It had occurred to him that even if Spinner were here, he probably didn’t want someone walking down the street hollering his name for anyone to hear.
He had been through the market, pounded his way up and down the main street, and was now getting deeper and deeper into dangerous territory. The people around here were looking increasingly scary, and he didn’t feel safe. But what if Spinner was here somewhere? He’d shipped out with the Kangs—perhaps he was hiding ashore with them too.
He spotted a bar with a Kang mark beside the doorway. It seemed to have no actual door, as if it never closed; inside it was a smoky, beer-smelling cave. He was just plucking up the courage to go in when Graham came flapping down and landed beside him.
‘Graham! There you are! Pod said you saw Spinner.’
‘No Spinner,’ Graham said mournfully. ‘I follow, I lose, I find. But he not Spinner. He say, Go away!’
Will looked at the disconsolate parrot, his own heart sinking. He hadn’t realised until now how desperately he’d been hoping to find Spinner, to know that their journey was finally over and he could hand the responsibility back to him. ‘You’re sure it wasn’t him?’ he asked.
Graham swung his head from side to side. ‘Same Spinner hair. But no Spinner. Then I get lost.’
Will let Graham sit on his shoulder as he began the long trudge back towards the boat. ‘How did you get lost? You only had to fly back to the port. You can see it from here.’
Essie and Annalie ran down the boardwalk to where Pod was waiting. ‘We need to get out of here,’ Annalie said. ‘There are marines on the streets.’
‘Looking for someone,’ Essie added.
Pod looked at them sharply. ‘Didn’t see no Admiralty ships when we come in,’ he said.
‘No,’ Annalie said, ‘but they’re here. I don’t like it. I think we should get out of here as soon as we can. Is Will back yet?’
‘Not yet,’ Pod said, and explained what had happened. Annalie stared when she heard Spinner’s name.
‘We should go and look for them!’ Essie said, catching her excitement.
‘Too many of us running around,’ Pod said. ‘Everyone’ll get lost.’
‘You’re right,’ Annalie said. ‘We’re better off staying here. Let’s get ready for a quick departure.’
Graham was grumbling. ‘When go home?’
‘I don’t know,’ Will said. ‘Soon.’
‘When soon?’
‘Like I said, I don’t know.’
‘Spinner lost. Will take Graham home.’
‘They wrecked our home, remember?’ Will said in gloomy rage. ‘We don’t have anywhere to go back to.’
He turned a corner, and as he did so, a figure stepped out into the path directly in front of him. Will almost collided with the man who was not in uniform, but had something of an Admiralty look about him.
The man smiled and his lip curled up to reveal sharp teeth. With horror, Will recognised the man who’d chased him out his own bedroom window back in Lowtown.
‘Hello, Will,’ said Beckett. ‘Long time no see.’
Beckett again
Will turned to run, but hands gripped him firmly. Two marines had come up from behind and grabbed him. He struggled and wriggled, trying to wrench himself free, but the men were too strong for him.
‘Graham!’ Will shouted. ‘Tell Annalie!’
‘Catch that bird!’ Beckett roared, but Graham was too quick for them. He soared up into the sky and flew away.
‘Cuff him,’ Beckett said, and one of the marines zip-tied his wrists together. ‘Now, if you know what’s good for you, you’re going to tell us where to find your father.’
They walked Will down towards the port. Will expected them to take him aboard one of their ships, but there were none lying at anchor in the harbour. Instead they took him to the office of the harbourmaster. He realised they were outside the Admiralty’s jurisdiction here; they didn’t operate a base or even have an office in town, so the harbourmaster’s office was the next best thing.
He tried surreptitiously to see whether the Sunfish had left harbour. When he sent Graham to warn the others, he’d meant they should get away and save themselves while they still had a chance. This, he thought, was really rather noble of him; but he also felt sick with fear about what was going to happen next.
They sat him down on a hard visitor’s chair. Beckett relaxed in the harbourmaster’s chair, across the desk from him, while the marines went to wait outside the door.
‘You’ve been hard to catch,’ Beckett said. ‘I thought we’d track you down a lot sooner than this.’
Will gave him an unfriendly look and said nothing.
‘Well, here’s how it’s going to go. I already have you in custody. It won’t be long until I find your sister and that boat of yours. When I do, I’m going to confiscate the boat—again.’ He smiled horribly. ‘Then we’re going to dismantle it down to the smallest joint and rivet. We’re going to break it down until there’s nothing left of it, just in case the item I’m looking for is still aboard. Okay? That’s the first thing I’m going to do.
‘Then, I’m going to charge you and your sister with breaking into an Admiralty facility, stealing a boat from our custody, and unauthorised exit from Dux. I’m going to charge your sister with kidnapping that girl you’ve got in tow and fraudulently obtaining money from her father’s account.’
‘We didn’t kidnap her!’ Will said, forgetting he had intended to say nothing at all.
‘But you did steal her father’s money, didn’t you?’ Beckett said, his smile gleaming. ‘Be assured of this: you’ll be spending the rest of your teenage years in juvenile detention, and so will your sister. She can forget about going back to Triumph College. That’s done with. She’ll be sent to the girls’ facility in Oates Lake, and you’ll be at the boys’ facility on Mount Staggar or Fort Beacon.’
Oates Lake was an industrial town on the shores of an old, dry salt lake. It was hot, remote and harsh, famous for its colonies of prisons and its toxic-waste dump. Mount Staggar was a boys’ prison next to a mine; really, it was a labour camp, and a dangerous one. Fort Beacon, on the other hand, was a prison where the boys were kept locked down twenty-three hours a day.
Will gulped, reminding himself to stay tough. ‘Prove it,’ he said.
‘That won’t be difficult,’ Beckett said. He smiled, letting the idea of prison sink in for a moment. ‘But you can still make all this go away. You can save yourself and your sister. You just have to tell us where your father is.’
‘I don’t know where he is,’ Will said. ‘And that’s the truth.’
Beckett studied him thoughtfully. ‘Well, that’s not really very helpful, is it?’
‘It’s true. He could be anywhere—he didn’t tell us where he was going. We were just looking for somewhere to take the boat and lie low,’ Will said.
Beckett considered this for a moment. ‘I guess it’s the kind of thing a couple of kids might do,’ he conceded. ‘Sail off into the wild south with no plan at all.’ He paused. ‘Once I give the story of your capture and arrest to the newsfeeds, I hope, for your sake, it’ll flush your father out of hiding. If he takes the bait, all the better for you. If he doesn’t, I’ve already told you what’s going to happen. And I’ll let you think about what kind of loving father would stand by and let all that happen to his kids.’
Beckett waited for a moment longer to see if Will would crack, then pushed his chair back and got to his feet. ‘I’m going to go and find your boat and arrest your sister now.’ He went to the door and smiled at Will. ‘Do have a think about all I’ve said.’
He tapped on the door, and was let out. The door was locked again behind him.
Left alone, Will looked openly around the room as he hadn’t quite dared to before. There was a window, but it had bars on it. He examined it anyway, in case there was some chance of squeezing out, or jiggling the bars loose. But they were set quite firmly in the wall, and there was no chanc
e of squeezing out between them. Plus he still had his hands zip-tied behind his back.
He went to the harbourmaster’s desk and found some scissors. Rather awkwardly, (it was hard to use scissors with your hands behind your back) he managed to cut himself free. He looked around the room again, rubbing his wrists.
One window, barred.
One door, locked and guarded.
No other way out.
Then he glanced up. There was an access hatch in the ceiling.
Excitement bubbled up inside him. The hatch was at one end of the room, above some filing cabinets. He crept over to it and climbed up very carefully, trying not to make a sound. From the top of the cabinet he could push the hatch—it lifted—but he wasn’t tall enough to pull himself inside it.
Cautiously he hopped down again and picked up the visitor’s chair. He placed this on top of the filing cabinet, then climbed up beside it and stepped ever so carefully onto it. The legs slipped slightly under him, and the metal gave a boom. Will froze, waiting to see what would happen, but no one came in. Hurrying now, he stepped up onto the chair, lifted the hatch and wriggled through the narrow space into the ceiling.
It was almost dark under the roof, and hot, and full of grit and dust. But there were cracks of light visible here and there: the roof above him was tiled. He planted his feet carefully on the beams, and pushed at a roof tile. It lifted easily; he slipped it out, placing it carefully down beside him, then lifted out another and another, until he’d made a gap big enough to climb through. He poked his head out into brilliant daylight and looked around at a landscape of rooftops and chimneys, satellite dishes, solar panels and humming turbines. He let himself out onto the tiles, then skidded down the roof. He managed to stop himself just in time and clung to the gutter, his heart thumping, as he looked for a way down. There was another, slightly lower roof nearby—he stretched out a foot and stepped down onto that, hoping for a drainpipe he might climb down. The one he found looked rickety, as if his weight might rip it from the wall with a horrendous noise that would bring everyone running. Eventually, he decided to let himself down over the side, hang and drop.
The landing was painful, but only for a moment or two. He set off at a run, back towards the place where he’d left the Sunfish moored.
But as he approached, he could see the berth was empty. The Sunfish was gone.
Shipwreck Alley
Will came to a halt, not sure what to do next.
He’d hoped that the others would manage to get away. But he couldn’t help feeling bereft.
‘Hey!’ someone hissed.
Will looked around, and to his immense relief, Pod stuck his head up from a hiding place behind the water-pumping equipment and beckoned to him. Will scampered over and dived in next to him.
‘What happened?’ he gasped. ‘Where are the others? Where’s the boat?’
‘Admiralty’s everywhere,’ Pod said. ‘When Graham said you were captured, Annalie took the boat and got it out of the harbour. I waited with the dinghy in case you came back.’
‘So where’s the dinghy?’
‘That way,’ Pod nodded towards the boardwalk. ‘Let’s go.’
They looked out cautiously. The coast seemed to be clear. Will followed Pod down the boardwalk to the far end where a number of dinghies and rowboats were pulled up on the beach. Will saw, with a sort of pride, that Annalie had rigged their dinghy with a motor (usually they just rowed it about). The boys dragged it down the beach, pushed it out, and were away.
The motor roared as they bounced out of the port. Pod was at the tiller; he seemed to know where he was going. The wind made conversation impossible. Will watched all around him for the Admiralty ship he knew must be nearby, but there was no sign of it.
They skimmed round a headland, and there was the Sunfish waiting for them, Essie and Annalie keeping an anxious lookout. While the boys secured the dinghy and climbed aboard, Annalie hauled up the anchor.
Will hurried to the wheel. ‘Let’s get out of here!’
The winds were too light to be of much help. Will powered up the engine and the boat began to move. Annalie was beside him, checking the charts.
‘There’s a clear passage ahead,’ she said, pointing. ‘Don’t go west—there are rocks.’
They motored as fast as they could towards the open channel ahead of them—but then, from the other side of the bay, an Admiralty destroyer came gliding into view.
‘So that’s where they were hiding,’ Will said.
‘They’ve been lying in wait for us,’ Annalie said.
‘Can we outrun them?’ asked Essie.
‘Are you kidding?’ Will said.
He corrected his course, veering away from them, although he knew there was no way he could avoid them. They were on a course to intercept and they were faster and more powerful than the Sunfish.
‘What can we do?’ Annalie asked.
An idea came to Will. ‘This,’ he said. He spun the wheel and turned west.
‘Where are you going?’ Annalie shrieked.
‘Where they won’t follow us.’
‘But they call this Shipwreck Alley!’ Annalie said.
‘Lucky we’re not a ship then. We’re just a little boat.’
Annalie looked at him aghast, then took a deep breath and turned to the others. ‘Okay. Essie, I need you to go up the front and keep a look out for rocks. Pod, you do the same. Will, I’ll try and talk you through it.’
Annalie looked at the chart while Essie and Pod scrambled to the front and hung over the boat’s edge, looking out for obstacles.
Their path lay between two islands—the passage seemed deceptively wide, but there were fringes of rock not far below the surface.
‘Stay on this line,’ Annalie said, checking their position.
‘Roger that,’ said Will. ‘What are they doing?’
Annalie looked behind her. ‘They’re changing course.’
The Sunfish motored forwards.
‘I see something up ahead!’ Essie called. ‘Right!’
‘Do you mean it’s on the right or I should turn right?’ Will shouted.
‘On the right!’ Essie shouted.
Will corrected. The boat motored on.
‘Another big one coming up on the portside,’ Annalie warned.
Will corrected again. ‘What’s that Admiralty ship doing now?’ he asked.
Annalie looked around again. ‘I’ve lost them.’
‘What?’
The Admiralty ship had disappeared from view. Annalie realised where they must have gone. ‘I think they’re circling around behind the island,’ she said. ‘They must be going to try and cut us off.’
‘We’ll see about that,’ Will said grimly. He increased speed.
Essie, at the front, yelped. ‘Rock! Left! Big one!’
They veered.
‘There’s a very tight passage coming up,’ Annalie warned. ‘Slow down.’
‘Just tell me where to steer,’ said Will determinedly.
‘You need to come round to port.’
‘Coming round.’
‘You’re overshooting.’
‘Correcting!’
‘We’re going in too fast!’
‘Too late now!’
‘Rocks!’ shouted Essie.
They sailed into a narrow channel. Rocks loomed on both sides. The boat powered on, rising and falling over the fast-running current.
Will gripped the wheel, Annalie tracked their position, Essie gripped the railing in front, hardly daring to look.
‘Turn left!’ Essie shouted.
A rock loomed above the water, directly ahead. Will turned the wheel. The boat began to turn, but not fast enough. They struck. The boat gave a shudder, and then turned, tearing, across the rock with a noise that made Will’s heart freeze. But they hadn’t stuck. They were still moving. ‘Someone go below and have a look!’ Will shouted.
Pod went below. There was a rip in the wall of the starboard cabin, and
water was pouring in. The sight of all that water surging in, completely uncontrolled, paralysed him. He had no idea what to do next.
Suddenly Annalie was there at his side. She grabbed one of the pillows off the bed and stuffed it in the hole, squishing it in with her foot. It was surprisingly effective at slowing the flow of water. ‘There’s nothing more we can do about the hole now, we’ll have to try and fix it later. Get the pump going, quick. Then shut the cabin door. It might help contain the water.’
While Pod got the pump working, Annalie went back on deck.
The channel had widened again and Will was steering more calmly. ‘We’re out of the worst of it,’ he said.
‘Rocks on the right!’ Essie called.
‘There’s a big hole in the hull,’ Annalie said.
‘Below the waterline or above?’
‘Right about on it. There’s a lot of water coming in. Pod’s getting the pump going.’
‘We can’t fix it now,’ Will said.
‘I know. But we’re going to have to fix it soon, or it could sink us.’
As they motored on, they saw a dreadful sight: the Admiralty boat slid into view. They were travelling at full speed and were once more on an intercept course.
‘Should have known they wouldn’t give up so easily,’ Will said. ‘Is there anywhere else we can get to quickly? Our motor’s not going to last too much longer.’
Annalie studied the charts. ‘They’ve cut us off. We have to go that way, along that route there, there’s no other way out. We’re cut off from the rest of the Islands by the Emperor Reef.’
‘The Emperor Reef?’ Will repeated. ‘Is that where we are?’
The island group they were passing through was protected by a huge coral reef, hundreds of kilometres long. Once it had been one of the wonders of the world, but then the Flood had killed it. Now it was just a barrier to shipping.
The two islands they’d passed between stood almost as a gateway to the reef—it lay to starboard, not far from their present position.
Will leaned over the chart, studying it. ‘A destroyer can’t get across the reef until they get all the way up to here,’ he said, tracing the route that led to the break in the reef, a long way to the north, where most ships crossed. ‘That’s why all the shipping routes go that way.’
Escape to the Moon Islands: Quest of the Sunfish 1 Page 19
