The yPhone led them to the South Wing of St Thomas’ Hospital. Number Seven was sure that couldn’t be right. Surely Department Y wouldn’t be using a normal NHS hospital?

Always assuming that it was a normal NHS hospital. At first sight it seemed to be but the closer they got to the south wing the quieter it was. There was even an empty parking space close to the entrance.

Seven followed Sorrow through the bland double doors and past the signs that pointed to administrative offices and clinics for obscure disorders. Beyond the main bank of lifts was a pair of freight lifts. Huge stainless steel things with no call button and no floor indicator, just a black glass panel between them.

Sorrow swiped her Department ID card across the panel and the doors of one lift slid open. The lift car looked like it belonged in a nuclear bunker. What could they possibly be moving that required it to be that large and heavily armoured?

The inside was as minimalist as the outside. No floor buttons, just the glass panel. Sorrow passed her ID in front of the panel and ‘-2’ appeared in red.

'You have to swipe your ID too,' said Sorrow. 'We’re in high security mode in honour of your colleagues. The lift won’t move unless everyone in it has at least a visitor ID card.'

The ‘-2’ flashed green the moment he brought his card near and the lift began to descend.

Moments later the lift doors opened on a space that looked exactly like the entrance lobby to any recently built NHS hospital. It was nice but not too nice. Shiny but the kind of shiny that’s easy to clean not the expensive kind of shiny .

It looked the part but it didn’t smell like a hospital. It smelled like a coffee shop. A good one. Seven looked around for the source of the smell. He found something that looked like the cafe you’d find near the main entrance of any hospital but it had to be something special because it smelled like the pastries of the Gods and the kind of coffee that Sorrow wrote memos about.

Sorrow lead him past a newsagent shop overflowing with balloons, bouquets and oversized get-well-soon cards. There were probably newspapers in there somewhere but Seven couldn't see them from the door.

Ahead of them was an information desk. It blocked the way out of the foyer and into the rest of the hospital. The man sitting behind the desk was large in that meaty way that can look fat if you’re not paying attention and everything about him screamed military. He had the familiar regulation haircut that Seven did not regret growing out. His right arm was an elegant and expensive prosthesis. His left forearm was decorated with a marine commandos tattoo.

The man behind the desk grinned at Sorrow and glared at Seven. Once again his reputation preceded him. The man waved them through to the other lifts. The ones with floor numbers and signs that told you which floor for which ward. These lifts also required a Department Y ID before they would move but at least you could tell what floor you were on.

Sorrow pressed the button marked -9 and minutes later the doors opened on a corridor that was such a bright, antiseptic white that it was almost blinding. An armed guard faced the lift. Sorrow showed him her ID and he waved her through. Seven received another serious glare to go with the one from the man at the information desk.

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Beyond the guard was a broad corridor that would have looked just like one you’d find in any hospital were it not for a second armed guard standing by the door to a private room.

Inside the room was a bed identical to the one in the SIS medical facility. Number Six was still tied face down, his exposed back still covered with dressings.

There was a slender woman in a red dress sitting on the visitor chair next to Six. She was alabaster pale and had black hair cut in a classic bob. She was holding a folded newspaper and a fountain pen. As they entered the room she said. 'Fourteen across. Four letters. A spy adheres.' She looked up. 'Hello Sorrow.'

'A spy adheres hello sorrow? Only four letters? Are you sure?' said Number Six.

'No. Just ‘a spy adheres’. That’s Sorrow.' She pointed.

'I’ve brought him a visitor,' said Sorrow.

'Even tied to a bed you manage to find someone to inflict your “charm” on,' said Seven.

'Why don’t Alex and I leave you two to catch up?' said Sorrow.

The woman in red frowned. 'You bring me the infamous Number Seven and then you drag me away before I’ve even had the chance to speak to him?' she said.

'Professionalism,' said Sorrow. 'Could you at least try to fake it?'

The woman in red sighed, stood, and followed Sorrow out.

Seven sat on the chair the scarlet woman had vacated. 'That’s Alex? The Alex with the exploding inside out magus? Isn’t that a bit…'

'Awkward?' Six said, 'Yes. Yes it is. So take my mind off her. How bad are things?'

'You know about Three?' said Seven.

'Four told me.'

'Four disappeared overnight. They think she slipped past her Department minder but they found black feathers on the scene. This morning I found black feathers in the bed that we slept in,' said Seven.

'We? Both of you? Already? Should I be jealous?' said Six.

'There was only one bed,' said Seven. 'Two’s gone too. Disappeared from the morgue.'

'I thought she was…' said Six.

Seven interrupted him, 'Oh she was. Someone stole the mobile morgue with her in it. Hooked it up to a lorry cab and slapped a sign on the side that said ‘Farm Fresh Frozen Meals’. Last seen headed for Dover.'

Six buried his face in the pillow as his shoulders shook. After a moment he looked up. 'I am definitely going to hell for laughing at that.'

Seven studied Six’s face. The surprise there had looked genuine but there were cemeteries full of people who’d believed what they saw on those handsome features. 'Listen,' said Seven, 'The only reason she was in the mobile morgue was that someone ‘accidentally’ cut the power to the refrigerator she was supposed to be in. Also cut the power to the CCTV cameras that were supposed to be monitoring the mobile morgue. How sure are we that Five is unconscious?'

'I keep asking,' said Six, 'They keep telling me that he’s in a coma and I can’t see him. I don’t see how he could fool them but they could be lying to me.'

'They won’t let me see him either. There’s something they’re not telling us. How are they treating you?'

'It’s no worse than the other place. The beds are the same. The drugs are slightly better. They claim they can get me back on my feet quicker.'

'And Alex?'

'She’s still flirting but I don’t think her heart’s in it. She’s upset about something. She keeps starting to talk about wanting to look at our files, yours in particular, and then stopping herself.'

'Then you need to get her talking,' said Seven.

'Give me time. It takes me more than 24 hours to win a woman over. I’m not you.'