Page 42

Chapter 42

There was a lot of chatter in the communications room when Emma and I walked in. ‘What’s going on?’ I asked.

‘Thomas found some documents!’ Sidnee was bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. ‘Look!’ She passed me a manilla folder. I opened it and took out the first sheet, an old news article; the paper was old and yellowed, and it felt fragile and flimsy.

The paper’s headline was Reef Mine Closes Permanently . I checked the date and the byline: 1945, written by a man named Ross Rose. I scanned the short article quickly: it spoke about how the need for iron and chromite had pretty much ceased at the end of the war and that was the reason the mine was being closed.

I did a quick internet search. Apparently there had been two mines in this area, and both had used Chrome Bay to ship out the chromite and iron. The Reef Mine was situated about five hundred feet off Chrome Point on a small island that was connected to the mainland at low tide by a reef; I assumed that was where the name had come from. I put down my phone and turned back to the folder.

The next sheet was a contract that showed the Reef Mine had been purchased a couple of years ago by an organisation called Orion Ltd. I was betting that was a shell corporation for our Knight Stalkers. After that, there were a bunch of mining reports that I didn’t understand. ‘Thomas?’ I called, ‘I don’t speak mine. What do these reports mean?’

Emma stepped forward and picked them up. ‘They mean the mine was a total dud,’ she murmured.

‘What?’

‘No chromite left,’ she clarified.

‘But the newspaper article says it was closed because of a lack of demand after the war.’

Emma tapped the papers. ‘I imagine that’s what the owners of the Reef Mine wanted people to believe. They didn’t want to admit the vein had been exhausted – they wanted some idiot to buy it off them.’ She smiled grimly and look around the bunker. ‘These are the idiots.’

I rubbed my lip. ‘So they bought Reef, realised it was finished, then tried to buy Chrome?’

‘And when that didn’t work they tried intimidation instead,’ Connor said grimly. ‘I got something too.’ He passed me another document .

It was a lengthy mission statement. There were a number of reasons for wanting the mine, the main one being that the Knight Stalkers needed chromite as an ingredient in their drug experiments and their supply was running out. They’d bought the Reef Mine not knowing it had been mined out. Apparently chromite in other areas didn’t have the same properties as the chromite here, where it had that extra magical element that was essential in their drug manufacture. They postulated that it might be something to do with the barrier.

The second reason they wanted the mine was to use part of it as a drug factory. Thirdly, it offered easy access to Portlock and its residents; there was a plan in place to kidnap residents to experiment on once the manufacturing operation was back in full swing.

Finally, the mine had its own port where the super-secret submarine could bring in personnel and take out the drugs under cover of darkness. I smiled. The idiots had failed to consider that this was a fishing port and they'd been spotted right away by our fisherman. The report ended with an amusing note that they fully believed that they could keep all they were doing secret.

Surprise, you fuckers!

I put down the papers and gave the others a summary of what I’d read and my conclusions. ‘This is a satellite office,’ I said grimly. This wasn’t the victory we’d thought it was. We’d basically cleared out the Knight Stalkers’ supplies closet; the real location was the Reef Mine – and a mine that size could hold hundreds of soldiers.

Gunnar scratched his beard, a sign he was thinking. ‘Satellite office or not, they’re going to investigate when they can’t raise anyone here. Before we do anything else, we have to make sure that no one can access this bunker again.’

‘We’ll find the tunnel that leads to the metal lid we found. We need to close that down, too,’ Thomas said.

‘I’ll come with you!’ Sidnee volunteered.

I looked at Matilda. ‘I know this is your secret place but we need to make sure the mean men can’t come back.’

She folded her arms and looked at me. ‘No mean men.’

‘I know. We don’t want them to come back either, but they want this mine as well as the other one.’

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘This Matilda’s. Other mine not as tasty.’ She frowned and clicked her metal nails.

I was starting to learn her tells. The nail clicking was when her mood was elevated in some way – not angry, not stressed, just getting there. I honestly didn’t want to see her truly angry; she might call me a friend but she was scary as hell .

‘Can we use your secret place for a short time longer?’ I asked.

‘You won’t eat sugar snack?’

I smiled. ‘No, it’s all yours! Plus, I’ll bring you more doughnuts.’

She gave me a huge metallic grin. ‘Matilda share secret place.’

‘Thank you, Matilda. I’m glad I’m your friend.’ And I was, as long as she stayed away from my skull.

It wasn’t long until Sidnee and Thomas returned. ‘We might need help sealing the entrance because it looks like it can be opened by remote. Short of bombing it, there isn’t an easy way,’ Thomas confirmed. ‘And if the town hears any more explosions, we’ll cause mass hysteria.’

I looked at Matilda and grinned. ‘I have an idea.’