The VF spoke again. “She hasn’t moved much.”
Abigail must have heard, for she turned her head towards them. Like a man donning a mask, David put on his easy grin and that beguiling charm and went towards her.
As he neared, the features of her face didn’t looked quite right. It must be a trick of the moonlight. “Hi,” he called. “Everything alright?”
“Yep, fine.” Abigail stood and began to walk away. David frowned, and with a small burst of speed caught up and put out a hand to stop her.
An electric tingle but his fingers met nothing.
David cursed. The grin and the charm instantly fell away. He turned to Cathy. “Command Override. Instant alert level 5.” He paused for a moment. He knew that in the monitoring centre and all over the central compound, every single V-Screen would now be showing him. “Special escape!” he said. “Certainly her, probably him. Search, detain and hold. Shoot if necessary. I’m on my way back.”
He set off at a dead run back towards the tunnel. He didn't notice George had vanished.
Chapter 15: the fence
Rapidly, Abigail assessed their chances. Slim and getting slimmer. Men were pouring out of the buildings and lining up. There was the whine of engines starting up. All over the compound was noise, shouting and general confusion.
If they were going to do something, now was the time to do it. Really, there was little choice. Unless they could get away, and fast, they’d be caught.
The elephant! Abigail lowered the trunk, putting Tom on the ground. Then, with an inward apology to the gentle animal, Abigail charged at the fence, hitting the nearest post with an almighty crack.
The fence folded over, some of the mesh ripping apart, coiling back, stabbing into the elephant’s vulnerable underside. Abigail felt the injury, sharp and painful. So did the elephant. Panic spread through the great beast, and suddenly she’d lost control.
Roaring with indignation and pain, the elephant ran full pelt into the compound, head waving from side to side, trunk knocking men over as if they were skittles.
“C’mon!” Abigail put her arm round Tom and almost dragged him over the tangle of wire. She felt something stabbing into her, but she ignored it. The elephant was still causing havoc. About fifty yards away was the StarStriker, its sleek shape throwing a graceful shadow on the ground. Abigail turned right and, now almost carrying Tom, set off.
Fifty yards? It shouldn't take long.
Tom was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling with great gasping sobs. “I can’t do this!” he managed to say. Abigail ignored him. Desperately, she searched for the chimp, but he was no-where to be found; he must have run off the moment he could.
The great beast collided with one of the generators, then blundered more slowly into the fence on the far side. Shouting men were surrounding it. By now it was getting exhausted and couldn’t break through. It stopped. It was too far away for Abigail to control.
All attention was on the elephant. The fence was not that well lit, and Abigail and Tom were half in shadow. It was their chance.
“Come on, come on!” Abigail put Tom's arm round her shoulders and heaved desperately. They stumbled over the uneven ground.
Tom was now moaning slightly and his weight dragged Abigail down. “I can’t do this,” he said again and slide down, great hacking sobs coming from his chest.
“Crawl!” Abigail bent over and tried to push him along, but he was much heavier than he looked, or she was getting weak, and they hardly moved.
The StarStriker was now only forty yards away. She could see it glinting in the moonlight. Desperately, Abigail searched for an animal that could help. The elephant was too far away and was now on his knees. Men were throwing ropes over it. Abigail was glad it hadn’t been shot.
Then a grunt from Tom. “I think I can do it.” For a moment, Abigail didn’t catch what he said, but then he slumped over onto his hands and began crawling, slowly, ever so slowly, lurching clumsily from side to side. His eyes were fixed on the StarStriker, his jaw set with determination.
Abigail also went on her hands and knees, the hard African earth biting into her skin. But being low down meant they were harder to spot. Together, at a snails pace, they went one yard, two, three.
The Sparmy men were now lining up. Rapidly, order was being established. A sergeant pointed towards Abigail and Tom and shouted. Abigail froze. Her hand went onto Tom’s shoulder.
“Down!” she hissed. They lay flat. Two men detached themselves from the line and came towards them. Running, Abigail sourly noted, at the double. She pressed her face into the soil, hoping Tom had the sense to do the same. Luckily, his light hair was now dark with mud.
She could feel the impact of their boots as they approached. Thud thud thud. She remembered three days ago. The sergeant shouting at her. And how, virtually from that moment, everything had changed.
She took a deep breath. She was Abigail Saltminder. She had Special powers. She was not going to just lie on the ground and wait to be discovered like a naughty child. She was not going to give up without a fight!
Even at night, the jungle is swarming with animals. She could see them in her mind, a galaxy of lights pulsating away. Thud thud thud. The boots were now really close, a couple more strides and she and Tom would be trampled into the ground.
She needed something large, something vicious, but above all, something fast.
Fifty yards away, on the other side of the fence, she found them. Three fully grown hyenas, loping powerfully through the jungle, their snouts down, seeking prey.
Abigail closed her eyes, ignoring her own danger. She needed to be able to control all three of them. Her only other attempt at this kind of thing, with the meerkats, had been largely unsuccessful. But this time she had to get it right.
Abigail focused on the three lights, trying to fuse them into one.
Thud, thud, thud. Suddenly, they stopped. Cautiously, Abigail opened one eye. The two men were only feet away. Practically close enough to touch. They were looking round. Suddenly one soldier touched the other on the arm.
“This way,” he said, pointing.
“Yep,” said the other. They ran off to the damaged fence and took up guard positions, facing outward.
Chapter 16: the last twenty yards
Abigail gave a great sigh of relief.
“Tom.” her voice was hardly a whisper. He didn’t stir. Abigail risked moving her hand a couple of inches, poking him gently. “Tom. We can go on.”
Slowly, he turned his face towards her. His eyes were wide with fear.
“Tom, we’ve got to go!” Her whispered voice was urgent. He blinked a couple of times, then took a deep breath and began crawling again. Painfully, painfully slow. But getting there.
Abigail began to believe they’d make it. But what then? Even when on the ground, the side of the StarStriker was some three feet high. How was she going to get Tom up there without being seen?
She looked up. The flyer was now only twenty yards away. If they weren’t spotted, even going at their snails pace, they would be there in a couple of minutes. But then what? The clear plastic dome was shut tight. She didn’t even know what sort of security device it had. Maybe even hand-print opening.
In which case, they were scuppered. They’d have been better off hiding in the jungle.
The whole thing was a disaster. Badly planned, poorly executed. The adrenaline that had kept her going for the past thirty minutes seeped away and suddenly Abigail felt monumentally tired. What was the point of crawling along, getting muddy and sweaty? They might as well stand up and give the searchers a yell.
In spite of herself, Abigail slowed. As if sensing what she was thinking, Tom stopped and turned towards her.
His voice was a whisper. “What’s the matter?”
“This is not going to work, is it?” Abigail hissed back. She pointed at the StarStriker. “It’s locked down.”
“So?”
“What are you going to
do?” Her voice rose indignantly. “Hit it with a brick?”
He looked at her, and for a second she caught a trace of contempt. “I’m not an idiot. I hacked in.” There was a touch of pride when he said “that StarStriker thinks I’m a valid pilot.” He jabbed a finger at her. “All you have to do is get me there.”
For perhaps two seconds, Abigail looked at him, hope flooding back. And with hope came energy. “O.K,” she said, “let’s do just that.”
They resumed crawling, faster now. The side of the StarStriker loomed closer. Abigail was so intent on reaching it she didn’t notice the small purple light suddenly springing into existence, racing towards her.
George didn’t want to be left behind. Snuffling, he’d followed her trail under the fence and through the jungle. He’d been a bit confused by the scent of elephant, and the hyena spore frightened him, but now he knew he was getting close. He lifted his head, sniffed for a moment, then broke into a run.
The men guarding the damaged fence were nervous. Their instructions had been explicit but also somewhat vague. “The complex is in lockdown. Shoot anything that tries to come through.”
But then, suddenly, a small fluffy white dog streaked in from the jungle and leapt the flattened fence. It wasn't just any dog. It was a dog they knew. The commander’s dog!
It was so unexpected the guards panicked. One let out a yell and fired high, deliberately missing. The other tripped and clumsily managed to fire almost at random into the jungle. They were lucky they didn’t kill each other.
In a couple of seconds, George reached Abigail and started jumping up and down, barking excitedly. There were shouts.
“What the....!” exclaimed Tom.
For a moment, Abigail was nonplussed. George suddenly appearing was a bolt from the blue. Then she took control, flipping into his mind with the speed of a whip. “Stay down!” she hissed at Tom. “Keep still!” She kept George barking and excitedly jumping around, but steered him away in a seemingly random course.
With any luck, they’d believe he was just a stupid little dog, barking at nothing, or following moonbeams.
And for a while, a very short while, she thought they had got away with it.
* * *
As he approached the gate at the end of the tunnel, David Mentmore took out the key. He could hear shouting and commotion coming from the central compound, and something trumpeting and bellowing! Unbelievably, it sounded like an elephant!
Such was his haste, at the gate he fumbled with the key, and it slipped from his fingers, falling onto the hard ground. He dropped to his knees, furiously searching for it. A few vital seconds before his grasping fingers found it. He stood, jammed the key into the lock, then turned it. With a click the bolt slid free. David Mentmore, now as angry as he’d ever been in his life, pushed against the gate with his shoulder.
At precisely the same moment, the elephant crashed into it from the other side.
David was thrown back onto the path, landing heavily. For a few seconds, he was dazed. It had been an elephant! An Elephant? What was an elephant doing here?
Then he realised. Abigail! Furiously, he got up and flung himself at the gate. The elephant was still close, but he didn’t care. He slammed the gate open, sending it crashing to one side, skirted round the other way and suddenly stopped.
What was Abigail doing, breaking into the central compound? It made no sense. The compound was crawling with soldiers, and there was nowhere to hide.
And then, abruptly, his mind was cold and clear. The StarStriker! She and no doubt Tom were going after the StarStriker.
David Mentmore set off, at the double, his feet pounding into the hard clay. And as he ran, he became aware of something shifting and changing within him, as if the anger he’d felt, that overwhelming fury, had boosted his abilities to a new level. For he’d told Abigail the truth when he’d said he could persuade people to do what he wanted. Now, with the cold certainty of a snake, he realised he didn’t have to persuade.
He could command.
Chapter 17: The StarStriker.
They were nearly there. Abigail could see the hard, smooth sides of the StarStriker when, in her mind, the ever-present, pulsing lights began to dim. It was as if a fog, chilly and grey, had rolled over them. Even her connection with George grew weak and began guttering like a candle about to go out.
Abigail found herself shivering, and a feeling of dread filled her, knotting her stomach into a cold, hard solid fist.
Tom looked at her. “What’s happened?” He reached over and shook her shoulder. “Abigail, what’s happening?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice was small. Her knees gave way, and she slumped down.
“We have to get to the StarStriker!” Tom struggled up and with a lurch, managed to seize the side of the flyer.
“It’s too late.” Abigail’s voice was hollow. In her head, the last remaining pulse, George’s friendly small purple light, flickered and then died.
She was alone.
Somewhere, George was barking.
* * *
David Mentmore slowed down. He could sense Abigail in his mind. He knew she was helpless. And stupid little Tom wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without her. It was as if he held them both in the palm of his hand.
Almost indolently, hands in pockets, he drew level with the StarStriker and looked down at them. His eyes seemed to glow.
“Well, Abigail,” he said. “We have come a long way, haven’t we? Controlling elephants no less.” Then he looked at Tom. “And as for you.. well, this is where it ends." A narrow grin, cruel and hard. “For both of you.”
Abruptly he took a hand out of his pocket and made a decisive, commanding gesture. Two soldiers ran up and stood flanking him, one each side. There was the thunk-click of their guns being cocked. David gave a nod, and Abigail heard the sound being repeated behind her.
The two soldiers from the fence had come up. She and Tom were surrounded.
Abigail felt numb. With a dread certainty, she knew this was going to be the end. It was all over. They would finish up like Monica Alterra, thin and white and drained of life. Like a corpse.
It had all been a waste of time.
“Game over I think!” David smiled. Casually, without thinking, he leant on the StarStriker, putting the flat of his hand firmly on the smooth metal.
And the StarStriker came alive! A sudden fizz of electricity, like a bolt of light, flashed from one end to the other. At the same time a siren, shockingly loud, blasted away. David cried out in pain. The soldiers looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
It was Tom that reacted first. “Abigail!” he shouted. “Abigail, help me!” He was attempting to clamber onto the StarStriker. David was trying to pull his hand away, but it seemed stuck. “Abigail!” Tom shouted again.
Suddenly, her head was clear. The mist had rolled back. The pulsating lights seemed brighter than before. As she moved to help Tom, Abigail mentally reached out with a desperation that gave her extra power, extra range.
She put her shoulder to Tom and hoisted him on top of the StarStriker. And in her head, she found again what she needed.
David was still trying to tear his hand away from the flyer. There was a smell of burning flesh.
The StarStrikers’ dome slid back, and Tom tumbled in. He started flicking switches. A rising hum signified the flyer was warming up. All this had only taken a few seconds.
“Shoot them!” David shouted, voice hoarse. He managed to kick one of the soldiers. “They are deserters from the Space army!” His voice was menacing. “I order you to shoot them!”
The soldier lifted his gun; Abigail could see the end of the barrel pointing directly at her. At this range, he couldn’t possibly miss.
But he was not used to shooting unarmed girls, and hesitated, lowering his weapon. “Shoot!” David’s voice was high with pain and tension. The soldier raised his gun again, but he was too late.
The hyena crashed into him, tearing at hi
s arm as he fell backwards. There was the sharp crack of the gun as it sent a bullet skywards.
And then the other hyenas arrived like solid, four legged furies. The two soldiers behind Abigail heard a growl before being violently bowled over.
Then all three went for the fourth soldier, the only one left standing.
Who suddenly threw away his gun and ran off. Abigail swung the animals towards David.
Growling, they advanced towards him. With a lurching yank, David tore his hand away from the StarStriker and stared at her, his eyes glittering with an insane fury.
And as he did so, Abigail felt the mist again, yellow and sour, with flecks of red pulsing like angry flames. Abruptly she lost contact with the hyenas and became frozen to the spot.
David smiled. He looked cruel and hurtful.
‘He enjoys this!’ Abigail thought. But she was unable to move, and her vision was blurred. She caught a last glimpse of the hyenas disappearing back into the jungle, but she was powerless. It was as if she were hypnotised. One handed, David felt in his pocket and produced a small metal tube. An E-Zapper. He lifted it.
“Goodbye, Abigail,” he said as, with a flick of his thumb, he set the weapon to maximum. At this range, it would pulverise her brain into mush.
“Abigail!” Tom’s yell broke through her inertia. Abigail closed her eyes and concentrated everything she had, seeking a small, friendly, purple dot.
And found it.
Snarling, George leapt up and closed his mouth on David’s wrist. Desperately, Abigail clamped down, grinding George’s teeth into his flesh.
David Mentmore cried with pain, his hand dropping. With a clap like thunder, a lightning flash travelled from the E-Zapper to pass harmlessly into the ground. David swore, shaking his arm, trying to force George to let go.
And as he did so, the mist in Abigail’s mind evaporated and suddenly she could move. She scrambled up onto the StarStriker and flopped into the cockpit.
The dome started closing over them.
“Wait!” Abigail shouted.
“What?” incredulously, Tom looked at her. The StarStriker was already thrumming, vibrating with energy. Men with guns were running towards them. A shot rang out. David Mentmore had managed to shake George off and was turning towards them.