"Hope you guess my name."

September 9th 2001

Emma Dickinson stood beside the conference table with her arms folded and waited for Nikoli's attendants to close the double doors as they left the room. She ran her hands over the top of her forearms . She felt the chill even standing here, in the only patch of sunlight streaming in through the office windows.

Emma hadn’t met face to face with Nikoli in over year. She could see in last twelve months he’d had lost half his regular weight. Two tubes ran up through his nostrils and the hiss of oxygen came from the regulator attached to the cylinder under his wheelchair . Most of Nikoli’s hair had fallen out leaving a downy fuzz , fine as a newborn’s crown .

Suckling on his steel cylinder Nikoli had turned into the obscene reverse of a healthy, blossoming infant . Maybe it was his fucking Karma raking through him , she thought ,even Nikoli couldn’t escape karma. The skin on his hands was translucent like white paper, and they shook. Despite his frailty Emma shuddered as his eyes moved onto her like a predator’’s stepping out of the shadows.

When doors shut, and they were alone, he gestured for her to sit down on the opposite side of the table. Laid out in front of her were architectural drawings . Emma glanced down at them and sat back in her chair . She tilted her head to one side and composed herself . Nikoli was like an upright corpse, only the faint trembling of his body and rise and fall of his chest indicated he was alive. She knew he was screwing with her and she wasn’t going to wait around for him give her permission to speak.

"Nikoli I'm here to covey to you , your brother's given final clearance for the operation and I’m to let you know every thing's rolling smoothly. Zealot has been field tested and it a sucess. We have four flight teams programmed and ready to go .

His eyes became alive and full of interest. "When?"

"September 11 ."

"That soon huh." -Nikoli grinned coldly.

"Sir, you brother respects your patience in this matter it wasn’t his intention to prolong your wait. Right now he needs you to clarify that you understand exactly what this involves . So please, if I'm stating the obvious, stay with me for the next couple of minutes. As you know this is a demolition job . The aircraft will just be for show..."

Nikoli sighed ."I think I'm aware of that Emma , thank you." He rasped.

Emma pointed to the internal steelworks detailed on the architectural plans. "The charges are already in place, Floors 91- 95, that's between here and here..."

"Who ?"

"Artur "

Nikoli nodded his approval. “Artur is a very fine artist. Send him my regards wontcha.”

“ That is noted, and I will . “

Nikoli nodded for Emma to continue. “At approximately 8.45, September 11, the first Boeing 767 Impacts into floors 90-95 of North face of Tower One . Its airspeed will be around five hundred mph. On impact the charges will automatically detonate .”

Emma scanned his face for signs of a response. Nikoli slowly blinked, and she continued.“ You will be positioned here, Floor 80 , The South Face,Tower Number Two . As requested you’ll get the fullest experience of the event and the best possible views will be from here. We've taken the internal walls out of your office run so you can get the full panoramic effect, and it is of course out of bounds to the public."

Nikoli nodded , this time a little more enthusiastically.

“So , we move on. Approximately 9.00 the second 767 impacts here, erm into floor Eighty of The South Tower . We were wondering, do you want it any later than that , is that enough time for you to take it all in?”

“No around nine o clock will be just fine”. He smiled faintly to himself and seemed to be visualizing the forthcoming event.

“Okay, onto terms and conditions. I’ll be brief.”

“One: In our initial negotiations we agreed we don’t take your President out. He keeps to the plan and we’ll maintain him in office after your passing, that is until a time when his removal becomes expedient. Hey, Nikoli we’ve arranged for him to be playing Sesame Street with a bunch of elementary school kids up in Vermont . Your brother thought the contrast would work fine on TV . Do like that ?”

“Nice touch. Point One agreed. Say what about the poodle?

“Relax, the poodle’s on its lead. Ok , Two...”

Nikoli raised his hand again to stop her and he feigned a hurt, pained expression . “Now, you’re not going to tell me the price has gone up since we last spoke are you?”

“No. The price remains exactly as it was .”

“ So, what’s the rider in this, there’s always a last minute rider at this stage . You wouldn’t be here otherwise Emma .”

O.k Two (A). It’s not such a big thing. Before I leave this room you are to be fully forthcoming and give accurate information as the whereabouts of Sophie Jackson.

Nikoli shook his head, and chuckled .

Emma didn’t rise to it and kept her voice calm and steady . “Nikoli here's’ the deal- we’ve been working on this for over a year . You tell me where I can find Sophie and I will personally ensure those damn buildings come down on schedule, to the minute, in two days time .”

Nikoli flinched away from her and held his lips tightly together.

Emma pushed again “But before I can finalize any of this , I need to know that where she is, now.”

“And if I don’t tell you?”

“Your brother cancels the whole operation, and we’re all back to square one.”

Nikoli shrugged.

“ Please, You know were laying on The Four Horsemen in downtown New York for you, and I don’t feel we’re asking for much in return.”

“You are Emma,” he sighed . Nikoli's eyes deadlocked with hers.

She didn’t blink .” I promise you I’ll keep her and the boys safe.”

“Personally?”

“Personally.”

He scanned her face and after a few seconds he nodded. Slowly , he reached for a notepad . Emma watched as he wrote a name and address on it. He folded the paper and placed it on the side of the table . Without looking at her again he pressed the buzzer for the door to be unlocked and gestured with his hand for her to get up an leave.

As she made to exit the room Emma leaned forward to pick up the note and carefully placed it in her inside jacket pocket , buttoning it up tightly so it was secure.

Still leaning over the desk she lunged forward and clasped her hands either the side Nikoli's face. He tried to pull his head back but it stopped against the rest of his chair. His eyes opened wide when Emma kissed him full on the lips .A groan bubbled up from down in base of his throat. Kissing Nikoli was like a plunge into cold, dark water. Emma imagined her youth, her living warmth flowing into him , then like a wave retracting, the sensation dissolving as she broke away , hopefully leaving him with even less than he had possessed before.

Emma pushed herself back off the desk and wiped the bitter taste of the pharmaceutical cocktail from her mouth then she stalked out of the open doors.

“Good-bye Nikoli.” She called over her shoulder.

On the way down in the private lift Emma wiped her lips again and spat the taste of him onto the carpet . She’d managed to take something from the bastard before he went out.




September 11 2001.


Nikoli’s staff had evacuated Floor 80 and he was pulled up in his chair, alone and against the window. Frankly he was being astounded by the scale and quality of the Artur's artwork . The first impact had been spectacular. Tower One was a smoldering bonfire of concrete and steel ready to erupt into full flame,

Nikoli took a long drag on his cigarette and mouthed “ Glory , glory halleluja” in a croaky mumble and clouds of grey-blue smoke. Before he reached the end of the hymn, the nose cone of the 767 glinted as it came barrelling through the blue skies towards him .

Nikoli grinned. He and his brother had always argued over the Twin Towers like they were a woman , and in forcing him do this, Nikoli knew he was hurting, and gonna hurt his brother, real bad .

“ Sophie”



Date: Sheffield . UK . Sometime Now .

Someone was hammering on a door as they came over the top of the landing steps. Jax Jordan felt Jennah’s arm slip through his .

“Eyes down. Keep walking. Head for mine ” she said.

Derek Deakin and two of his lads were on the landing . It was Thursday, Debt Day and he was out collecting .

Deakin was standing outside Jax’s mum’s flat . He had his hands in the pockets of a long green Barbour Jacket. His two sons were light versions of himself . Close cropped hair and like all the Deakins they scowled at the world , brows furrowed, eyes set harder than pebbles in concrete. Hislads sat on landing railing, backsides hanging over the edge. They were bouncing a pink rubber ball they'd taken from a pile of plastic toys quickly abandoned outside the flats due to their arrival.

Jax knew who the Deakin’s were. They didn’t know him. Jax didn't borrow money.

Jennah held onto Jax’s arm and kept him moving towards them .

Deakin's fat shaven head swivelled on his thick neck, then his body followed until he was facing them .

“Oi you , you cunt, where do you live?”

Jax breathed a sigh of relief that Deakin didn’t know him and carried on walking. Jax and Jennah made for the door to her parents flat .

“I asked you a question ”

“We live here.” Jax lied , as Jennah put her keys in the lock . “What’s the matter?”

“You know the woman what lives next door , Sharon Jordan?.”

Jax shook his head ” Nah we only moved in four months ago, seen her a few times. Dunt say much. What’s up ?”

Deakin produced a white envelope and shoved it through Jax's mum’s letter box.

“Nothing’s up with me kid, if you see her you tell her we called, yeh”

Deakin kept his hands in his pockets and strode three doors down the landing. His two lads hopped off the wall. One carried length of TV pole and scraped the end along behind him as he walked. He glared at Jennah “What you looking at you fuckin' Paki? . The other gobbed on Jax’s mum’s door as they went past .

Before Jax could think, Jennah had bundled him in through the door , slammed it behind her behind her and grabbed hold of Jax, pinning him by the arms against the wall . Slowly she released her grip and drew him into a brief hug and pulled away .

“Don’t react . We’ll go around to your mum’s when they’ve gone. She’ll be Ok “

Jax shook his head.

She searched his face and smiled

“There’s a lot worse things I’ve been called , but thank you for wanting to stand up for me,”

“Jax?” Jenna leaned in and pressed her forehead against his.

“Um hum?”

“Don’t tell my mum or dad about any of this , at least not tonight , please.”

Jax thought it through . Jennah was right, Artur and Emma were quiet, family types, and they hadn't lived on an estate before . They wouldn't understand Deakin was just another random knobhead to avoid . The Council should never have put Jennah's family in North Park.