Armageddon, page 5
part #5 of Liars Series
She heard Blanco whisper, ‘We’re not alone in here.’
‘You go that way, I’ll go this way.’
Arno reached the foyer and broke into a run. She had almost reached the front doors, when—
‘Freeze.’
Arno stopped and put her hands up.
‘Turn around.’
Arno did. She found the former constable pointing a stun gun at her.
‘Detective.’ Blanco looked surprised. She quickly holstered her weapon. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘What are you doing here?’ Arno countered. ‘You’re a civilian. You should be long gone.’
‘I’m suspended. Not a civilian.’
Reynolds appeared behind Blanco. She watched this exchange, saying nothing.
‘Either way,’ Arno said, ‘you should have left town.’
‘You think I work for Viper,’ Blanco said. ‘So does everyone else.’
‘The fact that you’re still here, looking for somewhere to plant the botulism—’
‘This is Viper’s endgame. Destroy Kelton. Once that’s done, he’ll disappear.’
Arno glanced at Reynolds.
‘Catching Viper is the only way to clear my name,’ Blanco continued. ‘And this is my last chance.’
‘You expect me to believe that you’re here to prove your innocence?’
‘I don’t expect you to believe it,’ Blanco said. ‘But it’s the truth.’
Arno couldn’t see her face in the dim light. But she sounded choked up. An innocent woman—or an excellent actress.
‘I have to get back to work,’ Arno said. She turned towards the double doors.
Viper would shoot me in the back, she thought. She took one step towards the door.
Two steps.
Three.
CRASH-LANDING
At 5 a.m., rain started to fall.
The streets were deserted. Those who could leave Kelton had left. Those who couldn’t, or had decided not to, were inside with the doors and windows locked. This had always been a quiet town, but Jarli had never known it to be silent.
This is what it will be like after the botulism is released, he thought. Unless we stop it.
The windows were smashed at the chemist and the supermarket. People had been stocking up on antibiotics, food and water, Jarli guessed. The broken glass gave the street an apocalyptic vibe.
‘Tread carefully,’ Plowman said. He was shivering, despite the blanket he’d been wrapped in when they met up with him.
Anya and Jarli used their phones as torches, treading between the glittering shards. Scanner’s phone dinged, and he checked the screen. ‘We have a problem.’
‘Yay,’ Jarli muttered.
‘My handler is telling me to evacuate. All the other troops are being pulled out as well.’
‘What?’ Anya said. ‘Why?’
‘The new Assistant Minister for Defence is a friend. Apparently her boss has given the order to drop a thermobaric warhead on Kelton. He—’
A fist of fear clenched Jarli’s heart. ‘A what?’
‘It will carbonise the botulism, making it harmless.’
‘But what about the people?’
‘Also carbonised, along with the buildings, and a lot of the surrounding bushland. Hence the evac. Come on.’
Scanner turned to go back the way they had come.
‘They can’t drop a bomb on their own country,’ Plowman said.
‘They can and they do. They tested one of those warheads only a hundred kilometres from here last year.’
‘Dad.’ Anya grabbed Scanner’s arm. ‘Wait.’
Scanner shook her off. ‘Orders are orders.’
‘There are still people in town,’ Jarli said. ‘Like my dad, and Doug, and probably a lot of others. People who didn’t hear the warnings. We have to help them.’
‘That’s not our job.’
‘That’s exactly your job. Protecting people.’
Scanner ignored this. He was looking over Jarli’s shoulder. ‘Anya,’ he yelled. ‘Wait!’
Anya was walking up the street, deeper into the town centre. Towards the prison.
Scanner chased after her. ‘Stop right there.’
Anya didn’t. ‘I am going to save those prisoners. You can leave without me.’
Scanner ground his teeth. ‘You know I won’t do that.’
‘Then it is settled.’ She looked him up and down. ‘Unless you are going to try to drag me back to the car?’
For a moment, Scanner looked like he was prepared to do exactly that.
‘What time is the warhead supposed to drop?’ Jarli asked quickly.
‘11 a.m.,’ Scanner said evenly.
‘It’ll take fifteen minutes to search the prison. Twenty at the most. That’s all the time we need.’
‘It’s all the time we have,’ Plowman pointed out. ‘If we can’t find the robot, it will wake up fifteen minutes after the EMP.’
Scanner ground his teeth.
‘And if we find the botulism,’ Jarli said, ‘they’ll call off the warhead. The town is saved, along with everyone in it.’
Scanner jabbed a finger at Jarli, then Plowman, and finally Anya. ‘Fifteen minutes,’ he said. ‘And not one second more. You got that?’
Everyone nodded. But Jarli worried that it wouldn’t be enough time, despite what he’d said. Throwaway was a big building. What if the botulism was there, and they didn’t find it?
They ran past the town hall and slowed down as they approached the library. Scanner held up a fist, and Anya stopped immediately. Jarli bumped into the back of her, and Plowman bumped into him.
‘What’s happening?’ Jarli whispered. In the deathly silence of the street, even a WHISPER felt loud.
‘Throwaway is just around this corner,’ Scanner said. ‘Are we close enough to set up the EMP?’
‘I think so.’ Plowman took the tube out of his bag and screwed it onto a folding tripod, talking as he worked. ‘There will be an explosion at this end which compresses the helix coil in the centre, and trips the load-switch here. That will send a blast of electromagnetic energy towards—’
‘Do we need to know this?’ Scanner asked.
‘I’m just saying, it can only be used once,’ Plowman replied. ‘I don’t have the time or the materials to make a second compressor. We only get one shot.’
‘Copy that.’ Scanner turned to Jarli. ‘Once we get the door open, you and Plowman will have to turn right, go up two flights of stairs, then take a left at the end of the corridor. That’s where I saw your father.’
‘What about you and Anya?’ Jarli said. ‘Shouldn’t we stick together?’
Scanner shook his head. ‘We’ll be heading for the charging station. If we can get to the robot before it reboots, then we can hit the off-switch. Make sure it doesn’t get us on our way out.’
Anya looked concerned about this plan. ‘Mr Plowman is the robot expert,’ she said. ‘Maybe we should swap.’
‘True, but I’m the searching buildings expert,’ Scanner said. ‘Glen Durras will only trust Jarli—and I want an adult in each group. Don’t question my orders.’
Anya bit her lip and nodded.
‘What if Viper left some human guards behind?’ Plowman asked.
‘He didn’t,’ Scanner said. ‘That was the point of the robot—so he could get his people out of town before the botulism is released, without leaving the prisoners unguarded.’
Jarli nodded slowly. ‘OK. Let’s go rescue my dad.’
Plowman had finished setting up the device on the tripod, but he couldn’t move it with his arm in a sling. Jarli and Anya carried the tripod around the corner.
As the building came into sight—a menacing concrete slab—Jarli started to feel queasy. He couldn’t get rid of the sense that if he went inside, he would never find his way out again.
But Dad was in there. So Jarli took a deep breath and angled the tube towards the building.
He cleared his throat. ‘You really think this will work?’
‘The EMP?’ Plowman asked. ‘Sure. But after that, I have no idea. Anything could happen.’
He looked oddly excited by this prospect.
‘Great,’ Jarli said, gloomily.
Plowman’s finger hovered over the switch. He glanced at the others. ‘You, uh, might want to stand back.’
Everyone backed away.
‘Actually,’ Plowman said, ‘I forgot about my pacemaker. I’d better stand back.’
‘You forgot you had a pacemaker?’ Scanner said incredulously.
Plowman ignored this. ‘Jarli, you’ll have to hit the switch.’
Nervously, Jarli swapped places with Plowman.
‘Give me your phone,’ Plowman said. ‘So the EMP doesn’t fry it.’
Jarli tossed his phone over. As always, he felt instantly vulnerable without it—but also lighter. More free.
He put his finger on the orange switch that Plowman had been about to push. ‘This one?’
‘Yes.’ Plowman had his fingers in his ears.
Jarli took a deep breath, and pushed the button.
There was a sharp crack, like a gunshot. The compressor jolted, and the tripod fell over. A hole had burned through the tube, leaking smoke. Jarli felt his hair standing on end.
He coughed and waved away the smoke. ‘Did it work?’
‘There’s no way to be sure,’ Plowman said. ‘We’ll just have to hope for—’
Smash! An object the size of a motorbike crash-landed in the middle of the street. Shards of metal and plastic went flying. When the debris settled, Jarli realised it was one of Plowman’s drones. It had fallen out of the sky, and now lay on the road like a dead pterodactyl.
‘Well, it worked on that,’ Anya observed.
‘Fifteen minutes starts now,’ Scanner said. ‘Go!’
FIFTEEN CENTIMETRES OF STEEL
‘Wait,’ Jarli puffed, as they sprinted towards the prison. ‘We have to enter through that alley. There’s a secret tunnel through the wall. This place doesn’t have a door.’
‘It does now,’ Scanner said. ‘Viper installed one when he took over. And he sealed the tunnel.’
He was right. As they got closer, Jarli saw a steel door inset in the concrete. There was a keypad mounted on the wall next to it.
‘Won’t it be locked?’
‘There’s a six digit code and a thumbprint scanner. I’m authorised, so it will let me in.’
‘No it won’t. We just fried the electronics with an EMP.’
Scanner looked back at Plowman, who nodded.
‘It’ll let you in when the system reboots,’ Plowman said. ‘But by then the robot will be awake.’
‘We could have thought this through a bit better,’ Anya observed.
‘We’ll have to break down the door.’ Jarli lifted his foot to kick it.
‘The steel is fifteen centimetres thick,’ Scanner said. ‘There’s no way you—’
Bang! Jarli’s foot hit the handle, and the door swung inwards. It hit the wall inside with a clang that echoed through the dark interior of the prison.
‘Huh,’ Scanner said. ‘Viper left it unlocked.’
‘Or,’ Anya said, ‘we’re not the first people to break in today.’
They all looked uneasily at one another.
‘The plan stays the same,’ Scanner said finally. ‘Jarli, Plowman, you get the prisoners. Anya, you’re with me. We need to get to that robot within the next—’ He checked his watch. ‘—fourteen minutes, six seconds, and stop it from waking up.’
Jarli took his phone back from Plowman and switched on the torch app. He shone it into the prison, illuminating the thick concrete walls.
The prisoners had named this place Throwaway, as in, ‘throw away the key’. But the name could also describe the INMATES. While he had been imprisoned here, Jarli had felt like he was the one who had been thrown away. Like he was buried alive in a landfill somewhere.
Anya touched his arm, and he flinched.
‘Are you OK?’ she asked.
Jarli nodded. Dad and Doug were counting on him. ‘Fine. Let’s do this.’
He crept into the darkness and turned right, towards the stairs. Plowman followed. Anya and Scanner went the other way.
Thirteen minutes, fourteen seconds. Jarli hoped it would be enough.
PART TWO: UNMASKED
THE APP DOESN’T ACTUALLY DETECT LIES-IT DETECTS THE INTENT TO DECEIVE. SO EVEN IF SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING THAT’S TECHNICALLY TRUE, THE APP MAY STILL CALL IT A LIE IF THE PERSON SOUNDS LIKE THEY’RE NERVOUS, OR PAUSES BEFORE ANSWERING. BUT THAT ALSO MEANS THAT A BRILLIANT PSYCHOPATH—SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T GET NERVOUS AND DOESN’T HAVE TO PAUSE TO THINK—COULD FOOL IT. I’M WORKING ON THE PROBLEM.
—From the documentation for Truth, version 5.2
IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN REVENGE
Jarli crept up the stairs, Plowman following behind. They had to hurry, but they also wanted to stay quiet. Jarli didn’t believe Viper would have left the door unlocked, so someone must have broken in—and they might still be here. Maybe they were just looking for supplies of water, food or medicine . . . but maybe not.
Jarli’s phone rang. He jumped, and fumbled for a moment before answering.
It was Bess. ‘Not a great time,’ he said.
‘Please tell me you made it out of Kelton,’ she said.
‘Um, not exactly.’
‘Jarli!’
‘My dad is still here,’ he said. ‘And Doug. I have to find them.’
‘Tell the police to find them. That’s their job.’
‘The police have been told to leave town because a bomb is about to be dropped on it. And you know Viper has people in the police force.’
‘Did you say bomb?!’
‘Yeah. It’ll destroy the botulism, but also pretty much everything else. Including Doug and Dad.’
Silence trickled down the line.
‘What can I do?’ Bess asked finally.
‘Are you in Axe Falls? Safe?’
‘Yeah.’
‘We think the botulism canister might be in Throwaway—the old prison. But if we’re wrong, we need more places to search. If we can work out who Viper is, we might be able to retrace his steps using Plowman’s drone network.’
‘We’ve been trying to identify him for a year now.’
‘I know,’ Jarli said. ‘But now we have some extra clues. I’ve been thinking about the burns on his face. Maybe you could try to find a list of Kelton locals—or at least, people from this country—who were injured like that in recent wars.’
‘Why wars? Why not a kitchen fire, or an industrial accident?’
‘Because Viper tried to kill Fisher, the Minister for Defence. Remember?’
‘You think it might have been revenge,’ Bess said slowly. ‘Fisher sends our troops into a war zone, Viper gets half his face burned off, then he comes home and blames Fisher.’
‘Something like that,’ Jarli said.
‘How does that fit with the other parts of his operation? Like giving new identities to criminals?’
‘Viper couldn’t murder a government minister by himself and get away with it. He would need people, and money. Every time he gives someone a new face and a new identity, they pay him—and he puts a chip in them so they have to do whatever he says.’
‘What about stealing the RCG?’ Bess asked. ‘The thing he used to crash a plane into Doug’s house?’
‘Kelton is on a major flight path. Maybe he wanted to shoot down Fisher’s plane next time he flew over the town.’
‘So why is he trying to destroy Kelton?’
‘I don’t know,’ Jarli said. ‘I just know we have to stop him.’
‘OK,’ Bess said. ‘I’ll do some research, and let you know what I dig up.’
‘Good luck.’
‘You too. Please make sure you’re out of Kelton by noon, OK?’
‘OK,’ Jarli said, and ended the call.
‘Was that Bess?’ Plowman asked.
‘Yeah. How do you know about Bess?’
‘You’ve mentioned her before.’
Jarli didn’t remember that. ‘Oh. Well, she’s going to do some digging. See if she can figure out who Viper is, so we know where else to search for the botulism.’
‘The police task force has never even come close. Do you really think a teenage girl will succeed?’
‘If anyone can, it’s her.’ They had reached the cell block. He looked around, the MEMORIES attacking him from all sides. His imprisonment had lasted less than twenty-four hours, but it had felt like months. The helplessness had been crushing. No phone. No friends. No way out.
He walked around, shining his torch into each of the cells.
‘Dad?’ he called. ‘It’s me, Jarli!’
No answer.
‘Doug?’
Nothing.
Jarli reached the last cell. It was empty.
His father and Doug were missing.
A GLOWING RED LIGHT
‘This is bad.’
Anya looked around. ‘What?’
Her father shone his torch on a flat black disc, about the size of a set of bathroom scales. A small red light glowed on one side. ‘This is the wireless charging station,’ he said. ‘When the robot isn’t active, it should be here.’
‘It must have been walking around when the EMP deactivated it,’ Anya said. ‘Right?’
‘Right. So that means something else triggered it before we arrived.’
Anya peered into the shadows. ‘We are not alone in here then.’
‘Right. And the robot could be anywhere. We have less than . . . nine minutes before it wakes up.’
Anya couldn’t see her father’s face in the dark. ‘We’ll have to split up,’ she said.
‘I agree.’
There was a pause.
‘Be careful, Anya,’ he said, and then started walking away towards a row of offices.
He would never say I love you. The closest he ever got was be careful.
Anya turned the other way. Her father had said a break room was nearby. She wove through some junk—a dusty mop and bucket, an abandoned computer chair, and a window with brackets for a curtain rail, but no curtain. She was two floors above the ground—from up here she should have been able to see the lights all over Kelton. But there was only darkness behind the glass.
