The Machine

suggesting Stone. But you’ve already made too many enemies since you came here…’

‘Then another one won’t hurt. Let me explain,’ said Stone. He couldn’t let himself say Hooper’s name, couldn’t admit the personal connection. ‘I just received evidence to back up what this Japanese woman was saying. There was a manufacturer’s nameplate on that weapon. No one believed her when she confronted Semyonov, but here’s the evidence..’

Watts looked at Stone in sudden apprehension. ‘Whatever you’re up to, Stone, I forbid you to make an enemy of Steven Semyonov. For the university or for yourself.’

‘Semyonov is famous for his cool, and his intelligence,’ said Stone, ignoring the objection. ‘He’s never stuck for an answer. Yet here’s a rookie reporter and she’s caught him out. It’s there in his face. You can see it.’ Stone was talking Semyonov, but his mind was fixed on Hooper and the image of Ekstrom's face grinning from behind that gun barrel. ‘Why would this rookie reporter do this unless she had something? Semyonov is Mr Nice Guy. He’s worth billions and the media love him. Then suddenly — bang! This is not tax fiddling Semyonov’s involved in, George — this is evil, nasty weaponry,’

‘We’ve just seen a young reporter end her career,’ said Watts. ‘Nothing more.’

‘”Reporter fired for challenging billionaire”. Since when did that mean she was wrong?’ said Stone. ‘The firm Terashima cites is New Machine Tech, George. And New Machine Technologies made the weapon in Afghanistan. The dead women and kids in that village connect directly back to Semyonov.’

‘‘I don’t care what you say,’ said Watts, shaking his head, more nervy than ever. ‘Semyonov’s a popular hero — a moral and intellectual hero. You can’t take him on.’

Stone persisted. ‘Junko Terashima knows about Semyonov, George, and I know about the weapons. Between us we have evidence.’

‘I forbid you to contact her.’

‘Chuck it, George. That’s weak, even for you. I’ve already been in touch with her.’ said Stone. ‘Terashima’s in Hong Kong. I’ve sent her photos of the weapon. This is bigger than Ekstrom and Special Circumstances. I’m going after Steven Semyonov.’

‘I forbid you to go to Hong Kong, Stone’

‘It’s a bit late for that, George. Jayne already booked me on tomorrow’s flight. Using your credit card, I should think.’

Stone had got what he wanted from George Watts — just. Most importantly, though, he’d kept up his cool persona — his front. Watts hadn’t suspected Stone’s underlying motives. He took another look at the email from Junko Terashima.

Stone-san. I heard Semyonov has left US for good and gone to China. Anyway he is Hong Kong, I am sure of that. I have a contact in ShinComm factory who told me Semyonov has been many times in China before.

I’m in Hong Kong. Semyonov’s people agreed to meet if I came to Hong Kong. I had to take the chance.

One more thing. Although I was fired by GNN, someone is still blocking me, even in Hong Kong. If I meet Semyonov’s people I may get the story, but I’m scared something’s going to happen. I think someone is following me.

J x

Stone could see this Japanese girl had no clue what she was into. It was the tone of her email, and the way she looked on that Youtube clip. And that cringey J x at the end. All of which begged the question: how on earth had she come by her information about Semyonov?

But it was academic. Stone wasn’t thinking about Terashima. His mind was imprinted with the image of Ekstrom’s gloating face as he put the bullet through Hooper’s brain. He was thinking of dissected bodies, of numbers in neat black marker pen on the foreheads, of the four dead soldiers. For once, emotion had got the better of him, even if he hadn’t shown it.

In his time with Hooper, Stone was supposed to be the cool, calm one. Yet here he was, doing a Hooper. Letting adrenaline and emotion tell him what to do. Stone’s rational mind knew this wasn’t about ShinComm, or Terashima, or weird weapons in Afghanistan. It was about Hooper.

Stone could easily convince George Watts — he always got the better of Watts. He could even convince a part of himself. Going after Semyonov was what NotFutile.com was all about, right? A technology genius like Semyonov building weapons? That was news. Oh yes, Stone could rationalize to whoever cared to listen.

But Stone had to be honest, to himself if no one else. This was about Hooper.

“Semyonov’s a popular hero — a moral and intellectual hero,” Watts had said. Stone smiled to himself, a genuine smile for the first time that day. He was going to get to Semyonov and his mercenaries, even if he had to swim to Hong Kong.

Chapter 5 — 28 March, Cathay Pacific Flight CX250, London to Hong Kong

Stone was sitting in coach, ten thousand metres over Central Asia. The seat-back TV was on in front of him, flickering away, but he was looking out of the window at the earth curving away beneath. Something was bothering him, like an itch at the back of his brain.

Stone hadn’t started NotFutile.com and his peace campaign immediately when he left the army. In fact he’d had “issues”. Some called it “post-traumatic stress”, but it wasn’t stress. It was more like “combat withdrawal”.

He’d found himself looking for fights. He’d once put on a dress suit and ordered a sweet sherry at one of the hardest bars in Portsmouth, just to see what would happen. Nearly had his ear torn off in the struggle that followed, but he’d finished on top. Just.

To credit the army, they gave help for this kind of thing. The “stress” counsellor talked to Stone about anger management, and asked him about something called rules for living. Did Stone feel the need to prove himself by violence, over and over? Did he feel constantly threatened? Stone had answered yes, to keep the counsellor happy, but the real answer was no — in both cases. Stone hadn’t felt threatened. He didn't feel a need to prove himself. The truth was, he enjoyed the violence. That was why he’d kept looking for trouble, looking for fights. It was also why he'd had to get out of the army. Over time he’d healed his mind, reduced his violent urges from an open wound to little more than an itch. But an itch that never went away. Right now that itch to harm someone was getting seriously irritating.

The Peace Campaigner thing was Stone’s way of cleansing his psyche of those feelings — but it only worked up to a point. It was displacement activity. Deep down he knew he was simply looking for danger and confrontation in different ways. Repressing the feelings, but not getting rid of them. Was he motivated by anger about Hooper’s killing? Yes. Did he have an urge to get Semyonov? Yes. A long, long way back, Hooper had been his friend, the kind of deep comrade-friend that only soldiers can know about. And Stone owed him. Stone owed very few people anything at all in life. He liked it that way. But Hooper — he owed Hooper. So going after Semyonov — and whoever else was behind that charnel house in Afghanistan — was a way of scratching the itch.

Stone was snapped back to the present by the image of Semyonov on the seatback TV. He put on the headphones:

‘In a surprising development to the Semyonov story, advisers to SearchIgnition Corporation confirmed that they have already sold one hundred percent of the shares belonging to SIC founder and majority shareholder, Steven Semyonov. Semyonov’s holding netted the search genius a total of $25.9 billion in cash.

‘Meanwhile, Semyonov is said to have travelled to Hong Kong, where he’s set to make yet another “major announcement” tomorrow evening.’

Semyonov had taken his money, and himself, out of the US with indecent haste. It looked as guilty as hell. It looked like Terashima was right. But how had she known?