Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

sealed the barrier sheet like cling wrap over the toilet, tying off the construct so he could focus on the next task at hand. He struggled to wiggle back into his suit which was more difficult than one might expect while free-falling. Once his arms were in, a construct arm zipped him up and he burst out of the lavatory.

“Definitely redesigning this damn thing!” he shouted.

The wind whipped furiously and the tail of the transport was dipping. BoJack extended more cable-like arms to grab the seats and climb towards the breach as the section of the ship became nearly vertical. When he was four rows from the top, he saw Gus finally wrestle free of his seatbelt and dive out. BoJack kept an eye on him as he propelled himself up and out. He leaned forward, arms at his side like a bullet and was gone.

BoJack scrambled to get out and follow as he modified two of his constructs to wing-suit shapes on either side of his body. The constructs caught the wind and slowly he pulled away from the falling wreckage. He could hover by using his cables as propellers, but he couldn’t propel himself like other fliers. He wanted to be as far away from the transport as possible in case something decided to explode.

If only he could have reached Gus first, he could have attached a cable to him like he was water skiing. BoJack threw out a party invite to Gus, hoping that he wasn’t out of range.

“Act faster next time,” he berated himself. His cheeks began to burn as the air rushing past began to chill him. He extended a construct to cover his exposed skin, as well as protect his eyes. Immediately, without the distraction of the air blasting against him, he could see the snow and trees rapidly approaching below him. He adjusted his posture, trying to slow his fall. When he noticed no slowing, he pushed the edges of his construct out further, hoping to create more drag before he was among the trees. He was managing to stay around twenty feet above the treetops, following the downslope of the mountain below. Suddenly, the forest dropped away and he was over a deep ravine. He breathed a sigh of relief until he saw another wall of trees ahead of him on the opposing rise.

He leaned hard to one side, trying to turn parallel to the ravine, but he was approaching too fast. He closed his eyes and braced for impact. He barreled into something and found himself spinning in another direction. Expecting a sudden stop and intense pain, he opened his eyes and saw Gus circling around trying to catch up to him. His trajectory was altered and he was spinning upwards, tumbling like a fly ball. Instinctively, he extended four short propeller cables to stabilize himself. They slowed his spin but were insufficient to stop him from corkscrewing toward the tree line again.

Another jolt and he stopped spinning. Gus held him a bit awkwardly, like he was trying to give him the Heimlich. BoJack vanished the propeller cables that whipped close to Gus’ face and they leveled out. The trees below fell away, revealing a large lake nestled between two steep rises.

Their descent slowed and with a clumsy landing they both slipped and slid on the round rocks that lined the shore of the lake, but managed to keep their feet under them. Staggering to a stop, they both remained bent over, arms on their thighs as they caught their breath.

“Thanks, mate,” BoJack said over the mental comm.

Gus nodded and gave a weak salute. When they had both caught their breath, Gus motioned for BoJack to follow.

“I saw a large section of the transport go down over here,” Gus motioned towards one particular rise. “There’s no smoke and I didn’t hear it crash so someone must’ve helped it land without damage.” Gus began to fly again as the dense undergrowth surrounding the lake became a thick mass.

BoJack extended multiple cable arms and used them to climb up to the treetops and held himself aloft as the cables snaked out and found purchase points. Gus was impressed at the super’s skills, appearing like a scuttling spider as the cables bounced him along, swaying to maneuver around trees. Occasionally, one cable would break the branch underneath it and he would dip a bit, but there was enough support from the other extensions that he never seemed in danger of falling.

“Who do you think attacked us? And why?” Gus asked over the mental link to break up the monotony of travel.

“Can’t rightly say. Bloody rude of whatever egg decided to attack us though, especially when I was indisposed.” When Gus looked over with confusion on his face, BoJack quickly went on, “Never mind about that. So tell me about yourself, Gus. We haven’t really had a chance to get acquainted, but I think you did right by the team when fighting those wraiths. I think all of us were wondering how you would handle yourself.”

Gus was unsure of what to say or where to begin. He really had no framework for what was normal among supers in general and what was kept close to the vest. The words of the Oracle about not discussing his unique abilities. Which ones were unique? They all seemed a bit strange and new and, from what he had gathered from Aurora, there seemed to be no cohesive theme to his powers as it seemed like most supers had.

“You okay, mate?”

“Sorry, just trying to figure out where to start. I didn’t get my abilities until a little over a month ago. It’s kind of been a whirlwind and I’m still figuring things out.”

“No worries, cuz. Why don’t we do this: I ask a question and then you ask one and we go back and forth to pass the time. I’m sure you have a lot of questions; I know I did when my powers first arrived. Go ahead, ask