The Ripple in Space-Time: Free City Book 1 (The Free City Series) by S F Chapman
Authors: S F Chapman
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But
Africa ’ s highest peak had been a disappointment. The towering
volcano was an unsatisfying tourist trap catering to rich and flabby tourists
and curio hunters. More than once on the tame and well-paved trail up the
mountain, street vendors had offered him “Kilimanjaro Kocktails ” or flimsy volcano snow globes.
At the crowded peak, a young and
athletic couple from New Reykjavik had suggested Mount Meru as a much more
challenging and solitary undertaking.
Days later on the trip to Arusha,
he had met an ancient black man who professed to be the descendant of Maasai
warriors that had stalked lions around the banks of the Mara River before it
was channelized and diverted for agricultural purposes in 2280. The old man had
claimed to have seen huge herds of zebra and gazelle trailed by a few vigilant
big cats north of the bustling capital city. When he scoffed at the man ’ s tale, the elderly African produced a tattered travel brochure as proof
of the elaborate reforestation and “ reanimalization ” projects initiated by the EurAfrican government a few years earlier.
The old man had left him on the
outskirts of the opulent capital city, mumbling something about great swarms of
animals returning to the Maasai Steppes when, at last, the human hindrances had
been seared away.
He shook his head and chuckled as
he thought of the old African while he hiked in the cold blustery night air.
Ahead was the outcropping that had been described to him earlier. He carefully
scaled the craggy face of the dark edifice.
And there it was spread out below
him.
Millions of lights from Arusha
shimmered across the lowlands and oddly mimicked the droves of stalwart stars
above. The immense and orderly arrangement of street lamps split the metropolis
into tiny squares and rectangles each filled with dozens of wavering building
lights. Long streams of headlights seeped down the main thoroughfares,
conveying work-weary Africans back home.
At the horizon far to the
southwest, the lights of the megacity merged with the star-splattered tapestry
of the night sky. The cool and dispassionate celestial vista above was
tremendously older than the cheery and emotional earth-bound construct below.
No doubt, he mused, his ancient
ancestors had also marveled at the vast overhead realm many millennia before.
Slowly moving ruby or emerald
lights plied purposefully through the star field, most likely satellites and
space freighters, he realized.
As many teenagers had done before
him, he contemplated his own insignificance compared to the nearly boundless
cosmos that stretched out above. The cold windy air seemed to sharpen the
reality of one ’ s place in the grand scheme.
His philosophical introspection
was interrupted by a peculiar sputtering orange speck high in the western sky.
Something was plummeting from
above.
The smoldering ember grew steadily
brighter as it arced down towards the steppes.
It seemed to be a large falling
star, perhaps a meteor or a bit of space junk burning up in the atmosphere.
He hastily plotted the path of the
heavenly invader, it seemed destined to impact the capital city he concluded in
sudden panic.
With growing fear he followed the
hurtling fireball.
The Spanish teenager cringed when
the tumbling incandescent object exploded into scorching white light just above
the city.
An angry and seething bubble of
ultra hot gases expanded rapidly outward over the Maasai steppes and blasted
against the base of the staunch peak.
The ensuing torrent of trillions
of high energy gamma rays swiftly dispatched the lone backpacker perched on the
high vantage point of Mount Meru.
Twenty-five seconds later the
shock wave from the terrible blast tore his lifeless body apart.
22. News Item: ARUSHA DESTROYED!
Dateline: 2nd of August, 2445; Nairobi, EurAfrica, Earth
The EurAfrican capital of Arusha
is no more!
A tremendous explosion destroyed
the city and severely damaged most of the neighboring suburbs last night. The
city of
Africa ’ s highest peak had been a disappointment. The towering
volcano was an unsatisfying tourist trap catering to rich and flabby tourists
and curio hunters. More than once on the tame and well-paved trail up the
mountain, street vendors had offered him “Kilimanjaro Kocktails ” or flimsy volcano snow globes.
At the crowded peak, a young and
athletic couple from New Reykjavik had suggested Mount Meru as a much more
challenging and solitary undertaking.
Days later on the trip to Arusha,
he had met an ancient black man who professed to be the descendant of Maasai
warriors that had stalked lions around the banks of the Mara River before it
was channelized and diverted for agricultural purposes in 2280. The old man had
claimed to have seen huge herds of zebra and gazelle trailed by a few vigilant
big cats north of the bustling capital city. When he scoffed at the man ’ s tale, the elderly African produced a tattered travel brochure as proof
of the elaborate reforestation and “ reanimalization ” projects initiated by the EurAfrican government a few years earlier.
The old man had left him on the
outskirts of the opulent capital city, mumbling something about great swarms of
animals returning to the Maasai Steppes when, at last, the human hindrances had
been seared away.
He shook his head and chuckled as
he thought of the old African while he hiked in the cold blustery night air.
Ahead was the outcropping that had been described to him earlier. He carefully
scaled the craggy face of the dark edifice.
And there it was spread out below
him.
Millions of lights from Arusha
shimmered across the lowlands and oddly mimicked the droves of stalwart stars
above. The immense and orderly arrangement of street lamps split the metropolis
into tiny squares and rectangles each filled with dozens of wavering building
lights. Long streams of headlights seeped down the main thoroughfares,
conveying work-weary Africans back home.
At the horizon far to the
southwest, the lights of the megacity merged with the star-splattered tapestry
of the night sky. The cool and dispassionate celestial vista above was
tremendously older than the cheery and emotional earth-bound construct below.
No doubt, he mused, his ancient
ancestors had also marveled at the vast overhead realm many millennia before.
Slowly moving ruby or emerald
lights plied purposefully through the star field, most likely satellites and
space freighters, he realized.
As many teenagers had done before
him, he contemplated his own insignificance compared to the nearly boundless
cosmos that stretched out above. The cold windy air seemed to sharpen the
reality of one ’ s place in the grand scheme.
His philosophical introspection
was interrupted by a peculiar sputtering orange speck high in the western sky.
Something was plummeting from
above.
The smoldering ember grew steadily
brighter as it arced down towards the steppes.
It seemed to be a large falling
star, perhaps a meteor or a bit of space junk burning up in the atmosphere.
He hastily plotted the path of the
heavenly invader, it seemed destined to impact the capital city he concluded in
sudden panic.
With growing fear he followed the
hurtling fireball.
The Spanish teenager cringed when
the tumbling incandescent object exploded into scorching white light just above
the city.
An angry and seething bubble of
ultra hot gases expanded rapidly outward over the Maasai steppes and blasted
against the base of the staunch peak.
The ensuing torrent of trillions
of high energy gamma rays swiftly dispatched the lone backpacker perched on the
high vantage point of Mount Meru.
Twenty-five seconds later the
shock wave from the terrible blast tore his lifeless body apart.
22. News Item: ARUSHA DESTROYED!
Dateline: 2nd of August, 2445; Nairobi, EurAfrica, Earth
The EurAfrican capital of Arusha
is no more!
A tremendous explosion destroyed
the city and severely damaged most of the neighboring suburbs last night. The
city of
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