The Styx Strikers

by Thor Zollinger

  After awhile, Bjorn got thirsty and decided to take a break. He shut down the mech, unplugged the jacket, clambered down and walked over by Jake to the juice cooler attached to the side of the trailer. “Hey old bean, how’s it going?” Bjorn knelt down in front of the cooler, positioned his mouth under the spigot, and pushed the button. “Ahhh, that’s good stuff! Dad calls it Gator Aid but nobody can figure out why. There aren’t any alligators on Wayfarer that we know of, and what’s a gator got to do with fruit juice anyway?” He took another gulp and kept going this time until he quenched his thirst.

  “Maybe he calls it that because it looks like swamp water?” Sven postulated with a crooked grin. “All I know is it sure tastes good when you’re parched out here in the fields.” Sven took a turn drinking from the spigot too, so Jake surmised that was the way it was done around here, at least when Aunt Glory wasn’t watching anyway. The iced juice tasted really good in the heat, and the cooler held about twenty liters of it.

  “Hey Bjorn, can I take a turn at running the mech? I’ve spent a couple evenings in the simulator and I’m ready to try it out for real.”

  “Oh you have, have you. Fine.” He took off the gloves, handed them to Jake, then took off the jacket. “It’s all sweaty, but you can have it.” he stated with a wicked grin. Jake hadn’t thought of that, but he slipped the jacket on anyway. It smelled bad, but then they all smelled bad so it didn’t really matter much. The gloves were a different matter entirely. Jake slipped on the soggy thin gloves and plugged the chords into the jacket. The clammy gloves felt disgusting, but he knew he had to suck it up if he wanted to drive a mech… A real mech! Jakes heart was racing as he climbed up the ladder and clambered over the side into the cockpit.

  “Let’s see if he can figure out how to start it up” Bjorn whispered to Sven with a wide grin.

  Jake plugged in the jacket and immediately pushed the start button on the dash. He had gone over the cockpit diagram the night before, so it was all fresh in his memory. He wasn’t about to let Bjorn or Sven get the better of him, not about driving a mech. He’d waited for this moment his whole life. He was in a real mech! The startup sequence was pretty simple, all he had to do was log into the machine and press start. Oh, he’d forgotten to log in. “Hey, you forgot to give me the password” Jake yelled. The mech’s side windows were still down, so Bjorn could hear him just fine.

  “The password we set up is ‘Squishy Squid’. We change it every once in a while just for fun.”

  Jake typed it in and the system announced “Operator Recognized.” in a female voice. He pressed ‘Start’ again on the dash and heard the gratifying sound of the turbines spinning up behind him. After a minute, it announced “All Systems Ready.” He had to lean back to get an eye on the floor to see where the enable button was, then he assumed a body position with his arms down like the mech was positioned in and pressed the enable button with his foot. The mech lurched slightly as he took control of the upper torso. Jake walked the mech forward a few meters and stopped in front of a large bush, then leaned into it as he extended the arms and took a hold of the trunk down near the ground.

  He was a bit uncertain in his movements and dug the grippers into the ground a bit, but he managed it. Leaning back he ripped the bush out of the ground a bit too vigorously. The mech had to take a step back to counter his move. Jake could see Bjorn smirking at him through the side window, but he kept going without stopping and threw the brush aside onto the pile for the loader. Stepping the mech forwards, he set up for the next chunk of brush and went in after it. After a few more bushes Jake was getting the hang of it and was moving much more smoothly. Bjorn and Sven shrugged, not getting to make fun of Jake any more, and went back to driving the loader and to Rocker shooting duty.

  Jake spent the rest of the afternoon in the mech cockpit and was able to clear out the rest of the scrub brush in the work area. Driving the mech was a blast, but he could feel his arms getting tired. Making all of the mech motions himself was tiring. At least he had air conditioning blowing on him out of the vents. He could stay relatively comfortable even though he was working up quite a sweat. It was really satisfying being able to see the swath he had cut through the brush behind him. They had unearthed quite a few Rockers as well, and had overfilled the trailer with the scrub brush. Sven had climbed up on top of the pile in the trailer and was jumping up and down on the branches trying to mash them down in better. Jake backed the mech up to where he had started, positioned the arms downwards again, and pressed the start button to shut down the mech. He had never raised the window, so all he had to do was clamber out the window out through the roll bars and climb down the ladder.

  “Not bad, old bean” Bjorn commented. “How are your arms doing?”

  “Wow. They feel like I just did a hundred push ups. My back is going to be pretty stiff too. That’s a lot more work than it looks.”

  “Yup, you’ll be in tip top shape in no time if you run that mech every day. How do you think I got this good looking!” Bjorn said as he did a few weight lifter poses. He was in pretty nice form. “We still have to haul all the boulders out of here, that’s on the list for tomorrow. It’s Sven’s turn in the mech next, but you can take over tomorrow afternoon again.”

  “It’s time for a team meeting,” Sven chirped “to plan our next Safari. Today’s Wednesday, all the guys are expecting us to set something up by Saturday. I think we should drop Jake into the Spire Sinkhole and do a little exploring.”

  “Oh, yah. What’s Dad got planned for Saturday? Mom isn’t trying to take us on some lame picnic just cause Jake’s here is she?” Bjorn wasn’t too keen on picnics.

  “I don’t think so. Christina would be talking all about it if Mom was planning a picnic, and she hasn’t been talking up a storm about anything like that. Picnics are OK sometimes, but I’d rather go repelling.”

  “Cool! I’m in. How far down is it down into the sink hole?” Jake exclaimed.

  “It’s really deep! You’re not afraid of heights are you?” Jake shook his head no to Sven. “It takes about two hundred meters of cable to get down there. The spire in the center is as tall as a skyscraper, like the Empire Tower back on Lahti. We use the winch cable on the Ripsaw to lower down our gear and to pull us back out. It’s got a remote which works all the way down to the bottom, we don’t even have to leave anyone behind up top. We lock the Ripsaw up though, just in case someone comes by. Dad owns the land it’s on, but people around here go pretty much anywhere they want. We don’t want anyone doing anything funny while we’re all the way down in the bottom. ZipPhone reception is kinda spotty down there in the tunnels, we can’t call for help even if we wanted to. Mom would freak if she knew we were down there.”

  “Why don’t you guys have a hot spot repeater on the Ripsaw?” Jake asked.

  “Uhhh, never thought of that. Hey Bjorn, why don’t we have a hot spot in the Ripsaw?” Sven commented.

  “I don’t know, smart alec. Why don’t we have a hot spot installed in the Ripsaw? You’re the electronics genius.”

  “Hmmm. I’ll ask Jackson and Anouar and see if they’ve got any hardware we can use sitting around. Anouar is our best radio tech. He works on the mechs too.”

  “Tonight when we’re back at the house I’ll call Ariel and Zane, Sven, you call Hai, Dan and Tarra. We’ll meet at 6:00 AM before anyone else gets up and bug out early. Everyone already has their assignments for gear, and my pack is already set up, I never unloaded it from the last time. Oh shoot! I forgot and left that bag of food in there again. I’ll have to throw that out.” Bjorn had a habit of leaving food in his pack and finding stinky mold in it’s place a week later.

  “Man, I hope you didn’t bring back any bugs like you did last time you forgot about the food. You’d better take that outside before you open it. Jake, last time he dumped the pack out on the floor and it was full of beetles busy eating his leftover sandwich. It took us an hour to run them all down in the room, they scattere
d everywhere!”

  The guys had started walking back towards the house through the fields as they talked. The air was started to smell like ozone, rain was coming again right on schedule. They picked up the pace and jogged most of the way back to home base, it wouldn’t do to get caught out in the evening rain storm. The precipitation was warm, but with all the dirt they had collected Aunt Glory wouldn’t let them back indoors until they had sprayed off the mud using the garden hose at the back porch.

  Jake looked up into the sky as they approached the house. He could see the large crescent of Ceazar the gas giant overhead in the golden skies reflecting the dimming sunlight. The clouds were rolling in slowly. He wondered how his parents were doing back home, as a tinge of regret snuck into his mood. He missed home, but didn’t really think about his old friends much anymore, there was so much going on in his life. He wondered if he would ever make it back, but knew he would eventually. His cousins had made it to Lahti every so often, so why wouldn’t he? Just then they made it indoors and his thoughts of home vanished as they headed downstairs to clean up. He had to find his back pack and get ready for tomorrow’s Safari!

  Chapter 6 “Safari!” –––––––––––––––––––

  A lone figure sat on a branch perched in the top of a massive old growth tree, viewing Ceazar the gas giant slipping below the horizon, it was an amazing sunset-like sight. She had a coil of rope hanging from a clip on her belt along with a hand full of carabineers, a blue bandana was tied on top of her head covering her wavy chestnut brown hair. She wore a frilly crème colored top and a tan pair of shorts with huge pockets full of snacks and one small thermos filled with flavored water. She also wore tight fitting yellow repelling gloves and red rubber slip-on shoes designed for rock climbing. Tarra was ‘Sheera, Queen of the Jungle’, or so she declared herself anytime anyone asked.

  Tarra wasn’t too far from the ranch house. Her family’s ranch was south of the Langer’s, but still on the north side of Port Canaveral, surrounded by the largest trees she’d ever seen. She climbed this one quite regularly, and had a small portable platform to sit on strapped to the tree trunk behind her back. The seat was padded so it was fairly comfortable, though sometimes she preferred to wrap her tanned legs around a big branch instead. She felt more connected to nature that way. The wind was blowing lightly through the branches, rustling the leaves in a very soothing manner. She closed her eyes and listened to the song of the breeze through the tree’s foliage. With the sun coming through the leaves, the warmth felt absolutely delightful.

  Breaking the calm, the sounds of a Toucan-like bird began resonating from her pocket. Reaching down and answering her zipPhone, “This is Sheera, who dares intrude on the Queen of the Jungle?”

  “This is Sven, you ninny. You already know it’s me.”

  “Greetings master Sven. How will you serve your Queen today?”

  “Would you knock it off? We’re setting up a Safari for Saturday morning. Can you be ready to go at 6:30 in the morning? We’ll come pick you up. We’ll have Jake with us, so you can meet him too.”

  “Oh, how nice. Another loyal subject for the Queen. I can always use more servants.”

  “Yah, whatever. Just be ready to go on Saturday, your highness. Later!”

  “Well that was rather rude, wasn’t it. It’s a good thing he had good news, or I would be forced to require some type of penance for his rudeness” she said with a frown and pouting lips. Tarra placed the zipPhone back in her pocket and stretched lazily in the sun light. After freshening up her lip gloss she dropped the rope tied to the branch in front of her perch, grabbed the rope with both hands and slid off the platform. Swinging briefly in the air, she gripped the rope with her feet and began the long glide down to the ground fifty meters below.

  Tarra walked quietly the half a kilometer back to the ranch house, pausing briefly to fish the zipPhone out of her pocket. “Hi Ariel, the boys are setting up a Safari for Saturday early to go down to the River Styx.” Tarra and Ariel had started calling the river in the tunnels after the legendary river from mythology ever since she had been reading ancient myths for school. “They’re bringing a cousin named Jake with them, do you know anything about him?”

  “Hi Tarra. No, I haven’t heard anything yet. I suppose Bjorn will be calling me soon, at least I hope he does. He’s got such a dreamy voice. He talks to me more when I have him on the phone, he’s kinda quiet in person.”

  “So you haven’t heard anything about Jake? Darn, I was hoping you could tell me something about him. Wow, a new guy in town. This is so exciting!”

  “Yah, I guess so. Hey, what if he’s the same age as Bjorn and I are? Is he older or younger? What if he’s my age and he likes blondes?”

  “Well, I remember Sven told me he and Jake were about the same age, so I think you’re out of luck, blondy. I already called dibs anyway, remember?”

  “Ok, don’t get excited. I can take a hint. I’ll just work on Bjorn some more, and see if I can loosen him up. I just know there’s a lover boy in there somewhere, he just needs a little more coaxing to get him to come out and play.”

  “No joy on that with Sven, he doesn’t seem to feel it at all. I’ve done just about everything to crack through his shell and all I get is a punch on the arm or he messes up my hair like I’m his little sister or something.”

  “I noticed. He wouldn’t notice a girl making a pass even if she hopped in his lap. Hopefully Jake is a little more clued in. We’ll find out this weekend anyway when we meet with the guys.”

  “Guys? Huh! Zane and Dan are too much over the top. Zane is too much of a jock, always trying to impress everyone with his muscles, but he hasn’t got a whole brain in his head. Hai is all brains and no brawn, and Dan just about slobbers all over you any time he’s around. He’s both girl crazy and food addicted. If you were food, that boy wouldn’t be able to breathe.”

  “Not much to pick from out here, is there. Well, at least Bjorn is both cute and smart. He’s not a genius, but he isn’t a fool like Zane and Dan have proven to be. And sometimes being a genius can be a problem too, Hai seems to be too shy and technical to even talk to a girl. He keeps asking me about the computer we have at home and hasn’t asked even once what I like or how I’m feeling.”

  “That’ll be the day, the day when Hai asks either of us how we’re feeling. And Dan, I had to slap Dan when he put his grubby mitts in the wrong place. Next time he tries that I’ll break his nose, then maybe he’ll get the message” Tarra stated emphatically.

  “Maybe you won’t have to, if Jake takes a liking to you. Boys can be pretty territorial. Bjorn has kept both Zane and Dan at bay since we started dating. He likes to say we aren’t, but we are. It’s nice not to have to worry about Dan trying to corner me like he tried last year. I kneed him pretty hard and he finally got the message. High heels work pretty good too, but I don’t get to wear them very often out here. A spike through the top of the foot and I can put any man on the ground.”

  “Ooooh, that’s brutal. I haven’t tried that yet. With any luck Jake will turn out to be nice and I won’t have to. Well, I gotta go in the house now. Later!”

  “Toodloo, call me later if you find out anything.”

  Tarra walked up the front steps of the manor house, across the wide porch past the old style rocking chairs and went in through the screen door. “Mommmm, where are you!”

  “I’m in here Dear, making dinner for your Father.”

  “Mom, Ariel and I are going camping this weekend with the Langers and the other guys. You don’t mind, do you? I’ll have all my lessons done by tomorrow night, and you know I’m already way ahead of the course schedule.”

  “Yes, we know Dear. I heard from Mr. Langer you guys are taking his nephew out on a camping trip. Where are you going Dear? I need to know where to send the rescue squad if you get into trouble or if a vehicle breaks down.”

  “I don’t know yet, probably the same place we w
ent last time, up on the hilltop over by the big lake. We have a rope swing set up and a dock built so we can take the canoe out on the water.”

  “All right, just let me know when you guys decide. I suppose I can always call your zipPhone if I need to check on you. Who knows, you might need someone to run out with some fresh snacks or something” she said with a smile.

  “We should be fine, we had way too much food last time. I’m going downstairs to get my homework done.” Tarra smiled slyly as she trotted down the stairs. Sven had emailed her the location spoofer app along with some instructions, so she was all set on that count. Now all she had to do was pre-program a route out to the lake site that would take, oh, about two hours to get there, then some random moving around so it would look like they were at the lake for the rest of the day.

  Saturday morning Tarra got up early, had some breakfast and raided the kitchen for her camping trip. Her mom had set up a few containers of food for her cooler, and had thoughtfully packed some of her favorite snacks as well. Tarra ran back downstairs where she had her rope and climbing gear all set in a smaller canvas bag along with her climbing shoes and gloves. “A jacket, I’m going to need a jacket too and some workout pants” she muttered to herself as she thought about the cold air in the bottom of the Spire Sinkhole. She had just the thing in the drawer in her closet, a nice coordinated ensemble that spoke both practicality and style. She wanted to be able to present the right image to Jake when she met him. Conquest was all about preparation, both in climbing and with boys.

  Tarra hauled all of her gear, backpack, and cooler out onto the porch and sat down in the big rocking chair with her legs crossed under her. She was ten minutes early, which was good, because Bjorn was usually right on time when it came to Safaris. Her outfit was coordinated with patterns of bird feathers in blues and greens, the latest fashion. Her top was loose for climbing with just a bit of satin along the collar. The patterned leggings were nice and tight, also better for climbing, under loose tan shorts with big pockets. You had to have somewhere to put your drink bottle and snacks. Her bright red socks contrasted sharply with the greens, but went well with the leather hiking boots she had on and matched the red reflective sunglasses with the green lenses. The bandana on her head was her favorite blue one, tied in back to keep her hair out of the way. Her utility belt was loaded up as usual, they were going repelling into a sinkhole after all. One had to be practical even when one was being fashionable.