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Chapter 6: Friday Morning
Friday
Morning. Zero day. This was the day that would change all of their lives, one
way or another. At the end of the day, they would be rich, in jail, or dead.
Higgs had tried to sleep in the airship, but couldn’t relax his mind long
enough to allow sleep to find him. All the others, except Kostas had slept.
Kostas sat awake, fidgeting with some kind of explosive trigger. Higgs had
tried to make conversation with him, but failed.
As the sun
rose on the countryside below, Higgs took a moment to breathe deep and reflect.
He would never have another day like today. If this thing worked, he would hang
up his hat. He would love to travel the world, get away from the city where
he’d spent his entire life. He thought about what life was like before the
revolution. He wondered what it would have been like to hop on an airplane in
North America and land in Europe within a few hours. He’d heard rumors that
there were enclaves somewhere in the world where technology still thrives. But
he’d always chalked it up as fairy tales.
On the whole,
he was satisfied with the way the world worked now. He didn’t mind living life
at a slow pace. Of the members of his team, Dr. Montebanque was the only one
old enough to remember a world that didn’t have such draconian restrictions on
technology. Higgs and Kostas were both born before the revolution, but they
were only children at the time, and didn’t grasp the full impact of what was
happening. He supposed that his life would have been very different if the
Technologists had won. Maybe he would be working an honest job. Somehow, he
never felt like he could be a cog in some rich man’s machine.
Yet that
was exactly what he was. He remembered his secret mission, to retrieve the
book. He had no idea what was in the book, or why it was important. But he
would get it; he would deliver it to his benefactor. No doubt it would come to
some use, and he’d never know what. In that way, he was just a gear in some
giant clock. He would never see the big picture of why. All he knew was that if
everything happened as planned, he’d be filthy rich.
And yet,
there was still that question in his mind. It was never a certainty. That was
his curse as a strategist. He always saw things as probabilities. When the
probability was favorable, he would go for it. He hated to fight the odds. The
probability of each step of this plan was greater than 80%. Yet when all added
together, he knew that the chances were pretty slim. Everything had to happen
just right. He hoped that it did, but realistically expected the worst.
As the sun
rose, the team assembled to plan the day. The airship was positioned 80 miles
south of the city. Once the train arrived at their position, they would have
about an hour before the train disappeared into the tunnel and into the center
of the city - an hour to pull off their entire operation. With luck, they would
be attached and reeled in within ten minutes. Five more minutes to get Kostas
into the train car. From there, they had 30 minutes to empty the armored car
before they needed to start the detachment of the airship and evacuation of the
crew. It was a short window, but it was doable.
“Um,
Higgs, we’ve got a problem.” It was Anabelle. She was watching the horizon with
a high-powered spyglass that Dr. Montebanque provided. “The train’s on its way.
It’s ahead of schedule.”
“Impossible!”
Higgs shouted. “The timetable would never allow it to be on this leg already.
At a top speed of 70, we should have another hour.”
“Well,
regardless, it’s coming.” Anabelle said urgently
“Charlie,
get dressed.” Higgs ordered. Charlotte ran to the coat closet, where the
wingsuit was hanging, and began to suit up.
Dr.
Montebanque was digging through a crate and pulled out a device that looked
like a small telescope with a number of levers and gears attached. He positioned
himself at the window and began to turn dials and nobs on the side of the
device. He frantically wrote down four numbers on the paper. He then grabbed
his calculating cylinder out of his pocket and dialed the numbers into the
device. Turning the crank, he let out an exclamation. “Good grief. The train is
moving much faster than expected. I estimate it is travelling at over 100 mph.
That is why it’s ahead of schedule. At that rate, we have only five minutes to
launch time.”
Higgs was
scrambling through the numbers in his head. “If it’s going 100, that means we
have only 42 minutes to pull this off. Even if we allow ourselves to use the 10
miles of cushion built into the plan, it’s not much more. I don’t think we can
do it.”
“We’ve
prepared too much for this. We’re in it now. We have to go forward with it.”
Phineas fired back.
“We can do
it, Higgs. We might not get as much stuff, but it’s still worth it.” Anabelle
urged. “Like Phineas said, we’ve done too much work preparing for this. We
can’t give up now.”
“I’ll be
ready, boss.” Charlotte grunted as she pulled the stiff suit onto her thin
frame. “If this thing can keep up with that train.”
“It can
keep up.” Dr. Montebanque said, “I will adjust the burn rate on the rocket. It
will not last as long as it would have at 70, but it will be enough. You may
need to freefall longer, Miss Avalon”
***
Charlotte
latched the chest harness into place while Everton adjusted the rocket. She
grabbed the streamlined helmet and put it on her head. She looked like a large,
black bullet in the suit. The legs of the suit were stiff, and she couldn’t
easily walk in the suit. But it wasn’t meant for walking. She reached her hands
back and found the grips on the underside of the wing sections. She extended
her arms out, and the wings unfolded from under the rocket module.
“Say,
Monty, what’s this suit made of anyway? It’s a lot lighter than aluminum.”
Charlotte said as she examined the material on the wings.
“Yes,
aluminum is much too heavy for this application.” He said as he continued to
make last minute adjustments. “Are we at the proper altitude?”
“Nearly
there.” Phineas shouted from the control room
Charlotte
pressed her question, “Hey doc, you never answered my question. If I’m risking
my life with this suit, I’d like to know what it’s made of.”
“Ahh. It
is called carbon fiber.”
“Never
heard of it. I could really use this stuff in my airbike. Super light, and
seems very strong.”
“Yes, it
is. But you cannot use it on your airbike. It is not entirely legal.”
“You mean
this suit isn’t legal?” Charlotte said, with a tinge of nervousness in her
voice.
“My dear,
you are using the suit to rob a train. Do not concern yourself with the
legality of the device.” Dr. Montebanque closed a control panel on the back of
the suit.
“Get in
position, Charlie.” Higgs commanded, “Is the cable clipped to your suit?”
Charlotte
patted a ring on the back of her neck, just above the rocket module. The cable
was clipped there with a metal hook. She checked her belt, to ensure that her tools
were in place. She grabbed the wing handles again, checked the rocket throttle
control and ignition button. She clicked her heels together, feeling the
magnetic connection pull her feet together. She reached down and locked the
knees of the suit into position. She was ready and gave the thumbs up to Higgs.
“Good
luck, Charlie.” Phineas shouted from the control room.
“Godspeed,
Charlotte.” Anabelle put a hand on her shoulder.
“Now,
Charlotte!” Dr. Montebanque shouted.
Part 21 >
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