LITMIR.BIZ

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quarters could be found. Jamie thanked him, then made his way down a grey corridor that looked like all the others.

      In front of the door to Admiral Seward’s quarters was another soldier, his black uniform covered in armour plates and webbing, the purple visor of his helmet lowered over his face. He saw Jamie as soon as he turned the corner.

      “Identify yourself,” the soldier said. He did not raise his gun, but his right index finger rested steadily on the outside of the trigger guard.

      “I’m Jamie Carpenter,” he replied.

      The soldier distanced his finger from the trigger, reached up and flipped open the purple visor.

      My God. He’s only a few years older than me.

      “Say again,” the guard said, a strange look on his face, a look that Jamie didn’t like at all.

      “I’m Jamie Carpenter,” he repeated. Disgust curdled on the guard’s face. He strode down the corridor towards him, and Jamie took a step backwards, his hands rising involuntarily in front of him in a placatory gesture. The soldier backed him against the wall, and leant in until his face was inches from Jamie’s own.

      “Carpenter?” the guard hissed. “Is that what you said? Carpenter?”

      Terrified, and incredibly aware of the heavy black gun hanging inches from his body, Jamie nodded.

      “And you have the nerve to be standing here? In this building?”

      Jamie didn’t reply; he was too scared to speak. He stared straight into the cold, hard face of the guard, then a voice he recognised called down the corridor.

      “Stand down, soldier.”

      The guard and Jamie looked in the direction of the voice, their heads turning in unison. Admiral Seward stood in the open door to his quarters. Behind him, looming above the Director, was the enormous shape of Frankenstein.

      The soldier stood up straight, but did not back away.

      “Sir, I must protest,” he began. “This is the son of—”

      “I know perfectly well who he is, Private,” interrupted Seward. “Now stand down, son. That is a direct order.”

      The guard stepped back into the middle of the corridor and stood to attention, facing the Admiral. His face wore a look of blazing anger, but he said nothing more.

      Seward stepped out into the corridor, holding the door open.

      “Come in, Mr Carpenter,” he said. “We have much to discuss.”

      Admiral Seward sat behind the long desk on one side of the room, while Jamie and Frankenstein occupied the two armchairs next to the fireplace. Jamie glanced at the huge man next to him, who favoured him with a thin smile.

      “Jamie Carpenter,” said Seward. “I would like to welcome you to the headquarters of Department 19. Or Blacklight, as it has always been called by those who are aware of its existence.”

       Blacklight. I feel like I’ve heard that word before, a long time ago. Blacklight.

      Then a strange thought arrived, unbidden, in Jamie’s mind.

       It feels like home.

      There was a long silence, then Admiral Seward continued.

      “I haven’t seen you since you were a baby. You look like your father, has anyone ever told you that?”

      “My mother,” replied Jamie.

      “Of course,” said the Admiral. “I’m sorry to hear what has happened to her. She was a fine woman.”

      “She still is,” said Jamie, staring at the Director of Department 19.

      Seward moved a pile of papers from one side of the desk to the other, nervously. He seemed unwilling to meet Jamie’s gaze, and this infuriated the teenager.

       Look at me, old man. It’s the least you can do. Look at me.

      Frankenstein, as if able to read Jamie’s thoughts, reached out and placed an enormous hand on his arm. The message was clear: stay calm.

      “Sir,” Jamie said, as politely as he could manage, and when Seward looked up, he continued. “Why did the guard outside in the corridor have a go at me? I haven’t done anything.”

      The Admiral looked at him, opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again and said, “Don’t worry about that. It’s not important. We need to focus on what we are going to do with you now.”

      “Let me look for my mother,” Jamie said, instantly.

      “Out of the question,” Seward replied. “We have no idea where she is, or even if she...”

      He trailed off, straightened a line of pencils that lay in the middle of his desk.

      “If you won’t help me,” said Jamie, his voice low. “I’ll do it on my own. Let me out of here, and I’ll find her myself.”

      “I can’t do that,” replied Seward. “We’re taking you off the grid.”

      “What does that mean?”

      “It means that in a little over forty-eight hours there will be no record that you ever existed. It’s for your own safety, and the safety of anyone you’ve ever been in contact with.”

      Jamie’s head swam.

      “You’re erasing me?” he asked, incredulous. “Is that what you’re saying?”

      Seward nodded. “It’s standard procedure in a case like this. Alexandru may try to get to you through people you have known. And his existence, and that of others like him, must remain secret. It’s our top priority.”

      Anger flashed across Jamie’s face.

      “My mother is my top priority,” he growled. “I don’t give a damn about yours.”

      “You see?” said Seward, looking helplessly at Frankenstein. “How am I supposed to...” He hesitated, then returned his gaze to Jamie. “Your father was one of my closest friends,” he said. “Did you know that? No, of course you didn’t. But he was. When I joined the Department he was already a legend. He was one of our finest Operators. For it to end the way it did...”

      Jamie waited for the Admiral to say more, feeling the heat beneath his skin, pushing his anger as deep as he was able, but the old man appeared to have finished. The glaze had returned to his eyes, and he seemed to be lost in his memories, remembering better days. When Jamie could take the silence no longer, he tried a new approach.

      “What about my mother?” he asked in a low voice. “Why didn’t she tell me the truth about what Dad really did? After he died, I mean.”

      Frankenstein spoke in a low rumbling voice, like a landslide.

      “She never knew anything about Department 19. It’s forbidden to tell anyone that it exists.”

      “So he lied to her his whole life?”

      “Yes,” said Frankenstein. His vast face was expressionless, but his eyes never left Jamie’s.

      “It’s not so unusual,” said Seward, and the teenager and the monster turned their attention back to the wide desk. “All the Security Services require it; MI5, SIS. And Blacklight is classified far beyond either of them.”

      “So how come I would have been asked to join?” Jamie asked. “Don’t you have to be selected, like for the SAS?”

      A flicker of admiration passed across the Admiral’s face, and he nodded. “You’re very sharp, Jamie,” he replied, “just like your father was. The document that founded Department 19 entrusted the protection of the Empire to the five founder members and their descendants, in perpetuity. It was later amended to include your family.

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