Read Online State of Emergency by Sam Fisher - Free Book Online

part of the
island.
    He directed the detector on the satellite to zero in on
the middle section of the island. That was where Base One
was located. He could see the outline of the buildings above
ground.
    'Switch to infrared,' Mai said.
    Pete ran his fingers over the keypad and the image
instantly changed. The buildings disappeared, replaced by a
smudge of light – the infrared signature of over 800 people
and their machines. He guided the image away, and they saw
a few dots of light close to the base, each of them moving
along track roads. They needed to find a stationary signal
somewhere off the main routes. Pete touched the keys again
and the image shifted. He thought he saw a pinprick of light
close to the southernmost tip of the island.
    The screen died.
    'Oh, hell!' Josh exclaimed.
    'Too much of a coincidence to be a network problem,'
Mai said heavily.
    'It's irrelevant anyway,' Pete replied. He flicked off the
screen and straightened up.
    They all heard a whirring sound at the same time and
spun round to see a Hunter just above the trees to the west,
ten yards away.
    There was nowhere to hide. The Hunter could detect
them even if they were hidden from sight. But they dived
into the undergrowth and started to crawl to an area of
denser cover where it would find it harder to get a good
shot at them.
    They lay still in the damp vegetation. The Hunter came
close and hovered overhead. Suddenly, a sharp cracking
sound came from the sphere. It missed their sensor pads.
    Josh was closest to the edge of the dense patch of undergrowth.
Vines clambered over each other in tight knots. A
huge beetle passed an inch from his face. The insect stopped,
waved its antennae, then trundled off. Josh moved his hand
half an inch and touched a hard, jagged object. A small rock.
He worked the stone into his palm and gripped it tight.
    'Mai, Pete,' he hissed, 'I'm going to try something. On
three, scramble away from me in opposite directions, but for
heaven's sake keep under cover. One – two – three!'
    Josh sensed rather than saw Pete and Mai move away.
Overhead, the sphere whirred. Josh glimpsed the machine
through the undergrowth. It was hovering about ten feet
above the vegetation. It spun towards Mai and then around
180 degrees to track Pete. Josh pulled himself up, and with
all his strength he threw the rock straight at the Hunter.
    The rock whistled past it. The machine spun round and
fired at Josh. He dived into the undergrowth. The Hunter
fired again and missed. Josh tripped and landed heavily
against a boulder, winding himself.
    The Hunter came back into view. Josh scrambled away
but there was no cover. The machine came closer. It was
no more than a dozen feet away when there came a loud
clang, and it wobbled. Then he spotted Mai ducking down.
He hadn't seen her throw the rock but her aim had been
better than his.
    The Hunter turned towards her, but then Pete sprang
up and launched a rock at the device. It slammed into the
sphere, knocking it aside. The Hunter emitted a high-pitched
whistling sound and plunged to the ground.
    Josh gave Mai and Pete high fives. 'Sharp shooting,' he
said.
    'Misspent youth,' Pete answered.
    'So, what now?' Mai asked. She was panting from the
exertion. 'Am I mistaken, or was there a trace to the south
just before it went down?'
    'I saw it too,' said Pete, suddenly excited. 'But it's a big
area.'
    'Hang on,' Mai said. 'We lost the signal, but the images
should still be in the system's memory.'
    'You're right,' Pete replied. He touched the pad on his arm
and brought up the file browser. Scrolling forward, he found
the final image just before the system had flicked off. They
could see, to one side of the screen, an isolated, motionless
infrared signature.
    'Freeze that,' Josh snapped. 'There. What're the coordinates?'
He brought up the map of the island on his own
screen, keyed in the coordinates and matched it up with the
signature. Then he glanced at his watch. 'Zero point three
four seconds west. Let's