by Andy Briggs
The walkway was level with them and just out of reach. He needed to get on top of the problem. Literally.
With a grunt he heaved himself up on to the engine ring. Dev had never been very good at chin-ups, but now, his adrenaline flowing, he found the movement easy. One moment he had been terrified of heights. The next, his focus was entirely on the problem and its solution, and everything else was forgotten. He wondered if this was another side effect of his special condition.
The engine wobbled as he hoisted acrobatically himself up. The ring was about the diameter of a hula hoop and only a few centimetres wide – but it was enough for him to swing his foot on to.
“What are you doing?” said Lot, fear quaking her voice.
Dev didn’t answer. He knew he needed all his concentration on the task in hand; it was the only thing that was making him forget his fear of heights. One crisis at a time, he reminded himself.
He swung his second foot on to the ring and slowly stood up, arms stretched out either side to keep his balance. He was now standing on top of the engine, balanced like a tightrope walker on the thin mounting ring. He moved with ease, as if he’d done crazy things like this all his life. He was careful not to stand on the wiring within the engine itself – not only was it fragile enough to break at the slightest pressure, but it also had thousands of volts coursing through it. Dev knew it would fry him in an instant.
“Hurry!” warned Lot as the engine trembled.
Dev braced himself – then leapt for the catwalk.
His stomach slammed into the handrail, and he folded around it, holding on tightly as his feet failed to find grip on the catwalk and slipped off – pulling him down.
His arms ached as he tightened his grip on the handrail to stop his fall. With a grunt of effort, he hauled himself on to the relative safety of the narrow catwalk.
He hadn’t noticed that the wire running from the battery in his pocket to the engine had pulled taut. The plug snapped out of the port on the mounting ring – disconnecting him from the engine.
The IonoEngine shuddered from the sudden loss of power – and Lot and Mason screamed. Luckily, without Dev’s weight, they remained hovering in place.
“I’m going to pull you across!” Dev shouted across. “Catch!”
He threw his battery towards Lot, keeping hold of the other end. With both her hands holding on to the ring for dear life, she made no attempt to catch it – and it struck her left cheek.
“OW!” she shrieked.
“I said catch it!” Dev reeled the wire in – then threw it out again. This time Mason lunged for it. “Don’t let go!”
Dev pulled the wire. With their weight suspended by the IonoEngine, it was easy to draw them closer. Little by little they moved towards the catwalk.
“It’s working!” cried Lot.
The warning tone from Mason’s battery suddenly stopped, and the IonoEngine lurched as it lost power. Lot and Mason didn’t need to be told what to do – they both swung for the catwalk—
Just as the engine dropped.
Mason landed hard against the catwalk as Dev had done – and for a moment it looked as if he would rebound off it. Dev grabbed his arm and pulled him to safety. The battery in Mason’s pocket was yanked out as the power line snapped.
Lot landed gracefully on the outer edge of the catwalk. She had one leg over the rail, just as her battery lost power too.
“That was too close!” she gasped.
Only Dev saw that she was still in danger. He raced towards her as the IonoEngine plummeted towards the ground. Lot’s battery wire had coiled around her leg as she jumped. The battery was wedged in a pocket of her combat trousers; the other end was jammed into the engine’s mounting ring port.
The cable snapped tight from the weight of the falling engine and, twisted around Lot’s leg, dragged her suddenly back over the edge.
Lot screamed. Then she felt Dev’s arms around her, stopping her fall. The sudden yank on the cable snapped the wire free from the mounting ring – and the engine plunged to the ground.
Lot clung to Dev, breathing hard. He could feel her trembling. “It’s OK,” he said. “You’re safe.”
Through the mesh floor of the catwalk, they watched the engine strike the edge of a shelving unit with an almighty bang. It shattered into pieces that rained down across the aisle far below.
Lot slowly pulled away from Dev. She refused to meet his gaze. “That was fun,” she said with forced cheerfulness.
They took in their new surroundings at ceiling level. The catwalk stretched across the warehouse in both directions, suspended from the roof by metal poles that barely looked capable of supporting their weight. Occasionally there were crossroads where other walkways joined it, forming a larger grid. They could see the walls of the warehouse from here, while the forest of shelves prevented them from seeing much in the aisles below. Metal conduits ran just above their heads, housing cables, air-conditioning pipes and the powerful spotlights that illuminated the space below.
Then Dev spotted what they were looking for. A relay box bolted on to a mass of cables.
“This is a relay for the computer system,” he said as he unclipped a panel, revealing the complex circuitry behind it. The Inventory’s wireless network had been compromised, and there was no way he could risk plugging directly into the system with his watch, but Dev had one last trick up his sleeve.
“SNFC – super near field communication,” he said to the two uncomprehending faces peering over his shoulder. “Like the chips in credit cards that allow you to pay for things just by waving it in front of the reader. Only way more advanced.”
Mason laughed. “You are such a nerd.”
“Yeah, the nerd who just saved your life!” growled Dev. “You shouldn’t be here, remember?! You shouldn’t have seen any of this!”
He rounded on Mason, shoving his hand so hard into Mason’s chest that he took an involuntary step back – straight into the handrail – causing the whole catwalk to sway.
“Dev, don’t…” said Lot.
Dev was too angry to listen. “I don’t know why you’re even with us. I should have left you behind for those thugs to deal with.” Dev didn’t know where his anger was coming from, but it felt good to unleash his feelings. He prodded Mason in the chest again. “You’re just dead weight.”
Mason went pale, glancing over the edge of the catwalk at the drop below.
Dev felt Lot’s hand on his arm. “Easy, Dev. Like it or not, we’re all in this together right now. Mase isn’t one of them.”
“How do you know that? Nobody has ever broken into the Inventory before. Not until today!” Dev studied her. “And you’re always backing him up. Typical.” His resentment towards Mason was overflowing on to her now. “Looks like I’ve got to babysit you both, then.”
He was seething with anger. All his life he had been the geeky kid ignored by cool, popular kids like Lot and Mason, yet now they were looking to him for help? It was so unfair.
He pushed past Lot and turned his attention to the access port. He lifted his watch so it was a millimetre from a small sensor. Accessing the hacker app he had spent last summer creating, he soon bypassed the hijacked security and accessed his Trojan program. He hoped that, virtually hidden there, the attackers would be unable to stop him.
Data flowed over his watch’s holographic display. He moved his free hand and a virtual keyboard appeared mid-air. He rapidly typed a series of codes. The scrolling data paused, then was replaced by a flashing old-school cursor.
“All right! We’re in.” He beamed. “They haven’t managed to break into my Trojan.” He frowned. “But there’s something else in here too…”
A three-dimensional hologram of Eema’s emoji projected from his watch and floated in front of his face. Rather than the usual smug smile, this face looked concerned and frightened.
“Devon, thank goodness you’re OK!” said Eema urgently. “I have been unable to see you on my systems.”
&nb
sp; “That’s because I cloaked us from the security system,” Dev replied. “Wait a second, how do I know you are … you? I thought the intruders had disabled you.”
“Almost,” said Eema. “They deleted my main quantum drives. If I hadn’t managed to download my artificial intelligence files into your Trojan, then they would have found me and deleted me.”
“So it looks like I saved you too.” He threw a glance at Lot and Mason.
The emoji looked at him curiously. “How you managed to place a Trojan in my software…” Eema shook her head indignantly. “It’s disgusting. Lucky for us both that I found it. However, my ability to help you has been compromised. I can’t access the husks while the main security is jammed, and only your uncle can deactivate that. So if you see a security robot then they must be controlling it. You must find the Iron Fist and then leave the Inventory immediately.”
Dev paused. The intruders had compromised Eema. How did he know he could trust the computer? Who was to say that Eema wasn’t under their control already?
“Not just yet, Eema. I want to know where my uncle is.”
“Charles Parker is unharmed, but held captive. They are using him as a knowledge resource to override security protocols. However, that won’t work. Once the Inventory is locked down, even I can’t control all the security.”
“Who are they?”
“As far as I am able to discern, they are a group of Double Helix mercenaries.”
Dev looked at Lot and Mason to see if the name meant anything to them. They shook their heads. “Who are Double Helix?”
“You are not authorized to know that.”
Dev groaned. “Eema, come on! I need to know who is after us!”
“From my observations, this particular unit is governed by the Collector.” Eema’s emoji was replaced by a picture of the fiend. “He is known as a high-level operative within Shadow Helix.”
“How does the Collector know about this place? The weapons they have … they look like they belong in here.”
“You are not authorized to know that.”
Dev was growing angry. “They mentioned something called Iron Fist. What is it?”
“You are not authorized to know that.” This time it was Mason’s voice mimicking Eema. Dev shot him a scathing look.
The image of the Collector was replaced by a gauntlet that appeared to be made from a blue metal. Rather than the sleek designs Dev was accustomed to from comic books, this had wires, tubes and coils hanging from it, a sure sign it was an experimental piece of technology rather than the finished product.
Eema spoke as Dev rotated the image. “This is all I found on the Inventory archive. The Iron Fist relic is as yet unclassified. It was discovered in the Scrap Chamber last year, and current research points to the design belonging to Nikola Tesla.”
“Wow!” said Dev.
“Tesla? Like the car?” asked Lot.
Dev shook his head. “No. Elon Musk invented those.” He saw Mason was about to ask who he was, so pressed quickly on. “Nikola Tesla was one of the world’s greatest inventors. He was from Serbia, but lived in America. He specialized in researching electricity and he created some amazing things. But, as usual, the world wasn’t ready for him.” He shook his head sadly. “He died penniless. And in his final years his best friend was a pigeon. He even thought aliens were projecting plans into his brain.”
Mason tapped his head. “Weirdo. I guess that’s why you like him. That and the fact he invented a whole bunch of useless rubbish.”
“You’re right,” said Dev. “Of course he also invented the AC electricity we all use, the fluorescent light bulb, the radio—”
“Marconi invented the radio,” said Lot, proud she knew a fact.
Dev shook his head. “Nope. Look it up. Tesla also invented the remote control – oh, and the electric motor. Just like in the cars.” Dev looked pointedly at Mason. “So, yeah. What a loser.”
He took a deep breath and turned back to Eema, whose emoji had reappeared. “And what does the Iron Fist do?”
“I don’t know,” Eema replied. “But evidently the Collector is desperate to obtain it. There have been a number of reported deaths that have been linked to researchers on Project Iron Fist. Studying the police files, I have calculated an eighty-six per cent likelihood that the Collector is behind them. The Iron Fist is being held in the Red Zone for further analysis.”
“That’s right in the heart of the Inventory,” Dev said. “They can’t get in there.”
Eema paused before speaking again. Dev wasn’t sure if it was for effect or if even quantum computers struggled to be tactful. “I’m afraid the probability that they will break into the Red Zone is high. They will use Charles Parker. Knowing how the Collector works, your uncle’s life will be at stake.”
“So I need to rescue my uncle from them?”
“No. You need to get Iron Fist before they do. The Iron Fist relic has the potential for catastrophic damage. Charles Parker’s life is irrelevant compared with ensuring the relic does not fall into the wrong hands.”
Dev’s stomach knotted. He was used to Eema’s callous comments, but to be told that their lives were a pale second to some odd invention hidden in the Inventory, that was sickening.
Lot stepped forward so Eema could see her. “Are you telling us we can’t leave?”
The emoji spun around to face her. “Not without the Iron Fist. If the Collector wants it, then it is imperative he doesn’t get it. The only way is forward.”
Mason spoke up. “I don’t want to be trapped in the middle of this place.”
Eema glanced at him. “You won’t be. In the Red Zone there is a way out. A one-way teleport system used for evacuation.”
“A teleporter?” It was the first time Dev had heard about that. “But, Eema, how can we possibly get ahead of them? If a group of heavily armed mercenaries is going to struggle to get into the further zones, then we don’t stand a chance!”
“I believe you do, Devon. All the time you have spent here with your uncle. With your knowledge… Devon, this is what you were bred for.”
“I’m not a dog!” he laughed. He knew he should be feeling angry, but he actually enjoyed the rare praise. Maybe he could actually achieve something worthwhile.
Dev snapped his fingers. “The Vacuum-Pods may have been deactivated, but the tunnel system is still in one piece, right?”
“Yes.”
“And they still connect the zones together?”
“Some of them at least. That is an excellent idea. I can pressurize the system now,” Eema replied. “When you reach the portal to the Red Zone I will not be able to help you, not while I am hidden within the Trojan. You must get through yourself.”
“How do I do that?”
Lot suddenly spoke up. “Dev! Somebody’s coming!”
Dev didn’t look away from Eema’s emoji face as she continued. “There are several possible defence mechanisms that will be activated, I can’t tell you which. What I can tell you is that the way ahead follows the rule of six.”
Dev shook his head. “Rule of six? What does that mean?”
“Dev!” hissed Lot. “We have to go!”
They peered down. Kwolek was leading a small knot of goons in the aisle below. They watched as one of the mercenaries found fragments of the broken IonoEngine and raised the alarm. Now the others rushed to join him.
Dev remembered the question that had been burning in his brain. His voice dropped into a whisper. “Eema, how did they break into the Inventory in the first place? I thought it was supposed to be impossible to bypass security.”
“It is,” Eema replied coolly. “They must have had help from somebody on the inside.”
Dev’s mouth went dry. So there really was a traitor in his midst. His eyes darted to Mason – then back to the figures below.
Kwolek was looking up and pointing straight at them. They had been spotted.
This was confirmed moments later when the air shimmered and
a sonic blast destroyed one of the poles supporting the catwalk above their heads.
Heavy combat boots clanked rhythmically as a group of special forces soldiers ran up the ramp of the three huge Chinook helicopters. Already the engines were spooling up, the spinning rotors blasting a heavy breeze on the troops below.
They were watched by Sergeant Wade. Nobody would have seen it through her cool professionalism, but ever since Eema had triggered the Inventory’s intruder alert, Wade had felt uneasy at the sheer scale of the assault.
A Chinese solider ran up to her and saluted smartly. These were not soldiers from one single country; they came from the elite ranks of every member state of the World Consortium. Their logo – an omega symbol with a lightning bolt through the centre – was on the side of the aircraft and repeated on their uniforms. Virtually nobody outside the World Consortium knew what the insignia meant, but it carried the greatest respect from those in the highest echelons of power.
Wade like to think of her unit as a covert United Nations, except they could pack a hammer blow when needed.
“Satellite reconnaissance of the area reveals enemy activity on the farm,” the soldier reported. “Whoever it is, it looks as if they’re expecting us.”
Wade thanked the soldier and turned her attention back to the aircraft as the heavy weaponry was loaded. The arms being piled into the helicopters were nothing as primitive as guns. Wade’s team had technology developed from the very best the Inventory had to offer. It was beyond next-generation.
With everybody and everything loaded, she jogged towards the lead Chinook and up the ramp. It began to close, the machine lifting from the runway, before she was even midway up.
Sergeant Wade wasn’t worried about the fight to come. She was more concerned about what was happening in the Inventory at that very moment. She was one of only six people who knew the truth of what was down there. And right now she knew everything hinged on the shoulders of one boy…
Dev, Lot and Mason fell on their backs as the catwalk shuddered violently beneath them.
“They’re going to shoot us down!” screamed Mason.