Freefall

by Roderick Gordon

  Dr. Burrows was completely ignorant of Will’s feelings, and of how both Cal’s death and now this account about Sarah’s final act of self-sacrifice struck him to the very core. Still put out at being manhandled by Drake, and even more so by the discovery that he was now homeless, Dr. Burrows spoke with uncharacteristic boldness.

  “Hey, gunslinger — whatever your name is — you said we shouldn’t hang around here?”

  Drake didn’t shift his gaze from Will as he answered, but a slight movement of his eyes betrayed his irritation. “It’s Drake, and yes, I did say that, didn’t I? I’m going to take you somewhere to lie low for a while, and maybe you’ll get a chance to see your wife at the same time.”

  “You know where she is?” Dr. Burrows asked immediately.

  “Come along, Will,” Drake said softly, placing a hand on the overwrought boy’s shoulder and steering him toward the garden wall. “We’ve got a load of catching up to do, but not here. Let’s go.”

  “Excellent,” Dr. Burrows declared to their backs as they moved away. Even if he didn’t admit it to himself, he was more than a little resentful that he seemed to have been supplanted in Will’s affections by this rather imposing stranger, who evidently had such a strong bond with his son.

  25

  DRAKE WENT AHEAD to check that the road was clear, then waved Will and Dr. Burrows out after him. As the renegade escorted them away from Mrs. Tantrumi’s house, Will thought how good it felt to be back with him. He’d had no idea how he and his father were going to cope, particularly since Dr. Burrows had seemed so unwilling to accept that the Styx were a very real threat. He just hoped that the incident with Mrs. Tantrumi would open his father’s eyes.

  Drake used a hand signal to tell Will to stay back as he moved to the end of the road. Slowing, he glanced around the corner, then disappeared from sight. He was being every bit as cautious as he had been in the Deeps.

  “Is all this cloak-and-dagger stuff really necessary?” Dr. Burrows grumbled to his son. “I mean, what can anyone do to us here? This is Highfield, for goodness’ sake!”

  “They tried to snatch me and Chester on the way home from school, and that was only a couple of Colonists. If the Limiters come for us …,” Will said, but didn’t finish the sentence.

  Dr. Burrows mouthed a silent “pah!” as he and Will hurried to catch up with Drake, who showed them through an iron gate, then led them down a narrow alley.

  “Martineau Square. That’s where you’re taking us, isn’t it?” Dr. Burrows asked, as he saw that the alley extended behind a row of Georgian terraced houses.

  “Yeah, but not the front way,” Drake answered.

  Both sides of the alley were bordered by tall redbrick walls, and it was paved with tread-worn cobblestones, between which grass and weeds grew in abundance. Clusters of old trash cans and heaps of empty cardboard boxes impeded the trio’s progress, particularly when Dr. Burrows lost his footing on a soggy pizza carton and fell over. “Get a move on,” Drake urged, as Dr. Burrows picked himself up.

  Drake stopped at a wooden door coated with chipped black paint, its bottommost edge rotted away. They slipped through it, finding themselves in a small backyard, a concreted area with what looked like the original outdoor privy still in one corner. Drake used a key to let them through the back door of the house and into a hallway, which was a dismal dark brown color. From the state of it, Will reckoned it hadn’t been decorated for many decades.

  They climbed several flights of stairs with cast-iron metal banisters, the treads creaking with every step, and at the very top Drake ushered them through a doorway so low they had to duck to get through it. They found themselves in a dingy room, the only light filtering through a small cobwebbed window. Will knew they must be in the attic of one of the terraced houses that lined Martineau Square.

  Drake shut the small door and drew two bolts across, then skirted swiftly over the bare floorboards to the window. He stopped short of going right up to it, instead peering at the view outside through the dusty panes.

  “What’s there?” Dr. Burrows asked as he ambled straight up to the window and pressed his face against the pane. In the blink of an eye, Drake had hauled him back.

  “Blast it, man, don’t show yourself like that!” he growled.

  Dr. Burrows made a sharp movement, shoving Drake’s hand away, then squared up to him. “Don’t you dare touch me!” he simmered. “I don’t know what your game is, but if you do that again, you’ll be sorry.”

  Will had never seen his father like this before — he had always gone out of his way to avoid even the mildest confrontation. Dr. Burrows was several inches shorter than Drake, and it was difficult to imagine him faring well in a fight against anyone, let alone this man who regularly came up against Limiters, and won. Nevertheless, Dr. Burrows’s whole body was quivering like a bantam cockerel about to attack.

  As Dr. Burrows’s and Drake’s eyes remained locked on each other, the two men radiated an angry calm which seemed to fill the small room. Will had the weirdest sensation that he was back with Chester and Cal again. Time after time they had rubbed each other the wrong way and he’d been forced to smooth things over. Now Will didn’t like the way things were going between these two grown men, and felt compelled to intervene. “Dad, you’ve got to be careful. Remember what just happened with that old woman. She was going to stab you.”

  His upper lip curled with anger, Dr. Burrows turned his head stiffly from Drake and toward his son. “You don’t really know who this person is, or what he’s done. Remember what I told you about strangers — you should never tr —”

  “He’s not a stranger! He saved my life in the Deeps!” Will burst out. “He looked after us there. He knows what’s going on.”

  “Dr. Burrows, what will it take to convince you that our lives are at risk?” Drake asked in an even voice.

  “Please just listen to him, Dad,” Will implored his father.

  Dr. Burrows humphed, then withdrew to a corner of the attic, where he sat down heavily on an old trunk.

  Drake didn’t appear to be the slightest bit fazed by the confrontation, and turned immediately to Will, smiling.

  “Right, bring me up to speed.”

  “OK,” the boy replied, throwing a glance at the shadows where his father was sitting in a brooding silence. “I’ve got something for you.”

  “Make yourself comfortable first. We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Drake said, lowering himself to the floor, where he sat cross-legged. Will did likewise, then delved inside his jacket pocket and brought out the leather pouch containing the two phials. He unwrapped the burlap from around them.

  “Those aren’t what I think they are, are they?” Drake said in amazement.

  “Certainly are. This one,” Will said, grinning as he held up the phial with the black stopper, “is the virus.”

  Drake took it from him with the greatest care. “Dominion,” he said softly, lifting the phial so it caught the dim light filtering through the small window. “So the other one must be the vaccine?” he asked.

  Will nodded as he also passed the white-stoppered phial over to Drake, who gently placed it on the floor beside him.

  Dr. Burrows cleared his throat loudly, making Will start. “So, Drake, I take it you believe this whole dastardly plot routine is for real, then? You actually think the Styx are intending to wipe us all out with a lethal virus?”

  “No, not all of us,” Drake replied. “They just want to depopulate the surface, and then move in on what’s left.”

  “I’ve never heard such a load of claptrap,” Dr. Burrows countered from the shadows. “Tell me you don’t really believe that.”

  “While you were underground, you missed the whole Ultra Bug episode. That was the Styx limbering up for something far nastier and far more serious. For this, for Dominion. And it’s a killer clever plan. By using a biological reagent, they can exterminate Topsoilers but leave the infrastructure intact. You see, all the buildings, roads, railways
— everything they need — will be there for the taking. And when they do march in, there won’t be enough of us to put up any resistance.”

  “But why now?” Will asked. “They’ve been underground for centuries, haven’t they?”

  “I’ve got two theories about that. Either their numbers have grown so much that it’s time for them to move on to greener pastures …,” Drake answered.

  “Or?” Will prompted him.

  “Or because — and this is the more likely explanation — with all the development going on in Highfield, the Colony is losing air channels by the dozen as the old buildings are torn down. And at the same time as that’s happening, it’s upping the ante that someone will rumble what’s down there — the Discovery, as the Colonists call it.”

  “Yes, the Discovery,” Will mumbled, remembering the first time he’d heard about it from Grandma Macaulay.

  “But spreading a deadly virus, like terrorists?” Dr. Burrows said, shaking his head. “Have they got the capability for that?”

  “Sure. It’s nothing new — the Styx have pulled the same stunt a couple of times down the years,” Drake said. “You’re aware of all the major epidemics — the outbreaks of Asian and Spanish flu, and the Great Plague of 1665 — they’re all the work of the White Necks.”

  “I like a man with a good imagination,” Dr. Burrows laughed cynically. “But this is too much!”

  “In a way, the Styx themselves are not that different from a virus.” Drake was thoughtful as he continued to dangle the glinting phial in front of him. “Know much about viruses, Doc? Do you know their MO?”

  “Can’t say I do,” Dr. Burrows said sneeringly.

  “Well, they’re tiny organisms, so small that you need special filters to trap them. They’re like nothing else on earth. In fact, they resemble miniature space rockets, and they can even be crystallized — it’s debatable whether they’re alive, in the sense of the word you or I understand it. And it’s a heck of a job to identify a new one when it does pop up.”

  “So how, exactly, are they like the Styx?” Dr. Burrows interjected.

  Drake continued as if he hadn’t heard him. “They attack a host cell by anchoring themselves to its membrane. Then they shoot their genetic material inside and hijack the cell. They use its internal machinery to reproduce themselves like billy-ho, until there are so many of them the cell bursts. Then millions of identical viruses flood out in search of new hosts to infect.” The Dominion phial swung gently as Drake touched it with his pinkie finger. “The rats sink the ship.”

  “But you’re talking about organisms that kill people,” Dr. Burrows said, outrage in his voice. “You sound as though you actually admire them.”

  “I admire their simple, uncluttered intent to survive. Their objective isn’t to kill — in fact, if the host loses its life, that’s not good for business. The smart viruses keep their hosts alive … because they’re dependent on them.”

  “What are you trying to say — that the Styx are like viruses because they use people … use people for their own ends?” Dr. Burrows asked, flicking his eyebrows as if he was buying none of this. “Interesting concept, I suppose, but hardly credible.”

  Drake had evidently tired of the exchange with Dr. Burrows, and turned to Will.

  “All I can say is that I’m impressed,” he told the boy, then frowned deeply as if suddenly troubled by something. “Wait — the only place you could have got these phials is from —”

  “From a twin,” Will finished the sentence for him. “That’s right.”

  “So … so did you take them off her dead body?”

  “No, she gave them to me,” Will said, his voice beginning to waver. “The Rebecca twins did try to get them back at the submarine, but I wasn’t about to let them have them.”

  “But these are the Styx you’re talking about, and all that sounds way too easy. Are you absolutely sure these phials contain genuine Dominion virus?”

  “Well, I hope so,” Will replied earnestly.

  “You need to tell me everything, right from the moment you fell into the Pore,” Drake said. “And take your time — we’re in no hurry.”

  26

  WILL AND DRAKE talked for several hours, until Drake finally got to his feet and stretched his legs.

  “So you didn’t see what actually happened to the Rebecca twins, or the Limiter,” he said with a grimace. “I don’t like it. It’s too open-ended.”

  Will was unsettled by his response. “Well, either they were blown to smithereens or, if they did manage to make it inside the submarine, then they’re a long way down,” he said. “I just hope Martha got Chester and Elliott to the other —”

  “Oh, come on, enough of this! You were going to show me where my wife is,” Dr. Burrows demanded tetchily. He hadn’t moved from the trunk since the set-to with Drake, but now stood up.

  “Yes, I was, wasn’t I?” Drake replied. He took a stepladder from the wall and set it up in the center of the room. Mounting it, he pushed open a hatch, then climbed through. Dr. Burrows and Will followed, finding themselves on an area of leaded roof, the darkening sky over their heads.

  Dr. Burrows ignored the view of the square below, apparently more interested in the thick chimney stack at the side of the roof. He stood on tiptoe to touch one of the large terracotta chimney pots.

  “I was working on a theory that there are ducts built into these, for the Colony’s air supply,” he said, as if talking to himself.

  “Then you’d be spot on,” Drake confirmed. “The Fan Stations blow stale air out of some of them, while others are intakes for fresh air. In fact, the whole square and many of the other buildings in the older parts of town were erected by Martineau’s men, and disguise all sorts of things. But this square — Martineau Square — is Styx Central.”

  “If that’s true, then why in the world have you brought us here?” Dr. Burrows asked.

  “Other than that it’s the last place they’d think of looking for us, the reason I’ve brought you here is …” Drake trailed off. He’d raised his hand to point, but now lowered it as he watched Will intently. “Don’t get too close to the side — you might be seen,” he warned the boy.

  As soon as Will had laid eyes on the edge of the roof, he’d been seized by the overwhelming desire to go toward it. That other self, who was so strong and domineering, was taking control of him again. It drove Will to take a few steps, but then he managed to stop himself from going any farther. “Help me,” he whispered as, breaking into a cold sweat, he sank down suddenly on the lead flat.

  “What’s up?” Drake asked as he quickly went over to Will. “I didn’t know you had a problem with heights.”

  “I don’t,” Will croaked. “Or I didn’t.” He looked beseechingly up at Drake, trying not to cry he was so frightened. “This is something else. I keep getting this feeling like I want to … like I have to jump. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  Drake crouched beside him, his eyes full of concern. “When did this start?”

  “Not long ago. It’s like I want to kill myself! Am I going mad?”

  “What is it, Will?” Dr. Burrows said, now standing helplessly by his son’s side. “What’s the matter?”

  “I think I might know,” Drake said as he gently took hold of the boy. “They used the Dark Light on you, didn’t they?”

  “Yes,” Will answered, his body trembling violently as he still struggled with the urge to get up and throw himself off the roof. It was as though there was a battle taking place in each of his limbs, the muscle groups straining against one another in some sort of antagonistic contest to vanquish its counterpart. “In the Hold. A lot,” he gasped.

  “Then this is not you. The Styx have done this to you,” Drake said.

  “They did what?” Dr. Burrows shouted.

  “Stay out of it and keep your voice down!” Drake snapped at him. “Will, they implanted this in you. You’ve been conditioned … brainwashed, if you want to call it that. When t
hey were interrogating you, they probably left something in your preconscious, like a poison pill, that would become active if you left the Colony.”

  Will stared at Drake, unable to grasp what he was telling him.

  “It’s not you — remember that. They did this. And you can fight it. Come with me.” He helped Will up and, looping an arm around his chest, supported him to the very edge of the roof. Drake kept hold of him as they stood there together, a three-story drop below them.

  “Is that such a good —?” Dr. Burrows began to object.

  “I said keep out of it, Doc,” Drake growled at him. “Will, look down there, at the road. You’ve got a picture in your mind, haven’t you? A really vivid picture?”

  Will nodded, unable to stem the tears.

  “I’d guess it’s the image of you lying broken on the pavement. And it feels so right, as if it’s the answer to everything.”

  “Yes,” Will replied in a hoarse voice. “But how do you know that?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Will — you need to stay with me and listen to what I’m saying.” Drake placed the palm of his hand on Will’s forehead for a moment. “You have to realize there’s something intrinsically wrong with the picture that they’ve stuck in your head. You can’t feel the pain … you can’t feel anything … you can’t feel any loss, can you?”

  Will shook his head. “No, nothing.”

  “The Styx rewired your mind — they’ve made you think this way. It’s wrong. Resist it, resist the vision. It’s false. Instead think about how your father and I would feel if you actually did jump. Put yourself in our places and feel what we’d feel. Are you doing that?”

  “I’m trying,” Will croaked.

  Drake took his arm from around the boy and stepped away from him.

  “You’re on your own now, but you’re in control, not the Styx. Tell me how that feels?”

  “Better … Yes, it’s like I’ve got myself back … like the voice isn’t so strong,” Will said as he wiped his eyes. “I can look down now and the picture isn’t so clear. Oh, this is all so stupid.”