel looked around the low-ceilinged room, his eyes easily piercing the smoky atmosphere, and made his way through the packed tables to a booth at the back, where someone was waiting for him. Scarlett had been on the game for most of her life, and it showed. She had to be in her late forties by now, with a handsome face and long red hair, and a certain shop-soiled glamor. She dressed in bright primary colors, and despite her easy smile she had the eyes of a predator.
“Thanks for coming,” she said, and put a hand on his thigh. He looked down, and she took it away.
“You were my best confidential informant, back when I was starting out,” said Daniel. “You knew everything, and everyone.”
“And you were wise enough to know you didn’t know anything,” said Scarlett.
“We had each other’s back,” said Daniel.
“Among other things,” said Scarlett.
“So,” said Daniel. “Why reach out to me? It’s not like you to need someone else’s help.”
She looked him over for a moment, as though considering making an offer.
“You look good. Being a Hyde suits you.”
And then she took in the scratches on the back of his hand, raised it to her mouth, and lapped at the scratches, her tongue rasping pleasantly against his skin. Because she knew what chemicals the Gehenna Girls used to smear their blades. They would have killed anyone who wasn’t a Hyde, and of course Scarlett wasn’t bothered because she’d used much worse in her time. Daniel let her finish, and then took his hand back.
“Why am I here?” he said.
“Because something bad is coming,” said Scarlett.
“Worse than a Hyde?”
“Maybe.”
Daniel smiled. “I never could resist a challenge.”
“I know,” said Scarlett.
They sat together, almost like old friends, as they waited for the Bad Thing to show up.
Daniel watched interestedly as Purgatory’s featured signer took the stage. She grabbed hold of the microphone stand as though she needed it to hold her up. The Nightingale was a terrible broken figure, her face a mess of scars. There were those who said she did it to herself because she wanted the outside to match the inside. She had gone all the way into the dark, and found hope waiting for her. Now she sang at the Purgatory, with a voice like a fallen angel, to tell everyone that if she could survive the darkness, so could they.
Daniel studied the club’s patrons, sitting quietly at their tables. The flotsam and jetsam of civilization’s underside—the sirens and the nephilim, the throwbacks and the mutants, the weird and the wonderful. The Purgatory was one of the few places where a Hyde could just sit quietly and be accepted, because everyone there had seen worse. Normal people were never admitted, no matter how extreme their fashions or fetishes. The Purgatory didn’t cater for tourists. It was just a watering hole for those who needed to get away from the everyday world, and its disapproving eyes.
Daniel gave Scarlett an impatient look, and she nodded slowly.
“The Purgatory is under threat, from something that wants to make the club its own personal feeding ground. The last of the great monsters: the Ghoul. Not the lesser creatures, used by the other monster clubs to clean up the messes they made; I know you already dealt with those. This is something that has learned to feed on the suffering of others. And the pain of the Purgatory’s patrons offers an endless feast.”
Daniel looked at her thoughtfully. “And you’re afraid of it?”
“We all are,” said Scarlett.
She broke off, as the club suddenly went quiet. Something was walking unhurriedly through the smoky air, drifting through the murk like a shark entering the shallows. Daniel sat up straight, and Scarlett’s hand clamped down hard on his arm, warning him to keep still and not draw attention to himself.
“I’m not worried,” said Daniel. “I’m a Hyde.”
“But that,” said Scarlett, “is the Grinning Ghoul.”
As the creature emerged from the curling smoke, Daniel could see how it got its name. The Ghoul’s mouth was stretched in an unrelenting smile so wide it would have been painful on a normal face. The head was hairless, the face pale as death, and it had no eyes—only empty sockets. But it could see. It still wore the suit it had been buried in, spotted with grave-mold and rotting away in places.
The Grinning Ghoul glided smoothly through the smoke as though moved by willpower rather than muscle. The patrons it passed flinched back, and turned their heads away. The Ghoul headed straight for Old Man Trouble, and the Gehenna Girls braced themselves, though they must have known there was nothing they could do. Trouble stabbed a finger at Daniel, and the Ghoul turned its empty gaze on him.
Daniel stood up. Scarlett edged away from him, and Daniel didn’t blame her. No one in Purgatory could face the Grinning Ghoul—because they all had too much pain to offer it. Daniel nodded easily to the Ghoul as it closed in on him, and stared right into its empty eye sockets.
“What manner of thing are you?” said the Ghoul, in a voice like dead leaves rustling in the gutter.
“I’m a Hyde,” said Daniel. “And there’s nothing in me for you to feed on, because I left all my pain behind me, in my old life.”
“Then what are you doing in a place like this, with things like these?” said the Ghoul.
“Looking out for an old friend,” said Daniel. “Because somebody has to.”
He hit the Grinning Ghoul so hard in the face the blow ripped the creature’s head right off its shoulders. The body just stood there, until Daniel put a hand on its chest and pushed it over backward. Daniel looked down at the head, which was still trying to say something. He stamped on it again and again, until the skull collapsed in on itself, and then he nodded easily to Old Man Trouble.
“Burn the head and the body separately, and then scatter the ashes in running water. That should take care of the problem.”
“What do I owe you?” said Trouble.
Daniel smiled. “On the house.”
He turned to leave, and Scarlett rose quickly to her feet.
“Looking for some company?”
Daniel stopped her with a glance. “Thank you. But I’m spoken for.”
He walked out of Purgatory and didn’t look back once. Because he knew he didn’t belong there.
Daniel’s old flat was a dingy second-floor walk-up in a permanently unfashionable part of town. He’d lost his key long ago, but he just gave the door a friendly shove and the lock exploded. He walked into a room full of shadows and looked around, taking his time. He’d been gone so long he barely recognised the place; or remembered the man who used to live there. Just another plainclothes policeman whose career hadn’t worked out the way he thought it should. Who’d gone head-to-head with the world for the best of reasons—and found out just how dirty the world could fight.
He drifted unhurriedly through the empty rooms, picking up things that used to mean something to him, and putting them down again because they didn’t anymore. He remembered the broken, crippled man who should have died after everything the Frankenstein Clan did to him, dragging himself painfully from room to room. Another person, in another life, left behind when Dr. Jekyll’s Elixir made him something better.
The flat felt cold and abandoned, like something he’d outgrown. The dusty gray chrysalis that produced a monstrous butterfly. He stopped before the mirror on the wall, half expecting to see his old Daniel Carter face looking back at him, only to find he was having trouble remembering what that man looked like. Daniel Hyde stared back out of the mirror: big and brutal, dark-haired and dark-eyed, handsome as the devil, larger than life and proud of it. His Savile Row suit emphasized the powerful form within, and his slow smile was a dark and dangerous thing. And then his reflection winked roguishly back at him.
“Feeling nostalgic, are we?” it said nastily. “For a life you hated, and a career that wasn’t worthy of you? Come on—you couldn’t wait to throw them away.”
“He was a man who believed in all the right things,” Daniel said steadily. “I’m still him; there’s just more of me now.”
“You’re a Hyde,” said his reflection. “A self-made monster who doesn’t have to care about the rules any more, because Hydes can do whatever they want and get away with it. What are you doing here, Daniel?”
“Reminding myself of my roots. Of all the things that made me who I am.”
“The Elixir made you what you are. Everything else was just the warm-up act. So: now you’ve killed all the monsters, and the big bad daddy figure . . . what are you going to do next?”
Daniel shrugged. “Damned if I know. Something worth doing.”
“Something good?” his reflection said archly. “I think we’ve moved on from that, haven’t we?”
It laughed at Daniel, loud and mocking, until he smashed the mirror with one blow from his fist. But there was no breaking of glass, no fragments falling to the floor, just a wall with a big crack in the plaster. Because there had never been a mirror on the wall.
Daniel turned away, and did his best to call up all his old dreams and ambitions: of becoming a policeman so he could protect people from the villains who preyed on them. To bring hope to all the dark places of the world. He still wanted to take down the bad guys, but in a more hands-on kind of way. He needed to feel their bones break and shatter in his hands, and smile as he watched the light go out in their eyes. He no longer had any faith in the law, not after the way it abandoned him. And yet . . . if he could do anything he wanted, and never have to worry about the consequences, what was there to keep him from becoming just like the monsters he’d fought so hard to destroy? His conscience, in a mirror that wasn’t really there? Daniel smiled briefly. He knew what Tina would say.
Hydes don’t do consciences.
He remembered her sumptuous apartment, in a much more upmarket area of London. Where every comfort and luxury came as standard, and the bills never came due. He’d spent a lot of time there with Tina, in and out of bed, but it had never once occurred to him to invite her back to his place. Not just because it would have made him feel very much the poor relation, but because it would have felt like a step backward.
To a life he’d walked out on, without thinking twice about it.
He left the flat, not bothering to close the door behind him because he had no intention of ever going back. The flat was his past, and he had to look to the future. He made his way across London, hardly seeing any of it, intent on his own thoughts. Until finally he found himself standing before the front entrance of the Jekyll & Hyde Inc. building. A pleasantly old-fashioned edifice with a businesslike façade, and the lower windows heavily tinted so no one could see in. He paused for a long moment, wondering why he’d come back. He finally decided it was because he missed the only person he could still talk to, who could understand what it meant to be a Hyde. He had no doubt Tina would be here, for the same reason as him. Because she didn’t have anywhere else to go.
Daniel kicked the door open and strode into the lobby. A great open space, with streams of light shining in through the higher windows, it was all very empty and very quiet. Daniel supposed he shouldn’t be too surprised. It wasn’t like Jekyll & Hyde Inc. was still a going concern, after everything he’d done to it. The lobby felt haunted—by the memory of the way things used to be.
He moved over to stand before the ornate wooden scroll on the wall, bearing a long list of company names. Jekyll & Hyde Inc. was right at the top, set proudly forth in dignified gold leaf. None of the other names were real, just covers for the various departments that served the bigger cause—everything from an extensive armory to tailors who could clothe an oversized Hyde body and still make it look stylish. But these days the departments were as empty as the lobby, their servants scattered to the four winds. Daniel smiled, as he remembered how he and Tina had beaten the hell out of them, after Edward pressed guns into their hands and drove them into the lobby, in one last desperate attempt to protect himself. Now the building was abandoned; for all practical purposes Daniel and Tina were Jekyll & Hyde Inc. If only they could decide what to do with it.
Daniel took the elevator up to the top floor, and made his way to Edward Hyde’s office. The reception area was all thick carpeting, bland art prints on the walls, and an oversized desk with no one left to sit behind it—because at the end Edward had killed and eaten his receptionist. Daniel breezed into the inner office and there was Tina, tearing the drawers out of the main desk, and searching quickly through their contents. She nodded briefly to him, before turning the drawers upside down to make sure there was nothing attached to the undersides.
“Why?” said Daniel.
“Because that’s where I would have hidden something,” she said.
“What are you looking for?”
“I’ll know it when I find it.”
Daniel nodded, and took his time looking around what had been a comfortably old-fashioned office . . . before he and Tina trashed it in their efforts to bring down Edward Hyde. Most of the furniture was still in pieces, and there were great scars in the walls. Daniel picked up an overturned chair, set it on its feet, and sat down. He remembered sitting on it when Edward offered him Dr. Jekyll’s Elixir, and changed his life forever. It didn’t seem that long ago.
Daniel crossed his legs, and fixed Tina with a speculative eye. “Do you really think you’re going to find something worth finding?”
“Don’t you?” said Tina. She threw the last desk drawer at a wall, with such force the heavy wood shattered into splinters. “Edward always was a great one for secrets. As we found out to our cost.”
“But why are you looking here,” said Daniel, “when he had a whole building to choose from?”
Tina planted her fists on her hips and glared around the office. “I had to start somewhere. What brings you back to the scene of so many crimes?”
“Probably the same reason as you. Two lost lambs, finding their way home.”
“This was never home,” said Tina. “Just somewhere we worked.”
“But our work is done,” said Daniel. “It died with the last of the monster Clans. So what do we do now? Hydes aren’t meant for retirement, and the easy life. We need a new challenge. Something we can sink our teeth into, deep enough to draw blood.”
“We could rebuild Jekyll & Hyde Inc. in our image,” said Tina.
“And do what with it?” said Daniel.
“There must be something else out there worth fighting!”
“But what’s left that’s worthy of a Hyde?” said Daniel.
Tina folded her arms under her magnificent bosom, and glowered at him sullenly. At six and a half feet tall, she was a few inches taller than Daniel, with a physique like a bodybuilder and the sleek grace of a predatory animal. She had gone back to her favorite business suit, complete with black string tie and a silver clasp in the shape of a skull. Just standing there, Tina looked seductive and glamorous and deadly as all hell. Every inch a Hyde, and loving it. Her great mane of crimson hair cascaded down around her shoulders, and her green eyes were unremittingly fierce. Her full mouth widened suddenly into a mocking grin.
“I suppose you’ve got something appallingly moral in mind.”
“We could rebuild this organization into a force for good,” said Daniel.
“Boring!” Tina said loudly. “You always were a Boy Scout at heart.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“We’re Hydes!” said Tina. “We’re not meant to be the good guys! We were made to hit people and break things!”
“All right,” said Daniel. “What do you think we should do?”
“Make a whole lot of money, while having as much fun as possible,” Tina said immediately. “We could rule this town, and have everyone bow down to us.”
“And end up a monster like Edward?” Daniel said carefully.
Tina’s smile disappeared. “We were always monsters. We were just better at it than the creatures we fought.”
Daniel rose to his feet, so he could glare into her face. “I did not fight my way through armies of Frankensteins, vampires, mummies, and werewolves just to become the enemy! We have to be better than that, or everything we’ve done has been for nothing!”
“Don’t you raise your voice to me!”
“What else can I do when you won’t listen!”
It didn’t matter which of them threw the first punch. They were Hydes, and all their arguments ended in a fight, or bed, or both. They hurled themselves at each other, and raged back and forth across the office, smashing through what was left of the furniture. They punched and kicked with vicious force, not bothering to dodge or defend themselves, because Hydes were built to take punishment. Finally, they slammed together like two runaway trains, and wrestled fiercely while sweat ran down their faces. They glared into each other’s eyes, but they were both grinning broadly.
There was no telling how long the fight might have gone on. There was always a sexual element to their violence, a seductive dance in their conflict; but in the end Daniel threw a punch, Tina ducked at the last moment, and his fist shot past her head to open up a large crack in the wall behind her. Daniel immediately stopped fighting. Tina sniffed, and lowered her fists.
“Just when I was starting to enjoy myself . . .”
“You’ll like this more,” said Daniel. “I think I’ve found what you were searching for.”
He gestured at the crack he’d made, and Tina grinned quickly as she took in the massive steel safe concealed inside the wall.
“I told you Edward was hiding something here . . .”
They tore the wall apart with their bare hands, until they’d opened up enough space to haul the safe out. It was heavy enough that when Daniel and Tina finally dropped it on the floor, the floorboards cracked. The safe was an old-fashioned affair, with thick steel walls and a blocky combination lock. Daniel looked at Tina.
“Did you see anything in the desk that might have been the combination?”
She shook her head quickly. “If I had, I’d have known to look for a safe, wouldn’t I?”
“Don’t get tetchy,” said Daniel. “I see a simple solution to our problem.”
He pulled back his fist and punched the combination lock so hard he separated the lock from the door and drove it back into the safe’s interior. After that, it was easy enough for Daniel and Tina to wrench the door open and inspect the safe’s contents. Which turned out to be one rather bulky file, and a laptop. Daniel and Tina checked hopefully for any valuables that might be lurking at the back, and then Tina sat down on the floor and flicked through the file, while Daniel opened the laptop and studied it dubiously.
“What could be so secret that Edward had to keep these things hidden inside a safe, inside a wall?”
“Information is always valuable,” Tina said absently.
“Could there be more monsters that he never got around to telling us about?”
“Try the laptop,” said Tina, not looking up.
“Probably password protected,” Daniel said gloomily. “Unless he wanted us to find this, after he was gone.”
Tina finally gave him her attention. “As in, last will and testament?”
“Or one last chance to manipulate us, like the vicious old puppet master he was.”
Daniel hit the power button, and the laptop screen lit up to show Edward Hyde grinning out at the world. That familiar ugly face, with the low brow and prominent bone structure, and the unrelentingly evil eyes. The recording started automatically, and Daniel and Tina tensed as they listened to their master’s voice.
“Hello, Daniel and Tina,” Edward said cheerfully. “If you’re seeing this, then I have failed to kill you and I am dead. However, while you may have won the battle, the war is far from over. Because as you probably already guessed, I didn’t tell you everything. Jekyll & Hyde Inc. was never just about fighting monsters. There are more dangers, lurking in the wings.
“The file you are no doubt currently clutching in your greedy little hands has all the details. Basically, nature abhors a vacuum, and supernature even more so. With the monsters gone, something else will inevitably emerge to take their place. So, what could be worse than monsters? Aliens. Driven to hide in the cracks of the world, and wait for their chance. We’re talking Martians, Bug-Eyed Monsters, Reptiloids, and Greys—the usual unusual suspects. And, of course, all the human crews that serve them.
“The only thing the monster Clans could agree on was to present a united front against the aliens, matching their every move with violence and sudden death, to make sure no alien force could ever invade our world. Because the monsters weren’t about to share their prey with anyone else. But if you’ve done your job, all the monsters are gone . . . so there’s no one left to bar the gates and barricade the doors.
“I found out about the aliens because each of them sent human emissaries to my office, to ask for Jekyll & Hyde Inc.’s help in their war against the monsters. You might wonder why any human would agree to serve creatures whose only purpose is to invade and destroy this world, but there’s always someone ready to do anything, for money and the promise of power. A few did turn out to be True Believers, who worshipped their alien masters as supreme beings; they seemed more alien to me than the creatures they served. I would set this whole world on fire, rather than give up one inch of it to aliens. For all my sins, I have always been a very human monster.”
He frowned for a moment, considering. “My only real regret is that none of the aliens ever turned up in person. I’ve fought everything else this world had to offer. And I always did wonder what alien flesh would taste like . . . Perhaps you’ll get a chance to find out.”
He grinned out of the screen, happy as some medieval gargoyle. “The human emissaries offered me money, weapons, power . . . but I already had all of those, and I always knew that even the highest kind of servant is still a servant. Once the human agents realized I was never going to agree, they turned to threats—against my organization, my people . . . even me personally. I just laughed in their faces. I’d spent more than a century plotting the destruction of the monster Clans, and savoring the thought of their deaths. I wasn’t about to share that pleasure with anyone.
“The only thing that stopped me sending the agents’ severed heads back to their masters as a warning . . . was that I had no idea where the aliens were. They weren’t stupid enough to send me an agent who knew. Any of them would have given up their masters in a moment, after the things I did to them.
“So I sent my people out into London’s underworld, to sniff out what traces there might be. They brought back whispers of very secret clubs where people went to fight aliens, or bargain for their technology, or have sex with them. People are strange. And bit by bit, rumor by rumor, I began to assemble a picture of the alien presence in London. Of who and what the aliens were, and how they might be stopped...and slowly and remorselessly I drew my plans against them. All the terrible things I would do . . . once I’d finished off the monster Clans.
“I always knew there was a chance I might not live to see that, but I have no doubt you will take up my war against the aliens. Because if you don’t go after them, they will come for you, striking from the shadows and howling for your blood. Because they know you are all that’s left, to stand between them and Humanity. So: kill them all, my children. Wade in their blood and glory in their destruction. Because that’s what Hydes are for.”
He laughed cheerfully, like the monster he was, and he was still laughing when Daniel slammed the lid down and shut him off. He looked at Tina.
“Martians? Really?”
“There’s a whole chapter on them in this file,” said Tina. “Apparently, what’s left of the Martian civilization was driven underground long ago, and that’s why none of our probes ever found them.”
“I get that,” said Daniel. “But . . . Martians? Really?”
“Isn’t that what you used to say about vampires and werewolves?” said Tina. “Though to be fair, I always thought Bug-Eyed Monsters only existed in old-time movies.”
Daniel frowned. “I have heard stories about Greys and Reptiloids, but I always thought that was just more conspiracy bullshit.”
“If monsters can be real, why not aliens?” said Tina.
Daniel sighed wistfully. “If there had to be aliens, why couldn’t they be happy little space friends, like ET?”
“I always thought he was seriously creepy,” said Tina. “Like a scrotum with eyes. Look on the bright side: we have a new war! You did say we needed a new challenge.”
“This isn’t quite what I had in mind.”
Daniel put the laptop down on the safe, and made a mental note to check through its files later, just in case Edward had a few other surprises tucked away. Daniel wasn’t opposed to kicking the crap out of the alien menace, but he did wonder if fighting bad guys was all he and Tina had in common. What would happen to them, if they ran out of enemies? Would he have to create some new ones, just to hold them together? Daniel considered a life of never-ending wars, and smiled briefly. She was worth it.
He sat down on the floor beside Tina, and the two of them flipped swiftly through the file’s pages. It seemed all the aliens had established secret bases on Earth, to prepare for their coming invasions. The only reason they never happened was because the aliens had been too busy fighting and sabotaging each other. Which was just as well, because the file seemed pretty certain all of Earth’s armies put together didn’t have the weapons or resources to stop them. Jekyll & Hyde Inc.’s various departments had argued that they should locate all the alien bases as a matter of urgency, and wipe out every alien they could find—to send a message that Earth was too dangerous to invade. But Edward just kept putting them off, so he could concentrate on his vendetta against the monster Clans.
Daniel sat back and shook his head slowly.
“When we destroyed Jekyll & Hyde Inc. as well as the Clans, we left Humanity defenseless against the aliens.”
“Hydes don’t do guilt,” said Tina. “But we can do retaliation. Suddenly and violently and all over the place.”
“Do we need to rebuild the organization, before we can take on the aliens?”
“I don’t see why,” said Tina. “We took down all the monster Clans on our own.”
“With the assistance of the Hyde armory,” said Daniel.
“We should take a look at what’s in there,” said Tina. “I’m betting we could lay our hands on all kinds of seriously unpleasant things. Especially now there’s no armorer to slap our wrists and shout Don’t touch! But first . . . I think we need to go up to the roof.”
Daniel looked at her. “Why? So you can show me the kingdoms of the world, and say All of this can be yours?”
Tina grinned at him. “Something like that.”
She broke open a concealed door at the back of the office, that opened onto a narrow stairway. Daniel followed her up the steps to a tall standing door that protruded from the roof like a turret; he couldn’t help noticing that the door was extremely solid, with heavy bolts on the inside. Edward always did take his security seriously.
The roof itself was a great open expanse, flat and featureless, apart from a massive air-conditioning unit that glowered over the scene like some technological gargoyle. Steel spikes protruded from the sides, and it muttered menacingly to itself. Daniel gave the whole thing plenty of room, just on general principles.
More rooftops stretched away in all directions, but Jekyll & Hyde Inc.’s was taller by far, allowing an uninterrupted view on every side. Daniel was pretty sure that was no accident. The stars were out in the deep dark night, along with a cold and watchful half-moon. A chill wind was blowing, though neither Daniel nor Tina would lower themselves to shiver. Tina strode across the roof, and Daniel ambled along after her.
“You’ve been up here before, haven’t you?”
“Edward liked to bring me up here,” said Tina. “So he could show me London in all its ancient pomp and majesty—and then piss on it.”
She didn’t stop until she was standing right on the edge of the roof, with her toes protruding out over the long drop, and Daniel had no choice but to stand beside her. He wriggled his toes cautiously, maintaining his balance despite all the gusting wind could do to nudge him forward. He looked down, and the street seemed so far away it might have been another world.
Tina waved a casual hand at the cityscape of London. All the proud edifices and ancient monuments, skyscrapers and cathedrals, houses and offices, bars and clubs; and the endless maze of narrow streets connecting everything, that hadn’t changed much in centuries.
“So many candles lit against the darkness,” she said. “So many people going about their everyday lives, never knowing what lurks in the shadows. Just as well. If they knew all the things we’d saved them from they’d only get clingy.”
“What are we doing up here?” said Daniel.
“Jekyll & Hyde Inc. became much more than it was ever meant to be,” Tina said carefully. “Edward only ever thought of it as his own private army, but as it acquired more and more departments, its aims and abilities become more ambitious. It could have been a contender, leading the way in business and influence. And it still could. Why waste our time fighting aliens, when we could just as easily set them at each other’s throats and let them do all the fighting, while we build something for ourselves? Look at that view, Daniel! All of it could be ours, to do with as we please.”
“But how could we ever relax and enjoy ourselves, knowing aliens were planning to destroy it all?” said Daniel. “Besides . . . fighting the monsters was fun. Think of how much more fun we could have fighting aliens.”
Tina laughed suddenly. “You always know the right thing to say, Daniel. What do you think we should do?”
“Find the alien bases,” said Daniel. “And then stamp them flat, to send a message: Behave yourselves, or the nasty Hydes will come and get you.”
“That does sound like a good time,” said Tina. She looked out across the view and frowned slightly, as though she thought something might be staring back at her. “But eventually, we will run out of things to fight . . . and then, all of this could be ours. To play with till it breaks.”
“You’re still listening to Edward’s ghost,” said Daniel.
Tina frowned suddenly. “I can hear something . . .”
They both stepped back from the edge, and Daniel turned his head slowly back and forth.
“There’s something out there,” he said, “and it’s heading our way. Helicopters—lots of them. But I’m not seeing any navigation lights. Why would a fleet of helicopters be flying undercover at this time of night?”
“I’m getting a seriously bad feeling about this,” said Tina.
A dozen attack helicopters came sweeping in out of the night. Big black ships, bristling with weapons. Spotlights stabbed down, tracking back and forth across the roof until they found the two Hydes and pinned them in place, like insects mounted on a board. Daniel and Tina had to raise their arms to shield their eyes, while the downdraft from the pounding rotor blades sent them staggering back and forth. Until Daniel and Tina dug their heels in and refused to be moved. They dropped their arms and glared defiantly back into the spotlights; and the helicopters opened fire.
Heavy machine guns raked the rooftop, filling the night with the roar of massed gunfire. But Daniel and Tina were already gone, racing for cover behind the massive air-conditioning unit. Machine-gun fire followed them all the way, the heavy-jacketed bullets digging trenches in the rooftop before finally slamming into the unit. It shook and shuddered under the sustained fire, while Daniel and Tina crouched behind it. The helicopters spread out, sweeping around the roof so they could come at the Hydes from different directions. Heavy gunfire hammered into the air-conditioning unit, blowing it away piece by piece.
Daniel shook his head hard, half deafened by the ceaseless gunfire, and looked quickly around him. The standing door was within reach, but he could tell even his Hyde speed wouldn’t get him there before the machine guns found him. He was equally sure that if he just stayed put, the guns would chew their way right through the air-conditioning unit, and sooner rather than later. So he grabbed one of the steel spikes protruding from the unit’s side, hauled it out, stood up and threw it at the nearest helicopter.
The bulky javelin flashed through the air and slammed into the helicopter’s rotors. There was a sudden explosion, a burst of fire and smoke, and one of the blades broke off and flew away, spinning end over end. The helicopter lurched to one side as the pilot struggled to compensate, and then it dropped out of the night and slammed into the roof. The nose dug in first, then the body tilted forward, and the remaining rotor blades tore themselves apart as they hammered against the roof. There was another explosion, and the whole craft went up in flames. Burning fuel splashed across the rooftop, and the sea of flames cast a flickering crimson glare to push back the spotlights.
Bullets came howling in from three different directions, and Daniel dropped out of sight again. Tina tore a spike out of the air-conditioning unit, popped her head above the unit, and threw the spike with all her strength. It smashed through the windscreen of an approaching helicopter and punched right through the pilot in his seat. The helicopter slewed sideways and slammed into a second craft, and both attack ships immediately went up in flames, before dropping to the roof like burning birds.
Tina crouched down beside Daniel and raised a hand to high-five him, but he was intent on another helicopter sweeping round in search of a better line of fire. He pointed urgently at the standing door, and Tina nodded quickly. They both ran for it, trusting to the chaos of the crashed gunships to buy them enough time to get there. But another helicopter rose up past the roof’s edge, just beyond the standing door, and opened fire on the Hydes. Bullet after bullet slammed into Daniel and Tina, punching them this way and that and forcing them away from the door; but neither of them fell.
Blood and gore soaked the front of Daniel’s clothes, and he howled with rage as the bullets kept coming. He turned to face the helicopter, lowered his head, and bulled his way forward despite all the guns could do to stop him, refusing to be slowed or turned aside. He cried out in pain despite himself as more and more bullets slammed into him, and his blood spurted thickly, but he made himself concentrate on the attack ship looming up before him. And when he was close enough he leapt into the air, and landed on the front of the helicopter.
He clung to the armored nose with both arms, and then hauled himself forward until he was kneeling right in front of the windscreen. He glared at the terrified pilot, and then grinned savagely at the horror in the man’s eyes. He punched through the heavy windscreen, and thrust his arm in. He grabbed hold of the pilot, and safety straps tore like paper as Daniel hauled him out of his seat. The man cried out in shock and horror as Daniel dragged him through the shattered windscreen, snarled into his face, and then threw him away, laughing in sheer exhilaration as the pilot screamed all the way down the side of the building to the street below.
Daniel held on tight as the helicopter yawed back and forth, with no one at the controls. One of the attack ship’s gunners howled like a terrorized animal as he tried to fight his way forward, to get to the controls. He aimed his pistol through what was left of the windscreen, but the helicopter dropped sharply and dove toward the roof. The gunman fell backward, firing into the ceiling, and Daniel jumped away from the helicopter as it augured in. He landed in a crouch, his leg muscles easily absorbing the impact, just as the helicopter smashed into the rooftop. A billowing fireball rose up, and spread out to engulf Daniel. He closed his eyes against the awful heat and walked steadily forward out of the flames, only opening them again when he felt the cold night air caress his face. And then he slapped out the flames on his charred suit, and looked around to see what Tina was getting up to.
Attack gunships swept back and forth across the roof like panicked birds, all sense of plan and purpose lost. Spotlights jabbed this way and that while the guns kept up their constant chatter, but the helicopters had to keep breaking away to avoid crashing into each other. One spotted Tina by the standing door, and she waved cheerfully, allowing the gunship to target her. Chattering ammunition dug a deep trench in the rooftop as the stream of bullets stitched a path to her. Tina ran straight into the gunfire, shrugging off repeated impacts and flurries of blood as she closed in on the helicopter. Its nose came up sharply as it fought to gain some height. Tina leapt into the air and grabbed an underside runner with one hand. She hung beneath the helicopter as it swayed this way and that, thrown off-balance by her added weight. A machine gunner leaned out the side door and aimed his gun at Tina, but she reached up, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out the door. She threw him at the rooftop with all her strength, and his scream broke off as he hit hard enough to break every bone in his body.
The helicopter bucked and swayed as the pilot tried to shake Tina off, but she just reached up with her free hand, grabbed the fuel lines running under the fuselage, and ripped them away. Fuel jetted out, steaming thickly on the cool night air. The helicopter’s engines coughed and failed, and the attack ship dropped toward the roof. Tina waited till her feet made contact with the roof and then she braced herself, took a firm hold on the runner, and shook the helicopter the way a dog shakes a rat. The crew screamed horribly as they were slammed against the interior walls, and Tina laughed happily. One of the gunners leaned out the side door and emptied his machine pistol into Tina’s chest at point-blank range. She held onto the steel runner, even though her whole body bucked and heaved as bullets tore into her. Blood spurted thickly, from too many wounds to count. Tina cried out despite herself, but wouldn’t give up her hold. The gunner finally ran out of ammunition; and Tina was still there. She showed him a smile with blood on her teeth, raised her free hand, and punched him so hard in the face that his features exploded and her fist got stuck inside his head. When she jerked her hand free, the gunner’s dead body came tumbling out the doorway after it. Tina took a firm hold on the steel runner and hammered the helicopter against the roof again and again until the fuselage collapsed in on itself.
Another helicopter came sweeping in, all guns blazing. Tina took cover behind the wreckage of the one she’d crippled, and then lifted the whole thing off the roof with one quick jerk. She threw it at the advancing gunship, grunting out loud with the effort. The two helicopters exploded in a single great fireball that lit up the night with hellfire. A rotor blade broke away from one craft, and came spinning end over end across the roof, heading for Tina like a giant buzzsaw. The blade dug deep furrows in the rooftop, but even that barely slowed it down. Tina stood her ground until the blade was almost upon her, and then stepped nimbly aside at the last moment; the blade shot past her and disappeared over the edge of the roof.
Tina put back her head and howled like a wolf. Daniel moved in beside her, and joined his voice with hers. The savage cry of Hydes at war. They moved to stand back-to-back in the middle of the roof, blood coursing thickly down from their many wounds to form a great pool at their feet. They glared defiantly at the remaining helicopters, and the gunships broke off their attack and shot up into the night sky, out of the Hydes’ reach. They hovered over Daniel and Tina, their combined downdraft holding the Hydes where they were. And then all the helicopter doors slid open, ropes were thrown out, and a small army of mercenary soldiers came rappelling down.
Their uniforms had no identifying marks or insignia; nothing to give away who they were, or who they worked for. The soldiers opened fire the moment their boots hit the rooftop, and the sheer impact of so much firepower was enough to drive the Hydes backward. Bullets raked Daniel and Tina from head to foot, and blood fountained on the air.
Daniel urged Tina toward the standing door, and moved quickly after her, shielding her body with his own. Bullets hammered into his back again and again. He struggled on, light-headed from blood loss and pain, but damned if he’d let that stop him. He yelled to Tina to hurry, and she’d almost reached the door when it suddenly burst open, and more soldiers came storming out onto the roof. Tina shouted back to Daniel:
“Throw me!”
Daniel grabbed her by the hips, lifted her into the air, and threw her at the soldiers with all his strength. She slammed into them like a wrecking ball, sending broken bodies flying in all directions. Some of the guns kept firing, with dead fingers on the triggers, cutting down their own people.
Daniel was quickly in and among the few mercenaries still standing, striking them down with vicious force before they could aim their guns. Tina lurched back onto her feet, and she and Daniel plunged through the open doorway. The last of the massed gunfire punched hole after bloody hole in their backs, until Daniel could slam the door shut behind them and force home the heavy bolts, and then he and Tina collapsed at the top of the stairwell.
They sat slumped against the bullet-pocked walls, shaking and shuddering and breathing strenuously. Their ragged clothes were soaked in blood, running down to pool around them. Daniel had to grit his teeth to keep from groaning aloud. He hadn’t hurt this badly since the Frankensteins did a job on him. The heavy door jumped and trembled in its frame as the mercenaries opened up on it with everything they had, but the door held. Daniel smiled tiredly. Edward Hyde had never been one to stint on materials, when it came to guarding his back.
Daniel was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open. His head fell forward and sweat dripped steadily from his face onto the floor, tinted with blood. He’d thought nothing could touch him now he was a Hyde, but a fleet of helicopter gunships and an army of heavily-armed mercenaries had proved him wrong. He raised a trembling hand to examine the aching wounds in his chest, and his fingers came away dripping with gore. But he was still alive, when anyone else would have been dead a hundred times over. Daniel frowned as he heard a quiet tink-tink sound; when he looked down he saw flattened bullets being forced out of his wounds, and falling onto the stairwell floor. Daniel laughed softly, and the pain surged up viciously, but for the first time he thought there was a real chance he might just walk away from this.
He forced himself up onto his feet, in a series of carefully considered stages, and once he was up Tina’s pride wouldn’t allow her to do any less. She had to press her weight against the wall to do it, leaving a bloody smear on the bullet-riddled plaster, but eventually the Hydes stood together, swaying slightly. Daniel looked down the stairs, and they seemed to stretch endlessly away before him. But he made himself clatter down the steps, and Tina went with him.
“Tell me we are not running away,” she said hoarsely. Her face was deathly pale behind the bloody streaks, and she was hugging herself tightly, as though trying to hold herself together.
“Of course we’re not running,” said Daniel. “We’re just advancing toward a better place to fight back from.”
“I can live with that,” said Tina.
They continued down the stairs, leaving a trail of crimson smears behind them, followed by a thunder of sustained gunfire as bit by bit the mercenary soldiers demolished the standing door.
Daniel and Tina lurched out of the stairwell and into Edward’s office, and Daniel locked the door behind them. It actually felt heavier than the one on the roof, but even as Daniel slammed the bolts home, he could make out a great many footsteps descending the stairs. He grabbed hold of Edward’s massive desk—and then swore viciously as he discovered he couldn’t move the heavy weight on his own. He needed Tina’s help to force it over to the door, and then wedge it into position. Daniel looked blearily around him, and then forced himself away from the desk and headed for the door. Tina moved in beside him, and they leaned heavily on each other as they staggered out of the office, through the reception area, and on into the corridor.
“Elevators?” said Tina.
“Better not,” said Daniel. “The mercenaries might cut the cables. I’m not sure even we could survive a drop like that.”
Tina managed a ghost of her old smile. “Might be fun to try, someday.”
“Business before pleasure,” said Daniel. “I need to survive, if I’m going to take my revenge on these bastards.”
“And whatever bastards sent them,” said Tina.
“Good point,” said Daniel. “Listen! Do you hear that?”
“The soldiers are getting closer,” said Tina.
“We have to keep moving,” said Daniel.
“The stairs,” said Tina. “If they can’t see us, they might stop looking for us.”
“Worth a try,” said Daniel.
They made their way down to the next floor. Every time Daniel’s foot crashed against a step, waves of pain juddered through him, but Tina wasn’t making a sound so he couldn’t. He paused at the door to the next level, and Tina stopped to listen with him, but it wasn’t long before they heard heavy footsteps hammering down the stairs after them.
“Bastards,” said Tina.
“Someone has put a lot of thought into this attack,” said Daniel.
“When I find out who, they’re going to wish they hadn’t,” said Tina. “Next floor?”
“Worth a try,” said Daniel.
But by the time they reached the next door the mercenaries had already closed the gap.
“Oh come on!” said Tina. “Can’t we get a break?”
“Determined little soldiers of fortune, aren’t they?” said Daniel. He grinned suddenly. “Let’s give them a run for their money, and see just how determined they are.”
Tina grinned back at him as she got the idea. “There’s a lot of stairs between us and the lobby, and I’m ready to bet the soldiers will be in much worse shape than us when they finally catch up.”
The Hydes summoned up the last of their resources and raced down one set of stairs after another, faster than any human could have managed. Daniel still hurt like hell, but he was starting to feel like himself again. The pursuing footsteps fell farther and farther behind, and finally died away completely. Some of the more optimistic mercenaries leaned out over the handrails and sprayed bullets down the stairwell, but none of them came close to hitting their targets.
Daniel finally burst through the last door and into the lobby, with Tina right there at his side. And then they both stopped dead, as they discovered the lobby was packed full of mercenaries. For a moment both sides just stood and stared at each other—and then all the soldiers opened fire at once. The sheer impact of so many bullets threw Daniel off his feet and left him lying sprawled on his back. Tina crouched protectively over him, snarling defiantly as more bullets hammered into her. One soldier threw a grenade, and it landed right at Daniel’s feet. Tina threw herself on top of it, just as the grenade exploded. Her Hyde body absorbed most of the blast, but it was still enough to toss her through the air and leave her lying dazed on the floor beside Daniel.
Fortunately, the explosion also filled the lobby with smoke, hiding Daniel and Tina from their enemies. They helped each other up, and then leaned heavily on each other for support as they glared around into the smoke. They were both soaked with fresh blood that was pattering heavily onto the parquet floor, but Daniel was sure he could feel his wounds healing, even if the pain was so bad he could barely breath. He nodded brusquely to Tina.
“When I say run, we run right at the bastards. Get in among them before they can aim their guns, and then see how many of them we can take with us.”
“Sounds like a plan to me, Sundance,” said Tina. “How many are there, do you think?”
“Too many,” said Daniel.
“No such thing,” said Tina.
And that was when a trapdoor dropped open in the ceiling right over their heads, and a voice shouted down to them.
“Get your arses up here, before those soldiers make a meal of you!”
Daniel grabbed Tina and tossed her up and through the trapdoor, and she shot through without even touching the sides. Daniel jumped up after her, but only had enough strength left to grab the side of the opening with one hand. He snarled at his own weakness, forced himself up and through, and then closed the trapdoor and slammed the bolts home.
He lay on his back beside the trapdoor, breathing hoarsely. Tina sat slumped forward, her head hanging down. The trapdoor shook and shuddered as a great many bullets tore into it from below, but the door held off the attack with contemptuous ease. The massed gunfire died away, and Daniel slowly allowed himself to relax. In the sudden quiet, he could hear more tink-tink noises as his healing wounds forced more bullets out.
After a while, Daniel rose slowly and painfully to his feet, and reached out a hand to pull Tina up beside him. He looked around and realized they were inside the Hyde armory. A massive warehouse that took up most of the building’s first floor, the great maze of open shelves and display cases were packed with all kinds of weird and wonderful weapons. Daniel smiled slowly.
“We should be able to find something here to ruin the mercenaries’ day.”
Tina spat out a mouthful of blood, and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth.
“Find me a gun,” she said thickly. “I want a really big gun, with poisoned bullets.”
“I’m not seeing anyone to ask,” said Daniel.
“I heard a voice,” said Tina. “Didn’t you hear a voice?”
“I definitely heard someone,” said Daniel. And then he gestured urgently at Tina. “Listen . . . They’ve stopped shooting.”
“Why would they do that?” said Tina.
Daniel shrugged, and then stopped because it hurt too much.
“Maybe they ran out of bullets. They have been firing them off like there’s no tomorrow.”
“Wouldn’t do them any good anyway,” said Tina. “This armory was constructed to keep really dangerous stuff from getting out, so it should be strong enough to keep a few soldiers for hire from getting in.”
“Emphasis on the word should,” said Daniel. “I’m not feeling as optimistic as I used to be. I hate to admit it, but we got a little too cocky up on the roof. We could have died up there.”
“Emphasis on the could have,” said Tina.
And then the whole armory shook from end to end, in response to a series of explosions from outside. Daniel and Tina ended up lying facedown on the floor, as one tremendous blast after another shook the building. Daniel held Tina to him, his arms wrapped protectively around her, as the floor rose and fell and dangerous items were thrown off the shelves. The lights flickered, and some of them went out. Dust fell from the ceiling in a series of sudden rushes. Finally, the explosions came to an end, and the shelves stopped rocking.
Tina sat up, and threw off Daniel’s arms. “I do not need protecting!”
“Next time, you can protect me,” said Daniel.
Tina smiled briefly. “I’m not sure we could survive a next time.”
They helped each other back onto their feet, and looked around them. Everything seemed very still.
“Is that it?” said Tina. “Is it over?”
“I hate to think there might be something else they could throw at us,” said Daniel.
“It’s so quiet . . . Do you think the soldiers have left?” said Tina. “I mean, you know I’m always up for a good fight, but those odds and that many weapons took a lot of the fun out of it.”
Daniel hadn’t realized how shaken Tina was, until he heard her admit to such a thought.
“How are you feeling?” he said.
“Fine,” she said immediately. “It’ll take more than a few explosions and a hailstorm of bullets to put me off my game. You?”
“I’ve got my second wind,” said Daniel. “Let’s go back down into the lobby, and see what’s going on.”
“Good idea,” said Tina. “They might have left someone behind for me to hit.”
Daniel pulled back the bolts on the trapdoor, hauled it open, and then stood quickly back out of range, just in case anything might come flying up. Daniel gave it a moment and then leaned cautiously forward to peer down through the opening. There was a lot of smoke drifting around, but no one reacted to his appearance. He dropped down through the gap, with Tina only a moment behind him. They glared quickly around them, braced for action, but the lobby was deserted.
The smoke started to clear, and Daniel growled loudly as he took in the sheer scale of the mercenaries’ destruction. The walls were riddled with bullet holes, and the floor and ceiling were horribly scarred from shrapnel and blast damage. The wooden scroll of names had been mostly blown off the wall, so that only the top part remained; the gold-leaf lettering of Jekyll & Hyde Inc. was so scorched as to be almost unreadable. The interior doors had been blown off their hinges, and Daniel could hear fires burning deeper inside the building.
“I’m not seeing any bodies,” Tina said quietly. “The soldiers took their dead with them when they left.”
“Probably so they couldn’t be identified,” said Daniel.
“All this, and we don’t even know who did it to us,” said Tina.
“We’ll find out,” said Daniel.
He headed for the front door, hanging half out of its frame on shattered hinges, and Tina fell in beside him. They burst through the doorway, ready for anything . . . but the street was empty. Nothing moved in the dull amber streetlight. Broken glass crunched under Daniel’s feet as he stepped slowly forward. All the lights in the surrounding buildings had been turned off, as though no one wanted to attract attention to themselves. Daniel frowned, as he realized the sound of crackling flames was actually louder outside the building. He turned around and must have made some kind of sound, because Tina immediately turned to look too.
The Jekyll & Hyde Inc. building was a wreck. Most of the windows had been shattered, and the entire frontage was cracked or bowed out. Fires blazed from windows up and down the length of the structure. The mercenaries had set explosives in just the right places. The rooftop was a mess, nothing but shattered concrete and protruding bent steel girders. Thick smoke billowed up into the night sky.
“Someone really doesn’t like us,” said Tina.
“This was a preemptive strike,” Daniel said flatly, “by one of the alien groups. They must have decided we were bound to come after them now all the monsters are dead, and decided to get their retaliation in first.”
“All our strength,” said Tina, “and we still couldn’t stop them.”
“It’s not enough to be strong anymore,” said Daniel. “We have to be smart. Still, look on the bright side.”
Tina tore her gaze away from the devastated building to stare at him.
“There’s a bright side?”
“They couldn’t kill us,” said Daniel. “And they tried really hard.”
“Trust me, I remember,” said Tina. “I’m going to be digging bullets out of my arse for weeks.”
Several ungallant comments passed through Daniel’s mind, but he had enough sense not to say any of them.
“So,” said Tina. “What are we going to do? What can we do, now the aliens have blown Jekyll & Hyde Inc. off the map?”
“All they destroyed was a building,” said Daniel. “We are Jekyll & Hyde Inc., in every way that matters. And, we still have the armory.”
Tina brightened. “A whole warehouse full of nasty weapons and horribly destructive dirty tricks. Just what we need to express our extreme displeasure to the aliens. Suddenly, I feel a whole lot better.”
“Thought you might,” said Daniel. He glanced up and down the conspicuously deserted street. “I think it’s going to be a while before any of the authorities show up. No police, no fire engines, no ambulances . . . Because a full-on assault by a fleet of helicopter gunships, backed by mercenary soldiers, couldn’t happen in the middle of London unless some very high-up people were warned and paid off in advance.”
“At least that should give us some time, to search the armory for everything we’re going to need to bring the hammer down on all the alien bases,” said Tina. “No one does this to us and gets away with it.”
“I still want to know who called out to us from inside the armory and saved our lives,” said Daniel.
Tina frowned. “We’re the only Hydes left; everyone else ran away.”
“Apparently not everyone,” said Daniel. He smiled briefly. “I suppose it could have been the ghost of Edward Hyde.”
Tina shook her head firmly. “Hydes don’t do ghosts.”