ASBO-Boy - The Battle of Dyfatty, Part Two

"We have Vue! If he moves we'll kill one of the hostages." The spokesman for the terrorists shouted from the first floor window.

Helix and the others were standing behind the concrete barrier, a hundred metres away. "Great." Physic chirped, "Well, I suppose they were going to catch on eventually."

Helix ignored him and picked up the megaphone. "Declare your terms."

"Terms?" The terrorist shouted back after a brief pause.

"It sounds like they haven't got that far yet," Core said, her voice tense. She was standing nearest the barrier, her arms crossed.

"We want…" There was another pause.

"They're conferring." Helix muttered, "They actually haven't considered what they want.. Which makes them either the worst terrorists ever, or…"

"The least greedy?" Physic shrugged.

"We want a journalist… and an official from the council… and a crow bar."

Helix bit back an instant reply and looked to the others. Their faces mirrorred his own puzzled expression. They didn't want money. This was strange. Normally when they suppressed terrorists they demanded money first, this allowed the Elementals time to move in. Greed, after all, made people short-sighted. While they were imagining riches the Elementals could do their work. They'd always claim to have noble intentions, such as an 'end to the current corruption' and other such nonsensical demands. Never before had a terrorist cell demanded witnesses.

"Get me a line to the Tower." Helix demanded, holding his hand out for a phone. The police officer standing nearby handed him one then stood back. Helix was radiating again – the dust at his feet was floating a couple of inches off the ground.

"Euryale. Go ahead." The connection spat.

"Sir, they want a journalist and an official. They don't want money."

Euryale paused, this in itself was strange, his answers were normally instantaneous. "Interesting."

"What should I say?"

"Don't say anything. We don't bargain with terrorists. Take them down."

Helix pondered arguing for a second. He had to admit he was curious, but arguing with Euryale was pointless, the man was intimidating despite their intimacy as mentor and mentee. "You wish to comment, Helix?"

"No sir," Helix shook his head. "We'll speak again when it's done."

"Good boy."

Helix hung up and looked up at the tower block. Why on earth did he seek the approval of this man? Was it because he was the closest thing that he had to a family, or was there something else, a darker, more persistent reason there somewhere? Did he actually seek this man's approval because he, in turn, approved of his mentor? Helix wriggled uncomfortably. Euryale was right. The terrorists had to be crushed, there was no question of complying with their terms. But Helix questioned his mentor's capability of compassion.

"What do we do?" Seraph asked meekly. Helix turned to see the others awaiting his orders.

**

"Maybe they're calling someone higher up…" The leader was muttering, peeking from the curtains at the window of the flat. There were four terrorists altogether and six hostages. Hardly a great coup, but significant enough to call in the Elementals. Vue ran calculations through his head. How long it would take him to blast around the room and gather their weapons before the first shot was fired… He might not be quick enough.

"They're biding their time, making us sweat. They don't care about us, the hostages or their friend here." The cynical terrorist chided, pacing the dilapidated flat. "They've probably got more of him growing in tubes somewhere anyway."

Vue looked up. Where on earth had they got this crap from? Their brains were full of half-cocked conspiracy theories and nonsense. He could see the fear in their eyes. Drugs, alcohol, gambling debts, what number of society's vices had brought them to this?

"Hear that boy?" the cynical one continued his rant, "Give me a crow bar and I'll show you what your precious Authority jas been up to. Ask these people about the disappearances. The illnesses. The undrinkable water." He waved his pistol at them. Vue watched them flinch at the sight of it, but they didn't cry out. Come to think of it, none of them were crying either. Usually, at least one person was crying.

"Hear hear!" One of the shouted. The cynical one rounded on him and shot him a hard look. Were the hostages dummies? Vue thought quickly, suddenly trying to second guess the possibilities. "What's he doing?" The leader muttered. "He's walking over here." There was a long pause while the terrorists exchanged worried glances.

"I'm coming up. I want to talk." It was Helix, and he was at the bottom of the stairs.