Diamond Sky (Diamond Sky Trilogy Book 1) (36 page)
Read Diamond Sky (Diamond Sky Trilogy Book 1) Online
Authors: David Clarkson
Instinct had brought these animals to the lab and at once
they focussed their aggression on the professor. She half expected him to use
his pseudo magic on them, but he did not. His showing off in front of her by
teleporting had weakened him. If he attempted such a feat again, it would
probably kill him. He had to fight them off the old fashioned way.
When he disabled Lucas in order to steal the policeman’s body,
he acquired a belt bearing an empty pistol holder and nightstick. As the first
of the beasts lurched towards him, he grabbed the nightstick and brought it
crashing against the animals face, sending it careening into a wall.
Two animals remained. One was holding back, reluctant to
make a move, whilst the other leapt at Fox. This one had learned from its
predecessor and instinctively twisted its body, managing to come down on top of
the professor, but he was not beaten yet. He rolled away before it could strike
him again. He then turned around and using the nightstick, he pinned the animal
to the floor by its neck. He could have killed it, but instead he placed his
hand over its face. He was going to drain its life force to make
himself
stronger.
Emmy
could not allow this to
happen. If her grandfather replenished his energy, he would become unstoppable
and she would be doomed. She grabbed hold of a small fire extinguisher and ran
towards him, prepared to deliver a fatal blow if needed. He saw her coming and instinctively
pushed his hand out to stop her. As his palm was thrust onto her chest she felt
a sudden shock, like electricity searing through her body. The energy that he
pulled out of the animal was transferred to her, but it did not make her
stronger. She was not an
undead
psychopath driven
crazy by radiation – she was simply human. The energy overwhelmed her and she
staggered backwards then fell to the floor.
Fox continued to take what was left of the animal’s life
force for himself and then finished it off with a blow to its head.
Emmy
stood up, but as she did so the room shifted to a
completely different perspective. All of the colours disappeared and it felt
like somebody had turned on a dozen lights in the dark.
It was an astral view.
Her physical body lay at her feet, glowing dimmer than the
other beings in the room. There was no cord connecting it to her spirit.
She was dead.
Without a connection to the flesh, she no longer felt such
heightened emotions. More concentrations of energy appeared around her. Like
her, these were not part of the material world. The formless shapes soon
remoulded themselves into something more recognisable. It was
Davo
, Sammy and Lucas. They had come for her.
Fox had not yet noticed what he had done. He still had one
more animal to deal with and this one was keeping its distance, reluctant to
engage him. Free from the clutter of the living mind,
Emmy
knew immediately what she had to do. The other spirits would have to wait.
She willed her being towards her grandfather and as soon as
she felt her energy intermingle with his, she pushed them both forwards and
then upwards, tearing him from the physical flesh and carrying his life force
into the far reaches of outer space.
‘
What are you doing?’
She ignored his question and began to concentrate on opening
up the portal that she had seen that time in the field with Lucy’s dead father.
They were a long way from the reaches of the radiation and she soon felt the
irresistible pull from before.
‘
I’m sending you where you belong.’
She could feel that the opening was close and that they
would soon pass through it. After all of the violence and all of the pain, she
was about to find peace.
Then everything began to change again. The gravitational pull
started to weaken. She was no longer in control. Her grandfather was fighting
back.
‘
You are not as strong as you think you are,’
he told
her.
‘I will go back.’
She tried to fight. Her previous out of body experiences
gave her increased knowledge, but no matter how much she tried to focus her
energy, she knew that he was more powerful. He had shed reason and restraint
long before he had shed his physical skin. His will was like a dwarf star about
to go supernova. It overwhelmed her. She could feel his hateful determination
penetrating every aspect of her spirit. In virtually no time at all the opening
started to close and she knew that at any moment, he would break away from her
and return to his body. Except that it was not his body that he would be returning
to – it was hers.
‘
Why do you still fight?’
she pleaded.
‘You have
already failed; my body is dead.’
The opening was now closed and it would only be a matter of
time before he was free. All that she could now do was to try and stall the
inevitable and her grandfather was all too aware of this.
‘
It is nothing I cannot fix,’
he told her.
‘Nothing will stop my rebirth. The important thing is that I will live again.’
His
expression then took on a more cruel aspect.
‘Besides,’
he added,
‘I
am looking forward to becoming a lesbian.’
His cruelty had become too much for her. She had failed. It
was time for her to let go, but as she tried to release her grip, she felt
another hand press down on hers and the portal reopened. It was the spirit of
her father; David
Armareth
.
Fox became panicked. As he lost focus, he also lost his
strength, yielding more of his previous advantage. It was, however, about to
get a lot worse for the once great genius of Jackson’s Hill. The space around
them began to light up with the diamond glare of yet more spirits.
Emmy
was amazed to see that they had now been joined by
Lucas and Sammy. It was too much for Fox. Surrounded by the spirits of those he
had murdered, the old man was finally defeated.
As they reached the threshold of the opening, she felt warm
and secure. It was the strangest feeling, but she felt like she was home.
Returning to her previous life no longer seemed important, but her father had
other ideas.
Davo
pulled
Emmy’s
hand away from Fox and stayed with her as the Aboriginal and the policeman took
her grandfather beyond the boundary of human existence.
‘
I don’t understand,’
she said.
‘Why are we not
going with them?’
He smiled at her.
‘
It is not yet your time.’
She shook her ethereal head.
‘
There is nothing left for me there.’
He turned and as she followed his gaze, she saw the opening
return, but he did not intend for her to pass through it.
‘
You will never be alone,
Emmy
.
You have to go back and show the world what you have learned.’
‘But...’
He smiled at her one last time.
‘It is time. Just remember that I love you, always.’
He let go of her hand and she could feel herself falling to
Earth. In an instant, she was back. She opened her eyes and surveyed the
devastation that had been left behind. One of the kangaroos had survived. It
paid her little heed and hopped out of the laboratory, leaving her alone.
Lucas’ body was on the floor. She knelt down and felt for a pulse, but there
was none. This time it really was over. Her grandfather was finally gone.
She got back to her feet and started to walk towards the
exit, but her body was too tired. The injuries, which had previously ended her
life, were not fatal the second time around. In time they would heal.
She stopped and sat on the steps leading up to the control
station for a rest. She then rubbed her face and took a deep, controlled
breath. The sound of footsteps could be heard in the corridor and this was
followed by a shadow, which appeared in the doorway. She looked up to see Lucy
smiling back at her. She knew at once that she was going to be okay.
The two figures negotiated the trail leading to the top
of the canyon quickly, relying on starlight to guide their way. Tourists were forbidden
to enter the park at this time so they had to be wary of being spotted by any
rangers unlucky enough to be assigned the night shift. The outback was a
treacherous place at any time, but night time was when the threat was at its
most potent. The pair travelled light, with just one small backpack between
them.
‘Here will be fine,’ said the one
who had led the way.
‘Do you want me to...you know;
give you a little privacy?’ asked her partner, whom was carrying the bag.
‘That’s not necessary. I think it
is fitting that you are here for this final goodbye. I also think that Dad
would too.’
‘I understand.’
The second woman removed the bag
from her shoulder and unzipped a side pouch, taking out the urn and passing it
to her partner.
‘It’s kind of weird,’ said the
first woman. ‘We’re not just laying to rest Dad, but also our former lives.
After tonight there will be no more Lucinda Skye or November Rayne. What does
that leave us with?’
‘Each other.
Besides, we still have our memories even if there are some among them that we
would rather leave behind.’
‘You’re right; from this moment
on it is what lies ahead that counts and we have to ensure that we make the
most of it.’
She lifted the lid off of the urn
and held the receptacle at arm’s length before slowly tipping the contents into
the wind, where it would be distributed throughout the canyon forever. Once it
was empty, she took her lover by the hand and they both turned their eyes
skywards towards a million billion stars. Like their future, the possibilities
were endless.
Two thousand miles away, in a
casino in Darwin, there was another who was also making a fresh start that
night. With nothing but the clothes he wore and his humble poker stake,
acquired from a swift cash sale of his motorbike. He had everything to lose.
The dealer flipped him his cards. It was a strong hand. He closed his eyes and
waited for the cards of his opponents to be revealed to him. Then he placed his
bet, confident in the knowledge that he could not lose.
The End...
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David Clarkson grew up in the North East of England,
where he studied English Literature at the University of Sunderland. One day,
following a drunken challenge from a friend, he bought a one-way ticket to
Australia and spent the following three years travelling the world. Upon his
return, he struggled to adapt to a normal life and sought solace in his own overactive
imagination, where he remains to this day.
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By
David Clarkson
It is three years since the tragedy in Jackson’s Hill and
Dr
Emmy
Rayne is still in hiding. A secret
underground base has been established to continue the work she started, but
without the scientist, the project has hit a wall. In order to find her and
force her co-operation, the military turn their attention to another resident
of the town to have made it out alive. If they want
Emmy
,
then first capturing Jimmy Johnson is the key.
Thousands of miles away in a secluded mountain hideaway,
there are others who wish to find the elusive scientist. They, however, do not
need her in order to acquire the astral technology. They already have it. What
they want is to ensure that nobody else can share in their power. By destroying
Emmy
Rayne, they will become unstoppable...
By
David Clarkson
Matt joins the outback harvest trail so that he can get
another year added to his visa. When he arrives to find that drink, drugs and
sex are just as easy to come by as they were on the coast, he thinks that the
task ahead of him may not be as daunting as he initially feared. Of course, he
is not counting on his new boss.
Rhett is a cruel and miserable Aussie farmer. He expects his
workers to graft hard and to do exactly as he tells them. He also hides a
deadly secret. Thirty years earlier he was involved in a terrible crime, the
truth of which only he knows.
When one of the young travellers inadvertently crosses
the old man, bad things begin to happen. One by one they each fall victim to a
series of brutal attacks that are not the first of their kind to occur in the
town’s history. Matt and his friends soon discover that unless they can unlock
the secret of Rhett’s past, none of them will make it out of the outback
alive...
“Been a while since I have read a book that I could
not put down, but this one just kept me coming back for more.” 5* -
Amazon
Review
“This is excellently
written, has great suspense and is a treat for anyone who has ever been on a
backpack holiday.” 5* -
Amazon Review