Eye of the Storm (27 page)

How many times had his gliding instructor repeated those words to him? His approach and preparation for landing were perfect, but as the aircraft touched down he discovered the field was far
from flat and the resulting bounce was not pretty. The aircraft bucked a metre back up into the air again, the airspeed bleeding off so fast that before he could even think to try to force the
aircraft back down on the ground, it went of its own accord. In a moment of inspired quick thinking, Callum threw the control bar left, forcing all the weight on to the remaining wheel. Somehow the
structure withstood the firm impact and this time the aircraft stayed on the ground, though even with the control bar fully left, he could not stop the right wing from dropping and catching on the
ground.

Slewing round to the right, the aircraft came to a dizzying and abrupt halt. Callum swung from side to side in the harness for a moment until that, too, came to rest.

Moments later, David arrived at a run. ‘Where the hell have you been?’ he panted. ‘And what have you done to my poor machine? I thought you knew how to fly?’

‘I do,’ Callum replied, a wave of relief and elation rushing through his body as the reality of what he’d just done struck home. He looked David in the eyes and grinned.
‘I’ve been leading the raptor hunting party a merry dance round the countryside to put them off our trail. As for your machine, I thought it could do with a few modifications. Your
version had far too many wheels and I decided a downward facing window or two would make great new features.’

David’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to articulate an answer. No words came.

‘Can you give me a hand?’ Callum asked, trying to keep his voice casual. ‘I’d hate to damage anything as I get out.’

‘No! Leave me alone!’

‘There’s no time, Sam. We’ll all grieve when we’re safely away from here. There’s a raptor patrol approaching across the meadow. We’ve got to get out of
here.’

Nathan put a hand on Sam’s shoulder, but the boy shook it free and continued staring at the holo-projection, tears flooding down his face.

‘Don’t make me do something I’ll regret later, Sam,’ he warned. ‘We need to leave.
Now
!’

Sam could hear Nathan, but his words were like the distant echo of a dream. He was reliving the moment in the heart of the Central Plaza. His mother was still alive, impaled on the spike, dying,
but not yet dead. How could he leave? She was not struggling, but he could see she was speaking. Even though the camera shot was far from being a close-up, he could see her lips moving. What was
she saying? He wanted to know.

At the edge of the camera shot there was a disturbance. Raptors were struggling against raptors. What was happening? Suddenly, the picture shifted to focus on the Raptor Council retreating in a
stately procession through the main doors of the Imperium Tower.

‘Sam! Listen to Nathan.’ It was Sherri. Her voice was pleading. ‘Do you think your mother would want you to die here? Come on, Sam! We’ve got to go now. Watch it later if
you have to. Newton’s recorded the transmission back at the cave. If we don’t get away from here, how will we ever hope to avenge her?’

Vengeance. The concept acted like the trigger of a gun inside his head. No sooner had Sherri squeezed it than Sam fired into action. His blood seemed to ignite and burn through his veins like
liquid fire. Without a word, he turned and ran for the door.

‘Finally!’ he heard Nathan mutter.

Crick and Edison were waiting. They stared at him with their cold reptilian eyes. Sam got the distinct impression that they were trying to convey emotion to him – sympathy maybe, but if
they were, he could not read their raptor expressions well enough to understand them. He looked away, searching for Newton. The raptor scientist was holding position near the main doors, keeping
watch on the approaching patrol. Nathan signalled him to join them and he came running at a sprint. There was a whooshing noise, accompanied by the gentle whine of a propeller overhead as one of
the flying machines made a low fly-past over the top of the building.

‘David and Callum are on their way. Now it’s our turn,’ Nathan announced, his voice urgent. ‘Let’s get the hell out of here. Crick – take point with Sherri.
Newton, you’re rearguard with me. We know they’re gonna come after us, but let’s try to get a bit of a head start. And when they come, let’s make them wish they
hadn’t. Edison – stay with Sam. Keep him moving and don’t leave him, no matter what.’

A simple push button opened the door from the inside. The Imperium science team was clearly more interested in keeping intruders out than keeping them in. Sam checked his weapon again. He was
tempted to leave the safety catch off, but his mother’s voice intruded in his mind, warning him of the dangers.

‘Always make sure the safety catch is on when you carry a gun, Sam. Only switch it to fire when you’re ready to shoot. When possible, take a rough aim first, flick off the safety,
refine your aim and then fire. That way you will only hit the things you intend to shoot at. If you run round with the safety off, all it would take is one slip of the finger and you could shoot
me, or Callum, and none of us want that, do we?’

With one final glance back towards the holographic projection, he thumbed the catch to safe and followed Sherri and Crick out through the door. They set off at a run, quickly traversing the open
area and taking to the cover of the trees.

One of the flying machines circled round and passed overhead again just after they had made the relative safety of the trees. Sam looked up, but he couldn’t see if it was David or Callum
flying it. Whoever it was appeared to have the attention of the approaching raptors. They were all following its progress as if hypnotised. The pilot was drawing them away, flying off on a
diverging course.

‘Genius!’ he breathed.

Sam prided himself on his fitness, but it had been a long day and he was amazed by how quickly weariness set in. Within a few minutes, the rifle he was carrying felt as if it had doubled in
weight, his lungs burned and his legs reached the leaden state he normally felt at the end of a long cross-country run.

Sam found the next hour a living hell. Periods of sprinting across open ground alternated with tough stints of forcing his way through thick undergrowth beneath the trees. The constant fear of
pursuit drove them onward, though if hunters were tracking them, they did not show themselves. They were well out of the city vale before Nathan called a rest stop.

‘Do you think they managed to fly those machines and land them safely, Nathan?’ Sherri asked.

‘It doesn’t really matter either way,’ he replied with a shrug. ‘If they have, we’ve gained ourselves some flying machines. If they didn’t and they wrecked
them, then the raptors no longer have flying machines. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a win-win situation.’

Sam’s breath caught in his throat. If Nathan had a heart, he was good at hiding it. The man was the most callous individual Sam had ever come across. A flush of guilt rushed through him.
He had been so caught up with the fate of his mother that he had totally forgotten about his best friend, Callum. What if his friend had crashed in that crazy-looking thing David had designed? He
might be dead or badly injured and Sam had not spared him a thought in the last hour.

Then there was David. Sam closed his eyes and pictured the young inventor’s face for a moment. He hadn’t even wanted to be a part of this.

Suddenly, everything seemed so real; this wasn’t an adventure any more, it was real people he cared about getting hurt.
God, please not Callum!
he thought.
I couldn’t bear
to lose him and Mum in the same day.

The image of his mother impaled on the spike filled his mind again. More tears welled and his chest tightened with emotion. He opened his eyes and dashed the tears away with the back of his
hand. A tight knot of anger in his gut squeezed and twisted as he thought about what he would like to do to the raptors on the High Council. A quick death was too good for them after what they had
done to his mother.

‘That’s a bit harsh, Nathan,’ Sherri told him, glancing across at Sam to see how he had reacted. ‘I would be thankful that it wasn’t your job to fly one, if I were
you.’

‘That would have guaranteed a wreck,’ he growled.

‘Exactly!’

Nathan grunted and took a swig from his water bottle. ‘Has everyone had a drink?’ he asked. ‘If not, take one now. We move again in one minute.’

Sam groaned. It seemed as if they had only just stopped. He ached all over. How far was there still to go? He couldn’t remember. The day had been a blur since they were chased from the
underground HQ this morning. Had it really only been this morning? So much had happened.

Glancing across at Nathan, Sam experienced a surge of bitterness and anger.
Why did Mum choose him to be her second-in-command?
he wondered.
Why not Alex or Sherri? Nathan’s no
leader. He just likes to order people around and doesn’t care who gets hurt. Without Mum to keep him in line, he’s going to be unbearable. If he stays in charge, the rebel group will
die a quick death. He’ll kill it with his attitude in no time.

Nathan began talking with Newton – clicking, growling and grunting in the raptor language. He looked troubled and Newton was shaking his head. What was going on now? Sam had no way of
telling, but whatever it was, it didn’t look good. This whole language barrier thing was so frustrating.

Sherri was sitting nearby, so Sam leaned towards her. ‘What’s that all about?’ he asked in a low voice.

‘Nathan’s just asking Newton if he’s seen any sign of the hunters,’ she replied. ‘I must admit, I expected them to catch up with us long before now.’

‘But surely it’s a good thing that they haven’t, isn’t it?’

‘I’m not sure,’ she said, glancing across at Nathan and Newton who were still clicking and growling fiercely at one another. ‘Just because they haven’t attacked
doesn’t mean they’re not there. They might be deliberately shadowing us, waiting to find our hideout so they can return in force later. Nathan is suggesting that we take a more
roundabout route to the cave.’

Sam groaned.

‘I know how you feel, Sam, but think about the alternative. We take pains to lose them now or we get cornered by a horde of Imperium raptors later. I know which I would prefer.’

‘Rest stop over,’ Nathan announced. ‘On your feet, everyone. Let’s press on.’

* * *

Night had fallen by the time they finally reached the cave. Sam was dead on his feet, mindlessly putting one foot in front of the other. Drained of every last drop of physical
and emotional energy, even seeing the shadowy figures of Callum and David sitting by a tiny campfire on the far side of the stream failed to spark life into his spirit. An empty shell, he stumbled
across the stepping stones to his blanket where he sank to the ground without a word.

‘So what kept you guys?’ Callum asked cheerily. ‘You look beat.’

‘Glad to see you made it back in one piece, Callum,’ Sherri replied. ‘But it’s not really a time for levity. The Imperium executed Claire and Alex.’

‘Oh, God!’ he gasped, getting to his feet and walking swiftly to where his friend was lying. ‘Sam, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.’

Sam didn’t respond. Inside he was delighted to see Callum alive and well, but he was so exhausted that he was beyond expressing emotion. He looked at Callum for a moment with unseeing eyes
and then his eyelids dropped down over his eyes like storm shutters.

Callum stood over Sam feeling helpless. He wanted to offer his friend sympathy, but had no idea how to do it. What could he do at a time like this? There were no words that were sufficient.
After a moment of silence, he crouched down and placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder. Giving a single squeeze, he tried with all his heart to convey something of how he felt.

‘And Nipper?’ he asked, standing up and looking back to where Sherri was sinking down next to the fire. ‘What happened to Nipper?’

‘As far as we know, he’s alive,’ Sherri answered, depositing a lump of wood into the heart of the ashes and staring as flames immediately started licking around it. ‘By
chance, we arrived in time to see him kill the Imperium’s champion on the holo-projector in the hangar, but after the fight, the Imperium Council decided to change the rules to suit their own
purpose. They only released Einstein.’

Callum hesitated, torn between wanting to be close to his friend and wanting to leave him to rest and mourn in peace.

‘I’d kill for a hot drink right now,’ Sherri hinted.

‘I’ll sort that,’ David offered, getting to his feet.

‘Thanks.’

‘But I don’t get it,’ Callum said, walking slowly back across to the fireside and throwing frequent glances back at Sam. ‘How could the Council change the rules
after
the fight? Surely, as the leaders of raptor society, they’re supposed to be the heart and conscience of their people.’

Nathan gave a sudden bark of scoffing laughter. ‘You’re attributing human ethics to them, boy, but don’t forget that human history has not been without its share of atrocities.
Raptors play by a different set of rules. Their mentality is totally different. There’s no Geneva Convention here. The Council of the Imperium can do whatever they want to do; kill who they
want to kill. They rule with absolute power and that is accepted without question. If they want to change the law, they do it as and when they want to.’