The 4D Earth War

  I saw a door to the left, and went thru it to the outside. I triggered the jets and flew up and along the edge of the coliseum's roof, crossed the campus entrance to the highway, and landed on the roof of one of the ultra modern dorms. Connected to the southern side of it about sixty meters away, was a multilevel high-rise with its top blasted away.

  I recognized the tower as being a dormitory reserved exclusively for the athletes and the upper-class brats during its usage. It was an ultra modern condo-style dormitory, with four wings, one on each side, and all kinds of fancy lounges, spas, and even a discotheque. I stood on the roof of the northern wing, and shortly realized that I’d never even been to this place let alone danced on its roof. I heard gunfire, and looked out across the central field of the campus. I saw nothing, but obviously the enemy was lurking about. It was after sundown and they could be hiding in the long shadows.

  Then I sited an armored vehicle entering the campus  from the highway from the west.  I took out the ray-gun, aimed, and fired. The gunner was hit, and then the driver. The vehicle crashed into the side of the underpass, and exploded. I looked to the east and walked to the other side of the roof. Another vehicle was entering the campus across a field at the corner of the tower by the east wing. They sited me and the gunner fired.

  I stepped back around a corner as bullets blasted the wall and darted through the air. I ducked down low and fired over the short wall at the edge of the roof. The second shot hit the gunner and the vehicle moved close to the wall just below and stopped. Two guys got out and ran into the tower, before I could take aim, then the vehicle moved on. I shot thru the roof, but that didn’t stop it. Before I shot again, I detected something behind me.

  I quickly jetted away from the roof as a rebel entered it with a submachine gun. I flew to the southeast, around the tower, and surprised it from the western side, just as the second one stepped out from the tower. I quickly hit them both with a sharp slicing ray, from one to the other. The one at the door’s gun went off, too late, as he fell to the roof, and missed me by meters.

  I landed on the roof again and walked to the other side. I saw no one across the field but another vehicle was on the move in the distance. As I planned my next move, there was a growl from below, to the east, across the parking lot. Something big stepped out of the trees and there was a flash of red light. I quickly moved to the right and crouched behind the wall by the side of the tower. The red light shot by and blasted the top of the wall away.

  It was a laser-ray, in the hands of the enemy. I moved back, along the tower wall, just as the corner of the tower was blasted. I decided to increase the power-level of my own gun, and triggered the jets. I flew around the tower again, in the opposite direction. I stopped in the air at the corner of the tower and fired at the ‘monster’ as it moved across the parking lot.

  It was hit, but not stopped. It quickly reacted on defense, turned and fired at me again, apparently undamaged. I jetted up and away, realizing that the fourth setting of my gun was not powerful enough to penetrate its armor.

  I flew up to the top of the tower and landed in the rubble on the opposite side. I increased the gun to the fifth-setting, fairly certain that it would work. As I did this, and planned the next move, there was a sound like that of a jetpak, and I moved just in time as the monster landed on the other side of the tower and fired again. I tripped over some rubble and fell over the edge. I caught hold and hung from the edge with my left hand. The gun was in my right hand, and with both hands occupied, I was unable to trigger the jets.

   I thought quickly and touched the belt-button with the tip of the gun, I let go as the jets came on, and pushed away from the wall with my feet. The monster was equipped with a jetpak also, so that took away my advantage. So I decided to use the invisible phase, and triggered it as I flew out away from the tower. As I did so, another thick red ray shot from the tower, and before I could get out of the way, it caught my upper left arm, near the shoulder. It tore through the armor all the way to the bone.

  The pain shocked me and I lost control, as the invisible phase began to blink on and off. I went down and crashed through the trees. I quickly regained my feet and realized the invisible phase had malfunctioned. Apparently, a large enough hole in the suit offset the ‘field’.

  I realized I was in real trouble, as I saw the monster land at the edge of the trees and growl as it took aim. I quickly scrambled away, deeper into the cover of trees, as it stepped closer. I hid behind a tree, as it closed in for the kill, and increased the power-level of the 5th setting to the max. I peaked around the tree, sited its large dark body against the dim starlit sky, took aim, and fired. The ray blasted its armor as it moved to the side and went down.

  But it just growled and got up, blasting the trees as it did so. I quickly ran from the trees and triggered the jets. I was in a serious panic and growing more uncertain by the second. I decided to get some distance between us and began flying westward, towards the highway and open fields. It seemed like the thing to do, even though there wasn’t much cover out there. I didn’t want to go into a direction with more rebels, and I didn’t want to lead the monster toward home-base.

  As I flew towards the highway, over the open field, the monster took to the air and pursued, as I hoped it would. I stopped shortly, hung in midair, and sited it coming toward me, like a giant bat out of hell. I continued to fly westward over the fields, just as a red ray blasted a hole in the highway.

  I flew across the fields at about 80 kph and sited trees ahead. I maneuvered to the right and left, as red rays shot past at various angles and near misses. I decided the first thing to do was get well away from the campus, so I gave the jets a boost. I went up to about 100 meters and zoomed over the land at over 100 kph. I reasoned that once I got well away from home- base, and got a clear shot in the open, I might get a more direct hit.

  I zoomed across the river waters and over thicker woodland. It pursued, and continued to waste its rays in an attempt to hit me. I hadn’t done much stone-dancing against the high gravity of Earth, but I still managed to do quite well. The ‘suit’ and jetpak, after all, had been designed for this sort of aerial combat.

  After another minute of flying with the monster just about 60 meters on my tail, I gave the jets another boost. I knew that the higher my speed, the more difficult the shot would be for the monster, so I zoomed up to 150 kph. I zoomed over the trees, hills, and fields with such speed, the land flickered by below me.

  I sited a mountain of stone ahead, sticking above the trees, and decided I could use it for cover and to take a shot. I slowed down, stopped beside the mountain and hung in midair. I looked back but couldn’t see it. I looked all about, and then saw a tiny black dot in the distance, perhaps a kilometer away. Apparently, my jetpak was superior to the monsters, and that fact gave me some consolation.

  I landed on the edge of the stone mountain, on a ledge, hid behind the mountain, and wondered what would happen if I tried the 6th setting of the ray gun. Would the paralyzer-ray penetrate the armor, and stop it? The black dot grew, as I hid and waited. My left arm was still in pain, but I suppressed it and began to take aim. I decided to use the 6th setting, and if it didn’t work, I’d try the 5th setting in the max again.

  I waited as it got nearer, hoping to have the advantage of surprise this time. When it was about a hundred meters away, zooming in and slowing as it sited the mountain, I took careful aim, and fired, just as it shot its ray. The side of the stone mountain was blasted and flack went all over the place. I moved away from it, lost a foothold, and slipped.

  I began to fall back away from the ledge, and fired the jets as I did so. As I jetted away from the mountain and regained control, I saw the monster still coming toward me. Apparently, the paralyzer ray had not affected it. I followed through with the plan and reset the gun to the fifth setting max. I flew swiftly as it pursued, for another kilometer, and gained more distance. Then I turned about in a circle and took aim as I hung in the midair above the hills and trees.

  I zeroed in on it and fired as it approached at 100 meters. It was hit directly in the chest this time and blasted to a standstill. It was stopped cold and thrown back, and then it fell into the dark forest below. I hung there in the starlight, and gazed into the deep, dark forest. I almost expected to hear it growl, but there was only silence.

  I looked back the way we’d come and wondered how far we’d flown from the campus. I estimated at least ten kilometers, probably more. I hung for another minute, and listened. The radio receptors of my helmet were strong, and I heard a few sounds from small animals in the forest, but nothing like what the monster would make.

  Had I succeeded in killing it? I checked the infrared range, and flew cautiously over the spot where it had fallen. There it was, the heat of it was obvious, but according to the sensors, it was still alive. Apparently, it was badly wounded and unconscious.

  Suddenly, a red-lite appeared on my chin-console. It was the signal that my jet-fuel was near empty. I recalled there was more fuel in the Warbird, and decided to head back. Perhaps the monster would die there, I thought, as I began to jet back east over the trees.

  After just about two kilometers, as I hurried home, the red-lite began to blink. I cursed at myself for not refueling the tank. The jets began to fail and I fell. As I hovered and tried to squeeze out a final boost of the juice, the jets went dead and I fell through the trees and into the dark forest.

  I crashed thru the branches for a few seconds, hit soft ground, twisted an ankle, and rolled down a short hill into a field of weeds. I rested there shortly, catching my breath and rubbing a sore ankle. I wondered how many kilometers I was from home, then thought of the monster. I couldn’t be certain that it was out of it completely. If it regained consciousness and could still move, it could still be a dangerous threat.

  I quickly arose to my feet, with some difficulty, aches and pains all over my body, and began limping away. If I could reach the Warbird, I could refuel. But it was kilometers away. I hurried through the weeds, hills, and trees, hoping the monster wouldn’t live. I had a couple of kilometers on it, but that might not help, if it still had its jets. If I could get back to home-base at the campus, even if the monster survived, I felt sure that the laser Seji built could stop it. But it was a long walk home.
 

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