DARK URBAN 1.1

 

M LESLIE

 

1

Would they kill to protect their partner?

Lay down their life for them?

Expect them to do the same for them?

Would they kill their partner to save themselves?

Would they rescue them?

Against the odds?

How far would they go to rescue them?

How much do they value them?

Would they fight?

Surrender?

How many people do they trust?

Would they tell them their deepest secrets?

How many strangers lives do they think they're worth?

If their house were on fire whom would they call first?

What would they rescue first?

If they were on run which relative would they go to and why?

How much cash is kept in the house on average?

Which neighbor do they trust least and which one do they trust most and please give reasons?

How far would they go?

To survive?

To stay alive?

Despite the questions Steve and Allie weren't worried.

As far as they were concerned they were just Mr. and Mrs. Ordinary, an everyday couple living an average life in a normal way.

2

The service was held in St Martins Crematorium, a monument to both God's benevolence and man's industry, and the man who's life they were here to commemorate, Magill, had killed himself. He left a widow. Mercifully missing were children, he and his wife had a son, as estranged in death as in life.

Magill had gone out to his car one day, started the engine and then ran a tube from the exhaust through the rear quarter light and then carefully taped the window up to prevent any loss of the oxygen denying manna.

There was no suicide note. His widow had found him, rose tinted and cold. The classic carbon monoxide suicide. The postmortem revealed no signs of alcohol or drugs.

This was no cry for help, this was real.

This was the end.

He had meant to kill himself and now, in the crematorium, he began his final journey as the curtains closed and flames consumed.

3

'Dark Urban?'

'Dark Urban......'

'Is that all?'

'So it seems.'

'That's its name?'

'Dark urban, some sort of blog.'

'Is it the Dark Web?'

A shake of a head, 'It's just the Dark Urban.'

'A vblog?'

'Guess so.'

'So what is?'

'No idea- it just came onto the screen.'

'What are they, some sort of You Tuber, influencer?'

'Maybe advertising,' said Steve thoughtfully, peering at the image computer screen. It showed a distorted out of focus street that could be anywhere in the US. 'Advertising,' he repeated.

'Why advertising?' Allie asked.

'He mentions the film we're going to see.'

'The one about a dystopian future where the state controls everyone's life without them knowing and exists in invisible castles..........'

'That's the one.'

'And what does he say about it?'

'He rates it, says it's good, commends we see it too.'

'We're going to when it comes to a cinema near us.'

'According to this blog it already has.'

Allie shook her head, 'no it hasn't - not yet, I checked.'

'According to this influencer or blogger it's already in town, he's seen it.' Steve stared at the screen intently.

'What is it?' Allie asked.

'The date....on the screen....it's tomorrow's....'

Slowly the image faded.

4

Steve worked as a structural engineer for the biggest building and design company in the city of Handley. The city was set in miles and miles of gently rolling countryside, not too hot and not too cold, not too rich not too poor. Stable and prosperous rather than dynamic and radical, it suited both he and his wife's characters.

Steve was well qualified; good at his job and moving up the ladder at the company he worked for, Windsor Architects. The projects he was dealing with were getting bigger and better, more prestigious and vertical, the challenges and responsibilities greater as were the rewards.

These rewards, along with his contentment, he shared with his wife of four years, Allie, four years of married life after a long courtship and many years of togetherness to look forward to they hoped, with children to come in due course, perhaps in the next few years as their respective careers reached a suitable point of their own, until then the only way was up.

Allie's take on work was different; she didn't just love her work, she was passionate about it. She taught art to handicapped kids, working full time at the local special school. For Steve and Allie, both touching 30, life was good and getting better.

In their eyes they were Mr. and Mrs. Ordinary, the backbone of America, temperate, calm and considered, they got on with their lives. It was a little life they knew, made up of little things. They didn't want it any other way.

They had found their place in society and were happy with their lot in life.

5

Magill.

Suicide.

Steve didn't know him all that well. He was a small, dapper precise man. An old school architect. He seemed stable though. Conscientious and careful – like his suicide.

What would lead someone to do that? To turn away from all they knew and loved? To take a step that seemed to deny their human-ness and make a mockery of free will? Magill was around sixty when he ended it, to get that far in life and not feel you could take any more was a fierce indictment, but of what?

To those at Windsor Architects his suicide had given them a major problem. They had an important contract with the Department of Defense. In a few weeks they were due to start work at a local military establishment and Magill was in charge of it before his death. Due to qualifications and experience Steve was next in line to replace him despite being half his age, now, he would have to pick up the pieces, familiarize himself with it in double quick time and get it right, for him and the company much was riding on this.

For both it could be a gateway to greater things.

6

The next blog from Dark Urban made another appearance halfway through the next week.

<< THE SPRING GARDENS >>

Steve knew the place but only by repute, it was a small restaurant, very upmarket with a fashionable clientèle and on the occasions when he'd tried to get a table as a treat for Allie they had always been fully booked for months ahead. She was especially keen to try their wine cellar.

What was odd was that it was the anniversary of Steve and Allie's first meeting tomorrow and he was trying to decide what they could do to celebrate it. They always tried to mark it in some way out of the ordinary; it was both making tracks and covering tracks at the same time for them.

Steve wondered whether to try The Spring Gardens, to try to get a table on a Saturday night there was even harder than any other day of the week but he thought he'd got nothing to lose so he gave them a call.

Unbelievably they would be delighted to accept his reservation for two, they were very, very fortunate as luckily for them the restaurant had just had a cancellation minutes earlier, and yes, they very much looked forward to seeing them and sharing the Spring Gardens experience with them.

Pleased, he rang off. They had plenty to celebrate he thought as he glanced at the picture on the wall, one of many of them. He smiled. These were good times for the pair of them, the day and nights in the prime of their lives.

Man and wife but they could almost be twins so closely did they match. She was a female version of him - slightly gangling, from her long dark brown hair, slightly prominent teeth and a tallish but scrawny frame. Bizarrely it was her teeth that first attracted her to Steve. They seemed to be saying breed off me, look at my calcium, look at my genes and think how beautiful our kids will be, and kids there would be, they were both sure of that. They would come to complete their contented reverie in the next few years. They were trying to start a family, he was sure they'd do it.

Eventually.

He was lucky, his wife was a bit special and tonight at the Spring Gardens she looked it in a simple black trouser suit with a two button jacket with deep lapels, a touch too deep perhaps but as Allie wasn't over endowed with cleavage she could carry it off. Her long dark hair was loose around her shoulders and there was just a hint of kohl around her blue eyes. Her lips were flaming red and, he thought, luscious and kissable.

'I've got a treat for you later,' said Allie with a twinkle in her eyes and having another gulp of her wine.

Allie did the drinking; Steve did the driving and when they reached home his unselfishness continued as he pulled Allie's long hair back from her face as she was sick in the toilet.

Not quite the treat he was expecting, but Allie would make it up to him sometime in the near future, they were fair and they shared. In fact their only disagreements came when one thought the other was not playing the game according to their rules, their togetherness code, but disagreements were few and far between for the pair of them and hurt feelings were quickly kissed and hugged better.

7

'Reckon you can do it, Steve?' Morgan asked but he already knew the answer. He was in the main office at Windsor architects and this thing, this apparition was sat in a large table in the middle of the room.

Steve studied the building some more; it was like nothing else he'd ever done.

'Two weeks you said?'

'That's the deal, that's what they're giving us, can you bring it home, in one piece and under the tape?'

'Yes, I can,' said Steve firmly and looking his boss right in the eyes as he spoke.

'Thought so, there's no one else here I'd trust with this, no one matches the skill set you can bring to it Steve.'

'Strange building, I like it but it's difficult to define.'

His boss laughed. 'How's this definition then? Big project, big payoff, big penalties.'

'And it puts us firmly in the military orbit?'

'The best place to be! Once you're in their orbit you're caught, like satellites tied to the center.'

'And we start?'

'A couple of weeks from now, we just have to get you vetted, and Allie of course, not a problem for you is it?'

'Shouldn't think so,' said Steve absently as he again studied the futuristic building, tapering in almost as if it wanted to be a dome, but was held back by it's angles or a lack of belief in itself, or perhaps it was still growing, unsure of what is meant to be, where it was going or even where it would end up.

The building was weird, to say the least. It looked like a greenhouse on steroids, a greenhouse from another dimension, one seen in half-light or through a distorted perspective. Steve stood back and stared at it again, squatting down in his haunches to get level with it, then standing up and leaning forward for an overhead view of it. No matter what perspective he adopted it was hovering at the edge of reason, of normality even. He didn't do weird and that's what this building was.

Apparition seemed to sum it up perfectly.

8

Both Steve and Allie were vetted by the agents from the military base which was situated some twenty or so miles out of town on a little used slip road, its use was vague, the military carefully switching between ambiguous and disingenuous depending on who was asking the questions. Both of them had driven past it plenty of times and never really given it much thought.

As instructed they had their birth certificates, driving licenses, photocopies of the respective parents' birth certificates. Also requested were all previous addresses, from university to their present home, in fact anywhere they had resided for all periods in their life. There were to be no exceptions and no unexplainable circumstances. The agents did their job well, even apologized for having to do it and all the trouble it must have caused them.

Bank statements going back 10 years with no unexplained gaps, for a set fee their bank would provide the information electronically if they'd mislaid it, they hadn't. Credit card details, incoming and outgoing income details would have to be provided, records of check's as well as receipts for purchases.

Major outgoing expenditures were to be accounted for and fully explained, there was only one large item, and that was their mortgage. Steve's SUV was a company vehicle and Allie's car, a two door hatchback saloon, was passed on to her fully serviced, low mileage and in excellent condition from Steve's mother.

They were also warned before the vetting that full criminal record checks would be made with them on all issues from driving offenses to sexual offenses. Neither had any worries in that department.

Had they ever used private detective agencies for any reason, done jury service, served in the military in any capacity or been disciplined by any professional body?

No.

What clubs were they members of? None except Allie was treasurer for the teachers' Christmas club at work. Were there any weapons in the house?

Yes.

Plenty.

Take your pick.

In the kitchen there were drawers full of knives, in the garage hammers and crowbars. An ax in the garden. Point taken said the agents with a smile.

Have they ever owned a firearm, been banned from owning one or did they ever carry one concealed?

No.

Did they know anyone who had a gun?

Yes, Steve's parents in the country did and Allie's father was a member of a military enactment club.

Did they know how to use firearms?

Both did.

They were required to sign consent forms for their medical records to be forwarded to the military authorities as part of the vetting procedure. Details of scars, tattoos, body piercings, plastic surgery or other distinguishing features were also to be highlighted to the military along with the right to access their dental records. The records would be examined in detail and if it was thought necessary blood and urine samples were to be obtained in the event of any unforeseen circumstances.

Did they have any false limbs?

No.

Glass eyes, false teeth, hip or knee replacements?

No.

Did they take drugs?

No.

Ever?

No, never had.

Know anyone who did?

Please give full details.

No on all accounts, they shared the character trait of thinking stress was part and parcel of life, live with it. Simple as that. Stress made us what we are they reasoned.

Overcoming stress made Stone Age people venture out of their caves despite the saber toothed tiger being on the prowl outside, or indeed military agents prowling outside.

It raised a smile.

Although the agents could not ask outright would they indicate if they had always been heterosexual?

They had.

Finally phone numbers for home landlines, company numbers, private mobiles and all email addresses and Internet details would have to be volunteered or it would be demanded by court order as indeed could any other information if the military saw fit to have it.

Once you agreed to be vetted it was an open-ended agreement.

All the information was confidential, but the military was not legally responsible for it.

Of course.

During the vetting photos, fingerprints and iris scans of the eyes were taken along with height, coloring and weight. These would be kept for a maximum of three years but could be kept in perpetuity at the discretion of senior military and law enforcement agencies.

They would not necessarily be informed of this action either way.

9

<< < THROW A SIX. PASS GO. THE GAME HAS STARTED! >>>

Steve stared at the screen. Dark Urban was back. The same distorted cityscape and the message slowly slowly fading.....

He mentioned the blog at breakfast to a fuzzy Allie who woke at the same time but only came fully awake half an hour later on average. Today was decision day; the work was due to start on Monday with Steve in charge if they had passed their vetting.

They had and later on that morning Morgan invited Steve into his office, shook him firmly by the hand and congratulated him on his new role. Steve had not been told its purpose, nor did he ask. A communication post of sorts was the unspoken feeling, a small monitoring station, something along those lines. With the military if information wasn't volunteered you did yourself no favors seeking it.

The base itself was spread over perhaps a couple of square miles, surrounded by a fence made of aluminum flange wire, razor sharp and impossible to disentangle yourself from once hooked. Cameras covered the perimeter, moving and focusing, turning and refocusing all the time. Inside the base were a succession of long low blockhouses, many windowless, laid out in a regular pattern as if on parade.

One of the larger buildings had a very sophisticated communications center covered in various antennae slowly scanned the sky and emanating from the building like a spiders web were long thick cables crisscrossing from one corner pylon to the other across the entire base. What exactly the base did Steve didn't know and had enough intelligence not to ask. He knew it was a communications post and from the equipment he saw it appeared all frequencies were being covered.

The plans meticulously worked out by Magill had needed little modification. In the first week the foundations would be dug and a latticework frame erected, in the second week strange glass panels were to be fitted.

The first thing to do was erect the wooden superstructure, a huge shed standing proud some 15 feet from the walls and 6 feet from the roof complete with it's own lighting and air conditioning.

All the subsequent building work, including laying the foundations would be done under that, entering and exiting from large hangar style doors.

Steve had worked under similar structures before, when using ceramics or glass or special materials that required a controlled environment to set or fuse fast. Whilst unusual it's not unheard of. There was nothing in it to worry him or set alarm bells ringing. It not only covered and protected the site during construction it also offered some privacy and security from the main road which ran alongside the base for half a mile of so.

Jerry and Phil were the two contractors in charge of the reinforced concrete base. They would mix and pour it onto a stressed steel frame they had assembled into the shallow depression. That finished they would leave the site, two days work at most Magill budgeted for and Steve agreed.

The next stage was the assembly of the latticework of crystal ceramic frames. They simply clipped onto each other and were bonded into place. Kids' stuff, but gloves would be needed, they were not only fragile but razor sharp.

The next stage was the insertion of the glass panels, uniformly shaped and simply placed into the crystal ceramic latticework one by one, each addition giving the building shape and strength. The panels themselves were flexible and flimsy but gave strength in numbers.

Towards the end of the first week the foundations, the wooden carapace and the ceramic crystal framework had been completed, and even a few of the strange glass panels on one wall facing the door side had been put in place.

It has been hard work, painstaking, checking and rechecking everything, a no fail no second chance job and Steve was tired from a good week's work well done.

'Steve, did you come home the main drag today?' Allie asked him later in the evening.

'Usually the way I come, why?'

'The blog is back, Dark Urban, it said the hold ups were manic, they had a six hour trip home,' she said reading from the screen.

'Traffic was moving well, better than normal maybe, perhaps he comes a different way to me.'

'What's the date on the blog?'

'Errrrr.... can't see it,' said Allie peering at the text, 'got it, he's got it wrong, it's tomorrow's date he's put on it.'

'You're joking, tomorrows date? Has he got it wrong?'

'Seems to have.'

Something crystallized in Allie's mind. 'This is just weird Steve, he mentions the same film we saw the day before we saw it, he seem to be one step ahead of us, us from 24 hours in the future,' she said.

'He even mentioned the restaurant,' Steve said.

'The blogs are there, we see them and then they go. Weird stuff,' she said.

'Did he say what caused the hold ups?'

'Power cut to the traffic lights the blog says,' she said reading the text.

'Maybe I'll beat the them and go a different way,' Steve said but even as he spoke he had misgivings, was that a sensible thing to do, would it break the laws of causation and change the world forever?

Or just their world?

Either way this was surreal, parts of their life twenty-four hours in advance, in cyberspace.

Tomorrow would tell them more.

At the base the next day Steve had a plan for the journey home, trouble was he kept changing it, he didn't want to get stuck in a traffic snarl up but he felt apprehensive about going against the text. He made the decision at the last moment and turned opposite to the way he usually went and arrived home in double quick time, even before Allie, who normally beat him home, coming as she did from the other side of town.

Later on in the evening after dinner both watched the news of the power cut resulting from the substation fire on the main drag and the massive hold ups it caused.

'I beat the blog!' said a gloating Steve; 'I would have been stuck in that even now.'

'But how did he know?'

'Perhaps he caused the fire to prove a point.'

'Yeah, but what point Steve, that he doesn't really know the future?'

'But he can make it happen.'

10

The first week of work at the base had gone well, in fact so well they were ahead of their schedule, not only had the foundations been laid and the lattice work completed but an entire wall of glass panels had been done giving the building a look of a surreal space age greenhouse. Under its wooden shell it was beginning to take shape.

The second week should be plain sailing as Steve supervised Corry then his final act was handing the building over to the military under budget and on time.

It was the end of a long but satisfying first week for the pair of them but their contentment was rocked when the blog made another appearance on the Saturday night.

<<< RULES ARE RULES ARE RULES ARE RULES. THERE IS ALWAYS A PRICE TO BE PAID. >>>

'Allie,' he called to her, she came into the lounge from the kitchen and looked at the latest message for a long moment.

She spoke at last, 'So what the hell is that about?'

'Have we missed one?' said Steve trying to bring up the Dark Urban history, 'no - this is the only one, he has no history...no past....just a weird knack for the future.'

'Tomorrow's date again as usual,' mused Allie.

'Coincidence playing on coincidence, clever suggestion, subtle intimation and no more, this guy's running a good ruse but only if we let him,' said Steve catching sight of Allie's slightly pensive face, 'Come on leave it, we got better things to do. He only exists if we allow him to, let's not give him oxygen.'

'We went against the blog, Steve, aren't we supposed to do that?'

'Perhaps he doesn't like being beaten.'

'Is it a rule that we go along with what the blog says? How did the influencer know which route you took?'

Steve just shrugged and said, 'maybe local, he could be one of our neighbors, someone we work with, a relative even, someone who's got some link to us, something in common. He may even know my SUV.'

'You saying it's all just coincidence?'

Steve shrugged it off. 'No more than that, put just over twenty or so people in a room there's a good chance at least two them will share a birthday.'

All wasn't convinced. 'Is he spying on us? I remember reading about a case in England where the free laptops the schools had given their pupils had miniature cameras and microphones in them,' she said.

Rationalizing it Steve said it could be something as simple as a mutual friend who tipped off the blogger.

'Why?'

'Just conversationally or something, could be entirely innocent.'

'How innocent?'

'They could be tricked into giving information away.'

'Is the house bugged?' said Allie lowering her voice, 'could the agents have done it? When they were vetting us?'

A head shake from Steve. 'No, they were never on their own, impossible.'

'Someone else then?'

'Come on Allie, we're getting paranoid now. We're playing a game, at least he thinks we are, but we don't know the rules.'

'But not following this influencer breaks the rules Steve,' said Allie, 'and apparently there's a price to be paid.'

'What price?'

'Some sort of penalty for tricking the future?'

'This guys a weirdo, some sort of cyberspace saddo, let's leave it,' Steve said dismissively, 'don't take it too seriously, that's part of his game plan, to get us hooked.' Dark Urban seemed to be invading their space, their privacy and their lives, almost contaminating them and taking away their free will.

'Whatever the price is we'll find out, it's got tomorrow's date on it, so we won't have long to wait,' Allie said with a resigned shrug.

Steve smiled, 'it's a Sunday, nothing happens here on a Sunday, ever!'

11

The appointed day came and found Steve and Allie doing some gardening in the afternoon, neither were green fingered but the lawn wanted tidying and the bushes trimming, they enjoyed working together, bonding and nesting, they were not only partners and lovers but best friends as well.

Both were busy when a large dark van like the vetting agents had pulled up outside their house.

Two people got out, one male and one female, maybe early thirties, they were not the same people who vetted them. Both wore the same army style uniforms without any insignia or indications of rank. One, the female, approached him.

'Mr. Smith?' she said holding her credentials up for him so they caught the light making it impossible to study them.

'Yes?' He didn't recognize either of them. He hadn't seen them around the base, either guarding him and his team or working the guardhouse at the entrance.

'Would you accompany us to the base please? There has been an incident,' she said quietly and calmly.

'An incident? What sort?' said Steve, confused, no one would be working now, not on a Sunday afternoon, they started at 8 am and finished religiously on the dot at 4 pm and it was weekdays only.

'We will explain when we get there sir,' she said.

'It is urgent,' the other volunteered.

Steve stood thinking for a second; the woman prompted him, 'if you would sir?'

'Yes, yes, of course. I'll just go and get changed,' he said peeling off his gloves, 'I'll just be moment.'

Steve went in and Allie followed.

'What is it?' she said.

'They want me at the base.'

'What? At this time? On a Sunday? Why?' she said becoming more concerned with each query as Steve changed his shoes.

'They said there's been an incident and they want me there.'

'What sort of incident? Why do they want you there?'

'No idea,' said Steve with a quick hug and kiss for Allie, 'but I gotta go.'

Silently he made his way out to the van deep in thought, he got in the rear as they drove to the base.

A quick glance back at Allie through the darkened windows saw her stood looking more than a little concerned as she watched them drive off.

12

Approaching their work site Steve could see yellow DO NOT CROSS TAPE stretched across the door of the wooden shell and four armed military police stood round it.

He got out of the van and walked up to the open doors and ducked under the tape then entered the covered site, his two escorts also got out of the vehicle but were hanging back. The lights on the wooden rafters of the carapace gave the skeletal frame and glass panels an eerie blue tinge under the artificial light.

Some of the latticework had been damaged, leaving sharp jagged edges, they were lethal, sharper than obsidian, so sharp they could separate the nerve ends so minutely you didn't even know you'd been cut till you bled to death.

Inside the building was a body under a sheet. Just a single medic was in attendance.

One of the military police came up to him.

'We'd like you to identify him sir, if you could.'

'OK.'

Steve edged through the lattice door portal taking care not to touch its fragile frame and approached the body as the medic pulled the sheet back from his face.

'Do you recognize him sir?' said the MP from above him.

'Yes, it's Jerry Lane.'

'Jerry Lane sir? Did he work for you?'

'He was a contractor for us yes,' said Steve slowly, staring at the shrouded body.

'Why was he on site at this time sir?' asked the MP facing Steve.

'No idea,' said Steve, 'he shouldn't be here at all now, his work finished in the early part of the week, there was no reason for him to be here.'

'So you're saying there was no reason for him to be here?'

'None.'

'Do you work on a Sunday normally?'

Steve shook his head at the question. 'No, never. Weekdays only.'

'Perhaps he was doing a little overtime?'

'No, no one works on this without me supervising them, those are the terms of the contact. Apart from that his role here was finished.'

'Then why was he here sir?' said the MP levelly.

Steve had no answer to that, he just shrugged as he watched one of the other MP's tie the body to a stretcher and with his colleague and carry it carefully through the door, along with the others he watched in silence as they took it to a waiting truck and drove off. No ambulance, no coroner's vehicle, just an unmarked military tuck.

'Cause of death appears to be a single incision to the upper abdominal area causing injury to the heart,' the MP continued, 'consistent with a fall through the wall into the building. Death would have been instantaneous.'

'A fall through the wall?' Steve looked at the jagged edges of the framework and the missing sections of it directly opposite the door. 'He must have walked into it.'

'That is our conclusion as well sir.'

'I still don't get it, why was he here in the first place?'

'You can't think of any reason sir?'

No, none,' said Steve emphatically.

'He wasn't under pressure perhaps to do more work or - '

Steve interrupted him. 'We're ahead of the game here, in front of our schedule. There was nothing for him to do. He'd done his bit, his job was over. He shouldn't even have been here.'

The silence hung between them and to do something Steve stepped back out of the building, through the portal, to the side of sanity. A side where what you saw was real.

Why should Jerry have come here alone, gone into the building under its wooden cover and just walked though it, even if the first could be answered the second couldn't. Why not use the door opposite the wall he'd walked through?

'How did he get on site?' Steve asked carefully.

'Our investigations are still continuing in that area sir but we assume he used his security clearance,' was the even toned answer from the MP.

Steve shook his head. 'He couldn't have done, he surrendered it to me, and I surrendered it to the main security post here at the entrance, those were my instructions. Everything was signed for and accounted for.'

'He could have copied it sir.'

'Why?'

The question hung in the air between them. All Steve could think of was Dark Urban. Was this the price to be paid for breaking the rules, for not following the it? Was the whole point of this to warn him? Don't go against the message again, don't play with the future?

Then the site itself, no forensic staff, no photographers, no fingerprint dust, no measuring and marking. None of the things you usually get with a crime scene, especially one with a corpse as its centerpiece.

13

'If you beat the influencer bad things happen,' said Allie when Steve told her about the accident. 'This is making us beat ourselves up,' she continued before lapsing into silence.

Steve broke her silence.

'This is just coincidence, whatever happened we would have tried to hang it on the blog,' said Steve, 'are we looking for punishment, are we looking to blame ourselves in some way especially when we've done all we can? Come on Allie, this is making us paranoid!'

'Then how the hell is he so accurate?' snapped Allie, 'he obviously lives nears us, knows something about us, who's to say he didn't do this?'

'Get on to a secure military base and murder someone?' Steve said still shaken by the visit to the site and the dead body.

'Bit far fetched isn't it?' said Allie calming down.

He nodded. 'A lot far-fetched. Nothing he says is accurate, it's vague to the point of ambiguous, he's playing the percentages game, sometimes he wins and sometimes he looses, like a spiritualist or medium building a case on what bits of info they are given.'

'But how are we doing that if we don't interact with him, we can't contact him?' said Allie interrupting, 'all we know is he's local, he mentions the restaurant we went to for our anniversary, local weather one day in advance which don't mean anything in this hot dry spell, halfhearted sports reports also one day in advance, reports that very cleverly give nothing way, he mentions sales starting in shops and so forth.'

'He's like us Allie, ordinary, he's just in tune with our lives because it's the sort of life he leads, that blog applies to us yes, but it could also apply to millions of others.'

'You think so?' Allie said hopefully.

'It's no more than guesswork and firing blindly then hoping enough arrows hit their target.'

'Can he check up on us?'

'How?' asked Steve.

'Everyone leaves an electronic trail in this day and age, credit cards, shops, fuel stops, social security, medical, even closed circuit TV.'

'You're serious about this aren't you?' Steve asked.

His wife nodded. 'Does he access to our electronic trail, how can he?'

'Might be his job, watching CCTV footage maybe or working in a bank monitoring accounts, then just putting two and two together,' said Steve, keen to keep downplaying it.

'Are the government watching us? Influencing us? Like that dystopian movie we saw?'

'And he saw too?'

'So are they watching us? Influencing us?'

'24/7 Allie, me, you and everyone else,' Steve said laughing.

14

The damage was made good and work on the base finished in the last week to the satisfaction of the military. Despite the accident it was on time and still within its budget.

The base commandment, General Fairweather, sent Steve a hand written letter thanking him for his skill, perseverance and good judgment in bringing the job to a successful conclusion, on time and within budget. He also thanked him for his discretion. Steve read between the lines and guessed he'd never hear about the tragic death again, accident or otherwise.

Dark Urban came a went, a message, a flash and then it faded. Deliberately they didn't take it in so it wouldn't take them in, sometimes the influencer got through, but it was nothing they concerned themselves with, perhaps they'd found others to annoy or perhaps they didn't want Steve and Allie to wiggle off his hook yet.

One blog though was difficult to ignore.

'Hey hey!' said Allie, 'The bloggers rich!'

How come?' Steve asked coming over to the PC.

'He's won the lottery.'

'You're joking?'

'He's won the lottery,' said Allie more emphatically, 'and he's even given us the numbers to use.'

Steve leaned over Allie to look at the blog, <<< WE WON THE LOTTERY 1,9,0,1,5,7 WE WON THE LOTTERY 1,9,0,1,5,7 WE WON THE LOTTERY 1,9,0,1,5,7>>>

This was repeated line after line after line making sure it caught even the most cursory of glances.

They were back on the hook.

'Which lottery do they mean and when?' Allie asked.

'I assume it's for tomorrow, it's usually a day ahead of us,' Steve replied.

'Which lottery though?'

'The big national I guess, it's the one everyone talking about.'

'It's been the talk of the staff room as well,' said Allie referring to the school where she worked.

'Maybe we should do the same numbers.'

Allie was pensive, 'What happens if we don't Steve?'

'Then someone will suffer something, someone in someway linked to us,' Steve was equally thoughtful, then he continued, 'I'm wondering if he's trying to make it up to us, to be friends again, taking with one hand and giving with the other.'

Allie was emphatic; 'We don't want that!'

'I think we better do his numbers just for fun - '

' - and to be on the safe side,' agreed Allie quietly.

'How much did he win?' he asked.

'Two hundred million, way beyond belief,' she replied. 'I'm off the page now,' she continued, 'and guess where I'm headed?'

'The lottery page?'

'Yep,' said Allie reaching for her purse and credit card. 'Remember the numbers?'

'Yes, did you?' Steve asked with a smile.

'1,9,0,1,5,7' they said in unison. The lottery page accepted their numbers and payment and confirmation e-mail followed almost instantly.

15

Saturday after their lie-in was spent around the house, then shopping, going their separate ways as Allie got her hair trimmed and tidied and Steve busied himself with a mini service of first his vehicle then Allie's when she returned. They spent the rest of the day lazing as only hard workers can laze free of guilt in their own time.

They decided not to go out, but to stay in and continuing lazing, lazing through the news, the early movie and then the later movie, for no other reason than just basking in and enjoying each other's company. They were just on the point of stirring themselves for bed when the lottery results come on the TV.

1,9,0,1,5,7.

Allie caught her breath. 'Those are our numbers Steve,' she muttered.

'You sure?' Steve asked, he looked at the screen, 'those are the numbers alright.'

'Steve this is unbelievable! This is not happening, I'm shaking!' Allie said grabbing his arm.

'Does it say how much it is?

'Two hundred million plus loose change, Steve, this is life changing, it's like it's not happening, am I awake or asleep?'

'We've won the lottery,' Steve said slowly, like Allie he was almost not believing what he could see on the screen.

'According to this we have!'

'Does it say what the next step is?'

'Phone the lottery hot line if you think you are a winner,' Allie said reaching for her phone.

Two breathless people phoned the lottery hot line, were kept on hold, missed their cue, were kept on hold again and then finally got through. A laughing female voice on the other end of the line took their details, confirmed they had bought the winning ticket and said a representative would be in touch. Payment was cleared within 72 hours into their bank account or the lottery company's own account.

Was it real? Was it really happening? Had the blogger really given them the winning lottery numbers?

They lay in bed that night trying to work out the situation, either they were very rich or not. The lottery company confirmed they held the winning ticket but did not confirm how many other winners there could be. Logically there must be at least two, they reasoned, the blogger and them. Could the influencer have told anyone else? Would the others have used the numbers he gave them?

Was the blog real? Who or what was Dark Urban?

16

Sunday found Allie, frizzy haired but oh so bushy tailed despite the visit yesterday to her hairdresser. She was busying herself round the house, Steve unshaven, pitched in and helped with the washing and ironing and any other chores they could think of to kill time on a quiet Sunday

then sat down and dozed in front of the TV waiting for the official lottery announcement that usually came 24 hours after the winning ticket was drawn and officially confirmed by the company.

Both went silent for the TV announcer when he came on, “And that mega 200 million plus jackpot that caused not just a nationwide but a worldwide ticket rush has been won, and the lucky winner is.”

Allie and Steve caught their breath and held each other as they listened to him.

"Or should I say winners, that jackpot will be shared.”

Steve and Allie looked at each other, shared between them and the blogger?

The TV announcer continued, "will be shared between plenty of winners, about 75 million so far, it was a trillion to one result and the Lottery Company said that instead of any payouts this week everyone would be entitled to a free play next week.”

Steve and Allie finally let out their breath, looked at each, burst out laughing and then had a cushion fight.

'I don't think that many people read the blog!' Allie said, battered and breathless. 'They didn't all copy his numbers.'

Steve shrugged. 'So what reward have we got from it?'

'A free go on next week's lottery, and a couple of hours of good fun thinking we might be mega rich,' she replied.

'That's the way the influencer is going to work then, take with one hand and give with the other?'

'Neither friend nor foe.'

'You said it!'

'Besides,' Allie said with a shrug, 'we're just ordinary people, things like that don't happen to people like us.'

17

<<< NO TIME TO BLOG - GOT WORK TO DO! >>>

They both wondered if the blogger had stitched himself up and he had spent on the strength of his presumed lottery winnings, they took some heart from it. Even people who see the future don't always see everything, usually just what they want to see.

Interest waned from Allie almost immediately out of annoyance at being cheated out of a fortune, but Steve still kept a weather eye on the blog but as the days turned to weeks and his new responsibilities increased both of them got on with life and work. Dark Urban failed to appear and faded into the background more and more. The blogger was a he, they had decided that. As Allie tartly said, women can't be bothered with that junk...........

Until the next one came, <<< WHO KNOWS YOUR SECRETS?????? I THINK THEY'RE COMING FOR ME.>>>

That was all it said but it was enough. Who are they and who exactly are they coming for?

Why?

Where was this leading? Was it linked to the death at the military base? If so the influencer had inside information because it was not reported in the mainstream media.

<<<I'M SURE OF IT. THEY'LL BE HERE SOON. >>>

Steve had four nights of this, sneaking up before he dropped off, trying not to disturb Allie, just to check the blogger's latest offering, each time the blogger was becoming more and more convinced that someone or something was coming for him and the blogs were all dated the next day. Was he trying to warn them of some impending disaster, Armageddon or whatever annihilation was this months flavor?

Steve didn't want Allie to see the blogs until he sorted out what they were all about. They seemed to be getting more paranoid and in some way he could not explain moving closer to them, more threatening, more intrusive, more personal even, as if a trap was being set.

Still the blogs came, more frequently than before, averaging one a night.

<<< CLOSER AND CLOSER AND CLOSER. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY OUT. HOW SAFE AM I? WILL THEY GET ME EVENTUALLY? WILL I LET THEM? TIME IS RUNNING OUT. NOW I KNOW THEY'RE COMING TO GET ME. THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER ALL THE TIME. SOON IT WILL BE ALL OVER >>>

Whoever the blogger was he was getting more disturbed and more paranoid and that paranoia was catching.

One night Steve left it till he thought Allie sounded fast asleep before he got up and crept to the PC in the lounge. The same messages were there, the same style as before.

Someone or something was getting closer to the blogger!

And to them also!

'How long has this been going on Steve?' said Allie suddenly appearing in the doorway in her 4 sizes too large t-shirt.

Steve took a deep breath, he hadn't liked deceiving Allie. 'A few nights now, it's weird stuff as if the blogger's on the run from someone or something,' he said slowly, guiltily.

'Why didn't you tell me?'

'I'm still trying to work it out myself.'

'But what's it all about?' she said looking at the screen, the strange distorted street. The words faded then suddenly,

<<<I'VE GOT TO GET AWAY!!!>>>

Steve told her how the influencer had become more hysterical, as if he was now the target, and by definition so were they.

'This guy is winding himself up, and us as well from the look of it,' said a annoyed Allie, 'is he trying to warn us?'

'Warn us about what, who's trying to get him?'

'Why are they after him and why is he warning us? Why does he have to get away? Why not just knock on the door and tell us, he's local we always assumed?'

'Is he on our side?' said Steve.

'Depends on whether he's a good guy or a bad guy,' said a concerned Allie, 'we can't be sure.'

'These blogs have been building up for a while.'

'Where's it all leading to?'

'The return of the psychic stalker Allie, he's coming for us, they're coming for him. There's something we're missing here, some sort of link, something somewhere isn't clicking for us the way it should.'

'It's not meant to click Steve.'

'How do you mean?'

'There's no link Steve, there's nothing we're missing because there's no bond between him and us, the guy's a conman or an addict. The next thrill is just a click away, the next big thing, mouse get ready! Come on leave it, come to bed.'

They went to bed, what Dark Urban did they neither knew nor cared but he wouldn't be invading their space and hassling them again tonight.

Go pick on someone else.

18

For the best part of a week they made a determined effort to ignore the blog, Steve especially. He tried to put it out of his mind apart from the curiosity of hoping Dark Urban really had come to an end, and they, whoever they were, had indeed come for him and put him out of action.

But why warn them?

Why involve them?

Why should the influencer be so concerned for their wellbeing?

Why does he want to get away?

What will soon all be over?

The blog, life, the updates?

No more influencing?

Dark Urban going off line?

They returned to the Spring Gardens a couple of weeks later for a Sunday lunch to celebrate the successful completion of Steve's project on the base. The ten or so staff from Windsor, from lowly office staff to the boss himself along with the military top brass.

The night before they'd had a blog.

<<<MISS A BLOG. FIRST STRIKE. >>>

Had they missed a blog?

Very easily Steve reasoned, that's what they'd been trying to do. The people who were coming for him obviously hadn't arrived yet if he could till sent his messages to the world.

Big deal.

He and Allie had more important things on their minds.

It was party time.

General Fairweather and his wife, half a dozen uniformed support staff and various aides headed up the military. They were all arranged on a large circular table with the General and Mrs. Fairweather and Charles Morgan and Mrs. Morgan at the top with the others arranged around the large table's circumference.

The Morgans' and the Fairweathers' were of the same type, made from the same mold. They were gray haired, in their sixties and successful, it showed in their bearing and manner. The same politics, same beliefs, same colleges, same everything including their mindsets.

As they enjoyed their four-course meal and Allie enjoyed the wine. they listened to General Fairweather, the commander of the base, talk about his hopes for the future and a more stable world, the sort of world he wanted to bequeath his grandson to live in.

The only issue not mentioned was the death of the contractor, Steve assumed that had been hushed up in some way, it was unlikely the military would want to answer questions about how someone was on a high security military base and met their death there. Steve thought it kinder to imagine investigations were continuing in their own way and in their own time.

Then a surprise.

The General asked Steve to step up for a presentation to thank him for his good work which, he was sure, had not gone unnoticed by the company. It hadn't, if the strong affirmative nods from Charles Morgan were anything to go by. The plaque was round wooden backing and on it a metallic circle and dotted lines radiating from its center to stars on its circumference like the spokes of a wheel.

Steve made his way around the table to collect it, he was a touch sheepish, not at his best as the center of attention but he rose to the occasion and the applause grew even louder when on returning to his seat he was rewarded with a very sloppy and a very wet flurry of wine flavored kisses from Allie.

Then another surprise. They were among the last to leave, so determined were they to enjoy their time at the Spring Gardens and Allie in particular their wine cellar, that when they did drag themselves away they found someone had slammed into Steve's SUV on the driver's side. Obviously someone in a hurry to leave the car park or too drunk to care had pulled out wildly and given it a huge hit.

With no one else around that night they got a pick up truck out to the SUV from a local garage and got them to drop them off at home, but before they went they inquired after the CCTV coverage at the Spring Gardens. Annoyingly, they were parked just out of view of it so there was no chance of tracing the culprit.

Was this the first strike against them for missing a blog?

No hints were given but their phantom influencer was still out there and still active, but now the messages were becoming more desperate, all the time taking on a darker tone over the next week.

<<< QUIT WORK. GOTTA MAKE PLANS TO LEAVE HERE. GO ON THE RUN. TRY TO STAY ONE JUMP AHEAD OF THEM. CAN'T GO TO THE POLICE. THERE ARE RULES. REMEMBER? >>>

19

Steve was at the PC in the lounge when he heard Allie moving around, a few moments later she appeared in the lounge, 'Dark Urban again?' she said as she stood there framed in the doorway.

'Something weird going off here, as if he trying to warn us about something,' said Steve tersely as he studied the screen as the message faded in and out of focus over the distorted street scene they were now so familiar with.

'Weird?' echoed Allie.

'It is a warning.....' Steve mumbled.

'Warn us about what? Steve, what are you looking at?'

'What the hell is this supposed to mean?'

<<< WE ESCAPED JUST IN TIME. WE WERE ALMOST KILLED. >>>

Both looked at the latest blog, then they looked at the time.

Five minutes to midnight.

The blog was dated tomorrow as usual.

It predicted what would happen the next day and the next day began in a few minutes!

Steve's blood ran cold as he realized the significance of it.

Steve suddenly grabbed Allie, despite her protests, and they rushed around collecting their clothes, got dressed and threw their phones, wallets and some cash into their pockets.

'We've got a few minutes maybe, something's gonna happen, we've got to get out of here now. The blogger said they just got out of the house in time, or else they'd be dead,' said a breathless Steve, 'just get what you need Allie, no more than essentials,' he added as Allie slipped into the bathroom for some toiletries then threw into a plastic bag.

'The blog's dated tomorrow as usual. It said he just got out of the house in time. He's warning us to do the same!'

'Where are we going? How long for?' she said grabbing her boots and dragging them on.

'Anywhere away from here, we haven't got long!'

'Where to? Where are we going?' Allie protested again, 'what does it mean?'

'The blog was dated tomorrow, but is said something has already happened. That means it's going to happen today, and today starts at midnight,' said Steve as they flew down their short hall and out through the front door. 'Leave it Allie.' he said as she fumbled with her keys to lock it. 'I'll drive, keys?'

Allie handed him her keys and they made for their car parked across from their small detached house.

They took Allie's hatchback, not the company SUV. That was still been fixed after the shunt.

Conveniently. The courtesy vehicle wasn't really his to use.

'Where do we go? What about work?' Allie asked climbing into the passenger seat as Steve slammed the driver's seat back to get more legroom..

'The blogger said he quit work, so do we, he had no choice in it and we haven't either. There are rules remember,' with that Steve fired up the car.

'How long for Steve, do we go on the run forever?'

'Just till we get to the bottom of this, let's just drive round for a while,' he said as they set off.

There was no family they wanted to impose on indefinitely; even less friends where they could turn up uninvited. Uppermost in the minds was the fear of involving their respective families in this, especially as they didn't know where it would end.

'Should we go to the police Steve?'

'And say what? We've seen a blog on the Internet? Some psycho influencer?'

'Could try it?'

'The blogger says he can't, there are rules and he's apparently the only one who knows them, anyway what would we say?'

'He's harassing us, threatening us.'

'Say it out loud again Allie, it all seems rather silly.'

'Who's after him, why are they after us? What's the link Steve? What are we missing? Dark Urban said they got out of the house just in time, why? Who are they? What was going to happen?'

Steve looked at his watch.

It was a few seconds after midnight.

'What's it all about Steve?'

They got their answer right away!

With a sudden whoosh their house exploded!

Allie turned round, gasped, wrestled with the door, twisted out of her seat belt and flung herself out of the still moving car.

She slipped and ran towards their burning home as Steve slammed on the brakes, threw the hatchback into reverse and caught up with Allie.

He stopped and jumped out to hold her back as both they and the car were showered with debris from repeated explosions as the inferno took hold, destroying their house and everything in it.

Broken glass crunched underfoot as they walked back to their car, shredded curtains and carpets, the pieces of their life rained down around them as the dogs barked, neighbors lights came on and sirens sounded in the distance.

20

Slowly they set off and drove around the deserted city streets, sometimes in silence, other times in staccato phrases talking over each other and just trying to make sense of what had happened and how close it came to them.

'We were nearly killed, if the blogger hadn't warned us. This isn't a dumb game anymore,' Steve said grimly.

'We had just minutes to get out.'

'Just in time.'

'But who would do that?' Allie said, bewildered by the events. 'Why are the same people after us that are after him?'

Steve shrugged. 'Your guess is as good as mine, he's local like us, or at least he appears to be, but are we linked to him in some way?'

'The only way I can think of is that it's a case of mistaken identity, someone somewhere seems to have got their wires crossed.'

'And they think the influencer is in some way linked to us?'

'Makes sense,' Allie said quietly. 'But why us? We're just an ordinary couple, just a pair of nobodies. We're not special.'

'Someone thinks we're special.'

'Special enough to be worth killing.'

'The blogger said they were after him and he couldn't go to the police, rules are rules remember.'

'What rules though? Who's making them?' said a subdued Allie.

'Your guess is as good as mine,' said Steve with a shrug.

'So what do we do now?'

'Drive around, find somewhere to stay until they find us again and then try to hide somewhere else I guess.'

'And who are they?' asked Allie.

'We don't know yet,' replied Steve.

'Where can we run to so they can't find us?'

'Somewhere with no Internet?' he suggested.

'There's no where we can go,' Allie said with a shake of her head.

'The blogger seemed to think that was his best option,' said Steve.

'How do we hide, we've never done it before, what about our trail, credit cards, mobiles, laptop, even work?' Allie asked.

'The blogger said he's quit work, we do too I guess,' said Steve.

'What do we live on? I don't think living on our luck is an option the way things are going.'

That brought wry half laughs from both of them despite their situation.

'We'll live on our savings for now,' said Steve.

He pulled into a branch of the local bank, put in his card into the slot at the ATM and punched in his pin.

<<< YOU DO NOT HAVE AUTHORITY TO ACCESS THIS ACCOUNT >>> came the message on the screen.

He tried again, then a third time. On that occasion the cash machine kept his card.

'No good,' he said getting back into the car, 'I can't get any cash out.'

'I'll try mine.' said Allie getting out if the car and going up to the bank of ATM's.

She tried the card to her account and got the same answer as Steve.

'Both accounts on hold, or frozen,' she said slamming the car door in her frustration when she got back. 'Or drained. Or hacked.'

'Either way we're locked out.'

'I got an idea,' said Allie, 'wait till the banks open in the morning.'

'Not going to rob it are you?' said Steve with gallows humor.

'Not that desperate. Yet.'

They drove around the deserted city streets for an hour or so, Steve doing the driving, as Allie's boots were the knee high ones with the silver buckles. And 4 inch heels. Steve loved them, Allie loved them, expensive, stylish and sexy but both knew they were rubbish for driving in.

They had some loose change and no more than that on them as they drove to the local hospital. They decided to park in the car park there, it would attract less attention they thought, it would also give them somewhere safe to think without drawing too much attention to themselves.

They parked in a quiet corner and tried to reason their situation.

They ruled out going to stay with their respective parents, it would worry them, but worst of all it may draw them into this strange game, put them at risk, open them up to this blogger influencer in some way. That was the easy thing to decide, they had no idea of the game or its rules, and they didn't want to invite collateral damage on loved ones.

They didn't really have many close friends, certainly not close enough that they could just turn up in the middle of the night and stay indefinably, again with the attendant but unspoken risks involved.

They were on their own.

Despite the excitement of the last hour or so Allie's head rested on Steve's shoulder as she napped and even Steve found himself dozing off for a few minutes at one time. Eventually the night ended and they used the hospital toilets to freshen up a little and straighten their clothes, then it was back into town to deal with the banks and their locked down accounts.

Steve tried his bank first.

His credit card had been seized on the third attempt as a precaution according to the bank teller, a new one would be issued in due course, as to the question of why he couldn't draw any money out the bank was adamant. They had been notified of a conflict of interest and to protect their priorities they would not let him make any withdrawals over the counter or via his cards. Other than that they were not at liberty to say more. They were sorry but hoped the matter could be resolved as soon as possible to everyone's satisfaction and no, they couldn't give him a time frame.

Have a good day.

Allie got exactly the same story, word for word.

Did they think they were drug dealers? Money launderers? Was it an instruction from high up directly implicating them in something or just a computer program activated automatically, if so what triggered it?

Was there an algorithm somewhere with their name on it?

Whatever it was they had no money. They sat in the hatchback in silence; just what the hell was going off?

'I've got an idea,' said Allie breaking the silence, 'drive to the Little Savers' Paradise.'

This was the town's smallest bank, and not used by either of them.

'This isn't the one you're going to rob is it? I forget to bring the guns and masks,' said Steve.

Allie shook her head and forced a weary smile. 'No, stay there, I've got a better plan,' she said as Steve drove through the early morning rush hour traffic. He pulled up outside the bank and without another word Allie got out and went confidently in through the door.

Five minutes later she came out with just over 4000 dollars in cash, got in the car and put it in Steve's lap.

'How?'

'The staff at school have a Christmas fund, I'm the treasurer, no one will miss it for months,' she said.

'Won't they check if you don't turn up there?'

'Not if I phone in sick for a few days, till we get to the bottom of this, anyway, they'll get it back, with interest and more,' she said.

'We're thieves now.'

'We're on the run,' Allie said, 'and there are no rules anymore.'

'Is that enough to live on when you're on the run with no idea what you're running from and no idea where you're running to?' Steve asked but he was sure neither of them knew the answer.

They drove out of town.

21

They came to the town of Lea and hunted round for a motel and found one just off the main drag. They booked a room and went in immediately.

They had brought little with them, essentially just the clothes they stood up in, some toiletries for Allie and that was it. Both were in jeans and jackets, Steve with a gray hooded sweatshirt under his short brown leather zip up, Allie was in a red top under her old denim jean jacket that matched her jeans, both in a shade of fashionable faded blue.

In the quiet of the motel they tried to make sense of their situation.

How were they linked to the blogger?

Was it a case of mistaken identity, someone getting their wires crossed?

Had they moved over a threshold somewhere into a game they did not know the rules for?

Why did their house explode?

Who or what had caused it?

Was it meant to kill them or just scare them?

Why did the blogger warn them?

Who were the people after the blogger, the same people after them?

Was Jerry killed or was it an unfortunate accident?

So many questions.

Were they a target?

If so who was targeting them?

What were they after?

What did they want from them?

Was it a case of mistaken identity and someone had their wires crossed? Bizarrely, was Dark Urban actually on their side and trying to help them?

In a sense they were relived. The blog only ever appeared on their computer at home, not on Steve's company laptop or Allie's tablet, neither of which they'd brought with them. They'd been lost in the explosion at their house. In a way they felt safe from the blogger. He had no way to contact them, they were free. Or were they?

Suddenly Steve's phone rang. He looked at the screen. The same distorted cityscape. Then the message slowly appeared.

<<< AS THE WHEEL TURNS >>>.

That was all it said. A simple text message. He knew it was the blogger.

He'd found them again.

'So what does that mean Steve?' said Allie perplexed by their latest message.

'Grinding wheel? Turning wheel? Driving wheel?' Steve said, as mystified as his wife.

'What do wheels do?'

'Go round and round.'

'Fixed to the center?'

'Never really goes anywhere? Keeps circling? Come on Allie, you discovered the blog in the first place, he's your best friend.'

'Could it be a color wheel? We use them at school with the kids,' she suggested.

'Kaleidoscope?

'Could it be inevitable, that the wheel turns taking everything with it, fate, a journey, moving but not moving, going but staying, links to something else maybe?' she said with a mixture of urgency and despair.

They tossed the problem back and forth between them and got nowhere.

Sleep rescued them and in the morning they checked out, they reasoned it was better to stay on the move.

22

The next motel in the chain, the next port of call for them was the EasiSleep travel lodge and that is where they received the next offering from the blogger, and it came via the TV.

<<< WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE >>> was the caption it flashed up on the screen with a picture of Steve and Allie. They were stood together, their arms linked. The picture was taken a few years ago and was one of their favorites.

“The explosion happened in the early hours,” said the TV voice over, “a body was alleged to have been found in the house and forensic tests are continuing. It is believed to be that of a female. The police are treating the case as arson and have issued an arrest warrant for the house owner, Steven Smith. They have warned he must not be approached under any circumstances......”

Steve and Allie sat there in stunned silence.

'Were there two house explosions, one the blogger's and one ours, if so why mention just ours?'

'Surely two explosions would raise suspicions?'

'What about us, how safe are we Steve?'

'Pretty safe for now I reckon, if the blogger's safe, and he doesn't say otherwise, so are we. He seem to run parallel to us and his life seems to mirror ours, we're OK for now. He's in a position to contact us so he must be OK too.'

'Unless someone recognizes you.'

'The police are on the lookout for me, alone, not with a female.'

'Not with the wife you're supposed to have murdered.'

'They said there was a body.'

'But whose was the body Steve?'

'The person who caused the explosions, a passer by, a neighbor caught in the blast? It could have been anyone.'

'The TV news said they're still doing forensic tests, that should clear it up and leave us free from suspicion.'

Steve shrugged, 'If there's anything left to test, fire destroys completely.'

'But there should still be enough surely. We gotta go to the police Steve.'

'We can't, you know that.'

'We should tell them everything,' Allie said.'Tell them our house blew up, we could show them the blog.'

'Suppose it doesn't appear? Even if it does appear suppose it says something different, something incriminating about us? It's got us caught.'

'So how do we escape it?'

'We wait for an opening and then take it.'

Allie was quiet for a few moments, 'that picture of us?' she said, 'the one on TV?'

Steve nodded, 'one of my favorites.'

'So how did they get it?' Allie said slowly, 'before they blew the house up............'

23

'This guy will know where to find us,' said Allie in the morning.

'Not difficult if you've got a mobile phone. They're just a tracking device you speak into.'

'We need to lose the phones.'

'But if we do how can he contact us? Remember he said there's a price to pay if we miss one of his messages, we don't want to take risks Allie.'

'We could always buy a small computer, maybe something like that?'

'Makes sense,' he said nodding. 'Could Dark Urban be tracking us?'

'Tailing us? Electronically?' she asked.

'Electronically I guess. I haven't seen anyone suspicious following us.'

'I wasn't looking, but we would have noticed them I guess.'

He nodded. 'After all we've been through we would.'

'I guess..............'

Steve thought about it for a while, 'if they're tracing us electronically could it be via an implant?' he said. 'I've heard it done before.'

'We could buy a metal detector somewhere, or one of those scanners vets use for chipped pets?' Allie suggested.

'Maybe,' said Steve, 'but would it work? If we have been chipped it must be a fairly sophisticated device.'

'When were we chipped though, surely we would have known?'

'It must have been done some time when were at the doctors or the dentists, but I haven't been to the dentist in years, and your teeth are perfect, neither of us have been anesthetized recently or been hospitalized. No visits to the doctors either.'

'Have you had any weird dreams?'

'No, have you?' said Steve quizzically

'No, ever thought you had some time missing that you couldn't account for?'

'Like being abducted by aliens?' said Steve with a smile.

'More like being hypnotized.'

'Good question, I don't think so, in fact I'm pretty sure.'

'I haven't either, so if we were chipped when was it done Steve?'

'Surely we would have noticed Allie, if we had been chipped, we'd have felt it or been aware of it in some way?'

'We could check each other,' Allie said. 'Look for small cuts or bumps on our bodies.'

'Makes sense.'

'We'll do it under the covers.'

'Why?' Steve asked.

'It just feels better that way, more private,' Allie said.

'You think we're being spied on?'

She shook her head, 'I don't know what the hell is going on right now.'

They got a cover off the bed, got under it with the bedside lamp and stripped naked, examined every part of their own bodies then they examined each other. Although it was one of the stranger episodes in their married life it felt good to laugh. It also felt good to be together, whatever their predicament.

'We're both chip free as far as we can tell,' said Allie putting her tee shirt back on, 'it's likely to be the phones or even a bug on the car? Like an electronic tag, or transmitter?'

'We drew all our money out and use cash, so we're in the clear in that way, no credit card tail to chase.'

'so what do we do?' she asked.

'Loose the car and the mobiles?' Steve replied.

Allie shook her head, 'we need the car, but we could lose the phones.'

'We'll have to.'

'Suppose there is a message though? What happens if we don't follow its instructions? The rules of the game remember. We've already been warned about missing one message, first strike remember?'

The next day after their breakfast they drove off in her hatchback, first to the car wash, took in a little off roading on their way to the next car wash and then some violent maneuvers on the biggest potholed stretch of road they could find, a stretch of road that would normally have had Allie fuming.

Finally the hatchback made yet another visit to the car wash, all in the hope that anything fixed to their car would be dislodged, short circuited, fused or simply broken. A thorough examination before they set off showed nothing obvious attached to it. They checked the engine bay, wheel arches, exhaust and even disconnected the radio and threw it out. They undid the trim, looked under carpets and seats and checked everywhere they thought a small transmitter could be.

Their two mobiles they dismantled, smashed and fed into the nearest drain. They bought another for emergency use. It also had a small camera, for some reason they thought that might come in handy.

They also bought a small tablet, a mini computer to take the place of their old desktop. Just in case. They paid cash for them both and vowed to never let them out of their sight.

Another just in case.

24

Despite being on the run life settled down to a routine of sorts, their money was carefully budgeted, but apathy and emptiness haunted them, a feeling of trepidation, of always waiting, feelings never far from too many people, were more intense than normal.

Still Dark Urban seemed to shadow them, even when he said nothing he was there, parallel, on the same course and Allie and Steve agreed parallel lines never meet.

Do they?

<<< SURPRISE. SURPRISE. SURPRISE. >>>

After the latest blog had come through on their new tablet last night they decided to move out off their motel early the next morning. They were still wary of staying one night too many in the same place.

They went due south this time. To Shelborne and then chose the Cosmos Travel Lodge just off the main street. After booking in they made their way to their room and when they opened the door a shock greeted them.

The room was festooned with balloons and strung with streamers. There was a large bottle of champagne waiting for them in the ice bucket. Allie's eyes lit up when she saw it.

Over the bed was hung the biggest streamer they had ever seen. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIE! it said in garish bright sparkling letters.

'Sorry Allie,' said Steve ruefully. It was the first time he'd forgotten her birthday, or any other anniversary concerning them for that matter.

Allie just looked at it open mouthed. 'Hell, I'd forgotten too, it's my birthday today,' she said at last.

'So how come he knew we were coming here, to this room? At this time?' said Steve in bewilderment.

Allie sat on the bed to collect her thoughts. 'How can this be Steve, how could he know? We only decided to book into this place no more than half an hour ago, how could he have moved so fast?'

'Just the percentages games, he got lucky,' he replied unconvincingly.

'Even we'd forgotten my birthday but somehow he knew and remembered!'

Steve sat on the bed with her and as she leaned into him he kissed her head.

'Happy birthday darling anyway. For what's its worth.'

'It's not worth anything Steve,' she said sadly.

Suddenly she jumped up and started pulling down the streamers, and then she started on the balloons, popping them aggressively with her four inch heels.

Eventually, she sat on the bed next to Steve as he held her close.

'I don't want a birthday Steve, we're living our lives on hold. There's nothing to celebrate! I want my life back, before it's too late to return to it!' she said sadly.

They remained in each other's arms for a while until a respectful rap at the door disturbed them.

The looked at each other in alarm, more surprises?

Suddenly two uniformed staff breezed into the room and announced cheerily that they were from All-Star Party Planners with a special delivery for a special lady!

They were carrying boxes and trays covered with pristine white covers. They stopped a second to look at the mess in the room, the torn down streamers and popped balloons, and with a half shrug to each other laid out their feast in front of them. A cold buffet with a selection of cheeses and rolls then jellies and ice cream for afters, all ready to go.

'Who ordered this? Who told you to do this?' Steve demanded to know.

'It's for the special lady, it's for her birthday sir!' said one of the planners arranging the tubs of ice cream in order of apparent sexiness.

'Yes I know, but who's paying for it, who told you to come here?'

'Orders from the office sir, all paid for,' the party planner said.

Quicker than normal they finished laying out their goodies and departed, not hiding their gladness at leaving the strange couple who should be celebrating but weren't.

Steve rejoined Allie on the bed, and despite their predicament they caught each other's eyes and collapsed in giggles, as the wheel turns indeed!

From disbelief to anger, violence to abeyance, incomprehension to hysteria.

The champagne went down well, especially with Allie, the ice creams were devoured in order of their sexiness, licked of each others faces and other places, eventually they did let go, really really let go!

What the hell, blogger or no blogger, life goes on.

They did celebrate!

And Steve had remembered after all. When he'd bought the tablet he'd bought something else.

And slipped a beautiful choker round her neck halfway through the celebrations.

'TO MY DARLING WIFE."

Happy Birthday Allie!

25

They delayed their departure from the Cosmos Travel Lodge an hour or so till Allie had become fully awake and joined the land of living.

On paying their bill they got another shock, there was no bill to pay!

It had been paid in advance, just for the one night, and no, the motel staff were not in a position to divulge who had treated them. They hoped they had enjoyed their stay and would visit their other Cosmos Travel Lodges in the country.

'We've got a little detour to make Allie,' Steve said as they set off.

'Where to?' she said as they drove down the main street of Shelborne,

'Here, hold the wheel a sec.'

Allie leaned over and took over steering duties as Steve reached into his jacket for his wallet and took out a card.

'And that is?' said Allie relinquishing the wheel as Steve passed her the card.

'Read it out.'

'All Star Party Planners.'

'They left it with their goodies last night, it should be just up here on the left.'

'Here it is,' said Allie suddenly pointing as they almost overshot the turning.

'Let's pay them a little visit,'

Steve pulled into the car park in front of the small industrial unit. 'Let's see what they know about that little surprise party for my favorite birthday girl.'

They went into reception.

'Hallo,' said a smiling face at the desk, 'how may I help you?'

'We had a delightful birthday party last night courtesy of your wonderful company.'

'Well thank you sir!' the smiling faced beamed.

'It was brilliant!' chimed in Allie.

'It was a complete surprise for us though, we wondered how you found out it was Allie's, my wife's, birthday and who asked you to organize it, we'd sure like to give them our thanks,' Steve said.

'Well I appreciate your kind words sir,' the smiling face, once beaming, was now positively blazing brightly with joy. 'And many happy returns to the special lady.'

'Thank you. The party really was a bit special,' said Allie, sweeter than saccharin. 'And such a surprise!'

'We really would like to know who organized it and maybe catch up with them sometime and thank them personally,' Steve said.

'Very much so,' added Allie.

'Let me just hit a few keys here and bring it up for you,' she said skipping over the keyboard and then with a couple of clicks of the mouse she looked at then triumphantly.

'It was someone by the name of Magill, and I'm sorry sir, madam, all I have is an initial, can't even say if it's male or female,' she said with a shrug.

'What is the initial please?'

'Sorry, just a D, does that help you?'

'It certainly does,' said Allie who could do her own smiley face when she wanted, 'you been brilliant.'

Back out on the road Steve and Allie debated Magill and got no where.

Could it be joke by the influencer using that name?

Could it be his widow?

Could it be something else entirely?

Could it be clue, if so to what?

As the miles sped by they were none the wiser.

One thing that did confuse them was the blogger's life running alongside theirs, there must have been an explosion at his home, he must be on the run the same as them, he must be wanted by the police, was there a news broadcast with an old photo of him perhaps playing prime time in another motel in another dimension?

He was going through what they were going though, he was traveling the same route, alongside but out of sight.

Were their paths going to cross without Steve or Allie being aware of it, or did the blogger know more than he was letting on?

As soon as they'd booked into their new motel for the night they had a new message. Just before midnight the tablet pinged, found a connection and the writing came on the screen.

<<< PLEASE LEAVE ME THE WAY YOU FOUND ME. NICE AND FRESH AND CLEAN AND TIDY! >>>

Both of them stared at it, perplexed, what the hell did it mean? As usual it was dated one day ahead, so all they could do was wait and see.

Next morning they were on the move to a new motel and the answer came when they stopped at a garage to fuel up and Allie went into the rest room. After washing her hands at the basin and tidying herself up she made to leave. Suddenly she spotted a sign above the door.

'Steve, Steve, he's here, lets go!' she said as she ran back to the car. Steve finished paying and joined her, 'drive on, he's here.'

'Have you seen him?'

'In the toilets!' she said breathlessly.

Steve jumped out of the car and rushed first into the men's toilet, empty, then into the women's rest room, also empty, he kicked open the door of a couple of cubicles to double check, there was no one in them either, only then did he see the notice above the door and like Allie he realized it was the same as last nights blog.

He rushed out of the toilet and out on to the forecourt and back to car.

Allie calmed herself and relaxed slightly as they set off.

'Last nights blog?' she said.

'Please leave me the way you found me, nice and fresh and clean and tidy? I saw it.'

'That's the one Steve, it's over the door just as you leave the washroom so he must have been here, for all we know he still might be.'

'That could be a standard courtesy notice, could be in most gas station washrooms.'

'So why haven't we seen it before?' said Allie pointedly.

'OK, so he's passed this way sometime before us.'

'And he could still be here, or doubling back, checking up.'

'On us.'

'On us Steve. I'm so, so tired,' said Allie on the point of tears. 'Why us? We're just an ordinary couple, why pick on us?'

'Come on Allie don't go all girly on me, we need each other, we need our wits about us. We need to stay together and stay focused, don't let the blogger drive us apart. Together we'll come through.'

'I hope so,' said a subdued Allie unconvincingly.

'The game, if that's what he's playing with us is speeding up. So far we're safe, both of us, shows we may be ahead of the game in some ways.'

'How do you mean we're ahead?'

'We're still in it, still together.'

26

FU plus twenty.

That was where they were now. Twenty days since the flare up, since the house fire that came close to killing them and tore apart their life.

Twenty days and nights on the road, a dozen different motels as the long hot summer drew slowly to a close, always on the move, the blogger always wrong footing them.

Steve was concerned about the effect the blogs were having on Allie and the realization there was no magic bullet to kill the blogger, she was ever so slightly unraveling, going deeper and deeper into herself, getting closer to the edge, more disturbed by each blog.

This was bought home hard to Steve when he slipped out one morning leaving her asleep in the motel bed, it was one of the few times they'd been parted since going on the run.

He was gone all of ten minutes and returned to find Allie curled up in the shower as it dripped it's cool water on her hot shaking fame. Through rapid breaths and tears all she said was look at the blog.

There was just one word on it.

<<< BOO! >>>

It took just those three little letters to do that to Allie.

This was the day the pair of them came close to losing not just the game but themselves, out of their depth, way out of their comfort zone and they were floundering.

She was the one who was struggling most, it hurt Steve.

It also made him realize the weight they were carrying. He knew he would come close to breaking soon, like Allie he would reach the end of the line.

Better he thought they reach it separately so they could at least support each other.

27

They moved on to another motel, traveling a hundred miles due west to the town of Pine Lodge.

This was bigger than Lea and they felt more comfortable here, a smaller target in a big pool.

After supper in the dining hall they went back to their room.

Allie spotted it first.

'Come and look at this Steve,' she called from the window.

'What is it?' Steve said coming to join her. 'What can you see?'

'Watch the guy over the road.'

'The bill poster?'

'That's the one.'

Both watch as he posted his bill up on the billboard across the road from where they were staying. It was gone eleven in the evening and there was no way to see him clearly in the dark and from this distance.

'Why is he posting bills at this time of night?' asked Allie.

'I reckon we'll soon find out,' said Steve.

Despite the dark they could make out the poster clearly as the few vehicles drove past and their headlights illuminated it.

<<< BANG! BANG! YOU'RE ????? >>>

'Dark Urban?' breathed Allie, breaking the silence at last. 'It's got to be. He's found us again.'

'Bang bang, you're......?' Steve said.

'Dead?' said Allie quietly.

'We're not though, we're still alive.'

'For now,' she said.

'And I intend keeping it that way,' Steve said as he pulled the drapes shut, 'Ignore it Allie.'

He pulled her over to the bed and she lay on it with him.

'Is this the end game?' she asked. 'Was he shot? If he was how did he us send this message?'

'He doesn't say he was hit, maybe just shot at, perhaps it's a warning for us?' said Steve slowly, 'this is getting dangerous, like a game that is spinning out of control.'

'Why should he be shot at? Who tried to shoot him? It's like we're caught up in a turf war, caught up in something we don't understand and we're collateral to the main purpose.'

'Whatever that purpose is, someone wants to silence him. What does he know and do we know what he knows, even without knowing it ourselves? What have we missed?'

Allie shook her head despondently. 'We've been through everything together, checked and double-checked everything, what aren't we getting?

'We're just link's in this chain, but who's yanking the chain and why?'

'To flush us away,' said Allie grimly. 'Can we say we don't want to play any more?'

'How do we do that?'

'Go to the authorities?'

'The influencer said he couldn't go to the police. He hasn't surrendered yet judging from this message, and if he hangs on we hang on as well, we have no choice.'

'For what its worth.'

'For what its worth,' replied Steve echoing her sentiments.

'But what is the end game though, where will all this lead us?' the final words were Allie's.

They lay there quietly in each other's arms. Suddenly Allie jumped up, Steve grabbed her hand.

'Where are you going?'

'To see if it's still there,' she said. 'It's gone midnight, just. The messages disappear then.'

'And if it's not there?'

'It will prove it's the blogger.'

Steve joined her at the window; carefully she parted the drapes.

It was now two minutes past midnight.

The poster had gone.

The billboard was empty.

Now they knew for sure the blogger had found them again but they were unsure of what the message meant. They decided to sleep in shifts for their own safety, so one was always able to watch over the other.

Steve took the first watch for 4 hours then he woke Allie and it was his turn for a nap for the next 4 hours. He settled down in the bed but after just a few minutes a gentle rhythmic snoring woke him. He looked round to see Allie fast asleep in the chair.

Suddenly it was all academic. He picked her up, snuggled her down in the bed and took over the watch himself. What they were watching for neither knew, it just seemed the sensible thing to do, the only thing to do.

Just to be on the safe side.

28

They were unsure whether to seek out people as their protection against the influencer's presumed threats or to remain on their own.

On their own they were more guarded, but just being around other people seemed to calm them, their normality was welcoming, it also made them harder to get on their own they reasoned, neither thought they would just be gunned down on the street in broad daylight, if indeed that was what Dark Urban meant.

After a quick breakfast they drove into the town center and went sightseeing around Pine Lodge.

All that succeeded in doing was to wind them up even more.

Their nerves were now on edge, they decided to keep walking, keep moving, trying not to retrace their steps or develop a rhythm, staying random seemed to be their best option overall. Every face could be their assassin, every bulge a hidden gun, every movement a threat to them as their fear fed on fear and multiplied exponentially beyond all reason.

They had to get through this day, a day they were counting down till the threat ended at midnight. They were on Pine Lodge's Main Street when they were spooked.

A jackhammer, people shouting, a car backfiring, doors slamming, every sudden movement startled them, every noise was intensified, sharper and angrier.

Threatening.

In the end they couldn't take it any longer.

They ran.

They dashed out of the main thoroughfare into a side street, still the sounds seemed to be all around them, everything was a blur, the noise ever more threatening and their nerves passed over the edge and were now in free fall.

There were shots, sounding like firecrackers and more shouts. More shots.

Then screams.

Their screams, others too, children even.

They cut down a small alley on their way back to their car and hit it head on. It was a barricade of boxes, rudimentary but it served its purpose. It was the perfect trap and they'd just run straight into it!

Suddenly the shooting and shouting stopped as both lay there getting their breath back, winded, disorientated and bruised. They both looked up at the same thing.

Facing them just feet away were combat boots, a military jacket, ammo vest and the biggest gun they had ever seen, which was slowly moving from side to side to cover them both, going menacingly from one to the other as they slowly disentangled themselves from the trap and each other's arms and legs and tried to make sense of what had happened to them but by them it was too late.

The gun crashed out two shots rapidly, the barrel flashing red each time.

29

' BANG! BANG! YOU'RE DEAD!'

It was the boy holding the gun who shouted as his war gaming friends joined him.

'Are they really dead?' asked another youngster suspiciously, as his friends came to join him, all dressed and armed to deal with any threat from to earth from anywhere in space.

Steve and Allie looked at them, kids with guns, toy guns.

'Is you terrorists or bad people?' one kid asked through his brace.

'Let's kill them again....' his friend said. 'It was fun!'

Too stunned to speak, too relieved to answer, Allie and Steve struggled to their feet, rushed past the kids and made it to their hatchback as the mini war resumed behind them.

They'd survived.

Both sat panting then slipped into giggles, nervous relief overcoming them as they made it back to their motel.

Was that real or not?

They rushed up to their room. They had the rest of the day to survive, till midnight and the threat passed. All they could do was stay close to reach other and watch the hours and minutes count down till they were sure they'd survived whatever the blogger had planned for them.

The tension had ebbed and flowed around them and as the clock counted down and the midnight hour that would come and release was just seconds away.

Both were on edge, they hugged each other, there was just a few seconds to go. They were stood in the shadows of the room, away from the window but watching to make sure no more bills were posted on the board directly opposite.

They came closer, only a second or so remained of the day. A kiss, a cuddle, and as Steve leaned a willing, pliant and flushed Allie on to the bed the motel window suddenly exploded as shots rang out.

Fragments of glass ricocheted around the room as the bullets smashed into the wall behind them, just the place they had been stood kissing moments earlier.

They flung themselves to the side of the bed opposite the window and just kept their heads down willing the shooting to stop. Still the shots came, smashing into the room, exploding the television set and ricocheting of the walls.

Steve glanced at his watch.

At exactly midnight the shooting stopped.

They were safe.

Or were they?

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door.

Both looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.

More knocking more urgently.

'Open!'

They could hear the muffled voice through the door, urgent and forceful.

They just gripped each other, and pulled themselves lower down.

'They'll shoot through the door,' Allie was pale, wide eyed and strung out. 'The end game,' she whispered with tears in her eyes.

Keys sounded in the lock as the pair hugged each other.

If this was the end game for them then they were going together, never doubt that. There was no fight they could put up, no weapons to hand, no divine intervention against an unseen enemy and unknown threat and it was way too late for the cavalry to arrive with all bugles blazing to save them from their hidden assailants. If they were going down they would do so entwined in each other's arms sharing that last kiss.

So be it.

After what seemed like an eternity of rattling different keys in the lock the door swung open. Allie and Steve peeped over the bed. The motel manager entered, ranting and screaming at them.

'You make damage, you bad people, trouble find you, go now!' he shouted in broken English as his American dream floundered in front of him.

Allie and Steve needed no second invite; they grabbed their few belonging, pushed past the still ranting manager and threw themselves and their gear into Allie's hatchback.

Still the Motel manger pursued them as they got in.

He thrust his hand into Steve's face through the drivers' side window.

'Here you take, no come back! Have refund!' he said as he dropped the bills into the car.

They sped off.

They certainly would “no come back”.

Goodbye Pine Lodge.

30

They decided to stay on the move, from one motel to the another, trying not to visit the same place twice, trying not to leave a trail, paying cash for everything. All they had were the clothes they had started out in, their jackets, sweat shirts and t shirts and boots, underwear, socks and little else, traveling light was easy that way.

Steve slept fitfully that night in their new motel and had a vague feeling of failure, almost as if he was letting Allie down, should he go out and get a gun and try to trace the blogger? A fanciful scenario but by process of elimination he thought he found a less fanciful and more realistic way to deal with him without direct risk to themselves.

Could they set a trap for him, if so how?

With no way of contacting him directly that was going to be near impossible, but what if they could contact him indirectly in some way and leave a message for him, one he was guaranteed to see?

They made the decision together over breakfast at first light, it wasn't sophisticated but it was all they could come up with. They knew that Dark Urban was in the area.

It was time to put him to the test!

They paid for their plan together and would take the consequences together; there was no other option. For the first time on the run it cheered them up, they were taking the initiative to him; they were invading his space, leaning on him. Influencing the influencer. They were striking back, and at the same time taking their life back. Despite their predicament they felt good.

It was a clear afternoon when the plane made its first fly past trailing the banner behind it in its slipstream.

<<< STEVE AND ALLIE DON'T WANT TO PLAY ANYMORE. >>>

It made six passes over the town that afternoon and with six more planned for tomorrow, they reasoned the blogger was near them, level with them, probably hidden in plain sight and was sure to see their message.

It was the only thing they could think to do and the answer to their message was soon to arrive. The tablet hunted for a connection, found it and they got the blogger's reply.

<<< WORDS HAVE WINGS. THEY TAKE FLIGHT. THEY MUST LAND. >>>

Realistically what else did they expect from the blogger?

An email saying sorry, won't bother you again?

They canceled the next day's passes from the skywriter and lost their money. There are no refunds on some things in life.

It also confirmed their suspicions that the blogger was up with them, was he watching them, listening to them, guessing their moves, weighing them up and getting ready to move in for the kill?

After that attempt to contact the blogger they accepted they were here until the end game as they built their life around their diminishing money and opportunities. Food was becoming a luxury, washing was done in the toilet, their clothing in the basin.

They went from hysterical giggles over nothing to snappy exchanges to no surrender sulks, sometimes all in the space of minutes as the blogger led their emotions to a different place.

31

In some ways being on the run was easy.

There's nothing to do but run, eat, count your money and sleep, in some was it was liberating, once they had everything, now they had only parameters.

They were free to do anything and go anywhere as long as it was within the rules of the game.

Being on the run was also hard, from what to tell their families to fears for their health, anything requiring hospital attention would be difficult, their medical insurance was gone they imagined, they had been removed from the system, lost to the state and it's soft infrastructure, on the edge, falling but never landing.

Everything they once were, everything they once had, was lost in the fire that took away their home and their lives.

Their families were told, after some debate, that they had been invited to a cruise in the Caribbean with Morgan and contact would be difficult for a week or so maybe longer, few phone masts or Internet connections and so on. No, they were not members of a crazed religious cult contemplating suicide nor had they volunteered as sex slaves, it was the boss and they couldn't very well not go.

They had become non-people, doing nothing, going nowhere except away from what they once were physically and mentally.

It was causing huge stress in their personal relationship though; both were affected however much they tried to assume a cloak of normality.

They found somewhere away from their motel to eat to try to vary their routine. The meal was basic and the conversation blunt.

'Should we perhaps split up,' said Allie, 'is that what the blogger wants?'

'For good?' said Steve haltingly, 'is that how you interpret it?'

'No, it's not that, I'm confused by it that's all.'

'Me too but what will splitting up achieve?'

'Perhaps separate the blogger will find it difficult to keep track on both of us?'

'So the blogger splits us up? That may be just what he wants. Allie this guy is playing serious head games with you.'

'And not you?' snapped Allie.

'Both of us,' agreed Steve bleakly.

Allie sighed, 'too many questions, too many loose ends,' after a few moments thought she continued, 'just suppose we play mind games with him?'

'And you think splitting up will achieve that?'

'Two of us. Who does he hit on, let's draw him out, find out what his game really is?'

'And you think that's the way to go about it?'

'You think of anything else?'

No, but I don't think splitting up is an option, he talks about us in the blog, us, not singular.'

To Steve's doubtful looks she continued. 'Put yourself in the blogger's position. Two targets, two sets of instructions, two things happening at once, we can throw him a loose ball, maybe trick him into a mistake.'

'He doesn't strike me as the sort of guy who does mistakes,' her husband said bluntly.

'Our house burned down, we've come close to being killed,' Allie's raised voice was attracting some attention from the few remaining diners so she continued, now hissing, 'now you get real Steve!'

'Look Allie.'

'Where the hell is all this going to end?'

'On his terms I guess.'

No, it's ending on our terms, Steve,' she said reaching over the table to hold his hand, 'this is the only weapon we have against him.'

Steve shook his head. 'Togetherness is our best weapon, looking after each other, looking out for each bother,' he said.

'We can put one over on him.'

'He knows the future, we don't, he knows what's coming. Allie, all we've ever done, all we've been through, you can't just throw it away.'

'I'm not throwing it away, just putting it on loan, we'll survive him, but we need to confuse him.'

'This isn't the right way Allie, we fight him together.'

'Steve, this is wrecking us.'

'It's meant to but our strength is to survive it better than most.'

'And are we?'

'We're still in there still fighting.'

'Fighting what? Ghosts? Things we can't see? A world hiding behind a cloak of invisibility? Come on Steve, see reason.'

'What reason is there to see, we don't know the rules.'

'So let's make them ourselves,' she said sharply.

'We can't, he's the influencer around here.'

'Only because we let him.'

'What choice do we have?'

'We can walk away!'

'Can we? Can it really be that simple just to walk?'

'We're changing Steve and I don't like it, to survive we're got to get mean, got to get nasty, got to get hard, it's not us. The longer we stay in this stupid game the more we loose sight of who we are and what we're about.'

'We tried with the skywriting, he's holding all the cards,' Steve said with a resigned shrug.

'So we just hang in there you're saying?'

'Until we get control of our lives back,' said Steve.

'Which will be when?'

'When they say so. We're caught Allie and the more we struggle the harder it is to escape.'

'Till we're finished. Or dead!'

'Or someone rescues us.'

'Who's going to rescue us Steve? Who's on our side?'

The silence sat heavily between then as they both picked at their meal.

'A fatal attraction,' said Allie.

'How do you mean?'

'Have we done something or said something, something someone picked up on and the situation is now spinning out of control?'

'How do you mean?'

'Something in the past maybe, a misunderstanding, a mistake, a misapprehension of some sort?'

'We've been shot at, nearly killed and run ragged by this blogger Allie, it's got to be more than a simple case of someone somewhere getting their wires crossed and their emotions in a tangle.'

'Do they want this blogger or us?' said Allie.

'Maybe both of us.'

'Then we're one and the same?'

'Maybe in cyberspace we are, perhaps we're less distinct out there.'

'Do we run forever Steve, drifting to the edge of society? Till we fall off it completely?'

'It's a waiting game Allie, no more than that.'

'We need to force the issue Steve, we need to act, keep him guessing, that way he's more likely to make a wrong move.'

'And when he does?'

Again the silence answered Steve.

'They're in control Allie, their hands are on the lever.'

'We're no more than puppets are we? Jumping to their tune!'

'We have no choice. For now!'

'We can't go on this way Steve, living our lives on hold!'

'They're the ones who'll decide that Allie.'

'No, not any more they're not! I want out!'

'I do too Allie, but if we're separate we'll fall apart. We're already on the edge and without each other..........................'

32

The events of that night made them stronger and brought them closer to each other. It made them realize they were in this together, one to make the other whole, as they made their way from motel to motel, working their way down the scale economically, trying to stay one step ahead of the game.

Trying not to view life through the Dark Urban reference frame and looking to each other for support and to keep their perspective.

The influencer's next message was simple.

<<<SPLIT. WAVE GOODBYE. >>>

It appeared on the tablet in their next motel room that night.

Steve and Allie analyzed those four words for what seemed like an eternity, trading verbal breaks against each other.

Who splits? Who waves goodbye? The two of them, the blogger, each other?

'We almost did that the other night, we must be twenty-four hours ahead of him now,' Allie said dryly.

'Now he knows how it feels chasing after his tail!'

They were both still emotionally tender and angry at the blogger for what he'd made them do but in a sense it had helped them. It had given them a much needed pressure valve and cleared the air a little.

And this time they were going nowhere. They would not be splitting. Nor waving goodbye.

'Stay there,' said Steve as he hopped in the motel bathroom and came back seconds later with a thin cord, 'I've got an idea.'

'That's the cord of the blinds in the bathroom?'

'You said it, now hold out your left hand.'

Steve tied the chord firmly around their Allie's left wrist then tied it to his right wrist.

'OK kinky, but is this the right time or place - ' she said with a teasing smile.

'Any time's the right time and place for you Allie,' said Steve with a quick kiss on her cheek.

'We don't split and we don't wave goodbye.'

'That's it,' said Steve, 'anywhere we go, we're going together.'

'Forever?'

'Forever and for the next twenty four hours.'

Still tied together and arm in arm they left the motel just before midnight, Steve driving and Allie helping.

They drove into town, parked and sat in the car, then went to a drive in for some fast food, still on that theme they found a drive in movie and decided to spend the night there and watched a succession of corny English horror films from the sixties and seventies, starting with the Blood Beast Terror and ending with The Wicker Man.

Halfway through Steve had to answer a call of nature, so they went to the toilets still tied together. He checked inside and they crept in, squeezing themselves into a booth and while Steve stood there Allie looked away shaking with giggles.

'OK now you can see what it's like!' she said when he'd finished. 'It's my turn now.'

She unzipped her jeans, slipped down her underwear and sat down on the toilet as Steve politely looked the other way.

'Tinkle tinkle, come on Allie.'

'There are some things a lady can't rush.'

'I've noticed!'

'OK I'm done. Let's sneak out,' she said pulling her jeans and underwear up.

They washed their hands quickly then waited at the door listening, a quick peep told them the coast was clear and in seconds they were back in their car.

Dawn arrived with the end of the films and they drove slowly back to their motel, they had another sixteen hours to get through.

'You want untying now?' said Steve back in the privacy of their room.

'Do you have to?' Allie said.

'Who's the kinky one now?'

'Something I've never done before, that's all,' she said giggling.

'Well, you never know what you'll enjoy till you try it.'

'Keep me tied up with you a bit longer then, please, please please.'

'OK, cuddle up here,' said Steve as they lay on the bed together.

Kinky and safe together.

33

<<< TIME OUT 01452258 01256877 >>>

'Time out I can guess but what do those sets of figures mean?' said Allie staring at the latest blog. 'A code to something, a safe maybe, a secret place?'

Steve shook his head. 'They're none of those things, they're easting and northings, simple coordinates, a grid reference that's all. Let's you find things on a map.'

'We haven't got a GPS Steve.'

'We don't need one, they simply relate to map references, that's all they are, we just have to get a map book and then we can find it.'

Allie was doubtful. 'So he wants us to go there for some reason?'

'Time out might be a clue.'

'As in have a break, a rest?'

'Maybe he wants one and wants us to be somewhere he can keep an eye on us more easily?'

'Could be it's a good cop bad cop routine, sometimes he's nice and sometimes he isn't, that seems to be the role he taking,' suggested Allie.

Steve was thoughtful. 'I think were safe, if he was going to do something to us he would have done it by now, he's had ample opportunity.'

'He could have taken us out of the game anytime,' agreed Allie.

'Looking at those coordinates, it's north of here.'

'So we go then?'

'We go,'

They booked out, loaded up the hatchback, brought a map book and set off.

They reckoned that it was almost a full day's driving so they split their time at the wheel.

From the map Steve worked out they were headed just past the little town of Stonecreek, more than that they were in the dark and just hoped things would become apparent when they got closer to their intended goal.

Evening brought them at last to Stonecreek; they shopped for some supplies, grabbed a quick meal at the one and only restaurant in the place and set off again, driving due north out of town. The rolling countryside had long since given way to birch and then pines, the soil now acidic and unyielding except for a few scattered dairy farms they'd passed on their way.

What they were looking for they didn't know but they hoped it would know them and give itself away to them in some way.

'We're here now,' said Steve reading the map book and making notes, 'somewhere in the middle of this forest, this is where we're meant to be.'

'What? In the middle of nowhere?' said Allie at the wheel, 'Got to be somewhere here to stay.'

'Can't see anywhere,' said Steve looking round. 'We haven't passed any other cars on the road for the last hour or so, since we left Stonecreek. I don't fancy spending the night in the car, it's a lot cooler here and it's going to be cold at night, dangerously so.'

'Has he sent us on a wild goose chase? And if he has why?'

'Just to show he controls us? He can make us do what he wants at his whim?'

Allie sighed. 'He already knows that. This is where we're meant to be,' she added.

'The middle of nowhere?'

They drove slowly up the gently climbing road.

'Well, well, well,' said Allie slowing down, 'look through the trees. On my side.'

And through the trees, straight and evenly spaced they spotted something even more uniform, a log cabin, set well back in the dark of the woods.

'Entrance must be further on, I'm sure we haven't past it,' said Allie and a slight bend brought them to some gates, old profile cut galvanized iron and on them the legend, Time Out.

'This is Time Out then, welcome to our new home,' said Steve.

'What sort of welcome though, can we get through the gates?'

As if in answer the gates swung noiselessly open as if inviting them in then closed behind them.

'Spooky,' said Allie.

'Sensors,' said Steve.

'Sexy,' purred Allie.

'Simple,' laughed Steve.

They drove slowly up the drive, then stopped.

'Doesn't seem to be anyone home.'

'All in darkness,' said Allie, 'sure it's the right place?'

'Too much like a coincidence,' said Steve, 'this is where were meant to be. I'm sure of it.'

They carried on up the drive through the gloom till they got to the log cabin, it was set on one floor, beautifully portioned and, they hoped, complete with all mod cons and not a trick.

They got out of the car and just stood looking at it.

'Wanna bet the doors are unlocked?'

'Let's try,' said Steve going up the stone steps and reaching out to it. It didn't sense them like the gate.

'Should we knock?' Allie said.

Steve shrugged, 'we have been invited, they should be expecting us.'

'So no one's home?'

'Hang on,' said Steve, 'there's a key pad beside the door.'

'What use is that? We don't know the code,' she said peering at it in the half light.

'Oh yes we do,' he said as he banged in the code. 1 9 0 1 5 7.

'The same as the winning lottery numbers!' Allie said with a gasp.

'Just a hunch....no more.'

Holding hands they entered the cabin, still apprehensive, still guarded.

The lights flashed on automatically, flickering once or twice then settling, they looked around them.

The cabin's outer simplicity belied its inner sophistication.

They were stood in the doorway, in front of them was a large central area, both kitchen and combined dining area. There was a sunken floor in the middle of the room, dropping perhaps a foot with a central fireplace in the center of it the room seemed to revolve around. The fire flared into life and flames shot up the circular burnished copper chimney just above it.

'This house is all electric,' said Steve as the front door closed automatically behind them.

'Who lives here? Is it the blogger's place?'

'No junk mail, the post box was hanging empty at the gate.'

'There's got to be some clues?'

'Not so far. No photos or anything'

'Like it's been sanitized and super cleaned,' said Allie.

On each side of the main room there were doors, two on the left and two on the right.

'Wanna explore some?'

'OK,' said Allie. 'See if it's got a wine cellar.....'

'Let me just get this,' Steve went to the fireplace in the center of the room and picked up a large heavy poker. 'Just in case.'

Still holding hands they went to the first door on the left.

It opened easily and again the light came on automatically, The room was a master bedroom, a huge four poster, thick rugs on the floor and walls, all solid wood, warm and inviting. En suite was the bathroom with a huge sunken tub.

'It's a party tub,' exclaimed Allie.

'Invite our friends round.'

'I guess this is where we sleep,' Allie bounced up and down on the four poster as Steve checked the cupboards, all were bare save for robes, towels and fresh bedding.

'Are we here for the long haul?' she asked.

'We're in wait and see limbo land,' he replied. 'Let's try the other rooms.'

The next door on the left was a smaller than the first, but still lavish.

'Servants' quarters,' said Allie with a giggle.

They crossed the room to try the door on the right; the first one was a study.

Smaller than either of the first two rooms, there was a desktop PC on an old-fashioned deep-topped leather table that dominated it. Like the rest of the place they had seen so far it was spotless with nothing out unusual, noticeable.

Sanitized Steve had called it – Allie called it neutral. They were both right.

Against one wall were bookshelves full of books all jumbled up, some in lines, some in stacks. Against the other wall were gun cabinets.

'There's enough for a war here,' said Allie.

'Shotguns and big game rifles, I'll have a closer look in here later.'

'So we can defend ourselves?'

'If we have to,' Steve said.

'But he can't be shot – otherwise they'd be no guns....'

'We'll find another way to kill him.'

'Maybe just disconnect him................'

'Nice one Allie!'

'Let's try the last room,' she said Allie..

They did.

It was locked.

'A secret room.'

'Are we meant to find the key? Is that part of the game?' said Allie.

'Maybe it's private stuff the owner doesn't want people to see?'

'That's illogical; we've got access to their study. Let's just slip outside and see it we can see into it through the window.'

Still holding hands they went back out through the front door, it swung open for then and swung shut with a click behind them. It was fully dark now and despite their coats both were chilled as they made their way round the corner of the cabin, when they got round the back and peered through the window of the locked room there was nothing to see, thick heavy blinds shielded the view, the secret room would remain a secret, at least for now.

They went back to the warmth of the house.

'Maybe we should contact our families,' said Allie, 'this is the longest they've been without hearing from me.'

'Same for me too, can we do that?'

'Where does it say we can't? After all this is down time and maybe the blogger wants us to, maybe he doesn't want people getting suspicious, asking awkward questions?'

'Good point. Let's do it!'

They took their coats off, kicked their shoes off and made some coffee. For the next hour they emailed home and phoned their family. Life's cool and they'll see them when they see them!

They weren't in the Caribbean now, but somewhere else entirely, still enjoying Morgan's hospitality.

They took some pictures of themselves in the cabin posing around the fire, drinks in hand, put on their best happy faces and sent them to their folks. It felt good to touch normality, good to reach out. It was also a huge relief to them to know everyone was OK. They had dreaded emergencies arising, not just for themselves but people close to them.

Everything was still cool, at least for their families' benefit.

For now.

'You think this place is bugged?' said Steve looking round.

'Crossed my mind too,' said Allie, 'but I can't see anything unusual, except there are no mirrors anywhere, just a small one in the master bedroom on the bathroom cabinet.'

'Only way we could find out would be to take it to pieces, and that's not an option.'

'OK, so what are our plans now?'

'I reckon have I'll have a look in the study, what about you?'

'Get some grub up, have a laze in the bath then bed.'

'You want some help?'

'With what?'

'Back scrubbing for starters?'

'Yeah, can't wait,' she said with a giggle.

'You think they left some food for us here?' said Steve moving into the kitchen area.

'Oh wow!' said Allie as she swung open the fridge door, 'take a look at this.'

She put a huge cake from the fridge down in front of them.

<<< WELCOME >>> was iced on the top of it.

'Someone was expecting us,' Steve said wryly.

'He finds time to make cakes between the blogs!'

'Looks like it.'

'Rum truffles, my favorite, and it smells OK. We gonna try some?' said Allie.

'I don't know, is it safe?'

'They didn't bring us all this was to poison us? It doesn't make sense.'

Nothing much has made sense these last few weeks,' Steve said with a shrug.

Allie dipped her finger into the thick chocolate icing just below the E in WELCOME. She sniffed it carefully then gently put a bit on her tongue. 'Tastes OK.'

'No cat to test it on.'

'A cat?'

'In the olden days if they suspected food was poisoned they tested it on the family cat.'

'You're not comfortable with it?'

'Maybe we should play safe and stick to the tinned stuff, there's got to be plenty here.'

Steve swung open the cupboards around the kitchen; they were packed with tins of every kind for every taste.

'OK I'll rustle something up,' Allie said.

'You want some help?'

She shook her head. 'Too many cooks and all that.'

'OK, I'm going into the study see if I can find out a bit about this place and it's owner.'

34

In the study along the walls the guns, hunting rifles and shotguns, were held securely behind heavy steel grills, and all had chains running thought their trigger guards. This guy was security conscious thought Steve, but he still left the door open and a cake with welcome on it for them.

The other wall held the books in no fixed order and no fixed subject, the people in this house read them, they were not for show, they were used, from dime novels to encyclopedias, educational textbooks, self help guides, atlases and compendiums, a real mixed bag.

Next he sat at the deep leather desk and looked at the computer. Like their one at home it was an old desktop and also like theirs it was password protected. It prompted him to enter it when he started it up. He looked in the drawers first, all empty, he looked at the books again, just searching for clues. He couldn't find anything that might suggest a password. There were no photos commemorating dates, no names, nothing he could hit on for a lucky guess. 0 1 1 9 5 7 didn't work and neither did PASSWORD.

He left the study, tried the door next to it, it was still locked, and then followed his nose into the kitchen.

'Hmm that smells delicious,' he said hugging Allie, 'real home cooked food at last!'

'Out of tins.'

'Still good, we having it by the fire?'

'Yes ready now.'

They took their food to the center of the room and warmed by the roaring fire on a chilly evening they made small talk about their limbo land in the strange sterilized all electric house.

Or prison.

Allie had opened a bottle of wine, Steve had a couple of beers and then it was time for the inevitable.

They watched the screen clock counting down the seconds till midnight, only when it reached that magical time could they relax and continue in their limbo land.

Midnight when it came startled them as the wall clock suddenly struck twelve somber chimes.

It had marked no other time.

By ten past midnight Allie was relaxing in the master bedroom tub and Steve did get to scrub her back, and more.

They slept contented, well, easy and late.

35

'Wakey wakey sleeping beauty,' said Steve as he put the tray on the bed, 'here's your breakfast.'

'Steve, what time is it?' said Allie groggily.

'Just gone eleven,' he said as he helped Allie fluff the pillows, 'full breakfast, and coffee.'

'I need the coffee first.'

'Sure you wouldn't prefer a hair of the dog?'

'Not my first hangover, I can cope,' said Allie sipping the strong coffee, 'That tastes so good,' she said lying back on the pillows and savoring it.

'Breakfast too. Toasty muffin things.....tomatoes...and stuff.''

Allie look at the plate of food. 'There's far too much for me. You gonna join me?'

Steve sat on the bed and helped himself to the some of the eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms and bacon.

'What are our plans today?' said Allie.

'None.'

'None?'

'As in doing nothing. Chill out and relax, we're in limbo land remember. Living our lives on hold.'

'For how long though?'

'Till midnight.'

'There might not be another message. Ever,' Allie sounded hopeful as she said it.

'They will be. Eventually.'

Steve watched her wolfing down her breakfast.

'I'm surprised you're hungry,' he said.

'I am, I'm famished,' she said between mouthfuls.'

'I didn't think you would be.'

'Why?' she asked.

'You ate the welcome cake. It's all gone.'

Allie suddenly stopped, the fork halfway to her lips. She swallowed hard.

'I didn't eat any of it Steve,' she said.

They just looked at each other in silence.

36

Were they going to have another night free of the blog?

They had their answer when the door to the study opened and they could hear the computer starting up. They went into the study and looked at the screen.

There was another message from the blogger.

<<< TAKE YOUR PICK >>>

'So this is the bloggers latest message is it? Take your pick of what?' said Allie looking round the study.

As the clock struck midnight the message on the screen faded. As they left the study another sound startled them.

The closed door to the secret room was opening!

Reflexively they held each other's hand and approached the room, the door opening ever so slowly, the lights flickering on inside it.

The room was bare, dazzling white except for the heavy black blinds and a simple desk right in the center.

It was what was on the desk that made them catch their breath.

From the door they could see two boxes.

One was a glass box with bundles of dollar bills inside it, the other a simple wooden chest, the size of a suitcase. They sat next to each other on the desk. They could see the dollar bills through the glass box but what was in the wooden chest was a mystery to them.

Take your pick.

'There gotta be a million dollars in that glass case.'

'OK, we see the money, but what's in the chest?' said Allie whispering.

'Which do we pick?' said Steve.

They were well inside the room now and standing in front of the desk with its tantalizing offer.

'What's likely to be in the box? Something to balance the money I guess?' she said answering her own question.

They turned round startled, a alarm came from the wide open door, signaling it was slowly beginning to close.

'We're going to get shut in here if we don't decide fast!' Steve said.

'We gotta make a decision now!' Allie said urgently. 'Which do we go for?'

'Better the devil you know than the one you don't?'

'Go for the money then?'

Steve turned to look at the door, now a quarter shut. The beeping had become faster and louder.

'It's got to be a joint decision, this could be a hell of a thing to live with.'

'I say money!' said Allie strongly and firmly. 'You go with that too?'

'OK, let's do it!' said Steve slowly. 'Maybe it's for cheating us over the lottery!'

'We have to decide, Steve, the door.'

Steve looked at the door, now half shut, it's bleeping now more rapid, telling them time was running out at Time Out.

'Let's get the money!' he said.

They reached for the glass box, opened it and scooped the money out, putting it into Allie's arms, bundle after bundle.

The door seemed to speed up now, the sound more strident and sharper.

'OK, lets go!'

Steve grabbed Allie and they dived through the door, once through it swung shut, its lock clicked securely and the alarm was silenced.

They went to large sofa by the fire and put the bundles down and counted them, one hundred bundles of ten thousand dollars each.

One million dollars.

Still too stunned to speak they just say there looking at each other.

The computer in the study beeped once more.

Both turned to look at each other, then rushed into the study.

On the screen was the next message.

<<< HELLO MILLIONAIRES! YOU MADE YOUR CHOICE BUT WAS IT THE RIGHT CHOICE?>>>

Steve and Allie just looked at each other open mouthed as the next message flashed onto the screen.

<<< DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT WAS IN THE BOX? >>>

'Do we have any choice? He's going to show us any way,' said Steve.

Suddenly they saw the secret room and the secret box on the screen. Slowly the lid began to rise. It was empty, apart from a sheet of paper inside it.

They read it aloud.

<<< WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE WE HAVE CAUSED YOU. YOU ARE FREE TO GO. WE WILL NOT CONTACT YOU FURTHER. AS AN INDICATION OF OUR GOOD FAITH PLEASE TAKE THE MILLION DOLLARS AS WELL. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. NOW ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR LIVES. >>>

'He cheated us!' said Allie as Steve burst out laughing. 'It's not funny Steve!' she said stomping out of the study and throwing herself down on the sofa.

'This guy is playing serious mind games Allie, you really think he's going to let us go, even pay us off? Come on, get real!'

'We can check,' said Allie jumping up.

'How?' said Steve grabbing her.

'Smash down the door to the secret room and see what really was in that box.'

'We can't get in,' Steve said chasing Allie to the door as she rattled the handle and threw herself against it repeatedly.

'We were so close Steve,' she said through sobs.

'No, Allie, we weren't.' Steve said taking her in his arms. 'Come on, why didn't he just say go into the secret room again and check the box? Why go to all this trouble? We would have been stitched up either way.'

'You think so?'

'I know so.'

'You're right?'

'I'm right Allie, come on let's call it a day and go to bed.'

'So he's beaten us again?' she said dispiritedly.

'He's the winner.'

'And we're the losers! All this money and still we're the losers.'

37

They were woken by the clock striking, the clock that never struck any time other than midnight was striking now, rhythmic, repetitive and without number.

'What time is it Steve?' Allie said drowsily.

'Just before five,' he said looking at his watch. It was dark outside. Dawn was still some hours away.

'So why the hell is the clock going?'

'Don't know, I counted the first twenty or so chimes then I gave up!'

And still the clock chimed on.

Both sat up in bed.

'Can we turn it off?' Allie asked.

'How? It's all electric.'

'Maybe it's a flaw somewhere?'

'Or maybe not.'

Suddenly the clock stopped. The silence startled them, then settled them, they dozed fitfully until one hour later and again the clock started chiming, this time for longer and louder, ten, twenty, fifty, then countless strikes, then again silence.

This happened a third time; both were now too awake to sleep anymore.

They got up, showered quickly and met in the kitchen with the clock ringing out, now almost deafening them. They were reduced to shouting at each other or just using sign language over the noise.

Both stared at it, Steve reached up to it. It was no more than a simple kitchen clock, bright, round and plastic. All he had to do was lift it off the wall, he did.

Silence.

He opened the door and threw it outside in the early morning light.

'That's a relief, I can hear myself think now,' said Allie.

'Spoke too soon!' said Steve as the chiming started again, this time stopping and starting, startling them and annoying them in equal measure.

Now the sound came from all around the room.

'There could a hundred speakers hidden here, we'd have to wreck the house to find them!' Steve shouted as he covered his ears again the din.

'You think this house is trying to tell us something?'

'Like we shouldn't be here?'

'You said it Steve.'

'You wanna go?'

The front door suddenly swung open, the cold wind whipping in and blowing the flames of the fire.

Steve tried to push it shut, it wouldn't budge.

It was not going to be shut!

After collecting their few belongings and their million-dollar bundle they were ready to go.

'Got everything?' Steve said in a moment of rare silence.

'Checked and double checked,' said Allie

'OK then, let's move out.'

'Join you in a sec, just got one last phone call to make!'

Steve went out and started their car; a minute later Allie joined him. The moment she went through the still open door it slammed shut behind her. They snuggled into Allie's hatchback, Steve on driving duties this time and they set off down the drive.

The gate swung open for them, let them through and then with a crash as final as the door it shut too.

Goodbye Time Out!

Back to the game.

38

They drove south, almost a full day. They stopped in the small town of Creegan and did some shopping. They bought a sturdy suitcase with a double security lock and plenty of plain brown wrapping paper. They filled the case with their million dollars, locked it and wrapped it up well, next they posted it to one of Allie's uncles with strict instructions not to open it, they would pick it up when they could. That was the reason for her one last phone call. They paid cash to the courier to deliver the magazines and periodicals as they called them to Allie's academic uncle on the university campus where he worked.

Much of it was true, he taught social science at that university and Allie was his favorite niece. Maybe the influencer controlled the Internet, maybe even the future, but hopefully not the courier service.

As they left Creegan both were happier the money was off their hands and the circumstances of the game that won it them fell quickly into the background.

Dark Urban was silent for a day or two as if it was weighing up its next move. They were now staying in the town of St Georges; a quiet backwater.

Their tablet bleeped and there it was. The next message.

<<< ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND OR YOU'LL GET BENT. INTO VIEW. >>>

This blog was more cryptic than the others and as far as Steve and Allie were concerned it didn't give them enough to get a handle on it but the pair mulled it over as they traveled from their motel in St Georges early in the morning to try to find another, preferably as cheap.

They had not kept any of the million dollar bundle for fear it was traceable and was just an extension of the blogger's game. They were rich but poor. Fuel and food were rationed now and what they would do when their money ran out they had not voiced out loud to each other, but it occupied their thoughts.

They spent most of the day walking in the scenic town of Dove, the first stop out of St Georges, enjoying the late summer heat wave.

When a light drizzle interrupted that they found a cheap restaurant and made a simple meal a feast, after that they headed back to the car and set off out of town, next stop who knew where?

With Allie driving this time Steve was dozing slightly as dusk settled in slowly and beguilingly at this time of the year.

Quiet roads, a few turnoffs, even fewer buildings, some rough farm tracks.

They were on the only road out of town.

Suddenly Allie slammed on the brakes slewing the hatchback to a halt.

Steve was shaken awake and turned to look at Allie.

'That side road, the single lane one, did you see the sign?' To Steve's head shake she continued, 'the Rainbow Rooms.'

'What about them?'

'The blog's message remember?'

'Round and round and round or you'll get bent into view. Made no sense last night and makes non now.'

'Bent into view Steve.'

'Don't get it.'

'Blue indigo violet'

'Still don't get it.'

'Rainbows, we do them all the time at school, with the kids'

'Bit more Allie.'

'Think of the colors of the rainbow, Steve, red orange yellow green blue indigo violet, they make up the first letters of the blogs message.'

'It wasn't though was it, round and round and round, red and red and red.'

'That's just fuzzy logic, to make it scan. Let's go!'

'Are you sure? We've seen plenty of signs along this road,' said Steve.

Allie nodded emphatically, 'there have been plenty, true, but that's the one we want! It's the only one that means anything.'

Allie swung the car round, they double checked the sign, “The Rainbow Rooms” and set off up the rough single track dirt road.

39

The motel was some way up the rough track, it appeared to be a converted barn and was once a recording studio in the sixties, a sort of hippy retreat in days gone by.

It was homely rather than luxurious, family run, quiet but most importantly not too expensive.

They had just parked their car in the deserted car park and were making their way to the reception desk when they collided with a man coming the other way past reception towards the main entrance. Usually in these circumstances, whoever was to blame for the collision is irrelevant; the apologies are shared, not so on this occasion.

Dressed in a long trench coat the stranger brushed brusquely by them and went out through the door, leaving Steve and Allie to give each other one of those what the hell type looks. They assumed he either worked there or was walking somewhere. There were no other vehicles outside.

As the waited at reception they looked around them. There were pictures on the walls, of the stars from the past, none of which Steve and Allie recognized or had heard of, just more ghosts.

They were strange hairy people with equally strange stoned expressions staring at them in defiance from long ago, a time when they thought they could change the world but they got old, time overtook their ideals and left them desiccated and ignored. Forgotten by everyone, even by the members of their families and few friends who hadn't already disowned them and their antics.

It was another world.

After booking in they were just setting off up the stairs to their room when the lady on the desk called them back.

'Oh I nearly forgot,' she said, 'someone left you this.'

She handed them a large envelope. Steve took it and looked at it, no name, no stamps, and no postmark.

'Are you sure it's for us?' he asked.

'Oh yes, no doubt about it.'

'It's not got our name on it or anything,' said Steve doubtfully.

'Are you sure it's for us?'

'Positive.'

They pressed her for more information but no, she didn't know who left it, her daughter may have dealt with it, she was out now, wouldn't be back till tomorrow, if that, today's kids, what do they get up to! No, we don't have CCTV, no call for that sort of thing round here, a quiet family run place like this.

Later in the privacy of their room they opened the envelope and devoured its contents, a magazine called “TOMORROW'S PHILOSOPHY TODAY”.

There was nothing in it directly related to them that they could see. They checked the editorial, checked the articles and even tried to invent a code to crack based on its adverts, but came to the conclusion that whatever it was they were meant to see would not be so hidden nor esoteric. They began to doubt it was even for them after all.

The articles were advanced statements on mathematics and metaphysics, the study of being and knowing, obscure texts that even in English required translation.

The drive had left them physically tired and the mental exercises took them to their limit.

They showered together, quickly and quietly. The blogger had brought them here, left the magazine for them and so perhaps the influencer had the answer?

Later that night he gave it to them.

<<< TOMORROW'S PHILOSOPHY TODAY. THE WRANGLERS RESTAURANT. ALONE. LEAVE ON THE ROUND TABLE OUTSIDE. 11 AM. >>>

They stared at the message on the tablet. So what the hell was happening now?

40

The Wranglers Restaurant was a small and sophisticated up market diner, not the sort of the place they would visit now they were on the run. They had passed it already on their way here.

'This guy is playing serious mind games with us,' said Allie said in the morning as they mulled over their mission, 'trick or treat with a vengeance!'

'What's the significance of alone, does that mean just one of us to do it?' said Steve cautiously.

'Perhaps he means we both do it but without back up, from the police or anything,' said Allie trying to look at it from the influencer's perspective.

'Should we go to the police, or even get a private detective or something, they might help?'

'Little chance of that,' snorted Allie, 'they don't do charity cases.'

'Could we film it, get him on camera, confront him?' Steve ventured.

'Who's to say he'll be alone, in his blogs he talks about “we”, for all we know he might have back up. Pretty obvious the blogger's got a team.'

'He's just the tip of the iceberg.'

'Is he setting us up for something Steve, are we walking into a trap?'

'He won't risk anything in full view of everyone but for some reason he want us there at that place and at that precise time.'

'Why?'

Steve shrugged, 'just because he can make us do it.'

'And if we don't go?'

'There will be a price to be paid,' both said.

'We're doubling back aren't we? By going back to Wranglers, I wonder if he's outside of his comfort zone - '

41

They rose early, left their motel, doubled back to their intended rendezvous and parked out of sight and out of view of it.

They still didn't have a plan and after some strained debate they decided to carry out their bizarre request separately but together, as they said to each other on the night of the shooting, if they were going they would go together.

Allie reasoned if one went and something happened the other might be none the wiser so both should go, they had scrapped their mobile phones and only had the cheap disposable one between them. They had never used it, nor would they unless it was a life threatening emergency.

Steve disagreed because that would leave their car and their few belongings unattended. Maybe that was what the blogger wanted? They reached a compromise of sorts.

One would take the magazine, the other would remain in the car but they would always be in each other's sight.

Tense and silent they checked their watches, looked at each other and after a quick hug and kiss they drove up to the Restaurant.

Would this be the moment they got close up and personal with the blogger? Perhaps even see him? Would they recognize him from somewhere else, another time, another place or another life?

There was one minute to go.

Steve pulled into the car park and stopped but kept the engine running. They took a good look round. The place was quiet. It a weekday morning. Allie got out and walked calmly up to the front of building where she left the magazine on the round table outside as instructed.

Trying to look cool and inconspicuous she got back in the car and exchanged a quick smile with Steve then they left.

Mission accomplished.

Simple as that.

But what was the mission?

42

They drove on, careful driving, not attracting attention, someone wants to cut them up fine, let them do it, Steve and Allie had no liberties to take.

They found a fast food place on the main highway and ordered the cheapest meal on offer and sat down close together as Steve showed Allie the camera footage he'd taken on their phone.

Over and over again they viewed it, they recognized no one and nothing looked particularity suspicious to them.

Or did it?

'See this guy Allie?' said Steve slowly holding the phone so she could see the grainy poor quality clip.

'Can't see anyone,' said Allie staring hard, squinting through the pixels almost.

'Look in the reflection of the glass, at the front of the restaurant, there's a vague shape there, difficult to make out.'

Allie peered at the camera. 'Yes I see it! A reflection! Someone from over the street watching us. We were looking in the wrong direction!'

'He was watching us.....'.

'That's the guy from last night, at the Rainbow Rooms, the one who bumped into us, in a hurry to get out, sure of it, the trench coat give it away!' she said breathlessly.

'He was stood watching us!'

'We were that close to him.'

'And he was that close to us,' she said. 'That close..........'

43

Steve and Allie booked into the next motel, something that was becoming depressingly familiar, from the muzak in reception to the lack of eye contact from the staff, they went to their room and Steve made for the shower, after a few minutes Allie called in to him.

'Surprise surprise surprise! We've got a new blog!'

'Dated tomorrow?' said Steve from the shower.

'Dated tomorrow as usual.'

'What does it say this time?'

'It just says he got a call.'

'And that's all, nothing else?'

Doesn't elaborate, all he says is, “Just gotta call”.'

No clues?' said Steve coming up to Allie and wrapping the towel around him.

'See for yourself,' said Allie, 'it's all there in black and white.'

True to her word all the blog said was,

<<< JUST GOTTA CALL. >>>

'You thinking what I'm thinking?' Allie asked.

'That the call was from whoever is after him.'

'Huh huh, and if he got a call so will we.'

'The people who want him want us as well?' Steve suggested.

'So all we can do it wait.'

'We wait.'

Starting at midnight someone was going to call them sometime in the next twenty-four hours, according to the blog. As Steve sat on the bed it was Allie's turn to freshen up, both dressed again afterwards, they both felt less vulnerable in their clothes, besides, they didn't know how the night would end.

Be prepared.

For anything.

Both of them felt the game was speeding up now. They talked, kissed and cuddled, tried to act normal and cool, tried to enjoy each other's company the way they used to in the days before all this began as they watched the clock tick down to midnight, then it was one minute past, two minutes past, then ten past, then one in the morning and still no phone call, they dozed slightly, each waking with a start.

Finally, at exactly two in the morning, the phone rang, Allie was closest but didn't pick up the receiver, put it on the intercom Steve mouthed, she pushed the button and they listened.

They heard nothing but dead silence. Then there was something else. Static, then voices like a party line and muzak playing quietly in the background. Steve and Allie looked at each other.

Allie suddenly jumped up. 'We know where the calls are coming from!'

Steve looked perplexed. 'Where?'

'Here, in the motel, he's here!'

Steve rushed for the door and threw it open, Allie following him, he charged down the corridor made up of identical rooms to theirs. At the first door he threw his weight against it, the lock burst and Steve rushed in to the darkened room, empty!

On to the next door, again he threw himself threw against it, it flew open and he was confronted by two terrified people together in the bed looking at him wide eyes, the man looked guilty, the woman he was with looked terrified.

He got to the third door along.

He barged that door open as well.

Too late!

The window was wide open, the lights on, whoever was in here moments earlier had made a very hasty exit. Steve rushed up to the window, Allie joining him just in time to see a large van with blacked out windows skidding out of the car park.

'That was the van the agents used,' said Allie. 'To vet us!'

'We missed them by seconds!' cursed Steve.

They went back to the hall; the disturbances had got everyone up in various stages of undressed sleepiness, now they stood muttering among themselves.

Steve and Allie pushed past them all, went back to their room, grabbed their few things, and just left, walked out to open mouth stares from both guests and staff, no one challenged them, no one made to stop them. Whatever was going down no one wanted to get involved one way or another.

They left the motel and drove out on the main highway, as they did two police cars passed them, their lights strobing and sirens whining angrily in a two tone frenzy. Were they going to the motel? They didn't know.

'Damn,' said Steve looking in the mirror as a police car bore down on them. It must have swung round.

'Nothing else we can do,' said Allie as their hatchback slowed, the police car gained and suddenly the spotlight from the driver's side illuminated them for a few seconds then went off.

They stopped, the police car overtook them and stopped just in front, it's flashing lights on but its siren winding down to a discordant irregular whine before finally stopping. Steve and Allie waited in silence, their faces reflected in the flashing red lights from the police car in front. Eventually the door opened, the policemen got out and approached them cautiously, his hand resting on the handgun at his side. He was middle aged and portly, his uniform ill fitting. He walked around the vehicle slowly before coming up to Steve's door. Dark Urban? He didn't look social media material.

'Good evening sir,' he drawled.

'Officer,' said Steve and Allie nodded her acquaintance and acceptance of the situation, and, she hoped, their innocence of any wrongdoing. He was on his own. Surely the police patrolled in twos? Or was that just in the city?

'Could you turn off the engine sir?' he asked.

'Of course, sorry,' said Steve.

'Can I see your license sir?'

Steve took out his license from his wallet and gave it to the policeman who examined it carefully before handing it back without comment. Allie, despite offering her license to him was ignored.

'Is this your vehicle sir?'

'Yes, well, not really.'

'Then whose vehicle is it?'

'It's my wife's.'

'It's mine,' said Allie, tired of being ignored.

'Sort of ours.' said Steve.

'You're husband and wife?'

'Yes, we are,' said Allie.

'Could you pass me the keys to the vehicle and step out please sir, and you stay there,' he said to Steve and Allie respectively, 'Keep your hands where I can see them at all times.'

Steve passed him the keys and slowly got put of the car, he stood facing the policeman and watched in disbelief as he pulled his gun and stepped back.

'Are we under arrest?' said Allie starting to open her door.

'Stay were you are ma'am,' rasped the policeman.

Allie did.

'Turn around, put your hands behind you back.'

When Steve had done that the policeman looped the plastic cuffs around his wrists and with one jerk secured them.

'Turn around.'

Steve did.

'Now you,' the policeman said as he nodded at Allie, 'slowly, and keep your hands where I can see them and don't make any sudden movements.'

He motioned Allie round to the driver's side of the car and there the three stood, the policeman, gun in hand, and Allie next to Steve with his hands bound behind his back.

It was not yet dawn, the roads were deserted, and they were on their own in the middle of nowhere.

'OK you two,' the policeman motioned with his gun, 'let's have you in the vehicle for a moment, and don't try anything clever. Move! Now!'

In single file, Allie leading, then Steve, then the gun and the policeman, they approached the police car.

'Stay there!' he said as he moved round them and opened the back door. 'In! Now!'

Allie and Steve slid into the back, the policeman slammed the door on them, then took his seat in the front.

45

He sat there, legs dangling out of his open door and turned to face the pair of them in the rear seats as they peered through the heavy metal grille.

'So you just left the motel back there?' To their nods he continued, 'bit of a hurry to get away weren't you?'

Again they nodded, 'Want to tell me what all this is about?'

Haltingly at first, then with growing confidence they told their story as he listened intently. They started at the beginning and left nothing out. Both Steve and Allie traded the story to him line by line, each filling in a little bit of it as the policeman looked from one to the other as they spoke their turn. Almost without pausing for breath they continued.

The policeman help up his hands and they stopped, 'hold up there. You think someone might have confused you with this influencer, mistaken identity maybe?'

'Something like that,' said Allie.

'And they're after you and not the blogger?'

'No,' said Steve, 'they're after the blogger as well.'

'It's almost as if we're a mirror of him,' added Allie. 'They want us too.'

'Whatever he does we do, but he seems to be 24 hours ahead of us in everything.'

'So who or what is Dark Urban?' the cop asked.

'It's a blog, a vblog.' Steve said. 'Sort of an Internet thing....a vblog.'

'What the hell are those?'

'Is this making any sense?' said Allie hopefully.

'Not particularly,' said the policeman wearily then turned to tap a few keys on his center console computer, the screen mounted under the dashboard glowing with an eerie iridescent blueness. After studying it he turned round to face them again.

'Have you ever worked on a military site Mr. Smith?'

Steve related his work on the military base, how well it was received and how it led to his promotion at work.

'Ever think you were set up?'

'Set up, what do you mean?' said Steve.

The policeman pursed his lips, leaned toward the grill and almost whispered, 'Any idea why your colleague killed himself before the job was to start?'

'No.'

'Perhaps he was under pressure, something in his past maybe, someone could have been threatening him, something along those lines, I'm sure you get the idea.'

'We've had the weird blogs, like we told you,' said Allie to the policeman's raised eyebrows. 'Like haunting us.'

'Ghouls and trolls and weird people, they get everywhere, latch on to everything and anything, attention seekers,' he said dismissively.

'Its almost as if we're been stalked,' said Allie as Steve sat silent.

The policeman sighed. 'Stalked? Are you making an official complaint of harassment, sexual, physical or whatever?' he asked.

'No, it's just that we think he's near us.'

'This stalker?'

'Yes,' said Allie.

The patrolman made a great show of looking round, then turned back to the two in the back seat.

'Has he approached you, tried to make contact in someway? Is he blackmailing you, threatening to expose you?' he asked.

Steve shrugged. 'We've nothing to hide, but we think he's level with us as it were and sort of running alongside of us.'

'He was in the motel, a few doors down from us, we nearly caught him,' Allie added. 'And he was in the rest room before, when I went in I saw the sign he saw in the ladies.'

'He was in the ladies toilet?' the officer said with raised eyebrows.

'Must have been.'

'So the influencer is a woman really?'

'We think it's a man, we bumped into him once,' Allie said.

'Did you recognize him?'

'No.'

'Never seen him before?'

'No.'

'Can you describe him?'

'No, but we filmed him,' Steve said, suddenly remembering the footage they'd taken of him.

'You filmed him?'

They both nodded.

'Can I see the film?'

Allie got the old mobile out of her pocket and passed it to the officer.

The policeman fiddled with the camera phone and peered at the screen.

'He was reflected in a window, outside a restaurant,' Steve said. 'He was stood there watching us.'

'Well he's not there now!' the policeman said looking closely.

'But he must be!'

'We both saw him,' said Allie, 'we watched the clip together.'

'See for yourself,' the policeman said. He showed them the screen. It was blank.

Steve and Allie lapsed into silence and watched a slow dawn about to break in the distance.

Another day in Dark Urban's clutches.

'He tried to shoot us,' Steve said finally.

'When we were in another motel in another town,' joined in Allie.

'He wants us dead.'

'Why?' said the policeman.

'He just does.'

'But you have no evidence?'

None,' said Steve slowly and quietly. 'But it happened.'

'You think you may have been set up, this house fire and everything?'

'It's possible,' said Steve.

'Why would anyone do that? Go to all this trouble and then apparently stalk you to see what your reaction is?'

'As you said there's some weird people out there.'

'In here as well,' said the officer pointedly. 'Is your job particularly stressful Mr. Smith?'

'I'm not going to kill myself.'

'I didn't ask you that, perhaps you are on the run, but you're on the run from yourself and your life maybe? Along with your lady friend'.

'Wife, actually.' said Allie sharply.

'So are you on the run from something?'

'We're not on the run,' said Steve.

'We are on the run, but we're not.'

'The blogger makes us run.'

'The blogger again? This blogger who vblogs you?''

Steve and Allie nodded silently and waited for the interrogation to continue.

'Are you, to put it bluntly, stalking yourself, perhaps without even knowing it, or admitting it?'

'Surely I would know that,' said an exasperated Steve.

'Not necessarily,' continued the policeman, 'it may be your alter ego, a split personality, part of you trying to say something and this is only way you can say it to your satisfaction.'

'You're joking.'

'No I'm not Mr. Smith, consider the facts, a blog is haunting you from 24 hours in the future, logically you would be the best person to be doing that and creating the scenarios to prove the blogs truth, a split personality in effect, you may not even be aware you're doing it,' he finished sympathetically.

'Just a moment, You're accusing Steve of murder, setting fire to a substation - '

'And predicting the winning lottery numbers?' Steve added.

Each weighed in with their opinions until the policeman took the lead and rolled the conversation back.

'This colleague of yours who killed himself, was he a close friend of yours?'

'No, not all that close,' said Steve.

'Notice any change in his character?'

'No.'

'Any indication he was under pressure?'

'No.'

'No hint he was about to crack?'

Just a shake of the head from Steve this time.

'You took over his position at the military base, the job he was scheduled to do until his suicide put an end to it, you took it over at short notice, and did it admirably apparently. This must have been a particularly stressful period for you?'

'He did it brilliantly and was promoted on the back of it,' said Allie proudly.

'How did you feel about benefiting from your colleagues misfortune?' the officer said, pointedly ignoring Allie's interjection.

'I rationalized it,' said Steve slowly.

'And benefited from it. The promotion situation must have been stressful and rather difficult to deal with?'

'These things happen,' said Steve

'Let me ask you, do you feel you were over promoted, the responsibilities too much, too much pressure, nowhere to escape to, life at the top can be lonely, it doesn't suit all types?'

'I can handle it thank you.'

'This house explosion, this would be easy to do by someone with your qualifications and knowledge, you are, after all, a structural engineer.'

'Why would I blow up my own house?' asked Steve incredulously.

'You tell me.'

'Destroy everything we've worked for, why would I do that?'

'As I said,' the officer said with a sigh, 'I'm hoping you'll tell me.'

'That is absolute nonsense,' said Allie.

'As you say,' the officer went back to studying his screen for a few moments, 'And now you,' he said turning round and looking at Allie.

'You might also have some motivation to do this?'

'We're not doing anything, I would have though that was obvious,' said Allie indignantly.

'What is obvious is you are telling me a blogger, a mirror of you, a version of you from a different dimension sometime in the future, the anti matter version of you - '

'It's not like that,' said Steve.

'Then what is it like?' said the officer sharply.' Is he your clone? Your twin? Or maybe a secret government project?'

'I realize it sounds weird.'

'Weird? Odd irrational spooky surreal strange uncanny ghostly alien crazy fantastic freaky queer. And you just say it's weird? Weird doesn't do it justice,' he said heavily and sarcastically.

Allie and Steve sat silently.

'And now this murder.'

'Jerry?'

'Who's to say it was murder, it would be a very difficult case to prove,' the officer said, 'I am looking at it strictly from a legal viewpoint you understand,' he added.

'The influencer said rules are rules and there's a price to be paid,' said Steve.

'That could have been anything, pure coincidence, even wishful thinking,' he replied.

'Rubbish!' said Allie.

'What if you had stubbed your toe, tripped up, split hot coffee on your best dress, would that still have been a price to be paid? It could have been any one of a million and one things you chose to fit the scenario, sadly this person's death came at that specific time, that suited it perfectly, but it could have been anything.'

Both Steve and Allie were silent, then the policeman continued, 'Many people feed off each other, one person's problems becomes the other's, they seek solace in drugs or drink or other addictions, such as the Internet, how would you describe your relationship. Sexually and emotionally?'

Steve and Allie were silent.

'We're married, have been for four years.'

'Happily,' supported Allie.

'Look, where is this questioning leading, is it really necessary?'

'Is it an issue for you, difficult to deal with?' the cop said pointedly. 'Understand me, I am just going through all the possible scenarios in the hunt for this psychic stalker, and I am given to thinking the culprit may be nearer home than you think, or at least care to admit, certainly to each other.

'You think it's one of us doing all this?' said Steve incredulously.

'Given the information you've provided about the blogger, yes, in short, I do.'

'But you yourself said there are a lot of weirdo's out there.'

'This is the point and the point is it could be anything and equally it could be nothing. You are the only ones who know that for sure.'

'We're sure he's near to us,' said Steve.

'The things he does, the things he says, he couldn't do that from a distance,' say Allie.

'Has he approached you, threatened you, interacted with you in any way?'

'No, he hasn't.'

'Then there's no crime to answer, no crime being committed as far as I can see, no smoking gun, bloodstained knife, no dead body and no victims, for all I know this might be your version of a good time,' said the officer wearily. 'There is no police alert out for you, no crime to confess to and unless you make a specific allegation against someone,' he looked pointedly at Allie, 'there is no reason for you two to continue waste everyone's time including your own, some people just get on with their lives, you two should try it some time.'

'So we're free to go them?' Steve asked.

'I didn't say that.'

'So what are you going to so?'

'Call the station, see if they want you.'

With that he got out the police car and walked to the front of it, talking quietly into his mobile. He turned to look at them as he spoke, his back to the road, the phone at his ear deadening all other sounds.

'Why doesn't he just use the vehicle phone?' said Allie looking to the front seats and the radio between them.

'Perhaps he doesn't want us to hear?'

'Maybe he's not even calling the police, maybe it's not even a real police car and maybe he's not even a real policeman,' she said, 'I don't know what the hell to believe anymore!'

46

The vehicle's trajectory said it all.

The policeman never saw it coming till the last moment when he turned suddenly towards the road and saw the inevitable unfold in front of him.

'Brace yourself,' Steve suddenly shouted to Allie as he realized what was going to happen. As the policeman watched the vehicle rushing towards him they crouched in down on the back seats and waited for the inevitable impact. It came as the vehicle slammed into the front of the police car, squashing the officer against the hood. Death was instantaneous.

With a screech of tires and a rending of metal it pulled off the police car leaving the officer to slide down from the hood out of view. It reversed, then ran at the front of the vehicle again and again, each time mangling the policeman. It's job done it then sped off down the highway away from them, its rear end fishtailing with it's sudden acceleration. Allie and Steve sat there stunned. Allie spoke first.

'The agents?'

'No one else it could be,' said Steve as they watched black van disappearing down the deserted road. 'Are they on our side now?'

'Maybe they didn't want us to be taken into custody?'

He nodded. They wanted them free.

It was still deserted but still a risk, they shouldn't be here, they knew it. They were in the back of a smashed up police car with a officer lying dead in front of it. They needed to get away, fast!

First they had to get out, Steve's door was still shut fast, the heavy metal grill in front of them was unmovable but the door on Allie's was loose, the rear pillar deformed in the crash, the body panels distorted out of true.

Steve swung his legs round over Allie and kicked two footed with all his might, after half a dozen hefty kicks it gave and Allie slid out.

'Allie, get our keys if you can,' he called to her.

Allie approached the dead policeman at the front of the car, stepping gingerly in the blood and peering at the body as Steve slid across the seat and out of the police car.

'I can't see them,' she said plaintively, 'there too much.....blood and stuff.'

'Did he drop them? They were in his hand, his left one I think.'

Allie peered at the policeman's broken body. 'Got them!'

Steve watched as Allie leaned closer to the policeman's broken body and slowly stretched out her hand.

'Fuck,' she said slowly almost inaudibly. Steve knew what she was going through, Allie rarely swore outside the bedroom.

As her fingers closed around the key ring she looked away as she picked them out from his bloody hand, holding them away from her body, then, stepping over his remains, she skipped the last couple of steps back to Steve stood by her car now.

'Good girl,' he said. And he meant it!

Allie got in the driving seat of the hatchback, reached over for the tissues in the glove compartment and wiped the blood off the keys with a large handful, again she looked away as she did it.

She put the keys in and started the car as Steve slid in the other side.

'Turn around,' she said.

Sitting in the seat with his back to her she cut through the cuffs, he pulled his arms round to the front.

'You OK?'

'Yeah,' he said with a tight grin, 'I don't do kinky...'

Allie rewarded him with the faintest of pale faced smiles; put the keys in and started up the hatchback. She fired the engine aggressively; partly to get everything out of her system, partly because the boots she had on were not made for driving.

'Let's go,' she said and they set off in the opposite the direction the agent's van had taken, swinging out round the wrecked police car and the dead officer just as dawn was finally breaking around them.

And in a field at the side of the road, stark among the gray shadows, stood a single cross.

47

Allie,' Steve said, 'the more I think about this the more I think the link is with Magill and his suicide, that's what we've been missing, I'm sure it all revolves around that in some way.'

'Perhaps it does but what can we do?' said Allie realistically, 'we need to do something to force the issue against the blogger, we need to attack.'

'Can we attack what we can't see?' said Steve thoughtfully.

'He's invisible.'

'All around us.'

'But we can't see him so how do we attack him?'

'Before we attack them though we need weapons and the best weapon is knowledge,' he added.

'We've been though all this know so many times, I'm sure we haven't missed anything.'

'How about going to see his widow and see if she can shine any light on this?'

'Do you know her?'

Steve shook his head, 'no but I know where she lives, I dropped stuff off for Magill once or twice.'

'Can we trust her?' Allie said suspiciously, 'can we trust anyone?'

'We don't know whom we can trust. We thought the agents, the vetting people were the enemy then they turned up like the cavalry and saved us from the police.'

'I don't see how we can just approach her.'

'We'll have to, we have no choice.'

'Offer our condolences, belatedly,' suggested Allie.

'And search the place,' added Steve.

'Search it?'

'First we need to see the files, not just on Magill but on that military job as well.'

'You had the files.'

'I had the work files but there's a lot more paperwork behind the scenes we don't carry around with us, there might be something in that worth looking at, a trigger maybe, a smoking gun hidden in it, optimistically.'

'Something hidden from you? Why? We were vetted, they trusted us, didn't they?'

'So they said, but perhaps we might be able to find something to work on.'

'Like what? Another piece of the jigsaw?'

'Good point Allie,' Steve said then after a moment's thought he continued. 'What I'm thinking is that we're convinced we're missing something, some link, some chain that we are a part of and we haven't worked it out yet.'

'And you think we'll find the answers there?'

'Maybe, maybe not, but at least it puts us on the offensive and it means we may be able to take the fight to Dark Urban. Try and turn the tables on him in some way, if we can.'

'Knowledge is power, and intelligence is influence.'

'You said it Allie, and we need more of both.'

48

Their influencer was silent that night. They were glad, they had a plan, a way to take the fight to him or them or whatever the hell Dark Urban was.

They arrived at the Magill residence early the next morning.

It was a chalet style house set in its own grounds and reach via a long drive. The building was in need of repair, the garden and drive overgrown, the standards had slipped in the few months since Magill's death. It seems no one cared anymore, no one wanted to claim ownership of the place, and it was dying slowly though lack of love.

Steve had met his widow briefly once before some years earlier, he remembered as he drove up the drive, she would be in her sixties now. He remembered her as a very well turned out woman, smart and stylish. Would she remember him? It would at least give them entry into a conversation with her.

Both got out and walked up to the imposing double door entrance. With a quick glance at Allie for support he rang the bell and they waited for what seemed like an eternity. The door was eventually opened by a washed out blond in a flowery housecoat, as dirty and disheveled as she had once been scrubbed and vivacious, she rocked unsteadily on her grubby bare feet and peered at them muzzy eyed as if she had just surfaced from her torpidity.

The smell in the house hit them immediately, stale air, food gone off, soured scent and disinfectant, alcohol and tobacco but most overpowering of all was the smell of apathy. Magill's widow had chosen her own method of escape.

'Mrs. Magill? Mabel Magill?' Steve said.

She looked at him through initially uncomprehending eyes and then slowly nodded her head as real time and real life penetrated.

Steve held out his hand. 'I'm Steve Smith. I was a colleague of your late husband. We were passing and I thought I'd drop in and pay my respects and see how you're getting on.'

She took Steve's hand but did not so much shake as hold it, as if she needed some human contact. A lifeline for her, something to help her get by. Eventually she let go. Without a word she turned and walked into the main lounge, Steve and Allie, after a glance at each other, followed her.

'Find someplace to sit,' she slurred and gestured around vaguely as she allowed herself to collapse into a worn chair.

Steve and Allie looked about them at the mess in the room, empty food packets, cartons, bottles and newspapers strewn everywhere and next to where his widow sat was a small table with more bottles on it. There was also a picture of Magill on the table in a framed photo.

It was a death photo.

He was in his car, eyes shut, relaxed on the cushions he'd put in there, a deathly pink tint to his skin from the carbon monoxide that had poisoned him.

'My last picture of him,' she said and picked the photo, 'I took it.'

She kissed it tenderly.

'This is not going to be easy,' whispered Allie to Steve and getting a slight nod in return as they moved some of the food packets and empty bottles to make seats for themselves facing the widow who held that last picture close to her heart and keened almost inaudibly.

'It's been difficult for you,' Steve said haltingly looking at Allie for support. 'We, err, had a lot of respect for your late husband...'

'He's gone, they got him,' she said quickly and with finality. 'In the end, they got him.'

'Who's got him Mrs. Magill?' said Allie gently.

'The same people who are gonna get you. Isn't that why you're here?' she said with a hint of a sneer, pouring a huge shot of whatever her poison was and downing it in one.

'Why do you think we're here Mabel?' said Allie to silence.

After a while the widow spoke, looking directly at Steve, her bloodshot eyes hardening. 'Do you love her?'

Steve looked at Allie and before he could answer the widow continued.

'Then why did you involve her in all this? Was that fair?'

'We're in this together Mrs. Magill,' Steve spoke this time.

'Make it easy for her, give them what they want, give her a chance to live, why should she pay?'

'Pay what?' said Allie quietly.

'The price, pay the price!' she snapped loudly. She pointed a shaking finger at Steve. 'It's you they want, let your wife escape!'

Allie looked into the bloodshot eyes, haunted and angry. 'Did you escape Mrs. Magill?' she said very gently.

The silence returned even more uncomfortable than before.

'Did you ever go to the police?' said Steve.

'And tell them what? Something even we didn't believe?'

'You said they were after your husband, and now they're going to get us. Who do you mean?'

'The invisible ones, the ghosts, the one who are but aren't. Have you seen them?'

Both Steve and Allie shook their heads.

'And you never will,' she continued. 'They're invisible!'

'Invisible?' Allie asked. 'We can't see them?'

'But they see you, they see everything you do and they see through you! THEY EVEN SEE INSIDE YOU! But you never see them.' Magill's widow spat the words out.

'Where are they, the invisible ones?' said Allie.

'Everywhere, look around and you see them then you don't see them. Think you're clever? You're beginners and they will crush you. As the wheel turns!'

As the wheel turns.

That phrase again.

'Mrs. Magill, you know what we're up against don't you? Will you help us? Please?'

'Mrs. Magill? Mabel?' said Steve supporting his wife.

She looked everywhere but at them as she pitted her conscience against the inevitable, her humanity against the unseen, fleetingly her humanity won. For now. She turned face them, opening herself up in the process.

'What do you want?'

'Would it be possible to see your husband's work room, his study maybe?' said Steve sensing a change in her attitude.

'Sure, I'll show you,' the widow said. 'It doesn't matter anymore anyway.'

She struggled to rise.

'No, no, we can find it ourselves,' said Allie reaching over to touch her arm in kindness. 'You stay where you are.'

'It's in the back,' she said nodding them in the right direction before settling back down into her chair and pouring herself another drink and fumbling with her cigarette packet.

They went through to the back of the house and entered a small study; it was in the dark, the heavy drapes drawn, a secret and silent chamber.

Steve fumbled for the light switch flicked it and the sight that greeted them made them catch their breath.

<<< SPECIAL OFFER!!!!>>>

<<< CLOSING DOWN SALE!!! >>>

<<< EVERYTHING MUST GO!!! YOU ONLY PASS THIS WAY ONCE. MAKE THE BEST OF IT!!! >>>

<<< HURRY OR YOU'LL MISS IT! >>>

<<< LAST CHANCE!!!!!!!!!!!>>>

Every inch of the walls was covered in messages from Dark Urban. Magill had printed them all off.

They were stuck up haphazardly, a crazy mosaic that Magill was trying to make sense off, a trail that lead to his death eventually. The pair of them just stood open mouthed and looked around. Shelves full of books lined the room, a PC was in one corner, all those too were covered in the messages.

They tried to read a few of them, innocuous, similar to their own, then Allie spotted something.

'Steve, look at this,' she said, '“there's only one way out so take it“,' she read aloud, 'and here's another, “get a one way ticket out of here, you know what to do.“'

Steve and Allie went around the room reading the messages urging him to get out, to escape.

Then message after message all saying the same thing. That he should kill himself. In this room Magill had been taken to the limit and beyond, taken to a place where only death could save him.

'Steve, who's Charlotte?'

'Charlotte?'

'Look at all these,' Allie said indicating more of the messages, 'Some of them mention her, "she's waiting for you", here's another, "when are you going to get round to her?", they all mention a Charlotte.'

Steve and Allie looked at the messages around the walls concerning the mysterious Charlotte.

'So who is Charlotte?' Steve asked.

'Is she a player in the game?'

'A new player?'

'If she is who's side was she on?'

Suddenly the computer on Magill's desk bleeped and powered up, Steve and Allie turned round slowly. The screen flickered to life, the dust blown off the screen by the static, the buzz of the hard drive getting louder.

There was no message on the screen this time, just a fuzzy out of focus film in the now familiar distorted Dark Urban style. It showed them in Allie's hatchback on their way here. They stared at the screen a long time, silent, suspicious and no closer to the truth.

'You won't escape you know!' rasped Magill's widow from the doorway, 'They'll get you eventually, one way or another, just like they got my husband, don't you think you're any better.'

They turned round to see her swaying in the door, a bottle in her hand.

'You won't escape you know, they'll get you! The ghosts will get you, there's nowhere to hide,' she continued.

Steve and Allie looked at each other, there was nothing more to learn here, they gently pushed past Magill's widow and moved through the house to the front door, her voice louder, drunker and more strident with every step.

'You're already dead, they'll bury you, fight and you'll loose, rules are rules, there's a price to be paid, you'll find out the hard way! YOU'RE PLAYING ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL NOW! YOU HEAR ME? THEY'RE GONNA TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE ELSE! SOMEWHERE YOU'VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE!!'

As they drove away they heard her last comment.

'HOW CAN YOU FIGHT WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE!'

49

They drove back to their motel in silence.

Was something like that their destiny? To be beaten by Dark Urban? Magill's widow chastened them; they were touching his handiwork, getting closer to the source, moving into the inner circle.

That night one more blog awaited them. What the hell, they'd seen the future in Magill's widow.

It made no sense.

They ignored it.

<<<THE PENGUIN DID IT! >>>

In the morning they went to get some more supplies. Steve pulled up outside the small supermarket as Allie went in, shopping list clutched in her hand, and grabbed a basket from the door.

Steve had parked in front of the main window which was pasted with discount offers and bargain stickers and watched Allie move through the shelves towards the checkout, she already had a few items in her wire basket, he could see her clearly, maybe twenty feet in front of him, all that separated them were the hatchback's hood, a few feet of concrete pavement and then the shop window.

As he watched her they smiled at each other through the glass.

She waved at him.

He waved back.

Then she disappeared.

Gone.

She just wasn't there anymore.

Steve thought she'd fallen, slipped or even been pushed. She was in clear sight one second then not the next, just as she waved she was gone, all he could see was the shelving behind her.

He sat stunned for a few moments tying to work it out, then he was half in and half out of the car, still perplexed. How could she have just disappeared?

An accident?

Design?

He sensed rather than saw movement from the side of the shop and swung around just in time to see a big dark van pulling away on to the busy road, hurriedly he got back into the hatchback, fired it up, reversed out and set off in the direction of the van which was now out of sight of him on the busy road. He was sure that was where Allie was, why they'd taken her he had no idea. He screeched off the hard standing outside of the shop and forced his way into the traffic stream. He had no choice as drivers braked and honked at him. This was life or death, this was close to the end game.

The feeling nagged at Steve that in the traffic on a twisting road it would be difficult to even see the van let alone chase it then suddenly there it was, dead ahead, just 4 cars between them.

Steve had no other options, he had to overtake the cars and get closer to the van. He picked the biggest gap in the oncoming traffic and swung the hatchback out, ramming his foot to the floor, the oncoming truck approached him fast but as long as he could squeeze in he'd make it.

He charged past the first car, then the second, then the third, the van was now in plain view as the truck bore down on him. He willed an opening, for the cars he had overtaken to fall back slightly so he could get back in his own lane and out of the way of the oncoming juggernaut. Level with the third car he knew he couldn't make it past the car and get right behind the van as the truck bore down on him, lights flashing and the blasts on the air horn ever more urgent.

Steve gestured wildly at the driver of the third car as he leaned the hatchback towards it, 'LET ME IN! LET ME IN!' he screamed, 'LET ME IN!'

At the last moment Steve nosed the hatchback into the gap to a chorus of horns and screeching types. He was now just one car behind the van. Only an aging Volvo station wagon stood between him and Allie.

Fewer gaps appeared in the oncoming traffic, it would be hard to get past that last car and sit himself directly behind the van.

Was the van speeding up? It seemed to be as the gap between it and the Volvo immediately behind it was growing, at first almost imperceptibly, then larger and larger, one car length then two, then four then six, the van was pulling away!

Steve was caught, he couldn't overtake the Volvo in front, it was too risky, the oncoming traffic was too heavy now, and was the car in front of Steve slowing slightly?

He looked down at his speed, it was slowing! Was that car working with the van?

As soon as Steve thought of it he could see the sense in it. He couldn't see who was driving the Volvo; he could just see one shape in the driver's seat through the headrest, unconcerned, not looking round, but Steve thought they were sure as hell blocking him from following the van!

The driver was too nonchalant, too unconcerned, and too innocent!

The van was pulling clear away now, he lost sight of it through a bend, saw it further on when the road straightened and still the Volvo slowed ever so slightly, another series of bends and the van was lost again until the curves straightened, still the Volvo slowed and slowed even more, another bend and the van was gone from sight again, out of the bend the road straightened again and Steve looked for the van.

There was no sign of it.

Had it turned off? Pulled over? Just accelerated away? Nothing, there was no trace of it, no clues as to what had become of it, but there was still the Volvo in front of him.

Running out of options Steve stuck with the Volvo, wherever that went he would go, so sure was he that the driver was in cahoots with the van that had taken Allie. It was now his only link to her, his only chance of getting her back.

He had no choice.

The Volvo drove sedately on for another ten minutes then turned off, after another ten minutes it came to the small dormitory town of Willow. It continued it's sedate progress down the main street till it came to a small cinema.

There the Volvo stopped and the driver, a woman, got out, but so did a young boy from the front seat, Steve hadn't seen him through the rear glass, just the silhouette of the driver through the head rest. He had assumed the driver was the vehicles only occupant. He was wrong.

He watched as the two of them went into the cinema seemingly without a care in the world, not looking right or left, not suspicious in themselves or inviting suspicion. A trip to the cinema with granny and grandson probably, that's all.

Or was it Steve thought remembering how the woman in the Volvo had stymied his attempts to get closer to van carrying Allie. He decided to keep them under closer watch so he too went into the cinema.

The film was a children's' animated feature about a zoo, and one of the animals was kidnapping the animals two by two.

Steve sat where he could watch the woman clearly. The film started, with Steve trying to decide whether to approach the woman, he was alone, she had her grandson with her, it could all be innocent but deep down he knew it wasn't. What would happen if the woman said he had made overtures to her or even more tellingly the youngster with her?

Going to jail wouldn't help Allie any. He decided his only option was to follow her when she left.

After half an hour she got up with her son. Was it a call of nature?

Steve hung back in his seat for a few minutes, would they come back?

At last he tired of waiting, got up, went to the toilets, they were empty, them he headed out of the cinema, just as he pushed open the doors he saw the woman and boy getting into a large sedan and drive off.

On the Volvo taped to the windscreen was a large orange notice.

<<< POLICE AWARE. >>>

It was the sort of notice they put on stolen or abandoned vehicles.

So it wasn't even her car after all and she was a red herring, a well dressed, cool and calculating one, she'd also made him miss the end of the film but the blogger told him who was kidnapping all the animals, two by two.

The penguin.

He had to get to Allie.

Now.

50

When he got back to the motel there was just one blog waiting for him. Steve studied it in silence.

It was just a short message but it meant so much to him. He read it; re read it and read it again.

Then he turned the tablet off for good.

Forever.

But that wasn't enough.

He got the tablet, put it on the floor and stamped on it till he had calmed down. Opening up the shattered case he took the hard drive out. He shattered it into hundred pieces. That was the last of the blogger and the beginning of the end game! Now it was his turn! He would be the one doing the influencing.

He needed someone or something that could lead him to Allie, and he had a plan. He'd first thought of it in the cinema, the older woman with her grandson reminded him of something. He needed to get to someone who knew more about this than he did. He checked out of the motel early and drove the hundred or so miles back to his and Allie's hometown of Handley.

He detoured past the military site and the building he had built. It was no longer there. The right place, the scars from the construction site were still there about 100 yards in from the entrance, they were clearly visible but the building was invisible. He wasn't surprised.

It was meant to be invisible.

He drove on.

It was time to put the first part of his plan into action but first he had a little shopping to do.

51

It was just before ten in the morning when he knocked on the door of the Morgan residence, an imposing town house in the center of Handley. His boss's car wasn't there, just his wife Helen's little coupe.

She opened the door and stared, then in a flash tried to close it, Steve was too quick, his foot caught the bottom of the door, he heaved his shoulder against it and barged it open as Helen Morgan pushed herself back against the wall.

She wore gray slacks and an expensive matching cashmere sweater with a discreet but expensive torque. Women who dressed like that did not get treated roughly in her world.

'W-w-what do you want?' she stuttered wild eyed nervously.

'You, for a start,' Steve said grabbing her by the arm. 'And then some answers!'

'What are you going to do with me?'

'Nothing, as long as you do what I say,'

He propelled her into the lounge and pushed her on to the large sofa there.

'Helen Morgan, once upon a time Helen Fairweather,' he said staring straight at her.

'No one's called me that in a long time.'

'How's is your brother Helen?'

'How is he Steve? Very well, thank you, he's also a General and a very powerful man.'

Steve gave her credit; she regained her Brahman composure fast.

'He's not the one I want though.'

'That good news for you isn't it Steve? My brother doesn't take prisoners.'

'He's got one now, and I want her back!'

'I should warn you he doesn't play games just to lose them.'

'And neither do I!' Steve snarled. 'Nor does the penguin by the way.'

To Helen's sharp look he continued, 'wasn't it your brother's wife with her grandson at the film?'

He got no more than a half smile from her in reply.

'Keeping it in the family? Oh, and she does a nice line in car theft.'

'Oh no that's not her way,' she said sweetly, 'she paid someone to do that for her.'

So superior Steve thought, time to bring her down to size. 'At work is he Morgan?'

'My husband? He usually is at this time.'

'He's the one I want.'

'The why don't you go and - '

'No,' Steve snapped, 'he can come to me. Let's go.'

'Where are we going?'

'You'll find out,' Steve said pulling her up and taping her hands behind her back with the duct tape he brought just for her on his shopping trip.

'You can't do this to me!' she said with a mixture of outrage and anger.

'I just did, anything else you wanna say?'

She just looked at him defiantly.

'Good!' he said to her silent glare.

'You haven't got a clue what you're dealing with have you?'

Steve ignored her as he ripped some more tape off and palmed it over her mouth, 'don't worry, it's no more poisonous than you are. We're just going on a little drive.'

Steve picked up the phone and called Windsor, Morgan's home number bypassed reception and Morgan came on the phone immediately.

'Hello darling - '

'No it isn't, Morgan?'

'Steve Smith,' he heard Morgan say quietly.

'You got it in one Morgan, you have thirty minutes to get to Solomon's Temple, alone, just me and you, I reckon it's time we had a little chat about things, we've got a lot of catching up to do.'

'What have you done to my wife?'

'Nothing. Yet. But don't bet on it staying that way!' said Steve as he slammed the phone down.

She grunted her complaints as Steve took her to the front door, checked the coast was clear and pushed her into the back seat of the hatchback.

'Make a noise or get up it'll be the last thing you'll ever do,' he said throwing a blanket over her.

He drove off to the rendezvous with her husband.

Time to start the end game.

52

Solomon's Temple was a few miles outside the town of Handley, it was set on a small rise, a folly from the last century surrounded by open fields; just a single tack approached it. It was built like an old fashioned tower. No more than thirty feet high and twenty feet around it's circular base and to Steve it was the most secure site he could think of, giving him time and chance to check that Morgan came alone and no one was shadowing them.

They drove up to the temple and when they stopped Steve manhandled Morgan's wife out of the car. Her composure had given way to icy silence and eye contact that daggered disdain for him and all he stood for.

Holding her he made his way up the spiral steps to the top of the temple, giving him a commanding view of the surrounding countryside.

At the top Steve let go of her, leaving her to squat down, her back against the false battlements to shield her from the sharp wind as Steve kept a look out for Morgan's car.

He didn't have long to wait.

Helen, still squatted down against the wall and well below the wind, tilted her head at the sound of a car she knew so well as Steve awaited the rendezvous, eventually the Mercedes pulled up and parked next to the hatchback and Morgan got out, looking round and looking all of his sixty or so years.

53

'Up here Morgan,' Steve shouted down to him.

He looked up at Steve, and made his way slowly up the steps as Steve pulled Helen up from where she was squatting and from his pocket took out a semi automatic, Helen's eyes widened as she saw the handgun then involuntarily closed as he swung her round with one arm round her neck and pushed the gun barrel hard into the side of her head.

Steve saw first the top of Morgan's head, then his upper body, then he was up the stairs and stood a couple of arms lengths away from Steve, pulling his overcoat around him as the wind rushed and whistled around the battlements. He took in the scene immediately, Helen being held by Steve with the gun pressed into her. She had regained some of her composure but was cold and pale and holding her was a very angry man.

The angry man spoke first, shouting above the wind.

'You know what I want Morgan!'

'Please leave Helen alone, she has no part in this.'

'I think she does Morgan, along with her brother.'

'What do you want from us?'

'Where's Allie?'

'Allie?'

'Where is she Morgan?'

'I don't know,' he mouthed the answer more than said it, his expression saying more.

Steve pushed the gun harder into Helen's flesh; Morgan took a step forward but stopped as Steve gave him a quick head shake.

'Not worth it, Morgan, not worth it.'

They relaxed slightly and faced each other.

'You know they've got my wife and I want to know where she is,' Steve said pressing the gun harder into Helen. 'Where is she?'

Steve could see the doubt in Morgan's eyes, he was on the precipice, the point of telling him, his love for his wife overcoming any other loyalties he might have. He took a half step towards him, his eyes more drawn to his wife's suffering and his arms lifting away from his body in abeyance.

'A trade Morgan, your wife's life for mine....'

Morgan's face disintegrated in a shower of blood and bone as his head exploded, showering Steve and Helen with bits of still warm tissue. In his shock Steve let go of Morgan's wife, now a widow, as her husband fell to the hard stone floor. She rushed up to cradle her already dead husband's head, rocking softly and keening even more softly. Steve looked round, there was no one else there, no vehicles, no sounds.

Just silence now.

He hadn't even heard the sound of the round that killed Morgan. Helen turned to face him; blood on her cheeks, in her hair, on her clothes. Her faced was twisted with fury and contempt.

'You stupid piece of trash, you can't find Allie? Don't know where to look? It's right in front of you.'

Still her fury raged. 'You're too stupid to see it. And if you saw it you wouldn't know it! '

'I'm sorry,' said Steve lamely.

'Sorry? Sorry! For what, getting my husband killed? 40 years we'd had together and you've destroyed all that!'

Steve turned his back to go, away from the pain, away from something he never imagined would have happened.

Helen wasn't finished yet; she pushed in front of him still raging.

'It was all for you, the little people, the boring little nobodies, so you can have your nice lives free from worry, we did it for you, you never knew, never knew the price we paid but we did it for you! All you had to do was play the game, just play the game!'

Helen's rage blew itself out as grief took over; she went back to her husband.

Steve walked away.

54

He drove out of town to another motel, unpacked what little he had and lay on the bed.

Fragments of conversation came back to him from Magill's widow, Morgan's widow, Fairweather, all jumbled up, all seeking attention, all begging for resolution, screaming and whispering alternatively in his mind, resonating, reverberating and teasing him with the answer.

It was so close!

You could fall over it and not know it's there, can't find Allie? Don't know where to look? It's right in front of you. You're too stupid to see it. And if you saw it you wouldn't know it. The phrases jingled and jangled, split then reformed, snatches of conversation, of hearing what wasn't said, reading what wasn't written.

The next part of a system, all linked to the hub, the heart, the center, and the secret.

That's what General Fairweather had said.

And the hub was the answer Steve wanted but where was the hub?

Where was the beating heart of the beast, its lair?

Where was it hiding?

Where had it taken Allie?

It tantalized him, tormented him and took him everywhere except where he wanted to be, which was with Allie.

Exhausted by the taunting of half formed thoughts he began to drift away, to sleep, and to escape if only for moments.

Then suddenly he was wide-awake.

He knew exactly where to look.

55

The symbol of the US Army's 23rd Special Systems Unit was a circle with stars on it's circumference, that was the design on the plaque General Fairweather had given Steve in reward for the work he'd done on the base, at the dinner the General spoke of an ongoing program, a continuation, Steve did the second and Magill must have done the first, it was unlikely Allie was being held prisoner at the first or the second so she must be at it's hub, the center, the place everything radiated from and the only way he could find it was to find out where Magill's job was, add that to his own job and the answer was right in front of him.

On a map of the area Steve marked his own site, and the other site?

The answer was easy, it sneaked up on him, and he knew it all along!

Helen Morgan, had given him the answer, along with all the others.

He knew where Magill's first job was for the military.

It was the Windsor building!

So now there were two marks on the map, one at the base Steve worked on, the other on top of the Windsor building and all he had to do was join them. He needed a third point though, without that he was lost.

He needed a circle. He needed it's center.

He studied the maps he'd bought more intently, looking for any clue from their features and the surrounding towns, Newell, Millerstown, Chandlers Crossing, Charlotte...

CHARLOTTE!

The messages on the wall of Magill's study. Charlotte was waiting for him! Except Charlotte wasn't a person. It was a place! The next job was at Charlotte!

Now Steve had three points on the map.

He drew an arc connecting them, then continued the arc to form a circle.

And in the center of that circle he put a cross.

That was the hub.

The circle and the stars.

Like the army symbol.

The center of it all.

That was where Allie was.

Again he studied the map. It said nothing. He didn't think it would. It was bare of all features, topographic or man made. It didn't exist, and like Steve's work on the military site it was invisible. He was sure if you tried to find a map of it on the Internet it wouldn't even be on that. That was where Allie was, he was sure. It was time to move and shed some light on this.

Literally.

He hadn't got the computer anymore after smashing it when he'd read that last message; he didn't need it now.

If everything went according to plan he would be talking to Dark Urban face to face in a few hours time!

Game on.

56

Despite the void on the map he found the base easily enough and drove around its perimeter road.

Whether you are a top secret alien base, the man in the moon, the Martian overlords or a convention of the crab people you've still got to put your rubbish out, and so had the headquarters of the 23rd US Army Special Systems Unit and after three and half laps around the base Steve found what he was looking for. It had to remove its waste. That was its weak spot. Time to put plan A into action.

There was no plan B.

From the road Steve saw several block houses and guardrooms through the heavy security fence but it was the center of the site that caught his eye.

Because there was nothing there.

It was the area of two football fields. Flat grass, bare earth, and nothing else, its flatness contrasting with the slightly more undulating land surrounding it.

That was the sum of it's nothingness.

He was convinced Allie was being held in one of the blockhouses, but he needed to be sure. When the time came to move he had to keep momentum, loose that and he would loose Allie, and the game!

His only weapons would be surprise and knowledge, the first he hoped to keep, the second he needed more off; he needed a bigger safety margin!

He found a small rise level with the camp from perhaps a mile or so away, he needed to be sure. Anything that could refine the situation was good, he wasn't a Special Forces hero who could go blundering in hoping for the best, and if he didn't get what he wanted no director was going to shout CUT! and go for a retake.

This was a one shot system.

Literally.

He didn't have military skills, however, he did have some skills that would be of benefit to him, skills that the base might not have budgeted for.

He had some high powered binoculars and their small camera. All he had to was wait. Look for the rhythm of the camp. He took picture after picture, moving his positron every so often, a change of light, a change of perspective was all it would take. The hot afternoon changed to chilly evening and at last he felt he'd done all he could.

He seen enough.

57

Back at the motel Steve studied the pictures carefully, scrolling through them one by one, adjusting contrast and depth, color and balance. All the pictures showed the base and with the low light feature on the camera activated there was just enough detail there for him to see, or not to see, as the nothingness in the center of the base was complete in its emptiness.

He would ignore that featureless presence for now.

Something caught his attention immediately. A van outside one of the blockhouses. It was too far away to recognize anyone's features and the angle too acute but it was Allie, he was sure of it!

In the half-light of shapes and shadows cast by the base floodlights too many things give him all the clues he needed. The narrowness of her legs in her jeans and boots contrasted with the uniformed shapes of the other two. She was hatless, and, as he ran through the stills, he could see they had put theirs on when they got out of the van, she stood differently, she was caught in mid stride, in her heels, from the faint shadows cast by them she was taller than the woman holding her, almost as tall as the man with them.

The freeze frame style stills showed them approaching then disappearing into one of the blockhouse, a few moments later the two uniformed staff were snapped coming out.

It was Allie in the blockhouse, he was sure, that was her prison!

He knew they had her.

He wanted her more.

Especially after that final blog.

58

Now he knew where she was being held his plan took on a sharper focus. He continued to study the photographs and the ground plans especially. They would be critical to its success. The local terrain had interested him just as much as the layout of the base, where were its highs and where were its lows? It was situated on a series of gently rolling hills and gullies. The lie of the land was crucial to what he had in mind.

Like the base Steve had worked on he noted that the guards were armed with stun guns, essentially long range tasers backed up with heavy barreled cannons firing non lethal bean bags mounted at strategic points around the camp and on the top of HumVees, he assumed other non lethal and especially non penetrative weapons were available and there would of course be real firearms on the site, it was, after all, a military base and not a social club.

There were risks, every prize has a price, was it worth paying?

Yes.

And never once did Steve doubt it, and tonight was the night he would shoot for the jackpot. Literally, the golden shot. It was a one hit chance, miss your target and you loose, go back to zero and start again. This was it. There was no going back now; it was the start of the end game.

And the winner would take it all.

It was just gone midnight when he checked and double-checked he'd got everything and missed nothing, satisfied, he set off for the base from his motel. He would be taking the scenic route, nice and easy does it at this stage, the time for fireworks lighting up the sky would be later.

He got to the main base perimeter just after two in the morning and parked the hatchback out of sight in a small copse about a hundred yards from where he wanted to be, based on what he'd seen from his reconnaissance of the place.

It's weak spot.

So simple and so obvious and so easy if you knew what to look for. And he did know what to look for.

A foul water sluice.

What gave it away was the sphagnum moss, a peaty bog fanning out from a culvert that ran from the base, continued under the road and came out into the rough scrub. It carried away excess water; not sewage or waste, just run off. From the lie of the land add the fact that the base was on slightly raised ground and all you had to do was seek and you'll find. The base designers didn't want it flooded so they channeled surplus water out of it.

Simple.

Steve reckoned a slight gradient of perhaps 1 feet every hundred and the distance to the camp about 10000 feet, just shy of 2 miles so he would be climbing uphill in the sluice for roughly 100 feet, that seemed to tally he'd thought thinking back to the rough sketches he'd made before he came out.

Numbers don't lie.

And neither do photographs.

The pipe was at least big enough for him to crawl up easily; perhaps he could do it in a low crouch. The water would be limited; this was a long dry summer, but even if the unlikely happened and a thunderstorm and sudden deluge hit it wouldn't flood the pipe completely. Playing the percentages game Steve reasoned floods of biblical proportions were unlikely.

Dark Urban wasn't God.

It had been a hot leading to a cloudless chilly night when Steve arrived at the outflow. His shopping spree had paid off, he had waterproof trousers to put on, a new pair of rubberized boots with non-slip soles and the other goodies he had in his rucksack for later.

He'd also brought night vision goggles, big, bulky and expensive, in fact along with the other things he'd need he'd cleaned out their ready cash pile, but if everything went according to plan they would be making the rules from now on he thought as he slowly edged into the pipe.

When he switched the goggles on it turned the inside of the pipe a ghostly green, a strange half-light of shapes and shadows, of lines and curves, bright then dark.

The smell was the smell of standing water, some lay on the base of the pipe where debris had made it defy gravity and cease to flow, caught to fester and stagnate.

The pipe was high enough for him to move along in a head down crouch, despite the boots it was slippery as they dislodged mosses and grime from the floor, it was also cold and Steve's breath misted slightly, weighed down as he was with the rucksack.With the distance and a slight uphill gradient Steve had given himself a maximum of two hours to complete this part of it.

Twenty minutes into the pipe he came to the penstocks, two sets of pressure controlled gates of solid steel welded to the side of the pipe. Forty or so feet separated them and when shut each pair overlapped each other slightly. The first set were no problem, they swung with a grate and an eerie whiny protest from the hinges. The second were a problem. They were closed, not completely, but enough to stop Steve fitting through them. They were flush with the pipe so the only way was through them, not over, under or around them, just through them. Their shape was their job. Each was a solid semi circle. A half moon. Shut, they blocked off the pipe.

Dripping with sweat now, his chilled state long since gone Steve repeatedly threw his weight against them, but their rusted hinges were holding fast. He'd come prepared with a crowbar and a small metalwork saw in his rucksack, commonsense told him here would be gates or grilles, perhaps both, in the pipe and certainly at the base end of it that would have to be levered or cut off.

He stripped to the waist and got the 8-inch long saw from the rucksack. He picked the lower hinge on the left gate to give him more leverage and set to work. Twenty minutes later he was through it, drenched in sweat, aching and relieved.

The first test he had passed, he had planned for it, made allowances for it and overcome it. Surely he told himself, these were all good signs? And every step, every breath and every aching muscle brought him closer to Allie.

And then there was that last message from the blogger.

Twenty minutes past the gates he could see ambient light ahead, a faint glow, a gray amongst the black. This must be the grill from the roadside reflecting the night down into the pipe from ten or so feet above, a drain taking run off from the highway and channeling into where he was. As Steve got closer he could hear the slight rumble of traffic, two, three vehicles at most. This was the road around the base so he was two-thirds the way to his goal!

He had used up one of the allotted two hours he had allowed for this leg of his rescue and reunite mission. He was on time. He paused a few moments under the road and the ambient light, his night goggles on but dimmed it, he didn't want to loose his vision, to go from light to dark to light again, and the light from the drain above filtering in was more than enough for it. He drank some water that he'd slightly salted to replace what he reasoned he would sweat out, ate some chocolate and a few minutes later it was time to move on.

After 20 minutes or so the pipe suddenly entered a steel lined drum shaped room, Steve reckoned this must be the perimeter of the camp. Four pipes smaller than the one he had come up ran out from the drum in a fan roughly opposite the main pipe. They would collect water running from other areas of the camp and funnel it into the main sluice, it wasn't something unexpected, and he was prepared for it.

He chose the drain on the extreme left, it was on that side of the camp that he'd seen the windowless blockhouse where the vans dropped Allie off. The two outer drainpipes would be longer than the two inner ones, but the inner ones ran centrally into the camp and were too risky, the two outers exited well away from danger, in less active areas he hoped.

Checking the catches and seals on his rucksack he pushed it into the pipe, from now on he would be moving on his belly through it and so he turned his night vision goggles and let it rest around his neck to accustom his eyes to the dark in readiness for leaving the pipe, but also because the light from the base would flood it's sensors and dazzle him as he approached his goal.

It was slow work edging along the pipe, still going slightly uphill, but he got in a good rhythm, conserved his energy and saw at last just ahead of him a slightly lighter area.

He heard the odd vehicle rumbling around, felt it's vibrations and even voices penetrated down. He was well inside the camp now and approaching one of the grids deep in the base, from there it would simply be a matter of climbing up the ten or so rungs of the metal ladder set into the wall to the surface, trying to peep through the grid to check if the coast was clear and then he could get his bearings. His plan was good but flexible, the first part he knew, and the second he would judge it as it came.

The narrow pipe ended abruptly in the wall of a tube, slightly brighter as the reflected light from the base above entered it through the heavy grille. The air was sweeter than in the pipe and less cloying.

Steve pushed his rucksack out of the pipe he'd crawled up then followed it. He made for the ladder set in the tube, carefully climbed a few steps and listened. Through the grille he could see stars, it was a clear moonless night.

The base above him was silent, a distant buzz from the generators, bits of conversations carrying in the air, a car door further away? He put his hands at the base of the heavy cast iron grille above him and pushed slowly at it, it's frame held in place with years of detritus and rust, it gave ever so slightly.

He listened again, intently, straining himself, still silent, still alert.

Suddenly a truck came.

It slowed.

Then it stopped.

It's wheel was right on the grille!

Steve cursed his luck.

Of all the places on the base to park it had to pick this one!

Suddenly his blood chilled.

Had he been found out?

He crouched down to think about it.

He didn't think he had. He was pretty certain they didn't know he was beyond the perimeter of the bases and just yards away from Allie. He guessed Morgan's widow would have said plenty and she'd have made sure the right people heard her so maybe they would be expecting him to try something But chance, the one thing you can't budget for, had beaten him.

There was one person in the truck, he'd heard the door slam as they got out and seen the shadow as they walked off. How long they'd be gone he didn't know.

Certainly he had no chance of moving the grille with a truck parked right on it. He looked at his watch. He had less than thirty minutes left of his allotted two hours. If he left it any longer dawn would be breaking and he preferred to operate under cover of darkness. He was faced with two choices. Double back and take one of the other pipes into the base.

Or abandon the mission.

If he doubled back to another pipe would he have enough time to rescue Allie and get out?

It would be close. He was resigned to abandoning his mission and trying again tomorrow night when suddenly he heard a door slam and then the truck started up.

It was moving!

He waited just seconds then made his move.

He moved the cover up a fraction more, then slightly more again till it was proud of its surround, he lifted it at an angle, peeped through it and saw ahead of him one of the blockhouses, he judged the building holding Allie would be just to the side of that.

He seemed to be well shielded between the buildings and away from the perimeter watchtowers and cameras, no spotlights shone and there was plenty of cover.

He lifted the cover further and gently easy it back and climbed the last few rungs up the ladder, his rucksack suspended from his belt now. With his shoulders clenched together to squeeze through the opening, he was out, in clear air, he manhandled his rucksack after him and gently set the cover back.

He scampered over to the first of the low single story building. No lights shone in its windows or in any of the others. So far so good and less than fifty yards from where he wanted to be, the long low building without windows.

Now to get to Allie, the blogger had a message for them, the last one they'd had before Steve had smashed the computer and said goodbye to him.

For good.

Allie hadn't seen it yet.

But she would know what it said.

59

He studied the buildings, their roofs, any antennae, any odd shapes that could indicate cameras or heat sensors, he saw none but commonsense told him he would have to take a chance on the unknown. Tonight he felt luck was on his side!

He couched down, watching and waiting, trying to make lines of sight and memorize them, if he couldn't see the guards they couldn't see him but realistically he told himself guards this deep in the camp would be unusual.

His mind made up, he hugged his rucksack to his chest and ran, crossing the fifty or so yards to the smaller windowless single storey building and threw himself into the shadows beside it.

He got up and edged low and slow along the wall of building till he got to its single door, one entrance and one exit. He leaned against the door listening intently.

Still silent.

Reaching into his rucksack he got the crowbar and it into the space between the handle and the doorframe, rocking and pushing till he thought he had maximum leverage.

Then he pulled hard on the bar.

The lock burst loudly, too loudly for his liking but he slipped through the door, eased it shut and leaned against it, waiting.

Still only silence.

No alarms, shouting voices, lights or gunshots.

He was in the building's main entrance; he had no choice but to put his night vision goggles on again. In the eerie green shadows he could see a corridor leading off through a half open door facing the door he'd just come in.

He drew his gun from the rucksack and crept low through the door, at the end of the corridor there was a closed door with a small mesh window set two thirds up.

He looked through it.

It was a small room, a cell, there was a table with some food on it, plates and mugs, a door led off the room, perhaps to a bathroom. Against a corner was a low cot, a shape lying on it.

He could see clothes and boots on a chair near the bed, but no sign of uniforms or weapons; there was no guard in the room.

Just Allie.

'Allie?' Steve called rapping on the window, 'Allie?'

The shape on the bed stirred.

Even given the circumstances Steve smiled inside, Allie usually came fully alert after she'd been awake for about half an hour.

'Come on Allie!' he almost shouted and knocked louder.

Suddenly she was awake, in a flash she was at the door, her face pressed to the mesh.

'Steve?'

'Allie, stand back.'

He jammed the crowbar hard against the lock and heaved, it broke quickly and the door swung open.

They were in each other's arms.

'Steve, Steve, Steve,' Allie said, breathless, relieved, and close to tears.

'Allie, don't go girly on me again, we've got to get out of here now,' said Steve kissing her tear soaked face then holding her off.

'Steve, I've got something to tell you first.'

'Can't it wait?'

She shook her head.'

'What is it?'

'I'm pregnant,' Allie said quietly.

'I know.'

'You know? How?' she said incredulously.

'That was the last message on the blog.'

'He knew?'

'He knew,' Steve said.

'What else did it say?'

'Nothing, I smashed the computer!'

'We're free then?'

'We will be soon, come on, get dressed.'

Allie pulled on her jeans, boots and jacket.

'You ready?'

'Yeah.'

'Come on then, grab my hand,' he said as they made their way back into the front office area and stopped behind the door.

Steve slipped the light intensifier goggles on.

'Listen Allie, when we get out we've got to cross some open space to the building on the right. Behind that, there a manhole type cover, it's just a drain, we go down that and we're home. OK? You ready?'

'Ready,' Allie whispered.

Steve inched the door open slowly. But something was wrong.

It doesn't matter now he thought as he took the goggles off and let the door swing fully open.

60

He and Allie stood in the open doorway and shielded their eyes from the blinding glare of the vehicle headlights shining right at the door.

'Leaving us so soon Allie?' said a voice from behind the lights.

'It's the influencer,' whispered Allie.

'Yes, quite correct young lady. The influencer Allie, not so unimpressed with our hospitality I presume, perhaps your husband may appreciate it more? What do you think of our little reception committee Steve?'

'Where's Fairweather?' said Steve.

'Attending to some funeral arrangements. His sister's husband, I gave him my permission to be absent,' said the voice behind the lights. 'Oh cheer up you two, you look like you've won the lottery only to have it taken away from you.'

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the glare Steve made out the man Allie called the influencer and two guards with him, one male and one female, now all standing in front of the van.

The influencer continued. 'Most people come up to the front door and knock on it Steve, far more sensible.'

'I thought I'd pay a surprise visit.'

'And you succeeded, very ingenious I must say, and thank you for pointing out that breach in our security. It will be rectified in the very near future.'

'Have I broken the rules?'

'Wait and see Steve, wait and see. Congratulations Allie by the way, a boy or a girl?'

Steve could sense rather than see a tight no teeth smile from his wife as Dark Urban continued. 'Someone in your condition shouldn't be doing all this dangerous stuff, she could get hurt, don't you think so Steve? You really should look after her better. '

He motioned to the guards, 'Take them back inside, and handle them carefully, they're valuable specimens. I don't want them damaged. Anymore than necessary. Oh, and by the way, you can tie Allie up if she wants, apparently she quite likes it.'

Steve knew, if ever there was a chance it would be now, and as the first guard approached he swung the rucksack at him, weighted down with all his equipment in it knocked him to one side, would it buy them enough time? It would have to, it was their only option as he shouted, 'GO ALLIE!'

Allie hit the female guard at a run and she cannonballed into the van's side as Steve made for the other side.

He shoulder barged the influencer out of his way.

Allie jumped into the driving seat of the van and Steve threw himself into the passenger seat just as she started up the engine.

'GO ALLIE GO! GO!' he screamed at her.

Allie brought the revs up, popped the clutch and with a squeal of tires they were away!

She swung towards the gates at the camp entrance and found herself heading straight for a HunVee coming her way, trying to ram her.

She swung off the road just in time, skidding on the grass and cutting between two buildings then from a side road they were caught by another vehicle attempting to ram them, it clipped the rear of the van and spun them, leaving them facing the wrong way, Allie slammed it into reverse, screamed back, braked, crashed through the gears and set off forward again.

As they sped down the main thoroughfare of the base Steve took his chance.

It was now or never!

He opened his door and stood on the sill, swinging something above his head, then it was done, he had velocity and the general direction was true.

All he could do was hope for the best.

The diversion was set!

He got back in and slammed the door as they lined up to smash through the gates.

A split second later the nothingness in the center of the base exploded into view.

The huge dome shaped building ten floors high was suddenly illuminated from inside as if by a million lasers, all flashing, all strobing.

The entire building has become a huge prism!

From where the shot had pierced the glass panels there was a laser shaft of light firing out into the night, changing color repeatedly, red to orange to yellow to green and then to all shades of blue and back again.

Sirens were wailing, people shouting, vehicles revved around.

The superheated air above the dome fizzled and flashed, seared by the escaping light. The sky seemed to be boiling in its fury.

As the laser like beams cut through the night it tore the air molecules apart only for them to crash together again with a series of thunderclaps that reverberated through the camp, shaking the buildings and the vehicles.

The shockwaves buffeted the base, as one hit and was reflected back up it collided with the next one coming down, greatly increasing its pressure until it developed an harmonic pulse, a multi string symphony of light and sound.

A heat haze enveloped the camp, distorting it and deforming its perspective as the light ebbed and flowed from the corrupted dome.

Building were elongated then truncated, illuminated then hidden, twisted and turned out of all proportion, mirages formed briefly, mirroring the base in perfect symmetry high in the night sky, then it inverted and reflected the mayhem below as it became a blood red river running through the heavens, then an icy blue shimmer took its place as the night rode across the spectrum of colors.

They got their diversion and flew past the kaleidoscopic building, glowing and shimmering a million different colors, charged with light particles shooting off into the night, flashing and falling, arcing and bending and turning the base into a brilliant multicolored multidimensional dreamscape.

They were clear now and heading towards the exit!

The main gates were only seconds away as Allie slammed the pedal to the floor, almost standing on the gas to make the van go faster, accelerating it to over a hundred miles an hour, would it be enough to get them through?

It was their last hope.

They were going to do it, Steve was sure of it.

'HIT IT ALLIE!' he screamed as she hit the gate, it seemed to slow the van for a split second, the transmission screaming as it wound itself up with no resistance, then suddenly they careered through them as the gates gave way to the force of their mass times their acceleration.

They were free!

61

Allie had swung left, but their chariot to freedom was fading fast, its front bashed in, its headlights dimming, two tires punctured, part of the gate caught under it and dragging and scraping with the dashboard dials red-lined showing the engine dangerously overheating now it was minus it's radiator.

The game was shifting away from them as they heard the roar of a helicopter flying towards them, causing Allie to swerve, at the last moment it skimmed over them, missing the van by mere feet, its downwash rocking them violently.

It circled around and made the same pass over them, this time lower, its noise deafening, and the turbulence from its rotor making it even more difficult for Allie to keep the van under control.

As they approached a bend it came in a third time and with a flash from a tube outside the cockpit it fired a cable down at them that hit the nose of the van. Immediately the cable disconnected from the chopper as it flew over them.

Just as the cable end hit the van front it sent up a shower of blue sparks, the engine cut immediately, the steering locked, the brakes became sponge, the headlights went off and the dials dimmed, it's electrics short circuited by the cable's charge, an airborne taser!

With the steering locked and no brakes they were unable to steer out of the bend and the laws of physics took over.

They went fast in a straight line.

The same laws that had worked for them to allow them to smash through the gates now worked against them and kept them going through the bend as the van hit the scrub, slowed down, and first rocked then rolled and then came to halt on it's side in the bushes by the road, it's energy spent at last.

62

Steve and Allie scrambled out of the van and on seeing the guards on the road above them they realized they had no choice, no where to run. Instantly guards from the base drew up, jumped out and surrounded them.

They were still specimens but maybe not so valuable to them now.

The guards parted to allow the influencer through, disheveled and with a cut forehead after his tussle with them back at the base.

'Any closer and I'll shoot,' said Steve suddenly drawing out his gun and aiming it at the influencer who still continued walking towards them.

'Shoot Steve? With a $7 dollar imitation gun, bang bang you're.....' he paused for effect, 'dead? It might have convinced Helen Morgan but not me I'm afraid.'

With that he calmly walked up and just took the gun out of Steve's hand.

'I appreciate the irony by the way,' he said with a laugh.

'It wasn't lost on you then?' said Steve.

'Certainly not. You took on one of the most advanced systems in the world with one of the oldest weapons known to man, the new age meets the Stone Age. You did it with a slingshot; all this technology fell to a simple Stone Age weapon. From simple Stone Age people. Load them up,' he said to the guards and walked back to his own vehicle.

They were put in the van and taken back to the base in a convoy.

All was quiet there now, the glass panels had been repaired, and the building had resumed its invisibility and returned to nothingness. It was once but now it wasn't anymore.

Goliath was reborn.

63

'Not exactly the best in 5 star luxury is it?' said Allie as they were returned to her cell a lot lighter then when they'd left it.

'We came so close.'

'Did we though? Or were they always one jump ahead?'

'Who knows?'

They sat on the bed and cuddled for comfort, both stretching out their aching bodies, bruised and shaken after rolling their van. Their pride equally thrown off balance.

'How have they been treating you?'

'OK, fed and watered twice a day, exercised regularly, the base's pet pooch,' Allie said with a giggle.

'Doberman more like the way you attacked, so you've not been hurt?'

'No, just sick with worry about what happened to you, I last saw you sat in the car outside the store.'

'You just disappeared, you were there one minute then gone then next.'

'I was escorted out you could say and thrown into the van and brought here.'

'I was chasing you but got blocked off and guess whom by? Fairweather's wife, his sister's married to Morgan. Morgan's dead.' Steve said after a pause.

'Dead?'

Steve told her about the events on Solomon's Temple.

'You didn't see who shot him?'

'Long range sniper maybe, from a chopper, could've been from over a mile away, I never even heard the shot.'

'So how did that lead you to here?'

'Simple, there must be a hub, a center, all I had to do way find the base Magill worked on. Connect that to the one I worked on and it would all point to here, and you. Join up the points to make an arc and then make a circle. You'd be at the center of it I was sure.'

'What happened out there? The lights, like the world exploded.'

'Negative refractive indices.'

'In baby talk?' Allie asked.

'A cloak of invisibility, bending and distorting light so you can't see it reflected.'

'That means you can't see it at all?'

'It's invisible to the naked eye. That is what they covered you with in the shop to make you suddenly disappear.'

'The dome,' Allie said suddenly, 'I didn't know it was there till you hit it.'

'I punctured one of its glass panels and took away its integrity, it lost the ability to bend light, I tore its cloak.'

'A slingshot?'

'I couldn't get a real gun, that's all I had.'

'Good shot!' she said approvingly and hugged him.

'Not really, it just had to go in the general direction and cut into it, simple really.'

'To pierce its skin?'

'I'd not used a slingshot since I was boy, but I reckoned if it could slay a giant it could slay that.'

'But why make it invisible?'

'I guess so it isn't there, dumb answer, but how do you fight what you can' t see, how do you focus your effort on a void, how do you smash nothingness into submission?'

'And when do you know you've won?'

'Good point Allie, it's like titling at windmills, how do you slay your Goliath is he's nowhere to be seen but he could be all around you? '

They were quiet for a few monuments, their situation worse than at any time on the road but at least they were back together. They took comfort from that and the belief that if they were going then it would be hand in hand and side by side.

'So what of us? Are they going to kill us?' said Allie softly.

'No I don't think, I'm not so much in fear of our lives but our minds.'

'We're staying here for now as well, there's guards in the building watching us. Orders of the influencer.'

'We've met, who is he?' Steve asked of the dapper middle aged man who seemed to be in charge of the program.

'The guy in charge of all this, a civilian, chief shouter, arm waver and rattle shaker.'

'Seem familiar to you?' Steve said thoughtfully.

'No - should he?'

'We'll meet him again I guess.'

'Oh I'm sure of it,' she said.

64

'Are you Dark Urban?' said Steve.

'The questions are mine to ask and yours to answer thank you,' said the influencer in his clipped tones as he faced them over the desk in his office.

They had spent a long night, talking and dozing, planning and debating. The guards had brought them in a breakfast of omelette's, coffee and bread, they'd freshened up but Steve was still unshaven. Both were rough around the edges.

'Are you the blogger?' Steve repeated to the well-dressed man in front of him, immaculate in his shirt and tie and his dark suit, the effect spoiled by the small flesh colored plaster on his forehead.

'I refer you to my earlier answer,' with that he opened the file on the desk. Steve looked at him and made connections, connections with the well-dressed dapper man, his even features, an intelligent face, a full head of well-groomed hair with a carefully clipped mustache.

'You missed your father's funeral,' Steve said slowly. 'Dark Urban, AKA the influencer AKA Magill's son.'

'We were alienated from each other,' said Dark Urban without looking up from what he was reading and showing no surprise at Steve's obviously correct deduction.

'Is that why you made him kill himself?'

'It was his decision,' Magill junior said with a shrug.

'You were going in the same direction, traveling the same route, how can you talk of being alienated?'

'My father was an old radical left over from the sixties when his generation though they could share the world, spare the world and save the world all at the same time. That sort of stuff doesn't work today; it's a different place now. Take a look around, haven't you noticed?'

'Were you upset?'

'No, I was expecting something like that to happen sooner or later,' he said diffidently.

'Are you a government agency?' Steve looked at Allie as he asked, 'Who are you? What is your department?

'We have a right to know, we're voters in a democracy, democracy, society, remember? Isn't that what you're supposed to be protecting?'

'Our way of life? Our beliefs and values?'

'Only if they coincide with mine,' said Magill. 'You are neither citizens nor subjects, you are an audience and you can be primed.'

'Why us?' said Allie icily.

'You came into our orbit, the temptation was too much shall we say, you almost sat up and begged to be used, your sort do.'

'Our sort? What do you mean our sort?'

'The unsophisticated, the artless, the naive. You fitted the bill perfectly.'

'You can't get away with any this,' Steve said, 'eventually you'll get caught, you'll get too arrogant and too clever. Throw the stick so far you can't get it back, that's your destiny, wait and see!'

Magill faced them, putting his elbows on the desk, matching his cuffs, the same measured voice, quiet but sharp.

'Lets see if we can get some closure for you two before you spiral out of control completely, OK?' he said with a smile that wasn't returned by Steve or by Allie, tight lipped or otherwise.

'To live on the run requires a great deal of money or a great deal of cunning, usually a mixture of both, you have neither if you don't mind me saying and now with a baby on the way your situation is simply not sustainable, you agree? Good. Oh and by the way Allie, lay off the wine, it won't do your baby any good at all.'

'Thank you for your consideration,' said Allie with pitched venom.

'Let me give you a very telling example of your lack of skills. You went to BoysToys on Handley high street for an imitation firearm Steve, if you need a weapon again ask the street corner drugs dealer to sell you one, they're cheaper and they really do go bang bang. Remember that next time.'

'Will there be a next time?' rasped Allie.

'Democratic society faces many threats, and we have as many ways to deal with them as there are enemies, as patriotic citizens you will be aware of this. You two have been running around in circles, stalked and shadowed, can you imagine what society would be like if everyone acted like you?'

'It would collapse,' said Allie.

'Precisely.'

'Cease to function,' Steve's turn.

'Leaving you to pick up the pieces.'

'Someone has to,' the condescending influencer stated evenly.

'Doesn't have to be you though.'

'We can see you, you can't see us.'

'We did last night!' Steve threw back at once.

Magill's son was silent a moment then continued. 'It really is very easy for us to do. It's not magic. It's manipulation. Hide things in plain sight by making them so conspicuous that nobody pays attention to them, that sort of thing. Know your audience's desires and take advantage of them. You see what we want you to see. We direct your attention to things, you pick up on them even subconsciously, you think you are making free choices, but we force you to think in certain directions.'

'You used us,' hissed Allie.

The influencer looked at both in turn then spoke. 'We created a virus, in a sense you become a human virus, infecting the population wherever you go, you're spooks in the system, you would bring it down eventually.'

'Society ceases to be.'

'The state will use whatever weapons it needs to.'

'As you say, the state will use whatever weapons it has to Allie.'

'Does it have the right to mess around with peoples minds?'

'Society does it all the time, why shouldn't we? Ever heard of spin doctors?'

'We were used.'

'Oh boohoo poor you!' Dark Urban said with sneer.

'Yeah poor us,' said Allie bitterly.

'Some people are more susceptible than others, to be able to control people from a distance has advantages, we must be ever vigilant in the pursuit of the state's enemies.'

A long long silence followed.

'We're the enemy aren't we? This is about controlling your own citizens, your own people, not terrorists, we're the enemy to you,' said Steve.

'Anyone could be the enemy.'

'Including us,' said Allie.

'Including you.'

'You've done everything from the off, all the blogs, the lottery, shooting at us,' Allie continued.

'Controlling us. Murdering people,' added Steve.

'Why us?' said Allie quietly, 'we were just living our lives, we were just living as ordinary people live, there was nothing special about us, why choose us?'

'Because you let us, you let us in, you let us take control,' the influencer/Magill/Dark Urban said. 'You chose yourselves, you took the bait, Your profiles fitted perfectly, ordinary people, possibly looking for something more in life. Little people in a little world.'

'We had no choice,' rasped Steve in frustration.

'Oh yes you did, for every one like you, pliant and willing, going along with everything we do, taking what we offered, becoming dependent on us, there are a dozen failures.'

'And what happens to the failures?' said Allie.

'The ones who fight back, get above themselves, go to ground, these people require....special help to readjust.'

'Is that for us too?'

'No, after the debrief, you're free to go.'

'Simply free to go? Just like that?'

'As you will see,' said Dark Urban.

'You've had us followed, watched, eavesdropped on us.'

'Intercepted our calls, bugged us,' said Steve backing her up.

Dark Urban held up his hands,' No none of those things, that's simply too expensive nowadays, even the devil's work faces fiscal constraints. You tracked yourselves; everything you did was predictable and obvious. You fitted the pattern, you're matrix friendly to use the modern jargon.'

'You took our free will!' snapped Steve.

'I wasn't aware you valued your free will or you were even using it,' he replied.

'You stole our life!' shouted Allie.

'No, you invited us in,' Magill said in his calm dapper unhurried manner.

'Did we have a choice?'

'Yes you did have a choice, you just didn't exercise it, at any time you could have ignored the blogs and walked away but you didn't. Every time you followed the blog you reset your obligations. You didn't say no.'

'You wouldn't allow us

'Others have. By acknowledging the blog you entered into a binding contract with us as it were.'

'And you beat us?'

'No, you surrendered,' he replied, 'you surrendered your fee will to us. You were pliant, open to suggestion.'

'We were in fear of our lives.'

'That was just to spice up the game. If we really wanted you killed that would be by another department and the paperwork would be horrendous, believe me.'

'Thank you for your consideration,' said Allie with one of her tight lips only smiles.

'You could destroy a potential enemy just by tripping up some of the population, power rests with the ordinary people, but only as a mass, usually inert,' the influencer continued without any sort of smile.

'Like us,' said Allie.

'The everyday people,' he said smiling at Allie, the smile wasn't returned, tight lipped or otherwise.

'Think of the potential of the system, people going on the run like you two did, quitting work, important infrastructure work being ignored, running around the country, following instructions from who knows, never questioning, rock enough people and you rock the nation and the great beauty of this approach is that we can ramp up the pressure if we need to, we can scale it to the threat, take over the country without anyone knowing, after all we took over your life without you knowing.'

'Even in this country?'

'If circumstances demanded it we would.'

'We are the enemy then?'

'If you wish to see it that way.'

'Aren't you worried you'll be exposed?'

'Is that a threat?'

'You can take it that way yes,' said Allie.

'What could you do?'

'Make trouble, go to the press, make it known what you're doing.'

'There's a lot of avenues to explore,' agreed Steve.

'We don't exist, you can't see us, we're invisible, and we're everywhere and we're nowhere. What can't be seen can't be known, we're not in view, we're simply not there.'

'I made you visible, the sling shot remember?' said Steve.

'The system will be refined, the negative refractive indices are here to stay, you can't uninvent it.'

Steve looked him squarely in the eye and spoke. 'For every predator there a super predator waiting, someone will always know more than you, be faster on the draw, that's human nature finding its balance, you can't cheat it, you can't play God.'

'But we already have, with you.'

'We know too much.'

'You've forgotten one little matter though Steve.'

'And that is?'

'The body in the house, the house you blew up just before you left.'

'But there was no body!'

'One can be arranged if necessary.'

'So we'll be framed?'

'No need to frame you Steve. Then there is the little matter of a dead policeman and a million dollars in marked notes in your relatives' procession......'

Steve and Allie were resigned and beaten into silence.

With that the influencer slowly turned the computer on his desk to face them. There was one final message from him.

<<< GAME OVER >>>

65

Their hatchback was bought back into the base on a tow truck and off loaded. Steve's rucksack was in the back along with his night vision goggles.

Under the watchful eyes of the guards they got in.

Normality was returning for them quickly.

They drove off.

The new gates to the base swung open for them and they turned left, Steve had a quick glance to where the dome was, now shrouded again in it's cloak of invisibility, hidden but wide awake in it's lair, all seeing and all hearing.

66

Dark Urban watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith drive away, back to their little world, back to all they knew and trusted.

He resisted the temptation to wave goodbye to them.

Were they the stupidest people he'd ever met?

They were brilliant subjects, what they thought was magic was really no more than manipulation. Carefully placed road signs, a word here or there from receptionists in the motels they stayed at, deliberately worded messages for them.

It was all so easy.

Why us? they whined.

Why not them?

Their ordinariness, their normality, their simple take on life. They walked into it he thought with a smile.

People are easy so manipulate he reasoned, politicians do it all the time, a phrase placed in the right place, a shape or a gesture. Every day people are primed, every minute and every hour. It wasn't hard to do, especially with the Smiths' of this world.

They were just looking for someone to control them.

Pick a card, any card.

The staple of all mind readers!

Hide things in plain sight by making them so conspicuous that nobody pays attention to them, that was another trick they fell for.

They also gave him plenty of dumb luck to take advantage of.

Suddenly the small smile left the influencer's face and his brow furrowed in concern.

Steve had been very ingenious in penetrating their security at the base.

Then there was the slingshot.

It was very, very clever.

And very telling.

He thought they were worth keeping an eye on.

Maybe he might catch up with them at a later date?

67

Freed from the threat of the blogger they slowly rebuilt their lives, Steve was now in partnership with a design consultancy, Allie was awaiting the birth of their first baby, a boy or a girl, they didn't care which.

Both had had full medical check ups, their adventure had left no visible scars, just the ones inside you can't see or touch, only feel.

They didn't talk about it, that time when their life had meaning, parameters even.

The million dollars they had claimed back from her uncle who hadn't opened the case and with that they paid their debts, reimbursed the Christmas fund Allie had stolen from and established themselves as far away from Handley as they could get.

Allie had her battered hatchback replaced by a top of the range model, Steve was king of the road with a new SUV.

For the first few weeks they were nervous of even turning on their PC but Dark Urban was as good as his word and the blogs failed to appear. They were swept up with a new house in a new area, preparing for two becoming three and Steve's new business.

He had decided not to take on military contracts although they had been invited to tender for them.

Repeatedly.

Sometimes Steve caught himself looking out over deserted fields and woods, was there really nothing to be seen?

Was it really all nothingness?

All emptiness?

Just a void?

Or was there a state within a state?

Invisible but all powerful?

Were there other people living their lives on hold?

Other people living in dread of a message on their computers?

Was there an algorithm with their name in it somewhere? Hiding on a computer? Ready to be activated? Would they go through what he and Allie went through?

The past still shadowed them on occasion.

A tragic house fire had claimed the life of Maebel Magill; she was now with her beloved husband, never to be parted again. Both wondered if the estranged son attended his mother's funeral?

Solomon's temple was to be demolished as unsafe, Windsor architects had ceased trading and Helen Morgan, previously grief stricken, had announced her engagement to a local politician.

Life goes on and soon there would be a new life!

It was almost midnight and Steve was in his study on the ground floor dealing with a few e-mail's from family and friends, yes it was due anytime now, no, we haven't thought of any names yet and yes Allie really is the size of a small whale and waddling around everywhere!

Into Steve's domestic contentment came a sharp agonized cry from Allie, a breathless urgent scream.

He jumped up from the PC and rushed in to her as she sat red faced in the lounge struggling to rise from her comfy chair.

'Are you OK Allie?'

'It's hospital time, right now,' said Allie half beaming half grimacing, through her panting breaths.

They grabbed their pre-packed bags and as Steve helped Allie down their hall he couldn't help but reflect on the last time they'd left their house in a hurry, that time to save their lives, this time to help one into the world.

Like that time before Allie fumbled with the lock, this time nailing it as Steve helped her down to the SUV, they were going in style this time.

The lights were left ablaze.

The PC was left on.

It bleeped.

One final message.

Dated tomorrow.

Steve missed it, but he would catch up on it later.....

<<< COULD I THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR CONDOLENCES ON MY SAD LOSS.>>>

THE END