Unwelcome Protector

by Alexa Wallace

  The only solution was the prototype electric car housed at the end of the accommodation complex, less than a minute's walk away. The car was freely available to staff on the condition that they submit a test report after driving it to help identify performance faults. Ada had used it once a few months ago and had been impressed, and the rumour now was that recent performance had improved. If she could reach the highway she would be safe. Security vehicles would not pursue her beyond Argentum limits. One might follow at a distance but they would probably not try to stop her.

  The electric car's range and top speed were well in excess of what she needed. It could accelerate to 90 kilometres an hour in five seconds, which would give her the head start she wanted. She had no desire to travel at that speed down a winding road, but two thirds of that pace would get her to the highway in under three minutes. She would be at Katoomba railway station in ten minutes, where she would leave the vehicle in the car park and find a taxi. Even if Twist himself followed her he would not attempt to stop her in public view. She would be in Sydney in two hours.

  She lay on her bed turning the plan over and over in her head, looking for defects, searching for possibilities she hadn't considered. It was like analysing software code, and she was good at that. She ate nothing. She had no wish to visit the canteen and be forced to talk with other staff. She would miss some of them. None were close friends but most had been pleasant company during her year here. But too much was troubling her and the air had become oppressive. It was finally time to go.

  She picked up her phone. Were her calls being monitored? She had no doubt the location was being tracked, and the numbers she called were being recorded, but it was unlikely the Argentum network was listening in. She had to take the risk. She dialled her grandfather's number.

  'Grandad,' she said when he answered, 'changes are afoot.'

  'Are you getting married?'

  She laughed. 'Nothing so drastic.'

  'You're twenty-two, you know.'

  'Almost twenty-three.'

  'That makes it even more urgent. You know how I feel about it. You need someone to look after you.'

  That was a matter of opinion, and the least of her concerns at the moment.

  'I'm taking a break from work,' she said, which was true enough. 'I'll see you in a few days.' Which was also true enough, but designed to throw off anyone who might be listening in. She hated having to lie to him.

  'A permanent break?' he said, reading her mind as he often did.

  'I'm considering it.'

  'I'm glad. I've wanted you to do that since Jason died.' She could hear the relief in his voice. 'What does Zina think of it?'

  'I haven't officially told her yet.' And she probably never would. She sure didn't plan on submitting a formal resignation letter. 'I'll be with you all the time now instead of just on weekends. Until I find another job, anyway.'

  'It'll be good to have you around more often.'

  'Is Mars visible yet?'

  'It's getting brighter,' he said, enthusiasm in his voice. 'Enough to gladden the heart of an old astronomer. And Jupiter too. We can watch it all night now.'

  She smiled. She could see him at his telescope in the small observatory, as she'd watched him all her life, fiddling with the controls and grumbling at the city lights that made viewing so difficult.

  'Love you, Grandad,' she said.

  'You too, Miss Ada.'

  'See you soon.'

  Tomorrow morning, she hoped, as she hung up. Less than 12 hours away.

  The outside corridor was quiet. Most staff were either in their rooms or working in their cubicles. Time to begin preparations. She packed the overnight bag, hiding the first memory stick in the powder container. She placed the pendant holding the second stick around her neck. Then she set her phone alarm for 12:30 and lay down again. She must try to sleep. She needed to be alert for the getaway. The whole episode was making her feel like a criminal.

  She woke in a daze with the alarm sounding loudly in her ear. The phone clock showed 12:30 exactly. She went into the bathroom and washed her face, staring at the woman in the mirror. Had she aged? It was probably just the bad light. Her hair was a mess but her brush was in the overnight bag and she had no desire to unpack it now.

  She shut down the laptop. Should she take it with her? No. She had to limit traceable devices. She found a paper clip in a desk drawer and removed the SIM card from her phone and placed it in her wallet. She wanted to be completely untraceable for at least 24 hours. Maybe longer, depending on developments. She hoped not.

  At 1:00 a.m. she stood up and breathed deeply to settle the butterflies in her stomach. For some inexplicable reason the tanned face of the TV journalist Marlowe entered her mind. If she found herself in unexpected trouble would it be worth contacting him? What help could he possibly be, apart from stirring up more trouble and making the situation worse? But sensation seekers like him had their uses. Vain men could be manipulated. He might yet prove useful. She pushed his chiselled features out of her mind. That was all in the future. Right now she was dealing with the present.

  She picked up the overnight bag and took one last look around her room. Then she went out into the corridor, locked the door behind her and threw the key into a pot plant near the exit.

  Outside, she followed the verandah to the end of the block, avoiding lighted areas and keeping an eye out for patrolling guards. During midnight strolls in the past she'd never encountered any, but there was always a first time. The green electric car was parked where she expected it to be, looking like a chubby frog tethered by a long cable to a wall charger.

  Ada yanked out the cable from the car socket and laid it quietly on the ground, feeling the tension beginning to rise. She opened the driver's door, slung the bag on the side seat and got in. The almost full moon was a blessing and a curse. It meant she could travel for some distance beyond the building perimeters without headlights, but it also increased the chance of being spotted.

  The car started with a quiet purr and a slight vibration. So far, so good. The tension suddenly vanished. She was approaching the point of no return and the realisation had surprisingly given her confidence. She reversed the car out into the driveway and set off slowly toward the facility exit, clearly lit by a series of floodlights that led off into the darkness then stopped a short distance beyond the building limits, thirty seconds away. That was where she would need to switch on the headlights and accelerate fast. If she was unlucky a patrolling guard might spot her before then, but she guessed that the guards were probably inside and unlikely to hear the vehicle passing.

  It was the drones she had to worry about. How many were airborne at this hour? Probably no more than one, but it would spot her movement on its infra red camera and relay a signal instantly. It would take a few seconds more to relay vision and further time for the images to appear on security screens. Then all hell would break loose.

  She crossed her fingers and accelerated slightly. 'Come on,' she said under her breath. 'So far, so good.'

  The vehicle sped up obediently and gravel crunched beneath its wheels. She was passing the exit now and saw no sign of movement ahead and no lights in the rear vision mirror. More acceleration. This time the vehicle whined in polite protest but jumped forward smoothly. She suddenly realised she was nearing a safe speed that would carry her to the highway in three minutes. And no one had seen her. She almost wanted to stop and look behind her to confirm her success, but she knew she had to be wrong. By now the vehicle was probably appearing on a security screen. She passed the last of the brighter traffic lights. From this point on they were spaced at long intervals. She switched on the headlights and allowed herself to sit back in the seat and relax.

  The dangers of complacency. A red light flickered once across the windscreen, then again and again at regular intervals. She knew what it was and her heart began to beat faster. Though she couldn't see it, she knew at least one drone had locked onto her and was hovering above, matching i
ts speed with hers, its sole purpose to record her movement and relay the image to security vehicles.

  She glanced nervously in the rear vision mirror. No sign of headlights yet, but she knew they were not far behind, hidden by the bends in the road and the increasing density of the forest around her. Less than two minutes to the boundary and the highway exit. She increased speed slightly. Any more and she might lose control on a turn. She was no racing car driver. Those pursuing her were more skilled behind a wheel, but their vehicles were bulkier and less able to handle the winding road. She had a slight advantage for the moment in the more manoeuvrable little car.

  Was Twist behind her? Almost certainly. He would enjoy the chase and take malicious delight in catching her. She was reminded of something her grandfather had told her after the death of Zina's husband Jason. Twist hates me because he thinks I turned Jason against Zina, and because I know he killed Jason. Ada had been shocked at the accusation, but if Twist was a killer and truly hated her grandfather, how would he treat the granddaughter? She shuddered.

  She was now passing out of the thick forest and onto the sparsely vegetated stretch of flatland that led down to the highway. If the security vehicles behind were going to reach her, it would happen here. The first set of headlights behind her flashed in the rear vision mirror no more than a few hundred metres back. Less than a minute and she would be safe. She accelerated hard and dared not look at the speedometer. The vehicle trembled slightly beneath her. It was nowhere near its maximum speed but it was feeling the strain.

  She saw the boundary sign two hundred metres ahead. Argentum Aerospace. Communicating the future. A short distance beyond that was the sharp turn that led out onto the highway. She passed the sign and for a second felt a small surge of relief, but the first security vehicle was now less than a hundred metres behind. Though she was beyond the boundary, Twist wouldn't stop if he thought he might still get her. She felt the torque on the little car pulling it sideways as she rounded the bend. If she didn't slow now she would run off the road only seconds before the freedom of the highway. She had to make it.

  The exit was straight ahead and she began to brake gently. Then a pair of headlights about a hundred metres ahead flashed on and off three times. She gasped and almost cried out. Another security vehicle returning from Katoomba, signalled by the others to block her progress? It was moving slowly toward her. She veered to one side and decided to chance a collision. She'd come too far to surrender now! The wheels of the little car struck shifty sand on the shoulder of the road and she knew she was losing control. She braked hard to try to correct her course, but it was the wrong move. The car swerved violently in the sand and then came to a long and shuddering halt in the vegetation at the roadside.

  CHAPTER 2

  Ada sat hunched over the wheel and tried to make sense of a confusing scene outside her window. A young, short man stood in the centre of the road holding a camera with a long lens balanced on his shoulder, pointed toward the security vehicles behind her, which had now come to a halt. The short man stood his ground, unmoving in the blaze of headlights, continuing to film the scene behind her.

  Off to the right was the vehicle, an SUV, that had blocked her progress. A dark haired man was staring at her through the driver's window, mouthing words that she couldn't hear. His face was vaguely familiar. It was if she was experiencing a dream in slow motion. She clenched her teeth and tried hard to gather her wits, thinking only of one thing: to get away. She could see the highway exit up ahead, lights from passing traffic coming into view and then fading into the distance.

  She grabbed the overnight bag from the seat beside her and flung open the door. With the bag hoisted onto her shoulder she began to run, her sandals sinking in the loose soil and bushes catching at her legs. She dared not stay onto the road where she would be in full view. She ran farther into the undergrowth, keeping the road in her side vision.

  Once she stopped and looked back. Far off she saw a man standing in the glare of headlights in front of one of the security vehicles. Was it Twist? Was he grinning at her, or did she imagine it? The other man from the vehicle that had stopped her was now jogging like an athlete down the road toward her. She turned in a panic and pushed herself onward.

  'Wait!' A man's voice. Impatient. She couldn't stop.

  'Wait, you silly girl!' Angry now.

  She heard his steps pounding the earth, closing on her, and the sound of him crashing through the undergrowth. Then she felt a powerful grip on her arm.

  She stopped, stepped back, lowered the overnight bag and then swung it upward around her head, so wildly she staggered and lost her balance. The tall man was on her quickly and grasped her around the waist, capturing her in a muscular hold she knew instinctively she would be unable to break.

  'Stop manhandling me!'

  'I'm not manhandling you. I'm trying to help you. Calm down.'

  'I am calm!'

  'You're not acting like it,' he said, frustration in his voice. He let go of her and took a step back. 'I know who you are. You're Ada Byron. Come on, we've got to get out of here.'

  'How do you know my name?'

  'I’m a journalist. I have a personnel file on your company.'

  'How did you know...?'

  'That you'd be out here tonight? I didn't know. My cameraman and I were taking night shots.'

  'Spying, you mean!'

  'Investigating.'

  'Who are you?'

  'My name is Alex Marlowe. Come on! We've got to leave right now!'

  Ada stared at the shadowed face of the man before her. Fate? Destiny? Crazy coincidence? Only ten minutes ago she'd been thinking of him, and now she was standing on the edge of a country road, in the midst of danger, arguing with him. To make matters worse it had begun to rain, a light but constant drizzle. She watched him as he turned and looked back toward the security vehicles parked some distance off, his clean, regular profile silhouetted against the headlights. His voice was urgent but his body language showed confidence. He turned back to her. She couldn't make out the colour of his eyes against the background glare, but they were dark and regarded her steadily.

  'Why are you running away?'

  'Mind your own business. I wasn't running away.'

  'At two in the morning, driving like a lunatic, followed by three drones? Of course you're running away. Anyway, to hell with that!' He picked up her bag. 'Are you coming?'

  With mention of the drones, the reality and panic of the situation returned. Ada knew she had no choice. Marlowe's arrival was pure luck. She might not have made the highway without him. Twist had been gaining ground and might well have tried to run her off the road.

  She nodded. 'Let's go.'

  She followed him quickly to his vehicle and jumped into the passenger seat. Marlowe dumped the bag unceremoniously on her lap and then yelled something to the cameraman still standing in the middle of the road. The man began to walk backward, holding his camera like a weapon at his side but still filming. He disappeared from Ada's view behind the vehicle and she heard a door slam. Marlowe walked calmly around to the driver's seat and got in. He gunned the motor and swung the SUV around powerfully. It ploughed through the bushes beside the road and surged down the incline the last few hundred metres to the highway exit.

  'Are they following?' Ada said when they were out on the main road, not quite believing she'd made it.

  The man beside her laughed softly. He seemed to find the situation amusing.

  'Congratulations, Ada Byron. You're a free woman now.'

  Free? Not entirely. Not yet. She'd disobeyed Zina and Zina would not easily forgive her. Sooner or later she would pay for tonight's escapade. She had to prepare for the backlash that she knew would eventually come.

  Alex guided the heavy vehicle off the Argentum mountain road past the exit floodlights and onto the Great Western Highway. The lights of suburban Katoomba shimmered far in the distance. He glanced quickly at the slim, fair haired woman now sitting quietly beside
him. Quite a change from the anger and defiance of only minutes earlier. He was in no mood for speaking either, not just at the moment. The plan was to pass smoothly and unobtrusively through the scenic mountain town and on down the highway to Sydney. No stopping. Would Lorenzina Stone order the security vehicles in pursuit? Unlikely. He intended to sit on the speed limit all the way and any vehicles in fast pursuit would almost certainly draw the attention of the local law. They were safe for the moment.

  Zina might use her influence later to make trouble for him and Millennium TV, but what the hell. He'd face that problem when it arrived. Right now he had the source he'd been looking for, and she'd fallen right into his arms. Well, not quite, but what an amazing stroke of luck. From what he knew, Ada Byron was almost a right hand woman to Stone, and now she was running away. From what? What was behind it all? He wanted to ask a thousand questions but he had to tread carefully. So far, the woman beside him had not exactly demonstrated friendly cooperation.

  She turned and looked at him, her face fully revealed in the dashboard lights. Quite a looker. Eyes blue?

  'Why did the security vehicles stop when they saw you?' she said.

  'Video goes directly to the cloud these days. They weren't about to try anything while they were being filmed. They probably thought we were broadcasting live.'

  'Where are you taking me?'

  'Where do you want to go?'

  'To my grandfather's apartment in Paddington. I share it with him.'

  'I don't think you'll be safe there. Lorenzina Stone will be looking for you.'

  She turned away for a moment and he sensed her uncertainty.

  'I think you'd be safer for the moment at my father's house in Vaucluse,' he said.

  She looked at him suspiciously. Eyes definitely blue, but hidden under long lashes. Eyes that triggered a small electric charge in his chest that startled him for an instant.

  'It's a big place, high security,' he continued, forcing himself to return his attention to the road ahead. 'We can talk there.'