Lifespan of Starlight (23 page)

There’s no movement from Echo, but she has her back to me so I guess she said something
I couldn’t hear.

‘No. What’s the problem?’ asks Boc.

‘All right.’ Her shoulders slump only slightly as she slinks away from Boc. Something
gives me the feeling that I’m not the favourite training buddy.

Echo finds a second gun, glancing over at me here and there. She holds her mouth
tight as we make our way to the other side of the whiteboard screen.

I take a cream knitted shawl out of my bag and set it up around where I’m standing
so it’ll be easy to pull around me when I return.

‘Want to jump first, or shoot?’ Echo asks once we’re all set.

‘You choose.’

Her eyebrows go up. ‘I’ll jump first?’

‘Okay,’ I say.

‘Start with a count of three,’ calls Amon.

It feels way wrong to start shooting someone I only just met. Haven’t even seen her
time skip, so I shoot at a nearby wall to test the bullets; they’re just foam with
a rubber tip. Even if I do hit her, she won’t be badly hurt. But I know that even
rubber bullets can bruise nastily, so there’s definitely incentive to get out of
their way.

Echo takes a few seconds to prepare, circling her shoulders, shifting her feet. Can’t
help glancing sideways as I wait. Mason’s holding the other gun now. When he sees
me watching he responds with a slight jerk of his chin.

‘Okay,’ Echo calls. ‘Call
go
, and then shoot. Don’t bother with a count of three.’

The others have been training on the other side of the whiteboard until now, but
I feel them pause as I take aim. Echo shakes her head and shoulders, clearing the
last of the cobwebs away.

I reposition my feet, and then call,‘Go.’

My shot travels left. I wouldn’t have hit her, but it doesn’t matter anyway. Echo
isn’t there anymore. Her clothes lie in a pile where she stood.

Silence.

Amon has stepped forwards to see around the screen. I’m sure he’s been through this
many times but even so, you still can’t help that pause, the sense of anticipation.
Everything on hold until you see that truth of a return.

It’s been longer than the few seconds that Mason stayed away. I’m about to ask how
many times she’s done this when Echo’s form takes shape above her clothes. She launches
straight into a jump, her fist punching the air, her pale torso curving into a c-shape.

It’s the strangest thing, nakedness. You can be standing here with no clothes and
not feel exposed one bit. Not if you’re focused on other things. Echo might have
nothing on, but she’s so comfortable that you almost don’t notice.

Other times, you might have your clothes on but feel more naked than you ever have
before.

‘Yeehaa! That is brilliant, that is.’ Echo takes a few steps towards me, grinning
before she spins back for her clothes. She pulls them on frenetically, then bounces
over to where the rest of us are standing. Time skipping seems to make that girl
need to move.

‘All right, let’s do this for real,’ says Boc.

Everyone else responds to that, packing stuff away and
carrying the harnesses into
a store room. An air of calm focus still hangs about them, people with a job to do.
I help with a harness when Amon asks but otherwise keep out of the way. Guess my
turn’s later, but I don’t ask what’s going on. Best to stay quiet until I know what
we’re doing.

Once everything’s packed away we head out of the rock climbing centre and cut across
to the back of the industrial estate. The sun’s harsh by now, so we track a zigzag
path between patches of shade.

Boc’s been walking with Mason, leading the way, but when we reach an old fence he
holds open a broken section for everyone to climb through, and ends up near the back.

‘Thanks,’ I say once I’ve ducked through.

No reply, but he falls into step with me. ‘So one thing is bugging me,’ he says evenly.

‘Just one?’

‘Mason reckons you taught him how to skip. How could you do that? You didn’t even
know how to yourself.’

I shrug. It’s not as mysterious as he thinks. ‘I hacked in to see stuff he was reading
online, so I knew a bit about Relative Time Theory. That’s all.’

I’m expecting that to be enough, but he slows as I step around a stinging nettle,
sticking by my side. It’s because he’s stuck on me being illegal, I think. How could
someone like me make any difference to anything?

‘You really didn’t know any more than that?’

‘Well. I knew that it was possible. I learnt some stuff from
looking at what happened
on the grid. So I just used what I saw to make it seem like I could already time
skip.’

‘You would be used that, I guess. Making shit up?’

Anger flares in my stomach, but I push it away.
Don’t take the bait
. Don’t let him
think of us as enemies.

But I have to say something. ‘You know, we’re not as different as you think,’ I say
evenly. The only reason he can’t understand what I’ve done is that he’s never had
to fight for what he has. His whole life has just been handed to him because of who
his parents are.

‘Oh, no. We’re different,’ Boc shoots back straight away. ‘Know why?’

I don’t bother to reply.

‘When that stuff started happening between you and Mase? If it had been me I would
have trusted him. I wouldn’t have kept lying about being illegal, I would have told
him the truth. And if I couldn’t trust him with the truth, then I wouldn’t have been
with him. You’re so used to keeping secrets from everyone that you don’t know when
to stop.’

It’s like a slap in the face. I can’t help slowing a little, letting him stride ahead
of me, even though it shows he’s won. Maybe he’s right. I’m so used to being illegal
that I don’t know how to think any other way.

We’re making our way through open parkland by now, probably another reclaimed tip.
Mostly dust, hardly any trees. I keep my eye out for clues about where we might be
going. Shooting range, maybe? Public barbeques and picnic tables are
dotted around,
but judging by the layer of dust I don’t think they’ve ever been touched.

The others have reached a fence at the other end of the park, overlooking three sets
of railway tracks. Signs in faded red and black type decorate the length of the fence:
WARNING. No admittance. Trespassers will immediately be tagged. DANGER. Super-fast
trains.

Boc drops a backpack and frowns down at the tracks. ‘When’s the next one?’

‘12.47.’ Mason is looking down at his compad. ‘The one after that’s at ten past one.’

They must be freight, not passenger trains because I haven’t seen this route on the
grid. That means mega security and no drivers, just speeding machines carrying stuff
from one side of the city to the other.

‘Want to wait for the next one?’ says Mason. ‘You’ll have time to warm up.’

‘I’ll make it.’

Already Boc’s climbing the fence. I check the time: 12.32.

He makes it over easily, no alarm, no alerts triggered on the grid from what I can
tell, and continues down the retaining slope towards the railway tracks, slipping
once or twice on loose rocks.

‘So … what?’ I turn to Mason. ‘He’s going to stand on the tracks?’

‘You can hear the train approaching,’ Mason points to one side, ‘about one and a
half seconds before it passes.’

By now Boc has made it to the bottom of the slope and starts across scrubland towards
the tracks.

‘He has to stay away long enough for the carriages to pass through,’ says Echo. By
now she’s perched on top of a wooden picnic table, as if settled in for some outdoor
theatre. ‘Those things go on forever.’

‘Six hundred carriages,’ Amon says. ‘Sometimes more.’

I turn back to see Boc reach the first set of railway tracks and step over. ‘Testing
if he can jump under stress?’

‘Yeah. You could say that,’ from Mason. ‘Simulating a danger scenario.’

‘But if he doesn’t jump in time, the safety sensors will trigger,’ I say. ‘And then
what? He just has to bolt? Pretend that he was lost or something when they come after
him?’

No answer. My eyes track across to Echo, who is busy picking at her fingernails.
When I come back to Mason he won’t meet my focus.

‘What? You’ve disabled the safety sensors?’ The accusation is clear in my voice.
Boc might be asking for a lesson or ten, but this is insanity.

Mason places his hands on his hips. ‘He asked me to do it. We can’t be caught doing
stuff like this.’

‘Mason.’ Head shaking. ‘This is crazy. What if he panics?’

‘He’s ready.’

‘But what if he isn’t?’

‘He’ll be okay.’

‘But –’

‘Scout!’ Mason stands away from the picnic table and strides towards me, stopping
so close I can feel his breath on my cheek. ‘His IP means he’s going to military
school next year, okay? Once he’s been trained there’s no refusing if he’s called
up. For all we know, the experience he gets today might just save his life.’

Echo swivels on the top of the picnic table. ‘And Amon has the same IP.’

Not sure what to say. Amon just sits there, staring at his hands.

‘12.45,’ says Mason. It’s too late for me to talk Boc out of this, even if I could
scramble down in time.

We’re quiet as we wait, Echo now standing at the fence with two fingers hooked in
the wire above her head.

A high level hum is the first clue that it’s approaching, followed by a series of
flashes. Silver and white, with a blur of other colours. It all happened so fast
that I didn’t see if Boc jumped or not but he’s not on the grid when I check.

In silence, we watch. Speaking might somehow break the focus, jinx Boc out too early.
Or something like that. Echo’s hand drops to wipe her palm on the side of her shorts
then she hooks her fingers into the wire again.

Forever. That’s how long the freight train takes, little more than a pulsing hum
and a flash of light and dark.

Then, as suddenly as it arrived, the last carriage shoots out of sight and it’s gone.
All is silent.

Holding my breath, I check the grid to make sure that the dot I tagged for Boc still
hasn’t returned.

We’re shifting cautiously when a lone figure appears on the tracks, his skin like
dark silk in the sunlight. The whoop of victory says it all. ‘Woohoooo!’

The other three let out cheers and applaud Boc as he pulls on his clothes and makes
his way up the slope. Echo drops her head back while Mason raises his eyebrows at
me. ‘See?’

I shake my head, relieved, but not ready to celebrate.

Already Boc’s climbing the fence to drop down on our side. He’s breathing hard, full
of nervous energy.

‘That was freaking incredible.’ Boc strides the length of the fence, his focus on
the railway lines. ‘You can feel these vibrations in the tracks so you know to be
ready. But man, it was intense.’

‘You knew how long to stay away?’ I ask.

A pause, as if he’s only now remembered that I’m here. ‘Course.’ A smug grin. ‘Piece
of piss.’

Now that I’ve seen him in action, it makes sense that Boc’s skipping so easily. Scaling
a city building, steering downhill on a mountain bike, jumping into the unknown:
they’re all about guts, really. No wonder he’s able to travel so far. He’s fearless.

‘Who’s next?’ Boc clicks his tongue, tracking from one to the other until he stops
on me. ‘Scout?’

‘Nah, mate, I’ll go.’ Mason moves forwards.

‘I’m ready,’ says Echo.

Shoulders square, I lift myself tall. ‘I’ll go.’

Mason steps beside me, his fingers cupping my elbow. ‘No, Scout, wait until you’ve
had more time to prepare.’

‘I’m the only one who hasn’t skipped today,’ I say evenly. ‘It’s my turn.’ None of
them think I can do this; that’s why I have to.

Before anyone else can speak, I wedge a boot into the fence. It rattles as I climb.

Just stay focused. Stay calm. Don’t think about what might happen if something goes
wrong.

I take smaller steps down the bank than Boc, slipping only once on a loose rock.
I get to the edge of the tracks and check my compad. 1.03.

It’s dry down here, dusty. Scrubland and tree skeletons. I find a place between the
two tracks, their parallel lines stretching out before me. I look up and search along
the ridge, easily finding the others lined along the fence, watching silently.

Check my compad. Two minutes to go.

Breathe out, allow my shoulders to ease. I’m tempted to jump now, get this over with.
But the risk is even greater if I do that, I realise. If the train is late, jumping
early might lead to returning too soon …

Don’t think. Just get to the other side.

Another breath and I sense a change in the atmosphere, a rumbling from the centre
of the earth.

It’s coming. I let out a gasp at the sheer speed of the train, the weight of it coming
straight at me.

Close my eyes. Do it now.

The drop is fast, tinged with relief. It’s safe down here. Already I’m deeper in
than I like to be, but I hold onto the sense of where I am, edging my way through
five minutes.

Safe, now. I slide forwards a little more, just to be sure, before I pull up to the
surface.

Sucking in air, I land between the tracks and stumble forwards before catching myself.
Bright light and hard sunshine. The rush feels heavy this time.

I find my shorts and top, breathing hard, clear in my head now about what I was doing.
I needed to prove this to myself as much as to the others. Maybe one day that freight
train will be a police car, or even a bullet. Maybe. At least I know I can jump under
pressure when I need to.

The climb is easier this time. Echo begins to clap before I’ve even dropped to the
ground on the other side of the fence. Slow claps, nodding with each one. Amon claps
faster, not holding back.

‘Thought you’d chicken out,’ says Boc and jerks his head to one side. ‘Kudos.’

I rub the tops of my arms. ‘Thanks.’