Blackout (16 page)

Jack scanned the other panes of glass in the skylight. The one in the upper right-hand corner was smooth – a modern replacement. The only problem was Slink would have to climb over the others to get to it.

Jack explained this to him in hurried whispers.

Slink shrugged. ‘Guess there’s only one way to find out if the glass can hold my weight.’

Jack grimaced at the thought. One false move and Slink would fall into the building. A sliced and diced twelve-year-old would not be a nice thing to have to clean up. Or explain.

Before Jack could stop him, however, Slink lay flat against the lower panels and, with his legs and arms out wide to spread his weight, he slowly, carefully shimmied up the glass.

He was almost at the top pane when there was a
splintering
sound.

Slink froze.

The pane of glass under him fractured into stars and lightning-shaped cracks.

Slink looked at Jack, his eyes wide.

CHAPTER NINE

For a long minute, neither Jack nor Slink moved.

‘Ideas?’ Slink whispered.

Jack shook his head.

‘Great.’ Slink composed himself, then edged sideways. The glass cracked again, but he managed to slide his weight off that pane and on to another one.

Jack let out a breath.

Slink continued to move his body up the glass, a millimetre at a time, until finally he reached the top. He pulled the diamond cutter from his pocket and scratched around the outer frame.

‘This one seems to be working,’ he whispered.

Thank God for that
.

Slink used a suction cup, gave the glass a sharp tap and the pane popped out. He carefully lifted it to one side and set it down.

Next, Slink pulled a coil of rope from the backpack, tied one end through his harness and threw the other to Jack.

Jack hurried over to the chimneys on the other roof, tied the rope around one of them and tugged. He swore.

Slink whispered, ‘What’s wrong?’

Jack pointed at the chimney. From the camera view Obi had shown him, it had looked strong enough to hold their weight, but several bricks moved when Jack yanked the rope.

He glanced around.

This was not how the mission was supposed to go, but how could he have known there wouldn’t be any anchor points up here?

That left only one alternative.

With reluctance, Jack tied the rope around his own waist and braced his feet against the bottom frame of the skylight.

He peered up. The rope would have to slide over the skylight’s frame. Was it strong enough to hold Slink’s weight?

If the wood was rotten . . .

Slink looked at him. ‘Are you sure about this?’

Jack nodded. ‘There’s a heat sensor just at the corner of the skylight, above the stained-glass window. Use a dark pad.’

Slink hesitated a moment, taking a few deep breaths, then pulled out a telescopic rod with a black piece of tape on the end. He was going to use this to block the sensor’s view. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘I’m ready.’ And he dropped through the skylight.

Pain instantly tore through Jack’s arms and across his back muscles. He fought the urge to cry out. At any moment he expected to hear a popping sound as his shoulders dislocated.

With a supreme effort of willpower, Jack cocked his head to one side and spoke through gritted teeth into the headset, ‘Slink?’

‘Blocking the heat sensor . . . OK, done. Contin­uing down.’

Jack squeezed his eyes closed as the pain got worse. ‘You nearly there?’

Please let him be nearly there
.

‘A metre to go.’

Jack shifted his weight.

The pressure suddenly eased.

‘I’m down.’

Jack opened his eyes and let out a huge breath. He lifted each leg until the burning stiffness abated, then circled his arms and shrugged his shoulders up and down.

Finally recovered, Jack untied the rope from his waist. ‘Keep an eye out for other sensors. There’s an alarm in the main shop. Cut the power to that, then go and open the front door.’

Jack scrambled across the rooftop, slid down the drainpipe and clambered over the fence. By the time he made it to the front of the bookshop, Slink had already deactivated the alarm, picked the lock and was now sliding the shutter up.

He waved Charlie, Wren and Hector through.

‘Obi?’ Jack whispered into his microphone. ‘Is Outlaw World ready?’

‘Yes, and the secure phone line.’

‘Good. Keep an eye out.’

‘Always do.’

Jack glanced up and down the street, then he stepped inside and switched on his torch.

They moved to the back of the darkened bookshop and stood at the top of the stairs. ‘The remote,’ Jack whispered to Charlie.

She handed him the briefcase and pulled the key fob from her pocket.

‘Wait here,’ Jack said to Hector, Slink and Wren.

‘No way.’ Slink headed down the stairs. ‘I want to see this hidden Nexus place. It must be amazing.’

‘Me too.’ Wren hurried after him.

Hector shoved past Jack and followed them down.

Jack looked at Charlie and grumbled as they headed into the basement.

At the back wall, Jack scanned the shelves for any signs of cameras. Spotting none, he nodded at Charlie. ‘Do it.’

Charlie pressed the button on the key fob and the whole block of shelves moved out half a metre, then slid aside.

Beyond was a metal door.

Charlie shone her torch on the lock. ‘I’ve got this.’ She pulled out a set of picks and got to work.

Suddenly, there was a click.

Charlie straightened up, turned the handle and pulled.

‘
No
.’ Hector grabbed her arm. ‘Look.’ He pointed through crack in the door. ‘There’s an alarm.’

Charlie frowned and shone her torch at it. ‘He’s right. I haven’t seen one of these before.’

‘It looks like a new Galloway Alarm.’ Hector pointed. ‘See that? A feather trigger with a secondary trembler.’ He glanced at her. ‘Open the door more than a few centimetres and it’ll set off the alarm.’

‘Any ideas how to get past it?’

‘Yes.’

Charlie handed him her torch and stepped back. ‘Go for it.’

Jack ground his teeth. ‘Don’t mess it up.’

‘I won’t.’ Hector turned to Charlie. ‘Have you got a long, flatheaded screwdriver?’

Charlie pulled a wallet from her bag and unzipped it. Inside was a range of different screwdrivers.

Before she had a chance, Hector reached over and slid one from its slot. ‘I’ll also need something sticky.’

‘Tape?’

Hector glanced at the door, pulled a stick of chewing gum from his pocket, removed the paper and popped the gum into his mouth.

As he chewed, Hector quickly folded the wrapper into the shape of an elephant and handed it to Wren.

Her eyebrows lifted. ‘Thanks. That’s cool.’

Hector looked at the others. ‘I need a five-pence piece.’

Slink tossed him a coin.

Hector pulled a piece of the gum from his mouth and poked the screwdriver into it.

‘Hey,’ Charlie whispered, ‘that’s expensive.’

‘I’ll clean it after.’ Hector fixed the five-pence coin to the chewing gum and turned back to the door.

‘What are you doing with that?’ Wren said.

Hector glanced at her. ‘Stand behind me and I’ll show you.’

They watched as Hector carefully slid the screwdriver up and into the gap. The trembler switch moved and Hector froze. When it had stopped vibrating, he continued to push the screwdriver upward. Then, with infinite care, he wedged the five pence behind the two contacts, holding them apart.

Hector reached up and pulled the door open.

‘Impressive,’ Charlie said.

Hector wiped the screwdriver on his trouser leg and handed it back to her. ‘Thanks.’

Slink and Wren gave Jack a look as if to say,
See? Hector’s cool
and
clever.

Jack let out an annoyed breath and shone his torch into the darkened space beyond.

‘What the –’ Slink whispered. He glanced at Jack. ‘That’s it?’

The room was empty apart from a chair and table against the end wall and a high-backed chair in the centre.

Jack found a light switch and flicked it on. A solitary bare bulb hung from the ceiling, glowing a dim yellow.

‘Stay here,’ he whispered to Slink and Wren.

They both nodded and kept their eyes on the basement stairs.

Jack, Charlie and Hector slipped into the room.

On the wall by the door was a small screen. It showed a view of the other side of the shelves from a hidden camera Jack hadn’t seen.

He wondered if there were any other cameras in the building and whether this one was recording, but he doubted it – the image was probably just to show the coast was clear on the other side for when people wanted to leave the room.

He turned around and walked slowly to the chair.

‘I was expecting more,’ Charlie said.

‘Me too.’ But it made sense – there wasn’t a need for anything else. Jack set down the silver briefcase, opened it and motioned for her.

Charlie walked over and lifted out the glasses. She connected all the wires to the metal box. It seemed to be an input unit that took the signals from the gloves, processed them, then sent them to the Nexus.

Charlie connected an extra cable from the metal box to her phone.

‘What’s that for?’ Hector said.

‘We’re creating a secure link to one of the bunker’s computers,’ Charlie said.

‘I hope you know what you’re doing.’

‘Of course we do,’ Jack said. ‘We’re not stupid enough to let the virus escape.’ He took the gloves out of the briefcase, pulled them on carefully, then jumped into the chair, while Charlie finished connecting everything.

‘Hold up a minute,’ Hector said. ‘Why do
you
get to go on this?’

‘You’re only here because I’ve allowed it,’ Jack said, trying to control his temper. ‘Count yourself lucky that –’

‘Boys,’ Charlie hissed. ‘Not now.’

‘Tell you what then, Hector.’ Jack pulled a coin from his pocket. ‘Heads I go first, tails, you do. That sound fair?’

Hector shrugged.

Jack threw the coin up, caught it on the back of his hand and showed it to Charlie.

‘Heads,’ she said.

Hector huffed. ‘What a surprise.’

Jack lowered the video glasses over his eyes and a ball of light instantly appeared in front of him. He stared at it, mesmerised.

The ball grew brighter and larger, until it enveloped him in a multicoloured wash of light.

Forms and shapes solidified.

Jack couldn’t help but gasp.

‘What is it?’ Charlie said. ‘What do you see?’

‘A city.’

Jack was standing on a wide road between shining skyscrapers that stretched to a vibrant blue sky.

He instinctively rotated his hand and pinched his fingers together. The image zoomed in on the individual stones in the road. ‘It looks so real.’ The hairs on his arms stood on end. ‘The resolution is amazing.’

The only thing that gave away that the world wasn’t real was that the light seemed slightly artificial, as though everything had a fine aura around it. Also, there was no sound, no wind, no birds, nothing.

‘This place is unbelievable.’ Jack shook himself. ‘Obi?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Are you seeing this?’

‘I can only get a bird’s-eye view of the area around you. Can’t zoom in or anything. Hold on.’ Obi clicked and typed. ‘I’m patching the images to your phone, Charlie.’

‘Yeah, got it,’ she said.

Jack said, ‘Obi, is there anyone else here?’

‘Not that I can tell.’

‘It’s hard to see on this small screen,’ Charlie said. ‘But the place looks empty. No movement.’

‘Can you spot anything that might be the virus?’

‘No.’

‘Obi, they’ll have tried to hide it somewhere, so I want you to look for any anomaly that might show us where it is.’

‘OK.’

Jack looked up the road, moved his right hand and glided along it, turning his head left and right. There was no reflection of him in the mirrored glass of the buildings and he supposed that was because he didn’t have an avatar. Did the people who used this place choose their own? If so, how did they get them?

Moving, however, was second nature to Jack – as if he was born to be part of this world.

A few blocks down, Jack turned a corner and the street opened into a huge open square surrounded by trees.

In the middle was a funfair.