Rab found himself down a gun and a boot, standing collarbone-deep in wet, squishy filth. He tried several times to free himself, only to sink even deeper into unspeakable sights, smells, and sounds. He was beginning to think this whole trip was a mistake.
However, there was nothing for it now. He was here, so he needed to keep moving, stay alive and focus on getting back home again.
Grunting and straining (both of which are pretty hard to do while holding your breath) he managed with one final lunge to free his shoulders and torso from the muck. Rab breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled one leg free.
Leaning over, he reached for the other leg… and gasped as his hand hit a large red button on the exo-suit’s tool belt.
Oh no! What was that button again? Self-destruct? Thrusters? The suit’s manual was in a pouch on the bottom of his left boot which was still obscured by slime and of no use to him now.
The suit began to vibrate, slowly at first but increasing in intensity as it grew hotter and hotter inside and around him.
Revolting bubbles started to appear on the surface of the river of trash, and then suddenly burst as Rab rose out, and into the air.
Rab was about to scream when he suddenly stopped rising. He floated in midair for a moment, then listed slightly to his left as the thrusters sputtered and faltered.
He was only a few feet off the ground and he began descending slowly as the thrusters roared quieter and quieter. Sadly, this was short-lived; the thrusters roared back into life, sending him flying sideways like a lost comet.
Rab grunted and squealed as he turned left, right, then left again, bouncing and slamming without warning into grimy brick walls on either side, sending a shower of sparks in his wake.
He bonked against a wall on his left, then ricocheted off the opposite wall out into an open space.
As he hurtled onto a wide street, he could make out the vibrating shapes of street lamps lit with guttering candles on either side of him. Strange oblong vehicles jockeyed for position in either direction, pulled along by large, muscled animals Rab had never seen before.
One of these carts appeared in the low light ahead of him, coming up fast. Instinctively, Rab leaned his body to the left, missing the cart by inches. As he did this, he caught sight of the words on his gauntlet display: London, November 1888. This meant nothing to him, but he made a note to look the details up if he survived this.
“Oi! Watch it!” A raspy voice growled as Rab accidentally collided with him, knocking the unsuspecting man off his feet and sending him face-first into a nearby vendor’s cart.
One of the large animals reared up in terror at the sight of the hurtling silver object, dumping his rider onto the cobbles below. Shouts, curses, and screams could be heard in his wake as he flew faster and faster.
Rab kept darting left and right, up and down, stalling and surging but never managing to stop as his thrusters carried him deeper and deeper into this unknown city. Now fully resigned to his fate, Rab bounced and crashed along with eyes shut tight, trying mightily not to vomit inside the sealed visor.
All of a sudden his exo-suit (was it doing this on purpose?) lurched hard to the left, carrying Rab down a dreary poorly lit side street.
“Stop,” he yelled, knowing the visor would muffle the sound anyway as he mashed any button on the suit he could reach. “I want to STOP, you d’asting death suit!”
Unsurprisingly, the suit paid him no mind as it carried on. Bouncing and smashing, it bore left again and carried him into a narrow alley. The only light in this area came from the fitful flame of a barely functioning streetlamp on the far side of the alley.
Rab’s display suddenly flashed vibrant blue, then red, and then finally faded into its standard low light setting. As the red flash faded, the suit bumped up against a woman lounging in the alley, knocking her to her feet.
The suit lurched right and slammed bodily into a shadowy figure who had just emerged near the woman in the wavering glow of the streetlamp.
“Grah! Bugger and blast!” the figure rasped. However, the suit wasn’t done yet.
It continued flying forward, carrying the man with it until both man and suit slammed hard into the brick wall on the right side of the alley.
Without warning, the suit stopped moving, hovered for a moment, sputtered, and finally powered down completely, dropping a startled Rab onto his back on the wet stones of the alleyway.
The man Rab had just struck slumped senselessly to the ground in a crumpled heap. As he settled, his right hand fell open, sending something metallic clattering onto the cobblestones.
Rab groaned and slowly pulled himself to his feet. His exposed foot landed in a puddle, sending a shiver of discomfort up his spine as he yanked it out and onto dry land.
He remembered the man he’d just struck and limped to where the unconscious body lay. The man still wasn’t moving, and Rab bent down slowly to see if he was okay. That’s when he saw it.
Resting on the ground by the man’s outstretched hand was a long, curved blade. Its natural luster was muted by a coppery substance that caked the surface of the blade. In a rush, Rab realized what the substance was. Shuddering, he reeled back from the prostrate man.
As he turned, he came face to face with the woman he’d bumped into who had found her feet and was walking unsteadily toward him.
She wore a ragged lace dress that may at one time have been red but was now faded to a muted mauve.
She looked from the strange shiny creature to the man lying on the ground and then let loose a blood-curdling scream that echoed off the walls and reverberated back on itself.
Rab backed from her in shock, not knowing what to do or say.
Then he heard a rising clamor as voices and shouts began to increase and grow closer. A crowd was converging on the chaotic scene.
In sheer terror, Rab backed into a far corner and mashed down the red glowing button on his right arm as voices grew closer and closer.
He could see a press of people rounding the corner and converging on the spot where he stood. He squealed and mashed the button again and again.
Nothing happened.