Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (48 page)

Breeze groaned as he got to his feet while Achilles rose up in a swift and fluid motion.

Breeze pointed at it. “I saw something as soon as you started to pull me.”

“Affirmative. A brilliant display of light that I was a witness to as well. You have been out of phase with current space time ever since you reappeared, and that is why you floated so gently from the sky overwhelmed with the feeling of disorientation from your surroundings. It also explains how you were able to slip your hand into the ship’s hull and become affixed to it. You were out of step with the space time of this dimension as the result of your shield collapsing and creating a powerful rift that sent you to another.”

“No, not that. I thought I saw, oh, never mind. It’s been a long day, I’m heading back to the house.”

“My sentiments exactly. We have learned much today about your abilities. We have discovered things about you that one would never suspect.”

Breeze arched an eyebrow at the robot as they trudged across the field. “You don’t say.”

ON THE SAME MORNING
of Breeze’s training session with Achilles, Raza had agreed with the robot that she would spend the day alone with Ray and Sally to assess their abilities as they both concluded that Breeze needed personal attention, and Achilles was insistent that it didn’t want him to be distracted by bickering with the others.

“You mean,” Raza said with a smile, “the fact that the boys are competing for Sally’s attention?”

“I am afraid the affairs of the human heart are not one of my specialties. Emotion is something I cannot process,” Achilles was quick to respond.

“And yet you just said you were afraid.”

“Simple expression meant to convey concern.”

Raza laughed as she patted Achilles on the cheek. “Yes, you have definitely spent too much time with us illogical humans. Very well then, off you go, but make sure you bring Breeze back in time for dinner. Don’t lose him out there in the sky, he just might fly way.”

“Perish the thought, milady. Such an event will not occur.”

Raza smiled as she stood at the entrance of the barn and watched the robot get into its rusty hover truck. As Achilles glided away, her thoughts turned to Oslo. The events of late only served to remind her of what life was once like at Perihelion, where there were always cadets to train and equipment that needed repairs, along with the hustle and bustle of personnel moving about the base.

“Where are you now, Oslo,” she whispered, “and how is our daughter?”

She sighed and went back inside. She walked past the stables and headed to a back room where Achilles set up comm equipment it brought over from its barn. She scanned the screens and saw no messages or readouts of any real importance. “So quiet out there,” she sighed.

She looked at the array of equipment that Achilles had amassed. All were vintage machines from a time long past and she marveled at how any of them still worked. She gazed up at the ceiling and noted how the robot even took the time to patch up the leaky roof. “It’s good to have a man around the house,” and laughed when she heard her own words.
It also feels good to laugh again
.

One of the comm machines trilled loudly and she rushed over to get a closer look at its display. A comm channel had been left open and she noted the coordinates of the signal, then compared them to a map of the continent Achilles had hung on the wall. It was originating from the Northeastern territories. She twisted a dial to increase the signal strength, hoping to hear something at the other end. She received nothing but static.

A commotion erupted at the far end of the barn where she and Achilles had set up a training room for the teens to practice and hone their skills. She heard shouting followed by the sound of something heavy crashing to the ground.

She ran into the training room where she found Ray struggling to pull up a rack full of electronic equipment that he had tipped over.

Sally immediately began apologizing upon seeing Raza. “I’m so sorry, I told him not to touch anything, but he thinks that every machine that he sees he knows how to operate and—”

Raza raised a hand and smiled. “It’s quite all right. Boys will be boys, and boys love to play with their toys. Except these toys are very rare pieces of equipment brought over by Achilles. So please, don’t touch them.” She waved her hand and the rack rose up and floated. She then spread her fingers and it traveled across the room until it bumped gently into a wall, and then settled onto the floor.

“Achilles has set up these racks of electronics so we can monitor and analyze each of you during your practice sessions. This way, we can pinpoint any errors or inconsistencies in the way you utilize your powers,” Raza said to them.

Ray snorted. “Not sure if you’re going to find too many errors. With all due respect, we’re from Greenbrier. We were instructed by the best. We know what we’re doing.”

“Except handling metal racks full of electronic equipment,” Raza retorted. “What were you doing anyway? How did it fall over?”

Sally began to speak, but Raza raised a hand to silence her. “Ray is a well-trained cadet from a proud military family. He can speak for himself.”

Ray shifted his stance as he looked away from her.

Raza stared at him. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“About what? I was just—”

“Raymond, I know you and Sally are homesick and wish to contact your families, but Achilles has informed me that it’s been difficult lately to get a clear signal from any of the other territories or cities.”

Ray nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”

She continued. “I saw one of the comm screens just before I came to investigate the noise you were making back here and I noticed a channel was left open. Its coordinates show that it was being directed at the Northeastern territories. Were you trying to reach out to someone? Your parents?”

Ray fell silent and stared at the floor.

Raza reached out with open arms and hugged him. “Listen, you can hold us to our promise. We will locate them and put you back together with your family,” she said and then turned to Sally, “that goes for you too, young lady.”

Sally smiled as she struggled to hold back her watering eyes.

Raza patted his shoulders. “Now, my brave warrior, I have never seen you in action. Would you like to give me a brief demonstration? Just something that I can observe and to let the instruments record for further analysis.”

Ray groaned. “We went through this already at Perihelion. Can’t you just wait until Oslo gets here? I’m sure he’ll bring all the data you need. Where is he anyway? Any word on him yet?”

Raza stiffened. “Achilles has been hailing the island, but so far, no response. I’m sure everything is quite all right. Oslo is dependable. If he says he’s going to do something, he will. Sooner or later he will.”

Ray formed a ball of fire in his palm and casually tossed it up and down. Each toss was higher than the previous and several times it almost hit the ceiling. “You know Raza, it must be tough living here all by yourself and thinking about your daughter and husband all the time.”

Sally shook her head. “Ray, seriously?”

“Oh, come on Sally, it’s perfectly all right to ask. I mean, she does owe us an explanation. Let’s face it, Oslo sent us here as refugees. He did his best to protect us and failed. Then he sends us to his long forgotten wife to hide out from the Elephim where we end up meeting an old and lonely woman who takes us in, then throws a tantrum and chases us out.”

Raza stood silent as her face grew pale.

Sally was trembling. “Raymond, she apologized to us and made up for it with her hospitality.”

“Yeah, she hugs you and you settle for that. Weren’t you the one who was so curious as to how she got younger? We don’t see her for a few days and then, we meet again, but she’s no crazy old lady. She got younger. Care to explain that away?” Ray said as he threw the ball of fire high in the air while taking a quick glance at the rack of electronics Raza had pushed against the wall. He noted a light that was blinking on one particular piece of equipment. He grinned.

In the comm room, the screen that caught Raza’s attention earlier flickered alive.

“Why did you just look at the rack for? Better yet, what were you doing earlier with it?” Raza glared at him as she made a fist and the ball of fire extinguished before it could fall back into his hand.

Ray grimaced and shook his head. “Don’t change the subject. What’s with the sudden youthful appearance? In fact, it seems like you and Oslo should be pretty old by now, if not dead. And yet you both have managed to live for a long time. How? What is it you are trying to do?”

“Stop goading her Ray. I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re…not the same boy I grew up with,” Sally said.

He stabbed a finger at her. “You stay out of this. You don’t want to question her about anything, but I do.”

Raza slapped his hand. “Stop pointing at her like that, you’re being rude. You want to know my secrets? Long ago, Oslo and I discovered pools deep within the interior of Perihelion where we could feel a sensation of energy surging through our bodies when we swam in them. Oslo performed an analysis and found that the pools were alive with electromagnetic energy. They could heal wounds, scars, cure you of any affliction you might have. The pools gave life. One might say they were like fountains of youth.”

Ray shrugged. “Great to know. Still doesn’t explain how you managed to stay young here in Appalachia. We’re a long way from Perihelion.”

“Petulant youth, no patience to wait for anything. I was just going to get to that, but pausing to take a breath doesn’t mean anything to you.”

“Keep talking. We’re listening,” Ray said with a smirk.

“Who’s we?” she asked.

His face turned red. He created another ball of fire and began tossing it. “Sally and I, who else?”

Raza looked skeptical as she continued her story. “Over the years, Oslo was able to map out the caverns of underground rivers that fed the pools. It was an extensive network that crossed the globe and they absorbed their healing properties from the energy given off deep within the planet’s core and distributed it across the world. Oslo found one that led here to Appalachia.”

“Sounds convenient.”

Raza ignored him and turned to Sally. “Oslo had his engineers build this home before we left Perihelion. He also had them construct a pool in the cellar along with a tunnel that led to the underground river that carried the life healing waters. It was for our own health, he said, but when Nina became ill, not even the healing waters of the pool could cure her, and it puzzled Oslo to no end as to why. He suspected that perhaps the pool lacked the potency compared to the ones found on the island, though all of his tests showed that the water here were no different. As we prepared our journey to return—”

“Never mind that,” Ray interrupted, “you say these pools lack potency. Why?”

Raza sighed. “When Oslo returned to Perihelion to save our daughter, he discovered that she was an integral part of the island and that there was a bond between them that couldn’t be easily broken. So Oslo collaborated with Excort and set about widening the cavern that led to Appalachia. He believed that he could wean our daughter from the island if he could increase the flow and pressure from the pools of Perihelion, to here.”

Ray’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re saying that you could easily travel from the island to here, inside these caverns?” He formed a fireball and began tossing it up and down.

Raza crossed her arms. “Swim underwater? I suppose you could, but I couldn’t hold my breath for that long.”

“But your daughter could, she’s like a fish. Breeze spent enough time with her, he would know.”

“I wouldn’t want her to travel underground for hundreds of miles in cold and frigid water. What sort of maniac would do that to their child?” Raza replied.

Ray pressed on. “Couldn’t Oslo have built some sort of submersible to get here? I mean, it just seems like there is more than one way to get to Perihelion.”

“What are you getting at?” Raza said.

“I mean, it’s sort of a vulnerability. If someone were to attack and take over the island, they could find those pools and the caverns that would lead them back here. Oslo said this place was safe, but I’m beginning to wonder.”

Raza took a step toward him. “I originally asked you for a demonstration of your ability and it seems like you handle yourself very well as you juggle those balls of fire. Are you always this calm and under control?”

Ray snorted. “Why wouldn’t I be? I was born and raised into a military family. My father is a commander in our territorial army.”

“Verhesen? That is your last name, is it not?”

“Yes. What of it?”

“The name rings a bell for me. I remember it being associated with a fifth column that formed an alliance with the Elephim. Perhaps I’m mistaken. After all, I am old.”

Ray formed two more fireballs and juggled them at a faster clip. “You probably are mistaken. So, are you going to tell us more ancient history stories that Oslo laid on us before? About the glory days of the superhuman Helios? Space travel and far flung colonies? Because we were never taught about any of these things.”

“Just because you were kept in ignorance doesn’t mean it never happened,” Raza said.

“Well, I don’t believe it.”

“Interesting, considering you are a part of their legacy.”

“Are you calling my family traitors?”

“I was referring to your gifts. Look at you, you’re a god walking amongst ordinary humans. That has to be exhilarating.”

Ray stared at her.

Raza locked her eyes onto his. “You’ve met Oslo and Excort and seen the wonders of Perihelion, yet you are not fascinated by them or the island? And what of the ships you’ve seen and flown in, do you recognize any of this technology? Doesn’t it seem quite fantastic compared to what you are familiar with?”

Ray shrugged. “I suppose, but there are territories and cities across the planet building all sorts of aerocraft. You’re bound to run into something different.”

“Different, yes, but as amazing as what you have witnessed? And what about Achilles? Have you ever seen a robot so capable? I’m willing to imagine the robotics in your territory is not quite so well developed.”

Ray let the balls of fire drop and splatter on the floor in a shower of sparks. “I don’t really care to talk about robots. In fact, I don’t even think about them. Personally, I think Achilles is dangerous.” He began to glow as he stepped to the center of the room. “My father told me enough about how robots with artificial intelligence can be dangerous and uncontrollable. It’s important to have control,” he said and fired a beam of energy toward the wall. It fizzled upon hitting the concrete.

“Control is important to you, isn’t Ray?” Raza stepped toward him.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

Raza responded by shoving her hands forward and Ray immediately fell onto his backside.

“What’s the matter with you!” he shouted as he scrambled to his feet. His hands began to tremble as they pulsated with energy.

“Just giving you a little telekinetic nudge to see how you react. I would say not very well, considering you are the one who cares so much about control.”