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hour. Below them, the three E-Force members could make out the Santa Monica Freeway glistening with early morning traffic.
    â€˜ Thor ’s falling fast,’ Chloe said. ‘It’s 1095 metres and dropping.’
    On the holoscreens, they could each see the buildings of Downtown LA directly ahead.
    â€˜Altitude: 900 metres,’ Chloe said.
    â€˜We can’t bring her down anywhere near here,’ Pete exclaimed. ‘We have to get right under Thor , make contact between the net and the space plane’s fuselage. Ready? Ascend 21 metres.’
    The three pilots each guided the Silverbacks with incredible finesse, raising them each by 21 metres as they continued hurtling towards the CBD at half the speed of sound. There was a sharp jolt as the nanonet that was stretched between the three Silverbacks hit the underside of Thor 1 .
    â€˜Now Mai,’ Pete said, ‘you need to give a retro blast to starboard. Chloe, you too. I’ll give it some thrust. Between us we should be able to nudge this damn thing away to the north.’ He ran his fingers over the plastic control panel. ‘Just getting figures now,’ he said. ‘Mai, 2 second burn. Chloe 2.4 seconds, 6 seconds after Mai. Got that?’
    â€˜Got it.’
    â€˜Set timers,’ Pete said. ‘Mai, fire on three. One, two, three . . .’
    There was a slight judder as a retro rocket on the starboard side of Paul fired for precisely 2 seconds. Four seconds after it had finished, Chloe gave a burst of her own from the starboard side of George and the four aircraft began to swing north.
    â€˜Height: 815 metres,’ Chloe said.
    Pete glanced at the holoscreen. They had managed to pull the space plane around but they were all still dropping fast.
    â€˜Five-hundred-and-ten metres. Four hundred and five. Three hundred . . .’
    â€˜Pete!’ It was Mark. ‘The Aon Tower. You’re headed straight for it!’
    Pete looked at the display. All three pilots could see the cluster of skyscrapers of Downtown.
    â€˜Altitude: 26 metres,’ Chloe declared. ‘One-point-seven kilometres to impact.’
    â€˜Mai, Chloe, we have to engage the main thrusters. Get some height.’
    â€˜But the net. It won’t . . .’
    â€˜It’ll have to!’ Pete roared back through the headset. ‘Now . . . engage!’
    At precisely the same moment, all three pilots tapped the instruction into the control panel and the Silverbacks pulled up, dragging the nanonet and Thor 1 with it.
    â€˜Two-hundred metres to impact. Height . . . 139 metres . . .’
    â€˜Again,’ Pete yelled.
    They set and fired the main thrusters. The three Silverbacks pulled up, flying vertically. Pete’s teeth were clamped together, his left hand gripping the plastic control panel. On the holoscreen, he could see the sheer glass and steel wall of the Aon Building that stood 290 metres above the street. On another display he watched a representation of the nanonet with Thor 1 caught in it like a fish. The space plane was swinging from side to side.
    A few metres away from the port wing a small tear had appeared in the net. Pete knew millions of nanobots would already be there repairing the threads but it was almost certainly too late to do anything about it.
    â€˜Sixteen-point-one metres . . .’
    The four aircraft were screaming skyward, shooting up the final few floors of the tower. Over the headsets they all heard the rip in the net and the three Silverbacks jolted violently to port. Each pilot compensated in a fraction of a second and the interlinked jets roared over the top of the skyscraper leaving mere centimetres to spare beneath the net where Thor 1 hung.
    â€˜Pete? I have a landing site for you,’ Mark said, relief clear in his voice.
    â€˜We won’t make it,’ Pete snapped back. ‘The net’s going.’
    â€˜Damn it!’
    Pete turned his