Writers are a strange hybrid, part-librarian and part-swashbuckler. At least, Ian C. Douglas has always aspired to such a job description. After a nerdy childhood spent in the company of Tolkien, Lovecraft, and a certain time lord, Ian ran away to see the World. This quest for adventure landed in him countless scrapes, before finding himself teaching English in East Asia. After ten years of hard grammar, he returned to his native England, and graduated with a MA Distinction in Creative Writing. Since then he has written everything from computer games to children’s apps. Several of his stories have won prizes and in 2015 his graphic anthology work received two Eisner nominations. Ian is a children’s history author and takes the History Road Show to schools with bloodcurdling tales of the past. His writing has appeared at the V&A’s Toy Museum.
Ian lives near Sherwood Forest with his wife and children. When he’s not daydreaming about Martian landscapes, he teaches creative writing and art. Interests include origami, astronomy and vintage clothing.
Science Fiction has always been Ian’s first love. He is delighted to continue the Zeke Hailey series of novels for younger adults as part of the IFWG stable.
Follow Ian at facebook.com/ian.douglas.3994
And Twitter @Iandougie
Also By Ian C Douglas in the Zeke Hailey series:
The Infinity Trap (Book 1)
Gravity’s Eye (Book 2)
The Particle Beast (Book 3 - forthcoming)
Zeke Hailey Series: Book 2
Gravity’s Eye
by
Ian C. Douglas
This is a work of fiction. The events and characters portrayed herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places, events or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author do not necessarily represent the opinions of the publisher.
Gravity's Eye
Ian C. Douglas
Copyright Ian C. Douglas/IFWG Publishing 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1-925148-82-4
Version 1.2
Published by IFWG Publishing at Smashwords
This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
IFWG Publishing
ifwgpublishing.com
To Margaret Chadwick, who inspired me with kindness and books.
Part One
Prologue
The Televator Departure Lounge.
AD 2259
The wind whistled down from the dark Himalayas. It moaned around the departure lounge and rattled the windows.
“It’s swaying,” said one of the twelve faces pressed against the glass. They craned their necks upwards. A tower of glittering lights soared into the turbulent sky. It was the Televator.
“We’ll soon leave the bad weather behind,” one of the girls replied. “Once we hit the stratosphere, it’s as quiet as a Sunday morning. I’m not scared.”
“Well, you should be.”
Twelve heads swivelled. A small blond-haired boy was sitting under the departure screen, stroking the back of his left hand. His ice-blue eyes gazed back at them.
“What for?” asked a big, beefy boy.
“An elevator to Space? What could be more flimsy?” the boy said. “Eighty miles of nanocarbon, all weighing down on those unsupported foundations? One strong puff and the whole thing comes crashing down. You do know what the low pressure of the stratosphere does? A human body pops like a balloon.”
“You’re lying!” the beefy boy shouted. “He’s just trying to frighten us.”
The smaller boy cackled, rubbing his hand faster.
“What if I am? Going to make something of it?”
“Maybe I will, creep.” The bigger boy drew up his shoulders.
“Attention all passengers! The Televator is now boarding.”
The youngsters turned to see a rotund, uniformed woman at the boarding desk.
“My name is Stella Gates, Space Stewardess-in-Chief for tonight’s trip. Booked by the Ophir Chasma School for Psychic Endeavour especially for all newbies who missed the first flight. Three months ago! You lot are going to have a lot of catching up to do. Now, present your boarding chips for inspection.”
The teenagers clustered around the stewardess, everyone except the small blond boy who remained seated. He checked no one was looking.
“Shh, be still,” he whispered to his finger. The Spikeworm on his knuckle hissed. The boy crooked his finger and the creature’s razor-sharp spines unfolded.
“You’re beautiful, beautiful as death.”
It throbbed happily. The creature was part leech and part spiny sea urchin. Its lower body bonded to the boy’s finger. Bending his digit opened up the nest of venomous quills. Nobody could see the Spikeworm, because it existed purely in the boy’s imagination. And yet it had already poisoned three men.
“And your name is?” Stella asked.
The blond boy returned her stare without blinking. “Fitch. Fitch Crawly.”
“Did you say Crawly?” the beefy boy guffawed. “Talk about creepy crawly!”
Fitch straightened his finger and the Spikeworm folded up.
“Can we go onboard now?” he said turning his head away from the Stewardess. Her odour of garlic and strong coffee was nauseating.
She scanned his boarding chip with her magnopad.
“Yep. All onboard.”
The group eagerly lined up at the auto-doors. Fitch lingered at the back, waiting for his chance.
“Ow!” cried the beefy boy, grasping his backside. “Creepy Crawly pinched me.”
Stella Gates rolled her eyes.
“I never touched his stinky butt,” Fitch smirked, pushing to the head of the queue.
Stella glared at the bigger boy. “I want no trouble on my shift. Is that clear?”
He nodded miserably.
“Just ninety minutes,” Stella said aloud. “Ninety minutes by Televator to the threshold of space and the rendezvous with your go-ship to Mars. That better be ninety minutes of good behaviour, unless you want to be sent home. And there aren’t any parachutes on the Televator.”
Silence swamped the children.
The ghost of a smile crept across Stella’s lips. “Good. Now fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy glide.”
Chapter One
A Precarious Vantage Point
“It’s out of this world,” Zeke shouted, gazing through the shiny diginoculars. He and Pin-mei were perched on a ledge overlooking the red vastness of Mariners Valley. The size of the United States and five miles deep, the Valley was home to Earth’s colonists. After two hundred years of terra-forming, it was the most hospitable region on Mars. Or rather, the least deadly.
“Which world?” the small girl asked.
He lowered the glasses.
“Huh?”
“When you say ‘out of this world’, do you mean Earth or Mars?”
Zeke grinned his lopsided grin. “Both.”
He lifted the glasses back to the empty sky. “I can see the Go-Ship in orbit. Even the scratches on its hull. Gosh!”
“What?”
“A sycamore just dropped out.”
Zeke adjusted the viewfinder, following the sycamore as it plummeted from the go-Ship towards the surface ninety miles below. Two wings popped out from the main pod and began rotating. The vehicle slowed to a safer descent speed, allowing the parachutes to release without ripping. Zeke could see two terrified faces peering from the window. He smiled, recalling his own near-fatal landing.
“I wonder what bright spark came up with the idea of copying sycamore seeds,” he said. �
�Such a clever way of landing on Mars. Cheap and fuel-free.”
“Zeke!” Pin-mei cried, pointing to a distant flashing light. Another sycamore, hanging from its parachute, was drifting on the thin Martian air.
“Oh, a red light,” Zeke shifted the diginoculars. “Must be a medical emergency.”
“The School has been alerted,” Zeke’s bike chimed from behind them, propped against the cliff alongside Pin-Mei’s bike.
“Thanks, Albie,” Zeke called out, then added, “I’ve programmed Albie to monitor all radio frequencies.”
“I wish we could download Albie into every bicycle.”
“Sorry, seems to be a special issue to my dad. I don’t think even I should have a copy.”
Zeke lifted his head to the heavens.
“Thanks, Dad. Wherever you are.”
“No news yet?” Pin-mei asked in a soft voice.
Sadness filled his dark, burning eyes.” Not a single lead. Dad could be anywhere in the galaxy.”
He handed the diginoculars back to Pin-mei.
“Well, nice of your parents to send you these.”
Pin’s usually indestructible smile faded at the mention of her family in faraway Shanghai. Pin-mei was only eleven, four years younger than most students. She had started at the school early due to her outstanding talent for precognition.
“Probably nothing serious,” Zeke said. He nodded to the sycamore. “I bet some unfortunate newbie banged his head in the freefall.”
“Why don’t we help?” Pin-mei suggested.
“It’s a good twenty miles away. The School will be there before—”
“No, I mean you could translocate there in an instant.”
“You know translocation isn’t allowed until Year Four. And us, just three months into Year One.”
“Supposing it’s something worse than a bruised skull?”
Zeke stared out at the endless dunes, then turned away. He pushed his fingers through his unruly blue locks. Pin-mei drew a deep breath.
“Still having the problems?”
“I just don’t get it, Pin. That day, in the Infinity Trap, I did it. But ever since then nothing. However hard I try, not a shred of psychic power.”
“You know, I think what you need to—”
Zeke jumped up.” Come on. The buddy lists should be up by now. Race you to the Chasm!”
A look of disappointment fleeted across Pin-mei’s face, but she forced a smile.
“You’re on!”
~~~
The Ophir Chasma School for Psychic Endeavour took its name from the surrounding ravine, one of the many massive canyons that made up Mariners Valley. Zeke and Pin-mei paused on the steps to the Grand Hall, the heart of the school. It towered over them, a weird collection of parapets and steeples, like some mysterious ancient coral. The mariners’ philosophy was chiselled into the concrete over its great doors.
Gravity, magnetism and thought are the greatest forces of the universe. Of these three, thought is the most powerful.
“This place knocks me out now as much as the day we arrived,” Zeke said.
Pin-mei nodded.
“Think of all the generations who have passed through its classrooms over the years,” she remarked.
“Yes,” Zeke agreed. “Every one a psychic, destined to study here and become a mariner. And then power a far-ship across the galaxy by sheer willpower.”
She threw him a side-glance. “You still think it’s suspicious, that nobody ever comes back from deep space?”
“I do. A big dirty secret, and the teachers are in on it.”
“But Earth’s government say the colonists are just too busy to return. Our leaders would never lie.”
Zeke smiled. Pin-mei had a lot to learn. It was one of the many things he loved about her.
“Well, one day I’ll get to the bottom of it. I’ll have to if I’m ever going to track down my father.”
Pin-mei grinned and squeezed his hand. “You will. But right now I think we’re running late.”
Zeke cursed. Together they hurried up, through the enormous doorway and into the entrance chamber. It looked like medieval castle crossed with an ant’s nest. Fluted windows pierced the gloom with fingers of light. Arches hewn from the natural red basalt revealed dark corridors. Students in colour-coded uniforms, white-robed teachers and a wide assortment of robotic machines, or macs, bustled about their daily business.
A crowd of students were buzzing around the plasma screen.
“Ze buddy lists are oop,” an older French girl explained to Zeke as he gently edged to the front.
Zeke scanned the two columns of names. Those on the left-hand side belonged to the late arrivals, newbies who had missed the flight to Mars three months earlier. On the right were the buddies, one for each newbie.
He had been the first to volunteer, for a very good reason. He wanted to show the school and a certain school principal that he was not evil. Although all accusations against him had evaporated when Pin-mei and the other teenagers returned from the maze of gullies known as the Noctis Labyrinthis, most of the school still shunned his company.
“Hey! My name’s missing!”
“Something wrong, Mr Hailey?”
The group froze. Everyone recognised that voice!
Principal Lutz stood behind them as if she’d materialised out of thin air, as indeed she had. There was a look of stern disapproval on her African features. The students sloped off without a word, all except Zeke and Pin-mei.
“Why isn’t my name on the list?” Zeke demanded.
Lutz held her head high, her ceremonial robes lending an aura of majesty.
“Because I deleted it. Why else?”
“You had no right—”
“Entschuldigen, but I have every right. I run the most important school in the solar system. It’s my duty to protect our students from undesirable influences.”
“How can you say that!” Zeke protested, his face flushing.
“Don’t push it, Hailey. You’re very lucky I was absent the day you crawled back here on your hands and knees, begging forgiveness. Mariner Knimble reinstated you, being far more lenient than I. Okay, the School has a duty to all psychic juveniles on the planet. But that’s as far as it goes. Now au revoir.”
Lutz blurred and vanished.
Zeke stared at the empty space left behind, seething. He had not ‘crawled back to the school begging for forgiveness’. In fact he had rolled into the quad triumphantly, on top of the late Lieutenant Doughty’s super tank, the Bronto.
“Zeke.”
And he was most definitely not a bad influence. How dare Lutz do this.
“Zeke!”
He turned back to Pin-mei who was staring at the plasma screen.
“That name.” She tapped the screen.
Zeke looked at the text. Fitch Crawly. Just one name among many. It was then he noticed her eyes, filled with a soft pearly light.
“What of it?”
The light dulled. She looked up at him as if waking from a trance.” I don’t know. For a moment I saw…”
“Saw what?”
“Arrrrgghhhhh!”
Zeke and Pin-mei exchanged startled looks and bolted for the door. The scream had a familiar Canadian accent.
Outside a vehicle was rocking violently, upside down, a few feet off the ground. A mop of blond hair dangled underneath.
“It’s Scuff!” Pin-mei cried.
“On a gravscooter!” Zeke added.
He had never seen one before but recognised it from click-ads on the Mars-Wide-Web. It looked sleek, flashy and very out-of-control.
“Help!” their upturned friend wailed.
Zeke felt a hand on his shoulder, pushing him firmly to one side. A tall man stepped in between. His cheekbones were broad and his skin copper-red. He wore his hair in a long ponytail, its slate blackness all the more vivid against the white of his mariner’s uniform. Zeke didn’t know him.
The man aimed the palm of his hand
at the bike. Electric sparks crackled from his eyes, a sign of immense psychic power. The gravscooter’s engines died, the vehicle righted itself and gently landed in the tawny dirt. He nodded curtly and strode back into the school.
“I’m totally fine, guys,” Scuff insisted, struggling out of his vehicle. He slipped and tumbled to the ground.
“Where did this come from?” Zeke asked as he heaved his friend up.
“Just arrived this morning, bought it on mBay. One careful owner, less than a thousand miles on the clock, a total bargain.”
Scuff patted it fondly like a pet dog. The vehicle was an elongated bubble of welded plastic with two enormous blasters at the rear, and seating for a driver and two passengers. The bonnet and fenders were decorated with painted flames. Scuff pushed his long ungainly curls back off his frog-like face.
“The latest thing in Tithonium Central. This model’s called The Fireball and goes five days without charging.”
“Does it use quantum harmonics?” Pin-mei asked.
Scuff flashed her an impressed look.
“Sure does. A quantum coil underneath reflects the planet’s gravity back on itself, lifting the scooter off the ground. Some of that gravity is channelled out through these blasters giving forward momentum. No more prehistoric bicycles for me. No siree!”
“I love my bike.” Zeke replied.
“Me too,” Pin-mei chirped in.
“Whatever. But this is worth every Martian dime of the five-figure price tag.”
Zeke whistled. Pin-mei attempted a whistle, but could only hiss.
Scuff sniffed.
“No point having a fabulously rich father if I can’t throw his money around.”
There had been a time when Zeke found Scuff’s financial arrogance most annoying. Now he understood it was the Canadian’s way of concealing a deep hurt.
“Don’t know why that mariner stuck his nose in. I had it perfectly in control.”
Gravity's Eye Page 1
