Cheero the Hero

13:BEING A METEOR

Wednesday April 5th 1995 – 2.46 p.m

I was walking up the path towards the house. Thin mud covered my boots and had splashed up my legs. As I got to the door it opened. There, blocking my way, was a crow. I went to step over it but it snapped at my trouser bottoms and tossed me out as if I weighed no more than a pencil. Now I was laid on my front on the path absolutely covered in mud. Pulling myself up on to my elbows, I found myself staring into the crow's black button eyes. The crow was not threatening to me, it seemed somehow wise.
I opened my eyes thinking of Wendy, but quickly realised I was still in the pod. I stretched and lent forward to see the rest of the pods floating off to my right, the dream still strong in my thoughts. Then it hit me, I had dreamed. It was the first dream I'd had up here, the first since I met Dragstone. My thoughts flicked between the crow and the other pod occupants as I stared out. Then I saw that one pod was moving towards me. Even though it was a long way off, somehow I knew it was Ma Feng.
Now I just had to stare, the pod moving  achingly slowly. An hour or so later she spoke for the first time
“Do you fancy going for a ride?” I replied with a cool 'yep', not knowing if she could hear me.
“I'm sorry about the way I told you about your end, how you die. It was very blunt. I do not want you to think I did not take it seriously. You're going to meet and defeat Ginn at her base in the Indian ocean”
She giggled nervously, then changed the subject.
“I coming in close enough to activate your breaking buddies. You'll feel a bump, don't worry. Remember you don't die for ages.”
I had no idea what my 'breaking buddies' were or what defeat Ginn entailed, but I was learning fast that I had no option but to put my trust in her.
A discreet 'bong' sounded behind my head, followed by a sound not unlike paper being torn coming from the right hand side of my pod, the side Ma Feng was now approaching at quite a pace.
“Is that my breaking buddy? Er, what is a breaking buddy?” I asked.
“If one pod goes out of orbit, its neighbours will automatically attempt to throw a magnetic field around it, to save it. The breaking buddy is like a powerful magnet, a life line, only you're not going to restrain me, you're coming with me.” She began to sound a little excited.
“We've got half a lap to make, to gain the momentum we need to safely re-enter the atmosphere. This will be the most exciting thing you have ever done, Lio Sing”
“Lio Sing?” I asked my second question.
“Meteor, it's Chinese for meteor, my name for you remember”
Her pod approached and I started to feel its effect. First my pod eased over and I was drawn gently to one side. I tried to look up and out to see her face, but before I could, with a resounding hum, the breaking buddies came into full effect and I shot off as if loosed from a sling shot.
I asked,
“How do I strap in?”
“You hold on. We've gotta pick up some good speed now, throw ourselves out on an elongated orbit. At the apex I'll fire the last of our directional jets and from then on, its full on for about ten minutes”
“Worse than this?” I asked with a juddering voice.
All I heard as a reply was laughter. The next minutes provided me with the first gravity I had felt in weeks. My head and body was pushed harder and harder into my pods padding, coupled with the view of our planet I couldn't imagine a better trip and it wasn't over yet. Ma Feng had gone quiet so I strained my head back in an attempt to see her, I still couldn't quite do it. But she must have seen me trying and began to laugh out loud. It was all nothing short of joyous.
“Nearly there Cheero, I'll see you in a few days. Cut the wires carefully, leaving about ten inches, then read my note. Take care. Next time we meet you'll be known as dog!” She said, still sounding like she was talking through a grin.
I didn't understand the few days bit, the wires bit or the note bit, but before I could say anything I  slammed up into my canopy as my pod veered sharply downwards. I could see Ma Feng's pod mimic my manoeuvre a second or so later. I craned my neck back to try and take a last glimpse but the friction on the canopy turned to flame and the whole glass blanked out. I still hadn't seen her face.
For no logical reason, a live feed from the Bahama Bay control room appeared in front of me and it looked like all hell was breaking loose. Multiple alarms overlapped creating a strange anthem for my situation. A fellow I assumed to be Terry was laughing uncontrollably and was flanked by two security officers. I shouted 'Bye bye Bahama Bay' as the visuals faded, I don't think anyone heard me.
The roar of the atmosphere rushing past was now deafening, the vibration became a violent shuddering and I could do nothing to influence my fate. I tried to brace against the worst of the buffeting and found myself laughing along with everyone else. I laughed and laughed 'til I ached.

I was shooting down to earth. Pressure veins in the atmosphere caused my pod to be thrown hundreds of feet in any direction in an instant. Smashing me from side to canopy to bed in a hard random order. After a few minutes it felt like I had broken every bone, torn every muscle and burst every organ in my body. But through the pain a crystal clear thought formed in my mind, I didn't know how the pod would land. I had never heard of one coming to earth safely. I had no idea whether it had air cushions, chutes or reverse motors. I had to put my trust in Ma Feng, the girl I had never seen, said less than a dozen words to and wasn't even sure if she'd heard those.
The next thing I knew was, I woke up. The pod was still, but not quiet. The canopy was split along its entire length and was letting in an icy draught of cold air I could also see it was dark outside. All around me were gasps of escaping gasses, coming from the pod, as if it could not get its breath back. Multiple red and amber lights made it apparent the pod was critically injured. With an easy push the two pieces of the broken canopy fell away and I was able to sit up for the first time in months.