Up, up and away
Posted on 16 May 2024 @ 9:15pm by Captain Patrick Jackson
556 words; about a 3 minute read
[On]
The heavy doors shut with a clang. The hustle and bustle of a busy Starbase now shut out of the room he occupied. The square room was black and dark, with the exception of yellow orange lines grinding the cube. Setting a duffle bag down, Patrick gave a sigh. He had been pushing pretty hard to be ship shape for duty by the time his ship left port. He had been making good progress, still, his body hurt constantly. Nothing crippling, but a constant ache.
He slowly pealed himself out of the exoskeleton frame he had been wearing and changed his close into the uniform he brought with him. The cloths weighed him down at normal gravity but he stood upright the best he could. Tremors and twitches slowly appeared but not to the extent that they where a month ago. He took a couple slow but relatively steady steps into the center of the room.
"Computer, run program Jackson, JLA 25, new adventure, free roam, no difficulty."
The computer chimed and responded, "Please state starting area."
He thought for a moment. "Metropolitan rooftop, daylight." Another chim and a moment later the cube vanished and was replaced by a modern city. Beneath his feet, a concrete rooftop overlooking a city. The sound of the wind blew gently and a pigeon walked along the edge of the building.
Walking to the ledge, he curled his fists and lept but instead of falling down, he soared upward. He soared around towers, skyscrapers and around the city gaining speed, feeling the wind rush by his face and the weightless feeling of flying through the air. He pitched up and rushed into and through clouds then took off like a rocket into the horizon.
After a little time he put the brakes on and stopped at a hover high above the cloud line and took in his surroundings. He was over the ocean, a small atoll was beneath him and the various shades of blues and teals surrounding the little land mass where highlighted in the sea of dark blue. He was high enough he could see the curvature of the earth and the thin blue Haze of atmosphere above him.
His gaze moved forward, to the distant glowing object. The Sun was far in front of him, slowly heading toward the horizon. The sun was warm, even at this altitude. He closed his eyes and let the warmth wash over him, hovering peacefully, hearing the wind blow by and his cape slowly flap. Here, floating over some far flung island, he was at peace. He took the rest of his holodeck time to float, recharging his mind in the sun like Superman did with his body. Here, he was alive and having avoided death, maybe it was time to be alive in the real world as well.
His tranquil thoughts where broken by the soft chime of the holodeck indicating that his time was drawing to a close. He slowly returned back to earth, physically and mentally. His boots touched down and he let out a little sigh. "Computer, end program." A moment later he was in the dark room, his exoskeleton waiting for him, the cape and costume weighing heavy on him. Reality resumed, but he made his choice, he was going to live, not just survive.
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