The Phoenix Creation, page 6
She wondered if her Aunt Nami had called, needing her father. She was still fragile, two years on from Alya’s cousin’s death. It could be that she was having a bad night and needed Poppy’s comfort. Still, it was a good ten-mile trip each way and Alya worried for her grandpa flying at night alone.
She watched the clock and thought of her poor Aunt Nami, alone, without her cousin Leo and no partner to comfort her. Living out her days in, The Basin, and forever wondering where it had all gone wrong. Alya felt her throat constrict as she thought of her fun, and loving, older cousin and of the grief and frustration her family had endured when during a storm, the promising marine engineer had been lost at sea.
She kept one eye on the clock, watching the minutes tick by until her grandpa returned. She would allow him half-an-hour before she organised a search party.
Damnit! She’d fallen asleep. It was eight a.m. and Alya leapt out of bed and pounded down the hall to her grandparents’ room.
She pushed the door wide to find neither one of her grandparents in bed. She heard low talking coming from the kitchen diner and went in that direction instead, finding her grandparents in the midst of preparing a large breakfast.
‘Baby,’ cried Pasha, ‘look,’ she gestured at the table laden with freshly grilled bacon, scrambled eggs and mushrooms. Toast, and a fresh pot of coffee sat centre table, with a jug of freshly-squeezed, orange juice, and sliced, honeydew melon.
‘Thanks,’ said Alya, sitting and reaching for the cereal.
‘No, no, no,’ cried Seb, waving his hands frantically. ‘No little girl. Get some proper food,’ he pushed the bacon under her nose.
Alya scrunched her nose and reluctantly left the cereal accepting two rashers of bacon instead. She reached for some toast which she buttered carefully all the while scrutinising first her grandma, then her grandpa’s, expressions.
Her grandma seemed very relaxed she thought, so it couldn’t be Aunt Nami. If it was, she’d be feeling down at the very least, so who had Poppy been visiting?
Poppy looked cheerful thought Alya, and he didn’t look sleep-deprived. She decided he might have been down to the meadow to check on the livestock during the night, there wasn’t any other explanation for it that she could think of.
She began to tuck into her breakfast, happy to forget about something obviously trivial from the previous night. Hanuel strolled in apologetic for having slept in, with Alya’s grandma telling him he was absolutely allowed to sleep in for the holidays, that’s what they were for after all.
‘So, you guys,’ said Seb. ‘What’s the plan? You’ve got five days until the Olympics starts, what are you going to do with your time?’
Hanuel hadn’t really thought ahead, other than coming to the farm, so he waited until Alya had finished eating to let her reply.
They all sat expectantly, waiting while she chomped slowly through her bacon.
‘Uh, uh, uh,’ she cleared her throat, and took a swig of orange juice, enjoying the process of keeping her audience captive. ‘Well,’ she said at last. ‘We’re mainly going to be flying.’
She began to pour coffee and the others got on with serving themselves after her anti-climactic statement.
‘Ok then,’ said Pasha, smiling at her granddaughter. ‘Flying it is. I do want one day to take you up to town. Your mom says you need a dress for the ball. Ah-ah,’ Pasha shut down her protests before they began. ‘It’s part of the deal honey. You’re getting a dress sweetheart.’
Alya glared at Hanuel since she didn’t dare glare at her grandmother. Never mind, it would be nice to spend some time with her, even if it was shopping.
‘Well, you two,’ said Seb conspiratorially. ‘I’d like a day with the both of you to practice your water landings, and take-off.’
Pasha smiled benignly, pretending she didn’t know what Seb was talking about. Alya knew that her grandmother pretended not to know, about her husband teaching his granddaughter, not only how to fly like someone much older, but about his conspiracy theories and so on.
‘Cool,’ said Hanuel pleased. He enjoyed Seb’s company and it was fun to have someone around who wasn’t always terrified for his safety, like his parents. If Hanuel’s parents had their way he’d be rolled in cotton wool from head to toe to protect him, but then they were both doctors after all, and they saw all the results of dangerous flying, disease, and ailments that C1 had to offer, so it was no wonder really.
Alya smiled, a day with Poppy at the little lake would be a great idea. They could practice take-off and then fish after.
Today though, they were gonna go, Bird On A Wire, but they weren’t going to tell her grandparents of course.
‘We’ll probably just fly today,’ she said, nodding at Hanuel to hurry up and finish eating. ‘Can we take a picnic Grandma?’
‘Of course, honey. I’ll pack something up after I’m finished breakfast.’
Alya kissed her grandma on the head and Pasha grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto her knee for a cherished hug.
‘Ok then,’ said Alya, climbing out of her grandma’s embrace. ‘We’ll do the chores before we go, Pop.’
‘I wish you were here every day,’ sighed Seb gratefully.
‘Well sponsor me and I would be,’ she said cheekily.
‘When you’re older Aly. Don’t let Rush and Slow out of the stables, I’ve got shoeing to do.’
‘Ok,’ said Alya sweetly, as she hustled Hanuel out of the front door and off to the barns.
‘Three, two, one, go!’ yelled Alya.
Neither one of them went, and they laughed at each other’s, and their own, fear.
They were crouched down and rocking back and forth trying their hardest to maintain their balance on the thick metal cable without using their wings to stabilise them. It was a great game, dangerous but fun. Every now and then, a gust of wind would come from nowhere and buffet them so they were forced to hold onto the cable tightly, their hands growing sore from the thick twisted metal, their hips aching from constantly tweaking their stance, until the gust passed and they could relax somewhat.
There was no real relaxing; they were in a precarious position two-thirds of the way up the West-Side mountains, that made up the volcanic circle of mountains that was, Continent One. The cables they were clinging to were what had been used two-hundred and fifty years ago, for the cable cars, before the tunnels connecting the outer perimeter of Continent One, to The Basin, had been built.
They were disused, and out of bounds, as many an accident had occurred in Continent One’s history when they were in use. People had been stranded when a freak storm had come off the ocean, with winds so strong that the cable cars were ripped from the cables and smashed to the ground below with no survivors. Even essential maintenance, carried out by the strongest men, with the best flight skills, had been knocked from a pylon by a vicious gust of wind, leaving them with broken arms and legs, as they were bounced like ragdolls against the mountainside.
It was a challenge indeed, but as Alya had pointed out to Hanuel, they were not going to be silly and fly in a storm, and the accidents that occurred years ago were when people had V1 or V2 wings which were nothing like the strong dynamic V20 wings that they’d been born with. Besides, it was even more daring than the Death Wish, so it had to be done.
They’d been there at least an hour, with neither one of them daring to take the plunge and they were starting to get tired. The air was fresh and the bare walls of the mountain had a strong mineral smell that enriched their senses. The view from where they were was amazing. They were at least five-thousand-feet up and could see The Basin stretched out before them. The patterns of fields where crops and flowers grew and cattle and sheep grazed in the sunshine awed them as their vantage made them privy to the sheer size and scope of The Basin.
Alya had gone quiet and Hanuel sensed that she was getting ready to launch. He began to mentally prepare because he didn’t want to be stuck up here forever after she’d gone, and Alya had a nose for these things; it was as if she could sense wind dynamics, thermal lifts and so on, and he intended to be ready for the off.
A few minutes passed and Hanuel watched Alya as she used all her senses to build an invisible sensory map of the thermal currents around them.
She looked as if she was just about ready to launch when she stopped and looked straight ahead at two people approaching. Her face went blank and when Hanuel followed her gaze, his did too.
‘Patrol!’ hissed Hanuel, and he readied himself to fly off.
‘No!’ cried Alya. ‘It’s not Patrol. Han, stay where you are.’
Hanuel squinted into the distance to try and identify the people coming towards them. No one would be stupid enough to fly at this height in these gusts, this close to the mountain, except for him and Alya of course.
‘Haha,’ laughed Alya, as she realised who it was, and Hanuel relaxed still not aware of whom he was looking at but relieved it wasn’t Patrol. The pair grew closer and then Hanuel recognised the mop of red hair streaming back against the wind and he groaned inwardly; not him again.
‘Hello, Alya!’ cried the boy, as he came in to land on the wire a few feet up from Hanuel, making room for the girl that had flown beside him.
‘Red!’ cried Alya. ‘So good to see you. I hoped you might stop by. Love the hair!’
‘I grew it longer upon your advisement,’ grinned Red. He tucked his wings in and smiled at Hanuel. ‘Hello, Han, how are you?’
Hanuel smiled. He was actually pleased to see Red but only because he was in one piece. He was almost as bad as Alya for taking risks so Hanuel had wondered how long he would live.
‘Great thanks, Red. It’s good to see you.’
‘This is Breeze,’ said Red, nodding to the blonde-haired, petite girl, by his side, who all of a sudden looked very uneasy. She held her wings open to stabilise herself unaware of the rules of the game.
Hanuel sympathised with her; he was certain that Red, like Alya, would tell her where they were going and what they were doing after the event. She probably had no idea she was going to be involved in one of the most dangerous games on Continent One.
‘Hi, Breeze,’ said Alya, ‘It’s lovely to meet you.’
‘Likewise,’ said Breeze, her voice wobbling almost as much as she did.
Red stretched out his wing underneath hers to stabilise her and she stopped rocking instantly, the relief showing on her face.
Hanuel observed the little grateful smile she gave him and couldn’t help but be pleased for Red that he’d found a girlfriend, he assumed anyway. They’d certainly have to be more than friends for her to follow him up here.
Hanuel and Alya had met Red last summer when he was working on the next farm along from Poppy’s. He was cheap labour from East-Side where there was a lot more poverty. Most people from there worked in the industrial zone in the North of C1 where there was plant processing for water and waste. Also, heavy industry, turning sand to glass, and recycling buildings for steel and concrete. There was also food processing and chemical industries as well as pharmaceuticals. And it was where the boats were built, in case of the next continent shift. And it had the only, and very large, prison.
Red was very friendly, and super confident, thought Hanuel, which was a surprise given his lowly status on Continent One. He was definitely savvier than he and Alya would ever be, but Hanuel felt like he had wormed his way in with Alya, playing on her sweet naiveté. Red would spend most evenings at Poppy’s after his work at the farm was finished. Alya’s grandparents didn’t seem to mind at all and they welcomed him every night, feeding him and chatting about his life and family in East-Side.
Poor Red’s mother had died when he was little and so he and his older brother were raised by his father. He didn’t complain and he didn’t think that he was the victim of misfortune. Like many their age he had dreams of a bright future, and he’d already proven that he didn’t shirk from hard work, how many other fifteen-year-olds would have spent their entire summer working on a farm?
‘Well then,’ said Alya. ‘I can smell Poppy’s barbeque from here,’ she joked. ‘How about it, Red? Would you and Breeze like to join us?’
Red looked at Breeze as if checking her response and she nodded enthusiastically.
‘That would be great, Alya. Yes please.’
‘Ok then,’ said Alya. ‘Now there are more of us, we need to go in order. How about I go first, then Breeze, Red. Han, you can go last, ok?
That was fine with Hanuel, he nodded in agreement. Red and Alya had Breeze between them so they could look after her. Hanuel watched as Alya again focussed, like a bloodhound her nose went up as she sensed the wind, feeling the currents and swirls as it bounced off the mountains.
‘Ok then,’ announced Alya. ‘In three, two, one …’
Red gave quick instructions to Breeze who looked startled by their imminent departure from the safety of the cable. She wobbled violently and Red propped her upright with the tip of his wing outstretched towards her.
‘Go!’ cried Alya, as she dropped off the cable making sure she didn’t bounce the others off as she dove headfirst aiming away from the mountainside.
‘Go!’ cried Red, to Breeze, who had composed herself for only a second before dropping off the cable to follow Alya. She was almost vertical and Hanuel and Red could see straightaway that her angle was wrong. She wasn’t in line with Alya who was aimed towards The Basin. She was pointed down towards the mountainside, and the rocks below.
Red shouted at her.
‘Head up!’ trying to get her to focus on Alya’s trajectory and to follow, but the swirls and gusts of wind on the mountainside had consumed her and were buffeting her backwards as she fought to go forwards.
Hanuel could see that she was coming dangerously close to the mountainside and Breeze must have known it too as she closed her wings in to try to cannonball out of the stream of air that had consumed her. It was a good idea except that the altitude they were at meant the unpredictable down draughts could take her where they wanted, if she was not strong enough to open her wings and plough through the turbulence.
Red began to panic and could see that Breeze was in trouble and he launched himself after her. The wire bounced only slightly, but it was enough to dislodge Hanuel, and he found himself suddenly falling through the air. He buffeted slightly and then set his trajectory towards Alya. When he had his eye on her and his body was at the right angle, he folded his wings in and streamlined himself to catch up to her.
Alya was unaware of the commotion behind her but she hadn’t gone far, enjoying spreading her wings and fighting the swirls and gusts that ripped past her.
‘Alya!’ screamed Hanuel.
She glanced over her shoulder to see Hanuel rocketing towards her and at the same time she noticed two winged figures falling through the air behind him.
Oh shit! She knew instantly that it had all gone wrong, and she zipped around in a circle with her wings folded against her body. Hanuel entered her slipstream behind her and followed her back towards the mountainside and Red and Breeze.
‘Hanuel!’ cried Alya. He was right behind her, and they were directly above Red, who was himself now tumbling through the air uncontrollably.
‘Yes?’ shouted Hanuel, awaiting his instructions.
Alya circled with her wings open and Hanuel followed concerned that the pair below were getting away from them.
‘We go Death Wish. You take Red. I’ll take Breeze. Hook him and then follow me—rocket out. I go first. Are you ready?’
‘Yes,’ cried Hanuel, although if he’d had time to think it through, he would definitely have said he was not ready. What they were about to do was practically a Death Wish on top of a Death Wish. He was sure he could reach Red but catching him mid-tumble was near impossible. He had to somehow wrap his arms around his waist or hook his hands under his armpits at the right moment, securely enough to take him with him, and then still have the required momentum to rocket them both away from the mountainside.
‘Go!’ yelled Alya, as she nosedived after Breeze. She overtook Red who was still tumbling albeit not as violently as Breeze, he still had some strength in his wings but he just couldn’t get them both to deploy and stable at the same time and the rips and currents were throwing him off balance.
Alya zipped towards Breeze, and if she’d had time to think about it she would have realised that the sloping mountainside was coming up a lot faster than the floor of The Basin.
She entered Breeze’s slipstream, if it could be described as such, as the air parted in several directions and was of no help at all to Alya. She was just above Breeze and she saw an opportunity as Breeze tumbled, and then her back faced Alya, her wings circling madly with her.
Alya had been about to seize Breeze but the girl buffeted slightly off course and she had to apply the brakes so she didn’t overtake her. She wobbled herself in doing so, and had to realign herself as Breeze tumbled again. The sloping mountainside was coming up fast now and Alya steeled herself. She heard shouting above and without acknowledging it she knew that the blur out of the corner of her eye was Hanuel rescuing Red. It was now or never … literally.
Breeze had almost done a full circle. Her head was coming up and over, and Alya saw her opportunity as she zipped in-between her wild, flailing wings and hooked her forearms under Breeze’s armpits. She banked her left wing which tipped them both away from the mountainside and then kept her wings in tight to finalise their flight plan away from danger and out into The Basin. Alya gasped as she saw how close they’d been to the mountainside, then she readied herself to deploy her wings.
