Degrees of Freedom by Simon Morden

Author:Simon Morden [Morden, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780316125178
Amazon: 0316125172
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2011-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

20

Away from the small circle of light, the darkness was like a wall. Petrovitch switched to infrared, and watched while Madeleine descended.

“Still not that sweet,” she said, and raised her arms to guide Lucy’s feet onto the corroded metal rungs for the last few steps. “You’re there.”

“What is this place?”

Petrovitch was about to answer, when Madeleine cut in, sounding casual: “It’s a river. An underground river running through the heart of London.”

“Then why can I smell, you know…” Lucy looked around her, then at her feet.

“Because it doubles as a sewer.”

“Eww.”

Valentina swung herself over the hole in the road and held out her AK. Madeleine took it and passed it to Petrovitch, who could actually see where he was pointing it.

“Case. You catch.” She dropped a steel briefcase and Madeleine caught it cleanly. “Do not get wet.”

“You might want to warn me before you start throwing explosives around.”

“Hmm,” said Valentina, and trip-trapped down the ladder, “and you might warn us before telling lying priest everything.”

“Knock it off.” Petrovitch stepped out of the alcove and into the tunnel proper.

“In Soviet Union, priests were shot.”

“Tina. Really.”

“Against wall. With blindfold.”

“Yobany stos, past’ zabej!” He thought about leaving the two of them to get on with it, but Lucy was also present, and there wasn’t much room for hand-to-hand combat without hurting the bystanders. “Just leave it upstairs, okay? Down here it’s cold, it’s dark, it’s got water and slime, and shortly we’ll be setting off some shaped charges. We all have to work together, whether some of you like it or not.”

Petrovitch retrieved Lucy and put her mid-stream, then dragged Madeleine up behind him.

“Tina, go behind Lucy, hold her hand. Maddy, get Lucy’s other hand and grab hold of me. And no pulling or shoving. Or I’ll tell teacher.”

He led the way upstream, to find that Tabletop had already discovered the breach in the culvert’s wall. She’d turned the lights on, and was exploring the gently sloping tunnel.

Lucy climbed in first, then Valentina, and Madeleine boosted Petrovitch through the hole before stepping up herself.

“Right,” said Petrovitch, “let’s get all the ‘how did you know this was here?’, ‘when did you do this?’ and ‘frankly this looks ludicrously unstable, what were you thinking?’ questions out of the way before we start. I’ve been at this for eleven months, and I would have got away with it but for recent events. Needs must, however. At the far end is the outside of a concrete tube that should lead straight to the quantum computer beneath the Oshicora Tower. There’s about half a meter’s worth of ferroconcrete between us and it, and it would be brilliant if we can cut through it without collapsing this tunnel.” He looked at Valentina’s pale, pinched face in the glimmering light. “Can you get us through?”

“Concrete, yes. Rebar is problem. I will need to take two, three separate blasts to cut metal rods.” She lifted her case onto her outstretched legs and popped the catches.

Tabletop pressed her hand against the curved wall she was crouching next to.

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