Aftershock (15 page)

Howard had devised an ingenious torch. It was a glass box fashioned from pieces of Toyota window. He had covered five internal sides of the box with metal foil salvaged from the cooling system of the car's engine. In the centre was a chamber filled with the distillate of a shrub he cultivated in a vegetable garden beside the Toyota. It was the same plant that supplied the Gung Ging tea and, he confided to Steph, he refined it into a particularly potent hooch that he called Brain Cracker. The torch cast a powerful, diffuse beam and lit up the desert like a beacon.

Even close to Howard's camp they found pieces of metal and plastic, wires, glass fragments and bits of fabric. Fifty metres to the west, the ground rose suddenly and the sand gave way to a rocky outcrop. Craggy, wind-blasted stone rose from the coarse gravelly sand. Steph was about to lead them round the rocks to the south, but Howard put a gloved hand on her arm. ‘We have to climb over,' he said. ‘There are jagged rocks at least 3 metres high to the north and south. You can't get round either way.' He stepped ahead and began to clamber over the outcrop.

It was then they both saw the smashed up fuselage of the plane. Ripped into four pieces, it lay half-buried in the sand. Great holes exposed the insides of the shattered aircraft. From 40 metres away, the Silverback looked like a mutilated snake, ravaged by some predator that had ditched it in the sand and disappeared. All around lay smashed boxes, twisted metal, panels of Maxinium, and shards of glass glinting in the beam like diamonds on a velvet cloth.

They clambered down and Steph ran ahead, while Howard followed at a more sedate pace. Close to the plane, she crouched to inspect a metal cube about 30 centimetres on each side, partially buried in the sand. She turned it over and in the torchlight she could see it was nothing but a section of conduit. Tossing it aside, she stood up and headed straight for
Paul
. Howard caught up a few moments later.

‘Best if you stay here,' Steph said. ‘It wouldn't be a good idea to go poking around. I know this plane.'

Howard nodded and put out a hand to indicate Steph should go ahead.

It was hard to tell what was what inside the shell of the ravaged aircraft. It had been smashed around almost beyond recognition. But Steph knew what she was looking for. All she could do was pray it was where it should be.

She could see that the front section of the plane was almost totally obliterated. The nose was buried in the sand up to where the copilot's seat could just be seen. The seat was a mangled frame of metal. A few tatters of fabric and foam clung to it. Behind this was the midsection of the aircraft, a storage area for ancillary equipment, spares and backup units. Behind this was the computer centre, the brain of the aircraft. The blast had transformed it into a tangle of tubes, wires and melted plastic. Ducking low and taking exceptional care, Steph eased herself into an opening in the midsection of the Silverback.

She splashed the torch light around the inside of the cylinder of Maxinium. It was the least badly damaged part of the plane, probably because it was the section of the aircraft with the fewest electrical components and was some way from the engines and fuel cells.

To the left, the curved wall was pock-marked and cracked. On the righthand side of the chamber, Steph could see a line of storage bays. All but two of them were warped and the doors had caved in, shattering everything inside. Steph put the torch down on a high shelf of twisted metal on the left side of the fuselage, and pointed the light towards the storage units.

The first door she tried was stuck fast. She kicked it and yanked on the handle and it flew open, almost knocking her off her feet. Inside, she found flares, a box of tools, two boxes marked ‘emergency rations'. On the floor lay a coil of reinforced carbonylon rope.

She pulled the items out and piled them on the floor of the gutted Silverback, then stepped up to the only other intact door. To her immense relief, it opened with a single yank on the handle. And there, crushed to one side of the storage unit by a pile of metal boxes, was the one thing in the whole world she most wanted to see – a backup cybersuit.

Steph had the suit in her hand and was bending to pick up the other items when she heard the crack of gunshots. She grabbed the torch, eased her way along the treacherously narrow midsection and emerged into the freezing night through a jagged opening in the plane's outer shell. Howard was pulling himself up from a crouching position. He was breathing heavily, misty breath in front of his face. In his hand was an ancient-looking revolver. On the ground lay the twisted forms of two dead animals, one on its back, the other on its side. Close to the bodies the sand was soaked red.

‘I forgot to tell you about the wolves,' Howard said. ‘Nasty buggers.'

Steph woke Josh with a gentle shake of the shoulder. Howard strode over to the fire to put some more wood into the flames.

‘Hey,' Josh said. ‘What's new?'

‘I have a present for you.' She held up the cybersuit. ‘Complete with nanobots and your very own painkillers.'

‘You're a miracle worker, Steph.'

‘I know,' she shot back, and helped him remove the remnants of the old suit. Underneath, he was wearing an almost weightless, skintight carbofibre undergarment. Helping Josh get the suit over his injured knee was a struggle, but they both concluded pain now for the reparative properties of the nanobots was a fair exchange. Once it was on, Steph touched the wrist monitor on Josh's sleeve. He lay back trying to manage the pain as best he could while she altered parameters and reset the suit.

She looked up with a smile.

‘Done. I've programmed the nanobots to concentrate on your shattered knee. Some stronger painkillers should hit any minute, and I reckon you'll be as good as new by morning. Now I think you need some rest.'

‘Okay, doc. But you've discovered something else, haven't you? I can tell.'

Steph looked at him seriously. ‘Howard has a radio.'

‘That's good ... right?'

‘Would be. But he can't pick up a signal. A few years back, But get this ... The interference comes from a Chinese military base about 60 kilometres away.'

Josh looked startled for a second, then his eyes narrowed. ‘That explains a thing or two.'

‘It does.'

‘So what now?'

She looked at him hard. ‘We've no way of reaching the others. All we can do is hope Tom is a miracle worker too.'

Harry Flanders leaned on the door of the emergency exit, but it would not budge. He bent down and picked up a piece of concrete that was lying close by. Without hesitating, he smashed it into the glass panel above the handle. Pulling his sleeve down over his hand to protect himself from the glass shards left in the window frame, he put his hand through the opening and unlocked the door from the far side.

‘Everyone okay to go on?' Harry asked, surveying the faces of the others. Alfred looked all in. He was sitting against the wall. Jim was beside him, with an arm around his shoulders. Kristy stood dejectedly, staring down at the wreckage of Dome Gamma. Her face was streaked with blood and makeup. Nick was sitting on his own, his head between his knees and Danny had wandered over to the railing of the mezzanine, gazing into the shadows at the smouldering debris and crushed bodies.

‘Might be better if you leave me behind,' Alfred said, and started to cough.

‘He stays, I stay,' Jim said, looking across to Harry.

‘I'm not sure that would be wise,' Harry replied, taking a couple of paces towards the group. ‘I reckon this dome is under a lot of strain. Look up there.' He pointed to the apex of the dome just visible past the ceiling of the mezzanine. They could all see shallow cracks spreading out from Gamma's metal cap.

‘It's impossible to say,' Danny commented. ‘That could hold for weeks. Rescuers could be here any minute.'

Kristy looked earnestly at Danny. ‘You really think someone will rescue us?'

‘Of course,' the old actor said. ‘I have no doubts. The marines will be here, the US Navy.'

‘The cavalry galloping over the hill at the last minute?' Harry said sarcastically. ‘The good old US of A to the rescue.'

‘Well there ain't going to be anyone else coming for us, is there, young fella?'

Harry shrugged. ‘Yeah, but if they come, they'll be late ... as usual.' He turned back to Alfred and Jim. ‘Look. I really don't think you should stay here. There's no telling if Dome Beta is any better, but believe me, this place is going to go. I can feel it.'

‘Okay,' Alfred said after a moment. ‘I'm feeling better. I'm not ready to lie down and die just yet.'

‘That's the spirit,' Harry replied. Then he walked over to Nick and gave the kid a hand up. The boy wiped his eyes. He'd been crying quietly but was trying his best to cover it up. ‘Come on, Nick,' Harry said. ‘You lead the way with me, yes?'

The door opened onto a dark stairwell.

‘I say we go straight down to the bottom of the dome,' Harry said.

‘Why?' Danny asked.

‘Because that's where the connecting tunnel to Beta is.'

‘If it's still there.'

‘True,' Harry conceded. ‘But put it this way, Danny. If it's not there, or it's impassable, we won't have many other options.'

‘What have you got against going straight down?' Alfred asked the actor.

‘Nothing, I guess. Let's go.'

The only source of light they had was the insipid glow from the top floor and that did not last long. After the third turn, the faint light disappeared altogether. They were in total darkness for two flights of the concrete access stairs. But then a new source of light appeared. It was a faint pinprick that grew rapidly as they took turn after turn of the stairs, descending through the floors of Dome Gamma. Approaching the light, they could see it was a dim single bulb illuminating the ground floor of the stairwell. It lit up a wide corridor. At the far end, they could see elevator doors, and beside them, a red rectangle of light, the call button. Harry took it slowly, picking his way forward, hugging the wall. It seemed to take an age to travel the 20 metres to the elevator doors, but they eventually all gathered there.

Harry punched the button forlornly. To no one's surprise, nothing happened.

‘There are some stairs over there,' Nick said. ‘They go down one more floor to the linkway.' He took a few paces to an opening in the wall on one side of the elevator. The steps were covered in dust and there were holes in the ceiling of the stairwell, but nothing lay in their way. Nick took the lead down the steps with Harry close behind. At the foot of the stairs, a narrow corridor curved sharply left and suddenly they were in the linkway between Gamma and Beta.

It was an inspiring sight. The linkway was a tube of specially reinforced glass cradled in a metal support frame. Three metres wide and about 25 metres long, it connected the two domes. Red carpet ran along a channel in the base of the tube. Sheer walls of glass swept up either side and curved overhead. It created the impression that by stepping into the tube you were actually walking into the ocean itself.

Huge multicoloured tendrils of coral and exotic ocean plants swayed in the current. On a normal day a bewildering array of sea creatures, anemone fish, blue ribbon eel and black tip reef sharks would dart and swarm round the tube. Some would peer into the glass as they swam by. Others were nervous and scattered as soon as there was any movement. For the moment, the fish had gone, scared off by whatever had rocked the hotel.

Nick Xavier ran along the tunnel, barely giving it a second look. He had seen the hotel grow. The project had dominated his childhood. But the others were still in awe of it. They had only seen it once before, earlier that evening, en route to Dome Gamma and the grand dinner.

‘Come
on
,' Nick called, bringing them back to painful reality.

Harry was three-quarters of the way along the linkway when he heard the low rumble. They all stopped. The sound came again, much louder this time.

‘Oh fuck! Not another tremor,' Jim exclaimed.

‘Run!' Harry screamed.

A sound like a thunder clap ricocheted along the tunnel and they could all see the glass crack, random lines slithering down the sides. The tendrils shot past them as they ran. Harry slowed, almost stopping as he encouraged them all on. Jim and Alfred were trailing behind. He ran back to give Jim a hand. ‘Come on,' he shouted above the noise. ‘Just a few more steps.'

He grabbed Alfred's arm and helped drag the old man along the carpet.

A tremendous crash shuddered along the linkway and they could feel the glass tube wobble on its cradle. They were close to the far side. Nick dashed into a corridor, then pulled up sharp. He glanced back to make sure everyone was through the linkway and looked for the red security button on the wall. Panicking, he punched it and a thick metal door started to come down from the ceiling. Harry was still a couple of metres inside the tunnel. He pushed Alfred and Jim hard from behind. They stumbled forward, Alfred landing heavily on his partner, both yelping in pain.

The door was falling fast. Harry could sense it. His whole mind focused on propelling himself forward with every ounce of his being. Adrenalin shot through him like a surging wave, energising his muscles. He dived, slithering under the 2 tonnes of metal as it crashed downward. The door almost caught his feet, but he swivelled his legs round just in time. The steel barrier slammed to the floor, and Harry screamed involuntarily as it sliced through the heels of his shoes.

‘You okay?' Danny Preston was leaning over him. The air seemed to throb, a low hum. They could feel it rather than hear it. Then the corridor juddered. There was a great rush of sound, like nothing they had ever heard in their lives. It thundered down the corridor, the sound of tonnes of tempered glass shattering into millions of pieces.

Harry looked up, and for a moment, he could barely remember who he was. Danny had a hand out. He helped Harry up.

‘So, what now?' Kristy said as the sound subsided.

Harry was about to reply when the walls started to shake again. He looked at the others, and then at the ground. The floor seemed to be buckling under his feet. It looked and felt utterly surreal, as though he were on a surfboard.

‘Look out!' Alfred screamed.

Harry span around and saw a metal beam cut through the flimsy plaster of the ceiling. It thrust downward at a crazy angle. He yelled and dived forward as the ceiling came down in one great rush. He landed hard, his head slamming into a solid object. He turned to see cascading plaster, and just caught a glimpse of Danny and Kristy at the other end of the corridor. They were near the door to the doomed linkway. Something huge reared up from the ground lifting Harry into the air. He felt himself rise up towards the ceiling. Then, whatever it was suddenly slipped away and he crashed to the floor.

Jim Kemple was the first to recover. He opened his eyes and immediately started coughing. He sat up and looked around. Harry Flanders was next to him on his left, and he could see the young kid, Nick Xavier. The two of them were coming round. Where was Alfred? He suddenly felt a stab of panic. He stood up, took two steps and almost tripped over Alfred's legs. ‘Al,' he sputtered, his mouth filled with dust. He lowered himself on his good knee, beside his partner.

‘Jim,' the old man said. ‘You okay?'

He pulled a face. ‘I'm cool. What about you?' He leaned close and saw Alfred's shirt was ripped open, and a metal pole half a centimetre in diameter was sticking up from his abdomen. Jim started to gag, but managed to control himself.

‘I'm dying, Jim.'

‘No ... no, you're not.'

‘No, listen to me, Jim, listen. I
am
dying. I'm hurt bad, but I was already on my way out.'

Tears were welling up in Jim's eyes. At the periphery of his vision, he could see Harry and Nick pulling themselves to their feet. But they were a universe away in time and space. ‘What do you
mean
?'

‘Leukaemia. Bad prognosis.'

Jim didn't know what to say. He glanced up for a second as Harry stopped a few paces behind him. When he looked back, Alfred was motionless.

It took Jim a few seconds to realise what had happened, but even then, his brain could not process it. ‘Alfred,' he said softly. ‘Alfred, don't talk like that. We can beat this thing. We can...'

He stopped and stood up. Harry went to put a hand on Jim's shoulder but pulled back at the last moment. He simply watched him. Jim looked like a statue, completely motionless. Before Harry could say anything, Jim took a step back, looked down at his dead partner and then slowly walked away, lowering himself into the far corner of the corridor.

‘Nick? You all right?' Harry said to the boy.

‘I think so. Just more cuts and bruises.'

Harry turned and walked over to where the corridor had been cut in two by falling rubble. ‘We're cut off from the others. Kristy and Danny are on the other side,' he said.

‘How do you know they're alive?'

‘I don't. Come on.' He started scrambling at the barrier, lifting lumps of concrete and metal and tossing them to one side. Nick dug away at the foot of the barrier.

‘Stop!' Harry yelled suddenly. ‘Hear that?'

Nick held his breath. ‘What?'

‘Damn it.'

Then they both heard it. A single word. ‘Help.' It was muffled by the barrier, but they could tell it was a girl's voice.

‘Kristy,' Harry yelled.

‘Yes ... Yes. We're trapped.'

‘Danny with you?'

‘We're both caught between the door and the cave in. We're okay though.'

Harry threw himself at the piles of concrete and twisted metal. They cut into his palms, but he kept going. It was hot and stifling in the corridor. ‘Nick. See if you can open the door at the end, get some air in here, yeah?' Nick sped off and Harry carried on, the sweat running off him. Just as the boy came back shaking his head, defeated, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder.

‘Need some help?' Harry turned. It was Jim, his face as pale as death.

The three of them made more rapid headway, clawing at the heaped rubble, pulling out smashed chairs, chunks of metal, wooden table legs, papers and strips of carpet. Harry climbed into the hole they had made and scrambled at the detritus, passing it back to Nick and Jim. Pulling a lump of concrete aside, he saw a flicker of light.

‘Kristy? Danny?'

Kristy's face appeared in the opening. She was sobbing.

‘Clear your side,' Harry shouted. ‘We've made a hole you can crawl through this end.'

The barrier was no more than 4 metres thick, but it was made from a motley collection of smashed and shattered wreckage.

‘Who's going first?' Harry yelled through the hole. ‘It'll be dangerous. Be very careful.'

Danny's face appeared. ‘I'll try it.' He pulled himself up onto his side and clambered, head first, into the hole.

‘Take it slowly,' Harry warned.

‘Don't you worry, son. I will.'

Danny was surprisingly nimble and flexible. He clawed his way into the opening.

Harry reached in and took the old actor's wrist, and with his spare hand, Danny pushed against the sides of the opening. In a moment, his head emerged through the hole. Harry and Nick gripped him under each shoulder and helped him through the last metre or so.

‘Jesus!' Danny exclaimed, dusting himself down.

Harry poked his head back into the hole. ‘Okay, Kristy. Your turn.'

There was only silence from the other end of the opening.

‘Kristy?'

The young woman's face appeared. She looked panic-stricken. ‘I can't ... I can't do it. I'll fall through and be impaled or something,' she said slowly, almost inaudibly. Then she dissolved into tears. Her face slid out of view.

‘Shit!' Harry spat.

The others looked at him, confused.

‘She can't do it. She's panicking.'

‘All right,' Danny said, stepping towards the hole. ‘I'll go back. Get her out. Then I'll crawl through.'

‘What? You're crazy!' Jim burst out.

‘Yeah, maybe I am,' he said, and moved Harry aside so he could reach into the opening. ‘Wish me luck, though.'

They watched Danny disappear into the chasm and heard him crawling slowly and carefully over the jagged, twisted wreckage. Harry peered in and watched him descend the other side of the barrier. Then he saw Kristy's face appear again.

‘You okay?' Harry called through.

‘No.'

‘Come on, Kristy. You can do it. You weigh nothing, after all.'

She was shaking, her face lathered with sweat.

‘It's cooler this side,' Harry lied.

‘Come on. I'll help you up,' Danny said, and put a gentle arm around the girl's shoulders. ‘You'll be through in no time and I'll be right behind you.'

Kristy pulled herself up into the hole. They could hear her whimpering, her breath coming in irregular gasps.

‘That's good,' Harry said. ‘Great. The worst is over. Now, just put one hand in front of the other. Watch where you're putting your knees.'

She was moving incredibly slowly, so slowly it felt as though she would never emerge the other side. She stopped and let out a little cry.

‘Nearly there,' Harry said gently. ‘Three more steps.'

At first, the crashing sound seemed far off. Then it came roaring along the hole towards Harry, Jim and Nick. Kristy screamed and scrambled through the cavity, collapsing in a heap on the floor of the corridor. Harry clambered up the side of the barrier and dived for the opening as it filled with dust.

‘Harry! Don't!' Jim screamed.

Harry pulled himself along the tunnel of debris, cutting his hands as he went. He put his knee on a length of plastic and he felt it slide away from him. The whole structure swayed. He stopped and tried to steady his breathing. Sweat ran into his eyes.

Harry waved at the air to try to see where he was going. But it was useless. His eyes were streaming and the dust felt as though it was cutting into his eyeballs. A metre further on he looked up and saw the opening into the far end of the corridor. And there, sprawled in the concrete and chunks of rubble, lay Danny's limp body, his head crushed under a slab of concrete.