They closed the door, but it had no lock.
‘How are we going to stop the marines from following us?’ Essie asked.
‘Wedge the chair under the door handle,’ Pod suggested.
‘The handle’s too high,’ Will said.
‘Let’s try this,’ Pod said. ‘Lean against the door in case they try to come in.’
The girls leaned against the door while Pod fought to extract a long strip of metal that held the chair’s back support to the seat.
The handle turned. The girls pushed back. ‘We can’t hold it!’ Essie cried.
Will threw his weight against the door while Pod struggled to free the piece of metal. The marines pushed from the other side.
‘Hurry!’ Will shouted.
Pod got the metal loose and shoved it into the gap, slamming it in as hard as he could to wedge the door shut.
‘That’s the best I can do,’ he gasped. ‘Let’s go!’
Pod, Will, Annalie and Essie each took a hold of Spinner and started to struggle up the concrete stairs with him, Blossom and Graham racing ahead. It was hard going and they could hear the marines slamming into the door down below. They were a long way underground; the ascent seemed endless, up flight after flight of stairs. Spinner was not a big man, but he was not easy to carry, especially in a confined space.
At last they heard a distant crash from below as the door gave way and slammed open. ‘They’re through,’ Essie said.
‘Hurry,’ Will said, although none of them could really go any faster than they already were.
And then all of a sudden, they ran into something. It was another door. Pod pushed it open and they burst out into the biting cold of the desert night, looking around to get their bearings.
‘We’ve got to keep going,’ Will said.
‘But where?’ asked Pod.
They looked for a place to hide, but the desert was open and empty. The concrete curves of the Ark rose up several hundred metres away.
‘Back to the Ark?’ Annalie suggested.
‘They’ll catch us,’ Will said.
‘Sola was going to get help. We need to find her,’ Annalie said.
Spinner spoke. He was conscious again. ‘You need to leave me here and save yourselves,’ he said. His breathing sounded laboured.
Graham let out a shriek of protest.
‘You’re kidding, right?’ Will said. ‘We didn’t come all this way to leave you in the stupid desert at the last minute.’ He looked around, and his sharp eyes discovered some interesting shapes in the shadow of the Ark that had not been there earlier. ‘What are those things?’
They helped Spinner up, his arms slung across Will’s and Pod’s shoulders, and staggered on across the sand.
As they got closer to the clustered shapes, Will realised what they were. ‘They’re all-terrain vehicles,’ he said. ‘This must be how the marines got here—they landed these off the ship and drove here. You reckon they left the keys in them?’
‘No,’ Annalie said. ‘I don’t.’
‘It’s worth a look, right?’
‘Are you crazy?’
‘Have you got a better idea?’
Will clambered into the driver’s seat. ‘Now, how do you suppose you start this thing?’
‘Let me,’ Spinner wheezed.
Pod helped him into the front seat beside Will. Spinner reached under the console, fiddled about a bit, and suddenly the engine started with a smooth click.
‘Okay, everybody!’ Will said. ‘Get in!’
‘You don’t know how to drive!’ Annalie said.
‘How hard can it be?’ Will said.
They all squeezed in, and as the last door slammed shut, Will set the vehicle in motion. It jerked, surged, roared, paused, then began to move.
‘Cool!’ Will hooted. ‘Let’s see what this thing can do!’
He turned the vehicle around and started following the trail the marines had made on their way in, hiding their tyre tracks in the old ones.
‘Can you see anyone coming after us?’ he asked.
‘Not yet,’ Essie reported, watching out the back.
Beyond the Ark, the dunes began to rise and fall. The little vehicle churned through the sand, going as fast as Will could make it go.
‘Do you think Sola’s going to be okay?’ Annalie asked. She felt bad about leaving her behind.
‘The Sundians’ll look after her,’ Will said. ‘She’s one of them.’
‘That was undoubtedly an illegal operation,’ Spinner said, with effort. ‘Beckett and his men would have been hoping to get in, grab us all and get out before the Sundians realised they were there. Now the alarm’s been raised, they won’t want to stick around. If I know Sola, she’s lying low until they’re gone.’
Annalie hoped he was right.
‘Spinner stop talking,’ Graham rasped. ‘Spinner rest.’
‘How are you feeling, Spinner?’ Essie asked.
‘I’ve felt better.’
‘Spinner need doctor,’ Graham said.
‘No time for that,’ he said. ‘Just get me to the Sunfish and I’ll be fine.’
Annalie and Essie gave each other worried looks, but said nothing.
Pod was looking out the back window. He saw another shape come surging over the dunes. ‘They’re coming!’ he warned.
‘How many?’ asked Will.
Pod waited for a moment, but no other vehicles followed. ‘I think it’s just one.’
‘You think we can outrun them?’ asked Annalie.
‘We can try,’ said Will.
He floored the accelerator, but the vehicle was already going as fast as it could. They roared up dunes, sometimes sailing right off the crests.
‘If we crash, they’ll definitely catch us,’ Annalie warned him.
‘Did we lose them yet?’ Will asked.
‘Nope,’ said Pod.
The desert was very dark. The moon was not yet up and neither of the vehicles had their lights on. Nevertheless, they could see that the other vehicle was beginning to catch up with them.
‘How are they going faster than us?’ Will said in frustration. ‘There’s got to be a way to make this thing go faster. Spinner, how can I make it go faster?’
Spinner peeled an eye open. ‘This is all she’s got,’ he said.
‘Will,’ Annalie said suddenly. ‘Remember the canyon?’
‘How could I forget?’ Will said, but even as he was speaking he realised what she was suggesting. ‘Are we heading in the right direction?’
Annalie checked the compass and made a slight correction to their heading.
‘I hope this works,’ Will said. ‘Tell me when you see it.’
Will kept driving,
