FicWad

[For more information on Aurora, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(aircraft) ]

Sitting at an angle on some kind of launch pad and pointed at a blast door high in the wall, was the strangest looking craft he'd ever seen. It was effectively a black triangle with a snub nose. Parts of the sharp looking wings were folded in on themselves while the glass dome that Izzy assumed was the cockpit was darkened to black. To Izzy, it looked everything like a mechanical shark.

“What the fuck....” Izzy's voice trailed off as he carried on studying.

“Meet Aurora,” Dr. Martin whispered, obviously trying to not break Izzy's spell. “She's our most secretive project, designed to fly high, fast and silently to spy on whichever enemy we choose.”

“I thought we didn't have any enemies,” Izzy quietly said, a hand reaching out to touch the sleek, black craft.

It felt strange to the touch, almost as if it was alive and quivering beneath him, just begging to be started up and let loose.

“I'm afraid that we do, Jeffrey. Many, many people want a part of us. They want to know our secrets or destroy us. Why? is the question we're forever trying to answer.”

Turning, Izzy looked at him. “Is this what you brought me to see?”

Dr. Martin shook his head and gestured towards a door in the opposite wall. “Over here.”

Unable to tear his eyes from the machine, Izzy followed.

“How's it fly?” He was unable to see any visible engines and the part of him that was fascinated by engineering was now fully alert.

“See the boxes beneath it?” Izzy cocked his head to see and nodded on seeing the hidden part. “That's the vents for the engines. It's powered by fuel pods, Jeffrey, a radical new fuel which allows it to get to the speeds it needs to.”

“How fast?”

He heard the doctor sigh with frustration. “Jeffrey, please.”

Izzy looked up at him, eyes wide, silently pleading.

“Okay, okay. It reaches upwards of Mach 5.”

Izzy's eyes widened and he felt his knees go weak as he made a quick calculation.

“Upwards of over six thousand kilometres an hour?” he panted.

Dr. Martin nodded, face blank. “Yes. Now please. You can take a closer look later if you like.”

Nodding, Izzy tried to recover himself as he followed the man through the next door. Wherever they were, it was cold. And dark. A musty smell hung in the air and Izzy wrinkled his nose. The wings rustled behind him, the tips wrapping around him to hide him from the cold.

“Where are we?” he quietly asked.

The doctor's voice swam to him through the darkness. “I'm showing you where you came from.”

Izzy felt his heart begin to pound in his chest, the wings unconsciously tightening around his body. The cool icicles of fear began to crackle through his body, curling around his heart.

A flashlight suddenly illuminated a narrow, low-roofed passage, the doctor striding off in front of him. Sticking his hands in the pockets of the tunic, Izzy slowly followed, footsteps echoing around him. He really didn't want to know where they were going, didn't know what he was going to find at the end of the tunnel.

A door, rusted with an age of being deep beneath the earth was all that stood between him and whatever was beyond it. He watched as the doctor fumbled in a pocket before pulling out a big iron key. It seemed oddly out of place in a world of electronic locks and computers. Oddly out of place, yet oddly typical.

The lock screeched and crunched, obviously not used to being opened and the door was pushed open. It scraped over the concrete floor, setting Izzy's teeth on edge. Whatever was in the dark room let out a blood-curdling shriek and Izzy found himself quickly retreating back along the passage.

“Don't!” Dr. Martin called after him. “Jeffrey, you need to see this. You need to understand where you've come from.”

Freezing, Izzy slowly turned, the wings involuntarily rustling with fear. With a dry throat and heavy heart, he slowly walked back to the door. The older man stood beside it, a hand tucked just inside the room. As Izzy approached, a light flooded the room and he walked in.

They stood facing a row of cells very like the one he'd been held in. Thick, impenetrable walls divided each cell, while super strong glass covered the fronts. Each of the cells were empty. Another shriek filled the narrow room. All the cells bar one.

Dr. Martin signalled to him and, with his heart in his mouth, Izzy followed him along the row.

“This is it,” Dr. Martin mumbled. “The creature that gave you your wings.”

Izzy looked into the tank and instantly recoiled in horror, banging into the wall behind him. He could feel the bile rising and he choked back the urge to throw up.

Whatever was staring back at him was not humanoid. It sat, hunched up in the corner, glaring at him through black eyes. Spittle hung from its snarling mouth, coating jagged yellow teeth. It panted, body shaking with low, rattling breaths, holding Izzy's horrified fascination. Its hands were screwed up claws, its grey, leathery skin stretched tightly over sinewy limbs. But there was one thing missing.

“Where's its wings?” Izzy asked, unable to drag his eyes away from it.

The doctor stepped forward and rapped on the glass with his knuckles. Instantly the thing was on its hind legs and lunging for the cell front, screeching death rattles, twisted nails scraping down the glass. Things erupted from its back, arching up an around it. Not one, not two, but three pairs of what Izzy assumed were wings. One pair arched over its shoulders, while another spread around its middle. The final pair dragged behind it, brushing the floor with a sound like dead leaves.

Pressed against the wall, Izzy stared at it with wide eyes. The wings didn't look like wings. Well, not like his. Instead they were bony and spindly, made of the same grey skin as the being's body. Finally, he managed to drag his terrified eyes from the snarling creature and to the doctor. The man's face was etched with the horror of having to see this beast day in, day out. Of knowing that he was hiding something from the world. All of a sudden, he looked heavy and tired, as if everything was bearing down on him.

“Your angel DNA is not from this planet,” came the quiet explanation. “It came through a tear in our dimension. A tear that was probably caused by some kind of unusual electrical activity.” The doctor sighed, head dropping forward. “It's difficult to explain,” he quietly continued. “We've never really discovered what it is. All we know is that some researchers found it wandering around Antarctica.”

Izzy found his voice and asked, “So why'd you create me?”

The doctor looked up at him, eyes heavy. “Because the powers that be wanted to control the world. They thought that if they had you then people would believe the lies they were telling about an all powerful God. Fortunately it never came to that and the world has thankfully changed and moved on.” He sighed and turned his attention back to the tank.

Swallowing his fear, Izzy stepped up to the tiny cell and placed his hand on the glass. The creature cocked its angular head and looked at him through its dead eyes. Izzy felt his huge wings twitch with nervousness. The creature's head moved a little more and it moved its wings in response. Smiling a little, Izzy flicked his wings, watching as the creature mimicked his movements.

Touching the glass, Izzy whispered, “You ain't so scary, are ya?”

“The good news is,” the doctor began, causing Izzy to look round at him, “I can make the wings disappear.” Izzy felt his eyes widen and he pulled away from the window. “The question is, do you want them to go?”

The pyjamaed man smiled a little and held out a hand. “I could do with one of those cigarettes now, Jeffrey.”

Smiling, Izzy reached into the tunic pocket and retrieved the cigarettes, holding them out to Dr. Martin.