Revolution (22 page)

    Rayne shouted with a mixture of terror and pleasure as he felt himself hanging by the safety straps. His equilibrium was thrown off as the carts righted themselves and began climbing another small hill. Glancing right, he saw the teenager next to him sitting with the same expressionless face staring into the distance.

    This kid has to be on drugs! No normal person could remain stone-faced through that descent!

   
They crested another hill and descended to the left, twisting upside-down again. It was impossible to describe the sensation of reversed equilibrium as he hung upside down in the cart. When the cart righted again, Rayne felt dizzy and everything appeared blurry. His brain cleared as they ascended another hill and raced down hard to the right.

    Looking to the right, he saw they were traveling next to one of the towering reflective walls of the Powerdrome. He estimated the cart must have been five hundred feet in the air, but the wall of the Powerdrome still towered high above.

   
That thing is even bigger than it looks at a distance!

    Rayne held tightly onto the crash bar as they raced along the Powerdrome’s bright, curving wall. They ascended another steep hill and went flying down again. He tried to focus on the lead cart to keep from becoming completely disoriented.

    This tactic didn’t help because his mind played a bizarre trick on him. While he veered to the left on the descending track, Baxter’s cart appeared to have broken off from the train and was descending hard to the right on another track. Rayne stared at Baxter’s family in the lead cart and found himself turning his head toward the right and downward toward the Powerdrome wall.

   
Has the roller coaster cart derailed?

    Peter watched the lead cart continue down a separate track toward the looming white wall of the Powerdrome.

   
They’re going to crash into the wall!
 

    Baxter appeared unfazed as neither he nor his family noticed the separation. Rayne tried to twist his body around like a pretzel, until his back and neck felt like they were going to break. He watched with horrified fascination as the single cart carrying Ken Baxter and his family coasted downward toward the reflective metal wall of the Powerdrome.

    Rayne thought for sure they were going to collide until a small section of the dome slid swiftly open. The single cart raced through the opening and disappeared. At that point, the train of carts veered sharply to the left and spun around so they were facing the opposite direction. When he looked back toward the Powerdrome, the opening in the wall was gone. He was bewildered by the strange event.

   
What the hell just happened? Why did Ken’s cart travel into the Powerdrome
while the rest of us stayed on the main track? It doesn’t make any sense
.

    Rayne glanced at his silent neighbor, who still appeared oblivious to everything around him. He could only guess that Ken’s ride must have entailed something special because he was seated at the front of the train.

   
Sure, that makes sense, the first cart must branch off in order to get a personalized tour of the Powerdrome.

    Rayne watched the row of carts approaching the final manmade mountain. He did not enjoy the last leg of the downhill trip. He hardly noticed as the roller coaster came to a complete stop at the same spot where it began. The thought of Ken’s swift disappearance was fresh in his mind and he wanted to find out what happened.

    “Excuse me, sir!” Rayne shouted to the operator, tugging lightly on the sleeve of his gray work uniform.

    “What do you want?” the large, brutish worker asked, turning toward him.

    “Sir, I noticed that when the coaster rode down one of the hills, the lead cart veered off!” Rayne said, pointing up to the metal track.

    The hulking operator glared back at him without replying.

    “The car just veered off on another track and went into the side of the Powerdrome,” Peter said. “My friends were in that cart! Do you know where it went?”

    “Hey, I only work here,” the bald man snarled, raising his right fist into the air as if he were about to strike. “I don’t know who you are, but you ask too many questions.”

    “I just want to know where my friends are.” Rayne said.

    “Then go to the ‘drome,” the operator growled as he turned his wide back toward Peter and began loading the next group onto the ride.

     Peter thought the man was acting inexplicably, but his suggestion made sense.

    What other alternative is there? Obviously, I can’t report the incident to Park Security without compromising my position as an infiltrator. I have to go to the Powerdrome!

Chapter 18

    Rayne gazed toward the mountain-like half-sphere of the Powerdrome with its ominous reflective surface. He scanned the vast sea of tourists between himself and the structure. Rather than spending hours pushing through the crowd of tourists, he opted for taking one of the many anti-grav shuttles to the ‘drome.

    After a brief wait at a shuttle stop with other tourists, the first shuttle arrived. The passengers stepped aboard and the shuttle raced over the park. The roofless, computer-piloted bus, which was nothing more than a floating platform with seats, landed softly on a landing pad to the right of the Powerdrome’s central entrance. Stepping off the anti-grav platform, Peter walked toward the base of the colossal dome.

    He stood at the rear of a large line of people waiting to enter the facility. He followed closely behind the individual in front of him, so he wouldn’t get lost in the mob. People pushed and shoved as the immeasurable crowd moved towards the entrance. In a matter of minutes, the line dispersed through a wide opening allowing his tour group access to the ‘drome.   

    “WELCOME TO THE POWERDROME!” a voice exclaimed from the mouth of a silver robot suspended from the ceiling above. “FEEL FREE TO WANDER AND MARVEL AT THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES THE FRONT ADMINISTRATION HAS MADE OVER THE PAST TWENTY YEARS!   

   Rayne walked with the flow of the crowd down the Powerdrome’s main corridor. Soon, he reached a tall, arched doorway where a line was forming. A sign to the right of the doorway read DARK WORLD – THIS WAY next to a red arrow pointing right. To the left of the doorway was an arrow pointing left with the words TO PREHISTORIC WORLD. Gazing over the heads of the crowd, Peter read the larger sign above the entrance; WELCOME TO CRIME WORLD - WHERE YOU EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE.  There were a number of video screens on the wall where patrons could observe the activities occurring within the artificial worlds.

    Peter stared at the closest screen with amazement. A thundering firefight between two rival gangs was erupting in a 1920’s style club. It looked like an action movie, but the sign above stated that the screen contained real tourists participating in the attraction in real time.  

   
It’s incredible
, Rayne thought, watching a mobster with a Tommy Gun blasting another one with a shotgun.

    “How do they make it look so real? It looked like that guy really got shot!” Peter exclaimed.

    “Is this your first time here?” the guy next to him in line asked.

    “Was it that easy to tell?” Peter asked.

    “Actually, yeah. You have the same awestruck expression I had when I first visited the ‘drome.”

    “If this attraction is anything like those movies they’re showing, then it must be pretty exciting,” Rayne said

    “Those movies they’re showing ARE the attraction,” the stranger explained.

    “That’s what the sign above the screen said, but it’s hard to believe.”

    “Believe it,” the suited blond man in his mid-thirties said, extending his outstretched hand to Peter.

    “Okay, I will,” Peter said, smiling as he shook the man’s hand.

    “Joe Richards. Nice to meet you,” the blond man introduced himself.

    “Peter Rayne.”

    “This is my wife, Lisa,” the blonde Exec said, gesturing to an attractive brunette woman standing beside him wearing a tight black dress.

    “Nice to meet you,” Rayne said, shaking her hand as he tactfully scanned her voluptuous body.

    “Hello, Peter,” she said, raising a thin, black eyebrow.

    “Over here is my friend, Dave, and his wife, Jessica,” Joe said, gesturing to another young, well-dressed couple standing in front of them in line.

    “Nice to meet you,” a tall, blonde woman said, shaking Peter’s hand.

    Her husband, a relatively short man compared to his wife, appeared to be distracted as he watched the action occurring on a nearby view screen. Joe followed his gaze to the screen where two antique cars raced down a street, periodically smashing into each other.

    “I have to warn you, if you’ve never participated in this attraction before, it can be quite a shock the first time you do it,” Joe said. “Take it from me.”

    “So what can I expect?” Rayne asked.

    “Expect gunfire. Lots of gunfire. It’s pretty unnerving at first because it looks and sounds like real gunshots. But you get used to it. Make sure you take cover whenever you can to avoid being shot.”   

    “They’re going to give us guns?” Peter asked, surprised.

    “Not real guns,” Joe explained, carefully, as if he was instructing a grade-schooler in the finer points of firearms handling. “They’re high tech gadgets that fire invisible laser beams. The beam itself isn’t lethal or even harmful. But when it strikes a robot, the robot is programmed to react as if shot by a real bullet. The laser beam triggers a mechanism in its outer skin, causing blood to spurt. If you hit it in the heart or the head, it will die. If you hit it in the arm, you’ll wound it. More than one wound usually kills it.”

    “It sounds incredible,” Rayne commented.

    “It is. The laser beam is invisible, so sparks will fly from the nozzle of your gun as if you’re firing real bullets. You won’t be able to tell the difference,” Joe said.

    “Do the robots carry the same kind of guns as us?” Peter asked.

    “Actually, no. Their weapons are slightly different,” Joe explained. “They will simulate real gunfire just like ours do. They’ll look and sound like real guns being fired, but they’ll fire a harmless pellet containing a small dose of nerve gel.”

    “Nerve gel? What the hell’s that?” Rayne asked, anxiously.

    “It’s nothing to worry about. Nerve gel works the same on most people. It soaks into your skin and acts as an overall nerve inhibitor. In other words, it temporarily paralyzes you.”

    “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

    “No, I’m not. But it’s nothing to worry about. Some people are paralyzed for several seconds, while others are incapacitated for almost a full minute. All it does is slow you down.”

    “What’s the point of the nerve gel?” Rayne asked.

    “It’s our incentive not to get shot. It makes the game more exciting. It’s like being wounded. When the capsule hits you, it breaks apart and splatters red liquid. The nerve gel looks like blood. It’s a cool effect, but a bit unnerving at first.”

    “Yeah, real cool,” Peter said, rolling his eyes.

    The young Executive didn’t seem to notice Rayne’s sarcasm.

    “The only thing to worry about with the nerve gel is its cumulative effect,” Joe continued. “The more times you get hit, the greater the paralysis effect on your body. If your body is saturated with the stuff, it will keep you paralyzed for a longer period of time.  I’ve known people who have been incapacitated for a full five minutes.”

    “That doesn’t sound good,” Peter commented, dryly.

    “It’s not. I’ve been told it’s frightening. You also get a nasty headache. So try not to get hit.”      

    They were interrupted by an announcement from the loudspeakers above the Crime World entrance, “ATTENTION ALL PATRONS, THE CRIME WORLD ATTRACTION IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE CHOOSE ANOTHER ATTRACTION TO VISIT. WE ARE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.”

    “Damn, they’re shutting down my favorite attraction!” Joe exclaimed. “They must be experiencing glitches with the new AI system.”

    “Honey,” Lisa said to her husband, pulling on his arm. “We have to choose another world quickly before everyone goes to the other attractions.”

   “Good idea, hon,” Joe agreed “Where do you guys want to go?”

    “What about Dark World? I heard that place is pretty cool,” Jessica suggested. 

    “Okay, then Dark World it is. It’s this way,” Joe said, pointing to the right.

    Rayne didn’t have a better plan so he followed the group down the walkway toward the entrance to Dark World. Joe’s fast pace allowed them to outdistance the other people dispersing from the Crime World line. They jumped into the back of the Dark World line before it was swamped. Peter barely had time to glance at the attraction’s video screens as the line moved quickly under the archway. He caught a glimpse of a screen showing a green-scaled dragon shooting fire over the heads of a group of screaming tourists.