"Ready to detonate the charges," said Winston.
Cheval, in the pilot's seat, looked around at Andrew in the co-pilot's seat. "We ready?" he asked.
"As I'll ever be, I suppose," Andrew replied, although he didn't sound convinced.
Winston grinned in a way that Andrew didn't find at all reassuring. "Don't be so worried," he said. "There's a big hole in the building over our heads. If the building collapses, we'll be trapped by rubble all around us but there won't be much on top of us. We just wait for rescue. Play a few hands of poker while we contemplate the mysteries of existence."
"Thanks," Andrew replied. "I feel much better now."
Cheval kept looking at them, waiting for one of them to give a reason why they shouldn't proceed with their escape plan. "Okay," he said at last. "Detonate."
Winston pressed the button on the small device he was holding. The floor shook under them and through the cockpit window they saw the wall ahead of them exploding into shards of rubble and ice. Andrew winced as several fragments hit the windscreen and bounced off without leaving a mark. There were no clouds of dust. In the vacuum even the smallest fragments of debris fell like bricks to leave the air clear, their vision unobstructed, and when the fragments had stopped settling they saw a ramp ahead of them leading up to the surface.
"Drive," said Cheval.
Andrew nodded and stepped on the accelerator. The two front wheels, the only ones in contact with the ground, turned and the rover shuddered as its belly was dragged over the mound of ice under it. It dropped suddenly to the left, bringing the other two wheels on that side, including the one on the newly repaired leg, down hard onto the ground with a heavy thump. Andrew looked at the image of the leg on one of the cockpit monitor screens, fed by a small camera they'd mounted on the side of the hull. The leg looked okay. The repair was holding firm. He allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.
A moment later the rover shuddered again as the last two weeks dropped onto the ground, and then they were climbing the ramp. Their progress was intermittent as rubble was pushed backwards under them by the spinning wheels, but metre by metre they climbed their way up until the cockpit rose above ground level and they were greeted by the sight of the frozen city, its tallest buildings looking like pieces on a chessboard as they rose above the ice that covered everything else.
The belly of the rover scraped against the ice again as they struggled over the edge of the hole, but then the rover's nose tilted forward, bringing them level again as the front wheels dropped to the ice, and then they were driving. On solid ice once more, all six wheels in contact with the ground.
"Just get us out of the city by the shortest possible route," said Cheval. "We'll circle around the city to pick up his trail."
"Which is what we should have done in the first place," said Winston.
"Easy to be wise after the event," said Cheval harshly. "Birch, how's the rover?"
"I'd like to stop to perform another inspection."
"No time. What does the status board say?" He could see it as well as Andrew, though, and he was already leaning across to study it. There were only two red lights remaining, both concerning the wheel whose leg they'd repaired. There were still an alarming number of yellow lights, but one of them turned green as automatic systems made their own adjustments. The other yellow lights all belonged to minor systems and the Sergeant nodded with satisfaction.
"We still need to spray insulating foam on the underside of the belly," Andrew pointed out.
"There's nothing but vacuum under us now," said Cheval, though. "The best insulator there is. We'll be okay. Are you able to drive the rover and re-acquire Fox's trail?"
"Yes," said Andrew, trying to make himself sound doubtful. Secretly he was surprised and delighted by how little damage the rover had taken in the fall, but he wouldn't let the others know that. It might encourage them to take more liberties with his home. As it was, though, the rover could still make its way anywhere in the world and all the hurts it had suffered could be fixed in a couple of weeks in a city garage. Repairs that the city would pay for.
"Good," said Cheval. "Then the rest of us will retire to the command post and try to see how far ahead of us Fox is now."
He rose from his chair, and the two constables preceded him to the ladder to the upper deck leaving Andrew alone to try to pick his way past the remaining buildings of the city, hidden under the ice. Every one a potential trap, and next time the damage they suffered might be far worse.
☆☆☆
The city didn't have an 'edge' as such, but Andrew took them back to where there were no more tall buildings standing above the ice, and then went a little further, just to be safe. Then he turned east and drove around the city in a wide circle. He suspected that they were driving across several buildings even so, but the ice above them was thick and strong. They wouldn't have fallen into the library if Fox hadn't used explosives to break it up. Whatever the reason, they made their way to the south of the city without incident and picked up Fox's trail two hours later. He turned to follow it, then used the intercom to inform the policemen.
Cheval appeared in the cockpit almost immediately. He sat in the co-pilot's chair and stared out through the window at the tracks leading away from them in the ice. "We estimate we're back to being twelve hours behind him," he muttered sullenly. "We've lost all the ground we gained since Kartoshka."
"We're still twelve hundred kilometres from Etna," said Andrew. "If that's where he's going. And he has to find his way through the Alps. He's not going to want to risk running into a dead end now that he's got this kind of lead on us, so he'll want to use a pass that he can be confident will take him all the way through. The biggest, straightest pass there is." He pointed to the map on one of the cockpit screens. "I'm betting he'll take the Huebenweg pass. And if we know that, we can have the other rovers cut him off at the other end, if they can get there in time."
Cheval grinned with amusement. "You've thought this through, haven't you? Maybe I was wrong not to trust you. If only some of your comments hadn't been so... Questionable."
"If I was a Remainer, wouldn't I have been more careful what I said?"
"Unless that's what you wanted us to think." He eyed Andrew suspiciously.
Andrew let it pass. "Can the other rovers get there in time?" he asked.
"Yes," Cheval replied. "If we can be sure that that's the path he'll be using. He may think it's too obvious. There are other passes, after all."
"Passes that might be blocked by ice falls and pressure ridges, or booby trapped by the people of New Rome. We know they barricaded all the passes to keep the mobs from using them to approach their city. Does he want to run the risk of running into an automated sentry system, somehow still active after all these years?"
Cheval looked thoughtful. All twelve of the underground cities had used automatic defence systems of one kind or another, including New London. They were atomic powered, which meant they could warm themselves and remain operational no matter how cold the surface became, and some of them fired laser beams, which meant they would never run out of ammunition. It was assumed that the mobs that had overrun the underground city had destroyed all these automated defence, but it was always possible that they'd overlooked one in one of the narrower, lesser used passes.
"He has the codes to deactivate them, just like we have," Cheval pointed out. He looked thoughtful. "I wonder if he has the technical knowledge to change their control codes and then turn them on again after he's passed? That would be a reason for him to use one of the smaller passes."
Andrew shook his head, though. "The chances of finding the pass blocked by an ice fall would be a lot higher than the chance of finding a somehow still operating automatic sentry. No, he'll be taking Huebenweg pass. I'm certain of it."
"That would make sense," said Cheval. "If he thinks that he has a good enough lead over us. If he thinks he can evade the other rovers. If he thinks that all he has to do now is race us to Mt Etna. If all those things are true then that's probably the pass he'll take." He rose from the chair. "I'm going to consult with the other rovers, and the city. See what they think." He left the cockpit, closing the door behind him.
Alone once again, Andrew spent some time studying the rover's systems and running diagnostic programs to make sure the vehicle was healthy. Then, when he was finally satisfied he activated the rover's communications systems and made a call to his wife. Her face appeared on the monitor screen almost immediately. "Andy!" she cried in delight. "Did you get out all right?"
"It all went perfectly," Andrew replied. He'd been calling her regularly, keeping her updated on their progress. She'd been concerned when he told her they'd fallen into an ice covered building, but not too worried. She knew the capabilities of the rover as well as he did. "We're back on our way. I wish you could see the Alps. They're beautiful!"
"I've seen the pictures you sent back."
"It's not the same. When this is all over and we're finished at the dig site, I think we deserve a holiday. We'll come back, take a real look. All five of us."
"That sounds wonderful. The kids miss you. They're looking forward to seeing you again."
"How are they doing?"
"Fine, just fine. Philip and Joe have returned to the city. With no more dysprosium to mine they saw no point in staying. The others can harvest the biological samples without them."
Andrew nodded. "I expect Jas was glad to see him again."
"They're hardly apart," Susan replied. "She's crooning over him, trying to console him for his ordeal, being tied up by Fox. He's being macho about it, though, as you'd expect. Keeps saying it was no big deal. Just embassassing." She frowned. "The thing is, Philip's saying exactly the same thing, You'd think a father would be more upset about something like that happening to his son."
"I'm sure he loves him just as much as we love our kids," replied Andrew. "He just has a different way of showing it."
"If he doesn't, Jas's giving him enough sympathy for the both of them."
"I hope you're keeping an eye on them. I'm not ready to be a grandparent."
"Andy, she's only sixteen! And he's only a year older."
"That's what I mean. I remember what I was like when I was seventeen. I'm sure he's a fine chap but I don't trust her with my daughter's virtue. And young people spend so much time with no clothes on."
"You watch too many old movies. Before The Freeze, when they lived on the surface, it was often cold, windy, raining. Wearing clothes all the time was necessary for protection from the elements, but now we live our whole lives in a controlled environment where it's always warm. If you've got a young, beautiful body, why wear clothes? It's only old people who wear clothes, to hide their saggy, wrinkly bodies." She smiled ruefully. "Like we'll be before long."
"And everyone comments on how good looking Jas is."
"Which is good, right?" said Susan pointedly. "And even if they are getting a little too friendly with each other, there are half a dozen ways of controlling fertility available from any wall dispenser."
"I favour the method where they keep their clothes on and keep their hands off each other."
Susan laughed. "Oh Andy, they're only sixteen once. Let them have their youth. I'm sure you had your conquests when you were Joe's age. I know I certainly did."
"Changing the subject rapidly!" said Andrew. "How are Davey and Jim?"
"They're fine too. Settling back in at school as if they'd never left. Catching up with all their friends, but at the same time they can't wait to be back out there with you. You know how they are..."
The cockpit door burst open and Windsor was there. "There's been a development," he said, his face anxious and grim. He noticed Susan's face on the monitor screen and nodded to it, acknowledging her presence. She nodded back, then gave her husband an anxious, questioning look.
"Sorry to interrupt..." Windsor added.
"No, that's okay," Andrew replied. "What's happened?"
"Can you come back to the living room?"
Andrew nodded. "I'll have to get back to you," he said to his wife. "Sorry."
"No worries. I'll give your love to the children."
"And keep some for yourself." They blew kisses at each other and Andrew cut the connection.
"So," Andrew repeated as he rose from his seat. He gave the instrument panel one last glance to make sure the rover would be okay driving itself for a while, then stepped sideways into the aisle. "What happened?"
"It's the other rovers," Windsor replied as he led the way aft. "The Sergeant'll tell you.
Cheval was sitting in the chair that Andrew normally sat in and Windsor plopped himself down in Susan's chair. There was a man's face on the wide, wall mounted television screen with the back of a rover's cockpit behind him. "We've got him under restraints," the man was saying, looking grim. Andrew recognised him as Paul Finch, the Sergeant in charge of rover seventeen. One of the two rovers heading south east from New London to cut off Reginald Fox before he could reach Mt Etna.
"We're looking to see if there's a place somewhere we can turn into a makeshift prison cell," Condor continued. "We're probably going to end up just leaving him tied up in the living room, though."
"You caught Fox?" said Andrew in astonishment. But if that was the case, why was everyone so tense and upset?
"No," replied Cheval. "They caught Lavendel. One of the constables aboard rover seventeen."
"Rovers seventeen and eighteen were driving in convoy," added Windsor. "So they could support each other. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
They all looked up at the face on the screen, who looked annoyed at having to repeat everything he'd said just moments before. "Lavendel asked permission to go across to rover eighteen," he said. "He said there might be a problem with seventeen's navigation systems, but he wasn't familiar enough with them to know for sure. He wanted to compare them with eighteen's systems. In hindsight it seems such an obviously fake excuse. We should have smelled a rat."
"He sabotaged both rovers," said Cheval. "Planted explosive charges in their cockpits. Blew the fronts off both rovers, just like Kartoshka tried to do to ours. The crews are safe enough. The rovers can keep them alive until rescue gets to them, but they're going nowhere." He gave Andrew a weary look.
"He was another remainer," said Winston, looking stunned. "A bloody remainer. I've known the man for twenty years and I never suspected."
"So it's all down to us now," said Andrew, looking from one man to another as if accusing them of playing some kind of practical joke on him.
They weren't laughing, though. "Yes," said Cheval, fixing him with his eyes and looking serious as if he was guessing his thoughts. "It's all up to us now."