Angels Can't Fly

by Sam Hval

  ***

  A smoky haze filled William's eyes. He was lying on the floor, and his head stung with pain. The pain traveled through his whole body. The whiteness of the haze became yellow, and a bright image of an red eye burned his vision.

  "Will!" He heard. "Will! Get up!"

  William stood straight up at the sound of Angel's voice. "Are you okay? It happened again didn't it?"

  Sweat dripped down his face and into his beard. "I'm fine."

  "No you're not. If it happens again, I'm not gonna let you fly. You almost ran us straight through Sector 7. Luckily Red picked up the controls and veered us out of its way."

  "Angel, don't worry. It happens sometimes. I'll be fine," he placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "Let me get back in. We should be there soon."

  "Fine," she grumbled, and stood back behind Red, who was in the copilot seat.

  William stepped over to the seat on the left, and relaxed in the comfort of the soft, red leather. He took a deep breath and pushed forward on the control stick.

  After only a few more minutes, the spectacular view of the Novidian Base came in behind the massive outline of Sector 9. The large, gray rectangular structure featured about a dozen docking bays jutting out on each side. On the front and the back of the structure, big, five-story bubbles extended out. All together, the massive structure looked almost like an insect with twelve legs on each side.

  Behind the base, Novidia itself floated in all its glory. An enormous, round, bubble surrounded the tangled mess of tubular pass ways and rectangular buildings. It was truly a striking visual.

  "There she is," William said. "You been here before, Red?"

  "Once."

  "Same here. Had a smuggling job here once. If I remember the security around the base is pretty tight, so we're gonna need to do a lot of persuading. Are you on file as a personal agent?"

  "Only in secret."

  "Alright, well let's hope you're not too secret. I have a feeling they won't believe me if I tell em' I work for the King. You, however..."

  "I will try my best."

  "Okey dokey," William pressed down on the cruise locator button, and let the ship work its way toward one of the docking bays sticking out of the base. "Let's hope for the best."

  ***

  "Attention Q-Squad!" General Terren blasted.

  “Sir, yes sir!” All three of them stood straight, with their arms flat at their sides. The armory seemed a lot quieter to Cross than the last time they were here. It was probably because of the decrease in soldiers…

  “First, I would like to congratulate you on your success on defeating the dragon. It was quite impressive. I would also like to express my condolences to the loss of another great scout.”

  “Thank you sir,” Cross said.

  “I understand that Corridan has requested that you three be the ones to investigate the occurrences of all these beasts coming out of nowhere.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Once the swarms appeared, one of our eagle-eyed scouts discovered the source of the beasts,” Terren projected a hazy blue projection on to the wall next to them. “This here is the spot where they came from,” he pointed at a dark blue dot near a large cavern. “You are to find a way to head there safely, and exterminate the source of the dragons. Do you all understand?”

  “Yes sir!” They yelled in unison.

  “Good,” Terren placed his hands back behind his back. “Roll out!”

  Chapter 26

  A small crack-hiss soundedthroughout the cockpit. Angel put her hands over her ears, preparing for something loud to occur. Instead, a voice came on.“This is docking bay thirteen’s manager speaking,”the voice said.“May I ask if you’re a civilian, or are you here for business?”

  "Business,”William replied. "And it's pretty important."

  Angel continued to stare in awe at the floating city ahead of the base. The complicated tunnels and oddly shaped buildings were quite spectacular. Hopefully, one day, she might be able to visit it. But she had other, more important things for her to think about. One of them being how William planned on getting them in the base...

  "Do you have any identification?"

  "Feel free to scan the ship. We aren't locked up on security, don't worry."

  There was a faint buzzing noise for at least a minute. The voice came back on, "You aren't registered for anything. Who sent you?"

  "King Corridan of Morridia sent us. We're here to make contact with whoever is in charge."

  There was a strange silence after William said that.

  "How do we know you’re not lying?" The voice asked.

  "I have one of the King's personal agents with me," William replied. "Say hello, Red."

  "I am here," Red grumbled.

  "If you have the agent with you, what good are you?"

  "To be honest with you, I have no clue. A lot of let’s say... interesting, circumstances have occurred over the last couple of days. I guess the King thought I was a smooth talker. Is it working?" William said.

  "Not entirely," The official sounding voice said. "We are going to let you in anyways. We are permitted to search your ship, and you. If we find anything suspicious, we will arrest you, and bring you in for questioning."

  "No worries," William said. "We'll figure it all out once we get inside."

  The ship was pulled in, and as it entered through the thin shield surrounding the entrance to the expansive docking bay. Angel froze, as a frightening thought occurred to her. If they search the ship, what will they do about the bodies of the pirates?

  "Uh, Will?" She called from behind him.

  "Yeah?"

  "What do you suppose we do with the bodies in the container?"

  "What about them?"

  "Well, you know... If they search the ship..."

  William hadn’t thought of that. After a few awkward seconds of silence, William said, "I wouldn't worry about it. Why would they search a couple of seemingly empty crates?"

  "It's just a possibility that's all," Angel replied.

  "If it does happen, just be happy we made it this far. Okay?"

  "Alright..." Angel rubbed the back of her neck in a nervous fashion, as the ship began to land softly in between two transport vessels.

  ***

  "Name?" A small man wearing a gray outfit said unexpectedly, as the trio stepped down the ramp.

  "Will," William replied.

  "Last?"

  "Why do you care?"

  " Just following procedures."

  "Thompson," William lied.

  "If you say so," the man in the gray outfit said with a sigh. "What about the others?"

  "This is Angel," William pointed a hand at Angel. "And this is Red." He did the same with Red.

  "I didn't ask about them," the man groaned. "Follow me."

  William, Angel, and Red followed him across the docking bay. William looked to his right, and watched as two small ships floated in, while two bigger ships left. This docking bay didn't seem nearly as busy as some of the others. They continued to walk quite a long distance, until they finally made it through a guarded door on the right side of the bay.

  They followed the man through the long, gray hallways, trying to keep up with his fast pace. Eventually, he led them to a small office. The walls were painted a glossy black, and a shiny, curved desk sat in the middle of the room. The chair behind it was facing the other way. "They're here," the man said.

  "Thank you, Johnson," a gravelly, deep voice replied. Johnson placed a clipboard on the desk, and left the room, sliding the door closed behind him.

  The chair swiveled around, and an older looking man with a silver mustache and a gray Admiral hat faced them. He was decorated with a variety of pins and ribbons on the right side of his gray outfit. "Red? How good to see you again," he said.

  "Yes," Red muttered back.

  "I see you've brought some friends along, yes?"

  "No. They have brought me along with them."

 
"Ah, well hello there!" he greeted cheerily. "Please, have a seat."

  William watched the floor, as three chairs fizzled into view. "Don't worry," the Admiral said, as the chairs finished forming. "They may look like projections, but they're as solid as any other chair." He smiled.

  All three of them took a seat in the strange chairs, and got comfortable. "Now, allow me to introduce myself," he extended his hand out toward William. "My name is Admiral Samuel Torkin. It's a pleasure to meet you." William shook his hand, so did Angel.

  "It's a pleasure for us as well Admiral," William finally said. "My name is Will Thompson, and this is my partner Angel."

  "Wonderful, now what have you come here to tell me?"

  "Well, right off the bat I'd like to let you know that this is very urgent, and we can't waste to much time," Admiral Torkin nodded for him to continue. "We're already short on time, since we ran into to some unfortunate pirate activity on the way here. King Corridan has sent us to plead for supplies and a fleet of combat ships. Corridia is under attack by Oldie forces that have taken over a small village near the city."

  "How bad is the situation?"

  "Pretty bad," William continued. "Not only are our supplies and troops running low, but it appears that a..." William paused. "A dragon, has appeared..."

  Admiral Torkin sat in shock. "My god... A dragon hasn't been seen in decades."

  "We need all the help we can get. We would be very grateful if you would aide us in the battle. I'm sure Corridan would have no problem in repaying you for your troubles."

  Torkin didn't take too long to make his decision. "Of course, we would be happy to. I'll prepare arrangements for a fleet to be assembled."

  "Thank you."

  Admiral Torkin pressed a small button in his desk. "General?"

  "Yes?" A voice came through speakers under the desk.

  "Prepare to arrange a fleet of one hundred combat ships, twenty bombers, and a transport vessel." William leaned back in surprise. Was he really going to send that many ships?

  "Right away, sir. We will meet you in docking bay twelve."

  "Admiral, that seems a little costly," William said, unsure of the Admiral's decision.

  "Don't worry Will, we've heard how powerful dragons can be. We will be happy to help at no cost."

  "The King will be very grateful. Thank you, Admiral."

  "It's Novidia's pleasure, my friend," The Admiral stood up from his chair. "Now follow me, we could use your piloting skills to our advantage."

  Chapter 27

  "Is this the right one?" Stelly asked, checking the note one of the vehicle repairmen gave him.

  "I think it is," Cross replied. He stared up at the tall, purple sphere in front of them. "Alright, in you go."

  Stelly nodded, put the note back in his pocket, and lightly knocked on the ball. In the spot where he knocked, a small ramp swung out. Stelly bounded up and into the spherical vehicle. "Come on in guys! There's a ladder that leads up to the turret!"

  Cross gave a quick glance at Goldan, and stepped up the ramp. As he entered, he saw Stelly seated comfortably under the ladder, with his hands on the controls, and a good projection of the outside view on the wall in front of him. "You know how to work this thing?" Cross asked, as started climbing of the ladder.

  "Been in a few before. It ain't too difficult."

  "If you say so," Goldan added, following Cross up the ladder.

  Once they made it to the top, Stelly's voice crackled in over some speakers nearby. "Make sure you strap yourself in. Sometimes the gyroscopic mechanics can bug up, and you'll start rotating with it."

  "Sure," Cross said, a little nervous. He strapped into one of the two, small seats cramped next to each other. Goldan got into the one next to him. Cross took a good look at the controls in front of him. There was a double-handle control stick, with two buttons on both handles, one green, one red. Stelly's voice boomed in again, "It's pretty simple. You move the stick around to aim, and hit the green button for rapid fire. The red button is for long bursts. Got it?"

  "Yeah, I think so."

  "Good," he continued. "Now you're probably wondering why there are two seats. Whoever is in the seat on the right, which I'm assuming is Goldan, is in charge of shield defenses. You see the crank in front of you?"

  "Yeah," Goldan said, staring at the purple crank jutting out at him.

  "Crank that as much as you can to keep the shields up if they run low. And I mean, only when they're on low. The meter in front of you should let you know."

  "We're ready when you are Stelly," Cross said.

  "Good," Stelly said. The vehicle started up with a loud buzz, and a projection of outside came in to view on the wall in front of Cross. "Time to go dragon hunting."

  ***

  "This hall should lead into the tubeline that goes to docking bay twelve," Admiral Torkin explained, as he led them through.

  As William and the Admiral were conversing, Angel heard a young voice call out from behind her. "Admiral!" They all stopped in their tracks, and turned around to face the young officer.

  "What is it?" The Admiral asked.

  The man seemed out of breath, as if he had been chasing them down since they had left the room. "We've found something while searching the visitor's ship."

  Angel winced at his words. She had a feeling this would happen.

  "What do you mean?" Torkin pressed for him to continue. Angel watched William's shoulders tense up. He most likely was thinking the same thing.

  "We searched through some crates and found several bodies," the young man continued. "A couple of them appeared to have been... undressed."

  Angel curled up her fingers tight, and felt her toes press hard against the floor. What was he going to say? Had they just lost their only chance at getting support for the war?

  After a long silence, the Admiral glanced at William and said, "Pirates?"

  "Yup," William replied.

  "I didn't ask anyone to search their ship," the Admiral continued. "Call it off."

  "Yes sir,"

  Angel looked at William, and saw that he also exhaled in relief. "Let's get going," the Admiral said. "I apologize for the interruption."

  "No worries, Admrial."

  Angel took one last look at the young man pacing back down the hallway. That was close.

  ***

  Cross held on to his armrests as tight as he could, held his breath equally as tight, and prayed that Stelly knew what he was doing. He gazed at the view screen in front of him, as it projected a clear vision of the battle outside.

  Explosions erupted from the ground every few seconds, colorful blasts of fire, lasers, and cannons flung all around them, and the gyroscopic vehicle bounced around, as it rolled over the harsh terrain.

  "Keep cranking that sucker, Goldan," Cross heard Stelly yell over the electronic communicator. He took a break from firing his turret at random to look to his right at Goldan. Sweat poured down his face, as he fiercely cranked the handle around.

  "I'm trying my best here man!" He yelled. "We're getting hit all over the place!"

  "Just a couple more miles to go!" Stelly assured him.

  Cross went back to work, alternating between the green button, and the red, to blast the enemies, horses, and dragons around him. "I sure hope your right about that!" Cross yelled.

  "Aren't I always?" he heard.

  Chapter 28

  The group's footsteps echoed through the expansive storage room. Rows of military fleet ships lined throughout the room, large and small, with the background of space inside the boundaries of the exit behind them.

  William gazed in wonder at the sheer amount of potential firepower to be added to the battle. "Don't worry about your cargo ship, Will," he heard the Admiral say next to him. "We'll keep it here safely."

  "Thanks," William said.

  "Since your new to this kind of flying, I'll have you assigned to one of the lower class fighters. They're quick, dangerous, and quite easy to handle."


  "No problem."

  He turned to face Angel. "You, young lady, will be with us on the transport vessel. You'll be tasked with helping managing the battle."

  "Why can't I be in one of the ship?" She asked.

  "Because you're inexperienced. And right now, you're still classified as a civilian. You shouldn't really even be a part of the battle to begin with, but since you two are partners I'll let it slide. Will is the adult here, you know," The Admiral replied.

  Angel folded her arms across her chest in a sign of disappointment.

  "Come on, let's go set up," Torkin commanded.

  William started off with the Admiral down the tall, metal stairs toward the main floor, with Angel not too far behind. It was hard not to get lost in the crowds of officers, pilots, and crewmen pacing back and forth through the area. It reminded William of the markets back on Parker.

  Alarms sounded, people yelled, and supplies were hauled around. The business was so distracting, William almost got lost. Finally, they made to one of the rows of small fighter ships. Their triangular shape and thin body were quite modern. How it handled... that would be something to find out for himself.

  "This one's for you Will," Torkin announced. You won't needed to be fitted with an outfit, but you'll need a helmet for communication." One of the managers nearby had a rack full of the round helmets. They looked similar to some of the spacewalk helmets William had on The Whiskey. Their spherical shapes filled your entire head, and the ear buds stuck out inside, with a thin wire microphone coming out of them.

  The Admiral snatched one out and handed it to William. "Here you go soldier," he said. "Go ahead and get in to familiarize yourself with the controls. We'll be leaving in about an hour. Just follow the instructions when they come through your comm, and I'll contact you as we need out."

  "Yes sir."

  Torkin looked over to Angel. "Angel will be following me into the vessel now. If you need to say any goodbyes, feel free to."

  William just glanced at Angel and gave a wink.