'Perhaps you have been slow in listening. God has created each of us with a very special purpose in mind.'
'Allah says, in the Qur'an, 'Did you then think that we had created you in jest, without any purpose, and that you would not be brought back to us – in the hereafter?'' said Cortez.
'Hey what did I do to piss you off?' said Linda. 'What is this, some kind of religious pincer movement you've got me in?' She slapped Greaves leg. 'C'mon science boy help me out here. Don't you believe life is just one random great interaction of particles or something? Isn't the whole universe just one wild roll of the dice?'
'Don't drag me into your pointless arguments. And for your information, it was Einstein who said 'I cannot believe that God would choose to play dice with the Universe', so you're wrong there too.'
'Is Einstein one of your prophets?' said Anna.
'What?' said Greaves. 'No, he wasn't a prophet. He was a man of science. Possibly the greatest theoretical thinker of his day. Although it has to be said that his general theory of relativity and his famous equation, E=MC^2, did not predict fundamental particle masses, however…'
'He speaks like a prophet,' said Anna cutting him off.
Linda laughed. 'She's got you there sport, there's no avoiding that.'
'I'm not avoiding anything,' said Greaves, getting a little irritable. 'You're the one doing that, trying to make me the scapegoat of this conversation. And if you want to avoid that landslide up ahead you better go off-road here.'
Greaves was right. The road ahead was blocked with rocks and shale.
'Left or right?' said Linda.
'Right.'
For the next twenty minutes he guided them through a nightmare environment. The whole terrain had been torn apart by earthquakes and subsidence. The temperature continued to rise and Linda feared for Bertha's tires. Eventually they came to a tiny pass between two mountains.
'You expect me to take Bertha through there?' said Linda. 'You gotta be kidding me.'
'You want maybe we should park her up and walk then?' Greaves said. 'In this terrain, in this temperature? It gets safer up ahead, I promise you.'
'Okay,' said Linda, slowly navigating the pass. 'It better.'
It didn't. The pass was bumpy going and there was little room for manoeuvre. It was only just wide enough for Bertha to fit through. The heat was becoming intolerable, it came at them in waves. There was a roaring sound up ahead.
'What is that noise?' Linda said.
'There's a major lava flow just ahead of us,' said Greaves. 'It's where the old river used to be. I'm afraid we've got to cross it.'
'I thought you said things get better up ahead.'
'They do… eventually.'
Just as he said that there was a sudden earth tremor. It shook Bertha, causing all the crockery in her kitchen cupboards to shake loose and crash to the floor.
They weren't the only things shaken loose. Several large rocks came bounding down the mountain to their left. Linda swerved to avoid one of them then slammed on the brakes as another rolled right past Bertha's bonnet. Before Linda could start her up a third rock smacked right into their side.
Bertha tilted with the impact. Anna screamed as she was sent flying. Linda punched Greaves on the shoulder.
He cried out. 'What was that for?'
'For hurting my baby!'
'I didn't know this was going to happen, I swear. There's a natural bridge over the lava just up ahead. It's not very wide but it's the only way across. Once we're over that we're onto a natural plateau. It will be safer there. That's where the lab is.'
Linda wasn't impressed. 'You've said that before, and look what happened.'
She steered Bertha round the obstacles as best she could. After a little while the bridge Greaves mentioned came into view and it was even smaller than the pass, a tiny rocky outcrop that connected the pass with the plateau beyond. Bertha would only just fit across it. There wouldn't be any margin for error.
As they came to the end of the pass another tremor hit. Linda hung on to the steering wheel to keep from falling out of her seat. The rumbling stopped. It was followed by a rattling cascade. Greaves looked out of the passenger window. 'Rock slide,' he said. 'On the other side. Drive, quickly!'
Linda kicked it up a gear and sped along the little bridge. It was like driving through an oven. Either side of them was a huge drop into a river of molten lava. The rock slide chased them along the bridge. They could hear it rattling along behind them at first, then it caught up and Bertha began to lose traction on her back tires, slowing as the rock slide engulfed her. Her underside clattered and clanged with the debris that rattled around her. They reached the front wheels and Linda lost control.
They were carried along by the movement of the rocks for a few feet as Linda fought to regain control. Bertha veered dangerously to the right. Linda twisted the wheel as far to the left as she could, but she didn't have any grip.
Bertha's front wheels left the edge of the bridge and spun madly in mid air. The front end tilted forwards and the molten lava below swung into view. Linda's stomach turned over with sheer fright. The heat was so intense she let go of the steering wheel.
The rockslide kept on coming, it spilled over the edge of the bridge and dissolved as it hit the lava below. Linda had never seen something as solid as rock actually dissolve before. Anna started praying at the top of her voice as Bertha teetered. One more surge from the rocks and she would be gone and all of them with her.
Cortez grabbed Greaves and Anna and ran towards the back of Bertha. The vehicle rocked backwards and straightened up. Linda slammed the gear stick into reverse and hit the accelerator. The back wheels caught a tiny bit of traction and moved Bertha back a few inches. Not enough to put her front wheels back on the bridge however.
'Quick,' said Linda. 'You've got to get out.'
Greaves tried the door but couldn't open it. 'It's jammed shut. Must have been the rock that hit us.'
Cortez put his shoulder to it and pushed but the door didn't move.
'Pop the back window,' said Linda. 'You can crawl out of that.'
Another wave of rocks inched them further over the edge. Linda revved as hard as she could to stop them falling.
'Hurry,' she said. 'I can only buy you a few seconds, even with my foot to the floor.'
'But that means you'll…' Anna couldn't finish the sentence.
'Go,' said Linda as Greaves and Cortez pushed the back window out.
'I can't leave you,' said Anna. 'Not like this. You've got to come.'
Rocks were surging all around them pushing the vehicle further and further forward.
'We'll all die if I come. Besides, a captain always goes down with her… erm, ship.'
'You can't!' said Anna, trying to wriggle free of Greaves and Cortez as they pulled her back towards the window.
'You ever think that maybe this is God's purpose for me? Don't fuck with the master plan. Go build your new Eden and build me a big statue. Git.'
Greaves and Cortez manhandled Anna out of the window. Bertha lost traction on her back wheels and started to rock again as Greaves and Cortez jumped clear.
Linda took her foot off the peddle and turned to look back. For a split second she thought about running for it, but she realised she'd never make it. Time seemed to slow down as her heartbeat sped up. Everything moved in slow motion.
So much for no-one to hold me back or rely on me, she thought. What was that Cortez had quoted from the Qur'an? 'Did you then think that we had created you in jest?'
'No,' Linda muttered to herself. 'But you sure have a sick sense of humour you old bastard.'
Bertha began to topple. Linda patted her dashboard. 'Okay sweetheart. It's just you, me and the open highway to Hell.'
