Description: Escape Velocity chapter one The bustling crowd appeared to part before the couple as they strode purposefully along the riverbank. It was early morning in London and while the other pedestrians bumped and jostled each other, this man and woman seemed to emit an invisible aura that kept the crowds from getting too close. The man was tall and distinguished, the graying hair at his temples the only real clue to his age. He wore an immaculately tailored black suit and long black overcoat, the bloodred cravat at his throat providing the only splash of color. The woman beside him looked younger, her short dark hair framing a pale but strikingly beautiful face. She also appeared less relaxed than her companion, her eyes scanning the crowd intently. "I don''t like this, Max," Raven said quietly. "So you have said on at least seven previous occasions," Dr. Nero replied calmly. "It''s a trap," Raven replied quickly, "and an obvious one at that." She struggled to keep the frustration from her voice. "That may be," Nero said, the hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, "but Gregori is one of my oldest and most trusted allies. If he tells me that it is urgent that he meet with me, then I cannot afford to ignore his request." "But why here?" Raven asked quickly. "Out in the open, exposed like this?" "Gregori will have his reasons," Nero replied. "He is too old and wise to take such risks lightly." Nero hoped that this display of confidence in his old friend would reassure Raven, but he too was secretly concerned that Gregori had felt it necessary to take such a risk. Gregori Leonov, like Nero, was one of the most senior members of the ruling council of G.L.O.V.E., the Global League of Villainous Enterprises, and attaining such a position was largely dependent on having extremely well-honed survival instincts. It was hard for Nero to imagine what might drive his old friend to meet in such a public location, but he knew it was not a request that he could choose to ignore. "I hope that your trust in him is not misplaced," Raven replied sharply, her anger betrayed by the slight strengthening of her usually subtle Russian accent, "because if this goes bad, it will go very, very bad very, very quickly." "Which is exactly why you''re here despite the fact that Gregori insisted I come alone," Nero said, an edge of impatience in his own voice now. "Sometimes you have too much faith in me, Max," Raven replied unhappily. "We should leave now; this is unwise." "That is my decision to make, Raven, and mine alone." Nero used her codename deliberately, a subtle but pointed reminder that while he valued her counsel, it did not give her the right to push him too far. "Very well," Raven replied, stopping and staring at him. "I shall make myself . . . unobtrusive." "See that you do," Nero said, glancing at his watch; it was near the appointed time for their meeting. "Signal me if you have the slightest reason to suspect anything." "Of course," Nero said. "Let us hope that it''s not necessary." "Indeed," Raven replied, her expression grim, and she turned and vanished into the crowd of passersby. Nero turned and continued walking along the riverbank toward the spot where they had arranged to meet, in the shadow of the London Eye. The vast wheel loomed above Nero and he could not help but be impressed by its scale. He had seen some staggering feats of engineering and construction in his time, not least the construction of H.I.V.E., but this was still a striking monument. "Hello, Max." Nero''s inspection of the giant wheel was cut short by the sound of his old friend''s voice, but when he turned to face him he was shocked by what he saw. Gregori Leonov had always been a bear of a man, famed for the spine-snapping embraces that were reserved for his closest friends. But that was not the same man who stood before Nero now. He was thinner and looked years older, his skin gray and his eyes darting about as if expecting a sudden attack. He made no move to embrace Nero; he did not even offer his hand, but instead just gave him a small, sad smile. "Gregori," Nero replied, knowing that he had not been able to keep the surprise from his face at seeing his fellow council member so reduced. "It is good to see you, old friend," Leonov said quietly. "I did not know who else I could turn to." "What''s wrong, Gregori?" Nero asked, genuinely concerned for his friend. "You came alone?" he responded, staring at Nero. "As alone as I ever am," Nero said, suddenly not wanting to lie. "Of course, I should not expect you to be without your guardian angel," Gregori replied with a slight smile. "Natalya is many things, Gregori, but she''s no angel." Nero raised an eyebrow. "No, I suppose she is not." Gregori chuckled. Nero was glad to hear his old friend laugh, and for the most fleeting moment Nero could see a hint of the man he used to know before the gray pall of unhappiness fell across his face again. "Come, my friend," Gregori said, taking Nero by the elbow, "I have arranged for us to have somewhere more private to talk." He steered Nero toward the steps leading up to the boarding platform for the carriages that were slowly rotating around the enormous wheel. He ignored the line of tourists, simply nodding to one of the attendants, and stepped into a waiting capsule. Nero suspected that the attendant was significantly better off now than he had been when he had woken up that morning. The door slid shut behind them and they began their slow ascent over the cold gray waters of the Thames. The glass-walled capsule was designed to hold two dozen people, but now, with just the two of them on board, it seemed to Nero to be the most private and yet strangely exposed place they could possibly meet. Gregori stood holding the rail, looking out over the water, seeming to take a moment to gather his strength before he turned to Nero and spoke. "What do you know of the Renaissance Initiative?" he asked, looking straight at Nero, his eyes narrowing. "Rumors on the wind, nothing substantive," Nero replied evenly. It was a lie, of course; he had learned more than he truly cared to know of this secret project when he had questioned Cypher after his abortive attempt to take over H.I.V.E. the previous year. Cypher had been insane, there was little doubt of that, but Nero had no reason to disbelieve what the man had told him. Indeed, his own painstakingly discreet enquiries had only served to verify what he had fervently wished not to be true. Number One, the supreme leader of G.L.O.V.E., was secretly trying to rebuild the psychotic, impossibly dangerous, rogue artificial intelligence Overlord, his efforts concealed from the rest of the world''s villains by a shadowy organization known only as the Renaissance Initiative. Nero could not even begin to guess what Number One''s motives could possibly be. Nero''s own life-threatening ordeal at the hands of the nightmarish machine intelligence was enough to tell him that this plan was not just dangerous but demented. Nero could make no sense of it; Number One had been instrumental in destroying the rampant AI and yet now he seemed to be secretly attempting to bring it back to life. "I suspect that you know rather more than that, old friend," Gregori replied sadly, "and I also suspect that you know who is truly behind this madness. I have beaten you in too many games of cards not to know when you are bluffing." "Let us assume . . . hypothetically . . . that I do," Nero replied carefully, rather annoyed that Gregori could read him so well, "but why are we here today?" "Because you know as well as I do--no, better than I do--why Number One cannot be allowed to succeed in this." That was it; Gregori had said his name, Number One. That made this a conspiracy, even if at this moment it only included the two of them. More powerful men had lost their lives for far less. Nero knew he could still walk away, still pretend that he did not know what Gregori was suggesting, but to do so would let this insanity continue unchecked and would also almost certainly cost Leonov his life. It was a price that Nero was not prepared to pay. "Max, it is worse than you know," Gregori said, shaking his head. "Number One is not just trying to rebuild Overlord--I wish to God it were that simple." Gregori rubbed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. "What is it, Gregori?" Nero said, putting his hand on his friend''s shoulder. "What is he planning?" "I discovered something, Max, something that I was never supposed to know. Number One found out and he sent the Reapers after me and my family." Nero''s eyes widened. Every member of G.L.O.V.E. knew of the Reapers. They were Number One''s personal executioners, an utterly ruthless death squad that left no one alive in its wake. They were the stuff of nightmares, and Number One had turned them loose on Gregori. "My wife, my daughters, they''re gone, Max--executed by those butchers. It was a miracle I survived." Alarm bells rang suddenly in Nero''s head. The Reapers never left survivors, unless they wanted to. If they had tracked Gregori, followed him there . . .

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