Final Storm

by Deborah Abela

  Footage of New City appeared with a date and time code ticking over at the bottom. The sky was clear, except for one lone cluster of clouds in the distance. Griffin pointed. ‘Watch here.’

  A flock of birds appeared and rose into the clouds.

  Isabella leaned forward. ‘Are they eagles?’

  ‘I think so,’ Griffin said. ‘Watch what happens next.’

  Within moments, the weather began to change. The clouds grew, spilling over the sky and blocking out the sun. Soon after, it began to snow and the city was caught in a wild blizzard.

  Jeremiah rewound the footage, pausing and zooming in on the birds. Each one was identical. ‘My guess is they’re robotic eagles, but what are they doing?’

  ‘There’s something else,’ Griffin said. ‘At the party tonight, I saw Ariella arguing with Professor Singh.’

  ‘What about?’ Isabella asked.

  ‘Something about a deal they had. The professor looked uncomfortable. Even a little scared.’

  Jeremiah placed his hand on Griffin’s shoulder. ‘I’ve always admired that curious mind of yours.’

  ‘Not my courage and natural sporting abilities?’

  ‘One day maybe.’ Jeremiah laughed. ‘But for now, you two need to be in bed. Tomorrow, we’ll pay a visit to Ms Ariella Frost and ask what her feathered robot friends have been up to.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  An Unfortunate Encounter

  ‘Thank you for making time to see us.’

  After school the next day – while Bea and Raffy were studying with Aleksander, and Xavier stayed back for Aeroball training – Jeremiah, Griffin and Isabella met Ariella Frost in the foyer of Future World Solutions. The company was in a modern, pristine building with an indoor garden and the gentle trickling of water from a fountain.

  ‘Not at all,’ Ariella sang. ‘We are always keen to hear the thoughts of the Academy students.’ She turned to Jeremiah. ‘And the employees of the Bureau. Please follow me.’

  Her quick steps echoed down the corridor, which buzzed with men and women in uniforms and lab coats. They passed meeting rooms with people answering phones and gathering around holoscreens filled with numbers and plans.

  Griffin found it hard to keep up, dodging and weaving between the flow of humans, when he bumped into one of the uniformed men. His icy blue eyes drilled into him. ‘Sorry, my fault.’

  Griffin watched him stride back into the rush of people. He’d met him before. He knew it. The blue eyes, the moustache. ‘The protest,’ he realised.

  ‘Griffin?’ Ariella called to him from down the hall. ‘Are you coming?’

  She ushered them into a grand boardroom, when Isabella noticed Griffin looked shaken.

  ‘Are you okay?’ she whispered.

  ‘Yes, I just saw …’

  ‘Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything?’ Ariella offered. ‘Our canteen makes the most delicious banana smoothies and frozen yoghurt.’

  ‘No, thank you.’ Griffin took his computer from his backpack. ‘We have a question about your rescue eagles.’

  Ariella sat beside him. ‘They are magnificent. We are all very excited about them.’

  ‘Yes, but we saw something curious we want to ask you about.’

  Griffin rotated the computer for everyone to see and replayed the vision of the eagles flying into the clouds and the storm that followed.

  Ariella’s smile didn’t budge. ‘Is something curious?’

  ‘We think so,’ Isabella said. ‘After the eagles flew into the clouds, the bad weather began.’

  ‘Oh, I see. When was this?’

  ‘Five days ago,’ Griffin answered.

  Ariella slipped a phone from her pocket and swiped her fingers across the screen. ‘We keep a log of all activities undertaken by the eagles.’ Her face brightened. ‘Just as I thought. It was a routine test.’

  ‘A routine test?’ Jeremiah asked.

  ‘Yes, to ensure the robots are performing at their best. For the eagles, this means flying into dangerous weather to assess their durability and strength.’

  ‘But there was no dangerous weather,’ Jeremiah clarified. ‘And none forecast for that time. I’ve checked the Bureau’s records.’

  ‘Ah, Mr Pain,’ Ariella’s voice dripped with disdain, her orange bob glistening under the soft boardroom lights. ‘That is where our opinions differ. We believe we can no longer rely on old ways of forecasting. I am afraid the world’s weather is leaving you and the Bureau behind.’

  Jeremiah looked stung.

  Griffin felt a stab of anger. ‘But it was only after the robots flew into the clouds that the bad weather began.’

  Ariella touched his arm lightly. ‘Sadly, this is the world we have created for you children. In an instant, a sunny day can be transformed into a dangerous weather event. Which is why we here at Future World Solutions are working hard to make the world a better, safer place.’

  Ariella finished with a flourish of her hand.

  ‘If you find anything else you believe is curious, please let us know. We will be happy to allay your fears.’

  She tapped her phone. Moments later a guard appeared at the door. ‘Yes, Ma’am?’

  ‘Our visitors are ready to leave.’

  After cheerily waving goodbye, Ariella waited by the window until she saw them hurry through the snow to their Armavan. She lifted her phone to her ear. ‘The scientist and two children are leaving.’ She paused. ‘Yes, sir, exactly as you instructed.’

  She watched as they pulled into the street.

  ‘Yes, sir. Right away, sir.’

  When Griffin settled into the warmth of the van, he stole a final look at the building they’d just left and saw Ariella staring directly at him before turning away with a smile. ‘Anyone else think Ariella didn’t tell us the whole story?’

  ‘I feel like someone read a book to me and skipped an entire chapter,’ Isabella said.

  ‘It did feel odd.’ Jeremiah steered carefully through the driving snow. He struggled to see as the street choked with a thick haze of white and the wipers clogged with ice. ‘Maybe the eagles were being tested. It’s possible. And she is right about the Bureau. Maybe we are becoming obsolete.’

  ‘She didn’t say that,’ Isabella insisted.

  ‘No but she –’

  Isabella was thrown against the door and her head ricocheted off the glass. A grinding crunch and scraping of metal flooded the Armavan.

  A delivery truck had slammed into them, lifting the wheels from the road and hurling them into a spin. The van struck the ground, again and again, screeching with each jolt, until it slid through the snow and came to an abrupt stop against a light pole.

  No one moved. An eerie quiet settled on the street. The snow became heavier and engulfed the Armavan so all you could see were the blinking orange lights beneath a blanket of cold white.

  CHAPTER TEN

  A Warning

  ‘I’m fine, really.’

  This wasn’t exactly true. Isabella’s head and arm were gripped by a sharp, stinging pain and the bright lights of the hospital room were making her dizzy.

  ‘In fact, I think I can …’ She began to sit up but Griffin gently coaxed her back down.

  ‘You’re supposed to stay here until the doctor comes. I told her you’re not good at following rules, but I’d make sure you did.’

  Griffin had a plaster on his forehead and a bandage around his wrist.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘I’m fine. Tougher than I thought. And the Armavan barely has a scratch so we can go home as soon as the doctor finishes with Jeremiah.’ Griffin looked over his shoulder. ‘He’s blaming himself for the accident.’

  ‘It wasn’t his fault.’ Isabella sat up suddenly, before wincing and lowering herself down. ‘The Rescue and Emergency Force said the other driver lost control in the storm.’

  ‘Did he lose control?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Griffin moved closer. ‘Do you think it was
an accident?’

  ‘It was snowing really hard.’

  ‘Yeah, but a driver loses control at the exact moment we pass?’

  ‘It’s possible,’ Isabella said.

  ‘Or maybe it’s a warning.’

  ‘From who?’

  Griffin kept his voice low. ‘Future World Solutions.’

  ‘Ariella?’

  ‘Or someone above her. As we were leaving, she was watching from the window, staring straight at me.’

  ‘Why would someone deliberately crash into an Armavan with kids inside?’

  ‘They want us to stop asking questions.’

  ‘Why? What are they hiding?’

  ‘I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling. Maybe they –’

  ‘Isabella Charm?’ The doctor entered the room with a brisk step. ‘Let’s get those final checks done and you can go home.’

  Griffin moved out of the doctor’s way.

  Maybe it was an accident. Nothing more. A driver unable to control a truck during a snowstorm. Griffin knew he tended to worry and that made him expect the worst.

  But he couldn’t help thinking this felt deliberate and that someone was trying to teach them a lesson.

  But would someone really harm them? And why? If they were being sent a warning, what were they being warned about?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  A Wild Ride

  Weeks passed and students at the Academy settled into their routines. Griffin struggled through more sports trials with only a bruised finger and bent glasses, which for him was a huge victory. He even abseiled from the top of a virtual mountain, without passing out or getting tangled in the ropes. He had his eyes closed the entire time, but his friends celebrated as if he’d descended Mount Everest.

  Raffy was also doing better. The others helped him every afternoon and Aleksander tutored him at lunchtime, just as he’d promised.

  The weather, however, was getting worse.

  New City had never been so cold; lakes and creeks had frozen over and ports on the coast were iced in. Despite the warnings not to linger outside, some dusted off toboggans and laced up ice skates. Others stayed indoors, staring through foggy windows, wondering when the snow and ice would stop.

  People were also getting sick. Being stuck indoors meant bugs were spreading faster, infections lasting longer and hospitals getting fuller.

  The day Isabella and Aleksander tested their new invention, however, was calm and bright, the sky bluer than they’d seen in a long time.

  Standing on the rooftop of the Robotics building, Isabella knew they were out of bounds. Up until now, they’d practised after school in the sports domes when everyone had gone, but something about the sky and the sun made Isabella want to test their project outside.

  A mild breeze ruffled her curls as she and Aleksander stepped into padded impact suits. All around them was a wild, weatherproof garden with mounds of snow nestled between.

  ‘Ready?’ Isabella strapped the remote to her wrist.

  ‘Almost.’

  ‘What else is there to do?’

  ‘My speech.’

  ‘Your speech?’

  ‘Yes, this is a very big moment, Isabella Charm. One that deserves a speech.’

  ‘Well, don’t be too long, I have to meet Griffin and the others soon.’

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen.’ Aleksander spoke as if he was addressing a huge audience. ‘I give you the Charm Larsen Hoverboard.’

  ‘Nice name.’

  ‘I thought so too. Light and compact, it’s the perfect device for those hard-to-reach rescue sites, and is the product of two brilliant young minds.’

  ‘Now can we start?’ Isabella asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Aleksander strapped on his helmet. ‘Yes, we can.’

  They adjusted their goggles and clipped their boots into two footholds on what looked like metal snowboards.

  Isabella got to her feet and gazed at the far horizon – past the fields of turbines and solar panels, to the very edges of New City. For a moment, she felt as if she was in Grimsdon. Not when it was flooded, but the Grimsdon of her childhood, with sunny days and playing on the swings with Griffin. With birthday parties and picnics and nights when her dad read to her until she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

  She shot Aleksander a wicked grin. ‘Let’s take the hoverboards over the edge.’

  Aleksander frowned, wondering if he’d heard right. ‘You mean fly off the roof?’

  ‘Why not?’ Isabella felt her whole body tingle.

  ‘Because I want to make it to my next birthday.’

  ‘They’ve worked perfectly so far.’

  ‘Yes, but we only flew a few metres above the floor and –’

  ‘Suit yourself.’ Isabella pressed the remote and jets of air blasted from beneath the hoverboard, lifting her from the ground. She leaned into the wind and sailed off the rooftop.

  Aleksander watched her surf the breeze like an invisible wave. ‘Hey! Wait for me!’

  A rush of glee made Isabella giggle as she dived through the air. It was the same feeling she’d had swimming in the surf with her parents on long summer days. She let out a loud whoop as the cold air rushed past her cheeks.

  Aleksander caught up and circled around her. ‘Nice moves!’

  ‘I used to be a skateboarder,’ she yelled into the wind.

  ‘Ha! Of course you did.’

  Isabella knew riding a hoverboard would be fun, but she hadn’t realised it would be even better than wearing an ornithopter or flying in the Aerotrope. With the hoverboard, there was no harness and you weren’t boxed into a seat. It was just you and the board and the closest feeling she’d ever had to really flying.

  Kicking up her board, Isabella tumbled into a large backwards loop. Aleksander applauded and she bent into a low bow. ‘Why, thank you, sir.’

  She toppled into a somersault, before swooping upwards, closing her eyes and letting the breeze brush against her skin. She bent her knees, swerving through the air as she flew even farther from the rooftop.

  Suddenly, she felt the vibration of her weather detector in her pocket. Isabella searched the sky. It was clear blue to the very edges.

  The school’s alarm echoed all around them. It was a lockdown. Students would be herded into rooms, doors bolted, headcounts done.

  In the distance, Isabella saw a thunderous wave of clouds hurtling towards them. It was moving fast, barrelling over hills, swallowing the sky and swamping everything with thick, heavy snow.

  She was stung by a wave of anger. She wasn’t ready to stop flying. To have it end so quickly. She wanted time to stand still.

  ‘Isabella!’ Aleksander had turned back to the roof. ‘Let’s go!’

  The temperature dropped and a heavy shadow fell over the city. Bursts of wind began tearing into them, churning the air, making it hard to steer. Isabella flew even faster, the storm gathering behind her like a sneaker wave.

  Aleksander reached the building first, landing with a thud and skidding across the surface. He unclipped his boots from the hoverboard and ran back towards Isabella.

  He cupped his hands over his mouth. ‘Faster!’

  Isabella could just hear his cry. Pellets of ice and snow began to prick her skin, melting against her goggles, smearing everything into a blur.

  Only metres away from Aleksander, she stole a look over her shoulder.

  The grey careering crash of clouds was almost on them.

  She turned back. The rooftop edged closer. She knew she was going too fast but there was no choice. She had to have solid ground beneath her when the blizzard hit or she’d be sent plunging to the ground.

  ‘You can do it!’ Aleksander shouted into the storm.

  Behind him, the door to the roof burst open. Griffin stopped dead at the sight of his friend jostled in the air and the clouds rising behind her like a tidal wave. ‘Isabella!’

  He scrambled to the edge of the building just in time to see her shoved downwards by a blast of win
d. ‘Isabella!’

  She was now too low. She had to fly higher, or she’d slam into the wall.

  Isabella leaned backwards, tilting the nose of the hoverboard up, but the power of the storm was too strong. She’d never gain enough height. She could slow down and give herself more time to climb but by then she’d hit the wall at high speed.

  She had to keep going or she’d never make it.

  She hoisted her knees to her chest, raising the hoverboard, desperate to clear the edge. The building came closer. She gripped her aching legs, willing herself to hold on for just a few more seconds. She could see Griffin calling into the wind, cheering her on. She was almost there when the front tip of the board clipped the wall.

  It flipped over, hurling her forward and slamming her onto the roof. Her boots unclipped with the impact and she was thrown across the snowy surface until she struck a potted plant and came to an abrupt and painful stop.

  ‘Isabella!’ Griffin and Aleksander ran to her. Griffin dropped to his knees. ‘Are you okay?’

  Isabella tried to answer but her breath had been snatched from her lungs.

  The blizzard edged closer.

  ‘Help me get her inside!’ Aleksander crouched low and lifted Isabella under her arms. Griffin held her legs and they stumbled clumsily as the wind and snow bullied into them.

  As they staggered towards the door, Isabella saw the grey cloudburst rising above them as if it was alive and, for a small moment, she was reminded of Herman. Of the sea monster rising out of the waters of Grimsdon.

  Aleksander pressed the handle with his elbow and kicked open the door to the stairwell. They laid Isabella on the top steps before Griffin leapt up to close it behind them.

  He stopped. Unable to move, gripped by panic at the monstrous spectre of the storm.

  He felt a hand on his arm, pushing him aside. Aleksander wrenched the handle of the steel door and tried to push it closed. Fighting against the squalling wind and thick shower of snow, he inched it shut when the storm swallowed the building whole.