Astronomicon 1: Inception Point (Finished)

45 - Over the Top

The buggy's front tyres dropped heavily onto the downward slope, giving it a kick forwards. Kate screamed as she realised the whole vehicle was on the move again. Slamming the brake down did nothing more than cause the front wheels to lock up and slide down the slope instead of rolling.

Now most of the buggy's weight was beyond the peak, the rear wheels kicked up and over the ridge, jolting the back of the buggy into the air. Once free of the top, it was free to accelerate down the downward slope, the locked-up wheels dragging loose stones and rocks on the way.

"Keep the buggy straight down the slope!" Chris shouted as the back of the buggy slid beyond his reach.

They watched helplessly as the buggy slid and bounced, rapidly accelerating down the uneven slope. Kate struggled to stay in the driving seat as each jolt and bounce threw her about wildly, whipping her long, dark hair around. The steepest part of the slope passed in moments. The buggy rode a low wave of loose rocks down to the shallower end of the slope. That finally allowed Kate's attempts to slow the buggy to have some effect.

The rear wheels, still locked up, swung out to the left, but the buggy finally stopped before it was in danger of flipping over sideways. Kate remained motionless in the buggy, still tightly clutching the steering.

"Fletcher, get the two-seater buggy as high up as you can this side, I'm going to check on Kate," said Chris.

He found Kate shaken but unhurt. They left the four-seater buggy where it rested and climbed back up the ridge to where the others were still trying to get the two-seater up to the peak. Anil was driving and the others pushing, but they were still a good three metres short of the top. Under more normal circumstances, the two-seater would be lighter than the four-seater but, because of its larger load area, it was carrying more supplies.

Fletcher called a stop to the entire operation and announced that he was going to try a fresh approach. After retrieving two of the ropes, he tied them both to the rear towing-hoop of the two-seater buggy. Next, he hopped in the driving seat of the flatbed buggy and drove that forwards until it was less than a metre behind. He tied one rope to each side of the flatbed's roll bar, leaving plenty of slack rope lying on the rocky floor.

"What's the plan here, Fletcher?" Chris asked.

"The flatbed's got more oomph than the two-seater, Commander. I'm thinking, if we use the flatbed to give it a shove, the two-seater will get over the top, then the two-seater can help pull the flatbed after it."

"Is the flatbed up to that? The pushing, I mean," Chris asked.

"Aye, it's got more powerful motors than the other buggies," he replied. "If any of them can do it, that's the one."

"Sounds like it's worth a try. We're not making the headway I'd hoped right now, anyway. You drive the flatbed, I'll drive the two-seater."

Before they began, Chris told Fletcher to tie the frayed ends of the seatbelt back together. He knew it would not be as strong as the intact belt, but it had to be better than nothing.

Fletcher soon discovered that the flatbed could not make any forward progress because of the steepness of the slope and the loose surface. He released the accelerator and let the buggy slowly roll back a few metres to where the slope was much shallower, using almost all the slack on the rope. As soon as the buggy stopped, he hit the accelerator, charging the buggy up the rocky surface as fast as its four motors could propel it.

The struggling wheels scattered loose rocks, but the buggy surged forwards with enough momentum to reach the back of the two-seater buggy and jolt it forwards. Chris already had the accelerator down a little but slammed it to the floor as his buggy surged forwards and upwards.