Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter

by Olson, Michael John

  “I won’t leave you Breeze,” she said.

  “You have to retract, you’re too weak. And besides, you didn’t leave. You came back for me.”

  She smiled as they leaned in to kiss, but she faded away when the ship shook violently while rockets fired again to alter its course.

  Breeze opened the back of the shield to vent the exhaust from the rockets, and then quickly closed it again when they stopped firing. He struggled to stay focused and keep the shield from collapsing as the friction from the atmosphere was mounting and the Earth loomed larger before him.

  Breeze gritted his teeth and hung on to the ship.

  Sally’s astral form merged back into her body. She reached up to touch her nose, and then pulled her hand away to find blood on her fingers. She turned to Oslo with a look of confusion.

  He squeezed her shoulder. “You did good Sally, you did good.”

  The ship continued to shake violently as the cabin lights flickered.

  “He’s out there all alone, just like he’s been all his life,” she said.

  Oslo shook his head. “No, he knows that he has someone who cares. And now it’s up to him to see us home safely.”

  In the cockpit, Ray and Achilles watched as the hull temperature gauge began to drop.

  “What’s happening out there?” Ray shouted.

  Achilles looked back into the passenger cabin and saw Sally and Oslo in conversation.

  “I possess a theory,” it replied.

  Excort and Xenthan raced down from the tower and into the control room where they headed straight to the table with the glass surface.

  Excort touched the glass and a hologram of the island appeared above it. He hastily typed commands on a virtual keyboard that hovered before him and a hologram of the scout ship appeared high above the island. “Here they are,” he said, and pointed at the image of the ship. “The transponder shows the call sign and registration of the scout ship here,” he nodded at the data that appeared next to the hologram, “along with telemetry relaying its current condition, while this arc represents their projected path.” He pointed to a ray of light that traced down from the ship to the landing facility, and then shook his head. “Their angle of entry is incorrect and they are descending far too rapidly to make a controlled landing. It’s as if something or someone is constantly trying to change the ship’s course. They will either burn up in the atmosphere or,” he pointed to the landing facility, “crash here and destroy a large portion of Perihelion with an impact of that magnitude.”

  Xenthan shrugged. “Why do you say their angle is bad?”

  Excort grunted. “If they approach the atmosphere too steep, they will smash into it like a wall of stone and break apart. Too shallow, and they will bounce off it and back out into space. If that happens, they would drift until…”

  His son stared at him blankly.

  “They would die,” Excort finished. “There is not enough fuel on that ship to make a second attempt to land.”

  “Couldn’t we rescue them if they were to drift away?” Xenthan said.

  Excort shook his head. “With what? We don’t have anything to reach them that far into space. At least not yet.”

  Xenthan wagged a finger at the hologram of the scout ship. “You said Oslo set up the transponder to automatically bring back the ship to the island. Can you alter the programming to adjust their angle of entry?”

  Excort’s eyes widened. “You’re right. We will make the ship ditch itself in the ocean here.” He pointed to an area of open water off the southeastern tip of the island on the holographic map. “These scout ships are designed to break apart, so there’s nothing but a capsule to protect the passengers. We can then use the transports to rescue them.”

  Excort began inputting codes into the console and adjusted the navigation system to direct the ship to its new coordinates.

  “Will it work, father?” Xenthan asked as he watched him type furiously on the virtual keyboard.

  Excort pretended not to hear as he thought to himself, I can only hope.

  Breeze strained to maintain the shield as the sensation of free falling from a high altitude was disorienting and his stomach felt like it was in his throat.

  He could no longer see the Earth below as the ship plunged through the atmosphere at a high velocity. The friction created by the incredible speed made the air thick with static electricity, and in turn, enveloped the shield in a kaleidoscope of shimmering colors and flashes of light.

  The ship was steering itself, and he had to just hang on for the ride. He closed his eyes so he could focus on the shield while the ship plunged like a ball of fire from heaven.

  Oslo suddenly leaned forward and gripped the armrests as he tried to push himself up, when his knees buckled from the gravitational force and he fell back into his seat.

  “Oslo, sit down! It’s too dangerous,” Sally shouted.

  “I threw him to the wolves! Because of me, all of this is happening.” He grabbed her arm. “You must tell him.”

  “Tell? Tell who? What are you talking about?”

  “Breeze! He needs to know! He needs to know everything!” he roared.

  Sally struggled to buckle him into his seat while the ship shook and rattled violently.

  Oslo began to rant. “I have to tell him the truth, about his father, his family, his—”

  The ship shook hard and rolled to starboard as the roar of the rockets firing at full throttle was deafening. The lights flickered, and then extinguished, but emergency lights came on after a brief period of darkness and weakly illuminated the cabin.

  Oslo was shaking his head and muttering as Sally leaned back in her seat.

  “Hold together,” she said loudly and looked up at the ceiling. “Please ship, just hold together and I promise if we make it through this, we will christen you with a proper name.”

  The response she received was a loud bang as the roof of the ship buckled in.

  She whimpered, then closed her eyes and said a prayer.

  Breeze was deeply focused on maintaining the shield when the ship abruptly rolled hard to starboard. The roll knocked his concentration off and the shield faltered, then collapsed and the vessel began to gyrate wildly from the fast moving slipstream that buffeted it. It reared up and he slammed onto the roof, bounced off it, and was flung into the air.

  As he recovered from the shock of impact, he was grateful that the shield retracted to protect him from serious injury as he raced to catch up, then he flew as close to the ship as he safely could while it bucked wildly from the turbulence. He saw the deep impression he made in the hull from when he crashed into it.

  It finally dawned upon him the level of responsibility he had riding on his shoulders. Inside the ship were people who were depending on him to save them. Where he was so used to running whenever things become difficult, he knew this was not the time, nor would he ever run again.

  He closed his eyes and unleashed his power; while doing so, he could see in great detail the new shield he was creating for the ship as he shaped it in his mind like hands molding soft clay. He would be the link between the ship and the shield and he wouldn’t let it collapse again, no matter what happened.

  Excort and Xenthan had finished redirecting the scout ship for its splashdown into the ocean when the transponder signal was severed. They had managed to reprogram its trajectory and force a starboard roll before losing contact with the ship’s telemetry system.

  “Father, the ship broke apart! We lost them!” Xenthan shouted.

  “No,” Excort said, “the ship is descending at such an incredible speed that the friction from the atmosphere is creating a field of electrical interference that blocks communications for a brief period of time. There is nothing more we can do but wait for it to emerge from this temporary blackout and
make its splashdown into the ocean. For now, let us return to the others and inform them what has transpired. I will also contact your brothers and have them prep a transport to retrieve Oslo and the others.”

  “Assuming they’re still alive,” Xenthan added glumly.

  They took the elevator down to the main hall where they were greeted by Raza, Nina, and Mila.

  Mila placed her hands on her husband’s chest. “What is happening?”

  “They are coming back,” Excort said.

  Raza’s face lit up as she clasped her hands tightly in prayer.

  “If this is supposed to be good news, then why are you so grim?” Mila asked.

  Excort remained stoic.

  “Well, out with it!” she demanded.

  “Mother, they are coming in for a crash landing into the ocean just offshore, but we’ve lost all comms with the ship and both the fog and shield are offline!” Xenthan blurted out.

  Nina whimpered as Raza hugged her tightly.

  Mila pressed her hands to her face. “Is there anything we can do?”

  Excort looked at her solemnly. “Our sons are working to restore the fog and the shield. As for the ship... just wait. And pray.”

  Nina’s eyes were shut tightly as she murmured Breeze’s name, then they opened suddenly. She broke from her mother’s embrace to run down the hallway and out into the courtyard.

  “Nina!” Raza cried out.

  She was gone.

  Nina sprinted along a path that led to the bay while brushing aside palm fronds that swerved in the way from the strong breeze that was blowing in from the ocean.

  She exited the path and dashed across the beach to plunge into the choppy waters. She waded out until she was waist deep, then shut her eyes and dipped her hands into the bay as she became one with the underwater world. The surface of the ocean was now her eyes as it magnified her sight and allowed her to see everything in the sky above, and into the depths below.

  She scanned the skies and found the fiery plume of the scout ship as it streaked across the sky. She zoomed in and saw that it was wrapped in a protective cocoon and immediately recognized the energy signature. It was Breeze’s shield.

  They will need my help when they plunge into the ocean, she thought, then submerged and swam away at lightning speed to intercept them.

  Raza arrived at the shoreline in time to see Nina dip below the surface, then streak out of the bay and into the ocean with a white foam wake that contrasted sharply with the dark blue waters.

  A fiery glow reflecting off the surface of the bay caught Raza’s attention. She looked up and watched in despair as it streaked across the sky.

  As the battered scout ship plummeted toward the ocean, Breeze knew he might not survive the impact if the ship could not reduce its speed in time to land safely. Rockets had yet to fire to slow their descent and the turbines mounted on the wings were damaged from the heat of re-entry. He knew he was their only chance of landing the ship, but he didn’t know if he had the strength to do it. He forced away his fears by concentrating on maintaining his position above the vessel while surrounding it with his shield to protect the passengers within.

  The kaleidoscope of flashing light that surrounded the shield faded away to reveal the brilliant blue ocean below. He marveled at how immense it was as it seemed to stretch forever in all directions when a glint of light shining far ahead caught his attention. It was coming from an island that the ship seemed to be course for when its rockets fired and banked the vessel hard to starboard and over to a vast expanse of ocean off the island’s coastline.

  He remembered Oslo’s lessons from past classroom sessions about how the surface tension of water was denser than earth. The impact would be magnified and there was chance he would be knocked unconscious while his shield would instinctively retract to protect him only. He knew he would have to stay conscious long enough to maintain the shield around the ship to give everyone a chance to get out before it sank to the bottom.

  He reached up to touch the shield and felt a crackling of electricity at his fingertips, and then lowered the other hand to the metal skin of the ship. A burst of energy rushed through him the instant he did, and as it nourished his battered and tired body, he heard a disembodied voice welcoming him back with the soothing tone of a mother to her child.

  A tentacle made of light rose from the scout ship and wrapped itself around him, followed by a flash of light that exploded before his eyes and instantly connected him to the vessel as if it was his own body and mind. He could feel how weak and feeble the ship was as the light wave explained to him with a series of energy bursts the condition of the ship and her passengers.

  As the light wave spoke to him, he could see Ray huddling next to Achilles in the cockpit. Ray’s face was twisted in anguish as he stared at a vid-screen. Achilles was flipping switches on a console when it briefly looked up and tilted its head, then returned its attention to Ray as he pointed at the vid-screen and made a comment.

  Breeze drifted out of the cockpit and into the cabin where he saw Sally and Oslo sitting together holding hands. Oslo was slumped in his seat with his eyes closed while Sally cast nervous glances at him.

  Breeze moved in closer and realized how beautiful she truly was, but he couldn’t ignore the incredible sadness that surrounded her.

  Oslo abruptly opened his eyes and looked up at him. “I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through.”

  Sally followed the direction of his gaze. “Who are you talking to?”

  The link was broken when Breeze felt a massive impact strike the shield. He shook his head to rid himself of the dreamlike state the light wave put him in and turned to look back. The pair of Elephim he encountered in the hangar of the platform were now trailing the ship.

  The red striped Elephim accelerated and slammed the shield, causing it to flex and bow inward before it snapped back into shape and flung him away.

  His comrade with the diamond symbol on his chest accelerated and rammed the shield with tremendous force, weakening it as arcs of electricity snaked across the surface. The diamond on his chest pulsated rapidly as he nodded to his red striped companion, and in tandem, they repeatedly battered the shield.

  Breeze groaned as he felt his energy beginning to ebb and he struggled to maintain the shield.

  Both Elephim paused for a moment, and then slammed the shield in unison with a massive blow that forced Breeze to cry out in pain as the impact taxed his strength. The shield wavered for a moment before it collapsed and he was instantly swept off the ship by the slipstream.

  He spun wildly as he dropped like a stone to the ocean. He struggled to breathe as he tried to orient with the horizon, but it whipped past him so fast he couldn’t get a bearing. He fought off his building panic within by remembering to first re-establish his shield.

  He raised it and was able to breathe, and then counteracted his spin by shaping the shield into a bowl and catching the air like a parachute to slow his rotation.

  He eventually came to a stop, and then hovered haphazardly from dizziness as he tried to locate the scout ship. His anxiety mounted until he saw it in the distance plunging even closer to the ocean. He raced after the vessel, setting off a sonic boom that trailed him.

  As he drew closer, he saw the red striped Elephim on top of the ship and ripping apart the armored plating from the hull. Breeze dove at him when he heard the hiss of static, and instinctively banked hard to the right as the diamond Elephim streaked past and missed him by mere inches.

  Breeze was tossed and turned by the wake of turbulent air, but quickly recovered. He looked over his shoulder and saw the diamond Elephim loop back to give chase.

  He knew the scout ship couldn’t take any more of a battering as the light wave called out to him in distress. He would have to lure both Elephim away if the ship and its passengers
were to survive. He accelerated to catch up with the vessel as he formulated a plan in his mind.

  The red striped Elephim tore into the hull and ripped the armored plating off with wild abandon, then lifted his foot and stomped, creating a gouge in the roof. He crouched down and peered into the passenger compartment where he was greeted by the shocked faces of Oslo and Sally. He reached down to grab them, and then hesitated as if sensing something amiss. He lifted his head up and saw Breeze rapidly approaching the ship.

  Breeze heard the light wave call to him as he flew parallel to the ship, and saw the forward shield it created in the shape of a dome to blunt the flow of the slipstream across the hull, but it was weak and flickered intermittently.

  The light wave spoke to him more in images than words as it conveyed a sense of despair with the Elephim that was ripping and tearing into the ship. It told Breeze that it did not have the strength to hold the ship together and simultaneously withstand the Elephim’s destructive assault.

  I understand. I’m here for you. Breeze responded and held out a hand.

  The light wave reached out with a tentacle and wrapped it around his arm, then flung him at the red striped Elephim. Breeze shaped his shield into a battering ram and knocked the Elephim off the ship and into the slipstream.

  Breeze looped back and tried to land on top of the ship, but his approach speed was too fast. He stumbled upon landing and fell down onto the windscreen of the cockpit. One of the armored slats that covered it had sheared off and he could see Achilles and Ray staring back at him.

  He waved with a sheepish grin when he heard the hiss of static. He looked up to see the diamond Elephim staring down at him. In one quick motion, he snatched Breeze off the windscreen and flung him atop the ship.

  His shield reflexively raised itself as the Elephim rained blows upon it with his fists. Safely cocooned within, Breeze watched with a smirk as the light wave rose out of the ship and coiled itself like a serpent behind the Elephim, then lashed out with a lighted tentacle, wrapping it around the torso of the Elephim, flinging him off the ship and into the clouds.