‘The only place that a bunch of creepy-ass labs could be,’ Karim says. ‘The basement.’

7

The Labs

At the far side of the hub is a shiny white door with a yellow and black restricted access sign displayed across it. It’s guarded by a chrome keypad – of course it is – so I start to run through any possible ways of getting in. We’re exposed in the hub – nowhere to hide if anyone comes in the main entrance or up one of the spokes. We don’t have much time.

‘Stand aside,’ Karim says, cracking his knuckles. ‘I got this.’ He types a code into the keypad and surprisingly the light turns green. He grins. ‘I know all of Mum’s passwords.’

‘Legend,’ I say.

‘I’m glad you think so, because I know all of yours, too.’ He pushes the door and jogs off.

‘His hair must be full of secrets,’ Kat whispers, following him.

We’re in front of a lift with another restricted 74access sign above it, along with a sign pointing to the stairs.

‘Lift?’ Karim asks, with the sweet optimism of an alien apocalypse noob.

‘Stairs,’ I say. ‘Using the lift could give our location away.’

‘It’s a very quiet lift,’ Karim says, but follows me through the door to the stairwell. The stairs to the basement are the metal kind, with gaps between each step that make you worry you’re gonna fall right through. They also clang every time our feet land, and I grit my teeth at every thud.

‘We’re doing a lot of jogging today,’ Karim puffs, his pouch bumping against his side as we descend. ‘I hate jogging.’

‘I love jogging,’ Kat says. ‘I always think of it like friendly running – you get to places fast but you don’t have the burning lungs.’

‘Speak for yourself, Spider-Girl. My lungs are burning plenty.’

‘How far down does this go?’ I say, peering down the stairwell.

‘Far,’ says Karim. ‘I did mention the lift for that reason.’

‘Let’s hope nobody else is down there, or we’re 75 going to have to get back up these stairs at faster than jogging speed.’

‘If that happens…’ Karim wipes his forehead with his sleeve. ‘You’ll have to leave me behind.’