Tales of the Courier – The Smoke Screen Pass
He wakes up, facing up. Bright suns are glaring in the sky, and he shields his eyes. Sitting up and looking around, he takes stock of his condition, then his surroundings.
The m-com link is gone and he has no ride, also, his boots are gone. Other than that, he feels peachy.
1courier has a nice spot in the middle of the road. He has no idea how he got here, the last thing he remembers, is being pulled through a door after finishing a delivery.
The suns are hot, and no breeze moves the air. He is lucky to be in 2universe, where the roads self maintain. They deflect heat and remain cool, otherwise, the absorbed heat would have baked him.
He stands, and moves to the side of the road. The delivery is complete, but the disaster is still happening. Not only is he lost, he also has no way to contact HQ. He grins.
There were going to be consequences in the numbers, on this one. Nothing else to do, but take a walk. He turns, and starts walking south.
Smoke Screen
The road is deserted, not even heavy freighters are moving this far out. He tries to reason how he came to be so far from the crossroads.
First, the captain of the outpost had been unaware of the delivery. Second, the destination was changed. Then, it was to be left at the door. He stops cold. Left at the door, why does this give such a feeling of deja vu?
It’s also like a feeling of incompleteness, or something not cool. HQ would never request cargo be left unattended. He stops cold again. Then, who did?
The self repairing road flashes brightly beside him, as it monitors its condition. The pulses of light run along the road, off into the distance. He keeps padding south, wondering again, why they took his boots.
The Pass
A few minutes later he hears the hum of a distant motor. A road machine comes into view on the horizon, it’s obviously being piloted by AI. The speed of the machine is beyond human tolerance, as it blasts past him.
The force of the wind in the wake nearly pushes him over. A thick cloud of smoke, has formed a smoke screen, and he can’t see the road. The AI powered machine, blasts past again, much closer. So much so, he is knocked down this time.
The mysterious machine, power slides in the distance, turning as it does so. Then it shoots forward lightning quick, and heads straight for 1courier, who now suspects his goose is cooked.
Comment here