Iago?’
‘Hey Renny – I found it. What do I need to do next? Just jack my phone and sit back and wait for you to build your bridge?’
‘Oh, how I wish it were that simple.’
‘What NOW Renny?’
‘Well Tara and Aretha are in place. Aretha managed to distract one of the scientists, giving Tara the chance to connect her phone to the network. So, the good news is - we’ve got a signal going out of THE GRID! Aretha was brilliant, by the way. She’s a born actress. She did the little girl interested in science gig sooo well. Tara says she’s future Oscar material.’
‘Yeah, I know she’s a good actress – wonder where she got that from? But… what’s the bad news Renny?’
‘Well, assuming that Charlie does manage to locate the fail-safe AND switch it over, we still have one weak link – the mobile signal.’
‘What’s wrong with our mobile signal?’
‘Well…’
‘Renny. What?’
‘Well…we’ve got nearly all the power we need going into the GRID. Then we need to transfer ALL that power from Tara’s mobile phone to your mobile phone.’
‘Yeah Renny – I’m still with you. So where’s the problem in that?’
‘The problem is the bandwidth.’
‘Remind me what bandwidth is, again?’
‘Basically, it’s the amount of space that your signal has out there, in the ether.’
‘So - what’s the problem with our bandwidth?’
‘To put it simply – it’s not big enough!’
‘Why not?’
‘Well, most mobile phone communications are pretty small so the satellite bandwidth doesn’t need to be very large. Unfortunately, the quantity of data we need to transmit from Tara’s phone to yours is… well… let’s say… huge! If we try to squeeze too much data through a bandwidth that’s too small, we could lose the signal completely.’
‘Well…that DOES seem to be a problem Renny! Please let me know you’re working on it!’
‘Ah-hah old chap - when did I ever NOT have a plan?’
‘What is it then?’
‘Well – there’s a satellite of which I know of!’
‘Stop it with the Winnie-the-Pooh imitations Renny.’
‘Sorry - couldn’t help it! In any case, I think I might be able to find us a satellite with enough bandwidth.’
‘Surely, there aren’t satellites with massive bandwidths “just hanging around in space” that anyone can use? Renny - where exactly are you going to find this satellite?’
‘Well… shhhhh – don’t want to say this too loudly but have you heard of INTELSAT?’
‘Kind of…’
‘It’s, sort of, operated by the military.’
‘And, how on earth do you imagine you will be able to get control of it?’
‘My “guys” can get in, but we might need a little help to turn the satellite the right way round – you know, so it’s pointing in the right direction.’
‘Are you calling the GST my guys now? Renny, you really are a berk!’
‘Hey…who’s working their fingers to the bone, trying to figure this out?’
‘Sorry Renny! Oops – gotta go. Charlie’s trying to get through. Call me back ASAP.’
* * *
‘Charlie?’
…
‘Charlie? I can’t hear you. Please tell me you’re alright...’
Nothing…
Kicking the wall in frustration, I decided to try Cam.
‘Cam? Cam? Can you hear me now?’
‘Yeah… just… about there…’
‘Just about where, Cam?’
‘…On the other train…’
‘Which other train?’
‘The one I hope your Dad’s on… OK… we’re on!’
‘How did you make it?’
‘We took the train heading up the mountain and when both trains stopped at a station; we jumped on the one heading down. It was pretty close though…’
‘Can you see him yet?’
‘There are a lot of people on here Iago… Oh, wait...Ohmigod…!’
‘What is it Cam?’
‘I see him… but he’s definitely rigged with something. He… he seems to be unconscious.’
‘Is he ALIVE?’
‘Wait, I’m checking…’
‘Please be alive Dad… Cam, for heavens sake… tell me!’
‘I’m not a doctor Iago… wait… wait… I feel something… Yes, it’s a pulse. He is alive Iago, but he looks like he’s been drugged.’
‘So he won’t be able to help us. Cam, tell me what you see.’
‘Well… his coat is slightly open and I can see - and I’m guessing here, what look like sticks of explosives. I don’t see any ticking clock or anything, but I think you might be right about the beer.’
‘Why?’
‘Because, there’s a bottle on the table in front of him. The lid of the bottle has been pierced and there’s a tube running down into the beer…’
‘Did you talk to Renny about the beer-bomb?’
‘Yeah, but I didn’t understand much of what he said.’
‘OK Cam, do whatever you can to stop that train. I’ll call Renny and get back to you…’
‘Hurry Iago… Like I said – the train is pretty full.’