Alex Scarrow - TimeRiders 02: Day of the Predator

PUFFIN BOOKS

Praise for TimeRiders :

A thriller full of spectacular effects Guardian

Insanely exciting, nail-biting stuff Independent on Sunday

This is a novel that is as addictive as any computer game Waterstones Books Quarterly

Promises to be a big hit Irish News

A thrilling adventure that hurtles across time and place at breakneck speed Lovereading4kids.co.uk

Plenty of fast-paced action this is a real page-turner WriteAway.org.uk

A great read that will appeal to both boys and girls youll find this book addictive! redhouse.co.uk

Contender for best science fiction book of the year an absolute winner Flipside

ALEX SCARROW used to be a graphic artist, then he decided to be a computer games designer. Finally, he grew up and became an author. He has written a number of successful thrillers and several screenplays, but its YA fiction that has allowed him to really have fun with the ideas and concepts he was playing around with when designing games.

He lives in Norwich with his son, Jacob, his wife, Frances, and two very fat rats.

Books by Alex Scarrow

TimeRiders

TimeRiders: Day of the Predator

www.time-riders.co.uk

PUFFIN

PUFFIN BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group

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Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL , England

puffinbooks.com

First published 2010

Copyright Alex Scarrow, 2010

All rights reserved

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-141-95106-5

To Frances, Jacob, Max and Frodo Field Office, Norwich

And as for you, dear reader, the following message is encrypted for your eyes only :

ER YKU CPVO IPJPBOD TK DONKDO TCES TCOJ YKU UJDOQSTPJD TCO EILKQTPJNO KR KJO WKQD LPJDKQP

Theyd heard the rumbling coming towards them down the echoing stairwell like a locomotive train. Then all of a sudden it was pitch black, the air thick with dust and smoke. Sal Vikram thought she was going to choke on the grit and particles of brick plaster she was sucking in through her nose, clogging her throat and the back of her mouth with a thick chalky paste.

It felt like an eternity before it was clear enough to see the emergency wall light in the stairwell once more. By its dim amber light she could see the lower flight of stairs was completely blocked by rubble and twisted metal spars. Above them, the stairwell theyd been clambering down only moments earlier was crushed by the collapsed floors above. She saw an extended arm emerging from the tangle of beams and crumbling breeze-blocks, an arm chalk-white, perfectly still, reaching down to her as if pleading to be held or shaken.

Were trapped, whispered her mother.

Sal looked to her, then to her father. He shook his head vigorously, dust cascading off his thin hair.

No! We are not! We dig! He looked at Sal. Thats what we do, we dig. Right, Saleena?

She nodded mutely.

He turned to the others trapped on the emergency stairwell along with them. Yes? he said. We must dig. We cant wait for rescue Her father could have said more, could have completed that sentence, could have said what they were all thinking that if the skyscraper had collapsed down to this floor there was no reason why it wasnt soon to fold in on itself all the way down.

Sal looked around. She recognized faces despite them all being painted ghost-white with dust: Mr and Mrs Kumar from two apartments along; the Chaudhrys with their three young sons; Mr Joshipura, a business man like her father, but single enjoyed a string of girlfriends. Tonight, presumably, hed been on his own.

And another man, standing at the back of the stairwell, beneath the wall light. She didnt recognize him.

If we move things, we may cause more of it to collapse! said Mrs Kumar.

Sals mother placed a hand on her husband. She is right, Hari.

Hari Vikram turned to look at them all. Some of you are old enough to remember, yes? Remember what happened to the Americans in New York? Their twin towers?

Sal remembered the footage, something theyd been shown in history class. Both of those tall, magnificent buildings sliding down into the earth and disappearing among billowing dark grey clouds.

Heads nodded. Everyone old enough remembered, but none of them stepped forward. As if to press the issue, a metal spar above creaked and slid, releasing a small avalanche of dust and debris down on to them.

If we just wait here we die! shouted her father.

They will come! replied Mr Joshipura. The firemen will soon

No. Im afraid they wont. She turned towards the voice. The old man she hadnt recognized had finally said something. Im afraid they wont come for you, he repeated, his voice softer this time. He sounded like a westerner, English or American. And, unlike everyone else, he wasnt coated in dust. They wont have time. This building has less than three minutes before the support struts on the floor beneath us give way. Combined with the weight of the collapsed floors above, itll be enough for Palace Tower to go all the way down.

He looked around at them, the wide eyes of the adults, the wider eyes of the children. Im truly sorry, but none of you are going to survive.

The heat in the stairwell was increasing. A floor below, the flames had taken a firm hold, their heat softening the steel girders of the skyscraper. Deep groans rippled and echoed around them.

Hari Vikram studied the stranger for a moment; the fact that he was the only one not coated in a thick layer of chalky dust wasnt wasted on him. Wait! You are clean. How did you get in here? Is there another way through?

The man shook his head. No.

But you were not with us before the floor collapsed! There must be some way

I have only just arrived, replied the man, and I must leave soon. We really dont have much time.

Sals mother stepped towards him. Leave? How? Can you can you help us?

I can help only one of you. His eyes rested on Sal. You Saleena Vikram.

Sal felt every pair of eyes in the stairwell settle on her.