THE GATE KEEPER (15 page)

‘It’s
a long way down. Isn’t it? It could have been simple but you chose that way!
Tell me, who came to visit you? Was it someone from the past? Was there someone
else? Tell me the truth and I shall save you from this madness of pain.’ The
katana lady promised under pretence as he stares at me with deep cold eyes.

Suspended
I glance downward to take notice of my surroundings. It feels as if the end was
near. I began to lose all sense of hope. Faith and hope was all that keep me
going. Rain pours down from the night sky.

She
was close to the ledge, ‘Come on you can’t hold on forever it’s going to be
slippery. You can’t hold on forever.’

Underneath
my hands tiny shards of glass pierce my hands as both bare my weight. Rain
drizzles down on me. I was wet and blood stain water from underneath my hands
drop in my face. My hands were in agony. Fatigue muscles from my arms drive my
moral down. Underneath my feet it felt like sharp needle pain.
I had to find
survival alternatives.

         
From where she stands I could see that she was bleeding. The fragments had
found its way underneath her feet as well. Her face bled of cutting bruise. The
wind blows her long silky hair backward. The beautiful warrior stares at me in
agony and fatigue.

14

From
below I could hear the approaching sound of roaring engine adjusting its height.
I stare hard through the darkness. A hovering vehicle slowly ascends
stealthily. Its light was switch off. It was approximately feet away from the
main wall. With the help of my leg I push myself away from the wall but
allowing myself to fall straight instead on my back. I land on the roof of the
vehicle. The fall and the cut of glass from underneath knocks me off my legs.
The agony was strong that I cried aloud as I slip and end up on my belly.

‘Get
in!’ I heard a voice from the driver said.

One
side of the vehicle’s door automatically slide open. In fear I take a peek of
the blazing ground of traffic and the buildings natural lights. My elbows and
the inside of my knees became my sole survivor. Under precise precaution I use
them to crawl down onto the bonnet and lead my way to the passenger’s side. The
vehicle slowly moves sideways before joining the crowd of fast lane air
mobiles. The door closes.

I
glance at my driver and ask, ‘Who are you?’

‘My
name is of no importance. The most important task is to get you to safety. Hold
on, I got to check in… HQ this is C2, the package is in. I repeat the package
is in.’  

The
katana lady had lost her suspect. She was fuming and deep down she knew that her
employer would not be happy. She had seen Phil risking his life by taking the
leap of success. She had witness him crawling in. She had felt the urgent need
and duty to react.  

She
urgently leaps for her
ninjutsu
boots.
She hurriedly bounces towards his two dead colleagues and greedily grabs one of
their nearby guns. She quickly unscrews the edge of the tilt of her
katana
.
She turns it upside down and got hold of a small disc shape device. She quickly
removes some fragments underneath her feet. She wears the boots and immediately
head for the open space where a wall of transparent glass once stood erect. She
stares at her getaway package and says, ‘
comms
genesis!’

‘Communication
genesis available and online…. Apologies for partial distortion of the hologram’s
interactive graphics,’ a robotic voice from the speaker of the device reacted.

‘Computer,
display data as it is,’ she complied.

Explosion
of shattered glass had damage part of the set of the holography machines which
provide the three dimensional image. For the katana lady this was an acceptable
and critical issue. As long as she could hear her employer she knew that she
was back in business.

Partial
hologram image of someone appears near her. The set of hologram from the wall
portrays the live interactive image of someone. The image was visible from the
bottom up to the waist. In front of her the small device mimics the high
definition image.

‘Did
he speak?’ the voice from the hologram image asked.

‘No,
he managed to evade us. Urgently requesting for immediate assistance and
excessive force to contain the situation?’

‘Granted
but keep him alive to extract the information before getting rid of him. And
once he’s done his part make him vanish without a trace.’

Concern
about the escape of her suspect she says, ‘One more thing, I need
re-enforcement and should be by air. I shall be waiting and hurry…’

‘Enforcement
is already on its way as we speak,’ the voice from the computer said as the
distort hologram disappears.

The
katana lady urgently limps to the edge of the ledge. The hovering vehicle was
level to the floor she was on. This was an advantage as it made it easy to aim.
It was getting away. Afar it was trying to vanish among the fast moving
vehicles. She aims the weapon at the hovering vehicle. She kneels down. Control
her breathing to prevent the rise and fall of her weapon.

She
made herself comfortable in the kneeling position. She brought her breathing to
a halt. The aiming shot was ready. She slowly squeezes the trigger until the
slack was gone.

Beyond
the rigidity of the trigger there shall be chaos
, she
considered.

Further
at the edge of the ledge I could see the katana lady.  The wind wildly
blows her hair backward. She had a weapon pointing at us. Without hesitation she
presses the trigger. Distorting air particles head for our vehicle. The door on
my side takes in the effects of the volatile external force.

Instinct
made me drive my head in between my legs and warn my driver, ‘Incoming!’

Above
me I could hear the side window burst and shatter into pieces as they fall on
my back. An immense impact from the blast of air pushes the door inward. Out of
control the airmobile vibrate violently and dive downwards. I sit properly and
secure myself in a seat belt. Blue, visible electrons flow on the body of the
airmobile and give out spark as they collide.

‘Emergency,
defect with the flight mode,’ the computer aboard informed us.

‘Emergency
landing is the only way to save ourselves!’ The driver cried out nervously. He
point at the luminous sight on the body and carry on, ‘do not attempt to put
your hands outside to touch it as you shall be electrocuted.’

I
pitied him as a fresh open gash became visible with red fluid seeping out. I
had to ask, ‘Are you ok?’

‘My
face may need stitching but I shall survive,’ he calmly said.

He
guided the defect airmobile through the traffic of mobile lights. Near misses
of accidents were in every direction that our airmobile moves. Most horn as
they pass by. Warning us how close we were -of endangering the lives of other
drivers and passengers.

Our
car snake its way continuously at a certain height as it drastically lost
altitude. Then hold at a low height for a while. Traces of smokes starts to
come from the left side of the engine which struggle to navigate us through the
new obstacles of the nearby buildings. The machine went downward from my side.

‘Auto
pilot take over for emergency landing!’ My driver barked an uneasy order to the
on board computer.

‘Request
granted but safety not guaranteed.’ The computer within the machine responded.

The
mysterious sword lady keeps her eyes on her suspect’s airmobile. Though it was
far from her she was quite delighted and sure of her shot. She knew that they
shall eventually fall from the sky. Moving further was impossible for them.

Soon
she would capture him and his confederate. Feeling good about herself she
smirks at them. She wasn’t bother even if the strong wind was wildly blowing
her long black hair and clothes. Her suspect’s getaway had been amazing and
unforeseen.

Rain
starts to pour down heavily and at the horizon lightening flickers. Thunder
roars loudly and overpowering the low noise of the passing traffic. An air-bike
move close to where the mysterious sword lady was. She removes her sword from
the wall.

The
four gravitational engines located at each corner of the air bike twist and
release blue flames downward. It remains still as if floating on air. Its biker
wear a black waterproof coat engrave with the illuminating word police at the
back.

The
black visor of his helmet faces upwards. He then asks, ‘Seeking for assistance
Ma’am.’

‘Indeed
I was and how about a lift?’ The katana lady asks as she back up, made a quick
sprint towards the officer and jump on his air-bike. She lost sight of the gun
as it went down.

She
falls in between the rear engines and the officer. The only bare hand which was
free had grabbed the seat firmly while the other one secures her sword. She
felt burning sensation of pain shot from underneath her feet. She sucks it in.

The
officer retaliate by asking, ‘what are you doing?!’

She
climbs on the back seat and orders, ‘take it inside!’

   
      ‘Are you mental?!’

‘If
I was a psychopath would I be working in the public sector of high security
protocol important for our national interest?’

The
officer did as requested of him. He cautiously rides the air-bike through the
broken glass. Inside, the gravitational engine set the mat on fire as it rotate
to provide stability and turns. The Fire alarm comes to life. Water from the ceiling
burst open.

‘You
know what is requested of you?’ She said as she pin point at him and to the
white and semi charcoal mat.

‘Are
you kidding?’

‘I’m
not,’ the katana lady said as she applies pressure at the officer’s neck underneath
the helmet and throws him off the bike.

Neatly
with an agile move she twirls her hair at the back. Then she drives a thin and
light Japanese dagger from the inside hidden pocket of her top. She inserts it
in her hair. From the opposite side of her hidden pocket she removes another
dagger. Without delays she criss-cross it with the other one. Her hair was no
longer obstructing her vision.

The
officer surprisingly found himself off his bike and on the wet floor. He looks
at her in disbelief as she carefully rides out avoiding the shards at the edges
of the wall. He wipes water off his face though the sprinklers from the ceiling
still spatters and sprinkles it down. He searches for danger and made sure that
he was aware of his surroundings. Making sure that it was no longer on fire.

In
the rain outside, she vanishes through the flows of traffic and under the cover
of darkness. 

The
water from the ceiling extinguishes the fire. Smokes and the smell of charcoal
mat covers part of the floor. The alarm automatically went off as life was no
longer a threat. After all, the water from the ceiling had achieved its goal.
The officer stands up and ran to the edge of the ledge as the water stops.

My
guts feel as if it was being ripped from the inside of my body. At first I was
struck by panic. Then my body immediately adapt with the shocking reality. The
madness of the fall which we had miraculously survives. A chill of mortal fear
prepares me for what was coming.
Death
, as I stare at the incoming hard
ground of the tar road. 

Suddenly
and unexpectedly the automobile slightly flip back to its normal travelling
position. It went in between two floating automobiles moving in different
direction and hit one on its roof. I glimpse backwards and notice the collide
vehicles moving downward hitting another one below. One of the air vehicles
caught fire at its rear’s gravitational engine.

We
bounce off to another automobile and spin off on the tar road hitting an
oncoming vehicle. Immediately I lost control of my body as it head for the
dashboard.
There goes my face,
I thought. My head bounce off a soft
white cushion of air bags forcing my body backwards into the sit.

15

The
katana lady nearly lost her suspects. She had furiously rod the bike faster
than the requesting air speed and break the law. The siren was on. At the front
and back of the air bike the blue and red light flickers with enormous
speed.  She believes that the National security was at stake. It’s her job
to react to high security breach.
The mole must be remove,
she thought,
as she ride dangerously over and under nearby airmobile of different size.

She
had followed them to where she last seen them disappeared. Then her instinct
took over. Burning air of fumes had forced her to slow down and took scent.
Like an animal she smells the burning air. She follows it. Then the scent grew
stronger and she was moving through thick cloud of burning fumes.

She
accelerates and found one of their navigational engines on fire. Under extreme
violent their airmobile was spinning out of control and went on to the opposite
side. Oncoming vehicle on the other side slams through it. Her suspect’s
vehicle flows with its rear skyward hitting another airmobile moving above
them.

         
The katana lady decelerates the air-bike as impact of the blast tosses away
both vehicles in her direction. She made the air-bike dive away from both as
they miss her by inches away. Both vehicles collide, crash, explode and burn
towards the ground. Her suspect’s vehicle ends up in a building. Without delay
she comes to a halt.