Awoken (10 page)

There were several deep rifts in the cracked stone. Kai walked up to each of them, putting her hand over the edge for a moment before moving to the next one. When she had concluded her investigation of the fissures she returned to one of them, motioning for Oa to join her.

“This crack has the best updraft. We will launch from here. I will go first to show you what to do, then you will try. Once you can handle being airborne, we will head out,” Kai said with anticipation in her voice for the coming flight.

“I’ll be sure to learn quickly so we can get up there,” Oa replied, gazing out of the deep canyon toward the distant sky.

Kai took a few steps back from the fissure. Then, she sprinted forward, slapping the button on her left shoulder strap. The shell on her back snapped open, releasing the large wing. The bunched-up ball of memory alloy and air-skin snapped out into its chevron shape as Kai jumped out over the crevice. Immediately the wind caught the wing, sending Kai sailing upwards toward the rock face. She grabbed the loops of air-skin dangling above her shoulders. Using them as handles, she hauled her body weight hard to the left. The wing’s left edge dipped down and Kai turned just before hitting rock. She made a lazy half circle out of the updraft, gliding back down to land next to Oa. She slapped he left shoulder again, and the wing retracted into the shelled pack.

“Okay, so the handles control your direction left and right. Pulling them back will speed you up while pulling forward will slow your speed. Don’t worry about messing up. If you do, just collapse the wing; and Susan will rescue you. She is great at catching me after stupid crashes,” Kai said, as she playfully shoved Oa toward the rift.

“I got this,” Oa said, bolstering his own confidence.

“Don’t worry; you’ll be fine,” Kai called as Oa took off running toward the edge of the cleft. He mimicked Kai’s launch as best as he could, slapping his wing-launch button just before he reached the edge. He leaped out over the gap. Instead of falling, Oa felt himself jerk up into the air as the wind whipped up from beneath him. The force of the current took the young Awoken by surprise, and he fumbled to find the control handles. His hands found the holds, and he grasped them tightly in relief. Oa shifted his body weight to the left as Kai had done. He looked up just in time to smack face-first into the rock wall. Oa was stunned briefly, but he managed to remember to collapse the wing. It crumpled down into his pack as he fell back off the rock. Before he had time to worry about his descent, he felt himself lifted up by strong, crackling paws of energy and dense cloud. Susan snatched him out of the air and floated him down to the ground next to Kai.

Kai laughed, “Nice! A ‘wall face’ on your first try. I pioneered that move, you know,” she teased, patting Susan on the head.

Oa gasped as he recovered from the rush of his first attempt. “I did not expect the launch to be so fast.”

“Yeah, it comes up quick. You gotta be ready to maneuver immediately,” Kai instructed. “Give it another go.”

Oa nodded and ran at the crevice a second time. As soon as the wing deployed, he grabbed the control handles. When the wind caught him, he was ready. He yanked the controls forward to slow his ascent. He pulled down hard with his left arm, managing to turn the glider away from the rock. Oa was elated that he had not repeated his embarrassing first flight. He glided out of the current in a wobbly half circle. He tried to land smoothly next to where Kai was standing, but he overshot his target. As he landed, Oa tripped over a pile of stone, spilling forward onto his face. Kai jogged over and helped him up.

“That was fun!” Oa exclaimed, hardly caring about his fumbled landing.

“I’m glad you liked it. You did great,” Kai encouraged.

“I think I got the hang of it,” Oa replied, knowing Kai was eager to be in the sky.

“Okay!” Kai said happily. “I’m going to take us in a wide arc out of these canyons and up into the ridges behind them. When we launch, keep turning back into this current so you can spiral up and gain altitude.”

Kai walked over to the launching point. “I might throw in some tricky maneuvers.” She glanced impishly over her shoulder. “If you can’t keep up, Susan will carry you the rest of the way. Just follow me and have fun.”

Kai ran forward and vaulted out over the breach. Her glider deployed, and the current sent her sailing upward. Oa immediately sprinted after her, enjoying the rush of the launch. He jumped out into thin air and felt the sudden jolt as the wing above his head caught wind. He quickly latched onto the glider’s control tillers and turned hard, keeping himself in the current as he corkscrewed through the air in Kai’s wake.

As they sailed upwards, Oa was amazed at how deep the ravine was. The stone seemed to rise forever.
It must be thousands of body lengths high
, he thought to himself in awe. They finally came out of the gorge. The rock wall ended, flattening out into a plateau. Their altitude revealed other connected cracks in the landscape. Around them, stone spires and sharp ridges of rock rose to even greater heights.

“Canyons within a canyon. This place is huge,” Oa muttered to himself.

Kai straightened her flight path and flew out of the current to glide between several spires. Oa waited until he had reached a similar height before following. He wove through the towers of stone as gracefully as he could manage. In front of him, Kai caught another updraft, and she shot up over a sharp ridge of rock. Oa aimed for the same spot. He caught the current and hauled back on the control handles, angling the glider into the wind. He shot up after Kai and cleared the jagged edge of rock. Oa glanced briefly behind himself to see Susan winding through the air lazily as she followed them.

Far off on the horizon, the peak pulsed forth the dawning of a new cycle. A refreshingly cool green light filled the sky as they rose up above the landscape. Kai gradually led them up into higher airstreams. Oa reveled in the serene flight. There were no sounds or distractions, only the wind. He gazed down to see a shimmering blue-green sea of light and realized that the sky was reflecting off the numerous glowing strands of silver that ran through the stone below. Oa lost himself in the beauty as they sailed higher and higher. Far below, the stone landscape rose into ridges and small mountain ranges, forming roots that trailed off toward the great peak on the horizon. Behind them, Oa could see the valley where Bolleworth lay. It was tiny. The great gashes in the stone desert continued from the basin and led out to the edge. The land below seemed so peaceful. The chaos of his early cycles and the Void seemed a distant memory.

Oa let the currents carry him far away from his worries and questions. He laughed as Susan hurtled over him, speeding up to overtake Kai. Ahead, Oa saw Kai reach down and pet Susan as she passed. Susan wheeled through the sky then looped back toward Oa. The lightning varl danced playfully between the pair of Awoken as they soared over the land in quiet bliss.

They traveled in a wide, meandering arc through the sky. Eventually Kai dropped out of the high airstreams, beginning a slow descent. They glided down toward the mountainous ridges that overlooked the distant city of Bolleworth. Oa watched as Kai flew in low, straight toward a thin shallow groove atop a sharp ridge. Oa wondered what she was going to do. His question was quickly answered as Kai swooped down to the rock. As she passed a body length or so above the ridge, she retracted her glider, dropping the remaining distance to the ground. Her precision was perfect as she landed on a narrow strip of stone, no wider than her shoulders. Kai sprinted the short length of the flat top then dove off the left side, redeploying her glider. It was a smoothly executed maneuver. Oa reasoned that she must have practiced the trick on numerous occasions. He stared ahead, nervous but determined to mimic Kai’s daring feat.

Oa lined himself up with the slim runway. He came in straight but retracted his glider too soon. He landed where the stone was too narrow to stand on. His foot slipped on the keen edge; and he lost his balance, falling off the ridge. Before he could panic, Susan slipped under him. He found himself now riding on the lightning varl’s back. She had enlarged to about three times his size. Oa was slightly embarrassed. After a moment, he disregarded his blunder, choosing instead to admire Kai’s finesse and skill as they followed her down into the canyons again.

Kai led them to a broad tipped steeple. She circled above the rock then spiraled down onto the top of the tower. Susan floated in lightly, allowing Oa to jump off her back. Kai retracted her glider and sat down on the smooth stone, facing the distant valley that Bolleworth lay in. Oa sat down next to her. The light of the sky had faded off toward the edge. The cycle was nearly over.

“I was glad to see you try my little stunt,” Kai said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I didn’t quite get it,” Oa replied.

“That’s okay; I am just glad you came along. When I built that spare glider, I always hoped someone would use it to go flying with me,” Kai admitted.

“It was a lot of fun; thanks for lending me your gear,” Oa said warmly.

“I hope this makes us buddies,” Kai said turning to look at Oa. “I have never had anyone besides Susan. I mean, Cale and Jess are there somewhere in my head; but sometimes I don’t know how real that is. Things are all muddled from before I met Susan.”

“We are definitely friends. And don’t worry; I’m sure you will figure it all out when we find them,” Oa said encouragingly. He took note of Kai’s mental struggle. Perhaps Ohm would know something about it.

“Great! Trust me, I won’t let the Legion catch up to you and your friend,” Kai said happily. She turned back toward Bolleworth and pointed to a plateau below them where two canyons merged together. “The Legion outpost is … right there. Susan will fly us down so we can get that fusion drive and then we’ll clear out before the Legion knows what hit ‘em.”

“Let’s do it,” Oa agreed, determined.

With a nod, Kai plunged off the spire, gliding down to the plateau below. Susan allowed Oa to climb up onto her back, and they floated off the spire after Kai. As they neared the fringe of the canyon-top below, Oa spotted four matte black vessels lined in a row. They landed a fair distance back from the ships, where the landscape was littered with boulders that provided excellent cover. Susan dropped back down to the Awoken’s size. The group snuck through the rock until they were right on top of the Legion outpost.

The trio peeked around a wide stone slab. Directly in front of them, the four vessels rested in a clearing. Beyond the ships, the canyon-top tapered to a cliff. Numerous boulders littered the edge of the crag. The vessels were shaped like round-nosed projectiles. They had been lined up side by side in a row that led away from Oa and Kai, toward Bolleworth and the cliff. Next to the row of Legion fighters, several strange pyramid structures had been erected. Their dark metal frames held up shimmering panels. Through one of the openings, Oa could faintly make out the oily blackness of the Void. Just beyond the structures, several Legion soldiers stood quietly overlooking the distant city.

Kai pointed to the pyramids. “Those are the portals they come through. That’s how they get so far inland so quickly. We need to stay away from those,” she warned softly.

Oa nodded in understanding.

“Okay, let’s go. You keep watch while I retrieve the fusion drive,” Kai reminded him in a whisper.

They dropped low to the ground and scampered from the cover of the concealing boulder out to the farthest Legion vessel. Susan followed along quietly. The Legion fighter was made up of a spherical cockpit with three wings folded back behind it. Behind the cockpit; in the tunnel that the collapsed ailerons created, Oa could see an engine. He motioned to Kai, and she followed his gaze. She nodded and slowly crept inside. Susan floated close behind. Kai took off her pack and began to inspect the engine. Oa remained outside of the wings’ cover. He peered around the craft looking for any Legion soldiers. He counted ten out in front of the portals. They were standing like silent sentinels gazing out over Bolleworth. Oa watched a bit longer then ducked inside the wings.

“Did you find it yet?” he whispered to Kai. Susan took up most of the tunnel space as she floated behind Kai, providing ample light for her task.

“No! I can’t locate it. I’m not even sure anymore if these machines run on fusion drives,” Kai whispered back, frustrated.

Oa grew worried so he crawled back outside to check on the Legion soldiers.
Good, they are still just standing there,
he thought to himself. He paused, looking closer. Then fear suddenly gripped him. There were only eight Legion soldiers. Where had the other two gone?

Oa ducked back behind the wing. He peeked out and glanced down the row of Legion fighters. Then he saw them, walking with eerily calm steps toward him from behind the ship at the far end of the row. Oa scurried back out of sight.

“We have to go now!” he shouted at Kai “They spotted us.”

***

Ohm awoke suddenly. Consciousness flooded back to him. The calculations he and Fred had been running completed, resulting in a dire conclusion. Ohm lunged to his feet, looking around urgently. He quickly took stock of his surroundings. The chamber he was in was cluttered with various engineering notes; but more importantly, no one else was in it.

“Fred, where is Oa?” Ohm asked, moving about the room.

“He left through the far tunnel, with an Awoken named Kai. They were headed to a nearby Legion outpost to procure a fusion drive. I sent him off with one of my beacons,” Fred explained.

“I hope they aren’t getting get themselves into too much trouble. We must catch up to them,” Ohm said, as he ran into the tunnel with exigent purpose. “How long was I out?”

“Roughly 4902 weebles,” Fred replied.

“Not too bad. We have been through worse,” Ohm admitted optimistically.

He ran out of the tunnel into a cavernous hangar. Ohm skidded to a halt as his gaze fell upon the ship. After a stunned pause, he ran up to the vessel. He reached up and brushed his hand lovingly across the worn hull. Ohm stopped as he caught sight of the glyphs that spelled the word ARI.