Free New Pompeii by Daniel Godfrey Page B

harness take his weight.
    The villa looked newly built, its whitewashed walls topped by a flow of soft red tiles. It seemed well laid out, made up of two large adjoining wings with front and rear façades. The arrangement created a central, private courtyard. As the helicopter came in lower, it became clear the space was being used as a car park for about half a dozen khaki-coloured Land Rovers. And there was a large, black satellite dish pointing upwards from the villa’s roof.
    So much for authenticity
. Nick sat back and tried to relax, but the helicopter was vibrating like a washing machine on full spin. Opposite him, Maggie mouthed something but he couldn’t tell what she was saying. Instead, he just gave her a thumbs-up and waited. It didn’t take much longer for the rotors to start whipping up dust. A few bumps almost made him vomit, but then the landing skids made contact with the ground. Once. Twice.
    He’d made it.
    “Okay folks!” shouted the pilot. The doors clicked open. Nick didn’t wait to be helped. He pushed the door outwards and stumbled to the ground. He took a couple of steps – and felt nausea wash over him. But he wasn’t sick.
    Not yet, anyway.
    “I thought you were going to spew!”
    Nick smiled weakly at Noah. Behind him, Maggie was the last to leave the helicopter. The pilot remained at his controls.
    “Is this it?” Noah sounded tired, but his head bobbed around, his eyes taking in their surroundings. He looked both confused and disappointed. His mother didn’t seem interested in trying to cheer him up.
    Slowly, Nick tried to find his bearings. The helicopter had landed at the front of the villa. He pushed at the ground with his foot. They were standing on Grasscrete. It was a purpose-built helipad, but one that wouldn’t be obvious to a casual observer.
    Shielding his eyes from the setting sun, he peered towards the building. The villa’s entrance was nothing more than a large archway in its front wall. Through it, he could clearly see the Land Rovers in the courtyard beyond. There wasn’t any other obvious way in or out. Nick squinted. There was somebody heading towards them.
    “Maggie! Noah!”
    If he hadn’t been in the grip of a migraine, Nick would have laughed. Mark Whelan was heading towards them; the NovusPart COO was wearing a dull white toga. It didn’t look like he knew how to wear it, the cloth flapping around his body, caught up in the rotor wash. “Come on. Let’s get you inside!”
    Whelan let Maggie and Noah scurry past him before moving to block Nick’s path. “I’m glad you decided to join us,” he said. “I think you’re going to enjoy the next few weeks.”
    Nick forced a smile. It caused another spike of pain to shoot through his temples. “Hopefully I’ll be here for longer than that.”
    Whelan didn’t confirm or deny it. “You have a phone?” he said.
    Nick nodded.
    “You don’t need it here. You probably noticed we were blocking your signal from the moment we picked you up?”
    Nick shook his head. He hadn’t noticed, but now the lack of messages made sense. “You seem to have found a nice, isolated location.”
    “We have a good agreement with the locals. They’re more than happy to give us the privacy we require.” Whelan paused, as if mulling something over. “We weren’t entirely straight with you when we last met.”
    Nick braced himself, but then remembered what Maggie had said. “Professor Samson?”
    “Yes. He left the project some months ago.”
    “So you see me as…?”
    Whelan glanced over his shoulder, but Maggie and Noah were long gone. “A lot of people attached to this project think it can already be classed as a success,” he said. “After all, the buildings are finished and the people are living in them. So McMahon wasn’t too bothered when Samson upped and left. But his absence effectively leaves us blind, and lots of people are waiting for us to fail.” The operations chief paused. “You want to do your