9

by James Phelan

  At least the destruction is just in the game space. But the nightmares people must be having to create this … man.

  ‘Ah, Thor, you see what I see?’ Shiva interrupted Alex’s thoughts.

  ‘I think so, but I don’t know what I’m looking at …’ Alex said, watching as what appeared like an entire city block moved towards them.

  ‘Flying in for a closer look,’ Shiva said and the little UAV in the sky zoomed down fast to get a closer look at it.

  ‘Is that . . ?’ Alex began.

  ‘A tank?’

  ‘That’s no ordinary tank,’ Alex said.

  This machine was a monster—the treads at either side were the size of the houses that it was driving over. The barrel sticking out the central turret was bigger than several smaller ones combined. And at the sides were smaller turrets with nasty looking add-ons.

  ‘That’s the tank,’ Shiva said. ‘And I know who created it and sent it at us.’

  Alex’s heart sank. ‘Matrix?’

  ‘You bet your butt. All right, if we’re going to take him down, we need to use our heads as well as our bullets.’

  24

  SAM

  Two hours in and still no sign of the Dreamer.

  Sam paced and watched.

  Or anyone else who’s after me, or him … at least that’s good.

  When the ferry slowed and pulled into another stop, a group of men came aboard. They were clearly not typical passengers. Sam was on the crowded top deck, and watched as the five of them, dressed in serious-looking gear and reflective sunglass, scanned the crowds.

  Could just be actual adventure tourists, or undercover cops. Or they could be connected to Hans or Stella.

  Sam rushed down two decks and found Pablo working on deciphering a riddle in Dr Kader’s journal.

  ‘Ah, Sam, there you are,’ he said without looking up from the book. ‘I do think that I’ve nearly—’

  ‘No time! A group of guys has just got on and I think they may be—’ Sam stopped when he clocked them across the room, at the far side, some fifty people between them. They hadn’t seen him yet. But he’d seen them and he now knew they were trouble. Under the jacket of the guy in the lead, Sam could make out the distinctive shape of a dart gun. ‘Come on!’

  Sam half-dragged Pablo to his feet and they made for the rear deck, two levels below. The ferry was underway once more, the pier now a long way behind them—too far to swim for it without being picked off.

  And who knows how fast Pablo can swim? Are there piranhas or ‘gators down there?

  ‘Sam, what do we do?’ Pablo asked.

  Sam snapped out of his thoughts. There were a couple of lifeboats up along the midsection of the ferry.

  ‘Head for those,’ Sam said, pointing, but then he saw two of the men below, searching for them.

  They saw him and drew Enterprise dart pistols.

  Well, I know who they are now—Stella’s goons. And I know that they’re not here to kill me. They want me alive, no doubt to tell them who the next Dreamer is.

  ‘This way!’ Sam said, leading Pablo to the very back of the boat, where below them was the large paddle that provided the forward momentum of the boat. There was an opening before it, part of the cargo bay or engine compartment, which they could climb down to.

  ‘I can’t make it down there,’ Pablo said, tucking the journal into Sam’s pack. ‘I’ll hold them off, you go!’

  Sam had no choice—they were getting close, the other three converging from the stairs leading from the deck above. He pulled his dart pistol and fired at the first two, hitting one, who slumped back, while the second ducked for cover.

  Eva would have hit them both …

  It took a moment for those on the ferry to react, but when they did, they became a human tidal wave, pulling away from Sam and Pablo, dozens of passengers fleeing and heading towards Stella’s men, effectively stalling them a little.

  ‘Go!’ Pablo said. ‘And don’t look back, not for an instant!’

  Sam passed him the pistol and climbed over the handrail, carefully hanging down, not wanting to fall back onto the massive churning paddle-wheel. His fingers slid off the rail, wet with the spray—

  Sam fell.

  25

  So this is what it’s like to be inside a washing machine on spin cycle.

  Sam’s world was a war zone—all noise and commotion underwater, the water a mess of bubbles and vortexes. He couldn’t see but tried to relax and go with the currents that pushed him down fast between the paddle and the back of the boat. It felt like he spiralled downwards forever, his lungs burning.

  When the pressure lessened he kept his body still, and felt the boat disappearing. Turning towards the sunlight above, he saw the surface and kicked his way up, breathing out the last of his air as he rose.

  ‘Argh!’ he gasped as he broke the surface and sucked in air. The ferry was already paddling down the river. He couldn’t make out Pablo on the back deck, but before he could wonder what had become of him the sound of a boat’s engine came thundering upon him. He turned—

  Too late.

  When Sam came to, all he saw was grey sky. His senses slowly came back, one by one. He could tell he was lying on a hard surface and heard an engine roar in the background. The thick heady scent of the Amazon River was still in the air. The taste of the muddy water was in his mouth, making him sit up to cough it out.

  ‘Aha, you’re awake,’ a voice said. ‘I am Rapha. You are safe now.’

  Sam was on a long speedboat. The side of his body he’d been lying on was all asleep, as though he’d been out of it and lying still for a long time. He turned to face the voice.

  It belonged to a lean and wiry teenager with dark skin and thick black hair twisted into dreadlocks.

  ‘It’s you!’ Sam said, getting up to his knees and gingerly making his way over. He couldn’t contain his happiness. ‘But … how? How’d you find me?’

  Rapha eased off the engine’s throttle and eyed Sam with a spooked expression.

  He said, ‘Do you know me? I don’t think we’ve ever met.’

  Sam took a deep breath. ‘My name is Sam and we have met before,’ he hesitated before ploughing on, ‘in a dream.’ He looked expectantly at the boy but his face was impossible to read. ‘You dreamed to be here, at the ferry, to save me, didn’t you?’

  ‘Yes, it’s true,’ Rapha said. ‘I dreamed of rescuing you from flames, then I woke up—but later, when I slept again, the dream changed. I saw you in trouble still, here on the river, but this time without the fire. I almost didn’t come, but it was a feeling that I could not shake. I followed the ferry, and then there you were, floating face up behind it. Did you dive from the boat?’

  ‘Yeah, something like that,’ Sam said. ‘Thank you, so much.’

  ‘Sem problemas,’ Rapha murmured as he turned the boat in a wide arc to travel back the way they’d just come. ‘I just can’t believe I found you—and from my dream! I knew that I had to get you before … before something else did.’

  ‘Something?’ Sam asked.

  ‘A black figure, a fire demon.’

  ‘Solaris,’ Sam said, a shiver running up his spine. ‘His name is Solaris and he’s not good news.’

  ‘I believe it,’ Rapha agreed.

  ‘What else did you see, in your dream?’ Sam asked.

  ‘A place,’ Rapha replied. ‘We were flying up into the cloud-covered mountains. We’re searching for something there, yes?’

  ‘Do you know what?’ Sam continued.

  Rapha nodded. ‘Some kind of disc or something, gold maybe, with teeth—mechanical.’

  Sam smiled, ‘Yep. We need to find a Gear.’

  Rapha nodded but was silent for a while, motoring the sleek little old wooden boat along the river.

  ‘What is it?’ Sam asked.

  ‘My parents …’ Rapha said. ‘That’s why I came today. They told me that some day I might have a dream where I would see what it was that I had to do. Th
ey told me that this might happen.’

  ‘Where are they?’ Sam asked.

  ‘They—they were killed,’ he replied, tears in his eyes.

  ‘When?’ Sam said, wary. Rapha looked like he was about to fall apart.

  ‘A while ago,’ Rapha said, ‘in an accident. But the last thing they told me was that I would meet someone who I had to follow, who …’ He scrubbed his eyes and composed himself. ‘They said it was my destiny to meet this person, and to follow my dreams,’ he managed.

  ‘That’s right,’ Sam nodded. ‘It’s very good to meet you, Rapha. And it’s not just your destiny—it’s ours.’

  26

  Rapha and Sam spent the rest of the journey back down the river sharing their respective dreams in as much detail they could recall and twenty minutes later they came to a fork in the river system.

  ‘We will go to my place, we can take the ultralight,’ Rapha said.

  Sam nodded then felt ill at ease. He couldn’t place his dread at first, until he heard a sound.

  PING!

  A bullet ricocheted off the steering assembly between them.

  Behind their craft, a big boat full of—

  ‘It’s the smugglers!’ Rapha said, pushing the throttle of their boat forward to get to full-speed.

  ‘The what?’ Sam asked. He looked back and quickly realised they were no smugglers—they were rogue Agents.

  Just like those from the ferry.

  ‘I dreamed about them too!’ Rapha said.

  ‘Anything else you need to tell me about your dream?’ Sam said, gripping onto the side of the boat as Rapha wheeled it about wildly.

  ‘That’s about it! But look in that case under there by your feet.’

  ‘If you’ve got some fancy driving skills, now’s the time to go for it,’ Sam said, reaching down for the case in the bottom of the boat—

  ‘Oh yeah!’

  Sam was on one knee and pointed the flare gun at their pursuers. Rapha was now pushing their boat to its limits. The gun was an old-style launcher, the wooden handle chipped and worn. Sam lined up his target and pulled the trigger.

  The projectile was in the air as he reloaded from a box of shells—

  BOOM!

  It sparked and shone bright orange as it hit the water.

  The Agents escaped the first round, but Sam was reloading and aiming again.

  Rapha turned the wheel hard to evade some gunfire that stitched up the river just where they’d been.

  SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!

  Sam tipped over, firing as he fell. The flare shot high up into the air, almost straight up.

  ‘Damn!’ Sam said, losing the round in the sky.

  ‘They’re going to kill us!’ Rapha screamed as Sam scrambled to his feet.

  ‘No, they’re not,’ Sam said, looking around, seeing a big sandy bank dead ahead. ‘They’re trying to steer us towards that beach to have us trapped.’

  Bullets hit the side of their boat.

  THUD! THUD! THUD!

  A whistling noise cut through the sound of the boat’s engine.

  The bright burning flare was hurtling back to earth.

  Sam couldn’t see it—but the Agents must have. As one, a dozen men jumped off their boat and into the river as the flare smacked down right into the middle of their boat—and right into a canister of ammunition.

  KLAP-BOOM!

  The huge fireball made bits of boat rain down, splashing into the river all around them.

  ‘Nice shot!’ Rapha shouted out, grinning.

  Sam joined him at the wheel as Rapha eased slightly off the throttle. They left the Agents swimming to shore.

  ‘How far is it to your place?’ Sam asked.

  ‘It’s around the next bend,’ Rapha said, looking up at the sky. ‘And with any luck, we’ll have clear skies for our flight.’

  27

  It was raining heavily as Sam and Rapha flew above the Amazon rainforest. Sam craned his neck to take in the astonishing views all around them. The swaying green sea of the tree canopy revealed flashes of the rainforest underneath—giant tree trunks, criss-crossed with vines, scurrying creatures on the forest floor and countless insects that fluttered and squeaked. There was the sparkle of the winding river while exotic birds filled the air with their colour and echoing songs.

  Sam saw a panther break out into a run across a clearing, hurtling towards a group of animals at the river’s edge. He leaned over to watch but it was too far—the two-seater ultralight plane wobbled dangerously and Rapha pulled him back with a grin.

  The plane was basically an open buggy with a hangglider wing above and an engine strapped to the back driving a propeller. The sound of the motor behind them was deafening.

  ‘You know where we’re going, right?’ Sam yelled across to Rapha.

  ‘There!’ Rapha said, pointing ahead.

  Out of the clouds emerged the cliff face of a table-like mountain soaring out of the jungle.

  ‘Pull up!’ Sam said, but he didn’t need to, as Rapha pulled back on the stick and increased the engine speed into the climb.

  ‘It’s fine!’ Rapha called. ‘The top of the mountain is not much beyond this cloud cover.’

  Sam gave a thumbs up but failed to even reassure himself.

  ‘In my dream,’ Rapha shouted, ‘the mountain was high, looming just beyond the clouds.’

  ‘Beyond the clouds?’ Sam replied.

  ‘Here we go!’ Rapha said, and suddenly—

  They were in a world of grey, flying in the middle of the dense cloud. The rain had stopped but the moisture in the air coated them immediately. Sam’s clothes were soaked through and his goggles were splattered with water. They were now flying completely blind, relying on Rapha’s memory and skill along with the GPS coordinates on the tiny screen between their knees.

  ‘Five seconds!’ Rapha said.

  Sam held his breath as they continued their climb, waiting to break through the dense layer of cloud at any moment …

  Five seconds came and went, then ten, then twenty.

  How big is this cloud?

  ‘OK!’ Rapha shouted, levelling out and tapping the GPS. ‘We’re definitely over the mountain’s edge.’

  ‘You’re sure?’

  ‘Altitude reader on this says so.’

  ‘But the clouds …’

  ‘Looks like it’s going to stay this way!’ Rapha yelled.

  Sam looked down. On his side there was nothing but grey. Grey below, grey above, grey all around.

  ‘How are we going to land in this?’ he asked.

  ‘That is, well, that is a good question,’ Rapha said, looking down tapping the GPS, and then facing Sam. ‘And I don’t have a good answer.’

  They flew in silence for near on five minutes, in which time Sam’s gut filled with growing dread. What if the cloud cover is like this all day? Do we fly around until we’re forced to land blind for lack of fuel?

  ‘Truth is,’ Rapha said, ‘there are nearly always clouds covering these mountains.’

  ‘You knew that going in?’

  Rapha nodded.

  ‘Have you flown here before?’

  ‘Couple of times,’ Rapha replied. ‘Not quite this far into the west though. Just along the edges. The warmer ocean winds from the other side of the mountains make for dangerous flying.’

  ‘Do you know where you’re going?’ Sam asked, wondering if he dared hear the answer. ‘You know the waterfall—from your dream?’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Rapha said. ‘I’ve mapped the GPS of the waterfall. Just another fifty kilometres.’

  Sam saw on the speedometer that they were doing about a hundred and fifty kilometres per hour, which meant about twenty more minutes in the air. He tried to relax.

  Rapha seems relaxed and he knows what he’s doing.

  ‘Relax,’ Rapha said intuitively. ‘We’re well above the level of—’

  There was a WHOOSH under them and Rapha pulled back on the stick and pushed the throttle op
en, taking them higher in altitude.

  ‘Some trees are tall around here, though,’ Rapha explained, with what sounded like a nervous laugh.

  Sam swallowed hard and nodded.

  ‘This area belongs to the people known as the Chachapoyas, the Warriors of the Clouds,’ Rapha said, adopting the tone of a tour guide. ‘They live in the cloud forests of the Amazon, which is now part of Peru.’

  ‘They’re still there?’ Sam asked, amazed.

  ‘I wish it were so … maybe their descendants are still there,’ Rapha said, starting to slowly take the aircraft down. ‘The Incas conquered their civilisation just before the Spanish arrived in Peru. The local legend says a large group of the Chachapoyas escaped and went east. They’re the ones who built the fortress city we’re heading for.’

  ‘Have you seen it?’

  ‘The waterfall yes, the lost city no,’ Rapha said, cutting the engine right back so that they were now in a quiet, gliding flight.

  ‘Hence it being a “lost” city.’

  ‘Right. No-one in living memory has seen it. There are only mentions of it, like in that journal of yours. But it’s not like that is the only such place—all the time they’re discovering more massive ruins in remote, heavily forested areas of the Amazon.’

  ‘It’s more than a big jungle, then,’ Sam mused.

  ‘Oh, yes!’ Pablo said, animated by the notion. ‘It was inhabited for centuries by peoples who lived in harmony with it. Now, I fear, in recent times, we are seeing hard times for the Amazon rainforest.’

  ‘Yet somehow,’ Sam said, after a moment of quiet, peaceful gliding, ‘about five hundred years ago an explorer stumbled across this lost cloud city and made mention of it in a journal.’

  ‘Yes—look there!’

  Ahead, the sky was getting brighter, until—

  They shot out into clear sky, the low banks of clouds behind them and a clear blue sky all around.

  ‘There!’ Sam said, pointing ahead.

  Down below, a few kilometres ahead of them, an enormous waterfall seemingly spewed out the side of the mountain range that formed the highest peak as far as the eye could see.

  ‘That’s it!’ Rapha said. ‘Lucky for us this is the worst year of drought in this area—the waterfall’s usually more than twice as strong.’