Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy

by Mark Brandon Powell

  Entering the building there were only a few pillars and a massive middle column holding the building up. The vast space this room had was impressive for an entrance. The guide leads them past a security post, and into an elevator. He had already started telling them about the city, what the building was for, and how it was used in the early days of the city being built. Vargas was only paying enough attention to know if there was something he needed to respond to.

  The elevator reaches their first stop, and they get off onto the reactor floor. It wasn’t just any reactor, it was a gigantic runic reactor, larger than anything that Vargas had ever seen.

  An alert pops up from Yeti, in the middle of his vision.

  Someone from the crew just handed something over to Big John. Following them now, but they are moving fast. You need to get here now.

  “Shit!”

  Amber and the guide both look at Vargas.

  The guide says, “Is there something wrong sir?”

  “Yea, we got to go. Now.”

  22

  Vernon wakes to the sun creeping in through the curtains. He squints his eyes as the light burns them, and kicks himself mentally for not making sure they were closed properly the night before. That’s what he gets for being lazy. Taking in a deep breath he lets out a heavy sigh, which turns into an involuntary stretch. He gets up to close the gaps within the curtain. As he grabs the cloth, he gets a glimpse of the manmade city floating atop the water they would soon be docking at in the distance. This was one of the stops that Vernon had been excited to see.

  The silhouette of the city was glistened in the dawn’s early light, as it careened off the three domes that encased the inhabitants. Blue light shimmers across the calm waters as a few dozen ships sail around the structure. Towering in between the domes within the center of the city is a large cannon like structure, soaking in light from all around, like a void.

  Marie walks from up behind him, having nothing on but a bra and panties. She cuddles up next to him, beneath his arm, at the window making sure to hide herself from view of any on lookers with the curtains. The soft silky touch of her skin to his, and warmth of her body brings a sense of ease mixed with excitement over him. He turns his head to meet hers and offers a gentle kiss.

  Vernon can’t help but smile as he says, “Good morning beautiful.”

  “Good morning.” She replies with a smile of her own.

  Vernon turns his focus back to the floating city. There are towers sprawled throughout the city each blinking away with warning lights. Accessing his HaLO's augmentations, he tries out the new zoom feature that was added recently, to see what kind of ships are sailing about. Tyler had given him a hint that once the Paladin codes were uploaded into his HaLO it would give him access to augmentations, or digital enhancements not available to the public. With the feature on, his eyes focus in on a ship and without realizing it, he was able to see everything on it. There were two to three men a boat, casting and retrieving nets. Changing his gaze back to the city he stares down the monstrous barrel pointed at them. He still isn’t sure that it is a barrel, but the tip of the massive pipe looks to be rifled.

  Marie pokes at him, “What are you looking at?”

  “I am looking at some people fishing, and something that looks like a cannon on top of the city we are about to dock at. I’m trying out a new HaLO augment to digitally zoom my vision, it was one of the perks of becoming a Paladin.”

  She looks up at him with a blank stare, squints her eyes, and she asks in a playful tone, “Is there anything else mister that you’re not telling me?”

  Smiling he nods, “Yes there is, but even I don’t know everything they have done just yet. There were a few tweaks they made to my HaLO while I was at the academy, and they said they are ‘hard wired’ in now, or something like that. I only know about the vision, because Tyler let it slip without really telling me I could. I am pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to even let that slip.”

  Vernon can see that even mentioning Tyler’s name got the gears cranking in her mind. “That Tyler, I am still not sure if I trust him or not. With everything he put me, and you through our last year in...”

  He stops her before she finishes, “I know, but my mother and father trust him with their secret, whatever that may be. To be honest, I’m not sure who I can trust outside of you. My parents have been keeping secrets from me my whole life, Tyler has been upfront about everything after the fact, but that doesn’t forgive having you kidnapped. I love my parents, and I want to believe they have good intentions, because they wouldn’t go to through hiding everything they have only to hurt me. So I am going to believe them, and hope Tyler is worthy of my trust.”

  Marie lets out a little sigh, knowing that he’s right. A mischievous grin come across her face, as she darts her eyes back and forth across the room, playfully making sure no one else is there. Vernon peaks an eyebrow, as he tries to figure out what she’s doing. Before he gets the chance to ask, she reaches past him, pulls the curtains shut, and then wraps her arms around Vernon, pulling him into her. Marie stands on her tip toes, meeting his mouth with inviting lips. Vernon melts for a moment, soaking in the feeling of her pressed to him. They stay like that till his desire catches up with his brain, and scoops her up into his arms. She follows suit, wraps her legs around his waist, letting out a small giggle, as she sways back and forth. Pulling herself in closer, she administers a row of slow kisses down his neck. With the curtains drawn closed, the room is dark and Vernon carefully makes his way back to the bed, trying to remember where all the furniture is in the room–while she is intentionally driving him crazy rocking her hips back and forth. The bed meets his shins, and he clenches his teeth. Marie lets go, falling to the bed and they both begin to take off what little clothes they have on, sending them flying around the room.

  Hours pass like minutes, as they indulge the baser pleasures, guaranteeing they make a few memorable moments with each other on the cruise. When they finally decide to emerge from their suite, there is a blissful look across both their faces.

  Vernon looks to Marie, “I have never been this satisfied, yet so hungry before in all my life. What about you?”

  Marie blushes as Vernon blurts out their business. “Vernon! Not in the hallway.”

  “What, if you didn’t make as big of a deal about it, it wouldn’t draw as much attention.” He looks up and down the hallway, and there are a few people looking back, snickering and whispering to themselves. “Oh…whoops.”

  “You just don’t think before you speak sometimes do you?”

  “Nope. Like I did just there. And there.”

  Marie rolls her eyes and grabs his hand, pulling him toward the elevators, so they could go explore the city. The ship had now been docked for a couple of hours, and the crew is about to be ready to allow passengers to disembark. They both were looking forward to exploring the floating city, and hopefully find a place to eat close to the docks. As they wait in line at the bottom of the ship near the exit, they recognize some of the other passengers again. Their schedules seem to be the same, because Vernon kept noticing them everywhere they go in the morning. The first they noticed was an older couple. They had been there each day for breakfast, and dinner each night. Marie walks over to say hi, while they waited in line. Vernon notices a handful of other faces as he scans the hold.

  The older couple interject, asking if they had heard anything about the floating city of Aspiration. Vernon and Marie look at each other not knowing what to say.

  Vernon finally stumbles out a reply, “I’m not too sure, which town are you talking about?”

  The older man says, “The floating city we are docked at today. They named it after the arc that got us here to Eden, for luck as much as for the meaning behind the name. The creators of the city wanted this place to be a shining star of what we could accomplish on this new world.”

  Vernon not knowing what to reply moves the conversation to the cruise, how the trip has been on the ship, the twent
y four hour buffet, and casino. The line moved quickly, cutting the conversation short.

  Vernon turns to Marie and asks, “So did you know anything about this place?”

  She shakes her head. “No I don’t, I haven’t even heard of this place till today. I was too caught up in details of the wedding to pay attention to where we were actually going on the cruise.”

  “I only read what was in the brochure which wasn’t much more than, come see this technological wonder, a city on the sea. So I guess we are going to find out together then aren’t we.”

  He shrugs and exits off the ship.

  Vernon’s eyes have to readjust to the glare as he walks down the exit ramp. A view of trees on either side of the dock come into focus. As they travel down the path it’s like walking through the forest, in the middle of the ocean. The trees are tall and stout, as if the orchard had been there for decades, with not a single unhealthy leaf in sight. He starts to notice all the trees are fruit trees. Apples, oranges, bananas, and magi fruit.

  Vernon looks at the magi fruit trees in disbelief. They were exceptionally rare trees, and there was a gigantic grouping of them as they walked in.

  “Hey Marie, have you ever seen this many magi fruit trees in the same place before?”

  “Wow, no. I know they’re a tree native to Eden, but they don’t normally grow so close together, because of how water intensive they are.”

  “Have you ever had magi fruit before?”

  “You don’t remember running around the magi tree in my parent’s backyard?”

  “That big ole tree was a magi tree? Huh, never knew that.”

  “I love that tree, and the fruit from it always tasted like a salted strawberry with orange sweetener. My father told me it was because of how the gardener took care of it, because the taste can be different depending on where you plant it, and how it was taken care of.”

  “I don’t think I had one from your tree before then. I am fairly certain I would remember salted strawberry orange.”

  Marie lets out a chuckle, “You’re right, daddy never shared it with anyone but immediate family and the gardener who made it.”

  Vernon rubbed his chin, remembering running around the tree with Marie. The happy times when they were younger, and didn’t have a care in the world. He looks up the tree, and sees some of the fruit hanging, already forming into a star. He vaguely has a memory of eating a fruit like it once, when he was younger, but can’t place it. His mother had told him he should never eat that fruit, because it could hurt him.

  “Marie. Have you ever heard of someone getting hurt by eating one of these fruits?”

  “No I haven’t, they always told me it would refresh a person allowing them to cast spells even after they reached their limits. They say when humans first got to Eden they named the magi because they believed it gave humanity magic. The first person that ever ate the fruit, had fire coming roaring out of their hands, with no way to control it. That must have been a scary time, I'm glad I didn't live back then.”

  Vernon walks up closer to the trees. There is a polished sheen to them with an iridescence that shimmers and dances with the sun light breaking through the canopy overhead. They both follow the light toward the canopy and catch a glimpse of all the fruit high up in the trees. The star shaped fruits are in all different stages of ripeness, from florescent yellow to a dark orange. The flowers surrounding it mirror the trunk of the tree with an iridescent sheen. The petals are a brilliant shade of yellow with five thick stems branching out from the center. The amount of flowers in the branches show just how much fruit is being produced.

  Vernon finally says after a few moments of silence between the two, “These are beautiful, and I can see why they’re so sought after now.”

  Past the orchard were a pair of swimsuit clad welcomers from the city. A woman took a lay of magi flowers out of a stack she had nearby and placed them around Marie’s neck. The man next to her, took a beaded necklace made from the seeds of the magi fruit, and placed them around Vernon’s. They say in practiced unison,

  “Welcome to Aspiration.”

  The flowers around Marie’s neck smelt heavenly of sweet citrus, which only served to make her hunger worsen. The man, was tanned, and had muscles on his muscles, greeting people in nothing but his shorts. The woman was tanned as well, and as toned as he had muscles, wearing only a bikini. The man navigated a few virtual menus before a paper appeared in his hand.

  “Here is an overlay map of our city. At any time you can use it to find the information terminals that are placed throughout the city. Information about the location you are at, the best directions around the city, or suggested sights to see. Have a wonderful day and enjoy.”

  Finding a nearby bench, they sit down to have a look at where they would like to go first. Something begins to stands out to Vernon, and he can't believe that he didn't realize it to begin with. He can't feel the swells of the ocean.

  He asks Marie, “Can you feel the up and down of the waves. This is just basically a huge boat, right, so why can’t I feel it.”

  “I don’t feel it either. Maybe it’s just dispersed.”

  Vernon's eyes are taken to the edges of the city map, looking for anything listed as stabilizers or something to show how they are accomplishing such a feet–there is, however, nothing along the edges. The city wasn’t anchored in one place. On the back of the map, it showed the sailing path of city, which was a trip around Viviania. Aspiration was mapping its coastline, then sending in drones to map the land.

  Vernon flips it back over, and in the center of the map is the Main Operations Building, zooming into the map there is a info popup showing a tour that takes place every two hours. There is also a restaurant close by, which is what they were looking for in the first place. Vernon points out everything to Marie.

  She says, “So food first then tour. Once we finish eating it should be time for the next one to start.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me. I am really wondering how they keep this place so steady and what that giant cannon thing is in the middle of the city.”

  The restaurant décor was filled with metal curves, and angles, featuring locally grown foods, or locally caught fish from the ocean. There was a whole conversation the couple in front of Vernon and Marie had with the casher. It was all about Aspiration wanting to be self-sufficient, not wanting to leave a large footprint, and how much of their merchandise was virtual. Once Marie finally got to order, she got a garden fresh salad, and Vernon grabbed a fish plate. The crispness, and freshness of both dishes were astounding to their pallets. The food on the cruise ship had been good, but you could tell that the food had preservatives. This meal on the other hand was so fresh it tasted like it was just picked, or caught from the ocean.

  With hunger being satisfied, another urge started to itch in Vernon’s mind. Curiosity was always something he had to keep in check. It normally got him into more trouble than it was worth. They both take the short walk over to the Main Operations building, and await the tour. The meal had come out incredibly fast, even with the couple in front of them talking for what seemed like forever, and they were still thirty minutes early. Vernon pays for the two of them by swiping his HaLO over the reader, and receiving his digital tickets, with an audible thank you played only to him.

  He sits down next to Marie, wrapping his arm around her. Leaning his head back and looking at the sky through the dome overhead. “I like this place, it reminds me of home.”

  Marie following his lead leans back as well, “I can see why you would think that, but it just doesn’t have the same feel to me. Maybe it’s all of the metal, and not enough grass or trees.”

  “True, once you get past the orchard up front there really isn’t much in the way of greenery. I guess I just mean the sky. I always like looking though the dome at the sky above. There isn’t anything wrong with the sky without the dome. I guess it’s just memories of simpler times.”

  “It may have been simpler back then, but
I like the here and now.” Marie said with conviction. “I get to be with the man that I love, and will soon be doing what I found that I love to do. There isn’t much more that I can ask for.”

  Vernon lets out a hard laugh, “Ha ha, yea I guess that is better than simpler. Spending the last four years apart was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Somewhere along the way I must have forgot it was a dream of mine to be a Paladin. Now I’m here, and I’m with the woman of my dreams. I guess I would be a fool to wish for anything different.”

  “It’s nice being able to just sit here and talk with you like this. We just keep running and running to the next thing, it is fun and all, but I like this too.”

  “Same here Marie, same here.” Vernon leans in and gives her a kiss, squeezing her with his arm.

  A man walks out of the front of the Main Operations Building in a tweed suit with a blue tie. He goes up to the kiosk and swipes his own HaLO across it, giving Vernon and Marie a brief look as he pans around to see if there is anyone else around. “Looks like you two are going to get a private tour.” He says pointing at the two of them.

  Vernon replies, “I guess so if we are going now, and that's awesome.”

  Marie jumps off the bench with a joyous bounce, “Yay!”

  23

  Vargas and Amber run at full sprint toward the last location Yeti was able to send to them. It was on the underside of the city. Aspiration was built to maximize the space they had. This meant they built above and below the ocean surface. The three domes he had seen, were just the top, with one massive dome underneath.

  They reach a tram station to take them to the other side of the city, breathing heavily, staring at the map of tram routes. Tram eight pulled into the station a few minutes later. They get on, and start to impatiently walk in a circle. They don’t say a word to each other, only share a few worried glances. The other passengers in the tram, scoot away from them, watching them closely.