Equinox (29 page)

“He’ll be fine,” Pip said. “Papa Curtis has too much power and influence for them to risk pissing him off. They might be able to use him one day and that’s Helios’s favourite thing.”

It didn’t make Rosie feel any better though. It should be her going in there; she had more leverage than anyone, what with the implant … Unless Sulawayo had already told Helios. Maybe she’d lied about everything and they already knew.

“What about Sulawayo?” she said. “She said she was going to take over the base.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Pip said. “She’s still Helios and she wants that Equinox Gate as much as they do. She won’t want it destroyed either.”

He was right, but Rosie couldn’t help feeling they should be more worried about Sulawayo.

“Come on, Curtis,” Pip said. “Let’s get this stuff.”

While Pip and Dalton made the bombs, Rosie went with Cassie to scavenge for bio bikes. It took just over an hour to find four reasonable bikes and fuel them up. By the time they got back the sun was up and the boys had a mess of chemicals and parts spread out on the lounge room floor.

“Check the replicator; the coils should be made by now,” Pip was saying to Dalton as they came in.

“How many are you making?” Cassie asked.

“Eight,” Dalton said from the kitchen.

Rosie looked at the six already constructed. They were small and compact. A short plas tube – a pipe of some sort – was attached to one end of the bomb. Inside was a double chamber where two kinds of liquids were separated by one of the coils Pip was talking about.

“Is this the detonator?” She touched a fingernail-sized receptor that looked like it had been pilfered from a children’s toy.

“Yep.” Pip didn’t look up from the liquid he was measuring. “It’ll have a delay of … what is it again, Curtis?”

“Ninety seconds, give or take.”

Rosie eyed the bombs nervously. “Are they going to be safe to transport?”

“The detonator needs a code,” Pip said. “They’ll be fine. You get the bikes?”

“Best we could find.” Cassie headed upstairs. “I’ll get some surveillance jammers and coms.”

Rosie helped the boys finish making the bombs. Then they packed some food, water and rainproof jackets into light packs. By the time they were ready it was well after seven.

The sky was still clear outside and they rode the bikes through the desolate community in single file. Pip took the lead, Rosie behind, then Cassie and Dalton bringing up the rear. The roads were thick with mud but the bikes were built for rough conditions and ploughed through easily. Pip left the road once they were clear of the houses and struck off into the scrub, following a barely discernible track.

The country was tough going. Long flat open stretches of red earth mixed with sudden outcrops of rock and salt marshes scattered with clumps of sharp razor grass. Crocodiles were not uncommon, and they all kept an eye out for snakes. The air was hot and humid and they were soon soaked with sweat.

It was a ten hour ride to the base, if the weather held out, which was unlikely. Rosie had the remaining threads of stim hidden under her shirt. She felt clearer now, but it might not last. Much as she disliked the way the stim made her feel jittery and hyper, it was better to be alert than dead.

They didn’t talk to each other much on the ride and took a break every few hours. A downpour started dead on two pm and kept going for over an hour. It was after seven and dark when they got as close as they could get. They stopped among a stand of trees.

Not far away was the ridge that separated them from the valley where the base was. Rosie’s back was aching and her hands stiff from being curled over the handlebars. She stripped off her jacket and got off the bike, taking in a long breath of the warm humid air. Dalton made a low groaning noise, stretching his long body out and Cassie didn’t seem to be faring much better.

Now they were so close, Rosie was nervous. Dalton flicked on a torch and checked the bombs stored in his and Cassie’s bikes again.

“No problems?” she said.

He shook his head. “Can’t see any.”

If Pip was stiff from the ride, he wasn’t showing it. His expression was set, ready. They shared the burden of the bombs between two bags, packing them carefully. Rosie was to carry one, Cassie the other. The boys carried the food and water. Overhead, the stars were hidden behind clouds and everything smelled damp and dank, the smell of wet rock filling the air. Distant thunder warned they might be due for another downpour.

It was a kilometre to the base from the ridge across mostly open grassland, but to get to the grass they had to crawl through a narrow, rock-strewn gap in the ridge. Great boulders had fallen from above, creating an obstacle course, and smaller stones underfoot made them slip. The only light they had was the single torch Pip allowed them to use and they groped along single file.

Rosie clambered over a large boulder, sliding down the other side. The bombs shifted in her pack, and her guts twisted into a tight nervous ball. She tried to keep her eye on the faint shimmer of Cassie’s hair ahead of her. Behind her, Dalton swore softly as his boot skidded on the rock.

They emerged from the crack into a strip of trees and a few spiked palms. They moved swiftly across the damp red earth. Only grassland lay between them and the base.

They shed their packs and crouched in the dark. Too close now to risk any torchlight being spotted, yet still too light to make a run for it. Pip got out the two pairs of scopes. He handed a pair to Dalton and they surveyed the base. Rosie had the tablet with the plans she’d drawn of the base and put it down in front of her on the ground, matching it to the reality.

“It’s huge,” Dalton said. Rosie borrowed Pip’s scopes and checked it out. It was very different seeing the base for real. Intimidating. There were the five habitat domes, two smaller depot domes and the massive hangar where the Equinox Gate was being created. Behind it was a tower reaching to the clouded night sky. Soft lights lit the perimeter and there were also a few lights on in the windows of the domes. Three helijets sat in a cleared area on the western side.

“Jets.” Dalton sounded excited as he spotted them. “I think I just found our emergency getaway vehicle.”

“You can fly those?” Cassie said.

“Sure. My dad owns one.”

“Poor little rich boy,” Pip said absently, staring at the base. “Beats the bikes though. Rosie, do you see any guards?”

“No.”

“Doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Let me see.”

Rosie handed him the scopes and studied the tablet.

“I think it all matches up,” she said.

Pip tensed. “I see someone. The northern corner of the shed. No, wait … there’re two.”

“I see them,” Dalton said.

Rosie and Cassie squinted to see without scopes. Rosie could just make out two dark figures as they met at the shed corner.

“What info do we have about the guard detail?” Cassie asked.

“Not much. We can get pretty close without being seen as long as the surveillance jammers work.”

“We could hide behind that storage dome and work our way around from there.” Cassie tapped the screen. “If the guards come, the boys can provide a distraction.”

They still had a few hours to wait until most of the personnel should be going to bed. They ate a cold meal of boiled eggs, seaweed salad and nuts, and got on each other’s nerves. Cassie and Pip sniped at each other. Rosie sniped at Cassie. The only person who kept some degree of cool was Dalton. Finally, around ten, they all judged it was time.

“I’ll carry the detonator,” Pip said. They each also had their own com and the boys carried the guns. They’d searched for more weapons before they’d left the community but it seemed Helios had taken any guns that might have been left. Rosie and Cassie slung on the packs with the bombs and they struck out across the grass, navigating by the dim light ahead. The grass reached Rosie’s shoulders and it was so thick it was hard to see the lay of the land. She stumbled into potholes filled with water and the bottom of her pants and her socks got soaked.

They stopped about two hundred metres from the base and crouched low. The thrum of energy-producing machines drifted towards them. A wide circle of dirt surrounded the base and there was little cover approaching it, but the night was dark and the lights few.

“Jam the surveillance,” Pip said to Cassie.

She pulled the scanner from her pocket and waved it in a slow arc. “It’s jammed,” she whispered. “We shouldn’t be detected.”

“Shouldn’t?” Pip said.

“Best I can do.”

“What are the guards doing?” Rosie said.

“They should be coming back about now.” Dalton had been timing the guards’ movements. Rosie hoped that only one pair were patrolling at this hour. They had no way of knowing whether there were any in the hangar.

“Let’s go.” Dalton led them in a sprint to the wall of the storage depot where they stopped. They could hear the faint crunch of boots on earth as the guards completed their circuit on the other side of the hangar. Dalton was watchful. He raised a hand then motioned them all forwards again.

They ran straight for the hangar. Rosie hoped the Nation jamming tech was up to the job of covering them. No alarm sounded as they sped across the short open space between the storage dome and the hangar. They then kept going along the side and around the corner.

“Here.” Rosie led them to the ventilation shaft in the back wall. It was two metres up from the ground. Pip squeezed Rosie’s hand as they stopped beneath it. “Remember,” he whispered. “If there’s any trouble, you bump the connection three times.”

“Three times,” she repeated. He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but Dalton called him to help get the grate open. Between them they levered it off. Behind the opening a narrow vent ran in both directions along the wall. It was dark and uninviting and a sulphurous smell came from it.

“Okay, one hour,” Cassie said and passed Dalton the jammer. As soon as they came back out, Dalton was going to be gone, heading towards the guards and attracting as much attention as he could to get taken to the base leader.

“You can still change your mind about handing yourself in,” Rosie said, but he shook his head. She thought she saw a sliver of fear in his eyes, but it was too dark to tell.

“Get going,” he said and pushed her gently towards the vent. “I’ll see you soon.”

Rosie wanted to hug him, but there wasn’t time. Pip laced his fingers together. Rosie put a foot into his hands and he boosted her up. It was a tight fit with the packs, barely wide enough to allow her to move through it lying down. She held a finger-sized torch and began to crawl along, fighting an initial wave of claustrophobia. They’d traced a route to an inner grate that would let them into what they hoped was an underused area, but nothing was certain. It might not even be possible to get it open at the other end. She tried not to think about that and waited for Cassie.

“Go.” Cassie tapped her ankle. Rosie got moving, following the pinpoint of her torchlight as it bobbed and bounced off the walls. Cassie was close on her heels and they made soft bumping noises as they went.

Ahead, the vent right-angled, and a chute opened up directly above them, taking the dense-smelling air up and possibly out. Rosie curved with difficulty around the angle and kept going. She could hear a faint, rhythmic humming sound coming from inside the hangar now, and they curved around two more turns and slid down a steep sloping section before they made it to their exit point.

Light came through the grate, giving the tunnel a soft glow. Rosie switched off her torch and peered out. They’d chosen well – it looked like a storage area. In front was long shelving, stacked high with boxes and struts. Rosie gave a thumbs up over her shoulder to Cassie, then wriggled the magnetic screwdriver out of her pants pocket. She carefully undid the screws and dropped them into her palm, then pushed her fingers through the grate and shoved it out. It came loose with a sharp scrape. She lowered it to the ground. They were less than half a metre from the floor. She went out head first, walking on her hands until she could get her legs underneath her and stand up in the narrow space between the shelving and the wall. Everything was clean and the air felt fresh and cool. A dull whirring ran through the building like a bass line beneath music. There was no indication anyone was in there. She heard no talking, no footsteps; it felt empty. Cassie slid out and Rosie led the way, keeping close to the wall and peering out from around the stack of metal.

The hangar was massive, and dominating it was a scale prototype of the Equinox Gate the size of a small house. A cube of dark metal formed the centre and surrounding it was a metal halo attached by radiating spokes. A dark tube extended from one side of the square. It tapered to a point and was studded with ridges of raised metal and pulsing green lights.

Cassie leaned over her to have a look. “I thought you said they were making a gate.”

“The gate isn’t solid. It’s a bend in space and time, a wormhole. That machine will create it.” She stared at it, momentarily transfixed. “I wonder if they’re using exotic matter to stabilise it.”

“Who cares.” Cassie slipped past Rosie, her boots squeaking on the shining floor.

A row of workstations scattered with advanced coms, tablets, stylos, and bio machines were arranged in a line facing the Equinox Gate and several construction robots stood motionless around it. Stacks of crates took up most of the wall on their left and on their right were four small white tents, sealed up like quarantine areas.

They pulled out the bombs. Cassie began to tape one under the workstation closest to the machine, while Rosie moved towards the gate. The black tube pointed to a set of doors at the far end of the hangar. One of the centipede-like robots was paused beneath the tube on its back feet with a metal box in its upper graspers.

Rosie approached it, nervous of the bulk over her, and went close to the cube to find somewhere to hide her bombs. The surface was smooth and non-reflective black, with various small mechanisms extruding from it, but it was also raised from the floor. She bent down and slipped a bomb underneath, then moved around it gently, pushing the rest where they hopefully wouldn’t be found.