by Dean Waite
My heart sank as we sailed out through open air. On top of my despair I couldn’t help feeling cheated that I still had no idea what all of this was about! What did all these guys have against Veronica? And who was she really? A wave of bitter disappointment washed over me as I glanced sideways at the glamorous mystery woman and tried to accept that I would never discover the truth. In just a few seconds, it would die along with the two of us.
Then I caught sight of Veronica’s determined expression and noticed she had her arm raised, her gaze fixed firmly on a point high on the bridge. The next moment I heard a sound like a powerful electric discharge and something shot from her sleeve at enormous speed. It took me a moment to notice the hair-thin cord trailing behind as the mystery projectile hurtled upwards.
Despite accelerating toward the brownish depths of the river, I found myself cautiously daring to hope. Moments later, a distant metallic clunk told me the projectile had struck one of the uprights poking out further along the bridge. And out of the blue I understood Veronica’s earlier advice to me. I flung my arms around her narrow waist, thankful that the sensual widening of her hips made it impossible for me to slip down so long as I kept my hands locked together behind her back. I barely had time to register that the side of my face was now tucked tightly in between her breasts … before the killer missile found its target.
Instinctively, my head spun towards the massive BOOOMMMM and I swallowed hard as a huge, orange fireball engulfed the section of bridge just ahead of us – the section we would have been standing on if we’d kept running. Pieces of metal railings and chunks of concrete pathway hurtled out in all directions, several whizzing by within a couple of metres of us. At the same time, I felt our motion change as the cord took our weight and we began swinging round in a wide arc past the devastated section of bridge and up towards the railing on the other side. As we looped round and up like Tarzan and Jane swinging on a jungle vine, I couldn’t believe the narrow cord connecting us to the upright would possibly hold our combined weight much longer.
A second later, I was sensationally glad to be proven wrong as we swung smoothly up over the rail and touched down on the still intact southern section of bridge. I didn’t see how Veronica released the projectile, but I heard the rapid whir of a tiny motor as the cord wound swiftly back in and a couple of seconds later I caught a glimpse of a small, silver hemisphere disappearing up her sleeve.
Under cover of the explosion and its slowly dissipating cloud of evil black smoke, we sprinted down the gentle incline towards the far bank while my head reeled. This woman didn’t just look like a goddess - to pull off a stunt like that she must surely be one!
*****
8
Seconds later we were racing down the spiral ramp at the southern end of the bridge. Following the explosion, an eerie silence now hung over the area, broken only by the sounds of traffic from the Riverside Expressway back on the city side of the River, and by the distant wail of sirens. Apparently the authorities had finally caught on that the sphere of action had shifted.
“He made a mistake taking out that bridge,” Veronica said calmly as we followed the path up towards the imposing, gawkily-modern GoMA.
I knew she was talking about Snake Eyes and the fact that the smoking ruins he’d created at the centre of the bridge meant he was now going to have to make a detour. Even so, she didn’t slow at all. After racing down the side of GoMA, she followed the wall round to the entrance on the eastern side while I ran at her heels.
“What are we going in here for?” I asked between heaving breaths as Veronica headed for the doors. “Shouldn’t we just … keep on running?”
When she stopped and turned back to face me, she wore a sad but determined expression. “There’s nowhere to run,” she told me with a level stare, sounding apologetic. “Or at least, nowhere they can’t find us.”
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Nowhere they can’t find us? For a moment I wondered whether now might be the right time to say goodbye and head our separate ways. But the thought had barely popped into my head before I discounted it. There was just no way I could leave Veronica to the mercy of those thugs. Despite knowing it was a crazy move, I was determined to stay and do whatever I could to protect her.
“What are we supposed to do then?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice even.
“Stay alive … kill them,” she replied flatly as she turned away and headed for the doors. When she glanced back and realised I hadn’t moved, she turned and jogged quickly back over to me, placing her hands comfortingly on my shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Dan. There’s no time to explain right now. You just have to trust me.”
I stared into her beautiful eyes a moment longer before finally facing facts. She knew far more about what was going on than I did: I had to trust her judgement or we could easily both be mince-meat before dinner-time.
When I nodded, she smiled that gorgeous smile of hers and spun away. “Let’s go then.”
Dazed, I followed Veronica into the almost vacant foyer. Ten metres in, she turned left, grabbed me by the arm and began striding up a flight of stairs, dragging me with her.
While we moved, I couldn’t stop thinking about our brief, but confronting conversation:
What are we supposed to do then?
Stay alive … kill them.
If I was to believe Veronica, the only way these guys would stop was if we killed them … or they killed her, and maybe me as well! Neither option offered much hope. Already today I’d had more ups and downs than a yo-yo with bi-polar disorder, and now I felt my hopes tumbling into the depths of despair.
How had this all come about? And why did they want Veronica dead, anyway? I still had absolutely no idea and as I puffed up the stairs beside her, I couldn’t even spare the breath to ask.
While I vainly wished I hadn’t gotten out of bed this morning, we reached the top of the stairs and headed left towards the eastern wall where a walkway led across to the northern gallery area. The walkway was one of two spanning the huge open space that stretched up from the foyer floor to the ceiling three storeys above. I’d just managed to catch my breath enough to ask one of the hundred or so questions buzzing through my head when Veronica abruptly dragged me to a crouch and fired up her shield-field over my shoulder. An instant later, the wall of windows behind us erupted to the sound of automatic gunfire.
I whipped my head round and saw a new bad guy standing down in the foyer, getting rid of bullets in a hurry. How many of these guys were there! This one was stocky and powerful like a weight-lifter, with bright red, crew-cut hair. Like all the others, he’d obligingly dressed himself in ‘bad-guy’ black … mostly leather, as far as I could make out from up here. Whoever these goons were, they were obviously cocky enough to believe they didn’t need any kind of disguise. At least that gave us a slight edge, I thought, trying to stay positive. Of course, it wasn’t easy with huge sheets of jagged glass cascading onto the walkway around us and shattering over the outside paving three storeys below! And it was even harder when I guessed his next move before he made it. The gunfire stopped, and while I listened to the sound of huge chunks of glass continuing to explode on the ground around us, I watched him reach for one of those damned midget missiles they all seemed so fond of.
We were running before I realized it … sprinting back round the southern edge of the huge open space towards the other walkway that ran across its centre and offered better protection from our attacker. While we moved, the guy did his best to lock the missile’s laser on to one of us. But he was a fraction of a second too slow. Within a few strides, the floor had hidden us from his line of sight and I felt a fleeting sense of relief. While I listened for the sound of footsteps that might signal his pursuit, I heard the whoosh of another missile and realised my relief had been premature - he’d decided to take a pot shot at us anyway, obviously suspecting we were heading for the central walkway!
As we cut right
onto it and raced across, I pushed as hard as I could, yet once again Veronica had drawn that tiny bit ahead, and was dragging me after her. The next thing I knew, we were diving through the air, aiming for the relative safety beyond the mouth of the large hallway at the northern end of the walkway. This time I was ready to do my bit when we landed. As the missile exploded at the edge of the landing behind us and tore it to shreds, we hit the ground just inside the northern gallery area and rolled smoothly to our feet without Veronica having to help me much at all.
While we sprinted off down the hallway leaving the flaming, shattered walkway behind us, she flicked me an impressed smile.
“Fast learner,” she grinned approvingly. Then her eyes focussed ahead and while my spirits lifted a little, we did our best to break the indoor sprint record.
*****
9
At the end of the hall Veronica turned sharp left and we raced into the large, open area of the north-eastern gallery. It was filled with paintings by well-known Australian artists, along with a mob of terrified people who hurried past us, frantically searching for an exit. I thought they had the right idea, but Veronica ignored them, heading instead towards a series of pencil sketches of Brisbane icons which hung in the far corner. I guessed she must know of an exit up ahead, but a second later, while I peered about at the solid walls confronting us, it became clear that she’d mistakenly led us into a dead-end!
I slowed, preparing to backtrack and mentally calculating where Redhead might be by now. If he’d been able to get across the shattered walkway at the far end of the main corridor, we’d be in deep do-do once we turned back onto it!
Then I saw a crack appearing where a dogleg in the wall met the ceiling, and while I watched in amazement, the entire section of wall slid smoothly down into the floor!
A few steps later, we were inside the previously hidden area and climbing onto the meanest looking motorbike I’ve ever seen. Like the bobtrain, it was made almost entirely of raw, shiny metal, but its most striking feature was the abnormally wide back wheel. At around three-quarters-of-a-metre wide, this thing had to have phenomenal gripping power!
While I hurriedly secured yet another helmet, I looked over Veronica’s shoulder and noticed an unusual sculpture dead ahead on the far side of the adjacent display area. It had curving slabs merging in towards a wider central one which appeared to rise out of the floor and curve up towards a massive window behind it. I felt a chill run through my body. I was sure I knew what Veronica had in mind, and for a moment I couldn’t help wondering if I’d be better off waiting here for Redhead!
My adrenaline surged as the engine suddenly roared to life with a deep, throaty snarl that sent a nervous, excited shudder through my guts.
“Hang on!” Veronica yelled over the noise, and I willingly slipped my arms around her slender waist for the second time that day. I almost lost concentration when I tightened them and felt my body pull in hard against hers. I could sense every bump and curve from her shoulders down to her award-winning backside and it was almost impossible not to get lost imagining doing so under very different circumstances.
Still, the thought of what we were about to attempt kept my blissful daydream disappointingly short.
Despite the back wheel’s abnormally wide rubber, when Veronica threw the engine into gear and turned the throttle it seemed as if it squealed forever, spinning madly on the tiled floor while a cloud of burnt rubber boiled up around us. That had to be one hell of an engine between her legs! When the massive tyre finally bit into the tiles, despite feeling as if I’d been holding Veronica far more tightly than necessary, I was almost thrown off the back as the machine leapt forwards like a wild tiger that had just had its cage door thrown wide. In the blink of an eye, we were rocketing past the main corridor and I only got a few milliseconds to register the surprised expression on Redhead’s face as he bolted towards us along it.
Before he could react, I heard Veronica fire. But when I looked round, I saw she had her gun raised toward the window ahead instead of our enemy. When we hit the sloping, central slab of the sculpture, the huge sheet of glass in front of us was already exploding into a million tiny fragments.
I ducked down behind Veronica as we shot up the ramp and blasted through the shattered window … then sailed up, up, up though empty air. When I looked down, we were already about forty metres above the ground, the air tearing wildly at our clothes as it raced past.
For a moment, despite rocketing forwards, we seemed to hang in the air while I glanced around at the stunning view of the City. Then my stomach rose into my throat as we began dropping towards the large, flat roof of the State Library. I peered down at the solid concrete roof far below us and reality hit hard - we had zero chance of surviving when the bike landed. By the time we fell that far, it’d be like dropping out of a five storey window onto flat concrete! Sick at the thought of all those splintered bones, I stood up, preparing to dampen the impact as much as I could with my legs. If I timed it just right, perhaps I could avoid compressing all of my vertebrae! For a moment, I kidded myself that if I was really lucky I might even walk again someday; but the truth was that once we crashed, we’d be sitting ducks for Redhead and his mates.
I pulled myself a bit more tightly into Veronica, her body feeling just that little bit more fantastic thanks to the knowledge I might never feel anything from my neck down ever again. Then I was caught completely by surprise when I heard a sudden whirring sound and the wheels began reaching down towards the roof! It took me a moment to register that the stems on which they were mounted were growing longer. Once the whirring stopped, they were at least three metres long, and when we hit the roof a moment later, the impact was cleverly absorbed as they returned to their normal position, obviously under the intricate control of some cunningly designed computerised suspension system. Incredibly, it felt just like we’d landed on a gently sloping ramp!
Hardly bothered by the impact, we sped on along the roof and I heard myself laughing out loud, ecstatic that we were both still in the game!
Veronica glanced questioningly back at me before grinning. Then her eyes focused behind me and her face twisted into a fearful scowl. I heard the ‘whoosh’ before I had a chance to look around. When I did, I got a strong and unwelcome sense of déjà vous - another evil red laser beam stretched from an incoming missile straight to my back! Behind it, I could just make out a dark silhouette of Redhead standing in the shattered GoMA window we’d recently driven through. Already he was too far away to make out properly, but I could imagine his evil, victorious grin and I wished to God there was some way of turning that missile around and sending it straight back down that ugly throat of his!
Despite our bike already moving incredibly fast, I felt it burst forward as Veronica slammed the throttle to the max. When I peered ahead, the far edge of the library was coming at us more swiftly than I’d thought possible. For a moment I even felt like we might outrun the missile. Then I looked back and saw that it was still gaining on us at a frightening rate.
Remembering how the earlier missile had been locked onto my hoodie, I tried to work out whether I could get my shirt off without toppling from the speeding bike. If I fell at this speed, I knew I’d be dead. But if I did nothing, I was about to experience extreme acupuncture with a high-explosive needle! It didn’t take Einstein to tell me I had to at least try.
Just as I was about to let go of Veronica, I heard a tiny explosion from beneath me. My head whipped round and I saw something flying lazily back towards the incoming missile.
While I watched, it seemed to expand and at first I couldn’t work out what was happening. Then, as the lethal missile closed on the mysterious object, I realised it was a net, with strands so fine they were near-invisible. A moment later, the missile hit the net and detonated.
“Thanks!” I yelled to Veronica as I turned back round. Then the sound of the explosion caught up and its powerful shockwave slammed into my back.
I felt the bike swer
ve suddenly, but thankfully I realised Veronica – not the shockwave - had been responsible for the abrupt change of direction. A moment later the roof disappeared beneath us and we were falling again, dropping off the edge of the library towards the mouth of a tunnel leading under the Victoria Bridge southern access. Ironically, this time I found myself wishing we’d fall faster – if we didn’t get beneath the level of the tunnel’s roof, we were both literally about to lose our heads!
I reckon Redhead must have been a pretty caring kind of guy ‘cause he chose that exact moment to distract us from our predicament. The air came alive with whistling chunks of speeding lead, and in the space of a heartbeat I stopped worrying about the danger ahead and focused instead on the swarm of bullets whizzing past my ears. His thoughtfulness inspired both of us to duck that little bit lower, and a moment later, the roof shot past in a blur as we rocketed into the safety of the tunnel.
Having already extended themselves, the wheel stems once more absorbed the impact and once again it felt for-all-the-world as if we’d landed on an invisible ramp rather than hard, flat bitumen. Unfazed, we raced on through the short tunnel, its rows of yellow lights zipping past in a hazy blur.
“We’ve lost them this time!” I called excitedly over the howl of the engine.
“Nuh uh,” Veronica replied as she slammed on the brakes and I was thrust roughly into her back. My chin came to rest on her right shoulder, and from there I got a clear view of the lethal looking pair of killers sitting astride silver and purple motorcycles in the centre of the tunnel ahead of us. They were everything Veronica wasn’t – short, stocky and bereft of any trace of femininity. At first I even mistook them for guys.