I reached for his hand to comfort him. He
snapped out of his trance, and gave me a poor attempt at a smile.
Without any form of safety message the Copter began to move, slowly
at first, just hovering above the ground, before rapidly picking up
height as it lifted into the air, the blades underneath the cabin
were spinning rapidly and making a deafening whirring noise. The
glass shield extended overhead, and encircled us as we rose.
Finally we reached altitude, and the whirring calmed down. We
stopped ascending and, with a less than smooth transition, we
lurched forwards, moving quickly away from the HoverCopter landing
pad. Felix’s grip became tight, suffocating, but I didn’t release
his hand. What had we done?
Chapter 17
After flying for what seemed like the
briefest five hours of my life came the dreaded message from the
pilot. We were descending for landing. By the time the HoverCopter
bumped and settled onto the landing pad, Felix had beads of sweat
rolling down his forehead, and our hands were slimy against each
other’s skin. I didn’t care. He was all I had keeping me sane. We
disembarked the aircraft down a set of metal stairs and stood in a
group on the tarmac.
In front of us were three black HoverCars. On
Olympia we only used Copters to travel longer distances, generally
when we were visiting the Fields. The rest of the time we used
HoverCars to travel within Olympia. I assumed this meant we would
only be travelling a short distance in the Cars. A suited driver
was standing next to each sleek black vehicle. The machines had
four wheels, but they only touched the ground for landing.
Otherwise the Car hovered a foot above the ground as it travelled.
The drivers held whiteboards with names listed on them as to what
passengers they would be taking. I scanned the boards nervously,
searching for my name. I looked to Felix, my lips curving up in a
way they hadn’t in a very long time. Felix was already trying to
catch my eye, returning my smile; Fidus and Optime were
together.
We clambered into the car, amazed at our good
luck and petrified that it had now run out. The windows of the
vehicle were entirely blacked out, so we could not see our
surroundings.
The driver started the engine and the
HoverCar rose into the air slightly. I found the usual switch on
the roof of the Car’s interior and flipped it, closing the screen
between the driver and the backseat. Once a wall separated us from
the driver and concealed us in our own compartment, we decided to
rehash our plan, still whispering in case there were listening
devices hidden in the car. We decided it was most likely that Felix
would be dropped first, because his name came before mine on the
whiteboard, but we had no idea how far the driver would travel, or
in which direction he would go before he dropped me.
We had to scrap our old plan completely, now
that we weren’t going to be dropped in the same place. Felix
eventually came up with the bright idea of trying to reach water.
He was sure that we would be dropped in some sort of forest, to fit
the lions’ natural habitat, and said that in order to survive, the
lions would need some sort of water source. I nodded along,
although I wasn’t sure that the mutant lions needed any hydration
to live. He suggested we both attempt to travel towards the body of
water closest to us. I didn’t ask how, because I knew he didn’t
know the answer. He continued, saying that once we found the water
we should wait until we heard a lion, and travel in that direction
with the hope that the other was moving towards the same lion. The
plan was farfetched and I didn’t dare asked what would happen once
we reached the lion, but it was all we had.
The driver eventually slowed to a stop and
lowered the separation shield.
“This is you, Mr Fidus.”
Felix wrapped his arms around me, his eyes
wild with nerves, and squeezed me so hard that I thought I might
pass out. When he released me he looked into my eyes, and in
snapped out of his trance, and gave me a poor attempt at a smile.
Without any form of safety message the Copter began to move, slowly
at first, just hovering above the ground, before rapidly picking up
height as it lifted into the air, the blades underneath the cabin
were spinning rapidly and making a deafening whirring noise. The
glass shield extended overhead, and encircled us as we rose.
Finally we reached altitude, and the whirring calmed down. We
stopped ascending and, with a less than smooth transition, we
lurched forwards, moving quickly away from the HoverCopter landing
pad. Felix’s grip became tight, suffocating, but I didn’t release
his hand. What had we done?
Chapter 17
After flying for what seemed like the
briefest five hours of my life came the dreaded message from the
pilot. We were descending for landing. By the time the HoverCopter
bumped and settled onto the landing pad, Felix had beads of sweat
rolling down his forehead, and our hands were slimy against each
other’s skin. I didn’t care. He was all I had keeping me sane. We
disembarked the aircraft down a set of metal stairs and stood in a
group on the tarmac.
In front of us were three black HoverCars. On
Olympia we only used Copters to travel longer distances, generally
when we were visiting the Fields. The rest of the time we used
HoverCars to travel within Olympia. I assumed this meant we would
only be travelling a short distance in the Cars. A suited driver
was standing next to each sleek black vehicle. The machines had
four wheels, but they only touched the ground for landing.
Otherwise the Car hovered a foot above the ground as it travelled.
The drivers held whiteboards with names listed on them as to what
passengers they would be taking. I scanned the boards nervously,
searching for my name. I looked to Felix, my lips curving up in a
way they hadn’t in a very long time. Felix was already trying to
catch my eye, returning my smile; Fidus and Optime were
together.
We clambered into the car, amazed at our good
luck and petrified that it had now run out. The windows of the
vehicle were entirely blacked out, so we could not see our
surroundings.
The driver started the engine and the
HoverCar rose into the air slightly. I found the usual switch on
the roof of the Car’s interior and flipped it, closing the screen
between the driver and the backseat. Once a wall separated us from
the driver and concealed us in our own compartment, we decided to
rehash our plan, still whispering in case there were listening
devices hidden in the car. We decided it was most likely that Felix
would be dropped first, because his name came before mine on the
whiteboard, but we had no idea how far the driver would travel, or
in which direction he would go before he dropped me.
We had to scrap our old plan completely, now
that we weren’t going to be dropped in the same place. Felix
eventually came up with the bright idea of trying to reach water.
He was sure that we would be dropped in some sort of forest, to fit
the lions’ natural habitat, and said that in order to survive, the
lions would need some sort of water source. I nodded along,
although I wasn’t sure that the mutant lions needed any hydration
to live. He suggested we both attempt to travel towards the body of
water closest to us. I didn’t ask how, because I knew he didn’t
know the answer. He continued, saying that once we found the water
we should wait until we heard a lion, and travel in that direction
with the hope that the other was moving towards the same lion. The
plan was farfetched and I didn’t dare asked what would happen once
we reached the lion, but it was all we had.
The driver eventually slowed to a stop and
lowered the separation shield.
“This is you, Mr Fidus.”
Felix wrapped his arms around me, his eyes
wild with nerves, and squeezed me so hard that I thought I might
pass out. When he released me he looked into my eyes, and in
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