Free Contact by Chris Morphew Page A

said Luke.
    â€˜You were unconscious on the way in,’ Jordan pointed out, dodging as a couple of bikes shot across in front of her. ‘You’re right, though. I haven’t seen it either. Then again, it’s not like we’ve been looking for it.’
    I stuck a hand in my pocket, fingers brushing against Crazy Bill’s key. I doubted whether something this old and rusty would open anything in the Shackleton Building, but I’d brought it along just in case.
    We started cutting around the fountain, towards the Shackleton Building. I spotted Reeve coming past in the opposite direction. Out on security patrol, despite his injuries.
    You’d think having his arm broken and his face smashed in would’ve qualified him for a bit of time off. But I guess when you’re plotting world domination, you want all hands on deck.
    â€˜Hey mate,’ I said as he approached, ‘thanks for getting our bikes –’
    Reeve walked straight past us without even making eye contact.
    â€˜Whatever,’ I said, looking ahead to the Shackleton Building.
    Dad was already out the front, waiting.
    This is a mistake, I thought suddenly. But I didn’t say anything to the others, and we kept on walking, right past our chance to back out.
    â€˜G’day guys.’ Dad reached out to shake hands with Jordan and Luke. He was smiling, but it would’ve been pretty hard to miss the distrust in his eyes. ‘I’m Peter’s dad. Ready to start the tour?’
    â€˜Ready when you are, Mr Weir,’ said Luke, with slightly too much enthusiasm.
    â€˜Right,’ said Dad, ‘let’s get started, then.’
    He led us through the black sliding doors, into the welcome centre – a massive gleaming-white, high-ceilinged room that took up half the ground floor.
    Jordan’s face flashed with surprise. From the outside, I guess this place looked kind of dark and ominous, but the inside was the total opposite. Light streamed in through the tinted windows and, looking back through the one-way glass, you could see straight out into the main street.
    Inside, businesspeople hovered around coffee carts. Wall-mounted computer monitors cycled through ads and schedules and town news. A giant indoor waterfall splashed down across the wall on the right.
    So far, none of this was new to me. The ground floor was all public-access, and I’d been here plenty of times when I was meeting Dad after work. But everything past this room was a mystery.
    â€˜All right, so, here we are in the welcome centre,’ said Dad, as we reached the back of the room. He put a hand on one of three big sets of double doors spaced along the back wall. ‘And through here,’ he said, pushing the door open, ‘is our town hall.’
    We peered through the doorway, into a huge, dark room that looked like a giant-sized version of the school hall. I couldn’t remember it ever being used before.
    â€˜What’s it for?’ asked Luke as Dad pulled the door shut again.
    Dad shrugged. ‘For whenever we need to get the whole town together in the same place.’
    Like when Shackleton announces he’s just turned the whole outside world into mounds of guts, I thought.
    That was definitely going to make for an interesting town meeting.
    â€˜C’mon,’ said Dad, waving us over to the lifts, ‘I’ll show you the rest.’
    The doors slid open and we piled inside. We were the only ones in the lift, so Dad went over and pushed all the buttons. I watched the doors slide shut again, sealing us in.
    â€˜So that’s the ground floor,’ said Dad as the lift jerked upwards. ‘Next stop: cafeteria.’
    The doors opened and, sure enough, we found ourselves looking out on a big room lined with tables and chairs, with a long buffet table off to one side.
    At the table nearest to us, a few of Dad’s mates were getting stuck into big plates of something dark red and meaty