Sorry for delay. Got stuck on this chap and couldn't get it started again. Chase scene was only supposed to be the opening section, but it became a chapter of its own.
Alive
Book 2
Pt15
1.
The Gatekeeper's voice was feminine and soothing. The message was not.
"You have entered Delaware Coastal Airspace. This craft has been flagged for lack of proper identification."
David glanced at his dash display. An official state seal hovered against his windshield; two men, a farmer and militiaman, facing one another over an Ox within a gold emblem; the words "liberty and independence" emblazoned beneath.
"Airway traffic is required to fly a banner at all times," the Gatekeeper continued. "Failure to comply can result in fines or revocation of rites of passage. Thank you for your cooperation"
'Flying a banner' was flight talk for posting the net tag that identified your craft; a digital license plate. David was sure his wasn't the only craft with no ID, and had hoped to slip by unnoticed. But it must have been a slow night.
He tapped the app on his dash and his father's alias was logged.
"Welcome Mr Holt," the Gatekeeper replied. "There are no airway alerts at this time but due to storm warning, Airway Authority is discouraging free flight over southern sector waterways. Lists of all travel conditions and services are updated in real time at State of Delaware net home."
David breathed a sigh of relief. The name had not triggered an alert, which meant his father had not yet issued any reports on his missing son. He was actually surprised to have gotten this far without police interference. But the part about storms in the Southern Sector… well that worried him. He was pretty sure that was where the cloaked man's coordinates would lead him.
The Gatekeeper continued.
"We are proud to announce all State and local updates are now Familiar compatible for those with implants. All updates will still be automatically sent to your pod."
David didn't use Familiar technology. He'd been a robot once, and had no desire to have wires in his head again. The rising popularity of the digital implants confused him, as did the potential for abuse. But he pushed that all from his mind. He had more important issues to think about. Like, what the hell was he doing!
There had been no plan. He was flying blind now, acting on pure Orga instinct. A problem arises, fight or flee. It had all seemed so simple twenty minutes ago. Now he was beginning to see the predicament he'd put himself in.
But it was too late to go back now. His father would lock his Stratocruiser in the parking bay and he wouldn't be seeing any flight time for a long, long while. No. There was turning back. Oddly the thought relaxed him. It was somehow reassuring to know he was committed to a course of action. As he settled into the seat cushions and slowed his breath to cleared his mind, the cloaked man's words came back to him:
"You are the link. You are the one who has crossed the boundaries."
"The boy from between," David mumbled. But the link to what? And from between where? He'd find out soon enough … for better or worse
A public airway corridor came into view; a string of airborne passenger cruisers and cargo craft moving in flowing processions over the lights of the city below. David slowed and moved carefully into the flow of traffic. He'd had no training on the airway corridor, but there wasn't much traffic tonight, and he had played enough games to figure out most of the rules. Follow the digital pylons. Obey all speed minimums and maximums. Signal when you're entering or exiting the airway.
And no swearing or threatening comments in airway messages. David had been in traffic for less than a minute when someone broke this last rule.
"Hey *#$&head! Get the $#&% out of fast flow!"
The automatically censored message flashed bright red against his canopy. A few quick replies flashed through David's mind, but he decided to just move into a slower flow. No good would come of bringing unwanted attention to himself, which was why he had been moving so slowly in the first place. He set his Vayu to auto-pilot and it slipped into a space between two lumbering cargo haulers. As the craft that had sent the offending message raced by, David thought he saw someone raise the finger at him from behind its shaded canopy.
"Yeah, back at you too," he said to no one. If they only knew what he was carrying in the waist of his flight suit, they might not feel so cocky. But David flinched the moment the thought entered his head. Where did that come from, he wondered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"Don't get carried away," he said to himself, gripping his steeping column tight to restrain a sudden rush of nerves. "This is not a game," he whispered.
He had managed to calm himself again when his canopy display began to flash from red to blue to red to blue. What the hell now? His question was answered when two police cruisers descended quickly from above and locked positions on either side of him.
"You are flying on a training license," a gruff voice said over David's comm. "Please descended into ground traffic and park in a designated citation area."
There were numerous logical responses to the situation, most of which had to do with abandoning his crazy trip and complying with the officers demands. But David was Orga now. And his Orga instincts kicked in.
Fight or flight.
He snapped off his auto-pilot and gunned his thrusters.
2
Airway traffic was regulated by a central hub of sentient A.I. systems called Gatekeeper. The system was tied into a larger network dedicated to monitoring national traffic, whereas the local system tracked incoming and outgoing craft as well a weather systems and accidents. The Gatekeeper was also completely capable of controlling the vehicles themselves, and at one time, before David was even conceived, there had been a political movement to do just that; have all traffic controlled by the SAI systems. It would have alleviated Orga of the task of piloting their vehicles and removed human error from the equation.
But an opposition arose. 'This is America, damn it', was the protestors meme. A nation born and raised on the fundamental principles of human individuality and freedom. For the same reason Mecha were not permitted to act as peace officers or allowed positions of governmental authority, the Gatekeeper had been relegated to a monitor, not a regulator. The same grassroots citizen's groups that had removed Mecha from uniforms and political office had formed to wrest freedom of movement from the hands of what they saw as usurping mechanical tyrants. Laws were overturned and new ones passed. The mandatory driver override programs had been removed from new vehicles. Orga were once again in control. It made the job of traffic police that much harder. But such was the cost of freedom.
It was for this reason that when David pushed his Vayu into overdrive and blasted out of the airway flow and into free space, there was no system in place to stop him. He would have to be captured the old fashioned way: pursue and apprehend.
3
"You are in violation of Airway Traffic Ordinance 1576.30! Desist or face arrest!"
David tapped his dash and the voice was muted, only to be replaced by the officer's warning in red text, flashing angrily across his screen. Since it was a police alert he could not turn it off, but they couldn't stop him from ignoring it. There was really no need to read what was being dictated anyway. He knew what it would say. Instead he focused his attention on the building that was suddenly ahead of him, growing rapidly closer.
Collision alerts sounded as David pulled back on his controls, so close to the building that he could see his silvery craft reflected in the windows. The Vayu whipped into a steep climb. The police were tight on his tail and he was sure there would be another patrol waiting when he topped the building and descended on the other side.
So he made a quick change of plan.
The police were taken completely by surprise when the fleeing Vayu pulled a sudden loop, arced over their heads and shot straight towards ground traffic. They scrambled to adjust course but the little silver Straocruiser, which was really designed for high altitude supersonic travel, was already getting lost in the cluster of traffic below.
David whooped triumphantly as he pulled out of the descent just feet over the top of ground traffic. The maneuver was a trick he'd perfected on his simulator, and he was surprised how easily he pulled it off in the real world. He killed his GPS as he zipped towards a group of buildings and slipped into a tight alleyway. The police would still be able to find him even without the GPS, but since he'd fled before they could tag his craft, they'd have to find him by line of sight. That would give him an extra minute or so. It wasn't much but it was all he needed. He couldn't afford to waste it thinking about how much trouble he was getting himself into. He'd survived bigger trouble before.
The alley was really just a small walk space between two corporate towers, and too thin to turn around. So when David could go no further, he flipped head over tail, so that his nose was now pointed toward the mouth of the walk way, and his Vayu upside down. Before he could flip over he noticed a man in a black suit looking up at him. The man had been talking on his pod when he noticed the Vayu hanging above his head. David was close enough to see the man's mouth form a shocked "what the…"
David smiled and waved. Then he rolled the Vayu over, made a quick trajectory calculation, took a deep calming breath… and maxxed out his thrusters.
The walls of the alley turned into a sudden blur. G-forces pressed madly against him, pushing him back into his seat which adjusted automatically to accommodate the force of his acceleration. He shot from the mouth of the alley, thrusters screaming, seeing the flashing light of he police only for an instant as he sped past the place they'd been hiding; waiting for him to reappear.
But they'd not been prepared for this.
He watched them give chase, three of them now, but too late. Using the length of the ally for acceleration had given him the advantage. He was our of their grasp, racing for the stratosphere where they could not follow.
4
The city shrank quickly below as David shot high over the traffic zone, up into the starry night. He toggled his monitor and saw the flashing police copters far behind. They were not capable of the same altitudes as his Vayu could achieve. But David knew there were other enforcers for those pursuits. Federal enforcers. The kind that might have contact with a certain man named Greig or Jeff or Frank. And the Gatekeeper was sure to alert those authorities about a crazy boy in a rogue Stratocruiser, racing through the Delaware sky.
He came up with a plan to deal with that.
David was about to initiate the move that he was sure would confound his pursuers and set him back on course, when he noticed the text on his dash had changed. He'd been ignoring it, assuming it was police telling him what laws he was breaking and what a load of trouble was in store when they caught him. But that was not what was written there now.
"Son. What are you doing?"
David froze. It was his father. His creator. His betrayer!
A sudden wave of resentment washed over his body. His anger rose like bile in his throat. But he could not afford to lose himself in emotion now. He was about to miss the window for his maneuver. He ignored the message, killed all his exterior lights and banked hard. Collision alerts screamed as he flipped his craft over and descended straight for the ground, hoping that another reckless driver hadn't broken from the airway flow only to wind up in his path. He was going too fast to change course.
"David, I know you are getting my messages! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Not now, Dad, David thought. He only had seconds before he crossed the threshold for impact and he … had to … time this …just ….
David laughed as he bottomed out just up above a quiet suburban neighborhood. He had executed a perfect 180, and wound up at ground level, headed in the opposite direction the police had been pursuing him. Far above he could see the pinpoints of their lights flashing. He felt a moment's relief, but he knew the ruse wouldn't last long.
He slowed and cruised at regulation speed just feet above the quiet houses. There was a time in history when just flying this low would allow him to avoid detection. But not any more. Now his only hope was to lose the signature of his craft in the clutter of network noise the residential neighborhood produced.
"This is insane, David. Talk to me now, before it goes so far I can't help you any more"
The police were slowing high above. They'd finally realized what he'd done. Now they'd come searching. David snicked on his comm.
"Call them off," he said.
Alan Hobby was quiet for a moment, as if surprised to hear David's voice.
"What is going on?" he said. "The police contacted me and said they were chasing you over-"
"Yes they're chasing me," David said. "Call them off and we'll talk."
Hobby made an exasperated sound.
"Who do you think I am, Son? I have no power to call off the…"
"You are Alan Hobby, creator and CEO of Cybertronics, the largest and most successful Mecha manufacturer in the world. You have more government contracts than the rest of the industry combined. And I am your son! So call them off… Father!" David let the word hang between them for a moment. "And then we'll talk."
David heard the man sigh.
"Security reported a Neutralizer missing. Please tell me you don't know about that."
David did not respond. His silence said everything.
"Have you lost your mind?" Hobby yelled. "David, please! I don't know what's going on with you, but this is serious. The police realize you have that and … and you could get yourself killed! Please son, just land and surrender and… and then we'll work things out. Somehow."
"No," David replied. His voice was flat. Resolute. Calm. "I don't have time to explain and even if I did I wouldn't say a word before I got some answers from you. But for now, you have you call them off… or, you're right… I could very well die out here."
His Father went silent again. The police were descending slowly, looping back and forth, shooting searchlights in all directions as they panned out over the city. David noticed some boys illuminated in a street lights below him. They looked up as he passed slowly over, and David thought he saw one of them put his pod to his ear. Reporting a strange Stratocruiser driving cloaked over a residential area, no doubt.
"Dad," David said. "I don't have much time. Yes, I have the Neutralizer. But it's for my protection."
Amazingly he thought he heard a sob.
"What did I do, son?" he asked. "How did I hurt you, to make you act out this way?"
David steeled his heart against the sound of that plea. He wanted to trust the man so badly. But so much was telling him not to.
"I don't know, Dad. What did you do?" David replied, abandoning his calm facade, unable to repress his anger any longer. "What is that boat doing out there… over Her sanctuary? What is all the secrecy about? Where have you been going on your trips inland?"
And what are you hiding about Martin Swinton? David wanted to say. But he'd save that question for later… if there was a later.
"The boat is just laying a barrier David!" Hobby said. "I told you that."
"And I should trust you why?" David yelled.
The police copters were still far in the distance, but David noticed them change direction at once, as if responding to a common call. They were headed slowly in his direction. The boy's reports must have gotten through.
"Where have you been going inland?" David said. "And why all the secrecy?
His Father made an exasperated sound.
"This has nothing to do with you!"
"What are you hiding?" David yelled.
"Am I not allowed a private life, David?" Hobby replied.
"They're coming Dad. I am going to have to outrun them again."
"Jenna, David!" Hobby exploded. "I've been seeing Jenna West, ok? We're… dating. Understand? That's all. It has nothing to do with your situation, and I don't know why you'd assume that-"
"And my situation has nothing to do with you!" David exploded back. "You can't help me! I have to do this alone and right now you have to call them off because I am not surrendering!"
There was no response.
"Did you hear me?" David said. But the comm. was silent.
Dad!" he said.
There was no reply. Had the police blocked the signal? Moments passed in silence. The searchlights were growing closer. David didn't have any more time to find out what happened. They were coming. He ascended to 100 ft and was about to hit his thrusters, when he noticed the police copters suddenly slow to a stop, hover for a moment…. and then turn around.
They had abandoned the chase!
David fell back into his seat pressed his hands against his temples and let out a scream. It was raw and unabashed, full of tension and fear. The frustrated sound filled the cabin until he had exhausted his breath. He took a moment to fight back sudden unexpected tears and then sat up straight. There was no time for dallying.
His comm. came to life again.
"Ok, David. I've managed to give you some time. I called in some favors but I can't do it again. You owe me an explanation…" Hobby paused a moment "… when you come home to me."
David heard the raw emotion in those last words. Was it love? Did the man, his creator, truly love him? How could he know? But there was no time to ponder this question, nor could he afford to let himself be moved by the man's plea.
"I have no idea what is happening son but please be careful… and please get rid of that Neutralizer. If you use it incorrectly you could kill someone. And that would mean... " Hobby went quite again. When he spoke David could hear the depth of sorrow in his voice.
"Come back home, son. When this is over. We'll work it out… whatever it is."
But David could promise nothing.
"I'll try," he said at last.
Then he killed the audio and accelerated, zooming quickly over the quiet houses below; wondering if he'd ever lead as uneventful a life as the sleepy inhabitants within.
(cont...)