The past two days had been brilliant. The team and he had managed to bag a set of birds that included laughing owls, barn owls, falcons, sparrows, hornbills and blue-and-yellow macaws. With a month at their disposal, he was enjoying each day more and more. The Walter guns had proven to be very useful and he was most pleased that they never caused the feathery creatures any physical harm. But today was a special one for him, as his team and he were after the Bald Eagle. Perhaps no bird held his fancy stronger than this one. Having become extinct in 2036, the year of his birth, he felt a special connection with them and long desired to see them return to the skies of Earth. With the discovery of Greenleaf and the confirmation a few years later of the existence of these birds, he felt that life had indeed given him a chance to reintroduce this mighty wonder. Now he was living that long held dream of his. As he approached the range, he noticed a large veil of mist gather around the side, and soon the top became almost impossible to see. “Oh dear, don’t tell me we’re in for rain today?” he said to himself. He flicked at his goggles and could soon see several stats show up that mentioned heavy mist but low possibility of rain. He continued to see the displays, as the world around him passed by in the background. Finally, he reached the mountain base and began to ascend higher. Luckily the glider had enough power to last two straight days without sunlight and he reminded himself of that, several times over, as he saw nothing but greyness around him. The on-board navigation system guided him upward, till at last he broke through the opaque murkiness and then saw bright sunlight all around him.
He glanced towards his right and there they were, the birds he had longed to see. Dozens of them flying near the higher cliffs faces. He flew parallel to three of them and they didn’t seem to mind his presence. He watched as their majestic wings guided them above the peaks and over the forest tree line that lead into the upper valley. “Unbelievable! I surely must be dreaming,” thought Adrian. He watched his companions for a good 10 minutes and then noticed that they began to dive downward. He followed them and saw the Eagles head towards a sparkling river in the valley below. As he got closer, he could see many others of their species by the river bank tucking into fresh fish, which he guessed to be Salmon.
As he approached a bend in the river, he spotted his team stationed near one of the ridges and he landed in a clearing several feet away. “Great to see you, sir. Trust you had a bit of fun looking at the forest below,” said Terry Newark, Group Captain for his division. “Yes, an excellent time up there. Or should I say, down there. Spotted a pack of Grey Wolves too. But this place was what I was after. It’s breath-taking!” said Adrian as he placed his hands by his side and looked at the river running by them. “Yes it is lovely, sir. For our capture today, I would suggest that we break here for an hour and then begin our scan towards the western side of the river. You’ll notice that it is also where most of the nests are by the cliff faces,” she said. “Oh yes, I agree. Let’s take a break and if you would be so kind as to direct me to where the tea is, my dear,” he said. “Of course, sir. Do follow me,” said Terry. Adrian watched the river again and then saw on the other side of the bank, a pair of Grizzlies’ appear. He stopped and watched them as they lumbered in and finally waded into the water looking to snag some fresh Salmon. “We do have them on our list as well, don’t we?” said Terry as she handed him a cup. “Yes, we do and I am pretty sure they won’t come quietly. But that’s for later, probably next month. For now let’s get after our friend, the Eagle. He’s got my money on him,” said Adrian looking up at several that had taken flight, having been disturbed by the bears. “For sure, sir,” said Terry. Adrian thanked her for the tea and followed the river with his eyes till it disappeared farther ahead into the forest. He admired the stark grey peaks around as they glistened in the sunlight.
For the first time since he arrived on Greenleaf, could he feel a new rhythm within his heart. It was a rhythm of one of nature’s most ancient songs. Something he had never quite felt before but one that he knew he would never forget.
◆◆◆
Malfunction
Hangar 18
It was towards the end of February, 2101 and a delicate change of season came across Alita as the last strands of winter began to fade, giving way to a promising spring. There would be no more snow fall across the Island but the temperature would remain to be quite chilly for a few more weeks. Ali stared out at the open runway near Hangar 18 and watched a training exercise commencing. He tucked his hands into his jacket as he watched a number of oddly shaped aircraft pass by, performing a set of aerial acrobatics. “Hey Ali, we got John on the call,” said Akira from the hangar’s main doorway. Ali nodded and cast one last look at the planes and headed in.
The hangar was alive with activity with most of the teams having returned from their missions and the necessary processing work being put in place. Ali walked past a set of helicopters and moved up a stairwell to the Air Hawk office that overlooked the vast facility. He found Paulo and Raveena talking excitedly to John. “So you mean there’s a chance then? A real chance you might catch one?” asked Paulo. “Yes, Nigel and Adrian discovered the tracks early this morning, not too far from where we are and our Greenleaf Sparrow group, are equally eager to get going on this,” said John flashing a bright smile. “Great stuff, John. I hope you’ll have some good news for us when you get back online,” said Raveena bubbling with excitement. “Hey, what’s all the chatter about?” asked Ali. “Oh! Ali this is wonderful. Nigel and Adrian were surveying the eastern tip of the Amyrot jungles and lo and behold, they found Tiger tracks. Fresh pug marks from an hour earlier,” said Paulo turning in his chair to face Ali. “Wow! That’s great. So, are they optimistic of catching one soon or maybe several?” asked Ali breaking into a smile. “Oh yeah, they are confident, so let’s keep our fingers crossed,” said Paulo. “Hi! Ali. Yes, it’s true what Paulo says. But more importantly what President Anderson told us a few months ago, is very true. These animals appear to be much larger than the ones that used to roam the Earth. They clearly are much bigger than the Bengal and Siberian variety. But here’s the other thing. Nigel found a tuft of fur on some of the thorn bushes nearby and the animals here appear to have a pretty dark, ash grey coat. At least our assumption is that their fur might be grey with black stripes,” said John. “Wow! That’s awesome, John,” said Ali moving closer to the screen. “Do keep us in the loop. Also, we are going to be finished with our treatment for all the other species, we have at the Park. Plus, given that the Tigers were the only animals left on our list, I think we should have everything wrapped up on our side by the end of next week, when you guys get back in,” he added. “Excellent! I’m looking forward to that. But tell me Ali, have the teams been able to understand or get any closure to solving the blue eye syndrome that we’ve seen with all Greenleaf species?” asked John. “Not as yet, John. I mean you know that the studies began even before we arrived late last year, but so far they can’t identify any physical reason as to why that happens. I’ll keep you posted, if we crack through anything,” said Ali. “Sure, please do,” said John. Just then someone called to him from outside. “Ok got to go. Talk soon guys,” said John as he waved and tapped to screen to disconnect.
Dorenland Continent
John stepped outside and saw a hover jeep stop near his tent. He smiled as he saw Nigel and Adrian step out and walk towards him. “Good morning there, John. It’s a great day, it is!” said Nigel taking off his hunting cap and shaking John’s hand. “Yes, indeed it is. Let’s hope we get lucky today,” said John. “Good day for a hunt. I estimate that if we split the team into three groups, we should be able to cover the eastern range by the end of the week. Plus, we will pick up the game trails and have our traps ready at some of the spots our satellites have marked out,” said Adrian. “Great. Why don’t we head over to the cafeteria tent, where Mike is and go over our plan for today along with Carmen and Terry?” asked John as he directed them towards the olive coloured structure overlooking a va
st river valley below. The group had a brief discussion and decided to begin the cage setups later that afternoon. At around 3:00 p.m., John left his tent quarters and hopped into one of the four helicopters stationed nearby.
The chopper blades emitted a very soft whizzing sound as it lifted up and flew past the river below and over the opposite hill range covered with dense foliage. John checked his on-board satellite feed that pin pointed and identified various groups of animals and birds in the valley below. While Nigel, Mike and Adrian had led their respective Greenleaf teams on specific routes, John had decided to head towards the northern-most tip of the Amyrot jungle, where the fly zone ended. He watched over the terrain carefully as he looked at the diverse canopy of trees, decorating the landscape in various shades of green and brown, beneath him. After an hour and a half of flying he checked his watch, which showed 4:30 p.m. and decided that he would continue his flight for another 30 minutes or so before heading back. He planned to stop at a ridge area known as Estavo. He thought back on the entire trip and of how successfully the team had been able to complete each task. The Corinthian Park officials had been especially helpful in their efforts to support the mission.
Just then John noticed his monitor began blinking and he saw the screen flash with the word “confirmed”, where the silhouettes of several animals appeared in purple, spread across a 50 mile radius. “Yes, we are going to be lucky today,” said John. He tapped on the screen and spoke, “Guys, John here, what’s your status?” “Ah! Johnny boy, well we do have our cages set up along four different paths. We came across some more pug marks and it looks like this area is crawling with Tigers,” said Nigel. After a brief pause he added, “But I just wonder about this, John. You know that Earth Tigers were very territorial by nature and they wouldn’t allow others of their kind, to wander so freely in and out of their respective territories. I find it very strange that this isn’t the case here and considering how big these blokes might be. It’s amazing that they don’t appear to want to rip the other ones bloody head off!” said Nigel. “I agree Nigel, it is peculiar because we’ve found the same thing on our side of the jungle,” said Adrian. “We’ve got our stuff set, John, so we’ll be heading back to base camp right now,” he added. “Sure. I do find it strange, as to what you both say. Mike, same story with you?” asked John. “Oh, I wish, John. Damn Tigers have given us the slip, in the part where we are at. I haven’t seen any trace of them out here. I’m winding things down, by setting up a couple of cages and then we’ll be back within the next hour,” said Mike. John watched each of their faces on his monitor and looked again at what his scanner was showing. He frowned as no trace was left of the animals it had initially picked up. He extended the search zone by 80 miles and found nothing. “That’s peculiar. Earlier, I picked up nine of them,” he thought. “Well guys, I had about nine Tigers tracked on my monitor literally two minutes ago and now for some reason I can’t locate any of them,” said John as he tapped some more at the control panel. "So I’m going to press on towards the Estavo ridge. I’ll signal back to you when I am heading towards home camp,” said John. “Well then good luck, Johnny boy! You get yourself back safe then, mate,” said Nigel. “Will do. Over and out,” said John.
He glanced at his monitor and then turned to look at the horizon ahead. The whole sky seemed overcast and so he checked the weather report. “Warning, rain clouds detected. Estimated time of rainfall in this region will occur in three hours,” said the on-board voice. “Ah, that’s fine. I’ll be on my way back by then,” said John to himself and pressed his chopper ahead towards the ridge. After a short distance he soon saw a gigantic waterfall towards his right and gazed at the rainbow formation that grew from the base and extended itself nearly to the top of the cliffs above. He then spotted a flock of flamingos flying by, with their wings glistening due to the watery spray touching them and being reflected by the sun. “Amazing!” he said. Just then, a message popped up on the screen. “Final destination approaching. Do you wish to land?” said the on-board voice. John looked out and saw the ridge in all its magnificence. As he looked towards it, he noticed that the sky was growing dark, very rapidly. “Hmm, that doesn’t look too good,” he thought. He observed that there was still plenty of sunlight and after mulling things over for a few seconds he decided to risk a brief stopover on the ridge. As he approached the flat rock, he could see the vast plains beyond with several rivers crisscrossing it. He stabilised the chopper and began to descend when something else caught his attention on the visual display. At first, he thought he was dreaming but the more he stared at the screen, he figured that it might be true. He tapped the panel and had the on-board camera, mounted just below the cockpit zoom in for maximum display. John stared in amazement at what he saw. There in the distance, beyond one of the major rivers he noticed a strong bluish beam of light that emanated from beneath the jungle canopy and which shot straight into the sky. Given the time of day, and the rain clouds in the distance, he was able to notice it, but not too clearly. “What on Earth is that?” said John. He hesitated a moment and checked his coordinates. The light was an estimated 20 miles away, which was 15 miles beyond the fly zone boundary line. He knew if he crossed it, it would mean being in violation of Greenleaf laws, which meant that his entire team and him would be deported immediately.
He set the chopper to hover as he thought this over. The light seemed to grow in its size and intensity with each minute till it became a giant opaque column of blue. He checked his map and tried to estimate how close he could get to the light. “Travel to target destination not advised. If pursued, you will be in violation of Greenleaf air space laws,” said the on-board voice. “Well, as I’ve come so close to the end of the zone, perhaps I might get a better look at what’s out there,” thought John as he pressed the chopper forward and flew past the Estavo ridge. He tapped his internal communication unit. “Nigel, Mike and Adrian. Do you copy?” asked John. He heard Mike’s voice, but it was largely disrupted by static. “Say it again, Mike?” asked John. Again the same sound. “Computer look for an alternative channel and patch me through to the team,” said John. “Sorry, Mr. Stroff, no channels are available. All communication has been temporarily suspended,” said the on-board voice. “What? Try again,” said John clicking on various screen icons. “I’m sorry Mr. Stroff, but no channels are available. Please turn your aircraft around immediately as you are too close to the end of the fly zone,” said the on-board voice. John bit his lip and then grudgingly proceeded to turn the chopper back towards the ridge. It started to move towards the left and then John noticed that the controls stopped responding. “Computer, check systems and switch to auto pilot mode,” said John as he struggled with the joy stick and tried to move his chopper around. There was no response. “Computer? Computer?” shouted John. He tapped at several screen icons but nothing seemed to work. “Of all the things to happen right now…..” John had barely said that, when he heard an explosion and felt the whole chopper spin out of control. “Mayday! Mayday! This is John Stroff, Leader of Team Air Hawk, my helicopter is going down! I need help…Mayday! Mayday!” screamed John into his headset. He could hear only static and he gasped as he saw the ground below closing in on him quickly. He could hear the tearing of metal and closed his eyes as the grassy plain below engulfed his entire view. He felt the cold sweat run down his neck and could feel time slowing down. John held his breath and knew that he could do nothing but wait for the end.
Axedon Military Headquarters
Commander Buziba Chidi watched without a trace of emotion on his face as the screens in front of him went blank. “It is done, sir,” said an official. “Good. No chance of Stroff surviving that, correct?” asked Buziba. “None, sir. Our satellites show no signs of movement or human heat signatures,” said the official. “Good. Now proceed and bring back the rest of his team to the Halo airbase immediately,” said Buziba and he turned towards Toby Mackinrow, who was standing beside him. “Get your team ready to receive the Air Hawk m
embers once they are back in. We’ll have to move quickly to keep this under wraps,” said Buziba. Toby nodded with a slight smile on his face. He paused and asked “I’m glad we received the tip-off from our crew here about what Stroff saw, but what I want to know is, how that particular light appeared? You and I both know that Roonbranook is over 500 miles away from the fly zone boundary. What new light was this one that he saw? Was it the Assiross?” asked Toby. “I have no doubt it was them. My only question is, why?” said Buziba. “No matter. Menax will have the answers we need. Arrange our flight, so we can meet with him tomorrow. We also need to know how the final solution he has been preparing, has progressed. Plus, we need to be ready when the Triadians are set with the next part of their plan,” said Buziba as he turned back towards the screen that displayed an image of the Amyrot jungle.
Dorenland Continent
Mike stared out at the sky and kept scanning the hills, beyond the river. From the communication tent entrance he waited and watched for John’s chopper to appear. It had grown quite dark and he and the rest of the team were worried as they had not heard back from him. “Bloody useless junk they have here. Can’t get through to John, in any way,” said Nigel. “The team here is trying all kinds of things to reach him but his chopper seems to have just disappeared. Satellite can’t pick it up,” he added, while punching his hand into his left palm. “Tell me about it. Very frustrating!” said Mike. Adrian came by and they conversed for several minutes. “I think we should call in the Halo airbase and alert the authorities,” said Adrian. “It’s been far too long,” he added. “I agree. Let’s get those blokes on the phone,” said Nigel as he turned to head back inside. “You won’t have to. Looks like the cavalry is already here,” said Mike as he caught Nigel’s shoulder and pointed. Over the top of the opposite hill range, they saw a series of lights flicker and soon a fleet of six helicopters came into view.
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