In The Dark (4 page)

The bullet train was easy to drive, and fun. EJ simply pushed a starter button then pulled a lever up and down to control the speed. She remembered from her training that you sped through the straights and slowed down around the bends. It was better than the big dipper at the carnival. Except it was getting darker as the Mission Tube lights grew dimmer.

It was a text message from
SHINE.
Had they intercepted another
SHADOW
message already?

The emergency lighting was very dim. It was now nearly impossible to see the twists and turns of the tunnel and EJ slowed right down. After driving very slowly for a while, she checked her map app and saw that it was now straight ahead to the end of the line.
That's better,
she thought, as she pulled the lever up again and returned to full speed. Soon the console on the driving panel flashed ‘approaching line end'. EJ pulled the lever slowly down, bringing the train to a halt in front of a ladder and a sign.

EJ pushed a large button by the train door. The door slid open and EJ stepped out of the train onto a narrow platform. She edged along the platform to the front of the train before climbing up onto the front of the train and onto the ladder. EJ then climbed up the ladder until she reached the top and a metal door above her, like a manhole. It had a bolt, two locks and a combination mechanism, the code for which
SHINE
had uploaded to her phone. EJ pulled back the bolt, used her skeleton key on the locks, turned the combination 5-24-9-20, smiling as she realised what letters the numbers stood for.
That is the easiest number code,
she thought as she pushed the door open and climbed up and onto the ground. As she shut the door, EJ could hear the train heading back to HQ. For EJ12, however, there was no turning back.

EJ took out her binoculars and compass and looked around to get her bearings. She was in a small
clearing in the bush. Tall white gum trees stood all around her. EJ could smell the eucalyptus from the leaves and wondered if she might see a koala. When she looked to the south she could just make out the
SHINE
solar station in the distance through the trees, with its rows and rows of metallic panels pointing up to the sky. These were the panels that collected the sunlight. To the north, where EJ needed to go, there were more gum trees, a whole forest of them covering a small hill. If
SHINE
was right, Black Cave Mine was on the other side of that hill and the tower would be on the next hill.

The light of the day was fading, with the sun sinking lower and lower in the sky. Though it was still quite warm, a breeze was starting to blow gently, rustling the leaves. EJ knew from the position of the sun that it would be dark in less than thirty minutes. She began to make her way through the bush, eager to use the daylight while it lasted.

Dusk was a funny time. It wasn't quite day or night. When EJ was younger, she was sure that this was when fairies would come out. The last rays of sun were shining through the gum trees and in the
dappled light EJ was almost sure that she saw the glisten of a fairy wing as it darted behind a tree. Or maybe that was just a butterfly. EJ never imagined scary things at this time of day, only magical, good things.

EJ's boots crunched as she stepped on leaves and fallen twigs. She hardly noticed the noise of her boots or of birds as they flapped and screeched around her. She pushed on, keeping her eyes on the compass to make sure she was going north. Only when her compass began to glow did EJ look up and realise it had become dark. The sun, which had been hovering just above the horizon, had suddenly dived down, throwing day into night, as if at the flick of a switch.

Now EJ noticed the noises.

She stepped forward and CRACK! She jumped back. What was that? She didn't dare take another step. Standing completely still, she felt for the zip of her light pack and rummaged inside. Grabbing the longest, biggest thing in there, she pulled out
an enormous torch. She turned it on and shone it at her feet.

A stick. I stepped on a stick,
she told herself. She shone the torch up at the trees. They had looked so pretty before with their speckled green-grey leaves dancing in the light. Now they were dark and shadowy, creaking and groaning as they bent in the wind. And there were noises everywhere. As well as the constant rustling of the leaves, there was a low buzzing.

‘Crickets,' said EJ to herself as she walked on, ‘or frogs. I remember them from school camp. They are quite nice when...'

EJ stopped and stood completely still when she heard the high-pitched, whipping noise ring through the bush.
That wasn't a frog,
she thought.

That wasn't a cricket.
EJ swung her torch around but couldn't see anything.

The noise sounded closer. EJ's heart was pounding. What was that noise? That noise coming towards her ... Towards her to attack?
Stay calm,
EJ said to herself.
It's only a bird or something ordinary like that. Remember the possum at home. This is just like that. The noise sounds scary but it actually just belongs to a cute animal.
EJ shone the torch around again and this time, sitting on a high branch above her, she spotted a bird.

Mystery solved,
thought EJ.
It is a bird, of course. Now stop thinking scary thoughts.
Then came another sound.