Day of the Predator

CHAPTER 46

2001, New York

The alarm clock on the table between them was showing 11.45 p.m. Maddy noticed Sal’s eyes nervously glancing at it. ‘Fifteen minutes to go.’

‘I’m a bit scared,’ whispered Sal.

If Maddy was being honest, she would have admitted she was a little jittery too. Instead she smiled, reached across the table and grasped Sal’s arm. ‘It’s going to be fine, Sal. I promise.’

‘Maybe I should go get Foster’s gun from the back? You know? Just in case somebody unfriendly turns up.’

‘Really?’ Maddy cocked an eyebrow. ‘Do you think that’s going to be sensible? We might be answering the door to a backstreet full of very excitable armed men in suits and dark glasses.’

‘You think it’ll be like that?’

Maddy shrugged. ‘I really don’t know what’s going to happen, Sal

…’

If anything at all…

‘But,’ she continued, ‘if a whole bunch of secret service types turn up, we’re not going to achieve much standing there with one gun between us, are we? I’m sure they’ll come prepared, if you know what I mean?’

‘I guess so,’ muttered Sal, her head drooping down to the table, a fold of her dark hair flopping over darker eyes. ‘How come you’re so calm about this?’

Calm, am I? But then she realized she actually did feel calm… No, not calm… resigned… resigned to whatever history was rolling up through the aeons to meet them in a few minutes when the archway’s bubble reset. She’d figured this out yesterday while she was out there anxiously looking for Foster; there really was nothing much they could do other than wait and react to whatever turned up. Wait. That’s it. Wait until a ripple or a time wave arrived, or, as she hoped, a message. Then, and only then, could they do anything at all useful.

‘I’m calm, Sal… because, I dunno, because it’s not in our hands now. Because we have to just wait and see. No point worrying about what’s out of our hands.’

That sounded lame. But it was all she had right now.

‘But, if it’s bad guys, Maddy… if it’s bad guys who want to get their hands on the time machine, what are we going to do? We can’t just let them.’

‘I’ve got that covered.’

‘How?’

Maddy smiled. There was something she’d managed to get right. ‘I’ve instructed Bob to lock down the computer system if he hears me say a codeword out loud.’

‘Right.’ Sal nodded, silent for a moment. ‘But… but won’t they have computer experts who could hack their way in and, I dunno, deactivate that command or something?’

‘Maybe, eventually. That kind of hacking takes a lot of time. And they won’t have enough time to do that.’

‘Why?’

‘Because he’s under orders to trash absolutely everything if he doesn’t hear from me again.’

‘Huh?’

‘If he doesn’t get a second password from me within six hours, he’s under instructions to go completely mad and wipe the hard drives clean and send a power surge through the displacement machinery’s circuits and fry them. There’ll be nothing left but frazzled silicon and garbage-filled drives if they try anything funny with us, Sal.’

Sal nodded, regarding Maddy with renewed respect. ‘Oh jahulla, that’s clever, Maddy.’

Maddy shrugged. ‘I saw it in a film once. It worked in that — don’t see why it shouldn’t work for us.’

‘You’re a good planner,’ said Sal. ‘I know you think you’re a bit rubbish, and I know you blame yourself for the explosion… but I don’t know anyone else who could have picked up all that you have so quickly.’ She glanced away from Maddy, self-conscious, flicking her fringe behind one ear. ‘I’m just saying, that’s all… you’re pretty good at this.’

‘Thanks, Sal.’

They watched another minute vanish on the clock.

‘We’ll see soon enough. If it’s bad guys out there and they really want to get their grubby paws on our tech, then they’re going to need us, aren’t they?’ Maddy took a deep breath, feeling the tickling sensation of growing anxiety claw its way up her spine as the clock flickered to 11.47 p.m. ‘And they’re freakin’ well going to have to be real nice about it too.’