ON HIGH ALERT, every noise they heard caused Alice and the other three to flinch. Vortices of dust generated by their footsteps whirled through the light beam, revealing zillions of suspended particles.
“Hope this dust isn’t toxic or something,” coughed Alice. “Phew! There’s plenty of it!”
The gloomy cavern was filled with rusting machinery and decaying building materials. The gargantuan, shadowy shapes of the old machines were enough to unnerve anyone. Whenever the beam flashed across the massive hulks, it was easy to imagine a mutant monster on the attack leaping out from behind them. Alice was reminded of the mutant rats, the land octopus and the crocodiles, evil red eyes shining out of the darkness. Ex and Djard were less anxious, having had plenty of experience with dangerous creatures on the surface.
Alice stopped next to a massive iron wheel with large, interlocking cogs, like the teeth of some fossilized dinosaur.
Suddenly, Alice started shuddering, his body wracked by an attack. He would have collapsed had it not been for Ex, who sensed Alice’s plight and grabbed him by the arm.
“I’m all right,” Alice gasped, struggling to keep his composure. “Thanks mate.” Djard came to him, her face showing concern. He wasn’t looking good. He was pale his eyes dull, his spirits low. But he steadied himself and stood upright.
Secta gave him the once over. “Hmm, you’re beginning to destabilise — the very molecules holding you together are pulling apart,” he explained half scientist, half doctor. “We must get you to my lab and quick.” In a move unlike Secta, he snatched the torch out of Alice’s hand and with Ex and Djard helping Alice, led the way along the narrow corridor.
At its end Secta recognised a door, stopped and struggling, managed to pull it open. They followed him inside. On the other side was a small room. A mental picture immediately stuck Alice’s mind — the burial chamber of an Egyptian Pharaoh. In the middle of the room was a large casket or sarcophagus on a plinth. On top of that, a statue of a reclining naked woman. It was all veiled in the dust of ages. Everything in the room seemed well preserved. Alice could see by the lack of footprints on the dusty floor that they were most likely the first people to enter since the holocaust. Looking around, he thought the room seemed to be some kind of promotional exhibit.
Alice, Djard and Secta watched Ex who, in a trance-like state, as if driven by some kind of magnetism, slowly but deliberately removed the Shine from around his neck. He walked mechanically to the female statue on top of the sarcophagus. Then he slotted the metal talisman into her mouth.
For a moment, Alice and Djard thought nothing would happen. Then there came the sound of power being engaged. The statue’s eyes opened, and lit up like a pair of burning lasers. The yellow beams flashed through the dark, illuminating the ceiling. The burst of light brought Ex back to his senses. Instinctively, he recoiled from the sarcophagus.
A loud servomotor hummed, and the four of them watched in awe as the legs of the naked woman parted. Once spread wide, a purple light illuminated in her crotch. It was then Alice realised what was happening: the woman was giving birth.
Another servomotor buzzed, and from within the sarcophagus, between the woman’s legs, two chrome horns emerged through the mass of cobwebs.
Awestruck, Ex groaned: “The Shine...”
To Alice, desperately fighting against passing out, Ex’s words sounded slowed down, deep and mysterious. Then it all came together in his mind. The smoky grey room, the chrome horns, the cobwebs — the slurred words from Ex: it was his vision … the one he’d had at the hospital after Stain’s death, backstage at the Units’ gig and during the interview at Oceana SSD headquarters. It had come to fruition.
Within a billow of smoke, an immaculate, brand-new Harley-Davidson Softail with beefy forks and skirted fenders miraculously emerged. Djard, who had walked over to the side wall and was pointing at a poster, called out: “Alice?”
Alice and Ex joined her. The poster was of the very bike birthed by the woman.
Alice read the poster out loud: “It says ‘sons of steel ride the Shine!’ Ex, you … son of steel!”
“Ex, son of steel!” he proudly proclaimed.
Alice grimaced, his whole body was aching. His nightmarish premonition had been realised. Without him, the Shine would not have opened the sarcophagus. Without him, Ex could not have found the bike and discovered his biker heritage.
Secta was bemused. “What does all this mean Alice, what on Earth is the shine?”
“The Shine is a bike: a Harley. I can’t explain right now … Ugh!” The pain caused him to drop to one knee. Djard held him.
“We need to move on or he’ll die,” Secta said urgently. “Follow me.”
After negotiating a few obstacles, they arrived at the St. James station subway platform. As Ex gave Alice a hand up Alice dropped to his knees and threw up. Secta looked down at Alice shaking his head.
Djard crouched down beside her suffering friend and warmly said, “Alice, no die.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled himself back to his feet. Stoic as always, he growled, “How far Secta?”
Unsure as to whether Alice could make it Secta said tenuously, “A little further. Hyde Park collapsed because of the subway tunnels bordering it. There still could be serious obstacles.”
Djard assisted Alice to follow Secta along the platform then up a staircase. They emerged in hallway of dilapidated shops, rubble everywhere. Their progress appeared to be blocked when Secta slipped into an alcove.
He called back to them urgently, “Come on, it’s this way.”
When they entered, he was standing at a blast door that showed signs of scorching. Mumbling to himself Secta entered a code into to the security panel by the door. “We’re fortunate there’s still power … hopefully this thing survived the heat.” A sharp click sounded, and with a relieved grimace Secta pulled open the door. “If it hadn’t opened we were sunk.”
Failing fast, hanging onto Djard for grim death, Alice glared at Secta and snarled, “Ah! So, that was your little secret was it?”
Secta didn’t offer a reply, he just flashed the torch on a sign on the wall that read LEVEL 7-LABS 6-12, SECURITY ZONE RED. Alice knew the sign well because on the floor nearby were the eroded remains of Secta’s android.
“You should’ve made it to last Secta,” Alice scoffed. “Might’ve kept you company.”
Secta again ignored Alice’s snide remark, entered lab 7 and began removing plastic dust covers from his scientific equipment. He wasn’t wasting any time, he knew Alice was deteriorating fast, and so needed to boot up the technological accoutrements required to facilitate the procedure.
Ex and Djard helped Alice into the terrifying chair responsible for causing all the grief in the first place.
Alice handed Ex his pistol muttering hoarsely, “If you can’t make back to the surface, go to Zule, you know the way.” The through gritted teeth he added, “They will need you … understand me?”
Ex nodded. Djard was almost hysterical. Somehow she knew that, whatever happened, she would never see Alice again. There was something special between them. She took his hand and gently kissed it.
Alice could feel her warm tears splashing onto his forearm. He wanted to say something, but had lost the power of speech. He smiled at her, sadly. She stepped away, and Ex placed a comforting arm around her shoulders.
Secta got up and came close to Alice. He leaned down so Alice could hear him above the noise.
“Only sixty seconds now Alice,” he said. “I’ve set the coordinates and the time margin … you understand, this might not work. But if it does, you will appear at exactly the same moment you left. By my estimate, you will only have one hour before the accident. You hear me Alice? One hour. Only you will know what’s going to happen. Everyone, including me, will try to stop you. No one will believe where you’ve been. So don’t tell them. Hear me, Alice?”
Alice used up the little strength he had left to nod affirmatively.
“Whatever you do Alice, save Hope,” said Secta. “I do appreciate it!”
Those last, plaintive words — ‘I do appreciate it’ — resonated in Alice’s mind.
Secta flicked a switch above Alice’s head, and the fishbowl apparatus lowered to just above his nose. The main lights dimmed with the power surge. The sound increased to a roar and Alice felt himself shooting backwards, tumbling through time.
The shimmer in time hardly distracted Secta and Honor from their face off in the corridor of level 7.
Secta, laughing at Honor’s sexual advance, strolled back to his lab, throwing up Alice’s 8-ball and catching it. “Don’t even think about it Honor,” he said, maliciously. “I’d rather make it with a corpse.”
Humiliated by the rejection, Honor raised her foot to vent her fury by stamping on a cockroach. Suddenly, she changed her mind and let it go. The timeline had altered.
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” she sneered, venomously.
Secta reached the door of his lab, chuckling, still tossing the 8-ball. The door slid open and a hand snatched the ball out of the air.
Secta was taken unawares. Staggering backwards in shock, he shrieked: “You?”
Honor rushed up behind him and stared, dumbfounded, at Alice, like she’d seen a ghost.
He wasn’t dressed as they’d seen him before. He was battered and bruised, filthy, his white dress shirt torn, tattered and grubby. His black slacks were ripped and crusted in mud.
Honor let out a stupefied squawk. “Black Alice! But how?”
Alice scowled at her with a look designed to kill. Tension crackled though the air. Honor backed away, anticipating Alice’s next move. Too late. He let go a powerful right jab and smacked her right on the chin. She crumpled and hit the floor. Hard.
Secta’s eyebrows shot up. “What are you doing out of the hologram?”
Alice shook his head sorrowfully and delivered a blow to the chin that knocked Secta out cold. Alice caught him before hit the deck, threw him over his shoulder and carried him into the lab.
“You’ll appreciate this one day,” he said.
As he laid him in the chair, he was reminded of the future Secta’s last words: I do appreciate it.
“He knew I made it?” he said, perplexed.
Had Secta been toying with him all along? Had all the talk of not being able to change time been a game? Did he know all along he could do it? A heavy thought struck him. What if he knew I made it because this is the way it happens? What if I can’t stop the ferry, if it collides with the sub and the world goes up in smoke anyway? Was he just remembering it? Is destiny unstoppable?
Then he looked at the 8-ball in his hand and smiled. He was no longer in the future, and dying. The question he had asked Secta had been answered: it had all been real. He hadn’t been dreaming, or in an asylum, off his head. On the contrary, he was feeling strong and vital. The old, agile Alice had returned.
He tossed the 8-ball up and snatched it out of the air, shoved it in his pocket, and growled at Secta as though he was conscious: “Gotta get to that ferry.”
He shot out of the lab, raced up the corridor and stopped at the elevator door. Punching the call button and prowling like an angry tiger while he waited for it to arrive, he chanted to himself: “Hurry, hurry, hurry… come on, damn it, I’m running out of time … Hope I can still make it!” Suddenly, he froze, remembering. “Hope! Damn!”
He turned and backtracked at express speed, hurdling Honor’s prostrate body on the way. There were only seven labs in the corridor. One of them was Secta’s — that only left six to pick from.
Frustrated, he growled: “Which lab, Secta! Damn it! You didn’t tell me which bloody lab!”
He stopped outside Lab 6, looked at the security lock and thumped the wall angrily with his fist. “The combination! Damn it!”
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder. He froze, then whipped around and let go an almighty punch to the solar plexus of the seven-foot android guard he’d met before.
It didn’t budge, but said in monotone: “Did-not-compute.”
Alice straightened up, a look of futility in his eyes. Honor appeared behind the android, a handkerchief up to her mouth, dabbing blood from a split lip.
“Get out of my way,” said Alice. She glared at him, eyes tight little slits, and sniggered. It was a cold, brittle, sound devoid of humour. “Kill him!” she barked at the android.
Alice lunged, grabbing Honor, an arm around her neck. He slipped behind her, using her as a shield against the android.
He growled menacingly in her ear: “Which lab is Hope in? Tell me!”
“Why should I tell you?” she snarled through gritted teeth.
The android advanced. Alice snapped, “Stop that friggin’ thing or I’m gonna snap your fucking neck!”
In a panic, Honor raised a hand. “All right, all right!” she gasped. “Guard! Stop!” The android ground to a halt.
“Which lab?” screamed Alice, pulling his arm tighter around her throat, almost choking her.
Through clenched teeth she choked out: “Number zix! She is in Lab Zix!”
Fortunately, they were right outside Lab Six. Keeping a tight grip on Honor, Alice backed to the door. The android swivelled its head, tracking their movements, while its body remained stock-still.
“Pump the code in!” Alice rasped. She hesitated. Again, he tightened his stranglehold. “Put it in now!” he growled.
“I haff to get zer card from my pocket,” she squeezed out.
“Do it!” He knew he was risking her pulling out a weapon. But she drew a metal card and held it up for him to see.
“Swipe it!” he ordered.
With his back hard against the door, Alice glared at the android’s sweeping red eye while Honor twisted in his grip to swipe the card in the security module.
A servomotor sounded, and the stuttering door jerked open. It stopped half way. “Hope, you there?” he called. “It’s Black Alice.”
“Black Alice?” Hope answered, as she peeped around the door. “But … you…”
He cut her off with urgency: “Now listen, I haven’t got time to go into the details. This will sound insane — but I’ve been to the future and now I’m back, thanks to your brother. He told me to let you out of your lab and to tell you he’s sorry.”
She shook her head disbelievingly. “Yeah, sure,” she snarled.
“In less than an hour a ferry will collide with a nuclear submarine in Sydney Harbour, and trigger an apocalypse that will blow mankind away. You and I have got to stop that collision, you get me?”
Honor was listening intently. Unable to contain herself, she burst out: “Ha! It couldn’t happen to a better bunch of….”
“Shut up bitch!” hissed Alice, shaking her
“Fill me in on the rest later,” said Hope, trying to muscle past. “Let’s move.”
He held her back with a strong free arm, the other keeping a firm grip on Honor. “Wait!” he said. “Go guard the fire stairs while I take care of this lot — and don’t take the elevator.”
He let her past and she took off along the corridor.
“You von’t get avay vith this!” Honor croaked, and fastened her teeth into his forearm.
He released her, growling savagely.
She stepped back and barked to the android: “Kill him!”
Alice realized he was in mortal danger. The only way out was to take on the metallic behemoth. He shaped up in a defensive stance, and said: “Okay, let’s do this!”