by Sean Kennedy
“They were designed for...” Slate started, but as he spoke Jacob fired the folded springs on the sides which lifted Jacob onto sprung stilts, becoming slightly taller than his uncle, as he balanced on his extended legs.
“Whoa now!” Vince said, stepping forwards to steady him. Jacob laughed, flexing the springs and feeling their tension absorb his weight.
“If you need to, I can hold...” Slate started, but Jacob bent his knees and jumped in a small hop, letting the power-boks absorb his landing before bouncing higher, like a human spring.
He felt the dirt beneath his sprung treads as he ricocheted from side to side, laughing “Yeah bro! You totally got this!” Teeva nodded and looked to Slate, whose stony features betrayed a cautious expression of disbelief.
Jacob rebounded off the front step, jumping high enough to look over the veranda roof before landing back on the step. He bounced again, this time into a spin and landed in front of his uncle, who stood with ever wider eyes as he watched.
“Uncle Slate, these are amazing! I feel like I can fly!” Jacob said, and saw the big man shake his head before a powerful coughing fit took him. He reached for the nearby cargo stack, but Jacob was suddenly beside him, holding his arm with power-boks braced to handle Slate’s extra weight.
“I’m...” Slate coughed again, “...I'm all right,” he waved Jacob off, forcing himself upright. “You seem to have figured those out pretty well,” he forced a smile. Even though he didn’t understand Jacob sudden mastery of the power-boks, it was good to see.
“Take it easy to start with,” he said straining his throat, “you could hurt yourself pretty badly with those.”
Jacob collapsed the power-boks, lowering himself to the ground. “Oh, Uncle Vince!” Jacob threw his arms around the old Flight Sergeant Major and squeezed. Without the power-boks activated, he was a little boy again, barely higher than Vincent's chest.
Teeva tried not to laugh at seeing the big man uncomfortable. Slate patted Jacob on the back like a fighter tapping out, and Jacob released him, “They’re perfect Uncle, thank you!”
The temper in Slate’s face was gone, and for a brief moment, he looked happy. “Make sure you get some rest. The boots will provide some exercise, but don't forget, we start at six.”
“No worries Mr. Slate, I’ll make sure he’s back,” Teeva said.
“Hmpf!” Slate grumbled back into his dead-eyed expression, “I feel better already.”
“C’mon!” Teeva said grabbing his bike from where he leaned it against a cargo stack and swung his leg over.
“Thanks again uncle,” Jacob waved, but Slate only nodded.
Jacob didn't have to go faster than a shuffle in the power-boks to keep up with Teeva’s bike to start with. “C’mon!” He yelled over the building wind, and Teeva stood on his pedals letting his weight throw the bike forwards.
“Be careful!” They heard Slate’s voice like a parade command, but already they were too far down the hardpack to reply. Leaving the edge of the cargo stacks, Jacob found himself still able to match Teeva’s speed.
“C’mon bro! I’ll race you!” Teeva yelled as he pumped pedals, jumping ahead of Jacob before he could lengthen his stride.
“I don’t know the path to the Dojo!” Jacob called over the wind, and Teeva laughed over his shoulder, “don’t matter bro, I’m gonna be ahead of you the whole time!”
Jacob pressed his lips together. We’ll just see about that. He thought, and widened his stride, crouching as he pumped his legs.
He felt the power-boks torsion springs taking his weight in each stride. It took a moment for Jacob to get into a rhythm with his arms, but when Teeva looked over his shoulder again, the sight of Jacob bearing down on him like a bounding titan put his toes on the pedals; the race was on.
Jacob began pushing the power-boks, giving them the extra bounce he needed to catch Teeva, even as he tilted his bike from side to side, pumping the pedals as hard as he could.
“No!” Teeva shouted through his smile as the power-boks propelled Jacob past him, leaving tufts of dust on the road as he strode ahead. Jacob was so focused, he missed the abandoned blue fuel tank at the roadside, shooting past it as Teeva hit his brakes, sending the bike into a sideways slide.
Teeva dragged his foot and the bike skidded into a deep cutting turn before he stood back on his pedals, weaving down the path. Jacob brought his feet together and slid like a sport ball player, the textured soles shearing a dusty wave before compressing and firing him back towards the blue tank. Within three strides, he was gaining again on Teeva again.
Teeva had the advantages of knowing the trail and the narrow footprint of his bike as he weaved between old fuel barrels and the flapping trash that littered the way.
“C’mon bro!” Teeva shouted as he jumped his bike off some half buried hard plastic. Teeva hung in the air for a frozen heartbeat, limbs loose and bent, relaxed, before landing his bike and gathering speed.
He turned back in time to see Jacob, launch off the same improvised ramp, his body crouched as he flipped in the air, twisting to landing with a deep bounce and into a racing stride. Teeva was too surprised to pedal, and Jacob was upon him and bounded past.
The zone’s garbage floated beneath him, and for a fleeting instant, Jacob had a vision of flying just above a canyon sea. He glanced over his shoulder to see Teeva falling farther behind, still pedaling like a man possessed.
“You suck bro!” Teeva yelled.
It felt good to do something physical, and it felt good to win. Each stride fired the springs in a rhythm that felt both natural and familiar. Jacob tracked the terrain ahead to map the route in his HUD, trusting that the power-boks knew where to land. They were at the boat launch ramp in moments, and Jacob leapt off into the vast lakebed, bouncing towards the Dojo in the distance.
“What’s taking you so long!” He yelled over his shoulder. The run had him breathing heavy, but he still felt strong. Teeva launched his bike out off the boat ramp, and Jacob saw Teeva’s smile.
The rough, broken ground of the trail had been perfect for Jacob’s power-boks to find purchase, while Teeva had to be more exact with his rolling route. Now, out on the compacted lake mud, Teeva could gear down for speed on the flat open plain.
Jacob turned back to the Dojo, pitching forwards and raising his knees to make each flying stride as long as he could. Another shoulder check and he saw Teeva fiercely pedaling, his face red and wild-eyed as he gained on Jacob.
Seek your own target, let others follow your trail.
Jacob focused on the growing shape of the warship half sunk in the dried silt. Small shapes emerged on the deck waving their arms, and just as Jacob realized the race had an audience, the front tire of Teeva’s bike came up beside him.
Teeva’s back made a horizontal line as his Ninjatō courier bag swayed over his pumping legs. He squinted against the wind and puffed like a steam engine as he powered towards the ship with a crazy smile.
Jacob felt the tension in the power-boks with each bound. He wanted a greater push, but something was limiting him within the circuitry of the boots.
Teeva was going to win this race, and looking through his helmets enhancement, he saw Butai, Kage, Majka, and Joni, wildly cheering on the deck. Joni was hopping up and down and screaming, “C’mon Jacob!” and jacob suddenly he felt a new energy within him.
BANG!
The noise came from Teeva’s front tire, followed by a horrible warbling rattle. Jacob looked back and saw the bike’s handlebars wildly shaking as Teeva struggled to keep control. In the final snap, the handlebars jerked to the side, locking up the bike and launching Teeva as he waved his arms, soaring above the lakebed.
Jacob planted his feet, deeply bowing the springs before launching himself at the flying form of his friend. Teeva seemed to float down towards an impending doom, when Jacob sailed over top of him, wrapping his arms around Teeva’s waist and turning with the momentum to twist Teeva up and away from the ground. The extra weigh
t carried Jacob into a spin as he pulled Teeva close to his chest. He bent one leg and extended the other in a wide brace.
The power-boks slammed into the lakebed. The springs flexed under the added weight as they landed, skidding backward against Jacob let the extra momentum transfer against him. The power-boks dug deep trenches, kicking up dust like a wave to splash over them as they slid to a stop.
Jacob released Teeva, letting him drop to his feet ahead of the still tumbling bicycle as it drained the last of its momentum, collapsing as the dust sank. Jacob looked to the Dojo’s deck to see the others standing at the railing..
Teeva watched his bike crumple into a heap a few meters away before turning to Jacob to say, “nice catch bro,” before jerking into motion, sprinting towards the ship. Jacob turned to see what had made him run, but there was nothing.
“What?” Jacob yelled, and heard Teeva laugh as his sneakers pounded towards the Dojo’s hull.
“Run Jacob!” Joni yelled from the deck, and he realized the race wasn't over yet. He launched his power-boks into motion.
He came up behind him like a rushing wave, but Teeva ran full sprint, jumping at the last moment and turning his shoulder to take the hulls impact. Jacob slid to a halt just in time to simultaneously slam against the ship to make a thundering gong.
Teeva bounced off the hull and was dancing a jig. “I won! I won!” He called in singsong, wriggling his body like a spastic dancer in a way that made Jacob burst out laughing.
“It's a tie!” Joni said from where she had slid down the rope, “both of you hit the hull at the same time.”
“What?” Teeva was outraged.
“And you would have been handily beaten if Jacob hadn't snatched you out of the air,” Joni added.
“I never got beat,” Teeva said, and then to jacob, “thanks bro, that could’a been ugly.”
Jacob realized just how hard he was breathing when he tried to reply. “No... Problem...” he managed between breaths. When he was running in the power-boks, it didn’t seem to be that much of a strain, but now that his adrenaline was fading he was gasping the oily air in heaving gulps.
Teeva sighed, shaking his head as he struck out to retrieve his wounded steed from the lakebed.
Chapter 6
The Corvette was the smallest ship to ever have a warship designation, but it felt like home. Teeva was angry at his stupid tire getting a stupid flat and said as much while he pulled his bike up while everyone took turns hugging the little spcaman
Jacob followed the group into the galley and smelled something delicious as he undid the side buckles. Majka had been busy. He planted himself on one of the circle’s large canvas cushions and noticed Joni eyeing his power-boks like a hungry woman in the desert.
“Did you want to see...”
“Yes please! Very much!” She said. Jacob liked the way her eyes sparkled when she spoke, like lens flare on holographic waves. As he slid out of the first power-bok, an alien emptiness opened inside him, as though losing the power-bok was like cutting off a limb. He found himself resisting, happy that she didn’t ask for the second boot.
She turned and started to walk away, gazing at the design and wiring before stopping, remembering Jacob still sitting there, “I just want to take a look at this on my bench, okay?”
He nodded. Joni had jailbroken his Shidoshi iGlasses, and he trusted her, but it still felt like she was taking his foot away.
Butai and Kage had dropped onto the other oversized cushions. Kage pointed an old man’s finger at the burn on Jacob’s wrist.
“Heard Crew got you pretty good.”
“Yeah,” Jacob said, looking at the red ring, “feels like it happened a thousand years ago. Who knew three days could be so long?”
“What happened anyways?” Butai asked in a less demanding tone than usual.
Jacob talked about the pain and darkness at the Alcazar Facility, and as he spoke Teeva made his way below deck with black blotches of bicycle grease still on his hands. He found an alcohol wipe and began to remove the grime, being careful not to interrupt Jacob's story.
Kage and Butai were nodding, processing what Jacob said when Joni returned. She was still wearing magnifying glasses, making her eyes huge under mousy hair. “I found an inhibitor!” Do you want me to pull it?”
“Joni! He just got those power-boks bro!” Teeva said, shaking his head.
“It’s okay,” Jacob said, but Joni’s defensive expression was amplified by the glasses. She lifted them to her forehead, “I think he can handle these power-boks without training wheels, he sure saved you easily enough.”
“It’s fine!” Jacob said louder than he meant to, and all eyes were on him.
“I mean, if you think it will make the boots better, that’s ...okay then....” he said and tried to quell the strange fear growing within him. Teeva rolled his eyes as Joni planted her hands on her hips, “I'm going to need the other boot though,” she said with a dismissive nod to Teeva, and Jacob felt an icy grip close around his chest.
Her voice softened when she saw Jacobs expression, “only if you really are okay with that, I mean if you want someone else to do it...’
“No!’ Jacob yelled surprising himself with his intensity. “No, you did an awesome job on my shields, my Uncle Mac said so.”
“He did?” Joni blushed.
“He did, and he said I should bring you by the house,” Jacob watched her blush as Teeva fished into his courier bag adding, “an’ Mister Mac sent a tunnel router along too.”
Jacob undid the buckles on his remaining power-bok, fighting down the vulnerability. Joni watched him carefully slip it off, as Butai and Kage exchanged a knowing look.
Joni went on, “that envirosuit might need some tweaks...”
“No, I can’t take off my suit!” Jacob blurted, “I can’t! I just...just can’t...” Jacob said, trembling as his emotions began to spiral, “It's fine! I mean... the suits fine, but it would be great if you could.... Just take a look at the power-boks for now... thank you...Okay?”
“You're okay,” Kage said, and moved beside Jacob, “it's fine, no one is going to take your suit.”
Joni nodded, and her expression changed into something soft and powerful as Jacob handed the second power-bok to her. She took it, saying, “it's super easy, and won't take me two seconds. I'll bring this right back,” before disappearing from the compartment
Jacob tried to give a brave smile as Majka came over to him holding a bowl of steaming paradise.
“Thank you,” Jacob said as he took it, and she smiled before returning to the canvas cushions. The smell revealed just how hungry he was, and he’d shoveled down half of his bowl of noodles before noticing the others were staring at him. He‘d always eaten this way; forcing food into his system. He dropped the spork back into the bowl as he swallowed the remaining noodles. “That was really good! Thank you,” he said.
“I’m glad you’re here to eat it,” Majka smiled.
Jacob’s attention was suddenly on Joni as she reemerged into the galley and presented him the power-boks, “All done!”
She dropped into the cushion beside Teeva, who was taking a deep vaporizer pull, sucking through his nose at the end to force the herb deep into his lungs.
“Teeva says your uncles used a neural helmet on you,” Joni said, “he had to get the meds from Toes to make it work.”
Jacob turned as Teeva, who couldn’t hold his breath anymore, let a white geyser explode out of him. ‘“True story bro,”
Joni went on, “I never met someone who’d seen the inside of a neural helmet, no one’s used them in years.”
“Why not?” Jacob asked.
“Two-part system bro, you gotta get your brain synched up to receive the signal. They don't need to do it that way anymore though, they just make it so the machine does it. No gravy required.”
“That's not to say it’s better,” Kage said, “just cheaper and easier. Do you remember anything from inside?”
“A little,’ Jacob started, and everyone leaned forward. He talked about a green hummingbird and falling through the sandstorm to an ancient Martian world. No one blinked as he told of gigantic Fractal aliens that disassembled Mars, and about learning of something called a Citadel.
He spoke of an asteroid’s wall of fire, wiping life from the surface of Mars, and how he had awakened in his farmhouse bunk. Everyone sat silently after Jacob finished, and he realized their noodles had gotten cold.
“That’s heavy bro,” Teeva said at last.
Joni shook her head, speaking in a whisper, “I've never heard of a training program like that, normally they’re just battle simulations or something, there’s never alien jungles and history.”
Butai shrugged, “you got out of it okay though, right? I mean, your brain got pretty scrambled, plus whatever Toes fed you, I’m surprised you weren’t fighting pink elephants.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Jacob nodded, he didn’t want to argue, but he knew there was more to it, he could feel it in his very soul.
Joni reached into her pocket, retrieving mirrored shields, “What did you say that program was called?”
“Vade Mecum,” Jacob said, “Uncle Mac said it was experimental, they never even saw the actual armor that was supposed to go with it.”
“Well, you’ve definitely changed,” Butai said, doing his best to give a friendly smile. “So do you think you can fight?”
“Hell yeah! Bro can fight! Didn't you see him catch me outside?! I’m tellin’ you! Bro was born for this, an’ now he’s got the power of ancient alien acid in his blood!”
“I think Majka should be the judge that,” Kage said with a lazy blink.
“Of course, standard rules bro, I’m just sayin’ he can fight is all.”
“But... you said...” Jacob said.
“No bro, not with that...” Teeva whispered and stood up, going to his bunk slot hidden behind a corner tapestry. He mumbled as he looked through a collection of bags, and Jacob looked back to the other's faces.