Equinox (22 page)

“The Helios captain went to the next carriage,” Dalton said. Pip knew what he left unsaid. Rosie was in there. He ran faster. The men outside were keeping pace with them, firing shots at the windows. The sound was like fists smashing on an aquarium, and they were the fish about to get netted.

They reached the end of the carriage, but the door was on lockdown. Change of plan. “Open it!” Pip shouted through the slit window of the last compartment. The terrified elderly couple inside just stared at him, huddling together.

“Look out.” Dalton pressed the muzzle of the gun against the lock and fired. His arms shuddered at the kickback, but it worked.

Pip shoved open the door. He elbowed the couple aside and pulled out the grunt’s gun Rosie had given him. Muzzle pressed close to the plasglass, he pumped the trigger. The old woman screamed, but it was barely audible over the whine and thump of the gun. Dalton joined him and five shots later the window splintered. Two more kicks and it gave way, disintegrating to powder. They dived through, hitting the sandy soil hard.

“This way.” Pip ran back towards the other carriage to find Rosie, but before he’d gone more than a few steps, two grunts leaped out from between the carriages.

“Hold it!” one yelled.

Pip whirled, almost colliding with Dalton and they raced back the other way. Shots spat dust up around their feet. He fired back as he ran, hitting nothing. They ran wildly, ducking and weaving so the grunts couldn’t get a lock on them.

On the other side of the train, they could hear booted footsteps, and men calling to each other. Without having to discuss it, they both sprinted for the freight carriages. The only light came from inside the train and the glow of torches from the grunts. Fear and fury in equal portions were crawling up Pip’s insides.

More grunts were behind them now. He almost stumbled over some rocks. Shrubs scraped his jeans, a low branch whipped Dalton in the face, and the pulse shots kept coming. Something hot and hard streaked across his hip. Pulse graze. He staggered, but kept going. Dalton grunted a cry as he got hit as well and almost went down. Pip hauled him up without quite knowing how. Then he saw it. Lucky break.

He hooked a hand into Dalton’s shirt, the fabric ripping as he brought him up short at the carriage.

“Climb!” He shoved him towards the ladder to the roof.

Dalton leaped for it as Pip fired a volley of shots at the pursuing grunts, forcing them to take cover. Then he followed, climbing like a monkey possessed. Pulse shot sang on the metal, missing him by millimetres as he rolled onto the flat roof. Dalton was combat crawling on his belly to an access hatch. He had it open in seconds, the flap smacking back, and he somersaulted headfirst inside. Pip followed, flipping into the dark space. He landed feet first, and cocked his gun so the muzzle glowed faintly blue, giving them some light. Dalton was panting, waiting for him, squinting in the sudden glow.

“What …” His words died as he saw what Pip had known was inside: a row of shiny new bio bikes.

“See if any are fuelled up,” Pip said. He went from one to the other. Empty. Empty. Panic was rising in his throat. He could hear the thud of hands and boots on the side of the carriage.

“Here.” Dalton dragged one from the row. He was already powering it up, the sound a sweet low rumble Pip felt through his shoes. “It might not get through the side.” In the glow of light from the bike, Dalton’s face was deathly pale, his pupils dilated with fear, but his voice was steady.

“Then I guess we’re dead men talking,” Pip said.
And no help to Rosie at all
. His guts twisted with fear for her. “I’ll drive.”

“No.” Dalton swung the bike at the wall. “Just cover me if we get out.”

No time to argue, men were on the roof. Pip took the back seat and Dalton flicked the controls to turbo, but kept the brakes locked. For three seconds the bike’s engine wound up, pitching higher to its top speed. Pip glimpsed the legs of a grunt coming through the roof, but then Dalton let off the lock and it was all he could do to stay on as the bike accelerated.

There was a wrench and the side exploded off the container as they hit. The bike’s crash field expanded out, pushing the metal away, and they came through the gap like they’d been spit from a cannon. Two grunts that’d been standing outside were crushed and Dalton almost lost control as the bike hit the dirt. The back wheel slid out and they clipped a small tree, narrowly avoiding falling off. Dalton righted the bike and Pip hung on with one hand and fired a few parting shots at the remaining grunts as Dalton headed the bike flat out into the desert.

Rosie sat hard up against the Senate car exit door, legs dangling off the edge of the narrow platform, and wished for the thousandth time she knew what had happened to the boys. She’d had to listen to the shots, the sound of men shouting and then, worst of all, the wrenching, explosive screech of metal.

Pip and Dalton could be dead for all she knew. She stared at the track and ground, nothing more than a blur beneath her. Rushing hot air sucked stray curls of hair from her ponytail and swatted her in the face.

After the train had started again, the crawl space had become very hot, very quickly. She’d risked crossing the propulsion discs again to the narrow platform at the back of the Senate car. The tread of her boots was partially melted now. In all the panic after the shots, she thought maybe she’d heard a bio bike. If Pip and Dalton had got away on it, their chances of getting to Capricornia were not great. There was nothing out there, literally. If they ran out of fuel, they were dead. She pulled the pack onto her lap. Every muscle in her body was aching and there were still hours to go until they got to the end of the line. There was nothing but the rushing sound of the engine, the dark sky and an ache behind her eyes that felt like it was branching all the way down to her heart.

She woke with a start, her heart leaping like it had been snagged by a hook, and almost flicked the pack off the train. It dangled over the edge, the strap caught around her wrist. She pulled it back, hugging it against her. The sky was lighter. She could see the shapes of trees, rocks and narrow pyramid ants’ nests. A line of orange glowed on the horizon to the east, and in the north another kind of glow marked the sky. The kind that was man-made. Capricornia.

Rosie shifted, trying to get some feeling in her backside. She reached for a thread of stimulant and chewed down two. The stim coursed through her bloodstream, dampening her weariness and dulling the ache.

She badly needed to pee. She got to her knees to peer through the exit door window. A soft light was coming from inside and she could see part of one of the sofas in the sitting area. Someone’s leg and foot were just visible. Maybe she’d get lucky and the woman would go get breakfast.

It seemed like she was actually going to get her break. A little while later the woman got up and left. Rosie waited a few minutes then slipped inside and rushed into the closest bathroom. When she came out the sun was about to break the horizon and she could see the shadow of Capricornia, dead ahead. It rose from a barren landscape of low scrub and desert. Its skyline was punctuated by a series of spiked towers and the black specks of transports hovered above it like flies over a carcass.

Rosie slung the pack over her shoulders and dropped down again onto the discs, mouth pinched as she traversed the burning-hot surface. She levered herself into the crawl space and shuffled back into the shadows to wait. She had half a bottle of water, three packs of dry food and a few threads of stim. No credit, because Dalton had been carrying it, and no com, but she knew something.
Freezone, eight am
. If she could find her way there, maybe she could find some help. She tried not to think about what might have happened to Pip or Dalton, or to wonder where Riley was. She had to focus, get a clear head and stay out of Helios’s hands so she could get them all back.

The bullet pulled into Capricornia station half an hour later. It was terrifically noisy. Engine sounds, people sounds and she was sure she could detect the whirring of hover cars and helijets outside the station. The train braked to a stop and Rosie peeked out. A curved glass roof soared at least fifteen storeys above and the platform was a few metres higher than her head. She couldn’t see much, but she spotted hover transports taking off and the roofs of several city shuttles.

She slid out of the space and jumped across the discs to the platform. She checked around the corner, staring back down the length of the train, looking for anyone on the platform who might belong to Helios. All she could see was a crowd of movers and people converging on the freight cars. Now or never. She ducked under the metal rail and leaped across to the platform, hitting her knee hard. She sprang up and walked away, keeping her head low and trying to orient herself at the same time. Despite the early hour, people were swarming everywhere like ants out of a nest, rushing in all directions and Rosie merged with the crush. An old-fashioned overpass arched up and across the bullet track and crossed to the other side.

The crowd formed a bottleneck towards the exit. There were four large doors but only one was open. Rosie could barely move as she was shuffled along amid the suffocating scent of other people’s sweat.

She was pushed out onto a four-lane street clogged with bio bikes and hover trans all honking and swerving around each other. It was hot and barely light, the sky scudded with clouds that kept in the heat like a blanket. Across the road were shops and a string of apartment blocks topped with huge signs promoting energy drinks and robotics. The mosquito-like whine of helijets zipped overhead as three buzzed the station.

Rosie fought her way to the wall left of the door and paused, wondering which way to go. She had to figure out where the Freezone was, and this city was big; any move in the wrong direction could be disastrous. She stared at the people in confusion. She had no point of reference, nowhere to start and no one to help her. Her mum used to say you never felt so alone as when you were surrounded by strangers in a strange place. And that was just how she was feeling now. If she couldn’t find the Freezone in time, she had no clue what to do.

Maybe she should find a way to contact Aunt Essie. But that would only worry her, and what could she do anyway?
Get it together, Black!
She forced herself to think. Then her breath caught in her throat. Was that a familiar figure coming out of the station?

She dodged around, spying through the crowd. It was definitely Agent Sulawayo. The tall, dark woman wore a snug-fitting sleeveless black coverall and half her face was obscured by oversize UV glasses, but Rosie was sure it was her. And she appeared to be alone.

What was she doing here?

She watched as Sulawayo stood on the edge of the road. The Senate agent looked around as if checking if anyone was watching, then moved swiftly down the street. After a moment’s hesitation, Rosie followed, trying to stay behind her in the crowd.

Sulawayo crossed the street and headed down a pedestrian mall. It was a major thoroughfare, lined by shops and eateries, many of them just opening. Staff were setting up tables and chairs and there were a few decrepit-looking public comnets clustered at one end.

Sulawayo turned down a pathway between some buildings. It was narrow and curved between the high walls of the shops on either side and was paved with faux cobblestones. It was also quieter; even the buzzing whine of the helis above sounded duller. Rosie reached a sharp bend and stopped to peer around the corner. Ahead was a tiny cafe with one table set out the front of it and sitting there was Agent Sulawayo. Rosie’s heart vaulted and she pulled back sharply.

“Rosie,” Sulawayo called. “I know you’re there.”

Rosie’s skin prickled hot and cold.

“We haven’t got all day.” Sulawayo sounded calm, but annoyed.

Rosie went around the corner. She wasn’t really sure why she was so afraid. “You knew I was following you?”

The agent took her glasses off and put them in her breast pocket. “I was counting on it. I saw you at the station. I have to say, I was surprised. After Riley’s disappearance I thought your aunt would be making you lie low.”

“Things kind of went pear-shaped,” Rosie said. “Why are you here?”

“I got a strange message from Riley just before he left, telling me to get up here. I was slightly delayed.” She glanced over Rosie’s head at the mall and stood up. “We should go somewhere more secure. There’s a place I know. Come on.”

“Wait.” Rosie drew back a step. “I’ve got to be somewhere, at eight.”

“Where?”

When Rosie didn’t answer, Sulawayo became impatient. “You can trust me, Miss Black. Where do you need to be?”

Rosie didn’t want to say, but she needed help and if Riley trusted Sulawayo … “It’s called the Freezone. I’m meeting some people.”

“I know it,” Sulawayo said. “It’s not far from where we’re going. Who are you meeting?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well.” Her mouth thinned. “We’ll find out. There’re still a few hours till then and we can’t stay out in the open. Come on.”