Falling Ark

by Leigh Snelson

  I pressed on another red dot, preparing to jam but this time the ‘Laser’ option was also available. The missiles must now be in range so I pressed it.

  Once again a little loading bar appeared and then the missile went dead, the only difference was this one didn’t explode when it landed in the sea, I just saw a plume of water jet up into the sky as something hit the surface.

  Tony, firing aimlessly behind us got lucky again and his arc of fire hit two more missiles. Nine down, six to go, but it would only take one missile to ruin my day!

  “I have an idea.” Julie shouted.

  Looking out of the front window there was an oil rig on the horizon, approaching fast.

  “We won’t make it.” I informed her as I looked down at my screen.

  The outline of the oil rig had appeared and been labelled as green. There was a little dotted line between us and the rig that ready ‘Twenty Seconds’, but there was also a line between us and the group of missiles that read ‘Ten Seconds’. Even in this life of death situation I had to admire the artificial intelligence, it gave me all the information just as I needed it.

  I pressed on the missiles again and noticed the ‘Flares’ option had become available. I quickly pressed it and watched as a firework display took place out of the rear of our ship, the cameras caught it all of it.

  Huge explosions temporarily blinded the cameras as the oncoming barrage collided with the flares.

  There were only two missiles remaining.

  I pressed on one again and chose ‘Laser’, it seemed slightly faster than the ‘Jam’ option. The loading bar got to halfway and then the missile went black.

  “Got it!” Tony yelled.

  “That was mine!” I moaned.

  We had targeted the same missile and I was frustrated at our inefficiency. There was only one left and three seconds on the clock.

  “Three…” I said out loud, as I watched the missile come screaming up to us through the cameras.

  “Two…” The missile was getting very big, very quickly, the plume of smoke it left behind taking up most of my screen.

  “One…” I said, and the world outside spun.

  Julie had jerked the ship into a vertical spin. We didn’t arch into it, like a normal plane would, we just started going up, at a ninety-degree angle. We should have been turned to jelly by the sudden changes in G-forces, but my little orb was doing some crazy magic somewhere in the bowels of the ship and I didn’t notice anything. The view out of the window simply changed and instead of skimming the waves at fantastic speeds, we were now heading straight up at an equally amazing rate.

  I watched the missile shoot underneath us and arch around in the sky before exploding in the distance. It had run out of fuel.

  “Nice driving!” I shouted down to Julie.

  “Don’t thank me yet!” She replied as she pointed the ship back towards the oil rig.

  We made one complete orbit around the old, abandoned rig and turned to face the oncoming planes. Tony fired two missiles and I watched them zoom out to the horizon where two little explosions created fireballs that raced into the sky before being sucked back down and into nothing.

  Direct hits on two of the planes caused them to explode and then, moments later, implode, sucking back in the fire and smoke. That must be what happens when a gravity drive is destroyed.

  “We are out of missiles!” Tony said.

  “What do you mean? The wings are full of them!” I questioned.

  “I don’t know, I can’t fire anymore.”

  There were three ships left. Julie spun our plane around and flew into the legs of the oil rig. The lattice work of steel plates and girders was a tricky thing to fly between, but Julie had finessed the controls.

  As the remaining planes flew overhead there was a ricochet of bullets that peppered into the rusting rig.

  This place was old and clearly a relic from decades ago. It wouldn’t take much to weaken the structure and I was worried, hiding underneath the main building that our position was a bad idea if the platform decided to crumble into the sea.

  Playing cat and mouse in a craft the size of a small house was not easy but Julie had excellent controls and only scraped the hull a couple of times while Franks ships emptied their machine gun barrels around us. I guess they were out of missile too.

  Franks face then appeared on my screen again.

  “Dom! Last chance, come out or we will sink the whole oil rig to the bottom of the sea, with you inside.”

  He chuckled and the image disappeared. He knew he had us trapped.

  As we inched our way around, through the old structure, weaving in and out of pipework and concrete we saw a craft move in front of us. We were between two buildings that arched over us, surrounded by steel supports when an egg-shaped plane flew across our view.

  Tony’s reactions were perfect. He fired the machine guns instinctively. As the craft flew past it was peppered with bullets and it started to fall out of the sky, then it went out of view, moments later a fireball replaced it.

  My sensors weren’t working inside this steel maze, but we assumed that a fireball was a good thing. Especially when it was sucked back moments later just like when the two ships on the horizon had been hit.

  This explosion caused the entire rig to shake around us, then it started to sink, the buildings around us slowly descended.

  Julie pushed us forward and slowly our plane glided and of the cover provided by the oil platform. As I looked around, I saw that the plane we had just shot down had crashed into one of the concrete support legs and when the gravity drive imploded it had sucked a large portion of the supporting framework with it. There was a large, perfectly spherical hole cut into the jungle of concrete and metal.

  Julie spun the ship around as the sensors pinged back into life and they indicated that the rig was between us and the other two ships. We had no-where to run.

  Slowly the large steel structure sank below us, unveiling Frank and another plane that were both poised, floating there, staring back at us.

  Several small explosions created smoke and debris as the huge platform started to crumble and tilt to one side.

  As the smoke cleared, I could see Franks ugly face through the cockpit window, he was sat in the communications seat, top, centre, just like me, with an almighty grin on his face.

  Chapter 18

  The broken wreck of the old oil rig was still slowly sinking to the bottom of the sea. Occasionally explosions would rise to the surface creating plumes of sea foam and smoke. It would have been a spectacle, to see something that large explode but I couldn’t spare the time to enjoy the moment.

  Staring back at me over the wreckage were two identical craft, each hanging there, silently in the sky. I could see through their glass domes and into their cockpits and to my surprise only one of the planes had anyone inside.

  “Where are the crew?” Tony asked.

  “I remember Lara saying that they could be remotely piloted. Perhaps that is what is going on here?” I suggested.

  “So, all the planes we had shot down? Do you think they had crew in them?” He asked again. I could tell that the idea of killing people did not sit well with him.

  “I doubt it. Look at who is in the other plane.” I pointed to the huge body of Frank who took up most of the room in the other craft.

  “That’s a bit of a relief to be honest. I don’t mind shooting down drones.” Tony explained. “Or him. I don’t know who he is, but he is starting to get on my nerves.”

  “That is Frank.” Julie shouted up from below our feet. “But we saw him lose his head. It was horrible. I don’t know how anyone could survive that and then fly a plane out here a few hours later!”

  “I have seen some strange things happen to that man over the past few days.” I replied. “I don’t know who is healing him, but they are good!”

  He looked odd sitting there, his huge body, squeezed into a seat designed for a man half his size. Most men were at le
ast half his size. He was just sitting there, grinning back at me. Then he glanced down at the control panel, the same one I had, and pressed a button.

  My panel lit up, and all the windows showing the cameras and sensors minimised, making room for Franks face.

  “I just wanted to thank you. Stealing this plane, destroying the oil rig gives us the perfect cover story. You are now a proven terrorist and me, killing you, will make the world thankful. You sure are smart Dom, but you lack the understanding where it mattered. You are just going to be a footnote in VisionTechs history.” Frank terminated the call and then leaned over the gun controls that were in the seat next to him.

  The machine guns swivelled on the side of both craft, turning to face us.

  I held my breath and closed my eyes, there was no way out of this, my luck had run out.

  What followed was a large explosion. It certainly came from somewhere close by, not the oil rig, but also, not our plane.

  Peeking through my eye lids and saw that the second craft, the drone craft had been hit. It was on fire and falling out of the sky. It lurched to the left and smashed into the side of Franks craft just as the machine guns started to fire. The bullets missed us by inches and splashed into the sea below.

  I could see Frank trying desperately to gain control of his plane, but the damage was too much. The two craft appeared to be wedged, their short stubby wings interlocked and the fire on the drone ship started to spread into Franks.

  Still shooting the machine guns in a hap-hazard pattern, Franks craft was able to hold both planes in the air momentarily.

  Another, much bigger explosion then sent both craft into a downward spiral of smoke and flame until they hit the surface of the water. I watched as the tangled mess sank out of view, then, in one last display of power, a huge explosion created a splash so tall it hit us. Water splashed onto the front window and I couldn’t see out for a few moments.

  As the mist cleared I saw something move in the distance. It was difficult to make out against the white clouds but I certainly saw something.

  The radar system picked it up too and a little yellow dot appeared in front of us. It looked much bigger than us, although it was too far away to really judge.

  “What was that?” Julie asked.

  “I have no idea!” I replied.

  Whoever they were they had just taken out Frank and in doing so saved our lives. The question was, were they trying to save us or kill everyone.

  “Should we run?” Julie wanted confirmation and I could tell that she was still emotional from having machine guns pointed at her. We all were.

  The unknown ship was getting closer. The little dot blinked and grew on the screen. Then a phone icon appeared. I tapped at it, nervously.

  “We got here just in time!” The voice said, then Sam’s face appeared on my screen.

  “Sam! Is that really you!” I asked in utter astonishment.

  “That’s right! I can’t leave you alone for two minutes!” He replied, grinning ear to ear.

  “I thought you were dead! I thought I gave away the location to the barn!” I confessed.

  “It’s going to take a lot more than that to catch me out!” Sam insisted. “What do you think of my ship?”

  It was getting close now and it was much bigger than I had imagined. Probably the same size as the blueprints Sam showed off but in person, it was huge. Like a small apartment block flying towards us.

  “Come on in. You need to see the rest!” Sam smiled and looked away from the camera, giving someone an agreeing nod.

  At the equator of the huge sphere a door opened. It slid away and was big enough for our plane fit into, like it had been designed that way. I watched as the huge golf ball slowly swallowed us whole, silently engulfing us.

  “You know these people?” Tony asked.

  “Yes, I do!” I replied happily.

  “And they just happened to own a flying fortress.” Julie added.

  “It would seem so.” I could feel the joy on my face!

  Julie landed the plane on the steel deck with grace and precision. This hanger bay, if that is what you could call it, had a central concrete core in the middle and two spiral staircases. It felt like being inside a large, metal, ringed doughnut. There was nothing else to see, other than our ship that fit snugly into the two-storey room.

  Harsh light and polished steel floors made the whole place seem cold and sterile, just like a functional hanger bay inside a giant floating golf ball should be.

  There was room for maybe six aircraft like this one, two by each exit and still enough room to move and work around them.

  As the hanger bay door slid closed, the outside light disappeared. The room compensated by turning more lights on so that it was easy to see across the entire floor. There were two more large doors and with the new light I could see that they were leaning up against their openings but not yet properly installed.

  “Are we getting out?” Tony asked, pulling the tab and watching his control panel disappear into the wall next to him.

  “Are you sure we can we trust these people?” Julie asked.

  “Absolutely! They are like my family. I can’t wait to introduce you!” With that, I pulled the tab on my arm wrest and the snake came along and removed the display from my lap.

  I slid down the hatchway, into the little room in the middle of the plane, pressed the hatch release and jumped down onto the Armillary hanger floor.

  Scrambling underneath the ship I put plenty of distance between it and me before standing up, I didn’t fancy banging my head. Then I saw them.

  First, Ava, she was a sight for sore eyes! Then Hank and Derek and finally Sam came down the staircase, grinning and holding his hands out.

  Sam locked eyes with me and then looked around the ship, gesturing the words ‘Have you seen how awesome this is!’ from a distance.

  I wasn’t going to be so subtle and shouted across the room.

  “How did you do all this in such little time!” I yelled.

  Julie and Tony joined behind me and we all met in the middle of the giant room.

  “Tony, Julie.” I said, pointing to them. “This is Hank, Derek, Ava and Sam. These are the guys who helped me steal the VisionTech files. Guys, Tony and Julie used to work at VisionTech just like me, but they have just saved my life.”

  Handshakes, hugs and pleasantries followed.

  “Who doesn’t Dom owe his life too?” Derek quipped as we climbed the staircase into the control room.

  Everything was bare. There were a few chairs bolted to the floor, a couple of desks with monitors and Sam’s awesome holographic display table. Other than that the fixtures left a lot to be desired. There were cables running along the floor, heating ducts hung up with string attached to the ceiling and paint cans stacked in one corner.

  “You didn’t bother to finish her off?” I asked Sam, pointing out the gaps between the windows and the walls where sea air was visibly entering the room.

  “I am sorry, maybe we should have spent a few more hours polishing the floors and making the beds before coming out here to save you!” Sam jabbed back.

  “How did you even know where I was?” I asked as we approached the holotable. My eyes flicked as the lasers detected my face and shined images onto my retinas.

  A three-dimensional image of the ship appeared with the label ‘Armillary’ hanging underneath. There was also the sinking wreckage of the oil rig underneath with the pulsating waves lapping around its edges.

  “We found you the same way Lara probably did.” Sam started to explain. “I knew you were at Tony’s restaurant and when we saw what happened. Ava accessed the satellite feed and saw Frank pick you up and drive you and Tony back to the facility.”

  “Thank you!” I said, turning to Ava. She blushed as I smiled at her.

  “It was nothing! You would have done the same for me.” She replied, hiding behind her multi-coloured fringe.

  “We were about to start a rescue mission.” Sam
continued. “Then we saw that giant tree thing explode out of the roof of the building, the satellites showed you three running away so we followed your car. We saw the barn blow up, but obviously we weren’t there, and then Ava tracked you to the boat. From there we kept tabs until you took off in that plane.”

  “You guys did all that!” Tony said, shocked and amazed.

  “Yeah, it was nothing really, just a few backdoors and stolen passwords, kids’ stuff.” Ava explained.

  “Well, if hacking into satellites is kids’ stuff, I’m too scared to ask what you’re really capable of.” Tony complemented.

  “We thought you were safe when we saw you get into the plane.” Derek interrupted. “We were going to send you our co-ordinates but Hank noticed the five planes heading your way so we jumped into the action and gave this thing her maiden flight!”

  “I still cannot believe you put all this together in just over a day!” I replied.

  “I can!” Hank said, peeling away at some of the metal sheeting on the wall and revealing the outside world.

  “Yeah, well, the robots did most of the work, and I had a friend who had all the materials and owed me a favour.” Sam explained.

  “Of course you did!” I said, sarcastically.

  “Well I think it’s awesome!” Julie said, crossing the room. Her eyes went funny as she approached the table. “Woah! That’s awesome! Is that this ship?”

  “What is it?” Tony asked, confused on the other side of the room.

  “Get over here and take a look at this!” Julie ordered.

  It was funny to watch people interact with the holotable for the first time. Their vision goes funny, they close their eyes and then go wide eyed when they see the fantastic graphics appear for the first time.

  “The Armillary?” Tony asked. “That’s the name of this vessel?”

  “Yeah.” Sam sighed. “It’s an old tool for modelling the stars and…”