TWO

Defying every rule of gravity, Newton drew the clouds around its majestic structure; its silent pride protected by the elements. At the centre of the flying city stood the silver and bronze towers of its capital, dominating every other structure in sight and crowning the Erth below. Resembling an open wound across the gleaming architecture of Newton, the once brightly coloured foliage that had sought sunlight, now burned brightly within the remaining Greenhouse.

The wind howled and although the fresh air filled Pirian’s lungs, the altitude sickness continued to overwhelm him. “Gi…give me back the tortoise.” he pleaded, raising his hand to his mouth, as he gagged once more.

Viktor’s eyes narrowed, savouring the moment, “I don’t think so Horncastle, it’ll spoil the fun.”

Pirian watched in horror as Loran and Neel handed Viktor the tortoise, before climbing the steps of the barrier.

Running the entire circumference of the Greenhouse exterior, the maintenance veranda was strictly out of bounds. Anyone who strayed outside of the maintenance car without a safety harness risked being torn away by the strong winds. Yet Viktor seemed invincible, as he stood confidently above everyone.

Becoming more distraught by the second, Pirian shouted out once again, “Give me back Cornelius... please!”

“’Give me back Cornelius, give me back Cornelius’. What are you going to do about it?” Viktor mocked, balancing precariously along the barrier as Loran and Neel laughed. “I think you’re going to have to climb up here and get him off me. If you dare.”

Pirian’s fear of heights went hand in hand with the altitude sickness; a cruel punishment for being born on a flying city. There was very little he could do about it; the cackles of Loran and Neel taunting him further.

“Throw it over Viktor, go on!” shouted Loran.

“Yeah, do it!” followed Neel.

“You…d...dare Viktor!” stuttered Pirian.

“D...d...duh, duh, duh,” Viktor taunted, “I told you, come and get him!”

Pirian knew deep down it was the only chance he had of retrieving Cornelius. If it meant confronting his fear of heights, then so be it. The cackling laughter of Loran and Neel ceased as soon as he staggered over to the barrier and began to climb the steps. Not for a moment did he take his eyes off Viktor.

Once he had finally managed to reach the top, there was nothing to hold onto other than the tracks of the rail system running along the surface of the barrier. The tracks were no wider than the maintenance cars themselves, with very little width to crawl along.

He didn’t stand immediately. Frozen, he had caught a glimpse of the nothingness below. The clouds were an endless white landscape of cotton wool, blocking out any hint of land. He could make out, what looked like more Newtonian cruisers approaching the city, the wind battering at his body as he held on for dear life. The twirling white and blue was both magnificent and horrific, as everything around him began to spin and spiral out of control.

His stomach rose to the back of his throat, his altitude sickness taking hold once again. Retching, he heard the blood pumping in his head, a deafening thud as he looked up at Viktor. Pirian couldn’t hear a word he was saying, nor could he hear Loran and Neel laughing anymore.

Petrified, he gripped the freezing metal tracks. Turning his head away from view, the thumping in his head began to calm as the laughter and jeering of his tormentors slowly rose.

“Get up Horncastle!” shouted Viktor. “You snivelling little rat! If you want the tortoise to live, get up!”

Closing his eyes, he struggled to calm his breathing. His whole body shook as he dragged himself up onto his knees. Eventually, he managed to stand upright, his legs trembling. Finally, he opened his eyes again, glaring at Viktor. The sadist held Cornelius casually under one arm as though he weighed nothing, his tormentor swaying, as if caught in slow motion.

“That’s it. Not that hard when you put your mind to it. Even a wimp like you can do it.”

“L…le…let him…go.” begged Pirian reaching out his arms, his own voice slowing in his head.

“Oooh, I’m not sure,” Viktor replied as he spun the tortoise around between both hands, holding him out in front of Pirian.

Looking directly at Cornelius’ shell, the animal was barely visible inside. There was no telling if it had already died, until slowly its head began to poke out, his eyes slowly opening.

“P…put him down.”

“I think you should make more of an effort and come and get him off me.”

Pirian tried to place a foot forward. It might as well have been glued to the barrier. He was rigid, frozen from fear as well as the cold winds.

“I...I, ca...can’t.” he looked at the helpless creature still held out in front of him. It blinked. He almost thought there was smile from the tortoise as Viktor held him over the barrier.

“That’s too bad Horncastle,” he said, letting go.

“No!” wailed Pirian, slumping forward to his knees, as he watched Cornelius fall from view. Losing his balance, he almost fell himself, gripping the barrier with one hand as he reached out with the other. The cold metal stung his chest, his arm stretched over the barrier in a hopeless effort to catch his friend. As everything began to spin once again, he closed his eyes. Shaking, he gripped the barrier harder than ever. Then he felt himself being lifted up, his throat being squeezed as Viktor lifted him clear off the ground. Keeping his eyes closed, he prayed for Viktor to end it now. There was no strength left in him, as Viktor threw him down the sloping barrier.

Sliding downwards, Pirian hit the veranda floor, rolling over onto his back. He was too numb with cold to feel any more pain.

Jumping down from the barrier, Viktor landed with a slam in front of him. Nodding to his accomplices, they lifted him off the ground, as Viktor rammed his fist into Pirian’s stomach.

He doubled over, the wind momentarily knocked out of him. Managing to regain his breath, he looked up.

Viktor drew his plasma gun and placed it against Pirian’s head.

The plasma charged.

Pirian quivered uncontrollably as a warm, wet sensation filled his leggings.

“POW!” taunted Viktor as Loran and Neel howled with laughter.

Then the barrier began to shake.

Distracted, Viktor frowned and lowered his head slightly, concentrating on the approaching sound.

“The maintenance car?” said Loran.

Viktor looked back at Pirian and grabbed his face, “Looks like Daddy’s finally arrived. Better late than never hey?”

Pirian clenched his teeth. Letting out an uncontrollable breath, his bottom lip trembled.

Viktor shoved Pirian’s head away as Loran and Neel dropped him to the floor. Then, Viktor made his way over to a mechanism known as a jettison lever - a contingency programmed into most structures on Newton, in case they caught fire or systems failed. With no care for the state of the world below, all structures jettisoned were condemned to destruction - becoming no more than another dangerous obstacle.

Loran and Neel helped to shift the weight of the lever. As they brought it down with a rusty clang, the Greenhouse lurched.

On the huge jettison arm, the whole habitat slowly began to move away from Newton.

There was nowhere for Pirian to go. Even if he had the strength, or even the guts to brave the fire raging inside the Greenhouse, the door was now firmly shut. He couldn’t even stand, and prayed for the imminent arrival of his father.

He watched as Loran and Neel climbed the barrier. Viktor approached one final time. “You want to see Erth so much, so be it. You can both go down with your precious Greenhouse.” he paused savouring the moment, “I always said this would be the death of your father. Now the great Jeradon Horncastle can watch his son die with him.”

Quickly pulling up his hood, Viktor’s mask snapped back up into place. Then he ran up the barrier, jumping from view. Loran and Neel followed and within seconds, they soared upwards, wings extended from their Guild training suits.

Caked blood surrounded Pirian’s nose and mouth, his tears having almost frozen his eyelids shut. Hugging himself for warmth, his nausea continued to pull at his guts. He shivered from the cold and sickness, as he noticed the odd animal nervously scamper past.

Pausing for a moment, he dragged himself to the door.

Looking through, he could see the Greenhouse ablaze

He slumped down, waiting for the inevitable.

Jeradon Horncastle had no time to wait for the maintenance car to stop. Pirian watched as his father jumped from the doors directly onto the veranda.

“Pirian!…My boy...”

Pirian trembled, placing his hand to his mouth in an attempt to stop himself from being sick once again

“I have to get you on board. Before the Greenhouse is jettisoned.”

In no time at all Pirian was lifted and carried back up to the car.

“H…he, he k…killed him Dad. He…he threw him away like he was nothing.”

“Killed who?” asked his father as he threw the accelerator forward.

Pirian couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes, “Cornelius. Viktor…th…threw him over the side. Like he was…was a piece of rubbish.”

“You’re safe. For the time being that’s all that matters.” Jeradon controlled his frustration, “You fell asleep again didn’t you? Your mother and I, we told you not to come here. We kept telling you.”

“I…I’m sorry.” replied Pirian.

His father concentrated on what was ahead as an explosion surged outwards from the Greenhouse, throwing glass and metal across the veranda and track, “Good job I know where you hide at night. Just hold on son.”

The car shook as it hit the debris. Luckily it remained fastened to the track.

Several more explosions erupted behind them, flames licking at the car. In the distance, Pirian and his father could make out the fringes of the city, as the Greenhouse continued to move outwards, revealing its jettison arm more and more.

As the docking station approached, Jeradon attempted to slow the car down but it continued to accelerate.

Pirian could see the broken track ahead, tangled up with the station’s platform.

His father grabbed hold of him, diving to the far end of the car to avoid the impact. As they approached the platform, the car was hurled upwards across the station, and carried on through.

Crashing through walls of glass and metal, Pirian and his father were hurled to the side as the car turned over, falling away from the Greenhouse station and down onto the jettison arm.

Cradled in his father’s arms, Pirian had escaped any serious injury. Jeradon was on his feet before the car had even finished sliding to a halt. Lifting his son, he made his way out.

Pirian flinched as more explosions followed, debris falling all around them.

The colossus tracks that the Greenhouse moved along resembled gigantic metallic trenches, reaching back towards Newton.

There was no time to think. Pirian looked on helplessly as his father slung him over his shoulder and began to run.

Due to the arm moving the opposite way, no ground was covered between them and the city, but enough to move away from the Greenhouse. Pirian watched as the habitat came to a halt. He could see the titanic mechanisms underneath the habitat unlock. With an almighty roar the flaming Greenhouse fell away from the flying city.

Jeradon turned briefly, watching his life’s work disappear. The Greenhouses had taken him over a decade to build and nurture. Erth’s answers were lost; secrets of the Newtonian’s enemy now nothing more than ash and twisted metal.

They could both feel the entire jettison arm tremble. His father turned and started to run again. Pirian looked on as the claspers closed and rotated. Then the empty arm slowly began to move back.

Although the arm was now moving in the same direction, helping them cover more ground, Pirian realised that there was now the danger of being crushed as the huge mechanism moved closer towards the city.

Noticing the service ladders hanging down at the end of the trench, Jeradon increased the pace.

As Jeradon raced up the ladder, he swapped Pirian to his other shoulder and began the ascent.

The huge mechanism continued to close in on them.

All Pirian could do was watch as the trench began to engulf them. He twisted his neck around, in an attempt to see how far up the ladder they were.

They reached the top and his father opened the hatch.

As Jeradon raced further up the ladder, Pirian hung helplessly, watching the trench finally close beneath them.

Another hatch opened out into a maintenance room. Before long Pirian and his father had reached the glass doors of the inner docking station. It had once looked out across the valley of the Greenhouse, now it had been replaced by open sky.

Pirian was gently lowered to the ground. As his father steadied himself, he gripped his chest with exhaustion. Jeradon then turned and rested his head against the glass doors, his spirits crushed and his energy depleted.

“All your work Dad.”

Pirian could see the tension in his father as Jeradon clenched his fists, then raised one in an effort to pound the glass door. He knew his father was controlling the anger as best he could, resting his fist against the glass instead, “Why couldn’t you listen?”

Pirian could sense his father’s disappointment, having mistaken it for anger. Under the circumstances, he felt his father had every right to be angry. Tears streamed from Pirian’s eyes, “I…I’ve s…said I was sorry Dad. I was trying to find you. I didn’t mean…I didn’t mean to get into trouble. The Greenhouse, it just felt so safe there. My sickness…”

Turning his head, Jeradon looked at his only child.

Pirian watched as his father removed his dirty overcoat, placing it around his shivering son, “I know. You’re safe. That’s all that matters now.”

Jeradon then continued to stare through the glass doors. The Greenhouse had vanished from view.

Pirian caught his own reflection. A dirty bruised face stared back. He watched his father slowly move his hands across his shaven head; his trousers were stained, along with his white, bloodied tunic.

Pirian felt as cold looking at the interior of Newton as he did out on the veranda.

The sound of marching footsteps approached. He noticed his father clench his fist once again as the footsteps grew louder.

Several Guildsmen appeared in perfect alignment, holding large rifles at their sides.

The Emperor’s Guard wore chrome lightweight ceremonial armour with matching helmets to conceal most of their faces. There were five of them; four guards and a Commander who wore a regimental grey uniform, instead of his own armour. A crimson red cape hung down from one shoulder; the Newtonian symbol holding it in place.

Pirian’s stomach turned as the adrenaline rushed through his body. The pressure set him more and more on edge as the intimidating figures surrounded them. He could feel his heart rate increase once again, as he attempted to pull himself up from the floor. Giving up, he shuffled closer to his father for protection.

Something was wrong.

The guards and Commander came to a standstill.

Pirian noticed his father’s blank expression as he turned to face them, addressing the Commander much like an old friend, “Bendarick.”

“I’m sorry Jeradon,”

Holding out his arms, as though he knew what was coming next, Jeradon reluctantly replied, “Yes...so am I.”

Bendarick raised his right hand and a guard stepped forward to cuff Jeradon’s wrists. Then, with no hesitation, his old friend formally addressed him.

“Jeradon Horncastle III, the Newtonian Guild hereby arrests you...”

Pirian was speechless. It wasn’t his father who had started the fire.

“For the murder of Lord Surel, Emperor of Newton.”

Chapter II