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chance.’
    ‘Understood,’ Ghost said with a small nod. ‘Don’t worry – by the time I’m finished, G.L.O.V.E. will be nothing more than an unpleasant memory.’

    The security guard at the reception desk looked up as the woman walked through the glass doors, leaving behind the sweltering heat of the midday sun for the air-conditioned cool of the lobby. She was dressed in the traditional black burka, only her blue eyes visible behind the veil that covered her face.
    ‘Excuse me, sir,’ the woman said in Arabic as she approached the desk. ‘Are these the offices of Nazim Khan?’
    ‘Yes,’ the guard replied dismissively, barely looking up at the woman. ‘But he is receiving no visitors. You have no business here, woman.’
    ‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ the woman replied in English. A look of surprise flickered across the guard’s face for an instant and he turned towards the woman just as she produced a long katana from beneath her robe, its edge crackling with a field of dark purple energy. She brought the tip of the humming blade to within a millimetre of the man’s Adam’s apple and pulled off her headdress. The pale face that was revealed was strikingly beautiful, the only blemish a curved scar that ran down one cheek.
    ‘Toss the gun,’ Raven said, ‘slowly.’
    The guard silently complied, lifting the pistol from the holster on his hip with his fingertips and skimming it several metres across the floor.
    ‘I’m only going to ask this once,’ Raven said calmly. ‘Where’s Khan?’
    ‘In his office, on the top floor,’ the guard replied nervously, ‘but it won’t do you any good. Did you really think you could just walk in here like this? There are a dozen more guards already on their way here.’ His eyes flicked towards one of several security cameras that covered the building’s lobby.
    ‘I do hope so,’ Raven said with a vicious smile. ‘It’s so much easier that way.’ She thumbed a concealed switch on the hilt of her sword and the hum from the blade dropped slightly in pitch as the variable force field that ran along its edge transformed from a mono-molecular cutting edge to a blunt striking face. She knocked the side of the guard’s neck with the blade and he slumped back in his chair unconscious. Then she unclipped the security pass from his uniform shirt pocket and slipped out of the loose black burka, letting it fall to the floor. Underneath she wore a tight black leather bodysuit and tactical harness with numerous weapons and other pieces of equipment attached. She slid the katana into one of the pair of crossed scabbards on her back and glanced across the lobby at the elevators, breaking into a run as she heard the soft chime indicating the arrival of a carriage. When she was just ten metres away the doors began to open to reveal four guards in body armour, all carrying assault rifles. Raven accelerated and leaped into the carriage, hitting the first two guards at full speed.
    The doors slid closed again just a few seconds later, silencing the guards’ screams.

    ‘She is here!’ Nazim Khan screeched into his phone.
    ‘Calm down,’ the voice on the other end urged. ‘Who is there?’
    ‘The Russian,’ Khan said more quietly. ‘Nero’s assassin.’
    ‘I see,’ the voice replied. ‘Then I fear that there is little we can do to help you.’
    ‘What?’ Khan yelled in disbelief. ‘You promised me no one would know of the work that I did for you. You swore that the Disciples would protect me!’
    ‘Goodbye, Mr Khan.’ The voice spoke calmly and the line went dead. Khan cursed in Arabic and threw the phone across the room in rage. He ran to his desk and pulled open a drawer, digging through its contents until he retrieved a large automatic pistol. He popped out the magazine and checked it was fully loaded before snapping it back into place. Suddenly from the next room he heard startled cries, a short burst of gunfire and then nothing. He levelled his pistol at