Rifter (The Survival Project Duology Book 1) (20 page)

She tried to ignore the fact that having the brac again was no guarantee of returning, especially with guards blocking the only route out.

“But how?”

That was what she didn’t know. It was simple enough to say we stop him getting back, but the practicalities, when he was part of the organisation guarding the disruption and knew how they operated, made it all the more challenging.

She’d never shirked from a challenge. She could do this.

“He has a gun,” she said. Kerry’s expression dropped even further.

“A gun?”

“Yes. So, the likelihood of us being able to get right up close to him is slim.”

She wasn’t going to sugar-coat the situation. There was no point. If Kerry was going to help her, he had to know the truth and how difficult it was going to be. He had to know that there was danger involved — lots of danger. And he had to know she really wanted to leave. The more she thought about it, the more she realised she probably wasn’t going to get back, but she had to tell herself she was, or she wouldn’t have the conviction to carry any plan through.

A thought crossed her mind.

There was something she could do that would thwart his plans, even if he managed to make the journey. She lifted up her top.

Kerry’s eyes widened.

“This. They didn’t have these when he came through. At the moment, he doesn’t even know I’m wearing it. I need to send Gordon a message to warn him, because Leo wants to punish him for shutting off the rift and trapping him here, and I think this may be my only way of doing it. Whatever happens, if he goes through, I need to be right beside him when he does.”

Kerry shook his head. “I don’t get it.”

“This is a back up monitor, remember? It means that Gordon expects to receive two signals when someone is about to return. They kick in on the computers when you’re right up next to the disruption. It’s risky. Unless you’re in the rift there is interference with the signal, but if I’m there as well, if I’m lucky, he will receive two different signals, two signals that don’t match. He might think it’s a glitch. I don’t think he’ll shut off the rift because of it, but when Leo gets through to the other end, he’ll definitely have more questions than ‘How did you get here?’”

“A message,” Kerry repeated, “Through the air waves.”

She lowered her top. “Whatever Leo tells them, which is likely to be that I’m dead, they’ll know that isn’t true. They’ll know that I was still alive when he travelled through.”

She walked over to the window, pulled back the curtains and looked out. In truth, she didn’t know what Gordon would make of it. If Leo passed through the rift and immediately went on a killing spree, they’d be ill-prepared to cope.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Eight-thirty.”

She didn’t suppose he’d try travelling immediately, but they couldn’t be too careful, because the most likely time he’d try to get through would be the dead of night.

“That park had gates. Do you know when it closes?”

Kerry pulled out his device and checked.

“Not for another three-and-a-half hours. Opens again at five.”

“The quietest time’s probably going to be about three.”

“Yeah, sounds about right.”

“Then, that’s when he’ll try.”

“Tonight?”

“I don’t know. He has two chances.”

“What do we do?”

There was no time to plan properly. All they could do was be there and use brute force, if necessary.

“We know he’s got a gun and we know the site’s guarded. He knows how they operate. I think he’s most likely to take them out first and, before anyone else has time to get down there, go through. That’ll be easier for him in the dark. We need to be close enough that once he’s disposed of the guards, we can physically stop him.”

“But, he’s got a gun.”

Kerry sounded terrified at the prospect.

“Yes, and he might shoot me, but I don’t think he’ll bother with you. We’ll make sure you’re not a target, just to be on the safe side.”

“Hey, you’re not going on your own.”

“I never said that.” She waved at his device, “We’ll look up his Department’s number. The other guy who was with him, he called him Atwood. I don’t know whether that’s a first name or a surname, but I don’t suppose it’s that common. All we need to do is get a message to him that Leo’s trying to get through the rift, when we’re sure that’s what’s happening, and they’ll descend like a swarm of flies.”

“And get us in the process.”

“Yes, but they won’t keep you.”

Mara stood up in front of Kerry.

“This is important. If he goes back, he might destroy The Project. My world might never get the chance to find a solution to the problem. I can’t let that happen. If I have to throw myself in front of him to stop him, I will.”

Kerry looked at her for the longest time, as if he was searching for doubt in her eyes. She hoped there was none.

“Okay. I’ll see if I can find the number. We should leave here, though.”

“Yes,” she said, “And get closer to the disruption.”

Twenty-four

When Leo had first conceived the idea of returning to The Facility, his plan had consisted of him locating a rift, not telling anyone else that it was there, jumping on the rifter and taking their brac, and getting through before anyone realised what was in progress. It wasn’t what had happened over the past couple of days. Simple had gone to complicated in such a short time, and now, nothing was certain.

He knew he wanted to try to get back to the disruption site when the park was closed, later that night. He worried that it was obvious that he would do that, that Mara might immediately think of going straight to the disruption and waiting him out, and him dropping the keycard had made the likelihood of that happening greater. She wouldn’t be delayed by police questioning her, or by hotel staff wanting to know what had happened, as he’d hoped. But if he went while the park was still open, there would be too many other people there and he had no desire for completely innocent people to get caught up in the inevitable fight. He wasn’t that callous and uncaring.

There were two things he was sure of. He would have to disable the guards and Mara would try to stop him.

Although he’d always hoped that someone else would come through the rift, someone he knew and would be able to manipulate, it had been so long that he’d resigned himself to the fact that it would never happen. The more likely scenario, he’d assumed, would be that he would find a way to open a rift himself and that he’d build his own brac, his own anchor, his own way back. He had never managed to crack the brac.

Even though he was nowhere near to success yet, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He had a working brac. Now, he wouldn’t be taking his life into his hands by going through the rift. Gordon wouldn’t slam the door in his face.

“Where are we going, mate?”

The voice jolted him back to reality.

He’d told the taxi driver to, “Just start driving,” when he’d flagged him down outside the hotel, which the man had, but now they’d come to a junction that meant a choice between north or south of the river and he needed to make a decision. He still had a few hours to kill before he could make an attempt to cross through the rift and by now, The Department were likely to have realised he’d gone AWOL. He’d seen no evidence of them following him. There weren’t hundreds of messages stacking up on his phone. Maybe, they were simply tracking him with it. If he turned it off now, they’d be suspicious. And if he stayed somewhere else overnight, they definitely would. All he had to do was remember to take it out of his pocket after he got back home.

“Kabot Wharf Flats,” he said.

The cab driver whistled through his teeth and turned left.

He could see as they drew up to the building that the lights in the flat were on. He used The Department’s petty cash fund to pay the fare. They always had a hundred or so for incidentals when they were doing something that wasn’t strictly by the book.

There was no one waiting outside for him and no sign of any parked cars of vans that didn’t have a reason to be there. He went inside and when he got to the door of the flat, it was already open.

“What the hell?”

Mayra stood with her arms crossed, blocking his entrance. She must’ve been watching for him from the window. It wouldn’t be difficult to have known he was back. The sound of a black cab was very distinct compared to that of a normal car.

“Mayra, please. I need to think.”

“You need to think?”

He pushed her out of the way and she stumbled back against the door. It crashed into the wall and she fell onto it awkwardly.

“Hey,” she screamed.

He hadn’t meant to be so rough. She looked as angry as Mara had been when he’d turned on her, just half an hour earlier. Her face screwed up in the exact same way. It messed with his mind. He held out his hand and pulled her up. “Sorry. I’ve had a tough day, okay?” he said.

“And I haven’t? Do you know what it’s like to be hauled in front of someone you don’t know and be met with a barrage of questions that don’t make sense? Who are these people you work with?”

He did. He knew very well what it was like to face Debra and have her drill down into facts you didn’t want to reveal. He waved his hand in the air, “Government business,” he said.

“Well, they act pretty much like some military force interrogating their prisoners.”

Yes, they did. Working in the MoD building had always seemed an odd choice to him. They were more like an espionage unit, except they were spying on people from other worlds. But where was the best place to put an espionage unit? Where people didn’t expect it.

“Did they hurt you?”

“Not physically, but they sure as hell messed with my brain. I don’t appreciate being connected up to truth machines and being left in a room on my own for hours on end to break me down. I’m not some terrorist.”

“No.”

It sounded like Debra had only used legal methods. He didn’t suppose what she’d found out was worth knowing.

“Who is this woman who looks like me? You know, don’t you?”

He sighed deeply. Whatever he said would be the wrong answer. If he said no, she wouldn’t believe him, if he said yes, she’d want to know why he hadn’t told her before. He took his pick. “No.”

“That’s a lie and you know it.”

She began to cry. Full heart-felt sobs of emotion. He wanted to walk out the door, but this woman had been part of his life for six years and even though she wasn’t what he’d hoped, it wasn’t love, he did still feel something for her. He did feel sorry that she’d had to go through the interrogation. But he couldn’t let that affect his plans.

He guided her across to the sofa and they sat down together. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and let her rest her head on his chest. He checked the time on the clock over the fireplace.

“I want to know,” she said, “Please don’t lie to me.”

“You know I can’t tell you about Department work.”

“No, not that. Me. Am I …?” Her words drifted off into more sobs.

He took her hand gently in his and pulled it away from her face.

“Are you what?”

“Am I a substitute for her?”

Leo froze for just a moment. He hadn’t expected them to give her any details about Mara’s connection to him, but clearly they had. But how much? They couldn’t have told her about the rift, that was classified.

“Did they say that?” he asked.

“I’m asking you.” Words failed him. “So, all this time we’ve spent together has been a lie?”

A lie? Yes, it had been a lie, but he’d lied to himself as well as to her. He’d told himself it would be all right. That one woman would be able to take the place of another, and that hadn’t been true.

“No. I—”

“Don’t bother. I’ll pack my things. I’ll be out of here by morning.”

A wave of regret washed over him, or weakness. He had never really meant to hurt anyone, and yet he had.

But she couldn’t leave.

And now, he was going to hurt her again.

Because refinements to plans always came to you when you weren’t thinking about them.

The unconscious mind was fascinating.

“Please stay.”

She shook her head. “You know, when my grandmother told me what men were like, I didn’t believe her. What a fool I was. At least now I know what to tell my grandchildren one day. Don’t ever trust any man.”

He left her to it and went out onto the balcony. The sounds of the city continued on as if nothing had happened. He went through what he needed to do. He couldn’t afford to worry about who he hurt.

When he’d cleared his mind of all doubts. He walked down the corridor and entered the bedroom.

He needed options, and he was going to have them.

Twenty-five

The chill in the air at midnight made Mara shiver. She couldn’t get used to the fact that the nights were cold because the skies were clear. And, she couldn’t help thinking about the fact that now she had a bed to sleep in, she was still going to spend the night in the park.