The Legacy

surprise to find him in the same room.
    ‘Scrutinise the ring again,’ Richard pleaded. ‘There must be something . . .’
    ‘It’s over, Richard,’ Pip said. ‘You know it’s over. You can’t lie any more. There’s nothing to lie for.’
    ‘What’s over?’ Hil ary demanded, looking at Richard fearful y. ‘What is he talking about?’
    Richard didn’t appear to hear her. Instead he walked towards Pip uncertainly, real fear on his face. ‘The eyes,’ he said, his voice barely audible. ‘Your eyes.’
    ‘Surgeons can’t do much with eyes, I’m afraid,’ Pip said, smiling now. ‘Jawlines, noses, chins, the shape of cheeks, but not eyes. Not real y. Stil , I rather like my eyes.’
    ‘No!’ Richard said, shaking violently. ‘No, it’s impossible. You’re dead.’ He looked at Derek. ‘He’s dead. You kil ed him.’
    ‘No.’ Derek shook his head. ‘No, Richard, I didn’t.’
    ‘Who’s dead?’ Hil ary enquired anxiously. ‘Who are you talking about?’
    Richard opened his mouth then closed it again. He stared at Pip as though encountering a ghost. Then he started to shake.
    ‘Albert Fern,’ he whispered.
    ‘Hel o again, Richard,’ Pip said, the smile leaving his face. ‘It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?’
    .

Chapter Twenty-four
    For a minute or so, it felt as if the world stood stil . No one said anything, no one moved. Then suddenly Richard ran at Peter, wrenching Mol y from his grasp and holding her up in the air. ‘Give me the formula, you bastard!’ he shouted at Pip. ‘Give it to me now or she dies! They al die!’
    Mol y’s screams fil ed the room as Richard shook her. Anna stared wide-eyed, then leapt at him, kicking and biting him like a wild animal. ‘Give me my child!’ she screamed. ‘Give her to me!’
    Peter snatched Mol y from his arms as Richard fel to the ground, and Anna continued her frenzied at ack until Peter gently pul ed her away.
    ‘Derek,’ Richard gasped. ‘Derek, kil them! Kil them al !’
    Derek turned slowly to look at him, then shook his head.
    ‘Derek,’ Richard said, his voice strangled, staring at his head of security uncertainly. ‘Derek, don’t do this. Not now. We’ve got Albert. He’l give us the formula. We can rule the world again, Derek. You and me. We can do it – you know we can.’
    ‘No, Richard,’ Derek said. He walked over to the desk and leant against it. He took a deep breath and let it out, then held his head in his hands.
    ‘He’s il ,’ Hil ary said cautiously. ‘Guard’s, he’s –’
    But before she could finish her command, Derek straightened up. ‘So long,’ he breathed. ‘Too long. It’s been too long.’
    ‘What’s been too long?’ Richard seethed. ‘What are you talking about?’
    ‘I’ve been doing this so long I hardly know who I am,’ Derek said. He looked around the room wildly. ‘Who am I? What am I?’
    ‘You know who you are,’ Pip said gently. ‘You know, Derek.’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Jude said, his voice level, ‘but I want to know. I want to know everything. You . . . You’re Albert Fern?’ he asked Pip incredulously.
    Pip nodded.
    ‘You invented Longevity?’
    ‘No!’ Richard yelped. ‘No, Derek kil ed him. Albert Fern is dead.’
    ‘Not dead,’ Derek said. ‘He’s not dead, Richard. I didn’t do it.’
    There was a shocked silence. ‘You couldn’t do it,’ Pip said gently. Then he took a deep breath and walked over to the window, before turning back to Jude. ‘Derek understood,’ he said simply. ‘Richard paid him to kil me, but he wasn’t a kil er. He was a security guard. He was a man. A man with insight, with intel igence. A brave man. A man who could see, like me, that it was already too late to stop Richard, that the wheels were already in motion, but that whatever happened, the circle of life had to be protected. That however Richard’s new world played out, new life must be created, so that when this day came, al would not be lost. Humans are destructive animals, Jude, but they are also wise ones. They couldn’t be al owed to die out simply because of the aspirations of one man.’
    Jude was trembling and tears fil ed his eyes. ‘I knew you were messaging Richard,’ he said, his voice catching. ‘I thought at first it was Sheila. But then she ran Richard,’ he said, his voice catching. ‘I thought at first it was Sheila. But then she ran away to find her parents. She’d thought it was me. I realised . . .’ He looked over at her