Hidden Depths

Chapter 24 - Escape, evade, pursue.

Aarzam put on his helmet as he stepped out into the warm afternoon sun.  Rich was using his sleeve to wipe some of the blood off his own one when Aarzam pressed the key fob that caused Combel's motorbike to chirp up and let itself be known.

To say the bike was a beast would be an understatement.  Though it was predominantly black, brightly-coloured protective metal tubing snaked its way around parts of the exposed engine like a writhing orange python.  Massive knobbly tyres suggested that this bike was built for the trail, but it was much, much bigger than any scrambler Rich had seen before.  The only writing he could make out was the word Adventure written on its front shoulder, over a flash of orange that looked like a cross between the letter R and a bolt of lightning.

Aarzam flipped up his visor and steadily eyeballed Rich as he slowly cocked his leg over the bike, as if he was doing a karate warm up.

'Unless you're planning to take the Tube again, I suggest you put your earpiece in and your helmet on.'

Slowly becoming desensitised to his companion's purposeful rudeness, Rich could now hear sirens approaching, so he did as instructed then nervously jumped on the back to ride pillion.  The rear seat was almost a foot above the knobbly back tyre and it had two plastic handles sticking out.  Rich grabbed them as Aarzam pushed the button that made the monster beneath them screech then growl to life.

'I take it you know how to drive one of these, then?' said Rich, with more than a little apprehension in his voice. 

Aarzam let his actions do the talking and pulled off at a speed that forced Rich to grab the handles extra tight in order to avoid falling off the back.

'Call main control,' said Aarzam, and for a second Rich wondered if it was something he was supposed to do, but the suave voice that replied "calling main control" indicated Aarzers was voice dialling again.

'Afternoon, gentlemen.'

Rich recognised the voice of Khalid, one of the fifth formers. 

'That's quite some acceleration you're achieving there, would I be right in assuming you've acquired a motorbike?'

'Affirmative,' said Aarzam.  'Requesting route to target.'

'Roger that,' replied Khalid in control.  'Confirm off-road capability?'

'Substantial,' said Aarzam as he turned north onto a main road.

'Excellent, this should be fun for you, hard left in two hundred metres.' 

They spotted a narrow gap in the parade of shops and turned off the busy street, to a much quieter single lane drive.  At first the road was hemmed in by buildings on both sides, but it opened up as it curved round to the right and revealed a big empty car park.  At the other end of the car park stood a boxy old post-war building next to a skinny, but tarmac-covered footpath, which seemed to lead to a green area to the rear.

'You have a three-hundred metre straight followed by a four-hundred metre gentle curve to the left,' reported Control.  'When you meet the next road take a hard right.'

'Roger,' replied Aarzam as he gunned the throttle, rearing the bike up into a two-hundred metre wheelie through the first section of the park.  As they raced along the footpath, they saw dog walkers ahead flinch, then panic and scatter out of the way.

'Any need?' cried Rich as the front wheel slammed back down. But Aarzers just ramped up the speed as the bike flew through the previously peaceful park.  In eleven seconds they had covered over half the distance and reached one hundred and thirty miles an hour.  Aarzam held down both the throttle and the horn, so in the few seconds it took them to reach the next road, no one was suicidal enough to block their path.