“Where?” Julie and Tony both said, looking at me from the front seats.
“To the docks.” I replied.
Chapter 16
We were still alive, driving down the road to the docks in the early morning light, so it was likely safe to assume that Lara wasn’t currently tracking us. I hadn’t seen any missiles trying to hit us and Frank was finally out of the picture. I don’t care how good VisionTech’s medical departments was, I can’t imagine they could reattach a head onto a body. Therefore, all we had to do was find somewhere and hide.
As we approached the docks about an hour later, I started to feel nervous. I could see the large ship, our target, from a distance. It was the biggest ship around and made the little fishing trawlers next to it look like toys. The word ‘VisionTech’ written on the side, visible for everyone to see.
If we could get on board, it would be the last place Lara would look for us and we might even dig up evidence that we could use against her.
I knew that there were all kinds of experimental equipment on that ship and just leaking the details of one biohazard or strange disease could cause Lara to resign.
I had spent the last hour thinking about a way to pay respects to everyone in the barn. Their life goals all seemed to be doing what was best for humanity, overthrowing dictators, hacking into evil corporations. I owed it to them to take down the biggest target of them all, and on that ship I would be able to do that, I was sure of it.
The shipyard was huge. Piles of containers as far as the eye could see. Even from the dock entrance we were still a mile away from the sea.
Julie rolled down her window as we approached the security check point.
“How can I help you?” the security guard asked.
His stocky demeanour and short height reminded me of a young Dani DeVito, he didn’t even need to duck down to see into the car.
“Hi Craig” Tony shouted from the passenger seat. “Got any good fish this morning?”
“Hi Tony!” Craig replied, a smile crept on his face when he realised that he didn’t have to interrogate us, he knew Tony and therefore thought he knew what we were here for. “I saw what happened to your restaurant yesterday, the news said it was a gas leak, are you alright?”
Craig seemed genuinely concerned for Tony which was refreshing as these days people are usually were just being polite for politeness sake.
“Yeah, I’m fine” Tony replied, “All the fish I got yesterday are now at the bottom of the river though, and I am putting on an event in the city tonight. No-one got hurt yesterday, so that’s good.”
“Well I hope your luck changes.” Craig gave Tony a smile and pressed his badge up against a sensor causing the barrier to rise.
“Cheers!” Tony shouted back and Julie drove through the check point and into the docks.
“That was easy.” Julie said in a relieved tone. “It was a good job you’re here. I didn’t expect someone to be manning security.”
“Craigs an old friend. We used to go sea fishing together and a few years ago I hooked him up with that job. It never hurts to make sure you have good access to the best stock. Craig doesn’t let other chefs in until I have had my pick of the catch. He’s a good friend like that.” Tony said.
We drove around the huge dock area. Past a variety of fishing boats, a small cruise liner and finally parked up at the end of the pier where the big container ship lay in wait.
“So, how about this for a plan. We all still work for VisionTech and we are here to inspect a shipment heading to China.” I suggested.
“Hey, as far as anyone knows, I still work for them!” Julie objected. “You have kidnapped me so you can board that ship.”
“I don’t think they will go for that.” I replied.
“That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!” Julie grinned. “That way I might still get paid!”
“So…” Tony interrupted, pressing the issue that time was not on our side. “We all work for VisionTech and we are here to check on a container?”
It wasn’t the worst cover story. I had actually done this type of thing for real once before, a long time ago, but I am sure it still happens. That time I was making sure the cargo was placed correctly on the ship. It had to be in the middle of the ship, surrounded by other containers so that the radiation it was emitting wouldn’t harm the staff.
“Do you think the crew will fall for that?” Tony asked, a hint of doubt in his voice.
“Yeah, I think so.” I replied but I was certain Tony could hear the lack of confidence in my voice.
“Let’s go then.” Tony said. He didn’t like to hang around, always getting on with things.
We left the car and approached the boat. It was silent, the sun had only just risen and there were no staff around. It was all a little too quiet for my liking, but we spotted a gangplank that led into the hull of the big blue ship and headed towards it.
It is only when you get this close to a ship that you realise just how big they are. This was the flagship for VisionTech’s logistics division. It could hold around ten thousand containers, which is a number so big I had trouble comprehending it.
These ships usually operated with a crew of around thirty people and as I stood next to this giant metal behemoth, I realised that if we could get on board without being noticed then the chances of meeting someone inside were slim.
Walking up the wooden planks into the vessel the three of us were constantly on the lookout, jumping at shadows and creeks from the hull, but the whole area was a ghost town, nobody was around to stop us.
The last time I had boarded a ship this big was a few years ago on a Caribbean cruise. Cruise ships always fascinated me. Their entrances especially were always a wow factor. After boarding you usually entered the main stairwell of the ship and depending on the size you would usually be met with a breath-taking room that ran the height of the ship and was dripping in gold leaf, glass elevators and marble flooring, all polished to the highest standard.
Entering this ship was a different experience altogether. It was very functional with steel walls painted white with pipes and cables running along the ceiling, coming and going through the boat as they pleased.
In front of me a sign firstly displayed Chinese symbols then English underneath. It had a bunch of arrows pointing in different directions and was trying to help crew navigate the long deck.
The Bridge, Main Deck and Accommodation were all to our left while the Forecastle, Cranes and Generator Room were to our right. We had entered the ship on the starboard side in the middle and we were on one of the top decks but not the highest. Straight ahead lay the Refrigeration Plant.
I don’t know what many of these names meant but I didn’t care, we were here for one thing, to get hold of secrets and then hide somewhere in the docks where Lara couldn’t find us.
As we entered the ship, I took note of where the bulk of the containers were positioned. They were mostly to our right, in front of the cranes that had loaded them on board, so we headed in that direction. This also happened to be away from the big white tower where I imagined most of the crew were.
Walking along the corridors I spotted something that I had been looking for, something that would make this a lot easier.
I was wearing the same clothes that had been torn in the explosion outside Tony’s restaurant. There were large holes in parts of them and up until now I had been running on adrenaline so I hadn’t noticed the cold spring air but the steel hull of the ship was starting to get to me and I was beginning to shiver.
I wasn’t the only one. Tony was in the same position and I could tell that he was feeling the cold. We needed to warm up.
Fortunately, hanging on the wall down a long corridor were a set of very warm looking, high visibility jackets with the words ‘VisionTech’ written on them. I grabbed one and threw it on. Julie and Tony followed suit.
“That’s better.” I said, the fleece lining warming my skin.
“We might even blen
d in now we are wearing these.” Tony suggested.
As we neared the front of the ship the hum of the large generators underneath grew louder. It was useful at helping us pinpoint our location as we had no windows to look through, just the long, cold, steel corridor.
Julie spotted a staircase to our left, so we climbed up on to the deck, taking it slow to make sure that the coast was clear. We had been on the ship around ten minutes by this point and I was pleased that we found the jackets because as we got closer to the open deck, the wind gusted around us, blasting sea air into our faces.
We stood in front of rows and rows of containers on the main deck. Julie headed over to the side of the ship to look.
“Hey guys, you might want to check this out.” She shouted back.
Both Tony and I followed her to the edge of the ship.
It was surprising to see the dock so far away when only minutes before we had been standing on it. I could still see Julies car in the distance.
“We have set sail!” Tony yelled.
“So it would seem.” I said calmly. Over recent days I had learnt that panicking doesn’t solve anything.
Horns and buzzers had been sounding as we made our way through the ship, but I had not felt any movement underfoot so didn’t think anything of it. On a ship this size you apparently can travel miles without realising it!
“How are we going to get back!” Tony started to panic.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take a look around, find something incriminating and then get a lifeboat back to shore. We just need to be quick before we hit the open seas!” I explained.
“Should it worry me that you came up with that plan way too quickly.” Julie asked.
“Recently I have learnt to think on my feet in life or death situations.” I replied.
“Yeah, well it’s not something that I want to get used to!”
We stood next to a tower of containers, one of many. Each of these stacks contained between five and seven large metal boxes one on top of the other and this row contained 15 of them. As we glanced down the boat there were eleven rows of just like this, taking up the first half of the ship.
The other half of the ship was empty, except for the large white tower at the far end where the crew were.
Each stack was surrounded by a lattice work of steel cages that joined each container tower to the next, ensuring that they wouldn’t topple over on the high seas and also providing a framework of ladders and walkways leading to the doors of each of the giant, metal boxes.
This meant that we could climb up the honeycomb metal structure and work our way around each container, inspecting the contents.
“Right.” I said. “Where should we start?”
Turning around I expected to see Tony and Julie staring up at the containers like I was but instead they had found something much more useful. At the end of the row there was a notice board and attached were blueprints.
A schematic showing the contents of each box and a brief description of what was inside. Jackpot!
The grid was full of words like ‘Flammable’ and Poisonous’ with matching symbols. Several of the boxes also contained the radiation symbol so I figured we should probably avoid opening them before working out what they contained.
I must admit I was underwhelmed by what we found. Most of the boxes we filled with raw materials, steel plates, rubber, glass and a variety of other more exotic elements like carbon fibre components and rare Earth metals. Nothing special really.
These made up the bottom few containers and the boxes on top were filled with ammunition and weapons. It was interesting to know that Lara was shipping weapons around the world, but I don’t think it’s illegal to do so if she has the right paperwork. I needed to find something better.
Feeling defeated already we moved onto the next row.
This was a huge ship and although we were stood on the top deck, we were still hundreds of metres from the control tower and hidden behind huge stacks, so we didn’t feel the need to sneak around.
Looking at the plans for the next few rows was more disappointment. It was the same, raw materials and basic equipment. There were a couple of boxes that contained ‘experimental fauna’ and this got Tony and Julie excited, but we moved on looking for something better.
Julie was always interested in plants. She was a botanist by trade and had made quite a name for herself by advancing the field of genetic modification.
During her first job she had helped develop a rice plant that could grow in arid conditions such as deserts with very little water and extreme heat. It was a huge breakthrough and people thought it could solve the worlds food problems, allowing farmland to be set up in previously unfarmable land.
The day after that company made their announcement VisionTech bought them out, taking control of the technology. That was how Julie started working for VisionTech in the first place.
After the acquisition the press releases stopped and the last anyone heard, the technology was still in development.
I could tell that Julie wanted to get into these containers and get her hands on the insane creations within.
The facility where we worked was just one of many around the world and communication between staff was not encouraged. Lara likely had different teams working on the same goal with the first team to accomplish it getting to keep their jobs.
We reached the halfway point in the stacks. Five to my left, five to my right and one row in front of me. The schematic on the notice board was hidden behind a large steel plate. I felt excitement growing. What was so secretive it needed a steel plate to hide behind. I guess this was so no-one could accidentally read the contents, or spies from the mainland, with telescopic cameras couldn’t spy on the ship. This was going to be a good one, I could feel it.
There were a hundred and five containers in this row. Fifteen across and stacked seven high. The most from any row.
The blueprints of many of the containers read ‘AG Drives’.
“AG Drives!” I yelled to the others. “That’s got to be my Anti-Gravity drives. We have hit the jackpot. I thought I lost my drive in the barn, but this looks like there are lots more on this ship.”
“Great, at least now we can fly home!” Tony quipped, looking at the distant dock, growing smaller by the second.
As I continued to look through the stack I found other boxes containing ‘Experimental Craft’ and there were outlines of planes stacked inside. It was the same design as the plane Lara had sent to blow up the restaurant and presumably the barn.
Down this row there were experimental drugs, poisons and nuclear material. One container contained a set of bulky suits that were either for space or underwater, I couldn’t tell. This was the jackpot! If I could just get inside a container with my gravity drives I knew I could release them and pilot them back to shore.
We quickly checked the other rows but they were not as interesting and I was too eager to get to the Anti-Gravity drives. The rest contained mostly refined materials and occasionally there were robot bays that were destined for construction sites around the world.
These were the robots that VisionTech was famous for and these containers included everything a robot would need, tools, spare parts and charging stations. They were designed so that you could unload one of the containers at a building site in the morning and watch as the robots did their job without any human involvement. They could head back to the container when they needed charging or a new tool and they worked efficiently as a team. They were a great design which had really disrupted the way construction worked, for the better.
As we reached the last few stacks, we had to be more careful not to be seen by the tower. The rows at this point stopped and were replaced with a huge expanse of concrete so there was nothing to hide behind. If we weren’t careful, we would easily be spotted by the tower.
Remembering the signs as we entered the ship, there was a ‘Refrigeration System’ on this boat which must be underneath the concrete slab.
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In the middle of the open deck was a large letter ‘H’ painted on the ground and sitting on top of that was an aircraft. Not a helicopter, but the same egg shaped, dumpy winged craft that Lara was using to blow up everything I loved.
It might have been the very aircraft that had been used, the one that had nearly killed me, had blown up the barn and destroyed my world. It was just sitting there in plain sight.
I don’t know who had designed it. I had only seen the blueprints and pictures on Ava’s laptop but standing here, seeing it up close I could appreciate some of the design decisions.
With the legs down, landed, it looked like a snail shell with tiny wings sticking out of the sides containing the missiles and guns.
The large glass dome at the front displayed the five seats and I remembered their configuration from the blueprints, two on the bottom and three on top. Stacked vertically, the bottom row slightly in front of the top. You could easily kick someone in the head from the back row.
This set-up made sense. It was clearly inspired by a car layout, but unlike a car, the rear passengers also get an unobstructed view through the huge front window. This would be crucial in a military setting where you need to see as much as possible.
Designing the craft in this way meant that it was tall but not very long compared to a normal plane. It was the difference between a paper airplane and a paper ball.
At the rear there was another, smaller glass dome with a seat inside. Someone could sit here and watch behind and below the plane. It could be a bomber position or a rear gunner, if you have a good head for heights that is, because you would be sitting in your seat, hanging over a glass floor with nothing but a harness holding you in.
Looking at the little wings, there were all kinds of instruments and devices. In amongst the cluster of missiles and machine guns was a glass rod. This was the same glass rod design that Frank had used the night we stole the files from the server. He hadn’t fired it at me, and I wasn’t it a hurry to see how it worked.
It was very strange to see this plane, sitting here, in the middle of the sea. What could Lara possibly be doing with it?
Falling Ark Page 12
