Frankenstein frowned. “Why is Bob Allen going?” he asked. “Why not someone from the FTB?”

“Because France has allowed NATO to assume authority over the situation,” said Turner, “and the White House wanted an American commander on the ground.”

“So what do we do?” asked Jack Williams. “Twiddle our thumbs?”

“We’ll provide General Allen with any assistance or resources he requests,” said Turner. “Right now, the priority is to clear Carcassonne as fully as possible before the deadline, so if we’re needed to help with that, we will go. If the government asks us to go to London and help with the aftermath of the Tube attack, we will say yes. In the meantime, we will wait, and we will prepare ourselves, which is what the third point of this briefing will cover. Before then, I want to discuss something else.”

Jamie took a deep breath. ‘Wait and see’ had not been what he wanted to hear, and the looks on the faces of his colleagues told him he was not alone in that opinion. He understood the situation the Directors found themselves in: until Dracula’s plans became clear, the priority had to be to remove as many people from Carcassonne as possible, even though Jamie suspected that they were playing directly into the first vampire’s hands by doing so. It seemed clear that the widespread attacks and the forty-eight-hour deadline had been specifically designed by Dracula to occupy the time and resources of his enemies, and prevent them from formulating a rapid response. But even if so, there was no real alternative; given the previous night’s chaos and dreadful loss of life, the French government and the supernatural Departments simply could not be seen to be ignoring a credible threat to an entire city of innocent people.

“Second item,” said Turner. “While I appreciate that everything else may now seem inconsequential, we cannot allow ourselves to be frozen in the headlights by Dracula. We have to carry on our work, no matter what’s happening in France, and, as a result, tonight will see the first public release of the vampire cure developed by the Lazarus Project, at University College Hospital in London. We’re expecting protests and demonstrations from both pro- and anti-vampire organisations, so we’ll be sending Operational Squads to ensure the safety and security of those who volunteer to receive the treatment. Captain Williams, I’m putting you in charge of this.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Great,” he said. “There’s definitely nothing more important I could be doing right now than babysitting doctors while they give injections to vampires.”

Turner stared at him. “Are you finished?”

Jack stared back for a brief moment, but crumbled under the weight of the Director’s gaze. “I’m finished,” he said. “Sorry, sir.”

“Thank you,” said Turner. “I want you to take two squads to London, and I expect you to treat this like the Priority Level 1 operation it is. Every single dose of the cure robs Dracula of a potential soldier, and tips the odds in our favour.”

“Fractionally,” said Angela Darcy.

“Maybe so,” said Turner. “But perhaps we can shift them a bit further. For the third item on our agenda, I’m going to ask Lieutenant Browning to take over. Matt?”

Jamie frowned as his friend got to his feet.

What’s this, Matt? he wondered. What haven’t you told me?

“Thank you, sir,” said Matt, and glanced nervously around the room. “I want to tell you about PROMETHEUS, a last-resort strategic programme that has been developed in secret over the last few months. It was a hypothetical exercise, pending the existence of a workable cure, but today sees its official launch. It will—”

“Hang on,” said Jamie. “What do you mean, developed in secret?”

Matt looked over at Turner, who had sat down.

“Membership of this Task Force is not a VIP card, Lieutenant Carpenter,” said the Director. “There are things that are classified above Zero Hour, and until now, PROMETHEUS was one of them.”

Jamie felt anger threaten to bloom in his stomach, but forced it down; instead, he shifted his gaze back to Matt, his eyes narrowing.

“Like I was saying,” said Matt, “PROMETHEUS depended on the discovery and production of a workable cure. It’s a strategic application of the principles of what has become known as the Browning Theory, and an extrapolation of certain—”

“For God’s sake, Matt,” said Angela. “Just tell us what it is.”

Matt blushed, and nodded. “Sorry,” he said. “To prepare for the likely confrontation with Dracula, the active roster of the Department will be turned into vampires. That’s what PROMETHEUS is.”

There was a moment of stunned silence before the Ops Room burst into uproar. Jack Williams and Frankenstein were out of their seats, as the rest of the Task Force hurled questions back and forth across the table.

“This is a joke, right?” bellowed Jack Williams. “Please tell me this is a joke?”

The embarrassed colour in Matt’s cheeks had darkened to crimson, but he did not back down from the reaction his words had caused; he looked straight at Jack, and shook his head. Jamie stared, too stunned to speak or even move; he never would have thought he would hear such a concept from the mouth of his gentle, nervous friend. Matt’s relationship with Natalia and his increasing influence inside the Loop had changed him in recent months, seen him grow into himself, but Jamie suddenly felt as though he didn’t know him at all any more.

I don’t recognise this person, he thought, as his colleagues shouted and argued around him.

“What’s the point?” demanded Kate. “If we turn Operators today, they’ll still be weak when we fight Dracula. Or do you think it’s going to be months until we have to deal with him?”

“They’ll still be stronger than they are now,” said Matt. “And we can give them the best possible chance. We have access to one of the most powerful vampires in the world.”

A chill ran up Jamie’s spine. “Valentin?” he said. “That’s who you’re going to use for this?”

Matt turned to him. “Yes, Jamie,” he said. “Valentin has agreed to help us.”

“And what’s he getting in return?” asked Jamie.

“That’s not something you need to concern yourself with, Lieutenant,” said Paul Turner.

Jamie felt heat rise behind his eyes. “Why not use me?” he said. “If you’re serious about this, why not use what covers my fangs?”

“Because research shows that vampires turned by Valentin will be a minimum of seventeen per cent more powerful than vampires turned by you,” said Turner. “And that seventeen per cent might make all the difference.”

“What research?” asked Jamie, frowning deeply. “When did you—”

Understanding hit him like a punch to the stomach. Cold spilled up his spine as he remembered the conversation with Matt in his quarters, the swab kit and the scraper.

“Jesus,” he said, his voice low. “How could you lie to me like that, Matt?”

Kate frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry,” said Matt, holding his gaze. “It was classified.”

“Classified,” said Jamie, and grunted with laughter. “No more secrets, right?”

Matt grimaced. “Please, Jamie,” he said. “This isn’t about you.”

“So what is it about?” he asked. “Defeating Dracula? No matter what it takes to do so? No matter the—”

Paul Turner stood up. “Enough!” he shouted. “This is a Zero Hour Task Force briefing, not a debate. Is that clear?”

Jamie dropped his eyes to the table; he could no longer look at Matt.

“Nobody’s going to agree to this,” said Jack Williams, his voice low. “You’re asking people to give up their humanity.”

Matt narrowed his eyes and stared at Jack. “What about Jamie?” he said. “Do you no longer consider him human?”

Jamie recoiled. “What did you say?”

“Of course I consider him human,” said Jack. “That’s not what I’m saying. You know I—”

“PROMETHEUS will give us more than a hundred Operators with Jamie’s speed and strength,” said Matt. “By using a process that we now know is completely reversible.”