Chapter Twenty-Nine
Riders of the Storm
The air shimmered and distorted over endless dunes. "We're going to bake out here."
Zephyron shielded his eyes, scanning the sky. "No. The asteroids will turn into water soon and reduce the heat." He didn't say the next part, but I heard it in my mind.
We will drown or die in a swarm.
I glanced back at Parker, who leaned against the ship, clutching his ribs. His red and chrome drone floated beside him, with the lens faced toward him as if waiting for instructions. "Does your camera have communication abilities?"
"Not this one. I was afraid Tydalos or someone else might hack the signal.
Couldn't have it get controlled again. I suppose we could have it float-fly back with a written message.
It's strong but not fast. By the time it gets to the nearest village, it'll be hours.
I'll also lose my best camera. Not that it's the most important thing. "
Zephyron folded his arms. "We cannot request help from others. They will, as Humans say, 'have their hands full' when Zerlite hordes rise from the sand."
"At least scout our surroundings. Parker?"
He spun his hand and pointed up, wincing. The drone soon lifted high.
Dad and Zephyron dragged both Sims out of the smoking shipwreck, laying them carefully on a sloping dune. Thin tendrils of smoke curled from their joints and faces, making my stomach knot. Zeph moved with calm precision, opening their panels and checking hair-thin wires with a practiced hand.
"You're good at this!" I raised an eyebrow.
"Sudo is known for Simulacrum production and memory crystals," he replied without looking up. "I would be remiss in my duties if I did not understand how to maintain and use our tools or to attend to...family."
I smiled as Solis and Axios entered a diagnostic cycle. Their cores dimmed as soft internal lights pulsed in rhythmic patterns. "This will take time." Zephyron rose to his feet. "Their crystals show minor cracks." He noticed my expression. "The injuries should not be as severe as last time."
I smiled in appreciation. "Let's grab what we can from inside."
Dad stepped out from the ship with the surfboard and gave me a questioning look. "This, too?"
"Yeah," I said. "We can use it for shade if things get rough." My gaze drifted to my guitar. "And if we get stuck overnight, we can burn it for heat." My chest tightened. We'd only need a fire if we missed the trial. Dad hesitated, but didn't argue.
"Let me help." Parker reached for the guitar and then screamed, clutching his side.
Zephyron knelt beside Parker and carefully adjusted his broken ribs with quick, precise shoves.
Just a few fingers, but pushed by a man with muscles bigger than a bodybuilder.
My friend hissed through his teeth, then exhaled slowly.
"Okay! That hurt like hell, but it actually feels better. Uh, thanks, Big Guy."
Zephyron simply gave a curt nod and rose. The desert stretched endlessly in all directions. I shivered despite the heat, my mind racing with thoughts of incoming Zerlites.
"I think we weren't supposed to be here," I said. "Everyone except you, Zeph."
He stared, waiting.
"Tydalos couldn't have the ship explode," I said. "That would be too suspicious, and they fly low."
He stilled, getting it.
"Right," I continued. "Bring you down, and with the upcoming swarm, you'd never make the trial."
Without warning, Solis and Axios jerked upright, their eyes blazed with an eerie blue glow. A split-second later, piercing, metallic shrieks burst from their frames, so loud it rattled the sand underfoot.
I stumbled back. "What the hell is that?"
Zephyron's hand instinctively went out, where he might have summoned a sword, but no longer did. "They are communicating... or warning."
Axios rose with a jerky motion, grabbed a jagged, smoking metal piece, and etched thin lines on the ship. We endured the fingernails-on-chalkboard sounds as hyper-precise drawings formed of rainclouds, then tunnels under the desert landscape. It had the feel of a shortcut.
Zephyron stiffened.
"Isn't that good?" asked my dad. "Won't we be out of the rain and those Zerlite things will be above us, right?"
My man's voice stayed low, "Not all will awaken at the same time. Out of the rain, yes, but we will be underground with clusters of dormant Zerlites."
Axios tugged me toward the ship's control panel. He obviously had more to say. After a few seconds, I sneezed hard, and it didn't stop until I stepped back outside, my head pounding.
He pointed at my nose. Oh...
Volardi tech was incredibly reliable. Even Solis and Axios, as damaged as they were, endured a lot. Ships didn't just break unless they were pounded by Zerlites, except this one did.
The sneezing had always been worse around one particular Sandari. The medic who never quite met my eyes. The one who argued when I used Zephyron's sample. The one who stood by when Parker's drone attacked.
"Tessith," I whispered. "He did this." Axios nodded, then took the jagged metal piece and sketched on the ship's exterior.
He conveyed a rough timeline, with an hourglass symbol and clock etching.
From what Zeph had explained earlier, ice would soon melt into torrents.
We had sixty to seventy minutes until the rain hit.
Already, faint clouds gathered on the horizon.
"Can you repair the radio?" Zephyron asked.
Axios shook his head in response, his features grim. So far, Solis had done very little, and they might not have been equally damaged.
"Then we'll destroy the ship and use it as a beacon." I turned to Zephyron. "The smoke will draw attention. If anyone can, they'll come this way."
"Agreed. Grab anything of value." Zephyron directed Axios and Solis to collect glowing fuel rods and lay them out to spread the fumes. Between the two, the short and squat one moved faster.
With Parker and my dad helping, we also arranged several metal pieces to form a crude arrow pointing to the spire.
"Will we make it in time?" I asked. "Axios drew that shortcut."
"No. A caravan on foot, even without encountering Zerlites, will have us miss the challenge by a few of your hours. I could run there, but it would require leaving you, and this I will never do."
We had left early with more than enough time, and zipping through the sky meant we originally didn't have to worry. It's not like it's our fault. We're just not as quick as...
"Wait! What if we go faster?" I spoke about the Zerlite attack from months ago and how Axios and Solis had shapeshifted to carry us. In response, they stood together, hands flashing in a series of intricate signals.
Zephyron's eyes narrowed as he watched. "They cannot shift. The sabotage severed their higher functions. Communication pathways and detailed commands are lost. Their DuraMetal integrity means they have the technical capability, but no instruction can reach the nanites."
"Like a broadcast going out, but no television antennae," said Parker.
I looked at the sand, then the surfboard resting nearby.
Ideas churned in my mind. "You know, I didn't use this back on Earth for official events since it would've been cheating.
" I grabbed the board and slid it across the ground.
It didn't glide but zipped into a dune. Axios perked up, then moved his hands in Volardi Sign Language.
I really should have gotten the updated implant. I turned waiting to understand.
"He says the hyper-smooth bottom creates minimal friction," he translated.
"No drag," I said.
We worked out the steps. I asked about welding a seat for easy balance, but they had no internal tools, like a cutting laser.
"Alright then, Plan B," I said. "Let's test it."
Axios sped up with a power walk. His feet and lower legs soon sank into the fine sand. He glanced at Zeph and raised his narrow, tapered foot.
My dad gently held our baby under a spiny tree. With a look between fathers, he stared at my man. I like to think he thought: 'You got this.'
Zephyron crossed his arms as he thought, then gathered flat scrap metal. Using Axios and Solis' pointed data connectors, he cut bark into strips and twisted them into a thick, crude rope.
"Snowshoes," I muttered as he fastened them to Axios' feet. "Desert-style."
A man from a race of problem solvers smiled. "Adaptation."
We tested it again with me on the board, and Parker's drone lifting the front with its tendrils. Axios glided easily now, the makeshift shoes holding steady over the sand. A thrill shot through me as I balanced, the wind warm against my face.
"Hell yeah!" Parker shouted.
We returned quickly. My dad climbed on with my kid in his arms. Parker joined, filling the space. Solis copied Zephyron's 'sandshoe' design and carried me close to her chest.
"You okay?" I whispered to her.
"Yes," she said with a slight delay. For a second, I paused, then nodded.
"Let us go," said Zephyron.
"What about you?"
He smirked. "As the bear Fozzie demonstrates, I will persevere." He took off toward the rain, cutting across the sand as we followed.
Axios pushed friends and family while Parker's drone lifted the front.
Solis held me steady. The plan worked, and something I could concentrate on, but my eyes stayed on him.
It wasn't just running, but pure power. Each stride fluid, with muscles coiled like bowstrings.
Sand fanned behind him, and the dimming sun flashed off his thick, blond hair.
Damn... He's all mine.
We zipped over sandy terrain, through canyons, and soon climbed into higher terrain. The ride was rougher now with more rocks than sand. Parker's drone lifted us with a final boost into the stony ridges dotted with sparse desert plants. Solis pointed to a cave entrance.
I checked on my kid, gave him a quick kiss, then stared out. Storm clouds loomed heavy and dark. The rain had already fallen in the distance. New thin rivers sidewinded toward our mountain, and below in the canyon, something moved.
Zerlites.