Ironheart (27 page)

‘Well, the hell with it,’ said Clench. ‘Asteroid or no asteroid, if Stone’s going to blow the place up, then let’s just get out of here. Who cares where the
asteroid lands as long as we’re not underneath it.’

‘The asteroid is over five miles wide and made almost completely of iron,’ said Calculus. ‘It’s bigger than the one that made the dinosaurs extinct. When it hits the
Earth it will cause widespread earthquakes and tsunami. After that it will throw up enough dust to blot out the sun for a hundred years and create a new ice age. Nothing will grow and nothing will
survive except for a few bacteria . . . and, well . . . me,’ he added.

‘“
First comes the iron and then comes the snow,
’” said India under her breath, ‘“
and then comes the winter when nothing will grow.
”
It’s what Cromerty was trying to tell me and it’s what Nentu meant when she talked about the end of days. If Stone lets off that bomb, he’ll not only destroy Ironheart but the
rest of the world too!’

‘Then it makes no difference what we do,’ said Verity. ‘Either way, we’re going to die.’

‘I told them,’ said India, ‘that we’d stop the explosion if we could. Couldn’t we try?’

Verity shook her head wearily. ‘It’s not that easy, India,’ she said. ‘Shutting down a sophisticated warhead isn’t just a matter of throwing a switch. They have
security systems and codes that have to be entered.’

‘But didn’t Dr Cirenkov say they had already bypassed the security systems?’ said India.

Bulldog snapped his fingers. ‘You’re right, she did say that!’

‘That doesn’t help us,’ said Clench. ‘We’ve still got no way of getting back to the turbine hall. There’s a maze of tunnels between here and there and
they’re full of Valleymen, remember?’

‘Mr Bentley,’ said Verity, ‘is there any way back to that control room without going through the tunnels?’

Bentley shook his head. ‘You could get out through the drainage tunnels and then double back through the forest but that would take hours, and you’d still risk running into the
Valleymen.’

‘Come on, Bentley, you’ve lived here for ayear and a half,’ said Bulldog. ‘There must be another way. Think, man!’

Bentley shrugged and held up his hands. ‘The only other route between floors is the conduits that carry the pipes and cables. The rats used to use them but they’re way too small for
a person. Believe me, I’ve tried.’

‘Show me!’ said Verity.

He took them to a tiny rectangular opening high in the chamber wall with cables running out of it. It was gushing with icy water.

‘I might get in there at a push,’ said Verity, biting her lip. She slipped off her jacket and Clench and Bentley gave her a boost. By turning her head sideways she could just about
squeeze it into the slot but there was no room for her shoulders. She tried leading with one arm and then the other as freezing water cascaded over her. After ten minutes she clambered back down,
soaked and filthy and with nothing to show for her efforts but some fierce scratches on her hands and arms. ‘It’s hopeless. I couldn’t get in there if I starved myself for a
month. I’m running short of ideas.’

‘What about Calculus?’ said Bentley. ‘If he went up the main tunnel, couldn’t he run back through the forest to the control room?’

Verity shook her head. ‘He’s in no fit state,’ she said, lowering her voice. ‘He’s too badly damaged.’

‘I could get in there,’ said India quietly.

‘Maybe we could climb up the waterfall to the cavern roof and get out that way?’ said Bulldog.

‘I said I could go,’ said India. ‘I could climb up that conduit, I’m the only one small enough to get in there – look!’

She peeled off her jacket and heavy jumper. After nearly three weeks of missed meals she was as thin as a pencil.

‘It’s too dangerous,’ said Bentley. ‘You could get stuck, and even if you get through, Stone’s men might still be up there.’

‘Now’s not the time to get all fatherly on me, Dad. Look, if they’ve set a bomb to explode, they’ll be trying to get away from here, the same as us,’ said India.
‘Besides, if we do nothing we’re all going to die anyway, so what’s the difference?’

‘It might work,’ said Bulldog.

‘It won’t work, said Verity. ‘Bombs like that have fail-safe devices attached to them so it takes more than one person to turn them on or off. Usually two people have to press
a button or turn keys at the same time. You can’t do it on your own.’

‘I reckon I can fit in there if she can,’ said a voice from the shadows. Sid had already removed his coat. If anything, he was even thinner and scrawnier than India.

Clench snorted. ‘There’s no way we’d trust you with this.’

‘I got the same stake in this as you,’ he said, ‘and it don’t make much difference anyhow Either we die trying or we die without trying and I reckon it’s better to
die trying.’

‘Well put, my friend,’ said Bentley, patting Sid on the shoulder. He looked anxiously at India. ‘If there was any other choice, India, I wouldn’t let you go, but I think
you are right. This may be our only option.’

It was settled swiftly. John Bentley would lead the rest of the group up the drainage tunnel while India and Sid made their way to the control room. Once they had shut down the bomb they would
all rendezvous on the far side of the lake. Nobody spoke about what would happen if they didn’t succeed.

They made their preparations quickly. Verity packed their few belongings and Bentley returned to his quarters to collect his precious seed samples. Meanwhile India stripped down to her long
underwear and a pair of thick socks and Sid removed his heavy boots and shirt but kept his pistol tucked into his trousers. India was shocked to see his body was covered in red weals and scars
– the result of dozens of beatings.

Verity pulled India to one side. ‘You watch that boy,’ she said. ‘I don’t trust him any further than I can spit. He might easily decide to double-cross all of us just for
the hell of it.’

‘I don’t think so,’ said India. ‘He seems pretty determined to get even with his father, and who can blame him?’

‘And that’s another thing,’ said Verity. ‘Don’t get in the way of that fight. If he goes after Stone you need to be as far away as possible. As soon as that
bomb’s disarmed you get away from him and keep running.’

India went to see Calculus, who was still slumped against the wall. ‘Will you be able to manage the climb?’ she said.

‘I need to talk to you, India.’

‘I know what you’re going to say,’ she said quickly, ‘and Verity’s already warned me about Sid. Don’t worry, I can look after myself.’

‘It’s not that.’

A chill ran through her body.

‘The machine has shut itself down to protect the mind from the explosion,’ he said. ‘Before it can start up again, I will need to speak to it and tell it the bomb has been
disarmed.’

India wasn’t sure why this conversation was making her so uneasy. ‘Well, that’s OK. You can do that, can’t you?’

‘To communicate with the machine I will need to make direct physical contact,’ he said. ‘It means I will have to stay here.’

‘But what about your communicator? Couldn’t you use that?’

‘My communicator does not work on the same frequency as the machine,’ he said. ‘I have thought carefully about this, India, and I have discussed it with Mrs Brown. There is no
other option, I have to stay behind.’

A hot tear ran down her cheek. ‘But why you? Why should you be the one that has to stay? It’s not fair, you could still live for hundreds of years.’

‘No, I couldn’t,’ he said quietly, ‘because I am already dying. My repairs were only temporary. From the moment I was shot, I knew I only had hours to live.’

She put her hand to her mouth.

‘Don’t be sad,’ he said. ‘Now I have a chance to do something really important. It means I will be remembered for being more than just a war machine.’ He reached
out and took her hand. ‘I can’t think of anything more . . . human.’

She wanted to scream at him and tell him he was wrong but the words wouldn’t come. ‘I hate the thought of you being on your own down here,’ she said in a small voice.
‘You know, after we’ve gone.’ A thought occurred to her. She scrabbled in her bag and pulled out the slim, green volume she had found earlier in the day. ‘My dad would read
this to us when we were little,’ she said. ‘He used to tell me I’d have an adventure of my own one day.’ She handed it to him. ‘There’s a character in it that
reminds me of you.’

He took the book and looked at it carefully.

‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
,’ he said, reading the title. He opened the book and turned the pages, pausing at a picture of a metal man holding hands with a young girl.
‘It’s a story about an android,’ he said with surprise. ‘Thank you, India, I shall treasure it.’

India forced herself through the final preparations for the task ahead. Verity hugged her and Bulldog ruffled her hair. Then her father squeezed her tightly and clapped Sid on the back.

‘Good luck, young man,’ he said. ‘I’m trusting you to take care of my daughter. When we all get out of here we should talk about your future.’

Sid looked at him as though he was speaking a different language.

Then India put her arms around Calculus for the last time. His metal skin felt warm and sticky from the clotted, black ooze which mingled with her tears.

‘When you have shut down the bomb,’ he was saying, ‘use the wrist communicator to let me know straight away.’

She blinked at him. ‘I have to go now,’ she said.

‘Will you be all right?’

‘Sure,’ she said, wiping her eyes. ‘But I think my anticipatory sub-routines might register your absence from my immediate environment.’

‘I’ll miss you too, India,’ he said.

She hugged him tightly again as he rested a hand gently on her hair. No one spoke and the silence was broken only by the sound of Bulldog blowing his nose into a large red hanky.

She took one last look at Calculus, now holding hands with Verity, and then turned away quickly. She accepted a boost up from Sid to get to the tiny space in the wall, then squeezed her head
into the hole and began to drag her body forward over the pipes, crawling, inch by inch, away from the chamber.

The climb was incredibly hard going. The narrow space was so tight that India could not lift her head or turn it around and the roof scratched her back as she dragged herself
along. Only the pencil-thin beam from Verity’s pocket torch showed the tunnel ahead. Sid grunted and cursed behind her.

‘You OK back there?’ she called, after they had gone some distance.

‘Don’t worry none about me,’ he replied from the darkness. ‘Just watch out for yourself. I don’t want to find no corpse blocking my way.’

‘Charming,’ she replied.

They crawled on in silence through the freezing water. India struggled to keep out the thought that a sudden surge might drown them both in the narrow space. After fifty yards or so they came to
a junction box where the tunnel met several others. A single shaft rose vertically from the junction and more freezing water cascaded down it. India crawled from the narrow pipe and stood beneath
the deluge.

‘Looks like this shaft goes all the way to the next level,’ said Sid. ‘Let’s start climbing, that lake must be melting good and fast and I don’t reckon much on
getting drowned like a rat in a pipe.’

No sooner had he spoken than there was a rumble from somewhere deep within the tunnels. White water began to gush from the pipe around Sid’s feet.

‘Get up there quick!’ he shouted above the roar.

India scrambled up the pipes, trying to stay ahead of the foaming waters, with Sid close behind. The shaft seemed to be never-ending, her lungs burned and her arms trembled as she tried to pull
herself up.

Just when she thought she could climb no further, the torch picked out a reflective surface above them. She pulled herself quickly up the last few feet but her elation turned to despair. A heavy
steel grille was fastened across the top of the shaft and secured with a padlock. She rattled desperately at the metal. Sid bobbed up beside her but even with both of them pulling, the grille
wouldn’t move an inch. The water rose around their shoulders; in a moment, it would be over their heads.

‘What are we going to do?’ she said, her voice cracking with fear.

Sid kept clinging to the grille with one hand and pulled out his pistol with the other. ‘Better hope the cartridges aren’t wet,’ he said, pressing the barrel of the gun against
the padlock. The gun clicked and nothing happened. ‘Damn thing’s soaked through,’ he said. He pulled the trigger again.

A deafening blast filled the tiny space and the padlock snicked away with a singing noise. Sid pushed open the grille and they dragged themselves on to a concrete floor where they lay
spluttering as the water bubbled out of the shaft around them.

‘That was quick thinking,’ said India between coughs.

‘Slow thinking gets you dead,’ he grunted.

‘What I meant,’ she said, sitting up, ‘was thank you for saving my life.’

He glanced at her and gave the briefest of nods. ‘Weren’t nothing.’