by Malcolm Rose
Luke said, “I bet this is where Emily’s rucksack toppled into the Thames, you know.”
“Insufficient data.”
“How long have I got?”
“Fifteen minutes and...”
“All right. That’ll do. Get through it as quickly as you can.”
A tower crane loomed over Luke as he sat on the uneven surface, clutching a heavy iron ring that had been concreted into place. Years ago, barges had been tied to it, but now Luke used it to make sure he didn’t slide off the jetty and into the Thames.
He was only centimetres above the softly lapping water. If he didn’t move in the next quarter of an hour, he’d feel the full, lethal effect of a ten-metre wave. Right now, the river was tranquil, giving no hint of the mayhem to come. It was hard to believe that anything catastrophic was about to happen on such a still night. It was so quiet that it was creepy. People were not the only inhabitants who had fled. Instinct had driven away the animals and birds.
Breaking the silence, Luke banged on the lid and shouted, “Emily!”
There was no response. He suspected that noise would not penetrate the bulky cover.
“Come on, Malc,” he said. “Hurry up.”
The robot turned off his laser and shone a light onto the landing stage. “I suggest you try a sharp impact.”
Luke scrambled to his feet and kicked the staple as hard as he could. “Ow!”
The fixing remained in place.
Ignoring the pain in his toes, Luke lashed out a second time. “No good.”
Malc moved to a new position and activated the laser again, tackling the lock from a different angle.
Fidgeting, Luke stood and shivered. Clasping his hands together was not keeping them warm so he shoved them into his coat pockets. Nursing his foot, he waited until he was required to kick again.
The bolt let out a twang and Malc killed the laser.
At once, Luke rammed his foot into the fastening and the padlock flew like a football into the river with a splash. Dropping to his knees, Luke grabbed the handle.
“Beware. It will be hot...”
Paying no attention, Luke yanked on the cover. At first it hardly budged. Realizing that it was very heavy, Luke put one foot either side, leaned down and pulled with all of his strength. The lid came up, revealing a damp detergent store and an eleven-year-old girl lying like an unwanted doll flat out on top of a mouldy heap of powder.
Luke knelt down and thrust both arms towards her. “She’s warm,” he said. He got a hand under each of her arms, steadied himself, and then lifted her out into the chilly night air. She remained unconscious.
“As a matter of utmost urgency,” Malc told him, “you must reach firm and higher ground.”
It was then, just as he was about to celebrate, that his true predicament struck him. Looking around, he realized he was a long way from anywhere secure. He could not even get Emily off the platform because of the padlocked gate.
“Can you call a boat remotely, Malc?”
“Confirmed.”
“Go on, then. Get that fast launch.”
After a few seconds, Malc replied, “It was taken by Owen Goode. A cruiser is coming from the wharf.”
“How long before the wave gets here?”
“Seven minutes exactly.”
“There’s only the warehouse and I can’t make it in time.”
“That is incorrect,” Malc said. “I calculated your running speed while you were interviewing Jed Lester. At that speed, you could sprint to it and climb one of the external ladders to a safe height on its roof if you were not burdened with Emily Wonder. There is no ground or stable building of the required height within seven minutes if you carry her.”
“So, I dump her here. She drowns and I save myself?”
“That is one option.”
“No it isn’t,” Luke uttered angrily. “If I drape her over you, could you lift her up?”
“No. I am not designed for heavy lifting. I do not have the required power.”
Luke looked downstream. “Where’s that boat?”
“Coming.”
“I can’t beat the wave upriver in it, can I?”
“No.”
Luke had exhausted his options and his hope. He had found Emily alive and rescued her only so that they could die together in the coming frenzy of the Thames.
****
Whenever Luke felt discouraged, he drew comfort from looking at the stars. This hushed night, the sky was clear and vast, and the light from the nearest stars was beautifully bright. He sighed and swivelled to take it all in for the last time. But it was not just a favourite formation that caught his eye.
“The crane, Malc! Will the wave knock it over?”
“I cannot answer without a structural survey and information on the weight of its various parts.”
“What’s your best guess? I mean, your best estimate? Quickly.”
The mobile was silent for a few precious seconds. “It is possible that it will withstand the surge. It is positioned very close to a brick wall. If the crane tilts, the wall will prop it up if the bricks resist the force of the tsunami.”
At last, the cruiser came into view and pulled alongside the sloping pontoon. Luke lifted Emily in both arms and dropped her into the boat, then he jumped in himself. Instead of asking Malc to give a destination, he grabbed hold of the landing stage and heaved until the boat moved towards the bank. He tugged again and again until the jetty was out of his reach and the cruiser was drifting gently to the shore.
Seeing a length of rope lying in the bottom of the boat, Luke grabbed it and tied Emily’s wrists together as quickly as his cold fingers could manage. Picking her up again, he plonked her down on the mud and then scrambled out onto the land himself. Looping her arms over his head so her joined hands fell across his chest, he lifted her up on his back and scrambled up the bank onto the walkway.
Trying to raise his own spirits as he made for the crane, he said, “Luckily, I am designed for heavy lifting. Pomegranates make you big and strong, you know.”
“The nutritional content...”
“Stop,” Luke cried. “Just light my way.”
Wearing Emily like a bulky and cumbersome backpack, Luke climbed up the steps to the crane’s neglected cabin, full of levers, pedals, knobs and dials jammed into position by corrosion. He did not attempt to get into the cubicle through the door or a smashed window because he knew it wasn’t high enough above the Thames.
“You are currently four point one metres above river level,” Malc informed him, “and I estimate that the main wave will reach this position in three minutes and eleven seconds.”
Daunted, Luke looked skywards. A long and rusty ladder in the crane’s neck led up to another control box, nestling just below the enormous horizontal arm. It was so far above him that he thought he might as well reach for the stars. But he had no choice. He had to put another six metres between him and the ground. At least six metres. Standing on top of the cabin, he grasped the frozen ladder. As soon as he planted his foot on the first rung, he realized that it was slippery with ice. Cursing, he had to make sure that, every time he took a step up, he pressed the heel of his boot against the rung so that he did not slip off. He tried not to look up to the jib and winch overhead, or down to the ground. Instead, he gazed eastwards across Greenwich, towards Woolwich and Bexley but he didn’t take in anything other than a string of glowing dots like little stars along the twists of the Thames. He tried to ignore the limp girl on his back and simply concentrate on where he placed his hands and feet. At least Emily was light after three weeks without food. Slowly, he pulled himself up and up.
“Warning,” Malc said, hovering to his side. “The next rung is dangerously corroded.”
Luke was too tired to reply. He took a deep breath and lifted his right leg higher, missing out the next step. But his awkward movement made him slip and Emily shifted. Her tied hands closed around his neck and the rope began to choke him, making it imp
ossible to swallow and breathe.
Malc flew behind him and pushed against Emily’s backside, supporting her body as much as possible.
Luke regained his footholds and clung to the ladder firmly with one fist. With the other, he pulled the rope and her hands away from his throat.
An icy wind was whistling through the framework. Luke’s fingers were nearly numb. His toes and lungs ached with the cold and his shoulders throbbed with the strain of taking Emily’s weight.
Returning to Luke’s side, Malc said, “I am programmed to protect you. If that happens again, threatening your life, I will burn through the rope and release the girl.”
Luke was too exhausted to argue. He continued to climb. Daring to look down, he guessed that he was about the height of four men from the cabin.
Sensing a rumbling noise above the screeching of the wind, he glanced along the path of the squirming river. A heart-stopping wall of water came into his view. As it hurtled towards him, it knocked out the waterfront lamps in a series of mini-explosions. The arch of water swept through and over the Thames barrier as if it weren’t there. Soon, the rumble became a terrifying roar, like the sound of a thousand waterfalls.
“Malc!” Luke screamed. “Am I high enough?”
“Confirm...”
His mobile’s flat voice was lost in the din.
The giant wave crashed into the crane, about a metre below Luke’s feet. At once, the whole contraption began to tilt and rotate. Above him, the giant jib twisted and the winch fell heavily down into the raging water.
Luke’s left foot slid off the slippery rung. He grasped tighter with his unfeeling hands and pushed the heel of his right boot harder against the tread so it dug into the arch of his foot. He hung on for his life.
Battered by the surging water, the framework leaned more and more. Malc manoeuvred himself against the crane’s upright in an attempt to halt its slump towards the water but his effort was useless. It was like asking a sandcastle to hold back the incoming tide.
Clinging to the iron network, Luke braced himself.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The long neck of the crane juddered and jarred, then ceased its tilt. Luke swore and gripped even tighter as the jolt threatened to nudge him from the machinery. He looked down but all he could see below him was swirling floodwater. Somewhere underneath, the crane must have come to rest against the brick wall. Now, his fate also rested on the wall. If it collapsed under the pressure of water, he would be plunged with Emily into the torrent. If it resisted the deluge, he could yet save her and himself.
Beneath his feet, the rung jerked again as the crane settled. Maybe it had dislodged some bricks, making itself snug against the wall. Maybe, if more bricks collapsed, he’d be pitched into the flood. But, a minute later, there was no further movement and Luke began to breathe more easily.
Malc no longer illuminated the scene. He was swaying in the air, unable to compensate for the gusting wind. He moved to a position above Luke’s head and wedged himself in the lattice of the crane’s ironwork. “Stay where you are,” he said to Luke. “There will be waves for several minutes. They will not be as large as the leading tsunami. My power level requires me to shut down in twenty-eight seconds.”
“Thanks, Malc,” Luke gasped. “One last job for you. Put out an emergency call to The Authorities. I need a rescue boat and a medical team as soon as they can sort it out.”
“Transmitting.”
Luke smiled at him and said, “That’s right. You have a good sleep while I do all the work.”
“I do not...” Malc’s mechanical voice stuttered and stopped.
A new dread enveloped Luke. He was alone and defenceless. Above him, his mobile was drained of power. Attached to his back, Emily was also lifeless. He was stuck up an unstable crane and below him London was awash and deserted. The water level had fallen but great swells still came and went. Where there had been builders’ yards and corridors, there was now a rippling sea. Only the rounded roof of the warehouse poked out of the water. The wave must have filled Blackwall Tunnel and swept away the other wrecked buildings of North Greenwich.
Speaking to no one, he said, “At least the warehouse is still there. Owen’s got a job – if he’s any good at water polo.”
Strangely, once Luke got used to the crane’s tilted position, it was easier for him to bear Emily’s weight. Instead of being upright and supporting her on his shoulders, he was stretched across the framework of poles and she was lying across his back. Of course, he had no way of knowing if she was still alive.
He lay there for ten minutes, watching waves come and go like aftershocks of the tsunami. Once the water had receded so that he could see the top of the crane’s cabin again, he struggled down the ladder slowly, painfully and carefully.
It was difficult to stand on the roof of the control box because it was on such a slant. With a filthy pool below him, it reminded him of the dilapidated landing stage. He lowered Emily so that she was propped between the roof and the wall that had saved their lives. If she was breathing, it was too shallow and weak for him to detect. His fingers were deadened with cold and strain but he was sure that he could feel a pulse in her neck. He stripped off his fleece and wrapped it around her motionless body. Then, exhausted and marooned, he sat with his back against the bricks and waited for The Authorities to rescue him.
****
The icy spell came to an end ten days later. Seen from his hotel window, the hills at the edge of the Peak District had become green and brown again. Luke could also make out the silvery top of the geothermal power station. He stood with his hands on the windowsill and Jade’s arms around his waist. Bliss. And a lot less strenuous than having an unconscious Emily Wonder draped around him.
Malc broke into the moment to announce, “You have a request for a connection from Owen Goode.”
Jade stepped to one side and Luke pointed at the wall with a telescreen. “On there.”
Straightaway, it was plain that Owen was on a high. “You’ll never guess who turned up at the warehouse!”
“I won’t bother trying then,” Luke replied, using logic that Malc would have been proud of.
“Jed Lester!”
Luke smiled, pretending to be surprised. “The Jed Lester, or someone else with the same name?”
“The runner. You know. Likely he’s going to get an indoor running track put in, if he can twist a few arms.”
“That’s great,” Luke said. “Amazing how word gets around when you take on a good cause.” Luke glanced across the room and then said, “I’ll see if I can organize a top musician to come down and give you a performance.”
Owen pulled a face. “Emily Wonder? My kids won’t be into that sort of thing.”
Luke laughed at the thought. “No. More nightclub gig than opera.”
“That’s better.” Owen hesitated and then asked, “Who’s that? Someone with weird hair – red and blonde – just went behind you.”
“She’s the musician for your party performance. Jade.”
“She looked all right.”
Luke nodded. “Mmm. She is.”
“Good for you,” Owen replied with a grin.
Luke didn’t want to bring him down. Even so, he could not resist saying, “But pairing’s a different matter.”
“Ah. You want to talk to The Authorities about that. While you’re at it, remember to put in a word for Everton Kohter. Two and a bit weeks to go before the death penalty, I think.” Distracted, Owen turned away for a moment and then said, “Talking of Emily Wonder, there’s someone here wants a word.”
“Oh?”
When Owen stood back awkwardly, still not used to telescreens, a small plump girl appeared in front of him. Luke hardly recognized her. Last time he’d seen Greenwich Emily, she was as thin as a stick and seriously ill. In Thomas’s Hospital, she’d told him that a tall and strange-looking young woman had asked for her help with someone she’d just dragged from the Thames. Of course, the drowned p
erson hadn’t existed. Emily remembered being hit from behind and left on the jetty in a cramped container. Luke had shown her a picture of Edinburgh Emily Wonder and, before the exhausted patient had closed her eyes again, she’d identified her would-be murderer.
“Hello,” she said, glancing at Luke through the telescreen but then, embarrassed, she looked down.
A healthy tan colour had returned to her face. “You look fantastic. How are you doing?”
“Good now. I had someone from... you know... The Authorities visit me in hospital. Told me what you did.”
“They probably exaggerated,” Luke said. “Anyway, you did better yourself, surviving on the water that trickled in. Very brave.”
“I just wanted to say thank you.”
“No problem.”
“The girl who attacked me. Is she... you know?”
“It’s okay. You’re safe,” Luke said. “She’s under guard in Edinburgh Hospital. The doctors tell me she’s got less than a month to live.”
“Just like she gave me.”
Luke nodded and then changed the subject. “How do you like the warehouse?”
“Great,” she answered, her face beaming now. “Still wet and bashed about, but we’re fixing it up.”
“Just promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You won’t start singing opera.”
Emily Wonder looked surprised for a moment and then, realizing that even an FI wasn’t serious all of the time, she giggled. “No chance. I’ve gone off boats and swimming as well.”
The Next Case
Double Check
Everton Kohter is a teenager on death row. In nineteen days, he will be executed for murder. But Forensic Investigator Luke Harding has been tipped off that Everton is innocent. The Authorities are against reopening the case but, risking his life and reputation, Luke double checks the conviction. In their fourth case, Luke and Malc have to work against the ticking clock to piece together the truth that The Authorities failed to find. And they try to overturn a mountain of forensic evidence that seems to prove Everton’s guilt. At the same time, they are assigned to a case of corruption in ‘pairing’. In the Traces world, couples are worked out and brought together by The Authorities. It’s a system that Luke hates because it stops him being paired with his girlfriend, Jade Vernon. He finds himself investigating a pairing system that he’d love to destroy. But, as a forensic investigator, he can’t uphold the law and break it at the same time.