Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (70 page)
Oslo slumped deep into his chair. “You found them, by God. They are like you, the children of the paranormal, trying to survive in a frightening world. They have no guidance and no understanding of why they feel so terrified. Then they found you. There really is hope.” He shook his head. “And I almost gave up and surrendered. I almost stopped searching for them. Then you came along, Breeze, and changed everything.”
“I don’t understand,” Breeze said.
“In time, you will. We will build a new world and a new life. It won’t be easy. There will be those who will doubt us, and there will be many obstacles to overcome. But we can never turn our backs now. Not ever. We should aspire to die knowing we did everything we could to right the wrongs. We shall never put our heads in the sand and ignore the peril that surrounds us.”
“What about my father?”
Oslo sighed. “We will find everyone, Breeze, and your father as well. All that has been lost will be recovered, or at least remembered. This I swear to you.”
“What about the two Elephim I fought with, where are they now?”
Oslo looked out the window. The moon was rising over the bay. “Achilles has them in his custody.”
Achilles established its quarters in the hangars, explaining to Oslo that it would be appropriate to be amongst the RF. They needed guidance, this much he could tell from the amount of aerocraft that needed to be repaired. They were originally programmed for combat, not as mechanics, it reminded Oslo.
Achilles also noted that it could provide assistance and share knowledge accumulated in Appalachia repairing and restoring aerocraft it had collected over the years. Oslo gladly accepted.
Achilles had also taken custody of the two Elephim that had tracked their escape from the platform. With help from the RF, it constructed a fortified prison to house them in a sub-basement level deep below the Science and Engineering building. It was the only building on campus that was suitable and contained the machinery needed to keep them subdued and prevent their escape.
Achilles would oftentimes watch as they thrashed about within their cells incessantly, then drop to their knees and howl with screams made of static. And they never seemed to sleep, except to stand in a comer of their cell and stare at a wall throughout the night.
Achilles knew they were trying to contact their brethren for help, but the quartz embedded within the bedrock collected and sent their transmissions to the antenna array located at the top of the building. There it was intercepted by electronics Achilles fabricated to prevent their broadcasts from being transmitted into the depths of space. Though the fog over the island was operational and shielded it from prying eyes, as well as blocking any unauthorized transmissions from getting in or out, it wouldn’t take the risk of the island being detected from above again.
One evening, as it left the detention level after a routine inspection of the prison, it entered the elevator that led back to the surface when it noticed an icon on the control panel that pulsated with a red glow. Its finger hovered close to it for a moment, and then pressed it. The elevator descended. After several minutes, it came to a stop and the doors hissed open.
Achilles stepped out into a chamber with rows of humming machinery spread across the floor. Ahead was a concave wall with armored plating. It was a sight that it had not seen for many years, though the memories of this chamber were still fresh within its cerebral core. Memories of a time when a plan was set into motion to save a world whose glorious of days had long since passed it by.
Metallic footsteps echoed within the chamber as it marched past row upon row of machinery. It knew every one of these machines, for they were assembled and installed by Oslo and itself. Machinery designed to help sustain a life, a life that lay behind the concave wall. That life had a name. Bram.
Achilles began to ponder how Bram was able to return from the depths of space and function like he did on the platform without his body, when Raven spoke from within.
We should not have come here.
No sooner were the words spoken that an image of a woman materialized next to Achilles. It was Kera with her flowing white dress billowing behind her.
“I knew this dreaded day would come,” she said, “though I did not expect it would arrive in the form of half of a man embedded within a machine. Fascinating how you managed to stay hidden. I now see why he assumed you were dead.”
Achilles tilted its head as Raven spoke.
She knows.
“You must leave. Now is not the time,” she said.
Without hesitation, Achilles turned and left.
Dawn was approaching as Breeze strode along the beach in the early morning. The rising sun caressed the clouds as the moon abdicated its throne in the sky to it.
He looked up at the fading starlight and knew that is where his future lay. His first trip into space was a harrowing one, but it invigorated him in ways he never imagined
He watched as the waves gently lapped against the sandy shore. Each successive wave taking him further into his mind as he thought of his life and where he stood in the world. He knew he was an orphan, but he would lead his newly adopted family here on Perihelion to a better tomorrow.
He heard footsteps splashing through the water. He looked over and saw Nina approaching.
No words were exchanged as he pulled her close and held her in his arms.
The sun bathed them in its fiery light as it freed itself from the grip of the horizon and rose into the sky.
MICHAEL JOHN OLSON IS
a former commercial diver living in South Florida with his wife, Martha, and two children, Edward and Angela.
He is currently working on the next book of the Breeze Corinth series.
He can be reached on the web at
mjolsonwrites.com
, by email at
[email protected]
, or on Facebook at Michael John Olson.