Wolf had turned sideways to Raven, and now her crew were busy bringing equipment down on the hidden side – nets, pulleys, wagons, barrels and containers, all stealthily lowered to the ground. The crew worked quickly and quietly under Dolph’s orders. The sun was low on the horizon and they would have to be fast.
Last to come were enormous groundsheets, mottled and painted the same colours as the landscape, covering the equipment. Rudy looked down from Wolf’s deck and nodded. Then the groundcrew, including Coll, Fillan, Luna and Lyall, crawled behind the piles and laid low.
Half the crew stayed on board. It was a risk – if Raven or Dragon attacked now, the groundcrew would be defenceless and Wolf wouldn’t be at full strength.
The sun sank over the horizon and the moon came out, partially covered by thick clouds. As they waited, a drizzle began to fall. The air felt thick, as if waiting for a thunderstorm.
When it was almost dark, Wolf started to move.
She padded towards Raven, steady and grim. Coll felt the ground tremble as she stepped. At first, Raven didn’t react, but then she hopped a little distance away. Her wings flapped as if preparing to fly. Wolf moved round in a circle and Raven turned to watch. But she couldn’t go too far, for fear of turning her back on Dragon. She had to move away from the cache.
Coll held his breath. If Raven attacked, she would discover how weak Wolf really was. But Wolf was careful. She came close but not too close. Threatening but not attacking. And gradually she manoeuvred Raven away.
“Now,” whispered Dolph, and the groundcrew crept forward. They dragged the wagons and pallets towards the cache, moving the groundsheets as they did. Wolf danced her careful slow waltz with Raven, keeping her attention. Behind Raven, Dragon moved too.
Coll and the others inched towards the cache entrance. Coll could see it clearly now – a tall square-topped doorway poking out of the ground, made of silver steel that gleamed in the moonlight. Weeds and vines covered it, under the remains of an enormous tree that had been struck by lightning. The tree must have kept it hidden all these years.
Intrick stepped up to the doorway, holding a small device. He held it up and a panel on the door lit up, and then the door slid open. Caches were ancient, hundreds of years old, but the door hardly made a sound.
Dolph turned to the others. “Come on,” he whispered.
They pulled their wagons forward, through the doorway and into a long tunnel sloping downwards. The tunnel had a high ceiling and perfectly smooth metal walls; the floor was black and shiny. Tiny red lights glowed every two metres. Fillan stared at everything with his mouth open, and Coll had to poke him to get him to move. But he wanted to stare too – he’d never seen a cache, only heard stories.
“Hurry,” urged Dolph, pushing them on. At the far end the tunnel opened out into wide entrance, with a sign hanging above it.
unity supply cache #35 it read. Underneath was a picture of a settlement, but like no settlement Coll had ever seen. The houses in this picture were gleaming blocks with tall clear windows and grass and flowers in front. Families stood next to each house, waving and smiling. They didn’t look like settlement folk either. Their clothes were strange but clean and brightly coloured. Their teeth seemed to glow white.
“Who are they?” whispered Fillan.
Coll shrugged. If they were living on the ground, they had to be Worms, so who cared? Below the picture were the words colony inc. – we make your world™.
Dolph turned to them. “Critical items only, remember. Anthryl and whatever the Tocks tell you. Nothing else, understand?”
He walked past the sign and the groundcrew followed. As they turned the corner, Coll and Fillan stopped in amazement.
Ahead of them was a vast storage room stretching away in every direction. Shelves ran the length of it, two metres high, loaded with reels of cable, containers, machinery, tools … everything.
“Whoa,” murmured Fillan, and Coll nodded.
“Let’s get started,” said Dolph.
Coll and Fillan got to work, dragging out crates and tubes. The Tocks pointed them towards shelves and shelves of stock. There was so much! And they could take so little! Reels of anthryl went in the wagon, lengths of good steel, and Tock equipment too, strange green boards and things with lots of wiring, more and more of it, until finally Dolph stepped in.
“Is this all critical?” he asked one.
She looked down at the box in her hands and her shoulders slumped and she put it back.
Dolph nodded. “That’s everything!” he called. “Quickly now, out!”
They moved the wagons out of the warehouse and up the tunnel.
“Stay quiet,” murmured Dolph. “We don’t know how far away they’ll be, and the sound carries.”
They made it outside. Intrick used his device to close the door again and the lights went dim.
Coll peered out into the night. It was dark – the sun was down and the moon was half hidden by clouds. The rain was getting harder and turning the ground to mud. In the distance Wolf was a shimmer of grey facing Raven. Raven was flying now, preparing for attack, still trying to keep both Wolf and Dragon in sight. Dragon had moved too – it had turned, watching the other two.
This was the most dangerous moment, as they loaded everything on to Wolf. The groundcrew were still vulnerable, Wolf’s defences would be down and Raven was alert and ready to attack. They needed a distraction. Beside them, Intrick held his device up to his ear and Coll thought he could hear Alpha’s voice coming from it. Intrick spoke into the device, listened some more, then nodded to Dolph.
“Be ready,” murmured Dolph.
Up ahead, Wolf took a sudden swift step towards Raven. Raven reared back, flapping her wings furiously. Wolf pulled back, then advanced again, and Raven pulled back again. Even from here, Coll could sense Raven’s confusion. What was Wolf doing? One more step forward. And then again, sharp and furious, and Raven pulled back once more…
Then Dragon attacked from behind.
With every feint, Wolf had been distracting Raven, tugging her here and there, confusing her, making her forget Dragon. With every feint, Dragon had been inching closer, and now it struck! It leapt from a standing start, catching Raven by surprise, and its long jaws snapped shut round the end of one wing. Raven squawked in panic, pulled loose and lifted into the air, but Dragon flapped its stubby wings and chased after it.
That had been the gamble. Would Dragon attack or was it too soft and cowardly? But the old Construct had taken the chance. They would be evenly matched. Dragon was weak but Raven had been caught by surprise. It would be scrappy. Raven would win eventually – but meanwhile she wouldn’t be thinking about Wolf…
Out of the darkness came Wolf’s great looming shape, and the groundcrew grinned to each other. Lyall even cheered. Dolph pushed through the crowd and smacked him round the head, before scolding the rest to be quiet. Wolf settled on to her belly, cables dropped from above, and they got to work.
Coll, Fillan and the others unloaded the wagons, heaving the loops of anthryl and steel, tying them to the cables, watching as they were pulled up on to the deck. There was enough for months of normal use. Then the Tock equipment: endless grey boxes and electrical supplies. In the distance he heard the clash of metal as Raven and Dragon fought. It was too dark to see them, but lightning flashed across the plain and lit them up in frozen battle scenes.
“Is that it?” asked Dolph. Coll nodded and the big man grinned. “Good work, lads. Just the wagons to go.”
The rain pelted around them as they dragged the wagons into position. Luna smiled at Coll, and even Lyall nodded. They had the equipment; Dragon would be dealt with, Raven weakened. It had worked!
