There were no birds in the sky. The pebbles on the ground trembled. The smell of diesel choked the air. Warm flesh pressed against cold, unfeeling metal. Grass crushed under rubber. Jaws clenched. Fingers on the triggers. Missiles primed. Chapped lips were licked by dry tongues. Sweaty patches grew around the armpits. All their eyes were locked onto one thing. One man. Chase.
He stood like a pillar of unstoppable might. The world government’s worst kept secret. Soldiers gossiped about him; civilians spoke about him like a myth. A living bogeyman that was as old as the ground of Terra. The only man to be personally appointed by the royal family. The only citizen above the military. The personal hand of the elite. The soldier one turned to when the job was too sensitive for any ordinary soldier to undertake, when the propaganda was ineffective or when the scalpel was preferable to the hammer. With his hand in the air, he commanded the might of Paradise.
They all rushed to their seats. Mwene was in the captain’s chair in the middle of the cockpit, Ayla was in the communications station to the right, Anan was in navigators chair next to Inyanga in the engineer’s chair in the front and Nike was in the weapon’s chair to the left. A console popped up from the floor just in front of Mwene’s feet. They all activated their respective consoles trying to make sense of the new readings and user interfaces. Mwene brought up the holographic blueprint of the ship, the engine glowed clover green. He zoomed out to reveal the ship in a butte.
“You think we’ll break out of the rock?” worried Nike. “We have to. No other way.” Mwene replied. “Aye. One wouldn’t hide a ship here if it couldn’t break out when push came to shove.” Affirmed Inyanga. “I can’t make sense of this” Anan spurted while haphazardly pressing all keys within reach. “Same.” Echoed Ayla. “Assistant” Mwene called out. “Yes, captain.” The A.I. answered.
“Can you simplify the U.I of the consoles and pick up on the miscellaneous duties we don’t attend to?”
“Yes. One moment please.” The lights on the console blinked for a few times before they completely reset. They all got back to work. “This is more like it” remarked Inyanga after a couple of keystrokes. “I’ll try to see if I can listen to their communications.” stated Ayla who put on a pair of headphones. “Okay, I’m bringing up the sonar now. We need to know what’s out there.” Anan reported. “The engine is indeed operational. It’ll need about 2 minutes.” reported Inyanga.
“Bringing it up now”.
The edgeless screen came alive and filled the entire wall front of the cockpit. A white light pulsed outwards into the sea of black. It pulsed again until silhouettes of people, rocket artillery and tanks with a white outline began to form and fill the screen. They were more than the eye could see. Dozens of helicopters hovered like vultures around them. “They’re definitely bringing the hammer down.” Anan noted. Sonar footage zoomed to the closest soldiers near them walking away from them whilst laying wire behind them. “They are placing explosives at the foot of the butte.” noted the A.I. “They’re all waiting.” Ayla pointed out. “For what?” Mwene asked.
“For Chase to give the order.”
Mwene clenched his jaw and made a fist. That rage that was buried in him started to bubble up in his veins again and made his face hot. He snapped out of it when he felt his medallion getting warm again. He wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers and took a deep breath. This wasn’t a time for anger.“I thought he was dead.” Nike’s sweaty eyebrows rose as far up as they could. “He can’t die. He’s been around longer than any working soldier.” Inyanga recounted.
“What?
“An Idris.” Suggested Anan.
“Ziusudra?” Ayla pondered.
“What is that?” Mwene probed. “They’re mythological figures known for their immortality. The type of stories that my mum would tell Anan and I when we were young.” Ayla reminded them. “Take off is now possible.” The A.I. announced. “Fuck it. I’m not waitin’ here to find out.” Blurted out Inyanga as he placed his hands on the thrust lever. He looked around the room and nodded to everyone. They all nodded back. It was time.
“Wait, what’s her name?”
Thoughts of his Mwene’s mother filled his mind. It would only seem right but just as he opened his mouth a song popped up. A song she sung to him whenever he was in pain, alone or unsure. A song that always reminded him that tomorrow was his for the taking. “New Genesis” answered Mwene. They all smiled in agreement.
The soldiers backed away from the butte. They hid behind the tanks and trees and rocks around them. They held their helmets and breath. Only Chase stood indifferent. He swiftly brought his arm down to his chest and made his fist into an open palm that pointed towards the lonely hill. The explosion shot pieces of debris flying everywhere like shotgun pellets. All except one narrowly missed Chase, whose jacket was the only thing that was moved on him. A small cut just below his left eye had a thin stream of red flowed down to his chin. Mountains of dust and smoke rose into the air.
Chase smirked briefly before it vanished as quickly as it appeared. From the dust rose something that had been buried deep in the recesses of his ancient mind. A forgotten memory brought back to life by sheer audacity and ambition. A passion that he had only seen one man had: Ranulph. The ship rose like a phoenix from its ashes. Rocks, dust and smoke rolled off its side like water off the edge of a waterfall. Its engines whirred as it kicked up dust.
“Now!” commanded Chase as tanks and rocket batteries fired ceaselessly at the ship. It floated defiantly. Unmoved by the flames of destruction that it was being showered with. Chase ran through the crowd of men shooting their rifles at the metallic behemoth. He found a jeep with a soldier in the driver’s seat shouting into the radio away from the commotion.
“Get me to the closest airfield. Now!”
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