Duallists by David Wailing

Author:David Wailing [Wailing, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, High Tech, Science Fiction
Amazon: B00KG5CXUO
Publisher: David Wailing
Published: 2014-05-18T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Exex

I walked out of the desert and stopped dead, finding myself on the Moon.

Behind me were endless dunes of sand. Streams of dust were being whipped up by a howling wind, and the sun was a distant blaze. On the horizon, the peaks of three pyramids. Ancient Egypt in a corridor. The damn thing was so realistic that I’d actually broken a sweat as I walked down it. But now it chilled on my brow as I stormed through the door and let it hiss shut behind me.

Suddenly the horizon was close, claustrophobically close. Not rolling sand-dunes but an immense mountain range. Its ragged crags were a dark, colourless grey. As was the lunar surface, littered with boulders of all shapes and sizes.

The sky above me was pitch black, totally starless. Cold. The whole scene was bleak and cold.

“Joel!”

I jumped – as Niles twisted round in his seat and stared back at me. He sat in the front row of a square formation of padded chairs, hovering unsupported above the airless Moon, or so it seemed. “What are you doing here? You didn’t say – ”

“Turn it off, Niles.”

“What?”

I strode up to the front row, glaring at him. “I said turn it off! You know I hate these bloody things!”

Niles stared up at me (he was still wearing those dumb gold-rimmed spectacles), then burst out laughing. It set my teeth on edge. “Look, you might find these relaxing but I don’t, so just – ”

“Joel, I can’t turn this one off, I’m afraid.” He gestured before him. “It’s the real thing.”

“Eh?” I looked at the moonscape again.

Niles grinned. “This is where you work.”

It was an observation lounge, he explained, and as he did, I began to make out the glassy outline of the transparent wall. Now I felt even colder as I realised that beyond it was pure vacuum. The enormous mountain range was moving slowly to the left as the High Ring revolved. An immense blackness crawled across the dusty grey ground: the Moonbug’s shadow. And amongst the rocks and tiny craters, I saw enormous furrows and pits, each several kilometres across, and just as deep. Where we’d mined.

Just for a second, the sight of all those black holes gouged into the Moon’s surface disturbed me. There was something about them... I can’t explain it... but it was like walking across a grassy field and tripping over an oil pipeline.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” I said.

“Why?”

“Look, I need to talk to you.”

“Well, have a seat. I’m not going anywhere,” Niles said mildly, but I could tell he meant it. “Besides, if you haven’t seen the Moon before, now’s your chance. Probably your last.”

My head snapped round. “Why d’you say that?”

“Well, you’ll be gone soon, won’t you?”

“What do you mean, I’ll be gone!”

He looked at me blankly. “Back to Earth. When your tour’s over.”

“Oh... right.”

I made myself sit down, although every nerve in my body was humming like a wire. Niles was still looking puzzled. “Did you get that test done for me?” I asked.

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.