"Reunited..." - Chapter Five

Reunited...

Chapter Five

By Douglas E. Gogerty

Prince William stood there looking at the foreboding road ahead. The trail he was following was gone. He hoped he could pick it up again, but it did not appear too likely. The fierce sandstorm, while it did not last long, had wide-ranging effects. There was no for him to know where the princess was without being able to follow her trail.

The prince decided to follow the ancient road slowly. If there were signs, he did not wish to miss them. Whoever was driving the princess's suncar could have left the old road at any time, but the road was all the prince had. Thus, he pushed on.

With the slow going, Prince William could see how someone could get lost out here. The sand storm he had just experienced was small, he could imagine them being much larger and burying a suncar in sand. Further, there was the heat and the dryness. The thought of it made him thirsty, so he stopped and drank from his water reserves.

He took a moment to look closely for signs, but there were none. However, he did notice something odd. He got out to investigate. Out of a sand dune, there was a large flat reflecting panel. He looked around and he saw dozens. Looking some more there were hundreds. They were semi-concealed in the dunes.

The wind picked up a little bit and he rushed back to his suncar. He took another drink, and continued forward on the ancient road. The sand raced across his car, but he managed to keep going. There was not the same amount of sand in this round. However, if there was a track to follow here, it would have been enough to erase it.

The temperature outside the suncar was soaring. Prince William fiddled with the interior cooling system. The power demand of the suncar was at its maximum. This would limit his speed, but more importantly, another sand storm could stop him. The Forbidden Zone was becoming clear to him. It was clearly a very dangerous place. Any number of things could mean life and death. He was grateful he brought water, but began wondering if it were enough.

Slowly, he continued following the ancient road. It was a desolate area, yet strangely beautiful. There were colorful mesas in the distance. However, he had gone most of the day without seeing anything move. It was as if the land were a void of life. He thought that perhaps that changed at night out of the heat of the day.

The mesas soon gave way to flat desert. He passed the ruins of some small towns that once existed in the desert -- victims of the water wars. He noticed bridges over now dry river beds. Water once flowed in the stretch of desert. The prince wondered how long ago the water flowed.

He continued driving looking for the trail. He did not see any trace of the suncar's tracks. It could have come this way, but it might not have. Slowly he went, and it was getting late in the day. It was clear that he would have to spend the night in the desert. Thus, he began looking for a place to stop. Once the sun went down, his suncar would stop. Hence, he looked for a place protected from the wind.

There was an intersecting road where it appeared to be a spot where some people had lived long ago. He pulled onto a frontage road and drove a short distance. There was an ancient concrete building still standing there. He parked close to it to protect his car from the wind and sand. It looked like an long deserted saloon.

Prince William got out of his car and looked around. A short distance away, there was a small trickle of a very muddy river. It appeared that it would dry up at the peak of the dry season. In fact, there was a wash that would flow into this small river during storms. Nonetheless, there was enough water around to support a few scraggly trees. The rest of the terrain was scrub brush and tumbleweeds.

It was closing in on dusk, and it was still hot. The prince had a decision to make. He had gone quite a distance with no sign of the Princess's trail. Should he continue following the ancient road? Should he give up? How well his night went was going to determine his course of action. If he feared for his life, he would turn back. However, if the night passed with little incident, he decided he would follow the road further.

The prince gathered some brush to build a fire. The material he gathered was so dry he thought it might catch fire in his hands. He dug a small pit in the sand and placed some of the material into it. He gathered enough material to have the fire go all night because he did not want to wander off in the dark to obtain more.

While gather the material for the fire, Prince William noticed more of the reflecting panels. He thought there must be thousands of them scattered throughout the desert. He wondered who had put them there. Did they belong to the ancients? Were they remnants of a once great society? Did they survive the water wars? What did they do?

These fleeting thoughts went through his head, but his thoughts turned to food and survival. He thought the fire would keep away any dangerous night visitors. He thought he might hunt for some food, but he then thought better of it. He had enough provisions to last a few days. There was no need to take any risks at this point in his journey.

Just as the last bit of sun sank below the horizon, he lit his fire. He was amazed at the number of stars he could see. It was a dark clear night. He was sure his fire could be visible for miles, and he heard some howling animals in the distance. At night, the desert did come alive.

He settled down and got some sleep. It was not a restful sleep as he wanted to keep the fire alight. He was about to put some more fuel on the fire, but he marveled at the sky and the darkness. It is then that he saw the lights in the distance. Something was going on in the Forbidden Zone. Was there a city off in the distance? The area was supposed to be dead. What were the source of those lights? He would investigate when the sun came up.