The full version. yay. I submitted it for the science chronicles contest. 2499 words. 10 days was all it took to complete.
There it was - the Blue Whale. The grey colossal monolith of airship machinery that resembled blue whale was aptly named. The huge, elegant, uncontested queen of the skies hovered magnificently beneath the wings of the Esperna. From afar, the Esperna appeared dwarfed to the point of insignificance.
Within the confines of the Esperna, handsome and dark-haired pilot Melvin ‘Sky Pirate’ Gatsby gasped when he saw the Blue Whale. He could not believe it. He had been searching for it for five years, but there it was, beneath the Esperna, over the Mediterranean Sea.
"Elle, report to the Pentagon that we have found our number one target," Melvin said to his partner sitting beside him at the cockpit.
Immediately, Elle went into a trance-like state, but that was no surprise to Melvin. His partner was the most brilliant product of artificial intelligence in the year 2109. Beneath her appearance as a beautiful lady was an intricate piece of quantum computing that allowed her to behave, feel and respond like a human. As she was made to protect Melvin as he conducted clandestine operations during the Shiaran War five years before, she was armed with powerful bionic muscles and a superior reflex system that could swiftly eradicate any form of physical danger. She was a formidable robot with a heart.
Elle snapped out of her state and replied, "The Pentagon has given us orders to infiltrate the target and capture Ahmad al-Hashimi. Reinforcements are coming in two hours."
That name, Ahmad al-Hashimi, reverberated through Melvin and invoked an intense fear in him. Many people remembered Ahmad al-Hashimi as the dictator president of the state of Shiaran, but Melvin remembered him as the scientist who caused the loss a million of his American comrades during the Shiaran War eight years before. Amid his disquietude, he thought about the man who managed to squeeze a solid-state laser into rifle, instantly turning a once weak military force into a force that could match the superpower.
All that was ever known of Al-Hashimi’s whereabouts was encapsulated in a short entry in his diary found after the war:
June 12 2101
Ever since we broke free from Iraqi rule, I have led Shiaran to prosperity. But that despicable US President Smith wants to go to war with me because ‘dictatorship has no place in the 22nd century’! If it is the case that he wants me to leave, I shall leave! I shall leave in the Blue Whale and leave the mess that Smith is going to create. In three years’ time, up in the clouds, I shall live in paradise, never to be seen by the world again.
In fact, the Shiaran War was started due to a series of events. In the 2090s, disaster struck the oil-driven Shiaran economy when its once plenteous oil reserves that it depended on started to run out. Certainly, desperate measures had to be made. Just in time, American scientists had invented a fusion reactor that gave such a high net output of energy, that it outshone all other similar reactors. As Shiaran and America shared hostile relations, al-Hashimi could not obtain the technology. In an act of vindictiveness, al-Hashimi conspired to steal the fusion reactor blueprints. His spies succeeded in doing so and they brought the holy grail of fusion technology to him.
At that time, Melvin was a spy in Shiaran. In a treacherous mission three months after al-Hashimi had obtained the fusion reactor blueprints, Melvin was given orders to infiltrate a Shiaranian government research centre and report on its activities. By disguising himself as a research scientist that worked there, he managed to slip past security.
During the mission, he found a sophisticated, colossal, cylinder-shaped machine in a room. The intricate assembly of thick white tubes and wires which concentrated at the top of the cylinder cascaded down the side of the machine to various awkward extensions. Beneath the thick canopy of tubes and wires was a wide circular tube, which reminded Melvin of a massive metal donut. No doubt that what he had found was a fusion reactor. But something was amiss. America had never shared is any of its fusion technology to Shiaran. He thought, surely, did they not steal the technology from America?
“Dr al-Sadr, you have broken the orders of the State by being in this room. Hence, I have to kill you,” said a deep Arabic voice behind Melvin.
Melvin spun around and saw a non-descript guard a distance away pointing a rifle at him that he had never seen before. Then, all he saw was the trigger being pulled and his left arm burst into pain. He saw the guard pulling the trigger a second time, but he felt no pain anywhere else. Mustering enough strength, Melvin grabbed his silenced pistol and sent a shot through the guard’s neck. The guard fell to the ground. Grimacing in pain, Melvin looked at his injured arm and found the huge wound unusual. Surprisingly, it was a large mess of blood and flesh that did not bleed profusely, unlike an ordinary bullet wound. He concealed his injured arm in the white waistcoat that he was wearing. Then he strode out of the room, without bothering to inspect the deadly weapon that caused his agony and escaped from the research centre.
Melvin managed to survive the ordeal to report his finding of a fusion reactor in Shiaran to the Pentagon. However, he lost his left arm, for doctors found it impossible to save it. Thus, he was fitted with a prosthetic arm, and he became known as the Sky Pirate.
When the Pentagon heard of Melvin’s finding, further investigations led it to conclude that it was indeed Shiaran had stolen American technology. US President Ronald Smith was so enraged by the thought of Shiaranian spies in his country that he demonstrated his hostile stance against Fascism by declaring war on Shiaran. In his famous speech in 2101 before the war, President Smith said, “Shiaran has done us a great wrong by stealing our technology. And America will not accept the oppression of people anywhere in the world. As dictatorship has no place in the 22nd century, we, America, declare war on Shiaran. We will capture al-Hashimi at all costs.”
Three years later, the Shiaran War ended – at a great cost. Shiaranian laser technology had kept the American offensive at bay for a long time, resulting in the death of many American soldiers, until a tactical error by the Shiaranian forces broke the deadlock and the force was almost promptly destroyed. Unexpectedly, when American forces started the hunt for al-Hashimi, he could not be found.
Five years later, Melvin had found al-Hashimi. He had to be somewhere in the Blue Whale. But the impediment was the problem of getting into the Blue Whale. In his usual intrepid style, he encircled the Esperna around the Blue Whale. Then he found the solution in the form of a peculiar hole in the Blue Whale. The minute hole was just the right size for the Esperna.
“We can enter the hole!” exclaimed Melvin, “But how did that come about?”
“Current reports say that a small French airship had disappeared four hours ago. Perhaps this may be what it had crashed into,” said Elle.
“Could it have caused the elusive Blue Whale to appear?”
“I guess so. Given that US intelligence recently uncovered a Shiaranian document that cites the invention of a cloaking device based on metamaterials that allows the object within the device to remain undetectable within a wide range of wavelengths of light, my guess is that coating on the Blue Whale has been destroyed by the crash,” then Elle added, “I think that also explains why it doesn’t have weapons, because its inhabitants can’t see what goes on outside.”
“That seems logical enough,” said Melvin, as he guided the airship propelled by magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters towards the direction of the hole. As the relatively tiny white eagle-shaped airship swiftly entered the hole and landed on a platform, he spotted several shadows through the window that suddenly seemed to stop moving.
In an expeditious response, Melvin leapt out from the Esperna and delivered a blow to the first human he saw, knocking the human out. Elle followed suit and nimbly knocked out three others who were holding a bulky metal plate.
“Someone’s escaping! Immobilise him!” shouted Melvin, as he pointed towards a corridor.
Elle’s powerful legs carried her towards her comparably snail-like target, and like a cheetah pouncing on its prey, she rammed her fists into the man’s limbs. The man fell on his knees and yelled Arabic expletives. Melvin caught up with Elle and told the man in Arabic to shut up and answer his questions.
“What do you want?” asked the man, whose face was hidden by the darkness of the corridor.
“Where is al-Hashimi?” demanded Melvin.
Hesitantly, the man replied, “I don’t know.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know!” said Melvin. He held his pistol at point-blank range on the man’s temple in a bid to coerce obedience.
The man was compelled and said, “You win. He’s probably in the ballroom having a feast at this time. It’s a long way straight through the corridor in the opposite direction, until you reach the grand staircase.”
So the Blue Whale must be like some resort in the sky, thought Melvin. He continued, “So does he know about the crash?”
“No. He does not know.”
Perfect, thought Melvin and he knocked out the man. Elle and Melvin turned and headed towards the opposite corridor. At the corner of his eyes, he spotted the French military crest among the debris. So Elle must have been right. Those were the remains of the French airship, thought Melvin.
The corridor seemed like a trail that never ended. Occasionally, great gleaming white doors appeared on the dull grey walls. They continued to walk until they heard a commotion that sounded like a cacophony of unusual sounds.
“Can you hear that?” asked Melvin.
“Yes, and it’s coming from that door,” replied Elle.
“Let’s open it,” said an inquisitive Melvin.
As they opened the great door, they were blinded by the bright lights that resembled daylight. Then, they were awed by what they saw. Endless rows of cages that contained chickens, cows and other animals lined the room. In the adjacent room that was separated by a large glass sheet, an amazing array of fruits and vegetables were grown.
Great. A farm here? That is interesting. It must be the power of the fusion reactor that al-Hashimi stole from America, thought Melvin.
Finally Elle declared, “I don’t sense humans here.”
“Perhaps there is really a feast now. Let’s move,” replied Melvin.
The pair continued on walking an interminable path that finally led to a white door at the end. They opened the door and they thought that they had stepped into a hotel. An elaborate great wooden staircase caught their eye. Other than the staircase, the design hinted an influence of minimalism with its vast plain white empty spaces. Strangely, there was nobody around.
“I hear some faint noises on the left,” said Elle. As she turned to face the left, she saw that they had been looking for. It was the ballroom.
Melvin pointed to the air vent on the ceiling and said, “Perhaps we could sneak in through that.”
Elle’s jumped up into the air duct and she assisted Melvin up into it. Then they crawled towards the direction of the ballroom. Once they were in the ballroom, through the many tiny slits in the air vents, they could see many familiar faces: Shiaran’s top military officers and al-Hashimi’s family. Definitely, a feast was happening. Finally, they spotted a plump man with a distinctive brush-like moustache in his usual medal-laden military suit. It was him – Ahmad al-Hashimi. He was about to exit the ballroom, with two armed guards in tow.
“Nice. A brilliant opportunity,” whispered Melvin.
Melvin and Elle trailed the procession out of the ballroom and through a white door. As al-Hashimi ambled through an endless corridor, the pair crawled and prepared for an ambush.
“I sense only these three people. Let’s move in.” whispered Elle.
Melvin cautiously removed the air vent and Elle landed on the ground silently. She approached the two guards from behind and slammed their heads against the wall, effectively making them unconscious.
“Watch out behind!” shouted Melvin, “There’s another –”
But it was too late. One side of Elle’s abdomen had melted in an instant. Elle immediately drew her pistol and shot through her assailant’s skull. Then, Melvin saw that al-Hashimi had taken out an aberrant pistol to shoot at Elle. He knew that he had to act.
As he dropped down from the air duct to save Elle, he heard a deafening bang coming from his left arm. He landed on the floor and lay prostrate as he watched Elle’s body being bombarded by unseen forces.
“No! 3773!” he screamed in disbelief.
Al-Hashimi held a stone gaze on Melvin and demanded, with his pistol aimed at Melvin, “You American fool, how did you get in here?”
“I…”
Melvin quickly regained his resolute self and thought of a plan.
Finally, al-Hashimi muttered, “You shall die.”
“Wait! Let me kiss my woman before you kill me.”
Al-Hashimi stood stupefied as Melvin hauled Elle onto his chest and kissed her on her lips. After he had done so, Melvin said, “I have set up a bomb here. In ten minutes’ time, she’s gonna blow.”
Al-Hashimi laughed and said, “You American fool, you have underestimated me. The fusion reactor’s in the adjacent room and once I kill you, I will escape and your body’s going down with the Blue–”
Al-Hashimi suddenly fell to the ground, motionless. Melvin had shot a tranquilliser using a concealed gun in a ring on his right middle finger. He realised that he had made a grave mistake of setting up the bomb that would destroy the Blue Whale. He had to escape quickly. He also remembered that he was not to kill al-Hashimi. So with his right arm, he tried to drag the body, but al-Hashimi was so heavy that Melvin knew that he had no choice but to leave the body.
Within eight minutes, Melvin sprinted and retraced his steps back to the Esperna. Once he sat in the cockpit, he was hit by the heart-wrenching thought of his missing partner. He flew the Esperna out of the Blue Whale, whilst reporting to the Pentagon about the mishap. In the distance, he witnessed the Blue Whale losing altitude, falling into the mist below.
Some days later, in a speech to the American public, Melvin said, “Americans, we have just ended an era in which our selfishness to share technology have led to technology going against us. Let us mend our ways by sharing technology with every nation, regardless of our ideological differences, for the failure to share technology breeds contempt.”
