“Your understanding is complete. Now execute,” Achilles said.
Breeze glared at each ship. Their hulls gleamed from the rays of the brilliant sun while hot exhaust poured from their turbines and clashed with the cold air, creating wisps of white clouds that streamed behind them.
In unison, they began to rotate in a circular motion. Their tempo increased, and in a matter of seconds, they formed a roaring vortex
Breeze could feel himself getting dragged towards it as he stretched out his arms and let his head fall back. His body trembled as his shield expanded.
The ships responded by forming distortion spheres off their bows as they continued spinning.
Breeze expanded the shield to his utmost limit and noted how flimsy it appeared. He was weak and the shield reflected it. He focused what little strength he had left and channeled it into the shield. Its surface began to crackle with energy when he heard the growing hiss of static surround him.
He quickly tucked into a fetal position while rapidly collapsing the shield as the sudden vacuum it created overwhelmed the vortex and the ships were sent hurling towards him.
They immediately discharged their distortion spheres at him as their turbines whined in a desperate attempt to reverse course, but it only served to strengthen the shield, which absorbed their energy upon impact.
Then the world disappeared before his eyes.
Breeze watched as darkness rapidly descended upon him. He was in a complete blackout and the silence was overwhelming. Panic swept over him when he realized he couldn’t even see himself as he waved his hands in front of his face. He wanted to shout for help, but his throat made no sound.
That’s when he felt pinpricks of electricity strike his hand. He raised it and saw a ball of light spin in his palm. The light grew in intensity as it confronted the darkness and sent it into retreat. As the darkness receded, more globes of light appeared and swarmed like bees before him.
He heard whispering voices, but saw no one. He drifted towards the buzzing hive of lights, but could never get close to any of them.
The whispers gave way to voices, though the language was unfamiliar. He could sense the presence of others, but never did they feel malevolent.
The lights then coalesced into human forms. Their faces were featureless as they stood in a row and conversed amongst themselves while intermittently pointing at him and nodding their heads.
“Hello,” he said, then laughed. It felt good to be able to speak again.
“Having…a voice, the ability…to express oneself…is one of the simplest joys of life, is it not?” one of them said at it stepped forward.
“Yes,” Breeze replied.
“Your gifts are a part of you, they can never be taken away nor given to another.”
Breeze nodded.
“They are not a curse, nor a burden. It is a natural part of you as the eyes that let you see, or the heart that pumps life nourishing blood through your veins. Cherish them and use them wisely as you will need them. Not just to help yourself, but also those around you. Do you understand?”
Breeze nodded when the ball of light rose from his hand and floated above him.
“You must return, but remember this: you are as light as a feather. That is how you will land.”
Before Breeze could respond, he felt a hand on his back gently push him forward into a rift that appeared where he was instantly blinded by a powerful burst of light. He raised a hand to shield his eyes when a sudden gust of wind made him tumble like a leaf.
He pulled his hand away and was greeted by the rays of the sun. He looked down and saw a brilliant and endless landscape of white clouds spread out before him. He sank into them and exited moments later to a vista filled with vast stretches of land that curved towards the horizon.
While he drifted down he could see Achilles, as the sunlight that glinted off its metal skin could be seen for miles. When he drew closer he saw the attack ships had landed and were lined up in a row behind the robot. He landed gently and calmly walked towards it.
“Master, where have you been? I suspected the worst might have befallen you,” Achilles said as it approached him. The robot’s feet left deep impressions in the muddy ground.
“Footprints,” Breeze said and pointed behind Achilles.
“Yes, my young friend. Such things occur when the gravitational attraction of an object overwhelms the surface tension of a plane. Hence, my excessive weight will leave impressions on the ground.”
“I have none,” Breeze pointed behind him.
Achilles scanned the terrain behind him. “Curious,” it said and its eyes began to glow.
Breeze’s gaze drifted towards one of the ships he had sparred with earlier. He stepped up to it and touched its metal skin, realizing it was the same one he had seen in Achilles’ barn. He felt a spark of energy surge through his arm and he pulled his hand away, staring at it intently while waving it slowly from side to side.
“Master, are my optical sensors deceiving me, or are you becoming translucent?” Achilles said.
Breeze could barely see his hand or arm as he held out his other hand and waved it in front of him. “What’s happening to me? Why do I feel so out of it?”
Achilles’ eyes lit up. “When you collapsed your shield, you subsequently disappeared. I became perplexed as to how you performed this feat. I utilized my sensors, but could not detect your bio signature. It was as if you had just vanished from existence. Illuminate me, Master Corinth, where did you go?”
“All I could remember was hearing the sound of turbines at full throttle combined with static, then silence as everything went dark. Then I saw a light. Actually, a swarm of lights, and then...” His words drifted off as he gazed at the mountains in the distance.
Achilles tilted its head. “I implore you to please continue your story, Master.”
“I saw people made up of light. They spoke to me and told me my powers were a gift and not something to be taken for granted.”
“Intriguing,” Achilles said.
Breeze reached out and touched the hull of the ship again. He applied pressure with his fingers and his hand and arm sank effortlessly up to his elbow into the ship. He tried to pull it back out but couldn’t.
“Achilles, what’s happening?” Breeze’s face was contorted with fear as he struggled to free himself.
Achilles reached out to grab him, and then hesitated. “When your shield collapsed, you must have created a tear in space time,” it said.
“That’s great Achilles, but I don’t need a science lecture right now.”
Servos whirred as Achilles shook its head rapidly. “This is a most fascinating development, young aviator. Now, stand still. I believe I possess a solution to your dilemma.”
“Is it going to hurt?”
“Excellent question. Response? Cannot answer at this time due to insufficient data.”
Before Breeze could say anything, Achilles grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back. In an instant, a brilliant light surrounded them. He turned to look at the robot and for a brief moment, saw a human face peering out from behind its head as they tumbled to the ground.
Breeze groaned as he got to his feet while Achilles rose up in a swift and fluid motion.
Breeze pointed at it. “I saw something as soon as you started to pull me.”
“Affirmative. A brilliant display of light that I was a witness to as well. You have been out of phase with current space time ever since you reappeared, and that is why you floated so gently from the sky overwhelmed with the feeling of disorientation from your surroundings. It also explains how you were able to slip your hand into the ship’s hull and become affixed to it. You were out of step with the space time of this dimension as the result of your shield collapsing and creating a powerful rift that sent you
to another.”
“No, not that. I thought I saw, oh, never mind. It’s been a long day, I’m heading back to the house.”
“My sentiments exactly. We have learned much today about your abilities. We have discovered things about you that one would never suspect.”
Breeze arched an eyebrow at the robot as they trudged across the field. “You don’t say.”
TWENTY-THREE
ON THE SAME MORNING of Breeze’s training session with Achilles, Raza had agreed with the robot that she would spend the day alone with Ray and Sally to assess their abilities as they both concluded that Breeze needed personal attention, and Achilles was insistent that it didn’t want him to be distracted by bickering with the others.
“You mean,” Raza said with a smile, “the fact that the boys are competing for Sally’s attention?”
“I am afraid the affairs of the human heart are not one of my specialties. Emotion is something I cannot process,” Achilles was quick to respond.
“And yet you just said you were afraid.”
“Simple expression meant to convey concern.”
Raza laughed as she patted Achilles on the cheek. “Yes, you have definitely spent too much time with us illogical humans. Very well then, off you go, but make sure you bring Breeze back in time for dinner. Don’t lose him out there in the sky, he just might fly way.”
“Perish the thought, milady. Such an event will not occur.”
Raza smiled as she stood at the entrance of the barn and watched the robot get into its rusty hover truck. As Achilles glided away, her thoughts turned to Oslo. The events of late only served to remind her of what life was once like at Perihelion, where there were always cadets to train and equipment that needed repairs, along with the hustle and bustle of personnel moving about the base.
“Where are you now, Oslo,” she whispered, “and how is our daughter?”
She sighed and went back inside. She walked past the stables and headed to a back room where Achilles set up comm equipment it brought over from its barn. She scanned the screens and saw no messages or readouts of any real importance. “So quiet out there,” she sighed.
She looked at the array of equipment that Achilles had amassed. All were vintage machines from a time long past and she marveled at how any of them still worked. She gazed up at the ceiling and noted how the robot even took the time to patch up the leaky roof. “It’s good to have a man around the house,” and laughed when she heard her own words. It also feels good to laugh again.
One of the comm machines trilled loudly and she rushed over to get a closer look at its display. A comm channel had been left open and she noted the coordinates of the signal, then compared them to a map of the continent Achilles had hung on the wall. It was originating from the Northeastern territories. She twisted a dial to increase the signal strength, hoping to hear something at the other end. She received nothing but static.
A commotion erupted at the far end of the barn where she and Achilles had set up a training room for the teens to practice and hone their skills. She heard shouting followed by the sound of something heavy crashing to the ground.
She ran into the training room where she found Ray struggling to pull up a rack full of electronic equipment that he had tipped over.
Sally immediately began apologizing upon seeing Raza. “I’m so sorry, I told him not to touch anything, but he thinks that every machine that he sees he knows how to operate and—”
Raza raised a hand and smiled. “It’s quite all right. Boys will be boys, and boys love to play with their toys. Except these toys are very rare pieces of equipment brought over by Achilles. So please, don’t touch them.” She waved her hand and the rack rose up and floated. She then spread her fingers and it traveled across the room until it bumped gently into a wall, and then settled onto the floor.
“Achilles has set up these racks of electronics so we can monitor and analyze each of you during your practice sessions. This way, we can pinpoint any errors or inconsistencies in the way you utilize your powers,” Raza said to them.
Ray snorted. “Not sure if you’re going to find too many errors. With all due respect, we’re from Greenbrier. We were instructed by the best. We know what we’re doing.”
“Except handling metal racks full of electronic equipment,” Raza retorted. “What were you doing anyway? How did it fall over?”
Sally began to speak, but Raza raised a hand to silence her. “Ray is a well-trained cadet from a proud military family. He can speak for himself.”
Ray shifted his stance as he looked away from her.
Raza stared at him. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“About what? I was just—”
“Raymond, I know you and Sally are homesick and wish to contact your families, but Achilles has informed me that it’s been difficult lately to get a clear signal from any of the other territories or cities.”
Ray nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”
She continued. “I saw one of the comm screens just before I came to investigate the noise you were making back here and I noticed a channel was left open. Its coordinates show that it was being directed at the Northeastern territories. Were you trying to reach out to someone? Your parents?”
Ray fell silent and stared at the floor.
Raza reached out with open arms and hugged him. “Listen, you can hold us to our promise. We will locate them and put you back together with your family,” she said and then turned to Sally, “that goes for you too, young lady.”
Sally smiled as she struggled to hold back her watering eyes.
Raza patted his shoulders. “Now, my brave warrior, I have never seen you in action. Would you like to give me a brief demonstration? Just something that I can observe and to let the instruments record for further analysis.”
Ray groaned. “We went through this already at Perihelion. Can’t you just wait until Oslo gets here? I’m sure he’ll bring all the data you need. Where is he anyway? Any word on him yet?”
Raza stiffened. “Achilles has been hailing the island, but so far, no response. I’m sure everything is quite all right. Oslo is dependable. If he says he’s going to do something, he will. Sooner or later he will.”
Ray formed a ball of fire in his palm and casually tossed it up and down. Each toss was higher than the previous and several times it almost hit the ceiling. “You know Raza, it must be tough living here all by yourself and thinking about your daughter and husband all the time.”
Sally shook her head. “Ray, seriously?”
“Oh, come on Sally, it’s perfectly all right to ask. I mean, she does owe us an explanation. Let’s face it, Oslo sent us here as refugees. He did his best to protect us and failed. Then he sends us to his long forgotten wife to hide out from the Elephim where we end up meeting an old and lonely woman who takes us in, then throws a tantrum and chases us out.”
Raza stood silent as her face grew pale.
Sally was trembling. “Raymond, she apologized to us and made up for it with her hospitality.”
“Yeah, she hugs you and you settle for that. Weren’t you the one who was so curious as to how she got younger? We don’t see her for a few days and then, we meet again, but she’s no crazy old lady. She got younger. Care to explain that away?” Ray said as he threw the ball of fire high in the air while taking a quick glance at the rack of electronics Raza had pushed against the wall. He noted a light that was blinking on one particular piece of equipment. He grinned.
In the comm room, the screen that caught Raza’s attention earlier flickered alive.
“Why did you just look at the rack for? Better yet, what were you doing earlier with it?” Raza glared at him as she made a fist and the ball of fire extinguished before it could fall back into his hand.
Ray grimaced and shook his head. “Don’t ch
ange the subject. What’s with the sudden youthful appearance? In fact, it seems like you and Oslo should be pretty old by now, if not dead. And yet you both have managed to live for a long time. How? What is it you are trying to do?”
“Stop goading her Ray. I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re…not the same boy I grew up with,” Sally said.
He stabbed a finger at her. “You stay out of this. You don’t want to question her about anything, but I do.”
Raza slapped his hand. “Stop pointing at her like that, you’re being rude. You want to know my secrets? Long ago, Oslo and I discovered pools deep within the interior of Perihelion where we could feel a sensation of energy surging through our bodies when we swam in them. Oslo performed an analysis and found that the pools were alive with electromagnetic energy. They could heal wounds, scars, cure you of any affliction you might have. The pools gave life. One might say they were like fountains of youth.”
Ray shrugged. “Great to know. Still doesn’t explain how you managed to stay young here in Appalachia. We’re a long way from Perihelion.”
“Petulant youth, no patience to wait for anything. I was just going to get to that, but pausing to take a breath doesn’t mean anything to you.”
“Keep talking. We’re listening,” Ray said with a smirk.
“Who’s we?” she asked.
His face turned red. He created another ball of fire and began tossing it. “Sally and I, who else?”
Raza looked skeptical as she continued her story. “Over the years, Oslo was able to map out the caverns of underground rivers that fed the pools. It was an extensive network that crossed the globe and they absorbed their healing properties from the energy given off deep within the planet’s core and distributed it across the world. Oslo found one that led here to Appalachia.”
“Sounds convenient.”
Raza ignored him and turned to Sally. “Oslo had his engineers build this home before we left Perihelion. He also had them construct a pool in the cellar along with a tunnel that led to the underground river that carried the life healing waters. It was for our own health, he said, but when Nina became ill, not even the healing waters of the pool could cure her, and it puzzled Oslo to no end as to why. He suspected that perhaps the pool lacked the potency compared to the ones found on the island, though all of his tests showed that the water here were no different. As we prepared our journey to return—”
Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter Page 47