Higher Institute of Villainous Education (15 page)

‘Oh, just a slightly modified gene here, a bit of judicious cross-pollination there. You know, the usual.’ Nigel looked as if he was going to burst with pride.

‘She’s amazing, Nigel, just amazing,’ Otto said, unable to tear his eyes away from the final moments of the unfortunate worm’s existence.

‘I haven’t shown her to Ms Gonzales yet. I’m worried that they might
experiment
on her. So you mustn’t tell anyone, OK?’ He fixed them with a serious look – this was clearly very important to him.

‘My lips are sealed, Nigel, don’t worry.’ Otto reminded himself that after this evening he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone else at H.I.V.E. about Violet, even if he wanted to.

‘You can count on my discretion,’ Wing said seriously, ‘as long as you promise never to feed her in front of me again.’

‘Thanks, guys,’ Nigel smiled again, ‘I really appreciate it. You know how badly I’m doing in my other classes. I don’t want to mess up Biotech as well. I just wish I could show her to my mum, she’d be so proud.’

Otto felt a familiar twinge of guilt. On more than one occasion he and Wing had sat discussing late into the night whether or not they should take Nigel with them when they left. Unfortunately they just kept coming to the same conclusion – Nigel was a liability. There was no way that he’d be able to keep up with them when they made their break for it – he would just slow them down in a situation where speed would be everything. It didn’t stop Otto from feeling terrible that they were going to be leaving the small bald boy behind.

‘She’s only two days old. You should see the rate she’s been growing, and she hasn’t stopped yet. In a few weeks’ time you won’t recognise her.’ Nigel looked proudly at the plant, which seemed to have gone quite still. ‘She always rests after a kill,’ he explained. ‘Doesn’t she look cute?’

Otto thought that this was probably his and Wing’s cue to leave.

‘Come on, Wing. Watching Violet eat has made me hungry. We’d better go and get some lunch before it’s all gone.’

Wing nodded. ‘Are you coming, Nigel?’

‘No, I want to run a couple more tests on Violet. I’ll see you guys later. Thanks for coming up and meeting her.’ Nigel replied happily.

‘Any time, Nigel. We’ll have to come up and see her again in a few days,’ Otto replied. He was still feeling guilty about having to lie to Nigel as they left him talking happily to his new friend.

Otto, Wing, Shelby and Laura sat at a table in one of the more secluded corners of the dining hall, taking quietly amongst themselves as they ate.

‘Everything’s set, then. We go tonight,’ Otto whispered, looking around carefully to ensure that there weren’t any potential eavesdroppers within hearing range.

‘Ready as we’ll ever be,’ Laura replied. ‘I still wish there was some way that we could test the primary device before we go, but we’ll just have to pray that me and Otto got our sums right.’

‘Try not to overfill me with confidence, won’t you?’ Shelby replied sarcastically, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

‘We know it will work, the theory’s sound,’ Otto reassured her. ‘The parts you got were perfect, there’s no reason it shouldn’t go smoothly.’ He tried to sound more confident than he felt. He too wished there was a way they could conduct more tests, but the very nature of the device meant that it was going to be a one-shot deal.

‘If we stick to the plan, we will be successful,’ Wing said calmly. He seemed to be immune to the nervousness that the others were feeling. ‘We must simply hope that we do not encounter any unforeseen circumstances.’

Wing was right. Otto knew that there were risks they couldn’t completely eliminate, but he too was more worried about the wildcard factors that could completely derail the plan than anything else.

‘Just keep your eyes open over the next few hours for anything that might cause any problems. Once we start this we can’t stop – it’s all or nothing.’ Otto knew that the tiniest detail might be important.

‘Do or die, huh?’ Shelby replied.

Otto smiled grimly. ‘Yes, if not the precise words I would have chosen.’

Otto and Wing left Shelby and Laura in the dining hall. It was best that they kept apart from each other now; they all knew what they had to do. Wing appeared distracted as they walked towards the accommodation block. He was unusually quiet.

‘Something on your mind?’ Otto asked.

‘There is one thing I am not sure about. If the plan is successful and we make it back to civilisation, do we tell people about H.I.V.E.?’ Wing asked. It was a question that Otto had already given considerable thought to.

‘No, we don’t,’ Otto replied firmly.

‘Why not? What about the other students here?’ Wing didn’t seem happy with Otto’s opinion.

‘For the same reason that once you’ve sneaked past a wasp’s nest in a tree you don’t return and start hitting it with a stick,’ Otto replied.

‘I’m not sure what you mean.’ Wing stopped walking and turned to face Otto. ‘Surely it is our duty to try to free the others. We can’t just walk away.’

‘That’s exactly what we’re going to do. If we expose the school, they’re going to know exactly who was responsible, and I guarantee you that they will not rest until all four of us are dealt with . . . permanently.’ Otto doubted that Wing had given this as much thought as he had.

‘So we should be silenced by fear?’

Otto tried to keep his voice calm. Wing could be infuriating to argue with about things like this – he seemed to see everything in black and white. ‘No, we should disappear. H.I.V.E. can’t kill what it can’t find. Besides which, what do you think would happen to the other students if H.I.V.E. was exposed? Do you really think that Nero’s going to thank them for their time and wave them on their way? No, they’ll cover it up, and if that means covering up the students too, that’s exactly what they’ll do . . . with concrete, probably.’

Wing looked carefully at Otto, as if trying to see what he was thinking.

‘I suppose you’re right,’ Wing sighed. ‘It still seems unfair to just abandon the others to their fate like that, though.’

‘A worse fate would await them if we spilled the beans about this place.’ Otto stopped suddenly, spotting someone approaching down the corridor. ‘Oh no . . .’ Wing turned round to see Block and Tackle standing just ten metres away; Block was holding a length of steel pipe.

‘Oh dear, looks like we found a couple of maggots who lost their way, Mr Tackle,’ Block said, tapping the pipe into his palm.

‘We should show them where to go, Mr Block,’ Tackle replied, grinning. Otto suddenly noticed how very deserted the corridor seemed as the two thugs advanced towards them.

‘Get behind me,’ Wing instructed Otto. ‘When they attack, run.’

‘No way, Wing. I’m not leaving you alone with those two.’ Otto sounded braver than he felt. He doubted very much that he had any chance of disabling either of the two hulking henchmen in the same way that he had done in the dining hall on their first day. A nerve pinch might be an effective way of dealing with someone once, but its success depended very much on the element of surprise, which was something he no longer had. Unfortunately the steel pipe that Block was wielding suggested that this time Block and Tackle were playing for keeps.

‘Very well, leave the one with the pipe to me. Hold the other one off for as long as possible. If I go down, promise me you’ll run,’ Wing replied, not taking his eyes off their two assailants for a second.

‘If you go down, I’m sure it will be after me.’ Otto swallowed hard, suddenly frightened. Fear was something he didn’t feel often, and he hated it – it made him feel weak and confused.

Wing took a single step towards the two brutes, stopping them short. He had adopted a fighting stance, and doubt briefly flickered across the two henchmen’s faces.

Wing spoke, his voice calm and clear. ‘There are twenty-three ways of combatting an assailant armed with a blunt object from this position. Four of them will kill you, twelve of them will permanently disable you and the remaining seven will cause injuries that, while being extremely painful, you will at least recover from. In all of them I take that pipe from you and use it on you. The choice is yours.’

Suddenly the looks of smug confidence vanished from Block and Tackle’s faces. Block looked nervously at his companion, his voice uncertain.

‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’ He turned away from Wing, as if to retreat back up the corridor. Then, with a murderous roar, he spun back towards Wing, swinging the pipe in a vicious arc straight at his head.

Wing moved blindingly fast, his hand snapping up and catching the pipe with a loud slapping noise, catching Block off balance. He stepped in towards the hulking boy and twisted the pipe neatly from his hand, spinning it in his own hand and planting a swift blow to his attacker’s stomach. Block doubled up, clutching his belly, all of the wind knocked from him. Seeing this, Tackle let out a roar and swung a clenched fist the size of a melon straight at Wing’s face. Wing deflected the blow upwards, throwing Tackle off balance, and planted a vicious jab with his other hand right into Tackle’s armpit, causing the larger boy to bellow in pain. The two assailants backed off a couple of yards as Wing threw the pipe away over his shoulder and returned calmly to the same stance he had adopted bare seconds before. Tackle’s arm hung limp at his side, apparently disabled by Wing’s punch, and Block stood gasping, still trying to catch his breath.

‘Think . . . you’re pretty . . . tough, do ya?’ Block managed to gasp out between strained breaths, glaring malevolently at Wing.

‘No, but I think you are clumsy and slow,’ Wing replied, his voice calm. It was an observation more than a taunt.

‘You’ll be clumsy too when I’ve broken all your fingers,’ Tackle growled, circling round to Wing’s left. Block moved in the opposite direction, apparently attempting to surround Wing. Otto quietly picked the pipe up from the floor nearby where Wing had discarded it. Suddenly, both the henchman students charged Wing at once. Wing sprang into the air, his foot catching the stampeding Block neatly under the chin, snapping the thug’s head back and sending him collapsing backwards on to the floor. Tackle made a grab for Wing as his companion collapsed, but Wing ducked and planted a jab identical to the first – this time, though, into Tackle’s other armpit. Again the larger boy howled in pain, backing away rapidly. Wing advanced on Tackle, who seemed to still be struggling to get his arms to respond to basic commands.

‘Stop this, I do not want to hurt you more seriously,’ Wing said calmly as he walked towards the retreating Tackle.

‘Yeah? Well, I
do
want to hurt you more seriously,’ Tackle replied and reached into his overalls, pulling out a vicious-looking knife.

‘Wing! Catch!’ Otto shouted and threw the pipe to his friend. It spun end over end through the air and Wing turned at the last moment to catch it . . . with his forehead. He grunted and fell to the floor, out cold. Otto’s eyes widened in horror. What had he done?

The momentary look of surprise on Tackle’s face was replaced with an evil grin. He looked down at the unconscious form of Wing.

‘I’ll be back for you in a second, karate kid,’ he looked up at Otto, ‘but you’re first, Whitey.’

Otto looked desperately around the hallway for something to defend himself with as Tackle approached. Block too had risen to his feet and picked up the pipe that lay next to Wing, joining Tackle as they advanced down the corridor towards Otto.