Urban Outlaws

by Peter Jay Black

  Slink frowned. ‘How does that make any sense?’

  ‘It’s a way to spread the blame,’ Obi said.

  Jack nodded. ‘Exactly.’

  ‘I don’t get it,’ Wren said.

  ‘Charlie’s been caught red-handed, right? They’ve seen the shoulder camera. They’ll know she’s not acting alone. She’ll tell them about me. Say we were trying to break in together.’

  ‘Do you think she’ll say anything about Proteus?’ Obi asked.

  ‘That’d make her seem stupid,’ Slink muttered.

  Obi shot him a nasty look.

  Jack continued to pace, trying to put himself in Charlie’s shoes. ‘She’ll come up with some other reason why we were looking at the place. Perhaps, to see if there was anything we could nick.’

  Slink huffed. ‘We’re wasting time, Jack.’

  Jack held up a hand and followed his thoughts. ‘She’ll tell them she wasn’t working alone. That means they’ll be waiting, expecting me to come rescue her.’

  ‘And they don’t know about the rest of us,’ Wren said.

  Jack stopped pacing. He had to hand it to her – she was bright. He smiled. ‘Which means we have the edge.’

  Slink looked at Obi and Wren, and huffed again. ‘Some edge.’

  ‘We can’t just burst in,’ Jack said. ‘We need a plan. Do you still have those drawings from the last mission?’

  Slink walked to a filing cabinet in the games area, and opened the lower drawer. He rummaged inside and pulled out one of his sketchpads.

  At the dining table, he flicked through the pages until he found the drawings of the buildings he’d made a couple of months back.

  Jack began to study them.

  ‘Not cool, guys.’ Obi pointed at several of the darkened monitors. ‘They’ve blacked out the surrounding area now. All of the CCTV cameras are down.’

  ‘Recon?’ Slink asked Jack.

  Jack nodded. They were out of time. Charlie needed them now.

  Slink jumped to his feet and buttoned his jacket. ‘Let’s do this.’

  • • •

  When they arrived at the target building, Jack stopped short and gestured to the building next door. He and Slink hurried over to it. The ground floor had large glass doors and they peered inside. A guard sat behind the reception desk with his feet up on the work surface, his head bowed, his eyes closed.

  Jack pulled back and nodded at the lock.

  Slink slid the wallet of picks from his jacket pocket and set to work. He used one to rake back and forth and within a few seconds he’d turned the tension wrench and the lock clicked.

  ‘You’re getting better at that,’ Jack said.

  Grinning, Slink opened the door and they sneaked through.

  They tiptoed across the foyer, heading for the stairs, all the while keeping an eye on the snoring guard.

  They were halfway to the door when the guard groaned. Jack and Slink froze, mid-stride, like a pair of comical statues. The guard shuffled in his chair, let out a huge fart and resumed snoring.

  Jack put his hand over his mouth, fighting back the urge to laugh out loud. He dared not make eye contact with Slink. Here they were, in a dangerous situation, and Jack’s body was shaking with silent giggles.

  Jack pulled himself together enough to make it through the door to the stairs, where he gasped for air.

  • • •

  Once on top of the building, they hurried to the edge of the roof and peered over the low wall. The target building was the same height and they had a clear view.

  ‘How big is the gap?’ Jack asked.

  Slink pulled out a laser measuring device from his inside pocket, flicked it on and aimed it at the other building. A red dot hit the opposite wall and Slink looked at the display. ‘Seven metres thirty centimetres.’

  Jack frowned. ‘Can you jump that far?’

  Slink stared. ‘Only one way to find out.’

  Jack winced. The thought of Slink plummeting twenty storeys was not a happy one. But, for now, they had to assume he could make it.

  Jack scanned the opposite rooftop – it seemed the same as the last time they visited, except . . . he spotted movement. ‘What’s that?’ He slid his mini binoculars from his pocket and pressed them to his eyes. By the rooftop exit was a CCTV camera. It was new – must have been fitted earlier that day because it hadn’t been there before. And what made things worse was the fact it was motorised, panning from side to side. ‘No.’

  ‘What?’

  Jack handed Slink the binoculars.

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Jack said, ‘that’s a problem.’

  ‘It gets worse.’ Slink passed the binoculars back and pointed to an air vent in the right-hand corner of the building.

  Jack looked and groaned. Mounted to a steel pole was another motorised camera. This too was panning from side to side. Both cameras covered all the angles. Not only was there no way to get to the door, but not even a way into the air vent.

  Jack spotted a data cable running from both cameras, which meant they were also computer controlled. No need for anyone to monitor the video – any movement would set alarms ringing. And judging by the cameras themselves – expensive, high-resolution – someone meant business.

  Jack’s mind raced through alternatives, for another way into the building, but he couldn’t find a quick solution. The main entrance was out of the question. The side exit in the alleyway was under CCTV surveillance. The windows were modern and reinforced, and the roof was now protected.

  Nope, they were in trouble.

  He lowered the binoculars and sat with his back against the wall. Slink had the same defeated expression on his face.

  ‘Guys,’ Obi said through the headset, ‘what’s going on?’

  ‘They’ve got cameras.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Slink said, ‘that’s what I said. And they’re moving.’

  ‘Moving?’ Obi’s voice went up an octave. ‘Really? You mean they’re on motors?’

  ‘Yes,’ Jack said.

  ‘Woo-hoo,’ Obi shouted.

  Both Jack and Slink jumped.

  Obi was almost hyperventilating through the headset.

  ‘What’s wrong with you?’ Jack said.

  ‘They’ve made a massive mistake, you guys.’

  Jack and Slink exchanged quizzical looks.

  • • •

  Obi explained his idea, and before Jack and Slink left to return to the bunker, they’d set up a hidden camera of their own on the roof of the other building.

  It took ten minutes of moving and positioning before Obi was finally happy with the results.

  Jack and Slink went down the stairs to the ground floor, but instead of leaving via the foyer and past the guard, they disabled the alarm on the back door and slipped out that way, careful not to lock it behind them.

  • • •

  Half an hour later they were back in the bunker.

  ‘I think I got this worked out.’ On one of the screens Obi had drawn a basic floor plan of the rooftop, complete with the positions of air vents, cameras, walls and the exit door. He used the mouse to fill in a few more details.

  Finally, he added cone-shaped, shaded areas to represent the camera’s field of view.

  ‘This is what they see.’ He clicked a button and the cones swept from side to side. A timer counted next to each.

  The camera near the door took twenty-two seconds to do a full sweep from left to right, while the camera on the pole took thirty-one seconds.

  Jack watched the camera views overlap and sweep past each other. After a few passes, he saw the pattern. He grabbed Slink’s sketchpad from the dining table and scribbled the times down. Finally, after checking and rechecking, he let out a breath. Obi was right. ‘It is possible, but it’s going to be tight.’

  Even though it would take careful, precise movements, if there was anyone in the world that could get past the cameras and to the door, it was Slink. Jack glanced
around the bunker. ‘We’re going to need to recreate the rooftop and practise.’

  Slink looked at the drawing. ‘Shouldn’t be a problem.’ He nodded at Wren. ‘Come help me,’ he said, and they started to move furniture.

  • • •

  It took another half-hour of careful measurements to set everything up. Jack found a couple of webcams in Charlie’s workshop. He and Obi connected them to one of the computers, and Jack wrote a quick program. They would act as the rooftop cameras, only they couldn’t move, so after taking off the lenses to create a wide angle, the program would then sweep across the cameras’ viewpoints and beep if they detected any pixel movements.

  Finally, they were ready.

  Slink stood at the far end of the room with his back pressed against the door. His first task was to sprint ten metres and jump seven metres. This would represent the gap between the buildings and the bunker was just long enough for him to try it out safely.

  Slink took several deep breaths and looked up. ‘Ready?’

  Jack nodded. ‘Go.’

  Slink coiled his body like a spring and launched himself forwards. He ran fast, his legs moving in a blur, and his right foot hit the first mark. He leapt into the air, arms and legs moving in graceful arcs. For a couple of seconds, it was like he was flying. He landed, did a forward roll and jumped to his feet. He glanced back, expectant. ‘Well?’

  Jack shook his head. Slink had landed at least half a metre short of the second mark. In other words, he would now be a squishy puddle of flesh on the pavement below.

  Slink gritted his teeth and marched back to the door.

  He repeated the jump eight more times. Each time had the same outcome – he landed short. In fact, as Slink grew more tired and frustrated, his jumps got shorter.

  He spent the rest of the time muttering under his breath that this wasn’t even supposed to be the hardest part. He paced the room, stopping now and again to look at the gap, then cursing and resuming his pacing.

  Jack watched him for a few minutes, then suddenly had an idea. He jumped to his feet and hurried off to Charlie’s workshop.

  He threw open the cupboards under the benches until he found the shoes they’d used on a job the year before. Charlie had designed and altered a pair of trainers. She called them ‘Spring Shoes’. They were exactly what they needed.

  Essentially, she’d divided the sole into two parts, allowing each half to hinge. As you took a step, your heel would hit the floor first, loading a spring. Then, as the foot rolled, the stored energy transferred to the ball and launched you forward.

  Jack examined the shoes. The mechanism seemed to be working. Well, only one way to be sure. He returned to the main bunker and handed them to Slink.

  Slink’s eyes lit up. ‘I forgot about these.’ He slipped them on and tested the fit. A grin spread across his face and he tracked back to the main door with renewed energy. He crouched down, a look of determination on his face.

  ‘Go.’

  Slink launched himself forward. His speed was amazing, seeming ten times faster than before. His right foot hit the mark and he leapt high into the air. After what seemed ages, he finally landed near the far wall. He glanced back and let out a yell of triumph. He’d cleared the gap with plenty to spare.

  Obi and Wren clapped.

  ‘Phase One complete.’ Jack said, returning Slink’s cheesy grin. ‘Now for something challenging.’

  ‘Bring it on.’

  • • •

  Their excitement was short-lived, however. Slink negotiated the obstacle course that represented the rooftop with ease. The only problem was the timing. Jack and Obi planned an exact schedule but Slink had trouble sticking to it. The times were so tight, and the cameras’ fields of view overlapped in such a way, that there was barely a second in which to squeeze between them.

  On the fourth try, Slink managed to slip past the first camera, only to be caught by the second as he tried to make it the final few steps to the door. He had several more goes at it, counting in his head, once with a watch, but he just couldn’t get it right.

  Obi even tried calling out when Slink should move, but this didn’t help either. No matter what they did, it wouldn’t work, and two hours of insistent beeping from the computer – every time a camera spotted Slink – was becoming annoying.

  Tempers were running high.

  ‘All right, all right,’ Slink snapped when Obi had suggested he wasn’t reacting fast enough to commands. ‘It’s you. You’re not saying “go” quick enough.’

  ‘I’m saying it at exactly the right moment.’

  Slink glared at Obi as though he wanted to kill him.

  ‘Calm down,’ Jack said. ‘There must be another way.’ Though for the moment he had no idea what that was, and his head was thumping. He looked at the clock. It was almost six hours since Charlie had been taken.

  ‘Dubstep,’ Wren shouted, and they all jumped.

  ‘Loud music won’t help,’ Jack said.

  ‘Yes, it will.’ She ran over to Slink. ‘Where’s your iPod?’ Slink tapped his jacket pocket. Wren held out her hand. ‘Give it here.’

  Slink frowned but did as he was told.

  Wren put in the earphones and scrolled through his playlist.

  Still frowning, Slink said, ‘What are you doing?’

  She ignored him and hurried over to Obi. ‘Show me the times he needs to stick to.’

  • • •

  Her idea was genius and an hour later, they were ready. Jack and Slink stood on the opposite rooftop, their hoods pulled up, their coats flapping in the wind.

  Slink was taking deep breaths, psyching himself up.

  ‘Let’s do this,’ Jack said. He was worried the wind was too strong, and if Slink fell – Jack’s stomach knotted and he tried not to think about what might happen. He stepped back, allowing Slink plenty of room.

  Slink pulled his bandana up over his nose and mouth, hunched low, and rocked backward and forward like a high jumper preparing himself.

  The spring shoes squeaked, as if they too were psyching themselves up for the mission ahead.

  Jack pressed a finger to his ear. ‘Obi, we ready?’

  ‘Yes,’ came the curt reply. He sounded as nervous as they were.

  ‘OK,’ Jack whispered to Slink.

  Slink rocked back and forth three more times, then hurled himself forward. He streaked across the rooftop like Roadrunner in one of those stupid cartoons he liked. At the last split second Slink launched himself over the wall and into the air.

  Slink’s arms swung in wide circles, and Jack’s heart stopped.

  Finally, Slink landed, double-footed, on the other side with just a couple of centimetres to spare. Instead of rolling forward as he had done before, his arms flailed about and he started to topple backwards.

  ‘No,’ Jack shouted, unable to stop himself.

  Somehow, Slink managed to regain his balance and straighten up.

  Jack let out a breath. That was too close.

  Slink took long pulls of air as he prepared himself for the next task.

  Obi said, ‘Say when.’

  Slink said, ‘Now.’

  The soft build-up of a dubstep track came through the earbuds, and Slink’s head swayed. He’d practised with Wren, working out the exact movements to make in time with the music.

  Suddenly, the beat erupted and so did Slink. He rolled over a skylight and ducked behind an air vent. The beat stuttered for a second, then ripped into another torrent. Slink leapt over the air vent, stood behind the wall and peered up at the camera on the pole.

  A metre or so more and he was home free.

  For an agonising ten seconds the music built, then exploded in another flood of sound. Following the beat, Slink rolled, stood, spun one hundred and eighty degrees, and jumped forward, but something was wrong. The sole of the left spring shoe flew off. Slink stumbled and fell face first, hitting the roof hard.

  Jack grabbed the wall in front of him. ‘Slink.’ The c
amera started to turn back in Slink’s direction. Jack’s vision tunnelled and his breathing stopped. There was nothing he could do. He watched, powerless to help.

  With a few choice swear words – that Wren must now have been expert in – Slink yanked off the spring shoes, leapt to his feet, grabbed the door handle and pulled himself through just in time.

  Jack punched the air in triumph. ‘Brilliant, Slink. Freakin brilliant.’

  ‘Cheers,’ came the cool reply.

  Jack turned and ran to the exit.

  • • •

  Back at ground level, Jack tiptoed up the alleyway, all the while scanning for agents or signs of movement. He ducked behind the same van Charlie had hidden behind earlier. ‘Slink?’

  ‘Almost there,’ Slink whispered.

  Jack heard him unscrewing an air vent and dropping into the security room.

  The minutes dragged like hours.

  Finally, Slink said, ‘Done.’

  Jack breathed into the mic, ‘Obi? We good?’

  ‘Looks OK.’

  Slink had connected a USB stick to their security computer and the program Jack had written was now working its magic.

  Another thirty seconds later Obi said, ‘I’m reconnected to their cameras. Taking them offline. Recording looped.’

  So far, so good, Jack thought. Their security was weaker than he’d expected.

  He straightened up and casually walked out from behind the van. He reached the door with the keypad and counted off the seconds. ‘Three, two, one.’

  There was a click and the lock disengaged. Jack couldn’t help but smile as he turned the handle and slipped through.

  Inside, he hurried up the stairs to the first floor. He silently opened the door and peered into the hallway – empty. Jack hurried down the corridor, checking each room in turn. At the end, he reached an intersection and froze. A radio was playing somewhere to his right.

  ‘Left, Jack,’ Obi said. ‘Three rooms down.’

  Jack glanced up at the security camera, then hurried down the hallway. He grabbed the office door handle, held his breath, opened it and stuck his head inside.

  ‘Charlie.’

  She was tied to a chair, bound and gagged. Her eyes went wide as she realised who it was. Jack hurried over to her and pulled the gag from her mouth. ‘Trap,’ she hissed.