A Case of Time-Travelling Shorts

The Ninety-Six Theory - I [SFSD-X]

This Sci-Fi epic is dedicated to @AngusEcrivain. My first entry for SFSD X, it's somewhat of a Wild Card entry, so I have chosen to include all of the prompt items, in hopes of earning some brownie points. Hope you enjoy. For those not familiar with the competition, I challenge you to guess which 10 items are prompts! Enjoy.

Outside his small window, the rice terraces caught the morning light. The mountainous terrain had been carved into flat, wriggling steps that traced the curves of the hillside. Water filled the terraces, glistening against the green rice plants that flourished there. Bells chimed gently in the breeze. This was before, his mind reminded him. The eye of the hurricane. The respite between wars. Before the Dome was a necessity-

Yuri's eyes snapped open. On the console in front of him, the sensors flashed red. Alarms pierced the air like discordant bells. Thick, roiling clouds blackened the horizon. They flashed hellish shades of blue and purple ahead of him. An electromagnetic storm. He stared into the maw of the approaching monster.

He swore, disengaged the autopilot, and rushed to power-down the console.The altimeter's glowing needle flat-lined from 30,000 ft to 0. The console went silent. He would be flying blind; electric instruments were a one way ticket to annihilation.

He glanced around his ship: the heavily converted 2459 VW Beetle had been discarded by the salvage team, but Yuri had adopted it, welding on some stabilizer fins, and a set of penta-thrusters. It wasn't fast, but it was sturdy. The thrusters underneath his car hummed nervously, and static hushed in his ears. The Beetle passed into the clouds. Wind wrenched it through the air like a paper kite.

Rain assaulted the vehicle. Thunder rumbled deafeningly. Every second felt like an hour in the throes of the storm. Yuri pulled the steering wheel in all directions, trying to keep the Beetle level. If it was overturned in the wind; the car would be torn apart. At least the rain wasn't acidic, Yuri thought wryly. They were too far South for that.

His little sister would know they'd lost contact now. The thought of her praying for his safety in the village's shrine stopped terror from strangling his heart. Abruptly, Yuri's vision went black. Shit, my helmet. Not again. He detached the upper-part of his helmet frantically, leaving only the black, pod-shaped breather that cradled his nose and mouth.

Lightning stabbed through the air to his right. Yuri flinched. He located and pulled the deterrent shoot. An electromagnetic pulser attached to an aether balloon was jettisoned into the air behind him. Lightning fell upon it like a pack of starving wolves.

He tried to guide the vehicle down through the clouds, releasing electromagnets into the air as infrequently as he dared. Lightning flashed with furious abandon. Thunder shook the car. He gripped the steering wheel tighter, muscles burning with effort. He risked a glance downwards. He had no idea what altitude that were at, sandwiched between two gargantuan titans of nature: electric-charged air, and oceans of raging acid. He cursed the year 2815 again.

His hair slowly stood on end.

"No, no, no," Yuri muttered, as it brushed against the roof of the car.

He released the final deterrent, hoping the aether balloon would stay the otherwise fatal touch of lightning.

A magnificent crack sent the car jolting forwards. In the rear vision mirror, he saw it. The jagged after-images knifed across his vision. Blue. White. Black. Then the world began to tilt.

"Tamade!" Yuri swore. The thrusters were arranged like an ancient 'five of diamonds' playing card, and the rear-left one had just stalled. He tried frantically to reboot it, as the car tilted forwards. If the angle increased much more, the ravaging winds would overturn the Beetle. When it refused to restart, he punched in the termination code for the front-right thruster instead. The car slowly leveled. He realized he'd been holding his breath. Yuri stared out the rear vision mirror. The last aether balloon drew lightning to it like a plasma globe.