Black Daggers Chapter 11

Chapter 11
         Robert stepped through the double doors, his friends behind him, Ryan ahead of him. He was expecting some form of… he wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it was most certainly not what he saw. It was a cocktail party – women in cocktail dresses, men in tuxedoes, their bodyguards in black – and the Black Daggers looked about as out of place as possible.

“I’m wearing jeans!” Peter breathed.

“There she is!” Pedro gasped, “She’s beautiful!” Pedro looked across the room and saw her. The president of Brazil’s daughter was wearing a necklace with a small jewelled Brazilian flag attached. She was wearing an exquisite silk dress and she was talking to an Asian teenager, doing her best to ignore their bodyguards. Lisa squeezed his arm,

“You look alright – look, it’s the prime minister’s son! He’s coming to us!” A grinning friendly boy who looked a bit older than Robert ambled towards them,

“Hi! The name’s Scott Campbell. The Black Daggers, all five of you! You’re probably the people I’ve wanted to meet the most for a couple of years!”

“Coming from you, that’s an honour – you meet loads of more famous people than us,” Peter frowned.

“There are six of us now,” Natalie clarified. Lisa stepped forward.

“Oh, Lisa Bates, right? I’m jealous – everyone wants to be a Dagger, you know,”

“Yeah, I’m a very recent addition to the team,”

“Good for you, love,” he blushed.

“You sound like us! I would have thought you were all –” Peter hesitated.

“Posh. Lots of people think that, but we’re all South Londoners – my dad spent a month learning to speak posh,”

Robert laughed.

“Oh God, here’s Obama,” a black boy younger than all of them sauntered over. He was the son of the first black president of the United States, Barack Obama He had been elected twelve years ago, but when the war broke out, Congress voted to keep him in power. He had been an inspiring figure, like Winston Churchill was in the last World War.

“He’s not as nice as his dad,” Scott murmured.

“Oh, look, it’s the “champions”,” he smiled, but not nicely.

“Go on, Paul – admit it – they’re better than us – I won’t be surprised if they go home with the VR suits, y’know,”

“I’m not bothered about the suits – I can afford one with my allowance – I’m in it for the fame,”

“As if you need more,” Robert muttered. Paul scowled angrily at him. Robert was half expecting him to set the Secret Service on him.

“She’s coming over here, guys – I told you she wanted to meet me Scott,”

The Brazilian president’s daughter strolled to the cluster of teenagers, attracting attention from all over the room. Paul Obama looked expectantly at her, and extended a hand. She tossed her hair, but not in a flirty, gentle way – the hair slapped across his face, and she continued walking, ignoring him.

“Robert Davies, my name is Adriana da Silva. Pleased to meet you,” like all Brazilians Robert knew, her English was almost perfect. Robert introduced his friends, and when it came to Lisa, the two girls locked eyes, and Robert almost saw a laser beam joining them.

“I speak Portuguese, you know?”

“Really? You know Portugal?”

Robert shook his head violently, “No! My mum loves Brazil – she wishes she was born there,”

Adriana grinned at him, “Look, my dad is talking to the American. Maybe they’ll end the war for us,”

“They did start it,”

“Who?” she frowned at him.

“The USA – I think,”

“I like you!” she smiled warmly at him, and Robert forgot entirely the scene in the limousine. He vaguely heard Lisa,

“Look guys, its Cedric!”

“They don’t look overjoyed to see you y’know,”

“But there’s Paul’s dad – would you introduce us?”

“Sure, why not? Let’s leave those two to it,” he said bitterly. Robert was just glad to be able to do what his mother had asked him. When she arrived tomorrow, he hoped she would meet Adriana’s father – if he was anything like her, he was excellent company.

         “I can’t believe him! He was waiting for you for so long, and when it finally happens, he leaves her for someone he barely knows!” Pedro grumbled. Lisa was still fuming, but, for once, the rest of the Daggers were taking her side. Robert had betrayed her as far as they were concerned.

         “Robert Davies? Could I get an interview?” a reporter had just ignored a president’s daughter and was talking to him!

“Er, yeah, sure,” he stammered nervously. Adriana nudged him, and whispered in his ear,

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,”

“I’m here at the Capvil tournament, and standing next to me, is Robert Davies, the favourite for this competition,”

“Actually, I’m not alone – I’m with them,” he pointed at his friends, “Do you want to interview us all? I’ll go and call them,”

"No, that won’t be necessary,” she held him back.

“Well, the Black Daggers is me, Pedro Tyler, Peter s, Michael Porter, Natalie Brever and the latest addition to the crew, my girlfriend, Lisa Bates,”

“Her – I thought this was your – Oh my God,” she recognised Adriana, “I see you’re fraternising with enemy,” she laughed weakly. Neither of the teenagers laughed. They just looked back, stony faced.

“No, she isn’t really my enemy. To be quite honest, she’s anything but – which shows how stupid this bloody war is! With any luck her dad and his “friends”, will get their acts together and end this war!”

Adriana was about to add something, but Ryan had stepped to the microphone,
“Ladies and Gentlemen, the tournament is about to begin. Would all the participants please move to the centre of the room, and the spectators to the assigned rooms to my right and to my left?”

As everyone shuffled away, Adriana and Robert jogged over to the rest of the Black Daggers, leaving the reporter behind.

“That interview went really well!” Robert grinned at her.

“She was a bit of a …”

“Idiota?” Idiot

“Yes, exactly – she was an idiot. She thought you were my boyfriend! What do they think Brazilian women do, ask someone out five minutes after meeting them?”

Robert was about to be offended, but then she clarified, and he realised that she might not mind getting involved with him.

“She didn’t even recognise you!”

“Narrow-minded idiot!”

Lisa looked at him, scowling, “Oh, you decided to grace us with your presence?”
Robert frowned, nonplussed, “Wha-? I was just talking to Adriana – you know we have the same birthday?”

“Oh, wow! You two and another million people share a birthday? Soul mates!” Peter gushed sarcastically.

“Oh, come on guys! Am I not allowed to make friends outside the group?”

“Friends, fine, but you’re looking for more there, I think,” Michael added his opinion.

Ryan approached, “Miss da Silva, would you come with me – you will be in the high security rooms. Daggers, go that way, they’re waiting for you,”

“Aww, poor you – she’s left you for Paul Obama and Scott Campbell,” Lisa wiped away an imaginary tear.

“Oh, shut up, you lot! You know that I’ve always wanted to meet her, and how much I love meeting Brazilian people! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you actually jealous of someone I met ten minutes ago, Lisa? God! We’ve known each other for fourteen years! This is gonna be a fun relationship if every time I talk to a girl you get all angry! And you lot – what the hell!”

“Sir, could I put you in your suits?”

“Sure, whatever,”

         The last thing Robert saw before the suit was turned on was Peter, standing opposite him, looking like a robot – he was encased in a second set of clothes that was all metal and wires. When the suit was turned on, Peter was now wearing a wetsuit, jeans, and a bullet-proof vest – he was probably the worst dressed commando, ever.

         “Would all participants please re-enter the main hall?” Ryan’s voice was broadcast through the building. Robert walked, leading his friends out, and he saw across the hall, Adriana, Paul and Scott and all the other VIPs walking towards the middle of the room.

“Welcome to the biggest game tournament since the invention of the Atari! You are here for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and you are going to enjoy every minute of it! Details of your tournament missions will be sent to you as you travel, but we are going to give each contestant a destination – from there, they will begin a quest to save something important, something unbelievably important in the war for free humanity! Whoever plays their part the best in this quest will be crowned champion and will take home a full VR set for every member of the team, and a set of games for it!”

Another voice, distorted and inhuman was replaced Ryan’s. Behind Ryan, who was looking around, confused, a large silhouette filled the enormous plasma screens covering the walls.

“Welcome, leaders of the world! For ten years now, we have been in this war, and it is going nowhere – what good has emerged from the third World War? Has a mass-murdering tyrant been put down? What is your excuse this time? You have none – as if our planet wasn’t already a burning hell, you decided to add to the smoke with some explosions, right? Well, some of us are sick of it! Your Secret Services are useless! For we have trapped your children, and unless we release them, you’ll never see them again! Eventually, we will tell you our conditions for release, but for the moment – withdraw all of your forces from enemy territory – cease fire or the fire will be turned on your children!”

Robert was stunned. As much as he wanted peace, he didn’t want to be part of some peace-terrorist’s plan to find it!

“Your children are trapped in the game, and anyone who dies in game, will receive a fatal shock from their suits. We control this world, and Capvil’s programmers cannot withstand us – we assure you of it! If anyone interferes with the suits, we will send another electric shock into it, and that may well kill the interferer,”

“Bloody hell, this is crap!” Peter cried, “Why did they let such important people come here? It was obvious something like this would happen, wasn’t it?”

         The dark silhouette disappeared, and Ryan spoke again, unaware that the microphone was on, “Damn – we need to get them out! Find out what the hell is going on! Oh, I’m broadcasting? Crap. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, a terrorist organisation has targeted your children. Our entire staff is working to sort this out, but we’ll need all the help we can get – get all your computer intelligence staff over here, and maybe some more security – meanwhile, fulfil their demands, we beg you – these suits do operate using a high voltage, and it does not seem unbelievable that they could harness that energy for a killer dose!”

“Meanwhile, kids, we are gonna get you to safety – what?” a small man wearing glasses and a suit stepped up and whispered in his ear.

“Oh, God help us. They have sent a horde of enemies after us – they can control the game world as well as we can! Everyone in-game, go outside, you will receive your weaponry! Good luck!”

         Robert led the Black Daggers out of the building and they met the merchant.