A shadow fell across the bunk as something passed by the window outside. Its huge armoured body blocked the sun's light as it strode past. Nick sat bolt upright, and started scanning the wall. Schematics flooded his mind, and the wall melted away under layers of calculations and sensor readings. Echolocation gave him a view of the external wall and the machine standing behind it. It was a P73 combat walker, heavily armed and capable of flight.
Nick raised one arm, extending a rotating munitions pod, loaded with a dozen N4 armour-piercing mini-rockets. He activated a close proximity launch pattern but nothing happened. He was surprised to see that his weapons systems were disabled. When he ran a self diagnostic, it showed that his combat status had not yet been granted. Nick turned to the people beside his bunk. They were applauding loudly.
'Jacob, you have surpassed yourself as always,' Roy said.
Jacob laughed.
The woman leant closer to him, staring into Nick's eyes. There was something familiar about her face. He didn't know why.
'Remarkable,' she said in silky smooth voice.
The technicians in the doorway shuffled off down the corridor sounding excited. Nick logged their conversation until they left the building. The combat walker outside the window had now powered down its weapons systems. It walked away with a stiff, mechanical gait. Nick followed its progress on the external visual logs.
'Can he talk?' the woman said.
Jacob nodded.
'Hello Nick,' she said, 'You look so cute with your new shiny body - so powerful. Gail told me all about you. I'm her sister, Helen. Think of me as like Gail, but just a little bit prettier, and just a little bit smarter. I've come a long way to meet you, Nick. Gail was meant to be here too, before she...' Helen pursed her lips but let the sentence trail off. 'Why isn't he saying anything?'
'I haven't authorised him to speak yet.'
'Oh, Such a shame'
'Let him get some rest now,' Jacob said. 'His metabolism hasn't fully adapted yet. It will be another six months before he can synthesise his own proteins.'
Nick searched his Data-Net for references of what proteins Jacob was referring to. He knew how to synthesise all the proteins that he needed. Why was Jacob lying?
Jacob led the others from the room and closed the door behind them. 'Time for your beauty sleep, Nick.'
Nick didn't feel sleepy. He wondered why everybody had visited him. He wondered why he had forgotten how to speak. He wondered how long he had been in this room and why Gail Thompson had never mentioned that she had a sister. He watched Jacob leaving the room, scanning him in the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths as he walked.
Jacob turned in the doorway, 'Goodnight, Chambers. You're mine now. Don't forget it.' He winked as he pressed a button on some gadget in his hand.
Nick slept.
The Fire Within
Rachel lay on a medical bunk with her eyes closed. A nurse brushed her hair back and dabbed a damp cloth across her pale, clammy face.
'Is she here again?' the nurse said.
Annie nodded from a wide-backed polymer chair in the corner of the room. Her eyes were all dark shadows.
'Have you told her yet?'
Annie shook her head, 'Not exactly. She knows her mother is ill. She's finding it hard to deal with. I'm doing everything I can to provide her with a normal routine but it's so difficult. Her grandfather is dead. She keeps asking about him. I don't know what happened to her father. Rachel is so sick. I don't know what to tell her. She can't spend all day sitting with her mother while she's in this state. It's not healthy for a child of her age. She needs to be outside in the fresh air. Rachel has to wake up soon. Please God, she must, or I don't know what I'll do.'
The nurse offered a sad smile, 'I wish I could offer you more hope. The truth is you should tell Lisa something sooner rather than later. Rachel's injuries are difficult to assess. The latest batch of test results show little improvement. We don't know for sure why she went into a coma, and we can offer no guarantees when she will wake from it. With her current rate of progress, it could be months, rather than days.'
'Months?!' Annie held her hands over her mouth.
+ + +
Fifty paces down the corridor, Lisa sat cross-legged amongst untouched toys in a small nursery. Her arms hung loose, hands resting in her lap. Her eyes were shut tight as she scrunched up her face in concentration. She had stopped crying a long time ago.
'Mommy,' she said in a small plaintiff voice. 'Mommy.'
In the corridor outside, a figure approached with silent steps, slipping in through the doorway and closing the door gently behind him.
Lisa sat cross-legged with her back to the door, rocking back and forth on her hips. Her head rolled from side to side and she started to hum.
The man approached from behind, his voluminous blue robe forming a mountain that sailed across the room on a silent wind. 'Lisa,' Henry said in a soft whisper, 'Rachel needs you now.'
Lisa didn't turn around. She continued rocking slowly on her hips, humming softly to herself with her eyes tight shut.
'Your mother has gone away, Lisa. Her body is in the room at the end of the hall, but her essence is somewhere else. I can't bring her back, but you can.'
Lisa shook her head and continued to hum.
'You can find her. You can bring her back.'
Again, Lisa shook her head.
'You know where she is. You've been there, haven't you? She's gone to that special place, the place you thought was yours alone. She's there now, Lisa. She needs you. She can't find her way back. She doesn't believe in herself. You have to find her.'
Lisa hummed louder, but Henry wouldn't leave her alone. He kept on pushing her with his words. 'Find her. Help her. Bring her back.'
Tears formed in Lisa's eyes, but she kept on humming. The sound diverged until it sounded like words muttered in some ancient language.
'Find her!'
Lisa stopped humming and started singing an ancient song in a voice that was melodious and full of joy, but she couldn't stop the tears that rolled down her soft pink cheeks.
When the sand lords come,
the clouds will rise,
When the sand lords come,
the birds can't fly.
When the sand lords come,
they bring us hope,
When the sand lords come,
they bind us with rope.
Megarothia build your hopes,
and live your life of dreams.
When the sand lords come again,
your tears will fall in streams.
Lisa's eyes sprang open, white flames burning inside them. The toys around her span in a vortex, flying outwards before smashing into the walls and tumbling to the floor. The door buckled, toppling into the corridor outside. Henry stumbled, slumping down onto his backside, as his face lit up with excitement.
Voices cried out from the recovery room down the hall. Footsteps came running. Annie appeared in the nursery's doorway with tears shining in her eyes. She frowned at the broken door, and then stared at Henry sitting on the floor. Questions filled her eyes, but when she spoke, she spoke only to Lisa.
'Come quickly,' she said. 'God has blessed us all. Your mother is awake!'
Lisa turned with white fire still burning in her eyes, 'Yes, I know,' she said.
The Author
Peter James West is a British author who was born and raised in the seaside town of Scarborough, England. Writing since 2003, he has rediscovered the world of fiction and has worked on a number of novels across the genres of science fiction and horror.
In his student days, Peter achieved a first class honours degree in artificial intelligence at the University of Essex and has had a keen interest in science, psychology and music for many years.
He was married in India and now lives with his wife in London, where the trains break down with the regularity of an atomic clock.
Peter looks forward to creating many more characters and stories. He
hopes that some of those characters will be taken into your hearts and remembered long after the author is forgotten.
Reviews make a real difference. If you enjoyed this book, please spread the word and leave a review on the site of your choice.
You can contact the author at:
[email protected]
Or follow Peter's blog for regular updates at:
www.peterjameswest.com
Cinnamon City
Tales of Cinnamon City - #2
Cinnamon City is the second novel in the military science fiction series, 'Tales of Cinnamon City'.
This novel mixes elements of military science fiction with an epic tale set in the richly detailed world of Megarothia.
After a short coma, Rachel wakes up under mysterious circumstances. She works hard to recover her fitness, but when she finally returns to Central Command, she finds that many things have changed in her absence.
Gail Thompson has been exiled, and Lord Hades has appointed a new leader of the Security Forces. Rachel must prove herself like never before. She hunts down new Kamari bases, and enlists the help of the Implants, but strange things keep happening to her, and she still doesn't understand why.
Only Lord Hades knows what's really going on, but the price of listening to him may be too great to bear. Time is running out. Rachel must find the traitors amongst them and help make Central Command stronger than it has ever been before.
Meanwhile, the guilds demand to see the Council of Lords. When their prayers are finally answered, they discover just how little they know about their absent masters.
Find out More >
Table of Contents
Information Cloud
Copyright
With Thanks
Prologue
The Messenger
Two days later.
Beacon Station (715DS)
Synthesized Food
The Alert
Mobilise
The Breach
Wyser River
Confirmation
Time to listen
Special Envoy
Guildmaster Gumptor
New powers
Drop Rangers
The Kamari
The Crocs
Birthday Girl
Information Cloud
Short Trip
Crab Scanners
Havers Compound
The Swarm
The Fortress
Nick Stew
Nowhere to Hide
Cafe Lyon
The Bull Rangers
Net-feed Droids
Missing Code
Inside Havers Compound
Blackout
Damen Trent
Status Report
The Descent
Time to Recharge
Mental Gymnastics
Slow Paralysis
Prepare the Roaches
Moving in
The Assault
Sphynx-II
The Search
Missing Numbers
Report
Questions
Recall
Satellite-grid Controller
Clear the Streets
The Lookout Balcony
The Gateways
Lockdown
Time to Exit
Responsibilities
Pulling Out
Walstone Forest
Lisa
Coming Home
Unexpected Visitors
Grandfather's House
The Walstone Report
Gail Thompson
Dilemmas
Unwanted Advice
Worried about Rachel
Find a Way
Sunshine in the Night
Recovered Property
Meet the Walker
Blind Fight
Mekinet News building
Not Alone
Time to Run
Information
No Way Out
Silent Steps
Alone Again
Incinerated
Familiar Features
Dangerous Times
The Cold
One Step Ahead
Out of Options
Lucky Fools
Desperate Acts
Encrypted Line
Lord Colloran Hades
A Different Kind of Death
The Fire Within
The Author
Cinnamon City
Information Cloud: Science fiction and fantasy series (Tales of Cinnamon City Book 1) Page 32
