I sat down in front of the computer. Was there something I had missed? There was an icon of a camera in the top corner. It reminded me of my home protected by drones. Was this how the watchers watched?
I clicked on it, and all the screens lit up. But what they showed made no sense. Each camera showed a place that I had never seen, with people who could not exist. There were ocean battles between ships and sea monsters, a war of thousands of people on a massive grassy plains, pyramids with some type of alien ship blasting them to rubble.
“Four minutes before this area is sealed!” The computer voiced wailed its next warning.
One monitor especially caught my attention as a huge airship flew into the frame. A boy with oversized goggles was shimmying down a rope that looked like his lifeline. One mishap and he would tumble to the ground below. He was pursued by men with sharp blades, hacking and slashing at his ropes. His odds of survival were overwhelmingly bad. He was minutes or seconds from death unless someone came to his aid. Would he survive?
I shook my head. There was no time to think about these fantasies. If I were to survive, I had to concentrate on my escape. I shut the camera icon down, and the other monitor images disappeared.
I returned and scrolled through the initial video. There had to be some clue. I stared at the frozen computer screen where the video had ended. Was the scientist angling to the right as he was leaving? I walked over to the right of the massive screen. There was a large pile of debris where part of the ceiling had collapsed. It obscured the corner of the room, otherwise I would have noticed the door. I had an EXIT! But the debris had smashed the console. Could I trigger a way out?
“Three minutes to power shutdown.” If I didn’t leave now, I was going to spend a lot of time here. Or a short time, if the air ran out quickly. I pushed lumps of ceiling around, trying to see what was left of the console. Most of it was smashed, except for the one slot where my drone tail went in.
Here goes everything. I inserted the chip. Seconds passed. I kept waiting. Nothing. The story of my life.
“Two minutes to closure.” Is time getting faster? Several lights around me shut off as if the nonessential power was going first. I reinserted the drone tail several times, stupidly thinking that doing the same action over and over would get a different result. The power was on in the drone — what else could I do? I ran back to the computer. I scanned the video names looking for something labeled “access” or “exit.” No luck.
“One minute to door shutdown.” The computer’s calm voice made me want to scream.
A video labeled “reboot” caught my attention. I clicked on it and hoped for the best.
“In case of a system shutdown,” the scientist appeared, “the system can be rebooted with the command code BrX943 and the power will reset…”
I typed the code into the console. Whatever happened next would decide my fate. I had no time to exit the way I came. As I entered the code, the screen went wavy, like the system had crashed. I was about to curse my bad luck when all power fluctuated, including the console in the wall. The console flashed, and I ran forward, slamming the chip in. A door reverberated and moved to the left, sending clumps of debris into the open space. I dove through, and as soon as it opened wide, it started to close again. The drone had fallen out of my pocket when I dove through and was lying back on the floor. I reached for it to pull it through. I wasn’t fast enough, and it was smashed to pieces on the closing wall. All that I had left was a wing, a grim reminder of my pursuer and my savior. I was on the other side, and the door was closed tight. I wished there was a way to tell Jinn that I had made it.
Ahead of me were a corridor and a metal door. My friends, my attackers, were all left behind in Clan World. Who knew if I would ever see any of them again? My mother (if she was alive) had to be closer if I went through the door in front of me. I didn’t care what worlds I had to cross to find her. Nothing was going to stop me. I reached down, spun the wheel, and the door yawned open. I stepped through into the cool air.
There was no ground. Nothing solid to step on. So I fell. I fell down through the sky, and the clouds came rushing toward me. It felt surreal, as if I was flying. Only I knew the impact would not be so sweet. I had better land on something solid quickly, or I would be dead.
The World Series
Continues in…
Steam
World
I stepped through into the cool air.
There was no ground. Nothing solid to step on. So, I fell. I fell down through the sky and the clouds came rushing towards me. It felt surreal, as if I was flying. Only I knew my impact would not be so sweet. I better land on something solid quickly or I would be dead.
I felt the moisture in the air as it rushed into my face. I had been so tired that the fear of dying, of the coming impact of the ground did not scare me. I wished I could fly, take myself away from all of my problems and discover if my mother was actually alive. In some ways, I wish I could fall forever.
I looked down and a fluffy cloud raced towards me. What would feel like to fall through a cloud? Is this what a bird experienced? Then I hit solidness and bounced back up high into the air like a supercharged mattress. I fell again and bounced back several times like I was attached to a bungee cord. I had done the unthinkable. I had landed in a cloud.
I stood up, my feet sinking into the whiteness below.
In the distance, a huge airship was floating through the clouds. There was activity on the outside of dirigible, like bees buzzing around a hive. I spied a a boy with oversized goggles shimming down a rope that looked like his lifeline. One mishap and he would be gone. He was pursued by men with sharp blades, hacking and slashing at his ropes. His odds of survival were overwhelming bad. He was seconds from death unless someone came to his aid. Was there some way I could help?
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A Message from the Author
Most authors write for the love of storytelling and only a few make a living at it. Like most, I work fulltime during the day and write at night, hoping to share a story with people I will never meet. If you liked this story, please take a moment to write a review with Amazon, Good Reads or wherever this book was purchased. If you enjoyed the story, the greatest gift you can give an author is feedback on the novel. Like most authors, if enough readers give feedback, then fortunately future readers will be engaged to read the story as well.
If you ever want to contact me, please go to my website www.adventurebooks.ca to find out more about me or email me at [email protected].
About the Author
Jim Kochanoff has been writing for over a decade—his specialty is action / adventure, putting the reader into adrenalin driven stories. He signed a contract with Toonz Animation, Asia’s largest animation company for an animated pilot. He has also worked in television as a production manager coordinating animated children’s shows to live action science fiction.
Kochanoff currently serves as the Chairman of the Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and is passionate about saving the lives of animals. He prefers book adventures over book signings and will bring his remote control drones to a bookstore near you for his latest novel, Clan World.
Clan World (The World Series Book 2) Page 26