10

by James Phelan

  Zara nodded. She’d found what she was looking for.

  ‘This box …’ Sam said, pulling back the side of the bag to reveal the full box. ‘This isn’t just where the next piece is—this is it. It’s the casing for the Bakhu Machine itself!’

  Yes! Maybe we can win.

  Before either of them could say another word, an almighty explosion rang out.

  ‘They’re blasting their way through the fireplace!’ Sam said, loading the box into his backpack as they ran back. ‘Help me shut the bookcase. We can hide in here!’

  Try as they might, they couldn’t work out the mechanism to close the two halves of the bookcase doors.

  ‘Plan B!’ Sam said, running back into the workshop.

  ‘What’s plan B?’

  ‘Another way out.’

  ‘But there’s no—?’

  ‘The breeze, the wind that’s being sucked upstairs,’ Sam said. ‘It means that there’s another way out down here.’

  At the far wall of the room was a large wooden door with a heavy metal bolt slid across it.

  This door was only ever meant to be opened from this side.

  Sam and Zara heaved the bolt out of the way, groaning with the exertion. They found a narrow corridor beyond it that went further than they could see by their small lights.

  Leaning against the wall next to the door was a bicycle, but not like any Sam had ever ridden before.

  ‘I don’t believe it!’ Zara gasped. ‘Most da Vinci scholars think his bicycle plans were a forgery or a fake. But look—here it is!’

  ‘Well, fake or not, let’s go!’ Sam said, and climbed onto the odd-looking prototype bicycle. Zara didn’t wait to be asked again and delicately balanced herself on the wooden crossbar, lighting the way with her phone.

  Sam pushed off and was grateful for the sloping floor that let them pick up speed.

  ‘The tunnel starts curving left!’ Zara said.

  ‘How do I steer?’ Sam called out. ‘There’s no steering!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘This bike can’t turn. Some genius he was!’ Sam yelled.

  ‘Then lean to the left,’ Zara shouted. ‘Now!’

  As they rounded the curve, the tunnel narrowed so that the timber handlebars were practically touching the walls.

  OK, we can do this. We’re escaping on an antique bike with no steering.

  What wasn’t OK, what was frightening, was the floor beneath them. It was now shooting downwards at an ever-increasing rate.

  ‘I can’t stop!’ Sam said as he tried to use his feet to slow them down. ‘There’s no brakes!’

  ‘I hear running water!’ Zara screamed.

  ‘Arghhh!’ they screamed in unison.

  Before Sam could try to stop them, they were airborne.

  SPLASH!

  37

  ALEX

  The Director bypassed the security panel and rewired the circuit, sparks flying. The heavy steel doors to the computer labs hissed open.

  Thick dark smoke poured out.

  ‘Get a medical team in here!’ the Director said to the Agent by his side. He rushed inside and broke a thin glass panel by the door. He pulled down the red lever inside. There was a loud roaring noise followed by rushing jets of white vapour and the flashing of red lights. The smoke was sucked out from the room by huge fans recessed into the ceiling.

  ‘Shiva!’ Alex raced to his friend, who was on his back on the ground. ‘Shiva?’

  Shiva slowly regained consciousness and looked up at Alex.

  ‘I tried to stop him …’ Shiva said. ‘Help me—help me up.’

  Alex and the Director helped Shiva to his feet as several medics rushed into the room and began attending to the other semi-conscious computer techs.

  ‘What happened, Shiva?’ the Director asked.

  ‘He—Matrix, he left, and then came back with a few field Agents, all wearing masks. They set off gas or something.’

  ‘I want Matrix found,’ the Director barked to an Agent, who hustled out of the room.

  ‘I saw him take the hard drives,’ Shiva said. ‘And I saw him … I saw him …’

  ‘What?’ Alex said.

  ‘He checked in on Stella, in the field,’ Shiva said. ‘She’s leading a full-scale assault somewhere.’

  ‘The Academy,’ Alex said. ‘We know.’

  Shiva staggered against a chair and Alex reached out to take his weight.

  ‘Let’s get you to the medical bay,’ the Director said, taking one of Shiva’s arms over his shoulder and Alex taking the other. ‘I’m going to need you up to full speed ASAP.’

  ‘What for?’ Shiva said.

  ‘Because you’re my new Matrix,’ he said with a determined tone.

  ‘But there’s nothing left to work with,’ Shiva said.

  ‘We’ve got a backup site,’ the Director said, and Shiva looked surprised at the revelation. ‘Neither Stella nor Matrix know about it. Everything on our computers is backed up there.’

  ‘Where?’ Shiva asked.

  ‘Amsterdam,’ the Director said. ‘Soon as you’re up to it, we’ll get you on a flight there to activate the site.’

  ‘One request?’ Shiva said.

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Alex comes too.’

  The Director hesitated but nodded. ‘OK.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Alex said.

  ‘Oh,’ Shiva said, ‘and one more thing. Don’t call me Matrix.’

  Alex grimaced as they walked Shiva towards the door.

  He glanced at a computer station as they passed by. ‘Hey, were these on before?’

  As they looked around the room, every screen powered up, casting an eerie glow in the emergency lighting.

  ‘What the . . ?’ Shiva muttered.

  Dozens of screens lit up, each showing the same image. Dozens and dozens of skull and crossbones. Matrix’s laugh boomed from every monitor as the skulls disappeared. What replaced them was even more frightening. It was a countdown clock. The red light flickered as the echoing ticking filled the room. Five minutes and counting.

  ‘Everybody out of the building!’ the Director yelled as they started running for the door. ‘Sound the alarm—total evac, NOW!’

  38

  EVA

  Eva gently laid Pi down on the ground. She covered him with a blanket, then turned from his still body on the snow, not even trying to stem her tears, and walked slowly to the others.

  Above, the sky was clear, all the helicopters but one were burning wrecks on the mountains. The one that got away was a speck getting smaller in the distance with every passing second.

  Eva saw Tobias hurry back and forth, treating injured Guardians and students. Lora was on the phone, now working, calling in emergency response teams. Eva turned around to see Xavier and Gabriella manning a fire hose, working alongside a smattering of Guardians to save what was left of the Academy’s mountaintop campus, now in burning ruins.

  Eva stumbled towards Tobias. All she could hear were the sounds of people trying to make their way clear of the rubble, calling out to each other, crying, screaming. Students emerged from the smoke, some walking, others limping or being carried.

  ‘Pi … he’s d—’ Eva broke down as Tobias reached for her and pulled her into his arms.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Eva,’ he sighed. ‘We don’t know how many we’ve lost. Too many …’

  ‘What can I do?’ Eva rallied and looked around.

  ‘Here,’ he said, showing her how to place some gauze wadding gently against the eyes of an injured Guardian while he unpacked a bandage.

  ‘I don’t understand how you’re here. Why’d you hide on the mountain all this time?’ Eva asked.

  ‘I just knew it was what I had to do,’ Tobias said as he wrapped the bandage around the Guardian’s head.

  ‘Had to?’

  ‘So that I would be here, today, to do what I did.’

  ‘All those nights out in the cold …’ Eva looked across to where he’d been living out i
n the snow, a sentinel watching over the Academy.

  ‘Were all worth it, because of this.’

  ‘You knew this would happen?’

  ‘No,’ Tobias said, standing. ‘I just dreamed that it was where I had to be, and that I was alone, waiting for the moment when I could help.’

  ‘And you saved me from freezing to death on the mountain?’ Eva asked.

  Tobias nodded.

  Eva looked around at the destruction. Fires still blazed, the wounded were being looked after as best as could be managed with their limited supplies. Lora came off the phone and walked over. She and Tobias hugged in a tight embrace.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Lora asked Eva.

  ‘Yeah,’ Eva replied, looking over to Pi. ‘He’s gone …’

  Lora pulled Eva into the shared embrace. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  Eva choked back tears. They were all in this together—they were family now, brought together even more through their shared grief.

  ‘What do we do next?’ Eva asked, sniffing away more tears and gathering resolve.

  ‘We look after each other,’ Lora sighed. ‘And then we must carry on.’

  ‘What—what about everyone who died?’ Eva said.

  ‘There will be a time for revenge, Eva,’ Tobias said darkly.

  She looked at the tiny dot of the helicopter in the distance, then over to her friends battling the flames and knew that none of them would ever be the same.

  In the rising smoke of the fire, Eva wondered if Sam was faring any better.

  I hope so, because we can’t help you now.

  39

  SAM

  ‘We must be close to the Chateau d’Amboise,’ Zara said, shivering on the stone step. ‘This is the Loire river.’

  Sam looked out the iron stormwater grate. Thanks to their unexpected dip, Zara’s phone was toast and his waterproof one had only minutes of battery left due to running the torch app. Soon they’d be in darkness but for the moonlit night outside.

  ‘How do we get out?’ Sam asked. The bars were thick and solid, like those of a prison cell.

  ‘We swim,’ Zara said, dropping back into the water. ‘We must go now, they are coming.’

  Sam watched as Zara disappeared into the dark water.

  ‘Zara?’

  A moment later she emerged on the other side of the iron grate.

  ‘Swim under!’ she called out to him.

  Sam dropped into the water, took a deep breath, and dived down. He felt his way in the dark. Not far below the waterline, the ends of the metal grate had rusted away. He pulled himself under, squeezing his backpack with him and pushed off, swimming out to Zara.

  ‘Across to the other riverbank,’ Zara said, pushing off.

  ‘OK,’ Sam replied, following her lead.

  ‘We are on a small island,’ Zara said, as they got their breath back on the grassy bank. ‘We can take this bridge across the next half of the Loire and find a telephone.’

  Zara fell silent, staring behind Sam, who turned—

  Mac grabbed him around the throat and lifted him to his feet, three thugs looming behind him. Sam tried to fight him off, but his grip was too strong.

  ‘So, Sam …’ Mac said, grinning. ‘What have you got for me?’

  Sam kicked Mac hard as he could in the shins. Mac grunted with pain and his grip loosened a little. A thug stepped in to pin Sam’s arms as another took hold of Zara, fighting to gain control of her as she resisted.

  ‘Ah, good, you’ve both got a little fight in you,’ Mac said. He turned to the remaining thug. ‘Check the kid’s bag.’

  ‘What did you do to the Council?’ Sam asked.

  ‘They got what they deserved,’ Mac said.

  ‘You killed them?’

  ‘Killed? No, that’s not my style,’ Mac said, smiling. ‘They just got roughed up a little.’

  ‘Hey, boss,’ one of the thugs said. ‘They’ve got the box.’

  ‘Ah,’ Mac said. ‘So you were right after all, Sam—it’s some kind of da Vinci device.’

  ‘You’ll find you’re wrong about a lot of things,’ Sam fired back.

  ‘Perhaps, but I doubt it,’ Mac said. ‘You see, my ancestors are descended from another famous Dreamer in history—Nostradamus.’

  ‘Did he predict this for you?’ Sam said, using his jujitsu training to pull free, kicking Mac hard in the groin. Mac recoiled in agony, Sam flipping him hard onto his back with another move.

  CRACK!

  Sam was knocked to the ground by the butt of a dart gun. He clutched at the back of his head and saw stars. As his vision cleared he saw Zara struggling against a thug while the other put his pistol away. He was still holding the Bakhu box.

  ‘Sam …’ Mac hissed as he got to his feet. ‘I was going to make this easy on you, but now—now, it’s gonna hurt.’

  Mac moved forwards towards Sam, ready to attack. Sam braced for a blow that never came. As he turned to see what had happened, a bolt of fire flashed before his eyes.

  Mac’s thugs were gone.

  Not completely gone, Sam was disgusted to see. They were each a pile of red-hot remains on the grassy bank of the river, reduced to almost nothing by Solaris’ fire.

  Solaris walked into view from the shadows under the bridge.

  ‘Mac …’ Solaris said, his metallic voice echoing through his mask. ‘You’ve been a bad boy, Mac.’

  ‘You …’ Mac cowered back against a boulder, then towards the ground as if his crouched stance could protect him. ‘I didn’t know you’d be here.’

  ‘Oh, I’m everywhere,’ Solaris reached down and pressed the barrel of his fire weapon onto Mac’s forehead, sizzling in a burnt ring of charred flesh. ‘You always were an idiot,’ he said, and Mac fainted, either from the pain of the burn or the shock, perhaps both. ‘And weak.’

  Solaris turned to Sam and Zara, now holding on to each other. Sam stepped in front of Zara, squaring off, struggling to breathe normally after Mac’s crushing stranglehold.

  ‘Sam, Sam …’ Solaris said, chiding him, stalking playfully around like a cat with a cornered mouse. ‘Who’s your little friend?’ Solaris picked up the backpack containing the Bakhu box and Zara’s Gear.

  ‘No!’ Zara yelled. ‘You can’t have it!’

  As Sam went to run at Solaris, sirens sounded and red and blue lights flashed on the road behind them. Sam spun around.

  The police? I could use a little help here.

  He turned back to Solaris but he was already gone, taking great strides across the riverbank and out of reach.

  No! Not another Gear … and the box!

  Before Sam could react, figures emerged from the water in front of them, ghostly in the near-darkness. They were the ones who’d been behind them in da Vinci’s workshop and followed them here, swimming across the water. They had lain in wait to see what happened with Mac and Solaris before making their move.

  It was Hans’ treacherous German Guardians.

  ‘Run! To the police!’ Sam yelled as he and Zara scrambled up the bank to the road beyond. The flashing lights from the car blinded them as they ran towards it.

  A figure stepped out, laughing as he said, ‘And so we meet again, Sam. How wonderful.’

  ‘So what, now you’ve got the police on your payroll, Hans?’ Sam said defiantly.

  ‘Of course,’ Hans sneered. ‘You’d be amazed at what, and who, money can buy.’

  Sam looked around desperately.

  ‘I do hope you’re not thinking of rushing off anywhere,’ Hans said. ‘I have some very sad news for you. The Academy is no more. Oh yes,’ he added in reply to Sam’s shocked expression. ‘Blown into dust, no doubt by our mutual friend, Solaris, and his allies.’

  The German Guardians were on the road now, fanning out and surrounding Sam and Zara on all sides.

  ‘There’s no-one to come rescue you now, Sam. You’re on your own.’

  Scholastic Australia

  345 Pacific Highway Lindfield NSW 2070

 
; An imprint of Scholastic Australia Pty Limited

  PO Box 579 Gosford NSW 2250

  ABN 11 000 614 577

  www.scholastic.com.au

  Part of the Scholastic Group

  Sydney • Auckland • New York • Toronto • London • Mexico City

  • New Delhi • Hong Kong • Buenos Aires • Puerto Rico

  Published by Scholastic Australia in 2014.

  Text copyright © James Phelan, 2014.

  Illustrations & design copyright © Scholastic Australia, 2014.

  Illustrations by Chad Mitchell. Design by Nicole Stofberg.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.

  A Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

  eISBN: 978-1-925-06326-4