The Darwin Elevator Read Online Free PDF Page B

bore some similarity to Alzheimer’s, a disease cured almost a century earlier. Only one detail mattered: Outside Aura’s Edge, the disease killed most people in less than four agonizing hours. Around 10 percent survived only to be left in an animalistic state, “devolved,” their primal urges and emotions amplified beyond what the sane mind could handle. Entering Darwin would not help them. The Aura did not cure SUBS; it only put the virus in stasis. Leave its relative safety, and once the inactive cells contacted active ones, they’d wake and grow again.
    A microscopically small percentage was totally unaffected.
    “Point being,” Neil said, “I’ve set things in motion. Today, in fact.”
    “Then we’ll have it soon?”
    “Patience, dear. Even if the data is out there, they have to find it, bring it to Darwin, and get it up here. All difficult tasks.”
    Her mind raced. She knew of the scavenger crews in Darwin; their adventures beyond the Aura were often talked about. The romance of danger and adventure in forbidden places. Tania assumed the stories to be greatly exaggerated by the time she heard them. “Who did you hire? Someone trustworthy, I hope?”
    “I have no idea.” He patted her arm. “Nothing to tie me to it, should things go awry.”

Chapter Four
    Darwin, Australia
    13.JAN.2283
    The armored truck hummed through Darwin’s old warehouse district, crushing rock and garbage alike beneath its thick, knobby tires.
    “Where is everyone?”
    Skyler emerged from a daydream at the sound of the voice. He’d slumped into the deep cushions of the passenger seat and let the warmth of the day and the motion of the ride lull his senses. He looked across the wide cab at Angus, and noted the tense manner in which he gripped the steering wheel. “Hiding. Watching from inside.”
    Angus nodded, but his brow creased. “Why?”
    The innocence in his voice made Skyler grin. Angus had lived a privileged life by Darwin standards. He’d grown up inside a sky crane, sitting beside his pilot father, flying water shipments from East Point up to Nightcliff. At age six, his dad let him take the stick for the first time, or so Angus told it. He was seventeen now, all gangly limbs and shaggy black hair, and already a better pilot than Skyler.
    If only he had some street smarts, Skyler thought. “A working vehicle, this far from the Elevator, means nothing but trouble to these people.”
    Angus eased back into his seat. “Right. Makes sense.”
    They drove past a lone bicyclist, wearing a scarf across his face and an AK-47 on his back. Saddlebags were strapped to a frame over the wobbly back tire. A courier.
    “Don’t fool yourself,” Skyler added. “Once they realize we’re not from Nightcliff, they’ll try to take it.”
    A white lie, but he wanted Angus alert. In truth, the locals had no use for such a large and complicated machine. They couldn’t maintain it, much less charge the capacitors. And even if it were stolen, Skyler knew there were twenty more just like it waiting, never used, at a supply depot in Russia. The same place he and Skadz found this one, three years ago.
    No, the bicyclist, disappearing in the rearview mirror, had much more reason to worry. A bike meant all sorts of opportunity.
    Skyler turned to face the window, watching with vague interest as a light drizzle rearranged the dirt on it.
    Looking up, beyond the rooftops, he could see the cord of the Elevator. Morning sunlight glinted off the thin thread. It looked like a strand of spider silk, stretching to infinity. After all these years the sight still filled him with awe.
    Lifeline to Earth, they say. Yet everything of value goes up .
    He strained his neck to look higher, tracing the line until it faded into the sky.
    “Any climbers?” Angus asked.
    “Not a damn one,” Skyler said. He frowned. Ten hours ago, Skyler had stood on the roof of his hangar and watched with growing concern as the stuck climbers began to move again. Instead