Can You See Infinity Chapter 1

The opening chapter of the science fiction novel Can You See Infinity.

  

Can You See Infinity

First

The tough rubber soles of his rugged leather-wrapped boots crunched easily through the dry layers of leaves. The streets were coated with them, covering up the bombed out roads like a comforting blanket, concealing the scars of war. He stared through the blasted out windows of the once lower class houses as he walked past. Doors of heavy metal were sunk into their pale outlines. Endless roads pointed ahead below the shaded overcast skies. The small box shaped structures he moved past were built of weathered concrete and were so tightly locked together that barely a stray rat could squeeze through.

Lotan Cadmon had gradually made his way towards the center of the city, following the path of the sun. He passed the warehouse region and slid through the industrial sector. A thin metal strip, cool against his skin wrapped from the back of his head across his lightly tanned forehead picking up everything in a detailed recording.

He was feeling wary today. The soul of any city is its people. Without them, this place was just an empty shell. He wasn’t prepared for the uncanny loneliness this place reeked of.

The heaviest of the fighting had taken place here. Smoke still billowed out of gaping holes in walls and through the long vacant streets as far as the eye could see. He couldn’t help but see in his mind’s eye, soldiers charging down the road he now walked. He imagined a rocket come in from another street. It landed on their position to incinerate them in an instant as he’d seen happen before.

His eyes couldn’t help but wander over to the carnage scattered around him. Fallen soldiers belonging to both sides of the battle lay along sidewalks and were bent double on street corners. A few held to their guns even in death. One man with a cracked green visor sat against a wall. He stared with vacant eyes slightly above Lotan. He avoided the gaze as if the man’s eyes would slide down in their sockets to meet him. and stepped a little quicker. The man was wearing the armor of the invaders with its thin camouflage design. It wasn’t his place to make judgements but it was impossible not to wonder about this man. Did he believed in his side’s cause? Was he in the right? Few soldiers he’d met deserved their fates regardless the side they were on.

Their war machines were in equally bad condition. A two-legged artillery unit leaned through the second story wall of an apartment. Ahead of him the front half of a tank had disappeared. In its place sat the burnt husk of a metal frame draped in ash.

It had been three days already since the brutal assault, at least that’s what the scans were agreeing on. The locals had held their ground here against the onslaught of troops for almost a month.  Large heaps of rubble sat where factories and offices had collapsed trapping defender and invader alike. After months of continuous fighting on the planet, what could’ve ended it so fast? Other buildings had been torn open and gutted with numerous blast marks along their exteriors.

A pretty wasted trip altogether. At any other time before in his life, such a mistake would’ve burned him straight through. Without the help of his instructors, for better or worse, it wouldn’t derail him again.

A cool wind wrapped in and through the rising towers as he passed by, creating an eerie sight; the breath of a dying metropolis. The odd thing about the place was its darkness. The clouds were no thicker here, yet the light of the city had faded more than what felt natural. A chill creeped up his back. He shook it off. In and out he told himself. Everything about this place felt uncanny. It always did wherever he went, having to learn everything new again. It could get to him when so many basic things in life changed so often. This time however, he would be sure to check out of this place the minute he’d gathered enough information; the danger that had lived here was whispered from those left on the roadside.

His standard issue rifle stretched to about third his height. Put simply, a heavy meter stick of death. Over time it’d been adorned with countless scratches and smudges. Some of the marks had memories tied to them. Most were from being set in dirt or dropped.

"Better not to be a shiny target", he'd often been advised as a new recruit from the Colonies. Shiny however wasn't much of a real concern when thermal and energy sensors could spot you in a heartbeat. Never-the-less, he wasn't exactly one for bling. Lotan carefully trudged onward. This had never happened to him before. He’d missed the actual battles themselves before, sure, but there was a missing piece to this puzzle. He breathed in the polluted air and stood still a moment. There was no victor here. No one left to claim the city. Nothing had added up with this situation. He had half a mind to leave the city now and call in a ride back, the other half was trained to investigate. To go deeper in until he found the answer here. The latter half had gotten him employed. His hand clicked on the switch of his rifle. The scope gently began to glow. All city roads converged roughly in a round center. That was where he was now heading.

A ladder hung down off a two story building. Climbing it would give him a decent view of the route ahead. All of the rungs up to his shoulders had been bent or broken off. When he grabbed onto the lowest rung left on, the bolts shook. He didn’t need to like it. It just needed to stay attached. Stepping off the ladder and on to the much more stable roof, he came to the rooftop generator. Wires streamed out on one side, a gridded vent the other. He stood atop it and looked ahead. From what he could see, the city center that wasn’t blocked by taller buildings was open and a patch of green trees that had missed the fires remained. A beautiful park at one time, it’s round shape covered a dozen acres at least. Past the far edge of the city low hills ran off in the distance like waves as they did in every direction. In his mind he mapped out the rest of his route and hopped off the generator. He stood still a moment and rubbed the back of his head. Had he just imagined a small red blink off in the far hills? It hadn’t clicked right away to pay attention to it. Had it just been a hallucination? If not it wouldn’t be wise  to ignore it.

With a blinding flash the building a block down erupted into a smoky fireball. Vibrations barreled there way through the heart of the city stirring up a thick hazy cloud. Lotan was blown off his feat as a roaring surge of hot air slammed against him. The dusty air and black billowing smoke swirled together in a thick fog. He grasped for his rifle, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Lotan staggered upwards and attempted to peer through the choking veil. Finding the ladder again, he quickly slid down it and dropped  to the ground. His back came up to a wall and he slid down to a crouch, unmoving. Lotan swallowed a cough that began festering in his throat. Don’t be heard, don’t be seen. He stretched the neck of his shirt over his mouth and nose to filter out the heaviest dust. The next minute passed on in a lengthy silence. The daylight of before was uncannily lost. It was bright enough to see the beige dust that dragged into his lungs with each quieted breath, but the light was lost much too quickly accounting for the time. This change in events was unsettling to no end. He hadn’t been prepared for anything of the like, whatever this could be. His mind scrolled through possibilities. An old explosive could have gone off and some sort of cloud could be darkening the place. He couldn’t be sure if he’d imagined the blast coming from the sky or not. Certainly no one had stayed in this deserted warzone. There was nothing of value. The cloud eventually lifted somewhat but was determined not to leave.

A steady whine caught his ear. It occurred to him it must have been there the whole time without snatching his attention. The whine was gradually replaced by a faint deep and powerful thrumming that seemed to emanate from directly above him. Every second it grew a little louder until it swelled to a throbbing growl that bellowed all around and to his core.

A leaf at his feet shifted over slightly. His eyes stalked its roving path. Barely a breath passed from his lips before all around him leaves began to rapidly tumble under a current of warm air.

The lifting cloud above churned and then swirled open revealing a layered metallic surface. His spine began to arch as he bent down like a frightened animal.

All over the city, the now swirling cloud was shredded apart and slid off to unseen edges, exposing more and more of that grey light studded surface. The hull of this purely colossal ship dwarfed anything he had ever seen before and shadowed well beyond the broken city. The sheer magnitude and power drove shards of fear into his heart. From nearly horizon to horizon it hung. It was the sky and the sky had gone dark.

A pinprick of light flashed from the ship and with a delayed bang a tower across the other end of the metropolis slowly crumpled into the deserted streets. More flashes came. All across the city flames and smoke began to rise. Some of the blasts were close enough to send him scrambling across the road. Cannon fire fell in like hail, not at any specific target.  He knew one of those flashes would inevitably hit him turning him into a charred memory adding to the war’s blistering statistics. He couldn’t risk waiting here another moment.

Dashing along the roads he moved faster than he thought possible. Lotan ran up to a three-tread motor bike left leaning against a light pole. He leapt on it’s seat. Landing hard on it, the front supports popped out of line. He couldn’t use this. This ship, he realized, could change everything. An explosion nearby knocked ashes off the pole, falling down him as dead snow.

Who was he kidding, everything was wrecked here. Lotan didn’t have time to evaluate. Adrenaline fueling this legs and driving his heart he moved with a sole purpose; to get away. His mind jumped back to the road he’d taken in. If he could get there, it was a straight shot out. A blackened machine shop ahead groaned and cracked mightily as it’s base gave out and it toppled down, blocking the path and flinging debris every which way. A small piece caught him in the shoulder. Oblivious to it, Lotan ducked down a rusty alleyway and onto the clear main road.

Everything went silent. Lotan kept his up his mad fearful sprint not realizing the shooting had stopped. The cannons on the ship clanked above him. Each one hung from a track. They all started to slide down the opposite direction where he was running. He looked up to see the huge weapons glide away from him.

Suddenly, all the ship’s cannons were unleashed upon the opposite end of the city. Lotan pulled up and looked back, winded. The hills where he was planning on heading were decimated. No remnants remained of what may have been there. A moment later the engines of the gargantuan war cruiser flared up above him. The entirety of the ship shivered and quaked faintly as it tried to handle its own power. Streams of gases billowed from its wide engines as it slowly plowed away into the distant horizon. Baked leaves rushed by his feet.

He wasn’t the target.