Newton's Law
but they forget to mention,
that nightmares are dreams, too...
"Emi!"
The cry came out of the darkness. Weird, and distorted. Like a bad radio signal on the car stereo, every other letter and word seemed to lose itself in a background of chaotic, incomprehensible racket. She could not see from who, or from where. The place she was in was so utterly covered in a heavy, grey mist. In among the soup-like smoke, her senses felt dull and reduced. All except her hearing, which provided her a window into a realm of chaos. Noise like shouted orders and urgent calls for calm, help and order. Wails of agony, pain and frustration intermingled with the machine-like whine and whistle of objects flying over head. A pause followed, then a muffled explosion echoed across the mist. Then, silence.
What was this place?
"Emi!"
The shout came again. This time she could make out a form from the mist. A young man, about her age, was running towards her. Still obscured by the fog, she could only see that he had dark black hair, and was wearing strange clothes. Like something you'd see in a museum. The way he said her name was like they knew each other. Strange. Now that he was closer, she was sure she had never met this boy in her life. Those startling clear grey eyes, filled with genuine concern, that peered over unclean round eyeglasses at her were new to her. The unfamiliar grip of his equally dirty, bandaged hands on her shoulders, firm but strangely delicate, as he seemed to hoist her up. Unfamiliar, foreign, alien. But... not necessarily unwelcomed. Who was this guy?
"Its good! Alright? Look at me. Look at me! Your all good, okay? Just a little banged up..."
All good? Why wouldn't she be well? This was all so weird. The boy continued to speak as he inspected her, picking up things off the muddy ground, and handing them to her. A canteen, a heavy looking helmet... and a very old, very real looking rifle. Were these her's? How.. why would they be? This didn't make any sense!
"Emi, nobodies giving up today. No one, okay?
She wanted to get away. She wanted to run! Away from the strangeness, away from the noise! The feeling of the boys hand gripping her shoulder reassuringly brought her out of those thoughts. In his hand was the rifle, which now appeared with a very sharp, very deadly blade attached to its barrel. All the while he was looking at her. With those piercing, grey orbs. It seemed there was no where one could hide from such a gaze.
"Emi!"
Her name came out of the boys mouth like a plea. Too make matters worse, a feeling of unshakable dread had begun to creep upon her. Like a cold, wet blanket, the feeling wrapped itself around her. It was in his voice. There was something this boy wanted. Something he needed her to do. But... she was afraid. Oh god, she was so afraid too. Her hands began to shake, a movement that seemed to work its away across her body. She could feel tears, real genuine tears, welling at the corner of her eyes.
""Nobodies. Giving. Up. Right Emi?"
This time he said it quiet like, so that it was almost drowned out the by the multitude of uncomprehending noise around them both. But his gaze was as strong as ever. Uncompromising and unwavering.
It was the sudden shock of moving forward was what awoke her. Confused and disoriented for a moment, it took Emi Inachi a few minutes to take everything in. She was laying back in a chair, with a complex looking belt crisscrossing her chest. The belt was a little tight, but the seating itself was very comfortable. More like a sofa then a chair. A small reading light on the ceiling above her allowed her to view the large, expansive room which she was in. Other people were seated similarly like her. From the night noises around the room, more than a few were asleep. Beyond that, little could be gleaned from the semi-darkness of the room. Then it all came back to her. That dark night in Neo-Tokyo. The video. A letter. Two words.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Sykes, your on-duty pilot speaking!"
The perky, unexpected welcome from who could only be the pilot startled Emi. The obviously masculine voice came through so clear, it was like having a face-to-face conversation instead of over a impersonal announcement. She should have expected as much. Hell, Ravencroft brought back the zeppelin! So why not souped up intercoms?
"My apologies about that last bump, we had some unexpected turbulence from an little updraft. The time is 0400, thats 4:00am Universal Standard Time over the North Atlantic. We are currently in the final hour of your 3 day flight plan with us aboard the Newton's Law. We are 45 minutes from final approach into Eureka airspace. At this time, we invite you all to leave the passenger cabin, take some time to yourself, and enjoy the many amenities we have to offer."
A slight pause entered the announcement, broken by a light mechanical whine and hydraulic hiss. Metallic shutters began to roll up outside her window. The light above Emi winked out, replaced by the first rays of the early morning sun. The now transparent cabin area offered an unobstructed sight of early morning over the Atlantic.
"How about that view folks? Breakfast can be enjoyed either in the cabin via steward trolley, or in the main dining area to the rear of the main passenger cabin. All items are compliments of Whole Harvest Limited and the Main Course Corporation, both subsidiaries of Ravencroft. Remember: For Cuisine Cooked to Excellence, Why Not Stick to The Main Course!"
An upbeat, commercial jingle overshadowed the Captain's voice briefly. With a good natured, almost rehearsed-sounding chuckle, the pilot of the Newton's Law ended his monologue with his sign off:
"I'd like to thank all of you on behalf of the Ravencroft Institute for traveling with us these past few days. Its been a pleasure and an honor to fly you folks, and I hope to do it again real soon. Thank you, from all of us at RAeon Skies: Lighter than Air!!"
Well... that was interesting,, thought the young Japanese girl at the almost advert like messages that came from intercom. Then again, traveling around in a dirigible was pretty odd in itself. So was going to an island that the world had only known of seven months ago. She decided to tack it on the long list of bizarre experiences that amounted to her life. As the easy listening music continued to play through the cabin, a steady rise in conversation and morning noise could be heard as adults travelers, children passengers and airship employees went about their business. Something more literal for some, if the double line leading outside the restrooms meant anything. For Emi, it meant grabbing something to eat. Her last meal had been freeze-dried Udon soup, courtesy of the RavenAid facility a block from her apartment in Neo-Tokyo. Just the thought made her face pinch into a grimace. If she was going through the trouble of flying 6,000 miles for a campus visit, the least she could do was cash in the in-flight continental breakfast!