Engineman - Eric Brown [100]
He called, "I always thought I'd die between the stars..."
She hit the sole of his boot with her fist. "Very funny. Now will you hurry up?"
He climbed. His concentration on the stars was shattered when he heard a sound below him - the opening of a hatch. They'd finally found the shattered lock. He screwed himself round, peered down. Caroline was on her belly, reaching out. To her left, a circular hatch hung open, admitting a shaft of light and affording a view of the rooftops twenty metres below.
"Caroline?"
"Not this one, Ralph. Keep climbing."
As he did so, he noticed the outline of a hatch to his left. They were spaced at regular intervals beside the toe-holds, positioned to give access to the cables which connected the ersatz stars. He recalled seeing fliers hovering beneath the dome's inner surface, off-loading replacement parts and tools to mechanics inside. What he'd give for a friendly, passing flier right now...
He peered back at Caroline. She'd opened another hatch, letting it swing on its hinges as she poked her head over the side. She looked up at him. "Damn!"
"Caroline? What the hell...?"
"Your flier's somewhere down there, right?"
A light pressure of elation filled his chest at the thought - quickly chased by despair. "But how the hell do we get down!" he yelled.
"Leave that to me," Caroline said. "Keep climbing, Ralph. Hurry up!"
Something between desperation and an insane belief in the woman behind him spurred him on. He hauled himself past the imitation stars, his flying suit ripped and soaked in sweat. Below, he heard Caroline trying the hatches one by one.
Then he heard an animal cry, as if from far away, and the first tracer illuminated the gloom like orange lightning. He was thankful they that they were high enough to be out of sight of their pursuers, and the curve of the dome made a direct shot impossible. Then more orange tracer lit the darkness. More shouts as more thugs entered the inspection hatch and gave chase. Caroline cried out, "Ralph, stop!"
He'd already done so, in fright and desperation. He clung to the indents, awaiting the coup de grace as tracer and bullets filled the space with light and a ceaseless, deafening rattle. He turned his head as Caroline called to him again. She was no longer below him on the track of toe-holds. He caught sight of her to the right, clinging onto the rim of an open hatch and peering through. Her expression, illuminated from below, was joyous.
"Ralph!" she shouted.
He backtracked, edged down indent by indent, until he was beside her. He reached out, gripped the edge of the hatch and hauled himself across to her. The yells of their pursuers echoed in the confines.
Caroline stared into his eyes. "Jump, Ralph!" she cried. "Jump!"
Central Paris waited forty metres below.
"I'll kill myself!" he screamed.
She laughed. "Look, Ralph. Look straight down!"
Mirren hauled himself to the rim and peered over. His heart almost missed a beat. They were directly above the inflated mylar bubble of the Gastrodome.
"Jump! Your flier's down there somewhere. I'll cover you."
He manoeuvred himself so that his legs hung through the hatch.
Caroline turned onto her back and loosed off a fusillade of fire down the incline. "For chrissake, jump!"
She scrambled up beside him and hung her legs through the gap. Mirren looked at her. "What about you?"
She smiled, reached out and pushed him.
He plummeted feet first with a sudden cry of alarm.
He was aware of the cool rush of the air after the glasshouse humidity, and the sudden noise of traffic. He was falling belly first, spread-eagled. The great bauble of the Gastrodome accelerated towards him, its size increasing by the second. He steeled himself for the impact and when