Eye of the Storm (6 page)

In the heat of the afternoon sun, the stinging from the scrapes and bruises Niamh had sustained from her earlier leap out of the moving bus began to increase, as she forced herself to keep up
her brisk pace. It seemed that the further she walked along Duval Street, the more her tension eased and the more painfully aware of her injuries she became. It was with no small amount of relief
that she finally saw the black and white frontage of Sloppy Joe’s ahead. On the central awning was written
Pina Coladas.
Just the thought of any drink made Niamh realise how thirsty
she was; at this point she would have willingly killed for a tall glass of chilled orange juice.

Limping right up and underneath the awning, Niamh was relieved to stop. She leaned against the wall right at the corner of the street. The urge to sink down to the pavement to rest was strong,
but the danger that this would draw attention kept her on her feet.

Her tongue felt swollen and her lips were dry.

‘Hiya!’

It was Niamh’s turn to jump.

‘Tony! You scared me!’

‘Sorry about that, but what’re you doin’ here? I thought you were headin’ out of the Keys.’

‘I was,’ Niamh explained. ‘But it’s been a bit of a crazy afternoon.’

‘Before I ditched Tessa, a cop passed us. From the way he was scannin’ Duval Street, I’d say he was looking for someone. Was he after you by any chance?’

‘I’m not sure,’ she replied. ‘But I was trying not to take any chances. How did you get ahead of me?’ she asked as Tony stepped fully into the open from round the
corner to her right.

‘I left Tessa with a lame excuse, left Duval and paralleled along Simonton in case she tried to follow me,’ he explained. ‘You don’t look so good . . . Jeez, what have
you been doin’? Those are some scrapes! Have you been fightin’? Are you OK?’

‘I’ve felt better.’

‘Let’s get inside. You need to clean those cuts and grazes up, and I’m bettin’ you could do with a drink.’

‘We can’t,’ she protested, looking towards the entrance to the bar. ‘I’ll never pass as old enough.’

‘Not in here,’ Tony laughed. ‘My aunt Jo-Ann lives about two blocks from here on Eaton. She’s friendly and she always has plenty of cool juice in the fridge. Come on. I
don’t know what you’re doin’ in Key West, especially as Carrie sent me a text sayin’ you were on a bus to Miami, but from the look of them scrapes I’m guessin’
you’ve got another good story to tell.’

Niamh pushed away from the wall and took a sharp intake of breath as her ankle threatened to buckle under her weight. Tony was there instantly. He put an arm round her waist, his body positioned
to prop her up.

‘Thanks,’ she gasped, her face hot with embarrassment at the intimacy she felt in his touch.

‘You’re welcome,’ he grinned. ‘Or perhaps I should say “My pleasure”. That is what you Brits say, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah,’ she said weakly.

They crossed the road and had begun to head back along Duval Street when Tony stopped suddenly and dragged Niamh around to look at the adjacent shop window.

‘That policeman is comin’.’

‘The same one?’

He glanced across her. ‘Yep,’ he confirmed, sounding nervous.

‘He could be on a regular patrol, I guess, but something tells me that’s unlikely. Quick! Let’s get off Duval. Which is the quickest way to your aunt’s place?’

‘The quickest way is back past the cop. Come this way. It’s a little further, but we’ll be out of his sight more quickly. If we don’t move quick, he’ll see
us.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Niamh said softly. ‘If he’s looking for me, then he’ll be looking for a girl on her own. I doubt he’ll look twice at a couple.’

‘Where did you learn to be so devious?’

‘I read a lot.’ She grinned.

Trying to relax and act casually, Niamh let Tony lead the way along Duval and off into a side street. Even though her ankle was throbbing with pain and her shoulder felt like it was on fire, she
felt lighter than air as he guided and supported her. Reunited with Tony, her confidence soared and suddenly she felt more positive about making progress with her search for Callum and Sam. If
anyone could help her, it would be Tony and his sister.

The roof of the school was neither flat nor sloping, but almost like a scaled-down landscape with rolling hills and an occasional steeper mountain peak. As Sam emerged out
through the forced panel and on to the roof, he noted that the shapes of the geodesic panelling here were every bit as irregular as they were on the walls. There was a strange sense of strength
about the irregularity. All of the panels seemed to fit together in an elaborate three-dimensional jigsaw that, while strange to the eye, gave an impression of solidity.

Einstein and Newton had taken the lead again and were bounding over the lumps and bumps of the roof surface, their claws clicking against the panels with every leap. Sam followed as closely
behind as he could, but with more care and stealth. When he caught up with the raptors, he held back from the edge, as there was no safety rail. Raptors, it seemed, had no use for such features.
Nor, apparently, did they fear heights. Einstein prowled along the very edge of the roof with no regard to the deadly drop. His concentration appeared set on the gulf between this rooftop and that
of their target. Turning, he beckoned to Nipper and Grunt, who were approaching with the heavy bags of equipment. They wasted no time. Within a matter of seconds, an impressive frame was slotting
together, each pole sliding into place with a reassuring clunk.

‘Blimey!’ Callum gasped. ‘Look at them go!’

Einstein lifted out the special, heavy-duty crossbow contraption and slotted the bolt in place. Laying out a coil of
lightweight rope, he passed the end to Claire, who tied it off on one of the crossbars of the frame that was still under construction with a self-tightening knot. Sam watched her work and noted
that she kept her eyes averted from the edge of the building throughout.

Einstein hefted the crossbow up to his shoulder and took aim. Angling the bolt high above the target roof, he fired. There was a loud
thunk
and a
whizzzzzzz
as rope fizzed out of
the coil in a high arcing snake towards the roof of the Imperium laboratories.

Sam held his breath as it went. The bolt would have to penetrate the surface of one of the panels on the opposite roof, to give the grapples a suitable hold, as the smooth surface of the tightly
interlocking plates offered no suitable grip. But what if it didn’t break through as the raptors said it would? He needn’t have worried. Einstein knew exactly what he was doing. He and
Newton had done their calculations perfectly. The metallic torpedo punched downwards and smacked through the neighbouring rooftop, puncturing a panel with a clean entry hole. Whether by luck, or by
exceptionally good shooting, Sam didn’t know, but the grapple pierced one of the highest points of the roof.

Einstein turned and fired a quick sequence of clicks and growls at Newton, who replied with a short grumbling answer.

Claire placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

‘What did they say?’ Sam asked.

‘Einstein asked Newton if it mattered that the entry hole was close to the edge of a panel,’ his mother said, looking thoughtful. ‘And the nearest translation I can give to
Newton’s response is:
Who knows? Ask me one on apples.’

‘A raptor with a human sense of humour!’ Callum sniggered. ‘I think I’m going to like him.’

‘Way to fill me with confidence!’ Sam complained. ‘Are you sure these raptors know what they’re doing?’

‘Don’t worry, son,’ Claire soothed. ‘You won’t be going first and the raptors are heavier than you. You’ll be fine. I wouldn’t be letting you go if I
didn’t believe that.’

He looked at her and saw the truth of what she was saying. He could see there was worry in her eyes, but belief was there in greater measure. She trusted her team implicitly.

‘Thanks,’ he said, and drew her into a hug.

‘I wish I was going with you,’ she sighed. ‘Sherri and the raptors will keep you as safe as I could, but I’m not saying you won’t be in any danger, Sam. Just make
sure you do as you’re told, or there’ll be hell to pay when you get back to base. Now I’ve found you again, I’m not planning on losing you any time soon.’ She smiled
at him, her tough exterior breaking for a moment.

‘Don’t worry, Mum,’ he assured her. ‘You’re not going to get rid of me that easily. I won’t do anything silly, I promise.’

‘Time to go,’ Sherri interrupted.

The frame was finished and secured. The cable had been routed over the top and Grunt was tensioning the cable-like rope with a ratchet mechanism that he had mounted within the structure of the
frame. Nipper clipped his runner over the rope, twisted his hands through the safety loops and gripped the runner bar. With a flash of his impressive rows of teeth, he lifted his legs from the
rooftop and began the long slide to the neighbouring roof.

The cable sagged quite dramatically under his weight to begin with, but Grunt continued to ratchet up the tension even as he went. By the time he reached the roof of the Imperium labs, Nipper
was sliding at a terrific speed, but it was nothing the raptor couldn’t handle. Deliberately dropping from the runner, he hit the rooftop and rolled to his feet like an acrobat.

‘Impressive!’ Callum whispered to Sam. ‘You sure you want to do that?’

‘He won’t have to,’ Sherri told him. ‘Watch and learn, boys.’ She reached up and clipped her runner over the cable, wound her hands through the safety loops and she
was off. The dip in the rope this time was much less and Sherri raced across the gulf between the buildings at breathtaking speed. The
zizzzzzzzz
of the runner on the cable sent a thrill up
Sam’s spine as he watched her race across the gulf. At the far side, Nipper was waiting, braced for her arrival. Having attached a short piece of rope to his runner, the raptor had drawn it
back up the rope as far as he could reach. As Sherri’s runner collided with his, Nipper hung on to the short piece of rope, absorbing as much of the energy of her slide as he could. Sherri
was so light that he managed to slow her almost to a stop before she touched down on the roof.

Newton went next. He was the strongest and fittest of the scientist raptors. In a fight, Sam doubted he would be anywhere near as effective as Nipper or Grunt, but Newton was still far bigger
and stronger than any of the humans. He crossed on the zip wire with less grace and athleticism than either Nipper or Sherri, but he landed safely on the far roof.

All remaining eyes turned to Sam. He got to his feet, heart beating fast. Reaching up, he clipped his runner over the cable and twisted his hands through the safety loops, as he had seen the
others do.

‘Good luck,’ Callum whispered to his friend.

‘Stay safe,’ Claire added.

Sam nodded, unable to speak for the fear rising in his chest. Although he did not suffer from vertigo, he was painfully aware that there was no safety net here. If he fell, he would die. Tensing
his stomach muscles and gripping the handholds as tightly as he could, he raised his knees to his chest and gravity began to bite as he started to accelerate down the wire. He felt a thrill rush
through his body as he passed over the edge of the building and zipped out, high above the ground. His whole body clenched tightly as the pitch of the
zzzzzzizzzz
of the runner against the
cable increased to a whining scream.

The other building was approaching fast. Too fast, it seemed. If he hit the rooftop at this speed, he was sure to break something. But Nipper and Newton were there, braced and ready to absorb
much of Sam’s momentum. As his runner struck Nipper’s, Sam’s knees swung up so high with the deceleration that they almost touched the wire above. His arms threatened to wrench
from his shoulder sockets with the force of it. Even as he slowed, Newton caught him round the waist, taking his weight and allowing him to let go of the runner.

‘Ow!’ he muttered, rubbing at his shoulders.

‘You OK?’ Sherri asked.

‘Fine,’ he replied through gritted teeth. ‘But I think I’m going to feel that tomorrow.’

She gave him an encouraging grin and a wink. ‘Look out,’ she warned. ‘Equipment inbound.’

The final runner was zipping towards them with a heavy bag attached. It made the transit safely and no sooner had Nipper detached it from the runner than he and Newton were moving across the
roof and away towards the opposite side of the building. Sherri beckoned Sam to follow. Before he did, Sam took one final look back up at the rooftop that he had just come from. He could just make
out his mum and friend waving. Raising a hand in brief salute, he turned to follow the others.

This is it,
he thought.
It gets serious from here on in.

Trying to step lightly, Sam followed Sherri’s lead across the rooftop. The two raptors had already reached the far edge and Newton was directing Nipper with a series of low clicks, grunts
and lots of gestures. Although Sam was far from being an expert on raptor body language, it was clear that Nipper had a good deal of respect for the raptor scientist, doing everything Newton
directed without so much as a shadow of a question. As Sam had come to trust Nipper’s judgement, his estimation of Newton began to rise rapidly.