The Mendelssohnian Theory: Action Adventure, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic ,Y/A

by Toker, Dor

  Adam hesitated before answering: “Deal. When do I start?”

  “You already have,” said Dmitry. He signaled to the darkness, and a humongous man was revealed. “Meet Morris.” Morris nodded at Adam, who gave him a ‘respect him, but suspect him’ nod back. “Morris will take you to change into a better protective suit, one that really works instead of this rag you’re wearing. Morris,” he addressed the giant, “burn all the clothes he’ll take off. We don’t want anyone to catch a disease.” The hint of a smile passed over Morris’ face, and he turned back and disappeared down the darkened corridor. Adam hurried after him, not before turning around for a moment and saying: “Thanks. You won’t regret it.”

  “I know,” answers Dmitry, “Elizabeth always chooses them well.”

  Chapter 22

  The space hovercraft moved above Mars in a wide orbit and slow speed that prevented its detection by the earthly defense webs. Nearly four hundred years after the ability to detect objects in space had been developed, radars, ultratelescopes, infra-red equipment and other human and computerized warning systems could still be easily fooled. The hovercraft pilot sat motionless in his chair, eyes closed. His slight respiration nearly didn’t move his body. Had anyone looked at him, he would be convinced the pilot could not be counted among the living. However, no one was there to examine the pilot’s condition; he was by himself in the hovercraft that moved in the empty blackness, softly illuminated by the reflected light of Mars.

  Sato was not used to be leaving loose ends and now, after he’d realized the youth was still alive, he renewed the chase. ‘A temporary delay,’ he defined Adam’s escape and assumed he will find his prey’s tracks soon enough and, sooner or later, will capture him. Sato was patient. He was used to such situations, admittedly on Earth and not in the unfamiliar areas of space (this was his first assignment away from the blue planet), and he’d always come out winning. This time as well, he did not intend to give up. But his current boss, the one who’d ordered the contract for Adam, had instructed him to return to Earth. He had pondered this order for the past half hour while sitting motionless in the hovercraft, should he oblige the request or ignore it and continue the chase. Should he return to Earth, he might not have another chance to complete the mission. He knew, just like any other sensible person on Earth, that people disappeared in space, changed identities, dug themselves into the civilian and military bases, joined smugglers or extended their stay on the space stations until becoming an inseparable part of the vast space crafts’ population. Some of them eventually returned to the home planet, but most of them simply evaporated without a trace. On the other hand, it wasn’t difficult to guess his employer wouldn’t like the fact Sato had defied him, and one wouldn’t want to have such a client displeased. Three additional jobs had entered his order system while he’d been in space and awaited his return to Earth. He knew that in any event, he’d have to get back to Earth soon in order to perform them. He came to a final conclusion, opened his eyes and directed his personal hovercraft away from the red planet, toward the heart of the solar system. Adam First’s meeting with his weapon’s muzzle will have to be postponed.

  Chapter 23

  “Where are we flying to?” Adam asked Dmitry.

  “That’s none of your business,” said Dmitry and continued to navigate the small spacecraft in silence. Adam sat in the seat next to him and gazed out the hovercraft’s large front window. The black and star-strewn space had always interested him. He recalled how his father would urge him to look at the stars and memorize the names of the ones he could recognize. But the space now visible to his eyes was different. Stars he was familiar with were mixed up with ones he couldn’t recognize, and he concentrated in an attempt to try and connect names with the dots of light in front of him.

  During the first weeks of his stay with the smugglers, Dmitry had worked him to the bone. He carried heavy boxes of cargo, filled with ordered goods, from the smuggling hovercrafts to the organization’s storage warehouses, and boxes of cargo, just as heavy, back to the hovercrafts that delivered the merchandise to the ordering parties. Later on, he was sent, with a false identity, to the American superpower complex, in order to pass on a message to smugglers who’d been captured and arrested by the authorities. He cleaned the various smuggler aircraft, with the aid of a flame-thrower, from all trash and filth collected on their outer walls and took part in several raids on cargo shuttles from Earth. During one such raid, he found himself in a short battle between Dmitry’s smugglers and rival group of smugglers who tried to get their hands on the same merchandise. And all that time, Adam had continued to learn. He accumulated knowledge and ability he would not have been able to receive anywhere else. After three months, during which Dmitry had trained him in the piloting of hovercrafts in space, taught him unconventional fighting techniques and guided him with negotiation skills he alone possessed, the two headed out in Dmitry’s private spacecraft to an unknown destination, at least as far as Adam was concerned.

  “Get ready,” Dmitry cautioned, and Adam prepared himself. “Close and seal your suit, we’re going outside,” the smuggler announced and lunged to his feet. Adam hurried after him. “You’ve shown me that you’re capable of fighting and surviving. Now show me what your heart is made of.” He gave a mark with his eyes and the hovercraft’s cargo door slid open. The cockpit had gotten cooler with the same speed with which the air was drained from it. Dmitry smiled at Adam through the helmet of his protective suit and jumped toward the opening. Adam didn’t hesitate and lunged after him. They glided above the planet’s thin atmosphere, accelerating on their way down. “Don’t try to fight it,” Dmitry instructed, “harness the speed in order to stabilize yourself.” Adam obeyed the older smuggler and balanced the speed of his descent until it nearly ceased, and he hovered beside Bialystok with the aid of his protective suit’s gravity stabilizers. “Pay attention, above you to the right,” Dmitry instructed, and Adam noticed a large metallic object in the area his commander had pointed at. He immediately recognized the object as a spy satellite that approached them with great speed. “In the side pocket of your suit, you’ll find a small control stick (Controlizer ©),” the smuggler continued to explain, “direct it toward the satellite and once you’re ready, shoot. We’ll have only one opportunity to get attached to it. Don’t miss.” Adam took out the control stick, the standard personal weapon used by most super power armies, a reincarnation of the mythological ‘Leatherman’ from four hundred years ago, and patiently waited for the satellite to pass above him. He directed the muzzle of his gun toward the large chunk of metal and fired at it, a tenth of a second after Dmitry had fired his own gun. The older smuggler was sucked at once, dragged after the magnetic cable that was fired until he hit the satellite while Adam’s harpoon had missed the large body by a hairsbreadth. Adam continued to hover, looking at Dmitry getting further and further away from him. “You’re all alone now,” Dmitry transmitted to him, “try to reach the rendezvous point, based on coordinates one, nine, alpha…” the transmission suddenly interrupted and Adam remained by himself. The darkened silence threatened to swallow him, and he hadn’t the faintest idea where he was. Strangely, Adam thought to himself, he felt no fear. He wasn’t entirely convinced this was not one of Dmitry’s tests, and although he didn’t know what to do next, surely he’d be able to survive. After all, he’d ridden the sand storms of Mars and had beaten them. But after about three Martian hours, in which he’d unsuccessfully attempted to direct himself with finesse into the planet’s atmosphere without being burnt alive, he realized his situation was much worse than he had first thought it to be. Panic began to clutch at him, stubbornly grasping his heart, and although he tried to calm down, he was afraid his chances of survival were close to nothing.

  • Report

  A voice was heard next to him. Adam immediately rolled into a fighting position and surveyed his surroundings. He couldn’t notice anything and stabilized himself once more, forcing himself to re
lax, when suddenly, the same voice was heard again.

  • Follow the red lights

  All at once, a series of tiny lights ignited in front of him, stretching far beyond his field of vision. He sent his hand, touched the nearest light and felt its stability. He leaned on it for a moment, burdening it with the weight of his body, and then pulled himself toward the next light. He continued to progress along the trail of lights, accumulating speed as he went along. The more he accelerated, the further apart the lights had become.

  • Report

  The voice sounded again, this time inside his head. Adam felt the voice as an electric, almost metallic current at the edges of his head, but it also emanated from his entire body. He concentrated and tried to answer voicelessly.

  • Report

  • Approaching first rendezvous point. No human presence can be discerned in a wide radius. Recommendations?

  • The location of one Dmitry Bialystok

  • Locating. Dmitry Bialystok located

  • Calculate trajectory for reaching him

  • Follow the red lights

  Adam continued to advance with the lights. The lights led him into the planet’s atmosphere at the right angle, which prevented strong and scalding friction. He tried to locate the one who was speaking to him and guiding him. He hoped this was not a trap, but even if someone was trapping him, he had no choice but to obey, ‘I’ll handle whoever it is on the relatively safe ground of Mars and not in space,’ he said to himself while continuing to hover with long rowing movements.

  • Report

  Once more, the voice was heard and once more Adam answered in his head:

  • Report

  • A hovercraft type aircraft approaching you

  • Was it able to recognize me?

  • No recognition signature

  • Who owns the hovercraft?

  • No records

  ‘A smuggler ship!’ Adam realized and hope was rekindled in him.

  • Visual eye contact in three, two, one, now

  Bialystok’s smuggler hovercraft was revealed, cruising slowly to intercept his flight trajectory. He directed himself toward it, matched his speed with the hovercraft’s and attached himself to its body. Only once he’d stabilized himself on the back of the hovercraft did he notice the lights that had accompanied him disappeared.

  • Report

  He tried his luck but received no answer. The signal was gone. The hovercraft gradually lowered itself, passing mountains and valleys on its way, until it had reached a barren plain and landed on stable ground. The hovercraft’s door opened, and Dmitry jumped outside and hurried to Adam. “There you are,” he called happily to the young man, “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “Really?” asked Adam, “I thought it was just another one of your tests.”

  “No,” answered the smuggler, and immediately came to his senses and toughened his tone of voice, “you’ve left me to do the job by myself. We’ll need to wait for the satellite’s next round.”

  “And the talking lights?” asked Adam.

  “What talking lights?” Bialystok was momentarily confused.

  “The ones that directed me,” answered Adam, “it was you, wasn’t it?” he was embarrassed and confused. ‘Was he the only one who had seen the lights? The only one who’d heard the voices?’

  Dmitry examined Adam closely. “Let’s head back to base. I’ll take someone else with me. You must be suffering from space-drunkenness.”

  Adam hurried to calm him down: “No, it’s nothing. Let’s continue with the mission.”

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” Dmitry became suspicious.

  “Yes,” answered Adam with a greater confidence than he was actually feeling. His mind brimmed with speculations about the identity of his helper, but he cleared his head of all thoughts and tried to concentrate on the mission.

  They entered the hovercraft and took off toward the next rendezvous point with the satellite. When they came out of the hovercraft, Dmitry took out the control stick and signaled for Adam to follow suit. Adam noticed the satellite approaching them with speed again. He aimed the weapon and fired at it. This time, the magnetic hook was caught on the moving body and drew Adam after it. “Press the stick again and it will scroll you toward the satellite,” Dmitry’s voice was heard on the inner radio. Adam realized this transmission was very different from the previous one, which had reported and helped him. Dmitry’s voice was heard in his ear, while the other voice emitted from inside him as if each and every part of his body spoke with him. For a moment, he almost lost his concentration following this new realization and loosened his grip on the weapon. He immediately came to his senses, pulled the stick’s trigger and scrolled himself toward the satellite. When he’d reached the metallic body, Dmitry was already waiting for him and showed him how to stabilize himself on the satellite’s sides. “It’s a very old satellite, from before the second Nano-revolution,” explained Dmitry, “you can hardly see them anymore. Today’s satellites are the size of a hand, or even smaller, and their capabilities make the use of satellites such as the one we’re attached to now obsolete. This satellite doesn’t exist,” he determined, “one of the superpowers placed it in orbit for an espionage mission when it was still unclear who was controlling the planet and later on, when the Mars treaty was signed and territorial divisions were made, it became unnecessary and was forgotten.”

  “What are we looking for?”

  “We’re not looking for anything,” answered Dmitry, “we’re taking. This satellite contains a nuclear system, which provides it all the energy it needs in order to function. Even though it’s obsolete, its small nuclear reactor is still active. I have an order for such a reactor.”

  “What are the radiation levels?” Adam was interested.

  “They’re supposed to be stable and in any event, your suit should reject most of it and protect you,” answered Dmitry, “but there’s always danger. Even if they can catch us at any moment, it doesn’t mean we’ll stop running, right?” Adam nodded and Dmitry continued to speak while opening the satellite cover and pulling the nuclear reactor: “There are two parts here. You’ll take the one that includes the accelerator and power generator, and I’ll take the radioactive material.” He handed Adam a long, narrow box and held onto the other one. “Release yourself from the satellite and continue to hover until I pick you up with the hovercraft. Understood?”

  Adam nodded. He prepared himself to jump upon Dmitry’s mark, but at that exact moment the satellite inclined at a sharp angle and both men abruptly lost contact with it. Dmitry’s box dropped from his hand and fell toward the planet. “Quickly,” hissed Dmitry, “it mustn’t enter the atmosphere. The friction will ignite it and cause a nuclear explosion.” Adam threw his own box at Dmitry and directed himself for a quick dive following the other one.

  “Bring the hovercraft,” he said on the radio, “I’ll get it.”

  “No,” called Dmitry, but it was already too late, Adam was far below him. He changed his direction and broadcast his coordinates to the hovercraft, praying with all his heart that Adam would succeed where he had failed. He knew that Adam’s chances were slim, and so were the chances of all people on Mars. A nuclear blast of that magnitude and in that altitude spelled a death sentence for all human beings, computers, engines and electrical appliances on the planet.

  Adam dropped after the radioactive box. His protective suite’s stabilizers accelerated the speed of his decent, and he gradually advanced toward his target, but at the same time, he was approaching the point of no return in which the box and its content will be burned, and a nuclear blast will occur.

  • Report

  The voice was heard again

  • A successful outcome for the problem at hand

  Adam immediately broadcasted.

  • Go round it and accompany it from below

  Adam obeyed. He accelerated the speed of his fall, passed the box and stabilized himself below it.
>
  • Done

  He broadcasted in his mind

  • Hold the object and tilt it with a circular movement

  Adam followed the voice’s suggestion. He and the object moved together in a semi-circle. He felt his back, turned toward the surface, was heating, but the circular movement continued, and he was thrown back toward space, in a round orbit, while holding onto the dangerous box tightly.

  • Thank you

  He broadcasted but was unanswered. He continued to hover in space until he saw Dmitry’s hovercraft approaching him. The hovercraft’s door opened, and he entered it. The hovercraft’s pressure stabilized, and the air filled up with oxygen. He allowed himself to remove the helmet of his suit from his head “Mission accomplished,” he beamed with pride.

  “Well done,” Dmitry said appreciatively and took the box from him, “how did you do it?”

  “You won’t believe me if I told you,” said Adam, he found it difficult to understand how he had managed to succeed in his mission.

  “Red lights again?” asked the smuggler with a smile. Adam returned his smile and didn’t answer. Dmitry examined the lad once more, reevaluating him. This wasn’t the first time he’d changed his impression of the young man. ‘Every time you think you know him, he surprises you again,’ he said to himself and couldn’t decide whether he liked it or not. “A quarter of the profits from the reactor’s sale will be credited to you,” he announced and piloted the hovercraft down. Adam nodded offhandedly. His mind was distracted as he attempted, to no avail, to understand who had helped him while he was alone. He decided to file his suspicions in his brain implant and in the meanwhile concentrated silently on Mars, growing in front of him on the hovercraft’s front window. “You’re ready,” said Dmitry Bialystok.

  “Ready for what?” asked Adam.

  “To get back to Earth,” answered the smuggler.