The Darwin Elevator

Chapter Twenty-one

Somewhere Above Australia

4.FEB.2283

The moment he hit the atmosphere, Skyler realized he was going to die.

Something prevented the Melville from staying at the proper angle to deflect the heat of reentry.

He remembered the urgency on Kelly’s face as she pointed frantically above the craft. She wasn’t telling him to hurry and leave: She was telling him the climber latch was still stuck to the top of the ship.

The damn thing had the aerodynamic profile of an elephant, complete with tusks. The two large arms extending from either side of the latch mechanism must be sticking out beyond the Melville’s profile, causing friction with the air.

The ship shuddered as its computer made thousands of small corrections to keep from flipping over backward. If that happened, disintegration would be instantaneous.

Skyler closed his eyes, and came the closest he ever had to praying.

Something tugged at his memory. Something Neil had said.

The stuck latch had been a ruse.

The simplest solution possible was what Skyler needed. He reached up and toggled the release switch that had failed them earlier.

The effect was immediate.

“Yes! Occam’s razor!” Skyler shouted as the latch released.

He heard the metal structure detach. An instant later, he heard it shear through the rear fin of the craft.

“Occam, you prick …”

Warnings lit up all over the cockpit. Skyler gripped the stick with both hands and put all his strength into holding it center.

Onboard computers sensed the loss of control from the rear fin and shifted to using the maneuvering rockets. The fuel gauge dropped faster as the ship’s altitude.

At an altitude of twenty kilometers, the rockets ran dry and the craft began to spin and tumble.

The Melville had no ejection seats.

Body pressed painfully into one side of his seat, Skyler decided to turn off the autopilot and level the craft out. Keeping on course for Darwin, at this point, was less important than surviving the trip down.

Falling at a terrifying pace, spinning out of control, Skyler shifted his focus to bailing out.

He clawed his way over the pilot’s chair, then over the navigator’s chair, and through the door into the cargo bay. The craft lurched from the turbulence. It took all the strength he had left to keep from getting bounced into the ceiling.

The scream of rushing wind outside grew ever louder. Skyler guessed he had about thirty seconds to get a parachute on and exit the doomed vehicle. He pulled himself up the wall and opened the locker where the chutes were kept. Quickly he threw on the pack, buckling only the main clasp. The rest he would have to deal with outside.

On a whim, he opened the next locker over, where the weapons were stowed. Grief swept over him when he saw Jake’s sniper rifle, Samantha’s shotgun beside it.

He shook his head clear and yanked out his machine gun, along with two clips of ammunition.

Fighting his way to the back of the cargo bay, he grasped a safety line with his free hand, wrapped it twice around his forearm, and then punched the red button.

A deafening howl of wind greeted him. The vortex pulled his legs out from under him, and Skyler just managed to hold on. If he let go before the door opened fully, he’d hit it on the way out.

He closed his eyes in pain as the line constricted around his arm, pinching off circulation.

Just below the rushing wind, Skyler could hear the hydraulic motor of the rear cargo door shut off.

The door was open.

He let go.

Wind buffeted him from all sides as he left the ship. As fast as his fingers would allow, Skyler finished strapping on his chute and securing the gun. He yanked the rip cord.

The chute deployed, whipping him around and upright, belts and straps constricting with brutal force. Then, peace. As if floating on a pillow of warm air, he drifted downward.

The urgency and altitude he’d misjudged. From the size of the buildings below him, he guessed he was a good thousand meters up. He could do nothing but watch as the Melville, his livelihood for the past fifteen years, spiraled toward a small city below.

The ship smashed into the side of a building at the center of town. Rock and fire spewed from the tremendous explosion.

He’d truly failed, now. Loss of crew and ship, a captain’s worst nightmare. He didn’t even have the nerve to go down with his vessel.

Anguish threatened to consume him, but somehow survival instinct won out. He had a window of opportunity to guide his fall. Shelter, water, and food were about to become the only concerns in his life. They always were, he supposed, but never in such a tangible way.

Using altitude to his advantage, he turned in a slow circle, scanning the horizon. The memory of doing the same for Tania rushed in. It may as well have happened years ago.

The sun filled the sky with an orange-colored haze to the west, above a landscape of mud flats and a sliver of ocean beyond.

Below, the deserted city loomed. He realized he didn’t have the height to steer himself outside it, so he looked for a good place to land. As far north as possible, he decided. Every inch closer to Darwin was one less he would have to walk.

A strong, warm, southwesterly wind pushed him over low, dilapidated buildings. Weeds choked every available opening. Abandoned vehicles crowded the streets. Desperately he tried to make a mental map of the town, looking for areas of commerce, areas where food might be stored.

Flames now engulfed the building struck by the Melville, a few hundred meters northwest of him. A column of black smoke roiled up into the darkening evening sky.

He drifted lower, guiding his chute to keep himself aloft as long as possible. Looking down at the rooftops, through holes worn by time and weather, Skyler tried to spot the telltale signs of subhuman life. Abandoned buildings were like caves to them.

He didn’t see the rusty antenna until it caught him in the legs. A spike of pain ran through him as the old brittle metal sliced into his calf. Skyler gritted his teeth, felt warm blood run down his leg. The aerial collapsed from the impact, over the edge of the roof.

It crumbled into a noisy heap in the dusty street below.

With the sound came a wild cry from somewhere below him. It echoed off the buildings. Others answered, from farther away.

The ghost town came to life.