Forsaken 337 BC

by Sharon Leslie

  ^C^ Funny Honey, they are taking pot shots at us now. Can you slow down a little, let them get closer? ^

  Toni responded, she took her foot off the accelerator, letting the two SUVs close on them. They were within touching distance on either side, the occasional thug still shot at them missing completely. Cain watched as one of the SUVs pulled back a car's length.

  The shotgun passenger leant out of their window and fired, his bullet hitting the metal side of the lorry. The driver not paying attention to their position as the hover lorry went airborne. Flying for twelve yards before gracefully splashing into the dock water.

  Toni turned the wheel and drove to her left aiming at the open space of the dock basin, driving in a large figure of eight twice over the basin's water. Finished with her double eight loop, Toni drove the hover lorry toward the lock gates. Rahab had told her the latest satellite image taken three hours before gave the lorry an easy way out of the dock basin.

  The images showed a small workman’s barge, moored up against the dock wall, the barge was low to the water making a step the lorry could use to climb up and over the dock wall. Toni gunned the engine and the hover lorry picked up speed, as she headed toward the moored barge. The rubberised fabric curtain allowed the lorry to slide up and over the barge, up the low dock wall and onto dry land.

  ^T^ Cain, where are the SUVs? ^

  ^C^ Realising they can’t float. The drivers are total idiots, they followed you but didn’t make it as far out over the dock water as we did. The occupants are swimming back to the airfield runway.

  ^There is a ladder built into the side of the dock near the runways end, placed to help people who fall in. Though I wonder if they should use it, since they drove in. Another SUV is heading their way down the runway and most likely pick them up. ^

  Toni spun the lorry around at the edge of the river wall, coming to a stop. Cain leapt out, fastened one of the fabric straps to a small river boat, one John had arranged and let Enoch and Rahab know. With the strap fastened, Cain punched a code into the river boat's control panel. Code entered, the river boat set sail pulling the empty POD out of the lorry over the concrete edging lining the river.

  The POD bobbed obediently behind the river boat down the Thames, heading for Southend on Sea and the North Sea. Enoch told him, {The owner of the boat will report it missing in the morning. John has already made a payment into the man's grandson's account. The special protectorate’s office will even find the boat and POD, as a burnt-out pair. POD and river boat floating out to sea sometime tomorrow near Southend on Sea's disused pier.}

  Pulling out at the roundabout onto Armada Way, Toni drove fast but within the speed limit toward Cuckold Haven. As they came rushing up to the large roundabout, a relic from before WWD. Toni noticed a black SUV speeding over on her left in a shopping zone.

  The SUV pulled onto Armada Way, going through a red light on a side road. Wheels spinning the SUV twitched as the driver sped up, getting alongside on her as they entered the roundabout. The SUV tried to cut Toni off by driving up against her near side. The manoeuvre trying to force the lorry over into the crash barrier on Toni's offside.

  "Well, what a total idiot you waste of space. Your SUV weighs about two tons even with all the extra armour, this lorry is a good five times your weight. You want to play bumper cars? So be it," Toni shouted to the driver of the SUV. Using the size and weight of the hover lorry, Toni drove into the SUV as it tried the same tactic again.

  With a turn of the steering wheel, the lorry swerved to the nearside, and made a solid contact against the SUV. Forcing it up against the crash barriers on its near side. Sparks flew as the SUV scraped along the crash barrier, its driver trying hard to force the lorry back the other way but losing the battle.

  The roundabout they approached and were driving on, crossed the main transport links into London from the east. The new six lane motorway and the brand-new London to Paris Maglev train track. Unable to see the frantic efforts of the SUV driver, Toni could feel the efforts as the SUV pushed back against the lorry.

  As the SUV was trying to push back against the lorry, forcing it away from crushing it against the crash barrier. Toni gritted her teeth, with a deliberate jerk she turned the wheel hard to her left, holding the acute angle for a second. She then turned the steering back to the right. The hover lorry lurched to the left and back again, making a full-on kiss against the steel barrier with the rubberised fabric curtain. Toni held the contact with the barrier for only a moment, the weight of the hover lorry snapped most of the barrier's retaining bolts. Toni then turned the wheel to her right, directing the hover lorry back into the normal traffic lane.

  The SUV now forced closer to the crash barrier, the driver and occupants unable to do anything about it. Then making matters worse the lorry lurched to its left, even kissing the barrier. Their vehicle had nowhere to go, pushed forward by the heavier lorry they burst through the crash barrier, pieces of barrier went flying.

  If either Toni or Cain had been watching, they would have seen four grown men screaming at the top of their voices. Looks of terror pasted on their faces as their SUV burst through the steel crash barrier. It looked as though the SUV was suspended, immobile, for a second, then dropped like a concrete block onto the Maglev line.

  Metal in the engine and armoured body of the SUV reacted with the Maglev line's magnets. Powerful magnets held the SUV up, suspended two inches above the Maglev track's surface. The special protectorate goons breathed a collective sigh of relief. As they plunged through the crash barrier they all screamed, in fear of their lives.

  The build up of adrenalin washed through their bodies relieved at surviving the drop; none of them noticed the SUV started to shake. The driver shouted, "Get out of the vehicle, Now!" but the doors were all jammed, closed by the pull of powerful magnets.

  The sound of the double warning blast of a train horn made the goons panic, their adrenalin spiking again. They turned this way and that, trying to see which direction the train was coming from. The SUV began to shake more and more, then turned in place, facing up the track. Facing out of London, looking toward the train coming into London, rushing down the track toward them.

  The magnets under the track's surface moved the SUV backward as the Calais to Heathrow Terminal 7 express, was due any moment. One goon tried shooting the windscreen, another climbed into the rear and tried kicking out the rear piece of toughened perspex. All shots hung suspended in the magnetic field, the kicks rebounded from the perspex.

  The Maglev line still holding the SUV as though it weighed nothing began moving it backward as though it was part of the approaching express train, some two hundred yards away. The SUV spun in place, faced forward and increased its speed, it soon broke all known vehicle records for an armoured SUV.

  It went from zero miles an hour to touching two hundred and eighty miles an hour, in less than three seconds; the goons pinned in their seats. As train and SUV sped through London, sometimes through dark tunnels other times above ground, unfortunately for the goons the line ended at Heathrow's terminal seven’s underground station.

  Their SUV did not have Maglev brakes like the express train used. When the magnet pulse moving them, and the train forward stopped, they had no way to stop their momentum. The SUV shot past the end of line barrier, hitting the concrete wall.

  The goons were not recognisable as anything human, not even by the forensic team sent to the scene of the accident. The SUV's impact forced the vehicle five feet deep into the concrete wall at the end of the track, breaking another record of concrete penetration.

  It was no longer a smart, black, special protectorate’s armoured SUV, oozing threat and menace. It was now a three-inch compacted chunk of black metal, oozing a putrid cocktail of liquefied flesh, blood and other fluids. The Evening Standard, ran a front page video of the SUV's recovery. Their front page made records for the highest sold vid-paper news story, selling a record sixty-nine million copies on the day of publication.

/>   Post-Op Blues

  As the SUV was on its final tragic journey, Toni continued to drive their battered hover lorry. Both Rahab and Enoch spoke to their respective hosts, saying there were no sign of police or protectorate goons. Relaxing Toni began to hum, then she began singing at first to herself then louder so Cain could hear.

  "Yeah, you got that somethin' I think you'll understand, When I say that somethin', I wanna to hold your hand, I wanna to hold your hand, I wanna to hold your hand," Toni sang the whole song through to the finish as she guided the lorry back to its starting point, where they left only a few hours earlier.

  Toni slowed and turned into the concealed factory unit, their original vehicle now washed and polished, waiting for their return journey. She drove into the factory unit and left the hover lorry out of sight of any satellite or tracking drone. Toni climbed out of the cab and Cain jumped down from the back with Daphne in his arms.

  Walking to the original vehicle, Toni noticed three people as they came out of the shadows, they carried buckets, a ladder and long-handled brushes.

  :They must be the crew who will clean the lorry of all prints and genetic traces.: Toni waved to them as she opened their vehicle. Cain gently laid Daphne on the back seat and fastened her securely, before covering her as Toni handed him a nice patterned tartan blanket.

  Pulling Toni into a hug and taking her hand, Cain told her he would always hold her hand as long as she wanted him to do that, he would hold onto her forever. They kissed and when they let each other go Toni kept hold of Cain's hand as she smiled up at him.

  "Bags shotgun," Toni said, pulling Cain by the hand to the front of the vehicle. Once inside Cain programmed rather than verbally instructed the EI of their destination. They were both seated in the front and he let the EI drive them back toward the safe house, it almost seemed deserted on the roads. Toni flinched as three large military helicopters flew low overhead; they were heading toward the centre of London.

  As their vehicle came to a halt at a set of traffic lights, Toni recognised where they were. Soon they would hide away from the prying eyes of the special protectorate’s office. As Toni relaxed in her seat, another black SUV came hurtling up the road, flying past the traffic lights and the two vehicles in front of them waiting for the green light.

  As the lights changed to green Cain checked the rear view monitor, he noticed the SUVs brake lights all a sudden came on. They skidded to a stop, reversing back toward the lights and the moving vehicles.

  "I’ll turn the EI off, can you take over and drive Toni? Once I’ve cleared the EI's memory we can drive knowing when we ditch the car they will not be able to use the recorded data to find us," Cain said.

  "Come on, drive faster," Toni shouted at the cars in front of her. Checking in the rear-view monitor, she lost sight of the SUV once they drove into the tunnel proper. Toni put her foot to the floor, their electric drive powered past the other two vehicles.

  It was a close-run thing with the approach of the narrow stretch of the tunnel. Bright headlights flashed, sirens blared as now two SUVs came speeding into the tunnel, soon catching their vehicles. Toni had chosen the right time to overtake the other two vehicles. She created a buffer, as there was no place for the SUVs to overtake, in the single width section which ran for two hundred yards. Cain leaned forward, pressed a button next to the rear view monitor then turned in his seat.

  The vehicles panoramic roof slid back, revealing the tunnel's ceiling, its lights flashing hypnotically by. Grabbing the passenger seat headrest for support, Cain stood facing the rear of the vehicle. He braced his left thigh against the passenger seat, while his right foot pushed on the dashboard which gave a stable firing platform.

  Cain aimed his XM8b at the following cars. Ignoring the weapon's electronic scope, he fired four single shots. Each shot hit and blew a front tyre on all the following cars, with tyres blown the two civilian car's EIs carried out pre-programmed emergency stops. With the vehicles stopped and blocking the narrowest part of the tunnel, the following SUVs, each with a blown tyre their drivers could not stop in time.

  They rounded the bend in the tunnel side by side, out of control, ploughing into the stationary civilian cars. A huge explosion followed the collision, and roared down the tunnel toward their vehicle. Toni noticed the fireball getting closer in the rear view monitor, she pressed harder on the accelerator as they sped out of the tunnel's opening. The fireball a second later, flew high in the sky.

  As she continued to drive Toni spoke. "I used the tunnel many times before, I know the remote recovery service will close the tunnel to recover those vehicles. I hope the civilians cars came with fire suppression in the passenger cabin. Normally it takes the fire brigade and recovery service less than two hours, to clear up after an accident."

  "Yes, we can hope. Though a crash between four vehicles should neither have produced an explosion nor a huge fireball. I think one or both SUVs carried high explosives onboard. I'll ask John when we return to the safe house, to see if any civilians were injured. Can you keep driving please? We need to find somewhere the protectorate goons can’t find us. But first we need to ditch the car and get another ride.

  "Can you head for Southwark Park? We can hide the vehicle in the boating pond, the water will cover our traces. We need to look around the flats in Abbyfield Road area. Select a new vehicle then drive around, crossing into central London.

  "Before we head back to our safe house as there will be more vehicles in central London to lose ourselves amongst," Cain said. "Unless you know of another place where we could be safe, and find a replacement vehicle."

  "I have a long-time girlfriend, Ursula, she lives, or did live in a converted warehouse on Bermondsey Wall East, right next to the river. She told me and showed me before, her garage was always empty as she uses the transport network to move around in London. Plus for normal people vehicles are damned expensive. If we drive there first, we could hide this vehicle in her empty garage. We can go select another ride from the surrounding streets. If you know how to hot-wire a vehicle, that is, considering you being a goody two shoes and all," Toni laughed after she said Cain was a goody two shoes. She knew he would be faster at hot wiring a vehicle than she was. Cain agreed to try Ursula's first. :Toni's idea of putting our vehicle in a garage was better than driving it into a pond and walking with me carrying Daphne,: Cain thought.

  It did not take Toni long to drive steadily to her friend's apartment. Cain left the sunroof open, they could hear the sounds of emergency vehicles and helicopters heading toward Rotherhithe Tunnel.

  Leaving Cain and Daphne in the vehicle Toni rang her friend's intercom, waited a minute then pressed the button again. A rather grumpy woman's voice answered. Swearing she would beat the living daylights out of them if this was a prank, and to bugger off. Toni laughed telling Ursula, who it was, and the door opened as if by magic ten seconds later.

  Stepping into the entrance hall, Toni reached out and pressed the button to open the garage doors. At first Toni did not think the garage would open, so she stepped back into the hallway. About to press the button again but the garage doors finally opened, revealing a large double garage. It was not empty as Ursula always claimed, inside they found a shiny red MPV, Multi-Purpose Vehicle with a personalised number plate ER5 UL4, hidden away behind the doors. Shouting up asking for the control fob, Toni soon moved the MPV out onto the street.

  She noticed Ursula's vehicle had under five thousand miles on the display. Waiting while Toni moved the other vehicle out of its garage space before Cain reversed their vehicle into the garage. He stepped out of their car and looked up and down the street. Ducking back into the garage and opened their vehicle, he stepped back out with Daphne held securely in his arms. Cain waited in the small hallway while Toni parked Ursula's red MPV across the garage doors.

  Following behind Toni as she walked up two medium flights of stairs, one up to a wide landing, the other directly into a large apartment. Cain liked the thought their vehi
cle was now off the street out of sight. Locked in the garage with the red MPV parked across the doors.

  Cain watched as Ursula greeted Toni giving her a big hug, his eyebrow twitched higher as Ursula gave Toni’s arse a big squeeze. Controlling his possessiveness, Cain gently laid Daphne on a large, black-leather, eight-person corner settee.

  "Who’s this hot cake, I hope he's for sharing?" Ursula asked Toni with her hand still on Toni's arse. "I hope he’s better for you than Jerk Wank ever was. But there again, that would not be hard honey, would it?"

  ^T^ Jerk Wank, is Ursula’s name for Jason. ^

  ^C^ I don't like her, what's with her hand on your bum? She seems rather free with your body. ^

  "So, hon what’s his name, how long you been shaking the bed frame, come tell your big sister everything?" Ursula asked of Toni, letting go of her arse, linking her arm before walking arm in arm to the settee.

  ^C^ Something is off here, I don't care if she was a lover but Jason’s reach is extensive, so please no name, while Enoch and Rahab check her out. ^

  ^T^ She’s fine, I’ve known her for over three years. She hosted the party where I met JW. She's always been a touchy person, grabbing my arse whenever she can. I didn't mind, well not much anyway, now if it was Lesley or Daphne. Sorry I digress, Ursula doesn't grab my arse as good as my sister-wives or you can. ^ Toni was cagey in her answers, calling Cain, Joseph. :That name suits him, Joseph and his DreamBabe, Me.:

  "We met at a company social event a few weeks ago, where we danced the night away. What made the moment was Joseph has a hot set of wheels which he let me take for a spin."

  ^C^ Seriously, my wheelchair is a hot set of wheels! ^

  ^T^Shush, let me tell the story, not you. ^ Swapping topics, Toni talked about Daphne saying,

  "We ended up taking care of her as she'd drunk too much, while having a good time. Her other friends had left earlier from the party, and Joseph being the gentleman he is said we would take care of her. We were going back to East London but found the Rotherhithe tunnel shut. One of the early accident notification boards activated as we were on the A200," Toni told her.