Free Athel by E. E. Giorgi Page B

there’s nowhere to land in a forest .
    A sudden
flash bolts between the trees to my right. I steer and drop even lower, eager
to see what’s happening. Kael dips down and then soars again, swerving back to
the Tower. Whatever he saw, he didn’t like it.
    Fifty
feet. I’m getting dangerously close to the treetops Dad warned me about.
    I scan the
vegetation, searching for a spot to land. Birches are too thin, firs too thick.
I set my eyes on a large oak with robust boughs and tilt the glider toward the
target. This is going to hurt , I
think, but my brain doesn’t seem to care.
    I can do this .
    When I’m
inches away from the oak, I close the frame and let myself drop.
    The impact
is rough. Branches claw at me everywhere. I flail my arms trying to latch onto
something but the first bough I grasp snaps. I hit the next one with my hip,
fall off, but manage to grab the one below, my legs dangling in the void.
    I catch my
breath and assess my situation.
    The
closest branch is only inches below my feet and the one I’m holding is about to
give way. I sway, making it dip farther, and let myself down to the next
branch. As I drop, I brace it and latch onto it with my arms and legs. The tree
dips and then sways back but doesn’t break. Leaves and twigs rain down on me. I
close my eyes, hundreds of scratches, cuts and bruises suddenly burning all
over my body. I clench my teeth, willing the nanobots embedded deep inside my
nervous system to quickly release analgesic into my bloodstream.
    A new flash
blasts in the distance and zips through the trees.
    What the heck is that ? Are those the laser beams ?
    But if
they are, why is Metal Jaw wasting them like that?
    Through
the branches I spot Kael’s black silhouette gliding high above the forest. If I
know him, he’ll keep looking for me for a few minutes longer and then fly back
home to the Tower.
    I’m about
sixty feet from the ground, surrounded by thick branches and leaves. It’s going
to take a while to get down. I proceed slowly, cautiously assessing one branch
at a time with my hands and feet. As the nanoparticles of analgesic begin to
work, the soreness in my limbs burns away and I descend faster, hopping from
one branch to the next until I finally tumble to the ground. A sharp twinge
jolts up my legs as they hit the ground, but it’s soon dampened by the
painkiller. I get up and brush dead bits of leaves and twigs off my hair and
clothes. One of my shirtsleeves is slashed and my pants have holes at the
knees.
    I’ll have to come up with some really good
story to tell Mom tonight .
    Not even a
bad fall from a galloping Taeh would justify my current appearance. And right
as I wonder about that, the ground starts shaking and rumbling. I stumble and
brace myself against the trunk of the closest tree.
    Some kind
of projectile shoots out of nowhere and flashes right below me, sizzling twigs
and low vegetation as it zooms through the air. I blink and it’s gone, its
trail marked by a tail of smoke and the burnt tips of ferns. Thick black smoke
lingers in the air, covering the usual scents of moss and tree bark.
    I wish I
could message Athel to tell him about what I’ve just seen, but our wireless
network doesn’t reach this far away from the Tower. Moved by curiosity, I
follow the trail of chipped bark and scattered leaves the flying object left
behind. It drilled a hole about a foot wide through the canopy of a large
spruce. On the other side of the tree, a rocket lies half buried in the ground,
the exhaust still hot and smoking. It’s small, no longer than three feet, and
dented all over.
    I look
around, expecting to see Yuri or Cal make a sudden appearance, but the place
remains still. The leaves rustle. A few shy birds resume their chirping now
that the rumble has passed.
    And then a
figure jumps out from behind the trees, grabs the small rocket and runs. It’s
all so fast I can’t even tell if it’s a man or a woman.
    “Wait!” I
shout and give chase.
    The