Return to Wardate

by Bill Cornwell

  ‘Hi sweetie pie, I may be breaking out, what’s your take on that?’

  ‘We thought you might. If you hang on, Zol’s in the process of chartering a commuter aircraft. I’ll give you a call when we’re on the runway.’

  ‘Remember I’m in high heels, can’t run in them.’

  ‘You’ll have to take them off then. Oh… and try and be gentle with the staff.’

  ‘Aren’t I always?!’

  Chapter 47: Breaking the speed limit

  Commuter aircrafts are sometimes classed as air taxis but there is a crucial difference, you can’t just hail one down. It was nearly three hours before all the checks had been done on the plane and Adam, Zol and Grayling were allowed to pass through border control. Then it took a further hour before there was an available slot for them to take off. Four hours later Adam rang Madeline.

  ‘When you’re ready, we’re taxiing out to the runway.’

  ‘Thought you’d forgotten about me. Okay, see you in a minute. Leave your phone on.’

  Explosive motion setting 4 should be all she needed. The door caved in easily and she was out of the building long before any bullets whizzed passed her. The size of international airports are always deceptive, it was nearly half a mile to the runway. She took off her high heels and within seconds she was striding across the airport runway at a comfortable 20 MPH. The commuter plane was ahead of her, about to take off. After two minutes she was almost along side but then the plane began to accelerate.

  ‘Hang on, I’m not there yet!’ Madeline screamed.

  ‘We are committed, run faster!’ said Adam in her head.

  Madeline put her explosive motion on the highest setting.

  ‘Holy shiiiit!’ she screamed.

  Her strides became immense, touching the ground only every fifteen metres. She was moving so fast that she was literally becoming airborne herself. Her feet were taking the bulk of the rough treatment. Her thick black tights were now completely worn away and riding up her legs. Her USB socket in her big toe was totally wrecked and the skin on the bottom of her feet was getting scratched to hell. 70 MPH was her maximum speed, just enough to line up with the open door of the plane and jump in. She landed violently inside, in a heap.

  ‘Wow, that was fun!’

  Within moments, the commuter plane was in the air and steadily ascending. Ulika Batter airport was quickly disappearing into the distance.

  The TV in the nondescript motel room was still turned on and tuned into the Vixen News channel. It really was time someone visited the vacant room and turned it off.

  ‘Let’s go over to Berny for the very latest international news,’ said Carol Star in the News studio.

  ‘Morning Carol. Not a lot going on for a change. Since the amnesty for world peace following the ‘rest of the world hating America’ debacle, all is relatively quiet,’ said Berny.

  ‘Yes, very strange all that. Never really had a proper explanation as to why it happened.’

  ‘Don’t think we ever will. Anyway, good came out of bad. For the first time in history everyone is at peace. The downside is that I’m running out of things to report. There is one thing the viewers may be interested in, there’s a video going viral on the internet…’

  ‘Let’s have a look…’

  The poor quality video showed a woman dressed only in a colourful jumper and black tights running at an incredible speed, catching up a plane in the process of taking off. The video finished off by showing the woman jumping in through the open door.

  ‘That’s incredible!’ said Carol. ‘Obviously a fake but very well done.’

  ‘I agree but have a closer look, who does she remind you of?’ asked Berny.

  ‘Oh – my - god, it does, doesn’t it?’ said Carol.

  ‘Someone’s obviously having a laugh at Madeline’s expense,’ said Berny.

  ‘Well it’s obviously not Madeline…come on now, a baggy granny jumper and black tights? Not clothes Madeline would be seen dead in,’ Carol rationalised.

  ‘Notice you’ve got quite a fetching carnation pink outfit on today,’ said Berny.

  ‘Why, thank you Berny. I think the colours bring out my complexion, don’t you?’ said Carol blatantly blushing on air.

  That was the plan and it had worked. The ultrasound signal had, at the time, brought out the worst in people. Hatred towards the Americans was so intense that a world war almost began. But that was never their intention, they knew that the ultrasound brainwashing had a permanent rebound effect - when the ultrasound stopped, the hate turned into love. The emitters at the South Pole were scheduled to be turned off long before the invasion fleet reached American shores but Madeline got there first with her explosives. No matter, within moments of the ultrasound ending the world began to love each other – especially the North Americans. All wars immediately ended. All hate gave way for kindness, greed gave way for generosity, condemnation gave way for forgiveness and cruelty gave way for compassion.

  Madeline’s world was completely at peace.

  Chapter 48: Power sockets

  Even though Madeline was essentially an android, she remained tangled in a heap for some time whilst she sort of got her breath back. No one came to her assistance because rules are rules - Adam had been told to stay belted up. Eventually she examined her feet, they had survived reasonably well although her USB socket would never see the likes of a dongle or flash drive again. No matter, she took the remains of her thousand denier granny tights off to reveal her silky smooth shapely legs and put her white high heeled leather boots back on. A quick run through her hair with her fingers and wipe down with a wet wipe and she was ravishingly gorgeous again. She sat down next to Adam.

  ‘Hi beautiful, decided to join me then?’ said Adam cheerfully.

  Madeline was just about to give him a loving hug when she suddenly realised her explosive motion was still on full setting. It didn’t bear thinking about what would have happened - but she did. The ‘hug’ would have crushed his ribcage, mulched all his internal organs and certainly killed him.

  ‘God, that was so close. I hate, hate, hate being different,’ she complained.

  ‘Being different is what makes you special.’

  ‘Exactly, I don’t want to be special anymore.’

  ‘Don’t worry angel, won’t be long now.’

  It would take a mere five hours to get to Lukla.

  Once again they were back in reasonable luxury - nice soft seats and quiet enough to talk without shouting.

  ‘You can’t come with me, you know,’ said Madeline softly.

  ‘I’m coming as far as the first base camp, it’s only four miles to the summit from there.’

  ‘And two and a half miles up! … You’ll need a tent – two berth,’ said Madeline.’

  ‘Naturally,’ said Adam

  ‘Actually, there’s a problem, quite a big one. I doubt if my power reserves will do the forty odd miles from Lukla to Base camp, let alone the rest of the way to the top.’

  ‘I know, worked that out myself, hang on a second.’

  Adam left his seat and went in to the cockpit. He returned with a smile.

  ‘Zol’s going to sort something out.’

  ‘He’s a saint. I’ll have to make sure I’m fully charged.’

  ‘There’s now another quite serious problem – it doesn’t look like we’ll need a tent now, after all,’ said Adam.

  ‘Damn! Never mind, perhaps there’s a power socket in the back, shall we go and have a look?’

  Chapter 49: The reunion

  Madeline never failed to overlook the fact than Nuttall could easily listen in when ever he so desired, particularly when they made love and when they had small talk. There could be no secrets, no private conversations and because of what he heard, he could throw up obstacles at any time without warning. He had been suspiciously quiet now for a while, this was a relief to some extent but disconcerting all the same.

  Thanks to Zol’s piloting skills, he managed to land
the plane on the ridiculously short and perilous runway at Lukla. Strictly speaking, the plane was much too big for the small single runway gouged into the rocky mountain side. He shouldn’t have attempted to land - but it had and that was that.

  Yes, they managed to find a power socket, Madeline was now fully charged and Adam was fully discharged - It may well have been their last time.

  Finally her destination was almost in sight. She was on the other side of the Earth since the last time she was up a mountain. They disembarked to a waiting helicopter. Finally Zol and Grayling could rest and recover from their epic journey. This was the end of the line for both of them mainly because a helicopter was one thing neither of them could fly. Madeline hugged Zol and shook Grayling’s enormous hand, both of them and made a point of saying farewell and not goodbye.

  Madeline and Adam boarded the small helicopter for the short flight to base camp.

  The pilot appeared to be in a hurry, rapidly rising from the small airstrip. The entire proportions of the commuter aircraft could now be seen clearly hogging the small purpose built airport. The reality of the situation was that the airstrip was far too short for such a big aircraft to take off – it would be there for a while if not forever. The helicopter was soon dashing across the rocky appendages and encrusted snow of the Himalayas. It was a thrilling flight with views to die for but Madeline never noticed. Many things were bothering now. She was on her way hopefully to another world but she was about to end the lease on the one she was in now. The pilot really was in a hurry.

  ‘Heh, Mr Pilot, what’s the hurry?’ asked Madeline.

  The pilot ignored her.

  ‘I said…’ Madeline was about to repeat herself.

  The pilot slowly turned to them and removed his overly large sunglasses - he was familiar, too familiar.

  ‘So near but so far. All credit to Zol for getting you this far,’ said Nuttall.

  Madeline was speechless and mortified, seeing Nuttall was like a heavy blow to her chest.

  ‘Nothing to say?’ said Nuttall with a big grin across his face.

  ‘Please take me to base camp?’ said Madeline with misplaced hope.

  ‘Okay, I suppose so,’ said Nuttall cockily.

  ‘Pardon, you will?’

  ‘No choice, things have changed. Let’s say, there’s been a development,’ said Nuttall seriously.

  ‘What kind of development?’ she asked curiously.

  ‘We’ve noticed a serious anomaly in this world of yours.’

  Nuttall said no more, he’d already said too much. Twenty minutes later Nuttall manoeuvred the stick and slowly descended on to the loose shale of Base camp. Ideally he could have flown Madeline to the top but it was much too high for this type of helicopter – she would have to do the last bit on her own – that was always the way it had to be.

  The base camp site was noticeably colder and the air thinner than Lukla. Adam was inevitably suffering from the low air pressure and oxygen deprivation but he had to see Madeline off on her final journey. He wasn’t at all dressed for the climate, neither was Madeline but she didn’t feel the cold. Her long cosy woolly jumper and white high heeled leather boots would do just fine.

  Whilst she was giving Adam a long farewell hug and kiss, the array of tents behind her unzipped their flaps and all the occupants spilled out. She sensed a presence of many people and slowly turned around.

  To her bewilderment, dozens of people were standing there, quietly smiling and waving. - Almost every single person she had met in this world of hers: Zol, Gemma Bream, Coley, Grayling, Alfonsino, Professor Braugenhau, The President, The Vice President, The defence secretary, the team from Vixen News and many, many more. A man emerged from the crowd, he walked over to Madeline, removed his furry hood and sunglasses.

  ‘Barton!! What are you doing here?’

  ‘Sending you off, of course!’

  They hugged each other, she thanked him for everything and then he walked back into the crowd. Nuttall approached and gave her an unexpected hug, wished her luck and then climbed back in the helicopter. It was all up to her now. For some reason she had to stay professional and in control but she couldn’t keep all her tears contained, some escaped and flowed down her beautiful cheeks. Adam found himself in a similar state but he couldn’t possibly cry in front of all these people around him. He knew he would never see her again and his heart was now breaking but the pain would soon be over as would this world of his.

  Chapter 50: Putting on a new face

  Madeline set off slowly at first but soon got into a steady pace, she decided not to engage explosive motion until the base camp was completely out of sight. Every so often she turned around and waved, they were all still there. Adam was shivering uncontrollably but never took his eyes off her… and then suddenly she turned a corner and they were all gone. She was on her own, completely ill equipped to climb the tallest mountain in the world but she was an android with super powers. Now it was time to select explosive motion level 3. Her power reserves were on maximum – she began to run. It was going to be the fastest ascent ever. Her white high heeled boots landed deeply in the soft snow but this didn’t deter her pace. The snow gave way to ice and rocks but still her pace increased. It wasn’t long before the inevitable happed, one of her heels snapped. She sat for a while, removed both her boots and took a long look at the view. She was above the clouds, above everything, she could see for miles in every direction. She gazed in awe at the mountain range she had recently flown over - it was an outstandingly beautiful sight. She was so comfortable despite having bare feet and lacking proper clothing.

  The ascent was getting harder now, more up than along. The ascent had become a proper mountaineering climb. Her fingers pulled her, her feet pushed her until finally she reached a ridge with steep slopes either side. No longer could she run, every footstep now had to be carefully planned. She went down on all fours – perhaps she could gallop along like a horse, she thought but she wouldn’t risk it. Her baggy jumper had absorbed so much snow and ice that it had become wet and heavy – certainly not warm and cosy anymore - she discarded it. Now she was completely naked and icy cold but still sexy and gorgeous. Once again she had forgotten to put on any underwear - she really was impossibly promiscuous.

  With still two miles from the summit, she checked her energy reserves, 15%, she wasn’t going to make it. Most of her power was being used to maintain her core temperature. There was nothing else for it - she turned her heating circuits off. She had survived at the south poles with no adverse effects so surely she would cope with the relatively mild temperature of minus 30 degrees. This didn’t mean to say she could take her time - the low temperature would almost certainly affect the functioning of her artificial body. She had to get to the summit as quickly as possible.

  Unlike a typical ascent to Everest where it can get quite crowded with mountaineers, in Madeline’s world, the path was deserted. This was fortunate considering her complete lack of attire. One mile to go and 10% energy reserves remaining

  ‘Yes, yes, yes, I’m going to make it,’ she cheered.

  The clear sky above her was beginning to alter, turning from deep blue to brilliant white. She could feel the other world beckoning her just like it was in Ecuador. She could now see the summit clearly but her body was becoming sluggish. The low temperature was affecting her soft pneumatic muscles. It was an effort to move but she had come too far to give up now. Two hundred yards to go and every step was like walking through porridge perhaps even worse - wet concrete but… it was in the bag.

  She decided for no apparent reason that she wanted to be as presentable as possible before she transcended. With the beautiful body she was fashioned with, she couldn’t be more presentable than being naked however she did have a facility that she hadn’t used in this world. There hadn’t been any particular call for it but she always had the ability to change her facial appearance. She examined her menu as best as she could with her frozen finger and thumb. Many options were
available: Ugly, old, simple, face 1, face 2, face 3 and… ‘Poppy’! She selected ‘Poppy’. Instantly her face began to contort, expand and contract until she looked exactly like her real self. Oddly the process didn’t stop there, her tiny waist expanded out a few inches, her thighs slightly bulged and small flabby wings appeared under her arms. Not only did her face now look exactly like Poppy’s, her body apparently looked exactly like Poppy’s too.

  ‘Christ, I’ve put on a few pounds!’ she moaned.

  Twenty yards to go, ten yards to go, she could see shapes of several people – all white within an even whiter background. The light was dazzling, too bright, it was drawing her. And then she was standing at the summit. The white light engulfed her, warmed her, lifted her and swaddled her. The mountain disappeared beneath her bear feet, beneath her naked body. The world she had fashioned and become to love, dissolved quickly away and a room formed around her.

  She was lying on a bed – definitely a bed and people were standing over her. The people were all smiling and one particular person had tears running down his cheeks.