Chapter Eight—Utility Augmenter Boots

“It’s so quiet out here,” Kyle said. “Not used to it.”

“Yeah,” John said, then he looked at his holo display. “This is it.”

Kyle looked up at the uninviting tower of crap. A lot of it was machine parts, car frames, ship frames and everything else imaginable to do with metal or rubber.

“So now what?”

“Climb,” John said.

“Man, when I said ‘fun’ I wasn’t talking about this.”

“Stop complaining and get up there. Here, take the gear bag.”

“Me? Why do I have to do it?”

“You’re the one with the UABs.”

Kyle paused for a moment. John had a point. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought them. “Damn.”

Suddenly their attention was distracted as a pale-grey transport with black highlights flew by, the blue exhaust of its thrusters lighting part of the landfill.

“What’s that about?” John asked.

It flew away and the roar of its jets receded into the quiet night. Now only the crickets could be heard. How they survived in such a dry place without grass, Kyle didn’t know.

“Probably just cutting through their flight lane to save on time,” he suggested.

“Probably,” John said. “All right, I’ll be down here.”

Kyle signed, took the pack of tech from John.

“Do you know how to set that stuff up?”

“What’s to know? You stick it and click it.”

John chuckled.

“Don’t get killed by our friend while I’m not around to save you.”

“Yeah,” John said, patting his holster.

Glancing up, Kyle had to crane his head almost all the way up to get a view of the tip of the heap. He stepped forward, grabbing at an old car frame to pull himself forward.

Crouching slightly, he looked for a spot that would be suitable for him to touch down. There was one ahead, up about fifteen feet where it seemed to level out a bit.

Kyle pulled up his sleeve a little further revealing both his wristlet and the UAB controller strapped to his arm. There was a tactile switch that when knocked against his chest plate the boosters would thrust.

The strgnth of the thrusters depended on how hard he hit that pressure switch. He smacked his chest and the boots growled, spitting out blue-white trails as he was lifted into the air.

Once he reached optimal height to land where he wanted, he smacked the pressure switch again and the boots died. With his momentum, his upward flight continued for another four or five feet, then he came back down.

The UABs were distance sensitive and auto belched for just a moment to soften Kyle’s landing.

“Not bad,” John said over their wristlet coms.

Kyle laughed. “Wooo!” “I’d forgotten how fun these toys can be.”

“Don’t get yourself killed.”

The Utility Augmenter Boots were designed for short thrusts to aid the wearer in difficult terrain. They were used by Special Forces, some industry professional, and sportsmen.

Hitting the pressure switch again, this time harder, the boots kicked off with a stronger thrust, carrying him up another thirty feet. Kyle landed, grabbing the protruding junk to keep himself from falling.

The piles were huge, and there were hundreds of them. They climbed several hundred meters. Once he was at the top, Kyle had a view of Life City.

“Damn,” he said over their wristlet coms.

“What is it?”

“It’s kinda cool up here.”

“Yeah?” John asked. “Do you want to have a picnic?”

Kyle slung the tech pouch to his front. “Not with your ugly mug.”

John laughed.

“I would have to disagree,” Lexa chimed in. “I think John is quite handsome.”

“Oh yeah?” Kyle asked challengingly.

“Yes,” Lexa continued. “And judging the differences between pupil dilation and pheromone excretion by onlookers concerning you two, I would say he’s slightly more attractive than—“

“Okaaaay!” Kyle said loudly as he cut Lexa off. “Sticking the tech on now!”

“You walked into that one,” John said.

Finding a nice little spot to stick the sensors and camera, Kyle unzipped the pouch and pulled out the gear. It was battery powered and operated wirelessly, so there was no need to tangle with wires, which was so old school, he was wondering why that thought even came to him.

Damn hologram.

He stuck the sensors and cameras onto a smooth surface, probably belonging to a car or ship, but from the part that was sticking out, he couldn’t say. “All done.”

“Okay,” John said. “Come on down so we can get to the next spot.”

“Wait,” Kyle said, his attention distracted. John probably couldn’t see the ship from where he was standing, but form up here, Kyle realized the transport that had flown by earlier was still flying over parts of the landfill.

“What is it?” John asked.

“That ship,” Kyle said. “It’s still snooping around.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he said, then his eyes widened. “It’s coming our way right now.”

“You better get down.”

“On my way!”