Blackout (7 page)

Jack leant in. ‘Great.’ His eyes scanned the architectural plan and he committed it to memory. Finally, he straightened up and looked at Charlie. ‘There’s not a whole lot of information, but, from what I can see,’ he pointed at the image taken from the CCTV camera, ‘there’s a guard tower and that’s where the main security is located. We need to get inside that and patch Obi into their cameras.’ He looked over at Slink and Wren.

Wren laughed as she crossed the finishing line for the fourth or fifth time.

Slink swore. ‘How do you do that?’

‘Guys?’ Jack called. They looked back at him. ‘We go in thirty minutes.’

Charlie glanced at the time. ‘It’ll be dark in an hour.’

Jack started pacing back and forth, running different scenarios through his head. He hated not being able to do a recon mission, but they simply didn’t have the luxury of time. It was the security services that had built Proteus, the quantum computer, so did that mean they also knew about the virus? If not, it probably wouldn’t be long before they found out about it and came to get it themselves.

Now, it was a race.

‘Any use for the rapid winch?’ Charlie said.

Jack shook his head. ‘I don’t think we’ll need it this time.’

Charlie looked disappointed.

Slink and Wren walked over to them, both seeming eager to get on with the mission.

‘Well?’ Slink said to Jack. ‘What’s the plan? How are we going to break into the power station?’

‘You need to get past that fence,’ Jack said. ‘Then into the tower and connect Obi to their cameras.’

‘How?’ Charlie said.

‘It’s a good security system.’ Jack looked at the guard tower. ‘But it has one major flaw.’

‘What’s that?’

‘The human element. They still use a guard in that tower to monitor it. That’s the weak point.’ Jack smiled. ‘That’s the way in.’

‘Right,’ Slink said. ‘But how do we get to the fence in the first place? In case you haven’t noticed, the River Thames is on the other side of it.’

Jack took a deep breath and looked at Charlie. He was going to regret this, but he had no other ideas. ‘Is Stingray still running?’

Charlie stared at him. ‘Are you sure you want to use it? You remember what happened the last time?’

Jack sighed. ‘No, I’m not sure, but it’s the best solution I have.’

Slink let out a whoop
,
which made everyone jump. ‘This is gonna be freakin cool,’ he shouted. ‘I love Stingray.’

CHAPTER FOUR

An hour later, Jack was sitting hunched over, with his knees to his chest, wishing he’d been able to think of another way to do this. The air was so hot that he was finding it hard to breathe.

Wren was sitting directly behind him, curled up in a similar position. In front of Jack was Slink, and in front of him was Charlie.

So, here they were, the four of them crammed into this steel tube, sweating like mad and rapidly running out of oxygen.

Fan-tastic.

Jack shuffled his weight, trying to ease the stiffness in his legs.

On top of everything else, the constant hum of the electric motor reverberating off the metal walls was really beginning to annoy him.

They’d ‘acquired’ Stingray – the small submarine – from some weapons smugglers the year before. The smugglers had been using it to transport guns into the United Kingdom. Jack’s first instinct was to destroy the sub, but Charlie had managed to persuade him that it could be useful to them.

Now Jack wished he hadn’t listened to her.

They called the submarine Stingray because of a sticker of the fish they’d found above the control dashboard.

‘Are we there yet?’ Slink asked for the millionth time.

Over Slink’s shoulder, Jack could see Charlie with her face pressed against a periscope that disappeared through the ceiling above her head. In front of her were a couple of displays that shone blue and gave her skin an ethereal glow.

Charlie had a joystick in her hand. ‘You ask me that one more time, Slink,’ she said through tight lips, ‘and I’ll open the hatch right here.’

‘Whatever,’ Slink said. ‘I’d rather swim anyway.’

Me too
, Jack thought. But the strong current would probably drown them all. Besides, he also knew how dirty the water in the Thames was and the likelihood of them catching some incurable disease was even more probable.

After what seemed like an eternity, the thrum of the motor finally eased.

‘We’re there,’ Charlie said. ‘Surfacing.’

‘Thank God.’ Slink half turned. ‘Jack?’

‘What?’

‘You may have to shove me from behind. My bum cheeks have gone to sleep and I don’t think they’ll ever wake up.’

‘Breaking the surface,’ Charlie said with obvious annoyance.

Stingray punched through the water, rocked from side to side, then stabilised.

Slink scooted forward, reached into an opening above his head and turned a large wheel.

It squeaked, making Jack wince.

Finally, Slink pushed the hatch upward and glorious fresh oxygen flooded the tube.

Jack pulled in big lungfuls of the cold air as Slink’s feet disappeared up through the hatch.

Charlie motioned for him to go next.

Grateful, Jack edged forward and stood up. He put his hands on either side of the hatch and lifted himself into the night air.

Charlie had guided Stingray to the exact location of Bransgore power station. They were next to a high fence and at the top of each section was a red light. Beyond the fence was the power station itself.

A fine rain dusted their clothes and Jack braced his feet, careful not to slip.

He pulled up his hood and bandana and looked around.

Lights from the city reflected off the dark water of the Thames and blinked on and off, which meant the virus was still hard at work infecting the power supply.

‘Hey.’

Jack glanced down to see a disgruntled Wren looking back at him. She stretched her arms up. He helped her out of the hatch and on to the top deck of the submarine. Next, Charlie clambered out, and the four of them adjusted their bandanas and hoods, making sure their faces were hidden, and they sat in silence.

Jack pulled his mini binoculars from his pocket and pressed them to his eyes. First, he looked at the main security tower. He could make out the guard through the window, sat in there with his back to them. Jack then quickly scanned the outside of the power station building, looking for extra security cameras, but could only see the one above the emergency exit.

That was the thing about security engineers
, he thought.
They were overconfident
. Obviously, the designer of this place had decided not to use many external cameras because he or she felt no one would ever get over the fence and past the guard tower.

Jack smiled inwardly. That designer hadn’t banked on two things. One – that the electricity supply to the fence would be going on and off. And two – they’d never heard of the Urban Outlaws.

The light in the guard tower was the only one that wasn’t blinking on and off. Its power was isolated and running from a generator buried deep within the main building. This also powered the cameras and they too were on an internal system. So, the Outlaws had to get into the tower, disable the guard and take over the security.

Simple
.

Jack scanned the side of the tower. The walls were made of smooth concrete and there was no way to climb up.

At ground level was a door. Jack focused on the lock – it was a keypad. ‘It’s like we thought,’ he said, handing Charlie the binoculars. ‘We definitely can’t get past it, right?’

Charlie peered through the binoculars and shook her head. ‘It’s coded and linked to the security console in the tower. We mess with it and the guard will know.’

‘OK,’ Jack said. ‘There’s only one way to do this then.’ He looked down at the base of the fence but could see it was anchored into the concrete with large steel hooks.

Definitely no way under it
.

‘You think you can make it over?’ he said to Slink. It looked a lot higher and imposing up close.

‘Of course.’ Slink stood and rubbed his hands together, obviously eager to get on with his latest challenge.

Much to Jack’s relief, the fence was powering down with the electricity supply that ran parts of the city. The bright red light on each section blinked on and off. The only problem was it seemed random, with no discernible pattern to it.

‘Why isn’t the fence on the same power as the guard tower?’ Slink said.

‘Needs too much juice,’ Charlie said. ‘They’ve kept the cameras and control systems connected to the generator, but the fence is linked to the main power station.’

Another mistake the designer had made
, thought Jack.

There was a further problem, however – with most electric fences you had to be standing on the ground and gripping the wires if it was going to electrocute you. But not with this one – the wires alternated live and neutral horizontally going up, separated by plastic spacers. So, if you tried to climb it, it was more than likely that your feet would be on a live wire while your hands were gripping a neutral one, thus completing the circuit and giving you a nasty electric shock. Sure, Slink could try to stand on a neutral wire while gripping another one, avoiding a live wire, but they were so close together, it was nearly impossible, especially in the dark.

Charlie suggested trying to short the fence so that the power would be permanently down and Slink could get over it that way, but Jack pointed out that it wouldn’t take the guard long to realise the lights on the fence weren’t switching on with the rest of the power.

No, the only chance Slink had was to just hurry up and make it over before the power came back on again. The rain made the wires even more treacherous, so that wouldn’t be easy.

Slink’s lips moved, silently counting each time the electricity went off.

Jack did the same. The first count was thirty-two seconds. The second time the electricity went off for only twenty seconds. The third time lasted for almost forty seconds.

Jack glanced up. Even that didn’t seem long enough.

Slink cracked his knuckles.

‘Well?’ Jack said. ‘The shortest time so far is twenty seconds. Can you do it?’

Slink shrugged. ‘I think so.’

Charlie frowned at him. ‘You
think
so?’ She looked anxious and glanced at Jack.

Perhaps we should call it off
, Jack thought. As he stared at Charlie, she too seemed unsure what to do.

Wren gasped.

Jack wheeled around to see Slink was already on the fence and climbing.

Jack counted off the seconds –

Five.

Ten.

Slink was not even halfway to the top yet. At this rate, Jack gauged he’d need a lot more time than twenty seconds.

Fifteen seconds.

Twenty seconds . . .

Slink was still a couple of metres from the top and climbing as fast as he could.

Jack ground his teeth –
twenty-five seconds
– and his eyes narrowed to slits.

Slink’s feet slipped off the wet wires. He fell a metre or so but managed to get a grip with his hands.

Charlie and Wren went rigid, their eyes wide.

Thirty seconds
.

Slink regained his foothold and continued to scramble up the fence.

Jack’s forehead felt wet. He wasn’t sure if it was the rain or sweat.

Thirty five seconds
and the light at the top of the fence came on. Slink held on to it with his hands, but left his feet dangling in mid-air so as not to touch the electric wires.

Jack allowed a small sigh of relief, but Slink still had to get down the other side.

For a full forty seconds the light remained firmly on.

‘You’re OK, Slink,’ Charlie said, though she didn’t sound so convinced.

Finally, the light went out again.

Slink made a move to step on the wires when the light suddenly came back on.

‘No way,’ Jack hissed. ‘That was only a couple of seconds.’

Slink looked down at them. ‘What now?’

The light seemed to stay on for ages before it finally turned off again.

Slink didn’t hang about – in less than fifteen seconds he was on the ground on the other side of the fence.

He grinned at the others and gave them a thumbs-up.

‘Nice one,’ Jack whispered.

Slink glanced around and then – keeping low – hurried towards the guard tower. He reached the door at the base and looked up. It was a sheer wall, ten metres high. Above the door was a narrow roof that Slink could use.

‘Just like we said,’ Jack whispered into his microphone. ‘From the plan, it looks like the keypad lock on the door is linked to the guard’s security terminal.’