“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, steeped in her mental checklist.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
A bucket of ice water might as well have been poured over her, such was the chill produced by that voice. Aimee looked up into glacial eyes as her throat constricted.
Salvan.
“I have a—class.”
“A class?” He cocked his head, a sweep of pale hair falling to the side. “It must be an awfully important one, at the pace you were moving.”
“It is.” She wished these pants had pockets so that she could hide her trembling fingers.
“Well then,” Salvan stepped aside. “I wouldn’t want to keep you.”
Air rushed from her lips. “Thanks,” she muttered, hastening forward with her head down.
“Oh, Aimee?” Salvan called.
Aimee froze. She didn’t look back.
“It’s interesting that the classrooms are in the other direction—” he paused, “and about the only thing ahead of you is the old launch bay.”
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she rounded, “but I am meeting with a mechanic to review future enhancements to the terra angels.”
Salvan crossed his arms. His smug smile reminded her of the neighborhood cat that carried a bird carcass in its clenched jaw.
“All the mechanics work in the new wing.”
There was no time for this debate. Aimee felt her cheeks scorching. “I understand that the launch bay is very hectic right now. We decided to meet somewhere with less distraction.”
“Right. Right.” Salvan nodded. “They are preparing for a mission. To Ziratak, right?”
Aimee’s stomach fell.
“I guess they’re going to make another pathetic attempt to retrieve Zak. I don’t know what makes them think they will be successful after all this time has passed. I’m sure they are just going through the motions to appease Vodu.” He took a step backwards. “And speaking of Vodu, I was just on my way to see him. I will be sure to commend him on offering you private lessons on the old flight deck.”
Son of a —
Aimee’s hands curled into fists. Was he bluffing, or was he really going to rat her out to Vodu? If Vodu had any inclination that something was going on in the old launch bay, he would investigate and immediately put an end to their endeavors. She had to move fast.
Her eyes clashed with Salvan’s in a silent duel.
“I’m sure your approval will mean a lot to Vodu,” she stated and then quickly spun and walked away.
* * *
“We have to move fast.”
Gordy, Wando, and Corluss turned at the sound of her voice. A legless JOH floated around the back end of the sleeping elephant.
“What happened?” Corluss asked.
“Salvan spotted me coming here and he’s on his way to tell Vodu.”
The meaty part of Corluss’s forehead furrowed. Wando reached up with his cane to push Corluss aside so that he could amble forward. “That old fool will shut us down.”
“Vodu is not a fool,” Aimee corrected, “which is exactly why he’ll shut us down. He is a perfectionist, and this—” her hand flailed to the tarnished terra duster, “is far from perfection.”
Wando’s face twisted with disdain. “She is not pretty, but she will fly, and more importantly, she will bring you back. We just have to move fast.” He limped towards the wall and used his cane to open a container on the floor. Wando seemed to use his cane for everything except as a walking aid.
“Everyone, grab your masks,” the old mechanic ordered. “Aimee, Gordeelum...it’s time. I was hoping you would have the luxury of trailing in the Warrior’s wake, but it looks like you have to make the first move.”
Ambling towards her with a spandex hood that contained a clear plastic shield for the face, Wando thrust the garment at her. “You should be fine inside the duster, but put this on just in case. Wait until you’re safe inside the duster before removing it.” He shoved another hood at her, and nodded towards Gordy, “for him.”
Wando tossed a hood at Corluss. It hit him in the chest and fell to the ground.
“Meh,” The old mechanic uttered before donning the garment himself. Tufts of gray hair protruded from the bottom. He looked like a Q-tip with rusty, frayed ends. Moisture from his breath condensed on the faceplate, but as soon as he tapped a button embedded outside the hood, the cynical eyes were visible once again.
“Hurry!” he snapped in a tinny voice. “I am shutting down the oxygen. You need to be in that ship and ready to go the second we have reached full vacuum, which will be in about five of your minutes.”
Every fallacy with this plan pummeled Aimee in the head. What if they failed? What if they failed? The cadence chimed with her pulse.
She turned towards Corluss who had just stooped to feel around the floor for his hood.
“Corluss, are you sure you don’t want to come?” Panic laced her words.
“If I am not an asset, then I am of no help whatsoever.”
“You’ve been out there. You can talk me down.”
A weary smile played with his pale lips. “I will be in your ears talking you down, Aimee.” He reached for her shoulder and squeezed. “But no one is telling you that you have to get in that ship. In fact, you will make everyone’s life easier if you don’t.”
“Hoods!” Wando shouted.
Corluss hauled off the shield around his eyes and pulled the hood over his head. Once he pressed the button atop his ear, his lifeless eyes came into view. They saddened her.
“You say that,” She yanked the silver cap over her head, tugging her hair in the process. “And, yet you are helping me.”
“If I had my eyes, you know I would be up there with you. Be my eyes, Aimee. Talk to me. Let me see it all again.”
A bitter chill possessed her, and it was not just because of Corluss’s words. Wando had enacted the vacuum. Oxygen, photons—all energy was depleting. Despite the ventilation provided by the hood, Aimee felt tightness inside her chest. Spasms cramped her limbs as the water in her muscles began to evaporate. Her eyes started to bulge in fear.
Wando’s voice sounded in her ear. “Now would be a good time to get into the ship. We will be in a pressurized chamber at the rear of the flight deck. I will have communication with you the entire time.” He hesitated and his normally raspy voice gentled, or maybe it was the gasses leaking in from her hood. “The blind man is right. No one is saying that you have to do this. There is no disrespect in admitting that you are afraid. Just—just—make a decision.”
That’s what she needed. A verbal kick in the ass.
“Gordy!” It was a command. A question. A plea.
His eyes were as large as JOH’s behind the mask, but he was already sprinting towards the elephant and there was no time for further discussion.
In the background, Aimee was aware of the peal of an alarm. Garish lights on the walls flashed in warning.
Gordy slammed the exterior of the terra duster with his palm, and the plank that served as a doorway slid open only three-quarters of the way. Already something had failed. She scrambled behind him through the slot. As soon as he was certain she had cleared the entry, Gordy hauled the panel in and jabbed the airlock.
Immediately, the pressure abated. Her arms no longer felt like they were wrapped in tourniquets, and her eyes didn’t feel like tennis balls.
“What’s the alarm?” Gordy yelled, tripping into the front seat.
Aimee fell into the chair beside him, the shell curling protectively around her hips. “Salvan must have alerted Vodu, and he’s trying to stop us.”
At the end of the deck, the portal began to close. It was a behemoth gate. It would take a while. But, they needed awhile.
“Wando,” she cried into her mask, feeling her breath blast a warm surge against her face. “We have to take off now.”
“There is still a trace of oxygen in the chamber,” Although tinny, his voice sounded calm. “Check
the interior. Make sure the atmosphere is stable like I showed you.”
Aimee’s fingertips dusted across the panel before her. Where the interior of the contemporary terra angel was glossy, black and sleek, this predecessor was clunky, gray and bleak. The sensors did not react to her skimming touch so she pressed her fingertips down with force and lights began to flick on.
Digital readouts flooded the wide console. Above that console an expansive windshield revealed the punishing progress of the gate.
Despite the controls being marked with Anthumian script, she had reviewed them enough times with Wando to have memorized the function of every switch. Most were stabilizers and auxiliary encoders that could apply to any language. Wando had simulated takeoff with her nearly a hundred times over the past few weeks, but simulation offered a false sense of security.
“The inside of the cabin is stabilized,” she declared even as she was tapping the last gauge, waiting for the hologram to materialize.
“Good.”
In the background she could hear Gordy engaged in a similar conversation with Corluss and JOH.
“Can I take this hood off now?” she asked Wando.
“Mmmm...yes.”
Well, that sounded confident.
Aimee hooked her finger under the bottom of the cap and drew it up over her mouth and nose, taking a few tentative breaths. Satisfied, she yanked the hood off and threw it on the floor beside her seat. For one wild second she noticed that the grooves in the floor were lined with particles of sand. Anthumian sand? Cool. How long had that been here?
“The deck is depressurized, Aimee. Start the ion drives.”
Perspiration dotted her forehead. She swiped the panels that would initiate the ion drives. In trials they had reached this state and were satisfied with the results. They had not been able to fully test the thrusters yet. In order to do so they would need to take off. This could be a very short mission.
“Ready here,” Gordy called, his hood off now as well.
She glanced at him and saw how flushed his cheeks were, as if he had been running a marathon.
“This is your absolute last chance to back out, Gordy.”
His profile revealed a grin.
“I’m doing this with or without you,” he vowed. “Considering that you know more about the controls and the ion drives, I’m hoping I’m doing it with you.”
Aimee smiled as she swiped the initializer. The shell-shaped seat vibrated beneath her. Ahead, the gate proceeded with its slow closure, narrowing the view of space. Alarms went off like flashbulbs on a Hollywood red carpet. In the corner of her eye she noticed a doorway slide open as a host of silver-suited men spilled onto the deck.
“If you’re going to do this, Aimee, you have to do it now,” Wando called in her ear.
With her free hand, she reached into her collar for the chain and rubbed the pendant with the pad of her thumb.
“Let’s see if this elephant can fly,” she whispered. “Hold on, Gordy!”
She let go of the pendant and initialized the ion thruster. At first the ship shook like it had just coughed out its last gasp of breath, but then she felt the roar behind her. Power surged through the terra duster, yet it only budged a few inches. With the force of the shudder, it felt as if the duster was strapped in place.
“The vacuum wasn’t clean enough,” Wando sounded miffed in her ear, “it will kick in—”
A commotion interfered with her receiver.
“Wando?”
“Get your hands off of—”
“Wando?” she cried.
Aimee was flung back into her shell. The magnets in the discharge chamber hit the electrons, enabling voltage to the ion optics. Due to the elephant’s sheer size, she felt that they were moving too sluggishly. Outside, the walls of the launch bay began a slow progression.
Black. Gray. Black. Gray. Like the shadow of a banging shutter.
The elephant felt so cumbersome that when she saw the portal into night approaching, she thought for sure they would just tumble off and spiral down into oblivion.
But, the terra duster slipped off the edge of the platform into space and to her delight, responded to all the commands on the console.
“I’ll be damned,” she mumbled. “This is actually working.”
“What?” Gordy shouted over the raucous noise.
In a monitor that displayed the rear view, Aimee could see the door to the launch bay draw closed. The giant guardian ship was a feat of engineering and took her breath...literally. She gasped and yelled, “What?”
“What did you say?” Gordy countered.
“You look stable from here—” Wando sounded distracted. Vodu’s men must have reached him. “Let back on the thrusters. You will catch up with Ziratak’s pull very soon.” A pause. “It’s too late,” he yelled. “They can’t come back until they are ready to.”
Aimee realized that the last sentence was directed at someone inside Wando’s pressurized booth.
They can’t come back.
“What did you say?” Gordy repeated.
Aimee tapped the panel, and the thrusters subsided. There was a nauseous feeling of weightlessness, as if at any second this elephant was going to plummet, but they held their altitude, and according to the holograms, they were on course for Ziratak. Looking away from the hologram image, Aimee gazed through the windshield at the real thing. Ziratak grew at a rapid pace, an imposing sphere resplendent with swirls of milky clouds, and the dark scores of the lowlands. The northern polar cap was covered in a layer of clouds. That haze was no doubt the source of wind that would plague their landing. For some reason it did not concern her. If she made it that far—if she was on the surface of Ziratak—if she was that close to Zak—she would succeed. She was certain of it.
“What did you say?” Gordy looked impatient now.
“I said that elephants can fly.”
“Elephants?” he mouthed, waiting for the translation to pour in from the collar of his white suit. She could tell the moment he received a definition because his face screwed up in distaste. “Eww, god-awful beasts, aren’t they? Can they really fly? Are those wings, and not ears?”
A slight tug caught the terra duster. It was subtle, but she was sensitive to every anomaly right now. On the three-dimensional display before her, she could see that Ziratak’s powerful fingers of gravity had latched onto them. They were on their way in. Immediately adjacent to this tableau the monitor displayed the rear view. Tiny starbursts of light ejected from the mouth of the Horus. The Warriors were on their way.
“Wando,” she spoke into the transmitter above, “are they going to reach us before we land?”
Distracted by the speed of the terra angels chasing her, Aimee didn’t notice the silence at first. “Wando?” she called again.
Gordy shot her an anxious glance. “Corluss?” he cried.
Nothing. Only the groan of the fuselage filled their ears as the elephant entered Ziratak’s atmosphere. The external pressure jolted them in their seats as Aimee grabbed the console for stability.
“Aimee, are you going to be able to do this without them?”
She yanked her hair behind her ear.
“Not much of a choice,” she muttered.
A deep breath helped. Just make it onto the planet. Everything after that was at the hands of fate, but landing was all up to her.
“Okay, Gordy, here’s what I need you to do.”
“Thank you,” he rushed. “I need someone to tell me what to do.”
The elephant lumbered under the milieu of gasses. Though they were both secured into their shells with pilot straps, they still jerked in tandem with every rattle of the craft.
“I have to focus on this landing,” she raised her voice as the pitch of the friction against the spacecraft turned into a screech. “But, I know those Warriors are closing in on us. I don’t think they will do anything crazy like try to shoot us down, however, they may try to escort us to another landing spot. I need you
to monitor their status. Tell me if I have to make an evasive maneuver. Keep me posted on what they’re up to.”
“On it!” he shouted. And then a second later, he added, “They are fast. They’re already approaching the atmosphere.”
Aimee heard him, but she was distracted. There was no way to increase the speed of this relic. Hah. Relic. As old as this terra duster may be to the Anthumians, it was advanced beyond anything Earth had ever designed.
At this point, she had little control over the trajectory of the elephant. The craft was at the whim of Ziratak’s drag. Once they pulled through the stratosphere, then perhaps she would gain some command...if the wind did not whisk them away in the process. Right now they were flying blind, lost in a thick web of clouds through which brief glimpses of daylight tormented them with promise.
“I lost them,” Gordy announced, his voice warbled by the acceleration.
“I can see daylight,” she cried. “We’re coming through. We might even be able to land before they break from the clouds.”
“The Warriors aren’t stupid,” he pointed out. “They know where we are.”
“They are not stupid, but they are disciplined. If they were instructed to land in the desert...that is where they will go.” She hesitated. “Then, they will come look for us—maybe.”
The clouds began to diminish.
“Shields on!” she yelled.
Gordy snapped the silver band over his eyes. In the act of drawing on her own, she caught a glimpse of him. With the intimidating shield, the intense set of his profile, and the strain in his shoulders, he looked like the Warrior he aspired to be.
Please let him stay safe.
“Are you secured?” she asked the obvious, but in this case, concern overruled the apparent.
“Yes.” Frustration made his voice pitch.
Roll your eyes at me all you want, Gordeelum. At least they’ll be safe.
The elephant bucked one last time as they broke through to a cobalt sky. At first, all she could distinguish was a fierce clash of red and blue on the horizon. The coral surface looked barren and hot under the luminous sky and brilliant suns. Even through her eye shields she had to squint to scan the desert.
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