The Legacy

beseechingly. Slowly, she uncurled herself and stood up, then reached over and took his hand.
    ‘You realised that you’d thought what I’d encouraged you to think,’ Pip said gently.
    ‘I’m sorry, Jude. I couldn’t tel you what was happening. It was a long game. A very long game. And the end was in sight. I had to keep Richard preoccupied while Derek and I implemented our endgame.’
    ‘You sent me that message?’ Peter looked at Pip uncertainly. ‘You let them take Anna?’
    Pip nodded. ‘I didn’t expect you to come to London. When we discovered . . . We knew Anna wouldn’t be safe. Knew we had to get there before anyone else did.
    Richard was closing in. We had to act fast.’
    ‘But she was taken by his men,’ Peter continued, shaking his head in disbelief, in anger.
    ‘Derek’s men. There’s a difference,’ Pip said gravely. ‘I understand why you’re angry, Peter, but we had to do what we did. We had to keep you safe. We hadn’t planned on . . . Events took over – the at acks on the Underground, Richard closing in on your safe house. I couldn’t risk it, couldn’t risk everything unravel ing. Pincent Pharma is the most protected building in the world. It may not be comfortable, but it is safe.’
    Jude’s mind was racing. ‘The Surpluses,’ he gasped. ‘You took the Surpluses too?
    ’
    ‘Yes,’ Pip nodded slowly. ‘Left in Surplus Hal s, they would have been at acked, torched like everyone else under suspicion. We hadn’t banked on the Authorities blaming the Underground. That changed things.’
    ‘But Derek,’ Jude said, looking at the man he’d feared for so long. ‘He wanted to kil me. He would have kil ed us al .’
    ‘No,’ Pip said.
    Derek looked up miserably. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, fal ing to his knees. ‘I’m sorry. I had to. We agreed. Al that mat ered was the endgame. The eternal circle of life.’
    ‘That mat ered more than us?’ Jude asked Pip stonily.
    Pip shook his head. ‘You are the eternal circle of life,’ he said. ‘You, and Jude, and Anna, and Sheila and the children. Especial y the children. You are true renewal.
    Longevity threatened to break that circle; we had to keep the link.’
    ‘Longevity keeps the human race alive forever,’ Richard gasped angrily from the floor where he stil lay. He was shaking, clawing at his throat.
    ‘No.’ Pip shook his head. ‘Not forever. Life is a changeable thing, Richard.
    Evolution taught us that adaptation is the key to survival. No drug could ever defy that fundamental tenet.’
    ‘Derek. My friend,’ Richard managed to say, his voice hoarse and pained. ‘Derek, I forgive you for what you’ve done. We al have our weak moments. Derek, help me. Get me water. Torture this man. Get the formula. Everything wil be OK again.
    Everything . . .’
    Everyone turned to look at Derek, whose eyes darted over to Pip and back again.
    Then he laughed, a terrifying laugh ful of pain, desperation and anger. ‘Your friend?’
    He shook his head. ‘I have never been your friend, Richard. Never.’
    ‘Of course you have. You’re delirious, that’s al ,’ Richard groaned. ‘You’ve been brainwashed. Albert’s got to you – I can see that now. But you can’t let him win. You can’t, Derek.’
    ‘Over a hundred years I’ve worked for you,’ Derek said, his voice low and angry.
    ‘Over a hundred years I’ve pretended. I’ve kil ed and maimed and done unspeakable things. And al for Albert.’
    ‘No!’ Richard shouted. ‘No, it’s not true!’
    ‘For Pip,’ Derek continued desperately. ‘That day you told me to take him away, I did,’ Derek said. ‘I threatened to kil him. I beat him up. I did al sorts. And he just kept tel ing me that I didn’t know what I was doing, that he forgave me, that his life didn’t mat er but that life itself did.’
    ‘You’ve been . . . You’ve been on our side al this time?’ Peter asked suddenly, staring at Derek uncertainly.
    ‘No!’ Sheila shouted out suddenly. ‘No, he’s lying. He’s evil. He’s not on our side.
    He’s not. He can’t be . . .’
    ‘Hush,’ Pip said softly. ‘Sheila, Derek is tel ing the truth.’
    ‘Then why didn’t he help us?’ Anna asked accusingly. ‘Why did he lock me up?
    Why did he let Sheila . . . let the Surpluses . . . How could he?’
    ‘Yes,’ Jude said suspiciously. ‘How could he?’
    Pip moved towards him and put his hand on his shoulder. ‘Jude, you must understand. Derek had to be closer to