by Ben Onslow
“And the thing the Stevens and the Egans have in common is OffGrid kids,” I say.
We sit there for a while. Finish eating.
Then Nick stands up, starts packing stuff away.
“What do you want to do now?” he asks.
“Go back and see what happened?” Still don’t like the way we left things.
“Yeah,” says Nick. “What’s the point of hunting if you can’t actually hunt?”
We go back to Egan’s. Everything is just the way we left it.
“False alarm.” Nick’s standing near the glasshouses. “Want to try moving the seedlings?”
Mon’s lying there beside him, head on paws, not looking at us. Put out because we’ve given up on the hunt, I reckon.
I’m still pretty cagey about moving the seedlings. It would take a couple of hours and for no good reason really. It’s not like there seems to be any shortage of seeds to plant. Jacob seems to have an endless supply. We can easily make more seedlings.
“Nah,” I say. “We should get out of here.”
Ela wanders away from us over to the house, picks up a little box that’s sitting on the back porch. She brings it over to Nick and me, opens the lid.
This little pink ballerina flips up and spins around. Music tinkles out.
“Lucy’s dad wouldn’t let her pack this,” says Ela. “I’ll take it back and see if I can get it to her.”
And we’re standing there. Just outside that glasshouse. Watching this bloody ballerina spin round and round, and we hear the Hovers. See a shimmer start near the barn.
Me and Nick move instantly.
Nick crouches. Unslings his rifle. Slides in a round. Half closes the bolt. Like he might need to take a quick shot.
I grab Ela by the shoulder.
She drops the music box near the glasshouse door.
I push her through the doorway. Pull her down. Crouch beside her.
“What…?” whispers Ela.
I shake my head at her. Make the ‘don’t talk, keep still, stay low’ sign I taught her when we were kids.
She nods. Starts to look real frightened as the whomp, whomp, sound gets louder.
Mon’s hackles are up.
Maybe he’s planning on attacking with Nick.
Then Nick and Mon slide in behind me and Ela.
Nick flips the door shut. I’m just kneeling there, heart hammering.
The music box is still tinkling outside the glasshouse door.
Ela’s half under the seedling trays.
I’m holding her arm real tight to make sure she doesn’t try bobbing up to see what’s happening.
We’re lucky it’s one of those glasshouses with a small brick wall around the bottom for a bit of passive heating. There’s plenty of foliage from some leggy tomato seedlings. So we’ve got cover if we keep low.
I look at Nick. He’s still acting like some sort of Universal soldier. Crouching there, rifle ready as if he’s about to go into combat.
I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to do with one round up the spout, and one dog for backup.
Those Hovers hold a hundred odd VTroopers each.
Through the glass above the bricks we can just see the top of the Hover as it materialises in front of the barn.
Ela bites the side of her lip.
We wait for more to come so we know what we’re dealing with.
Two more arrive like at the Stevens’. They settle nearer the house. We hear the wings lift, see the tips when they get to our line of sight.
We hear the boots of the guards on the ground.
That tromp, tromp sound you get when the VTroopers move in formation.
I figure we have about ten seconds to make a move or we’re going to end up dead, or captured.
Can’t decide which would be worst.
Planning on avoiding both scenarios.
I risk a peep over the bricks. Just as bloody Carlos Vincent and the sidekick stride down the ramp of the first Hover, the head for the house.
Didn’t expect that.
Groups of VTroopers are moving into position all over the show.
Tromp, tromp, tromp, tromp.
It looks the same as it did at the Stevens’. Form a perimeter around the house. Then a wider one around the buildings.
I duck down again, and think fast.
The glasshouses are ranked in three lines. Seven in each row. That Egan has a tidy mind.
We’re in the first glasshouse in the middle row.
The houses stretch right to the start of the orchard.
It’s in full leaf, so we’ll have cover there.
After that an open paddock for fifty odd metres. Then the bush line.
We have to reach the bush line, preferably without being seen.
Once we’re in the bush they can’t use the Hovers to get us. Even if the three hundred VTroopers are sent after us, we should be able to keep ahead of them. Vector doesn’t bother with bush craft or stalking; just march straight at you. They know no one runs or fights anymore.
I see two groups of around thirty black helmets and visors bobbing and moving – tromp, tromp, tromp, tromp – fast. Both sides of us, outside the rows of glasshouses.
We’ll be surrounded in no time if we stay where we are.
Only one choice. Get to the orchard before they get to the end of the glasshouses. Some choice.
I look at Nick. He snakes his hand at the alley up the middle of the house we’re in. Looks like he’s come to the same conclusion as me. Run.
I nod.
Grab Ela’s arm again.
We take off.
We keep low. Use the cover of those tomato plants. Avoid watering cans and spare seed trays. Go for it.
We hit the end of the glasshouse. Sprint the metre to the next one, all the time expecting a bullet in the back.
We slide in through the door of the second glasshouse.
Nick flips the door shut.
Two groups of VTroopers tromp past the gap each side of us a glasshouse away.
Nick’s crouching in Universal soldier mode again. One knee on the ground, one knee bent. Head cocked against the doorframe. Rifle ready. He waits until the VTroopers are past the gap.
Ela watches both of us. Waiting. Trying to control her breathing.
At least we know now we can move faster than them. We’ve got better cover in this house than the last one too, so we can straighten up a bit and move fast. Mature capsicums, grown at ground level, tops nearly at the roofline. No bricks, but heaps of leaves.
Nick gives the all clear signal.
We take off again. Now Mon knows the routine, he blasts ahead of us.
We get through the next glasshouse. Don’t stop this time. Straight across the gap and into the one beyond.
Need to be in the orchard and hidden before the VTroopers hit the last of the houses.
There’s that constant, tromp, tromp sound each side of us. The occasional shout like an order coming from behind us.
We keep going low and fast. The adrenaline from crossing the gaps fuels the run through the next glasshouse.
We run through them all: chillies, beans, cosmos. Didn’t know we did flowers. Lettuces. That’s dodgy. No cover there, but I figure we are a good three glasshouses ahead of those VTroopers. Then on and on. Finally, we cross the end gap and hit the orchard. Flop down behind the feijoa hedge.
We lie low, hearts pounding. Behind the hedge. Watch those VTroopers.
They come round the end of the rows of glasshouses and form their perimeter. At least now we’re on the outside of it and they have their backs to us.
Still got the orchard and paddock to go. We’re all breathing like trains.
Take a moment to settle.
Nick moves first. Comes up to kneeling again. Raises his eyebrows in a ‘ready to go?’ way.
I nod. Grab Ela again.
She gets up. Copies Nick’s stance. One knee on the ground, one bent. We watch the VTroopers a few more seconds. They’
re standing like toy soldiers, watching those glass houses. Well trained, no looking around.
We slink though the orchard then take-off across the paddock. No attempt at keeping low. Just fly. Turns out Ela doesn’t have running gear just to look good. In the open she keeps up with me and Nick easily. And there’s that adrenaline again. The orchard acts as a shield. We’re out of the line of sight from the farmhouse but there’s still that waiting for a bullet in the back feeling. Finally, we hit the bush. Still don’t stop. With no discussion about what we’re going to do, in unison we work our way in about ten metres under the canopy, then circle round and up and back to the bush line. I want to see what’s happening at the Egan’s now.
Nick and me lie there, with Ela between us. Dead flat, chins on wrists, like we did at the Stevens’, we watch those tiny ant-like figures spread out and go into the buildings and glasshouses. The Hovers sit in a line by the barn looking menacing.
The perimeter around the house has broken up, but the wider one around the glasshouses still holds. So no one knows we were there. It’s a relief.
Nick flicks his pack open, gets out the binoculars. Starts glassing what’s going on. I do the same. Ela gives me a ‘what about me?” look. So I hand mine over to her and use the scope on my rifle instead.
It’s midday, I reckon. The sun’s high and the shadows are short. It’s easy to pick out Vincent and his sidekick.
“You recognise them?” I breathe at Nick.
He nods.
They are the only ones not in helmets, and obviously in charge. So Vincent is driving all this.
I see him walk over to the glasshouse we were in, and bend down.
He picks up the music box Ela dropped. He stares at it for a while, turns it round, watches the little ballerina dance. I imagine I can hear the music. Then he shuts it, hands it to the sidekick, says something.
Stands there, gloves on hips looking around, down the line of glass houses, then up at the hills.
And the sun chooses that moment to reflect off Nick’s glasses.
I see a flash of reflected light and see Vincent see it too. It’s like he’s been hit by an energy bolt. He spins around, yells something. We can hear the echo of the order. Suddenly there’s VTroopers streaming out of the buildings and starting up the hill in this horde towards us.
“Fuck.” Nick leaps to his feet. He has the glasses around his neck and pack and rifle over his shoulder like lightning.
Ela and me are moving fast too. We take off again, Mon ahead of us.
We fly after him.
I figure those VTroopers are going to spread out and sweep the bush. Six metres apart, in a line. They’ll be able to cover a strip just over a kilometre wide. Our advantage is they won’t be fast. But they can go forever at that march they use. They’re like bull dozers. Nothing stops them.
We’re going to get tired.
We keep it up for around a kilometre, maybe a bit less, not quite running blind but not thinking too much either.
I might like the chase, but it turns out I’m not too keen on being the quarry.
Then Nick stops.
“This is crazy.” He unslings his rifle and hands it to Ela. Then follows with his pack and binoculars. Gives them to me.
“You got a plan?” I ask. He’s pulling the Swanndri over his head. Shrugs out of it.
“Yeah.” He hands that to me too. “I’m going back to get the ute.”
“They’ll catch you on the road. They’ll have roadblocks up by now.”
“I’m counting on it,” he says. “But they’ll let me through. I’m a trusted employee who has just spent Sunday with my grandma. You and Ela carry on through the bush, another four or five kilometres. Once I’m clear I’ll pick you up.”
As a plan it could work. Nick’s just in jeans and boots and t-shirt now, and he won’t have any hunting gear with him if we take it. But whether he’s still a trusted employee, I’m not too sure. With all the extra surveillance, and it sounds like Jacob and Fitzgerald have their doubts about whether Vector still trusts Locals.
But I can’t see any other way. And Nick does need to move his ute before one of those VTroopers stumbles on it. His whole family could be in the shit if it’s found.
“Where do you want to meet?” I ask, because I can’t see any better plan.
“At the bridge where we met up with Fitzgerald this morning.” He starts moving off.
“What about the wrist shield?”
“I’ll throw it into the bush once I’m on the road.”
“Clean it off first,” I say. Don’t want his fingerprints or DNA on it if it’s found.
Nick nods.
Mon looks at Nick then me. Like he’s wondering who to go with.
I call him back. He waits a bit before he obeys. Like he’d rather go with Nick.
No loyalty that dog.
“Okay. See you in a couple of hours.” Then Nick disappears into the bush.
“Can you keep going?” I ask Ela. Elite females aren’t exactly known for their fitness.
“Yep,” she says and slings Nick’s rifle over her shoulder. I stuff his Swanndri into his pack. Loosen off the straps and put the pack on my top of mine. More to carry but better than leaving it to be found.
Then Ela and I take off. A bit slower than before. But faster than a march. It’s going to take us a good hour and a half to run to the bridge through the bush. We need to conserve energy but still stay ahead.
We make it to the bridge.
Ela did bloody well. You’d think she was used to this stuff. Nick’s there waiting for us. It’s a relief.
“Any problems,” I ask, slinging the two packs onto the back of the ute.
Nick gets out, takes his rifle off Ela. Starts to stash it behind the seats.
“You were right about the roadblocks; got stopped twice.”
“Looks like they let you through.”
“Yeah, they thought my story checked out.”
I stick my rifle with Nick’s. Flip the seat back into position. Ela climbs in the middle. All legs and hair. Gives me grin. Like she’s enjoyed herself.
She did better than I would have expected.
I climb in beside her and she curls up and puts her head on my shoulder. Soft and Elite again. But I’ve just seen her run for two hours straight. Carrying a rifle. Wearing a Swanndri. It’s a revelation.
13.
The Station
Wednesday 15th Feb 2051
7:10p.m.
We’re on the way back into town. “I reckon it was Vincent and the sidekick we saw kill old man and old lady Stevens,” I say.
“Yep,” says Nick. “I didn’t get a good look at them then, but they were sort of familiar when I saw them at the pub with the Willises, and they’re the right shape.”
“Yeah, and it seems to me that from when Vincent turned up things changed, it’s not just the Stevens.”
Nick nods. “There’s Lucinda taken by Vector and Jacob put into hospital, Jacob’s house getting trashed.
“What are you talking about?” asks Ela.
We tell her the whole Stevens’ saga. She goes real quiet, moves in even closer to me. I hold her a bit tighter.
“Yeah, and Fitzgerald will tell us to stay out of this. He’ll say let him and Jacob handle it.”
Nick nods. “So do we tell Fitzgerald?”
“Not yet.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Ela lifts her head off my shoulder. “Telling Fitzgerald doesn’t seem like a bad idea if they’re killing people.”
“Chicken,” I say, and Ela gives a bit of an eye roll.
“Is this because he’s Vector?” Ela asks hopefully.
“No, it’s because he shot the Stevens,” says Nick.
“I’ll get more information about Vincent, then take it to Fitzgerald.” Not sure if I’m lying or not. It’s real tempting to try to get that bastard ourselves after what he did. I don’t want anyone telling me to back off. “We keep it to ours
elves for a while.”
Nick nods.
So, me and Nick school Ela up on how the day really went. There was no hunting. There was no going down to look at the glasshouses. We didn’t recognise anyone. And there definitely was no getting chased by Vector.
The story is, we got the Egan’s out, then went back to their place and stayed just inside the bush line until the Hovers arrived. We watched the search of the house and glass houses and didn’t recognise anyone. Then after the Hovers left we came back into town.
Ela lifts her head off my shoulder and looks at me, then Nick. “So you don’t think Jacob or Fitzgerald would like what happened today?” she asks.
Nick glances at her. “Nope.” He goes back to watching the road, changes gear before taking a corner. Ela gets pushed closer to me. “We’d get the this isn’t a game, and the, when you are given an order, follow it, and don’t try to be a hero lectures again, so don’t say anything.”
“Okay, my lips are sealed.” She makes that zip sign at her mouth. I put my arm around her. She puts her head back on my shoulder.
Interesting though. Didn’t know Nick was getting those lectures too. It’s actually a bit of a relief to find that they don’t think Nick’s more responsible than I am. Maybe they really did just give him the code word because he needed it to keep him safe, like Jacob said.
We get to the pub, drop our gear off, pick up our Coms, and my Land Rover.
Fitzgerald’s in his office going through the files on his desk when we arrive.
“When did Vector turn up?” he asks. He gets up and shuts the office door behind us.
“Around midday,” says Nick.
“A long wait.” Fitzgerald starts to go through the usual procedure of getting notes on what we saw.
We don’t mention Vincent, but we tell him our theory about the OffGrid kids.
“You might be right.” He scratches his nose. “I’ll talk to Jacob about that.”
When we’ve finished talking, he gets up.
“We didn’t get the Willis’s fingerprints in the house,” he says. “It’s going to be hard to pin anything on them without any evidence.” Fitzgerald walks to the reception area with us. “But, we did get some fingerprint matches. Two names came up.”