Mobius (11 page)

As I stood there trembling, a commotion erupted from the remote pilots. They twisted and swayed as they became strangely excited. The warships hovering above whirred with power as their fusion reactors cycled up.

A circular segment of the launching bay’s ceiling slid open, revealing the aqua-green waters of the Atlantic Ocean. A force field was now all that kept the entire weight of the ocean from plunging into the launching bay. A giant force field emitter, near the opening, propelled a powerful beam up into the ocean waters. It expanded, thus parting the seas and creating a massive tubular column, through which a movement of air could be felt as the pressure of the cavern equalized with the upper atmosphere. The tubular force field remained steady and the anti-relativity warships began their ascent through the sluice gate.

Just as I prepared to trigger my anti-gravity belt and flee through the sluice gate, Allienora entered the launching bay with two of the Fume’s human minions following behind her.

She’ll see my eyes,
I worried, turning away as she approached.

“Sir Vole, what’s going on?” asked Allienora.

“I was giving Mr. Mobius a tour,” replied the Fume.

“There’s no time for tours,” said Allienora. “A hundred and twelve vessels of extraordinary size are headed for Earth. They overtake Saturn as we speak. At current velocities, they’ll arrive here within twelve hours. Your guidance as defense minister is required.”

“I’ll be there momentarily, Prime Minister.”

I turned to the Fume. “Defense Minister Vole, you don’t seem concerned about this threat. Could it be you knew of this visit?”

Allienora gasped. “What is this, Theron? Your eyes are the same as the traitor Sensimion.”

“It’s not what you think, Allienora.”

“I believed in you, but I was wrong.” She pointed upward. “Are you also in league with these vessels headed for Earth?”

“You should ask Renworth Vole,” I said. “He’s the one responsible for this mysterious fleet.”

The Fume snapped his fingers at his minions. “Take Mr. Mobius to my special workshop.”

“I don’t think so!” I cautiously stepped backward as the minions came toward me. I could sense they were a dangerous sort, filled with a volatile combination of small thoughts and big egos. I realized I’d be no match for them and grabbed the string of explosive marbles concealed in my pocket. In one fluid movement, I scattered the marbles on the ground, interlinked with my anti-gravity belt, and sent myself flying toward Allienora. I snatched her up and we flew in the direction of the sluice gate.

Seconds passed and the concussion of explosive marbles jarred my senses. Allienora thrashed and kicked in my arms.

“Stop moving!” I cried. “Do you wish to fall to your death? Look downward. We’re a hundred feet up, and fly higher!”

“Help me!” she yelled.

“I’ll save you, Cassandra. Just be still and I’ll take you away from here.”

“Who’s Cassandra?” screamed Allienora.

I didn’t know what I was thinking. She looked so much like Cassandra.

“He’s not human,” I said. “Look back and see the monster, Renworth Vole. No human could’ve survived that explosion.”

The two minions were disfigured, toppled into grotesque mounds—all blood and gore. Between them stood Renworth Vole, unhurt by the explosion. He held his hands over the remains of his human minions, as if praying for them.

I turned my attention to the sluice gate, while Allienora continued to look back.

“They’re alive!” she yelled. “By some impossible reflux of life, the defense minister’s men live. Did you see?”

“No,” I said, concentrating on our escape. “The warships have departed the launching bay! The sluice gate is closing! Hold on!”

I implemented the full thrust of my anti-gravity belt and we rocketed up through the ocean depths. Just as we rose above the water’s surface, the sluice gate released its tubular force field from the ocean waters, sending a tremendous gust of wind upward as the ocean collapsed in on the remaining void.

I idled my anti-gravity belt, and we floated on a breeze in midair. We overlooked a turbulent ocean in all directions. I looked up and became enchanted by the sapphire-blue light spilling across the sky from horizon to horizon. I marveled at this sentient entity that shrouded Earth.

“Has it truly existed with humankind for so long, undiscovered?”

“Release me, you lunatic,” screamed Allienora. “What are you looking at? Why do you stare at the sky like a madman? Do you hear me? Release me!”

“If I release you now, you’ll drown. A storm brews in the east and will be here soon. We must fly.”

Allienora glanced eastward and roared angrily.

“Such spirit, Prime Minister.” I smiled. “I like it.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“You have to trust me.”

“Impossible!”

“Only an hour ago, you said you had faith in me.”

“Things change. You’re fucking crazy!”

“You’re too beautiful for such language, Allienora.”

I was about to move in the direction of the coordinates given to me by Sensimion’s colleague when a small transport ship caught my eye. It descended in a freefall, like a fishing lure dropped from the heavens. In an instant, it came to rest exactly beside us. A window opened and a haggard head appeared. The pilot’s lustrous hyper-blue eyes instantly identified him.

“Open the door,” I called.

The pilot didn’t comply. He lingered in silence and inspected Allienora, who hung tightly around me.

“Drop the woman in the ocean and I’ll open the door.”

“Are you totally heartless? She’s an innocent bystander. Let us in, goddamnit!”

The pilot grunted and then opened the door. We entered the small transport and fell onto a plush velvet bench.

“They’ll be here soon,” said the pilot. “We must move fast, so our destination isn’t revealed.” He engaged the transport ship toward North America.

Allienora pulled wind-tangled ringlets of golden hair from her face. “You maniacs won’t get far. You realize I’m the Prime Minister of Earth? An army will be here in moments.”

The pilot lifted his hand in a careless manner. “I’m a clever man, Prime Minister. I’ve planned for the worst.”

I felt hardly reassured. “Exactly what are these Obelisks, where are we headed, and what’s the plan?”

“Save your questions until we’re off this planet. We’re still uncertain as to the scope of the Fume’s powers and perceptions.”

“Are you aware the Fume is a single entity, which controls every manifestation?”

“We are,” said the pilot. “When the Brahman Station was being sabotaged, we were monitoring the interaction between Sensimion and one of the Fume’s human minions, who implied this fact when he called the Fume his ‘master.’”

“You’re both crazy,” said Allienora. “You’re talking nonsense.”

“Listen carefully,” I explained. “There’s a powerful presence on Earth. It has secretly existed with humankind for millennia. It commands powers beyond mere mortals, including omnipresence, possible mind control, the ability to turn a man to ash with a gesture—and, as you’ve witnessed, it’s immune to the effects of explosives. It manipulates humankind as if it were a machine to be tweaked and adjusted. To what end? We don’t know. But it’s possible the Obelisks are a move toward the Fume’s final plan.”

Allienora held up a flat palm. “Gods and monsters? You’re insane.”

The transport ship traversed the American continent and headed out into the Pacific Ocean on a course for Asia.

“We have company,” announced the pilot.

I peered through a porthole and discovered a ship flying alongside us.

“They’ve come for me,” said Allienora triumphantly. “You’d be smart to surrender.” She tapped the smart-glass of the porthole, magnifying the nearby ship. “It’s impossible! I thought I was confused!”

“What?” I asked.

Allienora displayed less hostility. “After you gruesomely murdered the defense minister’s men, I thought I saw them stand up from death, as if resurrected.” She gestured through the porthole. “I thought I was hallucinating, but it must have been real. One of the minions sits, quite healthy, within that ship.”

I spotted another ship barreling down from the sky. “It looks like his buddy’s joining him.”

“Hold on!” said the pilot, taking evasive maneuvers. “It’s hopeless. Their ships are faster. It’s time for a more extreme plan.”

“Well,” I said. “What’s your plan?”

“There are anti-gravity belts and personal cloaks at your feet.”

“You want us to abandon ship?” I said. “These cloaking devices are just visual camouflage. They’ll find us immediately.”

“They won’t think we’ve left the ship—we’ll leave bodies behind.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“There’s a compartment under your seat.”

Allienora and I stood up and lifted the cushion. Surprisingly, we found two men inside. At first glance, they appeared dead, until I noticed the slight rise and fall of their chests.

I inspected the faces of the two sleeping men. “You’ve indeed prepared for the worst by cloning the two of us.”

Allienora’s eyes flared at the pilot. “How can you expect me to trust you when you perpetrate such crimes? Cloning is a capital offence.”

The pilot waved a hand in disregard. “Truly, this is no time to nitpick, Prime Minister. Or have you yet to realize our lives hang from a thread.”

“Your plan’s flawed,” I said. “There are only two clones.”

“You should have dropped Allienora into the ocean.”

Allienora leaned forward. “You’re not going to leave me behind, are you?”

“It’s the obvious choice,” said the pilot. “Besides, don’t you wish to be free from us?”

Allienora shook her head wildly. “I don’t know! I don’t understand what’s going on!”

The pilot sighed. “You and Theron will go. I’ll deal with the Fume’s human minions. They won’t think to differentiate the life signs within this ship. Now, get ready to fly. The coast of China isn’t far off.”

While Allienora and I prepared our cloaks and anti-gravity belts, the pilot pushed the small transport ship to its limits in an effort to reach landmass.

“You must go now,” said the pilot. “More ships approach. Stand behind the bench above the emergency-hatch and prepare to eject.”

I grabbed Allienora’s hand and activated our cloaks. “We must fly together so our cloaking fields are merged. I don’t want to lose you in the unforgiving lands of China.”

The pilot glanced back to me and Allienora. “Do you remember the exact coordinates, Theron?”

“I do. What will we find there?”

The pilot didn’t answer. He looked to the sky with his glowing synthetic eyes wide. “Despite all its ominous overtones, the dimension and exotic energy filling the sky is quite beautiful. Isn’t it?” With that said, he triggered the emergency hatch, sending us into freefall.

I activated our anti-gravity belts and we floated just off the coast of China. We watched from a distance as four ships surrounded the small transport. Moments later, the transport ignited into a fireball, apparently caused by an internal explosion.

“My God!” screamed Allienora.