Split Infinity (19 page)

My jaw drops as he pushes off the wall and disappears mid-air.

Mason and I exchange a glance and I shake my head. Mason smiles reassuringly. ‘He’s got this.’

‘Yeah.’ Not entirely convinced. Now that I know where it could end up, Boc’s risk-taking makes me nervous.

Boc’s broad shape appears out of thin air, and drops.
Thud
. The floor vibrates as he crumples into a sideways roll. That was stupid. Typical Boc.

With a glance my way, Mason paces to another section of wall. He examines the holds above him on the wall before reaching out and lifting himself up. He’s about a body length off the ground when he glances over his shoulder, pushes back and disappears.

‘Faaaar out,’ says Echo. She’s walking over to watch. Amon comes and stands beside her. They’re both in their clothes again, must have decided to have a rest.

We all stare at the space where Mason disappeared. Boc rests his hands on his hips.

In the next moment, Mason returns mid-air and hits the ground with a light
thunk
, the muscles stretched long and taught in his thighs and back. A solid landing on both feet. Not even a wobble.

‘That was awesome,’ I call, and join in with the claps. Relieved. And a whole lot impressed.

Boc hasn’t moved. ‘Kudos,’ he calls, monotone. He turns to stare up at the wall, then begins climbing again. I’m expecting him to stop when he reaches the same height as last time, but he keeps going. Higher.

Higher still.

Higher again, until he’s about as high as a single-storey house.

Amon calls to him. ‘Boc, wait. You can’t jump from that high. You’ll break an ankle, mate.’

‘Not planning to jump.’ Boc glances over a thick shoulder.

Before we can say any more, he turns to the wall again. Still gripping tight, with both feet balanced on the holds, he disappears.

Echo squeaks and slaps a hand over her mouth as Boc returns. He’s in the exact same position, responding in a flash to reengage his muscles. One foot slips before he regains his balance, gripping the holds. Safe.

We all let out a breath at once. He could have done the same trick from lower down the wall, of course, but training without risk doesn’t seem to be possible in Boc’s world. I can’t help being just a tad impressed.

Boc clambers down the wall, and reaches for his shorts on the floor nearby.

‘Mate, that was insane.’ Slow claps from Mason, but he’s smiling too. By now he’s pulled on a pair of jeans.

Boc high-fives Mason, grinning. ‘Told you it was worth climbing with no harness. Can’t take safety gear with you when you skip.’

Mason frowns, his eyes narrowing as he peers up at the wall. It’s as if he’s seeing it with fresh eyes.

‘You can do this,’ Boc says, quieter.

Mason’s gaze slides across the wall, tracking from hold to hold. He turns to Amon and Echo. Then his eyes rest on me.

‘Okay. You’ve been drilling me about this for weeks. So I’ll do it,’ he says, talking to Boc, but still looking at me. ‘I’ll climb the wall. No harness.’

A smile flickers across Boc’s lips. ‘You’re ready. You know that, right?’

Mason rolls his shoulders, and nods. ‘Ready as I’ll ever be.’

The others respond quickly, clearing harnesses away from the wall while I make my way over to Mason, so many things to say:
Be careful, stay safe.

‘You can do it, right?’ is all that comes out.

He’s stretching one arm across his bare chest, preparing. ‘I’ve already climbed the wall without using the harness. This time won’t be any different.’

‘Is the door locked?’ calls Boc as Mason makes his way to the base of the wall.

Echo slips beside me and whispers: ‘This is totes against the rules. They’d ban us for life if they knew we were climbing without a harness.’

‘So why take the risk?’

She brushes back a strand of hair. ‘The rush. And it’s real, you know? Just you and the wall. The climb … it’s honest.’

If I thought that climbing the wall myself in the other timestream was scary, that’s nothing compared to watching Mason climb with no harness. My mouth is already dry as he takes his first grip, testing the first foothold before pushing up.

He seems so vulnerable up there, somehow more naked than he seems after a time skip, even though he’s wearing jeans. I can see the muscles in his back stretch with each hold.

Soon Mason’s so far up that my world begins to tilt. I push it away – this isn’t about me. Just keep willing him on.
Be strong.

Any slip would mean a hard fall.

Mason’s nearing the top of the wall when I sense a change about him. His muscles don’t seem quite so taut. He has victory in sight.

‘Nearly there!’ My shout of nervous support.

Mason doesn’t respond; he’s in the zone. He pulls out from the wall and peers down as if trying to work out what I said.

Keep going
, I call in my mind.

He’s reaching for the next handhold when one arm drops and he loses his grip.

His leg swings out, kicking, trying to regain their footholds. But there’s nothing to hold him as gravity pulls him down.

Echo gasps as Mason falls. So fast …

An empty pair of jeans lands,
flap,
on the floor.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

W
E STAND IN
stunned silence, staring at the limp pair of jeans on the ground. This can’t be happening.

‘How long?’ someone asks. And then, ‘How long
do we have
?’ It’s Boc, yelling at me, because I’m the one who knows, right? I’m the one who’s been training the most with Mason, the one who knows how long he’ll be able to stay away.

‘We have time,’ I gasp. It’s hard to get the words out. Already the seconds are slipping so fast. ‘He’s stayed away an exact hour.’ I suck in a breath. ‘But we can’t count on that. The panic of falling might pull him back.’

‘There’s a crash mat in the beginners room,’ breathes Amon.

We all bolt for the door. I’m almost through, close behind Boc, when I stop and turn. What if Mason returns before we drag the mat in?

‘It’s okay.’ Echo calls as she rushes past. ‘Stay here. Hold the door open when we come back.’

It’s not long before I hear shuffling and grunts from the other side of the door. I’m ready with the chip, swiping and keeping the door open while they manoeuvre the mat through, panting and calling instructions to each other.

Once it’s through I grab a corner and pull, grunting with the others as we fight to drag it across the floor. The thickness of it makes it heavy and so damn awkward. But that’s exactly what we need, that padding to cushion his fall.

Finally, it’s in place. Ready to catch a body that’s about to fall from thin air.
Please let it be enough
. Boc grabs a corner and shifts it slightly, making sure it’s in position.

‘It’ll be okay,’ I say. ‘He’ll be okay.’ I’m staring at Boc as I speak although I think I’m saying the words more to myself.

Time slips slowly past. Without really discussing it we’ve all drifted to one of the corners of the mat, forming a protective rectangle. Amon pulls a compad out and swipes a couple of times, and I catch a glimpse of the emergency assistance request on the screen. Ready to use with a single press of his fingertip.

When he glances up some sort of look passes between him and Boc.

‘Not yet,’ says Boc. ‘Only if we need it.’

‘I know.’

With each second of empty time that we have to wait, my eyes narrow at Boc. This is his fault. He was the one who pushed Mason to climb without a harness. It’s his fault again, just like with Amon.

In my next blink, a figure appears in thin air, facing the wall and dropping only a couple of metres before landing with a
pfff
on the mattress.

He wobbles a bit on the yielding surface of the mattress, but amazingly he even manages to stay standing. No broken bones, no exploding flesh, just Mason’s naked back and bare butt.

We all stare, relieved, sure, but also totally shocked. Mason straightens slowly, and turns. He’s breathing hard, his skin flushed. He blinks as if regaining a sense of location in the world and Boc wordlessly chucks him a pair of jeans.

‘Are … are you okay?’ Echo asks.

Another moment of silence, before Mason breaks into a grin. ‘Fine.’ I don’t think he believes it either. He swivels to peer up the high wall, his mouth dropping open.

‘You almost didn’t need a mat,’ Amon says, squinting up as well.

‘Not almost,’ blurts Boc. ‘He
didn’t
need it.’

‘Time skipping must have broken the momentum.’ Mason turns back from the wall and lifts one eyebrow. ‘When you return, see, you’re stationary. So it’s like …’ He lifts an arm. ‘How high was I when I came back?’

‘About there.’ Echo points. ‘That blue handgrip on the wall. No higher than that.’

‘Okay. So it was like I’d jumped from that height, not from the top of the wall.’

We all go silent, thinking it through, shifting slowly from fear to amazed disbelief.

‘So … we could base-jump off almost anything,’ Boc whispers. ‘And survive?’

‘Yeah, but …’ Mason lifts a shoulder. ‘You have to be certain you can drop away instantly, and under pressure. If you took too long, you’d still –’

‘Freaking brilliant.’ Already Boc’s striding towards the wall. ‘I could climb the West Gate … jump into the bay. Or Southern Cross Tower …’

‘Mate …’ It’s Amon who steps forward. ‘Let’s not get carried away. Why don’t we practise a bit first, yeah?’ He turns to Mason. ‘We could time him, couldn’t we? Check he can do it fast enough.’

‘Sure,’ says Mason, but his tone drops as he says it. He’s clearly being ignored.

Already Boc’s reaching for the first handhold, barely looking, as if he automatically knows where it is. He steps up from the floor, stretching for the next grip, progressing smoothly and easily.

Echo shakes her head and grabs a corner of the crash mat so I take her lead, dragging it sideways so that it’s directly beneath Boc. We hover at each of the corners again. That’s about all we can do.

Soon he’s nearing the top, no pauses, no hesitation. Each movement is so swift, so agile, that he reminds me of a spider on a wall. He makes it all the way up and lifts himself onto the top ledge of the wall, turning to face outwards like a diver on the high board.

I think my heart stops beating as I watch. He doesn’t fumble off the ledge, he actually
jumps
, his arms lifting as if willing his body even higher, gaining height in a small curve. There’s a split second when he slows in mid-air at the top of the curve, a single moment to prepare.

To hold his breath and make a wish …

Then his weight is caught by gravity and he plummets, a falling meteor.

Shorts and a T-shirt flap onto the crash mat.

We’re shifting nervously, wondering how long we have to wait, when Boc’s shape forms about three metres above us. The mat goes
pfft
– louder than it did with Mason. Boc lands on his feet, taking the rest of the weight on his hands, a sprinter on the starting blocks.

‘Freeeeaking excellent.’ Already Boc’s pacing to the end of the mat, then back to grab his clothes. ‘We have to try the Telstra Tower next.’

My eyes track along the handholds to the top of the wall, three storeys of vertigo. I’ll time skip in front of a freight train again if I have to, jump in front of a batch of smartcars. But this? No way, nuh-uh, never.

With base jumping, Boc has me beat.

I still go to orientation day at Karoly High with the woman’s chip sewn into the lining of my uniform’s cuff. It’s strange and surreal, and so much the same. Everyone’s in the same spotless uniforms that are slightly too big. It’s like they’ve been trapped in time while I’ve been travelling the universe.

My head is so full of preparations for the application hearing that I don’t bother to pay attention. After all, I’ve heard it all before. But I can’t let myself hope too much. If anything goes wrong with the application, I don’t want to lose my place here. Kessa and I stick together through the pep talks and study lectures, our shoulders as good as glued. At least this time round, time skipping’s not just my secret.

Kess and I had been meditating together for four days when she managed her first skip, recoiling in surprise at the return and then squawking with delight.