Saturday, August 23, 2008

untitled.... a probable beginning of a novel

Three hundred kilometers up in the sky, Xan looked down from the building, turbulent winds throwing her hair helter skelter upon her face. She breathed heavily into her oxygen mask, feeling far more tense than ever. They were late yet again, and the deal had to be done. The previous visit nearly cost her her right to live on this planet. Had her deed ever been found out about she would have been exiled to another planet prison.
She pulled out her time piece and looked at it. Nearly five clocks past, these people hadn’t yet arrived. Biting cold pierced her gentle pale skin; her lips turned blue with cold.
She pulled her cape tighter around herself and paced the landing. In the roaring winds she heard the displaced sounds of a rotor engine sounding off in a distance. They arrived, fast and quick, leapt off from the vehicle and walked towards her. No words were exchanged, no second glances. The leader amongst them, the tallest and the biggest of their kind, stood nearly five feet above her. She handed him the brief case. She craned her neck and looked up all the way. Two large black beady eyes looked down upon her, expressionless, blank. A bald head, which tapered to the top in a point, shone even in the blizzard. The eyes were large, and his protruding forehead lacked even the smallest strand of hair. Every inch of his skin was dark, shiny and hairless.
“The beauty In the beast” She snuffed out a snigger that was just winding its way out through her mouth. He was attractive, in a way. But yet he was a monstrosity.
The burly large men, although they were far too unnatural and unlike men at all, turned on their heel and walked back without an exchange of even a sound. Before they boarded their vehicle, one of the agents left behind a small package on the ground, looked up at her and nodded. She nodded back in response and they left. She breathed easier here on. She walked to the package and picked it up. It was more than precious this substance, dearer to her than her own life. The risk was worth it all. She waited till the buzz of the vehicle diminished in the raging blizzard, then turned around and headed inside. She entered through glass doors into a lobby, then walked out into a long brightly lit corridor. The lights here were a little blinding, she had to strain her eyes to see past to the other end of the corridor, the exit to this foul place. Her vehicle was parked outside the window at the end of this corridor. She hastened her pace, and grabbed at the window, throwing it open, fast, and jumped out. Instead of her feet landing on the floor of her aero car, they met nothingness. She fell fast, gaining speed, the lights from all around a dizzying blur. The cold wind caught her and the direction of her fall went askew. She thumped hard against the wall and bounced off, still falling. Somehow something suddenly broke her fall; she fall hard onto a soft surface, and bounced off a little, then fell back onto it again. The dizzying fall had blinded her momentarily; hence it took a while for her to focus what she fell upon. She sat up very slowly, still disoriented. She craned up her neck to see the number of floors she’d fallen, and merely gasped. 180 floors! It did seem like a lot more. It was a wonder she didn’t simply vaporize falling through the atmosphere. Her bones ached from the crash against the surface she fell on. She blinked to get her eyes to focus on the ground that she now stood upon. Ugh! A garbage carrier. No wonder there was that distinct smell pervading the air all this while, only that she suddenly noted it and realized where it emanated from. She dusted herself, and massaged her aching muscles, walking towards a window. She had to climb up a parapet to get to it, and right now her pains from the fall restricted any large movements. Yet, ignoring her pain, she put her hands on the parapet and pulled herself up. Thanking her religious habit of work out that lasted three hours every day, her muscles were stronger than ever. She yanked the glass of the window open, and clambered into darkness. Great! All she needed was some unknown character raising an alarm of a thief breaking in. She let out an exasperated breath and tried to calm her self down a little. Yes, I can handle it, she repeatedly whispered to herself. Today was far too much of an eventful day, and she needed but more trouble. A woman walked in, far too composed to believe, after an alarm of a break in. She smiled at Xan, and then spoke with a soft comforting tone” The door to the exit is out through the hallway from here. I know now you’re life’s in jeopardy. People are after you. You should get out of here fast.” Xan was far too nonplussed at the moment and nothing of what the woman said to her clearly registered in her head. All she heard was a bleak sound of danger calling from out somewhere. She nodded and sprinted, still confused and trying to connect the disconnected threads. What went wrong? The mission went smooth, and she made sure all this happen in utter secrecy. She’d temporarily disabled the surveillance of the building too. Every step was carried out in extreme precaution, then what happened? What triggered off the alarm. She knew her plan had foiled and her deeds were out in the clear. Now the agency would hunt her down like hounds after a game. She had to scram, and fast. She made her way quickly out of the apartment, down the stairs and the highly polished lobby of the building. Some elite place this.
She burst through the door to find herself face to face with the most notorious squad in the country. She held her breath, and froze on the spot. There was no escape. She had no other option. She took out the package she had obtained from her deal earlier that evening, and before the squad could reach her, she tore it open, punched into it a code and teleported herself away.

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