Send Simon Savage #1

by Stephen Measday

  Simon and Danice lumbered through the water to the edge of the pond. They struggled to shed their boots.

  ‘Stop there!’ a guard yelled, running around the edge of the pond.

  Simon and Danice dashed straight into a mass of rioting prisoners and were immediately swallowed up in the mob. They pushed their way through the crowd and Simon came face to face with the boy he had been fighting.

  ‘Good luck!’ Simon grinned.

  The boy scowled and took a swing at Simon. But the jostling of the other prisoners quickly separated them, and the boy soon disappeared into the pack.

  ‘Nearly there!’ Simon shouted back to Danice.

  They pushed hard through the last knot of prisoners and emerged on the open ground beside the hill.

  ‘The fence!’ Simon panted. ‘Don’t forget to activate your springers!’

  ‘Two prisoners are escaping!’ the warden roared behind them.

  The fence was about six metres high, its top trimmed with sharp shards of wire.

  ‘I’m ready!’ Danice shouted.

  ‘One—two—!’

  They hit the ground like a drill team, bounded into the air, cleared the fence and broke their landing by tumbling down the sloping bank beyond. For a few seconds, they lay there, puffing to catch their breath.

  Simon activated his wrist pilot and retracted his helmet. ‘Let’s go. The guards’ll be after us any minute!’

  ‘Into the forest!’ Danice pointed at the wall of redwoods in front of them.

  Wet and bedraggled, they got back to their feet and hobbled into the shelter of the trees.

  26

  ‘The mission time has now passed forty-eight hours,’ Harry reported to the professor and Captain Cutler. ‘It’s into midmorning of the third day.’

  The mood was tense. Cutler and McPhee were silent as they assessed the options. Behind them, Taylor, Ivan and Nick anxiously kept their eyes on the Operations Screen.

  ‘What’s the latest on Simon and Danice’s position?’ Cutler asked.

  ‘Our satellite’s just returned over the area,’ Harry replied. ‘They’re in the forest now, near that agricultural land we identified earlier.’

  The two red dots flashed on the screen.

  ‘Stationary?’

  ‘Hard to tell, sir. Stationary, then some movement, then stationary again. That’s been the pattern.’

  Cutler frowned with concentration. ‘How far are they from our original timeline? The point to which they had to return for pick-up?’

  ‘About thirty k’s,’ Harry replied.

  ‘Difficult terrain?’

  ‘Could be, sir. Forests and rocky gorges, from what we can work out.’

  ‘Anything to stop us sending in a new timeline and picking them up?’ McPhee asked.

  ‘No, sir.’

  ‘Could I advise against that, Professor?’ Cutler interrupted.

  ‘We have two temponauts a long way from their intended zone of operation. And they’re way overdue,’ McPhee said. ‘Your reasons for not sending a new timeline?’

  ‘My reason is the mission,’ Cutler said bluntly. ‘We need to give them a chance to get the information we need. From our monitoring so far, they’ve not reached the Chieftain’s fortress. That is our principal objective. We should give them extra time to complete their mission.’

  ‘And what if they’re in real danger?’ McPhee asked.

  ‘We’ve no evidence of that yet.’ Cutler’s eyes flicked to the screen and then back to the professor. ‘Yes, they’re way off course, and yes, the mission’s gone forty-eight hours. But there might be a good reason for that. We look for initiative from our temponauts. I say we give them a chance to show it.’

  McPhee looked thoughtful. ‘Very well, your assessment is valid. But we’ll activate our emergency response mode, all the same.’

  Cutler turned to Ivan, Taylor and Nick. ‘I suggest the three of you suit up. We may need you for a rescue operation at short notice.’

  ‘Sir! Yes, sir!’ the three temponauts replied.

  ‘Keep down!’ Simon dragged Danice from the track into the cover of a thick patch of chest-high ferns. They had discarded their tattered overalls to let their time-travel suits provide automatic camouflage. But there was no point taking risks.

  There was a pounding of hoofs and a mounted guard urged his horse along the path and past them. He galloped on into the forest, scattering a flight of small grey birds.

  There were shouts from more guards in the distance.

  ‘We have to keep moving,’ Simon said. ‘How far away is the Chieftain’s fortress?’

  ‘Thirty k’s to the north,’ Danice replied. ‘It could take us a couple of days to get there.’

  ‘That’s too long!’ Simon muttered. More hoof beats approached along the track. There was a flash of a horse and rider coming through the trees towards them.

  Simon leapt to his feet. ‘I’ve got an idea!’ he said.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Danice hissed.

  ‘Stay down and wait here!’ Simon said. He grabbed a broken branch about two metres long and scurried to the edge of the track. To his right there was a metre-high slab of rock. He ran to it and crouched behind, out of sight, timing his next move.

  The beating hoofs drew closer. Just as they reached a crescendo, Simon leapt onto the rock.

  ‘Yaaaaa!’ he shouted.

  He swung the branch and thumped the rider a powerful blow on the chest.

  The man’s face froze in shock and he fainted. Then he slid off the still-moving horse and toppled soundlessly into the long grass at the side of the trail. His arms and legs twitched slightly.

  ‘Let’s get out of here before he recovers,’ Simon said, jumping down from the rock.

  Danice had chased after the horse, and already held the reins of the dun mare in her hands. ‘Easy, whoa there!’ she said. Then she turned to Simon. ‘You can ride, can’t you?’

  ‘A bit. How about you?’

  ‘No.’

  The horse whinnied and skittered a few flighty steps sideways.

  ‘There, girl, easy now, easy,’ Simon said softly, taking the reins and stroking the mare’s neck.

  The horse snorted and swished her tail.

  ‘Good girl,’ Simon said, and in a flash he was up on her back. ‘Now we can get back to our next objective,’ he grinned. ‘Check out the Chieftain’s place!’

  He held out his hand and helped Danice climb up behind him.

  Danice placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder. ‘I’m not sure the Chieftain’s fortress is such a great idea. Perhaps we should call the mission off. We should get back to the pick-up point and wait until they send back the TPS. That’s correct procedure, and I want to do things by the book. If we go AWOL, the Bureau might change their minds about helping my family.’

  Simon turned in the saddle. Danice had got it all wrong. He was sure that if they failed to meet all their objectives, their mission status would be downgraded. They would be removed from priority assignments. He couldn’t let that happen. ‘You’ve got to be kidding. The mission isn’t finished yet!’

  He flicked the reins, the mare sniffed the wind and they galloped off.

  The face in the mirror was that of an old man. Deep wrinkles furrowed the Chieftain’s brow, and brown liver spots freckled his cheeks, chin and neck. For a few moments, he stared sadly at the image of a man who looked so much older than his actual calendar years.

  ‘You’re not the man you used to be, old boy,’ he said, allowing himself a rare sigh.

  There was a knock on the door.

  ‘Yes? Enter!’

  O’Bray opened the door and peered in.

  ‘O’Bray! Good, I wanted to see you.’

  ‘Yes, boss?’

  ‘That report, earlier,’ the Chieftain said. ‘Those two time travellers. Any news?’

  ‘Yes, a little,’ O’Bray replied. ‘Our informants tell me they’ve escaped from the Prison Farms.’

  The Chieftain
raised his eyebrows with interest. ‘And where are they now?’

  ‘No idea, boss. But I’ve sent our airship and some guards to take a look out there.’

  ‘All right, I’ll leave that in your hands.’

  ‘And, boss, I’ve put the Time Accelerator on standby as you requested,’ O’Bray said. ‘Should I program some specific coordinates for your destination?’

  ‘No. I’ll take care of that,’ said the Chieftain. He gave a mysterious smile. ‘We go wherever we want, O’Bray. The whole of history is out there, ready and waiting for us.’

  27

  The mare was soon in full stride and, although she was carrying both Danice and Simon, she made good time as they galloped along the margins of the forest.

  Within half an hour, they were amongst rugged, timbered hills. Simon slowed the pace as the track turned into the forest and began to snake through gullies.

  ‘It’s a bit rough through here,’ Simon observed. ‘Is this the right way?’

  ‘Yes,’ Danice replied. Then, after a moment, she said, ‘Simon, the more I think about it, the more I reckon we should end this mission. They’ll be going into emergency mode. We should be, too!’

  ‘And?’

  ‘They’ll send the satellite back. At eight-hour intervals.’ She tugged his arm. ‘You read your manual, didn’t you?’

  ‘Yeah, I read it! I know the procedure.’

  ‘Then let’s abort the mission,’ Danice pleaded. ‘Let’s get back to the pick-up location and wait. It’s the safest option.’

  ‘This isn’t about safety,’ Simon snapped. ‘We’ve got a job to do. What about our mission?’

  Danice shrugged. ‘We tried. They’ll understand.’

  The mare splashed through a creek, sending sprays of water over the riders. Simon wiped his eyes and face, using this as an excuse not to respond. He kept silent as they plunged into a broader gorge, going deeper and deeper into the forest.

  Simon considered their options. Danice was partly right. As a result of having been captured, they were way behind schedule, and they were still a long way from their final and most important objective. He also had no doubt that Mission Control was at this very moment planning their extraction from this timezone. Yet he didn’t want to admit defeat. They had come too far in time and space to give up now.

  ‘Look,’ Simon said at last, ‘I’m going to finish this mission.’ He twisted in the saddle to look back at Danice. ‘We get into the Chieftain’s place, we find out what we can about him. And then we return. That’s how I want to do it.’

  ‘It’s too risky!’ Danice cried. ‘Unless we go back to the TPS location, the Bureau can’t find us.’

  The mare suddenly stopped. The track ahead was broken by a chasm fifteen metres wide and at least fifty metres deep. A sapling bridge had been built to cross the gap. It was a primitive construction of a dozen logs with their ends buried in the dirt on each side of the chasm.

  Danice peered around Simon’s shoulder. ‘Hey, does that look safe?’

  The mare nickered nervously and pawed the ground.

  ‘I’d better lead her across,’ Simon said.

  He helped Danice dismount before swinging out of the saddle himself. ‘You get to the other side,’ he said.

  Danice took a few steps onto the bridge. The greying timbers had been partly flattened on top after years of weathering and constant use.

  ‘Watch this one!’ she said, pointing to a log that had split in the middle and sagged below the level of the others. ‘It looks shaky!’

  ‘I see it,’ Simon replied. He started to lead the mare across. She stepped uncertainly, blowing through her nostrils.

  ‘Easy, girl, easy,’ Simon said soothingly.

  The mare took one step, then another, before gathering confidence and clopping delicately across the bridge.

  On the other side of the chasm, the track split in two.

  ‘We have to decide here,’ Danice said. ‘The track to the left goes up that hill, climbs pretty high, then goes down in the direction of the Fire Caves. We could see my family there, then get back to our pick-up point. The other one goes more or less straight to the Chieftain’s place.’

  ‘What do you want to do?’ Simon asked.

  ‘You know what I think.’

  ‘Okay, you go and see your family, and decide what you want to do from there.’ Simon mounted the horse and gathered up the reins. ‘And I’ll keep going to the Chieftain’s fortress.’

  ‘But you don’t even know the area!’

  ‘I’ll work it out,’ Simon said. ‘With or without you.’

  ‘You’re too stubborn!’ Danice groaned.

  Simon said nothing.

  Danice stared along one track, then the other.

  ‘Now what is it?’ Simon asked.

  In the distance, somewhere close and to the north of them, Danice heard a pulsating sound, like an engine. ‘Can you hear that?’ she asked.

  ‘No. What?’ Simon said.

  Danice listened again. A few birds called out in the surrounding trees. But now the other sound was gone. ‘It’s nothing,’ she said. ‘I just thought I heard something, you know, like airship engines.’

  ‘I didn’t hear a thing.’

  Danice shrugged. Then she looked again at the two tracks, and back at Simon. ‘All right, you win,’ she said at last. ‘We go on with the mission.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  Danice kept her doubts to herself. ‘Yes,’ she said.

  Simon smiled. ‘Hey, we won’t get eaten by wild beasts on the way, will we?’

  ‘So long as we don’t stand around gossiping.’

  Simon reached down and helped Danice climb up behind him.

  Then he turned the horse’s head along the right-hand track.

  Half a kilometre on, they emerged from the gorge into a narrow, grassy valley.

  Suddenly Danice gasped, ‘Simon! Watch out!’

  A score of armed men ran out of the cover of the trees and quickly encircled them. They pointed guns at Simon and Danice’s heads.

  Danice clung to Simon as the mare snorted and wheeled.

  ‘Who are they? Prison guards?’ Simon asked.

  ‘I don’t know who they are,’ Danice replied. ‘They’re wearing civilian clothes!’

  ‘Try to escape, and we shoot!’ a man in a peaked cap shouted. He stepped forward and grabbed the mare’s reins. ‘You’re coming with us!’ he said.

  An airship suddenly slid into view overhead and loomed above them. Its shadow darkened the clearing.

  The sun set in the west, and columns of smoke drifted over Old City. Sirens and shouting filled the streets. Damien and Bigdad hurried down one of the lanes that led away from the plaza, heading towards the north of the city.

  ‘So far, so good,’ Bigdad said. ‘The airship tower will be under minimum guard by now. All units will have been sent to quell the riots.’

  ‘Our comrades did well to find so much fuel for the fires,’ Damien said. ‘I didn’t think there was that much firewood in the city!’

  ‘We’ve been stockpiling it for a while.’ Bigdad grinned. ‘But I didn’t expect every low-life crim from the slums would join in the riot as well.’

  ‘Even if they don’t have a clue what it’s all about.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. Anyone who joins in helps our cause,’ Bigdad said. As they reached the corner, he hesitated. ‘The airship tower is down the end of the next street. Four of my men are meeting us there.’

  Damien gulped. It made no difference that he had travelled into the past, he still felt nervous and excited at the prospect of action against the Tribunes. ‘What’s the plan?’

  ‘Once we’ve secured the tower,’ Bigdad said, ‘you should get back to your mother and Alli, and the other folk. Tell them to prepare for the journey to the Far Lands. But we won’t get to you until after first light tomorrow.’

  ‘Why that long?’ Damien asked.

  ‘We can’t navigate the ship very
far at night. It’s too dangerous,’ Bigdad replied. ‘There’s a clearing in the forest, just north-west of the city. We’ll take the captured airship there and keep it out of sight, below the level of the trees, till just before dawn. Then we’ll come to the Fire Caves.’

  ‘We’ll be ready,’ Damien said. ‘But what about Danice? We haven’t heard from her!’

  Bigdad’s face softened. ‘She’s busy doing what she came back to do. In the meantime, let’s steal this airship!’

  Damien nodded, although he wished he had his father’s confidence in his sister and her friend.

  28

  ‘I don’t like this,’ Danice said. ‘I don’t even know who these people are. Where are they taking us? I hope we’re not going back to that prison.’

  She huddled next to Simon on the floor of the airship cabin.

  Simon glanced at the two men opposite them. They chatted quietly and occasionally laughed. ‘I can’t work it out, either,’ he said. ‘Are they prison guards?’

  ‘They’re not wearing uniforms,’ Danice replied, ‘but they’ve got guns and side-arms, which the prison guards don’t carry. Maybe they’re Special Forces. From the Tribunes.’

  Simon lifted his eyes to the cabin window. All he could see was the sky. ‘I’ve been trying to follow which direction we’ve been taking. When we left the valley back there, I’m sure they turned the airship around. Wouldn’t that mean we’re heading away from the prison? In the same direction we were riding before they captured us?’

  Danice thought a moment. ‘Yeah, I think you’re right.’ She glanced out the window above them, and at the sky beyond. ‘And if you look at those clouds, they have shadows on the right side, and the pink of the sunset on the left.’

  Simon nodded. ‘Which means the sun is to the left, which means the west is to the left.’

  ‘And if we turned around, that means you’re right,’ she said. ‘We must be heading north, towards the city. Away from the prison.’

  Simon glanced again at the men who were guarding them, then suddenly jumped to his feet and looked out of the window.

  One of the men growled, ‘Get down! Stay where you are!’