Drone - A Sci-Fi Superhero Thriller (The Gift Book 2) by Marc Stapleton

Author:Marc Stapleton [Stapleton, Marc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 31

I’m lying face down in the sand. The sun is appearing just over the horizon; I can see those early rays beginning to spread across the sky, but it’s not enough; it’s still almost completely dark.

I pick myself up and dust myself down. There’s sand everywhere – under my fingernails, in my hair and stubble, inside my clothes, and in my boots.

I know exactly where I am: this is the battlefield of Aljarran. And it feels just as it did before – cold, callous, and cruel. I feel a deathly cool breeze blowing the last remaining specks of sand out of my hair.

There’s a horrible cacophony nearby. It’s a terrible noise, loud and invasive. I turn around to see a great black monolith buried into the dune before me. It’s perhaps 20 feet tall and composed of a stony, coarse material. And it spews a filthy, choking black smoke into the air. Soon I can’t even breathe.

I wake up choking.

It takes me a couple of seconds to get my bearings again. I’m on a train, rocking from side to side gently as we round a corner.

I’m in a first-class cabin thanks to my CIA plastic; the glass is smudged, there’s a smell of diesel in the air, and the upholstery is slightly worn, but it’s comfy enough for me. It’s dark outside, but much like in my dream I can see the sun begin to rise behind a couple of forested hills.

I itch my neck; this is an entirely new suit, and I’m still getting used to it. As much as I hate shopping, I hit the high streets of Pima last night and bought some new clothing: another set of shoes and a whole new suit, all in a brand-new rucksack that I had to promise myself I wouldn’t get blown apart in this time.

I bought a $500 suit, put it on, and immediately fell asleep in it.

The sun begins to shine, filling the sky with cloudless blue; a three-note tune sounds out over the loudspeakers and an annoyingly chirpy voiceover begins to fill my cabin. I can’t understand it, but I can at least infer that we’re close to Balanca.

Some 20 or so minutes later, the train shudders to a halt next to a quaint little station platform with a neat white wooden veranda overhead. A bunch of holidaymakers and businesspeople rush to the end of the coach, tiredly chortling between themselves, and I queue behind them.

I step off the train into the perfect morning sun; it’s already sweltering hot. I fan myself with a Madrevarian note before tipping my waitress in the first-class cabin with it. She earned it by enduring my snoring, I’m sure.

I pace away from the platform past a couple of bored-looking police officers who thankfully don’t look at me twice, and find myself directly facing the Belanca beach, with the endless azure Pacific Ocean beyond it.

I rush to the beach, passing a couple of closed beachfront shops, and a local man confused to be seeing someone in a full suit and tie running to the sea at this time in the morning.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.