Blaze (The High-Born Epic) (60 page)

             
Harold then watched as the sky instantly filled with several dozen more ATLAS units, closing the distance so fast that he had trouble even recognizing what they were.  As they began zooming by in groups of six or seven, flying back towards the city, their blue thrusters traced the sky and the plane rattled in the wake of their incredible speed. 

             
For several more moments all that any of them could hear was Gabby’s groaning and the medical chatter of the people in white suits.  Out of the front window, Harold noticed the water swiftly passing under them.

             
“Ha!” a voice called.  Harold thought it was Angel Five.  “Looks like these flying rats don’t want to fight if we can see them!”

             
“Roger that, Angel Five,” the one called Archangel said.  “They saw the ATLAS Corps waiting on them.  We would’ve slaughtered them had they not disengaged.  They knew they were outgunned without the main battle group.  They’re bugging out.  I repeat, the bats are retreating.  I’m staggering the release of the SWARM’s. That should cover our withdrawal.  Angel Five, set the LAMPP over the city for seek and destroy on a three minute countdown.  Set secondary LAMPP for seek and destroy with a five minute countdown.  All units, return to base.  Excellent job, ladies and gentlemen... Excellent job.”

             
Raucous cheers echoed through the speakers, and the three pilots at the front of the plane hit one another’s hands again.

Chapter 50

             
Harold sat up in the bed.  River and Stone were both sitting beside him, and she seemed dazed while he seemed jovial.  Harold did not feel great, and he yawned, but he felt well enough to look out of the front windshield while he relaxed.  They were not flying very high, and all he could see in front of him was water rapidly passing under them. 

             
“Well, Fire,” Stone smiled.  “I’ve got say that you have my respect.  Who else carries a sword to fight the whole High-Born military with?”

             
Stone held up his sword.

             
“I didn’t even realize that I had lost it,” then Harold smiled.  “But I guess it’s better than throwing rocks at them.”

             
Stone’s head shot backwards as he laughed loudly, “That was a good one, Fire.  I knew I was going to like you.”

             
“How did y’all find me and Gabby?”

             
“Rat-Trap and D-Con brought me and River in early,” Stone answered.  “They dropped her off on the northern end of the city, and me on the southern end.  The two of them took the eastern and western ends of the city.  Then we all started moving to our right.  I happened to be the closest to you two, so I held out for help.”

             
“What’s y’all’s story, and who are these people?”  Harold asked.

             
“I’ve only been with them for about two and a half days,” then he pointed at River.  “And we just picked her up the night before last.  This was actually mine and her first mission together.  They didn’t even want us to go, said we were too important to risk.  But me and her talked about it, and we knew we had to help you, and didn’t really care if they wanted us to stay out of this fight.”

             
“You’re just like us,” River said.  “We’re meant to fight them.  It’s why we’re here, and I wasn’t going to sit around and watch them kill you two.”

             
Harold just nodded, and the three of them were silent for a moment.

             
“As for who they are,” Stone said.  “They say that they are the last free Americans, and they say that the four of us are too.  But I don’t really understand what they mean by it.”

             
“I think Americans are from one of the Forgotten Nations that the High-Born always talk about in the history books and Vista,” River answered.  “Stone and them saved my life.”

             
“They pulled my tail out of some serious trouble before we got you, River,” Stone replied as he turned his attention to Harold.  “Last night they showed us some video of you two, because they have been looking for you two for a while, and that is really the only reason they found us.  I thought it was only right for us to help them find you.”

             
“How did you find us?”  Harold asked.

             
“Well,” Stone laughed.  “It wasn’t real hard.  Y’all made a mess of things–”

             
“—And I could feel you,” River interrupted.

             
“Anyways,” Stone gave River a glance, “They said that your next most likely target was a city called Atlanta.  They were monitoring it when you guys hit it.  Rat-Trap and D-Con then brought us in as soon as the fight started.  Then those satellite things they have started sending us video of what was happening.  I don’t think that Rat-Trap and D-Con’s bosses are gonna’ be happy with them about it though.  They were supposed to wait for the full attack force– ”

             
“– Task force,” River interrupted again.

             
“Whatever.  It’s the same thing,” Stone said to River.  “Anyways, they decided to trust us, and brought us in early.”

             
“I’m glad they did,” Harold answered.  “I would’ve been dead in just a few more seconds if you hadn’t got there when you did.”

             
“By the way,” Stone smiled.  “Everyone really liked it when you two made out after you stomped the first wave of lab rats.”

             
“Y’all saw that?” Harold said as he rubbed his face.  “Ohhh... I’ll never hear the end of this.”

             
Stone and River just grinned lightly, and they were quiet for a moment and Harold glanced back at the front, and watched the water rapidly pass underneath them for a moment.

             
“How did y’all get your powers?” Harold asked.

             
Stone and River looked at each other, and Stone motioned for her to speak first.

             
“It happened after the High-Born took my little sister,” she said.  “I went after her to help her, but a High-Born threw me back, and knocked me out.  When I woke up, I was in my bed, and I was just so sad and mad that I started crying.  After a few minutes, I realized that my tears had frozen on my face.  I went to get some water from the well, and when I tried to wash my face, I saw that the entire pail was full with a solid chunk of ice.  Then, I screamed.  And this is hard to explain, but I just felt all the water in the air around me, and I pulled it to me and slung ice spikes everywhere.  After that, I taught myself in the woods how to use it better.  Then, I started sneaking out at night and fighting them.  I was in a big fight, and I thought I was going to die, but the people in those suits showed up, and he did too,” she motioned to Stone.  “They saved me.”

             
Harold looked to Stone.

             
“My story isn’t really much different from hers,” he replied.  “The High-Born, but I like what these people call them better.  Lab rats.  Anyways, the lab rats took my two little brothers and my little sister too.  I was mad and wanted to save them, and I managed to get over the fence to help them, but the soldiers smacked me with the butts of their guns.  I woke up a little bit later, and wasn’t even bruised all that bad.  Later that afternoon, I went outside and started punching the ground.  And I noticed that my house started rattling.  Over the next few weeks, I grew really fast, and my skin started looking like it does now.  I also did like her, and learned to use it and practiced in the woods where no one could see.  After that, I decided that I would do something about all of these lab rats.  I snuck out at night to fight them.  Anyways, I got in some deep trouble, and these Americans saved me.”

             
“How did it happen to you?” River asked.

             
Harold then told them story about Ollie and the pytheel.  Then he told them how it had happened to Gabby, and just as he was finishing with that story, one of the co-pilots got up from his seat and walked towards them.

             
“We’ll be landing in about a minute,” he said, he seemed nervous and excited.  “So please stay seated.”

             
They all nodded as he returned to his seat, and he began pressing buttons on his screen.  The three of them looked out in the distance, and all they could see was water zooming under them.  They could hear the pilots talking, but could not really understand what they were saying.  Then, just a few miles away they saw a huge black spot suddenly appear from the air in front them.  Harold realized that whatever it was could become invisible like the High-Born.

             
As they neared it, the plane began to slow.  Then, he realized that the black spot was a massive boat of some kind.  It just kept getting larger the closer they got to it and the sheer size of it baffled Harold.  A horizontal line of light appeared on the front of it as they continued moving towards it.  The line grew into a square of light, and Harold could see a large corridor and he thought he could see people walking in it.  It was as high out of the water as some of the High-Born buildings stood from the ground, probably somewhere between six and seven stories from the surface.  

             
The plane had now come to an almost complete standstill and it was inching forward now.  He noticed that the pilots were watching their screens and not the ship.  One of them pressed a lit symbol, and Harold thought he felt the plane move slightly to the left.  As they entered into the ship, Harold felt something that he was sure he had never felt before.  He thought about this curious feeling for a moment, and came to the conclusion that he actually felt safe.  Then he closed his eyes and let his head fall back on the pillow as he smiled.

             
He felt a hard bump heard a loud bang.  As he yawned, he heard a motor whirring and a light shined across his face.  He opened his eyes, and looked toward the door.  There were several people in white suits pushing beds onto the plane.  The people who had been looking after Gabby called the first bed to them.  Harold saw them move her to it and then they pushed her away.

             
Another team lifted him onto a second bed and began carting him down the ramp into the confines of the huge ship.  He felt very sleepy, and he just let himself drift into a restful sleep as they pushed him down the ramp of the plane.

Chapter 51

             
Harold opened his eyes. 

             
To begin with, he didn’t know where he was, and then the memories of the previous weeks and months passed through his mind.  He was in a very dim room, and it was very cool.  He felt so good that he just closed his eyes and let his head fall back on the pillow. 

             
After a few more minutes, he looked down.  A white bed sheet covered him, and he was not lying completely flat as there was a slight incline.  One of those strange monitors was next to his bed.  There was a wavy line moving across it and two numbers in the top right of the screen and a single number in the bottom right. 112/72 was at the top, and 50 was at the bottom.

             
He rubbed his eyes, and yawned.  He felt great, but he just lay there for a few more minutes, enjoying a sense of relaxation that he was not sure if he had ever known.  He looked down, and realized that he was naked except for a thin gown that did not feel like it entirely covered his butt.  He let a laugh escape his lips, and pulled back the sheets as he slung his legs over the side of the bed. 

             
Then he realized that he was in a small room with no windows.  As he hopped down to the floor, a beam of light shot from behind him.  He turned to see the silhouette of a woman standing there.

             
“Hey there, Blaze.  I’m Doctor Carter,” she said.  “You must’ve been very tired.  You’ve been asleep for almost twelve hours.  How do you feel?”