21. Jack
TWENTY-ONE
JACK
“Are you sure these things are safe?” Jack wasted no time in righting his machine. He took a position on the soft leather seat.
“We can’t be sure of anything, but the guys who attacked us rode them. They can’t be that dangerous.” Aareth looked over at his traveling partner as he wheeled the mage-powered bicycle over beside Jack.
Jack already liked the feeling of sitting on the machine. He had a sneaking suspicion he was going to like riding the apparatus even more. Aareth mounted his machine, while Jack looked for some way to start the engine.
The contraptions closely resembled bicycles with a few notable exceptions.
They were wider, with thicker tires for support and low handlebars.
Mostly black with dark brown seats and handle covers, the machines also sported front lights similar to those he had seen in New Hope.
Three steel pipes pointed up from under the machines on each side of the bicycle.
A panel of switches and dials were set directly in front of the driver.
“How do we know which buttons and switches do what?” Jack inquired over his shoulder.
“You’re asking the wrong person when it comes to technology, remember?” Aareth shrugged. “I just blasted both of us off a speeding locomotive.”
“Good point. Well, I guess there’s only one way to figure it out.”
Jack clenched his teeth. He started to flip switches and turn knobs. The first switch he turned made a bright light shoot from the front of the bike. It pierced through the gloom the nearly set sun left in its wake.
Jack turned the next knob. He felt the machine underneath him rumble and shake to life. A low vibration made his body tingle. Red steam shot up through the pipes on either side of the machine.
“Now how do we move forward and stop?” Aareth leaned over from his seat to see what buttons Jack was pushing. He did the same to his bike.
Jack looked down and bit his lip. There were gauges galore, but none that he recognized. The rest of the switches he turned didn’t seem to affect the machine. Jack guessed they were for mechanical upkeep rather than operation.
On both the handlebars, Jack realized there was a lever that could be pulled. When he clenched the device, he felt the machine under him tighten. “I think the lever on the handlebars stops the machine!” Jack shouted to Aareth over the noise of the running engines.
“Okay, but how do we go?” Aareth said.
Jack turned his attention away from the panel and handlebars to the rest of the machine. Nothing else on the bike seemed like it would move. Then he saw a silver plate the size of half of his shoe sprouting from the pedal where his foot rested.
“Hey, there’s a pedal I think you can push by your right foot. It looks like?—”
Jack was nearly thrown out of the seat as the machine roared to life. He shot forward over the desert floor.
The sun had completely set. It was only by the beam of the mage bike’s headlight that he could see where he was going. Jack crouched down in the seat, heartbeat quickening as the machine wobbled side-to-side.
Soon the initial shock was over. Jack was gently tapping the pedal by his right foot to move forward.
“Looks like you did it, Jack! This is amazing!” Aareth appeared beside him with a huge smile across his face. His black hair was flapping wildly behind him.
Jack only trusted himself to take his eyes off the path in front of him for a brief second, but when he did, he got a look at what he imagined Aareth was like before: a fun-loving man who smiled easily and genuinely enjoyed life.
Jack made himself look forward as the mage bicycle wobbled.
“Hey, the camp can’t be far now. Race you there?” Jack shouted.
“Loser has to explain to Captain Tight Pants what happened,” Aareth answered.