Free Deadlock by Mark Walden

said, pointing at the glasses perched on top of his head.
    ‘Aaaah, of course,’ the Professor said, pulling the glasses down on to his face. ‘Thank you, Miss Trinity, like I said, I’m becoming so very absent-minded. I’m always forgetting where things are or that I’ve given them to people. Anyway, must dash, toodle-pip!’
    With that he turned back towards the entrance to the accommodation block. He walked a few metres and then stopped.
    ‘By the way, Miss Trinity,’ he said, ‘I’ve scheduled in a few extra cyber-security seminars for you. Something tells me you need them. Not all locks can be picked physically, you know.’
    Shelby, Wing and Franz watched as he walked away and then all three of them looked down at the access key still sitting in Wing’s hand.
    ‘Well, that was embarrassing,’ Shelby said. ‘He actually looked slightly disappointed.’

    Otto and Raven walked along the darkened pier. The night air was cold and a thick bank of fog was rolling in off the ocean. There were a handful of lights visible from isolated houses on the hills that surrounded them, but otherwise they were completely alone, the only sound coming from the waves crashing against the shore.
    ‘They’re late,’ Otto said, glancing at his watch.
    ‘They’ll be here,’ Raven said, looking out to sea. Barely a minute later they both heard the high-pitched whine of turbines and a sleek black powerboat raced towards them out of the fog, bouncing across the tops of the waves. It slowed to a stop as it approached the pier and a familiar figure got up out of the seat next to the helmsman.
    ‘Natalya, Otto, it’s good to see you both again,’ Diabolus Darkdoom said, giving them a broad smile. ‘I hear you’ve been getting involved in politics. I never really fancied it much myself, such a dirty business.’
    ‘Hello, Diabolus,’ Raven said, taking his offered hand and stepping down into the boat’s passenger compartment. ‘It’s good of you to give us a lift. Is the meeting set up?’
    ‘I’ll brief you when we’re safely on board the Megalodon,’ Darkdoom said as Otto hopped down into the boat. The three of them took their seats and the helmsman steered them away from the pier. Moments later they were heading back out to sea, the boat’s engines whining as it bounced along the surface at phenomenal speed. The ocean ahead of them was lit up by the boat’s FLIR sensors, highlighting any nearby vessels or obstacles on the HUD that was projected on to the black glass in front of the helmsman.
    ‘Manta One to Megalodon,’ the helmsman said after a couple of minutes, ‘we’re thirty seconds out. Surface for docking.’
    Ahead of them the ocean seemed to bulge for a moment and then separate in a shower of spray as the massive conning tower of Darkdoom’s stealth submarine, the Megalodon, broke the surface. A large hatch in the rear of the tower opened and the helmsman expertly piloted the boat into the brightly lit docking area. Docking clamps thudded into place on the boat’s hull as the hatch sealed shut behind them and the Megalodon disappeared once more below the waves. The boat’s passengers climbed out one by one on to the narrow gangway that led up to the dock.
    ‘We’re under way, sir,’ one of Darkdoom’s men reported. ‘We should reach our destination on schedule.’
    ‘Very good,’ Darkdoom said. ‘I’m heading to the bridge with our guests. Please make sure that their quarters are ready.’
    ‘Yes, sir,’ the crewman replied.
    Otto and Raven followed Darkdoom as he made his way forward towards the giant submarine’s command centre. They were making their way through the Megalodon’s armoury when Darkdoom paused for a moment and beckoned for Otto to come and look at something.
    ‘I think you’ll appreciate this, Otto,’ Darkdoom said. ‘I call it the Moray.’ He gestured to a rack of weapons stored within one of the Megalodon’s torpedo-loading racks. At the front of the weapon was