Armageddon by Jack Heath

Author:Jack Heath [Heath, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781743837474
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Published: 2019-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

THE CELLS IN OUR LUNGS

‘We have to get out of here,’ Eaton said. ‘Fast. Who else is in the building?’

She and Jarli had moved out of Plowman’s earshot, but he wasn’t out of theirs. They could hear him bellowing and kicking the bars in his cell.

Jarli still couldn’t quite believe it. ‘But if he’s Viper—’

‘There’s no doubt in my mind,’ Eaton said.

‘Then shouldn’t we be trying to make him tell us where the botulism canister is?’

‘He doesn’t know. He doesn’t even think he is Viper. His surgery was very thorough. Even if we had something to bargain with, we wouldn’t get any useful intel from him.’

Jarli touched the scab on the back of his own head. Now, more than ever, he wished he could remember what information had been removed from his brain.

‘So what do we do, then?’ he asked.

‘Get out of Kelton. I can escort you most of the way.’

‘But what about the toxin?’

Eaton shrugged helplessly. ‘Kelton is a small town, but not that small. I don’t think you’ll find it before it’s released.’

‘It’s not going to be released,’ Jarli said. ‘The defence minister is planning to drop a bomb on the town.’

‘He what?’

‘He’s trying to kill the botulism with a thermo-something or other warhead.’

The colour drained from Eaton’s face. ‘Thermonuclear?’

Jarli shook his head vigorously. ‘No, something else.’

Eaton didn’t look reassured. ‘Thermobaric? A fuel-air bomb?’

‘I think that was it. What does it do?’

‘It’s the most powerful non-nuclear explosive. If we’re close to the detonation, we’ll be vaporised. If we’re further out, the shockwave will rupture the cells in our lungs, and we’ll suffocate. When’s the launch?’

‘One hour before Viper’s deadline,’ Jarli said.

Eaton spat on the floor and wiped her mouth. ‘That son of a . . . Fisher probably won’t even evacuate the soldiers who are searching for the botulism. He doesn’t care if they live or die.’

‘He did actually order the troops to leave.’

‘Really? I wouldn’t be so sure.’

Jarli had met Fisher before. He had seemed friendly and genuine. But later the façade had fallen away, revealing an angry, thoughtless man. Eaton was probably right.

‘But he cares about his image,’ Eaton continued, as if to herself. ‘He’s obsessed with it, in fact. If there’s a public outcry, he won’t drop the bomb. Can you get in touch with your journalist friend?’

‘Reynolds? She’s not really my—’

Anya appeared near the stairs. She was dragging her father along the ground.

‘Help me!’ she wheezed.

Jarli ran over. ‘What happened?’

‘The robot got him. Stunned him, and anaesthetised him.’ Anya wiped the sweat out of her eyes. Jarli could tell how anxious she was. ‘Do you think—’ She noticed Eaton for the first time. ‘Miss Eaton? What are you doing here?’

‘I came here to tell Jarli that Kellin Plowman is Viper,’ Eaton said bluntly. She crouched down next to Scanner’s unconscious body. ‘Did the robot get any anaesthetic on his face, or just here, on his hand?’

‘I don’t know, I didn’t see . . . What do you mean, Plowman is Viper?!’

Eaton just nodded.

‘It’s true,’ Jarli said.

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