Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [12]
She studied the box. It certainly looked like a jewellery box, about the size of a small travel trunk, made of dark wood with silver buckles and ornate swirls along each side. She turned the box so that the upright lid would hide what was inside from any prying eyes, and then slowly, carefully opened it.
‘Another box,’ she whispered. But this one was smooth, featureless, metal and cold to the touch.
Refrigerated. There had to be some kind of small power unit or battery inside.
Her gloved fingers found a catch on the side and gently slid it back. Something inside the box clicked and the lid slowly raised with a barely audible hiss. A shallow fog of nitrogen wafted out of the box revealing a row of eight glass tubes, each six inches long and a couple of inches wide. She eased one of the glass tubes out of its holder and, still shielded by the lid of the jewellery box, inspected it closely. Through the glass she could see the murky pink growth solution and the faint pale outline of a curled-up human foetus.
‘Hello there, little baby Bobs!’ she cooed softly, waggling her fingers down at the frozen embryo. ‘Auntie Maddy’s here.’
The conversation in the corner was getting quite animated. Clearly Leighton had a passion for new-fangled things like steam ships and automobiles. And Liam was playing along nicely.
Well done, Liam.
She placed the glass tube back and closed the lid of the refrigerated case, lifting it out of the jewellery box and into her bag. She was about to close the lid of the jewellery box when she spotted a scrap of paper at the bottom. What she saw on it made her heart lurch.
Her name.
A note for me?
She reached in and picked it up. Just a folded scrap of paper, a few words scrawled hurriedly on it.
Maddy, look out for ‘Pandora’, we’re running out of time. Be safe and tell no one.
‘How’re you doin’, my dear sister?’ called out Liam.
‘I’m good,’ she replied, grabbing the scrap of paper, balling it up and tucking it into one of her gloves. She closed the box and lifted it back into the locker, much lighter now. She closed the door. ‘I’m all done here, Mr Leighton!’
‘Ah, splendid!’ He came over with his jangling keys and locked the deposit box for her.
‘Everything all right?’
She glanced at Liam making a silly face at her over Leighton’s shoulder.
‘Yes … yes, just fine, thank you.’
A minute later they were exiting the bank on to Minna Street once more, Liam holding the bag for her.
‘Nice enough chap,’ he said.
She turned to look at him. ‘A dozen hours from now he’ll be dead.’
‘Dead?’
‘Yes, dead. That’s why the instructions said to ask for him specifically.’ She’d figured that out on the way back up the stairs. Because if anything happened, if the young man had caught a glimpse of anything inside the box, or heard either of them say anything suspicious … well, he’d hardly have time to do anything with that knowledge, would he? The agency once again cleverly covering its tracks.
‘Jaayyzz. That seems not right to me,’ uttered Liam. ‘Not to warn him somehow.’
Maddy didn’t like it either. ‘It’s how it is, Liam. It’s how it is.’
As they walked up Minna Street towards the main thoroughfare, Liam attempted to lift the mood. ‘You got our little babies?’
She nodded. ‘All in there. Baby Popsicles.’
‘Baby what?’
CHAPTER 7
2015, Texas
Edward Chan and the rest of the touring party sat in the visitors’ reception room, munching on doughnuts and breakfast bagels and slurping orange juice from cartons as their tour guide, Mr Kelly, gave them an introductory presentation.
‘The Texas Advanced Energy Research Institute … or TERI, as we call it for short, was established three years ago in 2012 when President Obama was re-elected. As you youngsters have been taught in school, the world is entering a new, tough and very challenging time. The world’s population is nearly eight billion, carbon emissions have gone off the chart, the world’s traditional energy