Gods and The City (Gods and the Starways Book 1)
Page 17
The joy that Drake felt every time he embraced the sky engulfed him once again. The World Mountain dominated human life on the planet, but the sky owned his heart. Here at the edge of atmosphere and space he felt free; the majesty of an entire world lay before him.
He leveled off and angled toward the atmospheric curtain. It winked in and out of his vision, a thin barrier between life on the World Mountain and the eternal cold beyond. He braced himself for the transition.
Whether it was from the upwelling of the warm gasses or some other quirk of the seasons, passing through the curtain this time was a smoother experience than any other crossing he had attempted. He shuddered only slightly as he broke through into the native atmosphere. He felt his wingsuit compensating for the pressure and temperature differentials. Seconds later, he heard Giselle on the comm link give a soft laugh as she passed through. Heath was silent throughout his own transition through the curtain.
But Drake had little time to follow their responses. He had glided only a few hundred meters beyond the atmospheric curtain when he began to feel the first tentative effects of the natural gas eruption below. His gradual descent stopped. The readouts on his lenses displayed temperature and pressure readings he had never witnessed in any of his previous glides.
And then the world carried him away.
He laughed in astonishment. The hot natural gas venting from the chasm delivered the most perfect updraft Drake had ever felt in his life, as if the sky itself had reached up from below to lift him to the heavens. From behind and below he heard Giselle’s sharp intake of breath even over the comm link. “Oh! Heath, do you feel it?”
Drake soared upward in a leisurely spiral. Within moments he was higher than he had ever been, seeing perspectives of the World Mountain he had never witnessed before. But even as he rose with what he knew was significant speed, the great, incalculable mass of the World Mountain still dominated the landscape, its magnificent peak greater than any in the three dozen settled solar systems.
He used the wingsuit’s optical fabrics to shift view feeds to his lenses, taking in every detail of this extraordinary perspective. A small smudge near an outcropping caught his attention. He zoomed in, and passed the feed to Giselle and Heath.
“Giselle! Do you see that opening? It’s a cargo hanger! That’s a new level I never knew existed.”
She replied excitedly as the opening came into her view. Even Heath murmured approval.
Drake soared higher yet, the streams of gas pushing his wingsuit ever upward. He angled away from the mountain that dominated this world and surveyed the peaks beyond. The curve of the world was already more pronounced, the sky darker. So far as Drake knew, no one had ever taken a wingsuit this high.
He lost track of time as the three of them spiraled upward, silenced by the sheer scale of the rocky peaks. Far below he spied one of the great airships that constantly circumnavigated the mountain, transporting cargo and people between the lower levels. A memory arose from years past of his first ride in one of the colossal airships. To his young eyes it had seemed like they were flying at an impossibly high altitude on that trip, as if they might float off into space, but they had been traveling between settlements that were only half-way up the World Mountain.
He was brought back into focus by Giselle’s voice over the comm line. “Drake, I think our ascent is leveling off. It’s gradual, but definite. Are you seeing this too?”
Drake scanned his readouts. She was right���the lift was slowing. They would not get much higher.
Heath chimed in. “Drake, I think we ought to think about leaving the updraft. If we stay near the boundary we should have a soft glide back down.”
Drake did not reply, but turned in and glided closer to the South Face. They were still not at the summit, although it was not far off. Just a little higher���
And then he noticed it: Along one of the irregular terraces the natural stone was interrupted by regular patterns, shapes that suggested man-made excavation. The flicker of the atmospheric curtain distorted the details.
He dove toward it.
Giselle and Heath called out after him. Drake said nothing, but passed the visual feed to them. Within seconds he transited back through the curtain, into the human-norm environment.
He could see the cavern clearly now. It was large, big enough to accommodate cargo airships easily. A platform jutted from the lower lip. But what grabbed his attention was the ornate carvings and artwork that surrounded the opening. He recognized some of the glyphs, but not all of them. It looked ceremonial in nature, similar to the way the lowest cavern on the mountain was structured and adorned.
“I’m going to land here,” he transmitted to Giselle and Heath. “If this is as high as we can go, I want to see something new at least. Nobody I know has ever been this high.”
He sent the commands to his wingsuit that brought him in slowly, and within moments he made a soft landing on the platform. He looked up and around, amazed at the enormous carvings in the stone.
Giselle and Heath landed behind him shortly afterward.
“So do we have a story prepared for when we get rounded up? I don’t recall discussing that earlier,” Heath said.
Drake removed the head covering from his wingsuit and took in a deep breath. “I’m going to tell them it was all your idea,” he replied with a smirk. He looked over at Giselle and saw her give a nervous smile in return.
They powered down their wingsuits and walked slowly into the cavernous room. As they advanced, soft automatic lighting flickered to life in ripples across the surface of the metallic floor.
“Where is everybody? Surely this place can’t be abandoned,” Giselle said.
“More interesting, where is every thing?” Drake replied. “I don’t understand why there is no machinery, or equipment, or supplies of any kind. If this is the actual highest level, there should be some evidence that people have been summoned here. I mean, they aren’t just kicking them over the side, I’m pretty sure.”
They moved further in.
More lights activated, high in the rough stone that formed the ceiling. Somewhere, at the edge of hearing, gentle noises whispered, distant voices that coalesced into��� music? It was a rhythm and musical style none of them had ever encountered before. Ordered and mechanical, but also infused with a melancholy soulfulness.
And then the music seemed even further away. Drake turned his head to face Giselle.
It was the last physical move he ever made.
He was frozen in place, powerless, standing paralyzed as some force overtook his body. He wanted to yell to the others but could not. He saw Giselle was also standing motionless, rooted where she stood.
But there was motion in the room.
The floor itself started moving, liquid metal flowing around his feet, up his legs. By feel alone he could not tell what was happening, but his view was locked on Giselle, and he watched as the living metal twisted its way around her legs. He knew the same was happening to him.
He saw the terror in Giselle’s eyes and felt the same cold fear stab through his body��� but just as quickly he felt a new sensation, a warm and soothing caress that formed a message in his mind.
Comprehension. Acceptance.
Yes. Of course.
At the end of a natural life, all were incorporated into the great intelligence that ran the World Mountain. It was completely natural that he should be absorbed by the Chamber of Welcoming.
Drake could no longer see through his own eyes, but suddenly realized he was perceiving the world through new senses. He could feel the presence of Giselle and Heath nearby, and sent out warm greetings. They would be together always, he knew.
At the edge of his perception he could distinguish another presence, someone new. Ah. The Messenger, he understood instantly.
A torrent of information flowed through Drake’s mind. He saw���felt���the incredible mastery of energy that kept the atmospheric curtain operating. He m
arveled over the network of tubes that sliced through the mountain, carrying people to their tasks. He could feel links to starships in orbit, an endless armada trading goods and moving people throughout the vastness of the galaxy.
The Messenger gently probed his mind, seeking out his interests and skills. There was a role for all, of course. Keeping the World Mountain alive was a monumental undertaking. Drake perceived that the Messenger was especially excited that the new arrivals were still so young. An unexpected gift! So much to do!
Drake laughed internally, his final action as a purely human being, as he swam through the flood of information. One insight in particular seized his attention. Among the characteristics sought most eagerly by the Great Intelligence was:
Demonstrates initiative.
The end
Copyright
Atop the World Mountain is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are either products of the author���s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright �� 2014 by Steve Statham
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Published in the United States by Statham Communications LLC
Visit: stevestatham.com
Acknowledgments
I’ve got plenty of thanks to pass around, so let’s start with my editor, Rob Reaser at Reaser Brand Communications. Thanks once more for the perceptive advice, Rob, not to mention tracking down my assorted failures at wordsmithery.
Allow me also to direct gratitude toward my elite team of beta readers, including Robyn, Bobby and Roger. Your observations were sharp, your speed impressive, and your encouragement welcome.
Thanks, all.
Also by Steve Statham
Science-Fiction Thrillers
The Connor Rix Chronicles
Got a problem with a violent superhuman outlaw? Connor Rix, a bio-enhanced PI, is the guy you call to set things right.
Book 1: Rules of Force
Book 2: Levers of Power
Book 3: Monsters and Angels
Compilation e-book:
Connor Rix Series���Three SF Thriller Novels
Collects Rules of Force, Levers of Power, and Monsters and Angels in one volume
Short Stories
Alien Texas
About the Author
Steve Statham began his writing career in the car magazine world, pounding out stories about automobiles with too much horsepower. Steve’s youthful interest in fast cars eventually led to a 20-year career in automotive journalism. He is the author and primary photographer of 13 non-fiction books on automotive subjects, and was the editor of Musclecar Enthusiast magazine for many years. He has had hundreds of feature, technical and travel articles published in dozens of magazines.
But always, perched on the nightstand, were battered paperbacks by Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Robert Heinlein, J.R.R. Tolkien, Larry Niven, Robert Silverberg, Dan Simmons, Vernor Vinge and others. Steve vowed to one day join their ranks.
Gods and The City is Steve’s fifth SF/Fantasy novel.
For more on Steve, visit his author website.
Table of Contents
Teaser
Dedication
The First Lesson
Chapter 1: Manifestation
Chapter 2: The Fixer
Chapter 3: To Strike a God
Chapter 4: Under the Dome
Chapter 5: Flight of the Acolyte
Chapter 6: The Space Below
Chapter 7: The Second Lesson
Chapter 8: The Winds of Mortality
Chapter 9: Man and Machine
Chapter 10: The State of Things
Chapter 11: The Third Lesson
Chapter 12: More Than Human
Chapter 13: The Godpaths
Chapter 14: Memories of Tower
Chapter 15: The Sundering
Chapter 16: Demigod
Chapter 17: Divine Space
Chapter 18: Thralls
Chapter 19: The Hightower
Chapter 20: The Administrator’s Secret
Chapter 21: The First to Fall
Chapter 22: To Fight Back
Chapter 23: Divisible by Four
Chapter 24: All Must Rise
Chapter 25: The Immortal God
Copyright
Bonus Short Story! Atop the World Mountain
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Also by Steve Statham
About The Author