Chapter Two Three months later Professor Pike took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with a protracted sigh. He yearned to be back in the Science and Technology department; that was where he really belonged, not here, trying to fill the shoes of one of his oldest and best friends. He leant back in what he still thought of as Nero’s chair and looked around the headmaster’s study. Nothing had been touched since Nero last left the room nearly three months previously. This was not the first time that the Professor had assumed the role of acting headmaster of H.I.V.E. He had often taken Nero’s place temporarily while he had been called away on some mission or to report to the G.L.O.V.E. high council. But this time was different and the Professor knew it. As the days stretched first into weeks and then months it became increasingly clear that there was something badly wrong. The only reassurance was that Raven had gone with him, and if there was one person in the world that you wanted watching your back in a dangerous situation, it was her.
