EQAO

Chapter 18 -Jetpack Joyride

We walked out of the room to find a line of people waiting to enter a dark elevator for a third time. Once it was our turn, I took a deep breath, and walked in after Michelle. Once again, I felt the peaceful dark stillness, and once again, the elevator lurched forward. This time however, it shot upward.

When the doors finally opened, a cool breeze whistled past me. I saw, with a little gasp, the vast blue sky and the bright sun. It took me a moment to adjust to the light, but when I did, I spotted metal objects and glittering golden hoops. I saw Michelle just ahead of me, looking suspiciously from me, to Collin, who was standing in line just ahead of us, gazing towards the open sky. As I moved forward, I heard a squeal of delight come from behind me. I looked, but didn't see anyone there.

"Jetpacks!"

I whirled around to find Sameera, who had somehow snuck up on me, glowing with excitement.

"I've always wanted to fly on a jetpack!" she continued.

Suddenly, a hand clutched my arm. It was a pale and queasy-looking Anika.

"Oh no..." she mumbled, looking around wildly, "Please no!"

"Are you okay?" I asked, straightening her up.

She looked at me with crazed eyes, "I'm terrified of heights! And now, we have to fly across the sky on little metal things! I can't do this."

"Yes you can." I said firmly.

"No I can't.

"If you don't do this, then we won't either."

"But I can't!"

"And if we don't do this, then we'll all get disqualified."

She narrowed her eyes at me,

"You wouldn't"

"We would."

"You guys can't do that for me, you're not that stupid."

"Well it just so happens that we're the greatest friends on the earth."

"I hate you so much."

"I know."

She drew a shaky breath,

"You guys better not leave my side."

"We won't!" Kat piped up.

Anika sighed,

"If I die, I'm going to kill you Jessica."

"Deal."

I looked around, and noticed for the first time, exactly where we were. We were standing on a huge hexagonal platform, that was raised hundreds of meters above the ground. Around us, was the same crowd of cheering and jeering people. All the other contestants were lined up at one of the edges of the platform, with a small silver jetpack in front of them. We took our places, with me standing next to Collin. Then, Mia appeared out of nowhere, and looked over at me.

"It would be a shame if something went wrong." she cooed, and walked away.

"That-" I started, but the announcer had just welcomed the audience.

"-and who came up with that?" he said.

The audience laughed.

"Now," he continued, "Hope you all had a rejuvenating rest. You'll need to be in top shape for this next task. Each one of you will put on the flight-enabling pack that is in front of you. You will have to weave your way through the course with as much grace as possible. Go through all the hoops, and try to do some fancy flips and such."

"We're not circus animals." I heard Michelle say under her breath.

"Try to make it to the other side. Ready, set, GO!"

At once, everybody moved to grab their packs. I easily figured out how to put it on, but it wasn't the most comfortable. It was fairly heavy on my back, and the buckle dug into my stomach. I realized that there was no steering. You used your thumb to push a throttle to start, but had to use your body to maneuver. I tenderly pushed on the throttle, and jolted forward, straight off the platform!

You have a jetpack, idiot!

I pushed the throttle again, and held. I soared upwards, then stabilized several feet above the platform. My head was touching something that I couldn't see. It seemed that there was some sort of invisible barrier, to ensure that no one ran away. I saw that my friends, as well as many others, had also gotten the hang of it. Mia was already zooming towards the first hoop. Anika was close behind Sameera, Kat, and Michelle, but was still looking frightened.

All five of us headed after Mia. We flew through the first hoop with ease, as it was quite large. I even did a little twirl for the audience. We went through four more hoops, and I was starting to enjoy myself. It was terrifying, but exhilarating at the same time. I attempted to do a little dive, when I heard it. A splutter, a scream from my own mouth, and the wind rushing at me as I fell. Head-first, spinning uncontrollably, and only able to think one thing.

My jetpack's been tampered with.