“Why aren’t you coming to Appalachia with us now?” Sally asked.
“I must stay behind and make…a few arrangements. Once completed, I will rendezvous with you at Raza’s. I promise you I will come.” He looked her in the eye. “I promise.”
Sally hugged him tightly as he patted her back. “You are all my children now. I won’t let you down. We will start over again.”
Sally nodded as she grabbed her bag and boarded the scout ship.
Ray reached out and shook his hand. “Sir,” was all he said and without another word, turned to follow Sally.
Breeze was last. “You didn’t mention anything about my father.”
Oslo shuffled his feet. “We are still not in touch with him as I do believe the attack has affected comms everywhere.” He placed a hand on Breeze’s shoulder. “Jacob is a very capable man. I’ve known your father for quite some time. I wouldn’t worry much about him. You will reunite with him one day and you can then decide if you wish to stay with us. I’m hoping you will stay.”
Breeze didn’t respond. He grabbed his bag, waved goodbye to Nina and followed his classmates into the ship. Nina watched him walked away with a look of distress on her face.
Excort had finished loading the ship and arrived to stand with Oslo and Nina. “Still haven’t told him yet? Is keeping him in the dark the best strategy?”
Oslo stiffened. “He will find out soon enough. I need to keep him with the others as he is our best chance at any future success.”
“You’re going to be putting an awful lot on his shoulders,” Excort mused.
“We all have our burdens to carry,” Oslo replied.
The fueling was complete, and the RF began to move equipment away from the ship. The strobe lights from their robotic carts and tractors faded away as they retreated back to the hangars.
Inside the ship, the three took their seats. The smell of mildew was still prevalent, but not as strong as before as the ventilation system had recycled and purified the air overnight.
Breeze looked around the ship. “Have to admit, those mechs did a pretty good job of fixing up this heap.”
Ray pointed toward the cockpit. “Check out the Auto Pilot.”
They all turned to look and watched the arms of the robotic pilot gliding over a console as the engines spooled up. It turned to look at them, and then disappeared from view as the cockpit doors hissed to a close.
“I will never get used to those things,” Sally said.
The ship lifted off with a lurch and hovered, then dropped suddenly which prompted a shriek from Sally. The engines warbled and faded to silence, then rushed back to life as the scout ship took the skies. It swept over the landing facility, then shot across the beach and hurtled over the ocean.
Through their windows, they could see the protective greenish cloud cover that was the fog in the distance, but the Auto Pilot made no effort to penetrate it as it instead plunged them into the ocean below. Breeze watched as crystal clear waters transitioned from a heavenly blue into a thick and heavy green mist. He realized now that the fog descended deep into the ocean and created a barrier that protected the island from both the air and sea. I wonder how far below into the earth it goes, he wondered.
Their passage through the fog was uneventful as their internal clocks had long ago acclimated to the rhythms of the island and prevented them from slipping into a comatose state. They traveled for some time underwater, until the bow of the ship angled up and burst through to the surface, then skimmed over the ocean in a protective bubble as the electromagnetic engines warped the space in the front and back of the ship, bending the visible light around it making the ship appear like a mirage.
Breeze looked over at Sally, and then Ray as both began yawning uncontrollably. Soon their eyes closed, and they slept. He turned away to look out his window when his eyes began to glaze over at the sight of the white capped waves below marching towards a distant shore in an endless procession.
He drifted away into slumber.
Breeze awoke to the sound of a powerful bang followed immediately by alarms sounding throughout the ship. He peered out the window and saw the contours of hills and mountains drifting beneath the ship in the fading sunlight.
He looked over and saw Sally awakening, and Ray running to the pilothouse. Breeze fumbled with his lap belt and tumbled out into the aisle. He caught up to Ray, and together they forced open the cockpit doors where inside they found the Auto Pilot slumped over the helm with one arm frozen in an upright position with its fingers reaching for a dial.
The cockpit smelled of smoke as they scanned the endless array of dials, switches and buttons until they were able to find the right one to kill the blaring alarms.
“What happened to this thing?” Ray said and pointed at the robot.
“It looks like an electrical fire. I’ve seen this before on some of the older aerocraft back home. The ship had a power surge of some sort, and it took out the pilot and fried parts of the console,” Breeze said.
“So how come we haven’t crashed?”
Breeze pointed toward the co-pilot’s console. “This half is still working. It looks like each side operates independently.” He peered at the monitor embedded in the center of the co-pilot’s console. “According to this we’re heading to a fixed position. The ship is flying itself.”
A horrible bang suddenly reverberated throughout the ship.
“Barely,” Ray said as he gripped a railing above him. They both looked out the port side window where outside, the turbine under the wing was beginning to smoke.
“If the turbines are on, that means the electromagnetic generators are off. Which means...,” Breeze began to say, then fell silent.
“What?” Ray said.
“It means we’re exposed. Look, the generators provide power for both the cloak and propulsion. The turbines are just back up engines to keep us flying in case they fail. If there’re on, then the generators are off, then so is the cloak. That means anyone can see us.”
Ray groaned. “Oslo and his promises. Now I know we’re going to get attacked.”
The ship lurched hard to starboard and rapidly descended just as Sally walked into the cockpit. “What’s going on-watch out!” she yelled.
The scout ship was heading rapidly toward a mountain top as it skimmed close to the surface and then flew into a dark and narrow valley.
The turbines whined into a fevered crescendo which echoed throughout the valley like a trumpet blast. The wings rotated and the ship gradually lowered itself to the ground, touching down with a heavy thump as the engines immediately cut off.
Inside, cabin lights flickered on. Outside, the gangplank extended itself from the starboard side of the ship to the ground.
The trio looked at each other in stunned disbelief.
“He promised…he promised,” Sally mumbled.
Ray held up a hand to her. “It’s okay. Everything is fine. We’re on solid ground and in one piece.” He pulled her close and hugged her while waving his hand at Breeze in a continuous motion.
“Yeah, we’re fine. Just a slight problem with the Auto Pilot. We’re good now,” Breeze said while pointing at the console. “Says right here we’re on the mainland and in the Appalachian mountain ranges which is exactly where Oslo said Raza’s farm is located.
Sally motioned at the pilot “If everything is fine, why is it slumped over like that—”
“Let’s just go outside for some fresh air.” Ray gently pushed her out the cockpit and back into the passenger compartment.
Together, they made their way to the starboard side of the ship and down the gangplank where the cold air they encountered was a stark contrast to the humidity of the island. They could see their breath with each exhale.
“This weather feels just like fall at Greenbrier,
” Sally said which prompted a smile from Ray. He patted her shoulder in agreement.
They took in their surroundings. The ship had landed in a clearing next to a river where surrounding them was a forest with trees so tall they seemed almost to touch the glittering stars emerging in the evening sky. The valley was encircled by mountains with glowing lights that pulsated and flitted about, then faded away in the dark.
Breeze pointed at the lights. “Did you guys see that? That’s interesting.”
“What’s interesting is you two haven’t asked the most important question: Why isn’t there someone here to greet us?” Sally asked. “Where’s Raza?”
The guys turned to look at her with blank stares.
She stomped her feet. “I knew he couldn’t be trusted. I knew—”
Ray held up a hand. “Okay, you know what? It’s fine. I’m sure her place is probably nearby, and she wasn’t told of our exact time of arrival. It could be anything. Let me go back in the ship to see what I can find. Maybe Oslo left some instructions for us.” He headed to the ship.
“You know, I’ll just fly. I’ll go across the valley, and maybe I can spot her house or something,” Breeze said.
“Are you sure that’s a smart thing to do? What if the Elephim sense us and attack again?” Sally said. She stepped over to Breeze with her arms crossed over her chest as she was starting to shiver.
He shrugged. “It’s a risk I’ll have to take. We can’t just sit here and wait around. Besides, I know I have you two to back me up.”
“Be careful,” she said and caressed his arm, then stepped away.
Breeze closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts. Just move, he could hear Nina whisper into his ear as his feet lifted off the ground and he vaulted into the sky. He opened his eyes and hovered in place, then spun slowly to take in the view.
The mountains were enveloped in a mist that rolled in from the north and spilled down into the valley. He looked down at the scout ship with its landing lights illuminating the surrounding area and could see Sally searching the night sky trying to find him.
He scanned the mountains that encircled the valley and spotted a faint glow coming from the east. He flew towards it as he gradually picked up speed within seconds. He glided over the mountain and into another valley where he saw a farmhouse nestled along the banks of a river. A lone porch light was all it had to fend off the surrounding darkness. He looked again to the east and became mesmerized by the glowing lights of what he thought was a nearby town when something fast swooped past him and almost made him fall out of the sky. He could hear the beating of wings as it disappeared into the darkness and in the direction of the farmhouse.
He hovered precariously as his heart raced and his hands shook. Better get back the scout ship, he thought.
He returned to see the encroaching mist descending from the mountains was about to envelope the entire valley along with the ship. He landed with a stumble and almost fell face first into the ground.
Sally rushed up to greet him. “Where did you go? It seemed like you were gone for a long time.” Her eyes were wide and she was breathing heavily.
“I saw-,” he stopped to take in a deep breath, ”—I saw a house along a river on the other side of the mountain.” He pointed to the east. “And a glow from what I think are lights from a nearby town.”
“How do you know?”
“Back home I would fly at night when my father thought I was asleep. I would fly deep into the desert and find my way back home by looking for the glow of the lights from my town. You could see it for miles.”
Ray raced down the gangplank. “Guys, I think I found something. It looks like-,” he suddenly dropped to one knee and took in several deep breaths. “Why is it so hard to breathe all of a sudden?” he said and stood up slowly, then continued. “I think I found Raza’s place. According to the charts, it’s on the other side of this mountain.” He pointed to the east, and then a puzzled look appeared on his face as he turned to face north. “What with this mist?”
“We know about the farmhouse, Breeze already told me. Are we going to use the ship to get there?” Sally asked as she shivered and stomped her feet in a vain attempt to warm up.
“I’m not going to try and fly that thing.” Ray jerked a thumb towards the scout ship. “We can just hike over the mountain.”
Breeze shook his head. “Way too steep. We’ll follow the river instead. I saw how it bends around the mountain and flows right past her home.”
“Guys, this mist is getting thicker. You want to walk in this?” Sally said.
Breeze smiled at her. “Look, we’ll be fine as long as we stick to the shoreline. I have my nav-compass with me so we won’t get lost. The river flows to the north, bends east, then flows south past Raza’s farmhouse. Let’s just grab our stuff and go. I don’t want to spend the night inside the ship.”
She shook her head. “I want to wait for Oslo. Let’s stay here until he arrives.”
“And then he’ll say why didn’t we just use some initiative and find the place ourselves. It’ll be followed by a long and boring lecture about teamwork and how we are not meshing together,” Breeze retorted.
“Fine,” she said and went into the scout ship to get her things.
When she was of earshot, Breeze leaned over to Ray. “Listen, I saw something else. Something big swept past me and almost knocked me out of the sky. I swear I heard wings beating as it flew.”
Ray sighed and nodded. “Okay. Smart not mentioning this to Sally, she’s pretty edgy as it is.” He looked at the surrounding mist. “You know, my dad used to lead expeditions into the Bad Lands, and he sometimes told me about some of the things they encountered, like strange creatures and weird howls and stuff. Mom would get angry with him for telling me about his trips, but I wasn’t scared. I loved hearing about it. It’s a wild frontier, you know.”
Breeze shrugged, remembering his unexpected venture into the Bad Lands not long after the air show. “We would hear stories too, but not much else. Look, if we just stick together we’ll be fine.”
Sally returned. She had collected everyone’s bags and plopped them down. “While you boys were chatting, I decided to do a little work around here.” She looked at them. “Why the serious faces?”
“No reason. Thanks for my bag, Sally. Okay, let’s get going.” Ray grabbed it and headed north.
“Breeze?” She looked at him with pleading eyes.
“We’re good, Sally. We have a plan, let’s stick to it. Farmhouse, here we come.” He reached for his backpack and flung it over his shoulder, then jerked a thumb toward the ship. “Shouldn’t we lock her up before we go?” he said with a grin.
“Ha, ha. I can only hope someone comes and takes away that old heap,” she said and grabbed her bag.
They marched along the riverbank with Ray in the lead as he held a hand up and let it glow like a torch for them to see. The rocks beneath their feet crunched as they walked, and the sound of rushing water grew stronger with every step they took.
Sally slowed so Breeze could catch up to her. “Why can’t you just fly us there?” she asked.
“Never did it before and besides, I can barely keep myself in the air without losing my concentration and falling out of the sky.”
“I just don’t like being out here like this. This place has a weird vibe,” she said.
“You don’t say.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, just agreeing with you. I—” Breeze stopped as something rustled in the forest.
Sally gripped his arm and whispered. “See what I mean.”
“Just some animals. Probably a rabbit. Let’s keep going.”
Sally held on to his arm as they continued walking. Ahead, Ray’s hand was glowing brighter as the mist intensified.
Breeze che
cked his nav-compass and saw the needle waving to the east as the sound of rushing water grew stronger. He looked at Sally and saw that her eyes were pinned on Ray ahead of them when he stole a quick glance to his right and froze. In a fleeting moment, he saw a pair of glowing eyes, red with narrow slits, staring straight at him.
“What is it?” Sally asked when she saw him stiffen.
“Just looking for landmarks. We’re getting closer,” he responded.
The sound of rushing water subsided and the mist began to fade. Breeze checked his nav-compass again and saw the needle pointing south. “Looks like we’ve rounded the river bend. We should be getting close, look for a porch light—”
“Got it.” Ray pointed.
They came to a stop. The farmhouse was across the river.
“One minor detail I might have forgotten to mention,” Breeze said.
“That the farmhouse is on the opposite bank and we have to cross it. Smooth. Now what?” Ray grumbled.
Sally looked at Breeze.
He held up a hand. “I know what you’re thinking, and it wouldn’t be a good idea—”
“I’m not getting into that cold water, and unless you see a boat…,” her voice trailed off as she crossed her arms.
“What’s she talking about?” Ray asked.
“She wants me to fly us across. That’s what,” Breeze said.
“Can you?”
Breeze looked at them both, and then toward the farmhouse as the receding mist revealed the width of the river.
“Okay, ladies first,” he said and pointed at Sally.
She stepped up to him. “How do we do this?”
Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter Page 32