Boss 302 - Chapter 6

A tunnel birth always blinded Gerry for a few seconds after snapping into normal-space, so it was with scorched retinas that he tried desperately to understand why everything looked so blue and shadowy. As his eyes adjusted, his heart began to beat rapidly. He had emerged from the tunnel underwater! Frantically, Gerry engaged the anti-gravity system to try to bring the car to the surface. He only had a second or two to react, because when the car stalled, the fuel cells drained very quickly in flight mode. An instant after that thought crossed his mind, the Mustang sputtered and died. He watched the power gauge begin a rapid descent from 10 green bars to 8. He leaned against the window and looked up. His view seemed to be getting brighter. Seven bars. Six. The Mustang’s floorboard was filling with water and the upper seals on the windows were springing leaks. Ford Motor Company never intended to build a Mustang that was water-tight. Five green bars. Four. Water was now up to his lap. In another two or three seconds it would come up to the special equipment his father had installed, and there was no telling if it would survive. Without the gate generator, he would be stuck on this planet. He began to wonder about his own survival just as the Mustang spouted from the water. It was an ocean, in fact. One giant fucking ocean that covered 90% of this world.

Once in the air, Gerry opened his driver’s side door to let the water out. All the important equipment on the inside had been spared, but that was beyond the point now. His power meter was down to two bars and falling fast. He knew the car’s engine wouldn’t possibly start after being underwater, but he gave it a try anyway. Nothing. He looked in all directions for some sign of a landing spot. When he glanced into his rearview mirror, he saw some kind of structure arching out of the water not far behind him. He spun the car around and surged for it. In about ten seconds, his anti-gravity pads would run out of power and perform a controlled shut down. That meant that it would essentially drop from its current position at a gradual pace that would prevent a deadly crash. One power bar left. The enormous structure quickly filling his view looked like some kind of refinery. If he made it to the concrete platform underneath the monstrous edifice, he would set down unharmed. If not, he would laugh to himself and think about Davey Jones’ locker as he bailed out of the car and tried to swim the rest of the way to the platform. The nose of the ‘Stang dipped under a steel girder just as the hover pads gave out. He made a slow descent to the concrete base of the gigantic factory and touched down, maybe for the last time.