By David C. Daoust
Hamlin found himself plastered to the top of the ancient device known, most recently, as the ‘Brain Stealer’. They charged through the endless corridors of Twin Crown’s Starport, his solid light boots gripped the curvature of the device as his mitts clutched at the rather fortuitous rope wrapped around its center. The blaze of holographic fire on his head lit the darkened hallways, the flame trailed behind as the script mimicked the real world physics of his situation; shadows flickered around them as the ever shifting flame reacted to the high speeds in a flurry.
The bulbous metal device made a fairly agile mount, nothing quite compared to his horse back on Delphine, but considering the length of his new legs, the hovering device certainly gave him a leg up on speedy travel.
Hamlin had acted instinctively, ambushing the two humans and helping the Brain Stealer break free of their machinations. They had left their pursuers in the dust some time ago. In truth, he suspected the device might be lost- though as soon as he was about to voice these concerns, they suddenly broke free of the corridors, entered into antechambers, and then barreled out a side door.
Hamlin’s eyes adjusted to the sudden bright blue skies above. He took in the sight of the massive orange planet on the horizon; it was a sight- Much better than the putrid green skies of Delphine.
The Brain Stealer skittered over the endless sea of debris that surrounded the Starport. It launched itself up over a ramp of wreckage and then came to a jarring halt behind a crumbled wall – clearly in an attempt to hide from the pursuers that may follow them from the Starport at any moment.
Hamlin immediately leapt from the domed device, flickered invisible midair, and gripped the top of the crumbling wall. He pulled himself up to check if anyone followed; only the small holobot device, peeking above the crumbling structure, would be witnessed by any possible onlookers.
After a moment the old man came charging from the exit- the teenager followed. The two humans seemed to have a quick discussion, and then they split up, each searching a separate direction.
It was clear the two unusual ‘devices’ had eluded their pursuers.
Even if the two humans had spotted them in their hiding place, Hamlin knew they could never navigate through the debris as quickly as the levitating device. He judged they were safe for the moment.
Hamlin dropped back down and relaxed; popping back into visibility.
The Brain Stealer jolted a bit at his sudden reappearance.
“It’s okay,” Hamlin conveyed his thoughts, “It’s clear we have eluded them.”
The device seemed to sigh, its lens rotated down to study the ground. After a moment it flickered, and a hologram suddenly wove from the light it projected. A holographic boy stood over the undersized Aspirant.
“That was a close one,” the boy announced. “They wanted to chop me up– and good!”
“What for?” Hamlin asked, still puzzled by the situation he’d stumbled upon.
“Just to silence me–,” the boy laughed as he explained, wild eyed, “Clearly, I know too much.”
Hamlin didn’t really get the joke.
“They’re not going to stop ‘til I’m dealt with, and honestly, I’m not quite done here,” the boy pushed his problems aside, “What about you?”
“What do you mean?” Hamlin asked, more confused by its previous statement- how it’s ‘not quite done here’? Done with what? What’s it talking about? But it was clear the device was going to clarify its query instead.
“I mean…” the boy thought a moment, trying to find the right words, then just obnoxiously blurted out, “What are you? I’ve never seen anything like you!”
“I imagine not”, Hamlin agreed, perplexed he tried to push the flame back like a head of hair, as he mulled over what to say, “I’m not sure you’d believe me if I told you…”
“At this point, I’d believe anything,” the boy pressed.
Hamlin decided it was best to keep it simple.
“I’m Hamlin,” he introduced himself, stuck his hand out to shake.
“Ratch–er well”, the boy stumbled, not only on his words, but his inability to shake the hand presented to him, “actually, that’s not my name so much- I don’t know- not really anyway.”
The device floated forward, and a small limb unfolded from beneath the projecting lens. A kind of claw like clamp jutted forward. “Just call me Ferguson,” the holographic boy spoke over -and somewhat off to the side- of the ‘handshake’ that followed.
“I need to head north,” Hamlin shared, “As far north as I can get- as fast as I can…”
“Like, into the desert?”
“Like, to the Ark’s Temple on the northern pole,” Hamlin clarified.
“Well,” the boy was somewhat surprised, though seemed a bit quicker than most humans, “That’s definitely as far north as you can get…” the boy paused, presumably to think, and then shook his head. “The ships were all cleared from the Starport- they’re all in orbit around the moon…”
“All of them?” Hamlin asked.
“The population wanted the grounds clear for their gathering,” the boy informed, “This moons government is as devastated as the surrounding town– if it can still be called a ‘town’.”
Hamlin wasn’t sure where Ferguson was getting his information, but it sounded good, and considering the wreckage that surrounded them, it added up. He’d have to inquire further into what was going on exactly, when he wasn’t in such a hurry to get going.
“I think I have an idea…” Ferguson premised, the device spun about to get its bearings before the hologram continued, “The closest vehicle, still functioning,” the boy turned to face the same direction as the device and pointed to the massive machine in the distance, “is right there.”
It was a russet colored beast of a machine, sitting on the largest tank treads Hamlin had ever witnessed. The Sandcrawler absolutely towered over all the flattened wreckage. Not only that, but completely unscathed beneath it, was a fairly sized theatre house- the vehicle dwarfed it too. Over that, Hamlin could see the vehicle’s cockpit jutting out of the armored structure, he could see the cargo hold gaping open, a ramp ran to the ground- that’s where he needed to get.
“It can get us both out of here, and well into the desert, before anyone knows it,” Ferguson voiced Hamlin’s very thoughts.
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