Equinox (32 page)

“You okay?” Cassie hauled her out of the wreckage. “I think so.” Rosie looked for Pip. He’d landed on top of Sulawayo and a bit of ceiling had just missed him.

“Pip–” Rosie stumbled over.

He got up, looking as dazed as her. “I’m good. Soft landing.” Dust speckled his dark hair and he glanced at Sulawayo, who groaned. “We better move though.”

Rosie hesitated. If she left now she was crossing Sulawayo just like she’d said. “This way.” Cassie headed to the door. Pip grasped Rosie’s hand to follow, but she resisted.

“I can’t leave. What about the deal I just made?”

He turned back, stunned. “Deal? There’s no deal, you can’t trust Helios.”

“But what if this is my best chance to stop them, to save–”

He cut her off. “Don’t say me. She wasn’t going to help me, or you, or anybody. How many times do I have to tell you before you believe me?”

“I have to try, Pip.” Still she hesitated, torn, and his expression became fierce.

“You can’t ask me to leave you here. I
won’t
.” His voice shook.

Rosie’s breath caught.

“What’s the problem?” Cassie called from the door.

“No problem.” Pip’s grip tightened on her hand and Rosie couldn’t find the strength to abandon him. She followed him out.

The tunnel Rosie had come through earlier had a huge hole torn in the side, opening it to the night, and she realised Cassie must have laid her one remaining bomb right against the outside. The blast had radiated back down either side, smashing through the doors to both domes. The gap opened to the other side of the habitat, away from the hangar. It was dark and people were shouting and running all over the place and a column of fire was shooting up in the night sky from where the hangar had been, small explosions still going off. No one even glanced at them and Cassie led them at a run, away from the base and into the long grass. For a minute Rosie thought she was heading back to the bikes, but then she saw a shape emerging from the dark. A helijet glimmered blackly, reflecting the fires at the base.

Cassie wrenched the side door open. “Get in.”

They piled in the back. Rosie was overwhelmed with relief to see Dalton in the cockpit.

“Curtis, you’re still alive,” Pip said.

He glanced back at them. “That’s debatable. You two, strap in. Rosie, I could use your help up here.”

Pip and Cassie pulled the flip seats down from the roof and Rosie squeezed through the narrow gap into the copilot seat.

“Here.” Dalton handed her an earpiece. His hand was less than steady and he was way too pale, looking almost green in the light from the console. But he was still alive.

“Are you okay to fly this?” she said.

“Gotta be. No one else knows how.” He pressed buttons above his head and gave her a pale imitation of his usually dazzling grin. “Besides, I don’t want to give up my Prince Charming pretensions just yet.”

He took hold of the single control stick and pulled back. Screens lit up in front of them and Rosie tried to make sense of the controls and fail-safes as the jet rose into the air.

At the base, it was chaos. Dalton took them on a curving trajectory well away from it, keeping all external lights off. As they climbed higher, a distant roar came from the clouds and an alarm sounded, lights flashing red on the pilot’s deck.

“What the hell?” Dalton held hard to the stick as the jet suddenly swerved as if it had been pushed by an invisible force. “What is it?” Rosie grabbed the copilot controls, trying to help.

“It’s the
Cosmic Mariner
!” Pip was leaning forwards, pointing through the side window near Dalton. Rosie swore as the massive bulk of the ship burst through the clouds barely twenty metres from them. The jet shuddered and it was all Rosie and Dalton could do to keep on course as the spaceship passed them in a streak of ion flare, heading for the base. Everything rattled, including Rosie’s teeth. Metal creaked and groaned like the jet was going to snap in two.

“Punch the stabilisers!” Dalton shouted and Rosie lunged at the control, swiping it across. For a second she thought they were going down. The jet swerved, dipped and lurched, but then the
Mariner
was gone and they shot forwards into the clouds, levelling out.

“It’s okay, okay.” Dalton was grey, his hands shaking. Rosie’s fingers were still clenched hard around the stick.

“You all right?” she said.

“Might need a pain shot.” His smile was feeble.

“Cassie.” Rosie turned back but Cassie was already unstrapping and reaching for the medikit. Rosie met Pip’s gaze.

“How much you want to bet that ship was Sulawayo’s getaway?” he said.

“Yeah, gotta be.” Rosie swallowed, mouth still dry with fear. “Guess she lied about not being in contact with Nerita.”

“She’s Helios; they lie about everything.”

His eyes looked black in the half-light and a hard scared stone sat in her stomach. The set of his mouth was all I-told-you-so, but she still wasn’t sure if leaving had been the right thing to do.

“Pain shot.” Cassie thrust an injector at her. Pip leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. She turned back to help Dalton, a tight pain pressing against her heart.

“Think you can handle the jet?” he said as she pushed the shot against his neck.

“Hey, I’m Pilot Girl, remember?” She took the co-pilot stick and he smiled wanly, sweat gleaming on his forehead.

“Top of the class.” He flicked the main control over to her and she headed them south back towards Newperth.

It was ferociously hot again. Rosie stared out her bedroom window at the pale, almost white sky and the backs of the tower blocks across the street. The constant chaotic hum of the city rose up from below and the climate control in the apartment was barely working again. She could smell the remnants of someone’s lunch coming up through the vents with the tepid air.

Behind her, Aunt Essie was making a racket in the kitchen. She’d decided to make a cake the old-fashioned way, instead of using the auto cooker. Rosie was slightly dubious as to how it might taste, but regardless, she’d eat it. It was her aunt’s way of declaring a truce and Rosie wasn’t about to derail that – especially since it was her fault Essie had been so mad.

Somehow, Essie had found out what had happened and she’d been right there waiting for them when Dalton landed the jet on the beach near his parents’ house. Angry didn’t cover it. Her leg had still been bandaged and she was walking with a limp but that hadn’t stopped her tracking them down. She’d bossed them all around, organised a doctor for Dalton and ordered Pip to lie low at the beach house. Then she forced Rosie into a transport and back to their apartment. That was four days ago and she had barely been able to look at Rosie since.

The injuries she’d got when Riley’s place exploded might be healed, but Rosie knew what hadn’t was the betrayal Aunt Essie felt for being lied to. There had been a lot of swearing and shouting. Rosie hadn’t told her everything though. Essie was having trouble enough getting her head around what they’d done and Sulawayo being a double agent. Rosie couldn’t face telling her that the implant Riley had put in her might kill her – or about her offering herself up to Helios to save Pip.

Cassie was the only one to escape Aunt Essie’s wrath and that was because she hadn’t been there. They’d dropped her off with Kev at Worla Range on the way back. It was too dangerous for her to leave Nation lands, especially now Helios knew Riley was alive. Cassie hadn’t been happy about it, but at least she could continue to study medicine up there.

Weirdly, she’d pulled Rosie aside before they left and shoved a wad of stims at her from the jet medikit. “Keep the pain down,” she’d said, then made Rosie promise to keep in touch with her about how the implant was going. “Purely for my scientific research of course,” Cassie had said. Rosie had been surprised by that and grateful. The headaches had come back and she’d stashed the stims in her room to ration out when they got too much to handle. Maybe she should take one now. She rubbed at her temple, trying to ease the pain behind her eye.

“Rosie,” Aunt Essie called. The banging had stopped and she turned to peer through her open door to the kitchen.

“Yeah.”

“Come out here. I got a ping from Kev.”

Tension made her headache sharpen. They’d been waiting for news on how everything had turned out at the base. The Nation councils had gone in there with full squads of warriors to clean it up but they hadn’t heard what they’d found.

She went out and sat at the kitchen bench. It was covered with utensils and mysterious mixtures and Aunt Essie shoved some of it aside while she looked at her com.

“So is Helios–”

“Gone?” Essie interrupted. “Yes. He says the base is completely destroyed and the Yalgu stopped anyone escaping – apart from Sulawayo and two of her crew.”

“Do they know where she went?”

Essie shook her head. “No, but I checked. She’s here in Newperth. She’s gone right back to playing at being a Senate agent.”

“But how can she get away with it?”

Essie raised an eyebrow. “Well apart from the few of us, and Kev, no one knows she was involved at all. Her cover is all shiny apples and there’s not much we can do about it. Who’s going to believe us if we point fingers with absolutely no evidence?”

Rosie digested that. “How many people died?” she asked.

“They found fifty-three bodies.”

“Helios grunts?”

Aunt Essie’s expression hardened. “And all of the scientists.”

“All of them?” That was terrible, but it was also good because anyone who knew how to build the gate was dead, so she really did have the only plans.
Wait a minute
. She was horrified at herself.
Since when is people dying a good thing?
“So what are they going to tell the Senate and UEC?” she asked.

Essie flipped through the message. “Kev says the council is picking some news wavers to allow in to get footage of the remains of the base. They’re going to say it’s another victory against Helios but no information about exactly what they were building there will get out. They’re calling it a secret chem tech lab.”

“Right.” Rosie felt suddenly very weary. “Still no clues where Riley is either?” Both her aunt and Kev had been scoping every wave and communication since the base defeat to see if he’d messaged them.

“Nothing.” Aunt Essie avoided her eye and began pushing around the stuff on the bench again. “So, that car Dalton sent for you should be here soon. You won’t stay there too late, will you? I know you’re keen to see the boys, but it’s not safe.”

“I’ll be back before dark,” Rosie said and Essie nodded. Strained silence fell between them for a minute then Essie said, “Cake should be ready by then … if it’s edible.” She almost smiled and Rosie was about to tell her she was sure it would be when the door monitor chimed.

Rosie got up. “That’ll be the car.”

Outside it was as hot as it had looked. Rosie’s hair curled in the damp heat, but the AI car Dalton sent had UV-filtered windows and a cooling system and it was a relief to be able to sit for a while without sweating.

The two-hour drive to the beach house gave her a lot of time to think. Too much time. Her stomach was nothing but rattled nerves as the car pulled smoothly down the drive and stopped in front of the house.

“Hey, Pilot Girl.” Dalton was waiting for her at the door, barefoot. He pulled her in for a big hug. He felt good and solid and she hugged him back, hard.

“Whoa, don’t damage the merchandise.” He laughed, but she just hugged harder. It had scared her, the thought of him not being around any more, much more than she liked. “So you’ve been worried about me then?” He got out of her vice-like grip and drew her inside, a limp in his step.

“No, not even a little bit,” Rosie said.

“You’re such a liar, Black.” He chuckled and went ahead of her towards the kitchen. “Juice, food, pain blockers?” He spread his arms wide as they entered. “We’ve got all sorts here at the Curtis mansion. What’s your poison?”

“Just juice.” Rosie sat at the long table, staring out to the deck and the beach.

“If you’re wondering where he is, he’s gone for a swim.” Dalton put a glass in front of her and sat opposite. There was a funny rueful smile on his face. “That is what you were wondering, isn’t it?”

Rosie’s nerves fluttered again. She shrugged and sipped the juice. His guitar was leaning upright on the chair at the head of the table. “You’ve been playing?” she said.

He gave her a look that said he knew she was avoiding answering, but reached for it anyway. “Not much else to do out here. I’ve even been making up some truly appalling songs about our troubles. Want to hear one?” He grinned and strummed a few discordant notes.

“Maybe later, like when I’m dead,” Rosie said.

He nodded sagely. “A wise choice. I shall play them at your funeral for all the weeping broken-hearted boys.” He began to play a tune she didn’t know.

Rosie watched him for a while, then said, “Dalton, we need to talk.”

He looked up at her, fingers still moving softly on the strings. He wasn’t smiling. “I know.”

Rosie took in a breath. “You know the deal I told you I almost made with Sulawayo?”