Free Deadlock by Mark Walden Page A

a smooth black egg-shaped nose that was surrounded by an array of cameras and sensors. Behind that was a long, thin segmented metallic body that ended in a vicious-looking barbed tail.
    ‘You’re probably aware of the race to develop intelligent airborne drones for the military,’ Darkdoom said, gesturing towards the machine. ‘Well, the Moray is an equivalent device for submarine warfare. Extremely manoeuvrable and quick, it can be equipped for stealthy intelligence gathering or as a highly versatile assassination device, acquiring and eliminating its target completely autonomously.’
    ‘Very cool,’ Otto said, examining the Moray more closely. He closed his eyes for a moment and reached out for the Moray’s on-board systems. He could feel the hum and buzz of the Megalodon’s other systems, but the weapon in front of him was just dead space as far as his unusual senses were concerned.
    ‘Fully electromagnetically shielded as well,’ Darkdoom said with a wry smile, ‘immune to all known countermeasures, including young men with organic supercomputers lodged in their brains.’
    ‘So I see,’ Otto said, raising an eyebrow. ‘You know it’s almost like people don’t want me interfering with their highly advanced experimental weapon systems these days.’
    ‘How very inconsiderate of them,’ Raven said. ‘Now, if you boys have finished admiring your new toys, we do have things we need to discuss.’
    ‘You really have no appreciation of craftsmanship, Natalya,’ Darkdoom said. ‘I would have thought you of all people would have appreciated a new and interesting way to kill someone.’
    ‘I prefer the personal touch,’ Raven replied, putting her hand on the hilt of one of the twin katanas that were strapped across her back. ‘You know that.’
    They continued forward to the bridge which was, as usual, filled with the quiet bustle of a well-trained crew performing its duties. Darkdoom walked quickly around the dimly lit room, checking several gauges and the readouts on key displays. He spoke briefly to his first officer and then gestured for Raven and Otto to follow him through the hatch into his office.
    ‘Everything is in place,’ Darkdoom said as he closed the door. ‘The Architect has agreed to a meeting. It took some persuasion, but we’ve known each other for a long time and he owed me a favour. Be warned though, he is not pleased about being dragged into this conflict, so there is no guarantee that he’ll be willing to help us.’
    ‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Otto said. ‘So where are we meeting him?’
    ‘Venice,’ Darkdoom replied. ‘Tomorrow afternoon. Piazza San Marco.’
    ‘Isn’t that a little too public?’ Raven asked.
    ‘It was his choice,’ Darkdoom said. ‘It was hard enough getting him to agree to the meeting in the first place, so I thought it best not to start questioning his choice of location.’
    ‘Does he know what we need?’ Otto asked.
    ‘No,’ Darkdoom replied. ‘I thought it would be best if we discussed the situation face-to-face. It may be the only chance we have of obtaining the information we require.’
    ‘There are other ways of getting information out of someone you know,’ Raven said. ‘Given time.’
    ‘No, Nero doesn’t want him harmed,’ Darkdoom said, shaking his head. ‘He either gives his help willingly or we find another way to track Furan down.’
    ‘We don’t have any other leads at this point,’ Otto said. ‘We may never get another chance.’
    ‘I understand exactly what’s at stake here, Otto,’ Darkdoom said. ‘At this point I don’t even know if my own son is alive or dead, but Max is calling the shots on this and I trust his judgement.’
    ‘So he’s agreed to meet with you and Raven’s there as security,’ Otto said. ‘So how are you going to explain who I am and why I’m there?’
    ‘By telling the truth,’ Darkdoom replied matter-of-factly. ‘That you were one of the only survivors of Furan’s