by Rohan Healy
“Better keep an eye out,” Maxen said, turning to face Miles, “looks like these fuckers are startin' to take an interest in us.” The great flying beasts grew more intimidating the closer they got to them, and Miles could now make out the sharp, axe like blades on the ends of their long tails and the colourful patterns on their scaly backs and wings. Miles and Maxen cautiously made their way up the tower as they watched the skies for any sign of danger and it wasn't long before Miles heard a loud crash directly behind him. He turned quickly with a fright to see that a terrifying blue scaled thrashwing had attached itself to the chain links of the outer cover with its large talons and was now face to face with Maxen. It was bearing a set of razor sharp teeth in its long pointed mouth and seemed to be staring straight at Maxen with nightmarish, blank white reptilian eyes. Maxen remained motionless as he stared back at the creature and Miles too tried to remain as still as he possibly could so as not to startle the monster into attacking. The thrashwing began to slowly make its way along the side of the shaft, settling in front of Miles and staring him down much like it did with Maxen. ‘Just stay calm Miles, no sudden movements…’ Miles pulse began to race as he looked into the horrifying, dead eyes of the beast only inches from his face, silently begging it not to strike, all the while the beast’s rancid breath blew forcefully against his face. After several seconds of closely examining its potential prey, sniffing at the terrified Miles and making all manner of strange squeaks and cackles, the blue monster threw open its giant wings and kicked hard against the side of the tower, launching itself back into the skies. A strong gust of wind from the wings of the beast almost made Miles lose his grip on the rope but he held tight and let out a great sigh of relief as he watched the creature soar into the distance to re-join its circling pack.
“Woah...” said Maxen, taking a deep breath, both of them took a wordless moment to calm down before continuing up the tower. As they carefully made their way to the peak, several more thrashwings had flown by within inches of the tower but none of them had made contact. Miles knew however that it most likely wouldn't be long before one of them decided to charge.
They had made it half way up the tower when they took another short break. Miles looked down at the marvellous view below. The dark green jungle spread out for many kilometres on one side, on the other side were great grassy plains that stretched to the horizon, mountains rising up on either side and the stream they waded through became a raging river a few kilometres away. In the far distance, beyond the jungle, he could just about make out Adam’s homestead. If not for the ever present threat of the thrashwing nest it would have been a serene and beautiful moment.
“Isn’t this incredible Maxen? If not for those damn ugly oversized birds I could sit here for hours.”
“I know what you mean man, I spent my whole life in the Yellow Districts, I ain’t never seen anything like this. Its beautiful man, I wish I could show Jenny, she always wanted to see a real forest.”
Aware of the need to get moving the two men continued on with their mission. Every now and then the night cycle kicked in turning everything completely black, stars were visible above and the only light came from the glow of Carthage as it hung there weightlessly. Thankfully these moments didn’t last too long, and for the majority of the time the faulty station provided Miles and Maxen with daylight hours. Sometimes it would feel like dawn, and a moment later the sun would be setting in the sky. After another few minutes of climbing Miles heard a loud, piercing screech from his right, he turned just in time to see a large thrashwing speeding towards the shaft.
“Maxen!” he shouted, pointing to the creature. The thrashwing showed no signs of slowing down and Maxen quickly shifted his arm into its cannon form. The flying creature with red and black scales hit the tower forcefully, causing it to shake wildly. Without hesitation, the thrashwing began violently tearing apart the outer covering with its claws and teeth. Maxen wasted no time, he aimed his cannon at the beast’s chest and fired, expelling another devastating sphere of energy which ripped through both the thrashwing and the tower. Warm reptilian blood now covered a large portion of the elevator shaft, drenching Miles and Maxen as what little was left of the red and black thrashwing plummeted to the ground. The commotion attracted the unwanted attention of numerous other beasts as they broke out of their circular flying pattern and prepared to attack.
“Shit, we gotta move!” said Maxen picking up the pace and climbing the rope as fast as he could. Miles did the same while watching the mad thrashwings soar wildly through the air toward them. Powerful crashing noises were heard and both Miles and Maxen, looking down, saw a smaller thrashwing scramble through the hole made by Maxen's cannon. It quickly squeezed its way into the elevator shaft and launched itself upwards at Maxen who lifted his mechanical limb in front of his face to block the sharp claws of the creature. Miles looked on in horror as the thrashwing clung tightly to Maxen's arm and, with a deafening screech, opened its jaws. He pulled his revolver from his trousers and pointed it at the beast, but was unable to fire in case he hit Maxen. As the thrashwing clung on tight, Maxen instinctively spun himself around and slammed the creature against one of the hard metal girders, trapping it between his arm and the wall. The small thrashwing frantically pounded its wings and attempted to bite Maxen but the only part of him that it could reach was his impenetrable steel arm. ‘Die you fuckin’ lizard freak!’ Maxen growled and pushed his arm violently against the monster’s throat, immobilising it until it finally stopped moving. Satisfied that the creature was dead he released his hold, letting the limp body of the thrashwing spiral down the shaft, hitting the sides as it fell.
The climb to the tower's peak continued as many more thrashwings attempted to break through the outer covering and into the elevator shaft, only a few of them successfully made it inside however and those that did were swiftly dispatched by Maxen's cannon. They soon learned their lesson and retreated back into the skies to watch their prey from a distance. This made the ascent relatively peaceful but Miles and Maxen stayed on their toes, the thrashwings appeared to be fast learners and if they had the brains to retreat, how long would it be before they came up with a more effective approach? Mile’s body ached from the climb, his arms and legs felt like they were on fire. But it was too late to turn back, he had to push on. No matter how much his tired lungs wanted to quit he just couldn’t give up. A look of steely determination was plastered across his sweat covered face. ‘For Lucy…’
Another two hours passed as Miles took the final drink from his canteen, draining it completely. He felt like collapsing from exhaustion but they had almost made it, and seeing the end of the shaft only meters above gave Miles the burst of energy he needed to complete the journey.
“Okay,” miles panted, retrieving his grappling hook for the final time, “ready?” Maxen nodded, looking nearly as beat as Miles. They threw their hooks as hard as they could and used the last of their energy to make it to the peak.
They had only climbed for another five minutes when Maxen stopped and turned to Miles.
“Hey...” he said curiously, “notice anything different?” Miles was confused for a few seconds before he realized what Maxen was talking about. Now that he thought about it, for the past few minutes the only sound he heard had been the rattling of himself and Maxen climbing the rickety elevator shaft, the monstrous cries of the thrashwings had disappeared. Miles searched the sky for any sign of the flying beasts but they were gone, his heart began to race once again.
“What the fu...where did they go?!” quivered Miles.
“They saw what we did to 'em, probably gave up...right?” replied Maxen with a hint of fear.
“No,” said Miles, still out of breath, “they wouldn't give up their nest that easily would they?” As Miles spoke, the radio on his hip began to crackle before Adam's voice came through the speaker.
“Miles!” he shouted, “listen to me, the thrashwings have retreated into the trees! That means-” Adam's voice was cut o
ff by a deafening roar from above which penetrated Miles' very soul. He looked over at Maxen, both of them confused and terrified as the whole tower began to tremble. Another horrifying cry shot through the skies as the tower shook frighteningly, feeling to Miles and Maxen like something gigantic had leapt off the top of the station. Miles looked around frantically before finally catching a glimpse of what caused the commotion. An abnormally large flying creature, double the size of the largest ordinary thrashwing ripped through the air as it began to circle the tower. 'The queen...' Miles thought to himself, recalling the last thing Adam told him before they began their ascent. ‘She must be sixty fucking feet across!’ Without any verbal communication, Miles and Maxen both climbed as fast as they could, scrambling desperately to reach the peak of the tower before the giant beast attacked. It flew closer to the tower, the wind from its enormous wings rattling the elevator shaft each time it soared by. As the two men approached the end of the shaft, the exit was blocked by a rough, light brown, waxy substance, presumably part of the thrashwing nest. Maxen quickly charged his cannon and fired a shot at the blockage creating an opening big enough for himself and Miles to fit through.
They were finally inside the large dome at the peak of the Wilhelm station's tower. The room was virtually empty other than the large mechanism that required repairs, more of the strange substance that the thrashwings created, as well as the various bones and carcasses of past meals, all of which resulted in a heavy, pungent stench that made Miles’ nose curl in disgust. But there was no time to think about the malfunctioning expulsion system or the horrible odour with the thrashwing queen awake, angry and hunting them down. Miles and Maxen rushed, instinctively, out of the covered dome onto a narrow, steel catwalk which surrounded the peak structure, to see the monster screeching and flapping wildly above them, her sickly green scales glistening in the harsh late afternoon sunlight.
“I got this, Miles!” said Maxen. Pointing his cannon at the beast he launched a projectile in the direction of the giant thrashwing but the queen skilfully evaded the attack and sped menacingly towards the tower.
“Shit!” Maxen exclaimed as he prepared for another shot. The weapon fired again, sending another ball of energy at the thrashwing's head which was the size of an entire human's body. The queen attempted to dodge once again, quickly dashing to the side but the projectile struck its left wing, it cried out in pain and was sent into an uncontrolled downward spiral.
“We got it!” Miles shouted throwing his fist in the air in celebration. His whole body shook with adrenaline as he looked over to Maxen who was still standing with his arm cannon pointed at where the thrashwing queen had been a few moments ago, panting, sweat dripping from his face. But suddenly the tower shook violently once again, Miles and Maxen stumbled and looked down through the mesh of the walkway in horror to see the wounded queen furiously charging up the outside of the elevator shaft, blood spraying spectacularly from her injured wing.
“Sh-Shoot it Maxen!” screamed Miles terrified.
“I can't get a shot at it without blowin' a hole right at our feet!” Maxen replied, now equally as panicked while the colossal beast continued to ferociously scale the tower.
“Fuck it!” Without thinking twice, Maxen threw himself over the steel railing that lined the catwalk, hanging on tight with his left hand, an almost five hundred meter drop beneath him. Miles looked on, frozen and barely able to watch.
“Maxen! What the fuck?!” Maxen aimed his right arm at the green queen thrashwing once more, now with a clear shot beneath the metallic walkway. The vicious creature marched mercilessly toward the peak. It opened its jaws displaying rows of knife-like teeth and roared with such force that Miles could feel his clothes being pressed against his skin. Maxen took aim, his canon fully charged.
“Eat this you scaly green asshole!” As the queen lunged to attack Maxen he fired off one final shot hitting the queen in her gigantic, open mouth resulting in a stunning display of bright blue light and dark red blood, bringing a swift death to the horrifying creature. The headless body began to fall, this time completely motionless as blood spewed from its severed neck. Miles stood on the catwalk in total shock, he wanted to help Maxen back up but it was unnecessary as the seemingly fearless man used his remaining strength to pull himself back over the railing, joining Miles on the walkway before collapsing to his knees and coughing in exhaustion. The last of the thrashwings emerged from the thick jungle and began flying east, the death of their queen enough for them to abandon the station and surrounding area.
Miles and Maxen sat on the walkway for a few more minutes, neither of them saying a word until Adam's voice hissed through the radio.
“Miles? Maxen? Are you alright?!” Miles took the radio from his hip, bringing it to his mouth and clicking the button on the side.
“Yeah,” he replied as he slowly stood up, “we're fine.”
“Thank God! Alright, it's time to repair this thing Miles.” Miles walked wearily over to the damaged mechanism in the centre of the structure and began unpacking the tools from his bag.
“I'm at the expulsion mechanism now,” he told Adam over the radio.
“Okay, good. Now tell me what you can see.”
Adam spent the next half hour talking Miles through the complex repairs while Maxen admired the view. The station randomly decided to bless Maxen with a spectacular sunset, causing beautiful reds, oranges and purples to paint the light, wispy clouds about the vast green jungle and endless savannah below. Maxen watched a flock of exotic birds coast gracefully in the sky like a shoal of fish, and saw a herd of roaming wild, horned beasts stampede across the plains. He enjoyed every minute of the rare peace as he recovered his strength from the treacherous climb and the battle with the queen thrashwing.
“Alright, I think that's it!” said Miles excitedly as the station clunked and whirred into action, the sky changing a little as it resumed its correct cycles.
“Yep, you got it, everything looks good from down here,” replied Adam, “we'll need to hurry home though, the station seems to be back to its regular cycles and that means it'll be gettin' dark soon. You still got those 'chutes I gave you?” he asked. Miles looked through the backpack for the two metal boxes that Adam had assured them were fully working parachutes.
“Yeah, they're right here,” he confirmed.
“Good,” said Adam, “remember, they'll activate automatically once they detect that you're movin' fast enough.” Miles didn't have much choice other than to take Adam's word for it. If they were to try to descend via rope, which was all but impossible due to their exhaustion, it would take hours and none of them wanted to walk back through that jungle in pitch black conditions. He handed one of the parachutes to Maxen and begun fastening his own.
“You really think these things'll work?” Maxen asked sceptically.
“I...I’m sure they will. Adam's kind of a genius when it comes to this sort of stuff, right?”
“Whatever you say, man...” Miles and Maxen looked down over the railing once again as they tightened the last straps of the bizarre looking metal boxes containing their parachutes. Miles slowly and carefully climbed over the railing to stand on the opposite side, the high altitude winds blew Miles’ white shirt into his face as he looked down at the tiny trees and animals below. Miles clung tightly to the top of the railing as he tried to prepare himself for the jump. No matter how much they trusted Adam, jumping from an almost five hundred meter high tower is no easy task. After stalling several seconds, Miles turned to Maxen and nodded. ‘You always said I should take more risks and try new things Hellen. Well, here goes…’ He closed his eyes and jumped forward off the railing, Maxen followed a few seconds later. Wind whipped at Miles furiously as he plummeted, terrified, towards the distant ground. He screamed uncontrollably, praying that Adam’s chute would work. Then suddenly the box on his back began beeping loudly before spraying some kind of clear gel into the air. Miles watched above his head as the gel began to thicken into a str
ong rubbery substance, creating a large blanket above him and slowing his descent. He breathed a strong sigh of relief as the gelatinous parachute brought him slowly towards the ground. He even took a moment to enjoy the view and the unique sensation.
“Whooooo! This is fun!” Maxen shouted at the top of his voice as he drifted down just above Miles.
They both landed safely at the base of the Wilhelm station to be greeted by Adam who congratulated the men on a job well done and led them back through the jungle to the small house where Miriam and Lucy were waiting.
They had cleared out the thrashwing nest, repaired the Wilhelm station and paid for Lucy's new arm in advance. Despite the trials they faced over the past number of hours Miles felt genuinely happy for the first time in a long time as he walked back with Maxen and Adam. He was incredibly sore, exhausted beyond belief but satisfied, it was all for a good cause. On Carthage, Miles had forgotten what was important to him. Working for The Energy Department for five years drained him of his life force. Sure it was safe and it was stable but that’s just the problem. It was mediocrity, there was no sense of accomplishment, no feeling of actually improving peoples’ lives, of making a difference. As a child and all the way through college Miles had always dreamed big. He was smart and it showed in his grades. His life’s goal was to find and harness efficient and natural sources of energy to improve the lives of the inhabitants of Carthage. At the age of thirteen he modified a remote controlled Enforcer Patrol Vehicle toy to run off naturally occurring atmospheric electricity in the global atmospheric electrical circuit instead of batteries. His good grades and experiments with electricity and energy which continued throughout high school and college landed him the job with The Elissa Energy Department. This seemed like the perfect fit, a few years in The Energy Department and then he could move into The High Level Energy Systems Development Department. But as often happens in life the stepping stone became the destination. Miles married and had a son and suddenly it just seemed easier to stay where he was. Hellen encouraged him to forget about The Energy Systems Development Department and continue to provide for his family through The Energy Department which offered more regular hours and pay. The Development Department paid big bonuses for patents and breakthroughs but the average wage was slightly lower than The Energy Department, and the hours changed from week to week.
