Chapter One Faith

"Wait for my signal."

The order was hissed from the shadows. Faith nodded a response, knowing it wouldn't be seen. The wall they crouched behind was low, and her legs ached. It felt like they'd been here for hours, yet in reality, it could only have been minutes. Still, the mission was important. She had to be patient.

The building ahead was mostly dark, yet a single light still burned stubbornly in a ground floor window. Her team should have been inside by now, but their target was working late and had derailed their plans. For now, all they could do was wait.

Faith glanced to her left, at the other three members of her team. What were they thinking?

For three weeks, she'd been a member of the Bellator Resistance, yet many of the women did not fully trust her. Madeleine, the Resistance leader, had insisted Faith go along on tonight's mission. She was not a woman who liked to take chances, and always had a contingency plan. As an ex-student, Faith's familiarity with the location could prove invaluable.

The other women did not seem to agree. Though they had been pleasant enough, there was a cool atmosphere which told her she wasn't quite accepted. Tonight was her chance to prove herself. It had to be.

"Alright." Beside Faith, the group's leader allowed herself a muted celebration as the light was extinguished. Robyn was an experienced mission leader, calm in a crisis. Faith wanted to impress her tonight. Tucking a stray lock of her jet-black hair into her cap, Robyn pointed at the building. "Let's give her a couple of minutes to vacate, then get on with this."

Faith shifted the weight to her other leg, hoping to alleviate the pins and needles which were beginning to tingle through the limb. She was rewarded by a sharp elbow in the side from Blake, a short, grumpy woman who had come along as their tech support. Faith stilled, sending her team a look of apology in the near-darkness. Clearly, she needed to learn to be stealthier if she wanted to be asked to join a second mission.

A gentle hand on her arm made her turn. Laura, the final member of the group, shot her a sympathetic grin. Faith returned it, grateful for the bubbly redhead's support. Blake was intimidating, but Laura's gesture proved that not all Resistance members were as unforgiving.

Faith looked back at the darkened building: the Danforth Academy. Being back was strange. The buildings were so familiar, yet it felt like years since she'd been a student. It shouldn't have been a surprise. So much had happened to her in the six weeks since then. She'd learned things. Things which had made her blood boil. Things which had led her here, to the Resistance, where she very much wanted to make a difference.

And tonight was her first real chance. Tonight, she was the one with the inside knowledge, and she had to come through for her team. Inhaling deeply, she focused on the target.

A second light had replaced the first, but she wasn't worried. This one, she knew, illuminated the stairwell in the building's central atrium. It meant Principal Anderson was heading to bed, leaving her office—their target for the evening—empty and unguarded.

The lights in the school were automatic, triggered by motion sensors throughout the building. Once Anderson was in bed, the first job was to deactivate them so their presence in the building would go undetected.

They waited twenty more minutes, making sure the building was completely dark before taking action. Blake spent a few moments at the external fuse box, deactivating the cameras, lights, and alarms.

"It's only a temporary fix," she reminded them. "We have to be out of there before the systems start to come back online."

"We know." Robyn was eager to get inside. "You went through it with us a hundred times."

Blake grunted. "People forget when they're under pressure. And I don't even want to think about what will happen if someone accidentally triggers the system reset. I mean-"

"Enough." Robyn eyed Faith. "Let's get on with this. The sooner we're in, the sooner we're out again."

Blake fell silent as they crept across the academy's back lawn together. Though the school was guarded, Resistance members had been tracking the guard patterns over the past week. As long as nothing had changed, they knew when their access point would be unprotected.

Since Jacob's people had set off the explosion in the forest, the city's forces were severely depleted. The number of guards assigned to various important locations around Bellator had been reduced as a result, and Faith's group was fairly certain this would help them to evade capture. All they had to do was make their move between the circular patrols the remaining guards made around the building every half hour or so.

Bending low, Faith tracked Robyn's footsteps, thankful that the grass wasn't damp with dew. No one wanted to leave telltale footprints inside the academy. When the leader reached the pavement on the far side, she made sure she hugged the side of the building, creeping along until she reached the fifth window from the end.

Stopping to make sure that the team was together, Robyn pressed her palms against the glass. Faith felt, rather than heard, her leader's sigh of relief as the pane started to slide upwards. The Resistance often had to rely on insiders to help them, and one such individual had been tasked with making sure the window was unlocked tonight.

Faith didn't know who. The Resistance consisted of a far greater number of people than she'd first anticipated, but many of their identities were hidden from the core group for their protection. Faith found herself wondering if she knew the informant, if they were a member of the school community.

But she respected the importance of secrecy. Anyone found to be working for the Resistance would be silenced by the government. They simply knew too much. A mole inside the school would be in terrible danger if they were suspected to be working against Danforth. And, if they were being watched, they wouldn't be able to assist the Resistance.

Thankfully, tonight the insider had played their part. With the window unlocked, it was a simple job for Robyn to ease the sash upwards until there was enough space to crawl through.

"Ready?" she whispered, raising a finger to her lips. "Quiet from here. No unnecessary chatter, got it?"

Without waiting for their agreement, she pulled herself up and over the sill. Faith had to admire the grace with which she managed the manoeuvre. Another elbow from Blake told her it was her turn. Taking a deep breath, she placed both hands on the sill and pulled up, sliding through and easing herself into the space beyond.

Moments later, the four of them were standing in a darkened office. Not Anderson's, but one close by. Their contact didn't have access to the principal's base but had been able to leave the window of another professor's office open for them. It was good enough.

As Laura slid the window back in place Faith was sure her companions could hear her heart pounding. Now the team turned to Faith, waiting for her direction. Creeping to the door, Faith eased it open a crack. The space beyond was shadowy and silent.

Beckoning to the others, Faith stepped out into the hallway. She stayed close to the wall, aware at every step how loudly their footsteps sounded in the empty wing. Grateful that Anderson's office wasn't far, she heaved a sigh of relief when she reached it. The silver nameplate on the door brought back unpleasant memories. She'd been disciplined in this office more than once.

Shaking herself, Faith pointed at the nameplate. The team was ready. Blake stepped forward, placing a small grey device at the side of the door handle. Pressing a couple of buttons on the keypad, she kept her eyes on the small display which was illuminated. A series of numbers scrolled past, rapidly at first, but eventually beginning to slow, until they came to rest on a specific number.

Placing one hand on the door itself, Blake bent close, as though it might whisper its secrets to her. Tapping her fingers against the keypad one last time, she keyed in another couple of commands. The door emitted a quiet click. As Robyn pushed it open, Blake removed the device and slipped it back into her pocket.

Once inside, they slipped off their boots. Laura stood guard at the door while Blake and Robyn turned on slender flashlights and got to work. In the eerie half-light, Faith followed Robyn around the room. They were searching for places to conceal a listening device, though Faith suspected Robyn would be far better at the task than her. Madeleine was hoping to listen in on Anderson's conversations and see what the Resistance could learn.

Blake had gone straight to the state-of-the-art datadev embedded in the principal's desk. Dropping her pack onto the expensive leather chair, she unzipped the front compartment and slipped out a silver disc the size of a penny. It was, she had informed Faith in the meeting they'd held prior to the mission, a tiny chip capable of copying huge amounts of information.

Leaning over Anderson's datadev, Blake used the smallest screwdriver Faith had ever seen to remove its casing. Once she'd exposed all its working components, she brought out an equally tiny pair of tweezers. She used them to pick up the disc and insert it into the heart of the machine. Faith had to admire her steady hand. Her own hands had been shaking since the moment she'd entered the school building.

Once the disc was in place, Blake put down the tweezers, took out a second device and held it close to the datadev. Pressing a finger to activate it, she checked a reading on the display panel before placing it on the desk next to the datadev. That done, she waved a hand to attract Robyn's attention and held up eight fingers—the number of minutes they needed to remain in the room undisturbed so she could copy all the data on Anderson's datadev.

Giving her a thumbs up, Robyn bent close to Faith. "What's through there?" She gestured to a door at the rear of the principal's office.

"Anderson's inner office. Where she holds her private meetings."

"That's where the bug has to be placed, then."

Robyn turned to Blake, indicating that she should switch places with Laura at the door. Once the new guard was in place, Laura joined Robyn and Faith, using the same device to unlock the inner door. Once it was open, the three of them crept into Anderson's inner sanctum. Faith had never been into this part of the office before. Luxuriously furnished, it smelled strongly of lavender. The carpet was a chocolate-brown colour and not very thick. Faith was glad. Though they had already removed their boots, a denser floor covering might still have revealed their footprints.

The office was dominated by a throne-like chair which sat behind a large matching desk. Two slightly less ornate chairs faced it. The walls were mostly hidden by large display boards covered with many complex-looking charts.

"She likes her numbers, doesn't she?" Laura muttered.

"Looks like it." Robyn gestured to Faith. "Start taking photos of those, as well as any files you can access. Laura, we need a place to put this. And let's be quick about it. Clock is ticking."

As Robyn began unpacking the listening device, Laura stalked the perimeter, her eyes searching for the best place to hide it. After scanning the walls with a frown, her eyes moved upwards and her face lit up.

"There!" she hissed at Robyn, jabbing a finger at the extravagant light fixture.

"Perfect."

Both women set to work placing the bug. Catlike, Laura had already hopped onto the desk. Once she was steady, she removed one of the bulbs and dismantled the socket which held it. Accomplishing her task in no time, she held a hand out to Robyn, who passed her the bug. Faith marvelled at their skill. If the bug was well hidden, Anderson would have no idea that the Resistance was listening to her every conversation.

Noticing Faith's stare, Robyn jabbed a finger at her, and then at the charts on display. "Photos!"

"Sorry! Yes." Feeling more than a little chastised, Faith moved towards them.

She didn't know any student who'd ever been inside this office, and a quick glance at the boards was all it took for her to understand why. The amount of data they revealed on each student was alarming. Turning her attention to the new wristclip Madeleine had provided her, Faith activated the camera mode and started snapping pictures.

Once she had a clear image of every chart, Faith turned her attention to the filing cabinets around the room. They were all locked. Frustrated, she glanced at the papers on the desk, but there was nothing more interesting than a couple of bills and a quotation for the resurfacing of the basketball courts.

Leaning against the desk, Faith peered closely at the images from the boards. The numerous columns and numbers were difficult to comprehend. She noted the name femgazipane with a shudder, then traced her finger down the page, noticing the different doses which each Danforth student was being given. Another column contained unexplained percentages. And at the far end of each chart, there were columns labelled Test A and Test B. These simply had the words Pass or Fail next to them.

Faith shuddered, turning her attention back to the names. Some she didn't recognise. Others, she was familiar with. For now though, there was only one name Faith was interested in seeing. She hurried from chart to chart, running her eye down each one faster than the last, to no avail. When she reached the final one, she couldn't stop her shoulders from sagging.

Sophia's name was nowhere to be found.

If they hadn't brought her back to the school, where was she?

A noise at the door startled her. Blake stood there, her face pale. Laura was just stepping down from the desk, Robyn holding up a hand to help her. As one, they turned to face their teammate.

"Download speed is slower than it should be. And I just heard someone in the hallway." Blake disappeared into the outer office again.

"That's normal." Faith's voice was low. "The guards patrol regularly."

"Will they come inside?" Laura's face was white.

"I don't think so." Faith considered the idea. "Not unless they heard us moving around."

"Let's hope not." Robyn glanced at the time on her wristclip and frowned. Checking that all signs of their presence were erased, she motioned for them to follow her out. "How much longer do you need?" Robyn asked Blake, jerking her head at the datadev.

"Another three minutes still." Blake was staring at the device on the desk, her face grim. "And it's only ten minutes until the security system reboots."

"Alright." Their leader ran her eyes across the room. "The second the download is completed, we need to get out of here. We cannot still be here when the alarms and cameras come back on." She motioned to the boots they had abandoned at the door. "Pass me mine. We'll put them back on, so we're ready to go."

It was a long three minutes. The four of them waited tensely. Robyn and Laura stood to either side of the desk, weapons clutched in their hands and trained on the exit. Blake was poised, tweezers in hand, ready to remove the disc the second the information transfer was done. Faith leaned her head close to the door, listening intently.

Blake had been certain there was someone out there. But whoever it was seemed to have gone. For now, Faith could hear nothing. The skin on the back of her neck prickled as she stared across the room at the datadev, as though her thoughts might speed up the process.

She was flooded with relief when Blake set to work with the tweezers once again. Faith had to admire her precision: even under stress, her hands were steady. Within twenty seconds she had removed the disc and replaced the datadev cover. She slid both devices into her pack before glancing at her wristclip.

"Six minutes. Better get going." She turned to Faith. "All clear?"

Startled, Faith refocused her attention on the hallway outside. After a second or so of silence, she eased the door open a crack and peered out. Heaving a sigh of relief when she saw nothing, she beckoned to the others and headed into the gloom. A soft click was all she heard as the door to Anderson's lair closed behind Laura, and the four of them retraced their steps to the office they had entered the building through.

Faith got there first. Grateful their mission was almost complete, she hurried across the room. But when she tugged on the base of the window, it didn't budge. She braced herself and tried again. Was it really so heavy? Knowing she was blushing, she gave it one last try, putting all her efforts into heaving the window upwards.

Behind her, she heard Robyn tutting.

"Perhaps it's locked?" Faith whispered, casting an apologetic glance over her shoulder.

"Let me try."

Robyn stepped forward. But before she could haul on the sash, Blake grabbed hold of her arm. Her grip must have been vice-like, because Robyn's face flashed with pain, then fury.

"What are you–?"

But she stopped speaking. Blake's finger pointed upwards. Above the window, a light was blinking. The light from an armed intruder alarm.

Relinquishing her hold on the window, Robyn took a step back. The truth was up there, staring them in the face. The window had been locked. The alarms reactivated.

They were trapped.