章節 17: Man and the Machine (VII)
Within a few minutes Matt reached the forward airlock, after the air cycled through the hatch slid open and Matt stepped outside the ship. He wondered how he was going to navigate his way to the end of the tunnel when Sam's voice sounded like it was right beside him. Matt whipped his head back and forth until he realised that the voice was coming from inside his ear.
"Sam, how am I able to hear you?" Matt asked.
Sam replied, "When you were placed in the learning machine a nano-transciever and sub-spatial locator beacon was attached in the subcutaneous fat layer of your inner ear. This device is commonly issued to special task force personnel but I calculated that our current situation was unique enough to warrant it."
Matt chewed this down for a minute before saying. "So, where's the way out?"
Sam didn't respond, instead a series of lights flickered into existence, showing a path which he followed. After a good half hour of walking Matt came to what looked like a hole bored into a rock face. A maintenance drone stood by the entrance. The light was rapidly fading so Matt hurriedly ducked out through the hole. He recognised the terrain immediately. What was the rock face from the tunnel perspective was actually the initial marker rock that his father had carved the trail markers into all those years ago.
He shook his head in amazement at the co-incidence and remembering the rapidly oncoming night he bounded up the trail towards home. Matt knew when he'd crossed the unmarked boundary between the scrub that led to the trails and the edge of his backyard. The angle had eased a little and the grass was fairly well trampled here. A minute later and the house came into view in the fading twilight, no lights were on.
He reached the back door, opened it and crossed the threshold into his house. All was quiet, so he took his shoes off and turned on the laundry light. Expecting to find Ian having forgotten dinner and still on the computer.
As Matt walked into the lounge room he was surprised to find that his friend was not on the PC or passed out on the couch. Instead there was a note waiting for him as he went into the kitchen. "Matt, sorry about bailing, but Becca is demanding some Ian time and she won't take no for an answer. There's a plate of Apricot Chicken and Rice in the fridge for when you get back from your jog. Ian"
Matt snorted, so much for trying to get Ian to cook a stir-fry. Still didn't mean he was going to pass up a nice Chicken and Rice dish though. Matt took the plate out and removed the glad wrap and opened the microwave. He set it to a slow reheat and then went into the bathroom and after taking off his clothes he had a quick shower. After he got out, and towelled himself dry, he shrugged into a fresh pair clothes. They felt quite loose, must be old and stretched. He went back out to the kitchen just as the microwave finished with a shrill beep.
He got a spoon and retrieved dinner, suddenly very hungry as the aromas wafted over him. He went into the lounge room, turned on the light and the TV and began to wolf down dinner as the world news displayed scenes of Israeli's storming boats. He chuckled to himself as he looked up from dinner still stuffing food into his mouth. People never learn do they. Israel survives only by being bigger and meaner then the entire Muslim world. Any let up on that policy and the floodgates open. He looked down suddenly as his fork came up empty, he'd already eaten all that food? It felt like he'd barely eaten anything.
.
The door knocked and Matt startled from his revelry dropped his spoon. It was probably just Ian, though the fact that every covert agency for every government on the planet would kill him for what he'd discovered this afternoon had not totally escaped his mind. Matt stood up and smoothed his clothes down, checked to make sure his skrill was concealed. He opened the door and there was Anna. The last person he had expected.
Anna took one look at Matt and gasped, shock written all over her face and her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she collapsed.
創作者的想法 
Trigger2931
Trigger2931 So I'm going to be going back and editing all the previously released chapters over the next couple of days. Have gotten some valuable feedback and I really want to incorporate that into my writing.
Chapters will slow to 1 every 3 days until I have caught up with the rewrites. It'll make it a much better story to read. Which is the main reason why I'm putting this on WN. To get better as a writer
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