‘That’s what she said.’ Judd cracks a grin as he focuses on the Air-Crane hovering over the pit. ‘So I guess we can confirm La Brea is the target.’
Corey pulls the Loach into a hover then turns to the astronaut. ‘So, what’s the call?’
Judd looks at him — and his hands go Rubik.
Corey can’t believe it. ‘You only do that when you don’t have an idea! Don’t tell me you don’t have an idea!’
‘No, I do it when I’m thinking.’
‘Thinking was for earlier. This is happening now.’’
Judd knows he’s right. This is exactly what happened at the Imax Theatre, when he couldn’t save himself or his friends. This is a moment when he needs to rise to the occasion and be the man everyone thinks he is — and yet he can’t even come up with one goddamn idea. He realises saving Atlantis was just a fluke—
Wait.
Saving Atlantis.
Where was he when he realised he needed to save that shuttle? He was sitting in a Loach exactly like this, with the same Australian beside him. That’s all he had then and that’s all he has now — so he can do it again. He just needs to use what he’s got and remember what he knows.
Use what you’ve got and remember what you know.
Ding!
It’s like a light bulb going off. He turns to Corey. ‘I have a plan I think might work.’
‘Might?’
‘It could also end badly, but let’s stay positive.’ Judd forces a grin.
Corey looks at him like he doesn’t want to ask. ‘What is it?’
‘We let them know we’re here.’
Corey takes a second, then understands what he means them to do. ‘Jesus wept. Really?’
Judd nods. ‘Fair dinkum.’ Then he thinks about it. ‘Did I use it right?’
Corey nods, and they share a smile, then: ‘Righto, let’s do this.’
‘You sure?’
‘Not at all. But we should give it a go anyway.’
The Australian grins his crooked grin then sends the Loach straight up. Fast. It punches through the blanket of smoke and bursts into clear air above. Corey slows the descent then pulls the little chopper into a hover. ‘That should do it.’
From the Tyrannosaur’s rear cabin Bunsen sees the Loach. Stunned, he barks into his headset’s microphone: ‘The yellow chopper is right behind us! Turn left. Now!’
‘Will do.’ Enrico pulls on the controls and the Tyrannosaur swings around.
‘That’s it!’ The Tyrannosaur stops turning as Bunsen pushes the rear cabin door open, aims the SAM out at the Loach and pulls the trigger. ‘This ends now.’
The missile blasts away from the rear of the Air-Crane and hisses directly towards the Loach.
Judd picks it up first. ‘Missile!’
Then Corey sees it too. ‘Got it!’
It’s upon them very quickly.
‘Hold on!’ Corey guns the turbine and yanks the Loach into a steep right turn, ploughs into the smoke.
‘Yahh!’ Judd is flung to the side, grabs his seat and the doorframe with a tortured grimace.
Corey glances in his side-view mirror but can’t see the rocket. He shouts into his headset: ‘Tell me where it is!’
Judd cranes his neck to look back through the open doorway. He can’t get into the right position so he unbuckles his seatbelt and tries again, sees the missile hissing behind them. ‘It’s — oh Christ, it’s right behind us. And I mean right behind.’
‘Good.’
‘This’d be fun if I didn’t think we were about to die.’
‘Hold on!’ Turbine screaming, rotors throbbing, Corey tightens the Loach’s turn.
‘Oh — man.’ The g-forces go to work on Judd, squeeze him back into his seat. The last time he felt anything this severe was during a shuttle launch. It’s difficult to breathe, even harder to talk.
Corey caresses the controls and tightens the turn again. ‘Where is it?’
Judd cranes his neck against the g-force, again sees the missile hissing behind them. ‘Same as usual — except closer.’
Rotors thumping, Corey tightens the Loach’s turn a little more.
The chopper’s tilted at such a steep angle that Judd can see nothing but the black oil lake rush past the pilot’s open door. ‘How — much — longer?’
‘Almost — there.’ Corey yanks the Loach out of the turn.
Hovering within the fog directly in front of them is the Air-Crane.
Corey smiles. ‘And there it is.’ The little chopper has pulled a giant arc. He eases the Loach up and over the giant black chopper with a foot to spare.
Ka-boom! The missile slams into the Air-Crane’s tail rotor and vaporises the rear section of the chopper.
45
‘We’re going down!’
Enrico fights the Tyrannosaur’s controls but there’s nothing he can do to stop it. Without a tail rotor the giant helicopter twists into a wild spiral.
Whump, whump, whump. Bunsen holds on for dear life as the burning chopper whips around and around, faster and faster. He leans back into the cockpit, reaches across to the central panel and flicks a switch—
Clank. The Item is released from the Tyrannosaur’s cradle and flies free, cartwheels across the sky—
Slam. It lands at the very edge of the tar pit, bounces high then smashes through the safety railing and lands on the grass by the side of the walkway.
Whump, whump, whump. The Tyrannosaur spins violently. Metal bends and tears as the rotor blades shatter in a blizzard of fibre-plastic. Bunsen glances into the cockpit. Enrico is dead, a shard of a shattered rotor blade embedded in his throat.
Whump, whump, whump. Bunsen turns to Kilroy, both terrified beyond measure. Their eyes meet.
Time slows.
A poignant moment passes between them, imbued with a bond of shared affection, for the years when they only had each other.
Time speeds up.
The left side of the cabin rips away and the old man is ejected from the spinning chopper. Bunsen screams after him, horrified: ‘No-!’
Boom! The burning Tyrannosaur smashes into the tar pit, sends out a giant wave of oil.
Judd stares down at the flaming wreck of the Air-Crane as a wide patch of the oil ignites around it. He studies what remains of the chopper, can find no pity in his heart for the men aboard. The astronaut turns and takes in the bomb, which has come to rest on the grass by the side of the paved walkway. ‘We have to get it out of here now.’
Corey turns to him. ‘But he had a detonator. If he’s dead or unconscious he can’t trigger it.’
‘It could be on a timer.’
Corey takes this in with a nod. ‘Of course. You got a plan?’
Judd’s eyes flick around the Loach’s cabin, sees the rope wound around the winch nestled between the two front seats.
Use what you’ve got and remember what you know.
‘Get me to that bomb and I’ll tell you all about it.’
Handlebar ribbons fluttering, Lola rides the pink dragster like it’s Seabiscuit. She looks up, bleakly registers the plume of black smoke that arches into the sky above the tar pits. She ups her pace and turns to Spike, who runs beside her. ‘Come on, boy.’
Judd finishes tying the frayed end of the rope onto a hook as Corey stares at him, appalled. ‘It’s not a fantastic plan, mate.’