Dwellers of the New World Chapter Five ( Pt 2 )

Irritated but alert, but with no time to think, Max knew he had to make an immediate decision. The only rational idea to come into his head at that moment, was to shut down the whole system. He made his way across the room to a lever on the wall.

“No!” shouted Marshall, realising what Max was about to do.

Max ignored him, pulling the lever down. Suddenly the screen shut off, the lights on the panel went out and the laser beam disappeared, all that was left was the red alarm flickering wildly.

It seemed like only a few minutes ago since Max had been in conversation with Dawson, but ten minutes had past. All the fatigue had left Max, he suddenly felt his energy return. Both men caught their breath, staring at the hole in the ceiling, that was still smouldering.

Max was just about to speak, when two figures appeared like magic. Luke and Alex had used their telek port buttons, unaware of what had happened, only the alarm going off could have stirred them from their beds.

“Sir!” what the hell's going on?” questioned Luke, gazing up at the ceiling.

Max started to explain about the last ten minutes, then wondered if he was going to be stuck in work for the rest of the night.

Turning to Luke, he gave orders. “I need you and Alex to go check on the flight deck, I'm sure there's going to be damage, but let's hope it's nothing too serious.”

“Yes sir!” replied Luke, as he made his way over to one of the exit doors, with Alex following. They climbed the steel staircase that took them up to the very surface of Obsidian, where the ships were docked.

At the top of the stairs was a security box attached to the wall, Luke unlocked it and took out a scanner gun. Opening the outer door, they made their way on to the launch pad, it had been damaged pretty bad and even the steel structure had been touched by the beam.

Luke aimed the gun at the lower part of the ship, only to find the laser had penetrated the underside and left a gaping hole, they both knew this ship wouldn't be going anywhere soon.

While Luke was busy investigating the damage, something in the sky caught the attention of Alex. Tapping Luke on the shoulder, he exclaimed. “Luke...quick look at this!”

Luke looked up from what he was doing, to see Alex pointing up into the night sky. Standing up, they both gazed in amazement, above them a black...cloudy mass, even darker than the night sky drifted, it was huge and seemed to expand then contract, almost as if it were alive and breathing.

Neither men could move, afraid of taking their eyes off the spectacle. “We'd better let Max and Marshall know about this,” said Luke.

“You carry on looking for damage, I'll contact Max,” replied Alex. He used his radio he wore around his wrist.

Marshall was clearing up the mess, when his radio contact went off, lifting his arm, he saw it was Alex on the screen. “So Alex...what's the damage?”

“Pretty bad sir,” said Alex. “But that's not why I'm calling...you and Max need to get up here right away.”

“Max has gone upstairs to the Minister to report what's happened in the control room, hopefully the Minister will make the right decision as to what to do next.” Marshall hoped.

The Minister was not only the ruler of Obsidian, but was also a man treated with the greatest respect, his decision was the one that counted in the end.

“Marshall...you need to get up here straight away...there's something very strange in the sky, I think it could be the cause of the damage.” Replied Alex.

“Okay I'll be right there.” Marshall left what he was doing, he made his way up to the two men. As he stepped out on to the launch pad, he stared up, when he saw the black...floating mass, he was as puzzled as Luke and Alex. “How the hell did that thing get into our atmosphere, without us knowing?”

“Do you want my honest opinion?” said Alex.

“Go on...what's your theory?” replied Marshall.

“Well firstly I think it wasn't detected because although it's solid, the mass also resembles a cloud. I believe also that the signal hit that mass at such a speed, that it reacted and bounced the signal back to the control centre, where it blew up. I think it might have a force field around it. You might need to modify the frequency.”

“Alex...you know you could be right, I can tell you've been thinking hard about this. For now we need to get all this damage fixed, but I'm going to recommend to the Minister, that you and Luke take your pilot's exam in the morning. I have every faith in you both. I want you to go on the flight to look for Addie's ship and his lost crew.”

Alex and Luke both stood to attention, grinning from ear to ear. “Yes Sir”! They both felt ecstatic at the thought, that soon they would be going on a mission.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Five ( Pt 3 ) | ABCtales