Maximum Offence Read Online Free PDF Page A

Rachel thinks she has something to prove .
    There are bushes all right. They begin a quarter of the way up, which puts them a long way above Rachel and Shil, who are lit by the pale light of three separate slivers of moon.
    ‘ Come down .’
    ‘I’m . . .’ Rachel’s voice is distant. More worried than I would like.
    ‘ Now .’
    Neither one moves.
    As Shil shouts something to Rachel, I realize we have a problem, and it isn’t just their stupidity. Great , I think. Should have known Rachel was too good to be true . Still, if you are going to be afraid of something it might as well be something that’s likely to kill you, like heights.
    ‘As soon as I start throwing wood down,’ I tell Neen, ‘get a fire going. Also, if you can’t make a tent have the others build a sand wall.’
    ‘Sir,’ he says.
    Neen points to a dark gash at the base of the cliff. It’s low and slants away to one side. As I approach, a bat the size of my fist spirals out and hits an insect on the rise. A second later a dozen bats spiral out behind the first.
    I leave Rachel where she is.
    The mouth of the cave is tight enough to scrape my shoulders and that doesn’t help my temper. Although what I find inside goes a long way to making me happy again. No ash from a fire, or spoor. Nothing that looks like the remains of a meal. The cave is clean. Which means that whatever is howling out there in the wilderness either doesn’t come up this far, or is too big to fit through that hole.
    Shil is waiting when I get outside.
    ‘Rachel . . .’ she begins.
    ‘Yeah, I know.’
    The cliff is sheer and handholds rare.
    It is now so cold that frost glues the rock to my bare toes and the fingers of my good hand. Probably glues itself to the fingers of my other hand too, but that’s metal so I can’t feel it.
    Climbing quickly, I ignore the ache across my shoulders as I haul myself to where Rachel clings to the rockface. She is shivering, from fear or cold.
    ‘OK for the moment?’
    That’s a question needing an answer in the affirmative .
    Whatever the fuck that is. Actually, I know what it is. It’s when you can’t say no . My old lieutenant taught me. Part of my education, like learning to use a fork instead of my fingers, wash myself at least once a week and not punch people without good reason.
    Arm over arm, I drag myself to a point a hundred yards above Rachel. A quick tug does nothing to move the first bush, and neither does a hard yank. In the end, I have to position my feet, grip rock tightly with my good hand and wrap a branch several times round my prosthetic hand to discover why. The bloody plant has roots five times longer than the bits I can see.
    Now I know what to expect, the second bush comes free with less effort. Then a third and a fourth and a fifth. I keep ripping them out until my good hand is bleeding from gripping rock and my feet are raw.
    It doesn’t matter, I mend fast.
    ‘Last one,’ I shout.
    Somewhere below Neen shouts back. A second later, a howling comes from the wastelands, sounding closer than before, a lot closer. And unless the cliff is doubling the noise, there is more than one animal advancing.
    Rachel is waiting for me, her face lost in the shadow.
    ‘You OK?’
    She nods, and then realizes I can’t see. So she says, yes, sir, of course, sir . Her voice is tight, however, and she shakes my hand off her shoulder without thinking. Her body is humming with tension under those shivers.
    ‘Rachel,’ I say, ‘what’s wrong?’
    ‘My hand’s trapped.’
    Fuck . Sliding my hand along her arm, I find fingers hooked into a crack in the rockface. They don’t feel trapped to me. ‘Lift your little finger.’
    ‘Can’t.’
    ‘ Do it . . .’ Her smallest finger flexes under my grip. ‘OK,’ I say. ‘Now the next one.’
    There is no movement at all.
    ‘Try your thumb,’ I suggest, although I already know the answer. One way or another, she’s frozen. ‘Right,’ I say. ‘This is how we’re going