Web of Fire Bind-up (22 page)

Sam wiped his forehead and saw that the fence posts below had already shrunk away to matchsticks.

‘I'm handing control back to you now, Sam,' said Skipper.

‘Is that wise?' said Sam, but he eased the stick back and the wasp soared effortlessly through the blue sky. He felt a sudden, unexpected lightness in himself which came not only from the fact that he was flying but also from his realisation that this strange new world was not so strange any more. Once he had been a lost soul looking for a way out; now he was finding that this new world seemed more and more like home to him. He was growing into himself and adapting quickly to the many changes. Already this new existence was becoming more real than the one he had left behind.

Sam still experienced feelings of guilt and unease about what had been lost. He missed his parents badly, especially in those quiet moments when he was left alone with his thoughts. Last night he had lain awake for hours staring at shadows on the ceiling, trying desperately to picture their faces and recall the sound of their voices. It was at such times that he felt his loss most keenly, like an ache that never really went away.

But his friendship with Skipper was nothing short of a revelation to him. He had never in his life felt so comfortable with anyone, never before met anyone who was so self-assured and yet so completely without vanity. She was
wise beyond her years, devoted to putting right what she perceived to be wrong. But at the same time she possessed an innocence which seemed untouched by the many evils she must have encountered during her short life.

He remembered the first time he saw those bright blue eyes, shining in the dark corridor outside his cell and bringing hope where he had thought there was none.

He realised now what it was about her that touched him. Despite the fact that he was probably dead, she made him feel more alive than he had ever been. She took away his fears and made him want to be the best person that he could be, made him think that anything was possible.

‘Thanks, Skipper,' he said, before he realised what he was saying.

‘Hey, don't thank me – you're a natural. Should've been a bird.'

Sam scratched his head, embarrassed but not wanting to be misunderstood. ‘No, I mean thanks for all you've done. Saving my life and everything.'

Skipper looked sad. ‘I haven't saved your life, Sam, remember? If I had, you wouldn't be here now.'

Sam thought about that for a moment, about the bike accident and the hospital bed and how confusing it all was. ‘I don't mean that. I mean getting me away from Odoursin at the airfield. You saved the life I have now, didn't you?'

Skipper nodded. ‘Yes, I did that. But now we need to get your other life back.'

Sam paused and when he spoke again it was with some hesitation. ‘What if I don't want it back?' he said tentatively. ‘What if I want to stay here? What then?'

Skipper seemed surprised by the question. ‘Don't you want your life back?' she asked.

‘I don't know,' Sam replied. ‘I did. And part of me still does. But part of me – a big part of me – is very happy here.'

There was a long silence. At last Skipper said: ‘I think that there are some things we just can't know. When I was a small child, I used to think that my life in the forest was everything. That was how things were and that was the way I thought they would stay. I thought I would always be there. But then, one day, something called to me and I knew I had to go. Maybe it'll be the same for you.'

‘You think I'll be called back?'

‘I don't know. All I know is, my world suddenly changed and, although it was different, it wasn't bad. Good things have come out of it.'

‘Like what?'

Skipper smiled. ‘Like saving your life,' she said. ‘I'll never forget what Arbous told me just before I left the forest. He said, “Remember, it's not the things that happen to you that are important. It's what you do about them that counts.”

Sam was silent for a while. Then he looked across at Skipper and touched her gently on the arm. ‘I'd do the same for you, you know,' he said. ‘I'd save your life if I could.'

‘I know you would, Sam. And who knows – you may get the chance much sooner than you think.'

Sam wanted to ask her what she meant, but something stopped him. He was learning not to ask too many questions about a future that could never be certain. Pushing the joystick to the right, he banked the wasp smoothly round and saw the sharp, crisp lines of the western mountains spreading out far below them in the afternoon sunshine.

As Hekken walked across the marble floor towards the circular table around which the other members of the Council were seated, he was aware of eleven pairs of eyes turning to look at him through the gloom. He returned their gaze with his head held erect, his measured, unfaltering progress betraying a certain amount of arrogance and determination.

Odoursin stood up slowly as Hekken reached the table and Hekken bowed stiffly. The other members of the Council made as if to stand but Odoursin motioned them to remain seated.

‘I am sorry for my lateness, Your Excellency. But there have been important developments in the laboratory which I was anxious to relay to the Council.'

Odoursin's eyes glinted in the half-light. ‘You have news of the virus?'

Hekken nodded. ‘Indeed I do, Your Excellency. And the news is good.'

‘Then speak.'

Hekken took a deep breath. The information from the laboratory was of such importance that he wanted to make sure his delivery of the news was equal to its significance.

‘The virus has been successfully engineered to meet all of our requirements,' he announced to gasps from around the table, ‘and the first batch will be ready for delivery in less than a week.'

Hekken was gratified to observe the looks of shock and disbelief on the faces of several members of the Council, but Odoursin's face had become impassive once more.

‘How can you be sure of this, General? Your last report gave the Council the impression that there were still many problems to be overcome.'

‘It is true that until recently there were many difficulties,' replied Hekken, ‘but, as you know, the team is loyal, hard-working and anxious to achieve success. To this end they have worked day and night to find a solution, and this morning, at last, came the breakthrough that they were looking for.'

Odoursin's thin, papery lips twitched briefly into the shadow of a smile, the movement as fleeting and barely discernible as that of a mosquito moving through the dust of a forgotten room.

‘Explain,' he said.

‘Well,' said Hekken, ‘if you remember, we had isolated a virus which was so virulent that it would kill humans in a
matter of hours once it was in their bloodstream. But the problem was that it released a substance so toxic to mosquitoes that it killed them before they could transfer it. We tried coating the gut of the mosquito with a protective material, but realised it would protect only the piloted mosquitoes that we sent to deliver the first batch of the virus. If the plague was to be successful in wiping out humans, it needed to be spread by the billions of wild mosquitoes that inhabit the Earth. To give them protection in sufficient numbers would have been an impossibility.'

Hekken glanced at Odoursin and saw a look of irritation on his face. ‘I hope this is not going to be a science lesson in failure, General Hekken. Please get to the point.'

‘I am sorry, Your Excellency. The point is, it appears we were coming at it from the wrong angle. What we should have been doing is looking for a way of preventing the release of the toxin in the first place.'

He waited for some encouragement to continue before remembering that he had already been told to get to the point.

‘Instead of coating the gut of the mosquito, we coated the surface of the virus instead.'

He paused for dramatic effect.

‘The results were even better than we had hoped. Not only did the mosquitoes survive, but the next generation of viruses mutated and produced their own protective coating. This new coating slowed down the initial rate at which the virus multiplied once it was in the human bloodstream.'

‘Surely you are not suggesting that this is a positive development?'

The speaker was Martock, the Council Deputy who had embarrassed him previously over the discovery of the Dreamwalker.

‘Surely if the virus multiplies more slowly, it slows down the death rate and also increases the opportunity for possible treatment of the subject.'

Martock looked smugly at Hekken with his little piggy eyes, convinced that once again he had managed to score a small yet humiliating victory over him.

Unperturbed, Hekken smiled and felt the warm satisfaction of knowing that Martock was wrong and that he would soon be forced to acknowledge the fact in public.

‘That is, of course, an understandable view, if a little simplistic,' he replied, enjoying the look of annoyance that flashed from Martock's eyes. ‘But if you think about it, the longer it takes for the symptoms of the virus to appear, the longer the virus can survive and the longer the subject can move around. This in turn increases the opportunities for the subject to be bitten by other mosquitoes, which then allows the virus to spread to others. If the subject dies within hours, the opportunities for the virus to spread are limited. If he lives for a week, however, the numbers infected increase so rapidly that within six months you will have a human population on the verge of extinction.'

He allowed himself the luxury of staring straight into those eyes which a moment ago had looked at him with such supercilious contempt.

‘Was there anything else, Martock?'

Martock looked at the floor and shook his head. ‘No.'

‘Well then.' Hekken inclined his head slightly towards Odoursin and was pleased to note that he was smiling. ‘In that case I await Your Excellency's further instructions to proceed.'

Odoursin took a deep breath and his eyes stared fiercely through Hekken as though fixed on an image of the future that only he could see. ‘Finally, my friends,' he said, ‘the time is at hand. For years we have been patient. We have watched comets cross the heavens and seen wars rage in every corner of the Earth. We have heard earthquakes shake the ground, while famine stalks the deserts and humans pump their poison into sea and sky. And now the plague that we have waited for is about to be unleashed – unleashed with a fury that they have only imagined in their darkest nightmares. The words of the prophecy will at last find their place in reality, for these precursors herald my arrival. The Great One shall descend from the sky.'

Outside in the blackness, thunder rumbled through the dark clouds and suddenly Odoursin began to shout, his voice driven by a wild and terrible joy that was born out of the years of frustration, pain and struggle.

‘Gentlemen, loyal members of the Council, the time has come and the Earth shall be rid of its tormentors. Together we shall create the promised land!'

As he raised his right fist with the others in fervent support, Hekken received a short message through a
tiny speaker concealed in his ear and allowed himself a discreet smile. It seemed that in all the excitement, everyone had forgotten to mention the Dreamwalker's Child.

Which was very good news indeed.

Particularly as he now knew that by the time the Council met again, the Dreamwalker's Child would be dead.

The sun was already high in the sky as they left the cool green woods of the lower slopes behind them. Several weeks had passed since Sam's first flying lesson and now – much as he had enjoyed the training – he was glad to be taking a break from the intensive schedule. As he followed Skipper along the narrow path that snaked up the side of the mountain, he heard the loose stones rattle beneath his boots and tried to ignore the ache that came from muscles he didn't even know he had.

Firebrand had given them some time off and Sam guessed this meant that things were coming to a head. It was likely that a strike against Vermian airbases would take place very soon and Firebrand wanted them to get some ‘rest and recreation' before operations commenced. Sam felt nervous when he thought about the days to come, but he also felt excited knowing that he was about to take part in such a dangerous and important mission.

Skipper's idea of r & r was to hike up into the mountains for a day or two. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but the mountain was a lot steeper than it had first appeared from the comfort of his balcony and the backs of his legs were protesting.

To take his mind off the discomfort, Sam let his thoughts wander back over the events of the past few weeks. The hours of intensive training had left Sam feeling as though he had been flying all his life. Everything had come so naturally to him, twisting and turning through the forest trails or climbing effortlessly into the blue sky and watching the thin wisps of cloud fall away. He no longer had to think about where to move the stick or how much throttle was needed to take him over a ridge or across a valley. It was as easy as having an extra body. You just thought about where you wanted to go and then went there.

It had been a proud moment yesterday, standing there on the parade ground with Mump and all the others. Firebrand had stood on the podium with the sunlight glinting off his medals and had spoken to them of their achievements.

‘You have done well,' he'd said. ‘Every one of you who stands here today is here not only because you have shown mastery of your aircraft but also because you have shown that you have determination, perseverance, endurance and, above all, courage. These qualities will be essential to you in the days that lie ahead, for in the East there is a darkness that casts a shadow across the
future. The time draws near when every one of us will have a part to play.