GeneStorm: City in the Sky

by Paul Kidd

  “Well, that’s where we have to go…” Snapper turned and found Throckmorton. “Throcky! Can you take a look at those lily pads? See if they might take your weight? Try stabbing one – see how thick the things are.”

  “Throckmorton will see.” The plant dusted off his leaves, then took off towards the nearest of the huge lily pads. “Back soon!”

  “Keep away from the flowers! Ambush predators love hiding inside flowers.”

  Throckmorton waved, indicating that he had heard. He whirred off, coming low to the water – triggering half a dozen goldfish, which leapt up snapping with angry little teeth. They were certainly not man-killers, but god help the backside of anyone who fell in the water. Throckmorton frantically whirred his wings and climbed, looking down beneath himself in alarm.

  Kenda looked coldly back at the far shore.

  “Disgusting. The earth is more and more overrun.”

  “Yeah, those things don’t get my vote for good neighbours.” Snapper gingerly touched her wound. “Still – they’ll think twice before taking on prospectors again. Never mess with the hussars!” The shark turned and looked at the man’s blood-covered face. “How’s your cheek? I’ve got some angry bee-mouse jelly.”

  The man waved her away. “It needs no jelly.”

  “Well, keep it clean. Let’s not mar those gorgeous smiling looks.” Shaking her head, Snapper walked away.

  Out on the lake, Throckmorton drifted about experimenting with the lily pads. Meanwhile, Beau, Snapper and Kitt worked on their equipment. Kitterpokkie put her now-useless plasma rifle aside and equipped herself with a breech-loader taken from the pack animals. Snapper was busily redistributing their small store of bombs, passing one out to each adventurer.

  “Check your ammo! How many rounds are we down to?”

  Kitterpokkie produced a handful of bullets. “I have four more pistol bullets. And… six shots for the rifle…”

  Snapper checked her ammo pouch. “I’ve got one more cylinder for the carbine, and six rounds for the pistol. Beau?”

  “No pistol rounds. Three for the carbine.”

  “Take my pistol rounds.” Snapper unloaded her revolver cylinder and passed the rounds to Beau. “Kenda? Ammo count!”

  The man gave an idle shrug. “Six rifle rounds. No rifle”

  “Pistol?”

  “Empty.”

  He must have fired the pistol somewhere during the melee. Snapper ran a hand through her long hair, flicking it back behind her helmet.

  “All right. Kitt – let’s give Kenda the rifle and your rifle rounds. Keep your pistol.”

  Snapper checked her carbine, spinning the cylinder. “Right! So everyone has something. Use blade weapons by preference if you can. Kitt?” Snapper made certain the mantis had her bush knife on her belt. “Keep that handy.”

  Kitterpokkie settled her knife into the front of her belt, then loaded her pistol. She walked to the edge of the vast, rocking tortoise shell with Snapper and examined the great jutting towers that thrust up out of the lake.

  “Well – we have a clear day. The view of the city should be excellent…. Which one should we aim for, do you think?”

  “The sturdiest. See that one there? The one with the huge platform part way up?”

  The building in question had a massive, oval shaped lower third, with a sturdy tower soaring up above. The tower had multiple platforms jutting from its side like massive concrete leaves. It was decidedly different to the other buildings nearby. Snapper was intrigued by the building’s shape. “Seems to have views over most of the ruins.”

  The various platforms faced in all directions – suspended out over dizzy drops hundreds of metres down to the water. Kitterpokkie looked the building over and nodded, approving of the choice.

  “Extremely solid – there will probably be multiple stairwells. Yes – an excellent choice.” The mantis blinked as the gigantic tortoise-koi changed its course. “Ah, are we getting closer to the water?”

  The very edges of the tortoise shell were suddenly awash. The tortoise was clearly wading into deeper water. Several of its kin were out in the lake a few kilometres away, showing nothing above the surface but their long snaking necks. Snapper stared for a second, and then ran back along the shell, waving towards Throckmorton out across the water.

  “Ah! Throckmorton?” Snapper kept pace with the plant, shouting at the top of her lungs. “Throckmorton! This thing’s about to dive!”

  The plant looked up, seemed to blink, then thrummed his wings like an insane dragonfly, trying to race above the lake as fast as he could. He beat his way forward into the stiffening breeze, reaching out to catch hold of Pendleton’s saddle. The plant weaved tired tentacles, pointing up ahead of the tortoise.

  “Lily pads are thick. Maybe… Half metre. Very stiff.” The plant waved a little knife he had apparently been using to dig into a lily pad. “Make big, steady raft.”

  “Okay, so they should take the weight of a few folk and animals…” Snapper looked forward, hoping for nearby lily pads. “Any lilies up ahead?”

  “Big tortoise thingy keeps clear. You will have to swim.” Throckmorton looked at the shoals of nippy little goldfish that kept pace with the tortoise. “Perhaps little fishes only bite very little things?”

  “Yeah, not something I want to bet my life on.”

  Kitterpokkie pulled some old sandwich wrappings from her baggage. She wrapped a bomb in waxed paper.

  “The bombs! They should stun those damned fish. We’ll throw some bombs, then jump in and swim for it! The shockwave should chase them off.”

  Kitterpokkie found a rope and tossed it to Snapper. “You’ll be the swiftest. So get up aboard a lily pad and help everyone else climb aboard.”

  Beau clutched his breastplate. “What about weapons and armour?”

  “Tie them to your riding beasts!” Snapper divested herself of armour and carbine, but kept her sword, strapping it tight to the middle of her back. She put the coil of rope over her shoulder. “Let’s get off this thing before it starts to dive!”

  The pack animals were tied to lead ropes. Armour and weapons were strapped into place. Snapper stood watching a clump of lily pads slowly approach. She held the lead ropes to Onan and her pack beast, getting ready to make the jump into the water.

  “Good birdie! Going for a swim! Just follow me.”

  The bird looked at the water, and then at Snapper.

  “Salty cracker?”

  “See me when we get out!” Snapper timed the oncoming lily pads. “Kitt!”

  “A second!” The mantis was trying to get her lighter to spark. “Ah! Here! Here!”

  Fuses spluttered. Kitt hastily sealed the bombs inside waxed paper wrappings. She stood carefully watching the fuses, fearlessly watching them burn down – and then threw the bombs out into the water – one close, and one further off towards the lily pads.

  The two bombs exploded one after the other. Brown water fountained up and the tortoise began to turn away from the disturbance. Snapper took a run and leapt straight into the lake.

  She splashed home into the cold water – water that tasted brown and metallic. Onan and her pack beast jumped in beside her. The pack beetle thrashed, while Onan splashed happily and swam like a waterlogged duck. Snapper swirled her tail and effortlessly took off through the water, tugging the ropes and urging the animals on towards the lily pads.

  A stunned goldfish drifted by – the creature looked damned annoyed. The shark swam past it, pulling at the pack beetle’s lead rope. The creature was thrashing – it wanted its legs free of the water so that its spiracles could breathe. Snapper swam onward and bumped hard into the high rim of a lily pad.

  The thing was half a metre thick and extremely stiff. It also had a tall upcurled rim as thick as leather. Snapper drew her sabre and clung against the lily, hanging on one handed while hacking at the leaf rim. She sawed down an opening, threw her sword forward onto the pad and clambered awkwardly aboard. The massive raft never even t
remored beneath her weight.

  Onan was awkwardly trying to climb aboard. Snapper seized his saddle and hauled hard. The bird managed to get some purchase with his talons and shot onboard, landing atop of Snapper in a great pile of sodden feathers. The shark battled out from under the bird and dragged her pack beetle aboard. The creature managed to drag its belly up onto the raft, then sneezed out a deluge of water from its spiracles.

  The others were swimming towards the lily pad, holding onto their riding beasts for support. Goldfish lay about them in shoals, twitching as if threatening to come awake again and feed. Snapper took her sword and hacked into the lily pad, making a shallow boarding ramp. She reached for Kenda, the first of the swimmers, and hauled him onto the lily pad.

  “Can you get your animals?” The man seemed to be hale and hearty. “Come on – drag them aboard!”

  Pendleton swam with smarmy agility, propelling himself along with his many legs. Beau clung to the creature’s saddle, looking bedraggled but undrowned. It was Kitterpokkie who was in trouble. Her budgerigar had again shaken her off, and was clambering aboard all by itself. Kitt thrashed about, six limbs churning the water, but making no headway. She gave a choked shriek of alarm as a golden fish shivered and swam erratically beside her. Snapper saw that the mantis was in trouble, and dove straight into the water, reaching her with a few strong strokes of her tail.

  “Grab my dorsal fin!”

  Kitterpokkie managed to hook onto Snapper’s great, curved fin. Snapper sped through the water with great strokes of both arms and tail. Kitt was hoisted up and out of the water by the bedraggled Beau. Snapper felt a goldfish biting unsuccessfully at her tough hide, and waited no longer. She clawed her way up out of the water, and sat dripping at the edge of the lily pad with her heart thumping excitedly in her chest.

  They were all aboard – explorers, animals and all. Beau tried to politely squeeze the water from his feathers and fur. He had almost managed the job, when Pendleton shook himself, deluging water over everything in sight. The fox-pheasant stood glowering as the moth sniggered in wicked delight. Snapper looked at Pendleton in annoyance, wiped her face, then carefully moved over towards the far edge of the lily pad.

  The next pad was perhaps two metres away – an awkward jump that would have to be taken at the run. But that pad connected to another and another and another… She could make out a route that curved about a rubble island and then led off towards the waiting platform tower.

  Throckmorton came to hover beside her. He was looking about himself with his little heads. Several of his faces focussed upon Snapper.

  “Things would be far easier if everyone could fly.”

  “They would indeed.” Snapper patted the plant’s woody gas bladders. “How are you doing, my friend?”

  “Very well, thank you. Though Throckmorton would dearly like to eat meatballs and beer.” The plant smacked several sets of lips. The little magenta/orange faces looked delightfully innocent. “When we return to Spark Town, Toby has said there will be a barbecue.”

  “That sounds excellent! Maybe down at the river again.” Snapper looked out over the lake, with its dreaming towers, and the city ruins all impossibly green and lush at every side. “But I’d love to bring him here – where he and Samuels could see the city again.”

  “We shall do it. As long as there are meatballs.” The plant began flapping his wings, and motored out over the next lily pad. “Throckmorton shall gain some height, to find his friends the quickest route.”

  “Thank you, Throckmorton.”

  Snapper was soggy, her clothes smelled of lake water, and a small violent goldfish had clamped onto her tail. Snapper removed the fish and slung it back into the water, then ran about to check on the gear. Guns were still in place – camping gear… But the salty crackers had been thoroughly soaked. Mortified with guilt, Snapper searched about but found that every box had been swamped. Onan looked at her, aghast.

  “Salty cracker?”

  “All gone!” Snapper was distraught. “There’s salt! Maybe I can bake you some?”

  “Bake now?”

  “When we camp! We’ll try to bake you some when we camp.”

  Crestfallen, Onan made a mournful sound. It utterly broke Snapper’s heart. She rummaged anxiously about her saddlebags, trying to find another treat.

  “There’s bacon melon! That’s salty. You like bacon melon?”

  Onan was inconsolable. “Cracker! Cracker cracker!”

  “Soon! When we make a fire!”

  She distracted the bird by grooming him and making a fuss, leading him over to the far edge of the lily pad. The huge plant bent and creaked beneath their feet.

  Kitterpokkie summoned Throckmorton. The plant whirred over to the next chosen lily pad, trailing a rope behind him, then drove one of his crossbow bolts into the spongy surface of the pad. The rope was looped about the crossbow bolt, and the lily pad was hauled in closer. Rather than jumping across the awkward gap, the party stepped across, coming over one after another in turn.

  It was all rather civilised.

  Creatures were living on the lily pads: beautifully coloured butterfly fish swam in clear water that had pooled inside the beautiful lily blossom. They watched the intruders with amiable curiosity, cooing and calling to one another as they flew from flower to flower.

  The adventurers moved carefully from lily pad to lily pad, working their way slowly across the titanic leaves. On one plant, they found a colony of little bugs that all ran away from them in a body – a veritable carpet of orange/red. On another, there was a riot of creatures that were part flower, part snail. In the water down below, ancient car bodies were covered with brown furze. Shops and buildings were now home to great, long fish that meandered quietly along the ancient avenues.

  Pad by pad, the party made their way into the great, quiet spaces between the waiting towers. The titanic mass of the buildings was wonderfully thrilling – the eye looked up, up towards the tower tops. Ancient windows glittered, greenery moved slowly in the breeze, and far above, clouds drifted in an empty sky.

  A great beard of thick, heavy creeper trailed down from the massive tower that Snapper had selected as their target. They worked over into the shadow of the immense tower, until finally they floated on a lily pad mere metres away. They looked up at the majestic tower in awe – chilled by the sheer scale and mass of the achievement.

  Throckmorton flew across to an open balcony, towing Snapper’s rope behind him. He tied it to a pillar using a deft little knot. Slowly, slowly the lily pad was towed across until it ground up against the dense mass of creepers. The birds, moths and beetles would be quite able to climb their way aboard. Snapper tied the rope off around the lily pad’s flower, anchoring everything in place, and dusted off her hands.

  “Right!” She smoothed back her hair. “OK – so – tower time!”

  One by one, the animals were guided over into the ancient tower. The explorers moved out into a cavernous place littered with bird droppings and old leaves. They looked about themselves, gazing about walls that had been scored and burned by ancient plasma fire.

  Onan tugged at Snapper’s coat.

  “Salty cracker?”

  “Yes mate, the moment I get some made.” Snapper patted her bird. “Anyway, we’re here.”

  Beau looked about the giant cavern, impressed by the scale and engineering.

  “And where is here exactly?”

  Kitterpokkie carefully pulled old dead creepers away from lettering plated to the wall.

  “Ah! We are at ‘Nambeena Metro Skyhub’!” Kitterpokkie cleared away more old plant stalks. “Gateway to the South-West’, whatever that may be.”

  Kenda looked at the sign in great satisfaction. “Skyhub. Yes indeed…”

  “Intriguing, isn’t it?” Kitterpokkie looked towards a row of broad double doors. “Oh, my interest is truly piqued!”

  The stairwells to the levels down below were all blocked – apparently deliberately. Every desk, chai
r, lamp and table had apparently been used to fashion barricades – barricades that seemed to have been subsequently torn apart. Flooded stairwells showed violent plasma burns all over the walls and steps – even on the ceilings. The savage marks continued all up the stairs, with huge holes in the stairs having been blasted completely through. Snapper carefully approached one set of stairs, but the steps had been demolished for the entire length up to the first landing. The shards and stumps might be climbable, but looked horribly dangerous. Snapper crossed the huge hall and found the second stairwell – this one narrower, and with the barricade down in the water still fairly firm. There were no plasma gun burns on the walls – but a pair of human skeletons in ancient armour lay crumbled on the stairs. Creepers grew from the mouths and eye sockets of the ancient skulls.

  The shark came carefully forward, looking up the stairwell. There were more bodies up above – old armour lying here and there. She frowned. Kenda came to join her, for once looking strangely pleased.

  “Excellent.”

  He began to move. Snapper held up and hand and kept him in place.

  “Wait.”

  “Why?”

  “Bodies in armour. Dead soldiers – and no guns.” Snapper didn’t like the feel of it. “Their own men must have taken the guns.”

  Beau came forward – looking thoroughly suspicious. “Booby traps beneath the bodies?”

  “That would be my guess.” Snapper was a junk prospector through and through. “Yeah – I don’t want to disturb those unless we have to. That has all the hallmarks of a pocket-apocalypse just waiting to happen.” The stairs seemed rather narrow- the odds of jostling one of the ancient skeletons was rather high. “We still need a way to gain the upper levels…”

  A bell suddenly rang from behind them.

  Kenda, Beau and Snapper turned. Throckmorton and Kitt had apparently pressed a button beside the big double doors. The doors had slid open to reveal a small room with an ancient armoured skeleton lying strewn extravagantly across the floor.

  Music drifted from the odd little room – soporific, sophisticated, and oddly annoying. Snapper’s jaw sagged.