CHAPTER 74
“NOT JUST NO, but hell no,” Mahin said.
“How would we get into it?” Abigail asked.
“And what will we do when we’re on it?” Siler asked. “Wave to everyone as they die?”
“Look, we have people captured. That means the remaining Crazy Eights know we’re here. They’re going to start gassing people if they haven’t already.” Refused to let myself get scared that Jeff and Chuckie and everyone else was dead already. Focused on being angry that—at the point in history when the world was finally joining together—a crazed madman was going to ruin everything.
“Missus Martini is right,” White said calmly. “We need to adapt, and this adaptation makes sense.”
“I also have more of a plan than just washing the windows to make up for splattering blood and gray matter all over this observation deck. I want Mahin to take some of the dirt that Lowe so nicely has sent this way and make a small whirlwind inside the restaurant, while Abby puts a shield around the people inside.”
“Then what?” Abigail asked. “We can hold that for a while, but not forever.”
“Then we have Serene send a floater gate that’s on our window washing rig. We’ll move everyone through that and immediately to the Science Center where we’ll have doctors standing by and they can get treated.”
“Serene?” Mahin asked. “The Serene we just hung up on and told to not trust any incoming calls? That Serene?”
“One and the same! Glad you’re all with the program. Mister White, the Bag of Bigness, if you would.”
White flipped the rolling purse down and I opened it up. All the climbing equipment was in there. Pulled it out and handed it to Siler. “I’d assume you have the most experience with this.”
“I do, but honestly the hardest part is going to be getting over the twelve-foot walls of glass.”
Heaved a sigh. “Well, as to that . . .” Handed him the spare guns. “Have at it.”
White was looking in the big bag. “Just a moment. I believe we have something in here that will work more effectively.” He pulled out a glass cutter set, complete with suction cups. He also pulled out five pairs of black gloves.
“I’m not going to ask why you have all this,” Abigail said to me. “But if you want to share . . .”
Managed not to say that the Elves thought of everything, but only just. Also had to think fast to give a reply that wouldn’t make everyone suspicious. Well, more suspicious. “We’re burgling. It seemed wise to bring it along. I just forgot I had it. Creepy clones and losing two thirds of our team mysteriously put my focus elsewhere.”
“I’ll take it,” Siler said. “And I’ll also take the glass cutter stuff.” We traded the glass cutter kit for the spare guns. Siler eyed everything. “We could avoid cutting the glass and go over if we get on top of that.” He nodded his head at the geometric covering thing with the slats.
“I don’t know which would be worse, or harder,” White said. “Our people can repair the glass swiftly.”
“I am not jumping up there and then over the side,” Mahin said. “In the dark. Or in the light, either. At all. I am not doing that at all.”
“Wrecking the tallest building in the world, Dubai’s and the UAE’s proudest landmark, and the winner of the Best Attraction in the World award coming right up,” Siler said.
Actually, what he did first was to secure the lines we’d be using to get down to the geometric covering. It was set up perfectly for this. Chose not to point this out, since Mahin and Abigail were barely one with the plan as it was.
Once the lines were set and deemed safe enough, Siler cut out a two-foot diameter hole, just like they did in the movies. White had to help him pull the glass inwards, since it was very heavy. Chose not to mention that we’d tossed ten exploding dead bodies over with no concerns for who they might land on and yet were treating the glass as if it might be a problem should it fall on someone all those floors below.
While they were doing this I called Serene using my phone. Wasn’t quite as convenient as the Bluetooth had been, but found the will to go on. She answered, we verified I was me and she was her, then I told her what we were doing and what we needed her to do. “And it’s too late to tell us not to, because we’ve already cut the glass.”
“I won’t tell you that because we’ve lost the televised feed. Kitty, you need to be prepared—they may have already released the gas.”
“Got it. It’s likely I won’t be able to call you to tell you to send the floater.”
“You still have the music earpiece in? It looks like you do.”
“Yeah. I figured it was safe in terms of tracking.”
“It is because I set it up separately from the others. I can track you using it. How long did it take them to cut the glass?”
“Ten minutes probably. It’ll be harder on the window washing rig, I’m sure, but we’ll be able to kick the glass in so figure roughly the same time.”
“Okay. When you’ve been stationary for ten minutes, I’ll send the gate.”
“It’s going to need to be very precise.”
“Walter will do it, then, we’re still coordinated. Good luck.”
Hung up and my music started again. Olivia Newton-John’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” This wasn’t the “Don’t Stop Believin’” I’d have expected, but Journey wasn’t what I was hearing. Clearly Algar was telling me everyone was still alive. Listened to the lyrics while we pulled on the gloves and got ready. Seemed to be Algar giving me an Atta Girl. Chose to indeed not stop believing that we’d save everyone.
Perky ONJ song over, B.o.B.’s “Don’t Let Me Fall” on as Algar’s choice for hilarious background music, and we were ready to start down.
“Remember,” Siler said, “we’re walking down. You’re going to lie on your stomachs and back through the hole, carefully, so you don’t get cut on the glass. It’s thick, so it should be okay, but we want to be safe.”
Mahin snorted. “Right.”
Siler ignored her. “The moment you’re able to bend at the waist, I want you getting the balls of your feet onto the glass as soon as possible. It’s not that far down, and I’ll be on the rig first to catch anyone, but you don’t want to go too fast. Not too slow, either,” he added, looking at Mahin. “We’re running out of time.”
With that, he did exactly what he’d described. We had a long rope that was tied off around the base of the geometric covering thing. We had another, longer rope that was hooked through the slats on top of the covering, so that we could hold onto one end of the rope in each hand.
The idea was that we were using the hooked rope to get through the hole, and then would transfer and hold onto the stationary rope to get the rest of the way down. The four of us crowded on each side of the hole so we could watch Siler. The lighting on the tower was good, the lights aimed upwards, so we could see him pretty clearly. Naturally, he did this as if he was born to it.
Next we tied the rolling purse to the stationary rope and sent that down. Siler tugged that rope when he had the bag, and now it was the next person’s turn. We sent Abigail next, because White and I could help her through the hole. “I think I hate you guys,” she said as her head made it through the opening and my music switched to “Highwire” by the Gin Blossoms. Clearly Algar was enjoying himself.
Abigail didn’t have all that much trouble, though. White held one of her wrists while she let go and wrapped the stationary rope around her hand like Siler had told her to. She nodded, White let go slowly, she grabbed the rope with her other hand, and she walked her way down to Siler. Looked easy peasey.
Mahin was next, mostly because it was going to take both of us to get her to do this in the first place and, again, we could help her. She was muttering in Farsi, and I realized that I could understand it now that I knew I could. “I didn’t think you knew those words.”
“I know those words and more and, right now, they’re all for you. Everyone had better be alive and well but in mortal peril we’re actually able to save them from, is all I can say.”
Her head through, White did the same for her as he had for Abigail. Mahin took longer to grab the stationary rope, but grab it she finally did. She went down about halfway, then her foot slipped. She smacked into the glass but held on. Couldn’t hear him, but could see Siler shouting to her. Mahin let herself slide a little, and Siler was able to catch her and get her onto the rig. Looked less easy peasey, but still, doable.
I and my purse were up next. White had suggested I send it down with the rolling purse, but I just felt safer with it around my neck. I was used to working this way, after all.
The purse did make it a little harder to get through the opening, but avoiding getting cut was a lot harder than it had looked. White holding onto me was a big help. “This is going to suck for you, Mister White.”
“I’ll be fine, Missus Martini, never fear.”
Felt wind on my lower body, but chose not to focus on it and, instead, ensured that the balls of my feet were on the glass like Siler wanted. I was having a lot of issues managing this, with me doing The Bicycle more than actually getting my feet to stick, but I finally got kind of in the right position.
Once my head was through, I really noticed the wind. It wasn’t pleasant. However, I had to let go of the one rope and grab the stationary rope. Let go and grabbed. And missed. Grabbed again. Missed again. Grabbed a third time and managed to get the rope in my hand. Wrapped it like Siler had shown, and nodded to White, who let go of my other hand.
Started to fall immediately. Because, as it turned out, I’d grabbed the rope I’d been holding originally, the one made to slide, not the stationary rope.