Prometheus, A New Dawn

by Nicole MacDonald

  Slowing the vehicle at that realisation, she tensed as they rounded the corner.

  Light streamed into the tunnel from the cleared away entrance. Bringing the vehicle to a stop a few meters away from that channel of sunshine, Ally stared at the open exit and chewed her lip.

  ‘Can’t stop, Ally belly,’ Eoin said in that ridiculous singsong voice. ‘Need to leave.’

  She frowned at him while he smiled dreamily back at her.

  ‘Pretty eyes,’ he said before his head lolled back, face sagging with exhaustion.

  With an exasperated exclamation she shook her head, refocusing. She knew they couldn’t stop, but dammit she needed him with his full mental capacity!

  ‘I can’t do this shit,’ she mumbled under her breath hands humming with anxiety. ‘This is NOT my area!’

  ‘Can too,’ Eoin slurred. ‘Clfver Ally.’

  Taking a shuddering breath Ally resisted unclipping herself and hugging him tight. The image of him, blood pouring from his body, wouldn’t leave the back of her brain and she needed, NEEDED, to focus on driving. With another hard breath in and out and a white knuckled grip on the two handles, Ally gritted her teeth and eased the vehicle out of the tunnel.

  Gunfire erupted around them, bullets pinging off the plasoglass windscreen. Ally just muffled a shriek of surprise but froze, mind suddenly blank.

  A hand thumped over hers and her head jerked sideways to meet Eoin’s half open, yet definitely worried, eyes.

  ‘Go!’ He pushed her hand down.

  The vehicle reacted in an instant hurtling off into the jungle. With a proper shriek this time, flinching and head jerking instinctively from side to side, Ally attempted to steer them through the tangled mass of trees, vines and dense bushes. A glimpse in the narrow mirror that ran the full width of the vehicle roof showed two raider vehicles, the hacked up varieties she was used to. But then where the hell was the other one she’d seen?

  Just as the thought occurred to her a shuddering blow sent their vehicle sprawling, alarms sounding around their heads.

  ‘UNDER ATTACK! MOVING TO DEFENSE PROTOCOL’

  The handles shuddered beneath Ally’s grip then to her horror began drawing back into the dash.

  ‘No! NO! Come back!’

  Another explosion rocked them in their seats. The dashboard flashed with red lights.

  ‘ENTER COORDINATES FOR ESCAPE!’

  Ally gaped at the dash, proper terror making her body seem frozen.

  Eoin, however, reacted and lurched as far forward as his straps would allow. Still in that sing-song voice, he called out a bunch of numbers that didn’t make any sense to Ally in the moment.

  The vehicle shuddered and shuddered again then began vibrating.

  ‘Eoin!’ Ally shrieked. ‘What did you DO?’

  Before her eyes the metallic sides of the vehicle began to spread, sliding solidly up and over the plasoglass, leaving them nothing but a slit to see out of. The seats they were in jerked up and clunked into place in the very center of the now sphere shaped vehicle. The staccato sound of bullets pinging off the exterior pitched higher against the metal surface while Ally and Eoin swung in their seats that hung suspended in the middle. Abruptly, the sphere shaped vehicle began to roll. The rectangular view hole showed the outside as a blur of green, jungle flashing past. Around them they could hear the furious roar of the raider vehicles fighting to keep up while navigating the numerous hazards.

  Another explosion sounded beside them, but it didn’t rattle them, the vehicle just bounced along going with the motion. Swinging from their seats in the middle, Ally and Eoin clung tight to the straps that held them.

  The flashing alarms on the dash had calmed down, now only one flashing. Ally realized the dash showed a digital image of the vehicle and its surroundings. The occasional flashing that appeared showed hazards to avoid.

  ‘INCOMING MISSILE. EVASIVE ACTIONS PROCEEDING’

  The sphere jerked to the side and a second later a heavy eruption flared out, fire licking the edges of their view. Another jerk followed and another, then an abrupt change in direction. As they did an explosion rang out.

  ‘TWO PURSUERS REMAIN. FIVE MINUTES TILL CLEAR FOR LAUNCH’

  ‘Launch?’ Ally asked with alarm, clinging to her seat. ‘What do you mean LAUNCH?’

  ‘NOT POSSIBLE. FOUR MINUTES TILL LAUNCH’

  ‘No! No! We don’t want to launch!’ Ally shouted at the voice that emitted from the dash. ‘Just get us out of here!’

  ‘COMMAND ACCEPTED’

  ‘We’re launching,’ Eoin said with a sleepy grin at Ally. ‘Weeeeee!’

  Ally gave a half gulped laugh that ended with a sob. Another explosion shook them.

  ‘ONE PURSUER REMAINS. TWO MINUTES TILL LAUNCH’

  Heart in her mouth, Ally swallowed hard and hung on. The explosion behind them sent a hail of body parts, both vehicle and human raining down on them. Sunlight was visible ahead. They were almost out of the jungle.

  Seconds later, the sphere burst through the green and skidded to a halt. Ally groaned as the seats slid back to where they’d originally been with a heavy clunk. Stomach lurching from the ride, Ally felt even sicker as the metal covers slid away from the plasoglass.

  Five raider vehicles surrounded them.

  ‘Oh no,’ she groaned, heart sinking.

  The vehicles all held rockets of various types, not to mention at least four raiders apiece. Hands beginning to tremble, Ally gaped at them all, her mind desperately trying to plan an escape.

  ‘Prodidi,’ bellowed one of the human’s through a small device that projected their voice loud enough to rattle Ally’s teeth. ‘Prodidi!’

  ‘They want us to give up,’ Eoin said in that happy voice that seemed entirely inappropriate given the circumstances.

  ‘I know!’ Ally snapped, still thinking rapidly.

  A vibration made them look at each other in surprise. The sound grew slowly drowning out the human still shouting at them.

  ‘Eoin! Did you touch something?’

  ‘Noooo. I swear!’

  ‘I mean it! DID YOU TOUCH SOMETHING?’

  ‘Nope!’

  ‘GODDAMMIT STOP SMILING!’ Ally broke off her tirade with a true shriek of horror as the vehicle lifted off the ground. ‘OH NO! Eoin! What’s happening!?’

  Flashes of light exploded around them as the humans all launched their rockets simultaneously at the vehicle that now hovered above the ground, rocking sickeningly with each explosion.

  ‘LAUNCHING,’ intoned the droll voice from the dash.

  Ally lost her voice completely as the vehicle smoothly shot up.

  19 Off-Roading

  Up, up and up the vehicle rose. Heart palpating like she’d never experienced before, Ally couldn’t summon the breath to scream before she blacked out, nano-virus overriding her system.

  Eoin, mind drifting in an oddly pleasing manner, patted his wife’s dipped head and chided her gently.

  ‘Can’t panic, Ally belly. Nano-virus doesn’t like that. Best fighter is always calm.’

  The view only got more spectacular, the land spreading out beneath them punctuated with the occasional sparkle of an explosion as the humans pointlessly wasted their ammunition in trying to bring them down.

  ‘Neh-neh, neh-neh-neh,’ Eoin sang to himself, most amused by the entire situation. The vehicle hummed still but it had lowered in tone to a steady sound. The constant noise felt almost soothing and without intending to Eoin dozed off.

  When he later woke, Eoin couldn’t be sure if he’d been asleep for minutes or hours. The scenery had changed remarkably, the dense mountain forest terrain gone, now replaced by grasslands with the occasional stretches of trees. From this height the rivers were thin lines of sparkling white and blue. He sucked a breath in when he realized the mass of gray was an enormous herd of elephants moving across a river.

  ‘Eoin?’ Ally said in a tremulous voice, making him turn in surprise.

  ‘Love! You’re awake
.’ Eoin stretched a hand out to her. She grabbed it tightly in both of hers, her eyes and mouth lined with stress as she too stared out the window.

  ‘How will we get out? What if we fall?’

  He squeezed her hands then looked down, frowning at the harness that held him to the chair. ‘How’d you get this off?’

  Ally’s eyes widened in alarm. ‘No! It might not be safe!’

  He smiled at her and tugged his hand out of her tight hold, turning his attention to the clasp beneath his breastbone. It took a little wiggling and squeezing to make sense of it but seconds later he’d unclipped it. The floating sensation had long gone from his mind and now his body felt remarkably heavy, more so when he released himself from the harness. Turning to his wife he gently unclipped hers. Ally watched with anxiety.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  Lifting the top portion over her head, and pushing the bottom straps away, Eoin shifted across the seats and pulled her gently into his arms. Her arms locked tight around him. She shuddered. Rocking her gently, Eoin pressed kisses against the cheekbone resting near his head.

  ‘You did amazing. Utterly amazing. Thank you for saving us.’

  She nodded cheek rubbing hard against his collarbone and hugged him tighter still. Moments later a growing dampness spread across his shoulder as she cried almost silently. He swallowed hard, her pain making his throat unbearably tight.

  ‘I didn’t think we were going to make it. Oh Eoin! You lost so much blood!’

  That seemed to draw both their attention to his clothes, Ally sitting up to stare at his shirt while he looked down at the same time.

  The fabric, once an off white, was covered in red and pink, blotchy with coagulated blood, wide trails running down his pants, even over his shoes. The smell, he realized now, was quite strong. It gave him a feeling of almost not being in his body, to be sitting here smothered in his own blood. Both of them stared in perturbed silence until Ally took a deep breath and wrinkled her nose with a frown, working past the disturbing reality of his near death experience.

  ‘I wonder what supplies we have in this thing. Other than the not so useful microscope,’ she said with a tentative smile.

  ‘Ah! Don’t be insulting that microscope!’ Eoin scolded, playing along. ‘Why don’t you have a look? I’m going to have a look at the dash and see what this contraption is up to.’

  With a forced smile Ally eased herself through the gap between the seats, into the back of the vehicle. The cabin wobbled with the movement and she froze, eyes tense.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Eoin said as calmly as possible though his own gut twisted at the unnerving sensation. ‘It’s a small vehicle, it will move a little when we do.’

  Ally gave a short nod, her lips pressed thinly together and turned away from the seats, examining the floor and sides. Eoin twisted to face the dash and held his hands out to bring the options up. The image spread out beneath his palms, the image looking to solidify into the shape of a traditional dash. Numerous glyphs appeared and he quickly discovered there were even more when he moved his hand, dragging the images from right to left. The old English was fairly straight forward so it didn’t take him too long to sort out the status updates. As he was reading through them, Ally popped up at his shoulder.

  ‘Look! I know it’s not much, but it’ll have to work, do you think we’ll be able to land somewhere?’

  As she said it the vehicle began to lower, the dropping sensation pronounced enough to make Eoin’s stomach lurch. Ally was over the back of the seats in an instant, staring white faced at the dash when Eoin reached for her hand where it clutched at her already fastened harness.

  ‘Fasten your-‘ Eoin finished lamely as he registered it in place so set to clipping his in.

  ‘Did I make it do this?’ Ally whispered with a sideways glance at Eoin, eyes flashing back to the dash a moment later.

  ‘No,’ Eoin reassured. ‘I’ve been reading the system updates, we’re landing because it needs to rest the motor. It needs oil and water.’

  ‘Oh! I can do that, the mechanic showed me,’ Ally said with a relieved smile that vanished as the cabin suddenly shook then calmed, the downward motion seeming a little faster now. Her hand flashed out to grip his. Eoin squeezed it back and forced a smile.

  They watched the view of the land grow larger, closer. With an exclamation Eoin shook Ally’s hand and pointed with his other. ‘Look! See that? The arrangement of lines, the way the trees follow them? That looks like an A.D town!’

  Ally nodded, leaning forward as much as she could in the harness to stare at where he pointed. A river winded its way down the middle of the arranged lines that began to blur out the lower they got.

  Eoin shook his head with a smile. ‘I didn’t realize how easy they would be to spot from above.’

  The vehicle hummed louder and louder and the lowering slowed as it inched its way into a clearing beside the river. Watching the tops of the trees get so close that it looked like they could reach out and touch them felt insane. Eoin couldn’t stop a grin spreading across his face as they lowered still, until the twisted narrow trunks of the trees were visible. The hum rattled his teeth and Ally grimaced at him when their eyes met. Seconds later the vehicle made a sharp downward solid jolt. The humming shut off.

  Sitting in stunned silence he and Ally stared out into a totally new land to where they’d been only hours ago. Around them the trees offered some shade from the late evening sun.

  A beep, then a number of different tones rang out from the dash as various symbols lit up. Eoin pressed the clasp on his harness, releasing the tight hold of the straps with a sigh of relief. Ally did the same, scooting close to him and staring at the dash as he did. Eoin snuck a glance at his wife’s face, Ally’s lips scrunched and eyes flashed over the details before she looked to his face. The intent focus she’d expressed vanished and she swatted him, a flush instantly rising in a slash down either cheekbone.

  ‘Stop it!’

  ‘What?’ Eoin grinned then hugged her tight at her grumble of embarrassment. ‘Stop underestimating yourself, you got this thing ready didn’t you? What do you think it says?’

  Her chin wobbled as she scowled at him before looking back at the dash.

  ‘The uhh, the noise, it’s because it needs oil.’ Her eyes flicked up to his, tentative and anxious. Eoin nodded.

  ‘Yes. This here, this phrase suggests a cog of the motor is stiff from disuse. Have you seen the motor?’

  ‘Oh yes!’ Ally lost the doubtful expression, eyes eager. ‘I’ve been wanting to show you.’

  She motioned the door to open and jumped out. Before Eoin could follow she made a stop motion with her hand. He sat tight, watching from the various spots of plasoglass as she stalked about, eyes and body tense while checking the area.

  ‘All clear,’ she said when arriving back at the open door. ‘I don’t think anyone’s been here in eons.’

  Eoin nodded with a smile. ‘I specified an unoccupied area with tree cover and easy access to water.’

  Ally blinked, a frown flickering then vanishing. ‘Oh.. you could have mentioned.’

  Climbing out into the fresh air after spending so many days beneath in the lab was a true pleasure. Eoin stretched his arms out hard and smiled at Ally while turning to look around them.

  ‘Lovely area,’ he commented, inhaling deep, enjoying the scents of trees and water.

  ‘It is,’ Ally agreed, stepping close to him and sliding her arms around his sides, hands settling comfortably on his ass. ‘Are we still in Asia?’

  ‘We’re almost over the old India border. Then we’ll pass over the nomadic lands and onto the land of Eden before crossing the range home.’ He turned his head to kiss her temple, his arms folding around her back.

  ‘Many more stops?’

  ‘Depends on performance. Where’s that oil?’

  She pulled back, pausing to rise on tiptoes to kiss his lips. The pause grew longer as she did it again, her full soft lips melding agai
nst his in a manner that distracted him completely from the task at hand till she pulled back and smiled at him.

  ‘This way.’

  ‘What? Oh.’ He followed her, grinning when she flicked him an amused glance and winked.

  ‘Now watch.’

  Ally ducked, squatting at the low sides of the vehicle near its ridiculously tiny wheels and pressed something. The vehicle back slid up, revealing the most beautiful piece of workmanship Eoin had ever seen.

  ‘This is the motor?’ he asked in disbelief.

  With a smug smile, Ally nodded then darted around the side.

  Eoin couldn’t take his eyes from it. Gleaming silver, gold, and bronze, all balanced to perfection, the mass of thin concave half spheres of detailed cut-out metal arced, rolling across and through one another in a beautiful perpetual dance.

  It wasn’t until he heard the squirting sound that he realized Ally had reappeared with the oil and was carefully and studiously oiling all the points where the metal crossed paths. Stepping back to allow her space, Eoin just watched, mind marveling at the creation.

  ‘All done,’ Ally said a short while later, stepping back to admire it with him. ‘Isn’t it lovely?’

  ‘Incredible,’ he said with awe. ‘Just amazing.’

  ‘I wanted to show you ages ago, I knew you’d love it.’ Ally turned to smile at him then her eyes dropped to his clothes. ‘Let’s sort those out.’

  Leading the way to the river they could smell and hear, Ally tossed a small parcel at him when they reached the small rocky riverbed beneath the bowed branches of the trees. ‘Here. Soap. Strip, wash. I’ll do your pants, you do your shirt.’

  ‘Oh take the easy part,’ Eoin teased.

  ‘It’s your blood,’ Ally retorted then grinned. ‘I grabbed the sheets that are meant for sleeping under. We’ll just have to do it island style.’

  ‘Or toga style,’ Eoin commented while easing the stiff blood soaked garments off. ‘They used to wear something like it in the truly ancient city of Rome.’

  Ally lifted her eyebrows in response but didn’t say anything, just set to soaking his pants under the meandering water, more a wide creek than a river, and began scrubbing the fabric together. He did the same, watching the water wash away in shades of pink. It was an oddly disturbing reminder of the morning, making him pause, staring around at the peace of the burbling water, the song birds in the trees and the sound of the breeze in the leaves.