none of the Survivors he’d met gave him that feeling. They were all dedicated to cult life and so obsessed with devils and the Ark that he didn’t care for any of them. It had been impossible to make an emotional connection with a bunch of people who only smiled when they were supposed to.
Dana looked miserable at the way things had panned out.
‘You OK?’ James asked.
‘What do you think?’ Dana asked bitterly. ‘I never get any of the breaks on my missions. I’m gonna retire in a grey shirt.’
Abigail spoke. ‘That’s the wrong attitude, Dana. We’re all part of a team.’
Dana bit her head off. ‘Spare me the patronising crap, Abigail.’
Lauren looked back over her shoulder. ‘Me and James did ask, but Ween acted really strict. She said they’ve chosen a different path for you, or something.’
‘Whatever,’ Dana said miserably. ‘I expect they’ve got me marked down for an epic career in dishwashing.’
‘You never know,’ James said. ‘It might be something good.’
‘Can you just stop going on about it, please?’
James turned away and looked out of the window at the setting sun.
Once they’d driven about five kilometres towards the airfield, Abigail pulled up at a Hungry Jack’s burger joint. She called John Jones from a payphone. After getting an update, John asked to speak with James.
‘You nervous?’ John asked.
‘A bit,’ James admitted. ‘They’re a bunch of loonies and we’re gonna be totally isolated up there.’
‘I know,’ John said. ‘But remember, if you’re ever in any danger the number one priority is always your safety. Just grab the keys to the first vehicle you can find and head the hell out of there. Chloe and I have already been up there to stake the Ark out. We’ve got the lease on a disused ranch house twenty kilometres away. Chloe and I will need cars to get around, so I expect we’ll set off by road first thing tomorrow. We should be there by the evening.’
‘What about communications?’ James asked.
‘I was just coming to that. The miniature receivers are on a flight up from Melbourne as we speak. The ASIS engineers have done a lot of testing to make sure that they’re robust enough to survive the pounding and moisture of life hidden inside a shoe and the boffins reckon they’ve cracked it.’
‘How will you get them to us?’
‘There’s no way we can get them to you tonight. The Ark itself is sealed off tight, but the kids run around it every morning, like you’ve been doing around the outside of the mall. Try staying behind the pack and keep your eyes and ears open for a signal or hidden package.’
‘What kind of signal?’
‘We haven’t thought it out yet.’
‘That’s not exactly encouraging, John.’
‘I know, James, I’m sorry. Everything about this mission has been done at short notice. One other thing. Don’t attempt to use any of the telephones inside the Ark if you’re talking about the mission. Several of Miriam’s patients told her that Eleanor Regan has the switchboard bugged. There are also rumours that the offices and bedrooms of some senior staff are bugged too, so if you’re talking about the mission, keep your voices down and try to do it outdoors or in public areas.’
‘Gotcha,’ James said. ‘I’ll pass all this info on to Lauren.’
‘Great,’ John said. ‘Good luck.’
James shook his head. ‘Sounds like we’ll need it.’
*
The propeller-driven aircraft carried six passengers. James and Lauren sat in the cramped third row of seats, with aluminium cargo pallets strapped into position behind their heads. It was dark by the time they took off and the two-and-a-half-hour flight passed over seven hundred kilometres of nothing: black desert, with no artificial lights and just the occasional rocky outline illuminated by the half moon.
The sense of distance and isolation combined with the aircraft’s brutal ventilation kept sending chills down James’ back. There were a million things he wanted to say to Lauren, but with four Survivors lined up in front of them they had to keep quiet. The seats were upright and too cramped to attempt sleep, so James had to content himself by flipping through the in-flight reading: a well-thumbed catalogue of tacky Ark souvenirs and DVDs of Joel Regan’s finest speeches with his day-glow white grin on the cover.
As he flipped through the pages, James found his sister’s head on his shoulder, then her hand sliding under the armrest and resting on his bare knee. James put his own hand on top, with his fingers spread between Lauren’s and they stayed