He soared upward to incredible height, at the speed which could render the streak of light a mere crawl of snail in its most lethargic moment. At first, thick veil of crushing darkness wrapped him. It was like an iron womb of ghastly manufacture. But speed of flight cracked its layers, and it began to split and scratch, until its detaching gave way one by one.
He was familiar with the speed now.
Golden clouds in curve of pale blue expanse turned into crimson hue at the far recesses of skies. In no time, planets and suns were left behind like dim specks of distant light, galaxies lost in nebulous dust, until the limits of blue dome began to pop with a bulging echo. Then cold abyss of dreadful silence thickened the upward spiral. Pressure was mounting. He was feeling thick and ponderous. Strain was unbearable. He began to erode like a mound of sand at the razor edge of torrent. Then with a powerful jolt, he fell like a lump of stone on terrestrial of unknown place.
And it was a very strange place. Hot bed of coals under subfreezing layer of fog was making stay extremely painful. For a long time, he remained there, inactive, almost frozen. Then in the far recesses of firmament, a flash of lightning roared and whipped him with mighty force. He woke up with a start. He tried to get up on his legs but collapsed. He had no legs. Hellfire had consumed his lower part of body. He rolled and rolled while sharp stones were ripping his skin. He had seen a shadow some two hundred yards away. He must reach there.
The Boss was sitting there for many years. Gradually all team mates were coming. They were ordered to wait there, until all would run out their time at lower earth. Now he was seeing a body rolling on the earth, he knew very well what it was. He had finally come there. He looked into the eyes of the new comer, and they recognized each other very well.
‘So they also got you?’
‘Yes, drones are hard to beat. I managed to evade them for a long time, but finally my luck abandoned me’.
‘Where are we?’ he asked.
No answer. Cold fog was thickening their fear. But land was like hot copper.
‘You, the old man, you destroyed my life’, and he picked up a hot stone and threw at him. It hit his head. In the meantime, the Boss had also picked up a stone. All of them were stoning each other. Time had frozen. It was neither day, nor night, and stoning was going on like heavy shower of fog and fear.
Suddenly they saw some lights at a distance. Fog began to give way. A cluster of boys and girls in rich attire were parading at a distance. They could see the radiance of their faces and fragrance of their presence.
It was then he saw an elderly man coming toward them. He also sat there. His sleeves were burnt.
‘Ah APS’, the old man sighed.
‘These are kids of Heaven.’
‘We were mistaken’, the elderly man with grey hair moaned.
‘Gurrrud’, gurgled the Boss, ‘I knew but we thought we were going to defeat the infidels’.
‘Your strategic depth was a hellish nonsense’.
‘Could we?’ the new comer asked, ‘Aren’t we going to that Garden?’
‘Where the kids had gone?’
‘Yes’.
‘Do you think we can be at the same place?’
There was grim smile on old man’s face. His white hair began to turn copper and he cried with pain.
‘You, the old man, you destroyed my life’, and he picked up a hot stone and threw at him. It hit his head. In the meantime, the Boss had also picked up a stone. All of them were stoning each other. Time had frozen. It was neither day, nor night, and stoning was going on like heavy shower of fog and fear.
Suddenly, the territory was illuminated with dazzling light. They saw a small innocent face, bright eyes and waving hair. She was wearing a golden costume, and having a silver book in her hand. They were shaken with terror. There was something in her face. They were holding their stones up above the heads, ready to throw at each other, but they held their arms. The eyes looking at them were piercing their flesh. They were more painful than the stones. They could not close or wink or even remove their eyes. The moment of agony lasted for a long time. Then fog began to thicken, and, heaving a sigh of relief, they threw stones at each other with full might. Soon they fell back, losing their senses.
A long time had passed. Time had strange passage. Fog was thick. Nothing to be done or seen, not at least by human eyes.
The jail would be broken. The old man was smiling and speaking. He held the banner. The Boss patted on his shoulder. But radio was sounding. All were forced to listen. A sharp blade scythed through many innocent necks. The old man and the Boss had queer justifications. Media spurred their wings. Theory of conspiracy was thickening the air.
And now their eyes were open. They were holding stones in their hands, waiting for their target to get ready. Game was on.