Walking to the Stars (22 page)

"What?” Talgerit asked sleepily.

"Stiction will be an issue,” Samuel said. “But we're in a high energy physics research facility, inside a Faraday cage, which should have shielded and isolated everything enough to have protected the data in these machines."

Nick pulled a crate out of a cupboard and sat it down solidly on a worktable, which creaked alarmingly.

"So, all the computers in this basement are potentially salvageable?” Nick asked.

Samuel nodded. “Possibly. If I could carry every hard drive out, I would, but I can't, so I'm just going to do my job."

"What's stiction?” Talgerit asked, as Samuel found the clasps that held the sapphire's cradle securely, and began to force them undone with a screwdriver he'd dug out of his pocket.

"When things have been resting against each other for a long time, it can be hard to get them to move apart,” Samuel said. “Especially machines."

"Boyees,” Talgerit said, sounding like he understood.

The clasp Samuel was prizing at snapped off, so Samuel gave the block of sapphire a heave, expecting it to be stuck solid, and it lifted jerkily upward on its runners.

"Grab the foam packing for the sapphire,” Samuel said. “Let's lift this out."

"Is that the clock?” Talgerit asked, as Samuel lifted the disc of sapphire, on its cradle, out of the housing and across onto the workbench beside the crate.

"That's it,” Nick said.

"It's a rock,” Talgerit said, splaying his hand across the clear stone disc, sounding deeply pleased. “Of course, time would be inside a rock. That's where it belongs."

Nick muttered something under his breath as they slid the sapphire on its cradle into the padded box, and Samuel said, “Let me guess, you were wondering why it couldn't be in something easier to carry?"

Samuel took the screwdriver out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Nick. “Strip hard drives, while I pull the niobium bar out of the containment vat."

"I haven't touched a PC for more than twenty years,” Nick said, as Samuel crouched down in front of the access plate to the containment vat.

"And I've never worked on desktop computers like the ones here,” Samuel said. “So you're a long way ahead of me. Besides, if I do the hard drives, you have to remove the niobium bar from the containment vat."

Nick was silent for a moment, while Talgerit laughed, then Nick said, “Can I use a hammer? For either task?"

Samuel knelt back on his heels. “Sure, because I'm just going to force my way in here."

He smacked the side of the containment vat repeatedly with the shifter, until the steel sheeting buckled enough for him to wedge the edge of the shifter under it, then lever up.

The house popped up, revealing the control board, and Samuel went directly for the manual handles, winding each undone in turn, so that the side of the house dropped down completely, revealing the innards of the containment vat, with the coils, condensers and niobium bar buried in the middle.

Given time, and a truck, he'd pull the resources out of the basement, gutting the machines and computers. There'd be a server room somewhere, and if it had been shielded and earthed adequately the drives would have survived... He could only imagine the research that was on the servers, amongst the memos, emails and clutter.

Then there were the other buildings, like Engineering and Chemistry. If he could get back here, with a real recovery team, then out to Trudy's library at Lake Grace, to copy her books, huge gaps in the archives would be filled.

Of course, they had to get out of here alive first.

The pile on the desk grew steadily, as Nick added drives and Samuel dismantled the optical frequency synthesizers, taking the polarizers and the optical fiber chains.

"How much are you taking?” Nick asked, when Samuel put the second polarizer on the pile.

"Only as much as one person can carry,” Samuel said, and Nick nodded.

"Then it's time to stop,” Nick said. “Do physicists keep bags in their labs?"

Samuel opened drawers and cupboards at random, until he found a stack of bags made from robust plastic fibres. He shook the bags out, dislodging rodent droppings, and found a couple of bags that hadn't been chewed on.

"So, what do physicists put in bags?” Nick asked.

"Polarizers, sapphires and their lunch, I suspect,” Samuel said. “And flasks of coffee."

They packed the bags, and Samuel took the bag holding the sapphire in its cradle and foam packing. He wasn't planning on letting go of it again for a while.

Talgerit climbed down from his perch on the workbench, wound his feather shoes onto their cord and around his neck, woke his dog up, and they worked their back through the workshop, down the hallway, to the stairs.

The cluster of globes, bouncing ahead of and trailing behind them, cast enough light that the shapes on the stairs were clear.

The things, whatever they were, had lined up on the stairs, filling each step, blocking the exit.

"Talgerit?” Nick asked.

"Don't hurt them, unna?” Talgerit suggested, pushing his dog behind his knees.

"I don't think they want us to leave,” Samuel said.

"Or take things with us?” Nick asked.

"Do you think they could be part of the building? Or the work that was done here?” Samuel asked.

"Why don't you show them your credentials, see if that helps?” Nick suggested. “If they're physics creatures, they're not going to be impressed by my medical qualification."

Samuel edged closer to the stairs, and the things shuffled, but didn't clear a path for him.

"Hello,” Samuel said. “So, I'm part of an international project to build a spacecraft, to explore the asteroid belt, and maybe beyond. I'm an electrical engineer, not a physicist, but there are physicists working on the project, I promise. And they need the equipment we want to take with us."

Samuel paused, and waited, and nothing happened; the things didn't move out of the way, or seem to respond at all.

"Hey, Nick,” Samuel said, standing back up again, and trying to ignore the feeling of slime from the floors soaking through his clothes, where he'd knelt down. “Can you do that sticky light ball thing?"

"If you want light from me, that's the only option,” Nick said, holding his hand out, the palm filling with luminescent goo.

Samuel dipped his finger in the light and started drawing in the air. “This is how you calculate pi,” Samuel said, drawing a circle in the air then drawing a line through it. “This is pi, but I'm only good to about fifteen decimal places."

He scribbled in the air quickly. “Right triangle. Sine, and cosine. With me so far? Now, let's get into something I'm more comfortable with, free electrons in a metal lattice. And electrical potential..."

He dipped his finger in the light again, and drew Ohm's Law in the air, and then Ampere's Rule, talking all the time, because it felt like the things on the stairs were listening, like his words or the symbols were getting through.

Nick touched Samuel's shoulder, stopping him mid-sentence, because the things had moved aside, clearing a path for them up the stairs.

"I liked that,” Talgerit said, at the top of the stairs, as they crunched over the broken glass and dead leaves in the hallway on the ground floor. “Samuel is a kind of talking clever man."

Samuel hitched the bag he was carrying more securely onto his shoulders and smiled to himself.

The darkness outside had lifted, and first light filtered in pale and murky, through undergrowth that had climbed into what had once been the foyer, straggling vines over crumbling brick pillars. At the top of steps down, through vines and ferns, to a clearing surrounded by buildings and towering trees, Talgerit flung out his arms, stopping Nick and Samuel, and said, “Look!"

In the darkest shadows of the clearing, a long shape shifted, lifting a small head on a sinuous neck, so large eyes glittered at them from across the clearing.

"The Wagyl,” Nick whispered, and Talgerit nodded, his dog whimpering. “What do we do?"

Talgerit slipped his feather shoes off from around his neck, freeing them from their cord, and bent down to slip them on.

"Don't know,” Talgerit said. “No one has ever told me."

The Wagyl moved, uncoiling itself from the darkness, and Samuel said, “Mosasaur? Plesiosaur?"

"I don't think any of them flew,” Nick pointed out.

"Be quiet,” Talgerit said, sounding annoyed, and he began to pick his way down through the undergrowth, toward the Wagyl, shrugging his jacket off his shoulders. “C'mon."

"Us, as well?” Nick asked.

Talgerit looked back at them. “Do you want to be eaten? Show your scars, too."

Samuel followed Nick's lead in undressing, and dropped the bag he was carrying and pulled off his shirt, then grabbed the bag and followed Nick and Talgerit down the steps as quickly as he could in the half-light.

Talgerit reached the edge of the clearing, and began to walk silently and smoothly across the open ground, the Wagyl rising up above him, long snake-like neck and a huge body with giant flippers.

Something buzzed in the distance, growing steadily louder, but Samuel didn't dare take his eyes off the Wagyl, not once he began to cross the clearing, too, behind Nick.

The buzzing was a roaring by the time Samuel had caught up with Nick and Talgerit, and the Wagyl loomed over them, sharply outlined against the overcast early morning sky.

Samuel's scars hurt, on his chest and thigh, burning deep inside, and the roaring was so loud and close, he couldn't hear what Nick was saying, even though Nick had turned and was shouting directly at him.

The branches of the trees around the clearing began to whip around, and a helicopter lifted over the roof of the Physics building. The Wagyl swung and twisted, slicing huge flippers through the air above their heads, and Talgerit lifted his hands, as though to touch the Wagyl.

A huge noise rocked them, booming over the cacophony of the helicopter, and a tree and part of the building behind the Wagyl crumbled and broke.

Nick's hands grabbed Samuel, tossing him down, into the undergrowth, and Samuel lay shaking, partially covered by Nick, as the Wagyl lifted up, into the air above them.

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The boom of the chopper exploding reverberated around the buildings, and the ground under Nick's knees shook. Beneath him, Samuel was wild-eyed, teeth obviously clenched tight. Talgerit was making odd noises, somewhere buried in the fern fronds, so Nick patted Samuel's cheek, leaving muddy smudges behind, and crawled through the ferns to find Talgerit.

The ferns were trampled, the muddy ground churned, and palm fronds and branches were strewn around. Somewhere in the mess, and nearby, Talgerit muttered unhappily.

"Talgerit, unna?” Nick asked, shaking his head to get the ring of the explosion out of his ears. “Hurt?"

"Nick,” Talgerit hissed, closer than Nick expected, sounding like he was right beside him in the undergrowth. “Something happened."

"The chopper exploded,” Nick said. “We need to move, get out of here, before anyone else arrives with guns. Can you move?"

"Not until you get off me."

Nick poked at the crushed bracken in front of him, which actually felt kind of substantial and person-like to the touch, and Talgerit grunted.

"Talgerit,” Nick said, and he wondered if he sounded as tired as he felt. “This is a new kind of Featherman hiding, isn't it?"

Something moved past Nick's ear, something that might be Talgerit's arm, and Talgerit said, “Maybe."

The undergrowth crunched and cracked, then Samuel bumped against Nick's side.

"Is Talgerit hurt?” Samuel asked. “Again?"

"Not hurt; invisible,” Nick said.

Samuel frowned, looking down at where Nick was poking at what felt like Talgerit's chest and looked like undergrowth, then at Nick.

"The physics fairies?” Samuel suggested. “We should get away from here anyway, because you and I can still be shot at."

Nick would have chuckled at Samuel's name for the creatures in the Physics building, if he wasn't still terrified. “Do you feel like you can walk, Talgerit?” he asked.

"My feet feel wrong,” said Talgerit, as Nick and Samuel scrambled to their feet, stepping back to give an invisible Talgerit room to stand. Nick retrieved the bag of hard drives he'd dropped in the dive for cover, and shrugged at Samuel, who shrugged back at him.

"Away from here first,” Nick said. “Then I'll work out how to examine your feet, and Samuel can eat."

Something small and quick brushed past Nick's ankles, making him jump, and Talgerit said, “Can't see the dog either."

Nick led them around the edge of the clearing, and down a well-worn track, around what had once been the Faculty of Arts. “How did you know I was hungry?” Samuel asked.

"Because I ate last night, while you worked,” said Nick.

"Where are we going?"

"To the river,” Nick replied. “Because that's where the Wagyl lives."

Talgerit, beside Nick, made a sound of approval. “Let the Wagyl fight the army."

The Moreton Bay Fig was still standing, looming over the side of the building, so Nick pulled Samuel into the shadows of the huge buttressed roots and out of easy sight, and handed him a meal replacement bar.

"What's that building?” Samuel asked, pointing over Nick's shoulder at the crumbling limestone blocks and rusted wrought iron gates as he chewed.

"Arts. Recite Shakespeare to the fairies,” Nick said. “Or Chaucer. Talgerit?"

"Here,” Talgerit said. “So's the dog."

"I think I can smell the dog, now. How are you with boats?” Nick asked, hitching himself up over the top of the tree root, to look across the relatively open ground, between them and the river.

"I can swim,” Talgerit said. “Where are you going to steal a boat from?"

"There used to be a yacht club, down the river from here,” Nick said, holding his hand out for Samuel to take.

"Twenty five years, at least,” Samuel said. “No one has done maintenance on those boats in twenty five years."

"I'm not going to steal a yacht,” Nick said. “I can't sail a—"