Infinity Beach - Jack McDevitt [159]
Nevertheless the creature was going to kill her, and there didn’t seem to be much she could do about it.
The string of lights started to go out, front to rear. The train was entering the Culbertson Tunnel.
She watched until it was gone. “Air Rescue, how long is the Culbertson?”
“Twenty-six kilometers, Kim. Why do you ask?”
She’d been through it, and she tried to visualize the interior of the tunnel. But all she could remember was that it had been too dark to see anything.
She looked up the train schedules for Eagle Point. There were a half dozen commuters daily and eight long-distance passenger carriers. Freights were more numerous, but the schedules less exact. Three-oh-four was due shortly from Worldend, on the west coast. A freight. This one would be carrying flyers, furniture, building materials. Nine cars. Fully automated. No people on board. Scheduled to arrive in twenty minutes.
She opened her channel to Air Rescue. “Can you check to see whether 304 is running today and whether it’s on schedule?”
“Sure.” He paused. “Why?”
“Just do it for me. I’ll explain later.”
She brought up a map of the maglev routes. The freight would be coming in on the western line. Through the Culbertson. Its normal speed through open country approached 400 kilometers per hour. But it would slow down to 220 for the run under the mountain.
“That’s affirmative on the train, Kim,” said Air Rescue. “They’re coming and they’re on time.”
“To the second?”
“What do you mean?”
She told him what she wanted to do. He caught his breath. She couldn’t do that. Too dangerous. It wouldn’t be permitted. His instructions were that she was simply to keep running until they could bring down the shroud.
“That’s not going to work. Lasers aren’t going to kill it and I’m running out of power and I’ll be a sitting duck for it on the ground.”
“Why is it after you?”
“It doesn’t like my political views.” Kim glared at the radio. “I don’t know.” Several sets of lights had appeared in the sky. “Your people are here,” she said.
“Okay. Just keep moving.”
She counted four more police cruisers. This time they kept their distance, firing from long range, moving away when it veered after one or another of the units. She admired the coordination of the attackers, who kept hitting it from different angles. Nevertheless, the shroud did not seem to be suffering grievous damage.
Kim banked the flyer and made for the tunnel.
Behind her the red and white beams of the lasers flashed like sabers. Then her angle changed and she couldn’t see it anymore.
She was riding through the night when the sky behind her lit up.
The Air Rescue channel had been silent for several minutes. Now her contact came back up: “Okay, Kim, looks like you were right. We’re going to try something else.”
“What?”
“We’re going to attempt a midair extraction. It’ll be quicker than setting down.”
She looked at the forest below. “No,” she said.
“It’s perfectly safe.”
Her stomach turned over at the prospect. “I’m sure it is. But it’s after me. Not the aircraft. It won’t do any good to move me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Look, can we discuss this later?”
“I’m sorry. I know things are a little tense.”
“I’d be inclined to agree with that.”
“We’ve just never seen anything like this before.”
“Not covered by the operating instructions, I take it.”
“Look, Kim. We’re doing the best we can.”
“Yeah.” She softened her voice. “I know. But I’m going to do the tunnel.”
“We don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Offer me a better one.”
The talker on the other end was silent.
“I need you to help,” she said.
“Wait one.”
“Make it quick. Time’s getting short.”
She saw the southern route as she passed over it, the one used by trains traveling between Eagle Point and Terminal City. It consisted of a magnetized band about as