Part of my plan was to steer the ship in a zigzag course until the last possible minute, not only to show those that followed that the ship was still in flight, but also giving my friends a bigger lead in their escape. As I rose from the mist, I began to feel the slightest confidence in my plan. I began to make small course corrections, and steer the airship in an apparently struggling zigzag pattern.
The part I hadn’t thought of in advance became clear to me as once in the open air, the airship became buffeted once again by a great amount of fire from the following vessels. I climbed and zigzagged as much as possible, but eventually, enough of the airbags, and even the lines securing them were severed, to significantly slow the progress of my ship.
I felt reassured, thinking of the time I had bought Layla and my companions, but as the ships drew closer, I wondered at my own fate. I had no desire to repeat my captivity in the cold, dark cell of the exalted one, but my options were limited. As the airship rose I considered what would happen to me if I went through a gate at some altitude. Since they seemed to be in generally the same relative position to the surface of whatever place they led to, I had no desire to appear hundreds of feet above somewhere and fall to my death.
I even briefly considered jumping from the ship, lamenting not having secured the parachute from the downed pilot, but then surmising that even if a plethora of the devices were stored on this airship in case of emergency, using one would leave me a vulnerable and obvious target as I drifted downward. I decided that to chance my survival on the idea that my body could heal itself from a fall from my current elevation was untenable and rejected it.
Not wanting to leave Layla, Mak and Threm, but seeing no other option, I continued my attempts at evasion, but with increasing damage and burst airbags the airship became more sluggish with each passing minute. It was only a matter of time before I would be drifting helpless.
Indeed, within the next several minutes, I saw an airship dropping rapidly to overtake me and match course just above the remaining suspension balloons. I surmised it to be an attempt at boarding, and clenched my jaw in anticipation. I would have to hold my position as long as possible before fleeing, or be killed in the attempt.
I searched around for a boathook, or some other such implement, no weapons being handy. I soon found a stout pole with a curved metal point at one end. Holding it in both hands, I tested it briefly, swinging it side to side. It would have to do. Watching the approaching craft, I made my way to where I thought it would send over boarders, as best as I could, and waited.
I guessed correctly, and before long a line shot as if propelled from the deck above with some force and secured itself to the deck of my airship via a spike. I cut this first line with the knife Threm had given me…then a second and a third line shot downward and secured themselves to the deck. I managed to cut the closer one free, but the second brought a fully armed boarder and then another, before I could reach it.
I raised my boat hook, intent to sweep them from the deck, when I heard a click behind me. I had barely started to turn when I was hit from behind, I can only assume by one of the spheres shot by the gas cartridge weapons they carried. The pain of the impact flowed outward from the center of my back in a wave, knocking me from my feet and the boathook from my hands.
It felt as if I were on fire and being frozen simultaneously, which is quite an unpleasant experience and one I never wish to repeat. I managed to roll over slowly and saw more boarders armed with the cylinder bearing, sphere shooting pistols I had encountered previously.
As the pain subsided slightly one of the boarders approached, aiming his pistol at me as he did so. I noticed another airship drifting nearly level to the deck on which I stood, and on the deck, surrounded by armed guards and staring directly at me was an ornately garbed exalted one. Due to the distance between us I could not be sure whether or not it was the one who had caused me so much grief previously, but that question was answered when another figure stepped sensuously onto the deck next to it. Laita, Layla’s enigmatic twin sister I could recognize easily, simply by her adornments or lack of them, and the way she carried herself.
Almost imperceptibly, the exalted one nodded in my direction. At first I was puzzled as to whether it could indeed be acknowledging me. That thought was short lived as the boarder next to me, I now assumed the leader of the boarders, nodded back to the exalted one, saying loudly “He’s the one, orders are kill-on-sight.”
He deftly tossed his drawn pistol to his off hand and drew a different weapon from a holster at his side. This, he pointed towards my head, but then waved it in the direction of one of the other boarders. “You, go and find the princess.” As the pistol veered back towards my head, I acted, knowing finally that my time was up and I had no other options.
Time slowed around me at my effort. I pushed myself to my feet, intending to disarm the man, and cause as much mayhem as I could in order to distract them from their search for Layla for as long as possible.
Out of reflex, the leader pulled the trigger on his pistol, but the shot went wide. My fatigue as a result of the first sphere exploding against my back must have been greater than I had anticipated. No sooner had I begun to step towards him then I became dizzy and started to pass out. I would not be able to distract them any longer, or even make good any kind of escape if I did not act quickly.
As I saw his arm move to re-aim the pistol based on my movement, I willed myself further into dilated time. I knew this would cause me to pass out completely in a fraction of a second, but no other option seemed open to me if I was to save my life. I only hoped that I had given Layla, Threm and Mak enough time to conceal themselves effectively.
I began to see glowing portals all around me, drifting in opposition to the relative motion of the airship as it moved forward and down. Since then, I have been able to learn to recognize probable destinations for these portals based on their coloration, size and relative angle of intercept, but this early in my world jumping, everything was guesswork. Besides that, I was so nearly unconscious that it was all I could do to remain standing as I waited until a portal was nearly upon me. Then I leaned into it, or more accurately slumped into it, falling through even as I passed out.
When I awoke, I noticed that the temperature had changed. Wherever I was had become warmer by at least a score of degrees than upon the deck of the airship. The other thing I noticed first, before my equilibrium returned and I was able to orient myself was that the air was still, or at least far more still than it had been on the deck of the airship. I was lying on my back, on a floor. Cool tile from the feel of it.
My hearing returned as the humming present in the portal faded completely away, and I realized that a man was speaking to me in English, or at least the words were English. “Beat it Pal, this ain’t no flop-house.”
I blinked and opened my eyes as I sat up, still dizzy and realizing I could have been unconscious for some. A dim incandescent fixture lit the room from the center of the ceiling. Several ceramic sinks were fixed to one wall, with small mirrors above them. Along the other wall, ceramic urinals sat, evenly spaced. I pushed myself to standing, feeling a little disoriented and staggering a bit.
A large man in a vest and bow tie stood before me, arms crossed, his sleeves rolled up revealing beefy forearms. He held the stub of a cigar clenched between his teeth, but that didn’t seem to prevent him from berating me further in his gravelly voice. “Get a wiggle on it, ragamuffins like you are bad for business.” The stale smell of ammonia reached my nose, and I quickly searched for an exit. I felt him push me none to gently towards the door, once I found it, but he did not follow me, apparently trusting that I found him intimidating enough to follow his instructions without balking further.
The wooden door led to a carpeted hallway, which in turn took me into a smoky auditorium where a flickering moving picture shown upon the far wall while an orchestra played music to accompany the scene. Some sort of
entertainment, but I turned and left, seeking other evidence of where I was, and an exit from the building.
I reached a glass doorway which led onto a crowded street. Noise and exhaust from the vehicles, mostly black travelling to and fro along the gray roadway mixed with the sound of talking pedestrians, themselves dressed in blacks and grays. The greater numbers of both men and women wore hats, the women’s much more ornate than the men’s few varieties. Words popped into my head, bowler, fedora, derby, as heads walked by wearing them. I was somewhere at least partially familiar to me.
I stepped towards the sidewalk, intent on picking a direction to take that would lead me to a less crowded area, one from which I could further examine my surroundings, when someone called to me from behind.
“John!” It was a female voice, and quite familiar. I turned, and could not stop the look of surprise from coming to my face as I saw Layla, she was safe, and I was instantly overjoyed. Then doubt intruded on my thoughts. Was it Layla, or Lila? She stood in the doorway to the theater wearing a red dress in stunning contrast to most of those around. Her hair was the same auburn I remembered from both women I had met, and her eyes the same deep green I would never forget. How this version came to know me was less important to me that second than the fact that she did. I took a step towards her, and she did likewise.
I risked calling her by the one of two names I knew, but the one more likely to be hers due to the technology I had seen since my arrival. “Lila?” Her smile indicated that I was correct in that at least, so I approached cautiously. “You treated me at the hospital near Belleau Woods?” I risked, not knowing what other tack to try.
Her smile assured me I was correct in this instance at least. “Yes! I am so glad you made it back.” Her face turned sad, and she hid her mouth with her fingers briefly, “So many did not.” Without thinking, I grabbed both of her shoulders gently in my hands and attempted to console her, “I made it back because of your help, and I don’t know if I can thank you enough.”
Even as I spoke, my mind was frantically reeling, trying to make sense of the rapid and jarring change in my circumstances. Lila made it easier, a point of attachment as I stood confused in strange surroundings.
She shook her head, and the one hand she placed upon my chest shook slightly. “No, I did what I could, but you risked so much for us. I should be thanking you!”
I smiled at her, but was still fumbling for words, about how we had both risked things when her face brightened and she flashed me a winning smile. “Are you hungry? Forgive my forwardness, but we never know what tomorrow will bring do we?” She looked down, almost shyly, as she waited for me to respond.
I don’t know why such a lovely woman would wonder if an average joe like me would be willing to dine with her, whether or not she asked first, but I only hesitated in wonder for half a second before I reached down and gently raised her chin with my finger. “I am famished, and I can’t think of anyone I would rather dine with. Do you have any idea where you would like to go?”
Her smile in response made all my concern over where I was, and indeed, all my previous trouble recede from my thoughts. It wouldn’t have mattered if she had suggested going to the local soup kitchen. “I do!” she said spritely, and held up her arm for me to take, which I did, somewhat tenuously. I did not remember what to do consciously, but from somewhere my arm found the correct position.
As we left the block in front of the theater, I looked down at Lila and smiled. She looked up at me, and began to do the same when the squeal of tires from a nearby corner drew our attention. Windows down, the hardtop sedan raced towards the front of the theater, where we were standing. I had only seconds to recognize the rounded barrels and drum magazines pointing from the open windows as weapons before they began to flash and crack in the staccato rhythm of automatic weapons. Time slowed down, thankfully before the first bullets reached us, and I held Lila close as I dove towards the sidewalk. As we landed with my back towards the hit squad in order to offer Lila some modicum of protection, I noticed men had just emerged from the theater. They had pistols drawn, surrounding a man in a long trench coat. They were not faring as well as Lila and I, and bullets were impacting them in various locations and causing them to jerk awkwardly in response before they fell in slow motion towards the sidewalk.
Any thought of taking action other than what I could do in that instant to protect Lila faded from my mind. It seemed to me that we were mere bystanders in someone else’s turf war, and I had no intention of putting myself in the middle of it. We merely waited things out prone on the sidewalk, and before long, the car sped away, squealing tires and belching exhaust.
That several men lay bleeding on the sidewalk a mere several paces away was the farthest thing from my mind as I helped Lila to her feet. “Are you hurt?” I asked, looking her over quickly for any injury. I saw none.
“No, I’m fine, what about you? We should get out of here.” Lila suggested.
I couldn’t have agreed with her more, but just as I was offering my arm so that we could do just that a man wearing a long and dark overcoat with matching fedora stepped from around a nearby cement column. “Where do youse think you’re going?” He asked, punctuating his question by bringing a Thompson submachine gun from under his coat and aiming it at me.
The End
The adventures of John Smith, World Jumper will be continued in book two. John Smith, World Jumper Book Two: Portal to Peril. Thank you for reading this little adventure serial and homage to the pulp fiction and planetary romance of yesteryear. I hope you enjoy it, and comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Sincerely,
E.P. Dorris
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