The World After (8 page)

Another command from his brain implant opened the discreet window separating him from the driver and, leaning forward, he said, “Find a decent restaurant nearby where we can grab something to eat. In an hour, we have to go back to the Lab to pick up several people.”

As the car turned right at the next crossroads, he leaned back and lit a cigar to go with his whisky. A smile appeared on his face. The plan he had worked on for years had finally been triggered; everything was fitting perfectly into it at the minute. The director closed his eyes, trying to chase away one worrying thought that had just spoiled his bliss – Taylor Swansea.

Carolina and her father, who was holding her hand, dove out of the side alley just as half a dozen bullets flew over them. At least two of them mortally wounded innocent passersby. Ademar Gamejro was first to his feet and helping his daughter. The minister pulled a metal advertising sign in front of them, which proved crucial as two more bullets made dents in it but didn't go through.

The panic around them was spreading like wildfire; screaming people were running in all directions; and the two Brazilians had to make use of that. Back on their feet, they headed north, a direction chosen by Carolina's father as he had a particular goal in mind.

“We must get off the streets quickly. There are dead people. Soon the whole city will be totally paralyzed,” Carolina shouted in his ear.

“I'm working on it. Come.”

Just as they reached the entrance of a shabby concrete building about five hundred yards away from the dead pedestrians, the two agents that killed them appeared from a side street and spotted them.

Ademar Gamejro's implant helped them to enter the heavy door. Once inside, Carolina turned and, with two trained movements, dismantled the computer that was controlling the opening and closing of the door.

“This should give us two or three minutes at best,” she said.

Without wasting any time, they rushed up the winding staircase to see that, on every floor of the five-story building, there were three apartments. Ademar Gamejro was leading the way. Once they reached the third floor, he stopped in front of the middle door and, with a clenched fist, started banging hard. He did that for over a minute without any sign of an answer. Gunshots echoed from the building's entrance. They realized that very soon their pursuers would gain entry.

“He must be out,” the minister said.

“Come on, let's head towards the roof,” Carolina answered.

They made their way to the upper floors. Just as they reached the corridor that was leading towards the roof, Ademar Gamejro crashed into another man, who fell backwards in surprise.

“Demetrius!”

“Minister Gamejro!” Shocked and slightly scared, the man in his early thirties responded. He stumbled back to his feet as his deep eyes hidden by bushy black eyebrows paused for a second on Carolina's red cheeks. “What …” He was interrupted by his boss.

“There's no time. We need to run.” Ademar Gamejro squeezed Demetrius' shoulder as he continued, “The Agency for Tracking the Untraceables is on our tails. They attacked my residence and are trying to kill me. I need to reach Elada Airport, now!”

Demetrius didn't take long to assess the situation and, turning quickly, said, “Follow me.” His figure disappeared through a narrow door leading on the roof.

“My hobby is flying machines, Minister. Just as you stumbled on me, I was coming home after maintaining my latest pride – a two-seated gyrocopter. Have you flown such a thing, Minister?” Demetrius stepped aside from the door to reveal what he was talking about.

In the middle of the relatively small roof stood a mosquito-like metal frame. Ademar Gamejro looked at the gyrocopter with pleasant surprise and answered the question. “About twenty years ago.”

“You'll be fine. It's not complicated, like riding a bike.” Demetrius was talking quickly as they walked to the gyrocopter. “It has an especially light but strengthened aluminum frame. Its triangular shape provides the maximum possible speed when the winds are coming from behind. The pilot sits right on the nose of the triangle, with room for the only passenger between the wings, as you can see.”

They reached the flying machine, and Demetrius noticed the puzzled and slightly worried look on the minister's face. “For the purpose of being lighter and easier to maneuver, I asked for the protective mirror in front and the protective cabin to be removed. You'll be fine, it's safe.”

He pointed at something at the front of the machine. “Here are the pedals where you should rest your legs and this in between is the controlling pole with which you ascend and descend.” Demetrius turned towards the back of the gyrocopter saying, “Right at the back are the fuel tank, the rotor for the main propeller, and a stabilizing second propeller. You better not lose any of these elements or your ride might be very bumpy.”

Without wasting any more time, Ademar Gamejro hugged his assistant and jumped in the pilot's seat with Carolina already seated between the wings.

“What about a navigation system?” the minister asked.

“They're built into the helmet. Once you put it on, you'll see. It's my invention.” Demetrius smiled proudly despite knowing very well that this favor for his boss would most likely cost him dearly.

“You'll be rewarded for what you're doing for us, Demetrius. Now best disappear from the roof.” After saying that, Ademar Gamejro put on the pilot's helmet and, a second later, started the engine.

The gyrocopter smoothly lifted off from the roof. When it was over the next building, the roof behind them was reached by two agents from the ATU. Demetrius calmly turned towards them with a smile on his face. Without a word exchanged, the two armed men drew their guns. Half a dozen bullets ripped through the young man's body as it collapsed on the dusty roof.

Carolina and her father witnessed the scene with their hearts in their throats; tears rolled down Carolina's cheeks. The two agents walked to the edge of the roof and followed the gyrocopter with expressionless gazes as it turned north and steadily headed towards the outskirts of Athens.

Ademar Gamejro was quietly sobbing in his helmet as he was steering the machine that his unfortunate assistant so generously provided for them. Down on the streets, they could clearly see police almost everywhere. The minister knew that it was only a matter of minutes before they would be detected and surrounded by police helicopters.

The gyrocopter reached the outskirts of Athens bothered only by seagulls. With the terrain in front of them being a vast plain, they were even able to see the contours of Elada Airport in the distance. Keeping the straightest possible route to their goal, Ademar Gamejro predicted that their not hugely speedy machine would cover the distance in seven to eight minutes, but he doubted that they had that much time.

Five minutes later, they were approaching their goal, and somewhat surprisingly, there was still no sign of pursuers. From that distance, Carolina was able to see the plane of
Future for the Amazon Jungle
on the open runway, and her heart filled with joy. She nervously kept looking back towards Athens, expecting every time to see fast-approaching armed choppers. But the sky remained clear. Very soon, her father started his descent and approach for landing.

A handful of people down on the tarmac had their eyes fixed on the gyrocopter as it approached. Fabio was in the middle of the small group. After shading his eyes from the sun low on the horizon, he was able to see blond hair coming from underneath the helmet of the passenger. With poorly hidden excitement in his voice, he said to Fabiana and the young Chinese man next to her, “It's her; it's Carolina!”

“But how?”

“We don't have time. Something must have gone wrong. Wong, prepare us for setting off.” The young man quickly headed back towards the steps into the plane, “Fab, I want you to go and rush them with the fuel. We need the tank full.”

After he was alone, Fabio drew out his ancient Colt revolver, and estimating where approximately the gyrocopter would land, he ran in that direction.

The flying machine touched down on the tarmac not far away from the plane, but its speed took it a further fifty yards. As Fabio was covering this distance and the two recently landed passengers were removing their helmets, police sirens filled the air.

Once out of the gyrocopter, Carolina walked to her father and hugged him. With her head on his shoulder, she whispered in his ear, “Pa, the man running towards us is my fiancé.”

The minister looked at the man rushing towards them at top speed. Fabio looked more like a boy with his bushy, curly black hair and chocolate tan and well-built, but definitely not muscular, body. He stopped in front of them and, without a moment of hesitation, embraced Carolina and passionately kissed her. She responded.

After ten seconds of intimacy, Fabio finally released his fiancé and, turning towards Ademar Gamejro, said, “Minister, it's a great pleasure to finally meet you, but I really think we should leave the formalities for a little later.”

“I couldn't agree more, my future son-in-law.”

A deafening sound from nearby put an end to any further discussions. The plane's four engines became alive. Fabio turned just in time to see Fabiana disappearing inside through the loading ramp at the back of the old machine. She gave the signal that everything was okay, and the three of them raced towards their escape.

Just as they stepped on the ramp, the metal gates of the small private airport flew from their hinges as four police cars rushed in, led by a threatening looking indigo car.

* * *

Taylor and Jinhun looked to have lost all hope of avoiding capture when they lifted their hands in the air. The helicopter was hovering right over them, its two threating machine guns aimed directly at them, but then a bright flash of light blinded them.

The next thing they heard was a deafening explosion and heat spread down their heads and faces. The two runaways opened their eyes to see the helicopter above them had turned into a big fireball that was descending dangerously towards them. Jinhun caught Taylor's hands and pulled him forward. They rolled over the grass just as the helicopter crashed to the ground where they were only a second ago. They heard an even louder explosion; pieces flew all around but luckily didn't injure them.

Near the rock formation in front of them, the Chinese military forces had stopped their vehicles and were looking confused by the scene. Somebody behind that fence was heavily armed, and they were reluctant to take any chances.

Without wasting any time, Jinhun got up and beckoned Taylor to follow him as he headed towards the border fence. The two of them reached the electric fence safely. About a yard to their left, they spotted a small pile of earth right next to a tunnel that was obviously going under the double fence, as another pile of earth on the other side suggested.

Without any hesitation, Jinhun disappeared into the narrow passage and Taylor had no other choice but to follow. After a few minutes of difficult and unpleasant crawling through the small underground tunnel, Taylor showed his head on Indian soil. Jinhun was already up on his feet, looking back at the Chinese forces that had made their way to the crashed helicopter. They were afraid to go further as they still didn't know what or who hit it.

The two fugitives looked at them for a few seconds, while wiping some of the mud from their faces and clothes. Jinhun urged Taylor to follow him as he disappeared into the thick, dark pine forest.

They were in India and, to be more precise, in Arunachal Pradesh, the northernmost of the twenty-eight provinces of the vast country. The almost entirely mountainous terrain of this area was a border province that was touching the countries of Myanmar and China. For many decades, it had been a reason for major conflicts and even wars between the two great powers that ruled Asia and much more in 2025.

The province was declared to have special status by the Indian government, and foreigners were allowed to enter only for very short periods and under strict conditions. The capital of the province was the city of Itanagar. It was surrounded by a beautiful national park that had unique flora and fauna. This area of the planet was home to thousands of different types of orchids, with at least eight of them exclusive to the area, with many species of parrots, monkeys, snakes and tigers also living free in the woods. Up in the high and always snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas was the last natural sanctuary for the extremely rare snow leopard. Exactly in the heart of this natural paradise, around fifty miles south of Itanagar, were the swamps in which the Yuyuan had built their underground city.

The two men had taken no more than ten steps into the woods when the barrel of a gun stopped them in their tracks. Taylor instinctively lifted his hands, but Jinhun only laughed and shouted something in a language unknown to his companion. An answer came from behind a tree, and the person holding the gun came out. Taylor gave out a sound of pure astonishment.

Towards them walked a small man; he could have easily be mistaken for a fifteen-year-old if it hadn't been for the wrinkled dark skin that also drooped from his cheeks. Taylor was unable to decide his nationality as all facial features suggested some strange symbiosis between Chinese, Indian and Nepalese. Without a doubt, what shocked Taylor most was the outfit of the old man.

He was wearing a long, bright red robe that covered nearly his whole body right down to the ankles; but, somewhat bizarrely, his upper body was covered with a strange-looking military type jacket that was a rich golden color and also had lots of sparkles on. On his bald head, the old man had put a knitted hat that had all the colors of the rainbow in it and an enormous pompom on top. To finish off the outfit, the confident man approaching them had on a long necklace; it consisted of four separate rows of very bright blue, semi-precious gems.

The strange looking man reached them with an old gun in one hand and a bazooka thrown over his free shoulder. His face stretched into a freakish smile that revealed a toothless mouth.

“Taylor, meet Kushajri,” Jinhun said, “He can't speak English, but he is the elder of a nearby mountain village”

“Did he blow up the heli?”

“Yeah, I told you that support awaited us on the other side of the border. Nobody knows these wild mountains better than Kushajri and the other members of his village. They have been priceless help for us over the years.”

The small man mumbled something and Jinhun explained, “We must go now. In less than two hours, the daylight will be gone and the trek to the village is far from easy.”

The two fit men climbed their way through the tall pine trees for half an hour, with every step of the way forcing them to use more and more energy just to keep up with the frantic pace of their leader Kushajri. The little man, who Jinhun revealed was in his late seventies, was moving like a goat up the steep slope. He didn't slip even once while they had to use their knees and elbows numerous times on the tricky and wet ground covered with pine needles. Several times, they heard the engines of helicopters flying over them, but with the trees providing almost impenetrable cover and plenty of wildlife around them, they were soon able to relax. Taylor actually enjoyed the testing walk through the virgin forest.