Free Aftershock by Mark Walden Page B

the far end of the room. Behind the lectern was a sculpture depicting a fist hammering down upon a cracked globe, the symbol of G.L.O.V.E. At its base was inscribed the G.L.O.V.E. motto: ‘Do Unto Others’.
    A moment later the door at the side of the stage hissed open and Dr Nero strode over to the lectern. He paused for a moment, looking at the array of bewildered but curious faces that stared back at him.
    ‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,’ Nero began. ‘Welcome to H.I.V.E. and the first day of the rest of your lives.’

chapter five
     
    A few hours later the two new students who had been retrieved by Raven sat down on one of the sofas in the atrium of accommodation block seven looking exhausted and overwhelmed. They were both now wearing black Alpha stream jumpsuits.
    ‘Well,’ the boy said with a sigh, ‘I think it’s safe to say that today couldn’t possibly get any weirder.’
    ‘And that’s just where you’d be wrong,’ the girl said, looking at something over his shoulder, a broad grin spreading across her face. ‘I don’t believe it.’ The boy stood up and turned round as his companion ran past him.
    ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ Otto said with a grin as the girl hugged him. The girl stepped back and the boy grabbed Otto by both shoulders.
    ‘Jeez, Otto, we wondered where you’d got to, but I think it’s safe to say that this is just a bit stranger than any of the theories we came up with.’
    ‘Are you gonna introduce us?’ Shelby asked as she and Laura exchanged confused looks.
    ‘Of course, sorry,’ Otto replied. ‘Guys, this is Tom and this is Penny and let’s just say that we used to work together.’
    ‘You mean we used to nick stuff for you,’ Penny said with a grin.
    ‘I was trying to make it sound more classy,’ Otto replied with a chuckle.
    ‘You guys knew each other before this place?’ Laura asked, still looking slightly confused.
    ‘Yeah and I suppose this is exactly the sort of place that I should have expected Otto to end up in when I actually stop and think about it. Penny Richards, pleased to meet you.’ She stuck out her hand.
    ‘Laura Brand,’ Laura said, shaking her hand, ‘and this is Shelby Trinity.’
    ‘Hi,’ Shelby said with a little wave.
    ‘Hi to you too,’ Tom said with a smile. ‘Tom Ransom, a pleasure to meet you both.’
    ‘So when did you get here?’ Otto asked as they all sat down on the cluster of sofas.
    ‘This morning,’ Penny replied. ‘Let’s just say that it’s been a pretty strange twenty-four hours.’
    ‘I can imagine,’ Otto said. ‘I can see you had a bit of a rough day.’ He gestured towards the bruise on Penny’s cheekbone.
    ‘Yeah, I think that Raven woman must not have been too pleased when I tasered her,’ Penny replied with a lopsided grin.
    ‘You are tasering Raven!’ Franz said slightly too loudly as he sat down on the sofa. ‘This is not being a clever thing to do.’
    ‘That’s one way of putting it,’ Nigel said as he sat down next to Franz. ‘Glad to see that you still have all your limbs at least.’
    ‘I doubt that Raven would have resorted to dismemberment except under circumstances of extreme provocation,’ Wing said with a slight frown.
    ‘I was jok— Never mind,’ Nigel said, rolling his eyes.
    ‘And here’s the rest of our motley crew,’ Otto said. ‘Tom, Penny, this is Wing, Franz and Nigel.’
    ‘A pleasure to meet you,’ Wing said with a slight bow. ‘I believe that Otto has mentioned you to me before. You lived in the same orphanage before he came to H.I.V.E. did you not?’
    ‘Yeah,’ Tom replied, ‘good old St Sebastian’s.’
    ‘How is Mrs McReedy these days?’ Otto asked.
    ‘Fine, though she was rather sad to lose her best revenue stream when you disappeared,’ Penny said.
    Mrs McReedy had been the head of Otto’s old orphanage or at least that was what she and Otto let the rest of the world believe. In reality Otto had been essentially running the