Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (64 page)

Oslo weakly squeezed back in agreement.

She smiled for a fleeting moment, and then wondered to herself,
where is home?

Achilles was fighting for its very existence. Each blow it landed on Enoch made him punch back twice as hard, and only having one hand to use only added to its predicament as the link to the missing hand had been severed.

Achilles then changed tactics, lunging for Enoch’s throat and squeezing as hard as it could. Enoch flailed with his fists in retaliation when Achilles heard a garbled voice over its internal intercom. It sounded like Breeze but couldn’t make out the words. Achilles turned to look at the ship and saw Breeze running toward them.

“No!” the robot shouted when Enoch broke free from Achilles’ death grip and flung it to the ground, then pounced onto its chest and pinned the robot’s arms with his knees. He then rained blows upon Achilles’ head, each strike denting the metal deeper and deeper.

Achilles could only watch as Raven spoke from within.
Is this how it ends?

Breeze made a running leap and flew straight towards Enoch and Achilles when he instantly felt his energy draining upon approaching them. He lost control and bounced across the hangar floor, sliding to a stop just a few feet away from Achilles’ head.

Enoch halted his assault upon the robot for a moment to stare at Breeze while the pinpoints of light on his face began to spin at a rapid clip.

Breeze sat up with great effort as the power drain he experienced ebbed. He then looked at Enoch, whose face was becoming more expressive as a mouth and eyes emerged from the inky blackness of his face. He began motioning with his hands in an attempt to communicate with Breeze. Behind him, the elevator doors next to the damaged ones opened.

A fast moving missile erupted from within and slammed into the back of Enoch’s head. His mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out as he slumped over onto Achilles.

Achilles weakly lifted the arm with the missing appendage while its wayward hand glided over and snapped back into place, and then grappled the limp body of Enoch and rolled him off.

Achilles and Breeze then both stood up to face each other.

“You know, when we first saw you at Hammer Jack’s, the flying fist trick seemed to be your ace in the hole,” Breeze said.

Achilles chuckled. “It is quite…handy.”

Breeze groaned and rolled his eyes, then pointed at Enoch. “Is he dead?”

“No. It would require a greater level of force to accomplish that. Nevertheless, we need to evacuate immediately.”

They both heard the whine of engines approaching, and they turned to see Ray through the windscreen piloting the scout ship across the hangar to pick them up. He swung the ship around and lowered the rear cargo ramp.

They limped toward the ship together, when Breeze slowed, and then came to a stop. He felt as if someone was calling to him. He turned back to look as Achilles continued ahead.

Enoch was standing and looking directly at him with a face of a young boy trying to vocalize.

Achilles was halfway up the ramp and realized that Breeze was no longer behind it. The robot turned and saw him transfixed in a hypnotic stare with Enoch.

“No, Breeze!” it shouted. “It is too late for him. Walk away.”

Breeze didn’t listen as he stepped towards Enoch.

“Breeze, it is of no use. He cannot be saved,” Achilles said.

“But he needs our help,” Breeze responded in a dazed voice

“He is too far removed from his humanity. There is nothing that can be done for him.”

“I don’t understand any of this. Why do I feel like I know him?” Breeze wondered.

Ray spoke over the wireless. “We have to leave. Now!” He throttled the engines to emphasize his point which only seemed to agitate Enoch as his facial expressions became desperate.

Between the shouting from Ray and Achilles and the pleading gestures of Enoch, Breeze became overwhelmed as to what action to take.

The spell was broken as Enoch mimed a scream and his hands went to his head. In a repeat of what occurred on the detention level, Enoch began fighting off an invisible force as two Elephim materialized from the walls of the hangar. Both were taller and burlier than Enoch and they flanked either side of him.

The Elephim that stood to the right of Enoch had a glowing red stripe that ran down across his chest from the shoulder to his waist. The other had a diamond shaped symbol that glowed and pulsated on his chest.

Enoch was trembling from head to toe while his face morphed from an expressionless black slate to a human face, when he was knocked into unconsciousness by a single strike to the head from the diamond Elephim and collapsed to the floor of the hangar.

Then they both turned their attention to Breeze.

Breeze felt time stand still as he stared at the Elephim, and swore he could hear them speak. Their language was that of the cosmos; eerie stretches of silence embellished with the staccato hiss of static. All of it sounded like a code to him.

The Elephim tilted their heads quizzically as they realized that Breeze was privy to their communications. Their hands began to throb with malevolent energy, and then they pointed them at the scout ship.

Breeze turned to look at the ship and saw a glowing mass had enveloped it, and recognized the light wave the Phaerion infused into the hull. He reached out and it leapt toward him. It was warm and soothing as his drained body felt nourished and new again and his mind became one with the ship. He could see the past: the light wave that repaired the scout ship while in the hangar; the present, where he saw Ray gripping the helm as a whirlwind of red light swirled over him; and the future, where the ship glowed within a fire.

He saw Sally and Oslo sitting together in the passenger cabin. Oslo’s glow was muted as he was a bone weary man whose soul was tired and old. Sally was a stark contrast to Oslo; she shined like a brilliant light that was stained with confusion and sadness.

He then saw Achilles standing on the stern cargo ramp. The robot emitted a mechanical glow that pulsated with brief flashes of pure white light. He looked deeper and wasn’t surprised to see a human face peek out from behind the robot, and then disappear. It was the same one he had seen when he was training with Achilles at Raza’s farm.

The spell was broken by an incredible blast that flung Breeze forward just as the scout ship throttled its engines and raced toward the hangar doors. Breeze was scooped up by the light wave as they hurtled through the hangar bay.

The cargo ramp was closing. Achilles, who had been flung deep into the ship by the blast, raced back to the ramp with an outstretched hand.

The last thing Breeze saw were Achilles’ eyes glowing brightly as the cargo ramp sealed shut.

Breeze looked up at the overhead lights as they flickered past faster and faster when he was slammed into the back of the ship as it rammed through the hangar doors. The light wave that surrounded the vessel flickered violently as all of its energy was diverted to the bow to absorb the impact, leaving the stern exposed.

Breeze found himself in open space. He shivered violently and gasped for air as he watched the ship hurtle away in a cloud of fiery debris, Sally’s face in a window screaming his name.

The coldness of space gripped his body like a vise. He tried to breathe, but it felt like fire in his lungs. He convulsed and went numb as his mind drifted away.

He was back on the island and swimming in the crystal clear waters of the cove. He slipped beneath the waves and descended with the light fading the deeper he went. Soon, the warm water gave way to an icy cold current. He shivered, feeling lost and alone as he wrapped his arms around his body when in the distance, he saw a light. It was soothing and it took his mind off his worries. The light changed into a figure of young girl with a familiar face.

It was Nina, and she whispered in his ear.

“Just breathe with me,” she said, “and the shield will rise.”

Nina embraced him, and he could feel his lungs move up and down while drifting away into a cloud of light, and then woke up gasping for air and surrounded by a constellation of brilliant stars. His breathing became relaxed as his shield rose to cocoon him.

He gathered his wits in time to see the scout ship tumbling through space. It was succumbing to Earth’s gravity and falling rapidly.

He looked back at the platform and saw a jagged opening where the hangars once were, as an endless stream of debris spewed out, when two Elephim darted out amongst the wreckage, swerving to avoid chunks of steel and sparking wires that swarmed around the damaged platform.

He could sense them as their strange language of static hiss filled his mind.

He had to protect his friends from them, and he steeled himself for the impending confrontation.

Alarms wailed throughout the ship as Achilles quickly made its way to the pilot house and into the cockpit to sit in the co-pilot’s seat. The ship was tumbling and Ray had his hands full trying to regain control.

“When we rammed those doors there was a massive power surge” Ray said. “The light wave seems to have absorbed most of the impact, but it short-circuited everything and tripped a lot of breakers in the electrical panels. I don’t think this pile of scrap is going to survive re-entry. We have to get on a lifeboat.”

Achilles shook its head. “Negative. The lifeboats do not contain the shielding required to survive re-entry.”

Another set of alarms went off as emergency rockets fired and leveled the ship, while armored slats dropped into place over the windows, blocking their view. The console went completely dark for several moments, and then a solitary vid-screen lit up with a map of the Earth displayed on it with a glowing orange light illuminating a single point on the globe.

“The ship has gone into default mode. It will take us back to Perihelion under auto pilot,” Achilles declared as it tapped the console.

“Is this armor strong enough to survive re-entry?” Ray pointed at the heavy metal slats covering the windscreen and cockpit windows.

“There is a high probability we will survive re-entry into the atmosphere. The concern is the shield over the island. If there is no one there to open a portal for us to slip through, the results could be disastrous.

“Then surviving re-entry is the least of our problems,” Ray said.

Sally stepped into the cockpit and gripped the back of Ray’s seat. “What’s happening?”

“We’re going back home,” Ray responded.

“What about Breeze?”

He didn’t answer.

Achilles pointed at the console. “We are flying blind, mistress, and the auto-pilot has assumed control. The light wave has lost it resilience and faded, as it appears to react only when Breeze is present. We must retrieve him if we are to survive. I request that you locate and lead him back to us. Are you able to project, Ms. Trumbull?”

She shook her head as tears welled up. “No,” she said weakly, “I just can’t.” She closed her eyes and whispered. “He’s out there all alone.”

“He’ll be fine. He can manage. With his shield he can survive re-entry and fly back to the island. We can bring the ship back safely ourselves,” Ray said in an attempt to ease her mind.

Sally shot him a look filled with venom, then turned and made her way out of the pilot house and down the aisle to sit next to Oslo. She took his hand and held it.

In the cockpit, Achilles addressed Ray. “You may surmise I am incapable of understanding human interactions and emotions, but I do possess enough knowledge to declare the following: that did not go well.”

Ray waved him off. “Can you find him?”

Achilles tapped its head. “Intercoms are either inoperable or jammed. Sally was our best chance, but she is unable to perform her duties. Therefore, Breeze is on his own.”

Ray looked straight ahead at the armor covered windscreen. “The armor will hold up, I know it will.”

Achilles didn’t respond.

EXCORT THROTTLED BACK THE
engines as the transport touched down in the plaza before the dormitories.

“We’re here,” he announced over the intercom.

In the passenger compartment, Raza held Nina in her arms. She had done so for the duration of the journey from Appalachia. The girl was faring poorly, and only when they drew closer to Perihelion did she begin to stir and show signs of life. Though Raza had a fountain of life on her farm, Nina needed the deep blue sea and all of its energies to sustain her.

Nina seemed to be doing well on her mother’s farm, but took a sudden turn for the worse once Breeze and the others departed for their mission to rescue Oslo. She became bedridden and incessantly called out Breeze’s name until she collapsed from exhaustion.

Raza was distraught as she hovered over her daughter night and day. Nina’s periodic outbursts of anguish and pain only served to remind her of a time long ago when Nina underwent the same agony, an agony that brought the fateful decision by her and Oslo to return to Perihelion for their daughter’s sake. It was happening all over again.

“May I not find the peace and tranquility I seek?” she asked aloud as she held her daughter’s hand.

Excort stood in the doorway of the bedroom and watched in silent despair. He and his wife, Mila, had practically raised and cared for Nina all her life. She was a daughter to them. He knew what the eventual outcome would be if they didn’t leave Mount Pleasant. Nina had to return to the island.

He placed a hand on Raza’s shoulder. “We must go.”

Raza pushed him away, and then threw herself over her daughter and sobbed. “Not again! I won’t do it!”

Excort spoke with a steely voice that attempted to mask the pain in his heart. “My dear lady, we need to give her a fighting chance. We must take the risk.”

Raza leaned back and wiped her eyes. “What you say is the truth. I just cannot accept it.” She shook her head. “All I wanted was to be a family again. To feel what it is like to be…normal. Now with the others off and risking themselves to find my husband…her father…”

“Raza, I did not mean to come off so harsh—”

“No.” She grabbed his hand. “Forgive me, old friend. I realize how selfish I am. I must confess and come to grips with the fact that my isolation and loneliness had driven me mad.” She looked in Excort’s eyes. “What have I done?” she whispered. “I have sent others to do for me what I could never do for them.”

He kneeled before her and held her hands. “You are the best thing to happen to those young ones. After all they have been through, you have been their rock in a sea of darkness. That is why they are willing to sacrifice for you. You are a symbol of the stability they so desire. Everything about you represents what they yearn for, a family and a place to call home.”

Raza shook her head. “And to think how poorly I treated them upon their arrival here.” She looked out the window and saw the setting sun dipping below the mountain ridge. She then patted Excort’s hands. “Yes, you are right. She must...we must return. But how? I thought Perihelion had been compromised? And what of traveling over the Bad Lands, it still is perilous, no?”

Excort shrugged. “It is of no matter to us. We go, and she has a chance to live. We stay…”

Raza leaned toward him. “How do we get there? With what ship?”

“I have been taking advantage of Achilles’ extensive collection of parts warehoused in its barn,” Excort replied. “Quite the hoarder, that robot. I have been repairing and upgrading the transport I piloted to bring Nina here. We will use it. But we have to travel by night over the Bad Lands to avoid detection for I cannot seem to procure the parts needed to repair the generator that provides the shielding to cloak the ship. We will get as close to Perihelion as possible and ascertain its safety before we attempt to land. We have no choice. We must do this, Raza.”

They left Appalachia the next day and traveled by the darkness of night over the Bad Lands to Perihelion, then landed the transport at sunrise and hid the ship deep within any wooded area or ravine to avoid the possibility of Elephim patrolling the skies.

What they witnessed while traveling over the Bad Lands was a stirring of its inhabitants. Long columns of soldiers with torches of fire could be seen marching across the land at night, accompanied by sporadic flashes of light on the horizon. Something was spurring them to action, something that only the presence of the Elephim could do.

Over the next two days, Excort picked his way carefully through mountains and valleys, flying the transport close to the terrain to avoid detection from above, but did attract attention from below as there were a few close calls when shots were fired at them while flying over remote villages.

They arrived at the coast and followed a southerly course for several hours. Where the warm waters of the Gulfstream flowed closest to the land is when Excort banked the ship to the east and flew out to sea. After several miles over the ocean and with the mainland far behind them, he changed course and pointed the bow to the southeast to follow a clandestine route that would lead them straight to Perihelion.

As the ship glided over the windswept ocean, Excort received a flash communication from a submerged transponder that recognized the transport, and surfaced to broadcast a secure transmission. It was a recorded message from his wife, Mila, and he eagerly loaded it onto the vid screen.

Their sons from the surrounding islands had returned to help, it read. Together with the aid of the remaining RF, they repelled the Elephim that invaded Perihelion. The electrical systems had been restored and the fog had been reactivated.

Excort was relieved. It was what he needed to know so they could return safely. Only those who knew how to navigate through the fog could find their way to Perihelion. They would have to enter the vortex to get there, but he was well aware that the Elephim would be patrolling the perimeter of the fog and ambush any ship that approached.

They had no other choice. There was no other place to go.

Excort called out of over the intercom. “Mistress, prepare yourself. We will be entering the vortex soon. My wife has sent me the fortunate news that the island is safe to approach.”

Raza held Nina close to her. It had been ages since she last traveled through the vortex. She was aware of the disorientation and the sense of a loss of time that awaited her on the other side of it. Unlike those who traveled through it periodically, her body need to acclimate itself again to the island’s distorted flow of time.

The transport bucked wildly as bursts of greenish light flashed violently through the windows. She clutched her daughter and closed her eyes.

They fluttered open when she heard Excort’s voice over the intercom, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying. Though it felt as if she had been asleep for days, she knew it was the time lag effect of the vortex that made her feel this way. She gazed out of the window where below, and rising up from the ocean as the transport glided closer, was Perihelion.

They circled the island, and then headed straight for the dormitories. The transport touched down in the plaza amidst the whine of turbines as they kicked up clouds of dust and debris.

Raza cradled Nina her in her arms as she disembarked from the ship. Excort was there to greet her at the bottom of the gangplank.

“Come Raza, there is a fountain deep below the dormitories. I will take you there.”

She nodded and followed him to a stairwell along the side of the building.

He guided her down spiraling steps made of stone, with each step glowing a phosphorus green until they entered a dimly lit chamber with a pool in its center, and above them the ceiling arced into a dome whose surface shimmered from the quartz embedded within.

Raza knelt at the edge of the pool and slowly lowered Nina into the water, then released her. The girl submerged into the depths.

Excort placed on hand on Raza’s shoulder. She squeezed it while staring intently at their wavering reflections on the surface. A smile lit up her face when Nina ascended to take a breath of air.

“Hello, mother,” Nina said sweetly.

Raza fought back tears as Nina climbed out of the pool and hugged her.

“I’m home,” Nina said.

“Yes, I suppose you are,” Raza whispered. She closed her eyes as powerful memories from the past rose up and consumed her.

She found herself walking through the corridors of Perihelion as if she had only been gone for a moment. Around her, cadets were heading to their respective classes or study halls, while outside the grounds were bustling with activity as military personnel boarded transports to embark upon yet another mission or assignment. The bay was filled with an armada of vessels, and sleek aerocraft darted overhead against a backdrop of blue skies and mountainous white clouds.

She was a young girl from the hills of Appalachia in those days. Agents from Perihelion had visited her at her family’s farm and told her that she was special. She could barely remember their names. One was named Horton, the other one she couldn’t remember. They offered her a chance to go to a place where her talents will be put to great use and she could make a difference in the world. She would be trained to use her gifts to the best of her abilities and to serve a higher cause. Her parents relented and granted permission after much pleading from her, and she left Mount Pleasant without so much as a backwards glance, eager to experience a new beginning far from home.

She remembered arriving on the island and was awed by its lush, tropical beauty. She had never traveled outside Appalachia, and was immediately overwhelmed by her new surroundings. Her excitement gave way to despair as everyone she met was from the larger cities from across the world. They were so cosmopolitan, and it contrasted sharply to her rural upbringing. She felt lost and alone until she met Oslo.

He was tall and awkward, but a good soul, that she knew. She watched him walk down the halls, towering above everyone, slumping his shoulders and keeping his head down in an attempt to appear shorter.

She would never forget how bold she felt to walk right up to him, telling him to stand up straight. She had stood with her hands on her hips, lecturing him on how handsome he was and how he should carry himself better.

He had stared at her with a stunned expression, and then blurted out an invitation to the spring dance in the courtyard that evening. His face turned red with embarrassment as he did, erasing his otherwise pale complexion. She smiled sweetly and said yes.

She danced with him that night, and although they were surrounded by other couples, they were truly in a world of their own as they glided across the dance floor to the soothing music that the band played. The air was warm and inviting as it blew across the bay and into the courtyard where they became one under a star filled sky, while luminous torches that lined the courtyard cast a blue glow over them.

She sighed deeply and opened her eyes. She was back now, holding her daughter tightly in her arms with an old friend to comfort her. Back to a place she thought she could never return to.

There was a commotion at the top of the steps as Mila and her children came rushing down the stairwell. She rushed into Excort’s arms and buried her head in his chest as his sons and daughters came over and expressed their joy at seeing their father again.

The dark and moody chamber echoed with the sounds of laughter and elation while the pool began to glow from an emerald green to a pulsating blue.

Raza hugged Nina even tighter as the blue light illuminated mother and daughter in an angelic glow.

“When is father coming back home?” Nina whispered.

Raza looked up at the crystalline surface of the dome that sparkled like stars in the night sky.

“Soon,” she said.

Oslo stirred in his seat.

Sally patted his hand and smiled reassuringly.

“I’m sorry about everything I’ve put you through,” he said in a weak and trembling voice.

Sally shook her head. “You’ve opened my eyes to the truth of the horror that surrounds us. You have nothing to apologize for.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand.

She looked toward the pilot house. Within the cockpit she could see the silhouettes of Ray and Achilles huddled over a lighted screen.

Achilles pointed toward a bar graph on the right side of the screen. “This represents the current temperature of the hull.” It pointed up. “Should the bar achieve this height, it translates into the early stages of the hull undergoing structural breakdown.” It pointed even higher. “This is catastrophic failure.”

Ray cursed and shook the helm violently, then shoved the throttles back and forth, but received no response. He pounded the console with his fists then turned to look back into the cabin where he caught Sally’s gaze. Their eyes locked for a brief moment before she looked away.

Breeze was surrounded by Elephim who had arrived from neighboring platforms. Every time they would approach him, he streaked away involuntarily. It was as if his shield was instinctively protecting him by acting on its own, moving him out of harm’s way.

His breathing felt restrained and his lungs ached from re-breathing the air he exhaled. For every breath he took, toxins were being scrubbed out of his blood and replaced with oxygen.

He watched in frustration and panic as the scout ship barreled toward Earth. In the distance the platform continued to burn as debris spewed from the shattered hangar bay.

A concussive blast hit from behind and sent him tumbling until he managed to regain control. He turned and faced a patrol ship that was trailing him. Its forward cannon bristled with intensity.

Several patrol ships from surrounding platforms were now responding to the distress calls of the wounded platform. They, along with a multitude of Elephim, flanked him from left to right, and from above and below.

He was trapped.

Oslo mumbled and twisted in his seat as he gripped Sally’s hand tightly. “Breeze is lost and alone out there. Guide him back.”

“I’m afraid to,” she said.

“Don’t leave him to the wolves! I’ll be here to give you strength. He’s the only one who can truly save us.” Oslo looked in her eyes. “The light wave responds whenever Breeze is near. The greater the distance from him, the weaker it becomes. I know of the Phaerion. I have known them for quite some time, and why they helped you like they did. It was because of Breeze. They do not give their aid on a whim. They are not as sympathetic to humanity as they once were. The light they have woven into the ship is a gift, and one that will protect us. Breeze is the key to it. Go find him.”