Frank Schätzing - Limit

‘But not on the path that we’re about to take,’ he added. ‘We’re following the northern stretch of the valley until the first turning of the cobra’s body. A rocky outcrop there, the spur of the Rupes Toscanelli scarp, runs right up to the edge of the gorge, Snake Hill. I’ll tell you no more than that for the time being.’

‘And how far are we going?’ Locatelli wanted to know.

‘Not far. Just eight kilometres, but the journey is spectacular, right along the edge of the Vallis.’

‘Can I drive?’ Locatelli was jumping around with excitement. ‘I really want to drive that thing!’

‘Of course.’ Black laughed. ‘The steering is easy, it’s the same as the buggies. You shouldn’t drive straight at the biggest obstacles, if you don’t want to go flying out of your seat, but otherwise—’

‘Of course not,’ said Locatelli, already imagining his foot on the accelerator.

‘Will we let him have his fun?’ Julian said to Momoka.

‘Of course. As long as you let me have the fun of driving in the other rover.’

‘Good. Warren is driving rover number two, and promises to bring Carl, Mimi and Marc safely to their destination, the rest of us will take the first one. Who’s the chauffeur?’

When everyone said they wanted to be the chauffeur, the choice fell on Amber. She was told how the various functions worked, took a test drive and got everything right straight away.

‘I want one of these when we’re back down there,’ she cried.

‘You don’t,’ Julian grinned. ‘It’s six times as heavy down there. It would fall to bits in the garage.’

The convoy set off. Black let Amber drive ahead to keep Locatelli from breaking speed records, so that they had been driving for ten minutes when the valley dropped away on their left in a wide curve. A narrow path led to a high ridge, from which you could enjoy an incomparable view of the Vallis Schröteri. You could see almost the whole course of it from there, but something else was holding everyone’s attention. It was a crane, mounted on a platform that loomed into the gorge. As they approached they made out a winch at ground level. A steel cable ran through the cantilever and led to a capacious double seat. There was no need to explain how the crane worked. Once you had taken your seat, the cantilever swung over the gorge, and you floated, legs dangling, above the abyss.

‘Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!’ Marc Edwards’ extreme-sport soul was boiling over. He jumped from the parked rover, stepped to the edge of the platform and looked down. ‘What’s the drop here? How far could we abseil down?’

‘Right to the bottom,’ Peter Black explained, as if he had dug the gorge with his own hands. ‘One thousand metres.’

‘Bollocks to the Grand Canyon,’ Locatelli observed with familiar sophistication. ‘It’s a trickle of piss compared to this one.’

‘Does that thing work?’ Edwards asked.

‘Of course,’ said Julian. ‘Once the factory’s up and running, we’ll build a few more.’

‘I absolutely have to try it out!’

‘ We absolutely have to try it out,’ Mimi Parker corrected him.

‘Me too.’ Julian thought he could see Rogachev smiling. ‘Perhaps Evelyn would keep me company?’

‘Oh, Oleg,’ laughed Evelyn. ‘You want to die with me?’

‘No one will die as long as I’m working the winch,’ Black promised. ‘Okay, Mimi and Marc will go down first—’

‘I’m going with Carl,’ said Amber. ‘If he has the guts.’

‘I do. With you I always do.’

‘So then Amber with Carl after that, and then Oleg and Evelyn. Momoka?’

‘No way.’

‘Then Momoka will come with us,’ Julian suggested. ‘The rest of us will climb Snake Hill in the meantime. Oleg, Evelyn, you too. It’ll take a while before Peter has lowered those four down and hoisted them back up again.’

‘I’ve had a think,’ said Amber. ‘I’d rather go up the mountain with you. What’s up, Carl?’

‘Hey! Are you bottling out?’

‘Don’t get your hopes up.’

‘Then see you later. Take care. I’ll take a look and see what lies ahead.’

Hanna watched the others start their climb. The path led gently upwards, curved around and disappeared into a ravine. It reappeared a considerable stretch further up, ran along the flank for about a hundred metres, a steep climb now, and then vanished from view once more. Clearly you had to circle the slope to reach the high plateau. Hanna would have loved to go with them, but he was more fascinated by the gorge, a kilometre deep, with vertical walls on all sides. Perhaps he could climb the high plain later on, with Mimi and Marc. He would have preferred to take the trip on his own, but wherever he went, someone would be talking to him on his headset. At least you could turn individual participants on or off, only the guides were transmitting at all times, and had a right of access to everyone’s auditory canal.

He watched with interest as Black released the winch, opened the faceplate of the console and activated the controls by pressing on one of five fist-sized buttons. Primitive lunar technology, one might have thought, built for the clumsy extremities of aliens – and wasn’t that exactly what they were on this strange satellite, aliens, extraterrestrials, their fingers forced into hard shells? Black pressed a second button. The cantilever was set in motion and began to swing in. Parker and Edwards jostled each other impatiently on the edge of the platform.

‘What are the other buttons for?’ Hanna asked.

‘The blue one swings the crane back out again,’ said Black. ‘The one below it turns the winch on.’

‘So the black one’s there to bring the lift back up again?’

‘You’ve got it. Child’s play. Like most things on the Moon, in fact, so that not everything depends on the expert.’

‘If he’s dead, for example.’ Edwards stepped back from the edge to make room for the incoming lift.

‘Don’t say things like that,’ Parker protested.

‘Don’t worry.’ Black opened the safety guard of the seats. ‘I’d consider it quite irresponsible of me to die while you’re hanging there. If some unexpected local demons swallow me up unexpectedly, you’ll still have Carl. He’ll winch you back up again. Ready? Off we go!’

‘Shit!’ said Locatelli.

They had passed the ink-black shadow of the ravine, climbed the slope and had just reached the spot where the flank curved around, when he noticed. He looked irritably down into the valley. The gorge gaped far below them, four kilometres wide, so that the platform stuck to the edge of the rock like a toy, populated by tiny, springy figures, hopping up and down. Peter was just helping the Californian into the seat, while Hanna studied the winch.

‘What’s up?’ Momoka turned round.

‘I forgot my camera.’

‘Idiot.’

‘Really?’ Locatelli took a sharp breath. ‘And who’s the other idiot? Have a think.’

‘Hey, no need to fight,’ Amber cut in. ‘We’ll just take my cam—’

‘Are you talking about me?’ Momoka snapped.

‘Who else? You could have thought about it too.’

‘Shut the hell up, Warren. What would I want to do with your stupid camera?’

‘Lots, my lotus flower! Who wants to be filmed from dawn till dusk, as if the crap that you produce for the cinema wasn’t enough?’

‘I wouldn’t pose in front of your camera if you paid me!’

‘That is so funny! You really mean that? You start pissing yourself as soon as you see a camera.’

‘Nicely put, arsehole. Go and get it, then.’

‘You bet I will,’ snapped Locatelli, and turned on his heel.