Singapore Sling Shot - Andrew Grant [48]
“I’m across the water in the middle of the container farm. I’m aiming for those blocks of flats on the skyline.”
“We’re not far away. Let me find out what they are and I’ll get back to you.”
Goliath was on the move, heading back my way. I checked out the next side alley for little brother and got out of the way. The huge tyres rolled past me and the way forward was clear again. I started off once more. I could see the end of the containers ahead of me. There was a road or roads, and trucks were rolling across the face of the container alleyway.
“Spottiswood Park is what you can see. The railway station is between you and it. There is a road on the park side of the lines. We’ll wait for you there.”
“Affirmative,” I replied and carried on. I no longer felt hypothermic. My suit was almost dry and the activity had warmed me up again. I just felt completely shagged and that tiredness almost caused me to step under the wheels of yet another of the smaller straddle carriers. Small, in this case, was a relative term. The little guys were still enormous, it’s just that when compared to Goliath, they seemed much smaller.
Whatever, I was close to the end of the alleyway when the green machine came zipping out of a side alley. I stumbled and almost fell under its rear wheels as it charged on by.
At the end of the rows of containers at last, I huddled in the shadows and tried to take it all in. There was a wide strip of concrete that ran off in both directions. Vehicles were moving on it. To my left was what appeared to be an office complex. There was an access gate complete with gatehouse to my right. The gatehouse was occupied. I could see just one man inside.
As I watched, a utility, maybe the same one I had seen earlier, rolled up to the gate and stopped. The gate man came out, exchanged words with the men in the truck, then, laughing at something one of the occupants had obviously said to him, went back into his office to open the gate. The utility drove off, turning onto the highway beyond as the electronic gate swung shut. I couldn’t figure out if the road outside was part of the container complex or of the outside world. There didn’t appear to be any other traffic on it but for the departing Toyota. It was almost 05:00. Perhaps, if it were a regular highway, then this morning at least Singapore was a late riser.
So, should I try and climb what I figured was the perimeter fence, which was at least four metres tall and had the standard angled top covered with razor wire? Or should I go out through the gate? There would probably be alarm sensors on the wire. Maybe it was electrified as well. As I pondered, my answer came in the form of a truck and trailer unit.
There was a container on both the truck deck and the trailer. The driver turned in towards the gatehouse. Now I could see there were cameras covering the gate and, yes, they were angled along the fences. I was going to be on video and if there actually was an eagle-eyed soul watching a monitor somewhere, I was going to be seen. Again it was a calculated risk. Watching monitors is a pain and generally those charged with doing so get bored shitless and find other distractions. If the monitor for the cameras I could see was in the gatehouse, then the newly arrived truck was probably distracting the man inside. I hoped that was true in this case.
The truck driver went to the gatehouse carrying a clipboard. It was my time to go. I stood and crouched like a half-folded pocket knife, then sprinted for the trailer unit. I didn’t hesitate, but slid under it. There were enough cross members under there to hang on to. I lay on the concrete panting and waited, praying there were no alarm bells going off somewhere.
There was