The Hunting (3 page)

‘The most stunning success in scientific history gone –
poof
.’

Everyone stared at the floor. It was true, all of it. Everyone felt truly ashamed – except Reverend Schneider, who felt relieved that he had had the foresight to get word of Genie’s reappearance to the Fortress.

‘Such carelessness, such disregard for company property will not be overlooked. I have been assured that we will have all nine test subjects back in the Fortress within twenty-four hours. Three are already recovered and our legal department has imposed a gagging order on the parents and all the people who have come into contact with them.

‘The cloning division has made some progress in establishing DNA ownership of these test subjects. Fortransco is in the frontline of cell regeneration regulation and we will defend our rights in this area vigorously.

‘We have managed to control the local story, so far. The “alien abduction” theory is keeping the supermarket tabloids busy and off our backs.

‘This is a billion-dollar organization and had better start acting like one. More specifically, I need child zero. Known to outsiders as Genie, but to us as T309. We have offered a ten-thousand-dollar reward for her capture and also for the capture of another child called Renée.’

Strindberg put his notes down and folded his arms.

‘That’s it. You have twenty-four hours to work out why the transmission worked and to get the assets back, or
all
of you will be flipping burgers for the rest of your lives. Am I clear? There’s a thousand engineers and IT specialists out there who will work for half your pay and be glad of the money. It’s your choice.’

R
enée took her turn with the paddle and Genie swapped places on the raft. The rain and hail had passed over at last; the moon was more often glimpsed between clouds, all of which made it a whole lot easier to see where they were going.

‘I can’t believe we’re back on the river,’ Genie moaned, as Rian and Renée paddled. ‘I mean, did I ever once study even one book on survival, what to eat, how to suck poison bits out? We just run and never plan anything.’

‘We’ve got potato chips,’ Renée reminded her.

Genie ignored her. ‘What if it takes weeks to get downriver? It’s over a hundred and eighty ks. We’re in a raft with no engine, half the river is filled with logs that can crush us at any moment, it’s either raining or freezing hail, some bug keeps dive-bombing me and there’s rapids ahead …’

Rian just smiled. ‘You forgot dangerous bears.’

‘Thanks, Ri. That helps.’ She gave him a mean stare.

Rian steered them into deeper water. ‘You’re right. We don’t know anything about surviving out in the wild. I can’t tell the difference between a toadstool and a mushroom. Always meant to learn.’

‘I’m hanging on to the chips,’ Renée declared.

Genie had very bad memories of floating downriver and this raft felt real easy to tip. Moucher didn’t like it one bit, nor the socks they had made him wear. He kept trying to tear off the last three and getting a slap on his paws for his trouble.

Rian knew how worried Genie was. Moonlight gave them a good view ahead and he could see she was anxious about everything.

‘Don’t panic. Clouds are thinning, we’re going to be fine.’

‘No talking either,’ Renée whispered. ‘Voices carry to the shore. Remember I’ve been out on this river a lot more than you guys have.’

Renée and Rian paddled, keeping the raft steady and moving forward at speed. They didn’t need to do much; the current was carrying them at a fair lick at this stage.

Genie sipped water from a bottle. Her job was lookout and she kept a keen eye out for the cops on either side of the riverbank. They were passing Hope now. Greenwood Island would be on her right, she figured. She’d done a school project on the blue herons that nested there. Streetlights glittered in the small town, virtually nothing moved. It had to be about two a.m. They were well past any roadblocks and far from roads, but soon the river would curve back in and the highway would be right alongside, making them very vulnerable.

They suddenly spun to the left as a surge of water entered from the Coquihalla River. Normally docile, it was unusually swollen after all that rain. Renée nearly lost her balance and the whole raft tilted badly. Moucher whined, Genie clung on and Renée shipped her paddle, suddenly spraying water over them all.

‘You know I can’t swim much, right?’ she said.

Genie looked at her with surprise. ‘No.’

‘Had an accident when I was twelve. Just can’t seem to swim so well any more. Sorry, kinda embarrassing.’

Rian turned to her and whispered, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll save your skinny ass.’

‘It ain’t as skinny as Genie’s.’

‘You leave my ass out of this,’ Genie said.

‘Shh,’ Renée warned them. ‘Feel that?’

The water seemed to be vibrating around them. There was a distant audible noise like rolling thunder some way off.

The raft drifted into calmer water and they all looked up at the sky. Two helicopters flying in formation, some distance off yet, but clearly audible.

‘I can feel it coming,’ Genie said, growing anxious. ‘Mosquito attack.’ She swore and Renée quickly shipped her paddle and put her hands over her ears.

Rian could see a bridge up ahead, a car driving towards it illuminating the huge structure. He hadn’t been down the river this far before but knew there weren’t many crossings.

‘Maybe the bridge will give you some protection?’

Genie hoped so; Renée was already suffering. The Mosquito chopper might be a way off, but it was near enough to give them a powerful sub-sonic blast of pain aimed exactly at their central nervous system. They had been brain-mapped at the Fortress and the technicians knew exactly how to make them scream. Rian was safe; he’d never been caught – yet.

Genie put her hands over her ears; it offered temporary relief at least. Rian desperately tried to get them moving faster towards the bridge, but without Renée paddling the raft kept veering to the left.

The helicopter searchlights seemed to be following the river. Did they know where they were? They’d been only been on the water for a short while and hadn’t gone far. One thing was for sure, the Fortress wasn’t going to give up. They wanted Genie and Renée real bad.

‘Ri,’ Genie cried out, unable to stop the noise in her head now.

Moucher began barking but she couldn’t hear him. Renée curled up into a ball at the bottom of the raft, emitting a low moan.

Rian closed the distance between them and the bridge as fast as he could. The bridge was huge, stretching over two sections of the river, supported by vast pylons sunk into a middle island. As they approached, Rian grabbed a steel pylon and held on.

Genie and Renée were writhing in pain; unable to think or do anything other than hear the intense buzzing in their ears. Moucher was howling at the choppers as the powerful searchlights penetrated every dark corner of the river.

Rian guided the raft right between the pylons, jumping out and dragging it on to the mud-covered cement. Genie opened her eyes. The choppers were almost on them, but suddenly she felt the noise in her head fade. Renée stirred too, looking up at the bridge overhead as the road blocked the searchlights. The choppers passed directly above them and moved on downriver, lights sweeping from side to side as they searched.

Renée suddenly leaned over the side and retched. Moucher pawed Genie, seeking reassurance that she was all right. Genie rubbed her neck, which was strangely hot and sore, but she knew she was fine. It was like the bridge had pulled a knife out of their heads. Amazing.

Rian suddenly saw blue lights reflected in the water. A cop car had pulled up on the bridge overhead. He put his fingers to his lips to prevent anyone saying anything. He couldn’t stop Renée being sick, but at least she could do it as quietly as possible and hope they wouldn’t hear it.

You could hear the police radio squawking – and Renée was right, voices carried over water. The cops were out of their vehicle looking at the river, two of them, talking casually to each other.

‘You see that?’

‘What?’

‘Shooting star.’

‘No way.’

‘Yes way. Right over your head. You missed it, John. I get the wish, not you.’

‘I wish you’d shut up.’

‘Bright green. Means copper, right. It was full of copper.’

‘You’re full of something. Get in the car. We have to check Sandbrook. If I were a runaway, I’d head there.’

‘It’s closed. Closed September the second.’

‘And it’s empty. A complete vacation resort to hide it. Come on, or ain’t you interested in ten grand?’

One of them swore and they heard two doors slam before the vehicle took off, crossing the bridge, its headlights illuminating the forest the other side of the river.

Rian looked at Genie and smiled. ‘We got to keep moving.’

‘You think the river’s a good idea?’ Renée asked fighting nausea. ‘What if the choppers come back?’

Genie gave Mouch a hug. ‘We find a bridge fast. At least we know pylons can block the signal.’

Renée shook her head. ‘Only one more bridge and that’s like miles downstream. We’d have no protection.’

‘It’s still safer than the road. We’re not going to walk to Vancouver, Renée. Come on, give me a hand, we need to get this free.’

‘How do we get back at them?’ Renée asked, a sense of bitterness overwhelming her. ‘I mean, you see these movies about journalists and TV reporters exposing criminals all the time and here’s us, we know this is like one of the biggest crimes against kids ever and they’re getting away with it. Doesn’t that make you mad? We should march into like
The Province
’s office in Vancouver and—’

‘And what?’ Rian asked. ‘You think they’d ever take us seriously? Kids being used for teleportation experiments? No one believed us last time we tried that. The frickin press didn’t even turn up. They come when we go missing, but we come back, it’s like, oh yeah, alien abduction. We should be so lucky. I fancy our chances better with aliens than the damn Fortress.’

Rian looked over at Renée. ‘Don’t rock the raft. Keep still.’

‘I’m just trying to get comfortable. So what are you guys saying? We just let the Fortress roll over us?’

‘We save our asses first. Then think about getting even.’

‘We’re picking up speed, guys,’ Renée observed.

‘Hold on,’ Genie said, gripping the sides. The water was shallower under them now they were beyond Hope, beneath them treacherous rocks.

The night rushed by. Genie was paddling with Rian now; Renée resting with Mouch, both cuddled up close for comfort, stealing each other’s warmth.

Genie had a sudden strange vision that she’d been here before. On this very part of the river in fact, paddle in hand. Only it wasn’t her, it was another her she was sensing – and she too was on the water, in a canoe, sitting on a deer pelt in the prow, her husband behind her and a child –
her child
– sleeping beside her. It was the weirdest sensation. She felt a chill sweep over her. She examined the canoe; it was made of wood, carved with salmon motifs and there were some corn cobs by her knees. She looked back at her child sleeping contentedly in a basket and although she couldn’t see her husband in the dark, she could feel him and sense his pride.

It was so weird, but also fascinating. This was different to her other trances. Before she had always been in the present, but this was a canoe a hundred or two hundred years earlier. It was exciting and scary being in two worlds at once. She instinctively knew she had been travelling on this river all her life. There were dangers too. Other tribes … Her other self was deathly worried about straying into unknown waters. Genie in the present wondered where she had been going.

‘Genie? Genie?’ Rian was calling her.

Genie suddenly realized that she wasn’t paddling. Rian was looking at her strangely.

‘You OK?’

She swallowed, suddenly dizzy as she was jerked back to reality. ‘Er – sure. Just had a weird moment, that’s all.’

As Genie resumed paddling she had a strong belief that her ancestors were right there with her. Couldn’t see them now, but she could feel them, still feel the presence of the canoe and see her baby’s little face. The small part of her that was First Nation knew this river and knew it well.

‘We have to take the left fork,’ Genie said dreamily. She didn’t know how she knew that, but she knew it for sure.

Rian watched her carefully. He knew her well enough to know she was only partially with them at the moment. He was worried she’d do her usual trick and faint or fall, but she kept paddling and seemed to be in a trance. He frowned. He loved this girl so much, but it scared him when she left him like this. Where did she go? What did she see?

Renée watched everything, alarmed as they came away from the main river and entered a deeper narrow channel that skirted around a little island. A deer stood silently watching them from the water’s edge. A bird shrieked somewhere to her right.

She kept her silence, listening only to the paddles dipping in and out of the water and the sound of cicadas on the riverbanks and other creatures unused to being disturbed so late at night.

‘Wait. We have to wait. Stop, Ri. Stop the raft.’ Genie urged.

Rian slowed them down with his paddle and steered them into the shore, grabbing on reeds to anchor them.

In the distance he could suddenly see the choppers circling, their searchlights hunting. He wasn’t sure if Renée or Genie could feel them again neither said anything. He found a small tree growing out of the riverbank and grabbed it, bringing them to a complete halt.

Genie seemed to be watching something, staring intently at someone perhaps, but he couldn’t see anything.

‘Bear Island,’ Genie said suddenly. ‘Ferry was right, we have to make Bear Island by sunrise. We will be safe there.’

Renée shuddered. She was deeply afraid of bears.

‘Hide now!’ Genie whispered urgently, ducking down beside Renée and Mouch. Rian felt a tad stupid but he curled up beside them, in case.

From absolutely nowhere another chopper swept in from just above their heads, searchlights on, focused on the main river the other side of the small island. Rian took Genie’s hand and felt how astonishingly warm her hand was, hotter than ever before. Beside them, Renée was shaking with fear, expecting the worst. The chopper circled, the stark light strafing through the island trees. If they hadn’t taken this channel they would have been seen for sure. The chopper finally moved on further downriver. The Fortress had concentrated minds around here wonderfully. People clearly wanted that reward.