There was a glimmer of panic as my body realized there was no ground to support it. Then there was more utter pleasure, physical but not sexual. I whooped and yelled and hollered. And fell.
The pleasure didn't die, but it faded to a level where I could actually think, and I began searching the sky, trying to take in every possible detail. Other jumpers were far below me, their bright suits easy to spot against the blue of the ocean. If I squinted, I could see the glimmer of my heat shield as it protected me from the increasing friction. My suit helped against the cold, but there was still a glorious bite to the air. I nibbled my bottom lip. I giggled. I spread my arms and legs wide, the way Kathy had taught me. It might've been a bit early for that, but the movement was meant to slow my plummet and I wanted it to last.
The other jumpers got smaller after a bit, and Kathy, in black and yellow, fell past me. Her goggles and helmet hid any expression, but I could see amusement in her posture. I waved. She gave me a thumbs-up.
Ages came and went before I started passing clouds and the ground below was began to lose its curve. It would be time to open my parachute soon...the readout on my goggles would tell me when. Below me, the jumpers who'd already opened seemed to be flying back towards me. It was a thrilling illusion.
The words 'pull' were suddenly in my vision, flashing on the inside of my little goggles. I was not immediately obedient--Kathy had told me many jumpers waited past the optimum altitude and admonished me not to do so. I couldn't help myself. I wanted a few more seconds of high-speed bliss. I decided to count to five, then pull the cord. Perhaps the slow descent would give me yet another new enjoyment.
My fingers were wrapped around the ripcord when I noticed that Kathy hadn't opened yet. It made me happy, to see her waiting too. She'd done this hundreds of times...yet she still wanted more. Did that mean it never grew old? Never became a done-before thing? If so, then dear God it was certainly worth the danger.
Another look at Kathy, though, told me there was nothing ecstatic about this, to her. Her arm was tugging at something. I could see panic in her motions. She was tugging at her ripcord, but no silk blossomed. She kept pulling. I kept watching. I am not ashamed to admit that it took precious seconds for me to realize something was wrong; I'd never done anything remotely like this before. It hit me that I should do something, but I couldn't figure out what. We were falling, not flying. I couldn't just swoop over there. The pull message on my goggles grew more insistent.
The thought of dying, which had been swept aside by joy, returned with some ferocity.
I didn’t know how to save Kathy. If I tried, that was it for Almondine. Some of the visions from the night before, my lonely night in the hotel, returned; my body slamming into the ground and splattering like a jelly-filled balloon. Tears stung my eyes. It wasn’t fair that I couldn’t help her. It wasn’t fair that I had to watch her die. Somehow, my mind turned her into Argent. I imagined him hitting the ground, all his fine bones turned to powder. Losing Argent would kill me in the most painful manner imaginable.
Amidst all the fear and the horrible visions, I realized with great clarity that everyone had an Argent. That Kathy was Argent to someone. Her brother perhaps, or her lover.
I couldn’t let her die, then. Hitting the ground myself would be preferable.
I knew, from the lessons in the holo-sim, that I could make myself fall faster. This seemed a foolish thing to do, but Kathy had her arms and legs spread wide, trying to slow her fall, perhaps in hope that her parachute would miraculously decide to work. If I sped up...could I reach her? If I did reach her, could I do anything? I heard the questions in my head, but my new resolve would not allow me to concoct an answer. I tucked my limbs in tightly, tilted my body down.
I sped up. My stomach seemed to move toward my back and the wind whipped at me in a most violent fashion. I could aim myself, but only crudely, and I bounced across the sky as I did my best to zip toward Kathy. I decided I would try and grab her. Yes, that was it. I would grab her, hold on for dear life, and open my parachute. Surely that wouldn't rip off my arms. Maybe we'd live.
Somehow, she saw me. I credit my color choice. She waved at me, in that rude way of someone trying to tell someone not to do something. Well it was too late for that. I zoomed on, her plummeting body coming closer and closer.
And I missed. She had been in front of me, close enough to touch. Then she was gone, and my goggles were filled with the sea. I could see ripples and waves and other details I would have to be quite low to see, and I froze. Petrified. Mortified. Terrified. My goggles were still, vainly, urging me to pull the ripcord.
Something hit me, quite hard, and for a moment I thought I had hit the ground. That was silly. I could still see the ocean, rushing up towards me, and there were limbs and hands pawing at me and a voice in my ears. Kathy! How had she caught me? It didn't matter. She was doing something, manhandling me in a fashion that in another situation might've been most arousing, but which I did not have time to appreciate. I found myself wrapped around her, legs and arms, hugging her against me. God, I didn't want to die.
"Pull, God damnit!" She yelled. I blinked, and fumbled for the cord. Don't hit yet...don't hit yet...
A great, powerful force tugged us upward. It was a harsh, horrid feeling, and I could feel myself spinning wildly about. I looked up. The silk canopy of my parachute billowed above us, and Kathy was still wrapped in my arms...and my harness, she'd attached herself somehow. Dizzying speed had become a gentle fall, though I'm certain my shoulders were bruised. The sensation was brief, but lovely, and I found myself enjoying...
"Hold on!" Kathy yelled, and I made the mistake of looking down. There was still sky between us and the ocean, but not terribly much. The water below glimmered blue. We weren't supposed to land in the water. The island was somewhere off to my left.
I gasped, and held my breath. That was kind of silly considering my helmet gave me oxygen...though it's supply was measured in minutes. Our fall felt so slow, but the sea was coming up fast...I knew from the training it was too fast...
The impact forced the air from my lungs, and I felt parts of me shatter. I would've screamed. I couldn't, gasping desperately instead. Water was all around me. Where was the sky? I couldn't tell, and the silken shroud that'd saved my life fell, obscuring the world. Cords and straps tangled my arms, and I flailed and kept trying to scream.
I saw Kathy's arm slashing back and forth, a knife in her hand. She was yelling at me, but I couldn't hear her word.
I'm fairly certain that I was begging for help when I finally lost consciousness.
Topic: Lunatic Fringe (Read 27826 times)