by Alex Kings
Eloise was still conscious. She had managed to pull herself into a sitting position, and was hunched over, breathing heavily and moaning softly.
Olivia stood and began to look around. She checked the cabinets, finding pressure suits, replacement magnetic coils and sets of complex tools. “Is there any medical equipment?” she asked.
“It's a maintenance vehicle, not an ambulance,” said Mero, without looking up from the controls.
“All we need is a smart plaster! They don't have one, we didn't bring one … do you have one?” She turned to Ikki and Ranye.
They shook their heads in unison.
“Damnit!”
“Calm down,” said Mero. “There's nothing we can do but keep going, understand?”
Olivia stared at him. He didn't seem to care at all. She thought back to his argument with Eloise in the mansion – and Rurthk's warning about him.
But he was right.
She looked at Eloise. Images of her shooting someone flashed through her mind again, so she turned back to Mero.
“Okay,” she said. “How long before we can get out of here?”
“Not for a while yet,” said Mero. “This thing is slow. I can't even get it to break 120 miles an hour.”
“And they know where we are. They'll be looking for ways to stop us.”
“Almost certainly,” said Mero.
A light changed colour on the control panel. It was subtle, but it caught Mero's attention. He peered at it.
“According to this,” he said. “We've got a current in the tube. They're turning the maglev tracks on.”
“They're going to come after us in a train,” Olivia said. She thought for a moment. “Or they could move a train in the tube ahead and block our exit.”
Mero's ears fell flat against his head. “Any ideas?” he said. “Because all I'm coming up with is ramming the bastards.”
Olivia paced across the carriage, looking around for inspiration.
“We're in a maintenance car,” said Ikki.
Mero closed his eyes for a second and snarled. “And how does that help us?”
“We do some maintenance!” said Ikki. “That often stops things!” She pointed through the window in the floor as the set of claws below the car.
Olivia grinned at her. “That's perfect!” She ran over to a control terminal in the middle of the car and started gesturing at it. “Can you slow us down?” she asked Mero.
“Alright,” said Mero, braking.
The controls were fairly intuitive, and she didn't need to finesse this. She found a camera feed from below the car, showing the maglev track racing past below them. Beside it was a menu of several dozen specialised tools.
She picked one with an icon that looked a bit like a knife and, after jabbing at the control a bit, extended it straight downwards.
The car was still travelling a little under 30 km/h. The tool extended as far as the track, touched it with a brief flurry of sparks, then snapped off.
“The track's still powered,” said Mero.
Olivia searched the menu until she found the claw. It was big enough to grip the entire width of the track.
“Perfect,” she said softly, then added for everyone else, “We're probably going to feel this.”
She lowered the claw until it surrounded the track, nearly touching the bottom of the magtube, then closed it.
The was a sharp clang as the claw grabbed the track. The maintenance car jolted suddenly, nearly knocking Olivia off her feet. Sparks hissed between the track and the claw. Recovering, she selected several other tools and pressed them against the track together.
Mero laughed, and began to speed the car up. The cabin roared and shuddered as the claw scraped along the track. Olivia increased the grip strength.
After a few seconds there was a sharp crack. The track shattered under the stress. The claw bit deeper – and then, with a squeal of metal, tore free of the maintenance car. Everything lurched again as they accelerated suddenly.
“Yes!” said Mero, still laughing. “That did it. The track has lost power. They can't follow us now.”
Olivia leaned back against the wall and sighed. “Thanks, Ikki,” she said. “You saved us.”
Ikki clapped her hands with glee, and the car sped onwards. The scenery outside went dark as they passed under the wall of Egliante's compound.
Chapter 32: Who'd Stop Me?
A few minutes later, they had passed beyond the walls with no sign of pursuit.
Eloise was still sitting in the corner, hand clamped over her belly. Rayne was trying to keep her conscious by telling her about one of his previous adventures, with Ikki's support.
Olivia looked from them to Mero, who was still at the controls, humming cheerily to himself, his ratlike tail lazily floating back and forth.
He didn't seem interested in doing it, so she took out her tablet and tried calling Rurthk. Part of her was expecting to fail – perhaps the magtube itself has some way of blocking signals – but after a moment he picked.
The call was audio only: “Olivia! So you found a way out. What's the situation?”
“You got the rocket?”
“Yes. I have the hard drives stashed away.”
“We all escaped, but … Eloise has been shot. She's alive … but she's hurt pretty bad.”
There was a pause. Then Rurthk said, “I see. Never mind the rendezvous point, then. I'll come to you. Where are you?”
Olivia explained their escapade with the maintenance car.
“Do you need to dump it?”
“I think so,” said Olivia. We're off the system, so they can't track us. But a rogue maintenance car running about in the magtube network isn't going to escape notice for long.”
“No,” said Rurthk. “Alright. Head East, and dump it as soon as you need to. Set your tablet to ping me with its location regularly so I can make my way to you. As soon as you're outside, call me again.”
“Okay.”
“And Olivia? Look after her.”
Olivia paused. “Yes, Captain.”
As soon as she'd contracted the tablet, Mero called her over. “You drive for a bit,” he said. “ I'm bored.”
Olivia stared at him.
“It's not hard,” he said. “Here's the network map. This speeds up, this slows down. This allows you to turn at junctions.”
Olivia was silent for a moment. At least this way, she thought, she'd be in control of the car and could take it towards Rurthk. She took the controls from Mero and looked for a way to head east.
*
“After much consideration,” Rayne said, “we decided we would need an Albascene suit as a disguise. Isn't that right, Ikki?”
“Yes!” said Ikki. “They have so many useful features that other suits don't. Like lasers!”
“And effector fields.”
“And a life support system.”
“But as it turns out,” Rayne went on, “stealing an Albascene suit is much harder than stealing a silver necklace. Especially if the Albascene is wearing it.”
Ikki blinked. “But Rayne … the Albascene wasn't wearing the necklace, was it?”
“I mean the suit, my dear Ikki.”
“The suit wasn't wearing the necklace either.”
Mero padded over to where the two other Petaurs were sitting by Eloise. “Beat it,” he growled.
Ikki and Rayne stared at him for a moment.
“Gotcha, boss,” said Rayne, imitating Mero's accent, as though this were all a game.
“Gotcha,” said Ikki a moment later.
They both turned and walked off.
Mero settled beside Eloise.
She was still shuddering in pain, one hand clutched to her belly. “Why … why'd you do that?” she whispered, almost mouthing the words. “They were just getting to the good part.”
Mero had no trouble hearing her. “Ain't no good part with those two,” he muttered, keeping his own voice barely above a whisper. “I'll call them back when I
'm done. But right now we need to talk. How are you holding up?”
“It frickin' hurts.”
“I bet it does. Do you remember what we talked about earlier, in the mansion?”
Eloise stared at him without saying anything.
“I mean, you've been shot.” Mero's flicked out, idly jabbing Eloise near her wound. She winced and gasped sharply. “No medical attention. You could easily expire before we meet Rurthk.”
Eloise held his gaze. Stray blonde curls were plastered to her forehead with sweat. “Olivia …” she mouthed the words.
“She's smart, but she's just a kit. She wouldn't even notice. And if she did, well …” Mero snapped his jaws lightly. “Who'd stop me? Those two clowns? I don't think so.”
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. They just sat together, while the maintenance car raced down the magtube, its wheels roaring. Scenery rolled past the windows.
“So,” said Mero. “You should know …” He took a deep breath. “ … I'm not gonna do anything. I'm letting you live.” His tail waved back and forth gracefully. “And it's at considerable cost to me. I could get a fifth of your cut, but I'm choosing not to. You should keep that in mind.”
He leant back, feeling satisfied. After a moment, he could hear Eloise make a small repetitive choking sound. He frowned and turned to look at her.
She was laughing.
It was a weak laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.
“Good,” she said. “You .. you know Rurthk and I have a pact?”
“I'm sure you have more than one,” Mero said,
“Yes … but … this one is about you.” Eloise offered him a weak smile.
“And you're going to tell me, are you?” Mero tried to keep his cool, but his tail flicking is annoyance, betrayed him.
“If either of us goes on a mission with you alone and …” Eloise paused to shudder in pain. “ … and doesn't come back, the other will kill you. Because it's certain it'll be your fault anyway.” She raised a hand to pat him weakly on the shoulder. “So well done on not getting Rurthk to shoot you.”
Mero stared at her. “You're lying.”
Eloise just laughed again, then went back to holding her belly.
“By the Ancestral Abyss,” growled Mero, standing. He pointed at Ikki and Rayne. “Okay, go on. Finish your story,” he growled.
Chapter 33: Train Crash
After a while they passed a junction in the magtube, leaving the branch line to Egliante's compound. The little light on the control panel changed, showing that the track here was powered.
Olivia kept driving, heading east towards Rurthk. They still hadn't heard any response from Egliante. No signs of pursuit, no signs of attack. That troubled her.
He wouldn't have given up. And he knew they were in a maintenance car. She realised he could call ahead. He might have the resources to put strike teams at every entrance to the magtube system.
Which meant they'd face another firefight the moment they tried to leave.
The image flashed through her mind again: The gun in her hand. The guard collapsing as she put three bullets into him. The blood on her palm afterwards. A lump formed in her throat.
It was an alert on the control panel that brought her back to reality.
The current running through the track was increasing sharply.
“Uh, guys?” she said.
“What is it?” snapped Mero.
“I think there's a train coming.”
Mero came scrambling over to the control panel. “What?”
Olivia pointed to the increasing current. “I think the track's going from a dormant to active state, preparing for a train to pass.”
“Can't be,” said Mero, frowning. “There must be a system to avoid collisions. We'd be getting a proximity alert, or the train would get an alert that there's an obstruction.”
“There was a system to avoid collisions,” Olivia said, pointing at the tangle of wire hanging from the ceiling panel. “The network transceiver. But we ripped it out. We're off the network. They can't see us.”
Mero looked from Olivia to the remains of the transceiver and back again. “Oh,” he said. “Shit.”
“That about covers it” Olivia called up a map of the network, looking for anything that might help. She had, more out of habit than forethought, driven with the traffic flow rather than against. So the train wouldn't hit them head on. It would catch up to them and hit them from behind.
Even so, the maintenance car was driving at 180 km/h, while trains went anywhere between 600 and 1000 km/h. Best case scenario, they'd collide with a relative velocity of 420 km/h. The maintenance car might survive, but she doubted anyone inside would.
She zoomed in on the track, muttering, “Come on, come on.”
There. There was something labelled as a maintenance hatch three miles ahead. If the train didn't catch up to them in the next minute and a half, they'd be able to reach it. She pushed the maintenance car as fast as it would go.
She turned to Mero. “I have it!” she said.
At precisely the same moment, Mero turned to her. “I have it!” he said.
They stared at each for a fraction of a second.
Then Mero explained: “We still have plenty of maintenance tools left. If we tear up the track again, the train will lose power.”
Olivia frowned. “What'll happen to the train?”
“Like I said, it'll stop.”
“I mean … without the magnetic levitation, it'll fall onto the track at 400 miles an hour! Maybe more. That'll kill everyone on board!”
Mero waved his hand dismissively. “There are probably safety features.”
“But –”
“Look, if we do nothing, it'll hit us, and I promise you, that will kill everyone on board. And more importantly, us too!” He scrambled to the control terminal in the middle of the car. “Slow down.”
“I have another plan,” said Olivia. “We just need to get to the maintenance hatch.”
“And what if the train catches us before then? We need to act now. Slow down!”
“No,” said Olivia. She turned back to the control panel. They were just under a minute away.
“Fine,” hissed Mero. “I'll do this while we're moving.” He started to gesture at the terminal.
Olivia searched the control panel, looking for a way to disable the terminal. But there were too many options. Hundreds of controls, for every aspect of maintenance.
“You'd better hold on to something,” Mero said.
There it was! A button saying lock undercarriage tools. Olivia hit it.
Forty seconds before they reached the terminals.
“What have you done?” Mero growled.
“I see a light,” said Rayne. He and Ikki had their faces pressed again
“Oh, wow, there's the train!” said Ikki.
“Give me back control,” Mero said. “Now, or we all die.”
“We won't!” said Olivia. “We're nearly there!”
“Now.” Mero picked up a pistol from the floor with his tail and flipped it into his hand. He levelled it at Olivia.
Olivia's hands tightened around the edge of the control panel. “Listen,” she said in a shaking voice. “We're nearly at the hatch. If you shoot me now, you'll have to come over here, unlock the tools, slow down, go back over there, and use them. It'll take longer than my way, so let me finish.”
“It's so fast,” murmured Ikki.
Mero snarled at Olivia, then lowered the gun.
Ten seconds.
The train was coming, but in the vacuum of the magtube, it didn't signal its approach with a roar. It bore down on them with an eerier silence.
Olivia braked, approaching the maintenance hatch.
“I can see the driver!” Ikki said.
“My dearest Ikki, while I trust your visual acuity, that is impossible,” said Rayne. “You see, these trains have no drivers.”
Olivia couldn't bring herself to look. She kept all her attenti
on on the control panel. She stopped at the maintenance hatch, then rolled the car sideways into the hatch.
A moment later, the train flashed past the window. It was gone in less than a second.
Olivia fell against the control panel and took a deep breath. She caught Mero's gaze, and the pair of them burst out laughing. There seemed to be nothing else to do.
“And a round of applause for a fabulous driver!” said Rayne. He and Ikki clapped vigorously, making Olivia and Mero laugh even more.
Eventually Mero joined her at the control panel, and together they looked for a way to activate the hatch. Outside, Olivia could see that they were on the outskirts of a small town, with the magtube snaking towards it heart.
She couldn't see anyone waiting for them. Even so, she said to Mero, “We might find resistance.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Egliante's no fool,” Mero said. He checked his pistol, then threw another one to Olivia.
She held it, looking at its lethal curves, feeling its weight, and found she couldn't shoot quite yet. Instead, she took out her tablet and called Rurthk.
“We're leaving the magtube now,” she said, and gave him the location.
She contracted the tablet, and lifted the gun again.
“You two, stay here,” Mero ordered Ikki and Rayne. “Carry Eloise out when we say it's safe.”
They found the hatch access. Olivia hit it.
The maintenance car's doors slid open, flush with the access hatch. Fresh air, rich with the scent of alien grass, rushed in.
Outside, there was silence.
Olivia glanced at Mero. Mero held up his hand to tell her to stay, and headed out first. After a moment, he summoned her.
She followed him.
Enclosed hydroponics farms dotted the landscape ahead. In the distance, she could hear the background murmur of the town, the sounds of its machines and its people.
But there was nothing else. None of Egliante's men had come to greet them.
Chapter 34: Hotel
Rurthk took a train the more normal way, setting out as soon as he knew where to go.
