Bo cleared his throat. ‘Err, how are we going to be able to help with all this? He polished his palms on the legs of his trousers again. ‘We can’t fight these sort of people, I mean look at you.’ He held his hand up to Helix. ‘No offence intended, but…’
‘None taken.’ Helix finished his tea. ‘We’ve got just over 26 hours. We need to head back to London. If I can convince Ormandy that we’re coming in, it might mean she keeps the dogs on their leads while we negotiate.’
‘And what about Ulyana Lytkin?’ Gabrielle said. ‘What about Ethan?’
‘That’s the crux of it. Neither option is ideal. But if we have to give up to one or the other it has to be Lytkin.’
‘Whoa. Hold on,’ SJ said, pushing herself up from her chair. ‘No way. You can’t just hand Gabrielle over to that lunatic. You know what her dipshit brother was going to do. Sounds like she’s no different.’
Helix pulled the door open and beckoned Sofi inside. With her hood pulled up and a snood masking her face, the AI stomped the snow from her feet and lowered her bergen to the floor. Helix glanced outside and pushed the door closed. Taking Sofi by the arm, he ushered her to the middle of the room. ‘Gabrielle is the key to this whole thing. Without her Ethan dies. It’s as simple as that.’ He stepped behind Sofi and pulled the hood from her head. Sofi lowered the snood covering her face.
21
26 Hours
The patient creaking of the log burner’s chimney filled the gaping void in the conversation. The sisters stared at each other, then at Sofi and back at each other. Bo staggered up from his chair his mouth agape, pointing at Sofi in case nobody else in the room had noticed the apparent addition to the Stepper sisters – twins had become triplets.
Gabrielle was the first to approach. She snatched her fingers away from Sofi’s chin. ‘She’s freezing,’ she said, looking at Helix for an explanation. Taking the AI’s chin in her hand again, she turned her head to the right and then the left. ‘How…’
Helix wasn’t sure he could explain. He’d just accepted what Sofi had told him as he lay in the dark next to Gabrielle while she’d slept. ‘The tissue is designed to heal following battlefield injuries. Ethan being Ethan, tweaked things so he could create whatever appearance he wanted. By feeding Sofi sufficient images of the girl of his dreams she was able to recreate the features and appearance to match.’
‘And who fed her the images of me or us?’ Gabrielle said, turning to Helix.
‘There’s plenty of images and footage of you on record. It was relatively easy for Sofi to gather enough to replicate your appearance.’
SJ heaved herself out of the fireside chair. ‘So, can she change her appearance at will, you know, could she make herself look like Bo, for example?’
‘Oh Jesus,’ Bo protested. ‘This is freaking me out, man. I hate those bloody things. I’ve heard stories, they say—’
‘Calm down, lover,’ SJ said. ‘It’s just a question.’
Helix laughed. ‘It’s not quite that simple. Given enough time studying him, it probably could, but he’s taller and bigger. Skin and underlying muscle is one thing. Changes to the endoskeleton take longer. With you, Gabrielle and Sofi being similar in height and build it was faster to process.’
SJ circled Sofi. ‘What I wouldn’t give for my boobs and bum to be that size again,’ she sighed, patting her baby-bump.
‘So, she takes my place,’ Gabrielle murmured.
Helix nodded. ‘Yep.’ He turned to SJ and Bo. ‘Nobody else in the village can know about this. Later on, if anyone asks where Sofi is, we say she’s gone on ahead.’
‘It’s going to be pretty obvious when they see a third sister wandering around the place,’ SJ said, slumping back into a chair.
‘Nobody is going to see her,’ Helix explained. ‘Gabrielle, we’re going to need to get her into some of your clothes when the time comes.’
Gabrielle nodded. ‘Appearance and clothing are one thing. What happens when itcomes face to face with Lytkin? How well does it know my research?’
‘We just need to get alongside Lytkin, find out where Ethan is and get creative.’
‘And what about when Lytkin discovers that there is no blood flowing through the veins of this abomination?’ Gabrielle said. ‘The game will be up, and you’ll all be dead. Brilliant plan, Helix.’
Sofi took off her jacket, pulled up the sleeves of her thermal top and pointed to the inside of her elbow. ‘I have blood,’ she said. ‘Not actual blood, in the normal places or in the same quantities, but I have a workaround.’ She turned to Gabrielle. ‘What’s wrong?’
Gabrielle’s eyes darted at Helix, her fingers to her mouth. ‘Your voice. My voice. It’s…’
Sofi shrugged. ‘Good looks aren’t everything. It won’t work if I don’t sound like you.’
‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph,’ SJ said, shaking her head. ‘So, back to the blood. How’s that going to work?’
Sofi turned to Bo. ‘Can you bring us two rabbits?’
It was Helix’s turned to look puzzled. He didn’t want to own up to not thinking about the blood. Lytkin needed Gabrielle’s DNA. It was the key that would unlock the pathogen. When Gabrielle had made the discovery, that was how she’d protected it. It was the sort of detail Ethan would have thought of. ‘Rabbits?’ he said.
‘Tongue of lizard, scrotum of bat,’ SJ blurted. ‘While you’re at it, Bo, bring back your book of satanic rituals too. It might come in handy.’
Sofi looked back at Bo. ‘The rabbits should be dead but not eviscerated.’
‘Evicer-what?’ Bo said.
‘Gutted, Bo,’ SJ laughed.
‘Oh right.’ Bo nodded. ‘Dead but not gutted. Right you are.’
‘And, Bo,’ Helix said, catching his arm. ‘Not a word to
