Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (57 page)

“Was.”

He shot a glare at Breeze. “Is. Do not be so quick to dismiss him.”

“How do you know he’s still alive?”

“Your father is a builder. An innovator. What couldn’t he do to survive an attack like this?”

“My father ran a scrap yard and sold metal to aerocraft builders. That’s it.”

“Your father was so much more. What did I just tell you? Look around. Look deeper. The answers you seek will not always be found on the surface. Isn’t that right, robot?” John turned his attention to Achilles.

Its eyes lit up. “Your pardon, sir?”

“You can drop the domesticated robot act. I know what you are, Robot Fighter. Tell me, what is your serial code?”

Achilles cocked its head. “5150,” it replied. “May I ask the reason for your inquiry?”

John ignored the question. “Only four digits? You were bound for the scrap heap to be melted down, yet you escaped the AI purge. Someone took a fancy to you an erased most of your serial code. That makes your date of origin difficult to track down. Who rescued you?”

“I am under no obligation to respond your request.”

“It was Oslo then. Why am I not surprised? He was always clandestine and sneaky while running that operation of his in the sub-basements of Perihelion. Who were the other two he was always with?” he mused. “Ah, how could I forget, Bram and Raza? Oh my, she was a beauty in her time!” John chuckled.

Sally spoke up. “How do you know Oslo?”

“Ah, yes. The ghost girl. I knew you had a voice.” He narrowed his eyes. “Who do you remind me of?” He tapped his finger against his yellow teeth. It made a clicking sound that echoed in the cold desert night. “Bram! He was a ghost just like you. From what I’ve gathered, the best Perihelion ever recruited. I wonder whatever happened to him.” He chuckled. “The real drama was that love triangle between Oslo and Bram. Both of them vying for the attention of Raza.” He leaned his head back to look up at the night sky. “Are you still alive, or are you amongst the stars?”

“Of course she’s alive! We arrived here from her farm—”

“Sally!” Breeze cut her off.

“It’s quite all right young man. I had suspected as much. The gears are grinding. Plans laid down long ago are beginning to progress forward.” He surveyed the three of them. “You are all that we have now. I know there are others, but it begins with you.”

Ray’s hands glowed fiercely and lit up the area around them. “So what do you want from us?”

“Go to the White Mountain. Breeze knows what I speak of. They will give you the assistance you need for your journey. Don’t make the mistake I made many a moon ago. Take on your adversaries, do not shrink from them; better to die in battle as a free man…than to live like a frightened scavenger in the dark.”

He grunted, then turned away and began pushing his cart. The wheels squealed in protest from the excessive weight of the scrap he collected.

Breeze hovered into his path. “Wait, I’m sorry. Maybe you can help us.”

John kept pushing his cart. Both he and the cart dematerialized as it passed through Breeze.

Breeze gasped as he felt himself being sucked into whirlpool of light as the horizon began to bend and shift. Through the distortion, he was still able to see John in the distance. He called out to him. “John, wait!”

John turned and smiled. He was much younger and wearing a uniform with the symbol of a triangle with a circle inside it. “Now is not the time, Paul Corinth. Go back to your friends and follow your destiny. Remember, it is set in stone and cannot be changed. Only your fate can be altered, but never destiny.”

Breeze felt himself being pushed back as John faded from view.

He looked up to see Ray pulling his hand to help him to his feet. Sally and Achilles were by his side.

“Where did they old man go?” Sally said.

“I don’t know. He just…left.”

“What now?” Ray asked.

Breeze looked at his friends. “There is only one place to go. They are the only ones who can help us.”

“White Mountain,” Sally said.

Breeze turned to her and nodded. “Yes. We’ve come this far. We have nothing to lose.” He started walking toward the scout ship, and then stopped to look back. “Come on guys, I can’t do this alone. Are you with me?”

Sally strode to him and took his hand. “Always.” She turned to Ray and Achilles. “Guys?”

Ray shrugged. “You know I’m in.” He took Sally’s outstretched hand.

She giggled. “Achilles, I don’t have another hand for you.”

“Do not distress yourself mistress. You lead, I will follow. Always.”

Breeze beamed as he surveyed his team. “John was right. Everything I need is right before me. Come on, let’s go.” They headed toward the scout ship.

Achilles hung back and scanned the desert floor. Its servos whirred as it knelt down to touch the sand.

“Achilles, come on!” It heard Breeze shout.

“Of course, young aviator. Right away.” It stood up and followed them.

Minutes later, the gangplank retracted as the hatch closed and sealed itself with a hiss and the ship began to pressurize. The whine of the engines spooling up broke up the stillness of the desert night.

Inside, Breeze and Sally were buckling themselves into their seats when Achilles came down the aisle and stopped at their row.

“Master Corinth, are you sure of the coordinates? This White Mountain you speak does not reveal itself on any of the charts.”

“It’s okay Achilles, call it a hunch. I know your robot brain doesn’t care much for that, but that’s what it is. Head west to the Great Salt Sea, then bank hard to the north and continue until you see a lone mountain on its northeastern shore. It’s there. I’ve flown that route for many years.”

“Are you positive they will render the assistance we need, master?”

“I don’t know. Don’t really care. I made a promise to Raza to bring back Oslo.” He turned to Sally. “I also promised to help others find their families.”

Sally smiled and took his hand. “We’ll help find yours.”

“I’m not worried about my old man anymore. I know he’s out there somewhere. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but he’s hiding somewhere. I’m starting to understand why he kept me hidden for so long. Just wished I had listened, tried to understand him better.” He bit his lip.

Sally touched his face. “Breeze, you said earlier that you can’t feel. Do you think that’s still true?”

Breeze stared at her as his face turned red. “Sally, that’s not what I meant.”

She smiled. “I thought so.”

Ray’s voice broke out over the intercom. “Ready to get airborne. Achilles, to the pilot house.”

“I have been summoned. I believe the human thing to say would be good luck?”

Breeze shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a start.”

Sally squeezed his hand.

Within moments, the ship lifted off with a lurch. It hovered over the scrap yard for a few seconds, and then gradually accelerated into the moonlit night.

Breeze looked out his window as the cabin lighting was subdued to a soft green hue. He could see the distant lights of Conception fade from view. He leaned his head back into the seat, and the gentle throb of the engines made his eyes flutter.

Sally leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as they both fell asleep.

Outside the perimeter of the scrap yard, a lone figure stood and watched the scout ship lift off into the night sky. The wrinkled outlines of his face were briefly highlighted by the ship’s floodlights, then plunged back into darkness as the lights switched off and the ship flew away. He stood until it faded from view over the mountains.

“He’s a good boy. He will grow into the man you want him to be, Jacob,” a disembodied voice spoke from the distance.

“If you say so, John.”

The air crackled and shimmered. John Agam appeared and drifted over to him.

“He is in good company. They will succeed. They must succeed,” John said.

“But why does it have to be my son? Haven’t I sacrificed enough already?”

John placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know that you lost your wife many years ago to the Elephim.”

“And a son,” Jacob added.

“Aye, I know. You haven’t spoken about them in so long; I did not wish to dredge up the memory.”

Jacob pulled out a disk from the satchel slung across his chest and handed it to him. “Take this; it is time to begin your journey. Begin assembling as many teams as you can. Wake them up. Let everybody know we will not go quietly into obscurity. We all must make sacrifices.”

John nodded as he took the disk and flipped it over. They were twelve symbols that radiated around the outer rim with an engraving of the sun in the center. He put it into his jacket.

“Very well, Jacob. I suppose it is time for me to retire from my burgeoning career as a scavenger of scrap,” he chuckled, and then shook his head. “No need for humor to hide the darkness of our reality. It is time to bring the light to cleanse ourselves.”

John began to walk away, then stopped suddenly and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a picture and handed it to Jacob, then turned and disappeared into the desert night.

Jacob looked at the picture. It was of a man and a woman smiling as she held an infant in her arms.

Jacob wept, then stopped abruptly and placed the picture into his satchel.

He took one last look around at the scrap yard as the light of the full moon reflected off the piles of metal. He settled his gaze at where the house once stood, then turned away and headed into the desert.

He stepped up into the sky as if he walked on invisible steps when a door appeared and opened before him. Behind the door was a soft glow. He stopped and took one last look over the yard, then stepped inside. The door closed and disappeared as the night sky reclaimed its place.

THE SCOUT SHIP STREAKED
over the Great Salt Sea as a stiff wind created white caps that polluted the otherwise smooth surface. Flying low to elude detection let the passengers look out the window and marvel at the sheer size of it.

Breeze was hypnotized by the water and his eyes fluttered the second he leaned his head against the window. Within seconds he was fast asleep and dreaming.

His dream was filled with jumbled images that made no sense to him. Mixed into it were incoherent conversations with Oslo about training at Perihelion and leaving his home. It came to an end with Sally shouting his name from a distance.

He awoke abruptly to Sally shaking him. The ship was pitching and tossing violently. The engines were screeching and alarms flooded the ship.

“Something hit us hard!” she said.

He looked out the window where dark and ominous clouds swirled around the ship in a maelstrom. He then turned to her and pointed to the bow of the ship. “Let’s get to the pilot house.”

He began unbuckling from his seat when he caught a movement from the corner of his eye. He looked out the window again and was confronted by a pair of giant wings flapping close to the ship. Each beat of the wings made the ship shudder violently.

“Go! Now!” he shouted at her as they struggled to get to the pilot house, stopping to brace themselves against the seats in the aisle whenever the ship rolled violently.

When they finally stumbled into the pilot house, they found Ray in the cockpit struggling to maintain altitude.

Achilles, in the co-pilot’s seat, turned to them. “Master, mistress, I would advise you to return to your seats and remain buckled in.”

Breeze ignored Achilles’ request as he gripped the back of its seat and looked up through the canopy, which was filled with the view of gigantic winged birds. Electricity crackled around them with each beat of their wings.

One of the birds dove into their path and flapped its wings with one mighty stroke. Lightning erupted from it, followed by a deep rolling thunder that rattled the ship.

“Guys, we need to do something!” Ray shouted as he fought the helm to keep the ship level.

“There, up ahead, bring us down to the base of that mountain.” Breeze pointed forward.

In the distance, a lone mountain on the desert plain emerged, and soon its looming presence filled the windscreen.

With great relief, Ray pushed down on the helm and began their descent.

Immediately, the lead bird rolled onto its back and flapped its wings with a violent thrust. The pressure wave it created blasted the ship and rocked the bow up to an extreme angle, causing Breeze to lose his grip on Achilles’ seat and tumble to the back of the cockpit.

Sally had followed Achilles’ advice and strapped herself into the jump seat. She screamed as Breeze flew past her and slammed into the back of the cockpit. His shield protected him, but made a dent in the metal.

“Are you okay?” Sally cried out.

“I’m fine, don’t get out of your seat!” he shouted as she started to unbuckle.

Outside, the gigantic birds revolved around the ship at a high rate of speed, creating a vortex that spun it and pinned the passengers in place as nausea began to overwhelm them.

The birds were synchronized as they maintained a tight formation. Electricity arced between them, followed by peals of powerful, booming thunder.

Inside, Breeze was pinned against a bulkhead. The ship wailed with warning alarms as smoke filled the cockpit. He could barely see Sally, whose eyes were fluttering as the spinning was taking its toll on her. Ray and Achilles were silhouettes occasionally illuminated by the ship’s failing electrical systems.

The last thing Breeze saw was Sally passing out when the ship eventually lost power and fell out of sky.

Breeze woke up with the side of his face pressed against the cold metal floor. His head and body ached while nausea roiled his stomach.

He wanted to swallow, but it felt like his mouth was full of dirt. He gagged and retched as he struggled to get up when he saw Sally still strapped in her jump seat. In the faint light, he could barely make out Ray and Achilles slumped over in their seats.

He slowly stood up and steadied himself against the bulkhead. “Is everyone okay?” he called out. No response.

He stumbled over to Sally and shook her. She didn’t respond. He leaned closer and was relieved to hear her still breathing. He then limped to the front of the cockpit where Ray was beginning to stir, but Achilles was still incapacitated and slumped over its console. He grunted as he pulled the robot into an upright position and it fell back into its seat with a thump. Breeze weakly knocked on its head hoping to get a response, but the robot was lifeless.

He let out a sigh of exasperation when a bright flash filled the cockpit followed by a powerful hum that vibrated the ship.

“Remove them,” a voice said.

Breeze immediately crumpled to the floor and passed out.

When he awoke again, he found himself alone and surrounded by pure white light. He could feel the floor under him but could not discern its surface even when he touched it.

He stood up and reached out with both hands when he immediately felt a hard surface. When he pressed his hand against it he felt electricity crackle through his skin.

He took a step back only to wobble and topple over. He groaned as he got back to his feet and held his arms out to maintain balance. The pure white light was disorienting, and made it difficult to fathom depth and distance. He put his hands out again to touch the surface, sidestepping along as he tried to figure out the dimensions of what he was beginning to suspect was a detention cell. After several minutes of touching like a blind man, he came to the conclusion that he was in a room shaped like a cube roughly eight feet by eight feet. If there was an exit, he never found it.

He sat on the floor to ponder his situation when a section of the cube slid away. A man wearing a white uniform leaned in and looked inside.

“Yes, he is awake now,” he said to no one in particular and walked away.

The section stayed open, but no one else came inside

Breeze didn’t take his eyes off the entrance, as he anticipated it would close if he moved too fast. He gingerly made his way to the opening, then leaned out to look and saw his jailer walk down a hallway of pure light before turning to the right and disappearing. Breeze figured that the hallway was similar to his cell in that there was no way to gauge its dimensions without physically touching the walls.

He stepped out with outstretched hands and immediately ran into a hard surface. He took a few steps back and abruptly turned to go in another direction, only to run into a hard surface yet again.

With mounting frustration, he pushed hard against it and it flexed and shimmered, then snapped back into place. He pushed again, but harder and the surface of light flexed. When it settled, it seemed to be further away and he felt he was moving forward. He did this several more times, creating the sensation he was moving further away from his cell.

He suddenly turned to head in a different direction. With his arms thrust out like a battering ram, he pushed against any surface he encountered as he tried to gauge the dimensions of the hallway like he did with his cell. Some surfaces gave way while others pushed back. After several minutes of twist and turns, it dawned upon him he was being guided by someone or something that was manipulating the surfaces so that some gave way while others were rigid. He stopped to pull back his sleeve and look at his nav-compass. The needle was spinning wildly and was completely useless. Anger began to build. He didn’t like the fact he was being toyed with.

He continued down the fathomless corridor, and holding his hands out like a blind man when he stopped and shouted.

“Where do you want me to go? What do you want from me?” He received no response.

He continued on as his anger was building to a crescendo. He just wanted to fly away and get out.

He took a running leap and began gliding, then raised his shield and shaped it like a battering ram as he accelerated and ran into a surface.

The surface flexed and stretched, but it wouldn’t break. He grimaced as he poured on the power, but it snapped and flung him back. He bounced around like a pinball against multiple surfaces before flopping onto the floor.

He scrambled to his feet and shouted. “We didn’t come here to do harm, we came here for help.”

Silence was the only answer he received.

He pleaded his case further. “I used to live not far from here in a town named Conception. I remember when I was a child my mother would bring me here. I would talk to tall men in white coats and they would tell me fantastic things about my gifts. It always seemed like a dream, but I know now you are real. When I figured out how to fly on my own, I would come and watch the lights that came out of this mountain from the ridgeline over there.” He pointed in what he thought was the direction of the ridgeline, and then dropped his hand when he realized how foolish he appeared.

“Please, could you just help us? A friend has been captured by the Elephim, and I don’t have anyone else to turn to.”

He received more silence. Then the light faded away and he found himself in a huge chamber whose smooth stone walls ran up to a rocky ceiling, when several figures materialized before him. They remained motionless at staggered distances from each other as they each pulsated with white light. All of them wore similar uniforms with masks covering their faces.

The light surrounding them ebbed as the masks faded away to reveal beings with sharp, angular faces.

“Welcome Paul Corinth, we are the Phaerion,” one of them said. “We’ve been expecting you.”