Eye of the Storm

by Mark Robson

  ‘What, the Glenn Miller?’ Callum exclaimed. ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo, Little Brown Jug Glenn Miller?’

  ‘That’s the one,’ Claire said, clearly amused by his reaction. ‘I’m surprised you’ve even heard of him. I’d have thought you’d be into more modern music, Callum.’

  ‘I play trombone at school,’ he explained. ‘You can’t play trombone and not know about Glenn Miller! I love his music! It’s brilliant.’

  ‘I suppose. If you like that sort of thing.’

  ‘Don’t tell me Elvis is here too!’ Callum added, clearly at least halfway serious.

  Claire laughed. ‘I’m afraid not. As far as I know, the King is dead and buried in Memphis.’

  ‘You were saying about Amelia Earhart’s grandson, Mum?’ Sam prompted.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘After we saw the machine yesterday, I got word to our agent in the science labs. His preliminary report this morning was sketchy, but it appears young David Earhart takes after his grandmother. Aside from adopting her surname, he’s something of a pioneer when it comes to flying. With the support of a team of raptor scientists, he’s developed that flying machine we saw. We understand it uses a hybrid combination of gliding and raptor electromagnetic technology.’

  ‘Wow! Sounds cool,’ Callum said enthusiastically. ‘I wonder how that works.’

  ‘I’m hoping we’re going to find out,’ Claire said. ‘I’m going to put together an extraction plan this afternoon.’

  ‘Extraction plan?’ Sam asked. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean we intend to get our hands on David Earhart whether he wants to join us or not.’

  ‘A kidnap!’ Callum breathed. ‘But why? What’s this got to do with the Imperium’s energy production policies?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she admitted. ‘Well, not directly as far as we know. But if this new breed of flying machines is robust enough, a realistic attempt might be made to penetrate a storm system and cross back to our world. And even if the machines are not ready yet, the potential is there. If we can get back to our world, then we have hope of enlisting help to stop the Imperium. And make no mistake about it – we need help. There are those back home who will take the growing environmental threat here and its potential long-term impact on our world very seriously. Being realistic, our chances of changing things here without some extra back-up are very small.’

  At the mention of crossing back, Sam instantly felt a pang of guilt. During the past couple of days, he’d been so caught up with the reunion with his mother, and overawed by the strength of her personality and her driving passion to lead the rebels, that he had barely given more than a passing thought to getting home. What would Dad and Niamh be doing now? Were they still out searching the waters off the Keys? What about the danger he had sensed Niamh facing a few days before? Was she all right? All of a sudden, he felt selfish and inconsiderate. How could he have been so easily distracted from his primary goal?

  Closing his eyes, he thought of his sister. For a moment it was as if he could feel the turmoil of her anxious thoughts, then the sensation passed. He got the distinct impression that she was confused by a welter of worries and emotions. He knew Niamh sometimes felt his pain and emotions, but it was rare for him to sense her.

  ‘Can we help you find this David Earhart?’ Callum asked.

  Sam opened his eyes, his heart beating fast as he tried to regain his focus.

  ‘Getting him out of the Imperium labs is likely to be dangerous,’ Claire replied. ‘I’m not going to put you boys in more danger than is necessary, but you can certainly help with the planning. At the brainstorming phase all ideas are welcome.’

  ‘Great!’ Sam replied enthusiastically. ‘If it could lead to a way for us to get home, count me in! When do we start?’

  ‘Right now,’ Claire said, unable to hide her amusement at the boys’ excitement. ‘I’ll gather the others and we’ll make a start. Nathan!’ she called. ‘Get the team together. We’ve got work to do.’

  ‘Will do,’ replied a gruff voice from the next room.

  Sam instinctively glanced towards the door. Although he knew that his mother trusted Nathan completely, the man made Sam nervous. When he and Callum had first seen Claire’s right-hand man, Sam had taken one look at Nathan’s dark beard and moustache flecked with grey, his crooked yellow teeth and his long hair tied back in a ponytail, and had decided instantly that he looked like a pirate and completely untrustworthy. Although Nathan had done nothing to warrant Sam’s suspicions, Sam could not shake the feeling that there was something unsavoury about him.

  Gathering the team into the HQ’s small living room did not take long. It was a bit of a squeeze, but everyone found a place to sit, either on chairs or on the floor. Claire stood in the middle of the room next to a low table.

  Apart from Claire and Nathan, there were two other humans present – Alex and Sherri – and the other seven were raptors. Sam was pleased to see that these included Nipper and Grunt, the two raptors who had accompanied them from the Reserve where the boys had first been marooned in this world. Did this mean they had agreed to join the rebel group?

  Sam looked at each of the raptors in turn as they settled themselves for the meeting. He didn’t know all of their names yet, and doubted that he would have been able to pronounce them even if he had been properly introduced. The raptors towered over the humans, the smallest of them being at least two and a half metres tall. They had massive chests and powerful legs with bulging muscles that, combined with the characteristic scythe-like central claw they had on each hand and wicked-looking rows of pointed teeth, made them look like monsters, but Sam had seen there was a lot more to them than their intimidating appearance.

  Alex was an enormous African-American man, whose barrel-like chest and huge upper arms made him appear almost as broad as he was tall, though even he was dwarfed by the raptors. Next to him, Sherri looked tiny and delicate. Of all the people present, she looked the most out of place. Sam had asked his mother about her earlier in the day. Apparently, she was highly valued as a team member because, apart from being a brilliant physicist, Sherri was also an accomplished gymnast, which had proved a useful skill during several of their raids on Imperium facilities.

  ‘OK, everyone, listen up!’ Claire stated, calling the meeting to order. ‘To clarify the situation, one of our spies in the Imperium labs has confirmed that the human, David Earhart, has helped the Imperium develop a working, powered flying machine that can be piloted by a raptor. The boys and I saw it yesterday, flying around outside the city. Aside from offering a potential vehicle to get back to Earth, airborne raptors could cause our field operations all sorts of problems. The technology they use to produce their holographic version of television is now compact enough to be equipped to those machines. That capability alone makes it imperative that we move to disrupt their progress. I don’t want to have the Imperium filming us and broadcasting our activities to the raptor world unless I control the content of those transmissions.’

  Claire began to click and growl, repeating her opening statement in the raptor language for the benefit of those raptors who didn’t understand English. Sam watched her with considerable pride, as she appeared to make easy work of speaking the strange raptor language.

  ‘We need to get our hands on David Earhart and the design of this flying machine of his,’ she concluded. ‘So – ideas, everyone. How are we going to extract him from the Imperium labs?’

  ‘Storming the place is out of the question,’ Nathan muttered, frowning. ‘There are hundreds of raptors in there and the place would be swarming with Imperium agents within seconds if we tried an open move.’

  ‘I could go in through the ventilation system,’ Sherri offered. ‘I’ve done it before.’

  ‘True,’ Claire said thoughtfully. ‘But the raptors working for the Imperium are clever. They won’t get caught out that way a second time. Besides, unless young Earhart is particularly small and cooperative, you wouldn’t be able to get him out
by that route. No. I think we need to try something different. Something the Imperium hasn’t seen before.’

  One of the raptors spoke in a rapid stream of clicks, tocks and growls. Everyone listened intently until he had finished. Claire thought for a moment and then responded in raptor, shaking her head.

  ‘We don’t want to compromise our spies,’ she told everyone in English. ‘We have too few in place as it is, and we have neither the time nor the people to risk an infiltration so soon after Nipper and Grunt sprang the boys the other day.’

  Claire looked uncomfortable using the nicknames that the boys had given their two raptor guardians, but none of the raptors so much as flickered an eyelid. Nipper and Grunt had made it clear to Claire that they were perfectly happy with the names the boys used for them.

  ‘Do you have a building plan of the labs?’ Callum asked. Sam looked at him, intrigued to see what his friend wanted with the plans. So did every other set of eyes in the room. Callum pushed his glasses up his nose in an instinctive nervous reaction to suddenly becoming the centre of attention.

  ‘Yes, Callum.’

  ‘Can I see them?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘What about the neighbouring buildings? Could you get blueprints of those too?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Claire replied, her voice tinged with curiosity. ‘But none of the neighbouring buildings are directly attached to the labs, so we can’t go in through the walls, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

  ‘No,’ Callum replied. ‘That wasn’t what I had in mind at all. I know you have guns, but I’m guessing they came from our world. They’re human technology, rather than raptor. What sort of capability do you have for making equipment?’

  ‘That depends on what it is,’ Claire replied. ‘If you want electronic gadgetry, then forget it. We don’t have the resources to. . .’

  ‘No! No, nothing like that,’ Callum interrupted quickly. ‘As far as I know, this should only require basic mechanical engineering skills and some raw materials to work with.’

  ‘OK. You’ve got my interest, Callum. What do you have in mind?’

  He told her. At the end of his explanation, Sam laughed aloud, but Claire’s eyes went first wide and then thoughtful. She glanced across at Sherri, who nodded.

  ‘You know what?’ she said. ‘You might just be on to something.’

  * * *

  Later that evening, Sam and some of the others were gathered in the living area. Sam was moving through some martial arts practice patterns, trying to clear his mind and release the anticipation and energy that had formed a tight knot in his stomach. He always found practising moves at home helped him centre and relax and he hoped the same would prove true here.

  ‘Martial arts! Pah! All that posing isn’t going to be any use to you in this world!’ Nathan mocked, watching with amusement as Sam moved through one of the traditional patterns in the space he had cleared.

  ‘Against a raptor? You’re right. It’s probably not,’ Sam admitted. ‘They’re too big and fast. But I like the discipline and in a fight with another human I think what I know would give me an edge.’

  ‘You think? I’ve never been convinced by all this flashy kung fu nonsense. All those kicks and spins; it’s rubbish if you ask me. But I’m prepared to be proved wrong. Come on. Convince me if you can.’ Nathan got up and stepped into the middle of the room to face off against Sam.

  ‘Nathan!’ Claire protested. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

  ‘Don’t worry, Mum. It’s fine. I’m sure Nathan has no intention of really hurting me.’

  As Nathan locked eyes with Sam, Nipper growled a warning that needed no translation. Nathan laughed. ‘It’s OK, big guy,’ he said, without looking round. ‘I just want to see what the kid’s got, that’s all.’

  ‘We don’t have enough room in here for free sparring, but we could do an approximation of one-step sparring,’ Sam told him.

  ‘Whatever that means,’ Nathan jeered.

  ‘It’s quite simple,’ Sam replied. ‘Easy enough that even you should cope with it.’

  ‘Oooh! The boy’s got attitude. I like that.’

  ‘The way it works is this,’ Sam explained. ‘You can take one step with either foot and throw your best punch at me. I’ll do my best to counter it. OK?’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Nathan said, giving him an evil-looking grin. Without warning, he stepped forward and threw a hard right-handed punch at the middle of Sam’s chest, but his fist had no chance to connect. Sam was ready. He swayed left and with a hooking motion, he grabbed Nathan’s wrist with his right hand, and twisted it hard until Nathan’s hand was palm up. Nathan found himself bent forward, his arm locked out straight, but Sam hadn’t finished. In one fluid motion, Sam leapt upward and brought his elbow down over Nathan’s in a counter-attack that would have snapped the restrained arm at the elbow had Sam not stopped short.

  There was a moment of stunned silence.

  ‘Cool!’ Callum exclaimed. ‘You’ve got to teach me how to do that!’

  ‘Nice move, kid,’ Nathan said grudgingly, standing up and rubbing his elbow. ‘That was pretty impressive.’

  Again without warning, Nathan stepped forward and threw a left, but again Sam was ready. Stepping right this time, he brushed the punch aside with his left forearm, flashed a side kick up to brush Nathan’s ribs and slid back out of reach, arms back up in a classic guard position before Nathan had a chance to move.

  He tried to come at Sam again, but this time Sam caught the fist in the palm of his hand and folded Nathan’s arm back on itself into a different lock before sweeping his legs out from under him with a hooking kick that dumped him on his back. Again, the counter-attack was vicious and Nathan found himself staring up at the point of Sam’s elbow that was poised to drive down into his face.

  Callum clapped enthusiastically. Everyone in the room looked suitably impressed by Sam’s moves. Even Nipper, Grunt and the other raptors looked on with interest.

  ‘That’s enough! Both of you,’ Claire said, her voice disapproving, although Sam thought he could also detect a certain sense of pride from his mother too. ‘Let him up, Sam. You’ve made your point. It’s good to know you can defend yourself, but let’s not risk anyone getting hurt. Tomorrow is an important day. Save it for another time.’

  Sam helped Nathan to his feet. The look that Nathan gave him was far from friendly, but he was pleased to see that it did now hold a measure of respect.

  * * *

  ‘How did you convince your mum that you should be a part of the extraction team?’ Callum whispered.

  Sam turned and winked at him. ‘Mum couldn’t do it,’ he replied. ‘She’s terrified of heights and I think that after my tae kwon do demonstration last night, she realised I am as well able to look after myself as anyone else here. Apparently, Nathan’s got a dodgy knee and Alex is renowned for being clumsy. Sherri will need someone to help her lift out the panel and the raptors don’t have the dexterity. That left you or me.’

  ‘But I’m the better climber,’ Callum protested.

  ‘Shhh!’ Claire hissed, turning the red glow of her filtered torch back along the tunnel towards the two boys and glaring at them. She pulled an imaginary zip across her lips.

  Sam nodded, mouthing the word ‘sorry’. As soon as Claire turned away again, he grinned ruefully at Callum and shrugged. He couldn’t tell if his friend could make out the gesture in the darkness, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

  The streets never got truly dark in the City of the Imperium, but at four in the morning, it was as dark as it was going to get. The gigantic glow lamps that hung in the air far above the streets were routinely dimmed in the small hours to save power, leaving the pathways between buildings gloomy and thick with eerie shadows.

  As he clambered out of the underground passage and into the ominous silence of the street, Sam marvelled once again at the vast structures around him. This was a city of improbable angles, with seemingl
y endless geodesic structures, all built within a gargantuan outer shell. In some ways it reminded Sam of how he had always imagined Atlantis. He found it quite easy to picture this city sitting on the seabed, hundreds of metres below the surface of the water.

  Nipper, Grunt and two smaller raptors that Claire called Einstein and Newton were accompanying Claire, Sherri and the two boys. Because the two boys understood nothing of the raptor language, Claire had consulted with the rebel raptors and had given each of them a respectable name for the boys to use, before nicknames that she deemed unsuitable began to appear. As most of the raptors had been scientists before joining the rebels, she had named each of them after a famous human scientist. Sam had struggled not to laugh when she had introduced them as: Einstein, Newton, Edison, Crick and Watson. Callum, however, thought they were great names, and it had not taken long at all for the boys to associate them with the appropriate raptors.

  The group had stayed underground for as long as possible as they travelled across the city, zigzagging through the underground labyrinth of tunnels like sewer rats until they were as close to the Imperium laboratories as they could get. The building they were aiming for was apparently the raptor equivalent of a secondary school. Newton had assured them there would be no one in the building at this time of night and, true to his word, getting inside did not prove difficult.

  Sam and Callum crouched deep in the shadows as Einstein and Newton set to work on bypassing the magnetic locks on the doors and disabling the security systems. Nipper and Grunt positioned themselves on either side of the boys, each laden with heavy equipment. Despite the obvious weight of their burdens, neither showed any sign of fatigue. Claire and Sherri watched the street in both directions for any sign of trouble, but nothing moved.

  There was a sudden click followed by a swish and the front doors to the building opened. They had done it. They were in. Without pause, Newton and Einstein slipped inside. Sam scrambled silently to his feet and raced to follow with the others hard on his heels. The other raptors sped past him and disappeared into the building. Seconds later, they were all inside.