The Legacy

he felt her stiffen with fear. He hadn’t feared coming back until now, hadn’t real y understood what it would mean to be back inside Pincent Pharma, inside the centre of Richard Pincent’s power base, the prison where Sheila had been kept. But the smel brought memories back more vividly than anything else, reminding him how dangerous this place was, how sinister. He took her hand and squeezed it; she gripped it hard.
    ‘You ready?’ he asked.
    Sheila nodded.
    ‘OK. This way,’ he said, pointing down the corridor. They were on the west wing of the building, the opposite side from where he’d been kept a year before, but it looked the same: white soul ess corridors, heavy doors with numbers on them hiding what lay behind. Silence surrounded them; the rooms could be fil ed with people but not a sound would escape. Jude moved quickly, tugging Sheila behind him, until they got to the door he was looking for: the door to room W576. He opened it and he and Sheila hurried in.
    She glanced around the room apprehensively. Jude, however, wasn’t interested in the room; he was already looking up at the ceiling, at the vent. He’d chosen this room specifical y, had searched the whole of the ground floor for the easiest access to the hub, to the control centre.
    ‘I’m going up,’ he said to Sheila. ‘I need you to help me.’
    ‘Up there?’ Sheila’s brow wrinkled.
    ‘The vent. I can get to the camera system that way. I can find out where Pip is, where Peter is.’
    ‘Is that where . . .’ Sheila looked at him searchingly.
    ‘Where I found you? Yes,’ Jude said quietly. He moved towards her, pul ed her into him. Then he lifted up her chin so she was looking right at him. ‘Can you do this? I’m going to go up and see what’s going on. You have to wait here. Silently. Then I’l come back.’
    ‘How soon?’ Sheila whispered worriedly.
    ‘Soon,’ Jude promised. ‘Very soon.’
    ‘OK.’ Sheila laced her fingers together, looking at Jude sternly when he appeared uncertain. ‘I can take your weight,’ she said tersely. ‘I trust you. You have to trust me.’
    ‘I trust you,’ Jude replied, placing his foot in her hands and jumping up. He grabbed hold of the vent and punched it hard – there was no time to undo screws.
    As he punched he lost his balance and almost fel , but on the second at empt it gave way and he hooked his hands round the opening, pul ing at the vent until it lay in pieces on the floor. Then he hauled himself up into the void above the ceiling.
    ‘See you soon, princess,’ he whispered, and started to wriggle through the cramped, hot ceiling cavities of Pincent Pharma. Keeping his head down to stop dust get ing in his eyes, he pushed himself forward with his elbows and knees, wincing every so often when something sharp dug into him or dust and other material fel into his hair, on to his back. From what he could remember, if he travel ed north he should get to a security hub in a few minutes.
    And once he was there . . . Once he was there, he’d be in control again. Jude knew the Pincent Pharma security system bet er than any other. It might have been upgraded since his last encounter with it a year or so ago, but that didn’t worry him.
    There was no system he couldn’t take over and now this one – his old foe, old al y –was going to help him once more.
    Jude took a deep breath and forced himself forward. The passage was narrowing and dust particles were get ing into his mouth, into his chest, but he struggled on. He didn’t have much time. Too much was depending on him.
    Final y he felt the passage widen and saw a low light ahead. He sighed with relief and, upping his pace, squirmed towards it. Quickly he took out his trusted handheld video link device, connected it to the system hub and started to search the cameras.
    He flicked from image to image – the reception area, the corridors, the laboratories.
    It seemed spookily empty, apart from the guards who patrol ed every corridor and stood outside every door. There seemed to be more guards than staff these days. A few white-coated men and women could stil be seen, their faces serious as they tested, analysed and checked the white tablets in front of them. Jude noticed that a woman in one of the labs looked strange, her body bowed over the table in front of her. He zoomed in and saw that she was sweating profusely. Her hand moved to her throat. She picked up a glass of water and started to drink but then she dropped