Against Gravity

It came to Kendrick, even through the haze of pain, that he was only still alive because she hadn't entirely convinced herself that he would be of no further use to them. He watched as they exited the cell, securely locking it behind them, the guard dragging Hardenbrooke's corpse along with them.

Time passed.

Kendrick was unable to sleep, so he pulled himself off his narrow bunk and slumped with his back against the cell bars, watching the stars wheel beyond his one tiny window. He thought about what the soldier had said earlier: The enemy knows we're here.

The question was – who was the enemy?

If he was still somewhere in America, then he had to be in one of the breakaway republics that had favoured Los Muertos. Otherwise, how would they have the run of this entire military base? Perhaps, then, a neighbouring republic knew Los Muertos were here, and were launching an attack?

Eventually Kendrick fell asleep despite the stink of Hardenbrooke's blood coagulating in one corner of the cell. He did not dream.

He woke some hours later to find a databand lying on the cell floor in front of him. It was the kind that was found in shops that sold cheap plastic jewellery. Moonlight streaked the floor where it lay.

Kendrick picked it up, studying its pale blue plastic shell. The tiny fingernail-sized screen was currently grey and inactive. He wondered where on Earth it could have come from.

Then a pale blue light appeared on the screen, and he almost dropped it in his surprise. He glanced through the cell bars to the glow of light visible down the other end of the corridor, where someone was on night duty. Surely nobody could have got past the guards there and deposited the bracelet without even waking him?

"It's me, Peter McCowan." The voice emerged ti

"Peter?" Kendrick lifted the bracelet closer to his mouth, keeping his voice to a low whisper.

"It's a lot easier to get in touch with you this way, don't need so many visuals. But in the meantime you need to get out of that cell."

"Really? Do you think so?"

"Kendrick-"

"Look, there's planes landing and taking off from here all the time. I'm locked in a cell, and I don't have a fucking clue what's going on." At least with the constant roar of the aircraft landing or taking off outside there was less chance of anyone hearing him speak.

A long sigh from the bracelet's speaker. "Kendrick, nobody's going to get you out but you. But that's going to mean some cooperation."

"Cooperation?" Kendrick studied the bracelet in his hand. "What are you talking about?"

"I can get you out of there, but I need you to do something in return."

"Tell me."

"You need to get yourself to the Maze. If you just agree to do that, I can help you find a way out of the cell."

Several seconds passed as Kendrick closed his eyes, then opened them again to find the bracelet was still there and he was still in his cell. "I know, you asked me before, but I just can't do it," he replied. "Besides, it's-"

"Off-limits? God, there's a war on, in case you hadn't noticed. Los Muertos have enough on their hands to distract them. I need you to get here, Ken."

"Peter, where precisely are you? Are you telling me that's where you are – down there?"

"Just tell me you'll do it."

A roar filled the cell as another plane took off. "You need to tell me more. You need to tell me what it is that's so fucking special about me that every lunatic with a gun and a grudge is now chasing after me."

"Look, I already told you that: out of all of us who are still alive, you're the one closest to the Bright in terms of the way your augmentations developed. If Draeger is so interested in you, it can only be because you represent the highest achievement of Sieracki's research programme."

"Peter-?"

"Ken, understand this. The Bright are hammering at you with everything they've got. You have no concept of the energy resources available to them, but I'll bet Draeger has an idea, and, thanks to Hardenbrooke, Los Muertos do too. The Bright are like children who've figured out how to build a nuclear reactor and are using it to make phone calls. We're talking serious overkill. If it was up to Robert, you'd never know about any of this, but the Bright want you too much even for Robert to be able to do too much about it."

"The woman interrogating me here thought I could somehow get Los Muertos on board the Archimedes."

"With your particular affinity with the Bright, they figure they stand a better chance of boarding the station and staying alive there if they have you along with them. Also, Los Muertos knew that Draeger had you flown out to Cambodia – and they know everything about the programme of treatments that Hardenbrooke administered to you."

"Right: so apart from wanting to haul me up there, Los Muertos also kidnapped me because I'm important to Draeger."

"At last! Give the man a sticky bun! Took you fucking long enough to grasp that, didn't it? They all think you're special, and to a certain extent you are. But not, perhaps, so much as they think. Now, will you come to the Maze?"

Kendrick groaned. "You haven't given me one good reason to."

"If you do, I'll give you something you want very badly – something you've been seeking, for a long time."

"What?"

"I can get you the proof of Draeger's direct involvement with the Labrat research programme. But before that you have to come here."

"What if I say no?"

"But you won't, will you?"

"You're serious, aren't you? You can give me that kind of proof, Peter?"

The bracelet had fallen silent. Kendrick stared at it, knowing that it wasn't real. He dropped it on the concrete floor of the cell. It clattered as it landed, the plastic cheap and slightly scratched. He kicked at it gently and it slid a metre or two across the floor. It resolutely refused to disappear or evaporate.

Then, because he could think of nothing else to do, Kendrick turned his attention back to the lock. He caressed the smooth, machined steel box, thinking about McCowan's words.

Yes, damn you, I'll do it.

Suddenly, it was there: the electrons ru

Somehow, in some arcane way more like magic than science, McCowan was doing this – through Kendrick. He thought about a dead mind reaching out through his fingertips from buried lightless corridors – and shivered inwardly.

The box made a soft click-thunk sound and softly, very softly, the door swung towards him.

Kendrick stood, transfixed. Perhaps he'd done something wrong the last time and-

But it wasn't that. The lock had been designed to keep a Labrat imprisoned.

Get to the Maze, McCowan had said.

Could he really bring himself to go back there? Would it even be possible?

Perhaps it would, Kendrick thought. Perhaps there were even more miracles to be found there.

If he went – and if McCowan was telling the truth about Draeger.

Another aircraft took off, sounding as if it had barely skimmed the roof. Kendrick had to resist the urge to duck. Very softly, he stepped out into the corridor. He halted when he found that he'd stopped breathing, clutching at his chest in panic, wondering if his throat was blocked. Yet he didn't even feel out of breath, though the impulse to suck in air and breathe it out again appeared to have gone – at least for now.