Hell to Heaven (38 page)

‘You told them the most comfortable position was curled up, so they made it round with a lump on top for your head. It opens up completely and you coil inside it like rope. Can you do that?’

‘I would have liked some practice,’ I said.

‘No time like the present,’ the Tiger said. He glanced around at Michael and Leo, who were still in human form while we prepared. ‘We have six oxygen bottles. Two will be attached to Emma’s suit; and two for each of the cats not carrying Emma. As we empty them we destroy them.’

‘How long will each bottle last?’ Michael said,
studying the cylinders in their large leather and aluminium harness.

‘We’re hoping that with Emma in a low life-sign trance, each will last at least two hours. Twelve hours altogether, plenty of time.’ He studied me carefully. ‘How low can you take it?’

‘We really should have done a dry run!’ I said. ‘I don’t know. I’m cold-blooded; if you keep me chilled and I go into a good trance, it should be next to nothing. We reptiles can do that.’

He nodded sharply. ‘Sounds good.’ He looked around again. ‘Once the atmosphere gets too thin to breathe, it won’t transmit sound, so switch to telepathy. Keep comms to a minimum anyway; we’ll need every scrap of energy we have to get to the top.’

Michael hefted his harness. ‘Let’s do this. Time’s wasting.’

‘Uh…’ Simone winced. ‘Can I use the bathroom first?’

‘Of course,’ our dragon host said. He gestured towards the small, smoke-stained kitchen. ‘Through there.’

‘Emma,’ the Tiger said, ‘you go into a trance; every hour we’ll change your carrier and I’ll rap on the outside of your pod to bring you out of it so we can move you. Does that work?’

‘Yes,’ I said.

‘Let’s go outside and set up while Simone puts on fresh make-up,’ the Tiger said with amusement. He sighed theatrically. ‘Girls—always have to do it properly. Me, I’ll just write my name in the snow.’

‘You can’t do that in tiger form,’ Michael said as he carried his harness down the stairs and out into the snow.

‘Oh, yes I can,’ the Tiger said. ‘In
both
languages.’

Leo grinned at him. ‘Now that I’d like to see.’

‘Not right now!’ I said.

‘Deal,’ the Tiger said. ‘Okay. You two cats change; Simone stays human. I’ll do the buckles and pod and shit for everybody except me, and she’ll do me after I change.’

‘She’s had no practice at this,’ I said.

‘Doesn’t need it; it’s very straightforward, much like a saddle—you just cinch it up,’ he said. ‘Drop your bottles and change and I’ll harness you up.’

Michael and Leo placed their harnesses on the ground and changed. Leo’s lion form was slightly larger than Michael’s tiger; about the same size as the Tiger’s True Form.

The Tiger stood back and put his hands on his hips. ‘Damn, Lion, you’re a big bastard.’

‘That’s what all the guys say,’ Leo said, his voice a throaty growl.

The Tiger picked up a pair of gas bottles in their harness and fitted them to Leo’s back. He pushed them to make sure the harness was firm and stepped back. ‘How’s that?’

Leo walked up and down, then leapt, testing it. ‘Tighten it around my shoulders.’

The Tiger pulled one of the straps tighter and Leo nodded. ‘Good.’

Simone came out as the Tiger was fitting Michael’s harness. ‘All working?’

‘Watch how this goes,’ the Tiger said. ‘This strap under the front, that one under the back. This one has to be tighter, it’s the main secure. With Emma in the pod, it has to be centred, and this strap here has to be really, really firm. See?’

Simone nodded. ‘Got it.’

‘Okay.’ The Tiger opened my pod. ‘In you hop, Emma.’

I curled up inside the circular suit; it was the perfect size for me, but incredibly claustrophobic when he closed it. It had been made from a plaster mould they’d taken of my snake body and fitted with almost no room to spare.

‘Stay awake while Simone puts you on top,’ the Tiger said. ‘Just the way you like it.’

‘I haven’t executed you in a while,’ I said.

‘Can’t hear you.’

As Simone lifted me in the harness and placed me on the Tiger’s back, it quickly became apparent that they’d forgotten to turn on the life support. I couldn’t open the pod from the inside and I was suffocating. I banged my head on the top, but Simone and the Tiger were focused on getting the straps correct.

The stone yelped with the third strike. ‘No air!’

‘Oh God, sorry, Emma,’ Simone said, and a wash of ice-cold oxygen entered the pod.

‘Now you’ve put too much in, you’re making her dizzy,’ the stone said.

‘Turn it down slightly, Simone. Stone, you have to stay awake,’ the Tiger said. ‘She won’t be able to communicate once we get past the atmosphere.’

‘Damn,’ the stone said. ‘She’ll be asleep and I’ll be awake—this is not a good idea.’

‘I think I’ve been saying this for a while,’ I said.

‘Don’t be such an old woman about it—oh, you are an old woman. So keep quiet,’ the Tiger said. ‘Let’s get this over with, get you on two legs on the Celestial, and stop everybody whining about having a snake for a boss.’

‘Oh, is that why you’re rushing this?’ I said, as Simone gave the pod a final check.

‘Of course it is,’ the Tiger said. ‘Are we all good to go?’

‘Just let me get my pack on,’ Simone said. ‘Okay.’

‘If you need to take Celestial Form to make it easier, don’t hesitate,’ the Tiger said. ‘Emma, you can power down now. I’ll rap your pod when it’s time for the changeover.’

I’m counting on you to help me stay alive
, I said to the stone.

A responsibility I wish I did not have
, the stone said.

‘I’m going down,’ I said out loud.

‘We got you, baby,’ the Tiger said.

He started walking, swaying me from side to side. I couldn’t see anything. I cycled the energy through my serpent centres and went down.

‘Emma!’ someone shouted and I came back. The lid of the pod popped open and Simone peered inside. ‘Are you still there, Emma?’

‘I’m here,’ I said, raising my head into blinding sunlight. I looked around; we were high on a snowy ridge with steep drops on either side. ‘Geez, I wish I hadn’t looked now.’

‘We’re moving you to Leo,’ Simone said. ‘This is proving tougher than we expected. The Tiger thought he could carry you for a couple of hours but he’s only managed an hour.’

‘How’s my oxygen?’ I said.

‘Your first bottle is at fifty per cent,’ the Tiger said. ‘Right on plan. You’re doing great.’

‘Where’s Kun Lun?’

The Tiger pointed behind me. I turned to see and nearly fell out of the pod. We were up so high that the red plains were a misty blur a huge distance below us. Behind me were the mountains, each with a jagged, pyramid-shaped peak. They shone brightly against the dark, high-altitude sky.

‘How high are we?’ I said. ‘Damn, all those mountains look like the top of Everest.’

‘About six thousand metres,’ the Tiger said. ‘We have to go through those mountains to get to the valley where Nu Wa lives. Higher than this, we can’t open the pod so it’ll make the changeover harder. Just try to stay still when we move you, and rap your nose twice against the top if you’re in trouble. Do you need anything? Because we need to get you on Leo and keep moving.’

‘I’m good,’ I said, and they nodded and put the lid back on me. I lurched as they lifted me and put me onto Leo, then we moved off again.

Simone tapped the top of the pod. ‘Got air, Emma?’ she said, muffled through the fibreglass.

Told them yes
, the stone said.

‘Good,’ Simone said. ‘Then go down again, please, to save your oxygen.’

I was jerked awake by the pod lurching as they transferred me again.

‘How’s it going, stone?’ I said.

‘The Tiger was supposed to tap you to wake you up, but he’s concentrating. Let me give you a view outside. I can make the pod invisible for you,’ the stone said.

The sides of the pod disappeared and I was on a steep hillside, dark, sharp rocks jutting out from the snowdrifts. Michael was looking back over his
shoulder as the Tiger and Leo, both in human form, transferred me onto his back. Simone was sitting on the ground looking concerned.

‘We’re doing just fine, right on time,’ the Tiger said, grunting as he lifted me. ‘Air’s nearly run out, but we’re all coping very well.’ He patted Michael on the shoulder and they did up the straps. ‘First gas bottle’s done, right on schedule. Open your mouth to empty your lungs while I do the changeover. Absolutely nothing to worry about.’

Simone took a big drink from a sports bottle, then slipped the bottle into the side of her pack. She grimaced as she pulled herself to her feet and hitched her pack onto her back. ‘Onwards and upwards.’

‘That’s damn steep,’ I said. ‘You handling it okay?’

‘I told you it would be fucking steep,’ the Tiger said. ‘No way could the Snakemobile handle this.’

‘Let’s go,’ Michael said, staggering slightly as he adjusted to my weight. ‘My paws are already killing me.’

‘Soft, soft, soft, you need to spend way more time like this,’ the Tiger said, changing to True Form and waiting as Simone fitted him with the spare gas bottle harness. ‘Go down as quickly as you can, Emma, save your oxygen.’

‘Okay.’

I was jarred awake by them moving me again. The Tiger rapped the top of the pod and I tapped it once in reply.

Your stone seems to have fallen asleep
, the Tiger said.

‘No, I’m here, I’m here,’ the stone said. ‘Sorry, just…dozing.’

The sides of the pod disappeared again and I saw the Tiger’s hand in front of my face. He was lifting me off Michael, who collapsed onto the ground as soon as I was pulled free. The Tiger carefully tilted my pod and lowered it onto the snow. I looked around: we were on a snowy ledge with a rock overhang above us. Simone was sitting on the ground again, but she’d changed to Celestial Form, her tawny hair flowing around her and her brown eyes huge. Instead of her usual robes of dark space and glittering stars, she wore a black Mountain uniform, cotton jacket and pants; nevertheless, her hands were blue with cold.

She jerked as someone spoke to her, and nodded. She came to me and lifted my pod, struggling to get it onto the Tiger’s back.

They’re tiring more than they expected
, the stone said.
It’s hard doing this in zero oxygen. They can manage without it by burning energy, but it’s not ideal.

Simone tightened the straps around the Tiger, patted him on the shoulder, then turned and put her own pack on. She smiled at me as if she could see me, then gestured with her head. The Tiger turned the way we were going and the almost vertical black stone mountainside became visible, with a narrow path passing around a steep gorge.

Go down, Emma
, the stone said, and I did.

I hit the ground with a jar that went right through my body.

Sorry
, Simone said.

The pod is slippery with ice
, the stone said.

It made the walls of the pod disappear again and the view was breathtaking. We were impossibly high, on the ridge of one of the peaks, the black rock jagged and
steep below us on both sides. The sky was as dark as night, with stars visible. I could see the curve of the Earth and the faint outline of the Western Heavens below, the red desert faded to a dusty brown. The horizon had a glowing blue aura—the atmosphere.

Let all your breath out, I need to change your bottle
, Simone said.

I exhaled as hard as I could while the oxygen escaped from the pod; it gave me a strange feeling of bloatedness. Simone hooked up another bottle and the pod filled with air again.

Tap once to say you’re okay
, she said.

I tapped the top of the pod with my head.

We have some small issues
, the Tiger said.

That sounds like major problems to me
, I said to the stone.

Leo is dying, and Michael can’t make it much further
, the Tiger said.
Simone can’t carry you, so it’s just me. We’ll have to slow down, but we’re fine; we have four bottles left and we’re about three-quarters of the way there.

Leo’s dying?

He’s absolutely no fucking good in zero oxygen, has no training whatsoever
, the Tiger said.
Neither has Missy Princess here, but she’s so powerful it doesn’t make any difference. Michael has the training, but he’s only a mortal and we’ll probably have to make him go back real soon.

Send him back now
, I said.

No, no, I can do at least another hour, I’m good
, Michael said.

Don’t you dare kill yourself for this!
I said.
Tiger, keep an eye on him!

Don’t worry, babe, I am.

Simone tapped the top of the pod and the walls went opaque.
Downtime, Emma. Save your oxygen.

How did the Shang king make this journey all those years ago?
I asked the stone.
He was just an ordinary human.

Nu Wa was on the Earthly Plane then, in the Kun Lun Mountains
, the stone said.
After the Shang/Zhou thing she moved up here and hasn’t spoken to anybody since.

Down, Emma
, Simone said again.

I took a deep breath of the sweet, ice-cold oxygen and went down.

I hit the ground upside down and skidded down a hill for a long, terrifying moment until I stopped with a crack against the fibreglass skin of the pod.

‘Stone?’ I said. The stone didn’t reply so I tapped my crown on the lid of the pod. ‘Stone! Wake up!’

‘Sorry, Emma, it’s just so damn
cold.
We stones like it much warmer,’ the stone said.

‘So do we reptiles, I’m struggling to stay awake,’ I said. ‘What happened? I’m upside down.’

The walls of the pod disappeared and I tried to look around. Simone was holding my pod with one hand and gripping onto rock with the other, her blue hands lined with white and red from the effort. I had a moment of vertigo as I realised we were both hanging over a ledge, Simone’s hand the only thing stopping my pod from falling. Her face was rigid with concentration.