Revolution (21 page)

    A line began to form near the stern of the boat where a ramp reached over to a long timber dock jutting out from the island. Rayne saw armored Shock Troopers standing at the end of the gang plank in two short rows, five on each side, waiting for the passengers to disembark. As each passenger reached the end of the gangplank, the Troopers used handheld scanning devices to check the validity of each wrist code and green pass.

    Beyond the line of Troopers was a large machine with a short tunnel at its center for people to walk through. A pair of Troopers stood on either side of the tunnel and stared at small screens on the machine’s control panel. Rayne figured this was the body-scanning device Campion had warned him about.        

Chapter 17

    Rayne felt nervous when he reached the first checkpoint, but he tried to appear calm and unconcerned. It turned out his fears were unnecessary. His Executive wrist code was legitimate. The Trooper also scanned his green pass and held it up for a brief moment to scrutinize it before handing it back.

    “Thank you, sir. Enjoy your stay in the park,” the Trooper spoke metallically through his helmet filter.

    “Thank you, officer,” Peter said, giving the Trooper a respectful nod before striding away toward the body-scanning machine.

    Campion told him the machine was similar to the powerful Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines used for medical scans. It could scan a person’s entire body, inside and out, for any unauthorized materials. He was warned not to carry any contraband to the island, so he had nothing to worry about from the machine. The officers told him to stop and lift his arms in the air when he reached the center of the tunnel. Peter’s eyes squinted against a bright beam of red light that ran quickly over his entire body.

    “You’re all set, sir. You may proceed,” an officer said.

    Rayne tried to stay close on the heels of Baxter and his family. He decided that it might be wise to follow them around for a while. He had never been to the park, so it was a mystery to him. The only thing he was acquainted with through his training was the computer system within the Powerdrome attraction.

    Peter quickened his stride when he saw Ken and his family in the crowd ahead. He decided that, despite his dislike for the man, he should hang out with Baxter for at least part of the visit because of Ken’s familiarity with the place.

    Rayne looked up and didn’t see a single cloud floating in the pale blue sky; it was an ideal day to visit the park. Looking ahead, he saw a long gold-colored cement walkway, crowded with people, disappearing into linear perspective.

    Gazing into the distance, he saw a glistening white half-sphere towering above the earth like a great white mountain. The immense, glimmering white dome dominated the tall black city wall like Mount Everest dominates its lesser mountain range. Rayne had to shield his eyes from its brightness. The structure was at least a half-mile away and yet it reflected the sun like a bright mirror.

    That must be the infamous Powerdrome I’ve heard so much about.

    The main walkway was about fifty yards wide and had two separate lines of equally spaced, budding maple trees on either side. Smaller walkways led out from the central path to various food vendors and carnival stalls. The gold path faded into the distance in a perfect linear perspective until it reached the gleaming artificial mountain. Between the dock and the mountain was a colossal amusement park equipped with more carnival rides than he had ever seen.

    Rayne’s disembarking group was only a drop in the vast ocean of Virtual-world. Looking around, he saw thousands of people scattered throughout the park. He could not imagine how many Executive families were enjoying the sights on this beautiful day. People were everywhere; sitting on benches beneath the blossoming trees, standing in line at the high-priced, low-quality food vendors, playing carnival games, riding old-fashioned carnival rides, and racing up and down the latest high-tech anti-grav roller coasters.

    Virtual-world was a feast for the senses. Bright lights and gaudy decorations prevailed throughout the park. Just about everywhere he turned, he saw the Executive guests of Virtual-world.

   
This place isn’t so bad.

   
“Hey, Rayne, what are you doing standing there?” a familiar voice tugged Peter out of his contemplation. Turning left, he saw Baxter approaching him with his wife and child. “Come on, Peter!” Ken shouted to him like an excited schoolboy. “Let’s play some of the carnival games first!”

    “All right, Ken, that sounds good.”

    Rayne followed close on the heels of Baxter as his wife veered away and led their child to the controlled hovercraft ride two stalls down. He followed Baxter to one of the carnival stalls.

    Ken Baxter began his game of “SHOOT THE VAGRANT” at the trailer-sized stall on the east side of the walkway. Peter pushed his way through the crowd to stand at Ken’s side.

    “Have you ever played this game before, Rayne?” Ken asked, grinning as he blasted away at targets with a laser-scoped rifle.

    “What’s the object of the game, Baxter?” Peter asked as Ken took careful aim with his rifle.

    “Watch me for a second and you’ll get the idea.”

    Ken fired his rifle at a miniaturized cityscape, which closely resembled the neighborhood Peter lived in when he was a warehouse worker. A small line of figures no larger than a foot tall entered the scene on an electric track. The little dolls were dressed in old, dirty clothes and tattered rags, some even pushed small grocery baskets through the street scene. Rayne realized that instead of shooting at wooden ducks, Baxter was shooting at street people. A small pop sounded as the laser-sighted pellet gun knocked each of the little people out of sight.

    “All right, Rayne! I got all of them!” Baxter shouted, triumphantly.

    Rayne rolled his eyes as the concession attendant gave him a choice of prizes for knocking down all the vagrants.

    “I’ll take the stuffed Dollar-Duck for my kid,” Baxter said, lifting his prize into the air for everyone to see. It was a ridiculous-looking stuffed cartoon duck wearing a green tie with a black dollar symbol on it. “All right, Rayne, let’s go find the wife and kid and take a spin on the roller coaster. How’s that sound?”

   “That sounds great, Ken,” Rayne said as he felt a rush of adrenaline.

   
I haven’t been on one of those since I was a kid.

    Ken’s kid, Jimmy, was taking a spin on a ride known as “THE BUMPERCRAFTS.” Rayne thought the ride was nothing special. The bumper cars hovered several feet above a smooth surface, working on the same principle as any antigrav vehicle. The cars smashed roughly into each other and before a child could gain control of his or her vehicle, another child crashed into it. Rayne watched as the Baxter child spun wildly out of control.

    This continued for a while until the steady hum of the electrical impulse motor faded as each of the child-sized hovercrafts eased slowly downward. Baxter’s kid flipped up the faceplate on his pseudo-Shock Trooper helmet and let out a high-pitched groan of disappointment as he was ushered from the vehicle by a pimply-faced teenage operator.

    “Ride’s over!” Ken yelled to his son, as the child roughly shoved his way through a group of youths to reach his family. “Let’s go, group! It’s time to head to the roller coaster!” Ken exclaimed as he pushed his way through the crowd toward the towering steel beams of the high-speed ride.

    “Hold up a minute, Ken!” Peter yelled as he watched Ken dragging his wife and son through the crowd. He lost sight of him in the mob and spotted him again near one of the food vendors. Rayne pushed through the crowd after him.

    Rayne watched Baxter duck into an alleyway between a food vendor and the “SHOOT THE VAGRANT” stall. He followed. It was a pleasant relief to leave the golden walkway after being elbowed, shoved, and stepped on by an endless flood of human beings. He enjoyed the abrupt solitude of the alleyway and hastened to catch up with Ken and his family.

    “Hey, Peter, where have you been?” Ken asked, dragging his wife and child along with him. “You have to try to keep up!”

   Rayne didn’t reply and gave him what he thought was his most irascible expression.

    “What’s wrong, Rayne? Don’t you like the park?” Ken asked, perplexed.

    “No, it’s great. I’m psyched to try out the roller coaster,” Peter replied, genuinely.

    “That’s more like it!” Ken shouted, releasing his grip on his youngster’s hand for a moment to clap Peter hard on the shoulder.

   Rayne kept pace with the Baxter family as they left the alleyway and crossed a small grassy park complete with maple trees, flower gardens, benches, and picnic tables. He was surprised when he only saw a few families making use of the quiet park. The peaceful park was a stark contrast to the chaotic mob swarming Virtual-world’s main avenue. Peter halted to enjoy the sight of the maple trees and flower gardens.

    “Come on! Keep up!” Baxter chastised him.

    They reached the edge of the park and stepped onto another busy walkway taking them through another heavily-traveled area. Rayne glanced around at the flashing lights and whirling sounds of the various carnival rides.

    Looking up, he saw the massive steel beams of the anti-grav roller coaster looming above the lesser rides. They walked past two colorful neon rides called the “SPACE FLUME” and the “JET SCRAMBLER” to finally reach the “JET COASTER: THE FASTEST ANTIGRAV COASTER IN THE WORLD.”

    Rayne watched with amazement as a speeding hover-cart filled with screaming tourists raced by overhead. Anti-grav technology enabled the carts to hover a few feet above the track, cutting down on any friction that would slow the carts down. He figured they must have stayed on the track with some kind of electromagnetic technology.

    Although the ride was only a short distance away, it took him a while to fight his way through the bustling crowd to reach the ticket line. Somewhere along the line he was separated from Baxter’s family.

    Luckily, it was a short line that moved fast. As a cart took off on the track, another one returned and passengers disembarked. The tremendous size of the coaster allowed for a number of hover-cars to travel on it simultaneously.

    Rayne glanced at the operator and saw he closely resembled his former supervisor, Sinbad, minus the black eye patch. The operator looked irritable as Rayne hesitated a moment before boarding the cart.

    Peter finally got up the courage to step into the cart and sat shoulder-to-shoulder with a bony, scraggly-haired teenager. The teenager wore a black T-shirt emblazoned with the logo of a rock band, “KILL YOUR PARENTS.” A picture of a scrawny lead singer wearing a skull-mask dominated the shirt.

    The operator strapped them in and shut the cart door. Rayne tried to peer over the heads of the people in the carts ahead to see where Baxter and his family were sitting. As the line of carts ascended, he tried to spot Ken’s blond, stiff, helmet-hair. He found Ken in the lead cart with his wife and son sitting beside him.

   
There they are.

    Rayne gripped the steel safety bar tightly as his head rolled back against the padded headrest. He smiled with anticipation as the train of carts began its ascent to the first peak. Looking to his right, he saw the expression on the teenager’s face was completely flat. The teen looked like he was bored by the whole process.

   
I wonder if this kid is on drugs
, Rayne wondered as he studied the teenager’s expressionless face. 

    Rayne looked away from the dazed teenager and concentrated on the train of carts moving steadily up the endless track ahead.
He tightened his grip on the safety rail and checked the straps on his chest to make sure they were fastened securely. The last thing he needed was to fall out when the ride went upside down.

    Rayne observed that the train of carts was not traveling at an accelerated rate on their upward ascent: about twenty miles per hour. The fact they were still climbing the first hill made him wonder just how large the coaster was. Glancing to his left, he saw a virtually endless maze of tracks spread out below them.

    He was impressed when he looked straight down and saw the tiny heads of people standing in line below. As they ascended, the conversational noise of the tourists below faded and was replaced by the sound of swirling upper level winds.       

    After what seemed like hours of travel, the line of carts approached the summit of the colossal steel mountain. The view from this height was spectacular. They were now far above the capitol city wall and could see well into the city. He spotted some of the country’s greatest national monuments: the White House, the Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, the New Pentagon, The National Entrepreneurial Center and of course, the Frump Presidential Tower. Peter had seen the reflective glass tower from the ferry, but from this incredible height it looked like a giant, rectangular incandescent light source. The reflective dome at the top of the tower glittered like diamonds.   

    Rayne felt euphoric as the wind rushed through his hair and the G-forces pinned him against the padded seat. He felt his stomach rise as the train of carts descended. The carts were not touching the tracks, so there was no sound but the rushing of air as they flew down the magnetic steel hill. He held on tightly to the safety rail as the carts plunged like a diving airplane. 

    Rayne felt slightly chagrined as he watched three kids in the cart in front of him lift their arms high in the air. He could only wonder what was going through Baxter’s mind. Baxter’s family sat ten cars away at the head of the pack and he saw the armored gloves of Ken’s son rise into the air as the coaster continued its acceleration down the hill.

   The carts hit the first trough and zoomed upwards toward a small peak, which broke to the right. They turned 180-degrees in the air and flew down a second descending track upside-down.