I raise my head, it seems it weights a ton. Danny is worried.
Chance is worried. Dirk chews his cigar hastily, I bet he is worried too.
Noise. Big noise. And light.
There are helicopters. And men. How many? Dozens? Hundreds? I hear many voices, Italian, screaming orders and istructions.
I can barely keep my eyes open. I can’t stay upright. I feel myself cut in half. I suffered so much only back in the desert, in Mandelovia, when my metagene manifested.
I am useless. We are trapped, and I can’t even walk. Oh God, what’s happening me?
I hear fragments of the talk that intercourse between my friends.
“…they set up this long before. They had a plan if they were to find others in the museum…”
“…professionals in our same field. And better prepared than us…”
“Fuck them. We have to find a way out, NOW”
“…there are snipers on the roofs. Special forces coming out from everywhere… Do you think your axe can take care of a hundred of armed men?”
“Maybe we should just surrender. Ed is dying, guys, he needs medical care right now…”
I am dying. A second time. Then I was stopping a meteor. Now I am vomiting on a roof. This new life stinks.
“…Ed is smiling. I think we are loosing him…”
What’s killing me? Could it really be Ladnikia? The sword… I can’t stay separated from her?
I am a damned junkie again. I will never be free.
I close my eyes. The truth is too horrible to see.
“…Ed, Ed. Open your eyes, don’t give up right now!”
“Shit, shit. They are coming. On the right. Do you really want to surrender?”
The noise of the ‘copters is deafening. The lights blinding. This really is the end.
“…is there any other way?”
“…what I fear is the Italian policy about metahumans. It’s one of the place where discrimination is higher… if they capture us…”
“I told ya. We have to escape…”
“How? How? There is no way out. They are above, under and around us…”
Among the incredible, unsustainable noise, the lights, the wind from the ‘copters, something familiar hit my nose. A smell, forgotten since long time, that brings hope.
Ozone. Molecules of oxygen burned by a magnetic force field.
The screams, the voices from the policemen have suddenly stopped. The helicopters seems to have gone at large. Even my friends are silent.
And then they erupts into laughs. Big, releasing laughs.
I force my eyes to open… and right above something big is obscuring the star filled night sky.
And then I see the form… I recognize it… the MBL Hovercraft!
Big as a whale, it manoeuvre gently, even if not perfectly, in the narrow space around the museum.
I see it lowering, meter after meter, until the deck is at the same level of the roof. Around us, the policemen are frozen in fear, unable to understand what’s happening.
I feel myself lifted up, on the shoulder of Grimm, and then I see him jumping, just like the other three friends.
The hatch is closed behind us.
The voices… I can’t understand anything… and I can’t see anymore… just when we are near freedom… my liberty… my life…
.
.
.
A soft warm.
In my hand.
Heat.
Nurturing me.
Warming my soul.
Feeding my bloodstream.
I open my eyes.
It’s Tayden who is looking at me. Smiling gently, but with a worried look.
Then I look at my hand. There is Ladnikia, firm in my hand.
“I… she… the sword… I can’t…” I whisper. The words simply don’t come at my tongue. But Tayden seems to understand my gripe.
“You can’t leave the sword. No one of his bearers have ever been able to get away from her. It is a wonder, that blade… but her curse is inescapable”.
I look toward the pilot seats. The guys are chatting. Chance seems worried.
“I tell you that this thing is not secure, yet. We have to make many test, we don’t know for sure how the craft can keep up with the engine magnetic field...”
“Shut up, Chance! With you on, there will not be any problem!” says Grimm, and although that’s technically impossible, I am sure his skull smiles.
Chance. Dirk. Danny. Grimm. Tayden is behind me.
Who is piloting the ship? Who has come to our rescue?
And, as to answer my inner question, a face appears behind the pilot seat. A face I didn’t see from what it’s like an age.
He looks at me. And for less than a moment, he smiles and winks, and suddenly returns to his piloting duty.
Kristogar Velo has returned.
[ 01-31-2003, 01:24 AM: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]
