Ascent

by Thorby Rudbek

  I guess we must have stopped here to rest; Karen concluded, checking out the thin cover provided by the vegetation between the truck and the road. It doesn’t look like Richard picked a good hiding place. She glanced over at him again, and a feeling of kinship came over her.

  He must have been as tired as I was. She stroked his hair absently as the hue of her eyes turned a familiar grey.

  As Brenda approached the location where she thought she had seen the dim outline of a truck, she began to wonder why they had bothered to stop. I think I just imagined it anyway. Maybe the reflection wasn’t from the chrome-plated fender of a half-ton, maybe it came from an old piece of mirror. She stopped, then turned around and began to walk back.

  Meanwhile, the driver, Kevin Plummer, had leaned back. Just a quick stretch to relieve tension. By the time Trooper Clay got back to the car, he had fallen asleep.

  “What are you doing?” Brenda asked in amazement, still holding the door ajar as she dropped back into her seat and found her partner temporarily off-duty.

  “Huh?” He looked at her through bleary eyes. “Must’ve dropped off. What happened with the truck?”

  Brenda Clay’s response was cut off by a blinding white glare.

  “What the devil?” Kevin reached for the handset of his radio, then stopped as the smell of acrid smoke pervaded the interior of the patrol car. “Out!” he shouted, pushing his partner through the still open door at the same time as he flipped the handle on his. They rolled in opposite directions across the ground away from the car, just before another beam of brilliant white light penetrated the radiator grill, followed by the hiss and sizzle of escaping fluids.

  “Stay down!” Brenda shouted wildly, aware of her partner’s talent for action, and unsure of his location. A moment later Plummer dropped to the ground behind her, panting heavily.

  “Couldn’t see a thing after that first flash,” he whispered. “It’ll take my eyes a while to adjust. Where did it come from?”

  “I don’t know, but the second one came from that direction,” Clay pointed. Both turned as the sound of a truck was heard accelerating rapidly towards them. As they scrambled to their feet, it rushed past. Kevin pulled out his service weapon and ran into the road, turning towards the fleeing, unlit vehicle. As he rapidly took aim, the truck backfired, and instinctively he dived for cover.

  Brenda followed his example.

  “Yeah, that fooled me, too,” Brenda admitted as his climbed back to his feet. “It was too dark for a good shot, anyway.”

  Plummer growled. He walked back to their car, feeling like an idiot. Sure enough, the battery was dead and radiator fluid was mixing with acid on the ground, giving off foul-smelling fumes.

  Karen glanced over at Richard as he settled back into the driver’s seat and adjusted the shoulder strap of his seat belt.

  “Nice work,” she smiled.

  “Tutor knew where to hit it without causing an explosion. I think we managed to stop them in time, without even hurting them.”

  “Are you still upset about the security guard?” Karen asked, her voice full of empathy.

  “I never killed anyone before.” He stated the obvious.

  “He didn’t suffer. He died instantly,” she reminded him. “I know.”

  “I thought you were unconscious.” Richard’s thoughts dwelt for a moment on the rather horrifying concept of being in contact with someone’s mind as that person met their death. Finally, his mind turned back to the news from Tutor about the explosion and deaths resulting from it. Karen picked up the thought and questioned him about it until she had the full story.

  There was silence in the truck, apart from the sound of the engine, running smoothly now that they had got up to speed.

  “I’ll make sure I don’t drop my audio pickup again,” he reassured her finally as he found it with his left foot, on the floor of the truck. “You saved us. They would have caught us if you hadn’t woken up.”

  “Which way should we go, Tutor?” Karen shrugged it off, more concerned with their next step, as they approached a junction in the road.

  “Take the next left, then right. There’s another way to cut through.” The remote-sounding voice in her ear reassured her that they still had a chance to succeed.

  Trooper Kevin Plummer put his cell phone away, frustrated by the lack of coverage it had detected, and paced restlessly across the road.

  “Are you sure this road is that busy?” He questioned his partner impatiently. “There’s been no sign of a vehicle yet.”

  “Relax, it’s only been fifteen minutes,” Trooper Brenda Clay said. “Even if it takes an hour, it’ll be a lot quicker than making a run for the nearest farmhouse. From that point of view, they chose a good place to rest up. All they needed was to be a few feet further into the undergrowth, and we wouldn’t have seen them at all.”

  “What was that light, anyway? Laser?”

  “Must have been.” Brenda nodded in the darkness. “I didn’t hear that any experimental ones had been stolen, did you?”

  “They probably would keep it quiet;” Kevin Plummer kicked at a stone at the edge of the road. “You can’t make a public announcement about a–”

  “Here it comes!” Trooper Clay crossed back to the side of the road from which the vehicle was approaching. She waved the flashlight across the path of the on-coming truck. It slowed and came to a halt alongside them with a squeal of brakes.

  “Police!” Trooper Plummer showed his badge to the driver as the man wound the window down. “This is an emergency. We need to use your C.B.”

  “Been having some problems, have you?” the driver commented as he glanced at the lifeless police cruiser, which was still producing a fair quantity of fumes. He switched his unit to the emergency channel and passed the handset to Kevin. Looks like they’ll need a tow-truck!

  ***

  Not long after, Ed Baynes received word of the incident near Worcester and gave instructions that the ambush that he and Judy had so painstakingly devised should be set up at the five most likely points along the routes back towards Redcliff. He sent Judy and Leroy to the two most practical sites, with instructions to act only as overseers, just monitoring the FBI agents, unless they felt it was necessary to the success of the plan to take over. In addition, Baynes put pressure on all his contacts to maximize the efforts of all the local police to track the suspects and pass on any leads to the teams on the spot.

  Unknown to him, however, several roadblocks had been set up on major roads around Boston in an attempt to capture the jewel thieves who had been mentioned on the news which Brad and Tracy had watched. Unfortunately these roadblocks were situated closer to Richard and Karen’s position than those prepared by Ed’s ambush teams, and some of the police manning them were determined that if either pair of suspects showed up, they would apprehend them, as that was their perceived duty as preservers of the peace. In any case, as both of the descriptions referred to a short, blond-haired woman and a tall, dark haired man, differentiating between the two pairs would be next to impossible, under night-time conditions. Some law enforcement officers even surmised that they were one and the same.

  ***

  Richard turned north again on highway four ninety-five. He drove in silence for about an hour, then the sounds from his stomach forcibly reminded him that he had not eaten since that morning, and then only stale sandwiches. He looked at his watch. Three fifteen a.m. Gotta get food as well as gas.

  He pulled in at the next gas station and stopped the truck. The gas gauge was almost on empty, but he had no more money than at the start of their cross-country adventure. He looked uncertainly at Karen.

  As if in response to his thoughts, she stretched and yawned.

  “Oh, I feel much better now!”

  “I’ll fill her up.” He smiled in relief. “If you could take care of the attendant, I’ll check for food when I’m finished.”

  “Okay.” Karen’s eyes started to change to grey as Richard got out. Before h
e had finished pumping gasoline, Karen climbed out and walked over to the store.

  “Just checking out the ladies room,” she explained.

  Richard grinned. Still a novelty for her... What a girl! I’ll make a quick pit stop too, I think.

  A few minutes later they started out again. Richard struggled to unwrap his sandwich as he drove.

  “Here, let me.” Karen took the sandwich and removed it from the thin plastic wrap. As she handed the first triangle of the sandwich to him, she apologized. “I meant to drive again, to let you rest some more.”

  “You already did! And anyway, I feel much better now I’ve been able to stretch my legs.”

  “Still, I know you’re really tired,” she insisted.

  “I’ll tell you what, I’ll drive until I start feeling drowsy again, then you can take over.” He glanced over to obtain her concurrence. “Is it a deal?”

  “Ok.” She nodded her agreement reluctantly. “At least I can help you with your sandwiches until then.”

  Richard grinned as she held out the next triangle of bread and filling. Oh, I love it when she does this!

  As they cruised around one of the long curves of the highway, just a few minutes later, they saw a line of about eight vehicles waiting at a police roadblock composed of three cruisers with their lights flashing in the gloom of the unlighted road.

  “Karen, how are you feeling?” Richard asked urgently, referring to her reserves of power.

  “Just about maximum again, I think,” she responded. Or almost so, she admitted privately to herself.

  By this time they had reached the end of the line, and Richard was wondering whether they could bluff and disinterest their way through or whether they should turn around and make off at top speed. State troopers were walking up and down the line of vehicles, using flashlights to examine the occupants.

  As one trooper walking on the hard shoulder some yards back from the road surface came closer, Karen concentrated on him. He shrugged his shoulders, sighed quietly, and turned back. Another trooper approached on the opposite side of the road and was repelled in the same manner. Now there were only four cars and one truck left in the line ahead of them. Richard checked the rear view mirror. Headlights appeared around the curve and swung slowly towards them.

  Got to make a decision one way or the other, before we get trapped in the line.

  The two troopers working at the head of the line finished with the first two cars at about the same time and waved them on. They walked past the couple working on the truck and split to cover the two cars behind it. Suddenly Richard realized that when they and the two working on the truck had finished, there would be four state troopers available to concentrate on them, as well as the two who were standing back, checking the larger scene for developments. He glanced anxiously at Karen, and could see that she had discovered the same possibility.

  “Can’t you make them really interested in that other truck?” he suggested quickly.

  “I’ll try, but it’s more difficult, and I…” Karen stopped as the truck was waved on. She stared straight ahead, the colour of her eyes indistinguishable in the darkness.

  Richard switched his gaze from the left side to the right to discover that the two troopers who had been standing back keeping an eye on the overall scene were also approaching once more. He fingered the steering wheel nervously and glanced back to Karen. She was breathing hard, her fingers white as they sunk deep into the soft plastic padding above the dashboard.

  Together with the other two, there were now four troopers approaching the green truck from left, right and centre. Then they faltered, slowing their brisk pace almost in perfect synchronization. The closest turned to walk back. Disastrously, the trooper checking the car at the front of the line chose this moment to wave the driver on. It pulled away, releasing a fifth man.

  “I can’t handle them all,” Karen gasped.

  Richard hesitated, and before he could decide what to do, the first of the troopers reached the driver’s window and shone his flashlight into Richard’s face. He swung it sideways a little and found Karen.

  “It’s them!” he announced loudly, stepping backwards a pace and drawing his service weapon. “Hands where I can see them! Get out of the truck; you are under arrest.”

  A flash from the dark grey box on the roof melted the end of the officer’s gun and galvanized Richard into action. He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal and struggled to control the truck as the front end reared up on its springs. He spun the steering wheel wildly and the truck swung sharply to the right, clipping the tail of the one car still in front of them, then he swung it left and careered along the edge of the shoulder towards the line of police cruisers. The police scattered in all directions. As the vehicle rapidly picked up speed, the engine roaring at full throttle, it backfired, and almost simultaneously smashed into the tail end of the police car which hung over the edge of the road. The cruiser was shoved around like a toy, sending plastic splinters flying in all directions from the shattered taillights.

  Several more flashes attested to Tutor’s accuracy in eliminating the opposition weaponry despite the poor light conditions; only two shots rang out as Richard swerved back onto the tarmac and squealed off into the night. One bullet ricocheted off the ingots with a whine.

  “That was close,” Richard muttered. “Tutor, see if you can disable any of those police cars if they start–”

  Movement at the periphery of his vision attracted his attention and he glanced over at Karen and cut short his conversation with her mentor in mid-sentence. She had slumped down in her seat, and was leaning against the side window, her right hand clutching at her left breast, a dark stain spreading out between her fingers and over her hand, turning the grey of her jumpsuit a darker, more ominous hue.

  “Tutor, she’s been hit!” Richard screamed.

  Simultaneous to his shriek, a beam of brilliant light stabbed back into the night. A moment later there was an explosion behind them, causing a huge, shadowy image of their truck to be thrown out ahead of them. Richard pulled up with a tremendous squeal of brakes and threw the stick shift into park. He popped his seat belt and leaned over, flipping on the interior light.

  Karen was still breathing, but her hand had dropped to her lap. He felt at her neck for a pulse, and found it, light and fast, after a few frantic seconds. The contact produced none of the effects indicative of transfer of energy that he had now grown so used to. He hesitated, then checked the spreading stain – it had now reached her lap and was spreading out sideways also.

  “Tutor, what do I do? She’s hurt! She’s hurt real bad.”

  “I can’t do anything here,” the remote voice said plainly in his ear. “I could at Citadel, but…”

  “Argh!” Richard slammed the stick back into drive and stamped viciously on the pedal. “Got to do something,” he snarled. “I lost everything once before. Not again – no! I can’t lose Karen. I couldn’t…” He forced himself to concentrate on driving.

  “Please, Tutor… somebody…” he whispered.

  As the truck roared off into the night, leaving a road littered with smashed and burning vehicles and the bodies of the dead and dying, it backfired again, but this time, there was no reply.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Without all the facts, there is always a little mystery – Winseuw

  “What!” Baynes screamed. “I said that they were to be taken alive. This isn’t some wild west shoot-out!” He listened for a few more seconds, then interrupted the hapless minion on the other end of the line. “No, I was not aware of a robbery that took place in Boston yesterday. You think I have time to watch the news here? How could that affect this anyway?” Grimly he listened as the tale of confusion unfolded. Once he had heard enough, he cut the conversation off abruptly and turned to the late Nathan Blackwell’s aide.

  “Contact the commanding officers of all military units. I want one hundred percent surveillance by every possible means. There must be no rou
te into Redcliff left unguarded. At all costs we must prevent them from returning to this Citadel. They must be like angry wasps, now we’ve swatted at them. Capture them if possible, but if not, they must be stopped, even if we have to kill them. God knows what they will do if they succeed in refuelling that flying hunk of rock out there.”

  He paced up and down, then turned to the aide once more. “Oh, and let Brisson and Fraser know what’s happened, they might want to rethink their strategy in the light of this fiasco.” He traced the route Richard and Karen had followed thus far on the map and estimated their arrival time at the ambush points. “Tell them to be expecting contact very soon.”

  The aide nodded, then bent over the communications console, intent on his task, not yet sure if he preferred his new position, temporary though it might be, as Ed Baynes’ personal assistant.

  Ed went outside and stared at the scaffolding, rebuilt now and stronger than before. Citadel was completely hidden from sight, the view of its ebony-like walls replaced by blue, green and grey patches stretched over the metal framework. The generator’s noise went unnoticed by him now as he took in the floodlit area and the tanks stationed on both sides of the electrified fencing. The sound of a helicopter momentarily gained precedence over the steady roar of the diesel engine, and he watched the spotlight beneath it as it played over the cliffs, out onto the water and off into the distance of the early hours of Saturday. He turned away from the ocean and spotted Eric chatting with the driver of the nearest tank.

  “Kirouac!” he yelled.

  The marine jogged over.

  “There’s been a foul-up. Some trigger-happy police confused our two escapees with a pair of jewel thieves and had a shoot-out with them. I’ve left Fraser and Brisson out there in the hope that their ambush plans may still succeed, but that leaves us here holding the baby if they get past.”