Ivan stepped forward to stand over Roland and began positioning his needle.
Skylar held up her hand. “Wait. I need to shut down his nano systems.” She swiped right to a new screen and entered several commands.
Roland’s eyes fluttered, his muscles tensed and then relaxed. “That felt like something turned off.”
Skylar nodded. “Yes. I’m showing all systems are down.”
Roland inclined his head towards Coach. “Coach. Come hold me down.”
Coach came over and put one arm across Roland’s shoulders and one arm across his waist. “Okay. I’ve got you.”
Ivan went into surgical mode. “Ivan in charge now. You do exactly what Ivan say and you be just fine. Roland just like big bacon hog, and him needs to be held down tightly.” He motioned for Skylar to come over. “Pretty Girl, you hold Roland’s legs. We do not want him to move.”
Skylar did his he asked and gripped Roland’s legs tightly. “Okay. I’ve got his legs.”
Ivan held the syringe at the exact angle for entry into Roland’s left ventricle. “Roland you remember Ivan’s pain levels?”
Roland tensed his body in vivid recollection. “Yes. Pain levels one through four.”
Ivan pressed the needle against Roland skin, making an indention but not breaking it. “This pain level four. But only for moment.”
Roland clenched his teeth tight. “Just do it.”
Without warning, Ivan jabbed the long syringe straight into Roland’s left ventricle and began depressing the plunger on the end of the syringe.
Roland yelled with the pain. It felt like a white hot branding iron had been thrust into his heart. His chest pounded with pain, which resonated throughout every cell in his body. He felt himself struggling against the pain and his human bonds that held him fast.
Ivan had delivered about half of the upgrade serum. “Roland! You must not move. Coach! Hold him tight!” He placed his other paw-like hand on Roland’s chest and pressed down hard to stabilize his injection site.
Roland pulled himself back from the pain he felt and focused on holding his body still.
Skylar looked up at the needle. Her stomach began to churn. She forced herself to look away but not before the scene in front of her imprinted itself on her brain. She had seen the needle, almost completely buried in Roland’s heart. She had seen it moving up and down slightly. She could not rid herself of the thought that the syringe was moving in time to Roland’s heartbeat.
Beads of sweat ran down Coach’s forehead and face as he strained to keep Roland’s body still.
Ivan finished delivering the upgrade serum and deftly removed the syringe. “Okay. Ivan done. You let go now, da?”
Coach released Roland and stepped back
Skylar let go of Roland’s legs and sprinted for the bathroom. She saw her watch as she was running and a thought froze in her mind. The whole process had only taken about 30 seconds to deliver the upgrade serum. It had seemed like an eternity. She barely made it to the bathroom before she completely emptied the entire contents of her stomach into the sink.
A few minutes later she came out of the bathroom and hit the button on her terminal to start Roland’s nano system up again.
Roland’s eyes jolted open as he felt his nano system being turned back on. His extremities tingled. It was a welcome feeling over the searing pain he had felt in his chest. “Sky. Did the upgrade work? Can you get the pain blocker going yet?”
Coach and Ivan watched over Skylar’s shoulder as she ran through all the system checks. Her stomach began to feel normal again. “Yes. It looks like the upgrade was a success! The cells are beginning to circulate throughout your entire body. It will take them a few more hours to fully propagate everywhere though. She swiped left through the holographic menus to reach the pain blocker section of Roland’s system. She grabbed the slider and cranked it all the way up. “Okay. The pain blocker is going now.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
CHUTE
ROLAND LINED UP with the rest of the contestants as they walked down the long corridor. The Pinnacle employee at the front of the line had said that this corridor ran underneath the Pinnacle building and would be the quickest route to their transportation spot. Roland went over his racing checklists again. He was wearing the red long johns underneath his warm-up suit. They were already making him sweat. The walls echoed loudly as his boots clomped down the corridor. His other three items had been bundled together into a small package, which he had strapped onto his chest. That bundle included the ugly winter parka, his flint stone and his furry mittens.
The Pinnacle employee had instructed the contestants that they should not put any of their racing equipment on their backs, as they were going to need it clear for something else.
The end of the corridor opened onto a bright, sunny field. Roland blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. He heard a loud whirring sound and felt a rush of wind. Then he saw a large military style transport on the ground. The transport was similar to the ones that he had used in the Marine Corps but looked more corporately plush. Several Pinnacle employees lined the route that headed towards the transport. They motioned towards the big bird. Roland had flown on these types of transports many times in the Marine Corps. This one, though similar, also had some marked differences. He could see that there was no weaponry attached to the wings. It was also painted in a glossy Pinnacle black and sported a large Pinnacle logo on the side. Overall, it seemed to be in much better shape than many of the ones he had ridden in during his time in the service. The prop wash from the huge turbines blasted down over Roland. He was glad that his cold weather equipment was well secured. He entered the aft section of the aircraft. The inside was cavernous. A Pinnacle employee ushered him to a seat along the wall. The forty-eight contestants barely filled the back portion of the aircraft. The rest of it was nearly empty. Normally, an aircraft of this size could hold six tanks and four hover trucks. Roland watched as the aft ramp closed like the drawbridge of a castle.
Within thirty seconds, the craft began to lift off. After flying for just under an hour, several Pinnacle employees handed out unusually small parachute packs. Roland received his last.
Skylar got a race alert message on her terminal. She opened it immediately and projected it onto the large, holographic terminal. “Roland. The race is going to start in ten minutes. You will parachute onto the course. The race begins the moment the first contestant exits the plane. Contestants will leave in rapid succession.”
Creases appeared in Coach’s brow. “The plane is flying away from the starting line. That means that Roland will be playing catch up before he can even get to the starting line.”
Roland’s eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t matter. So will every other contestant in front of me.” He looked down at the flimsy nylon ripcord that he now had to completely entrust his life to. “Where is the backup parachute? I don’t see another ripcord.”
Coach scrolled down through the instructions. “Pinnacle says that the chutes are one hundred percent guaranteed to open. There is no backup parachute because that would make the rig heavier and less aerodynamic.”
Roland frowned. “I wouldn’t have minded the extra weight.”
Coach highlighted the parachute’s model number on the terminal. “Skylar. Find out everything you can about this model of parachute.” He turned back towards Roland’s video feed. “Roland. If you are up for it, this is an opportunity for you to make up some time and get ahead. If you free fall as long and as fast as possible, I think you have a good chance of passing several of the other contestants on the way down.”
Roland nodded. “Let’s do it. Sky. I’m going to need an altimeter. Also, I need you to find a good place for me to land on the map. I don’t want to overshoot my route and lose time that way either.”
Skylar’s fingers were a blur as she typed commands into her terminal. She found Pinnacle’s published specifications for the parachute and began working out her glide
ratio calculations. “I’m working on that. Be prepared. The temperature at this altitude is minus twenty degrees.”
Roland enabled the O2 plugin and the High Altitude plugin. “I don’t have any kind of eye protection. I’ll be hitting speeds of at least a hundred and twenty miles an hour on the way down.”
Coach nodded. “Close your eyes and use your sonar vision.”
Ivan grinned. “Him have sonar? Him not need to see?” He pointed to his own eyes.
Coach shook his head. “No. He can see with the sonar.”
“If him not need to see, then him can wear parka backwards. Roland can use hood to cover face, da?”
Roland began unpacking his parcel to get his parka out. “Good idea, Ivan. The parka goes past my knees. It’s so big that I might be able to use it kind of like a squirrel suit.” He took his parachute off and put the coat on frontwards and zipped it up. Then he pulled his arms inside the coat and rotated it so that it was backwards. Then he pulled his parachute back on and buckled it. He gave the thought command to enable his 3D Sonar vision.
He felt the small of his back to make sure that Charlotte was still there and fastened securely. Next, he double-checked his pocket to make sure his flint stone was also secure. Then he pulled on his furry mittens and tucked them inside of the parka sleeves. The ends of the parka sleeves velcro’d at the wrist. He cinched them down as hard as he could. Finally, he pulled the hood of the parka up over his face. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Even with the 3D wireframe of the sonar, Roland could still easily make out Duke’s unmistakable form a few contestants ahead of him. Duke turned to look back at Roland. He paused for just a second trying to figure out what Roland was doing. All of the other contestants were facing forward, towards the aft end of the plane, but Roland appeared to be facing backwards. “Hey, Leprechaun! The race is this way.”
Roland gave Duke a big, furry thumbs up.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
RIPCORD
DUKE SCOWLED AND pounded his fist with his hand. “You’re going to be my ticket to free upgrades for life!” Then he turned back around towards the plane door.
Roland half-smiled inside the hood of his parka. “That went well.”
Coach crossed his arms. “Focus. As soon as that door opens, the race begins. The Pinnacle race official will point to you when it is your turn to jump.”
Roland nodded. “Ready.”
Two large, red lights on either side of the aft aircraft door began to blink. Then the aft door lowered. The light would have been blinding, if Roland could have seen it. Icy air blasted through the aircraft like a runaway freight car.
Coach opened another terminal to view the live Pinnacle race feed. He could see the fractal patterns of ice forming around the opening of the aircraft. The race official pointed at Spectra and then pointed at the opening. Without any hesitation, Spectra leapt out of the back of the plane.
Coach crossed his arms. “Spectra has gone! The race has started!”
Roland continued to step forward, until it was his turn. The race official pointed directly at Roland, then he pointed to the open door of the aircraft.
Roland sprinted out the back of the plane and leapt from the aircraft ramp into the sky. He spread his arms and legs wide testing out his Parka as a wind suit. He could feel the icy air cutting right through his parka, but the ugly, old war surplus parka caught the piercing wind.
Skylar hit the enter key on her holographic terminal. “Okay. Your altimeter is up. You just passed the eighteen thousand foot mark.” She hit the enter key one more time. “And there is your compass. You are heading north right now, and you need to be a little more to the northeast.”
Roland leaned a little to his starboard side to adjust his course.
Coach watched the other contestants’ locations on the map. “Roland. If you maintain this speed, you should pass the guy in front of you in another ten seconds. I think he has already pulled his chute.”
Roland clinched his jaw. He gave the thought command for Leapfrog to help stabilize his arms and legs. He could feel them bouncing around as they were buffeted by the brutal winds. The sonar registered the contestant ahead of him, who had indeed pulled his chute. Roland shot past the man. He saw three more parachutes in front of him. That was enough to bring half a smile to his face. He passed them in quick succession. His altimeter showed six thousand feet.
Skylar stirred the soymilk in her coffee. “With this parachute, you’re going to need to open it at least by three thousand feet.
Roland leaned a little to his port side to correct his heading again. The wind whistled in his ears. “Three thousand? Seems high.”
Skylar nodded. “The landing area is pretty narrow. I think you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of room to correct.”
Roland watched as his altimeter began dropping more rapidly. He looked ahead to their chosen landing area. He could see why Skylar had wanted to give him lots of room. There was a flat ridge on the mountain only about twenty feet wide to make his landing. There wasn’t any room for error. At three thousand feet, he reached out to grab his ripcord. He couldn’t get a hold of it with his mitten. The wind whipped his ripcord about, like an ill-timed game of keep away. His altimeter now read just below two thousand five hundred feet.
Coach placed both hands on the desk in front of him and leaned forward. His voice was hard. “Roland. Pull the ripcord.”
Roland tried once more to grab the ripcord, but his mitten was too bulky. With his right hand, he yanked the hood off of his face. The icy wind stabbed his skin like a thousand needles. His altimeter read two thousand one hundred feet. He used his right hand to grab his mitten off of his left hand. Then, with fingers that were already turning numb, he grabbed the parachute cord and yanked. Nothing happened.
Skylar jumped out of her chair. “Pull it, Roland! Pull the ripcord!”
Roland gave the thought command for the Grip plugin. Then he yanked the ripcord again. It took Roland a moment to register what was happening. He looked down at his left hand, and saw that he was holding the ripcord, and it was not attached to anything. Then he felt himself being jolted upwards. He looked up. His parachute had deployed. He had never been so glad to see a Pinnacle logo before.
The parachute was black and rectangular in shape. It was small but handled well. Roland guided the chute down and landed with a practiced parachute landing fall.
He came out of his roll with his chest heaving, trying to catch his breath. “One hundred percent guaranteed, huh?”
After Roland had caught his breath, he surveyed his surroundings. He was standing along the ridge of the mountain. Twelve inches of snow covered everything for as far as he could see. The sun shone brightly, accentuating the stark whiteness of the environment. The ridge that he was on was flat but climbed at a steep grade. Sharp, gray rocks jutted out over the landscape. Their tops were covered in snow, and their faces either shined in a dreary gray or cast sharp triangular shadows. The jagged shadows of the rocks seemed to be the material of nightmares, like the shadowy dental work of a midnight monster.
Roland dropped the parachute on the ground and began turning his parka frontwards. “Sky. Where am I headed?”
Coach and Skylar studied the three-dimensional holographic map that they had pulled up on their terminal. Skylar typed in a few commands to her terminal and hit the enter key.
Coach nodded as he watched the green line that was tracking Roland’s distance on the map. Roland’s current location was indicated by a blinking dot.
Skylar zoomed in on the map to double check her calculations. “Today you need to travel at least sixty-four miles. Your glide from the plane already covered thirty-three of those miles.”
Roland gave a half smile. Then he put his hand on his forehead as a visor to shield his view from the sun’s harsh glare. He looked in all directions but could see no other contestants. “That’s good news. I don’t see anyone else, though.”
Skylar typed in another com
mand, swiped left to her options screen and ticked off a check box to show the other racers’ positions. The map now showed many more dots. “Don’t worry. They are all there. One is moving quite slow. Maybe the contestant was injured during landing?” She shrugged. Roland was her only concern. She looked back at the map. “I think you definitely landed in a prime spot. You are ahead of eight other racers. Your best option is to take this path up to the summit and then down the other side of the mountain. There is a forest at the base of the mountain and should provide good cover for nightfall.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
REBOOT
IVAN PUT ON his headset. “Ivan’s headset not working.” He yanked the headset from his head and presented it to Skylar. “Pretty Girl fix. Ivan have important things to say.”
Skylar reached out for the headset and flipped its power switch to the on position without a word. She tapped on it twice to show Ivan its location. Ivan crammed the headset back onto his head. “Roland. This Ivan. Very important. You must not travel at night. Temperatures be sixty degrees below. You either die or get frostbite. If get frostbite, you cut off fingers and toes. Ivan know this for sure. Ivan lose two toes on right foot when Ivan was small boy.”
Roland adjusted his furry mittens to fit better and began to trudge up the steep incline of the mountain. “Okay Ivan. I will find some shelter before nightfall.”
Ivan held up his hand. “Wait! Parachute!”
Roland turned behind him and saw his parachute back where he had left it on the ground when he had landed.
Ivan’s forehead showed deep concern lines as he furrowed his brow. “You must take with you now. It will give you extra layers for your shelter and string will have much usefulness later.”
Roland turned around and slowly jogged back the few feet to where the parachute lay. He balled it up and crammed it back in his little backpack. He wheezed from the effort. “I already feel winded.” As he stood up, he felt the world spinning. He put his arms out to steady himself.
Nano Contestant - Episode 4: Arctic Survival: The Technothriller Futuristic Science Fiction Adventure of a Cyberpunk Marine (Nano Contestant Series) Page 5
