Tight

At the other end of the warehouse floor, Joe was also wondering how to find the others without being discovered themselves. When the lights had gone out, the three of them had been next to a place in the racking with large gaps, where the stock must have been pulled out for delivery.

‘In here.’ He urged Jean-Claude to climb in the first one and followed Xavier into an adjacent space, tucking his stick in beside him. It was uncomfortable and a tight fit, but better, he felt, than staying vulnerable in the aisles. When the lights flickered back into life, he urged the others to stay in place.

‘Do you know who did that?’ he whispered.

Xavier shook his head, busy concentrating on holding the GPS disrupter in position, to maintain their invisibility if probes were being used.

A robot trundled past, adjusting its load-bearing arms in front of it, presumably ready to lift product from the shelves nearby.

‘We can’t stay ‘ere,’ said Jean-Claude. ‘If one of zose brings cartons to place in zese spaces, we will be crushed.’

He had a point, but Joe was reluctant to climb out. His knees were giving him hell and nowhere seemed safe.

‘What if we go up?’ suggested Jean-Claude.

‘Up?’

‘Oui. Zis racking, it is like a giant ladder. We can go up and move around on top. If ze others are here, we should be able to see zem. People don’t usually look up - I zink zat is the safest place to be, right now.’

Joe groaned, thinking about the effort required to climb.

‘You go, I don’t think I can manage that.’

‘Yes you can, I will assist.’ Xavier was out in a trice, pulling Joe with him. Jean-Claude was already clambering up the heavy duty shelving with surprising agility, like a monkey in a track suit. With his help above, and Xavier pushing from below, somehow they got Joe to the top tier, where all three rested for a moment.