Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (31 page)

Here in the depths of infinite blackness is where the whale speaks to others of its kind no matter how far separated they may be. In these depths, all sound was compressed due to the coldness of the water, which allowed their voices to be broadcasted from one ocean to the next.

Nina came to a halt and hovered for a moment, listening to see if the Elephim had followed them. She could sense them several hundred feet above, desperately pinging the ocean depths in their attempts to find them. She had eluded them, for now. Yet her instincts knew they had plenty of experience traversing the depths of space and they would eventually adapt to the watery environment and find them.

She saw a glowing eye appear before her, followed by another as she felt the water sway her gently as if a giant fish had flicked its tail. More glowing eyes began to appear and soon they were bathed in soft light. She turned and saw her father watching in wide eyed wonder at the several whales that had surrounded them. She knew these whales, having made friends with them long ago. They taught her how to dive into the extreme depths, and the use of whale song to communicate with others across vast stretches of ocean. They also showed her how they used sound to compress water behind them, allowing them to accelerate at a moment’s notice.

These whales were also the guardians of a secret entrance into Perihelion. Off the eastern shores of the island lay an abyss that the naval personnel who had charted it named “The Tongue of the Ocean,” as it dropped off the outer shelf of the island and plunged for miles before touching bottom. Nina knew how to slip past the fog through a narrow channel that led to the abyss. It was here that the whales guarded the hidden entrance for centuries, never relieving themselves of their long forgotten duty.

The whales tipped themselves forward so their heads were pointing down and tails toward the surface. Nina mimicked them and together they glowed with a blue green aura.

The whale closest to them opened its cavernous mouth wide and emitted a low, guttural sound. The bass note was deep and profound as the others harmonized into a low, rumbling frequency. The water began to bubble and froth as the blue green aura glowed with intensity.

The sound was overwhelming, and Oslo put his hands over his ears and cried out as he felt his body shudder and twist. A searing white light enveloped and blinded him as he heard voices over a growing static hiss. He swore for a moment he heard Raza cry out in pain as an image of her beautiful face twisted in anguish flashed within his mind.

Dear wife
, w
hy did I abandon you?

The world around him exploded into pure white, then silence.

He blinked his eyes and tried to focus as the sounds of the ocean filled his ears. He looked up when he felt drops of water on his face and saw he was still in the bubble. Soon, water was pouring in from fissures across its surface and drenching him.

He watched as Nina furiously tried to maintain speed as they propelled the last few hundred feet to the marina, then he was flung back as she angled up and raced to the surface. Bursting into the air, they smashed onto the docks, bursting the bubble and sending him tumbling onto the hard stone surface of the marina.

Oslo groaned as he laid still and gathered his wits, then rolled over and saw Nina sprawled face down and breathing heavily. He crawled over and held her in his arms. “Good girl, good girl,” he kept repeating as he stroked her hair and fought back the stabs of guilt. He had put his only child in danger as she risked her life to save him.

He looked up at the sky with a tormented heart. All he wanted to do was to reopen Perihelion and gather the children of the paranormal to rekindle the civilization he once knew. Instead, he was putting lives in danger as the Elephim were now raining destruction across the planet because of his actions. Excort was right; he had stirred the hornet’s nest.

He flinched when he felt a soft and delicate hand caress his face. He looked down and Nina was smiling as she pulled a wrist band from her pocket and handed it to him. It was his wrist console that he threw into the water earlier. He stared at it with astonishment.

She smiled and nodded.

Remorse over his willingness to give up on his mission swept over him. “You never lost your faith in me?” he said to her.

She shook her head. “No father, I know you are a good man, but like mother, you must hide your feelings for me. The Elephim see it as a sign of weakness and would use it to get to me. Suppressing your emotions is how you have been able to protect me for so long.”

Oslo slumped forward as he fought back the crushing anguish that threatened to consume him. “Smart girl, you are. So frail, yet so strong.”

Nina nestled her head into his chest. “I know about the Elephim. I also know why you and mother had to separate from each other and sacrifice so much to protect me from them. I know everything, Father, and that is why you must bring the others back. Your cause is a noble one; you are on the right path.” She shivered and coughed; her face grew pale. “They need you, Father, now more than ever as their lives are in danger. As we speak, they are hovering close to death.” She trembled in his arms.

Oslo touched her face. It was ice cold.

“Ray and Sally are being hunted. Ray is doing his best to fend off the Elephim that give chase, but he is close to defeat. And Breeze,” her eyes widened when she spoke his name, “is being protected by a solitary Elephim who is undermining its own kind to help him.” She looked at her father with pleading eyes. “Rescue him, Father. Please bring him back for he is the answer to your troubles. This much I know.”

Oslo nodded. “I will, child. I will.” He held her tight. “I’m sorry for all the times I left you. And I never told you how much I—”

She put her hand to his lips. “That day will arrive. You must go now, Father, for the shepherd must tend to his flock.” She pushed him away and crawled to the edge of the pier. “Go now, before it is too late.” She rolled off and into the water. Not a splash was heard.

Oslo leaned against a piling, looked up at the darkening sky and wept. Tears rolled down his face as his body shuddered.

He abruptly stood up and straightened out his jacket as he tried to compose himself. He looked down at the wrist console Nina had recovered for him. He strapped it on and activated the comms.

“I’m back,” he spoke into it as he walked toward the campus.

He climbed up the steps that scaled the hillside. At the top, Excort was there to greet him.

The dwarf stared him down. “Couldn’t stay away, just had to come back?”

Oslo smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I won’t do that again. You have my word.”

Excort grunted. “Fine. So what now? All the birds have flown.”

Oslo nodded gravely. “Yes, and they must be recovered. What is the flight status of the transports in the hangar? Have the RF finished with the repairs on any of them?”

Excort nodded. “Yes, we have two online ready to go plus a scout ship. Which should I prep?”

“The transports,” Oslo said, “but we must act with haste, for there is very little time.”

Breeze lay on the canyon floor. Night had settled in as a frigid wind blew and swirled through the mountains.

He didn’t feel a thing because he was cocooned in a cloud of warm air as he laid in a fetal position inside his shield. It was the first time it raised itself when he wasn’t in flight, and he found it comforting to think of it as body armor that would appear when he needed it most.

He could still hear the gusting wind and the rustling of every animal that crept by. He even heard the sounds of the stars. It sounded like static combined with the powerful roar of a waterfall, but it was all too much for him to handle. He concentrated and filtered out the static until it faded away, and that’s when he heard it.

It was faint at first, like a musical instrument that was being plucked one string at a time, and then it built up until it sounded as if all the strings were being strummed simultaneously.

The chords reverberated in his mind. He saw stars and planets with streams of plasma between them while he weaved through an asteroid field and dodged giant boulders and debris with ease. It all felt as if he had done this many times before.

He burst out of the asteroid field and turned to look back, but it faded away as he was plunged into darkness. Panic set in as a sense of desperate loneliness consumed him.

Then, a whisper in his ear. It was the soft and delicate voice of a young woman.

“They will come for you. Have no fear for you are not alone.”

“Nina?”

“Yes. I will always be here for you. No matter what, I will wait for you as I always have, for I can never truly leave the island. It is a part of me as I’m a part of it.”

The wind speed increased, kicking up sand and rocks into a whirlwind. Breeze could feel the pressure change as his shield flexed.

“Always remember Breeze. Never force anything, just move.”

He opened his eyes and was greeted by a blinding light as he was lifted into the air. He could see the outlines of a ship as it drew closer.

A pair of RF reached out from the lowered cargo ramp to grab him but couldn’t get a grip as his shield repelled any attempt to touch its outer skin. Eventually the robots pushed against the shield and shoved it into the cargo hold of the ship.

A RF leaned over to peer through his shield. It had a streak of orange across its breast plate.

Breeze recognized it. It was one of the mechanics he often saw in the hangar.

It turned and nodded at its companion, then back to Breeze and winked an eye at him.

Breeze smiled, then closed his eyes and slept.

Ray rushed over to Sally and placed a hand over her mouth.

Her eyes flew open in surprise as he placed a finger to his lips, and then pointed up at the ceiling.

Dribbles of dirt rained down on them from the ceiling as the intruder on the floor above slowly stepped about.

Ray and Sally tracked its movements, looking at each other now and then with fear streaked across their faces.

The footsteps stopped, followed by an agonizing silence.

The wooden floor above shattered into thousands of splinters as a black boot smashed its way through. The boot dangled for a moment before it withdrew and was replaced in a flash by the head and shoulders of an Elephim thrusting through to glare at them. Pinpoints of light swirled across its face as the sound of static filled the room.

Sally screamed as it dropped down and landed on its feet. Ray jumped in front of her and unleashed a blast of energy, hurling the black clad figure back as more debris rained down upon them.

He looked at his hands in amazement.
How did that happen? I was too weak to fire before.

The force of the blast collapsed the ceiling, sending it crashing down onto them. Sally cowered into a fetal position as Ray threw himself on top of her.

As the cloud of dust settled, two Elephim emerged from it and stood before them. They sound of static reached a fearsome crescendo as their faces swirled with pinpoints of light.

Ray gritted his teeth and trembled as he reached deep inside to find all the rage he could muster. His eyes glowed a brilliant white, and then faded into red. He raised his hands and fired.

The explosion that followed could be seen and heard for miles.

Miles away, a transport ship with Perihelion markings on its hull approached the base of the mountain and the RF piloting the ship used the explosion to zero in on Ray and Sally’s location. The robots would later find the two huddled together at the bottom of a crater in a coma with smoldering debris sizzling all around them.

They gathered them and placed them in the ship, then lifted off and arced toward the coast.

BREEZE FLOATED IN AND
out of consciousness. Every breath he took felt like an ocean was flowing in and out of his lungs while he floated in a warm bath that invigorated him. He could feel his skin tingle with pinpricks of electricity as he drifted in a state of suspended animation.

Faces drifted in and out before him as he recognized some while others were complete strangers. Voices whispered in his ear but only a portion of what they said he understood as most of it sounded like gibberish.

“When all is in doubt, come back to the White Mountain.”
One of the voices whispered in his ear.

His eyes fluttered open, and everything he saw was a blur as he floated up. He broke through to the surface and treaded water inside a pool with a deep green hue that coursed through it. Above was a domed ceiling with a crystalline surface.

He swam to the edge where he crawled out and sprawled onto the stone floor. He was surprised at how warm it felt when he felt the vibration of footsteps and looked up to see a diminutive figure approach. He thought it was Excort at first until Mila, his wife, came into view. Behind her stood a RF that was colored head to toe in white. On its breast plate, he saw an insignia of a snake wrapped around a staff.

She wrapped his body in blankets as a floating gurney appeared. It lowered to the ground, and she motioned to the RF to lift him onto it. It floated up as his eyes fluttered to a close.

He woke up in the Medical Wing. The room was spartan except for a cluster of machines that stood by his bedside monitoring his vital signs.

He sat up and tried to get out of bed just as the white RF he saw by the pool stepped in and wagged a finger at him.

“Forbidden,” the robot said.

Breeze was stunned. He tried in vain for the longest time to interact with the RF in the hangar, but it was futile. At best they would tilt their heads at him, and then walk away.

Now, in the unlikeliest of places, he had one actually speaking to him.

“What do you—”, he hacked and coughed violently, it was the first time he had spoken in a while, and his throat was clogged and dry.

The RF handed him a glass of water, and he was surprised that it was able to hold the cup without breaking it. Because it was formerly a combat robot, he found it unnerving that it was now reprogrammed for nursing duty. He took the water and drank it in gulps while tasting effervescence in his mouth as the water slid down his throat.

“What do you mean forbidden?” he challenged.

“Mistress has strict instructions,” the robot said as it took the empty glass from him.

“Mila? Well, tell her thank you, but I need to find Oslo and tell him what happened.”

The RF tilted its head. “You are in error regarding the issuer of my instructions. It was Mistress Kera, not Mistress Mila”

“Kera? What does she care, she was happy to see me leave.”

“Her orders were strict.”

“Oh, yeah?” He slid to the side of the bed and wobbled when he tried to stand up.

The RF steadied him. “Please return to your bed.”

Breeze gripped the robot’s arm for support. “No, just give me a minute. I feel like I’ve been sleeping for a long time and haven’t accomplished anything. Just leave me be.”

“As you wish.” The RF stepped away from him.

He collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Breeze lashed out at the robot. “I meant just stand still. Oh, forget it!” He waved the RF off.

He grabbed the side of the bed and pulled himself up. His knees buckled, but he held his ground. He saw his uniform neatly laid out on a table next to him. He struggled to take off the medical gown he was wearing so he could get into it.

The RF stepped over to assist and handed him his shirt.

“I thought you were under strict orders,” Breeze snarled as he snatched it from the robot.

“This unit recognizes authority when it presents itself.”

It was his turn to tilt his head. “What do you mean by that?”

The robot’s eyes glowed. “Your attempts at communication with our kind has not gone unnoticed.”

Before Breeze could press the issue, Mila stepped into the room.

“What is the meaning of this?” she huffed and pushed the RF to the side. The robot dutifully bowed to her. Before it turned away, it stole a glance at Breeze and nodded, then returned to its station.

Breeze groaned as he tightened his belt, and then reached over for his jacket.

Mila grabbed and tugged at it. Breeze held onto it firmly.

“Mila, I appreciate everything you’ve done, but I need to talk to Oslo about what happened. And have you heard from Sally or Ray? Are they all right?”

Mila pointed a finger at him. “You need your rest. You are not well, and you’ve been through much. As for Oslo, he knows.”

“What about Sally and Ray?”

Mila nodded and sighed. “Yes, they are back. But—”

“I need to go see her.” Breeze hobbled out of the room, reaching for anything he could find to steady himself as he did.

He stumbled his way down the steps, through the main doors and into the brilliant sunshine. He covered his eyes from the glare and quickly stepped onto the boulevard where the overhanging ficus trees provided him with shade from the scorching heat of the sun. As he made his way to the dormitories, he felt more rejuvenated with every step he took.

He flinched suddenly and looked to his right. There sat the Science and Engineering building. His memory still fresh from his encounter in the basement with Bram, he veered to the left side of the boulevard and hurried past it.

He stepped onto the courtyard and bounded up the steps of the dormitory and into the breezeway when he ran into Ray and Sally.

They all froze and stared at one another, then Sally rushed over and threw her arms around his neck.

He was stunned at first, and then embraced her tightly.

She pulled away from him and sniffled. Her face was red and puffy. “So happy to see you again.”

Ray spoke up. “Well, did you enjoy your long nap?”

Breeze shrugged. “What do you mean?”

Ray’s face darkened. “Do you know how long you were out?”

Breeze’s face went pale upon hearing the question.

Ray snorted. “You were in Medical for over a week.”

Breeze felt his legs wobble and he leaned against the railing for support. The warm air caressed him as it blew in from the ocean. “I remember I took a ship from the hangars. I was almost home when something attacked me, and I had to eject—”

Sally wailed and buried her head in Ray’s chest. He soothed her with comforting words while stroking her hair.

She gathered herself and looked at Breeze. “My home is gone.”

Breeze stood dumbfounded. “I remember you guys left…because of Ray’s father saying everything was okay for you back home—”

“It wasn’t! Our city is gone. It’s been attacked.”

Breeze slumped to the floor. “If your city is gone, then my town probably is too.”

He thought about his father. For the first time since he could remember, he actually began to realize that he might be gone from his life forever. He didn’t know what to think or feel.

“We’re all in a bad way,” Ray said as he sat next to Breeze. “I can’t get in touch with my parents.” He recounted the story about what had happened to them.

Breeze listened dutifully. When Ray was finished, he recounted his tale about being attacked by the Elephim over the mountains.

Sally came over to sit between them while struggling to keep her composure.

They sat in silence for a moment, and then Breeze spoke up. “In the end, the RF came to get us. Not Oslo or Kera or anyone else. Just the robots.”

Ray nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. Didn’t think much of it until now.”

“Did you speak to Oslo about it?”

“No. He’s been avoiding me and Sally. He kept saying he needed to focus on your recovery. Excort and Mila are the ones who have been watching after us. And Kera…” he nodded toward Sally.

She didn’t respond.

Ray continued. “Well, Kera hasn’t been seen either. It’s like nothing has changed.

“No,” Breeze said, “we need to get to the bottom of this. C’mon, follow me.” He stood up abruptly and wobbled. He grabbed the railing to steady himself, then turned and marched to the stairwell.

“Where are you going?” Ray called out.

“We are going to see Oslo in his office,” Breeze said.

Sally got up to follow. Ray stood and watched them leave, then jogged to catch up to them.

They stepped past their dorm rooms and down the steps that led to the administrative building. When they arrived at the entrance to his office, they burst into it. It was empty.

Breeze strode across the room and straight up to the lamp shaped like a boat captain that was on the desk. He leaned into it and shouted Oslo’s name.

Ray laughed. “Breeze, you can use the intercoms.”

“No. There is something about this lamp. Don’t ask me why I feel that way. Forget about the fact it looks hideous. Seriously, a lamp in the shape of a captain with one hand on the helm while the other shields his eyes. Or is he saluting? I can’t tell. I mean, who keeps a thing like this? Not even my father would and he’s a man who collects scrap.”’

“It’s just a stupid lamp,” Sally said sullenly.

Suddenly, a figure stepped in from the balcony. It was Oslo. “Perhaps, but I think of it as a cherished memento.”

They all turned to face him as he strode across the room and lowered his tall frame into the chair behind the desk.

Sally erupted. “You are a criminal and a coward! What happened to our families? Why have you been avoiding us?”

Oslo held up a hand as Ray tried to calm Sally down. She swatted him away.

“Much has happened, this I know,” Oslo began, “what I have to tell you will not be easy to hear. Please, do sit for a spell, the news I must give will be dire, and yes, more changes are heading our way.”

Sally was incensed. “As if I care! You have no right to lecture us—”

“Sit down!” Oslo boomed. They immediately sat in the chairs spread out before his desk.

Oslo rubbed his forehead. “This is a time of revelation for all of you as to why you were brought here and for what purpose.” He cleared his throat, and then continued. “This school, as you probably have already imagined, is not much of one. It is-was, a military facility. For a time, one of the premier bases on the planet. But events that changed the world reduced it to nothing more than the last refuge for a civilization that faded away into obscurity. And now, just a lonely outpost trapped in time.”

“What does this have to do with our parents?!” Sally shrieked at him, “I was attacked by some shadow figure at a crater that used to be my home! What was that? What’s happening out there? Where is my family?”

“The Elephim,” Oslo said.

“The who? What are you talking about?” Sally questioned.

Before Oslo could respond, Breeze spoke up. “Oslo told me everything right before I left.” He explained to them how Oslo, Kera and Excort confronted him in the dormitories, and how Oslo told him of Earth’s past and the battles fought between the Helios and the Elephim.

Ray sat up in his seat and listened intently as Breeze spoke.

When he was finished, Sally turned her wrath onto Oslo. “You’re telling me all of this is because you have some weird fantasy of creating a team of super powered people to fight these...Elephim creatures? This is not happening! What have you done to my life?!”

Oslo flinched and looked away. “What I have done...is far too late to reverse. I set out to rescue those that I knew who could make a difference in this world. Yes, I have stirred dark forces with my actions, but I will not turn away from my mission. I will rid this world of the Elephim and restore it back to its former glory. I will do this with you, or alone.”

He barely finished his words when Kera floated into the office through the balcony door, her white dress trailing behind her. “Don’t be so dramatic Ole, that is not your realm. You are not alone, and you will never be.”

Sally shrank back in her seat as Ray grabbed her hand to reassure her.

Breeze pointed at Kera. “All this time we’ve been here, you’ve never really explained how she got here or what she’s supposed to do except spook everyone.”

Oslo nodded at Kera as she settled by his side. He took her hand and held it as she materialized.

“Kera…is an old friend. A fellow paranormal like us all.”

“Old? Speak for yourself,
old man,”
Kera said haughtily

Oslo smiled briefly, and then turned somber. “Kera’s story is a long and complicated one. She is a refugee from the past. I discovered her in my travels across the globe in my later years and brought her here to Perihelion for safekeeping. I do not believe I am at liberty to tell you more without her consent.” He turned to her.

Kera leaned in and looked him in the eye. “Send them off Oslo, it is not safe here.”

“You’re always so eager to get rid of us,” Breeze said.

She glared at him. “It is for your own good.”

“So you can have more time to spend with that Bram guy in the basement?” Breeze taunted.

Her eyes blazed with fury. “This from a loner? What I do and why I choose to remain here are for my reasons alone and for no one else to question.”

Oslo raised a hand. “Enough. I will not have a brawl here in my office. We must come to the reality of what has happened. The Elephim are awake—”

“Yes, because of you!” Sally yelled.

Kera turned translucent as she lunged at Sally. “You have been rescued and protected. Be grateful for life, little girl.” She then added in a whisper, “always be grateful for life.”

Sally gripped Ray’s hand.

Oslo cleared his throat and Kera returned to hover beside him.

“No more. What is done is done, there is no going back. Sally, my actions may have only sped up a plan the Elephim had put into place long ago, nothing more. I saved you all from certain death. It is up to you to determine if your life is of any value. You can hate me if you wish, but you have your life and a chance to live free from a tyranny perpetrated by those who hide in the shadows and lash out at any attempt by humanity to better itself. This is an opportunity for you and your teammates and perhaps one day, your children.”