I followed behind everyone, trying to blend in and stay out of their way as much as possible. This girl that was with them was certainly unique if nothing else. She had dark, red hair, which she kept tied back slightly with a ribbon. She wore a white jacket which was far too big for her and a large shirt which had ancient Greek characters written all over it (of course, I didn't know that at the time, she told me later that they were ancient Greek). All this was covered up by all the strange gadgets she carried with her. She even had some odd objects strapped to her legs. We all hurried (Carumati skipped) to the airship so we could leave at a time when the winds would die down.
~*F*~
“Ven, you take care of Carumati.
Fable, you go hide in your cabinet. Ally, you and I are going to the
guns. No doubt, they're gonna be right on our tail from the moment we
get out of here, and we're gonna be ready for them,” Konrad
commanded. Ven immediately began preparing for take off and Carumati
wandered around, scanning everything with her little device. Ally and
Konrad took to their battle seats and strapped themselves in and the
airship took off. They hovered in front of the gate. It was 10:23.
One more minute before the craziness would ensue.
“Hey, Kon.” Ally's voice came
through Kon's headphones.
“What is it, Ally?” Konrad
replied as he pressed buttons and flipped switches to turn everything
on.
“Is it just me, or does it seem a
bit chilly in here?”
“Um... not really. Why?”
“Nothing. No. It's nothing.”
“Ally, are you-”
“You guys ready?” came a voice
through the headset. It was Ven.
“Roger,” Kon replied.
“I was born ready.”
“Ally, how would you know that? You
don't have any memories of your past....”
“Oh, be quiet.”
“We'll begin in 10... 9... 8....”
Ven began counting down.
“You scared, Ally?” Kon asked.
“Course not!”
“Then why are you so tense? You
should lighten up.”
“5... 4...”
“It's just that I-”
“1, and we're outta here!” Ven
announced.
The airship lurched forward. Not even
a split second out of Polstar and another ship came out in front of
them and began shooting.
“Ally, Kon, to the front!” Ven
called.
“Right!”
The two of them spun their guns to
the front until they had the ship in sight and began shooting.
“Ally, it's coming to your side,”
Ven informed.
“Got it!” Ally Kat began
shooting, but the ship disappeared. “Ven, he's beneath us.”
“Right, I'm tilting toward your
side, Kon,” explained the pilot.
“I see him! What the- what in the
world is that?”
“Kon, what's wrong?” Ally asked.
“Oh, shoot! Ven, pull forward, pull
forward!” Konrad called.
“I'm on it.”
“What happened, Kon?” Ally
inquired.
“I'm not sure. There was this guy
standing on top of the airship with an arrow in his hand.”
“Are they crazy?
What do they think an arrow is going to do?” Ven questioned.
“I
don't know, but that guy seemed to be pretty confident.”
“ʻAdaequatio
intellectus nostri cum re,ʼ”
Carumati spoke as she examined the floor.
“Huh?”
“Ven,
there's a problem!” Ally spoke as the alarm began going off.
“Ally,
what's wrong?”
“I
think--- vi--- can't get---” Ally's voice faded to static.
“Ally!
Come in, Ally! Kon, something's not right. Something is interfering
with the right side of the ship.”
“Dang
it! It must be that arrow. But what is it?”
“That
whole side of the ship just lost power. Ally wont even be able to
open the door to get out.”
“That
girl. She said she had a bad feeling. Her instincts are rarely wrong,
and I hate it. Ven! Can't you pull us ahead of these guys at all?”
“They're
too fast. If I had full maneuverability....”
“Then
get full maneuverability. Fable's fine in the cabinet, but make
Carumati strap herself down.”
“Oh,
you don't have to worry about me. I've got my gravity shoes on!”
Carumati announced, listening in to the conversation.
“What
are you talking about?” Ven asked, staring at the girl's sandals.
“My
shoes. They can defy gravity or create gravity so that even if this
ship turns upside down, I wont go anywhere and I'll still have
perfect balance.”
“You're
crazy, but I have no choice but to trust you. If you're wrong, Kon is
gonna kill me.”
“Go
on, go on! You don't have time to waste!”
“Alright,
here goes nothing.”
Ven
pulled down on a lever and turned the ship upside down. Carumati
stayed perfectly in place, calmly walking over, upside down, behind
Ven and watched him work.
“Now
this is more like it!” Kon spoke excitedly and began shooting at
the ship which was now in sight again.
Suddenly
more of the ship went dark and unable to function and the balance in
the ship was destroyed, causing it to go spinning upward toward the
stratosphere. Ven flipped a few switches here and there, but was
unable to fix it and watched as the darkness began spreading towards
the center of the ship.
“This
is bad, Kon. If this keeps up, we'll shoot right into the
stratosphere.”
“So
adjust it for the stratosphere, then.”
“I
can't. The controls are no longer functioning properly.”
“It's
a virus,” Carumati stated simply.
“What?”
“It's
a virus, designed to cause the computer to go out of control.
However, it functions just like a disease, and can therefore, be
contained.” Carumati connected her computer to the main computer of
the airship and began typing. Her fingers moved so fast that Ven
could hardly follow them. In a moment, the blackout stopped spreading
and stood still. Carumati continued typing. “Once it has been
contained, I can analyze the virus and send in a virus of my own that
will cancel out both viruses,” the girl explained as she pressed
“enter”.
“Amazing,”
Ven spoke as he watched the dark areas turn back to normal. Next
moment, Ally's voice was coming in from the speaker.
“Ven!
You got it working again.”
“I
didn't, Carumati did. Are you alright, Ally?”
“What,
you loose touch for a few seconds and you think I'm dead? Sheesh! You
should know me better than that. Hey, Ven, whatever you do, don't
turn the airship upside down again. I have an idea.”
“Ally,
what are you going to do? Ally?” Ven called through the speaker.
“Warning.
Top hatch has been opened,” came the airship's computer voice.
“Ally,
you crazy cat! Get back in here!” Konrad shouted.
“Sorry
boys, I can't hear your complaints anymore,” Ally said to herself
as she stood up on top of the airship. Soon, she could see the archer
who stood on top of the other airship and the two stood facing each
other, calmly.
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