Free Nano by Sam Fisher Page B

automatically, leading into Prep Area 1. Here they were helped into their cybersuits. One of the mainstays of E-Force’s array of hi-tech equipment, the cybersuits were the team’s armour. Made from a blend of state-of-the-art polymers and carbonthreads, they enabled the wearer to withstand extremes of temperature, poisonous atmospheres and noxious environments, and the suits themselves were self-repairing. At the same time, they provided nutrients and, if the wearer was injured, a network woven into their fabric provided painkillers as well as a stream of computer-controlled nanobots to heal injuries super-fast. Finally, the suits were hot-wired to the comms web of the entire operation with direct links to Sybil via ultra high-speed internet and wireless connections.
    Once suited, the team boarded an electric cart that took them from the Prep Room into a wide passage that ran 200 metres beyond the main Base One buildings, onto Hangar A.
    The hangar was massive, a little over 150 metres long and 100 wide. At the far end, half the wall had been opened up and beyond that could be seen a second hangar, Hangar B. This was a twin of Hangar A and housed two Big Macs, the enormous E-Force workhorses that carried the heavy equipment the team used in most rescue missions.
    The six of them knew exactly what to do. Mark had created the entire set-up and was familiar with every nut and bolt of each piece of equipment. He had written the book on every procedure and tactic. Steph, Pete and Mai had been operational with E-Force for over a year, Dimitri had been working at the organisation’s Polar Base, flying Silverbacks since E-Force started and in the six months since she had replaced Josh Thompson, Chloe, a woman of enormous flying experience, had been on eight missions.
    Steph, Pete, Mai and Chloe jumped off the cart and headed for the four Silverbacks lined up along the right-hand side of the vast hangar. Mark and Dimitri stayed on the cart as it sped off across the concrete floor towards the opening leading into Hangar B and the nearest of the two Big Macs.
    Technicians and engineers in pastel-coloured boiler suits clustered around the Silverbacks. Like all the aircraft at the base, they were fuelled, checked and continuously overhauled, prepared to go just as soon as the pilots were ready to fly. Steph headed for Ringo , the auburn-coloured Silverback closest to the entrance of the hangar. Beyond that stood the black shape of John , Pete Sherringham’s regular ride. Next to John was Paul , its sleek grey camouflaged against the grey floor and walls of the building. Mai ran over to it. Last of the four, Chloe reached George , the deep-blue Silverback. An engineer handed her a flight helmet and she immediately ran up the steps recessed into the side of the plane, pulling on the helmet as she went.
    Above each of the planes, a panel slid open revealing a starry black sky. Aboard the Big Mac, Mark and Dimitri set the flight parameters and coordinates into the navigational computers and the Silverback pilots went through a litany of checks. Everything else was overseen by Sybil. All the voice comms from the five aircraft fed to a control centre positioned on the far side of Hangar A. There, a team of specially trained techs and air-traffic controllers worked around a horseshoe of smooth control panels and holographic displays similar to the ones in Cyber Control.
    â€˜All systems green,’ Pete said. This was echoed by each of the other Silverback pilots. The techs on the hangar floor withdrew to bunkers close to the control centre and the engines of the powerful jets fired up. In unison, the four Silverbacks lifted from the floor, incredibly slowly at first, but then picking up speed. Each passed through the appropriate opening in the roof and continued upwards to a point 100 metres above the hangars. There they stopped and hovered.
    From their cockpits, Steph, Pete, Mai and Chloe could see a vast canopy of stars