Might's Odyssey (The Event Book 2) (12 page)

He fell fast. A void formed in his stomach. He gasped struggling to keep the nausea surging in his bowels from spilling out of his mouth.

Black smoke and hot air billowed out all around him. The fight with the Higuan giants had reduced his hazmat suit to ragged and tattered strips. The glass pane in his helmet was badly cracked. The cracks were becoming wider by the second.

The glass exploded a few seconds later filling his lungs with the choking smoke around him. Coughing desperately as he fell, he struggled to stay conscious. Warm air currents blew away most of the smoke and fumes.

His plummet slowed to a languid floating and a red glow appeared beneath him. His heartbeat sped up. Hope that wasn’t lava? Brainwave always said he was indestructible. He could only hope she was right. He was toast if she was wrong.

The glow became brighter shinning with fiery red luster; this made a white cloud erupt from the center, spewing upwards in a manner that suggested there was some great explosion happening underneath it.

The red cloud raced up at breathtaking speeds. He raised his arms to cover his face as the searing cloud engulfed him.

He had never felt such heat; not even when he had been in the center of that fusion grenade explosion in Sulphurlock. The ragged remains of his hazmat suit degraded further still. His helmet split across the forehead exploding into tiny pieces leaving his head bare.

The flaming cloud disappeared seconds later, instantly replaced by cool sweet scented wind. He opened his eyes and looked down surprised to see he was staring into a portal. Closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around himself, he plunged into it.

His eyes opened slowly. He was in a floating limbo. There was nothing tangible around him that he could see. Just whiteness and blackness wrapped in a chaotic miasma.

The light when it appeared was too much, and when the darkness appeared, it was all consuming. His emotions too were erratic. One second he found himself soaring on waves of happiness and pleasure, which bordered on euphoric and the next he was consumed by a suicidal depression so heavy that it seemed as if a heavy hand was pressed down on him. This was a realm of two extremes.

Something told him he was no longer on Nephilim. He was in-between places. Another portal appeared to his right. A vacuum of air started to suck him in. He fought it as long as he could, but eventually he was pulled through.

A light burst later, some searing pain, pressure in his chest and then he slammed onto concrete. Gasping and coughing he rose to his feet slowly.

His eyes widened. He was in a wide area; a giant room, more than five miles across. It looked like the control hub of a massive space exploration program with gargantuan computers, almost two dozen hundred inch screens and leather chairs stretching on either side into the distance.

A faint light glimmered at the opposite end of the room. He frowned as he looked at it. What was that now?

A sultry female voice spoke.

“Welcome stranger__”

He whipped around in a half circle holding his fists at the ready.

“Do not be alarmed__ I am Maggie FT 8. I am the control program for the light jump sequence.”

Might blinked several times. He looked around trying to locate where the voice was coming from.

“Light jump sequence?”

“Or teleportation rapid shift module___ whichever you prefer.”

Might’s face grew more puzzled. “What the devil are you saying__” He barked out thoroughly incensed now.

Maggie sighed and started to speak again.

“The control hub you are looking at is what is called the Orion jump. It was created in the latter part of the 21
st
century a year after Belor found the cure to cancer. Communication, information sharing and weapons consulting had been going on for more than fifty years between humans and the Exilrons.

“Space exploration by NASA had proven ineffective and the cost crippling. The Exilrons put forward another solution. No metal we possessed on earth had the strength and durability to produce the frames of the star crafts the Exilrons used to visit star systems; not to mention the fact that earth had no suitable fuel for faster than light speed. It was therefore expedient that they schooled humans, teaching them how to build the light jump.

“The light jump is a teleportation program designed to send people, machines, drones… pretty much anything across vast distances of space. It transports them to planets or worlds millions of light years away from their own. The process of this transport is what we call the light jump sequence.”

Might nodded finally understanding. The understanding on his face quickly turned to one of puzzlement. All this information was good, but how did it help him locate Darwin? He had barely finished thinking this, when__

“The keycard is on an earth like world called Viteolious X-6. You must use the light jump to get there.”

“But why did they put it on Vite-whatever you call it?”

Eleyon did not speak again but Maggie FT 8 did.

“I did not get that stranger__ what did you say?”

Snapping out of his reverie, Might struggled to focus on what Maggie was asking him.

“Never mind that computer. I want to use the light jump. I need to get to Viteolious X-6. Does it still work?”

“But of course stranger__ the system was modeled after the healing system of the human body. Self servicing, it does repairs on itself, Nano technology at its best.”

Might was on the verge of asking how that was possible when he decided against it. That was not important.

“So how do we go about it?”

“Step forward quickly__”

He was on the verge of asking what stepping forward had to do with anything when a section of the floor six feet away from where he stood descended into the ground and out of it rose what looked like a massive shower stall with a thick mass of wires wrapped around the sides of it.

Might’s eyes narrowed as he walked towards it.

“No! You must wear the suit before you enter the chamber.”

“What suit?”

A whooshing sound rang out from his right. He turned, eyes widening when he saw four of the computers shift aside as if they were moving on invisible pulleys. When a sizable space was created, a six-foot tall chamber came out. In it were several snow-white suits. They looked a lot like the biomechanical ones he found in General Holdstatt’s base.

The only difference was there were lines of green running down the sides of these ones; the lines were flickering with white light.

“You need the suit to protect you from the light jump rays. If your skin is exposed to the rays it could have disastrous consequences for your body and even your life.”

Might nodded but did not speak. He headed for the chamber. A section of it slid open as he approached. Reaching forward, he was startled to discover that the inside of the chamber was freezing. He quickly unclasped one of the suits and withdrew his hand. The door of the chamber slid closed with another whoosh.

Removing his tattered hazmat suit, he tossed it on the floor. As he turned to examine the new suit, the hazmat suit spat out the first keycard. He shivered. He had almost forgotten about the keycard. Picking it up he held it to the light to examine it. When he saw nothing new, he turned his attention back to the new suit.

He held it up to the light to give it a closer look. A force tore it from his hands and it zipped up into the air, hovering there for a couple of seconds before flying back aiming straight for him.

It slammed into him and the threads seemed to liquefy molding itself to his body. He struggled and pulled at it but it did not budge.

“Don’t fight it___ its coding itself to your DNA.”

He took a deep breath and became still. The bulkiness of the suit vanished and it became body fitting, sticking to him like spandex. Out of the collar grew a long hood, which instantly turned to a helmet. A second later cool air filtered into his lungs from the inside of the helmet.

“Now you are ready to take the light jump.”
Maggie FT 8 said with a satisfied sigh.

“Do you think the light jump experience will be in anyway similar to the flight which links Karnack with the city of light?”

There was a pause. Might got the sense that the computer was mulling over his question.

“I am afraid I do not know what you are talking about stranger.”

Shrugging impatiently, Might stepped towards the shower stall like equipment. The threads of the suit reached out and pulled the keycard out of his hand. The keycard vanished into the liquefied fabric before it solidified a few seconds later. The door of the shower stall slid open and a thick cloud of white mist blew out. He paused for a bit outside the door, before he stepped in and the door closed behind him.

“Travel safe dear stranger. I have to warn you that the experience might be strange and disconcerting. Some have been known to experience symptoms very similar to sea sickness.”

Might nodded but did not speak. The chamber started to shake. Thick mist streamed out of half a dozen vents on the floor.

“Fly safe__”

Light beamed down from the top of the chamber covering him from head to toe. He felt no sensation initially and then___ his limbs started to feel strange. They felt languid and very heavy. The next second it was as if the light was entering him, penetrating the core of his being. He started to feel very light, like he was weightless and then the chamber and the room beyond it vanished.

He became light. He was part of the light and the light carried him so fast that had he been able to feel his lungs, he would have been breathless by the speed of it.

Constellations and moons zoomed by him. He faced his right and was shocked to see a massive planet, a huge gas giant streak passed him at mindboggling speeds.

Then ahead, was an aurora. It was a mass of color, chaotic looking, as if fire burnt beneath it and the miasma of colors was formed from the smoke.

The light jump took him straight towards the center of it. He closed his eyes and all he felt was peace as he plunged into it, into the all consuming peace and tranquility.

Gbenga leaned down grabbing his bag, heading to the departure lounge of Muritala Muhammad airport. He looked smart in a black blazer, his long legs covered in grey slacks. He wore no tie, his cane clutched so tight in his right hand that his knuckles were slightly grey as was the hair on his temples.

There was a long line ahead of him. It occurred to him that had things been normal, Seyi would be here to see him off. However, things were not normal, not by a long shot. She felt he was going away on business. Who was he to take her out of her ignorance? Let her stew in it.

Boarding the plane took almost no time at all. He barely noticed the people seated around him. He leaned back in his chair, fastening his seat belt a second before the captain gave the order. Ten minutes later the plane was taxiing across the runway and moments later, they were in the air.

Usually when the plane was in the air, the low quiet humming of the engines filled him with inexplicable peace. Today however was different. He was restless and on edge. Thoughts of what he was going to say to Gerald Summers kept racing around in his head.

He had half a dozen arguments lined up, including some parts of the article he had read about dream walkers. A sardonic voice in his head warned him that Gerald Summers was not likely to heed his warning. But he knew he couldn’t live with himself if he did not try.

Several loud thumps on the exterior of the plane brought him out of his frenetic thoughts. Before he could start debating on what was responsible for the bumps, the captain’s voice rang out in the cabin.

“Sorry folks, we’ve run into a bit of turbulence. We should be out of it in the next thirty minutes or so. No need to be alarmed.”

Gbenga leaned back in his chair and promptly went to sleep. 

It seemed he had just closed his eyes when he heard the captain’s voice saying that they were landing at Heathrow airport in five minutes.

Raising his palm to his mouth to stiffen a yawn, he settled down to wait with his sense of dread growing. Looking out of the window, he saw that the plane was circling around to land.

Its tires hit the runway with a loud screech and it taxied to a halt. This was after a long wait for a number of other planes to slip into their berth. The restless passengers sprang into action, leaping to their feet and reaching up to retrieve their overhead luggage and waited poised in the aisle for a bit before they all filed to the door.

Being in first class made him one of the first to exit the plane. Three crewmembers stood at the door with wide smiles on their faces thanking them for flying Air Atadade and wishing them a pleasant day.

Gbenga nodded without speaking. His eyes barely drifted over their faces. Four seconds after he left them, he could not remember what any of them looked like.

He stepped onto the flexible connecting tunnel that bounced slightly with every step that he took. Everyone was walking fast at this point to ensure that they got as far ahead on the line as possible.

He entered a long hallway after this, deciding to use the escalator to get to the train platform. When he reached it, he waited at the edge for the next train to arrive.

It arrived some minutes later with the doors sliding open immediately. The crowd of people gathered on the platform flooded in and the train was away for the two-minute ride to the main arrival hall.

Once there, everyone rushed forward separating into British and non-British lines. The non-British line stretched along a narrow path created by several aluminum stands and their connecting ropes.

Gbenga glanced around the crowded hall watching as people made calls to let loved ones know they had arrived safely. He considered calling Seyi but quickly dismissed the thought as soon as it came. He could not deal with another argument; not now at any rate.

A wan smile lifted the corners of his lips. On a normal day, he would have laughed at his choice of words. You had to be a real morbid and twisted git to get a kick out of arguing all the time.

After almost thirty minutes of waiting, he eventually reached the head of the queue. Things went a bit quicker after this. His documents were inspected and he was waved through.

Heading down a short flight of steps, he headed for the luggage carousels looking at the giant screens above them to determine which one would bring his luggage. Close to the one the screen directed him to, was a stand of trolleys.

He inserted a pound coin to free one and dumped his suitcase into it before heading for the exit. A green sign loomed close to him with words ‘nothing to declare’. There was another saying ‘things to declare. He headed for the nothing to declare sign.

Stepping out of arrivals, he was surprised to see a group of four walking towards him and holding up a sign with his name on it. Before he could fully process that fact, more young people poured out behind him waiting for the group in front to reach them.

“Welcome Mr. Akintunde.” A sandy haired youth greeted him with a wide smile on his face. He wore a green jacket and a pale yellow shirt tucked into blue jeans with narrow horn rimmed glasses balanced on his nose.

“I am Aaron Cross. I am part of the welcoming committee.”

“The men behind us are__” He paused turning to face the three other men behind him, who were now talking to the rest of the people coming from arrivals.

“Never mind__” He said giving Gbenga a wide smile. “If you’ll be kind enough to come with me please.”

Gbenga nodded slowly as he and the twenty others were herded to two large buses. Getting on, he went straight to the back. He was a trifle irritated that Aaron kept following him.

Gbenga smiled politely and tried to listen as Aaron went on and on about the school, the courses they offered and half a dozen other things. The only time his ears pricked up was when the subject of Gerald Summers giving a talk came up.

Whenever it did however, no one spoke about it long. Gbenga could not help staring at the lot of them with puzzlement in his eyes. Was it his imagination or did the Brits find it difficult getting excited about anything? The only thing he knew they did get really excited about was football.

Aaron’s voice continued in a low monotone. He gave the appropriate response when it was needed, but for the most part his thoughts drifted. The drive to Guildford took between twenty to thirty minutes, by which time some people in the bus had drifted to sleep.

Gbenga nodded off several times but always came awake seconds later. He sighed examining the scenery around him as the bus moved along with his thoughts moving at a frenetic pace.