Seven Second Delay by Tom Easton

Author:Tom Easton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2014-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

Mila woke as the coach began to slow. They pulled off the road and stopped at an uncomfortable angle. Something felt wrong. Mila raised her head blearily and peered out of the window, half-blinded by the low-hanging sun, impossibly bright and golden, so different from the watery red orb that floated wearily across the sky of her homeland.

“Agents,” said one of the cycle girls opposite. “There’s a roadblock.”

Mila’s breath froze in her lungs. But why should she be surprised? Of course they were going to track the coach down. She should have gotten off it hours ago.

Always be one step ahead, Julian said. It was too late now.

Clearly roadblocks were not a common occurrence on the Isles. The girls, along with the other passengers, craned their necks to see what was going on. At least this meant she hadn’t been identified publicly as the suspect. She remembered the frightened faces of Joe and Darcie just before the cafeteria was bombed.

While their attention was engaged by the scene outside, Mila reached up and grabbed a backpack belonging to one of the girls. Keeping low she headed for the steps down to the bathrooms, shoving her breakfast pastries into the backpack as she went. She entered the same cubicle she’d been in before, closed and locked the door behind her. In the corner of her vision, she could see Adam’s Avatar, awake and observant.

“You’re quiet,” she said as she rummaged through the backpack.

“I’m just curious to see what you’re going to do in the bathroom,” he replied.

“Pervert.”

“You know what I mean.”

The backpack contained a whole load of useful items. Energy bars, a bottle of water, a raincoat, rolled up impossibly tight. Right at the bottom, Mila found what she was looking for, a cyclist’s multitool. Holding it brought back memories of her father. Those precious few days when they’d had the time to cycle up the mountain, or along the river. She shook her head and concentrated on the here and now.

Seven seconds later, Adam spoke.

“Ah,” he said. “Clever.”

Mila had already unscrewed one of the bathroom panel bolts and was starting on the second. She could hear voices and heavy footsteps upstairs.

“I’ve managed to access the Feed from one of the passengers,” Adam said. “There are six Agents on the upper deck. One is talking to the girl you stole the backpack from. She’s noticed it’s missing. The other has found your empty seat.”

The second bolt dropped to the floor and she moved to the third.

“Why are you telling me this?” Mila asked. “I’m not giving myself up.”

Adam didn’t answer.

The third bolt was stiff. Oh hell, she thought, please don’t let it be cross-threaded. The Allen key slipped and the tool clattered to the floor. The footsteps were coming down the steps.

“More haste, less speed,” she muttered. Find the right key, slip it back into the third bolt and twist with everything you have, Mila.

She winced with the pain, her damaged hands protesting. But then it gave. She twisted hard twice then spun the multitool.

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